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diff --git a/old/44233-h/44233-h.htm b/old/44233-h/44233-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9074afd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44233-h/44233-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12113 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Plays, Third Series, by August Strindberg. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%} +hr.full {width: 95%;} + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +hr.r65 {width: 65%; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + + .tdl {text-align: left;} + .tdr {text-align: right;} + .tdc {text-align: center;} + + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.small-c {font-size: 0.8em;} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Plays by August Strindberg, Third Series, by +August Strindberg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Plays by August Strindberg, Third Series + +Author: August Strindberg + +Translator: Edwin Björkman + +Release Date: November 19, 2013 [EBook #44233] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLAYS BY AUGUST STRINDBERG *** + + + + +Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org +(Images generously made available by the Internet Archive, +University of California (L.A.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>PLAYS</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>AUGUST STRINDBERG</h2> + +<hr class="r5" /> +<h4>THIRD SERIES</h4> + +<p style="margin-left: 45%; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold;"> +SWANWHITE<br /> +SIMOOM<br /> +DEBIT AND CREDIT<br /> +ADVENT<br /> +THE THUNDERSTORM<br /> +AFTER THE FIRE<br /> +</p> +<hr class="r5" /> +<h4>TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY</h4> + +<h4>EDWIN BJÖRKMAN</h4> + +<h4>AUTHORIZED EDITION</h4> + +<h5>NEW YORK</h5> + +<h5>CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS</h5> + +<h5>1921</h5> + + + +<hr class="full" /> + +<h4>CONTENTS</h4> + +<p style="margin-left: 45%; font-size: 0.8em;"> +<a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</a><br /> +<a href="#SWANWHITE">SWANWHITE</a><br /> +<a href="#SIMOOM">SIMOOM</a><br /> +<a href="#DEBIT_AND_CREDIT">DEBIT AND CREDIT</a><br /> +<a href="#ADVENT">ADVENT</a><br /> +<a href="#ACT_I">ACT I</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><a href="#ACT_II">ACT II</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><a href="#ACT_III">ACT III</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><a href="#ACT_IV">ACT IV</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><a href="#ACT_V">ACT V</a></span><br /> +<a href="#THE_THUNDERSTORM">THE THUNDERSTORM</a><br /> +<a href="#AFTER_THE_FIRE">AFTER THE FIRE</a><br /> +</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h4><a id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h4> + + +<p>The collection of plays contained in this volume is unusually +representative, giving what might be called a cross-section of +Strindberg's development as a dramatist from his naturalistic revolt +in the middle eighties, to his final arrival at resigned mysticism and +Swedenborgian symbolism.</p> + +<p>"Swanwhite" was written in the spring of 1901, about the time when +Strindberg was courting and marrying his third wife, the gifted Swedish +actress Harriet Bosse. In the fall of 1902 the play appeared in book +form, together with "The Crown Bride" and "The Dream Play," all of them +being issued simultaneously, at Berlin, in a German translation made by +Emil Schering.</p> + +<p>Schering, who at that time was in close correspondence with Strindberg, +says that the figure of <i>Swanwhite</i> had been drawn with direct +reference to Miss Bosse, who had first attracted the attention of +Strindberg by her spirited interpretation of <i>Biskra</i> in "Simoom." +And Schering adds that it was Strindberg's bride who had a little +previously introduced him to the work of Maeterlinck, thereby +furnishing one more of the factors determining the play.</p> + +<p>Concerning the influence exerted upon him by the Belgian +playwright-philosopher, Strindberg himself wrote in a pamphlet named +"Open Letters to the Intimate Theatre" (Stockholm, 1909):</p> + +<p>"I had long had in mind skimming the cream of our most beautiful +folk-ballads in order to turn them into a picture for the stage. +Then Maeterlinck came across my path, and under the influence of +his puppet-plays, which are not meant for the regular stage, I wrote +my Swedish scenic spectacle, 'Swanwhite.' It is impossible either to +steal or to borrow from Maeterlinck. It is even difficult to become his +pupil, for there are no free passes that give entrance to his world of +beauty. But one may be urged by his example into searching one's own +dross-heaps for gold—and it is in that sense I acknowledge my debt to +the master.</p> + +<p>"Pushed ahead by the <i>impression</i> made on me by Maeterlinck, and +borrowing his divining-rod for my purposes, I turned to such sources +[<i>i.e.</i>, of Swedish folk-lore] as the works of Geijer, Afzelius, and +Dybeck. There I found a superabundance of princes and princesses. The +stepmother theme I had discovered on my own hook as a <i>constant</i>—it +figures in twenty-six different Swedish folk-tales. In the same place I +found the resurrection theme, as, for instance, it appears in the story +of <i>Queen Dagmar</i>. Then I poured it all into my separator, together +with the <i>Maids</i>, the <i>Green Gardener</i> and the <i>Young King</i>, and in +a short while the cream began to flow—and for that reason the story +is my own. But it has also been made so by the fact that I have lived +through that tale in my own fancy—a Spring in time of Winter!"</p> + +<p>Swedish critics have been unanimous in their praise of this play. John +Landquist, who has since become Strindberg's literary executor, spoke +of it once as "perhaps the most beautiful and most genuine fairy tale +for old or young ever written in the Swedish language." Tor Hedberg +has marvelled at the charm with which <i>Swanwhite</i> herself has been +endowed—"half child, half maid; knowing nothing, yet guessing all; +playing with love as a while ago she was playing with her dolls." On +the stage, too—in Germany as well as in Sweden—little <i>Swanwhite</i> +has celebrated great triumphs. Whether that figure, and the play +surrounding it, will also triumph in English-speaking countries, +remains still to be seen. But if, contrary to my hopes, it should fail +to do so, I want, in advance, to shift the blame from the shoulders of +the author to my own. In hardly any other work by Strindberg do form +and style count for so much. The play is, in its original shape, as +poetical in form as in spirit—even to the extent of being strongly +rhythmical in its prose, and containing many of the inversions which +are so characteristic of Swedish verse.</p> + +<p>It is not impossible to transfer these qualities into English, but +my efforts to do so have had to be influenced by certain differences +in the very <i>grain</i> of the two languages involved. Like all other +languages, each possesses a natural basic rhythm. This rhythm varies +frequently and easily in Swedish, so that you may pass from iambic to +trochaic metre without giving offence to the ear—or to that subtle +rhythmical susceptibility that seems to be inherent in our very pulses. +But the rhythm dearest and most natural to the genius of the Swedish +language seems to be the falling pulse-beat manifested in the true +trochee. The swing and motion of English, on the other hand, is almost +exclusively, commandingly iambic. And it was not until I made the +iambic <i>rising</i> movement prevail in my translation, that I felt myself +approaching the impression made on me by the original. But for that +very reason—because the genius of the new medium has forced me into +making the movement of my style more monotonous—it is to be feared +that the rhythmical quality of that movement may seem overemphasised. +Should such a criticism be advanced, I can only answer: I have tried +several ways, and this is the only one that will <i>work</i>.</p> + +<p>"Simoom" seems to have been written in 1888, in close connection with +"Creditors" and "Pariah." And, like these, it shows the unmistakable +influence of Edgar Allan Poe, with whose works Strindberg had become +acquainted a short while before. The play was first printed in one of +the three thin volumes of varied contents put out by Strindberg in 1890 +and 1891 under the common title of "Pieces Printed and Unprinted." But, +strange to say, it was not put on the stage (except in a few private +performances) until 1902, although, from a purely theatrical viewpoint, +Strindberg—master of stagecraft though he was—had rarely produced a +more effective piece of work.</p> + +<p>"Debit and Credit" belongs to the same general period as the previous +play, but has in it more of Nietzsche than of Poe. Its central figure +is also a sort of superman, but as such he is not taken too seriously +by his creator. The play has humour, but it is of a grim kind—one +seems to be hearing the gritting of teeth through the laughter. Like +"Simoom," however, it should be highly effective on the stage. It was +first published in 1893, with three other one-act plays, the volume +being named "Dramatic Pieces."</p> + +<p>"Advent" was published in 1899, together with "There Are Crimes and +Crimes," under the common title of "In a Higher Court." Its name +refers, of course, to the ecclesiastical designation of the four weeks +preceding Christmas. The subtitle, literally rendered, would be "A +Mystery." But as this term has a much wider application in Swedish +than in English, I have deemed it better to observe the distinction +which the latter language makes between mysteries, miracle-plays, and +moralities.</p> + +<p>The play belongs to what Strindberg called his "Inferno period," during +which he struggled in a state of semi-madness to rid himself of the +neurasthenic depression which he regarded as a punishment brought about +by his previous attitude of materialistic scepticism. It is full of +Swedenborgian symbolism, which, perhaps, finds its most characteristic +expression in the two scenes laid in "The Waiting Room." The name +selected by Strindberg for the region where dwell the "lost" souls of +men is not a mere euphemism. It signifies his conception of that place +as a station on the road to redemption or annihilation.</p> + +<p>In its entirety the play forms a Christmas sermon with a quaint +blending of law and gospel. A prominent Swedish critic, Johan +Mortensen, wrote: "Reading it, one almost gets the feeling that +Strindberg, the dread revolutionist, has, of a sudden, changed into +a nice village school-teacher, seated at his desk, with his rattan +cane laid out in front of him. He has just been delivering a lesson in +Christianity, and he has noticed that the attention of the children +strayed and that they either failed to understand or did not care to +take in the difficult matters he was dealing with. But they must be +made to listen and understand. And so—with serious eyes, but with a +sly smile playing around the corners of his mouth—he begins all over +again, in that fairy-tale style which never grows old: 'Once upon a +time!'"</p> + +<p>In November, 1907, a young theatrical manager, August Falck, opened the +Intimate Theatre at Stockholm. From the start Strindberg was closely +connected with the venture, and soon the little theatre, with its tiny +stage and its auditorium seating only one hundred and seventy-five +persons, was turned wholly into a Strindberg stage, where some of the +most interesting and daring theatrical experiments of our own day were +made. With particular reference to the needs and limitations of this +theatre, Strindberg wrote a series of "chamber plays," four of which +were published in 1907—each one of them appearing separately in a +paper-covered duodecimo volume.</p> + +<p>The first of these plays to appear in book form—though not the +first one to be staged—was "The Thunder-Storm," designated on the +front cover as "Opus I." Two of the principal ideas underlying its +construction were the abolition of intermissions—which, according to +Strindberg, were put in chiefly for the benefit of the liquor traffic +in the theatre café—and the reduction of the stage-setting to quickly +inter-changeable backgrounds and a few stage-properties. Concerning the +production of "The Thunder-Storm," at the Intimate Theatre, Strindberg +wrote subsequently that, in their decorative effects, the first and +last scenes were rather failures. But he held the lack of space +wholly responsible for this failure. His conclusion was that the most +difficult problem of the small theatre would be to give the illusion of +distance required by a scene laid in the open—particularly in an open +place surrounded or adjoined by buildings. Of the second act he wrote, +on the other hand, that it proved a triumph of artistic simplification. +The only furniture appearing on the stage consisted of a buffet, a +piano, a dinner-table and a few chairs—that is, the pieces expressly +mentioned in the text of the play. And yet the effect of the setting +satisfied equally the demands of the eye and the reason.</p> + +<p>"The Thunder-Storm" might be called a drama of old age—nay, <i>the</i> +drama of man's inevitable descent through a series of resignations to +the final dissolution. Its subject-matter is largely autobiographical, +embodying the author's experiences in his third and last marriage, +as seen in retrospect—the anticipatory conception appearing in +"Swanwhite." However, justice to Miss Harriet Bosse, who was Mrs. +Strindberg from 1901 to 1904, requires me to point out that echoes +of the dramatist's second marriage also appear, especially in the +references to the postmarital relationship.</p> + +<p>"After the Fire" was published as "Opus II" of the chamber-plays, +and staged ahead of "The Thunder-Storm." Its Swedish name is <i>Brända +Tomten</i>, meaning literally "the burned-over site." This name has +previously been rendered in English as "The Burned Lot" and "The Fire +Ruins." Both these titles are awkward and ambiguous. The name I have +now chosen embodies more closely the fundamental premise of the play.</p> + +<p>The subject-matter is even more autobiographical than that of "The +Thunder-Storm"—almost as much so as "The Bondwoman's Son." The +perished home is Strindberg's own at the North Tollgate Street in +Stockholm, where he spent the larger part of his childhood and youth. +The old <i>Mason</i>, the <i>Gardener</i>, the <i>Stone-Cutter</i>, and other figures +appearing in the play are undoubtedly lifted straight out of real +life—and so are probably also the exploded family reputation and +the cheap table painted to represent ebony—although one may take +for granted that the process has not taken place without a proper +disguising of externals.</p> + +<p>There is one passage in this little play which I want to point out as +containing one of the main keys to Strindberg's character and art. It +is the passage where <i>The Stranger</i>—who, of course, is none but the +author himself—says to his brother: "I have beheld life from every +quarter, from every standpoint, from above and from below, but always +it has seemed to me like a scene staged for my particular benefit."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="SWANWHITE" id="SWANWHITE">SWANWHITE</a></h3> + +<h4>(SVANEHVIT)</h4> + +<h4>A FAIRY PLAY</h4> + +<h5>1902</h5> +<hr class="r5" /> + + +<p style="margin-left: 45%; font-size: 0.8em;"> +CHARACTERS<br /><br /> +THE DUKE<br /> +THE STEPMOTHER<br /> +SWANWHITE<br /> +THE PRINCE<br /> +SIGNE }<br /> +ELSA } <i>Maids</i><br /> +TOVA }<br /> +THE KITCHEN GARDENER<br /> +THE FISHERMAN<br /> +THE MOTHER OF SWANWHITE<br /> +THE MOTHER OF THE PRINCE<br /> +THE GAOLER<br /> +THE EQUERRY<br /> +THE BUTLER<br /> +THE FLOWER GARDENER<br /> +TWO KNIGHTS<br /> +</p> +<hr class="tb" /> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>An apartment in a mediæval stone castle. The walls and the +cross-vaulted ceiling are whitewashed. In the centre of the +rear wall is a triple-arched doorway leading to a balcony +with a stone balustrade. There are draperies of brocade over +the doorway. Beyond the balcony appear the top branches of a +rose-garden, laden with white and pink roses. In the background +there can be seen a white, sandy beach and the blue sea</i>.</p> + +<p><i>To the right of the main doorway is a small door which, when +left open, discloses a vista of three closets, one beyond the +other. The first one is stored with vessels of pewter arranged +on shelves. The walls of the second closet are hung with all +sorts of costly and ornate garments. The third closet contains +piles and rows of apples, pears, melons, pumpkins, and so +forth</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The floors of all the rooms are inlaid with alternating +squares of black and red. At the centre of the apartment stands +a gilded dinner-table covered with a cloth; a twig of mistletoe +is suspended above the table. A clock and a vase filled with +roses stand on the table, near which are placed two gilded +tabourets. Two swallows' nests are visible on the rear wall +above the doorway. A lion skin is spread on the floor near the +foreground. At the left, well to the front, stands a white bed +with a rose-coloured canopy supported by two columns at the +head of the bed (and by none at the foot). The bed-clothing is +pure white except for a coverlet of pale-blue silk. Across +the bed is laid a night-dress of finest muslin trimmed with +lace. Behind the bed stands a huge wardrobe containing linen, +bathing utensils, and toilet things. A small gilded table in +Roman style (with round top supported by a single column) is +placed near the bed; also a lamp-stand containing a Roman lamp +of gold. At the right is an ornamental chimney-piece. On the +mantel stands a vase with a white lily in it</i>.</p> + +<p><i>In the left arch of the doorway, a peacock is asleep on a +perch, with its back turned toward the audience</i>.</p> + +<p><i>In the right arch hangs a huge gilded cage with two white +doves at rest</i>.</p> + +<p><i>As the curtain rises, the three maids are seen in the doorways +of the three closets, each one half hidden by the door-post +against which she leans</i>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>, <i>the false maid, is in the +pewter-closet</i>, <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span> <i>in the clothes-closet, and</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span> <i>in the +fruit-closet</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>enters from the rear. After him comes the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>carrying in her hand a wire-lashed whip</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The stage is darkened when they enter</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Swanwhite is not here?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. It seems so!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. So it seems, but—is it seemly? Maids!—Signe!—Signe, +Elsa, Tova!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The maids enter, one after the other, and stand in front of +the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Where is Lady Swanwhite?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span> <i>folds her arms across her breast and makes no reply</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. You do not know? What see you in my hand?—Answer, quick! +[<i>Pause</i>] Quick! Do you hear the whistling of the falcon? It has claws +of steel, as well as bill! What is it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. The wire-lashed whip!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. The wire-lashed whip, indeed! And now, where is Lady Swan +white?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. How can I tell what I don't know?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. It is a failing to be ignorant, but carelessness is an +offence. Were you not placed as guardian of your young mistress?—Take +off your neckerchief!—Down on your knees!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>turns his back on her in disgust</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Hold out your neck! And I'll put such a necklace on it that +no youth will ever kiss it after this!—Hold out your neck!—Still more!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. For Christ's sake, mercy!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. 'Tis mercy that you are alive!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Pulls out his sword and tries the edge of it, first on one of +his finger-nails, and then on a hair out of his long beard</i>] Her head +should be cut off—put in a sack—hung on a tree——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. So it should!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. We are agreed! How strange!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. It did not happen yesterday.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. And may not happen once again.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>To</i> Signe, <i>who, still on her knees, has been moving +farther away</i>] Stop! Whither? [<i>She raises the whip and strikes</i>; Signe +<i>turns aside so that the lash merely cuts the air</i>.]</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Comes forward from behind the bed and falls on her knees</i>] +Stepmother—here I am—the guilty one! She's not at fault.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Say "mother"! You must call me "mother"!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I cannot! One mother is as much as any human being ever had.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Your father's wife must be your mother.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My father's second wife can only be my stepmother.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. You are a stiffnecked daughter, but my whip is pliant and +will make you pliant too.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She raises the whip to strike</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Raising his sword</i>] Take heed of the head!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Whose head?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Your own!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>turns pale at first, and then angry; but she +controls herself and remains silent; long pause</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Beaten for the moment, she changes her tone</i>] Then will +Your Grace inform your daughter what is now in store for her?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Sheathing his sword</i>] Rise up, my darling child, and come into +my arms to calm yourself.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Throwing herself into the arms of the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>] +Father!—You're like a royal oak-tree which my arms cannot encircle. +But beneath your leafage there is refuge from all threatening showers. +[<i>She hides her head beneath his immense beard, which reaches down to +his waist</i>] And like a bird, I will be swinging on your branches—lift +me up, so I can reach the top.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>holds out his arm</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Climbs up on his arm and perches herself on his shoulder</i>] +Now lies the earth beneath me and the air above—now I can overlook the +rosery, the snowy beach, the deep-blue sea, and all the seven kingdoms +stretched beyond.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Then you can also see the youthful king to whom your troth is +promised——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No—nor have I ever seen him. Is he handsome?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Dear heart, it will depend on your own eyes how he appears to you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Rubbing her eyes</i>] My eyes?—They cannot see what is not +beautiful.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Kissing her foot</i>] Poor little foot, that is so black! Poor +little blackamoorish foot!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>gives a sign to the maids, who resume their +previous positions in the closet doors; she herself steals +with panther-like movements out through the middle arch of the +doorway</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Leaps to the floor; the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>places her on the table and +sits down on a chair beside it</i>; <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>looks meaningly after the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>] Was it the dawn? Or did the wind turn southerly? Or has the +Spring arrived?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Puts his hand over her mouth</i>] You little chatter-box! You joy +of my old age—my evening star! Now open wide your rosy ear, and close +your little mouth's crimson shell. Give heed, obey, and all will then +be well with you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Putting her fingers in her ears</i>] With my eyes I hear, and +with my ears I see—and now I cannot see at all, but only hear.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. My child, when still a cradled babe, your troth was plighted to +the youthful King of Rigalid. You have not seen him yet, such being +courtly usage. But the time to tie the sacred knot is drawing near. To +teach you the deportment of a queen and courtly manners, the king has +sent a prince with whom you are to study reading out of books, gaming +at chess, treading the dance, and playing on the harp.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. What is the prince's name?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. That, child, is something you must never ask of him or anybody +else. For it is prophesied that whosoever calls him by his name shall +have to love him.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Is he handsome?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. He is, because your eye sees beauty everywhere.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But is he beautiful?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Indeed he is. And now be careful of your little heart, and don't +forget that in the cradle you were made a queen.—With this, dear +child, I leave you, for I have war to wage abroad.—Submit obediently +to your stepmother. She's hard, but once your father loved her—and +a sweet temper will find a way to hearts of stone. If, despite of +promises and oaths, her malice should exceed what is permissible, then +you may blow this horn [<i>he takes a horn of carved ivory from under +his cloak</i>], and help will come. But do not use it till you are in +danger—not until the danger is extreme.—Have you understood?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. How is it to be understood?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. This way: the prince is here, is in the court already. Is it your +wish to see the prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Is it my wish?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Or shall I first bid you farewell?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. The prince is here already?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Already here, and I—already there—far, far away where sleeps +the heron of forgetfulness, with head beneath his wing.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Leaping into the lap of the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>and burying her head in +his beard</i>] Mustn't speak like that! Baby is ashamed!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Baby should be spanked—who forgets her aged father for a little +prince. Fie on her!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A trumpet is heard in the distance</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Rises quickly, takes</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>in his arms</i>, <i>throws her up +into the air and catches her again</i>] Fly, little bird, fly high above +the dust, with lots of air beneath your wings!—And then, once more on +solid ground!—I am called by war and glory—you, by love and youth! +[<i>Girding on his sword</i>] And now hide your wonder-horn, that it may not +be seen by evil eyes.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Where shall I hide it? Where?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. The bed!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Hiding the horn in the bed-clothing</i>] There! Sleep well, +my little tooteroot! When it is time, I'll wake you up. And don't +forget your prayers!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. And child! Do not forget what I said last: your stepmother must +be obeyed.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. In all?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. In all.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But not in what is contrary to cleanliness!—Two linen +shifts my mother let me have each sennight; this woman gives but one! +And mother gave me soap and water, which stepmother denies. Look at my +little footies!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Keep clean within, my daughter, and clean will be the outside. +You know that holy men, who, for the sake of penance, deny themselves +the purging waters, grow white as swans, while evil ones turn +raven-black.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Then I will be as white——!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Into my arms! And then, farewell!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Throwing herself into his arms</i>] Farewell, my great and +valiant hero, my glorious father! May fortune follow you, and make you +rich in years and friends and victories!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Amen—and let your gentle prayers be my protection!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He closes the visor of his golden helmet</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Jumps up and plants a kiss on the visor</i>] The golden gates +are shut, but through the bars I still can see your kindly, watchful +eyes. [<i>Knocking at the visor</i>] Let up, let up, for little Red +Riding-hood. No one at home? "Well-away," said the wolf that lay in the +bed!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Putting her down on the floor</i>] Sweet flower of mine, grow fair +and fragrant! If I return—well—I return! If not, then from the starry +arch above my eye shall follow you, and never to my sight will you be +lost, for there above all-seeing we become, even as the all-creating +Lord himself.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Goes out firmly, with a gesture that bids her not to follow.</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>falls on her knees in prayer for the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>; <i>all the +rose-trees sway before a wind that passes with the sound of a +sigh; the peacock shakes its wings and tail</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Rises, goes to the peacock and begins to stroke its back +and tail</i>] Pavo, dear Pavo, what do you see and what do you hear? Is +any one coming? Who is it? A little prince? Is he pretty and nice? +You, with your many blue eyes, should be able to tell. [<i>She lifts up +one of the bird's tail feathers and gazes intently at its "eye"</i>.] Are +you to keep your eyes on us, you nasty Argus? Are you to see that the +little hearts of two young people don't beat too loudly?—You stupid +thing—all I have to do is to close the curtain! [<i>She closes the +curtain, which hides the bird, but not the landscape outside; then she +goes to the doves</i>] My white doves—oh, so white, white, white—now +you'll see what is whitest of all—Be silent, wind, and roses, and +doves—my prince is coming!</p> + +<p><i>She looks out for a moment; then she withdraws to the pewter-closet, +leaving the door slightly ajar so that through the opening she can +watch the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>; <i>there she remains standing, visible to the +spectators but not to the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Enters through the middle arch of the doorway. He wears +armour of steel; what shows of his clothing is black. Having carefully +observed everything in the room, he sits down at the table, takes off +his helmet and begins to study it. His back is turned toward the +door behind which</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>is hiding</i>] If anybody be here, let him +answer! [<i>Silence</i>] There is somebody here, for I can feel the warmth +of a young body come billowing toward me like a southern wind. I can +hear a breath—it carries the fragrance of roses—and, gentle though +it be, it makes the plume on my helmet move. [<i>He puts the helmet to +his ear</i>] 'Tis murmuring as if it were a huge shell. It's the thoughts +within my own head that are crowding each other like a swarm of bees in +a hive. "Zum, zum," say the thoughts—just like bees that are buzzing +around their queen—the little queen of my thoughts and of my dreams! +[<i>He places the helmet on the table and gazes at it</i>] Dark and arched +as the sky at night, but starless, for the black plume is spreading +darkness everywhere since my mother's death—[<i>He turns the helmet +around and gazes at it again</i>] But there, in the midst of the darkness, +deep down—there, on the other side, I see a rift of light!—Has the +sky been split open?—And there, in the rift, I see—not a star, for it +would look like a diamond—but a blue sapphire, queen of the precious +stones—blue as the sky of summer—set in a cloud white as milk and +curved as the dove's egg. What is it? My ring? And now another feathery +cloud, black as velvet, passes by—and the sapphire is smiling—as +if sapphires could smile! And there, the lightning flashed, but +blue—heat-lightning mild, that brings no thunder!—What are you? Who? +And where? [<i>He looks at the back of the helmet</i>] Not here! Not there! +And nowhere else! [<i>He puts his face close to the helmet</i>] As I come +nearer, you withdraw.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>steals forward on tiptoe</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And now there are two—two eyes—two little human eyes—I kiss +you! [<i>He kisses the helmet</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>goes up to the table and seats herself slowly +opposite the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>rises, bows, with his hand to his heart, and +gazes steadily at</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Are you the little prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The faithful servant of the king, and yours!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. What message does the young king send his bride?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. This is his word to Lady Swanwhite—whom lovingly he +greets—that by the thought of coming happiness the long torment of +waiting will be shortened.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Who has been looking at the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>as if to study him</i>] +Why not be seated, Prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. If seated when you sit, then I should have to kneel when you +stand up.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Speak to me of the king! How does he look?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. How does he look? [<i>Putting one of his hands up to his eyes</i>] I +can no longer see him—how strange!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. What is his name?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. He's gone—invisible——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And is he tall?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Fixing his glance on</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>] Wait!—I see him +now!—Taller than you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And beautiful?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Not in comparison with you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Speak of the king, and not of me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I do speak of the king!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Is his complexion light or dark?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. If he were dark, on seeing you he would turn light at once.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. There's more of flattery than wit in that! His eyes are blue?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Glancing at his helmet</i>] I think I have to look?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Holding out her hand between them</i>] Oh, you—you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You with <i>t h</i> makes youth!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Are you to teach me how to spell?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The young king is tall and blond and blue-eyed, with broad +shoulders and hair like a new-grown forest——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Why do you carry a black plume?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. His lips are red as the ripe currant, his cheeks are white, and +the lion's cub needn't be ashamed of his teeth.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Why is your hair wet?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. His mind knows no fear, and no evil deed ever made his heart +quake with remorse.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Why is your hand trembling?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. We were to speak of the young king and not of me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. So, you, you are to teach me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It is my task to teach you how to love the young king whose +throne you are to share.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. How did you cross the sea?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. In my bark and with my sail.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And the wind so high?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Without wind there is no sailing.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Little boy—how wise you are!—Will you play with me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What I must do, I will.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And now I'll show you what I have in my chest. [<i>She goes to +the chest and kneels down beside it; then she takes out several dolls, +a rattle, and a hobby-horse</i>] Here's the doll. It's my child—the child +of sorrow that can never keep its face clean. In my own arms I have +carried her to the lavendrey, and there I have washed her with white +sand—but it only made her worse. I have spanked her—but nothing +helped. Now I have figured out what's worst of all!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And what is that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>After a glance around the room</i>] I'll give her a +stepmother!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But how's that to be? She should have a mother first.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I am her mother. And if I marry twice, I shall become a +stepmother.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, how you talk! That's not the way!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And you shall be her stepfather.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, no!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You must be very kind to her, although she cannot wash her +face.—Here, take her—let me see if you have learned to carry children +right.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>receives the doll unwillingly</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You haven't learned yet, but you will! Now take the rattle, +too, and play with her.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>receives the rattle</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. That's something you don't understand, I see. [<i>She takes +the doll and the rattle away from him and throws them back into the +chest; then she takes out the hobby-horse</i>] Here is my steed.—It has +saddle of gold and shoes of silver.—It can run forty miles in an +hour, and on its back I have travelled through Sounding Forest, across +Big Heath and King's Bridge, along High Road and Fearful Alley, all the +way to the Lake of Tears. And there it dropped a golden shoe that fell +into the lake, and then came a fish, and after came a fisherman, and so +I got the golden shoe back. That's all there was to that! [<i>She throws +the hobby-horse into the chest; instead she takes out a chess-board +with red and white squares, and chess-men made of silver and gold</i>] +If you will play with me, come here and sit upon the lion skin. [<i>She +seats herself on the skin and begins to put up the pieces</i>] Sit down, +won't you—the maids can't see us here!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>sits down on the skin, looking very embarrassed</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. It's like sitting in the grass—not the green grass of the +meadow, but the desert grass which has been burned by the sun.—Now you +must say something about me! Do you like me a little?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Are we to play?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. To play? What care I for that?—Oh—you were to teach me +something!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Poor me, what can I do but saddle a horse and carry arms—with +which you are but poorly served.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You are so sad!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. My mother died quite recently.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Poor little prince!—My mother, too, has gone to God in +heaven, and she's an angel now. Sometimes in the nights I see her—do +you also see yours?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No-o.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And have you got a stepmother?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Not yet. So little time has passed since she was laid to rest.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Don't be so sad! There's nothing but will wear away in time, +you see. Now I'll give you a flag to gladden you again—Oh, no, that's +right—this one I sewed for the young king. But now I'll sew another +one for you!—This is the king's, with seven flaming fires—you shall +have one with seven red roses on it—but first of all you have to +hold this skein of yarn for me. [<i>She takes from the chest a skein of +rose-coloured yarn and hands it to the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>] One, two, three, and +now you'll see!—Your hands are trembling—that won't do!—Perhaps you +want a hair of mine among the yarn?—Pull one yourself!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, no, I couldn't——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I'll do it, then, myself. [<i>She pulls a hair from her head +and winds it into the ball of yarn</i>] What is your name?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You shouldn't ask.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Why not?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The duke has told you—hasn't he?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No, he hasn't! What could happen if you told your name? +Might something dreadful happen?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The duke has told you, I am sure.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I never heard of such a thing before—of one who couldn't +tell his name!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The curtain behind which the peacock is hidden moves; a faint +sound as of castanets is heard</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What was that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. That's Pavo—do you think he knows what we are saying?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It's hard to tell.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Well, what's your name?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Again the peacock makes the same kind of sound with his bill</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I am afraid—don't ask again!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. He snaps his bill, that's all—Keep your hands still!—Did +you ever hear the tale of the little princess that mustn't mention the +name of the prince, lest something happen? And do you know——?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The curtain hiding the peacock is pulled aside, and the bird +is seen spreading out his tail so that it looks as if all the +"eyes" were staring at</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>and the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Who pulled away the curtain? Who made the bird behold us with +its hundred eyes?—You mustn't ask again!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Perhaps I mustn't—Down, Pavo—there!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The curtain resumes its previous position</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Is this place haunted?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You mean that things will happen—just like that? Oh, well, +so much is happening here—but I have grown accustomed to it. And then, +besides—they call my stepmother a witch—There, now, I have pricked my +finger!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What did you prick it with?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. There was a splinter in the yarn. The sheep have been locked +up all winter—and then such things will happen. Please see if you can +get it out.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. We must sit at the table then, so I can see.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>They rise and take seats at the table</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Holding out one of her little fingers</i>] Can you see +anything?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What do I see? Your hand is red within, and through it all the +world and life itself appear in rosy colouring——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Now pull the splinter out—ooh, it hurts!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But I shall have to hurt you, too—and ask your pardon in +advance!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Oh, help me, please!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Squeezing her little finger and pulling out the splinter with +his nails</i>] There is the cruel little thing that dared to do you harm.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Now you must suck the blood to keep the wound from festering.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Sucking the blood from her finger</i>] I've drunk your +blood—and so I am your foster-brother now.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My foster-brother—so you were at once—or how do you think +I could have talked to you as I have done?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. If you have talked to me like that, how did I talk to you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Just think, he didn't notice it!—And now I have got a +brother of my own, and that is you!—My little brother—take my hand!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Taking her hand</i>] My little sister! [<i>Feels her pulse beating +under his thumb</i>] What have you there, that's ticking—one, and two, +and three, and four——? <i>Continues to count silently after having +looked at his watch</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yes, tell me what it is that ticks—so steady, steady, +steady? It cannot be my heart, for that is here, beneath my breast—Put +your hand here, and you can feel it too. [<i>The doves begin to stir and +coo</i>] What is it, little white ones?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And sixty! Now I know what makes that ticking—it is the time! +Your little finger is the second-hand that's ticking sixty times for +every minute that goes by. And don't you think there is a heart within +the watch?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Handling the watch</i>] We cannot reach the inside of the +watch—no more than of the heart—Just feel my heart!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. [<i>Enters from the pewter-closet carrying a whip, which she puts +down on the table</i>] Her Grace commands that the children be seated at +opposite sides of the table.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>sits down at the opposite end of the table. He and</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>look at each other in silence for a while</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Now we are far apart, and yet a little nearer than before.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It's when we part that we come nearest to each other.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And you know that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I have just learned it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Now my instruction has begun.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You're teaching me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Pointing to a dish of fruit</i>] Would you like some fruit?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No, eating is so ugly.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yes, so it is.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Three maids are standing there—one in the pewter-closet, one +among the clothes, and one among the fruits. Why are they standing +there?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. To watch us two—lest we do anything that is forbidden.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. May we not go into the rosery?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. The morning is the only time when I can go into the rosery, +for there the bloodhounds of my stepmother are kept. They never let me +reach the shore—and so I get no chance to bathe.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Have you then never seen the shore? And never heard the ocean +wash the sand along the beach?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No—never! Here I can only hear the roaring waves in time of +storm.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then you have never heard the murmur made by winds that sweep +across the waters?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. It cannot reach me here.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Pushing his helmet across the table to</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>] Put it to +your ear and listen.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>With the helmet at her ear</i>] What is that I hear?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The song of waves, the whispering winds</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No, I hear human voices—hush! My stepmother is +speaking—speaking to the steward—and mentioning my name—and that of +the young king, too! She's speaking evil words. She's swearing that I +never shall be queen—and vowing that—you—shall take that daughter +of her own—that loathsome Lena——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Indeed!—And you can hear it in the helmet?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I can.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I didn't know of that. But my godmother gave me the helmet as a +christening present.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Give me a feather, will you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It is a pleasure—great as life itself.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But you must cut it so that it will write.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You know a thing or two!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My father taught me——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>pulls a black feather out of the plume on his +helmet; then he takes a silver-handled knife from his belt and +cuts the quill</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>takes out an ink-well and parchment from a drawer in +the table</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Who is Lady Lena?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You mean, what kind of person? You want her, do you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Some evil things are brewing in this house——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Fear not! My father has bestowed a gift on me that will +bring help in hours of need.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What is it called?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. It is the horn Stand-By.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Where is it hid?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Read in my eye. I dare not let the maids discover it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Gazing at her eyes</i>] I see!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Pushing pen, ink and parchment across the table to the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>] Write it.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>writes</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yes, that's the place. [<i>She writes again.</i></p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What do you write?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Names—all pretty names that may be worn by princes!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Except my own!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yours, too!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Leave that alone!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Here I have written twenty names—all that I know—and +so your name must be there, too. [<i>Pushing the parchment across the +table</i>] Read!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>reads</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Oh, I have read it in your eye!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Don't utter it! I beg you in the name of God the merciful, +don't utter it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I read it in his eye!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But do not utter it, I beg of you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And if I do? What then?—Can Lena tell, you think? Your +bride! Your love!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, hush, hush, hush!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Jumps up and begins to dance</i>] I know his name—the +prettiest name in all the land!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>runs up to her, catches hold of her and covers +her mouth with his hand</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I'll bite your hand; I'll suck your blood; and so I'll be +your sister twice—do you know what that can mean?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I'll have two sisters then.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Throwing back her head</i>] O-ho! O-ho! Behold, the +ceiling has a hole, and I can see the sky—a tiny piece of sky, a +window-pane—and there's a face behind it. Is it an angel's?—See—but +see, I tell you!—It's your face!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The angels are not boys, but girls.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But it is you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Looking up</i>] 'Tis a mirror.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Woe to us then! It is the witching mirror of my stepmother, +and she has seen it all.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And in the mirror I can see the fireplace—there's a pumpkin +hanging in it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Takes from the fireplace a mottled, strangely shaped +pumpkin</i>] What can it be? It has the look of an ear. The witch has +heard us, too!—Alas, alas! [<i>She throws the pumpkin into the fireplace +and runs across the floor toward the bed; suddenly she stops on one +foot, holding up the other</i>]</p> + +<p>Oh, she has strewn the floor with needles——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She sits down and begins to rub her foot</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>kneels in front of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>in order to help +her</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No, you mustn't touch my foot—you mustn't!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Dear heart, you must take off your stocking if I am to help.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Sobbing</i>] You mustn't—mustn't see my foot!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But why? Why shouldn't I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I cannot tell; I cannot tell. Go—go away from me! To-morrow +I shall tell you, but I can't to-day.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But then your little foot will suffer—let me pull the needle +out!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Go, go, go!—No, no, you mustn't try!—Oh, had my mother +lived, a thing like this could not have happened!—Mother, mother, +mother!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I cannot understand—are you afraid of me——?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Don't ask me, please—just leave me—oh!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What have I done?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Don't leave me, please—I didn't mean to hurt you—but I +cannot tell—If I could only reach the shore—the white sand of the +beach——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I cannot tell! I cannot tell!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She hides her face in her hands. Once more the peacock makes +a rattling sound with his bill; the doves begin to stir; the +three maids enter, one after the other; a gust of wind is +heard, and the tops of the rose-trees outside swing back and +forth; the golden clouds that have been hanging over the sea +disappear, and the blue sea itself turns dark</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Does Heaven itself intend to judge us?—Is ill-luck in the +house?—Oh, that my sorrow had the power to raise my mother from her +grave!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>.Putting his hand on his sword</i>] My life for yours!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No, don't—she puts the very swords to sleep!—Oh, that my +sorrow could bring back my mother! [<i>The swallows chirp in their nest</i>] +What was that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Catching sight of the nest</i>] A swallow's nest! I didn't +notice it before.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Nor I! How did it get there? When?—But all the same it +augurs good—And yet the cold sweat of fear is on my brow—and I +choke—Look, how the rose itself is withering because that evil woman +comes this way—for it is she who comes——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The rose on the table is closing its blossom and drooping its +leaves</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But whence came the swallows?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. They were not sent by her, I'm sure, for they are kindly +birds—Now she is here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Enters from the rear with the walk of a panther; the rose +on the table is completely withered</i>] Signe—take the horn out of the +bed!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span> <i>goes up to the bed and takes the horn</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Where are you going, Prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. The day is almost done, Your Grace; the sun is setting, and my +bark is longing to get home.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. The day is too far gone—the gates are shut, the dogs let +loose—You know my dogs?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Indeed! You know my sword?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. What is the matter with your sword?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It bleeds at times.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Well, well! But not with women's blood, I trust?—But +listen, Prince: how would like to sleep in our Blue Room?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. By God, it is my will to sleep at home, in my own bed——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Is that the will of anybody else?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Of many more.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. How many?—More than these!—One, two, three——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>As she counts, the members of the household begin to pass by +in single file across the balcony; all of them look serious; +some are armed; no one turns his head to look into the room; +among those that pass are the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BUTLER</span>, <i>the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEWARD</span>, <i>the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">KITCHENER</span>, <i>the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GAOLER</span>, <i>the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">CONSTABLE</span>, <i>the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">EQUERRY</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I'll sleep in your Blue Room.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. That's what I thought.—So you will bid ten thousand +good-nights unto your love—and so will Swanwhite, too, I think!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A swan comes flying by above the rosery; from the ceiling a +poppy flower drops down on the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>, <i>who falls asleep +at once, as do the maids</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Going up to the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>] Good-night, my Prince!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Takes her hand and says in a low voice</i>] Good-night!—Oh, +that it's granted me to sleep beneath one roof with you, my +Princess—your dreams by mine shall be enfolded—and then to-morrow we +shall wake for other games and other——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>In the same tone</i>] You are my all on earth, you are +my parent now—since she has robbed me of my puissant father's +help.—Look, how she sleeps!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You saw the swan?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No, but I heard—it was my mother.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Come, fly with me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No, that we mustn't!—Patience! We'll meet in our +dreams!—But this will not be possible unless—you love me more than +anybody else on earth! Oh, love me—you, you, you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. My king, my loyalty——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Your queen, your heart—or what am I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I am a knight!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But I am not. And therefore—therefore do I take you—my +Prince——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She puts her hands up to her mouth with a gesture as if she +were throwing a whispered name to him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, woe! What have you done?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I gave myself to you through your own name—and with me, +carried on <i>your</i> wings, yourself came back to you! Oh—— [<i>Again she +whispers the name</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>With a movement of his hand as if he were catching the name +in the air</i>] Was that a rose you threw me?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He throws a kiss to her</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. A violet you gave me—that was you—your soul! And now I +drink you in—you're in my bosom, in my heart—you're mine!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And you are mine! Who is the rightful owner, then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Both!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Both! You and I!—My rose!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My violet!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. My rose!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My violet!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I <i>love</i> you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. <i>You</i> love <i>me</i>!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You <i>love</i> me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. <i>I</i> love <i>you</i>!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The stage grows light again. The rose on the table recovers +and opens. The faces of the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>and the three maids +are lighted up and appear beautiful, kind, and happy. The</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>lifts up her drowsy head and, while her eyes remain +closed, she seems to be watching the joy of the two young +people with a sunny smile</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Look, look! The cruel one is smiling as at some memory from +childhood days. See how Signe the False seems faith and hope embodied, +how the ugly Tova has grown beautiful, the little Elsa tall.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Our love has done it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. So that is love? Blessed be it by the Lord! The Lord +Omnipotent who made the world!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She falls on her knees, weeping</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You weep?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Because I am so full of joy.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Come to my arms and you will smile.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. There I should die, I think.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Well, smile and die!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Rising</i>] So be it then!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>takes her in his arms.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Wakes up; on seeing the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>and</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> +<i>together, she strikes the table with the whip</i>] I must have +slept!—Oho! So we have got that far!—The Blue Room did I say?—I +meant the Blue Tower!—There the prince is to sleep with the Duke of +Exeter's daughter!—Maids!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The maids wake up</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Show the prince the shortest way to the Blue Tower. And +should he nevertheless lose his way, you may summon the Castellan and +the Gaoler, the Equerry and the Constable.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No need of that! Wherever leads my course—through fire or +water, up above the clouds or down in the solid earth—there shall I +meet my Swanwhite, for she is with me where I go. So now I go to meet +her—in the tower! Can you beat that for witchcraft, witch?—Too hard, +I think, for one who knows not love!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out followed by the maids</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>To</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>] Not many words are needed—tell your +wishes—but be brief!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My foremost, highest wish is for some water with which to +lave my feet.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Cold or warm?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Warm—if I may.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. What more?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. A comb to ravel out my hair.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Silver or gold?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Are you—are you kind?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Silver or gold?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Wood or horn will do me well enough.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. What more?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. A shift that's clean.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Linen or silk?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Just linen.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Good! So I have heard your wishes. Now listen to mine! I +wish that you may have no water, be it warm or cold! I wish that you +may have no comb, of any kind, not even of wood or horn—much less of +gold or silver. That's how kind I am! I wish that you may wear no linen +—but get you at once into the closet there to cover up your body with +that dingy sark of homespun! Such is my word!—And if you try to leave +these rooms—which you had better not, as there are traps and snares +around—then you are doomed—or with my whip I'll mark your pretty +face so that no prince or king will ever look at you again!—Then get +yourself to bed!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She strikes the table with her whip again, rises and goes out +through the middle arch of the doorway; the gates, which have +gilded bars, squeak and rattle as she closes and locks them</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The same scene as before, but the golden gates at the rear are +shut. The peacock and the doves are sleeping. The golden clouds +in the sky are as dull in colour as the sea itself and the land +that appears in the far distance</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>is lying on the bed; she has on a garment of black +homespun</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The doors to the three closets are open. In each doorway +stands one of the maids, her eyes closed and in one of her +hands a small lighted lamp of Roman pattern</i>.</p> + +<p><i>A swan is seen flying above the rosery, and trumpet-calls are +heard, like those made by flocks of migrating wild swans</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MOTHER OF SWANWHITE</span>, <i>all in white, appears outside the +gates. Over one arm she carries the plumage of a swan and on +the other one a small harp of gold. She hangs the plumage on +one of the gates, which opens of its own accord and then closes +in the same way behind her</i>.</p> + +<p><i>She enters the room and places the harp on the table. Then she +looks around and becomes aware of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. <i>At once the harp +begins to play. The lamps carried by the maids go out one by +one, beginning with that farthest away. Then the three doors +close one by one, beginning with the innermost</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The golden clouds resume their former radiance</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MOTHER</span> <i>lights one of the lamps on the stand and goes up +to the bed, beside which she kneels</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The harp continues to play during the ensuing episode</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MOTHER</span> <i>rises, takes</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>in her arms, and places +her, still sleeping, in a huge arm-chair. Then she kneels down +and pulls off</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S</span> <i>stockings. Having thrown these +under the bed, she bends over her daughter's feet as if to +moisten them with her tears. After a while she wipes them with +a white linen cloth and covers them with kisses. Finally she +puts a sandal on each foot which then appears shining white</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Then the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MOTHER</span> <i>rises to her feet again, takes out a comb of +gold, and begins to comb</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S</span> <i>hair. This finished, she +carries</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>back to the bed. Beside her she places a +garment of white linen which she takes out of a bag</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Having kissed</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>on the forehead, she prepares to +leave. At that moment a white swan is seen to pass by outside, +and one hears a trumpet-call like the one heard before. Shortly +afterward the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MOTHER OF THE PRINCE</span>, <i>also in white, enters +through the gate, having first hung her swan plumage on it</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. Well met, my sister! How long before the cock will +crow?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. Not very long. The dew is rising from the roses, the +corn-crake's call is heard among the grass, the morning breeze is +coming from the sea.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. Let us make haste with what we have on hand, my +sister.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. You called me so that we might talk of our children.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. Once I was walking in a green field in the land +that knows no sorrow. There I met you, whom I had always known, yet +had not seen before. You were lamenting your poor boy's fate, left to +himself here in the vale of sorrow. You opened up your heart to me, and +my own thoughts, that dwell unwillingly below, were sent in search of +my deserted daughter—destined to marry the young king, who is a cruel +man, and evil.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. Then I spoke, while you listened: "May worth belong to +worth; may love, the powerful, prevail; and let us join these lonely +hearts, in order that they may console each other!"</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. Since then heart has kissed heart and soul enfolded +soul. May sorrow turn to joy, and may their youthful happiness bring +cheer to all the earth!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. If it be granted by the powers on high!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. That must be tested by the fire of suffering.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. [<i>Taking in her hand the helmet left behind by the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>] May sorrow turn to joy—this very day, when he has mourned his +mother one whole year!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She exchanges the black feathers on the helmet for white and +red ones</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. Your hand, my sister—let the test begin!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. Here is my hand, and with it goes my son's! Now we +have pledged them——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. In decency and honour!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. I go to open up the tower. And let the young ones fold +each other heart to heart.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. In decency and honour!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. And we shall meet again in those green fields where +sorrow is not known.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. [<i>Pointing to</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>] Listen! She dreams +of him!—Oh foolish, cruel woman who thinks that lovers can be +parted!—Now they are walking hand in hand within the land of dreams, +'neath whispering firs and singing lindens—They sport and laugh——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE'S MOTHER</span>. Hush! Day is dawning—I can hear the robins calling, +and see the stars withdrawing from the sky—Farewell, my sister!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She goes out, taking her swan plumage with her.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S MOTHER</span>. Farewell!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She passes her hand over</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>as if blessing her, then +she takes her plumage and leaves, closing the gate after her</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The clock on the table strikes three. The harp is silent for +a moment; then it begins to play a new melody of even greater +sweetness than before</i>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>wakes up and looks around; +listens to the harp; gets up from the bed; draws her hands +through her hair; looks with pleasure at her own little feet, +now spotlessly clean, and notices finally the while linen +garment on the bed. She sits down at the table in the place she +occupied during the evening. She acts as if she were looking at +somebody sitting opposite her at the table, where the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> +<i>was seated the night before. She looks straight into his eyes, +smiles a smile of recognition, and holds out one of her hands. +Her lips move at times as if she were speaking, and then again +she seems to be listening to an answer</i>.</p> + +<p><i>She points meaningly to the white and red feathers on the +helmet, and leans forward as if whispering. Then she puts her +head back and breathes deeply as if to fill her nostrils with +some fragrance. Having caught something in the air with one +of her hands, she kisses the hand and then pretends to throw +something back across the table. She picks up the quill and +caresses it as if it were a bird; then she writes and pushes +the parchment across the table. Her glances seem to follow +"his" pen while the reply is being written, and at last she +takes back the parchment, reads it, and hides it in her bosom</i>.</p> + +<p><i>She strokes her black dress as if commenting on the sad change +in her appearance. Whereupon she smiles at an inaudible answer, +and finally bursts into hearty laughter</i>.</p> + +<p><i>By gestures she indicates that her hair has been combed. Then +she rises, goes a little distance away from the table, and +turns around with a bashful expression to hold out one of her +feet. In that attitude she stays for a moment while waiting for +an answer. On hearing it she becomes embarrassed and hides her +foot quickly under her dress</i>.</p> + +<p><i>She goes to the chest and takes out the chess-board and the +chess-men, which she places on the lions skin with a gesture of +invitation. Then she lies down beside the board, arranges the +men, and begins to play with an invisible partner</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The harp is silent for a moment before it starts a new melody</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The game of chess ends and</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>seems to be talking +with her invisible partner. Suddenly she moves away as if +he were coming too close to her. With a deprecating gesture +she leaps lightly to her feet. Then she gazes long and +reproachfully at him. At last she snatches up the white garment +and hides herself behind the bed</i>.</p> + +<p><i>At that moment the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>appears outside the gates, which +he vainly tries to open. Then he raises his eyes toward the sky +with an expression of sorrow and despair</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Coming forward</i>] Who comes with the morning wind?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Your heart's beloved, your prince, your all!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Whence do you come, my heart's beloved?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. From dreamland; from the rosy hills that hide the dawn; from +whispering firs and singing lindens.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. What did you do in dreamland, beyond the hills of dawn, my +heart's beloved?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I sported and laughed; I wrote her name; I sat upon the lion's +skin and played at chess.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You sported and you played—with whom?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. With Swanwhite.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. It is he!—Be welcome to my castle, my table, and my arms!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Who opens up the golden gates?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Give me your hand!—It is as chilly as your heart is warm.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. My body has been sleeping in the tower, while my soul was +wandering in dreamland—In the tower it was cold and dark.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. In my bosom will I warm your hand—I'll warm it by my +glances, by my kisses!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, let the brightness of your eyes be shed upon my darkness!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Are you in darkness?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Within the tower there was no light of sun or moon.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Rise up, O sun! Blow, southern wind! And let thy bosom +gently heave, O sea!—Ye golden gates, do you believe that you can part +two hearts, two hands, two lips—that can by nothing be divided?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Indeed, by nothing!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Two solid doors glide together in front of the gates so that</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>and the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>can no longer see each other</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Alas! What was the word we spoke, who heard it, and who +punished us?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I am not parted from you, my beloved, for still the sound of my +voice can reach you. It goes through copper, steel, and stone to touch +your ear in sweet caress. When in my thoughts you're in my arms. I +kiss you in my dreams. For on this earth there is not anything that can +part us. Swanwhite. Not anything!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I see you, though my eyes cannot behold you. I taste you, too, +because with roses you are filling up my mouth——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But in my arms I want you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I am there.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No! Against my heart I want to feel the beat of yours—Upon +your arm I want to sleep—Oh, let us, let us, dearest God—oh, let us +have each other!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The swallows chirp. A small white feather falls to the +ground</i>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>picks it up and discovers it to be a key. +With this she opens gates and doors. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>comes in</i>. +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>leaps into his arms. He kisses her on the mouth</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You do not kiss me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yes, I do!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I do not feel your kisses!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then you love me not!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Hold me fast!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. So fast that life may part!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Oh, no, I breathe!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Give me your soul!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Here!—Give me yours!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It's here!—So I have yours, and you have mine!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I want mine back!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Mine, too, I want!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Then you must seek it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Lost, both of us! For I am you, and you are me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. We two are one!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. God, who is good, has heard your prayer! We have each other!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. We have each other, yet I have you not. I cannot feel the +pressure of your hand, your lip's caress—I cannot see your eyes, nor +hear your voice—You are not here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yes, I am here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yes, here below. But up above, in dreamland, I would meet +you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then let us fly upon the wings of sleep——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Close to your heart!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. In my embrace!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Within your arms!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. This is the promised bliss!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Eternal bliss, that has no flaw and knows no end!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No one can part us.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No one!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Are you my bride?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My bridegroom, you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. In dreamland—but not here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Where are we?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Here below!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Here, where the sky is clouded, where the ocean roars, and +where each night the earth sheds tears upon the grass while waiting for +the dawn; where flies are killed by swallows, doves by hawks; where +leaves must fall and turn to dust; where eyes must lose their light and +hands their strength! Yes, here below!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then let us fly!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yes, let us fly!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GREEN GARDENER</span> <i>appears suddenly behind the table. All +his clothes are green. He wears a peaked cap, a big apron, and +knee-breeches. At his belt hang shears and a knife. He carries +a small watering-can in one hand and is scattering seeds +everywhere</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Who are you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. I sow, I sow!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What do you sow?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Seeds, seeds, seeds.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What kind of seeds?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Annuals and biennials. One pulls this way, two pull that. +When the bridal suit is on, the harmony is gone. One and one make one, +but one and one make also three. One and one make two, but two make +three. Then do you understand?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You mole, you earthworm, you who turn your forehead toward the +ground and show the sky your back—what is there you can teach me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. That you are a mole and earthworm, too. And that because you +turn your back on the earth, the earth will turn its back on you. [<i>He +disappears behind the table</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. What was it? Who was he?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. That was the green gardener.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Green, you say? Was he not blue?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No, he was green, my love.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. How can you say what is not so?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. My heart's beloved, I have not said a thing that was not so.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Alas, he does not speak the truth!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Whose voice is this? Not that of Swanwhite!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Who is this my eyes behold? Not my Prince, whose very name +attracted me like music of the Neck, or song of mermaids heard among +green waves—Who are you? You stranger with the evil eyes—and with +grey hair!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You did not see it until now—my hair, that turned to grey +within the tower, in a single night, when I was mourning for my +Swanwhite, who is no longer here.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Yes, here is Swanwhite.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No, I see a black-clad maid, whose face is black——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Have you not seen before that I was clad in black? You do +not love me, then!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You who are standing there, so grim and ugly—no!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Then you have spoken falsely.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PRINCE</span>. No—for then another one was here! Now—you are filling up my +mouth with noisome nettles.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Your violets smell of henbane now—faugh!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Thus I am punished for my treason to the king!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I wish that I had waited for your king!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Just wait, and he will come.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I will not wait, but go to meet him.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then I will stay.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Going toward the background</i>] And this is love!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Beside himself</i>] Where is my Swanwhite? Where, where, where? +The kindest, loveliest, most beautiful?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Seek her!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. 'Twould not avail me here below.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Elsewhere then! [<i>She goes out</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>is alone. He sits down at the table, covers his +face with his hands, and weeps. A gust of wind passes through +the room and sets draperies and curtains fluttering. A sound as +of a sigh is heard from the strings of the harp. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> +<i>rises, goes to the bed, and stands there lost in contemplation +of its pillow in which is a depression showing</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE'S</span> +<i>head in profile. He picks up the pillow and kisses it. A noise +is heard outside. He seats himself at the table again</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The doors of the closets fly open. The three</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span> <i>become +visible, all with darkened faces. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>enters from +the rear. Her face is also dark</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>In dulcet tones</i>] Good morning, my dear Prince! How have +you slept?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Where is Swanwhite?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. She has gone to marry her young king. Is there no thought +of things like that in your own mind, my Prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I harbour but a single thought——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Of little Swanwhite?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. She is too young for me, you mean?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Grey hairs and common sense belong together as a rule—I +have a girl with common sense——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And I grey hairs?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. He knows it not, believes it not! Come, maids! Come, Signe, +Elsa, Tova! Let's have a good laugh at the young suitor and his grey +hairs!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span> <i>begin to laugh. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>joins in</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Where is Swanwhite?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Follow in her traces—here is one!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She hands him a parchment covered with writing</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Reading</i>] And she wrote this?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. You know her hand—what has it written?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. That she hates me, and loves another—that she has played with +me; that she will throw my kisses to the wind, and to the swine my +heart—To die is now my will! Now I am dead!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. A knight dies not because a wench has played with him. He +shows himself a man and takes another.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Another? When there is only one?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. No, two, at least! My Magdalene possesses seven barrels +full of gold.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Seven?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. And more. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Where is Swanwhite?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. My Magdalene is skilled in many crafts——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Including witchcraft?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. She knows how to bewitch a princeling.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Gazing at the parchment</i>] And this was written by my +Swanwhite?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. My Magdalene would never write like that.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And she is kind?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Kindness itself! She does not play with sacred feelings, +nor seek revenge for little wrongs, and she is faithful to the one she +likes.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then she must be beautiful.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Not beautiful!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. She is not kind then.—Tell me more of her!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. See for yourself.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Where?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Here.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And this has Swanwhite written——?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. My Magdalene had written with more feeling</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What would she have written?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. That——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Speak the word! Say "love," if you are able!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Lub!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You cannot speak the word!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Lud!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Oh, no!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. My Magdalene can speak it. May she come?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yes, let her come.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Rising and speaking to the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span>] Blindfold the prince. +Then in his arms we'll place a princess that is without a paragon in +seven kingdoms.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span> <i>steps forward and covers the eyes of the</i> Prince <i>with a +bandage</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Clapping her hands</i>] Well—is she not coming?</p> + +<p><i>The peacock makes a rattling noise with his bill; the doves begin to +coo</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. What is the matter? Does my art desert me? Where is the +bride?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Four</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span> <i>enter from the rear, carrying baskets of white +and pink roses. Music is heard from above. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span> <i>go up to +the bed and scatter roses over it</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Then come</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">TWO KNIGHTS</span> <i>with closed visors. They take the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>between them toward the rear, where they meet the +</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span>, <i>escorted by two ladies. The bride is deeply +veiled</i>.</p> + +<p><i>With a gesture of her hand the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>bids all depart +except the bridal couple. She herself leaves last of all, after +she has closed the curtains and locked the gates</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Is this my bride?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span>. Who is your bride?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I have forgot her name. Who is your bridegroom?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span>. He whose name may not be mentioned.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Tell, if you can.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span>. I can, but will not.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Tell, if you can!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span>. Tell my name first!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. It's seven barrels full of gold, and crooked back, and grim, +and hare-lipped! What's my name? Tell, if you can!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span>. Prince Greyhead!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You're right!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FALSE MAGDALENE</span> <i>throws, off her veil, and</i> Swanwhite +<i>stands revealed</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Dressed in a white garment, with a wreath of roses on her +hair</i>] Who am I now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You are a rose!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And you a violet!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Taking off the bandage</i>] You are Swanwhite!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And you—are——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Hush!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. You're mine!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But you—you left me—left my kisses——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I have returned—because I love you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And you wrote cruel words——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But cancelled them—because I love you.!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You told me I was false.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. What matters it, when you are true—and when I love you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You wished that you were going to the king.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. But went to you instead, because I love you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Now let me hear what you reproach me with.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I have forgotten it—because I love you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But if you love me, then you are my bride.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I am!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Then may the heavens bestow their blessing on our union!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. In dreamland!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. With your head upon my arm!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>leads</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>to the bed, in which he places +his sword. Then she lies down on one side of the sword, and he +on the other. The colour of the clouds changes to a rosy red. +The rose-trees murmur. The harp plays softly and sweetly</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Good night, my queen!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Good morning, O my soul's beloved!—I hear the beating of +your heart—I hear it sigh like billowing waters, like swift-flying +steeds, like wings of eagles—Give me your hand!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. And yours!—Now we take wing——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Enters with the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span>, <i>who carry torches; all four have +become grey-haired</i>] I have to see that my task is finished ere the +duke returns. My daughter. Magdalene, is plighted to the prince—while +Swanwhite lingers in the tower—[<i>Goes to the bed</i>] They sleep already +in each other's arms—you bear me witness, maids!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span> <i>approach the bed</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. What do I see? Each one of you is grey-haired!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. And so are you, Your Grace!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Am I? Let me see!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span> <i>holds a mirror in front of her</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. This is the work of evil powers!—And then, perhaps, the +prince's hair is dark again?—Bring light this way!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span> <i>hold their torches so that the light from them +falls on the sleeping couple</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Such is the truth, indeed!—How beautiful they +look!—But—the sword! Who placed it there—the sword that puts at +naught their plighted troth?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She tries to take away the sword, but the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>clings to +it without being wakened</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. Your Grace—here's deviltry abroad!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. What is it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. This is not Lady Magdalene.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Who is it, then? My eyes need help.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. 'Tis Lady Swanwhite.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Swanwhite?—Can this be some delusion of the devil's +making, or have I done what I least wished?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>turns his head in his sleep so that his lips meet +those of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Touched by the beautiful sight</i>] No sight more beautiful +have I beheld!—Two roses brought together by the wind; two falling +stars that join in downward flight—it is too beautiful!—Youth, +beauty, innocence, and love! What memories, sweet memories—when I was +living in my father's home—when I was loved by <i>him</i>, the youth whom +never I called mine—What did I say I was?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. That you were loved by him, Your Grace.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Then I did speak the mighty word. Be-loved—so he named me +once—"beloved"—ere he started for the war—[<i>Lost in thoughts</i>] It +was the last of him.—And so I had to take the one I couldn't bear.—My +life is drawing to its close, and I must find my joy in happiness +denied myself! I should rejoice—at others' happiness—Some kind of +joy, at least—at other people's love—Some kind of love, at least—But +there's my Magdalene? What joy for her? O, love omnipotent—eternally +creative Lord—how you have rendered soft this lion heart! Where is my +strength? Where is my hatred—my revenge? [<i>She seats herself and looks +long at the sleeping couple</i>] A song runs through my mind, a song of +love that <i>he</i> was singing long ago, that final night— [<i>She rises as +if waking out of a dream and flies into a rage; her words come with a +roar</i>] Come hither, men! Here, Steward, Castellan, and Gaoler—all of +you! [<i>She snatches the sword out of the bed and throws it along the +floor toward the rear</i>] Come hither, men!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Noise is heard outside; the men enter as before</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Behold! The prince, the young king's vassal, has defiled +his master's bride! You bear me witness to the shameful deed! Put +chains and fetters on the traitor and send him to his rightful lord! +But in the spiked cask put the hussy. [<i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> and <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>wake +up</i>] Equerry! Gaoler! Seize the prince!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">EQUERRY</span> <i>and the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GAOLER</span> <i>lay hands on the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Where is my sword? I fight not against evil, but for innocence!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Whose innocence?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. My bride's.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. The hussy's innocence! Then prove it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Oh, mother, mother!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The white swan flies by outside</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Maids, bring shears! I'll cut the harlot's hair!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span> <i>hands her a pair of shears</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Takes hold of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>by the hair and starts to cut +it, but she cannot bring the blades of the shears together]</i> Now I'll +cut off your beauty and your love! [<i>Suddenly she is seized with panic, +which quickly spreads to the men and the three</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MAIDS</span>] Is the enemy +upon us? Why are you trembling?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. Your Grace, the dogs are barking, horses neighing—it means +that visitors are near.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Quick, to the bridges, all of you! Man the ramparts! Fall +to with flame and water, sword and axe!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>and</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>are left alone</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. [<i>Appears from behind the table; in one hand he carries +a rope, the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>'S <i>horn in the other</i>] Forgiveness for those who +sin; for those who sorrow, consolation; and hope for those who are +distressed!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. My father's horn! Then help is near! But—the prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. The prince will follow me. A secret passage, underground, +leads to the shore. There lies his bark. The wind is favourable! Come!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span> <i>and the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>go out.</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>alone, +blows the horn. An answering signal is heard in the distance. +The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GAOLER</span> <i>enters with the spiked cask</i>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>blows the +horn again. The answer is heard much nearer</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>enters. He and</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>are alone on the stage</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. My own beloved heart, what is at stake?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Your own child, father!—Look—the spiked cask over there!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. How has my child transgressed?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. The prince's name I learned, by love instructed—spoke +it—came to hold him very dear.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. That was no capital offence. What more?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. At his side I slept, the sword between us——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. And still there was no capital offence, though I should hardly +call it wise—And more?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. No more!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GAOLER</span>, <i>pointing to the spiked cask</i>] Away with it! +[<i>To</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>] Well, child, where is the prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. He's sailing homeward in his bark.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Now, when the tide is battering the shore?—Alone? Swanwhite. +Alone! What is to happen?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. The Lord alone can tell!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. He's in danger?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Who greatly dares has sometimes luck.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. He ought to have!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. He will, if free from guilt!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. He is! More than I am!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Entering</i>] How came you here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. A shortcut brought me—I could wish it had been shorter still.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Had it been short enough, your child had never come to harm.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. What kind of harm?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. The one for which there is no cure.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. And you have proofs?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. I've valid witnesses.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Then call my butler.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. He does not know.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Shaking his sword at her</i>] Call my butler!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>trembles. Then she claps her hands four times +together</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BUTLER</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Have made a pie of venison, richly stuffed with onions, parsley, +fennel, cabbage—and at once!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BUTLER</span> <i>steals a sidelong glance at the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. What are you squinting at? Be quick!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BUTLER</span> <i>goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>] Now call the master of my pleasure-garden.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. He does not know!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. And never will! But he must come! Call, quick!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>claps her hands six times</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FLOWER GARDENER</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Three lilies bring: one white, one red, one blue.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span> <i>looks sideways at the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Your head's at stake!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span> <i>goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Summon your witnesses!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>claps her hands once</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Tell what you know—but choose your words! What have you seen?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. I have seen Lady Swanwhite and the prince together in one bed.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. With sword between?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SIGNE</span>. Without.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. I can't believe it!—Other witnesses?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">TWO KNIGHTS</span> <i>enter</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Were these the groomsmen?—Tell your tale.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FIRST KNIGHT</span>. The Lady Magdalene I have escorted to her bridal couch.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SECOND KNIGHT</span>. The Lady Magdalene I have escorted to her bridal couch.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. What's that? A trick, I trow—that caught the trickster!—Other +witnesses?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Tell what you know.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. I swear by God, our righteous judge, that I have seen the prince +and Lady Swanwhite fully dressed and with a sword between them.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. One for, and one against—two not germane.—I leave it to the +judgment of the Lord!—The flowers will speak for him.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] My gracious master—noble lord!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. What do you know?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. I know my gracious mistress innocent.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. O, child—so you know that! Then teach us how to know it too.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. When I am saying only what is true——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. No one believes it! But when Signe tells untruth, we must +believe!—And what does Swanwhite say herself? Her forehead's purity, +her steady glance, her lips' sweet innocence—do they not speak aloud +of slander? And "slander" is the verdict of a father's eye.—Well +then—Almighty God on high shall give his judgment, so that human +beings may believe!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FLOWER GARDENER</span> <i>enters carrying three lilies placed in +three tall and narrow vases of glass. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span> <i>places the +flowers in a semicircle on the table. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BUTLER</span> <i>enters with +a huge dish containing a steaming pie</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Placing the dish within the semicircle formed by the three +flowers</i>] The white one stands for whom?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALL</span>. [<i>Except</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. <i>and the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>] For Swanwhite.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. The red one stands for whom?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALL</span>. [As <i>before</i>] The prince.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. For whom the blue one?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALL</span>. [As <i>before</i>] The youthful king.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Well, Tova—child who still has faith in innocence because you +too are innocent—interpret now for us the judgment of the Lord—tell +us the gentle secrets of these flowers.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. The evil part I cannot utter.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. I will. What's good I'll leave for you.—As the steam from the +blood of the prurient beast rises upward—as upward the smell of the +passionate spices is mounting—what see you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. [<i>Gazing at the three lilies</i>] The white one folds its blossom to +protect itself against defilement. That is Swanwhite's flower.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALL</span>. Swanwhite is innocent.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. The red one, too—the prince's lily—closes its head—but the +blue one, which stands for the king, flings wide its gorge to drink the +lust-filled air.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. You've told it right! What more is there to see?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. I see the red flower bend its head in reverent love before the +white one, while the blue one writhes with envious rage.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. You've spoken true!—For whom is Swanwhite then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ELSA</span>. For the prince, because more pure is his desire, and therefore +stronger, too.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALL</span>. [<i>Except</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>and the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>] Swanwhite for the prince!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Throwing herself into her father's arms</i>] O, father!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Call back the prince! Let every trump and bugle summon him. Hoist +sail on every bark! But first of all—the spiked cask is for whom?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>All remain silent</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Then I will say it: for the duchess; for the arch-liar and +bawd!—Know, evil woman, that though nothing else be safe against your +tricks, they cannot conquer love!—Go—quick—begone!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>makes a gesture which for a moment seems to +stun the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Draws his sword and turns the point of it toward the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>, <i>having first seated</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>on his left shoulder</i>] +A-yi, you evil one! My pointed steel will outpoint all your tricks!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>withdraws backward, dragging her legs behind +her like a panther</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Now for the prince!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>stops on the balcony, rigid as a statue. She +opens her mouth as if she were pouring out venom</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The peacock and the doves fall down dead. Then the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> +<i>begins to swell. Her clothes become inflated to such an extent +that they hide her head and bust entirely. They seem to be +flaming with a pattern of interwoven snakes and branches. The +sun is beginning to rise outside. The ceiling sinks slowly into +the room, while smoke and fire burst from the fireplace</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. [<i>Raising the cross-shaped handle of his sword toward the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>] Pray, people, pray to Christ, our Saviour!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALL</span>. Christ have mercy!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The ceiling resumes its ordinary place. The smoke and fire +cease. A noise is heard outside, followed by the hum of many +voices</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. What new event is this?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I know! I see!—I hear the water dripping from his hair; I +hear the silence of his heart, the breath that comes no more—I see +that he is dead!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Where do you see—and whom?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Where?—But I see it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. I see nothing.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. As they must come, let them come quick!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Four little girls enter with baskets out of which they scatter +white lilies and hemlock twigs over the floor. After them come +four pages ringing silver bells of different pitch. Then comes +a priest carrying a large crucifix. Then, the golden bier, with +the body of the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>, <i>covered by a white sheet, on which +rest white and pink roses. His hair is dark again. His face is +youthful, rosy, and radiantly beautiful. There is a smile on +his lips</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The harp begins to play. The sun rises completely. The magic +bubble around the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span> <i>bursts, and she appears once +more in her customary shape</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The bier is placed in the middle of the floor, so that the +rays of the rising sun fall on it</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> <i>throws herself on her knees beside the bier and +covers the</i> Prince's <i>face with kisses</i>.</p> + +<p><i>All present put their hands to their faces and weep</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FISHERMAN</span> <i>has entered behind the bier</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. The brief tale tell us, fisherman——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">FISHERMAN</span>. Does it not tell itself, my noble lord?—The young prince +had already crossed the strait, when, seized by violent longing for +his love, he started to swim back, in face of tide and wave and +wind—because his bark seemed rudder-less.—I saw his young head breast +the billows, I heard him cry her name—and then his corpse was gently +dropped upon the white sand at my feet. His hair had turned to grey +that night when he slept in the tower; sorrow and wrath had blanched +his cheeks; his lips had lost their power of smiling.—Now, when +death o'ertook him, beauty and youth came with it. Like wreaths his +darkening locks fell round his rosy cheeks; he smiled—and see!—is +smiling still. The people gathered on the shore, awed by the gentle +spectacle—and man said unto man: lo, this is love!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>Lying down beside the body of the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>] He's dead; his +heart will sing no more; his eyes no longer will light up my life; +his breath will shed its dew on me no more. He smiles, but not toward +me—toward heaven he smiles. And on his journey I shall bear him +company.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Kiss not a dead man's lips—there's poison in them!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Sweet poison if it bring me death—that death in which I +seek my life!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. They say, my child, the dead cannot gain union by willing it; +and what was loved in life has little worth beyond.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. And love? Should then its power not extend to the other side +of death?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. Our wise men have denied it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Then he must come to me—back to this earth. O gracious +Lord, please let him out of heaven again!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. A foolish prayer!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I cannot pray—woe's me! The evil eye still rules this place.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. You're thinking of the monster which the sunbeams pricked. The +stake for her—let her without delay be burned alive!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Burn her?—Alive?—Oh, no! Let her depart in peace!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>. She must be burned alive! You, men, see that the pyre is raised +close to the shore, and let the winds play with her ashes!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. [<i>On her knees before the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DUKE</span>] No, no—I pray you, though +she was my executioner: have mercy on her!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. [<i>Enters, changed, freed from the evil powers that have +held her in their spell</i>] Mercy! Who spoke the sacred word? Who poured +her heart in prayer for me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I did—your daughter—mother!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. O, God in heaven, she called me mother!—Who taught you +that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Love did!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. Then blessed be love which can work miracles like +that!—But, child, then it must also have the power to make the dead +return out of the darkling realms of death!—I cannot do it, having not +received the grace of love. But you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. Poor me—what can I do?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STEPMOTHER</span>. You can forgive, and you can love—Well, then, my little +Lady Almighty, you can do anything!—Be taught by me who have no power +at all. Go, cry the name of your beloved, and put your hand above his +heart! Then, with the help of the Supreme One—calling none but Him for +helper—your beloved will hear your voice—if you believe!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span>. I do believe—I will it—and—I pray for it!</p> + +<p><i>She goes up to the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>, <i>places one of her hands over his heart, +and raises the other toward the sky. Then she bends down over him +and whispers something into his ear. This she repeats three times in +succession. At the third whisper the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>wakes up</i>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SWANWHITE</span> +<i>throws herself at his breast. All kneel in praise and thanksgiving. +Music</i>.</p> + +<h5><i>Curtain</i>.</h5> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="SIMOOM" id="SIMOOM">SIMOOM</a></h3> + +<h4>(SAMUM)</h4> + +<h5>1890</h5> + +<hr class="r5" /> + + + +<p style="margin-left: 40%;font-size: 0.8em;"> +CHARACTERS<br /><br /> +BISKRA, <i>an Arabian girl</i><br /> +YUSUF, <i>her lover</i><br /> +GUIMARD, <i>a lieutenant of Zouaves</i><br /> +</p> +<blockquote> +<p><i>The action takes place in Algeria at the present time</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="tb" /> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The inside of a marabout, or shrine. In the middle of the +floor stands a sarcophagus forming the tomb of the Mohammedan +saint (also called "marabout") who in his lifetime occupied the +place. Prayer-rugs are scattered over the floor. At the right +in the rear is an ossuary, or charnel-house.</i></p> + +<p><i>There is a doorway in the middle of the rear wall. It is +closed with a gate and covered by a curtain. On both sides of +the doorway are loopholes. Here and there on the floor are seen +little piles of sand. An aloe plant, a few palm leaves and some +alfa grass are thrown together on one spot</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;">FIRST SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span> <i>enters. The hood of her burnous is pulled over her head +so that it almost covers her face. She carries a guitar at her +back. Throwing herself down in a kneeling position on one of +the rugs, she begins to pray with her arms crossed over her +breast. A high wind is blowing outside</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Lâ ilâhâ illâ 'llâh!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. [<i>Enters quickly</i>] The Simoom is coming! Where is the Frank?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. He'll be here in a moment.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. Why didn't you stab him when you had a chance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Because he is to do it himself. If I were to do it, our whole +tribe would be killed, for I am known to the Franks as Ali, the guide, +though they don't know me as Biskra, the maiden.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. He is to do it himself, you say? How is that to happen?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Don't you know that the Simoom makes the brains of the white +people dry as dates, so that they have horrible visions which disgust +them with life and cause them to flee into the great unknown?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. I have heard of such things, and in the last battle there were +six Franks who took their own lives before the fighting began. But do +not place your trust in the Simoom to-day, for snow has fallen in the +mountains, and the storm may be all over in half an hour.—Biskra! Do +you still know how to hate?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. If I know how to hate?—My hatred is boundless as the desert, +burning as the sun, and stronger than my love. Every hour of joy that +has been stolen from me since the murder of Ali has been stored up +within me like the venom back of a viper's tooth, and what the Simoom +cannot do, that I can do.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. Well spoken, Biskra, and the task shall be yours. Ever since my +eyes first fell upon you, my own hatred has been withering like alfa +grass in the autumn. Take strength from me and become the arrow to my +bow.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Embrace me, Yusuf, embrace me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. Not here, within the presence of the Sainted one; not +now—later, afterward, when you have earned your reward!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. You proud sheikh! You man of pride!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. Yes—the maiden who is to carry my offspring under her heart +must show herself worthy of the honour.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. I—no one but I—shall bear the offspring of Yusuf! I, +Biskra—the scorned one, the ugly one, but the strong one, too!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. All right! I am now going to sleep beside the spring.—Do I +need to teach you more of the secret arts which you learned from +Sidi-Sheikh, the great marabout, and which you have practised at fairs +ever since you were a child?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Of that there is no need. I know all the secrets needed to +scare the life out of a cowardly Frank.—The dastard who sneaks upon +the enemy and sends the leaden bullet ahead of himself! I know them +all—even the art of letting my voice come out of my belly. And what is +beyond my art, that will be done by the sun, for the sun is on the side +of Yusuf and Biskra.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. The sun is a friend of the Moslem, but not to be relied upon. +You may get burned, girl!—Take a drink of water first of all, for I +see that your hands are shrivelled, and——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He lifts up one of the rugs and steps down into a sort of +cellar, from which he brings back a bowl filled with water; +this he hands to</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Raising the bowl to her mouth</i>] And my eyes are already +beginning to see red—my lungs are parching—I hear—I hear—do you +see how the sand is sifting through the roof—the strings of my guitar +are crooning—the Simoom is here! But the Frank is not!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. Come down here, Biskra, and let the Frank die by himself.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. First hell, and then death! Do you think I'll weaken? [<i>Pours +the water on one of the sand piles</i>] I'll water the sand, so that +revenge may grow out of it, and I'll dry up my heart. Grow, O hatred! +Burn, O sun! Smother, O wind!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. Hail to you, mother of Ben Yusuf—for you are to bear the son of +Yusuf, the avenger—you!</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>The wind is increasing. The curtain in front of the door begins to +flap. A red glimmer lights up the room, but changes into yellow during +the ensuing scene</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. The Frank is coming, and—the Simoom is here!—Go!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. In half an hour you shall see me again. [<i>Pointing toward a sand +pile</i>] There is your hour-glass. Heaven itself is measuring out the +time for the hell of the infidels!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>Goes down into the cellar</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;">SECOND SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span> <i>enters looking very pale; he stumbles, his +mind is confused, and he speaks in a low voice</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. The Simoom is here!—What do you think has become of my men?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. I led them west to east.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. West—to east!—Let me see!—That's straight east—and +west!—Oh, put me on a chair and give me some water!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Leads</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span> <i>to one of the sand piles and makes him lie +down on the floor with his feet on the sand</i>] Are you comfortable now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Staring at her</i>] I feel all twisted up. Put something under +my head.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Piling the sand higher under his feet</i>] There's a pillow for +your head.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Head? Why, my feet are down there—Isn't that my feet?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Of course!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. I thought so. Give me a stool now—under my head.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Pulls out the aloe plant and pushes it under Guimard's legs</i>] +There's a stool for you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. And then water!—Water!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Fills the empty bowl with sand and hands it to</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>] +Drink while it's cold.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Putting his lips to the bowl</i>] It is cold—and yet it does +not still my thirst! I cannot drink it—I abhor water—take it away!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. There's the dog that bit you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. What dog? I have never been bitten by a dog.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. The Simoom has shrivelled up your memory—beware the delusions +of the Simoom! Don't you remember the mad greyhound that bit you during +the last hunt at Bab-el-Wad?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. The hunt at Bab-el-Wad? That's right!—Was it a +beaver-coloured——?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Bitch? Yes.—There you see. And she bit you in the calf. Can't +you feel the sting of the wound?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Reaches out a hand to feel his calf and pricks himself on +the aloe</i>] Yes, I can feel it.—Water! Water!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Handing him the sand-filled bowl</i>] Drink, drink!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. No, I cannot! Holy Mother of God—I have rabies!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Don't be afraid! I shall cure you, and drive out the demon by +the help of music, which is all-powerful. Listen!