When they chance to be at odds with each other--
which happens quite often--there is unrest in the person and he
fancies the heart will burst--but it doesn't, for the walls are
thick. Oh, yes, look at this one! Do you see thousands of little
scars from needle thrusts? They did not go through, but the pricks
remain nevertheless.
PEHR. Who has borne this heart, Wise Man?
WISE MAN. The unhappiest of humans.
PEHR. And who was that?
WISE MAN. It was a man. Do you see the marks of a heel; do you see
the nail-prints? It was a woman that trampled on this heart for
twenty-six years.
PEHR. And he did not tire?
WISE MAN. Yes, he grew weary one Christmas Eve and freed himself
from her. As a punishment, he came under the ban of the Powers; he
cannot die, although his heart has been taken from him.
PEHR. Can he never be released from the spell?
WISE MAN. When his son shall have found a faithful woman and
brought her home a bride, then the spell will be broken. But that
can never be because his son is gone forever.
PEHR. What has become of him?
WISE MAN. He went out in the world.
PEHR. Then why can he never get any bride, poor boy!
WISE MAN. Because one who loves only himself can never love anyone
else.
PEHR. He means the old man, my father. [Wise Man sinks through
floor; but vanishes. It begins to dawn.]
PEHR. "He who loves only himself "--So said Lisa also--But I hate
myself, I loathe myself after the cowardly things I have done, and
I love Lisa! Yes, I love her, I love her! [Sun shines on waves and
lights up pine woods to right; clouds disperse.
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