about his antitheses and climaxes and paradoxes, and all that sort of nonsense; but he is a
_man_! He goes bail for what he says, and he says what he likes--ha, ha! And that dear
Gertrud, too! Follows him into the hall, and, as there isn't a single seat left there, goes up
on to the platform among the committee, and sits there looking at him with those trustful
blue eyes of hers, as if there was no one else in the room! And _we_ were all looking at
_her_! She helped him more than ten good speakers would have done, I am sure. Her
faith in him bred it in others, whether they liked it or no. She is one who would die for
her faith! Yes, yes! The man that gets her--. (INGEBORG comes back.) Well! (Rubs his
hands together.) Look here, Ingeborg. (Very politely.) Do you know what is meant by the
Rights of Man?
Ingeborg (going on with her work). No, sir. Something we have earned, I suppose.
The Doctor. Yes, you earn them every day.
Ingeborg. Our meals, perhaps?
The Doctor (laughing). No, it isn't something to eat, unfortunately. (Politely.) Do you
ever read papers, Ingeborg?
Ingeborg. Papers? Oh, you mean the price-lists they leave at the kitchen door. Yes, sir;
every day, before we go to market, I--
The Doctor. No, I don't mean papers of that sort. I mean--
Ingeborg. Oh, you mean the newspaper I take in to master's room every morning. No,
Sir, I don't read that. I am told there are such horrors in it.
The Doctor. Quite so. Don't you care to read about horrors, then?
Ingeborg. Oh, we poor folk see enough of them in our everyday lives, without reading
about them!--But perhaps the gentry enjoy it.
The Doctor. You are a very wise woman. Let me tell you, though, that there is a fight
going on, about--oh, well, never mind what it is about. And the Editor and Mr. Rejn, who
both come to this house, are the two chief fighters. Don't you want to know what they are
fighting about?
Ingeborg (going on unconcernedly with her work). Oh, so they are fighting, are they?
No, I don't care the least bit, sir!
The Doctor (to himself). Ha, ha--the difference between Ingeborg and me is that I am
interested in the fight merely as a student of human nature, and she is not interested in it
at all. I wonder which is farthest from any genuine belief in politics?--from our "duty as a
citizen," as they call it? (To INGEBORG.) Ingeborg, do you know what your "duty as a
citizen" means?
