Cursed be the treasure

About the book

For the child telling this story in retrospect, sudden departures and hiding places once seemed part of a wonderful game shared with his father. Pirate stories and imagined enemies supplied the language through which he understood their wandering life. A frightening encounter gradually gives substance to the pursuer his father calls Shadow-of-Fear, forcing a distinction between adventure as entertainment and danger as a daily condition. Drake builds the mystery through memories whose meaning changes as the narrator acquires knowledge. The treasure plot therefore begins with a more intimate uncertainty about the man who has been his protector, teacher, and only stable companion. Inns, caves, and unfamiliar allies extend a childhood world already shaped by secrets that began before its narrator was born.

• Childhood and knowledge
• Pursuit and secrecy
• Parental trust

Why read it

The retrospective child's viewpoint gives familiar treasure-adventure elements an unsettling emotional foundation.

English text of the 1928 Macy-Masius edition