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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34184-8.txt b/34184-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6837032 --- /dev/null +++ b/34184-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6007 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Magda, by Hermann Sudermann + +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: Magda + A Play in Four Acts + +Author: Hermann Sudermann + +Translator: Charles Edward Amory Winslow + +Release Date: November 1, 2010 [EBook #34184] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGDA *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + + +Page scan source: +http://books.google.com/books?id=9pUnAAAAMAAJ&printsec + + + + + + MAGDA + A Play In Four Acts + + + _By_ + HERMANN SUDERMANN + + + _Translated from the German by_ + CHARLES EDWARD AMORY WINSLOW + + + * * * + + Copyright, 1895, by + Lamson, Wolffe and Company. + + Assignment of above Copyright to + + Emanuel Lederer, + 13 West 42d Street, New York City, + + recorded in Assignment Book + V. 21 Page 143, June 8,1899, Washington, D. C. + + + * * * + + +CAUTION.-Professionals and amateurs are hereby notified that this play +is fully copyrighted under the existing laws of the United States +Government, and nobody is allowed to do this play without first having +obtained permission of Samuel French, 24 West 22d Street, New York +City, U. S. A. + + + + + + + _Copyright, 1895_, + By Lamson, Wolffe, and Company. + + + + + + + MAGDA + + + + + CHARACTERS + + + Lieutenant-Colonel Leopold Schwartz. + Pastor Heffterdingt + Dr. Von Kellner + Max + Major-General Von Klebs + Prof. Beckmann + Mrs. Schwartz, the stepmother + Magda Schwartz \ + > sisters + Marie Schwartz / + Franziska + Mrs. General Von Klebs + Mrs. Justice Ellrich + Mrs. Schumann + Theresa, the Schwartzs' maid + + + * * * + + + SYNOPSIS + + + Scene--The Schwartzs' home. + Act I.--Afternoon. + Act II.--Evening of the same day. + Act III.--The next morning. + Act IV.--The same morning. + + + + + Note. + + +Herr Hermann Sudermann has achieved surprising success in passing from +novel-writing to dramatic authorship. He has a style of the utmost +distinction, and is well skilled in technique. His masterpiece, +"Heimat," is absolutely original. No play has ever produced a more +impressive effect upon German audiences. When it ceases to be +performed, it will still hold a permanent and important place in the +libraries of dramatic literature. Though a psychological study, there +is no concentration of attention upon morbid conditions. All these have +passed before the play begins. There is no passion for mere passion's +sake. Its development proceeds from the energies of circumstances and +character. + +Herr Sudermann, unlike some of the new dramatists, is not lacking in +humor; and the snobbishness, stuffy etiquette, and scandal-mongering of +a provincial town are well illustrated by the minor characters. Into +this atmosphere comes the whirlwind from the outer world with fatal +effect. It is scarcely possible to conceive more varied and intense +emotions naturally and even inevitably evolved from the action of a +single day. The value of the drama lies in the sharp contrasts between +the New and the Old, alternately commanding, in their strife, the +adhesion of the spectator or reader. The preparation for the return of +"The Prodigal Daughter" occupies an entire act, and invests her +entrance with an interest which increases until the tremendous climax. +Yet the proud martinet father commands our respect and sympathy; and +the Pastor, in his enlightened self-conquest, is the antithesis alike +of the narrowness and lawlessness of parent and child, and remains the +hero of the swift tragedy. + +It is not uncommon that the scrupulousness attending circumstances +where partiality would be a natural impulse, makes criticism even +unusually exacting. It is believed that in this spirit the present +translation may be somewhat confidently characterized as being both +spirited and faithful. + + E. W. + +The Oxford. + _January_, 1896. + + + + + Persons. + + + Schwartze, _Lieutenant-Colonel on half-pay_. + + Magda, \ + > _his children by his first wife_. + Marie, / + + Augusta, _born_ Von Wendlowski, _his second wife_. + Franziska von Wendlowski, _her sister_. + Max von Wendlowski, _Lieutenant, their nephew_. + Heffterdingt, _Pastor of St. Mary's_. + Dr. von Keller, _Councillor_. + Beckmann, _Professor Emeritus_. + Von Klebs, _Major-General on half-pay_. + Mrs. von Klebs. + Mrs. Justice Ellrich. + Mrs. Schumann. + Theresa, _maidservant of the Schwartze family_. + + + _Place_. The principal city of a province. + + _Time_. The present. + + + + + MAGDA. + + + + + ACT I. + +Scene. _Living-room in house of_ Lieutenant-Colonel Schwartze, +_furnished in simple and old-fashioned style. Left, at back, a glass +door with white curtains through which the dining-room is seen. There +is also a hall door, through which a staircase to the upper story is +visible. Right, a corner window, with white curtains, surrounded by +ivy. Left, a door to the_ Lieutenant-Colonel's _room. Steel engravings +of a religious and patriotic character, in tarnished gold frames, +photographs of military groups, and cases of butterflies on the