Fable
A certain short man said, “I’d do anything if only I could be just a
little taller.”
He hardly finished saying this when he saw a witch standing in
front of him.
“What do you want?” the witch asked him.
The short man stood there, and he was so frightened, he
couldn’t say anything.
“Well?” said the witch.
The short man stood there and said nothing. The witch
disappeared.
At that point the short man started crying and biting his nails.
First he bit all the nails on his fingers and then those on his toes.
Reader, think hard about this fable and you will feel pretty
strange.
little taller.”
He hardly finished saying this when he saw a witch standing in
front of him.
“What do you want?” the witch asked him.
The short man stood there, and he was so frightened, he
couldn’t say anything.
“Well?” said the witch.
The short man stood there and said nothing. The witch
disappeared.
At that point the short man started crying and biting his nails.
First he bit all the nails on his fingers and then those on his toes.
Reader, think hard about this fable and you will feel pretty
strange.
From The Man with the Black Coat;
Russia’s Literature of the Absurd, Danill Kharms
by Aleksandr I Vvedenskii (Author), George Gibian (Translator)
Published by Northwestern University Press, 1997
Reproduced by kind permission.
Orginally published as Russia’s Lost Literature of the Absurd: A Liturary Discovery
(Cornwell Unversity Press, 1971; Norton Library 1974). Northwestern University Press paperback edition published
in 1987 by arrangement with George Gibian. Copyright 1987 by George Gibian . All rights reserved.
Russia’s Literature of the Absurd, Danill Kharms
by Aleksandr I Vvedenskii (Author), George Gibian (Translator)
Published by Northwestern University Press, 1997
Reproduced by kind permission.
Orginally published as Russia’s Lost Literature of the Absurd: A Liturary Discovery
(Cornwell Unversity Press, 1971; Norton Library 1974). Northwestern University Press paperback edition published
in 1987 by arrangement with George Gibian. Copyright 1987 by George Gibian . All rights reserved.
Translated by George Gibian
Page(s) 25
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