RAGNAR.
Oh no—I understand the whole thing now. After this, she would merely
be—in the way.
HILDA.
You understand nothing—since you can talk like that! No, _I_ will tell
you why he kept hold of her.
RAGNAR.
Well then, why?
HILDA.
In order to keep hold of _you_.
RAGNAR.
Has he told you so?
HILDA.
No, but it is so. It _must_ be so! [_Wildly._] I will—I _will_ have it
so!
RAGNAR.
And at the very moment when _you_ came—he let her go.
HILDA.
It was _you_—_you_ that he let go! What do you suppose he cares about
strange women like her?
RAGNAR.
[_Reflects._] Is it possible that all this time he has been afraid of
me?
HILDA.
_He_ afraid! I would not be so conceited if I were you.
RAGNAR.
Oh, he must have seen long ago that I had something in me, too.
Besides—cowardly—that is just what he is, you see.
HILDA.
He! Oh yes, I am likely to believe _that_!
RAGNAR.
In a certain sense he is cowardly—he, the great master builder. He is
not afraid of robbing others of their life’s happiness—as he has done
both for my father and for me. But when it comes to climbing up a paltry
bit of scaffolding—he will do anything rather than _that_.
HILDA.
Oh, you should just have seen him high, high up—at the dizzy height
where I once saw him.
RAGNAR.
Did you see that?
HILDA.
Yes, indeed I did. How free and great he looked as he stood and fastened
the wreath to the church vane!
RAGNAR.
I know that he ventured that, _once_ in his life—one solitary time. It
is a legend among us younger men. But no power on earth would induce him
to do it again.
HILDA.
To-day he will do it again!
RAGNAR.
[_Scornfully._] Yes, I daresay!
HILDA.
We shall see it!
RAGNAR.
That neither you nor I will see.
HILDA.
[_With uncontrollable vehemence._] I _will_ see it! I _will_ and I
_must_ see it!
RAGNAR.
But he will not do it. He simply dare not do it. For you see he cannot
get over this infirmity—master builder though he be.
_MRS. SOLNESS comes from the house on to the verandah._
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_Looks around._] Is he not here? Where has he gone to?
RAGNAR.
Mr. Solness is down with the men.
HILDA.
He took the wreath with him.
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_Terrified._] Took the wreath with him! Oh God! oh God! Brovik—you must
go down to him! Get him to come back here!
RAGNAR.
Shall I say you want to speak to him, Mrs. Solness?
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh yes, do!—No, no—don’t say that _I_ want anything! You can say that
somebody is here, and that he must come at once.
RAGNAR.
Good. I will do so, Mrs. Solness.
[_He goes down the flight of steps and away through the
garden._
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh, Miss Wangel, you can’t think how anxious I feel about him.
HILDA.
Is there anything in this to be so terribly frightened about?
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh yes; surely you can understand. Just think, if he were really to do
it! If he should take it into his head to climb up the scaffolding!
HILDA.
[_Eagerly._] Do you think he will?
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh, one can never tell what he might take into his head. I am afraid
there is nothing he mightn’t think of doing.
HILDA.
Aha! Perhaps you too think that he is—well——?
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh, I don’t know what to think about him now. The doctor has been
telling me all sorts of things; and putting it all together with several
things I have heard him say——
DR. HERDAL _looks out, at the door._
DR. HERDAL.
Is he not coming soon?
MRS. SOLNESS.
Yes, I think so. I have sent for him at any rate.
DR. HERDAL.
[_Advancing._] I am afraid you will have to go in, my dear lady——
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh no! Oh no! I shall stay out here and wait for Halvard.
DR. HERDAL.
But some ladies have just come to call on you——
MRS. SOLNESS.
Good heavens, _that_ too! And just at this moment!
DR. HERDAL.
They say they positively must see the ceremony.
MRS. SOLNESS.
Well, well, I suppose I must go to them after all. It is my duty.
HILDA.
Can’t you ask the ladies to go away?
MRS. SOLNESS.
No, that would never do. Now that they are here, it is my duty to see
them. But do you stay out here in the meantime—and receive him when he
comes.
DR. HERDAL.
And try to occupy his attention as long as possible——
MRS. SOLNESS.
Yes, do, dear Miss Wangel. Keep as firm hold of him as ever you can.
