Articles

James Albert Lindon (b. 1914, d. December 16, 1979) A carpenter named Charlie Bratticks,Who had a taste for mathematics,One summer Tuesday, just for fun,Made a wooden cube side minus one. Though this to you may well seem wrong,He made it… Read more: A Positive Reminder

1 — Setting the Fuse The previous paper ended with Susanoo’s wild spree in Heaven: flooding rice-fields, hurling dung, and finally pitching a flayed celestial horse through his sister’s weaving-house. One court maiden died of shock, looms splintered, and sacred… Read more: Amaterasu in the Rock Cave (Japanese Myth Paper 3)

Preface This work offers a sweeping yet respectful journey through some of the most revered narratives of the Australian Aboriginal Dreaming—stories that breathe life, law, and landscape into the world’s oldest living cultures. Although they are arranged here in a… Read more: An Introduction and Retellings of Foundational Aboriginal Narratives

Set in classical times, this story (often included in Aesop’s corpus though of later origin) tells of Androcles, a fugitive slave in ancient Rome, and a lion. Androcles escapes his cruel master and flees into the wilderness. There, he encounters… Read more: Androcles and the Lion

Origins and setting This is one of the best-loved Russian wonder tales, recorded in the nineteenth century and told across the Slavic world. It sets the gentle steadfastness of Vasilisa against the fearsome wisdom of Baba Yaga, the witch who… Read more: Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Beautiful

A community of mice is terrorized by a marauding house cat that pounces on them stealthily. Desperate to find a solution, the mice convene a council to discuss how to protect themselves. Many ideas are debated. Finally, a young mouse… Read more: Belling the Cat (The Mice in Council)

Public finance and the size of the state Inequality, growth and the environment Macroeconomics, labour and money Trade, debt and external balance Innovation, technology and marketing Business operations and product life Psychology, memory and performance Society, crime and population Quantitative… Read more: Best-known Curves in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

1 After the River of Purification The first paper ended with Izanagi wading into the Tachibana River to scour away the stench of Yomi. That scene matters, because it is in the very act of cleansing—water sluicing from brow, cheeks, shoulders—that… Read more: Birth of Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo (Japanese Myth Paper 2)

Origins and setting “Cap o’ Rushes” is an English wonder tale most often told in East Anglia and the Fens, where reeds and rushes rim the meres and rivers. It belongs to two well-loved story families: the “As meat loves… Read more: Cap o’ Rushes

Origins and setting “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” is one of the best-loved Norwegian wonder tales recorded by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the nineteenth century. It bears the bone-structure of “Beauty and the Beast,” but with… Read more: East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Origins “Eglė the Queen of Serpents” (Lithuanian: Eglė žalčių karalienė) is Lithuania’s most famous wonder tale, a Baltic myth of marriage across the boundary of worlds. It fuses the “animal-bridegroom” motif with an origin-story for the trees of the land—spruce,… Read more: Eglė the Queen of Serpents

Testing and Evaluation Philosophy Psychology Economics Physics & Engineering Chemistry Biology & Medicine Computer Science and Data Science Statistics and Measurement Theory Linguistics and Semiotics Music and Acoustics Visual and Plastic Arts Law and Ethics Sociology and Survey Design Theology… Read more: Entropy tends to Zero, at the Boundaries

Antiquity and the classical world Literature and scholarship Art & design Espionage and resistance Erasure, cover-ups, and what time reveals A List of a Hundred Episodes Antiquity and the Middle Ages Early Modern, and Artful Disguises Literature and Wordcraft Music… Read more: Episodes of Covertness [in the spirit of secret signatures]

Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy – In any large organization, the faction devoted to protecting the bureaucracy itself eventually gains control, sidelining the people focused on the mission. Parkinson’s Law – “Work expands to fill the time (and resources) available.”… Read more: Eponymous Laws describing Bureaucracy

Origins “Fehérlófia” (“Son of the White Mare”) is one of the best-loved Hungarian wonder tales, preserved from the country’s deep oral tradition and shaped by steppe myth and Indo-European hero cycles. Its pattern blends two classic threads: the marvellous birth… Read more: Fehérlófia (Son of the White Mare)

1 – 10 • Murphy 11 – 20 • Everyday Mischief and Mishaps 21 – 30 • Work, Management, and Bureaucracy 31 – 40 • Internet and Media 41 – 50 • Technology and Engineering

