Historical dream account · English · A. A. Brill, 1913 translation
The road becomes easier at the top
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
The Interpretation of Dreams, authorised translation of the third German edition (1913) · Printed p. 267
Dreamer identified by the source: Anonymous man recorded by Freud
Read in your language or share a constellation ↗
The dreamer is riding with much company to X-street, where there is a modest road-house (which is not the fact). A theatrical performance is being given in its rooms. He is first audience, then actor. Finally the company is told to change their clothes, in order to get back into the city. Some of the people are assigned to the rooms on the ground floor, others to the first floor. Then a dispute arises. Those above are angry because those below have not yet finished, so that they cannot come down. His brother is upstairs, he is below, and he is angry at his brother because there is such crowding. (This part obscure.) Besides it has already been decided upon their arrival who is to be upstairs and who down. Then he goes alone over the rising ground, across which X-street leads toward the city, and he has such difficulty and hardship in walking that he cannot move from the spot. An elderly gentleman joins him and scolds about the King of Italy. Finally, towards the end of the rising ground walking becomes much easier.
No precise dream date inferred. Page or diary heading is a locator; publication year is not event date.
Source & context
Complete stated narrative including the source’s “(This part obscure.)”. Freud’s original heading is “A Beautiful Dream”; proposed title is editorial. No diagnosis or later interpretation included. In his preface (p. vi), Freud acknowledges that he disguised some personal disclosures through omissions and substitutions. These are historical reports as published in Brill’s 1913 English translation, rather than claims of untouched original dream logs. Following source qualification: “The difficulties experienced in walking were so distinct that for some time after waking he was in doubt whether they were dream or reality.”
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), The Interpretation of Dreams, authorised translation of the third German edition (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913), translated with introduction by A. A. Brill (1874–1948), Printed p. 267. Dreamer: Anonymous man recorded by Freud. Original-edition witness: Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Internet Archive scan funded by Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School. Original published qualifications, initials and uncertainty retained; descriptive title and navigation metadata added by Synastry.
No precise dream date inferred. Page or diary heading is a locator; publication year is not event date.
Public domain in the United States (original 1913 English edition) ↗
The original New York: Macmillan, 1913 English edition is beyond the maximum US publication term. The title page identifies Sigmund Freud and translator A. A. Brill; Countway Library catalogue metadata identifies their life dates as 1856–1939 and 1874–1948, respectively, so ordinary life-plus-70 terms have also elapsed. This uses Brill’s original 1913 translation, not a modern English translation or editorial adaptation. The original volume was digitized for Internet Archive with Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School funding. Public access or absence of a restrictive archive field is not itself a licence grant. No blanket worldwide clearance or new Creative Commons licence is asserted.
Source locator and text provenance
Printed p. 267
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
Original-scan-witnessed OCR repairs; line, page and type-spacing normalization; original lexical hyphens retained. Footnote/header furniture outside the continuous main-text account removed where a page intervenes. No new narrative words, endings, identifications or clinical interpretation.
- Account text SHA-256
- 751db240e91aa6e448a0d64d0a9fec591011e80e5859b74068d2efe8c1535856
- Source file SHA-256
- 81d74537e2b19bdae7ad780593916ea8cbc0c13ec793e2cfe7ed49e227049568
Content notes
- Historical recollection
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.