In this story by Leo Tolstoy, a bishop of the Roman Orthodox Church schools three devout hermits seeking salvation by living alone on a deserted island in reciting the Lord’s Prayer. He claims that although that their own prayer ‘Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.’ encompasses the essence of Christianity, it is insufficient to please God. The bishop is humbled and admits his mistake when they miraculously follow him by gliding across the sea, having forgotten the words. Themes include humility and devotion, religious dogma vs. faith, the nature of prayer. More…
A Vendetta
This story by Guy de Maupassant features an old widow who lives in a small village in Southern Italy with her only son and his dog. One evening, the son is murdered. The mother is so saddened by this that she swears a vendetta against the killer. Every day, she sits by the window wondering how she, a weak old woman with no one to help her, can carry out her promise. Finally, she comes up with an idea and has her revenge. Themes include grief, vengeance, cruelty, the brutality and potential for injustice of the code of vendetta. More…
In the Great Walled Country
This Christmas story by R. M. Alden tells of a strange land of ice and snow where children never grow up. Being so close to the North Pole, Santa Claus doesn’t deliver presents to people’s houses. He hangs them on trees in a forest. On Christmas Eve, everyone goes out and chooses gifts to give to their family and friends. One year, a stranger visits and convinces the child king that it would be better to change the law so that people collected presents for themselves rather than others. The result was not what he expected. More…
The Prince Who Wasn’t Hungry
The message of this story by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey can be found in the very first line: Once upon a time there was a little Prince who had very little to do, and so he thought a great deal about eating. As he grew up, the whole palace had to work hard to meet his demand for increasingly rare dishes. Nothing satisfied him, and eventually he stopped eating. In frustration, he set out alone one day to find the best food in the world. He discovered that it isn’t the food that counts, but what you do to earn it. More…
The Boy Who Broke the Bank
Although published over thirty years ago, this light-hearted story by Ruskin Bond highlights a major problem in today’s world: the spread of fake news on social networks based on incomplete or inaccurate information. A young sweeper working for an Indian bank is paid late, presumably because of his lowly caste. He complains to a friend, who mentions it to a customer, and soon word spreads throughout the bazaar that the bank cannot pay any of its salaries. This causes panic among depositors, leading to a run on the unfortunate bank. Themes include social class, exploitation, discontent, rumor, panic, crowd psychology. More…