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Screaming</i>] Ali! Ali! No music; I can't stand it! And how +could it help me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. If music can tame the treacherous spirit of the snake, don't +you think it may conquer that of a mad dog? Listen! [<i>She sings and +accompanies herself on the guitar</i>] Biskra-biskra, Biskra-biskra, +Biskra-biskra! Simoom! Simoom!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. [<i>Responding from below</i>] Simoom! Simoom!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. What is that you are singing, Ali?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Have I been singing? Look here—now I'll put a palm-leaf in my +mouth. [<i>She puts a piece of leaf between her teeth; the song seems to +be coming from above</i>] Biskra-biskra, Biskra-biskra, Biskra-biskra!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. [<i>From below</i>] Simoom! Simoom!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. What an infernal jugglery!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Now I'll sing!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span> and <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. [<i>Together</i>] Biskra-biskra, Biskra-biskra, +Biskra-biskra! Simoom!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Rising</i>] What are you, you devil who are singing with two +voices? Are you man or woman? Or both?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. I am Ali, the guide. You don't recognise me because your senses +are confused. But if you want to be saved from the tricks played by +sight and thought, you must believe in me—believe what I say and do +what I tell you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. You don't need to ask me, for I find everything to be as you +say it is.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. There you see, you worshipper of idols!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. I, a worshipper of idols?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Yes, take out the idol you carry on your breast.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span> <i>takes out a locket</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Trample on it now, and then call on the only God, the Merciful +One, the Compassionate One!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Hesitating</i>] Saint Edward—my patron saint?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Can he protect you? Can he?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. No, he cannot!—[<i>Waking up</i>] Yes, he can!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Let us see!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She opens the gate; the curtain flaps and the grass on the +floor moves</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Covering his mouth</i>] Close the door!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Throw down the idol!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. No, I cannot.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Do you see? The Simoom does not bend a hair on me, but you, the +infidel one, are killed by it! Throw down the idol!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Throws the locket on the floor</i>] Water! I die!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Pray to the Only One, the Merciful and Compassionate One!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. How am I to pray?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Repeat after me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Speak on!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. There is only one God: there is no other God but He, the +Merciful, the Compassionate One!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. "There is only one God: there is no other God but He, the +Merciful, the Compassionate One."</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Lie down on the floor.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span> <i>lies down unwillingly</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. What do you hear?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. I hear the murmuring of a spring.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. There you see! God is one, and there is no other God but He, +the Merciful and Compassionate One!—What do you see?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. I can hear a spring murmur—I can see the light of a lamp—in +a window with green shutters—on a white street——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Who is sitting at the window?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. My wife—Elise!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Who is standing behind the curtain with his arm around her neck?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. That's my son, George.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. How old is your son?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Four years on the day of Saint Nicholas.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. And he can already stand behind the curtain with his arm around +the neck of another man's wife?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. No, he cannot—but it is he!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Four years old, you say, and he has a blond mustache?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. A blond mustache, you say?—Oh, that's—my friend Jules.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Who is standing behind the curtain with his arm around your +wife's neck?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Oh, you devil!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Do you see your son?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. No, I don't see him any longer.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Imitates the tolling of bells on the guitar</i>] What do +you see now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. I see bells ringing—I taste dead bodies—their smell in my +mouth is like rancid butter—faugh!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Can't you hear the priest chanting the service for a dead child?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Wait!—I cannot hear—[<i>Wistfully</i>] But do you want me +to?—There!—I can hear it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Do you see the wreath on the coffin they are carrying?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Yes——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. There are violet ribbons on it—and there are letters printed +in silver—"Farewell, my darling George—from your father."</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Yes, that's it! [<i>He begins to cry</i>] My George! O George, my +darling boy!—Elise—wife—can't you console me?—Oh, help me! [<i>He is +groping around</i>] Elise, where are you? Have you left me? Answer! Call +out the name of your love!</p> + +<p>A <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">VOICE</span>. [<i>Coming from the roof</i>] Jules! Jules!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Jules! But my name is—what is my name? It is Charles! And she +is calling Jules! Elise—my beloved wife—answer me—for your spirit +is here—I can feel it—and you promised never to love anybody else——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">VOICE</span> <i>is heard laughing</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Who is laughing?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Elise—your wife.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Oh, kill me! I don't want to live any longer! Life sickens +me like sauerkraut at Saint-Doux—You there—do you know what +Saint-Doux is? Lard! [<i>He tries to spit</i>] Not a drop of saliva +left!—Water—water—or I'll bite you!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The wind outside has risen to a full storm</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Puts her hand to her mouth and coughs</i>] Now you are dying, +Frank! Write down your last wishes while there is still time—Where is +your note-book?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Takes out a note-book and a pencil</i>] What am I to write?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. When a man is to die, he thinks of his wife—and his child!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Writes</i>] "Elise—I curse you! Simoom—I die——"</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. And then sign it, or it will not be valid as a testament.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. What shall I sign?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Write: Lâ ilâha illâ 'llâh.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Writing</i>] It is written.—And can I die now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Now you can die—like a craven soldier who has deserted his +people! And I am sure you'll get a handsome burial from the jackals +that will chant the funeral hymn over your corpse. [<i>She drums the +signal for attack on the guitar</i>] Can you hear the drums—the attack +has begun—on the Faithful, who have the sun and the Simoom on their +side—they are now advancing—from their hiding-places—[<i>She makes a +rattling noise on the guitar</i>] The Franks are firing along the whole +line—they have no chance to load again—the Arabs are firing at their +leisure—the Franks are flying!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. [<i>Rising</i>] The Franks never flee!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. The Franks will flee when they hear the call to retreat.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She blows the signal for "retreat" on a flute which she has +produced from under her burnoose</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. They are retreating—that's the signal—and I am here—[<i>He +tears off his epaulets</i>] I am dead!</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>[<i>He falls to the ground</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Yes, you are dead!—And you don't know that you have been dead +a long time.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She goes to the ossuary and takes from it a human skull</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Have I been dead?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He feels his face with his hands</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Long! Long!—Look at yourself in the mirror here! [<i>She holds +up the skull before him</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>. Ah! That's me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Can't you see your own high cheek-bones? Can't you see the eyes +that the vultures have picked out? Don't you know that gap on the right +side of the jaw where you had a tooth pulled? Can't you see the hollow +in the chin where, grew the beard that your Elise was fond of stroking? +Can't you see where used to be the ear that your George kissed at +the breakfast-table? Can't you see the mark of the axe—here in the +neck—which the executioner made when he cut off the deserter's head——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>, <i>who has been watching her movements and listening to +her words with evident horror, sinks down dead</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. [<i>Who has been kneeling, feels his pulse; then she rises and +sings</i>] Simoom! Simoom! [<i>She opens both gates; the curtain flutters +like a banner in the wind; she puts her hand up to her mouth and falls +over backward, crying</i>] Yusuf!</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;">THIRD SCENE</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span> (<i>dead</i>). <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span> <i>comes out of the cellar</i>.</p></blockquote> + + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. [<i>Having examined the body of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUIMARD</span>, <i>he looks for</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>] +Biskra! [<i>He discovers her and takes her up in his arms</i>] Are you alive?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Is the Frank dead?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. If he is not, he will be. Simoom! Simoom!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. Then I live! But give me some water!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. [<i>Carrying her toward the cellar</i>] Here it is!—And now Yusuf is +yours!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">BISKRA</span>. And Biskra will be your son's mother, O Yusuf, great Yusuf!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">YUSUF</span>. My strong Biskra! Stronger than the Simoom!</p> + +<h5><i>Curtain</i>.</h5> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="DEBIT_AND_CREDIT" id="DEBIT_AND_CREDIT">DEBIT AND CREDIT</a></h3> + +<h4>(DEBET OCH KREDIT)</h4> + +<h4>AN ACT</h4> + +<h5>1893</h5> +<hr class="r5" /> + + +<p style="margin-left: 35%"> +<span class="small-c">CHARACTERS</span ><br /><br /> +<span class="small-c">AXEL</span >, <i>Doctor of Philosophy and African explorer</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">THURE</span >, <i>his brother, a gardener</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">ANNA</span >, <i>the wife of</i> <span class="small-c">THURE</span ><br /> +<span class="small-c">MISS CECILIA</span ><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE FIANCÉ</span > <i>of</i> <span class="small-c">CECILIA</span ><br /> +<span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span >, <i>Doctor of Philosophy and former school-teacher</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">MISS MARIE</span ><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE COURT CHAMBERLAIN</span ><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE WAITER</span ><br /> +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>A well-furnished hotel room. There are doors on both sides</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="tb" /> + + + +<p style="text-align: center;">FIRST SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span> <i>and his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. There's some style to this room, isn't there? But then the +fellow who lives here is stylish, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Yes, so I understand. Of course, I've never seen your brother, +but I've heard a whole lot.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, gossip! <i>My</i> brother, the doctor, has gone right across +Africa, and that's something everybody can't do. So it doesn't matter +how many drinks he took as a young chap——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Yes, your brother, the doctor! Who is nothing but a +school-teacher, for that matter——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. No, he's a doctor of philosophy, I tell you——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Well, that's nothing but one who teaches. And that's just what my +brother is doing in the school at Åby.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Your brother is all right, but he is nothing but a public-school +teacher, and that's not the same as a doctor of philosophy—which isn't +a boast either.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Well, no matter what he is or what you call him, he has cost us a +whole lot.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Of course it has been rather costly, but then he has brought us +a lot of pleasure, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Fine pleasures! When we've got to lose house and home for his +sake!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. That's so—but then we don't know yet if his slip-up on the loan +had some kind of cause that he couldn't help. I guess it isn't so easy +to send registered letters from darkest Africa.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Whether he has any excuses or not doesn't change the matter a +bit. But if he wants to do something for us—it's nothing more than he +owes us.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Well, we'll see, we'll see!—Anyhow, have you heard they've +already given him four decorations?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Well, that doesn't help us any. I guess it'll only make him a +little more stuck-up. Oh, no, it'll be some time before I get over that +the sheriff had to come down on us with the papers—and bring in other +people as witnesses—and then—the auction—and all the neighbours +coming in and turning all we had upside down. And do you know what made +me sorer than all the rest?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. The black——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Yes, it was that my sister-in-law should bid in my black silk +dress for fifteen crowns. Think of it—fifteen crowns!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. You just wait—just wait a little! We might get you a new silk +dress——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. [<i>Weeping</i>] But it'll never be the same one—the one my +sister-in-law bid in.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. We'll get another one then!—Now, just look at that gorgeous hat +over there! I guess it must be one of those royal chamberlains who's +talking with Axel now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. What do I care about that!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Why, don't you think it's fun that a fellow who has the same +name as you and I gets to be so respected that the King's own household +people have to visit him? If I remember right, you were happy for a +whole fortnight when your brother, the school-teacher, had been asked +to dine at the bishop's.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. I can't remember anything of the kind.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Of course you can't!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. But I do remember the fifteenth of March, when we had to leave +our place for his sake, and we hadn't been married more than two years, +and I had to carry away the child on my own arm—Oh!—and then, when +the steamer came with all the passengers on board just as we had to get +out—all the cocked hats in the world can't make me forget that! And, +for that matter, what do you think a royal chamberlain cares about a +plain gardener and his wife when they've just been turned out of house +and home?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Look here! What do you think this is? Look at all his +decorations!—Look at this one, will you!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He takes an order out of its case, holds it in the palm of his +hand, and pats it as if it were a living thing</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Oh, that silly stuff!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Don't you say anything against them, for you never can tell +where you'll end. The gardener at Staring was made a director and a +knight on the same day.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Well, what does that help us?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. No, of course not—it doesn't help us—but these things here +[<i>pointing to the orders</i>] may help us a whole lot in getting another +place.—However, I think we've waited quite a while now, so we'd better +sit down and make ourselves at home. Let me help you off with your +coat—come on now!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. [<i>After a slight resistance</i>] So you think we're going to be +welcome, then? I have a feeling that our stay here won't last very long.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Tut, tut! And I think we're going to have a good dinner, too, if +I know Axel right. If he only knew that we're here—But now you'll +see! [<i>He presses a button and a</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span> <i>enters</i>] What do you want—a +sandwich, perhaps? [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span>] Bring us some sandwiches and +beer.—Wait a moment! Get a drink for me—the real stuff, you know! +[<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span> <i>goes out</i>] You've got to take care of yourself, don't +you know.</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> SECOND SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span> <i>and his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. <span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. The <span class="small-c">CHAMBERLAIN</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">CHAMBERLAIN</span>] At five, then—in full dress, I suppose?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHAMBERLAIN</span>. And your orders!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Is it necessary?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHAMBERLAIN</span>. Absolutely necessary, if you don't want to seem rude, and +that's something which you, as a democrat, want least of all. Good-bye, +doctor!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Good-bye.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>In leaving, the</i> <span class="small-c">CHAMBERLAIN</span> <i>bows slightly to</i> <span class="small-c">THURE</span> <i>and +his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span>, <i>neither of whom returns the salute</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> THIRD SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. <span class="small-c">THURE</span> <i>and his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Oh, is that you, old boy?—It seems an eternity since I saw you +last. And this is your wife?—Glad to see you!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Thanks, brother! And I wish you a happy return after your long +trip.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Yes, that was something of a trip—I suppose you have read about +it in the papers——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, yes, I've read all about it. [<i>Pause</i>] And then father sent +you his regards.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Oh, is he still sore at me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Well, you know the old man and his ways. If only you hadn't been +a member of that expedition, you know, he would have thought it one of +the seven wonders of the world. But as you were along, of course, it +was nothing but humbug.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. So he's just the same as ever! Simply because I am <i>his</i> son, +nothing I ever do can be of any value. It means he can't think very +much of himself either.—Well, so much for that! And how are you +getting along nowadays?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Not very well, exactly! There's that old loan from the bank, you +know——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Yes, that's right! Well, what happened to it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, what happened was that I had to pay it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. That's too bad! But we'll settle the matter as soon as we have a +chance.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span> <i>comes in with</i> <span class="small-c">THURE</span>'s <i>order on a tray</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. What's that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, it was only me who took the liberty of ordering a couple of +sandwiches——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Right you were! But I think we ought to have some wine, so I +could drink the health of my sister-in-law, as I couldn't get to the +wedding.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, no—not for us! Not so early in the morning! Thanks very +much!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Signals to the</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span>, <i>who goes out</i>] I should have asked you +to stay for dinner, but I have to go out myself. Can you guess where I +am going?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. You don't mean to say you're going to the Palace?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Exactly—I am asked to meet the Monarch himself.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Lord preserve us!—What do you think of that, Anna?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>His</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span> <i>turns and twists on her chair as if in torment, +quite unable to answer</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I suppose the old man will turn republican after this, when he +hears that His Majesty cares to associate with me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. See here, Axel—you'll have to pardon me for getting back to +something that's not very pleasant—but it has to be settled.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Is it that blessed old loan?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Yes, but it isn't only that. To put it plain—we've had to stand +an execution for your sake, and now we're absolutely cleaned out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. That's a fine state of affairs! But why in the world didn't you +get the loan renewed?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Well, that's it! How was I to get any new sureties when you were +away?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Couldn't you go to my friends?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. I did. And the result was—what it was. Can you help us out now?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. How am I going to help you now? Now when all my creditors are +getting after me? And it won't do for me to start borrowing when they +are just about to make a position for me. There's nothing that hurts +you more than to borrow money. Just wait a little while, and we'll get +it all straightened out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. If we're to wait, then everything's up with us. This is just the +time to get hold of a garden—this is the time to start digging and +sowing, if you are to get anything up in time. Can't you get a place +for us?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Where am I to get hold of a garden?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Among your friends.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. My friends keep no gardens. Now, don't you hamper me when I try +to get up on firm ground! When I am there I'll pull you up, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. [<i>To his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span>] He doesn't want to help us, Anna!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I cannot—not this moment! Do you think it reasonable that I, who +am seeking a job myself, should have to seek one for you, too? What +would people be saying, do you think? "There, now," they would say, +"we've got not only him but his relatives to look after!" And then they +would drop me entirely.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. [<i>Looks at his watch; then to his wife</i>] We've got to go.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Why must you go so soon?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. We have to take the child to a doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. For the Lord's sake, have you a child, too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Yes, we have. And a sick child, which lost its health when we had +to move out into the kitchen so that the auction could be held.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. And all this for my sake! It's enough to drive me crazy! For +my sake! So that I might become a famous man!—And what is there I +can do for you?—Do you think it would have been better if I had +stayed at home?—No, worse—for then I should have been nothing but +a poor teacher, who certainly could not have been of any use to you +whatever.—Listen, now! You go to the doctor, but come back here after +a while. In the meantime I'll think out something.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. [<i>To his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span>] Do you see now, that he wants to help us?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Yes, but can he do it? That's the question.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. He can do anything he wants.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Don't rely too much on it—or the last state may prove worse +than the first.—Oh, merciful heavens, to think that you have a sick +child, too! And for my sake!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, I guess it isn't quite as bad as it sounds.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Yes, so you say, who don't know anything about it——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Well, Axel, we'll see you later then.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span> <i>appears in the doorway</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">THURE</span>] Did you notice he didn't introduce us—to the +chamberlain?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Oh, shucks, what good would that have been?</p> + +<p>[<i>They go out</i>.</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> FOURTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. LINDGREN, <i>who is shabbily dressed, unshaved, apparently +fond of drinking, and looking as if he had just got out of bed</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span> <i>is startled for a moment at the sight of</i> <span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. You don't recognise me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Yes, now I do. But you have changed a great deal.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Oh, you think so?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Yes, I do, and I am surprised to find that these years can have +had such an effect——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Three years may be pretty long.—And you don't ask me to sit +down?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Please—but I am rather in a hurry.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. You have always been in a hurry.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He sits down; pause.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Why don't you say something unpleasant?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. It's coming, it's coming!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He wipes his spectacles; pause.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. How much do you need?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Three hundred and fifty.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I haven't got it, and I can't get it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Oh, sure!—You don't mind if I help myself to a few drops?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He pours out a drink from the bottle brought by the</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span> +<i>for</i> <span class="small-c">THURE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Won't you have a glass of wine with me instead?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. No—why?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Because it looks bad to be swilling whisky like that.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. How very proper you have become!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Not at all, but it hurts my reputation and my credit.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Oh, you have credit? Then you can also give me a lift, after +having brought me down.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. That is to say: you are making demands?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. I am only reminding you that I am one of your victims.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Then, because of the gratitude I owe you, I shall bring these +facts back to your mind: that you helped me through the university at +a time when you had plenty of money; that you helped to get my thesis +printed——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. That I taught you the methods which determined your +scientific career; that I, who then was as straight as anybody, +exercised a favourable influence on your slovenly tendencies; that, in +a word, I made you what you are; and that, finally, when I applied for +an appropriation to undertake this expedition, you stepped in and took +it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, I got it. Because I, and not you, was held to be the man for +the task.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. And that settled me! Thus, one shall be taken, and the other +left!—Do you think that was treating me fairly?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. It was what the world calls "ungrateful," but the task was +achieved, and by it science was enriched, the honour of our country +upheld, and new regions opened for the use of coming generations.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Here's to you!—You have had a lot of oratorical +practice—But have you any idea how unpleasant it feels to play the +part of one used up and cast off?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I imagine it must feel very much like being conscious of +ingratitude, and I can only congratulate you at not finding yourself in +a position as unpleasant as my own.—But let us return to reality. What +can I do for you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. What do you think?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. For the moment—nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. And in the next moment you are gone again. Which means that +this would be the last I saw of you.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He pours out another drink</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Will you do me the favour of not finishing the bottle? I don't +want the servants to suspect me of it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Oh, go to hell!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. You don't think it's pleasant for me to have to call you down +like this, do you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Say—do you want to get me a ticket for the banquet to-night?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I am sorry to say that I don't think you would be admitted.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Because—-</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. You are drunk!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Thanks, old man!—Well, will you let me have a look at your +botanical specimens, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, I am going to describe them myself for the Academy.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. How about your ethnographical stuff?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, that's not my own.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Will you—let me have twenty-five crowns?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. As I haven't more than twenty myself, I can only give you ten.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Rotten!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Thus stand the affairs of the man everybody envies. Do you think +there is anybody in whose company I might feel happy? Not one! Those +that are still down hate me for climbing up, and those already up fear +one coming from below.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Yes, you are very unfortunate!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I am! And I can tell you that after my experience during the last +half-hour, I wouldn't mind changing place with you. What a peaceful, +unassailable position he holds who has nothing to lose! What a lot +of interest and sympathy those that are obscure and misunderstood +and over-looked always arouse! You have only to hold out your hand +and you get a coin. You have only to open your arms, and there are +friends ready to fall into them. And then what a powerful party behind +you—formed of the millions who are just like you! You enviable man who +don't realise your own good fortune!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. So you think me that far down, and yourself as high up as +all that?—Tell me, you don't happen to have read to-day's paper? [<i>He +takes a newspaper from his pocket</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, and I don't care to read it either.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. But you ought to do it for your own sake.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, I am not going to do it—not even for <i>your</i> sake. It is as +if you said: "Come here and let me spit at you." And then you are silly +enough to demand that I shall come, too.—Do you know, during these +last minutes I have become more and more convinced that if I had ever +come across you in the jungle, I should beyond all doubt have picked +you off with my breech-loader?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. I believe it—beast of prey that you are!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. It isn't safe to settle accounts with one's friends, or with +persons with whom one has been intimate, for it is hard to tell in +advance who has most on the debit side. But as you are bringing in +a bill, I am forced to look it over.—You don't think it took me +long to discover that back of all your generosity lay an unconscious +desire to turn me into the strong arm which you lacked—to make me +do for you what you couldn't do for yourself? I had imagination and +initiative—you had nothing but money and—"pull." So I am to be +congratulated that you didn't eat me, and I may be excused for eating +you—my only choice being to eat or be eaten!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. You beast of prey!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. You rodent, who couldn't become a beast of prey—although that +was just what you wished! And what you want at this moment is not so +much to rise up to me as to pull me down to where you are.—If you +have anything of importance to add, you had better hurry up, for I am +expecting a visit.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. From your fiancée?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. So you have snooped that out, too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Sure enough! And I know what Marie, the deserted one, thinks +and says—I know what has happened to your brother and his wife——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Oh, you know my fiancée? For, you see, it so happens that I am +not yet engaged!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. No, but I know <i>her</i> fiancé.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. What does that mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Why, she has been running around with another fellow all the +time—So you didn't know that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>As he listens for something going on outside</i>] Oh, yes, I knew +of it, but I thought she was done with him—See here, if you'll come +back in a quarter of an hour, I'll try to get things arranged for you +in some way or another.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Is that a polite way of showing me the door?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, it's an attempt to meet an old obligation. Seriously!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Well, then I'll go—and come back—Good-bye for a while.</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> FIFTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. <span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. <i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span>. <i>Then the</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>, <i>dressed in +black, with a blue ribbon in the lapel of his coat</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">WAITER</span>. There's a gentleman here who wants to see you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Let him come in.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span> <i>goes out, leaving the door open behind him. The</i> +<span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. [<i>Observing the newcomer closely</i>] Well, good-bye.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>—and good luck! [<i>He goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Good-bye.</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> SIXTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. <i>The</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span> [<i>much embarrassed</i>]</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. With whom have I the honour——?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. My name is not a name in the same way as yours, Doctor, and my +errand concerns a matter of the heart——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Oh, do you happen to be—You know Miss Cecilia?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. I am the man.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Hesitating for a moment; then with decision</i>] Please be seated. +[<i>He opens the door and beckons the</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span> <i>enters</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">WAITER</span>] Have my bill made out, see that my trunk is +packed, and bring me a carriage in half an hour.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WAITER</span>. [<i>Bowing and leaving</i>] Yes, Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Goes up to the</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span> <i>and sits down on a chair beside him</i>] +Now let's hear what you have to say?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>After a pause, with unction</i>] There were two men living in +the same city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had sheep and +cattle in plenty. The poor man owned nothing but one ewe lamb——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. What does that concern me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>As before</i>] One ewe lamb, which he had bought and was trying +to raise.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Oh, life's too short. What do you want? Are you and Miss Cecilia +still engaged?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>Changing his tone</i>] I haven't said a word about Miss Cecilia, +have I?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Well, sir, you had better get down to business, or I'll show you +the door. But be quick about it, and get straight to the point, without +any frills——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>Holding out his snuff-box</i>] May I?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, thanks.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. A great man like you has no such little weaknesses, I suppose?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. As you don't seem willing to speak, I shall. Of course, it is +none of your business, but it may do you good to learn of it, as you +don't seem to know it: I am regularly engaged to Miss Cecilia, who +formerly was your fiancée.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>Startled</i>] Who was?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Because she has broken with you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. I know nothing about it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Taking a ring from the pocket of his waistcoat]</i> That's +strange, but now you do know. And here you can see the ring she has +given me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. So she has broken with me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Yes, as she couldn't be engaged to two men at the same time, and +as she had ceased to care for you, she had to break with you. I might +have told you all this in a more decent fashion, if you hadn't stepped +on my corns the moment you came in.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. I didn't do anything of the kind.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Cowardly and disingenuous—cringing and arrogant at the same time!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>Gently</i>] You are a hard man, Doctor.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, but I may become one. You showed no consideration for my +feelings a moment ago. You sneered, which I didn't. And that's the end +of our conversation.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>With genuine emotion</i>] I feared that you might take away from +me my only lamb—but you wouldn't do that, you who have so many——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Suppose I wouldn't—are you sure she would stay with you anyhow?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. Put yourself in my place, Doctor——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Yes, if you'll put yourself in mine.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. I am a poor man——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. So am I! But judging by what I see and hear, you have certain +bliss waiting for you in the beyond. That's more than I have.—And, +furthermore, I have taken nothing away from you: I have only received +what was offered me. Just as you did!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. And I who had been dreaming of a future for this young woman—a +future full of brightness——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Pardon me a piece of rudeness, but you began it: are you so sure +that the future of this young woman will not turn out a great deal +brighter by my side?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. You are now reminding me of my humble position as a worker——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, I am reminding you of that young woman's future, which you +have so much at heart. And as I am told that she has ceased to care +for you, but does care for me, I am only taking the liberty to dream of +a brighter future for her with the man she loves than with the man she +doesn't love.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. You are a strong man, you are, and we little ones were born to +be your victims!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. See here, my man, I have been told that you got the better +of another rival for Cecilia's heart, and that you were not very +scrupulous about the means used for the purpose. How do you think that +<i>victim</i> liked you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. He was a worthless fellow.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. From whom you saved the girl! And now I save her from you! +Good-bye!</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> SEVENTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. <i>The</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. <span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. Cecilia!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span> <i>draws back from him</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. You seem to know your way into this place?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>] You had better disappear!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. I want some water!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. [<i>Picking up the whisky bottle from the table</i>] The bottle +seems to be finished!—Beware of that man, Cecilia!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Pushing the</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span> <i>out through the door</i>] Oh, your presence +is wholly superfluous—get out!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. Beware of that man, Cecilia! [<i>He goes out</i>.</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> EIGHTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. <span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. That was a most unpleasant incident, which you might have spared +me—both by breaking openly with him and by not coming to my room.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. [<i>Weeping</i>] So I am to be scolded, too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Well, the responsibility had to be fixed, and now, when that's +done—we can talk of something else.—How are you, to begin with?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. So, so!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Not well, that means?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. How are you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Fine—only a little tired.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Are you going with me to see my aunt this after-noon?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. No, I cannot, for I have to drive out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. And that's more fun, of course. You go out such a lot, and +I—never!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Hm!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Why do you say "hm"?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Because your remark made an unpleasant impression on me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. One gets so many unpleasant impressions these days——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. For instance?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. By reading the papers.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. So you have been reading those scandalous stories about me! And +you believe them?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. One doesn't know what to believe.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. So you really suspect me of being the unscrupulous fellow +pictured in those stories? And as you are nevertheless willing to marry +me, I must assume that you are moved by purely practical considerations +and not by any personal attraction.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. You speak so harshly, as if you didn't care for me at all!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Cecilia—are you willing to leave this place with me in fifteen +minutes?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. In fifteen minutes! For where!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. London.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. I am not going with you until we are married.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Why?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Why should we leave like that, all of a sudden?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Because—it's suffocating here! And if I stay, they'll drag me +down so deep that I'll never get up again.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. How strange! Are you as badly off as that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Do you come with me, or do you not?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Not until we are married—for afterward you would never marry +me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. So that's your faith in me!—Will you sit down for a moment, +then, while I go in and write a couple of letters?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Am I to sit here alone, with all the doors open?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Well, don't lock the door, for then we are utterly lost. [<i>He +goes out to the left</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Don't be long!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She goes up to the door leading to the hallway and turns the +key in the lock</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> NINTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span> <i>alone for a moment. Then</i> <span class="small-c">MARIE</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Wasn't the door locked?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Not as far as I could see!—So it was meant to be locked?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. I haven't the honour?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Nor have I.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Why should you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. How refined! Oh, I see! So it's you! And I am the victim—for a +while!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. I don't know you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. But I know you pretty well.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. [<i>Rises and goes to the door at the left</i>] Oh, you do? +[<i>Opening the door and speaking to</i> <span class="small-c">AXEL</span>] Come out here a moment!</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> TENTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. <span class="small-c">AXEL</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Entering; to</i> <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>] What do you want here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Oh, one never can tell.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Then you had better clear out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Why?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Because what there was between us came to an end three years ago.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. And now there is another one to be thrown on the scrap heap?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Did I ever give you any promises that were not kept? Have I ever +owed you anything? Have I ever said a word about marriage? Have we had +any children together? Have I been the only one to receive your favours?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. But now you mean to be the only one? With that one over there!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. [<i>Goes up to</i> <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>] What do you mean?—I don't know you!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. No, but there was a time when you did know me. And I remember +that when we met in the streets we called each other by our first +names. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">AXEL</span>] And now you are going to marry her? No, you know, +you are really too good for that!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>] Have you known that woman before?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. No.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. You ought to be ashamed of yourself? I simply didn't recognise +you at first because of your swell clothes——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span> <i>gazes intently at</i> <span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">AXEL</span>] Come—I'll go with you!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Preoccupied</i>] In a moment! Just wait a while! I am only going +in to write another letter—But now we'll close the door first of all.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. No, thank you, I don't want to be locked in as she was a while +ago.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Interested</i>] Was the door locked?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>] You don't dare say that the door was locked!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. As you expected it to be locked, I suppose you had tried to lock +it and had not succeeded——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Observes</i> <span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>; <i>then to</i> <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>] It always seemed to me that +you were a nice girl, Marie. Will you let me have my letters back now?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. No.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. What are you going to do with them?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. I hear that I can sell them, now when you have become famous.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. And get your revenge at the same time?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Exactly.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Is it Lindgren——?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Yes!—And here he is now himself.</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> ELEVENTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. <span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. <span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. [<i>Enters in high spirits</i>] Well, what a lot of skirts! And +Marie, too—like the cuckoo that's in every nest! Now listen, Axel!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. I hear you even when I don't see you. You're in a fine +humour—what new misfortune has befallen me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. I was only a little sour this morning because I hadn't had +a chance to get wound up. But now I've had a bite to eat—Well, you +see—at bottom you don't owe me anything at all. For what I did, I +did out of my heart's goodness, and it has brought me both honour and +pleasure—and what you got was a gift and no loan!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Now you are altogether too modest and generous.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Not at all! However, one favour calls for another. Would you +mind becoming my surety on this note?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span> <i>hesitates</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Well, you needn't be afraid that I'm going to put you in the +same kind of fix as your brother did——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. What do you mean? It was I who put him——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Yes, to the tune of two hundred crowns—but he got your name +as surety for five years' rent——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>In a low voice</i>] Jesus Christ!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. What's that?—Hm—hm!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Looking at his watch</i>] Just wait a few minutes—I have only to +write a couple of letters.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span> <i>starts to go with him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. [<i>Holds her back</i>] Just a few minutes, my dear—[<i>He kisses her +on the forehead</i>] Just a few minutes!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes toward the left</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Here's the note—you might sign it while you are at it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AXEL</span>. Give it to me!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out with an air of determination</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> TWELFTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. <span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Well, girls, are you on good terms again?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Oh, yes, and before we get away, we'll be on still better terms.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span> <i>makes a face</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. I should like to have some fun to-day.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Come along with me! I'll have money!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. No!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span> <i>sits down with evident anxiety near the door through +which</i> <span class="small-c">AXEL</span> <i>disappeared—as if seeking support in that +direction</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Let's take in the fireworks to-night—then we can see how a +great man looks in red light—what do you say to that, Cissie dear?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. Oh, I'll be sick if I have to stay here longer!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Well, it wouldn't be the first time.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Scrap, girls, and I'll watch you! Fight till the fur +flies—won't you?</p> + +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="text-align: center;"> THIRTEENTH SCENE</p> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. <span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. <span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. <span class="small-c">THURE</span> <i>and his</i> <span class="small-c">WIFE</span> <i>enter</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Well, well! Old friends! How are you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. All right.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. And the child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. The child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Oh, you have forgotten it?—Are you equally forgetful about +names?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Names?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Signatures!—He must be writing an awful lot in there!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. Is my brother, the doctor, in there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. I don't know if the doctor is there, but your brother went +in there a while ago.—And, for that matter, we might find out. [<i>He +knocks at the door</i>] Silent as the grave! [<i>Knocks again</i>] Then I'll +walk right in.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out; everybody appears restless and anxious</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CECILIA</span>. What can it mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Well, we'll see now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. What has happened here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Something is up!—You'll see he doesn't help us!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. [<i>Returns, carrying in his hand a small bottle and some +letters</i>] What does it say? [<i>He reads the label on the bottle</i>] +Cyanide of potassium!—How stupid! What a sentimental idiot—to kill +himself for so little—[<i>Everybody cries out</i>] So you were no beast of +prey, my dear Axel!—But—[<i>He stares through the open door into the +adjoining room</i>]—he's not there—and his things are gone, too. So he +has skipped out! And the bottle has never been opened! That means—he +meant to kill himself, but changed his mind!—And these are his +posthumous writings. "To Miss Cecilia"—seems to contain some round +object—probably an engagement ring—there you are!—"To my brother +<span class="small-c">THURE</span>" [<i>He holds up the letter to the light</i>]—with a piece of blue +paper inside—must be a note—for the amount involved! You're welcome!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span> <i>appears in the doorway at the right</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THURE</span>. [<i>Who has opened his letter</i>] Do you see that he helped us after +all——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WIFE</span>. Oh, in that way!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. And here's my note—without his name—He's a strong one, all +right! <i>Diable!</i></p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MARIE</span>. Then the fireworks will be called off, I suppose?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FIANCÉ</span>. Was there nothing for me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LINDGREN</span>. Yes, I think there was a fiancée—somewhere over there!—I +tell you, that fellow is a wonder at clearing up tangled affairs!—Of +course, it makes me mad to think that I let myself be fooled—but I'll +be darned if I don't think I would have done just as he did!—And so +would you, perhaps?—Or what do you think?</p> + +<h5><i>Curtain</i>.</h5> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="ADVENT" id="ADVENT">ADVENT</a></h3> + +<h4>(ADVENT)</h4> + +<h4>A MIRACLE PLAY</h4> + +<h5>1899</h5> + +<hr class="r5" /> + + +<p style="margin-left: 40%;"> +<span class="small-c">CHARACTERS</span><br /><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>, <i>wife of the Judge</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">AMELIA</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">ERIC</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">THYRA</span><br /> +<i>being the same person</i><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OTHER ONE</span><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span><br /> +<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WITCH</span><br /> +<i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span><br /> +<i>Subordinate characters, shadows, etc.</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="small-c">ACT I. THE VINEYARD WITH THE MAUSOLEUM</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">ACT II. THE DRAWING-ROOM</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">ACT III. THE WINE-CELLAR</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="small-c">THE GARDEN</span></span><br /> +<span class="small-c">ACT IV. THE CROSS-ROADS</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em; font-size: 0.8em;">THE "WAITING-ROOM"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em; font-size: 0.8em;">THE CROSS-ROADS</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">ACT V. THE DRAWING-ROOM</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em; font-size: 0.8em;">THE "WAITING-ROOM"</span><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="ACT_I" id="ACT_I">ACT I</a></h4> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The background represents a vineyard. At the left stands a +mausoleum. It consists of a small whitewashed brick building +with a door and a pointed window that lacks mullions and panes. +The roof is made of red tiles. A cross crowns the gable. +Clematis vines with purple-coloured, cross-shaped flowers cover +the front wall, at the foot of which appear a number of other +flowers</i>.</p> + +<p><i>A peach-tree carrying fruit stands near the foreground. +Beneath it sit the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">Judge</span> <i>wears a green cap with a peak, yellow +knee-breeches, and—a blue coat—all dating back to</i> 1820. +<i>The</i> Old Lady <i>wears a kerchief on her head and carries +a stick, spectacles, and snuff-box. She has the general +appearance of a "witch." At the right is a small expiatory +chapel containing an image of the Holy Virgin. The fence in +front of it is hung with wreaths and nosegays. A prie-dieu is +placed against the fence</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Life's eve has at last brought the sunshine which its morning +promised us. Early rains and late rains have blessed meadow and field. +And soon the songs of the vintagers will be heard all over the country.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Don't talk like that; somebody might hear you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Who could be listening here, and what harm could it do to thank +God for all good gifts?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It's better not to mention one's good fortune lest misfortune +overhear it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What of it? Was I not born with a caul?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Take care, take care! There are many who envy us, and evil +eyes are watching us.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Well, let them! That's the way it has always been. And yet I +have prospered.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. So far, yes. But I don't trust our neighbour. He has been +going around the village saying that we have cheated him out of his +property—and much more of the same kind which I don't care to repeat. +Of course, it doesn't matter when one has a clean conscience and can +point to a spotless life. Slander cannot hurt me. I go to confession +and mass, and I am prepared to close my eyes whenever my hour may +strike in order to open them again when I shall stand face to face with +my Judge. And I know also what I am going to answer then.