This short fable by Laura E. Richards teaches a lesson about patience. The cat showed patience in waiting for the bird to lay all of its eggs, and then waiting until the eggs had hatched. It also showed patience in not pouncing as soon as the chicks were born, but leaving them until they started to get fat. There was a point shortly after this where the cat should have enjoyed its meal. This leads to the moral of the story: being patient is a good thing, but it is equally important to know the right time to act. More…
The Hungry Stones
The central theme of this story by Rabindranath Tagore is the nature of truth (i.e. that our beliefs, experiences and circumstances tend to shape our perception of reality). A train passenger shares a story about the time he stayed alone in a deserted, seemingly haunted palace. According to local legend, those who slept there either disappeared or went mad. Unfortunately, the train arrives before he discloses the palace’s secret. The narrator dismisses the story as a fabrication. His companion, a theosophist who believes in the spirit world, disagrees. Other themes include the supernatural, greed and desire, fear, uncertainty. More…
The First Seven Years
The major theme of this story from Bernard Malamud, with its allusion to the biblical tale of Jacob and Rebecca, is materialism vs. spiritualism. An aging, ailing shoemaker is excited to identify a potential suitor with good financial prospects for his nineteen-year-old daughter. His dreams are shattered when the girl, an avid reader of the classics, rejects the man as being a materialist with “no soul”. He later experiences an epiphany upon learning that she already shares a romantic interest… with his equally sensitive but poorly educated, much older workshop assistant. Other themes: insensitivity, independence, self-learning, worldliness vs. love. More…
Pumpkin Seed and the Snake
This Hmong folktale is full of broken promises. Three times a widow breaks a promise that whoever removes a large rock from her field can marry one of her daughters. Each time the rock is returned. She finally relents and agrees that the mystery helper (a huge, shape-shifting snake), can marry her daughter “Pumpkin Seed”. Later, over three nights, she breaks a promise to Pumpkin Seed that she will kill the snake while it is sleeping. Forced to accompany the snake to its home, Pumpkin Seed proves just as untrustworthy as her mother before unexpectedly living “Happily Ever After”. More…
Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr
This Miguel de Unamuno story (aka Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr) is a memoir by a Spanish woman reflecting on her close connection with a Catholic priest about to be beatified. The outwardly pious man, who was credited with several miracles and spent his life ministering to the people of her remote mountain village, harbored an astonishing secret… he did not believe in God! His life had been a charade for the supposed good of the villagers. Themes include existentialism, self-sacrifice, community, the nature and role of religion, New vs. Old World values, identity, truth vs. ignorance and bliss. More…