Albin. How strange! There really is a noise, as though people outside were pressing forward very quickly. Is that part of the stage effects as well?
Scaevola. He goes in for such damned subtleties every blessed time. (ToJules. ) 'Tis too silly—
Host. Come now, tell us why they are at your heels again?
Guillaume. Oh, nothing special. But if they got me, it would cost me my head. I've set fire to a house.
[During this scene young nobles come in and sit down at the tables.]
Host(softly). Go on!—go on!
Guillaume(in the same tone). What more do you want? Isn't it enough for you if I've set fire to a house?
François. But tell me, my friend, why you set fire to the house.
Guillaume. Because the President of the Supreme Court lived in it. We wanted to make a beginning with him. We wanted to keep the good Parisian householders from taking folk into their houses so lightly who send us poor devils to the prison.
Grain. That's good! That's good!
Guillaume(looks atGrainand is surprised; then goes on speaking). All the houses must be fired. Three more fellows like me and there won't be any more judges in Paris.
Grain. Death to the judges!
Jules. Yes ... but there may be one whom we can't annihilate.
Guillaume. I should like to know who he is.
Jules. The judge within us.
Host(softly). That's tasteless. Leave off. Scaevola, roar! Now's the time.
Scaevola. Wine here, Prosper; we want to drink to the death of all the judges in France.
[During the last words enter theMarquis de Lansac, with his wife,Séverine, andRollin, the poet.]
Scaevola. Death to all who have the power in their hands today!
Marquis. See you, Séverine, that is how they greet us.
Rollin. Marquise, I warned you.
Séverine. Why?
François. Whom do I see? The Marquise! Allow me to kiss your hand. Good evening. Marquis. Well met to you, Rollin. And you, Marquise, you dare to venture into this place!
Séverine. I heard such a lot about it. And besides, we are having a day of adventures already—eh, Rollin?
Marquis. Yes. Just think of it, Vicomte; you would never believe where we come from—from the Bastille.
François. Are they still keeping up the tumult there?
Séverine. Ay, indeed! It looks as though they meant to storm it.
Rollin(declaiming). Like to a flood that seethes against its banks, And rages deep that its own child, the Earth, Resists it.—
Séverine. Don't, Rollin! We left our carriages there in the neighborhood. It is a magnificent spectacle—there is always something so grand about crowds.
François. Yes, yes, if they only did not smell so vilely.
Marquis. And my wife would not leave me in peace—I had to bring her here.
Séverine. Well, what is there so very special here?
Host(toLansac). Well, so you're here, are you, you dried-up old scoundrel? Did you bring your wife along because she wasn't safe enough for you at home?
Marquis(with a forced laugh). He's quite a character.
Host. But take heed that she is not snatched away from under your nose in this very place. Aristocratic ladies like her very often get a deuce of a fancy to try what a real rogue is like.
Rollin. I suffer unspeakably, Séverine.
Marquis. My child, I prepared you for this—it is high time that we went.
Séverine. What ails you? I think it's charming. Nay, let us seat ourselves.
François. Would you allow me. Marquise, to present to you the Chevalier de la Tremouille. He is here for the first time, too. The Marquis de Lansac; Rollin, our celebrated poet.
Albin. Delighted. (Compliments; they sit down.) (ToFrançois. ) Is that one of those that are playing, or—I can't make it out—
François. Don't be so stupid. That is the lawful wife of the Marquis de Lansac ... a lady of extreme propriety.
Rollin(toSéverine). Say that thou lovest me.
Séverine. Yes, yes; but ask me not every minute.
Marquis. Have we missed a scene already?
François. Nothing much. An incendiary's playing over there, 'twould appear.
Séverine. Chevalier, you must be the cousin of the little Lydia de la Tremouille who was married today.
Albin. Quite so, Marquise; that was one of the reasons why I came to Paris.
Séverine. I remember having seen you in the church.
Albin(embarrassed). I am highly flattered, Marquise.
Séverine(toRollin). What a dear little boy!
Rollin. My dear Séverine, you have never yet managed to know a man without his pleasing you.
