Then the Judge shouts in a loud and angry tone, "Silence!" and everybody stands perfectly still.
"What is the matter with you? What business have you with the Bible?" the Judge asks the plaintiff in the same hard and severe tone.
Since, with the courage of despair, she has been able to give utterance to her distress, her anxiety has decreased so that she can answer, "He must not take the oath!"
"Be silent, and put back the book!" demands the Judge.
She does not obey, but holds the book tightly with both hands. "He cannot take the oath!" she cries fiercely.
"Are you so determined to win your suit?" asks the Judge sharply.
"I want to withdraw the suit," she shrieks in a high, shrill voice. "I don't want to force him to swear."
"What are you shrieking about?" demands the Judge. "Have you lost your senses?"
She catches her breath suddenly and tries to control herself. She hears herself how she is shrieking. The Judge will think she has gone mad if she cannot say what she would say calmly. She struggles with herself again to get control of her voice, and this time she succeeds. She says slowly, earnestly, and clearly, as she looks the Judge in the face: "I wish to withdraw the suit. He is the father of the child. I am still fond of him. I don't wish him to swear falsely."
She stands erect and resolute, facing the Judges' table, all the while looking the Judge square in the face. He sits with both hands resting on the table and for a long while does not take his eyes off from her. While the Judge is looking at her, a great change comes over him. All the ennui and displeasure in his face vanishes, and the large, rough-hewn visage becomes beautiful with the most beautiful emotion. "Ah, see!" he thinks—"Ah, see! such is the mettle of my people. I shall not be vexed at them when there is so much love and godliness even in one of the humblest."