The tale of the unknown island
By: José Saramago ; illustrated by Peter Sís ; translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa.
Contributors: Costa, Margaret Jull.
Publisher: Harcourt Brace
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 51
Description: ""A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me a boat. The king's house had many other doors, but this was the door for petitions. Since the king spent all his time sitting at the door for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand), whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, he would pretend not to hear...""--BOOK JACKET.

"Why the petitioner required a boat, where he was bound for, and who volunteered to crew for him the reader will discover as this narrative unfolds. And at the end it will be clear that if we thought we were reading a children's fable we were wrong. We have been reading a love story, a philosophical tale worthy of Voltaire or Swift."--BOOK JACKET.