The Dreams

Dream 3

At the center of the boat’s deck was a mast. A man was bound to it by a rope that wrapped around him from his upper torso to his lower legs. He twisted his head violently both right and left, crying out from his wounded depths, “When will this torture end?”

Three of us looked toward him with sympathy, exchanging confused glances with each other. A voice asked him, “Who’s doing this to you?”

The tormented man replied, as his head continued to thrash from side to side, “I’m the one doing it.”

“Why?”

“This is the punishment I deserve.”

“For what offence?”

“Ignorance,” he said, sighing with anger.

“We knew you as one who had a dream, as well as experience,” I answered him. “We did not know that rage lies latent in every person.”

“You were also ignorant of the fact,” he batted back, his voice rising, “that no human being can be stripped of all nobility, no matter how wretched their condition!”

At this, we were conquered by sadness and silence.