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Short stories 146-150

“Eulenspiegel and the Merchant” by Anonymous . Originally from Eulenspiegel, the Merry Jester. A tale in which the prankster Eulenspiegel does literally everything he is told, and teaches (hopefully) a rich man a lesson. For those unfamiliar with Eulenspiegel, he is a character of central-European folklore, a trickster and joker who lives by his wits and exposes people’s vices and hypocrisy. Read more.

“The Story of Serapion” by E.T.A. Hoffmann. Originally from The Serapion Brethren. A rather dull philosophical tale.

“A Legend of the Dance” by Gottfried Keller. Originally from Seven Legends. A saccharine little tale about one of those intolerably good girls who go to Heaven through martyrdom, which then turns into a strange muddled-up mixture of elements from Christian and Greco-Roman mythology.

“The Fury” (L’Arrabbiata) by Paul Heise. A rather good romantic story about learning to let go of your fears. Recommended.

“The Triple Warning” by Arthur Schnitzler. Originally from Masks and Miracles. About the cruelty of fate. Rather overdramatic, but has a nice mythological feel to it.

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