“Harap-Alb” (“the White Moor”) is a classic Romanian wonder tale shaped by village storytelling and set down in literary form in the late nineteenth century. It blends familiar European folk-motifs—kindness to humble creatures, the wise crone who aids the hero,… Read more: Harap-Alb

A wagoner (cart driver) was driving a heavily loaded cart along a muddy country road. The wheels sank axle-deep, and the cart stuck fast in the mire. The more the horses strained, the deeper the wheels sank. When the wagoner… Read more: Hercules and the Wagoner (Hercules and the Carter)

Hear then, O reader, a tale that the Persians who trade with the far-flung Indians relate, and that I, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, record as it was told to me—whether it be wholly true the gods alone may know, for I… Read more: Herodotus: The Gold-digging Ants of a far-away land called India

Introduction History is full of secret signatures and hidden marks left by creators who longed to be remembered. Throughout the ages, artists, builders and even bystanders have embedded their names or symbols in their works—sometimes openly, but often in clever… Read more: Hidden Names and Secret Signatures in History

Chapter 1: Introduction Beyond the realm of legend, medieval Icelandic writers also turned their quills to history and real-life adventures. Two important genres in this regard are the kings’ sagas and what we might call the exploration sagas. These sagas… Read more: Icelandic Kings’, and Exploration Sagas

Chapter 1: Introduction The Icelandic legendary sagas, also known as fornaldarsögur (“sagas of ancient times”), are thrilling tales set in a mythical past before the settlement of Iceland. These sagas are often termed heroic sagas because they revolve around legendary… Read more: Icelandic Legendary and Heroic Sagas

Origins and setting “Jack and the Beanstalk” is an English wonder tale from the family of “boy-thief vs. ogre/giant” adventures. Its core has remained steady since the early nineteenth century: a poor widow’s son trades the family cow for magic… Read more: Jack and the Beanstalk

Origins and setting The tale of Koschei the Deathless (Кощей Бессмертный) is one of the most famous wonder tales of Russia and the East Slavic world. Koschei is a figure both grotesque and fearsome: gaunt as bone, ravenous for gold… Read more: Koschei the Deathless

Introduction Whakapapa (genealogy or lineage) lies at the heart of Māori world views. It is more than a family tree – it is the thread that weaves people, land, sky and all living things into one great whānau (extended family).… Read more: Maori Whakapapa and Cultural Narratives Across Aotearoa

It was only befitting that I said a few words about the place where I studied before I conquered. MIT in Popular Culture MIT’s prominence as a top science and engineering university has made it a recurring symbol in global… Read more: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A poor woodman was felling a tree on a riverbank when his axe slipped from his hands and sank into the deep water. Dismayed, for the axe was his only means of livelihood, he sat down and wept. Hearing his… Read more: Mercury and the Woodman

Origins and setting “Morozko”—also known as Father Frost—is a beloved East Slavic wonder tale, most often told in Russia and Belarus, within the international tale-type ATU 480: Kind and Unkind Girls. Its figures are archetypal and few: a sweet-natured stepdaughter,… Read more: Morozko (Father Frost)

Origins and setting “Mr Fox” is an English wonder tale from the Bluebeard/Robber Bridegroom story family (often grouped under ATU 955). It keeps the grim kernel of those tales—an elegant suitor with a hidden house and a murderous secret—but is… Read more: Mr Fox

Fatima would come and sit on my lap; my worries suspended for that valuable moment. I was surging to the vergeof diverging from my urge;my relentless, hot desireto merge and to acquire. Boardrooms throbbed with savage trade,tickers flashed, decisions made;spreadsheets… Read more: My daughter’s smile

1. Introduction The peoples who call Oceania home are sailors of mind and spirit. From the coral crowns of Micronesia to the green volcanoes of Melanesia and the wide‑flung triangle of Polynesia, they interpret the world not through stone monuments… Read more: Myths and Folktales of Oceania

We Cover the Epic of Sundiata here, and the Epics of Ozidi, Dausi, and Askia Muhammad here. And now to the other great epics. Preface: A Map of Many Fires From the Sahel’s amber horizons to the green corridors of… Read more: Other Great Epics of West Africa: Kings, Warriors, and Wonder

52 Prisoner’s Dilemma Two accomplices are interrogated separately. Each may Co-operate (stay silent) or Defect (betray). Mutual co-operation yields 2 years each; mutual defection 5 years each; unilateral betrayal frees the defector and jails the co-operator for 10 years. Because… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Decision Theory and Game Theory

