Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte

Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte, a story by Adelbert von Chamisso, published in 1814. The preface indicates that it was written in Kunersdorf (1813).

Young Peter Schlemihl approaches a wealthy merchant with a letter of introduction. Bidden to follow the merchant and his friends, he notes a man in inconspicuous grey. Presently the man in grey takes Schlemihl on one side and buys his shadow, giving in payment the inexhaustible purse of Fortunatus. But the shadowless Schlemihl cannot enjoy his wealth; he is reviled and persecuted and loses the woman he loves. The man in grey reappears and offers to return the shadow if Schlemihl will yield him his soul. Schlemihl, after an inner struggle, rejects the offer and frees himself from the sinister man in grey by throwing away the magic purse. His shadowless misery continues until he happens to discover a pair of seven-league boots with the help of which he devotes himself to scientific inquiry and research and so compensates himself, by useful endeavour, for his loss. The story, which achieved instant success, offers opportunity for diverse interpretations, both on the political and the personal plane. A translation by Sir John Bowring was reissued with an introduction by W. Koepke in 1993.