Here I have forgotten myself for a while, and I am shouting, I am croaking hoarsely, like a crow that has caught cold. I want to be beautiful—that's what I was born for. You laugh? It is in vain. Do you know that your daughter will be a duchess, a princess? I want to add a scepter to my crown!

ANATHEMA.

Oho!

All three go out. David jumps from his seat angrily and paces the room quickly.

DAVID.

What a comedy, Nullius! Yesterday she begged Heaven for a herring, and to-day a crown is not enough for her. To-morrow she will take the throne away from Satan and will sit upon it, Nullius, and she will sit firmly! What a comedy!

Anathema has changed the expression of his face; he is stern and morose.

ANATHEMA.

No, David Leizer, it is a tragedy.

DAVID.