JEROME CARDAN 49 



heath, I took that path out of fear, and, as I wended 

 thither in reckless mood, I found that I had come to 

 the entrance of a rude hut, thatched with straw and 

 reeds and rushes, and that I held by my right hand a 

 boy about twelve years of age and clad in a grey garment. 

 Then at this very moment I was aroused from sleep, and 

 my dream vanished. 



" In this vision was clearly displayed the deathless 

 name which was to be mine, my life of heavy and cease- 

 less work, my imprisonment, my seasons of grievous 

 terror and sadness, and my abiding-place foreshadowed 

 as inhospitable, by the sharp stones I beheld : barren, 

 by the want of trees and of all serviceable plants ; but 

 destined to be, nevertheless, in the end happy, and 

 righteous, and easy. This dream told also of my lasting 

 fame in the future, seeing that the vine yields a harvest 

 every year. As to the boy, if he were indeed my good 

 spirit, the omen was lucky, for I held him very close. 

 If he were meant to foreshadow my grandson it would 

 be less fortunate. That cottage in the desert was my 

 hope of rest. That overwhelming horror and the sense 

 of falling headlong may have had reference to the ruin 

 of my son. 1 



" My second dream occurred a short time after. It 

 seemed to me that my soul was in the heaven of the 

 moon, freed from the body and all alone, and when I 

 was bewailing my fate I heard the voice of my father, 

 saying : ' God has appointed me as a guardian to you. 

 All this region is full of spirits, but these you cannot 

 see, and you must not speak either to me or to them. 

 In this part of heaven you will remain for seven thousand 

 years, and for the same time in certain other stars, until 



1 De Vita Propria^ ch. xxxvii. p. 121. This dream is also told in 

 De Libris Propriis^ Opera, torn. i. p. 64. 



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