MRS. STOCKMANN.
And you’re going to America?
HORSTER.
Yes, that’s the intention.
BILLING.
But then you’ll miss the election of the new Town Council.
HORSTER.
Is there to be an election again?
BILLING.
Didn’t you know?
HORSTER.
No, I don’t trouble myself about those things.
BILLING.
But I suppose you take an interest in public affairs?
HORSTER.
No, I don’t understand anything about them.
BILLING.
All the same, one ought at least to vote.
HORSTER.
Even those who don’t understand anything about it?
BILLING.
Understand? Why, what do you mean by that? Society is like a ship: every
man must put his hand to the helm.
HORSTER.
That may be all right on shore; but at sea it wouldn’t do at all.
HOVSTAD.
It’s remarkable how little sailors care about public affairs as a rule.
BILLING.
Most extraordinary.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Sailors are like birds of passage; they are at home both in the south
and in the north. So it behoves the rest of us to be all the more
energetic, Mr. Hovstad. Will there be anything of public interest in the
_People’s Messenger_ to-morrow?
HOVSTAD.
Nothing of local interest. But the day after to-morrow I think of
printing your article——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Oh confound it, that article! No, you’ll have to hold it over.
Hovstad.
Really? We happen to have plenty of space, and I should say this was the
very time for it——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, yes, you may be right; but you must hold it over all the same. I
shall explain to you by-and-by.
PETRA, _wearing a hat and cloak, and with a number of exercise-books
under her arm, enters from the hall._
PETRA.
Good evening.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Good evening, Petra. Is that you?
[_General greetings. PETRA puts her cloak, hat, and books on a
chair by the door._
PETRA.
Here you all are, enjoying yourselves, while I've been out slaving.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well then, you come and enjoy yourself too.
BILLING.
May I mix you a little——?
PETRA.
[_Coming towards the table._] Thank you, I'd rather help myself—you
always make it too strong. By the way, father, I have a letter for you.
[_Goes to the chair where her things are lying._
DR. STOCKMANN.
A letter! From whom?
PETRA.
[_Searching in the pocket of her cloak._] I got it from the postman just
as I was going out——
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Rising and going towards her._] And you only bring it me now?
PETRA.
I really hadn’t time to run up again. Here it is.
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Seizing the letter._] Let me see, let me see, child. [_Reads the
address._] Yes; this is it——!
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Is it the one you have been so anxious about, Thomas?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes it is. I must go at once. Where shall I find a light, Katrina? Is
there no lamp in my study again!
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Yes—the lamp is lighted. It’s on the writing-table.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Good, good. Excuse me one moment——
[_He goes into the room on the right._
PETRA.
What can it be, mother?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
I don’t know. For the last few days he has been continually on the
look-out for the postman.
BILLING.
Probably a country patient——
PETRA.
Poor father! He’ll soon have far too much to do. [_Mixes her toddy._]
Ah, this will taste good!
HOVSTAD.
Have you been teaching in the night school as well to-day?
PETRA.
[_Sipping from her glass._] Two hours.
BILLING.
And four hours in the morning at the institute——
PETRA.
[_Sitting down by the table._] Five hours.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
And I see you have exercises to correct this evening.
PETRA.
Yes, a heap of them.
HORSTER.
It seems to me you have plenty to do, too.
PETRA.
Yes; but I like it. You feel so delightfully tired after it.
BILLING.
Do you like that?
PETRA.
Yes, for then you sleep so well.
MORTEN.
I say, Petra, you must be a great sinner.
PETRA.
A sinner?
MORTEN.
Yes, if you work so hard. Mr. Rörlund[8] says work is a punishment for
our sins.
EILIF.
[_Contemptuously._] Bosh! What a silly you are, to believe such stuff as
that.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Come come, Eilif.
BILLING.
[_Laughing._] Capital, capital!
HOVSTAD.
Should you not like to work so hard, Morten?
MORTEN.
No, I shouldn’t.
HOVSTAD.
