The Red Book: A Reader’s Edition (Philemon)
[Carl Jung: the fairy tale is the great mother of the novel, and has even more universal validity than the most-avidly read novel of your time.]
She: “What can you do for me? You have already done much for me. You spoke the redeeming word when you no longer placed the banal between you and me. Know then: I was bewitched by the banal.”
I: “Woe is me, you now become very fairy-tale-like.”
She: “Be reasonable, dear friend, and do not stumble now over the fabulous, since the fairy tale is the great mother of the novel, and has even more universal validity than the most-avidly read novel of your time. And you know that what has been on everyone’s lips for millennia, though repeated endlessly, still comes nearest the ultimate human truth. So do not let the fabulous come between us.”
I: “You are clever and do not seem to have inherited the wisdom of your father. But tell me, what do you think of the divinity; of the so-called ultimate truths? I found it very strange to seek them in banality: According to their nature, they must be quite uncommon. Think only of our great philosophers.”
She: “The more uncommon these highest truths are, the more inhuman must they be and the less they speak to you as something valuable or meaningful concerning human essence and being. Only what is human and what you call banal and hackneyed contains the wisdom that you seek. The fabulous does not speak
against me but for me, and proves how universally human I am and how much I too not only need redemption but also deserve it. For I can live in the world of reality as well or better than many others of my sex.”
I: “Strange maiden, you are bewildering-when I saw your father, I hoped he would invite me to a scholarly conversation. He did not, and I was aggrieved at him because of this, since his distracted slackness hurt my dignity. But with you I find it much
better. You give me matters to ponder. You are uncommon.”
She: “You are mistaken, I am very common.”
I: “I can’t believe that. How beautiful and worthy of adoration is the expression of your soul in your eyes. Happy and enviable is the man who will free you.”
She: “Do you love me?”
1: “By God, I love you-but-unfortunately I am already married.”
She: “So-you see: even banal reality is a redeemer. I thank you, dear friend, and I bring you greetings from Salome.”
With these words her shape dissolves into darkness. Dim moonlight penetrates the room. Where she stood something shadowy lies-it is a profusion of red roses. ~Carl Jung, The Red Book, The Castle in the Forest, Pages 262-263.
