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شرف إزرائيل جاو

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Following them into an inner room, Father Brown found that the allies had been seated at a long oak table, of which their end was covered with scribbled papers, flanked with whisky and cigars. Through the whole of its remaining length it was occupied by detached objects arranged at intervals; objects about as inexplicable as any objects could be. One looked like a small heap of glittering broken glass. Another looked like a high heap of brown dust. A third appeared to be a plain stick of wood.

21 pages, ebook

First published December 2, 2012

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About the author

G.K. Chesterton

4,683 books5,808 followers
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

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5 stars
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3 stars
70 (37%)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Verba Non Res.
495 reviews129 followers
December 8, 2019
“Y la adoración del demonio es una religión verdadera”

He aquí un buen relato policial, creo que el primero que me encontré entre las aventuras del padre Brown. Los anteriores estaban bien, pero muchos no me parecían cuentos policiales puros, o venían fallados por una u otra razón. El secreto del género, me parece a mí, o es lo que a mí me gusta ver en el género, es que el problema no debería ser resuelto por una acumulación sucesiva de indicios, sino por un fundamental cambio de perspectiva. Aquí las pistas ya están dadas desde el principio (aunque es verdad que hay una, particularmente, que Chesterton se guarda hasta el final, y eso aleja al cuento de la perfección), y lo que queda es organizarlas de la manera adecuada. Los indicios, que a todo el mundo le parecen inconexos, para Brown son los símbolos de un alfabeto que habilita una infinidad de combinaciones posibles; para dar con la correcta le hace falta únicamente una clave interpretativa, y esta es la única que se presenta considerablemente fuera del alcance del lector. La resolución, con todo, es bastante elegante y quizás podría haber sido anticipada por algún lector de la época. Rescato también la siniestra ambientación, cuasi gótica, y la imagen de ese jardinero silencioso, de sombrero de copa, clavando la azada en la tierra.

Cuento #4 de El candor del padre Brown

Anterior: “The Secret Garden”

Siguiente: “The Wrong Shape
Profile Image for Antar Jabareen.
740 reviews10 followers
July 31, 2023
يَتوجَّه «فلامبو» و«الأب براون» إلى قلعةِ «جلينجايل» المَهيبةِ بِاسكتلندا لمُساعَدةِ المُفتشِ «كرافن» في التحقيقِ في المُلابَساتِ الغامضةِ لوفاةِ الإيرل «جلينجايل»؛ مالكِ القلعةِ الذي كانَ يَحيا حياةً مُنعزلةً ولم يَرَه أحدٌ من قبلُ سوى خادمِه الوحيدِ الصامتِ «إزرائيل جاو».
حياةٌ غامِضة، وأدِلَّةٌ بلا دلالةٍ — هي كلُّ ما عَثروا عليه داخلَ القلعة — زادَتِ الأمورَ غُموضًا؛ أكوامٌ منَ النشوقِ مُبعثرةٌ في كلِّ مكان، ومجموعةٌ منَ الأحجارِ الكريمةِ دونَ حُليٍّ تُرصِّعُها، وشموعٌ دونَ شَمعدانات، ورَصاصُ أَقْلامٍ دونَ أَقْلام، وكُتبٌ دِينيةٌ نُزِعَ منها اسمُ الربِّ والهالةُ التي تُحيطُ برأسِ المَسيح. ماذا تَعني كلُّ تلكَ الأدِلَّةِ التي لا تفسيرَ لها؟ هل كانَ للإيرل الراحلِ مُمارَساتٌ غامِضةٌ دعَتْ لوجودِ هذهِ الأشياء؟ ولِمَ يَرفضُ «إزرائيل جاو» أنْ يَتكلَّم؟ لِمَ اختارَ سيدُه لنفسِه تلكَ الحياةَ المُنعزِلة؟ يَنجحُ «الأب براون» في إيجادِ حلٍّ لذلكَ اللُّغزِ الغريب فقد أورث الإيرل لخادمه كل ذهبه وقد قام هذا الخادم بأخذ كل شيء ذهبي ولذلك وجدت الأشياء بطريقة غير اعتيادية وحتى أن الخادم قطع رأس الإيرل وأخذ الذهب من أسنانه ودفن الرأس في حقل البطاطا.
Profile Image for R.H. Naranjo.
Author 3 books12 followers
August 20, 2025
El Conde Glengyle ha muerto y la casa está en completo desastre, dejando en manos de un redimido Flambeau, el inspector Craven de Scotland Yard y del pequeño Padre Brown un nuevo misterio. Lleno de objetos extraños (joyas arrancadas de sus collares, velas sin candelabros, rapé sin su cajita), lo único que parece faltar es un objeto en particular: el oro. Todo apunta a que el sospechoso es Israel Gow: el sirviente pelirrojo que llevaba poco tiempo trabajando para el conde. Pero… ¿cómo comprobar si fue él quien robó el oro? O, aún peor, ¿si mató a Glengyle?

