Thinned? [More softly, and as if afraid.] It’s dangerous work that. Bad things come of it. The woods revenge themselves.
Hialmar.
[Filling up his glass.] Come—a little more, father.
Gregers.
How can a man like you—such a man for the open air—live in the midst of a stuffy town, boxed within four walls?
Ekdal.
[Laughs quietly and glances at Hialmar.] Oh, it’s not so bad here. Not at all so bad.
Gregers.
But don’t you miss all the things that used to be a part of your very being—the cool sweeping breezes, the free life in the woods and on the uplands, among beasts and birds——?
Ekdal.