Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-15


they were stuffed with fear, and with
Il fear so strange and alien that it had
no ponderable quality.
For instance. was city boy. city
child, rather, to whom the country was
an unexplored domain. Yet | never
dreamed of cities Nor did a house
ever occur in any of my dreams. Nor,
for that matter, did any of my human
kind ever break through the wall Of
my sleep. |. who had seen trees only
in parks and illustrated books, wan
dered in my sleep through intermina-
bic forests. And, further, these dream
trees were not a mere blur on my
vision. They We're sharp and distinct.
was on terms of practiced intimacy
with them. l saw every branch and
twig. saw and knew every different
leaf.
Well do | remember the first time in
my waking life that saw an oak tree.
AS l looked at the leaves and branches
and gnarls it came to me with dis
tressing vividness that I had seen that
same kind of tree many and countless
times In my sleep. So I was not sur
prtsed still later on in my life to rec
ognize instantly. the first time I saw
them, trees such as the spruce, the
yew, the birch and the laurel. | had
seen them all before and was seeing
them even then every night in my
sleep.
This. as you have already discerned,
violates the first law of dreaming
namely, that in ones dreams one sees
only what he has seen in his waking
life or combinations Of the things he
has seen in his waking life. But all
my dreams violated this law. In my
dreams l never saw anything of which
l had knowledge in my waking life.
My dream life and my waking life We're
lives apart, with not one thing in COM
mon save myself l was the connect.
ing link that somehow lived both lives.
Early in my childhood l learned that
nuts came from the grocer, berries
from the fruit man, but before ever
that knowledge was mine, in my
dreams | picked nuts from trees or
gathered them and ate them from the
ground underneath trees, and in the
same way I ate berries from vines and
bushes. This was beyond any expert
ence Of mine.
| shall never forget the first time
saw blueberries served on the table. l
had never seen blueberrtes before, and
Yet at the sight of them there leaped
up In my mind memories Of dreams
wherein | had wandered through
swampy land eating my fill of them.
My mother set before me a dish Of the
berries, l filed my spoon. but before
| raised it to my mouth l knew just
how they would taste. Nor was I dis
appointed. 1t was the same tang that
| had tasted a thousand times in my
sleep.
Snakes? Long before had heard Of
the existence of snakes | was torment
ed by them in my sleep. They lurked
for me in the forest glades; leaped up,
striking, under my feet; squirmed off
through the dry grass or across naked
patches of rock or pursued me into the
treetops, encircling the trunks with
their great shining bodies, driving me
higher and higher or farther and far
Their out on swaying and cracking
branches, the ground a dizzy distance
beneath me. Snakes With their fork
ed togues, their beady eyes and glitter
ing scales, their kissing and their rat
tling-did I not already know them far
too well on that day of my first circus
when ! saw the snake charmer lift
them up? They were old friends of
mine, enemies rather, that people my
nights with fear.
All, those endless forests and their
horror haunted gloom. For what eter-
mites have | wandered through them,
timid, hunted creature. starting at the
least sound, frightened by my own
shadow, keyed up, ever alert and vigil
liant, ready on the instant to dash away
in mad flight for my life, for l was
the prey Of all manner Of fierce life
that dwelt In the forest, and it was
in ecstasies of fear that l fed before
the hunting monsters.
When l was five years old I went
TO my first circus. / came home from
1t sick. but not from peanuts and pink
lemonade Let ne tell you. AS we
entered the animal tent hoarse roar
ing shook the air. | tore my hand
loose from my fathers and dashed
wildly back through the entrance.
collided with people, fell down, and all
the time l was screaming with terror
My father caught me and soothed me.
He pointed to the crowd of people, all
careless of the roaring, and cheered
me with assurances of safety.
Nevertheless 1t was in fear and trem-
bling and with much encouragement
on his part that at last approached
the lions cage. All, I knew him on
the tnstant-the beast, the terrible
one. And on my inner vision flashed
the memories Of my dreams-the mid
day sun shining on tall grass. the wild
bull grazing quietly, the sudden part
ing Of the grass before the swift rush
OF the tawny one, his leap to the bulls
back, the crashing and the believing
and the crunch, crunch Of bones, or.
again, the cool quiet of the water hole
the wild horse up TO his knees and
drinking softly. and then the tawny
one-always the tawny One-the leap !
the screaming and the splashing of the |
horse and the crunch, crunch Of bones. |
and yet again the somber twilight and ,