The Roman Emperor said to R. Joshua b. R. Hannina[6], "You declare that you are wise. Tell me what I shall see in my dream." He replied, "Thou wilt see the Persians enslaving thee, despoiling thee, and making thee pasture unclean animals with a golden crook." The Emperor reflected upon it the whole day and in the night saw it [in a dream][7]. King Shapor said to Samuel, "You declare that you are very wise. Tell me what I shall see in my dream." He replied, "Thou wilt see the Romans come and take thee captive and make thee grind date-stones[8] in a golden mill." The king reflected upon it the whole day and in the night saw it [in a dream][9]. Bar Hedja was an interpreter of dreams. When one paid him a fee, he interpreted [the dream] favourably ; but if no fee was given him, he interpreted it unfavourably. Abbai and Raba had a dream ; Abbai gave him a Zuz but Raba gave him nothing. They said to him : We were made to read in our dream the words "Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes" (Deut. xxviii. 31). To Raba he said : Thy business will fail, and thou wilt have no desire to eat because of the grief of thy heart. To Abbai he said : Thy business will prosper, and thou wilt have no desire to eat because of the joy of thy heart. They said to him : We were made to read in our dream the words "Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine, for they shall go into captivity" (ibid. V. 41). To Raba he replied in an unfavourable sense. To Abbai he said : Thy sons and daughters will be many, and thy daughters will marry [husbands in distant parts of] the world, so that they will seem to thee as though they had gone into captivity, [They said to him : In our dream] we were made to read the words "Thy sons and thy daughters shall he given unto another people " (ibid. v. 32), To Abbai he said : Thy sons and daughters will be many ; thou wilt say [they should marry] thy relatives, but [thy wife] will say they [should marry] her relatives, and she will compel thee to give them to her relatives, and it will seem [as though they had been given] to another people. To Raba he said : Thy wife will die, and thy sons and daughters will come under the control of another wife. For Raba[1] said in the name of R. Jeremiah b. Abba in the name of Rab : What means that which is written, "Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people"? This refers to a stepmother. [They said to Bar Hedja] : We were made to read in our dream the words "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy" (Eccles, ix. 7). To Abbai he said : Thy business will prosper and thou wilt eat and drink and read Scriptural verses from the joy of thy heart. To Raba he said : Thy business will fail, thou wilt slaughter [cattle] but not eat, and thou wilt drink and read Scriptural verses to banish thy dread. We were made to read the words "Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in for the locust will consume it" (Deut. xxviii. 38). To Abbai he gave an interpretation from the first half of the verse ; to Raba from the latter half. We were made to read the words "Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil, for thine olives shall drop off" (Deut. xxviii, 40). To Abbai he gave an interpretation from the first half of the verse ; to Raba from the latter half. We were made to read the words "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee" (ibid. v. 10). To Abbai he said : Thy fame will go forth as the Principal of the College and the fear of thee will be widespread in the world. To Raba he said : The king's treasury will be broken into and thou wilt be arrested as one of the thieves, and everybody will draw an inference from thee[1]. The next day the king's treasury was broken into, and they came and arrested Raba. They said [to Bar Hedja] : We saw [in a dream] lettuce upon the mouth of a jar. To Abbai he said : Thy business will be doubled like the lettuce. To Raba he said : Thy business will be bitter like the lettuce. They said to him : We saw [in a dream] meat upon the mouth of a jar. To Abbai he said : Thy wine[2] will be sweet and everybody will come to buy meat and wine of thee. To Raba he said : Thy wine will be sour and everybody will come to buy meat to eat therewith. They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a jug hanging upon a date-palm. To Abbai he said : Thy wares will be exalted like the palm. To Raba he said : Thy wares will be sweet as dates[3]. They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a pomegranate sprouting on the mouth of a jar. To Abbai he said : Thy wares will be high-priced like the pomegranate. To Raba he said : Thy wares will be stale [and taste] like the pomegranate. They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a jug fall into a well. To Abbai he said : Thy wares will be sought as one says, "A piece of bread fell into a well and cannot be found[4]." To Raba he said : Thy wares will go bad and thou wilt cast them into a well. They said to him : We saw [in a dream] a young ass standing by the side of our pillow and braying. To Abbai he said : Thou wilt become the President of the College and an Amora will stand by thee. To Raba he said : The words "the firstling of an ass" (Exod. xiii. 13) have been erased from thy Tefillin[5]. Raba said to him : I have myself seen that the words are there. He replied : The letter waw in the word hamor "ass" has certainly been erased from thy Tefillin[1]. Later on Raba went to him alone and said : I dreamt that the outer door fell. He replied : Thy wife will die[2]. He said : I dreamt that my back and front teeth fell out. He replied that his sons and daughters would die. He said : I dreamt of two doves flying. He replied : Thou wilt divorce two wives[3]. He said : I dreamt of two turnip-tops. He replied : Thou wilt receive two blows[4]. That day Raba went and sat in the House of Study the whole day[5]. He found there two blind men quarrelling with each other. Raba went to part them, and they struck him twice. They raised [their sticks] to give him another blow ; but he cried, "That's enough! I only dreamt of two!" Finally Raba came and gave [Bar Hedja] a fee, and said to him : I dreamt of a wall falling. He replied : Thou wilt acquire a boundless estate. He said to him : dreamt that Abbai's house collapsed and its dust covered me. He replied : Abbai will die and his [Office as Principal of the] College will revert to thee. He said to him : I dreamt that my house collapsed and everybody came to take each a brick. He replied : Thy teachings will be scattered throughout the world. He said to him : I dreamt that my head was split open and my brains fell out. He replied : The stuffing will fall out of thy bolster. He said to him : I dreamt that I was made to read the Hallel of Egypt[6]. He replied : Many miracles will happen to thee. [Once Bar Hedja] went with Raba on a boat; he said [to himself] "Why should I accompany a man to whom miracles will happen[7]?" As he descended [from the boat] a book[8] of his fell. Raba found it and saw written therein, "All dreams follow the mouth [of the interpreter]." He exclaimed, "Thou rascal ! It rested with thee [whether my dreams were auspicious or not], and thou didst cause me all this pain. I forgive thee everything except [what thou didst say about][1] the daughter of Rab Hisda[2]. May it be His will that this fellow be handed over into the power of the Government and it have no mercy on him!" Bar Hedja said, "What can I do ? There is a tradition that the curse of a wise man, even when undeserved, comes to pass ; and how much more so that of Raba who has justification for uttering a curse!" He said [to himself] "I will go into exile[3]; for a teacher has said, 'Exile[4] atones for sins'." He went into exile amoug the Romans, and sat down at the door of the king's treasury[5]. The wardrobe-keeper had a dream and said to him : I dreamt that a needle entered my finger. Bar Hedja said, "Give me a Zuz" ; but he refused, so he gave him no reply. Then the wardrobe-keeper said : I dreamt that decay[6] seized two of my fingers. He said, "Give me a Zuz" ; but he refused and received no answer. He said to him : I dreamt that decay seized my whole hand. He replied : Decay has seized all the [king's] silken garments. The king's household heard of this and they brought the wardrobe-keeper to put him to death. He said to the king, "Why me? Take him who knew but spoke not." They took Bar Hedja, and he said to him, "Because of the Zuz [which I refused thee], destruction has come upon the king's silken garments."
