The gate

The Bucharest Inns

excerpts In the second half of the 17th century, inns emerged in Bucharest. They later formed a very important chapter in the Bucharest economy of the 17th century and of the first half of the 18th century, and they made an important contribution to the development of the

100 Years At The Gates Of The Orient

excerpts Episode no. 33At the Vizier[1] Meanwhile, not long after the crescent had entered a Christian cloud, much to the heathens' grief, three men's shadows on three horses' shadows were more like crawling than riding towards the vizier's palace.

Wise Humor As A Sum Of Contraries

Speaking about I. L. Caragiale, i. e. the quintessential comic playwright in Romanian theater, N. Steinhardt made a few distinctions likely to offer generous openings: However powerful its spiritualism, Asia terrifies us with its uncivil dirt and squalor, while blind and

The Soccer Match

The match, said the propaganda secretary, ought to represent the clear expression of the class solidarity of the Vintileasa agricultural workers with all the peoples of the world. And the match between the teams of Impetus-Vintileasa and New Road-Ţifeşti, decisive for

Audience

About ten years ago I put down my name on a list. I wanted to be received in an audience to ask for some favor and I was told that for this purpose I had to enter my name on a list, leave my telephone number and wait. One day, the telephone rang and a nasal voice informed

The Tenderness And Betrayal Of Magdalene

I couldn't say I was properly introduced to Magdalene, the wording would be equally pretentious and inexact; as a matter of fact, she actually rushed into my studio… She was tired, exhausted, shabby, as if she had come out of the hundred year war. I had worked all

Long Autumn

In our parts, at Jassy, autumn starts late in May and lasts until Christmas. There is no summer in Jassy. If from time to time, winter did not come we could say we have only autumn over here. Nice weather begins with foul smells, green flies and heat. Then it turns nasty.

Vegetarianism

In the forty-fifth year of his life, Mr. Matache Pisălog noticed he could no longer button up the last three buttons of his brand-new waistcoat he had had made barely three years before. He also noticed then that his belly had started following the fashion of balloons -

Dog Day's Afternoon

The thermometer stands at 33 centigrade in the shade. In the scorching heat, a coach stops in Patience Street at 11 A, at around three in the afternoon. A gentleman gets off the carriage and, at a sluggish pace, approaches the door with a marquee, then rings the doorbell.

The Mother With Three Daughters-In-Law

There was once an old woman who had three sons, tall like steeples and of virtue mighty but dumb as fishes. The old woman had a plentiful household, with a fine piece of land, a stout manor and annexes, a vineyard and nice orchard, cattle and lots of poultry. Besides all

The Romanian Nation

Very few people today will remember a famous newspaper that used to appear at some point in the capital, during the war of independence. I mean here 'The Romanian Nation' that Frédéric Damé and I published together. The life of that paper was as short as it

A Speech

It's all set! On Saturday I am to deliver a speech in the plenary meeting of the SPDRM. There's no way out: I did, in a moment of utter weakness, promise an old friend of mine, Mrs. Parigoridi – so it is now for me a matter of conscience, of honour, of heart