Then what will you do with yourself in the world?
MORTEN.
I should like to be a Viking.
EILIF.
But then you’d have to be a heathen.
MORTEN.
Well, so I would.
BILLING.
There I agree with you, Morten! I say just the same thing.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
[_Making a sign to him._] No, no, Mr. Billing, I'm sure you don’t.
BILLING.
Strike me dead but I do, though. I am a heathen, and I'm proud of it.
You’ll see we shall all be heathens soon.
MORTEN.
And shall we be able to do anything we like then?
BILLING.
Well, you see, Morten——
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Now run away, boys; I'm sure you have lessons to prepare for to-morrow.
EILIF.
You might let me stay just a little longer——
MRS. STOCKMANN.
No, you must go too. Be off, both of you.
[_The boys say good-night and go into the room on the left._
HOVSTAD.
Do you really think it can hurt the boys to hear these things?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Well, I don’t know; I don’t like it.
PETRA.
Really, mother, I think you are quite wrong there.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Perhaps. But I don’t like it—not here, at home.
PETRA.
There’s no end of hypocrisy both at home and at school. At home you must
hold your tongue, and at school you have to stand up and tell lies to
the children.
HORSTER.
Have you to tell lies?
PETRA.
Yes; do you think we don’t have to tell them many and many a thing we
don’t believe ourselves?
BILLING.
Ah, that’s too true.
PETRA.
If only I could afford it, I should start a school myself, and things
should be very different there.
BILLING.
Oh, afford it——!
HORSTER.
If you really think of doing that, Miss Stockmann, I shall be delighted
to let you have a room at my place. You know my father’s old house is
nearly empty; there’s a great big dining-room on the ground floor——
PETRA.
[_Laughing._] Oh, thank you very much—but I'm afraid it won’t come to
anything.
HOVSTAD.
No, I fancy Miss Petra is more likely to go over to journalism. By the
way, have you had time to look into the English novel you promised to
translate for us?
PETRA.
Not yet. But you shall have it in good time.
DR. STOCKMANN _enters from his room, with the letter open in his hand._
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Flourishing the letter._] Here’s news, I can tell you, that will waken
up the town!
BILLING.
News?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
What news?
DR. STOCKMANN.
A great discovery, Katrina!
HOVSTAD.
Indeed?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Made by you?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Precisely—by me! [_Walks up and down._] Now let them go on accusing me
of fads and crack-brained notions. But they won’t dare to! Ha-ha! I tell
you they won’t dare!
PETRA.
Do tell us what it is, father.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well, well, give me time, and you shall hear all about it. If only I had
Peter here now! This just shows how we men can go about forming
judgments like the blindest moles——
HOVSTAD.
What do you mean, doctor?
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Stopping beside the table._] Isn’t it the general opinion that our
town is a healthy place?
HOVSTAD.
Of course.
DR. STOCKMANN.
A quite exceptionally healthy place, indeed—a place to be warmly
recommended, both to invalids and people in health——
MRS. STOCKMANN.
My dear Thomas——
DR. STOCKMANN.
And assuredly we haven’t failed to recommend and belaud it. I've sung
its praises again and again, both in the _Messenger_ and in pamphlets——
HOVSTAD.
Well, what then?
DR. STOCKMANN.
These Baths, that we have called the pulse of the town, its vital nerve,
and—and the devil knows what else——
BILLING.
“Our city’s palpitating heart,” I once ventured to call them in a
convivial moment——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, I daresay. Well—do you know what they really are, these mighty,
magnificent, belauded Baths, that have cost so much money—do you know
what they are?
HOVSTAD.
No, what are they?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Do tell us.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Simply a pestiferous hole.
PETRA.
The Baths, father?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
[_At the same time._] Our Baths!
HOVSTAD.
[_Also at the same time._] But, Doctor——!
BILLING.
Oh, it’s incredible!
DR. STOCKMANN.
