And not mine! You imagine you can kill me and the truth by a conspiracy of silence! But it won’t be so easy as you think. Mr. Aslaksen, will you be good enough to print my article at once, as a pamphlet? I'll pay for it myself, and be my own publisher. I'll have four hundred copies—no, five—six hundred. ASLAKSEN. No. If you offered me its weight in gold, I dare not lend my press to such a purpose, Doctor. I daren’t fly in the face of public opinion. You won’t get it printed anywhere in the whole town. DR. STOCKMANN. Then give it me back. HOVSTAD. [_Handing him the MS._] By all means. DR. STOCKMANN. [_Taking up his hat and cane._] It shall be made public all the same. I shall read it at a great mass meeting; all my fellow citizens shall hear the voice of truth! BURGOMASTER. Not a single society in the town would let you their hall for such a purpose. ASLAKSEN. Not one, I'm quite certain. BILLING. No, strike me dead if they would! MRS. STOCKMANN. That would be too disgraceful! Why do they turn against you like this, every one of them? DR. STOCKMANN. [_Irritated._] I'll tell you why. It’s because in this town all the men are old women—like you. They all think of nothing but their families, not of the general good. MRS. STOCKMANN. [_Taking his arm._] Then I'll show them that an—an old woman can be a man for once in a way. For _now_ I'll stand by you, Thomas. DR. STOCKMANN. Bravely said, Katrina! I swear by my soul and conscience the truth shall out! If they won’t let me a hall, I'll hire a drum and march through the town with it; and I'll read my paper at every street corner. BURGOMASTER. You can scarcely be such a raving lunatic as that? DR. STOCKMANN. I am. ASLAKSEN. You would not get a single man in the whole town to go with you. BILLING. No, strike me dead if you would! MRS. STOCKMANN. Don’t give in, Thomas. I'll ask the boys to go with you. DR. STOCKMANN. That’s a splendid idea! MRS. STOCKMANN. Morten will be delighted; and Eilif will go too, I daresay. DR. STOCKMANN. Yes, and so will Petra! And you yourself, Katrina! MRS. STOCKMANN. No no, not I. But I'll stand at the window and watch you—that I will. DR. STOCKMANN.