Séverine. Indeed I did; and what is more, I married him straight away.
Rollin. I am always so afraid, Séverine—I am sure there are moments when it's not safe for you to be with your own husband.
Host(brings wine). There you are. I wish it were poison; but for the time being, the law won't let us serve it to you, you scum.
François. The time'll soon come, Prosper.
Séverine(toRollin). What is the matter with both those pretty girls? Why don't they come nearer? Now that we once are here, I want to join in everything. I really think that everything is extremely moral here.
Marquis. Have patience, Séverine.
Séverine. I think nowadays one diverts oneself best in the streets. Do you know what happened to us yesterday when we went for a drive in the Promenade de Longchamps?
Marquis. Please, please, my dear Séverine, why—
Séverine. A fellow jumped onto the footboard of our carriage and shouted, "Next year you will stand behind your coachman and we shall be sitting in the carriages."
François. Hm! That is rather strong.
Marquis. Odds life! I don't think one ought to talk of such things. Paris is now somewhat feverish, but that will soon pass off again.
Guillaume(suddenly). I see flames—flames everywhere I look—red, high flames.
Host(to him). You're playing a madman, not a criminal.
Séverine. Does he see flames?
François. But all this is still not the real thing. Marquise.
Albin(toRollin). I cannot tell you how bewildered I feel already with everything.
Michette(comes to theMarquis). I have not yet greeted you, darling, you dear old pig.
Marquis(embarrassed). She jests, dear Séverine.
Séverine. It does not look that way. Tell me, little one, how many love-affairs have you had so far?
Marquis(toFrançois). It is really wonderful how well my wife the Marquise knows how to adapt herself to every situation.
Rollin. Yes, it is wonderful.
Michette. Have you counted yours?
Séverine. When I was still as young as you ... of course ...
Albin(toRollin). Tell me, M. Rollin, is the Marquise joking, or is she really like—? I positively can't make it out.
Rollin. Reality ... playing ... do you know the difference so exactly. Chevalier?
Albin. At any rate ...
Rollin. I don't. And what I find so peculiar here is that all apparent distinctions, so to speak, are taken away. Reality passes into play—play into reality. Just look now at the Marquise. How she gossips with those creatures as though she were one of them. At the same time she is—
Albin. Something quite different.
Rollin. I thank you, Chevalier.
Host(toGrain). Well, how did it all happen?
Grain. What?
Host. Why, the affair with your aunt, for which you went to prison for two years.
Grain. I told you, I strangled her.
François. That is feeble. He is an amateur. I have never seen him before.
Georgette(comes quickly in, dressed like a prostitute of the lowest class). Good evening, children. Is my Balthasar not here yet?
Scaevola. Georgette, sit by me. Your Balthasar will yet be here in time.
Georgette. If he is not here in ten minutes, he won't bring off anything again—he won't come back at all then.
François. Watch her, Marquise. She is the wife of that Balthasar of whom she has just been speaking, and who will soon come in. She represents just a common street-jade, while Balthasar is her bully. All the same, she is the truest wife to be found in the whole of Paris.
Balthasarcomes in.
Georgette. My Balthasar! (She runs toward him and embraces him). So there you are.
Balthasar. It is all in order. (Silence around him.) It was not worth the trouble. I was almost sorry for him. You should size up your customers better, Georgette. I am sick of killing promising youths for the sake of a few francs.
François. Splendid!
Albin. What—?
François. He brings out the points so well.
Enter theCommissaire, disguised; sits down at table.
Host(to him). You come at a good time, M. le Commissaire. This is one of my best exponents.
Balthasar. One should really try and find another profession. On my soul, I am not a craven, but this kind of bread is hard earned.
Scaevola. I can well believe so.
Georgette. What's the matter with you today?
Balthasar. I will tell you what. Georgette—I think you're a trifle too tender with the young gentlemen.
Georgette. See what a child he is! But be reasonable, Balthasar. I must needs be very tender so as to inspire them with confidence.
Rollin. What she says is really deep.
