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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lonely Way--Intermezzo--Countess Mizzie, by
+Arthur Schnitzler
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Lonely Way--Intermezzo--Countess Mizzie
+       Three Plays
+
+Author: Arthur Schnitzler
+
+Translator: Edwin Bjorkman
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2009 [EBook #29745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE PLAYS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LONELY WAY:
+
+INTERMEZZO:
+
+COUNTESS MIZZIE
+
+
+
+THREE PLAYS BY
+
+ARTHUR SCHNITZLER
+
+
+
+TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
+WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
+EDWIN BJOeRKMAN
+
+
+
+NEW YORK
+MITCHELL KENNERLEY
+MCMXV
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY MITCHELL KENNERLEY
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                     PAGE
+
+INTRODUCTION                          vii
+
+THE LONELY WAY                          1
+
+INTERMEZZO                            139
+
+COUNTESS MIZZIE                       261
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Hermann Bahr, the noted playwright and critic, tried one day to explain
+the spirit of certain Viennese architecture to a German friend, who
+persisted in saying: "Yes, yes, but always there remains something that
+I find curiously foreign." At that moment an old-fashioned Spanish
+state carriage was coming along the street, probably on its way to or
+from the imperial palace. The German could hardly believe his eyes and
+expressed in strong terms his wonderment at finding such a relic
+surviving in an ultra-modern town like Vienna.
+
+"You forget that our history is partly Spanish," Bahr retorted. "And
+nothing could serve better than that old carriage to explain what you
+cannot grasp in our art and poetry."
+
+A similar idea has been charmingly expressed by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
+in the poem he wrote in 1892--when he was still using the pseudonym of
+"Loris"--as introduction to "Anatol." I am now adding a translation of
+that poem to my own introduction, because I think it will be of help in
+reading the plays of this volume. The scene painted by Hofmannsthal
+might, on the whole, be used as a setting for "Countess Mizzie." For a
+more detailed version of that scene he refers us to "Canaletto's
+Vienna"--that is, to the group of thirteen Viennese views which were
+painted about 1760 by the Venetian Bernardo Belotto (who, like his more
+famous uncle and model, Antonio Canale, was generally called
+Canaletto), and which are now hanging in one of the galleries of the
+_Kunsthistorische Hofmuseum_ at Vienna. The spirit of those pictures
+may be described, I am told, as one of stately grace. They are full of
+Latin joy in life and beauty. They speak of an existence constantly
+softened by concern for the amenities of life. It is just what survives
+of their atmosphere that frequently makes foreigners speak of Vienna
+with a tender devotion not even surpassed by that bestowed on Paris or
+Rome.
+
+An attempt to understand the atmosphere and spirit of modern Vienna
+will carry us far toward a correct appreciation of Schnitzler's art.
+And it is not enough to say that Vienna is one of the oldest cities in
+Europe. It is not even enough to say that it preserves more of the past
+than Paris or London, for instance. What we must always bear in mind is
+its position as the meeting place not only of South and North but also
+of past and present. In some ways it is a melting-pot on a larger scale
+than New York even. Racially and lingually, it belongs to the North.
+Historically and psychologically, it belongs to the South. Economically
+and politically, it lives very much in the present. Socially and
+esthetically, it has always been strongly swayed by tradition. The
+anti-Semitic movement, which formed such a characteristic feature of
+Viennese life during the last few decades, must be regarded as the last
+stand of vanishing social traditions against a growing pressure of
+economical requirements.
+
+Like all cities sharply divided within itself and living above a
+volcano of half-suppressed passions, Vienna tends to seek in abandoned
+gayety, in a frank surrender to the senses, that forgetfulness without
+which suicide would seem the only remaining alternative. Emotions kept
+constantly at the boiling-point must have an outlet, lest they burst
+their container. Add to this sub-conscious or unconscious craving for a
+neutral outlet, the traditional pressure of the Latin inheritance, and
+we have the greater part of the causes that explain Schnitzler's
+preoccupation with the themes of love and death. For Schnitzler is
+first of all Viennese.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Arthur Schnitzler was born at Vienna on May 15, 1862. His father was
+Professor Johann Schnitzler, a renowned Jewish throat specialist. I am
+told that _Professor Bernhardi_ in the play of the same name must be
+regarded as a pretty faithful portrait of the elder Schnitzler, who,
+besides his large and important practice, had many other interests,
+including an extensive medical authorship and the editing of the
+_Wiener klinische Rundschau_. It is also to be noticed that _Professor
+Bernhardi_ has among his assistants a son, who divides his time between
+medicine and the composition of waltz music.
+
+The younger Schnitzler studied medicine at the Vienna University, as
+did also his brother, and obtained his M.D. in 1885. During the next
+two years he was attached to the resident staff of one of the big
+hospitals. It was also the period that saw the beginning of his
+authorship. While contributing medical reviews to his father's journal,
+he was also publishing poems and prose sketches in various literary
+periodicals. Most of his contributions from this time appeared in a
+publication named "_An der schoenen blauen Donau_" (By the Beautiful
+Blue Danube), now long defunct.
+
+He was also continuing his studies, which almost from the start seem to
+have turned toward the psychic side of the medical science. The new
+methods of hypnotism and suggestion interested him greatly, and in 1889
+he published a monograph on "Functional Aphonia and its Treatment by
+Hypnotism and Suggestion." In 1888 he made a study trip to England,
+during which he wrote a series of "London Letters" on medical subjects
+for his father's journal. On his return he settled down as a practicing
+physician, but continued to act as his father's assistant. And as late
+as 1891-95 we find him named as his father's collaborator on a large
+medical work entitled "Clinical Atlas of Laryngology and Rhinology."
+
+There are many signs to indicate uncertainty as to his true calling
+during those early years. The ensuing inner conflict was probably
+sharpened by some pressure exercised by his father, who seems to have
+been anxious that he should turn his energies undividedly to medicine.
+To a practical and outwardly successful man like the elder Schnitzler,
+his own profession must have appeared by far the more important and
+promising. While there is no reason to believe that his attitude in
+this matter was aggressive, it must have been keenly felt and, to some
+extent at least, resented by the son. One of the dominant notes of the
+latter's work is the mutual lack of understanding between successive
+generations, and this lack tends with significant frequency to assume
+the form of a father's opposition to a son's choice of profession.
+
+This conflict cannot have lasted very long, however, for the younger
+Schnitzler proved quickly successful in his purely literary efforts.
+The "Anatol" sketches attracted a great deal of attention even while
+appearing separately in periodicals, and with their publication in book
+form, which occurred almost simultaneously with the first performance
+of "A Piece of Fiction" at a Viennese theater, their author was hailed
+as one of the most promising among the younger men. From that time he
+has been adding steadily to his output and his reputation. When his
+collected works were issued in 1912, these included four volumes of
+plays and three volumes of novels and stories. Since then he has
+finished another play and two volumes of prose sketches.
+
+It is rare to find an author turning with such regularity from the epic
+to the dramatic form and back again. And it is still more rare to find
+him so thoroughly at home and successful in both fields. In
+Schnitzler's case these two parallel veins have mutually supported and
+developed each other. Time and again he has treated the same theme
+first in one form and then in another. And not infrequently he has
+introduced characters from his plays into his stories, and vice versa.
+A careful study of his other works would undoubtedly assist toward a
+better understanding of his plays, but I do not regard such a study
+essential for the purpose. It is my belief that Schnitzler has given
+himself most fully and most typically in his dramatic authorship, and
+it is to this side of his creative production I must confine myself
+here.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+"Anatol" is nothing but seven sketches in dramatic form, each sketch
+picturing a new love affair of the kind supposed to be especially
+characteristic of Viennese life. The man remains the same in all these
+light adventures. The woman is always a different one. The story is of
+the kind always accompanying such circumstances--one of waxing or
+waning attraction, of suspicion and jealousy, of incrimination and
+recrimination, of intrigue and counter-intrigue. The atmosphere is
+realistic, but the actuality implied is sharply limited and largely
+superficial. There is little attempt at getting down to the roots of
+things. There is absolutely no tendency or thesis. The story is told
+for the sake of the story, and its chief redeeming quality lies in the
+grace and charm and verve with which it is told. These were qualities
+that immediately won the public's favor when "Anatol" first appeared.
+And to some extent it must be counted unfortunate that the impression
+made by those qualities was so deep and so lasting. There has been a
+strong tendency observable, both within and outside the author's native
+country, to regard him particularly as the creator of _Anatol_, and to
+question, if not to resent, his inevitable and unmistakable growth
+beyond that pleasing, but not very significant starting point.
+
+And yet his next dramatic production, which was also his first serious
+effort as a playwright, ought to have proved sufficient warning that he
+was moved by something more than a desire to amuse. "A Piece of
+Fiction" (_Das Maerchen_) must be counted a failure and, in some ways, a
+step backward. But its very failure is a promise of greater things to
+come. It lacks the grace and facility of "Anatol." Worse still, it
+lacks the good-humor and subtle irony of those first sketches. Instead
+it has purpose and a serious outlook on life. The "piece of fiction"
+refers to the "fallen" woman--to the alleged impossibility for any
+decent man to give his whole trust to a woman who has once strayed from
+the straight path. _Fedor Denner_ denounces this attitude in the
+presence of a young girl who loves him and is loved by him, but who
+belongs to the category of women under discussion. When he learns her
+history, he struggles vainly to resist the feelings of distrust and
+jealousy which he had declared absurd a little while earlier. And the
+two are forced at last to walk their different ways. Unfortunately the
+dialogue is heavy and stilted. The play is a tract rather than a piece
+of art, and the tirades of _Fedor_ are equally unconvincing when he
+speaks for or against that "fiction" which is killing both his own and
+the girl's hope of happiness in mutual love. Yet the play marks a step
+forward in outlook and spirit.
+
+Schnitzler's interest in hypnotism, which had asserted itself in the
+first scene of "Anatol," appears again in the little verse-play,
+"Paracelsus," which followed. But this time he used it to more purpose.
+By the help of it, a woman's innermost soul is laid bare, and some very
+interesting light is shed on the workings of the human mind in general.
+
+"Amours" (_Liebelei_) may be regarded as a cross, or a compromise,
+between "Anatol" and "A Piece of Fiction." The crudeness of speech
+marking the latter play has given room to a very incisive dialogue,
+that carries the action forward with unfailing precision. Some of the
+temporarily dropped charm has been recovered, and the gain in sincerity
+has been preserved. "Amours" seems to be the first one of a series of
+plays dealing with the reverse of the gay picture presented in
+"Anatol." A young man is having a love affair with two women at the
+same time, one of them married, the other one a young girl with scant
+knowledge of the world. Yet she knows enough to know what she is doing,
+and she has sufficient strength of mind to rise above a sense of guilt,
+though she is more prone to be the victim of fear. Then the married
+woman's husband challenges the young man, who is killed. And the girl
+takes her own life, not because her lover is dead, not because of
+anything she has done, but because his death for the sake of another
+woman renders her own faith in him meaningless.
+
+"Outside the Game Laws" (_Freiwild_) is another step ahead--the first
+play, I think, where the real Arthur Schnitzler, the author of "The
+Lonely Way" and "Countess Mizzie," reveals himself. It has a thesis,
+but this is implied rather than obtruded. In style and character-drawing
+it is realistic in the best sense. It shows already the typical
+Schnitzlerian tendency of dealing with serious questions--with questions
+of life and death--in a casual fashion, as if they were but problems of
+which road to follow or which shop to enter. It has one fault that must
+appear as such everywhere, namely, a division of purpose. When the play
+starts, one imagines that those "outside the game laws" are the women of
+the stage, who are presented as the legitimate prey of any man caring to
+hunt them. As the play goes on, that starting point is almost lost sight
+of, and it becomes more and more plain that those "outside the game
+laws" are sensible, decent men who refuse to submit to the silly
+dictates of the dueling code. But what I have thus named a fault is
+mostly theoretical, and does not mar the effective appeal of the play.
+What must appear as a more serious shortcoming from an American
+viewpoint is the local nature of the evil attacked, which lessens the
+universal validity of the work.
+
+"Change Partners!" (_Reigen_) was produced about the same time as
+"Outside the Game Laws," but was not printed until 1900, and then only
+privately. Yet those ten dialogues provoked from the first a storm
+which seriously threatened Schnitzler's growing reputation and
+popularity. When Vienna finds a work immoral, one may look for
+something dreadful. And the work in question attempts a degree of
+naturalism rarely equaled in France even. Yet those dialogues are
+anything but immoral in spirit. They introduce ten men and as many
+women. The man of one scene reappears with a new woman in the next, and
+then that woman figures as the partner of a new man in the third scene.
+The story is always the same (except in the final dialogue): desire,
+satisfaction, indifference. The idea underlying this "ring dance," as
+the title means literally, is the same one that recurs under a much
+more attractive aspect in "Countess Mizzie." It is the linking together
+of the entire social organism by man's natural cravings. And as a
+document bearing on the psychology of sex "Change Partners!" has not
+many equals.
+
+In "The Legacy" (_Das Vermaechtnis_) we meet with a forcible presentation
+and searching discussion of the world's attitude toward those ties that
+have been established without social sanction. A young man is brought
+home dying, having been thrown from his horse. He compels his parents
+to send for his mistress and their little boy, and he hands both over
+to the care of his family. That is his "legacy." The family tries hard
+to rise to this unexpected situation and fails miserably--largely, it
+must be confessed, thanks to the caddish attitude of a self-made
+physician who wants to marry the dead man's sister. The second act ends
+with the death of the little boy; the third, with the disappearance and
+probable suicide of his mother. The dead man's sister cries out:
+"Everything that was his is sacred to us, but the one living being who
+meant more to him than all of us is driven out of our home." The one
+ray of light offered is that the sister sees through the man who has
+been courting her and sends him packing. It is noticeable in this play,
+as in others written by Schnitzler, that the attitude of the women is
+more sensible and tolerant than that of the men.
+
+The physician is one of the few members of that profession whom the
+author has painted in an unfavorable light. There is hardly one
+full-length play of his in which at least one representative of the
+medical profession does not appear. And almost invariably they seem
+destined to act as the particular mouthpieces of the author. In a play
+like "The Lonely Way," for instance, the life shown is the life lived
+by men and women observed by Schnitzler. The opinions expressed are the
+opinions of that sort of men and women under the given circumstances.
+The author neither approves nor disapproves when he makes each
+character speak in accordance with his own nature. But like most
+creative artists, he has felt the need of stating his own view of the
+surrounding throng. This he seems usually to do through the mouth of
+men like _Dr. Reumann_ in the play just mentioned, or _Dr. Mauer_ in
+"The Vast Country." And the attitude of those men shows a strange
+mingling of disapproval and forbearance, which undoubtedly comes very
+near being Schnitzler's own.
+
+The little one-act play "The Life Partner" (_Die Gefaehrtin_) is
+significant mainly as a study for bigger canvases developing the same
+theme: the veil that hides the true life of man and woman alike from
+the partner. And the play should really be named "The Life Partner That
+Was Not." Another one-act play, "The Green Cockatoo," is laid at Paris.
+Its action takes place on the evening of July 14, 1789--the fall of the
+Bastille and the birth of the Revolution. It presents a wonderful
+picture of social life at the time--of the average human being's
+unconsciousness of the great events taking place right under his nose.
+
+"The Veil of Beatrice," a verse play in five acts, takes us to Bologna
+in the year 1500, when Cesare Borgia was preparing to invest the city
+in order to oust its tyrant, Giovanni Bentivoglio (named Lionardo in
+the play), and add it to the Papal possessions. All the acts take place
+in one night. The fundamental theme is one dear to Schnitzler--the
+flaming up of passion under the shadow of impending death. The whole
+city, with the duke leading, surrenders to this outburst, the spirit of
+which finds its symbol in a ravishingly beautiful girl, _Beatrice
+Nardi_, who seems fated to spread desire and death wherever she
+appears. With her own death at dawn, the city seems to wake as from a
+nightmare to face the enemy already at the gates. The play holds much
+that is beautiful and much that is disappointing. To me its chief
+importance lies in the fact that it marks a breaking-point between the
+period when Schnitzler was trying to write "with a purpose," and that
+later and greater period when he has learned how to treat life
+sincerely and seriously without other purpose than to present it as it
+is. That was his starting point in "Anatol," but then he was not yet
+ready for the realism that must be counted the highest of all: the
+realism that has no tendency and preaches no lesson, but from which we
+draw our own lessons as we draw them from life itself in moments of
+unusual lucidity.
+
+"Hours of Life" (_Lebendige Stunden_), which has given its name to
+a volume of four one-act plays, may be described as a mental duel
+between two sharply opposed temperaments--the practical and the
+imaginative. An elderly woman, long an invalid, has just died, and a
+letter to the man who has loved and supported her during her final
+years reveals the fact that she has taken her own life because she
+feared that the thought of her was preventing her son, a poet, from
+working. The duel is between that son and the man who has befriended
+his mother. The play constitutes a scathing arraignment of the artistic
+temperament. Bernard Shaw himself has never penned a more bitter one.
+"Even if you were the world's greatest genius," the old man cries to
+the young one, "all your scribbling would be worthless in comparison
+with a single one of those hours of real life that saw your mother
+seated in that chair, talking to us, or merely listening, perhaps."
+
+The most important of those four one-act plays, however, is "End of the
+Carnival" (_Die letzten Masken_). An old journalist, a might-have-been,
+dying in a hospital, sends for a life-long friend, a successful poet,
+whom he hates because of his success. All he thinks of is revenge, of
+getting even, and he means to achieve this end by disclosing to the
+poet the faithlessness of his wife. Once she had been the mistress of
+the dying man, and that seems to him his one triumph in life. But when
+the poet arrives and begins to talk of the commonplaces of daily life,
+of petty gossip, petty intrigues, and petty jealousies, then the dying
+man suddenly sees the futility of the whole thing. To him, who has one
+foot across the final threshold, it means nothing, and he lets his
+friend depart without having told him anything. There is a curious
+recurrence of the same basic idea in "Professor Bernhardi," where the
+central figure acquires a similar sense of our ordinary life's futility
+by spending two months in jail.
+
+To what extent Schnitzler has studied and been impressed by Nietzsche I
+don't know, but the thought underlying "The Lady With the Dagger" is
+distinctly Nietzschean. It implies not only a sense of our having lived
+before, of having previously stood in the same relationship to the
+people now surrounding us, but of being compelled to repeat our past
+experience, even if a sudden flash of illumination out of the buried
+past should reveal to us its predestined fatal termination. This idea
+meets us again in the first act of "The Lonely Way." The fourth of
+those one-act plays, "Literature," is what Schnitzler has named it--a
+farce--but delightfully clever and satirical.
+
+Those four plays, and the group of three others published under the
+common title of "Puppets" (_Marionetten_), are, next to "Anatol," the
+best known works of Schnitzler's outside of Austria and Germany. They
+deserve their wide reputation, too, for there is nothing quite like
+them in the modern drama. Yet I think they have been over-estimated in
+comparison with the rest of Schnitzler's production. "The Puppet
+Player," "The Gallant Cassian" and "The Greatest Show of All" (_Zum
+grossen Wurstel_) have charm and brightness and wit. But in regard to
+actual significance they cannot compare with plays like "The Lonely
+Way," for instance.
+
+The three plays comprised in the volume named "Puppets" constitute
+three more exemplifications of the artistic temperament, which again
+fares badly at the hands of their author. And yet he has more than one
+telling word to say in defense of that very temperament. That these
+plays, like "Hours of Life" and "Literature," are expressive of the
+inner conflict raging for years within the playwright's own soul, I
+take for granted. And they seem to reflect moments when Schnitzler felt
+that, in choosing poetry rather than medicine for his life work, he had
+sacrificed the better choice. And yet they do not show any regrets, but
+rather a slightly ironical self-pity. A note of irony runs through
+everything that Schnitzler has written, constituting one of the main
+attractions of his art, and it is the more acceptable because the point
+of it so often turns against the writer himself.
+
+"The Puppet Player" is a poet who has ceased writing in order to use
+human beings for his material. He thinks that he is playing with their
+destinies as if they were so many puppets. And the little drama shows
+how his accidental interference has created fates stronger and happier
+than his own--fates lying wholly outside his power. The play suffers
+from a tendency to exaggerated subtlety which is one of Schnitzler's
+principal dangers, though it rarely asserts itself to such an extent
+that the enjoyment of his work is spoiled by it.
+
+His self-irony reaches its climax in the one-act play which I have been
+forced to name "The Greatest Show of All" because the original title
+(_Zum grossen Wurstel_) becomes meaningless in English. There he
+proceeds with reckless abandon to ridicule his own work as well as the
+inflated importance of all imaginative creation. But to even up the
+score, he includes the public, as representative of ordinary humanity,
+among the objects of his sarcasms. And in the end all of us--poets,
+players, and spectators--are exposed as mere puppets. The same thought
+recurs to some extent in "The Gallant Cassian," which is otherwise a
+piece of sheer fun--the slightest of Schnitzler's dramatic productions,
+perhaps, but not without the accustomed Schnitzlerian sting.
+
+When, after reading all the preceding plays, one reaches "The Lonely
+Way" (_Der einsame Weg_), it is hard to escape an impression of
+everything else having been nothing but a preparation. It is beyond
+all doubt Schnitzler's greatest and most powerful creation so far,
+representing a tremendous leap forward both in form and spirit. It has
+less passion than "The Call of Life," less subtlety than "Intermezzo,"
+less tolerance than "Countess Mizzie." Instead it combines in perfect
+balance all the best qualities of those three plays--each dominant
+feature reduced a little to give the others scope as well. It is a
+wonderful specimen of what might be called the new realism--of that
+realism which is paying more attention to spiritual than to material
+actualities. Yet it is by no means lacking in the more superficial
+verisimilitude either. Its character-drawing and its whole atmosphere
+are startlingly faithful to life, even though the life portrayed may
+represent a clearly defined and limited phase of universal human
+existence.
+
+The keynote of the play lies in _Sala's_ words to _Julian_ in the
+closing scene of the fourth act: "The process of aging must needs be a
+lonely one to our kind." That's the main theme--not a thesis to be
+proved. This loneliness to which _Sala_ refers, is common to all
+people, but it is more particularly the share of those who, like
+himself and _Julian_, have treasured their "freedom" above everything
+else and who, for that reason, have eschewed the human ties which to a
+man like _Wegrath_ represent life's greatest good and deepest meaning.
+Again we find the principal characters of the play typifying the
+artistic temperament, with its unhuman disregards of the relationships
+that have primary importance to other men. Its gross egoism, as
+exemplified by _Julian_, is the object of passionate derision. And yet
+it is a man of that kind, _Sala_, who recognizes and points out the
+truer path, when he say: "To love is to live for somebody else."
+
+The play has no thesis, as I have already said. It is not poised on the
+point of a single idea. Numerous subordinate themes are woven into the
+main one, giving the texture of the whole a richness resembling that of
+life itself. Woman's craving for experience and self-determination is
+one such theme, which we shall find again in "Intermezzo," where it
+practically becomes the dominant one.
+
+Another one is that fascinated stare at death which is so
+characteristic of Latin and Slav writers--of men like Zola, Maupassant,
+and Tolstoy--while it is significantly absent in the great Scandinavian
+and Anglo-Saxon poets. "Is there ever a blissful moment in any decent
+man's life, when he can think of anything but death in his innermost
+soul?" says _Sala_. The same thought is expressed in varying forms by
+one after another of Schnitzler's characters. "All sorrow is a lie as
+long as the open grave is not your own," cries the dying _Catharine_ in
+"The Call of Life." It is in this connection particularly that we of
+the North must bear in mind Schnitzler's Viennese background and the
+Latin traditions forming such a conspicuous part of it. The Latin
+peoples have shown that they can die as bravely as the men of any other
+race or clime, but their attitude toward death in general is widely
+different from the attitude illustrated by Ibsen or Strindberg, for
+instance. A certain gloom, having kinship with death, seems ingrained
+in the Northern temperament, put there probably by the pressure of the
+Northern winter. The man of the sunlit South, on the other hand, seems
+always to retain the child's simple horror at the thought that darkness
+must follow light. We had better not regard it as cowardice under any
+circumstances, and cowardice it can certainly not be called in the
+characters of Schnitzler. But the resignation in which he finds his
+only antidote, and which seems to represent his nearest approach to a
+formulated philosophy, cannot be expected to satisfy us. One of his own
+countrymen, Hermann Bahr, has protested sharply against its
+insufficiency as a soul-sustaining faith, and in that protest I feel
+inclined to concur.
+
+With "The Lonely Way" begins a series of plays representing not only
+Schnitzler's highest achievements so far, but a new note in the modern
+drama. To a greater extent than any other modern plays--not even
+excepting those of Ibsen--they must be defined as psychological. The
+dramas of Strindberg come nearest in this respect, but they, too, lag
+behind in soul-revealing quality. Plots are almost lacking in the
+Schnitzler productions during his later period. Things happen, to be
+sure, and these happenings are violent enough at times, but they do not
+constitute a sharply selected sequence of events leading up to a
+desired and foreshadowed end. In the further development of this
+period, even clearly defined themes are lost sight of, and the course
+of the play takes on an almost accidental aspect. This is puzzling, of
+course, and it must be especially provoking to those who expect each
+piece of art to have its narrow little lesson neatly tacked on in a
+spot where it cannot be missed. It implies a manner that exacts more
+alertness and greater insight on the part of the reader. But for that
+very reason these later plays of Schnitzler should prove stimulating to
+those who do not suffer from mental laziness or exhaustion.
+
+"Intermezzo" (_Zwischenspiel_) might be interpreted as an attack on
+those new marital conventions which abolish the old-fashioned demand
+for mutual faithfulness and substitute mutual frankness. It would be
+more correct, however, to characterize it as a discussion of what
+constitutes true honesty in the ever delicate relationship between
+husband and wife. It shows, too, the growth of a woman's soul, once she
+has been forced to stand on her own feet. Viewed from this point, the
+play might very well be classified as feministic. It would be easy, for
+one thing, to read into it a plea for a single moral standard. But its
+ultimate bearing goes far beyond such a narrow construction. Here as
+elsewhere, Schnitzler shows himself more sympathetic toward the female
+than toward the male outlook on life, and the creator of _Cecilia
+Adams-Ortenburg_ may well be proclaimed one of the foremost living
+painters of the woman soul.
+
+The man who, in "Anatol," saw nothing but a rather weak-minded
+restlessness in woman's inconstancy, recognizes in "Intermezzo" woman's
+right to as complete a knowledge of life and its possibilities as any
+man may acquire. The same note is struck by _Johanna_ in "The Lonely
+Way." "I want a time to come when I must shudder at myself--shudder as
+deeply as you can only when nothing has been left untried," she says to
+_Sala_ in the fourth act. This note sounds much more clearly--one might
+say defiantly--through the last two acts of "Intermezzo." And when
+_Amadeus_, shrinking from its implications, cries to _Cecilia_ that
+thereafter she will be guarded by his tenderness, she retorts
+impatiently: "But I don't want to be guarded! I shall no longer permit
+you to guard me!" In strict keeping with it is also that Schnitzler
+here realizes and accepts woman's capacity for and right to creative
+expression. It is from _Cecilia's_ lips that the suggestion comes to
+seek a remedy for life's hurts in a passionate abandonment to work. In
+fact, the established attitudes of man and woman seem almost reversed
+in the cases of _Amadeus_ and _Cecilia._
+
+Significant as this play is from any point viewed, I am inclined to
+treasure it most on account of the subtlety and delicacy of its
+dialogue. I don't think any dramatist of modern times has surpassed
+Schnitzler in his ability to find expression for the most refined
+nuances of thought and feeling. To me, at least, it is a constant joy
+to watch the iridescence of his sentences, which gives to each of them
+not merely one, but innumerable meanings. And through so much of this
+particular play runs a spirit that can only be called playful--a spirit
+which finds its most typical expression in the delightful figure of
+_Albert Rhon_, the poet who takes the place of the otherwise inevitable
+physician. I like to think of that figure as more or less embodying the
+author's conception of himself. All the wit and sparkle with which we
+commonly credit the Gallic mind seems to me abundantly present in the
+scenes between _Albert_ and _Amadeus_.
+
+The poise and quiet characterizing "The Lonely Way" and "Intermezzo"
+appear lost to some extent in "The Call of Life" (_Der Ruf des Leben_),
+which, on the other hand, is one of the intensest plays written by
+Schnitzler. The white heat of its passion sears the mind at times, so
+that the reader feels like raising a shield between himself and the
+words. "It was as if I heard life itself calling to me outside my
+door," _Marie_ says in this play when trying to explain to _Dr.
+Schindler_ why she had killed her father and gone to seek her lover.
+The play might as well have been named "The Will to Live," provided we
+remember that mere existence can hardly be called life. Its basic
+thought has much in common with that of Frank Wedekind's "Earth
+Spirit," but Schnitzler spiritualizes what the German playwright has
+vulgarized. There is a lot of modern heresy in that thought--a lot of
+revived and refined paganism that stands in sharp opposition to the
+spirit of Christianity as it has been interpreted hitherto. It might be
+summarized as a twentieth century version of Achilles' declaration that
+he would rather be a live dog than the ruler of all the shades in
+Hades. "What a creature can I be," cries _Marie_, "to emerge out of
+such an experience as out of a bad dream--awake--and living--and
+wanting to live?" And the kind, wise, Schnitzlerian doctor's answer is:
+"You are alive--and the rest _has been_...." Life itself is its own
+warrant and explanation. Unimpaired life--life with the power and will
+to go on living--is the greatest boon and best remedy of any that can
+be offered.
+
+The weak point of "The Call to Life" is _Marie's_ father, the old
+_Moser_--one of the most repulsive figures ever seen on the stage. It
+may have been made what it is in order that the girl's crime might not
+hopelessly prejudice the spectator at the start and thus render all the
+rest of the play futile. We must remember, too, that the monstrous
+egoism of _Moser_ is not represented as a typical quality of that old
+age which feels itself robbed by the advance of triumphant youth. What
+Schnitzler shows is that egoism grows more repulsive as increasing age
+makes it less warranted. The middle act of the play, with its
+remarkable conversation between the _Colonel_ and _Max_, brings us back
+to "Outside the Game Laws." That earlier play was in its time declared
+the best existing stage presentation of the spirit engendered by the
+military life. But it has a close second in "The Call of Life." To
+anyone having watched the manners of militarism in Europe, the words of
+the _Colonel_ to _Max_ will sound as an all-sufficient explanation: "No
+physicians have to spend thirty years at the side of beds containing
+puppets instead of human patients--no lawyers have to practice on
+criminals made out of pasteboard--and even the ministers are not
+infrequently preaching to people who actually believe in heaven and
+hell."
+
+If "The Lonely Way" be Schnitzler's greatest play all around, and
+"Intermezzo" his subtlest, "Countess Mizzie" is the sweetest, the best
+tempered, the one that leaves the most agreeable taste in the mouth. It
+gives us a concrete embodiment of the tolerance toward all life that is
+merely suggested by the closing sentences of _Dr. Schindler_ in the
+last act of "The Call of Life." It brings back the gay spirit of
+"Anatol," but with a rare maturity supporting it. The simple
+socio-biological philosophy of "Change Partners!" is restated without
+the needless naturalism of those early dialogues. The idea of "Countess
+Mizzie" is that, if we look deep enough, all social distinctions are
+lost in a universal human kinship. On the surface we appear like
+flowers neatly arranged in a bed, each kind in its separate and
+carefully labeled corner. Then Schnitzler begins to scrape off the
+screening earth, and underneath we find the roots of all those flowers
+intertwined and matted, so that it is impossible to tell which belong
+to the _Count_ and which to _Wasner_, the coachman, which to _Miss
+Lolo_, the ballet-dancer, and which to the _Countess_.
+
+"Young Medardus" is Schnitzler's most ambitious attempt at historical
+playwriting. It seems to indicate that he belongs too wholly in the
+present age to succeed in that direction. The play takes us back to
+1809, when Napoleon appeared a second time outside the gates of Vienna.
+The central character, _Medardus Klaehr_, is said to be historical. The
+re-created atmosphere of old Vienna is at once convincing and amusing.
+But the play is too sprawling, too scattered, to get firm hold on the
+reader. There are seventy-four specifically indicated characters, not
+to mention groups of dumb figures. And while the title page speaks of
+five acts and a prologue, there are in reality seventeen distinct
+scenes. Each scene may be dramatically valuable, but the constant
+passage from place to place, from one set of characters to another, has
+a confusing effect.
+
+There is, too, a more deep-lying reason for the failure of the play as
+a whole, I think. The ironical outlook so dear to Schnitzler--or
+rather, so inseparable from his temperament--has betrayed him. Irony
+seems hopelessly out of place in a historical drama, where it tends to
+make us feel that the author does not believe in the actual existence
+of his own characters. I have a suspicion that "Young Medardus" takes
+the place within the production of Schnitzler that is held by "Peer
+Gynt" in the production of Ibsen--that _Medardus Klaehr_ is meant to
+satirize the Viennese character as _Peer Gynt_ satirizes the Norwegian.
+
+The keynote of the play may be found in the words of _Etzelt_, spoken
+as _Medardus_ is about to be shot, after having refused to save his own
+life by a promise not to make any attempts against Napoleon's: "God
+wanted to make a hero of him, and the course of events turned him into
+a fool." The obvious interpretation is that the pettiness of Viennese
+conditions defeated the larger aspirations of the man, who would have
+proved true to his own possibilities in other surroundings. A more
+careful analysis of the plot shows, however, that what turns the
+ambitions of _Medardus_ into dreams and words is his susceptibility
+to the charms of a woman. Once within the magic circle of her power,
+everything else--the danger of his country, the death of his sister,
+his duty to avenge the death of his father--becomes secondary to his
+passion. And each time he tries to rise above that passion, the
+reappearance of the woman is sufficient to deflect him from his
+purpose. It is as if Schnitzler wanted to suggest that the greatest
+weakness of the Viennese character lies in its sensuous concern with
+sex to the detriment of all other vital interests. To me it is a very
+remarkable thing to think that such a play was performed a large number
+of times at one of the foremost theaters in Vienna, and that,
+apparently, it received a very respectful hearing. I cannot but wonder
+what would happen here, if a play were put on the stage dealing in a
+similar spirit with the American character.
+
+"The soul is a vast country, where many different things find place
+side by side," says Dr. Theodor Reik in his interesting volume named
+"Arthur Schnitzler als Psycholog" (Minden, 1913). Thus he explains the
+meaning of the title given to "The Vast Country" (_Das Weite Land_).
+And I don't think it is possible to get closer than that. Nowhere has
+Schnitzler been more casual in his use of what is commonly called plot.
+Nowhere has he scorned more completely to build his work around any
+particular "red thread." Event follows event with seeming haphazardness.
+The only thing that keeps the play from falling apart is the logical
+development of each character. It is, in fact, principally, if not
+exclusively, a series of soul-studies. What happens serves merely as an
+excuse to reveal the reaction of a certain character to certain
+external pressures or internal promptings. But viewed in this light,
+the play has tremendous power and significance.
+
+Dr. Reik's book, to which I just referred, has been written to prove
+the direct connection between Schnitzler's art and the new psychology
+established by Dr. Sigmund Freud of Vienna. That the playwright must
+have studied the Freudian theories seems more than probable. That they
+may have influenced him seems also probable. And that this influence
+may have helped him to a clearer grasp of more than one mystery within
+the human soul, I am willing to grant also. What I want to protest
+against, is the attempt to make him out an exponent of any particular
+scientific theory. He is an observer of all life. He is what _Amadeus_
+in "Intermezzo" ironically charges _Albert Rhon_ with being: "a student
+of the human soul." And he has undoubtedly availed himself of every new
+aid that might be offered for the analysis and interpretation of that
+soul. The importance of man's sub-conscious life seems to have been
+clear to him in the early days of "Anatol," and it seems to have grown
+on him as he matured. Another Freudian conception he has also made his
+own--that of the close connection between man's sexual life and vital
+phenomena not clearly designed for the expression of that life. But--to
+return to the point I have already tried to make--it would be dangerous
+and unjust to read any work of his as the dramatic effort of a
+scientific theorizer.
+
+Schnitzler is of Jewish race. In Vienna that means a great deal more
+than in London, Stockholm or New York. It means an atmosphere of
+contempt, of suspicion, of hatred. It means frequently complete
+isolation, and always some isolation. It means a constant sense of
+conflict between oneself and one's surroundings. All these things are
+reflected in the works of Schnitzler--more particularly the sense of
+conflict and of isolation. Life itself is blamed for it most of the
+time, however, and it is only once in a great while that the specific
+and localized cause is referred to--as in "Literature," for instance.
+And even when Schnitzler undertakes, as he has done in his latest play,
+"Professor Bernhardi," to deal directly with the situation of the Jew
+within a community with strong anti-Semitic tendencies, he does not
+appear able to keep his mind fixed on that particular issue. He starts
+to discuss it, and does so with a clearness and fairness that have not
+been equaled since the days of Lessing--and then he drifts off in a new
+direction. The mutual opposition between Jews and Catholics becomes an
+opposition between the skeptical and the mystical temperaments. It is
+as if he wanted to say that all differences are unreal except those
+between individuals as such. And if that be his intention, he is right,
+I believe, and his play is the greater for bringing that thought home
+to us.
+
+The play is a remarkable one in many respects. It deals largely with
+the internal affairs of a hospital. An overwhelming majority of the
+characters are physicians connected with the big hospital of which
+_Professor Bernhardi_ is the head. They talk of nothing but what men of
+that profession in such a position would be likely to talk of. In other
+words, they are all the time "talking shop." This goes on through five
+acts. Throughout the entire play there is not the slightest suggestion
+of what the Broadway manager and the periodical editor call a "love
+interest." And yet the play holds you from beginning to end, and the
+dramatic tension could not be greater if its main theme were the
+unrequited love of the professor's son instead of his own right to
+place his duties as a physician above all other considerations. To one
+who has grown soul-weary of the "triangle" and all other combinations
+for the exploiting of illicit or legitimized love, "Professor
+Bernhardi" should come as a great relief and a bright promise.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+These are the main outlines of Schnitzler's work as a dramatist. They
+indicate a constant, steady growth, coupled with increased realization
+of his own possibilities and powers as well as of his limitations. In
+all but a very few of his plays, he has confined himself to the life
+immediately surrounding him--to the life of the Viennese middle class,
+and more particularly of the professional element to which he himself
+belongs. But on the basis of a wonderfully faithful portrayal of local
+characters and conditions, he has managed to rear a superstructure of
+emotional appeal and intellectual clarification that must render his
+work welcome to thinking men and women wherever it be introduced. And
+as he is still in the flower of his manhood, it seems reasonable to
+expect that still greater things may be forthcoming from his pen.
+
+
+    SCHNITZLER'S "ANATOL"
+
+
+    Spearhead fences, yew-tree hedges,
+    Coats of arms no more regilded,
+    Sphinxes gleaming through the thickets....
+    Creakingly the gates swing open.
+
+    With its tritons sunk in slumber,
+    And its fountains also sleeping,
+    Mildewed, lovely, and rococo,
+    Lo ... Vienna, Canaletto's,
+    Dated Seventeen and Sixty.
+
+    Quiet pools of green-brown waters,
+    Smooth and framed in snow-white marble,
+    Show between their mirrored statues
+    Gold and silver fishes playing.
+    Slender stems of oleander
+    Cast their prim array of shadows
+    On the primly close-cropped greensward.
+    Overhead, the arching branches
+    Meet and twine to sheltering niches,
+    Where are grouped in loving couples
+    Stiff-limbed heroines and heroes....
+    Dolphins three pour splashing streamlets
+    In three shell-shaped marble basins.
+    Chestnut blossoms, richly fragrant,
+    Fall like flames and flutter downward
+    To be drowned within the basins....
+    Music, made by clarinettes and
+    Violins behind the yew-trees,
+    Seems to come from graceful cupids
+    Playing on the balustrade, or
+    Weaving flowers into garlands,
+    While beside them other flowers
+    Gayly stream from marble vases:
+    Jasmin, marigold, and elder....
+    On the balustrade sit also
+    Sweet coquettes among the cupids,
+    And some messeigneurs in purple.
+    At their feet, on pillows resting,
+    Or reclining on the greensward,
+    May be seen abbes and gallants.
+    From perfumed sedans are lifted
+    Other ladies by their lovers....
+    Rays of light sift through the leafage,
+    Shed on golden curls their luster,
+    Break in flames on gaudy cushions,
+    Gleam alike on grass and gravel,
+    Sparkle on the simple structure
+    We have raised to serve the moment.
+    Vines and creepers clamber upward,
+    Covering the slender woodwork,
+    While between them are suspended
+    Gorgeous tapestries and curtains:
+    Scenes Arcadian boldly woven,
+    Charmingly designed by Watteau....
+    In the place of stage, an arbor;
+    Summer sun in place of footlights;
+    Thus we rear Thalia's temple
+    Where we play our private dramas,
+    Gentle, saddening, precocious....
+    Comedies that we have suffered;
+    Feelings drawn from past and present;
+    Evil masked in pretty phrases;
+    Soothing words and luring pictures;
+    Subtle stirrings, mere nuances,
+    Agonies, adventures, crises....
+
+    Some are listening, some are yawning,
+    Some are dreaming, some are laughing,
+    Some are sipping ices ... others
+    Whisper longings soft and languid....
+
+    Nodding in the breeze, carnations,
+    Long-stemmed white carnations, image
+    Butterflies that swarm in sunlight,
+    While a black and long-haired spaniel
+    Barks astonished at a peacock....
+
+                    HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL,
+                    (_Edwin Bjoerkman._)
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PLAYS BY ARTHUR SCHNITZLER
+
+
+ANATOL (Anatol); seven dramatic scenes; 1889-91 (1893).
+
+A PIECE OF FICTION (Das Maerchen); a drama in three acts; 1891 (1894).
+
+PARACELSUS (Paracelsus); a verse-play in one act; 1892 (1899).
+
+AMOURS (Liebelei); a drama in three acts; 1894 (1896).
+
+OUTSIDE THE GAME LAWS (Freiwild); a drama in three acts; 1896 (1897).
+
+CHANGE PARTNERS! (Reigen); ten dialogues; 1896-97 (1903).
+
+THE LEGACY (Das Vermaechtnis); a drama in three acts; 1897 (1898).
+
+THE LIFE PARTNER (Die Gefaehrtin); a drama in one act; 1898 (1899).
+
+THE GREEN COCKATOO (Der gruene Kakadu); a grotesque in one act; 1898
+(1899).
+
+THE VEIL OF BEATRICE (Der Schleier der Beatrice); a drama in five acts;
+1899 (1900).
+
+THE LADY WITH THE DAGGER (Die Frau mit dem Dolche); a drama in one act;
+1900 (1902).
+
+HOURS OF LIFE (Lebendige Stunden); an act; 1901 (1902).
+
+END OF THE CARNIVAL (Die letzten Masken); a drama in one act; 1901
+(1902).
+
+LITERATURE (Literatur); a farce in one act; 1901 (1902).
+
+THE PUPPET PLAYER (Der Puppenspieler); a study in one act; 1902 (1906).
+
+THE GALLANT CASSIAN (Der tapfere Cassian); a puppet play in one act;
+1903 (1906).
+
+THE LONELY WAY (Der einsame Weg); a drama in five acts; 1903 (1904).
+
+INTERMEZZO (Zwischenspiel); a comedy in three acts; 1904 (1905).
+
+THE GREATEST SHOW OF ALL (Zum grossen Wurstel); a burlesque in one act;
+1904 (1906).
+
+THE CALL OF LIFE (Der Ruf des Leben); a drama in three acts; 1905
+(1906).
+
+COUNTESS MIZZIE (Komtesse Mizzi); a comedy in one act; 1909 (1909).
+
+YOUNG MEDARDUS (Der junge Medardus); a history in five acts with a
+prologue; 1909 (1910).
+
+THE VAST COUNTRY (Das weite Land); a tragicomedy in five acts; 1910
+(1911).
+
+PROFESSOR BERNHARDI (Professor Bernhardi); a comedy in five acts; 1912
+(1912).
+
+THE GALLANT KASSIAN (Der tapfere Kassian); a musical comedy in one act,
+with music by Oscar Straus; ---- (1909).
+
+THE VEIL OF PIERRETTE (Der Schleier der Pierrette); a comic opera in
+three acts, with music by Ernst von Dohnnanyi; 1909 (not published).
+
+The figures without brackets indicate the dates of production as given
+in the collected edition of Arthur Schnitzler's works issued by the _S.
+Fischer Verlag_, Berlin, 1912. The figures within brackets, showing the
+dates of publication, are taken from the twenty-fifth anniversary
+catalogue of the same house (Berlin, 1911), and from C. G. Kayser's
+"_Vollstaendiges Buecher-Lexikon_" (Leipzig, 1891-1912).
+
+"Anatol" was first published by the _Bibliographische Bureau_ (Berlin,
+1893), and "A Piece of Fiction" by E. Pierson (Dresden, 1894). Both
+were reprinted by the _Fischer Verlag_ in 1895. The original versions
+of "A Piece of Fiction" and "Amours" have been considerably revised.
+"Change Partners!" was printed privately in 1900, and was subsequently
+published by the _Wiener Verlag_, Vienna. "The Gallant Kassian" was
+published by Ludwig Doblinger, Leipzig.
