One evening I was visited by a friend of mine, one of those colleagues
whose fate I had taken as a warning for myself. As he had long been a
candidate for promotion to the position of professor, which in our
society raises the physician to a demigod among his patients, and as he
was less resigned than I, he was in the habit of making representations
from time to time, at the offices of the university government, for the
purpose of advancing his interests. He came to me from a visit of that
kind. He said that this time he had driven the exalted gentleman into a
corner, and had asked him directly whether considerations of creed were
not really responsible for the deferment of his appointment. The answer
had been that to be sure—in the present state of public opinion—His
Excellency was not in a position, &c. “Now I at least know what I am
at,” said my friend in closing his narrative, which told me nothing new,
but which was calculated to confirm me in my resignation. For the same
considerations of creed applied to my own case.
On the morning after this visit, I had the following dream, which was
notable on account of its form. It consisted of two thoughts and two
images, so that a thought and an image alternated. But I here record
only the first half of the dream, because the other half has nothing to
do with the purpose which the citation of the dream should serve.
I. _Friend R. is my uncle—I feel great affection for him._
II. _I see before me his face somewhat altered._
_It seems to be elongated; a yellow beard, which surrounds it, is
emphasised with peculiar distinctness._
Then follow the other two portions, again a thought and an image, which
I omit.
The interpretation of this dream was accomplished in the following
manner:
As the dream occurred to me in the course of the forenoon, I laughed
outright and said: “The dream is nonsense.” But I could not get it out
of my mind, and the whole day it pursued me, until, at last, in the
evening I reproached myself with the words: “If in the course of dream
interpretation one of your patients had nothing better to say than ‘That
is nonsense,’ you would reprove him, and would suspect that behind the
dream there was hidden some disagreeable affair, the exposure of which
he wanted to spare himself. Apply the same thing in your own case; your
opinion that the dream is nonsense probably signifies merely an inner
resistance to its interpretation. Do not let yourself be deterred.” I
then proceeded to the interpretation.
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