III. Another example displays the arithmetical powers of the dream,
which have brought it into such disrepute. A man dreams: _He is sitting
at B——’s_ (a family of his earlier acquaintance) _and says, “It was
nonsense for you not to give me Amy in marriage.” Thereupon he asks the
girl, “How old are you?” Answer: “I was born in 1882.” “Ah, then you are
28 years old.”_
Since the dream occurs in the year 1898, this is obviously poor
arithmetic, and the inability of the dreamer to calculate may be
compared to that of the paralytic, if there is no other way of
explaining it. My patient was one of those persons who are always
thinking about every woman they see. The person who followed him in my
office, regularly for several months, was a young lady, whom he used to
meet, about whom he used to ask frequently, and to whom he was very
anxious to be polite. This was the lady whose age he estimated at 28
years. So much for explaining the result of the apparent calculation.
But 1882 was the year in which he had married. He had been unable to
refrain from engaging in conversation with the two females whom he met
at my house—two girls, by no means youthful, who alternately opened the
door for him, and as he did not find them very responsive, he had given
himself the explanation that they probably considered him an elderly
“settled” gentleman.
IV. For another number dream with its interpretation,—a
dream distinguished by its obvious determination, or rather
over-determination, I am indebted to B. Dattner:
My host, a policeman in the municipal service, dreamed that he was
standing at his post in the street, which was a wish-realisation. The
inspector then came over to him, having on his gorget the numbers 22 and
62 or 26—at all events there were many two’s on it. Division of the
number 2262 in the reproduction of the dream at once points to the fact
that the components have separate meanings. It occurs to him that the
day before, while on duty, they were discussing the duration of their
time of service. The occasion for this was furnished by an inspector who
had been pensioned at 62 years. The dreamer had only completed 22 years
of service, and still needed 2 years and 2 months to make him eligible
for a 90 per cent. pension. The dream first shows him the fulfilment of
a long wished for wish, the rank of inspector. The superior with 2262 on
his collar is himself; he takes care to do his duty on the street, which
is another preferred wish; he has served his 2 years and 2 months, and
can now be retired from the service with full pension, like the
62–year-old inspector.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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