Karma

The idea of retribution as a natural consequence of causing another pain or suffering (karma) appears throughout many of these stories. A bizarre and humorous example is "William and Mary", about an instructor at Oxford University who is a judgmental, controlling and demeaning presence to his wife. William, a compulsive neurotic, lays down all sorts of rules that he expects his wife, Mary, to follow. Among the list of forbidden pleasures is smoking; anything that seems to bring Mary pleasure is quickly added to the list. She suffers greatly because of her husband. Faced with a swift and certain demise, William agrees with a surgeon friend to let him remove his brain at the moment of death and keep it alive—with one eye stalk—in a nourishing solution inside a glass beaker. The surgeon summons Mary to his lab to see William's remains. She peers...