| A Dog of Flanders | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Marie Louise de la Ramée (as Ouida) |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Drama, Tragedy |
| Publisher | Chapman and Hall |
| Publication date | 1872 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 293 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
A Dog of Flanders is an 1872 novel by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée published with her pseudonym "Ouida". It is about a Flemish boy named Nello and his dog Patrasche.
The story, of English origin, has little tradition of being read in Belgium, but is becoming more known because of the tourists it attracts to Antwerp. There is a small statue of Nello and Patrasche at the Kapellestraat in the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken, and a commemorative plaque in front of the Antwerp Cathedral donated by Toyota. The story is widely read in Japan, and has been adapted into several films and anime.
Contents |
In the 19th century, a boy named Nello becomes an orphan at the age of two when his mother dies in the Ardennes. His grandfather Jehan Daas, who lives in a small village near the city of Antwerp, takes him in.
One day, Nello finds a dog who was almost beaten to death and names him Patrasche. Due to the good care of Jehan, the dog recovers, and from then on, Nello and Patrasche are inseparable. Since they are very poor, Nello has to help his grandfather by selling milk. Patrasche is shackled to a dogcart and helps Nello pull the milk into town each morning.
Nello falls in love with Aloise, the daughter of a well-off man in the village named Nicholas Cogez. Nicholas doesn't want his daughter to have a poor sweetheart. Although Nello is illiterate, he is very talented in drawing. He enters a junior drawing contest in Antwerp, hoping to win the first prize, 200 francs per year. However, the jury selects somebody else.
Afterwards, he is accused of causing a fire by Nicholas (the fire occurred on his property) and his grandfather dies. His life becomes even more desperate. Having no place to stay, Nello goes to the cathedral of Antwerp to see Rubens' The Elevation of the Cross, but he doesn't have enough money to enter. On the night of Christmas Eve, he and Patrasche go to Antwerp and, by chance, find the door to the church open. The next morning, the boy and his dog are found frozen to death in front of the triptych.
Quite recently (not earlier than 1980), the village of the story was postulated to be Hoboken, but without any reasonable reference from the literature itself. Hoboken became involved with the story through Jan Corteel, a former Antwerp tourist office employee. He used the Schelde river as the "canal" and Hoboken as the village. However, the story itself mentions a canal (known as "De Vaart") between Mechelen and Leuven, and the Leuven Kermis.
The novel has been adapted for cinema and television in live-action and animation:
For its authentic 19th century buildings, the Open Air Museum of Bokrijk, Flanders was used as scenery for the 1975 and 1992 anime and the 1999 film.