"On which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales"

Question

I met the following line: "of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales" in the novel Waterland, written by Graham Swift.

I began, having recognized in my young but by no means carefree class the contagious symptoms of fear: ‘Once upon a time …’

Children, who will inherit the world. Children to whom, throughout history, stories have been told, chiefly but not always at bedtime, in order to quell restless thoughts; whose need of stories is matched only by the need adults have of children to tell stories to, of receptacles for their stock of fairy-tales, of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales, their own lives; children – they are going to separate you and me. Lewis has seen to it. Forgive this emotion. I do not deserve your protestations. (We need our Cricky and all that stuff of his.) I do not expect you to understand that after thirty-two years I have rolled you all into one and now I know the agonies of a mother robbed of her child.… But listen, listen. Your history teacher wishes to give you the complete and final version …

And since a fairy-tale must have a setting, a setting which, like the settings of all good fairy-tales, must be both palpable and unreal, let me tell you

Below, is the line which has prompted me to ask the following questions.

"whose need of stories is matched only by the need adults have of children to tell stories to, of receptacles for their stock of fairy-tales, of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales, their own lives"

1. Does the sentence “... of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales ...” mean: "The adult have the need to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales on the listening ears"?

2. Does the word yet mean "used for emphasizing that someone or something is even bigger, better, worse, more etc than someone or something else" in yet haunting of fairy-tales?

3. Is the word haunting an adjective?

4. Does the word haunting mean "sad or beautiful in a way that is difficult to forget"

5. Does the word "of" in “haunting of fairy-tales” have the same meaning as the word "of" in the sentence "It is very nice of you to say that"?

6. Does the word "of" in "haunting of fairy-tales" mean "used to indicate that someone has behaved in a specified way"?

Thanks a lot for everyone's help in advance.

Answer 1

"whose need of stories is matched only by the need adults have of children to tell stories to, of receptacles for their stock of fairy-tales, of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales, their own lives"

1) Does the sentence "of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales" mean "The adult have the need to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales on the listening ears"?

Yes, except we say that "the adults have" or "the adult (singular) has".

2) Does the word "yet" mean "used for emphasizing that someone or something is even bigger, better, worse, more etc than someone or something else" in the sentence "of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales"?

yet means but here, which in turn means "and (surprisingly)".

3) Is the word "haunting" an adjective in the sentence "of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales"?

yes

4) Does the word "haunting" mean "sad or beautiful in a way that is difficult to forget" in the sentence "of listening ears on which to unload those most unbelievable yet haunting of fairy-tales"?

yes

EDIT: "Haunting" doesn't mean "sad or beautiful" but it could mean "sad and beautiful" in this context. "haunting" (as an adjective) really just means that it's difficult to forget, and that could be for a variety of reasons.

5) Does the word "of" in "haunting of fairy-tales" have the same meaning as the word "of" in the sentence "It is very nice of you to say that"?

The phrase is "the most haunting of fairy-tales" and it means that it is the most haunting fairy tale. The meaning of "of" is similar to "belonging to" in this context, and it can be seen as a contraction of "The most haunting tale from the set of all fairy tales".

6) Does the word "of" in "haunting of fairy-tales" mean "used to indicate that someone has behaved in a specified way"?

No, it means what I said in question 5