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Mene Tekel
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1946
21 people want to read
About the author
Nescio
19 books54 followersJan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh was born in Amsterdam, the oldest of four children. After an idealistic youth, he joined the Holland–Bombay Trading Company in 1904, becoming director in 1926, suffering a nervous breakdown leading to a short hospitalization in 1927, and retiring at age fifty-five, on December 31, 1937; he married Aagje Tiket (b. 1883) in 1906 and had four daughters with her, born in 1907, 1908, 1909, and 1912. Meanwhile, as Nescio (Latin for “I don’t know”; he adopted a pseudonym so as not to jeopardize his business career, acknowledging his authorship publicly only in 1929), he wrote what is now considered perhaps the best prose in the Dutch language.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 4, 2013
Nescio does not remember if he wrote this in 1913 or in 1914. Its first paragraph, however, is timeless:
"Again the longest day was past. The days were getting shorter--it was still barely noticeable but we knew it was happening, this summer too would pass. Again the day came to an end, again the bright red above the horizon grew pale, the water in the distance kept its color, but barely, darkness crept up everywhere, out of the earth, now the canal in the distance had vanished in the night. We were gloomy about all the things that had passed, and about our lives, which would end while all these things continued to exist. We would see the days get longer a few more times, then we wouldn't be young anymore. And after that, when the chestnut trees had blossomed red or white a few more times, we would die, in the prime of our lives or maybe as old men, which would be even worse. And the sky would be red again and the canal would still be there too, most likely, gold in the twilight, and they wouldn't notice any difference."
The "we" here are the unnamed narrator, and his friends Bavink and Bekker. Bavink who had expressed their common desire to become famous then tells the story of when he was visited by someone from a magazine to be interviewed for a magazine article.
How this interview went forced the story's last, one-sentence paragraph:
"And again we sat silent and thought about how we had no reason to exist."
"Again the longest day was past. The days were getting shorter--it was still barely noticeable but we knew it was happening, this summer too would pass. Again the day came to an end, again the bright red above the horizon grew pale, the water in the distance kept its color, but barely, darkness crept up everywhere, out of the earth, now the canal in the distance had vanished in the night. We were gloomy about all the things that had passed, and about our lives, which would end while all these things continued to exist. We would see the days get longer a few more times, then we wouldn't be young anymore. And after that, when the chestnut trees had blossomed red or white a few more times, we would die, in the prime of our lives or maybe as old men, which would be even worse. And the sky would be red again and the canal would still be there too, most likely, gold in the twilight, and they wouldn't notice any difference."
The "we" here are the unnamed narrator, and his friends Bavink and Bekker. Bavink who had expressed their common desire to become famous then tells the story of when he was visited by someone from a magazine to be interviewed for a magazine article.
How this interview went forced the story's last, one-sentence paragraph:
"And again we sat silent and thought about how we had no reason to exist."
September 16, 2025
Ik snap niet alles wat Nescio opschrijft, maar het is wel mooi
January 13, 2026
Idem als Titaantjes! Leuk. Zeer fijne taal
“En we zaten weer stil en dachten er aan dat wij geen reden van bestaan hadden.”
“En we zaten weer stil en dachten er aan dat wij geen reden van bestaan hadden.”
January 3, 2024
'Een vreemd gevoel van onvergankelijkheid'.
October 6, 2025
Werkelijk prachtig.
Wat een zegening is het, om Nescio te kunnen lezen.
"Groot was God dien middag en goedertieren. Door onze oogen kwam Zijn wereld naar binnen en leefde in onze hoofden. En onze gedachten gingen woordeloos uit over de wereld, ver over den gezichteinder gingen zij. En zoo vloeiden de wereld en wij beurtelings in elkaar over. Bekker zei datti z'n hart voelde uitzetten en toen ik m'n oogen dicht deed, was 't of m'n hoofd vol goud licht en blauw water was en wonderlijke rillingen gingen door m'n ruggemerg. Ik voelde daar de wereld, die om mij lag."
Wat een zegening is het, om Nescio te kunnen lezen.
"Groot was God dien middag en goedertieren. Door onze oogen kwam Zijn wereld naar binnen en leefde in onze hoofden. En onze gedachten gingen woordeloos uit over de wereld, ver over den gezichteinder gingen zij. En zoo vloeiden de wereld en wij beurtelings in elkaar over. Bekker zei datti z'n hart voelde uitzetten en toen ik m'n oogen dicht deed, was 't of m'n hoofd vol goud licht en blauw water was en wonderlijke rillingen gingen door m'n ruggemerg. Ik voelde daar de wereld, die om mij lag."
February 19, 2021
“Weer was de langste dag voorbij ...” zo begint de novelle. Mene mene tekel ufarsin (Aramees voor geteld, geteld, gewogen en verdeeld") is een raadselachtige spreuk die volgens Daniël 5 tijdens het feest van de Babylonische koning Belsazar op een muur verscheen. Ik moet mijn hersenen nog pijnigen wat de relatie is met deze zes relativerende en melancholische schetsen van het dagelijks leven. De vele lovende kritieke maken het wel een uitdaging om hier nog eens op te kauwen.
May 12, 2018
Mooi geschreven
October 22, 2022
Aardig kort verhaaltje. Schrijft prettig.
October 27, 2025
Нескіо - легенда! Дуже класно підбирає слова...я обов'язково перечитаю все і всім раджу
January 9, 2026
Tweede audioboek op weg naar La Rochelle
January 11, 2023
if i’m honest i only completed nescio’s short stories because a) i can’t handle an unfinished series, and b) because i needed some short books to achieve my reading goal for 2022
August 28, 2016
Weer een prachtig bundeltje verhalen van Nescio. Niet zo sterk als Boven het Dal, maar het lezen zeker waard.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews