Exemplary Tales

Published in 1962, this short story collection foreshadows two other iconic 1960s works--by the Mozambican Honwana and the Angolan Vieira--in the way it invites its readers to consider a range of ethical issues at a watershed moment during the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal. It alternates between allegorical pieces, endowed with a fable-like quality, such as a modern reworking of the Three Kings biblical story, and more immediate first-person tales focusing on the formative experiences of an autobiographical narrator. Sophia, widely acknowledged as one of Portugal's greatest poets, perhaps second only to Pessoa, uses an accessible yet beautifully lyrical language to propose that poetry, love, and holiness are not lofty ideals: they are within reach of everyone, in the fight against social injustice and complicit behavior.