“Simplicissimus” Grimmelshausen in brief
Fanciful Simplicius Simplicissimus. That is: a lengthy, unintentional and very memorable biography of some simply conscience, outlandish and rare vagabond or a vagant named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchsheim
The action takes place in Europe during the Thirty Years’ War. The narrative is conducted on behalf of the protagonist.
In a village in Shpesert, a boy lives in complete ignorance in a peasant family. One day, soldiers attacked their house, they ravaged the economy, took away money, raped women, tortured their father. The boy runs away from fear into the forest and settles there with the hermit. The hermit, for his naivety, gives him the name Simplicius. He teaches him to read, write, and the word of God. After the death of a hermit, who had previously been a nobleman and an officer, Simplicius abandoned their wretched dwelling and entered the fortress of Hanau. Here the boy becomes the page of the governor, to whom the local priest reveals the secret that Simplicius
Once, when he plays in front of the fortress on the lute, he is attacked by Croats, and after a series of twists and turns Simplicius gets to the camp of German soldiers at Magdeburg. For his musical talent, the colonel takes him to him with a page, and appoints Hertzbruder to the mentors. With the mentor’s son, Ulrich, Simplicius concludes a friendly alliance. Mentor, guessing under the clownish outfit of a young man’s sensible mind, promises to help him soon to throw off this dress. At this time in the camp Ulrich is accused, accusing him of stealing a gold cup, he faces punishment. Then he pays off from the captain and leaves, then to enter the service of the Swedes. Soon one of the lieutenants of the regiment is stabbing the old man of Herzbruder. Simplicius remains again alone, on occasion he changes his dress to women’s
Simplicius forgets gradually the orders of the hermit, he robs, kills, betrays Epicureanism. He receives the nickname “huntsman from the Sust,” and thanks to his courage, military cunning and savvy, he manages to become famous.
Once Simplicius finds a treasure, which immediately takes to Cologne and leaves a rich merchant under a receipt for storage. On the way back the brave soldier finds himself in the Swedish captivity, where he spends six months indulging in the pleasures of life, since, recognizing the ranger from Zust, the Swedish colonel gives him complete freedom within the fortress. Simplicius flirts with the girls, trains the daughter of the colonel himself, who finds him at night in her bedroom and makes her marry her. Simplitsius goes to Cologne to get his treasure to acquire his own house and economy, but the merchant goes bankrupt, the matter drags on, and the hero accompanies two noble sons to Paris.
Here, thanks to his art of playing the lute and the ability to sing, he evokes general admiration. He is invited to perform at the Louvre Theater, and he successfully participates in a number of ballet and opera productions. Rich ladies secretly invite him into their boudoir, Simplicius becomes a fashionable lover. Finally, he gets bored, and since the owner does not let him go, he flies from Paris.
On the way Simplicius is ill with smallpox. His face turns from beautiful to ugly, all pock-marked, and beautiful curls get out, and now he has to wear a wig, his voice also disappears. On top of all, he is robbed. After the illness, he tries to return to Germany. Near Phillipsburg, he is taken prisoner to the Germans and becomes again a simple soldier. Hungry, ripped Simplicius unexpectedly meets Hertzbruder, who managed to make a military career, but did not forget his old friend. He helps him free himself.
However, Simplicius failed to take advantage of Ulrich’s help, he again contacts looters, then gets to the robbers, among whom he meets his another old acquaintance, Olivier. For a while he joins him and continues the life of a robber and a murderer, but after the punitive force suddenly attacks Simplicius and Olivier and brutally kills the latter, the young man decides yet to return to his wife. Unexpectedly, he again meets Hertzbruder, who is seriously ill. With him, he makes a pilgrimage to Switzerland, to Einzillen, where the hero assumes the Catholic faith, and together they go to heal Ulrich first to Baden on the waters and then to Vienna. Herzbruder buys Simplicius as captain. In the first fight, Herzbruder is wounded, and friends go for his cure in Griesbach. On the way to the water Simplicius learns about the death of his wife and father-in-law, and also that his son is now being brought up by his wife’s sister. Meanwhile, Herzbruder dies of poison, which envied him in the regiment.
Learning that he is again single, despite the loss of a faithful friend, Simplicius embarks on amorous adventures. First on the waters with one nice, but windy lady, then with a peasant woman, whom she marries. Soon it turns out that his wife not only cheats on her husband, but also likes to drink. Once she gets so drunk that she gets poisoned and she dies.
Walking around the village, Simplicius meets his father. From him, the hero learns that his father was a nobleman – Sternfels von Fuchsheim, who later became a hermit. He himself was baptized and recorded in church books as Melchior Sternfels von Fuchsheim.
Simplicius settles along with his adoptive parents, who skillfully and diligently conduct his farming. Having learned from the local residents about the existence in the mountains of the mysterious bottomless Mummelsee, he goes to him and there gets by using a magic stone that allows him to breathe under the water, into the realm of sylphs. Having become acquainted with the underwater world, his king, he returns to earth with a gift, a stone of iridescent color, that, it turns out, has an amazing property: where on earth you put it, there will be a curative source of mineral water. With the help of this stone Simplicius hopes to get rich.
The village where the hero lives is captured by the Swedes, a colonel settles in his house, who, having learned about the noble origin of the owner, offers to enter again into military service, promises him a regiment and wealth. With him, Simplicius reaches Moscow, where, by order of the tsar, he builds powder mills and produces gunpowder. The colonel throws him, not fulfilling his promises. The king also keeps Simplicius guarded. He is sent along the Volga River to Astrakhan, so that he also established the production of gunpowder, but on the way he is captured by the Tatars. The Tatars give it to the King of Korea. From there he gets through Japan to Macao to the Portuguese. Then Turkish pirates deliver it to Constantinople. Here it is sold in oarsmen to the galleys. Their ship is captured by the Venetians and liberates Simplicius. A hero to thank God for his deliverance,
For three years he traveled all over the world. Looking back at his past life, Simplicius decides to retire from worldly affairs and become a hermit. He does it.
And so, when he once lay down by his hut to rest, he dreamed that he was going to hell and he saw Lucifer himself. Together with the young men Julius and Avar, he makes an unusual journey, which ends with the death of both young people. Waking up, Simplicius decides to again make a pilgrimage to Einzidlen. From there he goes to Jerusalem, but in Egypt he is attacked by robbers, taken prisoner and shown for money, betraying him as a primitive man who, they say, was found far from any human habitation. In one of the cities, European merchants liberate Simplicius and are sent by ship to Portugal.
Suddenly a storm strikes the ship, it crashes against the stones, only Simplicius and the ship’s carpenter manage to escape. They land on an uninhabited island. Here lead a life, like the famous Robinson. The carpenter learns to make palm wine and is so addicted to this occupation that in the end his lungs and liver become inflamed and he dies. After burying his comrade Simplicius remains alone on the island. He describes his life on palm leaves. Once on the island, the crew of the Dutch ship makes an emergency landing. Simplicius gives the captain of the vessel as a gift his unusual book, and he decides to remain forever on the island.
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