Short Stories

Did the author believe in the prophetic ability of Frau Frieda?

Why did he think that Frau Frieda’s dreams were a stratagem for surviving?

Why does the author compare Neruda to a Renaissance pope?

Discuss in groups

In spite of all the rationality that human beings are capable of, most of us are suggestible and yield to archaic superstitions.

Discuss in groups

Dreams and clairvoyance are as much an element of the poetic vision as religious superstition.

The story hinges on a gold ring shaped like a serpent with emerald eyes. Comment on the responses that this image evokes in the reader.

The craft of a master storyteller lies in the ability to interweave imagination and reality. Do you think that this story illustrates this?

Bring out the contradiction in the last exchange between the author and the Portuguese ambassador

‘In concrete terms,’ I asked at last, ‘what did she do?’ ‘Nothing,’ he said, with a certain disenchantment. ‘She dreamed.’