Words, Stories & Languages. Palavras, Histórias e Línguas.
A beautiful Oriental tale retold by a Brazilian writer (and translated by myself). Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! God is the greatest! God is the greatest! When God created woman, he created also Fancy. Thus, one day Truth decided to visit a great palace. And it had to be the very palace in which lived sultan … Continue reading [Translated story] A Fable about the Fable
Many people nowadays misunderstand the role of villains in stories. This misunderstanding has ruined a sad number of good stories, so I call upon my fellow-storytellers, and our audiences, to correct it. The storytellers, by creating villains and heroes differently; and the audiences, by being alert and holding us to account. Whether their creators realize … Continue reading [Essay] The myth of the good villain
“Heralded are now the wars ‘Twixt France and Aragon; Woe is me! that I am old, In the wars I’ll be undone! That seven daughters have I But not a single male son!” ‘Tis here the youngest answers She’s full of resolution: “Let me have a horse and arms, I will be the male son.” … Continue reading [Translated poetry] The Maiden Who Went To War
Click for the English text Em seis linhas, Esopo nos mostra como quem domina os meios de comunicação muitas vezes reescreve a História. E vemos que cinco séculos antes de Cristo já existiam "fatos alternativos". Certa vez viajavam juntos um homem e um leão, discutindo qual dos dois era o mais forte. Ao fim da … Continue reading [Fábula de Esopo] O viajante e o leão [Aesop’s fable] The Traveller and the Lion
Listen to Andersen's delightful satire of arrogant artists
A beautiful fantasy by Hans Christian Andersen. In the Garden of Paradise, beneath the Tree of Knowledge, bloomed a rose bush. Here, in the first rose, a bird was born. His flight was like the flashing of light, his plumage was beauteous, and his song ravishing. But when Eve plucked the fruit of the tree … Continue reading [Short tale] The Phoenix Bird
Let's delight in Henry Morton Robinson's deft use of chess figures of speech towards the end of this scene. The man was a master at simile and metaphor. Setup: Young Father Stephen Fermoyle has fallen in disgrace with the irascible Cardinal Glennon, who banished him to a remote, penniless parish as assistant to the ailing … Continue reading [Literary passage] Chess metaphors in The Cardinal
In a surprising digression from a crime analysis, Sherlock Holmes gives us a short but deep soliloquy on Beauty as proof of the Divine. From The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. "What a lovely thing a rose is!" He walked past the couch to the … Continue reading [Literary passage] Sherlock Holmes and the rose
As his characters sail the waters of the mysterious Silver Sea unto the very rim of the world, C. S. Lewis gives them a glimpse of the ineffable. From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
A tale by Selma Lagerlöf / Um conto de Selma Lagerlöf