I tell you the whole place is a poisonous whited-sepulchre; noxious in
the highest degree! All that filth up there in the Mill Dale—the stuff
that smells so horribly—taints the water in the feed-pipes of the
Pump-Room; and the same accursëd poisonous refuse oozes out by the
beach——
HOVSTAD.
Where the sea-baths are?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Exactly.
HOVSTAD.
But how are you so sure of all this, Doctor?
DR. STOCKMANN.
I've investigated the whole thing as conscientiously as possible. I've
long had my suspicions about it. Last year we had some extraordinary
cases of illness among the patients—both typhoid and gastric attacks——
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Yes, I remember.
DR. STOCKMANN.
We thought at the time that the visitors had brought the infection with
them; but afterwards—last winter—I began to question that. So I set
about testing the water as well as I could.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
It was _that_ you were working so hard at!
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, you may well say I've worked, Katrina. But here, you know, I hadn’t
the necessary scientific appliances; so I sent samples both of our
drinking-water and of our sea-water to the University, for exact
analysis by a chemist.
HOVSTAD.
And you have received his report?
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Showing letter._] Here it is! And it proves beyond dispute the
presence of putrefying organic matter in the water—millions of
infusoria. It’s absolutely pernicious to health, whether used internally
or externally.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
What a blessing you found it out in time.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, you may well say that.
HOVSTAD.
And what do you intend to do now, Doctor?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Why, to set things right, of course.
HOVSTAD.
You think it can be done, then?
DR. STOCKMANN.
It must be done. Else the whole Baths are useless, ruined. But there’s
no fear. I am quite clear as to what is required.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
But, my dear Thomas, why should you have made such a secret of all this?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Would you have had me rush all over the town and chatter about it,
before I was quite certain? No, thank you; I'm not so mad as that.
PETRA.
But to us at home——
DR. STOCKMANN.
I couldn’t say a word to a living soul. But to-morrow you may look in at
the Badger’s——
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Oh, Thomas!
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well well, at your grandfather’s. The old fellow will be astonished! He
thinks I'm not quite right in my head—yes, and plenty of others think
the same, I've noticed. But now these good people shall see—yes, they
shall see now! [_Walks up and down rubbing his hands._] What a stir
there will be in the town, Katrina! Just think of it! All the
water-pipes will have to be relaid.
HOVSTAD.
[_Rising._] All the water-pipes——?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Why, of course. The intake is too low down; it must be moved much higher
up.
PETRA.
So you were right, after all.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, do you remember, Petra? I wrote against it when they were beginning
the works. But no one would listen to me then. Now, you may be sure, I
shall give them my full broadside—for of course I've prepared a
statement for the Directors; it has been lying ready a whole week; I've
only been waiting for this report. [_Points to letter._] But now they
shall have it at once. [_Goes into his room and returns with a MS. in
his hand._] See! Four closely-written sheets! And I'll enclose the
report. A newspaper, Katrina! Get me something to wrap them up in.
There—that’s it. Give it to—to—[_Stamps._]—what the devil’s her name?
Give it to the girl, I mean, and tell her to take it at once to the
Burgomaster.
[MRS. STOCKMANN _goes out with the packet through the
dining-room._
PETRA.
What do you think Uncle Peter will say, father?
DR. STOCKMANN.
What should he say? He can’t possibly be otherwise than pleased that so
important a fact has been brought to light.
HOVSTAD.
I suppose you will let me put a short announcement of your discovery in
the _Messenger_.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, I shall be much obliged if you will.
HOVSTAD.
It is highly desirable that the public should know about it as soon as
possible.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, certainly.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
[_Returning._] She’s gone with it.
BILLING.
Strike me dead if you won’t be the first man in the town, Doctor!
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Walks up and down in high glee._] Oh, nonsense! After all, I have done
no more than my duty. I've been a lucky treasure-hunter, that’s all. But
all the same——
BILLING.
Hovstad, don’t you think the town ought to get up a torchlight
procession in honour of Dr. Stockmann?
HOVSTAD.
I shall certainly propose it.
BILLING.
