The Nice Old Man and the Pretty Girl - Svevo E-Book

Italo Svevo

• Herausgeber: Lebooks Editora
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 101

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

"The Nice Old Man and the Pretty Girl" by Italo Svevo is a poignant and ironic short story that explores themes of aging, desire, illusion, and the disconnect between internal longing and external reality. The narrative follows an elderly man who becomes infatuated with a much younger woman, seeking to recapture a sense of vitality and purpose through her attention. As he immerses himself in this fantasy, the story reveals the quiet tragedy of self-deception and the often-painful gap between youth and old age. Svevo, known for his psychological insight and understated prose, presents the old man's experience with both empathy and sharp critique. The story subtly critiques societal ideals of romance and vitality, showing how clinging to illusions can lead to emotional disillusionment. Since its publication, the story has been recognized for its delicate balance of melancholy and irony. Its exploration of human vulnerability and the fear of irrelevance continues to resonate, offering readers a timeless meditation on the complexities of aging and the human need for connection and meaning.

Leseprobe

Italo Svevo

THE NICE OLD MAN AND THE PRETTY GIRL

Original Title:

“La novella del buon vecchio e della bella fanciulla”

First Edition

Contents

INTRODUCTION

THE NICE OLD MAN AND THE PRETTY GIRL

INTRODUCTION

Italo Svevo

1861–1928

Italo Svevowas an Italian writer and businessman, best known for his innovative and introspective literary style that anticipated many elements of modernist fiction. Born Ettore Schmitz in Trieste — then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire — Svevo wrote primarily in Italian and is widely regarded as a pivotal figure in the development of psychological narrative and introspective prose. Despite limited recognition during his early career, his later works, especially Zeno’s Conscience, earned him a lasting place in European literary history.

Early Life and Education

Italo Svevo was born into a middle-class Jewish family of German and Italian heritage. Raised in a multilingual environment, he was educated in both Italy and Germany, where he developed a deep appreciation for literature and philosophy. Svevo adopted his pseudonym ("Italo" to signify his Italian identity, "Svevo" to reflect his Germanic roots) early in his literary career. Although he worked for much of his life in his father-in-law’s paint business, his passion for writing persisted, even during long periods of literary obscurity.

Career and Contributions

Svevo’s literary breakthrough came late in life. His first two novels, Una Vita (1892) and Senilità (1898), received little public or critical attention. However, a turning point occurred when Svevo took English lessons from the young Irish writer James Joyce in Trieste. Joyce, recognizing Svevo’s talent, encouraged him to continue writing and helped promote his work within literary circles.

In 1923, Svevo published his most celebrated novel, La Coscienza di Zeno (Zeno’s Conscience), a groundbreaking exploration of self-deception, neurosis, and the complexity of the human psyche. Written in the form of a fictional memoir dictated to a psychoanalyst, the novel offers a satirical and deeply introspective account of the life of Zeno Cosini, a man plagued by indecision, contradictory desires, and existential anxiety. The novel challenged traditional narrative forms and incorporated elements of Freudian theory, marking Svevo as a forerunner of the psychological novel.

Impact and Legacy

Svevo’s work is now recognized as a crucial bridge between 19th-century realism and 20th-century modernism. His introspective style, ironic tone, and philosophical depth have influenced writers such as Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, and Samuel Beckett. Zeno’s Conscience, in particular, is praised for its complex narrative structure and its unflinching depiction of the human mind's contradictions.

Though Svevo remained relatively unknown during his early life, the growing interest in modernist literature after World War I led to the reevaluation and celebration of his work. His depiction of flawed, deeply human protagonists captured the fragmented identity and moral ambiguity that would come to define much of modern literature.

Italo Svevo died in 1928 following a car accident near Trieste. At the time of his death, he was only beginning to receive the literary recognition he deserved. Today, Svevo is considered one of the foundational figures of modern European literature. His legacy endures through his pioneering use of interior monologue, ironic introspection, and his exploration of psychological complexity.

Svevo’s influence extends beyond Italy, with Zeno’s Conscience often featured in discussions of modernist masterpieces alongside works by Kafka, Proust, and Joyce. His unique perspective — shaped by cultural duality, personal struggle, and philosophical inquiry — continues to resonate with readers seeking insight into the contradictions of the human condition.

About the work

"The Nice Old Man and the Pretty Girl" by Italo Svevo is a poignant and ironic short story that explores themes of aging, desire, illusion, and the disconnect between internal longing and external reality. The narrative follows an elderly man who becomes infatuated with a much younger woman, seeking to recapture a sense of vitality and purpose through her attention. As he immerses himself in this fantasy, the story reveals the quiet tragedy of self-deception and the often-painful gap between youth and old age.

Svevo, known for his psychological insight and understated prose, presents the old man's experience with both empathy and sharp critique. The story subtly critiques societal ideals of romance and vitality, showing how clinging to illusions can lead to emotional disillusionment.

Since its publication, the story has been recognized for its delicate balance of melancholy and irony. Its exploration of human vulnerability and the fear of irrelevance continues to resonate, offering readers a timeless meditation on the complexities of aging and the human need for connection and meaning.

