# Fifty-One Tales — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany.

- [The Assignation](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-assignation.md): The poet creates enduring songs for Fame, but she prefers the ephemeral garlands of the crowd. When he rebukes her, she promises to meet him in a graveyard in a hundred years.
- [Charon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/charon.md): Charon, the ferryman of the dead, rows endlessly across the grey river, burdened by an eternal weariness. The dead come in unprecedented numbers, then suddenly stop. A single, last man arrives, and after being ferried to
- [The Death of Pan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-death-of-pan.md): Travellers from London enter Arcady and lament the death of Pan, finding him stiff and still. As they stand mournfully by his body, Arcadian maidens arrive and laugh at the sight, causing Pan to leap up and pursue them, 
- [The Sphinx at Giza](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-sphinx-at-giza.md): The narrator observes the Sphinx's painted face and her flirtation with Time, hoping she will lure his secret from him so that humanity can blind and enslave Time, preventing him from destroying beautiful things. The cha
- [The Hen](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-hen.md): A hen, inspired by the swallows' annual migration south, attempts her own journey but only reaches the garden at the end of the road. Upon returning, she describes her limited travels as a grand adventure, and the poultr
- [Wind and Fog](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/wind-and-fog.md): The North Wind boasts of his power over ships and the sea, but the silent fog responds by listing the countless vessels he has destroyed, revealing a more insidious and pervasive form of destruction.
- [The Raft-Builders](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-raft-builders.md): The chapter reflects on the futility of writing and human ambition, comparing authors to sailors hastily building rafts on doomed ships. It suggests that most works are forgotten, with only a few names and phrases surviv
- [The Workman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-workman.md): The narrator witnesses a workman fall from a great height, futilely attempting to carve his name into the scaffolding before his death. Later, the workman's ghost appears, laughing at the narrator's own serious work, moc
- [The Guest](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-guest.md): A young man dines alone in a London restaurant, carrying on a one-sided conversation with an empty chair, which he treats as his guest. He speaks of mutual acquaintances, including King Seti and Helen of Troy, and hints 
- [Death and Odysseus](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/death-and-odysseus.md): Death, mocked by Love in the Olympian courts, resolves to frighten Odysseus. He travels to Ithaca and finds the old hero warming his hands by the fire. Despite Death's attempts to intimidate him, Odysseus remains unpertu
- [Death and the Orange](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/death-and-the-orange.md): Two dark young men dine with a woman in a foreign southern land; a small orange with an evil laughter in its heart rolls off her plate, sparking a quarrel beneath the table. Death, seated nearby with an old man, rises to
- [The Prayer of the Flowers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-prayer-of-the-flowers.md): The flowers lament to Pan from the edge of a Midland city, where industrial progress has replaced the woods and fields, and they feel forgotten and lonely. Pan's voice from Arcady reassures them that these changes are te
- [Time and the Tradesman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/time-and-the-tradesman.md): Time encounters a tradesman artificially aging furniture in an antique shop, then punishes him by physically aging the man himself before departing to attend to a weary city.
- [The Little City](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-little-city.md): The narrator, traveling on a train, glimpses a small city in a valley. The golden smoke and patchwork fields evoke a timeless, almost paradisiacal scene, but the sight of ancient, indifferent mountains prompts a meditati
- [The Unpasturable Fields](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-unpasturable-fields.md): The mountains boast of their permanence and endurance against Time, but the clouds counter that they themselves are the realm where Pegasus prances and browses on song, suggesting a different kind of imperishability thro
- [The Worm and the Angel](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-worm-and-the-angel.md): A worm emerging from the tombs encounters an angel, and together they observe the entirety of human civilization—kings, kingdoms, youth, age, war, and peace. The worm claims all as his food, but the angel recites a Homer
- [The Songless Country](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-songless-country.md): A poet visits a country without songs and offers to create simple, aimless songs for its weary people, but they reject his offer, citing the demands of modern commerce, leading the poet to lament their damnation.
