right._
GINA.
[_Throws down her sewing and rises._] Why, Ekdal. Is that you already?
HEDVIG.
[_At the same time jumping up._] Fancy your coming so soon, father!
HIALMAR.
[_Taking off his hat._] Yes, most of the people were coming away.
HEDVIG.
So early?
HIALMAR.
Yes, it was a dinner-party, you know.
[_Is taking off his overcoat._
GINA.
Let me help you.
HEDVIG.
Me too.
[_They draw off his coat;_ GINA _hangs it up on the back wall._
HEDVIG.
Were there many people there, father?
HIALMAR.
Oh no, not many. We were about twelve or fourteen at table.
GINA.
And you had some talk with them all?
HIALMAR.
Oh yes, a little; but Gregers took me up most of the time.
GINA.
Is Gregers as ugly as ever?
HIALMAR.
Well, he’s not very much to look at. Hasn’t the old man come home?
HEDVIG.
Yes, grandfather is in his room, writing.
HIALMAR.
Did he say anything?
GINA.
No, what should he say?
HIALMAR.
Didn’t he say anything about——? I heard something about his having been
with Gråberg. I'll go in and see him for a moment.
GINA.
No, no, better not.
HIALMAR.
Why not? Did he say he didn’t want me to go in?
GINA.
I don’t think he wants to see _nobody_ this evening——
HEDVIG.
[_Making signs._] H'm—h’m!
GINA.
[_Not noticing._]——he has been in to fetch hot water——
HIALMAR.
Aha! Then he’s——
GINA.
Yes, I suppose so.
HIALMAR.
Oh God! my poor old white-haired father!—Well, well; there let him sit
and get all the enjoyment he can.
[OLD EKDAL, _in an indoor coat and with a lighted pipe, comes
from his room._
EKDAL.
Got home? Thought it was you I heard talking.
HIALMAR.
Yes, I have just come.
EKDAL.
You didn’t see me, did you?
HIALMAR.
No; but they told me you had passed through—so I thought I would follow
you.
EKDAL.
H'm, good of you, Hialmar.—Who were they, all those fellows?
HIALMAR.
Oh, all sorts of people. There was Chamberlain Flor, and Chamberlain
Balle, and Chamberlain Kaspersen, and Chamberlain—this, that, and the
other—I don’t know who all——
EKDAL.
[_Nodding._] Hear that, Gina! Chamberlains every one of them!
GINA.
Yes, I hear as they’re terrible genteel in that house nowadays.
HEDVIG.
Did the Chamberlains sing, father? Or did they read aloud?
HIALMAR.
No, they only talked nonsense. They wanted _me_ to recite something for
them; but I knew better than that.
EKDAL.
You weren’t to be persuaded, eh?
GINA.
Oh, you might have done it.
HIALMAR.
No; one mustn’t be at everybody’s beck and call. [_Walks about the
room._] That’s not _my_ way, at any rate.
EKDAL.
No no; Hialmar’s not to be had for the asking, he isn’t.
HIALMAR.
I don’t see why _I_ should bother myself to entertain people on the rare
occasions when I go into society. Let the others exert themselves. These
fellows go from one great dinner-table to the next and gorge and guzzle
day out and day in. It’s for them to bestir themselves and do something
in return for all the good feeding they get.
GINA.
But you didn’t say that?
HIALMAR.
[_Humming._] Ho-ho-ho——; faith, I gave them a bit of my mind.
EKDAL.
Not the Chamberlains?
HIALMAR.
Oh, why not? [_Lightly._] After that, we had a little discussion about
Tokay.
EKDAL.
Tokay! There’s a fine wine for you!
HIALMAR.
[_Comes to a standstill._] It _may_ be a fine wine. But of course you
know the vintages differ; it all depends on how much sunshine the grapes
have had.
GINA.
Why, you know everything, Ekdal.
EKDAL.
And did they dispute that?
HIALMAR.
