The Laughing Cavalier · Chapter
I: New Year’s Eve explained
On the last hour of 1623, three philosophers—Diogenes, Socrates, and Pythagoras—witness a disturbance near the cathedral in Haarlem.
What happens
On the last hour of 1623, three philosophers—Diogenes, Socrates, and Pythagoras—witness a disturbance near the cathedral in Haarlem. A crowd harasses a group of suspected Papists at a postern gate. Meanwhile, burgomasters and councillors discuss tulip bulbs, and Mynheer Beresteyn boasts of a costly new hybrid. The chapter sets the stage for a chain of events triggered by chance and circumstance.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Chance
The narrator emphasizes a series of 'ifs'—weather, thirst, location—that conspire to set the chain of events in motion.
Social Class and Identity
The contrast between the wealthy tulip-trading councillors and the rough crowd at the postern gate highlights class divisions.
Appearance vs. Reality
The orderly procession to the cathedral contrasts with the violent mob scene, and the philosophers' casual demeanor belies their readiness for conflict.
Characters to notice
- Diogenes
Leader of the three philosophers; tall, broad, and quick to investigate the fracas by the postern gate.
- Socrates
One of the philosophers; laconic and observant, he identifies the disturbance as 'a row.'
- Pythagoras
The third philosopher; speaks in a flute-like voice and anticipates entertainment from the scene.
- Nicolaes Beresteyn
A wealthy councillor and tulip enthusiast; boasts of paying 15,000 florins for a new hybrid bulb.
- Mynheer van der Meer
Burgomaster of Haarlem; rival tulip collector, reacts with displeasure to Beresteyn's purchase.
Key passages
“If the snow had come down again or the weather been colder, or wetter, or other than it was … If one of the three men had been more thirsty, or the other more insistent. … If it had been any other day of the year, or any other hour of any other day. … If the three philosophers had taken their walk abroad in any other portion of the city of Haarlem. … If. … Nay! but there’s no end to the Ifs which I might adduce in order to prove to you beyond a doubt that but for an extraordinary conglomeration of minor circumstances, the events which I am about to relate neither would nor could ever have taken place.”
The narrator reflects that a series of small coincidences—weather, thirst, timing, and location—were necessary for the ensuing events to occur.
Establishes the theme of fate and chance as central to the plot.
““Fourteen thousand florins did I pay for my Schwarzer Kato,” said Mynheer Beresteyn complacently, “and now I would not sell it for twenty thousand.””
Mynheer Beresteyn boasts about his expensive tulip bulb, claiming its value has increased.
Illustrates the tulip mania and the wealth of the burgher class.