WARNING
Herein are collected some narratives, written as they came to mind, with
no other pretension than to occupy some spare moment of the reader's precious
time. I do not say that the genre is less worthy of his attention, nor that it does not require qualities of observation and style. What I say is that these pages, gathered by a benevolent editor,
are the most unambitious in the world.
I take this opportunity to thank the critics and the public for the generosity with which they received my first novel, published some time ago. Works of a different genre have prevented me until now
from completing another, which will appear in due course.
November 10, 1873.
M. A.
Source text:
Complete Works, by Machado de Assis, vol. II,
Nova Aguilar, Rio de Janeiro, 1994.
Originally published by Editora Garnier, Rio de Janeiro, 1873