- [The Latest Thing](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-latest-thing.md): A poet observes an unclean-feeder greedily scavenging from the polluted river of Time, ignoring the beauty around him, while the poet looks toward the distant sea and the hills of Fate, aware of the river's eventual floo
- [The Demagogue and the Demimonde](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-demagogue-and-the-demimonde.md): A demagogue and a demimondaine arrive together at the gate of Paradise. The Saint questions them: the demagogue claims to have stood for popular principles, while the demimondaine admits she wanted money. The Saint lets 
- [The Giant Poppy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-giant-poppy.md): The narrator dreams of returning to familiar hills, once home to woods, fairies, and distant views of Ilion and Roncesvalles, but finds only a giant poppy that hums 'Remember not.' A poet dressed as a shepherd sits by th
- [Roses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/roses.md): The narrator reflects on a roadside where wild roses bloom with strange abundance, their deep pink blush a remnant of a village that existed two hundred rose-generations ago. The roses, having left the wilderness for hum
- [The Man with the Golden Earrings](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-man-with-the-golden-earrings.md): The narrator encounters a mysterious sailor at the docks who claims to be the last surviving pirate, condemned to immortality for his sins on the Spanish seas.
- [The Dream of King Karna-Vootra](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-dream-of-king-karna-vootra.md): King Karna-Vootra recounts a dream in which he implores the queenly Vava-Nyria to walk with him through beautiful lands, only to realize she is dead and his youth is gone.
- [The Storm](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-storm.md): A small, alien ship named the Petite Espérance is scorned by onlookers who believe it is lost in a storm. Years later, it returns as a magnificent galleon laden with treasure, revealing that it could not sink because it 
- [A Mistaken Identity](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/a-mistaken-identity.md): Fame encounters Notoriety in a city at evening, where Notoriety is mistaken for Fame by worshippers. When Notoriety claims to be Fame, Fame quietly departs, and Notoriety leads her followers to the Pit.
- [The True History of the Hare and the Tortoise](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-true-history-of-the-hare-and-the-tortoise.md): A retelling of the classic fable in which the Hare, overconfident and distracted, repeatedly stops during a race against the Tortoise, who wins through persistence. The story ends with a forest fire and the Tortoise bein
- [Alone the Immortals](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/alone-the-immortals.md): The narrator, seeking to mourn the dead years in a distant valley, finds instead the immortal years themselves—colossi that tower over time and creation, and returns comforted.
- [A Moral Little Tale](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/a-moral-little-tale.md): A Puritan who opposes dancing and mirth is visited by the Devil in a dream, who reveals that God created love and joy, and that the Puritan's efforts have actually served Hell. The Puritan realizes his mistake but is dra
- [The Return of Song](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-return-of-song.md): In a vision, the narrator ascends to a Valhalla where the gods observe the end of a world. Swans return from the dead world, singing, and a humble god explains that worlds are mortal but song is immortal. Larks then desc
- [Spring in Town](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/spring-in-town.md): Winter is depicted as a deposed king lingering at a street corner, until Spring arrives and commands him to leave. He retreats northward, regaining his majesty as he returns to his icy home. Spring then takes over the to
- [How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/how-the-enemy-came-to-thl-nr-na.md): A man from a black-thatched cottage enters the dreaded lamaserai of Thlūnrāna on the night of its prophesied doom. He passes through veiled chambers and silent magicians, draws aside the curtain of the inner mystery, and
- [A Losing Game](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/a-losing-game.md): In a tavern, Man meets Death and tries to cheer his gloomy adversary, but Death remains morose and weeps, leaving Man to wonder whether Death weeps from pity, regret, or the knowledge that he will never again have such s
- [Taking Up Picadilly](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/taking-up-picadilly.md): The narrator encounters workmen digging up Picadilly in June, only to discover that beneath the surface lies a dark void filled with southern stars. The workmen reveal they are not what they seem, suggesting a surreal or
- [After the Fire](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/after-the-fire.md): After a cosmic catastrophe destroys the world, alien creatures sift through the ruins and debate what was most significant about humanity. They consider the mammoth and man's temples, but ultimately discover that the gre
- [The City](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-city.md): The narrator's fancy takes him to a desert city at evening, where he observes poets and artists stealing away just before a doom falls upon the city. The remaining inhabitants, glad to be rid of them, continue their comm
- [The Food of Death](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-food-of-death.md): Death falls ill but is revived by consuming the adulterated and artificial foods of modern civilization, including alum-whitened bread, tinned meats, cheap tea, imitation champagne, and patent medicines. Restored to stre
- [The Lonely Idol](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-lonely-idol.md): The narrator finds an old, forgotten idol and, moved by pity, prays to it, lamenting the passage of time, the loss of beauty, and the inevitability of death, and imploring the idol to oppose Time.
