What animals dream of I do not know. A proverb for which I am indebted to one of my readers claims to know, for it raises the question: "What does the goose dream of?" the answer being: "Of maize!" The whole theory that the dream is the fulfilment of a wish is contained in these sentences.[1]
We now perceive that we should have reached our theory of the hidden meaning of the dream by the shortest road if we had merely consulted colloquial usage. The wisdom of proverbs, it is true, sometimes speaks contemptuously enough of the dream—it apparently tries to justify science in expressing the opinion that "Dreams are mere bubbles;" but still for colloquial usage the dream is the gracious fulfiller of wishes. "I should never have fancied that in the wildest dream," exclaims one who finds his expectations surpassed in reality.
- ↑ A Hungarian proverb referred to by Ferenczi87 states more explicitly that "the pig dreams of acorns, the goose of maize."
great effort had been able to get it back. To be sure, we occupied ourselves in sleep with still more impossible things, but the lack of phantasy in almost all the dreams which I myself dreamed or heard others relate was quite striking. It would surely have been of great psychological interest if all the dreams could have been noted. But one can readily understand how we longed for sleep. It alone could afford us everything that we all most ardently desired."
