02691cam a22003973u 4500 78403 UtSlPG 20260610134822.0 m cr n 260607r20261925utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d ca26000674 UtSlPG en iso639-1 PQ Lobato, José Bento Monteiro, 1882-1948 Brazilian short stories Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2026 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Little blue book ; no. 733 "The translations are by a woman friend of Lobato's, resident in Brazil." Release date is 2026-04-09 Introduction -- Modern torture -- The penitent wag -- The plantation buyer. Tim Miller, Laura Natal and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Brazilian short stories by José Bento Monteiro Lobato is a collection of short stories written in the early 20th century. It uses sharp, satirical fiction to examine Brazilian society, from petty politics and bureaucracy to rural life and social pretenses. An opening introduction frames the author as a nationalist satirist whose fiction doubles as civic protest. The three tales then cut to the bone: in “Modern Torture,” a small-town mail carrier, Izé Biriba, is crushed by patronage, endless errands, and public mockery, ultimately sabotaging an election and vanishing to escape his misery. “The Penitent Wag” follows Pontes, a lifelong joker desperate to be taken seriously; he schemes to make a frail tax collector laugh to death to secure the post, succeeds, is wracked by guilt, misses his chance anyway, and finally hangs himself—only to be laughed at once more. “The Plantation Buyer” portrays a failing farm whose owner stages deceptions to snare a buyer; a charming impostor woos the family and leaves, later returns genuinely wealthy to purchase the place, but is beaten off in rage, and the family loses its last hope as the daughter’s romantic dreams collapse. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: Girard: Haldeman-Julius Company, 1925 Short stories, Brazilian -- Translations into English Brazil -- Social life and customs -- Fiction Goldberg, Isaac, 1887-1938 Haldeman-Julius, E. (Emanuel), 1888-1951 Little blue book ; no. 733 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78403 119123 119123