T H E M EA N I N G

O F D R EA M S
BY

WW
E LLI OTT O D O NNE LL
’

AU TH OR O F
“
SO M E H A U N T E D H O U SES OF EN GL A N D AND A L E S ” “
H AU N T E D

W
H O U SES O F L O N D O N G H O S T L Y P H EN O M EN A BY A Y S
“

OF G H O S TL A N D S C O TT I S H G H O S T S AND
E D I T O R O F TH E R E M I NI S C E NCE S
“ J

"
OF M RS
. E M. .ARD

L O ND O N

EVE LE I GH NA S H
1 1 1
 P R E F AC E

MY interpretation of dreams in this volume

is based on my ow n experiences and the
experiences of certain peopl e with Whom I
h a v e c om e i n c onta c t .

ELLIOTT O DONNELL ’

BE COND AL E R OA D , GI P S H S E
'

14 Y I LL !
. .

j u ly 2 9 , 1 9 11
 C O NTE NTS

PA RT I

E V E RY NI GH T D R E AMS
CH A P

AN I MA L D R EAM S

AC C I D E N TS , B I R TH S ,
B A LLOONS , &c .

TH E NA ! E D D R E AM & c , .

PART I I !

OU T OF TH E OR DI NAR Y D R E AMS

IV . D R E AM S OF TH E AF F LI CTE D , &c .

V . P H A N T A S TI C D R E AM S

VI . R E P E TITI O N A R Y A ND P E CU LI A R LY V I VI D

D R E AM S

VI I . TALE D R E AM S
I ND E !
 P AR T I

E V E RY N I G H T D R E A M S

CH APTER I

AN IMAL D REAMS

To dream of
a flying bat means an impending
catastrophe (not infrequently from water) but not ,

necessarily t o the dreamer To dream of a motion .

less bat means some impending illness o f a more or

less serious nature but not necessarily o f the
,

dreamer I f however the S leeper dreams the bat

.
, ,

settles on him then he himself will be the sufferer

,

eithe r from some physical inj ury o r from some

grievous S ickness To exemplify my theory that
.

bats portend disaster in a greater or a less deg ree ,

I will quote a few cases I have collected for that

purpose . A lady Whom I will designate Miss
,

S penser once dreamed S h e was crossin g a h a yfi el d

,

when S h e heard a loud bu zz ing overhead and on , ,

looking up perceived a number of bats some feet

,

above her engaged in whirling round and round

,

in a state of hopeless chaos and c on fusion Presently .

9 A
I O THE MEANING OF D R EAMS
they swooped down swirled round a n d round her
,

face though never n ear enough t o touch her and

, ,

whilst they were still swirling s h e awoke A day ,

.

o r two afterwards her fa v ourite sister w a s drowned

,

in Lake Lucerne .

A Maj or R oper ; writing t o me some time a go

from India said ,
Here is an experience that may
be useful to you in compiling your work on dreams .

I have twice dreamed o f bat s and on each occasion ,

the dream has been followed by a calamity I n the .

first instance I thought I was sitting in my bed

,

room in my old home in Bedford (I am an old

B G S boy ) when s i x bats o n e after the other,
. . .
, ,

fl ew in at the window and after whizzin g round

, ,

the room ; vanished in the marvellous fashion that

seems s o natural in a dream The next day I had .

a cablegram from England t o say my brother w a s

drowned while bathing in the s ea .

The other dream which occurred only last

,

year was t o this effect ! I was riding outside an

,

omnib us in London when a bat suddenl y flew past

me All my fellow passengers cried o u t in a ch orus
.
-

How remarkable A bat and I awoke act u ally

repeati ng those words I w a s s o impressed that I
.

j otted down the dream i n my memorandum book .

E xactly a week later I received tidings of my,

father s death ! he had been thrown from a trap ,

 EVERY NIGH T DREAMS I I

whil st descending a steep hill near Dublin and ,

killed on the spot .

In r eference t o motionless bats , a lady informed

me that on e night s h e dreamed her counterpane
,

w a s covered with bats and bats being her pet

,

avers i on ; S he was s o terrified that s h e imme

d i a t el y awoke t o find her whole body bathed in
,

perspiration The following day s h e learned that

.
;

an aunt t o whom s h e was greatly attached had been

t aken seri o usly ill and within the week she received
.

the news that h er aunt was dead .

Another lady once dreamed s h e saw her youngest

sister lying on the grass apparently asleep with
, ,

t w o bats on her face .With a cry o f dismay for ,

S he loathed bats my friend picked up a S pade the

, ,

first thing that came to hand to knoc k them o ff , ,

when the scene changed and s h e found herself

,

digging a grave ! S h e awoke in terror and t w o ,

days later heard o f the death o f her youngest

sister who had succum b ed und er an ope r ation for
,

appendicitis .

Writing to me from G ipsy H i ll Norwood a lady , ,

said My S ister Mabel once dreamed a bat settled

o n her shoulder and she could not get it o ff
, S he .

awoke in a great fright s h e told me and s h e could

, ,

not help feeling that the dream prognosticated

something unple a s ant . H er p r es entiment , un
12 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
happily was only t o o correct for Shortly after
, ,

wards s h e caught a severe chill which terminated

in a fatal attac k o f pneumonia .

BE ARS

Bears have always been as s ociated with the

unpleasant side o f the occult Those however .
, ,

that made such short work o f Elisha s tormentors ;

’

although undoubtedly psychic (since to appear and

cause to disappear with such startling sudden ness
‘

is only characteristic o f the superphysical ) were t o ,

my mind far more opport u ne than they were u n

pleasant Indeed I migh t go further and confess
.
,

that I should not be extremely sorry were such a

demonstration o f the occult bear as that recorded ,

in the S cri p t u r es t o take place periodically amongst

"

the ill mannered and superfluous children of t o day

- -
.

Many places are said to be haunted by evil spirits

in ursine guise I have myself visited a house in
.

Chelsea where the apparition of a shaggy b ear is

seen and it is a well known fact that the T ower
,
-

o f London was once (and perhaps still is) haunted

by the phantasm of a bear A young man once told .

me that he dreamed a huge shaggy bear with an ,

intensely diabolical expression in its little brown

eyes entered
, hi s r oom and , app r oaching the f oot
,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS I 3

of his b ed rear ed itself on its hind legs and peered

,

at him In a great state o f alarm he got ou t o f

.
,

bed and had almost reached the window sill when

,
-

the bear stalked u p to him and placing its paws ’

, ,

o n his S houlders deliberately breathed into his face

, .

He awoke with its hot breath burning into his

brain and fro m that night he assured me he
, , ,

was a changed man ; and one bad act leading t o ,

another he was at length smuggled ou t of the

,

country to escape j ail .

A destitute girl I once befriended on the Thames

Embankment and who in return for the supper
, ,

I ga v e her at a n eighbouring restaurant stole the ,

t easpoons told me she w a s quite certain she owed

,

her downfall t o the sinister influence of a dream .

I was in a S h op in Oxford S treet at the time ,

she said and beyond being rather fond of flirta

,

tions and dress as most girls are I had n ever done

, ,

a n y serious wrong One night however I dreamed .

, ,

I was at a b all and my partner w a s a bear He .

danced divinely and I fell in love with him He .

very politely asked permission t o see me home a n d , ,

on arrivin g outside the shop suddenly kissed me ,

and with the moistu r e of his nasty wet mouth still

,

o n my lips I awo k e Well try h ow I would I could

,
.
,

not banish that dream from my mind I s a w the .

bear always no matter whether I was at wor k o r

,
14 TH E MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
ta k ing my recreation my thoughts were alway s,

o f him ; and the result was — I became thoroughly

demoralised I quarrelled with the young man t o
.

whom I was engaged and got engaged t o someone

,

else and within six mon t h s terminated that engage

,

ment and too k on with a third I had n o pity .

for the men I j ilted but laughed in their faces

,

when they upbraided me and took a fiendish ,

delight in p a ra di ng a b o u t with my late s t lover in

the face of the one I had j ust discarded I spent .

money recklessly and when I got in debt I stole !

,
-

The end of it all was I w a s sent t o prison and when ,

—
I came o ut I drifted anywhere A nd I am sure .

I o w e it all all my folly a n d s u bsequ en t bli n ding

,
s

damning misery t o the drea m of that bear that

,
—
cursed fascinating hellish bear
, , .

I thin k the s e t w o illustrations will su ffice t o

S how the significan c e o f bear dreams in general -
.

B IR DS

Bird dreams are very common With t hem a lone

-
.

I might fill a volume However as my space is .

,

not unlimited I can only deal briefly with a few

,

of them .

To dream o f canary birds signifies good fortu ne

—
i n the s ha p e o f m one y eith er a legac y a r is e in
“
,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS . 1 5

salary or a p r esent
,
Whereas to dream about .

doves implies good fortune of any oth er than a

pecuniary nature such for example as reco v ery
, , ,

from ill n ess success in work or success in lo v e

,

a ffairs.

To dream of a cuckoo means an unexpected find ,

as for i nstance the picking up o f coms or other

, ,

valuable s in the street or the fi nding of something ,

that has long been lost .

Crows in dreams are harbi n gers o f bad lu ck and ,

import losses pecuniary and otherwise quarrels and

, ,

disappointments .

'

Ducks o n the other hand portend good fortune

, , ,

presents and k isses

,
.

F owls imply quarrels geese n ew dresses .

To dream about eagles implies great su c cess

whereas to dream of vultures portends f ailure and
illne s s
.

Magpies whether single o r in numbers ; mean

,

death i f in flight the death of some acquaintance

-

or relative ; if motionless the death o f the ,

d reamer .

To dream of hawks signifies the making o f a n

enemy ; to d ream o f owls implies the breaking o f
a friend ship the breaking off of an engagement
, ,

seri o us illness accident or death

, , .

Parrots in drea ms are S ignificant o f impe nding

1 6 THE MEA N ING OF DREAMS
scandal and gossip ; pig eons are significant o f
presents of all kinds .

R a v ens portend grave misfortunes and not ,

n fr e u en t l y the near presence of some phantasm

q
sparrows signify petty losses and q u arrels swallows
— ’
portend grief grief at someone s illness misfortunes ,

—
or death but grief invariably grief
,
.

S torks in dreams mean an approaching birt h

wrens an approaching engagement or marriage .

The following are a few o f the many accounts

o f bird dreams
-
upon which I have based my
assumptions
A lady writing t o me from S outhsea says I
am sure that canaries in dreams are significant of
extreme good fortu n e Two ye ars a go I drea m ed a
.
,

can ary dashed against my window pane and the -

very next morning I rec e ived a handsome cheque

from an uncle with whom I had held n o sort o f
,

communication for years The night before last

.
,

I dreamed a couple o f canaries fl ew round my b e d

singing and coming down to breakfast in the
, ,

morning I found a letter awaiting me from a

W
,

solicitor t o s ay that my godfather had died suddenly

and had left me a substa ntial legacy .

A girl hose age I dare not state lest some at ,

least o f my readers should deem her precocious ,

informs me that s h e likes t o drea m o f ducks !

 EVER Y NIGH T DREAMS 17

They m ean s o much I dreamed o f ducks a

w e ek a go
~
she boldly confided t o me
,
and the ,

—
following evenin g my cousin G eorge h e is not

W
,

,
—
really my cousin you know h e is a middy and ,

I secretly adore h i m kissed me I felt certai n he

—
a s in love only he was too Shy to say anything
,

a nd — well I never thought he would have clinched

,

matters so precipitately But my duck dreams are

.
-

alwa ys good When I dreamed of them once before ;

.

what do you thin k I got in the morni ng ! Why ,

a gold watch from a great aunt who had never -

in her life before made me a present of anything .

S o you see I j ust mean t o dream of ducks as often

, ,

as I can .

The experience o f an elderly married lady w h o ,

u ntil recently resided in Upper N orwood is not ,

so pleasant I dread either seeing or dreaming of

.

”
magpies she said to me ;
,
they always foretell
a death .I dreamed three magpies crossed my
path the day before my father died and I dreamed ,

o n e huge magpie flew i n at the door and perched on

o n e of the knobs at the foot of my bed exactly

a week b efore the death of my eldest son .

I too have dreamed o f magpies and as in the

, , .
, ,

case I ha v e j ust quoted the dreams ha v e always

,

occurred shortly before a death The night a very .

near relative o f mine died I dr eamed a large ,

1 8 THE MEAN ING OF DREAMS
num ber o f magpies flew in at my window ; and
the day before a dog t o which I was very much
attached was run over and killed I dreamed two ,

magpies settled on my shoulder and that I could ,

not make them go .

Also when I was living in a big rambling house

, ,

in Cornwall I dreamed a raven flew down the

,

chimney and p e ek e d me vigorously three times o n

the hand Indeed the pecks hurt me s o much
.
,

that I awoke E v erything was very quiet and the

.

room pitch dark I was t u rning over to try sleeping

.

on my other side when I suddenly s a w a light

, ,

and o n looking up perceived t o my s u rprise and

, , ,

t error the luminous face of a diabolical ol d hag

,

pressed against the window which was at l east ,

thirty feet fro m the ground Having slept in the .

house for several months without seeing anything

abnormal I had hitherto attributed the rumour
,

that it was haunted t o the superstition o f the

peasantry in the first place and in the seco n d
, , ,

place ; t o their insatiable love o f foolish gossip .

Now however as I gaz ed at the hid eous cou n t en

, ,

and rubbed my eyes to make sure I was not

an e
q ,

d fea mi n g I felt that the gossip I had scorned was

,

o nly too well founded and I determined that ,

n othing should induce m e t o sleep in that room

a gain The apparition w a s only visible for a very

.
2 0 THE MEA N I N G OF DREAMS

C ATS

To dream of a white cat is lucky ; o f a black ,

either extremely lucky or the reverse ; o f a tabby ,

neither lucky nor unl u cky ; of a tortoiseshell ,

simply disastrous .

Of the many cat dreams that have from tim e

t o tim e been r elated t o me I thin k the following
,

are the best examp les

Mrs S mith who resides in the neighbourhood
.
,

o f Haverstock H ill H ampstead writes to me thus

, ,

My dau ghters and I ha v e on se v eral occasio ns

drea med of white cats and our dreams ha v e always
,

been the pr ecursors of astonishing pieces o f good

luck Daisy my eldest daught er dreamed a black
.
, ,

cat sprang on her shoulder and refused to stir the ,

night before she received tidings that her picture

w a s on the line in the R oyal A cademy V era my .
,

second girl dreamed she was punting on a la k e

, ,

which w a s overcrowded with white cats that swam ,

about with the keenest enj oyment every now and ,

then boarding her craft and rubbing their noses

caressin gly a g ainst her ; and a day or t w o later
, ,

she received a quite unexpected invitation t o

accompany a friend on a yachting voyage t o the
Baltic A nd n ow for my own experience The night
. .
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 2 1

before my husband presented me with a magnificent

sealskin coat when I all but collapse d with aston i sh
,

ment I dreamed that a big black cat was sitting

,

o n a chest o f drawers in my room and that directly ,

it s aw me it leaped into the middle o f the room and

,

”
sank through the floor .

A striking example of the cat dream that i s -

invariably with some people followed by mi s

, ,

fortune occurred t o a lady I met in Llandudno

, .

S hortly before my father lost most of his money

in a big bank smash s h e said , I dreamed I s a w
,

a tortoiseshell cat on the mantelshelf And again .

a day or two prior t o my husband s loss o f half ’

his fortune in the failure o f an A merican mine I ,

dreamed I was bitten by a tortoiseshell cat H ence ; .

I consider dreaming of a tortoiseshell ea t a v ery

bad a u gu nyf ’

S peaking fr om my ow n experience I ha v e f o u nd ,

dreams of black cats unlucky For instance the .

,

night before I had an accident on the stage I ,

dreamed a huge black cat persistently followed

me out o f doors and that when I tried to dri v e it
,

away it scratched me And again before I received

.
,

an inj ury in one o f my eyes I dreamed a black

,

cat flew out o f a wood and clawed a hole in my

hand And yet again before I lost a train which
.
,

it w a s o f vita l importan c e for me t o c atch I d r eamed ,

2 2 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
a black cat upset an inkpot all o v er a suit I had j ust
bought completely ruining it
, .

C OWS

Cows in dreams appear to be lucky omens in

general and especially portend unexpected Visits
,

fro m friends One lady I know has always dr eam ed

.
, ,

o f cows prior to receivin g an unexpected visit from

,

any ol d friend whom s h e h a s not seen for years

,
.

C RO C ODI LE S

To dream of crocodiles foretells dan ger from

d rowning a n d , lightning Also sorrow at the los s
.

o f a friend .

DEER

Dreams about deer presage tro u ble with the eyes ,

missing trains and petty annoyances

, .

DOGS

Dog dreams as may be supposed are V ery

-

, ,

general There are probably few peopl e who have

.

not dreamed them But as there a r e many

.
 EVERY N IGHT DREAMS 2 3

k inds o f dogs and each species in dreamland

,

conveys a separat e meaning I can only signal ,

o u t a few fo r inter pretation .

Briefly then ,

Boarhounds in dreams presage ridin g accide nts

o r accidents at s ea bloodhounds serious reverses ,

collies the breaking o f friendships through dec eit

,

and treach ery ; dachshun ds unexpecte d r en co n ,

tres with friends ; greyhounds ; illnesses o r deaths ;

foxhoun d s tidings from u nexpected quarters ma s
,

ti ffs danger from fire ; Pomeranians danger from

, ,

robbers burglars , and street ru ffia n s ; sp aniels the

, ,

breaking o ff o f engagements and disa ppointment s ,

in g eneral terriers petty successe s or quarrels

,
.

Among the many dog dreams that have been

narrated t o me t he following are perhaps the most
, , ,

noteworthy A lady I met some few years ago

.

drea m ed s h e w a s walking down Bond S treet whe n ,

a greyhound suddenly leaped from o ff t h e roof o f

o n e o f the hous es and fell in a heap at her feet .

S he then s a w t o her horror that it was meta

morp h os ed into her father and sure enough the , , ,

very next day s h e received a telegram t o s a y that

,

her father had died q u ite u nexpectedly in the

, ,

night . S he also dreamed a day or two before the

,

death of her greatest friend that s h e w a s tra v elling

,

by rail with t w o greyhounds seated opposite her

2 4 TH E MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
in the same compartment An other person told
.

m e ; that shortly before a fire in her house s h e had

, ,

a curious dream about a masti ff The creature

.

entered the room in which sh e w as sitting and ,

suddenly flew at the hearthrug and tore it t o pieces .

A nother lady I once questioned as t o her dreams

informed me that s h e had been engaged three
times and that prior to the termination of each
,

engagement s h e had dreamed o f a dachshund .

There are grimmer stories in connection with

Pomeranians One man I met told me that he once
.

dreamed he s a w his little boy worried t o death in

the most horrible manner by a Pomeranian dog ,

and that on the following e v ening h i s house w a s

, ,

broken into by burglars .

—
Another pe r son i f I remember rightly an Anglo ,

—
I ndian doctor once told me that he dreamed he
was alone in a v ery gloomy church and that a ,

gigantic man in a black surplice suddenly appeared

in the pulpit and after ma k in g the most hideous
, ,

faces was transformed into a monstrous Pom eranian

dog What happened then the dreamer could not
.

recollect but he thi n ks it must ha v e been some

,

thing very alarmin g as he was bathed i n p er sp i ra

,

tion when he literally awoke to the fact that his

bed was gently risin g beneath him Unable to .

determine wh ether he was still dreaming he g ave ,

 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 2 5

himsel f a sharp pinch and sat up whereupon some ,

thin g crawled from under him and made a p r e ci p i

tate bolt for the door ! nowing now that he had
.

t o deal with something material the doctor lost ,

n o time but whipping up his re v olver which he

, ,

always kept under his pillow a nd aimin g at random

, ,

he fired three or four times in rapid successio n !

Probably the last of these shots took effect for it ,

was immediately followed by a dull thud on the

floor On the arrival o f the rest of the household ;
.

with lights the intruder w a s seen t o be a coolie

,

w h o had formerly been i n the doctor s employ but

’

had been discharged for theft H e at once confessed

.

that he had hidden there early in the evening ,

wh en the doctor was at dinner with the i ntention ,

o f robbing and murdering his former employer ,

but being o v ercome with exhaustion he had fallen

, ,

into a stupor fro m which he was j ust rousing him

,

self when the doctor felt the bed mo v e H aving .

dreamed o f a Pomeranian do g prior t o the other

occasion upon which the coolies had stolen articles
from h i s bungalow the doctor came t o the con
,

elusion that a s far as he w a s concerned at all

,

e vents dreams about dogs o f that spe cies signified

,

r obbe ry i f nothin g wo r s e
, .
2 6 THE MEANING OF DREAMS

DO N ! E Y S

To dream of donkeys presa g es minor troub le

a nd ailments .

FIS H

R
,
Here again the subj ect o f fi s h dreams is a v ery -

large o n e far t o o large for me t o deal with very

,

exhausti v ely I must therefore as in the case o f

.
,

the bird and dog dream s be content with a few ,

selections .

To dream ab out gold and sil v er fish is distinctly

fortunate and points t o legacies and presents
, ,

chi efly monetary .

To dream about whales is indicati v e o f impending

law suits debts ban kruptcy and pecuniary d i ffi
, , ,

cu l t i es .

To dream ab out S harks po r tends death il lne ss , ,

or an ene m y To dream about macke r el i m ports

.

coming domestic bothers about herring pleasures ,

in the shape o f visits t o friends or places O

f entertain
’

ment ; about sprats children s ailmen ts ; ab o u t

,

pike quarrels about flat fish (generally speak ing)

, ,

misfortunes in some form or another bu t seldom ,

deaths ; about salmon; unexpected success ; happi

ness presents and the forming o f sound friendships
, ,

a b out m innows and s ti cklebac k s pett y quarrels

, ,
2 8 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
n ow —a huge ; slimy blue bac k ed thin g with
,
-

glistenin g white belly ; eyes twinkling with devilish

glee at the prospect o f s o sur e a meal and an ,

enormous gaping mouth furnished with what

,

seemed t o me interminable rows o f s aw edged -

teeth S nap ; in I went and the next instant the

.
,

most frightful the most excruciating agonies shot

,

through me as a thousand spi k e lik e points crushed

-

into my fl esh f For some sec onds after I awoke

I still felt a hellish pain in my eyes and ears and , ,

all the most sensitive parts o f my body .

A lady once told me that the night befor e hearing

o f the unexpected pro m otion o f her s on s h e dreamed ,

s h e s a w him standing in a pool o f water literally

surr ounded by huge salmon that rubbed themselves

,

a ffectionately against his legs in the manner of a dog .

A nd another dream that has been told me

,

relati v e t o the same fish was t o the effect that

,

shortly before the dreamer recei v ed a high o fficial

appointment in the East I ndies he dreamed he ,

w a s paddling i n a brook ; when he sudde n ly trod on

a huge salmon ; that leaped ou t o f the water a nd
went on rising and risin g in the air till it finally ,

disappeared altogethe r .

I t i s n o un common thin g fo r me t o dream about

eels and whene v er I do something unpleasant is
, ,

s ur e t o f ollo w . Either s omeone plays m e a nasty

 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 2 9
I lose a train or catch a cold o r meet with
t r i ck ,
‘

or , ,

a rebuff and this I find has been the experience, ,

o f crowds o f oth er people

‘

FO ! ES

Foxes fi gur e s o larg ely in folk lore that one need -

not be surprised that fox dreams in the case of -

many people are particularly significant

, S il v er .

foxes in dreams would appear t o po r tend excessi v e

g ood fortune ; black foxes excess i v e mis f ortune ,

ordinary foxes good luc k in a moderate degree

, .

Among the f ox dreams that ha v e been related

-

t o me was on e dreamed by a negro I dreamed .

,

he said I was star v ing t o death in the streets o f

,

a big city and had come to the decision that sooner

, ,

than go on in m isery I would ter m inate my exist ,

ence in a deep brown ri v er that flowed slu gg ishly

,

by me , when suddenly a white fox came boun ding

down the street ; and stopping in front o f me ; ,

v omited so v erei g n after so v ereign With a wild .

shout o f delight I sprang forward and clutching

, , ,

hold o f the gold was fillin g my poc k ets with it

,

when I awoke That day I found mysel f the proud

.
,

possessor o f some hundreds of pounds I won in a

lottery but I attributed it all t o the fox .

