ACT THIRD

Irene.

My adored lord and master!

Professor Rubek.

Oh, Irene!

Irene.

[Hoarsely, smiling and groping in her breast.] It will be only an episode—[Quickly, whispering.] Hush!—do not look round, Arnold!

Professor Rubek.

[Also in a low voice.] What is it?

Irene.

A face that is staring at me.

Professor Rubek.

[Turns involuntarily.] Where? [With a start.] Ah——!

[TheSister of Mercy’shead is partly visible among the bushes beside the descentto the left. Her eyes are immovably fixed onIrene.

Irene.

[Rises and says softly.] We must part then. No, you must remain sitting. Do you hear? You must not go with me. [Bends over him and whispers.] Till we meet again—to-night—on the upland.

Professor Rubek.

And you will come, Irene?

Irene.

Yes, surely I will come. Wait for me here.

Professor Rubek.

[Repeats dreamily.] Summer night on the upland. With you. With you. [His eyes meet hers.] Oh, Irene—that might have been our life.—Andthatwe have forfeited—we two.

Irene.

We see the irretrievable only when—

[Breaks off.

Professor Rubek.

[Looks inquiringly at her.] When——?

Irene.

When we dead awaken.

Professor Rubek.

[Shakes his head mournfully.] What do we really seethen?

Irene.

We see that we have never lived.

[She goes towards the slope and descends.

[TheSister of Mercymakes way for her and follows her.Professor Rubekremains sitting motionless beside the brook.

Maia.

[Is heard singing triumphantly among the hills.]

I am free! I am free! I am free!No more life in the prison for me!I am free as a bird! I am free!

I am free! I am free! I am free!

No more life in the prison for me!

I am free as a bird! I am free!

ACT THIRD

[A wild riven mountain-side, with sheer precipices at the back. Snow-clad peaks rise to the right, and lose themselves in drifting mists. To the left, on a stone-scree, stands an old, half-ruined hut. It is early morning. Dawn is breaking. The sun has not yet risen.

[Maiacomes, flushed and irritated, down over the stone-scree on the left.Ulfheimfollows, half angry, half laughing, holding her fast by the sleeve.

Maia.

[Trying to tear herself loose.] Let me go! Let me go, I say!

Ulfheim.

Come, come! are you going to bite now? You’re as snappish as a wolf.

Maia.

[Striking him over the hand.] Let me go, I tellyou!you!And be quiet!

Ulfheim.

No, confound me if I will!

Maia.

Then I will not go another step with you. Do you hear?—not a single step!

Ulfheim.

Ho, ho! How can you get away from me, here, on the wild mountain-side?

Maia.

I will jump over the precipice yonder, if need be——

Ulfheim.

And mangle and mash yourself up into dogs’-meat! A juicy morsel! [Lets go his hold.] As you please. Jump over the precipice if you want to. It’s a dizzy drop. There’s only one narrow footpath down it, and that’s almost impassable.

Maia.

[Dusts her skirt with her hand, and looks at him with angry eyes.] Well,youare a nice one to go hunting with!

Ulfheim.

Say rather, sporting.

Maia.

Oh! So you call this sport, do you?

Ulfheim.

Yes, I venture to take that liberty. It is the sort of sport I like best of all.

Maia.

[Tossing her head.] Well—I must say! [After a pause; looks searchingly at him.] Why did you let the dogs loose up there?

Ulfheim.

[Blinking his eyes and smiling.] So thattheytoo might do a little hunting on their own account, don’t you see?

Maia.

There’s not a word of truth in that! It wasn’t for the dogs’ sake that you let them go.

Ulfheim.

[Still smiling.] Well, why did I let them go then? Let us hear.

Maia.

You let them go because you wanted to get rid of Lars. He was to run after them and bring them in again, you said. And in the meantime—. Oh, it was a pretty way to behave!

Ulfheim.

In the meantime?

Maia.

[Curtly breaking off.] No matter!

Ulfheim.

[In a confidential tone.] Lars won’t find them. You may safely swear to that. He won’t come with them before the time’s up.

Maia.

[Looking angrily at him.] No, I daresay not.

Ulfheim.

[Catching at her arm.] For Lars—he knows, my—my methods of sport, you see.

Maia.

[Eludes him and measures him with a glance.] Do you know what you look like, Mr. Ulfheim?

Ulfheim.

I should think I’m probably most like myself.

Maia.

Yes, there you’re exactly right. For you’re the living image of a faun.

Ulfheim.

A faun?

Maia.

Yes, precisely; a faun.

Ulfheim.

A faun! Isn’t that a sort of monster? Or a kind of a wood demon, as you might call it?

Maia.

Yes, just the sort of creature you are. A thing with a goat’s beard and goat-legs. Yes, and the faun has horns too!

Ulfheim.

So, so!—hashehorns too?

Maia.

A pair of ugly horns, just like yours, yes.

Ulfheim.

Can you see the poor little hornsIhave?

Maia.

Yes, I seem to see them quite plainly.

Ulfheim.

[Taking the dogs’ leash out of his pocket.] Then I had better see about tying you.

