Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts


Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts is a novella by Joseph von Eichendorff. Completed in 1823, it was first printed in 1826. The work is regarded as a pinnacle of musical prose. Eichendorff created an open form with epic and lyrical elements, incorporating several poems and songs in the text. It was freely translated to English as Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing, first published in 1866.

Plot

A miller sends his son away, calling him a good-for-nothing. The young man takes his fiddle along and leaves happily, without a specific destination. Soon two ladies in a carriage, who are interested in his music, take him along to their palace close to Vienna, where he gets a job as a gardener. He falls in love with the younger lady. Promoted to tax collector, he plants flowers in the garden of the tax house instead of potatoes, placing them regularly for his beloved. He plans to make money, but when he sees his beloved with an officer, he realizes that she is not available for him and leaves.
Further travel takes him to Italy, with adventures on the way and in Rome. Back at the palace, several mysteries about identities are revealed, and he can marry his beloved Aurelie, who is not a noble woman but an orphan. The couple are given a house with a garden and vineyards, and they plan a honeymoon in Italy, travelling again.

Narration

The story is told in the first person from the perspective of the young man. The story has fairy-tale elements in its simple and intentionally naive language, unexpected events, and images of romantic landscapes. The young man's "Wanderlust" is motivated externally by his father and internally by his desire for the "weite Welt", fleeing sedentary life. Combining elements of dream and reality, it has been called a "high point of Romantic fiction".

Legacy

The poem "Der Taugenichts" by Gottfried Keller was inspired by the novella.
The novella was freely translated to English as Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing, first by Charles Godfrey Leland, published in New York in 1866 by Leypohlt & Holt. A translation by Bayard Quincy Morgan was published in New York by Ungar in 1955. A translation by John Calder was first published in 1966 and reprinted in 2015 by Alma Books.
In 1957, an audio play was produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk, adapted by and directed by Gert Westphal, with music by Bernd Scholz and speakers Erik Schumann,,,, among others.
The novella has been the basis for three films.Good-for-Nothing is a 1922 silent film directed by Carl Froelich. ' is a 1973 free adaptation by DEFA, directed by with Dean Reed as the Taugenichts. The Rome episode was cut, possibly to avoid nurturing any desires to travel by residents of the GDR. ' is a 1978 coproduction with television, directed by Bernhard Sinkel with Jacques Breuer in the title role and music by Hans Werner Henze. It was broadcast several times on ZDF and was awarded the Deutscher Filmpreis in 1978.

Editions

First edition

Joseph von Eichendorff: Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts und das Marmorbild. Zwei Novellen nebst einem Anhange von Liedern und Romanzen. Berlin: Vereinsbuchhandlung 1826, 278 pages, plus 3 without page numbers for advertisement of the publisher.

Later editions