{{B}}What Do Dreams Tell Us?{{/B}}
1 Why do we dream? Do dreams have meanings? These are questions which have troubled man for thousands of years. The oldest surviving book on the interpretation of dreams is Egyptian and is nearly 4,000 years old. In ancient Greece, it was thought that people who were iii could be cured by telling their dreams. They would relate their dreams to their doctors who would tell them what they meant, and then give them medicine to make them well. The ancient Chinese believed that if a pregnant woman dreamed of a bear, she would have a son, and if she dreamed of a snake, she would have a daughter. There are many stories about dreams foretelling (预言) the future.
2 We certainly do not now believe that dreams foretell the future. Most scientists believe that dreams are based on events in our own life and on our feelings. The events are usually very recent, mostly within the last two days. Our emotions, on the other hand, our wishes, hopes and fears, may go back many years, even to early childhood.
3 In a dream, events are altered. A dream may contain parts of many real-life events. Most importantly, something that cannot be shown directly may be shown indirectly. For example, you might dream of driving a large car. This could mean net that you want to have a larger car, but that you desire power, and maybe you want to control other people. Again, you may dream that you are an actor in a play. The play is about to start, but you have completely forgotten your lines. This dream may seem strange because you are not interested in acting, and you never want to be in a play. But the dream may mean that you have some other problem that you feel is too difficult for you to solve.
4 Psychologists believe that dreams may be helpful to us. Indeed, people who have been allowed to sleep in experiments, but not allowed to dream, have become anxious and restless. And when they are later allowed to sleep as much as they like, they dream more than ever to make up for the lost "dream time".