—in his dream: the figure addresses him, commands him, forbids him, and informs him of many things. The dreamer will then say, “I saw So-and-so in my sleep and he said to me such-and-such; I said to him such-and-such; he did this and I did that,” recounting a whole range of words and actions.

Such visions may contain knowledge, wisdom, and refined etiquette from which one may derive the greatest benefit. The person seen in the dream might be very much alive, yet entirely unaware that someone has dreamed of him—much less that he actually spoke or acted as reported. Indeed, the dreamer may relate his vision to that person and say, “My master, I saw you in a dream: you told me such-and-such, ordered me to do such-and-such, and forbade me from such-and-such,” while the one who was seen knows nothing of it and senses nothing at all. This is because what has “indwelt” the dreamer’s heart is a cognitive image that corresponds exactly to the external person, just as one sees in a mirror or in water the likeness of someone who is standing outside; that external person is the intended referent. Some people who are seen in dreams may in fact realize that they have been seen and go on to disclose this to the dreamer—along with other matters—not because their very essence has entered him.

When the dream-vision is true, the words and deeds it contains accord with the actual state of the person seen—things he habitually says and does himself. Thus a likeness of him is presented to the dreamer, speaking and acting, so that the dreamer understands that it is really he who says and does those things and can therefore benefit. This resembles reporting someone’s words and actions to a listener so that he may grasp the very statements and deeds being narrated. Indeed, many matters are not understood by people—or by most of them—except through an illustrative analogy set before them, whether while awake or in a dream, even though it is clear that the analogy itself is not the very reality it depicts.