A patient of mine who later developed dementia praecox frequently dreamt that he was becalmed in a small ship upon a smooth and empty sea.

He was dangling his hand in the water when suddenly some monster of the deep, which he thought was a large yellow crab, seized it and began to pull him down.

From the Jung standpoint this dream represents the inner situation of the patient.

It shows in primitive pictorial language the inner currents and tensions in the patients psyche.

It is a question whether the dreamer can pull up the monster, or whether the monster will pull down the dreamer.