deceit, for I'd never seen or heard anything wicked. Then I--
Florian, that is--met a young girl who seemed to me the most
beautiful creature I'd ever set eyes on in this wicked world, for
she was goodness itself. I offered her my hand, my heart, and my
future. She accepted everything and swore that she'd be true. I was
to serve five years for my Rachel--and I did serve, collecting one
straw after another for the little nest we were going to build. My
whole life was centred on the love of this woman! As I was true to
her myself, I never mistrusted her. By the fifth year I'd built the
hut and collected our household goods ... when I discovered she'd
been playing with me and had deceived me with at least three men. ...

MAGISTRATE. Have you witnesses?

BAILIFF. Three valid ones; I'm one of them.

MAGISTRATE. The bailiff alone will be sufficient.

TEMPTER. Then I shot her; not out of revenge, but in order to free
myself from the unhealthy thoughts her faithlessness had forced on
me; for when I tried to tear her picture out of my heart, images of
her lovers always rose and crept into my blood, so that at last I
seemed to be living in unlawful relationship with three men--with a
woman as the link between us!

MAGISTRATE. Well, that was jealousy!

ACCUSED MAN. Yes, that was jealousy.

TEMPTER. Yes, jealousy, that feeling for cleanliness, that seeks to