The Golden Pot

The Golden Pot: A Modern Fairytale (Der goldne Topf. Ein Märchen aus der neuen Zeit) is a novella by E. T. A. Hoffmann, first published in 1814. Hoffmann regarded it as his best story (Kaiser 1988, 37), and there is wide agreement among literary scholars that it is a masterpiece of romantic literature (Feldges & Stadler 1986, 64).

Lange (1982, ix) has written that a "simple summary becomes entirely inadequate when we attempt to interpret the intricate texture of ambivalence and illusion that [The Golden Pot] spreads lavishly before the reader." The following synopsis is presented with this limitation in mind.

The novella, which comprises twelve "vigils" (chapters, literally "night watches"), begins with the clumsy student Anselmus running through the Black Gate in Dresden, where he knocks over the basket of wares of a hideous old applemonger, scattering them in all directions. She reviles him prophetically with the words "Yes, run! Run, you child of Satan! Run into the crystal which will soon be your downfall." He flees and stops only when he has reached the banks of the River Elbe. There, coming from an elder tree, he hears melodious voices and the sounds of crystal bells. He looks up and beholds three green-gold snakes. One of them, who has marvelous blue eyes, stretches herself (snakes are grammatically feminine in German) out towards him, and he instantly falls in love with her. When she suddenly disappears, he is beside himself.

Anselmus later chances to meet his friend, Assistant Headmaster Paulmann, who invites him to his home. There, he meets Paulmann's blue-eyed daughter, Veronika, who falls in love with him. He also meets Registrar Heerbrand, who procures for him a job copying old manuscripts for Archivist Lindhorst, an eccentric alchemist and magician. On what is to be his first day of work, however, the old applemonger appears before him at the Archivist's door, and, consumed with terror, Anselmus falls unconscious and fails to assume his new position.

A few days later, Anselmus accidentally encounters Lindhorst, who impresses him in extravagant ways with his magic and reveals to him that the green-gold snakes he saw in the elder tree are his three daughters and that the blue-eyed one he fell in love with is his youngest, Serpentina. Full of love for Serpentina, he begins his new job the next day. His work consists of making exact copies of Arabic and Coptic texts that he cannot decipher. The Archivist warns him explicitly that he must not spot any of the originals with ink from his pen. Fortunately, Anselmus obtains help from Serpentina and is able to perform his duties impeccably.

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