“Trhani” (The Mob), whereas in some of his briefer stories there is the charm of contrast between elegiac sorrows and dainty touches of humor. The big human heart of Neruda never permits him to despise his types or individuals, be they ever so unworthy as far as virtue or strength of character is concerned. He tells the story of each with just a touch of mothersadness for the pathos of it all.
The story “He Was a Rascal” is, in considerable degree, autobiographical. His close knowledge of stage life through many years devoted to dramatic criticism is shown in the little sketch entitled “Beneš,” in which the grief of that character is for the real Sontagova who died of Mexican fever while on a tour of the western continent. His “At the Sign of the Three Lilies” is rather a daring piece of realistic writing. In “The Vampire" he wastes no more words than would O. Henry but his artistry is the more exquisitely apparent.
