
Title     :  Eve's Dream
By        :  Anne Frank
Date      :  October 6, 1943
English translation by: Michel Mok
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          Eve's Dream

   "Good night, Eve, sleep well."
   
   "Same to you, Mum."
   
   Click went the light and Eve lay in the dark, but only for a few
   moments, because when she got used to the darkness, she saw that her
   mother had closed the curtains in such a way that an opening was left
   through which she could look straight into the face of the moon. The
   moon stood so quietly in the sky; he didn't move, smiled, and was
   friendly to everyone.
   
   "If I could only be like that," Eve said softly to herself, "always
   quiet and kind so that everybody would like me. That would be
   wonderful."
   
   Eve thought and thought about the difference between the moon and
   herself, who was still so very small. She finally dozed off, and her
   thoughts seemed to be transformed into a dream, which Eve remembered
   so keenly next day that she afterward sometimes wondered whether it
   had not actually happened.
   
   She stood at the entrance of a big park, looking through the fence and
   not quite daring to go in. Just as she was about to turn back, a
   little girl with wings came up to her and said, "Go right ahead, Eve,
   or don't you know the way?"
   
   "No, I don't," said Eve shyly.
   
   "Well, then I will guide you." And with those words, the smart little
   elf took Eve's hand.
   
   Eve had walked in several parks with her mother and her grandmother,
   but a park like this one she had never seen.
   
   She saw a wealth of flowers, trees, fields, every imaginable kind of
   insect, and small animals such as squirrels and turtles. The elf
   chatted gaily with her, and Eve had got over her fear enough to ask a
   question. But the elf stopped her by putting a finger to Eve's lips.
   
   "I will show you and explain everything. After each explanation you
   may ask questions about things you don't understand, but otherwise you
   must be silent and not interrupt me. If you do, I shall take you home
   at once, and then you will know just as little as all the other stupid
   people.
   
   "Well, now I begin: First of all, here is the rose, the queen of
   flowers. She is so beautiful and smells so wonderful that it goes to
   everybody's head, and most of all to her own.
   
   "The rose is lovely, elegant, and fragrant, but if something doesn't
   please her, she immediately turns her thorns in your direction. She is
   like a spoiled little girl--very pretty and apparently quite sweet,
   too, but either touch her, or pay a little attention to somebody else,
   so that she is no longer the center of interest, and she shows her
   sharp nails. Her tone of voice becomes catty; she is offended but
   doesn't want to show it, and so her manners turn stilted and she puts
   on airs." "But if all this is so, little elf, how is it that everybody
   considers the rose the queen of flowers?"
   
   "lt is because nearly all people are blinded by surface glitter; there
   are only a few who would not have voted for the rose if there had been
   an election. The rose is goodlooking and dignified, and, just as in
   the rest of the world, scarcely anyone asks if there might not he
   another, outwardly a little plainer, perhaps, but inwardly more noble
   and gifted, for the role of ruler."
   
   "But you yourself think the rose lovely, don't you, little elf?"
   
   "Indeed, I do, and if she wouldn't always push herself into the
   foreground, she might be lovable as well. But since, by common
   consent, she is the flower of flowers, she will always regard herself
   as more beautiful than she really is, and so long as that is so, she
   will be full of false pride. I don't care for such creatures."
   
   "Do you think that Lena, too, is full of false pride? She is also
   beautiful and, because she is rich, she is the head of the class."
   
   "Think for a moment, Eve, and you will have to admit that, if little
   Marie, for example, had some complaint against Lena, Lena would turn
   the entire class against Marie. The reason? Simply that Marie is plain
   and poor. And you, all of you, would accept that false reason, because
   you know that if you did not, you would fall from Lena's good graces.
   And that, you think, is as bad as having the headmaster angry at you.
   You wouldn't be permitted to come to her heautiful home, and so you
   let her boss you. Later in life, such girls as Lena will stand alone,
   for the others, as they grow older, will understand how wrong she was.
   Rather than be lonely forever, girls like Lena should change their
   ways."
   
   "Do you think, then, elf, that I should try to convince the other
   girls not to listen to Lena?"
   
   "Yes. First she will be furious at you. But later, as she gets more
   sense and realizes how badlv she has acted, she will be grateful and
   have friends who are more sincere than those she has had until now . .
   ."
   
   "I understand. But tell me, little elf, am I as full of false pride as
   the rose?"
   
   "Listen, Eve: people and children who ask themselves such questions
   prove by that very act that they are free from false pride. You can
   best answer the question yourself, and I advise you to do so . . . Now
   let us go on. Look at this: don't you think it is attractive?"
   
   The elf knelt down by a small, blue, bell-shaped flower that waved
   back and forth in the grass to the rhythm of the wind.
   
   "This little bell is kind, sweet, and simple. It brings joy to the
   world; it tolls for the other flowers just as a church bell tolls for
   people. It helps many flowers and comforts them. The little bell is
   never lonesome; it has music in its small heart. This flower is much
   happier than the rose. It doesn't care about the praise of others. The
   rose lives only for and by admiration: if she doesn't get this, she
   has no other reason to be glad. Her outward splendor is for others;
   inside she is empty and, therefore, without happiness.
   
