GUSTAV. No, there is nothing to say about me. I am a teacher of
dead languages, and a widower--that's all! Take my hand.
ADOLPH. What terrible power there must be in you! It feels as if I
were touching an electrical generator.
GUSTAV. And bear in mind that I have been as weak as you are now.-
-Stand up!
ADOLPH. [Rises, but keeps himself from falling only by throwing
his arms around the neck of GUSTAV] I am like a boneless baby, and
my brain seems to lie bare.
GUSTAV. Take a turn across the floor!
ADOLPH. I cannot!
GUSTAV. Do what I say, or I'll strike you!
ADOLPH. [Straightening himself up] What are you saying?
GUSTAV. I'll strike you, I said.
ADOLPH. [Leaping backward in a rage] You!
GUSTAV. That's it! Now you have got the blood into your head, and
your self-assurance is awake. And now I'll give you some
electriticy: where is your wife?
ADOLPH. Where is she?
GUSTAV. Yes.
ADOLPH. She is--at--a meeting.
GUSTAV. Sure?
ADOLPH. Absolutely!
GUSTAV. What kind of meeting?
ADOLPH. Oh, something relating to an orphan asylum.
GUSTAV. Did you part as friends?
ADOLPH. [With some hesitation] Not as friends.
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