flaps, and a big clock with figures that go out and in. But the clock isn't going now.
Gregers.
So time has come to a standstill in there—in the wild duck's domain.
Hedvig.
Yes. And then there's an old paint-box and things of that sort; and all the books.
Gregers. And you read the books, I suppose?
Hedvig.
Oh yes, when I get the chance. Most of them are English though, and I don't understand English. But then I look at the pictures.—There is one great big book called "Harrison's History of London."[1] It must be a hundred years old; and there are such heaps of pictures in it. At the beginning there is Death with an hour-glass and a woman. I think that is horrid. But then there are all the other pictures of churches, and castles, and streets, and great ships sailing on the sea.
Gregers.
But tell me, where did all those wonderful things come from?
Hedvig.
Oh, an old sea captain once lived here, and he brought them home with him. They used to call him "The Flying Dutchman." That was curious, because he wasn't a Dutchman at all.
1 A New and Universal History of the Cities of London and Westminster, by Walter Harrison. London, 1775, folio.
