The World Behind the Door

The World Behind the Door Read Free Page A

Book: The World Behind the Door Read Free
Author: Mike Resnick
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main part of your dream concerns a lion that speaks and a pretty girl who growls and roars. How would you create a painting that showed the viewer what makes them the creatures of your dreams, rather than merely a pretty girl and a lion?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I don't know," admitted Dali.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Neither do I," said Freud.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Then am I never to be free of this dream?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Oh, sooner or later it will be replaced by another one," answered Freud. "Probably a much more disturbing one."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "That is not an encouraging answer, Doctor," said Dali unhappily. "You are the foremost authority on the unconscious. If even you cannot help me, then I am doomed."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "May I suggest that you are looking at this all wrong, Senor Dali?" said Freud, taking another sip of his brandy.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I don't understand," said Dali.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "I know you don't," said Freud. "That is why you have come to me."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Please explain."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Let me ask you a question first," said Freud. "Are you dissatisfied with just the painting you are currently working on, or with all of them?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "All of them," answered Dali morosely.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  " Why ?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Because it is work anyone could have done."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Would you consider changing your brushes, or the way you mix your paints?" continued Freud. "Would you paint on wood rather than canvas?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "No," answered Dali. "It would make no difference."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Why?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Because the end result would look the same, or so similar as to make no difference."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  Freud smiled. "Well, there you have it."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  Dali frowned in puzzlement. " What do I have?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "The reason for your dissatisfaction. It is not your skill or technique that disappoints you, but your subject matter. You must change what you paint, must find new things, things no one else has ever painted, before you will be free of your particular demons."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "My thoughts exactly!" said Dali enthusiastically. "But where will I find such things? I can travel the world, but whatever I see in Africa or Asia will already have been captured by African and Asian artists."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "Every human being is unique, Senor Dali," replied Freud. "If you can find nothing new in the world, then you must search the inner recesses of your consciousness, your mind if you will, and bring forth those images that are entirely your own, that no one else has ever seen before. And I think you should start with your dream."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "But we've already agreed that I cannot, through my painting, show that the lion can speak and the girl can only roar."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "There will be other dreamlike details, details that you are overlooking," said Freud. "They obviously did not impress you as much, so your conscious mind does not remember them, but if you will consent to hypnosis, they will be revealed, and perhaps they will be proper subjects for your brush and paints. And once we bring them out into the open, there is an excellent chance that your dream will cease." Another smile. "Even if it doesn't, once you have painted all the details, it may seem less strange and upsetting to you."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "And all I have to do is let you hypnotize me?"
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "There are no guarantees," answered Freud. "This is the likeliest approach. If it should fail, there are other methods we can try."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  "It will fail," said Dali with absolute certainty. "I have too strong a mind. No one can hypnotize me."
    Â Â Â Â Â Â  Freud laughed aloud. "I have hypnotized more than two thousand men and

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