There is a scene in Sandman issue 4: A Hope in Hell by Neil Gaiman et al which I would like to share with you. It is a game between Dream and Chronzon, a demon. The stakes are high and the rules are simple and there are “many ways to lose the oldest game. failure of nerve, hesitation… being unable to shift into a defensive shape. Lack of imagination.”

The game goes like this.

Choronzon: I am a dire wolf, prey-stalking, lethal prowler.

Dream: I am a hunter, horse-mounted, wolf-stabbing.

Choronzon: I am a horsefly, horse-stinging, hunter throwing.

Dream: I am a spider, fly-consuming, eight-legged.

Choronzon: I am a snake, spider-devouring, poison-toothed.

Dream: I am an ox, snake-crushing, heavy-footed.

Choronzon: I am an anthrax, butcher bacterium, warm-life destroying.

Dream: I am a world, space-floating, life-nurturing.

Choronzon: I am a nova, all-exploding…

Choronzon: …planet-cremating.

Dream: I am the universe–all things encompassing, all life embracing.

Choronzon: I am anti-life, the beast of judgement. I am the dark at the end of everything. the end of universes, gods, worlds…

Choronzon: …of everything

Choronzon: sss. and what will you be then, dreamlord?

Dream: I am hope.

Choronzon: oh. then i am…sss oh…i….i don’t know.