_The_ BARON _and the_ BARONESS. _The_ SPECTATORS
_withdraw gradually_.
BARONESS. Where is Emil?
BARON. He was gone!
BARONESS. That's a lie!
BARON. [_After a pause_] Yes--I did not bring him to my mother,
whom I cannot trust, but to the Rectory.
BARONESS. To the minister!
BARON. Your one reliable enemy! Yes. Who was there else that I
might trust? And I did it because a while ago I caught a glance
in your eye which made me think that you possibly might kill
yourself and the child.
BARONESS. You saw that!--Oh, why did I let myself be fooled into
believing you.
BARON. Well, what do you say of all this?
BARONESS. I don't know. But I am so tired that I no longer feel
the blows. It seems almost a relief to have received the final
stab.
BARON. You give no thought to what is now going to happen:
how your son is going to be brought up by two peasants, whose
ignorance and rude habits will kill the child by slow torture;
how he is going to be forced down into their narrow sphere;
how his intelligence is going to be smothered by religious
superstition; how he is going to be taught contempt for his
father and mother----
BARONESS. Hush! Don't say another word, or I shall lose my
reason! My Emil in the hands of peasant women, who don't know
enough to wash themselves, who have their beds full of vermin,
and who cannot even keep a comb clean! My Emil! No, it is
impossible!
BARON. It is the actual reality, and you have nobody but
yourself to blame for it.
BARONESS. Myself? But did I make myself? Did I put evil
tendencies, hatred, and wild passions into myself? No! And who
was it that denied me the power and will to combat all those
things?--When I look at myself this moment, I feel that I am to
be pitied. Am I not?
BARON. Yes, you are! Both of us are to be pitied. We tried to
avoid the rocks that beset marriage by living unmarried as
husband and wife; but nevertheless we quarrelled, and we were
sacrificing one of life's greatest joys, the respect of our
fellow-men--and so we were married. But we must needs steal a
march on the social body and its laws. We wanted no religious
ceremony, but instead we wriggled into a civil marriage. We did
not want to depend on each other--we were to have no common
pocket-book and to insist on no personal ownership of each
other--and with that we fell right back into the old rut again.
Without wedding ceremony, but with a marriage contract! And
then it went to pieces. I forgave your faithlessness, and for
the child's sake we lived together in voluntary separation--and
freedom! But I grew tired of introducing my friend's mistress as
my wife--and so we had to get a divorce. Can you guess--do you
know against whom we have been fighting? You call him God, but I
call him nature. And that was the master who egged us on to hate
each other, just as he is egging people on to love each other.
And now we are condemned to keep on tearing each other as long
as a spark of life remains. New proceedings in the higher court,
reopening of the case, report by the Vestry Board, opinion
from the Diocesan Chapter, decision by the Supreme Court. Then
comes my complaint to the Attorney-General, my application for
a guardian, your objections and counter-suits: from pillory to
post! Without hope of a merciful executioner! Neglect of the
property, financial ruin, scamped education for the child! And
why do we not put an end to these two miserable lives? Because
the child stays our hands! You cry, but I cannot! Not even when
my thought runs ahead to the night that is waiting for me in a
home laid waste! And you, poor Helen, who must go back to your
mother! That mother whom you once left with such eagerness in
order to get a home of your own. To become her daughter once
more--and perhaps find it worse than being a wife! One year! Two
years! Many years! How many more do you think we can bear to
suffer?
BARONESS. I shall never go back to my mother. Never! I shall go
out on the high-roads and into the woods so that I may find a
hiding-place where I can scream--scream myself tired against
God, who has put this infernal love into the world as a torment
for us human creatures--and when night comes, I shall seek
shelter in the Pastor's barn, so that I may sleep near my child.
BARON. You hope to sleep to-night--you?
_Curtain_.
THE DANCE OF DEATH
1901
PART I
CHARACTERS
EDGAR, _Captain in the Coast Artillery_
ALICE, _his wife_, _a former actress_
CURT, _Master of Quarantine_
JENNY }
THE OLD WOMAN } _Subordinate characters_
THE SENTRY }
THE DANCE OF DEATH
PART I
_The scene is laid inside of a round fort built of
granite_.
_In the background, a gateway, closed by huge,
swinging double doors; in these, small square window
panes, through which may be seen a sea shore with
batteries and the sea beyond_.
_On either side of the gateway, a window with flower
pots and bird cages_.
_To the right of the gateway, an upright piano;
further down the stage, a sewing-table and two
easy-chairs_.
_On the left, half-way down the stage, a
writing-table with a telegraph instrument on it;
further down, a what-not full of framed photographs.
Beside it, a couch that can be used to sleep on.
Against the wall, a buffet_.
_A lamp suspended from the ceiling. On the wall near
the piano hang two large laurel wreaths with ribbons.
Between them, the picture of a woman in stage dress_.
_Beside the door, a hat-stand on which hang
accoutrements, sabres, and so forth. Near it, a
chiffonier_.
_To the left of the gateway hangs a mercurial
barometer_.
_It is a mild Fall evening. The doors stand open, and
a sentry is seen pacing back and forth on the shore
battery. He wears a helmet with a forward pointed
brush for a crest. Now and then his drawn sabre
catches the red glare of the setting sun. The sea
lies dark and quiet_.
_The_ CAPTAIN _sits in the easy-chair to the left of
the sewing-table, fumbling an extinguished cigar. He
has on a much-worn undress uniform and riding-boots
with spurs. Looks tired and bored_.
ALICE _sits in the easy-chair on the right, doing
nothing at all. Looks tired and expectant_.
CAPTAIN. Won't you play something for me?
ALICE. [_Indifferently, but not snappishly_] What am I to play?
CAPTAIN. Whatever suits you.
ALICE. You don't like my repertory.
CAPTAIN. Nor you mine.
ALICE. [_Evasively_] Do you want the doors to stay open?
CAPTAIN. If you wish it.
ALICE. Let them be, then. [_Pause_] Why don't you smoke?
CAPTAIN. Strong tobacco is beginning not to agree with me.
ALICE. [_In an almost friendly tone_] Get weaker tobacco then.
It is your only pleasure, as you call it.
CAPTAIN. Pleasure--what is that?
ALICE. Don't ask me. I know it as little as you--Don't you want
your whiskey yet?
CAPTAIN. I'll wait a little. What have you for supper?
ALICE. How do I know? Ask Christine.
CAPTAIN. The mackerel ought to be in season soon--now the Fall
is here.
ALICE. Yes, it is Fall!
CAPTAIN. Within and without. But leaving aside the cold that
comes with the Fall, both within and without, a little broiled
mackerel, with a slice of lemon and a glass of white Burgundy,
wouldn't be so very bad.
ALICE. Now you grow eloquent.
CAPTAIN. Have we any Burgundy left in the wine-cellar?
ALICE. So far as I know, we have had no wine-cellar these last
five years----
CAPTAIN. You never know anything. However, we _must_ stock up
for our silver wedding.
ALICE. Do you actually mean to celebrate it?
CAPTAIN. Of course!
ALICE. It would be more seemly to hide our misery--our
twenty-five years of misery----
CAPTAIN. My dear Alice, it has been a misery, but we have also
had some fun--now and then. One has to avail one-self of what
little time there is, for afterward it is all over.
ALICE. Is it over? Would that it were!
CAPTAIN. It is over! Nothing left but what can be put on a
wheel-barrow and spread on the garden beds.
ALICE. And so much trouble for the sake of the garden beds!
CAPTAIN. Well, that's the way of it. And it is not of my making.
ALICE. So much trouble! [_Pause_] Did the mail come?
CAPTAIN. Yes.
ALICE. Did the butcher send his bill?
CAPTAIN. Yes.
ALICE. How large is it?
CAPTAIN. [_Takes a paper from his pocket and puts on his
spectacles, but takes them off again at once_] Look at it
yourself. I cannot see any longer.
ALICE. What is wrong with your eyes?
CAPTAIN. Don't know.
ALICE. Growing old?
CAPTAIN. Nonsense! I?
ALICE. Well, not I!
CAPTAIN. Hm!
ALICE. [_Looking at the bill_] Can you pay it?
CAPTAIN. Yes, but not this moment.
ALICE. Some other time, of course! In a year, when you have been
retired with a small pension, and it is too late! And then, when
your trouble returns----
CAPTAIN. Trouble? I never had any trouble--only a slight
indisposition once. And I can live another twenty years.
ALICE. The doctor thought otherwise.
CAPTAIN. The doctor!
ALICE. Yes, who else could express any valid opinion about
sickness?
CAPTAIN. I have no sickness, and never had. I am not going to
have it either, for I shall die all of a sudden--like an old
soldier.
ALICE. Speaking of the doctor--you know they are having a party
to-night?
CAPTAIN. [_Agitated_] Yes, what of it? We are not invited
because we don't associate with those people, and we don't
associate with them because we don't want to--because we despise
both of them. Rabble--that's what they are!
ALICE. You say that of everybody.
CAPTAIN. Because everybody is rabble.
ALICE. Except yourself.
CAPTAIN. Yes, because I have behaved decently under all
conditions of life. That's why I don't belong to the rabble.
[_Pause_.
ALICE. Do you want to play cards?
CAPTAIN. All right.
ALICE. [_Takes a pack of cards from the drawer in the
sewing-table and begins to shuffle them_] Just think, the doctor
is permitted to use the band for a private entertainment!
CAPTAIN. [_Angrily_] That's because he goes to the city and
truckles to the Colonel. Truckle, you know--if one could only do
that!
ALICE. [_Deals_] I used to be friendly with Gerda, but she
played me false----
CAPTAIN. They are all false! What did you turn up for trumps?
ALICE. Put on your spectacles.
CAPTAIN. They are no help--Well, well!
ALICE. Spades are trumps.
CAPTAIN. [_Disappointed_] Spades----?
ALICE. [_Leads_] Well, be that as it may, our case is settled in
advance with the wives of the new officers.
CAPTAIN. [_Taking the trick_] What does it matter? We never
give any parties anyhow, so nobody is the wiser. I can live by
myself--as I have always done.
ALICE. I, too. But the children? The children have to grow up
without any companionship.
CAPTAIN. Let them find it for themselves in the city--I take
that! Got any trumps left?
ALICE. One--That's mine!
CAPTAIN. Six and eight make fifteen----
ALICE. Fourteen--fourteen!
CAPTAIN. Six and eight make fourteen. I think I am also
forgetting how to count. And two makes sixteen--[_Yawns_] It is
your deal.
ALICE. You are tired?
CAPTAIN. [_Dealing_] Not at all.
ALICE. [_Listening in direction of the open doors_] One can hear
the music all this way. [_Pause_] Do you think Curt is invited
also?
