Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 5).djvu/389

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Avaunt, tempter! Take back your thirty pieces of silver! Is it not written, "Thou shalt forsake wife and children for the Lord's sake"? And I? For the sake of wife and children have I betrayed the Lord my God! Woe, woe, woe!

[He casts himself down again on his face.   Such flames of madness do these writings kindle over the earth! And do I not well to burn them? Wait! Ere a year has passed the Temple of the Jews shall stand again on Zion hill,—the splendour of its golden dome shining over the world, and testifying: Liar, liar, liar! [He goes hastily away, followed by the philosophers.

SCENE THIRD.

''A road outside the city. To the left, by the wayside, stands a statue of Cybele amid the stumps of hewn-down trees. At a little distance to the left is a fountain, with a stone basin. It is towards sunset.''

''On a step at the foot of the goddess's statue sits an old priest, with a covered basket in his lap. A number of men and women carry water from the fountain. Passers-by are seen on the road. From the left enters the dyer, meanly clad, with a great bundle on his head. He meets the barber, who comes from the city.''