ROSE
What ...?
STRECKMANN
You came to my house an' made things hot for me!
ROSE
An' you ...
STRECKMANN
Well, what?
ROSE
An' you? An' you?
STRECKMANN
Well, I don't refuse a good thing that's offered.
ROSE
Streckmann! You has to die some day! D'you hear? Think o' your last hour!
You has to stand before your Judge some day! I ran to you in the awful
terror o' my heart! An' I begged you for the love o' God not to put
nothin' between me an' August. I crept on my knees before you--an' you
say, you, I ran after you! What was it truly? You committed a crime--a
crime against me! An' that's worse'n a scoundrel's trick! 'Twas a
crime--doubly and trebly! An' the Lord'll bring it home to you!
STRECKMANN
Listen to that! I'll take my chances!
ROSE
Is that what you say? You'll take your chances in that court? Then a
person can spit in your face!
STRECKMANN
Think o' the cherry tree! Think o' the crucifix!
ROSE
An' you swore to me that you'd never mention it again! You swore by all
that's holy. You put that hand o' yours on the cross, an' by the cross
you swore--an' now you're beginnin' to persecute me again! What do you
want?
STRECKMANN
I'm as good as Flamm. An' I don't want no more goin's on between you an'
him!
ROSE
I'll jump into his bed, scoundrel! An' it wouldn't concern you that much!
STRECKMANN
Well, we'll see what'll be the end of all that!
ROSE
What? 'Tis violence that you did to me! You confused me! You broke me
down! You pounced on me like a wild beast! I know! I tried to get out by
the door! An' you took hold an' you rent my bodice an' my skirt! I bled!
I might ha' gotten out by the door! Then you shot the latch! That's a
crime, a crime! An' I'll denounce....
_BERND and AUGUST appear on the scene. After them KLEINERT and
GOLISCH and the other field hands._
BERND
[_Close to STRECKMANN._] What's all this? What did you do to my lass?
AUGUST
[_Pulls BERND back and thrusts himself forward._] 'Tis my place, father.
What did you do to Rosie?
STRECKMANN
Nothin'!
BERND
[_Coming forward again._] What did you do to the lass?
STRECKMANN
Nothin'!
AUGUST
[_Approaching STRECKMANN once more._] You'll tell us now what you did to
her!
STRECKMANN
Nothin'! The devil! I say nothin'!
AUGUST
You'll either be tellin' us now what you did to her--or ...
STRECKMANN
Or? Well, what? What about "or"?--Hands off!... Take your hands from my
throat!!
KLEINERT
[_Trying to separate them._] Hold on, now.
STRECKMANN
Hands off, I tell you!
BERND
You'll have to take the consequences now! Either ...
AUGUST
What did you do to the girl?
STRECKMANN
[_Backing, in sudden fright, toward the pear tree, cries out:_] Help!
AUGUST
What did you do to the girl? Answer me that! I got to know that!
[_He has freed himself and faces STRECKMANN._
STRECKMANN
[_Lifts his arm and strikes AUGUST full in the face._] There's my answer!
That's what I did!
KLEINERT
Streckmann!
OLD MRS. GOLISCH
Catch hold o' August! He's fallin'!
HEAD MAID
[_Supports the falling man._] August!
BERND
[_Paying no attention to AUGUST, but addressing STRECKMANN:_] You'll have
to account for this! It'll be brought home to you!
STRECKMANN
What? On account o' that there wench that's common to anybody as wants
her....
[_Withdraws._
BERND
What was that he said ...?
KLEINERT
[_Who is helping the MAID, HAHN, GOLISCH and MRS. GOLISCH support
AUGUST._] His eye is out!
OLD MRS. GOLISCH
Father Bernd, August didn't fare so very well this time....
KLEINERT
'Tis an evil wooin' that he has!
BERND
What? How? Christ In Heaven! [_He goes to him._] August!
AUGUST
My left eye hurts that bad!
BERND
Rose, bring some water!
OLD MRS. GOLISCH
'Tis a misfortune.
BERND
Rose, fetch some water! D'you hear me?
