Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 5).djvu/191

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Letters.

[He hands him a roll of paper.   [Reads, represses a smile, and holds out his hand.] More! Noble Caesar, that is well-nigh all. Truly? Has the Emperor sent his friend all this long way only to? [He bursts into a short laugh, and then walks up and down.

Had Knodomar, the King of the Alemanni, arrived in Rome ere you left?

Yes, noble Caesar!

And how fares he in the strange land, ignorant as he is of our tongue! For he knows nought of it, Decentius! He was positively a laughing-stock to my soldiers. Only think, he mixed up two such common words as Emperor and Caesar.

[Shrugging his shoulders.] A barbarian. What can one expect?

No, what can one expect? But the Emperor has received him graciously?