CAPTAIN. He arrived this morning, so I guess he has had time to
get out his evening clothes, though he has not had time to call
on us.
ALICE. Master of Quarantine--is there to be a quarantine station
here?
CAPTAIN. Yes.
ALICE. He is my own cousin after all, and once I bore the same
name as he----
CAPTAIN. In which there was no particular honour----
ALICE. See here! [_Sharply_] You leave my family alone, and I'll
leave yours!
CAPTAIN. All right, all right--don't let us begin again!
ALICE. Must the Master of Quarantine be a physician?
CAPTAIN. Oh, no, he's merely a sort of superintendent or
book-keeper--and Curt never became anything in particular.
ALICE. He was not much good----
CAPTAIN. And he has cost us a lot of money. And when he left
wife and children, he became disgraced.
ALICE. Not quite so severe, Edgar!
CAPTAIN. That's what happened! What has he been doing in America
since then? Well, I cannot say that I am longing for him--but he
was a nice chap, and I liked to argue with him.
ALICE. Because he was so tractable----
CAPTAIN. [_Haughtily_] Tractable or not, he was at least a man
one could talk to. Here, on this island, there is not _one_
person who understands what I say--it's a community of idiots!
ALICE. It is rather strange that Curt should arrive just in time
for our silver wedding--whether we celebrate it or not----
CAPTAIN. Why is that strange? Oh, I see! It was he who brought
us together, or got you married, as they put it.
ALICE. Well, didn't he?
CAPTAIN. Certainly! It was a kind of fixed idea with him--I
leave it for you to say what kind.
ALICE. A wanton fancy----
CAPTAIN. For which we have had to pay, and not he!
ALICE. Yes, think only if I had remained on the stage! All my
friends are stars now.
CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] Well, well, well! Now I am going to have
a drink. [_Goes over to the buffet and mixes a drink, which
he takes standing up_] There should be a rail here to put the
foot on, so that one might dream of being at Copenhagen, in the
American Bar.
ALICE. Let us put a rail there, if it will only remind us of
Copenhagen. For there we spent our best moments.
CAPTAIN. [_Drinks quickly_] Yes, do you remember that "navarin
aux pommes"?
ALICE. No, but I remember the concerts at the Tivoli.
CAPTAIN. Yes, your tastes are so--exalted!
ALICE. It ought to please you to have a wife whose taste is good.
CAPTAIN. So it does.
ALICE. Sometimes, when you need something to brag of----
CAPTAIN. [_Drinking_] I guess they must be dancing at
the doctor's--I catch the three-four time of the tuba:
boom-boom-boom!
ALICE. I can hear the entire melody of the Alcazar Waltz. Well,
it was not yesterday I danced a waltz----
CAPTAIN. You think you could still manage?
ALICE. Still?
CAPTAIN. Ye-es. I guess you are done with dancing, you like me!
ALICE. I am ten years younger than you.
CAPTAIN. Then we are of the same age, as the lady should be ten
years younger.
ALICE. Be ashamed of yourself! You are an old man--and I am
still in my best years.
CAPTAIN. Oh, I know, you can be quite charming--to others, when
you make up your mind to it.
ALICE. Can we light the lamp now?
CAPTAIN. Certainly.
ALICE. Will you ring, please.
_The_ CAPTAIN _goes languidly to the writing-table
and rings a bell_.
JENNY _enters from the right_.
CAPTAIN. Will you be kind enough to light the lamp, Jenny?
ALICE. [_Sharply_] I want you to light the hanging lamp.
JENNY. Yes, ma'am.
[_Lights the lamp while the_ CAPTAIN _watches her_.
ALICE. [_Stiffly_] Did you wipe the chimney?
JENNY. Sure.
ALICE. What kind of an answer is that?
CAPTAIN. Now--now----
ALICE. [_To_ Jenny] Leave us. I will light the lamp myself. That
will be better.
JENNY: I think so too. [_Starts for the door_.
ALICE. [_Rising_] Go!
JENNY. [_Stops_] I wonder, ma'am, what you'd say if I did go?
ALICE _remains silent_.
JENNY _goes out_.
_The_ CAPTAIN _comes forward and lights the lamp_.
ALICE. [_With concern_] Do you think she will go?
CAPTAIN. Shouldn't wonder. And then we are in for it----
ALICE. It's your fault! You spoil them.
CAPTAIN. Not at all. Can't you see that they are always polite
to me?
ALICE. Because you cringe to them. And you always cringe to
inferiors, for that matter, because, like all despots, you have
the nature of a slave.
CAPTAIN. There--there!
ALICE. Yes, you cringe before your men, and before your
sergeants, but you cannot get on with your equals or your
superiors.
CAPTAIN. Ugh!
ALICE. That's the way of all tyrants--Do you think she will go?
CAPTAIN. Yes, if you don't go out and say something nice to her.
ALICE. I?
CAPTAIN. Yes, for if I should do it, you would say that I was
flirting with the maids.
ALICE. Mercy, if she should leave! Then I shall have to do the
work, as I did the last time, and my hands will be spoiled.
CAPTAIN. That is not the worst of it. But if Jenny leaves,
Christine will also leave, and then we shall never get a servant
to the island again. The mate on the steamer scares away every
one that comes to look for a place--and if he should miss his
chance, then my corporals attend to it.
ALICE. Yes, your corporals, whom I have to feed in my kitchen,
and whom you dare not show the door----
CAPTAIN. No, for then they would also go when their terms were
up--and we might have to close up the whole gun shop!
ALICE. It will be our ruin.
CAPTAIN. That's why the officers have proposed to petition His
Royal Majesty for special expense money.
ALICE. For whom?
CAPTAIN. For the corporals.
ALICE. [_Laughing_] You are crazy!
CAPTAIN. Yes, laugh a little for me. I need it.
ALICE. I shall soon have forgotten how to laugh----
CAPTAIN. [_Lighting his cigar_] That is something one should
never forget--it is tedious enough anyhow!
ALICE. Well, it is not very amusing--Do you want to play any
more?
CAPTAIN. No, it tires me.
ALICE. Do you know, it irritates me nevertheless that my cousin,
the new Master of Quarantine, makes his first visit to our
enemies.
CAPTAIN. Well, what's the use of talking about it?
ALICE. But did you see in the paper that he was put down as
_rentier_? He must have come into some money then.
CAPTAIN. _Rentier_! Well, well--a rich relative. That's really
the first one in this family.
ALICE. In your family, yes. But among my people many have been
rich.
CAPTAIN. If he has money, he's conceited, I suppose, but I'll
hold him in check--and he won't get a chance to look at my cards.
_The telegraph receiver begins to click_.
ALICE. Who is it?
CAPTAIN. [_Standing still_] Keep quiet, please.
ALICE. Well, are you not going to look----
CAPTAIN. I can hear--I can hear what they are saying--It's the
children.
_Goes over to the instrument and sends an answer; the
receiver continues to click for awhile, and then the_
CAPTAIN _answers again_.
ALICE. Well?
CAPTAIN. Wait a little--[_Gives a final click_] The children are
at the guard-house in the city. Judith is not well again and is
staying away from school.
ALICE. Again! What more did they say?
CAPTAIN. Money, of course!
ALICE. Why is Judith in such a hurry? If she didn't pass her
examinations until next year, it would be just as well.
CAPTAIN. Tell her, and see what it helps.
ALICE. You should tell her.
CAPTAIN. How many times have I not done so? But children have
their own wills, you know.
ALICE. Yes, in this house at least. [_The_ CAPTAIN _yawns_] So,
you yawn in your wife's presence!
CAPTAIN. Well, what can I do? Don't you notice how day by day we
are saying the same things to each other? When, just now, you
sprang that good old phrase of yours, "in this house at least,"
I should have come back with my own stand-by, "it is not my
house only." But as I have already made that reply some five
hundred times, I yawned instead. And my yawn could be taken to
mean either that I was too lazy to answer, or "right you are, my
angel," or "supposing we quit."
ALICE. You are very amiable to-night.
CAPTAIN. Is it not time for supper soon?
ALICE. Do you know that the doctor ordered supper from the
city--from the Grand Hotel?
CAPTAIN. No! Then they are having ptarmigans--tschk! Ptarmigan,
you know, is the finest bird there is, but it's clear barbarism
to fry it in bacon grease----
ALICE. Ugh! Don't talk of food.
CAPTAIN. Well, how about wines? I wonder what those barbarians
are drinking with the ptarmigans?
ALICE. Do you want me to play for you?
CAPTAIN. [_Sits down at the writing-table_] The last resource!
Well, if you could only leave your dirges and lamentations
alone--it sounds too much like music with a moral. And I am
always adding within myself: "Can't you hear how unhappy I am!
Meow, meow! Can't you hear what a horrible husband I have! Brum,
brum, brum! If he would only die soon! Beating of the joyful
drum, flourishes, the finale of the Alcazar Waltz, Champagne
Galop!" Speaking of champagne, I guess there are a couple of
bottles left. What would you say about bringing them up and
pretending to have company?
ALICE. No, we won't, for they are mine--they were given to me
personally.
CAPTAIN. You are so economical.
ALICE. And you are always stingy--to your wife at least!
CAPTAIN. Then I don't know what to suggest. Perhaps I might
dance for you?
ALICE. No, thank you--I guess you are done with dancing.
CAPTAIN. You should bring some friend to stay with you.
ALICE. Thanks! You might bring a friend to stay with you.
CAPTAIN. Thanks! It has been tried, and with mutual
dissatisfaction. But it was interesting in the way of an
experiment, for as soon as a stranger entered the house, we
became quite happy--to begin with----
ALICE. And then!
CAPTAIN. Oh, don't talk of it!
_There is a knock at the door on the left_.
ALICE. Who can be coming so late as this?
CAPTAIN. Jenny does not knock.
ALICE. Go and open the door, and don't yell "come"--it has a
sound of the workshop.
CAPTAIN. [_Goes toward the door on the left_] You don't like
workshops.
ALICE. Please, open!
CAPTAIN. [_Opens the door and receives a visiting-card that is
held out to him_] It is Christine--Has Jenny left? [_As the
public cannot hear the answer, to_ ALICE] Jenny has left.
ALICE. Then I become servant girl again!
CAPTAIN. And I man-of-all-work.
ALICE. Would it not be possible to get one of your gunners to
help along in the kitchen?
CAPTAIN. Not these days.
ALICE. But it couldn't be Jenny who sent in her card?
CAPTAIN. [_Looks at the card through his spectacles and then
turns it over to_ ALICE] You see what it is--I cannot.
ALICE. [_Looks at the card_] Curt--it is Curt! Hurry up and
bring him in.
CAPTAIN. [_Goes out to the left_] Curt! Well, that's a pleasure!