GOLISCH
That'll mean a good year o' prison!
ROSE
[_Suddenly awakening from a dazed condition._] He says ... he says ...
What's the meanin' o' ... Didn't I get a doll o' Christmas....
THE MAID
[_To ROSE._] Are you asleep?
ROSE
... There's no tellin' what ... No, lass: it can't be done! Such things
don't come to good! ... Mebbe a girl can't do without a mother.
THE CURTAIN FALLS
THE FOURTH ACT
_The same room in FLAMM'S house as in the second act. It is a
Saturday afternoon toward the beginning of September. FLAMM is
sitting over his accounts at the roller-top desk. Not far from the
door to the hall stands STRECKMANN._
FLAMM
According to this there is due you the sum of twelve pounds, ten
shillings, sixpence.
STRECKMANN
Yes, Mr. Flamm.
FLAMM
What was wrong with the machine? You stopped working one forenoon?
STRECKMANN
I had a summons to appear in the county court that day. There wasn't
nothin' wrong with the machine.
FLAMM
Was that in connection with the trouble about ... Keil?
STRECKMANN
Yes. An' besides that Bernd sued me for slanderin' his daughter.
FLAMM
[_Has taken money from a special pigeon hole and counts it out on the
large table._] Here are twelve pounds and eleven shillings. So you owe me
sixpence.
STRECKMANN
[_Pockets the money and gives FLAMM a small coin._] An' so I'm to tell
the head bailiff that by the end o' December you'll be ready for me
again.
FLAMM
Yes, I want you for two days. Say, by the beginning of December. I'd like
to empty the big barn at that time.
STRECKMANN
By the beginnin' o' December. All right, Mr. Flamm. Good-bye.
FLAMM
Good-bye, Streckmann. Tell me, though, what's going to be the outcome of
that affair?
STRECKMANN
[_Stops and shrugs his shoulders._] It isn't goin' to be much of an
outcome for me!
FLAMM
Why?
STRECKMANN
I suppose I'll have to suffer for it.
FLAMM
What consequences a little thing will sometimes have!--How did it happen
that you quarreled?
STRECKMANN
I can't say as I can remember clearly. That day--I must ha' been off my
head--but the truth is I just can't get it straight how it did happen.
FLAMM
The bookbinder is known to be a very peaceable man.
STRECKMANN
An' yet he's always quarrelin' with me! But the thing's just gone from
me.--All I know is that they fell on me just like hungry wolves! I
thought they was tryin' to kill me right there! If I hadn't been thinkin'
that, my hand wouldn't ha' slipped the way it did.
FLAMM
And the man's eye couldn't--be saved?
STRECKMANN
No, an' it makes a feller feel sorry. But ... there's nothin' to be done.
The misfortune isn't on my conscience.
FLAMM
A thing of that kind is bad enough in itself. And when the courts take a
hand in it, that only makes it worse. I'm especially sorry for the girl.
STRECKMANN
Yes; I'm thin an' wasted with the misery of it. It's gone straight to my
heart. I tell you, your honour, I don't know what it is to sleep no more.
I haven't got nothin' against August really. But, as I said, I just can't
account for it.
FLAMM
You ought to go over and see Bernd some day. If you insulted his daughter
and weren't in a clear state of mind, you could simply retract what you
said.
STRECKMANN
That's none o' my business. That's his'n. Of course, if he knew what'll
come out--he'd take back his accusation. Somebody else ought to tell him.
He's not doin' the girl no service by it. That's how things is. Good-bye,
your honour.
FLAMM
Good-bye.
_STRECKMANN leaves the room._
FLAMM [_Excitedly, to himself._] If one could only get at the throat of a
creature like that!
_MRS. FLAMM is wheeled in by a maid from FLAMM'S den._
MRS. FLAMM
What are you muttering about again?--[_At a gesture from her the maid
retires._]--Did you have any annoyance?
FLAMM
Oh, yes; a little.
MRS. FLAMM
Wasn't that Streckmann?
FLAMM
The handsome Streckmann. Yes, that was the handsome Streckmann.