Balthasar. If I thought for a moment that you felt anything when another—
Georgette. What do you say to that? Dumb jealousy will yet bring him to his grave.
Balthasar. I have already heard one sigh, Georgette, and that was at a moment when one of them was already giving sufficient proofs of his confidence.
Georgette. One can't leave off playing a woman in love so suddenly.
Balthasar. Be careful, Georgette—the Seine is deep. (Wildly.) Should you ever deceive me—
Georgette. Never, never.
Albin. I positively can't make it out.
Séverine. Rollin, that is the right interpretation!
Rollin. You think so?
Marquis(toSéverine). It is time we were going, Séverine.
Séverine. Why? I am beginning to enjoy it.
Georgette. My Balthasar, I adore you. (Embrace.)
François. Bravo! bravo!
Balthasar. What loony is that?
Commissaire. This is unquestionably too strong; this is—
EnterMauriceandEtienne. They are dressed like young nobles, but one can see that they are only disguised in dilapidated theatrical costumes.
From the Actors' Table. Who are they?
Scaevola. May the devil take me if it ain't Maurice and Etienne.
Georgette. Of course it is they!
Balthasar. Georgette!
Séverine. Heavens! what monstrously pretty young persons.
Rollin. It is painful, Séverine, to see you so violently excited by every pretty face.
Séverine. What did I come here for, then?
Rollin. Tell me, at any rate, that you love me.
Séverine(with a peculiar look). You have a short memory.
Etienne. Well, where do you think we have come from?
François. Listen, Marquis; they're a couple of quite witty youths.
Maurice. A wedding.
Etienne. One has got to dress up a bit in places like this. Otherwise one of those damned secret police gets on one's track at once.
Scaevola. At any rate, have you made a good haul?
Host. Let's have a look.
Maurice(drawing watches out of his waistcoat). What'll you give me for this?
Host. For that there? A louis.
Maurice. Indeed?
Scaevola. It is not worth more.
Michette. That is a lady's watch. Give it to me, Maurice.
Maurice. What will you give me for't?
Michette. Look at me—isn't that enough?
Flipotte. No, give it to me; look at me—
Maurice. My dear children, I can have that without risking my head.
Michette. You are a conceited ape.
Séverine. I swear that's no acting.
Rollin. Of course not; there is a flash of reality running through the whole thing. That is the chief charm.
Scaevola. What wedding was it, then?
Maurice. The wedding of Mademoiselle de la Tremouille; she was married to the Comte de Banville.
Albin. Do you hear that, François? I assure you they are real knaves.
François. Calm yourself, Albin. I know the two. I have seen them play a dozen times already. Their specialty is the portrayal of pickpockets.
[Mauricedraws some purses out of his waistcoat.]
Scaevola. Well, you can do the handsome tonight.
Etienne. It was a very magnificent wedding. All the nobility of France was there. Even the King was represented.
Albin(excited). All that is true.
Maurice(rolls some money over the table). That is for you, my friends, so that you can see that we all stick to one another.
François. Properties, dear Albin. (He stands up and takes a few coins.) We, too, you see, come in for a share.
Host. You take it—you have never earned anything so honestly in your life.
Maurice(holds in the air a garter set with diamonds). And to whom shall I give this? (Georgette,Michette, andFlipottemake a rush after it.) Patience, you sweet pusses. We will speak about that later on. I will give it to the one who devises a new caress.
Séverine(toRollin). Would you not like to let me join in the competition!
Rollin. I protest you will drive me mad, Séverine.
Marquis. Séverine, had we not better be going now? I think—
Séverine. Oh, no. I am enjoying myself excellently. (ToRollin. ) Ah well, my mood is getting so—
Michette. How did you get hold of the garter?
Maurice. There was such a crush in the church—and when a lady thinks one is courting her— (All laugh.)
[Grainhas stolenFrançois'spurse.]
François(showing the money toAlbin). Mere counters. Are you satisfied now? [Grainwants to get away.]
Host(going after him softly). Give me the purse at once which you took from this gentleman.
Grain. I—
Host. Straightaway ... or it will be the worse for you.
