besides, that makes me want to clean house. I am about to become
homeless, so to speak.
FELIX
Why?
JULIAN
I'm giving up my rooms here, and don't know yet what my next step will
be. And so I think it's more pleasant to let these things come to a
decent end rather than to put them in a box and leave them to molder
away in a cellar.
FELIX
But don't you feel sorry about a lot of it?
JULIAN
Oh, I don't know.
FELIX
And then you must have mementoes that mean something to other people
besides yourself. Sketches of all kinds, for instance, which I think
you have saved to some extent.
JULIAN
Are you thinking of those little things I showed you in Salzburg?
FELIX
Yes, of those too, of course.
JULIAN
They are still wrapped up. Would you like to have them?
FELIX
Indeed, I should feel very thankful. They seemed to have a particular
charm for me. (_Pause_) But there's something else I wanted to ask of
you. A great favor. If you will let me....
JULIAN
Tell me, please.
FELIX
I thought you might still have left a picture of my mother as a young
girl. A small picture in water colors painted by yourself.
JULIAN
Yes, I did paint such a picture.
FELIX
And you have still got it?
JULIAN
I guess it can be found.
FELIX
I should like to see it.
JULIAN
Did your mother remember this picture...?
FELIX
Yes, she mentioned it to me the last evening I ever saw her--the
evening before she died. At the time I didn't imagine, of course, that
the end was so near--and I don't think she could guess it either.
To-day it seems rather peculiar to me that, on that very evening, she
had to talk so much of days long gone by.
JULIAN
And of this little picture, too?
FELIX
It's a very good one, I understand.
JULIAN (_as if trying to remember_)
Where did I put it? Wait now.... (_He goes to a book case, the lower
part of which has solid doors; these he opens, disclosing several
shelves piled with portfolios_) I painted it in the country--in the
little house where your grandparents used to live.
FELIX
I know.
JULIAN
You can hardly recall the old people, I suppose?
FELIX
Very vaguely. They were quite humble people, were they not?
JULIAN
Yes. (_He has taken a big portfolio from one of the shelves_) It ought
to be in this portfolio. (_He puts it on the writing desk and opens it;
then he sits down in front of it_)
FELIX (_stands behind him, looking over his shoulder_)
JULIAN
Here is the house in which they lived--your grandparents and your
mother. (_He goes through the sketches, one by one_) And here is a view
of the valley seen from the cemetery.
FELIX
In Summer....
JULIAN
Yes.--And here is the little inn at which your father and I used to
stop.... And here.... (_He looks in silence at the sketch; both remain
silent for a long while_)
FELIX (_picking up the sketch_)
How old was my mother at the time?
JULIAN (_who remains seated_)
Eighteen.
FELIX (_going a few steps away and leaning against the bookcase in
order to get better light on the picture_)
A year before she was married, then.
JULIAN
It was done that very year. (_Pause_)
FELIX
What a strange look that meets me out of those eyes.... There's a smile
on her lips.... It's almost as if she were talking to me....
JULIAN
What was it your mother told you--that last evening?
FELIX
Not very much. But I feel as if I knew more than she had told me. What
a queer thought it is, that as she is now looking at me out of this
picture, so she must have been looking at you once. It seems as if
there was a certain timidity in that look. Something like fear
almost.... In such a way you look at people out of another world, for
which you long, and of which you are afraid nevertheless.
JULIAN
At that time your mother had rarely been outside the village.
FELIX
She must have been different from all other women you have met, wasn't
she?--Why don't you say anything? I am not one of those men who cannot
understand--who won't understand that their mothers and sisters are
women after all. I can easily understand that it must have been a
dangerous time for her--and for somebody else as well. (_Very simply_)
You must have loved my mother very much?
JULIAN
You have a curious way of asking questions.--Yes, I did love her.
FELIX
And those moments must have been very happy ones, when you sat in that
little garden with its overgrown fence, holding this canvas on your
knees, and out there on the bright meadow, among all those red and
white flowers, stood this young girl with anxiously smiling eyes,
holding her straw hat in one hand.
JULIAN
Your mother talked of those moments that last evening?
FELIX
Yes.--It is childish perhaps, but since then it has seemed impossible
to me that any other human being could ever have meant so much to you
as this one?
JULIAN (_more and more deeply moved, but speaking very quietly_) I
shall not answer you.--In the end I should instinctively be tempted to
make myself appear better than I am. You know very well how I have
lived my life--that it has not followed a regulated and direct course
like the lives of most other people. I suppose that the gift of
bestowing happiness of the kind that lasts, or of accepting it, has
never been mine.