MRS. FLAMM
How is that affair getting on now, Christie? Did you talk about Keil?
FLAMM
[_Scribbling._] Oh, pshaw! My head is full of figures.
MRS. FLAMM
Do I disturb you, Christie?
FLAMM
No; only you must keep quiet.
MRS. FLAMM
If I can't do anything else--you can be sure I can do that.
[_Silence._]
FLAMM
[_Bursting out._] I'll be damned and double damned! There are times when
one would like to take a gun and simply shoot down a scoundrel like that!
There'd be no trouble about taking that on one's conscience.
MRS. FLAMM
But, Christie, you really frighten me.
FLAMM
It isn't my fault! I'm frightened myself!--I tell you, mother, that man
is so low, so rotten with evil ... I tell you ... at least he has spells
when he's that way ... that a man like myself, who is no saint either,
feels as if his very bowels were turning in him! There's no end to that
kind of corruption. A man may think he knows life inside out, that he's
digested some pretty tough bits himself--but things like that--crimes--I
tell you, one never gets beyond the elements in that kind of knowledge!
MRS. FLAMM
What has roused you so again?
FLAMM
[_Writing again._] Oh, I'm only speaking in general.
MRS. FLAMM
I thought it was somehow connected with Streckmann. Because, Christie, I
can't rid myself of the thought of that affair. And when it's convenient
to you some day, I'd like to have a good talk with you about it!
FLAMM
With me? How does Streckmann concern me?
MRS. FLAMM
Not Streckmann exactly--not the man. But surely old Bernd and Rose. As
far as the girl is concerned, 'tis bitter earnest for her--the whole
thing! And if I weren't tied down here as I am, I would have gone over to
see her long ago. She's never seen here any more.
FLAMM
You ... you want to go and see Rose? What do you want of her?
MRS. FLAMM
But, don't you see, Christie--you understand that--she isn't exactly the
first comer! I ought to see about setting her affairs to rights a bit!
FLAMM
Ah well, mother! Do what you think is your duty. I hardly think that
you'll accomplish much for the girl.
MRS. FLAMM
How is that, Christie? What do you mean?
FLAMM
One shouldn't mix up into other people's affairs. All you get for your
pains is ingratitude and worry.
MRS. FLAMM
Even so! We can bear the worry, an' ingratitude--that's what you expect
in this world. An' as far as Rose Bernd is concerned, I always felt as if
she were more than half my own child. You see, Christie, as far as I can
think back--when father was still chief forester--her mother already came
to wash for us. Afterward, in the churchyard, at our little Kurt's
grave--I see the girl standin' as clear as if it was to-day, even though
I was myself more dead than alive. Except you an' me, I can tell you
that, nobody was as inconsolable as the girl.
FLAMM
Do as you please, as far as I'm concerned! But what are your intentions
exactly? I can't think what you're after, child!
MRS. FLAMM
First, I'm going to be real curious now.
FLAMM
What about?
MRS. FLAMM
Oh, about nothing you can describe exactly! You know, usually, I don't
interfere in your affairs. But now ... I'd like real well to know ...
what's come over you this while past?
FLAMM
Over me? I thought you were talking about Rose Bernd.
MRS. FLAMM
But now I'm talking about you, you see.
FLAMM
You can spare yourself the trouble, mother. My affairs are no concern of
yours.
MRS. FLAMM
You say that! 'Tis easily said. But if a person sits still as I have to
do and sees a man growing more an' more restless, an' unable to sleep o'
nights, an' hears him sighin' an' sighin', and that man happens to be
your own husband--why, you have all kinds of thoughts come over you!
FLAMM
Now, mother, you've gone off your head entirely. You seem to want to make
me look utterly foolish! _I_ sigh! Am I such an imbecile? I'm not a
lovelorn swain.
MRS. FLAMM
No, Christie, you can't escape me that way!
FLAMM
Mother, what are you trying to do? Do you want, simply, to be tiresome,
to bore me? Eh? Or make the house too disagreeable to stay in? Is that
your intention? If so, you're going about it the best way possible.
