До Адама
Chapter II
YouandIaredescendedfromthosethatdidnotstrikebottom;thatiswhyyouandI,inourdreams,neverstrikebottom.
Andnowwecometodisassociationofpersonality.Weneverhavethissenseoffallingwhenwearewideawake.Ourwake-a-daypersonalityhasnoexperienceofit.Then—andheretheargumentisirresistible—itmustbeanotheranddistinctpersonalitythatfallswhenweareasleep,andthathashadexperienceofsuchfalling—thathas,inshort,amemoryofpast-dayraceexperiences,justasourwake-a-daypersonalityhasamemoryofourwake-a-dayexperiences.
ItwasatthisstageinmyreasoningthatIbegantoseethelight.Andquicklythelightburstuponmewithdazzlingbrightness,illuminatingandexplainingallthathadbeenweirdanduncannyandunnaturallyimpossibleinmydreamexperiences.Inmysleepitwasnotmywake-a-daypersonalitythattookchargeofme;itwasanotheranddistinctpersonality,possessinganewandtotallydifferentfundofexperiences,and,tothepointofmydreaming,possessingmemoriesofthosetotallydifferentexperiences.
Whatwasthispersonality?Whenhadititselflivedawake-a-daylifeonthisplanetinordertocollectthisfundofstrangeexperiences?Thesewerequestionsthatmydreamsthemselvesanswered.Helivedinthelongago,whentheworldwasyoung,inthatperiodthatwecalltheMid-Pleistocene.Hefellfromthetreesbutdidnotstrikebottom.Hegibberedwithfearattheroaringofthelions.Hewaspursuedbybeastsofprey,struckatbydeadlysnakes.
