Latest / The Scorpion by Anna Elisabet Weirauch. / 14 - The Scorpion.

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14 - The Scorpion. · The Scorpion by Anna Elisabet Weirauch.

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: When Myra reached home she was met in the hall
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: by one of the maids who said, as it seemed
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to Myra, with an ambiguous and lewd smile, Miss Workenthen
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: is waiting for Miss Rudloff. Myra felt her heart palpitate,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: as it had so often of late. She walked more slowly,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: not wishing to reach the door of her room too soon.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: She felt that she must have a few moments reprieve.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: But she felt, too, as if the maid had stopped,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and she thought that mocking, spying glance was stabbing her back,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: between the shoulder blades. So she walked quicker. It was
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: cold outside, cold on the stairs, cold in the hall.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: She had been so happy at the idea of her warm,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: quiet room, of the mild light of the lamp, of
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: an hour in the easy chair with a good book
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: in her hand. Now her beloved room was quite filled
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: with a strange presence. A cloud of opium and stupefying
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: perfume would assail her, and she would not enjoy a
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: quiet quarter of an hour that night. Once more she
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: would lie awake half the night with all her nerves jumping,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: taking one sleeping tablet after another to induce a few
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: hours of dull unrefreshing slumber. She was shaken by sudden anger.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: I want my room to myself, she thought, gritting her
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: teeth like a defiant child and clenching her fists. Every
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: animal has its hole into which to creep. I want
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: a room where I can be alone. I must be alone,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I must have rest. I don't want any stranger in
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: my room. Exhausted and close to tears, she supported herself
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: for a moment against the wall. She was considering whether
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: it would not be better to go out again, to
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: take refuge in a coffee house and read the papers.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: But she was tired and dreaded the cold dark street. Moreover,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: she would have to come home in the end, and
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: up until midnight there would be someone constantly waiting for
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: her in her room. So she walked with sudden decision
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: to her door. She decided to feign a headache. Ah,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: she would probably have one soon from anxiety and anger.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: She would simply go to bed, make compresses and swallow powders,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: replying to all questions with a curt yes or no.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Then perhaps she would presently be left alone. As she
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: opened her door, she felt for a moment as if
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: she were dreaming or insane. All the doors and drawers
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: of her desk were open. White heaps stood up like
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: little mountains. Her hasty glance took in letters, pictures, books, notebooks,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: everything in wild disorder. Before the open drawers Gisela was
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: kneeling in a shirt and black silk underwear, rummaging among
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Myra's linen. The worst that one could do to Myra
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: was to touch her unprotected things. She sprang at Gisela,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: seizing her bare arm angrily. What are you doing here?
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: What's in your mind? She cried. Gisela was not in
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the least frightened. You come too soon, she said coldly,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: baring her teeth with a mocking twitch of her lips. Yes,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: you come too soon. I know very well what I'm
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: talking about. I mean not too late too soon. If
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: you had come five minutes later, all would have been over.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: What is the meaning of this? Myra was becoming more
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: and more enraged, rather than frightened, although the face that
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: had been pushed close to hers for some hundred seconds
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: was strange and weird. What are you doing here? Why
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: are you going through my things? I'm looking for something,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: said Gisela, sharply and contemptuously. You can see for yourself
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: that I'm looking for something. Is it any of your business?