MRS. FLAMM
I don't care what you say; you're keeping something secret!
FLAMM
[_Shrugging his shoulders._] Do you think so?--Well, perhaps I _am_
keeping something from you! Suppose it is so, mother.... You know me....
You know my nature in that respect.... The whole world could turn upside
down and not get that much [_he snaps his fingers_] out of me! As for
annoyance ... everyone has his share of it in this world! Yesterday I had
to dismiss one of the brewers; day before yesterday I had to send a
distiller to the devil. And, all in all, apart from such incidents, the
kind of life one has to live here is really flat and unprofitable enough
to make any decent individual as cross as two sticks.
MRS. FLAMM
Why don't you seek company? Drive in to town!
FLAMM
Oh, yes, to sit in the inn playing at cards with a crowd of Philistines
or to be stilted with his honour, the prefect of the county! God forbid!
I have enough of that nonsense! It couldn't tempt me out of the house! If
it weren't for the bit of hunting a man could do--if one couldn't
shoulder one's gun occasionally, one would be tempted to run away to sea.
MRS. FLAMM
Well, you see! There you are! That's what I say! You've just changed
entirely! Till two, three months ago, you was as merry as the day's long;
you shot birds an' stuffed them, increased your botanical collection,
hunted birds' eggs--and sang the livelong day! 'Twas a joy to see you!
An' now, suddenly, you're like another person.
FLAMM
If only we had been able to keep Kurt!
MRS. FLAMM
How would it be if we adopted a child?
FLAMM
All of a sudden? No, mother. I don't care about it now. Before, you
couldn't make up your mind to it; now I've passed that stage too.
MRS. FLAMM
'Tis easily said: Take a child into the house! First of all it seemed to
me like betraying Kurt ... yes, like a regular betrayal ... that's what
the very thought of It seemed to me. I felt--how shall I say it?--as if
we were putting the child away from us utterly--out of the house, out of
his little room an' his little bed, an', last of all, out of our
hearts.--But the main thing was this: Where can you get a child in whom
you can hope to have some joy?--But let that rest where it is. Let's go
back to Rose once more!--Do you know how it is with her, Christopher?
FLAMM
Oh, well! Of course; why not? Streckmann has cast a slur upon her conduct
and old Bernd won't suffer that! 'Tis folly, to be sure, to bring suit in
such a matter.--Because it is the woman who has to bear the brunt of it
in the end.
MRS. FLAMM
I wrote a couple of letters to Rose and asked the lass to come here. In
her situation, Christopher, she may really not know what to do nor where
to turn.
FLAMM
Why do you think so?
MRS. FLAMM
Because Streckmann is right!
FLAMM
[_Taken aback and with a show of stupidity._] What, mother? You must
express yourself more clearly.
MRS. FLAMM
Now, Christie, don't let your temper get the better of you again! I've
kept the truth from you till now because I know you're a bit harsh in
such matters. You remember the little maid that you put straight out o'
the house, and the trunk-maker to whom you gave a beating! Now this lass
o' ours made a confession to me long ago--maybe eight weeks. An' we have
to consider that 'tis not only Rose that's to be considered now, but ...
a second being ... the one that's on the way. Did you understand me? Did
you?
FLAMM
[_With self-repression._] No! Not entirely, mother, I must say frankly.
I've got a kind of a ... just to-day ... it comes over me ... the blood,
you know ... it seems to go to my head suddenly, once in a while. It's
like a ... it's horrible, too ... like an attack of dizziness! I suppose
I'll have to ... at least, I think I'll have to take the air a bit. But
it's nothing of importance, mother. So don't worry.
MRS. FLAMM
[_Looking at him through her spectacles._] And where do you want to go
with your cartridge belt?
FLAMM
Nowhere! What did I want to do with the cartridge belt? [_He hurls the
belt aside which he has involuntarily picked up._] One learns nothing ...
is kept in the dark about everything! And then a point comes where one
suddenly feels blind and stupid ... and a stranger ... an utter stranger
in this world.
