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DREAMS
Table of Contents
Dramatis
personae
Bar Hadaya: an expert in interpreting dreams, who interprets
dreams favorably when he is well-paid, and unfavorably when he is
poorly paid.
Abbaye: Dreamer 1, pays well for the interpretation of his
dreams.
Raba: Dreamer 2, pays poorly for the interpretation of his
dreams.
Tarzayana: guardian of the king's treasure
The King: as kings will be
Guards |
ACT I
[Scene I: In a little
Talmudic village at the edge of time.]
Enter Abbaye, Raba and Bar Hadaya.
Abbaye to Bar Hadaya. I dreamt the verse from Deut. 28:31: "Your
ox shall be slain before thine eyes." What can it mean? Pray interpret
it for me (money is no issue!).
Raba to Bar Hadaya. Funny, I dreamt the same verse. Pray interperet
it for me too (I'm short on cash but I'll pay what I can).
Bar Hadaya, nodding solemnly towards Raba. You are going to lose
your ox and will not be able to eat anything thereof because of your
troubled mind.
[Turning to Abbaye] Bar Hadaya. You will do excellent business,
and you will slaughter an ox for a banquet. But you will not be able
to eat thereof because you will be too busy. Wine, however, you will
drink, to the full enjoyment of your heart.
[Several days later]
Abbaye and Raba to Bar Hadaya. We both dreamt a dream that the
gates of our houses fell in.
Bar Hadaya [nodding favorably towards Abbaye]. Not to worry.
It's an omen of only good things.
Hadaya [Turning towards Raba]. Your wife will die.
[And so whenever they dream the same dream, Bar Hadaya interprets
it favorably to Abbaye and unfavorably to Raba, because the one pays
him well and the other never pays him anything.]
[Scene
II: At sea.]
[Raba and Bar Hadaya are traveling upon the seas. As the ship draws
near the shore, a book falls out of the bosom of Bar Hadaya.]
Raba [picking up the book and reading from it]. Hm, says here,
"All dreams go according to the mouth."
If I understand correctly, this means that what happens following a
dream depends upon the interpretation.
[Light bulb turns on and/or token falls into slot; Raba turns in
great anger towards Bar Hadaya.]
Raba. You wicked man! Why have you always interpreted my dreams
in an evil sense, whereas you always gave a good interpretation to Abbaye?
I can well imagine that if I had given you money, you would have interpreted
them favorably to me as you did to Abbaye. I am willing to forgive you
everything except one thing which I cannot forgive you, namely your
interpretation of one dream signifying the death of my wife. May it
be the will of God that you be delivered into the hands of a cruel king
who will also have no mercy on you.
Bar Hadaya. What am I to do now? We have been told that the curse
of a learned man comes true even if the person cursed is innocent. How
much more so in the present instance, where Raba had good reason to
curse me! His curse will surely come true. I will take upon myself the
penance of going into exile, for we have been told that if a man goes
into exile, God forgives his sins.
[Exit Bar Hadaya, departing from thence and traveling about as far
as Rome.]
ACT II
[Scene I. Rome, at the gate to the palace.]
[When Bar Hadaya arrives in Rome, he sits down at the gate of one
of the king's officers called Tarzayana, which means the guardian of
the king's treasure.]
Tarzayana. Bar Hadaya, I hear you are a skilled interpreter of
dreams. Last night I dreamt that my finger was pricked by a needle.
Pray interpret this dream to me.
Bar Hadaya. Have you money to pay my fee? If so I will interpret
the dream for you.
Tarzayana. Absolutely not! I am a king's officer and don't you
forget it!
Bar Hadaya. Indeed. And I am a professional, and you insult me
greatly. Bug off.
[Scene II. In a supermarket in Rome, Tarzayana bumps into Bar
Hadaya.]
Tarzayana. Woe is to me, wise Hadaya. I dreamt a second dream,
a more frightening dream. I dreamt that a worm was gnawing at two of
my fingers. What might be the meaning of such a dream?
Bar Hadaya. Pay me my fee, I will gladly tell you its meaning.
Tarzayana [indignant]. Out of the question!
Bar Hadaya. Well, then, fuhgettabowdit!
[Scene III. Tarzayana seeks out Bar Hadaya in a health spa in Rome.]
Tarzayana. Woe is to me! A terrible and even more frightful dream
did I dream last night. This time the worm entered my hand and I fear
it forbodes something awful.
Bar Hadaya. Perhaps I did not make myself clear. Pay me my fee
and the interpretation is yours.
Tarzayana [sighing]. Alas, my anxiety defeats me.
[Tarzayana empties his coin bag into Bar Hadaya's palm]
Bar Hadaya. Well, now, here is the meaning of your dream. A moth
has entered the clothes of the king which are in your keeping (as guardian
of the king's treasure) and has destroyed them.
[Scene IV. Back at the palace, the King hears his clothes have been
destroyed and sends for Tarzayana.]
The King. I order you killed for this unpardonable negligence.
Tarzayana. Why am I to be killed? Let the man be killed who knew
of it and refused to tell me.
[The guards fetch Bar Hadaya and upbraid him.]
Guards. Why did you not tell him of it until the third day, when
you got your fee, and meanwhile the clothes were eaten by moths? You,
therefore, deserve to be killed.
[They bend down two pines and tie Bar Hadaya's legs, one to each
of the trees. They then let the trees go and Bar Hadaya is torn to pieces,
and thus the curse of Raba is fulfilled.]
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Therefore no man should go about with a false heart, for in the end
the truth will out and his deceit will not profit him, just as happened
in the case of Bar Hadaya, who acted treacherously and came to a grievous
end.
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This
"morality play" is based on a story found in Ma'aseh Book
(JPS, 1934), a book of Jewish tales and legends translated from
the Judeo-German by Rev. Dr. Moses Gaster of London. Dr. Gaster
(b.1856 in Rumania; d.1939 in England), distinguished rabbi, orator,
and Zionist leader, was also a scholar in many fields of Jewish
learning, with a strong interest in folklore.
Gaster's
story is based on a tale in the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 56a.
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