But I do not want to dwell here on this dream and its associations; I want merely to point out that his compulsion state has been somewhat anticipated in this test dream. The patient resolved to sleep exclusively on the left side, in other words: he proposed to have to do only with a man, specially until the Maturitdtspriifung,8 the final test, when he may perhaps discover the path to woman. Thus the symbolism of left and right here reproduces his peculiar compulsive thought. The compulsion was a sort of expiatory deed, a punishment for his sins. Like the flagellants he undertook to punish himself through an act which in turn became a source of gratification for him.

7 The Interpretation of Dreams, translation by A. Brill.

The symbolism of even and uneven (or, straight and crooked) has the same significance as left and right. Crooked paths in the dream mean precisely what they figuratively suggest, evil ways, and they often stand for the subject's perversions and for incest. The path of sin is frequently represented as a serpentine winding.9 Some subjects have these dreams very often, - the dreams become stereotypic.10 Such stereotypic dreams I consider the subject's typical dreams, i.e., the dreams which recur often in the same or in a similar form; usually they contain the pattern-motive of the neurosis. Sometimes these dreams penetrate into the consciousness,

8 The final examination, upon the completion of the high school course, - Maturitdtsprufung, - which if successfully passed, entitles the holder of the respective certificate to join the University and grants him other privileges (especially with reference to military service). The dream here is a Maturitdtstrwum. The literal meaning of Matura is obvious. [Transl.]

9 Serpentine paths are also representative of snake as the name implies.

10 Cp. Chapter XLII of this work.

- they appear as day dreams and yield a sense of gratification.

A dream of this type, which ended in pollution, is the following: