Historical dream account · English · machine translation
The procession awaited at the church
Joseph Delbœuf
Le sommeil et les rêves, considérés principalement dans leurs rapports avec les théories de la certitude et de la mémoire (1885) · Original 1885 edition, printed pp. 23; scan leaves 33
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One morning I dreamed of a friend of mine who had long been married, but only before the civil authorities. I do not know for what reason, departing from his principles, he finally thought he ought—this is my dream—to have his union blessed by the priest. There was to be a procession on this occasion. The news had thrown the whole commune into a stir. As curious as anyone else, I go to the church; above all I wanted to see the husband's expression. I make my way through the crowd and manage to slip into the front row. Yet the procession did not come. While waiting, I thought of a thousand things to kill time. I was growing impatient; I had the distinct sensation that I was about to wake; I could hear the morning noises of the house. But, determined at all costs to witness this unusual procession pass by, I made efforts to fall asleep again and finish my dream as a dream. They did not succeed. Much against my will, I awoke without having been able to satisfy my curiosity.
Read the original French account
Le cortège attendu à l’église
Je rêvais un matin d'un de mes amis, marié depuis longtemps, mais seulement par devant l'autorité civile. Je ne sais pour quel motif, dérogeant à ses principes, il crut devoir enfin — ceci est mon rêve — faire bénir son union par le prêtre. A cette occasion il devait y avoir un cortège. Cette nouvelle avait mis en l'air toute la commune. Curieux autant que les autres, je me rends à l'église ; je tenais surtout à voir la mine du mari. Je perce la foule et parviens à me faufiler au premier rang. Cependant le cortège ne venait pas. En attendant, je pensais à mille choses, pour tuer le temps. L'impatience me gagnait ; j'avais la sensation distincte que j'allais me réveiller ; j'entendais les bruits matinaux de la maison ; mais voulant à toute force assister au défilé de ce cortège original, je faisais des efforts pour me rendormir et terminer mon rêve, comme rêve. Ils n'aboutirent pas. Je me réveillai, bien malgré moi, sans avoir pu satisfaire ma curiosité.
Source & context
English machine translation. The original account, source credit and publication terms remain available.
Joseph Delbœuf recounts his own undated sleep dream. The remembered procession never arrives: household sounds intrude, his attempt to resume the dream fails, and he wakes. The later philosophical discussion is outside this narrative. The 1885 publication year is not assigned as the dream date.
Joseph Delbœuf, own recalled dream in Le sommeil et les rêves (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1885), Original 1885 edition, printed pp. 23; scan leaves 33. Delbœuf is author, recorder and dreamer here. The preface separately thanks G. Tarde for other dream material; these selected first-person accounts are not assigned to Tarde. Editorial French title and navigation themes added; no synthetic dream prose or modern translation.
Undated personal recollection; publication year is not the dream date.
Public domain in the United States (1885 edition) ↗
The original French 1885 printed text is public domain in the United States by expired publication term. The linked NoC-US statement describes that US-only basis; no new Archive license, CC grant or blanket worldwide clearance is asserted. Delbœuf’s 1831–1896 dates also support expiry in ordinary life-plus 70 territories. No modern edition, editorial revision or translation is copied. The three selected accounts are his own recollections, distinct from other contributors acknowledged in the book.
Source locator and text provenance
Original 1885 edition, printed pp. 23; scan leaves 33
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
Original French wording retained. Editorial title/navigation themes only; physical line wraps, running headers/signature furniture and OCR errors repaired from scans with an exact forward/reverse ledger. Fraction glyphs render the source values without correcting the dream’s arithmetic. Printed plant-name variation, repeated source guillemets, author interruption and internal asides remain. No invented event, modern translation or unmarked privacy omission.
- Account text SHA-256
- f82360b5a9dfb38187b5c62f53f227e6112521f017f65632cf1740eca25b34b0
- Source file SHA-256
- 71938fd8d537301a6d8a9c8ae994066bf783dd0cac3be110df4b7cf1ca4983c5
Connections in the Loom
Titles, theme labels, illustrations and map connections are editorial navigation aids. They are separate from the account’s words and do not establish connections between real people.