The King of the Mountains

Name: The King of the Mountains
Author: Edmond About

Hermann Schultz, a young German botanist collecting specimens for the Hamburg Jardin des Plantes, tells the narrator how he lodged in Athens with the pastry-cook Christodule, befriending the archaeologist Merinay, the Maltese Giacomo Fondi, young William Lobster, and above all the fearless American Captain John Harris, while hearing lurid tales of the bandit chief Hadgi-Stavros, "King of the Mountains," who has plundered, ransomed, and killed across Attica for decades while investing his profits through a London banking house and doting on his convent-schooled daughter Photini's namesake friend visits the house, secretly infatuated with Harris. Venturing out to botanize on Parnassus once newspapers report the King defeated, Hermann meets and guides two Englishwomen, the blustering Mrs. Simons and her lovely daughter Mary-Ann, toward the mountain; all three, along with the guide Dimitri, are seized by Hadgi-Stavros's brigands. Brought before the King—dictating letters, managing investments, and holding court with eerie civility—the party learns ransom terms: 100,000 francs for the wealthy Englishwomen, 15,000 for the penniless Hermann, due by May 15. Life in camp mixes danger with strange comforts: a good-natured monk, brigand etiquette, Ascension Day revelry, and the King's candid boasts about his career, philosophy of "well-organized" brigandage, and pitiless business logic (illustrated by his chilling account of murdering two ransomed girls, Mistra's daughters, for a late payment). A rescue attempt fizzles into farce: soldiers under the vain, corrupt Captain Pericles—Hadgi-Stavros's own godson—stage a fake liberation while secretly guarding the prisoners so the King can raid an army payroll elsewhere, later extracting the Englishwomen's jewelry as "evidence" and threatening Hermann into silence about the collusion between officialdom and banditry. The King returns battered but triumphant from a costly raid (Pericles' cadet Spiro dies), and Hermann, exploiting a loophole, gets the King to accept payment without a written receipt—undermining Hadgi-Stavros's own claim to be uncollectible. Mrs. Simons pays her ransom via the King's own bankers and departs with Mary-Ann, leaving Hermann behind when her brother's letter shortchanges his ransom; Hermann, smitten with Mary-Ann though insisting it isn't love, is promised a warm welcome if he escapes. Left as a devalued hostage guarded first by four soldiers, then by the murderous but oddly affectionate Vasile (killer of the roasted infant), Hermann fails one escape (a burst suspender strap foils his sprint toward Athens) and plots another: getting Vasile thoroughly drunk on wine and rhaki. The narrative breaks off as Vasile collapses into a stupor, mid-escape-attempt, with Hermann's fate and the resolution of his ransom, his hoped-for reunion with Mary-Ann, and Harris's promised intervention all still unresolved.

By Edmond About · First published 1864 · Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Romance · 9 chapters · 77,766 words

First lines

On the 3d of July, about six o'clock in the morning, I was watering my flowers. A young man entered the garden. He was blonde, beardless; he wore a German cap and sported gold spectacles. A long, loose woolen coat, or paletot, drooped in a melancholy way around his form, like a sail around a mast in a calm. He wore no gloves; his tan leather shoes had such large soles, that the foot was surrounded by a narrow flange. In the breast-pocket of his paletot, a huge porcelain pipe bulged half-way out. I did not stop to ask myself whether this young man was a student in the German Universities; I put down my watering-pot, and saluted him with: "Guten Morgen!"

What this Textopian page supports

The King of the Mountains is listed on Textopian as a novel by Edmond About, dated 1864 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Edmond About
Date: 1864 CE
Language: English
Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction, Romance, Thriller, Comedy
Length: 77,766 words
Structure: 9 chapters, 1,235 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Discussion starters

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Similar titles

Genres

Adventure — The narrative revolves around a journey through the Greek mountains, filled with perilous encounters and daring exploits.
Science Fiction — The story involves a fantastical element of a man who has developed a serum that makes him immune to all diseases.
Romance — A subplot involves a romantic relationship between two of the characters.
Thriller — The narrative contains elements of suspense and danger, particularly in the mountain journey and encounters with the antagonist.