A Little Legend of the Dance (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gottfried Keller
- First Published: 1872
- Type of Plot: Parody
- Time of Work: The early Christian era
- Setting: Earth and Heaven
- Principal Characters: Musa, David, The nine Muses from Hades
- Genres: Short fiction, Parody
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Christianity, Singing or singers, Legends, Dancing or dancers, Heaven, Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint
- Locales: Earth, Heaven
The Story
The story opens with a quotation from the Old Testament that associates dance with happiness: “O virgin of Israel, thou shalt . . . go forth in the dances of them that make merry. . . . Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance.” (Jer. 31:4,13).
The legend itself takes place after the Christianization of Europe. The young girl Musa is a born dancer who dances on all occasions, with others and by herself. One day, as she is dancing alone in the sanctuary, a man wearing a royal purple gown and a gold crown appears and dances with her to music provided by...
[The entire page is 1396 words long]
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