</p> + +<p>JUDGE. What are you going to answer?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Like this: I was not without fault, O Lord, but even if I was +but a poor, sinful human creature, I was nevertheless a little better +than my neighbour.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I don't know what has brought you to these thoughts just now, +and I don't like them. Perhaps it is the fact that the mausoleum is to +be consecrated in a few days?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Perhaps that is it, for, as a rule, I don't give much thought +to death. I have still every tooth left in my mouth, and my hair is as +plentiful as when I was a bride.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes, yes—you have eternal youth, you as well as I, but just +the same we shall have to pass away. And as fortune has smiled on +us, we have wanted to avail ourselves of the privilege of resting in +ground belonging to ourselves And so we have built this little tomb +for ourselves here, where every tree knows us, where every flower will +whisper of our labours, and our troubles, and our struggles——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, struggles against envious neighbours and ungrateful +children——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. There you said it: ungrateful children.—Have you seen anything +of Adolph?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. No, I haven't seen him since he started out this morning to +raise the money for the rent.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. The money which he will never get—and I still less. But he +knows now that the time of grace is up, for this is the third quarter +rent that he has failed to pay.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, out with him into the world, and let him learn to work +instead of sitting here and playing at son-in-law. I'll keep Amelia and +the children——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Do you think Amelia will let herself be separated from Adolph?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I think so, when it is a question whether her children are to +inherit anything from us or not—No, look! There it is again!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>On the wall of the mausoleum appears a spot of sunlight +like those which children are fond of producing with a small +mirror</i>.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> <i>It is vibrating as if it were reflected by running +water</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What is it? What is it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. On the mausoleum. Don't you see?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. It's the reflection of the sun on the river. It means——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It means that we'll see the light of the sun for a long time +to come——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. On the contrary. But that's all one. The best pillow for one's +head is a good conscience, and the reward of the righteous never +fails.—There's our neighbour now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] Good evening, Judge. Good evening, madam.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Good evening, neighbour. How goes it? It wasn't yesterday we had +the pleasure. And how are your vines, I should have asked?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. The vines, yes—there's mildew on them, and the starlings +are after them, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Well, well! There's no mildew on my vines, and I have neither +seen nor heard of any starlings.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Fate does not distribute its gifts evenly: one shall be +taken and the other left.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I suppose there are good reasons for it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. I see! The reward of the righteous shall not fail, and the +wicked shall not have to wait for their punishment.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, no malice meant! But you have to admit, anyhow, that it's +queer: two parcels of land lie side by side, and one yields good +harvests, the other poor ones——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. One yields starlings and the other not: that's what I find +queerer still. But, then, everybody wasn't born with a caul, like you, +Judge.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What you say is true, and fortune <i>has</i> favoured me. I am +thankful for it, and there are moments when I feel proud of it as if I +had deserved it.—But listen, neighbour—you came as if you had been +sent for.—That leasehold of mine is vacant, and I wanted to ask you if +you care to take it.</p> + + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In Sweden such spots are called "sun-cats."</p></div> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>has in the meantime left her seat and gone to +the mausoleum, where she is busying herself with the flowers</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Oh, the leasehold is vacant. Hm! Since when?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Since this morning.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Hm! So!—That means your son-in-law has got to go?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes, that good-for-nothing doesn't know how to manage.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Tell me something else, Judge. Haven't you heard that the +state intends to build a military road across this property?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, I have heard some rumours to that effect, but I don't think +it's anything but empty talk.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. On the contrary, I have read it in the papers. That would +mean condemnation proceedings, and the loser would be the holder of the +lease.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I cannot think so, and I would never submit to it. I to leave +this spot where I expect to end my days in peace, and where I have +prepared a final resting-place to escape lying with all the rest——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Wait a minute! One never knows what may prove one's final +resting-place. My father, who used to own this property, also expected +to be laid to rest in his own ground, but it happened otherwise. As far +as the leasehold is concerned, I must let it go.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. As you please. On my part the proposition was certainly +disinterested, as you are a man without luck. For it is no secret +that you fail in everything you undertake, and people have their own +thoughts about one who remains as solitary and friendless as you. Isn't +it a fact that you haven't a single friend?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Yes, it's true. I have not a single friend, and that doesn't +look well. It is something I cannot deny.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But to turn to other matters—is it true, as the legend has it, +that this vineyard once was a battle-field, and that this explains why +the wine from it is so fiery?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. No, that isn't what I have heard. My father told me that +this had been a place of execution, and that the gallows used to stand +where the mausoleum is now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, how dreadful! Why did you tell me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Because you asked, of course.—And the last man to be hanged +on this spot was an unrighteous judge. And now he lies buried here, +together with many others, among them being also an innocent victim of +his iniquity.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What kind of stories are those! [<i>He calls out</i>] Caroline!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. And that's why his ghost has to come back here. Have you +never seen him, Judge?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I have never seen anything at all!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. But I have seen him. As a rule, he appears at the time when +the grapes are harvested, and then they hear him around the wine-press +down in the cellar.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Calling out</i>] Caroline!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What is it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Come here!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. And he will never be at peace until he has suffered all the +torments his victim had to pass through.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Get away from here! Go!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Certainly, Judge! I didn't know you were so sensitive. [<i>He +goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What was the matter?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, he told a lot of stories that upset me. But-but—he is +plotting something evil, that fellow!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Didn't I tell you so! But you always let your tongue run +whenever you see anybody—What kind of foolish superstition was he +giving you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I don't want to talk of it. The mere thought of it makes me +sick. I'll tell you some other time.—There's Adolph now!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. [<i>Entering</i>] Good evening!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>After a pause</i>] Well?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Luck is against me. I have not been able to get any money.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I suppose there are good reasons for it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. I can see no reason why some people should fare well and others +badly.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, you can't?—Well, look into your own heart; search your own +thoughts and actions, and you'll find that you have yourself to blame +for your misfortunes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Perhaps I may not call myself righteous in every respect, but +at least I have no serious crimes on my conscience.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You had better think well——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. I don't think that's needful, for my conscience is pretty +wakeful——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. It can be put to sleep——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Can it? Of course I have heard of evil-doers growing old in +crime, but as a rule their consciences wake up just before death; and +I have even heard of criminals whose consciences have awakened after +death.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Agitated</i>] So that they had to come back, you mean? Have you +heard that story, too? It's strange that everybody seems to have heard +it except me——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What are you talking about? Stick to business instead.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Yes, I think that's wiser, too. And, as the subject has been +broached, I want to tell you what I propose——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Look here, my boy! I think it a good deal more appropriate that +I should tell you what I have decided. It is this: that from this day +you cease to be my tenant, and that before the sun sets you must start +out to look for work.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Are you in earnest?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You ought to be ashamed! I am not in the habit of joking. And +you have no cause for complaint, as you have been granted respite twice.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. While my crops have failed three times. Can I help that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Nor have I said so. But I can help it still less. And you are +not being judged by me. Here is the contract—here's the broken +agreement. Was that agreement broken by me? Oh, no! So I am without +responsibility and wash my hands of the matter.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. This may be the law, but I had thought there ought to be some +forbearance among relatives—especially as, in the natural course of +events, this property should pass on to your offspring.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, well: the natural course of events! He's going around +here wishing the life out of us! But you just look at me: I am good for +twenty years more. And I am <i>going</i> to live just to spite you!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>To</i> Adolph] What rudeness—what a lack of all human +feeling—to ask a couple of old people outright: are you not going to +die soon? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, I say! But now you have +broken the last tie, and all I can say is: go your way, and don't let +yourself be seen here any more!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. That's plain talk! Well, I'll go, but not alone——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. So-o—you imagined that Amelia, our own child, should follow +you out on the highways, and that all you would have to do would be to +unload one child after another on us! But we have already thought of +that and put a stop to it——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Where is Amelia? Where?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You may just as well know. She has gone on; a visit to the +convent of the Poor Clares—only for a visit. So now you know it's of +no use to look for her here.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. Some time you will have to suffer for your cruelty in depriving +a man in distress of his only support. And if you break up our +marriage, the penalty of that breach will fall on you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You should be ashamed of putting your own guilt on those that +are innocent! Go now! And may you hunger and thirst, with every door +closed to you, until you have learned gratitude!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. The same to you in double measure!—But let me only bid my +children good-bye, and I will go.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. As you don't want to spare your children the pain of +leave-taking, I'll do so—have already done it, in fact.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. That, too! Then I believe you capable of all the evil that has +been rumoured. And now I know what our neighbour meant when he said +that you couldn't—endure the sun!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Not another word! Or you will feel the heavy hand of law and +justice——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He raises his right hand so that the absence of its forefinger +becomes visible</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. [<i>Takes hold of the hand and examines it</i>] The hand of +justice!—The hand of the perjurer whose finger stuck to the Bible when +he took his false oath! Woe unto you! Woe! For the day of retribution +is at hand, and your deeds will rise like corpses out of these +hillsides to accuse you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What is that he is saying? It feels as if he were breathing +fire at us!—Go, you lying spirit, and may hell be your reward!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>. May Heaven reward you—according to your deserts—and may the +Lord protect my children! [<i>He goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What was that? Who was it that spoke? It seemed to me as if the +voice were coming out of some huge underground hall.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Did you hear it, too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. God help us, then!—Do you remember what he said about the +sun? That struck me as more peculiar than all the rest. How could he +know—that it is so? Ever since my birth the sun has always burned +me, and they have told me this is so because my mother suffered from +sunstroke before I was born—but that you also——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Frightened</i>] Hush! Talk of the devil, and—Isn't the sun +down?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Of course it is down!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. How can that spot of sunlight remain on the mausoleum, then?</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>[<i>The spot moves around</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Jesus Maria! That's an omen!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. An omen, you say! And on the grave! That doesn't happen every +day—and only a few chosen people who are full of living faith in the +highest things——</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>[<i>The spot of light disappears</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. There is something weird about the place to-night, +something ghastly.—But what hurt me most keenly was to hear that +good-for-nothing wishing the life out of us in order to get at the +property. Do you know what I—well, I wonder if I dare to speak of +it——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Go on!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Have you heard the story that this spot here used to be a place +of execution?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. So you have found that out, too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes—and you knew it?—Well, suppose we gave this property +to the convent? That would make the ground sacred, and it would be +possible to rest in peace in it. The income might go to the children +while they are growing up, and it would mean an additional gain, as +Adolph would be fooled in his hope of inheriting from us. I think this +a remarkably happy solution of a difficult problem: how to give away +without losing anything by it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Your superior intelligence has again asserted itself, and I +am quite of your opinion. But suppose condemnation proceedings should +be started—what would happen then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. There is plenty of time to consider that when it happens. In +the meantime, let us first of all, and as quietly as possible, get the +mausoleum consecrated——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] The peace of the Lord be with you, Judge, and +with you, madam!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You come most conveniently, Father, to hear something that +concerns the convent——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. I am glad of it.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The spot of light appears again on the mausoleum</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And then we wanted to ask when the consecration of the +mausoleum might take place.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. [<i>Staring at her</i>] Oh, is that so?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Look, Father—look at that omen——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, the spot must be sacred, indeed——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. That's a will-o'-the-wisp.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Is it not a good sign? Does it not carry some kind of +message? Does it not prompt a pious mind to stop and consider? Would it +not be possible to turn this place into a refuge for desert wanderers +who are seeking——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. Madam, let me speak a word to you in private. [<i>He moves +over to the right.</i></p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Following him</i>] Father?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. [<i>Speaking in a subdued voice</i>] You, madam, enjoy a +reputation in this vicinity which you don't deserve, for you are the +worst sinner that I know of. You want to buy your pardon, and you want +to steal heaven itself, you who have already stolen from the Lord.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What is it I hear?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. When you were sick and near death you made a vow to the +Lord that in case of recovery you would give a monstrance of pure gold +to the convent church. Your health was restored and you gave the holy +vessel, but it was of silver—gilded. Not for the sake of the gold, but +because of your broken vow and your deception, you are already damned.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I didn't know it. The goldsmith has cheated me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. You are lying, for I have the goldsmith's bill.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Is there no pardon for it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. No! For it is a mortal sin to cheat God.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Woe is me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. The settlement of your other crimes will have to take place +within yourself. But if you as much as touch a hair on the heads of the +children, then you shall learn who is their protector, and you shall +feel the iron rod.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. The idea—that this infernal monk should dare to say such +things to me! If I am damned—then I want to be damned! Ha, ha!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. Well, you may be sure that there will be no blessing for +your house and no peace for yourself until you have suffered every +suffering that you have brought on others.—May I speak a word with +you, Judge?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> Judge <i>approaches</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, give him what he deserves, so that one may be as good as +the other.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. [<i>To the</i> Judge] Where did you get the idea of building +your tomb where the gallows used to stand?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I suppose I got it from the devil!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. Like the idea of casting off your children and robbing them +of their inheritance? But you have also been an unrighteous judge—you +have violated oaths and accepted bribes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. And now you want to erect a monument to yourself! You +want to build yourself an imperishable house in heaven! But listen to +me: this spot will never be consecrated, and you may consider it a +blessing if you are permitted to rest in common ground among ordinary +little sinners. There is a curse laid on this soil, because blood-guilt +attaches to it and because it is ill-gotten.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What am I to do?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. Repent, and restore the stolen property.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I have never stolen. Everything has been legally acquired.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. That, you see, is the worst part of all—that you regard +your crimes as lawful. Yes, I know that you even consider yourself +particularly favoured by Heaven because of your righteousness. But now +you will soon see what harvest is in store for you. Thorns and thistles +will grow in your vineyard. Helpless and abandoned you shall be, and +the peace of your old age will turn into struggle and strife.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. The devil you say!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. Don't call him—he'll come anyhow!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Let him come! Because we believe, we have no fear!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">FRANCISCAN</span>. The devils believe also, and tremble!—Farewell! [<i>He goes +out</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>To his wife</i>] What did he say to you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You think I'll tell? What did he have to say to you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And you think I'll tell?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Are you going to keep any secrets from me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And how about you? It's what you have always done, but I'll get +to the bottom of your tricks some time.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Just wait a little, and I'll figure out where you keep the +money that is missing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. So you are hiding money, too! Now there is no longer any use +in playing the hypocrite—just let yourself be seen in all your +abomination, you witch!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I think you have lost your reason—not that it was much to +keep! But you might at least preserve an appearance of decency, if you +can——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And you might preserve your beauty—if you can! And your +perennial youth—ha, ha, ha! And your righteousness! You must have +known how to bewitch people, and hoodwink them, for now I see how +horribly ugly and old you are.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>On whom the spot of light now appears</i>] Woe! It is burning +me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. There I see you as you really are! [<i>The spot jumps to the</i> +<span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>] Woe! It is burning me now!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And how you look! [<i>Both withdraw to the right</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span> <i>enter from the left</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Yes, child, there is justice, both human and divine, but we +must have patience.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. I am willing to believe that justice is done, in spite of all +appearances to the contrary. But I cannot love my mother, and I have +never been able to do so. There is something within me that keeps +telling me that she is not only indifferent to me but actually hostile.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. So you have found it out?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Why—she hates me, and a mother couldn't do that!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Well, well!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. And I suffer from not being able to do my duty as a child and +love her.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Well, as <i>that</i> has made you suffer, then you will soon—in +the hour of retribution—learn the great secret of your life.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. And I could stand everything, if she were only kind to my +children.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Don't fear on that account, for her power is now ended. The +measure of her wickedness has been heaped full and is now overflowing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Do you think so? But this very day she tore my Adolph away from +me, and now she has humiliated me still further by dressing me as a +servant girl and making me do the work in the kitchen.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Patience!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Yes, so you say! Oh, I can understand deserved suffering, but +to suffer without cause——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. My dear child, the prisoners in the penitentiary are +suffering justly, so there is no honour in that; but to be permitted to +suffer unjustly, that's a grace and a trial of which steadfast souls +bring home golden fruits.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. You speak so beautifully that everything you say seems true +to me.—Hush! There are the children—and I don't want them to see me +dressed like this.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She and the</i> <span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span> <i>take up a position where they are +hidden by a tall shrub</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>enter; the spot of light rests now on one of them and +now on the other</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Look at the sun spot!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Oh, you beautiful sun! But didn't he go to bed a while ago?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Perhaps he is allowed to stay up longer than usual because he has +been very good all day.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. But how could the sun be good? Now you are stupid, Eric.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Of course the sun can be good—doesn't he make the grapes and the +peaches?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. But if he is so good, then he might also give us a peach.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. So he will, if we only wait a little. Aren't there any on the +ground at all?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. [<i>Looking</i>] No, but perhaps we might get one from the tree.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. No, grandmother won't let us.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Grandmother has said that we mustn't shake the tree, but I +thought we could play around the tree so that one might fall down +anyhow—of itself.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Now you are stupid, Thyra. That would be exactly the same thing. +[<i>Looking up at the tree</i>] Oh, if only a peach would fall down!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. None will fall unless you shake.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. You mustn't talk like that, Thyra, for that is a sin.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Let's pray God to let one fall.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. One shouldn't pray God for anything nice—that is, to eat!—Oh, +little peach, won't you fall? I want you to fall! [<i>A peach falls from +the tree, and</i> <span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>picks it up</i>] There, what a nice tree!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. But now you must give me half, for it was I who said that the +tree had to be shaken——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Enters with a big birch rod</i>] So you have been shaking the +tree—now you'll see what you'll get, you nasty children——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. No, grandmother, we didn't shake the tree!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. So you are lying, too. Didn't I hear Thyra say that the tree +had to be shaken? Come along now, and I'll lock you up in the cellar +where neither sun nor moon is to be seen——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. [<i>Coming forward</i>] The children are innocent, mother.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. That's a fine thing—to stand behind the bushes listening, +and then to teach one's own children how to lie besides!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. [<i>Appearing</i>] Nothing has been spoken here but the truth, +madam.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Two witnesses behind the bushes—exactly as if we were in +court. But I know the tricks, I tell you, and what I have heard and +seen is sufficient evidence for me.—Come along, you brats!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. This is sinful and shameful——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span> <i>signals to</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span> <i>by putting his finger +across his lips</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. [<i>Goes up to her children</i>] Don't cry, children! Obey +grandmother now—there is nothing to be afraid of. It is better to +suffer evil than to do it, and I know that you are innocent. May God +preserve you! And don't forget your evening prayer!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>goes out with the children</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Belief comes so hard, but it is sweet if you can achieve it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Is it so hard to believe that God is good—at the very +moment when his kind intentions are most apparent?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Give me a great and good word for the night, so that I may +sleep on it as on a soft pillow.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. You shall have it. Let me think a moment.—This is it: Isaac +was to be sacrificed——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Oh, no, no!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Quiet, now!—Isaac was to <i>be</i> sacrificed, but he never was!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Thank you! Thank you! And good night!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She goes out to the right</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Good night, my child!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes slowly out by a path leading to the rear</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE PROCESSION OF SHADOWS</span> <i>enters from the mausoleum and moves +without a sound across the stage toward the right; between +every two figures there is a distance of five steps</i>:</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">DEATH</span> <i>with its scythe and hour-glass</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE LADY IN WHITE</span>—<i>blond, tall, and slender; on one of her +fingers she wears a ring with a green stone that seems to emit +rays of light</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE GOLDSMITH</span>, <i>with the counterfeit monstrance</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE BEHEADED SAILOR</span>, <i>carrying his head in one hand</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE AUCTIONEER</span>, <i>with hammer and note-book</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>, <i>with rope, scraper, and broom</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE FOOL</span>, <i>carrying his cap with the ass's ears and bells at +the top of a pole, across which is placed a signboard with the +word "Caul" on it</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE SURVEYOR</span>, <i>with measuring rod and tripod</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE MAGISTRATE</span>, <i>dressed and made up like the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>; <i>he +carries a rope around his neck; and his right hand is raised to +show that the forefinger is missing</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The stage is darkened at the beginning of the procession and +remains empty while it lasts</i>.</p> + +<p><i>When it is over, the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>enters from the left, followed by +the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Why are you playing the ghost at this late hour?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And how about yourself?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I couldn't sleep.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Why not?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Don't know. Thought I heard children crying in the cellar.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. That's impossible. Oh, no, I suppose you didn't dare to sleep +for fear I might be prying in your hiding-places.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And you feared I might be after yours! A pleasant old age this +will be for Philemon and Baucis!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. At least no gods will come to visit us.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. No, I shouldn't call them gods.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>At this moment the</i> <span class="small-c">PROCESSION</span> <i>begins all over again, +starting from the mausoleum as before and moving in silence +toward the right</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. O Mary, Mother of God, what is this?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Merciful heavens! [<i>Pause</i>]</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Pray! Pray for us!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I have tried, but I cannot.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Neither can I! The words won't come—and no thoughts! +[<i>Pause</i>]</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. How does the Lord's Prayer begin?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I can't remember, but I knew it this morning. [<i>Pause</i>] Who +is the woman in white?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. It is she—Amelia's mother—whose very memory we wanted to kill.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Are these shadows or ghosts, or nothing but our own sickly +dreams?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Takes up his pocket-knife</i>] They are delusions sent by the +devil. I'll throw cold steel after them.—Open the knife for me, +Caroline! I can't, don't you see?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, I see—it isn't easy without a forefinger.—But I can't +either! [<i>She drops the knife</i>]</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Woe to us! Steel won't help here! Woe! There's the beheaded +sailor! Let us get away from here!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. That's easy to say, but I can't move from the spot.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And I seem to be rooted to the ground.—No, I am not going to +look at it any longer!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He covers his eyes with one hand</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. But what is it? Mists out of the earth, or shadows cast by +the trees?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. No, it's our own vision that plays us false. There I go now, and +yet I am standing here. Just let me get a good night's sleep, and I'll +laugh at the whole thing!—The devil! Is this masquerade never going to +end?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. But why do you look at it then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I see it right through my hand—I see it in the dark, with my +eyelids closed!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. But now it's over.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">PROCESSION</span> <i>has passed out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Praised be—why, I can't get the word out!—I wonder if it will +be possible to sleep to-night? Perhaps we had better send for the +doctor?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Or Father Colomba, perhaps?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. He can't help, and he who could won't!—Well, let the Other One +do it then!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>enters from behind the Lady Chapel. He is +extremely thin and moth-eaten. His thin, snuff-coloured hair is +parted in the middle. His straggly beard looks as if it were +made out of tow. His clothes are shabby and outgrown, and he +seems to wear no linen. A red woollen muffler is wound around +his neck. He wears spectacles and carries a piece of rattan +under his arm</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Who is that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>In a low voice</i>] I am the Other One!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">Judge</span>. [<i>To his wife</i>] Make the sign of the cross! I can't!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. The sign of the cross does not frighten me, for I am +undergoing my ordeal merely that I may wear it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Who are you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I became the Other One because I wanted to be the First +One. I was a man of evil, and my punishment is to serve the good.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Then you are not the Evil One?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I am. And it is my task to torment you into finding the +cross, before which we are to meet some time.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">Judge</span>] Don't listen to him! Tell him to go!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. It won't help. You have called me, and you'll have to +bear with me.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>go out to the left</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>goes after them</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="ACT_II" id="ACT_II">ACT II</a></h3> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A huge room with whitewashed walls and a ceiling of darkened +beams. The windows are small and deeply set, with bars on the +outside. The room is crowded with furniture of every kind: +wardrobes, chiffoniers, dressers, chests, tables. On the +furniture are placed silver services, candelabra, candlesticks, +pitchers, table ware, vases, statues, etc.</i></p> + +<p><i>There is a door in the rear. Portraits of the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>and the</i> +<span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>hang on the rear wall, one on either side of the door.</i></p> + +<p><i>A harp stands beside a small sewing-table with an easy chair +near it</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span> <i>is standing before a table at the right, trying to +clean a coffee-set of silver</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The sun is shining in through the windows in the background</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] Well, child, how is your patience?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Thank you, neighbour, it might be worse. But I never had a +worse job than this silver service here. I have worked at it for half +an hour and cannot get it clean.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. That's strange, but I suppose there are reasons for it, as +the Judge says. Could you sleep last night?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Thank you, I slept very well. But do you know that father spent +the whole night in the vineyard with his rattle——?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Yes, I heard him. What kind of foolish idea was that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. He thought he heard the starlings that had come to eat the +grapes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Poor fellow! As if the starlings were abroad nights!—And +the children?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Well, the children—she is still keeping them in the cellar, +and I hope she won't forget to give them something to eat.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. He who feeds the birds will not forget your children, +my dear Amelia. And now I'll tell you something which, as a rule, +shouldn't be told. There is a small hole in the wall between the +Judge's wine-cellar and my own. When I was down there this morning to +get the place aired out, I heard voices. And when I looked through the +hole, I saw Eric and Thyra playing with a strange little boy.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. You could see them, neighbour? And——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. They were happy and well——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Who was their playmate?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. That's more than I can guess.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. This whole dreadful house is nothing but secrets.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. That is true, but it is not for us to inquire into them.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Enters, carrying a rattle</i>] So you are in here conspiring, +neighbour! Is it not enough that your evil eye has brought the +starlings into my vineyard? For you do have the evil eye—but we'll +soon put it out. I know a trick or two myself.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>] Is it worth while to set him right? One who +doesn't believe what is told him! [<i>He goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. No, this is beyond us!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Tell me, Amelia, have you noticed where your mother is looking +for things when she believes herself to be alone?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. No, father.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I can see by your eyes that you know. You were looking this +way. [<i>He goes up to a chest of drawers and happens to get into the +sunlight</i>] Damn the sun that is always burning me! [<i>He pulls down one +of the shades and returns to the chest of drawers</i>] This must be the +place!—Now, let me see! The stupidest spot is also the cleverest, so +that's where I must look—as in this box of perfume, for instance—And +right I was! [<i>He pulls out a number of bank-notes and stocks</i>] What's +this? Twelve English bills of a pound each. Twelve of them!—Oho! Then +it is easy to imagine the rest. [<i>Pushes the bills and securities into +his pockets</i>] But what is it I hear? There are the starlings again! +[<i>He goes to an open window and begins to play the rattle</i>] Get away +there!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] Are you still playing the ghost?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Are you not in the kitchen?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. No, as you see, I am not. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>] Are you not done with +the cleaning yet?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. No, mother, I'll never get done with it. The silver won't +clean, and I don't think it is real.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Not real? Let me see!—Why, indeed, it's quite black! [<i>To +the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>, <i>who in the meantime has pulled down another shade</i>] Where +did you get this set from?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. That one? Why, it came from an estate.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. For your services as executor! What you got was like what you +gave!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You had better not make any defamatory remarks, for they are +punishable under the law.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Are you crazy, or was there anything crazy about my remark?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And for that matter, it is silver—sterling silver.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Then it must be Amelia's fault.</p> + +<p>A <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">VOICE</span>. [<i>Coming through the window from the outside</i>] The Judge can +turn white into black, but he can't turn black into white!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Who said that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It seemed as if one of the starlings had been speaking.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Pulling down the remaining shade</i>] Now the sun is here, and a +while ago it seemed to be over there.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>] Who was it that spoke?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. I think it was that strange school-teacher with the red muffler.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Ugh! Let us talk of something else.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">SERVANT GIRL</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] Dinner is served.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She goes out; a pause follows</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You go down and eat, Amelia.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Thank you, mother. [<i>She goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>sits down on a chair close to one of the chests</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Sliding up to the chest of drawers >where the box of +perfume stands</i>] Are you not going to eat anything?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. No, I am not hungry. How about you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I have just eaten. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Takes a piece of bread from his pocket</i>] Then you'll excuse +me, I'm sure.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. There's a roast of venison on the table.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You don't say so!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Do you think I poison the food?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes, it tasted of carbolic acid this morning.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And what I ate had a sort of metallic taste——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. If I assure you that I have put nothing whatever in your food——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Then I don't believe you. But I can assure you——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And I won't believe it. [<i>Eating his bread</i>] Roast of venison +is a good thing—I can smell it from here—but bread isn't bad either. +[<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Why are you sitting there watching that chest?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. For the same reason that makes you guard those perfumes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. So you have been there, you sneak-thief!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Ghoul!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. To think of it—such words between us! <i>Us</i>!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She begins to weep</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes, the world is evil and so is man.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, you may well say so—and ungrateful above all. +Ungrateful children rob you of the rent; ungrateful grandchildren rob +the fruit from the trees. You are right, indeed: the world is evil——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I ought to know, I who have had to witness all the rottenness, +and who have been forced to pass the death sentence. That is why the +mob hates me, just as if I had made the laws——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It doesn't matter what the people say, if you have only a +clean conscience—[<i>Three loud knocks are heard from the inside of the +biggest wardrobe</i>] What was that? Who is there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, it was that wardrobe. It always cracks when there is rain +coming. [<i>Three distinct knocks are heard again</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It's some kind of performance started by that strolling +charlatan.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The cover of the coffee-pot which</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span> <i>was cleaning, opens +and drops down again with a bang; this happens several times in +succession</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What was <i>that</i>, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, yes, it's that same juggler. He can play tricks, but he +can't scare me. [<i>The coffee-pot acts as before.</i></p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Do you think he is one of those mesmerists?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, whatever it happens to be called——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. If that's so, how can he know our private secrets?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Secrets? What do you mean by that?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A clock begins to strike and keeps it up as if it never meant +to stop</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Now I am getting scared.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Then Old Nick himself may take me if I stay here another +minute! [<i>The spot of sunlight appears suddenly on the portrait of the</i> +<span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>] Look! He knows that secret, too!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You mean that there is a portrait of <i>her</i> behind yours?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Come away from here and let us go down and eat. And let us +see whether we can't sell off the house and all the rest at auction——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You are right—sell off the whole caboodle and start a new +life!—And now let us go down and eat.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>appears in the doorway</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>draw back from him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. That's an ordinary human being!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Speak to him!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>] Who are you, sir?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I have told you twice. That you don't believe me is a +part of your punishment, for if you could believe, your sufferings +would be shortened by it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>To his wife</i>] It's—<i>him</i>—sure enough! For I feel as if I +were turning into ice. How are we to get rid of him?—Why, they say +that the unclean spirits cannot bear the sound of music. Play something +on the harp, Caroline.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Though badly frightened, the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>sits down at the table +on which the harp stands and begins to play a slow prelude in a +minor key</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>listens reverently and with evident emotion</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>] Is he gone?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I thank you for the music, madam. It lulls the pain +and awakens memories of better things even in a lost soul—Thank you, +madam!—Speaking of the auction, I think you are doing right, although, +in my opinion, an honest declaration of bankruptcy would be still +better—Yes, surrender your goods, and let every one get back his own.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Bankruptcy? I have no debts——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. No debts!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. My husband <i>has</i> no debts!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. No debts! That would be happiness, indeed!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Well, that's the truth! But other people are in debt to me——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Forgive them then!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. This is not a question of pardon, but of payment——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. All right! Then you'll be made to pay!—For the +moment—farewell! But we'll meet frequently, and the last time at the +great auction! [<i>He goes out backward</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. He's afraid of the sun—he, too! Ha-ha!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Yes, for some time yet. But once I have accustomed +myself to the light, I shall hate darkness.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He disappears</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>] Do you really think he is—the Other One?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Of course, that's not the way he is supposed to look but then +times are changing and we with them. They used to say that he had gold +and fame to give away, but this fellow goes around dunning——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, he's a sorry lot, and a charlatan—that's all! A milksop +who doesn't dare to bite, no matter how much he would like to!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Standing in the doorway again</i>] Take care, I tell you! +Take care!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Raising his right hand</i>] Take care yourself!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Pointing at the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>with one hand as if it were a +revolver</i>] Shame!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Unable to move</i>] Woe is me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. You have never believed in anything good. Now you shall +have to believe in the Evil One. He who is <i>all goodness</i> can harm +nobody, you see, and so he leaves that to such villains as myself. But +for the sake of greater effectiveness, you two must torture yourselves +and each other.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Kneeling before</i> <span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>] Spare us! Help us! Mercy!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>With a gesture as if he were tearing his clothes</i>] +Get up, woman! Woe is me! There is One, and One only, to whom you may +pray! Get up now, or—Yes, now you believe, although I don't wear +a red cloak, and don't carry sword or purse, and don't crack any +jokes—but beware of taking me in jest! I am serious as sin and stern +as retribution! I have not come to tempt you with gold and fame, but +to chastise you with rods and scorpions—[<i>The clock begins to strike +again; the stage turns dark</i>] Your time is nearly up. Therefore, put +your house in order—because die you must! [<i>A noise as of thunder is +heard</i>] Whose voice is speaking now? Do you think <i>he</i> can be scared +off with your rattle when he comes sweeping across your vineyard? Storm +and Hail are his names; destruction nestles under his wings, and in his +claws he carries punishment. Put on your caul now, and don your good +conscience.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>The rattling of the hail-storm is heard outside</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Mercy!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Yes, if you promise repentance.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I promise on my oath——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. You can take no oath, for you have already perjured +yourself. But promise first of all to set the children free—and then +all the rest!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I promise! Before the sun has set, the children shall be here!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. That's the first step ahead, but if you turn back, then +you'll see that I am as good as my name, which is—Legion!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He raises the rattan, and at that moment the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>comes +able to move again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="ACT_III" id="ACT_III">ACT III</a></h3> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A wine-cellar, with rows of casks along both side walls. The +doorway in the rear is closed by an iron door</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Every cask is marked with the name of the urine kept in it. +Those nearest the foreground have small shelves above the taps, +and the shelves hold glasses</i>.</p> + +<p><i>At the right, in the foreground, stands a wine-press and near +it are a couple of straw-bottomed chairs</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Bottles, funnels, siphons, crates, etc., are scattered about +the place</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>are seated by the wine-press</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. I think it's awfully dull.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. I think grandmother is nasty.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. You mustn't talk like that.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. No, perhaps not, but she <i>is</i> nasty.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. You mustn't, Thyra, for then the little boy won't come and play +with us again.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Then I won't say it again. I only wish it wasn't so dark.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Don't you remember, Thyra, that the boy said we shouldn't +complain——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Then I won't do it any more—[<i>The spot of sunlight appears on +the ground</i>] Oh, look at the sun-spot!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She jumps up and places her foot on the light.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. You mustn't step on the sun, Thyra. That's a sin!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. I didn't mean to step on him. I just wanted to have him. Now +see—I have him in my arms, and I can pat him.—Look! Now he's kissing +me right on the mouth.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span> <i>enters from behind one of the casks; he wears a +white garment reaching below his knees, and a blue scarf around +the waist; on his feet are sandals; he is blond, and when he +appears the cellar grows lighter</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. [<i>Goes to meet him and shakes hands with him</i>] Hello, little +boy!—Come and shake hands, Thyra!—What's your name, boy? You must +tell us to-day.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span> <i>merely looks at him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. You shouldn't be so forward, Eric, for it makes him +bashful.—But tell me, little boy, who is your papa?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Don't be so curious. When you know me better, you'll learn +all those things.—But let us play now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Yes, but nothing instructive, for that is so tedious. I want it +just to be nice.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. [<i>Smiling</i>] Shall I tell a story?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Yes, but not out of the Bible, for all those we know by heart——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span> <i>smiles again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. You say such things, Thyra, that he gets hurt——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. No, my little friends, you don't hurt me—But now, if you are +really good, we'll go and play in the open——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Oh, yes, yes!—But then, you know, grandmother won't let us——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Yes, your grandmother has said that she wished you were out, +and so we'll go before she changes her mind. Come on now!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Oh, what fun! Oh——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The door in the rear flies open and through the doorway is +seen a sunlit field planted with rye ready for the harvest. +Among the yellow ears grow bachelor's-buttons and daisies</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Come, children! Come into the sunlight and feel the joy of +living!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Can't we take the sun-spot along? It's a pity to leave it here +in the darkness.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Yes, if it is willing to go with you. Call it!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>go toward the door, followed by the spot of light</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Isn't it a nice little spot! [<i>Talks to the spot as if it were a +cat</i>] Puss, puss, puss, puss!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Take it up on your arm, Thyra, for I don't think it can get +over the threshold.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>gets the spot of light on her arm, which she bends as if +carrying something</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>All three go out; the door closes itself. Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>enters with a lantern, the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>with the +birch rod</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It's cool and nice here, and then there is no sun to bother +you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And how quiet it is. But where are the children?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>Both look for the children</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. It looks as if they had taken us at our word.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Us? Please observe that I didn't promise anything, for +he—you know—talked only to you toward the end.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Perhaps, but this time we had better obey, for I don't want to +have any more trouble with hail-storms and such things.—However, the +children are not here, and I suppose they'll come back when they get +hungry.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And I wish them luck when they do! [<i>The rod is snatched out +of her hand and dances across the floor; finally it disappears behind +one of the casks</i>] Now it's beginning again.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Well, why don't you submit and do as he—you know who!—says? I, +for my part, don't dare to do wrong any longer. The growing grapes have +been destroyed, and we must take pleasure in what is already safe. Come +here, Caroline, and let us have a glass of something good to brace us +up! [<i>He knocks on one of the casks and draws a glass of wine from it</i>] +This is from the year of the comet—anno 1869, when the big comet came, +and everybody said it meant war. And, of course, war did break out.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He offers a filled glass to his wife</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You drink first!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Well, now—did you think there might be poison in this, too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. No, really, I didn't—but—we'll never again know what peace +is, or happiness!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Do as I do: submit! [<i>He drinks</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I want to, and I try to, but when I come to think how badly +other people have treated us, I feel that I am just as good as anybody +else. [<i>She drinks</i>] That's a very fine wine! [<i>She sits down</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. The wine is good, and it makes the mind easier.—Yes, the +wiseacres say that we are rapscallions, one and all, so I can't see +what right anybody has to go around finding fault with the rest. [<i>He +drinks</i>] My own actions have always been legal; that is, in keeping +with prevailing laws and constitutions. If others happened to be +ignorant of the law, they had only themselves to blame, for no one has +a right to ignorance of that kind. For that reason, if Adolph does not +pay the rent, it is he who breaks the law, and not I.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And yet the blame falls on you, and you are made to appear +like a criminal. Yes, it is as I have always said: there is no justice +in this world. If you had done right, you should have brought suit +against Adolph and turned out the whole family. But then it isn't too +late yet—— [<i>She drinks</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Well, you see, if I were to carry out the law strictly, then I +should sue for the annulment of his marriage, and that would cut him +off from the property——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Why don't you do it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Looking around</i>] We-e-ell!—I suppose that would settle the +matter once for all. A divorce would probably not be granted, but I +think it would be possible to get the marriage declared invalid on +technical grounds——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And if there be no such grounds?