Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 11).djvu/179



We have done nothing for them.

Scarcely even thought of them.

Never thought of them in sympathy.

We, who had "the gold, and the green forests"

Our hands were closed to them. And our hearts too.

[Nods.] Then it was perhaps natural enough, after all, that they should not risk their lives to save little Eyolf.

[Softly.] Think, Alfred! Are you so certain that—that we would have risked ours?

[With an uneasy gesture of repulsion.] You must never doubt that.

Oh, we are children of earth.

What do you really think you can do with all these neglected children?