The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-25

The same pecullaflty dtlenuS Tue COMPOUND
mental processes All the faces, hgures,
conscious state have certain reality about
them, which stops at particular point. They
| either want the complete Identification that
wakefllness would give them, or they include
one or two points of cXtrane0uS detail.
| The combination is very singlllar-far more
singular than anything that occurs in actual
| dreaming For one is, by fits and starts, con-
scious of the gross absurdities that are present
| to ones mind. In dreaming proper, one is
never conscious of the extravaganza of the
thing dreamed. 1t is true that confused
| effort of consciousness Is sometimes felt in
dreams. Some terrible danger threatens the
| dreamer; he is in condition OF absolute fear;
| and then, all at once. he says to himself.
''Why, what fool l am 1t is only dream. .
And he NAV remember, after he has awoke,
that he has thus reasoned with himself But
| in almost all cases it will be found that this bit
of reasoning is only recolective antidote
against fear which the dreamer, in anticipa-
ton of some such frightiul dream, had pre-
viously prepared AS matter of fact he can
not. in dream, convince himself that he
I dreams He hopes that he is dreaming; but
he is still mortally afraid of the object that has
terrified him; and before he has become quite
assured that he is dreaming he invariably
| awakeS. Indeed, the occurrence of the notion
that he may be dreaming Is only one ofthe
symptoms of dawning wakefulness..
But in the pro-somnolent period there Is a
nebulous consciousness that something is
wrong. with an indolent disability to set 1t
right. Perhaps it is the picture OF Prague by
moonlight that rises up somehow in that won
derfu and expansive mist which lies lmme-
diately within the human eyelids. We are
standing up on the massive Pradschln, with
the pale white castles beside us, with the great
dark city sleeping down there on the plain.
and with the broad Moldau lying under the
lambent moonlight. There Is the bridge we
know. The gas lamps by the river side gm-
mer down into the water. There, too, are the
Soften and SchfitZen isles, dark mass in the
beyond the islands, at the bend of the spacious
river, we hazily see the gray Tower of Lon
don ? The bridge down there is adorned with
| big statues; it has massive gateways on the
| city side; it clearly cannot be London Drldse.
And vet the Tower is there; and If we fix our
eyes on it long enough, the ISLANDS out IN lne
stream will melt away and give place TO mud
died masses Of shipping; the banks VIII ue-
velop wharfs; handsome cabs VIII oegln 70 70
to drive across the bridge in the direction OF
the borough policemen will quarrel with
drunken women on the pavement, under the
cold moonlight, with profuse use OF Billings
cato. until we suddenly become arware OIL the
absurdity of fancying that sncn tninss@ @ couiu ia
| happen in the grand old bohemian city IN
which Nina Balatka loved the Jew.
| Not less singular are the minute points OF
detail in which the dOzer loses his own identi-
ty. He will be involuntarily recalling a con-
versation he has had during the day with some
one-following the successive remarks, as ne
imagines, with sufficient accuracy-and accl
dentally discover that ne is taking 10 .hls
nerson. not as he did talk, but as he Imagined
dnrin0 the afternoon that friend OF his would
have talked under the circumstances. vi
course. these freaks are more marked when
some time has elapsed since the occurrences
with which they deal happened. Since imaSl-
nation is only memory kept for few years ID
bottle, it follows that memory; tne Jucr Il; ~ !,
facts in the way of combining what might
have been with what has been. Men dellgnt
TO look back upon important events III their
lives and imagine new versions OF them.
This amusement, which is universal, mas
other consequences than the temporary u
tiation of the fancy. Inc clear ll,ics vi VI
fact become blurred, indefinite, elastic, so
that they include good deal OF er post tdcto
speculation. Let us say that q man mas
been Tilted in his youth-a circumstance
that seemed to him sufficiently tragic at
the time. Years afterwards there are lew
things which interest him so much as 10 loon
back and calculate with the aid OF accumu-
Iatcd cyneriencc, what would have been the
result had he not been jilted-had he married
the young woman who is now sober matron.
And as he does so, he inventS all possible the0-
ries of conduct which might have happened.
He explains occurrences this way or that way,
as his fancy or mood inclincs: suppose tle
bare facts to be that he was absent from the
y0nnp person to whom he was engaged; that
she In an innocent way formed an intimacy
with somebody else; that her absent lover
heard of it, and, without the least inquiry into
the matter. broke off the engagement; that
abe. bitterly wounded and hurt, refused TO re-
ply to him, and subsequently married the
third person who had partly caused the trouble.
Now, in actual DIRE inning no action Is taken o
these things at all; the disappointed lover
dreams that he has married his old love, that
he Is walking about with her in beautiful val
leys. with q perpetual bloom of youth on hcr
face. He wakes up In the morning only 10
thank goodness, perhaps, that he is not mar
ried to her. But Oh the borders oil dream,
land all the old circumstances are preserved
with important notifications.
1t is clear that in the facts we have mention
cd a dozen different explanations might he
procurablc. All these the disappointed lover
has conned again and again, until he is not
quite clear as to the particular version he
ourht TO believe. And now the face OF tilat
tender friend of his appears through the maze
OF Imperfect sleep, and there Is q sorrowlui
look in the eyes, which has also III It some
thing of rcproach. He begins to think he
must have cruelty wronged her. He goes
back to the old times, and reviews all the OLD
scenes and incidents and faces, and 10 the
figure of the third person has dropped ont OF
the picture. He forgets entirely that there
was a young lieutenant concerned IN the
affair. lie Is amazed at his own hardness oil
heart, and resolves to repair the wrong done
to this girl with the sad and beautiful eyes.
He will 30 tomorrow morning ana beg
her forgiveness. How pleasant it will be
on the old ard kind footing. and, rs the spring
is coming In, he thinks of Hastings, and ram
blcs along the shore, and happy marriage.
IL is not so long ago since the terrible miSlor.
tune and msapprehension occurred. He Will
90 at once and make 1t upwith her. All this
he thinks without being actually as!e,p. But
should some cat OH his garden wall begin to
howl, the young lieutenant suddenly jumps
into the picture again, bringing with him all he
attendant circumstances Of the marriage, the
long lapse of years. childrcn.and residence ina
foreign country. The disappointed and doing
lover srowls dissatisfaction at his own stupid
ity, and wonders how he could have been such
u fool as TO think Of going tomorrow TO make
ii up with his old love, when that respectable
lady is a majors wife, and lives in Bhawalpoor.
m ~ C A