A Crossbreed

Short story by Franz Kafka

1933 (1933) London, Martin Secker
1946 (1946) New York, Schocken Books

"A Crossbreed" (German: "Eine Kreuzung") is a short story by Franz Kafka.^[1]

The story is about an animal that is half-kitten, half-lamb. The narrator describes how the creature has characteristics of each breed of animal, yet also has distinctive attributes of its own. In much of the story, great care is taken to describe the animal's peculiar eating habits (e.g. drinking milk while showing fangs). Some analysis has been made to make parallels between this story and Tolstoy's emphasis on food and human behavior.^[2]

Like most of his works, Kafka wrote the story with no intent on it being published, though it was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer (Berlin, 1931). The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections (New York City: Schocken Books, 1946).^[3]

References

^ The Complete Stories and Parables. Franz Kafka, 1983.
^ "Why Tolstoy Wouldn't Supersize it". Aaron Sommers, 2009.
^ The Great Wall of China: Stories and Reflections. Franz Kafka - 1946 - Schocken Books

Franz Kafka (works)

Novels

The Trial
The Castle
Amerika

Short stories

1902–1912	"Shamefaced Lanky and Impure in Heart" "Description of a Struggle" "Wedding Preparations in the Country" "The Judgment" "The Stoker" The Metamorphosis "The Aeroplanes at Brescia"
1914–1917	"In the Penal Colony" "The Village Schoolmaster" "Before the Law" "Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor" "A Country Doctor" "The Hunter Gracchus" "The Great Wall of China" "A Message from the Emperor" "A Report to an Academy" "A Dream" "Up in the Gallery" "A Fratricide" "The Next Village" "A Visit to a Mine" "Jackals and Arabs" "The Bridge" "The Bucket Rider" "The New Advocate" "An Old Manuscript" "The Knock at the Manor Gate" "Eleven Sons" "My Neighbor" "A Crossbreed" "The Cares of a Family Man"
1917–1923	"The Refusal" "A Hunger Artist" "Investigations of a Dog" "A Little Woman" "The Burrow" "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk" "A Common Confusion" "The Truth about Sancho Panza" "The Silence of the Sirens" "Prometheus" "The City Coat of Arms" "Poseidon" "Fellowship" "At Night" "The Problem of Our Laws" "The Conscription of Troops" "The Test" "The Vulture" "The Helmsman" "The Top" "A Little Fable" "Homecoming" "First Sorrow" "The Departure" "Advocates" "The Married Couple" "Give It Up!" "On Parables"