"The Hollow of the Three Hills." Nathaniel Hawthorne.

One-minute review: A woman has sought out a withered old crone, a witch, to learn what has happened to her family, her parents, her husband and her child whom she has deserted. The crone conjures up the sounds and conveys images of the family, crushed by the desertion of their daughter and wife and mother. The sounds of the casket containing her child passes, with the mourners decrying the faithlessness of the mother. The woman is lifeless on her knees. The crone, a representative of the devil, chuckles and says, “Here has been a sweet hour’s sport.”

Comment: A mood piece. Hawthorne seems fixated on the consequences and regrets of sin. RayS.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.