[ALICE _arranges her hair and seems to come to life_.
CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the left with_ CURT] Here he is, the
traitor! Welcome, old man! Let me hug you!
ALICE. [_Goes to_ CURT] Welcome to my home, Curt!
CURT. Thank you--it is some time since we saw each other.
CAPTAIN. How long? Fifteen years! And we have grown old----
ALICE. Oh, Curt has not changed, it seems to me.
CAPTAIN. Sit down, sit down! And first of all--the programme.
Have you any engagement for to-night?
CURT. I am invited to the doctor's, but I have not promised to
go.
ALICE. Then you will stay with your relatives.
CURT. That would seem the natural thing, but the doctor is my
superior, and I might have trouble afterward.
CAPTAIN. What kind of talk is that? I have never been afraid of
my superiors----
CURT. Fear or no fear, the trouble cannot be escaped.
CAPTAIN. On this island I am master. Keep behind my back, and
nobody will dare to touch you.
ALICE. Oh, be quiet, Edgar! [_Takes_ CURT _by the hand_] Leaving
both masters and superiors aside, you must stay with us. That
will be found both natural and proper.
CURT. Well, then--especially as I feel welcome here.
CAPTAIN. Why should you not be welcome? There is nothing between
us--[CURT _tries vainly to hide a sense of displeasure_] What
could there be? You were a little careless as a young man, but I
have forgotten all about it. I don't let things rankle.
ALICE _looks annoyed. All three sit down at the
sewing-table_.
ALICE. Well, you have strayed far and wide in the world?
CURT. Yes, and now I have found a harbour with you----
CAPTAIN. Whom you married off twenty-five years ago.
CURT. It was not quite that way, but it doesn't matter. It is
pleasing to see that you have stuck together for twenty-five
years.
CAPTAIN. Well, we have borne with it. Now and then it has been
so-so, but, as you say, we have stuck together. And Alice
has had nothing to complain of. There has been plenty of
everything--heaps of money. Perhaps you don't know that I am a
celebrated author--an author of text-books----
CURT. Yes, I recall that, when we parted, you had just published
a volume on rifle practice that was selling well. Is it still
used in the military schools?
CAPTAIN. It is still in evidence, and it holds its place as
number one, though they have tried to substitute a worse one
--which is being used now, but which is totally worthless.
[_Painful silence_.
CURT. You have been travelling abroad, I have heard.
ALICE. We have been down to Copenhagen five times--think of it?
CAPTAIN. Well, you see, when I took Alice away from the stage----
ALICE. Oh, you took me?
CAPTAIN. Yes, I took you as a wife should be taken----
ALICE. How brave you have grown!
CAPTAIN. But as it was held up against me afterward that I had
spoiled her brilliant career--hm!--I had to make up for it
by promising to take my wife to Copenhagen--and this I have
kept--fully! Five times we have been there. Five [_holding up
the five fingers of the left hand_] Have you been in Copenhagen?
CURT. [_Smiling_] No, I have mostly been in America.
CAPTAIN. America? Isn't that a rotten sort of a country?
CURT. [_Unpleasantly impressed_] It is not Copenhagen.
ALICE. Have you--heard anything--from your children?
CURT. No.
ALICE. I hope you pardon me--but was it not rather inconsiderate
to leave them like that----
CURT. I didn't leave them, but the court gave them to the mother.
CAPTAIN. Don't let us talk of that now. I for my part think it
was lucky for you to get out of that mess.
CURT. [_To_ ALICE] How are your children?
ALICE. Well, thank you. They are at school in the city and will
soon be grown up.
CAPTAIN. Yes, they're splendid kids, and the boy has a brilliant
head--brilliant! He is going to join the General Staff----
ALICE. If they accept him!
CAPTAIN. Him? Who has the making of a War Minister in him!
CURT. From one thing to another. There is to be a quarantine
station here--against plague, cholera, and that sort of thing.
And the doctor will be my superior, as you know--what sort of
man is he?
CAPTAIN. Man? He is no man! He's an ignorant rascal!
CURT. [_To_ ALICE] That is very unpleasant for me.
ALICE. Oh, it is not quite as bad as Edgar makes it out, but I
must admit that I have small sympathy for the man----
CAPTAIN. A rascal, that's what he is. And that's what the
others are, too--the Collector of Customs, the Postmaster, the
telephone girl, the druggist, the pilot--what is it they call
him now?--the Pilot Master--rascals one and all--and that's why
I don't associate with them.
CURT. Are you on bad terms with all of them?
CAPTAIN. Every one!
ALICE. Yes, it is true that intercourse with those people is out
of the question.
CAPTAIN. It is as if all the tyrants of the country had been
sent to this island for safe-keeping.
ALICE. [_Ironically_] Exactly!
CAPTAIN. [_Good-naturedly_] Hm! Is that meant for me? I am no
tyrant--not in my own house at least.
ALICE. You know better!
CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] Don't believe her! I am a very reasonable
husband, and the old lady is the best wife in the world.
ALICE. Would you like something to drink, Curt?
CURT. No, thank you, not now.
CAPTAIN. Have you turned----
CURT. A little moderate only----
CAPTAIN. Is that American?
CURT. Yes.
CAPTAIN. No moderation for me, or I don't care at all. A man
should stand his liquor.
CURT. Returning to our neighbours on the island--my position
will put me in touch with all of them--and it is not easy to
steer clear of everything, for no matter how little you care to
get mixed up in other people's intrigues, you are drawn into
them just the same.
ALICE. You had better take up with them--in the end you will
return to us, for here you find your true friends.
CURT. Is it not dreadful to be alone among a lot of enemies as
you are?
ALICE. It is not pleasant.
CAPTAIN. It isn't dreadful at all. I have never had anything
but enemies all my life, and they have helped me on instead of
doing me harm. And when my time to die comes, I may say that I
owe nothing to anybody, and that I have never got a thing for
nothing. Every particle of what I own I have had to fight for.
ALICE. Yes, Edgar's path has not been strewn with roses----
CAPTAIN. No, with thorns and stones--pieces of flint--but a
man's own strength: do you know what that means?
CURT. [_Simply_] Yes, I learned to recognise its insufficiency
about ten years ago.
CAPTAIN. Then you are no good!
ALICE. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] Edgar!
CAPTAIN. He is no good, I say, if he does not have the strength
within himself. Of course it is true that when the mechanism
goes to pieces there is nothing left but a barrowful to chuck
out on the garden beds; but as long as the mechanism holds
together the thing to do is to kick and fight, with hands and
feet, until there is nothing left. That is my philosophy.
CURT. [_Smiling_] It is fun to listen to you.
CAPTAIN. But you don't think it's true?
CURT. No, I don't.
CAPTAIN. But true it is, for all that.
_During the preceding scene the wind has begun to
blow hard, and now one of the big doors is closed
with a bang_.
CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] It's blowing. I could just feel it coming.
_Goes back and closes both doors. Knocks on the
barometer_.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] You will stay for supper?
CURT. Thank you.
ALICE. But it will be very simple, as our housemaid has just
left us.
CURT. Oh, it will do for me, I am sure.
ALICE. You ask for so little, dear Curt.
CAPTAIN. [_At the barometer_] If you could only see how the
mercury is dropping! Oh, I felt it coming!
ALICE. [_Secretly to_ CURT] He is nervous.
CAPTAIN. We ought to have supper soon.
ALICE. [_Rising_] I am going to see about it now. You can
sit here and philosophise--[_secretly to_ CURT], but don't
contradict him, for then he gets into bad humour. And don't ask
him why he was not made a major.
[CURT _nods assent_.
[ALICE _goes toward the right_.
CAPTAIN. See that we get something nice now, old lady!
ALICE. You give me money, and you'll get what you want.
CAPTAIN. Always money!
[ALICE _goes out_.
CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] Money, money, money! All day long I have to
stand ready with the purse, until at last I have come to feel as
if I myself were nothing but a purse. Are you familiar with that
kind of thing?
CURT. Oh, yes--with the difference that I took myself for a
pocket-book.
CAPTAIN. Ha-ha! So you know the flavour of the brand! Oh, the
ladies! Ha-ha! And you had one of the proper kind!
CURT. [_Patiently_] Let that be buried now.
CAPTAIN. She was a jewel! Then I have after all--in spite of
everything--one that's pretty decent. For she is straight, in
spite of everything.
CURT. [_Smiling good-humouredly_] In spite of everything.
CAPTAIN. Don't you laugh!
CURT. [_As before_] In spite of everything!
CAPTAIN. Yes, she has been a faithful mate, a splendid
mother--excellent--but [_with a glance at the door on the
right_] she has a devilish temper. Do you know, there have been
moments when I cursed you for saddling me with her.
CURT. [_Good-naturedly_] But I didn't. Listen, man----
CAPTAIN. Yah, yah, yah! You talk nonsense and forget things that
are not pleasant to remember. Don't take it badly, please--I am
accustomed to command and raise Cain, you see, but you know me,
and don't get angry!
CURT. Not at all. But I have not provided you with a wife--on
the contrary.
CAPTAIN. [_Without letting his flow of words be checked_] Don't
you think life is queer anyhow?
CURT. I suppose so.
CAPTAIN. And to grow old--it is no fun, but it is interesting.
Well, my age is nothing to speak of, but it does begin to make
itself felt. All your friends die off, and then you become so
lonely.
CURT. Lucky the man who can grow old in company with a wife.
CAPTAIN. Lucky? Well, it is luck, for the children go their way,
too. You ought not to have left yours.
CURT. Well, I didn't. They were taken away from me----
CAPTAIN. Don't get mad now, because I tell you----
CURT. But it was not so.
CAPTAIN. Well, whichever way it was, it has now become
forgotten--but you are alone!
CURT. You get accustomed to everything.
CAPTAIN. Do you--is it possible to get accustomed--to being
quite alone also?
CURT. Here am I!
CAPTAIN. What have you been doing these fifteen years?
CURT. What a question! These fifteen years!
CAPTAIN. They say you have got hold of money and grown rich.
CURT. I can hardly be called rich----
CAPTAIN. I am not going to ask for a loan.
CURT. If you were, you would find me ready.
CAPTAIN. Many thanks, but I have my bank account. You see [_with
a glance toward the door on the right_], nothing must be lacking
in this house; and the day I had no more money--she would leave
me!
CURT. Oh, no!
CAPTAIN. No? Well, I know better. Think of it, she makes a point
of asking me when I happen to be short, just for the pleasure of
showing me that I am not supporting my family.
CURT. But I heard you say that you have a large income.
CAPTAIN. Of course, I have a large income--but it is not enough.
CURT. Then it is not large, as such things are reckoned----
CAPTAIN. Life is queer, and we as well!
_The telegraph receiver begins to click_.
CURT. What is that?