Another man dreamed he was flying a k ite , when

3 0 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS
his coat tails were V iolently pulled and on looking
-

, ,

round , he s a w a white fox that darted swiftly

between his le g s and w a s suddenly metamorphosed,

into his uncle The shock was s o great that he .

awo k e and a day or t w o later heard the v ery

, , ,

same uncle he had seen in his sleep had d ied and

l ef t him h i s entire fortune .

FROGS

To dr ea m o f fro g s si gnifies the ad v ent o f do m estic

trou b le br e ak a g es and petty losses
, , .

H ORS E S

To dr eam of
white horses foreto k ens g ood luck
o f V arious kinds ; o f blac k horses serious mi s ,

fortune in the shape o f accidents (frequently on

W
the water) deaths loss o f money or property
, , ,

V iolent quarrels and rupture I n lo v e a ffairs ; o f

roan coloured horses j ourneys ; o f grey horses
-

, ,
e !

g ood fortune I n many forms V I ! l ega cI e s presents , .

, ,

success in lo v e a ffairs and work & c ; of brown horses , .

,

nothin g in particular of chestnut horses dan g er Of ,

all sorts from fire water and other accidents from

, , , ,

assaults and from illness To quote even half the

, .

horse dreams that have been told me wo u ld fill a

-

b ook s o I m ust c ontent mysel f with merely quoting

,
 E VERY NIGHT DREAMS 3 1

a fe w S h ortly before a V iolent rupture w ith her

.

h u sband which terminated in a di v orce one lady

, ,

I met tol d me s h e had dreamed sh e heard a loud

neighing outside her house and on Ib ok i ng o u t o f , ,

the window s a w a gig antic black horse with intensel y

, ,

evil eyes ga z ing up at he r G reatly terrified sh e

, . ,
‘

t u rned t o run downstai r s t o see that all the gates

were shut when ; t o her horro r the horse stal ked
, ,

into t h e r oom and r ushed sava g ely at he r S he then

‘

awok e ; and w a s t oo frightened t o sleep a gain till

the m ornin g .

Anothe r cur i o u s d r eam b e f ell a ge n tleman I met

in Liverpool S hortly be f or e hi s house caught on
.

fir e and w as all but burned t o the ground he ,

dreame d he w a s c yclin g along a h o t and dry country

road when a chestnut horse appeared upon the
,

sc ene and com m enced t o plunge and sh y imme diately

,

in front of him Much alarmed he got off h i s

.
,

bicy cle and w a s p r eparin g t o see k the shelter of a

,

garden he no w observ ed for the first time ; close at

hand when the horse rushed at him , and ; seizing
,

him viciously by the back th r ew him on the ground , ,

and was about t o stamp o n him when he awoke .

Of a pleasanter nature was a dream I once had , ,

prior t o recei ving the welcome tiding s o f the sale

o f a man u scri t I dreamed I was toi l in pain
p .
g
f ull y along a du sty r oad whe n a b ea uti ful gr ey ,
3 2 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS
horse suddenly trotted u p t o me and with the , ,

gentlest expression imaginable in its fine dark eyes ,

bid me mou nt N ot in the slightest degree s u r

.

prised a t hearin g it speak I climbed on its back , ,

and the next moment found myself flying through

the air I forget exactly h ow the dream terminated
.
,

but I fancy it was in some remarkably pleasant

manner and that the horse landed me in a floral
,

Elysium where I f ell head o v er ears in lo v e with

,
-

a g or g eously apparelled houri .

Then t o o I have dreamed of a r oan horse ; o f

, ,

seeing it strugglin g desperately t o extricate itself

from a morass till grad u ally sinkin g and sinking
,

it disappeared ou t o f sight ; and nothin g w a s left

t o mark the spot where it had vanished but a hideous

black bubble I dreamed this before travelling

.

quite unexpectedly from B r istol t o S cotland .

I N S ECT S

AN TS
An ts in dreams si g nify presents .

BE ES
Bees in dreams for etell g ood fortune ; very ofte n
in l ove aff ai r s wor k or money P rio r t o inherit i ng
, , .
 EVER Y N IGH T DREAMS 3 3

an unexpected fortune ; I have known instances

where people have dreamed o f swarms o f bees
bu z zing around them ; and I well r ecollect before ,

my engag ement ; dreaming I s a w myriads o f bees

trying t o get in at my bedroom window It w a s a .

beautiful sight ; for their wings and the yellow

markings of thei r b odies sparkled and flashed in
the r ays o f a typi c al dreamland s u n .

BEE T L ES

To dream of black beetles signifies impending

illness sometimes s erious sometim es slight B efore
, ,
.

being laid up with bronchial colds I very o ften ,

have very harrowin g dreams o f being visited by

s hoals o f b l a ck b eetles and cockr oache s .

BU TTER F L I ES

G enerally speaking b u t t erfly dreams are lucky

,
-

and signi fy unexpected good fortune a n d h appiness .

C AT ERP I LL ARS

To dream about caterpillars foretells s m all acci

dents such as cuts on fingers bumps and bruises ;
, ,

and minor ailments such as colds n eural g ia tooth

, , ,

ach e.
3 4 TH E MEANI N G OF D R EAMS

CEN TI P E D E S

—
Centipede s in dreams denote losses n o t i n
frequently the loss o f some pet animal or treasure .

D R AGO N -
F L I ES

To dream o f dragon fl i es presages

-
quarrels ,

bothers and unpleasant missions

, .

E A RW I GS

To dream ab out earwigs foretells danger fr o m

—
an enemy a n enemy w h o ; metaphorically speak
ing intends stabbing the dreamer in the back ;
,

also danger from s c andal and malicious g ossip

, .

G N AT S

G nats in dreams wou ld seem t o have especial

significance t o the young as they often signify
, ,

impending kisses .

LAD YB IR D S

Lady birds in dreams are lucky

-

, and signify
—
presents often presents from lovers .
3 6 THE MEANING OF DREAMS

WASPS

Wasps in dreams foretell pecuniary losses quarrels ,

and disappointments .

WORMS

Worms in dreams are interpretati v e o f the con

s t a n cy o f l o v er S a n d friends and o f recovery from
‘

illness and success on the sta g e

, .

! A N G A R OOS

! angaroos sig nify j ourneys .

L IONS

Lions in dreams portend mar riag es ; success of

all k inds V iz in lo v e work and sport ; and
, , ,

unexpected j ourneys .

Prior t o a voyage t o the West I ndies planned on ,

the spur o f the moment a lady once told me s h e ,

dreamed S he was crossing the road opposite t h e

house when on glancing up s h e perceived t o her
, , ,

terro r the face of a lion glar i n g down at her from

,

the nursery window In an agony o f fear for he r

.

ch i ldren s safety sh e turned t o see k the aid o f a

’

man with a g un when with a t r emen dous r oar

, , ,
 EVERY N IGHT DREAMS 3 7
—
the lion leaped down and dashed after her a
proceeding which awoke her .

I recollect too dreaming I was eaten by a lion

, , ,

shortly before I made up my mind t o go t o Oregon ,

in the summer of 1 8 9 4 .

LEOPARDS P U MAS A N D PA N THERS

,

These animals in dreams signify violent accidents ,

seriou s illness and death

, .

MO N ! E Y S

—
G enerally speaking that is to say without going ,

into details with regard t o —

species mo nkeys in
dreams foretell quarrels the breaking
, o ff of engag e
ments a nd legal disputes
,
.

MI C E

Whereas in some cases mice dreams would -

appear to import nothing in particular in others ,

they undoubtedly point t o illness and death , .

I remember on e lady telling me s h e had several

times dreamed sh e w a s surrounded by mice and ,

that on each occasion t h e drea m w a s followed

by the illness o f on e o f her c hildren .
3 8 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
Another case in which t he mouse dream foretold
,
-

illness is that of a l a dy w h o dreamed that s h e was

,

at a dance on e n i ght and as s h e was about t o

,

commence waltzing a mouse suddenly leaped from o ff

her partner s head on t o her o w n ; and bit her o n the
’

ear in the most vicious manner S he awoke smart .

ing with the pain and a few days later was laid
, ,

up with a severe attack o f influenza The dream .

had been s o vivid that s h e cou ld n o t help remember

ing it and associatin g it in some way with her
,

sickness .

A nd t o quote a case in which the mice dream -

foret old deat h a lady I on ce met dreamed that

, ,

o n going t o bed on e night s h e s a w a succession

,

o f mice ,
in I ndian file run across her dressing
,

table ; and on the following morning s h e heard ,

one of her brothers had been drowned at s e a .

P I GS

Dreams about pigs are decidedly unlu cky and ,

mea n anything from slight accidents t o do wnright

—

calamities .

One lady prior t o her youn g est child falling

,

down a well and nearly being drowned dreamed ,

s h e s a w h i m riding up and down the fro n t lawn on

a bi g white pi g which eyed h er with a n exp r e s sio n

,
 EVER Y N I GHT DREAMS 3 9

of fiendish malignancy ; whilst some on e else ,

shortly before he lost all his money in a

brewery dreamed that he s a w a herd o f white
,

pigs outside his front door pawing the ground and

,

uttering the m ost piteous cries .

RATS

R ats whether
, white
black or brown singly o r
, , ,

collectively import illness death and Serious mis

, , ,

fort unes .

The ni ght before his son w a s drowned at s ea a ,

man I once met dreamed his bedroom was full o f

enormous black rats with grey eyes that raced ,

round and round the bed and eventually leaped ,

into the empty grate and disappear ed up the

chimney .

Another p erson a l ady in London if I remember

, ,

rightly dreamed that she saw he r youngest daughter

,

sitting on the floor playi ng with a big brown r a t that

suddenly sprang at her tore the r i bbo n ou t o f her
,

hand and raced o u t o f the room with it S ome

, .

days later this particular daughter d e v eloped

,

cons u mption o f which she e v entuall y died

, .
40 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS

S N A ! ES

S nake dreams
-
are unlucky and signify i n ,

j uries by enemies scandal un k ind gossip and , , ,

falseness on the part of those w h o have hitherto

posed as friends .

From among the many snake dreams I ha v e heard -

and recollect I select the followin g as examples

, , .

A lady who h a d formed a great friendship with

,

a woman with a peculiar cast in her eyes (a dis

figu r emen t which in my opinion frequently points
, ,

t o deceit ) once dreamed s h e w a s walkin g I n her

,

garden when ou t o f a rose glided an enormous

,

green snake G reatly alar m ed she w a s on the v erge

.
,

o f runnin g away t o solicit help t o k ill the brute ,

when she saw t o her ama z ement that it had

, ,

human eyes and on bendin g down t o examine it

, ,

more c losely sh e found herself looking into the

,

countenance of her wo m an friend H air features .

,

and complexion were e x actly similar but the ,

expression w a s di fferent ! it was an expression o f

the utmost craftiness and malice o f which she had ,

ne v er for on e mo m ent thought her friend capable .

S he awo k e much impressed and before the day , ,

was ou t learned that this very friend had done her

,

the gre a test possible inj ury by b etraying a s e c ret

of the utmo s t consequenc e .
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 4 1

My sec ond illustration is the expe rience o f a

man who dreamed he was groping about on the
rockery in h i s garden when he found t o his
, ,

horror a nest o f brown sna k es !that rose on

, ,

end and hissed at him H e tried t o draw bac k but

.
,

found himself wedged in by a well that had in

some mysterious fashion only t o be met with in
,

dreams suddenly sprung up behind him Every

, .

avenue o f escape w a s closed and wh erever he ,

—
looked he s a w snakes the wall and the rockery
were covere d with them Overcome with terror
.
,

he forced himself t o wake and rather than go t o,

sleep a g ain and r isk a continuation or repetition

,

o f his dream he lit the gas and read till morning

,
.

The dreamer shortly afte r wards sustained a

, ,

pecuniary loss through an act of treachery .

SHE E P

Sheep in dreams imply the advent trouble of

in the form of family disputes and disagree ments ,

quarrels with friends and neighbours .

Apart from the experiences o f those whom I

have met o n which I have based the above state
,

ments I have invariably found that after dr e aming

,

o f sheep myself I have had t o encounter much

petty and u ncalled for disagreeablenes s

-
.
42 TH E MEANI N G OF DREAMS

f; R A MS

R ams in dreams denote quarrels o f a more violent

nature than d o sheep F or example I remember
.
, ,

when I w a s a boy prior t o a quarrel (which

,

ended in a fight ) with a schoolfellow dreaming I ,

was attacked in a field by a big black ram with

red eyes that chased me persist ently O ver hedges
,

and ditches and through water and when in

, , ,

some miraculou s fashion I took t o the air it sprang , ,

up after me never desisting from its fierce bu t t i n gs

,

till I was reduced t o a hopeless state o f j elly when ,

I was permitted t o awake In after years before .

,

quarrelling with a venomous attorney I dreamed ,

I was fishing in a weir when a grey ram catching, ,

me unawares butted m , e in the back and pre

ci p i t a t ed me head first into the water where I ,

found myself attacked on a ll sides by slimy yellow ,

snakes .

STAGS

S tags in dreams indicate a change in one s life

’

as for I nstance prior t o deciding t o migrate a s a

, ,

farmer t o Canada a bank clerk dreamed he was

,

walking through a park when a beautifully marked

,

stag came bounding u p to him and lifting him up , ,

with i t s a ntl er s in such a manner as t o cau s e him

,
44 TH E ME A N I N G OF DREAMS
experience in sleep I awok e a s i t s hideous striped
.
,

head and malevolent yellow eyes peeped gloatingly

,

in at me through the door .

WOLVES

To dream o f wolves signifie s some great impending

trouble often financial sometimes domestic as
, , , ,

for instance divorce or separation

, .

A man once told me that prior t o the discovery

,

o f h i s wife s faithlessness
’
he dreamed he s a w her
,

r iding on the back o f a hu g e grey wolf whilst a ,

white wolf which s h e w a s patting affectionately

, ,

trotted by her side And a g ain shortly before

.
,

losing h i s entire fortune a man told m e he had

,

dreamed a pack o f black wolves rushed across h i s

g arden , howlin g i n the most hideous manner
conceivable and snappin g and tearin g at every
,

thin g that came in their w a y .

Another ma n informed me that j ust before h i s ,

daughter ran away from home he dr eamed a big ,

grey wolf leaped into hi s r o om a n d tried t o eat h i m

r .
 EVER Y NIGHT DREAMS 45

Adden da to An i ma l D r ea ms

ELEPHA N TS

Elephants in dreams signify shipwrecks marriages

, ,

and births .

TOADS

Toads in dreams foretell vicious acts that will

either be done t o the dreamer o r by him .

FLIES

Flies in dreams signify impending illness generally ,

o f a mental nature and misfortunes o f v arious

,

kinds F or example a man who m I me t abroad

.
,

told me that he conti nually dreamed he w a s

tormented with flies prior t o an attack of temporary
,

insanity .

Again shortly before her children were attac k ed

,

with scarlet fe v er a la dy dreamed her roo m was

,

inundated with green flies ; whilst some on e else

informed me that be fore losin g her billet in an
office s h e dreamed s h e w a s bitten o n the lip by a
blue bottle and the pain was s o real that o n
-

, ,

awakening she examined the spot t o see i f there

,

were marks t o Show that she really had been bitten

‘

.
 CHAPTER II

ACCIDENTS

To dream of accidents on land (apart from railway

accidents ) signify reconciliation between relations
and friends and presents in the form o f dress
, .

B IRTHS

To dream of a birth signifies a death O n e a fter .

noon at a garden party I met an old friend w h o

-

, “ ,

told me he had just dreamed his S ister had had a

child an d as he was curious t o know whether that
,

e v e n t had actu ally occurred he w a s going t o write

,

at once The dream w a s verified but i n a man ner

.
,

he did not ant icipate fo r on arrivin g at his house

,

he fou n d a telegram await ing h i m there t o say his

sist er was dead ! An d again at a cri cket mat ch ,

o n e b a k I n g hot day I n July I was speaking o f

dreams whe n o n e of the player s exclaimed with a

,

shu dder I fear your interpret at ion o f the birth

dream is only t oo correct A lady once Told my
.

wife that s h e dreamed s h e had given birth t o a

remarkably fine boy whose eyes however wer e n ot
, , ,

4 6
 EVER Y NIGHT DREAMS 47

both ofthe same colour Tw o hours later this

.

lady w a s run over by a motor and killed

BAEEOONS

To dream of
airships and balloons signifies su r
—
pri ses surprises o f all sorts ; also trou b l e w ith
the eyes and e ars .

B RIDGES

To dream of
crossin g over or st anding o n a , ,

b ridge signifies a change in the routine o f one s ’

life such as the moving from o n e house o r town

,

t o another or the changing o f one s occupatio n

’
, ,

It also presages sorrow generally at the loss o f a

,

fr I end .

VIVID C OLO U RS I N DRE A MS

Without going into det ail with regard t o variety

in shade colour in dreams especially when it
, ,

is vivid and predominant has much significance

, .

The separate meaning of each separate colour in

dreams is as follows
Light blue signifies impending trouble p a rt i cu ,

larly matrimonial and domest ic troubles ; serious

quarrels between husband an d wife and parent s ,

and children a lso suic i de a n d murder .

4 8 TH E MEANING OF D R EA MS
Dark blue recovery from illness ; reconcili a
,

t ion o f husband and wife r elat ives and friends ; ,

present s o f animals .

Brown success in work and business

, .

Black illness ; and death

, .

Gree n succe ss in anything appert aining t o the

,

art s ; also an impending V is it from an occult

presence .

G old succes s in specul at ion commerce and

, , ,

courtship .

G rey trouble a n d even danger from unsuspected

,

quart ers .

Mauve death ; and violent cat astrophe not i n

, ,

frequently with regard t o the sight .

Orange illness treachery

,
.

Pink a wedding or en gagement

,
.

Purple accident s more part icularly on land

, , .

R ed quarrels voyages great changes ;

, , ,

accidents chiefly by fire

,
.

,
—
V iolet success in the arts V iz paint ing music .
, ,

literature .

Y ellow treachery o n the part o f a friend ; act

,

o f ingratitude and j ealousy .

Whit e deaths
,
.

E x a mpl es A lady w h o is intensely psychic

.
,

prior t o the death o f her husband dreamed the

bedroo m suddenly bec a me black and that a huge ,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 49
black lobster slowly descended from t h e ceiling
and settled o n her Another l a dy whom I have
.
,

met in literary circles shortly before her first ,

manuscript was accepted dreamed that on all the ,

fingers o f her right hand she s a w rings s et with

enormous emeralds and that the s k y st ars and
, , ,

moon were all o f the brightest and most vivid

green Prior t o going o n a quite unexpected trip
.

t o A merica a man I met dreamed a red pocket

,

handkerchief fluttered through t he air and fell o n

his lap and when he put ou t his hand t o pick it
,

up each o f his knuckles emitted a lurid scarlet

,

glow Lastly prior t o a piece of base decept ion

.
,

on the part o f o n e w h o had always posed as her

friend a lady I knew well as a child dreamed she
,

s a w a boy walki ng in front of her with bright yellow

hair a nd cl a d from head t o foot i n the most st art

,

ling yello w clothes .

DA NC I N G

To dream dancing with any o n e in particular

of

s ignifies that person is contemplating doing yo u

a n injury ; if your partner be your sweetheart o r

lover then the dream is inte n ded t o prove he o r
, ,

she ,is inconst ant and has been carrying o n a

flirtation with some o n e else If yo u dream you are .

dancing by yourself o r you are merely a spect ator

,
5 0 THE MEANI N G OF D REAMS
at a dance or you are dancing in a crowd o f co m
,

p l e t e strangers o r w ith a,
str a n ger the n the dre a m ,

portends trouble usually o f a do mestic a n d petty

,

nature .

DEAT H S C ORPSES A N D F UN ERALS

,

I f you dre a m o f a corpse a death or a funeral you

, , ,

will hear o f a birth engagement or marriage but not

, ,

necess a rily in conne ction wit h the person you dream

about Occasionally howe ver the drea m is literally
.
, ,

verified a nd the person dreamed about dies I re co l .

lect dreaming I went into the dining room o f a -

house in which I was st aying and saw o n the t abl e ,

a co ffin H orri fie d out o f my senses at s o ghastly

.

a spect acle I would have fled at once had I not

, ,

been compelled by an irresistib le curiosity t o go

up t o the coffin a nd peer i n My terror then was .

inconceivable for the bo dy I s a w was that o f my

,

host his f a ce m arred wit h all the horrible dis

,

figu r e men t s o f advanced decomposit ion But the .

a

climax o f horror was not yet reached for as I , ,

gazed the corpse slowly opened its eyes and with

, , ,

a hideous fl i pp a ncy winked and leered at me , .

I awoke sweat ing with fright and two or three ,

days later my host died in a fit of apoplexy .

A friend o f mine before the de a th o f her brother

, ,
52 TH E MEA N I N G OF DREAMS

D RI N ! I N G

To dream of
drinking portends a visit to a place
of entert ainment .

DROW N I N G

To dream is drowning presages trouble

on e ,

either domest ic o r finan cial for the dreamer To , .

s e e some o n e else drowning portends misfortune ,

either from accident s (sometimes drowning a s ,

actually se en in the v ision ) illness o r loss o f money

, , ,

but n ot always fo r the drowning person .

This dream I find is a v ery common on e

, , .

I ha v e often seen in dreams friends o f mine struggling

desperately in some deep pool or river Frantic ally .

I ha v e plu n ged in t o their rescue but always too ,

late and on sinking down down down have at

, , , , ,

length come in cont act with their cold clammy ,

corpses ! uit e recently I dreamed I s a w a near

.

and dear friend fall shriekin g into a seething his sing ,

pool o f muddy water In an agony o f mind I tried

.

t o go t o his rescue but was held back by o n e o f

,

those cruel invisible forces that ever haunt dreams

, .

Desperately I struggled but with n o avail ; and all

,

the while I watched the ghastly hideous terror in ,

my frie n d s upturned eyes and the increasing pallor

’

in h i s cheeks I s a w him clutch and unclutch h i s

.
 EVERY N IGHT DREAMS 53
fin gers as he threw them wildly above his head and
—
clawed the air ; and then I beheld him sink s i nk
with o ne final blood curdling scream for help that
,
-

rang and r e rang through my brain as I awoke

-
.

The following day I received a letter from this

,

friend t o s a y that he w a s in the greatest trouble

owing t o the illness o f his youngest child ; t he
doctors gave no hope of her c omplete recovery they
had u nhesit atingly pronounced her a cripple for life .

Often have I been drowning i n dreams Th e .

Thames has claimed my immaterial body times

without number a nd my frant ic death struggles
,
-

have aroused the sympathy o f scores o f limb t ied -

spect ators on Waterloo Bridge and the Embank

ment Could anything on the material plane have
.

been more painfully more awfully realistic ! The

,

cold grey stones o f the bridge the swift flo w i n g ,

-

—
water beneath ye s ever s o far beneath miles
, ,

beneath u ntil I took the pl u nge and then how

,
— ,

near ! A sensation o f falling o f being half stifled ,

by a hurricane o f air rushing with cyclonic force

up my nostrils and the n ext moment icy cold
,
—
ness terrifying coldness and down down down
, , , ,

into a surging blankness where all i s the darkness ,

o f despair and death And after e v ery dream of

.

this description I h a ve experienced troubl e

trou ble a lwa ys tro u ble
, .
54 THE MEANI N G OF DREAMS

E A TI N G

To dream of
eating portends an ac c ident to the
teeth an d visit t o the dent ist .

FA EL ING

W
To dream one is falling portends an unexpected
visit and an interrupt ion in one s daily rout ine ’
.

h o has not dreamed of falling Of stepping over

the edge of some mighty cli ff o r chasm an d plu n ging
—
with all the sickly giddy sensation of plunging
,

down down down unt il instead o f experie n cing

, , , ,
~

the apparently inevit able fin a l crash o n e has ,

awakened ; This curt ailed phase o f the falling

dream i s So ordinary in fa ct t h a t it is generally
, ,
~

supposed that one cannot I n falling down an ,

abyss in a dream actu ally arri v e at the bottom

,
.

Howe v er having had a contrary experience myself

, ,

I ha v e t o my own sat isfaction at least proved this

belief t o be erro n eous .

FINDING THINGS

To pick up money in dreams signifies impending

petty troubles How often ha v e some perhaps
.
,

many o f us in our dreams seen a so v ereign on the

,
 W
EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 55
pav ement and on greedily picking it u p seen
, , ,

another and then others unt il the whole street

, ,

like —
h i t t i n gt o n s of yore seemed paved with
’

gold . An d how bitterly disa ppointe d I ve nture ,

to thin k have most o f us bee n on awakening t o

, ,

find the golden harvest flown

The finding o f a co ffin i n a dream portends a
death usually that of a child
, To find bones .

presages illness or death .