Maia.

Have you gone quite mad? Would you tie me?

Ulfheim.

If Iama demon, let mebea demon! So that’s the way of it! You can see the horns, can you?

Maia.

[Soothingly.] There, there, there! Now try to behave nicely, Mr. Ulfheim. [Breaking off.] But what has become of that hunting-castle of yours, that you boasted so much of? You said it lay somewhere hereabouts.

Ulfheim.

[Points with a flourish to the hut.] There you have it, before your very eyes.

Maia.

[Looks at him.] That old pig-stye!

Ulfheim.

[Laughing in his beard.] It has harboured more than one king’s daughter, I can tell you.

Maia.

Was ittherethat that horrid man you told me about came to the king’s daughter in the form of a bear?

Ulfheim.

Yes, my fair companion of the chase—this is the scene. [With a gesture of invitation.]Ifyou would deign to enter——

Maia.

Isch!Ifever I set foot in it—! Isch!

Ulfheim.

Oh, two people can doze away a summer night in there comfortably enough. Or a whole summer, if it comes to that!

Maia.

Thanks! One would need to have a pretty strong taste for that kind of thing. [Impatiently.] But now I am tired both of you and the hunting expedition. Now I am going down to the hotel—before people awaken down there.

Ulfheim.

How do you propose to get down from here?

Maia.

That’s your affair. There must be a way down somewhere or other, I suppose.

Ulfheim.

[Pointing towards the back.] Oh, certainly! There is a sort of way—right down the face of the precipice yonder——

Maia.

There, you see. With a little goodwill——

Ulfheim.

—but just you try if you dare go that way.

Maia.

[Doubtfully.] Do you think I can’t?

Ulfheim.

Never in this world—if you don’t let me help you.

Maia.

[Uneasily.] Why, then come and help me! What else are you here for?

Ulfheim.

Would you rather I should take you on my back——?

Maia.

Nonsense!

Ulfheim.

—or carry you in my arms?

Maia.

Now do stop talking that rubbish!

Ulfheim.

[With suppressed exasperation.] I once took a young girl—lifted her up from the mire of thestreets and carried her in my arms. Next my heart I carried her. So I would have borne her all through life—lest haply she should dash her foot against a stone. For her shoes were worn very thin when I found her——

Maia.

And yet you took her up and carried her next your heart?

Ulfheim.

Took her up out of the gutter and carried her as high and as carefully as I could. [With a growling laugh.] And do you know what I got for my reward?

Maia.

No. What did you get?

Ulfheim.

[Looks at her, smiles and nods.] I got the horns! The horns thatyoucan see so plainly. Is not that a comical story, madam bear-murderess?

Maia.

Oh yes, comical enough! But I know another story that is still more comical.

Ulfheim.

How doesthatstory go?

Maia.

This is how it goes. There was once a stupid girl, who had both a father and a mother—but a rather poverty-stricken home. Then therecame a high and mighty seigneur into the midst of all this poverty. And he took the girl in his arms—as you did—and travelled far, far away with her——

Ulfheim.

Was she so anxious to be with him?

Maia.

Yes, for she was stupid, you see.

Ulfheim.

And he, no doubt, was a brilliant and beautiful personage?

Maia.

Oh no, he wasn’t so superlatively beautiful either. But he pretended that he would take her with him to the top of the highest of mountains, where there were light and sunshine without end.

Ulfheim.

So he was a mountaineer, was he, that man?

Maia.

Yes, he was—in his way.

Ulfheim.

And then he took the girl up with him——?

Maia.

[With a toss of the head.] Took her up with him finely, you may be sure! Oh no! he beguiled her into a cold, clammy cage, where—as it seemed toher—there was neither sunlightnor fresh air, but only gilding and great petrified ghosts of people all round the walls.

Ulfheim.

Devil take me, but it served her right!

Maia.

Yes, but don’t you think it’s quite a comical story, all the same?

Ulfheim.

[Looks at her a moment.] Now listen to me, my good companion of the chase——

Maia.

Well, what is it now?

Ulfheim.

Should not we two tack our poor shreds of life together?

Maia.

Is his worship inclined to set up as a patching-tailor?

Ulfheim.

Yes, indeed he is. Might not we two try to draw the rags together here and there—so as to make some sort of a human life out of them?

Maia.

And when the poor tatters were quite worn out—what then?

Ulfheim.

[With a large gesture.] Then there we shall stand, free and serene—as the man and woman we really are!

Maia.

[Laughing.] You with your goat-legs, yes!

Ulfheim.

And you with your—. Well, let that pass.

Maia.

Yes, come—letuspass—on.

Ulfheim.

Stop! Whither away, comrade?

Maia.

Down to the hotel, of course.

Ulfheim.

And afterwards?

Maia.

Then we’ll take a polite leave of each other, with thanks for pleasant company.

Ulfheim.

Canwe part, we two? Do you think wecan?

Maia.

Yes, you didn’t manage to tie me up, you know.

Ulfheim.

I have a castle to offer you——

Maia.

[Pointing to the hut.] A fellow to that one?

Ulfheim.

It has not fallen to ruin yet.

Maia.

And all the glory of the world, perhaps?

Ulfheim.

A castle, I tell you——

Maia.

Thanks! I have had enough of castles.

Ulfheim.

—with splendid hunting-grounds stretching for miles around it.

Maia.

Are there works of art too in this castle?

Ulfheim.

[Slowly.] Well, no—it’s true there are no works of art; but——

Maia.

[Relieved.] Ah! that’s one good thing, at any rate!

Ulfheim.

Will you go with me, then—as far and as long as I want you?

Maia.

There is a tame bird of prey keeping watch upon me.

Ulfheim.

[Wildly.] We’ll put a bullet in his wing, Maia!

Maia.

[Looks at him a moment, and says resolutely.] Come then, and carry me down into the depths.

Ulfheim.

[Puts his arm round her waist.] It is high time! The mist is upon us!

Maia.

Is the way down terribly dangerous?

Ulfheim.

The mountain mist is more dangerous still.

[She shakes him off, goes to the edge of the precipice and looks over, but starts quickly back.

Ulfheim.

[Goes towards her, laughing.] What? Does it make you a little giddy?

Maia.

[Faintly.] Yes, that too. But go and look over. Those two, coming up——

Ulfheim.

[Goes and bends over the edge of the precipice.] It’s only your bird of prey—and his strange lady.

Maia.

Can’t we get past them—without their seeing us?

Ulfheim.

Impossible! The path is far too narrow. And there’s no other way down.

Maia.

[Nerving herself.] Well, well—let us face them here, then!

Ulfheim.

Spoken like a true bear-killer, comrade!

[Professor RubekandIreneappear over the edge of the precipice at the back. He has his plaid over his shoulders; she has a fur cloak thrown loosely over her white dress, and a swansdown hood over her head.

Professor Rubek.

[Still only half visible above the edge.] What, Maia! So we two meet once again?

Maia.

[With assumed coolness.] At your service. Won’t you come up?

[Professor Rubekclimbs right up and holds out his hand toIrene, who also comes right to the top.

Professor Rubek.

[Coldly toMaia.] So you, too, have been all night on the mountain,—as we have?

Maia.

I have been hunting—yes. You gave me permission, you know.

Ulfheim.

[Pointing downward.] Have you come up that path there?

Professor Rubek.

As you saw.

Ulfheim.

And the strange lady too?

Professor Rubek.

Yes, of course. [With a glance atMaia.] Henceforth the strange lady and I do not intend our ways to part.

Ulfheim.

Don’t you know, then, that it is a deadly dangerous way you have come?

Professor Rubek.

We thought we would try, nevertheless. For it did not seem particularly hard at first.

Ulfheim.

No, at first nothing seems hard. But presently you may come to a tight place where you can neither get forward nor back. And then you stick fast, Professor! Mountain-fast, as we hunters call it.

Professor Rubek.

[Smiles and looks at him.] Am I to take these as oracular utterances, Mr. Ulfheim?

Ulfheim.

Lord preserve me from playing the oracle! [Urgently, pointing up towards the heights.] But don’t you see that the storm is upon us? Don’t you near the blasts of wind?

Professor Rubek.

[Listening.] They sound like the prelude to the Resurrection Day.

Ulfheim.

They are storm-blasts from the peaks, man! Just look how the clouds are rolling and sinking—soon they’ll be all around us like a winding-sheet!

Irene.

[With a start and shiver.] I know that sheet!

Maia.

[DrawingUlfheimaway.] Let us make haste and get down.

Ulfheim.

[ToProfessor Rubek.] I cannot help more than one. Take refuge in the hut in the meantime—while the storm lasts. Then I shall send people up to fetch the two of you away.

Irene.

[In terror.] To fetch us away! No, no!

Ulfheim.

[Harshly.] To take you by force if necessary—for it’s a matter of life and death here. Now, you know it. [ToMaia.] Come, then—and don’t fear to trust yourself in your comrade’s hands.

Maia.

[Clinging to him.] Oh, how I shall rejoice and sing, if I get down with a whole skin!

Ulfheim.

[Begins the descent and calls to the others.] You’ll wait, then, in the hut, till the men come with ropes, and fetch you away.

[Ulfheim, withMaiain his arms, clambers rapidly but warily down the precipice.

Irene.

[Looks for some time atProfessor Rubekwith terror-stricken eyes.] Did you hear that,Arnold?—men are coming up to fetch me away! Many men will come up here——

Professor Rubek.

Do not be alarmed, Irene!

Irene.

[In growing terror.] And she, the woman in black—she will come too. For she must have missed me long ago. And then she will seize me, Arnold! And put me in the strait-waistcoat. Oh, she has it with her, in her box. I have seen it with my own eyes——

Professor Rubek.

Not a soul shall be suffered to touch you.

Irene.

[With a wild smile.] Oh no—I myself have a resource against that.

Professor Rubek.

What resource do you mean?

Irene.

[Drawing out the knife.] This!

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