CAPTAIN. Nothing but a time correction.
CURT. Have you no telephone?
CAPTAIN. Yes, in the kitchen. But we use the telegraph because
the girls at the central report everything we say.
CURT. Social conditions out here by the sea must be frightful!
CAPTAIN. They are simply horrible! But all life is horrible. And
you, who believe in a sequel, do you think there will be any
peace further on?
CURT. I presume there will be storms and battles there also.
CAPTAIN. There also--if there be any "there"! I prefer
annihilation!
CURT. Are you sure that annihilation will come without pain?
CAPTAIN. I am going to die all of a sudden, without pain
CURT. So you know that?
CAPTAIN. Yes, I know it.
CURT. You don't appear satisfied with your life?
CAPTAIN. [_Sighing_] Satisfied? The day I could die, I should be
satisfied.
CURT. [_Rising_] That you don't know! But tell me: what is going
on in this house? What is happening here? There is a smell as of
poisonous wall-paper, and one feels sick the moment one enters.
I should prefer to get away from here, had I not promised Alice
to stay. There are dead bodies beneath the flooring, and the
place is so filled with hatred that one can hardly breathe.
[_The_ CAPTAIN _sinks together and sits staring into vacancy_]
What is the matter with you? Edgar! [_The_ CAPTAIN _does not
move. Slaps the_ CAPTAIN _on the shoulder_] Edgar!
CAPTAIN. [_Recovering consciousness_] Did you say anything?
[_Looks around_] I thought it was--Alice!--Oh, is that
you?--Say--[_Relapses into apathy_.
CURT. This is horrible! [_Goes over to the door on the right and
opens it_] Alice!
ALICE. [_Enters, wearing a kitchen apron_] What is it?
CURT. I don't know. Look at him.
ALICE. [_Calmly_] He goes off like that at times--I'll play and
then he will wake up.
CURT. No, don't! Not that way! Leave it to me--Does he hear? Or
see?
ALICE. Just now he neither hears nor sees.
CURT. And you can speak of that with such calm? Alice, what is
going on in this house?
ALICE. Ask him there.
CURT. Him there? But he is your husband!
ALICE. A stranger to me--as strange as he was twenty-five years
ago. I know nothing at all about that man--nothing but----
CURT. Stop! He may overhear you.
ALICE. Now he cannot hear anything.
_A trumpet signal is sounded outside_.
CAPTAIN. [_Leaps to his feet and grabs sabre and cap_] Pardon
me. I have to inspect the sentries.
[_Goes out through the door in the background_.
CURT. Is he ill?
ALICE. I don't know.
CURT. Has he lost his reason?
ALICE. I don't know.
CURT. Does he drink?
ALICE. He boasts more of it than he really drinks.
CURT. Sit down and talk--but calmly and truthfully.
ALICE. [_Sitting down_] What am I to talk about? That I have
spent a lifetime in this tower, locked up, guarded by a man whom
I have always hated, and whom I now hate so beyond all bounds
that the day he died I should be laughing until the air shook.
CURT. Why have you not parted?
ALICE. You may well ask! While still engaged we parted twice;
since then we have been trying to part every single day--but
we are chained together and cannot break away. Once we were
separated--within the same house--for five whole years. Now
nothing but death can part us. This we know, and for that reason
we are waiting for him as for a liberator.
CURT. Why are you so lonely?
ALICE. Because he isolates me. First he "exterminated" all my
brothers and sisters from our home--he speaks of it himself as
"extermination"--and then my girl friends and everybody else.
CURT. But _his_ relatives? He has not "exterminated" them?
ALICE. Yes, for they came near taking my life, after having
taken my honour and good name. Finally I became forced to keep
up my connection with the world and with other human beings by
means of that telegraph--for the telephone was watched by the
operators. I have taught myself telegraphy, and he doesn't know
it. You must not tell him, for then he would kill me.
CURT. Frightful! Frightful!--But why does he hold me responsible
for your marriage? Let me tell you now how it was. Edgar
was my childhood friend. When he saw you he fell in love at
once. He came to me and asked me to plead his cause. I said
no at once--and, my dear Alice, I knew your tyrannical and
cruel temperament. For that reason I warned him--and when he
persisted, I sent him to get your brother for his spokesman.
ALICE. I believe what you say. But he has been deceiving himself
all these years, so that now you can never get him to believe
anything else.
CURT. Well, let him put the blame on me if that can relieve his
sufferings.
ALICE. But that is too much----
CURT. I am used to it. But what does hurt me is his unjust
charge that I have deserted my children----
ALICE. That's the manner of man he is. He says what suits
him, and then he believes it. But he seems to be fond of you,
principally because you don't contradict him. Try not to grow
tired of us now. I believe you have come in what was to us a
fortunate moment; I think it was even providential--Curt, you
must not grow tired of us, for we are undoubtedly the most
unhappy creatures in the whole world!
[_She weeps_.
CURT. I have seen _one_ marriage at close quarters, and it was
dreadful--but this is almost worse!
ALICE. Do you think so?
CURT. Yes.
ALICE. Whose fault is it?
CURT. The moment you quit asking whose fault it is, Alice, you
will feel a relief. Try to regard it as a fact, a trial that has
to be borne----
ALICE. I cannot do it! It is too much! [Rising] It is beyond
help!
CURT. I pity both of you!--Do you know why you are hating each
other?
ALICE. No, it is the most unreasoning hatred, without cause,
without purpose, but also without end. And can you imagine why
he is principally afraid of death? He fears that I may marry
again.
CURT. Then he loves you.
ALICE. Probably. But that does not prevent him from hating me.
CURT. [_As if to himself_] It is called love-hatred, and it
hails from the pit!--Does he like you to play for him?
ALICE. Yes, but only horrid melodies--for instance, that awful
"The Entry of the Boyars." When he hears it he loses his head
and wants to dance.
CURT. Does he dance?
ALICE. Oh, he is very funny at times.
CURT. One thing--pardon me for asking. Where are the children?
ALICE. Perhaps you don't know that two of them are dead?
CURT. So you have had that to face also?
ALICE. What is there I have not faced?
CURT. But the other two?
ALICE. In the city. They couldn't stay at home. For he set them
against me.
CURT. And you set them against him?
ALICE. Of course. And then parties were formed, votes bought,
bribes given--and in order not to spoil the children completely
we had to part from them. What should have been the uniting link
became the seed of dissension; what is held the blessing of the
home turned into a curse--well, I believe sometimes that we
belong to a cursed race!
CURT. Yes, is it not so--ever since the Fall?
ALICE. [_With a venomous glance and sharp voice_] What fall?
CURT. That of our first parents.
ALICE. Oh, I thought you meant something else!
[_Embarrassed silence_.
ALICE. [_With folded hands_] Curt, my kinsman, my childhood
friend--I have not always acted toward you as I should. But now
I am being punished, and you are having your revenge.
CURT. No revenge! Nothing of that kind here! Hush!
ALICE. Do you recall one Sunday while you were engaged--and I
had invited you for dinner----
CURT. Never mind!
ALICE. I must speak! Have pity on me! When you came to dinner,
we had gone away, and you had to leave again.
CURT. You had received an invitation yourselves--what is that to
speak of!
ALICE. Curt, when to-day, a little while ago, I asked you to
stay for supper, I thought we had something left in the pantry.
[_Hiding her face in her hands_] And there is not a thing, not
even a piece of bread----
CURT. _Weeping_] Alice--poor Alice!
ALICE. But when he comes home and wants something to eat, and
there is nothing--then he gets angry. You have never seen him
angry! O, God, what humiliation!
CURT. Will you not let me go out and arrange for something?
ALICE. There is nothing to be had on this island.
CURT. Not for my sake, but for his and yours--let me think
up something--something. We must make the whole thing seem
laughable when he comes. I'll propose that we have a drink, and
in the meantime I'll think of something. Put him in good humour;
play for him, any old nonsense. Sit down at the piano and make
yourself ready----
ALICE. Look at my hands--are they fit to play with? I have to
wipe glasses and polish brass, sweep floors, and make fires----
CURT. But you have two servants?
ALICE. So we have to pretend because he is an officer--but the
servants are leaving us all the time, so that often we have
none at all--most of the time, in fact. How am I to get out of
this--this about supper? Oh, if only fire would break out in
this house!
CURT. Don't, Alice, don't!
ALICE. If the sea would rise and take us away!
CURT. No, no, no, I cannot listen to you!
ALICE. What will he say, what will he say--Don't go, Curt, don't
go away from me!
CURT. No, dear Alice--I shall not go.
ALICE. Yes, but when you are gone----
CURT. Has he ever laid hands on you?
ALICE. On me? Oh, no, for he knew that then I should have left
him. One has to preserve some pride.
_From without is heard_: "_Who goes
there_?--_Friend_."
CURT. [_Rising_] Is he coming?
ALICE. [_Frightened_] Yes, that's he. [_Pause_.
CURT. What in the world are we to do?
ALICE. I don't know, I don't know!
CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the background_, _cheerful_] There!
Leisure now! Well, has she had time to make her complaints? Is
she not unhappy--hey?
CURT. How's the weather outside?--
CAPTAIN. Half storm--[_Facetiously; opening one of the doors
ajar_] Sir Bluebeard with the maiden in the tower; and outside
stands the sentry with drawn sabre to guard the pretty
maiden--and then come the brothers, but the sentry is there.
Look at him. Hip--hip! That's a fine sentry. Look at him.
_Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre_! Let us dance the sword dance!
Curt ought to see it!
CURT. No, let us have "The Entry of the Boyars" instead!
CAPTAIN. Oh, you know that one, do you?--Alice in the kitchen
apron, come and play. Come, I tell you!
[ALICE _goes reluctantly to the piano_.
CAPTAIN. [_Pinching her arm_] Now you have been black-guarding
me!
ALICE. I?
CURT _turns away from them_.
ALICE _plays_ "_The Entry of the Boyars_."
_The_ CAPTAIN _performs some kind of Hungarian dance
step behind the writing-table so that his spurs are
set jingling. Then he sinks down on the floor without
being noticed by_ CURT _and_ ALICE, _and the latter
goes on playing the piece to the end_.
ALICE. [_Without turning around_] Shall we have it again?
[_Silence. Turns around and becomes aware of the_ CAPTAIN, _who
is lying unconscious on the floor in such a way that he is
hidden from the public by the writing-table_] Lord Jesus!
_She stands still, with arms crossed over her breast,
and gives vent to a sigh as of gratitude and relief_.
CURT. [_Turns around; hurries over to the_ CAPTAIN] What is it?
What is it?
ALICE. [_In a high state of tension_] Is he dead?
CURT. I don't know. Come and help me.
ALICE. [_Remains still_] I cannot touch him--is he dead?