walls. +Right, over the sofa, among other pictures, is the portrait of the +first Mrs. Schwartze, young and charming, in the costume of the +sixties. Behind the sofa, an old-fashioned desk. Before the window, a +small table with workbox and hand sewing-machine. At the back, between +the doors, an old-fashioned tall clock. In the left-hand corner, a +stand with dried grasses; in front, a table with a small aquarium. +Left, in front, a corner sofa with a small pipe-cupboard behind it. A +stove with a stuffed bird on it; and behind, a bookcase with a bust of +the old Emperor William._ + + +[Marie _and_ Theresa _discovered_. Theresa _at the door_. Marie _is +occupied with the sewing-machine_.] + + + THERESA. + +Miss Marie! + + MARIE. + +Well! + + THERESA. + +Is your father still lying down? + + MARIE. + +What's the matter? Has any one called? + + THERESA. + +No, but-- There! Look at that! [_Producing a magnificent mass of +flowers_.] + + MARIE. + +Good Heavens! Take it to my room quickly, or papa-- But, Theresa, when +the first came yesterday, weren't you told not to let any more be left? + + THERESA. + +I'd have sent the florist's boy away if I could, but I was up on the +ladder fixing the flag, and he laid it down and was gone before I could +stop him. My, my, though, they're beautiful! and if I might make a +guess, the Lieutenant-- + + MARIE. + +You may not make a guess. + + THERESA. + +All right, all right. Oh, I know what I wanted to ask. Does the flag +hang well? [Marie _looks out, and nods assent_.] + + THERESA. + +The whole town is full of flags and flowers, and the most expensive +tapestries are hung out of the windows. One would think it was the +King's birthday. And all this fuss is about a stupid Music Festival! +What is this Music Festival, Miss Marie? Is it different from a choral +festival? + + MARIE. + +Yes, indeed. + + THERESA. + +Is it better? + + MARIE. + +Oh, much better! + + THERESA. + +Oh, well, if it's better-- [_A knock_.] + + MARIE. + +Come in! + + _Enter_ Max. + + THERESA. + +Well, _now_ I suppose I can leave the flowers. + + [_Exit_ Theresa, _laughing_. + + MARIE. + +You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Max. + + MAX. + +What on earth do you mean? + + MARIE. + +Aren't these flowers yours? + + MAX. + +Good Heavens! I can afford a few pennies for a bunch of violets once in +a while, but this-- Oh, no! + + MARIE. + +Nor yesterday's? + + MAX. + +No, nor yesterday's. [Marie _rings_.] + + _Enter_ Theresa. + + MARIE. + +Please throw these flowers away. + + THERESA. + +What! Throw those beautiful flowers away? + + MARIE. + +You are right. The pastor would say, "If God's gifts do not please us, +we must at least take care that they give pleasure to others." Wouldn't +he? + + MAX. + +Probably he would. + + MARIE. + +Then you had better take them back to the florist's. Did they come from +Zimmerman's? [Theresa _nods_.] Well, we'll sell them if we can, and +give the money to Pastor Heffterdingt for his hospital. + + THERESA. + +Shall I go now? + + MARIE. + +After you have made the coffee. I'll serve it myself. [_Exit_ Theresa.] +These flowers are an insult! I need not tell you, Max, that I have +given no one the shadow of an excuse for such a thing. + + MAX. + +I'm very sure of that. + + MARIE. + +And papa was so angry. He simply stormed. And I was quiet because I +suspected it was you. If he got hold of the poor fellow, it would go +hard with him. + + MAX. + +Do you think it would be any better if I got hold of him? + + MARIE. + +What rights have you in the case? + + MAX. + +Marie! [_Takes her hand_.] + + MARIE. + +[_Gently disengaging herself_.] Oh, Max, please--not that. You know +every corner of my heart. But we must think of the proprieties. + + MAX. + +Proprieties! Oh, pshaw! + + MARIE. + +Well, you know what a world we live in. Here, every one is afraid of +every one else because each depends upon the good opinion of the other. +If a few anonymous flowers can make me talked of, how much more-- + + MAX. + +Oh, yes, I know. + + MARIE. + +[_Laying her hand on his shoulder_.] Max, you'll speak again to Aunt +Frankie, won't you, about the guaranty[1] of your income? + + MAX. + +I have already. + + MARIE. + +Well? + + MAX. + +[_Shrugging his shoulders_.] As long as she lives, not a penny. + + MARIE. + +Then there's only one person who can help us. + + MAX. + +Your father? + + MARIE. + +No. For Heaven's sake, don't let him hear of it. He might forbid you +the house. + + MAX. + +What has he against me? + + MARIE. + +You know how he has been since our misfortune. He feels that there is a +blot to be wiped out; and especially now, when the whole town echoes +with music,--when everything recalls Magda. + + MAX. + +What if she should come back, some day? + + MARIE. + +After twelve years? She will never come. + [_Weeps_.] + + MAX. + +Marie! + + MARIE. + +You're right, you're right. I will put it away from me. + + MAX. + +But who is the one person who can help us? + + MARIE. + +Why, the pastor! + + MAX. + +Yes, yes, he might. + + MARIE. + +He can do everything. He stirs your very heart--as if-- And then he +seems like a kind of relation. He should have been my brother-in-law. + + MAX. + +Yes, but she wouldn't have it so. + + MARIE. + +Don't speak angrily, Max. She must have made atonement. [_A