Chapter 6

Mrs. Linden.

Yes; I thought so.

Nora.

And so he shall, Christina. Just you leave it all to me. I shall lead up to it beautifully!—I shall think of some delightful plan to put him in a good humour! Oh, I should so love to help you.

Mrs. Linden.

How good of you, Nora, to stand by me so warmly! Doubly good in you, who know so little of the troubles and burdens of life.

Nora.

I? I know so little of——?

Mrs. Linden.

[Smiling.] Oh, well—a little fancy-work, and so forth.—You’re a child, Nora.

Nora.

[Tosses her head and paces the room.] Oh, come, you mustn’t be so patronising!

Mrs. Linden.

No?

Nora.

You’re like the rest. You all think I’m fit for nothing really serious——

Mrs. Linden.

Well, well——

Nora.

You think I’ve had no troubles in this weary world.

Mrs. Linden.

My dear Nora, you’ve just told me all your troubles.

Nora.

Pooh—those trifles! [Softly.] I haven’t told you the great thing.

Mrs. Linden.

The great thing? What do you mean?

Nora.

I know you look down upon me, Christina; but you have no right to. You are proud of having worked so hard and so long for your mother.

Mrs. Linden.

I am sure I don’t look down upon any one; but it’s true I am both proud and glad when I remember that I was able to keep my mother’s last days free from care.

Nora.

And you’re proud to think of what you have done for your brothers, too.

Mrs. Linden.

Have I not the right to be?

Nora.

Yes indeed. But now let me tell you, Christina—I, too, have something to be proud and glad of.

Mrs. Linden.

I don’t doubt it. But what do you mean?

Nora.

Hush! Not so loud. Only think, if Torvald were to hear! He mustn’t—not for worlds! No one must know about it, Christina—no one but you.

Mrs. Linden.

Why, what can it be?

Nora.

Come over here. [Draws her down beside her on the sofa.] Yes, Christina—I, too, have something to be proud and glad of. I saved Torvald’s life.

Mrs. Linden.

Saved his life? How?

Nora.

I told you about our going to Italy. Torvald would have died but for that.

Mrs. Linden.

Well—and your father gave you the money.

Nora.

[Smiling.] Yes, so Torvald and every one believes; but——

Mrs. Linden.

But——?

Nora.

Papa didn’t give us one penny. It wasIthat found the money.

Mrs. Linden.

You? All that money?

Nora.

Twelve hundred dollars. Four thousand eight hundred crowns. What do you say to that?

Mrs. Linden.

My dear Nora, how did you manage it? Did you win it in the lottery?

Nora.

[Contemptuously] In the lottery? Pooh! Any one could have donethat!

Mrs. Linden.

Then wherever did you get it from?

Nora.

[Hums and smiles mysteriously.] H’m; tra-la-la-la!

Mrs. Linden.

Of course you couldn’t borrow it.

Nora.

No? Why not?

Mrs. Linden.

Why, a wife can’t borrow without her husband’s consent.

Nora.

[Tossing her head.] Oh! when the wife has some idea of business, and knows how to set about things——

Mrs. Linden.

But, Nora, I don’t understand——

Nora.

Well, you needn’t. I never said I borrowed the money. There are many ways I may have got it.

[Throws herself back on the sofa.] I may have got it from some admirer. When one is so—attractive as I am——

Mrs. Linden.

You’re too silly, Nora.

Nora.

Now I’m sure you’re dying of curiosity, Christina——

Mrs. Linden.

Listen to me, Nora dear: haven’t you been a little rash?

Nora.

[Sitting upright again.] Is it rash to save one’s husband’s life?

Mrs. Linden.

I think it was rash of you, without his knowledge——

Nora.

But it would have been fatal for him to know! Can’t you understand that? He wasn’t even to suspect how ill he was. The doctors came to me privately and told me his life was in danger—that nothing could save him but a winter in the South. Do you think I didn’t try diplomacy first? I told him how I longed to have a trip abroad, like other young wives; I wept and prayed; I said he ought to think of my condition, and not to thwart me; and then I hinted that he could borrow the money. But then, Christina, he got almost angry. He said I was frivolous, and that it was his duty as a husband not to yield to my whims and fancies—so he called them. Very well, thought I, but saved you must be; and then I found the way to do it.

Mrs. Linden.

