The Dreams

Dream 20

We went out looking for a good place to pass the time. We gazed at the crescent moon, exchanging glances — and saw by the lamplight a giant whose like was never before seen by the human eye.

He threw a rod which had no equal in length toward the crescent, striking it squarely. With a brilliant movement it began to unroll its folds of light until it ripened into a full moon. We heard voices shout, “There is no god but God!” and we shouted it with them. I said that nothing like this had ever happened before, and she agreed. The light flowing over creation lifted me over the surface of the water. She called out, “A moonlit night!” and I said, “The boat is inviting us!” as we rode along with the utmost pleasure.

Then the pilot sang, “I crave you, by the Prophet, I crave you.” We grew drunk with ecstasy, and I suggested that we swim around the skiff. We stripped off our clothes and leapt into the water, splashing about with absolute delight. But then the moon suddenly turned back into a crescent — and the crescent, too, disappeared. We grew alarmed as we never had before, and I felt that this required a serious reappraisal of our situation. With the two of us drowning in the dark, I said, “Let’s head for the boat.”

“And if we get lost?” she replied.

“We can make for the shore,” I answered.

“We’ll be naked on the bank,” she fretted.

“Let’s worry about that later,” I told her.