a chat. ... (He takes the STRANGER jocularly by the ear and leads
him round the table.) Sit down and tremble, young man! (They both
sit down.) Well? What shall we do? Call for wine--and a woman? No!
That's too old a trick, as old as Doctor Faust! Bon! We modern are
in search of mental dissipation. ... So you're on your way to those
holy men up there, who think that they who sleep can't sin; to the
cowardly ones, who've given up the battle of life, because they
were defeated once or twice; to those that bind souls rather than
free them. ... And talking of that! Has any saintly man ever freed
you from the burden of sin? No! Do you know why sin has been
oppressing you for so long? Through renunciation and abstinence,
you've grown so weak that anyone can seize your soul and take
possession of it. Why, they can even do it from a distance! You've
so destroyed your personality that you see with strange eyes, hear
with strange ears and think strange thoughts. In a word you've
murdered your own soul. Just now, didn't you speak well of the
enemies of mankind; of Woman, who made a hell of paradise? You
needn't answer me; I can read your answer in your eyes and hear it
on your lips. You talk of pure love for a woman! That's lust, young
man, lust after a woman, which we have to pay for so dearly. You
say you don't desire her. Then why do you want to be near her?
You'd like to have a friend? Take a male friend, many of them!
You've let them convince you you're no woman hater. But the woman
gave you the right answer; every healthy man's a woman hater, but
can't live without linking himself to his enemy, and so must fight
her! All perverse and unmanly men are admirers of women! How's it
with you now? So you saw those invalids and thought yourself
responsible for their misery? They're tough fellows, you can
believe me; they'll be able to leave here in a few days and go back
to their occupations. Oh yes, lying Erik's a wag! But things have