«Diez falsas filosofías pueden explicar el universo; diez falsas teorías pueden explicar el enigma del castillo Glengyle. Pero nosotros buscamos la explicación real del castillo y del universo.»

Otro cuento fantástico extraído de la mente del genio G.K. Chesterton.
Profile Image for Ray LaManna.
720 reviews67 followers
November 11, 2023
A dark tale from Chesterton...Lambeau's role is interesting.
Profile Image for Cintia.
147 reviews96 followers
July 31, 2015
Short, entertaining story. It didn't blow away my mind, but it's a good mystery, though. I have had read it a long time ago and I didn't remember a thing about it, but, upon reading it last night, it had what it's needed to grip me and make try to solve the mystery before the ending of the story. It's not bad at all, and I'll happily read more stories with Father Brown, that's for sure!
551 reviews
November 28, 2025
This story is particularly dumb even for a Father Bruin story.

The first half of it is seriously boring when, Father Bruin, Flamebroiled and some insignificant police inspector sit around and talk and fuss over some scattered garbage. It is but the scattered detritus left behind in some Gothic Scottish manor after Lord Whats-his-name died.

About the house, the somber Gardner, shovel in hand, digging his potatoes, still lingers.

Ooohhh! Spooky!!

And then comes an annoyingly dumb part where Father Bruin and the other two clowns, go into a religious, histrionic panic and dig up Lord W-h-n's grave because they are afraid of Black Magic, Satan Whorship, Heresy or some combination of the three.

Ohhhh! Spoooookier!!!

I have an image in my mind of Ozzy Osborne, sitting on a tombstone in the background, playing Black Sabbath songs on a harpsichord.

Ooohh! Coooool!

Turns out, there was nothing special about The Gardner, the scattered detritus or the "desecrated, headless corpse.

The Gardner was a gold digger, not just a potato digger. Every tiny last scrap of gold in the manor, was now in his pocket.

Don't worry. It was in the will so it was legal.

Ooohhh! Boring......

The psychopathy of Lord W-h-n and the gold digging, potato Gardner was, I admit, interesting enough.

But the ludicrous manner in which the story was presented, with all its pretended horror, terror and macabre was absolutely and totally farcical. And dumb!

Stick to poetry GKC! Stay away from "horror"! You haven't got the writing skills to write that kind of stuff. Not to mention his religious idealism handicaps any real attempts at terror on his part. Father Bruin is just too soft and boring a character to be a protagonist in a "Tale of Horror".

Another dead fish of a story, in the lifeless canon of the boring "detective" Father Bruin.
Profile Image for Cleo.
158 reviews251 followers
March 20, 2023
The Honour of Israel Gow

Father Brown and Flambeau (somehow between the story The Blue Cross and this one, Flambeau has transformed from a criminal into an amateur detective) meet up in the wilds of Scotland at Glengyle Castle to investigate the death of its Earl, a complete recluse who had only been attended by one servant, a perceived imbecile named Israel Gow.  There also, is Inspector Craven of Scotland Yard.  Clues are found but what could they mean?: A bunch of loose diamonds, snuff loose without a box, heaps of little pieces of metal and microscopic wheels, wax candles with no candlesticks, lead out of pencils, a splintered stick of bamboo and defaced Catholic missals.  Father Brown is sure they must open the grave of the Earl of Glengyle but what they find raises more questions than answers in this very weird and eerie mystery.
Profile Image for Geno.
344 reviews2 followers
April 8, 2023
2.5 ★
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Un conde fallece en su hogar y tres hombres intentan averiguar si fue un asesinato.

Está construído de manera interesante, hay una pila de objetos que parecen no tener relación pero que son pistas y es información que tenemos desde el comienzo para poder resolver el misterio. Sin embargo los personajes oscilan entre hablar de un culto al diablo y algo mucho más mundano lo que hace que algunas cosas se pierdan de foco.