61 Jevons Paradox (Rebound Effect) When James W. Jevons studied Britain’s coal industry (1865) he noticed a counter-intuitive cycle: improvements in steam-engine efficiency lowered the cost of using coal-powered machinery, which in turn raised total coal demand nationwide. Efficiency that… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Economics and Political Economy

38 Hempel’s Raven Scientific hypotheses are usually universal claims—for example, “All ravens are black.” By standard logic that statement is equivalent to its contrapositive “All non-black things are non-ravens.” Hempel pointed out a tension between that equivalence and ordinary confirmation.… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Epistemology and Probability

1 The Liar A single sentence—“This statement is false”—defies binary truth assignment. If it is true, then what it asserts must obtain: the statement is false. Yet if it is false, its content is not the case, which makes it… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Formal Logic

26 Ship of Theseus The Athenian hero’s ship has planks replaced over decades until none of the original timbers remain. Is it the same ship? If the original planks are reassembled elsewhere, which is authentic? The puzzle distinguishes numerical identity… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Identity and Metaphysics

87 Abilene Paradox Four relatives sit on a Texas porch in blistering heat. Someone suggests driving 53 miles to Abilene for dinner. Nobody really wants to go, but each, fearing disapproval, says “sounds good.” They endure the hot, dusty trip… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Psychology and Behaviour

97 Paradox of Enrichment In laboratory predator-prey systems (e.g., algae and zooplankton), adding extra nutrients seems beneficial but can trigger large-amplitude oscillations leading to extinction. Abundant food lets prey over-populate, predators then explode, prey crash, and predators starve. Real ecosystems… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Science, Technology, and Ecology

79 Condorcet (Voting-Cycle) Paradox Three citizens rank policies A, B, C such that majority prefers A > B, B > C, and C > A, creating a cycle with no clear winner. Individual rankings are rational; the collective ranking is… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Social Choice and Politics

12 Zeno’s Dichotomy Zeno asks you to walk from point A to point B. First you must cover half the distance, then half of what remains, then half of that remainder, and so on. Because the sequence of steps is… Read more: Significant Paradoxes: Space, Time, and Infinity

1 — A God in Free-Fall Cast out of Heaven for vandalising the sun-goddess’s realm, Susanoo-no-Mikoto plummets along the Milky River, storms raging in his wake. Beard shorn, nails torn, divine weapons confiscated, he is all raw nerve and thunder.… Read more: Susanoo and the Eight-headed Serpent (Japanese Myth Paper 4)

Origins and setting “Tam Lin” is a celebrated Scottish Border ballad (often numbered among the classic Child ballads) that has travelled the oral tradition for centuries. Its scene is the greenwood of Carterhaugh, near the confluence of the Ettrick and… Read more: Tam Lin

Anonymous Ten weary, footsore travelers,All in a woeful plight,Sought shelter at a wayside innOne dark and stormy night. “Nine beds — no more,” the landlord said,“Have I to offer you;To each of eight a single room,But the ninth must serve… Read more: Ten weary, footsore travelers

In this classic tale, a hard-working ant labors all summer to store food, while a carefree grasshopper sings and plays. When winter arrives and the grasshopper finds itself starving, it begs the ant for food—but the ant reproaches its idleness… Read more: The Ant and the Grasshopper

In this fable (which carries a political allegory), the body parts of a human—hands, feet, mouth, teeth, and so on—grow discontented with the stomach (the belly). They feel that they do all the work—collecting food, chewing, transporting—while the lazy belly… Read more: The Belly and the Members

Introduction “The Bird of Truth” (Spanish: El pájaro de la verdad) is a classic Iberian wonder-tale, told across Spain and the wider Mediterranean. It belongs to the family of calumniated-queen stories, where a rightful mother is falsely accused and only… Read more: The Bird of Truth

This fable, numbered 210 in the Perry Index of Aesop’s tales, concerns a young shepherd boy who repeatedly deceives villagers by shouting that a wolf is attacking the flock. Twice the alarmed villagers rush to help, only to find the… Read more: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Origins and setting “The Brewery of Eggshells” is a Welsh wonder tale of the Tylwyth Teg—the Fair Folk—belonging to the great family of changeling stories known all across the Celtic lands. Its constant elements are a mother whose thriving twins… Read more: The Brewery of Eggshells

An aging father with several quarrelsome sons seeks to teach them a final lesson before he dies. He gathers his sons and sets a bundle of sticks (or in some versions, a bundle of arrows) before them. He first asks… Read more: The Bundle of Sticks (The Old Man and His Sons)

