Page:WishfulfillmentAndSymbolism.djvu/17

Rh

Will she come to this dance? Lady, by your graciousness, Raise the veil—let me peep Underneath the garland.

So fair and sweet are you, That gladly will I give The best of all I have. I know of flowers, red and white, Growing many in the meadow, Where they unfold in beauty, And where the birds are singing— Then together let us pluck them!

Greater happiness I never felt Than had now fallen to my lot! From the blossoming trees Petals dropped on us and o'er the grass, Then I laughed with joy. As I was so happy, And so rich in my dream, The dawn came, and I must waken!

In "Kokoro" by Lafcadio Hearn there is a charming Japanese tale "The Nun in the Temple of Armida." It describes very effectively the formation and activity of a psychic wish and substitution formation that follows in some measure Bleuler's example of Johanna Spyri. There the poetess creates in phantasy the wished-for grandchildren, here the mother her lost child, going to the point of formal indentification.

In the original it is related, in wonderful language, how O-Toyo during the long absence of her husband in the service of the liege lord, performed, with her little son, the daily duties and attended piously to all the good, religious customs that were observed on such occasions. Daily she spread for her husband who was afar off, a miniature meal on a small table, as if the manes and gods offered it. If there is moisture on the inner side of this little dish cover, she is peaceful, because she is then certain, according to the prevailing belief, that her absent sweetheart still lives. Her small boy is her constant joy and she busies herself with him in various intimate ways. They wander together through the wonderful country to the far-off mountain Dakeyama, seen in the distance, where all those go, who wait anxiously for