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The collection gathers dozens of short, humorous sketches that playfully invert familiar proverbs and aphorisms. Each piece recasts folklore motifs, classical or biblical allusions, and contemporary social scenes into ironic parables, juxtaposing fairy-tale logic with modern bureaucratic and domestic absurdities. Tone ranges from whimsical to sardonic, with concise narratives and punchline resolutions that expose human vanity, hypocrisy and the gap between sayings and reality. Many entries are brief fables or epigrams, organized under proverb-like headings that signal the theme of each vignette.
“NO,” said the old grandfather clock to the green parrot, “I will not tell you another story. I have told so many that I am quite hoarse.” “I cannot think what you mean,” replied the parrot. “You have said nothing but tick-tock like a hen, and then you cluck loudly as though you had laid an egg, though you have in fact only mislaid an hour. That is not my idea of a story.”
“When you are my age,” said the clock, “you will realise that there is no other story.”