by Tod Davies
35 Again, I am indebted to Prof. Grayling for insights regarding the Dragon, to be published in a separate monograph of mine provisionally entitled Lives of Things That Go Bump in the Night: A Meditation on Dreams and Their Dreamers. My thesis, of course, is that a Dreamer is in partnership with her/his Dreams, and may, on occasion, bring them to life. The question remains as to whether the Dreams preexist the Dreamer. Are the Dreams already existent in another world? Or does the Dreamer create the Dreams? Professor Grayling and I, in the days before he reinvented himself as éminence grise of the Neofundamentalist side of our Civil War, held many a spirited discussion on this subject. Dragons were a case in point. Professor Grayling was known for the small, fierce Dragon he kept as a pet—the only one in Arcadia. He asserted his will had created the Dragon. But research has shown that, at certain points, other worlds intersect with ours. We have, for example, been able to access libraries in a world that seems to exist simultaneously with ours, and in the same space. (Dr. Alan Fallaize has continued experiments to contact people in this world, as well, so far discovering that it is possible to convey folk and fairy tales.) It is possible that Dragons do exist, and that Grayling, instead of creating his pet, worked to bring it into our world from another.
36 Betrayal of friendship is a common motif in fairy and folk tales of all lands. Again, a fruitful area for study. Dr. Fallaize has shown that when such motifs are this common, there is a biological basis for them. (See Fallaize, year 61.) In studies in collaboration with the Hanuman School of Healing (formerly the Hanuman School of Medicine and Veterinary Study), Dr. Fallaize has shown that illnesses such as Betrayal of a Friend, Cruelty to Those Weaker Than Oneself, and Building Oneself Up at the Expense of Others, long thought to be moral illnesses alone, actually can be measured in physical symptoms. An excellent example of this in an Arcadian fairy tale is “Reine the Fox,” where the vanity of the Princess shows itself in a persistent rash on her left thigh. (See Vale, year 26.)
37 A question I plan to cover in my monograph Lives of Things That Go Bump in the Night: A Meditation on Dreams and Their Dreamers. It is, alas, too complex an issue to be dealt with conclusively here. I will say, however, that the larger question—how different, even opposing worlds can exist at the same time—is a basic question for Arcadian physics. I have long maintained that not only can this be so, but it is so, to the loud and public scorn of the followers of Professor Grayling and his Neofundamentalist school.
38 A stylistic mistake by the unknown author. Naming characters allegorically is a low form of literature, another observation for which I am indebted to Professor Grayling. The teller of this tale is concerned less with literary quality than with expressiveness, again a common trait of the folk and fairy tale.
39 The motif of Star as Angel, and Angel as Star, appears in Arcadian folk and fairy tales with endearing frequency. This tale is no exception. Only one recorded case of an actual angel has ever been known in Arcadia, the Angel invited by Sophia the Wise to become a Minister of Arcadian State. Yet the motif is common. See, for instance, “The Queen of the Sky,” in which a passing Angel is mistaken for a queen by a woodcutter; “The Three Wishes,” where a woodcutter’s daughter makes three wishes on three stars and has them granted by three angels; and “The Tale of a Blue Star,” told by an angel to a group of Arcadian woodcutters’ children. In Megalopolis, there are no tales of angels, with the exception of the folk tale “Why the Angels Left.” Curiously, there is a similar motif at the start of Snotty Saves the Day. (See Vale, year 22; Vale, year 26.)
40 I confess I am compelled to give in to a most unscholarly impulse here, and say that, in my days of Government and University administration, I chaired many a meeting very like this one of Snotty’s!
41 Again, see Law of the Small (Bender Boyce-Flood, year 17). The Law states that in any cultural dead end, it is from the smallest, most outcast, most scorned section of the culture that future hope comes. And it is this law that is the ideological battleground of our present civil war.
42 As previously remarked, food, and descriptions of food, are the hallmark of a classic Arcadian tale. This one is no exception. (See Vale, year 26, for other famous examples: “The Baker’s Stone,” and its tale of the miraculous sourdough bread, as well as the lavish meal the lovers share at the end of “Reine the Fox.” Also see the famous Brunch with Death in the Maude Cycle.)
