GUSTAV. Well, it's like this. Fate had given the youngster for a wife a little innocent, with kiss-curls, dove-like eyes, and a baby face, from which there spoke the pure soul of an angel. In spite of that, the little one managed to appropriate the man's prerogative. ADOLF. What is that? GUSTAV. Initiative, of course; and the inevitable result was that the angel came precious near taking him away to heaven. He first had to be on the cross and feel the nails in his flesh. ADOLF [_suffocating_]. Tell me, what was it like? GUSTAV [_slowly_]. There were times when he and I would sit quite quietly by each other and chat, and then--I'd scarcely been speaking a few minutes before his face became ashy white, his limbs were paralyzed, and his thumbs turned in towards the palm of the hand. [_With a gesture._] Like that! [_Adolf imitates the gesture._] And his eyes were shot with blood, and he began to chew, do you see, like this. [_He moves his lips as though chewing; Adolf imitates him again._] The saliva stuck in his throat; the chest contracted as though it had been compressed by screws on a joiner's bench; there was a flicker in the pupils like gas jets; foam spurted from his mouth, and he sank gently back in the chair as though he were drowning. Then-- ADOLF [_hissing_]. Stop! GUSTAV. Then--are you unwell? ADOLF. Yes. GUSTAV [_gets up and fetches a glass of water from the table on the right near the center door_]. Here, drink this, and let's change the subject. ADOLF [_drinks, limp_]. Thanks; go on. GUSTAV. Good! When he woke up he had no idea what had taken place. [_He takes the glass back to the table._] He had simply lost consciousness. Hasn't that ever happened to you? ADOLF. Now and again I have attacks of dizziness. The doctor puts it down to anæmia. GUSTAV [_on the right of Adolf_]. That's just how the thing starts, mark you. Take it from me, you're in danger of contracting epilepsy; if you aren't on your guard, if you don't live a careful and abstemious life, all round. ADOLF. What can I do to effect that? GUSTAV. Above all, you must exercise the most complete continence. ADOLF. For how long? GUSTAV. Six months at least. ADOLF. I can't do it. It would upset all our life together. GUSTAV. Then it's all up with you. ADOLF. I can't do it. GUSTAV. You can't save your own life? But tell me, as you've taken me into your confidence so far, haven't you any other wound that hurts you?--some other secret trouble in this multifarious life of ours, with all its numerous opportunities for jars and complications? There is usually more than one _motif_ which is responsible for a discord. Haven't you got a skeleton in the cupboard, old chap, which you hide even from yourself? You told me a minute ago you'd given your child to people to look after. Why didn't you keep it with you? [_He goes behind the square table on the left and then behind the sofa._]