HILDA.
Would it not be best for you to do that?
MRS. SOLNESS.
Yes; God knows that is my duty. But when one has duties in so many
directions——
DR. HERDAL.
[_Looks towards the garden._] There he is coming.
MRS. SOLNESS.
And I have to go in!
DR. HERDAL.
[_To HILDA._] Don’t say anything about _my_ being here.
HILDA.
Oh no! I daresay I shall find something else to talk to Mr. Solness
about.
MRS. SOLNESS.
And be sure you keep firm hold of him. I believe you can do it best.
[MRS. SOLNESS _and_ DR. HERDAL _go into the house._ HILDA
_remains standing on the verandah._ SOLNESS _comes from the
garden, up the flight of steps._
SOLNESS.
Somebody wants me, I hear.
HILDA.
Yes; it is I, Mr. Solness.
SOLNESS.
Oh, is it you, Hilda? I was afraid it might be Aline or the Doctor.
HILDA.
You are very easily frightened, it seems!
SOLNESS.
Do you think so?
HILDA.
Yes; people say that you are afraid to climb about—on the scaffoldings,
you know.
SOLNESS.
Well, that is quite a special thing.
HILDA.
Then it is true that you are afraid to do it?
SOLNESS.
Yes, I am.
HILDA.
Afraid of falling down and killing yourself?
SOLNESS.
No, not of that.
HILDA.
Of what, then?
SOLNESS.
I am afraid of retribution, Hilda.
HILDA.
Of retribution? [_Shakes her head._] I don’t understand that.
SOLNESS.
Sit down, and I will tell you something.
HILDA.
Yes, do! At once!
[_She sits on a stool by the railing, and looks expectantly at
him._
SOLNESS.
[_Throws his hat on the table._] You know that I began by building
churches.
HILDA.
[_Nods._] I know that well.
SOLNESS.
For, you see, I came as a boy from a pious home in the country; and so
it seemed to me that this church-building was the noblest task I could
set myself.
HILDA.
Yes, yes.
SOLNESS.
And I venture to say that I built those poor little churches with such
honest and warm and heartfelt devotion that—that——
HILDA.
That——? Well?
SOLNESS.
Well, that I think that he ought to have been pleased with me.
HILDA.
_He?_ What _he_?
SOLNESS.
He who was to have the churches, of course! He to whose honour and glory
they were dedicated.
HILDA.
Oh, indeed! But are you certain, then, that—that he was not—pleased with
you?
SOLNESS.
[_Scornfully._] _He_ pleased with _me_! How can you talk so, Hilda? He
who gave the troll in me leave to lord it just as it pleased. He who
bade them be at hand to serve me, both day and night—all these—all
these——
HILDA.
Devils——
SOLNESS.
Yes, of both kinds. Oh no, he made me feel clearly enough that he was
not pleased with me. [_Mysteriously._] You see, that was really the
reason why he made the old house burn down.
HILDA.
Was that why?
SOLNESS.
Yes, don’t you understand? He wanted to give me the chance of becoming
an accomplished master in my own sphere—so that I might build all the
more glorious churches for him. At first I did not understand what he
was driving at; but all of a sudden it flashed upon me.
HILDA.
When was that?
SOLNESS.
It was when I was building the church-tower up at Lysanger.
HILDA.
I thought so.
SOLNESS.
For you see, Hilda—up there, amidst those new surroundings, I used to go
about musing and pondering within myself. Then I saw plainly why he had
taken my little children from me. It was that I should have nothing else
to attach myself to. No such thing as love and happiness, you
understand. I was to be only a master builder—nothing else. And all my
life long I was to go on building for him. [_Laughs._] But I can tell
you nothing came of _that_!
HILDA.
What did you do, then?
SOLNESS.
First of all, I searched and tried my own heart——
HILDA.
And then?
SOLNESS.
Then I did the _impossible_—I no less than _he_.
HILDA.
The impossible?
SOLNESS.
I had never before been able to climb up to a great, free height. But
that day I did it.
HILDA.
[_Leaping up._] Yes, yes, you did!
SOLNESS.
And when I stood there, high over everything, and was hanging the wreath
over the vane, I said to him: Hear me now, thou Mighty One! From this
day forward I will be a free builder—I too, in my sphere—just as thou in
thine. I will never more build churches for thee—only homes for human
beings.
HILDA.
[_With great sparkling eyes._] _That_ was the song that I heard through
the air!
SOLNESS.
But afterwards his turn came.
HILDA.
What do you mean by _that_?
SOLNESS.
[_Looks despondently at her._] Building homes for human beings—is not
worth a rap, Hilda.
HILDA.
Do you say _that_ now?
SOLNESS.
Yes, for now I see it. Men have no use for these homes of theirs—to be
happy in. And I should not have had any use for such a home, if I had
had one. [_With a quiet, bitter laugh._] See, that is the upshot of the
whole affair, however far back I look. Nothing really built; nor
anything sacrificed for the chance of building. Nothing, nothing! the
whole is nothing!
HILDA.
Then you will never build anything more?
SOLNESS.
[_With animation._] On the contrary; I am just going to begin!
HILDA.
What, then? What will you build? Tell me at once!
SOLNESS.
I believe there is only one possible dwelling-place for human
happiness—and that is what I am going to build now.
HILDA.
[_Looks fixedly at him._] Mr. Solness—you mean our castles in the air.
SOLNESS.
The castles in the air—yes.
HILDA.
I am afraid you would turn dizzy before we got half-way up.
SOLNESS.
Not if I can mount hand in hand with you, Hilda.
HILDA.
[_With an expression of suppressed resentment._] Only with me? Will
there be no others of the party?
SOLNESS.
Who else should there be?
HILDA.
Oh—that girl—that Kaia at the desk. Poor thing—don’t you want to take
her with you too?
SOLNESS.
Oho! Was it about her that Aline was talking to you?
HILDA.
Is it so—or is it not?
SOLNESS.
[_Vehemently._] I will not answer such a question You must believe in
me, wholly and entirely!
HILDA.
All these ten years I have believed in you so utterly—so utterly.
SOLNESS.
You must go on believing in me!
HILDA.
Then let me see you stand free and high up!
SOLNESS.
[_Sadly._] Oh Hilda—it is not every day that I can do that.
HILDA.
[_Passionately._] I will have you do it! I will have it!
[_Imploringly._] Just once more, Mr. Solness! Do the _impossible_ once
again!
SOLNESS.
[_Stands and looks deep into her eyes._] If I try it, Hilda, I will
stand up there and talk to him as I did that time before.
HILDA.
[_In rising excitement._] What will you say to him?
SOLNESS.
I will say to him: Hear me, Mighty Lord—thou may’st judge me as seems
best to thee. But hereafter I will build nothing but the loveliest thing
in the world——
HILDA.
[_Carried away._] Yes—yes—yes!
SOLNESS.
—build it together with a princess, whom I love——
HILDA.
Yes, tell him that! Tell him that!
SOLNESS.
Yes. And then I will say to him: Now I shall go down and throw my arms
round her and kiss her——
HILDA.
—many times! Say that!
SOLNESS.
—many, many times, I will say.
HILDA.
And then——?
SOLNESS.
Then I will wave my hat—and come down to the earth—and do as I said to
him.
HILDA.
[_With outstretched arms._] Now I see you again as I did when there was
song in the air!
SOLNESS.
[_Looks at her with his head bowed._] How have you become what you are,
Hilda?
HILDA.
How have you made me what I am?
SOLNESS.
[_Shortly and firmly._] The princess shall have her castle.
HILDA.
[_Jubilant, clapping her hands._] Oh, Mr. Solness——! My lovely, lovely
castle. Our castle in the air!
SOLNESS.
On a firm foundation.
[_In the street a crowd of people has assembled, vaguely seen
through the trees. Music of wind-instruments is heard far
away behind the new house._
MRS. SOLNESS, _with a fur collar round her neck,_ DOCTOR HERDAL _with
her white shawl on his arm, and some ladies, come out on the
verandah._ RAGNAR BROVIK _comes at the same time up from the
garden._
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_To RAGNAR._] Are we to have music, too?
RAGNAR.
Yes. It’s the band of the Mason’s Union. [_To SOLNESS._] The foreman
asked me to tell you that he is ready now to go up with the wreath.
SOLNESS.
[_Takes his hat._] Good. I will go down to him myself.
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_Anxiously._] What have you to do down there, Halvard?
