of my youth, and he showed me kindness many times when I was in
difficulty--He should be pitied!
ALICE. And how about me, who have done nothing wrong, and who
have had to sacrifice my career to that monster?
CURT. How about that career? Was it so very brilliant?
ALICE. [_Enraged_] What are you saying? Do you know who I am,
what I have been?
CURT. Now, now!
ALICE. Are you beginning already?
CURT. Already?
ALICE _throws her arms around_ CURT'S _neck and
kisses him_.
CURT _takes her by the arms and bites her neck so
that she screams_.
ALICE. You bite me!
CURT. [_Beyond himself_] Yes, I want to bite your throat and
suck your blood like a lynx. You have aroused the wild beast
in me--that beast which I have tried for years to kill by
privations and self-inflicted tortures. I came here believing
myself a little better than you two, and now I am the vilest of
all. Since I first saw you--in all your odious nakedness--and
since my vision became warped by passion, I have known the full
strength of evil. What is ugly becomes beautiful; what is good
becomes ugly and mean--Come here and I'll choke you--with a
kiss! [_He locks her in his arms_.
ALICE. [_Holds up her left hand_] Behold the mark of the
shackles that you have broken. I was a slave, and you set me
free.
CURT. But I am going to bind you----
ALICE. You?
CURT. I!
ALICE. For a moment I thought you were----
CURT. Pious?
ALICE. Yes, you prated about the fall of man----
CURT. Did I?
ALICE. And I thought you had come here to preach----
CURT. You thought so? In an hour we shall be in the city, and
then you shall see what I am----
ALICE. Then we will go to the theatre to-night, just to show
ourselves. The shame will be his if I run away, don't you see!
CURT. I begin to understand that prison is not enough----
ALICE. No, it is not--there must be shame also.
CURT. A strange world! You commit a shameful act, and the shame
falls on him.
ALICE. Well, if the world be so stupid----
CURT. It is as if these prison walls had absorbed all the
corruption of the criminals, and it gets into you if you merely
breathe this air. You were thinking of the theatre and the
supper, I suppose. I was thinking of my son.
ALICE. [_Strikes him on the mouth with her glove_] Fogey!
[CURT _lifts his hand as if to strike her_.
ALICE. [_Drawing back] Tout beau_!
CURT. Forgive me!
ALICE. Yes--on your knees! [CURT _kneels down_] Down on your
face! [CURT _touches the ground with his forehead_] Kiss my
foot! [CURT _kisses her foot_] And don't you ever do it again!
Get up!
CURT. [_Rising_] Where have I landed? Where am I?
ALICE. Oh, you know!
CURT. [_Looking around with horror_] I believe almost----
CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the right, looking wretched, leaning on a
cane_] Curt, may I have a talk with you--alone?
ALICE. Is it about that departure in safety?
CAPTAIN. [_Sits down at the sewing-table_] Curt, will you kindly
sit down here by me a little while? And, Alice, will you please
grant me a moment--of peace!
ALICE. What is up now? New signals! [_To_ CURT] Please be
seated. [CURT _sits down reluctantly_] And listen to the words
of age and wisdom--And if a telegram should come--tip me off!
[_Goes out to the left_.
CAPTAIN. [_With dignity, after a pause_] Can you explain a fate
like mine, like ours?
CURT. No more than I can explain my own!
CAPTAIN. What can be the meaning of this jumble?
CURT. In my better moments I have believed that just this was
the meaning--that we should not be able to catch a meaning, and
yet submit----
CAPTAIN. Submit? Without a fixed point outside myself I cannot
submit.
CURT. Quite right, but as a mathematician you should be able to
seek that unknown point when several known ones are given----
CAPTAIN. I have sought it, and--I have not found it!
CURT. Then you have made some mistake in your calculations--do
it all over again!
CAPTAIN. I should do it over again? Tell me, where did you get
your resignation?
CURT. I have none left. Don't overestimate me.
CAPTAIN. As you may have noticed, my understanding of the art of
living has been--elimination! That means: wipe out and pass on!
Very early in life I made myself a bag into which I chucked my
humiliations, and when it was full I dropped it into the sea.
I don't think any man ever suffered so many humiliations as I
have. But when I wiped them out and passed on they ceased to
exist.
CURT. I have noticed that you have wrought both your life and
your environment out of your poetical imagination.
CAPTAIN. How could I have lived otherwise? How could I have
endured? [_Puts his hand over his heart_.
CURT. How are you doing?
CAPTAIN. Poorly. [Pause] Then comes a moment when the faculty
for what you call poetical imagination gives out. And then
reality leaps forth in all its nakedness--It is frightful! [_He
is now speaking in a voice of lachrymose senility, and with
his lower jaw drooping_] Look here, my dear friend--[_controls
himself and speaks in his usual voice_] forgive me!--When I was
in the city and consulted the doctor [_now the tearful voice
returns_] he said that I was played out--[_in his usual voice_]
and that I couldn't live much longer.
CURT. Was _that_ what he said?
CAPTAIN. [_With tearful voice_] That's what he said!
CURT. So it was not true?
CAPTAIN. What? Oh--no, that was not true. [_Pause_.
CURT. Was the rest of it not true either?
CAPTAIN. What do you mean?
CURT. That my son was ordered to report here as cadet?
CAPTAIN. I never heard of it.
CURT. Do you know--your ability to wipe out your own misdeeds is
miraculous!
CAPTAIN. I don't understand what you are talking of.
CURT. Then you have come to the end!
CAPTAIN. Well, there is not much left!
CURT. Tell me, perhaps you never applied for that divorce which
would bring your wife into disgrace?
CAPTAIN. Divorce? No, I have not heard of it.
CURT, [_Rising_] Will you admit, then, that you have been lying?
CAPTAIN. You employ such strong words, my friend. All of us need
forbearance.
CURT. Oh, you have come to see that?
CAPTAIN. [_Firmly, with clear voice_] Yes, I have come to see
that--And for this reason, Curt, please forgive me! Forgive
everything!
CURT. That was a manly word! But I have nothing to forgive you.
And I am not the man you believe me to be. No longer now! Least
of all one worthy of receiving your confessions!
CAPTAIN. [_With clear voice_] Life seemed so peculiar--so
contrary, so malignant--ever since my childhood--and people
seemed so bad that I grew bad also----
CURT. [_On his feet, perturbed, and glancing at the telegraph
instrument_] Is it possible to close off an instrument like that?
CAPTAIN. Hardly.
CURT. [_With increasing alarm_] Who is Sergeant-Major Östberg?
CAPTAIN. An honest fellow, but something of a busybody, I should
say.
CURT. And who is the Quartermaster?
CAPTAIN. He is my enemy, of course, but I have nothing bad to
say of him.
CURT. [_Looking out through the window, where a lantern is seen
moving to and fro_] What are they doing with the lantern out on
the battery?
CAPTAIN. Do you see a lantern?
CURT. Yes, and people moving about.
CAPTAIN. I suppose it is what we call a service squad.
CURT. What is that?
CAPTAIN. A few men and a corporal. Probably some poor wretch
that has to be locked up.
CURT. Oh! [_Pause_.
CAPTAIN. Now, when you know Alice, how do you like her?
CURT. I cannot tell--I have no understanding of people at all.
She is as inexplicable to me as you are, or as I am myself. For
I am reaching the age when wisdom makes this acknowledgment:
I know nothing, I understand nothing; But when I observe an
action, I like to get at the motive behind it. Why did you push
her into the water?
CAPTAIN. I don't know. It merely seemed quite natural to me, as
she was standing on the pier, that she ought to be in the water.
CURT. Have you ever regretted it?
CAPTAIN. Never!
CURT. That's strange!
CAPTAIN. Of course, it is! So strange that I cannot realise that
I am the man who has been guilty of such a mean act.
CURT. Have you not expected her to take some revenge?
CAPTAIN. Well, she seems to have taken it in full measure; and
that, too, seems no less natural to me.
CURT. What has so suddenly brought you to this cynical
resignation?
CAPTAIN. Since I looked death in the face, life has presented
itself from a different viewpoint. Tell me, if you were to judge
between Alice and myself, whom would you place in the right?
CURT. Neither of you. But to both of you I should give endless
compassion--perhaps a little more of it to you!
CAPTAIN. Give me your hand, Curt!
CURT. [_Gives him one hand and puts the other one on the_
CAPTAIN'S _shoulder_] Old boy!
ALICE. [_In from the left, carrying a sunshade_] Well, how
harmonious! Oh, friendship! Has there been no telegram yet?
CURT. [_Coldly_] No.
ALICE. This delay makes me impatient, and when I grow impatient
I push matters along--Look, Curt, how I give him the final
bullet. And now he'll bite the grass! First, I load--I know
all about rifle practice, the famous rifle practice of which
less than 5,000 copies were sold--and then I aim--fire! [_She
takes aim with her sunshade_] How is your new wife? The young,
beautiful, unknown one? You don't know! But I know how my
lover is doing. [_Puts her arms around the neck of_ CURT _and
kisses him; he thrusts her away from himself_] He is well,
although still a little bashful! You wretch, whom I have never
loved--you, who were too conceited to be jealous--you never saw
how I was leading you by the nose!
_The_ CAPTAIN _draws the sabre and makes a leap at
her, aiming at her several futile blows that only hit
the furniture_.
ALICE. Help! Help!
[CURT _does not move_.
CAPTAIN. [_Falls with the sabre in his hand_] Judith, avenge me!
ALICE. Hooray! He's dead!
[CURT _withdraws toward the door in the background_.
CAPTAIN. [_Gets on his feet_] Not yet! [_Sheathes the sabre and
sits down in the easy-chair by the sewing-table_] Judith! Judith!
ALICE. [_Drawing nearer to_ CURT] Now I go--with you!
CURT. [_Pushes her back with such force that she sinks to her
knees_] Go back to the hell whence you came! Good-bye for ever!
[_Goes to the door_.
CAPTAIN. Don't leave me Curt; she will kill me!
ALICE. Don't desert me, Curt--don't desert us!
CURT. Good-bye! [_Goes out_.
ALICE. [_With a sudden change of attitude_] The wretch! That's a
friend for you!
CAPTAIN. [_Softly_] Forgive me, Alice, and come here--come quick!
ALICE. [_Over to the_ CAPTAIN] That's the worst rascal and
hypocrite I have met in my life! Do you know, you are a man
after all!
CAPTAIN. Listen, Alice! I cannot live much longer.
ALICE. Is that so?
CAPTAIN. The doctor has said so.
ALICE. Then there was no truth in the rest either?
CAPTAIN. No.
ALICE. [_In despair_] Oh, what have I done!
CAPTAIN. There is help for everything.
