James Poy Wong 黃培正

"Residing in an unreasonable society, people would naturally dream more when the body and thought are being oppressed. Those who have accepted the failure would have horrified and abnormal dreams, and those who are hopeful would have fantasy and happy dreams."

"Dream" - 1947

梦

人生有三分之一的时间， 化在睡眠中。 睡眠时所能做的只有梦。 没有梦做的人， 在他的生命史上，就有一段长的空白。 故此过度爱惜生命的人，妙想着从梦中获得灵感和新的知识。

我们日常所意识不到的东西，做梦时也断不会想到。 梦是睡眠中的思维，当脑子进入了无意识的境地时，思维的作用也随之而终止，但是下意识仍然活动， 故此有时我们一觉醒来，精神不爽，晃晃惚惘，明知作夜做了梦，却又无法记得梦中的事，这就是下意识的作用。

人的思维， 现在已可以由电子仪器侦察出来，同样，梦也可以用这种仪器来纪录的。 据说人的梦，最长也只有三分钟，这个纪录尚未能作定论。 但在梦中，似乎超出时间的限制，像进入一个第五度量的宇宙中，我们可以把一生长久的事，在五分钟内做完，丝毫不觉得它的迅速，也可以在区区三两分钟内，做成几十个梦，走偏几千几万的地方，这在梦境中也是可能的事。 它的种类多极了，呓言是常见的例，梦中杀人也有所听闻，我更知道梦可以意识到颜色和味道。

自古以来中外人士，都以梦为神秘的东西，或是神的启示，故此玛利亚得到梦的启示而逃难，耶稣才活下来宣扬他的福音。 中国人更以之为先知的神明，为祸福的先兆，为客人来临的预告，为自己生命的摆弄枢纽。 时代不同，梦还有着大量的信徒，梦还是买白鸽票望中彩的人之导师，也是许多性欲苦恼的青年发泄的场合。

从心里学上的立场来说，梦的分析可以找出性格，和发现了潜进下意识的痛苦根源。 到连思想都被压抑的时候，还可以自由地做梦，虽然所梦的不一定是所理想的国度，不一定是所盼望的东西，不一定是欲望的正常满足。 但是正面或反面的表露中，都可以暂时满足内在的刺激和冲动，栖息在一个不合理的社会中， 身体和思想受到压抑的时候，人们做梦自然增多。 甘心挫折的就有着恐怖和反常的梦，抱着希望的就有幻想和美满的梦。 虽然它对一些人是甜蜜的，对别些人是痛苦的，但总是虚构和可怜，白昼作梦的人就更加可怜。

我们的时代，已从行动有罪的时代进入了思想有罪的时代，说不定有一天做梦也有斩头 （或会是什么原子分裂） 的危险。 那时权威者说 ：“你们做梦，你们有罪了！”

Dream

One third of life is spent on sleeping. All that can be done during sleep is dreaming. There will be a long void in the history of one’s life for those who have no dreams. Therefore, those who lavishly cherish their lives would fantasize for ways to obtain inspiration and new knowledge from their dreams.

We would never dream of things that we are not conscious of in our daily lives. Dreaming is thinking in our sleep. When the brain enters into an unconscious stage, the function of thinking will come to cease, although the unconscious is still active. Therefore, sometimes when we suddenly wake up and don’t feel refreshed as if in a trance, we knowingly had a dream last night, but just can’t remember what is in the dream. This is the working of the subconscious.

Human thought can now be detected by electronic devices. Similarly, dreams can also be recorded by such devices. It is said that the longest duration of a dream is only three minutes, but this record cannot be finalized as a conclusion. But in a dream, it seems to exceed the limit of time and enter into the 5th dimension of the universe. We could complete the events of a whole lifetime in five minutes without feeling its swiftness. We could also have dozens of dreams in merely two or three minutes, and travel tens of thousands of places. Such things are possible in a dream. There are many categories of dreams, such as talking in one’s sleep is a common example; killing a person in a dream has also been heard. More so, I know that one can perceive colors and scent in a dream.

Since ancient times Eastern and Western personages had considered dreams as a mysterious thing or as god’s revelation. Therefore, Mary had received revelation and fled from a calamity; Jesus was thus kept alive to do his preaching. Chinese people have further considered dreams as a deity’s prophet, a sign of misfortune or blessing, a notice of a guest’s arrival, and a controlling axis of one’s fate. The time has changed, yet dreams still have many believers. They are still the guidance of buying lottery tickets for a winning ticket. They are also the occasion for many young adolescents to relieve their sexual frustration.

From the perspective of psychology, the analysis of dreams can define personality and the roots of pain that submerge into one’s subconscious. When one’s thinking is being suppressed he can still dream freely, although what he dreams may not necessarily be his ideal state, or what he hopes for, nor the adequate satisfaction of desire. But by directly or indirectly expressing through dreaming, one would temporarily satisfy the inner irritation and impulses. Residing in an unreasonable society, people would naturally dream more when the body and thought are being oppressed. Those who have accepted the failure would have horrified and abnormal dreams, and those who are hopeful would have fantasy and happy dreams. Although dreams are sweet to some and painful to others, they are after all imaginary and pitiful. Those who are dreaming during the daytime are the most pitiful.

Our era has entered from the age of action-crime into an age of thought-crime. It is hard to say for sure someday dreaming would bring the danger of beheading (or being split by atoms). By then the authorities would say, “You are guilty of dreaming!”