FELIX
That's what I feel. It is what I have always felt. Often with something
like regret--or sorrow almost. But just people like you, who are
destined by their very nature to have many and varied experiences--just
such people should, I think, cling more faithfully and more gratefully
to memories of a tender, peaceful sort, like this--rather than to more
passionate and saddening memories.--Am I not right?
JULIAN
Maybe you are.
FELIX
My mother had never before mentioned this picture to me. Isn't it
strange?... That last night she did it for the first time.--We were
left alone on the veranda. The rest had already bid me good-by.... And
all of a sudden she began to talk about those summer days of long, long
ago. Her words had an undercurrent of meanings which she probably did
not realize. I believe that her own youth, which she had almost ceased
to understand, was unconsciously taking mine into its confidence. It
moved me more deeply than I can tell you.--Much as she cared for me,
she had never before talked to me like that. And I believe that she had
never been quite so dear to me as in those last moments.--And when
finally I had to leave, I felt that she had still much more to tell
me.--Now you'll understand why I had such a longing to see this
picture.--I have almost the feeling that it might go on talking to me
as my mother would have done--if I had only dared to ask her one more
question!
JULIAN
Ask it now.... Do ask it, Felix.
FELIX (_who becomes aware of the emotion betrayed in the voice of
Julian, looks up from the picture_)
JULIAN
I believe that it can still tell you a great many things.
FELIX
What is the matter?
JULIAN
Do you want to keep that picture?
FELIX
Why...?
JULIAN
Well ... take it. I don't give it to you. As soon as I have settled
down again, I shall want it back. But you shall have a look at it
whenever you want. And I hope matters will be so arranged that you
won't have far to go either.
FELIX (_with his eyes on the picture_)
It grows more alive every second.... And that look was directed at
you.... That look...? Can it be possible that I read it right?
JULIAN
Mothers have their adventures, too, like other women.
FELIX
Yes, indeed, I believe it has nothing more to hide from me.
[_He puts down the picture. Then a long pause follows. At last Felix
puts on his coat._
JULIAN
Are you not going to take it along?
FELIX
Not just now. It belongs to you much more than I could guess.
JULIAN
And to you ...
FELIX
No, I don't want it until this new thing has become fully revealed to
me. (_He looks Julian firmly in the eyes_) I don't quite know where I
am. In reality, of course, there has been no change whatever.
None--except that I know now what I ...
JULIAN
Felix!
FELIX
No, that was something I could never have guessed. (_Looks long at
Julian with an expression of mingled tenderness and curiosity_)
Farewell.
JULIAN
Are you going?
FELIX
I need badly to be by myself for a while.--Until to-morrow.
JULIAN
Yes, and no longer, Felix. To-morrow I shall come to your--I'll call on
_you_, Felix.
FELIX
I shall be waiting for you. (_He goes out_)
JULIAN (_stands quite still for a moment; then he goes to the writing
desk and stops beside it, lost in contemplation of the picture_)
CURTAIN
THE THIRD ACT
_A room at the Wegrats' adjoining the veranda. The outlook is, of
course, determined by the location._
JOHANNA (_is seated on a stool with her hands folded in her lap_)
SALA (_enters_)
Good morning, Johanna.
JOHANNA (_rises, goes to meet him, and draws him close to herself_) Are
you coming for the last time?
SALA
For the last time? What an idea! There has not been the slightest
change in our arrangements. To-day is the seventh of October, and the
ship will leave Genoa on the twenty-sixth of November.
JOHANNA
Some day you will suddenly have disappeared. And I shall be standing by
the garden door, and nobody will come to open it.
SALA
But that sort of thing is not needed between us two.
JOHANNA
No, indeed--bear that in mind.
FELIX (_enters_)
Oh, is that you, Mr. von Sala? (_They shake hands_) Well, how far have
you got with your preparations?
SALA
There are hardly any needed. I shall pack my trunk, pull down the
shades, lock the doors--and be off for the mysteries of far-away. There
is something I want to ask you apropos of that, Felix. Would you care
to come along?
FELIX (_startled_)
If I care.... Are you asking seriously, Mr. von Sala?
SALA
There is just so much seriousness in my question as you wish to put
into it.
FELIX
What does it mean anyhow? If I want to go along to Asia? What use could
they have for me in a venture of that kind?
SALA
Oh, that's pretty plain.
FELIX
Is the expedition not going to be one of purely scientific character?
SALA
Yes, that's what it is meant for, I suppose. But it is quite possible
that various things may happen that would make the presence of some
young men like you very desirable.
FELIX
Men like me...?