They tried to; but they were requested to observe that it was just the
same with Chamberlains—that with them, too, different batches were of
different qualities.
GINA.
What things you do think of!
EKDAL.
Hee-hee! So they got that in their pipes too?
HIALMAR.
Right in their teeth.
EKDAL.
Do you hear that, Gina? He said it right in the very teeth of all the
Chamberlains.
GINA.
Fancy——! Right in their teeth!
HIALMAR.
Yes, but I don’t want it talked about. One doesn’t speak of such things.
The whole affair passed off quite amicably of course. They were nice,
genial fellows; I didn’t want to wound them—not I!
EKDAL.
Right in their teeth, though——!
HEDVIG.
[_Caressingly._] How nice it is to see you in a dress-coat! It suits you
so well, father.
HIALMAR.
Yes, don’t you think so? And this one really sits to perfection. It fits
almost as if it had been made for me;—a little tight in the arm-holes
perhaps;—help me, Hedvig. [_Takes off the coat._] I think I'll put on my
jacket. Where is my jacket, Gina?
GINA.
Here it is. [_Brings the jacket and helps him._]
HIALMAR.
That’s it! Don’t forget to send the coat back to Molvik first thing
to-morrow morning.
GINA.
[_Laying it away._] I'll be sure and see to it.
HIALMAR.
[_Stretching himself._] After all, there’s a more homely feeling about
this. A free-and-easy indoor costume suits my whole personality better.
Don’t you think so, Hedvig?
HEDVIG.
Yes, father.
HIALMAR.
When I loosen my necktie into a pair of flowing ends—like this—eh?
HEDVIG.
Yes, that goes so well with your moustache and the sweep of your curls.
HIALMAR.
I should not call them curls exactly; I should rather say locks.
HEDVIG.
Yes, they are too big for curls.
HIALMAR.
Locks describes them better.
HEDVIG.
[_After a pause, twitching his jacket._] Father.
HIALMAR.
Well, what is it?
HEDVIG.
Oh, you know very well.
HIALMAR.
No, really I don’t——
HEDVIG.
[_Half laughing, half whimpering._] Oh yes, father, now don’t tease me
any longer!
HIALMAR.
Why, what do you mean?
HEDVIG.
[_Shaking him._] Oh what nonsense; come, where are they, father? All the
good things you promised me, you know?
HIALMAR.
Oh—if I haven’t forgotten all about them!
HEDVIG.
Now you’re only teasing me, father! Oh, it’s too bad of you! Where have
you put them?
HIALMAR.
No, I positively forgot to get anything. But wait a little! I have
something else for you, Hedvig.
[_Goes and searches in the pockets of the coat._
HEDVIG.
[_Skipping and clapping her hands._] Oh mother, mother!
GINA.
There, you see; if you only give him time——
HIALMAR.
[_With a paper._] Look, here it is.
HEDVIG.
That? Why, that’s only a paper.
HIALMAR.
That is the bill of fare, my dear; the whole bill of fare. Here you see:
“Menu ”—that means bill of fare.
HEDVIG.
Haven’t you anything else?
HIALMAR.
I forgot the other things, I tell you. But you may take my word for it,
these dainties are very unsatisfying. Sit down at the table and read the
bill of fare, and then I'll describe to you how the dishes taste. Here
you are, Hedvig.
HEDVIG.
[_Gulping down her tears._] Thank you.
[_She seats herself, but does not read;_ GINA _makes signs to
her;_ HIALMAR _notices it._
HIALMAR.
[_Pacing up and down the room._] It’s monstrous what absurd things the
father of a family is expected to think of; and if he forgets the
smallest trifle, he is treated to sour faces at once. Well, well, one
gets used to that too. [_Stops near the stove, by the old man’s chair._]
Have you peeped in there this evening, father?
EKDAL.
Yes, to be sure I have. She’s gone into the basket.
HIALMAR.