ALICE. No, this is beyond helping!
CAPTAIN. Nothing is beyond helping, if you only wipe it out and
pass on.
ALICE. But the telegram--the telegram!
CAPTAIN. Which telegram?
ALICE. [_On her knees beside the_ CAPTAIN] Are we then cast
out? Must this happen? I have sprung a mine under myself, under
us. Why did you have to tell untruths? And why should that man
come here to tempt me? We are lost! Your magnanimity might have
helped everything, forgiven everything!
CAPTAIN. What is it that cannot be forgiven? What is it that I
have not already forgiven you?
ALICE. You are right--but there is no help for this.
CAPTAIN. I cannot guess it, although I know your ingenuity when
it comes to villanies----
ALICE. Oh, if I could only get out of this, I should care for
you--I should love you, Edgar!
CAPTAIN. Listen to me! Where do I stand?
ALICE. Don't you think anybody can help us--well, no man can!
CAPTAIN. Who could then help?
ALICE. [_Looking the_ CAPTAIN _straight in the eye_] I don't
know--Think of it, what is to become of the children with their
name dishonoured----
CAPTAIN. Have you dishonoured that name?
ALICE. Not I! Not I! And then they must leave school! And as
they go out into the world, they will be lonely as we, and cruel
as we--Then you didn't meet Judith either, I understand now?
CAPTAIN. No, but wipe it out!
_The telegraph receiver clicks_. ALICE _flies up_.
ALICE. [Screams] Now ruin is overtaking us! [_To the_ CAPTAIN]
Don't listen!
CAPTAIN. [_Quietly_] I am not going to listen, dear child--just
calm yourself!
ALICE. [_Standing by the instrument, raises herself on tiptoe
in order to look out through the window_] Don't listen! Don't
listen!
CAPTAIN. [_Holding his hands over his ears_] Lisa, child, I am
stopping up my ears.
ALICE. [_On her knees, with lifted hands_] God, help us! The
squad is coming--[_Weeping and sobbing_] God in heaven!
_She appears to be moving her lips as if in silent
prayer_.
_The telegraph receiver continues to click for a
while and a long white strip of paper seems to crawl
out of the instrument. Then complete silence prevails
once more_.
ALICE. [_Rises, tears off the paper strip, and reads it in
silence. Then she turns her eyes upward for a moment. Goes over
to the_ CAPTAIN _and kisses him on the forehead_] That is over
now! It was nothing!
_Sits down in the other chair, puts her handkerchief
to her face, and breaks into a violent spell of
weeping_.
CAPTAIN. What kind of secrets are these?
ALICE. Don't ask! It is over now!
CAPTAIN. AS you please, child.
ALICE. You would not have spoken like that three days ago--what
has done it?
CAPTAIN. Well, dear, when I fell down that first time, I went a
little way on the other side of the grave. What I saw has been
forgotten, but the impression of it still remains.
ALICE. And it was?
CAPTAIN. A hope--for something better!
ALICE. Something better?
CAPTAIN. Yes. That this could be the real life, I have, in fact,
never believed: it is death--or something still worse!
ALICE. And we----
CAPTAIN. Have probably been set to torment each other--so it
seems at least!
ALICE. Have we tormented each other enough?
CAPTAIN. Yes, I think so! And upset things! [_Looks around_]
Suppose we put things to rights? And clean house?
ALICE. Yes, if it can be done.
CAPTAIN. [_Gets up to survey the room_] It can't be done in one
day--no, it can't!
ALICE. In two, then! Many days!
CAPTAIN. Let us hope so! [_Pause. Sits down again_] So you
didn't get free this time after all! But then, you didn't get
me locked up either! [ALICE _looks staggered_] Yes, I know you
wanted to put me in prison, but I wipe it out. I suppose you
have done worse than that--[ALICE _is speechless_] And I was
innocent of those defalcations.
ALICE. And now you intend me to become your nurse?
CAPTAIN. If you are willing!
ALICE. What else could I do?
CAPTAIN. I don't know!
ALICE. [_Sits down, numbed and crushed_] These are the eternal
torments! Is there, then, no end to them?
CAPTAIN. Yes, if we are patient. Perhaps life begins when death
comes.
ALICE. If it were so! [_Pause_.
CAPTAIN. You think Curt a hypocrite?
ALICE. Of course I do!
CAPTAIN. And I don't! But all who come near us turn evil and
go their way. Curt was weak, and the evil is strong! [_Pause_]
How commonplace life has become! Formerly blows were struck;
now you shake your fist at the most! I am fairly certain
that, three months from now, we shall celebrate our silver
wedding--with Curt as best man--and with the Doctor and Gerda
among the guests. The Quartermaster will make the speech and
the Sergeant-Major will lead the cheering. And if I know the
Colonel right, he will come on his own invitation--Yes, you may
laugh! But do you recall the silver wedding of Adolph--in the
Fusiliers? The bride had to carry her wedding ring on the right
hand, because the groom in a tender moment had chopped off her
left ring finger with his dirk. [ALICE _puts her handkerchief
to her mouth in order to repress her laughter_] Are you crying?
No, I believe you are laughing! Yes, child, partly we weep and
partly we laugh. Which is the right thing to do?--Don't ask
me! The other day I read in a newspaper that a man had been
divorced seven times--which means that he had been married seven
times--and finally, at the age of ninety-eight, he ran away with
his first wife and married her again. Such is love! If life be
serious, or merely a joke, is more than I can decide. Often it
is most painful when a joke, and its seriousness is after all
more agreeable and peaceful. But when at last you try to be
serious, somebody comes and plays a joke on you--as Curt, for
instance! Do you want a silver wedding? [ALICE _remains silent_]
Oh, say yes! They will laugh at us, but what does it matter? We
may laugh also, or keep serious, as the occasion may require.
ALICE. Well, all right!
CAPTAIN. Silver wedding, then! [_Rising_] Wipe out and pass on!
Therefore, let us pass on!
_Curtain_.
PART II
CHARACTERS
EDGAR
ALICE
CURT
ALLAN, _the son of_ CURT
JUDITH, _the daughter of_ EDGAR
THE LIEUTENANT
_A rectangular drawing-room in white and gold.
The rear wall is broken by severed French windows
reaching down to the floor. These stand open,
revealing a garden terrace outside. Along this
terrace, serving as a public promenade, runs a stone
balustrade, on which are ranged pots of blue and
white faience, with petunias and scarlet geraniums
in them. Beyond, in the background, can be seen the
shore battery with a sentry pacing back and forth. In
the far distance, the open sea_.
_At the left of the drawing-room stands a sofa
with gilded wood-work. In front of it are a table
and chairs. At the right is a grand piano, a
writing-table, and an open fireplace_.
_In the foreground, an American easy-chair_.
_By the writing-table is a standing lamp of copper
with a table attached to it_.
_On the walls are severed old-fashioned oil
paintings_.
ALLAN _is sitting at the writing-table, engrossed
in some mathematical problem_. JUDITH _enters from
the background, in summer dress, short skirt, hair
in a braid down her back, hat in one hand and tennis
racket in the other. She stops in the doorway_. ALLAN
_rises, serious and respectful_.
JUDITH. [_In serious but friendly tone_] Why don't you come and
play tennis?
ALLAN. [_Bashful, struggling with his emotion_] I am very
busy----
JUDITH. Didn't you see that I had made my bicycle point toward
the oak, and not away from it?
ALLAN. Yes, I saw it.
JUDITH. Well, what does it mean?
ALLAN. It means--that you want me to come and play tennis--but
my duty--I have some problems to work out--and your father is a
rather exacting teacher----
JUDITH. Do you like him?
ALLAN. Yes, I do. He takes such interest in all his pupils----
JUDITH. He takes an interest in everything and everybody. Won't
you come?
ALLAN. You know I should like to--but I must not!
JUDITH. I'll ask papa to give you leave.
ALLAN. Don't do that. It will only cause talk.
JUDITH. Don't you think I can manage him? He wants what I want.
ALLAN. I suppose that is because you are so hard.
JUDITH. You should be hard also.
ALLAN. I don't belong to the wolf family.
JUDITH. Then you are a sheep.
ALLAN. Rather that.
JUDITH. Tell me why you don't want to come and play tennis?
ALLAN. You know it.
JUDITH. Tell me anyhow. The Lieutenant----
ALLAN. Yes, you don't care for me at all, but you cannot enjoy
yourself with the Lieutenant unless I am present, so you can see
me suffer.
JUDITH. Am I as cruel as that? I didn't know it.
ALLAN. Well, now you know it.
JUDITH. Then I shall do better hereafter, for I don't want to be
cruel, I don't want to be bad--in your eyes.
ALLAN. You say this only to fasten your hold on me. I am already
your slave, but it does not satisfy you. The slave must be
tortured and thrown to the wild beasts. You have already that
other fellow in your clutches--what do you want with me then?
Let me go my own way, and you can go yours.
JUDITH. Do you send me away? [ALLAN _does not answer_] Then I
go! As second cousins, we shall have to meet now and then, but I
am not going to bother you any longer.
[ALLAN _sits down at the table and returns to his
problem_.
JUDITH. [_Instead of going away, comes down the stage and
approaches gradually the table where_ ALLAN _is sitting_] Don't
be afraid, I am going at once--I wanted only to see how the
Master of Quarantine lives--[_Looks around_] White and gold--a
Bechstein grand--well, well! We are still in the fort since
papa was pensioned--in the tower where mamma has been kept
twenty-five years--and we are there on sufferance at that.
You--you are rich----
ALLAN. [_Calmly_] We are not rich.
JUDITH. So you say, but you are always wearing fine clothes
--but whatever you wear, for that matter, is becoming to you. Do
you hear what I say? [_Drawing nearer_.
ALLAN. [_Submissively_] I do.
JUDITH. How can you hear when you keep on figuring, or whatever
you are doing?
ALLAN. I don't use my eyes to listen with.
JUDITH. Your eyes--have you ever looked at them in the mirror?
ALLAN. Go away!
JUDITH. You despise me, do you?
ALLAN. Why, girl, I am not thinking of you at all.
JUDITH. [_Still nearer_] Archimedes is deep in his figures when
the soldier comes and cuts him down.
[_Stirs his papers about with the racket_.
ALLAN. Don't touch my papers!
JUDITH. That's what Archimedes said also. Now you are thinking
something foolish--you are thinking that I can not live without
you---
ALLAN. Why can't you leave me alone?
JUDITH. Be courteous, and I'll help you with your
examinations----
ALLAN. You?
JUDITH. Yes, I know the examiners----
ALLAN. [_Sternly_] And what of it?
JUDITH. Don't you know that one should stand well with the
teachers?
