Changes

As Sendker points out in his introduction, some of these stories will feel very familiar. ''The Little Snail'' is close cousin to the Robert the Bruce's spider. The role of wise old owl or wily fox is often played by the hare in these stories – not the fool of our hare and tortoise tale, but a respected judge of what is right. Animals feature heavily, always with the ability to talk to humans which is taken as a given and nothing to be remarked upon. I like that. It is at one with a transmigration philosophy that there should be no difference between humans and other animals – and that being so, of course they can speak to each other. At the same time, it places the tales very much in the realm of the child-like suspension of disbelief.

Sendker prefaces the stories with ''his Burma'' to put the collection in context. That in itself is a Burma that no longer exists. The country continues its struggles and this isn't the place to comment upon them, but in reading this book we probably need to remember that it is akin to reading Hans Christian Anderson, or the Brothers Grimm… ancient tales retold for a point in time. Many of them reminded me mostly of ''The Just So'' stories.

There's many an echo of our own tales in here and it's worth reading and thinking about on that level alone.

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