Read CHAPTER VIII.  LIFE’S GIFTS of Dreams, free online book, by Olive Schreiner, on ReadCentral.com.

I saw a woman sleeping.  In her sleep she dreamt Life stood before her, and held in each hand a gift-in the one Love, in the other Freedom.  And she said to the woman, “Choose!”

And the woman waited long:  and she said, “Freedom!”

And Life said, “Thou hast well chosen.  If thou hadst said, ‘Love,’ I would have given thee that thou didst ask for; and I would have gone from thee, and returned to thee no more.  Now, the day will come when I shall return.  In that day I shall bear both gifts in one hand.”

I heard the woman laugh in her sleep.

London.

GO TO: CHAPTER VII.  IN A RUINED CHAPEL
GO TO: CHAPTER IX.  THE ARTIST’S SECRET