220
MAGDALEN
in the distance. Below was the roar of the water falling from a dam of the Elbe.
The doctor stopped: “But do tell me, Jiří, how can a man do so? Is your relation to that girl really so pure, let us say, platonic?”
“Yes,” said Jiří, sharply and confidently.
The doctor burst out: “Do you know, my dear fellow, forgive me for saying it, but I think you’re an ass!”
“A-ass, a-ass!” he added, accentuating the words with a tune from the “Troubadours,” sung in a dry, rasping bass.
