Brazilian Native Folktales by Alberto da Costa e Silva

This is an interesting collection. However, I have to say it pales in comparison with other folktale collections I've read recently, namely Penguin's North American Trickster Tales. The problem with this book is that the sources of the stories seem to be mostly late 19th century/ early 20th century clergymen's or anthropologist's notes. And they seem to have tried to keep the stories as "genuine" as possible, but there's a patronizing attitude that comes across quite clearly, especially in the annotations, with expressions like "savages", "primitives" or even "the child-like intelligence of these simple-minded people" popping up much too often for my liking. There's also the fact that the attempt to keep the stories "genuine" ended up, with very few exceptions, sacrificing narrative flow.

However, I'd still say that this collection is worth reading. The stories are interesting, and there was one I particularly liked: Tahina-Can, a Eros and Psyche-ish story about two sisters and an elderly husband who secretly turns into a vigorous young man in the daylight.