Grain. You need not be churlish. (Gives it to him.)
Host. And stay here. I have no time to search you now. Who knows what else you have pouched. Go back to your place.
Flipotte. I shall win the garter.
Host(throwing the purse toFrançois). Here's your purse. You lost it out of your pocket.
François. I thank you, Prosper. (ToAlbin. ) You see, we are in reality in the company of most respectable people.
[Henri, who has already been present for some time and has sat behind, suddenly stands up.]
Rollin. Henri—there is Henri.
Séverine. Is he the one you told me so much about?
Marquis. Assuredly. The man one really comes here to see.
[Henricomes to the front of the stage, very theatrically; is silent.]
The Actors. Henri, what ails you?
Rollin. Observe the look. A world of passion. You see, he is playing the man who commits a crime of passion.
Séverine. I prize that highly.
Albin. But why does he not speak?
Rollin. He is beside himself. Just watch. Pay attention.... He has wrought a fearful deed somewhere.
François. He is somewhat theatrical. It looks as though he were going to get ready for a monologue.
Host. Henri, Henri, where do you come from?
Henri. I have murdered.
Rollin. What did I say?
Scaevola. Whom?
Henri. The lover of my wife.
[Prosperlooks at him; at this moment he obviously has the feeling that it might be true.]
Henri(looks up). Well, yes, I've done it. What are you looking at me like that for? That's how the matter stands. Is it, then, so wonderful after all? You all know what kind of a creature my wife is; it was bound to end like that.
Host. And she—where is she?
François. See, the host takes it seriously. You notice how realistic that makes the thing.
[Noise outside—not too loud.]
Jules. What noise is that outside?
Marquis. Do you hear, Séverine?
Rollin. It sounds as though troops were marching by.
François. Oh, no; it is our dear people of Paris. Just listen how they bawl. (Uneasiness in the cellar; it grows quiet outside.) Go on, Henri—go on.
Host. Yes, do tell us, Henri—where is your wife? Where have you left her?
Henri. Oh, I have no qualms about her. She will not die of it. Whether it is this man or that man, what do the women care? There are still a thousand other handsome men running about Paris—whether it is this man or that man—
Balthasar. May it fare thus with all who take our wives from us.
Scaevola. All who take from us what belongs to us.
Commissaire(toHost). These are seditious speeches.
Albin. It is dreadful ... the people mean it seriously.
Scaevola. Down with the usurers of France! We would fain wager that the fellow whom he caught with his wife was another again of those accursed hounds who rob us of our bread as well.
Albin. I propose we go.
Séverine. Henri!—Henri!
Marquis. But, Marquise—
Séverine. Please, dear Marquis, ask the man how he caught his wife—or I will ask him myself.
Marquis(after resisting). Tell us, Henri, how did you manage to catch the pair?
Henri(who has been for a long while sunk in reverie). Know you my wife, then? She is the fairest and vilest creature under the sun. And I loved her! We have known one another for seven years—but it is only yesterday that she became my wife. In those seven years there was not one day, nay, not one day, in which she did not lie to me, for everything about her is a lie—her eyes and her lips, her kisses and her smiles.
François. He rants a little.
Henri. Every boy and every old man, every one who excited her and every one who paid her—every one, I think, who wanted her—has possessed her, and I have known it!
Séverine. Not every one can boast as much.
Henri. And all the same she loved me, my friends. Can any one of you understand that? She always came back to me again—from all quarters back again to me—from the handsome and from the ugly, from the shrewd and from the foolish, from ragamuffins and from courtiers—always came back to me.
Séverine(toRollin). Now, if only you had an inkling that it is just this coming back which is really love.
Henri. What I suffered ... tortures, tortures!
Rollin. It is harrowing.
Henri. And yesterday I married her. We had a dream—nay, I had a dream. I wanted to get away with her from here. Into solitude, into the country, into the great peace. We wished to live like other happy married couples—we dreamt also of having a child—-
Rollin(softly). Séverine.
Séverine. Very good!
Albin. François, that man is speaking the truth.