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Showing the influence of the wine</i>] There are technical +grounds for everything, if you only look hard enough.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, then! Think of it—how that good-for-nothing is wishing +the life out of us—but now he'll see how "the natural course of +events" makes the drones take to the road——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Ha-ha! You're right, quite right! And then, you know, when I +think it over carefully—what reason have we for self-reproach? What +wrong have we done? It's mean to bring up that about the monstrance—it +didn't hurt anybody, did it? And as for my being guilty of perjury: +that's a pure lie. I got blood-poison in the finger—that's all—and +quite a natural thing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Just as if I didn't know it. And I may as well add that this +hail-storm a while ago—why, it was as plain a thing as if it had been +foretold in the Farmer's Almanac!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Exactly! That's what I think too. And for that reason, Caroline, +I think we had better forget all that fool talk—and if you feel as I +do, we'll just turn to another priest and get him to consecrate the +mausoleum.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, why shouldn't we?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes, why shouldn't we? Perhaps because that mesmerist comes here +and talks a lot of superstitious nonsense?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Tell me, do you really think he is nothing but a mesmerist?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Blustering</i>] That fellow? He's a first-class charlatan. A +che-ar-la-tan!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Looking around</i>] I am not so sure.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But I am sure. Su-ure! And if he should ever come before my eyes +again—just now, for instance—I'll drink his health and say: here's +to you, old humourist! [As <i>he raises the glass, it is torn out of his +hand and is seen to disappear through the wall</i>] What was that? [<i>The +lantern goes out.</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Help!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>A gust of wind is heard, and then all is silence again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You just get some matches, and I'll clear this matter up. For I +am no longer afraid of anything. Not of anything!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, don't, don't!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Steps from behind one of the casks</i>] Now we'll have to +have a talk in private.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Frightened</i>] Where did you come from?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. That is no concern of yours.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Straightening himself up</i>] What kind of language is that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Your own!—Off with your cap! [<i>He blows at the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>, +<i>whose cap is lifted off his head and falls to the ground</i>] Now you +shall hear sentence pronounced: you have wanted to sever what has been +united by Him whose name I may not mention. Therefore you shall be +separated from her who ought to be the staff of your old age. Alone +you must run the gauntlet. Alone you must bear the qualms of sleepless +nights.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Is that mercy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. It is justice; it is the law: an eye for an eye, and a +tooth for a tooth! The gospel has a different sound, but of that you +didn't want to hear. Now, move I along. [<i>He beats the air with the +rattan.</i></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The scene changes to a garden with cypresses and yew-trees +clipped in the shape of obelisks, candelabra, vases, etc. Under +the trees grow roses, hollyhocks, foxgloves, etc. At the centre +of it is a spring above which droops a gigantic fuchsia in full +bloom</i>.<a name="FNanchor_1_2" id="FNanchor_1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_2" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p><i>Back of the garden appears a field of rye, all yellow and +ready to be cut. Bachelor's-buttons and daisies grow among the +rye. A scarecrow hangs in the middle of the field. The distant +background is formed by vineyards and light-coloured rocks with +beech woods and ruined castles on them</i>.</p> + +<p><i>A road runs across the stage in the near background. At the +right is a covered Gothic arcade. In front of this stands a +statue of the Madonna with the Child</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>enter hand in hand with the</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Oh, how beautiful it is!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Who is living here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Whoever feels at home has his home here.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Can we play here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Anywhere except in that avenue over there to the right.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. And may we pick the flowers?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. You may pick any flowers you want, but you mustn't touch the +tree at the fountain.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. What kind of tree is that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Why, you know, it is one of those they call [<i>lowering his +voice</i>] "Christ's Blood-drops."</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. You should cross yourself, Eric, when you mention the name of +the Lord.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. [<i>Makes the sign of the cross</i>] Tell me, little boy, why mustn't +we touch the tree?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. You should obey without asking any questions, Eric.—But tell +me, little boy, why is that ugly scarecrow hanging there? Can't we take +it away?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Yes, indeed, you may, for then the birds will come and sing +for us.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>run into the rye-field and tear down the +scarecrow</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Away with you, you nasty old scarecrow! Come and eat now, little +birds! [<i>The Golden Bird comes flying from the right and perches on the +fuchsia</i>] Oh, see the Golden Bird, Thyra!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Oh, how pretty it is! Does it sing, too?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>The bird calls like a cuckoo</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Can you understand what the bird sings, boy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. No, children, the birds have little secrets of their own +which they have a right to keep hidden.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Of course, Eric, don't you see, otherwise the children could +tell where the nests are, and then they would take away the eggs, and +that would make the birds sorry, and they couldn't have any children of +their own.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Don't talk like a grown-up, Thyra.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. [<i>Putting a finger across his lips</i>] Hush! Somebody is +coming. Now let us see if he likes to stay with us or not.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span> <i>enters, stops in surprise, and begins to +look around</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Well, boy, won't you come and play with us?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. [<i>Takes off his cap; speaks bashfully</i>] Oh, you don't +want to play with me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Why shouldn't we?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. I am sooty all over. And besides I don't know how to +play—I hardly know what it is.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Think of it, the poor boy has never played.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. What is your name?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. My name? They call me Ole—but——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. But what's your other name?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. Other name? I have none.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. But your papa's name?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. I have no papa.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. And your mamma's?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. I don't know.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. He has no papa or mamma. Come to the spring here, boy, and +I'll make you as white as a little prince.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. If anybody else said it, I shouldn't believe it——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Why do you believe it then, when I say it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. I don't know, but I think you look as if it would be +true.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Give the boy your hand, Thyra!—Would you give him a kiss, +too?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. [<i>After a moment's hesitation</i>] Yes, when you ask me!</p> + + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1_2" id="Footnote_1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_2"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The Swedish name of this plant is "Christ's Blood-drops."</p></div> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She kisses the</i> <span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. <i>Then the</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span> <i>dips +his hand in the spring and sprays a little water on the face +of the</i> <span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>, <i>whose black mask at once disappears, +leaving his face white</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Now you are white again. And now you must go behind that +rose-bush there and put on new clothes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. Why do I get all this which I don't deserve?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Because you don't believe that you deserve it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. [<i>Going behind the rose-bush</i>] Then I thank you for it, +although I don't understand what it means.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Was he made a chimney-sweep because he had been bad?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. No, he has never been bad. But he had a bad guardian who took +all his money away from him, and so he had to go out into the world to +earn a living—See how fine he looks now!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span> <i>enters dressed in light summer clothes</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>] Go to the arcade now, and you'll +meet somebody you love—and who loves you!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>. Who could love me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Go and find out.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span> <i>goes across the stage to the arcade, where +he is met by the</i> <span class="small-c">LADY IN WHITE</span>, <i>who puts her arms around him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Who is living in there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. [<i>With his finger on his lips</i>] Polly Pry!—But who is coming +there?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>appears on the road with a sack on her back and +a stick in her hand</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. It's grandmother! Oh, now we are in for it!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Oh, my! It's grandmother!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Don't get scared, children. I'll tell her it's my fault.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. No, you mustn't, for then she'll beat you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Well, why shouldn't I take a beating for my friends?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. No, I'll do it myself!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. And I, too!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Hush! And come over here—then you won't be scolded. [<i>They +hide</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Goes to the spring</i>] So, this is the famous spring that +is said to cure everything—after the angel has stirred it up, of +course!—But I suppose it is nothing but lies. Well, I might have a +drink anyhow, and water is water. [<i>She bends down over the spring</i>] +What is it I see? Eric and Thyra with a strange boy! What can it mean? +For they are not here. It must be an oracle spring. [<i>She takes a cup +that stands by the spring, fills it with water and drinks</i>] Ugh, it +tastes of copper—he must have been here and poisoned the water, too! +Everything is poisoned! Everything!—And I feel tired, too, although +the years have not been hard on me—[<i>She looks at her reflection +in the spring and tosses her head</i>] On the contrary, I look quite +youthful—but it's hard to walk, and still harder to get up—[<i>She +struggles vainly to rise</i>] My God, my God, have mercy! Don't leave me +lying here!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. [<i>Makes a sign to the children to stay where they are; then +he goes up to the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>and wipes the perspiration from her +forehead</i>] Rise, and leave your evil ways!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Rising</i>] Who is that?—Oh, it's you, my nice gentleman, who +has led the children astray?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Go, ungrateful woman! I have wiped the sweat of fear from +your brow; I have raised you up when your own strength failed you, and +you reward me with angry words. Go—go!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>stares astonished at him; then her eyes drop, and she +turns and goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>come forward</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. But I am sorry for grandmother just the same, although she is +nasty.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. It isn't nice here, and I want to go home.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Wait a little! Don't be so impatient.—There comes somebody +else we know.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>appears on the road</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. He cannot come here and defile the spring. [<i>He waves his +hand; the spot of sunlight strikes the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>, <i>making him turn around +and walk away</i>] It is nice of you to be sorry for the old people, but +you must believe that what I do is right. Do you believe that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Yes, we believe it, we believe it!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. But I want to go home to mamma!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. I'll let you go.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>appears in the background and hides himself +behind the bushes</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. For now I must go. The Angelus bell will soon be ringing——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Where are you going, little boy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. There are other children I must play with—far away from +here, where you cannot follow me. But now, when I leave you here, don't +forget what I have told you: that you mustn't touch the tree!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. We'll obey! We will! But don't go away, for it will soon be dark!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. How is that? Anybody who has a good conscience and knows his +evening prayer has nothing, nothing to be afraid of.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. When will you come back to us, little boy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>. Next Christmas I come back, and every Christmas!—Good night, +my little friends!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He kisses their foreheads and goes out between the bushes; +when he reappears in the background, he is carrying a cross +with a banner like that carried by the Christ-Child in old +paintings; the Angelus bell begins to ring; as he raises the +banner and waves it in greeting to the children, he becomes +surrounded by a clear, white light; then he goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>kneel and pray silently while the bell is ringing</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. [<i>Having crossed himself</i>] Do you know who the boy was, Thyra?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. It was the Saviour!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>steps forward</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. [<i>Scared, runs to Eric, who puts his arms around her to protect +her</i>] My!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>] What do you want? You nasty thing!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I only wanted—Look at me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Yes?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I am looking like this because once I touched the tree. +Afterward it was my joy to tempt others into doing the same. But now, +since I have grown old, I have come to repent, and now I am remaining +here to warn men, but nobody believes me—nobody—because I lied once.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. You don't need to warn us, and you can't tempt us.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Tut, tut, tut! Not so high-and-mighty, my little friend! +Otherwise it's all right.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span>. Well, go away then, for I don't want to listen to you, and you +scare my sister!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. I am going, for I don't feel at home here, and I have +business elsewhere. Farewell, children!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. [<i>Is heard calling from the right</i>] Eric and Thyra!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span>. Oh, there is mamma—dear little mamma!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span> <i>enters</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERIC</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>rush into her arms</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>turns away to hide his emotion</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="ACT_IV" id="ACT_IV">ACT IV</a></h3> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A cross-roads surrounded by pine woods. Moonlight</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WITCH</span> <i>stands waiting</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, at last, there you are.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. You have kept me waiting. Why have you called me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Help me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. In what way?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Against my enemies.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. There is only one thing that helps against your enemies: be good +to them.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, I declare! I think the whole world has turned +topsyturvy.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Yes, so it may seem.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Even the Other One—you know who I mean—has become +converted.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Then it ought to be time for you, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Time for me? You mean that my years are burdening me? But it +is less than three weeks since I danced at a wedding.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. And you call that bliss! Well, if that be all, you shall have +your fill of it. For there is to be a ball here to-night, although I +myself cannot attend it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Just here. It will begin whenever I give the word——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It's too bad I haven't got on my low-necked dress.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. You can borrow one from me—and a pair of dancing shoes with red +heels.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Perhaps I might also have a pair of gloves and a fan?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Everything! And, in particular, any number of young cavaliers +who will proclaim you the queen of the ball.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Now you are joking.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. No, I am not joking. And I know that they have the good taste at +these balls to choose the right one for queen—and in speaking of the +right one, I have in mind the most worthy——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. The most beautiful, you mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. No, I don't—I mean the worthiest. If you wish, I'll start the +ball at once.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I have no objection.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. If you step aside a little, you'll find your maid—while the +hall is being put in order.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Going out to the right</i>] Think of it—I am going to have a +maid, too! You know, madam, that was the dream of my youth—which never +came true.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. There you see: "What youth desires, age acquires." [<i>She blows a +whistle</i>]</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Without curtain-fall, the stage changes to represent the +bottom of a rocky, kettle-shaped chasm. It is closed in on +three sides by steep walls of black rock, wholly stripped of +vegetation. At the left, in the foreground, stands a throne. At +the right is a platform for the musicians</i>.</p> + +<p><i>A bust of Pan on a square base stands in the middle of the +stage, surrounded by a strange selection of potted plants: +henbane, burdock, thistle, onion, etc.</i></p> + +<p><i>The musicians enter. Their clothing is grey; their faces are +chalk-white and sad; their gestures tired. They appear to be +tuning their instruments, but not a sound is heard</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Then comes the</i> <span class="small-c">LEADER OF THE ORCHESTRA</span>.</p> + +<p><i>After him, the guests of the ball: cripples, beggars, tramps. +All are pulling on black gloves as they come in. Their +movements are dragging; their expressions funereal</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Next: The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>, <i>who is really</i> <span class="small-c">THE OTHER +ONE</span><i>—a septuagenarian dandy wearing a black wig which is too +small for him, so that tufts of grey hair appear underneath. +His mustaches are waxed and pointed. He wears a monocle and has +on an outgrown evening dress and top-boots. He looks melancholy +and seems to be suffering because of the part he has to play.</i></p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">SEVEN DEADLY SINS</span> <i>enter and group themselves around the +throne as follows</i>:</p> + + +<div class="center" style="font-size: 0.8em;"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">PRIDE</td><td align="left">COVETOUSNESS</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">LUST</td><td align="left">ANGER</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">GLUTTONY</td><td align="left">ENVY</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="left">SLOTH</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><i>Finally the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>enters. He is hunchbacked and wears a +soiled velvet coat with gold buttons, ruffles, sword, and high +boots with spurs</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The ensuing scene must be played with deadly seriousness, +without a trace of irony, satire, or humour. There is a +suggestion of a death-mask in the face of every figure. They +move noiselessly and make simple, awkward gestures that convey +the impression of a drill</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">PRINCE</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>] Why do you disturb my peace at +this midnight hour?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Always, brother, you are asking why. Have you not +seen the light yet?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Only in part. I can perceive a connection between my suffering +and my guilt, but I cannot see why I should have to suffer eternally, +when He has suffered in my place.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Eternally? You died only yesterday. But then time +ceased to exist to you, and so a few hours appear like an eternity.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yesterday?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Yes.—But because you were proud and wanted no +assistance, you have now to bear your own sufferings.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What have I done, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. What a sublime question!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. But why don't you tell?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. As our task is to torture each other by +truth-telling—were we not called "heroes of truth" in our lifetime?—I +shall tell you a part of your own secret. You were, and you are still, +a hunchback——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What is that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. There you see! You don't know what is known to +everybody else. But all those others pitied you, and so you never heard +the word that names your own deformity.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What deformity is that? Perhaps you mean that I have a weak +chest? But that is no deformity.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. A "weak chest"—yes, that is your own name for +the matter. However, people kept the disfigurement of your body hidden +from you, and they tried to assuage your misfortune by showing you +sympathy and kindness. But you accepted their generosity as an earned +tribute, their encouraging words as expressions of admiration due to +your superior physique. And at last you went so far in conceit that +you regarded yourself as a type of masculine beauty. And when, to cap +it all, woman granted you her favours out of pity, then you believed +yourself an irresistible conqueror.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What right have you to say such rude things to me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Right? I am filling the saddening duty which +forces one sinner to punish another. And soon you will have to fulfil +the same cruel duty toward a woman who is vain to the verge of +madness—a woman resembling you as closely as she possibly could.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I don't want to do it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Try to do anything but what you must, and you'll +experience an inner discord that you cannot explain.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What does it mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. It means that you cannot all of a sudden cease to +be what you are: and you are what you have wanted to become. [<i>He claps +his hands</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>enters, her figure looking as aged and clumsy +as ever; but she has painted her face and her head is covered +by a powdered wig; she wears a very low-necked, rose-coloured +dress, red shoes, and a fan made out of peacock feathers</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>A little uncertain</i>] Where am I? Is this the right place?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Quite right, for you are in the place we call +the "waiting-room." It is so called [<i>he sighs],</i> because here we have +to spend our time waiting—waiting for something that will come some +time——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, it isn't bad at all—and there is the music—and there +is a bust—of whom?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. It's a pagan idol called Pan, because to the +ancients he was all they had. And as we, in this place, are of the old +order, more or less antiquated, he has been put here for us to look at.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Why, we are not old——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Yes, my Queen. When the new era opened [<i>he +sighs</i>], we couldn't keep up with it, and so we were left behind——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. The new era? What kind of talk is that? When did it begin?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. It is easy to figure out when the year one +began—It was night, for that matter; the stars were shining brightly, +and the weather must have been mild, as the shepherds remained in the +open——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, yes, yes—Are we not going to dance here to-night?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Of course, we are. The Prince is waiting for a +chance to ask you——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>] IS he a real Prince?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. A real one, my Queen. That is to say, he has full +reality in a certain fashion——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>, <i>who is asking her to dance</i>] You don't +look happy, my Prince?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. I am not happy.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Well, I can't say that I find it very hilarious—and the +place smells of putty, as if the glazier had just been at work here. +What is that strange smell, as of linseed-oil?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>With an expression of horror</i>] What are you saying? Do you +mean that charnel-house smell?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I fear I must have said something impolite—but then, it +isn't for the ladies to offer pleasantries—that's what the cavalier +should do——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. What can I tell you that you don't know before?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. That I don't know before? Let me see—No, then I had better +tell you that you are very handsome, my Prince.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Now you exaggerate, my Queen. I am not exactly handsome, but I +have always been held what they call "good-looking."</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Just like me—I never was a beauty—that is, I <i>am</i> not, +considering my years—Oh, I am so stupid!—What was it I wanted to say?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Let the music begin!</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>The musicians appear to be playing, but not a sound is heard</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Well? Are you not going to dance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Sadly</i>] No, I don't care to dance.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. But you must: you are the only presentable +gentleman.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. That's true, I suppose—[<i>pensively</i>] but is that a fit +occupation for me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. How do you mean?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. At times it seems as if I had something else to think of, but +then—then I forget it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Don't brood—enjoy yourself while youth is with +you and the roses of life still bloom on your cheeks. Now! Up with the +head, and step lively——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>grins broadly; then he offers his hand to the</i> +<span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>, <i>and together they perform a few steps of a minuet</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Interrupting the dance</i>] Ugh! Your hands are cold as ice! +<i>goes to the throne</i>] Why are those seven ladies not dancing?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. How do you like the music, Queen?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. It's splendid, but they might play a little more <i>forte</i>——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. They are soloists, all of them, and formerly each +one of them wanted to make himself heard above the rest, and so they +have to use moderation now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. But I asked why the seven sisters over there are not dancing. +Couldn't you, as master of ceremonies, make them do so?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. I don't think it would be of any use trying, for +they are obstinate as sin—But please assume your throne, my Queen. We +are going to perform a little play in honour of the occasion——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, what fun! But I want the prince to ... escort me——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>] Have I got to do it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You ought to be ashamed of yourself—you with your hunch!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Spits in her face</i>] Hold your tongue, you cursed old hag!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Cuffs him on the ear</i>] That'll teach you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Jumps at her and knocks her down</i>] And that's, for you!</p> + +<p><i>All the rest cover their faces with their hands</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Tears off the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>'S <i>wig so that her head appears +totally bald</i>] There's the false scalp! Now we'll pull out the teeth!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Enough! Enough!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He helps the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>to rise, and gives her a kerchief to +cover her head</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Crying</i>] Goodness gracious, that I could let myself be +fooled like that! But I haven't deserved any better, I admit.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No, you have deserved a great deal worse. You should leave my +hunch alone, for otherwise hell breaks loose—It's a miserable thing to +see an old woman like you so foolish and so degraded. But, then, you +are to be pitied—as all of us are to be pitied.</p> + +<p>ALL. We are all to be pitied!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>With a sneer</i>] The queen!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>In the same tone</i>] The prince!—But haven't we met before?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Perhaps—in our youth—for I am old, too. You had too much +frippery on before—but now, when the disguise has been taken away—I +begin to distinguish certain features——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Don't say anything more—don't say anything more—Oh, what +have I come to—what is happening to me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Now I know: you are my sister!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. But—my brother is dead! Have I been deceived? Or are the +dead coming back?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Everything comes back.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Am I dead or am I living?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. You may well ask that question, for I don't know the +difference. But you are exactly the same as when I parted from you +once: just as vain and just as thievish.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Do you think you are any better?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Perhaps! I am guilty of all the seven deadly sins, but you have +invented the eighth one—that of robbing the dead.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What are you thinking of now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Twelve years in succession I sent you money to buy a wreath for +mother's grave, and instead of buying it you kept the money.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. How do you know?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. How I came to know of it is the only thing that interests you +about that crime of yours.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Prove it!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Taking a number of bills from his pocket</i>] Here is the money!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>sinks to the ground. A church bell begins to +ring. All bend their heads, but nobody kneels</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LADY IN WHITE</span>. [<i>Enters, goes up to the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>, <i>and assists her in +rising</i>] Do you know me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. No.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LADY IN WHITE</span>. I am Amelia's mother. You have taken the memory of me +away from her. You have erased me from her life. But now you are to be +wiped out, and I shall recover my child's love and the prayers my soul +needs.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, somebody has been telling tales to that hussy—then I'll +set her to herd the swine——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>strikes her on the mouth</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LADY IN WHITE</span>. Don't strike her!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Are you interceding for me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LADY IN WHITE</span>. It is what I have been taught to do.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. You hypocrite! If you only dared, you would wish me buried as +deep as there are miles from here to the sun!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER OF CEREMONIES</span>. Down with you—monster!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[As <i>he touches her with his staff she falls to the ground</i></p> + +<p><i>Again the scene is changed while the curtain remains up. The +bust of Pan sinks into the earth. The musicians and the throne +with its attendant sins disappear behind pieces of; scenery +that are lowered from above. At last the cross-roads with the +surrounding pine woods appear again, and the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>is +discovered lying at the foot of a sign-post</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Get up!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I cannot—I am frozen stiff——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. The sun will rise in a moment. The cock has crowed. The matin +bells are ringing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. I don't care for the sun.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Then you'll have to walk in darkness.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, my eyes! What have you done to me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. I have only turned out the light because it troubled you. Now, +up and away with you—through cold and darkness—until you drop!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Where is my husband?—Amelia! Eric and Thyra! My children!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Yes, where are they? But wherever they may be, you shall not see +them until your pilgrimage is ended. Now, up and away! Or I will loose +my dogs!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>gropes her way out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><i>The court-room. In the background is the desk of the presiding judge, +decorated in white and gold with the emblems of justice. In front of +the desk, covering the centre of the floor, stands a big table, and on +it are placed writing-materials, inkstand, Bible, bell, and gavel</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The axe of the executioner hangs on the rear wall, with a pair of +handcuffs below it and a big black crucifix above</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>enters and makes his way into the room on tiptoe. +The bell rings. The gavel raps once on the table. All the +chairs are pulled up to the table at once. The Bible is opened. +The candles on the table become lighted</i>.</p> + +<p><i>For a moment the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>stands still, stricken with horror. +Then he resumes his advance toward a huge cabinet. Suddenly the +doors of this fly open. A number of documents are thrown out, +and the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>picks them up</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Reassured</i>] This time I am in luck! Here are the accounts +of my guardianship; here is the contract for the lease—my report as +executor—all of it! [<i>The handcuffs on the wall begin to clank</i>] Make +all the noise you please! As long as the axe stays still, I won't be +scared. [<i>He puts the documents on the table and goes back to close +the door of the cabinet, but this flies open again as soon as he shuts +it</i>] Everything has a cause: <i>ratio sufficiens</i>. This door must have +a spring with which I am not familiar. It surprises me that I don't +know it, but it cannot scare me. [<i>The axe moves on the wall</i>] The axe +moved—as a rule, that foretells an execution, but to-day it means only +that its equilibrium has become disturbed in some way. Oh, no, nothing +will give me pause but seeing my own ghost—for that would be beyond +the tricks of any charlatan.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">GHOST</span> <i>enters from behind the cabinet; the figure +resembles in every way the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>, <i>but where the eyes should +be appear two white surfaces, as on a plaster bust</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Frightened</i>] Who are you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. I am not—I have been. I have been that unrighteous judge who is +now come here to receive his sentence.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What have you done then, poor man?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. Everything wrong that an unrighteous judge might do. Pray for +me, you whose conscience is clear——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Am I—to pray for you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. Yes, you who have caused no innocent blood to be shed——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. That's true; that's something I haven't done. And besides, as +I have always obeyed the letter of the law, I have good reason to let +myself be called a righteous judge—yes, without irony!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. It would, indeed, be a bad moment for joking, as the Invisible +Ones are sitting in judgment——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What do you mean? Who are sitting in judgment?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. [<i>Pointing to the table</i>] You don't see them, but I do. [<i>The +bell rings; a chair is pushed back from the table</i>] Pray for me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. No, I won't. Justice must take its course. You must have been a +great offender to reach consciousness of your guilt so late.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. You are as stern as a good conscience.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. That's just the word for it. Stern, but just!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. No pity, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. None whatever.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. No mercy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. No mercy!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The gavel raps on the table; the chairs are pushed away</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. Now the verdict is being delivered. Can't you hear?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I hear nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. [<i>Pointing to the table</i>] And you see nothing? Don't you see the +beheaded sailor, the surveyor, the chimney-sweep, the lady in white, +the tenant——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I see absolutely nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. Woe unto you, then, when your eyes become opened as mine have +been. Now the verdict has been given: guilty!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Guilty!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GHOST</span>. You have said it—yourself! And you have already been sentenced. +All that remains now is the big auction.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain.</i></p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="ACT_V" id="ACT_V">ACT V</a></h3> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The same room as in the second act, but it is now arranged for +the auction. Benches are placed in the middle of the room. On +the table behind which the auctioneer is to preside stand the +silver coffee-set, the clock, vases, candelabra, etc.</i></p> + +<p><i>The portraits of the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>have been +taken down and are leaning against the table</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span> <i>are on the stage</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. [<i>Dressed as a scrub-woman</i>] Before my mother left, she ordered +me to clean the hallway and the stairs. It is winter now, and cold, and +I cannot say that it has been any pleasure to carry out her order——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. So you didn't get any pleasure out of it? Well, my child, I +must say that you demand rather too much of yourself. But as you have +obeyed, and stood the test, your time of trial shall be over, and I +will let you know your life's secret.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Speak out, neighbour, for I dare hardly trust my good +resolutions much longer.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Well, then! The woman you have been calling mother is your +stepmother. Your father married her when you were only one year old. +And the reason you have never seen your mother is that she died when +you were born.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. So that was it!—How strange to have had a mother and yet never +to have seen her! Tell me—did you ever see her?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. I knew her.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. How did she look?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Well, how <i>did</i>, she look?—Her eyes were blue as the +blossom of the flax—her hair was yellow as the dry stalks of wheat——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. And tall and slender—and her hand was small and white as if it +had touched nothing but silk in all her days—and her mouth was shaped +like a heart, and her lips looked as if none but good words had ever +passed them.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. How can you know all that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Because that is the image which appears in my dreams when I +have not been good—And then she raises her hand as if to warn me, and +on one of her fingers there is a ring with a green stone that seems to +radiate light. It is she!—Tell me, neighbour, is there a picture of +her in the place?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. There used to be one, but I don't know whether it's still +here.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. So this one is my stepmother? Well, God was good when he let me +keep my mother's image free from stain—and hereafter I shall find it +quite natural that this other woman is cruel to me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Cruel stepmothers exist to make children kind. And you were +not kind, Amelia, but you have become so, and for that reason I shall +now give you a Christmas present in advance.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He takes the portrait of the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>out of its frame, when +in its place appears a picture in water-colours corresponding +to the description given above</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. [<i>Kneeling in front of the picture</i>] My mother—mother of my +dreams! [<i>Rising</i>] But how can I keep the picture when it is to be sold +at auction?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. You can, because the auction has already taken place.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Where and when was it held?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. It was held elsewhere—in a place not known to you—and +to-day the things are merely to be taken away.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. What a lot of queer things are happening! And how full of +secrets the house is!—But tell me, where is my stepmother? I have not +seen her in a long time.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. I suppose it must be told: she is in a place from which +nobody returns.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Is she dead?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. She is dead. She was found frozen to death in a swamp into +which she had stumbled.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Merciful God have pity on her soul!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. So he will in time, especially if you pray for her.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Of course I will.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. How good you have become, my child—as a result of her +becoming so bad!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Don't say so now when she is dead——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Right you are! Let her rest in peace!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. But where is my father?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. That's a secret to all of us. But it is sweet of you to ask +for him before you ask for your own Adolph.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. Adolph—yes, where is he? The children are crying for him, and +Christmas is near.—Oh, what a Christmas this will be to us!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. Leave to each day its own trouble—and now take your +Christmas present and go. The affairs connected with the auction are to +be settled, and then you'll hear news.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>. [<i>Takes the portrait of her mother</i>] I go, but no longer +alone—and I have a feeling that something good is about to happen, but +what I cannot tell.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She goes out to the right</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>. But I know! Yet you had better go, for what is about to +happen here should not be seen by children.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He opens the door in the rear and rings a bell to summon +the people to the auction. The people enter in the following +order</i>: <span class="small-c">THE POOR</span>, <i>a large number of them; the</i> <span class="small-c">SAILOR</span>; <i>the</i> +<span class="small-c">CHIMNEY-SWEEP</span>; <i>the</i> <span class="small-c">NEIGHBOUR</span>, who takes his place in front +of the rest; <i>the</i> <span class="small-c">WIDOW</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">FATHERLESS CHILDREN</span>; <i>the</i> +<span class="small-c">SURVEYOR</span>; <span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>, <i>carrying the auctioneer's hammer and +a pile of documents</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Takes his place at the table and raps with the +hammer</i>] At a compulsory auction held at the court-house for the +disposal of property left by the late circuit judge, the items now to +be described were bid in by the Court on behalf of absent creditors, +and may now be obtained and taken away by their respective owners.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Enters, looking very aged and miserable</i>] In the name of the +law—hold!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Pretends to throw something at the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>, <i>who +stands aghast and speechless</i>] Don't speak of the law! Here the Gospel +is preached—but not for you, who wanted to buy heaven with stolen +money.—First: the widow and her fatherless children. There is the +silver set which the judge accepted from you for his false report +as executor. In his stained hands the silver has turned black, but +I hope that in yours it will once more turn white.—Then we come to +the ward, who had to become a chimney-sweep, after being cheated out +of his inheritance. Here are the receipted bills and the property +due to you from your guardian. And you need not thank him for his +accounting.—Here stands the surveyor who, although he was innocent, +had to serve two years in prison because he had made an illegal +partition—the maps handed to him for the purpose having been falsified +in advance. What can you do for him, Judge? Can you undo what has +happened, or restore his lost honour?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, that fellow—give him a bill and he'll be satisfied! His +honour wasn't worth a penny, anyhow.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Slaps the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>on the mouth, while the rest spit at +him and mutter with clinched fists</i>] Here is the brother of the sailor +who was beheaded in spite of his innocence. Can you restore his brother +to life? No! And you cannot pay for his life with yours, as it is not +worth as much.—And finally we come to the neighbour whom you cheated +out of his property in a perfectly legal way. Not familiar with the +tricks of the law, the neighbour has, contrary to prevailing practice, +placed the judge's son-in-law in charge of the property as life tenant, +wiping out his previous indebtedness and making him also legal heir to +the property.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I appeal to a higher court!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. This case has passed through all the instances except +the highest, and that far you cannot reach with your stamped papers. +For if you tried, all these poor people whom you have robbed of their +living would cry out: Guilty!—Thus we are done with all that could be +properly disposed of. What remains here still undisposed of goes to the +poor: clocks, vases, jewelry and other valuables that have served as +bribes, graft, tips, souvenirs—all in a perfectly legal way because +evidence and witnesses were wanting. You poor, take back your own! +Your tears have washed the guilt from the ill-gotten goods. [<i>The</i> <span class="small-c">POOR</span> +<i>begin to plunder</i>] And now remains the last item to be sold by me. +This pauper here, formerly a judge, is offered to the lowest bidder for +board at the expense of the parish. How much is offered? [<i>Silence</i>] +No offer? [<i>Silence</i>] First, second, third time—no offer? [<i>To the</i> +<span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>] There, you see! Nobody wants you. Well, then, I have to take you +myself and send you to your well-earned punishment.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Is there no atonement?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Yes, punishment atones.—Take him into the woods and +stone him in accordance with the law of Moses—for no other law was +ever known to him. Away with him! [<i>The people pounce on the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> +<i>and jostle him</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The scene changes to the "waiting-room." The same setting as +in the second scene of the fourth act: a kettle-shaped chasm +surrounded by steep black rocks. (The same people are on the +stage.)</i></p> + +<p><i>In the background appear a pair of huge scales for the +weighing of newcomers</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>are seated opposite each other +at a small table</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Staring in front of himself as if lost in a dream</i>] +Hush!—I had a dream! They were throwing stones at me—and yet I +felt no pain—and then everything turned black and vacant until this +moment—How long it may have lasted, I cannot tell—Now I am beginning +to hear again—and to feel. It feels as if I were being carried—oh, +how cold it is—they are washing me, I think—I am lying in something +that has six sides like a cell in a honeycomb and that smells like a +carpenter shop—I am being carried, and a bell is ringing—Wait! Now I +am riding, but not in a street-car, although the bell is ringing all +the time—Now I am sinking down, down, as if I were drowning—boom, +boom, boom: three knocks on the roof—and then the lessons begin—the +teacher is leading—and now the boys are singing—What can it be?—And +then they are knocking on the roof again, incessantly—boom, boom, +boom, boom, boom, boom—silence—it's over! [<i>He wakes up</i>] Where am I? +I choke! It's so stuffy and close here!—Oh, it's you!—Where are we? +Whose bust is that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. They say it is the new god.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But he looks like a goat.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Perhaps it is the god of the goats?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. "The goats on the left side—" What is that I am recalling?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">PRINCE</span>. It is the god Pan.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Pan?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Exactly! Just exactly! And when, in the night, the +shepherds—no, not <i>those</i> shepherds—catch sight of a hair of his hide +they are seized with panic——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Rising</i>] Woe! I don't want to stay here! Woe! Can't I get out +of here? I want to get out!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He runs around, looking vainly for a way out.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Enters dressed as a Franciscan friar</i>] You'll find +nothing but entrances—no exits!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Are you Father Colomba?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. No, I am The Other One.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. As a monk?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Don't you know that The Other One turns monk when he +grows old; and don't you think it is well that he does so some time? +But, seriously speaking—for here everything is serious—this is my +holiday attire, which I am permitted to wear only this one day of the +year in order that I may remember what I have had and what I have lost.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Alarmed</i>] What day of the year is it to-day?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Bending his head with a sigh</i>] It is Christmas Eve!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Approaching the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>] Think of it, it is Christmas +Eve?—And you know I don't dare to ask where we are—I dare not—but +let us go home, home to our children, to our own—— [<i>He cries</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Yes, let us go from here, home to ourselves, that we may +start a new life in peace and harmony——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. It is too late!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, dear, sweet fellow—help us, have mercy on us, forgive us!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. It is too late!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Taking the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>by the hand</i>] I am choking with dread! +Don't ask him where we are; I don't want to know! But one thing I do +want to know: will there ever be an end to this?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Never!—That word "end" is not known to us here.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Crushed</i>] No end! [<i>Looking around</i>] And does the sun never +enter this place of damp and cold?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Never, for those who dwell here have not loved the sun!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. It is true: I have cursed the sun.—May I confess my sins?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. No, you must keep them to yourself until they begin to +swell and stop up your throat.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Kneeling</i>] O—I don't know how to pray!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She rises and walks restlessly back and forth, wringing her +hands</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Because for you there is no one to whom you might pray.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>In despair</i>] Children—send somebody to give me a word of +hope and pardon.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. It will not be done. Your children have forgotten +you—they are now rejoicing at your absence.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A picture appears on the rocky wall in the rear: the home, +with</i> <span class="small-c">ADOLPH</span>, <span class="small-c">AMELIA</span>, <span class="small-c">ERIC</span>, <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">THYRA</span> <i>around the Christmas +tree; in the background, the</i> <span class="small-c">PLAYMATE</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You say they are seated at the Christmas table rejoicing at our +misfortune?—No, now you lie, for they are better than we!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. What new tune is that? I have always heard that you were +a righteous man——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I? I was a great sinner—the greatest one that ever was!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Hm! Hm!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. And if you say anything of the children you are guilty of a sin. +I know that they are praying for us.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>On her knees</i>] I can hear them tell their rosaries: hush—I +hear them!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. You are completely mistaken. What you hear is the song +of the workmen who are tearing down the mausoleum.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. The mausoleum! Where we were to have rested in peace!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Shaded by a dozen wreaths.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Who is that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Pointing to the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>] She is my sister, and so you must +be my brother-in-law.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh—that lazy scamp!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Look here! In this place we are all lazy scamps.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But we are not all hunchbacks!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Strikes him a blow on the mouth</i>] Don't touch the hunch or +there will be hell to pay!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What a way to treat a man of my ability and high social +position! What a Christmas!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Perhaps you expected your usual creamed codfish and Christmas +cake?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Not exactly, but there ought to be something to feed on——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Here we are keeping a Christmas fast, you see.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. How long will it last?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. How long? We don't measure time here, because it has ceased to +exist, and a minute may last a whole eternity.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. We suffer only what our deeds have deserved—so don't +complain——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Just try to complain, and you'll see what happens.—We are not +squeamish here, but bang away without regard for legal forms.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Are they beating carpets out there—on a day like this?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No, it is an extra ration of rod all around as a reminder for +those who may have forgotten the significance of the day.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Do they actually lay hands on our persons? Is it possible that +educated people can do things like that to each other?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. This is a place of education for the badly educated; and those +who have behaved like scoundrels are treated like such.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But this passes all limits!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yes, because here we are in the limitless! Now get ready! I +have already been out there and had my portion.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Appalled</i>] What humiliation! That's to strip you of all human +worth!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Ha ha! Human worth! Ha ha!—Look at the scales over there. +That's where the human worth is—and invariably found wanting.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Sits down at the table</i>] I could never have believed——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No, you could only believe in your caul and your own +righteousness. And yet you had both Moses and the Prophets and more +besides—for the very dead walked for your benefit.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. The children! The children! Is it not possible to send them a +word of greeting and of warning?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. No! Eternally, no!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">WITCH</span> <i>comes forward with a big basketful of +stereoscopes.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What is it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Christmas gifts for the righteous. Stereoscopes, you know. +[<i>Handing out one</i>] Help yourself. They don't cost anything.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. There's a kind soul at last. And a little attention to a man of +my age and rank does honour both to your tact and to your heart——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. That's very nice of you, Judge, but I hope you don't mind my +having given some thought to the others, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Disappointed</i>] Are you poking fun at me, you damned old hag?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. [<i>Spitting in his face</i>] Hold your tongue, petti-fogger!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What company I have got into!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. Is it not good enough for you, you old perjurer, you grafter, +you forger, you robber of orphans, you false pleader? Now have a look +in the peep-show and take in the great spectacle: "From the Cradle to +the Grave." There is your whole biography and all your victims—just +have a look now. That's right!