NOEJD. Yes, but I can't, Captain. It's just as if you asked me to
strike the Pastor. It's second nature, like religion, I can't!

[Laura comes in, she motions Noejd to go.]

CAPTAIN. Omphale, Omphale! Now you play with the club while
Hercules spins your wool.

LAURA [Goes to sofa]. Adolf, look at me. Do you believe that I am
your enemy?

CAPTAIN. Yes, I do. I believe that you are all my enemies! My
mother was my enemy when she did not want to bring me into the
world because I was to be born with pain, and she robbed my
embryonic life of its nourishment, and made a weakling of me. My
sister was my enemy when she taught me that I must be submissive to
her. The first woman I embraced was my enemy, for she gave me ten
years of illness in return for the love I gave her. My daughter
became my enemy when she had to choose between me and you. And you,
my wife, you have been my arch enemy, because you never let up on
me till I lay here lifeless.

LAURA. I don't know that. I ever thought or even intended what you
think I did. It may be that a dim desire to get rid of you as an
obstacle lay at the bottom of it, and if you see any design in my
behavior, it is possible that it existed, although I was
unconscious of it. I have never thought how it all came about,
but it is the result of the course you yourself laid out, and
before God and my conscience I feel that I am innocent, even if I