How can the inscription on AURYN be interpreted?

Question

In *The Neverending Story*, AURYN, the medallion of the Childlike Empress, bears the following inscription (at least while Bastian is carrying it - it's never 100% confirmed that it had the same writing in the first half of the book when Atreyu had it):> DO WHAT YOU WISH.The obvious interpretation of this is that it means "do whatever you want, man". But it could also be interpreted along the lines of "wishes become actions/reality": what you *wish*, you then *do*, thanks to the Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes. I think I've also read somewhere about a third interpretation, which now I can't remember.Unfortunately, I've only read a translated version of the story. Double meanings and other such nuances of language can very easily differ between one language and another, and are almost impossible to grasp in a given language without a close familiarity with that language. So, without being able to speak German myself, I pose the question here:**How can the inscription on AURYN be interpreted, in the original story?**Are both of the above interpretations valid for the German version of the inscription? Are there other possible interpretations which look less valid in English?

Answer 1

What an excellent question! Fantastica is born from human imagination, of course, and its denizens and environs depend on human desire to take form. Do What You Wish is the essential command of the Childlike Empress, for without it Fantastica cannot be. We learn from the Gmork that Fantasticans who fall into the Nothing become lies and deceit, twisting the power of imagination for...well, Power itself. Therefore Bastian takes on considerable risk in obeying the Auryn's ambiguous description.

Do What You Wish is a command: create by acting on desire. If Bastian had not wished again and again, Fantastica would never have been reborn. The Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes orders him, through the Auryn, or give life to all Fantastica. It is her essential and only command, but without it, Fantastica's destruction is assured. Therefore Do What You Wish is less about parsing the distinction between "desire" and "wish" and "want" and more about "DO"--go forth and create!

Do What You Wish is a dare: fulfill your fantasy, without being bound or hemmed in by realistic expectation. How else could a desert and a jungle beget each other night after night, in an endless cycle of death and rebirth? How else could acidic tears create a painfully beautiful city of silver filigree? If not for the dare implied by Do What You Wish, Fantastica would be puny and limited to replicating the known human world. It would not be Fantastica at all. Therefore Do What You Wish is a dare and a challenge.

Do What You Wish is alternately translated as "Do What You Would," suggesting that hesitation and holding back on desire is against the will of Fantastica's Empress. The word "would" implies that one wishes but restrains for some reason. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth taunts her husband for "Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would'", because that phrase--"I would"--implies a greater scope for desire than for action (Macbeth I.vii.41). Do What You Wish commands the holder of the Auryn to break through hesitation and act on the heart's truest desire, no holding back.

But Do What You Wish is also a trap--not laid by the Empress, but enabled by her power and the fallibility of human beings. If Bastian had retained his humility, he would never have fallen for Xayide's tricks, dismissed the stalwart Atreyu, or assailed the Ivory Tower. Just as the Childlike Empress makes no distinction between good and evil, predator and prey, in her domain, neither does she distinguish between "good" wishes and "bad" or self-serving wishes. It is because Bastian cannot face himself (unlike Atreyu in the Magic Mirror gate) that he loses his memories of being fat, uncoordinated, and weak. This in turn leads him to desire after desire for independence rather than interdependence. He chooses vassals over friends and power over wisdom, because his deepest fear is weakness. His wishes reveal his character. Only by allowing himself to embrace his weakness and dependence on others does Bastian regain his memories and his place in the human world. Do What You Wish is a safe command only for the purest of hearts. We can tell from the many inhabitants of the City of Old Emperors that humans routinely fail this test. The Empress grants the Auryn without judgment, but neither does she protect its wielders from the consequences of their own actions, the failures of their character. The Childlike Empress is too munificent to be entirely benevolent. She is as wild and wide-ranging as Fantastica itself, which is to say, as the human imagination. In no interpretation is Do What You Wish a consequence-free invitation. The wearer of the Auryn undertakes its command at their peril!

Each and all of these interpretations is supported by the German phrasing, the English translation/s, and the text of The Neverending Story itself. We can infer that Michael Ende would have narrowed the potential meanings by including further discussion between characters or through his own exposition. The fact that he leaves such interpretation open is likely intended to challenge the reader as it challenges Bastian himself. Desire is essential to creation, but can lead us to destruction if we forget who we are and what we love the most.

I hope this response is helpful. Please feel free to continue the discussion with me and with others!