Ballested (painting). It's the fjord there between the islands I'm working at.
Lyngstrand. So I see.
Ballested. But the figure is still wanting. There's not a model to be got in this town.
Lyngstrand. Is there to be a figure, too?
Ballested. Yes. Here by the rocks in the foreground a mermaid is to lie, half-dead.
Lyngstrand. Why is she to be half-dead?
Ballested. She has wandered hither from the sea, and can't find her way out again. And so, you see, she lies there dying in the brackish water.
Lyngstrand. Ah, I see.
Ballested. The mistress of this house put it into my head to do something of the kind.
Lyngstrand. What shall you call the picture when it's finished?