+
+"The Green Cockatoo," "Paracelsus" and "The Life Partner" appeared in
+one volume with the sub-title "Three One-act Plays." "Hours of Life,"
+"The Lady With the Dagger," "End of the Carnival," and "Literature"
+were published together under the title of the first play. "The Puppet
+Player," "The Gallant Cassian," and "The Greatest Show of All" were
+brought out in a single volume under the title of "Puppets"(_Marionetten_).
+
+For additional bibliographical data, see "Arthur Schnitzler: a
+Bibliography," by Archibald Henderson (_Bulletin of Bibliography_,
+Boston, 1913); "The Modern Drama," by Ludwig Lewisohn (New York, 1915),
+and "The Continental Drama of Today," by Barrett H. Clark (New York,
+1914). A good, though brief, analysis of Schnitzler's work is found in
+Dr. Lewisohn's volume.
+
+
+
+
+A LIST OF FIRST PERFORMANCES OF PLAYS BY ARTHUR SCHNITZLER
+
+
+ANATOL: Deutsches Volkstheater, Vienna, and Lessingtheater, Berlin,
+Dec. 3, 1910.
+
+A PIECE OF FICTION: Deutsches Volkstheater, Vienna, Dec. 1, 1893.
+
+PARACELSUS: Burgtheater, Vienna, March 1, 1899.
+
+AMOURS: Burgtheater, Vienna, Oct. 9, 1895.
+
+OUTSIDE THE GAME LAWS: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, 1896.
+
+THE LEGACY: Burgtheater, Vienna, Nov. 30, 1898.
+
+THE LIFE PARTNER: Burgtheater, Vienna, March 1, 1899.
+
+THE GREEN COCKATOO: Burgtheater, Vienna, March 1, 1899.
+
+THE VEIL OF BEATRICE: Lobetheater, Breslau, Dec. 1, 1900.
+
+THE LADY WITH THE DAGGER: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
+
+HOURS OF LIFE: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
+
+END OF THE CARNIVAL: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
+
+LITERATURE: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Jan. 4, 1902.
+
+THE PUPPET PLAYER: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, September, 1903.
+
+THE GALLANT CASSIAN: Kleines Theater, Berlin, Oct. 12, 1905.
+
+THE LONELY WAY: Deutsche Theater, Berlin, Feb. 13, 1904.
+
+INTERMEZZO: Burgtheater, Vienna (with Joseph Kainz as _Adams_), Oct.
+12, 1905.
+
+THE GREATEST SHOW OF ALL: Lustspieltheater, Vienna, March 16, 1906.
+
+THE CALL OF LIFE: Lessingtheater, Berlin, Feb. 24, 1906.
+
+COUNTESS MIZZIE: Deutsches Volkstheater, Vienna, January, 1909.
+
+YOUNG MEDARDUS: Burgtheater, Vienna, Nov. 24, 1910.
+
+THE VAST COUNTRY: Lessingtheater, Berlin, Oct. 14, 1912.
+
+PROFESSOR BERNHARDI: Kleines Theater, Berlin, Nov. 28, 1912.
+
+THE VEIL OF PIERRETTE: Hofopernhaus, Dresden, Jan. 22, 1910.
+
+Single scenes from "Anatol" were given at Ischl in the Summer of 1893,
+and at a matinee arranged by the journalistic society "Concordia" at
+one of the Vienna theaters in 1909. A Czechic translation of the whole
+series was staged at Smichow, Bohemia, sometime during the nineties.
+Three of the dialogues in "Change Partners!" were performed by members
+of the _Akademisch-dramatischer Verein_ at Munich in 1904.
+
+The official records of the Burgtheater at Vienna show that, up to the
+end of 1912, the eight Schnitzler plays forming part of its repertory
+had been performed the following number of times: "Paracelsus," 12;
+"Amours," 42; "The Legacy," 11; "The Life Partner," 14; "The Green
+Cockatoo," 8; "Intermezzo," 22; "Young Medardus," 43; "The Vast
+Country," 30.
+
+The list of dates given above has been drawn chiefly from "Das moderne
+Drama," by Robert F. Arnold (Strassburg, 1912); "Das Burgtheater:
+statistische Rueckblick," by Otto Rub (Vienna, 1913), and the current
+files of _Buehne und Welt_ (Berlin). For dates of Schnitzler
+performances in America and England, see the Henderson bibliography
+previously mentioned.
+
+
+
+
+THE LONELY WAY
+
+(Der Einsame Weg)
+
+A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS
+
+1903
+
+
+PERSONS
+
+PROFESSOR WEGRAT       } President of the Academy
+                       } of Plastic Arts
+
+GABRIELLE              } His wife
+
+FELIX                  }
+                       } Their children
+JOHANNA                }
+
+JULIAN FICHTNER
+
+STEPHAN VON SALA
+
+IRENE HERMS
+
+DR. FRANZ REUMANN      } A physician
+
+FICHTNER'S VALET
+
+SALA'S VALET
+
+A MAID AT THE WEGRATS'
+
+
+
+
+THE LONELY WAY
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST ACT
+
+
+_The little garden attached to Professor Wegrat's house. It is almost
+surrounded by buildings, so that no outlook of any kind is to be had.
+At the right in the garden stands the small two-storied house with its
+woodwork veranda, to which lead three wooden steps. Entries are made
+from the veranda as well as from either side of the house. Near the
+middle of the stage is a green garden table with chairs to match, and
+also a more comfortable armchair. A small iron bench is placed against
+a tree at the left._
+
+_Johanna is walking back and forth in the garden when Felix enters,
+wearing the uniform of a uhlan._
+
+
+JOHANNA (_turning about_)
+
+Felix!
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, it's me.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+How are you?--And how have you been able to get another furlough?
+
+FELIX
+
+Oh, it won't last long.--And how's mamma?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Doing pretty well the last few days.
+
+FELIX
+
+Do you think she would be scared if I dropped in on her unexpectedly?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No. But wait a little just the same. She's asleep now. I have just come
+from her room.--How long are you going to stay, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+To-morrow night I'm off again.
+
+JOHANNA (_staring into a fancied distance_)
+
+Off....
+
+FELIX
+
+Oh, it sounds big! But one doesn't get so very far off--not in any
+respect.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+And you have wanted it so badly.... (_Pointing to his uniform_) Now
+you've got it. And are you not satisfied?
+
+FELIX
+
+Well, at any rate it is the most sensible thing I have gone into so
+far. For now I feel at least that I might achieve something under
+certain circumstances.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I believe you would make good in any profession.
+
+FELIX
+
+I have my doubts whether I could get anywhere as a lawyer or an
+engineer. And on the whole I feel a good deal better than ever before.
+Often it seems to me as if I hadn't been born at the right time. I
+think I should have come into the world while there was still so much
+of order left in it, that one could venture all sorts of things one
+couldn't possibly venture nowadays.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Oh, but you are free--you've got place to move.
+
+FELIX
+
+Only within certain limits.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+They are a great deal wider than these at any rate.
+
+FELIX (_looking around with a smile_)
+
+Well, this is not a prison.... Really, the garden has turned out quite
+pretty. How bare it looked when we were children.--What's that? A row
+of peach trees? That doesn't look bad at all.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+One of Dr. Reumann's ideas.
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, I should have guessed it.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why?
+
+FELIX
+
+Because I can't believe any member of our family capable of such a
+useful inspiration. What are his chances anyhow?--I mean in regard to
+that professorship at Gratz?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I don't know anything about it. (_She turns away_)
+
+FELIX
+
+I suppose mamma is outdoors a good deal these fine days?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes.
+
+FELIX
+
+Are you still reading to her? Do you try to divert her a little? To
+cheer her up?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Just as if it were such an easy thing!
+
+FELIX
+
+But you have to put some spunk into it, Johanna.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes, Felix, it's easy for you to talk.
+
+FELIX
+
+What do you mean?
+
+JOHANNA (_speaking as if to herself_)
+
+I don't know if you'll be able to understand me.
+
+FELIX (_smiling_)
+
+Why should it all at once be so hard for me to understand you?
+
+JOHANNA (_looking calmly at him_)
+
+Now when she is sick, I don't love her as much as before.
+
+FELIX (_startled_)
+
+What?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No, it's impossible that you could quite understand. All the time she
+is getting farther away from us.... It is as if every day a new set of
+veils dropped down about her.
+
+FELIX
+
+And what is the meaning of it?
+
+JOHANNA (_continues to look at him in the same calm way_)
+
+FELIX
+
+You think...?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+You know, Felix, that I never make any mistakes in things of that kind.
+
+FELIX
+
+I _know_, you say...?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+When poor little Lillie von Sala had to die, I was aware of it in
+advance--before the rest of you knew that she was sick even.
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, you had had a dream--and you were nothing but a child.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I didn't dream it. I knew it. (_Brusquely_) It's something I can't
+explain.
+
+FELIX (_after a pause_)
+
+And papa--has he resigned himself to it?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Resigned himself?--Do you think he too can see those veils coming down?
+
+FELIX (_having first shaken his head slightly_)
+
+Nothing but imagination, Johanna--I am sure.--But now I want to....
+(_Turning toward the house_) Papa hasn't come home yet?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No. As a rule he's very late these days. He has an awful lot to do in
+the Academy.
+
+FELIX
+
+I'll try not to wake her up--I'll be careful. (_He goes out by way of
+the veranda_)
+
+[_While alone for a while, Johanna seats herself on the garden bench
+with her hands clasped across her knees. Sala enters. He is forty-five,
+but looks younger. Slender to the verge of leanness, and smooth-shaven.
+His brown hair, which has begun to turn gray at the temples, and which
+he wears rather long, is parted on the right side. His features are
+keen and energetic; his eyes, gray and clear._
+
+SALA
+
+Good evening, Miss Johanna.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Good evening, Mr. von Sala.
+
+SALA
+
+They told me your mother was having a little nap, and so I permitted
+myself to come out here in the meantime.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Felix just got here.
+
+SALA
+
+Well? Have they already granted him another furlough? In my days they
+were stricter in that regiment. However, we were then stationed near
+the border--somewhere in Galicia.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I can never keep in mind that you have gone through that kind of thing
+too.
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, it's long ago now. And it didn't last more than a couple of years.
+But it was good fun as I look back at it now.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Like almost everything else you have experienced.
+
+SALA
+
+Like much of it.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Won't you sit down?
+
+SALA
+
+Thank you. (_He seats himself on the support of the armchair_) Am I
+permitted? (_Johanna having nodded assent, he takes a cigarette from
+his case and lights it_)
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Are you already settled in your new place, Mr. von Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+I move in to-morrow.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+And it gives you a great deal of pleasure, doesn't it?
+
+SALA
+
+That would be a little premature.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Are you superstitious?
+
+SALA
+
+Well, for that matter--yes.--But that was not what I had in mind. I
+only take possession temporarily, not for good.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why not?
+
+SALA
+
+I'm going abroad--for a prolonged stay.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Oh? You are to be envied. I wish I could do the same--go here and there
+in the world, and not bother myself about a single human being.
+
+SALA
+
+Still at it?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Still at it.... What do you mean?
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, I recall how the same kind of schemes for traveling used to occupy
+your mind when you were nothing but a little girl. What was it you
+wanted to become?--A ballet dancer, I think. Wasn't that it? A very
+famous one, of course.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why do you say that as if it were nothing at all to be a ballet dancer?
+(_Without looking at him_) You, in particular, Mr. von Sala, should not
+be talking like that.
+
+SALA
+
+Why not I, in particular?
+
+JOHANNA (_glances up calmly at him_)
+
+SALA
+
+I don't quite make out what you mean, Miss Johanna.... Unless I
+must.... (_Simply_) Johanna, did you know at the time that I was
+looking at you?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+When?
+
+SALA
+
+Last year, when you were in the country, and I came out once and stayed
+over night in your attic. It was bright moonlight, and I thought I
+could see a fairy gliding back and forth in the meadow.
+
+JOHANNA (_nods with a smile_)
+
+SALA
+
+And it was for me?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Oh, I saw you very well, where you stood behind the curtain.
+
+SALA (_after a brief pause_)
+
+I suppose you will never dance like that for other people?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why not?--I have already. And then, too, you were looking on. Of
+course, it was a good while ago.--It happened on one of the Greek
+islands. A large number of men stood in a circle around me ... you were
+one of them ... and I was a slave girl from Lydia.
+
+SALA
+
+A princess in captivity.
+
+JOHANNA (_earnestly_)
+
+Don't you believe in such things?
+
+SALA
+
+If you want me to--certainly.
+
+JOHANNA (_still very serious_)
+
+You should believe everything in which the rest cannot believe.
+
+SALA
+
+When the time comes for it, I suppose I shall.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+You see--I can rather believe anything than that I should now be in the
+world for the first time. And there are moments when I recall quite
+clearly all sorts of things.
+
+SALA
+
+And at that time you had such a moment?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes, a year ago, when I was dancing for you in the meadow that moonlit
+summer night. I am sure it was not the first time, Mr. von Sala.
+(_After a short pause, with a sudden change of tone_) Where are you
+going anyhow?
+
+SALA (_falling into the same tone_)
+
+To Bactria, Miss Johanna.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Where?
+
+SALA
+
+To Bactria. That's quite a remarkable country, and what's most
+remarkable about it is that it doesn't exist any longer. What it means
+is that I am joining an expedition which will start next November. You
+have read of it in the papers, haven't you?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No.
+
+SALA
+
+The proposition is to make excavations where it is supposed the ancient
+Ecbatana stood once--some six thousand years ago. That goes even
+farther back than your Lydian period, you see.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+When did you get hold of this idea?
+
+SALA
+
+Only a few days ago. Conversationally, so to speak. Count Ronsky, who
+is at the head of the matter, inspired me with a great desire to go.
+That wasn't very hard, however. He stirred an old longing within me.
+(_With more spirit_) Think of it, Miss Johanna: to be watching with
+your own eyes the gradual rising of such a buried city out of the
+ground--house by house, stone by stone, century by century. No, it
+wasn't meant that I should pass away until I had had this wish of mine
+fulfilled.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why talk of dying then?
+
+SALA
+
+Is there ever a blissful moment in any decent man's life when he can
+think of anything else in his innermost soul?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I don't suppose a single wish of yours was ever left unfulfilled.
+
+SALA
+
+Not a single one...?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I know that you have also had many sad experiences. But frequently I
+believe you have longed for those too.
+
+SALA
+
+Longed for them...? You may be right, perhaps, in saying that I enjoyed
+them when they came.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+How perfectly I understand that! A life without sorrow would probably
+be as bare as a life without happiness. (_Pause_) How long ago is it
+now?
+
+SALA
+
+What are you thinking of?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+That Mrs. von Sala died?
+
+SALA
+
+It's seven years ago, almost to a day.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+And Lillie--the same year?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, Lillie died a month later. Do you often think of Lillie, Miss
+Johanna?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Quite often, Mr. von Sala. I have never had a girl friend since that
+time. (_As if to herself_) She too would have to be called "miss" now.
+She was very pretty. She had black hair with a bluish glint in it like
+your wife, and the same clear eyes that you have, Mr. von Sala. (_As if
+to herself_) "Then both of them walked hand in hand along the gloomy
+road that leads through sunlit land...."
+
+SALA
+
+What a memory you have, Johanna.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Seven years ago that was.... Remarkable!
+
+SALA
+
+Why remarkable?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+You are building a house, and digging out submerged cities, and writing
+queer poetry--and human beings who once meant so much to you have been
+rotting in their graves these seven years--and you are still almost
+young. How incomprehensible the whole thing is!
+
+SALA
+
+"Thou that livest on, cease thou thy weeping," says Omar Nameh, who was
+born at Bagdad in the year 412 of the Mohammedan era as the son of a
+cobbler. For that matter, I know a man who is only thirty-eight. He has
+buried two wives and seven children, not to speak of grandchildren. And
+now he is playing the piano in a shabby little Prater[1] restaurant,
+while artists of both sexes show off their tights and their fluttering
+skirts on the platform. And recently, when the pitiful performance had
+come to an end and they were turning out the lights, he went right on,
+without apparent reason, and quite heedless of everything, playing away
+on that frightful old rattle-box of his. And then Ronsky and I asked
+him over to our table and had a chat with him. And then he told us that
+the piece he had just played was his own composition. Of course, we
+complimented him. And then his eyes lit up, and he asked us in a voice
+that shook: "Gentlemen, do you think my piece will make a hit?" He is
+thirty-eight years old, and his career has come to an end in a small
+restaurant where his public consists of nurse-girls and
+non-commissioned officers, and his one longing is--to get their
+applause!
+
+      [1] The Prater is at once the Central Park and the Coney
+      Island of Vienna, plus a great deal more--a park with an area
+      of 2,000 acres bounded by the Danube on one side and by the
+      Danube Canal on the other, full of all kinds of amusement
+      places.
+
+REUMANN (_enters_)
+
+Good evening, Miss Johanna. Good evening, Mr. von Sala. (_Shakes
+hands with both of them at the same time_) How are you?
+
+SALA
+
+Fine. You don't suppose one must be your victim all the time because
+one has had the honor of consulting you once?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Oh, I had forgotten all about it. However, there are people who feel
+just that way.--I suppose your mother is having a little rest, Miss
+Johanna?
+
+JOHANNA (_who apparently has been startled by the few words exchanged
+between the physician and Sala, and who is looking intently at the
+latter_) She is probably awake by this time. Felix is with her.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Felix...? You haven't telegraphed for him, have you?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Not that I know of. Who could have...?
+
+REUMANN
+
+I only wondered. Your father is inclined to get frightened.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+There they are now.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT (_enters from the veranda with Felix_)
+
+How are you, my dear Doctor? What do you think of the surprise I have
+just had?
+
+[_All the men shake hands._
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Good evening, Mr. von Sala.
+
+SALA
+
+I am delighted to see you looking so well, Mrs. Wegrat.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Yes, I am doing a little better. If only the gloomy season were not so
+close at hand.
+
+SALA
+
+But now the finest time of the year is coming. When the woods sparkle
+with red and yellow, and a golden mist lies on the hills, and the sky
+grows pale and remote as if it were scared by its own infinity...!
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Yes, that ought to be worth seeing once more.
+
+REUMANN (_reproachfully_)
+
+Mrs. Wegrat....
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Pardon me--but thoughts of that kind will come. (_Brightening up a
+little_) If I only knew how much longer I might count on my dear
+doctor?
+
+REUMANN
+
+I can reassure you on that score, madam: I shall stay in Vienna.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+What? Has the matter been settled already?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Yes.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+So another man has actually been called to Gratz?
+
+REUMANN
+
+No, not that way. But the other man, who was practically sure of the
+place, has broken his neck climbing a mountain.
+
+FELIX
+
+But then your chances should be better than ever. Whom could they
+possibly consider besides you?
+
+REUMANN
+
+I suppose my chances wouldn't be bad. But I have preferred to forgo
+them.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+How?
+
+REUMANN
+
+I won't accept the call.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Is that out of superstition?
+
+FELIX
+
+Or out of pride?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Neither. But the thought of having another man's misfortune to thank
+for my own advancement would be extremely painful to me. Half my life
+would be spoiled for me. That is neither superstition nor pride, you
+see, but just commonplace, small-minded vanity.
+
+SALA
+
+You're a subtle one, Doctor.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Well, all I gather is that you are going to stay. Which shows how mean
+your thoughts grow when you are sick.
+
+REUMANN (_changing the subject on purpose_)
+
+Well, Felix, how do you find life in a garrison?
+
+FELIX
+
+Fine.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+So you are really satisfied, boy?
+
+FELIX
+
+I feel very thankful to all of you. Especially to you, mamma.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Why to me especially? After all, the decision lay with your father in
+the last instance.
+
+REUMANN
+
+He would, of course, have preferred to see you choose a more peaceful
+calling.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, but to-day there is none more peaceful.
+
+FELIX
+
+That's where you are right, Mr. von Sala.--By the by, I was to give you
+the regards of Lieutenant-Colonel Schrotting.
+
+SALA
+
+Thank you. Does he still remember me?
+
+FELIX
+
+Not he alone. We are constantly being reminded of you--at every meal,
+in fact. Yours is among the pictures of former officers that hang in
+the mess rooms.
+
+WEGRAT (_enters_)
+
+Good evening.--Why, Felix, are you here again? What a surprise!
+
+FELIX
+
+Good evening, papa. I have applied for a two-day furlough.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Furlough ... furlough? A real one? Or is it another one of those little
+brilliant tricks?
+
+FELIX (_cheerfully and without taking offence_)
+
+I am not in the habit of fibbing, papa, am I?
+
+WEGRAT (_in the same tone_)
+
+I meant no offense, my boy. Even if you had been guilty of deserting
+the flag, your longing to see your mother would be sufficient excuse
+for you.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+To see his parents, you mean.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Of course--to see us all. But as you are a little under the weather,
+you come foremost just now.--Well, how are you getting along, Gabrielle?
+Better, are you not? (_In a low voice, almost timidly_) My love....
+(_He strokes her brow and hair_) Love.... The air is so mild.
+
+SALA
+
+We are having a wonderful Autumn.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Have you just got away from the Academy, Professor?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Yes. Now, when I am also the president of it, there is a whole lot to
+do--and all of it is not pleasant or grateful. But I seem to be made
+for it, as they have insisted. And I suppose it will have to go on this
+way. (_With a smile_) As somebody once called me--an art-official.
+
+SALA
+
+Don't be so unjust to yourself, Professor.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+You must have been walking all that long way home again?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+I even went out of my way some distance--to pass across the old Turkish
+fort.[2] I am awfully fond of that road. On evenings like this the
+whole city lies beneath you as if bathed in a silvery mist.--By the by,
+Gabrielle, I have some greetings to deliver. I met Irene Herms.
+
+      [2] The place where the Turks fortified themselves before
+      driven from Vienna by John Sobieski in 1683 is now a small
+      park, "_Tuerkenschanz-Park_," located in Doebling, one of the
+      northwestern quarters of Greater Vienna. Only a little ways
+      south of this park, and overlooking it, stands the
+      Astronomical Observatory, not far from which Schnitzler has
+      been living for a number of years. Numerous references to
+      localities in this play indicate that he has placed the Wegrat
+      home in that very villa quarter of Waehring, where he himself
+      is so thoroughly at home.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Is she in Vienna?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Just passing through. She intends to call on you.
+
+SALA
+
+Has she still got an engagement at Hamburg?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+No, she has left the stage, she told me, and is now living in the
+country with her married sister.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I saw her once in a play of yours, Mr. von Sala.
+
+SALA
+
+Then you must have been a very small girl indeed.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+She played a Spanish princess.
+
+SALA
+
+Unfortunately. For princesses were not at all in her line. She has
+never in her life been able to treat verse properly.
+
+REUMANN
+
+And you can still bear that in mind, Mr. von Sala--that some lady on
+some occasion happened to handle your verse badly?
+
+SALA
+
+Well, why shouldn't I, my dear Doctor? If you were living at the center
+of the earth, you would know that all things are of equal weight. And
+were you floating in the center of the universe, you would suspect that
+all things are of equal importance.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+How does she look anyhow?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+She is still very pretty.
+
+SALA
+
+Has she preserved her resemblance to that portrait of hers which is
+hanging in the Museum?
+
+FELIX
+
+What portrait is that?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Is her portrait really in the Museum?
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, you know it. In the catalogue it is labeled "Actress"--just
+"Actress." A young woman in the costume of a harlequin, over which she
+has draped a Greek toga, while at her feet lie a confused heap of
+masks. With her staring glance turned toward the spectators, she stands
+there all alone on an empty, dusky stage, surrounded by odd pieces of
+misfit scenery--one wall of a room, a forest piece, part of an old
+dungeon....
+
+FELIX
+
+And the background shows a southern landscape with palms and plane
+trees...?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, and it is partly raised so that still farther off you can see a
+pile of furniture, steps, goblets, chandeliers--all glittering in full
+daylight.
+
+FELIX
+
+But that's Julian Fichtner's picture?
+
+SALA
+
+Exactly.
+
+FELIX
+
+I had not the slightest idea that the figure of that woman was meant
+for Irene Herms.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Twenty-five years have passed since he painted that picture. It caused
+a tremendous sensation at the time. It was his first big success. And
+to-day I suppose there are lots of people who no longer remember his
+name.--Come to think of it, I asked Irene Herms about him. But strange
+to say, not even his "perennial best girl" could tell where in this
+world he happens to be straying.
+
+FELIX
+
+I talked with him only a few days ago.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+What? You have seen Julian Fichtner? He was in Salzburg?--When?
+
+FELIX
+
+Only about three or four days ago. He looked me up, and we spent the
+evening together.
+
+[_Mrs. Wegrat throws a quick glance at Dr. Reumann._
+
+WEGRAT
+
+How is he doing? What did he tell you?
+
+FELIX
+
+He has turned rather gray, but otherwise he didn't seem to have changed
+at all.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+How long can it be now since he left Vienna? Two years, isn't it?
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+A little more.
+
+FELIX
+
+He has traveled far and wide.
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, now and then I have had a postcard from him.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+So have we. But I thought you and he were corresponding regularly.
+
+SALA
+
+Regularly? Oh, no.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Isn't he a friend of yours?
+
+SALA
+
+As a rule I have no friends. And if I have any, I repudiate them.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+But you used to be quite intimate with him.
+
+SALA
+
+He with me rather than I with him.
+
+FELIX
+
+What do you mean by that, Mr. von Sala?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Oh, I can understand it. I suppose you have had the same experience
+with most people.
+
+SALA
+
+Something very much like it, at least.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes, one can see it from what you write, too.
+
+SALA
+
+I hope so. Otherwise it might just as well have been written by
+somebody else.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Did he say when he would be back in Vienna?
+
+FELIX
+
+Soon, I think. But he didn't say very definitely.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I should like to see Mr. Fichtner again. I am fond of that kind of
+people.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+What do you mean by "that kind of people"?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Who are always arriving from some far-off place.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+But as a rule he never arrived from far-off places when you knew him,
+Johanna.... He was living right here.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+What did it matter whether he was living here or elsewhere?--Even when
+he came to see us daily, it was always as if he had just arrived from
+some great distance.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, of course....
+
+FELIX
+
+I had often the same feeling.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Well, it's strange how he has been knocking about in the world--these
+last few years at least.
+
+SALA
+
+Don't you think his restlessness goes farther back? Were you not
+students together in the Academy?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Yes. And to know him properly, you must have known him then. There was
+something fascinating about him as a young man, something that dazzled.
+Never have I known anybody whom the term "of great promise" fitted so
+completely.
+
+SALA
+
+Well, he has kept a whole lot of it.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+But think of all he might have achieved!
+
+REUMANN
+
+I believe that what you might achieve you do achieve.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Not always. Julian was undoubtedly destined for higher things. What he
+lacked was the capacity for concentration, the inward calm. He could
+never feel at home for good anywhere. And the misfortune has been that
+in his own works, too, he has lived only as a transient, so to speak.
+
+FELIX
+
+He showed me a couple of sketches he had made recently.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Good?
+
+FELIX
+
+To me there was something gripping about them.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Why gripping? What kind of pictures were they?
+
+FELIX
+
+Landscapes. And as a rule very pleasant ones at that.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Once in a dream I saw a Spring landscape, very sunlit and soft, and yet
+it made me weep.
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, the sadness of certain things lies much deeper than we commonly
+suspect.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+So he's working again? Then, perhaps, we may expect something out of
+the ordinary.
+
+SALA
+
+In the case of anybody who has been an artist once you are never safe
+against surprises.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+That's it, Mr. von Sala. That's where the great difference lies. In the
+case of an official you can feel perfectly safe on that score. (_With
+cheerful self-contempt_) Such a one paints every year his nice little
+picture for the exhibition, and couldn't possibly do anything else.
+
+REUMANN
+
+It is still open to question who do most for the advancement of life
+and art: officials like you, Professor, or--our so-called men of
+genius.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, I have not the least intention to play the modest one. But as to
+men of genius--we had better not talk of them at all. There you are
+dealing with a world by itself, lying outside of all discussion--as do
+the elements.
+
+REUMANN
+
+My opinion, I must confess, is utterly different.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, it's of no use discussing anybody but those who have distinct
+limitations. And what I have found is--that he who knows his own
+limitations best is the better man. And on this point I have pretty
+good reason for self-respect.--Do you feel chilly, Gabrielle?
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+No.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+But you had better pull the shawl a little closer about you, and then
+we should have a little exercise--in so far as it's possible in here.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+All right.--Please, Doctor, give me your arm. You haven't paid the
+least attention to your patient yet.
+
+REUMANN
+
+At your service!
+
+[_The rest start ahead, Johanna walking with her brother, and Wegrat
+with Sala. Dr. Reumann and Mrs. Wegrat seem about to follow, when she
+suddenly stops._
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Did you notice his eyes light up--I mean, the eyes of Felix, when they
+were talking of _him?_ It was most peculiar.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Men of Mr. Fichtner's type appear undoubtedly very interesting to young
+people. They seem to carry with them an odor of romance.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT (_shaking her head_)
+
+And he looked him up.... It is perfectly clear that he went to Salzburg
+just to see him again. I suppose he is beginning to feel a little
+deserted.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Why not pay a visit to a young friend when one happens to be near the
+place where he is living? I can see nothing peculiar in that.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I might have looked at the matter in the
+same way not long ago. But now, in the face of.... No, Doctor, I am not
+going to be sentimental.
+
+REUMANN
+
+I don't object to sentiment, but to nonsense.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT (_smiling_)
+
+Thank you.--However, I have occasion to think of many different things.
+And it is no reason for taking it too seriously, my dear friend. You
+know, of course, that I told you everything merely that I might have a
+kind and sensible man with whom to discuss the past--and not at all to
+be absolved of any guilt.
+
+REUMANN
+
+To give happiness is more than being free of guilt. And as this has
+been granted you, it is clear that you have made full atonement--if
+you'll pardon the use of such a preposterously extravagant term.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+How can you talk like that?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Well, am I not right?
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Just as if I couldn't feel how all of us, deceivers and deceived, must
+seem equally contemptible to you in particular!
+
+REUMANN
+
+Why to me in particular...? What you call contempt, madam--supposing I
+did feel anything like it--would, after all, be nothing but disguised
+envy. Or do you think I lack the desire to conduct my life as I see
+most other people conducting theirs? I simply haven't the knack. If I
+am to be frank, madam--the deepest yearning of all within me is just to
+be a rogue: a fellow who can dissemble, seduce, sneer, make his way
+over dead bodies. But thanks to a certain shortcoming in my
+temperament, I am condemned to remain a decent man--and what is still
+more painful perhaps: to hear everybody say that I am one.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT (_who has been listening with a smile_)
+
+I wonder whether you have told the truth about what is keeping you here
+in Vienna?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Certainly. Indeed, I have no other reason. I have no right to have any
+other. Don't let us talk any more of it.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Are we not such good friends that I can talk calmly with you of
+everything? I know what you have in mind. But I believe that it might
+be in your power to drive certain illusions and dreams out of the soul
+of a young girl. And it would be such a comfort to me if I could leave
+you for good among these people, all of whom are so near to me, and who
+yet know nothing whatever about each other--who are hardly aware of
+their mutual relationships even, and who seem fated to flitter away
+from each other to God knows where.
+
+REUMANN
+
+We'll talk of those things, madam, when it's time to do so.
+
+MRS. WEGRAT
+
+Of course, I regret nothing. I believe I have never regretted anything.
+But I have a feeling that something is out of order. Perhaps it's
+nothing but that strange glimmer in the eyes of Felix which has caused
+all this unrest within me. But isn't it peculiar--uncanny almost--to
+think that a man like him may go through the world with all his senses
+open and yet never know whom he has to thank for being in the world?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Don't let us indulge in generalities, Mrs. Wegrat. In that way you can
+set the most solid things shaking and swaying until the steadiest eyes
+begin to grow dizzy. My own conclusion is this: that a lie which has
+proved strong enough to sustain the peace of a household can be no less
+respectable than a truth which could do nothing but destroy the image
+of the past, fill the present with sorrow, and confuse the vision of
+the future. (_He goes out with Mrs. Wegrat_)
+
+JOHANNA (_entering with Sala_)
+
+In this way one always gets back to the same spot. I suppose your
+garden is bigger, Mr. von Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+My garden is the whole wide woods--that is, for people whose fancy is
+not restrained by a light fence.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Your villa has grown very pretty.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, you know it then?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+A little while ago I saw it again for the first time in three years.
+
+SALA
+
+But three years ago they hadn't put in the foundations yet.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+To me it was already standing there.
+
+SALA
+
+How mysterious....
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Not at all. If you will only remember. Once we made an excursion to
+Dornbach[3]--my parents, and Felix, and I. There we met you and Mr.
+Fichtner, and it happened on the very spot where your house was to be
+built. And now everything looks just as you described it to us then.
+
+      [3] A suburb near the western limits of Vienna and not far
+      from the location indicated for the Wegrat home.
+
+SALA
+
+But how did you happen to be in that vicinity?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Since mamma was taken sick I have often had to take my walks alone....
+
+SALA
+
+And when was it you passed by my house?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Not long ago--to-day.
+
+SALA
+
+To-day?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes. I went all around it.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh? All around it?--Did you also notice the little gate that leads
+directly into the woods?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes.--But from that spot the house is almost invisible. The leafage is
+very thick.--Where have you placed those busts of the Roman emperors?
+
+SALA
+
+They stand on columns at the opening of an avenue of trees. Right by is
+a small marble bench, and in front of the bench a little pool has been
+made.
+
+JOHANNA (_nodding_)
+
+Just as you told us that time.... And there is a greenish gray glitter
+on the water--and in the morning the shadow from the beech tree falls
+across it.... I know. (_She looks up at him and smiles; both go out
+together_)
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND ACT
+
+
+_In the home of Julian Fichtner. A pleasant, rather distinguished room
+in a state of slight disorder. Books are piled on two chairs, while on
+another chair stands an open traveling bag. Julian is seated at a
+writing desk, from the drawers of which he is taking out papers. Some
+of these he destroys, while others are thrown into the waste-paper
+basket._
+
+
+VALET (_announcing_)
+
+Mr. von Sala. (_He goes out_)
+
+SALA (_enters. His custom to walk up and down while talking asserts
+itself strikingly during the following scene. Now and then he sits down
+for a moment, often only on the arm of a chair. At times he stops
+beside Julian, putting his hand on the latter's shoulder while
+speaking. Two or three times during the scene he puts his hand to the
+left side of his chest, in a manner suggesting discomfort of some kind.
+But this gesture is not sharply accentuated_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+I am delighted. (_They shake hands_)
+
+SALA
+
+So you got back early this morning?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes.
+
+SALA
+
+And mean to stay...?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Haven't decided yet. Things are a little upset, as you see. And I fear
+they'll never be quite in shape again. I intend to give up this place.
+
+SALA
+
+Too bad. I have become so accustomed to it. In what direction are you
+going to move?
+
+JULIAN
+
+It's possible that I don't take any new quarters at all for a while,
+but just keep on moving about as I have been doing the last few years.
+I am even considering to have my things sold at auction.
+
+SALA
+
+That's a thought which gets no sympathy from me.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Really, I haven't got much sympathy for it myself. But the material
+side of the question has to be considered a little, too. I have been
+spending too much these last years, and it has to be evened up somehow.
+Probably I'll settle down again later on. Sometime one must get back to
+peace and work, I suppose.--Well, how goes it with you? What are our
+friends and acquaintances doing?
+
+SALA
+
+So you haven't seen anybody yet?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Not one. And you are the only one I have written about my being here.
+
+SALA
+
+And you have not yet called on the Wegrats?
+
+JULIAN
+
+No. I even hesitate to go there.
+
+SALA
+
+Why?
+
+JULIAN
+
+After a certain age it would perhaps be better never to put your foot
+in any place where your earlier years were spent. It is so rare to find
+things and people the same as when you left them. Isn't that so?--Mrs.
+Gabrielle is said to have changed considerably in the course of her
+sickness. That's what Felix told me at least. I should prefer not to
+see her again. Oh, you can understand that, Sala.
+
+SALA (_rather surprised_)
+
+Of course, I understand. How long is it you have had no news from
+Vienna?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I have constantly started ahead of my mail. Not a single letter has
+overtaken me during the last fortnight. (_Alarmed_) What has happened?
+
+SALA
+
+Mrs. Gabrielle died a week ago.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Oh! (_He is deeply moved; for a while he walks back and forth; then
+he resumes his seat and says after a pause_) Of course, it was to be
+expected, and yet....
+
+SALA
+
+Her death came easily.... You know how those left behind always pretend
+to know such things with certainty. Anyhow, she fell asleep quietly one
+night and never woke up again.
+
+JULIAN (_in low voice_)
+
+Poor Gabrielle!--Did you see anything of her toward the end?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, I went there almost daily.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Oh, did you?
+
+SALA
+
+Johanna asked me. She was literally afraid of being alone with her
+mother.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Afraid?
+
+SALA
+
+The sick woman inspired her with a sort of horror. She has calmed down
+a little now.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What a strange creature.... And how does our friend, the professor,
+bear up under his loss? Resigned to the will of God, I suppose?
+
+SALA
+
+My dear Julian, the man has a position. I fear we cannot grasp that, we
+who are Gods by the grace of the moment--and also less than men at
+times.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Of course, Felix is not here?
+
+SALA
+
+I talked with him less than an hour ago, and informed him that you were
+here. It made him very happy to have you call on him in Salzburg.
+
+JULIAN
+
+It looked so to me. And he did me a lot of good. For that matter, I
+have really thought of settling down in Salzburg.
+
+SALA
+
+For ever?
+
+JULIAN
+
+For a while. On account of Felix, too. His unspoiled nature affects me
+very pleasantly--it makes me actually feel younger. Were he not my son,
+I might almost envy him--and not on account of his youth alone. (_With
+a smile_) Thus there is nothing left for me but to love him. I must say
+that I feel a little ashamed at having to do it incognito, so to speak.
+
+SALA
+
+Are not these feelings a little belated in their appearance?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Oh, I suppose they were there long before I knew. And, you know, I saw
+the youngster for the first time when he was ten or eleven years old,
+and it was only then I learned that he was my son.
+
+SALA
+
+It must have been a strange meeting between you and Mrs. Gabrielle, ten
+years after you had committed that piece of hideous perfidy--as our
+ancestors used to put it.
+
+JULIAN
+
+It wasn't strange even. It came about quite naturally. Shortly after my
+return from Paris I happened to meet Wegrat on the street. Of course,
+we had heard of each other from time to time, and we met as old
+friends. There are people who seem born to a fate of that kind.... And
+as for Gabrielle....
+
+SALA
+
+She had forgiven you, of course?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Forgiven...? It was more or less than that. Only once did we talk of
+the past--she without reproach, and I without regret: as if the whole
+story had happened to somebody else. And after that never again. I
+might have thought some miracle had wiped those earlier days out of her
+memory. In fact, as far as I am concerned, there seemed to be no real
+connection between that quiet matron and the creature I had once loved.
+And as for the youngster--well, you know--at first I didn't care more
+for him than I might have cared for any other pretty and gifted
+child.--Of course, ten years ago my life had a different aspect. I was
+still clinging to so many things which since then have slipped away
+from me. It was only in the course of time that I became more and more
+drawn to the house, until at last I began to feel at home there.
+
+SALA
+
+I hope you never took offense at my gradual discovery of the true state
+of affairs.
+
+JULIAN
+
+You, at any rate, didn't think me very sensible....
+
+SALA
+
+Why not? I too find that family life in itself is quite attractive.
+Only it ought, after all, to be experienced in one's own family.
+
+JULIAN
+
+You know very well that I have frequently felt something like actual
+shame at the incongruity of that relationship. It was in fact one of
+the things that drove me away. Of course, there were a lot of other
+things that pressed on me at the time. Especially that I couldn't make
+a real success out of my work.
+
+SALA
+
+But you hadn't been exhibiting anything for a long time.
+
+JULIAN
+
+It wasn't external success I had in mind. I could never get into the
+right mood any more, and I hoped that traveling would help me again, as
+it had done so often in earlier years.
+
+SALA
+
+And how did you fare? We have heard so little of you here. You might
+really have written me a little more frequently and fully. For you
+know, of course, that I care a great deal more for you than for most
+other people. We have such a knack of giving each other the right
+cue--don't you think? There are sentimental people who speak of such a
+relation as friendship. And it is not impossible that we used to
+address each other by our Christian names some time during the last
+century, or that you may even have wept your fill on my shoulder. I
+have missed you more than once during these two years--honestly! On my
+lonely walks I have quite frequently thought of our pleasant chats in
+the Dornbach park, where we were in the habit of disposing temporarily
+of (_quoting_) "what is most lofty and profound in this our
+world."--Well, Julian, from where do you come anyhow?
+
+JULIAN
+
+From the Tyrol? During the Summer I made long tours on foot. I have
+even turned mountain climber in my old days. I spent a whole week at
+one of those pasturing grounds in the Alps.... Yes, I have been up to
+all sorts of things. It's a wonder what you can do when you are all
+alone.
+
+SALA
+
+And you have really been all alone?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes.
+
+SALA
+
+All these last years?
+
+JULIAN
+
+If I don't count a few nonsensical interruptions--yes.
+
+SALA
+
+But there should have been no difficulty in that respect.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I know. But I cannot rest satisfied with what is still offered me of
+that kind of thing. I have been badly spoiled, Sala. Up to a certain
+period my life passed away in a constant orgy of tenderness and
+passion, and of power, you might say. And that is all over. Oh, Sala,
+what pitiful fictions I have had to steal, and beg, and buy, during
+these last years! It gives me nausea to look back at it, and it
+horrifies me to look ahead. And I ask myself: can there really be
+nothing left of all that glow with which I once embraced the world but
+a sort of silly wrath because it's all over--because I--_I_--am no
+less subject to human laws than anybody else?
+
+SALA
+
+Why all this bitterness, Julian? There is still a great deal to be had
+out of this world, even when some of the pleasures and enjoyments of
+our earlier years have begun to appear tasteless or unseemly. And how
+can you, of all people, miss that feeling, Julian?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Snatch his part from an actor and ask him if he can still take pleasure
+in the beautiful scenery surrounding him.
+
+SALA
+
+But you have begun to work again while you were traveling?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Hardly at all.
+
+SALA
+
+Felix told us that you had brought some sketches from your trunk in
+order to show him.
+
+JULIAN
+
+He spoke of them?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, and nothing but good.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Really?
+
+SALA
+
+And as you showed those things to him, you must have thought rather
+well of them yourself.
+
+JULIAN
+
+That was not the reason why I let him see them. (_Walking back and
+forth_) I must tell you--at the risk of having you think me a perfect
+fool.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, a little more or less won't count. Speak out.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I wanted him at least not to lose faith in me. Can you understand that?
+After all, he is nearer to me than the rest. Of course, I know--to
+everybody, even to you, I am one who has gone down, who is finished--one
+of those whose only talent was his youth. It doesn't bother me very
+much. But to Felix I want to be the man I was once--just as I still
+_am_ that man. When he learns sometime that I am his father, he must be
+proud of it.
+
+SALA
+
+When he learns it...?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I have no intention to keep it hidden from him forever. Now, when his
+mother is dead, less than ever. Last time I talked to him, it became
+clear to me, not only that it would be right, but that it would almost
+be a duty, to tell him the truth. He has a mind for essentials. He will
+understand everything. And I shall have a human being who belongs to
+me, who knows that he belongs to me, and for whose sake it is worth
+while to keep on living in this world. I shall live near him, and be
+with him a good deal. Once more I shall have my existence put on a
+solid basis, so to speak, and not hung in mid-air, as it is now. And
+then I shall be able to work again--work as I did once--as when I was a
+young man. Work, that is what I am going to do--and all of you will
+turn out to have been wrong--all of you!
+
+SALA
+
+But to whom has it occurred to doubt you? If you could only have heard
+us talk of you a little while ago, Julian. Everybody expects that,
+sooner or later, you--will find yourself again completely.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Well, that's enough about me, more than enough. Pardon me. Let us hear
+something about yourself at last. I suppose you have already moved into
+your new house?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And what plans have you for the immediate future?
+
+SALA
+
+I am thinking of going to Asia with Count Ronsky.
+
+JULIAN
+
+With Ronsky? Are you going to join that expedition about which so much
+has been written?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes. Some such undertaking has been tempting me for a long time. Are
+you perhaps familiar with the Rolston report on the Bactrian and Median
+excavations of 1892?
+
+JULIAN
+
+No.
+
+SALA
+
+Well, it is positively staggering. Think of it--they suspect that under
+the refuse and the dust lies a monster city, something like the present
+London in extent. At that time they made their way into a palace, where
+the most wonderful paintings were found. These were perfectly preserved
+in several rooms. And they dug out stairways--built of a marble that is
+nowhere to be found nowadays. Perhaps it was brought from some island
+which since then has sunk beneath the sea. Three hundred and twelve
+steps glittering like opals and leading down into unknown depths....
+Unknown because they ceased digging after they had reached the three
+hundred and twelfth step--God only knows why! I don't think I can tell
+you how those steps pique my curiosity.
+
+JULIAN
+
+But it has always been asserted that the Rolston expedition was lost?