1. A Drifting Chaos Becomes Cosmos The Kojiki opens, famously, with a vision of formlessness: “In the ages when Heaven and Earth first parted, they were like floating oil. Silently, softly, something light and purer rose, and something heavy and… Read more: The Creation of the Islands and the Kami (Japanese Myth Paper 1)

1 — A Wild Cub in the Imperial Litter Long after Jimmu’s sun-bound march, the Yamato court has thickened into lineage after lineage of princely timber. From one such branch comes Prince Ōusu, second son of Emperor Keikō. Where elder… Read more: The Deeds and Death of Yamato-Takeru (Japanese Myth Paper 8)

1 ― A New Problem in Heaven With Susanoo tamed and the sun stable once more, Amaterasu Ōmikami surveys the reed-plain below. Earth is fertile yet fractious: rival clans vie for river mouths, mountains resound with half-tamed spirits, and no… Read more: The Descent of the Heavenly Grandson Ninigi (Japanese Myth Paper 5)

The 17th-century engraver Wenceslaus Hollar depicts the greedy dog dropping its real bone while lunging at the illusion in the water. A dog crossing a stream with a piece of meat in its jaws looks down and sees what appears… Read more: The Dog and its Reflection

In an old stable, a dog finds a manger full of hay where the oxen feed. Being neither hungry for hay nor in need of the manger, the dog nevertheless curls up atop the pile of feed, claiming it as… Read more: The Dog in the Manger

A vain and foolish donkey finds a discarded lion’s hide. Draping the lion’s skin over himself, the donkey imagines he can now pass as the king of beasts. Indeed, as he walks through the fields, other animals and even people… Read more: The Donkey in the Lion’s Skin

Origins and setting From the high pastures of the Tyrol to the pale pinnacles of the Dolomites, from the green folds of Graubünden to the shadow of Salzburg’s Untersberg, Alpine folk have long told of dwarfs—the Zwerge or Bergmännlein—small, old,… Read more: The Dwarfs of the Alps

1 ― A Prince Looks East The story thus far has carried the imperial blood-line from Heaven to Hyūga: creation, descent, sea-marriage. Yet Kyūshū, though fertile, is a cul-de-sac. Trade routes, metal ores, and vast plains lie across the Inland… Read more: The Eastward Expedition of Emperor Jimmu (Japanese Myth Paper 7)

Origins and setting This Welsh wonder tale comes from the Black Mountain country on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons, where Llyn y Fan Fach—the Little Lake below the high escarpment—lies clear and dark beneath the wind. It is… Read more: The Fairy Bride of Llyn y Fan Fach

On a cold winter’s day, a kind-hearted farmer comes across a snake stiff and half-dead with cold. Moved with pity, the farmer lifts the frozen serpent and places it in his bosom (or brings it home by the hearth) to… Read more: The Farmer and the Snake (The Frozen Serpent)

Origins and setting “The Firebird and the Grey Wolf” is a celebrated East Slavic wonder tale, most familiar in Russian collections and often grouped with ATU 550: The Quest for the Golden Bird. Its imagery is unmistakable: a glowing Firebird… Read more: The Firebird and the Grey Wolf

A thirsty fox climbs down into a well to drink, but then cannot climb back out. A passing goat sees the fox down in the well and asks if the water is good. The cunning fox quickly plots escape and… Read more: The Fox and the Goat

A hungry fox spies a cluster of ripe grapes hanging high on a vine. The grapes look delicious, and the fox eagerly leaps to snatch them, but they hang just out of reach. After repeated failures to obtain the fruit,… Read more: The Fox and the Grapes

Origins and setting “The Frog Princess” (Tsarevna Lyagushka) is a classic Russian wonder tale, widely told across the East Slavic world. It blends two powerful folktale strands: the animal-bride who is secretly an enchanted wise woman, and the youngest prince’s… Read more: The Frog Princess

In a certain marshy pond, the frogs lived free and, it must be said, somewhat chaotically. They croaked and cavorted as they pleased, but eventually some frogs complained that they lacked a proper ruler to establish order and dignity among… Read more: The Frogs Who Desired a King

Origins and setting This Norwegian wonder tale—told in the valleys and fjords and written down in the nineteenth century—belongs to the ancient motif of the external soul: a monster who hides his life outside his flesh so that no sword… Read more: The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body

