Marcel Aymé, "The State of Grace" (trans. Norman Denny) (France)

It’s December 4. Welcome back to the 2021 Short Story Advent Calendar—a literary globetrotting adventure featuring 25 stories from 25 different countries.

Our editor, Alberto Manguel, is providing daily commentary on each of the stories he selected for this year’s calendar.

Here he is on Marcel Aymé’s story, “The State of Grace”:

Marcel Aymé loved to shock his public with his irreverent stories in the tradition of the medieval picaresque tales. His novel The Green Mare (a hilarious depiction of the sexual goings-on in a small French village) was an international success but it was in his stories that he displayed his outrageous imagination to best effect. “The State of Grace”, under the appearance of a miraculous chronicle, makes fun of our fear (and indulgence) of the seven deadly sins catalogued by the Church –with a few variants—since the early centuries of Christianity. To sin, Aymé seems to say, depends on the intention of the sinner, and only God knows what lies behind what might seem a sinful act.

* * * * *

What did you think of today's story? Use the hashtag #ssac2021 on Twitter and Instagram to check in with your fellow advent calendarians. And check back tomorrow for commentary on the next story!