Even more popular in their day than Don Quixote, Cervantes`s Exemplary Stories (1613) surprise, challenge & delight. Ranging from the picaresque to the satirical, Cervantes`s Exemplary Stories defy the conventions of heroic chivalric literature through a combination of comic irony, moral ambiguity, realism, & sheer mirth. With acute narrative skill & deft characterisation, drawing on colloquial language & farce, Cervantes creates a tension between the everyday & the literary, the plausible & the improbable. While encouraging us to reach our own moral conclusions, he also persuades us to accept the coincidental & the incredible: two boys indulge their life of crime at a time of public prayer; a young nobleman undergoes a change of identity at the behest of not a princess but a mere gipsy girl, &, most fantastically, talking dogs philosophize in a ward full of syphilitics. By placing the extraordinary within the contexts of the ordinary, the Exemplary Stories chart new novelistic territory & demonstrate Cervantes at his most imaginative & innovative. This new translation captures the full vigour of Cervantes`s wit & makes available two rarely printed tales, ` The Illustrious Kitchen Maid` & ` The Power of Blood`. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World`s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford`s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, & much more.