Review of “Negotium Perambulans” by E. F. Benson: Halloween Countdown

Plot:

The narrator describes an isolated fishing village he was sent to when he was ten, “a small boy, weak and sickly and threatened with pulmonary trouble.” He slept not in the house but in a “shelter” in the backyard of his uncle, the local vicar, and spent his days wandering. His uncle taught him about the local fauna and flora. His aunt and uncle lived in a grand house. They let the vicarage out to an artist, John Evans, whom the narrator recalls fondly.

Of course, it wasn’t all wandering around at will and chatting with the kids of the local fisherfolk. Attendance at Sunday services was mandatory. The narrator’s uncle scares the bejesus out of the local kids. One of his tools is the carved panels of the altar rails, salvaged from an earlier church. Among these depictions were the Angel of the Annunciation and the Angel of the Resurrection. A singular one was of a robed priest standing outside the local church holding up a crucifix to what looked like some giant slug-beast, which his uncle referred to as “negotium perambulans in tenebris,” from the Ninety-First Psalm, or the pestilence that walks in the dark. Uncle assured the congregation they could avoid it only by sticking to the straight and narrow. Stories were told of the impious meeting bad ends at the old church—now used as a house.

Thoughts:

The beginning of the story, which recalls an idyllic childhood, is nostalgic and dreamy, though there is an uneasy undercurrent. The fire-and-brimstone sermons of Uncle, meant to put the fear of God in the narrator, the children of town, and their parents, might be viewed with the benefit of years passed with some indulgence. The narrator recalls only being terrified as a boy.

The panel of the slug-like thing is so out of place that it calls out for attention. Later, when the narrator has made his way in life, he returns to the little fishing village. His uncle has passed away. He and his aunt discuss the slug panel. “It made an impression on you, I suppose,” she casually says.

But it’s only part of some local lore, right? One is no more likely to run across the giant slug than to run across, say, the Angel of the Annunciation, right? No one in town would think of blaspheming, anyway. It just wasn’t done.

…but what if…?

This is an odd little tale, combining nostalgia with the terror of scary religion and then a terror of something far stranger. Though a bit wordy and slow in the beginning, it is a nice atmospheric read.


Bio: E. F. (Edward Frederick) Benson (1867-1940) was a British author best known in his lifetime for his 1893 novel Dodo, satirizing British suffragist Ethel Smyth, and his Mapp and Lucia series, which poked fun at the British upper middle class. These have been adapted for TV. In the 80s, British author Tom Holt wrote a couple of sequels. Benson is probably best known today for his short supernatural fiction.


This story can be read here:


This story can be listened to here: (38:41)


Title: “Negotium Perambulans”
Author: E. F. Benson (1867-1940)
First published: Hutchinson’s Magazine, November 1922
Length: short story