+
+SALA
+
+No, not quite as bad as that. Out of twenty-four Europeans, eight got
+back after three years in spite of all--and half a dozen of them had
+been lost before they ever got there. You have to pass through pretty
+bad fever belts. And at that time they had to face an attack of the
+Kurds, too, by which several were done for. But we shall be much better
+equipped. Furthermore, at the border we shall be joined by a Russian
+contingent which is traveling under military escort. And here, too,
+they think of putting a military aspect on the affair. As to the
+fever--that doesn't scare me--it can't do me any harm. As a young man I
+spent a number of particularly dangerous Summer nights in the _thermae_
+of Caracalla--you know, of course, what boggy ground that is--and
+remained well.
+
+JULIAN
+
+But that doesn't prove anything.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh yes, a little. There I came across a Roman girl whose home was right
+by the Appian Way. She caught the fever and died from it.... To be
+sure, I am not as young as I was then, but so far I have been perfectly
+well.
+
+JULIAN (_who has already smoked several cigarettes, offers one to
+Sala_) Don't you smoke?
+
+SALA
+
+Thanks. Really, I shouldn't. Only yesterday Dr. Reumann told me I
+mustn't.... Nothing particular--my heart is a little restless, that's
+all. Well, a single one won't do any harm, I suppose.
+
+VALET (_enters_)
+
+Miss Herms, sir. She's asking whether she can see you.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Certainly. Ask her to come in.
+
+VALET (_goes out_)
+
+IRENE HERMS (_enters. She is about forty-three, but doesn't look it.
+Her dress is simple and in perfect taste. Her movements are vivacious,
+and at times almost youthful in their swiftness. Her hair is deeply
+blonde in color and very heavy. Her eyes are merry, good-humored most
+of the time, and easily filled with tears. She comes in with a smile
+and nods in a friendly manner to Sala. To Julian, who has gone to meet
+her, she holds out her hand with an expression on her face that is
+almost happy_) Good evening. Well? (_She has the habit of pronouncing
+that "well" in a tone of sympathetic inquiry_) So I did right after all
+in keeping my patience a couple of days more. Here I've got you back
+now. (_To Sala_) Can you guess the length of time we haven't seen each
+other?
+
+JULIAN
+
+More than three years.
+
+IRENE (_nods assent and permits him at last to withdraw his hand from
+hers_) In all our lives that has never happened before. And your last
+letter is already two months old. I call it "letter" just to save my
+face. But it was only a view-card. Where in the world have you been
+anyhow?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Sit down, won't you? I'll tell you all about it. Won't you take off
+your hat? You'll stay a while, I hope?
+
+IRENE
+
+Of course.--And the way you look! (_To Sala_) Fine, don't you think?
+I've always known that a gray beard would make him look awfully
+interesting.
+
+SALA (_to Julian_)
+
+Now you'll have nothing but pleasantries to listen to. Unfortunately I
+shall have to be moving.
+
+IRENE
+
+You're not leaving on my account, I hope?
+
+SALA
+
+How can you imagine such a thing, Miss Herms?
+
+IRENE
+
+I suppose you are bound for the Wegrats'?--What do you think of it,
+Julian? Isn't it dreadful? (_To Sala_) Please give them my regards.
+
+SALA
+
+I'm not going there now. I'm going home.
+
+IRENE
+
+Home? And you say that in such a matter-of-fact way? I understand you
+are now living in a perfect palace.
+
+SALA
+
+No, anything but that. A modest country house. It would give me special
+pleasure, Miss Herms, if sometime you would make sure of it in person.
+My garden is really pretty.
+
+IRENE
+
+Have you fruit trees, too, and vegetables?
+
+SALA
+
+In this respect I can only offer you a stray cabbage and a wild cherry
+tree.
+
+IRENE
+
+Well, if my time permit, I shall make a point of coming out there to
+have a look at your villa.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Must you leave again so soon?
+
+IRENE
+
+Certainly. I have to get home again. Only this morning I had a letter
+from my little nephew--and he's longing for me. A little rascal of
+five, and he, too, is longing already. What do you think of that?
+
+SALA
+
+And you are also longing to get back, I suppose?
+
+IRENE
+
+It isn't that. But I'm beginning to get accustomed to Vienna again. As
+I'm going about the streets here, I run across memories at every
+corner.--Can you guess where I was yesterday, Julian? In the rooms
+where I used to live as a child. It wasn't easy by any means, as a lot
+of strangers are living there now. But I got into the rooms just the
+same.
+
+SALA (_with amicable irony_)
+
+How did you manage it, Miss Herms?
+
+IRENE
+
+I sneaked in under a pretext. I pretended to believe that there was a
+room to be let--for a single elderly lady. But at last I fell to
+weeping so that I could see the people thought me out of my mind. And
+then I told them the true reason for my coming there. A clerk in the
+post-office is living there now with his wife and two children. One of
+these was such a nice little chap. He was playing railroad with an
+engine that could be wound up, and that ran over one of my feet all the
+time.... But I can see that all this doesn't interest you very much,
+Mr. von Sala.
+
+SALA
+
+How _can_ you interrupt yourself like that, Miss Herms, just when it is
+most exciting? I should have loved to hear more about it. But now I
+must really go, unfortunately. Good-by, Julian.--Then, Miss Herms, I
+may count on a visit from you. (_He goes out_)
+
+IRENE
+
+Thank God!
+
+JULIAN (_smiling_)
+
+Do you still have the same antipathy for him?
+
+IRENE
+
+Antipathy?--I hate him! Nothing but your incredible kindness of heart
+would let him come near you. For you have no worse enemy.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Where did you get that idea?
+
+IRENE
+
+My instinct tells me--you can feel such things.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I fear, however, that even now you cannot judge him quite objectively.
+
+IRENE
+
+Why not?
+
+JULIAN
+
+You can't forgive him that you failed in one of his plays ten years
+ago.
+
+IRENE
+
+Unfortunately it's already twelve years ago. And it wasn't my fault.
+For my opinion in regard to his so-called poetry is, that it's
+nonsense. And I am not the only one who thinks so, as you know. But you
+don't know him, of course. To appreciate that gentleman in all his
+glory, you must have enjoyed him at a rehearsal. (_Imitating Sala_) Oh,
+madam, that's verse--it's verse, dear madam.... Only when you have
+heard that kind of thing from him can you understand how limitless his
+arrogance is.... And everybody knows, by the way, that he killed his
+wife.
+
+JULIAN (_amused_)
+
+But, girl, who in the world put such horrible ideas into your head?
+
+IRENE
+
+Oh, people don't die willy-nilly like that, at twenty-five....
+
+JULIAN
+
+I hope, Irene, that you don't talk like this to other people?
+
+IRENE
+
+What would be the use? Everyone knows it but you. And I for my part
+have no reason to spare Mr. von Sala, who for twenty years has pursued
+me with his jeers.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And yet you are going to call on him?
+
+IRENE
+
+Of course. Beautiful villas interest me very much. And they tell me his
+is ravishing. If you were only to see people who....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Hadn't killed anybody....
+
+IRENE
+
+Really, we show him too much honor in talking so long about him. That
+ends it.--Well, Julian? How goes it? Why haven't you written me
+oftener? Is it possible you didn't dare?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Dare...?
+
+IRENE
+
+Were you forbidden, I mean?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I see.--Nobody can forbid me anything.
+
+IRENE
+
+Honestly? You live all by yourself?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes.
+
+IRENE
+
+I'm delighted. I can't help it, Julian, but I am delighted. Although
+it's sheer nonsense. This day, or the next, there'll be something new
+going on.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Those days are past.
+
+IRENE
+
+If it were only true!--Can I have a cup of tea?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Certainly. The samovar is right there.
+
+IRENE
+
+Where?--Oh, over there. And the tea?--Oh, I know! (_She opens a small
+cupboard and brings out what she needs; during the next few minutes she
+is busy preparing the tea_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+So you are really going to stay here only a couple of days more?
+
+IRENE
+
+Of course. I have done all my ordering. You understand, in my sister's
+house out there one doesn't need to dress up.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Tell me about it. How do you like it out there?
+
+IRENE
+
+Splendidly. Oh, it's bliss merely to hear nothing more about the
+theater.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And yet you'll return to it sometime.
+
+IRENE
+
+That's where you are completely mistaken. Why should I? You must
+remember that I have now reached the goal of all my desires: fresh air,
+and woods right by; horseback riding across meadows and fields; early
+morning seated in the big park, dressed in my kimono, and nobody daring
+to intrude. To put it plainly: no people, no manager, no public, no
+colleagues, no playwrights--though, of course, all are not as arrogant
+as your precious Sala.--Well, all this I have attained at last. I live
+in the country. I have a country house--almost a little palace, you
+might say. I have a park, and a horse, and a kimono--to use as much as
+I please. It isn't all mine, I admit--except the kimono, of course--but
+what does that matter? In the bargain, I live with the best people one
+could hope to find in this world. For my brother-in-law is, if
+possible, a finer fellow than Lora herself even.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Wasn't he rather making up to you once?
+
+IRENE
+
+I should say he was! He wanted to marry me at any cost. Of course!--It
+was always in me that they were at first--I mean that they always _have
+been_ in love with me. But as a rule the clever ones have gone over to
+Lora. In fact, I have always felt a little distrustful toward you
+because you never fell in love with Lora. And how much she is ahead of
+me--well, _you_ know, and it's no use talking of it. What all don't I
+owe to Lora!... If it hadn't been for her...!--Well, it's with them I
+have been living the last half year.
+
+JULIAN
+
+The question is only how long you are going to stand it.
+
+IRENE
+
+How long...? But, Julian, I must ask you what there could be to make me
+leave such a paradise and return to the morass where I (_in a lowered
+voice_) spent twenty-five years of my life. What could I possibly
+expect out of the theater anyhow? I am not made for elderly parts. The
+heroic mother, the shrewish dame and the funny old woman are equally
+little to my liking. I intend to die as "the young lady from the
+castle"--as an old maid, you might say--and if everything goes right, I
+shall appear to the grandchildren of my sister some hundred years from
+now as the Lady in White. In a word, I have the finest kind of a life
+ahead of me.--Why are you laughing?
+
+JULIAN
+
+It pleases me to see you so jolly again--so youthful.
+
+IRENE
+
+It's the country air, Julian. You should try it yourself for a good
+long while. It's glorious! In fact, I think I have missed my true
+calling. I'm sure the good Lord meant me for a milkmaid or farm girl of
+some kind. Or perhaps for a young shepherd. I have always looked
+particularly well in pants.--There now. Do you want me to pour a cup
+for you at once? (_She pours the tea_) Have you nothing to go with
+it?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I think there must still be a few crackers left in my bag. (_He takes
+a small package out of his traveling bag_)
+
+IRENE
+
+Thanks. That's fine.
+
+JULIAN
+
+This is quite a new fancy of yours, however.
+
+IRENE
+
+Crackers...?
+
+JULIAN
+
+No, nature.
+
+IRENE
+
+How can you say so? I have always had a boundless love for nature.
+Don't you recall the excursions we used to make? Don't you remember how
+once we fell asleep in the woods on a hot Summer afternoon? And don't
+you ever think of that shrine of the Holy Virgin, on the hill where we
+were caught by the storm?... Oh, mercy! Nature is no silly illusion.
+And still later--when I struck the bad days and wanted to kill myself
+for your sake, fool that I was ... then nature simply proved my
+salvation. Indeed, Julian! I could still show you the place where I
+threw myself on the grass and wept. You have to walk ten minutes from
+the station, through an avenue of acacias, and then on to the brook.
+Yes, I threw myself on the grass and wept and wailed. It was one of
+those days, you know, when you had again sent me packing from your
+door. Well, and then, when I had been lying half an hour in the grass,
+and had wept my fill, then I got up again--and began to scamper all
+over the meadow. Just like a kid, all by myself. Then I wiped my eyes
+and felt quite right again. (_Pause_) Of course, next morning I was at
+your door again, setting up a howl, and then the story began all over
+again.
+
+[_It is growing dark._
+
+JULIAN
+
+Why do you still think of all that?
+
+IRENE
+
+But you do it, too. And who has proved the more stupid of us two in the
+end? Who? Ask yourself, on your conscience. Who?... Have you been more
+happy with anybody else than with me? Has anybody else clung to you as
+I did? Has anybody else been so fond of you?... No, I am sure. And as
+to that foolish affair into which I stumbled during my engagement
+abroad--you might just as well have overlooked it. Really, there isn't
+as much to that kind of thing as you men want to make out--when it
+happens to one of us, that is to say. (_Both drink of their tea_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+Should I get some light?
+
+IRENE
+
+It's quite cosy in the twilight like this.
+
+JULIAN
+
+"Not much to it," you say. Perhaps you are right. But when it happens
+to anybody, he gets pretty mad as a rule. And if we had made up
+again--it would never have been as before. It's better as it is. When
+the worst was over, we became good friends once more, and so we have
+been ever since. And that is a pretty fine thing, too.
+
+IRENE
+
+Yes. And nowadays I'm quite satisfied. But at that time...! Oh, mercy,
+what a time that was! But you don't know anything about it, of course.
+It was afterward I began really to love you--after I had lost you
+through my own thoughtlessness. It was only then I learned how to be
+faithful in the true sense. For anything that has happened to me since
+then.... But it's asking too much that a man should understand that
+kind of thing.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I understand quite well, Irene. You may be sure.
+
+IRENE
+
+And besides I want to tell you something: it was nothing but a
+well-deserved punishment for both of us.
+
+JULIAN
+
+For both of us?
+
+IRENE
+
+Yes, that's what I have figured out long ago. A well-deserved
+punishment.
+
+JULIAN
+
+For both of us?
+
+IRENE
+
+Yes, for you, too.
+
+JULIAN
+
+But what do you mean by that?
+
+IRENE
+
+We had deserved no better.
+
+JULIAN
+
+We...? In what way?
+
+IRENE (_very seriously_)
+
+You are so very clever otherwise, Julian. Now what do you say--do you
+think it could have happened as it did--do you think I could have made
+a mistake like that--if we--had had a child? Ask yourself on your
+conscience, Julian--do you believe it? I don't, and you don't either.
+Everything would have happened in a different way. Everything. We had
+stayed together then. We had had _more_ children. We had married. We
+might be living together now. I shouldn't have become an old-maidish
+"young lady from the castle," and you wouldn't have become....
+
+JULIAN
+
+An old bachelor.
+
+IRENE
+
+Well, if you say it yourself. And the main thing is this: we _had_ a
+child. I had a child. (_Pause_)
+
+JULIAN (_walking back and forth_)
+
+What's the use, Irene? Why do you begin to talk of all those forgotten
+things again...?
+
+IRENE
+
+Forgotten?
+
+JULIAN
+
+... Things gone by.
+
+IRENE
+
+Yes, they are bygone, of course. But out there in the country you have
+plenty of time. All sorts of things keep passing through your head. And
+especially when you see other people's children--Lora has two boys, you
+know--then you get all sorts of notions. It almost amounted to a vision
+not long ago.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What?
+
+IRENE
+
+It was toward evening, and I had walked across the fields. I do it
+quite often, all by myself. Far and wide there was nobody to be seen.
+And the village down below was quite deserted, too. And I walked on and
+on, always in direction of the woods. And suddenly I was no longer
+alone. You were with me. And between us was the child. We were holding
+it by the hands--our little child. (_Angrily, to keep herself from
+crying_) It's too silly for anything! I know, of course, that our child
+would be a gawky youngster of twenty-three by now--that it might have
+turned into a scamp or a good-for-nothing girl. Or that it might be
+dead already. Or that it had drifted out into the wide world, so that
+we had nothing left of it--oh, yes, yes.... But we should have had it
+once, for all that--once there would have been a little child that
+seemed rather fond of us. And.... (_She is unable to go on; silence
+follows_)
+
+JULIAN (_softly_)
+
+You shouldn't talk yourself into such a state, Irene.
+
+IRENE
+
+I am not talking myself into anything.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Don't brood. Accept things as they are. There have been other things in
+your life--better things, perhaps. Your life has been much richer than
+that of a mere mother could ever have been.... You have been an artist.
+
+IRENE (_as if to herself_)
+
+I don't care that much for it.
+
+JULIAN
+
+A great, famous one--that means something after all. And your life has
+brought you many other exquisite experiences--since the one with me. I
+am sure of it.
+
+IRENE
+
+What have I got left of it? What does it amount to? A woman who has no
+child has never been a woman. But a woman who once might have had
+one--who should have had one, and who--(_with a glance at
+him_)--has never become a mother, she is nothing but--oh! But that's
+what a man cannot understand! It is what not one of them can
+understand! In this respect the very best one of the lot will always
+remain something of a cad. Is there one of you who knows how many of
+his own offspring have been set adrift in the world? I know at least
+that there are none of mine. Can you say as much?
+
+JULIAN
+
+And if I did know....
+
+IRENE
+
+How? Have you got one really?--Oh, speak, please! You can tell _me,_
+Julian, can't you? Where is it? How old is it? A boy? Or a girl?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Don't question me.... Even if I had a child, it wouldn't belong to you
+anyhow.
+
+IRENE
+
+He has a child! He has a child! (_Pause_) Why do you permit it to be
+drifting around in the world then?
+
+JULIAN
+
+You yourself have given the explanation: in this respect the very best
+of us remains always something of a cad. And I am not the best one at
+that.
+
+IRENE
+
+Why don't you go and get it?
+
+JULIAN
+
+How could it be any of my concern? How could I dare to make it my
+concern? Oh, that's enough.... (_Pause_) Do you want another cup of
+tea?
+
+IRENE
+
+No, thanks. No more now. (_Pause; it is growing darker_) He has a
+child, and I have never known it! (_Protracted silence_)
+
+VALET (_enters_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+What is it?
+
+VALET
+
+Lieutenant Wegrat asks if you are at home, sir?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Certainly. Ask him in.
+
+VALET (_goes out after having turned on the light_)
+
+IRENE
+
+Young Wegrat?--I thought he had already left again.--The poor chap! He
+seemed utterly stunned.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I can imagine.
+
+IRENE
+
+You visited him at Salzburg?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes, I happened to be there a couple of days last August.
+
+FELIX (_enters, dressed as a civilian_)
+
+Good evening.--Good evening, Miss Herms.
+
+IRENE
+
+Good evening, Lieutenant.
+
+JULIAN
+
+My dear Felix--I was going to call on you--this very evening. It's
+extremely nice of you to take the trouble.
+
+FELIX
+
+I have to be off again the day after to-morrow, and so I wasn't sure
+whether I could find any chance at all to see you.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Won't you take off your coat?--Think of it, I didn't have the slightest
+idea.... It was Sala who told me--less than an hour ago.
+
+[_Irene is looking from one to the other._
+
+FELIX
+
+We didn't dream of this when we took that walk in the Mirabell
+Gardens[4] last summer.
+
+      [4] The palace of Mirabell is one of the sights of Salzburg,
+      the city near the Bavarian border, where Felix's regiment was
+      stationed. It is now used as a museum. The gardens adjoining
+      it are of the formal type so dear to, and so characteristic
+      of, the eighteenth century.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Was it very sudden?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes. And I, who couldn't be with her.... Late that evening I had to
+leave, and she died during the night.
+
+IRENE
+
+Say rather that she didn't wake up again next morning.
+
+FELIX
+
+We owe a lot of thanks to you, Miss Herms.
+
+IRENE
+
+Oh, please...!
+
+FELIX
+
+It always gave my mother so much pleasure to have you with her,
+chatting, or playing the piano to her.
+
+IRENE
+
+Oh, don't mention my playing...!
+
+[_A clock strikes._
+
+IRENE
+
+Is it that late? Then I have to go.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What's the hurry, Miss Herms?
+
+IRENE
+
+I'm going to the opera. I have to make good use of the few days I shall
+still be here.
+
+FELIX
+
+Shall we see you at our house again, Miss Herms?
+
+IRENE
+
+Certainly.--You'll have to leave before me, won't you?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, my furlough will be up....
+
+IRENE (_as if en passant_)
+
+How long have you been an officer anyhow, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+For three years really--but I didn't apply for a commission until this
+year--a little too late, perhaps.
+
+IRENE
+
+Too late? Why?--How old are you, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+Twenty-three.
+
+IRENE
+
+Oh! (_Pause_) But when I saw you four years ago as a volunteer, I
+thought at once you would stay in the service.--Do you remember,
+Julian, I told you so at the time?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes....
+
+FELIX
+
+That must have been in the summer, the last time you called on us.
+
+IRENE
+
+I think so....
+
+FELIX
+
+Many things have changed since then.
+
+IRENE
+
+Indeed! Those were still happy days.--Don't you think so, Julian? For
+we haven't met either since we spent those beautiful summer evenings in
+the garden of the Wegrats.
+
+JULIAN (_nods assent_)
+
+IRENE (_stands again looking now at Julian and now at Felix; brief
+pause_) Oh, but now it's high time for me to be gone.--Good-by.
+Remember me at home, Lieutenant.--Good-by, Julian. (_She goes out,
+accompanied to the door by Julian_)
+
+FELIX
+
+Haven't you made some changes here?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Not to my knowledge. And how could you know anyhow? You have only been
+here two or three times.
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes. But the last time at one of the most important moments in my life.
+I came here to get your advice.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Well, everything has turned out in accordance with your wish. Even your
+father has resigned himself to it.
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, he has resigned himself. Of course, he would have preferred to see
+me continue my technical studies. But now he has seen that it is quite
+possible to lead a sensible life in uniform too--without any debts or
+duels. In fact, my life is almost too smooth. However, there is at
+least more to anticipate for one of us than for most people. And that's
+always something.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And how are things at home?
+
+FELIX
+
+At home.... Really, it's almost as if that word had lost its meaning.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Has your father resumed his duties again?
+
+FELIX
+
+Of course. Two days later he was back in his studio. He is wonderful.
+But I can't quite understand it.... Am I disturbing you, Mr. Fichtner?
+You were putting your papers in order, I think.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Oh, there's no hurry about that. They're easily put in order. Most of
+them I burn.
+
+FELIX
+
+Why?
+
+JULIAN
+
+It's more sensible, don't you think, to destroy things one hardly cares
+to look at any more?
+
+FELIX
+
+But doesn't it make you rather sad to clean out your past like that?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Sad?... No, it's entirely too natural a process for that.
+
+FELIX
+
+I can't see it that way. Look here. To burn a letter, or a picture, or
+something of that kind, immediately after you have got it--that seems
+quite natural to me. But something at all worthy of being kept as a
+remembrance of some poignant joy or equally poignant sorrow would seem
+incapable of ever losing its significance again. And especially in the
+case of a life like yours, that has been so rich and so active.... It
+would seem to me that at times you must feel something like--awe in the
+face of your own past.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Where do you get such thoughts--you, who are so young?
+
+FELIX
+
+They just came into my head this minute.
+
+JULIAN
+
+You are not so very much mistaken, perhaps. But there is something else
+besides, that makes me want to clean house. I am about to become
+homeless, so to speak.
+
+FELIX
+
+Why?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I'm giving up my rooms here, and don't know yet what my next step will
+be. And so I think it's more pleasant to let these things come to a
+decent end rather than to put them in a box and leave them to molder
+away in a cellar.
+
+FELIX
+
+But don't you feel sorry about a lot of it?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Oh, I don't know.
+
+FELIX
+
+And then you must have mementoes that mean something to other people
+besides yourself. Sketches of all kinds, for instance, which I think
+you have saved to some extent.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Are you thinking of those little things I showed you in Salzburg?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, of those too, of course.
+
+JULIAN
+
+They are still wrapped up. Would you like to have them?
+
+FELIX
+
+Indeed, I should feel very thankful. They seemed to have a particular
+charm for me. (_Pause_) But there's something else I wanted to ask of
+you. A great favor. If you will let me....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Tell me, please.
+
+FELIX
+
+I thought you might still have left a picture of my mother as a young
+girl. A small picture in water colors painted by yourself.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes, I did paint such a picture.
+
+FELIX
+
+And you have still got it?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I guess it can be found.
+
+FELIX
+
+I should like to see it.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Did your mother remember this picture...?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, she mentioned it to me the last evening I ever saw her--the
+evening before she died. At the time I didn't imagine, of course, that
+the end was so near--and I don't think she could guess it either.
+To-day it seems rather peculiar to me that, on that very evening, she
+had to talk so much of days long gone by.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And of this little picture, too?
+
+FELIX
+
+It's a very good one, I understand.
+
+JULIAN (_as if trying to remember_)
+
+Where did I put it? Wait now.... (_He goes to a book case, the lower
+part of which has solid doors; these he opens, disclosing several
+shelves piled with portfolios_) I painted it in the country--in the
+little house where your grandparents used to live.
+
+FELIX
+
+I know.
+
+JULIAN
+
+You can hardly recall the old people, I suppose?
+
+FELIX
+
+Very vaguely. They were quite humble people, were they not?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes. (_He has taken a big portfolio from one of the shelves_) It ought
+to be in this portfolio. (_He puts it on the writing desk and opens it;
+then he sits down in front of it_)
+
+FELIX (_stands behind him, looking over his shoulder_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+Here is the house in which they lived--your grandparents and your
+mother. (_He goes through the sketches, one by one_) And here is a view
+of the valley seen from the cemetery.
+
+FELIX
+
+In Summer....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes.--And here is the little inn at which your father and I used to
+stop.... And here.... (_He looks in silence at the sketch; both remain
+silent for a long while_)
+
+FELIX (_picking up the sketch_)
+
+How old was my mother at the time?
+
+JULIAN (_who remains seated_)
+
+Eighteen.
+
+FELIX (_going a few steps away and leaning against the bookcase in
+order to get better light on the picture_)
+
+A year before she was married, then.
+
+JULIAN
+
+It was done that very year. (_Pause_)
+
+FELIX
+
+What a strange look that meets me out of those eyes.... There's a smile
+on her lips.... It's almost as if she were talking to me....
+
+JULIAN
+
+What was it your mother told you--that last evening?
+
+FELIX
+
+Not very much. But I feel as if I knew more than she had told me. What
+a queer thought it is, that as she is now looking at me out of this
+picture, so she must have been looking at you once. It seems as if
+there was a certain timidity in that look. Something like fear
+almost.... In such a way you look at people out of another world, for
+which you long, and of which you are afraid nevertheless.
+
+JULIAN
+
+At that time your mother had rarely been outside the village.
+
+FELIX
+
+She must have been different from all other women you have met, wasn't
+she?--Why don't you say anything? I am not one of those men who cannot
+understand--who won't understand that their mothers and sisters are
+women after all. I can easily understand that it must have been a
+dangerous time for her--and for somebody else as well. (_Very simply_)
+You must have loved my mother very much?
+
+JULIAN
+
+You have a curious way of asking questions.--Yes, I did love her.
+
+FELIX
+
+And those moments must have been very happy ones, when you sat in that
+little garden with its overgrown fence, holding this canvas on your
+knees, and out there on the bright meadow, among all those red and
+white flowers, stood this young girl with anxiously smiling eyes,
+holding her straw hat in one hand.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Your mother talked of those moments that last evening?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes.--It is childish perhaps, but since then it has seemed impossible
+to me that any other human being could ever have meant so much to you
+as this one?
+
+JULIAN (_more and more deeply moved, but speaking very quietly_) I
+shall not answer you.--In the end I should instinctively be tempted to
+make myself appear better than I am. You know very well how I have
+lived my life--that it has not followed a regulated and direct course
+like the lives of most other people. I suppose that the gift of
+bestowing happiness of the kind that lasts, or of accepting it, has
+never been mine.
+
+FELIX
+
+That's what I feel. It is what I have always felt. Often with something
+like regret--or sorrow almost. But just people like you, who are
+destined by their very nature to have many and varied experiences--just
+such people should, I think, cling more faithfully and more gratefully
+to memories of a tender, peaceful sort, like this--rather than to more
+passionate and saddening memories.--Am I not right?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Maybe you are.
+
+FELIX
+
+My mother had never before mentioned this picture to me. Isn't it
+strange?... That last night she did it for the first time.--We were
+left alone on the veranda. The rest had already bid me good-by.... And
+all of a sudden she began to talk about those summer days of long, long
+ago. Her words had an undercurrent of meanings which she probably did
+not realize. I believe that her own youth, which she had almost ceased
+to understand, was unconsciously taking mine into its confidence. It
+moved me more deeply than I can tell you.--Much as she cared for me,
+she had never before talked to me like that. And I believe that she had
+never been quite so dear to me as in those last moments.--And when
+finally I had to leave, I felt that she had still much more to tell
+me.--Now you'll understand why I had such a longing to see this
+picture.--I have almost the feeling that it might go on talking to me
+as my mother would have done--if I had only dared to ask her one more
+question!
+
+JULIAN
+
+Ask it now.... Do ask it, Felix.
+
+FELIX (_who becomes aware of the emotion betrayed in the voice of
+Julian, looks up from the picture_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+I believe that it can still tell you a great many things.
+
+FELIX
+
+What is the matter?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Do you want to keep that picture?
+
+FELIX
+
+Why...?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Well ... take it. I don't give it to you. As soon as I have settled
+down again, I shall want it back. But you shall have a look at it
+whenever you want. And I hope matters will be so arranged that you
+won't have far to go either.
+
+FELIX (_with his eyes on the picture_)
+
+It grows more alive every second.... And that look was directed at
+you.... That look...? Can it be possible that I read it right?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Mothers have their adventures, too, like other women.
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, indeed, I believe it has nothing more to hide from me.
+
+[_He puts down the picture. Then a long pause follows. At last Felix
+puts on his coat._
+
+JULIAN
+
+Are you not going to take it along?
+
+FELIX
+
+Not just now. It belongs to you much more than I could guess.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And to you ...
+
+FELIX
+
+No, I don't want it until this new thing has become fully revealed to
+me. (_He looks Julian firmly in the eyes_) I don't quite know where I
+am. In reality, of course, there has been no change whatever.
+None--except that I know now what I ...
+
+JULIAN
+
+Felix!
+
+FELIX
+
+No, that was something I could never have guessed. (_Looks long at
+Julian with an expression of mingled tenderness and curiosity_)
+Farewell.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Are you going?
+
+FELIX
+
+I need badly to be by myself for a while.--Until to-morrow.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes, and no longer, Felix. To-morrow I shall come to your--I'll call on
+_you_, Felix.
+
+FELIX
+
+I shall be waiting for you. (_He goes out_)
+
+JULIAN (_stands quite still for a moment; then he goes to the writing
+desk and stops beside it, lost in contemplation of the picture_)
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD ACT
+
+
+_A room at the Wegrats' adjoining the veranda. The outlook is, of
+course, determined by the location._
+
+
+JOHANNA (_is seated on a stool with her hands folded in her lap_)
+
+SALA (_enters_)
+
+Good morning, Johanna.
+
+JOHANNA (_rises, goes to meet him, and draws him close to herself_) Are
+you coming for the last time?
+
+SALA
+
+For the last time? What an idea! There has not been the slightest
+change in our arrangements. To-day is the seventh of October, and the
+ship will leave Genoa on the twenty-sixth of November.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Some day you will suddenly have disappeared. And I shall be standing by
+the garden door, and nobody will come to open it.
+
+SALA
+
+But that sort of thing is not needed between us two.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No, indeed--bear that in mind.
+
+FELIX (_enters_)
+
+Oh, is that you, Mr. von Sala? (_They shake hands_) Well, how far have
+you got with your preparations?
+
+SALA
+
+There are hardly any needed. I shall pack my trunk, pull down the
+shades, lock the doors--and be off for the mysteries of far-away. There
+is something I want to ask you apropos of that, Felix. Would you care
+to come along?
+
+FELIX (_startled_)
+
+If I care.... Are you asking seriously, Mr. von Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+There is just so much seriousness in my question as you wish to put
+into it.
+
+FELIX
+
+What does it mean anyhow? If I want to go along to Asia? What use could
+they have for me in a venture of that kind?
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, that's pretty plain.
+
+FELIX
+
+Is the expedition not going to be one of purely scientific character?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, that's what it is meant for, I suppose. But it is quite possible
+that various things may happen that would make the presence of some
+young men like you very desirable.
+
+FELIX
+
+Men like me...?
+
+SALA
+
+When Rolston went out there seven years ago, a lot of things happened
+which were not provided for in the original program. And they had to
+fight a regular battle, on a small scale, in the Kara-Kum district, not
+far from the river Amu-Daria.
+
+REUMANN (_who has entered while Sala was speaking_)
+
+To those who had to stay behind forever the scale of your battle was
+probably large enough. (_All greet each other and shake hands without
+letting the conversation be interrupted_)
+
+SALA
+
+In that respect you are probably right, Doctor.
+
+FELIX
+
+Pardon me, Mr. von Sala, but does this come from you alone? Is it just
+a sudden notion--or something more?
+
+SALA
+
+I have received no direct request from anybody to speak of this. But
+after the conference which took place at the Foreign Department
+yesterday, and which I attended, I feel entitled to add a little
+more.--Oh, no secrets at all!--You have probably read, Felix, that a
+member of the General Staff as well as several artillery and
+engineering officers are being sent with us in what might be termed a
+semi-official capacity. On account of the latest news from Asia--which,
+however, does not seem very reliable to me, as it has come by way of
+England--it has been decided to secure the additional cooperation of
+some young line officers, and all arrangements of this kind must be
+left to private initiative.
+
+FELIX
+
+And there might be a possibility for me...?
+
+SALA
+
+Will you permit me to speak to Count Ronsky?
+
+FELIX
+
+Have you already mentioned my name to him?
+
+SALA
+
+I have received permission to ask whether you could be prepared to
+board the ship with the rest at Genoa on the twenty-sixth of November.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Do you mean to leave Vienna as soon as that?
+
+SALA (_sarcastically_)
+
+Yes. Why did you look at me like that, Doctor? That glance of yours was
+a little indiscreet.
+
+REUMANN
+
+In what respect?
+
+SALA
+
+It seemed to say: Yes, you can start, of course, but if you ever come
+back, that's more than doubtful.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Let me tell you, Mr. von Sala, that in the face of a venture like yours
+one might well express such doubts quite openly. But are you at all
+interested in whether you get back or not, Mr. von Sala? I don't
+suppose you belong to the kind of people who care to put their affairs
+in order.
+
+SALA
+
+No, indeed. Especially not as, in cases of that kind, it is generally
+the affairs of others which give you needless trouble. If I were to be
+interested at all in my own chances, it would be for much more selfish
+reasons.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+What reasons?
+
+SALA
+
+I don't want to be cheated out of the consciousness that certain
+moments are my final ones.
+
+REUMANN
+
+There are not many people who share your attitude in that respect.
+
+SALA
+
+At any rate, Doctor, you would have to tell me the absolute truth if I
+ever asked you for it. I hold that one has the right to drain one's own
+life to the last drop, with all the horrors and delights that may lie
+hidden at the bottom of it. Just as it is our evident duty every day to
+commit every good deed and every rascality lying within our
+capacity.... No, I won't let you rob me of my death moments by any kind
+of hocus-pocus. It would imply a small-minded attitude, worthy neither
+of yourself nor of me.--Well, Felix, the twenty-sixth of November then!
+That's still seven weeks off. In regard to any formalities that may be
+required, you need have no worry at all.
+
+FELIX
+
+How long a time have I got to make up my mind?
+
+SALA
+
+There's no reason to be precipitate. When does your furlough end?
+
+FELIX
+
+To-morrow night.
+
+SALA
+
+Of course, you are going to talk it over with your father?
+
+FELIX
+
+With my father.... Yes, of course.--At any rate I'll bring you the
+answer early to-morrow morning, Mr. von Sala.
+
+SALA
+
+Fine. It would please me very much. But you must bear in mind: it will
+be no picnic. I expect to see you soon, then. Good-by, Miss Johanna.
+Farewell, Doctor.
+
+[_He goes out. A brief pause. Those left behind show signs of emotion._
+
+JOHANNA (_rising_)
+
+I'm going to my room. Good-by, Doctor. (_She goes out_)
+
+REUMANN
+
+Have you made up your mind, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+Almost.
+
+REUMANN
+
+You'll come across much that is new to you.
+
+FELIX
+
+And my own self among it, I hope--which would be about time....
+(_Quoting_) "The mysteries of far-away ..." And will it really come
+true? Oh, the thrill of it!
+
+REUMANN
+
+And yet you ask time to consider?
+
+FELIX
+
+I hardly know why. And yet ... The thought of leaving people behind
+and perhaps never seeing them again--and certainly not as they were
+when you left them; the thought, too, that perhaps your going will
+hurt them ...
+
+REUMANN
+
+If nothing else makes you hesitate, then every moment of uncertainty is
+wasted. Nothing is more sure to estrange you from those dear to you
+than the knowledge that duty condemns you to stay near them. You must
+seize this unique opportunity. You must go to see Genoa, Asia Minor,
+Thibet, Bactria.... Oh, it must be splendid! And my best wishes will go
+with you. (_He gives his hand to Felix_)
+
+FELIX
+
+Thank you. But there will be plenty of time for wishes of that kind.
+Whatever may be decided, we shall meet more than once before I leave.
+
+REUMANN
+
+I hope so. Oh, of course!
+
+FELIX (_looking hard at him_)
+
+Doctor ... it seems to me there was a final farewell in that pressure
+of your hand.
+
+REUMANN (_with a smile_)
+
+Is it ever possible to tell whether you will meet again?
+
+FELIX
+
+Tell me, Doctor--did Mr. von Sala interpret your glance correctly?
+
+REUMANN
+
+That has nothing to do with your case anyhow.
+
+FELIX
+
+Will he not be able to go with us?
+
+REUMANN (_with hesitation_)
+
+That's very hard to predict.
+
+FELIX
+
+You have never learned to lie, Doctor.
+
+REUMANN
+
+As the matter stands now, I think you can bring it to a successful
+conclusion without further assistance.
+
+FELIX
+
+Mr. von Sala called on you a few days ago?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Yes, it was only a while ago. (_Pause_) Well, you can see for yourself
+that he is not well, can't you?--So God be with you, Felix.
+
+FELIX
+
+Will you continue to befriend this house when I am gone?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Why do you ask questions like that, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+You don't mean to come here again?--But why?
+
+REUMANN
+
+I assure you ...
+
+FELIX
+
+I understand ...
+
+REUMANN (_embarrassed_)
+
+What can there be to understand...?
+
+FELIX
+
+My dear Doctor ... I know now ... why you don't want to come to this
+house any more.... It's another case of somebody else breaking his
+neck.... Dear friend ...
+
+REUMANN
+
+Good luck to you ... Felix ...
+
+FELIX
+
+And if anybody should call you back ...
+
+REUMANN
+
+Nobody will.... But if I should be _needed_, I can always be found
+...
+
+JOHANNA (_comes into the room again_)
+
+REUMANN
+
+Good-by ... Good-by, Miss Johanna ...
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Are you going already, Doctor?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Yes.... Give my regards to your father. Good-by.... (_He shakes her
+hand_)
+
+JOHANNA (_calmly_)
+
+Did he tell you that Sala is doomed?
+
+FELIX (_hesitates about what to say_)
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I knew it. (_With an odd gesture of deprecation as Felix wants to say
+something_) And you are going--with or without him?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes. (_Pause_) There won't be much doing in this place after this.
+
+JOHANNA (_remains unmoved_)
+
+FELIX
+
+And how are you going to live, Johanna?... I mean, how are the two of
+you going to live--you and father?
+
+JOHANNA (_gives him a look as if his question surprised her_)
+
+FELIX
+
+He is going to be lonely. I think he would feel very grateful if you
+took a little more interest in him--if you went for a walk for him when
+there is time for it. And you, too ...
+
+JOHANNA (_brusquely_)
+
+How could that help me or him? What can he be to me or I to him? I was
+not made to assist people in days of trial. I can't help it, but that's
+the way I am. I seem to be stirred by a sort of hostility against
+people who appeal to my pity. I felt it like that all the time mother
+was sick.
+
+FELIX
+
+No, you were not made for that.... But what were you made for then?
+
+JOHANNA (_shrugs her shoulders and sits down as before, with hands
+folded in her lap and her eyes staring straight ahead_)
+
+FELIX
+
+Johanna, why do you never talk to me any more as you used to? Have you,
+then, nothing to tell me? Don't you remember how we used to tell each
+other everything?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+That was long ago. We were children then.
+
+FELIX
+
+Why can't you talk to me any longer as you did then? Have you forgotten
+how well we two used to understand each other? How we used to confide
+all our secrets to each other? What good chums we used to be?... How we
+wanted to go out into the wide world together?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Into the wide world.... Oh, yes, I remember. But there is nothing left
+now of all those words of wonder and romance.
+
+FELIX
+
+Perhaps it depends on ourselves only.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No, those words have no longer the same meaning as before.
+
+FELIX
+
+What do you mean?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Into the wide world ...
+
+FELIX
+
+What is the matter, Johanna?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Once, when we were in the museum together, I saw a picture of which I
+often think. It has a meadow with knights and ladies in it--and a
+forest, a vineyard, an inn, and young men and women dancing, and a big
+city with churches and towers and bridges. And soldiers are marching
+across the bridges, and a ship is gliding down the river. And farther
+back there is a hill, and on that hill a castle, and lofty mountains in
+the extreme distance. And clouds are floating above the mountains, and
+there is mist on the meadow, and a flood of sunlight is pouring down on
+the city, and a storm is raging over the castle, and there is ice and
+snow on the mountains.--And when anybody spoke of "the wide world," or
+I read that term anywhere, I used always to think of that picture. And
+it used to be the same with so many other big-sounding words. Fear was
+a tiger with cavernous mouth--love was a page with long light curls
+kneeling at the feet of a lady--death was a beautiful young man with
+black wings and a sword in his hand--and fame was blaring bugles, men
+with bent backs, and a road strewn with flowers. In those days it was
+possible to talk of all sorts of things, Felix. But to-day everything
+has a different look--fame, and death, and love, and the wide world.
+
+FELIX (_hesitatingly_)
+
+I feel a little scared on your behalf, Johanna.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+Johanna!--I wish you wouldn't do anything to worry father.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Does that depend on me alone?
+
+FELIX
+
+I know in what direction your dreams are going, Johanna.--What is to
+come out of that?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Is it necessary that something comes out of everything?--I think,
+Felix, that many people are destined to mean nothing to each other but
+a common memory.
+
+FELIX
+
+You have said it yourself, Johanna--that you are not made to see other
+people suffer.
+
+JOHANNA (_shrinks slightly at those words_)
+
+FELIX
+
+Suffer ... and ...
+
+JULIAN (_enters_)
+
+How are you? (_He shakes hands with Felix_)
+
+JOHANNA (_who has risen_)
+
+Mr. Fichtner. (_She holds out her hand to him_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+I could hardly recognize you, Johanna. You have grown into a young lady
+now.--Has your father not come home yet?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+He hasn't gone out yet. He has nothing to do at the Academy until
+twelve.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I suppose he's in his studio?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I'll call him.
+
+[_Julian looks around. As Johanna is about to leave the room, Wegrat
+enters, carrying his hat and stick._
+
+WEGRAT (_giving his hand to Julian_)
+
+I'm delighted, my dear fellow.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I heard of it only after my arrival here yesterday--through Sala. I
+don't need to tell you ...
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Thank you very much for your sympathy. I thank you with all my
+heart.--But sit down, please.
+
+JULIAN
+
+You were going out?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, it's no hurry. I have nothing to do in the Academy until twelve.
+Johanna, will you please get a carriage for me, just to be on the safe
+side?
+
+[_Johanna goes out. Wegrat seats himself, as does Julian. Felix stands
+leaning against the glazed oven._
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Well, you stayed away quite a while this time.
+
+JULIAN
+
+More than two years.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+If you had only got here ten days earlier, you could have had a last
+look at her. It came so very suddenly--although it wasn't unexpected.
+
+JULIAN
+
+So I have heard.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+And now you are going to stay right here, I suppose?
+
+JULIAN
+
+A little while. How long I am not yet able to tell.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Of course not. The making of schedules has never been your line.
+
+JULIAN
+
+No, I have a certain disinclination for that kind of thing. (_Pause_)
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, mercy, my dear fellow ... how often have I not been thinking of you
+recently!
+
+JULIAN
+
+And I....
+
+WEGRAT
+
+No, you haven't had much chance for it.... But I.... As I enter the
+building where I now hold office and authority, I remember often how we
+two young chaps used to sit side by side in the model class, full of a
+thousand plans and hopes.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Why do you say that in such a melancholy tone? A lot of those things
+have come true, haven't they?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Some--yes.... And yet one can't help wanting to be young again, even at
+the risk of similar sorrows and struggles....
+
+JULIAN
+
+And even at the risk of also having to live through a lot of nice
+things over again.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Indeed, those are the hardest things to bear, once they have turned
+into memories.--You have been in Italy again?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes, in Italy too.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+It's a long time now since I was there. Since we made that walk
+together through the Ampezzo Valley,[5] with the pack on our backs--to
+Pieve, and then right on to Venice. Can you remember? The sun has never
+again shone as brightly as it did then.
+
+      [5] One of the main routes through the Dolomites, leading from
+      Southern Tirol into Italy. It is in part identical with the
+      route outlined by Albert in "Intermezzo," but parts from it at
+      Cortina to run straight south.
+
+JULIAN
+
+That must have been almost thirty years ago.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+No, not quite. You were already pretty well known at the time. You had
+just finished your splendid picture of Irene Herms. It was the year
+before I married.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes, yes. (_Pause_)
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Do you still recall the summer morning when you went with me to Kirchau
+for the first time?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Of course.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+How the light buggy carried us through the wide, sun-steeped valley?
+And do you remember the little garden at Huegelhang, where you became
+acquainted with Gabrielle and her parents?
