Fables & Reflections

Well, I don't know what spurred me to read another volume of The Sandman's Series. Perhaps, it is the hype, or the fantasy that offers a getaway.

This one, as the title suggests, contains short fables save the moral lessons. Or maybe there are, just that I missed them - we will see. Anyhow, the tales exhibit compelling elements to the last page.

Chapter 1) Fear of Falling: A playwright had a dream when he was a kid, a dream of falling, thus his fear of heights. But the problem proves deeper in reality, in his path to fame and success. Moral Lesson: You won't know whether you will float or fall, until you jump. And not trying is as good as failing.

Chapter 2) Three September and A January: A dream of madness and a challenge between the Lord of Dreams and his sister, Despair, save a man from Death. A sweet man till the end, I thought, he who thinks himself as the one and only Emperor of the United States. Moral Lesson: Er, when you conquer your mind, you conquer the world.

Chapter 3) Thermidor: The Lord of Dreams hires Lady Johanna Constantine (I have no idea who she is, but "Constantine" does ring a bell.) to recover the severed head of his son, Orpheus (more on him later). Moral Lesson: I believe it is trying to tell the readers to respect others' superstitions, for they may be true after all!

Chapter 4) The Hunt: A young boy, as if by destiny, goes in search of a beautiful princess in a miniature, only to find love in his own kind. Moral Lesson: Love is not far away, if you search hard enough.

Chapter 5) August: Emperor Augustus (which the month is named after), the successor to Julius Caesar of ancient Rome, takes a day off in the market to ward off the Gods reading his mind. With which a dark secret, that the Lord of Dreams knows, is revealed. Moral Lesson: Er, some secrets are best taken to the grave?

Chapter 6) Soft Places: A young Marco Polo, meets two strange men, in a desert-like dream, only to be saved by the prowess of the Lord. Moral Lesson: A good deed is usually followed by another.

Chapter 7) Orpheus: This is a heart-wretching story. The son of Dream, Orpheus, loses his bride to Death on their wedding day, goes to hades in peril to save her soul, only to lose her again at the last moment. Sorrowful, he retreats to the wilderness, ends up slaughtered by some naked women in frenzy (which explains the head). Moral Lesson: Sometimes, we must learn to let go...

Chapter 8) The Parliament of Rooks: Here we meet Eve, the first woman, and the two brothers, Abel and Cain (the older Cain always ends up killing Abel, for some reason unknown to me), as they gather around in a dream, to tell strange children stories to a human child, Daniel. Moral Lesson: Stories are just...stories, please don't take them seriously. And Adam actually had a second wife?

Chapter 9) Ramadan: Here, Baghdad is a heavenly city under a great king. But for the permanence of the city's beauty, the king trades his place with the Lord of Dreams. Moral Lesson: Beauty is impermanent. Accept it! Otherwise, it is all but a dream...