And I'll talk it over with Aslaksen.
DR. STOCKMANN.
No, my dear friends; let all such claptrap alone. I won’t hear of
anything of the sort. And if the Directors should want to raise my
salary, I won’t accept it. I tell you, Katrina, I will not accept it.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
You are quite right, Thomas.
PETRA.
[_Raising her glass._] Your health, father!
HOVSTAD _and_ BILLING.
Your health, your health, Doctor!
HORSTER.
[_Clinking glasses with the_ DOCTOR.] I hope you may have nothing but
joy of your discovery.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Thanks, thanks, my dear friends! I can’t tell you how happy I am—! Oh,
what a blessing it is to feel that you have deserved well of your native
town and your fellow citizens. Hurrah, Katrina!
[_He puts both his arms round her neck, and whirls her round
with him. MRS. STOCKMANN screams and struggles. A burst of
laughter, applause, and cheers for the DOCTOR. The boys
thrust their heads in at the door._
-----
Footnote 7:
_Amtmand_, the chief magistrate of an _Amt_ or county: consequently a
high dignitary in the official hierarchy.
Footnote 8:
See _Pillars of Society_.
ACT SECOND.
_The DOCTOR’S sitting-room. The dining-room door is closed. Morning._
MRS. STOCKMANN.
[_Enters from the dining-room with a sealed letter in her hand, goes to
the foremost door on the right, and peeps in._] Are you there, Thomas?
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Within._] Yes, I have just come in. [_Enters._] What is it?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
A letter from your brother. _Hands it to him._
DR. STOCKMANN.
Aha, let us see. [_Opens the envelope and reads._] “The MS. sent me is
returned herewith——” [_Reads on, mumbling to himself._] H'm—
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Well, what does he say?
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Putting the paper in his pocket._] Nothing; only that he’ll come up
himself about midday.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Then be sure you remember to stay at home.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Oh, I can easily manage that; I've finished my morning’s visits.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
I am very curious to know how he takes it.
DR. STOCKMANN.
You’ll see he won’t be over-pleased that it is I that have made the
discovery, and not he himself.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Ah, that’s just what I'm afraid of.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Of course at bottom he’ll be glad. But still—Peter is damnably unwilling
that any one but himself should do anything for the good of the town.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Do you know, Thomas, I think you might stretch a point, and share the
honour with him. Couldn’t it appear that it was he that put you on the
track——?
DR. STOCKMANN.
By all means, for aught I care. If only I can get things put straight——
_Old_ MORTEN KIIL _puts his head in at the hall door, and asks
slyly:_
MORTEN KIIL.
Is it—is it true?
MRS. STOCKMANN.
[_Going towards him._] Father—is that you?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Hallo, father-in-law! Good morning, good morning.
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Do come in.
MORTEN KIIL.
Yes, if it’s true; if not, I'm off again.
DR. STOCKMANN.
If what is true?
MORTEN KIIL.
This crazy business about the water-works. Now, is it true?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Why, of course it is. But how came you to hear of it?
MORTEN KIIL.
[_Coming in._] Petra looked in on her way to the school——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Oh, did she?
MORTEN KIIL.
Ay ay—and she told me—. I thought she was only making game of me; but
that’s not like Petra either.
DR. STOCKMANN.
No, indeed; how could you think so?
MORTEN KIIL.
Oh, you can never be sure of anybody. You may be made a fool of before
you know where you are. So it is true, after all?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Most certainly it is. Do sit down, father-in-law. [_Forces him down on
the sofa._] Now isn’t it a real blessing for the town——?
MORTEN KIIL.
[_Suppressing his laughter._] A blessing for the town?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, that I made this discovery in time——
MORTEN KIIL.
[_As before._] Ay, ay, ay!—Well, I could never have believed that you
would play monkey-tricks with your very own brother.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Monkey-tricks!
MRS. STOCKMANN.
Why, father dear——
MORTEN KIIL.