+
+FELIX (_with suppressed emotion_)
+
+Father, is the house in which mother used to live still standing?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+No, it's gone long ago. They have built a villa on the spot. Five or
+six years ago, you know, we went there for the last time to visit the
+graves of your grandparents. Everything has been changed, except the
+cemetery.... (_To Julian_) Can you still remember that cool, cloudy
+afternoon, Julian, when we sat on the lower wall of the cemetery and
+had such a remarkable talk about the future?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I remember the day very clearly. But I have entirely forgotten what we
+were talking about.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Just what we said has passed out of my mind, too, but I can still
+remember what an extraordinary talk it was.... In some way the world
+seemed to open up more widely. And I felt something like envy toward
+you, as I often did in those days. There rose within me a feeling that
+I, too, could do anything--if I only wanted. There was so much to be
+seen and experienced--and the flow of life was irresistible. Nothing
+would be needed but a little more nerve, a little more self-assurance,
+and then to plunge in. ... Yes, that was what I felt while you were
+talking. ... And then Gabrielle came toward us along the narrow road
+from the village, between the acacias. She carried her straw hat in her
+hand, and she nodded to me. And all my dreams of the future centered in
+her after that, and once more the whole world seemed fitted into a
+frame, and yet it was big and beautiful enough. ... Why does the color
+all of a sudden come back into those things? It was practically
+forgotten, all of it, and now, when she is dead, it comes to life again
+with a glow that almost scares me. ... Oh, it were better not to think
+of it at all. What's the use? What's the use? (_Pause; he goes to one
+of the windows_)
+
+JULIAN (_struggling to overcome his embarrassment_) It is both wise and
+brave of you to resume your regular activities so promptly.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, once you have made up your mind to go on living. ... There
+is nothing but work that can help you through this sense of being
+alone--of being _left_ alone.
+
+JULIAN
+
+It seems to me that your grief makes you a little unjust
+toward--much that is still yours.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Unjust...? Oh, I didn't mean to. I hope you don't feel hurt, children
+...! Felix, you understand me fully, don't you? There is so much, from
+the very beginning, that draws--that lures--that tears the young ones
+away from us. We have to struggle to keep our children almost from the
+very moment they arrive--and the struggle is a pretty hopeless one at
+that. But that's the way of life: they cannot possibly belong to us.
+And as far as other people are concerned.... Even our friends come into
+our lives only as guests who rise from the table when they have eaten,
+and walk out. Like us, they have their own streets, their own affairs.
+And it's quite natural it should be so.... Which doesn't prevent us
+from feeling pleased, Julian--sincerely pleased, when one of them finds
+his way back to us. Especially if it be one on whom we have put great
+store throughout life. You may be sure of that, Julian. (_They shake
+hands_) And as long as you remain in Vienna, I shall see you here
+quite often, I trust. It will give me genuine pleasure.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I'll be sure to come.
+
+MAID (_enters_)
+
+The carriage is here, Professor. (_She goes out_)
+
+WEGRAT
+
+I'm coming. (_To Julian_) You must have a lot to tell me. You were as
+good as lost. You understand it will interest me to hear all you have
+done--and still more what you intend to do. Felix told us the other day
+about some very interesting sketches you had showed him.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I'll go with you, if you care to have me.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Thanks. But it would be still nicer of you to stay right here and take
+dinner with us.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Well ...
+
+WEGRAT
+
+I'll be through very quickly. To-day I have nothing but a few business
+matters to dispose of--nothing but signing a few documents. I'll be
+back in three-quarters of an hour. In the meantime the children will
+keep you company as they used to in the old days. ... Won't you,
+children?--So you're staying, are you not? Good-by for a little while
+then. (_He goes out_)
+
+[_Long pause._
+
+FELIX
+
+Why didn't you go with him?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Your mother was without blame. If any there be, it falls on me alone.
+I'll tell you all about it.
+
+FELIX (_nods_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+It had been arranged that we were to go away together. Everything was
+ready. We meant to leave the place secretly because, quite naturally,
+your mother shrank from any kind of statement or explanation. Our
+intention was to write and explain after we had been gone a few days.
+The hour of our start had already been settled. He ... who later became
+her husband, had just gone to Vienna for a couple of days in order to
+get certain documents. The wedding was to take place in a week.
+(_Pause_) Our plans were all made. We had agreed on everything. The
+carriage that was to pick us up a little ways off had already been
+hired. In the evening we bade each other good-night, fully convinced
+that we should meet next morning, never to part again.--It turned out
+differently.--You mustn't keep in mind that it was your mother. You
+must listen to me as if my story dealt with perfect strangers. ... Then
+you can understand everything.
+
+FELIX
+
+I am listening.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I had come to Kirchau in June, one beautiful Summer morning--with
+him.... You know about that, don't you? I meant to stay only a few
+days. But I stayed on and on. More than once I tried to get away while
+it was still time. But I stayed. (_Smiling_) And with fated
+inevitability we slipped into sin, happiness, doom, betrayal--and
+dreams. Yes, indeed, there was more of those than of anything else.
+And after that last farewell, meant to be for a night only--as I got
+back to the little inn and started to make things ready for our
+journey--only then did I for the first time become really conscious of
+what had happened and was about to happen. Actually, it was almost as
+if I had just waked up. Only then, in the stillness of that night, as I
+was standing at the open window, did it grow clear to me that next
+morning an hour would come by which my whole future must be determined.
+And then I began to feel ... as if faint shiverings had been streaming
+down my body. Below me I could see the stretch of road along which I
+had just come. It ran on and on through the country, climbing the hills
+that cut off the view, and losing itself in the open, the limitless....
+It led to thousands of unknown and invisible roads, all of which at
+that moment remained at my disposal. It seemed to me as if my future,
+radiant with glory and adventure, lay waiting for me behind those
+hills--but for me alone. Life was mine--but only this one life. And in
+order to seize it and enjoy it fully--in order to live it as it had
+been shaped for me by fate--I needed the carelessness and freedom I had
+enjoyed until then. And I marveled almost at my own readiness to give
+away the recklessness of my youth and the fullness of my existence....
+And to what purpose?--For the sake of a passion which, after all,
+despite its ardor and its transports, had begun like many others, and
+would be destined to end like all of them.
+
+FELIX
+
+Destined to end...? _Must_ come to an end?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Yes. Must. The moment I foresaw the end, I had in a measure reached it.
+To wait for something that must come, means to go through it a thousand
+times--to go through it helplessly and needlessly and resentfully. This
+I felt acutely at that moment. And it frightened me. At the same time I
+felt clearly that I was about to act like a brute and a traitor toward
+a human being who had given herself to me in full confidence.--But
+everything seemed more desirable--not only for me, but for her
+also--than a slow, miserable, unworthy decline. And all my scruples
+were submerged in a monstrous longing to go on with my life as before,
+without duties or ties. There wasn't much time left for consideration.
+And I was glad of it. I had made up my mind. I didn't wait for the
+morning. Before the stars had set, I was off.
+
+FELIX
+
+You ran away....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Call it anything you please.--Yes, it was a flight, just as good and
+just as bad, just as precipitate and just as cowardly as any
+other--with all the horrors of being pursued and all the joys of
+escaping. I am hiding nothing from you, Felix. You are still young, and
+it is even possible that you may understand it better than I can
+understand it myself to-day. Nothing pulled me back. No remorse stirred
+within me. The sense of being free filled me with intoxication.... At
+the end of the first day I was already far away--much farther than any
+number of milestones could indicate. On that first day her image began
+to fade away already--the image of her who had waked up to meet painful
+disillusionment, or worse maybe. The ring of her voice was passing out
+of my memory.... She was becoming a shadow like others that had been
+left floating much farther behind me in the past.
+
+FELIX
+
+Oh, it isn't true! So quickly could she not be forgotten. So
+remorselessly could you not go out in the world. All this is meant as a
+sort of expiation. You make yourself appear what you are not.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I am not telling you these things to accuse or defend myself. I am
+simply telling you the truth. And you must hear it. It was your mother,
+and I am the man who deserted her. And there is something more I am
+compelled to tell you. On the very time that followed my flight I must
+look back as the brightest and richest of any I have ever experienced.
+Never before or after have I reveled to such an extent in the splendid
+consciousness of my youth and my freedom from restraint. Never have I
+been so wholly master of my gifts and of my life.... Never have I been
+a happier man than I was at that very time.
+
+FELIX (_calmly_)
+
+And if she had killed herself?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I believe I should have thought myself worth it--in those days.
+
+FELIX
+
+And so you were, perhaps, at that time.--And she thought of doing it, I
+am sure. She wanted to put an end to the lies and the qualms, just as
+hundreds of thousands of girls have done before. But millions fail to
+do it, and they are the most sensible ones. And I am sure she also
+thought of telling the truth to him she took to husband. But, of
+course, the way through life is easier when you don't have to carry a
+burden of reproach or, what is worse, of forgiveness.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And if she had spoken....
+
+FELIX
+
+Oh, I understand why she didn't. It had been of no use to anybody. And
+so she kept silent: silent when she got back from the wedding--silent
+when her child was born--silent when, ten years later, the lover came
+to her husband's house again--silent to the very last.... Fates of that
+kind are to be found everywhere, and it isn't even necessary to
+be--depraved, in order to suffer them or invoke them.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And there are mighty few whom it behooves to judge--or to condemn.
+
+FELIX
+
+I don't presume to do so. And it doesn't even occur to me that I am now
+to behold deceivers and deceived where, a few hours ago, I could only
+see people who were dear to me and whose relationships to each other
+were perfectly pure. And it is absolutely impossible for me to feel
+myself another man than I have deemed myself until to-day. There is no
+power in all this truth.... A vivid dream would be more compelling than
+this story out of bygone days, which you have just told me. Nothing has
+changed--nothing whatever. The thought of my mother is as sacred to me
+as ever. And the man in whose house I was born and raised, who
+surrounded my childhood and youth with care tenderness, and whom my
+mother--loved.... He means just as much to me now as he ever meant--and
+perhaps a little more.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And yet, Felix, however powerless this truth may seem to you--there is
+one thing you can take hold of in this moment of doubt: it was as my
+son your mother gave birth to you....
+
+FELIX
+
+At a time when you had run away from her.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And as my son she brought you up.
+
+FELIX
+
+In hatred of you.
+
+JULIAN
+
+At first. Later in forgiveness, and finally--don't forget it--in
+friendship toward me.... And what was in her mind that last night?--Of
+what did she talk to you?--Of those days when she experienced the
+greatest happiness that can fall to the share of any woman.
+
+FELIX
+
+As well as the greatest misery.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Do you think it was mere chance which brought those very days back to
+her mind that last evening?... Don't you think she knew that you would
+go to me and ask for that picture?... And do you think your wish to see
+it could have any other meaning than of a final greeting to me from
+your mother?... Can't you understand that, Felix?... And in this
+moment--don't try to resist--you have it before your eyes--that picture
+you held in your hand yesterday: and your mother is looking at
+you.--And the glance resting on you, Felix, is the same one that rested
+on me that passionate and sacred day when she fell into my arms and you
+were conceived.--And whatever you may feel of doubt or confusion, the
+truth has now been revealed to you once for all. Thus your mother
+willed it, and it is no longer possible for you to forget that you are
+my son.
+
+FELIX
+
+Your son.... That's nothing but a word. And it's cried in a
+desert.--Although I am looking at you now, and although I know that I
+am your son, I can't grasp it.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Felix...!
+
+FELIX
+
+Since I learned of this, you have become a stranger to me. (_He turns
+away_)
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+THE FOURTH ACT
+
+
+_The garden belonging to Mr. von Sala's house. At the left is seen the
+white, one-storied building, fronted by a broad terrace, from which six
+stone steps lead down into the garden. A wide door with panes of glass
+leads from the terrace into the drawing-room. A small pool appears in
+the foreground, surrounded by a semi-circle of young trees. From that
+spot an avenue of trees runs diagonally across the stage toward the
+right. At the opening of the avenue, near the pool, stand two columns
+on which are placed the marble busts of two Roman emperors. A
+semi-circular stone seat with back support stands under the trees to
+the right of the pool. Farther back glimpses of the glittering fence
+are caught through the scanty leafage. Back of the fence, the woods on
+a gently rising hillside are turning red. The autumnal sky is pale
+blue. Everything is quiet. The stage remains empty for a few moments._
+
+_Sala and Johanna enter by way of the terrace. She is in black. He has
+on a gray suit and carries a dark overcoat across his shoulders. They
+descend the steps slowly._
+
+
+SALA
+
+I think you'll find it rather cool. (_He goes back into the room, picks
+up a cape lying there, and puts it around Johanna's shoulders; little
+by little they reach the garden_)
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Do you know what I imagine?... That this day is our own--that it
+belongs to us alone. We have summoned it, and if we wanted, we could
+make it stay.... All other people live only as guests in the world
+to-day. Isn't that so?... The reason is, I suppose, that once I heard
+you speak of this day.
+
+SALA
+
+Of this...?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes--while mother was still living.... And now it has really come. The
+leaves are red. The golden mist is lying over the woods. The sky is
+pale and remote--and the day is even more beautiful, and sadder, than I
+could ever have imagined. And I am spending it in your garden, and your
+pool is my mirror. (_She stands looking down into the pool_) And yet we
+can no more make it stay, this golden day, than the water here can hold
+my image after I have gone away.
+
+SALA
+
+It seems strange that this clear, mild air should be tinged with a
+suggestion of winter and snow.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why should it trouble you? When that suggestion has become reality
+here, you are already in the midst of another Spring.
+
+SALA
+
+What do you mean by that?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Oh, I suppose that where you go they have no winter like ours.
+
+SALA (_pensively_)
+
+No, not like ours. (_Pause_) And you?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I...?
+
+SALA
+
+What are you going to do, I mean, when I am gone?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+When you are gone...? (_She looks at him, and he stands staring into
+the distance_) Haven't you gone long ago? And at bottom, are you not
+far away from me even now?
+
+SALA
+
+What are you saying? I am here with you.... What are you going to do,
+Johanna?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I have already told you. Go away--just like you.
+
+SALA (_shakes his head_)
+
+JOHANNA
+
+As soon as possible. I have still the courage left. Who knows what may
+become of me later, if I stay here alone.
+
+SALA
+
+As long as you are young, all doors stand open, and the world begins
+outside every one of them.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+But the world is wide and the sky infinite only as long as you are not
+clinging to anybody. And for that reason I want to go away.
+
+SALA
+
+Away--that's so easily said. But preparations are needed for that
+purpose, and some sort of a scheme. You use the word as if you merely
+had to put on wings and fly off into the distance.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+To be determined is--the same as having wings.
+
+SALA
+
+Are you not at all afraid, Johanna?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+A longing free from fear would be too cheap to be worth while.
+
+SALA
+
+Where will it lead you?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I shall find my way.
+
+SALA
+
+You can choose your way, but not the people that you meet.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Do you think me ignorant of the fact that I cannot expect only
+beautiful experiences? What is ugly and mean must also be waiting for
+me.
+
+SALA
+
+And how are you going to stand it?--Will you be able to stand it at
+all?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Of course, I am not going to tell the truth always as I have done to
+you. I shall have to lie--and I think of it with pleasure. I shall not
+always be in good spirits, nor always sensible. I shall make mistakes
+and suffer. That's the way it has to be, I suppose.
+
+SALA
+
+Of all this you are aware in advance, and yet...?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes.
+
+SALA
+
+And why?... Why are you going away, Johanna?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Why am I going away?... I want a time to come when I must shudder at
+myself. Shudder as deeply as you can only when nothing has been left
+untried. Just as you have had to do when you looked back upon your
+life. Or have you not?
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, many times. But just in such moments of shuddering there is nothing
+left behind at all--everything is once more present. And the present is
+the past. (_He sits down on the stone seat_)
+
+JOHANNA
+
+What do you mean by that?
+
+SALA (_covers his eyes with his hand and sits silent_)
+
+JOHANNA
+
+What is the matter? Where are you anyhow?
+
+[_A light wind stirs the leaves and makes many of them drop to the
+ground._
+
+SALA
+
+I am a child, riding my pony across the fields. My father is behind and
+calls to me. At that window waits my mother. She has thrown a gray
+satin shawl over her dark hair and is waving her hand at me.... And I
+am a young lieutenant in maneuvers, standing on a hillock and reporting
+to my colonel that hostile infantry is ambushed behind that wooded
+piece of ground, ready to charge, and down below us I can see the
+midday sun glittering on bayonets and buttons.... And I am lying alone
+in my boat adrift, looking up into the deep-blue Summer sky, while
+words of incomprehensible beauty are shaping themselves in my
+mind--words more beautiful than I have ever been able to put on
+paper.... And I am resting on a bench in the cool park at the lake of
+Lugano, with Helen sitting beside me; she holds a book with red cover
+in her hand; over there by the magnolia, Lillie is playing with the
+light-haired English boy, and I can hear them prattling and
+laughing.... And I am walking slowly back and forth with Julian on a
+bed of rustling leaves, and we are talking of a picture which we saw
+yesterday. And I see the picture: two old sailors with worn-out faces,
+who are seated on an overturned skiff, their sad eyes directed toward
+the boundless sea. And I feel their misery more deeply than the artist
+who painted them; more deeply than they could have felt it themselves,
+had they been alive.... All this--all of it is there--if I only close
+my eyes. It is nearer to me than you, Johanna, when I don't see you and
+you keep quiet.
+
+JOHANNA (_stands looking at him with wistful sympathy_)
+
+SALA
+
+The present--what does it mean anyhow? Are we then locked breast to
+breast with the moment as with a friend whom we embrace--or an enemy
+who is pressing us? Has not the word that just rings out turned to
+memory already? Is not the note that starts a melody reduced to memory
+before the song is ended? Is your coming to this garden anything but a
+memory, Johanna? Are not your steps across that meadow as much a matter
+of the past as are the steps of creatures dead these many years?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No, it mustn't be like that. It makes me sad.
+
+SALA (_with a return to present things_)
+
+Why?... It shouldn't, Johanna. It is in hours like those we know, that
+we have lost nothing, and that in reality we cannot lose anything.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Oh, I wish you had lost and forgotten everything, so that I might be
+everything to you!
+
+SALA (_somewhat astonished_)
+
+Johanna....
+
+JOHANNA (_passionately_)
+
+I love you. (_Pause_)
+
+SALA
+
+In a few days I shall be gone, Johanna. You know it--you have known it
+right along.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I know. Why do you repeat it? Do you think, perhaps, that all at once I
+may begin to clutch at you like a love-sick thing, dreaming of
+eternities?--No, that isn't my way--oh, no!... But I want to tell you
+once at least that I am fond of you. May I not for once?--Do you hear?
+I love you. And I wish that sometime later on you may hear it just as I
+am saying it now--at some other moment no less beautiful than
+this--when we two shall no longer be aware of each other.
+
+SALA
+
+Indeed, Johanna, of one thing you may be sure: that the sound of your
+voice shall never leave me.--But why should we talk of parting forever?
+Perhaps we shall meet again sooner or later ... in three years ... or
+in five.... (_With a smile_) Then you have become a princess perhaps,
+and I may be the ruler of some buried city.... Why don't you speak?
+
+JOHANNA (_pulls the cape more closely about her_)
+
+SALA
+
+Do you feel cold?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Not at all.--But now I must go.
+
+SALA
+
+Are you in such a hurry?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+It is getting late. I must be back before my father gets home.
+
+SALA
+
+How strange! To-day you are hurrying home, fearful of being too late,
+lest your father get worried. And in a couple of days....
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Then he will no longer be waiting for me. Farewell, Stephan.
+
+SALA
+
+Until to-morrow, then.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes, until to-morrow.
+
+SALA
+
+You'll come through the garden gate, of course?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Wasn't that a carriage that stopped before the house?
+
+SALA
+
+The doors are locked. Nobody can get out into the garden.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Good-by, then.
+
+SALA
+
+Until to-morrow.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes. (_She is about to go_)
+
+SALA
+
+Listen, Johanna.--If I should say to you now: stay!
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No, I must go now.
+
+SALA
+
+That was not what I meant.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+What then?
+
+SALA
+
+I mean, if I should beg you to stay--for--a long time?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+You have a peculiar way of jesting.
+
+SALA
+
+I am not jesting.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Do you forget, then, that you--are going away?
+
+SALA
+
+I am not bound in any respect. There is nothing to prevent me from
+staying at home if I don't feel like going away.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+For my sake?
+
+SALA
+
+I didn't say so. Maybe for my own sake.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+No, you mustn't give it up. You would never forgive me if I took that
+away from you.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, you think so? (_Watching her closely_) And if both of us were
+to go?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+What?
+
+SALA
+
+If you should risk going along with me? Well, it takes a little courage
+to do it, of course. But you would probably not be the only woman. The
+Baroness Golobin is also going along, I hear.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Are you talking seriously?
+
+SALA
+
+Quite seriously. I ask if you care to go with me on that journey ... as
+my wife, of course, seeing that we have to consider externals like
+that, too.
+
+JOHANNA
+
+I should...?
+
+SALA
+
+Why does that move you so deeply?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+With you?--With you...?
+
+SALA
+
+Don't misunderstand me, Johanna. That's no reason why you should be
+tied to me for all time. When we get back, we can bid each other
+good-by--without the least ado. It is a very simple matter. For all
+your dreams cannot be fulfilled by me--I know that very well.... You
+need not give me an answer at once. Hours like these turn too easily
+into words that are not true the next day. And I hope I may never hear
+you speak one word of that kind.
+
+JOHANNA (_who has been looking at Sala as if she wanted to drink up
+every one of his words_) No, I am not saying anything--I am not saying
+anything.
+
+SALA (_looking long at her_)
+
+You are going to think it over, and you'll let me know to-morrow
+morning?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Yes. (_She looks long at him_)
+
+SALA
+
+What is the matter?
+
+JOHANNA
+
+Nothing.--Until to-morrow. Farewell. (_He accompanies her to the garden
+gate, through which she disappears_)
+
+SALA (_comes back and stands looking into the pool_)
+
+Just as if I wanted to find her image in it.... What could it be that
+moved her so deeply?... Happiness?... No, it wasn't happiness.... Why
+did she look at me like that? Why did she seem to shrink? There was
+something in her glance like a farewell forever. (_He makes a sudden
+movement as of fright_) Has it come to that with me?... But how can she
+know?... Then others must know it too...! (_He stands staring into
+space; then he ascends the terrace slowly and goes into the drawing-room,
+from which he returns a few moments later accompanied by Julian_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+And you want to leave all these splendors so soon?
+
+SALA
+
+They'll be here when I come back, I hope.
+
+JULIAN
+
+I hope you will, for the sake of both of us.
+
+SALA
+
+You say that rather distrustingly....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Well, yes--I am thinking of that remarkable article in the Daily Post.
+
+SALA
+
+Concerning what?
+
+JULIAN
+
+What is going on at the Caspian Sea.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, are the local papers also taking that up?
+
+JULIAN
+
+The conditions in certain regions through which you have to pass seem
+really to be extremely dangerous.
+
+SALA
+
+Exaggerations. We have better information than that. According to my
+opinion there is nothing back of those articles but the petty jealousy
+of English scientists. What you read had been translated from the Daily
+News. And it's fully three weeks since it appeared there.--Have you
+seen Felix, by the way?
+
+JULIAN
+
+He was at my house only last night. And this morning I called on the
+Wegrats. He wanted to have a look at that picture of his mother which I
+painted twenty-three years ago.--And one thing and another led to my
+telling him everything.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, you did? (_Thoughtfully_) And how did he take it?
+
+JULIAN
+
+It stirred him rather more than I had thought possible.
+
+SALA
+
+Well, I hope you didn't expect him to fall into your arms as the
+recovered son does in the play.
+
+JULIAN
+
+No, of course not.--I told him everything, without any attempt at
+sparing myself. And for that reason he seemed to feel the wrong done to
+his mother's husband more strongly than anything else. But that won't
+last very long. He'll soon understand that, in the higher sense, no
+wrong has been done at all. People of Wegrat's type are not made to
+hold actual possession of anything--whether it be wives or children.
+They mean a refuge, a dwelling place--but never a real home. Can you
+understand what I mean by that? It is their mission to take into their
+arms creatures who have been worn out or broken to pieces by some kind
+of passion. But they never guess whence such creatures come. And while
+it is granted them to attract and befriend, they never understand
+whither those creatures go. They exist for the purpose of sacrificing
+themselves unconsciously, and in such sacrifices they find a happiness
+that might seem a pretty poor one to others.... You are not saying a
+word?
+
+SALA
+
+I am listening.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And have no reply to make?
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, well--it is possible to grind out scales quite smoothly even when
+the fiddle has got a crack....
+
+[_It is growing darker. Felix appears on the terrace._
+
+SALA
+
+Who is that?
+
+FELIX (_on the terrace_)
+
+It's me. The servant told me ...
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, Felix! Glad you came.
+
+FELIX (_coming down into the garden_)
+
+Good evening, Mr. von Sala.--Good evening, Mr. Fichtner.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Good evening, Felix.
+
+SALA
+
+I am delighted to see you.
+
+FELIX
+
+What magnificent old trees!
+
+SALA
+
+Yes, a piece of real woods--all you have to do is to forget the
+fence.--What brought you anyhow? I didn't expect you until to-morrow
+morning. Have you really made up your mind already?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Am I in the way?
+
+FELIX
+
+Oh, no. There is nothing secret about it.--I accept your offer, Mr. von
+Sala, and ask if you would be kind enough to speak to Count Ronsky.
+
+SALA (_shaking Felix by the hand_)
+
+I am glad of it.... (_To Julian_) It has to do with our Asiatic
+venture.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What?--You intend to join the expedition?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes.
+
+SALA
+
+Have you already talked it over with your father?
+
+FELIX
+
+I shall do so to-night.--But that's a mere formality. I am determined,
+provided no other obstacles appear....
+
+SALA
+
+I shall speak to the Count this very day.
+
+FELIX
+
+I don't know how to thank you.
+
+SALA
+
+There is no reason at all. In fact, I don't have to say another word.
+The Count knows everything he needs to know about you.
+
+VALET (_appearing on the terrace_)
+
+There is a lady asking if you are at home, sir.
+
+SALA
+
+Didn't she give her name?--You'll have to excuse me a moment,
+gentlemen. (_He goes toward the valet, and both disappear into the
+house_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+You are going away?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes. And I am very happy this occasion has offered itself.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Have you also informed yourself concerning the real nature of this
+undertaking?
+
+FELIX
+
+It means at any rate genuine activity and the opening of wider worlds.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And couldn't those things be found in connection with more hopeful
+prospects?
+
+FELIX
+
+That's possible. But I don't care to wait.
+
+[_Sala and Irene enter._
+
+IRENE (_still on the terrace, talking to Sala_)
+
+I couldn't leave Vienna without keeping my promise.
+
+SALA
+
+And I thank you for it, Miss Herms.
+
+IRENE (_descending into the garden with Sala_)
+
+You have a wonderful place here.--How do you do, Julian? Good evening,
+Lieutenant.
+
+SALA
+
+You should have come earlier, Miss Herms, so that you could have seen
+it in full sunlight.
+
+IRENE
+
+Why, I was here two hours ago. But it was like an enchanted castle. It
+was impossible to get in. The bell didn't ring at all.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, of course! I hope you pardon. If I had had the slightest idea....
+
+IRENE
+
+Well, it doesn't matter. I have made good use of my time. I went on
+through the woods as far as Neustift and Salmansdorf.[6] And then I got
+out and followed a road that I remembered since many years ago. (_She
+looks at Julian_) I rested on a bench where I sat once many, many years
+ago, with a close friend. (_Smilingly_) Can you guess, Mr. Fichtner?
+The outlook is wonderful. Beyond the fields you have a perfect view of
+the whole city as far as the Danube.
+
+      [6] Former villages, now suburbs of Vienna, lying still nearer
+      the city limits than Dornbach, where Sala is living.
+
+SALA (_pointing to the stone seat_)
+
+Won't you sit down here for a while, Miss Herms?
+
+IRENE
+
+Thanks. (_She raises her lorgnette to study the busts of the two
+emperors_) It makes one feel quite Roman.... But I hope, gentlemen, I
+haven't interrupted any conference.
+
+SALA
+
+Not at all.
+
+IRENE
+
+I have that feeling, however. All of you look so serious.--I think I'll
+rather leave.
+
+SALA
+
+Oh, you mustn't, Miss Herms.--Is there anything more you want to ask me
+about that affair of ours, Felix?
+
+FELIX
+
+If Miss Herms would pardon me for a minute....
+
+IRENE
+
+Oh, certainly--please!
+
+SALA
+
+You'll excuse me, Miss Herms....
+
+FELIX
+
+It is a question of what I should do in regard to my present
+commission.--(_He is still speaking as he goes out with Sala_)
+
+IRENE
+
+What kind of secrets have those two together? What's going on here
+anyhow?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Nothing that can be called a secret. That young fellow is also going to
+join the expedition, I hear. And so they have a lot of things to talk
+over, of course.
+
+IRENE (_who has been following Felix and Sala with her eyes_)
+Julian--it's he.
+
+JULIAN (_remains silent_)
+
+IRENE
+
+You don't need to answer me. The matter has been in my mind all the
+time.... The only thing I can't understand is why I haven't discovered
+it before. It is he.--And he is twenty-three.--And I who actually
+thought when you drove me away: if only he doesn't kill himself!... And
+there goes his son.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What does that help me? He doesn't belong to me.
+
+IRENE
+
+But look at him! He is there--he's alive, and young, and handsome.
+Isn't that enough? (_She rises_) And I who was ruined by it!
+
+JULIAN
+
+How?
+
+IRENE
+
+Do you understand? Ruined....
+
+JULIAN
+
+I have never suspected it.
+
+IRENE
+
+Well, you couldn't have helped me anyhow. (_Pause_) Good-by. Make an
+excuse for me, please. Tell them anything you want. I am going away,
+and I don't want to know anything more.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What's the matter with you? Nothing has changed.
+
+IRENE
+
+You think so?--To me it is as if all these twenty-three years had
+suddenly undergone a complete change.--Good-by.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Good-by--for a while.
+
+IRENE
+
+For a while? Do you care?--Really?--Do you feel sad, Julian?--Now I am
+sorry for you again. (_Shaking her head_) Of course, that's the way you
+are. So what is there to do about it?
+
+JULIAN
+
+Please control yourself. Here they are coming.
+
+SALA (_returns with Felix_)
+
+Now we're all done.
+
+FELIX
+
+Thank you very much. I shall have to leave now.
+
+IRENE
+
+And to-morrow you are already going away again?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, Miss Herms.
+
+IRENE
+
+You're also going toward the city now, Lieutenant, are you not? If you
+don't object, I'll take you along.
+
+FELIX
+
+That's awfully kind of you.
+
+SALA
+
+What, Miss Herms...? This is a short visit indeed.
+
+IRENE
+
+Yes, I have still a few errands to do. For to-morrow I must return to
+the wilderness. And probably it will be some time before I get to
+Vienna again.--Well, Lieutenant?
+
+FELIX
+
+Good-by, Mr. Fichtner. And if I shouldn't happen to see you again....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Oh, we'll meet again.
+
+IRENE
+
+Now the people will say: look at the lieutenant with his mamma in tow.
+(_She gives a last glance to Julian_)
+
+SALA (_accompanies Irene and Felix up the steps to the terrace_)
+
+JULIAN (_remains behind, walking back and forth; after a while he is
+joined by Sala_) Have you no doubt that your appeal to Count Ronsky
+will be effective?
+
+SALA
+
+I have already received definite assurances from him, or I should never
+have aroused any hopes in Felix.
+
+JULIAN
+
+What caused you to do this, Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+My sympathy for Felix, I should say, and the fact that I like to travel
+in pleasant company.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And did it never occur to you, that the thought of losing him might be
+very painful to me?
+
+SALA
+
+What's the use of that, Julian? It is only possible to lose what you
+possess. And you cannot possess a thing to which you have not acquired
+any right. You know that as well as I do.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Does not, in the last instance, the fact that you need somebody give
+you a certain claim on him?--Can't you understand, Sala, that he
+represents my last hope?... That actually I haven't got anything or
+anybody left but him?... That wherever I turn, I find nothing but
+emptiness?... That I am horrified by the loneliness awaiting me?
+
+SALA
+
+And what could it help you if he stayed? And even if he felt something
+like filial tenderness toward you, how could that help you?... How can
+he or anybody else help you?... You say that loneliness horrifies
+you?... And if you had a wife by your side to-day, wouldn't you be
+lonely just the same?... Wouldn't you be lonely even if you were
+surrounded by children and grandchildren?... Suppose you had kept your
+money, your fame and your genius--don't you think you would be lonely
+for all that?... Suppose we were always attended by a train of
+bacchantes--nevertheless we should have to tread the downward path
+alone--we, who have never belonged to anybody ourselves. The process of
+aging must needs be a lonely one for our kind, and he is nothing but a
+fool who doesn't in time prepare himself against having to rely on any
+human being.
+
+JULIAN
+
+And do you imagine, Sala, that you need no human being?
+
+SALA
+
+In the manner I have used them they will always be at my disposal. I
+have always been in favor of keeping at a certain distance. It is not
+my fault that other people haven't realized it.
+
+JULIAN
+
+In that respect you are right, Sala. For you have never really loved
+anybody in this world.
+
+SALA
+
+Perhaps not. And how about you? No more than I, Julian.... To love
+means to live for the sake of somebody else. I don't say that it is a
+more desirable form of existence, but I do think, at any rate, that you
+and I have been pretty far removed from it. What has that which one
+like us brings into the world got to do with love? Though it include
+all sorts of funny, hypocritical, tender, unworthy, passionate things
+that pose as love--it isn't love for all that.... Have we ever made a
+sacrifice by which our sensuality or our vanity didn't profit?... Have
+we ever hesitated to betray or blackguard decent people, if by doing so
+we could gain an hour of happiness or of mere lust?... Have we ever
+risked our peace or our lives--not out of whim or recklessness--but to
+promote the welfare of someone who had given all to us?... Have we ever
+denied ourselves an enjoyment unless from such denial we could at least
+derive some comfort?... And do you think that we could dare to turn to
+any human being, man or woman, with a demand that any gift of ours be
+returned? I am not thinking of pearls now, or annuities, or cheap
+wisdom, but of some piece of our real selves, some hour of our own
+existence, which we have surrendered to such a being without at once
+exacting payment for it in some sort of coin. My dear Julian, we have
+kept our doors open, and have allowed our treasures to be viewed--but
+prodigal with them we have never been. You no more than I. We may just
+as well join hands, Julian. I am a little less prone to complain than
+you are--that's the whole difference.... But I am not telling you
+anything new. All this you know as well as I do. It is simply
+impossible for us not to know ourselves. Of course, we try at times
+conscientiously to deceive ourselves, but it never works. Our follies
+and rascalities may remain hidden to others--but never to ourselves. In
+our innermost souls we always know what to think of ourselves.--It's
+getting cold, Julian. Let's go indoors.
+
+(_They begin to ascend the steps to the terrace_)
+
+JULIAN
+
+All that may be true, Sala. But this much you have to grant me. If
+there be anybody in the world who has no right to make us pay for the
+mistakes of our lives, it is a person who has us to thank for his own
+life.
+
+SALA
+
+There is no question of payment in this. Your son has a mind for
+essentials, Julian. You have said so yourself. And he feels that to
+have done nothing for a man but to put him into the world, is to have
+done very little indeed.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Then, at least, everything must become as it was before he knew
+anything at all. Once more I shall become to him a human being like
+anybody else. Then he will not dare to leave me.... I cannot bear it.
+How have I deserved that he should run away from me?... And even if all
+that I have held for good and true within myself--even if, in the end,
+my very fondness for this young man, who is my son--should prove
+nothing but self-delusion--yet I love him now.... Do you understand me,
+Sala? I love him, and all I ask is that he may believe it before I must
+lose him forever....
+
+[_It grows dark. The two men pass across the terrace and enter the
+drawing-room. The stage stands empty a little while. In the meantime
+the wind has risen somewhat. Johanna enters by the avenue of trees from
+the right and goes past the pool toward the terrace. The windows of the
+drawing-room are illumined. Sala has seated himself at a table. The
+valet enters the room and serves him a glass of wine. Johanna stops.
+She is apparently much excited. Then she ascends two of the steps to
+the terrace. Sala seems to hear a noise and turns his head slightly.
+When she sees this, Johanna hurries down again and stops beside the
+pool. There she stands looking down into the water._
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+THE FIFTH ACT
+
+_The garden at the Wegrats'._
+
+REUMANN (_sits at a small table and writes something in his notebook_)
+
+
+JULIAN (_enters quickly by way of the veranda_)
+
+Is it true, Doctor?
+
+REUMANN (_rising_)
+
+Yes, it's true.
+
+JULIAN
+
+She has disappeared?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Yes, she has disappeared. She has been gone since yesterday afternoon.
+She has left no word behind, and she has taken nothing at all with
+her--she has simply gone away and never returned.
+
+JULIAN
+
+But what can have happened to her?
+
+REUMANN
+
+We have not been able to guess even. Perhaps she has lost her way and
+will come back. Or she has suddenly made up her mind--if we only knew
+to what!
+
+JULIAN
+
+Where are the others?
+
+REUMANN
+
+We agreed to meet here again at ten. I visited the various hospitals
+and other places where it might be possible to find some trace.... I
+suppose the professor has made a report to the police by this time.
+
+FELIX (_enters quickly_)
+
+Nothing new?
+
+REUMANN
+
+Nothing.
+
+JULIAN (_shakes hands with Felix_)
+
+REUMANN
+
+From where do you come?
+
+FELIX
+
+I went to see Mr. von Sala.
+
+REUMANN
+
+Why?
+
+FELIX
+
+I thought it rather possible that he might have a suspicion, or be able
+to give us some kind of direction. But he knows nothing at all. That
+was perfectly clear. And if he had known anything--had known anything
+definite--he would have told me. I am sure of that. He was still in bed
+when I called on him. I suppose he thought I had come about my own
+matter. When he heard that Johanna had disappeared, he turned very
+pale.... But he doesn't know anything.
+
+WEGRAT (_enters_)
+
+Anything?
+
+[_All the others shake their heads. Julian presses his hand._
+
+WEGRAT (_sitting down_)
+
+They asked me to give more details, something more tangible to go by.
+But what is there to give?... I have nothing.... The whole thing is a
+riddle to me. (_Turning to Julian_) In the afternoon she went out for a
+short walk as usual.... (_To Felix_) Was there anything about her that
+attracted attention?... It seems quite impossible to me that she could
+have had anything in mind when she left the house--that she could know
+already--that she was going away forever.
+
+FELIX
+
+Perhaps though....
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Of course, she was very reserved--especially of late, since the death
+of her mother.... I wonder if it could be that?... Would you think that
+possible, Doctor?
+
+REUMANN (_shrugs his shoulders_)
+
+FELIX
+
+Did any one of us really know her? And who takes a real interest in
+another person anyhow?
+
+REUMANN
+
+It is apparently fortunate that such is the case. Otherwise we should
+all go mad from pity or loathing or anxiety. (_Pause_) Now I must get
+around to my patients. There are a few calls that cannot be postponed.
+I shall be back by dinner-time. Good-by for a while. (_He goes out_)
+
+WEGRAT
+
+To think that you can watch a young creature like her grow up--can see
+the child turn into girl, and then into a young lady--can speak
+hundreds of thousands of words to her.... And one day she rises from
+the table, puts on hat and coat, and goes ... and you have no idea as
+to whether she has slipped away--if into nothingness or into a new
+life.
+
+FELIX
+
+But whatever may have happened, father--she wanted to get away from us.
+And in that fact, I think, we should find a certain consolation.
+
+WEGRAT (_shakes his head in perplexity_)
+
+Everything is fluttering away--willingly or unwillingly--but away it
+goes.
+
+FELIX
+
+Father, we can't tell what may have happened. It's conceivable, at
+least, that Johanna may have formed some decision which she does not
+carry out. Perhaps she will come back in a few hours, or days.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+You believe ... you think it possible, do you?
+
+FELIX
+
+Possible--yes. But if she shouldn't come--of course, father, I shall
+give up the plan of which I told you yesterday. Under circumstances
+like these I couldn't think of going so far away from you for such a
+long time.
+
+WEGRAT (_to Julian_)
+
+And now he's going to sacrifice himself for my sake!
+
+FELIX
+
+Perhaps I could arrange to have myself transferred here.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+No, Felix, you know very well that I couldn't accept such a thing.
+
+FELIX
+
+But it's no sacrifice. I assure you, father, that I stay with you only
+because I _can't_ go away from you now.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Oh, yes, Felix, you can--you will be able. And you are not to stay here
+for my sake--you mustn't. I could never be sure that it would prove of
+any help to me to have you give up a plan which you have taken hold of
+with such enthusiasm. I think it would be inexcusable of you to draw
+back, and wicked of me to permit it. You must be happy at having found
+a way at last, by which you may reach all you have longed for. It makes
+me happy, too, Felix. If you missed this opportunity, you would regret
+it all your life.
+
+FELIX
+
+But so much may have changed since yesterday--such a tremendous
+lot--for you and for me.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+For me, perhaps.... But never mind. I won't stand it--I will not accept
+such a sacrifice. Of course, I might accept it, if I could find it of
+any special advantage to myself. But I shouldn't have you any more than
+if you were gone away ... less ... not at all. This fate that has
+descended on us must not add to its inherent power what is still
+worse--that it makes us do in our confusion what is against our own
+natures. Sometime we always get over every disaster, no matter how
+frightful it be. But whatever we do in violation of our innermost
+selves can never be undone. (_Turning to Julian_) Isn't that true,
+Julian?
+
+JULIAN
+
+You are absolutely right.
+
+FELIX
+
+Thanks, father. I feel grateful that you make it so easy for me to
+agree with you.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+That's good, Felix.... During the weeks you will remain in Europe we
+shall be able to talk over a lot of things--more perhaps than in the
+years gone by. Indeed, how little people know about each other!... But
+I am getting tired. We stayed awake all night.
+
+FELIX
+
+Won't you rest a while, father?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Rest.... You'll stay at home, Felix, won't you?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes, I shall wait right here. What else is there to do?
+
+WEGRAT
+
+I'm racking my brain until it's near bursting.... Why didn't she say
+anything to me? Why have I known so little about her? Why have I kept
+so far away from her? (_He goes out_)
+
+FELIX
+
+How that man has been belied--all his life long--by all of us.
+
+JULIAN
+
+There is in this world no sin, no crime, no deception, that cannot be
+atoned. Only for what has happened here, there should be no expiation
+and no forgetfulness, you think?
+
+FELIX
+
+Can it be possible that you don't understand?... Here a lie has been
+eternalized. There is no getting away from it. And she who did it was
+my mother--and it was you who made her do it--and the lie am I, and
+such I must remain as long as I am passing for that which I am not.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Let us proclaim the truth then, Felix.--I shall face any judge that you
+may choose, and submit to any verdict passed on me.--Must I alone
+remain condemned forever? Should I alone, among all that have erred,
+never dare to say: "It is atoned"?
+
+FELIX
+
+It is too late. Guilt can be wiped out by confession only while the
+guilty one is still able to make restitution. You ought to know
+yourself, that this respite expired long ago.
+
+SALA (_enters_)
+
+FELIX
+
+Mr. von Sala!--Have you anything to tell us?
+
+SALA
+
+Yes.--Good morning, Julian.--No, stay, Julian. I am glad to have a
+witness. (_To Felix_) Are you determined to join the expedition?
+
+FELIX
+
+I am.
+
+SALA
+
+So am I. But it is possible that one of us must change his mind.
+
+FELIX
+
+Mr. von Sala...?
+
+SALA
+
+It would be a bad thing to risk finding out that you have started on a
+journey of such scope with one whom you would prefer to shoot dead if
+you knew him completely.
+
+FELIX
+
+Where is my sister, Mr. von Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+I don't know. Where she is at this moment, I don't know. But last
+evening, just before you arrived, she had left me for the last time.
+
+FELIX
+
+Mr. von Sala....
+
+SALA
+
+Her farewell words to me were: Until to-morrow. You can see that I had
+every reason to be surprised this morning, when you appeared at my
+house. Permit me furthermore to tell you, that yesterday, of all days,
+I asked Johanna to become my wife--which seemed to agitate her very
+much. In telling you this, I have by no means the intention of
+smoothing over things. For my question implied no desire on my part to
+make good any wrong I might have done. It was apparently nothing but a
+whim--like so much else. There is here no question of anything but to
+let you know the truth. This means that I am at your disposal in any
+manner you may choose.--I thought it absolutely necessary to say all
+this before we were brought to the point of having to descend into the
+depths of the earth together, or, perhaps, to sleep in the same tent.
+
+FELIX (_after a long pause_)
+
+Mr. von Sala ... we shall not have to sleep in the same tent.
+
+SALA
+
+Why not?
+
+FELIX
+
+Your journey will not last that long.
+
+[_A very long pause ensues._
+
+SALA
+
+Oh ... I understand. And are you sure of that?
+
+FELIX
+
+Perfectly. (_Pause_}
+
+SALA
+
+And did Johanna know it?
+
+FELIX
+
+Yes.
+
+SALA
+
+I thank you.--Oh, you can safely take my hand. The matter has been
+settled in the most chivalrous manner possible.--Well?... It is not
+customary to refuse one's hand to him who is already down.
+
+FELIX (_gives his hand to Sala; then he says_)
+
+And where can she be?