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>looks in the stereoscope; then he rises with horror stamped on +his face</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">WITCH</span>. I hope this slight attention may add to the Christmas joy!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She hands a stereoscope to the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>, <i>and proceeds +thereafter to give one to each person present</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Sitting at the table, where now the</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>takes a seat +opposite him</i>] What do you see?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Everything is there; everything!—And do you notice that +everything is black? All life that seemed so bright is now black, and +even moments which I thought full of innocent joy have an appearance +of something nauseating, foul, almost criminal. It is as if all my +memories had decayed, including the fairest among them——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You are right. There is not one memory that can bring light into +this darkness. When I look at her who was the first love of my youth, +I see nothing but a corpse. When I think of my sweet Amelia, there +appears—a harlot. The little ones make faces at me like gutter-snipes. +My court has become a pigsty; the vineyard, a rubbish-heap full of +thistles; and the mausoleum—Oh, horrors!—an outhouse! When I think of +the green woods, the leafage appears snuff-coloured and the trunks look +bleached as mast tops. The blue river seems to flow out of a dung-heap +and the blue arch above it looks like a smoky roof—Of the sun itself I +can recall nothing but the name; and what was called the moon—the lamp +that shed its light on bays and groves during the amorous nights of my +youth—I can remember only as—no, I cannot remember it at all. But +the words are left, although they have only sound without sense.—Love, +wine, song! Flowers, children, happiness!—Don't the words sound +pretty? And it is all that is left!—Love? What <i>was</i> it, anyhow?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. What was it?—Two cats on a back-yard fence.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Sheepishly</i>] Yes, that's it! That's what it was! Three dogs on +a sidewalk. What a sweet recollection!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Pressing his hand</i>] Yes, it is sweet!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Looking at his watch</i>] My watch has stopped. I am so +hungry—and I am thirsty, too, and I long for a smoke. But I am also +tired and want to sleep. All my desires are waking. They claw at me and +hound me, but not one of them can I satisfy. We are lost! Lost, indeed!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. And I long for a cup of tea more than I can tell!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Hot green tea—that's just what I should like now—with a tiny +drop of rum in it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. No, not rum! I should prefer some cakes——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>Who has drawn near to listen</i>] Sugared, of course? I fear +you'll have to whistle for them.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. Oh, this dreadful language hurts me more than anything, else.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. That's because you don't know yet how something else is going +to hurt you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. What is that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. No, don't! We don't want to know! Please!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yes, I am going to tell. It begins with——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Puts her fingers in her ears and cries out</i>] Mercy! Don't, +don't, don't!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Yes, I will—and as my brother-in-law is curious, I'll tell it +to him. The second letter is——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. This uncertainty is worse than torture—Speak out, you devil, or +I'll kill you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Kill, ha ha! Everybody is immortal here, body and soul, what +little there is left. However, the third letter is—and that's all +you'll know!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MAN IN GREY</span>. [<i>A small, lean man with grey clothes, grey face, black +lips, grey beard, and grey hands; he speaks in a very low voice</i>] May I +speak a word with you, madam?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Rising in evident alarm</i>] What is it about?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MAN IN GREY</span>. [<i>Smiling a ghastly, malicious smile</i>] I'll tell—out +there.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span>. [<i>Crying</i>] No, no; I won't!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MAN IN GREY</span>. [<i>Laughing</i>]; It isn't dangerous. Come along! All I want +is to <i>speak</i> to you. Come now!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>They go toward the background and disappear</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>] A little Christmas entertainment is wholesome.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Do you mean to maltreat a woman?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. Here all injustices are abolished, and woman is treated as the +equal of man.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. You devil!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. That's all right, but don't call me hunchback, for that touches +my last illusion.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Steps up to the table</i>] Well, how do you like our +animal magnetism? It <i>can</i> work wonders on black-guards!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. I understand nothing of all this.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. That's just what is meant, and it is very nice of you to +admit that there are things you don't understand.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Granting that I am now in the realm of the dead——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Say "hell," for that is what it's called.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>Stammering</i>] Th-then I should like to remind you that He who +once descended here to redeem all lost——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span>. [<i>At a sign from</i> <span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span> <i>he strikes the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>in the +face</i>] Don't argue!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. They won't even listen to me! It is beyond despair! No mercy, no +hope, no end!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Quite right! Here you find only justice and +retribution—especially justice: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a +tooth! Just as you wanted it!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But among men there is pardon—and that you don't have here.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Monarchs alone possess the right to pardon. And as a man +of law you ought to know that a petition for pardon must be submitted +before it can be granted.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. For me there can be no pardon!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. [<i>Gives the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">PRINCE</span> <i>a sign to step aside</i>] You feel, +then, that your guilt is too great?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Yes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Then I'll speak kindly to you. There is an end, you see, +if there is a beginning. And you have made a beginning. But the sequel +will be long and hard.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. Oh, God is good!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. You have said it!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. But—there is one thing that cannot be undone—there is one!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. You are thinking of the monstrance which should have +been of gold but was of silver? Well, don't you think that He who +changed water into wine may also change silver into gold?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">JUDGE</span>. [<i>On his knees</i>] But my misdeed is too great, too great to be +forgiven.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE OTHER ONE</span>. Now you overestimate yourself again. But rise up. We +are about to celebrate Christmas in our own fashion.—The light of the +sun cannot reach here, as you know—nor that of the moon. But on this +night, and on this alone, a star rises so far above the rocks that it +is visible from here. It is the star that went before the shepherds +through the desert—and <i>that</i> was the morning star.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He claps his hands together</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The bust of Pan sinks into the ground. The</i> <span class="small-c">OLD LADY</span> <i>returns, +looking reassured and quietly happy. With a suggestion of firm +hope in mien and gesture, she goes up to the</i> <span class="small-c">JUDGE</span> <i>and takes +his hand. The stage becomes filled with shadows that are gazing +up at the rocks in the rear</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHORUS I</span>. [<i>Two sopranos and an alto sing behind the stage, accompanied +only by string instruments and a harp</i>.]</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 40%;"> +Puer natus est nobis;<br /> +Et filius datus est nobis,<br /> +Cujus imperium super humerum ejus;<br /> +Et vocabitur nomen ejus<br /> +Magni consilii Angelus.<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHORUS II</span>. [<i>Soprano, alto, tenor, basso</i>.]</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 40%;"> +Cantate Domino canticum novum<br /> +Quia mirabilia fecit!<br /> +</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The star becomes visible above the rocks in the rear. All +kneel down. A part of the rock glides aside, revealing a +tableau: the crib with the child and the mother; the shepherds +adoring at the left, the three Magi at the right</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CHORUS III</span>. [<i>Two sopranos and two altos.]</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 40%;"> +Gloria in excelsis Deo<br /> +Et in terra pax<br /> +Hominibus bonæ voluntatis!<br /> +</p> + +<h5><i>Curtain</i>.</h5> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="THE_THUNDERSTORM" id="THE_THUNDERSTORM">THE THUNDERSTORM</a></h3> + +<h4>(OVÄDER)</h4> + +<h4>A CHAMBER PLAY</h4> + +<h5>1907</h5> +<hr class="r5" /> + + +<p style="margin-left: 35%;"> +<span class="small-c">CHARACTERS</span><br /><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE MASTER</span>, <i>a retired government official</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE CONSUL</span>, <i>his brother</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">STARCK</span>, <i>a confectioner</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">AGNES</span>, <i>daughter of Starck</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>, <i>a relative of the Master</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">GERDA</span>, <i>the Master's divorced wife</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">FISCHER</span>, <i>second husband of Gerda</i><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE ICEMAN</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE LETTER-CARRIER</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE LAMPLIGHTER</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE LIQUORDEALER'S MAN</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">THE MILKMAID</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="small-c">SCENE I</span>—<span class="small-c">IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">SCENE II</span>—<span class="small-c">INSIDE THE HOUSE</span><br /> +<span class="small-c">SCENE III</span>—<span class="small-c">IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<h4>FIRST SCENE</h4> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The front of a modern house with a basement of granite. The +upper parts are of brick covered with yellow plastering. The +window-frames and other ornaments are of sandstone. A low +archway leads through the basement to the court and serves also +as entrance to the confectioner's shop. The corner of the house +appears at the right of the stage, where the avenue opens into +a small square planted with roses and various other flowers. At +the corner is a mail-box. The main floor, above the basement, +has large windows, all of which are open. Four of these windows +belong to an elegantly furnished dining-room. The four middle +windows in the second story have red shades which are drawn; +the shades are illumined by light from within</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Along the front of the house runs a sidewalk with trees +planted at regular intervals. There is a lamp-post in the +extreme foreground and beside it stands a green bench</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>, <i>the confectioner, comes out with a chair and sits down +on the sidewalk</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>is visible in the dining-room of the main floor, +seated at the table. Behind him appears an oven built of green +majolica tiles. On its mantelshelf stands a large photograph +between two candelabra and some vases containing flowers. A +young girl in a light dress is just serving the final course</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER'S</span> <i>brother, the</i> CONSUL, <i>appears in front of the +house, coming from the left, and knocks with his walking-stick +on the sill of one of the dining-room windows</i>.</p></blockquote> +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Will you soon be through?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I'll come in a moment.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>Saluting the confectioner</i>] Good evening, Mr. Starck. It's +still hot——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Good evening, Consul. Yes, it's the dog-day heat, and we have +been making jam all day.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Is that so? It's a good year for fruit, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. It might be worse. Well, the spring was cold, but the summer +turned out unbearably hot. It was hard on us who had to stay in the +city.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I got back from the country yesterday—one begins to wish +oneself back when the evenings grow dark.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Neither I nor my wife have been out of the city. Of course, +business is at a standstill, but you have to be on hand to make +ready for the winter. First come strawberries, then cherries, then +raspberries, and last gooseberries, cantaloupes and all the fall +fruits——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Tell me something, Mr. Starck. Is the house here to be sold?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Not that I have heard.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. There are a lot of people living here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Something like ten families, I think, counting those in the +rear also. But nobody knows anybody else. There is unusually little +gossiping in the house. It seems rather as if everybody were hiding. I +have lived here ten years, and during the first two years we had for +neighbours a strange family that kept very quiet in the daytime. But at +night they began to stir about, and then carriages would come and fetch +things away. Not until the end of the second year did I learn that +they had been running a private sanatorium, and that what was being +taken away at night were dead bodies.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Horrible!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. And they call it the Silent House.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Yes, there isn't much talking done here.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. More than one drama has been played here, nevertheless.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Tell me, Mr. Starck, who lives up there on the second floor, +right above my brother?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Up there, where the light comes through the red shades—a +tenant died there during the summer. Then the place stood empty for a +month, and a week ago a new family moved in. I haven't seen them. I +don't know their name. I don't think they ever go out. Why did you ask, +Consul?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Whew—I don't know! Those four red shades look like stage +curtains behind which some sanguinary tragedies are being rehearsed—or +I imagine so, at least. There is a palm at one of the windows looking +like a rod made of wire—you can see the shadow of it on the shade. If +only some people were to be seen——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. I have seen plenty of them, but not until later—at night.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Was it men or women you saw?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Both, I guess—but now I must get back to my pots. [<i>He +disappears into the gateway</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Still inside, has risen from the table and lighted a cigar; +he is now standing at the open window, talking to his brother outside</i>] +I'll be ready in a moment. Louise is only going to sew a button on one +of my gloves.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Then you mean to go down-town?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Perhaps we'll take a turn in that direction—Whom were you +talking with?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Just the confectioner——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Oh, yes—a very decent fellow—and, for that matter, my only +companion here during the summer.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Have you really stayed at home every night—never gone out?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Never! Those light evenings make me timid. They are pleasant in +the country, of course, but here in the city they produce the effect of +something unnatural—almost ghastly. But no sooner has the first street +lamp been lighted than I feel calm once more and can resume my evening +walks. In that way I can get tired and sleep better at night. [<span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> +<i>hands him the glove</i>] Thank you, my child. You can just as well leave +the windows open, as there are no mosquitoes. [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>] Now I'm +coming.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A few moments later he can be seen coming out of the house +on the side facing the square; he stops at the corner to drop +a letter in the mail-box; then he comes around the corner to +the front of the house and sits down on the bench beside his +brother</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But tell me: why do you stay in the city when you <i>could</i> be in +the country?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I don't know. I have lost my power of motion. My memory has +tied me for ever to these rooms. Only within them can I find peace and +protection. In there—yes! It is interesting to look at your own home +from the outside. Then I imagine that some other man is pacing back and +forth in there—Just think: for ten years I have been pacing back and +forth in there!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Is it ten years now?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, time goes quickly—once it is gone. But when it is still +going it seems slow enough.—That time the house was new. I watched +them putting down the hard-wood floor in the dining-room and painting +the doors; and <i>she</i> was permitted to pick out the wall-paper, which +is still there—Yes, that was then! The confectioner and I are the +oldest tenants in the place, and he, too, has had a few experiences of +his own—he is one of those people who never succeed but are always in +some kind of trouble. In a way, I have been living his life also, and +bearing his burdens besides my own.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Does he drink, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No-o—nothing of that kind, but there is no <i>go</i> to him. Well, +he and I know the history of this house: how they have arrived in +bridal coaches and left in hearses, while the mail-box at the corner +became the recipient of all their confidences.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. There was a death here in the middle of the summer, wasn't +there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, a case of typhoid—the man was manager of a bank—and then +the flat stood vacant for a month. The coffin came out first, then the +widow and the children, and last of all the furniture.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. That was on the second floor?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, up there, where you see the light—where those new people +are, about whom I know nothing at all.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Haven't you seen anything of them either?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I never ask any questions about the other tenants. What comes +to me unasked, I accept—but I never make any wrong use of it, and I +never interfere, for I am anxious for the peace of my old age.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Old age—yes! I think it's nice to grow old, for then there +isn't so much left to be recorded.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Indeed, it is nice. I am settling my accounts, both with life +and with people, and I have already begun to pack for the journey. +Of course, the solitude has its draw-backs, but when there is nobody +who can make any demands on you, then you have won your freedom—the +freedom to come and go, to think and act, to eat and sleep, in +accordance with your own choice.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>At this moment the shade in one of the windows on the second +floor is raised a little way, so that part of a woman's dress +becomes visible. Then it is quickly drawn again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. They are astir up there—did you see?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, there is such a lot of mystery about it—and at night it +is worse than ever. Sometimes there is music, but it's always bad; +and sometimes I think they are playing cards; and long after midnight +carriages drive up and take away people.—I never make a complaint +against other tenants, for then they want to get even, and nobody wants +to change his ways. The best thing is to remain oblivious of everything.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>A gentleman, dressed in a dinner coat but bareheaded, comes +out of the house and drops a big pile of letters into the +mail-box; then he disappears into the house again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. That fellow must have a lot of correspondence.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. It looked to me like circulars.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But who is he?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Why, that's the new tenant up there on the second floor.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Oh, is that so! What do you think he looked like?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I don't know. Musician, conductor, a touch of musical +comedy, with a leaning to vaudeville—gambler—Adonis—a little of +everything——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Black hair should have gone with that pale complexion of +his, but his hair was brown—which means that it had been dyed, or +that he wears a wig. A tuxedo at home indicates an empty wardrobe, +and the movements of his hands as he dropped the letters into the +box suggested shuffling and cutting and dealing—[<i>At this moment +waltz music becomes faintly audible from the second floor</i>] Always +waltzes—perhaps they have a dancing-school—but it's always the same +waltz—what's the name of it now?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Why, I think—that's "Pluie d'or"—I know it by heart.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Have you heard it in your own house?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, that one and the "Alcazar Waltz."</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>becomes visible in the dining-room, where she is +putting things in order and wiping the glassware on the buffet</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Are you still pleased with Louise?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Very.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Isn't she going to marry?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Not that I know of.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Is there no fiancé in sight?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Why do you ask?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Have you had any thoughts of that kind?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I? No, thank you! When I married the last time I was not too +old, as we had a child in due time, but I have grown too old since +then, and now I want to spend my evening in peace—Do you think I want +another master in my own house, who would rob me of life and honour and +goods?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Oh, nobody took your life or your goods——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Do you mean to say that my honour suffered any harm?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Don't you know?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What <i>do</i> you mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. In leaving you, she killed your honour.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then I have been a dead man for five years without knowing it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. You haven't known it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No, but now I'll tell you in a few words what really happened. +When, at fifty, I married a girl much younger than myself—one whose +heart I had won and who gave me her hand fearlessly and willingly—then +I promised her that if ever my age should become a burden to her youth +I would go my own way and give her back her freedom. Since the child +had come in due time, and neither one of us wanted another, and since +our little girl had begun to grow apart from me, so that I had come to +feel superfluous, I did go my way—that is, I took a boat, as we were +living on an island—and that was the end of the whole story. I had +redeemed my promise and saved my honour—what more besides?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. All right—but she thought it an attack on her own honour, +because she had meant to go away herself. And so she killed you by +tacit accusations which never reached your ears.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Did she accuse herself also?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. No, she had no reason to do so.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then no harm has been done.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Do you know what has become of her and the child since then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I don't want to know! Having at last outlived the horrors of +longing, I came to regard the whole business as buried; and as none but +beautiful memories were left behind in our rooms, I remained where I +was. However, I thank you for that piece of valuable information!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Which one?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. That she had no reason for self-accusation, for if she had it +would constitute an accusation against me——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I think you are living under a serious misconception——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. If I am, leave me alone! A clear conscience—comparatively +clear, at least—has always been the diving-suit that has enabled me +to descend into the vast deeps without being suffocated. [<i>Rising</i>] +To think of it—that I got out of it with my life! And now it's all +over!—Suppose we take a turn down the avenue?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. All right, then we can see them light the first street lamp of +the season.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. But won't the moon be up to-night—the harvest-moon?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Why, I think the moon is full just now——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Going to one of the windows and talking into the +dining-room</i>] Please hand me my stick, Louise. The light one—I just +want to hold it in my hand.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. [<i>Handing out a cane of bamboo</i>] Here it is, sir.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Thank you, my girl. Now turn out the light in the dining-room +if you have nothing to do there. We'll be gone a little while—I cannot +tell just how long.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>and the</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>go out to the left</i>. <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> +<i>remains standing by the open window</i>. <span class="small-c">STARCK</span> <i>comes out of the +gateway</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Good evening, Miss Louise. It's awfully hot!—So your gentlemen +have disappeared?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. They have gone for a stroll down the avenue—the first time my +master has gone out this summer.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. We old people love the twilight, which covers up so many +defects both in ourselves and others. Do you know, Miss Louise, my old +woman is getting blind, but she won't have an operation performed. She +says there is nothing to look at, and that sometimes she wishes she +were deaf, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Well, one does feel that way—at times.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Of course, you are leading a very quiet life in there, with +plenty of everything, and nothing to worry about. I have never heard a +loud voice or the slamming of a door—perhaps, even, it is a little too +quiet for a young lady like yourself?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Not at all! I love the quiet, and whatever is dignified, +graceful, measured—with nobody blurting out things, and all thinking +it a duty to overlook the less pleasant features of daily life.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. And you have never any company?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. No, only the consul comes here—and the like of the love +between those two brothers I have never seen.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Who is the elder of the two?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. That's more than I can tell. Whether there is a year or two +between them, or they are twins, I don't know, for they treat each +other with mutual respect, as if each one of them was the elder brother.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span> <i>appears, trying to get past</i> <span class="small-c">STARCK</span> <i>without being seen +by him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Where are you going, girl?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span>. Oh, I am just going out for a little walk.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. That's right, but get back soon.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span> <i>goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Do you think your master is still mourning the loss of his dear +ones?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. He doesn't mourn—he doesn't even feel any regrets, for he +doesn't want them back—but he is always with them in his memory, where +he keeps only their beautiful traits.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. But doesn't the fate of his daughter trouble him at times?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Yes, he cannot help fearing that the mother may have married +again, and then, of course, everything depends on how the child's +stepfather turns out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. I have been told that the wife refused alimony at first, but +that now, when five years have passed, she has sent him a lawyer with a +demand for many thousands——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. [<i>With reserve</i>] I know nothing about it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. I believe, however, that she was never more beautiful than in +his memory——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE LIQUORDEALER'S MAN</span>. [<i>Enters, carrying a crateful of bottles</i>] +Excuse me, but does Mr. Fischer live here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Mr. Fischer? Not so far as I know.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Perhaps Fischer is the name of that fellow on the second floor? +Around the corner—one flight up.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE LIQUORDEALER'S MAN</span>. [<i>Going toward the square</i>] One flight +up—thanks. [<i>He disappears around the corner</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Carrying up bottles again—that means another sleepless night.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. What kind of people are they? Why don't they ever show +themselves?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I suppose they use the back-stairs, for I have never seen them. +But I do hear them.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Yes, I have also heard doors bang and corks pop—and the +popping of other things, too, I guess.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. And they never open their windows, in spite of the heat—they +must be Southerners.—Why, that's lightning—a lot of it!—I guess +it's nothing but heat-lightning, for there has been no thunder.</p> + +<p>A <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">VOICE</span>. [<i>Is heard from the basement</i>] Starck, dear, won't you come +down and help me put in the sugar!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. All right, old lady, I'm coming! [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>] We are making +jam, you know. [<i>As he goes</i>] I'm coming, I'm coming! [<i>He disappears +into the gateway again</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>remains standing at the window</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>Enters slowly from the right</i>] Isn't my brother back yet?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. No, sir.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. He wanted to telephone, and I was to go ahead. Well, I suppose +he'll be here soon.—What's this? [<i>He stoops to pick up a post-card</i>] +What does it say?—"Boston club at midnight: Fischer."—Do you know who +Fischer is, Louise?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. There was a man with a lot of wine looking for Fischer a while +ago—up on the second floor.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. On the second floor—Fischer! Red shades that make the place +look like a drug-store window at night! I fear you have got bad company +in the house.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. What is a Boston club?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Oh, there need be no harm in it at all—in this case I don't +know, however.—But how did the post-card—? Oh, it was <i>he</i> who +dropped it a while ago. Then I'll put it back in the box.—Fischer? +I have heard that name before. In connection with something I cannot +recall just now—May I ask a question, Miss Louise: does my brother +never speak of—the past?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Not to me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Miss Louise—one more question <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Excuse me, but here +comes the milk, and I have to receive it. [<i>She leaves the dining-room</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MILKMAID</span> <i>appears from the right and enters the house +from the square</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. [<i>Comes out again, takes off his white linen cap, and puffs +with heat</i>] In and out, like a badger at its hole—it's perfectly +horrid down there by the ovens—and the evening doesn't make it any +cooler.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. All this lightning shows that we are going to have rain—Well, +the city isn't pleasant, exactly, but up here you have quiet at least: +never any rattling carriages, and still less any street-cars—it's just +like the country.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Of course, it's quiet, but it's too quiet for business. I +know my trade, but I am a poor salesman—have always been, and +can't learn—or it may be something else. Perhaps I haven't got the +proper manner. For when customers act as if I were a swindler I get +embarrassed at first, and then as mad as it is possible for me to +become. But nowadays I haven't the strength to get really mad. It has +been worn out of me—everything gets worn out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Why don't you go to work for somebody else?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Who would want me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Have you ever tried?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. What would be the use of it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Oh—well!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>At this moment a long-drawn "O-oh" is heard from the apartment +on the second floor</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. What, in the name of Heaven, are they up to in that place? Are +they killing each other?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I don't like this new and unknown element that has come into +the house. It is pressing on us like a red thunder-cloud. What kind of +people are they? Where do they come from? What do they want here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. It's so very dangerous to delve in other people's affairs—you +get mixed up in them yourself——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Do you know anything about them?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. No, I don't know anything at all.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Now they're screaming again, this time in the stairway——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. [<i>Withdrawing into the gateway and speaking in a low voice</i>] I +don't want to have anything to do with this.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>, <i>the divorced wife of the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span>, <i>comes running from +the house into the square. She is bareheaded, with her hair +down, and very excited. The</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>approaches her, and they +recognise each other. She draws back from him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. So it's you—my former sister-in-law?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes, it is I.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. How did you get into this house, and why can't you let my +brother enjoy his peace?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Bewildered</i>] They didn't give us the right name of the tenant +below—I thought he had moved—I couldn't help it——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Don't be afraid—you don't have to be afraid of me, Gerda! Can +I be of any help to you? What's happening up there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He was beating me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Is your little girl with you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. So she has got a stepfather?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Put up your hair and calm yourself. Then I'll try to straighten +this matter out. But spare my brother——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I suppose he hates me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. No, don't you see that he has been taking care of your flowers +in the bed over there? He brought the soil himself, in a basket, +don't you remember? Don't you recognise your blue gentians and the +mignonette, your <i>Malmaison</i> and <i>Merveille de Lyons</i> roses, which he +budded himself? Don't you understand that he has cherished the memory +of yourself and of the child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Where is he now?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Taking a walk along the avenue, but he will be here in a few +minutes with the evening papers. When he comes from that side he uses +the back door, and he goes straight into the dining-room to read the +papers. Stand still and he won't notice you.—But you must go back to +your own rooms——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I can't! I can't go back to that man.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Who is he, and what?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He—has been a singer.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Has been—and what is he now? An adventurer?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Keeps a gambling-house?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c"><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span></span>. And the child? Bait?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Oh, don't say that!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. It's horrible!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You are too harsh about the whole thing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Of course, filth must be handled gently—so very gently! But +a just cause should be dragged in the dirt. Why did you defile his +honour, and why did you lure me into becoming your accomplice? I was +childish enough to trust your word, and I defended your unjust cause +against his.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You forget that he was too old.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. No, he wasn't <i>then</i>, as you had a child at once. When he +proposed, he asked if you wanted to have a child with him, and he vowed +in the bargain to give you back your freedom when his promise had been +kept and old age began to weigh him down.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He deserted me, and that was an insult.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Not to you! Your youth prevented it from being a reflection on +you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He should have let me leave him.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Why? Why did you want to heap dishonour on him?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. One of us had to bear it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. What strange paths your thoughts pursue! However, you have +killed him, and fooled me into helping you. How can we rehabilitate him?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. If he is to be rehabilitated, it can only be at my expense.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I cannot follow your thoughts, which always turn to hatred. +But suppose we leave the rehabilitation alone and think only of how his +daughter is to be saved: what can we do then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. She is my child. She's mine by law, and my husband is her +father——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Now <i>you</i> are too harsh about it! And you have grown cruel and +vulgar—Hush! Here he comes now.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>enters from the left with a newspaper in his +hand; he goes into the house pensively by the back door, while +the</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>remain motionless, hidden behind the +corner of the house</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Then the</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>come down the stage. A moment +later the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>becomes visible in the dining-room, where he +sits down to read the paper</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. It was he!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Come over here and look at your home. See how he has kept +everything as it was—arranged to suit your taste.—Don't be afraid. +It's so dark out here that he can't see us. The light in the room +blinds him, you know.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. How he has been lying to me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. In what respect?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He hasn't grown old! He had grown tired of me—that was the +whole thing! Look at his collar—and his tie—the very latest fashion! +I am sure he has a mistress!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Yes, you can see her photograph on the mantelshelf, between the +candelabra.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. It is myself and the child! Does he still love me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Your memory only!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. That's strange!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>ceases to read and stares out through the window</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He is looking at us!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Don't move!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He is looking straight into my eyes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Be still! He doesn't see you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. He looks as if he were dead——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Well, he has been killed.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Why do you talk like that?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>An unusually strong flash of heat-lightning illumines the +figures of the</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>and</i> <span class="small-c">GERDA</span>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>rises with an expression of horror on his face</i>. +<span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>takes refuge behind the corner of the house</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Carl Frederick! [<i>Coming to the window</i>] Are you alone? I +thought—Are you really alone?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. As you see.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. The air is so sultry, and the flowers give me a headache—I am +just going to finish the newspaper.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He resumes his former position.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Now let us get at your affairs. Do you want me to go with you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Perhaps! But it will be a hard struggle.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But the child must be saved. And I am a lawyer.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Well, for the child's sake, then! Come with me!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>They go out together.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Calling from within</i>] Carl Frederick, come in and have a game +of chess!—Carl Frederick!</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4>SECOND SCENE</h4> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Inside the dining-room. The brick stove appears at the centre +of the rear wall. To the left of it there is a door leading +into the pantry. Another door to the right of it leads to the +hallway. At the left stands a buffet with a telephone on it. A +piano and a tall clock stand at the right. There are doors in +both side walls</i>.</p> + + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>is in the room, and</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>enters as the +curtain rises</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Where did my brother go?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. [<i>Alarmed</i>] He was outside a moment ago. He can't be very far +away.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What a dreadful noise they are making up above! It is as +if they were stepping on my head! Now they are pulling out bureau +drawers as if they were were preparing for a journey—running away, +perhaps.—If you only knew how to play chess, Louise!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I know a little——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Oh, if you just know how to move the pieces, that will be +enough—Sit down, child. [<i>He sets up the chess pieces</i>] They are +carrying on up there so that they make the chandelier rattle—and the +confectioner is heating up down below. I think I'll have to move soon.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I have long thought that you ought to do so anyhow.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Anyhow?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. It isn't good to stay too long among old memories.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Why not? As time passes, all memories grow beautiful.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. But you may live twenty years more, and that is too long a time +to live among memories which, after all, must fade and which may change +colour entirely some fine day.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. How much you know, my child!—Begin now by moving a pawn—but +not the one in front of the queen, or you will be mate in two moves.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Then I start with the knight——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Hardly less dangerous, girl!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. But I think I'll start with the knight just the same.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. All right. Then I'll move my bishop's pawn.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span> <i>appears in the hallway, carrying a tray</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. There's Mr. Starck with the tea-cakes. He doesn't make any more +noise than a mouse.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>She rises and goes out into the hallway to receive the tray, +which she then carries into the pantry</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, Mr. Starck, how is the old lady?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Oh, thank you, her eyes are about as usual.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Have you seen anything of my brother?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. He is walking back and forth outside, I think.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Has he got any company?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. No-o—I don't think so.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. It wasn't yesterday you had a look at these rooms, Mr. Starck.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. I should say not—it's just ten years ago now——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. When you brought the wedding-cake.—Does the place look changed?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. It is just as it was—the palms have grown, of course—but the +rest is just as it was.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. And will remain so until you bring the funeral cake. When you +have passed a certain age, nothing changes, nothing progresses—all the +movement is downward like that of a sleigh going down-hill.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Yes, that's the way it is.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. And it is peaceful, the way I have it here. No love, no +friends, only a little company to break up the solitude. Then human +beings are just human beings, without any claims on your feelings and +sympathies. Then you come loose like an old tooth, and drop out without +pain or regrets. Take Louise, for instance—a pretty young girl, the +sight of whom pleases me like a work of art that I don't wish to +possess—there is nothing to disturb our relationship. My brother and I +meet like two old gentlemen who never get too close to each other and +never exact any confidences. By taking up a neutral position toward +one's fellow-men, one attains a certain distance—and as a rule we look +better at a distance. In a word, I am pleased with my old age and its +quiet peace—[<i>Calling out</i>] Louise!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. [<i>Appearing in the doorway at the left and speaking pleasantly +as always</i>] The laundry has come home, and I have to check it off. +[<i>She disappears again</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, Mr. Starck, won't you sit down and chat a little—or +perhaps you play chess?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. I can't stay away from my pots, and the oven has to be heated +up at eleven. It's very kind of you, however——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. If you catch sight of my brother, ask him to come in and keep +me company.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. So I will—so I will! [<i>He goes</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Alone; moves a couple of pieces on the chess-board; then gets +up and begins to walk about</i>] The peace of old age—yes! [<i>He sits down +at the piano and strikes a few chords; then he gets up and walks about +as before</i>] Louise! Can't you let the laundry wait a little?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. [<i>Appears again for a moment in the doorway at the left</i>] No, +I can't, because the wash-woman is in a hurry—she has husband and +children waiting for her.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Oh! [<i>He sits down at the table and begins to drum with his +fingers on it; tries to read the newspaper, but tires of it; lights +matches only to blow them out again at once; looks repeatedly at the +big clock, until at last a noise is heard from the hallway</i>] Is that +you, Carl Frederick?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE MAIL-CARRIER</span>. [<i>Appears in the doorway</i>] It's the mail. Excuse me +for walking right in, but the door was standing open.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Is there a letter for me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE MAIL-CARRIER</span>. Only a post-card.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He hands it over and goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Reading the post-card</i>] Mr. Fischer again! Boston club! +That's the man up above—with the white hands and the tuxedo coat. And +to me! The impertinence of it! I have got to move!—Fischer!—[<i>He +tears up the card; again a noise is heard, in the hallway</i>] Is that +you, Carl Frederick?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">THE ICEMAN</span>. [<i>Without coming into the room</i>] It's the ice!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, it's nice to get ice in this heat. But be careful about +those bottles in the box. And put one of the pieces on edge so that I +can hear the water drip from it as it melts—That's my water-clock that +measures out the hours—the long hours—Tell me, where do you get the +ice from nowadays?—Oh, he's gone!—Everybody goes away—goes home—to +hear their own voices and get some company-[<i>Pause</i>] Is that you, Carl +Frederick?</p> + +<p><i>Somebody in the apartment above plays Chopin's</i> Fantaisie Impromptu, +Opus 66, <i>on the piano</i>—<i>but only the first part of it</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Begins to listen, is aroused, looks up at the ceiling</i>] My +<i>Impromptu</i>?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He covers his eyes with one hand and listens</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>enters through the hallway</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Is that you, Carl Frederick?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The music stops</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. It is I.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Where have you been so long?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I had some business to clear up. Have you been alone?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Of course! Come and play chess now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I prefer to talk. And you need also to hear your own voice a +little.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. True enough—only it is so easy to get to talking about the +past.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. That makes us forget the present.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. There is no present. What's just passing is empty nothingness. +One has to look ahead or behind—and ahead is better, for there lies +hope!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>Seating himself at the table</i>] Hope—of what?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Of change.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Well! Do you mean to say you have had enough of the peace of +old age?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Perhaps.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. It's certain then. And if now you had the choice between +solitude and the past?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No ghosts, however!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. How about your memories?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. They don't walk. They are only poems wrought by me out of +certain realities. But if dead people walk, then you have ghosts.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Well, then—in your memory—who brings you the prettiest +mirage: the woman or the child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Both! I cannot separate them, and that's why I never tried to +keep the child.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But do you think you did right? Did the possibility of a +stepfather never occur to you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I didn't think that far ahead at the time, but afterward, of +course, I have had—my thoughts—about—that very thing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. A stepfather who abused—perhaps debased—your daughter?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Hush!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. What is it you hear?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I thought I heard the "little steps"—those little steps that +came tripping down the corridor when she was looking for me.—It was +the child that was the best of all! To watch that fearless little +creature, whom nothing could frighten, who never suspected that life +might be deceptive, who had no secrets! I recall her first experience +of the malice that is in human beings. She caught sight of a pretty +child down in the park, and, though it was strange to her, she went +up to it with open arms to kiss it—and the pretty child rewarded her +friendliness by biting her in the cheek first and then making a face +at her. Then you should have seen my little Anne-Charlotte. She stood +as if turned to stone. And it wasn't pain that did it, but horror at +the sight of that yawning abyss which is called the human heart. I +have been confronted with the same sight myself once, when out of two +beautiful eyes suddenly shot strange glances as if some evil beast had +appeared behind those eyes. It scared me literally so that I had to see +if some other person were standing behind that face, which looked like +a mask.—But why do we sit here talking about such things? Is it the +heat, or the storm, or what?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Solitude brings heavy thoughts, and you ought to have company. +This summer in the city seems to have been rather hard on you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Only these last few weeks. The sickness and that death up +above—it was as if I had gone through it myself. The sorrows and +cares of the confectioner have also become my own, so that I keep +worrying about his finances, about his wife's eye trouble, about his +future—and of late I have been dreaming every night about my little +Anne-Charlotte. I see her surrounded by dangers—unknown, undiscovered, +nameless. And before I fall asleep my hearing grows so unbelievably +acute that I can hear her little steps—and once I heard her voice——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But where is she then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Don't ask me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. And if you were to meet her on the street?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I imagine that I should lose my reason or fall in a faint. +Once, you know, I stayed abroad very long, during the very time when +our youngest sister was growing up. When I returned, after several +years, I was met at the steam-boat landing by a young girl who put +her arms around my neck. I was horrified at those eyes that searched +mine, but with unfamiliar glances—glances that expressed absolute +terror at not being recognised. "It is I," she repeated again and again +before at last I was able to recognise my own sister. And that's how I +imagine it would be for me to meet my daughter again. Five years are +enough to render you unrecognisable at that age. Think of it: not to +know your own child! That child, who is the same as before, and yet a +stranger! I couldn't survive such a thing. No, then I prefer to keep +the little girl of four years whom you see over there on the altar of +my home. I want no other one. [<i>Pause</i>] That must be Louise putting +things to rights in the linen closet. It has such a clean smell, and it +reminds me—oh, the housewife at her linen closet; the good fairy that +preserves and renews; the housewife with her iron, who smooths out all +that has been ruffled up and who takes out all wrinkles—the wrinkles, +yes—[<i>Pause</i>] Now—I'll—go in there to write a letter. If you'll +stay, I'll be out again soon.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out to the left</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>coughs</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Appears in the door to the hallway</i>] Are you—[<i>The clock +strikes</i>] Oh, mercy! That sound—which has remained in my ears for ten +years! That clock which never kept time and yet measured the long hours +and days and nights of five years. [<i>She looks around</i>] My piano—my +palms—the dinner-table—he has kept it in honour, shining as a +shield! My buffet—with the "Knight in Armour" and "Eve"—Eve with her +basketful of apples—In the right-hand upper drawer, way back, there +was a thermometer lying—[<i>Pause</i>] I wonder if it is still there? [<i>She +goes to the buffet and pulls out the right-hand drawer</i>] Yes, there it +is!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. What does that mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Oh, in the end it became a symbol—of instability. When we went +to housekeeping the thermometer was not put in its place at once—of +course, it ought to be outside the window. I promised to put it up—and +forgot it. He promised, and forgot. Then we nagged each other about +it, and at last, to get away from it, I hid it in this drawer. I came +to hate it, and so did he. Do you know what was back of all that? +Neither one of us believed that our relationship would last, because we +unmasked at once and gave free vent to our antipathies. To begin with, +we lived on tiptoe, so to speak—always ready to fly off at a moment's +notice. That was what the thermometer stood for—and here it is still +lying! Always on the move, always changeable, like the weather. [<i>She +puts away the thermometer and goes over to the chess-board</i>] My chess +pieces! Which he bought to kill the time that hung heavy on our hands +while we were waiting for the little one to come. With whom does he +play now?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. With me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Where is he?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. He is in his room writing a letter.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Where?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>Pointing toward the left</i>] There.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Shocked</i>] And here he has been going for five years?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Ten years—five of them alone!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Of course, he loves solitude.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But I think he has had enough of it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Will he turn me out?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Find out for yourself! You take no risk, as he is always polite.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I didn't make that centrepiece——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. That is to say, you risk his asking you for the child.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. But it was he who should help me find it again——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Where do you think Fischer has gone, and what can be the +purpose of his flight?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. To get away from the unpleasant neighbourhood, first of all; +then to make me run after him. And he wanted the girl as a hostage, of +course.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. As to the ballet—that's something the father <i>must not</i> know, +for he hates music-halls.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Sitting down in front of the chess-board and beginning, +absent-mindedly, to arrange the pieces</i>] Music-halls—oh, I have been +there myself.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. You?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I have accompanied on the piano.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Poor Gerda!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Why? I love that kind of life. And when I was a prisoner here, +it wasn't the keeper, but the prison itself, that made me fret.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But now you have had enough?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Now I am in love with peace and solitude—and with my child +above all.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Hush, he's coming!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Rises as if to run away, but sinks down on the chair again</i>] +Oh!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Now I leave you. Don't think of what you are to say. It will +come of itself, like the "next move" in a game of chess.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I fear his first glance most of all, for it will tell me whether +I have changed for better or for worse—whether I have grown old and +ugly.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>Going out to the right</i>] If he finds you looking older, then +he will dare to approach you. If he finds you as young as ever, he will +have no hope, for he is more diffident than you think.—Now!