The intention of Diderot himself was for the three stories to be considered together: "le troisième conte donnera son sens aux deux premiers" (the third story will give meaning to the first two), he tells the reader.
It seems coherent to consider les Deux Amis de Bourbonne, another short story by Diderot, in the same vein as these three stories: the piece takes place during the same era and the themes and the style are similar [REF].