[_Resting his hands and chin on the top of his stick and blinking slyly
at the_ DOCTOR.] What was it again? Wasn’t it that some animals had got
into the water-pipes?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes; infusorial animals.
MORTEN KIIL.
And any number of these animals had got in, Petra said—whole swarms of
them.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Certainly; hundreds of thousands.
MORTEN KIIL.
But no one can see them—isn’t that it?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Quite right; no one can see them.
MORTEN KIIL.
[_With a quiet, chuckling laugh._] I'll be damned if that isn’t the best
thing I've heard of you yet.
DR. STOCKMANN.
What do you mean?
MORTEN KIIL.
But you’ll never in this world make the Burgomaster take in anything of
the sort.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well, that we shall see.
MORTEN KIIL.
Do you really think he’ll be so crazy?
DR. STOCKMANN.
I hope the whole town will be so crazy.
MORTEN KIIL.
The whole town! Well, I don’t say but it may. But it serves them right;
it’ll teach them a lesson. They wanted to be so much cleverer than we
old fellows. They hounded me out of the Town Council. Yes; I tell you
they hounded me out like a dog, that they did. But now it’s their turn.
Just you keep up the game with them, Stockmann.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, but, father-in-law——
MORTEN KIIL.
Keep it up, I say. [_Rising._] If you can make the Burgomaster and his
gang eat humble pie, I'll give a hundred crowns straight away to the
poor.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Come, that’s good of you.
MORTEN KIIL.
Of course I've little enough to throw away; but if you can manage that,
I shall certainly remember the poor at Christmas-time, to the tune of
fifty crowns.
HOVSTAD _enters from hall._
HOVSTAD.
Good morning! [_Pausing._] Oh! I beg your pardon——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Not at all. Come in, come in.
MORTEN KIIL.
[_Chuckling again._] He! Is he in it too?
HOVSTAD.
What do you mean?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, of course he is.
MORTEN KIIL.
I might have known it! It’s to go into the papers. Ah, you’re the one,
Stockmann! Do you two lay your heads together; I'm off.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Oh no; don’t go yet, father-in-law.
MORTEN KIIL.
No, I'm off now. Play them all the monkey-tricks you can think of. Deuce
take me but you shan’t lose by it.
[_He goes, MRS. STOCKMANN accompanying him._
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Laughing._] What do you think—? The old fellow doesn’t believe a word
of all this about the water-works.
HOVSTAD.
Was that what he——?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes; that was what we were talking about. And I daresay you have come on
the same business?
HOVSTAD.
Yes. Have you a moment to spare, Doctor?
DR. STOCKMANN.
As many as you like, my dear fellow.
HOVSTAD.
Have you heard anything from the Burgomaster?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Not yet. He’ll be here presently.
HOVSTAD.
I have been thinking the matter over since last evening.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well?
HOVSTAD.
To you, as a doctor and a man of science, this business of the
water-works appears an isolated affair. I daresay it hasn’t occurred to
you that a good many other things are bound up with it?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Indeed! In what way? Let us sit down, my dear fellow.—No; there, on the
sofa.
[HOVSTAD _sits on sofa; the_ DOCTOR _in an easy-chair on the
other side of the table._
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well, so you think——?
HOVSTAD.
You said yesterday that the water is polluted by impurities in the soil.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, undoubtedly; the mischief comes from that poisonous swamp up in the
Mill Dale.
HOVSTAD.
Excuse me, Doctor, but I think it comes from a very different swamp.
DR. STOCKMANN.
What swamp may that be?
HOVSTAD.
The swamp in which our whole municipal life is rotting.
DR. STOCKMANN.
The devil, Mr. Hovstad! What notion is this you’ve got hold of?
HOVSTAD.
All the affairs of the town have gradually drifted into the hands of a
pack of bureaucrats——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Come now, they’re not all bureaucrats.
HOVSTAD.
No; but those who are not are the friends and adherents of those who
are. We are entirely under the thumb of a ring of wealthy men, men of
old family and position in the town.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, but they are also men of ability and insight.
