Cherry stones beside the pillow

Tang China · c. 850

群從中有悅鄰女者，夢女遺二櫻桃，食之。及覺，核墜枕側。

Original text — Youyang Zazu, vol. 8 (Dreams), Duan Chengshi

One of the cousins was in love with the girl next door. He dreamed she gave him two cherries, and he ate them. When he woke, the stones lay beside his pillow.

Translation · Editorial translation (draft)

Open this dream in the galaxy →

Source: Youyang Zazu, vol. 8 (Dreams) — Duan Chengshi, c. 860
Rights: Public domain (ancient text)
Record type: Anecdote collection
Place: Tang China · Chinese
Date: c. 850
Uncertainty: High — Told by Duan Chengshi about his own family, in the dream chapter of the Youyang Zazu.
Imagery: Food · A stranger · House
Feelings: Longing · Wonder · Tenderness

How traditions have read this kind of dream

Psychological

Storms, mountains and gardens in dreams are often traced to the day’s impressions or the sleeper’s physical state — Ellis connected a dreamed cyclone to a windy night.

Ellis (1911), ch. IV

Mythological

Sacred mountains and world-trees connect earth and sky in many traditions, from Olympus to Yggdrasil to Mount Kunlun.

Comparative mythology

Chinese traditions

Landscape — mountains, rivers, mist — is the setting of countless Chinese dream journeys, where the dreamer’s wandering mirrors the shan-shui painting tradition.

Li Bai, Dreaming of Tianmu

These are cultural lenses, not a diagnosis.

Dreams that share its images

The millet was not yet cooked Handan, China (story setting) · c. 780
Rome half veiled in mist Vienna, Austria · c. 1897
Strawberries, huckleberries, omelette Vienna, Austria · c. 1897
The general’s buried sword Shouchun, Anhui, China · Tang (undated)
Where she last saw him Vienna, Austria · c. 1900
The window with cypress and mallows Mount Tiantai, Zhejiang, China · c. 900