+
+SALA
+
+I don't know.
+
+FELIX
+
+Didn't she give you any hint at all?
+
+SALA
+
+None whatever.
+
+FELIX
+
+But have you no conjecture? Has she perhaps established any
+connections--abroad? Had she any friends at all, of which I don't know?
+
+SALA
+
+Not to my knowledge.
+
+FELIX
+
+Do you think that she is still alive?
+
+SALA
+
+I can't tell.
+
+FELIX
+
+Are you not _willing_ to say anything more, Mr. von Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+I am not _able_ to say anything more. I have nothing left to say.
+Farewell, and good luck on your trip. Give my regards to Count Ronsky.
+
+FELIX
+
+But we are not seeing each other for the last time?
+
+SALA
+
+Who can tell?
+
+FELIX (_holding out his hand to Sala_)
+
+I must hurry to my father. I think it my duty to let him know what I
+have just learned from you.
+
+SALA (_nods_)
+
+FELIX (_to Julian_)
+
+Good-by. (_He goes out_)
+
+[_Julian and Sala start to leave together._
+
+JULIAN (_as Sala suddenly stops_)
+
+Why do you tarry? Let's get away.
+
+SALA
+
+It is a strange thing to _know_. A veil seems to spread in front of
+everything.... "Away with you!"--But I don't care to submit to it as
+long as I am still here--if it be only for another hour....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Do you believe it then?
+
+SALA (_looking long at Julian_)
+
+Do I believe it...? He behaved rather nicely, that son of yours.... "We
+shall not have to sleep in the same tent."... Not bad! I might have
+said it myself....
+
+JULIAN
+
+But why don't you come? Have you perhaps something more to tell after
+all?
+
+SALA
+
+That's the question I must put to you, Julian.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Sala?
+
+SALA
+
+Because I didn't say anything about a peculiar hallucination I
+experienced just before coming here. I imagine it was....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Please, speak out!
+
+SALA
+
+What do you think of it? Before I left my house--just after Felix had
+gone--I went down into my garden--that is to say, I ran through it--in
+a remarkable state of excitement, as you may understand. And as I
+passed by the pool, it was exactly as if I had seen on the bottom of
+it....
+
+JULIAN
+
+Sala!
+
+SALA
+
+There is a blue-greenish glitter on the water, and besides, the shadow
+of the beech tree falls right across it early in the morning. And by a
+strange coincidence Johanna said yesterday: "The water can no more hold
+my image...." That was, in a way, like challenging fate.... And as I
+passed by the pool, it was as if ... the water had retained her image
+just the same.
+
+JULIAN
+
+Is that true?
+
+SALA
+
+True ... or untrue ... what is that to me? It could be of interest to
+me only if I were to remain in this world another year--or another hour
+at least.
+
+JULIAN
+
+You mean to...?
+
+SALA
+
+Of course, I do. Would you expect me to wait for it? That would be
+rather painful, I think. (_To Julian, with a smile_) From whom are you
+now going to get your cues, my dear friend? Yes, it's all over now....
+And what has become of it?... Where are the _thermae_ of Caracalla?
+Where is the park at Lugano?... Where is my nice little house?... No
+nearer to me, and no farther away, than those marble steps leading down
+to mysterious depths.... Veils in front of everything.... Perhaps your
+son will discover if the three-hundred and twelfth be the last one--and
+if not, it won't give him much concern anyhow.... Don't you think he
+has been acting rather nicely?... I have somehow the impression that a
+better generation is growing up--with more poise and less
+brilliancy.--Send your regards to heaven, Julian.
+
+JULIAN (_makes a movement to accompany him_)
+
+SALA (_gently but firmly_)
+
+You stay here, Julian. This is the end of our dialogue. Farewell.
+(_He goes out quickly_)
+
+FELIX (_entering rapidly_)
+
+Is Mr. von Sala gone? My father wanted to talk to him.--And you are
+still here?... Why did Mr. von Sala go? What did he tell
+you?--Johanna...! Johanna...?
+
+JULIAN
+
+She is dead ... she has drowned herself in the pool.
+
+FELIX (_with a cry of dismay_)
+
+Where did he go?
+
+JULIAN
+
+I don't think you can find him.
+
+FELIX
+
+What is he doing?
+
+JULIAN
+
+He is paying ... while it's time....
+
+WEGRAT (_enters from the veranda_)
+
+FELIX (_runs to meet him_)
+
+Father....
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Felix! What has happened?
+
+FELIX
+
+We must go to Sala's house, father.
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Dead...?
+
+FELIX
+
+Father! (_He takes hold of Wegrat's hand and kisses it_) My
+father!
+
+JULIAN (_has left the room slowly in the meantime_)
+
+WEGRAT
+
+Must things of this kind happen to make that word sound as if I had
+heard it for the first time...?
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+INTERMEZZO
+
+(_Zwischenspiel_)
+
+A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS
+
+1904
+
+
+
+
+PERSONS
+
+
+AMADEUS ADAMS                  } A musical conductor
+
+CECILIA ADAMS-ORTENBURG        } His wife, an opera singer
+
+PETER                          } Their child, five years old
+
+ALBERT RHON
+
+MARIE                          } His wife
+
+SIGISMUND, PRINCE MARADAS-LOHSENSTEIN
+
+COUNTESS FREDERIQUE MOOSHEIM   } An opera singer
+
+GOVERNESS                      }
+                               } At the Adamses
+COUNT ARPAD PAZMANDY           }
+
+_The scene is laid in Vienna at the present day._
+
+
+
+
+INTERMEZZO
+
+THE FIRST ACT
+
+
+_The study of Amadeus. The walls are painted in dark gray, with a very
+simple frieze. A door in the background leads to a veranda. On either
+side of this door is a window. Through the door one sees the garden, to
+which three steps lead down from the veranda. A cabinet stands between
+the door and the window at the right; a music-stand holds a
+corresponding position to the left of the door. Antique bas-reliefs are
+hung above the cabinet as well as the stand. The main entrance is on
+the right side in the foreground. Farther back at the right is a door
+leading to Cecilia's room. A door finished like the rest of the wall
+leads to the room of Amadeus at the left. A tall book case, with a bust
+of Verrochio on top of it, stands against the right wall. In the corner
+back of it are several columns with tall vases full of flowers. A
+fireplace occupies the foreground at the left. Above it is a large
+mirror. On the mantelshelf stands a French clock of simple design. A
+table surrounded by chairs is placed in front of the fireplace. Farther
+back along the same wall are shelves piled with sheet music, and above
+them engravings of Schumann, Brahms, Mozart, and other composers. A
+bust of Beethoven occupies the farthermost corner at the left. Halfway
+down the stage, nearer the left wall, stands a piano with a piano stool
+in front of it. An armchair has been moved up close to the piano on the
+side toward the public. A writing desk holds a similar position at the
+right. Back of it are an easy-chair and a couch, the latter having been
+moved close to the table._
+
+
+AMADEUS (_thirty years old, slender, with dark, smooth hair; his
+movements are quick, with a suggestion of restlessness; he wears a gray
+business suit of elegant cut, but not well cared for; he has a trick of
+taking hold of the lapel of his sack coat with his left hand and
+turning it back; he is seated at the piano, accompanying Frederique_)
+
+FREDERIQUE (_twenty-eight, is dressed in a bright gray tailor-made suit
+and a red satin waist; wears a broad-brimmed straw hat, very
+fashionable; her hair is blonde, of a reddish tint; her whole
+appearance is very dainty; she is singing an aria from the opera
+"Mignon"_) "Ha-ha-ha! Is 't true, really true?" (_While singing she is
+all the time making a motion as if she were beating the dust out of her
+riding suit with a crop_)
+
+AMADEUS (_accompanying himself as he gives her the cue_) "Yes, you may
+laugh. I am a fool to ruin my horse ..."
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+"Maybe you would like ..."
+
+AMADEUS (_nervously_)
+
+Oh, wait!... You don't know yet why I have ruined my horse.... "To ruin
+my horse for a quicker sight of you ..."
+
+FREDERIQUE (_with the same gesture as before_)
+
+"Maybe you would like me to weep?"
+
+AMADEUS
+
+"Oh, I regret already that I came."
+
+FREDERIQUE (_as before_)
+
+"Well, why...."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+G sharp!
+
+FREDERIQUE (_as before_)
+
+"Well, why don't you go back? Soon enough I shall see you again."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You should say that ironically, not tenderly. "Soon enough I shall see
+you again...."
+
+FREDERIQUE (_as before_)
+
+"Soon enough I shall see you again...."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not angrily, Countess, but ironically.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Call me Frederique, and not Countess, when you are working with me.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Now, that's the tone Philine should use. Hold on to it.... And that's
+the right look, too.... If you could do that on the stage, you might
+almost be an artist.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Oh, mercy, I have sung Philine more than twenty times already.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But not here, Freder ... Countess. And not when Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg
+was singing the part of Mignon. (_He leans forward so that he can look
+out into the garden_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+No, she isn't coming yet. (_With a smile_) Perhaps the rehearsal isn't
+over.
+
+AMADEUS (_rising_)
+
+Perhaps not.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Is it true that Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg has been requested to sing in
+Berlin next Fall?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Nothing has been settled yet. (_He goes to the window at the right_) If
+you'll permit.... (_Opens the window_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+What a splendid day! And how fragrant the roses are. It is almost
+like....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Almost like Tremezzo--yes, I know.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+How can you--as you have never been there?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But you have told me enough about it. A villa standing at the edge of
+the water--radiantly white--with marble steps leading straight down to
+the blue sea.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Yes. And sometimes, on very hot nights, I sleep in the park, right on
+the sward, under a plane tree.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That plane tree is famous.--But time is flying. It would be better to
+go on with the singing. (_He seats himself at the piano again_) The
+polonaise--if you please, Countess. (_He begins the accompaniment_)
+
+FREDERIQUE (_singing_)
+
+    "Titania, airiest queen of fairies,
+    Has descended from her blue cloud throne,
+    And her way across the world is wending
+    More quickly than the bird or lightning flash..."
+
+AMADEUS (_interrupts his playing and lets his head sink forward_) No,
+no--it's no use!... Please tell the director that he will have to look
+after your part himself. As for me, I have certain regards even for
+people who go to the opera in Summer. They should not be forced to
+accept _anything_. Tell the director, please, that I send him my
+regards and that--there are more important things to occupy my time.
+(_He closes the score_)
+
+FREDERIQUE (_quite amicably_)
+
+I believe it. How's your opera getting along?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+For the Lord's sake, please don't pretend to be interested in things of
+that kind! Why, nobody expects it of you.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Will it soon be finished?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Finished...? How could it be, do you think? I have to conduct two
+nights a week at least, and there are rehearsals in the morning, not to
+mention singers that have to be coached.... Do you think a man can sit
+down after an hour like _this_ and invite his muse?
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+After an hour like _this_...? I don't think you feel quite at your
+ease with me, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not at my ease? I? With you?--I don't think you have imagined in your
+most reckless moments, Countess, that my wife might have anything to
+fear from you.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+You are determined to misunderstand me. (_She has gone to the fireplace
+and turns now to face Amadeus_) You know perfectly well why you pretend
+to be cross with me. Because you are in love with me.
+
+AMADEUS (_looks straight ahead and goes on playing_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+And that chord proves nothing to the contrary.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That chord.... Tell me rather what kind of chord it is. (_He repeats it
+in a fury_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+A flat major.
+
+AMADEUS (_in a tone of boredom_)
+
+G major--of course.
+
+FREDERIQUE (_close by him, with a smile_)
+
+Don't let that semi-tone spoil our happiness.
+
+AMADEUS (_rises, goes toward the background and looks out into the
+garden_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Is it your wife?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, my little boy is playing out there. (_He stands at the window,
+waving his hand at somebody outside; pause_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+You take life too hard, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS (_still at the window, but turning toward Frederique_) I can't
+lie--and I don't want to. Which is not the same as taking life hard.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Can't lie...? And yet you have been away from your wife for months at a
+time--haven't you? And your wife came here while you were still
+conducting somewhere abroad, didn't she?... So that....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Those are matters which you don't quite comprehend, Countess. (_He
+looks again toward the main entrance_)
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+No, your wife can't be here yet. She won't give up her walk on a
+wonderful day like this.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What you have in mind now is pretty mean, Frederique.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Why so? Of course, I know she takes a walk with you, too, now and then.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, when my time permits. And often she goes out with Sigismund.
+To-day she's probably with him--and that's what you wanted to bring
+home to me, of course.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Why should I? You know it, don't you? And I assure you, it has never
+occurred to me to see anything wrong in it. He's a friend of yours.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+More than that--or less. He used to be my pupil.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+I didn't know that.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Ten years ago, while still a mere youngster, I used to live in his
+father's palace. It's hard to tell where I might have been to-day, had
+it not been for old Prince Lohsenstein. You see, we men have generally
+another kind of youth to look back at than you ...
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+... women artists.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, countesses, I meant to say. For three years I spent every summer in
+the palace at Krumau.[1] And there--for the first time in my life--I
+could work in peace, all by myself, with nothing more to do than to
+instruct Sigismund.
+
+      [1] A small Bohemian city near the border of Upper Austria. On
+      a high rock, with a wonderful view along the river Moldau,
+      stands the Schwarzenberg castle, which the author seems to
+      have had in mind.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Did he want to become a pianist?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not exactly. He wanted to join some monastic order.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+No? Is that really true?--Oh, it's queer how people change!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+They don't as much as you think. He has remained a man of serious mind.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+And yet he plays dance music so charmingly...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why shouldn't he? A good waltz and a good hymn are just as acceptable
+to the powers above.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+How delightful those evenings in your house used to be! No farther back
+than last winter.... The Count and I frequently talk of them.--Have you
+ceased to invite Prince Sigismund, as you have me?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+He was here only a fortnight ago, my dear Countess--and spent the whole
+evening with us. We had supper in the summer-house, and then we came in
+here and sat chatting for a long while, and finally he improvised some
+variations on the Cagliostro Waltzes before he left.--And what my wife
+and he say to each other during their walk, when I am not with them,
+will no more be hidden from me than I would hide from her what you and
+I have been talking of here. That's how my wife and I feel toward each
+other--if you'll please understand, Frederique!
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+But there are things one simply _can't_ say to each other.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+There can be no secrets between people like my wife and myself.
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Oh, of course ... but then ... what you have been saying to me will be
+only a small part of what you must tell your wife to-day, Amadeus.
+Good-by.... (_She holds out her hand to him_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What's in your mind now, Frederique?
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+Why resist your fate? Is it so very repulsive after all? What you are
+to me, nobody else has ever been!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And you want me to believe that?
+
+FREDERIQUE
+
+I shall not insist on it. But it is true nevertheless. Good-by now.
+Until to-morrow, Amadeus. Life is really much easier than you think....
+It might be so very pleasant--and so it shall be! (_She goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_seats himself at the piano again and strikes a few notes_) It
+is getting serious ... or amusing perhaps...? (_He shakes his head_)
+
+ALBERT RHON (_enters; he is of medium height; his black hair, slightly
+streaked with gray, is worn long; he is rather carelessly dressed_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, is that you, Albert? How are you?
+
+ALBERT
+
+I have come to ask how you are getting along with our opera, Amadeus.
+Have you done anything?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Again nothing?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I doubt whether I can get a chance here. We'll have to wait until the
+season is over. I have too much to do. We are now putting on "Mignon"
+with new people in some of the parts....
+
+ALBERT
+
+If I'm not very much mistaken, I saw Philine float by--with a rather
+intoxicated look in her eyes.... Oh, have I put my foot into it again?
+I beg your pardon!
+
+AMADEUS (_turning away from him_)
+
+That's right. She was here. Oh, that damned business of private
+rehearsals! But I hope it won't last much longer. The coming Winter is
+going to decide my future once for all. I have already got my leave of
+absence.
+
+ALBERT
+
+So you have made up your mind about that tour?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, I shall be gone for two months this time.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Within Germany only?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I'll probably take in a few Italian cities also. Yes, my dear fellow,
+they know more about me abroad than here. I shall conduct my Third
+Symphony, and perhaps also my Fourth.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Have you got that far already?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No. But I have hopes of the Summer. Once more I mean to do some real
+work.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Well, it's about time.--I have made out the schedule for our walking
+tour, by the by. And I brought along the map. Look here. We start from
+Niederdorf, and then by way of Plaetzwiesen to Schluderbach; then to
+Cortina; then through the Giau Pass to Caprile; then by way of the
+Fedaja[2]....
+
+      [2] The names used in this passage occur a number of times in
+      the various plays, indicating that their author probably has
+      been drawing on experiences obtained during his own walking
+      tours through the Dolomites. As far as Cortina, the route is
+      identical with the one mentioned by _Wegrath_ in "The Lonely
+      Way." The Giau Pass is a little known footpath across Monte
+      Giau, showing that the intention of _Albert_ is to avoid the
+      routes frequented by tourists.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I leave all that to you. I rely entirely on you.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Then it's settled that we'll don knapsack and alpenstock once more, to
+wander through the country as we used to do when we were young...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, and I am looking forward to it with a great deal of pleasure.
+
+ALBERT
+
+You need simply to pull yourself together--a few weeks of mountain air
+and quiet will get you out of this.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, I haven't got into anything in particular. I am a little nervous.
+That's all.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Can't you see, Amadeus, how you have to force yourself in order to use
+this evasion toward me, who, of course, has no right whatever to demand
+any frankness? Can't you see how you are wasting a part of your mental
+energy, so to speak, on this slight disingenuousness? No, dissimulation
+is utterly foreign to your nature, as I have always told you. If you
+should ever get to the point where you had to deceive one who was near
+and dear to you, that would be the end of you.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Your worry is quite superfluous! Haven't you known us long enough--me
+and Cecilia--to know that our marriage is based, above all else, on
+absolute frankness?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Many have good intentions, but their courage often deserts them at the
+critical moment.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+We have never yet kept anything hidden from each other.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Because so far you have had nothing to confess.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, a great deal, perhaps, which other people keep to themselves. Our
+common life has not been without its complications. We have had to be
+parted from each other for months at a time. I have had to rehearse
+in private with other singers than Philine, and (_with an air of
+superiority_) other men than Prince Sigismund must have discovered that
+Cecilia is pretty.
+
+ALBERT
+
+I haven't said a word about Cecilia.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And besides, it would be quite hopeless for Cecilia or me to keep any
+secrets. We know each other too well--I don't think two people ever
+existed who understood each other so completely as we do.
+
+ALBERT
+
+I can imagine a point where the understanding would have to end, and
+everything else with it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Everything else maybe--but not the understanding.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Oh, well! If nothing is left but the understanding, that means the
+beginning of the end.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Those are--chances that every human being must resign himself to take.
+
+ALBERT
+
+You don't talk like one who has resigned himself, however, but like one
+who has made up his mind.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Who can be perfectly sure of himself or of anybody else? We two, at any
+rate, are not challenging fate by feeling too secure.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Oh, when it comes to that, my dear fellow--fate always regards itself
+challenged--by doubt no less than by confidence.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+To be safe against any surprise brings a certain sense of tranquillity
+anyhow.
+
+ALBERT
+
+A little more tranquillity would produce a decision to avoid anything
+that might endanger an assured happiness.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Do you think anything is to be won by that kind of avoidance? Don't you
+feel rather, that the worst and most dangerous of all falsehoods is to
+resist temptation with a soul full of longing for it? And that it is
+easier to go unscathed through adventures than through desires?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Adventures...! Is it actually necessary, then, to live through them? A
+painter who has risen above pot-boiling, and who has left the follies
+of youth behind him, can be satisfied with a single model for all the
+figures that are created out of his dreams--and one who knows how to
+live may have all the adventures he could ever desire within the
+peaceful precincts of his own home. He can experience them just as
+fully as anybody else, but without waste of time, without
+unpleasantness, without danger. And if he only possess a little
+imagination, his wife may bear him nothing but illegitimate children
+without being at all aware of it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It's an open question whether you have the right to force such a part
+on anybody whom you respect.
+
+ALBERT
+
+It is not wise to let people know what they mean to you. I have put
+this thought into an aphorism:
+
+    If you grasp me, you rasp me;
+    If I know you, I own you.
+
+MARIE (_entering from the garden with little Peter_)
+
+Peter wants me absolutely to come in. I wanted to wait for Cecilia in
+the garden.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+How are you, Marie?
+
+MARIE
+
+I'm not disturbing you, I hope?
+
+GOVERNESS (_comes from the garden with the intention of taking the boy
+away_) Peter!
+
+PETER
+
+No, I want to stay with the grown-ups.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, let him be with us for a while.
+
+GOVERNESS (_returns to the veranda, where she remains visible_)
+
+MARIE
+
+Well, have you been working a lot?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, we have just been talking.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Do you know why she asks? Because she is in love with Mr. von Rabagas.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+With whom?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Don't you remember him? He's that interesting young chap who appears in
+the first act as one of the King's attendants. She used, at least, to
+fall in love only with the heroes of my plays, but nowadays she can't
+even resist the subordinate characters.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That should make you proud.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Proud, you say? But at times you can't help regretting that you must
+put all the beauties and virtues of the world into the figures you
+create, so that you have nothing but your wee bit of talent left to get
+along with personally.
+
+CECILIA (_enters from the right_)
+
+PETER
+
+There's mamma!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Good afternoon. (_She shakes hands with everybody_) How are you, Marie?
+This is awfully nice. If I had only known.... I went for a short walk.
+It's such a wonderful day.--Well, Peter (_kissing him_), have you had
+your meal yet?
+
+PETER
+
+Yes.
+
+GOVERNESS (_entering from the veranda_)
+
+Good afternoon, Madame. Peter hasn't had his nap yet.
+
+MARIE
+
+Does he still have to sleep in the daytime? Our two children have quit
+entirely.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Instead they play a most exciting game every afternoon--one invented by
+themselves. They call it "drums and bugles."
+
+MARIE
+
+You must come and see us soon, Peter, so that you can learn to play
+that game.
+
+PETER
+
+I've got a music-box, and I'll take it along so we can make more noise.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Now you have to go. But first you must say good-by nicely.
+
+PETER
+
+I'll say "adieu." Good-by is so common.
+
+[_Everybody laughs. Peter goes out with the Governess. Marie and
+Cecilia move slowly toward the fireplace and sit down in front of it._
+
+MARIE
+
+Of course, I have come to ask for something.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, go on.
+
+MARIE
+
+There's to be a concert at which they want you to assist.
+
+CECILIA
+
+This season?
+
+MARIE
+
+Yes. But it will be in the country, not in the city ... for a
+charitable purpose, of course. The committee would be so happy if you
+would sing two or three songs.
+
+CECILIA
+
+I think I can.
+
+MARIE
+
+And I shall feel very grateful, too.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Don't you find undertakings of that kind a lot of trouble?
+
+MARIE
+
+Well, you must have something to do. If I had any gifts like the rest
+of you, I am sure I should never bother with "people's kitchens" or
+"charitable teas"--and then, I suppose, I should feel more indifferent
+about people, too.
+
+CECILIA (_with a smile_)
+
+About _people_, too?
+
+MARIE
+
+Oh, I didn't mean it that way.
+
+ALBERT
+
+You see, Marie, there is something like the charm of meadows and fields
+in your sweet prattle, and you should never desert it for the thickets
+of psychological speculations.--Come on, child. These people want their
+dinner.
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, we won't eat for an hour yet.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+We generally work a little before we eat. To-day we might run through
+the songs for that concert, for instance.
+
+CECILIA
+
+That would suit me perfectly.
+
+MARIE
+
+Oh, I feel _so_ thankful to you, Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA
+
+And when shall we see each other again?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Oh, that reminds me! We have just been talking about the Summer.
+Amadeus and I mean to go on a walking tour. How would it be if you two
+were to go somewhere with the children--some place in the Tirol,
+say--and wait for us there?
+
+MARIE
+
+Oh, that would be fine!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Did you hear that, Amadeus?
+
+AMADEUS (_who has been standing a little way off_)
+
+Certainly. It would be very nice.... You can wait for us in the Tirol.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Could you come and see me to-morrow afternoon, Marie? Then we might
+settle the matter.
+
+MARIE
+
+Yes, indeed. I am always glad when you can spare me a little of your
+time.--Until to-morrow, then!
+
+ALBERT
+
+Good-by. (_He and Marie go out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_is walking to and fro_)
+
+CECILIA (_who is sitting on the couch, follows him with her eyes_)
+
+AMADEUS (_after a turn to the window and back, speaking in a peculiarly
+dry tone_) Well, how did it go? Have you got the finale into shape at
+last?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, in a manner.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+The day before yesterday it had not yet been brought up to the proper
+level. I find, for one thing, that they don't let you assert yourself
+sufficiently. Your voice should be floating above the rest, instead of
+being submerged in the crowd.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Won't you come to the rehearsal to-morrow--just once more--if you can
+spare the time?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Would it please you...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I always feel more certain of myself when you are within reach. You
+know that, don't you?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes--I'll come. I'll call off my appointments with Neumann and the
+Countess.
+
+CECILIA
+
+If it isn't too great a sacrifice....
+
+AMADEUS (_with assumed brusqueness_)
+
+Oh, I can make her come in the afternoon.
+
+CECILIA
+
+But then there will be no time left for your _own_ work. No, better let
+it be.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What had we better let be?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Don't come to the rehearsal to-morrow.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Just as you say, Cecilia. I won't intrude, of course. But a moment ago
+you said that you felt more certain of yourself when I was within
+reach. And as far as my work is concerned, I don't think--Albert and I
+were just talking of it--nothing will come of it until the season is
+over.
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's what I suspected.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But during the summer I'll complete my Fourth. I must have something
+new to conduct this year. And it's only a question of the final
+passages, for that matter. All the rest is as good as finished--in my
+mind at least.
+
+CECILIA
+
+It's a long time since you let me hear anything of it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It hasn't quite reached the point where it can be played. But, of
+course, you know the principal themes ... the Allegro ... and then the
+Intermezzo.... (_He goes to the piano and strikes a few notes_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+So you are going next November?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, for three months.
+
+CECILIA
+
+And during October I shall be in Berlin.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh ... is there any news in that matter?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes, I have practically closed. Reichenbach came to see me at the
+opera-house. I'm to appear in three parts. As Carmen under all
+circumstances. The other two are left to my own choice.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And what do you...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Tatyana,[3] I suppose. I have heard that they have such a splendid
+Onyegin.
+
+      [3] Tatyana and Onyegin are characters in the opera "Eugene
+      Onyegin," by Tschaikovsky, which is founded on Pushkin's
+      famous poem of the same name.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, Wedius. I know him. He was in Dresden when I was there.--Carmen,
+then, and Tatyana, and...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I am still considering.... Perhaps we might talk it over?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Of course. (_Pause_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+It's going to be a busy Winter.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Rather. We won't see much of each other.
+
+CECILIA
+
+We'll have to correspond.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+As we have done before.
+
+CECILIA
+
+We're used to it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes. (_Pause_) Tell me by the way: do you actually want to assist at
+that charity concert?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why not? I couldn't say no to Marie. Have you any objection?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No--why should I? But we might use the half hour that's left to go over
+something. (_He goes to the music-stand_) What do you want to sing?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, something of yours, for one thing ...
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, no, no.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why not?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+There's nothing within yourself that prompts you to sing it anyhow.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Just as you say, Amadeus.--I don't want to intrude either.
+
+AMADEUS (_bending forward and searching among the music_) How would
+Schumann be--"The Snow-drop?" Or ... "Old Melodies" ... and "Love
+Betrayed"....
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes. And perhaps von Wolf's "Concealment," and something by Brahms. "No
+more to meet you, was my firm decision...."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, I was just holding it in my hand. (_As if casually, and very
+dryly_) So you went for a walk with Sigismund after all?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes. He sent his regards to you.
+
+AMADEUS (_smiling_)
+
+Did he? (_As he brings the music sheets to the piano_) Why doesn't he
+come here instead?
+
+CECILIA
+
+One of the things I like about him is that he won't.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Is that so?--Oh, well!--I'll send him my regards, too. But it's really
+too bad that he won't come here any more. It was very nice to hear him
+play his waltzes--those evenings were really very pleasant.... I just
+happened to mention them to the Countess this afternoon.
+
+CECELIA
+
+Oh, you did?--And I have just seen her picture.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Her picture?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I went with Sigismund to the Art Gallery.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh.--They tell me it's a great success.
+
+CECILIA
+
+It would be a wonder if it were not. The artist spent six months on it,
+they say....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Is that too much for a good picture?
+
+CECELIA
+
+No, but for the Countess.--She will probably sing Philine pretty well,
+by the way.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You think so? I fear you are mistaken.... (_Pause_) Well, Cecilia, what
+were you talking of to-day--you and Sigismund?
+
+CECILIA
+
+What were we talking of...? (_Pause_) It's so hard to recall the
+words.... (_As she goes slowly to the fireplace_) And they have such a
+different sound when recalled in that way.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+True indeed. (_Coming nearer to her_) And I don't suppose it's the
+words that matter.... Well, Cecilia, can it be possible that you have
+nothing more to tell me?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nothing _more_...? (_Hesitatingly_) Don't you think, Amadeus, that many
+things actually change character when you try to put them into words?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not for people like us.
+
+CECILIA
+
+That may have been true once. But ... you know as well as I do ... that
+things are no longer as they used to be.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not quite, perhaps. I know. But this shouldn't be a reason for either
+one of us to refuse telling the other one. Scruples of that kind would
+be unworthy of ourselves. This is _we_, Cecilia--you and me! So you may
+tell me fearlessly what you have to tell.
+
+CECILIA (_rising_)
+
+Don't try to encourage me, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well...?
+
+CECILIA (_remains silent_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Do you love him?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Do I love him...?
+
+AMADEUS (_urgently_)
+
+Cecilia...!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Am I to tell you _more_ than I think is true? Wouldn't that be a lie,
+too--as good or as bad as any other one?... No, I don't think I love
+him. It is nothing like it was when I became acquainted with you,
+Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+_That_ time is long past.--And you have probably forgotten what it was
+like. On the whole, it must be the same thing, I suppose. Only you have
+grown a little older since then, and you have been living with me for
+seven years.... No matter how far apart we may have been, you have been
+living _with me_--and we have a child....
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, perhaps that's what makes the difference--but there _is_ a
+difference.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What really matters is nothing new, however. You feel attracted to him,
+don't you?
+
+CECILIA (_speaking with genuine feeling and almost tenderly_)
+
+But perhaps there is still something that holds back--that could hold
+me back, if it only wanted.
+
+AMADEUS (_after a pause, brusquely_)
+
+But it doesn't want to ... it doesn't dare to want it. What sense could
+there be in it? Perhaps I might prove the stronger to-day--and the next
+time, perhaps--but sooner or later the day must come nevertheless, when
+I should suffer defeat.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why?... It ought not to be necessary!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And then, even if I remained victorious every time--could that be
+called happiness for which I must fight repeatedly and tremble all the
+time? Could that be called happiness in our case, who have known what
+is so much better?... No, Cecilia, our love should not be permitted to
+end in mutual distrust. I don't hold you, Cecilia, if you are attracted
+elsewhere--and you have known all the time that I would never hold you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Maybe you are right, Amadeus. But is it pride alone that makes you let
+me slip away so easily?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Is it love alone that brings you back when almost gone? (_Pause; he
+goes to the window_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why should we spoil these hours with bitterness, Amadeus? After all, we
+have nothing to reproach each other for. We have promised to be honest
+with each other, and _my_ word has been kept so far.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And so has mine. If you want it, I can tell you exactly what I and the
+Countess talked of to-day, as I have always done. And for _me_,
+Cecilia, it will even be possible to recall the very words.
+
+CECILIA (_looking long at him_)
+
+I know enough. (_Pause_)
+
+AMADEUS (_walking to and fro until he stops some distance away from
+her_) And what next?
+
+CECILIA
+
+What next...? Perhaps it's just as well that our vacations are soon to
+begin. Then we may consider in peace, each one by himself, what is to
+come next.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It seems almost as if both of us should have expected this very thing.
+We have made no common plans for the summer, although we have always
+done so before.
+
+CECILIA
+
+The best thing for me is probably to go with the boy to some quiet
+place in the Tirol ... as you and Albert suggested.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes.
+
+CECILIA
+
+And you...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I...? I shall make that walking tour with Albert. I want to be
+scrambling about in the mountains once more.
+
+CECILIA
+
+And finally descend into some beautiful valley--is that what you mean?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That--might happen.
+
+CECILIA (_dryly_)
+
+But _first_--we should have to bid each other definite good-by, as
+there is no return from _that_ place.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Of course, there isn't! No more than from your place.
+
+CECILIA
+
+From mine...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, it might happen that you felt inclined to ... change your plans ...
+and instead of staying with Marie ... prefer the undisturbed ...
+
+CECILIA
+
+I won't change my plans. And you had better not change yours.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If that be your wish....
+
+CECILIA
+
+It is my wish. (_Pause_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Can it be possible that now, all at once, the moment should have come?
+
+CECILIA
+
+What moment?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well--the one we used to foresee in our happiest days even--the one we
+have expected as something almost inevitable.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes, it has come. We know now that everything is over.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Over...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's what we have been talking of all the time, I suppose.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, you are right. At bottom it is better that we put it into plain
+words at last. Our moods have been rather too precarious lately.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Everything will be improved now.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Improved...? Why?... Oh, of course ... perhaps you are right. I feel
+almost as if things had already begun to improve. It's strange, but ...
+one ... seems to breathe more freely.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes, Amadeus, now we are reaping the reward of always having been
+honest. Think how exhausted most people would be in a moment like
+this--by all sorts of painful evasions, labored truces, and pitifully
+sentimental reconciliations. Think of the hostile spirit in which they
+would be facing each other during their moment of belated candor. We
+two, Amadeus--we shall at least be able to part as friends. (_Pause_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And our boy?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Is he your sole worry?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, there are many things. How is it going to be arranged anyhow?
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's what we shall have to discuss carefully during the next few
+days--before we go away. Until then everything must remain as before.
+It can perfectly well remain as it has been during the last year. That
+involves no wrong to anybody. (_Pause_)
+
+AMADEUS (_seats himself at the piano; the ensuing pause is laden with
+apprehension; then he begins to play the same theme--a Capriccio--which
+was heard earlier during the scene_)
+
+CECILIA (_who has been approaching the door to the veranda, turns about
+to listen_)
+
+AMADEUS (_stops abruptly_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why don't you go on?
+
+AMADEUS (_laughs quickly, nervously_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+Wasn't that the Intermezzo?
+
+AMADEUS (_nods_)
+
+CECILIA (_still at some distance from him_)
+
+Have you made up your mind what you are going to call it? Is it to be
+_Capriccio_?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Perhaps _Capriccio doloroso_. It is peculiar how one often fails to
+understand one's own ideas to begin with. The hidden sadness of that
+theme has been revealed to me by you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, you would have discovered it yourself, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Maybe. (_Pause_) And whom will you get for the studying of your parts
+next year?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, I'll always find somebody. Those numbers for the concert--you'll
+help me with those just the same, won't you? And I hope you'll be kind
+enough to give me the accompaniment at the concert too.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That's a foregone conclusion.--But I should really like to know who is
+to assist you with your studies after this.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Do you regard that as the most important problem to be solved?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, of course not. The less so, as I don't quite see why I shouldn't go
+on helping you as before.
+
+CECILIA (_with a smile_)
+
+Oh, you think...? But then we should have to agree on hours and
+conditions.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That was not meant as a joke, Cecilia. Seeing that we are parting in a
+spirit of perfect understanding, why shouldn't such an arrangement be
+considered tentatively at least?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Those things will probably settle themselves later on.... That we ...
+that you play my accompaniment at a concert ... or help me to study a
+part....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why later on?... (_He rises and stands leaning against the piano_)
+There can be no reasonable ground for changing our musical
+relationships. I think both of us would suffer equally from doing so.
+Without overestimating myself, I don't think it likely that you can
+find a better coach than I am. And as for my compositions, I don't
+know of anybody who could understand them better--with whom I would
+rather discuss them than with you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+And yet that's what you will have to come to.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I can't see it. After all, we have nobody else to consider--at least, I
+have not.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nor have I. I shall know how to preserve my freedom.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, then...?!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nevertheless, Amadeus.... That we must meet and talk is made necessary
+by our positions, of course.... But even in regard to our work things
+cannot possibly remain as hitherto. I'm sure you must realize that.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I can't see it. And--leaving our artistic relations entirely
+aside--there is much else to be considered--things of more importance.
+Our boy, Cecilia. Why should the youngster all at once be made
+fatherless, so to speak?
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's entirely out of the question. We must come to an understanding,
+of course.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+An understanding, you say. But why make difficulties that could be
+avoided by a little good-will? The boy is mine as much as yours. Why
+shouldn't we continue to bring him up together?
+
+CECILIA
+
+You suggest things that simply can't be done.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I don't feel like you about that.--On the contrary! The more I consider
+our situation calmly, the more irrational it seems to me that we should
+part ways like any ordinary divorced couple ... that we should give up
+the beautiful home we have in common....
+
+CECILIA
+
+Now you are dreaming again, Amadeus!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+We have been such good chums besides. And so we might remain, I think.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, of course, we shall.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, then! The things that bind us together are so compelling, after
+all, that any new experiences brought by our freedom must seem
+absolutely unessential in comparison. Don't you realize that as I do?
+And _we_ shouldn't have to consider what people may say. I think we
+have the right to place ourselves on a somewhat higher level. In the
+last instance, we must always belong together, even if a single tie
+should be severed among the hundreds that unite us. Or are we all of a
+sudden to forget what we have been to each other--as well as what we
+may and should be to each other hereafter? One thing remains certain:
+that no one else will ever understand you as I do, and no one me as
+you do.... And that's what counts in the end! So why shouldn't we....
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, it's impossible! Not because of the people. They concern me as
+little as they do you. But for our own sake.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+For our own sake...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+You see, there is one thing you forget: that, beginning with to-day,
+we shall have _secrets_ to keep from each other. Who knows how
+many--or how heavy they may prove?... But even the least of them must
+come between us like a veil.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Secrets...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, Cecilia.
+
+CECILIA
+
+What do you mean?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That's exactly what must not happen.
+
+CECILIA
+
+But--Amadeus!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+There must never be any secrets between us two. Everything depends on
+that--you are right to that extent. But why should there be any secrets
+between us? Remember that after to-day we shall no longer be man and
+wife, but chums--just chums, who can hide nothing from each other--who
+must not hide anything. Or is that more than you dare?
+
+CECILIA
+
+More than I dare...? Of course not.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+All right. We'll discuss everything frankly, just as we have been
+doing--nay, we shall have more things than ever to discuss. Truth
+becomes now the natural basis of our continued relationship--truth
+without any reservation whatsoever. And that should prove highly
+profitable, not only to our mutual relationship, but to each one of us
+individually. Because ... you don't think, do you, that either one of
+us could find a better chum than the other one?... Now we shall bring
+our joys and sorrows to each other. We shall be as good friends as
+ever, if not better still. And our hands shall be joined, even if
+chasms open between us. And thus we shall keep all that we have had in
+common hitherto: our work, our child, our home--all that we must
+continue to have in common if it is to retain its full value to both of
+us. And we shall gain many new things for which both of us have
+longed--things in which I could take no pleasure, by the way, if I had
+to lose you.
+
+CECILIA (_drops him a curtsey_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That's how you feel, too, Cecilia. I am sure of it. We simply cannot
+live without each other. I certainly cannot live without you.--And how
+about you?
+
+CECILIA
+
+It's quite likely I should find it a little difficult.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Then we agree, Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA
+
+You think so...?!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia! (_He suddenly draws her closer to himself_)
+
+CECILIA (_with new hope lighting her glance_)
+
+What are you doing?
+
+AMADEUS (_putting his arms about her_)
+
+I now bid good-by to my beloved.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Forever.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Forever. (_Pressing her hand_) And now I am welcoming my friend.
+
+CECILIA
+
+For all time to come--nothing but your friend.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+For all time...? Of course!
+
+CECILIA (_draws a deep breath_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, Cecilia, don't you feel much easier all at once?
+
+CECILIA
+
+The whole thing seems very strange to me--like a dream almost.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+There is nothing strange about it. Nothing could possibly be simpler or
+more sensible. Life goes right on ... and all is well.... Come on,
+Cecilia--let us run through those songs.
+
+CECILIA
+
+What songs...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Don't you care?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, why not?--With pleasure....
+
+AMADEUS (_seating himself at the piano_)
+
+Really, I can't tell you how happy this makes me! There has practically
+been no change whatever. The uneasiness alone is gone ... that
+uneasiness of the last few weeks.... I have not had a very happy time
+lately. The sky has seemed so black above our house--and not only
+above _ours_. Now the clouds are vanishing. The whole world has
+actually grown light again. And I am going to write a symphony--oh, a
+symphony...!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Everything in due time.... Just now let us have one of those songs at
+least.... Oh, that one...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Don't you want it?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, as it's there already....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Now, then--I start. (_He strikes the first chord_) Please don't put a
+lot of sentimentality into the opening words. They should be reserved
+and ponderous.
+
+CECILIA (_singing_)
+
+"No more to meet you was my firm...."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Very fine.
+
+CECILIA
+
+O Amadeus!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What is it?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I am afraid you will become too lenient now.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Lenient...? You know perfectly well that, as artist considered, you
+have no rival in my eyes, and will never have one.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Really, Amadeus, you shouldn't be flirting with all your pupils.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I have the greatest respect for you.--Now let's go in!
+
+CECILIA
+
+"No more to meet...."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What's the matter?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nothing. I haven't tried to sing anything like this for a long time. Go
+right on!
+
+AMADEUS (_begins playing again_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+"No more to meet you was my firm and sworn decision, and yet when
+evening comes, I...."
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND ACT
+
+
+_The same room as in the previous act. It is an evening in October.
+The stage is dark. Marie and the chambermaid enter together. The maid
+turns on the light._
+
+
+MARIE
+
+Thank you.--But if your mistress is tired, please tell her she mustn't
+let me disturb her.
+
+CHAMBERMAID
+
+She hasn't arrived yet. She's not expected until this evening.
+
+AMADEUS (_enters from the right, with hat and overcoat on_) Who is
+it?... Oh, is it you, Marie! Glad to see you. Have you been here long?
+
+MARIE
+
+No, I just got here. I meant to call on Cecilia, but I hear....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Then you can keep me company waiting for her. (_Handing overcoat and
+hat to the maid_) Please take these.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I have also just got home. I had to do a lot of errands. I start the
+day after to-morrow.
+
+MARIE
+
+So soon!--That'll be a short reunion.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes.--Won't you sit down, please? (_Looking at his watch_)
+Cecilia should be here in an hour.
+
+MARIE
+
+She has had a tremendous success again.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I should say so! Look here--the telegram I got this morning. (_He
+takes it from the writing desk and hands it to Marie_) It refers to
+her final appearance last night.
+
+MARIE
+
+Oh.... Twenty-seven curtain calls...!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What?... Naw! That flourish belongs to the preceding word. Seven only!
+Otherwise she wouldn't be coming to-day.
+
+MARIE (_reading again_)
+
+"Have new offer on brilliant terms."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+On _brilliant_ terms!
+
+MARIE
+
+Then I suppose she'll do it at last?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Do what?
+
+MARIE
+
+Settle down in Berlin for good.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, it isn't certain. "Have offer," she says, and not "have accepted
+offer." No, we'll have to talk it over first.
+
+MARIE
+
+Really?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Of course. We consult each other about everything, my dear Marie--just
+as we used to do. And in a much more impersonal spirit than before. As
+far as I am concerned, I shall be quite free next year, and have no
+more reason to live in Vienna than in Berlin or in America.
+
+MARIE
+
+But it will be dreadful for me if Cecilia goes away.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, these successes abroad may possibly force the people here to
+understand what they have in Cecilia, and to act accordingly.
+
+MARIE
+
+I hope so.--Besides, I think really that Cecilia has developed a great
+deal lately. To me her voice seems fuller and richer--with more soul to
+it, I might say.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, don't you think so? That's my feeling, too.
+
+MARIE
+
+But how she _does_ work! It had never occurred to me that a finished
+artist might be so industrious.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Might, you say? Must, you should say.
+
+MARIE
+
+Last summer, when I came out mornings in the garden to play with my
+children, she would be practicing already--just like a young student.
+With absolute regularity, from nine until a quarter of ten. Then again
+before lunch, from twelve to half past. And finally another half hour
+in the evening.... If the weather was good or bad; if she was in good
+spirits or....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Or...?
+
+MARIE
+
+She was always in good spirits for that matter. I don't think anything
+in the world could have kept her from practicing those runs and trills.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, that's her way. Nothing in the world could keep her from.... But
+then, what could there be to keep her from it last Summer? In that
+rustic retreat of yours, where you didn't see anybody ... or hardly
+anybody....
+
+MARIE
+
+Nobody at all.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, you received a call now and then--or Cecilia did, at least.
+
+MARIE
+
+Oh, I see. You mean--Prince Sigismund. He could hardly be said to call.
+
+AMADEUS (_smilingly, with an appearance of unconcern_)
+
+Why not?
+
+MARIE
+
+He merely whisked by on his wheel.
+
+AMADEUS (_as before_)
+
+Oh, he must at least have stopped to lean against a tree for a few
+moments. He must even have taken time enough--and I am mighty glad he
+did--to photograph the little house in which you were living. (_He
+takes from the desk a small framed photograph and hands it to Marie,
+who is seated on the couch_)
+
+MARIE (_surprised_)
+
+And you have that standing on your writing desk?
