He asked if I usually carried my briefcase when I walked. I said I did."That's madness, " he said. "I've told you never to carry anything in your hands when you walk. Geta knapsack."I laughed. The idea of carrying my notes in a knapsack was ludicrous. I told him that ordinarily Iwore a suit and a knapsack over a three-piece suit would be a preposterous sight."Put your coat on over the knapsack," he said. "It is better that people think you're a hunchbackthan to ruin your body carrying all this around." He urged me to get out my notebook and write. Heseemed to be making a deliberate effort to put me at ease. I complained again about the feeling ofphysical discomfort and the strange sense of unhappiness I was experiencing. Don Juan laughedand said, "You're beginning to learn."We then had a long conversation. He said that Mescalito, by allowing me to play with him, hadpointed me out as a "chosen man" and that, although he was baffled by the omen because I was notan Indian, he was going to pass on to me some secret knowledge. He said that he had had a"benefactor" himself, who taught him how to become a "man of knowledge."I sensed that something dreadful was about to happen. The revelation that I was his chosen man,plus the unquestionable strangeness of his ways and the devastating effect that peyote had had onme, created a state of unbearable apprehension and indecision. But don Juan disregarded myfeelings and recommended that I should only think of the wonder of Mescalito playing with me."Think about nothing else, " he said. "The rest will come to you of itself."He stood up and patted me gently on the head and said in a very soft voice, "I am going to teachyou how to become a warrior in the same manner I have taught you how to hunt. I must warn you,though, learning how to hunt has not made you into a hunter, nor would learning how to become awarrior make you one."I experienced a sense of frustration, a physical discomfort that bordered on anguish. I complainedabout the vivid dreams and nightmares I was having. He seemed to deliberate for a moment and satdown again. "They're weird dreams, " I said."You've always had weird dreams, " he retorted."I'm telling you, this time they are truly more weird than anything I've ever had.""Don't concern yourself. They are only dreams. Like the dreams of any ordinary dreamer, theydon't have power. So what's the use of worrying about them or talking about them?""They bother me, don Juan. Isn't there something I can do to stop them?""Nothing. Let them pass, " he said. "Now it's time for you to become accessible to power, and youare going to begin by tackling dreaming."The tone of voice he used when he said "dreaming" made me think that he was using the word in avery particular fashion. I was pondering about a proper question to ask when he began to talk again.