Chapter 1 No.1

N?o é meu intento tra?ar a historia d'este ramo de litteratura. Direi, todavia, que d'aquelle modo continuou o romance, em todos os tempos, e sob todas as fórmas, a reproduzir em si, com mais ou menos naturalidade e viveza de c?res, as mudan?as que se v?o operando nas idêas e nos costumes.

D'est'arte se revestiu das fórmas classicas, quando, sob a influencia dos sabios e dos artistas, foragidos de Constantinopla, ao desmoronar do imperio do Oriente, se operou nas letras, nas artes, e no proprio viver da sociedade, a grande revolu??o denominada renascen?a, a qual foi inspirar-se nas obras grandiosas da antiga Grecia.

Do mesmo modo assumiu o romance a gravidade philosophica, quando Voltaire, Rousseau, e outros grandes pensadores do seculo passado, proclamando verdades, que faziam estremecer em seus thronos os monarchas despoticos, convidavam os estadistas a meditarem nos problemas sociaes, cuja semente assim lan?avam á terra; e excitavam os povos a reflectir na significa??o e importancia dos direitos do homem.

Assim o romance se tornou historico, logo que a sociedade, sentindo o mal estar de uma organisa??o que os progressos da civilisa??o iam fazendo caducar, recorria ao passado, como que procurando nos archivos da historia o elixir para se rejuvenescer; isto é, estudando nas antigas sociedades as fórmas governativas, que mais lhe quadrariam sob a revolu??o que se preparava.

Quando, em nossos dias, a applica??o do vapor á locomo??o e ás machinas industriaes, bem como a telegraphia electrica, pondo em facil e rapida communica??o todos os povos do globo, estabeleceram novas condi??es de existencia social, que h?o de operar for?osamente, em maior ou menor espa?o de tempo, uma transforma??o completa, n?o só no modo de viver, mas tambem na organisa??o da sociedade; quando a atten??o dos homens pensadores come?ava a fixar-se na grande revolu??o prevista, e a meditar nos difficeis problemas que ella em breve deveria offerecer á resolu??o dos philosophos e dos estadistas; quando a atten??o geral dos povos, desapegada das tradi??es do passado, se absorvia inteiramente na contempla??o do presente, admirando as maravilhas do progresso, anciando saciar-se dos gosos, que elle gera com m?o fecunda e prodiga, o romance, deixando tambem em repouso os archivos da historia, come?ou a inspirar-se nas scenas da vida actual. E ao passo que retratava a sociedade, dando colorido e relevo a cada uma das suas fei??es, lan?ava á arena da discuss?o as novas e grandes quest?es sociaes.

Porém, partindo do mesmo ponto, movidos por egual impulso, os romancistas contemporaneos, que se dedicaram a descrever os costumes e praticas da actualidade, dividiram-se em duas turmas, seguindo caminho differente. Uns, impellidos por uma idêa elevada e generosa, pintaram com c?res negras, mas verdadeiras, todas as angustias e miserias da sociedade moderna, estudando-lhes as causas, apontando os perigos futuros, fazendo avultar os defeitos e defficiencias das institui??es; chamando, em fim, a solicitude dos poderes publicos para o horrivel cancro, que vae corroendo o corpo social. á frente d'estes illustrados romancistas colocára-se Eugenio Sue.

Infelizmente, muitos discipulos d'esta eschola, esquecendo ou despresando os intuitos philosophicos do mestre, trataram sómente de deleitar; e reconhecendo as tendencias do seculo para os gosos sensuaes, e para os grandes sobresaltos do espirito e do cora??o, puzeram em ac??o todas as paix?es violentas, e todos os instinctos ferozes da humanidade. Compozeram d'est'arte, é bem certo, quadros grandiosos, cheios de vida e de anima??o, scintilantes de fogo e de energia, em que se succedem uns aos outros os episodios dramaticos, e as scenas tragicas. Mas, atravez das galas da poesia, com que os adornaram, e sob o brilho seductor dos ouropeis com que se esfor?am por atenuar, sen?o santificar, a hidiondez de torpezas e devassid?es repugnantes, transparece o virus da corrup??o da alma, ministrado em ta?a de ouro á mocidade inexperiente e ávida de commo??es fortes.

A outra turma de romancistas tem trilhado mais nobre senda, no desempenho de uma miss?o civilisadora e santa.

