Anyone know the title of a short story about a man who rents an apartment containing a draped birdcage, which he must never touch or disturb. He immediately becomes prosperous, but is desperately curious about the contents of the birdcage, from which he hears intriguing noises of activity. One day, he peeks, and right away the noises cease, his good luck goes away, and soon a sign appears on the cage:"For Rent" or maybe "To Let." I would very much like to read this story again.

i'm not familiar with that one but i'd like to be!

Sounds Russian...maybe Gogol?

No, it's "Housing Problem" by Henry Kuttner. Ray wrote the introduction to his "Best of" collection.

Dandelion: Thank you! After 38 years, I found the birdcage story, "Housing Problem," by Henry Kuttner, in a shabby paperback in my own collection. It's in Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow, introduction by Ray Bradbury. Original publication was 1952; my copy is the 3rd Printing, 1967. It was well worth rereading, although my faulty memory had changed some of the details....the original is even better. On my Web search, I discovered a good site with thousands of short stories: www.logan.com/loganberry.

Loganberry Books is a great source, and Abebooks is another one: http://forums.abebooks.com/abecom/start/

Now please to discover the new Ray Bradbury board, where you will be welcomed: https://raybradburyboard.com/eve