No, no; we c'n talk about it a bit. You see, I know 'tis all my fault--I know that, an' with that we can let it be. But before I went an' took this woman--Hanne, I mean--before that it all began ... slowly it began, slowly--but downhill right along. First thing, a good bonehandled whip broke. After that, I remember it right well, I drove over my dog an' he died. 'Twas the best little dog I had. Then, one right after another, three o' my horses died; an' one of 'em was the fine stallion that cost me five hundred crowns. An' then, last of all ... my wife died. I noticed it well enough in my own thoughts that fate was against me. But when my wife went away from me, I had a minute in my own mind when I thought to myself: Now it's enough. There's not much else that c'n be taken from me. But you see, there was somethin' else.--I don't want to talk about Gustel. A man loses first his wife an' then a child--that's common. But no: a snare was laid for me an' I stepped into it. SIEBENHAAR Who laid a snare for you? HENSCHEL Maybe the devil; maybe, too, somebody else. It's throttlin' me--that's certain. [_Pause._] SIEBENHAAR That's a most unhappy notion of yours ... HENSCHEL An' I'm denyin' nothin'. A bad man I've come to be, only it's no fault o' mine. I just, somehow, stumbled into it all. Maybe it's my fault too. You c'n say so if you want to. Who knows? I should ha' kept a better watch. But the devil is more cunnin' than me. I just kept on straight ahead. SIEBENHAAR Henschel, you're just your own worst enemy. You're fighting phantoms which have no existence at any time or place. The devil has done nothing to you, nor have you stepped into any snare. And no one is throttling you either. That is all nonsense. And such fancies are dangerous. HENSCHEL We'll see; we c'n wait an' see. SIEBENHAAR Well, tell me something definite. You won't be able to do it, however you try. You are neither bad, as you say, nor are you burdened by any guilt. HENSCHEL Ah, I know better. SIEBENHAAR Well, what is your guilt? HENSCHEL Here stood the bed. An' she was lyin' in it. An' here I gave her my promise. I gave her my promise an' I've broken it! SIEBENHAAR What promise was that? HENSCHEL You know well enough!--I broke it an' when I did that, I was lost. I was done for. The game was up.--An' you see: now she can't find no rest. SIEBENHAAR Are you speaking of your dead wife? HENSCHEL