butterfly's dream; half-awake state
Idiomatic expression from a Taoist parable by Zhuang Zhou, used to describe a dreamy, half-awake state where reality and illusion blur. Often used in literary or philosophical contexts.
He felt as if in a butterfly's dream, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.
From the famous Taoist parable by Zhuang Zhou, in which he dreams he is a butterfly and upon waking cannot be sure if he is a man who dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he is a man.