FLOWERS

S ince each flower fruit tree an d veget able in

, ,

dreams has a specific meaning a n d to deal ex ,

h au s t i v e l y with each would fill volumes I am

‘

again beset with the di fficulty o f limited space .

S peaking t hen a s briefly as possible in my experience ,

to dream of !
Buttercups portends presents and kisses carn a
t ions weddin gs convolvulus an enemy intrigues
, , ,

corn fl o w e r s success in courtship and work ; cow

,

slips petty troubles ; daisies births ; da ffodils

, , ,

inconst ancy of lovers ; dandelion s illness an d ,

minor worries ; ferns a j ourn ey ; foxgloves, ,

presents ; honeysuckle deceit o n the part o f a

,

friend ; i vy weddings friendly a ctions ; lilies

, , ,

engagements also de a ths ; mignonette sorrow at

, ,
5 6 THE MEA N ING OF D R E AMS
loss o f a friend p ansies su ccess i n an y br a nch o f
,

art pin ks success in business poppies breaking

, ,

o ff an engagement work o r business losses prim

, ,

roses new friendships ; roses (white ) success i n

, ,

courtship and the arts ; roses (yellow ) danger ,

from intrigue and j ealousy ; roses (pink ) engage ,

ments j ourneys o f pleasure prese nts ; roses (red )

, , ,

weddings and legacies falling in lo v e sunflowers

, ,

accidents (chiefly on land ) ; sweet peas reunion ,

o f parted friends and lovers kisses tulips deaths , , ,

j ourneys t o foreign parts ; w a ll flo w e r s visit s fro m ,

o l d friends and t o o l d places .

Adden da

To dream of
forget me nots portends visits and
- -

presents from o l d friends new clothes success in , ,

work heliotrope falling in love visits to places o f

, ,

amusements meetings with those likely t o influence

,
.

o n e in after life ; violets recipr ocation o f one s

-

,
’

affections presents from l overs

, .

If a girl dreams s h e i s given a bunch o f violet s

“

by her sweetheart it is a sure thing he i s sincere

,

i n his protest ations o f love .

! isses ! To dream of being kissed by any

particular person means that person is not to be
trusted If a girl dreams o f being kissed by her
.

lover it may be regarded a s a sign he is inco nst an t

,
.
 EVER Y N IGHT DREAMS 57

TREES

The alder in dreams presages travels chiefly by ,

sea unrest i n home life and work .

As h bad news of all sorts

, .

Banyan j ourneys and surprises

,
.

Beech di s affectio n (or goi ng abroad) of frie n ds ;

,

disappointme nts in general .

Birch success i n work

, .

Broom illness sometimes death

, , .

Brambles troubles both domest ic and financial

, ,
.

Cedar present s o f all kin ds ; loss (by death) o f

,

old frien ds .

Chestnut success in court ship falling in love

, , .

Clemat is reunion o f friends an d lovers

,
.

Elm death o f a relation o f an o l d friend ; o r

, ,

loss of employment .

Hawthorn sickness , .

Hazel success o f an extraordin ary nature

,

recovery from ill n ess escape from an accident .

Lilac new clothes

,
present from lover un

e xpected invit at ions .

Mistletoe great success i n courtship an d the

,

a rts
.

Olive falling in lo v e the f ormin g o f n ew friend

,

s hips .

Palm success i n work and r i se in s ocial life

, .

D
5 8 TH E MEANING o r DREAMS
Pine death illness ; and a j ourney t o foreign
, ,

parts .

Poplar danger from drown ing o r falling

,
.

Willow death of a great friend or near relat ion

,

and sorrow due to illness

Adden du m to Trees

To dream of holly portends illness and domestic

trouble .

FR U I T A N D V E GETA BLE S

To dream of
apples portends quarrels ; beans ,

prese n ts ; cabbages petty losses ; carrots n ew , ,

dresses and clothes cherries presents and kisses ,

goos eberries do mest ic quarrels and l egal disputes

,

grapes the breaking o f friendshi ps pears births

, ,

plums m i nor accidents ; wheat success in work

, ,

and business legacies a n d prese nt s ; grass illness

, , ,

the breaking o ff o f engagements d i sappointments ,

in gener a l ; barley and oats j ourneys and u n ,

expected visits ; h a y weddings holidays a n d , ,

legacies .

FI R ES

To dre a m of
fire somet ime s portends a fire
a ,

a n d somet imes danger from drown ing a lso financial

diffi cu lt i es an d legal disputes .

60 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
st aircases and along the most blood curdling corri -

dors has at length cornered me in a gloomy top

,

att ic All seems hopeless and I am expecting t o

.
,

be caught every second when just as the dre adful , ,

creature bou n ds into the room I leap o n t o the ,

window sill and with a prodigious bound spring

-

, ,

i nt o s pace And then j oy of j oys instead of

.
, ,

—
falling I fin d I can fl y fl y far away int o the
,

dist ant bou n dl ess heavens where there is nothing

,

t o stop me .

I have carefully counted the number o f flyi n g

dreams I have had in twelve mo n ths from J anuar y 1 , ,

1 9 1 0 t o J an uary 1
,
191 1 and fin d they amount t o
, ,

—
eighteen truly a fair percent age ! And what
,

happens after them G enerally a surprise visit o r ,

unexpected j ourney o r letter o r unusually heavy ,

—
correspondence nothing more serious But a s .

dreams go I k now o f fe w that are more fascinat ing

, .

MAD N ESS

To dream of madness presages impending trouble

of a l l sorts N ot infreque ntly the dream i s t o a
.
,

large extent fulfilled I well recollect a lady saying

,
.

t o me once I drea med last night that my brother

a n d I were sitting by ourselves in the breakfast

room when something making me suddenly loo k

, ,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 61

up at him I perceived a curious glitter i n his eyes

,

a glitter that made my blood ru n cold Presently

m
.
,

he ade the most fright ful grimace baring his ,

teeth bulging o ut his eyes and frowning and then

, ,

all his features co ntorted as if they were india

rubber and I s a w something too evil and repulsive
,

for words With a shriek of terror I sprang up and

.

made a rush for the door and as I did s o he gave

,

a loud chuckle and bounded after me crying out ,

I m mad !
’
’
I m mad ! S ay your prayers I m
’
,

going to chop you to p ieces ! I awoke in a ’

dreadful fright just as he caught me by the hair

,

a n d was going to kill me Within a week I heard

.
,

that he had softening of the brain and had to be

”
confin ed in a privat e home .

MARRIAGE

To dream of a marriage frequently signifies a

death or illness but not necessarily of the bride or
,

bridegroom .

MOO N

To dream of the moon porte n ds illness usually

ment al but not n ecessarily that of the dreamer ;
,

also domestic and financial troubles and death by ,

drowning .
62 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
Whe n I was i n Cornwall some years a go I men ,

t i on e d a boati ng fat ality that had occurred quit e

recently in the harb our to a local fisherman who ,

“
at once exclaimed Aye ! Aye ! I knew some
,

thing o f the sort would happen for I dreamed o f ,

the moon t w o nights following and he then went

o n t o explain that whenever he had such dreams
, ,

somebody was sure to be drowned .

MONEY

To dream of picking up money as I have alrea dy ,

st ated signifies petty troubles To dream of seeing

, .

money min or ailme n ts and surprise visits

,
-

M U RDER

To dream o n e is being murdered port ends

domestic troubles and trouble with neighbours
, ,

and losing thi ngs To dream that another person

.

is murdered sometimes signifies great d anger to

—
that person indeed the dream is occasionally ,

v e r i fie d — o r trouble o f some sort t o that person ,

o r t o some one connected w ith that person .

For example I ha v e bee n told of a lady who

m
, ,

dreamed most v ividly that s h e s a w a wo an enter

her au nt s room whilst the latter w a s asleep and
’
, ,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 63

smother her with a pillow Everyt hing was most

.

—
realistic t h e door slowly opening the white faced
-

evil eyed ser v ant with a candle ; her stealthy

-

gliding footste ps her coarse hands knotted

,

knuckles and broken nails ; the exp ressio n o f

fiendish glee i n her eyes as s h e to ok up the pillow ,

and the quick subtle j erk with which s h e brought it

,

’
down o n t o the sleeper s face ; the t ightening o f
her lips the straightening of her bare arms as s h e
pressed o n her vict im with all her weight and t h e
kicking of the bedclothes at first frantic and then
,

fain t and fi n ally ceasing altogether with one t iny

,

t u g at the sheet — when the sleeper awoke . All

was most graphic all most hellish S ome few days
, .

later this lady heard o f the death o f her aunt

, .

S he had been rob b ed and murdered in a boarding

house in V ienn a
 C HAPTER III

TH E NA ! E DDREAM -

Who has not dreamed of being sud denly bereft

o f their clothes a n d of finding themselves in some

public place the cynosure of all eyes without

, ,

e v en s o much as a pocket handkerchief A dream

-

o f this kind happened t o some o n e I know some -

o n e who is much t o the fore in society He dream ed .

that he and his brother were strutt ing up a nd

down Bond S treet when he suddenly not iced that
,

every one was looking at them in a very o dd an d

marked manner Wondering what it could mean
.
,

he hurriedly glanced at hi s person (the subj ect o f

clothes by the w a y w a s e v er uppermost in his
, ,

mind ) and t o hi s undying shame and horror s a w

, , ,

that he was naked and s o was his brother I n an

, .

agony o f mind he caught hold o f the latt er b y the

,

arm and whispered For goodness sake Dick , ,

make for the first cab yo u s e e And do n t stop t o

’

! ”
ask questions But his brother shook him o ff .

H o w ridiculous I shall do nothing o f the sort

he said . I cam e here t o walk and walk I shall , .

Ah By J o v e there i s Mrs S o an d s o H o w well

.
- -
.

64
 '

EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 65

”
s he looks ! and in the most gallant manner
possible he took o ff his hat a nd bowed A uni v ers al .

—
shriek was the result and a pipi ng voice that o f ,

—
the ch a rmmg girl s small brother was heard t o ’

cry ou t Look look Ethel ! There are the De

, , ,

J ones and they ha v e nothing on

,
The n a huge
policeman bounced across the road and in a moment ,

t he two brothers were hustled along the busy

thoroughfare with half London at their heels
,
.

I cannot remembe r what my fr iend told me happened

t o him next but I well remember him assuring me
,

that unt il he woke up he cert ainly had an exceed

, ,

i n gl y disagreeable t ime o f it The dream howe v er .

, ,

foretold good fortune for my friend w h o was in ,

the army receive d unexpected promotion shortly

”

afterwards .

In o n e I nst ance my o w n experience of the naked '

dre am was v ery similar In this dream I went t o .

a fancy dress ball att ired as I thought in some , ,

v ery fant astic b ut complete c o stume of the Middle

Ages To my surprise however the moment I
.
, ,

ent ered the ballroom there was a lou d chorus of

Oh s and e v ery on e stopped dancing t o st are
’

at me Feelin g rather flattered than otherwise I

.
,

was making my way t o o ne of the only a v ailable

seats when the host h i s face aglow with fury
, , ,

strode across the roo m an d in a voice qui vering , ,

66 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
with passion said , How dare you s i r ! How
, ,

dare you disgrace yourself and me by coming to

W
”
my ball like this ! Thoroughly t aken a back I ,

replied that I did not know there w a s anythi ng

s o very o u t o f the a y in my choice o f costume .

Indeed I st ammered I think it most ,

ordinary . Altogether t o o ordinary Too infern

“
ally ordinary thundered m y host Look at .

yourself in that glass and h e p o i n t e d t o a huge

mirror as he spoke Then my blood turned to ice
. .

—
I had yes I had come as A dam A dam before
,
—
”
the Fall ! Chase him ! shrieked my host ,

Chase the insole nt wretch an d when you cat ch ,

”
him skin him al ive !
, H ardly were the words .

o u t o f his mouth before the guests and musicians ,

arme d with chairs fans an d violins rushed shriek

, , , ,

ing and yelling at me but happily for me I w a s

, , ,

st ill some few feet ahead o f my pursuers when I ,

awoke
On another occasion I dreamed I was handing ,

round the bag in some fashionable church when ,

all the men suddenly turned rou n d and scowled

at me and the ladies fainted Utterly unable t o
, .

conceive what I had done I was about t o s neak away ,

as fast as I could when the verger sudde nly tapped

,

me o n t h e shoulder an d in a st age whisper said , , ,

“
I beg pardon s i r I don t want t o s a y a nything
, ,
’
68 THE MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
o ne the mmi s t e r s idiosyncrasies t o bore me to
of
’

death with the family histories o f all his congrega

tion ) is a grocer in Lemo n S treet and must be ,

making a good s i x hu n dred a year clear profit .

He hires a carriage e v ery S u n day afternoon not —

that I ap prove o f desecrat ing the S abbath in such
a man n er — only in his case there is some excuse ,

as he i s hard working and hon est and hi s wi fe is

-

t o o delicat e t o w alk ; s h e is most genteel sh e ,

invariably dresses in silk when s h e comes t o c hapel ,

a n d gives most liberally Her da ughter s name i s

.
’

—
Martha Martha and he turned up his eyes
heavenwards as he repeated t he name Well t o .
,

pro v e t o you how sorely t he devil tries me he ,

went o n I dre a med last night I was calling on

,

the G ar dners an d just as Mrs G ardn er was han di n g

, , .

me a cup o f tea i n t o the room with a bounce and

, ,

giggle (s o utterly unlike herself ; s h e i s a most

decorou s young woman ) came Martha ,
— Martha
wearing one o f those short skirts s o popular with
—
”

the depraved aristocracy and her feet b are

,

Only her feet I exclai m ed Was that .

all P

A ll my companion sighed reproachfully

all And was not that enough and more than ,

enough ! Bare feet Oh how indecent ,

But I
can assure you much though the de vi l tempted
,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 69

me I did n ot look twice at them I kept my eyes

,
.

lued to my cup A nd her mother — her mother !

g .

o h how shocked she was

,
Martha s h e screamed ,

clut ching hold of me for support Martha ! Are ,

you bereft of your sen s es ! Whatever has come

over you ! And before Mr S impson of all people
“

.
,

What mo rt i fic at i o n Well ma neither of yo u , ,

’
need t alk ! Martha retorted her face one broad , ,

sha meless grin N either need pa for he i s dealing

.
,

o u t the groceries in just the same plight Oh what .

,

’
a day we re having But before she had finished , ,

Mrs G ardner (don t ask me t o describe her ) had

.
’

fled from the room with a shriek and I cat ching ,

sight of myself in the mirror had all but fainted , .

— —
I was nude quite nude absolutely a nd wickedly
99
nude ‘

Well cheer up ,
I ej aculated for you have ,

got plenty o n now at any rat e which was only

,

t o o true for Mr S impson was one o f those people

,
.

w h o n o t content with excluding the fresh air only

, ,

partly undress at night and go t o sleep in more

than half the clothes they have been wearing in the
dayt ime On our a rfi v al in port he received the
.

—
welcome news which he cert ainly lost no t ime
—
in making public that he had been promoted t o
another a n d m o re lucr a t ive living .

Dre a ms o f this sort ge nerally augur well .

7 0 TH E MEA N ING OF DREAMS

HA N GING

To dream on e i s going
be hanged or t o see to ,

some o n e else hanged portends violent quarrels ,

between relatives and friends separat ion a n d ,

divorce .

PEOP L E OF A C ERTAIN PROFESSI O N

O R TRADE

To dream o f an
actor or actress portends success
in court sh i p ; an author a r en con tre with an o l d ,
'

friend ; a baker missing a train ; a builder a

, ,

present in the way of dress a clergyman neuralgi a ,

or biliousness ; a coachman an injury t o the ,

he a d a chemist gett ing into debt a dent ist ill

, ,

ness o r death a dressm aker kisses a doctor danger , ,

from cows and horses ; a gardener an accident t o ,

the feet o r legs ; a grocer sickness ; a lawyer , ,

pecuniary losses and danger from dog bites ; a -

manicurist presents from a lover success in

'

, ,

courtship ; a parve n u danger from tramps ; a ,

publisher danger from stinging ; a member o f

,

Parliame nt a birth a sailor an accident t o a clo ck

, ,

o r wat ch ; a s oldier breakin g china o r glass ;

,

t a ilor quarrel with pare nts i n law ; a t in ker vi

,
- -

from mother i n l a w o r de b ts incurred by wife

- -

,
 EVERY NIGHT DREAMS 7 1

sweetheart ; a tramp prese n t o f a d og o r cat

,

a n undert aker danger from loose o r decayed teeth

,
.

PRESENTS

To dream o f presents signifies coming losse s

usually o f n o great signific a n ce .

RAGS

R ags in a dream portend a fortune .

SLEEP

To dream o ne is asleep presages a v isit from or ,

to an old frie n d
, .

THE S U N

To dre a m of
the s u n portends succes s in business
an d distinct ion in wo rk .

Adden da

The significance o f s tones (pre ciou s a n d o ther

wise ) . Amethyst success i n courtship ; blood
,

stones legacies ;
, coral a birth ; ,
cornelian ,

tre a chery ; diamonds dro w ning ; eme r a lds great

, ,

s u c ce ss in the a rt s ; j as pe r in co nst a ncy ; O p al

, ,
7 2 TH E MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
separat ion divorce r u pture in friendships pearls
, , ,

great sorrow ; rubies lo ver s kisses ; turquoise ,

’
,

the breaking o ff of an engagement ; sapphires a ,

we dding common pebble s petty troubles black ,

rocks illness and death sand a serious c alamity

, ,

chalk ailment or death of a child granite accident

, ,

o n land ; marble death , .

To dream o f teeth comi ng ou t portends illness

o r death but not necessarily of the dreamer
,
For . !

example a man t old me that o n the night pre

, ,

ceding the death o f o n e o f his brothers he dreamed ,

his teeth fell ou t an d that o n o n e o f them was a

,

portrait of the brother w h o died .

T R A V ELL I N G

To
dream o f tra v elling by s e a signifies u n

W
expected news a n invit at ion a visit from a
, ,

stranger To dream of travelling by land p ortends

.

minor worries and losses .

“
h o has not dreamed that they have been
—
rushing t o the railway station that they ha v e
missed their train or that they ha v e go t into the
,

wro n g train which proved t o be a non stop t o

,
-

goodness k nows wher e ! Or that they ha v e go t

into the train w ithout a ticket or without their ,

friends or without their luggage ; o r that they

,
 EVE RY N I G H T D R EAMS 73
ha v e s e en their frie nds go sailing away i n the
wrong train and they themsel v es stranded in
,

some strangely unfa miliar and impossible place !

Indeed everything goes wrong in travelling in
,

dreamland and when we awake with ou r brain in a

,

swirl we are for the moment conscious o nly that

,

we are lost and that we will ne v er see our home and

,

relatives again I have gone through all this

.

fright ful waste o f vital energy a nd So have most ,

people Again who has not travelled in a ship

.
,

that instead of going where sh e is i n tended sulkily

, ,

decides to go t o the bottom proceeding t o d o ,

s o in the most peremptory and blood curdling -

fashion ! A nd her e let me add that to dream

, ,

o f shipwreck signifies danger from accidents o n

land usually minor and trivial whereas t o dream

,

o f railway disaste r means danger fr om w ater a s well

a s from othe r sour c es
’

S U I C I DE

To drea m one commits suicide portends illness ,

and troubl e of all kinds To dream o n e sees some

.

o n e else commit suicide also sig n ifies ill ness and

trouble an d t he dream i s so m et i m es verified

, .
74 TH E M E A N I N G OF DRE A MS

WAT ER

To dream of clear water portends good f ortun e

o f various kinds and the end of trou b le
,
to dream
o f mudd water ill ess death and troubles of all
y n , , ,

s o r ts
.

WEA T HE R

To drea m o f the wind sig n ifies quarrels the ,

making of an enemy and trouble i n courtship and

,

matrimony To dream of rain po rt ends tears ; of

.

snow and ice ill n ess or death o f sunshine success

, ,

i n lo v e legacies and presents

,
.

THE H O T CH PO T CH DR E AM-

(A R E CA P I TU LA TI O N)

The dreams in which one flies from o n e scene

t o another with breathless rapidity and all the ,

characters are bewilderingly mixed and everyt hing

is hopelessly inco ngruous though apparently very
,

mean ingless ofte n co n t ain m a ny significant features

, .

To quot e an illustrat io n A cert ain Dr Eastlake .

drea med he was cyclin g through H yde Park o ne

very sun ny morning when a servant maid dressed
,
-

all in pink and yellow shot a per a mbul at or str ai ght

,
7 6 THE ME A N I N G OF D R EAMS
he saw the b erth gi v e way the baby fall and h i s , ,

wife s he a d squash like an egg Then swearin an d

’
.
,
g

screaming he tumble d b ackwards and was pre

, ,

ci p i t a t e d into the drawing room o f his ow n house

-

where he found his wife carrying o n a desperate

flirt at ion with the one man he det ested more than
any o n e else The v illain had his arm round her
.

waist and w a s smothering her with kisses which ,

s h e returned e v ery now a n d then with the great est

e ffusion ; an d goodness alone knows what might

ha v e happened had n ot Dr Eastlake with shout s
, .
,

o f wrat h ,
leaped in through the window and cut
o ff the heads o f his wife and her lo v er with one

sweep o f his razor Bu t t o his horror the man

.
, l
,

and woman he had killed far from being the people

,

he imagined them to b e were two o f his richest

,

patients w h o had come t o consult him Whilst he .

was de liberating what t o do the door burst open , ,

and his wife followed by all her relations dashed

in and denounced him whereupon he was taken to
,

the police station and in the bitte r rawness o f a

-

cold grey morning hanged —

In this dream confused and nonsensical as it
,

appears there are yet man y items of significance

, .

The sunshine denotes success in love ; the pink

and yellow dress o f the maid a wedding and ,

treachery respect i v ely The accident reconcilia

.
,
 EVERY N I GH T D R EAMS 77
t ion ; ru n ning about i n a st ate o f nudity success ,

i n work ; the gre en in the mother i n law s face

’
- -

success in the arts Picking up money p etty

.
,

troubles ; water (clear ) end of trou b les and goo d

,

fortune again ; tra v elling by s ea a v isit from a ,

stranger and unexpecte d n ews A ccident t o wife .

,

trouble about a will ! isses inconst ancy Murder

.
, .
,

domest ic troubles H anging divorce

.
, .

All these presages were verified thus ! S hortly

after the dream Dr Eastlake proposed t o a girl
, .

and was accepted The marriage took place within

.

a v ery short time and almost directly after it the

, ,

couple quarrelled o wing to a statement made t o

’
Dr Eastlake by o n e of his wife s friends
. .

R econciliation howe v er so on took place con

, , ,

temporary with which came the news that Dr .

Eastlake had ob tained a v ery good appointment

in the town and that his wife s picture had b een
,
’

hung on the line A fter this there were

.

numerous differences between the two the artistic ,

temperament o f Mrs Eastlake according ill with

.

that of her husband who was essentially matter

,

o i fact
-
and practical There was then another
.

brief spell of happiness Dr Eastlake recei v ed a

. .

tot ally unexpected v isit from a cousin whom he ,

had not seen sin ce they were boys together and the ,

day the cousi n le ft he w as su m moned t o t he b edside

7 8 TH E M E A N I N G OF DR E AMS
of his dying father The latter in his will left the
.
, ,

bulk of his fortune t o a stranger who had for a

long t ime been exercising a sinister i n fluence over

W
him which influence howe v er though obviously
, , ,

undue could not be legally proved

,
The dis .

appointment with regard t o the will led t o further

troubles with his ife whose inco n st ancy was ,

brought home t o Dr Eastlake with such st artling

.

convict io n that h e had no othe r alternat ive than

to div orce her N ow since all these things happened
.
,

i n rapid succession ; it is quite clear t o my mind

that despite its apparent absurdity the hotch potch
,
-

dream may mean much that is tragic .

S U MM A R Y F O R L OVERS
’
To dream the obj ect o f one s a ffect ions is clothed
in light blue or yello w signifies they are fickle ;
in dark blue o r gold that they are const an t T o
,
.

