‘The Lottery in Babylon’ (‘La lotería en Babilonia’) is a fantasy short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. It first appeared in 1941 in the literary magazine ‘Sur,’ and was then included in the 1941 collection ‘The Garden of Forking Paths’ (‘El jardín de los senderos que se bifurcan’), which in turn became the part one of ‘Ficciones’ (1944). Translated into English by John M. Fein, it was published in ‘Prairie Schooner’ (1959), and in ‘Labyrinths’ (1962).
The story describes a mythical Babylon in which all activities are dictated by an all-encompassing lottery, which people must live by, and has full control over many’s lives, a metaphor for the role of chance in one’s life.
read more »
The Daily Omnivore 