66. The wild beasts and the youngsters, 1868
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I dreamed that I came to a field where all the young people were playing happily. But suddenly a very unpleasant scene appeared: ferocious animals of all kinds appeared: lions whose eyes gleamed with cruelty; tigers that sharpened their claws to tear apart; wolves that treacherously surrounded the groups of young people to do them much harm; bears that produced fear by extending their enormous paws to choke and suffocate those who approached them.
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And the wild beasts would rush at the youngsters, many of whom lay stretched out on the ground as if dead; the wild beasts would tear many, many boys to pieces with their claws and bite others to death. Many, many young people ran full of fear and approached me saying: - Don Bosco, defend us.
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But some of them were so imprudent that instead of running away from those deadly enemies, they started playing with them and smiling at them, at great risk of being torn to pieces by them.
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I was running from one side to the other, calling to one or the other and begging them to stay away from the wild beasts.
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Seeing the field so full of corpses of young men, and hearing the moans of those who had been wounded by the ferocious animals, and hearing the roar of those wild beasts, I felt so much emotion that... I woke up.
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And what shall I say about those tigers, lions, wolves and bears? That they are the temptations that want to make us sin. Some go to the priest and with his help they get out of many dangers. Others play with fire and get burned. They do not refuse temptation and temptation kills their souls. May each one remember that he has a soul to save.
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I saw young people there and I remember them very well, some of them I saw associated with wolves to do evil. I do not name them here but I want to warn them very seriously of their responsibility. It is necessary for each one to remember that phrase of the Holy Book: "Accustom yourself to have a good conduct from your youth and you will see that in your old age it will be easier for you not to deviate from good behavior".
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67. The aparition of the monster 1868
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On the night of April 30, 1868, Don Bosco had all his students gather together and said to them: I am going to tell you and narrate unpleasant events. I was thinking of not telling you because I dislike talking about fearful and negative things, but something very special happened to me. I had had some terrifying dreams in the past days and I decided not to tell them to my disciples because I thought they were just dreams and nothing more. But then while I was sleeping, the next apparition led me to tell them the other two dreams as well.
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It seemed to me that a huge monster came into my room and approached me and went to stand at the foot of my bed. It was disgusting and ugly as the most horrible toad, and as big and thick as an ox.
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I stared at it and from fright I could hardly breathe. The monster gradually increased in bulk: its legs grew, its belly grew, its head grew, and the thicker it grew, the more horrible and ugly it became. It was green in color, with a red line around its mouth and neck, which made it more horribly frightful. His eyes were like flames, and his bony ears were very small. And I thought: - But the toad has no ears! Above its eyes were two horns, and from its back were two big greenish wings. Its legs had nails like those of a lion, and it also had a long tail that ended in two points.
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He came closer and closer to me, showing me his big rows of very sharp teeth. I was very afraid, because it seemed to me that it was a real demon. I started to scream for help, but at that time of night no one could hear me.
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- What will become of me? - I shouted at the infernal monster.
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But he came closer and closer. He put his hind legs on the foot of my bed and stretched his body forward and put his nose close to my face. I felt such a shudder that I sat down on the bed, ready to get down on the floor, but the monster opened his mouth threateningly. I would have wanted to defend myself but it was so disgusting that I did not dare to touch it.
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Then I shouted: - In the name of God, why are you doing this? The toad on hearing those words withdrew a little. Then I made the sign of the cross, and upon hearing and seeing this prayer that monster gave a terrible cry and disappeared, but as he disappeared some words were heard that said clearly: - Why do you not speak? Why do you not tell what you saw in your dreams? With this I came to realize that it is God's will that I tell you what I saw the other day in my dreams. Otherwise I would betray my conscience. And by telling this perhaps I will be free from monster apparitions. So in obedience to the last words of this apparition I am going to tell you the following dreams:
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Explanation: Don Bosco had had several dreams at the beginning of April but they were frightening and it seemed to him that he should not tell them to his disciples so as not to frighten them. However, after the words he heard in this fearful apparition, he proposed to tell each of these dreams and for that he gathered all the students and told them what follows:
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[The narration continues in dream 68]