CURT. No--he lives.
ALICE _sighs_.
CURT _helps the_ CAPTAIN _to his feet and places him
in a chair_.
CAPTAIN. What was it? [_Silence_] What was it?
CURT. You fell down.
CAPTAIN. Did anything happen?
CURT. You fell on the floor. What is the matter with you?
CAPTAIN. With me? Nothing at all. I don't know of anything. What
are you staring at me for?
CURT. You are ill.
CAPTAIN. What nonsense is that? You go on playing, Alice--Oh,
now it's back again!
[_Puts both hands up to his head._
ALICE. Can't you see that you are ill?
CAPTAIN. Don't shriek! It is only a fainting spell.
CURT. We must call a doctor--I'll use your telephone----
CAPTAIN. I don't want any doctor.
CURT. You must! We have to call him for our own sake--otherwise
we shall be held responsible----
CAPTAIN. I'll show him the door if he comes here. I'll shoot
him. Oh, now it's there again!
[_Takes hold of his head._
CURT. [_Goes toward the door on the right_] Now I am going to
telephone! [_Goes out_.
[ALICE _takes off her apron._
CAPTAIN. Will you give me a glass of water?
ALICE. I suppose I have to! [_Gives him a glass of water._
CAPTAIN. How amiable!
ALICE. Are you ill?
CAPTAIN. Please pardon me for not being well.
ALICE. Will you take care of yourself then?
CAPTAIN. _You_ won't do it, I suppose?
ALICE. No, of that you may be sure!
CAPTAIN. The hour is come for which you have been waiting so
long.
ALICE. The hour you believed would never come.
CAPTAIN. Don't be angry with me!
CURT. [_Enters from the right_] Oh, it's too bad----
ALICE. What did he say?
CURT. He rang off without a word.
ALICE. [_To the_ Captain] There is the result of your limitless
arrogance!
CAPTAIN. I think I am growing worse--Try to get a doctor from
the city.
ALICE. [_Goes to the telegraph instrument_] We shall have to use
the telegraph then.
CAPTAIN. [_Rising half-way from the chair; startled_] Do
you--know--how to use it?
ALICE. [_Working the key_] Yes, I do.
CAPTAIN. So-o! Well, go on then--But isn't she treacherous!
[_To_ CURT] Come over here and sit by me. [CURT _sits down
beside the_ CAPTAIN] Take my hand. I sit here and fall--can you
make it out? Down something--such a queer feeling.
CURT. Have you had any attack like this before?
CAPTAIN. Never----
CURT. While you are waiting for an answer from the city, I'll go
over to the doctor and have a talk with him. Has he attended you
before?
CAPTAIN. He has.
CURT. Then he knows your case. [Goes _toward the left_.
ALICE. There will be an answer shortly. It is very kind of you,
Curt. But come back soon.
CURT. As soon as I can. [_Goes out_.
CAPTAIN. Curt _is_ kind! And how he has changed.
ALICE. Yes, and for the better. It is too bad, however, that he
must be dragged into our misery just now.
CAPTAIN. But good for us--I wonder just how he stands. Did you
notice that he wouldn't speak of his own affairs?
ALICE. I did notice it, but then I don't think anybody asked him.
CAPTAIN. Think, what a life! And ours! I wonder if it is the
same for all people?
ALICE. Perhaps, although they don't speak of it as we do.
CAPTAIN. At times I have thought that misery draws misery, and
that those who are happy shun the unhappy. That is the reason
why we see nothing but misery.
ALICE. Have you known anybody who was happy?
CAPTAIN. Let me see! No--Yes--the Ekmarks.
ALICE. You don't mean it! She had to have an operation last
year----
CAPTAIN. That's right. Well, then I don't know--yes, the Von
Kraffts.
ALICE. Yes, the whole family lived an idyllic life, well off,
respected by everybody, nice children, good marriages--right
along until they were fifty. Then that cousin of theirs
committed a crime that led to a prison term and all sorts
of after-effects. And that was the end of their peace. The
family name was dragged in the mud by all the newspapers. The
Krafft murder case made it impossible for the family to appear
anywhere, after having been so much thought of. The children had
to be taken out of school. Oh, heavens!
CAPTAIN. I wonder what my trouble is?
ALICE. What do you think?
CAPTAIN. Heart or head. It is as if the soul wanted to fly off
and turn into smoke.
ALICE. Have you any appetite?
CAPTAIN. Yes, how about the supper?
ALICE. [_Crosses the stage, disturbed_] I'll ask Jenny.
CAPTAIN. Why, she's gone!
ALICE. Yes, yes, yes!
CAPTAIN. Ring for Christine so that I can get some fresh water.
ALICE. [_Rings_] I wonder--[_Rings again_] She doesn't hear.
CAPTAIN. Go and look--just think, if she should have left also!
ALICE. [_Goes over to the door on the left and opens it_] What
is this? Her trunk is in the hallway--packed.
CAPTAIN. Then she has gone.
ALICE. This is hell!
_Begins to cry, falls on her knees, and puts her head
on a chair, sobbing_.
CAPTAIN. And everything at once! And then Curt had to turn up
just in time to get a look into this mess of ours! If there be
any further humiliation in store, let it come this moment!
ALICE. Do you know what I suspect? Curt went away and will not
come back.
CAPTAIN. I believe it of him.
ALICE. Yes, we are cursed----
CAPTAIN. What are you talking of?
ALICE. Don't you see how everybody shuns us?
CAPTAIN. I don't mind! [_The telegraph receiver clicks_] There
is the answer. Hush, I can hear it--Nobody can spare the time.
Evasions! The rabble!
ALICE. That's what you get because you have despised your
physicians--and failed to pay them.
CAPTAIN. That is not so!
ALICE. Even when you could, you didn't care to pay their bills
because you looked down upon their work, just as you have looked
down upon mine and everybody else's. They don't want to come.
And the telephone is cut off because you didn't think that
good for anything either. Nothing is good for anything but your
rifles and guns!
CAPTAIN. Don't stand there and talk nonsense----
ALICE. Everything comes back.
CAPTAIN. What sort of superstition is that? Talk for old women!
ALICE. You will see! Do you know that we owe Christine six
months' wages?
CAPTAIN. Well, she has stolen that much.
ALICE. But I have also had to borrow money from her.
CAPTAIN. I think you capable of it.
ALICE. What an ingrate you are! You know I borrowed that money
for the children to get into the city.
CAPTAIN. Curt had a fine way of coming back! A rascal, that one,
too! And a coward! He didn't dare to say he had had enough, and
that he found the doctor's party more pleasant--He's the same
rapscallion as ever!
CURT. [_Enters quickly from the left_] Well, my dear Edgar, this
is how the matter stands--the doctor knows everything about your
heart----
CAPTAIN. My heart?
CURT. You have long been suffering from calcification of the
heart----
CAPTAIN. Stone heart?
CURT. And----
CAPTAIN. Is it serious?
CURT. Well, that is to say----
CAPTAIN. It is serious.
CURT. Yes.
CAPTAIN. Fatal?
CURT. You must be very careful. First of all: the cigar must
go. [_The_ CAPTAIN _throws away his cigar_] And next: no more
whiskey! Then, to bed!
CAPTAIN. [_Scared_] No, I don't want _that_! Not to bed! That's
the end! Then you never get up again. I shall sleep on the couch
to-night. What more did he say?
CURT. He was very nice about it and will come at once if you
call him.
CAPTAIN. Was he nice, the hypocrite? I don't want to see him! I
can at least eat?
CURT. Not to-night. And during the next few days nothing but
milk.
CAPTAIN. Milk! I cannot take that stuff into my mouth.
CURT. Better learn how!
CAPTAIN. I am too old to learn. [_Puts his hand up to his head_]
Oh, there it is again now!
[_He sits perfectly still, staring straight ahead_.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] What did the doctor tell you?
CURT. That he _may_ die.
ALICE. Thank God!
CURT. Take care, Alice, take care! And now, go and get a pillow
and a blanket and I'll put him here on the couch. Then I'll sit
on the chair here all night.
ALICE. And I?
CURT. You go to bed. Your presence seems only to make him worse.
ALICE. Command! I shall obey, for you seem to mean well toward
both of us. [_Goes out to the left_.
CURT. Mark you--toward both of you! And I shall not mix in any
partisan squabbles.
CURT _takes the water bottle and goes out to the
right. The noise of the wind outside is clearly
heard. Then one of the doors is blown open and an old
woman of shabby, unprepossessing appearance peeps
into the room_.
CAPTAIN. [_Wakes up, rises, and looks around_] So, they have
left me, the rascals! [_Catches sight of the old woman and is
frightened by her_] Who is it? What do you want?
OLD WOMAN. I just wanted to close the door, sir.
CAPTAIN. Why should you? Why should you?
OLD WOMAN. Because it blew open just as I passed by.
CAPTAIN. Wanted to steal, did you?
OLD WOMAN. Not much here to take away, Christine said.
CAPTAIN. Christine?
OLD WOMAN. Good night, sir, and sleep well!
[_Closes the door and disappears._
ALICE _comes in from the left with pillows and a
blanket._
CAPTAIN. Who was that at the door? Anybody?
ALICE. Why, it was old Mary from the poorhouse who just went by.
CAPTAIN. Are you sure?
ALICE. Are you afraid?
CAPTAIN. I, afraid? Oh, no!
ALICE. As you don't want to go to bed, you can lie here.
CAPTAIN. [_Goes over to the couch and lies down_] I'll lie here.
[_Tries to take_ ALICE'S _hand, but she pulls it
away._ CURT _comes in with the water bottle_.
CAPTAIN. Curt, don't go away from me!
CURT. I am going to stay up with you all night. Alice is going
to bed.
CAPTAIN. Good night then, Alice.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Good night, Curt.
CURT. Good night.
[ALICE _goes out_.
CURT. [_Takes a chair and sits down beside the couch_] Don't you
want to take off your boots?
CAPTAIN. No, a warrior should always be armed.
CURT. Are you expecting a battle then?
CAPTAIN. Perhaps! [_Rising up in bed_] Curt, you are the only
human being to whom I ever disclosed anything of myself. Listen
to me!--If I die to-night--look after my children!
CURT. I will do so.
CAPTAIN. Thank you--I trust in you!
CURT. Can you explain why you trust me?
CAPTAIN. We have not been friends, for friendship is something
I don't believe in, and our families were born enemies and have
always been at war----
CURT. And yet you trust me?
CAPTAIN. Yes, and I don't know why. [_Silence_] Do you think I
am going to die?
CURT. You as well as everybody. There will be no exception made
in your case.
CAPTAIN. Are you bitter?
CURT. Yes--are you afraid of death? Of the wheelbarrow and the
garden bed?
