purest wisdom.

STRANGER. Oh! Do you know that, at night, when we'd said good-night
as friends and gone to sleep, I used to wake and feel your hatred
poisoning me; and think of getting out of bed so as not to be
suffocated. One night I woke and felt a pressure on the top of my
head. I saw you were awake and had put your hand close to my mouth.
I thought you were making me inhale poison from a phial; and, to
make sure, I seized your hand.

WOMAN. I remember.

STRANGER. What did you do then?

WOMAN. Nothing. Only hated you.

STRANGER. Why?

WOMAN. Because you were my husband. Because I ate your bread.

STRANGER. Do you think it's always the same?

WOMAN. I don't know. I suspect it is.

STRANGER. But sometimes you've even despised me?

WOMAN. Yes, when you were ridiculous. A man in love is always
ridiculous. Do you know what a cox-comb is? That's what a lover's
like.