Fantasy | Lecturia

Jorge Luis Borges: Funes, His Memory

“Funes, His Memory” (Funes el memorioso) is a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, first published in June 1942 in the newspaper La Nación, and later included in the book Ficciones (1944). It recounts the story of Ireneo Funes, a young man who, after an accident, acquires a prodigious memory: he can recall every detail of his life and surroundings with absolute precision. The narrator, an alter ego of Borges, reflects on the implications of this ability. Far from turning Funes into a sage, his perfect memory renders him incapable of abstraction or generalization, trapping him in a world of overwhelming details. Borges thus offers a profound meditation on the limits of knowledge and memory, suggesting that forgetting, to a certain extent, is necessary in order to think and to live.

Lord Dunsany: The Hoard of the Gibbelins

“The Hoard of the Gibbelins” is a short story by Lord Dunsany, first published on January 25, 1911, in the magazine The Sketch, and later collected in The Book of Wonder (1912). At the world’s edge, beyond an ancient river, rises the tower of the gibbelins—monstrous beings who hoard fabulous riches to lure men to their doom and devour them. Alderic, a knight, studies for years the means of stripping the gibbelins of their treasure, until one day, mounted on a dragon, he embarks upon the perilous venture.

Bram Stoker: Gibbet Hill

“Gibbet Hill” is a short story by Bram Stoker, published on December 17, 1890, in the Daily Express of Dublin. On an autumn day, a traveler explores the hills of Surrey. As he admires the beauty of the place, three figures catch his attention: two girls of exotic appearance, who seem to have come from India, and a fair-haired boy with an angelic smile. After speaking with them, they climb together to the summit of Gibbet Hill, a place of breathtaking views where a cross stands in memory of the execution of a former criminal. Intoxicated by the landscape, the traveler wanders into a wood and falls into a brief sleep. Upon waking, he will witness a disturbing scene.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: The White Doe

“The White Doe” (La corza blanca) is a short story by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, published in June 1863 in La América. The story is set in a small village in Aragon during the Middle Ages. Don Dionís, a retired knight, devotes himself to hunting in the company of his daughter Constanza, renowned for her extraordinary beauty. During one of their expeditions, the hunters encounter Esteban, a shepherd who tells them an unsettling story about the deer of the region and a mysterious white doe. Although the tale is met with skepticism by the hunters, Garcés, a young huntsman, decides to investigate the truth.

Jorge Luis Borges: A Weary Man’s Utopia

“A Weary Man’s Utopia” (Utopía de un hombre que está cansado), a short story by Jorge Luis Borges published in 1975 in the collection The Book of Sand, is a lyrical tale with deep philosophical roots that recounts the encounter between a twentieth-century man and an inhabitant of the future. The protagonist, Eudoro Acevedo, arrives at a house where he is received by a tall man dressed in gray. During their conversation in Latin, the host reveals an apparently utopian world, without governments, cities, or material possessions. Humanity has abolished the printing press, and each individual creates his own science and art. The inhabitants live in solitude and exercise complete control over their own life and death.

Lafcadio Hearn: The Boy Who Drew Cats

Lafcadio Hearn - El niño que dibujaba gatos

“The Boy Who Drew Cats” is a tale by Lafcadio Hearn, published in 1898 as number 23 in Hasegawa Takejirō’s Japanese Fairy Tale Series. It tells the story of a Japanese boy, the youngest in a farming family, who is sent to a temple to be trained as a priest. Despite his intelligence, he has an irresistible obsession: drawing cats everywhere. His master expels him from the temple with a cryptic warning: “Avoid large places at night;—keep to small!” Without fully understanding these words, the boy sets out on a journey to another temple in search of a new opportunity.