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SCMP Reporter

Modern Short Stories 2 (Edited by Jim Hunter) is an HKCEE text.

The Bewitched Jacket by Dino Buzzati

We often think of a short story as being like a novel, but not as long. This short story shows us very clearly that the short story is a quite different piece of literature. We are not given a detailed description of location. We know that the story takes place in a modern city, but little more.

We are not given very much characterisation. We know little about the narrator of the story. He seems to be single and a businessman. We know nothing about his family background, his age, the kind of business he is in, his tastes hobbies - we do not even know his name. Neither do we know anything about the relationships that he has with other people, which is often the main driver of the plot in novels or in short stories. So just what is this story about?

A fable

In its tone and structure, this story is a modern fable. A fable is a traditional kind of story that has a simple plot and conveys to the reader a simple moral lesson. Fables often contain characters or events that are mysterious and magical. In that sense they are similar to myths, ancient stories that explain why the world is as it is.

Aesop's fables

You might have come across the animal fables by the Greek writer Aesop who was writing in the 6th century BC (they must be good is they have lasted for 26 centuries). One of the most well-known is the Story of the Tortoise and the Hare.

The two animals have a race. The hare sets off fast and soon leaves the tortoise behind, who of course moves along at a steady, very slow speed. The hare gets so far in front he becomes over-confident, allows himself to be distracted and too late realises that the tortoise has overtaken him and won. The moral is that to do something well you need to take your time and show care rather than rush without thinking.

The mysterious tailor

The supernatural, magical character in the story is the tailor, Alfonso Corticella. He is made mysterious in several different ways. He is introduced to the narrator by a stranger whom he meets at a party. The mystery is enlarged because we know nothing about the stranger either. He talks of the tailor as if he is the leader of a religious cult. He is a 'great master' and he works only for 'a few initiates', a word given to people who are introduced to a special club or religious group.

Oddly, he does not seem to ask for any payment for his clothes - the stranger says: 'He made me this suit three years ago and he still hasn't sent me the bill.' At the end of the story, the narrator has not paid the bill and is still wondering when the tailor will ask for the 'final settling of my account'.

A figure like the devil

The tailor is in many ways like the devil. There is something false about him. He is 'a little old man with black hair which was, however, obviously dyed'. He leaves the narrator feeling uneasy, 'perhaps because of his much too warm and persistent smiles'. He stays in his memory as an 'unpleasant old man'.

The tailor is like the devil in that he tempts the narrator. The magic jacket is appealing to the sin of greed in the narrator. It tempts him to take the money from the jacket even when he realises that the money is linked to the misfortune of others. The first lot of money equates exactly to the amount stolen in a bank robbery in the course of which a man was killed. The writer makes the moral point clear: 'The more one gets, the more one wants.'

Conclusion : A moral about money

The storyteller is making a point about greed and the power of money. He is suggesting that some people are so greedy they pursue money - and the power it gives them - even when it causes suffering to others. You could think of plenty of examples: factory owners who do not care about the health of their workers as long as they are making money; people who cheat their friends; poachers who slaughter rare animals like elephants and tigers in order to sell the carcasses for medicines or ornaments.

The narrator of the story realises the error of his ways and burns his jacket. The final moral comes at the end of the story: the devil will be back to demand payment for what he has given. Evil people will always be punished in some way in the end.



Greed and the power of money