A Dream Play

Autumn is my spring!

Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and place do not exist; on an insignificant basis of reality the imagination spins, weaving new patterns; a mixture of memories, experiences, free fancies, incongruities and improvisations.

And why does man weep when he is sad? I asked at last—Because the glass in the eyes must be washed now and then, so that we can see clearly, said the child.

Every moment of enjoyment Brings to some one else a sorrow, But your sorrow gladdens no one, For from sorrow naught but sorrow springs.

I once asked a little boy why the sea was salt, and the boy, whose father was away on a long journey, said right away, "The sea is salt because the sailors cry so much." "But why do the sailors cry so much?" I asked. "Because," he said, "they always have to go away from home- and that's why they're always drying their handkerchiefs up on the masthead!" And then I asked him, "But why do people cry when they're sad?" And he said, "That's because they have to wash the glasses of their eyes so they can see better.

In the midst of happiness grows a seed of unhappiness. Happiness consumes itself like a flame. It cannot burn for ever, it must go out, and the presentiment of its end destroys it at its very peak.

Poor souls. I feel so sorry for them.

Schoolmaster: Now, my boy, can you tell me how much two times two is? ... Officer: Two... times two... Let me see! That makes two two! Schoolmaster: Well, well... somebody hasn't done his homework! Officer: (ashamed) Yes, I have, but... I know what it is, but I can't say it... Schoolmaster: You're trying to get out of it! You know, but you can't say. Perhaps I can help you! (He pulls the Officer's hair) Officer: Oh, this is dreadful, really dreadful! Schoolmaster: Yes, dreadful, that's precisely what it is when a big boy like you has no ambition. Officer: Yes, that's right, one must mature... Two times two... is two, and I can prove it by analogy, the highest form of proof. Listen, now! ... One times one is one, so two times two must be two! For what applies to one must apply the other! Schoolmaster: This proof accords perfectly with the laws of logic, but the answer is wrong.

If a flower you covet, straightway you are told it is another's.

THE VOICE: The best I cannot call it, nor the worst. Its name is Dust; and like them all, it rolls: And therefore dizzy sometimes grows the race, And seems to be half foolish and half mad— Take courage, child—a trial, that is all!

THE DAUGHTER: You named the earth—is that the ponderous world And dark, that from the moon must take its light? THE VOICE: It is the heaviest and densest sphere. Of all that travel through the space. THE DAUGHTER: And is it never brightened by the sun? THE VOICE: Of course, the sun does reach it—now and then—

Lawyer: And what people live on is a mystery to me. They marry with an income of two thousand crowns when they need four. They borrow, to be sure, they all borrow ... but who has to pay in the end? Tell me that! Daughter: He Who feeds the birds.

Mother: Alfred dear, I shall soon be leaving you and your brothers and sisters. Let me give you some advice. Officer [sadly]: Yes, Mother. Mother: It's just this. Never strive with God. Officer: What do you mean, Mother? Mother: You mustn't go round feeling life has been unjust to you. Officer: But when people do treat me unjustly? Mother: You're thinking of the time you were unjustly punished for stealing a penny that was later found? Officer: Yes. And that injustice warped my whole life. Mother: I know. But now go to that cupboard - Officer [embarrassed]: You know, then? It's - Mother: The Swiss Family Robinson. Which - Officer: Don't go on. Mother: Which your brother got punished for - and which you'd torn up and hidden. Officer: Fancy that cupboard still standing there after twenty years. We've moved so often, and my mother died ten years ago. Mother: Well, what of it? You always have to ask questions about everything. That way you'll ruin the best life has to offer.