about.. or what not

The Fairy Tale begins with a Ferryman, asleep, who lives in a small hut by the river. It is midnight and he is woken up by two Will O’ the Wisps, gentlemen seemingly made of flames of light, and asked to take them across the river. This he does. But, the Ferryman can only take passengers in this direction, none can return with him from the other side. Later, we realize that they are crossing over from the land of the Spirit to the land of the Senses. Soon there is a meeting with a Green Snake. She lives in a chasm in the rocks and has access to an underground chamber which is later revealed to be a temple containing four Kings; one each of Gold, Silver, Bronze and the fourth a mixture of all three. The Will O’ the Wisps devour gold wherever they find it, licking it up with their flames of light, then later shaking gold coins from themselves. By eating the gold coins shaken from the Will O’ the Wisps, the Green Snake is able to shine a light from within herself which illuminates her surroundings. It is in the underground Temple of the Kings that we first meet the Old Man with the Lamp. His is a special lamp that can only give light when another light is already present. It is he who first speaks the words, “The Time has Come!”, upon hearing a secret whispered into his ear by the Snake. The tale moves on and we meet the Wife of the Old Man with the Lamp. She leads the story further when she meets a young Prince walking in melancholy mood by the river. He loves the Beautiful Lily, but cannot approach her because, lovely though she is, her touch brings death to all living things, a fate which is deeply distressing to her as well as the Prince. So now we learn the central sorrow and tension of the tale. How will this be overcome?

There are moments at Midday, Midnight, Twilight and Dawn when the river can be crossed the other way, back from the sense-perceptible land to the Spirit Land. At Midday and Midnight the Green Snake transforms her body into a temporary bridge across the river whereas the shadow of a Giant performs the same function at Twilight and Dawn. Through this we are shown that there are two possible ways to cross the river from the Land of the Senses, but only at these special times. The scenes follow one another from midnight to dawn, through midday to twilight and a second midnight, dawn and finally midday when all is resolved. Seven stages, that most rhythmical of numbers. By crossing the temporary bridge formed by the Green Snake at Midday, the Wife and the young Prince come to the garden of the Beautiful Lily. In this garden, attended by her three hand-maidens, we witness the Beautiful Lily sorrowing for her own condition yet bringing joy, wonder and love to all who meet with her. At Twilight, when the rich colors of the day gradually die into the night, tragedy befalls the Prince, who, overcome by his desire for the Beautiful Lily, rushes towards her and his life is extinguished by her touch. The Green Snake, who is also present, immediately forms a circle around the Prince, clenching her tail between her teeth. The Old Man with the Lamp reappears as does his Wife and the Will O’ the Wisps. Under the guidance of the Man with the Lamp the whole group crosses over the bridge, formed by the Snake at Midnight, back into the Land of the Senses. Here remarkable transformations occur. Guided by the Old Man, the Beautiful Lily touches the Snake with her left hand and the Prince with her right, whereby he is brought back to life, but in a dream-like state. The Green Snake changes herself into a pile of precious gems that are then thrown into the river. With the help of the Will O’ the Wisps’ ability to eat gold, the group re-enters the underground Temple of the Kings. This Temple now magically moves beneath the river, coming up underneath the Ferryman’s hut, which falls into the open roof of the temple and is transformed into a beautiful silver altar inside the Temple. The Whole Temple has now arisen from the Earth and stands in the sunlight. The Three Kings of Gold, Silver and Bronze bestow gifts on the Prince that together overcome his dream-like state, restoring his full consciousness and stature. The fourth, ‘mixed metal’ King has had his gold ‘veins’ licked away by the Will O’ the Wisps and has collapsed. The Prince can now be united in marriage with the Beautiful Lily, for her touch no longer brings death. As King and Queen they look out from the Temple and see that a permanent Bridge now spans the river across which people are traveling to and fro. This Bridge is the result of the sacrifice of the Green Snake, cast as precious stones into the river. Now the two lands are united for all humanity and the final words of the Fairy Tale tell us “...the Bridge, to this day, is swarming with travelers and the Temple is the most frequented in the whole world”.