"He blew out the candle; and lay down. He had arrived at the room, although tired, even more excited. There is no one who does not have his nights of keen nerves, and them to walk in the streets, in a hurry and without a destination. That was one of those nights, with rain, wet by constant, continuous, pervasive rain. It was three in the morning. He was exhausted and at the height of vague excitement. He arrived, undressed, blew the light, lay down, closed his eyes, clasped his hands, making efforts not to think, because he wants to sleep immediately. His nerves were vibrating, the mouth was bitter, and his lips was dry. The wanderings lost in the rain filled him with sadness, with uneasy pain, with undecided fear. And he was there, wanting to sleep, just sleep, nothing but sleep."
A story about vague fears and the power of Dread, in the exquisite prose by João do Rio.
"Shame on the late ones, on people who are not of their century! The Humanity is still divided into two classes, those who advance and those who retreat. Some sometimes go too fast; but the others only aspire to retreat and stop first, slowing the thinking process, hindering science, interfering in the sacred progress of human knowledge.
A superb essay by Guy de Maupassant about the weird perspective (or fantastique in French) in fiction, art and life.