Gene Wolfe / The Nebraskan and the Nereid

The Nebraskan and the Nereid 

by Gene Wolfe 

Gene Wolfe / El hombre de Nebraska y la nereida

THE Nebraskan was walking near the sea when he saw her. Two dark eyes, a rounded shoulder with a hint of breast, and a flash of thigh; then she was gone. A moment later he heard a faint splash-or perhaps it was only the fabled seventh wave, the wave that is stronger than the rest, breaking on the rocks. 

Almost running, he strode to the edge of the little bluff and looked east across the sea. The blue waters of the Saronikos Kolpos showed whitecaps, but nothing else. 

Gene Wolfe / Thag

Thag

by Gene Wolfe

Gene Wolfe / Thag (A short story in Spanish)

ONCE upon a time there was a boy named Eric who had a tame raven and a ragged cap and no boots, and lived with his mother in a cottage in the forest. Eric' and his mother were very poor, but nonetheless they possessed a great treasure, a charm ancient and powerful. This was a bear's skull, and hung from the roofbeam of their little house on a chain of iron. Eric's great-grandfather had made it long ago, choking the bear with moonlight and filling his skull with the cottony tales of rabbits, and the urine of shadows, and black feathers snatched at great risk from the left foreleg of an eagle, and many other things. The bear's skull was the home of Thag, as a beehive is the home of bees; and Thag was a powerful spirit though he was often away. 

Gene Wolfe / Kevin Malone

KEVIN MALONE

by Gene Wolfe

Gene Wolfe / Kevin Malone (A short story in English)

MARCELLA and I were married in April. I lost my position with Ketterly, Bruce & Drake in June, and by August we were desperate. We kept the apartment-I think we both felt that if we lowered our standards there would be no chance to raise them again-but the rent tore at our small savings. All during July I had tried to get a job at another brokerage firm, and by August I was calling fraternity broth- ers I had not seen since graduation, and expressing an entire willingness to work in whatever businesses their fathers owned. One of them, I think, must have mailed us the ad- vertisement. Attractive young couple, well educated and well connected, will receive free housing, generous living allowance for min- imal services. There was a telephone number, which I omit for reasons that will become clear. I showed the clipping to Marcella, who was lying with her cocktail shaker on the chaise longue. She said, "Why not," and I dialed the number.