ERIC. [Gently and respectfully] No news at all, mother.
QUEEN. [To her mother] He called me mother! [To ERIC] How fare you, Eric? Is life heavy?
ERIC. Heavier than it was the day before yesterday.
QUEEN. What happened yesterday?
ERIC. What happens to a human being only once in a lifetime.—Are you much wiser now?
QUEEN. [To her mother] How childlike he has grown! [To Eric] Have you heard anything of your friend Jacob?
ERIC. Yes, he was my real friend, and so they took his head.
QUEEN. Now you are unjust. There has been no attempt to take the head of Jorghen....
ERIC. He is no longer my friend. [Peevishly] But now I don't want to be questioned any longer, least of all about my secrets—that is, about the secrets of my heart.
QUEEN. [To her mother] He is quite charming in his childishness. Apparently he would love to talk of his secret.