A New Year Greeting: Babar's Dream

Time to be affirmative.

"In an archetypal battle between good and evil, the graceful winged elephants—the angels of kindness, intelligence, courage, patience, perseverance, knowledge, work, hope, love, health, joy and happiness—drive out the demons of misfortune, anger, stupidity, discouragement, sickness, spinelessness, despair, fear, ignorance, cowardice, laziness. The qualities championed here are personal virtues, involving the life of the mind and the life of the individual. Although the orderly angel–elephants resemble an army, with little differentiation among them compared to the dramatically articulated figures of evil, the angels do not proclaim a nationalistic, corporate or moralistic cause but instead affirm a gracious and serene intelligence. Several of the flying elephants carry symbols characteristic of the virues; the flowers of hope, the candle of knowledge, the saw of perseverance, the hammer of work, the shield and sword of courage, the clock of patience. And so angelic harmonies banish discordant evils from Celestville, the home of Babar and Celeste."

From Edward R Tufte, Visual Explanations, (Graphics Press, 1997), pp 127-129 describes Babar's Dream, first published in Jean de Brunhoff, Le Roi Babar (Paris, 1933).


The text reads:
...de gracieux éléphants ailés qui chassent le Malheur loin de Célestville, et ramènent avec eux le Bonheur.-
A ce moment, il se réveille, et se sent mieux.

Peur, Désespoir, Mollesse, Ignorance, Malheur, Maladie, Lâcheté, Paresse, Colère, Bêtise, Découragement.
Courage, Intelligence, Bonte, Persévérance, Patience, Travail, Espoir, Savoir, Joie, Santé, Amour, Bonheur