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Oskar Panizza, The Council of Love (1895)

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First and Second Angels: laughing even louder: Ha, ha, ha! Hee, hee! – Well, of course, otherwise you wouldn’t be here at all! –

Third Angel: with unwavering seriousness: Oh, you just don’t understand, I died in sin!

First and Second Angels: laughing again: And that on top of everything else! –You poor devil, so what did you do? –

Third Angel: loses her voice, stares at her comrades with wide eyes and folds her hands.

Second Angel: sarcastically: Did you forget to do your homework? – Did you make a mess of your school notebook?

Third Angel: still very anxious and tense: Oh dear, I’m getting so nervous; – You won’t tell anyone else, will you?! –

First and Second Angels: laughing themselves silly: What? Up here; and not tell anyone else?!

Third Angel: astonished: What? You already know?

First Angel: No! But just go ahead and tell us; we’ll find out anyway!

Second Angel: Well, out with it! What was it?

Third Angel: Oh dear, a big man – crushed me!

First Angel: stressing the word: Crushed?

Third Angel: Or poisoned me!

Second Angel: again stressing the word: Poisoned?

Third Angel: innocently: I can’t remember anymore what my mother said.

First Angel: with growing astonishment: Well, was your mother there when it happened?

Third Angel: telling her story with gleaming eyes: She was in the next room; – but the door was half open; – then a big, old man came in; – my mother had said I should let him do anything he wanted with me; this man was, she said, the principal of my school and was very strict; – and if I was obedient in all respects, then I would be at the top of my class; – and then the big, old man –

First and Second Angels: pressing her: Well, the big, old man . . . ?

Third Angel: continuing:. . . was very strong.

First and Second Angels: looking at each other and imitating the younger one: The big, old man was very strong!

Second Angel: That’s just like it would sound in our Ollendorf grammar book.

First Angel: shaking the younger one: Well, what did the big, old man do?

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