The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, vol 10 | Page 9

possible, making a few corrections of the
barbarous language I used in the half-asleep state.
[1] At Clark University, 1912-1913.
On the night of August 9, 1914, I went to bed at 11.40 o'clock and was soon asleep.
About 3.40 in the morning, the young man, F. K. S., roused me and I awoke weak, scared,
and with a fluttering heart; he said I had been making a distressing sort of noise, but he
could not distinguish any words. Immediately, I judged that the dream was caused by my
lying on my back, and in an uncomfortable position. As a rule I do not sleep on my back,
but for some reason I had gone to sleep that way this time. Also, it had been raining when
I went to bed, and I had put the windows down, and the ventilation was bad.

The dream, as nearly as it was remembered, was as follows: I was with somebody in a
buggy and we drove down a hill, across a little stream, and up the other hill, where we
arrived at our destination. I seemed to find trouble in getting a place to hitch, and I had to
take the horse out of the buggy and I think take the harness off. I distinctly remember that
in the dream this was a hardship to me, as it would have been in waking life, for I am not
a good hand with horses, and do not like to work with them. All this is very hazy to me,
and I do not know with whom I was driving, but think it was a lady, possibly my wife.
There were other people at this place and other horses and buggies. (Could it be called a
case of reversion to childhood, in that there were only horses and buggies and no
automobiles?) There is a break in the dream here, and we were within some kind of a
building where there was a crowd of people. As it seems now, we were around some kind
of a rotunda, but this is very vague. The important part seems to be that there were two
people, a man and a woman, who were talking very stealthily and earnestly to each other,
and they soon drew me into the conversation. It runs in my head now that the man was
my father (who has been dead for some years), though I am not sure about this, while
there is no recollection of who the woman was. Now it appeared that there was some
woman in the crowd who had some peculiar evil influence over every one and whom
everybody feared. This man and woman were planning to slip off from this wicked
woman and meet me and the one with me on the road, and in some way, which is not
now clear, we were to circumvent this bad woman and break her power. The man
explained and explained to me that we were to meet at certain springs which were at the
side of the road, but it seemed that I could not get it into my head where they were, and I
was afraid I would not stop at the right place. At last I thought I knew where he meant,
and told him that I would stop there and wait until he came up, but then I happened to
think that he might be ahead of me anyhow, and could stop and wait for me; then I was
sure he would be ahead, for I remembered that I had to harness and hitch up the horse and
his was all ready. And now we seemed to be getting our horses, and I remarked to him
that I was not a bit good hand at working with horses, and he expressed his sympathy that
I had this work to do.
Here was a second break in the dream, and I was standing in a hallway, looking through a
window into a room. In this room sat my wife and the evil woman whom everybody
feared. She had learned our play (I was conscious of this in the dream), and was
determined to have her revenge, and prevent us carrying out our plan. She had hypnotized
my wife, and had her scared so that she was in great mental agony. I heard her saying,
"Now you are a big black cat," or something much like this, at any rate making her think
she was a cat and at the same time leaving her partly conscious of who she was. This
woman looked exactly like a woman who lives in the neighborhood where my wife is
now visiting and of whom she has always been somewhat afraid because of her sharp
tongue and unpleasant ways. Immediately, I was