In TWOTOANS (Funny enough 'two tones'), music is the level above poetic language. Before the song is introduced, the previous paragraph of the saint needing to find what he's missing, it's one HUGE paragraph, which in itself is rather frantic. The searching paragraph is full of breathless run on sentences, or else short staccato sentences that bounce off one another. But once the saint hears the music that the lovers produce, the paragraphs flow in a calming manner. The song itself flows like the calm stream W talked about. Though the prose about the song can't reach the song itself, it does allow a certain amount of soothing and calming that the song itself evokes.
Also, as for TWOTOANS, it is a fairy tale because:
1. A Lack: The Naked Saint needs to find the thing that will release him from his human form (music)
2. Going on a Quest: The quest is rather brought to him as he stays in his cave going crazy as people come by and make pilgrammages to him
3. Hero encounters Magical Helper: The lovers come by on their boat (making magic of their own *wink*)
4. Hero Subjected to tests: He hears the music and noises, and finally discerns the music he needs
5. Achieves Award: He is released from his human form, gets to hear the beautiful music, and dance gracefully
However, it's more of a Kunstmarchen because it is rather complex to wrap your head around. It has metaphors and such that are hard to just see (except the lovers). It's also rather irrational. Why do they get trapped in human form? I don't know, it just happens. There is also his elevation to a higher plane of thinking, above the classical life. That = Kunstmarchen.
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You make a really good point. This tale has aspects of a fairy tale, but in the end it really is a kunstmarchen because of its poetic qualities.
ReplyDeleteYou're a musician, aren't you? Looking back on the passages before and after the saint's transformation, it's like looking at the score of some Wagnerian opera.
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