in the blackness of this immaterial cocoon , it was the image of the waiting spider behind its ominously resplendent web and the words of that ill-fated , however mindfully exploited , character of the lowly serfto be sure , those elements , impelling him , for the mere sake of survival , to commit himself to a destiny necessarily treacherouswhich lingered most lastingly in bunnus mind for what seemed eons beyond the conclusion of the dream .