Although Hugo von Hofmannsthal thought that "Die Frau Ohne Schatten" was the greatest work on which he and Strauss had ever collaborated, the prose version fascinated him even more. He felt it had "inexhaustible significance, leading into the deepest depth". Told with Hofmannsthal's delicate eye for details of character and setting, this adult fairy tale moves with dramatic urgency to its inevitable conclusion. Hofmannsthal himself felt that his libretto could not do justice to the message. His preferred version is here translated into English.