I dreamt that I and some friends were being imprisoned in a beautiful red sandstone Palace with great buttresses and huge terraces. The walls were stucco and full of reliefs.

Once in a while the Guards who sat on the veranda would behead somebody. The head would be displayed on a kind of lantern base, with a glowing flame beneath it.

In the dream, I escape and enjoying a beautiful ball with candelabra and waltzes. A Guard who has befriended me with a bushy red beard has let me sneak away.

I've danced away the night and then I go back up to my prison. I look on to the veranda and I see my friend the guard being hauled away by his feet. I hear a huge cracking sound they are hewing of his head. The terrifying sound of sawing flesh.

Later I see the guard's head mounted in a lantern base. Remarkably, there is no flame beneath his head. I hear a voice cry out. It repeats, again and again, "ha pagata con la vita." Over and over until I wake up.

Surprise, it's sort of a nightmare and I wake up. It is 4 AM.