’
present t o or re cei v e from the obj ect o f one s
affections or t o see him or her wearin g a con
,

v ol vulus yellow rose poppy or da ffodil means he

, , ,

o r she is inconstant On the other hand if in the

.
,

place of these flowers are buttercups white roses or , ,

swe et peas it means he or S he is true To dream o n e

,
.

is kissing one s sweetheart portends in c onstancy

’

o n the part o f the dreamer ; t o dr ea m one s ees one s

’
 E VER Y N IG H T DREAMS 79
sweetheart kissing or being kissed by some one else
, , ,

foretells the inconstancy of the one dreame d about

To dream on e is dancing with the obj ect o f one s
’

a ffection means that the latter is or will be guilty , ,

o f carrying o n a fl i r t a t i O
n with some o n e else To .

dream o f the obj ect o f one s affections in con ’

n e ct i o n with ash or beech trees gras s c rows owls , , , ,

tortoiseshell cats spaniels eels black horses ear

, , , ,

wigs moths monkey s wasps tig ers wol v es and

, , , , , ,

hanging signifies fi ck l en es s and inconstancy o n the

,

lo v ed one s part which n o t in frequently leads t o a

’
,

breaking o ff of the engagement and in cases o f , ,

marriage t o separatio n and di v orce

, .

To drea m o f one s belo v e d o n e i n connect i o n

’

with cherries ducks an d gnats portends kisse s

, ,

fro m hi m o r her to drea m o f hi m o r her in co n nec

tio n with cedars lilacs pigeons and ladybirds
, , ,

portends presents ; t o dream o f him or her in

connection with clematis black cats , sil ver foxes ; ,

grey horses bees wor ms an d lions sig nifies he or

, , ,

s h e is const ant that the engagement will lead t o

,

mar riage and that the l atter will pro v e i n e very

,

way happy .
 PART I I

OU T O F TH E O R D I NA RY
D R E AM S

CH APTER I V

DREAMS OF THE AFF L I C T E D

I H AV E o ft en questioned tho s e who hav e been born

'

blind as t o their dreams They can o f course .

, ,

o nly judge of dreamland by the impression it conveys

t o their senses of smell hearing and feeling One
, .

blind man a musician t old me he had m ost of the

, ,

ordinary dreams such as those of falling flying

, , ,

” “
and drowning Bu t he added
.
, my most common ,

dream is to imagine I can s e e and when I awake ,

and find I am still blind t ot ally blind the dis , ,

illusion is most cruel I invariably have this dream

.

before a se v ere cold in my head Before financial .

worries I have dreamed I am being chased from

,

room to room in a big empty castle by something

,

that is not a human being so mething I have never

,

met in real life but which I can only presu me must

b e a ghost I can not desc r ib e i t s a v ing th at it
.
,

81
82 TH E M E A N I N G OF D RE A MS
bring s w ith it a ve ry peculiar atmosph er e that
suggests t o my mind an extremely cold bizarre , ,

and ant agonistic presence It fills me with the most .

fearful terror an d I awake trembling f rom head t o

,

”
foot .

A nother b li n d man told me that before an illness ,

o r death he i n v ariably drea med he lost his way

,

o u t o f door s
- -
a n d e v entually found himself in a
,

street where e veryone was singing an d dancing ,

and that on his arrival they j oined hands and

, ,

danced round hi m in a circle and would not let ,

him escape t ill for very weariness he sank on the

, ,

ground when all became sile n t a n d cold as the grav e

,

an d he a woke sh aking with fear .

A nothe r blind man told me t h at prior to a visit

from his brother he nearly always dreamed he was,

walkin g in a field full o f blin d animals that sur ,

rounded him on all sides and felt him all o v er with ,

their paws They then suddenly vanished and

.
,

he found himself knee deep in water when h e ,

i nv ariably awoke .

I once met a blind woman who informed me

t hat prior t o receiving any disap pointment s h e
, ,

always dreamed s h e was tormented by a little boy

with a s quare shaped head who bit and pinched
-

her t ill s h e shrieke d with pain when someone ,

i nst antly c ame running up an d shot him an d s h e ,

84 TH E ME A N I N G or DRE AMS

IDIO T S

To extract any definite information from an

idiot as t o his dreams is n ext t o impossible and after ,

many and sundry V ain e fforts I ha v e had t o desist .

From what I have been t old however by one who , ,

had charge of an idiot the latter used v ery often

,

t o dream he was being chased by something alarm

ing that he was in danger of bei ng drowned and
, ,

that he had all his toys t aken fro m him The idiot .

was often ill aft er the drowning drea m and very ,

fret ful and bad tempered after dreaming he had

-

lost his toys The grimaces and noises he made

.

in his sleep were generally more oa tr e than those he

—
made when a wake often indeed most t errifying , ,
.

Once and that a day or two before he had an acci

,

dent he evidently dreamed he was flyin g for he

, ,

s a t up in bed and fl a p p e d his arms up and down ,

emitting as he did s o an odd crooning sound

, ,
.

T HE I N SANE

Mad people I fancy often dream of the subj ect

, ,

of their mania One madman I was tol d w h o

.
, ,

believed he was a teapot used const antly t o dream,

that he was pouring out tea and when anything ,

pre v ented the tea flowi ng he wou l d on awaking , ,

 OU T OF TH E O R DI N AR Y D REAMS 85

c onclude it was a bad omen and declare he was ,

going to be ill ; which p redict ion not infrequently

came true Another madman used often to tumble
.

out of bed with a loud bump a n d on being ques , ,

t i on e d about it by his keeper would say

’
I can t ,

help it I m a plum a nd when I dream I am ripe

’
,

”
I am bound to fall This same man declared that
.

whenever he dreamed he was eat e n something bad ,

would always happen to him next day .

I o n ce heard of a mad woman who believed s h e

was John the Baptist and said that whenever , ,

s h e dreamed she was in the wilderness and the figs

were too green t o eat s h e heard bad n ews of her

,

friends a n d relatives A s far as I can gather

.
,

insane people often have dreams S imilar t o those

of the sane and in some in st ances at all e vents
, , ,

they are followed by similar resu lts .

M U RDER E RS

Murderers I underst and often r e e n act their

, ,
-

crimes in their sleep an d have not infrequently

,

been cau ght owing t o their in ability t o avoid

visiting the scene of the tragedy which has been

W
,

depi cted with such fascinating vividness in their

dreams One murderer I w a s told the day before
.
, ,

he was hanged dreamed he a s married and that

,
86 T H E M E A N I N G O F DRE AMS
his br ide was the person he had s o b arb arou sly
murdered for a few shillings .

Though murderers often do ha v e v ery harrowi n g

dreams the night before their execut ion this is by ,

n o means invariably t h e case as I have heard ,

W
inst ances of murderers on the eve of execution
, ,

having enj oyed a sleep in every respect as soun d a nd

tranquil as the sleep of the just .

T Charley in his New s f rom the I n vi s i bl e

.
, orl d ,

quotes the following extraordinary i n st ances o f

warnings of murder i n dreams t aken from a work ,

entitled Records of my Lif e by J ohn Taylor , .

“
Mr Fox in order t o attend the House of
.
,

Commons had t aken a n apartment in S t A n n e s

, .
’

Churchyard Westminst er On the e v ening when

, .

he took possession he was struck with something

,

that appeared t o him mysterious in the manner

of the maid servant who looked like a man dis
-

guised and he felt a very unpleasan t emot ion

, .

This feeling was strengthened by a similar deport

ment in the mistress of the house who soon after ,

entered his room and asked if he wante d anyt hing

befor e he ret ired t o rest Disliking her manner.
,

he soon dismissed her and went t o bed but the ,

disagreeable impression made on h i s mind by the

maid a nd the mistress kept him long awake At .

length howe v er he fell a s leep

, , Duri n g his sleep .
 OU T OF TH E OR D I N A RY DRE A MS 87

he dreamed that the corpse o f a gentleman w h o ,

h a d been murdered w a s deposited in the cellar of

,

the house This dream co o perating with the

.
,

unfavourable o r rather repuls i v e countenances and

demeanour o f the two women precluded all hopes ,

o f renewed sleep and it bein g the summer season ,

he rose about four o clock in the morning took his

’
,

hat and resol v ed to quit a house of suc h alarm

,

and terror To hi s surprise as he was leavi n g it

.
, ,

he met the mistress in the e n try dressed as if s h e ,

had ne v er gone t o bed S he seemed to be much

.

agit ated and enquired hi s reaso n for wishing t o

,

go out s o early in the morning He hesit ated a .

moment with increased alarm and the n told her ,

that he expected a friend who was to arri v e by a

,

st age coach in Bishopsgate S treet an d that he was ,

goin g to meet him He was su ffered to go out of

.

the house and when re v i v ed by the open air he felt

, ,

as he afterwards declared as if relieved from ,

impending destruct ion He st ated that in a few

.
,

hours after he returned with a friend t o whom

,

he had t old his dream and the impression made

o n him by the maid and the mistress The friend .
,

however only laughed at him for his superst itious

,

terror but on entering the house they found that ,

it was deserted a nd calling a gentleman w h o w a s

,

accident ally pas s ing the y all de s cended t o the

,
88 THE M E A N I N G OF DREAMS
cellar an d actually fou n d a corpse in the st at e
,

’
which t he gentleman s dream had repre s ented .

Before I make a ny obser v at ions on the subj ect ,

“
Mr Taylor goes on to s a y
. I shall introduce a ,

recit al of a similar description and care not if ,

scepticism sneer or deri de satisfied that I heard

, ,

it from one on whose v eracity I could most con

fi de n t l y depend (I will however
. now t ake leave
, ,

o f Mr Donaldso n though I could with pleasure

.
,

dwell much longer on the memory of so valuable a

friend ) The other extraordinary story t o which
.

I h a v e alluded I heard from what I consider

,

unimpeachable authority Mrs Brooke who m I . .

,

have already ment ioned t old me that s h e was ,

drinking tea on e e v e n I n g I n Fleet S treet when a ,

medical gentleman was expected but di d not arrive

t ill late A pol ogising for his delay he said he had
.
,

attended a la dy who su ffered fro m a contracted

throat which occasio n ed her great di fficulty in
,

swallowi n g He said she traced the cause t o the

.

following circumst ance When s h e was a young .

woman and in bed with her mother s h e dreame d

, ,

that s h e was on the roof of a church struggling with

a man who attempted to throw her o v er He
, .

’
appeared in a carman s frock and had red hair .

Her mother ridiculed her terror and bade her ,

c o mpose herself t o sleep again but the impres s ion

 OU T OF TH E O RDI N ARY D REAMS 89

of her dream was s o strong that s he could not comply .

In the evening of the following da y s h e had appointed ,

to meet her lo v er at a bowlin g green from which ,

he was t o conduct her ho m e when the amusement

e n ded S he passed o v er one field in hopes of meeting
.

the gentleman an d singing as s h e tripped along

, , ,

had entered the second field when accident al ly , ,

turning her head s h e beheld in a corner o f the field

,

just such a man as her dream represented dressed ,

in a carman s frock with red hair and appare ntly

’
, ,

approaching towards her H er agit at io n was s o .

great that s h e ran with all speed t o the sti le o f the

third field and with di fficulty got o v er it Fatigued
, , .
,

however with run n ing s h e s a t o n the st ile t o

, ,

reco v er herself and reflect in g that the man might

, ,

be harmless s he w as afraid that her flight might

,

put evil and vindict i ve thou ghts into h i s head .

While s h e thus medit ated the man had reach e d t h e

,

st ile and seizing h er by the neck he dragged her

, ,

o ver the stile and s h e remembered n o more It

, .

appeared that he had pulled o ff all her clothes

and thrown her into an adj oining ditch Fortun .

ately a gentleman came t o the spot and o b ser v i ng

, ,

a body a bo v e the water he hailed others who were

,

approaching and it was immedi ately raised It

, .

was evidently not dead and some o f the party r e

,

m arki ng th a t the robber coul d not be far o ff went

F
9 0 T HE MEA N I N G OF D R EAMS
in pursuit of him leaving others t o guard and to
,

endeavour t o revive the body The pursuers went .

di fferent ways and some at n o great dist ance

, , ,

s a w a man sitt ing at a public house with a bundle -

befor e him He seemed t o be s o much alarme d

.

at the sight of the gentlemen that they suspected ,

him t o be the culprit and determined t o examine

,

the bundle in which they found the dress o f the

,

lady which some of them recognised The man was

,
.
,

of course immediately t ake n i nto custo dy and

, ,

was t o be brought t o trial at the approaching

assizes The lady however was t o o ill t o come
.
, ,

into court b ut appearances were s o strongly against

,

him that he was kept in close custody When s h e .

was able t o give evidence though he appeared at ,

the trial in a di fferent dress and with a wig on , ,

s h e was struck with t error at the sight of him and

fainted On reco v ering however s h e ga v e evidence

.
, ,

and t he culprit was convicted and execut ed The .

medical man added that when s h e had finished her ,

narrat ive s h e declared that s he felt t he pressure

,

o f the man s hand on her n eck while s h e related

’

it ; an d that her thro at had actually contracted

from the t ime when the melancholy event occurred .

But these two inst ances of the murder dream

being v erified are of course exce ptions t o the
, ,

general rule an d should any o f my re a ders be s o

,

unfortunate as t o dr e am t h ey are being mu r de r ed

9 2 THE MEANI N G OF DR EAMS
to the conclusion t hat all all may cont ain some ,

subtle hidden meaning Each contort ion o f the

, .

face eac h monstrous feature each action gesture

, , , ,

and colour may and in all probability does cont ain

, ,

it s o w n peculiar significan ce ; interpret at ive had I ,

but the key t o the language o f the past the future

, ,

and the secrets o f the occult world .

The same observation applies t o the drea ms

o f the —
opium smoker t he dreams wherein he
travels through scenes o f surpassing b eauty and
s tr a ngeness — scenes which rise up b efore him with
e xtraordinary reality a n d vividnes s A nd each .

—
tableau h a s i t s meaning nay n o t m erely each ,

—
!

tableau but each item in each tableau from t h e

,

quivering o f a leaf t o the hue o f the s ky and trees

and trees flowers ,grass , rocks and pebbles even
, ,

the gl i stening o f the water the whispering o f the ,

wind the odours in the atmosphere all all contai n

,
-

o —
a whole w rl d o f sug gestion o i sig nifican c e And . ,

yet again in the fancies o f deliriu m tremens those

, ,

wild frightful fancies o f sn

, akes an d r ats and , , ,

devils that surround the wretched drunkard o n

,

all sides and twist and turn and twirl s ome red
, ,
— , ,

—
some black som e blue i n these too there may
, ,

—
be meaning each animal each colour each gyration , ,

each con v olution may have its individual purp ort .

A mid t h e most e xtravag a n t c o n fu si on t h er e may

v e t be som e sl e nder thr ea d o f co nne c tion .
 CH APTER V

P H A N TA STI C DREAMS

M O S T writers and artists li v e in dreamland I n .

their hours o f wa k efulness Phantas m ag oria comes,

t o them in their hours o f sle e p they go t o Ph a n t a s

ma gori a . Pursued and pursuing in bed at work , ,

o r at play they are never free fro m fantasies

, .

I n my novels my imagination runs riot I make no ,

a ttempt t o suppress it I write o f the fantastic

.

the weird the occult for at night I move I breathe

, , ,

I t h i nk i n phanto m land S o often have I v isited

.

this sa m e phanto m land that I ha v e m ade a ma p

o f it ; naming its isles seas mountains lakes
, , , ,

forests ; ri v ers and plains

, With many o f the.

smaller landmarks too I am familiar ; and I know

, ,

w hat each turn and twist o f certain roads ha v e

in store for me E v erything is portrayed t o me

.

s o vividly that I believe my spiritual body separat ,

ing itself from my material body actually visits ,

t he superphysical plane and participates in its

e v ents As types o f the fantastic dream I quote

.

the following
94 TH E MEA NI N G OF DREAMS

D R E AM I ! A FOREST

S oon after g etting into bed night (in January

on e ,

I fell into a deep blank sleep from which I

, ,

w a s abruptly torn t o find myself at the entrance

to a forest a forest I knew by sight only t oo well It

, , , .

was the forest o f Trouble and willy ni lly I had t o

, ,
-

enter it On all s ides le v iathan trees of the blackest

.
,

ebony shot up hundreds of f eet heavenwards ,

permitting only the feeblest rays of light to penetrate

through their forked branches What species o f .

trees they were I do not k now for nothin g I had seen

,

outsid e my dreams r es embl ed t h em Their trun k s .

were smooth a n d in their mirror li k e surfaces I

,
-

could s e e reflected the workin g s of their innermost

or g ans whilst the rising and falling o f their hollow
,

v oices w a s wafted down t o me from on high like ,

the murmurin g o f wind from some mountain top .

N i mble hands guided m e t o a path and after , ,

setting me in my course left me t o pursue my way

”

as best I could Plun g ing irresolutely into the gloom

.
,

I followed the winding o f the path with considerable

uneasiness fearing t o tread lest I should be p r e
,

ci p i t a t e d into some abyss and momentarily antici

,

p ating the appearan ce o f the strange and uncouth

r a ce o f people previous experience had told me
,
 OU T OF THE ORDI N A RY D R E A MS 95
inhabited the wood On and on I went my fears
.
,

increasing with the gloom whi ch at last became , , ,

s o impenetrable that I w a s compelled t o h alt I .

could s ee nothing nothing but the fai nt glimmer

,

o f tree trunks ; for the rest all was blackness , .

I was then suddenly whisked o ff my feet by a body

that shot precipitately between my legs and , ,

with the wind ho w ling like ten thousand demons

through my ears I was borne through space F o r
,
.

a long period all was turmoil speed a nd darkness , ,

I could feel a thousand obj ects brush a g ainst me ,

hear the j arring echoes and v ibrations o f a thousand

—
voices and then i n one brief instant all had
,
—
changed It was light a peculiar phosphorous
.
,

g low per v aded e v erything and I found m v s e lf

, in a
n ew plane sitting astride a gi g antic beetle with all

the trees in the forest running after me I say .

runnin g for they all had legs long and spidery

, ,

leg s and arms t oo whilst their stature ha v ing

, ,

considerably decreased their proportions diff ered

,

little from that of tall human bein g s A s they ran .

they all lau ghed a deep mechanical Ha ha ha !

, , ,

and raising their hands abo v e their heads they ,

wa v ed the m menacingly at me But the beetle .

bore me gallantly on a n d despite the desperate

, ,

efforts the trees made to o v erta k e u s we still main ,

t a i n ed ou r l ead
. We had progressed a co ns iderable
9 6 THE MEA N ING OF DREAMS
w ay i n thi s ma nn er wh en I suddenly s aw st retched
, ,

across ou r track a white co ffi n which rose up on end ;

,

and shook o ff it s lid and disclosed t o my startled

,

eyes a man clad from head t o foot in red tights

, .

S tepping ou t from h i s prison he placed h i s fin g ers ,

in h i s mouth and whistled shrilly whereupon the ,

s c ene once more chan g ed and I foun d myself back

again in the forest sitting at the foot o f a huge

‘

, ,

blac k tree with th e red man opposite me

, Y ou .

”
are fond o f music ! he said then listen and ,

placin g a flute t o h i s lips he blew The most , .

ghastly the most hellish o f noises rang throug h the

,

forest and ere my shoc k ed senses had time t o reco v er

, ,

—
I found myself once a gain i n motion this ti me on
—
my o w n legs with all the trees headed by the ,

red ma n in h o t pursuit o f me On and o n I tore

,
.
,

till j ust as I was on the verge o f falling hopelessly ,

dead beat a v ast green s ea rose up silently before

,

me and stumbling i nto it I awoke

, , , .

The significan ce o f the v i v id colourin g in this

dream may be interpreted thus ! The blac k o f the
t rees portended illness which was speedily v erified
,

in the long and protracted illness o f my wife ; the

red o f the man foretold chan ge which was v erified ,

in my abandoning the scholastic profession for that

o f the p en ; and the green o f the s ea predicted
success in on e or other o f the arts which prediction ,
 OUT OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 97
wasfulfilled in the success of the book I was then
compiling .

D R EAM I I ! A N IS L ET

I d r eamed on e night I left my material body ,

which I s a w lying stretched before me on the bed ,

and that after patting it affectionately on the head ;

I mounted the window sill and di v ed head first into
-

the blac kness of the night Down down down I .

, ,

went the cold air whistlin g and humming about

,

my ears till I thought the drum s would burst .

Down down ; eternally down till all beca me hushed

, ,

and silent as the gra v e and I percei v ed t o my amaze

,

ment that the earth was fast disappearing in the

distance and that I was rapidly approaching on e
,

o f the other planets Dropping gently I alighted

.
,

o n a tiny h i llock and di s co v ered I was on an

,

islet that l a y in the midst o f a sparklin g a methyst ,

ocean All around me were flowers ; pin k dn d

.

white roses pansies for g et me nots carnations

, ,
- -

, ,

and many others known only in Dreamland A .

breeze laden with scents su gg esti v e o f all t h e charms

,

o f an idyllic s ummer ; made me long t o li n ger there

for e v er and in an ecstacy o f delight I flew from
, , ,

flower to flower filling my lungs with their so u l

,

inspiring nectar While engaged in this entrancing

.

pasti me I heard the j oyful utterance o f a bird and

, , ,
9 8 TH E MEA N I N G OF D R EAMS
on looking up ; percei v ed a lark With a m o v e m ent .
,

o f its little head which plainly bade me follow ;

,

it flew slowly away and obeyin g its inj unction I

, ,

speedily found myself on the banks o f a stream

where a boat lay moored S pringing into it and .

takin g up the oars I pushed ou t int o the middle o f

,

the current the lar k still continuing t o be my guide

, .

The stream in whose mar v ellous pellucid depths

,

w a s reflected the red g reen o f the folia g e that lined

”

i t s shores too k a thousand turns s o that on e could

, ,

ne v er s e e any great stretch of i t s g leaming surface

at a time and a very few sweeps o f the oars su fficed

,

t o shoot my ski ff from on e angle t o another .

The character of my surroundin g s chan g e d as I

advanced ; the ban k s and trees grew in height
until little o f the s k y could be seen ; the rapidity

of the stream ceased and the waters became deep ,

a n d tranquil ; whilst o v er and above all hun g a

s ilence th a t brou g ht with it an exquisite sense of

rest intermingled with which w a s a fa int sugg esti v e

,

ness of somethin g bizarre and ghoulish A n n u .

usually abrupt bend round which the boat subtly,

glided laid before m e a spectacle so extraordinary

,

that for some seconds I w a s almost da z ed I had .

emerged into a gigantic circular basin o f several

miles in diamet er and entirely composed of glittering
,

white marble All around it were steps that led

.
1 00 TH E MEA N I N G OF D REAMS
extra v agant attitude I was wonderin g what h e
.

meant by thes e a ttitude s ; when h e cam e t o an

abrupt pause a n d ; stooping slightly fo rward
, ,

craned h i s nec k in my dire ction and began con ,

f orting h i s face in e v ery concei v able shape till ,

at la s t he appeared all mouth Rushing at me he .

w a s about t o swallow me when I awo k e , .

I had this dream prior t o a time when my aff airs

were singu larly prosperous all round which condition ,

o f thin g s w a s undoubtedly presa ged by the lar k

( a bird o f exceptional g ood omen ) by the carnations , ,

pansies forget me nots and pin k and white r o ses

,
- -

, ,

by the c le arness o f the water in the r i v er and by ,

the deep blue of the s ea ! I cannot attach any

meaning t o the figure and its strange antics they
form one o f those apparently insoluble enigmas
that s o frequently occur in fantastic p h a nt omn i a .

D RE A M I I I ! A T OWN

I o f ten drea m of the sam e town S o m etimes .

all t he inhabitants appear wearin g costumes of on e

colour sometimes all appear wearin g costumes o f
,

another colour sometimes they all appear clad in

,

black H a v ing dreamed on e Of these dream s quite

.

recently I append t h e followin g description

,

I found mys el f app r oachin g the town from the

 OUT OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 1 01

direction o f a desert It was a glorious e v ening

.
,

and the walls and windows o f the hou s es shone

like burnished gold in the ruddy glow o f the slanting
sunbeams But what i mpressed me on this occasion
.
,

o v er and abo v e all w a s the silence ; it seemed

,

assumed for a purpose and t o be part o f a plot ,

in which e v eryone and e v erything participated ,

and I had the un comfortable feelin g that I w a s t o

be t h e victim o f some unpleasant hoax I cast my .