CAPTAIN. Think, if it were not the end!
CURT. That's what a great many think!
CAPTAIN. And then?
CURT. Nothing but surprises, I suppose.
CAPTAIN. But nothing at all is known with certainty?
CURT. No, that's just it! That is why you must be prepared for
everything.
CAPTAIN. You are not childish enough to believe in a hell?
CURT. Do you not believe in it--you, who are right in it?
CAPTAIN. That is metaphorical only.
CURT. The realism with which you have described yours seems to
preclude all thought of metaphors, poetical or otherwise.
[_Silence_.
CAPTAIN. If you only knew what pangs I suffer!
CURT. Of the body?
CAPTAIN. No, not of the body.
CURT. Then it must be of the spirit, for no other alternative
exists. [_Pause._
CAPTAIN. [_Rising up in bed_] I don't want to die!
CURT. Not long ago you wished for annihilation.
CAPTAIN. Yes, if it be painless.
CURT. Apparently it is not!
CAPTAIN. Is this annihilation then?
CURT. The beginning of it.
CAPTAIN. Good night.
CURT. Good night.
_Curtain_.
_The same setting, but note the lamp is at the point
of going out. Through the windows and the glass panes
of the doors a gray morning is visible. The sea is
stirring. The sentry is on the battery as before_.
_The_ CAPTAIN _is lying on the couch, asleep_. CURT
_sits on a chair beside him, looking pale and wearied
from his watch_.
ALICE. [_In from the left_] Is he asleep?
CURT. Yes, since the time when the sun should have risen.
ALICE. What kind of night did he have?
CURT. He slept now and then, but he talked a good deal.
ALICE. Of what?
CURT. He argued about religion like a schoolboy, but with a
pretension of having solved all the world riddles. Finally,
toward morning, he invented the immortality of the soul.
ALICE. For his own glory.
CURT. Exactly! He is actually the most conceited person I have
ever met. "I am; consequently God must be."
ALICE. You have become aware of it? Look at those boots. With
those he would have trampled the earth flat, had he been allowed
to do so. With those he has trampled down other people's fields
and gardens. With those he has trampled on some people's toes
and other people's heads--Man-eater, you have got your bullet at
last!
CURT. He would be comical were he not so tragical; and there are
traces of greatness in all his narrow-mindedness--Have you not a
single good word to say about him?
ALICE. [_Sitting down_] Yes, if he only does not hear it; for if
he hears a single word of praise he develops megalomania on the
spot.
CURT. He can hear nothing now, for he has had a dose of morphine.
ALICE. Born in a poor home, with many brothers and sisters,
Edgar very early had to support the family by giving lessons,
as the father was a ne'er-do-well if nothing worse. It must be
hard for a young man to give up all the pleasures of youth in
order to slave for a bunch of thankless children whom he has not
brought into the world. I was a little girl when I saw him, as
a young man, going without an overcoat in the winter while the
mercury stood at fifteen below zero--his little sisters wore
kersey coats--it was fine, and I admired him, but his ugliness
repelled me. Is he not unusually ugly?
CURT. Yes, and his ugliness has a touch of the monstrous at
times. Whenever we fell out, I noticed it particularly. And
when, at such times, he went away, his image assumed enormous
forms and proportions, and he literally haunted me.
ALICE. Think of me then! However, his earlier years as an
officer were undoubtedly a martyrdom. But now and then he was
helped by rich people. This he will never admit, and whatever
has come to him in that way he has accepted as a due tribute,
without giving thanks for it.
CURT. We were to speak well of him.
ALICE. Yes--after he is dead. But then I recall nothing more.
CURT. Have you found him cruel?
ALICE. Yes--and yet he can show himself both kind and
susceptible to sentiment. As an enemy he is simply horrible.
CURT. Why did he not get the rank of major?
ALICE. Oh, you ought to understand that! They didn't want to
raise a man above themselves who had already proved himself a
tyrant as an inferior. But you must never let on that you know
this. He says himself that he did not want promotion--Did he
speak of the children?
CURT. Yes, he was longing for Judith.
ALICE. I thought so--Oh! Do you know what Judith is? His own
image, whom he has trained for use against me. Think only, that
my own daughter--has raised her hand against me!
CURT. That is too much!
ALICE. Hush! He is moving--Think if he overheard us! He is full
of trickery also.
CURT. He is actually waking up.
ALICE. Does he not look like an ogre? I am afraid of him!
[_Silence_.
CAPTAIN. [_Stirs, wakes up, rises in bed, and looks around_] It
is morning--at last!
CURT. How are you feeling?
CAPTAIN. Not so very bad.
CURT. Do you want a doctor?
CAPTAIN. No--I want to see Judith--my child!
CURT. Would it not be wise to set your house in order before--or
if something should happen?
CAPTAIN. What do you mean? What could happen?
CURT. What may happen to all of us.
CAPTAIN. Oh, nonsense! Don't you believe that I die so easily!
And don't rejoice prematurely, Alice!
CURT. Think of your children. Make your will so that your wife
at least may keep the household goods.
CAPTAIN. Is she going to inherit from me while I am still alive?
CURT. No, but if something happens she ought not to be turned
into the street. One who has dusted and polished and looked
after these things for twenty-five years should have some
right to remain in possession of them. May I send word to the
regimental lawyer?
CAPTAIN. No!
CURT. You are a cruel man--more cruel than I thought you!
CAPTAIN. Now it is back again!
[_Falls back on the bed unconscious_.
ALICE. [_Goes toward the right_] There are some people in the
kitchen--I have to go down there.
CURT. Yes, go. Here is not much to be done.
[ALICE _goes out_.
CAPTAIN. [_Recovers_] Well, Curt, what are you going to do about
your quarantine?
CURT. Oh, that will be all right.
CAPTAIN. No; I am in command on this island, so you will have to
deal with me--don't forget that!
CURT. Have you ever seen a quarantine station?
CAPTAIN. Have I? Before you were born. And I'll give you a piece
of advice: don't place your disinfection plant too close to the
shore.
CURT. I was thinking that the nearer I could get to the water
the better----
CAPTAIN. That shows how much you know of your business. Water,
don't you see, is the element of the bacilli, their life element?
CURT. But the salt water of the sea is needed to wash away all
the impurity.
CAPTAIN. Idiot! Well, now, when you get a house for yourself I
suppose you'll bring home your children?
CURT. Do you think they will let themselves be brought?
CAPTAIN. Of course, if you have got any backbone! It would make
a good impression on the people if you fulfilled your duties in
that respect also----
CURT. I have always fulfilled my duties in that respect.
CAPTAIN. [_Raising his voice_]--in the one respect where you
have proved yourself most remiss----
CURT. Have I not told you----
CAPTAIN. [_Paying no attention_]--for one does not desert one's
children like that----
CURT. Go right on!
CAPTAIN. As your relative--a relative older than yourself--I
feel entitled to tell you the truth, even if it should prove
bitter--and you should not take it badly----
CURT. Are you hungry?
CAPTAIN. Yes, I am.
CURT. Do you want something light?
CAPTAIN. No, something solid.
CURT. Then you would be done for.
CAPTAIN. Is it not enough to be sick, but one must starve also?
CURT. That's how the land lies.
CAPTAIN. And neither drink nor smoke? Then life is not worth
much!
CURT. Death demands sacrifices, or it comes at once.
ALICE. [_Enters with several bunches of flowers and some
telegrams and letters_] These are for you.
[_Throws the flowers on the writing-table_.
CAPTAIN. [_Flattered_] For me! Will you please let me look?
ALICE. Oh, they are only from the non-commissioned officers, the
bandmen, and the gunners.
CAPTAIN. You are jealous.
ALICE. Oh, no. If it were laurel wreaths, that would be another
matter--but those you can never get.
CAPTAIN. Hm!--Here's a telegram from the Colonel--read it, Curt.
The Colonel is a gentleman after all--though he is something of
an idiot. And this is from--what does it say? It is from Judith!
Please telegraph her to come with the next boat. And here--yes,
one is not quite without friends after all, and it is fine to
see them take thought of a sick man, who is also a man of
deserts above his rank, and a man free of fear or blemish.
ALICE. I don't quite understand--are they congratulating you
because you are sick?
CAPTAIN. Hyena!
ALICE. Yes, we had a doctor here on the island who was so hated
that when he left they gave a banquet--after him, and not for
him!
CAPTAIN. Put the flowers in water--I am not easily caught, and
all people are a lot of rabble, but, by heavens, these simple
tributes are genuine--they cannot be anything but genuine!
ALICE. Fool!
CURT. [_Reading the telegram_] Judith says she cannot come
because the steamer is held back by the storm.
CAPTAIN. Is that all?
CURT. No-o--there is a postscript.
CAPTAIN. Out with it!
CURT. Well, she asks her father not to drink so much.
CAPTAIN. Impudence! That's like children! That's my only beloved
daughter--my Judith--my idol!
ALICE. And your image!
CAPTAIN. Such is life. Such are its best joys--Hell!
ALICE. Now you get the harvest of your sowing. You have set her
against her own mother and now she turns against the father.
Tell me, then, that there is no God!
CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] What does the Colonel say?
CURT. He grants leave of absence without any comment.
CAPTAIN. Leave of absence? I have not asked for it.
ALICE. No, but I have asked for it.
CAPTAIN. I don't accept it.
ALICE. Order has already been issued.
CAPTAIN. That's none of my concern!
ALICE. Do you see, Curt, that for this man exist no laws,
no constitutions, no prescribed human order? He stands above
everything and everybody. The universe is created for his
private use. The sun and the moon pursue their courses in order
to spread his glory among the stars. Such is this man: this
insignificant captain, who could not even reach the rank of
major, and at whose strutting everybody laughs, while he thinks
himself feared; this poor wretch who is afraid in the dark and
believes in barometers: and all this in conjunction with and
having for its climax--a barrowful of manure that is not even
prime quality!
CAPTAIN. [_Fanning himself with a bunch of flowers, conceitedly,
without listening to_ ALICE] Have you asked Curt to breakfast?
ALICE. No.
CAPTAIN. Get us, then, at once two nice tenderloin steaks.
ALICE. Two?
CAPTAIN. I am going to have one myself.
ALICE. But we are three here.
CAPTAIN. Oh, you want one also? Well, make it three then.
ALICE. Where am I to get them? Last night you asked Curt to
supper, and there was not a crust of bread in the house. Curt
has been awake all night without anything to eat, and he has had
no coffee because there is none in the house and the credit is
gone.
CAPTAIN. She is angry at me for not dying yesterday.
ALICE. No, for not dying twenty-five years ago--for not dying
before you were born!
CAPTAIN. [_To_ CURT] Listen to her! That's what happens when you
institute a marriage, my dear Curt. And it is perfectly clear
that it was not instituted in heaven.
