The Dream
As I was slumbering in a secluded place,
I will tell it without concealment,
I saw at dawn and break of day
4 a dream on the brink of morning.
I thought I was roaming
with a pack of hounds at my hand,
walking the regions and lands
8 I knew all day long,
and that I went down into a forest,
fine palace, not like a churlish serf's house.
I released the dogs straightaway
12 into the trees, as it seemed to me.
I was a good huntsman, so I thought,
true serious skill.
I heard the cries, fierce voices,
16 constant singing, of dogs in pursuit.
I saw a white hind above fields,
I was delighted by the chase,
and a pack of hunting dogs in full cry
20 after it, unerring their course.
The perfectly formed hind made for the hill
and went over two ridges and a height
and again over the slopes
24 full tilt its course like a stag,
and came tamely at last
to seek sanctuary with me, and I was so excited.
Naked nostrils-then I woke up.
28 I was there in the shack, a lustful man.
As soon as daylight came the next day
I went to seek an interpreter nearby.
I was fortunate enough to find
32 a righteous old woman when it was day.
I told her everything I had seen,
omen of the night.
'By God, wise woman, if you could
36 put an end to this enchantment,
I would consider none to be your equal,
I suffer a hundred pangs, I am without hope.'
'O hopeless one, your dream
40 is a good one, if you are a true man:
the dogs you saw plainly
at your hand, if you only knew their pleading language,
are your envoys, certain course,
44 your bold love messengers,
and the white hind is the lady
you loved, colour of sunlit foam.
It is quite certain that she will come
48 to seek sanctuary with you, and may God bless you.'