"I do not think I have seen or heard more than once in my sleep.
Then the sunlight flashed suddenly on my eyes, and I was so dazzled
I could not think or distinguish anything. When I looked up, some
one spelled hastily to me, 'Why, you are looking back upon your
babyhood!' As to the sound I heard, it was like the rushing of a
mighty cataract, and reminded me forcibly of my visit to Niagara
Falls. I remembered as if it were yesterday how I had come very close
to the water and felt the great roar by placing my hand on a soft
pillow. Now, however, I knew I was far away from the place whence
the sound came, and the vibration fell clear, though not loud, upon
my eardrums; so I concluded in my sleep that I really heard. What
happened next I have entirely forgotten; but in the morning I was
deeply impressed by the only instance in which I had dreamed of
hearing, and I wished I could go back to Dreamland, just to hear that
far-off, inspiring sound.
"Occasionally I think I am reading with my fingers, either Braille or
line print, and even translating a little Latin, but always with an
odd feeling that I am touching forbidden fruit. Somehow I feel that
the spirits of sleep are displeased if any thoughts of literature
cross my mind. Still I am free to enjoy everything else--I can wander
among flowers and trees and be with my friends, especially those who
live at a distance from where I happen to be. Sometimes I am with
my mother, and at other times with my sister Mildred. My teacher
scarcely ever appears in my dreams; but I know she would very often
if a cruel fate should tear her away from me. I shall never forget
the morning seven or eight years ago, when I dreamed that my dear
friend, Bishop Brooks, was dying. A few hours later I found that my
dream was a terrible reality. It is probable that I thought of him
at the very moment when he was passing away, and I certainly wept in
the same manner and in the same place while I dreamed, that I did
afterwards!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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