The Beggar Woman of Locarno : Heinrich von Kleist

The Beggar Woman of Locarno

Heinrich von Kleist

Re written by Aakash Doshi

By the river going through Wai, a farmer’s village in central Maharashtra stood a traditional Maratha Wada. The place belonged to a wealthy farmer and had been with the family for generations.

One stormy night, a poor old lady comes begging at the doorstep. Looking at this the mistress of the house out of pity gives the old lady a place to stay for the night. The farmer returns home from work goes into the guest room to leave his tools and notices the old lady laying down on the charpoy. He gets angry by this and orders the old lady to go to the corner of the room. As the old lady gets out the charpoy she slips on the marble floor and severely injures her spine. She makes her way across the room to the corner in pain and agony that can be seen through her slow and quiet movement. She makes herself comfortable in the corner she was ordered as it would be the place she dies in the cold stormy night.

Couple of years later the farmer decides to sell the Wada as he was in debts and had plans to move to the city for better opportunity. A real estate agent looking for an investment in the village showing interest in buying the property is invited by the farmer to spend a night in the Wada. He asks his servants to prepare the guest room for the real estate agent, which was now well furnished. In the middle of the night the man comes to the farmers room in horror. He explains that his room is haunted by something that he could not see. Its footsteps could be heard making its way from where the charpoy was going across the room to the corner with a distinct moaning sound. Horrified by this fact the farmer tries to convince the man that there is nothing wrong with the room and offered to spend the rest of the night in room with him. But the man insisted that they put him in another room and when it was morning he departed bidding farewell to both of them.

The incident made quiet the rumors and frightened away potential buyers. Rumors started arousing among the servants about strange things happening at midnight in the room. To find out for himself and make a definite stand the farmer decides to spend the night in the room. For this reason he moves his bed into the room before midnight and without falling asleep waits until midnight. Much to his horror when the clock struck twelve he experienced the same as the real estate agent had. He heard the ghostly sounds in the room as the footsteps walk across the room while noise of mourning could also be heard from the corner. The next morning in a state of shock explains to the wife that the rumors are true. The wife now terrified begs the farmer to spend another night with him to find out for herself.

The following night along with a faithful servant spend the night in the room. When it was midnight the same mysterious noises could be heard. The wife panics and asks the farmer to get rid of the property at any cost. The next day in the hopes to know the cause of these ghostly noises they decide to spend another night in the room. It was another one of the stormy nights when they both make their way up the stairs towards the room they see their guard dog sitting outside the door. They take the dog in with them, as they felt comforting having him around. The farmer carried a dagger along with him. As the night passes there is a power cut due to the rain and there are no light in the house. The wife lights a couple of candles and places them in the room. The dog makes himself comfortable in the middle of the dim lite room falls asleep. At midnight the same noises are heard again. The farmer removes his dagger and shouts out ‘who are you?’ As they do not get an answer the wife panics and immediately leaves the room and asks the servant to get the car in front of the house in the hopes of leaving for the city.

She packs up her things and is making her way out of the room notices the Wada is in flames. The farmer in horror and tired of his life had taken a candle and had set fire to the curtains in the room. The wife looking up in horror sends couple of men in effort to put out the fire but it was too late. Later when the farmers body was recovered it was almost unrecognizable and it lay in the same place from where he had moved the poor old lady from.