Few things are more inspiring to a traveller than to hear the tales of another. Tales of distant cities and mighty rivers on faraway plains plant a seed of yearning in the heart: not to see the same places, but places like them in distance and mystery. Many of my own travels, the stories of which you may find on this site, began with the stories collected in Lord Dunsany’s A Dreamer’s Tales. He was a great traveller.
I’ve already said elsewhere that The Field moves me like few stories do, but there is another in this book that is perhaps equally important to my life. That is Idle Days on the Yann, the spirit of which influenced all my own travels in the Lands of Dream and continues to do so.
When you can, take some time to read it. Come aboard the Bird of the River, meet her captain, and sail down to Bar-Wul-Yann. You will see many wonders.