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: I really don't think it is any of your business.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I really don't believe that anything, she touched Myra's breast
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: several times with one finger, goes on in there in
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: your heart, or in my heart for you. I'm in
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the ground, deep in the ground. With a gentle broken
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: voice and a face distorted by sorrow, she sang. In
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the cool ground, suddenly in a completely altered tone that
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: was clear and almost businesslike, she said, I'm looking for
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: your revolver. Myra started to glance at the night table,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: but with almost superhuman energy checked herself when she saw
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: that Gisela's eyes were glued to her face, watching every expression.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: What do you want with the revolver? She asked very quietly.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: It's no plaything for you. What do I want with
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: the revolver? Said Gisela with a plaintive singing child's voice.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: To hold it against my temple, to pull the trigger,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: to die, to sleep. What a question. What do I
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: want with the revolver? AI, AI, what do people generally
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: do with revolvers? AI, AI. She suddenly began to laugh.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Have you ever heard anybody say AI, AI? Before in
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: your life? It's too stupid. Who can have invented the expression? A-I-A-I. A-I-A-I.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: She began to laugh louder and louder. She laughed so
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: much that the tears ran down her face. She shook
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: her head so that wisps of hair fluttered about her
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: forehead while she kept repeating. A-I-A-I. A-I-A-I. Suddenly she got
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: up and her slender elegantly shod foot kicked her clothes
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: which were lying on the floor. You mustn't be surprised
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: that I got undressed, she said. I did it intentionally
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: because I felt too warm. You'll probably think it's not
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: right for me to undress in your room. If so,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: I forthwith beg your pardon, ask your forgiveness. She said
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: it very formally. You'll think a lot of things are
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: not right because you come from a higher sphere of society.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: In other words, you're just a spheroid. Again she began
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: to laugh hysterically. I never did know what that was,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: but you're exactly what I imagined a spheroid looked like.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: She tottered and supported herself with both hands against the commode.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Her eyes were half shut, her mouth was distorted with pain.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: If anybody in all this world loved me, she would
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: put me to bed now. Oh, if I could only
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: lie down so that my brain would get back into
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: place again. It has turned over. But that's the way
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: it feels, exactly that way. Myra caught her elbow and
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: supported her. Come, I'll put you to bed. She made
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: an effort to speak very gently. Come you poor child.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: You can lie down and be comfortable on the divan.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Then your poor brain will get back into place again.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: You are tired and you must sleep. Then you'll be
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: fresh and cheerful again in a few hours. She took
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: the slender, limp body by the shoulders, and guiding Gisela
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: to the divan, laid her among the cushions and covered
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: her with a blanket from the bed. She sat beside Gisela,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: mechanically caressing her cold, and apparently lifeless hands until the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: girl's irregular breathing grew more quiet. Her limbs relaxed and
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: her head sank deep among the pillows. Myra sat for
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: a while without moving, for she was afraid she would
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: wake the sleeper. At any rate, it was quiet in
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: her room now. She looked at the clock. In half
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: an hour Gisela was supposed to be at the cabaret.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Myra cast a glance at the exhausted face with its
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: worn features and open mouth. It was hardly possible to
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: awaken the sleeper now and remind her of her obligations.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Nor had Myra the slightest desire to do so. She
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: rose quietly to go to the telephone. She wanted at
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: least to call up the cabaret and tell them that
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Gisela was sick. Perhaps she could save her a fine
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: in that way. Moreover, the thought was unbearable to her
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: middle-class sensibilities that people would be waiting there, becoming more
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: and more excited from moment to moment. and not know
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: what had happened. At first she walked on tiptoe, glancing
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: back cautiously like a criminal, toward the night table, planning
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: to remove the revolver. She wondered where she could put it.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: No place seemed safe enough. She decided to carry it
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: on her person, and as she did not want it seen,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: she thrust it into her waist. It felt heavy and
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: cold and gruesome hanging in her light shirt, and although
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: she had tried the safety catch, She thought that at
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: every step the slightest jolt would loosen it, jar the trigger,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: and drive a bullet through her breast. Defiantly, she told
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: herself that nothing better could happen, controlling her fear in
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: that fashion. She waited a long time in the telephone
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: booth before she gave her number because she thought she
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: heard steps in the hall or doors opening. She did
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: not want anybody to overhear her conversation. When she finally
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: got her connection, She had to repeat three separate times
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the litany that Miss Workenthen was ill and could not come.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: One moment, please, I'll connect you with the office, said
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the first very courteous voice. Wait a minute, I'll give
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: you the manager, said the second less affably. So, said
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: the third sharp voice, so Miss Workenthen is sick. Well,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: the doctor will decide that. He'll be at her room
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: in a quarter of an hour. Miss Workenthen is not
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: at her room. said Myra with a throbbing heart. She
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: is at my room. And who are you anyway? A
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: friend of Miss Workenthen. No, not even if they had
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: broken her on the rack would Myra have told him
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: her name. Miss Workenthen was visiting me and she fainted.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: She heard the mocking intonation with which the voice repeated.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: She went to a friend's house and fainted. Another voice
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: hoarse with rage shouted into the mouthpiece. She's drunk, huh?