MRS. FLAMM
[_Suspiciously._] Will you tell me, Christie, the meanin' of all this?
FLAMM
It hasn't any, mother--not the slightest ... none at all, in fact. And
I'm quite clear in my head again, too--quite! Only now and then a feeling
comes over me, a kind of terror, all of a sudden, I don't know how ...
and I feel as if there were no solid footing under me any longer, and as
if I were going to crash through and break my neck.
MRS. FLAMM
'Tis strange things you are saying to-day, Christie. [_A knocking is
heard at the door._] Who's knocking there? Come in!
AUGUST
[_Still behind the scenes._] 'Tis only me, Mrs. Flamm.
_FLAMM withdraws rapidly into his den._
MRS. FLAMM
Oh, 'tis you, Mr. Keil. Just step right in.
_AUGUST KEIL appears on the scene. He is paler than formerly, more
emaciated and wears dark glasses. His left eye is hidden by a black
patch._
AUGUST
I have come, Mrs. Flamm, to bring Rose's excuses to you. Good-day, Mrs.
Flamm.
MRS. FLAMM
Good-day to you, Mr. Keil.
AUGUST
My betrothed had to go to the county court to-day, or she would ha' come
herself. But she'll be comin' in this evenin'.
MRS. FLAMM
I'm real pleased to get a chance to see you. How are you getting on? Sit
down.
AUGUST
God's ways are mysterious! An' when His hand rests heavy on us, we
mustn't complain. On the contrary, we must rejoice. An' I tell you, Mrs.
Flamm, that's almost the way I'm feelin' nowadays. I'm content. The worse
things gets, the gladder I am. 'Tis layin' up more an' more treasures in
heaven.
MRS. FLAMM
[_Taking a deep and difficult breath._] I trust you are right, Mr.
Keil.--Did Rose get my letters?
AUGUST
She gave them to me to read. An' I told her, it wouldn't do--that she'd
have to go to see you now.
MRS. FLAMM
I must tell you, Keil, I'm surprised that, after all these recent
happenin's, she never once found her way here. She knows that she'll find
sympathy here.
AUGUST
She's been reel afraid o' people recently. An', Mrs. Flamm, if you'll
permit me to say so, you mustn't take it ill. First of all she had her
hands full with tendin' to me. I was so in need o' care--an' she did a
good work by me! An' then, since that man slandered her so terrible, she
scarce dared go out o' the room.
MRS. FLAMM
I don't take offence, Keil. Oh, no! But how is she otherwise? An' what
does she do?
AUGUST
'Tis hard to say, that's certain. To-day, for instance, when she had to
go to court at eleven o'clock--'twas a regular dance she led us! She
talked so strange, Mrs. Flamm, 'twas enough to scare a body out o' his
wits.--First of all she didn't want to be goin' at all; next she thought
she wanted to take me with her. In the end she was gone like a flash an'
cried out to me that I wasn't to follow. Times she kept weepin' all
day!--Naturally, a man has his thoughts.
MRS. FLAMM
What kind o' thoughts?
AUGUST
About several things.--Firstly, this mishap that came to me! She spoke of
it to me many a time. That's cut her straight to the heart! An' about
father Bernd an' that he has taken that business o' Streckmann so
serious.
MRS. FLAMM
We're all alone here, Mr. Keil. Why shouldn't we speak openly for once.
Did it never occur to you ... I mean about this Streckmann matter ... to
you or, maybe to father Bernd--that there might be some truth in it?
AUGUST
I don't let myself have no thoughts about that.
MRS. FLAMM
That's right! I don't blame you for that in the least. There are times in
life when one can't do better than stick one's head in the sand like an
ostrich. But that isn't right for a father!
AUGUST
Well, Mrs. Flamm, as far as old Bernd goes, his mind is as far as the sky
from any suspicion that somethin' mightn't be quite right. His
conviction's as firm as a rock. He'd let you chop off his hands for it.
Nobody wouldn't believe how strictly he thinks about things o' that kind.
His honour was there too an' tried to persuade him to withdraw his
charge....
MRS. FLAMM
[_Excitedly._] Who was there?