François. Quite so; the love-story is true, but the real pith is the murder-story.
Henri. I was just one day too late.... There was just one man whom she had forgotten, otherwise—I believe—she wouldn't have wanted any one else.... But I caught them together ... it is all over with him.
Actors. Who?—who? How did it happen? Where does he lie? Are you pursued? How did it happen? Where is she?
Henri(with growing excitement). I escorted her ... to the theatre ... today was to be the last time.... I kissed her ... at the door ... and she went to her dressing-room ... and I went off like a man who has nothing to fear. But when I had gone a hundred yards, I began ... to have ... within me—do you understand? ... a terrible unrest ... and it was as though something forced me to turn round ... and I turned round and went back. But once there I felt ashamed and went away again ... and again I walked a hundred yards away from the theatre ... and then something gripped me ... again I went back. Her scene was at an end—she hasn't got much to do, she just stands awhile on the stage half naked—and then she has finished. I stood in front of her dressing-room, put my ear to the door, and heard whispers. I could not make out a word ... the whispering ceased ... I pushed open the door ... (he roars like a lion) it was the Duc de Cadignan, and I murdered him.
Host(who now at last takes it for the truth). Madman!
[Henrilooks up, gazes fixedly atHost. ]
Séverine. Bravo!—bravo!
Rollin. What are you doing. Marquise? The moment you call out "bravo!" you make it all acting again—and the pleasant shudder is past.
Marquis. I do not find the shudder so pleasant. Let us applaud, my friends; that is the only way we can throw off the spell.
[A gentle bravo, growing continually louder; all applaud.]
Host(toHenri, during the noise). Save yourself—flee, Henri.
Henri. What!—what!
Host. Let this be enough, and see that you get away.
François. Hush!... Let us hear what the host says.
Host(after a short reflection). I am telling him that he ought to get away before the watch at the city gates are informed. The handsome Duke was a favorite of the King—they will break you on the wheel. Far better had it been had you stabbed that scum, your wife.
François. What playing up to each other!... Splendid!
Henri. Prosper, which of us is mad, you or I! (He stands there and tries to read inProsper'seyes.)
Rollin. It is wonderful; we all know that he is acting, and yet if the Duc de Cadignan were to enter now, it would be like a ghost appearing.
[Noise outside—growing stronger and stronger. People come in; shrieks are heard. Right at their headGrasset. Others, among themLebrêt, force their way over the steps. Cries of "Liberty! Liberty!" are heard.]
Grasset. Here we are, my boys—in here!
Albin. What is that? Is that part of the performance?
François. No.
Marquis. What means it?
Séverine. What people are those?
Grasset. In here! I tell you, my friend Prosper has still got a barrel of wine left, and we have earned it. (Noise from the streets.) Friend! Brother! We have them!—we have them!
Shouts(from outside). Liberty! Liberty!
Séverine. What has happened?
Marquis. Let us get away—let us get away; the mob approaches.
Rollin. How do you propose to get away?
Grasset. It has fallen; the Bastille has fallen!
Host. What say you? Speaks he the truth?
Grasset. Hear you not?
[Albinwants to draw his sword.]
François. Stop that at once, or we are all lost.
Grasset(reeling in down the stairs). And if you hasten, you will still be in time to see quite a merry sight ... the head of our dear Delaunay stuck on a very high pole.
Marquis. Is the fellow mad?
Shouts. Liberty! Liberty!
Grasset. We have cut off a dozen heads; the Bastille belongs to us; the prisoners are free! Paris belongs to the people!
Host. Hear you?—hear you? Paris belongs to us!
Grasset. See you how he gains courage now. Yes, shout away, Prosper; naught more can happen to you now.
Host(to the nobles). What say you to it, you rabble? The joke is at an end.
Albin. Said I not so?
Host. The people of Paris have conquered.
Commissaire. Silence! (They laugh.) Silence! I forbid the continuance of the performance!
Grasset. Who is that nincompoop?
Commissaire. Prosper, I regard you as responsible for all these seditious speeches.
