The Historian

In 1972, the narrator is 16 and living in Amsterdam with her father, Paul, an ambassador. She has almost forgotten her childhood in the US and barely remembers her mother, who died when she was an infant. She is well cared for by her father and their housekeepers. She spends time in her father’s library, where she happens upon an old book and “an envelope of yellowing papers” (5). She begins to read the first letter, from 1930. The note indicates that the recipient of the letter will be the heir to some sort of evil.

The narrator is curious about the letters and asks her father to take her on his next diplomatic mission. At afternoon tea, the narrator asks if her father will tell her the story of the book—imprinted with a large dragon—and the packet of letters. He reluctantly agrees.

Paul recollects his time as a graduate student studying history in the US. One night at the library, he notices a book that someone left behind: It is a very old book and bears an imprint of a dragon across its central pages; the dragon holds a banner in its claws etched with the name “DRAKULYA” (11). He knows Bram Stoker’s novel, and some movie adaptations, but he also remembers that Vlad Ţepeş, or Vlad the Impaler, was an actual historical figure, infamous for his cruelty, even against his own people. He ruled Wallachia in the 15th century and held his territory against the invading Turks, the encroachment of the Ottoman Empire. The name Dracula, derived from a root word for dragon, was bestowed upon Vlad the Impaler in honor of his ferociousness.

Paul realizes that the book is not the property of the library, but he returns it anyway. The next morning, however, the book is again at his desk, open to the picture of the dragon. He asks his advisor, Dr. Rossi, about the book. Rossi, an Englishman from Oxford University, is an imminent historian and well-liked professor; Paul considers him a friend and an advisor. When Paul shows Rossi the book, the professor is startled. Rossi also has a book like this, with the same woodcut of the dragon across its central pages. Both books are otherwise blank. Rossi, like the narrator’s father, found the book when he was a graduate student. This occurrence cannot be a coincidence, they agree.

Rossi relates some of the legend of Dracula: He was killed in battle, then “buried in a monastery on an island in Lake Snagov” in what is now Romania (19). The stories about his life, and particularly his cruelty, were mythologized by peasants in the surrounding area. In the 19th century, Stoker relays the legend in English; then Hollywood picks up the story in the 20th century, spreading the myth of the vampire. Rossi brushes this aside, but he says he cannot be so facile about his own research. This led him on a search to Istanbul and beyond: Rossi tells Paul that Vlad Ţepeş still lives.

Paul stops when he notices how late it is. The narrator does not know whether to believe her father or not, though she notes his shaking hands.

When they return to Amsterdam, the narrator’s father is unusually withdrawn. The book and letters were moved. Still, he agrees to let her accompany him on a trip to Ragusa in Italy. Rossi’s name comes up, and she prods her father to resume his story. He agrees, but only during the daylight hours.

Rossi admits that his belief in Dracula strains credulity, but he insists that what he witnessed in Istanbul proves Dracula is alive. In an archive of Sultan Mehmed II’s papers, Rossi finds three maps that he thinks point to Dracula’s tomb. He believes that the tomb isn’t in Lake Snagov. However, during his research, he is interrupted by someone who claims to be from the Ministry of Cultural Resources. The man does not want Rossi studying these materials; Rossi finds the man strange, noting his unpleasant smell. Later, he sees two puncture wounds on the man’s neck. The man takes one of the maps.

When Rossi confronts the librarian, the librarian claims that nobody entered the archives but Rossi. Rossi returns to his hotel and finds his room was searched, and his notes stolen. He leaves Istanbul in fear, abandoning his research. He gives Paul a packet of letters and tells him to be careful. Rossi says that he does not want to know what Paul finds.

When Paul pauses his storytelling, the narrator sees tears welling up in his eyes. When they get up, the narrator notices a large, dark man in the crowd; his presence captivates her.

Back in Amsterdam, the narrator conducts her own research. She is bothered that Vlad Ţepeş’s actions—burning, impaling, and burying people alive—are historically true. She returns home, determined to learn the whole story.

Paul takes her with him to Tuscany. They visit her father’s friends, Massimo and Giulia, and Massimo mentions the tragedy of Rossi’s disappearance. The narrator is even more determined to hear the rest of her father’s story.

Paul is stunned to learn of Rossi’s opinions on Dracula. He has a difficult time believing that Vlad Ţepeş still lives, though he trusts his advisor. As he is walking away from Rossi’s office, the streetlamps all go out, and he sees that the light is also extinguished in the office. Though frightened, he returns to his rooms. He sets the dragon book aside to focus on his studies.

