The Treasure Chest: Stories Illustrated with Contemporary Woodcuts (Penguin Classics)

Homely little stories from the past. And the bad guy does not always get caught.

Hebel wrote an almanac called The Treasure Chest in the early 19th century; these stories are culled from that. They are works of genius: Kafka declared one of his stories "the most wonderful story in the world," and with good reason. Hebel combines fantastic plots -- worthy of Dashiell Hammet -- with deep and melancholy themes (and also light-hearted ones). You'll gasp at some of the cleverness: cleverness of an order to rival Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, but worked out in very short, very entertaining stories. It's a great book.

Typical of vulgar "literature" from the late 17th century. Had some high hopes, based upon reviews, but this is a glimpse into a primitive age with behaviors, customs, that make one wonder how anyone survived. Frankly, found every story a disappointment and wondered why anyone would write it. Don't waste your time if you have anything else to read.

I derive great pleasure from picking up a book I know absolutely nothing about. The Penguin Classics have never disappointed me, and when I spotted this volume thanks to the traditional black spine with a band of color (yellow, in this case) at the top, I decided to give it a shot. It may sound cliché, but I truly felt as if I had stumbled upon a treasure.Hebel is an underrated figure. _The Treasure Chest_ (1811) appears to be the only one of his works available in English. Yet his admirers include Goethe, Kafka, Tolstoy, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Hesse, Canetti, and Sebald, who dedicated a chapter of _A Place in the Country_ to him. Also a poet who wrote in the Alemannic dialect (Germany is "Alemania" in Spanish, "Allemagne" in French), Hebel was mostly known in his time for his work on an almanac, which included, besides the expected calendar, brief stories meant to instruct, inspire and/or entertain. _The Treasure Chest_ consists in a selection of these stories. The Penguin edition includes 93 of the original 128.While unified by the voice of Hebel in his persona of the Family Friend, the stories are quite varied in topic, tone, and purpose, so everyone is likely to find at least a handful of tales that appeal to him or her. Fables ("A Strange Walk and Ride"), jokes ("A Short Stage"), descriptive stories ("The Mole"), character studies ("Suvorov"), mystery/murder tales ("A Secret Beheading"), ghost stories ("Settling Accounts with a Ghost"); there's space for all of these in _The Treasure Chest_. I will comment briefly on three types that I consider to be of special significance: the picaresque, the humanistic, and the poetic.* The Picaresque: Many of Hebel's stories address the issue of how to survive in a world of tricksters. One must be ingenious, and this is the main trait of the pícaro. The stories revolving around the recurring character of Freddy Tinder are examples of this mode. My favorite of these is "How Freddy Tinder Got Himself a Horse to Ride." Outside the Freddy Tinder tales, one of the best examples of resourcefulness is to be found in "Strange Reckoning at the Inn," where a landlady outsmarts three men who try to eat for free at her Inn. "The Lightest Death Sentence" is also a hilarious tale about getting out of a tight spot.* The humanistic: Uplifting stories are also a strong point of Hebel's. While the author is not naive, and has no problem describing how awful human beings can be to one another in certain occasions, throughout _The Treasure Chest_ we find examples of the wonderful acts of kindness that people are capable of. "The Hussar in Neisse," a piece about the power of forgiveness, is one of the most memorable examples. See also: "The Emperor Napoleon and the Fruit Woman in Brienne," "The Tailor at Penza," and "Mister Charles."* The poetic: By this I mean stories that have an extraordinary power to transcend the plot, stories that continue to resonate in the reader's mind and expand as their themes inspire dozens of associations. These tales revolve around eternal subjects such as the nature of time, the permanence of the past, and the perplexing, enigmatic quality of the human condition. These are, to me, the most effective pieces to be found in _The Treasure Chest_. I will mention three: "Unexpected Reunion," "Kannitverstan," and "A Secret Beheading."Kafka considered "Unexpected Reunion" to be "the most wonderful story in the world." It is my favorite too, but I was probably predisposed by Kafka's judgement.Some will deem the stories in _The Treasure Chest_ simple, unsophisticated. I would disagree. As the translator, John Hibberd, points out in the introduction, simplicity was one of Hebel's goals--he was, after all, writing for the general public. And, as we know, it is quite difficult to achieve simplicity. The author, Hibberd tells us, sought to reduce a story to its essentials, but in order to do this he subjected his tales to careful revision and rewriting.These are stories to savor, reread, and share with others. I'm sure you'll find many pieces of great value in this treasure chest.Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!

Some stories are great, some are quite outdated for 21st century mind and seem too simplistic. I did enjoy reading it though as it is a window into minds of people of that time

A diverse collection of short stories containing everything from morality tales to ghost stories, comedies to tragedies, rural folklore to tales from the road. As is par for the course with such collections some of the stories are better than others but there are definitely more hits than misses here. It also provides a fascinating insight into the (what we now know as) German region at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.This edition also contains a wonderfully informative introduction that gives plenty of background information on both the author and the culture at the time so the reader never feels lost when reading any of the stories.

The art of story telling is dying but here is a collection from a past master. Short tales: sad, happy and everything in between. A real breath of fresh air.

Good present which I gave to my wife and she said that it was a good read. I must have bought well.