"Thoma, here I am; don't you see me?" cried he.
"Yes, I see you," answered Thoma. Her voice and her face, which she now turned toward Anton, were changed; and her eyes, which before had been so fearless, now wandered uneasily here and there.
"I see you," she continued, "I see the flowers, I see the trees and the sky. Everything pretends to be alive, but everything is dead."
"Thoma, you are always so strong and resolute. Control yourself. I know it is sad and distressing, but for the sake of a person who is dead----"
"It is not only that a person has been killed; he, you, I, my father, all, all have received a deathblow."
"Thoma, don't excite yourself so, you are always so sensible. You know I have been in the war, and have seen many----"
"Yes, yes, it is true; you too have killed men. When he was still alive you were so tender-hearted toward him, and now that he is dead you are so hard. Say, am I still in my right mind?"
"You are, if you will only control yourself."
"I'll try, thank you. Do you think that my father, that any one of us, can ever be happy again for a single minute?"
"Certainly! Your father has done nothing."