To read Hermann Hesse's fairy tales is to enter a fabulous world of dreams and visions, philosophy and passion. This landmark collection contains twenty-two of Hesse's finest stories in this genre, most translated into English here for the first time. Drawing on both Eastern and Western fairy-tale traditions, Hesse captures the innate power of this ancient form as he spins wondrous stories that both entertain us and penetrate beneath the surface of our conscious mind.

Full of visionaries and seekers, princesses and wandering poets, his fairy tales speak to the place in our psyche that inspires us with deep spiritual longing; that compels us to leave home, and inevitably to return; and that harbors the greatest joys and most devastating wounds of our heart.

Strikingly original in both substance and style, these richly symbolic works resonate with timeless themes: the fundamental duality of existence, the isolation of the artist, and the decline of Western civilization. Hesse's lyrical prose is deceptively simple, like a Zen koan, often camouflaging profound enigmas. What is the meaning of the killing of the blind leader in "The Forest Dweller"? Why does the guide leap off the mountain in "The Difficult Path"?

By making us ask these provocative questions, Hesse invites us to undertake a quest for personal and cultural enlightenment that is as relevant today as it was to readers in his own time.