   "The little bell, on the other hand, is not exactly beautiful, but it
   has genuine friends, who value its melodies; those friends live in its
   flower-heart."
   
   "But the little bell is a pretty flower, too, isn't it?"
   
   "Yes, but not as obviously as the rose. Unfortunately, it is this kind
   of 'show' that attracts most people."
   
   "But I, too, often feel quite alone and like to have people about me.
   Is that not good?"
   
   "That has nothing to do with it, Eve. Later, when you grow up, you,
   too, will hear the song in your heart; I am sure of it." "Please, dear
   elf, go on with your story."
   
   "All right, I will go on." The elf pointed upward with her small
   fingers. Eve looked at a huge, stately chestnut tree. "This tree is
   impressive, isn't it?" asked the elf. "Yes, it is grand; how old do
   you think it is?"
   
   "It is surely more than a hundred and fifty years old, but it is still
   straight and doesn't feel old at all. Everybody admires this chestnut
   for its strength, and he proves that he knows his strength with his
   indifference about all this admiration. He doesn't tolerate anyone
   above himself and is egotistical in everything. So long as he lives,
   nothing else is of any importance. He looks as though he were generous
   and a support to others. But if you think that, you are mistaken. The
   chestnut is pleased when no one comes to him with troubles or
   complaints. He has a good life, but he begrudges it to everyone else.
   The trees and flowers know this. When they are in trouble, they go to
   the sympathetic pine and forget about the chestnut.
   
   "Still, the chestnut, too, has a very small song in that big heart of
   his; you can tell that by his liking for the birds. For them he always
   has a little spot, and he often gives them a little something, though
   not much."
   
   "Can the chestnut tree also be compared to some kind of person?"
   
   "That, too, you need not ask, Eve. All living beings can be compared
   with each other, and the chestnut is no exception. He is not bad, you
   know, but neither is he good. He doesn't do anyone harm, lives his own
   life, and is satisfied. Any other questions, Eve?"
   
   "No, I understand everything, and I am very grateful to you for your
   explanations, dear elf. Now I am going home. Will you come again
   sometime to tell me more?"
   
   "That is not possible. Sleep well, Eve."
   
   The elf was gone. Eve woke up; the sun had replaced the moon, and a
   cuckoo clock at the neighbors' called out seven.
   
   The dream had made a big impression on Eve. Nearly every day she
   caught herself doing or saying little unpleasant things, which she
   then corrected at once according to the elf's good advice. She also
   tried hard not always to give in to Lena. But girls like that feel at
   once that someone is making an effort to "take them down a peg or
   two." She defended herself vigorously, especially when Eve proposed
   some game in which another girl would be the leader. Then Lena did
   everything she could to turn her faithful following against Eve.
   
   Eve noticed with pleasure that Lena wasn't quite as smart in her
   dealings with her as she was with little Marie. As Marie was a small,
   slight, and shy girl, it amazed Eve that she dared to stand up against
   Lena. As she got to know her better, it became very clear to Eve that
   Marie, as a friend, was to be valued much above Lena.
   
   Eve had told her mother nothing about the elf. She hardly knew why.
   Until now, she had confided in her mother, but for the first time she
   felt the need to keep something to herself. She didn't understand it,
   but she had a feeling that Mummy wouldn't be quite "with her" in this.
   
   The little elf was so lovely, and Mummy had not been in the big park
   and hadn't seen the elf. Eve couldn't describe the elf's appearance.
   It wasn't long before the dream had such an influence on Eve that her
   mother noticed the change in her daughter. She talked about more
   interesting things than before and didn't get excited about trifles.
   But since Eve didn't speak of what had brought about the change, the
   mother didn't want to force herself into the child's confidence.
   
   And so Eve lived on, thinking always of the elf's good counsel. She
   never saw the elf again. Lena no longer was the head of the class. The
   other girls now led the group by turns. At first, this had made Lena
   very cross, but when she found that angry words didn't help, she began
   to behave in a more friendly manner. Finally, her classmates, finding
   that she had outgrown her old faults, treated her like everyone else.
   
   Eve decided to tell her mother of her experience. To her surprise,
   Mummy didn't laugh, but said: "That was a great privilege the elf gave
   you, Eve. I don't believe that she would think many children fit to
   receive it. Think always of the elf's trust in you, and don't talk
   about it to anyone. Do always what the elf told you, and don't get
   away from the path she showed you."
   
   As Eve grew older, she became known for her good deeds. When she was
   sixteen, everyone in the community prized her as a kind, gentle, and
   helpful girl. Every time she did something good she felt warm and glad
   inside, and slowly she began to understand what the elf had meant by
   "the song in her heart."
   
   When she was grown up, the solution of the dream and who and what the
   elf had been suddenly came to her one day. She knew, as if in a flash,
   that it had been her own conscience which, in her dream, had shown her
   what was right. She was deeply thankful that, in her child- hood, she
   had had the little elf as a guide and example.
   
    
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