Massimo, a fellow student, informs Paul that his mentor’s office is being searched by police. Paul was the last person to see Rossi, and there is blood on Rossi’s desk and the ceiling of his office. The police speculate that a bird or a bat might have flown in. Paul also notices that Rossi’s book—the duplicate to his own—is gone.

He retreats to the library, where he reads the contents of the envelope Rossi left to him: There are typed letters, maps, a tourist brochure for Romania, receipts from Istanbul, a road map of the Balkans, and a sealed envelope. He begins with the letters.

Back in Amsterdam, Paul keeps his daughter under close watch. She continues her research in the library, reading the history of Vlad Dracula, as well as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. While she doesn’t know if the book is factual, she discerns that Dracula preys on young women.

The narrator accompanies her father to southern France, where they stay in Les Bains, near the mountains of the Pyrénées-Orientales. The area hosts the monastery of Saint-Matthieu, and the manager of their restaurant tells them the monastery’s history. Founded in 999, it once housed a famous scholar, who died in unusual circumstances. After he was buried, a plague-like illness swept over the monastery. Many of the monks were found drained of blood. Finally, one of the monks unearthed the body, finding the scholar undead. The monks realized that he was rising from the grave to feed on the monks. The narrator’s father is visibly shaken, hastily ordering a coffee.

They leave the café as the sun sets. The narrator sees a bat flying in the distance. She think the manager’s story might be more disturbing to her father than his own.

Rossi’s first letter, from December 1930, reveals that he has embraced superstitious protection, sleeping with garlic under his pillow and wearing a crucifix. Before leaving for Greece to conduct research, he decides to investigate the legend of Dracula further at the Oxford library. He looks through scrolls from the time of Sultan Mehmed II, finding a short entry on expenses related to the Order of the Dragon. Thus, Rossi decides to follow the trail of information to Istanbul.

When Paul looks up from reading the letter, he notices another student at his table: She is reading a book on the Carpathians and has a copy of Stoker’s Dracula. He asks her about her research, but she finds his questions intrusive, and he is unable to place her accent. She says that she is preparing for a trip to Istanbul.

Rossi’s letter continues: In Istanbul, he encounters the maps in the Sultan’s archive, the foul-smelling minister with puncture wounds, and the theft of his notes (the same events from Part 1, Chapter 4). His next letter recounts his return to Greece and the resumption of his official research, though he notes that Greece itself harbors many legends about vampires. On his return to Oxford, Rossi reports feeling unwell. He writes to some American colleagues, hoping for an appointment in the US. After some rest, however, he returns to the old dragon book and reconstructs his stolen notes.

The narrator reflects on travelers and the desire to revisit a place: It is always disconcerting, because both the place and the traveler have changed. She remembers watching her father at Saint-Matthieu, observing that he was drawn to the place as if he had been there before. She thinks that he yearns for memories of the place, not in its landmarks: “[S]omething, I felt sure, had happened to him here” (78).

They visit the monastery in the mountains. Her father discusses the architecture and symbols of the place, noting its guardian totems. When they descend into the crypt, however, the narrator observes her father’s fear. She wants to ask him about the sarcophagus and the events he seems to remember, but she pauses. She knows that telling the story is difficult.

The librarian in Amsterdam begins finding books for the narrator, recognizing her interest in the history of Dracula and the region. In Tales from the Carpathians, she reads about the conflict between Sultan Mehmed II and Vlad Ţepeş. She asks the librarian for more information on Dracula, preferably from his contemporaries.

In Venice, the narrator and her father are sitting at an outdoor café when she remarks upon the city’s architecture. In the fall, her father will travel to Eastern Europe. She asked to accompany him. He responds to her comments by noting that San Marco—the great Byzantine church in Venice—was modeled upon the Hagia Sofia, the great mosque of Istanbul: She goaded him into admitting he has been to Istanbul.

Rossi’s next letter conveys the horrible consequences of the resumption of his research into Dracula. He opens the book again, wrinkling his nose at the smell of decay wafting from its pages. Upon studying the woodcut of the dragon, Rossi believes that it functions as a map to Dracula’s tomb.

He is startled from his revelations by the sound of footsteps outside his room, which end in silence. When Rossi opens the door, he finds his friend Hedges collapsed with blood pouring from a wound in his neck. Hedges is barely alive, ranting, “He said to tell you he will brook no trespasses” (90). At the hospital, the doctors tell Rossi that his friend suffered a stroke; he dies after another stroke in the night. Rossi believes that his friend was killed to warn Rossi away from his search.