I dreamt that I was sliding down long and wide stone stairs while lying on my back with my feet first. Wearing thick corduroy pants and a heavy woolen shirt tucked under my belt, I could control my speed at will. When I stiffened my spine, I went faster, and I slowed down when I went limp. This is how I could stop, too. The greatest speed I could achieve was quite dizzying. When I came to the bottom of the stairs, which reminded me of Rome’s many splendid stairways, I would hurry back to the top, lie down on my back, and go down one more time. Over and over again. My speed control was so finely tuned that I was certain that sliding down stairs on my back was something I had mastered as a child. There could be no other explanation for such prowess. I remember trying very hard to remember my childhood games, but to no avail. I realized only when I woke up that sliding down stairs was something I had actually tried not even once.