An Anthology of Croatian Literature

Vjenceslav Novak (1859-1905)

Vjenceslav Novak (1859–1905) Both prolific and very popular in his day, Novak was of mixed CroatianCzech parentage, and familiar as a result with both Zagreb and Prague, though his heart always belonged to the Croatian coastal area where he was born. He was a keen observer of many layers of contemporary Croatian society, and depicted them—decaying aristocrats, middle-class merchants, impoverished workers—in an unadorned, unsentimental manner. He is considered among the finest Croatian realists. The following excerpt is from Novak’s novel Posljednji Stipančići (The Last of the Stipančići, 1899), as found in Introduction to Yugoslav Literature, op. cit., 329–31. The translator is Branko Mikasinovich. 94 An Anthology of Croatian Literature The Last of the Stipančići (Excerpt) One more year had passed during which Stipančić had waited in vain for his son to finish school. The son had constantly excused himself, declaring that even with the best intentions he could not subject himself to the examinations and promised at the same time that in three months at the latest he would return as a ready man to the house of his father. Stipančić had not lost faith in his son; how could he? Despite a lost lawsuit, he had still considered himself a nobleman, and had looked disapprovingly at heads of noble families who were forced to struggle for their daily bread. He had not budged an inch since he had lost the election against Čolić for a seat in the court. His fortune was rapidly disappearing, but his eyes had remained fixed on his son Juraj, by whose efforts the name of Stipančići would be seen in a better light than ever before. When he had become worried because the time had come to spend the last of his wealth, and from thinking that Lucija had nothing of her dowry, when Valpruga, as a mother, had turned the conversation to how this and that young man had become interested in Lucija’s beauty, he would become carried away in his imagination with Juraj, gazing at him fondly in his elegant nobleman’s suit, handsome and wise, with the city bowing in front of him, the country and the leading men; and then his thoughts would end with some rich and powerful aristocratic family somewhere in Budapest or Vienna, where Juraj would become engaged to the only daughter, returning richly to his home that money which had been spent on him. Those beautiful thoughts, which had enlivened the old man’s fantasy, had been stimulated by his son’s great talent and desire for knowledge, in his perfect education and finally in the practicality of Juraj’s spirit, of which he had convinced himself by lengthy monologues in Hungarian… “He turned out to be a failure!” said Stipančić in the same unbearable voice. Valpruga reached under the pillow and took the letter without his resisting . Through tears, she hardly recognized the words in the letter, which she read with astonishment: “To my very kind father, Mr. Ante Stipančić. It is my duty to inform you that I finished my studies by throwing the books in the corner, for my overly kind father did not consider it worthwhile to support his son for the next few months at the university. Three days ago I began a new career with which my father’s noble heart will have to make friends—I have been accepted in the service of tavern waiters. If my noble father’s heart feels sorry that I descended from the threshold of high doctoral honor to a waiter, a very handsome consolation remains for him—that his son is probably the most intelligent waiter in Europe. To tell the truth, I have to admit that I took this step with a heavy feeling in my soul. But at the time, I had to choose be- Vjenceslav Novak 95 tween either jumping into the Danube, or remaining alive as an honest waiter. This much to my noble father, with a humble request that he forget everything regarding me that he dreamed in his generosity about me and with me. I remain with due gratitude and with respects to my noble father… Juraj Stipančić, former doctoral law degree candidate, waiter.” Valpruga, after having read the letter, was consoled after her initial fear. “As long as he is alive,” she whispered to...