Page:Ivan Cankar - Hlapci.pdf/35

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"Doth a stunt! standeth on thy headeth, as conditions-et-weath'r hest!" Yet I stand firmly on my own feet!

Principal. Sir Jerman, the highness of your job as a teacher demands . . .

Jerman. (Turns around.) I know the gospel well. The highness of a teacher's social value shall inquire for the teacher to one day come white, another day black, as the lord requires. Further it demands from the teacher to have one's head on a willful leash, so it can bow in all directions at once. It demands for the knee to not be made of bone but of dough so the teacher may kneel in the midst of a road into a puddle of mud if such is the will of the lord! Finally, it requests the teacher has their mouth shut and locked; they key to this lock shall be hung on the school door! I know this gospel very gallantly.

Komar. Is it fair for judges to plead and not judge?

Minka. He judged for himself.

Geni. Do not push into the mountains during the winter, Comrade!

Pastor. M-hmm . . . They told me you are well-educated and your future is bright; they as well told me you are very calm and a good care-keeper of your mother, so old and burdened.

Jerman. (Jumps in fury.) Do not name this saint with your dirty mouth!

(Lojzka approaches them.)

Principal. (Calmly, with care.) I warn you not to cross the boundaries of acceptable social behavior.

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