Mistress, the house is now filled with strangers who were not here yesterday. And, it is said that the men who are in the Tetrarch's following run after young maidens.
SALOME
Let them! I am not afraid of any men.... I take them as I find them.... I love them.
ABI
Thou knowest men, mistress?
SALOME
I mean not the men of our own people! They wear beards on their chins like forests, and before one can look round, they stand there barefooted, and then people say---- No; I mislike that. But once, when I was with my father in Antioch, I met pale youths with golden brown hair, and they wore red shoes and smelt of perfumes.... They were Greeks, my father said, real Greeks from Hellas.... They smiled, and it made me thrill.... Why dost thou stand there sulking, Miriam, and listenest not to my converse? It doth not please thee? Laugh, or I'll beat thee. If thou laughest not, I'll have thee whipped!
MIRIAM
Let me be whipped, mistress.
SALOME