Como relato policial cumple, aunque tiene algunas frases que, como el protagonista es un cura, lo vuelven demasiado religioso.
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An earl dies in his home and three men try to find out if it was a murder or not.

The story is interesting, there is a pile of objects that seem to be unrelated but that are clues. It's information that we have from the beginning so we could solve the mystery while reading. However, the characters went back and forth between blaming a demonic cult or excuses much more mundane, so the focus it's not clear.

As a detective story goes, it's OK. Nothing new but works just fine. I was expecting more.
Profile Image for Curt.
141 reviews1 follower
January 18, 2020
This was a quick and easy read on Father Brown. As far as I can tell it was the only Father Brown story set in Scotland. My guess is this was because of the supernatural elements that wove their way into the fabric of the story.
I enjoyed his intuitive approach to solving the crime. Of course there was no crime, but his approach saved Israel Gow from being jailed for a crime he did not commit.
Profile Image for Ely Lombardi.
26 reviews
July 13, 2021
This story is almost fun, I really like the bit where the detective character is trying to think of different ways the seemingly unrelated clues might be related, but there is a rather uncomfortable depiction of a developmentally disabled person with a major supporting role that pretty much singlehandedly brings this story from being pretty meh to “I wouldn’t really recommend it”
Profile Image for Troy Zaher.
290 reviews4 followers
September 20, 2019
“Devil worshiping is a perfectly genuine religion”

Not quite sure how I feel about this one. It was extra unorthodox. Though I did like that quote and thought it would be cool to see them go deeper into those thoughts.
14 reviews
January 29, 2025
One of Chesterton’s better stories. The feeling of despair permeated the story quite well and Chesteron’s description of the Scottish highlands was quite intriguing. I found the explanation to be somewhat forced but it was interesting nonetheless. Would’ve been perfect for 13 year old me.
Profile Image for Susan.
7,308 reviews69 followers
June 25, 2017
The mystery of the odd objects found after the death of Lord Glengyle in Glengyle castle in Scotland. Interesting enough.
Profile Image for Sam.
541 reviews8 followers
March 22, 2019
Would have been 5 *s but for Mr Chesterton attributing my ancestors dubious inventions to another family. Pah.
Profile Image for nooker.
782 reviews1 follower
September 9, 2020
I liked this better than I thought I would. The twist is interesting and possibly unique.
Profile Image for Flo Gourmel.
204 reviews12 followers
January 30, 2021
I heard people like this exist in real life as well, but I didn’t meet one yet. So it remains a characteristic of story characters for me.

Can one say this is OCD took at a whole other level?
Or is he a very just man, and nothing else?
Profile Image for Joe Lawrence.
267 reviews12 followers
April 15, 2021
A mystery with paradoxes and surprising turns. Some odd characters. Overall dull at the start but does pay off big in the end.
Profile Image for Bud Russell.
442 reviews3 followers
November 14, 2023
One in a series of Father Brown mysteries. Mildly entertaining. Perhaps I'll watch an episode on PBS.
Profile Image for Belén Coronel Blanes.
519 reviews45 followers
November 4, 2025
Un hombre fallece en su hogar y tres hombres intentan averiguar si fue un asesinato, y buscan alguna relación entre los objetos encontrados en su casa.
El Padre Brown, el oficial Craven y el detective aficionado Flambeau van a la tumba donde está el cuerpo de Lord Glengyle y se llevan una sorpresa.
Nunca había leído nada del autor, pero todo aquel que escriba policial o misterio pues bienvenido sea.
El relato me pareció bastante sencillo.
Profile Image for Amy.
1,132 reviews
April 18, 2013
This is a short story featuring Chesterton's Father Brown. I've tried reading Father Brown mysteries a few times, and for some reason, I just don't feel them! The writing is very nice, and Chesterton sets tone and scene quite well. Yet, these stories just don't hook me. The Honor of Israel Gow was just background noise to me, and not once was I pulled into the story. While I can't seem to get on board with Father Brown, I can appreciate Chesterton's way with words, so this gets two stars from me.
118 reviews1 follower
Read
December 31, 2014
The Honour of Israel Gow
Series: Father Brown Mystery
by G. K. Chesterton

narrator: James Arthur

Publisher
Audio Holdings, LLC
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
File size:
18747 KB
Number of parts:
1
Duration:
39 minutes
ISBN:
9781601362360
Release date:
Jun 22, 2009
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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