The Adventurous Simplicissimus · Chapter
XXIII: In Which the Hermit Concludes His Story and Therewith Ends These His Six Books explained
The hermit, now alone after his comrade's death, experiences a haunting by the deceased comrade's spirit, who reveals hidden ducats and confesses his misplaced trust in money over God.
What happens
The hermit, now alone after his comrade's death, experiences a haunting by the deceased comrade's spirit, who reveals hidden ducats and confesses his misplaced trust in money over God. The hermit removes the money but finds it useless. He then dedicates himself to spiritual discipline, gardening to avoid idleness, and using nature as a book of godly reflections. He discovers a method to write on palm leaves with Brazil-juice and lemon-juice, and composes a record of his life and sins, leaving it with the ducats for any future visitors, hoping they will learn from his repentance and God's mercy.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Morality
The hermit's entire chapter is a meditation on sin, repentance, and divine grace, using nature as a source of religious reflection and writing his confession on palm leaves.
Greed and Money
The deceased comrade's ghost reveals his hidden ducats, showing his trust in money over God, which causes his posthumous unrest; the hermit deems the money worthless.
Innocence and Experience
The hermit moves from a state of fearful solitude to a mature, disciplined spiritual life, using his past 'knavish tricks' as a lesson for repentance.
Characters to notice
- Simplicissimus
The hermit, now alone, reflects on his solitude and prepares for spiritual battle, but instead encounters the ghost of his deceased comrade.
- The Hermit
The hermit is the narrator of this chapter, recounting his life after his comrade's death, his haunting, and his turn to devout practices.
Key passages
“Now had my comrade hardly been a week dead when I marked that my abode was haunted.”
Just a week after my comrade died, I noticed that my home was haunted.
The hermit describes the onset of supernatural disturbances following his comrade's death.
“I did write down all that had befallen me in this book made of the aforementioned palm-leaves, and laid them together with my comrade’s ducats in this place”
I recorded everything that happened to me in this book made from palm leaves, and placed it along with my comrade's gold coins here.
The hermit explains his purpose in creating a written record of his life for future discoverers.