7 h 53 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the happiness you chase becomes the very thing that traps you?
In Tales, Eça de Queirós brings a sharp, playful eye to love, greed and the promise of progress. In The Mandarin, Teodoro is a poor Lisbon clerk who dreams of a larger life and faces a magic bargain. In Civilization, wealthy Jacinto surrounds himself with devices, trusting machines and knowledge to bring the happiness he lacks.
José Matias turns to a gentle lover whose devotion to a woman he adores from afar grows into something stranger. Elsewhere, the humble friar Frei Genebro gives to anyone who asks, whatever the cost. These short stories move between city comforts and simple lives, testing desire, charity and faith with humour that can turn cruel.
What you’ll discover
- A bargain with wealth Follow Teodoro as the chance of sudden riches puts his conscience to the test.
- Progress without peace Enter Jacinto’s crowded home, where the newest devices offer no sure path to contentment.
- Devotion becomes obsession Meet José Matias, whose distant love reveals how desire can grow beyond ordinary happiness.
- Charity at a cost Encounter Frei Genebro’s generosity in a world that does not always reward goodness.
- Wit with a sting Enjoy clear, quick storytelling that punctures grand ideas with small, sharply comic details.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy irony, moral fables and short fiction with a bite, and anyone curious about Portugal in the nineteenth century. If you want fast action or a single long plot, the shifting tales may feel less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bell, a fortune and a conscience
- Machines cannot buy a contented life
- A lover who adores from afar
- Goodness tested in simple lives
- What the stories are really about
- Irony, speed and the storyteller's wink
Who’s who
- TeodoroA poor Lisbon clerk in The Mandarin, bored with his small life and tempted by the chance of sudden wealth.
- JacintoA rich young man in Civilization, who believes machines and knowledge will bring him happiness.
- José MatiasA gentle, constant lover who gives his devotion to a woman he adores from afar.
- Frei GenebroA humble friar who lives by charity and gives to all who ask, whatever it costs him.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A bell, a fortune and a conscience
The Mandarin is one of the best-known tales in the collection. Its hero is Teodoro, a poor and bored clerk in Lisbon, who lives in a cheap rented room and dreams of a larger life. One evening he is offered a strange bargain. Far away in China lives a rich old Mandarin. If Teodoro rings a small bell, the old man will die, and Teodoro will inherit all his wealth.
The story asks a simple question that a reader cannot easily dodge. Would you ring the bell if no one would ever know? Eça sets the question inside a very ordinary world of boarding houses, office stools and small ambitions. That makes the temptation feel close, not magical. The man is not a villain. He is tired, ordinary and hungry for more.
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The author
Eça de Queirós
1845–1900 · Portuguese novelist
Eça de Queirós was a Portuguese writer and diplomat, born in Póvoa de Varzim in 1845. He wrote The Crime of Father Amaro (1875), Cousin Bazilio (1878), and The Maias (1888). His diplomatic work took him to Cuba, Britain, and France. He died in Paris in 1900.
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What is Eça de Queirós Tales about?
It is a collection of short stories that look at love, greed, faith and vanity with irony. Characters chase money, comfort or a beloved, and find that their wishes do not bring the happiness they imagined.
What is the story The Mandarin about?
A poor Lisbon clerk named Teodoro can ring a bell to cause the death of a rich Mandarin in China and inherit his wealth. The tale follows the temptation and the weight on his conscience.
Is Civilization connected to The City and the Mountains?
Yes. Eça's novel The City and the Mountains grew out of the earlier tale Civilization. Both ask whether progress and gadgets can make a person content, and both set the city against the Portuguese countryside.
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