SALA
When Rolston went out there seven years ago, a lot of things happened
which were not provided for in the original program. And they had to
fight a regular battle, on a small scale, in the Kara-Kum district, not
far from the river Amu-Daria.
REUMANN (_who has entered while Sala was speaking_)
To those who had to stay behind forever the scale of your battle was
probably large enough. (_All greet each other and shake hands without
letting the conversation be interrupted_)
SALA
In that respect you are probably right, Doctor.
FELIX
Pardon me, Mr. von Sala, but does this come from you alone? Is it just
a sudden notion--or something more?
SALA
I have received no direct request from anybody to speak of this. But
after the conference which took place at the Foreign Department
yesterday, and which I attended, I feel entitled to add a little
more.--Oh, no secrets at all!--You have probably read, Felix, that a
member of the General Staff as well as several artillery and
engineering officers are being sent with us in what might be termed a
semi-official capacity. On account of the latest news from Asia--which,
however, does not seem very reliable to me, as it has come by way of
England--it has been decided to secure the additional cooperation of
some young line officers, and all arrangements of this kind must be
left to private initiative.
FELIX
And there might be a possibility for me...?
SALA
Will you permit me to speak to Count Ronsky?
FELIX
Have you already mentioned my name to him?
SALA
I have received permission to ask whether you could be prepared to
board the ship with the rest at Genoa on the twenty-sixth of November.
REUMANN
Do you mean to leave Vienna as soon as that?
SALA (_sarcastically_)
Yes. Why did you look at me like that, Doctor? That glance of yours was
a little indiscreet.
REUMANN
In what respect?
SALA
It seemed to say: Yes, you can start, of course, but if you ever come
back, that's more than doubtful.
REUMANN
Let me tell you, Mr. von Sala, that in the face of a venture like yours
one might well express such doubts quite openly. But are you at all
interested in whether you get back or not, Mr. von Sala? I don't
suppose you belong to the kind of people who care to put their affairs
in order.
SALA
No, indeed. Especially not as, in cases of that kind, it is generally
the affairs of others which give you needless trouble. If I were to be
interested at all in my own chances, it would be for much more selfish
reasons.
JOHANNA
What reasons?
SALA
I don't want to be cheated out of the consciousness that certain
moments are my final ones.
REUMANN
There are not many people who share your attitude in that respect.
SALA
At any rate, Doctor, you would have to tell me the absolute truth if I
ever asked you for it. I hold that one has the right to drain one's own
life to the last drop, with all the horrors and delights that may lie
hidden at the bottom of it. Just as it is our evident duty every day to
commit every good deed and every rascality lying within our
capacity.... No, I won't let you rob me of my death moments by any kind
of hocus-pocus. It would imply a small-minded attitude, worthy neither
of yourself nor of me.--Well, Felix, the twenty-sixth of November then!
That's still seven weeks off. In regard to any formalities that may be
required, you need have no worry at all.
FELIX
How long a time have I got to make up my mind?
SALA
There's no reason to be precipitate. When does your furlough end?
FELIX
To-morrow night.
SALA
Of course, you are going to talk it over with your father?
FELIX
With my father.... Yes, of course.--At any rate I'll bring you the
answer early to-morrow morning, Mr. von Sala.
SALA
Fine. It would please me very much. But you must bear in mind: it will
be no picnic. I expect to see you soon, then. Good-by, Miss Johanna.
Farewell, Doctor.
[_He goes out. A brief pause. Those left behind show signs of emotion._
JOHANNA (_rising_)
I'm going to my room. Good-by, Doctor. (_She goes out_)
REUMANN
Have you made up your mind, Felix?
FELIX
Almost.
REUMANN
You'll come across much that is new to you.
FELIX
And my own self among it, I hope--which would be about time....
(_Quoting_) "The mysteries of far-away ..." And will it really come
true? Oh, the thrill of it!
REUMANN
And yet you ask time to consider?
FELIX
I hardly know why. And yet ... The thought of leaving people behind
and perhaps never seeing them again--and certainly not as they were
when you left them; the thought, too, that perhaps your going will
hurt them ...
REUMANN
If nothing else makes you hesitate, then every moment of uncertainty is
wasted. Nothing is more sure to estrange you from those dear to you
than the knowledge that duty condemns you to stay near them. You must
seize this unique opportunity. You must go to see Genoa, Asia Minor,
Thibet, Bactria.... Oh, it must be splendid! And my best wishes will go
with you. (_He gives his hand to Felix_)
FELIX
Thank you. But there will be plenty of time for wishes of that kind.
Whatever may be decided, we shall meet more than once before I leave.