—
eyes in all directions there w a s n ot a soul t o be
—
seen the desert with i t s interminable extent o f
brown soil , dotted here and there with S pidery
lookin g trees ; discovered n o on e ; neither could I
discern the slightest evidence o f life in the town .

Enterin g a broad cobble pa v ed street I w a s pro

,
-

ceedi n g slowly alon g it almost afraid t o tread o n

,

account o f the clatter made by my boots when ,

suddenly without the faintest warn ing I w a s

, ,

s ur rounded by a crowd o f people all in brown

,

clothe s and all wear in g an air o f the g reate s t

,

mystery Catchin g hold o f me gently by the arms

.
,

with on e finger lai d on their lips t o enj oin silence ,

they tiptoed cautiously foma rd dra gg ing me with

,

the m I n this manne r we ad v anced s ome hundreds

.

o f yards coming t o a sudden s tandstill in front o f

,

a kind o f brown bathin g machine One o f the crowd

.

then st epp ed forwa rd and ; b owi n g t o me with m ock

,
1 02 T HE MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
solemnity very cautiously approached the wooden
,

box Pausin g for a moment t o s ee that e v eryone

.

was perfectly still he laid his hand very slowly ,

o n the handle o f the door and am idst the most , ,

profound silence flun g it open Instantly there

, .

j umped ou t on me the most dreadful o f creatures ,

a ghastly caricature O f humanity with livid red

eyes and brown face and body an d as I fled in

, , ,

terror the houses walls and people sh r ieked with

, ,

laughter On and on I tore the sounds of devili sh

.
,

merriment still ringing in my ears and the gho u lish ,

horror stil l in hot pursuit A t last finding that I .

,

could hold o u t no longer I was about t o r esign ,

myself to i t s clutches whe n I awoke , .

N ow althou gh this dream was decidedly u n

,

pleasan t it was the precursor o f good fortune

,
.

And this I think may be accounted for by the pre

dominance i n my dream o f brown and gold the —
brown in the sand o f the desert and dress o f the
people the g old in the e ffects o f the suns et
, .

D R E AM I V ! A C ASTLE

I dream I am in the ent r ance hall of a hug e castle .

The walls floor and ceiling are all of stone There

, ,
.

is n o o n e abou t and throughout the v ast building

,

reigns an omnipotent hush Confronting me i s a .

19 4 TH E MEANING OF D R E AMS
and the horror s they c onceal spring ou t on me .

N othing happen ing howe v er I am congratula t ing

, ,

myself that my fears are groundless when with an , ,

unexpectedness that mak es my heart almost leap

o u t o f my body e v ery door opens simultaneou sly
,

and scores o f long yellow feet appear which after

, , ,

striking the grou nd three times i n u nison a r e ,

hurriedly withdrawn An inter v al o f some s ec onds

.

follows after which the doors are once more O pene d

,

and the most curious lon g thin yellow faces , , , ,

half human and half animal are thrust t hrough ,

with a mechanical and mirthless Ha ha ha ! , ,

These also disappear from V iew the d o ors shutting ,

simul taneou sly a s before A v ast number of .

footsteps are n ow heard ascending the staircase ,

and almost before I ha v e t ime t o mo v e a side

, ,

do z ens o f tall figu res clad i n the most fanta s tic o f

tight fitt i n g yellow garments come racing up and
-

, ,

ranging themselves i n t w o opposite rows right al ong

the corridor all stamp their f eet t o t h e tune o f a deep
,

i n tonated Hock hock hoc k ! which they repeat

, ,

in unison This stran g e per f ormance g oes on for

.

what t o me seems an eternity a nd j u st a s I am ,

beginn i ng t o think it ne v er will term i nate the ,

figures are sudde n ly quiet and there app ea rs in ,

their midst a drummer with an enormous roun d ,

head a h u ge gaping mouth a n d l a rg e roun d p al e

, , , , ,
 OUT OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 1 05

e yes fu ll o f an indefinitely pec uliar expression;

the very vagueness o f which is absol u tely terrifying .

With the same unfathom able expression he flourishes

h i s drumsticks in the air and a s he brings them ,

do w n with a m ighty hollow sounding boom every

,
-

thin g chan ges and I find myself with hundreds o f

,

—
other peop l e all apparently equally bereft o f reason
racin g a s if for dear life down a Vast flight o f stone
-

, ,

steps Ev en a s I fly I rac k my brain s for some

.

explanation of the panic but whene v er I a m on , ,

the verg e O f graspin g a solution it eludes me and , ,

my mind sees nothing b u t a grey awfulness Again .

,

and in the twinkling o f an eye the scene changes , ,

and I am In the courtyard o f the castle turning ,

the W indlass of a well Up up up comes the bucket

.
, , ,

unusu ally heavy I thin k for water and I am about ,

t o peer over the edge o f the well t o s e e what h a s

happened when t o my surprise there rises in sight

, , ,

a hug e yellow wheel R ollin g on t o the gro und i t

.

bounds away and ere I have cease d w ondering at

,

its e v olutions a hand touches me lightly on the

,

s houlder and I find myself face t o face with the

,

drummer The look in h i s eyes n ow terrines me

.

beyond endurance and I awake , .

The yellow in this dream portends treachery ;

and it is a f act that shortly after experiencing it
, ,

an ex c ept i onally dirty t r ic k w a s play ed me by on e

G
106 THE MEAN ING O F DREAMS
whom I had hitherto regarded a s a friend The .

actions and expressions o f the dream people are -

at present enigmati c al t o me albeit I cannot

, ,

help fancying that they are a language in them

selves and that underlying them all there is much
, ,

subtle meaning Wheels and drummers in v ariably

.

augu r ill .

D RE A M V ! T R A V ELL I N G I N DRE A M L A ND

S ome ti me a go I dreamed I left my body and , ,

after travellin g at a g reat rate thro ugh the still

night air arri v ed at the sphere I desi gnate Phan
,

t omn i a The spot where I settled down w a s a

.

lonely rai lway cuttin g and I at once remarked on

,

the loud moanin g and sighin g of the wind through

the telegraph wires and the curious j ar j ar j ar
, , ,

o f the iron railroad ; and the metals which grew

less and less like ordinary metals the longer I
looked at them suddenly b ecame imbued with
,
“

life and risin g on end rushed blindly h ither and

, , ,

thither and then lay down ag ain Presently I .

heard the whistle o f an approaching train N earer .

,

nearer and n earer it came ; and a s it whi z zed past

,

me all the passengers put their heads ou t o f the

w in d ows simultaneously and bu r st into peal upon
,

peal of mad hilarious lau ghter There w a s then a

, .
1 08 TH E M EANING OF DREAMS
enough in accordance with my forebodings i n he
, ,

came accompanied by the guard engine driver ;

, ,
-

fore m an and half a dozen other O fficials w ho ;

,
- -

rushing on me with livid faces and flashing eyes ;

were about t o ann i hilate me altog ether when a
tremendous hubbub on the line attra c te d the atten
tion o f on e and all and a most extraordinary
,

spectacle presented itself t o ou r g aze Exactly .

opposite o u r compartment w a s a monstrous green

engine that w a s alternately j umpin g u p and down ,

and rearing up first o n on e end and then on the

,

other after the manner o f a shying horse The

, .

j umps eventually getting higher and higher the ,

en gine at last j umped s o high that it j umped o u t

o f si g ht whereupon passengers and Officials ; with
,

a g onised sh rieks and wai l s climbed ou t of the doors

,

and win dows o f the train ; and rushing across the ,

fields plunged en masse into a muddy ro a ring

, ,

ri v er I n ow found myself the only passenger in

.

a train that without either eng i ne or O fficials was

, ,

stranded in on e o f the wildest a nd weirdest spots

ima gination could concei ve G hastly a s was th e .

appearance o f the muddy turbulent river that o f, ,

the hedg es separating the railroad from the fields

was e v en m ore s o for although at first sight they
,

seemed ordinary eno u gh on close r i nspe c tio n they

,

p roved t o be n o hedges at all but l ong r ows of ,

 OU T OF THE O RDINARY DREAMS 1 09

—
g rot esque creatur es black and green half human
,

—
and half bestial that clutc hin g hold and en ci r ,

c ling ea c h other s waists with their ms swayed

’

t o a nd fl o with ill suppressed lau g hter As I

'
f -
.

stared at them they sudde nly shook themselves

free an d with heads lowered s o that I could perceive
,

n othing o f their faces came bounding to w ard me

,

over the grass .

By a merciful pro v iden c e the train n ow took ,

i t i nto i t s he ad t o move and getting u p a t r emen , ,

dous speed it was soon travelling along at a record

,

pace ; indeed it went s o fast that the coaches

,

eventually left the r ails and it was their continual ,

bump bump bump o n hilltops and trees that

, , ,

awoke me .

The significant f eatures o f the dream may be

characterised thus ! Tra v ellin g per train portended
trouble ; the a c d en t I witnes s ed danger from ,

drowning which was further emphasised by the

,

muddiness o f the ri v er ; the extreme pallor o f the

passen g ers faces indicating death The dream was
’
.

shortly afterwards v erified by the drowning of an

o l d and valued frie n d i n o n e o f the A merican rivers

and by my own personal worries which were at

that time considerable both with regard t o financial
,

a ffairs and also in connection with my work .

110 THE MEANI N G OF DREAMS

D R E AM V I ! A S TO R M

I ha v e over and over again in my dreams visited

, ,

a certain district when the weather has been fine ;

but the other night I was there durin g a stor m and ,

the experience though interesting was not t oo

, ,

agreeable I was in a hut on a wide vast desert

.
,
.

traversed by a broad river and bounded by a long

,

chain o f mountains on the on e side and on the ,

other by a forest o f pines On my arrival all w a s

.

hushed and still ; the air soft and sweet ; the sk y

clear and blue typical in e v ery respect o f an ideal
summer day The chang e w a s brought about in a
.

totally unprecedented manner The blue o f the .

heavens was suddenly metamorphosed into a vivid

violet and the wind from the mountain tops
, ,

shrieking and roaring lik e ten million devils acr oss

the plain c onverted the hitherto placid waters o f
,

t h e rivers into raging rapids ; and then tearing ,

past my hut with the thunder of hell hurled every ,

tree in the forest to the ground The e ffect o f the .

sky was now apparent in e verything ; the whole

—
landscape mountains river and sands and even
, , ,

—
the prostrate forest shone with a v iolet glow S o .

far the rain had held Off but prese n tly a huge hand
,

w a s t h rust o u t o f the s k y a nd s ha k en me nacin gly ,

1 12 TH E MEANING OF D REAMS
result I t was soon verified in the case of a v ery
.

near and dear friend of mine S uccess in a special .

br a nch o f his work led to a violent quarrel and this ,

quarrel contrary t o both h i s and my expectations

, ,

being eventually bridged o v er the former friendship ,

w a s r e established and s o far h as continued without

-

, , ,

another interr uption .

D RE A M V I I D R EAM L A N D HUN T SM EN

H untsmen not infrequently figure in my dreams .

On July 1 s t 1 9 0 9 I dreamed I was standing on the

, ,

v erandah O f a house Ov erlooking a neatly kept ,

lawn and a broad white carriage dri v e beyond ,

which w a s a S pinney It was a beautiful e v ening

.
,

and e v ery Obj ect stood out with startling perspicuity

in the powerful moonlight Whilst I was gazing .

admiringly at the transcendental lo v eliness o f the

landscape I felt a soft hand laid caressingly on my
,

arm a nd on looking round s a w a lady cl a d in the

, , ,

costume o f the middle ages A s S he often fig u res .

in my dreams I was in no degree astonished at her

,

appearance H ow romantic we are !

. s h e said ;

with a s m ile ; I was quite under the impression

that lingering s o long in a great city had spoilt
you f or the pleasures of the country With me it .

—
is too much country I long for t h e town for t h e
,
 OU T OF TH E ORDINAR Y D R EAMS I I 3

theatre ! Cannot we go there t o night TO -

night ! I ej aculated ; s a y rather t o morrow -

W
”
NO ! t o night
-
she answered with a pout o f
, ,

her pretty lips ; you always try t o disappoint

me but I I LL ha v e my way this time you shall ,

s ee ! I will summon the horses ! S he clappe d

her tiny bej ewelled hands tog ether a s s h e spoke
,
.

There was a loud clatter o f hoofs and t he next ,

instant t w o sil v er grey h ery eyed horses trotted

-

,
-

in at the front gates and g alloped across the lawn .

“
Com e ! s h e cried seizing m e by the arm
, let ,

us be off at once ! Y ielding t o her wishes I ,

foll owed her ou t o f the house and on t o the lawn ;

where the steeds stood impatiently pawing the
ground Leapin g nimbly on t o on e o f them sh e
.
,

looked down at me with an artful smile on her

bewit chi n g lips and cry i ng ou t
, Through the wood
Through the wood ! Beware of the huntsman in
the green hood struck the animal across the neck
with her whi p and w a s o ff like an arrow whilst t h e ,

“
s ou n d o f her words Th r ough the wood ! through
th e woo d etc echoed a n d re echoed through the
.
,
-

still night air till every stone and stick and blade o f
, ,

grass seemed t o take it and bellow it in my ears ; It

w a s in Vain I t r ied t o m ount and follow E v ery .

time I tried t o g et my foot in the stirrup the b east ,

slipped awa y from me and I n arrowly escap ed a

,
1 14 T HE MEANI N G OF D REAMS
tu mble A t last in desperation I made a frantic
.
, ,

rush but my steed melted into nothingness and

, ,

the next moment I found myself racing through

the spinney in hot pursuit o f my wayward companion .

On and on I tore but n o sign o f the horse and its

rider only the shadows from the great gaunt trees
, ,

that stole out one by on e t o look at me A t length .

I came to an opening in the wood in the centre o f ,

which was a fountain and standing by it with his ,

back to me I saw the figure o f a man in a tight fi t t i n g

,
-

suit o f Lincoln green his head co v ered with a hood

, ,

a qui v er full of arrows at h i s side and a b ow in his ,

right hand A t the sight o f him my heart leaped

.

into my mouth for I gu essed at once he w a s the

, , ,

huntsman of whom I had s o emphatically b een told

t o be w are Had I not b een prevented by on e o f
.

those spells so common in dreams I should ha v e ,

turned back but try how I would I could not

,

stir from the spot and I had no choice other than

,

t o stand there sick wi th suspense a n d trepida

,

tion Though I had not as yet seen it the face

.
,

o f the huntsman was what I feared most I t is .

— —
the faces always the faces Of these grotes que
looking individuals in my dreamland that are s o
.

alarming A s minute after minute passed and

.

still he did not turn round my anticipation at ,

length grew to such a p itch that u nable t o restrain ,

1 16 T HE M E A N I N G OF DREAMS
twang a nd a n arrow whi zz ed past my ear s whilst ,

all my pursuers j oined in shouting at the t op o f

their harsh shrill v oices 5 Through the w ood ;
, ,
‘

through the wood ! Beware of the huntsman in

the green hood ” With their s houts ringing louder
.

and louder in my ears I was fast coming t o an end ,

of my tether when there was a blinding flash o f

,

j agged blood red lightning and I found myself i n

,
-

the market square of a medi ae val town The place .

w a s full o f people all wear i n g green costumes o f

,

the fashion o f the fifteenth cen t II ry and on my ,

appearance they all began t o dance Not a word

, .

W
was spok en by anyone and n ot a sound was heard ,

b eyond t h e incessant tapp i ng of f eet o n the cobble

stones which continued until as if in obedience
, ,

t o some unhea rd command everyone a s suddenly ,

motionless There was then a great stir and the

.

crow d moving away b ore me with them through

, ,

—
innumerable streets street s that narrow an d ,

winding and crossing each other irregularly in

,

a ll directions were in reali ty alleys

, The houses .

in them were fantastically pictures q ue A t all .

the win dows stood or leaned men and women , , , ,

and q ueer lookin g things for which I can fin d n o

suitable name they were part human and pa r t
-

—
animal and all shouted and yelled and gesticulated , , ,

regardless of s ense a nd o rder . At last whe n t he

,
 OU T OE TH E ORDINARY DREAMS I I 7
confusion had reached a climax the crowd again , ,

obeyin g so m e secret orde r di v ed up another street , ,

and t h e most deathli k e hush ensued Then fro m .

,

far away in the distance came the pattering of many ,

s o f t cla d feet
-
and a long procession filed past me
,

-
knight s in armour on richly caparisoned horse s ,

st andard bearers palanquins litters with fair haired

, ,
-

1adies men a t arms archers drums trumpets

,
- -

, , , ,

spears s ilver and gilded maces troupe after troupe

, ,

o f merry eyed dancing girls followed by a hundred

-

or s o o f the same queer looking creatures I sa w -

at t h e windows carrying triangles in on e hand and

,

— —
scales in the other ; a n d last last o f all mounted
o n a gigantic white horse the tall and gaunt figur e
’ ‘

o f Death He wore nothing sa v e t w o lon g green

.
,

feathe rs which wa v ed to and fr o in the most ludi ,

crou s fash io n as he bowed h i s fl es h l e s s head first on

, ,

o n e side and then on the other in racious acknow

g ,

l edgme n t of the salutes o f the people And what a .

reception he had ! A reception in which e v eryone

j oined youn g and old ric h and poor from those on
, , ,

the housetops and balconies and in door ways and

, ,

windows e v en to those in the procession it self !

,

One and all shouted and cheered clapped stamped , , ,

and yelled with glee ; and t h en t h en w ithout the m

slightest w a rnin g the air resounded with s hr ieks

of te rror and on s t ra ining my n ec k t o p ercei v e
, ,
11 8 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
the cause I s a w advancing up the street towards
,

where I stood dozens of green cl a d h u ntsmen w h o ,

were discharging their arrows indiscriminately at the

r e v ellers I n less time than it takes t o tell the
.

crowd v anished and I found myself flyin g through

,

street after street now all silent and deserted , ,

pursued by the huntsmen whose hoarse cri es curdled ,

my blood A t last I ca me t o a Vast white buildin g

.
, ,

and across it w a s wr itten in b lood red letters -

”
The Fountain Theatre Without stoppin g t o .

a s k permission ; into it I dashed A play w a s .

going on and a s I entered e v eryone includin g t h e

,

performers shoo k their fists at me and hooted

,
.

Then li k e m ag ic the place emptied and I found

, ,

— —
myself the only audience present sitting in the
front r ow of the stalls g a z ing at the stage which , , ,

l i ke th e entire auditorium ; was bathed in funereal

gloom Presently a hollow sounding clock boomed
.

twel v e and ere the last n otes had died away the
, , ,

orchestra filled with v ast formless things that seat ,

ing themselves evidently in their accustomed places

, ,

at the signal of th eir conductor beat their spectral

palms frantically together On to the stag e from .

either wing ther e then wriggled and writhed in

ghastly imitation o f worms shapes which sugg ested ,

—
more than I dare to name and which I shrank from
a nalysing An d whil st they we r e in the midst of
.
12 0 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
accept an Offer fro m a firm with whom I had par ,

t i cu l a rly wished t o publish owing t o lack o f time

,

and I took part unexpectedly in a theatric al

, ,

p erformance that w a s voted a g reat success .

D RE AM VI I I ! DRE A M L A ND A N I M A L S

One night a s far b a c k a s 1 8 9 4 I dreamed I was in

, ,

a dese r t in Ph an t omn i a and that bound in g towards

,

me from a distance c ame a white kan g aroo decorated

’

with larg e brown S pots that looked a s if they had

,
.

been recently painted and which imparted t o it a

,

wooden appearance It came right up t o me and

.
,

eyein g me in the most friendly manner possible ,

said ,
H ave you seen my m other ! No ! I
replied I have n o t seen anyone here fo r the last
,

t w o years because it is fully that tim e since I

,

visited the s e parts What i s s h e like ! . The

”
kangaroo w a s g reatly perplexed Why he said ; .
,

t o tell you the truth I haven t the slightest idea

’
.

I thought perhaps you might know but of cou rse ;

, , ,

S In ce you have been absent for s o long it is very ,

obvious you are the last person I should have asked .

G oo d bye -
And with a leap he w as g one I
.
, , .

s houted o u t t o him Why n o t ask that tree

,
!

(there w a s a poplar g r o w i n g n e a r ) bu t he did

l
not h ea r
m e and was out of sight be fo r e I could speak aga i n
,
.
 OU T OF THE ORDI N AR Y D R EAMS 12 1

I wa l ked on but h ad not gone very far before I

, ,

came across a boy standing on a big stone and ,

blowing ou t his cheeks There was a look o f the mos t .

e xqu i site j oy in his roun d ,

gooseberry eyes as if , ,
'

he found his occupation t h e mo s t delightful in the

world . Why what on earth are you d oI ng
,

I asked He Opened h i s mouth and o u t fl ew a

.

”
swarm of bees Oh ! isn t it Paradise !
. he ’

“
s a id
. Paradi s e ! they make their honey in my
st o mach
’
But don t they sting you ! I
asked . Well n ow you come t o S peak of it I
, ,

belie v e they d o the b oy respo nded

, but what is ,

that compared with the honey ! Besides s ee t h e ,

amount o f labour it sa v es ! and with that he

s ta r t ed whistling I cannot re c ollect the air but
.
,

i t mu s t have been somethin g very infectiou s for ,

m uch a s I hate dancing I took o ff my coat and ,

h ol din g it straight in front o f me commenced t o

”
walt z . And w hy n ot your t r ousers t oo ! ,

whistled the boy you don t want the m You a re

,
’
.

”
o nly a monkey I look ed down and t he fi r st thing
.
,

I s a w w a s my tail that s a t u p on end and laughed

, “

a t me . Well ; really th i ngs have co m e t o a fin e ,

point I exclaimed the lower orders making fun ,

o f the upper in this fashion ! What next shall w e

”
hear ! You can t do t w o thin g s a t o n ce
’

s nee r ed t h e t ai l d d m
’

y ou c a n,t an c e a n scold e .

H
12 2 THE MEANI N G OF D REAMS
Either must go on dancing and leave me behind
yo u

or — or and suddenly becoming greatly con ,

fused it whirled round and round at a tremendous

,

rate until it tied itself up in a hopeless knot If .

’
that isn t a misfortune I don t know what it is !
’

whistled the boy Have some honey ! .

”
But how am I t o get it ! I enquired I .

can t cut you open !

’

I f you were n ot quite s o b i g he s aid I , ,

should sugg est you let yourself down into my inside

by your tail but alas ! i t s your si z e that s in the
’ ’

w ay A nd a f te r all honey may n ot be g ood fo r

.
, ,

you

That i s be c ause you want it all fo r y o ur self ,

I cried trying in v ain t o stop dancing and all but

, ,

tripping o v er my partn er w h o had the m o s t irritating ,

knack of flapping between my leg s .

”
Life is full of gluttons whistled t h e boy ,

I m one you re on e and s o i s your partner

’

,
’

, ,

and leaving off whistlin g he turned ve ry pale and

, ,

pointed excitedly at my coat F ollowing h i s glance .

,

the blood in my veins fro z e My coat which w a s .

,

buttoned had swollen t o an enormous si z e and

, ,

right across the bac k of it w a s a huge flabby lipped , ,

-

mouth that w a s gulping down some nasty looking -

sticky mess as fast as it could With a n ej aculation .

o f disgu s t I loo sened my hold o f it and the next ,

12 4 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS
A quarr el arising between the m owing t o he r g rossly
,

snobbish beha v iour t o s ome o f his poor albei t

,

presentable relations he came t o me fo r advi ce

, , ,

and although I make a stron g point of ne ver i nt er fer

ing where love is con cerned I con s idered this an
,

exceptional case and strongly urg ed him t o brea k

,

Off the en g agement H e acted on my counsel

.
,

and within s i x weeks the girl m arried some one in

her ow n set a s vulga r and p r etentiou s a s h ers el f
, .
 CH APTER VI

REP E T I T IO N ARY A N D P ECUL I A R LY .

VIVID DREAMS

I BE LI E VE the r e are people w h o dream t he same

dre ams repeatedly even down t o the most minute
,

det ails . One o f the dreams I am continually

dreaming i s a s follows ! I am walking along the
s e a front of some popular watering place
-
which -

, ,

j udging by the style o f houses and appearance o f

the people I should s ay was abroad The s u n i s
, .

shining the s e a e x qms i t ely blue whilst to enhance

, ,
.

t h e beauty o f nature a band is playing and playing

, ,

remarkably well some g ay operatic music What

, .

