Dreams by Olive Schreiner (bookstand for reading .txt) ๐
And it was night in his heart also.
Then from the marshes to his right and left cold mists arose and closed about him. A fine, imperceptible rain fell in the dark, and great drops gathered on his hair and clothes. His heart beat slowly, and a numbness crept through all his limbs. Then, looking up, two merry wisp lights came dancing. He lifted his head to look at them. Nearer, nearer they came. So warm, so bright, they danced like stars of fire. They stood before him at last. From the centre of the radiating flame in one looked out a woman's face, laughing, dimpled, with streaming yellow hair. In the centre of the other were merry laughing ripples, like the bubbles on a glass of wine. They danced before him.
"Who are you," asked the hunter, "who alone come to me in my solitude and darkness?"
"We are the twins Sensuality," they cried. "Our father's n
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clearly, and the boat was far from shore, but it seemed almost as if there
was another figure sitting in the stern. Faster and faster it glided over
the water away, away. She ran along the shore; she came no nearer it. The
garment she had held closed fluttered open; she stretched out her arms, and
the moonlight shone on her long loose hair.
Then a voice beside her whispered, โWhat is it?โ
She cried, โWith my blood I bought the best of all gifts for him. I have
come to bring it him! He is going from me!โ
The voice whispered softly, โYour prayer was answered. It has been given
him.โ
She cried, โWhat is it?โ
The voice answered, โIt is that he might leave you.โ
The girl stood still.
Far out at sea the boat was lost to sight beyond the moonlight sheen.
The voice spoke softly, โArt thou contented?โ
She said, โI am contented.โ
At her feet the waves broke in long ripples softly on the shore.
V. THREE DREAMS IN A DESERT.
Under a Mimosa-Tree.
As I travelled across an African plain the sun shone down hotly. Then I
drew my horse up under a mimosa-tree, and I took the saddle from him and
left him to feed among the parched bushes. And all to right and to left
stretched the brown earth. And I sat down under the tree, because the heat
beat fiercely, and all along the horizon the air throbbed. And after a
while a heavy drowsiness came over me, and I laid my head down against my
saddle, and I fell asleep there. And, in my sleep, I had a curious dream.
I thought I stood on the border of a great desert, and the sand blew about
everywhere. And I thought I saw two great figures like beasts of burden of
the desert, and one lay upon the sand with its neck stretched out, and one
stood by it. And I looked curiously at the one that lay upon the ground,
for it had a great burden on its back, and the sand was thick about it, so
that it seemed to have piled over it for centuries.
And I looked very curiously at it. And there stood one beside me watching.
And I said to him, โWhat is this huge creature who lies here on the sand?โ
And he said, โThis is woman; she that bears men in her body.โ
And I said, โWhy does she lie here motionless with the sand piled round
her?โ
And he answered, โListen, I will tell you! Ages and ages long she has lain
here, and the wind has blown over her. The oldest, oldest, oldest man
living has never seen her move: the oldest, oldest book records that she
lay here then, as she lies here now, with the sand about her. But listen!
Older than the oldest book, older than the oldest recorded memory of man,
on the Rocks of Language, on the hard-baked clay of Ancient Customs, now
crumbling to decay, are found the marks of her footsteps! Side by side
with his who stands beside her you may trace them; and you know that she
who now lies there once wandered free over the rocks with him.โ
And I said, โWhy does she lie there now?โ
And he said, โI take it, ages ago the Age-of-dominion-of-muscular-force
found her, and when she stooped low to give suck to her young, and her back
was broad, he put his burden of subjection on to it, and tied it on with
the broad band of Inevitable Necessity. Then she looked at the earth and
the sky, and knew there was no hope for her; and she lay down on the sand
with the burden she could not loosen. Ever since she has lain here. And
the ages have come, and the ages have gone, but the band of Inevitable
Necessity has not been cut.โ
And I looked and saw in her eyes the terrible patience of the centuries;
the ground was wet with her tears, and her nostrils blew up the sand.
And I said, โHas she ever tried to move?โ
And he said, โSometimes a limb has quivered. But she is wise; she knows
she cannot rise with the burden on her.โ
And I said, โWhy does not he who stands by her leave her and go on?โ
And he said, โHe cannot. Lookโโ
And I saw a broad band passing along the ground from one to the other, and
it bound them together.
He said, โWhile she lies there he must stand and look across the desert.โ
And I said, โDoes he know why he cannot move?โ
And he said, โNo.โ
And I heard a sound of something cracking, and I looked, and I saw the band
that bound the burden on to her back broken asunder; and the burden rolled
on to the ground.