Grasset. Is the fellow mad?
Host. The joke is at an end. Don't you understand? Henri, do tell them—now you can tell them. We will protect you—the people of Paris will protect you.
Grasset. Yea, the people of Paris.
[Henristands there with a fixed stare.]
Host. Henri has really murdered the Duc de Cadignan.
Albin,François, andMarquis. What says he?
Albinand others. What means all this, Henri?
François. Henri, pray speak.
Host. He found him with his wife and he has killed him.
Henri. 'Tis not true!
Host. You need fear naught more now; now you can shout it to all the world. I could have told you an hour past that sue was the Duke's mistress. By God, I was nigh telling you—is't not true, you, Shrieking Pumice-stone?—did we not know it?
Henri. Who has seen her? Where has she been seen?
Host. What matters that to you now? The man's mad ... you have killed him; of a truth you cannot do more.
François. In heaven's name, is't really true or not?
Host. Ay, it is true.
Grasset. Henri, from henceforth you must be my friend. Vive la Liberté!—Vive la Liberté!
François. Henri, speak, man!
Henri. She was his mistress? She was the mistress of the Duke? I knew it not ... he lives ... he lives ... (Tremendous sensation.)
Séverine(to the others). Well, where's the truth now?
Albin. My God!
[TheDukeforces his way through the crowd on the steps.]
Séverine(who sees him first). The Duke!
Some Voices. The Duke.
Duke. Well, well, what is it?
Host. Is it a ghost?
Duke. Not that I know of. Let me through!
Rollin. What won't we wager that it is all arranged! The fellows yonder belong to Prosper's troupe. Bravo, Prosper! This is a real success.
Duke. What is it? Is the playing still going on here, while outside ... but don't you know what manner of things are taking place outside? I have seen Delaunay's head carried past on a pole. Nay, why do you look at me like that? (Steps down.) Henri—
François. Guard yourself from Henri.
[Henri rushes like a madman on the Duke and plunges a dagger into his neck.]
Commissaire(stands up). This goes too far!
All. He bleeds.
Rollin. A murder has been done here.
Séverine. The Duke is dying.
Marquis. I am distracted, dear Séverine, to think that today of all days I should have brought you to this place.
Séverine. Why not? (In a strained tone.) It is a wonderful success. One does not see a real duke really murdered every day.
Rollin. I cannot grasp it yet.
Commissaire. Silence! Let no one leave the place!
Grasset. What does he want?
Georg Brandes
GEORG BRANDES
Commissaire. I arrest this man in the name of the law.
Grasset(laughs). It is we who make the laws, you blockheads! Out with the rabble! He who kills a duke is a friend of the people. Vive la Liberté!
Albin(draws his sword). Make way! Follow me, my friends! [Léocadierushes in over the steps.]
Voices. His wife!
Léocadie. Let me in here. I want my husband! (She comes to the front, sees, and shrieks out.) Who has done this? Henri! [Henrilooks at her.]
Léocadie. Why have you done this?
Henri. Why?
Léocadie. I know why. Because of me. Nay, nay, say not 'twas because of me. Never in all my life have I been worth that.
Grasset(begins a speech). Citizens of Paris, we will celebrate our victory. Chance has led us on our way through the streets of Paris to this amiable host. It could not have fitted in more prettily. Nowhere can the cry "Vive la Liberté!" ring sweeter than over the corpse of a duke.
Voices. Vive la Liberté! Vive la Liberté!
François. I think we might go. The people have gone mad. Let us go.
Albin. Shall we leave the corpse here?
Séverine. Vive la Liberté! Vive la Liberté!
Marquis.Are you mad?
CitizensandActors. Vive la Liberté! Vive la Liberté!
Séverine(leading the nobles to the exit). Rollin, wait you tonight outside my window. I will throw the key down like t'other night. We will pass a pretty hour—I feel quite pleasurably excited.
Shouts. Vive la Liberté! Vive Henri! Vive Henri!
Lebrêt. Look at the fellows—they are running away from us.
Grasset. Let them for tonight—let them; they will not escape us.