downward, when the man pulls up. Drags upward, when the man pulls
down.

STRANGER. She always wants to disagree with her husband; always has
a lot of sympathy for what he dislikes; is crudest beneath the
greatest superficial refinement; the wickedest amongst the best.
And yet, whenever I've been in love, I've always grown more
sensitive to the refinements of civilisation.

TEMPTER. You, I dare say. What about her?

STRANGER. Oh, whilst our love was growing _she_ was always
developing backwards. And getting cruder and more wicked.

TEMPTER. Can you explain that?

STRANGER. No. But once, when I was trying to find the solution to
the riddle by disagreeing with myself, I took it that she absorbed
my evil and I her good.

TEMPTER. Do you think woman's particularly false?

STRANGER. Yes and no. She seeks to hide her weakness but that only
means that she's ambitious and has a sense of shame. Only whores
are honest, and therefore cynical.

TEMPTER. Tell me some more about her that's good.

STRANGER. I once had a woman friend. She soon noticed that when I
drank I looked uglier than usual; so she begged me not to. I