Rannveig monologue (Act 1) — Hadda Pada

[walks slowly to the centre of the room, stands looking at the terra cotta statue] When you dream something, you don't want to come true, you ought to tell it to some one--better to a stone than to no one. [Hands folded, she walks slowly up to the statue, whispering in its ear,] I dreamed of a beautiful and marvellous diamond palace. I walked around it, but it had no doors. No one could get in. If any one were inside, he could not get out. I heard weeping inside the palace. It seemed to tear my heart. I recognised the weeping?--[She passes her hand over her eyes, looks at the statue a long time, walks away from it, looks back at it once more, and goes out. In the doorway she encounters Hadda, looks at her, pats her cheek, and disappears.]