TE19 Iberian Adventure

Two Pieces

hearing my dreams, though I was already far away. As I slept, my voice travelled off from where I was to haunt you.

You interrupted me, and asked:

Please tell me a story I don’t know.

Ok, I said, and I asked you if you knew how to hypnotise animals.

Tell me, you said, but be quick, I can’t keep my eyes open, and if I fall asleep, I’ll have to kill you in the morning.

Ok. Choose an animal.

Peacock, you said.

Good choice. That’s an easy one, you pin down the legs of the peacock, turn it on its side and stretch its neck over a flat surface such as a table. It will cause the peacock some discomfort at first, but it soon passes. Then you place the index finger from your free hand in front of its beak and move it back and forth, back and forth, without ever actually touching it.

You laughed.

Then you keep the peacock in that position, motionless, wait a minute, and thereyougo, hypnotised! If you feel anyresistance from the peacock you can always massage its sternum with your thumb and index finger to soothe it. Once the peacock is hypnotised, we can ask it anything and do whatever we want with it.

What would you ask a peacock? you asked. 59