SOURCE: "The Genres and Forms, the Novella, and the Short Stories," in Shmuel Yosef Agnon: A Revolutionary Traditionalist, translated by Jeffrey M. Green, New York University Press, New York, 1989, pp. 167-241.

In the following excerpt, Shaked identifies five primary types of short stories written by Agnon.

The Fantastic Folk Tale

A thorough study of even one story belonging to each of Agnon's genres is beyond the scope of this study; thus, I have chosen to analyze five so-called poles from the entire work, beginning with the short folk story "Three Sisters."

"Three Sisters" was first published in 1937 and is typical of Agnon's fantastic tales. It is outstanding in its brevity and tight structure. Its source is a ballad of social commentary ["The Song of the Shirt" by Thomas Hood (1799-1845)] that reached Agnon from English literature through Isaac Leib Peretz's Yiddish translation. What characterizes "Three Sisters" is the...