+
+AMADEUS (_slightly puzzled_)
+
+Why shouldn't I?
+
+MARIE (_studying the photograph_)
+
+Just as it was--Cecilia and I sitting on the bench there--yes. And
+there's the hazel by the garden fence.... How it does bring back the
+memory of that beautiful, warm Summer day...
+
+AMADEUS (_bending over the desk to look at the picture_)
+
+I can make out you and Cecilia, but those three boys puzzle me
+hopelessly.
+
+MARIE
+
+In what way...? That's little Peter, who is doing like this ... (_She
+blinks_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, is that it?
+
+MARIE
+
+And that's Max--and he with the hoop is Mauritz.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+So that's a hoop?... I took it for one of those cabins used by the
+watchmen along the railroad. The background comes out much better. The
+landscape actually looks as if steeped in Summer and stillness....
+(_Brief pause_)
+
+MARIE
+
+It was really nice. The deep shadows of the woods right back of the
+house, and that view of the mountain peaks--oh, marvelous! And then the
+seclusion.... It's too bad that you never had a look at that darling
+place. We thought ... Cecilia did expect you after all....
+
+AMADEUS (_has risen and is walking to and fro_)
+
+I don't believe it.... And it didn't prove feasible, for that matter.
+The pull of the South was still on me.
+
+MARIE (_smiling_)
+
+You call that the South?
+
+AMADEUS (_smiling also_)
+
+Oh, Marie!
+
+MARIE (_a little embarrassed_)
+
+I hope you're not offended?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why should I be? I didn't make a secret of my whereabouts to anybody.
+
+MARIE (_confidentially_)
+
+Albert told me about the villa, and the park, and the marble steps....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+So he gave you all those details? And yet he wasn't there more than an
+hour.
+
+MARIE
+
+I think he intends to use the park for his last act.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Is that so? If he would only bring it to me... I mean the last act. I
+want to take it with me on my tour.
+
+MARIE
+
+Do you think you'll find time to work?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why not? I am always working. And I have never in my life been more
+eager about it. I, too, am having a brilliant period. For years I
+have not been doing better. And I am no less industrious than Cecilia.
+With the difference that regular hours are not in my line--nine to
+nine-forty-five, twelve to twelve-thirty, and so on. But you ask
+Albert! When he threw himself on the bed exhausted, in that inn at the
+Fedaja Pass, I sat down and finished the instrumentation for the
+_Capriccio_ in my Fourth.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_enters with a couple of letters and goes out again_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You'll pardon me, my dear Marie?
+
+MARIE
+
+Please don't mind me. (_She rises_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+A letter from Cecilia, written yesterday, before the performance. I
+have had letters like this every day.
+
+MARIE
+
+Go right on and read it, please.
+
+AMADEUS (_having opened the letter_)
+
+Oh, there's plenty of time. In another hour Cecilia will be telling me
+all that's in it.... (_He opens the other letter, runs through it, and
+flings it away_) How stupid people are ... _how_ stupid! ... Ugh! And
+mean! (_He glances through Cecilia's letter once more_) Cecilia writes
+me about a reception at the house of the Director.... Sigismund was
+there, too. Yes, you know, of course, that Sigismund has been in
+Berlin?
+
+MARIE (_embarrassed_)
+
+I ... I thought ... Or rather, I knew ...
+
+AMADEUS (_with an air of superiority_)
+
+Well, well--there is no cause for embarrassment in that. Don't you
+consider the Prince an uncommonly sympathetic person?
+
+MARIE
+
+Yes, he's very pleasant. But I can assure you, Amadeus, that he came
+only once to our place in the Pustertal,[4] and he didn't stay more
+than two hours.
+
+      [4] A valley along the river Rienz, marking the northern
+      limit of the Dolomite ranges in the Tirol.
+
+AMADEUS (_laughing_)
+
+And what if he had stayed a week...? Really, Marie, you're very funny!
+
+MARIE (_shyly_)
+
+May I tell you something?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Anything you want, Marie.
+
+MARIE
+
+I'm convinced that you two will find each other again in spite of all.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Find each other...? Who should? Cecilia and I? (_He rises_) Find each
+other? (_He walks to and fro, but stops finally near Marie_) A
+sensible woman like you, Marie--you ought to understand that Cecilia
+and I have never lost each other in any way. I think it's very
+singular.... (_He strolls back and forth again_) Oh, you must
+understand that the relationship between her and me is so
+beautiful--that now only it has become such that we couldn't imagine
+anything more satisfactory. We don't have to find each other again!
+Look here now--here are her letters. She has been writing me from
+eight to twelve pages every day--frank, exhaustive letters, as you can
+only write them to a friend--or rather, only to your very best friend.
+It is simply impossible to imagine a finer relationship.
+
+ALBERT (_entering from the right_)
+
+Good evening.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You're rather late in getting here.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Good evening, Marie. (_He pats her patronizingly on the cheek_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+There will hardly be time for work now. Cecilia will be here very soon.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Oh, we can always put in half an hour. I have brought along some notes
+for the third act.
+
+MARIE
+
+I think I shall go home, as the boys will be expecting me soon.
+
+ALBERT
+
+All right, child, you go on home.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why don't you stay instead? I am sure Cecilia will be glad to see you.
+And then Albert can take you home. You might get Peter to entertain you
+in the meantime.... Or would you prefer to stay here and listen?
+
+ALBERT
+
+No, child, you had better go in to Peter. Especially as Mr. von Rabagas
+doesn't appear in the third act--so you won't be losing much.
+
+MARIE
+
+I'll leave you alone. Bye-bye! (_She goes out_)
+
+ALBERT
+
+Now let's fall to! (_He brings out some notes from one of his pockets
+and begins to read_) "The stage shows an open stretch of rolling
+ground that slopes gradually toward the footlights. In the background
+stands a villa, with marble steps leading up to it. Still farther
+back, the sea can be felt rather than seen." (_Bowing to Amadeus_) "A
+tall plane tree in full leaf stands in the center of the stage."
+
+AMADEUS (_laughing_)
+
+So you have got it there?
+
+ALBERT
+
+It's meant as a compliment to you.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Many thanks.
+
+ALBERT (_after a pause_)
+
+Tell me, Amadeus, is it actually true that the Count has become
+reconciled with the Countess after his duel with the painter?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I don't know. For a good long while I haven't seen the Countess except
+at the opera. (_He rises and begins walking to and fro again_)
+
+ALBERT (_shaking his head_)
+
+There's something uncanny about that affair.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why? I think it's quite commonplace. A husband who has discovered his
+wife's (_sarcastically_) "disloyalty"....
+
+ALBERT
+
+That wasn't the point. But that he discovers it only six months too
+late, when his wife is already deceiving him with another man.--There
+would have been nothing peculiar about the Count having a fight with
+you. But the case is much more complicated. Here we have a young man
+all but killed because of an affair that is long past. And in the
+meantime you are left perfectly unmolested--or have been so far, at
+least.
+
+AMADEUS (_walking as before_)
+
+ALBERT
+
+Do you know, what I almost regret--looking at it from a higher
+viewpoint? That the painter is not a man of genius ... and that the
+Count hasn't _really_ killed him. That would have put something
+tremendously tragi-comical into the situation. And that's what would
+have happened, if ... _he up there_ had a little more wit....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+How? What do you mean by that?
+
+ALBERT
+
+I mean, if I had been writing the play....
+
+AMADEUS (_makes a movement as if hearing some noise outside_)
+
+ALBERT
+
+What is it?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I thought I heard a carriage, but it was nothing. (_He looks at his
+watch_) And it wouldn't be possible yet.... You read on, please.
+(_Once more he begins walking back and forth_)
+
+ALBERT
+
+You're very preoccupied. I'll rather come back to-morrow morning.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, go on. I am not at all....
+
+ALBERT (_rising_)
+
+Let me tell you something, Amadeus. If it would please you--and it
+would be all one to me, you know--I could go with you.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Where?... What do you mean?
+
+ALBERT
+
+On your tour. For a week, at least, or a fortnight, I should be very
+glad to stay by you ... (_affectionately_) until you have got over
+the worst.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But...! Good gracious, do you think it's because of the Countess...?
+Why, that story is over long ago.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Which I know. And I know, too, that you are now trying other means of
+making yourself insensible. But I see perfectly well that, under the
+circumstances, you can't succeed all at once.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What circumstances are you talking of anyhow?
+
+ALBERT
+
+My dear fellow, I should never have dreamt of forcing myself into your
+confidence, but as the matter has already got into the papers....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What has got into the papers?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Haven't you read that thing in the New Journal to-night?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What thing?
+
+ALBERT
+
+That Cecilia and Prince Sigismund.... But, of course, you are familiar
+with the main facts?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I'm familiar with nothing. What is in the New Journal?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Just a brief notice--without any names, but not to be mistaken.... It
+reads something like this: "One of our foremost artists, who has just
+been celebrating triumphs in the metropolis of an adjoining state ...
+until now the wife of a gifted musician" ... or perhaps it was "highly
+gifted" ... and so on ... and so on ... "and a well-known Austrian
+gentleman, belonging to our oldest nobility, intend, we are told ..."
+and so on....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia and the Prince...?!
+
+ALBERT
+
+Yes ... and then a hint that, in such a case, it would not prove very
+difficult to obtain a dispensation from the Pope....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Has everybody gone crazy?... I can assure you that not a word of it is
+true!... You won't believe me?... I hope you don't think I would deny
+it, if.... Or do you actually mean that Cecilia might have ... from
+me.... Oh, dear, and you are supposed to be a friend of ours, a student
+of the human soul, and a poet!
+
+ALBERT
+
+I beg your pardon, but after what has happened it would not seem
+improbable....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not improbable...? It is simply impossible! Cecilia has never thought
+of it!
+
+ALBERT
+
+However, it ought not to surprise you that such a rumor has been
+started.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Nothing surprises me. But I feel as if the relationship between Cecilia
+and myself were being profaned by tittle-tattle of that kind.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Pioneers like yourself must scorn the judgment of the world. Else they
+are in danger of being proved mere braggarts.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, I am no pioneer. The whole thing is a private arrangement between
+me and Cecilia, which gives us both the greatest possible comfort. Be
+kind enough, at least, to tell the people who ask you, that we are not
+going to be divorced--but that, on the other hand, we are not deceiving
+each other, as it is asserted in these scrawls with which I have been
+bombarded for some time. (_He indicates the letter which arrived at
+the same time as Cecilia's_)
+
+ALBERT (_picks up the letter, glances through it, and puts it away
+again_) An anonymous letter...? Well, that's part of it....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Explain to them, please, that there can be no talk of deceit where no
+lies have been told. Tell them that Cecilia's and my way of keeping
+faith with each other is probably a much better one than that practiced
+in so many other marriages, where both go their own ways all day long
+and have nothing in common but the night. You are a poet, are you
+not--and a student of the human soul? Well, why don't you make all this
+clear to the people who refuse to understand?
+
+ALBERT
+
+To convey all that would prove a rather complicated process. But if it
+means so much to you, I could make a play out of it. Then they would
+have no trouble in comprehending this new kind of marriage--at least
+between the hours of eight-thirty and ten.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Are you so sure of that?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Absolutely. In a play I can make the case much clearer than it is
+presented by reality--without any of those superfluous, incidental side
+issues, which are so confusing in life. The main advantage is, however,
+that no spectators attend the entr'acts, so that I can do just what I
+please with you during those periods. And besides, I shall make you
+offer an analogy illuminating the whole case.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+An analogy, you say...?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Yes, analogies always have a very soothing effect. You will remark to a
+friend--or whoever may prove handy--something like this: "What do you
+want me to do anyhow? Suppose that Cecilia and I were living in a nice
+house, where we felt perfectly comfortable, and which had a splendid
+view that pleased us very much, and a wonderful garden where we liked
+to take walks together. And suppose that one of us should feel a desire
+sometime to pick strawberries in the woods beyond the fence. Should
+that be a reason for the other one to raise a cry all at once about
+faithlessness, or disgrace, or betrayal? Should that force us to sell
+the house and garden, or make us imagine that we could never more look
+out of the window together, or walk under our splendid trees? Merely
+because our strawberries happened to be growing on the other side of
+the fence..."
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And you would make me say that?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Do you fear it's too brilliant for you?--Oh, that wouldn't occur to
+anybody. Trust me to fix it. In such a play I can do nothing whatever
+with your musical talent. You see, I can't let you conduct your
+symphony for the benefit of the public. And so I get both myself and
+you out of it by putting into your character a little more sense and
+energy and consistency....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Than God has given me originally.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Well, it's not very hard to compete with Him!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I shall certainly be curious about one thing: how you mean to end that
+play.
+
+ALBERT (_after a brief pause_)
+
+Not very happily, my dear fellow.
+
+AMADEUS (_a little staggered_)
+
+Why?
+
+ALBERT
+
+It is characteristic of all transitional periods, that a conflict which
+might not exist to a later generation, must end tragically the moment a
+fairly decent person becomes involved in it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But there is no conflict.
+
+ALBERT
+
+I shall not shirk the duty of inventing one.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Suppose you wait a little while yet...? Perhaps life itself might....
+
+ALBERT
+
+My dear chap, I am not at all interested in what may be done with us by
+this ridiculous reality which has to get along without stage manager or
+prompter--this reality which frequently never gets to the fifth act,
+merely because the hero happens to be struck on the head by a brick in
+the second. I make the curtain rise when the plot takes a diverting
+turn, and I drop it the moment I have proved myself in the right.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Please, my dear fellow, don't forget when writing your play, to
+introduce a figure on which reality in this case has lavished much more
+care than on the hero--I mean, the fool.
+
+ALBERT
+
+You can't insult me in that way. I have always regarded myself as
+closely akin to him.
+
+[_Marie enters with little Peter and the Governess._
+
+PETER
+
+Mamma is coming!
+
+MARIE
+
+The carriage has just stopped outside.
+
+GOVERNESS
+
+It was impossible to make the boy stay in bed.
+
+ALBERT
+
+And look at the fine flowers he has got!
+
+PETER
+
+That's for mamma!
+
+AMADEUS (_takes a flower out of the bunch_)
+
+I hope you permit, sonny ...
+
+CECILIA (_enters followed by the Chambermaid_)
+
+Good evening!--Oh, are you here, too?  That's awfully nice!
+
+PETER
+
+Mamma!--Flowers!
+
+CECILIA (_picks him up and kisses him_)
+
+My boy! My boy! (_Then she shakes hands with the rest_)
+
+AMADEUS (_handing her the single flower_)
+
+Peter let me have one, too.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Thanks. (_She shakes hands with him; then to the chambermaid_) Get my
+things out of the carriage, please. The coachman will help you. He has
+been paid already.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
+
+CECILIA (_taking off her hat_)
+
+Well, Marie?... (_To the other two_) Can it be possible that you
+have been working?
+
+ALBERT
+
+We have tried.
+
+CECILIA (_to the governess_)
+
+Has he behaved like a little man?
+
+PETER
+
+Indeed I have! Have you brought anything for me?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Of course. But you won't get it until to-morrow morning.
+
+PETER
+
+Why not?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Because I am too tired to unpack. To-morrow, when you wake up, you'll
+find it on your little table.
+
+PETER
+
+What is it?
+
+CECILIA
+
+You'll see by and by....
+
+PETER
+
+Is my little table big enough for it?
+
+CECILIA
+
+We'll hope so.
+
+AMADEUS (_who is leaning against the piano, keeps looking at her all
+the time_)
+
+CECILIA (_pretends not to notice him_)
+
+ALBERT
+
+You're looking splendid.
+
+CECILIA
+
+I'm a little bit worn out.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You must be hungry.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Not at all. We had something to eat in the dining car. Almost everybody
+did. But I do want a cup of tea. (_To the governess_) Will you see
+to it, please?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Let me have a cup, too, and please see that I get a few slices of cold
+meat.
+
+GOVERNESS
+
+I have given orders for it already. (_She goes out_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+Have you really been waiting for me with the supper?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No ... I haven't been waiting. I ... simply never thought of it.
+
+CECILIA (_to Albert and Marie_)
+
+Why don't you sit down?
+
+ALBERT
+
+No, we are going, my dear Cecilia. Let me congratulate you with all my
+heart--that will be enough for to-day.
+
+MARIE
+
+You have celebrated regular triumphs, they say?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, it wasn't bad. (_To Amadeus_) Did you get my telegram?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, it pleased me tremendously.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Think of it, children! After the performance I was commanded to appear
+in the box of His Majesty!
+
+ALBERT
+
+Commanded...? Invited, I hope you mean! Neither emperor nor king has
+the right to command you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+You old anarchist! But what does it matter? One goes to the box
+nevertheless. And you would have done that, too.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Why not? One must, if possible, study every form of existence at close
+quarters.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And what did the Emperor have to say?
+
+CECILIA
+
+He was very complimentary. Had never seen a better Carmen.
+
+ALBERT
+
+The very next thing he'll order an opera for you from some Spaniard.[5]
+
+      [5] This refers to a habit of Emperor William's, from whom
+      the Italian composer, Leoncavallo, among others, once received
+      such an order.
+
+GOVERNESS (_enters_)
+
+The tea will be here in a moment.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Now you must get back to bed, Peter. It's late.
+
+GOVERNESS (_wants to take the boy away_)
+
+PETER
+
+No, mamma must take me to bed as when I was a little baby.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Come on then!--Mercy me, how heavy you have grown. (_Goes out with
+Peter and the governess_)
+
+MARIE
+
+My, but she is pretty!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Haven't you discovered that before?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Well, good-by then!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Until to-morrow. I shall be expecting you early--between nine and ten.
+
+MARIE (_to Amadeus as she is going out_)
+
+Don't you regret having to leave her again at once?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Duty, my dear Marie....
+
+CECILIA (_returning_)
+
+Oh, are you really going?--Good-by then--for a little while!
+
+[_Albert and Marie go out._
+
+CECILIA (_going to the fireplace_)
+
+Home again! (_She sits down_)
+
+AMADEUS (_near the door and speaking rather shyly_)
+
+It's a question whether it can please you as much as it does me.
+
+CECILIA (_holds out her hand to him_)
+
+AMADEUS (_takes her hand and kisses it; then he seats himself_)
+Tell me all about it.
+
+CECILIA
+
+What am I to tell? I haven't left anything untold--or hardly anything.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well....
+
+CECILIA
+
+Getting home every night--and it was quite late at times, as you
+know--I sat down and wrote to you. I wish you had been equally
+explicit.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But I have written you every day, too.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nevertheless, my dear, it seems to me you must have lots to add.
+(_With a laugh_) To many things you have referred in a strikingly
+casual fashion.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I might say the same to you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, you can't. My letters have practically been diaries. And that's
+more than could be said of yours.--Well, Amadeus...? Without frankness
+the whole situation becomes meaningless, I should say.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What is there to be cleared up?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Is it really all over with Philine?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That was all over--(_rising_) before you left. And you know it. I
+really don't think it's necessary to discuss bygone matters.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Will she be able to stay in the company, by the way--after this scandal
+in connection with your--pardon me!--predecessor?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Everything has been arranged, I hear. And she has even made up with her
+husband again.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Is that so?--That's rather unpleasant, don't you think? At bottom, it
+matters very little then to have the story all over. In the case of a
+man who has the disconcerting habit of not finding out certain things
+until months afterward....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It is better not to think of such things.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Has she any letters of yours?
+
+AMADEUS (_having thought for a moment_)
+
+Only the one in which I bade her farewell.
+
+CECILIA
+
+That might be enough. Why haven't you demanded it back?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+How could I?
+
+CECILIA
+
+How frivolous you are! Yes, frivolous is just the word. (_Putting her
+hand on his shoulder_) Now it's possible to talk of a thing like this,
+Amadeus. Formerly you might have misunderstood such a remark--taking
+it for jealousy, or something like that.... But, really, I do hope you
+don't get mixed up in any more affairs of that kind. I don't like to
+be scared to death all the time on behalf of my best friend. There is
+nothing in the world I begrudge you--of that you may be sure. But
+getting killed for the sake of somebody else--that's carrying the joke
+a little too far!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I promise you, that you'll no longer have to be scared to death on my
+behalf.
+
+CECILIA
+
+I hope so. Otherwise I must leave you to take care of yourself.--And
+seriously speaking, Amadeus, I hope you don't forget that your life has
+been preserved for more sensible and more important things--that you
+have a lot more to do in this world.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, that's what I feel. I don't think I have ever felt it so strongly
+in all my life. (_Radiantly_) My symphony ...
+
+CECILIA (_eagerly_)
+
+... is done?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It is, Cecilia. And ... I didn't mean to tell you about it to-day, but
+it leaves me no peace....
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, what is it?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+The chorus in the final passage--you know the principal theme of it
+already--it is led and dominated by a soprano solo. And that solo has
+been written for you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+My revered Master! How proud your trust in me makes me!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Don't make fun of it, Cecilia, I beg you. There is nobody in the world
+who can sing that solo like you.... That solo is yours--and only yours.
+While writing it, the ring of your voice was in my mind. Next February,
+as soon as I get back, I shall have the symphony put on, and then you
+must sing that solo.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Next Feb...? With pleasure, my dear Amadeus--provided I am still here.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, you haven't heard everything yet. After the performance last night
+the Director had a talk with me.
+
+AMADEUS (_disturbed_)
+
+Well?!--There was a hint in the telegram about brilliant conditions....
+But, of course, they could only refer to the next season?
+
+CECILIA
+
+If I can break away from here, they want me in Berlin from the
+beginning of the year.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But you can't break away!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, if I really want to. The Director does not care to enforce the
+contract.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But you don't want to, Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's a matter for careful consideration. I shall be doing a great
+deal better there.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Beginning next Fall, I shall--probably be free. You might wait that
+long, I should think. Then we could make the move together. But....
+
+CECILIA
+
+It doesn't have to be settled to-day, Amadeus. To-morrow we shall have
+time to discuss the whole matter thoroughly. Really, I am not in a
+condition to do so to-night.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You are tired...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Of course, you must understand that. In fact, I should very much
+prefer.... (_She looks in direction of the door leading to her own
+room_)
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_brings in the tea tray and puts it on a small table_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, that's right!--May I pour you a cup, too?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If you please.
+
+CECILIA (_pours the tea; to the chambermaid_)
+
+Open one of the windows a little, will you. There's such a lot of
+cigarette smoke in here.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_opens the window at the right_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Won't it be too cold for you?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Cold? It has turned very warm again.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And how did last night's performance go otherwise?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Very well. Wedius in particular proved himself inimitable again.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You have mentioned him several times in your letters.
+
+CECILIA
+
+You know him since your Dresden period, don't you?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes. He has great gifts.
+
+CECILIA
+
+He thinks a great deal of you, too.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I'm pleased to hear it.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_helping himself to the cold meat_)
+
+Can I help you to some?
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, thanks. I have had all I want.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, you have had your supper already--all of you, or "everybody," as
+you put it a while ago.
+
+CECILIA (_ingenuously_)
+
+I had my supper with Sigismund.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Was he in Berlin all the time?
+
+CECILIA
+
+He got there two days after me, as I told you in my letters.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Of course--you have told me everything. Once he accompanied you to the
+National Gallery.
+
+CECILIA
+
+He also took me to see the Pergamene marbles.[6]
+
+      [6] A large collection of art works and other antiquities,
+      recovered by excavations on the site of the ancient city of
+      Pergamon in Asia Minor, are kept in the Pergamene Museum,
+      Berlin.
+
+AMADEUS (_facetiously_)
+
+You're doing a lot for his general education, I must say.--But I should
+like to know by what fraud Sigismund got himself into that reception of
+the Director's.
+
+CECILIA
+
+By what fraud?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, you wrote me that he created a regular sensation with those
+waltzes of his.
+
+CECILIA
+
+So he did. But he didn't have to use fraud to get in. Being a nephew of
+the Baroness, there was no reason why he should resort to such methods.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, yes, I didn't remember that.
+
+CECILIA
+
+And by the way, the Director asked very eagerly about you.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+He thinks a great deal of me....
+
+CECILIA (_with a smile_)
+
+Yes, he really does. The moment your new opera is ready....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And so on! (_He goes on eating_) It surprises me, however, that he
+should ask you about me.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why does that surprise you?
+
+AMADEUS (_as if meaning no offense_)
+
+Well, it rather surprises me that he should connect our respective
+personalities to that extent. Hasn't Berlin heard yet that we are going
+to be divorced?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why ... what does that mean?
+
+AMADEUS (_laughing_)
+
+Rumors to that effect are afloat.
+
+CECILIA
+
+What? Well, I declare!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, it's incredible what the popular gossip can invent. It's even in
+the newspapers. His Highness the Prince Sigismund Maradas-Lohsenstein
+is going to lead you to the altar. The necessary dispensation will be
+furnished by the Pope. Idiotic--isn't it?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes.--But, my dear, you say nothing about what is still more idiotic.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And what can that be?
+
+CECILIA
+
+That you are on the verge of believing this piece of idiocy.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I...? How can you.... Oh, no!
+
+CECILIA
+
+You haven't considered, for instance, that I am three years older than
+he.
+
+AMADEUS (_startled_)
+
+Well, if it's nothing but those three years of difference in....
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, it isn't that. No, indeed! Even if I were younger than he, I should
+never think of it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But if his devotion should prove more deeply rooted than you have
+supposed so far?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Not even then.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why...? I know that it couldn't last forever anyhow.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Have you the end in mind already?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I am not saying that I have it in mind.... But I don't doubt it must
+come, as it always comes.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And then...?
+
+CECILIA (_shrugs her shoulders_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And then?
+
+CECILIA
+
+How could I know, Amadeus? There are prospects of so many kinds.
+
+AMADEUS (_cowering a moment before those words_)
+
+Yes, that's true. Life is full of prospects. Everywhere, wherever you
+turn, there are temptations and promises--when you have determined to
+be free, and to take life lightly, as we have done.... That's what you
+meant, was it not?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes, precisely.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Tell me, Cecilia.... (_He draws closer to her_) There is one thing I
+should like to know--whether Sigismund has any idea that your mind is
+harboring such thoughts--which, after all, would appear rather weird
+to the other party concerned.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Sigismund...? How can you imagine?! Such things you admit only to your
+friends. (_She gives her hand to him_)
+
+AMADEUS (_in the same friendly manner_)
+
+But if he should notice anything ... although I think it very
+improbable that he is the kind of man who would.... But let us suppose
+that he concluded from various signs that some such thoughts were
+passing through your head--would you deny them, if he asked you?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I believe myself capable of it.
+
+AMADEUS (_with a shrinking_)
+
+Oh.... Let me tell you, Cecilia.... You are having something definite
+in mind.... Yes, I am sure of it.... It's a question of some definite
+prospect.
+
+CECILIA (_smiling_)
+
+That might be possible.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What has happened, Cecilia?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nothing.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Then there is danger in the air.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Danger...? What could that mean to us? To him who has no obligations
+there can be no cause for fear.
+
+AMADEUS (_taking her lightly by the arm_)
+
+Stop playing with words! I can see through the whole thing just the
+same.--I know! It has been brought home to me by a number of passages
+in your letters--although they ceased long ago to have the frankness
+due to our friendship. That new prospect is Wedius!
+
+CECILIA
+
+In what respect did my letters fail to be frank? Didn't I write you
+immediately after the "Onyegin" performance, that there was something
+fascinating about his personality?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+So you have said before, of many people. But there was never any such
+prospect implied in it.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Everything begins to take on new meanings when you are free.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You are not telling me everything.... What has happened?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Nothing has happened, but (_with sudden decision_) if I had stayed ...
+who knows....
+
+AMADEUS (_seems to shrink back again; then he walks to and fro;
+finally he remains standing in the background, near one of the
+windows_) Poor Sigismund!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why pity him? He knows nothing about it.
+
+AMADEUS (_resuming his superior tone_)
+
+Is that what draws you to Berlin?
+
+CECILIA
+
+No!... Indeed, no! The spell has been broken ... it seems....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And yet you talk of going about New Year....
+
+CECILIA (_rising_)
+
+My dear Amadeus, I am really too tired to discuss that matter to-day.
+Now I shall say good-night to you. It is quite late. (_She holds out
+her hand to him_)
+
+AMADEUS (_faltering_)
+
+Good-night, Cecilia!... (_He clings to her hand_) You have been gone
+three weeks. I shall leave early the day after to-morrow--and when _I_
+return, you will be gone, I suppose.... There can't be so very much to
+your friendship, if you won't stay and talk a while with me under such
+circumstances.
+
+CECILIA
+
+What's the use of being sentimental? Leave-takings are familiar things
+to us.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That's true. But nevertheless this will be a new kind of leave-taking,
+and a new kind of home-coming also.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, seeing that it had to turn out this way....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But neither of us ever imagined that it would turn out this way.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, Cecilia, we did _not_ imagine it. The remarkable thing has been
+that we retained our faith in each other in the midst of all doubts,
+and that, even when away from each other, we used to feel calm and
+confident far beyond what was safe, I suppose. But it was splendid.
+Separation itself used to have a sort of charm of its own--_formerly_.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Naturally. It isn't possible to love in that undisturbed fashion except
+when you are miles apart.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You may be able to make fun of it to-day, Cecilia, but there will never
+again be anything like it--neither for you nor for me. You can be sure
+of that.
+
+CECILIA
+
+I know that as well as you do.--But why should you all at once begin to
+talk as if, somehow, everything would be over between us two, and as if
+the best part of our life had been irretrievably lost? That's not the
+case, after all. It cannot possibly be the case. Both of us know that
+we remain the same as before--don't we--and that everything else that
+has happened to us, or may happen to us, can be of no particular
+importance.... And even if it should become important, we shall always
+be able to join hands, no matter what chasms open between us.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You speak very sensibly, as usual.
+
+CECILIA
+
+If you seduce ladies by the dozen, and if gentlemen shoot each other
+dead for my sake--as they do for the sake of Countess Philine--what has
+that to do with our friendship?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That's beyond contradiction. Nevertheless, I hadn't expected--in fact,
+I think it nothing less than admirable--your ability to adjust yourself
+to everything--your way of remaining perfectly calm in the midst of any
+new experiences or expectations.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Calm...? Here I am ... by our fireplace ... taking tea in your company.
+Here I can and shall always be calm. That's the significance of our
+whole life in common. Whatever may be my destiny in the world at large
+will slip off me when I enter here. All the storms are on the outside.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That's more than you can be sure of, Cecilia. Things might happen that
+would weigh more heavily on you than you can imagine at this moment.
+
+CECILIA
+
+I shall always have the strength to throw off things according to my
+will before I come to you. And if that strength should ever fail me, I
+shall come to the door and no farther.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, no, you mustn't! That would not be in keeping with our agreement.
+It is just when life grows heavy that I'll be here to help you bear it.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Who knows whether you will always be ready to do so?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Always--on my oath! No matter what befall you, whether it be sad or
+wretched, you can always find refuge and sympathy with me. But with all
+my heart I wish you may be spared most of those things.
+
+CECILIA
+
+That I be spared...? No, Amadeus, a wish like that I can't accept.
+Hitherto--I have lived so little hitherto. And I am longing for it. I
+long for all that's sad and sweet in life, for all that's beautiful and
+all that's pitiful. I long for storms, for perils--for worse than that,
+perhaps.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, Cecilia, that's nothing but imagination!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, no!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Certainly, Cecilia. You don't know very much as yet, and you imagine
+many things simpler and cleaner than they are. But there are things you
+couldn't stand, and others of which you are not capable.--I know you,
+Cecilia.
+
+CECILIA
+
+You know me?--You know only what I have been to you--what I have been
+as your beloved and your wife. And as you used to mean the whole world
+to me--as all my longing, all my tenderness, was bounded by you--we
+could never guess in those days what might prove my destiny when the
+real world was thrown open to me.--Even to-day, Amadeus, I am no longer
+the same as before.... Or perhaps I have always been the same as I am
+now, but didn't know it merely. And something has fallen away, that
+used to cover me up in the past.... Yes, that's it: for now I can feel
+all those desires that used to pass me by as if deflected by a cuirass
+of insensibility.... Now I can feel how they touch my body and my soul,
+filling me with qualms and passions. The earth seems full of adventure.
+The sky seems radiant with flames. And it is as if I could see myself
+stand waiting with wide-open arms.
+
+AMADEUS (_as if calling to somebody in flight_)
+
+Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA
+
+What is the matter?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Nothing.... The words you speak cannot estrange me after all that I
+have learned already. But there is a new ring in your voice that I have
+never heard until to-day. Nor have I ever seen that light in your eyes
+until to-day.
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's what you imagine, Amadeus. If that were really the case, then I
+should feel the same in regard to you. But I can see no difference in
+you at all. And I can't imagine how you possibly could come to seem
+different. To other women you may appear a mischiefmaker--or a silly
+youth--which has probably happened many times: but to me you will
+always remain the same as ever. And I have a feeling that, in the last
+instance, nothing can ever happen to the Amadeus I am thinking of.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If I could only feel the same--in regard to you! But such assurance is
+not mine. The recklessness and greed with which you make your way into
+an unknown world are filling me with outright fear on your behalf. The
+idea that there are people who know as little of you as you of them at
+this moment, and to whom you are going to belong...
+
+CECILIA
+
+I shall belong to nobody ... now, that I am free ...
+
+AMADEUS
+
+... who are part of your destiny already, as you of theirs ... it seems
+to me uncanny. And you are no more the Cecilia I used to love--no! You
+resemble closely one who was very dear to me, and yet you are not at
+all the same as she. No, you are not the woman that was my wife for
+years. I could feel it the moment you entered the place.... The
+connection between the young girl who sank into my arms one evening
+seven years ago and the woman who has just returned from abroad to
+dwell for a brief while in this house seems quite mysterious. For seven
+years I have been living with another woman--with a quiet, kindly
+woman--with a sort of angel perhaps, who has now disappeared. She who
+came to-day has a voice that I have never heard, a look that I am
+foreign to, a beauty that is strange to me--a beauty not surpassing
+what the other had, except in being more cruel possibly--and yet a
+beauty that should confer much greater happiness, I think.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Don't look at me like that!... Don't talk to me like that!... That's
+not the way to talk to a friend! Don't forget I am no more the one I
+used to be. When you talk to me like that, Amadeus, it is as if here,
+too, I should be fanned by those cajoling breaths that nowadays so
+often touch me like caresses--breaths that make life seem incredibly
+light, and that make you feel ready for so much that formerly would
+have appeared incomprehensible.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If you could guess, Cecilia, how your words hurt me and excite me at
+the same time!
+
+CECILIA (_brusquely_)
+
+You must not talk like that, Amadeus. I don't want it. Be sensible, for
+my sake as well as your own. Good-night.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Are you going, Cecilia?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes. And bear in mind that we are friends and want to remain such.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Bear in mind that we have always wanted to be _honest_. And it is not
+honest--either for you or me--to say that we stand face to face as
+friends in this moment.... Cecilia--the _one_ thing I can feel at this
+moment is that you are beautiful ... beautiful as you have never been
+before!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Amadeus, Amadeus, are you forgetting all that has happened?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I could forget it--and so could you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, I remember--I remember! (_She wants to leave_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Stay, Cecilia, stay! The day after to-morrow I shall be gone--stay!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Please don't speak to me like that! I am no longer what I used to
+be--no longer proud, or calm, or good. Who knows how little might be
+needed to make me the victim of a certain unscrupulous seducer!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Have you so many friends to lose? One is all I have.--Good-night.
+(_She tries to get away_)
+
+AMADEUS (_seizing her by the hand_)
+
+Cecilia, we have long ago bidden each other good-by as man and
+wife--but we have also made up our minds to take life lightly, to be
+free, and to lay hold of every happiness that comes within our reach.
+Should we be mad enough, or cowardly enough, to shrink from the highest
+happiness ever offered us...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+And what would it lead to ... my friend?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Don't call me that! I love you and I hate you, but in this moment I am
+not your friend. What you have been to me--wife, comrade ... what do I
+care! To-day I want to be--your lover!
+
+CECILIA
+
+You mustn't...! You can't ... no....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Not your lover then ... but what is both worse and better ... the man
+who takes you away from another one--the one with whom you are
+betraying someone else--the one who means to you both bliss and sin at
+once!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Let me loose, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No more beautiful adventure will ever blossom by the wayside for either
+one of us, Cecilia, as long as we may live!
+
+CECILIA
+
+And none more dangerous, Amadeus!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Wasn't that what you were longing for...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Good-night, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia! (_He holds her fast and draws her closer to himself_)
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+THE THIRD ACT
+
+
+_The same room. It is the morning of the following day. The stage is
+empty at first. Then Amadeus enters from his room at the left. He wears
+a dressing-gown, but is otherwise fully dressed. He passes slowly and
+pensively across the room to the writing desk, from which he picks up
+the waiting pile of letters. Then he puts the letters down again. He
+feels chilly, looks around, notices that a window is open, and goes to
+close it. Then he stands listening for a while at the door to Cecilia's
+room. Finally he returns to the writing desk and begins to pull out
+manuscripts from its drawers._
+
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Let's get things in order.... I wonder how this is going to turn
+out?--I'll write her from some place along my route. I shall never come
+back here any more.... I couldn't stand it ... no, I couldn't!
+(_Holding a manuscript in his hand_) The Solo--her Solo! Well, I shall
+not be present to hear her sing it.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_entering_)
+
+The men are here to take away the trunk. Here's the check from the
+expressman.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+All right. Tell them to use the back stairs in taking out the things.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+... When I say good-by to-morrow, she won't guess it is forever.... And
+the boy ... the boy...? (_He walks back and forth_) ... But it has to
+be. (_Abruptly_) I'll leave this very evening--not to-morrow. Yes, this
+very evening. (_He begins to pile up sheet music_) I'll have a talk
+with the Director. If he says no, I'll simply break away. I won't come
+back here. (_He goes to Cecilia's door again_) I suppose she's still
+asleep. (_He comes forward and sits down on the couch, leaning his head
+in his hands_) We have to take lunch together, and she won't guess that
+it is for the last time.... She won't guess.... And why not? Let her
+find out ... right now ... I am going to have it out with her. Yes,
+indeed. (_Rising_) One can't write a thing of that kind. I'll tell her
+everything. I'll tell her that I can't bear it--that it drives me crazy
+to think of the other fellow. And she'll understand. And even if she
+should plead with me to forgive her ... even if she ... oh! (_He goes
+to her door_) I must tell her at once.... Oh, I feel like choking
+her!... Cecilia! (_He knocks at her door, but gets no answer_) What
+does that mean? (_He goes into her room_) She's gone! (_He stays away
+for about half a minute and comes back by way of the door leading to
+the garden; then he rings_) Where can she....
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_enters_)
+
+AMADEUS (_with pretended unconcern_)
+
+Has my wife gone out?
+
+CHAMBERMAID
+
+Yes, sir--quite a while ago.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh...?
+
+CHAMBERMAID
+
+It must be nearly two hours now. She said she would be back about one
+o'clock.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+All right. Thank you.
+
+CHAMBERMAID
+
+Can I bring in your breakfast now, sir?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, yes--I had almost forgotten. And a cup of tea, please.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_alone_)
+
+Gone!... Well, there is nothing peculiar in that.... Probably to the
+opera.... But why didn't she tell me...? (_He cowers suddenly_) To
+him...? No, that couldn't be possible! Oh, no!... And why not?... A
+woman like her.... There is nothing to keep her from going to him....
+(_With a threatening gesture_) If I only had him here!... (_With sudden
+inspiration_) But that's what I might ... that would be.... To confront
+him--that's it! To stand face to face with him!... Thus more than one
+thing might be straightened out.... No, she is not with him.... Where
+did I get that idea?... That's all over!... But that's what I'll do!...
+Either I or he!... Many things might then ... everything might then be
+set right.... He or I!... But to live on like this, while he ... I'll
+go to Albert. It must be done this very day! (_He disappears into his
+own room_)
+
+ALBERT (_enters_)
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_follows him, carrying the breakfast tray_) I'll tell
+the Master at once, sir. (_She puts the tray on a small table and
+goes out to the left_)
+
+ALBERT (_picks up a moon-shaped roll from the tray and begins to nibble
+at one of its tips_)
+
+AMADEUS (_enters, having changed his dressing-gown for a coat_)
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_follows him, passes quickly across the room and goes
+out_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, there you are!
+
+ALBERT
+
+Yes. I'm not too early, I hope? Are you ready? I want to read you the
+third act. (_He takes some papers from his overcoat pocket_) You know
+the setting, of course--the park, the villa, the plane tree. But first
+of all I must tell you something. Do you remember Mr. von Rabagas, with
+whom my wife fell in love? I have retouched him slightly. He's going to
+be cross-eyed. And now I am curious to see what Marie's attitude will
+be toward him.
+
+AMADEUS (_nervously_)
+
+All right--later. For the moment there are more important things.
+
+ALBERT
+
+More important...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, I want you to do me a great service ... a service that will brook
+no delay. You have to act as my second.
+
+ALBERT (_rising_)
+
+Your...? Twaddle! You'll simply refuse the challenge! You're not going
+to let yourself be killed for the sake of Madame Philine--oh, no!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It is not a question of Philine. And I have not been challenged. I
+shall issue the challenge. And for that reason I want you to look up
+our friend Winter at once, and then I must trouble both of you to call
+on Prince Sigismund, and tell him....
+
+ALBERT (_interrupting him and breaking into laughter_)
+
+Oh, Prince Sigismund!--Thank you ever so much!
+
+AMADEUS (_surprised_)
+
+What's the matter with you?
+
+ALBERT
+
+How obliging! You mean to present me with an ending for the play we
+concocted yesterday. Thanks. But it's too banal for me--nobody would
+take any stock in it. I have thought of something much better. You are
+to be poisoned--yes, sir. And can you guess by whom?--By a brand-new
+character--one of the secret lovers of your wife.
+
+AMADEUS (_furiously_)
+
+It doesn't interest me in the least. Stop it, please! I'm not making up
+endings for your fool comedies! This is real life ... we are right in
+the midst of it!
+
+ALBERT
+
+You don't mean...?! Well, if I have to stand this unseemly and
+ridiculous interruption ... what do you want of me anyhow?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Haven't you understood? The two of you are to challenge Prince
+Sigismund on my behalf.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Prince Sigismund ... on your behalf.... (_He bursts into laughter_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You seem to think it very funny, but I assure you....
+
+ALBERT
+
+The point is not that you seem funny to _me_. It's probably balanced by
+the fact that a lot of people who have thought you funny until now,
+will all of a sudden think you very sensible ... though they ought to
+ask themselves, if they had a little logic: why should Mr. Amadeus
+Adams become jealous on this particular day?... Up to the twenty-third
+of October he was not, and all at once, on the twenty-third, he is....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+A lot of things have changed since yesterday.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Have changed...? Since yesterday...? Well, I declare!
+
+AMADEUS (_after a pause_)
+
+So that you didn't believe it either?
+
+ALBERT
+
+To confess the truth--no.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Which means that I am living among a lot of people who....
+
+ALBERT
+
+Will be in the right ultimately. Why should that arouse your
+indignation? If we were to live long enough, every lie that's floating
+about would probably become true. Listen to those who belie you, and
+you will know the truth about yourself. Gossip knows very rarely what
+we are doing, but almost always whither we are drifting.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+_We_ didn't know we were drifting this way--that much you will admit, I
+hope.
+
+ALBERT
+
+And yet it had to come. Friendship between two people of different
+sexes is always dangerous--even when they are married. If there is too
+much mutual understanding between our souls, many things are swept
+along that we would rather keep back; and when our senses are attracted
+mutually, the suction affects much more of our souls than we would care
+to have involved. That's a universal law, my dear chap, for which the
+profound uncertainty of all earthly relations between man and woman
+must be held responsible. And only he who doesn't know it, will trust
+himself or anybody else.--If you don't mind? (_He begins to butter one
+of the rolls_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+So you think you understand...?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Of course! That's my specialty, don't you know?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, if you understand what has happened, and understand it must have
+happened--then you will also understand that I must face the logical
+consequences.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Logical consequences...? Here I am talking wisdom, and you clamor for
+nonsense. And that's what you call logical consequences?... My opinion
+is rather, that you are about to behave like a perfect fool. Anybody
+else might do what you now propose: you are the only one who mustn't.
+For when you propose such a thing, it becomes illogical, ungenerous,
+not to say dishonest. You want to call a man to account for something
+which, as he sees it, has been declared explicitly permissible.... In
+his place I should laugh in your face. If anybody has the right to be
+indignant here, and to demand an account, it is the Prince himself, and
+nobody else--as he has not deceived you, but you him.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, that's all one, as he undoubtedly will demand an account.
+
+ALBERT
+
+To do so, he must know.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I'll see to that.
+
+ALBERT
+
+You mean to tell him?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If you hold it the shortest road to what I have in mind...?
+
+ALBERT
+
+There's a man of honor for you! And is that the discretion you owe the
+woman you love, do you think?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Call me illogical, ungenerous, indiscreet--anything you please! I can't
+help myself! I love Cecilia--do you hear? And I want to go on living
+with her. But I can't do so until some sort of amends have been made
+for the past--in my own eyes, in hers, and--I confess it--in the eyes
+of the world. Sigismund and I must meet, man to man--nothing else can
+end my trouble.
+
+ALBERT
+
+And how can it make the slightest difference that you two shoot off
+your guns in the air?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+One of us must out of the way, Albert!... Won't you understand at last?
