IV

I dreamt all night long. I dreamt of a desert, a temple, a high priest,

and a tall mountain. I climb the mountain. Diamonds and pearls grow on

the trees, and my comrades sit on the boughs, and shake the jewels down

onto the ground, whole showers of them, and I stand and gather them, and

stuff them into my pockets, and, strange to say, however many I stuff

in, there is still room! I stuff and stuff, and still there is room! I

put my hand into my pocket, and draw out--not pearls and brilliants, but

fruits of all kinds--apples, pears, oranges, olives, dates, nuts, and

figs. This makes me very unhappy, and I toss from side to side. Then I

dream of the temple, I hear the priests chant, and the Levites sing, and

the organ play. I want to go inside and I cannot--Rikel the maid has

hold of me, and will not let me go. I beg of her and scream and cry, and

again I am very unhappy, and toss from side to side. I wake--and see my

father and mother standing there, half dressed, both pale, my father

hanging his head, and my mother wringing her hands, and with her soft

eyes full of tears. I feel at once that something has gone very wrong,

very wrong indeed, but my childish head is incapable of imagining the

greatness of the disaster.

The fact is this: our guest from beyond the desert and the seven seas

has disappeared, and a lot of things have disappeared with him: all the

silver wine-cups, all the silver spoons, knives, and forks; all my

mother's ornaments, all the money that happened to be in the house, and

also Rikel the maid!

A pang goes through my heart. Not on account of the silver cups, the

silver spoons, knives, and forks that have vanished; not on account of

mother's ornaments or of the money, still less on account of Rikel the

maid, a good riddance! But because of the happy, happy land whose roads

were strewn with brilliants, pearls, and diamonds; because of the temple

with the priests, the Levites, and the organ; because of the altar and

the sacrifices; because of all the other beautiful things that have been

taken from me, taken, taken, taken!