And did your husband never learn from your father that the money was not from him?

Nora.

No; never. Papa died at that very time. I meant to have told him all about it, and begged him to say nothing. But he was so ill—unhappily, it wasn’t necessary.

Mrs. Linden.

And you have never confessed to your husband?

Nora.

Good heavens! What can you be thinking of?Tell him, when he has such a loathing of debt! And besides—how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly self-respect, to know that he owed anything to me! It would utterly upset the relation between us; our beautiful, happy home would never again be what it is.

Mrs. Linden.

Will you never tell him?

Nora.

[Thoughtfully, half-smiling.] Yes, some time perhaps—many, many years hence, when I’m—not so pretty. You mustn’t laugh at me! Of course I mean when Torvald is not so much in love with me as he is now; when it doesn’t amuse him any longer to see me dancing about, and dressing up and acting. Then it might be well to have something in reserve. [Breaking off.] Nonsense! nonsense! That time will never come. Now, what do you say to my grand secret, Christina? Am I fit for nothing now? Youmay believe it has cost me a lot of anxiety. It has been no joke to meet my engagements punctually. You must know, Christina, that in business there are things called instalments, and quarterly interest, that are terribly hard to provide for. So I’ve had to pinch a little here and there, wherever I could. I couldn’t save much out of the housekeeping, for of course Torvald had to live well. And I couldn’t let the children go about badly dressed; all I got for them, I spent on them, the blessed darlings!

Mrs. Linden.

Poor Nora! So it had to come out of your own pocket-money.

Nora.

Yes, ofcoursecourse. After all, the whole thing was my doing. When Torvald gave me money for clothes, and so on, I never spent more than half of it; I always bought the simplest and cheapest things. It’s a mercy that everything suits me so well—Torvald never had any suspicions. But it was often very hard, Christina dear. For it’s nice to be beautifully dressed—now, isn’t it?

Mrs. Linden.

Indeed it is.

Nora.

Well, and besides that, I made money in other ways. Last winter I was so lucky—I got a heap of copying to do. I shut myself up every evening and wrote far into the night. Oh, sometimes I was so tired, so tired. And yet it was splendid to work in that way and earn money. I almost felt as if I was a man.

Mrs. Linden.

Then how much have you been able to pay off?

Nora.

Well, I can’t precisely say. It’s difficult to keep that sort of business clear. I only know that I’ve paid everything I could scrape together. Sometimes I really didn’t know where to turn. [Smiles.] Then I used to sit here and pretend that a rich old gentleman was in love with me——

Mrs. Linden.

What! What gentleman?

Nora.

Oh, nobody!—that he was dead now, and that when his will was opened, there stood in large letters: “Pay over at once everything of which I die possessed to that charming person, Mrs. Nora Helmer.”

Mrs. Linden.

But, my dear Nora—what gentleman do you mean?

Nora.

Oh dear, can’t you understand? There wasn’t any old gentleman: it was only what I used to dream and dream when I was at my wits’ end for money. But it doesn’t matter now—the tiresome old creature may stay where he is for me. I care nothing for him or his will; for now my troubles are over. [Springing up.] Oh, Christina, how glorious it is to think of! Free from all anxiety! Free, quite free. To be able to play and romp about with the children; to have things tasteful and pretty in the house, exactly as Torvald likesit! And then the spring will soon be here, with the great blue sky. Perhaps then we shall have a little holiday. Perhaps I shall see the sea again. Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to live and to be happy!

[The hall-door bell rings.

Mrs. Linden.

[Rising.] There’s a ring. Perhaps I had better go.

Nora.

No; do stay. No one will come here. It’s sure to be some one for Torvald.

Ellen.

[In the doorway.] If you please, ma’am, there’s a gentleman to speak to Mr. Helmer.

Nora.

Who is the gentleman?

Krogstad.

[In the doorway.] It is I, Mrs. Helmer.

[Mrs. Lindenstarts and turns away to the window.

Nora.

[Goes a step towards him, anxiously, speaking low.] You? What is it? What do you want with my husband?

Krogstad.

Bank business—in a way. I hold a small post in the Joint Stock Bank, and your husband is to be our new chief, I hear.

Nora.

Then it is——?

Krogstad.

Only tiresome business, Mrs. Helmer; nothing more.

Nora.

Then will you please go to his study.