I s e e what I feel what I think has about it nothing

, , ,

o f t he unmist akeable idiosy n crasy of a dream but ,

all is r i gorously self consistent -

I am enj oying .

myself t o the utmost when on turning round I

, , ,

—
perceive behind me a tramp a man with a sh ock
head o f red hair and features that ar e ine ffaceably
,

st amped on my memory He is a blight a sore a .

, ,

g ang rene in this place of be auty cle a nliness and ,

elegance ; an d as I am wondering at the stran ge

i n c ongru ity o f it he s olicit s me for al m s I r efuse
, . .

12 5
12 6 T HE ME A N I N G OF DREAMS
He asks again I threaten him with the police
. .

He is at once silent Turning my b ack on him I

.
,

continue my promenade S ome on e i n the street .

utters a cry o f horror I swing round and as I do

.
,

s o the tramp st abs me in the b ack

,
I catch a look .

o f hellish vindictiveness in h i s fe rret t y eyes and ,

then seized with an inst ant aneous and dreadful

,

sickness I st agger reel and fall st ruggle g asp

, , , ,

and die
I think t his dream must be intended as a warnin g ,

—
and I never vi sit a fresh seaside place particularly
—
abroad without considerable a nxiety as t o the
appearance of the front S o far I have found .
,

n o place to correspond quite w ith that in my dream .

In other dreams I continually visit the same

—
places so metimes a waterfall sometimes a river
,
— ,

flowing through a dense wood sometimes a farm — ,

house ; and on each occasio n the incidents are

strictly repetitionary Close beside the waterfall
.

I fish and am always in the act o f landing a huge

, .

trout when my t ackle gets ent angled in some

,

hyper extraordinary fashion and I awake I wander

-

, .

along a s hady road by the S ide of the river and ,

always at a cert ain opening an old man st aggering ,

beneath a load of sticks crosses my path an d ,

enters the wicket gate leading t o a tiny white

-

w ashed an d neatly that c hed cott age The ma n h as .

12 8 THE MEA NI NG OF DRE A M S

G and as Miss G was found t o be as

familiar with e very room and passage o f the house
as if s h e had lived there all her life it c ou ld only be ,

deducted that s h e had const antly visited the place

in her immaterial body and that it was her ,

immaterial body (projection ) that had been seen

W
by various inmates o f the house and t aken for a
g host .

T Ch arley in his New s fr om the I n vi s i bl e

.
,

orl d quotes the following curious example o f

,

a murder prevente d b y a thrice fold dre am -

“
Monda y A pril 2 1 7 8 1 I was informed by a
, , ,

person in an eminent st ation of a very u ncommon

i ncident He had o ccasI o n t o co rre ct with a few
‘
z
.

s tripes a lad that lived with him at R ochester ; and

the lad r es e n t I ng the punishment left But So m e

, , .

time after o n t he youth appeari ng to re pent of

,

his beh a viour and humbling hi mself accordingly ,

he w a s recei v ed into the house again when he ,

b ehaved in a m os t becoming manne r an d w as dou b y l

diligent in hi s ser v ice .

On e night his mistress dreamed that this lad

w a s going t o cut her throat and a s if the dream ,

w a s not o f su fficient significance in itself she ,

shortly afterwards had a letter from a sister st ating

that s he too ha d dreamed the very same thing
, ,
.

The lady at o nc e took the lette r t o he r father w h o ,

 OU T OF TH E ORDINARY DREAMS 12 9
lived n ot very far o ff and was surprised t o hear ,

that he like wise on the same night had a dream

, , ,

t o t he same e ffect The youth w a s then closely

.

watched and o n b eing obs er ved t o come up about

, ,

noon on e day t o the door o f his mistre s s s ap art

,
’

ment with a c a se knife in his hand he was stopped

-

, ,

an d a n e xpl a n ation o f his conduct was demanded .

I n reply he said he intended going into the adj oi n

,

ing room the room leading out o f his mis

tress s to scrap e the dirt o ff his master s em
’
-
’

b roidered shirt .

The answer not being deemed at all satis f actory ,

he was t a ken a s i de a n d put to a se arching examina

'

t ion when he ended by confessing that he had

,

always remembered with in dignation his mast e r s ’

”
severity to him and had fully resolved on reve nge
, ,

but in what manner he would not s a y He w as o f .

,

course inst antly discharged

,
and the lady and
her husband congratulated themsel ves on their
e s c p e from a horrible death
a
— a h esc ape which they

con fe s sed w as entirely owing t o t h edreams ”

.

D R EAMS OF C O N TEMPORAR Y EV E N T S

The re are un questionably certain peo ple w h o in ,

thei r dreams witness event s th at are actually t akin g

,

pl a ce at t h e t i me .
 W
13 0 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
A lady I knew Mrs P who lived in Gloucester
, .

Place , dreamed one night s h e w a s in a big

.
,

seaport t own where the streets were all numbered

,

and laid out in blocks according t o the A m erican

system and where in one part of the city the tram
,

lines descended over a series of plateau x T he houses .

were v ery lofty and in one street a single hotel

,

occupied an entire block S hortly after her arrival .

,

the entire town shook and hea ved under the influence
o f a stupendous ea r thquake houses collapsed like
packs of cards and amidst the most appalling
, ,

s hrieks and groans the whole c ity burst into a ,

lurid sheet o f fire Everywhere was the wil dest

.

confusio n and despai r People of all nationalities .

,

from fair skinned Eur opeans and yellow visaged

- -

—
Chinese o f which there were legions t o swarthy
Dagos an d bullet headed negroes vied with on e-

another in their mad e fforts to escape the falling

bricks and burnin g t imber In trying t o elude o n e .

death men only courted another and the dreamer ,

s a w scores O f human b ei n gs w h o leaped from burning

buildings only t o be dashed t o pieces on the cruel

,

stone pavements N o r was the heroic element

.

want ing for many men and women perished in

,

their e ffort s t o rescue the infirm a n d sick and t o ,

help t hose t o escape w ho were either t oo O ld o r ,

“

t oo you n g to he l p themsel v es Fo r some t i m e t he .

,
13 2 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS
of thunder and with this appalling c rash still
, ,

resonating in her ears Mrs P a woke Thi s , . .

dream occurred contemporary with the last great

fire a nd earthquake a t S an Francisco and those
—
,

t o who m s h e narrated i t namely those w h o like , ,

—
myself kne w the c ity were assu red th at he r
,

descript ion of it w a s exact in e v ery det ail H ere .

a gai n proj ect io n may explain much .

Mrs P fo rewarned by a su perphysic al power

.

o f a danger threatening those between whom and

herself there was a strong bond o f spiritu al s ym

p a thy ha d in her S leep u n consc iousl y proj ected
,

hersel f t o the spot where the cat astrophe w as

W
t aking place hoping t hereby t o save those s he
,

lo v ed from their impen ding fat e .

T Charley in h i s New s from the I n vi s i bl e

.
,

orl d furnishes another example of this type of

'

dream namely as follows

, ,

Dr Donn e and his wife li v ed for some t ime in

. .

London with S ir R obert Dau ry S ir R o b ert havin g .

o ccasio n t o go t o Paris took the do ctor a l o n g ,

!L

with him leaving his wife who was in a del

, ,

s t ate o i health
-

at S ir R obert s house Tw o ,
’
.

after their arrival at Paris Dr Donne was , .

a lone in the room where S ir R obert and he , ,

some other friends had d ined together S ir Ro .

"
r eturned in half a n hour and as he had left s o ,
 OU T OF TH E ORDI NARY DREAMS 1 3 3

he found the doctor alone but in such an e cst asy

,

and so altered i n his looks as amazed S ir Robert t o

behold . He inquired the cause and after some ,

time the doctor told him he had seen a dreadful ,

‘ ‘
vision . I beheld he said my dear wife pass
,
’
,

twice by me through this room wit h her hair ,

hanging ab out her shoulders and a dead child in

’
her arms A messenger was immediately despatched
.

t o England t o i nquire after Mrs Donne ; and it .

a ppeared th a t at the very time Dr Donne affi rmed

, .

h e h a d S e en her their child h a d died and s h e h ad

, ,

”
bee n c ompletely prostrated with grief .

In this c a se I a m inclined t o b elie v e the v ision

was du e t o proj e c t i on o n the p art o f Mr s Donne .

whic h proj ect ion had t a ke n pl ac e du r ing the

—
delirium char acteristic o f he r illness an d that the
figure s seen by D r Donne were a ctu al ly those o f
.

her a str a l b ody an d the spirit o f the dead child .

Of course I do not assert that all vi v id dre a m s

,

a re du e t o p r oj e c t ion ; m a ny I k n ow a re mere ly , ,

c aused by an o v er tired o r excited b r a in going

-

t hrough a re c a pitulat i o n o f the e v ents o f the day .

F or i n st anc e when I w as a b out fourt een ye a rs o f

,

a ge a n d at a pu b lic s c h o ol I was put unde r ga s

,

during the e xtr a ction o f a couple o f very firmly

rooted grinder s Owi ng t o some di fficulty th e
.

“
dentist h ad i n e xt r a cting them I c a me t o ,
 13 4 THE MEA NING OF DREAMS
before the o peration w a s over and su ffered ag onies
, .

That night in my sleep I again went through the

grim proceedings det ail for det ail from my entry
, ,

into the surgery and the anxious gaze around for

the dreaded instruments t o the final look at the
,

gold fi s h in the aquarium before my j aws were

-

propped open and my n ose an d mouth en v eloped

,

in the soft and spongy cap I had s o uneasily ,

r emarked i n the hands of the an aesthet ist Again .

I smelt the sweet and sickly o dour of the gas ;

again I heard the v oices o f the docto r and dent ist
growing fainter and f ainter t ill they died away
altogether ; and again there was a sudden b lan k ,

followed by an excruciating pain in which I seemed ,

t o feel the e n t ire upper part o f my head slowly

wrenched away from the lower Youth undou b tedly.

—
magnifies all things j oys and sorrows and p ain s
and in our after life we do not feel things so acutely
-

as we did in our childhood The tort ure o f t h e

.

rack I am sure was as nothing co mpared with

, ,

the torture I endured in my sleep under those

—
forceps and then blessed relief —the diab olical
cause of my su ffering flew out and the v agu e ,

unearthly hum o f voices grew louder and louder ,

t ill they finally became recognisable human accents

when as I had actually done under the an ms t h e t i c
, ,

I a woke .
—
But it was a ll re al cru elly wic kedly ,
13 6 THE MEANING OF D REAMS
peculi ar t o the l a w o f S cot l and ) purchased thes e
lands from the t itular and therefore that the , , ,

present prosecution w as groundless BUt after an .

investigat ion of the public records and a c areful ,

inquiry among all persons who had transacted l aw

business for his father n o e v idence could be ,

recovered t o suppor t his defenc e The p eriod w a s .

n o w near at hand when he concei v ed the loss Of

his lawsuit I nevit able and he had f ormed h i s,

determin at ion t o ride to Edinburgh next da y and ,

make the b e st b argain he could i n the w a y Of

‘

compromise H e went t o b ed with this resolut ion

.
,

a n d with al l the circumst ances o f th e case flo at ing

,

u pon h i s m ind had a dream t o the f o llo wing

,

purpose .

H i s f athe r w h o h a d been ma ny years dead

, ,

app ear ed t o him he thought and asked him w h y

, ,

he w a s distur b ed in his min d In dreams men are .

”

not surprised at such apparit ions Mr R eid thought . .

that he in formed his fathe r o f the cause o f h i s

distress adding that the payment o f a consider
,

a b l e su m o f money w a s the more unp l easant t o

‘

him b e cause he had a strong conscious

,

w a s n ot due though he w as unable t o re

,

evidence in support o f his belief Yo u .

my s o n replied the paternal shade I (1

,
’
,

r i ght s t o t hes e t ithes for pay m e n t o f

,
 OU T OF THE ORDINAR Y DRE A MS 1 3 7

are n ow p r o se c uted T h e p a p e rs rel a ting t o t h e

.

transactions a re in t he hands o f Mr . an

attorney ; w h o i s n ow retired fr om pr o fes s I on al

business and resi des at I n v eresk ; nea r Edinburgh .

H e w a s t h e person whom I employed o n that

occasion for a particular reason ; but w h o never on
any other o c casion transacted business on my
’
account I t is very possible pur s ued the vision ;
.
,

‘
t hat Mr may have forgotten a circumstance
.

which is now o f very ol d date but you may call it

t o his recollection by this token that when I came ,

t o pay him his account there w a s di fficulty in

g e tting change for a Portugal piece o f gold ; and

that we were forced t o dri nk ou t t h e balanc e at a
tavern .
’

Mr R eid awaked in the morning w ith all the

.

words O f the vision imprinted on his mind and ,

resolved t o ride across the coun try t o Inveresk ,

inst ead of going straight t o Edinburgh When he .

came there he waited on the gentleman m entioned

i n the dr eam Witho u t s a ying anythin g o f the
.

vision h e inquired whether he remembered having

,

conducted such a matter for his father The ol d

.

gentleman could not at first bring t he circumstances

’

t o his recollecti on but o n the mention o f the

,

Portugal p I e ce o f gold t h e whole r eturned upon

h i s memory H e ma d e a n i m m e di a t e search for
.
13 8 THE MEANI NG OF D R E AM S
the paper s an d recovered the m s o th a t Mr Rei d
, ,
.

w a s thu s ,
b y the instrument a li ty o f his v ision ,

e nabled t o c a rry t o Edinburgh the documents

n ecessary t o g a in the c a use which he w a s o n the ,

”
v erg e o f losing Here the account ends
. .

I thin k a feasible explanation o f the dre a m is ,

that it was in reality a case o f unconscious p ro

j e c t i o n during sleep when the spirit o,
f Mr R eid .

was disembo died through the agency o f h i s dead

father who having something o f such vit al import
, ,

ance t o communicat e was thus permitted to con ,

verse with the phant asm o f his s on o n the

superphysical plane .

Lady B with who I am slightly acquaintedm ,

once had a very vivid dream of this descript ion .

S he had been left a widow for some t ime an d ,

was contemplating marrying again when s h e ,

dreamed o ne night s h e met her late husband o n

the margin o f a beautiful lake S he went up to him .

and laying her hand on his arm sai d

, I know , ,

you wi ll not O bj ect t o anything that will promote

”
my happin ess I am thin king of marryin g !
.

R egarding her with a look of the greatest kindness

and affectio n the phant asm remained silent for a
,

“
few minutes and the n replied, NO I obj ect to , ,

nothing th at will ensure your h a ppiness ; bu t

marr i age with Mr S will h a ve a n O ppo s ite
.
1 49 TH E MEAN ING OF DREAMS

R EL IGIO U S DR E A MS

Inst ances in which peopl e o w e their con

v ersions t o dreams are n ot confined t o the

S criptures but are a s common to d a y a s

,

other perio d o f the world s history ’

.

I h a v e frequently quest ioned men as t o the

causes that l ed t o their con v ersion an d ha v e ,

occasion ally elicit ed very curious replies A S alva .

t i o n i s t for example related the following dream

, , ,

assuring me that he owed h i s con v ersi on entirely

”
to it . I was a terrible dru n kard he said I , ,

drained oceans beer gi n brandy methylated

-

, , ,

spirits we re all the same to me and I more often

fell asleep in a dustbin than i n a bed Well o n e .
,

night I dreamed I was a chimney pot amid a -

verit able s e a of chimney pots o f all sorts and -

descript ions At first the air blowing up t h rough

.
, ,

me was cool an d pleasant but it gra du a lly grew

, ,

hotter and hotter and more a n d more smoky

, ,

until I su ffered the tortures of the damned My .

sides blistered burned a n d cracked an d I gasped

, , ,

panted and choked Y ou are o n fire

.
‘
a cowl

close beside me shrie ked ou t on fire ! Eugh ! ,

H o w disgust ing We sh a ll al l get bl a ck an d sooty

Y e s li sten t o him ro a ring
‘
, shout e d a nothe r ,
 OU T OF TH E ORDI N A R Y DREAMS 1 4 1

and s ee h o w the red sparks fly ! I hope he will

speedily break an d then there will be an end t o
,

’
him ! That can never be ! thundere d the voice
’

O f a gigantic bron z e weather cock in mid air

‘

,
He - -
.

is doomed t o suffer to eternity ; the fire that burn s

within him is inext i nguishable
Who i s that speaking a meek little chimney
pot wh i spere d .

What don t you know !

‘
, snapped a very
’ ’

t all and angular cowl —

That is Moses Moses the .
,

—
usurper o f Heaven Moses t he J ew ! He is now
visiting e v ery city in the world in the guise of a
weathercock I felt all along that chim n ey
.

’
pot was very wicked he said addressing Moses , , .

What ar e his sins

He i s a drunkard
‘
the weathercock e j a cu
late d sternly A drunkar d ! He drinks every
.

drop of rain that falls on the t iles

The beast all the cowls and chim n ey pots -

‘
shouted The beast ! Let us hope that he is
.

’
suffering .

Have no fear o n that Moses replie d

‘
he is connected with the kitchen ran ge and I ,

1
have gi v en t he chef strict orders to cook a forty
course di nner e v ery night
’
And c an t I h av e e v e n one drop o f g r avy !
I groaned .
1 42 THE MEA NI N G OF D R E AM S
N ot a drop growled the weathercock for
,
’
,
‘

the dinners are d mn e and s o are you

a d — which
,

” “
s o frightened me added the S alvationist
,
that ,

I awoke and from that v ery day t o this have

,

”
ne v er t aste d a thimblefu l of alcohol .

Another S al v ationist who attracte d my attention

,

b y the vigorous manner in which he pounded the

drum informed me he owed the fact o f h i s now
,

—
b eing saved and he seemed t o regard it as a very
—
sure f act t o a dream that occurred t o him when
he had sunk as low as any man could sin k .

I had squandered two entire fortunes in drink ,

he said and from li ving in a house o f my o w n

, ,

i n Cado g an G ardens w as reduced t o a gar ret in

,

the S outh Lamb eth Road N ot b eing b rought up .

W
t o any profession o r trade and hav ing a serious ,

physical defect I could obt ain no regular employ

,

ment but had t o look ou t for odd j o b s such for

, , ,

e xample a s carrying bags opening c a rriage doors

, , ,

and cleaning the brasswork and w 1n do s of public .

houses ; and all the money I received I spent in

drink My wife had very rightly and wisely obt ained
.

a divo r ce from me I was dead to all sense of

.

decency and sh am e and G od alone knows in what

,

act o f outrageou s de v ilry my wicke dness might

no t hav e cu lminated had it not been for the arres
,

ti v e n a ture o f the dream H e sent me I dreamed .

1 44 T H E ME AN ING OF D R EA M S
e nou gh o f it Th e ol d lady may go Without her
dinner fo r all I car e I am not going to wear my
self t o pieces and get sunstroke for her Then I
dashed my spade t o the ground and looking round , , ,

espied a pool o f clear water R evelling in the .

prospect o f being n ow able t o quench my thirst ,

I hastened t o the pool and kneeling down dipped

, , ,

my mouth in it But alas ! try how I would I

.
,

—
couldn t d rink the water e very time I touched it
’

with my lips it slipped away and I gulped at

n othing With a tin dipper that I found lying close
.
,

beside me I tried to ladle the water o ut of the pool

, ,

but a ll t o n o purpose the wa ter was in the pool

-

and in the pool it meant t o stay A t last worn ou t .

,

with trying t o coax the water into my mouth ,

a n d perc e iving some luscious looking plums gro w ing

-

o n a tree near by I resolved t o slake my thirst with

,

t hem instead But the moment I touched a plum

.
‘

it changed into a reel o f cotton One plum after .

another I touched but there was n o exception to

,

the rule and when at last I beheld the pl um tree -

upon which I had built such h op es gro an i n g beneath , ,

the weight o f countless reels o f cott on I gave way ,

t o an outburst o f d emoniacal fury S eizing my .

s pade , I struck at the tree again an d again till I ,

had lopped o ff all the branches an d t h e pond w a s

covered kne e d eep in d eb r is I th en e s sa yed t o ge t
-
.
 OUT O F TH E ORDINARY D R E A M S 1 45

back t o the potato plot but fo u nd I cou l d n ot

,

—
stir I had walled myself in and the cotton had ,

twisted itself in countless layers round my legs ,

binding them firmly together In this deplorabl e .

plight I was c ompelled t o stand hour after hour

with the s u n scorching me mercilessly and my ,

throat becoming mor e and mor e parched and

blocked I c annot describe the su fferings I endured ;
.

n o dev i l in hell could hav e fared worse A t length .

I fainted ; there was a delicious blank and on ,

coming t o myself t h e garden had vanished and I ,

found that I w a s well it took me a long time t o

-

make o u t what I w a s b u t I at length discovered

,
'

th a t I w a s a pair o f high heeled bo ots and that I had

-

o n the t o p o f me a pair o f —
feet red hot per -

5 piring feet that chafed my skin squashed me in ,

all my most tender parts an d dragged me with ,

them over sharp j agged stones hot asphalt pave

, ,

—
ments the smell of which made me retch and
—
vomit d usty roads that blinded me an d tarry roads ,

that stuck together my lips and eyelids The .

torments o f purgatory are n ot t o be compared

with those I w a s now compelled t o undergo When .

—
ever I en deavoured t o halt the toe nails stabbed ,

me in the stomach the ankle bones prodded my

,

ribs and the heels came down with e x tra

,

—
pr e ssur e on my liver a combination of tortu r es
 1 46 TH E ME A N I N G OF DREAMS
no on e coul d endure On and on I to i led and .
,

on e and all mocked me .

’
He ! he ! he ! laughed the g arbage in the
‘

’
gutter you ve got a nice fourteen stoner o n you
,
-

S he ll walk you threadbare

’

’
Je rus alem ! you re in for it ! sniggered a ’

drain pipe -
Do you kn ow who s wearing you !
.
’

Why Lot s wife S h e s a S u ffragette n o w and when

,
’ ’
,

I tell you her f eet m ove a s fast a s her tongue you

’
know wh at s in store for you T alk about rods in .

pickle an d the drain pipe went into a disgust ing -

fit o f l aughter Won t some on e stop her ! I

.
’ ’

‘
panted S top her ! screamed a dirty c a t s t ail
.
’ ’

I barely a voided treadi ng o n S top her ! Why .

,

nothing will stop her she s got the l atest improved ,

’

turbin e boiler Take care s h e doesn t go t o o fas t ’

,

that s all
’
S carcely were the words uttered before
I found myself being whirled along at a terrific
—
pace u p down dash smash through pebbles
, , , ,

an d puddles on and on I flew and I s a w all around

, ,

me thousands o f other boot s and shoes a ll pro ,

p e l l e d by gigantic never tiring S u ffr a gettes who ,

-

cove red the ground with pro digious eleph antine ,

bounds This terrible pu n ishment went o n for

.

days an d night s t ill I at length grew s o thin th at ,

there w a s sc a rcely anything left o f me S ometimes .

I w a s b aked somet i mes drowned whilst at all, , ,

1 48 THE MEA N ING OF D R E AM S
thirty t w o of them !
-
The toughest to draw
imag i nable N ow I sh all stick them in again and
.

fill them He di d s o and the torture was so great

,

that over and over again I swooned Fo r twenty .

hours he whirled away first at one root and then at

another piercing the gums and pricking the nerves
,

and the more I implored him t o s t 0 p the more he

hurt me At last he fin ished the whirling instrument
.
,

w a s laid aside an d with the tip of my bleeding

,

to ngue I felt in each tooth a hole big enough t o

, ,

hold an egg .

Do you s e e this he said holdi ng up a bottle ,

.

It s S cotch whiskey and I m going t o fill your

’
,
’

teeth with it You will then know what it is t o

.

have your head f ull of a lcohol and your stomach

empty Y ou will smell it ; i t s fumes will tickle
.

your throat and yet you will not be ab le t o sat isfy

,

your cravings for it ; and this punishment wi ll

continue till you earn estl y repent of your misspent
.

’
li fe .

H e lifted up the bottle and the nex t mo m ent ,

I felt i t s burning contents poured int o the hollow

o f my teeth It was in vain that I besought him
.

for one drop wherewith t o moisten my parched

,

throat N ot one drop did he spill not o n e dr op

.
,

fell o u t ; an d no t o n e drop could I remove w i t

the tip o f my tongue though my t hro at w as ten
/
,
 OUT OF TH E ORDINAR Y D R E A M S 1 49

thou san d times more a thirst t h a n it h a d e ver -

been before Th e sme ll o f the whiskey drove me

.
f

ma d I pr a yed for it I cried fo r it I tore whole

.
, ,

pieces o u t o f my tongue as I beat and prodded it

ag a inst the j agged edges o f my teeth But a ll t o / .

no purpose ; my head remained full an d my

stom a ch empty .