Os seus romances n?o deslumbrar?o, talvez, o espirito com o esplendor das imagens; n?o o sobresaltar?o com a rapida success?o de casos extraordinarios; n?o subjugam a raz?o, nem exp?em o cora??o a contínuo tremor com o longo encadeamento de commo??es violentas.

Como o prado, que, sob o sol da primavera, se veste de verdores, que vae matisando pouco a pouco de flores singelas, mas rescendendo de suaves aromas, resplandecentes e encantadoras pela viveza e variedade das c?res; e que no inverno troca as alegrias em tristezas, as galas em miseria, para outra vez folgar e enriquecer-se sob o novo sceptro de Flora; assim nas produc??es d'estes romancistas alternam-se as scenas meigas e suaves da familia com os tristes acasos da sorte, com as tribula??es da desventura, emfim, com as tempestades da vida. N'estes quadros avultam tambem os contrastes, como na natureza; os toques de luz e de sombra, colhidos nas vicissitudes da fortuna e no tumultuar das paix?es. Figuram ahi alguns dos vicios e crimes, que s?o no mundo moral a imagem das for?as destruidoras no mundo physico. Mas apresentam-se, n?o com o semblante vellado, embora por véo transparente, que mal deixa distinguir-lhes a fealdade; n?o com as fei??es embellesadas e disfar?adas com arrebiques e lou?ainhas, que fascinem e lhes conciliem as sympathias das almas ingenuas e credulas, mas sim taes quaes s?o, na sua completa nudez, em toda a sua asquerosa deformidade.

Finalmente, d'esta lucta entre o bem e o mal, figurada n'estes romances, sáe a virtude ou o arrependimento coroado pela felicidade, e o crime ou o vicio punido pela justi?a dos homens, ou pela de Deos, que dos proprios vicios e crimes fez gerar o castigo que os pune na terra.

A esta turma de romancistas, a que pertence a eschola allem?, veiu associar-se uma outra, ainda mais singela e modesta, talvez, mas tambem guiada pelo mesmo impulso generoso de deleitar, moralisando. Comp?e-se esta de um certo numero de auctores de contos e tradi??es populares, entre os quaes occupa logar de honra D. Antonio de Trueba.

You'll also like

Abandoned Luna: Now Untouchable

Lila

4.7

For eight years, Cecilia Moore was the perfect Luna, loyal, and unmarked. Until the day she found her Alpha mate with a younger, purebred she-wolf in his bed. In a world ruled by bloodlines and mating bonds, Cecilia was always the outsider. But now, she's done playing by wolf rules. She smiles as she hands Xavier the quarterly financials-divorce papers clipped neatly beneath the final page. "You're angry?" he growls. "Angry enough to commit murder," she replies, voice cold as frost. A silent war brews under the roof they once called home. Xavier thinks he still holds the power-but Cecilia has already begun her quiet rebellion. With every cold glance and calculated step, she's preparing to disappear from his world-as the mate he never deserved. And when he finally understands the strength of the heart he broke... It may be far too late to win it back.

My Cold Heart: Rejecting The Mafia Boss

Jia Zhong

5.0

My husband, the Outfit’s most feared Consigliere, stood up and buttoned his suit jacket. He had just convinced a jury that Sofia Moretti was innocent. But we both knew the truth: Sofia had poisoned my mother over a spilled martini on her Valentino dress. Instead of comforting me, Dante looked at me with cold, dead eyes. "If you make a scene," he whispered, gripping my arm until it bruised, "I will bury you in a psychiatric ward so deep even God won't find you." To protect the Family alliance, he sacrificed his wife. When I tried to fight back, he drugged me at a gala. He let a private investigator take photos of me, naked and unconscious, just to have leverage to keep me silent. He paraded Sofia around our penthouse, letting her wear my dead mother’s shawl while I was banished to the staff quarters. He thought he had broken me. He thought I was just a nurse’s daughter he could manage. But he made a fatal error. He didn't read the "committal forms" I handed him to sign. They were divorce papers, transferring his assets to me. And the night of the yacht party, while he toasted to his victory with my mother's killer, I left my wedding ring on the deck. I didn't jump to die. I jumped to be reborn. And when I resurfaced, I made sure Dante Russo burned for every sin.

