went and threw a stone at him from behind a
corner and broke his head like a nut. They brought him home, put him
to bed, and now he's dying in there. Maybe he'll recover and live--who
knows? The old lady and the old gentleman cried, and then they put all
the books on a wagon and sold them. With the money they hired a nurse,
bought medicines, and even grapes. So the books, too, were of some
good. But he doesn't eat the grapes. He doesn't even look at them.
They just lie there on the dish, just lie there.

DOCTOR _(enters through the outer door; his face looks red and his
manner is uneasy)_ Can you tell me if I am in the right place? I'm
a doctor. I have many visits to pay, and I often make mistakes. I'm
called here and there and everywhere, and all the houses look alike
and the people in them are all sad. Have I struck the right place?

OLD WOMAN

I don't know.

DOCTOR

I'll consult my note-book. Is there a child here choking with a sore
throat?

OLD WOMAN

No.

DOCTOR

Is there a man here who suddenly went insane from poverty and attacked
his wife and two children with a hatchet? Four patients in all, I
suppose.

OLD WOMAN

No.

DOCTOR

Is there a girl here whose heart stopped beating? Don't lie, old
woman, I think she is here.

OLD WOMAN

No.

DOCTOR

Well, I believe you. You seem to speak the truth. Is there a young man
here whose head was broken by a stone and who is dying?

OLD WOMAN

Yes. Go through that door on the left, but don't go any farther. The
rats will eat you up!

DOCTOR

Very well. They keep ringing, ringing all the time, day and night.
Here it is, late at night. All the lights in the street are out, and I
am still on the run. Often I make a mistake and enter the wrong house.
Yes, old woman, I do. _(Exit through the door leading inside)_

OLD WOMAN

One doctor has already treated him, but didn't cure him. Now there's
another, and I guess he won't cure him either. Well! Then their son
will die, and we'll remain alone in the house. I'll sit in the
kitchen and talk to myself, and they'll sit in there keeping quiet and
thinking. Another room vacated, another room for the rats to scuffle
in. Let them squeak and scuffle. It's all the same to me. It's all
the same to me. You ask me why that bad fellow threw the stone at our
young gentleman. I don't know--how could I know why people want to
kill each other? One threw a stone from behind a corner and ran away;
the other one f