The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne · English
Nathaniel Hawthorne's haunting allegory from Twice-Told Tales (1837), suggested by an anecdote of Gilbert Stuart.
Shows only the Indonesian translation.
View original and translation side by side.
Read the source text without translation.
Pagera Editor's Note
Nathaniel Hawthorne's haunting allegory from Twice-Told Tales (1837), suggested by an anecdote of Gilbert Stuart. A European master painter arrives in colonial Boston with a gift few have understood — he paints not faces, but souls. The young lovers Walter Ludlow and Elinor sit for their portraits on the eve of their wedding, eager to leave likenesses for posterity. The artist works in silent intensity, his keen eye penetrating beneath the surface, and when the canvases are revealed, the lovers see something more than themselves: Elinor's face shadowed with quiet anguish, Walter's marked by a fitful, smoldering wildness. A secret crayon sketch hidden among studio drawings shows two figures, and a knife. Years later, when the painter returns from wandering among Indian villages and the Crystal Hills, he finds the prophecy ripening. Hawthorne weaves Mosaic law, Salem witch-time superstition, and the artist's solitary ambition into a meditation on whether knowing our fate can ever turn us aside from it.
The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne · English
Nathaniel Hawthorne's haunting allegory from Twice-Told Tales (1837), suggested by an anecdote of Gilbert Stuart.
First paragraph preview
Original (English)
TWICE TOLD TALES THE PROPHETIC PICTURES By Nathaniel Hawthorne [This story was suggested by an anecdote of Stuart, related in Dunlap’s History of the Arts of Design,—a most entertaining book to the general reader, and a deeply interesting one, we should think, to the artist.] “But this painter!” cried Walter Ludlow, with animation. “He not only excels in his peculiar art, but possesses vast acquirements in al
Indonesian translation (Pagera AI)
See the full translation preview in the reader.
Pagera Editor's Note
Nathaniel Hawthorne's haunting allegory from Twice-Told Tales (1837), suggested by an anecdote of Gilbert Stuart. A European master painter arrives in colonial Boston with a gift few have understood — he paints not faces, but souls. The young lovers Walter Ludlow and Elinor sit for their portraits on the eve of their wedding, eager to leave likenesses for posterity. The artist works in silent intensity, his keen eye penetrating beneath the surface, and when the canvases are revealed, the lovers see something more than themselves: Elinor's face shadowed with quiet anguish, Walter's marked by a fitful, smoldering wildness. A secret crayon sketch hidden among studio drawings shows two figures, and a knife. Years later, when the painter returns from wandering among Indian villages and the Crystal Hills, he finds the prophecy ripening. Hawthorne weaves Mosaic law, Salem witch-time superstition, and the artist's solitary ambition into a meditation on whether knowing our fate can ever turn us aside from it.
The Prophetic Pictures (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Translation status
You May Also Like
Same Author · Nathaniel Hawthorne
Frequently asked questions
Yes — completely free. This book is in the public domain, so Pagera offers the full text without payment or account requirement. Pagera is funded by advertising.
Free to read
Start reading immediately — no signup required. Create a free account for more books and features.