A New Day

I had read the guidebook and I was longing to go there. At last, I was flying high above the great ocean, following the course of the sun to the west. 

No sooner had the plane landed than I was enjoying the scenery. Everything was just as beautiful as I had expected – the high hills, the deep, dark lakes, the green meadows full of flowers. And there was peace there.

When I got to know the people of the country, it struck me that they were exceptionally polite and kind in their speech. Moreover, they were attentive and considerate towards each other, as if they were saying, ‘I am your servant. Nothing is more important to me than your contentment.’ 

From midday until evening, the adults enjoyed being occupied in productive and pleasant work. In the mornings and in the afternoons, cheerful and healthy children played in the parklands. 

Men and women, black and white, accepted one another as brothers and sisters. There was no discord or disagreement between them.

In the centre of the country, I saw a garden altogether more beautiful than anywhere else. Beside flowing waters, a huge tree was growing – in years long past, the leaves of this tree had been used to heal every sickness and sorrow.

A boy approached me, his younger sister one pace behind him. ‘Won’t you come to listen to us?’ he asked me. ‘We are going to sing a song.’

I made a big effort to answer him. My lips were moving but no words came out.

I awoke with a start. The dream faded away, and I returned to the broken world in which we live. And a new day began, so very far to the east of Eden.

(This story was stimulated by a sentence in ‘Dreaming’ by Robert Walser, a short piece published in Speaking to the Rose, Writings 1912-1932, University of Nebraska Press 2005. Christopher Middleton chose and translated the work in the collection.)