Ah, she _has_ gone into the basket. Then she’s beginning to get used to
it.
EKDAL.
Yes; just as I prophesied. But you know there are still a few little
things——
HIALMAR.
A few improvements, yes.
EKDAL.
They’ve _got_ to be made, you know.
HIALMAR.
Yes, let us have a talk about the improvements, father. Come, let us sit
on the sofa.
EKDAL.
All right. H'm—think I'll just fill my pipe first. Must clean it out,
too. H'm.
[_He goes into his room._
GINA.
[_Smiling to HIALMAR._] His pipe!
HIALMAR.
Oh yes yes, Gina; let him alone—the poor shipwrecked old man.—Yes, these
improvements—we had better get them out of hand to-morrow.
GINA.
You’ll hardly have time to-morrow, Ekdal.
HEDVIG.
[_Interposing._] Oh yes he will, mother!
GINA.
——for remember them prints that has to be retouched; they’ve sent for
them time after time.
HIALMAR.
There now! those prints again! I shall get them finished all right! Have
any new orders come in?
GINA.
No, worse luck; to-morrow I have nothing but those two sittings, you
know.
HIALMAR.
Nothing else? Oh no, if people won’t set about things with a will——
GINA.
But what more can I do? Don’t I advertise in the papers as much as we
can afford?
HIALMAR.
Yes, the papers, the papers; you see how much good _they_ do. And I
suppose no one has been to look at the room either?
GINA.
No, not yet.
HIALMAR.
That was only to be expected. If people won’t keep their eyes open——.
Nothing can be done without a real effort, Gina!
HEDVIG.
[_Going towards him._] Shall I fetch you the flute, father?
HIALMAR.
No; no flute for me; _I_ want no pleasures in this world. [_Pacing
about._] Yes, indeed I will work to-morrow; you shall see if I don’t.
You may be sure I shall work as long as my strength holds out.
GINA.
But my dear good Ekdal, I didn’t mean it in _that_ way.
HEDVIG.
Father, mayn’t I bring in a bottle of beer?
HIALMAR.
No, certainly not. I require nothing, nothing——[_Comes to a
standstill._] Beer? Was it beer you were talking about?
HEDVIG.
[_Cheerfully._] Yes, father; beautiful fresh beer.
HIALMAR.
Well—since you insist upon it, you may bring in a bottle.
GINA.
Yes, do; and we’ll be nice and cosy.
[HEDVIG _runs towards the kitchen door._
HIALMAR.
[_By the stove, stops her, looks at her, puts his arm round her neck and
presses her to him._] Hedvig, Hedvig!
HEDVIG.
[_With tears of joy._] My dear, kind father!
HIALMAR.
No, don’t call me that. Here have I been feasting at the rich man’s
table,—battening at the groaning board——! And I couldn’t even——!
GINA.
[_Sitting at the table._] Oh nonsense, nonsense, Ekdal.
HIALMAR.
It’s not nonsense! And yet you mustn’t be too hard upon me. You know
that I love you for all that.
HEDVIG.
[_Throwing her arms round him._] And we love you, oh so dearly, father!
HIALMAR.
And if I am unreasonable once in a while,—why then—you must remember
that I am a man beset by a host of cares. There, there! [_Dries his
eyes._] No beer at such a moment as this. Give me the flute.
[HEDVIG _runs to the bookcase and fetches it._
HIALMAR.
Thanks! That’s right. With my flute in my hand and you two at my
side—ah——!
[HEDVIG _seats herself at the table near_ GINA: HIALMAR _paces
backwards and forwards, pipes up vigorously, and plays a
Bohemian peasant dance, but in a slow plaintive tempo, and
with sentimental expression._
HIALMAR.
[_Breaking off the melody, holds out his left hand to GINA, and says
with emotion_:] Our roof may be poor and humble, Gina; but it is home.
And with all my heart I say: here dwells my happiness.