[ALICE _and_ CURT _look at each other meaningly_.
CAPTAIN. [_Rises and goes toward the door_] However, say what
you will, now I am going on duty. [_Puts on an old-fashioned
helmet with a brush crest, girds on the sabre, and shoulders his
cloak_] If anybody calls for me, I am at the battery. [ALICE
_and_ CURT _try vainly to hold him back_] Stand aside!
[_Goes out_.
ALICE. Yes, go! You always go, always show your back, whenever
the fight becomes too much for you. And then you let your wife
cover the retreat--you hero of the bottle, you arch-braggart,
you arch-liar! Fie on you!
CURT. This is bottomless!
ALICE. And you don't know everything yet.
CURT. Is there anything more----
ALICE. But I am ashamed----
CURT. Where is he going now? And where does he get the strength?
ALICE. Yes, you may well ask! Now he goes down to the
non-commissioned officers and thanks them for the flowers--and
then he eats and drinks with them. And then he speaks ill of all
the other officers--If you only knew how many times he has been
threatened with discharge! Nothing but sympathy for his family
has saved him. And this he takes for fear of his superiority.
And he hates and maligns the very women--wives of other
officers--who have been pleading our cause.
CURT. I have to confess that I applied for this position in
order to find peace by the sea--and of your circumstances I knew
nothing at all.
ALICE. Poor Curt! And how will you get something to eat?
CURT. Oh, I can go over to the doctor's--but you? Will you not
permit me to arrange this for you?
ALICE. If only he does not learn of it, for then he would kill
me.
CURT. [_Looking out through the window_] Look, he stands right
in the wind out there on the rampart.
ALICE. He is to be pitied--for being what he is!
CURT. Both of you are to be pitied! But what can be done?
ALICE. I don't know--The mail brought a batch of unpaid bills
also, and those he did not see.
CURT. It may be fortunate to escape seeing things at times.
ALICE. [_At the window_] He has unbuttoned his cloak and lets
the wind strike his chest. Now he wants to die!
CURT. That is not what he wants, I think, for a while ago, when
he felt his life slipping away, he grabbed hold of mine and
began to stir in my affairs as if he wanted to crawl into me and
live my life.
ALICE. That is just his vampire nature--to interfere with other
people's destinies, to suck interest out of other existences,
to regulate and arrange the doings of others, since he can
find no interest whatever in his own life. And remember, Curt,
don't ever admit him into your family life, don't ever make him
acquainted with your friends, for he will take them away from
you and make them his own. He is a perfect magician in this
respect. Were he to meet your children, you would soon find them
intimate with _him_, and he would be advising them and educating
them to suit himself--but principally in opposition to _your_
wishes.
CURT. Alice, was it not he who took my children away from me at
the time of the divorce?
ALICE. Since it is all over now--yes, it was he.
CURT. I have suspected it, but never had any certainty. It was
he!
ALICE. When you placed your full trust in my husband and sent
him to make peace between yourself and your wife, he made love
to her instead, and taught her the trick that gave her the
children.
CURT. Oh, God! God in heaven!
ALICE. There you have another side of him. [_Silence_.
CURT. Do you know, last night--when he thought himself
dying--then--he made me promise that I should look after his
children!
ALICE. But you don't want to revenge yourself on my children?
CURT. Yes--by keeping my promise. I shall look after your
children.
ALICE. You could take no worse revenge, for there is nothing he
hates so much as generosity.
CURT. Then I may consider myself revenged--without any revenge.
ALICE. I love revenge as a form of justice, and I am yearning to
see evil get its punishment.
CURT. You still remain at that point?
ALICE. There I shall always remain, and the day I forgave or
loved an enemy I should be a hypocrite.
CURT. It may be a duty not to say everything, Alice, not to see
everything. It is called forbearance, and all of us need it.
ALICE. Not I! My life lies clear and open, and I have always
played my cards straight.
CURT. That is saying a good deal.
ALICE. No, it is not saying enough. Because what I have suffered
innocently for the sake of this man, whom I never loved----
CURT. Why did you marry?
ALICE. Who can tell? Because he took me, seduced me! I don't
know. And then I was longing to get up on the heights----
CURT. And deserted your art?
ALICE. Which was despised! But you know, he cheated me! He held
out hopes of a pleasant life, a handsome home--and there was
nothing but debts; no gold except on the uniform--and even that
was not real gold. He cheated me!
CURT. Wait a moment! When a young man falls in love, he sees
the future in a hopeful light: that his hopes are not always
realized, one must pardon. I have the same kind of deceit on my
own conscience without thinking myself dishonest--What is it
you see on the rampart?
ALICE. I want to see if he has fallen down.
CURT. Has he?
ALICE. No--worse luck! He is cheating me all the time.
CURT. Then I shall call on the doctor and the lawyer.
ALICE. [_Sitting down at the window_] Yes, dear Curt, go. I
shall sit here and wait. And I have learned how to wait!
_Curtain_.
_Same setting in full daylight. The sentry is pacing
back and forth on the battery as before_.
ALICE _sits in the right-hand easy-chair. Her hair is
now gray_.
CURT. [_Enters from the left after having knocked_] Good day,
Alice.
ALICE. Good day, Curt. Sit down.
CURT. [_Sits down in the left-hand easy-chair_] The steamer is
just coming in.
ALICE. Then I know what's in store, for he is on board.
CURT. Yes, he is, for I caught the glitter of his helmet--What
has he been doing in the city?
ALICE. Oh, I can figure it out. He dressed for parade, which
means that he saw the Colonel, and he put on white gloves, which
means that he made some calls.
CURT. Did you notice his quiet manner yesterday? Since he has
quit drinking and become temperate, he is another man: calm,
reserved, considerate----
ALICE. I know it, and if that man had always kept sober he would
have been a menace to humanity. It is perhaps fortunate for the
rest of mankind that he made himself ridiculous and harmless
through his whiskey.
CURT. The spirit in the bottle has chastised him--But have you
noticed since death put its mark on him that he has developed a
dignity which elevates? And is it not possible that with this
new idea of immortality may have come a new outlook upon life?
ALICE. You are deceiving yourself. He is conjuring up something
evil. And don't you believe what he says, for he lies with
premeditation, and he knows the art of intriguing as no one
else----
CURT. [_Watching_ ALICE] Why, Alice, what does this mean? Your
hair has turned gray in these two nights!
ALICE. No, my friend, it has long been gray, and I have simply
neglected to darken it since my husband is as good as dead.
Twenty-five years in prison--do you know that this place served
as a prison in the old days?
CURT. Prison--well, the walls show it.
ALICE. And my complexion! Even the children took on prison color
in here.
CURT. I find it hard to imagine children prattling within these
walls.
ALICE. There was not much prattling done either. And those two
that died perished merely from lack of light.
CURT. What do you think is coming next?
ALICE. The decisive blow at us two. I caught a familiar glimmer
in his eye when you read out that telegram from Judith. It
ought, of course, to have been directed against her, but she,
you know, is inviolate, and so his hatred sought you.
CURT. What are his intentions in regard to me, do you think?
ALICE. Hard to tell, but he possesses a marvellous skill in
nosing out other people's secrets--and did you notice how, all
day yesterday, he seemed to be living in your quarantine; how
he drank a life-interest out of your existence; how he ate your
children alive? A cannibal, I tell you--for I know him. His own
life is going, or has gone----
CURT. I also have that impression of his being already on the
other side. His face seems to phosphoresce, as if he were in
a state of decay--and his eyes flash like will-o'-the-wisps
over graves or morasses--Here he comes! Tell him you thought it
possible he might be jealous.
ALICE. No, he is too self-conceited. "Show me the man of whom I
need to be jealous!" Those are his own words.
CURT. So much the better, for even his faults carry with them a
certain merit--Shall I get up and meet him anyhow?
ALICE. No, be impolite, or he will think you false. And if he
begins to lie, pretend to believe him. I know perfectly how to
translate his lies, and get always at the truth with the help of
my dictionary. I foresee something dreadful--but, Curt, don't
lose your self-control! My own advantage in our long struggle
has been that I was always sober, and for that reason in full
control of myself. He was always tripped by his whiskey--Now we
shall see!
CAPTAIN. [_In from the left in full uniform, with helmet, cloak,
and white gloves. Calm, dignified, but pale and hollow-eyed.
Moves forward with a tottering step and sinks down, his helmet
and cloak still on, in a chair at the right of the stage, far
from_ CURT _and_ ALICE] Good day. Pardon me for sitting down
like this, but I feel a little tired.
ALICE _and_ CURT. Good day. Welcome home.
ALICE. How are you feeling?
CAPTAIN. Splendid! Only a little tired----
ALICE. What news from the city?
CAPTAIN. Oh, a little of everything. I saw the doctor, among
other things, and he said it was nothing at all--that I might
live twenty years, if I took care of myself.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Now he is lying. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] Why,
that's fine, my dear.
CAPTAIN. So much for that.
_Silence, during which the_ CAPTAIN _is looking at_ ALICE _and_
CURT _as if expecting them to speak_.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Don't say a word, but let him begin--then he
will show his cards.
CAPTAIN. [_To_ ALICE] Did you say anything?
ALICE. No, not a word.
CAPTAIN. [_Dragging on the words_] Well, Curt!
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] There--now he is coming out.
CAPTAIN. Well, I went to the city, as you know. [CURT _nods
assent_] Mm-mm, I picked up acquaintances--and among others--a
young cadet [_dragging_] in the artillery. [_Pause, during
which_ CURT _shows some agitation_] As--we are in need of cadets
right here, I arranged with the Colonel to let him come here.
This ought to please you, especially when I inform you that--he
is--your own son!
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] The vampire--don't you see?
CURT. Under ordinary circumstances that ought to please a
father, but in my case it will merely be painful.
CAPTAIN. I don't see why it should!
CURT. You don't need to--it is enough that I don't want it.
CAPTAIN. Oh, you think so? Well, then, you ought to know that
the young man has been ordered to report here, and that from now
on he has to obey me.
CURT. Then I shall force him to seek transfer to another
regiment.
CAPTAIN. You cannot do it, as you have no rights over your son.
CURT. No?
CAPTAIN. No, for the court gave those rights to the mother.
CURT. Then I shall communicate with the mother.
CAPTAIN. You don't need to.
CURT. Don't need to?
CAPTAIN. No, for I have already done so. Yah!
[CURT _rises but sinks back again_.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Now he must die!
CURT. Why, he _is_ a cannibal!
CAPTAIN. So much for that! [_Straight to_ ALICE _and_ CURT] Did
you say anything?
ALICE. No--have you grown hard of hearing?
CAPTAIN. Yes, a little--but if you come nearer to me I can tell
you something between ourselves.
