ISRAEL. Have you been spying?
JACOB. No, I merely listen, and look, and add together.
ISRAEL. Well, you have made a false calculation this time.
JACOB. Thus you tell me that there are two persons concerned in the matter, and that Nils Dacke is the silent partner who will not appear until the war has begun.
ISRAEL. I am afraid of you.
JACOB. You shouldn't be, father. I dare not do anything wrong, because then I am always made to suffer.
ISRAEL. Do you think I am doing anything wrong?
JACOB. You are more likely than I to do so, because, like Prince Eric, you believe in nothing.
ISRAEL. And such a thing I must hear from my own child!
JACOB. It is better than to hear it from other people's children—later on.