The Trial over the Donkey’s Shadow. The Tunnel

The Trial over the Donkey’s Shadow. One morning, the dentist Struthion from Abdera hired a donkey and, accompanied by the driver Anthrax, urgently set off to see his patient in another town. It was unbearably hot. The doctor rode the donkey while the driver ran beside it. A whole hour passed, but not a single bush or tree appeared on their way, only scorched grass, crickets, and the sun like a fiery wheel, burning both donkey and men as they moved along. The doctor grew dizzy and, no longer able to think clearly, got down from the donkey and sat in its shade. But the driver at once demanded extra payment for the animal’s shade, which had not been mentioned in the original agreement. After being refused, Anthrax returns to Abdera and sues Struthion. Gradually the entire city is drawn into the legal dispute, passions reach the limit, and the city turns into ruins. And all this because of the wretched shadow of a donkey!
The Tunnel. The story takes place on a train that, however, is not destined to arrive at its final station in Zurich. Having lost control, it rushes at insane speed through an endless tunnel toward an abyss. And only one student, among the train’s unsuspecting passengers doomed to perish, tries to stop it. The young man understands everything and looks the truth openly in the face: ’’God has abandoned us, cast us down, and now we are rising toward Him’’.