STUDENT. How can I tell what to think? My father was not in the habit of lying.
HUMMEL. No, that's right, a father never lies.... But I am also a father, and for that reason....
STUDENT. What are you aiming at?
HUMMEL. I saved your father from misery, and he repaid me with the ruthless hatred that is born out of obligation.... He taught his family to speak ill of me.
STUDENT. Perhaps you made him ungrateful by poisoning your assistance with needless humiliation.
HUMMEL. All assistance is humiliating, sir.
STUDENT. And what do you ask of me now?
HUMMEL. Not the money back. But if you will render me a small service now and then, I shall consider myself well paid. I am a cripple, as you see. Some people say it is my own fault. Others lay it to my parents. I prefer to blame life itself, with its snares. To escape one of these snares is to walk headlong into another. As it is, I cannot climb stairways or ring door-bells, and for that reason I ask you: will you help me a little?
STUDENT. What can I do for you?
HUMMEL. Give my chair a push, to begin with, so that I can read the bills on that column. I wish to see what they are playing to-night.