"All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."

The Magician and Other Folktales

Last week I got another rejection and I wanted to give my Patrons one of the classical Gothic books I’m annotating but it isn’t ready yet, so we’ll settle for another bunch of folktales collected by Grazia Deledda and translated by yours truly. Whom, as we’ve established on threads, is Gothic enough.

The first tale, “The Magician”, tells of a couple who’s cursed by a local magician not to have any children. The husband accepts to perform a rite to lift the curse and… it doesn’t go well.

The second one is titled “More Magic Spells,” but we might retitle it “The Holy Oil.” It tells the story of how a beautiful maiden requests a young sexton to aid her in stealing some holy oil from a church so that… well, that’s a spoiler. You’ll have to read it.

The third tale features a shepherd who’s visited by a ghostly lady in his dreams. A murder in Church, a buried treasure and the devil are involved.

Enjoy!

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