Adoif. Oh, something extremely unpleasant.
Thekla. Let me hear it.
Adolf. He forbade us to live together as man and wife for some time.
Thekla. There you are. I thought as much. They want to separate us. I’ve already noticed it for some time. [She goes round the circular table toward the right.]
Adolf. There was nothing 1 for you to notice. There was never the slightest incident of that description.
Thekla. What do you mean?
Adolf. How could it have been possible for you to have seen something- which wasn’t there if your fear hadn’t heated your imagination to so violent a pitch that you saw what never existed? As a matter of fact, what were you afraid of? That I might borrow another’s eyes so as to see you as you really were, not as you appeared to me?
Thekla. Keep your imagination in check, Adolf. Imagination is the beast in the human soul.
Adolf. Where did you get this wisdom from? From the pure youths on the steamer, eh?
Thekla.[Without losing her self-possession.] Certainly—even youth can teach one a great deal.