Storytelling as a fundamental human impulse, one that announces itself at the moment, hidden in infancy, that dreams begin—this is what the poet and critic Randall Jarrell set out to illuminate in this extraordinary book. Here Jarrell presents ballads, parables, anecdotes, and legends along with some of the finest work of Chekhov, Babel, Elizabeth Bowen, Isak Dinesen, Kafka, Peter Taylor, and Katherine Anne Porter. This wonderful anthology, with its celebrated introductory essay, enlarges and deepens our perception of the storyteller's art and its central place in the world of our feelings.ContentsRANDALL JARRELL: IntroductionFRANZ KAFKA: A Country DoctorANTON CHEKHOV: GusevRAINER MARIA RILKE: The Wrecked Houses; The Big ThingROBERT FROST: The Witch of CoösGIOVANNI VERGA: La LupaNIKOLAI GOGOL: The NoseELIZABETH BOWEN: Her Table SpreadLUDWIG TIECK: Fair EckbertBERTOLT BRECHT: Concerning the Infanticide, Marie FarrarLEO TOLSTOY: The Three HermitsPETER TAYLOR: What You Hear from 'Em?HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN: The Fir TreeKATHERINE ANNE PORTER: HeANONYMOUS: The Red King and the WitchANTON CHEKHOV: Rothschild's FiddleTHE BROTHERS GRIMM: Cat and Mouse in PartnershipE. M. FORSTER: The Story of the SirenTHE BOOK OF JONAHFRANZ KAFKA: The Bucket-RiderSAINT-SIMON: The Death of MonseigneurISAAC BABEL: AwakeningCHUANG T'ZU: Five AnecdotesHUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL: A Tale of the CavalryWILLIAM BLAKE: The Mental TravellerD. H. LAWRENCE: Samson and DelilahLEO TOLSTOY: The Porcelain DollIVAN TURGENEV: Byezhin PrairieWILLIAM WORDSWORTH: The Ruined CottageFRANK O'CONNOR: PeasantsISAK DINESEN: Sorrow-Acre