The Corsican brothers and Otho, the Archer

Corsican Brothers at any rate is very familiar toE nglish [readers, who know the play, founded on the romance and bearing the same title, even when they are quite unacquainted with the novel. The tale is short and thrilling, the plot, like that of theM encechmi, the Comedy of Errors, and so many other dramas and romances of all periods and countries, turning on a remarkable likeness between two brothers. It is one of Dumas minor masterpieces (if this is not a contradiction in terms), and besides the striking story of the twin brothers, Louis and Lucian de Franchi, the strange supernatural bond between the two, and Louis tragic fate, contains a series of brilliant and fascinating descriptions of Corsican scenery and Corsican life. Corsica, the land of the vendetta and the tnaquis, the ancestral home of Napoleon, the 86th Department ofF rance, so widely different from all the rest and retaining so much of old-time customs and in some respects of old-time savagery, had long appealed forcibly toD umas imagination, and in 1834 ne na visited and explored the island. Now Dumas method of exploring a country was peculiar. He tells us himself what it was like in his preface to Jacquot sans Oreilles (C rop-E ared Jacquot ): None but such as have been my travelling companions can properly appreciate the degree of obstinacy I am capable of under circumstances of this sort. Once I nose a legend, a tradition, a bit of history, no objection or opposition whatsoever will turn me from the scent, once the hunt is up. In this extremely thorough and entirely irrepressible spirit, the great mans companions and hosts must have had some tnauvais quarts dheure by the way, Dumas examined the historical sites and ferreted put the legends and local tales of Corsica in the course of his excursions through the island fastnesses, and the result wasT he Corsican Brothers. The book appeared (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)