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Myra heard somebody being dragged away and pacified, and more
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: rude muttering. Morphine, coke and alcohol, one after the other.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Tell your friend. This was the first sharp voice and
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the contemptuous your friend was like a blow to Myra,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: that while I can understand her preferring the pleasure of
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: your company to an appearance on my stage, I can
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: also assure her that it is no pleasure at all
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: for me to pay her a high wage for nothing
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: or less than nothing. Miss Workenthen must come with a
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: doctor's certificate tomorrow or she will be dismissed. The receiver
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: was hung up with a bang. For a painful moment
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Myra considered phoning the doctor. Perhaps he could be moved
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: to write a certificate. but she would have to give
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: her name and address. She would have to meet this
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: strange man and take him into her room. She was
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: boiling with indignation. How had she been precipitated into all this?
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: She returned to her room without making a sound. When
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: she saw her things scattered on the floor, another wave
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: of anger swept over her. She did not want to
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: go out, but neither did she like to see everything
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: ransacked and thrown about in this fashion. She turned a
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: chair so that its back was to the desolation in
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: the room and on the divan. She picked up a
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: scientific work and endeavored to concentrate on it. On the divan,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: the regular breathing was so hoarse and harsh that it
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: seemed not to come from that delicate body. The disorder
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: behind her signified disturbance, too. It was as if the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: open drawers and doors were uttering a cry for help.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: And she seemed to have eyes in the back of
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: her head which could see through the easy chair to
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: the pieces of paper and batiste which stood out white
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: against the dark carpet. The walking and talking ceased outside.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: It grew still in the room, still in the house.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: The heat died down, the room became colder and colder.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: The cold crept from the floor into Myra's legs. She
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: drew up her feet on the chair. But that did
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: not help for long. I called up the trocadero, said
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Myra quietly and wearily. I think Kaiser himself answered the telephone.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: You missed the performance. He was very angry. You have
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: to bring a doctor's certificate in the morning, or he'll
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: let you go. Give me your revolver, Myra, I beg you.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: You'll be doing a good deed. I'll write a farewell
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: letter so that you won't be under suspicion. I beg you,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: have mercy on me. I haven't got it anymore, Myra lied.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I've hidden it. At that moment she felt it hanging
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: heavily in the loose bulge on her shirt waist so
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: that the collar was like a tight narrow band around
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: her neck. What will happen now, she thought. I'll never
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: get rid of her. It will go on like this.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I'll find her in my room every time I come home.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: She won't have a job any longer and no money.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: She'll stick to me like a burr. And that's what
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: my life will be like. Why should all this have happened?
