The Great Stone Face: A Tale by Nathanial Hawthorne

by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Gary D. Schmidt, Bill Farnsworth (Illustrator)

This is an easy to read story, suitable both for adults and children, about the psychological and mystical workings of the human mind.

The Great Stone Face (The Old Man of the Mountains) juts out from the White Mountains of New Hampshire and looms over a small village. An old prophecy states that "someone will be born hereabouts who will look just like the Great Stone Face, and he will be the noblest person of his time." Like many others, young Ernest watches the faces of returning famous men for signs of the gentle wisdom seen in the face. The rich merchant, however, is grasping, the soldier only stern, and the politician--well, a politician. Ernest, meanwhile, works hard on his farm and is looked up to by his neighbors for the thoughtful counsel he offers. As he grows old, people remark that they fear they will never see the prophecy fulfilled. At length, however, noticing Ernest's face, they discover that it was fulfilled long ago. This thoughtful look at what it means to live a good life is as relevant today as when first written.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Literature, Picture Books, American, School

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1850

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.

Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in John Greenleaf Whittier’s abolitionist newspaper The National Era (Jan. 24, 1850), and later included in Hawthorne’s collection The Snow Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales (1852), “The Great Stone Face” is a cautionary parable, warning people not to hunger for greatness in the successful and the famous but rather to seek to foster to seeds of greatness in themselves.

The inspiration for this tale was “The Old Man of the Mountain,” a celebrated New Hampshire rock formation and tourist attraction (which—alas!—fell to pieces in 2003). In Hawthorne’s version, “The Old Man” becomes “The Great Stone Face,” the subject of a Native American prophecy: "a child should be born hereabouts, who was destined to become the greatest and noblest personage of his time, and whose countenance, in manhood, should bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face.”

Here is Hawthorne’s description of how the rock formation appears to the spectator, both from near and far:

It seemed as if an enormous giant, or a Titan, had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice. . . True it is, that if the spectator approached too near, he lost the outline of the gigantic visage, and could discern only a heap of ponderous and gigantic rocks, piled in chaotic ruin one upon another. Retracing his steps, however, the wondrous features would again be seen; and the farther he withdrew from them, the more like a human face, with all its original divinity intact, did they appear; until, as it grew dim in the distance, with the clouds and glorified vapor of the mountains clustering about it, the Great Stone Face seemed positively to be alive.

Our appropriately named protagonist Ernest, and the other inhabitants of the valley, seek for the “personage” of the prophecy in celebrated men of the era: the wealthy merchant Gathergold, the heroic general Old Blood-and-Thunder, the great orator and statesman (much like Daniel Webster), and the philosophical poet (almost certainly Ralph Waldo Emerson). But, as with the rock formation itself, the closer Ernest observes these esteemed men, the more chaotic is the “outline of the gigantic visage.”

Ernest grows old and white-haired, without discovering the great man he seeks. But, as he preaches to his assembled neighbors, the philosophical poet—the greatest and most self-aware of the three near-great men—is struck by the radiant appearance of old Ernest’s face:

Ernest began to speak, giving to the people of what was in his heart and mind. His words had power, because they accorded with his thoughts; and his thoughts had reality and depth, because they harmonized with the life which he had always lived. It was not mere breath that this preacher uttered; they were the words of life, because a life of good deeds and holy love was melted into them. Pearls, pure and rich, had been dissolved into this precious draught. The poet, as he listened, felt that the being and character of Ernest were a nobler strain of poetry than he had ever written. His eyes glistening with tears, he gazed reverentially at the venerable man, and said within himself that never was there an aspect so worthy of a prophet and a sage as that mild, sweet, thoughtful countenance, with the glory of white hair diffused about it. At a distance, but distinctly to be seen, high up in the golden light of the setting sun, appeared the Great Stone Face, with hoary mists around it, like the white hairs around the brow of Ernest. Its look of grand beneficence seemed to embrace the world.

[John Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could see where this was going about half way through. But the maestro managed to weave his magic on me nonetheless. Wordy, even more so than usual, perhaps.