SOLNESS.
[_Curtly._] I must be down below with the men.
MRS. SOLNESS.
Yes, down below—only down below.
SOLNESS.
That is where I always stand—on everyday occasions.
[_He goes down the flight of steps and away through the
garden._
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_Calls after him over the railing._] But do beg the man to be careful
when he goes up! Promise me that, Halvard!
DR. HERDAL.
[_To MRS. SOLNESS._] Don’t you see that I was right? He has given up all
thought of that folly.
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh, what a relief! Twice workmen have fallen, and each time they were
killed on the spot. [_Turns to HILDA._] Thank you, Miss Wangel, for
having kept such a firm hold upon him. I should never have been able to
manage him.
DR. HERDAL.
[_Playfully._] Yes, yes, Miss Wangel, you know how to keep firm hold on
a man, when you give your mind to it.
[MRS. SOLNESS _and_ DR. HERDAL _go up to the ladies, who are
standing nearer to the steps and looking over the garden._
HILDA _remains standing beside the railing in the
foreground._ RAGNAR _goes up to her._
RAGNAR.
[_With suppressed laughter, half whispering._] Miss Wangel—do you see
all those young fellows down in the street?
HILDA.
Yes.
RAGNAR.
They are my fellow students, come to look at the master.
HILDA.
What do they want to look at _him_ for?
RAGNAR.
They want to see how he daren’t climb to the top of his own house.
HILDA.
Oh, _that_ is what those boys want, is it?
RAGNAR.
[_Spitefully and scornfully._] He has kept us down so long—now we are
going to see him keep quietly down below himself.
HILDA.
You will not see that—not this time.
RAGNAR.
[_Smiles._] Indeed! Then where shall we see him?
HILDA.
High—high up by the vane! That is where you will see him!
RAGNAR.
[_Laughs._] Him! Oh yes, I daresay!
HILDA.
His _will_ is to reach the top—so at the top you shall see him.
RAGNAR.
His _will_, yes; that I can easily believe. But he simply _cannot_ do
it. His head would swim round, long, long before he got half-way. He
would have to crawl down again on his hands and knees.
DR. HERDAL.
[_Points across._] Look! There goes the foreman up the ladders.
MRS. SOLNESS.
And of course he has the wreath to carry too. Oh, I do hope he will be
careful!
RAGNAR.
[_Stares incredulously and shouts._] Why, but it’s——
HILDA.
[_Breaking out in jubilation._] It is the master builder himself?
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_Screams with terror._] Yes, it is Halvard! Oh my great God——! Halvard!
Halvard!
DR. HERDAL.
Hush! Don’t shout to him!
MRS. SOLNESS.
[_Half beside herself._] I must go to him! I must get him to come down
again!
DR. HERDAL.
[_Holds her._] Don’t move, any of you! Not a sound!
HILDA.
[_Immovable, follows SOLNESS with her eyes._] He climbs and climbs.
Higher and higher! Higher and higher! Look! Just look!
RAGNAR.
[_Breathless._] He _must_ turn now. He can’t possibly help it.
HILDA.
He climbs and climbs. He will soon be at the top now.
MRS. SOLNESS.
Oh, I shall die of terror. I cannot bear to see it
DR. HERDAL.
Then don’t look up at him.
HILDA.
There he is standing on the topmost planks Right at the top!
DR. HERDAL.
Nobody must move! Do you hear?
HILDA.
[_Exulting, with quiet intensity._] At last! At last! Now I see him
great and free again!
RAGNAR.
[_Almost voiceless._] But this is im——
HILDA.
So I have seen him all through these ten years. How secure he stands!
Frightfully thrilling all the same. Look at him! Now he is hanging the
wreath round the vane!
RAGNAR.
I feel as if I were looking at something utterly impossible.
HILDA.
Yes, it is the _impossible_ that he is doing now! [_With the indefinable
expression in her eyes._] Can you see any one else up there with him?
RAGNAR.
There is no one else.
HILDA.
Yes, there is one he is striving with.
RAGNAR.
You are mistaken.
HILDA.
Then do you hear no song in the air, either?
RAGNAR.
It must be the wind in the tree-tops.
HILDA.
I hear a song—a mighty song! [_Shouts in wild jubilation and glee._]
Look, look! Now he is waving his hat! He is waving it to us down here!