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>is seen outside, passing by the door leading +to the pantry; he carries a letter in his hand; then he +disappears, only to become visible again a moment later in the +hallway, where he opens the outside door and steps out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>In the doorway at the right</i>] He went out to the mail-box.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. No, this is too much for me! How can I possibly ask <i>him</i> to +help me with this divorce? I want to get out! It's too brazen!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Stay! You know that his kindness has no limits. And he'll help +you for the child's sake.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. No, no!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. And he is the only one who can help you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Enters quickly from the hallway and nods at</i> <span class="small-c">GERDA</span>, <i>whom, +because of his near-sightedness, he mistakes for</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>; <i>then he goes +to the buffet and picks up the telephone, but in passing he remarks to</i> +<span class="small-c">GERDA</span>] So you're done already? Well, get the pieces ready then, and +we'll begin all over again—from the beginning.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>stands paralysed, not understanding the situation</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Speaks in the telephone receiver, with his back to</i> <span class="small-c">Gerda</span>] +Hello!—Good evening! Is that you, mother?—Pretty well, thank you! +Louise is waiting to play a game of chess with me, but she is a +little tired after a lot of bother—It's all over now—everything +all right—nothing serious at all.—If it's hot? Well, there has +been a lot of thundering, right over our heads, but nobody has been +struck. False alarm!—What did you say? Fischer?—Yes, but I think +they are going to leave.—Why so? I know nothing in particular.—Oh, +is that so?—Yes, it leaves at six-fifteen, by the outside route, +and it gets there—let me see—at eight-twenty-five.—Did you have a +good time?—[<i>With a little laugh</i>] Oh, he's impossible when he gets +started! And what did Marie have to say about it?—How I have had it +during the summer? Oh, well, Louise and I have kept each other company, +and she has got such an even, pleasant temper.—Yes, she is very nice, +indeed!—Oh, no, nothing of that kind!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>, <i>who has begun to understand, rises with an expression +of consternation on her face</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. My eyes? Oh, I am getting a little near-sighted. But I feel +like the confectioner's old wife: there is nothing to look at. Wish I +were deaf, too! Deaf and blind! The neighbours above make such a lot of +noise at night—it's a gambling club—There now! Somebody got on the +wire to listen. [<i>He rings again</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>appears in the door to the hallway without being seen +by the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span>; <span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>stares at her with mingled admiration +and hatred</i>; <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>withdraws toward the right</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>At the telephone</i>] Is that you? The cheek of it—to +break off our talk in order to listen!—To-morrow, then, at +six-fifteen.—Thank you, and the same to you!—Yes, I will, +indeed!—Good night, mother! [<i>He rings off</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>has disappeared</i>. <span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>is standing in the middle of +the floor</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Turns around and catches sight of</i> <span class="small-c">GERDA</span>, <i>whom he gradually +recognises; then he puts his hand to his heart</i>] O Lord, was that you? +Wasn't Louise here a moment ago?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>remains silent</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Feebly</i>] How—how did you get here?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I hope you pardon—I just got to the city—I was passing by and +felt a longing to have a look at my old home—the windows were open——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>Pause</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Do you find things as they used to be?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Exactly, and yet different—there is a difference</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Feeling unhappy</i>] Are you satisfied—with your life?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes. I have what I was looking for.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. And the child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Oh, she's growing, and thriving, and lacks nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then I won't ask anything more. [<i>Pause</i>] Did you want +anything—of me—can I be of any service?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. It's very kind of you, but—I need nothing at all now when I +have seen that you lack nothing either. [<i>Pause]</i> Do you wish to see +Anne-Charlotte?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I don't think so, now when I have heard that she is doing well. +It's so hard to begin over again. It's like having to repeat a lesson +at school—which you know already, although the teacher doesn't think +so—I have got so far away from all that—I live in a wholly different +region—and I cannot connect with the past. It goes against me to be +impolite, but I am not asking you to be seated—you are another man's +wife—and you are not the same person as the one from whom I parted.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Am I then so—altered?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Quite strange to me! Your voice, glance, manner——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Have I grown old?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. That I cannot tell!—They say that not a single atom in a +person's body remains wholly the same after three years—and in five +years everything is renewed. And for that reason you, who stand over +there, are not the same person as the sufferer who once sat here—you +seem such a complete stranger to me that I can only address you in the +most formal way. And I suppose it would be just the same in the case of +my daughter, too.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Don't speak like that. I would much rather have you angry.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Why should I be angry?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Because of all the evil I have done you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Have you? That's more than I know.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Didn't you read the papers in the suit?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No-o! I left that to my lawyer. [<i>He sits down</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. And the decision of the court?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No, why should I? As I don't mean to marry again, I have no use +for that kind of documents.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Pause</i>. <span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>seats herself</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What did those papers say? That I was too old?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA'S</span> <i>silence indicates assent</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, that was nothing but the truth, so that need not trouble +you. In my answer I said the very same thing and asked the Court to set +you free again.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You said, that——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I said, not that I <i>was</i>, but that I was about to <i>become</i> too +old <i>for you</i>!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Offended</i>] For me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes.—I couldn't say that I was too old when we married, for +then the arrival of the child would have been unpleasantly explained, +and it was <i>our</i> child, was it not?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You know that, of course! But——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Do you think I should be ashamed of my age?—Of course, if +I took to dancing and playing cards at night, then I might soon land +in an invalid's chair, or on the operating-table, and that would be a +shame.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You don't look it——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Did you expect the divorce to kill me?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The silence of</i> <span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>is ambiguous</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. There are those who assert that you <i>have</i> killed me. Do you +think I look like a dead man?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>appears embarrassed</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Some of your friends are said to have caricatured me in the +papers, but I have never seen anything of it, and those papers went +into the dump five years ago. So there is no need for your conscience +to be troubled on my behalf.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Why did you marry me?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Don't you know why a man marries? And you know, too, that I +didn't have to go begging for love. And you ought to remember how +we laughed together at all the wiseacres who felt compelled to warn +you.—But why you led me on is something I have never been able to +explain—When you didn't look at me after the marriage ceremony, but +acted as if you had been attending somebody else's wedding, then I +thought you had made a bet that you could kill me. As the head of the +department, I was, of course, hated by all my subordinates, but they +became your friends at once. No sooner did I make an enemy than he +became <i>your</i> friend. Which caused me to remark that, while it was +right for you not to hate your enemies, it was also right that you +shouldn't <i>love</i> mine!—However, seeing where you stood, I began to +prepare for a retreat at once, but before leaving I wanted a living +proof that you had not been telling the truth, and so I stayed until +the little one arrived.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. To think that you could be so disingenuous!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I learned to keep silent, but I never lied!—By degrees you +turned all my friends into detectives, and you lured my own brother +into betraying me. But worst of all was that your thoughtless chatter +threw suspicions on the legitimacy of the child.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. All that I took back!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. The word that's on the wing cannot be pulled back again. And +worse still: those false rumours reached the child, and now she thinks +her mother a——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. For Heaven's sake!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, that's the truth of it. You raised a tall tower on a +foundation of lies, and now the tower of lies is tumbling down on your +head.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. It isn't true!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, it is! I met Anne-Charlotte a few minutes ago——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You have met——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. We met on the stairs, and she said I was her uncle. Do you +know what an uncle is? That's an elderly friend of the house and the +mother. And I know that at school I am also passing as her uncle.—But +all that is dreadful for the child!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. You have met——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes. But why should I tell anybody about it? Haven't I a right +to keep silent? And, besides, that meeting was so shocking to me that I +wiped it out of my memory as if it had never existed.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. What can I do to rehabilitate you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. You? What could you do? That's something I can only do myself. +[<i>For a long time they gaze intently at each other</i>] And for that +matter, I have already got my rehabilitation. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Can't I make good in some way? Can't I ask you to forgive, to +forget——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What do you mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. To restore, to repair——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Do you mean to resume, to start over again, to reinstate a +master above me? No, thanks! I don't want you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. And this I had to hear!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, how does it taste? [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. That's a pretty centrepiece.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, it's pretty.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Where did you get it? [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>appears in the door to the pantry with a bill in her +hand</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Turning toward her</i>] Is it a bill?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span> <i>rises and begins to pull on her gloves with such violence that +buttons are scattered right and left</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Taking out the money</i>] Eighteen-seventy-two. That's just +right.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I should like to see you a moment, sir.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Rises and goes to the door, where</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>whispers something +into his ear</i>] Oh, mercy——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I am sorry for you, Gerda!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. What do you mean? That I am jealous of your servant-girl?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No, I didn't mean that.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Yes, you meant that you were too old for me, but not for her. +I catch the insulting point—She's pretty—I don't deny it—for a +servant-girl——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I am sorry for you, Gerda!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Why do you say that?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Because you are to be pitied. Jealous of my servant—that ought +to be rehabilitation enough.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Jealous, I——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Why do you fly in a rage at my nice, gentle kinswoman?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. "A little more than kin."</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No, my dear, I have long ago resigned myself—and I am +satisfied with my solitude—[<i>The telephone rings, and he goes to +answer it</i>] Mr. Fischer? No, that isn't here.—Oh, yes, that's me.—Has +he skipped?—With whom, do you say?—with Starck's daughter! Oh, good +Lord! How old is she?—Eighteen! A mere child! [<i>Rings off</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. I knew he had run away.—But with a woman!—Now you're pleased.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No, I am not pleased. Although there is a sort of solace to my +mind in finding justice exists in this world. Life is very quick in its +movements, and now you find yourself where I was.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Her eighteen years against my twenty-nine—I am old—too old for +him!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Everything is relative, even age.—But now let us get at +something else. Where is your child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. My child? I had forgotten it! My child! My God! Help me! He +has taken the child with him. He loves Anne-Charlotte as his own +daughter—Come with me to the police—come!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I? Now you ask too much.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. Help me!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Goes to the door at the right</i>] Come, Carl Frederick—get a +cab—take Gerda down to the police station—won't you?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] Of course I will! We are human, are we not?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Quick! But say nothing to Starck. Matters may be straightened +out yet—Poor fellow—and I am sorry for Gerda, too!—Hurry up now!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">GERDA</span>. [<i>Looking out through the window</i>] It's beginning to rain—lend +me an umbrella. Eighteen years—only eighteen—quick, now!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>She goes out with the</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Alone</i>] The peace of old age!—And my child in the hands of +an adventurer!—Louise!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Come and play chess with me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Has the consul——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. He has gone out on some business. Is it still raining?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. No, it has stopped now.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then I'll go out and cool off a little. [<i>Pause</i>] You are a +nice girl, and sensible—did you know the confectioner's daughter?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Very slightly.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Is she pretty?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Ye-es.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Have you known the people above us?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I have never seen them.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. That's an evasion.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I have learned to keep silent in this house.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I am forced to admit that pretended deafness can be carried to +the point where it becomes dangerous.—Well, get the tea ready while I +go outside and cool off a little. And, one thing, please—you see what +is happening, of course—but don't ask me any questions.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. I? No, sir, I am not at all curious.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I am thankful for that!</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3>THIRD SCENE</h3> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The front of the house as in the First Scene. There is light +in the confectioner's place in the basement. The gas is also +lit on the second floor, where now the shades are raised and +the windows open</i>.</p> + + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span> <i>is sitting near the gateway</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Seated on the green bench</i>] That was a nice little shower we +had.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Quite a blessing! Now the raspberries will be coming in +again——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then I'll ask you to put aside a few jars for us. We have grown +tired of making the jam ourselves. It only gets spoiled.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Yes, I know. Jars of jam are like mischievous children: you +have to watch them all the time. There are people who put in salicylic +acid, but those are newfangled tricks in which I take no stock.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Salicylic acid—yes, they say it's antiseptic—and perhaps it's +a good thing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Yes, but you can taste it—and it's a trick.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Tell me, Mr. Starck, have you got a telephone?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. No, I have no telephone.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Oh!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Why do you ask?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Oh, I happened to think—a telephone is handy at times—for +orders—and important communications——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. That may be. But sometimes it is just as well to +escape—communications.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Quite right! Quite right!—Yes, my heart always beats a little +faster when I hear it ring—one never knows what one is going to +hear—and I want peace—peace, above all else.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. So do I.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Looking at his watch</i>] The lamplighter ought to be here soon.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. He must have forgotten us, for I see that the lamps are already +lit further down the avenue.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then he'll be here soon. It will be a lot of fun to see our +lamp lighted again.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The telephone in the dining-room rings</i>. <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>comes in to +answer the call. The</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span> <i>rises and puts one hand up to his +heart. He tries to listen, but the public cannot hear anything +of what is said within. Pause. After a while</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>comes out +by way of the square</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Anxiously</i>] What news?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. No change.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Was that my brother?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. No, it was the lady.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What did she want?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. To speak to you, sir.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I don't want to!—Have I to console my executioner? I used to +do it, but now I am tired of it.—Look up there! They have forgotten +to turn out the light—and light makes empty rooms more dreadful than +darkness—the ghosts become visible. [<i>In a lowered voice</i>] And how +about Starck's Agnes? Do you think he knows anything?</p> + + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. It's hard to tell, for he never speaks about his sorrows—nor +does anybody else in the Silent House!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Do you think he should be told?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. For Heaven's sake, no!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. But I fear it isn't the first time she gave him trouble.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. He never speaks of her.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. It's horrible! I wonder if we'll get to the end of it soon? +[<i>The telephone rings again</i>] Now it's ringing again. Don't answer. I +don't want to hear anything.—My child—in such company! An adventurer +and a strumpet!—It's beyond limit!—Poor Gerda!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. It's better to have certainty. I'll go in—You must do +something!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I cannot move—I can receive blows, but to strike back—no!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. But if you don't repel a danger, it will press closer; and if +you don't resist, you'll be destroyed.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. But if you refuse to be drawn in, you become unassailable.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Unassailable?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Things straighten out much better if you don't mess them up +still further by interference. How can you want me to direct matters +where so many passions are at play? Do you think I can suppress +anybody's emotions, or give them a new turn?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. But how about the child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I have surrendered my rights—and besides—frankly speaking—I +don't care for them—not at all now, when <i>she</i> has been here and +spoiled the images harboured in my memory. She has wiped out all the +beauty that I had cherished, and now there is nothing left.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. But that's to be set free!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Look, how empty the place seems in there—as if everybody had +moved out; and up there—as if there had been a fire.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Who is coming there?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span> <i>enters, excited and frightened, but trying hard +to control herself; she makes for the gateway, where the +confectioner is seated on his chair</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> [<i>To the</i> <span class="small-c">MASTER</span>] There is Agnes? What can this mean?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Agnes? Then things are getting straightened out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. [<i>With perfect calm</i>] Good evening, girl! Where have you been?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span>. I have been for a walk.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Your mother has asked for you several times.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span>. Is that so? Well, here I am.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Please go down and help her start a fire under the little oven.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span>. Is she angry with me, then?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. You know that she cannot be angry with you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span>. Oh, yes, but she doesn't say anything.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Well, girl, isn't it better to escape being scolded?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">AGNES</span> <i>disappears into the gateway</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>] Does he know, or doesn't he?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Let's hope that he will remain in ignorance.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. But what can have happened? A breach? [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">STARCK</span>] Say, Mr. +Starck——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. What is it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I thought—Did you notice if anybody left the house a while ago?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. I saw the iceman, and also a mail-carrier, I think.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Oh! [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>] Perhaps it was a mistake—that we didn't hear +right—I can't explain it—Or maybe he is not telling the truth? What +did she say when she telephoned?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. That she wanted to speak to you.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. How did it sound? Was she excited?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Yes.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I think it's rather shameless of her to appeal to me in a +matter like this.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. But the child!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Just think, I met my daughter on the stairway, and when I asked +her if she recognised me she called me uncle and told me that her +father was up-stairs. Of course, he is her stepfather, and has all the +rights—They have just spent their time exterminating me, blackguarding +me——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. A cab is stopping at the corner.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>Starck <i>withdraws into the gateway</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I only hope they don't come back to burden me again! Just +think: to have to hear my child singing the praise of her father—the +other one! And then to begin the old story all over again: "Why did you +marry me?"—"Oh, you know; but what made you want me?"—"You know very +well!"—And so on, until the end of the world.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. It was the consul that came.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. How does he look?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. He is taking his time.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Practising what he is to say, I suppose. Does he look satisfied?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Thoughtful, rather——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Hm!—That's the way it always was. Whenever he saw that woman +he became disloyal to me. She had the power of charming everybody but +me. To me she seemed coarse, vulgar, ugly, stupid; to all the rest she +seemed refined, pleasant, handsome, intelligent. All the hatred aroused +by my independence centred in her under the form of a boundless +sympathy for whoever wronged me in any way. Through her they strove to +control and influence me, to wound me, and, at last, to kill me.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. Now, I'll go in and watch the telephone—I suppose this storm +will pass like all others.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Men cannot bear independence. They want you to obey them. Every +one of my subordinates in the department, down to the very messengers, +wanted me to obey him. And when I wouldn't they called me a despot. The +servants in our house wanted me to obey them and eat food that had been +warmed up. When I wouldn't, they set my wife against me. And finally +my wife wanted me to obey the child, but then I left, and then all of +them combined against the tyrant—which was I!—Get in there quick now, +Louise, so we can set off our mines out here.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> <i>enters from the left</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Results—not details—please!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Let's sit down. I am a little tired.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I think it has rained on the bench.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. It can't be too wet for me if you have been sitting on it.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. As you like!—Where is my child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Can I begin at the beginning?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Begin!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span> [<i>Speaking slowly</i>] I got to the depot with Gerda—and at the +ticket-office I discovered him and Agnes——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. So Agnes was with him?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. And so was the child!—Gerda stayed outside, and I went up to +them. At that moment <i>he</i> was handing Agnes the tickets, but when she +discovered that they were for third class she threw them in his face +and walked out to the cab-stand.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Ugh!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. As soon as I had established a connection with the man, Gerda +hurried up and got hold of the child, disappearing with it in the +crowd——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What did the man have to say?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Oh, you know—when you come to hear the other side—and so on.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I want to hear it. Of course, he isn't as bad as we thought—he +has his good sides——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Exactly!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I thought so! But you don't want me to sit here listening to +eulogies of my enemy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Oh, not eulogies, but ameliorating circumstances——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Did you ever want to listen to me when I tried to explain the +true state of affairs to you? Yes, you did listen—but your reply was +a disapproving silence, as if I had been lying to you. You have always +sided with what was wrong, and you have believed nothing but lies, and +the reason was—that you were in love with Gerda! But there was also +another reason——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Brother, don't say anything more! You see nothing but your own +side of things.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. How can you expect me to view my conditions from the standpoint +of my enemy? I cannot take sides against myself, can I?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I am not your enemy.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yes, when you make friends with one who has wronged me!—Where +is my child?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I don't know.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. What was the outcome at the depot?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. He took a south-bound train alone.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. And the others?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Disappeared.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Then I may have them after me again. [<i>Pause]</i> Did you see if +they went with him?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. He went alone.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Well, then we are done with that one, at least. Number +two—there remain now—the mother and the child.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Why is the light burning up there in their rooms?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Because they forgot to turn it out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. I'll go up——</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. No, don't go!—I only hope that they don't come back here!—To +repeat, always repeat, begin the same lesson all over again!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. But it has begun to straighten out.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Yet the worst remains—Do you think they will come back?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. Not she—not since she had to make you amends in the presence +of Louise.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. I had forgotten that! She really did me the honour of becoming +jealous! I do think there is justice in this world!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. And then she learned that Agnes was younger than herself.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Poor Gerda! But in a case like this you mustn't tell people +that justice exists—an avenging justice—for it is sheer falsehood +that they love justice! And you must deal gently with their filth. And +Nemesis—exists only for the other person.—There it's ringing again? +That telephone makes a noise like a rattlesnake!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>becomes visible at the telephone inside. Pause</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>] Did the snake bite?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. [<i>At the window</i>] May I speak to you, sir?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>Going up to the window</i>] Speak out!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. The lady has gone to her mother, in the country, to live there +with her little girl.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>To his brother</i>] Mother and child in the country—in a good +home! Now it's straightened out!—Oh!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>. And she asked us to turn out the light up-stairs.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Do that at once, Louise, and pull down the shades so we don't +have to look at it any longer.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>leaves the dining-room</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. [<i>Coming out on the sidewalk again and looking up]</i> I think the +storm has passed over.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. It seems really to have cleared up, and that means we'll have +moonlight.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">CONSUL</span>. That was a blessed rain!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">STARCK</span>. Perfectly splendid!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. Look, there's the lamplighter coming at last!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="small-c"><span class="small-c">LAMPLIGHTER</span></span> <i>enters, lights the street lamp beside the +bench, and passes on</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. The first lamp! Now the fall is here! That's our season, old +chaps! It's getting dark, but then comes reason to light us with its +bull's-eyes, so that we don't go astray.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">LOUISE</span> <i>becomes visible at one of the windows on the second +floor; immediately afterward everything is dark up there</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">MASTER</span>. [<i>To</i> <span class="small-c">LOUISE</span>] Close the windows and pull down the shades so +that all memories can lie down and sleep in peace! The peace of old +age! And this fall I move away from the Silent House.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h3><a name="AFTER_THE_FIRE" id="AFTER_THE_FIRE">AFTER THE FIRE</a></h3> + +<h4>(BRÄNDA TOMTEN)</h4> + +<h4>A CHAMBER PLAY</h4> + +<h5>1907</h5> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p style="margin-left: 30%;"> +CHARACTERS<br /><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH WALSTRÖM</span>, <i>a dyer</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">THE STRANGER</span>, <i>who is brother of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>)<br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ARVID WALSTRÖM</span> <i>brother of</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>, <i>a mason (brother-in-law of the gardener)</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. ANDERSON</span>, <i>wife of the mason</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>, <i>a gardener (brother-in-law of the mason)</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>, <i>son of the gardener</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALBERT ERICSON</span>, <i>a stone-cutter</i> (<i>second cousin of the hearse-driver</i>)<br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>, <i>daughter of the stone-cutter</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">THE HEARSE-DRIVER</span> (<i>second cousin of the stone-cutter</i>)<br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">A DETECTIVE</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>, <i>a painter</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>, <i>hostess at "The Last Nail," formerly a</i><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><i>nurse at the dyer's</i></span><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>, <i>wife of the dyer</i><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">THE STUDENT</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">THE WITNESS</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<h4>FIRST SCENE</h4> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The left half of the background is occupied by the empty shell +of a gutted one-story brick house. In places the paper remains +on the walls, and a couple of brick stoves are still standing</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Beyond the walls can be seen an orchard in bloom.</i></p> + +<p><i>At the right is the front of a small inn, the sign of which +is a wreath hanging from a pole. Tables and benches are placed +outside.</i></p> + +<p><i>At the left, in the foreground, there is a pile of furniture +and household utensils that have been saved from the fire</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>, <i>the painter, is painting the window-frames of the +inn. He listens closely to everything that is said</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>, <i>the mason, is digging in the ruins</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Is the fire entirely out?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. There isn't any smoke, at least.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Then I want to ask a few more questions. [<i>Pause</i>] You were +born in this quarter, were you not?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Oh, yes. It's seventy-five years now I've lived on this +street. I wasn't born when they built this house here, but my father +helped to put in the brick.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Then you know everybody around here?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. We all know each other. There is something particular about +this street here. Those that get in here once, never get away from it. +That is, they move away, but they always come back again sooner or +later, until at last they are carried out to the cemetery, which is +way out there at the end of the street.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. You have got a special name for this quarter, haven't you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. We call it the Bog. And all of us hate each other, and +suspect each other, and blackguard each other, and torment each other +[<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. The fire started at half past ten in the evening, I +hear—was the front door locked at that time?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Well, that's more than I know, for I live in the house next +to this.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Where did the fire start?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Up in the attic, where the student was living.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Was he at home?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. No, he was at the theatre.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Had he gone away and left the lamp burning, then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Well, that's more than I know. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Is the student any relation to the owner of the house?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. No, I don't think so.—Say, you haven't got anything to do +with the police, have you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. How did it happen that the inn didn't catch fire?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. They slung a tarpaulin over it and turned on the hose.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Queer that the apple-trees were not destroyed by the heat.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. They had just budded, and it had been raining during the day, +but the heat made the buds go into bloom in the middle of the night—a +little too early, I guess, for there is frost coming, and then the +gardener will catch it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. What kind of fellow is the gardener?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. His name is Gustafson——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Yes, but what sort of a man is he?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. See here: I am seventy-five—and for that reason I don't know +anything bad about Gustafson; and if I knew I wouldn't be telling it! +[<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. And the owner of the house is named Walström, a dyer, about +sixty years old, married——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Why don't you go on yourself? You can't pump me any longer.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Is it thought that the fire was started on purpose?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. That's what people think of all fires.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. And whom do they suspect?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. The insurance company always suspects anybody who has an +interest in the fire—and for that reason I have never had anything +insured.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Did you find anything while you were digging?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Mostly one finds all the door-keys, because people haven't +got time to take them along when the house is on fire—except now and +then, of course, when they have been taken away——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. There was no electric light in the house?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Not in an old house like this, and that's a good thing, for +then they can't put the blame on crossed wires.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Put the blame?—A good thing?—Listen——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Oh, you're going to get me in a trap? Don't you do it, for +then I take it all back.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Take back? You can't!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Can't I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. No!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Yes! For there was no witness present.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. No?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Naw!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span> <i>coughs. The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">WITNESS</span> <i>comes in from the left</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Here's <i>one</i> witness.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. You're a sly one!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Oh, there are people who know how to use their brains +without being seventy-five. [<i>To the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">WITNESS</span>] Now we'll continue with +the gardener.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>They go out to the left</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. There I put my foot in it, I guess. But that's what happens +when you get to talking.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span> <i>enters with her husband's lunch in a bundle</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. It's good you came.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Now we'll have lunch and be good—you might well +be hungry after all this fuss—I wonder if Gustafson can pull +through—he'd just got done with his hotbeds and was about to start +digging in the open—why don't you eat?—and there's Sjöblom already at +work with his putty—just think of it, that Mrs. Westerlund got off as +well as she did—morning, Sjöblom, now you've got work, haven't you?</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span> <i>comes in</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Morning, morning, Mrs. Westerlund—you got out of this +fine, I must say, and then——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. I wonder who's going to pay me for all I am losing +to-day, when there's a big funeral on at the cemetery, which always +makes it a good day for me, and just when I've had to put away all my +bottles and glassware——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Who's that they're burying to-day? I see such a lot of +people going out that way—and then, of course, they've come to see +where the fire was, too.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. I don't think they're burying anybody, but I've heard +they're going to put up a monument over the bishop—worst of it is that +the stone-cutter's daughter was going to get married to the gardener's +son—him, you know, who's in a store down-town—and now the gardener +has lost all he had—isn't that his furniture standing over there?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. I guess that's some of the dyer's, too, seeing as it +came out helter-skelter in a jiffy—and where's the dyer now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. He's down at the police station testifying.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Hm-hm!—Yes, yes!—And there's my cousin now—him what +drives the hearse—he's always thirsty on his way back.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">HEARSE-DRIVER</span>. [<i>Enters</i>] How do, Malvina! So you've gone and started a +little job of arson out here during the night, have you? Looks pretty, +doesn't it. Would have been better to get a new shanty instead, I guess.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Oh, mercy me! But whom have you been taking out now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">HEARSE-DRIVER</span>. Can't remember what his name was—only <i>one</i> carriage +along, and no flowers on the coffin at all.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Sure and it wasn't any happy funeral, then! If you +want anything to drink you'll have to go 'round to the kitchen, for +I haven't got things going on this side yet, and, for that matter, +Gustafson is coming here with a lot of wreaths—they've got something +on out at the cemetery to-day.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">HEARSE-DRIVER</span>. Yes, they're going to put up a moniment to the +bishop—'cause he wrote books, I guess, and collected all kinds of +vermin—was a reg'lar vermin-hunter, they tell me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. What's that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">HEARSE-DRIVER</span>. Oh, he had slabs of cork with pins on 'em, and a lot of +flies—something beyond us here—but I guess that's the proper way—can +I go out to the kitchen now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Yes, if you use the back door, I think you can get +something wet——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">HEARSE-DRIVER</span>. But I want to have a word with the dyer before I drive +off—I've got my horses over at the stone-cutter's, who's my second +cousin, you know. Haven't got any use for him, as you know, too, but +we're doing business together, he and I—that is, I put in a word for +him with the heirs, and so he lets me put my horses into his yard—just +let me know when the dyer shows up—luck, wasn't it, that he didn't +have his works here, too——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out, passing around the inn</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span> <i>goes into the inn by the front door</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>, <i>who has finished eating, begins to dig again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Do you find anything?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Nails and door-hinges—all the keys are hanging in a bunch +over there by the front door.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Did they hang there before, or did you put them there?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. No, they were hanging there when I got here.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. That's queer—for then somebody must have locked all the +doors and taken out the keys before it began burning! That's queer!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Yes, of course, it's a little queer, for in that way it was +harder to get at the fire and save things. Yes—yes! [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. I worked for the dyer's father forty years ago, I did, +and I know the people, both the dyer himself and his brother what +went off to America, though they say he's back now. The father, he +was a real man, he was, but the boys were always a little so-so. Mrs. +Westerlund over here, she used to take care of Rudolph, and the two +brothers never could get along, but kept scrapping and fighting all +the time.—I've seen a thing or two, I have—yes, there's a whole lot +what has happened in that house, so I guess it was about time to get it +smoked out.—Ugh, but that was a house! One went this way and another +that, but back they had to come, and here they died and here they were +born, and here they married and were divorced.—And Arvid, the brother +what went off to America—him they thought dead for years, and at least +he didn't take what was coming to him after his father, but now they +say he's come back, though nobody has seen him—and there's such a lot +of talking—Look, there's the dyer back from the police station!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. He doesn't look happy exactly, but I suppose that's more than +can be expected—Well, who's that student that lived in the attic? How +does he hang together with the rest?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Well, that's more than I know. He had his board there, +and read with the children.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. And also with the lady of the house?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. No-o, they played something what they called tennis, +and quarrelled the rest of the time—yes, quarrelling and backbiting, +that's what everybody is up to in this quarter.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Well, when they broke the student's door open they found +hairpins on the floor—it had to come out, after all, even if the fire +had to sweep over it first——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. I don't think it was the dyer that came, but our +brother-in-law, Gustafson——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. He's always mad, and to-day I suppose he's worse than ever, +and so he'll have to come and dun me for what I owe him, seeing what he +has lost in the fire——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Now you shut up!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. [<i>Enters with a basketful of funeral wreaths and other +products of his trade</i>] I wonder if I am going to sell anything to-day +so there'll be enough for food after all this rumpus?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Didn't you carry any insurance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Yes, I used to have insurance on the glass panes over my +hotbeds, but this year I felt stingy, and so I put in oiled paper +instead—gosh, that I could be such a darned fool!—[<i>Scratching his +head</i>] I don't get paid for that, of course. And now I've got to cut +and paste and oil six hundred paper panes. It's as I have always said: +that I was the worst idiot among us seven children. Gee, what an ass +I was—what a booby! And then I went and got drunk yesterday. Why in +hell did I have to get drunk that day of all days—when I need all the +brains I've got to-day? It was the stone-cutter who treated, because +our children are going to get married to-night, but I should have said +no. I didn't want to, but I'm a ninny who can't say no to anybody. +And that's the way when they come and borrow money of me—I can't say +no—darned fool that I am! And then I got in the way of that policeman, +who snared me with all sorts of questions. I should have kept my mouth +shut, like the painter over there, but I can't, and so I let out this, +that, and the other thing, and he put it all down, and now I am called +as a witness!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. What was it you said?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. I said I thought—that it looked funny to me—and that +somebody must have started it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Oh, that's what you said!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Yes, pitch into me—I've deserved it, goose that I am!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. And who could have started it, do you think?—Don't mind the +painter, and my old woman here never carries any tales.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Who started it? Why, the student, of course, as it started +in his room.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. No—<i>under</i> his room!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Under, you say? Then I <i>have</i> gone and done it!—Oh, I'll +come to a bad end, I'm sure!—<i>Under</i> his room, you say—what could +have been there—the kitchen?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. No, a closet—see, over there! It was used by the cook.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Then it must have been her.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Yes, but don't you say so, as you don't know.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. The stone-cutter had it in for the cook last night—I guess +he must have known a whole lot——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. You shouldn't repeat what the stone-cutter says, for one who +has served isn't to be trusted——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Ash, that's so long ago, and the cook's a regular dragon, +for that matter—she'd always haggle over the vegetables——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. There comes the dyer from the station now—you'd better quit!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span> <i>enters, dressed in a frock coat and a high hat +with mourning on it; he carries a stick</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. It wasn't the dyer, but he looks a lot like him.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. How much is one of those wreaths?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Fifty cents.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Oh, that's not much.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. No, I am such a fool that I can't charge as I should.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Looking around</i>] Has there—been a fire—here?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Yes, last night.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Good God! [<i>Pause</i>] Who was the owner of the house?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Mr. Walström.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The dyer?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Yes, he used to be a dyer, all right. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Where is he now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. He'll be here any moment.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Then I'll look around a bit—the wreath can lie here till I +come back—I meant to go out to the cemetery later.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. On account of the bishop's monument, I suppose?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What bishop?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Bishop Stecksen, don't you know—who belonged to the Academy.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Is he dead?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GARDENER</span>. Oh, long ago!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I see!—Well, I'll leave the wreath for a while.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>He goes out to the left, studying the ruins carefully as he +passes by</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Perhaps he came on account of the insurance.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Not that one! Then he would have asked in a different way.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. But he looked like the dyer just the same.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Only he was taller.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>. Now, I remember something—I should have a bridal bouquet +ready for to-night, and I should go to my son's wedding, but I have +no flowers, and my black coat has been burned. Wouldn't that make +you—Mrs. Westerlund was to furnish the myrtle for the bride's crown, +being her godmother—that's the myrtle she stole a shoot of from +the dyer's cook, who got hers from the dyer's first wife—she who +ran away—and I was to make a crown of it, and I've clean forgotten +it—well, if I ain't the worst fool that ever walked the earth! [<i>He +opens the inn door</i>] Mrs. Westerlund, can I have the myrtle now, and +I'll do the job!—I say, can I have that myrtle! Wreath, too, you +say—have you got enough for it?—No?—Well, then I'll let the whole +wedding go hang, that's all there is to it!—Let them walk up to the +minister's and have him splice them together, but it'll make the +stone-cutter mad as a hornet.—What do you think I should do?—No, I +can't—haven't slept a wink the whole night.—It's too much for a poor +human creature.—Yes, I am a ninny, I know—go for me, will you!—Oh, +there's the pot—thanks! And then I need scissors, which I haven't +got—and wire—and string—where am I to get them from?—No, of course, +nobody wants to break off his work for a thing like that.—I'm tired of +the whole mess—work fifty years, and then have it go up in smoke! I +haven't got strength to begin over again—and the way it comes all at +once, blow on blow—did you ever! I'm going to run away from it! [<i>He +goes out</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH WALSTRÖM</span>. [<i>Enters, evidently upset, badly dressed</i>, <i>his hands +discoloured by the dyes</i>] Is it all out now, Anderson?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Yes, now it's out.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Has anything been discovered?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. That's a question! What's buried when it snows comes to light +when it thaws!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What do you mean, Anderson?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. If you dig deep enough you find things.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Have you found anything that can explain how the fire started?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Naw, nothing of that kind.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. That means we are still under suspicion, all of us.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Not me, I guess.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Oh, yes, for you have been seen up in the attic at unusual +hours.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Well, I can't always go at usual hours to look for my tools +when I've left them behind. And I did leave my hammer behind when I +fixed the stove in the student's room.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. And the stone-cutter, the gardener, Mrs. Westerlund, even the +painter over there—we are all of us under suspicion—the student, the +cook, and myself more than the rest. Lucky it was that I had paid the +insurance the day before, or I should have been stuck for good.—Think +of it: the stone-cutter suspected of arson—he who's so afraid of doing +anything wrong! He's so conscientious <i>nowadays</i> that if you ask him +what time it is he won't swear to it, as his watch <i>may</i> be wrong. Of +course, we all know he got two years, but he's reformed, and I'll swear +now he's the straightest man in the quarter.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. But the police suspect him because he went wrong once—and he +ain't got his citizenship back yet.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Oh, there are so many ways of looking at a thing—so many +ways, I tell you.—Well, Anderson, I guess you'd better quit for the +day, seeing as you're going to the wedding to-night.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Yes, that wedding—There was somebody looking for you a while +ago, and he said he would be back.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Who was it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. He didn't say.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Police, was it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span>. Naw, I don't think so.—There he is coming now, for that +matter. [<i>He goes out, together with his wife</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Regards him with curiosity at first, then with horror; wants +to run away, but cannot move</i>] Arvid!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Rudolph!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. So it's you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. You're not dead, then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. In a way, yes!—I have come back from America after thirty +years—there was something that pulled at me—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>I wanted to see my childhood's home once more—and I found +those ruins! [<i>Pause</i>] It burned down last night?</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Yes, you came just in time. [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Dragging his words</i>] That's the place—such a tiny place +for such a lot of destinies! There's the dining-room with the frescoed +walls: palms, and cypresses, and a temple beneath a rose-coloured +sky—that's the way I dreamt the world would look the moment I got away +from home. And the stove with its pale blossoms growing out of conches. +And the chimney cupboard with its metal doors—I remember as a child, +when we had just moved in, somebody had scratched his name on the +metal, and then grandmother told us it was the name of a man who had +killed himself in that very room. I quickly forgot all about it, but +when I later married a niece of the same man, it seemed to me as if my +destiny had been foretold on that plate of metal.—You don't believe in +that kind of thing, do you?—However, you know how my marriage ended!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Yes, I've heard——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And there's the nursery—yes!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Don't let us start digging in the ruins!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Why not? After the fire is out you can read things in the +ashes. We used to do it as children, in the stove——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Come and sit down at the table here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What place is that? Oh, the tavern—"The Last Nail"—where +the hearse-drivers used to stop, and where, once upon a time, condemned +culprits were given a final glass before they were taken to the +gallows—Who is keeping it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Mrs. Westerlund, who used to be my nurse.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Mrs. Westerlund—I remember her. It is as if the bench sank +from under me, and I was sent tumbling through the past, sixty whole +years, down into my childhood. I breathe the nursery air and feel it +pressing on my chest. You older ones weighed me down, and you made +so much noise that I was always kept in a state of fright. My fears +made me hide in the garden—then I was dragged forward and given a +spanking—always spankings—but I never knew why, and I don't know it +yet. And yet she was my mother——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Please!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, you were the favourite, and as such you always had her +support—Then we got a stepmother. Her father was an undertaker's +assistant, and for years we had been seeing him drive by with funerals. +At last he came to know us so well by sight that he used to nod and +grin at us, as if he meant to say: "Oh, I'll come for you sooner or +later!" And then he came right into our house one day, and had to be +called grandfather—when our father took his daughter for his second +wife.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. There was nothing strange in that.