We have not exhausted our valuation of the dream work.  In addition to condensation, displacement, and definite arrangement of the psychical matter, we must ascribe to it yet another activity—­one which is, indeed, not shared by every dream.  I shall not treat this position of the dream work exhaustively; I will only point out that the readiest way to arrive at a conception of it is to take for granted, probably unfairly, that it only subsequently influences the dream content which has already been built up.  Its mode of action thus consists in so cooerdinating the parts of the dream that these coalesce to a coherent whole, to a dream composition.  The dream gets a kind of facade which, it is true, does not conceal the whole of its content.  There is a sort of preliminary explanation to be strengthened by interpolations and slight alterations.  Such elaboration of the dream content must not be too pronounced; the misconception of the dream thoughts to which it gives rise is merely superficial, and our first piece of work in analyzing a dream is to get rid of these early attempts at interpretation.

The motives for this part of the dream work are easily gauged.  This final elaboration of the dream is due to a regard for intelligibility—­a fact at once betraying the origin of an action which behaves towards the actual dream content just as our normal psychical action behaves towards some proffered perception that is to our liking.  The dream content is thus secured under the pretense of certain expectations, is perceptually classified by the supposition of its intelligibility, thereby risking its falsification, whilst, in fact, the most extraordinary misconceptions arise if the dream can be correlated with nothing familiar.  Every one is aware that we are unable to look at any series of unfamiliar signs, or to listen to a discussion of unknown words, without at once making perpetual changes through our regard for intelligibility, through our falling back upon what is familiar.

We can call those dreams properly made up which are the result of an elaboration in every way analogous to the psychical action of our waking life.  In other dreams there is no such action; not even an attempt is made to bring about order and meaning.  We regard the dream as “quite mad,” because on awaking it is with this last-named part of the dream work, the dream elaboration, that we identify ourselves.  So far, however, as our analysis is concerned, the dream, which resembles a medley of disconnected fragments, is of as much value as the one with a smooth and beautifully polished surface.  In the former case we are spared, to some extent, the trouble of breaking down the super-elaboration of the dream content.