Oh, wave, wave back to him! For now it is finished! [_Snatches the white
shawl from the Doctor, waves it, and shouts up to SOLNESS._] Hurrah for
Master Builder Solness!
DR. HERDAL.
Stop! Stop! For God’s sake——!
[_The ladies on the verandah wave their pocket-handkerchiefs,
and the shouts of “Hurrah” are taken up in the street below.
Then they are suddenly silenced, and the crowd bursts out
into a shriek of horror. A human body, with planks and
fragments of wood, is vaguely perceived crashing down behind
the trees._
MRS. SOLNESS AND THE LADIES.
[_At the same time._] He is falling! He is falling!
[MRS. SOLNESS _totters, falls backwards, swooning, and is
caught, amid cries and confusion, by the ladies. The crowd
in the street breaks down the fence and storms into the
garden. At the same time_ DR. HERDAL, _too, rushes down
thither. A short pause._
HILDA.
[_Stares fixedly upwards and says, as if petrified._] _My_ Master
Builder.
RAGNAR.
[_Supports himself, trembling, against the railing._] He must be dashed
to pieces—killed on the spot.
ONE OF THE LADIES.
[_Whilst Mrs. Solness is carried into the house._] Run down for the
doctor——
RAGNAR.
I can’t stir a foot——
ANOTHER LADY.
Then call to some one!
RAGNAR.
[_Tries to call out._] How is it? Is he alive?
A VOICE.
[_Below, in the garden._] Mr. Solness is dead!
OTHER VOICES.
[_Nearer._] The head is all crushed.—He fell right into the quarry.
HILDA.
[_Turns to Ragnar, and says quietly._] I can’t see him up there now.
RAGNAR.
This is terrible. So, after all, he could not do it.
HILDA.
[_As if in quiet spell-bound triumph._] But he mounted right to the top.
And I heard harps in the air. [_Waves her shawl in the air, and shrieks
with wild intensity._] _My—my_ Master Builder!
BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD
TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN
LONDON
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Note
There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The conventional
period following the character’s name is sometimes missing and has been
added for consistency’s sake without further comment. Those missing from
setting and stage direction are also added without comment, since there
is no obvious purpose to be served by the omission. However, the
restoration of punctuation missing from dialogue is noted below, since
the punctuation can be expressive. Several instances of dubious ‘?’
marks have been corrected, based on context.
A line at 45.22 ends with no punctuation, which could plausibly be
either an exclamation or a question mark. A stage direction at 93.10
ends with an exclamation which perhaps should be a colon. A line at
362.9 also ends with no punction which could be a full stop or
exclamation. A line at 172.18 lacks punctuation should be a full stop or
exclamation. At line 362.13 punctuation could be also be a full top of
exclamation.
Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume, and
noted the following for Volume X. Each of these was corrected in
printing.
Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected,
and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the
original.
19.23 a whole flood of sunshine[.] Added.
34.15 Isn’t that good news, [’]Hedda? Removed.
36.27 write him a cordial, friendly letter[.] Added.
43.21 And for Eilert Lövb[e/o]rg, Thea. Replaced.
47.30 stands between Eilert Lövb[e/o]rg and me. Replaced.
52.6 are still wanting[,/.] Replaced.
58.25 how can you be so indifferent about it[./?] Replaced.
127.25 And no one _must_ know it[.] Added.\how
could you
treat
148.7 her so heartlessly[./?] Replaced.
177.23 to see under that lamp[.] Added.
201.15 No, [on/no]; I suppose you can’t. Transposed.
205.2 [_In nervous exaltation._][.] My God! My God!' Removed.
215.20 had gone to the dogs[.] Added.
217.18 That was most extraordinary[.] Added.
228.2 And don’t you know any one here[?] Added.
240.20 But did I really _say_ all that[?] Added.
243.8 then I _did_ do it, I suppose[.] Added.
259.24 moved into the new house[.] Added.
275.4 What was it[?] Added.
298.27 I should think[.] Added.
320.9 and bu[li/il]t houses for strangers Transposed.
331.13 You have your duties to her[.] Added.
338.28 [I ]promised the foreman I would. Restored?
361.5 he has the wreath to carry too[.] Added.
364.2 Stop! Stop[!] For God’s sake——! Added.