Old Baumert monologue (Act 1) — The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann, Volume I

[_Has been cowering on a low stool, painfully beating his brains; he now gets up._] It's true, Gustav, as I've had a drop too much. But for all that I knows what I'm about. You think one way in this here matter; I think another. I say Becker's right: even if it ends in chains an' ropes--we'll be better off in prison than at home. You're cared for there, an' you don't need to starve. I wouldn't have joined 'em, Gustav, if I could ha' let it be; but once in a lifetime a man's got to show what he feels. [_Goes slowly towards the door._] Good-bye, Gustav. If anything happens, mind you put in a word for me in your prayers.