“The Bewitched Bourgeois” is a short story by Dino Buzzati that can be found in the collection The Siren: A Selection from Dino Buzzati. It’s about a middle-aged man on vacation in a mountain village that gets involved in an enchanted game with a group of boys, with surprising consequences. Here’s a summary of “The Bewitched Bourgeois”.
“The Bewitched Bourgeois” Summary
Giuseppe Gaspari, fourty-four, is in a mountain village on vacation. While his family is asleep, he takes a walk up the mountain. The valley behind isn’t as beautiful as he hoped. Like his life, it falls a bit short. When he’s gone up a good ways, he hears voices behind a ridge. Curious, he leaves the trail and goes to the top of a hill. He sees a wild, mysterious gorge that fills him with joy. It’s familiar, like something magical he had glimpsed in the past.
Behind a hedge, there are five young boys, shirtless and done up almost like pirates. They have a popgun and primitive bows and arrows. They talk about surprising someone called Sisto. Gaspari puts it together. They’re playing cowboys-and-Indians and are preparing to advance on the imaginary fort of the pale-faces, led by Sisto. They have a long wooden plank they’ll use to cross a ditch.
The boys spot Gaspari and are intimidated by his presence. On a ridiculous whim, Gaspari descends into the gorge and offers to join their force. He can carry the heavy board. They warn him that Sisto always wins and he’s violent. Gaspari is amused and they head for the near side of the gorge. The kids are surprised at how seriously Gaspari is taking it.
They all crouch behind some rocks. The gorge is striking. On the highest mound is a low stone wall with three boy’s heads visible above it. Gaspari feels a bit confused by the distance and wonders if they can reach it by nightfall before realizing it’s only a hundred meters away.
Two boys stay behind while Gaspari and the others clamber up the slope and then down an adjoining valley where they advance with the plank. At about ten meters away from the cowboys’ fort, Gaspari moves to place the plank across a ditch. Cloud-cover makes it darker. Gaspari thinks about how he’s thousands of miles away from the hotel fighting against cowboys.
Gaspari looks around the gorge and sees cliffs, deserts and an ominous elaborate castle. A half-closed wooden door (that doesn’t exist) groans in the wind. As Gaspari is about to lay the board over the ditch, Sisto spots him and alerts his forces. He pauses a moment at seeing this adult involved, but aims one of his crude arrows at Gaspari.
At the imaginary wooden door, Gaspari sees a sinister sorcerer who fires an arrow at him. He’s hit in the chest and falls in the bushes.
It’s dark when Gaspari gets back to the hotel. People walk by, some of whom acknowledge him, but no one notices the arrow sticking out of his chest and the blood soaking his shirt. Knowing he’s near death, he feels horror mixed with joy. He’s gotten revenge against his mediocre life, having just been to a remote and mystical kingdom.
The children took the game seriously but with a sense of play. Gaspari’s faith in the game was so strong that he made it all real. The price for this enchantment is his life. His family and friends will be expecting him for the evening’s entertainment.
He hears his wife calling from the terrace, wondering where he’s been, why he’s keeping them waiting and why he’s not answering.
Gaspari is a real man now, a hero who’s above everyone else, and he’s alone. His head falls to his chest and stays there. He’s beaten the world.
I hope this summary of “The Bewitched Bourgeois” by Dino Buzzati was helpful.