The Man in the Dinner Suit
In C.S. Lewis's excellent children's novel The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of the Chronicles of Narnia and a childhood favourie of mine, the ship of the title is sailing towards an island, which the children on board are told is The Island Where Dreams Come True. They are rather thrilled by this and sail towards it as fast as possible, until they meet a terrified-looking man sailing away from it as fast as possible.
He tells them to flee. But why, they ask, if it's the island where dreams come true?
"Dreams!" he says. "Not daydreams! Dreams!"
Understanding, with sudden horror, the implications of this, they sail away as fast as possible.
I don't remember dreams very often. I had a recurring dream throughout my childhood. My parents and I were floating down to the ground, having somehow gone over the edge of a cliff. It was the classic "falling" dream, and yet not unpleasant.
I have had a number of nightmares in my life, of which by far the most scary was this:
I was walking down a country lane and I met an old woman dressed all in black, who was walking towards me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"The Dead of the Dead," she replied.
I woke up, half out of my mind with fear, and I only had to think of that phrase, "The Dead of the Dead" for years ever after and I was instantly terrified. I don't know where it came from - out of my imagination, perhaps. Remembering that dream, I can still remember how frightened and uneasy I felt then, and I still feel some of that fear now, years later. Powerful things, dreams. Sometimes it's difficult to tell what they mean.
Last night's dream was more prosaic, and when I woke I knew exactly what it was about.
A man in a dinner suit was standing on the floor at the edge of the stage at Roundhay High School for Girls (the school I attended, now razed to the ground, sadly).
He was hitting something repeatedly with a hammer. It was in a paper bag. I asked what it was.
"Treacle toffee!" he said, and, sure enough, he was hammering it into little pieces.
I took a piece and ate it, because it was all right to do so.
Then I woke up, feeling guilty. I knew that the reason it was fine to eat the toffee was that I wasn't a Type 2 diabetic in my dream. I wasn't diabetic because I was back in my schooldays, and I wasn't diabetic then. The curved wooden edge of that stage in the school hall - which I knew so well at the time, and hadn't thought of for years - seemed so real I felt I could touch it, even after waking up.
I know the meaning of the dream - it's that I'm a bit worried about my diabetes, damn it. The medication I'm on - Glucophage, which is modified Metformin, should you wish to know, which I bet you don't - makes me feel slightly queasy, all the time. And my blood sugar's still too high. I'm due for my annual diabetes check with the nurse, and I'm not looking forward to it.
Why the man was wearing a dinner suit remains unexplained.
He tells them to flee. But why, they ask, if it's the island where dreams come true?
"Dreams!" he says. "Not daydreams! Dreams!"
Understanding, with sudden horror, the implications of this, they sail away as fast as possible.
I don't remember dreams very often. I had a recurring dream throughout my childhood. My parents and I were floating down to the ground, having somehow gone over the edge of a cliff. It was the classic "falling" dream, and yet not unpleasant.
I have had a number of nightmares in my life, of which by far the most scary was this:
I was walking down a country lane and I met an old woman dressed all in black, who was walking towards me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"The Dead of the Dead," she replied.
I woke up, half out of my mind with fear, and I only had to think of that phrase, "The Dead of the Dead" for years ever after and I was instantly terrified. I don't know where it came from - out of my imagination, perhaps. Remembering that dream, I can still remember how frightened and uneasy I felt then, and I still feel some of that fear now, years later. Powerful things, dreams. Sometimes it's difficult to tell what they mean.
Last night's dream was more prosaic, and when I woke I knew exactly what it was about.
A man in a dinner suit was standing on the floor at the edge of the stage at Roundhay High School for Girls (the school I attended, now razed to the ground, sadly).
He was hitting something repeatedly with a hammer. It was in a paper bag. I asked what it was.
"Treacle toffee!" he said, and, sure enough, he was hammering it into little pieces.
I took a piece and ate it, because it was all right to do so.
Then I woke up, feeling guilty. I knew that the reason it was fine to eat the toffee was that I wasn't a Type 2 diabetic in my dream. I wasn't diabetic because I was back in my schooldays, and I wasn't diabetic then. The curved wooden edge of that stage in the school hall - which I knew so well at the time, and hadn't thought of for years - seemed so real I felt I could touch it, even after waking up.
I know the meaning of the dream - it's that I'm a bit worried about my diabetes, damn it. The medication I'm on - Glucophage, which is modified Metformin, should you wish to know, which I bet you don't - makes me feel slightly queasy, all the time. And my blood sugar's still too high. I'm due for my annual diabetes check with the nurse, and I'm not looking forward to it.
Why the man was wearing a dinner suit remains unexplained.
posted by Daphne at 10:07 pm
3 Comments:
Good luck for your session with the nurse. Natural to worry but I'm sure will be fine.
I don't dream often.
I have 2 odd recurring dreams.
One is that I failed the final year at university (I left in 1997 with a 2.1) - but I have very vivid dreams that I'm going to flunk the 3rd year and that I can't cope with the workload.
The 2nd recurring dream is to do with a retainer I wore circa 15yrs old when my train tracks (braces came out). The retainer can be taken out and is bit like a shallow gum shield. No real significance, but I guess in the dream I'm still required to wear the retainer as an adult. Odd. And I don't know what it means!!
Answers on a postcard??!! I seem to recall reading that dreams involving teeth do have a definite meaning!!
I dream I can breathe under water often. I'm not wearing a dinner suit though.
I hope your tests go well. It would be icky to be nauseous all the time. Drugs and their side effects...just seems unfair somehow.
The "dead of the dead" rang a bell with me (for whom the bell tolls!?) but perhaps I was thinking of the "day of the dead" - a well known festival.
It's a good scary phrase though - the dead (singular) of the dead (collective noun).
As far as your man in a dinner suit goes, see if it fits anyone from this list:
http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamthemes/characters.htm
Good luck with your annual diabetes check.
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