Well, then! Everybody knows that! On that very account! An' now there ain't nobody as bad as you! You're actin' like a reg'lar bloodhound! Why? You've always been as good as gold, Rauchhaupt! Every child in the place knows that! An' now, what's all this about?--You c'n go an' open one o' them there bottles. Why shouldn't we go an' drink a bit o' a drop together? [_RAUCHHAUPT wipes his eyes and then walks across to draw the cork of one of the bottles._]--Fightin' c'n begin again afterwards. I s'ppose life ain't no different from that.--An' we can't change it. There ain't nothin' but foolishness around. An' when you want to go an' open people's eyes--you can't do it! Foolishness--that's what rules this world.--What are we: you an' me an' all of us? We has had to go worryin' and workin' all our lives--every one of us has! Well, then! We ought to know how things reely is! If you don't join the scramble--you're lazy: if you do--you're bad.--An' everythin' we does get, we gets out o' the dirt. People like us has to turn their hands to anythin'! An' they, they tells you: be good, be good! How? What chanct has we got? But no, we don't even live in peace with each other.--I wanted to get on--that's true. An' ain't it natural? We all wants to get out o' this here mud in which we all fights an' scratches around ... Out o' it ... away from it ... higher up, if you wants to call it that ... Is it true as you're wantin' to move away from here, Rauchhaupt? RAUCHHAUPT Yes, Mrs. Fielitz, I been havin' that in my mind. An' why? Dr. Boxer an' me, we knows why. [_He groans sorrowfully._] It ain't only on account o' my wantin' to be nearer to Gustav. No, no! I don't feel well in this here neighbourhood no more. Everybody looks at me kind o' queer nowadays. [_The bottle has now been uncorked and RAUCHHAUPT fills two glasses._ MRS. FIELITZ That's another thing. Why does we care what people think? RAUCHHAUPT No, no! When a man has done what I has--that's different. When a man's gone that length--an' a former officer at that--that he's gone an' taken a rope an' tried.... I don't understand, Missis, I don't understand how I could ha' done that.--But they cut me down ... that they did. [_He drinks._ MRS. FIELITZ Is it reely true what people says about it? RAUCHHAUPT You see, it got out, an' people knows! An' that--me bein' a former officer--when I think o' that! No, no rain an' no wind can't wash that blot off o' me. [_He drinks._ MRS. FIELITZ I say: let's drink to our health. I don't care about people nor what they thinks.--But if, maybe, you do want to sell some day--who knows?... I c'n talk to Schmarowski. You two might agree. _DR. BOXER, EDE and LEONTINE enter._ DR. BOXER You're having a very jolly time here, Mrs. Fielitz. MRS. FIELITZ Just to-day. It's an exception; that it is! EDE Young lady! Hey, there! You want to see somethin'? Langheinrich is dancin' around on the church-steeple!