A white-haired old woman is seen at the window beside the entrance, looking into the window-mirror.
HUMMEL. Look at that old woman in the window. Do you see her?—Well, she was my fiancée once upon a time, sixty years ago.... I was twenty at that time.... Never mind, she does not recognise me. We see each other every day, and I hardly notice her—although once we vowed to love each other eternally.... Eternally!
STUDENT. How senseless you were in those days! We don't talk to our girls like that.
HUMMEL. Forgive us, young man! We didn't know better.—Can you see that she was young and pretty once?
STUDENT. It doesn't show.... Oh, yes, she has a beautiful way of looking at things, although I can't see her eyes clearly.
The JANITRESS comes out with a basket on her arm and begins to cover the sidewalk with chopped hemlock branches, as is usual in Sweden when a funeral is to be held.
HUMMEL. And the Janitress—hm! That Dark Lady is her daughter and the dead man's, and that's why her husband was made janitor.... But the Dark Lady has a lover, who is a dandy with great expectations. He is now getting a divorce from his present wife, who is giving him an apartment-house to get rid of him. This elegant lover is the son-in-law of the dead man, and you can see his bedclothes being aired on the balcony up there.... That's a bit complicated, I should say!
STUDENT. Yes, it's fearfully complicated.
HUMMEL. It certainly is, inside and outside, no matter how simple it may look.
STUDENT. But who was the dead man?