A whole lifetime seemed t o pass in this t an

t a l i s i n g agonising m anner
,
and then into t he ,

room in Indi a n fil e stalked a l l my fri en ds and

, ,

rel ations e a ch carrying in their hands a c h ampagn e

,

glass My uncle who had been dea d and buried at

.
,

the very le a st thirty ye ars he a ded the procession , .

Wa lking solemnly up to me he took hold of my ,

nose twisted it round like a t ap and down thr ou gh

, ,

my foaming mout h poured the whiskey A s soon .

as his glass was full he raised it above his he ad ,

and exclaimed in a sepulchr a l voice He al th ! ,

He a lth ! H e a lth ! t o which al l the company in

’

chorus responded A men Amen A me n One

after a nother my relati v es a n d friends followed h i s
example and twist ed my nose till the whiskey
,

flowed And all the while the alcohol poured from

.

me an d I s a w them gulp it down my thirst and

‘

, ,

craving for it grew an d I besought an d implored

,

—
them t o spare me a drop just o n e dr op o n e tiny ,

drop But they shook thei r heads a n d mur mured

.
, ,
1 50 THE MEA N I N G OF D R E AM S
-

S erve right ! Ask Paul and s e e what he

yo u ,

says An d n o ne of them pitied me t ill my youngest

’ '

.
,

niece Dorothy whom I had many a t ime in her

, ,

childhood h al f scared to death by my t ipsy antics ,

a nd w h o had lately j oined the S alvation A rmy ,

came into the room and on seeing my mother i n , ,

-

law slyly give my sore and bleeding nose a vicious

twist at once ran up t o her and pulled her away
, ,

crying out For shame Poor uncle S ee how you

,

have hurt him ! And as s h e fetched some cold

’

spring water and bathed and bandaged me I grew

, ,

heartily ashamed of my past conduct towards her ,

and from the very depths of my heart asked her

.
—
pardon To my delight s h e kissed me the first ,
!

true kiss of affection I had had for years and no

sooner did her lips touch my cheeks than quite
’
Volunt arily I began to chant The Old Hundredth .

A s I did so room and pe ople vanished and I

, ,

found myself st anding strong and upright in the ,

open air bathed in the glorious light of a heavenly

,

sunset a nd in this delirium of j oy I awoke That .

was the dream and its e ffect was such that from
, ,

that very night I never drank another dr op of

alcohol I forthwith became enrolled in the
.

—
S alvation Army in which praise be to G od !,

I hav e ever since r e maine d .

 1 52 TH E ME A N IN G OF DREAMS

st re tch ed her hands appe al ingly befor e her Th e .

woman interested me , and I felt that there was

much in her that would furnish me with copy
cop y for some article on real humanity on the ,

flotsam and j etsam of womanhood .

A nd s o ; instead of obeying he r inj un c tions t o

g o, I stayed
Tell me , I said persuasively your history
, .

Y o u can confide in me ; I am o l d o l d e nough t o—

be your — then I thought o f my bare thirty seven -

summers and blushed

, well ol d en ou gh t o b e
,

your uncle May I S it down

.

”
The seats , S he murmured a re fr ee t o all
, .

I ca n go
S he r ose and I to uched her gently on the arm
, .

”
I m
’
Come 1 I said y o
, u c an trust me only. a
j ournalist in search o f suitable material for my
pen It is wretchedly wet and cold ou t here let
.
“

u s go t o the nearest r estaurant and have som e

thing nic e and warm and perhaps you will then

,

tell me all about hi m — ”

.

”
H im ! S he cried with su ch a fi ercenes s in
,

her voice t h a t I quailed H i m ! What d o you

'

know about hi m P H e woul d have made t w o o f

such as you ! But —and the scorn in her tones
died awa y — “
I see you me a n it kindly P erh ap s .

y o u a r e u nli k e t h e r e s t Y es
. I w,ill t r u s t yo u !
 o ur OF TH E ORDI N AR Y DREAMS 1 53
Take me t o some Shop wher e I can th aw and I ,

will tell you about hi m— ”

.

I dreamed we crossed the park and t aking a ,

t axi to Victoria found a restaurant where for a

, ,

moderate sum I was able to procure her a solid

,

—
meal a meal that was a good deal too solid for
me but which s h e ate as only a girl in her st ation
,

c an eat whilst I looking on watched t h e col ou r, ,

'

slowly creep back to her ashen cheeks and the ,

raindrops rise in minute v apour clouds fro m her

skirt and boots .

N ow S he said as s he drained the last drop

, ,
f

of co ffee from her cup and S h ook h e r head when I ,

asked her if s h e would ha v e a ny more now ,

( 5
,

you ve kept your bargain and I ll keep mine

’ ’
.

Y ou asked me to tell you ab o ut him and s o I will , .

To begin with by hi m I mean J im Bailey my

,
—
young ma n J im But o f course I suppose you ve.
, ,
’

guessed that Journal ists know a thing or two

.

’
at le as t s o I ve always understood Well in speak
, .
,

ing o f Jim I m not going to beat about the bush

’

’
—
that wasn t his wish not it J i m w as a burglar ,

mister a real top sawyer in his profession an d

,
-

’
there wasn t his equal in London I knew it whe n .

I first met him and he knew all about me th at

,
—
I w as o n e —
of the cleverest filch ers pocket pickers - - a

in Whitechapel Well mister we took t o o n e

.
, ,

!
15
4 TH E MEANI N G OF D R EAMS
another at first sight and after a few months , ,

courting agreed that if we were to marry and

, ,

have a quiet time of it we must give up our present ,

line O f b usiness Burglary is all very well for a single

.

’
man if he is pinched n o on e misses him but
, ,

when it comes t o se v en years pen al for a man with ’

a wife and half a dozen childr en it isn t good enough ,

’
.

J im and I were se n sible enough t o see that mister , ,

W
and we both came to the conclusion that after one ,

more haul we would turn over a n e w leaf an d live

,

like respect able people But what e wanted w as

. .

five hundred pou nds If we had that sum we could .

retire t o the cou n try and run a farm J i m liked .

an out door life and I lo ved animals S O we thought

, ,

a farm would suit us down t o the ground .

Well it was my turn first

,
Biding my time .

L a t last saw
,
a safe opportunity I mingled with a .

crowd of well dressed ladies at a bene v olent bazaar

-

in the West En d and came home wit h fi v e nice

,

—
fat purses close o n a hundred and fifty pounds
in h ard cash N ot b a d was it I banked the money
.
, ,

an d Jim ,
being a man of honour told me that
, ,

would do and t hat I must now definitely retire

,

—
on my laurels a feat which he hoped soon to
accomplish himself .

One day J im came t o me i n a great st ate o f

excitement Lil he said here s news The very
.
,
’
,
’
1 5 6 TH E MEANING OF D REAMS
can s ay is that you ve come to the wrong Shop ’
.

”
I don t cotton to prigs of that kidney
’
.

‘
I spoke S O savage Lil that the lady shook , ,

all o ver and I saw her eyes flash rou n d the roo m as
‘

if seeking the quickest avenue of escape Then S h e .

sudde n ly grew c alm and lifting her v eil st ared , ,

me straight in the face Do I look like a mis

W
.

s i on ar y Mr B ailey
, .S he said ; “
if s o you are ,

the first person w h o has e v er noted the likeness .

Loo k
hy I couldn t help look ing LI l
’
Look !
‘
, ,

an d with every respect to you Lil S he was worth , ,

a good st are S he had golden hair parted in the

.
,

middle and b rought low over her ears i n the newest

fangled fashion Her eyebrows all b ut met over her
.

nose and sh e had a pair of the lo v eliest but hardest

,

blue eyes I have ever seen Lord save you J im .

said striking the p alm of one of his h an ds with the

,

,
—
fist of his other they were hard fli nt wasn t in ’

it with them An d her mouth ! That was cruel

—
too real do w nright cruel with thin tightly S hut , ,

lips and sharp white teeth that glittered like a

’
wolf s .

—
But for all that S he was beaut iful S O beautiful
that I thought I should ne v er tire lookin g at her .

Pooh ! Lil you needn t be j ealous old girl ! S he

,
’
,

i s n one o f my sort anyhow , .

 OU T OF TH E ORDINARY DREAMS 1 57
“
N ow exclaimed with a queer kind
she

of snarl as she took Off the glove of her left hand S O

,

as t o show me the tell t ale band of gold on the -

third h u ger now Mr Bailey are you sat isfied ,

.
,

There is nothing o f the missionary about me is ,

there And when I s a w the long pointed nails , ,

pin k and polished like s e a S hells just as I ve always -

,
’

’
been told t hey do them at the lady barber s I -

coughed Observe my astut eness Li l I s a w now

.
”

, .

that s he was no prig from a church o r chapel but ,

“ ”
a member of what folks call The S mart S et .

Y et how did S he know Mr Towel ] and what brought .

,

her here Was S he one of us or a tec ’

“
I s e e I must explain myself s h e said , ,

pulling out a chair fro n the t able and S itting down .

’
Though I m living in a big house in Park Lane ,

Mr Bailey I m a poor woman My husban d has

.
,
’
.

”
all the money and not I , .

“
That doesn t sound quite fair ma am I ’
,
’
,

muttered not knowing exactly what other re m ark

,

to make .

Fair Of course it isn t fair s h e snapped

’
.

N othing is fair is it But come I m not here

, ,
’

to expatiate on injustice Have you ever been .

hard up Mr Bailey You have G ood Then you

, . .

can sympathise with me I am hard u p s o hard — .

up that I am an xious t o sell my diamonds a —

1 5 8 THE MEANI N G OF DR EAMS
—
wedding present from my husband and being , a

wedding prese n t and positi v ely the only prese n t

he has e ver gi ven me you can underst and my ,

diffi culty In S hort I want t o sell it b ut dare not

.
, , .

Dare not because my husband would ne v er fo r

,

give me if I did No w Mr Bailey do you under

.
, .
,

st an d how I became acquainted with your O ld

frien d Mr Towell I got t o know him because I
, . .

wanted to know you and I remembered the robbery ,

—
for which you were convicted one o f the cleverest
and most daring cases o f burglaries o n r ecord
and thinking that you were still at Dartmoor I ,

asked Mr Towell to get me permission t o s e e you

. .

He in formed me however that you were o u t o f

, ,

prison but at my request obtain ed me your

, , ,

prese n t address .

“ ”
Fro m t he cops o f course ma am ‘
! I ,
’
,
’

interrupted smotherin g a curse

, .

S he nodded .

“
Well ma am I enquire d a trifle surl ily
,
’
, ,

what is it exactly that you want me to do

“
Then s h e came a foot or two nearer and ,

fixing her brilliant eyes on me with a gaze I wouldn t ’

care to face from any tec s h e said I want you ’

, ,

t o commit a S ham burglary at my house and do ,

your work in such a man ner as will lead my husband

t o suppose that you have stolen the necklace .
 1 60 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
in her position and bid me master the contents
-

”
S he the n went into minute det ails of the plant ,

and at last prepared to t ake her departure My .

word o l d girl you should have seen the phiz She

, ,

pulled when I asked if S he would like a cup o f

co ffee
I came h ere professionally Mr Bailey , .
,

S he said and not socially

,
Please underst and .

tha And s h e l eft me feeling more like a st al act i t e

t han a human bein g

I S that all J im ! I asked , .

Y es Lil that s all for the present , J im

,
’ ’

r eplied What do you think of it

.

R isky J im was my an s wer

,
risky It may
,
’
,
.

’
be a dodge on the part of the police .

J im shook his head .

Don t think s o Lil he said

’
I thought of , ,
’
.

that of course t he moment the lady spoke about

, ,
/

Towell but as soon as s h e mentioned h er hu sb a n d

,

I knew s h e was genu ine The very thought of her .

o l d man was poison — t he best actress in London

coul dn t have simulated such hatred

’
You can .

t ake it from me Lil the lady will keep her bargain

, ,

’
if I keep mine .

St ill it is risky J im I said ; her husband

, , ,
’

might c atch you .

’

N ot if I have e v en an a v erage amount o f

 OUT OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 1 61

J im persisted Her arrangements are .

admir able S ay Lil you wouldn t keep me back

.
, ,
’
,

old girl ! That extra three hundred an d fifty pounds ’

’
will just s et us going .

It certainly was an allurement an d though ,

—
I still felt very uneasy why I don t know I — ’

eventually yielded and we spent the rest of the

,

morning t alking about ou r farm Lord ! how we .

did reckon on it
Well S unday came at last and J im st ayed
. ,

with me till it was time for him to make tracks for

’
—
the lady s house Then well mister I will tell
.
, ,

you the rest of the story in hi s own words A fter

‘
s aying goo d bye to you Lil J im began I ’
-

, , ,

shouldered my bag Of tools and t aking a t axi , , ,

dro ve to the Marble Arch I got out there an d .

,

we nt by motor bus to Park Lane

-
’
I had no .

difficulty in finding the lady s house and entering ’

, ,

the front door with the key s h e gave me I crep t ,

upst airs to her be droom .

‘
No one was about I couldn t e ve n detect ,
’

the sound o f distant voices and the house bore ,

every app earance of being deserted .

The room I entered was large and furnished ,

most luxuriously On the duchess t able facing t h e

.
-

brightly polished French bed was a gorgeous array ,

of sil ver backed brushes trinket boxes hand

-

, ,
1 62 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
glasses manicuring instruments powde r j ars and
, , ,

heaps o f other costly art icles i n cluding se veral very ,

valuable rings and bracelets whic h were thrown ,

about with the utmost carelessness and a strong

s mell of so me subtle scent pervaded the whole apart
ment Connected wit h the room by means of a door
.
,

t o the right o f the dressing t ab le was a dressing -

room where the master o f the house usually slept

,
.

I did not ent er it as the l ady had given me stric t

,

i nju nction s not t o do s o .

The safe where the di amonds had always

,

been kept stood by the b edside on the top of a

,

black oak chest an d as I s et t o work on it with

,

my tools I couldn t hel p laughing t o think what a

,
’

precious trick it was searching for what I knew

,

—
wasn t there for wh at I kn ew only t o o well w as
’

safe and snug in the lady s keeping if n ot actually ’

,

on i t s way t o A msterdam to be sold

It did n ot take me many seconds to crack

the lid o f the safe open and I had j ust do n e s o, ,

when there w as a blaze of light a lou d shriek and , , ,

o n turn ing round I s a w the lady , .

”
S oftly ma am I whispered
,
’
,
you re a bit ,
’

too soon Yo u should ha v e waited till I was ready

t o be o ff I have kept my part of the bargain
. keep
yours .
! uick The three hundred and fifty
pounds
1 64 TH E MEA N I N G OF D REAMS
the right about I was then lifted up and my
-
.

wounds attended to whilst the lady poured forth ,

her t al e .

I was at di nn er S he began when hearing , , ,

a noise upst airs

What sort of a noise the sergeant asked .

”
Oh a dull thud the lady said lying glibly
, , ,
.

Fearing that it might be my husband who was ,

lying down I n the dressing room as he was not '

very well I rush ed upst airs and o n opening the

, , ,

door saw this man in the act of breaking open the

,

sa fe I shrieked out an d he r u shed towards the

.
,

window I fired aiming purposely at his arms s o

.
, ,

as to merely disable h i m Alarmed by the noise .

,

the servants came rushing up from the kitchen ,

and I ran to telephone to the police st ation On .

my return the man was st ill in the grasp O f my

,

”
serv ants .

’
And your hus b and ma am the serg eant ,

asked deferentially .

“
I hav en t been in t o see yet
’
the lady ,

replied a trifle sh a mefacedly as I thought Will , .

—
you come with me sergeant I I a m so ner vous
,
-

”
lest anything S hould have happened to him .

They entered the dressing room together and -

—
then then as we all listened in bre a t hles s le x p ect a
tion for I i nstincti v ely fe lt the sinister eyed wo man
,
-
 OUT OF THE ORDINARY D REAMS 1 65

had planned some terrible drama there was a ,

heart rending scream and i n spite o f the remon

-

s t r a n ces of the police e very one saving myself

, ,

and the constables who held me made a rush for ,

the door The master of the house was lying on

.

the floor beside his bed face downwards with the , ,

back of his Skull smas hed to pulp He did it with .

”
his j emmy without a doubt ,
I heard some one ,

s ay. S ee there are bloodstains on his coat

,

which of course there were st ains from my own ,

blood Then the police sergeant for m ally charged

.

me with the murder ; my clothes were searched ,

and all the trinkets I had nabbed from the dressing

t able were brought to light .

And all the while this was t a k I n g place that ,

d emon of a traitress was kneeling beside her dead

—
husband the man sh e hated and whom I am ,

,
—
positiv e s h e killed moaning and groaning and ,

callin g upon Heaven i n tones of the wildest grief

, ,

t o let her die too

I stood no chance It was useless t o prot est

.

my innocence NO one believed me I had been

. .

caught in the act of burglary ; w h o then could , ,

have murdered him but I The very idea o f that

delicat e heart broken woman that woman who
,
-

was only too obviously almost out of her mi nd with

g rief ,
bein g the horrible monster I described her
1 66 THE MEANI N G OF DREAMS
—
was ludicrous so thin a story wouldn t deceive a ’

baby
The lady therefore scored all along the line
whilst I I her poor deluded tool was marched
-

,
—
straight away to j ail .
’

Here the girl from the park paused .

”
Well I s aid gently
,
and what is the sequel ,

I s J im in prison still
”
NO ,
the girl answered dreamily ; J im my ,

J im is free
, He w a s hanged at s i x o clock this
.
’

m orning and as S he s aid this I awoke .

The significant characteristics of this dreamare

as follows ! R ain porten ds tears ; coffee severe ,

criticism r obbery illness ; p ale blue (in the eyes

,

of the lady ) i m pending trouble ; diamonds

, ,

dro w n ing Mo ney minor ailments and surprise

.
,

vis i ts ; murder great danger ; hangi ng violent

, ,

quarrels separatio n and divorce

, .

The re a lisation o f these prognosticat ions worked

o u t thus ! Within a week o f the dream I was
deeply grieved at the death o f an o l d fr i e n d ; one
o f my books came in for very severe criticism a
nea r re l ation fell ill ; the wife o f one o f my o l d
schoolfellows w a s drowned u n der very painful
c ircumstances I received a visit from a man I had
n o t seen fo r twenty years who told me he had just ,

b ee n divorced ; and as I drove b a ck with him t o

1 68 THE MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
Taking the vacant seat at h i s side I offered h i m ,

—
some tobacco for though a rigid non smo k er a

,
-

myself I in variably carry a few ounces of the highly

,

treasured weed with me on my nocturnal wander

ings as also a neat little pocket re v ol v er in case
,

o f blac k mailers and o ther undesirables — and soon

had the gratification of hearing him unburden
”
himself I can wor k if I want t o he admitted
.
,

with the ut most candour ; e v ery strong man

can TO sa y the unsk illed labourer can t g et a j ob
.
’

is all bosh There are a do z

en and on e j obs o f a
sort always open t o him only he prefers t o live ,

on his wife and children —

and loaf N 0 I m not , .
,
’

’
that sort That s n o t on my programme I m n ot
. .
’

work ing because for the present I ha v en t the , ,

’

’
heart t o work I ve been j ilted by luck and I feel
.
,

t o o sore t o as k for employment Y es he said with .

, ,

a sudden spurt of enthusiasm I ll tell you al l ,

’

about it .

S ome months a go I belonged t o the police force

at Dulwich I was on night duty and had been
.
,

particularly enj oined t o k eep an eye on a certain

house the ow ner of which a r I ch banker was away
, , ,

in the S outh of France N ight after night I passed .

by the house and a s far a s I could tell everything

, , ,

was in order You know the police have orthodox

.

dodge s for s eeing i f premi ses ha v e been entered ,

 OUT OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 1 69

and I o f course made use of them

, , Well on e .
,

—
evening i t was in October and the shadows from ,

the big trees lining the road outside the house lay
, ,

s o thick around me that I could stand among them

,

without being seen by any on e from a distance

I came on the roun d at nine o clock and on arriving ’

at the house I kept an eye on was not a little s u r ,

l s e d to find the shutters of the front sitting room

p r -

Open the blinds up a n d the ta ble laid for dinner

, ,
.

This rather astonished me as we had recei v ed no ,

intimation at the police station that the family

were back The room look ed s o warm and cosy
.
,

and the good things on the table s o extremely

appetising that I could n ot refrain from stopping
,

for what I intended should be a f ew sec onds and

‘

l ook ing at them .

N ow I don t suppo se S i r for on e minute that

’

, ,

many members of the force tak e much interest in

table laying but with me it w a s di fferent My wife
-

, .

had form erly been a coo k in good families in the

West End and I had often g one ou t waiting ; SO
,

that I had a p re t t y c orr e ct notion O f what s what ’

and could su m up the social status o f a family in

the twin kling o f an eye if I could g et but on e peep
,

at the setting o f their dinner table -

.

What I s a w in this instance perpl exed me

The owner o f the house w a s supposed t o be a
1 7 0 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS
gentleman in a good position but t he setting o f ,

the cloth w a s the worst I v e ever seen To b egin

.
’
.

with the serviettes were put on anyhow ; in deed

, ,

I noticed that there were on e or t w o shor t the —

tab le was s et for s i x and I could only count four
,

ser v iettes Then there w a s an unnecessary amount

.

o f S il v er both table and sideboard litera l ly groaning

,

under the weight o f it A huge old fashioned silver .

,
-

stand containing on e bi g fruit dish and four small

,

ones stood in the centre o f the table whilst all

, ,

round were big s il v er cak e dishes To each place .

there were at least five t o o many forks and spoons ,

whilst on the sideboard w a s t h e mos t v ulgar (you

‘

see ,
sir I understand th e real u s e o f that word)
,

display o f S il v er bowls cups entr é e and bon b on , ,

-

dishes knives forks and spoons I e v er ha v e seen

, , , .

The sole ide a of t he hostess seemed t o be t o im press

—
her v isitors with a sense O f her wealth s h e had s o ,

t o speak purposely made an exhibition of it

, .

I w a s s o intere sted in my obser v ations that ,

quite unconsciously I left the shelter of th e trees

, ,

and stepping up t o the railings leaned O v er them

, , .

I was now close t o the window the lower panes o f ,

which were almost on a le v el with my face and a s , ,

I peered through it a tall man in e v enin g dress ,

entered the r oom Mr Montague I suppose I

. .
, ,
’

murm ured t o mys elf men tioning t h e na me o f t h e,

 W
1 7 2 THE MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
pocket I had v isions o f something that might come
in very useful for my ife and kiddy Without .

unduly singing my own praises I m not as selfish ,

’

a s many working men I only had one child because .

,

I knew full well I couldn t afford to keep mor e ’

.

Of course it was wrong of me to thi n k of taking

a tip for merely having done my duty and it was ,

wrong of me also to leave my beat e v en for a ,

m oment ; bu t t h en we are all prone to weakn ess

‘

at times sir even Prime Ministers and Home

, ,
-

S ecretaries Moreover I must admit that apart

.
, ,

from the thought of a possible sovereign I was ,

c urious to s e e inside a s o strangely ordered house

hold and the smell of the dinner to a half empty

,
-

—
stomach was very tantalising prime roast mutton ,

onion sauce pheasant fi s h and tripe a n Odd

,
— ,

assortment s i r but only in keeping with the

, ,

arran g e ment o f the cloth The g entle man met me .

a t the door and insisted on my stepping inside

,
.

Y o u ca n scent the good things ca n t you Bobby

’

, ,

he laughed and you ma y bet your whiskers they

,

are g ood too ! he added smacki n g his lips

, ,
.

Bett er than they give you at home eh ,

Y es s i r I replied
, ,
We can t a fford much
’ ’

in the way O f meat one j oint has t o last us a week

,

and a s for the entr é es well we g enerally manage -

’
t o d o without them .
 OU T OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 17 3
( C !
Just s o ! t he gentleman smiled and that
’

is why I am going t o gi v e you a treat to night -

.