[Pinar Celebi · Rating 5 out of 5]

30 kitaptan oluşan Jorge Luis Borges'in Babil Kitaplığı serisinde Büyük Taş Yüz okuduğum 11. kitaptı ve şimdiye kadar okuduklarım arasında Oscar Wilde'ın Lord Arthur Savile'in Suçu isimli kitabıyla birlikte en sevdiğim iki kitaptan biri oldu. Kitaptaki 5 öykünün hepsini sevdim ama özellikle Ateşe Verilen Dünya ve Rahibin Kara Peçesi isimli öykülere ve bu öykülerin verdiği mesajları ayrı bir sevdim. Babil Kitaplığı serisinden bir kitap okumak istiyor ama gözünüze hangisini okuyacağınızı kestiremiyorsanız bu kitabı öneririm.

[Alli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite short story of all time. Earnest reminded me so much of my God and King- unexpected because of his goodness, missed because the world is searching for something they can't define. Hawthorne inspired me to always be living in hope and persevering in the search after Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. His lovely prose reminded me of what it means to be truly strong, wholly noble, and unapologetically faithful.

[Emma | meadowroselibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed this much more the second time, such a good story and very well written! ❤️

"...his tongue, indeed, was a magic instrument: sometimes it rumbled like the thunder; sometimes it warbled like the sweetest music. It was the blast of war - the song of peace; and it seemed to have a heart in it, when there was no such matter."

[Ebru Çökmez · Rating 3 out of 5]

İlk öykü olan Wakefield dışında keyif almadım, bu kitaptan.
1800'lerin öykü anlayışına uzağım galiba. Poe hariç :)

[Emre · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

'Belki zamanla en gözde çılgınlıklarımız sona erer, ama kıyamete kadar hepimiz çocuk kalırız!' S:22

" 'Bu dünya neye yarar' dedi son ayyaş, 'artık biz bir daha neşelenemeyecek olduktan sonra?' "S:60

'Bir doğruluk ne yok olup gider ne de çok altında kalır küllerin; bir yolunu bulup kendini gösterir.' S:79

[Argos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beş uzun öyküden oluşan bu kitap biraz kasvetli, biraz mistik, biraz sonu tahmin edilebilir de olsa sürükleyiciliği ve gizemli oluşuyla keyifle okunuyor. Babil Kitaplığı kitapları sanki birbirlerinin devamı ya da tamamlayıcısı gibi. Borges bu kitapları seçerken kendi ruh durumunu da yansıtmaya çalışmış gibi geliyor bana. Öneririm.

[Sterlingcindysu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short freebie for Kindle from Amazon.

I didn't realize the real "stone face" collasped in 2003.


Daniel Webster, a native of New Hampshire once said of it, "Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

[Elizabeth Dragina · Rating 4 out of 5]

What we set our focus on . . . .
. . . . we will become like.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parable or tale? I suppose it's a tale which reads like a parable. We become that which we seek. That which we are. It has a scent of spirituality to it that I can't help enjoy. It's a good read even though it's not necessarily compelling.

"They have a strain of the Divinity,’ replied the poet. ‘You can hear in them the far-off echo of a heavenly song. But my life, dear Ernest, has not corresponded with my thought. I have had grand dreams, but they have been only dreams, because I have lived—and that, too, by my own choice among poor and mean realities. Sometimes, even—shall I dare to say it?—-I lack faith in the grandeur, the beauty, and the goodness, which my own works are said to have made more evident in nature and in human life. Why, then, pure seeker of the good and true, shouldst thou hope to find me, in yonder image of the divine?"

"Ernest began to speak, giving to the people of what was in his heart and mind. His words had power, because they accorded with his thoughts; and his thoughts had reality and depth, because they harmonized with the life which he had always lived. It was not mere breath that this preacher uttered; they were the words of life, because a life of good deeds and holy love was melted into them. Pearls, pure and rich, had been dissolved into this precious draught."

Funnily enough I think of Harry Potter when given self-fulfilled prophecies, particularly the scene where he has to cast the Expecto Patronum spell (or was it a charm?) to save the day.