REUMANN
I hope so. Oh, of course!
FELIX (_looking hard at him_)
Doctor ... it seems to me there was a final farewell in that pressure
of your hand.
REUMANN (_with a smile_)
Is it ever possible to tell whether you will meet again?
FELIX
Tell me, Doctor--did Mr. von Sala interpret your glance correctly?
REUMANN
That has nothing to do with your case anyhow.
FELIX
Will he not be able to go with us?
REUMANN (_with hesitation_)
That's very hard to predict.
FELIX
You have never learned to lie, Doctor.
REUMANN
As the matter stands now, I think you can bring it to a successful
conclusion without further assistance.
FELIX
Mr. von Sala called on you a few days ago?
REUMANN
Yes, it was only a while ago. (_Pause_) Well, you can see for yourself
that he is not well, can't you?--So God be with you, Felix.
FELIX
Will you continue to befriend this house when I am gone?
REUMANN
Why do you ask questions like that, Felix?
FELIX
You don't mean to come here again?--But why?
REUMANN
I assure you ...
FELIX
I understand ...
REUMANN (_embarrassed_)
What can there be to understand...?
FELIX
My dear Doctor ... I know now ... why you don't want to come to this
house any more.... It's another case of somebody else breaking his
neck.... Dear friend ...
REUMANN
Good luck to you ... Felix ...
FELIX
And if anybody should call you back ...
REUMANN
Nobody will.... But if I should be _needed_, I can always be found
...
JOHANNA (_comes into the room again_)
REUMANN
Good-by ... Good-by, Miss Johanna ...
JOHANNA
Are you going already, Doctor?
REUMANN
Yes.... Give my regards to your father. Good-by.... (_He shakes her
hand_)
JOHANNA (_calmly_)
Did he tell you that Sala is doomed?
FELIX (_hesitates about what to say_)
JOHANNA
I knew it. (_With an odd gesture of deprecation as Felix wants to say
something_) And you are going--with or without him?
FELIX
Yes. (_Pause_) There won't be much doing in this place after this.
JOHANNA (_remains unmoved_)
FELIX
And how are you going to live, Johanna?... I mean, how are the two of
you going to live--you and father?
JOHANNA (_gives him a look as if his question surprised her_)
FELIX
He is going to be lonely. I think he would feel very grateful if you
took a little more interest in him--if you went for a walk for him when
there is time for it. And you, too ...
JOHANNA (_brusquely_)
How could that help me or him? What can he be to me or I to him? I was
not made to assist people in days of trial. I can't help it, but that's
the way I am. I seem to be stirred by a sort of hostility against
people who appeal to my pity. I felt it like that all the time mother
was sick.
FELIX
No, you were not made for that.... But what were you made for then?
JOHANNA (_shrugs her shoulders and sits down as before, with hands
folded in her lap and her eyes staring straight ahead_)
FELIX
Johanna, why do you never talk to me any more as you used to? Have you,
then, nothing to tell me? Don't you remember how we used to tell each
other everything?
JOHANNA
That was long ago. We were children then.
FELIX
Why can't you talk to me any longer as you did then? Have you forgotten
how well we two used to understand each other? How we used to confide
all our secrets to each other? What good chums we used to be?... How we
wanted to go out into the wide world together?
JOHANNA
Into the wide world.... Oh, yes, I remember. But there is nothing left
now of all those words of wonder and romance.
FELIX
Perhaps it depends on ourselves only.
JOHANNA
No, those words have no longer the same meaning as before.
FELIX
What do you mean?
JOHANNA
Into the wide world ...
FELIX
What is the matter, Johanna?
JOHANNA
Once, when we were in the museum together, I saw a picture of which I
often think. It has a meadow with knights and ladies in it--and a
forest, a vineyard, an inn, and young men and women dancing, and a big
city with churches and towers and bridges. And soldiers are marching
across the bridges, and a ship is gliding down the river. And farther
back there is a hill, and on that hill a castle, and lofty mountains in
the extreme distance. And clouds are floating above the mountains, and
there is mist on the meadow, and a flood of sunlight is pouring down on
the city, and a storm is raging over the castle, and there is ice and
snow on the mountains.--And when anybody spoke of "the wide world," or
I read that term anywhere, I used always to think of that picture. And
it used to be the same with so many other big-sounding words. Fear was
a tiger with cavernous mouth--love was a page with long light curls
kneeling at the feet of a lady--death was a beautiful young man with
black wings and a sword in his hand--and fame was blaring bugles, men
with bent backs, and a road strewn with flowers. In those days it was
possible to talk of all sorts of things, Felix. But to-day everything
has a different look--fame, and death, and love, and the wide world.
