A Tale Without a Name (Paperback)

An enduringly timely Greek fable of feckless leadership and rediscovered community, as enchanting as it is sharply satirical.

“Cleverly adapts the conventions of the European fairy tale with sharp satire worthy of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift.” —Irish Times

The kingdom used to be a place of paved roads and well-filled coffers, with joy and the good life all around. But the old king went the way of all flesh years ago, and now the kingdom is derelict, a land of wickedness and ruin. King Witless now sits on the throne; his advisers feed the royal family by robbing passersby of their dinners; the Army and Navy consist of one man each – and neither has quite enough limbs.

Then the young prince and his sister begin to see what must be done, and to explore the kingdom, meeting men and women who have held onto lost wisdom and trying—if they can—to restore what has been lost.

For a hundred years, A Tale Without a Name has been one of Greece's best-loved stories, combining the timeless rhythms of a fairy tale with a satirical account of a state fallen into chaos. First published in the aftermath of a coup and a war with Turkey, in the hopes of inspiring the Greeks to address the nation’s economic and military chaos, this playful, wise fable is enchanting for readers of any age, as meaningful and moving now as when it was first written.

Penelope S. Delta (1874-1941) was born in Alexandria, Egypt to Greek parents. Delta belonged to the Greek aristocracy and could easily have come out of a novel by E.M. Forster, Marcel Proust or Henry James. She wrote several children’s books, memoirs and historical works. She took her own life in April 1941, the day the Nazis entered Athens.

Mika Provata-Carlone is an independent scholar, translator, editor, photographer and illustrator. She is passionate about good books, old and new, for the young and for the old; also about old-fashioned presses, smelling of paper and ink.