Mr Know-All

Mr Know-all: Short story by W. Somerset MaughamThis story by W. Somerset Maugham takes place at sea. A narrator we learn almost nothing about is forced to share a cabin with a man he takes an instant disliking to because of little more than his name. The other man plays an organizational role in many aspects of ship life to the point of being everywhere and always. The narrator finds him hearty, jovial, loquacious and argumentative. He calls him the best hated man in the ship. It is not until the man ‘loses’ a bet about pearls that the narrator develops a grudging respect for him.

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The Crocodile’s Lady

The Crocodile's Lady: Short story by Manoj DasLike one of our earlier Manoj Das stories, Farewell to a Ghost, this story illustrates the prevalence of superstition in traditional Indian village life. A foreign professor visits a remote village and is fascinated by the story of the Crocodile’s Lady. In appreciation for her protection, villagers take it in turns to feed and care for the now ninety-plus year-old. As a young woman, she had been carried off by a crocodile and reappeared a decade later, claiming to have fallen in love with and lived with it in the river. Themes include religious faith, the supernatural, unnatural love, loyalty.

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President Cleveland, Where Are You?

President Cleveland, Where Are You?: Short story by Robert CormierThis coming of age story by Robert Cormier is set in simpler times (the 1930s), where the highlight of the day for many young boys was collecting and swapping trading cards to complete a full set. There is intense rivalry between protagonist Jerry, his friend Roger, and their arch-rival Rollie. Initially it is over Cowboy cards but, when these are replaced by President cards, all the boys in their neighborhood are desperate to find the elusive President Cleveland card. Jerry is the first to find one, but doesn’t have it for long. Themes: family, friendship, choices, sacrifice.

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In the Family

In the Family: Short story by María Elena LlanaThis story from Cuban writer María Elena Llana uses a combination of humour and magical realty to highlight the potentially fatal consequences of pride. The victim (Clara), having excelled at university but never bothered to look for work, seems to think her formal education puts her above other family members. One evening, while “holding court” over dinner with her extended family (both living and dead) she learns the error of her ways. The next day she finds herself sitting on the other (dead family’s) side of the table. Themes: pride, acceptance of the unusual, the supernatural.

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The Heart of a Monkey

Heart of a Monkey: Swahili folktale from Andrew LangIn this Swahili folktale, a monkey accepts the offer of a ride on a shark’s back to see the wonders under the sea. Once at sea, the monkey learns that the real reason for the trip is that the shark king needs a monkey’s heart to cure an illness. The monkey tricks the shark into returning. He then explains the trick by telling a story about a donkey, a hare, and a lion. One of the animals kills another. The third animal cooks it, but tells the killer there is no heart. Can you match the animals to the outcome?

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My Lord, the Baby / The Child’s Return

My Lord, the Baby / The Child’s Return: Short story by Rabindranath TagoreMajor themes of this story by Rabindranath Tagore are duty, love and sacrifice. A young magistrate places the faithful servant who raised him in charge of his own son. After the boy disappears in a flood, the servant is discharged. Miraculously, he has a son of his own who he comes to believe is the lost boy reincarnate. He spends everything he has raising his son to the same standard as the dead boy and, when he becomes too old to work, “returns” the boy to the magistrate. Other themes include loss, guilt and redemption, ingratitude.

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The Grave

The Grave: Short story by Katherine Anne PorterIn this coming of age story by Katherine Anne Porter, a motherless nine-year-old girl defies social convention by wearing similar day clothes to her brother, and wandering the woods freely with him. Two events bring about an epiphany in her life. Trading of an object she finds in an open grave for a gold ring brings about the first stirrings of womanhood. Seeing unborn kittens in the womb of a dead rabbit adds to the picture of what it is to be female. Themes include the cycle of life (youthful innocence, adulthood, birth and death), matriarchy, gender roles, poverty.

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The Dead Past

The Dead Past: Short story by Isaac AsimovIn this story by Isaac Asimov a young physicist, indignant at apparent government suppression of research in a fringe area of science, secretly builds a home “chronoscope” that can look back in time up to one hundred and fifty years. Too late, the government learns of this and tries to censor his work, pointing out the potential for his machine to destroy an important aspect of life everyone takes for granted. Themes include scientific curiosity and freedom, government disinformation and control (in this case for the greater good), privacy, guilt.

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