THE NICE OLD MAN AND THE PRETTY GIRL

I

There a prelude to the adventure of the nice old man, but it developed almost without his being aware of it. During a short break in his work he had been obliged to see in his office an old woman who introduced him to a girl in whom she tried to interest him, her own daughter. They had been granted an interview because they brought a letter from a friend of his. Called off thus suddenly from his work, the old man could not get it altogether out of his mind. He looked in bewilderment at the note, trying to take it in and put an end to the interruption as soon as possible.

The elder woman did not cease talking for a moment, but he caught or understood only a few short sentences: “The young woman was strong and intelligent, she could read and write, but she read better than she wrote.” Then a sentence struck him, because it was so odd: “My daughter will take any work for the whole day, provided she has the short time off she needs for her daily bath.” Finally the old woman made the remark which brought the scene to a swift close: “They are taking women as drivers and conductors on the trams now.”

Quickly making up his mind, the old man wrote an introduction to the Manager of the Tramway Company and dismissed the two women. Left alone with his work, he interrupted it for a moment to think: “What on earth did that old woman mean by telling me that her daughter bathes every day?” He shook his head, smiling with an air of superiority. This shows that old men are really old when they have to do anything.

II

A tram was running down the long Viale di Sant’Andrea. The driver, a pretty girl of twenty, kept her brown eyes fixed on the broad, dusty road, bathed in sun. She enjoyed driving the car at full speed, so that the wheels creaked when she changed gear and the body of the crowded tram jolted. The avenue was empty, but as she sped along the girl never ceased pressing her small nervous foot on the lever that rang the bell. This she did not as a precaution, but because she was young enough to be able to turn her work into a game, and she enjoyed going a good pace and making a noise with this amusing toy. All children like shouting when they run. She was dressed in old coloured clothes, which made her great beauty look as if disguised. A faded red jacket left free her neck, which was massive in comparison with her small, rather pinched face; free, too, the clean-cut hollow that runs from the shoulder to the delicate curve of the breasts. The blue skirt was too short, perhaps because in the third year of the war there was a scarcity of material. The tiny foot looked naked in a small cloth shoe and the blue cap crushed her black curls, which were cut short. Judged only by her head she might have been a boy, if the pose of that alone had not betrayed coquettishness and vanity.

On the footboard round the fair driver there were so many people that it was hardly possible to work the brakes. Among them was our old man. He had to bend backwards at some of the more violent jerks of the tram to prevent being shot on to the driver. He was dressed with great care, but in a sober style suited to his age. His appearance was really well bred and pleasing to the eye. Well-nourished though he was, among all these pale and anaemic people, there was nothing to give offence in him, because he was neither too fat nor too prosperous looking. From the colour of his hair and his short moustache you would have said he was sixty or rather less. There was no sign about him of an attempt to look younger. Years may be a hindrance to love, and for many years he had ceased to give it a thought, but they favour business, and he carried his years with pride, and, so to speak, youthfully.

On the other hand he had the caution of his years, and he was not happy in that gigantic car driven at such a pace. The first word he spoke to the girl was one of warning: “Signorina!”

At such polite language the girl turned her beautiful eyes towards him doubtfully, not being sure that he was addressing her. Her bright look gave the nice old man so much pleasure that his fears almost vanished. He changed the warning that would have had a touch of bitterness into a joke: “It makes no difference to me whether I am a minute or two sooner or later at the Tergesteo.” The people round him might believe that he was smiling at his own joke, but as a matter of fact his smile had been directed towards her eye, which had struck him as full of delicious impertinence and at the same time innocent. Beautiful women always strike us at first as intelligent. A beautiful complexion or a beautiful line are, in fact, the expression of the highest intelligence.

She did not catch the words, but she was completely reassured by the smile that allowed no doubt as to the kindly feelings of the old man. She understood that he was uncomfortable standing and made room for him to lean upon the rail close by her. She kept on at breakneck speed to the Campo Marzo.

Then the girl, looking at the nice old man as if asking him to agree with her, sighed: “Here’s where the real trouble begins.” And the tram began to jolt slowly and heavily over the rails.

When a really young man falls in love, his love often sets up in his brain reactions that end by having nothing to do with his desire. How many young men who might enjoy peace and bliss in a hospitable bed, insist on abandoning at least their homes, in the belief that, in order to sleep with a woman, you must first conquer, create or destroy! Old men, on the other hand, who are said to be better protected against the passions, give themselves up to them in full knowledge and enter the bed of sin with no other precaution than a due regard for catching chills.

Not that love is simple, even for old men. For them its motives are complicated. They know that they must make excuses. Our old man said to himself: “This is my first real adventure since the death of my wife.” In the language of the old an adventure is real when it involves the heart. It may be said that an old man is rarely young enough to be able to have an adventure that is not real, because this is an extension that serves to mask a weakness. Similarly, when weak men give a punch, they use not only the hand, the arm and the shoulder, but also the chest and the other shoulder.

The blow is feeble owing to the excessive extension of the effort, while the adventure loses in distinctness and becomes more risky.

Then the old man thought that it was the childlike eye of the girl that had conquered him. Old men, when they fall in love, always pass through a stage of paternity and each embrace is an act of incest, carrying with it the bitter savour of incest.