In this story by Manuel Rojas, a boy who has run away to sea finds himself stranded, penniless and hungry in a foreign port. He is too proud to beg for food on the dockside, and too timid to ask in the cheap taverns nearby. Rather than steal food, he decides to order something in a dairy (milk bar), even though he can’t pay for it, and accept the consequences. Instead of punishment, he is met with kindness and compassion. Themes include the lure of the sea, poverty, loneliness and isolation, pride, desperation, shame, honor and kindness. More…
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The Man with the Rose
In this story by Manuel Rojas, an evangelical priest is predictably dismissive when a man says he has “black magical” powers. The man begs to be put to the test, claiming that, if locked in a room for an hour, he can retrieve any distant object the priest nominates. The priest’s orderly view of the universe is shattered; not only when the man hands him a unique rose he requested from a Santiago convent, but also by what he saw when he unlocked the door and crept into the room twenty-five minutes early. Themes include religion, disbelief, disillusionment, the supernatural. More…