Mated to My Fiancé's Rival Alpha

Lila

5.0

Silvia lost everything in one night-her parents,her trust,and her mate. Coming home from their funeral,she found her "fated"partner,Zack,tangled with another she-wolf. "You'll always be my Luna... even if I need variety,"he said,smirking. Heartbroken but fierce,she rejected him-and turned to someone far more dangerous. "I need help,"she whispered. Sherman leaned closer,his voice like silk over steel. "I offer more than help,little wolf. I offer everything he couldn't give you." Now married to Zack's powerful half-brother,Silvia plays a deadly game of loyalty,vengeance,and survival. But Sherman Carter doesn't help for free-and as their bond deepens,truths unravel. Is Silvia just a pawn in Sherman's war? Or is she becoming the Queen who'll burn the whole pack down? When love,betrayal,and bloodlines collide,how far will one omega go to save her family-and destroy the mate who broke her soul?

Reborn Rich, My Vengeance Rises

Rabbit

3.5

My husband, Ethan Vance, made me his trophy wife. My best friend, Susanna Thorne, helped me pick out my wedding dress. Together, they made me a fool. For three years, I was Mrs. Ethan Vance, a decorative silence in his billion-dollar world, living a quiet routine until a forgotten phone charger led me to his office. The low, feminine laugh from behind his door was a gut-punch; inside, I found Ethan and Susanna, my "best friend" and his CMO, tangled on his sofa, his only reaction irritation. My divorce declaration brought immediate scorn and threats. I was fired, my accounts frozen, and publicly smeared as an unstable gold-digger. Even my own family disowned me for my last cent, only for me to be framed for assault and served a restraining order. Broke, injured, and utterly demonized, they believed I was broken, too ashamed to fight. But their audacious betrayal and relentless cruelty only forged a cold, unyielding resolve. Slumped alone, a restraining order in hand, I remembered my hidden journal: a log of Ethan's insider trading secrets. They wanted a monster? I would show them one.

The $300 Husband Is A Zillionaire

Nap Regazzini

4.6

I woke up in a blindingly white hotel penthouse with a throbbing headache and the taste of betrayal in my mouth. The last thing I remembered was my stepsister, Cathie, handing me a flute of champagne at the charity gala with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Now, a tall, dangerously handsome man walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips. On the nightstand sat a stack of hundred-dollar bills. My stepmother had finally done it—she drugged me and staged a scandal with a hired escort to destroy my reputation and my future. "Aisha! Is it true you spent the night with a gigolo?" The shouts of a dozen reporters echoed through the heavy oak door as camera flashes exploded through the peephole. My phone lit up with messages showing my bank accounts were already frozen. My father was invoking the 'morality clause' in my mother’s trust fund, and my fiancé had already released a statement dumping me to marry my stepsister instead. I was trapped, penniless, and being hunted by the press for a scandal I hadn't even participated in. My own family had sold me out for a payday, and the man standing in front of me was the only witness who could prove I was innocent—or finish me off for good. I didn't have time to cry. According to the fine print of the trust, I had thirty days to prove my "rehabilitation" through a legal marriage or I would lose everything. I tracked the man down to a coffee shop the next morning, watching him take a thick envelope of cash from a wealthy older woman. I sat across from him and slid a napkin with a $50,000 figure written on it. "I need a husband. Legal, paper-signed, and convincing." He looked at the number, then at me, a slow, crooked smile spreading across his face. I thought I was hiring a desperate gigolo to save my inheritance. I had no idea I was actually proposing to Dominic Fields, the reclusive billionaire shark who was currently planning a hostile takeover of my father’s entire empire.

The Almighty Alpha Wins Back His Rejected Mate

Rianon Fisk

4.8

Life was a bed of roses for Debra, the daughter of Alpha. That was until she had a one-night stand with Caleb. She was sure he was her mate as determined by Moon Goddess. But this hateful man refused to accept her. Weeks passed before Debra discovered that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy brought shame to her and everyone she loved. Not only was she driven out, but her father was also hunted down by usurpers. Fortunately, she survived with the help of the mysterious Thorn Edge Pack. Five years passed and Debra didn't hear anything from Caleb. One day, their paths crossed again. They were both on the same mission-carrying out secret investigations in the dangerous Roz Town for the safety and posterity of their respective packs. Caleb was still cold toward her. But as time went on, he fell head over heels in love with her. He tried to make up for abandoning her, but Debra wasn't having any of it. She was hell-bent on hiding her daughter from him and also making a clean break. What did the future hold for the two as they journeyed in Roz Town? What kind of secrets would they find? Would Caleb win Debra's heart and get to know his lovely daughter? Find out!

Contos escolhidos de D. Antonio de Trueba

Contents