[cansung · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5 ⭐⭐⭐🌠
J.L.Borges tarafından hazırlanan Babil Kitaplığı Serisi'nin 12. Kitabı Büyük Taş Yüz. Kitapta Hawthorne'un 5 öyküsü var. Borges kitap içinde yer alan "Wakefield" öyküsünü Hawthorne'un ve belki de yazın sanatının en iyi öykülerinden biri olarak değerlendirmişse de ben nacizane fikrimle kitap içerisindeki en zayıf öykü olarak etiketleyebilirim. Öykülerden "Rahibin Kara Peçesi"ni İş Bankası Modern Klasikler Serisi'nden çıkan "İngiliz ve Amerikan Edebiyatında Kısa Öykünün Büyük Ustaları"nda okumuş ve kitabın genel büyüsüyle sanırım bu sefer aldığımdan daha fazla keyif almıştım. Mr.Higginbotham'ın Başına Gelenler öyküsü bir anda öyküden masala dönüştü gibi hissettirdi, sonu tatmin edicilikten oldukça uzak kaldı. Geri kalan Büyük Taş Yüz ve Ateşe Verilen Dünya öykülerini ise çok beğendim diyebilirim.

[Mehmet]

Nathaniel Hawthorne ile ilk tanışmam bu kitapla oldu. Babil Kitaplığı okumalarımda bir sonraki kitap olarak bu minik öykü derlemesi ileyim. Bir dönem benimle aynı mesleği yapmış Hawthorne'un ilk izlenimi dini bir hava oldu bende. Ancak bu edebiyatını kasvetli bir nasihat tutuculuğuna sürüklememiş. Bununla birlikte metinlerin altında da hissedilmiyor değil.

Kitapta en etkilendiğim öykü "Rahibin Kara Peçesi" isimli öykü oldu. Hem yarattığı gizemin sürükleyiciliği hem de hafif kasvetli havasıyla beni biraz da gerdi. Borges onun hakkında öykülerinin sonları öykülerinin başından belli dese de biraz yanıldığını düşünmedim değil. Bu kitaptaki Büyük Taş Yüzük öyküsünde evet bu böyleydi ancak Rahip öyküsünde kesinlikle bir kestirilemezlik hakim.

Babil serisinin en parlak eseri mi? Bence değil. Ancak beklentiye göre değişir. Damak zevkine göre değişir netice.

M. Baran
28.02.2021
Ankara

[Fatma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Çiçek gibi 5 öykü. Mr.Wakefield'ın öyküsünden bir roman çıkardı, çok ilginç bir konusu vardı. Büyük Taş Yüz, hep beklenen o insanın aslında içimizde oluşunu anlatıyordu bence. Ateşe Verilen Dünya öyküsü de çok iyiydi. Mutlu bitirdim kitabı, teşekkürler Hawthorne ve belki daha büyük teşekkürler Borges.

[Senaullah Havrani]

"Hawthorne dünyanın en iyi ve en kötü öykülerini yazdı; bu seçkide en iyilerini sunuyoruz" diyor Borges. Hawthorne'un diğer öykülerini okumadım henüz ama bu okuduklarım bir yazarın en iyi öyküleri olmayı hak ediyordu gerçekten. Hawthorne bir ezoterik anladığım kadarıyla. Sadece Batı ezoterizmi ile de ilgilendiğini sanmıyorum. Çünkü bu öykü seçkisi Amerikan edebiyatının Mantıku't-Tayr'ı desek sezadır. Derinlik taşıyan kısa cümleler vardır. Herakleitos'un dediği "Kendimi aradım" mesela. Her öykü bence böyle bir gizli başlık taşıyor. Oradan taşan anlamı yoğun bir sembolizmle ifade ediyor. Bunu yaparken Amerikanın hem eski hem yeni sahiplerinin efsanelerini, menkıbelerini yeniden inşa ediyor. Hawthorne - en azından Borges süzgecinden geçtiği hâliyle - kesinlikle okunmalı.

