[134]
65. "A diviner was consulted by a man who
had dreamed that he saw an egg hanging from the
bed-cords of the bed in his sleeping-room—the story
is from Chrysippus On Dreams—and the diviner
answered, 'A treasure is buried under your bed.'
The man dug, found a quantity of gold surrounded
with silver and sent the diviner as much of the silver
as he thought fit. The diviner then inquired, 'Do
I get none of the yolk? ' For, in his view, the yolk
meant gold, the white of the egg, silver. Now, did
no one else ever dream of an egg? If so, then
why did this fellow, whoever he was, alone find a
treasure by dreaming of an egg? What a lot of
poor devils there are, deserving of divine assistance,
who never were instructed by a dream how to find a
treasure! Furthermore, why was this man given so
obscure an intimation as that contained in the fancied
resemblance between an egg and a treasure, instead of
being as plainly directed as Simonides1 was when
he was bidden not to go on board the ship?
1 Cf i. 27. 56.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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