And I said, โWhat is this?โ
And he said, โThe Age-of-muscular-force is dead. The Age-of-nervous-force
has killed him with the knife he holds in his hand; and silently and
invisibly he has crept up to the woman, and with that knife of Mechanical
Invention he has cut the band that bound the burden to her back. The
Inevitable Necessity it broken. She might rise now.โ
And I saw that she still lay motionless on the sand, with her eyes open and
her neck stretched out. And she seemed to look for something on the far-off border of the desert that never came. And I wondered if she were awake
or asleep. And as I looked her body quivered, and a light came into her
eyes, like when a sunbeam breaks into a dark room.
I said, โWhat is it?โ
He whispered โHush! the thought has come to her, โMight I not rise?โโ
And I looked. And she raised her head from the sand, and I saw the dent
where her neck had lain so long. And she looked at the earth, and she
looked at the sky, and she looked at him who stood by her: but he looked
out across the desert.
And I saw her body quiver; and she pressed her front knees to the earth,
and veins stood out; and I cried; โShe is going to rise!โ
But only her sides heaved, and she lay still where she was.
But her head she held up; she did not lay it down again. And he beside me
said, โShe is very weak. See, her legs have been crushed under her so
long.โ
And I saw the creature struggle: and the drops stood out on her.
And I said, โSurely he who stands beside her will help her?โ
And he beside me answered, โHe cannot help her: she must help herself.
Let her struggle till she is strong.โ
And I cried, โAt least he will not hinder her! See, he moves farther from
her, and tightens the cord between them, and he drags her down.โ
And he answered, โHe does not understand. When she moves she draws the
band that binds them, and hurts him, and he moves farther from her. The
day will come when he will understand, and will know what she is doing.
Let her once stagger on to her knees. In that day he will stand close to
her, and look into her eyes with sympathy.โ
And she stretched her neck, and the drops fell from her. And the creature
rose an inch from the earth and sank back.
And I cried, โOh, she is too weak! she cannot walk! The long years have
taken all her strength from her. Can she never move?โ
And he answered me, โSee the light in her eyes!โ
And slowly the creature staggered on to its knees.
And I awoke: and all to the east and to the west stretched the barren
earth, with the dry bushes on it. The ants ran up and down in the red
sand, and the heat beat fiercely. I looked up through the thin branches of
the tree at the blue sky overhead. I stretched myself, and I mused over
the dream I had had. And I fell asleep again, with my head on my saddle.
And in the fierce heat I had another dream.
I saw a desert and I saw a woman coming out of it. And she came to the
bank of a dark river; and the bank was steep and high. (The banks of an
African river are sometimes a hundred feet high, and consist of deep
shifting sands, through which in the course of ages the river has worn its
gigantic bed.) And on it an old man met her, who had a long white beard;
and a stick that curled was in his hand, and on it was written Reason. And
he asked her what she wanted; and she said โI am woman; and I am seeking
for the land of Freedom.โ
And he said, โIt is before you.โ
And she said, โI see nothing before me but a dark flowing river, and a bank
steep and high, and cuttings here and there with heavy sand in them.โ
And he said, โAnd beyond that?โ
She said, โI see nothing, but sometimes, when I shade my eyes with my hand,
I think I see on the further bank trees and hills, and the sun shining on
them!โ
He said, โThat is the Land of Freedom.โ
She said, โHow am I to get there?โ
He said, โThere is one way, and one only. Down the banks of Labour,
through the water of Suffering. There is no other.โ
She said, โIs there no bridge?โ
He answered. โNone.โ
She said, โIs the water deep?โ
He said, โDeep.โ
She said, โIs the floor worn?โ
He said, โIt is. Your foot may slip at any time, and you may be lost.โ
She said, โHave any crossed already?โ
He said, โSome have tried!โ
She said, โIs there a track to show where the best fording is?โ
He said, โIt has to be made.โ
She shaded her eyes with her hand; and she said, โI will go.โ
And he said, โYou must take off the clothes you wore in the desert: they
are dragged down by them who go into the water so clothed.โ
And she threw from her gladly the mantle of Ancient-received-opinions she
wore, for it was worn full of holes. And she took the girdle from her
waist that she had treasured so long, and the moths flew out of it in a
cloud. And he said, โTake the shoes of dependence off your feet.โ
And she stood there naked, but for one white garment that clung close to
her.
And he said, โThat you may keep. So they wear clothes in the Land of
Freedom. In the water it buoys; it always swims.โ
And I saw on its breast was written Truth; and it was white; the sun had
not often shone on it; the other clothes had covered it up. And he said,
โTake this stick; hold it fast. In that day when it slips from your hand
you are lost. Put it down before you; feel your way: where it cannot find
a bottom do not set your foot.โ
And she said, โI am ready; let me go.โ
And he said, โNoโbut stay; what is thatโin your breast?โ
She was silent.
He said, โOpen it, and let me see.โ
And she opened
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