43 All of the above characters reference other well known Arcadian tales. Their provenance is at this time unknown. Which came first—Snotty Saves the Day, or the fairy tale characters? For an interesting speculation, see the forthcoming doctoral thesis, “Seaweed that Goes Pop and other Arcadian Heroic Figures,” by Isabel Watson, Bel Regina College, Cockaigne. In it, this fine scholar draws on my own work, and that of Professor Joyanna Bender Boyce-Flood, to show that a partnership between the Reader and the Text results in changes in the physical world. Her work on the Centaur motif in the Maude Cycle (see Vale, year 22; Vale, year 26) is particularly noteworthy in light of the fact that a centaur-like being has been reported to be living in the northern mountains. A scientific expedition was planned to attempt contact, but, alas, the recent war has made travel impossible
44 Note: The Lemon Yellow Bear Story is a well-known Arcadian fairy tale of the oral tradition. This remains a rare written version. I believe this story to derive from the Megalopolitan oral tradition, from sources so ancient as to be impossible to trace. It may, in fact, be an exception to the general rule that there are no Megalopolitan fairy tales. I first remember hearing it told to the young Sophia by her nurse, a refugee from Megalopolis. But this source was uncertain as to where she had first heard the tale. We were all the more surprised when Professor Bender Boyce-Flood’s translation of the Legendus Snottianicus revealed it in written form.
45 See analysis of this story, Prof. Joyanna Bender Boyce-Flood, Storyland: Storehouse in the Ether?, Otterbridge University Press, year 62, along with the theory of its biological fact. Professor Grayling has been particularly scathing about this theory, insisting that all physical law is based on the Law of the Strong. Yet Bender Boyce-Flood’s conclusions seem to me irrefutable.
46 The Law of the Small. See previous notes.
47 This comment is of special interest, as it is similar in content to Dr. Malcolm Sivia’s speculations on the problem of Arcadia’s forgotten history, in Connection: A Personal Journey of Discovery, Loss, and Love, year 59. In that work, Dr. Sivia postulates that a culture has memory, the same as an individual. And that trauma affects that memory just as it does for an individual. The significance of this point is tremendous, and cannot be overstated. Professor Grayling’s theory that Arcadia can remember nothing before the year 1 because of its loss of moral fiber through turning to the ideal of Happiness for All rather than Greatness for Some has little, other than the wishful thinking of its originator, to recommend it.
48 As mentioned above, Lily the Silent’s maimed hand was also her right one. See Fallaize, year 61, in particular his theory of reality formed by symbol. The more deeply I delve into Snotty Saves the Day, however, the more my meditations lead me to a more radical view.
49 This well-known section of Snotty Saves the Day deserves further research. (See Vale, year 54.) The concept of life being over-controlled by abstract thought, sometimes to deadly effect, is important to all branches of Arcadian thought. The Neofundamentalists, opposing this trend of research, state that the exact opposite is true: that Abstract Thought is the highest Good in Life, and all in Life should be sacrificed to its development. To which I can only reply: Can you eat Abstract Thought? Can you enjoy Abstract Thought more than the sun on your face on a summer day? And, most importantly, Can Abstract Thought restore the limbs, minds, and lives it has destroyed in our recent civil war? Forgive me for bringing politics into an academic study. The times make it inevitable.
50 Transformation of frightening creatures into helping ones is a common motif in Arcadian tales, past and present. An interesting co
ntrast with Megalopolitan literature, where this only occurs in very early bardic epics. (See Catalog of the ANALECTA ARCADIA and the ACTA ARCADIA, compiled by Prof. Joyanna Bender Boyce-Flood, Otterbridge University, Year 76.) More recent Megalopolitan stories focus on the triumph of the hero over frightening characters (“Anthony Saves the World” is the most characteristic of these), while Arcadian stories (“Reine the Fox” and countless others) trace a transformation of frightening characters into helpful ones, through the agency of a character, or characters, greeting the monsters with wary compassion. See the Maude Cycle, and the stories of Maude’s friendship with Death. Death, in these tales, is a beautiful woman in the full bloom of middle age, with a deep concern for the good of all living things. Quite different from the monster Death of Megalopolis.