[Ümit Mutlu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Başarılı alegorik öyküler var içinde; tür olarak farklılıklar gösteriyor çoğu da. Özellikle 'Ateşe Verilen Dünya' isimli öykü hoş, devrim ve devinimlerin önceki yaşantıları mahvedebilme kapasitesine dikkat çekiyor.

"Yazık, ne büyük bir yanılgı! Belki zamanla en gözde çılgınlıklarımız sona erer, ama kıyamete kadar hepimiz çocuk kalırız!"

[Janet Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite of Hawthorne's short stories. ..We learn from this that we often fail to appreciate what is right amongst us. Our goals, beliefs, habits, virtues, make or break us, and we grow and develop because of what we believe in.

[superawesomekt · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love." — Goethe

I have been familiar with this story since childhood as my father would often tell it to me in his own words. When my book club was looking for a short story to read, which we do every October, my father mentioned this one—and it was with delight that I saw it is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's.

This is one of Hawthorne's happier and more hopeful stories. So many of his novels and short stories are designed to ruthlessly expose hypocrites and sinners, and while Hawthorne takes his jabs in this one, too, there is a gentleness present that is rare for him. I wonder which of these men Hawthorne believed himself to be. I suspect the poet. Which of these men are you? Which am I?

It was especially tender to read this, my father's favorite short story, this year. My father is ill, prematurely ill, and we are treasuring whatever time we get. It could be years, we simply don't know. In the meantime, there are good days, but even then we see him enduring chronic pain and daily suffering (It's hard to put into words how tender, difficult, and awe-ful aging/illness can be at times. But perhaps you already know?). Anyway, this story moves him to tears each time he reads it, and always has. He sees the Great Stone Face as a figurative Christ. And I would suggest that whatever your religion or your philosophy, the parable told here by Hawthorne will preach it to you more purely and honestly than many a sermon or scripture.

And for those who worry as they wait for goodness and honesty to finally manifest in the world...

"Fear not, Ernest," said his heart, even as if the Great Face were whispering him,—"fear not, Ernest; he will come."

[aybikimben]

sarmadı hiç

[Joel Saa'C · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really is one of those stories good for all ages. It is simple but gives you something to think about what kind of life is really worth living, about the beauty of an ordinary, faithful life.

[Brent Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a boy, Ernest had wondered about the Stone Face that was formed by the rocks far up on the side of the mountain near his home. He often sat with his mother talking about the face. Once he asked if she thought they would ever see such a man with such a face and she shared what her mother had told her. Some day it was destined that a great one, who was noble and kind, would come and he would have that face.

Ernest spent years studying the face each day looking up. He saw deep love in the face and he learned to recognize that in others. Ernest hoped to see the man who would come and he waited for him throughout his life. As he grew older many came and many brought some nobility even being felt by the people to be the one at first but never was the right one found.

Often the people would shout saying, at last he has come, and what Ernest never understood is how they were so deceived and eventually the people would come to know they had been wrong.

Near the end of Ernest's years a poet came and spoke to the people. Ernest stood and added his thoughts to the poets strong words. He spoke from his heart and mind and his words had power and depth, because they harmonized with the life he had always lived. The poet, seeing Ernest's face as he spoke,saw the grandeur it had assumed and shouted, "Behold!" Ernest is the likeness of the Great Stone Face."

The people saw it was true and that the prophecy was fulfilled. Ernest was finished so he took the poet's arm and walked home, still hoping that some wiser and better man than himself would come eventually, bearing a resemblance to the GREAT STONE FACE.

Thomas Monson, the last President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was a lover of literature. He said of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic account,"The Great Stone Face, we adopt the mannerisms, the attitudes, even the conduct of those whom we admire — and they are usually our friends." More on this story at web site www.connectedeventsmatter.com

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este volumen consta de cinco cuentos: Wakefield, El gran rostro de piedra, El holocausto del mundo, La catástrofe del señor Higginbotham y El velo negro del pastor.

