THE STRONGERBYAUGUST STRINDBERG

[Strübelbusies himself with the instrument.

LIDDY. Listen, mother. If the carriage has almost reachedthe top the princess can't be far off. Wouldn't it be best, then, to watch for them on the road?

FRAU V. HALLDORF. Certainly, if you think that would be best, dear Liddy.

STRÜBEL. This is not only an old screw, but it's a regular perverted old screw.

FRAU V. HALLDORF. Ah, really? [Aside to her daughters.] And if she should actually speak to us at this accidental meeting—and if we could present ourselves as the subjects of her noble fiancé, and tell her that we live at her future home—just imagine what an advantage that would give us over the other women of the court!

STRÜBEL. There, ladies! We have now rescued the useful instrument to which the far-sightedness of mankind is indebted.

FRAU V. HALLDORF. Thanks, so much. Pardon me, sir, but have you heard anything about the report that the princess is going to make the journey up here to-day?

STRÜBEL. The princess? The princess of the Springs? The princess of the lonely villa? The princess who is expected at the iron spring every morning, but who has never been seen by a living soul? Why, I am enormously interested. You wouldn't believe how much interested I am!

LIDDY. [Who has looked out, back.] There—there—there—it is!

FRAU V. HALLDORF. The carriage?

LIDDY. It's reached the top already. It is stopping over there at the edge of the woods.

FRAU V. HALLDORF. She will surely enter it there, then. Come quickly, my dear children, so that it will look quite accidental. Here is your money. [She throws a coin toRosaand unwraps a small package done up in tissue-paper, which she has brought with her.] Here is a bouquet for you—and here's one for you. You are to present these to the princess.

MILLY. So that it will look quite accidental—oh, yes!

[All three go out.

STRÜBEL. Good heavens! Could I—? I don't believe it! Surely she sits—well, I'll make sure right away—[Goes up to the telescope and stops.] Oh, I'll go along with them, anyhow.

[Exit after them.

FRAULINDEMANN. [Entering.] Have they all gone—all of them?

ROSA. All of them.

FRAULINDEMANN. [Looking toward the right.] There—there—two ladies and a lackey are coming up the footpath. Mercy me! How my heart is beating!—If I had only had the sofa recovered last spring!—What am I going to say to them?—Rosa, don't you know a poem by heart which you could speak to the princess? [Rosashrugs her shoulders.] They're coming through the court now!—Stop putting your arms under your apron that way, you stupid thing!—oh dear, oh dear——

[The door opens.A Lackeyin plain black livery enters, and remains standing at the door. He precedesThe PrincessandFrau v. Brook.The Princessis a pale, sickly, unassuming young girl, wearing a very simple walking costume and a medium-sized leghorn hat trimmed with roses.Frau v. Brookis a handsome, stately, stern-looking woman, in the thirties. She is well-dressed, but in accordance with the simple tastes of the North German nobility.

FRAU V. BROOK. Who is the proprietor of this place?

FRAULINDEMANN. At your command, your Highness.

FRAU V. BROOK. [Reprovingly.] I am the maid of honor. Where is the room that has been ordered?

FRAULINDEMANN. [Opens the door, left.] Here—at the head of the stairs—my lady.

FRAU V. BROOK. Would your Highness care to remain here for a few moments?

THEPRINCESS. Very much, dear Frau von Brook.

FRAU V. BROOK. Edward, order what is needed for Her Highness, and see that a room next to Her Highness is preparedfor me. I may assume that these are Your Highness's wishes?

THEPRINCESS. Why certainly, dear Frau von Brook.

[The Lackey,who is carrying shawls and pillows, goes out withRosa,left.

THEPRINCESS. Mais puisque je te dis, Eugénie, que je n'ai pas sommeil. M'envoyer coucher comme une enfant, c'est abominable.

FRAU V. BROOK. Mais je t'implore, chérie, sois sage! Tu sais, que c'est le médecin, qui——

THEPRINCESS. Ah, ton médecin! Toujours cette corvée. Et si je te dis——

FRAU V. BROOK. Chut! My dear woman, wouldn't it be best for you to superintend the preparations?

FRAULINDEMANN. I am entirely at your service.

[About to go out, left.

FRAU V. BROOK. One thing more. This veranda, leading from the house to the grounds—would it be possible to close it to the public?

FRAULINDEMANN. Oh, certainly. The guests as often as not sit out under the trees.

FRAU V. BROOK. Very well, then do so, please. [Frau Lindemannlocks the door.] We may be assured that no one will enter this place?

FRAULINDEMANN. If it is desired, none of us belonging to the house will come in here either.

FRAU V. BROOK. We should like that.

FRAULINDEMANN. Very well. [Exit.

FRAU V. BROOK. Really, you must be more careful, darling. If that woman had understood French— You must be careful!

THEPRINCESS. What would have been so dreadful about it?

FRAU V. BROOK. Oh, my dear child! This mood of yours, which is due to nothing but your illness—that reminds me, you haven't taken your peptonized milk yet—this is a secret which we must keep from every one, above all from your fiancé. If the Grand Duke should discover——

THEPRINCESS. [Shrugging her shoulders.] Well, what of it?

FRAU V. BROOK. A bride's duty is to be a happy bride. Otherwise——

THEPRINCESS. Otherwise?

FRAU V. BROOK. She will be a lonely and an unloved woman.

THEPRINCESS. [With a little smile of resignation.] Ah!

FRAU V. BROOK. What is it, dear? [The Princessshakes her head.] And then think of the strain of those formal presentations awaiting you in the autumn! You must grow strong. Remember that you must be equal to the most exacting demands of life.

THEPRINCESS. Of life? Whose life?

FRAU V. BROOK. What do you mean by that?

THEPRINCESS. Ah, what good does it do to talk about it?

FRAU V. BROOK. Yes, you are right. In my soul, too, there are unhappy and unholy thoughts that I would rather not utter. From my own experience I know that it is best to keep strictly within the narrow path of duty.

THEPRINCESS. And to go to sleep.

FRAU V. BROOK. Ah, it isn't only that.

THEPRINCESS. Look out there! See the woods! Ah, to lie down on the moss, to cover oneself with leaves, to watch the clouds pass by high above——

FRAU V. BROOK. [Softening.] We can do that, too, some-time.

THEPRINCESS. [Laughing aloud.] Sometime!

[The Lackeyappears at the door.

FRAU V. BROOK. Is everything ready?

[The Lackeybows.

THEPRINCESS. [Aside toFrau v. Brook.] But I simply cannot sleep.

FRAU V. BROOK. Try to, for my sake. [Aloud.] Does Your Highness command——

THEPRINCESS. [Smiling and sighing.] Yes, I command.

[They go out, left.[The stage remains empty for several moments. ThenStrübelis heard trying the latch of the back door.

[They go out, left.

[The stage remains empty for several moments. ThenStrübelis heard trying the latch of the back door.

STRÜBEL'SVOICE. Hullo! What's up! Why is this locked all of a sudden? Rosa! Open up! I've got to look through the telescope! Rosa! Won't you? Oh, well, I know how to help myself. [He is seen walking outside of the glass-covered veranda. Then he puts his head through the open window at the right.] Not a soul inside? [Climbs over.] Well, here we are. What on earth has happened to these people? [Unlocks the back door and looks out.] Everything deserted. Well, it's all the same to me. [Locks the door again.] But let's find out right away what the carriage has to do with the case.

[Prepares to look through the telescope.The Princessenters cautiously through the door at the left, her hat in her hand. Without noticingStrübel,who is standing motionless before the telescope, she goes hurriedly to the door at the back and unlocks it.

STRÜBEL. [Startled at the sound of the key, turns around.] Why, how do you do? [The Princess,not venturing to move, glances back at the door through which she has entered.] Wouldn't you like to look through the telescope a while? Please do. [The Princess,undecided as to whether or not she should answer him, takes a few steps back toward the door at the left.] Why are you going away? I won't do anything to you.

THEPRINCESS. [Reassured.] Oh, I'm not going away.

STRÜBEL. That's right. But—where have you come from? The door was locked. Surely you didn't climb through the window as I did?

THEPRINCESS. [Frightened.] What? You came—through the window?——

STRÜBEL. Of course I did.

THEPRINCESS. [Frightened anew.] Then I had rather——

[About to go back.

STRÜBEL. Oh, my dear young lady, you just stay right here.Why, before I'd drive you away I'd pitch myself headlong over a precipice!

THEPRINCESS. [Smiling, reassured.] I only wanted to go out into the woods for half an hour.

STRÜBEL. Oh, then you're a regular guest here at the Inn?

THEPRINCESS. [Quickly.] Yes—yes, of course.

STRÜBEL. And of course you drink the waters down below?

THEPRINCESS. [In a friendly way.] Oh, yes, I drink the waters. And I'm taking the baths, too.

STRÜBEL. Two hundred metres up and down every time! Isn't that very hard on you? Heavens! And you look so pale! See here, my dear young lady, don't you do it. It would be better for you to go down there—that is— Oh, forgive me! I've been talking without thinking. Of course, you have your own reasons— It's decidedly cheaper up here.Iknow how to value a thing of that sort. I've never had any money in all my life!

THEPRINCESS. [Trying to seem practical.] But when one comes to a watering-place, one must have money.

STRÜBEL. [Slapping himself on the chest.] Do I look to you as if I drank iron? Thank Heaven, I can't afford such luxuries! No; I'm only a poor fellow who earns his miserable pittance during vacation by acting as a private tutor—that's to say, "miserable" is only a figure of speech, for in the morning I lie abed until nine, at noon I eat five and at night seven courses; and as for work, I really haven't a thing to do! My pupil is so anæmic—why, compared to him,you'refit for a circus rider!

THEPRINCESS. [Laughing unrestrainedly.] Oh, well, I'm rather glad I'm not one.

STRÜBEL. Dear me, it's a business like any other.

THEPRINCESS. Like any other? Really, I didn't think that.

STRÜBEL. And pray, what did you think then?

THEPRINCESS. Oh, I thought that they were—an entirely different sort of people.

STRÜBEL. My dear young lady, all people are "an entirely different sort." Of coursewetwo aren't. We get along real well together, don't we? As poor as church mice, both of us!

THEPRINCESS. [Smiling reflectively.] Who knows? Perhaps that's true.

STRÜBEL. [Kindly.] Do you know what? If you want to stay down there—I'll tell you how one can live cheaply. I have a friend, a student like myself. He's here to mend up as you are. I feed him up at the house where I'm staying. [Frightened at a peculiar look ofThe Princess's.] Oh, but you mustn't be—No, I shouldn't have said it. It wasn't decent of me. Only, let me tell you, I'm so glad to be able to help the poor fellow out of my unexpected earnings, that I'd like to be shouting it from the housetops all the time! Of course, you understand that, don't you?

THEPRINCESS. You like to help people, then?

STRÜBEL. Surely—don't you?

THEPRINCESS. [Reflecting.] No. There's always so much talk about it, and the whole thing immediately appears in the newspapers.

STRÜBEL. What? If you help some one, that appears——?

THEPRINCESS. [Quietly correcting herself.] I only mean if one takes part in entertainments for charity——

STRÜBEL. Oh, yes, naturally. In those things they always get some woman of rank to act as patroness, if they can, and she sees to it, you may be sure, that the newspapers make a fuss over it.

THEPRINCESS. [Demurely.] Oh, not every——

STRÜBEL. Just try to teach me something I don't know about these titled women! Besides, my dear young lady, where is your home—in one of the large cities, or——?

THEPRINCESS. Oh, no. In quite a small town—really more like the country.

STRÜBEL. Then I'm going to show you something that you probably never saw before in all your life.

THEPRINCESS. Oh do! What is it?

STRÜBEL. A princess! H'm—not a make-believe, but a real, true-blue princess!

THEPRINCESS. Oh, really?

STRÜBEL. Yes. Our Princess of the Springs.

THEPRINCESS. And who may that be?

STRÜBEL. Why, Princess Marie Louise.

THEPRINCESS. Of Geldern?

STRÜBEL. Of course.

THEPRINCESS. Do you know her?

STRÜBEL. Why, certainly.

THEPRINCESS. Really? I thought that she lived in great retirement.

STRÜBEL. Well, that doesn't do her any good. Not a bit of it. And because you are such a jolly good fellow I'm going to tell you my secret. I'm in love with this princess!

THEPRINCESS. Oh!

STRÜBEL. You can't imagine what a comfort it is. The fact is, every young poet has got to have a princess to love.

THEPRINCESS. Are you a poet?

STRÜBEL. Can't you tell that by looking at me?

THEPRINCESS. I never saw a poet before.

STRÜBEL. Never saw a poet—never saw a princess! Why, you're learning a heap of things to-day!

THEPRINCESS. [Assenting.] H'm—and have you written poems to her?

STRÜBEL. Why, that goes without saying! Quantities of 'em!

THEPRINCESS. Oh, please recite some little thing—won't you?

STRÜBEL. No, not yet. Everything at the proper time.

THEPRINCESS. Ah, yes, first I should like to see the princess.

STRÜBEL. No, first I am going to tell you the whole story.

THEPRINCESS. Oh, yes, yes. Please do. [Sits down.

STRÜBEL. Well, then—I had hardly heard that she was herebefore I was dead in love with her. It was just as quick as a shot, I tell you. Just as if I had waited all my life long to fall in love with her. Besides, I also heard about her beauty—and her sorrow. You see, she had an early love affair.

THEPRINCESS. [Disconcerted.] What? Are they saying that?

STRÜBEL. Yes. It was a young officer who went to Africa because of her—and died there.

THEPRINCESS. And they know that, too?

STRÜBEL. What don't they know? But that's a mere detail—it doesn't concern me. Even the fact that in six months she will become the bride of a grand-duke—even that can make no difference to me. For the present she ismyprincess. But you're not listening to me!

THEPRINCESS. Oh, yes, I am!

STRÜBEL. Do you know what that means—myprincess! I'll not give upmyprincess—not for anything in all the world!

THEPRINCESS. But—if you don't even know her——?

STRÜBEL. I don't know her? Why, I know her as well as I know myself!

THEPRINCESS. Have you ever met her, then?

STRÜBEL. I don't know of any one who has ever met her. And there's not a soul that can tell what she looks like. It is said that there were pictures of her in the shop-windows when she first came, but they were removed immediately. In the morning a great many people are always lurking around the Springs trying to catch a glimpse of her. I, myself, have gotten up at six o'clock a couple of times—on the same errand—and if you knew me better, you'd realize what that meant. But not a sign of her! Either she has the stuff brought to her house or she has the power of making herself invisible. [The Princessturns aside to conceal a smile.] After that, I used to hang around her garden—every day, for hours at a time. Until one day the policeman, whom the managers of the Springs have stationed atthe gates, came up to me and asked me what on earth I was doing there. Well, that was the end of those methods of approach! Suddenly, however, a happy thought struck me. Now I can see her and have her near to me as often as I wish.

THEPRINCESS. Why, that's very interesting. How?

STRÜBEL. Yes, that's just the point. H'm, should I risk it? Should I take you into my confidence?

THEPRINCESS. You promised me some time ago that you would show her to me.

STRÜBEL. Wait a second. [Looks through the telescope.] There she is. Please look for yourself.

THEPRINCESS. But I am—[She, too, looks through the telescope.] Actually, there is the garden as plain as if one were in it.

STRÜBEL. And at the corner window on the left—with the embroidery-frame—that's she.

THEPRINCESS. Are you absolutely certain that that is the princess?

STRÜBEL. Why, who else could it be?

THEPRINCESS. Oh, 'round about a princess like that—there are such a lot of people. For instance, there is her waiting-woman, there's the seamstress and her assistants, there's——

STRÜBEL. But, my dear young lady, if you only understood anything about these matters, you would have been certain at the very first glance that it was she—and no one else. Observe the nobility in every motion—the queenly grace with which she bends over the embroidery-frame——

THEPRINCESS. How do you know that it's an embroidery-frame?

STRÜBEL. Why, what should a princess be bending over if not an embroidery-frame? Do you expect her to be darning stockings?

THEPRINCESS. It wouldn't hurt her at all!

STRÜBEL. Now, that's just one of those petty, bourgeois notionswhich we ought to suppress. It's not enough thatwehave to stick in this misery, but we'd like to drag her down, too—that being far above all earthly care——

THEPRINCESS. Oh, dear me!

STRÜBEL. What are you sighing about so terribly?

THEPRINCESS. Tell me, wouldn't you like to have a closer acquaintance with your princess, some time?

STRÜBEL. Closer? Why should I? Isn't she close enough to me, my far-away princess?—for that's what I call her when I talk to myself about her. And to have herstillcloser?

THEPRINCESS. Why, so that you could talk to her and know what she really was like?

STRÜBEL. [Terrified.] Talk to her! Heaven forbid! Goodness gracious, no! Just see here—how am I to face a princess? I'm an ordinary fellow, the son of poor folks. I haven't polished manners—I haven't even a decent tailor. A lady like that—why, she'd measure me from top to toe in one glance. I've had my lessons in the fine houses where I've applied as tutor. A glance from boots to cravat—and you're dismissed!

THEPRINCESS. And you think that I—[correcting herself] that this girl is as superficial as that?

STRÜBEL. "This girl"! Dear me, how that sounds! But, how should I ever succeed in showing her my real self? And even if I should, what would she care? Oh, yes, if she were like you—so nice and simple—and with such a kindhearted, roguish little twinkle in her eye——!

THEPRINCESS. Roguish—I? Why so?

STRÜBEL. Because you are laughing at me in your sleeve. And really I deserve nothing better.

THEPRINCESS. But your princess deserves something better than your opinion of her.

STRÜBEL. How do you know that?

THEPRINCESS. You really ought to try to become acquainted with her some time.

STRÜBEL. No, no, no—and again no! As long as she remainsmy far-away princess she is everything that I want her to be—modest, gracious, loving. She smiles upon me dreamily. Yes, she even listens when I recite my poems to her—and that can't be said of many people! And as soon as I have finished she sighs, takes a rose from her breast, and casts it down to the poet. I wrote a few verses yesterday about that rose, that flower which represents the pinnacle of my desires, as it were.

THEPRINCESS. [Eagerly.] Oh, yes. Oh, please, please!

STRÜBEL. Well, then, here goes. H'm——

"Twenty roses nestling close——"

THEPRINCESS. What? Are there twenty now?

STRÜBEL. [Severely.] My princess would not have interrupted me.

THEPRINCESS. Oh, please—forgive me.

STRÜBEL. I shall begin again.

THEPRINCESS. How nice that is! I've never had any verses written to me b——

STRÜBEL. Ah, my dear young lady, ordinary folks like us have to do their own verse-making!

THEPRINCESS. And all for one rose! Dear me, how soon it fades! And then what is left you?

STRÜBEL. No, my dear friend, a rose like that never fades—even as my love for the gracious giver can never die.

THEPRINCESS. But you haven't even got it yet!

STRÜBEL. That makes no difference in the end. I'm entirely independent of such externals. When some day I shall be explaining Ovid to the beginners, or perhaps even reading Horace with the more advanced classes—no, it's better for the present not to think of reaching any such dizzy heights of greatness—well, then I shall always be saying to myself with a smile of satisfaction: "You, too, were one of those confounded artist fellows—why, you once went so far as to love a princess!"

THEPRINCESS. And that will make you happy?

STRÜBEL. Enormously! For what makes us happy, after all? A bit of happiness? Great heavens, no! Happiness wears out like an old glove.

THEPRINCESS. Well, then, what does?

STRÜBEL. Ah, how should I know! Any kind of a dream—a fancy—a wish unfulfilled—a sorrow that we coddle—some nothing which suddenly becomes everything to us. I shall always say to my pupils: "Young men, if you want to be happy as long as you live, create gods for yourselves in your own image; these gods will take care of your happiness."

The Princess. And what would the god be like that you would create?

STRÜBEL.Would be?Is, my dear young lady,is!A man of the world, a gentleman, well-bred, smiling, enjoying life—who looks out upon mankind from under bushy eyebrows, who knows Nietzsche and Stendhal by heart, and—[pointing to his shoes] whoisn't down at the heels—a god, in short, worthy of my princess. I know perfectly well that all my life long I shall never do anything but crawl around on the ground like an industrious ant, but I know, too, that the god of my fancy will always take me by the collar when the proper moment comes and pull me up again into the clouds. Yes, up there I'm safe. And your god, or rather your goddess—what would she look like?

THEPRINCESS. [Thoughtfully.] That's not easy to say. My goddess would be—a quiet, peaceful woman who would treasure a secret little joy like the apple of her eye, who would know nothing of the world except what she wanted to know, and who would have the strength to make her own choice when it pleased her.

STRÜBEL. But that doesn't seem to me a particularly lofty aspiration, my dear young lady.

THEPRINCESS. Lofty as the heavens, my friend.

STRÜBEL. My princess would be of a different opinion.

THEPRINCESS. Do you think so?

STRÜBEL. For that's merely the ideal of every little country girl.

THEPRINCESS. Not her ideal—her daily life which she counts as naught. It is my ideal because I can never attain it.

STRÜBEL. Oh, I say, my dear young girl! It can't be as bad as that! A young girl like you—so charming and—I don't want to be forward, but if I could only help you a bit!

THEPRINCESS. Have you got to be helping all the time? Before, it was only a cheap lunch, now it's actually——

STRÜBEL. Yes, yes, I'm an awful donkey, I know, but——

THEPRINCESS. [Smiling.] Don't say any more about it, dear friend! I like you that way.

STRÜBEL. [Feeling oppressed by her superiority.] Really, you are an awfully strange person! There's something about you that—that——

THEPRINCESS. Well?

STRÜBEL. I can't exactly define it. Tell me, weren't you wanting to go into the woods before? It's so—so oppressive in here.

THEPRINCESS. Oppressive? I don't find it so at all—quite the contrary.

STRÜBEL. No, no—I'm restless. I don't know what—at all events, may I not escort you—? One can chat more freely, one can express himself more openly—if one——

[Takes a deep breath.

THEPRINCESS. [Smiling.] And you are leaving your far-away princess with such a light heart?

STRÜBEL. [Carelessly.] Oh, she! She won't run away. She'll be sitting there to-morrow again—and the day after, too!

THEPRINCESS. And so that is your great, undying love?

STRÜBEL. Yes, but when a girl like you comes across one's path——

FRAU V. HALLDORF. [Hurrying in and then drawing back in feigned astonishment.] Oh!

LIDDY ANDMILLY. [Similarly.] Oh!

STRÜBEL. Well, ladies, didn't I tell you that you wouldn't find her? Princesses don't grow along the roadside like weeds!

FRAU V. HALLDORF. [Disregarding him—ceremoniously.] The infinite happiness with which this glorious event fills our hearts must excuse in some measure the extraordinary breach of good manners which we are committing in daring to address Your Highness. But, as the fortunate subjects of Your Highness's most noble fiancé, we could not refrain from——

STRÜBEL. Well, well! What's all this?

FRAU V. HALLDORF.—from offering to our eagerly awaited sovereign a slight token of our future loyalty. Liddy! Milly! [LiddyandMillycome forward, and, with low court bows, offer their bouquets.] My daughters respectfully present these few flowers to the illustrious princess——

STRÜBEL. I beg your pardon, but who is doing the joking here, you or——?

[Frau v. Brookenters.The Princess,taken unawares, has retreated more and more helplessly toward the door at the left, undecided whether to take flight or remain. She greets the arrival ofFrau v. Brookwith a happy sigh of relief.

FRAU V. BROOK. [Severely.] Pardon me, ladies. Apparently you have not taken the proper steps toward being presented to Her Highness. In matters of this sort one must first apply to me. I may be addressed every morning from eleven to twelve, and I shall be happy to consider your desires.

FRAU V. HALLDORF. [With dignity.] I and my children, madame, were aware of the fact that we were acting contrary to the usual procedure; but the impulse of loyal hearts is guided by no rule. I shall be glad to avail myself of your—very kind invitation.

[All three go out with low curtsies toThe Princess.

FRAU V. BROOK. What forwardness! But how could you come down without me? And what is that young man over there doing? Does he belong to those people?

[The Princessshakes her head.Strübel,without a word, goes to get his hat, which has been lying on a chair, bows abruptly, and is about to leave.

THEPRINCESS. Oh, no! That wouldn't be nice. Not that way——

FRAU V. BROOK. [Amazed.] What? What! Why, Your Highness——!

THEPRINCESS. Let me be, Eugenie. This young man and I have become far too good friends to part in such an unfriendly, yes, almost hostile fashion.

FRAU V. BROOK. Your Highness, I amverymuch——

THEPRINCESS. [ToStrübel.] You and I will certainly rememberthis hour with great pleasure, and I thank you for it with all my heart. If I only had a rose with me, so as to give you your dear wish! Eugenie, haven't we any roses with us?

FRAU V. BROOK. Your Highness, I amverymuch——

THEPRINCESS. [Examining herself and searching among the vases.] Well, how are we going to manage it?

STRÜBEL. I most humbly thank—your Highness—for the kind intention.

THEPRINCESS. No, no—wait! [Her glance falls upon the hat which she is holding in her hand—with a sudden thought.] I have it! But don't think that I'm joking. And we'll have to do without scissors! [She tears one of the roses from the hat.] I don't know whether there are just twenty—[Holding out one of the roses to him.] Well? This rose has the merit of being just as real as the sentiment of which we were speaking before—and just as unfading.

STRÜBEL. Is this—to be—my punishment? [The Princesssmilingly shakes her head.] Or does your Highness mean by it that only the Unreal never fades?

THEPRINCESS. That's exactly what I mean—because the Unreal must always dwell in the imagination.

STRÜBEL. So that's it! Just as it is only thefar-awayprincesses who are always near to us.

FRAU V. BROOK. Permit me to remark, Your Highness—that it ishightime——

THEPRINCESS. As you see, those who are near must hurry away. [Offering him the rose again.] Well?

STRÜBEL. [Is about to take it, but lets his hand fall.] With the far-away princess there—[pointing down] it would have been in harmony, but with the—[Shakes his head, then softly and with emotion.] No, thanks—I'd rather not.

[He bows and goes out.

THEPRINCESS. [Smiling pensively, throws away the artificialflower.] I'm going to ask my fiancé to let me send him a rose.

FRAU V. BROOK. Your Highness, I amverymuch—surprised!

THEPRINCESS. Well, I told you that I wasn't sleepy.

CURTAIN

AUGUST STRINDBERG

August Strindberg, Sweden's foremost dramatist, was born at Stockholm in 1849. He attended the University of Upsala but did not graduate. In 1872 he wroteMaster Olaf, which was for six years steadily refused by managers. When it did appear it inaugurated the Swedish dramatic renascence. By turns Strindberg was schoolmaster, journalist, dramatist, writer of scientific and political treatises, and writer of short stories. In 1883 he left Sweden and travelled extensively in Denmark, Germany, France, and Italy. He died in 1912.

As a dramatist Strindberg's chief strength lies not so much in dramatic technique as it does in his trenchant and searching power of analysis of the human mind. His chief plays are very exact and narrow views of the feminine soul. Some of his own domestic bitterness finds expression in the feminine studies in his plays. He is very fond of showing the power of one character over another.

His important one-act plays areThe Outlaw,Countess Julie,Creditors,Pariah,Facing Death, andThe Stronger.The Strongerhas a dramatic intensity that few plays possess. Though but one character speaks, the souls of three are skilfully laid bare.

SCENE:A corner of a ladies' restaurant; two small tables of cast-iron, a sofa covered with red plush, and a few chairs.

Mrs. X.enters, dressed in hat and winter coat, and carrying a pretty Japanese basket on her arm.

Miss Y.has in front of her a partly emptied bottle of beer; she is reading an illustrated weekly, and every now and then, she exchanges it for a new one.

MRS. X. Well, how do, Millie! Here you are sitting on Christmas Eve, as lonely as a poor bachelor.

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