[Krogstadgoes. She bows indifferently while she closes the door into the hall. Then she goes to the stove and looks to the fire.

Mrs. Linden.

Nora—who was that man?

Nora.

A Mr. Krogstad—a lawyer.

Mrs. Linden.

Then it was really he?

Nora.

Do you know him?

Mrs. Linden.

I used to know him—many years ago. He was in a lawyer’s office in our town.

Nora.

Yes, so he was.

Mrs. Linden.

How he has changed!

Nora.

I believe his marriage was unhappy.

Mrs. Linden.

And he is a widower now?

Nora.

With a lot of children. There! Now it will burn up.

[She closes the stove, and pushes the rocking-chair a little aside.

Mrs. Linden.

His business is not of the most creditable, they say?

Nora.

Isn’t it? I daresay not. I don’t know. But don’t let us think of business—it’s so tiresome.

Dr. Rankcomes out ofHelmer’sroom.

Rank.

[Still in the doorway.] No, no; I’m in your way. I shall go and have a chat with your wife. [Shuts the door and seesMrs. Linden.] Oh, I beg your pardon. I’m in the way here too.

Nora.

No, not in the least. [Introduces them.] Doctor Rank—Mrs. Linden.

Rank.

Oh, indeed; I’ve often heard Mrs. Linden’s name; I think I passed you on the stairs as I came up.

Mrs. Linden.

Yes; I go so very slowly. Stairs try me so much.

Rank.

Ah—you are not very strong?

Mrs. Linden.

Only overworked.

Rank.

Nothing more? Then no doubt you’ve come to town to find rest in a round of dissipation?

Mrs. Linden.

I have come to look for employment.

Rank.

Is that an approved remedy for overwork?

Mrs. Linden.

One must live, Doctor Rank.

Rank.

Yes, that seems to be the general opinion.

Nora.

Come, Doctor Rank—you want to live yourself.

Rank.

To be sure I do. However wretched I may be, I want to drag on as long as possible. All my patients, too, have the same mania. And it’s the same with people whose complaint is moral. At this very moment Helmer is talking to just such a moral incurable——

Mrs. Linden.

[Softly.] Ah!

Nora.

Whom do you mean?

Rank.

Oh, a fellow named Krogstad, a man you know nothing about—corrupt to the very core of hischaracter. But even he began by announcing, as a matter of vast importance, that he must live.

Nora.

Indeed? And what did he want with Torvald?

Rank.

I haven’t an idea; I only gathered that it was some bank business.

Nora.

I didn’t know that Krog—that this Mr. Krogstad had anything to do with the Bank?

Rank.

Yes. He has got some sort of place there. [ToMrs. Linden.] I don’t know whether, in your part of the country, you have people who go grubbing and sniffing around in search of moral rottenness—and then, when they have found a “case,” don’t rest till they have got their man into some good position, where they can keep a watch upon him. Men with a clean bill of health they leave out in the cold.

Mrs. Linden.

Well, I suppose the—delicate characters require most care.

Rank.

[Shrugs his shoulders.] There we have it! It’s that notion that makes society a hospital.

[Nora,deep in her own thoughts, breaks into half-stifled laughter and claps her hands.

Rank.

Why do you laugh at that? Have you any idea what “society” is?

Nora.

What do I care for your tiresome society? I was laughing at something else—something excessively amusing. Tell me, Doctor Rank, are all the employees at the Bank dependent on Torvald now?

Rank.

Is that what strikes you as excessively amusing?

Nora.

[Smiles and hums.] Never mind, never mind! [Walks about the room.] Yes, it is funny to think that we—that Torvald has such power over so many people. [Takes the bag from her pocket.] Doctor Rank, will you have a macaroon?

Rank.

What!—macaroons! I thought they were contraband here.

Nora.

Yes; but Christina brought me these.

Mrs. Linden.

What! I——?

Nora.

Oh, well! Don’t be frightened. You couldn’t possibly know that Torvald had forbidden them. The fact is, he’s afraid of me spoiling my teeth. But, oh bother, just for once!—That’s for you, Doctor Rank! [Puts a macaroon into his mouth.] And you too, Christina. And I’ll have one while we’re about it—only a tiny one, or at most two. [Walks about again.] Oh dear, I am happy! There’s only one thing in the world I really want.

Rank.

Well; what’s that?

Nora.

There’s something I should so like to say—in Torvald’s hearing.

Rank.

Then why don’t you say it?

Nora.

Because I daren’t, it’s so ugly.

Mrs. Linden.

Ugly?Ugly?

Rank.

In that case you’d better not. But to us you might——What is it you would so like to say in Helmer’s hearing?

Nora.

I should so love to say “Damn it all!”[8]

Rank.

Are you out of your mind?

Mrs. Linden.

Good gracious, Nora——!

Rank

Say it—there he is!

Nora.

[Hides the macaroons.] Hush—sh—sh

Helmercomes out of his room, hat in hand, with his overcoat on his arm.

Nora.

[Going to him.] Well, Torvald dear, have you got rid of him?

Helmer.

Yes; he has just gone.

Nora.

Let me introduce you—this is Christina, who has come to town——

Helmer.

Christina? Pardon me, I don’t know——

Nora.

Mrs. Linden, Torvald dear—Christina Linden.

Helmer.

[ToMrs. Linden.] Indeed! A school-friend of my wife’s, no doubt?

Mrs. Linden.

Yes; we knew each other as girls.

Nora.

And only think! she has taken this long journey on purpose to speak to you.

Helmer.

To speak to me!

Mrs. Linden.

Well, not quite——

Nora.

You see, Christina is tremendously clever at office-work, and she’s so anxious to work under afirst-rate man of business in order to learn still more——

Helmer.

[ToMrs. Linden.] Very sensible indeed.

Nora.

And when she heard you were appointed manager—it was telegraphed, you know—she started off at once, and——Torvald, dear, for my sake, you must do something for Christina. Now can’t you?

Helmer.

It’s not impossible. I presume Mrs. Linden is a widow?

Mrs. Linden.

Yes.

Helmer.

And you have already had some experience of business?

Mrs. Linden.

A good deal.

Helmer.

Well, then, it’s very likely I may be able to find a place for you.

Nora.

[Clapping her hands.] There now! There now!

Helmer.

You have come at a fortunate moment, Mrs. Linden.

Mrs. Linden.

Oh, how can I thank you——?

Helmer.

[Smiling.] There is no occasion. [Puts on his overcoat.] But for the present you must excuse me——

Rank.

Wait; I am going with you.

[Fetches his fur coat from the hall and warms it at the fire.

Nora.

Don’t be long, Torvald dear.

Helmer.

Only an hour; not more.

Nora.

Are you going too, Christina?

Mrs. Linden.

[Putting on her walking things.] Yes; I must set about looking for lodgings.

Helmer.

Then perhaps we can go together?

Nora.

[Helping her.] What a pity we haven’t a spare room for you; but it’s impossible——

Mrs. Linden.

I shouldn’t think of troubling you. Good-bye, dear Nora, and thank you for all your kindness.

Nora.

Good-bye for the present. Of course you’ll come back this evening. And you, too, DoctorRank. What! If you’re well enough? Of course you’ll be well enough. Only wrap up warmly. [They go out, talking, into the hall. Outside on the stairs are heard children’s voices.] There they are! There they are! [She runs to the outer door and opens it. The nurseAnna, enters the hall with the children.] Come in! Come in! [Stoops down and kisses the children.] Oh, my sweet darlings! Do you see them, Christina? Aren’t they lovely?

Rank.

Don’t let us stand here chattering in the draught.

Helmer.

Come, Mrs. Linden; only mothers can stand such a temperature.

[Dr. Rank,Helmer,andMrs. Lindengo down the stairs;Annaenters the room with the children;Noraalso, shutting the door.

Nora.

How fresh and bright you look! And what red cheeks you’ve got! Like apples and roses. [The children chatter to her during what follows.] Have you had great fun? That’s splendid! Oh, really! You’ve been giving Emmy and Bob a ride on your sledge!—both at once, only think! Why, you’re quite a man, Ivar. Oh, give her to me a little, Anna. My sweet little dolly! [Takes the smallest from the nurse and dances with her.] Yes, yes; mother will dance with Bob too. What! Did you have a game of snowballs? Oh, I wish I’d been there. No; leave them, Anna; I’ll take their things off. Oh, yes, letme do it; it’s such fun. Go to the nursery; you look frozen. You’ll find some hot coffee on the stove.

Back to Index Next