Twilight Land

To my daughter
Phoebe:
this book is inscribed
as her very own
by her father.

 1. The Stool of Fortune

 2. The Talisman of Solomon

 3. Ill-Luck and the Fiddler

 4. Empty Bottles

 5. Good Gifts and a Fool’s Folly

 6. The Good of a Few Words

 7. Woman’s Wit

 8. A Piece of Good Luck

 9. The Fruit of Happiness

10. Not a Pin to Choose

11. Much Shall Have More and Little Shall Have Less

12. Wisdom’s Wages and Folly’s Pay

13. The Enchanted Island

14. All Things Are as Fate Wills

15. Where to Lay the Blame

16. The Salt of Life

INTRODUCTION

If St. George and Sinbad settled in to swap stories beside a roaring fire, would you want to eavesdrop? What if those two heroes were not alone? What if they were joined by Ali Baba and Cinderella and Fortunatus and Aladdin and a whole assemblage of characters sprung to life from the myths and legends of the world, and each had a tale to tell? What would you give to be there?

Me? I’d give that magic stool I stole from the wizard and the solid piece of good luck I found in the desert and the mystical blade I used to kill the sorceress and her sister. And more.

Fairy tales and fantasies are as old as the world. This is an easy thing to forget. It is easy to see only the stories we tell today—fresh and shiny—and then assume that they came from nowhere, that they have no ancestors, and no narrative parents whatsoever. But today’s fantasies are built on a rich, imaginative heritage, a global heritage. As long as there has been language, there have been stories. And as far back as we can trace, those stories have been about dragons and magic and sacrifices, fools and wise men and wizards, fate and luck and love. What we call realism in storytelling is a relatively new concept. It is the sapling in the wood surrounded by towering moss-covered giants as old as history, giants grown up out of myths and legends. Fantasy.

When I was young, Howard Pyle could grab me with a story as few other authors could. At the time, I did not know how important he was to American art and illustration. I did not know when he’d lived or died. I only knew that his stories were rich, that they had a depth and texture to them that made me feel connected to history and this mysterious world where we all live.