Page:Freud - The interpretation of dreams.djvu/338

320 paths once trodden by the whole of humanity in the early ages of civilisation—paths of whose existence customs of speech, superstitions, and morals still give testimony to this day.

I here insert the promised flower dream of a lady patient, in which I have italicised everything which is to be sexually interpreted. This beautiful dream seemed to lose its entire charm for the dreamer after it had been interpreted.

(a) Preliminary dream: ''She goes to the two maids in the kitchen and scolds them for taking so long to prepare "a little bite of food." She also sees a great many coarse dishes standing in the kitchen inverted so that the water may drip off them, and heaped up in a pile. Later addition: The two maids go to fetch water, and must, as it were, step into a river which reaches up into the house or into the yard.''

(b) Main dream : ''She is descending from a high place over balustrades that are curiously fashioned or fences which are united into big squares and consist of a conglomeration of little squares. It is really not intended for climbing upon; she is worried about finding a place for her foot, and she is glad her dress doesn't get caught anywhere, and that she remains so respectable while she is going. She is also carrying a large bough in her hand, really a bough of a tree, which is thickly studded with red blossoms; it has many branches, and spreads out. With this is connected the idea of cherry blossoms, but they look like full-bloom camelias, which of course do not grow on trees. While she is descending, she first has one, then suddenly two, and later again only one. When she arrives at the bottom of''