CAPTAIN. Now I think the discussion may be regarded as closed. You, Curt, had better go and say good-bye to Allan, who is leaving with the next boat.
CURT. [Rising] So soon? Well, I have gone through worse things than that.
CAPTAIN. You say that so often that I am beginning to wonder what you went through in America?
CURT. What I went through? I went through misfortunes. And it is the unmistakable right of every human being to suffer misfortune.
CAPTAIN. [Sharply] There are self-inflicted misfortunes—were yours of that kind?
CURT. Is not this a question of conscience?
CAPTAIN. [Brusquely] Do you mean to say you have a conscience?
CURT. There are wolves and there are sheep, and no human being is honoured by being a sheep. But I'd rather be that than a wolf!
CAPTAIN. You don't recognise the old truth, that everybody is the maker of his own fortune?
CURT. Is that a truth?