Vice Versa

The collection includes two humorous novellas: one about a genie who, instead of helping, only causes one hassle after another; the other about the incredible body swap between a father and a son. Both stories use irony to show how wishes can lead to the most unexpected consequences.

In “The Copper Jug,” the young London architect Horace Ventimor accidentally frees an ancient Arabian genie who has been imprisoned for six thousand years. In gratitude, the spirit promises to grant any wishes of the new master, but his “services” turn into a string of troubles—and soon Horace dreams of just one thing: getting rid of the intrusive magical helper forever.

In the second novella, the prim English businessman Paul Baldeedid drives his son to a closed boarding school. The boy doesn’t want to leave home, and Paul, tired of adult routine, with longing recalls school days and involuntarily thinks how nice it would be to be in his son’s place. And that wish suddenly comes true: father and son swap bodies. However, it quickly becomes clear that living someone else’s life is much harder than it looks from the outside.

Translation: S. Belov; heirs, 2025. AST Publishing House, 2025.