[_He begins to play again; almost immediately after, a knocking
is heard at the entrance door._
GINA.
[_Rising._] Hush, Ekdal,—I think there’s some one at the door.
HIALMAR.
[_Laying the flute on the bookcase._] There! Again!
[GINA _goes and opens the door._
Gregers Werle.
[_In the passage._] Excuse me——
GINA.
[_Starting back slightly._] Oh!
GREGERS.
——does not Mr. Ekdal, the photographer, live here?
GINA.
Yes, he does.
HIALMAR.
[_Going towards the door._] Gregers! You here after all? Well, come in
then.
GREGERS.
[_Coming in._] I told you I would come and look you up.
HIALMAR.
But this evening——? Have you left the party?
GREGERS.
I have left both the party and my father’s house.—Good evening, Mrs.
Ekdal. I don’t know whether you recognise me?
GINA.
Oh yes; it’s not difficult to know young Mr. Werle again.
GREGERS.
No, I am like my mother; and no doubt you remember her.
HIALMAR.
Left your father’s house, did you say?
GREGERS.
Yes, I have gone to a hotel.
HIALMAR.
Indeed. Well, since you’re here, take off your coat and sit down.
GREGERS.
Thanks.
[_He takes off his overcoat. He is now dressed in a plain grey
suit of a countrified cut._
HIALMAR.
Here, on the sofa. Make yourself comfortable.
[GREGERS _seats himself on the sofa;_ HIALMAR _takes a chair at
the table._
GREGERS.
[_Looking around him._] So these are your quarters, Hialmar—this is your
home.
HIALMAR.
This is the studio, as you see——
GINA.
But it’s the largest of our rooms, so we generally sit here.
HIALMAR.
We used to live in a better place; but this flat has one great
advantage: there are such capital outer rooms——
GINA.
And we have a room on the other side of the passage that we can let.
GREGERS.
[_To HIALMAR._] Ah—so you have lodgers too?
HIALMAR.
No, not yet. They’re not so easy to find, you see; you have to keep your
eyes open. [_To_ HEDVIG.] What about that beer, eh?
[HEDVIG _nods and goes out into the kitchen._
GREGERS.
So that is your daughter?
HIALMAR.
Yes, that is HEDVIG.
GREGERS.
And she is your only child?
HIALMAR.
Yes, the only one. She is the joy of our lives, and—[_lowering his
voice_]—at the same time our deepest sorrow, Gregers.
GREGERS.
What do you mean?
HIALMAR.
She is in serious danger of losing her eyesight.
GREGERS.
Becoming blind?
HIALMAR.
Yes. Only the first symptoms have appeared as yet, and she may not feel
it much for some time. But the doctor has warned us. It is coming,
inexorably.
GREGERS.
What a terrible misfortune! How do you account for it?
HIALMAR.
[_Sighs._] Hereditary, no doubt.
GREGERS.
[_Starting._] Hereditary?
GINA.
Ekdal’s mother had weak eyes.
HIALMAR.
Yes, so my father says; I can’t remember her.
GREGERS.
Poor child! And how does she take it?
HIALMAR.
Oh, you can imagine we haven’t the heart to tell her of it. She dreams
of no danger. Gay and careless and chirping like a little bird, she
flutters onward into a life of endless night. [_Overcome._] Oh, it is
cruelly hard on me, Gregers.
[HEDVIG _brings a tray with beer and glasses, which she sets
upon the table._
HIALMAR.
[_Stroking her hair._] Thanks, thanks, Hedvig.
[HEDVIG _puts her arm round his neck and whispers in his ear._
HIALMAR.
No, no bread and butter just now. [_Looks up._] But perhaps you would
like some, Gregers.
GREGERS.
[_With a gesture of refusal._] No, no thank you.
HIALMAR.
[_Still melancholy._] Well, you can bring in a little all the same. If
you have a crust, that is all I want. And plenty of butter on it, mind.
