Lucky Pehr by August Strindberg
page 31 of 102 (30%)
page 31 of 102 (30%)
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Pehr, you shall enjoy life! and that is your right. Haven't you
been up mornings at four o'clock; and rung for early Mass; haven't you swept the church on Fridays and scoured the stairs on Saturdays; haven't you eaten bread and herring three hundred and sixty-five days in the year and rinsed them down with cold water; haven't you slept on pease-bolt which was so badly threshed that you could feel the pease in your knee-joints? Oh, yes, you have-- therefore enjoy yourself! [Wants to sit at table.] BUTLER. [With staff in hand.] Pardon, Your Grace! The table is not laid. PEHR. Isn't it? BUTLER. In a couple of hours the roasts will be ready. PEHR. I don't want any roasts. BUTLER. [Intercepts Pehr with staff.] It can never be that one sits down at an unlaid table! PEHR. Who forbids me in my own house? BUTLER. Etiquette, Your Grace, does not under any circumstances permit it. PEHR. Etiquette! What kind of torment is that? BUTLER. Your Grace, listen to an old man's word! He who in Your Grace's position violates the rules of etiquette is lost. |
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