High, Low and In-Between
by Stina Högkvist

“From a certain point of view everything bears relationships of analogy, contiguity and similarity to everything else”.*1

– Let’s stop this competition now, and have things worth points instead, said Loranga. For example, a great tit is one point. An owl is ten points and a tiger is a thousand points, right, you understand what I mean. Masarin understand almost none of it, but he went along with it anyway.
– I see a sparrow, he cried.
– There’s a birch tree!
– Aha, that's minus five points, said Loranga.
– And I see a woodpecker, that’s seven points, and I see a dead bumble-bee there, three points
– Now I can see a grasshopper and a great big fly, said Masarin.
– Right, unfortunately that will be no points, that is exactly where we draw the line, said Loranga.
And then Loranga saw a broken jug and some large blue flowers, and the points simply came tumbling down.
– I see a sunflower and a rusty hammer, said Masarin.
– One point, almost, said Loranga.
Then they got thirsty and went inside and drank Pommac. Loranga got points for every gulp he took, but Masarin only got points when he dropped the glass on the floor. Loranga sat and looked out, and all of a sudden he froze.
– Shush, I thought that was an elk running past, hah, he said. – No, it was only a great tit! Two points, always something!
When they counted up their points, it turned out that Loranga had five hundred and sixty-one points and Masarin seven.
– But if you make a little chocolate pudding with whipped cream, then you get five hundred and sixty-one points and both of us will have won. Congratulations! cried Loranga.*2

“The paranoiac is not the person who notices that ‘while’ and ‘crocodile’ curiously appear in the same context: the paranoiac is the person who begins to wonder about the mysterious motives that induced me to bring these two particular words together. The paranoiac sees beneath my example a secret, to which I allude”.*3

“saying to him words he taught me to say sucking his neck which I know he loves since he sucks mine.”*4

“Artist
You are wasting your time on some unworthy pleasures if you saw an artist painting or drawing in your dream; if you were doing the artwork, you will have to revise your plans in order to achieve the recognition you want.”*5

/Stina Högkvist

*1 Umberto Ecco, from Interpretation and Overinterpretation, 1992, p. 48

*2 Barbro Lindgren, from Loranga. 1969 p. 51-53

*3 Umberto Ecco, from Interpretation and Overinterpretation, 1992, p. 48

*4 Åsa Ericsdotter, from Oskyld, 1999 p. 24

*5 Stearn Corbin & Tom Corbett, vad dina drömmar betyder: från A-Ö.

Stearn Robinson, Tom Corbett, Dreamer's Dictionary, Grand Central Publishing, 1986

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (February 11, 1986)

ISBN-10: 0446342963

ISBN-13: 978-0446342964

Material taken from: Åsa Ericsdotter, Oskyld, Wahlström&Widstrand, 1999
Umberto Ecco, Interpretation and Overinterpretation, Ed. Stefan Collini, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Barbro Lindgren, Loranga: del ett & två, AB Raben & Sjögren bokförlag, 1969
Stearn Corbin & Tom Corbett, Vad dina drömmar betyder: från A-Ö
Stearn Robinson, Tom Corbett, Dreamer's Dictionary, Grand Central Publishing, 1986