"An Alpine Idyll" Summary

Two young men are skiing when they observe a peasant funeral. Later at the hotel restaurant, they see the peasant and the others from the funeral. They learn the story of the burial. The peasant's wife died the previous winter. The peasant stored her in his woodshed through the winter until the ground thawed enough to bury her. During the winter, every time the peasant went into the woodshed, he hung his lantern on her lip. This repeated action disfigured the face of the corpse.

"An Alpine Idyll" Analysis

The title of this story implies a lighthearted holiday, but the story is quite dark. The contrast between the two men on a ski trip and the hard life of the peasant farmer continues the theme of travelers who do not understand the difficult times of the local...