..and she did not run away!...And she did not die!...
She remained alive, weeping over me, with me. We cried together!
I have tasted all the happiness the world can offer!"
And Erik fell into a chair, choking for breath:
"Ah, I am not going to die yet...presently I shall...but let
me cry!...Listen, daroga...listen to this....While
I was at her feet...I heard her say, `Poor, unhappy Erik!'
... AND SHE TOOK MY HAND!...I had become no more, you know,
than a poor dog ready to die for her....I mean it, daroga!...
I held in my hand a ring, a plain gold ring which I had given her
...which she had lost...and which I had found again...
a wedding-ring, you know....I slipped it into her little hand
and said, `There!...Take it!...Take it for you...and him!
...It shall be my wedding-present a present from your poor,
unhappy Erik.....I know you love the boy...don't cry any more!
...She asked me, in a very soft voice, what I meant....
Then I made her understand that, where she was concerned,
I was only a poor dog, ready to die for her...but that she could
marry the young man when she pleased, because she had cried with me
and mingled her tears with mine!.
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