Naked Saint Response

Translated by Jack Zipes, A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint contains many elements characteristic of the fairytale genre. The story has the unreal element of the naked saint who is turning "the powerful rushing wheel" of time (298). The naked saint is also a rather mythical/uncommon character - he did "not know how to act like [a] human being" and is described as being "trapped in the whirlpool of his wild confusion" (296, 297). He has a magic and symbolic task or quest of having to always turn the wheel of time. And although he tries to resist the pull, he cannot until he hears the enlightening element of music. The most strikingly obvious shared characteristic with the fairytale genre is the transformation that overcomes the saint after hearing music for the first time. The tale also addresses cultural and historical aspects of the Orient and their legend of the "naked saint." The Kunstmarchen subset is defined as a more literary and artistic form of the fairytale genre - this is certainly found in A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint where the tale seems like it started from an oral tradition but was embellished upon extensively.

In terms of this tale, the relationship between poetic language and music is intertwined in my opinion. Music does set the naked saint free of his insane turning of the wheel of time, but we don't witness a loss of poetic language in the tale itself. After hearing the lovers music, the naked saint transforms into an ethereal being who dances "up and down in heavenly delight, back and forth upon the white clouds that swam in the airy space" (299). Although the saint does not talk anymore after the music enters the tale, the language of the tale itself is still quite beautiful and poetic. For the saint specifically, I do not think the power of music is also accessible in language, with "his wild garbled speeches" and "wild, loud laughter" (297). But perhaps for the other characters there is that possibility. Especially after them having "watched the nocturnal wonder with astonishment" (299). His transformation might clue them into the power of music in personal enlightenment - moving them away from the rudimentary troubles of worrying about time, to being able to enjoy the heavens of the world they exist in.