[HEDVIG _nods gaily and goes out into the kitchen again._
GREGERS.
[_Who has been following her with his eyes._] She seems quite strong and
healthy otherwise.
GINA.
Yes. In other ways there’s nothing amiss with her, thank goodness.
GREGERS.
She promises to be very like you, Mrs. Ekdal. How old is she now?
GINA.
Hedvig is close on fourteen; her birthday is the day after to-morrow.
GREGERS.
She is pretty tall for her age, then.
GINA.
Yes, she’s shot up wonderful this last year.
GREGERS.
It makes one realise one’s own age to see these young people growing
up.—How long is it now since you were married?
GINA.
_We’ve_ been married—let me see—just on fifteen years.
GREGERS.
Is it so long as that?
GINA.
[_Becomes attentive; looks at him._] Yes, it is indeed.
HIALMAR.
Yes, so it is. Fifteen years all but a few months. [_Changing his
tone._] They must have been long years for you, up at the works,
Gregers.
GREGERS.
They seemed long while I was living them; now they are over, I hardly
know how the time has gone.
[OLD EKDAL _comes from his room without his pipe, but with his
old-fashioned uniform cap on his head; his gait is somewhat
unsteady._
EKDAL.
Come now, Hialmar, let’s sit down and have a good talk about
this—h’m—what was it again?
HIALMAR.
[_Going towards him._] Father, we have a visitor here—Gregers Werle.—I
don’t know if you remember him.
EKDAL.
[_Looking at GREGERS, who has risen._] Werle? Is that the son? What does
he want with me?
HIALMAR.
Nothing; it’s me he has come to see.
EKDAL.
Oh! Then there’s nothing wrong?
HIALMAR.
No, no, of course not.
EKDAL.
[_With a large gesture._] Not that I'm afraid, you know; but——
GREGERS.
[_Goes over to him._] I bring you a greeting from your old
hunting-grounds, Lieutenant Ekdal.
EKDAL.
Hunting-grounds?
GREGERS.
Yes, up in Höidal, about the works, you know.
EKDAL.
Oh, up there. Yes, I knew all those places well in the old days.
GREGERS.
You were a great sportsman then.
EKDAL.
So I was, I don’t deny it. You’re looking at my uniform cap. I don’t ask
anybody’s leave to wear it in the house. So long as I don’t go out in
the streets with it——
[HEDVIG _brings a plate of bread and butter, which she puts upon
the table._
HIALMAR.
Sit down, father, and have a glass of beer. Help yourself, Gregers.
[EKDAL _mutters and stumbles over to the sofa._ GREGERS _seats
himself on the chair nearest to him,_ HIALMAR _on the other
side of_ GREGERS. GINA _sits a little way from the table,
sewing;_ HEDVIG _stands beside her father._
GREGERS.
Can you remember, Lieutenant Ekdal, how Hialmar and I used to come up
and visit you in the summer and at Christmas?
EKDAL.
Did you? No, no, no; I don’t remember it. But sure enough I've been a
tidy bit of a sportsman in my day. I've shot bears too. I've shot nine
of 'em, no less.
GREGERS.
[_Looking sympathetically at him._] And now you never get any shooting?
EKDAL.
Can’t just say that, sir. Get a shot now and then perhaps. Of course not
in the old way. For the woods you see—the woods, the woods——!
[_Drinks._] Are the woods fine up there now?
GREGERS.
Not so fine as in your time. They have been thinned a good deal.
EKDAL.
Thinned? [_More softly, and as if afraid._] It’s dangerous work that.
Bad things come of it. The woods revenge themselves.
HIALMAR.
[_Filling up his glass._] Come—a little more, father.
GREGERS.
How can a man like you—such a man for the open air—live in the midst of
a stuffy town, boxed within four walls?
EKDAL.
[_Laughs quietly and glances at HIALMAR._] Oh, it’s not so bad here. Not
at all so bad.
GREGERS.
