Chapter 25

Hialmar.

I don’t require to have them cut for me.

[Short silence.

Gina.

Then you’re still set on leaving us, Ekdal?

Hialmar.

[Rummaging amongst the books.] Yes, that is a matter of course, I should think.

Gina.

Well, well.

Hialmar.

[Vehemently.] How can I live here, to be stabbed to the heart every hour of the day?

Gina.

God forgive you for thinking such vile things of me.

Hialmar.

Prove——!

Gina.

I think it’syouas has got to prove.

Hialmar.

After a past like yours? There are certain claims—I may almost call them claims of the ideal——

Gina.

But what about grandfather? What’s to become ofhim, poor dear?

Hialmar.

I know my duty; my helpless father will come with me. I am going out into the town to makearrangements——. H'm—[hesitatingly] has any one found my hat on the stairs?

Gina.

No. Have you lost your hat?

Hialmar.

Of course I had it on when I came in last night; there’s no doubt about that; but I couldn’t find it this morning.

Gina.

Lord help us! wherehaveyou been to with those two ne’er-do-weels?

Hialmar.

Oh, don’t bother me about trifles. Do you suppose I am in the mood to remember details?

Gina.

If only you haven’t caught cold,Ekdal.Ekdal.

[Goes out into the kitchen.

Hialmar.

[Talks to himself in a low tone of irritation, whilst he empties the table-drawer.] You’re a scoundrel, Relling!—You’re a low fellow!—Ah, you shameless tempter!—I wish I could get some one to stick a knife into you!

[He lays some old letters on one side, finds the torn document of yesterday, takes it up and looks at the pieces; puts it down hurriedly asGinaenters.

Gina.

[Sets a tray with coffee, etc., on the table.] Here’sa drop of something hot, if you’d fancy it. And there’s some bread and butter and a snack of salt meat.

Hialmar.

[Glancing at the tray.] Salt meat? Never under this roof! It’s true I have not had a mouthful of solid food for nearly twenty-four hours; but no matter.—My memoranda! The commencement of my autobiography! What has become of my diary, and all my important papers? [Opens the sitting-room door but draws back.] She is there too!

Gina.

Good Lord! the child must besomewhere!

Hialmar.

Come out.

[He makes room,Hedvigcomes, scared, into the studio.

Hialmar.

[With his hand upon the door-handle, says toGina:] In these, the last moments I spend in my former home, I wish to be spared from interlopers——

[Goes into the room.

Hedvig.

[With a bound towards her mother, asks softly, trembling.] Does that mean me?

Gina.

Stay out in the kitchen, Hedvig; or, no—you’d best go into your own room. [Speaks toHialmaras she goes in to him.] Wait a bit, Ekdal; don’t rummage so in the drawers;Iknow where everything is.

Hedvig.

[Stands a moment immovable, in terror and perplexity, biting her lips to keep back the tears; then she clenches her hands convulsively, and says softly:] The wild duck.

[She steals over and takes the pistol from the shelf, opens the garret door a little way, creeps in, and draws the door to after her.[HialmarandGinacan be heard disputing in the sitting-room.

[She steals over and takes the pistol from the shelf, opens the garret door a little way, creeps in, and draws the door to after her.

[HialmarandGinacan be heard disputing in the sitting-room.

Hialmar.

[Comes in with some manuscript books and old loose papers, which he lays upon the table.] That portmanteau is of no use! There are a thousand and one things I must drag with me.

Gina.

[Following with the portmanteau.] Why not leave all the rest for the present, and only take a shirt and a pair of woollen drawers with you?

Hialmar.

Whew!—all these exhausting preparations——!

[Pulls off his overcoat and throws it upon the sofa.

Gina.

And there’s the coffee getting cold.

Hialmar.

H'm.

[Drinks a mouthful without thinking of it, and then another.

Gina.

[Dusting the backs of the chairs.] A nice jobyou’ll have to find such another big garret for the rabbits.

Hialmar.

What! Am I to drag all those rabbits with me too?

Gina.

You don’t suppose grandfather can get on without his rabbits.

Hialmar.

He must just get used to doing without them. Have notIto sacrifice very much greater things than rabbits!

Gina.

[Dusting the bookcase.] Shall I put the flute in the portmanteau for you?

Hialmar.

No. No flute for me. But give me the pistol!

Gina.

Do you want to take the pigstol with you?

Hialmar.

Yes. My loaded pistol.

Gina.

[Searching for it.] It’s gone. He must have taken it in with him.

Hialmar.

Is he in the garret?

Gina.

Yes, of course he’s in the garret.

Hialmar.

H'm—poor lonely old man.

[He takes a piece of bread and butter, eats it, and finishes his cup of coffee.

Gina.

If we hadn’t have let that room, you could have moved in there.

Hialmar.

And continued to live under the same roof with——! Never,—never!

Gina.

But couldn’t you put up with the sitting-room for a day or two? You could have it all to yourself.

Hialmar.

Never within these walls!

Gina.

Well then, down with Relling and Molvik.

Hialmar.

Don’t mention those wretches' names to me! The very thought of them almost takes away my appetite.—Oh no, I must go out into the storm and the snow-drift,—go from house to house and seek shelter for my father and myself.

Gina.

But you’ve got no hat, Ekdal! You’ve been and lost your hat, you know.

Hialmar.

Oh those two brutes, those slaves of all thevices! A hat must be procured. [Takes another piece of bread and butter.] Some arrangement must be made. For I have no mind to throw away my life, either.

[Looks for something on the tray.

Gina.

What are you looking for?

Hialmar.

Butter.

Gina.

I'll get some at once.[Goes out into the kitchen.

Hialmar.

[Calls after her.] Oh it doesn’t matter; dry bread is good enough for me.

Gina.

[Brings a dish of butter.] Look here; this is fresh churned.

[She pours out another cup of coffee for him; he seats himself on the sofa, spreads more butter on the already buttered bread, and eats and drinks awhile in silence.

Hialmar.

Could I, without being subject to intrusion—intrusion ofanysort—could I live in the sitting-room there for a day or two?

Gina.

Yes, to be sure you could, if you only would.

Hialmar.

For I see no possibility of getting all father’s things out in such a hurry.

Gina.

And besides, you’ve surely got to tell him first as you don’t mean to live with us others no more.

Hialmar.

[Pushes away his coffee cup.] Yes, there is that too; I shall have to lay bare the whole tangled story to him——. I must turn matters over; I must have breathing-time; I cannot take all these burdens on my shoulders in a single day.

Gina.

No, especially in such horrible weather as it is outside.

Hialmar.

[TouchingWerle’sletter.] I see that paper is still lying about here.

Gina.

Yes,Ihaven’t touched it.

Hialmar.

So far as I am concerned it is mere waste paper——

Gina.

Well,Ihave certainly no notion of making any use of it.

Hialmar.

——but we had better not let it get lost all the same;—in all the upset when I move, it might easily——

Gina.

I'll take good care of it, Ekdal.

Hialmar.

The donation is in the first instance made tofather, and it rests with him to accept or decline it.

Gina.

[Sighs.] Yes, poor old father——

Hialmar.

To make quite safe—— Where shall I find some gum?

Gina.

[Goes to the bookcase.] Here’s the gum-pot.

Hialmar.

And a brush?

Gina.

The brush is here too.[Brings him the things.

Hialmar.

[Takes a pair of scissors.] Just a strip of paper at the back——[Clips and gums.] Far be it from me to lay hands upon what is not my own—and least of all upon what belongs to a destitute old man—and to—the other as well.—There now. Let it lie there for a time; and when it is dry, take it away. I wish never to see that document again. Never!

Gregers Werleenters from the passage.

Gregers.

[Somewhat surprised.] What,—are you sitting here, Hialmar?

Hialmar.

[Rises hurriedly.] I had sunk down from fatigue.

Gregers.

You have been having breakfast, I see.

Hialmar.

The body sometimes makes its claims felt too.

Gregers.

What have you decided to do?

Hialmar.

For a man like me, there is only one course possible. I am just putting my most important things together. But it takes time, you know.

Gina.

[With a touch of impatience.] Am I to get the room ready for you, or am I to pack your portmanteau?

Hialmar.

[After a glance of annoyance atGregers.] Pack—and get the room ready!

Gina.

[Takes the portmanteau.] Very well; then I'll put in the shirt and the other things.

[Goes into the sitting-room and draws the door to after her.

Gregers.

[After a short silence.] I never dreamed that this would be the end of it. Do you really feel it a necessity to leave house and home?

Hialmar.

[Wanders about restlessly.] What would you have me do?—I am not fitted to bear unhappiness, Gregers. I must feel secure and at peace in my surroundings.

Gregers.

But can you not feel that here? Just try it. I should have thought you had firm ground to build upon now—if only you start afresh. And remember, you have your invention to live for.

Hialmar.

Oh don’t talk about my invention. It’s perhaps still in the dim distance.

Gregers.

Indeed!

Hialmar.

Why, great heavens, what would you have me invent? Other people have invented almost everything already. It becomes more and more difficult every day——

Gregers.

And you have devoted so much labour to it.

Hialmar.

It was that blackguard Relling that urged me to it.

Gregers.

Relling?

Hialmar.

Yes, it was he that first made me realise my aptitude for making some notable discovery in photography.

Gregers.

Aha—it was Relling!

Hialmar.

Oh! I have been so truly happy over it! Not somuch for the sake of the invention itself, as because Hedvig believed in it—believed in it with a child’s whole eagerness of faith.—At least, I have been fool enough to go and imagine that she believed in it.

Gregers.

Can you really think that Hedvig has been false towards you?

Hialmar.

I can think anything now. It is Hedvig that stands in my way. She will blot out the sunlight from my whole life.

Gregers.

Hedvig! Is it Hedvig you are talking of? How shouldsheblot out your sunlight?

Hialmar.

[Without answering.] How unutterably I have loved that child! How unutterably happy I have felt every time I came home to my humble room, and she flew to meet me, with her sweet little blinking eyes. Oh, confiding fool that I have been! I loved her unutterably;—and I yielded myself up to the dream, the delusion, that she loved me unutterably in return.

Gregers.

Do you call that a delusion?

Hialmar.

How should I know? I can get nothing out of Gina; and besides, she is totally blind to the ideal side of these complications. But to you I feel impelled to open my mind, Gregers. I cannotshake off this frightful doubt—perhaps Hedvig has never really and honestly loved me.

Gregers.

What would you say if she were to give you a proof of her love? [Listens.] What’s that? I thought I heard the wild duck——?

Hialmar.

It’s the wild duck quacking. Father’s in the garret.

Gregers.

Is he? [His face lights up with joy.] I say you may yet have proof that your poor misunderstood Hedvig loves you!

Hialmar.

Oh, what proof can she give me? I dare not believe in any assurances from that quarter.

Gregers.

Hedvig does not know what deceit means.

Hialmar.

Oh Gregers, that is just what I cannot be sure of. Who knows what Gina and that Mrs. Sörby may many a time have sat here whispering and tattling about? And Hedvig usually has her ears open, I can tell you. Perhaps the deed of gift was not such a surprise to her, after all. In fact, I'm not sure but that I noticed something of the sort.

Gregers.

What spirit is this that has taken possession of you?

Hialmar.

I have had my eyes opened. Just you notice;—you’ll see, the deed of gift is only a beginning. Mrs. Sörby has always been a good deal taken up with Hedvig; and now she has the power to do whatever she likes for the child. They can take her from me whenever they please.

Gregers.

Hedvig will never, never leave you.

Hialmar.

Don’t be so sure of that. If only they beckon to her and throw out a golden bait——! And oh! I have loved her so unspeakably! I would have counted it my highest happiness to take her tenderly by the hand and lead her, as one leads a timid child through a great dark empty room!—I am cruelly certain now that the poor photographer in his humble attic has never really and truly been anything to her. She has only cunningly contrived to keep on a good footing with him until the time came.

Gregers.

You don’t believe that yourself, Hialmar.

Hialmar.

That is just the terrible part of it—I don’t know what to believe,—I never can know it. But can you really doubt that it must be as I say? Ho-ho, you have far too much faith in the claim of the ideal, my good Gregers! If those others came, with the glamour of wealth about them, and called to the child:—“Leave him: come to us: here life awaits you——!”

Gregers.

[Quickly.] Well, what then?

Hialmar.

If I then asked her: Hedvig, are you willing to renounce that life for me? [Laughs scornfully.] No thank you! You would soon hear what answer I should get.

[A pistol shot is heard from within the garret.

Gregers.

[Loudly and joyfully.] Hialmar!

Hialmar.

There now; he must needs go shooting too.

Gina.

[Comes in.] Oh Ekdal, I can hear grandfather blazing away in the garret by hisself.

Hialmar.

I'll look in——

Gregers.

[Eagerly, with emotion.] Wait a moment! Do you know what that was?

Hialmar.

Yes, of course I know.

Gregers.

No you don’t know. ButIdo. That was the proof!

Hialmar.

What proof?

Gregers.

It was a child’s free-will offering. She has got your father to shoot the wild duck.

Hialmar.

To shoot the wild duck!

Gina.

Oh, think of that——!

Hialmar.

What wasthatfor?

Gregers.

She wanted to sacrifice to you her most cherished possession; for then she thought you would surely come to love her again.

Hialmar.

[Tenderly, with emotion.] Oh, poor child!

Gina.

What things she does think of!

Gregers.

She only wanted your love again, Hialmar. She could not live without it.

Gina.

[Struggling with her tears.] There, you can see for yourself, Ekdal.

Hialmar.

Gina, where is she?

Gina.

[Sniffs.] Poor dear, she’s sitting out in the kitchen, I dare say.

Hialmar.

[Goes over, tears open the kitchen door, and says:] Hedvig, come, come in to me! [Looks round.] No, she’s not here.

Gina.

Then she must be in her own little room.

Hialmar.

[Without.] No, she’s not here either. [Comes in.] She must have gone out.

Gina.

Yes, you wouldn’t have her anywheres in the house.

Hialmar.

Oh, if she would only come home quickly, so that I can tell her—— Everything will come right now, Gregers; now I believe we can begin life afresh.

Gregers.

[Quietly.] I knew it; I knew the child would make amends.

Old Ekdalappears at the door of his room; he is in full uniform, and is busy buckling on his sword.

Hialmar.

[Astonished.] Father! Are you there?

Gina.

Have you been firing in your room?

Ekdal.

[Resentfully approaching.] So you go shooting alone, do you, Hialmar?

Hialmar.

[Excited and confused.] Then it wasn’t you that fired that shot in the garret?

Ekdal.

Methat fired? H'm.

Gregers.

[Calls out toHialmar.] She has shot the wild duck herself!

Hialmar.

What can it mean? [Hastens to the garret door, tears it aside, looks in and calls loudly:] Hedvig!

Gina.

[Runs to the door.] Good God, what’s that!

Hialmar.

[Goes in.] She’s lying on the floor!

Gregers.

Hedvig! lying on the floor!

[Goes in toHialmar.

Gina.

[At the same time.] Hedvig! [Inside the garret.] No, no, no!

Ekdal.

Ho-ho! doesshego shooting too, now?

[Hialmar,Gina,andGregerscarryHedviginto the studio; in her dangling right hand she holds the pistol fast clasped in her fingers.

Hialmar.

[Distracted.] The pistol has gone off. She has wounded herself. Call for help! Help!

Gina.

[Runs into the passage and calls down.] Relling! Relling! Doctor Relling; come up as quick as you can!

[HialmarandGregerslayHedvigdown on the sofa.

Ekdal.

[Quietly.] The woods avenge themselves.

Hialmar.

[On his knees besideHedvig.] She’ll soon come to now. She’s coming to——; yes, yes, yes.

Gina.

[Who has come in again.] Where has she hurt herself? I can’t see anything——

[Rellingcomes hurriedly, and immediately after himMolvik;the latter without his waistcoat and necktie, and with his coat open.

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