Andrea Delfin: Eine venezianische Novelle

In the narrow, dimly lit alley of Bella Cortesia, a widowed house‑owner named Giovanna Danieli keeps watch from the stairwell of her modest Venetian home. She rents out the empty rooms to quiet tenants, yet the lingering grief for her late husband has left her preferring the half‑light of the hallway to the sun‑filled streets. One August night in 1762 a solitary knock at the door introduces a stranger—an ailing traveler from Brescia who insists on a room that opens onto the canal, believing the damp air will mend his weak lungs.

The stranger’s dark coat, unshaven beard and weary eyes stir curiosity and unease among the few neighbors who occasionally glimpse the house’s interior. As Giovanna weighs his request, the hush of the canal and the ever‑present lamps create a setting ripe for whispered conversations and concealed motives. Listeners are invited to step into a world of muted grandeur, where every creak of the wooden stairs hints at stories waiting just beyond the threshold.