Aunque los cuentos me hayan parecido buenos, Hawthorne (1804-1864), en general, me resultó aburrido. Sin demeritar su estilo, poder entrever el desenlace de cada historia en los primeros párrafos, no ayuda. Quizás mi opinión sea anacrónica, pero estoy seguro de haber leído grandes cuentos de algunos autores que fueron contemporáneos con el señor Nathaniel, por ejemplo: Poe.

Soy injusto, Poe es un punto de comparación demasiado alto.

En el prólogo Borges nos dice que “Hawthorne ha escrito los mejores y los peores cuentos del mundo; en esta selección ofrecemos al lector los primeros”. Yo, por mi parte, no pienso leer los segundos.

[Leander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful short story.

The face in the mountain, is like the announcement of the coming of some Messiah or something. And the God has etched his face on the rocks, so as to make it easy for people to recognize him.

And sure enough, as was expected, false prophets show up, leading to sheer disappointment of Ernest (the protagonist).

The final two pages are beautifully written, with a poet lamenting that his verses we're but a shadow of good faith, and not it itself.

And then the grand ending, followed by the one who fulfilled the prophecy, still hoping to find a better match to the face, a wiser person than him.

[Enrique Oviedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

El misterio y la fantasía de Hawthorne son cuasi arquetípicos, dada su dimensión moral y parabólica. En ocasiones, las historias remiten a épocas antiguas de las que tratan las grandes fábulas morales y nos ofrecen increíbles imágenes de lo insólito.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have arranged my thoughts into a haiku:

"Projected greatness
Bypasses its mark, aimed up
Onto pedestals."

[Addy · Rating 5 out of 5]

True wisdom will appear after years of repose and reflection. It can be received by anyone but will be given to those who do not mindfully desire it.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an odd tale about how truly great men never think that they are actually great men at all, and that greatness is often forced upon them.

[Prashansa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice.....i knew from the starting that Ernest was the Stone Face!!

[Meral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jorge Louis Borges'in öykü seçkisi "Babil Kitaplığı"nın 12. kitabını okudum.
Bu seçkinin nefis fantastik öyküler okuma lezzeti dışında okura sağladığı bir kazanım da Meyrink, Bloy, Cazotte, Alarcon ve Hawthorne gibi yazarların dilini, dünyasını keşfetme fırsatı vermesi. Şimdiye kadar hic dikkatimi çekmemiş bir yazar olan Hawthorne'u tanıdığıma çok memnunum. Borges'in de önsözde bahsettiği gibi; her nekadar onun dünyasını püriten dünyanın alacakaranlık ve zayıf dünyası oluştursa da, bu dünyada kurduğu kurgular hayranlık uyandırıyor.
Beş öykü var içinde; ben, en çok küçük kararların, küçük hareketlerin insanı nasıl etkilediğini çok çarpıcı anlatan Wakefield ile  dünyada alkol, uyusturucu, insanın yarattığı tüm kültürel,  dini, milli, ahlaki kurallar ve kurumlar ve dünyaya yıkım.getiren nice şeyi yakıp yıkıp yok etseniz de, hem iyi hem kötüye hizmet eden insan yüreğini yok etmediğiniz sürece kötülüklerin devam edeceği mesajını veren Ateşe Verilen Dünya'yı sevdim. 

Büyük Taş Yüz öyküsündeki Ernst karakteri de efsaneydi, onu sık sık açıp tekrar okumak istedim.

"Ernst gibi, düşünceleri ve duyguları doğal bir içtenlikle dışa vuran ve yalın sözcükleri böylesi yüce doğruluklara donüştüren birine rastlamamıştı ozan. "

"Sözleri güçlüydü, çünkü bunlar düşünceleriyle uyum.içindeydi; düşünceleri gerçeklik ve derinlik taşıyordu, çünkü hiç aksatmadan sürdürdüğü yaşam biçimiyle
 iç içe geçmişlerdi. Bu vaizin dudaklarından sadece ruhsallık değil, yaşam dolu sözcükler de dökülüyordu, çünkü onların içine doğru işlerle ve kutsal sevgiyle bezenmiş bir yaşam vardı.