A poor farmer and his wife possess an extraordinary goose that lays a solid gold egg each day. Initially, this marvel brings them steady wealth. But greed soon overtakes prudence: impatient to have all the treasure at once, the couple… Read more: The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

Preface Slavic myth is a forest at dusk. Step in and the path you thought was straight bends behind birch trunks; a clearing you glimpsed vanishes in mist; a hut turns on its own feet to face you. There is… Read more: The Great Slavic Myths and Wonder Tales

Chapter 1: Introduction A medieval manuscript page (folio 13r of Möðruvallabók) containing part of Njál’s saga. The Sagas of Icelanders were preserved in such manuscripts from the 13th century onward. The Icelandic Family Sagas (Íslendingasögur) are medieval prose narratives that… Read more: The Icelandic Family Sagas: Njál, Egil, and Gísli

1 — Brothers at Odds Ninigi’s three sons grow to manhood beneath Kyūshū’s peaks. Twin talents differentiate the elder two. Hoderi—“Fire-Shine”—revels in deep-sea fishing; his line rarely returns without silver flanks flashing. Hohodemi—“Fire-Subside”—is hunter of upland game, a marksman whose… Read more: The Jewels of Tides: Hoderi, Hohodemi, and the Palace of Watatsumi (Japanese Myth Paper 6)

Origins and setting “The King of Cats” is a compact, uncanny tale from the British and Irish storytelling tradition—often told at the hearth on winter nights. It belongs to that family of “fireside wonders” in which the everyday world suddenly… Read more: The King of Cats

Origins and setting “The Lady of Stavoren” is a moralising wonder tale from the Frisian coast of the Low Countries, centred on the old seaport of Stavoren on the Zuiderzee (now the IJsselmeer). Told for centuries by sailors, merchants, and… Read more: The Lady of Stavoren

A mighty lion and a humble mouse cross paths in this tale of unexpected reciprocity. The lion, king of the savanna, initially captures the tiny mouse and, amused by the little creature’s pleas, decides magnanimously to spare its life. The… Read more: The Lion and the Mouse

I. CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Long before “Mali” was a country on a modern map, Mali was an empire of memory stretching from the forest belt to the sand’s edge, its lifelines the Niger, the trade routes to the Sahara,… Read more: The Lion of Manden: The Epic of Sundiata

A lion joins a partnership with other animals—often a fox, a wolf, and a smaller beast like a jackal or ass—to hunt. Together, they succeed in bringing down a large prey (such as a stag). When it comes time to… Read more: The Lion’s Share

Origins and setting Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” (1837) is a Danish wonder tale that swims between romance and theology. Beneath the sea in a crystal palace lives a Sea-King, his wise mother, and six mer-princesses; above is a… Read more: The Little Mermaid

A NIGHT OF STORY AND SOUND Night gathers over the Sahel. The sun leaves a last golden seam on the horizon and the air cools enough for breath to feel like silk. People drift towards the compound: not in haste,… Read more: The Living Epics of West Africa: an Introduction

Introduction: the tale’s origins This wonder-tale is rooted in Portuguese oral tradition, circulating in village storytelling and later entering print in the nineteenth century. It bears the hallmarks of the Iberian fairy-tale imagination: a miraculous birth marked by a visible… Read more: The Maiden with the Rose on Her Forehead

Origins and setting “The Master Maid” (Mestermøya) is a Norwegian wonder tale gathered in the nineteenth century. It belongs to the “clever bride” cycle: a prince enters the service of a man-eating giant who sets impossible tasks; a captive maiden—so… Read more: The Master Maid

A milkmaid walking to market balances a pail of fresh milk on her head. As she goes, she indulges in grand daydreams about the chain of success this milk will bring. “With the money I get from this milk,” she… Read more: The Milkmaid and Her Pail

A miller and his young son set out to town with their donkey to sell it at the market. As they walk alongside the donkey, not riding it, they first pass some villagers who scoff: “What fools, trudging on foot… Read more: The Miller, His Son, and the Donkey

Origins “The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples” is a South-Slavic wonder tale most widely known in its Serbian form. It blends two old European story-patterns: the “stolen fruit from the royal garden” and the “bird-maiden bride” (sometimes called the… Read more: The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples

By a riverside stands a mighty oak tree, proud and unyielding, next to a cluster of slender reeds that bow and flutter with each breeze. The oak boasts of its great strength and firmly rooted stability, sneering at the flexible… Read more: The Oak and the Reed

