Concetti Chiave
- The narrator and Heriot visit a cemetery at night, where Heriot directs attention to a tomb with marble hands.
- The tomb lacks a headstone, featuring only marble hands that appear so lifelike that they unsettle the narrator.
- Heriot shares that the hands belonged to an acquaintance of his aunt, who was obsessed with her beautiful hands.
- The woman had her hands sculpted in marble to adorn her grave, fulfilling her unusual wish posthumously.
- After her death, Heriot's unease grows when the hands remain on the tomb despite the new wife's demand for their removal.
This is a short story by Bernard Capes.
Night visit to the cemetery
The narrator and his friend Heriot enter a churchyard at night, probably to pay a visit to one of Heriot’s dead relatives. While they’re walking among the tombstones, Heriot stops and asks the narrator to go and look at a particular tomb and then tell him what he has seen. That tomb has no headstone, but only a couple of marble hands, as white and shiny as if they were real, so much that the narrator, for a moment, feels that they’re living hands, coming out of the grave. He runs back to Heriot and tells him that the hands are still there.
The story of the hands
Afterwards, Heriot tells the story of that tomb: it was the grave of one of his aunt’s acquaintances, who was very fond of her hands. Her hands were indeed the most beautiful part of her body, she had them photographed and then sculpted in marble. There was, however, something wicked about her fondness. Her desire was to have those marble hands on her grave once she was dead, and so it happened.
The return of the hands
Her husband married again after her death, and his new wife demanded those hands to be removed from the grave. But when Heriot went there to look at the tomb, he saw that the hands were still there, and had a bad feeling of darkness and horror: in that moment, he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, or if the hands had been actually put back in their place. That’s why he asked the narrator to go and check the place.
Si tratta di un racconto di Bernard Capes.
Night visit to the cemetery
Il narratore e il suo amico Heriot entrano di notte in un cimitero, probabilmente per far visita a uno dei parenti morti di Heriot. Mentre stanno camminando tra le tombe, Heriot chiede al narratore di andare a controllare una tomba particolare e di riportargli quanto vede. Quella tomba non ha una scritta, ma solo una coppia di mani scolpite in marmo, bianche e brillanti come se fossero vere, così tanto che il narratore, per un momento, ha come la sensazione che siano mani vive che escono dalla tomba stessa. Corre indietro da Heriot e gli conferma che le mani sono ancora lì.
The story of the hands
In seguito, Heriot racconta la storia di quella tomba: era la tomba di una conoscente di sua zia, che era ossessionata dalle proprie mani. Esse erano in effetti la parte più bella del suo corpo, tanto che se le faceva fotografare e addirittura se le fece scolpire in marmo. Tuttavia, c’era qualcosa di strano e malvagio nella sua ossessione per le mani. Era suo desiderio avere quelle mani in marmo sopra la sua tomba una volta morta e così accadde.
The return of the hands
Suo marito, dopo la sua morte, si risposò, e la sua nuova moglie pretese che quelle mani fossero levate dalla tomba. Ma quando Heriot tornò sul posto per controllare, vide che le mani erano ancora lì, ed ebbe una brutta sensazione di oscurità e orrore: in quel momento, non era sicuro se si trattasse della sua immaginazione, o se le mani erano state davvero rimesse al loro posto. Ecco perché ha chiesto al narratore di andare a controllare.
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Appunti di Letteratura inglese
Domande da interrogazione
- What prompts the narrator and Heriot to visit the cemetery at night?
- What unusual feature does the narrator observe at the tomb Heriot points out?
- What is the backstory of the marble hands on the tomb?
- How does Heriot's perception of the hands change after his visit to the tomb?
- What conflict arises concerning the marble hands after the woman's death?
The narrator and Heriot visit the cemetery at night, likely to pay respects to one of Heriot’s deceased relatives.
The narrator observes a tomb with no headstone, only a pair of marble hands that appear so lifelike he momentarily feels they are living hands emerging from the grave.
The marble hands belonged to an acquaintance of Heriot’s aunt, who was obsessed with her hands, considering them the most beautiful part of her body. She had them photographed and sculpted in marble, desiring them to adorn her grave after her death.
Heriot experiences a sense of darkness and horror, unsure if the hands were truly replaced on the tomb or if it was his imagination, prompting him to ask the narrator to verify their presence.
After the woman's death, her husband remarries, and his new wife demands the removal of the marble hands from the grave. However, Heriot later finds the hands still there, leading to a sense of unease and mystery.
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