You have never had eyes for the claims of the ideal, Relling.

Relling.

Rubbish, my boy!—But excuse me, Mr. Werle: how many—in round numbers—how many true marriages have you seen in the course of your life?

Gregers.

Scarcely a single one.

Relling.

Nor I either.

Gregers.

But I have seen innumerable marriages of the opposite kind. And it has been my fate to see at close quarters what ruin such a marriage can work in two human souls.

Hialmar.