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, but somehow, as our own destinies, and those of other +people, were being woven into one web——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Oh, that's what happens everywhere——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Exactly! It's the same everywhere. In your youth you see +the web set up. Parents, relatives, comrades, acquaintances, servants +form the warp. Later on in life the weft becomes visible. And then +the shuttle of fate runs back and forth with the thread—sometimes +it breaks, but is tied up again, and it goes on as before. The reed +clicks, the thread is packed together into curlicues, and one day the +web lies ready. In old age, when the eye has learned how to see, you +discover that those curlicues form a pattern, a monogram, an ornament, +a hieroglyph, which only then can be interpreted: that's life! The +world-weaver has woven it! [<i>Pause; he rises</i>] Over there, in that +scrap-heap, I notice the family album. [<i>He walks a few steps to the +right and picks up a photograph album</i>] That's the book of our family +fate. Grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, brothers and +sisters, relatives, acquaintances—or so-called "friends"—schoolmates, +servants, godparents. And, strange to say, wherever I have gone, in +America or Australia, to Hongkong or the Congo, everywhere I found +at least one countryman, and as we began to dig it always came out +that this man knew my family, or at least some godfather or maid +servant—that, in a word, we had some common acquaintances. I even +found a relative in the island of Formosa——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What has put those ideas into your head?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The fact that life, however it shaped itself—I have been +rich and poor, exalted and humbled; I have suffered a shipwreck and +passed through an earthquake—but, however life shaped itself, I always +became aware of connections and repetitions. I saw in one situation the +result of another, earlier one. On meeting <i>this</i> person I was reminded +of <i>that</i> one whom I had met in the past. There have been incidents in +my life that have come back time and again, so that I have been forced +to say to myself: this I have been through before. And I have met with +occurrences that seemed to me absolutely inevitable, or predestined.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What have you done during all these years?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Everything! I have beheld life from every quarter, from every +standpoint, from above and from below, and always it has seemed to me +like a scene staged for my particular benefit. And in that way I have +at last become reconciled to a part of the past, and I have come to +excuse not only my own but also other people's so-called "faults." You +and I, for instance, have had a few bones to pick with each other——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span> <i>recoils with a darkening face</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Don't get scared now——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I never get scared!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You are just the same as ever.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. And so are you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Am I? That's interesting!—Yes, you are still living in that +delusion about your own bravery, and I remember exactly how this false +idea became fixed in your mind. We were learning to swim, and one day +you told how you had dived into the water, and then mother said: "Yes, +Rudolph, he has courage!" That was meant for me—for me whom you had +stripped of all courage and self-assurance. But then came the day when +you had stolen some apples, and you were too cowardly to own up to it, +and so you put it on me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Haven't you forgotten that yet?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I haven't forgotten, but I have forgiven.—From here, where I +am sitting, I can see that very tree, and that's what brought it into +my mind. It's over there, you see, and it bears golden pippins.—If you +look, you'll see that one of its biggest branches has been sawed off. +For it so happened that I didn't get angry with you on account of my +unjust punishment, but my anger turned against the tree. And two years +later that big branch was all dried up and had to be sawed off. It made +me think of the fig-tree that was cursed by the Saviour, but I was +not led into any presumptuous conclusions.—However, I still know all +those trees by heart, and once, when I had the yellow fever in Jamaica, +I counted them over, every one. Most of them are still there, I see. +There's the snow-apple which has red-striped fruit—a chaffinch used +to nest in it. There's the melon-apple, standing right in front of the +garret where I used to study for technological examinations; there's +the spitzenburg, and the late astrachan; and the pear-tree that used to +look like a poplar in miniature; and the one with pears that could only +be used for preserves—they never ripened, and we despised them, but +mother treasured them above all the rest; and in that tree there used +to be a wryneck that was always twisting its head around and making a +nasty cry—That was fifty years ago!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Irately</i>] What are you driving at?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Just as touchy and ill-tempered as ever! It's +interesting.—There was no special purpose back of my chatter—my +memories insist on pushing forward—I remember that the garden was +rented to somebody else once, but we had the right to play in it. +To me it seemed as if we had been driven out of paradise—and the +tempter was standing behind every tree. In the fall, when the ground +was strewn with ripe apples, I fell under a temptation that had become +irresistible——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. You stole, too?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Of course I did, but I didn't put it off on you!—When I was +forty I leased a lemon grove in one of the Southern States, and—well, +there were thieves after the trees every night. I couldn't sleep, I +lost flesh, I got sick. And then I thought of—poor Gustafson here!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. He's still living.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Perhaps he, too, stole apples in his childhood?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Probably.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Why are your hands so black?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Because I handle dyed stuffs all the time.—Did you have +anything else in mind?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What could that have been?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. That my hands were not clean.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Fudge!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Perhaps you are thinking of your inheritance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Just as mean as ever! Exactly as you were when eight years +old!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. And you are just as heedless, and philosophical, and silly!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. It's a curious thing—but I wonder how many times before we +have said just what we are saying now? [<i>Pause</i>] I am looking at your +album here—our sisters and brothers—five dead!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Yes.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And our schoolmates?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Some taken and some left behind.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I met one of them in South Carolina—Axel Ericson—do you +remember him?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I do.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. One whole night, while we were on a train together, he kept +telling me how our highly respectable and respected family consisted of +nothing but rascals; that it had made its money by smuggling—you know, +the toll-gate was right here; and that this house had been built with +double walls for the hiding of contraband. Don't you see that the walls +are double?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Crushed</i>] So that's the reason why we had closets everywhere?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The father of that fellow, Ericson, had been in the +custom-house service and knew our father, and the son told me a lot +of inside stories that turned my whole world of imagined conditions +topsyturvy.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. You gave him a licking, I suppose?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Why should I lick him?—However, my hair turned grey that +night, and I had to edit my entire life over again. You know how we +used to live in an atmosphere of mutual admiration; how we regarded +our family as better than all others, and how, in particular, our +parents were looked up to with almost religious veneration. And then I +had to paint new faces on them, strip them, drag them down, eliminate +them. It was dreadful! Then the ghosts began to walk. The pieces of +those smashed figures would come together again, but not properly, +and the result would be a regular wax cabinet of monsters. All those +grey-haired gentlemen whom we called uncles, and who came to our house +to play cards and eat cold suppers, they were smugglers, and some of +them had been in the pillory—Did you know that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Completely overwhelmed</i>] No.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The dye works were merely a hiding-place for smuggled yarn, +which was dyed in order to prevent identification. I can still remember +how I used to hate the smell of the dyeing vat—there was something +sickeningly sweet about it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Why did you have to tell me all this?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Why should I keep silent about it and let you make yourself +ridiculous by your boasting about that revered family of yours? Have +you never noticed people grinning at you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. No-o! [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I am now looking at father's bookcase in the pile over there. +It was always locked, you remember. But one day, when father was out, +I got hold of the key. The books in front I had seen through the glass +doors, of course. There were volumes of sermons, the collected works +of great poets, handbooks for gardening, compilations of the statutes +referring to customs duties and the confiscation of smuggled goods; the +constitution; a volume about foreign coins; and a technical work that +later determined my choice of a career. But back of those books there +was room for other things, and I began to explore. First of all I found +the rattan—and, do you know, I have since learned that that bitter +plant bears a fruit from which we get the red dye known as "dragon's +blood": now, isn't that queer! And beside the rattan stood a bottle +labelled "cyanide of potassium."</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I suppose it was meant for use over at the works.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Or elsewhere, perhaps. But this is what I had in mind: there +were some bundles of pamphlets with illustrated covers that aroused my +interest. And, to put it plain, they contained the notorious memoirs +of a certain chevalier—I took them out and locked the case again. And +beneath the big oak over there I studied them. We used to call that oak +the Tree of Knowledge—and it was, all right! And in that way I left +my childhood's paradise to become initiated, all too early, into those +mysteries which—yes!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. You, too?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, I, too! [<i>Pause</i>] However—let us talk of something +else, as all that is now in ashes.—Did you have any insurance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Angrily</i>] Didn't you ask that a while ago?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Not that I can recall. It happens so often that I confuse +what I have said with what I have intended to say, and mostly because I +think so intensely—ever since that day when I tried to hang myself in +the closet.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What is that you are saying?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I tried to hang myself in the closet.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Speaking very slowly</i>] Was that what happened that Holy +Thursday Eve, when you were taken to the hospital—what the rest of us +children were never permitted to know?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Speaking in the same manner</i>] Yes.—There you can see how +little we know about those that are nearest to us, about our own homes +and our own lives.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. But why did you do it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I was twelve years old, and tired of life! It was like +groping about in a great darkness—I couldn't understand what I had to +do here—and I thought the world a madhouse. I reached that conclusion +one day when our school was turned out with torches and banners to +celebrate "the destroyer of our country." For I had just read a book +which proved that our country had been brought to destruction by the +worst of all its kings—and that was the one whose memory we had to +celebrate with hymns and festivities.<a name="FNanchor_1_3" id="FNanchor_1_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_3" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>Pause</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What happened at the hospital?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. My dear fellow, I was actually put into the morgue as dead. +Whether I was or not, I don't know—but when I woke up, most of my +previous life had been forgotten, and I began a new one, but in such a +manner that the rest of you thought me peculiar.—Are you married again?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I have wife and children—somewhere.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. When I recovered consciousness I seemed to myself another +person. I regarded life with cynical calm: it probably had to be the +way it was. And the worse it turned out the more interesting it became. +After that I looked upon myself as if I were somebody else, and I +observed and studied that other person, and his fate, thereby rendering +myself callous to my own sufferings. But while dead I had acquired new +faculties—I could see right through people, read their thoughts, hear +their intentions. In company, I beheld them stripped naked—Where did +you say the fire started?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Why, nobody knows.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. But the newspapers said that it began in a closet right +under the student's garret—what kind of a student is he?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Appalled</i>] Is it in the newspapers? I haven't had time to +look at them to-day. What more have they got?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. They have got everything.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Everything?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The double walls, the respected family of smugglers, the +pillory, the hairpins——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What hairpins?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I don't know, but they are there. Do you know?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Naw!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Everything was brought to light, and you may look for a +stream of people coming here to stare at all that exposed rottenness.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Lord have mercy! And you take pleasure at seeing your family +dragged into scandal?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. My family? I have never felt myself related to the rest of +you. I have never had any strong feeling either for my fellow men or +myself. I think it's interesting to watch them—that's all—What sort +of a person is your wife?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Was there anything about her, too?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. About her and the student.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Good! Then I was right. Just wait and you'll see!—There comes +the stone-cutter.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You know him?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. And so do you. A schoolmate—Albert Ericson.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Whose father was in the customs service and whose brother I +met on the train—he who was so very well informed about our family.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. That's the infernal cuss who has blabbed to the papers, then!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span> <i>enters with a pick and begins to look over the ruins</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What a ghastly figure!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. He's been in jail—two years. Do you know what he did? He made +some erasures in a contract between him and myself——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You sent him to jail! And now he has had his revenge!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. But the queerest part of it is that nowadays he is regarded as +the most honest man in the whole district. He has become a martyr, and +almost a saint, so that nobody dares say a word against him.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. That's interesting, indeed!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. [<i>Entering, turns to</i> <span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>] Can you pull down that wall +over there?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>. The one by the closet?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. That's the one.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>. That's where the fire started, and I'm sure you'll find a +candle or a lamp around there—for I know the people!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Go ahead then!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>. The closet door was burned off, to be sure, but the ceiling +came down, and that's why we couldn't find out, but now we'll use the +beak on it! [<i>He falls to with his pick</i>] Ho-hey, ho-ho!—Ho-hey, +leggo!—Ho-hey, for that one!—Do you see anything?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Not yet.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>. [<i>Working away as before</i>] Now I can see something!—The lamp +has exploded, but the stand is left!—Who knows this forfeit for his +own?—Didn't I see the dyer somewhere around here?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. There he is sitting now. [<i>He picks the lamp from the debris +and holds it up</i>] Do you recognise your lamp, Mr. Walström?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. That isn't mine—it belonged to our tutor.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. The student? Where is he now?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. He's down-town, but I suppose he'll soon be here, as his books +are lying over there.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. How did his lamp get into the cook's closet? Did he have +anything to do with her?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Probably!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. The only thing needed now is that he identify the lamp as +his own, and he will be arrested. What do you think of it, Mr. Walström?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I? Well, what is there to think?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. What reason could he have for setting fire to another +person's house?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I don't know. Malice, or mere mischief—you never can tell +what people may do—Or perhaps there was something he wanted to cover +up.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. That would have been a poor way, as old rottenness always +will out. Did he have any grudge against you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. It's likely, for I helped him once when he was hard up, and he +has hated me ever since, of course.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Of course? [<i>Pause</i>] Who is he, then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. He was raised in an orphanage—born of unknown parents.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Haven't you a grown-up daughter, Mr. Walström?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Angered</i>] Of course I have!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span>. Oh, you have! [<i>Pause; then to</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>] Now you bring those +twelve men of yours and pull down the walls quick. Then we'll see what +new things come to light.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>. That'll be done in a jiffy. [<i>Goes out</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>Pause</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Have you really paid up your insurance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Of course!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Personally?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. No, I sent it in as usual.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You sent it—by somebody else! That's just like you!—Suppose +we take a turn through the garden and have a look at the apple-trees.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. All right, and then we'll see what happens afterward.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Now begins the most interesting part of all.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Perhaps not quite so interesting if you find yourself mixed up +in it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Who can tell?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What a web it is!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. There was a child of yours that went to the orphanage, I think?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. God bless us!—Let's go over into the garden!</p> + +<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Curtain</i>.</p> + + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1_3" id="Footnote_1_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_3"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This refers to King Charles XII of Sweden, whose memory +Strindberg hated mainly because of the use made of it by the jingo +elements of the Swedish upper classes.</p></div> + +<hr class="tb" /> + + +<h4>SECOND SCENE</h4> + + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The same setting as before with the exception that the walls +have been torn down so that the garden is made visible, +with its vast variety of spring flowers—daphnes, deutzias, +daffodils, narcissuses, tulips, auriculas—and with all the +fruit-trees in bloom</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ERICSON</span>, <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ANDERSON</span> <i>and his old wife</i>, <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">GUSTAFSON</span>, <i>the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">HEARSE-DRIVER</span>, <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>, <i>and the painter</i>, <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>, +<i>are standing in a row staring at the spot where the house used +to be</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Entering</i>] There they stand, enjoying the misfortune that's +in the air and waiting for the victim to appear—he being the principal +item. That the fire was incendiary they take for granted, merely +because they want it that way.—And all these rascals are the friends +and comrades of my youth. I am even related to the hearse-driver +through my stepmother, whose father used to help carry out the +coffins—[<i>He speaks to the crowd of spectators</i>] Look here, you +people, I shouldn't stand there if I were you. There may have been some +dynamite stored in the cellar, and if such were the case an explosion +might take place any moment.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The curious crowd scatters and disappears</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [Stoops <i>over the scrap-heap and begins to poke in the +books piled there</i>] Those are the student's books—Same kind of rot +as in my youth—Livy's Roman history, which is said to be lies, every +word—But here's a volume out of my brother's library—"Columbus, or +the Discovery of America"! My own book, which I got as a Christmas +gift in 1857. My name has been erased. This means it was stolen from +me—and I accused one of our maids, who was discharged on that account! +Fine business! Perhaps it led to her ruin—fifty years ago! Here is +the frame of one of our family portraits; my renowned grandfather, +the smuggler, who was put in the pillory—fine!—But what is this? +The foot-piece of a mahogany bed—the one in which I was born! Oh, +damn!—Next item: a leg of a dinner-table—the one that was an +heirloom. Why, it was supposed to be of ebony, and was admired on +that account! And now, after fifty years, I discover it to be made +of painted maple. Everything had its colours changed in our house to +render it unrecognisable, even the clothes of us children, so that +our bodies always were stained with various dyes. Ebony—humbug! And +here's the dining-room clock—smuggled goods, that, too—which has +measured out the time for two generations. It was wound up every +Saturday, when we had salt codfish and a posset made with beer for +dinner. Like all intelligent clocks, it used to stop when anybody +died, but when I died it went on just as before. Let me have a look at +you, old friend—I want to see your insides. [<i>As he touches the clock +it falls to pieces</i>] Can't stand being handled! Nothing could stand +being handled in our home—nothing! Vanity, vanity!—But there's the +globe that was on top of the clock, although it ought to have been at +the bottom. You tiny earth: you, the densest and the heaviest of all +the planets—that's what makes everything on you so heavy—so heavy +to breathe, so heavy to carry. The cross is your symbol, but it might +just as well have been a fool's cap or a strait-jacket—you world of +delusions and deluded!—Eternal One—perchance Thy earth has gone +astray in the limitless void? And what set it whirling so that Thy +children were made dizzy, and lost their reason, and became incapable +of seeing what really is instead of what only seems?—Amen!—And here +is the student!</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span> <i>enters and looks around in evident search of +somebody</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. He is looking for the mistress of the house. And he tells +everything he knows—with his eyes. Happy youth!—Whom are you looking +for?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. [<i>Embarrassed</i>] I was looking——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Speak up, young man—or keep silent. I understand you just +the same.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. With whom have I the honour——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. It's no special honour, as you know, for once I ran away to +America on account of debts——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. That wasn't right.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Right or wrong, it remains a fact.—So you were looking for +Mrs. Walström? Well, she isn't here, but I am sure that she will come +soon, like all the rest, for they are drawn by the fire like moths——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. By a candle!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. That's what <i>you</i> say, but I should rather have said "lamp," +in order to choose a more significant word. However, you had better +hide your feelings, my dear fellow, if you can—I can hide mine!—We +were talking of that lamp, were we not? How about it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Which lamp?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Well, well! Every one of them lies and denies!—The lamp +that was placed in the cook's closet and set fire to the house?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. I know nothing about it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Some blush when they lie and others turn pale. This one has +invented an entirely new manner.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Are you talking to yourself, sir?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I have that bad habit.—Are your parents still living?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. They are not.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Now you lied again, but unconsciously.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. I never tell a lie!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Not more than three in these few moments! I know your father.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. I don't believe it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. So much the better for me!—Do you see this scarf-pin? It's +pretty, isn't it? But I never see anything of it myself—I have no +pleasure in its being there, while everybody else is enjoying it. There +is nothing selfish about that, is there? But there are moments when +I should like to see it in another man's tie so that I might have a +chance to admire it. Would you care to have it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. I don't quite understand—Perhaps, as you said, it's better +not to wear it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Perhaps!—Don't get impatient now. She will be here soon.—Do +you find it enviable to be young?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. I can't say that I do.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, youth is not its own master; it has never any money, and +has to take its food out of other hands; it is not permitted to speak +when company is present, but is treated as an idiot; and as it cannot +marry, it has to ogle other people's wives, which leads to all sorts of +dangerous consequences. Youth—humbug!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. That's right! As a child, you want to grow up—that is, reach +fifteen, be confirmed, and put on a tall hat. When you are that far, +you want to be old—that is, twenty-one. Which means that nobody wants +to be young.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And when you grow old in earnest, then you want to be dead. +For then there isn't much left to wish for.—Do you know that you are +to be arrested?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Am I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The detective said so a moment ago.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Are you surprised at that? Don't you know that in this life +you must be prepared for anything?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. But what have I done?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You don't have to do anything in order to be arrested. To be +suspected is enough.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Then everybody might be arrested!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Exactly! The rope might be laid around the neck of the whole +race if justice were wanted, but it isn't. It's a disgusting race: +ugly, sweating, ill-smelling; its linen dirty, its stockings full of +holes; with chilblains and corns—ugh! No, an apple-tree in bloom is +far more beautiful. Or look at the lilies in the field—they seem +hardly to belong here—and what fragrance is theirs!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Are you a philosopher, sir?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, I am a great philosopher.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Now you are poking fun at me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You say that to get away. Well, begone then! Hurry up!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. I was expecting somebody.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. So I thought. But I think it would be better to go and +meet——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. She asked you to tell me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Oh, that wasn't necessary.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STUDENT</span>. Well, if that's so—I don't want to miss——</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>He goes out</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Can that be my son? Well, if it comes to the worst—I was a +child myself once, and it was neither remarkable nor pleasant—And I +am his—what of it? And for that matter—who knows?—Now I'll have a +look at Mrs. Westerlund. She used to work for my parents—was faithful +and good-tempered; and when she had been pilfering for ten years she +was raised to the rank of a "trusted" servant. [<i>He seats himself at +the table in front of the inn</i>] There are Gustafson's wreaths—just as +carelessly made as they were forty years ago. He was always careless +and stupid in all he did, and so he never succeeded with anything. But +much might be pardoned him on account of his self-knowledge. "Poor +fool that I am," he used to say, and then he would pull off his cap +and scratch his head.—Why, there's a myrtle plant! [<i>He knocks at the +pot</i>] Not watered, of course! He always forgot to water his plants, the +damned fool—and yet he expected them to grow.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>, <i>the painter, appears</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I wonder who that painter can be. Probably he belongs also to +the Bog, and perhaps he is one of the threads in my own web.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span> <i>is staring at the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span> <i>all this time</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Returning the stare</i>] Well, do you recognise me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. Are you—Mr. Arvid?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Have been and am—if perception argues being.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>[<i>Pause</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. I ought really to be mad at you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Well, go on and be so! However, you might tell me the reason. +That has a tendency to straighten matters out.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. Do you remember——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Unfortunately, I have an excellent memory.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. Do you remember a boy named Robert?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, a regular rascal who knew how to draw.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. And I was to go to the Academy in order to become a real +painter, an artist. But just about that time-colour-blindness was all +the go. You were studying at the Technological Institute then, and so +you had to test my eyes before your father would consent to send me to +the art classes. For that reason you brought two skeins of yarn from +the dye works, one red and the other green, and then you asked me about +them. I answered—called the red green and the green red—and that was +the end of my career——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. But that was as it should be.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. No—for the truth of it was, I could distinguish the +colours, but not—the <i>names</i>. And that wasn't found out until I was +thirty-seven——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. That was an unfortunate story, but I didn't know better, and +so you'll have to forgive me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. How can I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Ignorance is pardonable! And now listen to me. I wanted to +enter the navy, made a trial cruise as mid-shipman, seemed to become +seasick, and was rejected! But I could stand the sea, and my sickness +came from having drunk too much. So my career was spoiled, and I had to +choose another.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. What have I got to do with the navy? I had been dreaming of +Rome and Paris——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Oh, well, one has so many dreams in youth, and in old age +too, for that matter. Besides, what's the use of bothering about what +happened so long ago?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. How you talk! Perhaps you can give me back my wasted life——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, I can't, but I am under no obligation to do so, either. +That trick with the yarn I had learned at school, and you ought to have +learned the proper names of the colours. And now you can go to—one +dauber less is a blessing to humanity!—There's Mrs. Westerlund!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">SJÖBLOM</span>. How you <i>do</i> talk. But I guess you'll get what's coming to you!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span> <i>enters</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. How d'you do, Mrs. Westerlund? I am Mr. Arvid—don't get +scared now! I have been in America, and how are you? I am feeling fine! +There has been a fire here, and I hear your husband is dead—policeman, +I remember, and a very nice fellow. I liked him for his good humour +and friendly ways. He was a harmless jester, whose quips never hurt. I +recall once——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. O, merciful! Is this my own Arvid whom I used to +tend——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, that wasn't me, but my brother—but never mind, it's just +as well meant. I was talking of your old man who died thirty-five years +ago—a very nice man and a particular friend of mine——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Yes, he died. [<i>Pause</i>] But I don't know if—perhaps +you are getting him mixed up——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, I don't. I remember old man Westerlund perfectly, and I +liked him very much.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. [<i>Reluctantly</i>] Of course it's a shame to say it, but +I don't think his temper was very good.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Well—he had a way of getting around people, but +he didn't mean what he said—or if he did he meant it the other way +around——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What is that? Didn't he mean what he was saying? Was he a +hypocrite?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Well, I don't like to say it, but I believe——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Do you mean to say that he wasn't on the level?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. N—yes—he was—a little—well, he didn't mean exactly +what he said—And how have you been doing, Mr. Arvid?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Now a light is dawning on me!—The miserable wretch! And +here I have been praising him these thirty-five years. I have missed +him, and I felt something like sorrow at his departure—I even used +some of my tobacco allowance to buy a wreath for his coffin.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. What was it he did? What was it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The villain! [<i>Pause</i>] Well—he fooled me—it was Shrove +Tuesday, I remember. He told me that if one took away every third +egg from a hen she would lay so many more. I did it, got a licking, +and came near getting into court. But <i>I</i> never suspected him of +having told on me.—He was always hanging around our kitchen looking +for tid-bits, and so our maids could do just what they pleased about +the garbage—oh, now I see him in his proper aspect!—And here I am +now getting into a fury at one who has been thirty-five years in his +grave?—So he was a satirist, he was—and I didn't catch on—although I +understand him now.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. Yes, he was a little satirical all right—<i>I</i> ought +to know that!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Other things are coming back to me now—and I have been +saying nice things about that blackguard for thirty-five years! It was +at his funeral I drank my first toddy—And I remember how he used to +flatter me, and call me "professor" and "the crown prince"—ugh—And +there is the stone-cutter! You had better go inside, madam, or we'll +have a row when that fellow begins to turn in his bills. Good-bye, +madam—we'll meet again!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WESTERLUND</span>. No we won't. People ought never to meet again—it +is never as it used to be, and they only get to clawing at each +other—What business did you have to tell me all those things—seeing +everything was all right as it was [<i>She goes out</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>, <i>the stone-cutter, comes in</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Come on!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. What's that?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Come on, I said!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span> <i>stares at him</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Are you looking at my scarf-pin? I bought it in London.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. I am no thief!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, but you practise the noble art of erasure. You wipe out!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. That's true, but that contract was sheer robbery, and it was +strangling me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Why did you sign it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Because I was hard up.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, that <i>is</i> a motive.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. But now I am having my revenge.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, isn't it nice!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. And now <i>they</i> will be locked up.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Did <i>we</i> ever fight each other as boys?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. No, I was too young.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Have we never told lies about each other, or robbed each +other, or got in each other's way, or seduced each other's sisters?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Naw, but my father was in the customs service and yours was a +smuggler.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. There you are! That's something, at least!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. And when my father failed to catch yours he was discharged.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And you want to get even with me because your father was a +good-for-nothing?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Why did you say a while ago that there was dynamite in the +cellar?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Now, my dear sir, you are telling lies again. I said there +<i>might</i> be dynamite in the cellar, and everything is possible, of +course.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. And in the meantime the student has been arrested. Do you know +him?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Very little—his mother more, for she was a maid in our +house. She was both pretty and good, and I was making up to her—until +she had a child.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. And were you not its father?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I was not. But as a denial of fatherhood is not allowed, I +suppose I must be regarded as a sort of stepfather.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Then they have lied about you.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Of course. But that's a very common thing.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. And I was among those who testified against you—under oath!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I have no doubt about it, but what does it matter? Nothing +matters at all! But now we had better quit pulling—or we'll get the +whole web unravelled.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. But think of me, who have perjured myself——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, it isn't pleasant, but such things will happen.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. It's horrible—don't you find life horrible?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Covering his eyes with his hand</i>] Yes, horrible beyond all +description!</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. I don't want to live any longer!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Must! [<i>Pause</i>] Must! [<i>Pause</i>] Tell me—the student is +arrested, you say—can he get out of it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Hardly!—And now, as we are talking nicely, I'll tell you +something: he is innocent, but he cannot clear himself. For the only +witness that can prove him innocent would, by doing so, prove him +guilty—in another way.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. She with the hairpins, isn't it?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Yes.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The old one or the young one?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. You have to figure that out yourself. But it isn't the cook.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What a web this is!—But who put the lamp there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. His worst enemy.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And did his worst enemy also start the fire?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. That's beyond me! Only Anderson, the mason, knows that.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Who is he?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. The oldest one in the place—some kind of relative of Mrs. +Westerlund—knows all the secrets of the house—but he and the dyer +have got some secrets together, so he won't tell anything.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And the lady—my sister-in-law—who is she?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Well—she was in the house as governess when the first wife +cleared out.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. What sort of character has she got?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Hm! Character? I don't quite know what that is. Do you mean +trade? The old assessment blanks used to call for your name and +"character"—but that meant occupation instead of character.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I mean her temper.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Well, it changes, you know. In me it depends on the person +with whom I am talking. With decent people I am decent, and with the +cruel ones I become like a beast of prey.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. But I was talking of her temper under ordinary circumstances.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Well, nothing in particular. Gets angry if you tease her, but +comes around after a while. One cannot always have the same temper, of +course.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I mean, is she merry or melancholy?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. When things go right, she is happy, and when they go wrong, +she gets sorry or angry—just like the rest of us.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, but how does she behave?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Oh, what does it matter?—Of course, being an educated person, +she behaves politely, but nevertheless, you know, she can get nasty, +too, when her blood gets to boiling.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. But that doesn't make me much wiser.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. [<i>Patting him on the shoulder</i>] No, sir, we never get much +wiser when it's a question of human beings.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Oh, you're a marvel!—And how do you like my brother, the +dyer? [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. Oh, his manners are pretty decent. And more than that I don't +know, for what he keeps hidden I can't find out, of course.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Excellent! But—his hands are always blue, and yet you know +that they are white beneath the dye.</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. But to make them so they should be scraped, and that's +something he won't permit.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Good!—Who are the young couple coming over there?</p> + +<p><span class="small-c">ERICSON</span>. That's the gardener's son and my daughter, who were to have +been married to-night, but who have had to postpone it on account of +the fire—Now I shall leave, for I don't want to embarrass them. You +understand—I ain't much as a father-in-law. Good-bye! [<i>He goes out</i>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span> <i>withdraws behind the inn, but so that he +remains visible to the spectators</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span> <i>and</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span> <i>enter hand in hand</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. I had to have a look at this place—I had to——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Why did you have to look at it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Because I have suffered so much in this house that more than +once I wished it on fire.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Yes, I know, it kept the sun out of the garden, and now +everything will grow much better—provided they don't put up a still +higher house——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Now it's open and pleasant, with plenty of air and sunlight, +and I hear they are going to lay out a street——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Won't you have to move then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Yes, all of us will have to move, and that's what I like—I +like new things—I should like to emigrate——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Mercy, no! Do you know, our pigeons were nesting on the roof. +And when the fire broke out last night they kept circling around the +place at first, but when the roof fell in they plunged right into the +flames—They couldn't part from their old home!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. But we must get out of here—must! My father says that the soil +has been sucked dry.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. I heard that the cinders left by the fire were to be spread +over the ground in order to improve the soil.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. You mean the ashes?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Yes; they say it's good to sow in the ashes.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Better still on virgin soil.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. But your father is ruined?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Not at all. He has money in the bank. Of course he's +complaining, but so does everybody.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Has he—The fire hasn't ruined him?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Not a bit! He's a shrewd old guy, although he always calls +himself a fool.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. What am I to believe?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. He has loaned money to the mason here—and to others.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. I am entirely at sea! Am I dreaming?—The whole morning +we have been weeping over your father's misfortune and over the +postponement of the wedding——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Poor little thing! But the wedding is to take place to-night——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Is it not postponed?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Only delayed for a couple of hours so that my father will have +time to get his new coat.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. And we who have been weeping——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Useless tears—such a lot of tears!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. I am mad because they were useless—although—to think that +my father-in-law could be such a sly one!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Yes, he is something of a joker, to put it mildly. He is always +talking about how tired he is, but that's nothing but laziness—oh, +he's lazy, I tell you——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Don't say any more nasty things about him—but let us get +away from here. I have to dress, you know, and put up my hair.—Just +think, that my father-in-law isn't what I thought him—that he could be +fooling us like that and not telling the truth! Perhaps you are like +that, too? Oh, that I can't know what you really are!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. You'll find out afterward.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. But then it's too late.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. It's never too late——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. All you who lived in this house are bad—And now I am afraid +of you——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Not of me, though?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. I don't know what to think. Why didn't you tell me before +that your father was well off?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. I wanted to try you and see if you would like me as a poor man.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Yes, afterward they always say that they wanted to try you. +But how can I ever believe a human being again?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Go and get dressed now. I'll order the carriages.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Are we to have carriages?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. Of course—regular coaches.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MATHILDA</span>. Coaches? And to-night? What fun! Come—hurry up! We'll have +carriages!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">ALFRED</span>. [<i>Gets hold of her hand and they dance out together</i>] Hey and +ho! Here we go!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Coming forward</i>] Bravo!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span> <i>enters and talks in a low tone to the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>, <i>who answers in the same way. This lasts for about +half a minute, whereupon the</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">DETECTIVE</span> <i>leaves again</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. [<i>Enters, dressed in black, and gazes long at the</i> +<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>] Are you my brother-in-law?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I am. [<i>Pause</i>] Don't I look as I have been described—or +painted?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Frankly, no!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. No, that is generally the case. And I must admit that the +information I received about you a while ago does not tally with the +original.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Oh, people do each other so much wrong, and they paint +each other in accordance with some image within themselves.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And they go about like theatrical managers, distributing +parts to each other. Some accept their parts; others hand them back and +prefer to improvise.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. And what has been the part assigned to you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. That of a seducer. Not that I have ever been one! I have +never seduced anybody, be she wife or maid, but once in my youth I was +seduced, and that's why the part was given to me. Strange to say, it +was forced on me so long that at last I accepted it. And for twenty +years I carried the bad conscience of a seducer around with me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. You were innocent then?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I was.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. How curious! And to this day my husband is still +talking of the Nemesis that has pursued you because you seduced another +man's wife.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I fully believe it. But your husband represents a still more +interesting case. He has created a new character for himself out of +lies. Tell me: isn't he a coward in facing the struggles of life?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Of course he is a coward!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And yet he boasts of his courage, which is nothing but +brutality.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. You know him pretty well.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, and no!—And you have been living in the belief that you +had married into a respected family which had never disgraced itself?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. So I believed until this morning.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. When your faith crumbled! What a web of lies and mistakes +and misunderstandings! And that kind of thing we are supposed to take +seriously!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Do you?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Sometimes. Very seldom nowadays. I walk like a somnambulist +along the edge of a roof—knowing that I am asleep, and yet being +awake—and the only thing I am waiting for is to be waked up.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. You are said to have been across to the other side?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I have been across the river, but the only thing I can recall +is—that there everything <i>was</i> what it pretended to be. That's what +makes the difference.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. When nothing stands the test of being touched, what are +you then to hold on to?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Don't you know?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Tell me! Tell me!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Sorrow brings patience; patience brings experience; +experience brings hope; and hope will not bring us to shame.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Hope, yes!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, hope!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Do you ever think it pleasant to live?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Of course. But that is also a delusion. I tell you, my dear +sister-in-law, that when you happen to be born without a film over your +eyes, then you see life and your fellow creatures as they are—and +you have to be a pig to feel at home in such a mess.—But when you +have been looking long enough at blue mists, then you turn your eyes +the other way and begin to look into your own soul? There you find +something really worth looking at.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. And what is it you see?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Your own self. But when you have looked at that you must die.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. [<i>Covers her eyes with her hands; after a pause she +says</i>] Do you want to help me?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. If I can.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Try.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Wait a moment!—No, I cannot. He is innocently accused. Only +you can set him free again. But that you cannot do. It's a net that has +not been tied by men——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. But he is not guilty.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Who is guilty? [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. No one! It was an accident!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I know it.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. What am I to do?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Suffer. It will pass. For that, too, is vanity.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. Suffer?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, suffer! But with hope!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. [<i>Holding out her hand to him</i>] Thank you!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And let it be your consolation</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span>. What?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. That you don't suffer innocently.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">MRS. WALSTRÖM</span> <i>walks out with her head bent low</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The</i> <span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span> <i>climbs the pile of debris marking the site of +the burned house</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Comes in, looking happy</i>] Are you playing the ghost among +the ruins?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Ghosts feel at home among ruins—And now you are happy?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Now I am happy.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And brave?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Whom have I got to fear, or what?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. I conclude from your happiness that you are ignorant of one +important fact—Have you the courage to bear a piece of misfortune?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What is it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. You turn pale?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. A serious misfortune!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Speak out!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The detective was here a moment ago, and he told me—in +confidence——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. That the premium on your insurance was paid up two hours too +late.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Great S——! what are you talking of? I sent my wife to pay +the premium.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. And she sent the bookkeeper—and he got there too late.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Then I am ruined? [<i>Pause</i>.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Are you crying?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I am ruined!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Well, is that something that cannot be borne?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. How am I to live? What am I to do?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Work!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I am too old—I have no friends——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Perhaps you'll get some now. A man in misfortune always seems sympathetic. I had some of +my best hours while fortune went against me.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Wildly</i>] I am ruined!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. But in my days of success and fortune I was left alone. Envy +was more than friendship could stand.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Then I'll sue the bookkeeper.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Don't!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. He'll have to pay——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. How little you have changed! What's the use of living, when +you learn so little from it?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. I'll sue him, the villain!—He hates me because I gave him a +cuff on the ear once.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Forgive him—as I forgave you when I didn't demand my +inheritance.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What inheritance?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Always the same! Merciless! Cowardly! Disingenuous!—Depart +in peace, brother!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. What inheritance is that you are talking of?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Now listen, Rudolph—my brother after all: my own mother's +son! You put the stone-cutter in jail because he did some erasing—all +right! But how about your own erasures from my book, "Christopher +Columbus, or the Discovery of America"?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Taken aback</i>] What's that? Columbus?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, <i>my</i> book that became yours!</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span> <i>remains silent</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes, and I understand now that it was you who put the +student's lamp in the closet—I understand everything. But do <i>you</i> +know that the dinner-table was not of ebony?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. It wasn't?</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. It was nothing but maple.</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Maple!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. The pride and glory of the house—valued at two thousand +crowns!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. That, too? So that was also humbug!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Yes!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. Ugh!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. Thus the debt is settled. The case is dropped—the issue is +beyond the court—the parties can withdraw——</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">RUDOLPH</span>. [<i>Rushing out</i>] I am ruined!</p> + +<p><span style="font-size: 0.8em;">STRANGER</span>. [<i>Takes his wreath from the table</i>] I meant to take this +wreath to the cemetery—to my parents' grave—but I will place it here +instead—on the ruins of what was once their home—my childhood's home! +[<i>He bends his head in silent prayer</i>] And now, wanderer, resume thy +pilgrimage!</p> + +<h5><i>Curtain</i>.</h5> + + +<hr class="full" /> + +<blockquote> + +<p>PLAYS BY AUGUST STRINDBERG</p> + + +<p>PLAYS. FIRST SERIES: The Dream Play, The +Link, The Dance of Death—Part I and Part II.</p> + +<p>PLAYS. SECOND SERIES: There are Crimes +and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, +Pariah.</p> + +<p>PLAYS. THIRD SERIES: Swanwhite, Simoom, +Debit and Credit, Advent, The Thunder +Storm, After the Fire.</p> + +<p>PLAYS. FOURTH SERIES: The Bridal Crown, +The Spook Sonata, The First Warning, Gustavus Vasa.</p> + +<p>CREDITORS. PARIAH.</p> + +<p>MISS JULIA. THE STRONGER.</p> + +<p>THERE ARE CRIMES AND CRIMES.</p></blockquote> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Plays by August Strindberg, Third +Series, by August Strindberg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLAYS BY AUGUST STRINDBERG *** + +***** This file should be named 44233-h.htm or 44233-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/2/3/44233/ + +Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org +(Images generously made available by the Internet Archive, +University of California (L.A.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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