Dream of: 22 June 2001 "Latin Bible"
I was taking a class with about 30 other people; we were studying a Latin version of the Bible. On my desk lay open a huge old Bible, probably 15 centimeters thick, with brittle brown pages. A heavy-set woman (probably in her late 50s) named Mrs. Whitworth was in charge of the class. Dressed in a bland print dress, she was sitting in a chair at the side of the room.
Although Mrs. Whitworth was in charge, Carolina was actually teaching the class; she was walking around the classroom, not staying in one place.
This was Friday; I had only been attending this class for one week, but the other students had been here longer. I had started mid-term and was having difficulty catching up. However, this was the first week that the students had been reading Latin; they had been reading another version of the Bible before this week. I had needed all week to learn these facts.
We were now instructed to open our Bibles to a certain book. At first I didn't understand what book was indicated, but then I understood we were supposed to look for the book of "Andrew." I began looking at the table of contents for "Andrew" until I found it.
It was almost three o'clock, the time when the class would end. Carolina, although she was supposed to be teaching us, was simply walking around the room, talking on her cellular phone. As she came close to my desk, I could hear her loudly telling the person on the phone that she was planning a trip to Europe. She mentioned several European cities, including Essex, which I thought was a city in Germany. She was talking so loudly, everyone could hear her. In frustration, when she was close enough to me, I told her to hang up and get on with the class. I added, "I know what you're doing."
What I meant was I knew she was talking so loudly to show off she was going to Europe; she was trying to make everyone envious of her.
She finally hung up and told me it was time for class to end anyway. I told her it wasn't time; but as soon as Carolina had hung up the phone, all the other students closed their Bibles and prepared to leave. Carolina promptly dismissed the class; everyone jumped up and took off.
I, however, took my time; I closed my book, stood up and walked over to the shelves where students had stacked their huge heavy Bibles. As I placed my Bible atop the others, my Bible appeared to be the oldest Bible in the group. Some page of my Bible were even loose; I hoped Mrs. Whitworth wouldn't think I had loosened the pages.
I was also worried Mrs. Whitworth might think I didn't know what was going on in class. I wanted to explain to her that my Latin was rusty, but I did understand most of what I was reading. I wondered if she knew Latin had been my major in college. Perhaps she had looked into my background when I had enrolled in this class.
I definitely wanted to stay in this class; I enjoyed learning Latin. But I didn't simply want to learn Latin; I wanted to read something of value in Latin, such as the Bible, something that would stay with me. Thinking I needed to confer with Mrs. Whitworth about my aspirations and apprehensions, I headed in her direction.
Copyright 2002 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