+
+ALBERT
+
+Now, my dear chap, that's carrying it a little too far! All the time I
+have thought you were talking of a duel--and now I find that you are
+after his life!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Later on you may feel sorry that you could not refrain from inept
+jesting in a moment like this even. The case is urgent, Albert. Please
+make up your mind.
+
+ALBERT
+
+And suppose he should refuse?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+He is a nobleman.
+
+ALBERT
+
+He is religious. His father is one of the leaders of the Clerical Party
+in the Upper House and a vice-president of the Society for the
+Prevention of Dueling.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Well, such things are not inherited. And if he won't, I shall know how
+to make him. There's no other way out of it. There can be no other
+alternative, if I am to go on living--with or without her. That will
+set everything right, but nothing else will. It's the one thing that
+can clear the air about us. Until it is over, we dare not belong to
+each other again or--be happy.
+
+ALBERT
+
+I hope Cecilia won't insist on killing off Philine and a few others.
+That would be just as sensible, but would complicate the situation a
+great deal.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Won't you go, please!
+
+ALBERT
+
+Yes, I am going.... And how about our opera?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, we'll have plenty of time to talk of that. However, just to
+reassure you--all that is finished lies here in the second drawer,
+everything properly arranged.
+
+ALBERT
+
+And who is to compose the third act?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It can be given as a fragment, with some kind of ballet as a filler.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Right you are! Something like "Harlequin as Electrician," or
+"Forget-me-not." (_He goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_remains alone for a while; at first he seems to ponder on
+something; then he returns to the writing desk and falls to work on his
+papers; a knock is heard at the door leading to the garden_) What is
+it?
+
+PETER (_outside_)
+
+It's me, papa. Can I come in?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Certainly, Peter. Come on.
+
+GOVERNESS (_entering with Peter_)
+
+Good morning.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Good morning. (_He kisses Peter_) Is it not a little too cold for him
+out there?
+
+GOVERNESS
+
+He's very warmly dressed, and besides the sun is shining beautifully.
+
+PETER
+
+Papa, have you seen what mamma brought me?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What is it?
+
+PETER
+
+A theater--a big theater!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Is that so? And you have got it already?
+
+PETER
+
+Of course. It's over there in the summer-house. Would you care to look
+at it?
+
+AMADEUS (_glances inquiringly at the governess_)
+
+GOVERNESS
+
+Madame brought it to our room quite early, while Peter was still
+asleep.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I see.
+
+PETER
+
+I can play theater already. There is a king, and a peasant, and a
+bride, and a devil--one that's all red--almost as red as the king
+himself. And in the back there is a mill, and a sky, and a forest, and
+a hunter.... Won't you come and look at it, papa?
+
+AMADEUS (_seated on the couch, with the boy standing between his knees;
+speaking absentmindedly_) Of course I must come and look at it.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_entering_)
+
+Sir....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What is it?
+
+CHAMBERMAID
+
+His Highness asks if you'll see him.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What highness?
+
+CHAMBERMAID
+
+His Highness, the Prince Lohsenstein.
+
+AMADEUS (_rising_)
+
+What?
+
+GOVERNESS
+
+Come, Peter--we'll go back and play in the summer-house. (_She goes out
+with Peter_)
+
+AMADEUS (_with dignity_)
+
+Tell the Prince.... (_Turning away from her_) One moment, please. (_To
+himself_) What can that mean...? (_Abruptly_) Ask him to come in.
+
+CHAMBERMAID (_goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_walks quickly to and fro, but stops at some distance from
+the door when Sigismund enters_)
+
+SIGISMUND (_is slender, blonde, twenty-six, elegantly dressed, but
+appears in no respect foppish; he bows to Amadeus_) Good-morning.
+
+AMADEUS (_takes a few steps forward to meet him and nods politely_)
+
+SIGISMUND (_looks around a little shyly, but wholly free from any
+ridiculous embarrassment; his manner is in every respect dignified;
+there is a slight smile on his face_) We have not seen each other for
+some time, and you'll probably assume that my visit to-day has a
+special reason.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Naturally. (_Pointing to a chair_) Please.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Thank you. (_He comes nearer, but remains standing_) I have decided to
+take this step--which has not come easy to me, I can assure you--because
+I find the situation in which we ... in which all of us have been placed,
+untenable and, in a certain sense, ridiculous ... and because I think
+that, in one way or another, it should be brought to an end. The sole
+object of my visit is to put before you a proposition.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I'm listening.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+I don't want to waste any words. My proposition is that you get a
+divorce from your wife.
+
+AMADEUS (_shrinks back for a moment, staring at Sigismund; then, after
+a pause he says calmly_) You wish to marry Cecilia?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+There is nothing I wish more eagerly.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And what is the attitude of Cecilia toward your intentions?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Not encouraging so far.
+
+AMADEUS (_puzzled_)
+
+Cecilia is absolutely in a position to decide for herself. And of
+course, she would also have the right to leave me--whenever and
+howsoever it might please her to do so. For that reason you must pardon
+me if I find the object of your visit incomprehensible, to say the
+least.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+You'll soon find it comprehensible, I think. The discouraging attitude
+of Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg proves nothing at all in this connection, I
+must say. As long as Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg has not been set free by
+you--even if that be done against her own will--she is, in a sense,
+bound to you. To get this matter fully cleared up, it seems to me
+necessary that you yourself, my dear Master, insist on a divorce. Mrs.
+Adams-Ortenburg will not be in a position to choose freely until she
+has been divorced from you. Until then the struggle between us two will
+not be on equal terms--as, I trust, you would like to have it.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+There can be no talk of any struggle here. You misunderstand the actual
+state of affairs in a manner that seems to me incomprehensible. For I
+have no right to suppose that Cecilia has made any secret of the more
+deep-lying reasons that have so far prevented us from considering a
+dissolution of our marriage.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Certainly, I am aware of those reasons, but to me they don't by any
+means seem sufficiently pressing--not even from your own viewpoint--to
+exclude all thought of a divorce. And I am anxious to assure you that,
+under all circumstances, I shall feel bound to treat those reasons with
+the most profound respect.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What do you mean?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+You know, my dear Master, that the reverence I have for your art, even
+if I am not always capable of grasping it, equals the admiration I feel
+for the singing of Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg. I know how much you two
+mutually owe to each other, and how you--if I may say so--complement
+each other musically. And it would never occur to me to put any
+difficulties whatsoever in the way of your continued artistic
+relationship. I am equally aware of the tenderness with which you
+regard your child--for whom, by the way, as you probably know, I have a
+great deal of devotion--and I can give you my word that the doors
+leading to the quarters of little Peter will always stand open to you.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+In other words, you would have no objection to seeing the former
+husband of your--of the wife--of the Princess Lohsenstein, admitted to
+your house as a friend?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Any such objection would be regarded by me as an insult to your--to
+my--to Mrs. Cecilia Adams-Ortenburg, as well as to you, my dear Master.
+With those provisions made, the new arrangement, which I am taking the
+liberty to suggest, would be more sensible and--if you'll allow me a
+frank expression--more decent than the one to which all of us now have
+to submit. I am convinced, my dear Master, that, when you have had
+chance to consider the matter calmly, you will not only agree with me,
+but you will be surprised that this simple solution of an unbearable
+situation has not occurred to yourself long ago. As for me, I want to
+add that, to me personally, this solution seems the only possible one.
+Yes, I don't hesitate to say that I would leave the city, without hope
+of ever seeing Mrs. Cecilia again, rather than keep on compromising her
+in a manner that must be equally painful to all of us.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, has it come to that all at once? Well, if the matter doesn't
+trouble Cecilia or me, I think _you_ might well regard it with
+indifference. I hope you know that we have arranged our life to suit
+ourselves, without the least regard for popular gossip, and that I
+don't care at all whether or no Cecilia be compromised--as you call it.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+I know you don't. But I feel differently. A lady to whom I'm so
+devoted, and whom I respect so highly that I would lead her to the
+altar, must appear spotless to God and man alike.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You might have kept that in mind before. Your previous behavior has
+given no indication of such a view. You have been waiting for my wife
+in the immediate vicinity of the opera; you have been walking with her
+for hours at a time; you have visited her in the country; you have
+followed her to Berlin and come back here in her company....
+
+SIGISMUND (_surprised_)
+
+But it was in your power to stop all those things, if they didn't suit
+you....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Stop them ... because they didn't suit...? What has that to do with
+what I am talking of?--I am not the person who has found this situation
+unbearable and compromising.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Oh, I understand. Considering, however, that you have placed such
+emphasis on your indifference to popular gossip, I must say that your
+tone sounds pretty excited. But permit me to assure you that this
+impresses me rather pleasantly. Bear in mind that I am merely human.
+What young man in my place would have refrained from meeting the adored
+one, when everything was rendered so easy for him? And nevertheless I
+didn't visit the Pustertal or make the tour to Berlin without an inward
+struggle--in fact, I have often had to struggle with myself while
+waiting for her near the opera. And I cannot tell you how I have
+suffered under the searching glances directed at Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg
+and myself when we were having supper together after one of the Berlin
+performances, for instance, or when we went for an afternoon drive in
+the Tiergarten.[7] Not to speak of the painful impression my aunt's
+remarks made on me when I called to bid her good-by! Really, I can't
+find words to express it.
+
+      [7] A large park in the center of Berlin, corresponding to
+      the Central Park of New York or the Hyde Park of London.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+How much longer do you mean to keep up this remarkable comedy, my dear
+Prince?
+
+SIGISMUND (_drawing back_)
+
+Do you mean....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What in the world makes you appear before me in a part which I don't
+know whether to call tasteless or foolhardy?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Sir!... Oh...! You think.... I see now.... And you imagine that I would
+have crossed your threshold again under such circumstances?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why should _that_ particular thing not be imagined?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Later on we shall get back to what you think of me. But a third person
+is concerned in this matter, and I am not going to stand....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+May I ask whether you have been equally angry with everyone who has
+dared to question the virtue of Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+You are at least the first one who has dared to question it to my face,
+and the last one who may dare to do so unpunished.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Do you think the punishment threatening the impertinent one in your
+mind will be apt to restore the reputation of Cecilia? Do you think it
+would put an end to the gossip if you, of all people, tried to champion
+the honor of Mrs. Adams-Ortenburg?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Who could, if not I?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If it is _not_ a comedy you are now playing, then you haven't the right
+even!
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Do you mean to say that Cecilia is the only woman in the world who must
+stand unprotected against _any_ slander?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If you are telling the truth, Prince Sigismund, then there is only one
+person in the world who has the right to protect Cecilia, and that
+person am I.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Considering what has happened, I have excellent reason to think that
+you will neither avail yourself of that right nor fulfill that duty.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You are mistaken. And if you will take the trouble of returning home,
+you will soon be convinced of your mistake.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+What do you mean?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I mean simply that two of my friends are now on their way to your house
+on my behalf....
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Well...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+To demand reparation for what ... (_looking Sigismund straight in the
+eye_) I believed you guilty of.
+
+SIGISMUND (_takes a step back; a pause ensues during which they stare
+hard at each other_) You have challenged.... (_Reaching out his hand_)
+That's fine!
+
+AMADEUS (_does not accept the proffered hand_)
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+But it's splendid! I can assure you that the whole matter now assumes
+quite a different aspect. And, of course, I shall be at your disposal
+just the same, if you insist.
+
+AMADEUS (_draws a deep breath, looks long at Sigismund, and shakes his
+head at last_) No, I won't any longer. (_He shakes hands with him, and
+then begins walking to and fro, muttering to himself_) Cecilia....
+Cecilia...! (_Returning to Sigismund and addressing him in a totally
+different tone_) Won't you please be seated, Sigismund?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+No, thank you.
+
+AMADEUS (_feeling repelled and suspicious again_)
+
+Just as you please.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Don't misunderstand me, please. But I suppose this ends our conference,
+my dear Master. (_Looking around_) And yet I must admit that your rude
+treatment has made me feel a great deal more at ease. Isn't that
+strange? And in spite of the fact that, after this unexpected turn, my
+hopes must be held practically--I beg your pardon!--completely disposed
+of.... In spite of this I feel actually in much better spirits than I
+have done for a long time. Even if I am not to have the happiness of
+which I have foolishly dared to dream so long....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Was it so very foolish?
+
+SIGISMUND (_good-humoredly_)
+
+Oh, yes. But this is at least an acceptable conclusion. (_Shaking his
+head_) It seems queer! If I hadn't come here at this very moment, you
+might never have learned--you might never have believed--might have
+believed that Cecilia.... And one of us might perhaps--must perhaps
+have.... (_He makes a gesture to complete the sentence_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It was indeed a strange coincidence that made you choose this
+particular moment....
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Coincidence, you say? Oh, no, there are no coincidences--as you will
+discover sooner or later. (_Pause_) Well, good-by then, and give my
+regards to Mrs. ... Adams ...
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You can safely call her Cecilia.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+... and tell her, please, that she mustn't be angry with me for having
+taken such a step without her knowledge. Of course, my going away won't
+surprise her. When leaving her yesterday, I told her that I couldn't
+continue this kind of existence.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And she...? What did she say?
+
+SIGISMUND (_hesitatingly_)
+
+She....
+
+AMADEUS (_excited again_)
+
+She tried to keep you here...?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Yes.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+So that after all...!
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Now she won't try any longer, my dear Master. (_With a wistful smile_)
+I have served my purpose.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What do you mean?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Oh, I can see now why she needed me--of course, you were not at all
+aware of it!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Why did she need you?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Simply and solely as a means of winning you back.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What makes you think...?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+What...? That she has succeeded.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, Sigismund--she hadn't lost me--in spite of all that had happened.
+In fact, I feel as if I had rather lost her than she--me.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+That's awfully kind of you. But now--God be with you!
+
+AMADEUS (_with something like emotion_)
+
+And when shall we see you again?
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+I don't know. Perhaps never.---Please don't imagine that I might take
+my own life. I shall get over it, being still young.--Oh, my dear
+Master, if things could only become what they used to be, so that I
+could sit here at the fireplace while Cecilia was singing--or hammer
+away at the piano after supper...!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Don't be quite so modest, please! The fame of your piano playing has
+reached Berlin even, I hear.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+So she has told you that, too?!--But you see, dear Master, all that can
+never come back--we could no longer feel at ease with each other....
+So--never to meet again!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Never.... Why? Perhaps I shall see you very soon alone. I am
+also--going away.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+I know. We were talking of it yesterday, in the dining car. You are to
+conduct your--number-which-one is it now?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+The fourth.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+So you have got that far already?--And where are you going anyhow?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+To the Rhine district first of all; then by way of Munich to
+Italy--Venice, Milan, Rome.
+
+SIGISMUND
+
+Rome...? There we may possibly meet. But you'll have to pardon me for
+not coming to your concerts. So far I have not been able to understand
+your symphonies.... But I am sure I shall sometime! One does grow more
+and more clever, and sorrow and experiences in particular have a
+maturing influence.... "Now he's making fun of it," I suppose you are
+thinking. But, really, I am not in a very humorous mood. Farewell, my
+dear Master--and my most respectful compliments to your wife. (_He
+goes out_)
+
+AMADEUS (_walks back and forth; takes a few deep breaths, as if
+relieved; goes out into the garden; returns; sits down at the piano and
+plays a few improvisations; gets up and goes to the writing desk, where
+he begins to look for something among the papers_) Where's that Solo?
+... She's going to sing it, and I shall be present...! (_He seats
+himself at the piano again, apparently in a very happy mood_)
+Cecilia!... Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA (_enters_)
+
+AMADEUS (_rising_)
+
+Ah, there you are at last, Cecilia!
+
+CECELIA (_very calmly_)
+
+Good-morning, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+A little late.
+
+CECILIA (_smiling_)
+
+Yes. (_She takes off her hat and goes to the mirror to arrange her
+hair_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What made you get out so early?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Various things I had to attend to.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And may one ask...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+One may.--Look here, what I have got for you. (_She takes a letter from
+a small bag_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What's that? (_He takes it_) What...? My letter to Philine...! Did you
+go to her, Cecilia?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, I felt a little nervous about it. Now I think it was rather silly
+of me.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And how...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Oh, the simplest thing in the world! I asked her for it, and she gave
+it to me. It was lying in an open drawer in her writing desk--with
+others. I think you can call yourself lucky.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia! (_He tears the letter to pieces and throws these into the
+fireplace_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, you would never have made up your mind to demand it of her, and
+that would have kept me in a state of irritation. I can't have anything
+like that on my mind when I want to work.--And now that's settled.
+(_She turns away_) Then I went to the opera, too. I have had a talk
+with the Director. He's going to indorse my request to be set free.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Your request to be set free...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Yes, I shall go to Berlin on the first of January.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But, Cecilia, we haven't talked it over yet....
+
+CECILIA
+
+What's the use of postponing a thing that's already settled in my own
+mind?--You know I never like to do that.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But it means a whole year of separation!
+
+CECILIA
+
+To start with. But I think it might be just as well to prepare
+ourselves for a still longer period.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Do you mean to leave me, Cecilia?!
+
+CECILIA
+
+What else can I do, Amadeus? That ought to be as clear to you as it is
+to me.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+So it would have been a little while ago, Cecilia. But I have come to
+see our future in a different light.... Cecilia ... Sigismund has been
+here!
+
+CECILIA
+
+Sigismund?!... You have talked with him?... What did he want?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+What did he want...? Your hand.
+
+CECILIA
+
+And you refused...?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+He is sending you his farewell greetings through me, Cecilia.
+
+CECILIA
+
+So that's what has put you in such a good humor all at once! (_Pause_)
+And if he hadn't come here?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If he hadn't come here....
+
+CECILIA
+
+Speak out, please!
+
+AMADEUS (_remains silent_)
+
+CECILIA
+
+You didn't mean to ... to fight him?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+I did. Albert was on his way to him at the time.
+
+CECILIA
+
+What vanity, Amadeus!
+
+AMADEUS
+
+No, not vanity, Cecilia. I love you.
+
+CECILIA (_remains wholly unresponsive_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+You can't guess, of course, what took place within me while his words
+were gradually bringing home the truth to me! Once more the doors of
+heaven have been thrown open to me!
+
+CECILIA
+
+The only thing you forget is that they must remain closed to me
+forever.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Don't say that, Cecilia. What has happened to me in the past seems so
+very insignificant, after all.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Insignificant, you say?--And if it had happened to me, it would have
+been so significant that people should have had to kill or be killed on
+that account? How can you think then, that I might get over it so
+easily?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+How can I...? Because you have proved it already. You knew just what
+had happened, and yet you became mine again.... You knew that I had
+been faithless, while you had kept your faith, and yet....
+
+CECILIA
+
+You say that I have kept my faith?--No, I haven't! And even if I should
+seem faithful to you, I have long ago ceased to be so in my own mind.
+_I_ know the desires that have burned within me.... _I_ know how often
+my body has trembled and yearned in the presence of some man.... And
+what I told you last night--that I am waiting with wide-open arms, full
+of longings and expectations--that's true, Amadeus--no less true than
+it is that I am standing face to face with you now.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+If that be true, what has kept you from satisfying all your
+longings--you, who have been as free as I have?
+
+CECILIA
+
+I am a woman, Amadeus. And we seem to be like that. Something makes us
+hesitate even when we have already made up our minds.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And because you seemed guilty in your own mind, you remained silent?...
+And for no other reason have you left me--me, whose sufferings you
+might have relieved by a single word--to believe you as guilty as
+myself?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Perhaps....
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And how long did you mean to let me go on believing that?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Until it became true, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+But there has been enough of it now, Cecilia. It will never become true
+... never after this.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Where do you get that idea, Amadeus? It is going to be true. Do you
+think, perhaps, that all this was meant as a kind of ordeal for you? Do
+you think I was playing a childish comedy in order to punish you, and
+that now, when you have discovered the truth prematurely, I shall sink
+into your arms and declare everything right again? Have you really
+imagined that everything could now be forgotten, and that we might
+resume our marriage relations at the exact point where they were
+interrupted? How can you possibly have wished that such might be the
+case--so that our marriage would be like thousands of others, where
+both deceive each other, and become reconciled, and deceive each other
+again--just as the moment's whim happens to move them?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+We have neither deceived each other, nor become reconciled--we have
+been free, and have merely found each other again.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Each other, you say?... As if that were possible! What is it then, that
+has made me seem so desirable to you all at once? Not the fact that I
+am Cecilia--oh, no! But the fact that I seem to have come back another
+woman. And have I really become yours again? Not at all! Not unless you
+have grown so modest all at once that you can be satisfied with a
+happiness that might have fallen to somebody else perhaps, if he had
+merely chanced to be on hand at that particular moment.
+
+AMADEUS (_shrinking back_)
+
+But even if last night be sacrificed to this fixed idea of yours,
+Cecilia--it is daylight now--we are awake--and in this moment of clear
+light you must feel, no less than I, that we love each other,
+Cecilia--love as we have never loved before.
+
+CECILIA
+
+This moment might prove deceptive--and I am sure it would. No other
+moment would be more apt to prove such. Do you think those many moments
+in which we felt our tenderness gradually ebbing away--those many
+moments when we felt the lure of other loves--do you think them less
+worthy of consideration than this one? The only thing urging us
+together now is our fear of the final leave-taking. And our feelings at
+this moment make a pretty poor sample upon which to base an eternity. I
+don't trust them. What has happened once, may ... nay, must repeat
+itself--to-morrow--or two years from now--or five ... in a more
+indiscreet manner, perhaps, or in a manner more tragical--but certainly
+in a manner to be much more regretted.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Oh, no--never again! Now--after what I have felt and experienced
+lately, I can vouch for myself.
+
+CECILIA
+
+I don't feel equally certain of myself, Amadeus.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That doesn't scare me, Cecilia, for now I'm prepared to fight for
+you--now I'm worthy and capable of fighting for you. Hereafter you
+shall never more be left unprotected as you were in the past--my
+tenderness will guard you.
+
+CECILIA
+
+But I don't want to be guarded! I shall no longer permit you to guard
+me! And I can no more give you any promises than I care to accept
+yours.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And if I should forgo them myself--if I should risk it on a mere
+uncertainty?
+
+CECILIA
+
+That's more than I dare--whether the risk concern you or myself ...
+more than I would risk even with certainty in mind. (_She turns away
+from him_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Then I cannot possibly understand you, Cecilia. What is it you want to
+make us pay for so dearly--yes, both of us? Is it our guilt or our
+happiness?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Why should either one of them be paid for? What's the use of such a
+word between us? Neither one of us has done anything that requires
+atonement. Neither one of us has any right to reproach the other one.
+Both of us have been free, and each one has used his freedom in
+accordance with his own desire and ability. I think nothing has
+happened but what must happen. We have trusted each other too much--or
+too little. We were neither made to love each other faithfully forever
+nor to maintain a pure friendship. Others have become resigned--I
+can't--and you mustn't allow yourself, Amadeus. Our experiment has
+failed. Let us admit our disillusionment. That can be borne. But I have
+no curiosity to find how it tastes when everything comes to an end in
+sheer loathing.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Comes to an end, you say?--But that can't be possible, Cecilia! It
+can't be possible that we should really leave each other--part from
+each other like strangers! We are still face to face--each of us can
+feel the closeness of the other one--and that's why you cannot yet
+realize what it would mean. Consider all the things that might come
+into your life as well as into mine during a separation of that
+kind--so prolonged and so void of responsibility--things that now have
+no place in your imagination even, and for which there could be no
+reparation.
+
+CECILIA
+
+Could they be worse than what has already befallen me? Faithfulness to
+each other in the ordinary sense matters least of all, I should think.
+And we could probably more easily find our way back to each other
+sometime from almost any other experience than that adventure of last
+night, or from a moment of self-deception like this one.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Find our way back, you say...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+It's also possible that, after a couple of years, we won't care to do
+so--that everything may be over between us to such an extent that we
+cannot imagine it now. That's possible, I say. But if we stayed
+together now, everything would be over within the next few seconds. For
+then we should be no better than all those we have despised
+hitherto--the one difference being that we had arranged ourselves more
+comfortably than the rest.
+
+ALBERT (_entering_)
+
+I beg your pardon for coming in unannounced like this, but....
+
+CECILIA (_withdraws toward the background_)
+
+AMADEUS (_going to meet Albert_)
+
+Yes, I know--you didn't find the Prince--he has been here himself.
+
+ALBERT
+
+What does that mean?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+That there was no reason why I should want to kill him.
+
+ALBERT
+
+I see.--Well, I'll be hanged if I haven't suspected something of the
+kind myself!--Then I suppose everything is once more in perfect order
+in this house?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Yes, in perfect order. When I return, Cecilia will be in Berlin, and I
+shall not follow her.
+
+ALBERT
+
+What? Then you are going to ask for a separation after all?
+
+CECILIA (_approaching them_)
+
+No, we are not going to ask for a separation. We'll just separate.
+
+ALBERT
+
+What?... (_He looks from one to the other; pause_) Really I like that.
+Indeed, I do. I think both of you are splendid--but especially you,
+Cecilia--and, of course, there is nothing else left for you to do now.
+
+PETER (_enters, carrying some of his puppets_)
+
+Papa! Mamma! I can play theater beautifully. Won't you come and look?
+Oh, please come!
+
+CECILIA (_strokes his hair_)
+
+AMADEUS (_remains standing at some distance from them_)
+
+ALBERT
+
+Well, isn't this just like life--the life you are always talking of!
+This should be the moment when you had to fall into each others' arms
+with absolute certainty, if you had had the luck to be imaginatively
+created--that is, not by me, of course.
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, the boy means too much to both of us to make that possible--don't
+you think so, Amadeus?
+
+AMADEUS (_losing control of himself after a glance at Peter_) All at
+once to be alone in the world again--it's a thought I can hardly face!
+
+CECILIA
+
+But we shall be somewhere in that world, you know--your child, and the
+mother of your child. We are not parting as enemies, after all....
+(_With a smile_) I am even ready to come here and sing that Solo of
+yours--although we shall not be able to study it together.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+It's more than I can bear...!
+
+CECILIA
+
+It will have to be borne. We must work--both of us.
+
+ALBERT (_to Amadeus_)
+
+Yes, and it remains to be seen what effect a real sorrow like this may
+have on you. It's just what you have lacked so far. I expect you'll get
+a lot out of it. In a sense, I might almost envy you.
+
+PETER
+
+What's the matter?... Look here, mamma, how they jump about! That's the
+king, and this is the devil.
+
+ALBERT
+
+Come on, sonny, and play your piece to _me_. But I insist that the
+hero must either marry in the end, or be carried off by the devil. In
+either case you can go home quite satisfied when the curtain drops.
+(_He goes out with Peter_)
+
+CECILIA (_after a glance at Amadeus, starts to follow them_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA (_turns back_)
+
+AMADEUS (_passionately_)
+
+Why didn't you show me the door, Cecilia, when you knew...?
+
+CECILIA
+
+Well, _did_ I know?... I have loved you, Amadeus. And all I wanted,
+perhaps, was that the inevitable end should be worthy of our love--that
+we should part after a final moment of bliss, and with a pang.
+
+AMADEUS
+
+With a pang, you say...? Do you really feel anything like that?
+
+CECILIA (_coming close to him and speaking very gently_)
+
+Why don't you try to understand me, Amadeus? I feel it just as keenly
+as you do. But there is another thing I feel more strongly than you,
+and it is well for us both that I do. It is this, Amadeus, that we have
+been so much to each other that we must keep the memory of it pure. If
+that was nothing but an adventure last night, then we have never been
+worthy of our past happiness.... If it was a farewell, then we may
+expect new happiness in the future ... perhaps.... (_She starts toward
+the garden_)
+
+AMADEUS
+
+And that's our reward, then, for having always been honest to each
+other!
+
+CECILIA (_turning toward him again_)
+
+Honest, you call it...? Have we always been that?
+
+AMADEUS
+
+Cecilia!
+
+CECILIA
+
+No, I can't think so any longer. Let everything else have been
+honest--but that both of us should have resigned ourselves so promptly
+when you told me of your passion for the Countess and I confessed my
+affection for Sigismund--that was not honest. If each of us had then
+flung his scorn, his bitterness, his despair into the face of the other
+one, instead of trying to appear self-controlled and superior--then we
+should have been honest--which, as it was, we were not. (_She walks
+across the veranda outside and disappears into the garden_)
+
+AMADEUS (_to himself_)
+
+All right--then we were not honest. (_After a pause_) And suppose we
+had been?! (_For a moment he seems to consider; then he goes to the
+writing desk and puts the manuscript music lying there into the little
+handbag; after a glance into the garden, he goes into his own room,
+returning at once with his hat and overcoat; then he opens the handbag
+again and picks out a manuscript, which he places on the piano; then he
+goes out rapidly, taking hat, overcoat and handbag with him; a brief
+pause follows_)
+
+CECILIA (_enters and notices that the handbag is gone; she goes quickly
+into Amadeus' room, but returns immediately; she crosses the room to
+the main entrance and remains standing there, opening her arms widely
+at first, and then letting them sink down again; going to the piano,
+she catches sight of the manuscript lying there and picks it up; while
+looking at it, she sinks down on the piano stool_)
+
+PETER (appears on the veranda with Albert and calls from there) Mother!
+
+CECILIA (_does not hear him_)
+
+ALBERT (_observing that Cecilia is alone and sunk in grief, takes Peter
+with him into the garden again_)
+
+CECILIA (_begins to weep softly and lets her head sink down on the
+piano_)
+
+
+CURTAIN
+
+
+
+
+COUNTESS MIZZIE
+
+OR
+
+THE FAMILY REUNION
+
+(_Komtesse Mizzi oder der Familientag_)
+
+A COMEDY IN ONE ACT
+
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+PERSONS
+
+
+COUNT ARPAD PAZMANDY
+
+MIZZIE                    } His daughter
+
+PRINCE EGON RAVENSTEIN
+
+LOLO LANGHUBER
+
+PHILIP
+
+PROFESSOR WINDHOFER
+
+WASNER
+
+THE GARDENER
+
+THE VALET
+
+
+
+
+COUNTESS MIZZIE
+
+
+_The garden of Count Arpad. In the background, tall iron fence. Near
+the middle of this, but a little more to the right, there is a gate. In
+the foreground, at the left, appears the facade of the two-storied
+villa, which used to be an imperial hunting lodge about 180 years ago
+and was remodeled about thirty years ago. A narrow terrace runs along
+the main floor, which is raised above the ground. Three wide stairs
+lead from the terrace down to the garden. French doors, which are
+standing open, lead from the terrace into the drawing-room. The windows
+of the upper floor are of ordinary design. Above that floor appears a
+small balcony, to which access is had through a dormer window. This
+balcony holds a profusion of flowering plants. A garden seat, a small
+table and an armchair stand under a tree at the right, in the
+foreground._
+
+
+COUNT (_enters from the right; he is an elderly man with gray
+mustaches, but must still be counted decidedly good-looking; his
+bearing and manners indicate the retired officer; he wears a riding
+suit and carries a crop_)
+
+VALET (_entering behind the Count_)
+
+At what time does Your Grace desire to have dinner to-day?
+
+COUNT (_who speaks with the laconism affected by his former colleagues,
+and who, at that particular moment, is engaged in lighting a huge
+cigar_) At two.
+
+VALET
+
+And when is the carriage to be ready, Your Grace?
+
+MIZZIE[1] (_appearing on the balcony with a palette and a bunch of
+brushes in one hand, calls down to her father_) Good morning, papa.
+
+      [1] Diminutive of Maria.
+
+COUNT
+
+Morning, Mizzie.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You left me all alone for breakfast again, papa. Where have you been
+anyhow?
+
+COUNT
+
+Most everywhere. Rode out by way of Mauer and Rodaun.[2] Perfectly
+splendid day. And what are you doing? At work already? Is there
+anything new to be seen soon?
+
+      [2] Small towns south of Vienna. The subsequent reference to
+      the Tiergarten shows that the Pazmandy residence must be in
+      the little suburb of Lainz, at the extreme southwestern corner
+      of Vienna. Near the Tiergarten there is actually an imperial
+      hunting lodge, which the playwright seems to have appropriated
+      for his purpose.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes, indeed, papa. Nothing but flowers though, as usual.
+
+COUNT
+
+Isn't the professor coming to see you to-day?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes, but not until one.
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, don't let me interrupt you.
+
+MIZZIE (_throws a kiss to him and disappears from the balcony_)
+
+COUNT (_to the valet_)
+
+What are you waiting for? Oh, the carriage. I'm not going out again
+to-day. Joseph can take a holiday. Or wait a moment. (_He calls up to
+the balcony_) Say, Mizzie....
+
+MIZZIE (_reappears on the balcony_)
+
+COUNT
+
+Sorry to disturb you again. Do you think you'll want the carriage
+to-day?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+No, thank you, papa. I can think of nothing.... No, thanks. (_She
+disappears again_)
+
+COUNT
+
+So Joseph can do what he pleases this afternoon. That's--oh, see that
+Franz gives the nag a good rubbing down. We got a little excited this
+morning--both of us.
+
+VALET (_goes out_)
+
+COUNT (_sits down on the garden seat, picks up a newspaper from the
+table and begins to read_)
+
+GARDENER (_enters_)
+
+Good morning, Your Grace.
+
+COUNT
+
+Morning, Peter. What's up?
+
+GARDENER
+
+With Your Grace's permission, I have just cut the tea roses.
+
+COUNT
+
+Why all that lot?
+
+GARDENER
+
+The bush is full up. It ain't wise, Your Grace, to leave 'em on the
+stem much longer. If maybe Your Grace could find some use....
+
+COUNT
+
+Haven't got any. Why do you stand there looking at me? I'm not going to
+the city. I won't need any flowers. Why don't you put them in some of
+those vases and things that are standing about in there? Quite the
+fashion nowadays, isn't it? (_He takes the bunch of flowers from the
+gardener and inhales their fragrance while he seems to be pondering
+something_) Wasn't that a carriage that stopped here?
+
+GARDENER
+
+That's His Highness' pair of blacks. I know 'em by their step.
+
+COUNT
+
+Thanks very much then. (_He hands back the roses_)
+
+PRINCE (_comes in by the gate_)
+
+COUNT (_goes to meet him_)
+
+GARDENER
+
+Good morning, Your Highness.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Hello, Peter.
+
+GARDENER (_goes out toward the right_)
+
+PRINCE (_wears a light-colored Summer suit; is fifty-five, but doesn't
+look it; tall and slender; his manner of speech suggests the diplomat,
+who is as much at home in French as in his native tongue_)
+
+COUNT
+
+Delighted, old chap. How goes it?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Thanks. Splendid day.
+
+COUNT (_offers him one of his gigantic cigars_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+No, thank you, not before lunch. Only one of my own cigarettes, if you
+permit. (_He takes a cigarette from his case and lights it_)
+
+COUNT
+
+So you've found time to drop in at last. Do you know how long you
+haven't been here? Three weeks.
+
+PRINCE (_glancing toward the balcony_)
+
+Really that long?
+
+COUNT
+
+What is it that makes you so scarce?
+
+PRINCE
+
+You mustn't mind. But you are right, of course. And even to-day I come
+only to say good-by.
+
+COUNT
+
+What--good-by?
+
+PRINCE
+
+I shall be off to-morrow.
+
+COUNT
+
+You're going away? Where?
+
+PRINCE
+
+The sea shore. And you--have you made any plans yet?
+
+COUNT
+
+I haven't given a thought to it yet--this year.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, of course, it's wonderful right here--with your enormous park.
+But you have to go somewhere later in the Summer?
+
+COUNT
+
+Don't know yet. But it's all one.
+
+PRINCE
+
+What's wrong now?
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, my dear old friend, it's going downhill.
+
+PRINCE
+
+How? That's a funny way of talking, Arpad. What do you mean by
+downhill?
+
+COUNT
+
+One grows old, Egon.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, and gets accustomed to it.
+
+COUNT
+
+What do you know about it--you who are five years younger?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Six almost. But at fifty-five the springtime of life is pretty well
+over. Well--one gets resigned to it.
+
+COUNT
+
+You have always been something of a philosopher, old chap.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Anyhow, I can't see what's the matter with you. You look fine. (_Seats
+himself; frequently during this scene he glances up at the balcony;
+pause_)
+
+COUNT (_with sudden decision_)
+
+Have you heard the latest? She's going to marry.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Who's going to marry?
+
+COUNT
+
+Do you have to ask? Can't you guess?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, I see. Thought it might be Mizzie. And that would also.... So Lolo
+is going to marry.
+
+COUNT
+
+She is.
+
+PRINCE
+
+But that's hardly the "latest."
+
+COUNT
+
+Why not?
+
+PRINCE
+
+It's what she has promised, or threatened, or whatever you choose to
+call it, these last three years.
+
+COUNT
+
+Three, you say? May just as well say ten. Or eighteen. Yes, indeed. In
+fact, since the very start of this affair between her and me. It has
+always been a fixed idea with her. "If ever a decent man asks me to
+marry him, I'll get off the stage _stante pede_." It was almost the
+first thing she told me. You have heard it yourself a couple of times.
+And now he's come--the one she has been waiting for--and she's to get
+married.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Hope he's decent at least.
+
+COUNT
+
+Yes, you're very witty! But is that your only way of showing sympathy
+in a serious moment like this?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Now! (_He puts his hand on the Count's arm_)
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, I assure you, it's a serious moment. It's no small matter when
+you have lived twenty years with somebody--in a _near_-marital state;
+when you have been spending your best years with her, and really shared
+her joys and sorrows--until you have come to think at last, that it's
+never going to end--and then she comes to you one fine day and says:
+"God bless you, dear, but I'm going to get wedded on the sixteenth...."
+Oh, damn the whole story! (_He gets up and begins to walk about_) And I
+can't blame her even. Because I understand perfectly. So what can you
+do about it?
+
+PRINCE
+
+You've always been much too kind, Arpad.
+
+COUNT
+
+Nothing kind about it. Why shouldn't I understand? The clock has struck
+thirty-eight for her. And she has said adieu to her profession. So that
+anybody can sympathize with her feeling that there is no fun to go on
+as a ballet dancer retired on half pay and mistress on active service
+to Count Pazmandy, who'll be nothing but an old fool either, as time
+runs along. Of course, I have been prepared for it. And I haven't
+blamed her a bit--'pon my soul!
+
+PRINCE
+
+So you have parted as perfect friends?
+
+COUNT
+
+Certainly. In fact, our leave-taking was quite jolly. 'Pon my soul, I
+never suspected at first how tough it would prove. It's only by degrees
+it has come home to me. And that's quite a remarkable story, I must
+say....
+
+PRINCE
+
+What's remarkable about it?
+
+COUNT
+
+I suppose I had better tell you all about it. On my way home that last
+time--one night last week--I had a feeling all of a sudden--I don't
+know how to express it ... tremendously relieved, that's what I felt.
+Now you are a free man, I said to myself. Don't have to drive to
+Mayerhof Street[3] every night God grants you, merely to dine and
+chatter with Lolo, or just sit there listening to her. Had come to be
+pretty boresome at times, you know. And then the drive home in the
+middle of the night, and, on top of it, to be called to account when
+you happened to be dining with a friend in the Casino or taking your
+daughter to the opera or a theater. To cut it short--I was in high
+feather going home that night. My head was full of plans already....
+No, nothing of the kind you have in mind! But plans for traveling, as I
+have long wanted to do--to Africa, or India, like a free man.... That
+is, I should have brought my little girl along, of course.... Yes, you
+may well laugh at my calling her a little girl still.
+
+      [3] A street in the district of Wieden, near one of the
+      principal shopping districts and leading to the great
+      Theresian Riding Academy.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Nothing of the kind. Mizzie looks exactly like a young girl. Like quite
+a young one. Especially in that Florentine straw hat she was wearing a
+while ago.
+
+COUNT
+
+Like a young girl, you say! And yet she's exactly of an age with Lolo.
+You know, of course! Yes, we're growing old, Egon. Every one of us. Oh,
+yes.... And lonely. But really, I didn't notice it to begin with. It
+was only by degrees it got hold of me. The first days after that
+farewell feast were not so very bad. But the day before yesterday, and
+yesterday, as the time approached when I used to start for Mayerhof
+Street.... And when Peter brought in those roses a moment ago--for
+Lolo, of course--why, then it seemed pretty plain to me that I had
+become a widower for the second time in my life. Yes, my dear fellow.
+And this time forever. Now comes the loneliness. It has come already.
+
+PRINCE
+
+But that's nonsense--loneliness!
+
+COUNT
+
+Pardon me, but you can't understand. Your way of living has been so
+different from mine. You have not let yourself be dragged into anything
+new since your poor wife died ten years ago. Into nothing of a serious
+nature, I mean. And besides, you have a profession, in a sense.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Have I?
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, as a member of the Upper House.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, I see.
+
+COUNT
+
+And twice you have almost been put into the cabinet.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, almost....
+
+COUNT
+
+Who knows? Perhaps you will break in some time. And I'm all done. Had
+myself retired three years ago in the bargain--like a fool.
+
+PRINCE (_with a smile_)
+
+That's why you are a free man now. Perfectly free. With the world open
+before you.
+
+COUNT
+
+And no desire to do a thing, old man. That's the whole story. Since
+that time I haven't gone to the Casino even. Do you know what I have
+been doing the last few nights? I have sat under that tree with
+Mizzie--playing domino.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, don't you see? That's not to be lonely. When you have a daughter,
+and particularly such a sensible one, with whom you have always got on
+so well.... What does she say about your staying at home nights anyhow?
+
+COUNT
+
+Nothing. Besides, it has happened before, quite frequently. She says
+nothing at all. And what could she say? It seems to me she has never
+noticed anything. Do you think she can have known about Lolo?
+
+PRINCE (_laughing_)
+
+Man alive!
+
+COUNT
+
+Of course. Yes, I know. Of course, she must have known. But then, I was
+still almost a young man when her mother died. I hope it hasn't hurt
+her feelings.
+
+PRINCE
+
+No, _that_ wouldn't. (_Casually_) But being left so much alone may have
+troubled her at times, I should think.
+
+COUNT
+
+Has she complained of me? There's no reason why you shouldn't tell me.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I am not in her confidence. She has never complained to me. And,
+heavens, it may never have troubled her at all. She has so long been
+accustomed to this quiet, retired life.
+
+COUNT
+
+Yes, and she seems to have a taste for it, too. And then she used to go
+out a good deal until a few years ago. Between you and me, Egon, as
+late as three years ago--no, two years ago--I still thought she might
+make the plunge after all.
+
+PRINCE
+
+What plunge? Oh, I see....
+
+COUNT
+
+If you could only guess what kind of men have been paying attention to
+her quite recently....
+
+PRINCE
+
+That's only natural.
+
+COUNT
+
+But she won't. She absolutely won't. What I mean is, that she can't be
+feeling so very lonely ... otherwise she would ... as she has had
+plenty of opportunity....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Certainly. It's her own choice. And then Mizzie has an additional
+resource in her painting. It's a case like that of my blessed aunt, the
+late Fanny Hohenstein, who went on writing books to a venerable old age
+and never wanted to hear a word about marriage.
+
+COUNT
+
+It may have some connection with her artistic aspirations. At times I'm
+inclined to look for some psychological connection between all these
+morbid tendencies.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Morbid, you say? But you can't possibly call Mizzie morbid.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, it's all over now. But there was a time....
+
+PRINCE
+
+I have always found Mizzie very sensible and very well balanced. After
+all, painting roses and violets doesn't prove a person morbid by any
+means.
+
+COUNT
+
+You don't think me such a fool that her violets and roses could make me
+believe.... But if you remember when she was still a young girl....
+
+PRINCE
+
+What then?
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, that story at the time Fedor Wangenheim wanted to marry her.
+
+PRINCE
+
+O Lord, are you still thinking of that? Besides, there was no truth in
+it. And that was eighteen or twenty years ago almost.
+
+COUNT
+
+Her wanting to join the Ursuline Sisters rather than marry that nice
+young fellow, to whom she was as good as engaged already--and then up
+and away from home all at once--you might call that morbid, don't you
+think?
+
+PRINCE
+
+What has put you in mind of that ancient story to-day?
+
+COUNT
+
+Ancient, you say? I feel as if it happened last year only. It was at
+the very time when my own affair with Lolo had just begun. Ah, harking
+back like that...! And if anybody had foretold me at the time...! You
+know, it really began like any ordinary adventure. In the same
+reckless, crazy way. Yes, crazy--that's it. Not that I want to make
+myself out worse than I am, but it was lucky for all of us that my poor
+wife had already been dead a couple of years. Lolo seemed ... my fate.
+Mistress and wife at the same time. Because she's such a wonderful
+cook, you know. And the way she makes you comfortable. And always in
+good humor--never a cross word.... Well, it's all over. Don't let us
+talk of it.... (_Pause_) Tell me, won't you stay for lunch? And I must
+call Mizzie.
+
+PRINCE (_checking him_)
+
+Wait--I have something to tell you. (_Casually, almost facetiously_) I
+want you to be prepared.
+
+COUNT
+
+Why? For what?
+
+PRINCE
+
+There is a young man coming here to be introduced.
+
+COUNT (_astonished_)
+
+What? A young man?
+
+PRINCE
+
+If you have no objection.
+
+COUNT
+
+Why should I object? But who is he?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Dear Arpad--he's my son.
+
+COUNT (_greatly surprised_)
+
+What?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, my son. You see, I didn't want--as I'm going away....
