Dörfler, Peter
"Das Geheimnis des Fisches" by Peter Dörfler is a historical novella written in the early 20th century. It follows Theonas, a sharp, willful boy in pagan Rome, whose disillusionment with lies and spectacle collides with the hidden Christian “Fish” mystery revealed by his steadfast tutor Ptolomäus. The tale contrasts a hollow, hedonistic household and blood-soaked public rites with a new ethic of truth, discipline, and sacrificial love.The opening of the novella shows Theonas in his wealthy father Theon’s Roman house: he bullies a weak Greek tutor, steals Falernian wine, teases slaves, and ricochets between fascination and disgust at their blasphemies and gossip. Spurned by his vain, distracted mother and lied to by his absent father, he lashes out, then is shaken by the sudden death of his tutor. The new teacher, Ptolomäus, refuses bribes and speaks soberly of a “Son of God” and the hidden sign of the Fish, awakening Theonas’s hunger for wisdom. A brutal Cybele procession and a clandestine leaflet about the “heavenly Fish” deepen the mystery; Ptolomäus then unfolds creation, prophecy, and the Passion, distinguishing the real Christ from myths like Attis, even consulting Pilate’s record. As persecution flares, Theonas attends worship only to be dismissed as a catechumen and, soon after, witnesses Ptolomäus’s arrest (along with favored slaves Kaor and Skopas). Left lonely yet resolute, he tries to pass the new faith to his pliant pedagogue Mulus, and begins to suspect the empti…
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