at his own temerity," would gladly turn back
from his project, and he can "hardly restrain his tears for fear." He
fortifies himself, however, develops brilliant abilities and comes off
victor in the fray. A gratification derived from his own ability is
unmistakable. The scene, as well as a variation of the preceding
examination, adds to it some essentially new details. The displacement of
the early opponents (i.e., the examining elders) by another (the lion) is
not really new. It is a mere compensation, although, as we shall see
later, a very instructive one. Entirely new is the result of the battle.
After killing the lion the victor brings to light white bones and red
blood from his body. Note the antithesis, white and red. It will occur
again. If we think of saga and fairy lore parallels, the dragon fight
naturally comes to mind. The victorious hero has to free a maiden who
languishes in the possession of an ogre. The anatomizing of the dead lion
finds numerous analogies in those myths and fairy tales in which
dismemberment of the body appears. It will be dealt with fully later on.

As the next obstacle in the parable we meet the difficult advance on the
wall. (Para. 7 and 8.) We have here again an obstruction to progress in
the narrower sense as in Sec. 1, but with several additions. The wall,
itself a type of embarrassment, reaches up to the clouds. Whoever goes up
so high may fall far. The way on top is "Not a foot in width" and an iron
hand rail occupies some of that space. The walking is therefore
uncomfortable and dangerous. The railing running in the middle of it
divides the path and so produces two paths, a right and a left. The right
path is the more difficult. Who would not in this situation think of
Hercules at the cross roads? The conception of right and left as right and
wrong, good and bad, is familiar in mythical and religious symbolism. That
the right path is the narrower [Matth. VII, 13, 14] or more full of thorns
is naturally comprehensible. In dreams the right-left symbolism is
typical. It has here a meaning similar to its use in religion, probably
however, with the difference that it is used principally with reference to
sexual excitements of such a character that the right signifies a
permitted (i.e., experienced by the dreamer as permissible), the left, an
illicit sexual pleasure. Accordingly it is, e.g., characteristic in the
dream about strawberry picking in the preceding part of the book, that