ALICE. That is not necessary--and a witness is sometimes good to
have for both parties.
CAPTAIN. You are right; witnesses are sometimes good to have!
But, first of all, did you get that will?
ALICE. [_Hands him a document_] The regimental lawyer drew it up
himself.
CAPTAIN. In your favor--good! [_Reads the document and then
tears it carefully into strips which he throws on the floor_] So
much for that! Yah!
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Did you ever see such a man?
CURT. That is no man!
CAPTAIN. Well, Alice, this was what I wanted to say----
ALICE. [_Alarmed_] Go on, please.
CAPTAIN. [_Calmly as before_] On account of your long cherished
desire to quit this miserable existence in an unhappy marriage;
on account of the lack of feeling with which you have treated
your husband and children, and on account of the carelessness
you have shown in the handling of our domestic economy, I have,
during this trip to the city, filed an application for divorce
in the City Court.
ALICE. Oh--and your grounds?
CAPTAIN. [_Calmly as before_] Besides the grounds already
mentioned, I have others of a purely personal nature. As it
has been found that I may live another twenty years, I am
contemplating a change from this unhappy marital union to one
that suits me better, and I mean to join my fate to that of some
woman capable of devotion to her husband, and who also may bring
into the home not only youth, but--let us say--a little beauty!
ALICE. [_Takes the wedding-ring from her finger and throws it at
the_ CAPTAIN] You are welcome!
CAPTAIN. [_Picks up the ring and puts it in his rest pocket_]
She throws away the ring. The witness will please take notice.
ALICE. [_Rises in great agitation_] And you intend to turn me
out in order to put another woman into my home?
CAPTAIN. Yah!
ALICE. Well, then, we'll speak plain language! Cousin Curt, that
man is guilty of an attempt to murder his wife.
CURT. An attempt to murder?
ALICE. Yes, he pushed me into the water.
CAPTAIN. Without witnesses!
ALICE. He lies again--Judith saw it!
CAPTAIN. Well, what of it?
ALICE. She can testify to it.
CAPTAIN. No, she cannot, for she says that she didn't see
anything.
ALICE. You have taught the child to lie!
CAPTAIN. I didn't need to, for you had taught her already.
ALICE. You have met Judith?
CAPTAIN. Yah!
ALICE. Oh, God! Oh, God!
CAPTAIN. The fortress has surrendered. The enemy will be
permitted to depart in safety on ten minutes' notice. [_Places
his watch on the table_] Ten minutes--watch on the table! [Stops
_and puts one hand up to his heart_.
ALICE. [_Goes over to the_ CAPTAIN _and takes his arm_] What is
it?
CAPTAIN. I don't know.
ALICE. Do you want anything--a drink?
CAPTAIN. Whiskey? No, I don't want to die--You! [_Straightening
himself up_] Don't touch me! Ten minutes, or the garrison will
be massacred. [_Pulls the sabre partly from the scabbard_] Ten
minutes!
[_Goes out through the background_.
CURT. What kind of man is this?
ALICE. He is a demon, and no man!
CURT. What does he want with my son?
ALICE. He wants him as hostage in order to be your master--he
wants to isolate you from the authorities of the island--Do you
know that the people around here have named this island "Little
Hell"?
CURT. I didn't know that--Alice, you are the first woman who
ever inspired me with compassion--all others have seemed to me
to deserve their fate.
ALICE. Don't desert me now! Don't leave me, for he will beat
me--he has been doing so all these twenty-five years--in the
presence of the children--and he has pushed me into the water----
CURT. Having heard this, I place myself absolutely against him.
I came here without an angry thought, without memory of his
former slanders and attempts to humiliate me. I forgave him even
when you told me that he was the man who had parted me from my
children--for he was ill and dying--but now, when he wants to
steal my son, he must die--he or I!
ALICE. Good! No surrender of the fortress! But blow it up
instead, with him in it, even if we have to keep him company! I
am in charge of the powder!
CURT. There was no malice in me when I came here, and I wanted
to run away when I felt myself infected with your hatred, but
now I am moved by an irresistible impulse to hate this man, as I
hate everything that is evil. What can be done?
ALICE. I have learned the tactics from him. Drum up his enemies
and seek allies.
CURT. Just think--that he should get hold of my wife! Why didn't
those two meet a life-time ago? Then there would have been a
battle-royal that had set the earth quaking.
ALICE. But now these souls have spied each other--and yet they
must part. I guess what is his most vulnerable spot--I have long
suspected it----
CURT. Who is his most faithful enemy on the island?
ALICE. The Quartermaster.
CURT. Is he an honest man?
ALICE. He is. And he knows what I--I know too--he knows what the
Sergeant-Major and the Captain have been up to.
CURT. What they have been up to? You don't mean----
ALICE. Defalcations!
CURT. This is terrible! No, I don't want to have any finger in
that mess!
ALICE. Ha-ha! You cannot hit an enemy.
CURT. Formerly I could, but I can do so no longer.
ALICE. Why?
CURT. Because I have discovered--that justice is done anyhow.
ALICE. And you could wait for that? Then your son would already
have been taken away from you. Look at my gray hairs--just feel
how thick it still is, for that matter--He intends to marry
again, and then I shall be free--to do the same--I am free!
And in ten minutes he will be under arrest down below, right
under us--[_stamps her foot on the floor_] right under us--and
I shall dance above his head--I shall dance "The Entry of the
Boyars"--[_makes a few steps with her arms akimbo_] ha-ha-ha-ha!
And I shall play on the piano so that he can hear it.
[_Hammering on the piano_] Oh, the tower is opening its gates,
and the sentry with the drawn sabre will no longer be guarding
me, but him--_Malrough s'en va-t-en guerre_! Him, him, him, the
sentry is going to guard!
CURT. [_Has been watching her with an intoxicated look in his
eyes_] Alice, are you, too, a devil?
ALICE. [_Jumps up on a chair and pulls down the wreaths_] These
we will take along when we depart--the laurels of triumph! And
fluttering ribbons! A little dusty, but eternally green--like my
youth--I am not old, Curt?
CURT. _With shining eyes_] You are a devil!
ALICE. In "Little Hell"--Listen! Now I shall fix my hair
--[_loosens her hair_], dress in two minutes--go to the
Quartermaster in two minutes--and then, up in the air with the
fortress!
CURT. [_As before_] You are a devil!
ALICE. That's what you always used to say when we were children.
Do you remember when we were small and became engaged to each
other? Ha-ha! You were bashful, of course----
CURT. [_Seriously_] Alice!
ALICE. Yes, you were! And it was becoming to you. Do you know
there are gross women who like modest men? And there are said to
be modest men who like gross women--You liked me a little bit,
didn't you?
CURT. I don't know where I am!
ALICE. With an actress whose manners are free, but who is an
excellent lady otherwise. Yes! But now I am free, free, free!
Turn away and I'll change my waist!
_She opens her waist_. CURT _rushes up to her, grabs her in his
arms, lifts her high up, and bites her throat so that she cries
out. Then he drops her on the couch and runs out to the left_.
_Curtain and intermission_.
_Same stage setting in early evening light. The
sentry on the battery is still visible through the
windows in the background. The laurel wreaths are
hung over the arms of an easy-chair. The hanging lamp
is lit. Faint music_.
_The_ CAPTAIN, _pale and hollow-eyed, his hair
showing touches of gray, dressed in a worn undress
uniform, with riding-boots, sits at the writing-table
and plays solitaire. He wears his spectacles. The
entr'acte music continues after the curtain has been
raised and until another person enters_.
_The_ CAPTAIN _plays away at his solitaire, bid with
a sudden start now and then, when he looks up and
listens with evident alarm_.
_He does not seem able to make the solitaire come
out, so he becomes impatient and gathers up the
cards. Then he goes to the left-hand window, opens
it, and throws out the cards. The window (of the
French type) remains open, rattling on its hinges_.
_He goes over to the buffet, but is frightened by the
noise made by the window, so that he turns around
to see what it is. Takes out three dark-coloured
square whiskey bottles, examines them carefully--and
throws them out of the window. Takes out some boxes
of cigars, smells at one, and throws them out of the
window_.
_Next he takes off his spectacles, cleans them
carefully, and tries how far he can see with them.
Then he throws them out of the window, stumbles
against the furniture as if he could not see,
and lights six candles in a candelabrum on the
chiffonier. Catches sight of the laurel wreaths,
picks them up, and goes toward the window, but turns
back. Folds the wreaths carefully in the piano
cover, fastens the corners together with pins taken
from the writing-table, and puts the bundle on a
chair. Goes to the piano, strikes the keyboard with
his fists, locks the piano, and throws the key out
through the window. Then he lights the candles on the
piano. Goes to the what-not, takes his wife's picture
from it, looks at this and tears it to pieces,
dropping the pieces on the floor. The window rattles
on its hinges, and again he becomes frightened_.
_Then, after having calmed himself he takes the
pictures of his son and daughter, kisses them in an
off-hand way, and puts them into his pocket. All the
rest of the pictures he sweeps down with his elbow
and pokes together into a heap with his foot_.
_Then he sits down at the writing-table, tired out,
and puts a hand up to his heart. Lights the candle
on the table and sighs; stares in front of himself
as if confronted with unpleasant visions. Rises and
goes over to the chiffonier, opens the lid, takes
out a bundle of letters tied together with a blue
silk ribbon, and throws the bundle into the fireplace
of the glazed brick oven. Closes the chiffonier.
The telegraph receiver sounds a single click. The_
CAPTAIN _shrinks together in deadly fear and stands
fixed to the spot, listening. But hearing nothing
more from the instrument, he turns to listen in
the direction of the door on the left. Goes over
and opens it, takes a step inside the doorway, and
returns, carrying on his arm a cat whose back he
strokes. Then he goes out to the right. Now the music
ceases_.
ALICE _enters from the background, dressed in a
walking suit, with gloves and hat on; her hair is
black; she looks around with surprise at the many
lighted candles_.
CURT _enters from the left, nervous_.
ALICE. It looks like Christmas Eve here.
CURT. Well?
ALICE. [_Holds out her hand for him to kiss_] Thank me! [CURT
_kisses her hand unwillingly_] Six witnesses, and four of them
solid as rock. The report has been made, and the answer will
come here by telegraph--right here, into the heart of the
fortress.
CURT. So!
ALICE. You should say "thanks" instead of "so."
CURT. Why has he lit so many candles?
ALICE. Because he is afraid of the dark, of course. Look at the
telegraph key--does it not look like the handle of a coffee
mill? I grind, I grind, and the beans crack as when you pull
teeth----
CURT. What has he been doing in the room here?
ALICE. It looks as if he intended to move. Down below, that's
where you are going to move!