# Taking Up Picadilly explained — Fifty-One Tales

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

## What happens

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 mythological dimension to their task.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Power of Myth and Imagination

The mundane act of roadwork transforms into a gateway to a starry underworld, highlighting the imaginative power beneath everyday reality.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator observes the workmen and questions their activity.

## Key lines

> We are taking up Picadilly

The workmen are removing the street Picadilly.

_Literal statement that becomes surreal._

> We are not what we seem

The workmen are not ordinary laborers.

_Hint at their supernatural or symbolic nature._

> though it was broad daylight over my head it was darkness down there, all full of the southern stars

The excavated hole reveals a night sky with southern constellations.

_Surreal contrast between surface daylight and subterranean cosmos._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/taking-up-picadilly
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters