梦是生活中不可缺少的一个组成部分，但大多数人对梦却无动于衷，他们只把梦视为一种令人讨厌的小习惯，就像打喷嚏或打哈欠一样。其实梦有着很重要的作用，它反映了人们对生活的追求和向往，丰富人们的阅历，同时也可给人以享受。

Then again, the dream life, though queer and bewildering and unsatisfactory in many respects, has its own advantages. The dead are there, smiling and talking. The past is there, sometimes all broken and confused yet occasionally as fresh as a daisy. And perhaps, the future is there too, winking at us.

This dream life is often overshadowed by huge mysterious anxieties, with luggage that cannot be packed and trains that refuse to be caught; and both Brown and Smith merge into one person while Robinson splits into two, and there are thick woods outside the bathroom door and the dining-room is somehow part of a theater balcony; and there are moments of desolation or terror in the dream world that are worse than anything we have known under the sun. Yet this other life has its interests, its gaieties, its satisfactions, and, at certain rare intervals, a serene glow or a sudden ecstasy, like glimpses of another form of existence altogether, that we cannot match with open eyes.

Daft or wise, terrible or exquisite, it is a further helping of experience, bonus after dark, another slice of life cut differently for which, it seems to me, we are never sufficiently grateful. Only a dream! Why only? It was there, and you had it. “If there were dreams to sell,” Beddoes inquires, “what would you buy?” I cannot say offhand, but certainly rather more than I could afford. ——J.B.Pristley

此外，梦生活虽然在许多方面都离奇古怪，令人困惑或不尽人意，但它也有其自身的优点。死去的人在那里出现，谈笑风生。过去的事也在那里出现，虽然它们时常支离破碎，混乱不堪，但偶尔也像雏菊一样生意昂然。也许，未来也会出现在其中，对我们暗送秋波。

这种梦生活经常因巨大而神秘的焦虑——连同打点不好的行李与拒绝搭乘的火车——而蒙上阴影；梦境中的人和场景都没有他们在现实生活中那样可靠和实在，例如布朗和史密斯合为一体，而罗宾汉则分成两人，浴室门外有一片密林，而餐厅又不知何故成了剧院包厢的一部分；梦境中不时有世界上最坏的孤独或恐怖。然而尽管如此，这种另一世界的超现实生活还是有其趣味、欢乐和满足的，而且，在某些难得的时间间隔里，会出现一阵静谧的光辉，一阵突发的狂喜，犹如完全不同的另一重生活形式在隐约闪现，这是我们睁着眼睛所力不能及的。

痴愚也罢，聪明也罢，可怕也罢，微妙也罢，它的确能丰富阅历，是天黑之后的额外赏赐，也是从不同角度截取的另一个生活侧面。对此，我以为我们从来没有充分地表示感激。只不过是一场梦嘛！为什么说只不过？它发生过，你领受了它。”倘使有梦出售的话”，贝多斯问道：“您会买什么？”我暂时还说不上来，但肯定是贵的我买不起的。 ——J.B.普利斯特利