AUGUST
His honour, Mr. Flamm.
MRS. FLAMM
My husband?
AUGUST
Yes! He talked to him a long time. You see, as for me--I've lost an eye,
to be sure--but I don't care to have Streckmann punished. Vengeance is
mine, saith the Lord. But father--he can't be persuaded to think
peaceably about this matter. Ask anythin' o' me, says he, but not that!
MRS. FLAMM
You say my husband went to see old Bernd?
AUGUST
Yes, that time he got the summons.
MRS. FLAMM
What kind o' summons was that?
AUGUST
To appear before the examining magistrate.
MRS. FLAMM
[_With growing excitement._] Who? Old Bernd?
AUGUST
No; Mr. Flamm.
MRS. FLAMM
Was my husband examined too? What did he have to do with the affair?
AUGUST
Yes, he was examined too.
MRS. FLAMM
[_Deeply affected._] Is that so? That's news to me! I didn't know about
that. Nor that Christie went to see old Bernd!... I wonder where my
smellin' bottle is?--No, August, you might as well go home now. I'm a bit
... I don't know what to call it! An' any special advice I can't give
you, the way it all turns out. There's something that's gone through an'
through me. Go home an' wait to see how everything goes. But if you love
the lass truly, then ... look at me: I could tell you a tale! If a body
is made that way: whether 'tis a man that the women run after, or a woman
that all the men are mad about--then there's nothin' to do but just to
suffer an' suffer and be patient!--I've lived that way twelve long
years. [_She pats her hand to her eyes and peers through her fingers._]
An' if I want to see things at all, I have to see them from behind my
hands.
AUGUST
I can't never believe that, Mrs. Flamm.
MRS. FLAMM
Whether you believe me or not. Life don't ask us if we want to believe
things. An' I feel exactly like you: I can't hardly realise it either.
But we have to see how we can reconcile ourselves to it--I made a promise
to Rose! 'Tis easy promisin' an' hard keepin' the promise sometimes in
this world. But I'll do the best in my power.--Good-bye--I can't expect
you to ... God must take pity on us. That's all.
_AUGUST, deeply moved, grasps the hand which MRS. FLAMM offers him
and withdraws in silence._
MRS. FLAMM leans her head far back and, lost in thought, looks up.
She sighs twice deeply and with difficulty. FLAMM enters, very pale,
looks sidewise at his wife and begins to whistle softly. He opens the
book case and pretends to be eagerly hunting for something._
MRS. FLAMM
Yes, yes; there it is--you whistle everything down the wind! But this ...
this ... I wouldn't ha' thought you capable of.
_FLAMM swings around, falls silent, and looks straight at her. He
lifts both hands slightly and shrugs his shoulders very high. Then,
he relaxes all his muscles and gazes simply and without
embarrassment--thoughtfully rather than shamefacedly--at the floor._
MRS. FLAMM
You men take these things very lightly! What's to happen now?
FLAMM
[_Repeating the same gesture but less pronouncedly._] That's what I don't
know.--I want to be quite calm now. I should like to tell you how that
came about. It may be that you will be able to judge me less harshly
then. If not ... why, then I should be very sorry for myself.
MRS. FLAMM
I don't see how a body can fail to judge such recklessness harshly.
FLAMM
Recklessness? I don't think that it was mere recklessness. What would you
rather have it be, mother--recklessness, or something more serious?
MRS. FLAMM
To destroy the future of just this girl, for whom we have to bear all the
responsibility! We made her come to the house! An' she an' her people had
blind confidence in us! 'Tis enough to make one perish o' shame! It looks
as if one had ... that ... in view!
FLAMM
Are you done, mother?
MRS. FLAMM
Far from it!
FLAMM
Well, then I'll have to wait a bit longer.
MRS. FLAMM
Christie, what did I tell you that day when you out with it an' said
you wanted to marry me?
FLAMM
What was it?
MRS. FLAMM
I'm much too old for you. A woman can be sixteen years younger than her
husband, but not three or four years older. I wish you had listened to me
then!
FLAMM