Introduction Few mythical creatures have captured the human imagination as enduringly as the phoenix – the legendary bird that dies only to be reborn from its own ashes. Originating in classical antiquity but echoing themes from various world cultures, the… Read more: The Phoenix: Mythical Bird of Immortality in History and Culture

Origins and setting “The Princess and the Pea” is a brief, gleaming literary wonder tale by the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen (1835). Though tiny in compass, it distils an entire courtly romance into a single night’s test: a pea,… Read more: The Princess and the Pea

Origins and setting “The Princess on the Glass Mountain” (also known as “The Princess on the Glass Hill”) is a celebrated Norwegian wonder tale, recorded in the nineteenth century by the folklorists Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It stands… Read more: The Princess on the Glass Mountain

Origins and setting “The Red Shoes” (De røde Skoe) is a nineteenth-century Danish wonder tale by Hans Christian Andersen that travelled swiftly into English nursery rooms. It is a moral romance about vanity and grace: a poor girl named Karen,… Read more: The Red Shoes

Abstract “Rule of thumb” is a seventeenth‑century English expression meaning a rough‑and‑ready guideline based on practical experience—literally, on what one could measure with a thumb. It has nothing to do with any law about wife‑beating; that story is a much later myth.… Read more: The Rule of the Thumb, and Wife-Beating in Seventeenth Century England, [which the Americans immediately threw out.]

Origins and setting Across the coasts of Orkney and Shetland, the Hebrides, and the north of Ireland, fisherfolk told of selkies—seal-people who shed their skins on moonlit strands and take human form for a night of dancing. Among their most… Read more: The Selkie Bride

Introduction: the tale’s origins “The Seven-Headed Serpent” (often told in Iberia and the Basque country, with close cousins across Portugal and Spain) belongs to the great Dragon-Slayer cycle (ATU 300). Its signatures are hard to miss: a kingdom blackmailed by… Read more: The Seven-Headed Serpent

Origins and setting Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” (Snedronningen) first appeared in 1844. Unusually for a wonder tale, it unfolds in seven stories, a chambered journey from hearth to ice and back again, following the children Gerda and Kay… Read more: The Snow Queen

In dawn-lit bloom where peach hues flare,A maiden stands with midnight hair;Her katana gleams in morning’s glare—A silver hymn that cleaves the air. Sakura petals stitch her gown,Soft pinks that drift yet won’t fall down;Their fragrant dance in spirals roundIs… Read more: The Song of the Blade that Slits the Air

Introduction The Sorites Paradox, often called the paradox of the heap, is a classic philosophical riddle that arises from the vagueness of our language. It asks: at what point do small changes make a big difference? If removing a single… Read more: The Sorites Paradox, Ship of Theseus, and the smoke that broke the Planet’s back.

Long after the moon had set over Eurotas and Sparta’s spears lay stacked in frustration, word rode south that the Arcadians of Tegea were laughing again—another Spartan expedition broken on their stony fields. Kings grew grim; elders clutched their cloaks… Read more: The story of the riddle of the twin winds breathing

Origins and setting “The Three Golden Hairs of the Devil” is a German wonder tale preserved by the Brothers Grimm (their tale of the Glückskind, or “Lucky Child”). It belongs to a long-travelled European story family in which a fated… Read more: The Three Golden Hairs of the Devil

Introduction “The Three Oranges” (also told as “The Three Citrons” or “Le tre arance”) is a classic Mediterranean wonder-tale, widespread in Iberia and Italy and classed by folklorists as ATU 408. The story There was once a king’s son who… Read more: The Three Oranges

A hare, swift and self-assured, and a tortoise, slow but steadfast, agree to race one another. Bolting ahead easily, the hare becomes so overconfident in his lead that he stops to nap midway. The plodding tortoise, meanwhile, never pauses and… Read more: The Tortoise and the Hare

A town mouse, accustomed to the luxuries and bustle of urban living, once visited his cousin, a country mouse, who lived a simpler life in the fields. The country mouse humbly served rustic fare—plain grains and acorns. Finding this provincial… Read more: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Origins “The Twelve Months” (often known in Czech as O dvanácti měsíčkách and in Slovak as Dvanásť mesiačikov) is a Central-European folk wonder tale best loved in the Czech and Slovak traditions, with close cousins throughout the Slavic world and… Read more: The Twelve Months

Two friends are walking together through a forest when suddenly a ferocious bear crashes through the bushes in front of them. The first traveler, thinking only of his own safety, quickly scrambles up a tree, hiding in the branches. The… Read more: The Two Travelers and the Bear