I dreamed that a score of us were sitting in a large room with open
windows.
Among us were women, children, old men.... We were all talking about
some very unfamiliar subject--talking noisily and unintelligibly.
Suddenly, with a harsh clatter, a huge insect, about three inches and a
half long, flew into the room ... flew in, circled about and alighted on
the wall.
It resembled a fly or a wasp.--Its body was of a dirty hue; its flat,
hard wings were of the same colour; it had extended, shaggy claws and a
big, angular head, like that of a dragon-fly; and that head and the
claws were bright red, as though bloody.
This strange insect kept incessantly turning its head downward, upward,
to the right, to the left, and moving its claws about ... then suddenly
it wrested itself from the wall, flew clattering through the room,--and
again alighted, again began to move in terrifying and repulsive manner,
without stirring from the spot. It evoked in all of us disgust, alarm,
even terror.... None of us had ever seen anything of the sort; we all
cried: "Expel that monster!" We all flourished our handkerchiefs at it
from a distance ... for no one could bring himself to approach it ...
and when the insect had flown in we had all involuntarily got out of the
way.
Only one of our interlocutors, a pale-faced man who was still young,
surveyed us all with surprise.--He shrugged his shoulders, he smiled, he
positively could not understand what had happened to us and why we were
so agitated. He had seen no insect, he had not heard the ominous clatter
of its wings.
Suddenly the insect seemed to rivet its attention on him, soared into
the air, and swooping down upon his head, stung him on the brow, a
little above the eyes.... The young man emitted a faint cry and fell
dead.
The dreadful fly immediately flew away.... Only then did we divine what
sort of a visitor we had had.
May, 1878.