FELIX (_hesitatingly_)
I feel a little scared on your behalf, Johanna.
JOHANNA
Why, Felix?
FELIX
Johanna!--I wish you wouldn't do anything to worry father.
JOHANNA
Does that depend on me alone?
FELIX
I know in what direction your dreams are going, Johanna.--What is to
come out of that?
JOHANNA
Is it necessary that something comes out of everything?--I think,
Felix, that many people are destined to mean nothing to each other but
a common memory.
FELIX
You have said it yourself, Johanna--that you are not made to see other
people suffer.
JOHANNA (_shrinks slightly at those words_)
FELIX
Suffer ... and ...
JULIAN (_enters_)
How are you? (_He shakes hands with Felix_)
JOHANNA (_who has risen_)
Mr. Fichtner. (_She holds out her hand to him_)
JULIAN
I could hardly recognize you, Johanna. You have grown into a young lady
now.--Has your father not come home yet?
JOHANNA
He hasn't gone out yet. He has nothing to do at the Academy until
twelve.
JULIAN
I suppose he's in his studio?
JOHANNA
I'll call him.
[_Julian looks around. As Johanna is about to leave the room, Wegrat
enters, carrying his hat and stick._
WEGRAT (_giving his hand to Julian_)
I'm delighted, my dear fellow.
JULIAN
I heard of it only after my arrival here yesterday--through Sala. I
don't need to tell you ...
WEGRAT
Thank you very much for your sympathy. I thank you with all my
heart.--But sit down, please.
JULIAN
You were going out?
WEGRAT
Oh, it's no hurry. I have nothing to do in the Academy until twelve.
Johanna, will you please get a carriage for me, just to be on the safe
side?
[_Johanna goes out. Wegrat seats himself, as does Julian. Felix stands
leaning against the glazed oven._
WEGRAT
Well, you stayed away quite a while this time.
JULIAN
More than two years.
WEGRAT
If you had only got here ten days earlier, you could have had a last
look at her. It came so very suddenly--although it wasn't unexpected.
JULIAN
So I have heard.
WEGRAT
And now you are going to stay right here, I suppose?
JULIAN
A little while. How long I am not yet able to tell.
WEGRAT
Of course not. The making of schedules has never been your line.
JULIAN
No, I have a certain disinclination for that kind of thing. (_Pause_)
WEGRAT
Oh, mercy, my dear fellow ... how often have I not been thinking of you
recently!
JULIAN
And I....
WEGRAT
No, you haven't had much chance for it.... But I.... As I enter the
building where I now hold office and authority, I remember often how we
two young chaps used to sit side by side in the model class, full of a
thousand plans and hopes.
JULIAN
Why do you say that in such a melancholy tone? A lot of those things
have come true, haven't they?
WEGRAT
Some--yes.... And yet one can't help wanting to be young again, even at
the risk of similar sorrows and struggles....
JULIAN
And even at the risk of also having to live through a lot of nice
things over again.
WEGRAT
Indeed, those are the hardest things to bear, once they have turned
into memories.--You have been in Italy again?
JULIAN
Yes, in Italy too.
WEGRAT
It's a long time now since I was there. Since we made that walk
together through the Ampezzo Valley,[5] with the pack on our backs--to
Pieve, and then right on to Venice. Can you remember? The sun has never
again shone as brightly as it did then.
[5] One of the main routes through the Dolomites, leading from
Southern Tirol into Italy. It is in part identical with the
route outlined by Albert in "Intermezzo," but parts from it at
Cortina to run straight south.
JULIAN
That must have been almost thirty years ago.
WEGRAT
No, not quite. You were already pretty well known at the time. You had
just finished your splendid picture of Irene Herms. It was the year
before I married.
JULIAN
Yes, yes. (_Pause_)
WEGRAT
Do you still recall the summer morning when you went with me to Kirchau
for the first time?
JULIAN
Of course.
WEGRAT
How the light buggy carried us through the wide, sun-steeped valley?
And do you remember the little garden at Huegelhang, where you became
acquainted with Gabrielle and her parents?
FELIX (_with suppressed emotion_)
Father, is the house in which mother used to live still standing?
WEGRAT
No, it's gone long ago. They have built a villa on the spot. Five or
six years ago, you know, we went there for the last time to visit the
graves of your grandparents. Everything has been changed, except the
cemetery.... (_To Julian_) Can you still remember that cool, cloudy
afternoon, Julian, when we sat on the lower wall of the cemetery and
had such a remarkable talk about the future?