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: How have I deserved it? only because I let myself
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: be pleased by her affection. Has she any claim on
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: me because of that? Have I given myself into her hands,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: body and soul? Shivering with cold, Gisela crossed her bare
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: arms over her breast. It's cold here, she said. Why
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: didn't you come to bed, poor little beastie? It must
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: certainly be very late, much too late for me to
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: catch a car home. I feel changed, Come, Myra girl,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: let us both come to bed so that we'll be warm.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Do you feel as deathly cold as I do? No,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: said Myra curtly. Lie down. I want to read a
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: little more. I'm still too wide awake. I'll lie close
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: to the wall, Gisela said. You'll have room. Yes, yes, thanks.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Myra sat perfectly still again in her deep easy chair.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Again the weight of the revolver made a fine tight
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: band across her neck. She reflected on her conduct and
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: became dizzy as if she saw an abyss which she
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: had crossed without having been aware of its terrible depth.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Had not a voice within her cried only a moment before.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Do it. Give her the revolver. Let her make an
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: end of it, and then you'll have peace. If she
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: had done that, there would have been a shot, blood
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and brains would have spurred it. A corpse would be
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: lying in her room or a dying woman. She, Myra Rudloff,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: would have committed a murder. Out of cowardliness, out of
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: love of comfort, out of petty pitiful selfishness. She had
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: already committed that murder in her mind. All that had
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: been needed was an innocent lifting of her hand. And then...
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: She shuddered and cowered. From the bed came a deep
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: regular breathing. Myra's mouth twisted into a scornful smile. But
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: she would not have done it, she thought. She'd never
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: have done it. A high road stretched away toward the light.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: In the dark shadowy corners that the sun never reached,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: little stained rotting patches of snow were still lying. The
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: fruit trees at either side of the road were laden
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: with little ball-like buds on which a white streak was
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: already discernible. The woods in the distance were enveloped in
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: a reddish veil that betokened new life. Myra and Sophie
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: were wandering along the road. God, it's beautiful, said Myra.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: opening her mouth to draw the pure invigorating air into
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: her lungs. It was a wonderful idea of Nora's to
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: chase us both out. Nora always has wonderful ideas, said
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Sophie with a happy, affectionate pride. She always knows what
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: I need and what will do me good much better
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: than I do myself. For the most part one never
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: know what is the matter with me. Actually I feel
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable and I don't know whether I should like to sleep,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: eat or go for a walk. Then Nora says to me,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: You ought to lie down. Or you need to get
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: out into the air. And it's always the right thing.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Good God, how beautiful the world is. Myra exulted. Oh, Sophus.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: I'm so insanely grateful to you for making me conscious again.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: We will walk often in the open together, said Sophie.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I'll show you all the things that I looked at
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: a hundred times long ago. Very long ago. at a
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: period when I was desperately lonely and devoured by the
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: need of some human soul to whom I could show them.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: We must come here when the fruit trees are in bloom,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: and afterwards, when the whole woods is a garden of
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: dog roses and May flowers, and in September when the
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: leaves have turned. She seized Myra's hand, clasping the wrist
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: with a grip so firm that it was almost painful.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: You must not go away. That was all nonsense that
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: I preached to you before. We'll have to put your
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: life to rights here. we must find something for you
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: to do, and you must furnish a nice little home
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: so that you don't have to remain in that horrible pension.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Then you'll come after work and chat with us and
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: once a week we'll have to declare a holiday and
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: run around the mountains from morning till night. Suddenly she
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: changed her tone and said with an amusing dryness, and
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: then when we're tired out, we'll stand on some declivity
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: where we can smell the dinner that God destined for us,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: steaming out of the chimney pots below. and we won't
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: be able to get down. We'll get down, said Myra confidently,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: if for no other reason because we can't do anything else.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Or shall we turn aside from our goal to seek
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: an easier way? Never. At first, while their feet sank
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: in the rustling leaves, the going was easy. But during
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: the last stage, just on a level with the roofs
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: above the road, There were more pines and spruces and
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the ground was strewn with needles which in the bright
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: sunlight were smoother than a waxed floor. Sophie who was
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: accustomed from childhood to the ups and downs of mountains,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: though she was somewhat out of practice of late, was
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: nevertheless much surer footed than Myra, who looked for a
