Adolf. Do what you will with me, I'll obey.
Gustav. Look at me.
Adolf [looks him in the face]. And now you look at me again with that other expression in those eyes of yours, which draws me to you irresistibly.
Gustav. Now listen to me.
Adolf. Yes, but speak of yourself. Don't speak any more of me: it's as though I were wounded, every movement hurts me.
Gustav. Oh no, there isn't much to say about me, don't you know. I'm a private tutor in dead languages and a widower, that's all. [He goes in front of the table.] Hold my hand.
[Adolf does so.]
Adolf. What awful strength you must have, it seems as though a fellow were catching hold of an electric battery.
Gustav. And just think, I was once quite as weak as you are. [Sternly.] Get up.
Adolf [gets up]. I am like a child without any bones, and my brain is empty.