+
+COUNT
+
+Your son? You've got a son?
+
+PRINCE
+
+I have.
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, did you ever...! You have got a young man who is your son--or
+rather, you have got a son who is a young man. How old?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Seventeen.
+
+COUNT
+
+Seventeen! And you haven't told me before! No, Egon ... Egon! And tell
+me ... seventeen...? My dear chap, then your wife was still alive....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, my wife was still alive at the time. You see, Arpad, one gets
+mixed up in all sorts of strange affairs.
+
+COUNT
+
+'Pon my soul, so it seems!
+
+PRINCE
+
+And thus, one fine day, you find yourself having a son of seventeen
+with whom you go traveling.
+
+COUNT
+
+So it's with him you are going away?
+
+PRINCE
+
+I am taking that liberty.
+
+COUNT
+
+No, I couldn't possibly tell you.... Why, he has got a son of
+seventeen!... (_Suddenly he grasps the hand of the Prince, and then
+puts his arms about him_) And if I may ask ... the mother of that young
+gentleman, your son ... how it happens ... as you have started telling
+me....
+
+PRINCE
+
+She's dead long ago. Died a couple of weeks after he was born. A mere
+slip of a girl.
+
+COUNT
+
+Of the common people?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, of course. But a charming creature. I may as well tell you
+everything about it. That is, as far as I can recall it myself. The
+whole story seems like a dream. And if it were not for the boy....
+
+COUNT
+
+And all that you tell me only now! To-day only--just before the boy is
+coming here!
+
+PRINCE
+
+You never can tell how a thing like that may be received.
+
+COUNT
+
+Tut, tut! Received, you say...? Did you believe perhaps ... I'm
+something of a philosopher myself, after all.... And you call yourself
+a friend of mine!
+
+PRINCE
+
+Not a soul has known it--not a single soul in the whole world.
+
+COUNT
+
+But you might have told me. Really, I don't see how you could.... Come
+now, it wasn't quite nice.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I wanted to wait and see how the boy developed. You never can tell....
+
+COUNT
+
+Of course, with a mixed pedigree like that.... But you seem reassured
+now?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, yes, he's a fine fellow.
+
+COUNT (_embracing him again_)
+
+And where has he been living until now?
+
+PRINCE
+
+His earliest years were spent a good way from Vienna--in the Tirol.
+
+COUNT
+
+With peasants?
+
+PRINCE
+
+No, with a small landowner. Then he went to school for some time at
+Innsbruck. And during the last few years I have been sending him to the
+preparatory school at Krems.[4]
+
+      [4] Innsbruck is the capital of the province of Tirol. Krems
+      is a small city on the Donau, not so very far from Vienna,
+      having a fine high school or "gymnasium." The idea is, of
+      course, that as the boy grew up, his father became more and
+      more interested and wanted to have him within easier reach.
+
+COUNT
+
+And you have seen him frequently?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Of course.
+
+COUNT
+
+And what's _his_ idea of it anyhow?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Up to a few days ago he thought that he had lost both his parents--his
+father as well--and that I was a friend of his dead father.
+
+MIZZIE (_appearing on the balcony_)
+
+Good morning, Prince Egon.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Good morning, Mizzie.
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, won't you come down a while?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Oh, if I am not in the way.... (_She disappears_)
+
+COUNT
+
+And what are we going to say to Mizzie?
+
+PRINCE
+
+I prefer to leave that to you, of course. But as I am adopting the boy
+anyhow, and as a special decree by His Majesty will probably enable him
+to assume my name in a few days ...
+
+COUNT (_surprised_)
+
+What?
+
+PRINCE
+
+... I think it would be wiser to tell Mizzie the truth at once.
+
+COUNT
+
+Certainly, certainly--and why shouldn't we? Seeing that you are
+adopting him.... It's really funny--but, you see, a daughter, even when
+she gets to be an old maid, is nothing but a little girl to her father.
+
+MIZZIE (_appears; she is thirty-seven, but still very attractive; wears
+a Florentine straw hat and a white dress; she gives the Count a kiss
+before holding out her hand to the Prince_) Well, how do you do, Prince
+Egon? We don't see much of you these days.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Thank you.--Have you been very industrious?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Painting a few flowers.
+
+COUNT
+
+Why so modest, Mizzie? (_To the Prince_) Professor Windhofer told her
+recently that she could safely exhibit. Won't have to fear comparison
+with Mrs. Wisinger-Florian herself.[5]
+
+      [5] "Neben der Wiesinger-Florian." The name is slightly
+      misspelt in the German text. It is that of Mrs. Olga
+      Wisinger-Florian, a well-known Viennese painter of floral
+      pieces, whose work is represented in many of the big galleries
+      in Europe. She was born in 1844, made her name in the early
+      eighties, and is still living.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+That's so, perhaps. But I have no ambition of that kind.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I'm rather against exhibiting, too. It puts you at the mercy of any
+newspaper scribbler.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Well, how about the members of the Upper House--at least when they make
+speeches?
+
+COUNT
+
+And how about all of us? Is there anything into which they don't poke
+their noses?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, thanks to prevailing tendencies, there are people who would
+blackguard your pictures merely because you happen to be a countess,
+Mizzie.
+
+COUNT
+
+Yes, you're right indeed.
+
+VALET (_entering_)
+
+Your Grace is wanted on the telephone.
+
+COUNT
+
+Who is it? What is it about?
+
+VALET
+
+There is somebody who wishes to speak to Your Grace personally.
+
+COUNT
+
+You'll have to excuse me a moment. (_To the Prince, in a lowered
+voice_) Tell her now--while I am away. I prefer it. (_He goes out
+followed by the valet_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Somebody on the telephone--do you think papa can have fallen into new
+bondage already? (_She seats herself_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+Into _new_ bondage, you say?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Lolo used always to telephone about this time. But it's all over with
+her now. You know it, don't you?
+
+PRINCE
+
+I just heard it.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And what do you think of it, Prince Egon. I am rather sorry, to tell
+the truth. If he tries anything new now, I'm sure he'll burn his
+fingers. And I do fear there is something in the air. You see, he's
+still too young for his years.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, that's so.
+
+MIZZIE (_turning so that she faces the Prince_)
+
+And by the way, you haven't been here for ever so long.
+
+PRINCE
+
+You haven't missed me very much ... I fear.... Your art ... and heaven
+knows what else....
+
+MIZZIE (_without affectation_)
+
+Nevertheless....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Awfully kind of you.... (_Pause_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+What makes you speechless to-day? Tell me something. Isn't there
+anything new in the world at all?
+
+PRINCE (_as if he had thought of it only that moment_)
+
+Our son has just passed his examinations for the university.
+
+MIZZIE (_slightly perturbed_)
+
+I hope you have more interesting news to relate.
+
+PRINCE
+
+More interesting....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Or news, at least, that concerns me more closely than the career of a
+strange young man.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I have felt obliged, however, to keep you informed about the more
+important stages in the career of this young man. When he was about to
+be confirmed, I took the liberty to report the fact to you. But, of
+course, we don't have to talk any more about it.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+He pulled through, I hope?
+
+PRINCE
+
+With honors.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+The stock seems to be improving.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Let us hope so.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And now the great moment is approaching, I suppose.
+
+PRINCE
+
+What moment?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Have you forgotten already? As soon as he had passed his examinations,
+you meant to reveal yourself as his father.
+
+PRINCE
+
+So I have done already.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You--have told him already?
+
+PRINCE
+
+I have.
+
+MIZZIE (_after a pause, without looking at him_)
+
+And his mother--is dead...?
+
+PRINCE
+
+She is--so far.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And forever. (_Rising_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+As you please.
+
+[_The Count enters, followed by the valet._
+
+VALET
+
+But it was Your Grace who said that Joseph could be free.
+
+COUNT
+
+Yes, yes, it's all right.
+
+VALET (_goes out_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+What's the matter, papa?
+
+COUNT
+
+Nothing, my girl, nothing. I wanted to get somewhere quick--and that
+infernal Joseph.... If you don't mind, Mizzie, I want to have a few
+words with Egon.... (_To the Prince_) Do you know, she has been trying
+to get me before. I mean Lolo. But she couldn't get the number. And now
+Laura telephones--oh, well, that's her maid, you know--that she has
+just started on her way here.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Here? To see you?
+
+COUNT
+
+Yes.
+
+PRINCE
+
+But why?
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, I think I can guess. You see, she has never put her foot in this
+place, of course, and I have been promising her all the time that she
+could come here once to have a look at the house and the park before
+she married. Her standing grievance has always been that I couldn't
+receive her here. On account of Mizzie, you know. Which she has
+understood perfectly well. And to sneak her in here some time when
+Mizzie was not at home--well, for that kind of thing I have never had
+any taste. And so she sends me a telephone message, that the marriage
+is set for the day after to-morrow, and that she is on her way here
+now.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, what of it? She is not coming here as your mistress, and so I
+can't see that you have any reason for embarrassment.
+
+COUNT
+
+But to-day of all days--and with your son due at any moment.
+
+PRINCE
+
+You can leave him to me.
+
+COUNT
+
+But I don't want it. I'm going to meet the carriage and see if I can
+stop her. It makes me nervous. You'll have to ask your son to excuse me
+for a little while. Good-by, Mizzie. I'll be back right away. (_He goes
+out_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+Miss Lolo has sent word that she's coming to call, and your papa
+doesn't like it.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+What's that? Has Lolo sent word? Is she coming here?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Your father has been promising her a chance to look over the place
+before she was married. And now he has gone to meet the carriage in
+order to steer her off.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+How childish! And how pathetic, when you come to think of it! I should
+really like to make her acquaintance. Don't you think it's too silly?
+There is my father, spending half his lifetime with a person who is
+probably very attractive--and I don't get a chance--don't have the
+right--to shake hands with her even. Why does he object to it anyhow?
+He ought to understand that I know all about it.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, heavens, that's the way he is made. And perhaps he might not have
+minded so much, if he were not expecting another visit at this very
+moment....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Another visit, you say?
+
+PRINCE
+
+For which I took the liberty to prepare him.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Who is it?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Our son.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Are you ... bringing your son here?
+
+PRINCE
+
+He'll be here in half an hour at the most.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I say, Prince ... this is not a joke you're trying to spring on me?
+
+PRINCE
+
+By no means. On a departed ... what an idea!
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Is it really true? He's coming here?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Apparently you still think that nothing but a whim keeps me from having
+anything to do with the boy?
+
+PRINCE
+
+A whim...? No. Seeing how consistent you have been in this matter, it
+would hardly be safe for me to call it that. And when I bear in mind
+how you have had the strength all these years not even to ask any
+questions about him....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+There has been nothing admirable about that. I have had the strength to
+do what was worse ... when I had to let him be taken away ... a week
+after he was born....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, what else could you--could we have done at the time? The
+arrangements made by me at the time, and approved by you in the end,
+represented absolutely the most expedient thing we could do under the
+circumstances.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I have never questioned their expediency.
+
+PRINCE
+
+It was more than expedient, Mizzie. More than our own fate was at
+stake. Others might have come to grief if the truth had been revealed
+at the time. My wife, with her weak heart, had probably never survived.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Oh, that weak heart....
+
+PRINCE
+
+And your father, Mizzie.... Think of your father!
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You may be sure he would have accepted the inevitable. That was the
+very time when he began his affair with Lolo. Otherwise everything
+might not have come off so smoothly. Otherwise he might have been more
+concerned about me. I could never have stayed away several months if he
+hadn't found it very convenient at that particular moment. And there
+was only one danger connected with the whole story--that you might be
+shot dead by Fedor Wangenheim, my dear Prince.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Why I by him? It might have taken another turn. You are not a believer
+in judgment by ordeal, are you? And the outcome might have proved
+questionable from such a point of view even. You see, we poor mortals
+can never be sure how things of that kind are regarded up above.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You would never talk like that in the Upper House--supposing you ever
+opened your mouth during one of its sessions.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Possibly not. But the fundamental thing remains, that no amount of
+honesty or daring could have availed in the least at the time. It would
+have been nothing but useless cruelty toward those nearest to us. It's
+doubtful whether a dispensation could have been obtained--and besides,
+the Princess would never have agreed to a divorce--which you know as
+well as I do.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Just as if I had cared in the least for the ceremony...!
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Not in the least. Is that new to you? Didn't I tell you so at the time?
+Oh, you'll never guess what might ... (_her words emphasized by her
+glance_) what I ... of what I might have been capable at that time. I
+would have followed you anywhere--everywhere--even as your mistress. I
+and the child. To Switzerland, to America. After all, we could have
+lived wherever it happened to suit us. And perhaps, if you had gone
+away, they might never even have noticed your absence in the Upper
+House.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, of course, we might have run away and settled down somewhere
+abroad.... But do you still believe that a situation like that would
+have proved agreeable in the long run, or even bearable?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+No, I don't nowadays. Because, you see, I know you now. But at that
+time I was in love with you. And it is possible that I--might have gone
+on loving you for a long time, had you not proved too _cowardly_ to
+assume the responsibility for what had happened.... Yes, too much of a
+coward, Prince Egon.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Whether that be the proper word....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Well, I don't know of any other. There was no hesitation on my part. I
+was ready to face everything--with joy and pride. I was ready to be a
+mother, and to confess myself the mother of our child. And you knew it,
+Egon. I told you so seventeen years ago, in that little house in the
+woods where you kept me hidden. But half-measures have never appealed
+to me. I wanted to be a mother in every respect or not at all. The day
+I had to let the boy be taken away from me, I made up my mind never
+more to trouble myself about him. And for that reason I find it
+ridiculous of you to bring him here all of a sudden. If you'll allow me
+to give you a piece of good advice, you'll go and meet him, as papa has
+gone to meet Lolo--and take him back home again.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I wouldn't dream of doing so. After what I have just had to hear from
+you again, it seems settled that his mother must remain dead. And that
+means that I must take still better care of him. He is my son in the
+eyes of the world too. I have adopted him.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Have you...?
+
+PRINCE
+
+To-morrow he will probably be able to assume my name. I shall introduce
+him wherever it suits me. And of course, first of all to my old
+friend--your father. If you should find the sight of him disagreeable,
+there will be nothing left for you but to stay in your room while he is
+here.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+If you believe that I think your tone very appropriate....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, just as appropriate as your bad temper.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+My bad temper...? Do I look it? Really, if you please ... I have simply
+permitted myself to find this fancy of yours in rather poor taste.
+Otherwise my temper is just as good as ever.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I have no doubt of your good humor under ordinary circumstances.... I
+am perfectly aware, for that matter, that you have managed to become
+reconciled to your fate. I, too, have managed to submit to a fate
+which, in its own way, has been no less painful than yours.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+In what way? To what fate have you had to submit...? Everybody can't
+become a cabinet minister. Oh, I see ... that remark must refer to the
+fact that His Highness did me the honor ten years ago, after the
+blissful departure of his noble spouse, to apply for my hand.
+
+PRINCE
+
+And again seven years ago, if you'll be kind enough to remember.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Oh, yes, I do remember. Nor have I ever given you any cause to question
+my good memory.
+
+PRINCE
+
+And I hope you have never ascribed my proposals to anything like a
+desire to expiate some kind of guilt. I asked you to become my wife
+simply because of my conviction that true happiness was to be found
+only by your side.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+True happiness!... Oh, what a mistake!
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, I do believe that it was a mistake at that moment. Ten years ago
+it was probably still too early. And so it was, perhaps, seven years
+ago. But not to-day.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes, to-day too, my dear Prince. Your fate has been never to know me,
+never to understand me at all--no more when I loved you than when I
+hated you, and not even during the long time when I have been
+completely indifferent toward you.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I have always known you, Mizzie. I know more about you than you seem
+able to guess. Thus, for instance, I am not unfamiliar with the fact
+that you have spent the last seventeen years in more profitable
+pursuits than weeping over a man who, in all likelihood, was not worthy
+of you at the time in question. I am even aware that you have chosen to
+expose yourself to several disillusionments subsequent to the one
+suffered at my hands.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Disillusionments, you say? Well, for your consolation, my dear Prince,
+I can assure you that some of them proved very enjoyable.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I know that, too. Otherwise I should hardly have dared to call myself
+familiar with the history of your life.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And do you think that I am not familiar with yours? Do you want me to
+present you with a list of your mistresses? From the wife of the
+Bulgarian attache in 1887 down to Mademoiselle Therese Gredun--if that
+be her real name--who retained the honors of her office up to last
+Spring at least. It seems likely that I know more than you even, for I
+can give you a practically complete list of those with whom she has
+deceived you.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, don't, if you please. There is no real pleasure in knowledge of
+that kind when you don't uncover it yourself.
+
+[_A carriage is heard stopping in front of the house._
+
+PRINCE
+
+That's he. Do you want to disappear before he comes out here? I can
+detain him that long.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Don't trouble yourself, please. I prefer to stay. But don't imagine
+that there is anything astir within me.... This is nothing but a young
+man coming to call on my father. There he is now.... As to blood being
+thicker than water--I think it's nothing but a fairy tale. I can't feel
+anything at all, my dear Prince.
+
+PHILIP (_comes quickly through the main entrance; he is seventeen,
+slender, handsome, elegant, but not foppish; shows a charming, though
+somewhat boyish, forwardness, not quite free from embarrassment_) Good
+morning. (_He bows to Mizzie_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+Good morning, Philip.--Countess, will you permit me to introduce my
+son? This is Countess Mizzie, daughter of the old friend of mine in
+whose house you are now.
+
+PHILIP (_kisses the hand offered him by Mizzie; brief pause_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Won't you be seated, please?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Thank you. Countess. (_All remain standing_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+You came in the carriage? Might just as well send it back, as mine is
+here already.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Won't you come back with me instead, papa? You see, I think Wasner does
+a great deal better than your Franz with his team of ancients.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+So Wasner has been driving you?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+The old man himself? Do you know that's a great honor? Wasner won't
+take the box for everybody. Up to about two years ago he used to drive
+my father.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Oh....
+
+PRINCE
+
+You're a little late, by the way, Philip.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes, I have to beg your pardon. Overslept, you know. (_To Mizzie_) I
+was out with some of my colleagues last night. You may have heard that
+I passed my examinations a couple of weeks ago, Countess. That's why we
+rather made a night of it.[6]
+
+      [6] "... Ein bissel gedraht." The term is specifically
+      Viennese and implies not only "making a night of it," but also
+      making the contents of that night as varied as the resources
+      of the locality will permit.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You seem to have caught on to our Viennese ways pretty quickly,
+Mister....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, dear Mizzie, call him Philip, please.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+But I think we must sit down first of all, Philip. (_With a glance at
+the Prince_) Papa should be here any moment now. (_She and the Prince
+sit down_)
+
+PHILIP (_still standing_)
+
+If you permit me to say so--I think the park is magnificent. It is much
+finer than ours.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You are familiar with the Ravenstein park?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Certainly, Countess. I have been living at Ravenstein House three days
+already.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Is that so?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Of course, gardens cannot do as well in the city as out here. Ours was
+probably a great deal more beautiful a hundred years ago. But then our
+place was still practically outside the city.
+
+PHILIP
+
+It's a pity that all sorts of people have been allowed to run up houses
+around our place like that.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+We are better off in that respect. And we shall hardly live to see the
+town overtake us.
+
+PHILIP (_affably_)
+
+But why not, Countess?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+A hundred years ago these grounds were still used for hunting. The
+place adjoins the Tiergarten, you know. Look over that wall there,
+Philip. And our villa was a hunting lodge once, belonging to the
+Empress Maria Theresa. The stone figure over there goes back to that
+period.
+
+PHILIP
+
+And how old is our place, papa?
+
+PRINCE (_smiling_)
+
+Our place, sonny, dates back to the seventeenth century. Didn't I show
+you the room in which Emperor Leopold spent a night?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Emperor Leopold, 1648 to 1705.
+
+MIZZIE (_laughs_)
+
+PHILIP
+
+Oh, that's an echo of the examinations. When I get old enough.... (_He
+interrupts himself_) I beg your pardon! What I meant to say was
+simply--all that stuff will be out of my head in a year. And, of
+course, when I learned those dates, I didn't know Emperor Leopold had
+been such a good friend of my own people.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You seem to think your discovery enormously funny, Philip?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Discovery, you say.... Well, frankly speaking, it could hardly be
+called that. (_He looks at the Prince_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+Go on, go on!
+
+PHILIP
+
+Well, you see, Countess, I have always had the feeling that I was no
+Philip Radeiner by birth.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Radeiner? (_To the Prince_) Oh, that was the name...?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes.
+
+PHILIP
+
+And, of course, it was very pleasant to find my suspicions
+confirmed--but I have really known it all the time. I can put two and
+two together. And some of the other boys had also figured out--that
+I.... Really, Countess, that story about Prince Ravenstein coming to
+Krems merely to see how the son of his late friend was getting
+along--don't you think it smacked a little too much of story book ...
+Home and Family Library, and that sort of thing? All the clever ones
+felt pretty sure that I was of noble blood, and as I was one of the
+cleverest....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+So it seems.... And what are your plans for the future, Philip?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Next October I shall begin my year as volunteer with the Sixth
+Dragoons, which is the regiment in which we Ravensteins always serve.
+And what's going to happen after that--whether I stay in the army or
+become an archbishop--in due time, of course....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+That would probably be the best thing. The Ravensteins have always been
+strong in the faith.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes, it's mentioned in the Universal History even. They were Catholic
+at first; then they turned Protestant in the Thirty Years War; and
+finally they became Catholic again--but they always remained strong in
+their faith. It was only the faith that changed.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Philip, Philip!
+
+MIZZIE
+
+That's the spirit of the time, Prince Egon.
+
+PRINCE
+
+And an inheritance from his mother.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You have been working hard, your father tells me, and have passed your
+examinations with honors.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Well, that wasn't difficult, Countess. I seem to get hold of things
+quickly. That's probably another result of the common blood in me. And
+I had time to spare for things not in the school curriculum--such as
+horseback riding and ...
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And what?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Playing the clarinet.
+
+MIZZIE (_laughing_)
+
+Why did you hesitate to tell about that?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Because.... Well, because everybody laughs when I say that I play the
+clarinet. And so did you, too, Countess. Isn't that queer? Did anybody
+ever laugh because you told him that you were painting for a diversion?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+So you have already heard about that?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes, indeed, Countess--papa told me. And besides, there is a floral
+piece in my bedroom--a Chinese vase, you know, with a laburnum branch
+and something purplish in color.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+That purplish stuff must be lilacs.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Oh, lilacs, of course. I saw that at once. But I couldn't recall the
+name just now.
+
+VALET (_entering_)
+
+There is a lady who wishes to see the Count. I have showed her into the
+drawing-room.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+A lady...? You'll have to excuse me for a moment, gentlemen. (_She goes
+out_)
+
+PHILIP
+
+That's all right, papa--if it's up to me, I have no objection.
+
+PRINCE
+
+To what? Of what are you talking?
+
+PHILIP
+
+I have no objection to your choice.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Have you lost your senses, boy?
+
+PHILIP
+
+But really, papa, do you think you can hide anything from me? That
+common blood in me, you know....
+
+PRINCE
+
+What put such an idea into your head?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Now look here, papa! You have been telling me how anxious you were to
+introduce me to your old friend, the Count. And then the Count has a
+daughter--which I have known all the time, by the way.... The one thing
+I feared a little was that she might be too young.
+
+PRINCE (_offended, and yet unable to keep serious_)
+
+Too young, you say....
+
+PHILIP
+
+It was perfectly plain that you had a certain weakness for that
+daughter.... Why, you used to be quite embarrassed when talking of her.
+And then you have been telling me all sorts of things about her that
+you would never have cared to tell otherwise. What interest could I
+have in the pictures of a Countess X-divided-by-anything, for
+instance--supposing even that you _could_ tell her lilacs from her
+laburnums by their color? And, as I said, my one fear was that she
+might be too young--as my mother, that is, and not as your wife. Of
+course, there is not yet anybody too young or beautiful for you. But
+now I can tell you, papa, that she suits me absolutely as she is.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, if you are not the most impudent rogue I ever came across...! Do
+you really think I would ask you, if I should ever....
+
+PHILIP
+
+Not exactly ask, papa ... but a happy family life requires that all the
+members affect each other sympathetically ... don't you think so?
+
+[_Mizzie and Lolo Langhuber enter._
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You must look around, please. I am sure my father would be very sorry
+to miss you. (_She starts to make the usual introductions_) Permit me
+to....
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, Your Highness.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, Miss Pallestri....
+
+LOLO
+
+Langhuber, if you please. I have come to thank the Count for the
+magnificent flowers he sent me at my farewell performance.
+
+PRINCE (_introducing_)
+
+My son Philip. And this is Miss ...
+
+LOLO
+
+Charlotta Langhuber.
+
+PRINCE (_to Philip_)
+
+Better known as Miss Pallestri.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Oh, Miss Pallestri! Then I have already had the pleasure....
+
+PRINCE
+
+What?
+
+PHILIP
+
+You see, I have Miss Pallestri in my collection.
+
+PRINCE
+
+What ... what sort of collection is that?
+
+LOLO
+
+There must be some kind of mistake here, Your Highness. I can not
+recall....
+
+PHILIP
+
+Of course, you can't, for I don't suppose you could feel that I was
+cutting out your picture from a newspaper at Krems?
+
+LOLO
+
+No, thank heaven!
+
+PHILIP
+
+It was one of our amusements at school, you know. There was one who cut
+out all the crimes and disasters he could get hold of.
+
+LOLO
+
+What a dreadful fellow that must have been!
+
+PHILIP
+
+And there was one who went in for historical personalities, like North
+Pole explorers and composers and that kind of people. And I used to
+collect theatrical ladies. Ever so much more pleasant to look at, you
+know. I have got two hundred and thirteen--which I'll show you
+sometime, papa. Quite interesting, you know. With a musical comedy star
+from Australia among the rest.
+
+LOLO
+
+I didn't know Your Highness had a son--and such a big one at that.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes, I have been hiding my light under a bushel so far.
+
+PRINCE
+
+And now you are trying to make up for it, I should say.
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, please let him, Your Highness. I prefer young people like him to be
+a little _vif_.
+
+PHILIP
+
+So you are going to retire to private life, Miss Pallestri? That's too
+bad. Just when I might have the pleasure at last of seeing you on those
+boards that signify the world....
+
+LOLO
+
+That's awfully kind of Your Highness, but unfortunately one hasn't time
+to wait for the youth that's still growing. And the more mature ones
+are beginning to find my vintage a little out of date, I fear.
+
+PRINCE
+
+They say that you are about to be married.
+
+LOLO
+
+Yes, I am about to enter the holy state of matrimony.
+
+PHILIP
+
+And who is the happy man, if I may ask?
+
+LOLO
+
+Who is he? Why, he is waiting outside now--with that carriage.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Why--a coachman?
+
+LOLO
+
+But, Countess--a coachman, you say?! Only in the same manner as when
+your papa himself--beg your pardon!--happens to be taking the bay out
+for a spin at times. Cab owner, that's what my fiance is--and house
+owner, and a burgess of Vienna, who gets on the box himself only when
+it pleases him and when there is somebody of whom he thinks a whole
+lot. Now he is driving for a certain Baron Radeiner--whom he has just
+brought out here to see your father, Countess. And I am having my
+doubts about that Baron Radeiner.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Permit me to introduce myself--Baron Radeiner.
+
+LOLO
+
+So that's you, Your Highness?
+
+PHILIP
+
+I have let nobody but Wasner drive me since I came here.
+
+LOLO
+
+And under an assumed name at that, Your Highness? Well, we are finding
+out a lot of nice things about you!
+
+COUNT (_appears, very hot_)
+
+Well, here I am. (_Taking in the situation_) Ah!
+
+LOLO
+
+Your humble servant, Count! I have taken the liberty--I wanted to thank
+you for the magnificent flowers.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, please--it was a great pleasure....
+
+PRINCE
+
+And here, old friend, is my son Philip.
+
+PHILIP
+
+I regard myself as greatly honored, Count.
+
+COUNT (_giving his hand to Philip_)
+
+I bid you welcome to my house. Please consider yourself at home
+here.--I don't think any further introductions are required.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+No, papa.
+
+COUNT (_slightly embarrassed_)
+
+It's very charming of you, my dear lady. Of course, you know better
+than anybody that I have always been one of your admirers.... But tell
+me, please, how in the world did you get out here? I have just been
+taking a walk along the main road, where every carriage has to pass,
+and I didn't see you.
+
+LOLO
+
+What do you take me for, Count? My cab days are past now. I came by the
+train, which is the proper thing for me.
+
+COUNT
+
+I see.... But I hear that your fiance himself....
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, he has more pretentious customers to look after.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes, I have just had the pleasure of being conducted here by the fiance
+of Miss Pallestri.
+
+COUNT
+
+Is Wasner driving for you? Well, that settles it--of course--clear
+psychological connection! (_Offers his cigar case_) Want a smoke?
+
+PHILIP (_accepting_)
+
+Thank you.
+
+PRINCE
+
+But, Philip...! A monster like that before lunch!
+
+COUNT
+
+Excellent. Nothing better for the health. And I like you. Suppose we
+sit down.
+
+[_The Count, the Prince and Philip seat themselves, while Mizzie and
+Lolo remain standing close to them._
+
+COUNT
+
+So you'll be off with your father to-morrow?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Yes, Count. And I'm tremendously pleased to think of it.
+
+COUNT
+
+Will you be gone long?
+
+PRINCE
+
+That depends on several circumstances.
+
+PHILIP
+
+I have to report myself at the regiment on the first of October.
+
+PRINCE
+
+And it's possible that I may go farther south after that.
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, that's news. Where?
+
+PRINCE (_with a glance at Mizzie_)
+
+Egypt, and the Sudan maybe--for a little hunting.
+
+MIZZIE (_to Lolo_)
+
+Let me show you the park.
+
+LOLO
+
+It's a marvel. Ours isn't a patch on it, of course. (_She and Mizzie
+come forward_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Have you a garden at your place, too?
+
+LOLO
+
+Certainly. As well as an ancestral palace--at Ottakring.[7] The
+great-grandfather of Wasner was in the cab business in his days
+already.--My, but that's beautiful! The way those flowers are hanging
+down. I must have something just like it.
+
+      [7] One of the factory districts of Vienna, known chiefly
+      because of the big insane asylum located there.
+
+COUNT (_disturbed_)
+
+Why are the ladies leaving us?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Never mind, papa, I'm merely explaining the architecture of our facade.
+
+PHILIP
+
+Do you often get visits of theatrical ladies, Count?
+
+COUNT
+
+No, this is merely an accident.
+
+[_The men stroll off toward those parts of the garden that are not
+visible._
+
+MIZZIE
+
+It seems strange that I have never before had a chance of meeting you.
+I am very glad to see you.
+
+LOLO (_with a grateful glance_)
+
+And so I am. Of course, I have known you by sight these many years.
+Often and often have I looked up at your box.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+But not at me.
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, that's all over now.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Do you know, I really feel a little offended--on _his_ behalf.
+
+LOLO
+
+Offended, you say...?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+It will be a hard blow for him. Nobody knows better than I how deeply
+he has been attached to you. Although he has never said a word to me
+about it.
+
+LOLO
+
+Do you think it's so very easy for me either, Countess? But tell me.
+Countess, what else could I do? I am no longer a spring chicken, you
+know. And one can't help hankering for something more settled. As long
+as I had a profession of my own, I could allow myself--what do they
+call it now?--to entertain liberal ideas. It goes in a way with the
+position I have held. But how would that look now, when I am retiring
+to private life?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Oh, I can see that perfectly. But what is _he_ going to do now?
+
+LOLO
+
+Why shouldn't he marry, too? I assure you, Countess, that there are
+many who would give all their five fingers.... Don't you realize,
+Countess, that I, too, have found it a hard step to take?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Do you know what I have been wondering often? Whether he never thought
+of making _you_ his wife?
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, yes, that's just what he wanted.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Why...?!
+
+LOLO
+
+Do you know when he asked me the last time, Countess? Less than a month
+ago.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And you said no?
+
+LOLO
+
+I did. It would have done no good. Me a Countess! Can you imagine it? I
+being your stepmother, Countess...! Then we could not have been
+chatting nicely as we are doing now.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+If you only knew how sympathetically you affect me....
+
+LOLO
+
+But I don't want to appear better than I am. And who knows what I
+might....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+What might you?
+
+LOLO
+
+Well, this is the truth of it. I have gone clear off my head about
+Wasner. Which I hope won't make you think the worse of me. In all these
+eighteen years I have had nothing to blame myself with, as far as your
+dear papa is concerned. But you can't wonder if my feelings began to
+cool off a little as the years passed along. And rather than to make
+your dear papa--oh, no, no, Countess ... I owe him too much gratitude
+for that.... Lord!
+
+MIZZIE
+
+What is it?
+
+LOLO
+
+There he is now, looking right at me.
+
+MIZZIE (_looks in the direction indicated_)
+
+WASNER (_who has appeared at the entrance, raises his tall hat in
+salute_)
+
+LOLO
+
+Don't you think me an awful fool, Countess? Every time I catch sight of
+him suddenly, my heart starts beating like everything. Yes, there's no
+fool like an old one.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Old...? Do you call yourself old? Why, there can't be much difference
+between us.
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, mercy.... (_With a glance at Mizzie_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I am thirty-seven.--No, don't look at me with any pity. There is no
+cause for that. None whatever.
+
+LOLO (_apparently relieved_)
+
+I have heard some whispers. Countess--of course, I didn't believe
+anything. But I thank heaven it was true. (_They shake hands_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I should like to congratulate your fiance right now, if you'll permit
+me.
+
+LOLO
+
+That's too sweet of you--but what about the Count--perhaps he wouldn't
+like...?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+My dear, I have always been accustomed to do as I pleased. (_They go
+together toward the entrance_)
+
+WASNER
+
+You're too kind, Countess....
+
+[_The Count, the Prince and Philip have reappeared in the meantime._
+
+COUNT
+
+Look at that, will you!
+
+WASNER
+
+Good morning, Count. Good morning, Highness.
+
+PRINCE
+
+I say, Wasner, you may just as well take your bride home in that trap
+of yours. My son is coming with me.
+
+WASNER
+
+Your son...?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Why haven't you told me that you were engaged, Wasner?
+
+WASNER
+
+Well, there are things you haven't told either ... Mr. von Radeiner!
+
+COUNT (_to Lolo_)
+
+Thank you very much for your friendly visit, and please accept my very
+best wishes.
+
+LOLO
+
+The same to you, Count. And I must say, that when one has such a
+daughter....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+It's too bad I haven't come to know you before.
+
+LOLO
+
+Oh, really, Countess....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Once more, my dear Miss Lolo, good luck to you! (_Mizzie embraces
+Lolo_)
+
+COUNT (_looks on with surprise and some genuine emotion_)
+
+LOLO
+
+I thank you for the kind reception, Count--and good-by!
+
+COUNT
+
+Good-by, Miss Langhuber. I trust you'll be happy ... indeed I do, Lolo.
+
+LOLO (_gets into the carriage which has driven up to the gate in the
+meantime_)
+
+WASNER (_is on the box, hat in hand; they drive off_)
+
+MIZZIE (_waves her hand at them as they disappear_)
+
+PHILIP (_who has been standing in the foreground with the Prince_) Oh,
+my dear papa, I can see through the whole story.
+
+PRINCE
+
+You can?
+
+PHILIP
+
+This Miss Lolo must be the natural daughter of the Count, and a sister
+of the Countess--her foster-sister, as they say.
+
+PRINCE
+
+No, you would call that a step-sister. But go on, Mr. Diplomat.
+
+PHILIP
+
+And of course, both are in love with you--both the Countess and the
+ballet dancer. And this marriage between the dancer and Wasner is your
+work.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Go on.
+
+PHILIP
+
+You know--there's something I never thought of until just now!
+
+PRINCE
+
+What?
+
+PHILIP
+
+I don't know if I dare?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Why so timid all at once?
+
+PHILIP
+
+Supposing my mother was not dead....
+
+PRINCE
+
+H'm....
+
+PHILIP
+
+And, through a remarkable combination of circumstances, she should now
+be going back to the city in the very carriage that brought me out
+here...? And suppose it should be my own mother, whose picture I cut
+out of that newspaper...?
+
+PRINCE
+
+My lad, you'll certainly end as a cabinet minister--Secretary of
+Agriculture, if nothing better.--But now it's time for us to say
+good-by.
+
+[_The Count and Mizzie are coming forward again._
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, my dear friend, this must be our farewell call, I am sorry to
+say.
+
+COUNT
+
+But why don't you stay.... That would be delightful ... if you could
+take lunch with us....
+
+PRINCE
+
+Unfortunately, it isn't possible. We have an appointment at
+Sacher's.[8]
+
+      [8] A fashionable restaurant near the Imperial Palace in the
+      Inner City.
+
+COUNT
+
+That's really too bad. And shall I not see you at all during the
+Summer?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Oh, we shall not be entirely out of touch.
+
+COUNT
+
+And are you starting to-morrow already?
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes.
+
+COUNT
+
+Where are you going?
+
+PRINCE
+
+To the sea shore--Ostend.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, you are bound for Ostend. I have long wanted to go there.
+
+PRINCE
+
+But that would be fine....
+
+COUNT
+
+What do you think, Mizzie? Let's be fashionable. Let's go to Ostend,
+too.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I can't answer yet. But there's no reason why you shouldn't go, papa.
+
+PHILIP
+
+That would be delightful, Countess. It would please me awfully.
+
+MIZZIE (_smiling_)
+
+That's very kind of you, Philip. (_She holds out her hand to him_)
+
+PHILIP (_kisses her hand_)
+
+COUNT (_to the Prince_)
+
+The children seem to get along beautifully.
+
+PRINCE
+
+Yes, that's what I have been thinking. Good-by then. Good-by, my dear
+Mizzie. And good-by to you, my dear old fellow. I hope at least to see
+_you_ again at Ostend.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, she'll come along. Won't you, Mizzie? After all, you can get
+studios by the sea shore, too. Or how about it, Mizzie?
+
+MIZZIE (_remains silent_)
+
+PRINCE
+
+Well, until we meet again! (_He shakes hands with the Count and
+Mizzie_)
+
+PHILIP (_kisses the hand of Mizzie once more_)
+
+COUNT (_giving his hand to Philip_)
+
+It has been a great pleasure.
+
+[_The Prince and Philip go out through the gate and step into the
+carriage which has been driving up in the meantime, and which now
+carries them off. The Count and Mizzie come forward again and seat
+themselves at the table under the tree. Pause._
+
+COUNT
+
+Hasn't this been a queer day?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+All life is queer--only we forget it most of the time.
+
+COUNT
+
+I suppose you're right. (_Pause_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+You know, papa, you might just as well have brought us together a
+little earlier.
+
+COUNT
+
+Who? Oh, you and....
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Me and Miss Lolo. She's a dear.
+
+COUNT
+
+So you like her? Well, if it were only possible to know in advance....
+But what's the use? Now it's all over.
+
+MIZZIE (_takes hold of his hand_)
+
+COUNT (_rises and kisses her on the forehead; strolls about aimlessly
+for a few seconds_) Tell me, Mizzie, what you think.... How do you like
+the boy?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Philip? Oh, rather fresh.
+
+COUNT
+
+Fresh, perhaps, but smart. I hope he'll stay in the army. That's a much
+more sensible career than the diplomatic service. Slow, but sure. All
+you need is to live long enough in order to become a general. But a
+political career.... Now look at Egon ... three times he has almost
+become a minister.... And suppose he had succeeded? (_Walking back and
+forth_) Yes, yes ... we shall be rather lonely this Summer.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+But why shouldn't you go to Ostend, papa?
+
+COUNT
+
+Yes, why not...? Really, won't you come along? It would be rather ...
+without you, you know.... It's no use looking at me like that. I know!
+I haven't paid as much attention to you in the past as I should
+have....
+
+MIZZIE (_taking his hand again_)
+
+Oh, papa, you're not going to apologize, are you? I understand
+perfectly.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, well. But, you see, I shall not get much joy out of that trip
+without you. And what would you be doing here, all by yourself? You
+can't paint all day long.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+The only trouble is ... the Prince has asked me to marry him.
+
+COUNT
+
+What? Is it possible? No, you don't mean.... And ... and you said no?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Practically.
+
+COUNT
+
+You did...? Oh, well.... After all, I have never tried to persuade you.
+It must be as you.... But I can't understand why. I have noticed for a
+long time, that he.... As far as age is concerned, you wouldn't be
+badly matched. And as for the rest ... sixty millions are not to be
+despised exactly. But just as you say.
+
+MIZZIE (_remains silent_)
+
+COUNT
+
+Or could it possibly be on account of the boy? That would be to
+exaggerate the matter, I assure you. Things of that kind occur in the
+very best families. And particularly when you consider that his heart
+always remained with his wife.... All of a sudden you get dragged into
+an affair of that kind without exactly knowing how.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+And some poor girl of the people is thrown aside and allowed to go to
+the dogs.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, please, that's only in the books. And how could he help it? That
+kind of women seem always to die off early. And who knows what he might
+have done, if she hadn't died.... I really think that his action in
+regard to the boy has been pretty decent. That took courage, you know.
+I could tell you more than one case.... But don't let us talk of it. If
+that should be the only thing against him, however.... And besides, our
+being together at Ostend wouldn't commit you in any way.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+No, that's true.
+
+COUNT
+
+Well, then ... I tell you what. You make the trip with me. And if the
+place suits you, you can stay. If not, you can go on to London for a
+visit with Aunt Lora. I mean simply, that there is no sense in your
+letting me go away alone.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+All right.
+
+COUNT
+
+What do you mean?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I'll go with you. But without any obligation--absolutely free.
+
+COUNT
+
+You'll come with me, you say?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I will, papa.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, I'm so glad. Thank you, Mizzie.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Why should you thank me? It's a pleasure to me.
+
+COUNT
+
+You can't imagine, of course ... without you, Mizzie.... There would be
+so much to remember--this time in particular.... You know, of course,
+that I took Lolo to Normandy last year?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Of course, I know....
+
+COUNT
+
+And as far as Egon is concerned ... not that I want to persuade you by
+any means ... but in a strange place like that you often get more
+acquainted with a person in a couple of days than during many years at
+home.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+It's settled now that I go with you, papa. And as for the rest, don't
+let us talk of it--for the time being.
+
+COUNT
+
+Then, you know, I'm going to telephone to the ticket office at once and
+reserve sleeping car compartments for the day after to-morrow--or for
+to-morrow.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Are you in such a hurry?
+
+COUNT
+
+What's the use of sitting about here, once we have made up our minds?
+So I'll telephone.... Does that suit you?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes.
+
+COUNT (_puts his arms about her_)
+
+PROFESSOR WINDHOFER (_appears at the garden gate_)
+
+COUNT
+
+Why, there's the professor. Have you a lesson to-day?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I had forgotten it, too.
+
+PROFESSOR (_handsome; about thirty-five; his beard is blond and trimmed
+to a point; he is very carefully dressed, and wears a gray overcoat; he
+takes off his hat as he enters the garden and comes forward_)
+
+Good morning, Countess. How do you do, Count?
+
+COUNT
+
+Good morning, my dear Professor, and how are you? You have to pardon
+me. I was just about to go to the telephone--we are going away, you
+know.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Oh, are you going away? Please, don't let me detain you.
+
+COUNT
+
+I suppose I shall see you later, Professor. (_He goes into the house_)
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+So you are going away, Countess?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes, to Ostend.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+That's rather a sudden decision.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes, rather. But that's my way.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+That means an end to the lessons for the present, I suppose? Too bad.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I don't think I shall be able to-day even ... I am feeling a little
+upset.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Do you?--Well, you look rather pale, Maria.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Oh, you think so?
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+And how long will you be gone?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Until the Fall probably--perhaps until very late in the Fall even.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Then we can resume our lessons next November at the earliest, I
+suppose?
+
+MIZZIE (_smiling_)
+
+I don't think we shall....
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Oh, you don't think so? (_They look hard at each other_)
+
+MIZZIE
+
+No, I don't.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Which means, Maria--that I am discharged.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+How can you put it that way, Rudolph? That is not quite fair.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Pardon me. But it really came a little more suddenly than I had
+expected.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Better that than have it come too slow. Don't you think so?
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Well, girl, I have no intention whatever to make any reproaches.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Well, you have no reason. And it wouldn't be nice either. (_She holds
+out her hand to him_)
+
+PROFESSOR (_takes her hand and kisses it_)
+
+Will you please excuse me to the Count?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Are you going already...?
+
+PROFESSOR (_unconcernedly_)
+
+Isn't that better?
+
+MIZZIE (_after a pause, during which she looks straight into his eyes_)
+Yes, I think so. (_They shake hands_)
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+Good luck, Maria.
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Same to you.... And remember me to your wife and the children.
+
+PROFESSOR
+
+I won't forget, Countess. (_He goes out_)
+
+MIZZIE (_remains on the same spot for a little while, following him
+with her eyes_)
+
+COUNT (_on the terrace_)
+
+Everything is ready. We'll leave at nine-thirty to-morrow night.--But
+what has become of the professor?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+I sent him away.
+
+COUNT
+
+Oh, you did?--And can you guess who has the compartment between yours
+and mine?... Egon and his young gentleman. Won't they be surprised
+though?
+
+MIZZIE
+
+Yes ... won't they? (_She goes into the house_)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lonely Way--Intermezzo--Countess
+Mizzie, by Arthur Schnitzler
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