Short Stories

Narrow Valley
—R. A. Lafferty


  •   · Excerpt    
      "In the year 1893, land allotments in severalty were made to the remaining eight hundred and twenty-one Pawnee Indians. Each would receive one hundred and sixty acres of land and no more, and thereafter the Pawnees would be expected to pay taxes on their land, the same as the White-Eyes did. “Kitkehahke!” Clarence Big-Saddle cussed. “You can't kick a dog around proper on a hundred and sixty acres."  —R. A. Lafferty
       · Commentary
      “One of his earliest and best stories is this delightful tale of a Pawnee who is granted 160 acres of land located around a valley, with the proviso that he must pay taxes on it. Clarence Big-Saddle does not like that idea, so he invokes magic that makes his valley wide when he is alone but narrow whenever an intruder enters.”
        —Don D'Ammassa, Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction (2009)
         · 1998 Robert Silverberg, The Fantasy Hall of Fame    · 1992 Gardner Dozois, Modern Classics of Science Fiction



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