The Sparrow's Fables"The volcano, having calmed down for a moment, woke up again. The eggs around us cracked. Out of them came sparrows and chickens, vipers and turtles, bats and agoutis, solitaires and eels. The latter crept toward us, twisting around us as if we were their parents. Life like an egg, you said... I was torn apart. Above me, a beak was waiting to pierce my heart. But as it lowered, you threw yourself on me. The sparrow's beak pierced your heart and mine... Black dog, black angel, baobab or sparrow, scarred baby with an albino lock of hair, or something else. Dark gaze into the belly of the world." Excerpts from the afterword by Ananda Devi. A luminous detour of admiration and love bathed in extreme tenderness to tell the author and his sparrow, through the thread, at the cruel heart of this African and universal fable.