The Tales of Belkin were the first work of prose fiction to be completed by Russia`s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin. Written over a short period in the autumn of 1830, and sometimes referred to as `the little parodies`, the five stories reflect a number of the key interests of European writers of the time, such as the Byronic hero, the Gothic novel, and the tale of the supernatural. Perhaps the key element in each of these sparkling vignettes is surprise, as they provide some familiar literary themes with a range of unexpected twists. At the same time they suggested fruitful new avenues for Russian writers to explore, and the country`s literature would simply not have been the same without them. The volume is completed by Pushkin`s other prose work of the same time, The History of the Village of Goryukhino, an amusing parody of a contemporary history of Russia.