By the Rivers of Babylon and Other Stories by Jorge de Sena

These 11 stories by a Portuguese man of letters often feature religious subject matter and historical figures: St. Paul addresses a Roman tribune in ``Night of Nativity'' and an English monk forces the stones of an ancient Druid temple to speak in the whimsical ``Sea of Stones.'' ``Tantalizing by the promise they show, the short narratives are unfleshed, lacking the spark of animation,'' PW said. (Mar.)