HOVSTAD.
Did they show ability and insight when they laid the water-pipes where
they are?
DR. STOCKMANN.
No; that, of course, was a piece of stupidity. But that will be set
right now.
HOVSTAD.
Do you think it will go so smoothly?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well, smoothly or not, it will have to be done.
HOVSTAD.
Yes, if the press exerts its influence.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Not at all necessary, my dear fellow; I am sure my brother——
HOVSTAD.
Excuse me, Doctor, but I must tell you that I think of taking the matter
up.
DR. STOCKMANN.
In the paper?
HOVSTAD.
Yes. When I took over the _People’s Messenger_, I was determined to
break up the ring of obstinate old blockheads who held everything in
their hands.
DR. STOCKMANN.
But you told me yourself what came of it. You nearly ruined the paper.
HOVSTAD.
Yes, at that time we had to draw in our horns, that’s true enough. The
whole Bath scheme might have fallen through if these men had been sent
about their business. But now the Baths are an accomplished fact, and we
can get on without these august personages.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Get on without them, yes; but still we owe them a great deal.
HOVSTAD.
The debt shall be duly acknowledged. But a journalist of my democratic
tendencies cannot let such an opportunity slip through his fingers. We
must explode the tradition of official infallibility. That rubbish must
be got rid of, like every other superstition.
DR. STOCKMANN.
There I am with you with all my heart, Mr. Hovstad. If it’s a
superstition, away with it!
HOVSTAD.
I should be sorry to attack the Burgomaster, as he is your brother. But
I know you think with me—the truth before all other considerations.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Why, of course. [_Vehemently._] But still—! but still——!
HOVSTAD.
You mustn’t think ill of me. I am neither more self-interested nor more
ambitious than other men.
DR. STOCKMANN.
Why, my dear fellow—who says you are?
HOVSTAD.
I come of humble folk, as you know; and I have had ample opportunities
of seeing what the lower classes really require. And that is to have a
share in the direction of public affairs, Doctor. That is what develops
ability and knowledge and self-respect——
DR. STOCKMANN.
I understand that perfectly.
HOVSTAD.
Yes; and I think a journalist incurs a heavy responsibility if he lets
slip a chance of helping to emancipate the downtrodden masses. I know
well enough that our oligarchy will denounce me as an agitator, and so
forth; but what do I care? If only my conscience is clear, I——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Just so, just so, my dear Mr. Hovstad. But still—deuce take it——! [_A
knock at the door._] Come in!
ASLAKSEN, _the printer, appears at the door leading to the hall.
He is humbly but respectably dressed in black, wears a white
necktie, slightly crumpled, and has a silk hat and gloves in
his hand._
ASLAKSEN.
[_Bowing._] I beg pardon, Doctor, for making so bold——
DR. STOCKMANN.
[_Rising._] Hallo! If it isn’t Mr. Aslaksen!
ASLAKSEN.
Yes, it’s me, Doctor.
HOVSTAD.
[_Rising._] Is it me you want, Aslaksen?
ASLAKSEN.
No, not at all. I didn’t know you were here. No, it’s the Doctor
himself——
DR. STOCKMANN.
Well, what can I do for you?
ASLAKSEN.
Is it true, what Mr. Billing tells me, that you’re going to get us a
better set of water-works?
DR. STOCKMANN.
Yes, for the Baths.
ASLAKSEN.
Of course, of course. Then I just looked in to say that I'll back up the
movement with all my might.
HOVSTAD.
[_To the DOCTOR._] You see!
DR. STOCKMANN.
I'm sure I thank you heartily; but——
ASLAKSEN.
You may find it no such bad thing to have us small middle-class men at
your back. We form what you may call a compact majority in the town—when
we really make up our minds, that’s to say. And it’s always well to have
the majority with you, Doctor.
DR. STOCKMANN.
No doubt, no doubt; but I can’t conceive that any special measures will
be necessary in this case. I should think in so clear and
straightforward a matter——
ASLAKSEN.