The Cloak of Dreams: Chinese Fairy Tales

Béla Balázs

Princeton University Press, Jul 22, 2010 - Fiction - 192 pages

"What baroque dreams, grotesque scenes, ghostly, ridiculous, strange, and chilling brainstorms! . . . remarkable, original, and uncanny." —Thomas Mann
A man is changed into a flea and must bring his future parents together in order to become human again. A woman convinces a river god to cure her sick son, but the remedy has mixed consequences. A young man must choose whether to be close to his wife's soul or body. And two deaf mutes transcend their physical existence in the garden of dreams. Strange and fantastical, these fairy tales of Béla Balázs (1884-1949), Hungarian writer, film critic, and famous librettist of Bluebeard's Castle, reflect his profound interest in friendship, alienation, and Taoist philosophy. Translated and introduced by Jack Zipes, one of the world's leading authorities on fairy tales, The Cloak of Dreams brings together sixteen of Balázs's unique and haunting stories.
Written in 1921, these fairy tales were originally published with twenty images drawn in the Chinese style by painter Mariette Lydis, and this new edition includes a selection of Lydis's brilliant illustrations. Together, the tales and pictures accentuate the motifs and themes that run throughout Balázs's work: wandering protagonists, mysterious woods and mountains, solitude, and magical transformation. His fairy tales express our deepest desires and the hope that, even in the midst of tragedy, we can transcend our difficulties and forge our own destinies.
Unusual, wondrous fairy tales that examine the world's cruelties and twists of fate, The Cloak of Dreams will entertain, startle, and intrigue.

"The collection is a delight and Jack Zipes's introduction is splendid." —Andrei Codrescu, author of The Posthuman Dada Guide

Contents

• Béla Balázs the Homeless Wanderer or The Man Who Sought to Become One with the World: 1
• A Note on the Mysterious Illustrator Mariette Lydis: 58
• THE CLOAK OF DREAMS: 63
• 1 The Cloak of Dreams: 65
• 2 LiTaiPe and the Thief: 70
• 3 The Parasols: 74
• 4 The Clumsy God: 80
• 5 The Opium Smokers: 86
• 6 The Flea: 90
• 7 The Old Child: 95
• 8 The Robbers of Divine Power: 104
• 9 LiTaiPe and Springtime: 109
• 10 The Ancestors: 114
• 11 The Moon Fish: 119
• 12 The Friends: 123
• 13 The Revenge of the Chestnut Tree: 133
• 14 Tearful Gaze: 139
• 15 The Clay Child: 145
• 16 The Victor: 150
• Appendix A A Beautiful Book: 155
• Appendix B The Book of Wan HuChen: 159
• Bibliography: 173

About the author

Jack Zipes is the translator of The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, the editor of The Great Fairy Tale Tradition, and the author of Why Fairy Tales Stick, among many other books. He is professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Cloak of Dreams: Chinese Fairy Tales; Oddly Modern Fairy Tales
• Author: Béla Balázs
• Editor: Jack Zipes
• Edition: unabridged
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2010
• ISBN: 1400836034, 9781400836031
• Length: 192 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; Fiction / World Literature / Hungary