a-general-introduction-to-psychoanalysis-sigmund-freud

compulsive act. She ran from her room into an adjoining one, placed herself
in a definite spot beside a table which stood in the middle of the room, rang
for her maid, gave her a trivial errand to do, or dismissed her without more
ado, and then ran back again. This was certainly not a severe symptom of
disease, but it still deserved to arouse curiosity. Its explanation was found,
absolutely without any assistance on the part of the physician, in the very
simplest way, a way to which no one can take exception. I hardly know how I
alone could have guessed the meaning of this compulsive act, or have found
any suggestion toward its interpretation. As often as I had asked the patient:
"Why do you do this? Of what use is it?" she had answered, "I don't know."
But one day after I had succeeded in surmounting a grave ethical doubt of
hers she suddenly saw the light and related the history of the compulsive act.
More than ten years prior she had married a man far older than herself, who
had proved impotent on the bridal night. Countless times during the night he
had run from his room to hers to repeat the attempt, but each time without
success. In the morning he said angrily: "It is enough to make one ashamed
before the maid who does the beds," and took a bottle of red ink that
happened to be in the room, and poured its contents on the sheet, but not on
the place where such a stain would have been justifiable. At first I did not
understand the connection between this reminiscence and the compulsive act
in question, for the only agreement I could find between them was in the
running from one room into another,—possibly also in the appearance of the
maid. Then the patient led me to the table in the second room and let me
discover a large spot on the cover. She explained also that she placed herself
at the table in such a way that the maid could not miss seeing the stain. Now
it was no longer possible to doubt the intimate relation of the scene after her
bridal night and her present compulsive act, but there were still a number of
things to be learned about it.
In the first place, it is obvious that the patient identifies herself with her
husband, she is acting his part in her imitation of his running from one room
into the other. We must then admit—if she holds to this role—that she
replaces the bed and sheet by table and cover. This may seem arbitrary, but
we have not studied dream symbolism in vain. In dreams also a table which
must be interpreted as a bed, is frequently seen. "Bed and board" together
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