healing dreams

ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σχήματι στὰς ἔμπροσθεν τῆς εὐνῆς προβαλὼν τοὺς δακτύλους καὶ χρόνους τινὰς συλλογισάμενος, ἔχεις, ἔφη, δέκα ἔτη παρʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ τρία παρὰ τοῦ Σαράπιδος—καὶ ἅμα τὰ τρία καὶ δέκα ὡς ἑπτακαίδεκα ἐφάνη τῇ θέσει τῶν δακτύλων— ταῦτα δὲ εἶναι οὐκ ὄναρ, ἀλλʼ ὕπαρ, εἴσεσθαι δὲ καὶ αὐτόν.

In this form he stood in front of my bed, held out his fingers, and counted up some spans of time. "You get ten years from me," he said, "and three from Sarapis." And as he spoke, the way his fingers were set made the thirteen look like seventeen. This, he said, was no dream but a waking vision, and I would see that for myself.

τοιούτων δὲ ὄντων ἔτυχον μὲν εἰς τὸ εἴσω τετραμμένος τῆς κλίνης, ἔδοξα δὲ ὡς ὄναρ· αὐτὸ δὲ ἦν ἄρα ἡ λύσις· ‖J300‖ ἔδοξα δὲ καὶ δὴ ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ δράματος εἶναι, καὶ τοὺς ἐμβάτας ἀποτίθεσθαι, καὶ τὰς κρηπῖδας μεταλήψεσθαι τοῦ πατρός.

Things stood like this when I happened to turn toward the wall. Then I had what seemed to be a dream, though in fact it was the turning point. I seemed to have come to the end of a play, and I was taking off my actor's boots and getting ready to put on my father's shoes.

ἐπισχόντων δέ με κἀνταῦθα ὀνειράτων ἐπέμεινα.

Here, too, dreams held me back, so I stayed.