An illustrated collection of twelve comparative folk tales, ten African and two Jewish.
"A great psychoanalyst," notes the front jacket panel, "intimate friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud-sheds new light on the origins and meaning of Judaeo-Christian religion.
A choice anecdote about Anatole France, published not long after his death in memoirs by an intimate friend, seems easily the best way to introduce the story of the long journey I have undergone in preparing the present book. The anecdote presents the renowned author in an amiable conversation with the secretary of a magazine, who asks impatiently why it is necessary for so seasoned a writer to delay so long before correcting galley proofs. The author explains: "I have first to forget what I have written in order to see it with new eyes. Only then do I become aware of what is not immediately understandable and of what is not simple and clear." He adds finally: "You see, what is natural comes only at the end."