ALLAN. Do you mean your father and the Lieutenant?
JUDITH. And the Colonel!
ALLAN. And then you mean that your protection would enable me to
shirk my work?
JUDITH. You are a bad translator----
ALLAN. Of a bad original----
JUDITH. Be ashamed!
ALLAN. So I am--both on your behalf and my own! I am ashamed of
having listened to you--Why don't you go?
JUDITH. Because I know you appreciate my company--Yes, you
manage always to pass by my window. You have always some errand
that brings you into the city with the same boat that I take.
You cannot go for a sail without having me to look after the jib.
ALLAN. But a young girl shouldn't say that kind of things!
JUDITH. Do you mean to say that I am a child?
ALLAN. Sometimes you are a good child, and sometimes a bad
woman. Me you seem to have picked to be your sheep.
JUDITH. You are a sheep, and that's why I am going to protect
you.
ALLAN. [_Rising_] The wolf makes a poor shepherd! You want to
eat me--that is the secret of it, I suppose. You want to put
your beautiful eyes in pawn to get possession of my head.
JUDITH. Oh, you have been looking at my eyes? I didn't expect
that much courage of you.
ALLAN _collects his papers and starts to go out
toward the right_.
JUDITH _places herself in front of the door_.
ALLAN. Get out of my way, or----
JUDITH. Or?
ALLAN. If you were a boy--bah! But you are a girl.
JUDITH. And then?
ALLAN. If you had any pride at all, you would be gone, as you
may regard yourself as shown the door.
JUDITH. I'll get back at you for that!
ALLAN. I don't doubt it!
JUDITH. [_Goes enraged toward the background_]
I--shall-get--back--at you for that! [_Goes out_.
CURT. [_Enters from the left_] Where are you going, Allan?
ALLAN. Oh, is that you?
CURT. Who was it that left in such hurry--so that the bushes
shook?
ALLAN. It was Judith.
CURT. She is a little impetuous, but a fine girl.
ALLAN. When a girl is cruel and rude, she is always said to be a
fine girl.
CURT. Don't be so severe, Allan! Are you not satisfied with your
new relatives?
ALLAN. I like Uncle Edgar----
CURT. Yes, he has many good sides. How about your other
teachers--the Lieutenant, for instance?
ALLAN. He's so uncertain. Sometimes he seems to have a grudge
against me.
CURT. Oh, no! You just go here and make people "seem" this or
that. Don't brood, but look after your own affairs, do what is
proper, and leave others to their own concerns.
ALLAN. So I do, but--they won't leave me alone. They pull you
in--as the cuttlefish down at the landing--they don't bite, but
they stir up vortices that suck----
CURT. You have some tendency to melancholia, I think. Don't you
feel at home here with me? Is there anything you miss?
ALLAN. I have never been better off, but--there is something
here that smothers me.
CURT. Here by the sea? Are you not fond of the sea?
ALLAN. Yes, the open sea. But along the shores you find
eelgrass, cuttlefish, jellyfish, sea-nettles, or whatever they
are called.
CURT. You shouldn't stay indoors so much. Go out and play tennis.
ALLAN. Oh, that's no fun!
CURT. You are angry with Judith, I guess?
ALLAN. Judith?
CURT. You are so exacting toward people--it is not wise, for
then you become isolated.
ALLAN. I am not exacting, but--It feels as if I were lying at
the bottom of a pile of wood and had to wait my turn to get into
the fire--and it weighs on me--all that is above weighs me down.
CURT. Bide your turn. The pile grows smaller----
ALLAN. Yes, but so slowly, so slowly. And in the meantime I lie
here and grow mouldy.
CURT. It is not pleasant to be young. And yet you young ones are
envied.
ALLAN. Are we? Would you change?
CURT. No, thanks!
ALLAN. Do you know what is worse than anything else? It is to
sit still and keep silent while the old ones talk nonsense--I
know that I am better informed than they on some matters--and
yet I must keep silent. Well, pardon me, I am not counting you
among the old.
CURT. Why not?
ALLAN. Perhaps because we have only just now become
acquainted----
CURT. And because--your ideas of me have undergone a change?
ALLAN. Yes.
CURT. During the years we were separated, I suppose you didn't
always think of me in a friendly way?
ALLAN. No.
CURT. Did you ever see a picture of me?
ALLAN. One, and it was very unfavourable.
CURT. And old-looking?
ALLAN. Yes.
CURT. Ten years ago my hair turned gray in a single night--it
has since then resumed its natural color without my doing
anything for it--Let us talk of something else! There comes your
aunt--my cousin. How do you like her?
ALLAN. I don't want to tell!
CURT. Then I shall not ask you.
ALICE. [_Enters dressed in a very light-colored walking-suit and
carrying a sunshade_] Good morning, Curt.
[_Gives him a glance signifying that_ ALLAN _should
leave_.
CURT. [_To_ Allan] Leave us, please.
ALLAN _goes out to the right_.
ALICE _takes a seat on the sofa to the left_.
CURT _sits down on a chair near her_.
ALICE. [_In some confusion_] He will be here in a moment, so you
need not feel embarrassed.
CURT. And why should I?
ALICE. You, with your strictness----
CURT. Toward myself, yes----
ALICE. Of course--Once I forgot myself, when in you I saw the
liberator, but you kept your self-control--and for that reason
we have a right to forget--what has never been.
CURT. Forget it then!
ALICE. However--I don't think _he_ has forgotten----
CURT. You are thinking of that night when his heart gave out
and he fell on the floor--and when you rejoiced too quickly,
thinking him already dead?
ALICE. Yes. Since then he has recovered; but when he gave up
drinking, he learned to keep silent, and now he is terrible. He
is up to something that I cannot make out----
CURT. Your husband, Alice, is a harmless fool who has shown me
all sorts of kindnesses----
ALICE. Beware of his kindnesses. I know them.
CURT. Well, well----
ALICE. He has then blinded you also? Can you not see the danger?
Don't you notice the snares?
CURT. No.
ALICE. Then your ruin is certain.
CURT. Oh, mercy!
ALICE. Think only, I have to sit here and see disaster stalking
you like a cat--I point at it, but you cannot see it.
CURT. Allan, with his unspoiled vision, cannot see it either. He
sees nothing but Judith, for that matter, and this seems to me a
safeguard of our good relationship.
ALICE. Do you know Judith?
CURT. A flirtatious little thing, with a braid down her back and
rather too short skirts----
ALICE. Exactly! But the other day I saw her dressed up in long
skirts--and then she was a young lady--and not so very young
either, when her hair was put up.
CURT. She is somewhat precocious, I admit.
ALICE. And she is playing with Allan.
CURT. That's all right, so long as it remains play.
ALICE. So _that_ is all right?--Now Edgar will be here soon, and
he will take the easy-chair--he loves it with such passion that
he could steal it.
CURT. Why, he can have it!
ALICE. Let him sit over there, and we'll stay here. And when he
talks--he is always talkative in the morning--when he talks of
insignificant things, I'll translate them for you----
CURT. Oh, my dear Alice, you are too deep, far too deep. What
could I have to fear as long as I look after my quarantine
properly and otherwise behave decently?
ALICE. You believe in justice and honour and all that sort of
thing.
CURT. Yes, and it is what experience has taught me. Once I
believed the very opposite--and paid dearly for it!
ALICE. Now he's coming!
CURT. I have never seen you so frightened before.
ALICE. My bravery was nothing but ignorance of the danger.
CURT. Danger? Soon you'll have me frightened too!
ALICE. Oh, if I only could--There!
_The_ CAPTAIN _enters from the background, in
civilian dress, black Prince Albert buttoned all the
way, military cap, and a cane with silver handle.
He greets them with a nod and goes straight to the
easy-chair, where he sits down_.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Let him speak first.
CAPTAIN. This is a splendid chair you have here, dear Curt;
perfectly splendid.
CURT. I'll give it to you, if you will accept it.
CAPTAIN. That was not what I meant----
CURT. But I mean it seriously. How much have I not received from
you?
CAPTAIN. [_Garrulously_] Oh, nonsense! And when I sit here, I
can overlook the whole island, all the walks; I can see all the
people on their verandahs, all the ships on the sea, that are
coming in and going out. You have really happened on the best
piece of this island, which is certainly not an island of the
blessed. Or what do you say, Alice? Yes, they call it "Little
Hell," and here Curt has built himself a paradise, but without
an Eve, of course, for when she appeared, then the paradise came
to an end. I say--do you know that this was a royal hunting
lodge?
CURT. So I have heard.
CAPTAIN. You live royally, you, but, if I may say so myself, you
have me to thank for it.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] There--now he wants to steal you.
CURT. I have to thank you for a good deal.
CAPTAIN. Fudge! Tell me, did you get the wine cases?
CURT. Yes.
CAPTAIN. And you are satisfied?
CURT. Quite satisfied, and you may tell your dealer so.
CAPTAIN. His goods are always prime quality----
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] At second-rate prices, and you have to pay
the difference.
CAPTAIN. What did you say, Alice?
ALICE. I? Nothing!
CAPTAIN. Well, when this quarantine station was about to be
established, I had in mind applying for the position--and so I
made a study of quarantine methods.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Now he's lying!
CAPTAIN. [_Boastfully_] And I did not share the antiquated
ideas concerning disinfection which were then accepted by the
government. For I placed myself on the side of the Neptunists
--so called because they emphasise the use of water----
CURT. Beg your pardon, but I remember distinctly that it was I
who preached water, and you fire, at that time.
CAPTAIN. I? Nonsense!
ALICE. [_Aloud_] Yes, I remember that, too.
CAPTAIN. You?
CURT. I remember it so much the better because----
CAPTAIN. [_Cutting him short_] Well, it's possible, but it does
not matter. [_Raising his voice_] However--we have now reached
a point where a new state of affairs--[_To_ CURT, _who wants to
interrupt_] just a moment!--has begun to prevail--and when the
methods of quarantining are about to become revolutionized.
CURT. By the by, do you know who is writing those stupid
articles in that periodical?
CAPTAIN. [_Flushing_] No, I don't know, but why do you call them
stupid?
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Look out! It is he who writes them.
CURT. He?--[_To the_ CAPTAIN] Not very well advised, at least.
CAPTAIN. Well, are you the man to judge of that?
ALICE. Are we going to have a quarrel?
CURT. Not at all.
CAPTAIN. It is hard to keep peace on this island, but we ought
to set a good example----
CURT. Yes, can you explain this to me? When I came here I made
friends with all the officials and became especially intimate
with the regimental auditor--as intimate as men are likely to
become at our age. And then, in a little while--it was shortly
after your recovery--one after another began to grow cold toward
me--and yesterday the auditor avoided me on the promenade. I
cannot tell you how it hurt me! [_The_ CAPTAIN _remains silent_]
Have you noticed any ill-feeling toward yourself?
CAPTAIN. No, on the contrary.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Don't you understand that he has been
stealing your friends?
CURT. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] I wondered whether it might have
anything to do with this new stock issue to which I refused to
subscribe.
CAPTAIN. No, no--But can you tell me why you didn't subscribe?
CURT. Because I have already put my small savings into your soda
factory. And also because a new issue means that the old stock
is shaky.
CAPTAIN. [_Preoccupied_] That's a splendid lamp you have. Where
did you get it?
CURT. In the city, of course.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Look out for your lamp!
CURT. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] You must not think that I am ungrateful
or distrustful, Edgar.
CAPTAIN. No, but it shows small confidence to withdraw from an
undertaking which you have helped to start.
CURT. Why, ordinary prudence bids everybody save himself and
what is his.
CAPTAIN. Save? Is there any danger then? Do you think anybody
wants to rob you?
CURT. Why such sharp words?
CAPTAIN. Were you not satisfied when I helped you to place your
money at six per cent.?
CURT. Yes, and even grateful.
CAPTAIN. You are not grateful--it is not in your nature, but
this you cannot help.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Listen to him!
CURT. My nature has shortcomings enough, and my struggle
against them has not been very successful, but I do recognise
obligations----
CAPTAIN. Show it then! [_Reaches out his hand to pick up a
newspaper_] Why, what is this? A death notice? [_Reads_] The
Health Commissioner is dead.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Now he is speculating in the corpse----
CAPTAIN. [_As if to himself_] This is going to bring about
certain--changes----
CURT. In what respect?
CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] That remains to be seen.
ALICE. [_To the_ CAPTAIN] Where are you going?
CAPTAIN. I think I'll have to go to the city--[_Catches sight of
a letter on the writing-table, picks it up as if unconsciously,
reads the address, and puts it back_] Oh, I hope you will pardon
my absent-mindedness.
CURT. No harm done.
CAPTAIN. Why, that's Allan's drawing case. Where is the boy?
CURT. He is out playing with the girls.
CAPTAIN. That big boy? I don't like it. And Judith must not be
running about like that. You had better keep an eye on your
young gentleman, and I'll look after my young lady. [_Goes over
to the piano and strikes a few notes_] Splendid tone in this
instrument. A Steinbech, isn't it?
CURT. A Bechstein.
CAPTAIN. Yes, you are well fixed. Thank me for bringing you here.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] He lies, for he tried to keep you away.
CAPTAIN. Well, good-bye for a while. I am going to take the next
boat.
[_Scrutinises the paintings on the walls as he goes
out_.
ALICE. Well?
CURT. Well?
ALICE. I can't see through his plans yet. But--tell me one
thing. This envelope he looked at--from whom is the letter?
CURT. I am sorry to admit--it was my one secret.
ALICE. And he ferreted it out. Can you see that he knows
witchery, as I have told you before? Is there anything printed
on the envelope?
CURT. Yes--"The Citizens' Union."
ALICE. Then he has guessed your secret. You want to get into
the Riksdag, I suppose. And now you'll see that he goes there
instead of you.
CURT. Has he ever thought of it?
ALICE. No, but he is thinking of it now. I read it on his face
while he was looking at the envelope.
CURT. That's why he has to go to the city?
ALICE. No, he made up his mind to go when he read the death
notice.
CURT. What has he to gain by the death of the Health
Commissioner?
ALICE. Hard to tell! Perhaps the man was an enemy who had stood
in the way of his plans.
CURT. If he be as terrible as you say, then there is reason to
fear him.
ALICE. Didn't you hear how he wanted to steal you, to tie your
hands by means of pretended obligations that do not exist? For
instance, he has done nothing to get you this position, but has,
on the contrary, tried to keep you out of it. He is a man-thief,
an insect, one of those wood-borers that eat up your insides so
that one day you find yourself as hollow as a dying pine tree.
He hates you, although he is bound to you by the memory of your
youthful friendship----
CURT. How keen-witted we are made by our hatreds!
ALICE. And stupid by our loves--blind and stupid!
CURT. Oh, no, don't say that!
ALICE. Do you know what is meant by a vampire? They say it is
the soul of a dead person seeking a body in which it may live
as a parasite. Edgar is dead--ever since he fell down on the
floor that time. You see, he has no interests of his own, no
personality, no initiative. But if he can only get hold of some
other person he hangs on to him, sends down roots into him, and
begins to flourish and blossom. Now he has fastened himself on
you.
CURT. If he comes too close I'll shake him off.
ALICE. Try to shake off a burr! Listen: do you know why he does
not want Judith and Allan to play?
CURT. I suppose he is concerned about their feelings.
ALICE. Not at all. He wants to marry Judith to--the Colonel!
CURT. [_Shocked_] That old widower!
ALICE. Yes.
CURT. Horrible! And Judith?
ALICE. If she could get the General, who is eighty, she would
take him in order to bully the Colonel, who is sixty. To bully,
you know, that's the aim of her life. To trample down and
bully--there you have the motto of _that_ family.
CURT. Can this be Judith? That maiden fair and proud and
splendid?
ALICE. Oh, I know all about that! May I sit here and write a
letter?
CURT. [_Puts the writing-table in order_] With pleasure.
ALICE. [_Takes off her gloves and sits down at the
writing-table_] Now we'll try our hand at the art of war. I
failed once when I tried to slay my dragon. But now I have
mastered the trade.
CURT. Do you know that it is necessary to load before you fire?
ALICE. Yes, and with ball cartridges at that!
CURT _withdraws to the right_.
ALICE _ponders and writes_.
ALLAN _comes rushing in without noticing_ Alice _and
throws himself face downward on the sofa. He is
weeping convulsively into a lace handkerchief_.
ALICE. [_Watches him for a while. Then she rises and goes over
to the sofa. Speaks in a tender voice_] Allan!
ALLAN _sits up disconcertedly and hides the
handkerchief behind his back_.
ALICE. [_Tenderly, womanly, and with true emotion_] You should
not be afraid of me, Allan--I am not dangerous to you--What is
wrong? Are you sick?
ALLAN. Yes.
ALICE. In what way?
ALLAN. I don't know.
ALICE. Have you a headache?
ALLAN. No.
ALICE. And your chest? Pain?
ALLAN. Yes.
ALICE. Pain--pain--as if your heart wanted to melt away. And it
pulls, pulls----
ALLAN. How do you know?
ALICE. And then you wish to die--that you were already
dead--and everything seems so hard. And you can only think of
one thing--always the same--but if two are thinking of the
same thing, then sorrow falls heavily on one of them. [Allan
_forgets himself and begins to pick at the handkerchief_]
That's the sickness which no one can cure. You cannot eat
and you cannot drink; you want only to weep, and you weep so
bitterly--especially out in the woods where nobody can see you,
for at that kind of sorrow all men laugh--men who are so cruel!
Dear me! What do you want of her? Nothing! You don't want to
kiss her mouth, for you feel that you would die if you did. When
your thoughts run to her, you feel as if death were approaching.
And it is death, child--that sort of death--which brings life.
But you don't understand it yet! I smell violets--it is herself.
[_Steps closer to_ ALLAN _and takes the handkerchief gently away
from him._] It is she, it is she everywhere, none but she!
Oh, oh, oh! [ALLAN _cannot help burying his face in_ ALICE's
_bosom_] Poor boy! Poor boy! Oh, how it hurts, how it hurts!
[_Wipes off his tears with the handkerchief_] There, there! Cry
--cry to your heart's content. There now! Then the heart grows
lighter--But now, Allan, rise up and be a man, or she will not
look at you--she, the cruel one, who is not cruel. Has she
tormented you? With the Lieutenant? You must make friends with
the Lieutenant, so that you two can talk of her. That gives a
little ease also.
ALLAN. I don't want to see the Lieutenant!
ALICE. Now look here, little boy, it won't be long before the
Lieutenant seeks you out in order to get a chance to talk of
her. For--[ALLAN _looks up with a ray of hope on his face_]
Well, shall I be nice and tell you? [ALLAN _droops his head_] He
is just as unhappy as you are.
ALLAN. [_Happy_] No?
ALICE. Yes, indeed, and he needs somebody to whom he may
unburden his heart when Judith has wounded him. You seem to
rejoice in advance?
ALLAN. Does she not want the Lieutenant?
ALICE. She does not want you either, dear boy, for she wants
the Colonel. [ALLAN _is saddened again_] Is it raining again?
Well, the handkerchief you cannot have, for Judith _is_ careful
about her belongings and wants her dozen complete. [ALLAN _looks
dashed_] Yes, my boy, such is Judith. Sit over there now, while
I write another letter, and then you may do an errand for me.
[_Sits down at the writing-table and begins to write
again_.
LIEUTENANT. [_Enters from the background, with a melancholy
face, but without being ridiculous. Without noticing_ ALICE
_he makes straight for_ ALLAN] I say, Cadet--[ALLAN _rises and
stands at attention_] Please be seated.
ALICE _watches them_.
_The_ LIEUTENANT _goes up to_ ALLAN _and sits down
beside him. Sighs, takes out a lace handkerchief just
like the other one, and wipes his forehead with it_.
ALLAN _stares greedily at the handkerchief_.
_The_ LIEUTENANT _looks sadly at_ ALLAN.
ALICE. _coughs_.
_The_ LIEUTENANT _jumps up and stands at attention_.
ALICE. Please be seated.
LIEUTENANT. I beg your pardon, madam----
ALICE. Never mind! Please sit down and keep the Cadet
company--he is feeling a little lonely here on the island.
[_Writes_.
LIEUTENANT. [_Conversing with_ ALLAN _in low tone and uneasily_]
It is awfully hot.
ALLAN. Rather.
LIEUTENANT. Have you finished the sixth book yet?
ALLAN. I have just got to the last proposition.
LIEUTENANT. That's a tough one. [_Silence_] Have you--[_seeking
for words_] played tennis to-day?
ALLAN. No-o--the sun was too hot.
LIEUTENANT. [_In despair, but without any comical effect_] Yes,
it's awfully hot to-day!
ALLAN. [_In a whisper_] Yes, it is very hot. [_Silence_.
LIEUTENANT. Have you--been out sailing to-day?
ALLAN. No-o, I couldn't get anybody to tend the jib.
LIEUTENANT. Could you--trust me sufficiently to let me tend the
jib?
ALLAN. [_Respectfully as before_] That would be too great an
honor for me, Lieutenant.
LIEUTENANT. Not at all, not at all! Do you think--the wind might
be good enough to-day--about dinner-time, say, for that's the
only time I am free?
ALLAN. [_Slyly_] It always calms down about dinner-time,
and--that's the time Miss Judith has her lesson.
LIEUTENANT. [_Sadly_] Oh, yes, yes! Hm! Do you think----
ALICE. Would one of you young gentlemen care to deliver a
letter for me? [ALLAN _and the_ LIEUTENANT _exchange glances of
mutual distrust_]--to Miss Judith? [ALLAN _and the_ LIEUTENANT
_jump up and hasten over to_ ALICE, _but not without a certain
dignity meant to disguise their emotion_] Both of you? Well, the
more safely my errand will be attended to. [_Hands the letter
to the_ LIEUTENANT] If you please, Lieutenant, I should like
to have that handkerchief. My daughter is very careful about
her things--there is a touch of pettiness in her nature--Give
me that handkerchief! I don't wish to laugh at you, but you
must not make yourself ridiculous--needlessly. And the Colonel
does not like to play the part of an Othello. [_Takes the
handkerchief_] Away with you now, young men, and try to hide
your feelings as much as you can.
_The_ LIEUTENANT _bows and goes out, followed closely
by_ ALLAN.
ALICE. [_Calls out_] Allan!
ALLAN. [_Stops unwillingly in the doorway_] Yes, Aunt.
ALICE. Stay here, unless you want to inflict more suffering on
yourself than you can bear.
ALLAN. But he is going!
ALICE. Let him burn himself. But take care of yourself.
ALLAN. I don't want to take care of myself.
ALICE. And then you cry afterward. And so I get the trouble of
consoling you.
ALLAN. I want to go!
ALICE. Go then! But come back here, young madcap, and I'll have
the right to laugh at you.
[ALLAN _runs after the_ LIEUTENANT.
[ALICE _writes again._
CURT. [_Enters_] Alice, I have received an anonymous letter that
is bothering me.
ALICE. Have you noticed that Edgar has become another person
since he put off the uniform? I could never have believed that a
coat might make such a difference.
CURT. You didn't answer my question.
ALICE. It was no question. It was a piece of information. What
do you fear?
CURT. Everything!
ALICE. He went to the city. And his trips to the city are always
followed by something dreadful.
CURT. But I can do nothing because I don't know from which
quarter the attack will begin.
ALICE. [_Folding the letter_] We'll see whether I have guessed
it.
CURT. Will you help me then?
ALICE. Yes--but no further than my own interests permit. My
own--that is my children's.
CURT. I understand that! Do you hear how silent everything
is--here on land, out on the sea, everywhere?
ALICE. But behind the silence I hear voices--mutterings, cries!
CURT. Hush! I hear something, too--no, it was only the gulls.
ALICE. But I hear something else! And now I am going to the
post-office--with this letter!
_Curtain_.
_Same stage setting_. ALLAN _is sitting at the
writing-table studying_. JUDITH _is standing in the
doorway. She wears a tennis hat and carries the
handle-bars of a bicycle in one hand_.
JUDITH. Can I borrow your wrench?
ALLAN. [_Without looking up_] No, you cannot.
JUDITH. You are discourteous now, because you think I am running
after you.
ALLAN. [_Without crossness_] I am nothing at all, but I ask
merely to be left alone.
JUDITH. [_Comes nearer_] Allan!
ALLAN. Yes, what is it?
JUDITH. You mustn't be angry with me!
ALLAN. I am not.
JUDITH. Will you give me your hand on that?
ALLAN. [_Kindly_] I don't want to shake hands with you, but I am
not angry--What do you want with me anyhow?
JUDITH. Oh, but you're stupid!
ALLAN. Well, let it go at that.
JUDITH. You think me cruel, and nothing else.
ALLAN. No, for I know that you are kind too--you _can_ be kind!
JUDITH. Well--how can I help--that you and the Lieutenant run
around and weep in the woods? Tell me, why do you weep? [ALLAN
_is embarrassed_] Tell me now--I never weep. And why have you
become such good friends? Of what do you talk while you are
walking about arm in arm? [ALLAN _cannot answer_] Allan, you'll
soon see what kind I am and whether I can strike a blow for one
I like. And I want to give you a piece of advice--although I
have no use for tale-bearing. Be prepared!
ALLAN. For what?
JUDITH. Trouble.
ALLAN. From what quarter?
JUDITH. From the quarter where you least expect it.
ALLAN. Well, I am rather used to disappointment, and life has
not brought me much that was pleasant What's in store now?
JUDITH. [_Pensively_] You poor boy--give me your hand! [ALLAN
_gives her his hand_] Look at me! Don't you dare to look at me?
[ALLAN _rushes out to the left in order to hide his
emotion_.
LIEUTENANT. [_In from the background_] I beg your pardon! I
thought that----
JUDITH. Tell me, Lieutenant, will you be my friend and ally?
LIEUTENANT. If you'll do me the honour----
JUDITH. Yes--a word only--don't desert Allan when disaster
overtakes him.
LIEUTENANT. What disaster?
JUDITH. You'll soon see--this very day perhaps. Do you like
Allan?
LIEUTENANT. The young man is my best pupil, and I value him
personally also on account of his strength of character--Yes,
life has moments when strength is required [_with emphasis_] to
bear up, to endure, to suffer, in a word!
JUDITH. That was more than one word, I should say. However, you
like Allan?
LIEUTENANT. Yes.
JUDITH. Look him up then, and keep him company.
LIEUTENANT. It was for that purpose I came here--for that and no
other. I had no other object in my visit.
JUDITH. I had not supposed anything of that kind--of the kind
you mean! Allan went that way.
[_Pointing to the left_.
LIEUTENANT. [_Goes reluctantly to the left_] Yes--I'll do what
you ask.
JUDITH. Do, please.
ALICE. [_In from the background_] What are you doing here?
JUDITH. I wanted to borrow a wrench.
ALICE. Will you listen to me a moment?
JUDITH. Of course, I will.
[ALICE _sits down on the sofa._
JUDITH. [_Remains standing_] But tell me quickly what you want
to say. I don't like long lectures.
ALICE. Lectures? Well, then--put up your hair and put on a long
dress.
JUDITH. Why?
ALICE. Because you are no longer a child. And you are young
enough to need no coquetry about your age.
JUDITH. What does that mean?
ALICE. That you have reached marriageable age. And your way of
dressing is causing scandal.
JUDITH. Then I shall do what you say.
ALICE. You have understood then?
JUDITH. Oh, yes.
ALICE. And we are agreed?
JUDITH. Perfectly.
ALICE. On all points?
JUDITH. Even the tenderest!
ALICE. Will you at the same time cease playing--with Allan?
JUDITH. It is going to be serious then?
ALICE. Yes.
JUDITH. Then we may just as well begin at once.
_She has already laid aside the handle-bars. Now she lets down
the bicycle skirt and twists her braid into a knot which she
fastens on top of her head with a hair-pin taken out of her
mother's hair_.
ALICE. It is not proper to make your toilet in a strange place.
JUDITH. Am I all right this way? Then I am ready. Come now who
dares!
ALICE. Now at last you look decent. And leave Allan in peace
after this.
JUDITH. I don't understand what you mean?
ALICE. Can't you see that he is suffering?
JUDITH. Yes, I think I have noticed it, but I don't know why. I
don't suffer!
ALICE. That is _your_ strength. But the day will come--oh,
yes, you shall know what it means. Go home now, and don't
forget--that you are wearing a long skirt.
JUDITH. Must you walk differently then?
ALICE. Just try.
JUDITH. [_Tries to walk like a lady_] Oh, my feet are tied; I am
caught, I cannot run any longer!
ALICE. Yes, child, now the walking begins, along the slow road
toward the unknown, which you know already, but must pretend to
ignore. Shorter steps, and much slower--much slower! The low
shoes of childhood must go, Judith, and you have to wear boots.
You don't remember when you laid aside baby socks and put on
shoes, but I do!
JUDITH. I can never stand this!
ALICE. And yet you must--must!
JUDITH. [_Goes over to her mother and kisses her lightly on the
cheek; then walks out with the dignified bearing of a lady, but
forgetting the handle-bars_] Good-bye then!
CURT. [_Enters from the right_] So you're already here?
ALICE. Yes.
CURT. Has _he_ come back?
ALICE. Yes.
CURT. How did he appear?
ALICE. In full dress--so he has called on the Colonel. And he
wore two orders.
CURT. Two? I knew he was to receive the Order of the Sword on
his retirement. But what can the other one be?
ALICE. I am not very familiar with those things, but there was a
white cross within a red one.
CURT. It is a Portuguese order then. Let me see--tell me, didn't
his articles in that periodical deal with quarantine stations in
Portuguese harbours?
ALICE. Yes, as far as I can recall.
CURT. And he has never been in Portugal?
ALICE. Never.
CURT. But I have been there.
ALICE. You shouldn't be so communicative. His ears and his
memory are so good.
CURT. Don't you think Judith may have helped him to this honour?
ALICE. Well, I declare! There are limits--[rising] and you have
passed them.
CURT. Are we to quarrel now?
ALICE. That depends on you. Don't meddle with my interests.
CURT. If they cross my own, I have to meddle with them, although
with a careful hand. Here he comes!
ALICE. And now it is going to happen.
CURT. What is--going to happen?
ALICE. We shall see!
CURT. Let it come to open attack then, for this state of siege
is getting on my nerves. I have not a friend left on the island.
ALICE. Wait a minute! You sit on this side--he must have the
easy-chair, of course--and then I can prompt you.
CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the background, in full dress uniform,
wearing the Order of the Sword and the Portuguese Order of
Christ_] Good day! Here's the meeting place.
ALICE. You are tired--sit down. [_The_ CAPTAIN, _contrary
to expectation, takes a seat on the sofa to the left_] Make
yourself comfortable.
CAPTAIN. This is all right. You're too kind.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Be careful--he's suspicious of us.
CAPTAIN. [_Crossly_] What was that you said?
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] He must have been drinking.
CAPTAIN. [_Rudely_] No-o, he has not. [_Silence_] Well--how have
you been amusing yourselves?
ALICE. And you?
CAPTAIN. Are you looking at my orders?
ALICE. No-o!
CAPTAIN. I guess not, because you are jealous--Other-wise it is
customary to offer congratulations to the recipient of honours.
ALICE. We congratulate you.
CAPTAIN. We get things like these instead of laurel wreaths,
such as they give to actresses.
ALICE. That's for the wreaths at home on the walls of the
tower----
CAPTAIN. Which your brother gave you----
ALICE. Oh, how you talk!
CAPTAIN. Before which I have had to bow down these twenty-five
years--and which it has taken me twenty-five years to expose.
ALICE. You have seen my brother?
CAPTAIN. Rather! [Alice _is crushed. Silence_] And you,
Curt--you don't say anything, do you?
CURT. I am waiting.
CAPTAIN. Well, I suppose you know the big news?
CURT. No.
CAPTAIN. It is not exactly agreeable for me to be the one who----
CURT. Oh, speak up!
CAPTAIN. The soda factory has gone to the wall----
CURT. That's decidedly unpleasant! Where does that leave you?
CAPTAIN. I am all right, as I sold out in time.
CURT. That was sensible.
CAPTAIN. But how about you?
CURT. Done for!
CAPTAIN. It's your own fault. You should have sold out in time,
or taken new stock.
CURT. So that I could lose that too.
CAPTAIN. No, for then the company would have been all right.
CURT. Not the company, but the directors, for in my mind that
new subscription was simply a collection for the benefit of the
board.
CAPTAIN. And now I ask whether such a view of the matter will
save your money?
CURT. No, I shall have to give up everything.
CAPTAIN. Everything?
CURT. Even my home, the furniture----
CAPTAIN. But that's dreadful!
CURT. I have experienced worse things. [_Silence_.
CAPTAIN. That's what happens when amateurs want to speculate.
CURT. You surprise me, for you know very well that if I
had not subscribed, I should have been boycotted. The
supplementary livelihood of the coast population, toilers
of the sea, inexhaustible capital, inexhaustible as the sea
itself--philanthropy and national prosperity--Thus you wrote and
printed--And now you speak of it as speculation!
CAPTAIN. [_Unmoved_] What are you going to do now?
CURT. Have an auction, I suppose.
CAPTAIN. You had better.
CURT. What do you mean?
CAPTAIN. What I said! For there [_slowly_] are going to be some
changes----
CURT. On the island?
CAPTAIN. Yes--as, for instance,--your quarters are going to be
exchanged for somewhat simpler ones.
CURT. Well, well.
CAPTAIN. Yes, the plan is to place the quarantine station on the
outside shore, near the water.
CURT. My original idea!
CAPTAIN. [_Dryly_] I don't know about that--for I am not
familiar with your ideas on the subject. However it seems then
quite natural that you dispose of the furniture, and it will
attract much less notice--the scandal!
CURT. What?
CAPTAIN. The scandal! [_Egging himself on_] For it is a scandal
to come to a new place and immediately get into financial
troubles which must result in a lot of annoyance to the
relatives--particularly to the relatives.
CURT. Oh, I guess I'll have to bear the worst of it.
CAPTAIN. I'll tell you one thing, my dear Curt: if I had not
stood by you in this matter, you would have lost your position.
CURT. That too?
CAPTAIN. It comes rather hard for you to keep things in
order--complaints have been made against your work.
CURT. Warranted complaints?
CAPTAIN. Yah! For you are--in spite of your other respectable
qualities--a careless fellow--Don't interrupt me! You are a very
careless fellow!
CURT. How strange!
CAPTAIN. However--the suggested change is going to take place
very soon. And I should advise you to hold the auction at once
or sell privately.
CURT. Privately? And where could I find a buyer in this place?
CAPTAIN. Well, I hope you don't expect me to settle down in the
midst of your things? That would make a fine story--[_staccato_]
hm!--especially when I--think of what happened--once upon a
time----
CURT. What was that? Are you referring to what did _not_ happen?
CAPTAIN. [_Turning about_] You are so silent, Alice? What is the
matter, old girl? Not blue, I hope?
ALICE. I sit here and think----
CAPTAIN. Goodness! Are you thinking? But you have to think
quickly, keenly, and correctly, if it is to be of any help! So
do your thinking now--one, two, three! Ha-ha! You can't! Well,
then, I must try--Where is Judith?
ALICE. Somewhere.
CAPTAIN. Where is Allan? [ALICE _remains silent_] Where is the
Lieutenant? [ALICE _as before_] I say, Curt--what are you going
to do with Allan now?
CURT. Do with him?
CAPTAIN. Yes, you cannot afford to keep him in the artillery now.
CURT. Perhaps not.
CAPTAIN. You had better get him into some cheap infantry
regiment--up in Norrland, or somewhere.
CURT. In Norrland?
CAPTAIN. Yes, or suppose you turned him into something practical
at once? If I were in your place, I should get him into
some business office--why not? [CURT _is silent_] In these
enlightened times--yah! Alice is so _uncommonly_ silent! Yes,
children, this is the seesawing seesaw board of life--one moment
high up, looking boldly around, and the next way down, and then
upward again, and so on--So much for that--[_To_ ALICE] Did you
say anything? [ALICE _shakes her head_] We may expect company
here in a few days.
ALICE. Were you speaking to me?
CAPTAIN. We may expect company in a few days--notable company!
ALICE. Who?
CAPTAIN. Behold--you're interested! Now you can sit there and
guess who is coming, and between guesses you may read this
letter over again. [_Hands her an opened letter_.
ALICE. My letter? Opened? Back from the mail?
CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] Yes, as the head of the family and your
guardian, I look after the sacred interests of the family, and
with iron hand I shall cut short every effort to break the
family ties by means of criminal correspondence. Yah! [ALICE
_is crushed_] I am not dead, you know, but don't take offence
now because I am going to raise us all out of undeserved
humility--undeserved on my own part, at least!
ALICE. Judith! Judith!
CAPTAIN. And Holofernes? I, perhaps? Pooh!
[_Goes out through the background_.
CURT. Who is that man?
ALICE. How can I tell?
CURT. We are beaten.
ALICE. Yes--beyond a doubt.
CURT. He has stripped me of everything, but so cleverly that I
can accuse him of nothing.
ALICE. Why, no--you owe him a debt of gratitude instead!
CURT. Does he know what he is doing?
ALICE. No, I don't think so. He follows his nature and his
instincts, and just now he seems to be in favour where fortune
and misfortune are being meted out.
CURT. I suppose it's the Colonel who is to come here.
ALICE. Probably. And that is why Allan must go.
CURT. And you find that right?
ALICE. Yes.
CURT. Then our ways part.
ALICE. [_Ready to go_] A little--but we shall come together
again.
CURT. Probably.
ALICE. And do you know where?
CURT. Here.
ALICE. You guess it?
CURT. That's easy! He takes the house and buys the furniture.
ALICE. I think so, too. But don't desert me!
CURT. Not for a little thing like that.
ALICE. Good-bye. [_Goes_.
CURT. Good-bye.
_Curtain_.
_Same stage setting, but the day is cloudy and it is
raining outside_.
ALICE _and_ CURT _enter from the background, wearing
rain coats and carrying umbrellas_.
ALICE. At last I have got you to come here! But, I cannot be so
cruel as to wish you welcome to your own home----
CURT. Oh, why not? I have passed through three forced sales--and
worse than that--It doesn't matter to me.
ALICE. Did he call you?
CURT. It was a formal command, but on what basis I don't
understand.
ALICE. Why, he is not your superior!
CURT. No, but he has made himself king of the island. And if
there be any resistance, he has only to mention the Colonel's
name, and everybody submits. Tell me, is it to-day the Colonel
is coming?
ALICE. He is expected--but I know nothing with certainty--Sit
down, please.
CURT. [_Sitting down_] Nothing has been changed here.
ALICE. Don't think of it! Don't renew the pain!
CURT. The pain? I find it merely a little strange. Strange as
the man himself. Do you know, when I made his acquaintance as
a boy, I fled him. But he was after me. Flattered, offered
services, and surrounded me with ties--I repeated my attempt at
escape, but in vain--And now I am his slave!
ALICE. And why? He owes you a debt, but you appear as the debtor.
CURT. Since I lost all I had, he has offered me help in getting
Allan through his examinations----
ALICE. For which you will have to pay dearly! You are still a
candidate for the Riksdag?
CURT. Yes, and, so far as I can see, there is nothing in my way.
[_Silence_.
ALICE. Is Allan really going to leave to-day?
CURT. Yes, if I cannot prevent it.
ALICE. That was a short-lived happiness.
CURT. Short-lived as everything but life itself, which lasts all
too long.
ALICE. Too long, indeed!--Won't you come in and wait in the
sitting-room? Even if it does not trouble you, it troubles
me--these surroundings!
CURT. If you wish it----
ALICE. I feel ashamed, so ashamed that I could wish to die--but
I can alter nothing!
CURT. Let us go then--as you wish it.
ALICE. And somebody is coming too.
[_They go out to the left_.
_The_ CAPTAIN _and_ ALLAN _enter from the background,
both in uniform and wearing cloaks_.
CAPTAIN. Sit down, my boy, and let me have a talk with you.
[_Sits down in the easy-chair_.
[Allan _sits down on the chair to the left_.
CAPTAIN. It's raining to-day--otherwise I could sit here
comfortably and look at the sea. [_Silence_] Well?--You don't
like to go, do you?
ALLAN. I don't like to leave my father.
CAPTAIN. Yes, your father--he is rather an unfortunate man.
[_Silence_] And parents rarely understand the true welfare of
their children. That is to say--there are exceptions, of course.
Hm! Tell me, Allan, have you any communication with your mother?
ALLAN. Yes, she writes now and then----
CAPTAIN. Do you know that she is your guardian?
ALLAN. Yes.
CAPTAIN. Now, Allan, do you know that your mother has authorised
me to act in her place?
ALLAN. I didn't know that!
CAPTAIN. Well, you know it now. And, therefore, all discussions
concerning your career are done with--And you are going to
Norrland.
ALLAN. But I have no money.
CAPTAIN. I have arranged for what you need.
ALLAN. All I can do then is to thank you, Uncle.
CAPTAIN. Yes, _you_ are grateful--which everybody is not.
Hm!--[_Raising his voice_] The Colonel--do you know the Colonel?
ALLAN. [_Embarrassed_] No, I don't.
CAPTAIN. [_With emphasis_] The Colonel--is my special
friend--[_a little more hurriedly_] as you know, perhaps. Hm!
The Colonel has wished to show his interest in my family,
including my wife's relatives. Through his intercession, the
Colonel has been able to provide the means needed for the
completion of your course. Now you understand the obligation
under which you and your father are placed toward the Colonel.
Have I spoken with sufficient plainness? [ALLAN _bows_] Go and
pack your things now. The money will be handed to you at the
landing. And now good-bye, my boy. [_Holds out a finger to_
ALLAN] Good-bye then.
[_Rises and goes out to the right_.
[ALLAN, _alone, stands still, looking sadly around
the room_.
JUDITH. [_Enters from the background, wearing a hooded rain coat
and carrying an umbrella; otherwise exquisitely dressed, in long
skirt and with her hair put up_] Is that you, Allan!
ALLAN. [_Turning around, surveys_ JUDITH _carefully_] Is that
you, Judith?
JUDITH. You don't know me any longer? Where have you been all
this time? What are you looking at? My long dress--and my
hair--You have not seen me like this before?
ALLAN. No-o----
JUDITH. Do I look like a married woman?
[ALLAN _turns away from her_.
JUDITH. [_Earnestly_] What are you doing here?
ALLAN. I am saying good-bye.
JUDITH. What? You are going--away?
ALLAN. I am transferred to Norrland.
JUDITH. [_Dumfounded_] To Norrland? When are you going?
ALLAN. To-day.
JUDITH. Whose doing is this?
ALLAN. Your father's.
JUDITH. That's what I thought! [_Walks up and down the floor,
stamping her feet_] I wish you had stayed over to-day.
ALLAN. In order to meet the Colonel?
JUDITH. What do you know about the Colonel?--Is it certain that
you are going?
ALLAN. There is no other choice. And now I want it myself.
[_Silence_.
JUDITH. Why do you want it now?
ALLAN. I want to get away from here--out into the world!
JUDITH. It's too close here? Yes, Allan, I understand you--it's
unbearable here--here, where they speculate--in soda and human
beings! [Silence.
JUDITH. [_With genuine emotion_] As you know, Allan, I possess
that fortunate nature which cannot suffer--but--now I am
learning!
ALLAN. You?
JUDITH. Yes--now it's beginning! [_She presses both hands to her
breast_] Oh, how it hurts--oh!
ALLAN. What is it?
JUDITH. I don't know--I choke--I think I'm going to die!
ALLAN. Judith?
JUDITH. [_Crying out_] Oh! Is this the way it feels? Is this the
way--poor boys!
ALLAN. I should smile, if I were as cruel as you are.
JUDITH. I am not cruel, but I didn't know better--You must not
go!
ALLAN. I have to!
JUDITH. Go then--but give me a keepsake!
ALLAN. What have I to give you?
JUDITH. [_With all the seriousness of deepest suffering_]
You!--No, I can never live through this! [_Cries out, pressing
her breast with both hands_] I suffer, I suffer--What have
you done to me? I don't want to live any longer! Allan, don't
go--not alone! Let us go together--we'll take the small
boat, the little white one--and we'll sail far out, with the
main sheet made fast--the wind is high--and we sail till we
founder out there, way out, where there is no eelgrass and no
jelly-fish--What do you say?--But we should have washed the
sails yesterday--they should be white as snow--for I want to see
white in that moment--and you swim with your arm about me until
you grow tired--and then we sink--[_Turning around_] There would
be style in that, a good deal more style than in going about
here lamenting and smuggling letters that will be opened and
jeered at by father--Allan! [_She takes hold of both his arms
and shakes him_] Do you hear?
ALLAN. [_Who has been watching her with shining eyes_] Judith!
Judith! Why were you not like this before?
JUDITH. I didn't know--how could I tell what I didn't know?
ALLAN. And now I must go away from you! But I suppose it is the
better, the only thing! I cannot compete with a man--like----
JUDITH. Don't speak of the Colonel!
ALLAN. Is it not true?
JUDITH. It is true--and it is not true.
ALLAN. Can it become wholly untrue?
JUDITH. Yes, so it shall--within an hour!
ALLAN. And you keep your word? I can wait, I can suffer, I can
work--Judith!
JUDITH. Don't go yet! How long must I wait?
ALLAN. A year.
JUDITH. [_Exultantly_] One? I shall wait a thousand years,
and if you do not come then, I shall turn the dome of heaven
upside down and make the sun rise in the west--Hush, somebody
is coming! Allan, we must part--take me into your arms! [_They
embrace each other_] But you must not kiss me. [_Turns her head
away_] There, go now! Go now!
ALLAN _goes toward the background and puts on his
cloak. Then they rush into each other's arms so
that_ JUDITH _disappears beneath the cloak, and for
a moment they exchange kisses_. ALLAN _rushes out_.
JUDITH _throws herself face downward on the sofa and
sobs_.
ALLAN. [_Comes back and kneels beside the sofa_] No, I cannot
go! I cannot go away from you--not now!
JUDITH. [_Rising_] If you could only see how beautiful you are
now! If you could only see yourself!
ALLAN. Oh, no, a man cannot be beautiful. But you, Judith!
You--that you--oh, I saw that, when you were kind, another
Judith appeared--and she's mine!--But if you don't keep faith
with me now, then I shall die!
JUDITH. I think I am dying even now--Oh, that I might die now,
just now, when I am so happy----
ALLAN. Somebody is coming!
JUDITH. Let them come! I fear nothing in the world hereafter.
But I wish you could take me along under your cloak. [_She
hides herself in play under his cloak_] And then I should fly
with you to Norrland. What are we to do in Norrland? Become a
Fusilier--one of those that wear plumes on their hats? There's
style in that, and it will be becoming to you.
[_Plays with his hair._
ALLAN _kisses the tips of her fingers, one by
one--and then he kisses her shoe_.
JUDITH. What are you doing, Mr. Madcap? Your lips will get
black. [_Rising impetuously_] And then I cannot kiss you when
you go! Come, and I'll go with you!
ALLAN. No, then I should be placed under arrest.
JUDITH. I'll go with you to the guard-room.
ALLAN. They wouldn't let you! We must part now!
JUDITH. I am going to swim after the steamer--and then you jump
in and save me--and it gets into the newspapers, and we become
engaged. Shall we do that?
ALLAN. You can still jest?
JUDITH. There will always be time for tears--Say good-bye
now!----
_They rush into each other's arms; then_ ALLAN
_withdraws slowly through the door in the
background,_ JUDITH _following him; the door remains
open after them; they embrace again outside, in the
rain_.
ALLAN. You'll get wet, Judith.
JUDITH. What do I care!
_They tear themselves away from each other_. ALLAN
_leaves_. JUDITH _remains behind, exposing herself to
the rain and to the wind, which strains at her hair
and her clothes while she is waving her handkerchief.
Then_ JUDITH _runs back into the room and throws
herself on the sofa, with her face buried in her
hands_.
ALICE. [_Enters and goes over to_ JUDITH] What is this?--Get up
and let me look at you.
[JUDITH _sits up_.
ALICE. [_Scrutinising her_] You are not sick--And I am not going
to console you. [_Goes out to the right_.
_The_ LIEUTENANT _enters from the background_.
JUDITH. [_Gets up and puts on the hooded coat_] Come along to
the telegraph office, Lieutenant.
LIEUTENANT. If I can be of any service--but I don't think it's
quite proper----
JUDITH. So much the better! I want you to compromise me--but
without any illusions on your part--Go ahead, please! [_They go
out through the background_.
_The_ CAPTAIN _and_ ALICE _enter from the right; he
is in undress uniform_.
CAPTAIN. [_Sits down in the easy-chair_] Let him come in.
ALICE _goes over to the door on the left and opens
it, whereupon she sits down on the sofa_.
CURT. [_Enters from the left_] You want to speak to me?
CAPTAIN. [_Pleasantly, but somewhat condescendingly_] Yes, I
have quite a number of important things to tell you. Sit down.
CURT. [_Sits down on the chair to the left_] I am all ears.
CAPTAIN. Well, then!--[_Bumptiously_] You know that our
quarantine system has been neglected during nearly a century--hm!
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] That's the candidate for the Riksdag who
speaks now.
CAPTAIN. But with the tremendous development witnessed by our
own day in----
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] The communications, of course!
CAPTAIN.--all kinds of ways the government has begun to
consider improvements. And for this purpose the Board of Health
has appointed inspectors--hm!
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] He's giving dictation.
CAPTAIN. You may as well learn it now as later--I have been
appointed an inspector of quarantines. [_Silence_.
CURT. I congratulate--and pay my respects to my superior at the
same time.
CAPTAIN. On account of ties of kinship our personal relations
will remain unchanged. However--to speak of other things--At
my request your son Allan has been transferred to an infantry
regiment in Norrland.
CURT. But I don't want it.
CAPTAIN. Your will in this case is subordinate to the mother's
wishes--and as the mother has authorised me to decide, I have
formed this decision.
CURT. I admire you!
CAPTAIN. Is that the only feeling you experience at this moment
when you are to part from your son? Have you no other purely
human feelings?
CURT. You mean that I ought to be suffering?
CAPTAIN. Yes.
CURT. It would please you if I suffered. You wish me to suffer.
CAPTAIN. _You_ suffer?--Once I was taken sick--you were present
and I can still remember that your face expressed nothing but
undisguised pleasure.
ALICE. That is not true! Curt sat beside your bed all night
and calmed you down when your qualms of conscience became too
violent--but when you recovered you ceased to be thankful for
it----
CAPTAIN. [_Pretending not to hear_ Alice] Consequently Allan
will have to leave us.
CURT. And who is going to pay for it?
CAPTAIN. I have done so already--that is to say, we--a syndicate
of people interested in the young man's future.
CURT. A syndicate?
CAPTAIN. Yes--and to make sure that everything is all right you
can look over these subscription lists.
[_Hands him some papers_.
CURT. Lists? [_Reading the papers_] These are begging letters?
CAPTAIN. Call them what you please.
CURT. Have you gone begging on behalf of my son?
CAPTAIN. Are you ungrateful again? An ungrateful man is the
heaviest burden borne by the earth.
CURT. Then I am dead socially! And my candidacy is done for!
CAPTAIN. What candidacy?
CURT. For the Riksdag, of course.
CAPTAIN. I hope you never had any such notions--particularly as
you might have guessed that I, as an older resident, intended to
offer my own services, which you seem to underestimate.
CURT. Oh, well, then that's gone, too!
CAPTAIN. It doesn't seem to trouble you very much.
CURT. Now you have taken everything--do you want more?
CAPTAIN. Have you anything more? And have you anything to
reproach me with? Consider carefully if you have anything to
reproach me with.
CURT. Strictly speaking, no! Everything has been correct and
legal as it should be between honest citizens in the course of
daily life----
CAPTAIN. You say this with a resignation which I would call
cynical. But your entire nature has a cynical bent, my dear
Curt, and there are moments when I feel tempted to share
Alice's opinion of you--that you are a hypocrite, a hypocrite of
the first water.
CURT. [_Calmly_] So that's Alice's opinion?
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] It was--once. But not now, for it takes true
heroism to bear what you have borne--or it takes something else!
CAPTAIN. Now I think the discussion may be regarded as closed.
You, Curt, had better go and say good-bye to Allan, who is
leaving with the next boat.
CURT. [_Rising_] So soon? Well, I have gone through worse things
than that.
CAPTAIN. You say that so often that I am beginning to wonder
what you went through in America?
CURT. What I went through? I went through misfortunes. And it is
the unmistakable right of every human being to suffer misfortune.
CAPTAIN. [_Sharply_] There are self-inflicted misfortunes--were
yours of that kind?
CURT. Is not this a question of conscience?
CAPTAIN. [_Brusquely_] Do you mean to say you have a conscience?
CURT. There are wolves and there are sheep, and no human being
is honoured by being a sheep. But I'd rather be that than a wolf!
CAPTAIN. You don't recognise the old truth, that everybody is
the maker of his own fortune?
CURT. Is _that_ a truth?
CAPTAIN. And you don't know that a man's own strength----
CURT. Yes, I know that from the night when your own strength
failed you, and you lay flat on the floor.
CAPTAIN. [_Raising his voice_] A deserving man like myself
--yes, look at me--For fifty years I have fought--against
a world--but at last I have won the game, by perseverance,
loyalty, energy, and--integrity!
ALICE. You should leave that to be said by others!
CAPTAIN. The others won't say it because they are jealous.
However--we are expecting company--my daughter Judith will
to-day meet her intended--Where is Judith?
ALICE. She is out.
CAPTAIN. In the rain? Send for her.
CURT. Perhaps I may go now?
CAPTAIN. No, you had better stay. Is Judith dressed--Properly?
ALICE. Oh, so-so--Have you definite word from the Colonel that
he is coming?
CAPTAIN. [_Rising_] Yes--that is to say, he will take us by
surprise, as it is termed. And I am expecting a telegram from
him--any moment. [_Goes to the right_] I'll be back at once.
ALICE. There you see him as he is! Can he be called human?
CURT. When you asked that question once before, I answered no.
Now I believe him to be the commonest kind of human being of the
sort that possess the earth. Perhaps we, too, are of the same
kind--making use of other people and of favourable opportunities?
ALICE. He has eaten you and yours alive--and you defend him?
CURT. I have suffered worse things. And this man-eater has left
my soul unharmed--_that_ he couldn't swallow!
ALICE. What "worse" have you suffered?
CURT. And _you_ ask that?
ALICE. Do you wish to be rude?
CURT. No, I don't wish to--and therefore--don't ask again!
CAPTAIN. [_Enters from the right_] The telegram was already
there, however--Please read it, Alice, for I cannot see--[_Seats
himself pompously in the easy-chair_] Read it! You need not go,
Curt.
ALICE _glances through the telegram quickly and looks
perplexed_.
CAPTAIN. Well? Don't you find it pleasing?
[ALICE _stares in silence at the_ CAPTAIN.
CAPTAIN. [_Ironically_] Who is it from?
ALICE. From the Colonel.
CAPTAIN. [_With self-satisfaction_] So I thought--and what does
the Colonel say?
ALICE. This is what he says: "On account of Miss Judith's
impertinent communication over the telephone, I consider the
relationship ended--for ever!"
[_Looks intently at the_ CAPTAIN.
CAPTAIN. Once more, if you please.
ALICE. [_Reads rapidly_] "On account of Miss Judith's
impertinent communication over the telephone, I consider the
relationship ended--for ever!"
CAPTAIN. [_Turns pale_] It is Judith!
ALICE. And there is Holofernes!
CAPTAIN. And what are you?
ALICE. Soon you will see!
CAPTAIN. This is your doing!
ALICE. No!
CAPTAIN. [_In a rage_] This is your doing!
ALICE. No! [_The_ Captain _tries to rise and draw his sabre, but
falls back, touched by an apoplectic stroke_] There you got what
was coming to you!
CAPTAIN. [_With senile tears in his voice_] Don't be angry at
me--I am very sick----
ALICE. Are you? I am glad to hear it.
CURT. Let us put him to bed.
ALICE. No, I don't want to touch him. [_Rings_.
CAPTAIN. [_As before_] You must not be angry at me! [_To_ CURT]
Look after my children!
CURT. This is sublime! I am to look after his children, and he
has stolen mine!
ALICE. Always the same self-deception!
CAPTAIN. Look after my children! [_Continues to mumble
unintelligibly_] Blub-blub-blub-blub.
ALICE. At last that tongue is checked! Can brag no more, lie no
more, wound no more! You, Curt, who believe in God, give Him
thanks on my behalf. Thank Him for my liberation from the tower,
from the wolf, from the vampire!
CURT. Not that way, Alice!
ALICE. [_With her face close to the_ CAPTAIN's] Where is your
own strength now? Tell me? Where is your energy? [_The_ CAPTAIN,
_speechless, spits in her face_] Oh, you can still squirt venom,
you viper--then I'll tear the tongue out of your throat! [_Cuffs
him on the ear_] The head is off, but still it blushes!--O,
Judith, glorious girl, whom I have carried like vengeance under
my heart--you, you have set us free, all of us!--? If you have
more heads than one, Hydra, we'll take them! [_Pulls his beard_]
Think only that justice exists on the earth! Sometimes I dreamed
it, but I could never believe it. Curt, ask God to pardon me for
misjudging Him. Oh, there is justice! So I will become a sheep,
too! Tell Him that, Curt! A little success makes us better, but
adversity alone turns us into wolves.
_The_ LIEUTENANT _enters from the background_.
ALICE. The Captain has had a stroke--will you please help us to
roll out the chair?
LIEUTENANT. Madam----
ALICE. What is it?
LIEUTENANT. Well, Miss Judith----
ALICE. Help us with this first--then you can speak of Miss
Judith afterward.
[_The_ LIEUTENANT _rolls out the chair to the right_.
ALICE. Away with the carcass! Out with it, and let's open
the doors! The place must be aired! [_Opens the doors in the
background; the sky has cleared_] Ugh!
CURT. Are you going to desert him?
ALICE. A wrecked ship is deserted, and the crew save their
lives--I'll not act as undertaker to a rotting beast! Drainmen
and dissectors may dispose of him! A garden bed would be too
good for that barrowful of filth! Now I am going to wash and
bathe myself in order to get rid of all this impurity--if I can
ever cleanse myself completely!
JUDITH _is seen outside, by the balustrade, waving
her handkerchief toward the sea_.
CURT. [_Toward the background_] Who is there? Judith! [_Calls
out_] Judith!
JUDITH.[_Cries out as she enters_] He is gone!
CURT. Who?
JUDITH. Allan is gone!
CURT. Without saying good-bye?
JUDITH. He did to me, and he sent his love to you, Uncle.
ALICE. Oh, that was it!
JUDITH. [_Throwing herself into_ CURT's _arms_] He is gone!
CURT. He will come back, little girl.
ALICE. Or we will go after him!
CURT. [_With a gesture indicating the door on the right_] And
leave him? What would the world----
ALICE. The world--bah! Judith, come into my arms! [JUDITH _goes
up to_ ALICE, _who kisses her on the forehead_] Do you want to
go after him?
JUDITH. How can you ask?
ALICE. But your father is sick.
JUDITH. What do I care!
ALICE. This is Judith! Oh, I love you, Judith!
JUDITH. And besides, papa is never mean--and he doesn't like
cuddling. There's style to papa, after all.
ALICE. Yes, in a way!
JUDITH. And I don't think he is longing for me after that
telephone message--Well, why should he pester me with an old
fellow? No, Allan, Allan! [_Throws herself into_ CURT's _arms_]
I want to go to Allan!
_Tears herself loose again and runs out to wave her
handkerchief_
[CURT _follows her and waves his handkerchief also_.
ALICE. Think of it, that flowers can grow out of dirt!
_The_ LIEUTENANT _in from the right_.
ALICE. Well?
LIEUTENANT. Yes, Miss Judith----
ALICE. Is the feeling of those letters that form her name so
sweet on your lips that it makes you forget him who is dying?
LIEUTENANT. Yes, but she said----
ALICE. She? Say rather Judith then! But first of all--how goes
it in there?
LIEUTENANT. Oh, in there--it's all over!
ALICE. All over? O, God, on my own behalf and that of all
mankind, I thank Thee for having freed us from this evil!
Your arm, if you please--I want to go outside and get a
breath--breathe!
[_The_ LIEUTENANT _offers his arm_.
ALICE. [_Checks herself_] Did he say anything before the end
came?
LIEUTENANT. Miss Judith's father spoke a few words only.
ALICE. What did he say?
LIEUTENANT. He said: "Forgive them, for they know not what they
do!"
ALICE. Inconceivable!
LIEUTENANT. Yes, Miss Judith's father was a good and noble man.
ALICE. Curt!
CURT _Enters_.
ALICE. It is over!
CURT. Oh!
ALICE. Do you know what his last words were? No, you can never
guess it. "Forgive them, for they know not what they do!"
CURT. Can you translate it?
ALICE. I suppose he meant that he had always done right and died
as one that had been wronged by life.
CURT. I am sure his funeral sermon will be fine.
ALICE. And plenty of flowers--from the non-commissioned officers.
CURT. Yes.
ALICE. About a year ago he said something like this: "It looks
to me as if life were a tremendous hoax played on all of us!"
CURT. Do you mean to imply that he was playing a hoax on us up
to the very moment of death?
ALICE. No--but now, when he is dead, I feel a strange
inclination to speak well of him.
CURT. Well, let us do so!
LIEUTENANT. Miss Judith's father was a good and noble man.
ALICE. [_To_ CURT] Listen to that!
CURT. "They know not what they do." How many times did I not ask
you whether he knew what he was doing? And you didn't think he
knew. Therefore, forgive him!
ALICE. Riddles! Riddles! But do you notice that there is peace
in the house now? The wonderful peace of death. Wonderful as the
solemn anxiety that surrounds the coming of a child into the
world. I hear the silence--and on the floor I see the traces of
the easy-chair that carried him away--And I feel that now my own
life is ended, and I am starting on the road to dissolution!
Do you know, it's queer, but those simple words of the
Lieutenant--and his is a simple mind--they pursue me, but now
they have become serious. My husband, my youth's beloved--yes,
perhaps you laugh!--he _was_ a good and noble man--nevertheless!
CURT. Nevertheless? And a brave one--as he fought for his own
and his family's existence!
ALICE. What worries! What humiliations! Which he wiped out--in
order to pass on!
CURT. He was one who had been passed by! And that is to say
much! Alice, go in there!
ALICE. No, I cannot do it! For while we have been talking here,
the image of him as he was in his younger years has come back
to me--I have seen him, I see him--now, as when he was only
twenty--I must have loved that man!
CURT. And hated him!
ALICE. And hated!--Peace be with him!
_Goes toward the right door and stops in front of it,
folding her hands as if to pray_.
_Curtain_.
End of Project Gutenberg's Plays--First Series, by August Strindberg