We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we’ll read the story The Devoted Friend, written by Oscar Wilde, published in 1910. Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening of this series, and more, please go to snoozecast.com/plus.

In this fable, told by a linnet, or songbird in the finch family, to teach a water rat some life skills, Hans is an innocent gardener and the devoted friend of a wealthy but manipulative Miller. In this story, Wilde pokes fun at a society where charity is less about love and more about ensuring that the wealthy benefit.

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