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Strindberg, August, 1849-1912

"Married"


"What have you been doing with yourself all day, daddy?" she asks her
husband.
"I went for a walk with the children."
"Wasn't Louisa there?"
"Oh! yes, but she was otherwise engaged."
"Well, I don't think it's too much to ask of a man to keep an eye on
his own children," says the friend.
"No, of course not," answers the husband. "And therefore I scolded
Louisa for allowing the children to run about with dirty faces and
worn-out boots."
"I never come home but I am scolded," says the wife; "You spoil every
little pleasure I have with your fault-finding."
And a tiny tear moistens her reddened eyelids. The friend and all the
rest of the ladies cast indignant glances at the husband.
An attack is imminent and the friend sharpens her tongue.
"Has anybody here present read Luther's views on the right of a woman?"
"What right is that?" asks his wife.
"To look out for another partner if she is dissatisfied with the one
she has."
There is a pause.
"A very risky doctrine as far as a woman's interests are concerned,"
says the husband, "for it follows that in similar circumstances a man
is justified in doing the same thing. The latter happens much more
frequently than the former."
"I don't understand what you mean," says the wife.


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