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Short stories 231-240

From Croatia (as part of Yugoslavia):
“The Neighbour” by Antun Gustav Matoš. GSS. A rather melodramatic story about a cultural misunderstanding.

From Slovenia (as part of Yugoslavia):
“Children and Old Folk” by Ivan Cankar. GSS. About the strange wisdom of children, the sorrows of the old, and about war. Recommended.

From Serbia(as part of Yugoslavia):
“At the Well” by Laza K. Lazarevich. GSS. About a young woman whose behaviour disrupts the family she married into and how the wisdom of the old redressed the problem. Recommended.

From (what was) Czechoslovakia (when the collection was published):
The Vampire” by Jan Neruda. A charming tale that turns chilling. Recommended. (This appears to be the same translation).

“Foltýn’s Drum” by Svatopluk Čech. An entertaining little tale of servants and gentry and moral differences. Recommended.

From Greece:
The Priest’s Tale” by Demetrios Bikelas. A sad tale about a man with rabies. (This appears to be the same translation. The plain text file is an uncorrected OCR scan, but still fairly readable. I was unable to open the pdf-file to check it).

From Romania:
The Easter Torch” by I.L. Caragiale. A well written tale of terror that unfortunately gets rather overly melodramatic towards the end. (This is the same translation).

What Vasile Saw” by Marie, Queen of Romania. A beautifully written miracle tale. (This is the same translation).

From Bulgaria:
“The Commissioner’s Christmas” by Dimitr Ivanov. An entertaining trickster tale. Recommended.

From Costa Rica:
“Chivalry” by Ricardo Fernández-García. A tale of honour and chivalry.

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