# XXXII explained — The Demi-Gods > Chapter companion for The Demi-Gods by James Stephens. ## What happens In the stillness of night, the narrator speaks with a wise ass who recounts visions of Cyclopes, fairy hosts, centaurs, and wild asses, before returning home out of loyalty to Mary Ni Cahan. ## Themes in this chapter ### Storytelling and Wisdom The ass shares fantastical tales, blending wisdom with imagination. ### Nature and Survival The ass's loyalty to Mary Ni Cahan over wild companions reflects survival and connection to home. ## Character check-ins ### Mary Mac Cann Remembered by the ass as Mary Ni Cahan, the reason he returned home. ## Key lines > Little ass, how is everything with you? The narrator asks the ass how he is doing. _Opening of the dialogue between narrator and ass._ > I saw the Cyclops striding across a hill; there were forty of them, and each man was forty feet high; they had only one eye in their heads and they looked through that; they looked through it the way a fire stares through a hole and they could see well. The ass describes seeing forty Cyclopes, each forty feet tall, with a single eye that sees like fire through a hole. _First vision recounted by the ass._ > I saw seven girls in a meadow and they were playing together; when they were tired playing they lay on the grass and they went to sleep; I drew near and stretched beside them on the grass, and I watched them for a long time; but when they awakened they disappeared into the air and were gone like puffs of smoke. The ass saw seven girls playing in a meadow, slept beside them, and they vanished upon waking. _Second vision of ephemeral fairy-like beings._ > I saw the fairy host marching through a valley in the hills; wide, silken banners were flying above their heads; some had long swords in their hands and some had musical instruments, and there were others who carried a golden apple in their hands, and others again with silver lilies and cups of heavy silver; they were beautiful and proud and they marched courageously; they marched past me for three gay hours while I stood on the slope of a hill. The ass witnessed a fairy procession with banners, swords, instruments, golden apples, and silver items, marching proudly for three hours. _Third vision of a fairy host._ > I saw three centaurs riding out of a wood; they raced round and round me shouting and waving their hands; one of them leaned his elbows on my back, and they talked of a place in the middle of a forest; they pelted me with tufts of grass; then they went by a narrow path into the wood, and they rode away. The ass saw three centaurs who circled him, talked, playfully threw grass, and then rode into the woods. _Fourth vision of centaurs._ > I saw a herd of wild asses in a plain; men were creeping around them in the long grass, but the asses ran suddenly, and they killed the men with their hoofs and their teeth; I galloped in the middle of them for half a night, but I remembered Mary Ni Cahan, and when I remembered her I turned from all my companions and I galloped home again. The ass joined wild asses in a battle against men, but left them to return home upon remembering Mary Ni Cahan. _Fifth vision and the ass's choice of loyalty._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_demi_gods_se/chapters/xxxii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_demi_gods_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_demi_gods_se/chapters