51 A well-known Arcadian folk saying, and one that I recall, from personal conversation, always particularly irked Professor Grayling, who insisted it only showed the stupidity of the masses.
52 This dialogue is obscured by pen markings in the copy of Snotty Saves the Day found in the queen’s library after her death. Reconstructed from translation of the Legendus Snottianicus. (See Legendus Snottianicus: translations of fragments of an Arcadian folk tale, translated by Prof. Joyanna Bender Boyce-Flood, Otterbridge University Press, year 34.)
53 This section also blacked out in the copy-text; it is reconstructed from the Legendus Snottianicus. See above note.
54 See An Elegant Theory of the Contiguity of Theater Arts and Neurobiology, Dr. Chloe Watson, Otterbridge University Press, year 14, appendix: “Dragon’s Teeth, the Donatee Mountains, and Early Arcadian Theater: A Sketch.”
55 Selective blindness in heroes is a common motif in Arcadian tales. See Sivia, year 59, for a groundbreaking discussion of selective blindness in culture. Dr. Sivia shows that an individual can only see what he believes to be true. Only Love, he argues, can open the individual’s eyes to what is the actual physical world. And as goes the individual, so goes culture. I cannot emphasize this point enough—though recent assassination attempts indicate others in the opposition find it enough and more!
56 Again, a common motif in Arcadian legend, even in recent formations. It is said, for example, that on the day of Lily the Silent’s death, an enormous white bird was seen taking her soul away over the Donatee Mountains. (Personal conversation with Sophia the Wise.) For further discussion, see Fallaize, year 61.
57 Except, of course, for the testimony of this tale.
58 A common Arcadian name, as well as that, of course, of Arcadia’s first known queen, Lily the Silent. The name also frequently appears as that of a secondary character in Megalopolitan tales, usually the housemaid, the laundress, or the concubine. (Examples of this are found in such Megalopolitan classics as “Lindsay the Center of the World,” in which a thin Megalopolitan girl coaxes an uncle into giving her a larger dowry than she needs; “What Shall We Say to the Doctor?” in which a thin Megalopolitan girl persuades a doctor to turn her into the most beautiful girl in the land; and “The Golden Glove,” in which a thin Megalopolitan girl finds a magic glove that enables her to marry a rich older husband. See Vale, year 22.)
59 Note the repeated motif of the problem of memory. This is the truly exciting motif of Snotty Saves the Day. If, as Arcadian scientists have discovered, fairy tales hold the laws of the physical universe, Snotty’s repeated loss of memory would indicate why an entire society might suffer collective amnesia—as ours does.
60 Again, note how the character rewrites his history to suit his own needs. (See Bender Boyce-Flood, year 17.) Professor Grayling’s notorious attempt to influence Arcadian literary tradition with the anonymous publication of the Siegfried Cycle is an example of this. (See Grayling, year 43.) In this work, which advertises itself as a pre-Amnesia epic of the Great Hero who led the Arcadian people out of the marshes into civilization in a Megalopolitan mold, there is a famous statement that the hero’s descendants live on in the Grayling lineage! This work was exposed in masterful fashion by Dr. Fallaize in a series of trenchant articles written for The Wrykyn Review (year 58).
61 Curiously enough, the Neofundamentalist forces have chosen the image of such a peak for their insignia: a shining snow-covered silver mountain on a field of azure.
62 Professor Grayling insists this scene is a later corruption of the original text, which must have meant the words of Luc to be the words of Wisdom. In this, he is profoundly mistaken.
63 Here we see hints of the founding legend of Arcadia: rejection of the slavery of power in exchange for the freedom of equity. A perfect example of how the story can be a foundation of culture. (See Bender Boyce-Flood, year 17.) In fact, so perfect is it that I begin to suspect the story of Snotty is not just legend. But this is a radical analysis, requiring more thought.
