JUDGE. [Frightened] Where did you come from?
THE OTHER ONE. That is no concern of yours.
JUDGE. [Straightening himself up] What kind of language is that?
THE OTHER ONE. Your own!—Off with your cap! [He blows at the JUDGE, whose cap is lifted off his head and falls to the ground] Now you shall hear sentence pronounced: you have wanted to sever what has been united by Him whose name I may not mention. Therefore you shall be separated from her who ought to be the staff of your old age. Alone you must run the gauntlet. Alone you must bear the qualms of sleepless nights.
JUDGE. Is that mercy?
THE OTHER ONE. It is justice; it is the law: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth! The gospel has a different sound, but of that you didn't want to hear. Now, move I along. [He beats the air with the rattan.
The scene changes to a garden with cypresses and yew-trees clipped in the shape of obelisks, candelabra, vases, etc. Under the trees grow roses, hollyhocks, foxgloves, etc. At the centre of it is a spring above which droops a gigantic fuchsia in full bloom.[1]
Back of the garden appears a field of rye, all yellow and ready to be cut. Bachelor's-buttons and daisies grow among the rye. A scarecrow hangs in the middle of the field. The distant background is formed by vineyards and light-coloured rocks with beech woods and ruined castles on them.
A road runs across the stage in the near background. At the right is a covered Gothic arcade. In front of this stands a statue of the Madonna with the Child.
ERIC and THYRA enter hand in hand with the PLAYMATE.
ERIC. Oh, how beautiful it is!
THYRA. Who is living here?