Dream Life and Real Life (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Olive Schreiner

This slim 1893 volume collects three short stories by Schreiner:  "Dream Life and Real Life: A Little African Story," "The Woman's Rose," to which "The Policy in Favour of Protection—" is added, in which Schreiner advocates for the strength and independence of women.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411441019

Olive Schreiner

Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) was a South African political activist and writer. Born to a family of Wesleyan missionaries, Schreiner was educated by her mother. Forced to move frequently due to her father’s inability to maintain a job, Schreiner became familiar with the landscape of South Africa and the cultural and political tensions holding together its diverse population. In 1881, she travelled to England in order to pursue her dream of becoming a medical professional, but her chronic asthma and limited finances prevented her from completing her training. In 1883, she published her debut novel, The Story of an African Farm, under a pseudonym, launching a career as one of South Africa’s leading writers. Throughout her life, she advocated for political equality for South Africa’s marginalized groups, including Afrikaners, indigenous Africans, Jews, and Indians. Combining a deep understanding of Christian morality with an active interest in socialism and the women’s suffrage movement, Schreiner is recognized as a pioneering feminist and political activist who wrote unflinchingly on such subjects as the Boer War, British imperialism, and intersectionality.

Book preview

DREAM LIFE AND REAL LIFE

OLIVE SCHREINER

This 2011 edition published by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

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ISBN: 978-1-4114-4101-9

CONTENTS

DREAM LIFE AND REAL LIFE; A LITTLE AFRICAN STORY

THE WOMAN'S ROSE

THE POLICY IN FAVOUR OF PROTECTION——

DREAM LIFE AND REAL LIFE; A LITTLE AFRICAN STORY

LITTLE Jannita sat alone beside a milk-bush. Before her and behind her stretched the plain, covered with red sand and thorny Karroo bushes; and here and there a milk-bush, looking like a bundle of pale green rods tied together. Not a tree was to be seen anywhere, except on the banks of the river, and that was far away, and the sun beat on her head. Round her fed the Angora goats she was herding; pretty things, especially the little ones, with white silky curls that touched the ground. But Jannita sat crying. If an angel should gather up in his cup all the tears that have been shed, I think the bitterest would be those of children.

By and by she was so tired, and the sun was so hot, she laid her head against the milk-bush, and dropped asleep.

She dreamed a beautiful dream. She thought that when she went back to the farmhouse in the evening, the walls were covered with vines and roses, and the kraals (sheepfolds) were not made of red stone, but of lilac-trees full of blossom. And the fat old Boer smiled at her, and the stick he held across the door for the goats to jump over was a lily rod with seven blossoms at the end. When she went to the house her mistress gave her a whole roaster-cake for her supper, and the mistress's daughter had stuck a rose in the cake; and her mistress's son-in-law said Thank you! when she pulled off his boots, and did not kick her.

It was a beautiful dream.

While she lay thus dreaming, one of the little kids came and licked her on her cheek, because