Brazilian Tales. Trans. Isaac Goldberg. Boston: Four Seas, 1921. Gutenberg.org. 12 Aug. 2007. E-book.

Some years ago I asked a man from Brazil what writers from Brazil he would recommend. The first person he named was Assis, that is, Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis. He was a nineteenth century writer whose Dom Casmurro is usually considered the greatest novel of Brazil.

I went to my usual online library, namely Project Gutenberg, to see if they had anything by him in English. This collection Brazilian Tales includes three short stories by Assis plus three stories by three other writers. The stories of Assis were excellent. They reminded me of stories by Chekhov, with maybe a bit of Poe thrown in. His three tales were well worth recommending, and most of the others were worth reading.

“The Attendant’s Confession” could have been written by Poe if Poe lived in Brazil. The confession is told by a life-long servant of an aristocrat named Procopio (even the name sounds like the name of rich person, “for abundance”). Procopio, to put it mildly, is unpleasant. As he gets older and more infirm, he becomes downright cruel. His servant finds him harder and harder to endure. Think of how the narrator of the “Tell-Tale Heart” was driven crazy by the old man. Only Procopio’s servant has a just complaint. Think also of the narrator of “The Cask of Amontillado” who is trying to find a clever way to get revenge. The story, though, has a unforeseen but believable twist at the end, more reminiscent of something by De Maupassant or Saki.

As with many of Poe’s stories like “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Attendant’s Confession” does suggest the decline of the aristocracy. Perhaps there is something better that can come from that kind of decadent rule. As Poe was writing in a fledgling republic of whose government most nations were skeptical, so Assis is writing during a time of transition from empire to republic in Brazil.

“The Fortune Teller” is great. This stands on its own. Poe and Chekhov both would have loved it. This story reveals the superstitious side of Latin cultures, and at the same time it is recording the development of a serious love triangle. Camillo and Rita are lovers. Camillo’s best friend is Rita’s husband. Such a relationship seems doomed, but a fortune teller interprets things differently. The woman is the first to go to the fortune teller, and Camillo teases her about it. But eventually Camillo becomes interested as well. If “the story were extant” in the sixteenth century, it is easy to imagine Shakespeare writing a great play based on it. Maybe someone will…

“Life,” the third Assis story is a closet drama, a story written in the form of a play. It could be acted out, but it is meant to be read. This story truly foreshadows the kind of writing that Latin America would be known for in the twentieth century with the works of Borges or Marquez. It would probably be a hit right now because it is post-apocalyptic. We have here an intersection of Christian, Jewish, and Greek folklore in a profound tale that is truly about life. Assis combines legends of the Wandering Jew, of the life of Cain, and of Prometheus into a fascinating philosophical and apocalyptic tale. What is life? What makes life worth living? Is there such a thing as a life fully lived?

This collection also contains “The Vengeance of Felix” by Jose Medeiros e Albuquerque. Poe or Kate Chopin might have written something like this great and terrible story. (As an aside, Chopin is known today for her novel The Awakening, but I believe many of her short stories are superior.) The story of Felix reminds us that the first African slaves in the Americas were taken to Brazil by the Portuguese. While Brazilians of African ancestry are full citizens of the country, they often have a sense of being marginalized. Felix is such a character—African ancestry but reputed to be mentally retarded. Felix appears to have found his place on the fringes of society until…Well, you have to read the story. Perhaps Felix is not so mentally deficient after all.

“The Pigeons” by Coelho Netto was probably least to my taste. This reflects another side to Brazil, the Native American population. The story focuses on a Native American superstition of Brazil that is somewhat spooky or creepy. Fans of Stephen King may appreciate it more than I. The story does have a clever, ironic twist. Superstition is based on interpreting signs. What if you blame the sign for bad luck? What if you are the one deliberately creating the sign, even the sign you blame?

“Aunt Zeze’s Tears” by Carmen Dolores, the one female author in this collection, is a social, drawing room story. Although it has a Brazilian setting, this story could have been set nearly anywhere. It reminded me of Pushkin or Chekhov. Aunt Zeze has strong feelings for a man that is a good family friend. She learns that he has great respect, even some affection, for her. But is that the same as love? Aunt Zeze is no teenager, but even most teens know that “just being friends” is not usually a satisfactory outcome if one of the parties has other ideas. Told with flair, do “Aunt Zeze’s Tears” flow from irony or pathos?

Brazilian Tales is a well chosen collection of short stories from Brazil. Dr. Goldberg was one of the first to translate Brazilian stories into English, and he has done a service here—not only in translating the stories but in sharing some excellent tales. Indeed, the three stories by Assis have gotten me curious about his novels. Maybe I will tackle one or two of them some day.