- [The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-sphinx-in-thebes-massachusetts.md): A wealthy woman in a modern steel-built city, possessing all material luxuries, desires a live sphinx. After an exhaustive search, her agents find a sphinx in a desert who had once devoured the gods of a ruined temple. T
- [The Reward](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-reward.md): The narrator wanders from a factory city to the edge of Hell, where an angel is building a new, worse Hell using modern materials and methods. The angel explains that the punishment is for those who sold a harmful new ye
- [The Trouble in Leafy Green Street](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-trouble-in-leafy-green-street.md): A woman, seeking relief from rainy-day melancholy, buys a grey stone idol called the God of Rainy Cheerfulness from an old man in Moleshill Street. Despite warnings about idolatry, she prays to it on the next wet day, th
- [The Mist](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-mist.md): The mist rises over the Downs, weeping as it fills the high places and hollows. The narrator consults a prophet who explains that the mist is composed of souls who never saw the Downs in life and now mourn their loss in 
- [Furrow-Maker](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/furrow-maker.md): Two birds, one in black and one in brown, discuss the fate of Man, whom they call 'furrow-maker.' They debate whether Man's turn to cities and industry will lead to his death, with the black bird insisting that Man will 
- [Lobster Salad](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/lobster-salad.md): The narrator describes a harrowing dream in which they climb the perilous outer wall of the Palace of Colquonhombros, pursued by sable apes with tigerish teeth. With their strength failing and the apes closing in, they r
- [The Return of the Exiles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-return-of-the-exiles.md): The narrator encounters two old, servile men—one with a hammer, one with a spear—who ask the way to Stonehenge. At the stone circle, a group of twenty men await, and the two old men are revealed as ancient figures who on
- [Nature and Time](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/nature-and-time.md): A triumphant spirit strides through Coventry on a winter's night, followed by a ragged, weeping spirit who laments the loss of nature to the growing cities. She accuses him of forgetting her, but he retorts by listing fa
- [The Song of the Blackbird](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-song-of-the-blackbird.md): A poet overhears a blackbird's claim of having created a new song inspired by a beautiful she-blackbird, only to be told by an old wanderer that the song is ancient and was sung when he was young.
- [The Messengers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-messengers.md): The Muses repeatedly send messengers to the Golden Town with divine messages, but the townspeople stone each messenger and later inscribe the message on gold for their temples. The narrator resists the Muses' call, argui
- [The Three Tall Sons](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-three-tall-sons.md): Man's ultimate city, the pinnacle of civilization, turns away a poor old woman—Nature herself—who comes begging at its gates. She returns with her three tall sons, War, Famine, and Plague, who enter the city unnoticed wh
- [Compromise](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/compromise.md): A city built in glory over an earthquake's lair is initially ignored by the earthquake, who fears its inhabitants might be gods. When the citizens later send offerings to appease him, he realizes they are not divine and 
- [What We Have Come To](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/what-we-have-come-to.md): An advertiser weeps upon seeing cathedral spires, lamenting that they are not an advertisement for Beefo, highlighting the commodification of the sacred.
- [The Tomb of Pan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-tomb-of-pan.md): The enlightened people build a grand marble tomb for Pan, whom they believe dead, to memorialize and avoid his worship. Some mourn, others revile him, but the builders complete the monument. At evening, Pan himself emerg
- [The Poet Speaks with Earth](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-poet-speaks-with-earth.md): The narrator returns from roaming among the stars to find Mother Earth sitting in space, murmuring about her children. When the narrator boasts of human achievements like machinery, politics, science, and inventions, Ear
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/endnotes.md): The chapter consists solely of editorial notes indicating that the preceding story was omitted from both the original British and American editions.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters