CURT. [Has been watching her with an intoxicated look in his eyes] Alice, are you, too, a devil?
ALICE. [Jumps up on a chair and pulls down the wreaths] These we will take along when we depart—the laurels of triumph! And fluttering ribbons! A little dusty, but eternally green—like my youth—I am not old, Curt?
CURT.With shining eyes] You are a devil!
ALICE. In "Little Hell"—Listen! Now I shall fix my hair —[loosens her hair], dress in two minutes—go to the Quartermaster in two minutes—and then, up in the air with the fortress!
CURT. [As before] You are a devil!
ALICE. That's what you always used to say when we were children. Do you remember when we were small and became engaged to each other? Ha-ha! You were bashful, of course——
CURT. [Seriously] Alice!
ALICE. Yes, you were! And it was becoming to you. Do you know there are gross women who like modest men? And there are said to be modest men who like gross women—You liked me a little bit, didn't you?
CURT. I don't know where I am!
ALICE. With an actress whose manners are free, but who is an excellent lady otherwise. Yes! But now I am free, free, free! Turn away and I'll change my waist!
She opens her waist.CURTrushes up to her, grabs her in his arms, lifts her high up, and bites her throat so that she cries out. Then he drops her on the couch and runs out to the left.
Same stage setting in early evening light. The sentry on the battery is still visible through the windows in the background. The laurel wreaths are hung over the arms of an easy-chair. The hanging lamp is lit. Faint music.TheCAPTAIN,pale and hollow-eyed, his hair showing touches of gray, dressed in a worn undress uniform, with riding-boots, sits at the writing-table and plays solitaire. He wears his spectacles. The entr'acte music continues after the curtain has been raised and until another person enters.TheCAPTAINplays away at his solitaire, bid with a sudden start now and then, when he looks up and listens with evident alarm.He does not seem able to make the solitaire come out, so he becomes impatient and gathers up the cards. Then he goes to the left-hand window, opens it, and throws out the cards. The window (of the French type) remains open, rattling on its hinges.He goes over to the buffet, but is frightened by the noise made by the window, so that he turns around to see what it is. Takes out three dark-coloured square whiskey bottles, examines them carefully—and throws them out of the window. Takes out some boxes of cigars, smells at one, and throws them out of the window.Next he takes off his spectacles, cleans them carefully, and tries how far he can see with them. Then he throws them out of the window, stumbles against the furniture as if he could not see, and lights six candles in a candelabrum on the chiffonier. Catches sight of the laurel wreaths, picks them up, and goes toward the window, but turns back. Folds the wreaths carefully in the piano cover, fastens the corners together with pins taken from the writing-table, and puts the bundle on a chair. Goes to the piano, strikes the keyboard with his fists, locks the piano, and throws the key out through the window. Then he lights the candles on the piano. Goes to the what-not, takes his wife's picture from it, looks at this and tears it to pieces, dropping the pieces on the floor. The window rattles on its hinges, and again he becomes frightened.Then, after having calmed himself he takes the pictures of his son and daughter, kisses them in an off-hand way, and puts them into his pocket. All the rest of the pictures he sweeps down with his elbow and pokes together into a heap with his foot.Then he sits down at the writing-table, tired out, and puts a hand up to his heart. Lights the candle on the table and sighs; stares in front of himself as if confronted with unpleasant visions. Rises and goes over to the chiffonier, opens the lid, takes out a bundle of letters tied together with a blue silk ribbon, and throws the bundle into the fireplace of the glazed brick oven. Closes the chiffonier. The telegraph receiver sounds a single click. TheCAPTAINshrinks together in deadly fear and stands fixed to the spot, listening. But hearing nothing more from the instrument, he turns to listen in the direction of the door on the left. Goes over and opens it, takes a step inside the doorway, and returns, carrying on his arm a cat whose back he strokes. Then he goes out to the right. Now the music ceases.ALICEenters from the background, dressed in a walking suit, with gloves and hat on; her hair is black; she looks around with surprise at the many lighted candles.CURTenters from the left, nervous.
Same stage setting in early evening light. The sentry on the battery is still visible through the windows in the background. The laurel wreaths are hung over the arms of an easy-chair. The hanging lamp is lit. Faint music.
TheCAPTAIN,pale and hollow-eyed, his hair showing touches of gray, dressed in a worn undress uniform, with riding-boots, sits at the writing-table and plays solitaire. He wears his spectacles. The entr'acte music continues after the curtain has been raised and until another person enters.
TheCAPTAINplays away at his solitaire, bid with a sudden start now and then, when he looks up and listens with evident alarm.
He does not seem able to make the solitaire come out, so he becomes impatient and gathers up the cards. Then he goes to the left-hand window, opens it, and throws out the cards. The window (of the French type) remains open, rattling on its hinges.
He goes over to the buffet, but is frightened by the noise made by the window, so that he turns around to see what it is. Takes out three dark-coloured square whiskey bottles, examines them carefully—and throws them out of the window. Takes out some boxes of cigars, smells at one, and throws them out of the window.
Next he takes off his spectacles, cleans them carefully, and tries how far he can see with them. Then he throws them out of the window, stumbles against the furniture as if he could not see, and lights six candles in a candelabrum on the chiffonier. Catches sight of the laurel wreaths, picks them up, and goes toward the window, but turns back. Folds the wreaths carefully in the piano cover, fastens the corners together with pins taken from the writing-table, and puts the bundle on a chair. Goes to the piano, strikes the keyboard with his fists, locks the piano, and throws the key out through the window. Then he lights the candles on the piano. Goes to the what-not, takes his wife's picture from it, looks at this and tears it to pieces, dropping the pieces on the floor. The window rattles on its hinges, and again he becomes frightened.
Then, after having calmed himself he takes the pictures of his son and daughter, kisses them in an off-hand way, and puts them into his pocket. All the rest of the pictures he sweeps down with his elbow and pokes together into a heap with his foot.
Then he sits down at the writing-table, tired out, and puts a hand up to his heart. Lights the candle on the table and sighs; stares in front of himself as if confronted with unpleasant visions. Rises and goes over to the chiffonier, opens the lid, takes out a bundle of letters tied together with a blue silk ribbon, and throws the bundle into the fireplace of the glazed brick oven. Closes the chiffonier. The telegraph receiver sounds a single click. TheCAPTAINshrinks together in deadly fear and stands fixed to the spot, listening. But hearing nothing more from the instrument, he turns to listen in the direction of the door on the left. Goes over and opens it, takes a step inside the doorway, and returns, carrying on his arm a cat whose back he strokes. Then he goes out to the right. Now the music ceases.
ALICEenters from the background, dressed in a walking suit, with gloves and hat on; her hair is black; she looks around with surprise at the many lighted candles.
CURTenters from the left, nervous.
ALICE. It looks like Christmas Eve here.
CURT. Well?
ALICE. [Holds out her hand for him to kiss] Thank me! [CURTkisses her hand unwillingly] Six witnesses, and four of them solid as rock. The report has been made, and the answer will come here by telegraph—right here, into the heart of the fortress.
CURT. So!
ALICE. You should say "thanks" instead of "so."
CURT. Why has he lit so many candles?
ALICE. Because he is afraid of the dark, of course. Look at the telegraph key—does it not look like the handle of a coffee mill? I grind, I grind, and the beans crack as when you pull teeth——
CURT. What has he been doing in the room here?
ALICE. It looks as if he intended to move. Down below, that's where you are going to move!
CURT. Don't, Alice—I think it's distressing! He was the friend 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?
ALICEthrows her arms aroundCURT's neck and kisses him.CURTtakes her by the arms and bites her neck so that she screams.
ALICEthrows her arms aroundCURT's neck and kisses him.
