ring.] Let's see! What shall I
wish for first?

[Old man enters as if through wall.]

PEHR. Oh! so the old man is here. I did not hear your footsteps on the
stairs. Which way did you come?

OLD MAN. [Alarmed.] Did you see?

PEHR. No.

OLD MAN. Let me look at you! [Gazes fixedly at him.] Something has
happened here--

PEHR. Nothing--nothing whatever!

OLD MAN. My son, it will soon be midnight. Don't you want to retire to
your room so that I may lock you in?

PEHR. You always want to shut me in! Tell me, Father, have you never
meant to let me out in the world? Surely you cannot have thought that I
should sit here forever, and dry up!

OLD MAN. I have seen life; I know its Sodom apples--therefore I wish to
shield you.

PEHR. But life is not as sour as you say, perhaps.

OLD MAN. What do you know about it?

PEHR. Oh, I can see things from my high place! Come here and I will show
you.

OLD MAN. What can you show me that I do not already know?

PEHR. [Leads Old Man to the window.] Look! Do you see the great house on
the square?

OLD MAN. Yes; but make haste! Before the clock strikes twelve, you must
be in bed.

PEHR. Do you see the Christmas-tree, with its gold and silver?

OLD MAN. Only paper, boy!

PEHR. And the golden fruits of the tropics?

OLD MAN. Worm-eaten--

PEHR. And the sun--Happiness--how it shines on the children's faces!

OLD MAN. Between times distorted by envy--

PEHR. And the old man who sits there, contented and happy--

OLD MAN. It's a lie! He trembles in his heart for the house rent, which
must be paid on the new year--

PEHR. He--the rich man?

OLD MAN. Hides his approaching downfall!

PEHR. And those young people--Do you see how he stretches his arm--

OLD MAN. After the father's money bag!

PEHR. Shame on you! Their lips meet--

OLD MAN. In lust!

PEHR. What is that?--Ah! Now look up there, at the gable window, with
the single light--

OLD MAN. Prompted by caution, which demands darkness--

PEHR. By the glow of contentment's calm light--

OLD MAN. Which they stole from the spice stall, and their delight is in
planning the next expedition to the city market. I know it, do you hear!
And up there, in the palace, where the lights glisten by the thousands
and mirror themselves in the wines' sour streams--there they roll--empty
heads and empty hearts--who say that they think and feel for the
people's welfare! There they roll, between bottles and dishes--

PEHR.