Kir Ianulea or Kyr Ianulea () is a fantasy and historical fiction novella or short story, published by Romanian author Ion Luca Caragiale in 1909. Borrowing the elements of a fairy tale, satire and frame story, it has become recognized as one of Caragiale's leading contributions to short prose, and is often described as one of the seminal works written by him during the last decade of his life. While its narrative structure is largely based on Belfagor arcidiavolo, a story by 16th century writer and political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli, Kir Ianulea employs additional elements such as anecdotes to evolve into a social fresco of late 18th-century Wallachia and the Ottoman-ruled Balkans as a whole. Caragiale primarily adapts Machiavelli's theme, which is a fable about the innate unreliability of women, to the realities of the Phanariote epoch, focusing his attention on the interactions between Greeks and Romanians while offering additional insight into the process of acculturation.
Structured around its protagonist and named after his main alias, Kir Ianulea recounts how one of the lesser devils is assigned the mission of assessing the evil and negativity of women. In order to accomplish this task, he must live the life of a mortal, and chooses Bucharest as his city of residence. The main part of the story recounts his unhappy marriage to the tyrannical and dishonest Acrivița, his realization that his future among humans was compromised, and his narrow escape from his creditors. The third part shows the devil possessing aristocratic young women as part of a scheme to reward his one-human benefactor, the peasant Negoiță. The narrative ends with a fall-out between Negoiță and Ianulea, and the latter's hasty return to Hell upon being threatened by a potential reunion with Acrivița.
Caragiale's tale has been the target of critical interest since its publication, being discussed for its relation to Machiavelli's original story, its particular Neoromantic aesthetics and picturesque elements, its ambivalent take on feminism, as well as the various allusions to concrete social realities. Among the latter are its original insight into the urban culture of Romania in the pre-Westernization period, the recovery of Greek or Turkish influences on the Romanian lexis, and the possible intention on Caragiale's part to depict Ianulea as his alter ego. The story has had its own sizable impact on local literature and the culture of Romania, notably serving to inspire writers such as Radu Cosașu and Radu Macrinici, and being turned into a 1939 operetta by composer Sabin Drăgoi.
Plot
Introductory episodes
The narrative opens with the rally of all devils, as ordered by "the Overlord of Hell" Dardarot. Probably a replica version of Astaroth, the latter confesses being intrigued by the large number of human victims who claim to have sinned only because of women, and indicates that he considers a method for verifying the truth in this claim. Dardarot decides to send "the little one", Aghiuță ("Hell's Bells" or "Dickens"), into an extended investigation on Earth. Although received with displays of fatherly affection by Dardarot, the boy is reluctant to perform such tasks, since, as the narrator informs, he is not on his first mission among humans: previously, he had served an old woman, and forced by her to expend his energy on the futile task of straightening a curly hair. Unimpressed, Dardarot provides him with 100,000 gold coins (the bounty confiscated from a stingy mortal), with the indication that he is to marry and live with his human wife for ten years. Transformed into a handsome young mortal and evicted from Hell by his moody overlord, Aghiuță decides to head for Bucharest, a city with "room for parties" and many business opportunities. He arrives in the Wallachian capital and books a room at Manuc's Inn, before renting a cluster of townhouses and gardens in Negustori area (the merchants' district, close to Colțea Hospital).