64 A startling turn of events in the story, which foretells startling turns in the culture. See Arcadian history and its rejection of the imperial protection of Megalopolis in favor of a more homely magistrate culture, years 1 to 3, before the ascension of Queen Lily the Silent.
65 Commonly believed by scholars to be an allegorical depiction of the conflict between Megalopolis and Arcadia. But Sivia disputes this thesis, theorizing that allegory indicates actual history. (See Sivia, year 59. Also see Fallaize, year 61, chapter seven, “Allegory or Reality?”) And my own belief begins to take me further.
66 Once thought impossible, but Arcadian physics has proved that Time may stop while Historical and Personal Transformation occurs. (See Sivia, year 59.) There can be no greater historical or personal transformation in Arcadian history than that of Snotty into Lily. And, if I am right—if Snotty is actually Lily, our first queen—this transformation changed our landscape, our culture, our world at the same time.
67 The Law of Many Realities is a known fact. I have often remarked that where it is in dispute, there political, rather than scientific, forces are at work. A bitter truth.
68 “To be moved by a child’s story is to be moved by our own history.” Sophia the Wise. Our second queen was often heard to repeat this maxim, especially to children. Did she suspect? Or did she know the truth all along?
69 An amusing note: a common Arcadian folk saying has it that this is the difference between our own country and Megalopolis.
70 The very argument recently used to advance a cowardly strategy of surrender to the Neofundamentalist forces and their Megalopolitan masters. A strategy rightly to be despised.
71 Another Arcadian folk saying: “Being in charge? What does that mean?” Often quoted by Lily the Silent.
72 This is, of course, a long-standing political debate in our world. And THE cause of our present war.
73 Note the connection between the beginning of a story and an actual birth first made by Prof. Grayling. (See Grayling, year 41.) The point was made only in passing, but I believe it to be important. Note also that no birth records exist in Arcadia before year 1. Another indication that Snotty Saves the Day portrays the birth not just of an individual, but of Arcadia as well.
74 Is this how the mountains of Arcadia—the Donatees, the Samanthans, the Calandals, and, most beautiful of all, the Ceres—were formed?
75 Interesting note: The Teddy Bear Picnic is a common motif in folk tales of all worlds available for study, without exception. (See Vale, year 22; Vale, year 26.) There is scope for further study here that should fill younger scholars with excitement: how much are the stories of Arcadia like the stories of other worlds? And how much do the stories of those other worlds correspond to their own acknowledged realities? Are there other worlds as blind as ours to their true natures? Recent developments, encouraged by techniques nurtured by Sophia the Wise, have enabled us to peer through time and space to certain of these realities. We must communicate our own findings to them and seek to discover what laws they have themselves found. That is the next frontier for Arcadian science.
76 The Law of the Interaction of Worlds is accepted as fact by most scholars. (See, even, Pro
f. Aspern Grayling, Dominance and Hierarchy: First Principle Among Worlds, New Power Press, year 52.)
77 See Fallaize, year61, for discussion of Santa’s actual existence, and disappearance from activity in the physical world. Also see the Arcadian fairy tale, “Welcome to the Man in Red,” told to Arcadian children at Christmas. Compare the Megalopolitan folk tale, a little known variation of “Anthony Saves the World,” in which the hero outwits Santa in a battle for the affection of needy children. (See Vale, year 22.)
78 Grayling insists this is allegory. Fallaize and Bender Boyce-Flood deny it, cautiously. I deny it utterly.
79 An accurate, even poetic, description of an Arcadian village street, at least before the Civil War. And of the childhood home of Lily the Silent, where she lived with her mother and stepfather, Mae and Alan, until the time of the adventure that transformed her into our first known queen.
80 An exact replica of this room can be seen in the childhood home of Lily the Silent. The description is perfect, with the exception of the black and yellow bear.
81 Arcadian census records of the year 1 show a Mick, a Keef, and a Dodger living in the neighborhood of Lily the Silent’s childhood home. The three (the names are unusual for Arcadia) appear to have owned an eponymous neighborhood sweet shop.