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: supporting branch from step to step. Sophie stretched out her
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: hand to her, but Myra declined it ambitiously, whereupon both
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: of them began to laugh at themselves at one another.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: at their little adventure, at the quips they shouted. All
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: that was necessary was for one of them to warn
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: the other that he might slip, to turn the laughter
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: they were trying to suppress into a peal of childish merriment.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Myra laughed until the tears came into her eyes. She
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: was no longer watching where she stepped. Suddenly her feet slipped,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: a branch which she caught it snapped and remained in
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: her hands. She would certainly have fallen had not Sophie,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: whose one foot was supported against a root, stooped and
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: caught her and held her upright. They remained for a
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: moment breast to breast, hot, laughing, panting for breath, while
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: their pulses throbbed. At the same moment both became serious.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Their faces bent one toward the other. Humbly, ineluctably, lips
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: were laid against lips. Myra closed her eyes. She felt
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Sophie's feverish mouth on her eyelids, her temples, her cheeks.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: She heard her hot voice in a whisper. Don't move,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: don't resist, or we will both go plunging down. She
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: had no thought of resisting. She had no thought of moving.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: She stood motionless. Her heart seemed to expand to grow warm.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: It seemed to her as if she must flower under
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: these caresses like a young tree in May. They ate
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: lunch under a friendly enticing red roof, and crossing the
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: silvery lake, wandered toward the station. At times they were boisterous,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: at times sentimental, but always courteously reserved on the personal theme.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: They spoke of a thousand things, but not of themselves,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: not of that which both were thinking and feeling. At
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: the small station they sat with other people, silent and tired,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: waiting for the train. The darkness set in early. The
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: little lanterns cast a melancholy light through the blue dusk.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Myra began to feel cold and pressed her face against
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: her raised coat collar. At last the train came. They
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: both looked for an empty compartment without stating their intention.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: They found one and climbed in. Now everything will be
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: all right, thought Myra. I will lay my head on
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: her shoulder and she will say gentle, nice things to me.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Then this cold feeling will go away. Sophie sat beside
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: her leaning slightly forward and stared out the window without
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: saying a word for a long, a long, long time. Outside,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: fields and forests glided by, shrouded deeper and deeper in
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: the twilight, broken at rare intervals by a lighted window,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: a solitary lantern. At last Sophie turned her face to Myra,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: a face which in the feeble glow of the flickering
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: little gas lamp looked grave, deathly pale and tense in
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: every feature. I told you something this morning, Myra, she
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: began awkwardly, stammering, and yet it sounded as if she
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: had spent the last hour learning it by heart. Just
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: recollect it as if it were the only thing I
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: had said or done. I told you to go away
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: from here. And now I beg you if you bear
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: me the least goodwill. Go away from here. I've known
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: for almost thirty years that I cannot live without Nora.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: I've proved it to myself. I went to the bad
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: in every sense when I lost contact with her. And
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I became a human being and a worker at the
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: moment she came to me. I have lived for five
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: years in the conviction that I am unequivocally happy. I
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: dare not let anything shake that conviction. I dare not
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: ever think that there is another possibility in life for
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: me than Nora. She would feel it and she would go.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: She endures her suffering solely because she is an absolute
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: necessity to me. She would end it all if she
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: knew that I was happy for as much as an
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: hour without her. Perhaps you like us so well that
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: it will be a real sacrifice to give up your
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: friendly relations with us. I would almost say I hope so.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: She bowed her head very low so that Myra should
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: not see the quivering of her lips. But I know
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: that you will make this sacrifice because you have an
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: intimation of what is involved. I have overestimated my powers.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: It is very bad to have to confess that to you.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: When you are gone, I will confess it to Nora.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: But not now, as long as it might deprive her
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: of her peace for a moment. And I would not
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: find the right voice in which to tell it now.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: She stared out the window again. Myra's throat was parched.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: For a moment their eyes met, stole one into the others,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: then they shifted again, as if frightened, to some bright
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: point in the distance. Sophie turned. She plunged both hands
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: in her pockets, bent her head and strode away. For
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: a while she continued to tower above the crowds of
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: hurrying people, then her tall figure was submerged and disappeared. Slowly,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: with heavy footsteps, Myra turned toward the opposite stairway.