Phantastes - Post II

Phantastes is a really old book - and for that alone it can be appreciated and enjoyed.  It was overwhelmingly full of symbolism and lessons to be learned - another reason  to enjoy it.  Seeing and understanding the meaning behind the book requires some thought, which is best done by thinking.  Though I thought the text in Phantastes was remarkably easy to understand for a book written so long ago, the thinking required to understand the meanings hidden within the text require a bit more time.  It makes me think of a cow, which is perhaps an inglorious picture to compare with a literary work.  Nevertheless, when a cow eats, it takes a lot of time to digest it.  The food returns to its mouth to be chewed multiple times.  The content in Phantastes is like that: it does not go down once.  Rather, it comes to mind more than once, and one continues to ponder it.  Phantastes should be read and pondered because, like in so much fantasy, it contains hidden truth that is more obvious and clear in its world than our own - yet just as applicable.