FAIRY. The forest.
PEHR. What is it like in the forest?
FAIRY. It is cool and delightful.
PEHR. That's well! Thither I am drawn, sometimes, so powerfully
that I want to rush through the tower window and soar, like the
birds in the air!
FAIRY. Beyond the borders of the forest?
PEHR. Is there something beyond?
FAIRY. There lies the world.
PEHR. The world! What is that?
FAIRY. Would you like to see it?
PEHR. Is it pleasant?
FAIRY. Some say it is; the majority say it is not. Come over here
and I will show you some pictures from that checkered panorama
which people call life. [Transparency curtain.]
Do you see the great house on the square, where all the windows are
lighted? The rich man lives there. Now look into the rooms. On the
table there is a lighted Christmas-tree laden with all kinds of
gifts: the golden fruits of the tropics from across the seas;
earth's hidden treasures, to which people bend the knee and which
in their dazzling settings reflect the lights. But, do you see the
light in the faces of the little children? That is the earth-life's
sun--that is _happiness_--which is something you do not know, poor
child! But you shall know it. You want to, do you not?
PEHR. Who is the good fairy that walks about and gives the children
the golden fruits?
FAIRY. That is the mother.
PEHR. Mother?--I don't understand.
FAIRY. You, too, had a mother, but she died when you were very
young.
PEHR. And the old man in the corner, with the mild look in his
eyes?
FAIRY.
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