The Children of the World

The Children of the World is a novel by Paul Heyse. Heyse was a distinguished German writer and translator. Excerpt: "This room, termed by its occupants' friends "the tun," was a large three-windowed apartment, with walls painted light grey, a floor scoured snow white, and over the windows instead of curtains, three narrow green calico lambrequins of the simplest pattern. A desk stood at the right-hand window, a small turning-lathe at the left, and in the spaces between the casements two tall bookcases; there were two beds placed against the wall, several cane chairs and small chests made of white wood, and finally, a low, smoky ceiling, which here and there showed large cracks, and threatened to fall. But the room, spite of its simplicity, had an aristocratic air from the presence of two copperplate engravings of Raphael's paintings, framed in plain brown wood, that hung over the beds, and two antique busts on the bookcases,--one a head of Aristotle, the other the gloomy-eyed, stern-browed Demosthenes. Even the low stove was adorned with a piece of sculpture at which no one is ever weary of gazing--the mask of Michael Angelo's young prisoner, who, with closed lids, lets his beautiful head sink on his shoulder as if weary of torture and longing for sleep. Here, however, the moonlight did not reach: it merely fell obliquely across the bed placed against the wall."

Paul Heyse (1830–1914) was a distinguished German writer and translator, celebrated for his literary versatility and proficiency in storytelling. Born on March 15, 1830, in Berlin, Heyse was the son of a university professor and showed early promise in the realm of literature. A prolific author, Heyse penned novels, short stories, poetry, and plays, displaying a keen sensitivity to the nuances of language and the complexities of human emotions. His work 'The Children of the World' ('Kinder der Welt', 1873) remains a testament to his narrative craftsmanship, exploring themes of love, morality, and societal conventions with intricate character development and psychological insight. Heyse's literary style is characterized by its elegant prose, often infused with a sense of romanticism and a deep understanding of classical and contemporary literature. In 1910, his contributions to literature were recognized with the Nobel Prize in Literature, honoring his 'Artistic achievement as a lyrical poet and the versatility, vigor, and originality with which he has cultivated the field of dramatic, epic, and narrative art'. Heyse's legacy lives on through his extensive body of work, which continues to engage and inspire readers and scholars alike.