We have only a few minutes! At last I have been able to bribe the jailer, and from now on he will let me visit you once a week. Tell me quickly how I can lighten your sufferings.
THE KING.
My sufferings?——Yes! What a father I am to throw my child unprotected upon the world! That is my sorrow!——Otherwise, I thank God daily that He has separated me from mankind by these six-foot walls, so that I am safe from them!
ALMA.
You can see from my appearance, Father, how good people are to me. I am still in the service of the notary. Only tell me what I may bring you to strengthen you! What frightful torments you must have endured here!
THE KING.
No, no, my child! Do not bring me anything unfamiliar into this solitude! You don't know how time passes here with the speed of the wind. In the beginning I scratched seven hundred and thirty marks on that wall, to have the daily joy of rubbing one of them out. But soon I had to blot them out by the week or by the month. And now I see with dread how quickly they grow less and less, so that the last will soon be gone and I will have to seek refuge once more under overhanging rocks and contend with wolves for their booty!——But do not let my words sadden you! You cannot guess how the jailer prepared me for your coming!
ALMA.
I think with silent horror of how fiendishly he will torment you!
THE KING.