But don’t you miss all the things that used to be a part of your very
being—the cool sweeping breezes, the free life in the woods and on the
uplands, among beasts and birds——?
EKDAL.
[_Smiling._] Hialmar, shall we let him see it?
HIALMAR.
[_Hastily and a little embarrassed._] Oh no no, father; not this
evening.
GREGERS.
What does he want to show me?
HIALMAR.
Oh, it’s only something—you can see it another time.
GREGERS.
[_Continues, to the old man._] You see I have been thinking, Lieutenant
Ekdal, that you should come up with me to the works; I am sure to be
going back soon. No doubt you could get some copying there too. And
here, you have nothing on earth to interest you—nothing to liven you up.
EKDAL.
[_Stares in astonishment at him._] Have _I_ nothing on earth to——!
GREGERS.
Of course you have Hialmar; but then he has his own family. And a man
like you, who has always had such a passion for what is free and wild——
EKDAL.
[_Thumps the table._] Hialmar, he _shall_ see it!
HIALMAR.
Oh, do you think it’s worth while, father? It’s all dark.
EKDAL.
Nonsense; it’s moonlight. [_Rises._] He _shall_ see it, I tell you. Let
me pass! Come and help me, Hialmar.
HEDVIG.
Oh yes, do, father!
HIALMAR.
[_Rising._] Very well then.
GREGERS.
[_To_ GINA.] What is it?
GINA.
Oh, nothing so very wonderful, after all.
[EKDAL _and_ HIALMAR _have gone to the back wall and are each
pushing back a side of the sliding door;_ HEDVIG _helps the
old man;_ GREGERS _remains standing by the sofa;_ GINA _sits
still and sews. Through the open doorway a large, deep
irregular garret is seen with odd nooks and corners; a
couple of stove-pipes running through it, from rooms below.
There are sky-lights through which clear moonbeams shine in
on some parts of the great room; others lie in deep shadow._
EKDAL.
[_To GREGERS._] You may come close up if you like.
GREGERS.
[_Going over to them._] Why, what is it?
EKDAL.
Look for yourself. H'm.
HIALMAR.
[_Somewhat embarrassed._] This belongs to father, you understand.
GREGERS.
[_At the door, looks into the garret._] Why, you keep poultry,
Lieutenant Ekdal.
EKDAL.
Should think we _did_ keep poultry. They’ve gone to roost now. But you
should just see our fowls by daylight, sir!
HEDVIG.
And there’s a——
EKDAL.
Sh—sh! don’t say anything about it yet.
GREGERS.
And you have pigeons too, I see.
EKDAL.
Oh yes, haven’t we just got pigeons! They have their nest-boxes up there
under the roof-tree; for pigeons like to roost high, you see.
HIALMAR.
They aren’t all common pigeons.
EKDAL.
Common! Should think not indeed! We have tumblers, and a pair of
pouters, too. But come here! Can you see that hutch down there by the
wall?
GREGERS.
Yes; what do you use it for?
EKDAL.
That’s where the rabbits sleep, sir.
GREGERS.
Dear me; so you have rabbits too?
EKDAL.
Yes, you may take my word for it, we have rabbits! He wants to know if
we have rabbits, Hialmar! H'm! But now comes the thing, let me tell you!
Here we have it! Move away, Hedvig. Stand here; that’s right,—and now
look down there.—Don’t you see a basket with straw in it?
GREGERS.
Yes. And I can see a fowl lying in the basket.
EKDAL.
H’m—“a fowl”——
GREGERS.
Isn’t it a duck?
EKDAL.
[_Hurt._] Why, of course it’s a duck.
HIALMAR.
But what _kind_ of duck, do you think?
HEDVIG.
It’s not just a common duck——
EKDAL.
Sh!
GREGERS.
And it’s not a Muscovy duck either.
EKDAL.
No, Mr.—Werle; it’s not a Muscovy duck; for it’s a wild duck!
GREGERS.
