To Every Man His Chimera by Charles Baudelaire. Short summary

5 seconds

Walking across the plain, where there was no vegetation, the man came across a pack of other people. All of these people were walking bent over. There was one critter on the back of each person walking by.

1 minute

One day, when the sky outside was gray, the man decided to take a walk across a wide plain where nothing grew and no roads were paved for easy movement across the plain. But it was not the desolation of the plain that caught the man’s attention.

As he walked, the man bumped into people. All of them were walking bent over. On their backs was a huge creature, which they called the Chimera. They carried the creature with such weight, as if they were carrying a sack of coal or military equipment.

But it wasn’t just the creature’s body that made it difficult for ordinary people to move. By clutching at its host’s chest, the Chimera created discomfort for the average person. It was not only the creatures on their backs that united all the carriers, but also the direction.

When the man asked one of the hosts where they were going, he replied that he did not know the final destination. He did, however, observe that perhaps they were all moving toward some goal because of an irresistible need to keep moving forward.