Jungle Tales

Book summary

A giant tortoise saves the man who once nursed it, the youngest of three coati cubs disobeys his mother, and a flamingo pays dearly for its vanity. These eight tales give a voice to the animals of the Paraná, who work, quarrel and learn the hard way. People pass through them, as hunters or wounded men, and the forest goes on without them. The collection explores caution, mutual help and the laws of a nature that forgives nothing. Quiroga, who wrote these stories for his children, combines the humour of the animal fable with the precision of a man who lived there.