A Universal History of Iniquity

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In his writing, Borges always combined high seriousness with a wicked sense of fun. Here he reveals his delight in re-creating (or making up) colorful stories from the Orient, the Islamic world, and the Wild West, as well as his horrified fascination with knife fights, political and personal betrayal, and bloodthirsty revenge. Sparkling with the sheer exuberant pleasure of story-telling, this collection marked the emergence of an utterly distinctive literary voice.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.A Universal History of IniquityIntroduction by Andrew Hurley

A Universal History of Iniquity (1935)
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the 1954 Edition
The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell
The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro
The Widow Ching—Pirate
Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities
The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kôsuké no Suké
Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv
Man on Pink Corner
Et cetera
Index of Sources

A Note on the Translation
Acknowledgments
Notes to the Fictions

“Hurley’s efforts at retranslating Borges are not anything but heroic. His versions are clear, elegant, crystalline.” —Ilan Stavans, The Times Literary Supplement

“[Borges’s] stories often take the outer form of some genre from popular literature, a form proved by long usage, which creates almost mythical structures.” —Italo Calvino

Jorges Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899 and educated in Europe. One of the most widely acclaimed writers of our time, he published many collections of poems, essays and short stories, before his death in Geneva in June 1986. In 1961 Borges shared the International Publishers’ Prize with Samuel Beckett. The Ingram Merrill Foundation granted him its Annual Literary Award in 1966 for his “outstanding contribution to literature.” In 1971 Columbia University awarded him the first of many degrees of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa that he was to receive from the English-speaking world. In 1971 he received the fifth biennial Jerusalem Prize and in 1973 was given the Alfonso Reyes Prize, one of Mexico’s most prestigious cultural awards. In 1980 he shared the Cervantes Prize (the Spanish world’s highest literary accolade) with Gerardo Diego. Borges was Director of the Argentine National Library from 1955 until 1973. In a tribute to Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa wrote: “His is a world of clear, pure, and at the same time unusual ideas…expressed in words of great directness and restraint. [He] was a superb storyteller. One reads most of Borges’ tales with the hypnotic interest usually reserved for reading detective fiction…”

Andrew Hurley is a translator of numerous works of literature, criticism, history, and memoir. He is professor emeritus at the University of Puerto Rico.US

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