Gustav.  And you seem to have bled yourself a little too much.  When I look at the figure here I comprehend several things which I merely guessed before.  You have loved her tremendously!

Adolph.  Yes, to such an extent that I couldn’t tell whether she was I or I she.  When she is smiling, I smile also.  When she is weeping, I weep.  And when she—­can you imagine anything like it?—­ when she was giving life to our child—­I felt the birth pangs within myself.

Gustav.  Do you know, my dear friend—­I hate to speak of it, but you are already showing the first symptoms of epilepsy.

Adolph. [Agitated] I!  How can you tell?

Gustav.  Because I have watched the symptoms in a younger brother of mine who had been worshipping Venus a little too excessively.

Adolph.  How—­how did it show itself—­that thing you spoke of?

[During the following passage Gustav speaks with great animation, and Adolph listens so intently that, unconsciously, he imitates many of Gustav’s gestures.]

Gustav.  It was dreadful to witness, and if you don’t feel strong enough I won’t inflict a description of it on you.

Adolph. [Nervously] Yes, go right on—­just go on!

Gustav.  Well, the boy happened to marry an innocent little creature with curls, and eyes like a turtle-dove; with the face of a child and the pure soul of an angel.  But nevertheless she managed to usurp the male prerogative—­

Adolph.  What is that?

Gustav.  Initiative, of course.  And with the result that the angel nearly carried him off to heaven.  But first he had to be put on the cross and made to feel the nails in his flesh.  It was horrible!

Adolph. [Breathlessly] Well, what happened?

Gustav. [Lingering on each word] We might be sitting together talking, he and I—­and when I had been speaking for a while his face would turn white as chalk, his arms and legs would grow stiff, and his thumbs became twisted against the palms of his hands—­like this. [He illustrates the movement and it is imitated by Adolph] Then his eyes became bloodshot, and he began to chew—­ like this. [He chews, and again Adolph imitates him] The saliva was rattling in his throat.  His chest was squeezed together as if it had been closed in a vice.  The pupils of his eyes flickered like gas-jets.  His tongue beat the saliva into a lather, and he sank—­slowly—­down—­backward—­into the chair—­as if he were drowning.  And then—–­

Adolph. [In a whisper] Stop now!

Gustav.  And then—­Are you not feeling well?

Adolph.  No.

Gustav. [Gets a glass of water for him] There:  drink now.  And we’ll talk of something else.

Adolph. [Feebly] Thank you!  Please go on!

Gustav.  Well—­when he came to he couldn’t remember anything at all.  He had simply lost consciousness.  Has that ever happened to you?