In S pite of the fact that I m a pretty well to do ’

- -

—
banker regular City man do n t you know I m in ,
’
-
’

my heart of hearts a bit of a S ocialist don t believe ’

in class distinction and all that sort of thing like t o ,

s e e the poor ma n enj oying hi mself as well a s the

rich Why the deuce shouldn t he the sa m e God

.
’

made the m both I am j ust lettin g you know my

.

sentiments SO that you need n ot be surprised at

my askin g you into my dining room which I ha v e -

obser v ed you admiring fro m the road for some little

time Oh ! bother the sergeant he won t s ee you
.
,
’

and you need only stay a few minutes j ust t o ,

taste a bit o f the g ood fare which you will find

’
every bit as g ood as it smells H e badgered me SO .
,

s ir
,
that in the end I gave in and after assuring ,

myself that the serg eant was nowhere about I ,

slipped through the doorway and into the dining

room The gentleman very thoughtfully drew down
.

the blind and bidding me be seated left the

, , ,

room .

Well I said t o mysel f here s a pretty go

,
’

,
’

and no mistake ! H ere I am P C H ardy ! 2 0 2 ,

. . .
,

supposed t o be on his beat stumpin g along towards

,

—
the Common i n s t ea d of which he is the guest of
e

Leslie Montague E s q on e o f the b est kno wn

, ,
-
 1 74 THE M E ANING OF DREAMS
bankers in London I examined the cutlery the .
-

—
best fi rm in S heffi eld o f course ; the glass nothing ,

— —
under half a c r own apiece the serviettes Damask
- -

linen e v ery on e o f them ; and I was about t o slip

o u t o f my s eat and examine the pile o f things o n

t h e side b oard ; when the door ope n ed and a foot

man carryin g a tray laden with dishes entered

, , .

Following at hi s heels were Mr Montague and a .

lady w h o fr om the very a ffectionate manner in

, ,

which Mr Montag u e addressed her I g athered w a s

.
,

h i s wife .

And here let m e s a y that I only concluded sh e

was a lady from the fact o f her be i ng Mrs Montague ,
othe r wise her attire which was flash and fast in ,

the extre me woul d ha v e l ed me t o belie v e sh e w a s

,

some v ery com mon person I m n o j udge O f ladies .

’ ’
.

dress and couldn t perhaps tell a real soft sat i n

,
’

from the inferior quality I v e heard my wife call ,

’

papery stuff but I d o know a flaming scarlet v elvet

bodice with a shortish yel low Skirt and high heeled s-

patent leathers are a s ou t o f place in most gentle

men s ho uses a s a pair o f bishop s pants would be
’ ’

in mine .

But then o f course they were S ocialists and

'

, , ,

there is n o accountin g for anythin g s o I have ,

always been told among that class o f people ,

.

G ood e v ening constable s h e said t o me , ,

’

,
1 7 6 TH E MEA N I N G OF DREAMS

was n o t until I had at last eaten enough meat even ,

t o satisfy them they allow e d m e respite

, .

Well Policeman they said

, we are inde e d
,
’

o verj oyed at your appetite ; it is after all only in , ,

—
accordance with your S i z e you are a b i g man
very And now for the pudding
-
. .
’

A t the m ention o f pudding S i r I could barely , ,

rest r ain a groan Pudding ! why there wasn t

.
,
’

the fraction of a n inch in my middle that wasn t ,

’

stretched t o bursting point with grisly bits o f

m utton and hard wedges o f potato But what .

c ould I d o ! They begged and implored me n ot

t o be s hy ! I had a large frame and should o f ,

necessity have a large app etit e I t was in vain I .

told them I had had enough they simply would n t ,

“ ’

hear o f it The pudding came an enormous suet

.
,

-—
roly poly spotted monkey my kiddie calls it ,

bathed in butter sauce N ow to tell you the .

,

truth sir i t s r ather a fa v ourite pudding o f

, ,
’

mine still they need n ot have given me half

,

O f it And then s i r when I had helped the

.
, ,

last piece down with my fork and was feeling like

a stu ffed Christmas stoc k ing on came dessert and ,

wine .

What ! you w O n t ha v e a glass o f port !

’

Mrs Montague cried looking at me with a pained

.
,

expression in her big innocent blue eye s Oh

,
.
,
 OU T OF TH E ORDI N ARY DREAMS 1 77

yo u must ha v e on e Constable j ust o n e ! Come , , ,

you can t refuse a lady !

’

The sergeant ma am I gasped for I could ,

’

hardly articulate a Sound owing to the puddin g

—
and potatoes ; if the sergeant smells port ‘

ma am I shall be discharged !
’

Y ou needn t be afraid o f that Constable

’ ’

, ,

Mr s Montague laughed
. We will give you some .

peppermints which I can guarantee will kill the

,

’
smell O f any port Come n o w don t be churlish , ,

I gave in s i r It was wrong of me I know ,

,
.
,

b ut what else could I do ! They filled my glass ,

n o t once but three o r four times and I drank it
, ,

,
—
up e v ery drop greedily ! for the mutton which ,

w a s uncom monly salt had made me very thirsty , .

Then s i r I looked at my watch and s aw t o

, ,

my horror that I had only three minutes left

that is t o s ay I was expected to meet the sergeant
,

in thre e minutes time A quarter o f a mile in three .

minutes could I d o it ! I f n ot then

, and ,

here the man on the ben ch snapped his fingers

emphatically I should be fined and dismissed
the force ! A quarter of a mile in three minutes !
Fa s t i sh wal king in a hea vy o v ercoat and thic k
’
regulation boots isn t it ,

Well s i r I got up and tried t o stand but my

, ,

I couldn t The port had got into my head my

.
,
 1 7 8 TH E MEANING OF DREAMS
bac k my ,
—
knees all —
over me and I m blesse d if ’

I didn t tumble into my chair with a thud

’
Ten .

times I made the attempt and ten times I failed ,

growing feebler and feebler and drowsier and ,

drowsier after each e ffort .

“
If ever anyone underwent the sufferings o f
t h e damned I did then for muddled and fuddled
,

a s I was I retained for some moments suffi cient

,

intelligence t o depict what would happen if I failed ,

t o meet the sergeant A t length however Sleep

.
, ,

overcame me and realising with a groan what w as

,

happening I sank deep down in the soft folds o f

,

the luxur i ous easy chair and lost consciousness

, .

When I came t o myself it was dawn A few .

straggling beams o f cold grey light pour i ng In ,

through the light blinds enabled me t o recognise

,

my su rroundin gs I wa s still in the armchair and

.
,

before me on the table lay the dessert and wine .

Every v estige o f sil v er had gone ; and so

”
had my host and h ostess H er e t h e man on
”
.

the bench laughed bitterly I w a s duped of .

,

”
course ! he added ; the man and the woman
were n o more Mr and Mr s Montague than th ey
. .

we re R ed Indians ! They were part o f a gang of

notorious burglars w h o had been wanted for a long
ti me
G ood H eaven s ! I cr ied they were caught ,
1 80 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
to a prodigious height ; wide plains where ne v er a
blade o f grass grew great sweeps o f prairie ali v e
with every kind of v egetable life ; slow rivers ,

narrow rapid stream s and cataracts of hellish fury

,

forests o f pines moaning as in a hurricane ; trees

,

with strange faces like living things woods full o f

flowers and peopled by maidens of exquisite beauty
meadows bathed in sunlight ; and lofty cities built
o f coloured marble .

And I was borne past all these and set down at

the entrance t o a sombre city whose blac k and silent
,

streets r e echoed t o my footsteps Cold with fear

-
.
,

—for every buildin g I s a w w a s black and destitute ,

o f any S i g n of life whilst Ov erhead the blue s ky had

,

—
turned t o an intense grey T hurried o n urged ,

whither I knew not I t seemed t o me that I was

.

—
seekin g some familiar spot some known harbour of
refug e against a v ague unimagined danger that
,

pursued me ; and as I pressed forward the air grew ,

more and more oppressive Then I me t things .

horrible things with clammy hands that tried t o

keep me bac k ; and a s I felt their loathsome touch ,

and f oetid breath a great weakness filled m y li mbs .

Go d o f mercy ! I cried help me a n d keep

, ,

me from these .

Then in so me inexplicable m anner a n ew strength

ca m e into my body Ta k in g courag e I l eaped
.
,
 OUT OF THE ORDINARY DREAMS 1 81

forward I hurled a side my assailants and I could ,

hear them mocking and cursing as I broke through

them .

z
Just as the ha v en I l on ge d for ca megi n sight
—
and I know not what it w a s o r how I knew i t I s a w
a beautiful maiden with golden hair and great ,

deep blue eyes who was evidently waiting for me

,

and who beckoned me with arms that white as ,

i v ory gleame d against the blackness o f everything

,

around her Only a few feet separated us

. I .

gathered up my limbs t o take a final S pring and

with a S igh of satisfaction I felt her soft arms
,

encircle me It was a moment O f infinite paradise

. .

Then a h ot pitiless hand w a s laid upon my neck

,

and I was hurled backward from her clasp my —

he ad struck the ground and blankness swallo wed
,

me again When consciousness returned all w a s

.
,

changed . A wonderful sensation o f liberty as it ,

were of t ransition fro m the material t o the ethereal ,

possessed me A t my feet la y the thing of flesh and

.

blood which h a d ser v ed me as a body and to my , ,

horror I s a w bending o v er it a creature o f copper

,

—
hue a man in build and form but enormous in ,

size and de v elop ment S ee thy future !

. it
cried ; and my free soul felt a strange pan g o f pity
—
at the sight o f i t s face i t w a s s o full o f sorrow
that I co uld n ot fatho m a vastness of p a l n that could
1 82 THE MEANING OF DREAMS
only be immortal Y et as I looked my pity w a s.
,
,

chan g ed t o fear and hate ; the creature became

con torted with demoniac fury i t s lips wreathed an d
twisted i t s eyes flashed and it cried aloud s o that
, ,

my soul lon g ed t o flee yet dare n ot .

S ee s e e it shrie k ed And I look ed and s a w .

myself I t w a s I but how altered ! I was an

.
,

ag ed man sittin g alone in a dreary attic bathed ,

—
in a flood o f cold moonlight waiting waiting for ,

what I looked a little further and s a w a muddy

river and o v er it ho v e r ed the form o f death
, .

Ar t thou satisfied ! asked my tormentor ,

satisfied o r wouldst thou s e e more o f the days

,

D estiny Destiny Destiny ! I t rules

“

t o come ! , ,

the world fro m the infant s cradle t o the roar o f

’

i—
the g uns o r a w atery g rave And thou hast seen
-
.

Destiny Wake and regard it as fancy if thou

.

wilt S t i fl e it bury it drown it Thou ha st seen

.
, , .

—
what thou hast seen and i t i s Destiny ,

The creature s voice rose higher and higher then

’

dropped and dropped till it died ou t altogether

, , .

A nd as it died out the horrid phantom vanished , ,

and in its place rose a mass o f red and curling

, ,

fla mes that in letters o f fire wrote in mid air

, ,
-

Art thou g oing t o the ! O NE ARTO

A reply rose irresistibly t o my lips .

Ere eig ht hours chime I said like on e repeating , ,

1 84 TH E MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
This exchang e o f glances did n ot escape the man s ’

observation He frowned at me in such a menacing

.

manner that I felt apprehensive as t o his next

mo v ements ; he was e vidently j ealou s whence I ,

inferred that he must be either the husband or

lo v er of the pretty girl ; and ridiculous as it may
seem I rebelled against the idea and began to form
, ,

plans for freeing her fr om him for I assured— ,

—
myself h e was unworthy Of her love —
.

I would insult him pick a quarrel fight a duel

, ,

and pose in her eyes as the conquering hero This

and much more nonsense rushed through my b rain ,

as I ate my frugal meal and watched the t w o .

S uddenly I was forced f by some unrestrainable

impulse and as much to my o w n surprise a s theirs
, , ,

I leane d forward and whispered A re you g oing

,

t o the ! O NE AR TO

The e ffect was mar v ellous

—
The man dropped hi s cup with an oath the h ot
co ffee soakin g through his trousers made him wince
with pain and the girl gazed at me with dilated
- m

eyes .

G ood Go d ! s h e ej aculated a sli ghtly foreign

,

W
accent in her voice only adding t o her charm ,

are you on e o f us !
I t was my turn t o be ama z ed and puzzled .

a s I o n e o f them P What did s h e m ea n ! Was

 OU T O F TH E O RD I N A RY DRE A MS 1 85

it po ssibl e that my dream w a s n o idle thing and that

t h e hauntin g w ord s had s o m e deep s i gnification !
Out of pur e mischief and curiosity I nodded a grave
assent . Do you intend t o go I added .

Ere eight hours chime w a s her reply and the

, ,

words b rought with them a perfect r ecollection o f

my ow n drea m answer Then I s a w ag ain t h e
-
.

brown f orm and the br own ri v er and shuddered ,

Th e g irl I w a s s ure from her face perceived t h e

, ,

t r e m or that made t h e cu p an d s au c er I held vi br at e

i n my ne rvou s g ra sp .

Meanwhil e; t h e ey es of t h e man h a d never c eased

t o s cr utinis e me ; I fel t th em l i k e b u rn in g p oint s .

—
What an ill l ook ing r ufh ah h e w as s iniste r a nd
-

r epulsi v e j eal ou s a s Othell o ; a n d r e ady I f elt s u r e ;

, ,

for any p ret ext w h a t s oe v er t o a ss a ss in a t e me .

I w a s n ot su r p ri s e d w h en h e a ddres sed me and ,

h i s v oi c e w a s i n a d m ir abl e k eepin g with hi s pe rs on .

If you b elon g t o t h e soc i ety ; S ign or; wher e i s

y ou r i n s i g ni a
if

H e put h i s elb ow s on t h e tab l e leaned hi s f a c e on

,

h i s hands ; and fixe d me with h i s g reat an g ry eye s .

Th e question naturally sta gg ered me I had n o .

answer n o e x c use ; n o clue t o i t s m eanin g ; but t h e

,

s a m e s t r an g e inspir ation s ei z ed me and lettin g

,

m ysel f go as it wer e; I calmly a nswer ed

, ,

”
I w a s sent t o m eet you he r e .
1 86 T H E M E A N I N G O F DRE A MS
”
He w as still suspicious . By whom ! he
s napped .

This w a s a poser But it flashed across my .

mind that a few minutes before I had heard the

girl m ention the name Du set t o S he had a r t i cu .

lated it s o prettily that it caught my attention ;

and I v entured t o pronounce it now noticin g its ,

effect on both with a quiet smile S till the man .

w a s n ot s atisfied and I was wondering how long

,

I c ould blu ff the matter ou t when the girl came t o ,

my rescue Layin g her little hand on his S leeve

.

s h e g ave hi m a l o —
ok j ust one glance from her
eyes a s a woman v ery sure o f her g roun d can d o
,
— l

and said t o m e emphati cally ,

Then co m mand u s What can we d o for you .

Well I said trustin g t o luc k and coolness t o

, ,

s e e me throu g h I wish t o accompany you t o

.

the Z one Arto I ha v e not yet been ; and wish t o

m
.

”
r epair the o ission at the first opportunity .

T he g irl g av e he r companion another quieting

’

lance T hen addressin g me with a u ri ou s mi x t u r e

g .
, c

o f friendliness and distrust ; S he said We shall ,

be pleased t o h av e you with u s we are g oing t o

night .

I w a s o v erj oye d The ad v enture now seeme d

.

full o f possibilities and I was asking ea g erly where

,

I should meet them when the I talian inte rfered ,

.
1 88 T HE M E A N I N G OF DR E A MS
through narrow byways a nd crowded thor ough ,

fares On and on w e went till w e finally arri v ed

.
,

at a ri v er wharf where risin g and fallin g on the

, ,

ebbin g tide ; w a s a boat containing a couple o f

dark visaged fiery eyed m en in Vermilion caps
-

,
-

t o who m my companion bec k oned They drew .

up t o a flight of stone steps and w e took ou r seats

behind them I n absolute silence we glided o v er
.
,

the murky bosom of the Tha m es which w a s sing u ,

l a rly de v oid o f shipping and at length drew u p ,

alon g side a low ra k ish look in g stea m er whose sides

,
-

and funnel were painted blac k A g igantically .

tall man with huge cat like eyes met u s a s we stepped

,
-

on deck a n d at a S i g n f ro m the girl

, , escorted u s ,

down the com panion way F or so m e seconds he -

paused outsi de the door of what I took t o b e the

state cabin ; a n d appeared t o b e strainin g h i s ea rs
t o catch sounds proceedin g from within Then .
,

apparently satisfied that all w a s right he threw ,

open the door and the next instant I found mysel f

, , ,

in a dimly lighted apartment f ull of tall s ilent ; ,

hooded fi g ures .

A nything more s inister and terri fyin g than this

spectacle I could ne v er ha v e concei v ed A cold .

sweat burst ou t all o v er my b ody I turned t o .

escape but the door w as s hut and g uarded I w a s

, .

e ntir ely at t he m erc y of t he as s e mbly .

 OU T OF TH E O RD I N A RY DRE A MS 1 89

He has co m e to see the Zone Art o , laughed

the g irl .

And he Shall s ee it mur m ur ed a do z en h ollow

and assum ed voices But first blindfold him
. .

Instantly on e o f the fig ures stepped noisele ssly

,

up t o me ; and produc i n g a gr een sas h ; bound i t

securely o v er my eyes I w a s then swung round .

three times and the sash being suddenly removed

, , ,

I found myself standing in a meadow hooded —

figures girl cab in ship had vanished surrounded
, , ,
—
by nothing but grass — grass o f the richest
emerald green The su n w a s shining th e sky w a s
.
,

blue an d cloudl ess and th e air w hich w a s h ea v ily

, ,

laden w ith t h e sweet s cent of clo v e r a nd newly

mown hay reminded me in n o small degree o f th e
,

c ountry through which I had so lately t r a v el l ed i n

my dreams .

”
Well ! I said t o myself a s s oon a s I fully
realised where I w a s it i s quite certain I a m n ot
,

intende d t o fatho m the secret of the Zone Arto .

They could not ha v e sent me t o a safe r pla c e I .

wonder where on earth I am

—
And then there arose a cur iou s sou nd a p r olon g ed
s o u nd in which all natu r e s eemed t o j oin and ,

whisper ; The Zone A rt o The Zone A rto Thi s

i s t h e Zon e Art o Y ou have r eturned when c e you
c a m e YO
. u h a ve r et u r n e d t o t h e Z on e Ar t o
”
.
1 9 0 THE MEA N I N G OF DREAMS
And a s I listened in sore perplexity ; the space all
around me fil led with the for ms o f countless men
—
and women composed o f v ibratin g molecules o f
light And the whisper continuin g I distinctly
.
,

hea rd These are r ad i o activities t he essences o f

,
-

li fe The society of the Zone Arto alone knows

.

t h e secret o f their creation and alone knows h o w t o ,

e xtract them from the m aterial body S ouls .

,

—
ghosts phantasms ter m s b y which you a r e accus
,

t omed t o desi g nate the s uperphysical —all are

radio a c tivities Y ou a re on e o f them yourself

-

n ow

Wh a t ! I cr ied Do you m e an I am n o
.

l on g er m at erial
Ye s the whispe r replied p r o temp u s yo u , ,

a r e n o longer physical T he Zone A rt o S ociety

.

e xtracted your r adio acti v ity from your materia l

-

b ody and the latter i s now lying at the b ottom of

,

”
the Thames .

I n other words they m urdered me

, I s aid .

“
Y es the whisper echoed
, i f you pre f er t o ,

u s e s o harsh a n expression they m urdered you ! ,

A nd they are n ow deliberatin g what phys ical b ody

y ou s hall next inhabit G ood b ye ! -

An d with G ood b ye ringing in my ea r s I

-
!

awo ke .

I n t h i s dr ea m (t h e f oll ow i ng fea t ur es h ave

1 9 2 TH E M E A N I N G O F DRE AMS
a nd h al f past s i x t h e steamer the tall man w ith
-

, ,

t h e cat like eye s the hooded figures and th e whispe r

-

, ,

which owin g t o their v ividness S hould b e ev ery

whit a s significant as those that hav e b een already
interpreted and ful fil led I have up t o the p r esent ;
, ,

been unab le t o attach any meaning .

 I ND E !

AC CI D E N T S 4 6 Dog s 2 2 — 2 5
—
, ,

Affli c ted T he 8 1 9 2 D o n k e ys 2 6
— —
, , ,

An i ma l s 9 4 5 1 2 0 1 2 4 , ,
Dr a go n fl i es 3 4 ,

An ts 3 2
,
Dr e s s 5 1 ,

D r in k i ng 5 2

W
Drow n i ng 5 2 —5 3
,

B A L L O O NS 47 , ,

B ats 9 1 2
,
—
B e ar s , 12 —14 E A R I GS 3 4 ,

B ees 3 2
,
E ating 5 4 ,

B e et les 3 3 , El n 45
epha ts ,

Bi d 4 1 9
r s 1 — ,

Birth s 46 ,
F ALL I N G , 54
Br i d ge s 47 ,
F i n di ng th i n g s , 54
Bull s 1 9 Fir e s 5 8
Fis h 2 6—
, ,

Bu tt e r fl ies 3 , 3 , 2 9

Fli e s 4 5
—1 0 6 —
,

C AS TL E ,
102 Flo w e r s 5 5 5 6 ,

C at 0 2 2
s 2
,
— Fl yi ng 59 ,

C ate r pi ll ar s 3 3 For e s t 9 4
—
, ,

Ce ntip e d e s 3 4 ,
Fo x 2 9 3 0
e s ,

Colour s 4 7 4 9 — ,
Fr o g s 3 0 ,

Con te mp or a ry E v en t s , Fru it 5 8 ,

1 3 5 Fun e r a l s 50 ,

Co r p s e s 50 ,

Cow s 2 2 , G NA TS , 3 4
Cr o co d il es 2 2 ,
.

H ANGING, 7 0
D A N C I N G 49 Ho r sse
3 0 —3 2
— —
, ,

D ead 1 3 5 1 3 9 H o t c h P o t ch Dr e a m 7 4 7 8
-

—
,

D e af a n d Du mb , 83 H un t s m e n 1 1 2 1 2 0
—
,

D e a ths 50 , H yd e Pa r k D r eams 1 5 1 1 7 9 ,

D eer 2 2 ,

Digging 5 1 , I D I OTS , 8 4
1 94 IN DE!
I lln ess , 9 1 —
9 2 Ra ts 3 9
I ns an e 8 4 ,
R e l i g i o u s Dr eam s 1 40 — 1 50 ,

I sl e t 9 7
,
R e petiti o n a r y a n d P e cu l iarl y
V i v i d Dr ea ms 1 2 5—1 50 ,

! AN GA R OOS 3 6 ,

S H EH R 4 I ,

LAD Y BI R D S 3 4 S eel p
,
7 1 ,

Le opar d s , 3 7 S lug s 3 5,

Lio n s 3 6 , S na ls 3 5
i ,

S n a k s 40
e ,

M A D N E SS 6 0 S pide s
, r 3 5 ,

M a ggo ts 3 5 , S a gs 4 2
t
—1 1 2
,

Ma r r i a ge 6 1 , t
S orm I 1 0 ,

M i ce 3 7
, Su c i ide 73 ,

Mo n e y 6 2 , Sun , 7 1
M o n k e ys 3 7 ,

Mo o n 6 1 ,
TALE D R E AM S —
1 51 19 2
M o th s 3 5 Th e atr e s 1 1 8
,

Mu r d e r 6 2 —
,
,

63 ,
Tigers 4 3
—

W
Mu r d e r e r s 8 5 9 1 ,
To a ds 4 5
,

T ow ns 1 0 0
NA ! E D R E AM S 6 4 — —
,

D 69 ,
T r a v e l l ing 7 2 106 109
Ne w s fr o m the I n v isi b l e
, ,

Tr e e s , —
57 5 8

W
o rl d ,
R ef e r e n c es to , 86 ,

W
I 2 8

W
V E G E TA B L E S , 5 8

W
P A N TH E R S 3 7
—
,

W
Ph a n t a s ti c Dr eams ASP S , 3 6
, 93 1 2 4
Pi gs 3 8,
a te r 7 4 ,

Pr e s e n ts 7 1 ,
e a th e r 7 4 ,

o l v e s 44
”

Pr o fe s s i o n s 7 0 ,
,

Pu m a s 3 7 ,
o r ms 3 6 ,

! O N E A R TS ,
Dr e a m of the ,

—
17 9 19 2

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Tav i s t ock S t re e t C ov e n t Ga r de n Lo n don
 Date Due
li
All brary tems i ll 3
are sub ect to reca
j weeks from
i l
the or gi na date stamped .

i i
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“ 1 '
’
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DEMC O INC 3
, 8 2 97 1
.
-