Outdoor Illustration of the Short Story by Alexandros Papadiamantis “Dream on the Wave”
The work is exhibited at the Papadiamantis Museum in Skiathos and depicts the two protagonists — a shepherd and a young girl in his arms — the goat, two birds flying in the air, and an owl in the bush.
Alexandros Papadiamantis, “Dream on the Wave”
Illustration by Babis Pilarinos
A poor shepherd boy in the mountains, eighteen years old, saves — after dramatic doubts, wavering, and inner conflicts — Moschoula, a young girl two years younger than him, whom he saw sinking and disappearing into the wave. He certainly paid the price for her life.
His poor little goat — also named Moschoula — whom he had forgotten for the sake of the other Moschoula, “was roped”: she became badly entangled in the rope by which he had tied her and drowned!… He grieved moderately and made her a sacrifice in the other one’s name.
“As I had wrapped her in my left arm, it seemed to me that I felt her faint warm breath on my cheek. I had arrived just in time, glory be to God!… Still, she gave no clear signs of life… I shook her with a strong movement, instinctively, so that she might be able to breathe; I made her lean against my back and I swam — with my right hand and both legs — I swam strongly toward the shore.
My strength multiplied miraculously. I felt the being cling to me; she wanted her life; oh! let her live and be happy! No selfish thought was present in my mind at that moment. My heart was full of self-sacrifice and unselfishness. I would never ask for a reward!
How long will I remember that soft, tender body of the pure girl which I once felt on me for a few minutes in my otherwise pointless life! It was a dream, an illusion, an enchantment. And how different it was from all the selfish embraces, from all the false friendships and lustful passions of the world — that ethereal contact!
That burden, that sweet burden, was not heavy; it was relief and refreshment. Never did I feel myself lighter than while I was carrying that burden…
I was the man who managed, for a moment, to catch with his hands a dream — his very own dream…”
“Father Nicholas Planas at divine service and Alexandros Papadiamantis singing in the small church of Agios Elissaios in Monastiraki” 240×132 cm. Etching
Alexandros Papadiamantis and Alexandros Moraitidis, humbly in Skiathos.