Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
About This Book
A compact collection of short tales set in rural and small-town milieus, presented as vivid character sketches and modern fables. A wandering narrator meets eccentric figures — blithe companions, furtive wrongdoers, wistful women — and episodes shift from whimsical comedy to sudden moral violence or quiet sorrow. Recurring concerns include chance, desire, conscience, and the porous line between kindness and cruelty; many pieces use plainspoken, folkloric rhythm and ironic turns. Varied in tone, the stories alternate light humor, melancholy, and understatement to reveal oddness and moral ambiguity in ordinary lives.