I have been re-reading Morning Glories #28, and came across a forgotten reference -- in Hunter's dream, someone asked him to give a melon to Mr. N. As you know, Mr. N is a real character, and appears in Issue #30 as Irina's private tutor.
This leads me to wonder about Jade's explanation about Descartes's dreams.
| Morning Glories 28 | Splatter Blog | |
|---|---|---|
| First Dream |
He was approaching a school, and found himself surrounded by phantoms. Then a great wind hit him, pushing him back, and he felt a weakness in his side. Eventually he saw someone he recognized -- but then another person called out to him, telling him to give something to Mr. N -- if that was who he was going to see. Now, Descartes didn't know the person, but they felt familiar to him. Not only that, but he knew what the stranger was talking about giving him. It was a melon, from an exotic, faraway land. |
He is walking in an unknown street, when suddenly ghosts appear in front of him. Terrified, he wants to flee, but he feels a great weakness on his right side, and he is obliged to lean on his left to be able to advance. He tries to stand, but a wind suddenly makes him spin three or four times on his left foot, like a top.
He stops spinning and forces himself to advance. Suddenly, a college appears in his path. He enters and reaches the chapel, wanting to pray. He passes by a man whom he knows, but didn't greet him. He wants to turn back to say hello, but is pushed back by a violent wind. He sees another person who asks him to carry something to a mutual friend. The young man asks what he is to carry, but receives no answer. He imagines that that it was a melon from some foreign country. He continues walking against the wind, while the people around him are firm on their feet. The wind drops, and he is so unhappy that he wakes up. |
| Second Dream | He heard a great thunder, and his room was filled with little lights -- sparks of fire he called them. But he wasn't afraid of them -- in fact, he didn't feel like there was anything unusual about them at all, like he'd seen them before. | He hears a sharp, explosive noise, which he takes for thunder. Fear wakes him. Opening his eyes, he sees sparks from the fire scattered in his bedroom. But this doesn’t worry him, for it has happened several times before. On some nights, the sparks are so bright that they allow him to see the objects around him. |
| Third Dream |
Hunter, the expy for Descartes, enters the library and finds a book of poems under another book. He reads a random verse from it: "Quod vitae sectabor iter" (What path will my life take?) Someone hands to him another book entitled "Est et non" (Yes and No), saying it's better. 'Hunter prefers the first, but can't find it anymore in the book. The person shows him the MGA Yearbook, but he can't find his class in it. Then the person vanished. |
In front of him, on a table, is a book. He opens it and discovers it's a dictionary. He then notices a second book: an anthology of poems. He flips through it and finds a verse “Quod vitae sectabor iter?” (Which path in life will I choose?). At the same time, an unknown man appears and presents him with a poem which starts with "Est et non" (what is and is not), saying it is an excellent work. The young soldier (Descartes) says “I know. It is in this book of poems. Look!”. But when he looks through through the anthology, he can’t find it. He then takes the dictionary and notices that some pages are missing. He exchanges a few more words with the stranger until the books and the man suddenly disappear. |
I would like to investigate this more deeply, and have come across a JStor article which seems to do just that. Unfortunately, it is protected by a paywall ($17). I was wondering if anyone reading this blog has access to JStor via an educational institution. If so, the link to the journal article is here: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/750999?uid=3738824&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102607695821