Is it really? A wild duck?
EKDAL.
Yes, that’s what it is. That “fowl” as you call it—is the wild duck.
It’s our wild duck, sir.
HEDVIG.
_My_ wild duck. It belongs to me.
GREGERS.
And can it live up here in the garret? Does it thrive?
EKDAL.
Of course it has a trough of water to splash about in, you know.
HIALMAR.
Fresh water every other day.
GINA.
[_Turning towards HIALMAR._] But my dear Ekdal, it’s getting icy cold
here.
EKDAL.
H'm, we had better shut up then. It’s as well not to disturb their
night’s rest, too. Close up, Hedvig.
[HIALMAR _and_ HEDVIG _push the garret doors together._
EKDAL.
Another time you shall see her properly. [_Seats himself in the
arm-chair by the stove._] Oh, they’re curious things, these wild ducks,
I can tell you.
GREGERS.
How did you manage to catch it, Lieutenant Ekdal?
EKDAL.
_I_ didn’t catch it. There’s a certain man in this town whom we have to
thank for it.
GREGERS.
[_Starts slightly._] That man was not my father, was he?
EKDAL.
You’ve hit it. Your father and no one else. H'm.
HIALMAR.
Strange that you should guess that, Gregers.
GREGERS.
You were telling me that you owed so many things to my father; and so I
thought perhaps——
GINA.
But we didn’t get the duck from Mr. Werle himself——
EKDAL.
It’s Håkon Werle we have to thank for her, all the same, Gina. [_To
GREGERS._] He was shooting from a boat, you see, and he brought her
down. But your father’s sight is not very good now. H'm; she was only
wounded.
GREGERS.
Ah! She got a couple of slugs in her body, I suppose.
HIALMAR.
Yes, two or three.
HEDVIG.
She was hit under the wing, so that she couldn’t fly.
GREGERS.
And I suppose she dived to the bottom, eh?
EKDAL.
[_Sleepily, in a thick voice._] Of course. Always do that, wild ducks
do. They shoot to the bottom as deep as they can get, sir—and bite
themselves fast in the tangle and seaweed—and all the devil’s own mess
that grows down there. And they never come up again.
GREGERS.
But _your_ wild duck came up again, Lieutenant Ekdal.
EKDAL.
He had such an amazingly clever dog, your father had. And that dog—he
dived in after the duck and fetched her up again.
GREGERS.
[_Who has turned to HIALMAR._] And then she was sent to you here?
HIALMAR.
Not at once; at first your father took her home. But she wouldn’t thrive
there; so Pettersen was told to put an end to her——
EKDAL.
[_Half asleep._] H'm—yes—Pettersen—that ass——
HIALMAR.
[_Speaking more softly._] That was how we got her, you see; for father
knows Pettersen a little; and when he heard about the wild duck he got
him to hand her over to us.
GREGERS.
And now she thrives as well as possible in the garret there?
HIALMAR.
Yes, wonderfully well. She has got fat. You see, she has lived in there
so long now that she has forgotten her natural wild life; and it all
depends on _that_.
GREGERS.
You are right there, Hialmar. Be sure you never let her get a glimpse of
the sky and the sea——. But I mustn’t stay any longer; I think your
father is asleep.
HIALMAR.
Oh, as for that——
GREGERS.
But, by-the-bye—you said you had a room to let—a spare room?
HIALMAR.
Yes; what then? Do you know of anybody——?
GREGERS.
Can _I_ have that room?
HIALMAR.
You?
GINA.
Oh no, Mr. Werle, _you_——
GREGERS.
May I have the room? If so, I'll take possession first thing to-morrow
morning.
HIALMAR.
Yes, with the greatest pleasure——
GINA.
But, Mr. Werle, I'm sure it’s not at all the sort of room for _you_.
HIALMAR.
Why, Gina! how can you say that?
GINA.
Why, because the room’s neither large enough nor light enough, and——