CURTtakes 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!
[CURTlifts his hand as if to strike her.
[CURTlifts his hand as if to strike her.
ALICE. [Drawing back] Tout beau!
CURT. Forgive me!
ALICE. Yes—on your knees! [CURTkneels down] Down on your face! [CURTtouches the ground with his forehead] Kiss my foot! [CURTkisses 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! [ToCURT] Please be seated. [CURTsits 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. Wasthatwhat 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 theCAPTAIN'Sshoulder] 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 ofCURTand 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!
TheCAPTAINdraws the sabre and makes a leap at her, aiming at her several futile blows that only hit the furniture.
TheCAPTAINdraws the sabre and makes a leap at her, aiming at her several futile blows that only hit the furniture.
ALICE. Help! Help!
[CURTdoes not move.
CAPTAIN. [Falls with the sabre in his hand] Judith, avenge me!
ALICE. Hooray! He's dead!
[CURTwithdraws toward the door in the background.
[CURTwithdraws 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 toCURT] 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 theCAPTAIN] 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 theCAPTAIN] 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 theCAPTAINstraight 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.ALICEflies up.
The telegraph receiver clicks.ALICEflies up.
ALICE. [Screams] Now ruin is overtaking us! [To theCAPTAIN] 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.
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 theCAPTAINand 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.
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! [ALICElooks staggered] Yes, I know you wanted to put me in prison, but I wipe it out. I suppose you have done worse than that—[ALICEis 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. [ALICEputs 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? [ALICEremains 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!
CHARACTERSEDGARALICECURTALLAN,the son ofCURTJUDITH,the daughter ofEDGARTHE 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.ALLANis sitting at the writing-table, engrossed in some mathematical problem.JUDITHenters 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.ALLANrises, serious and respectful.
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.
ALLANis sitting at the writing-table, engrossed in some mathematical problem.JUDITHenters 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.ALLANrises, 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? [ALLANdoes 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.
[ALLANsits down at the table and returns to his problem.
[ALLANsits down at the table and returns to his problem.
JUDITH. [Instead of going away, comes down the stage and approaches gradually the table whereALLANis 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.
[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.
ALLANcollects his papers and starts to go out toward the right.JUDITHplaces herself in front of the door.
ALLANcollects his papers and starts to go out toward the right.
JUDITHplaces 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 thatALLANshould leave.
[Gives him a glance signifying thatALLANshould leave.
CURT. [ToALLAN] Leave us, please.
ALLANgoes out to the right.ALICEtakes a seat on the sofa to the left.CURTsits down on a chair near her.
ALLANgoes out to the right.
ALICEtakes a seat on the sofa to the left.
CURTsits 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 thinkhehas 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. Sothatis 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!
TheCAPTAINenters 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.
TheCAPTAINenters 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. [ToCURT] 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. [ToCURT] 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. [ToCURT] 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. [ToCURT] 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—[ToCURT,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. [ToCURT] Look out! It is he who writes them.
CURT. He?—[To theCAPTAIN] 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! [TheCAPTAINremains silent] Have you noticed any ill-feeling toward yourself?
CAPTAIN. No, on the contrary.
ALICE. [ToCURT] Don't you understand that he has been stealing your friends?
CURT. [To theCAPTAIN] 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. [ToCURT] Look out for your lamp!
CURT. [To theCAPTAIN] 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. [ToCURT] 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. [ToCURT] 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 theCAPTAIN] 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. [ToCURT] 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.
[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 ofthatfamily.
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!
CURTwithdraws to the right.ALICEponders and writes.ALLANcomes rushing in without noticingAliceand throws himself face downward on the sofa. He is weeping convulsively into a lace handkerchief.
CURTwithdraws to the right.
ALICEponders and writes.
ALLANcomes rushing in without noticingAliceand 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!
ALLANsits up disconcertedly and hides the handkerchief behind his back.
ALLANsits 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?