<strong><strong>Dream</strong>s</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Dream</strong>-<strong>Stories</strong> <strong>by</strong> <strong>Anna</strong> <strong>Kingsford</strong> fall I awoke. HINTON, Sept. 1877. [The book referred to was a volume entitled Fruit <strong>and</strong> Bread, which had been sent anonymously on the previous morning. The fig-tree, which both with the Hebrews <strong>and</strong> the Greeks was the type of intuitional perception, was a special symbol of Hermes, called <strong>by</strong> the Hebrews Raphael. The plural used <strong>by</strong> the seer included myself as the partner of her literary <strong>and</strong> other studies. The term virgin in its mystical sense signifies a soul pure from admixture of matter. Editor] [Page 39] Page 22
<strong><strong>Dream</strong>s</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Dream</strong>-<strong>Stories</strong> <strong>by</strong> <strong>Anna</strong> <strong>Kingsford</strong> - 10 - THE DIFFICULT PATH Having fallen asleep last night while in a state of great perplexity about the care <strong>and</strong> education of my daughter, I dreamt as follows. I was walking with the child along the border of a high cliff, at the foot of which was the sea. The path was exceedingly narrow, <strong>and</strong> on the inner side was flanked <strong>by</strong> a line of rocks <strong>and</strong> stones. The outer side was so close to the edge of the cliff that she was compelled to walk either before or behind me, or else on the stones. And, as it was unsafe to let go her h<strong>and</strong>, it was on the stones that she had to walk, much to her distress. I was in male attire, <strong>and</strong> carried a staff in my h<strong>and</strong>. She wore skirts <strong>and</strong> had no staff; <strong>and</strong> every moment she stumbled or her dress caught <strong>and</strong> was torn <strong>by</strong> some jutting crag or bramble. In this way our progress was being continually interrupted <strong>and</strong> rendered almost impossible, when suddenly we came upon a sharp declivity leading to a steep path which wound down the side of the precipice to the beach below. Looking down, I saw on the shore beneath the cliff a collection of fishermen's huts, <strong>and</strong> groups of men <strong>and</strong> women on the shingle, mending nets, hauling up boats, <strong>and</strong> sorting fish of various kinds. In the midst of the little village stood a great crucifix of lead, so cast in a mould as to allow me from the elevated position I occupied behind it, to see that though in front it looked solid, it was in reality hollow. As I was noting this, a voice of some one close at h<strong>and</strong> suddenly addressed me; <strong>and</strong> on turning my head I found [Page 40] st<strong>and</strong>ing before me a man in the garb of a fisherman, who evidently had just scaled the steep path leading from the beach. He stretched out his h<strong>and</strong> to take the child, saying he had come to fetch her, for that in the path I was following there was room only for one. "Let her come to us", he added; "she will do very well as a fisherman's daughter". Being reluctant to part with her, <strong>and</strong> not perceiving then the significance of his garb <strong>and</strong> vocation, I objected that the calling was a dirty <strong>and</strong> unsavoury one, <strong>and</strong> would soil her h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> dress. Whereupon the man became severe, <strong>and</strong> seemed to insist with a kind of authority upon my acceptance of his proposition. The child, too, was taken with him, <strong>and</strong> was moreover anxious to leave the rough <strong>and</strong> dangerous path; <strong>and</strong> she accordingly went to him of her own will <strong>and</strong>, placing her h<strong>and</strong> in his, left me without any sign of regret, <strong>and</strong> I went on my way alone. Then lifting my eyes to see whither my path led, I beheld it winding along the edge of the cliff to an apparently endless distance, until, as I gazed steadily on the extreme limit of my view, I saw the grey mist from the sea here <strong>and</strong> there break <strong>and</strong> roll up into great masses of slow-drifting cloud, in the intervals of which I caught the white gleam of sunlit snow. And these intervals continually closed up to open again in fresh places higher up, disclosing peak upon peak of a range of mountains of enormous altitude.[Always the symbol of high mystical insight <strong>and</strong> spiritual attainment — Biblically called the Hill of the Lord <strong>and</strong> Mount of God (Ed)] By a curious coincidence, the very morning after this dream, a friend, who knew of my perplexity, called to [Page 41] recommend a school in a certain convent as one suitable for my child. There were, however, insuperable objections to the scheme. PARIS, Nov. 3, 1877 Page 23
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