ERIC. Where can I go? I have no one to talk with at home; and it seems to me, for that matter, that people are equally good or bad everywhere—although I prefer what is generally called bad company.—Do you know John Andersson?
JACOB. [Embarrassed] I have never heard his name even. Who is he?
MARCUS and DAVID go quietly out to the left.
ERIC. A man from Småland who is full of sensible ideas.—Do you still need to have your forehead bandaged?
JACOB. Do you think I wear the bandage as an ornament, or as a souvenir of the city mob?
ERIC. You should not bear a grudge against the good folk because some scamp has misbehaved himself.
JACOB. I don't, my friend, and I know perfectly well what a stranger must expect in a hostile country. If you come to Luebeck, you will see how they stone Swedes.
ERIC. You talk just like Jorghen Persson. Do you know him?
JACOB. I don't.
ERIC. He looks at everything in the same way as you do.