ring_.] Oh, +perhaps this is he. + + MAX. + +No, no, I forgot to tell you. Councillor von Keller asked me to bring +him here to-day. + + MARIE. + +What does he want? + + MAX. + +He wants to interest himself in the missions--no, it's in our home work +particularly, I think. I don't know-- Well, at any rate he wants to +come to the committee meeting tomorrow. + + MARIE. + +I'll call father and mother. [_Enter_ Theresa _with a card_.] Show him +in. [_Exit_ Theresa.] Entertain him until I come back. [_Gives him her +hand_.] And we'll talk again about the pastor some other time? + + MAX. + +In spite of the proprieties? + + MARIE. + +Oh, Max, I've been too forward! Haven't I? + + MAX. + +Marie! + + MARIE. + +No, no--we won't speak of it. Good-by. + [_Exit_ Marie. + + _Enter_ Von Keller. + + MAX. + +You must content yourself with me for a few minutes, my dear Von +Keller. [_They shake hands_.] + + VON KELLER. + +With pleasure, my good sir, with pleasure. [_Sits_.] How our little +town is changed by the festival! It really seems as if we were in the +great world. + + MAX. + +[_Laughing_.] I advise you not to say that aloud. + + VON KELLER. + +What did I say? I assure you I did not mean anything. If such a +misunderstanding got abroad-- + + MAX. + +You have nothing to fear from me! + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, of course not. Ah, how much better it would be to know nothing of +the outer world! + + MAX. + +How long were you away? + + VON KELLER. + +Five years, with examinations and being sent down to commissioners and +all that. Well, now I am back again. I drink home-brewed beer; I +patronize local tailors; I have even, with a noble fearlessness of +death, eaten the deer-steak of the season; and this I call pleasure! +Yes, youth, travel, and women are good things; but the world must be +ruled, and sober men are needed. Your time will come some day. The +years of honor are approaching. Yes, yes, especially when one joins the +ecclesiastical courts. + + MAX. + +Are you going to do that? + + VON KELLER. + +I think of it. And to be at one with those of the cloth-- I speak quite +openly with you--it is worth my while, in short, to interest myself in +religious questions. I have of late in my speeches, as perhaps you +know, taken this position; and as for the connections which this +household has--let me tell you I am proud of them. + + MAX. + +You might have been proud long ago. + + VON KELLER. + +Excuse me, am I over-sensitive? Or do I read a reproach in your words? + + MAX. + +Not quite that, but--if you will pardon me, it has sometimes +appeared--and not to me alone--as if you avoided the houses where my +uncle's family were to be found. + + VON KELLER. + +And my presence here now--does not that prove the contrary? + + MAX. + +Exactly. And therefore I too will speak very frankly. You were the last +person to meet my lost cousin, Magda. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Confused_.] Who says-- + + MAX. + +You yourself have spoken of it, I am told. You met her with my friend +Heydebrand when he was at the military academy. + + VON KELLER. + +Yes, yes, it's true. + + MAX. + +It was wrong of me not to ask you about her openly, but you will +probably understand my reticence. I feel almost as if I belonged to +this family and I feared to learn something which might disgrace it. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, not at all, not in the least. It was like this. When I was in +Berlin for the State Examinations, I saw one day on Leipsic Street a +familiar face,--a home face, if I may say so. You know what that is +when one is far away. Well, we spoke to each other. I learned that she +was studying to sing in opera, and that for this purpose she had left +her home. + + MAX. + +Not exactly. She left home to be companion to an old lady. +[_Hesitates_.] There was a difference with her father. + + VON KELLER. + +A love affair? + + MAX. + +In a way. Her father supported the suitor and told her to obey or leave +his house. + + VON KELLER. + +And she went away? + + MAX. + +Yes. Then, a year later, when she wrote that she was going on the +stage, it made the breach complete. But what else did you hear? + + VON KELLER. + +That's all. + + MAX. + +Nothing else? + + VON KELLER. + +Well, well,--I met her once or twice at the opera-house where she had a +pass. + + MAX. + +And you know absolutely nothing of her life? + + VON KELLER. + +[_With a shrug_.] Have you heard nothing from her? + + MAX. + +Nothing at all. Well, at any rate, I am grateful to you. I beg you, +however, not to mention the meeting to my uncle, unless he asks you +about it directly. He knows of it, of course, but the name of the lost +daughter is never mentioned in this house. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, I have tact enough not to do that. + + MAX. + +And what do you think has become of her? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, music is a lottery. Ten thousand blanks and one prize. A host of +beginners and but one who makes a career. If one becomes a Patti or a +Sembrich, or, to come down to our own Festival-- + + _Enter_ Schwartze _and_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Shaking hands_.] Welcome to my house! Councillor von Keller, my wife. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Pray sit down. + + VON KELLER. + +I should not have dared, madam, to ask the honor of this introduction +had I not wished so strongly to share in the good and useful work which +centres here. My purpose may excuse my temerity. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You're very kind; but you do us too much honor. If you seek the centre +of the whole movement, Pastor Heffterdingt is the man. He inspires all; +he controls all; he-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Do you know our pastor, sir? + + VON KELLER. + +I have heard him speak many times, dear lady, and have admired equally +the sincerity of his convictions and his naïve faith in human nature. +But I cannot comprehend the influence he exerts. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You will find it out. He is so plain and simple that one hardly +realizes what a man he is. He brings every one round. + + VON KELLER. + +I am almost converted already, dear lady. + + SCHWARTZE. + +As for us here, all I can do is to give these weak and useless hands to +help on the great work. It's only right that an old soldier should +dedicate the little strength left him by the throne to the service of +the altar. Those are the two causes to fight for. + + VON KELLER. + +That's a great thought! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Thanks, thanks, but no more of this. Ah, ten years ago, when they gave +me my discharge, I was a devil of a fellow. Max, doesn't my old +battalion still tremble at my name? + + MAX. + +That they do, uncle. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ah, that is one thing you escape in the civil service,--being laid on +the shelf without any fault of your own,--without the shadow of a +fault. Then there came a slight stroke of apoplexy. See how my hand +trembles now! And what had I to look forward to? It was then that my +young friend, Heffterdingt, showed me the way, through work and prayer, +to a new youth. Without him I never should have found it. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You mustn't believe all he says, Mr. von Keller. If he didn't always +depreciate himself, he would be better thought of in the highest +circles. + + VON KELLER. + +High and low, madam, everywhere your husband is known and honored. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Lighting up_.] Indeed? Ah, well, no vanity. No, no, that is the moth +that corrupts. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Is it really so wrong to wish for a little honor? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh! + + SCHWARTZE. + +What is honor? You would call it being led up the room by the governor, +or being asked to tea at the castle when the royal family is here. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You know very well that the latter honor has never fallen to my lot. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, yes, pardon me. I knew your weak spot. I should have avoided it. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, just think, Councillor, Mrs. Fanny Hirschfeld of the Children's +Hospital was invited, and I was not. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Deprecatingly_.] Oh! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Laughing, and stroking her head_.] Ah, the moth that corrupts, the +moth that corrupts! [_Enter_ Marie _with the coffee. She bows in a +friendly way to_ Von Keller.] Herr von Keller, my daughter--my only +daughter. + + VON KELLER. + +I've already had the pleasure. + + MARIE. + +I can't offer you a hand for welcome, Dr. Von Keller, but you may have +a cup of coffee instead. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Helping himself and looking at the others_.] I am very fortunate in +being treated like an old acquaintance of the family. + + SCHWARTZE. + +As far as we are concerned, you shall become not only an acquaintance +but a friend. And that is no conventional politeness, Councillor; for I +know you, and in these times, when all the ties of morality and +authority seem strained to bursting, it is doubly necessary that those +who stand for the good old patriarchal order should hold together. + + VON KELLER. + +Very true, very true indeed. One doesn't hear such sentiments as that +in the world in general, where modern ideas pass current for small +change. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Modern ideas! Oh, pshaw! I know them. But come into the quiet homes +where are bred brave soldiers and virtuous wives. There you'll hear no +talk about heredity, no arguments about individuality, no scandalous +gossip. There modern ideas have no foothold, for it is there that the +life and strength of the Fatherland abide. Look at this home! There is +no luxury,--hardly even what you call good taste,--faded rugs, birchen +chairs, old pictures; and yet when you see the beams of the western sun +pour through the white curtains and lie with such a loving touch on the +old room, does not something say to you, "Here dwells true happiness"? +[Von Keller _nods with conviction_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Broodingly_.] And here it might have dwelt! + + MARIE. + +[_Hurrying to him_.] Papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, I know. Well, in this house rules old-fashioned paternal +authority. And it shall rule as long as I live. And am I therefore a +tyrant? Tell me. You ought to know. + + MARIE. + +You're the best, the dearest-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +He is so excitable, you see, Councillor. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Have you not been well brought up? And shall we not hold together, we +three? But the age goes on planting rebellion in children's hearts, +putting mistrust between man and wife [_rises_], and it will never be +satisfied till the last roof-tree smokes in ruins, and men wander about +the streets, fearful and alone, like homeless curs. [_Sinks back +exhausted_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You ought not to get so wrought up, papa. You know it is bad for you. +[Max _makes a sign to_ Von Keller.] + + VON KELLER. + +Shall I go? [Max _nods_.] This is an interesting subject to develop, +Colonel. I must say I think perhaps you are a little severe. But my +time-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Severe? Ah, well, don't think ill of an old man for speaking a little +too hotly. + + VON KELLER. + +Ah, sir, heat is the badge of youth. I believe I am a graybeard beside +you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no. [_Presses his hand_.] + + VON KELLER. + +Madam! Miss Marie! [_Exit_. Max _follows him_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Greet the battalion for me, my boy. + + MAX. + +I will, dear uncle. [_Exit_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +A very agreeable man. + + MARIE. + +Almost too agreeable. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You are speaking of our guest! [Mrs. Schwartze _makes_ Marie _a sign +to be careful_.] + + MARIE. + +Will you have your pipe, papa? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, dear. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +The gentlemen of the card-club will be here soon. How lucky that we +didn't eat the haunch of venison Sunday! I've ordered some red wine for +the General, too. I paid three marks; that's not too dear, is it? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Not if it's good. Is your sister coming to-day? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +I think so. + + SCHWARTZE. + +She was asked to the Governor's yesterday, wasn't she? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Sighing_.] Yes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +And we were not. Poor thing! She must look out for me to-day if she +boasts. [_Aside_] Old cat! + + MARIE. + +[_Kneels before him, lighting his pipe_.] Be good, father dear. What +harm does it do you? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, darling. I'll be good. But my heart is sore. [_Bell rings_. +Marie _hurries out_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Here they are. + + _Enter_ Major-general Von Klebs, Professor + Beckmann, _and_ Marie. + + VON KLEBS. + +My humblest respects to the ladies. Ah, my dear madam! [_Kisses her +hand_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Make yourselves at home, gentlemen. + + VON KLEBS. + +Ha, my dear Colonel, hearty as ever? All ready for the fray, little +one? Now we are all right. But we were almost too late. We were caught +in the Music Festival crowd. Such a confusion! I was bringing the +schoolmaster along, and just as we passed by the German House, there +was a great crush of people, gaping as if there were a princess at the +least. And what do you suppose it was? A singer! These are really what +one may call goings-on. All this fuss about a singer! What do they call +the person? + + BECKMANN. + +Ah, General, we seem to be in a strange land to-day. + + VON KLEBS. + +We are under a curse, my dear madam. We are bearing a penance. [_They +sit_.] + + BECKMANN. + +But you must know dall' Orto, the great Italian Wagner singer. We are +very fortunate in getting her for the festival. If she were not here-- + + VON KLEBS. + +Well, well, what if she were not? Eh? I hoped that our strictly moral +circle, at least, would hold itself aloof from all this. But since the +Governor gives receptions in the lady's honor! And, best of all, to cap +the climax, who do you think was standing to-day among the enthusiasts, +craning his neck like the rest? You'll never guess. It's too +inconceivable. The pastor! + + SCHWARTZE. + +The pastor? + + VON KLEBS. + +Yes, our pastor. + + SCHWARTZE. + +How extraordinary! + + VON KLEBS. + +Now, I ask you, what did he want there? And what did the others want +there? And what good is the whole festival? + + BECKMANN. + +I should think that the cultivation of the faculty of the ideal among +the people was an object-- + + VON KLEBS. + +The way to cultivate the faculty of the ideal is to found a Soldiers' +Union. + + SCHWARTZE. + +But, General, every one isn't so lucky as to be a soldier. + + VON KLEBS. + +[_Sorting his cards_.] Well, we have been, Colonel. I know no one, I +wish to know no one, who has not been a soldier. And all this so-called +Art,--what good does it do? + + BECKMANN. + +Art raises the moral tone of the people. + + VON KLEBS. + +There we have it, madam!--We're beaten, beaten by the hero of +Königgrätz.--I tell you Art is a mere invention of those who are afraid +to be soldiers to gain an important position for themselves. I pass. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I pass. + + BECKMANN. + +And will you maintain that Art-- I have the nine of spades. + +[_Bell rings. Exit_ Marie. Von Klebs _makes an impatient movement_. +Schwartze _quiets him. They begin to play_.] + + _Enter_ Franziska, _followed by the_ Pastor. + + VON KLEBS. + +Ah, Miss Franziska! [_Aside_] That is the end of us! + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no, we'll send her into the garden. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Throwing herself into a chair_.] Oh, I am so hot! I must get my +breath. Pray don't put yourself out, General. + + BECKMANN. + +Nine of spades! + + VON KLEBS. + +Hello, here's the pastor too! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good-day to you! [_He shakes hands with each_.] + + VON KLEBS. + +How long have you been running after the singers. Pastor? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What? Oh, yes. Yes, I am running after singers. That's my occupation +now. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You can play with our card party though, can't you? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Unfortunately, no. I must, on the contrary, ask for a few serious words +with you, my dear sir. + + VON KLEBS. + +Ah, but you'll put it off, won't you, Pastor? + + FRANZISKA. + +Oh, for Heaven's sake! It's so important. There must be no delay. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Is my sister-in-law in it too? + + FRANZISKA. + +Very much so. + + VON KLEBS. + +Oh, well, we can go away again. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, we shouldn't like that at all. + + SCHWARTZE. + +If it were not you, dear pastor, who separated us! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +But perhaps, Marie, the gentlemen would be willing to take a turn with +you in the garden. + + VON KLEBS. + +Certainly! That's good! That's famous! That's what we'll do! Miss +Marie, be so good as to lead the way. + + BECKMANN. + +Shall we leave the cards as they lie? + + VON KLEBS. + +Yes, you have the nine of spades. Come on. + [_Exit_ Von Klebs, Beckmann, _and_ Marie. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Well? + + FRANZISKA. + +Good Lord, don't you see how upset I am? You might at least give me a +glass of water. [Mrs. Schwartze _brings it_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Will you promise me, my dear sir, that whatever may happen you will +preserve your calmness? You may believe me, much depends upon it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes; but what-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Franziska will tell you better. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_After drinking the water_.] This is a day indeed! Fate is avenging +me. This man has for years outraged my holiest feelings, but today I +can heap coals of fire on his head. [_Moved_.] Brother-in-law, give me +your hand. Sister, yours. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Pardon me, dear Miss Franziska, I think your news is so important +that-- + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Melting_.] Don't be angry, don't be angry. I am so upset! Well, +yesterday I was at the Governor's. Only the nobility and the most +important people were asked. You weren't asked? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Angrily_.] No. + + FRANZISKA. + +I did not mean to offend you. Oh, I am so upset! [_Suppressing a sob at +a sign from the_ Pastor.] Yes, yes, yes. I had on my yellow silk dress +with the Brussels lace--you know I've had the train shortened. Well, as +I stepped into the room--whom do you think I saw? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Well, well, who? + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Sobbing_.] Your child! Magdalene! + +[Schwartze _staggers, and is supported by the_ Pastor. Mrs. Schwartze +_cries out. A pause._] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Pastor? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It is true. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Standing up_.] Magdalene is no longer my child. + + FRANZISKA. + +Ah, just wait. If you listen, you'll look at it in quite another light. +Such a child you will welcome with open arms. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Magdalene is no longer my child. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +But you may at least hear the circumstances. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Dazed_.] Yes, I suppose so. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_At a sign from_ Heffterdingt.] Well, the great dining-hall was +crammed. They were almost all strangers. Then I saw his Excellency +coming down the room. And on his arm was a lady-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +On his Excellency's arm? + + FRANZISKA. + +With dark hair, and very proud and tall--and around her a crowd of men +just like the circle about royalty--and chatting and laughing. And any +one to whom she spoke seemed as happy as if it were the Princess. And +she wore half a dozen orders, and an orange band with a medal about her +neck. I was wondering what royal personage it could be--when she turned +half around--and--I knew Magda's eyes! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Impossible! + + FRANZISKA. + +That is what I saw! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My dear Colonel, it is true. + + SCHWARTZE. + +If she-- [_Clasping his hands_.] At least she has not fallen! She has +not fallen! Father in Heaven, Thou hast kept her safely! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And what is she, to have such honor-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +She has become a great singer, and calls herself, in Italian, Maddalene +dall' Orto. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Listen, listen, Leopold, the famous singer of whom the papers are so +full is our child! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Magda is no longer my child. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Is that your fixed resolve? + + FRANZISKA. + +What sort of a heart have you? You ought to imitate me. She offended me +as only she could,--the little wretch! That is, then she was a little +wretch. But now--well, she did not look at me; but if she had-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold, she was on his Excellency's arm! + + SCHWARTZE. + +I tell you, and you,--and you, too, Pastor,--that I would rather have +seen her lying in rags and tatters at my feet and begging for +forgiveness. For then I should have known that she was still, at heart, +my child. But why has she come back here? The world was large enough +for her triumph. Why should she rob this humble provincial nest of +ours? I know why. To show her miserable father how far one can rise in +the world by treading filial duty into the dust,--that is her +intention. Pride and arrogance speak in her, and nothing else. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My dear Colonel, I might ask, what speaks in you? A father's love? You +could make no pretence to that. Your rights? I think rather it would be +your right to rejoice in the good fortune of your child. Offended +custom? I don't know-- Your daughter has done so much through her own +strength that even offended custom might at least condone it. It +appears to me that pride and arrogance speak in you--and nothing else. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Angrily_.] Pastor! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Oh, don't be angry--there is no need of that. When I have something to +say, I must say it, mustn't I? I might almost think that it displeased +you that she has climbed so high in spite of you. Your pride demands +something to forgive, and you are angry because there is nothing to be +forgiven. And now, let me ask you, do you seriously wish that she had +found her way home, lost and ruined? Do you dare answer for such a wish +before the throne of God? [_A silence_.] No, my dear old friend. You +have often, in jest, called me your good angel; let me be so once, in +reality. Come with me--now--to-day. + + FRANZISKA. + +If you'd only seen-- [Heffterdingt _stops her_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Has she made the slightest effort to approach her parents? Has she +thought of her home with one throb of love? Who will vouch for it that +my outstretched hand will not be repulsed with scorn? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I will vouch for it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You? You, above all, have had a proof of her untamable pride. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_With embarrassment_.] You should not have reminded me of that. + + _Enter_ Marie _with flowers, and_ Theresa. + + MARIE. + +Papa, papa, listen to what Theresa-- Oh! am I interrupting? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Pulling himself together_.] What is it? + + MARIE. + +To-day I got some more flowers; and when I sent Theresa back to the +florist's, she found out it was not a man, but a lady, who had ordered +them. And she couldn't sell them again; so she brought them back. [_The +others exchange glances_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Tell me, Theresa, did they describe this lady to you? + + THERESA. + +She was tall, with great dark eyes, and there was something very +distinguished and foreign about her. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Leads_ Marie _to the back of the stage, and lays his hand on_ +Schwartze's _arm_.] You asked for a token of love! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Staring at the flowers_.] From her! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +They must have cost a small fortune! + + MARIE. + +Theresa has something else very wonderful to tell, too. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What is it, Theresa? Quick! + + THERESA. + +If the pastor wishes it. When I came back, the porter told me that last +evening in the twilight a carriage stopped before the door; there was a +lady inside. She didn't get out, but kept watching all the windows of +our house where there were lights. And when he went out to ask what she +wanted, she said something to her coachman, and they were gone! [_All +show signs of astonishment_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That's all, Theresa. [_Exit_ Theresa. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Pardon us, dear Miss Marie, if we treat you once more like a child, and +ask you to leave us alone for a moment. + + MARIE. + +I am so frightened at all this, Pastor. [_Imploringly_.] Papa? + + SCHWARTZE. + +What is it, child? + + MARIE. + +Papa, papa, do you know who this lady is? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I? No. I can only guess. + + MARIE. + +[_Bursting out_.] Magdalene--Magda! Magda is here! [_Falling on her +knees_.] Oh, you will forgive her? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Get up, my child. Your sister is far above my poor forgiveness. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +She is not above your love. + + MARIE. + +Magda is here! Magda herself is here! [_Throws her arms about her +mother's neck, weeping_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +Won't any one bring me a glass of water? I am so upset! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Are you quite resolved? [Schwartze _remains motionless_.] Will you let +her go on her way without-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +That would be best. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +How will it be with you if in your death-hour a longing for your lost +child comes upon you, and all you can say to yourself is, "She stood +before my door and I would not open it"? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Shaken and half convinced_.] What would you have me do? Must I abase +myself before my runaway child? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, you shall not do that. I--I--will go to her. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You? Pastor--you? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +This afternoon I waited before her hotel to see if Miss Franziska had +not been mistaken. At a quarter to four she came out of the house and +got into her carriage. + + MARIE. + +You saw her? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +How did she look? What did she have on? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +The performance began at four, and must be almost over now. I will wait +for her again at the hotel, and will tell her that she will find your +arms open to her. May I? + + MARIE. + +Yes, yes, papa, won't you let him? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think with whom your daughter-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Will you swear to me that no weak and personal motives are mixed with +your intention,--that you do what you do in the name of our Lord and +Saviour? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I swear it! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Then God's will be done. [Marie _gives a cry of joy_. Heffterdingt +_presses_ Schwartze's _hand_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Holding his hand, speaking softly_.] The way will be hard for you, I +know. Your lost youth--your pride-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Dear Colonel, I begin to think that pride is a very poor sort of thing. +It really profits us little to have it always in our mouths. I am +giving back a daughter to an old father. I am giving back a home to an +erring soul. That, I think, is enough. [_Exit_. Marie _throws herself +on her father's breast, laughing and crying_.] + + + + + ACT II. + + +Scene _same as_ Act I. _It is evening; only a slight glow of sunset +still shines through the windows_. + + [Marie _and_ Theresa _discovered_.] + + THERESA. + +[_Bringing in a lighted lamp_.] Miss Marie! Miss Marie!--What is she +staring at all the time? Miss Marie! + + MARIE [_starting_.] + +[_From the window_.] What do you want? + + THERESA. + +Shall I lay the supper? + + MARIE. + +Not yet. + + THERESA. + +It's half-past seven. + + MARIE. + +And he left at half-past six. The performance must have been over long +ago. She will not come. + + THERESA. + +Who? Is any one coming to supper? + + MARIE. + +No, no, no. [_As_ Theresa _is going_.] Theresa! do you suppose you +could pick a couple of bouquets in the garden? + + THERESA. + +I might try, but I couldn't tell what I was getting. It's almost pitch +dark. + + MARIE. + +Yes, yes. You may go. + + THERESA. + +Shall I try to pick the flowers, or-- + + MARIE. + +No--thank you, no. + + THERESA. + +[_Aside_.] What is the matter with her? + [_Exit_. + + _Enter_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Well, Marie, whatever happens I've put on my other cap,--the one with +the ribbons. Is it straight? + + MARIE. + +Yes, mamma dear, very nice. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Hasn't Aunt Frankie come up yet? + + MARIE. + +No. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Heavens! I forgot the two gentlemen entirely. And papa has locked +himself up, and will hear nothing and see nothing. Oh, if the General +should be offended! It is our most aristocratic connection. That would +be a misfortune indeed. + + MARIE. + +Oh, mamma dear, when he hears what is the matter! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, I know. And the pastor has not come either. Marie, one +minute. If she should ask you-- + + MARIE. + +Who? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why, Magda. + + MARIE. + +Magda! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What am I to you, Marie? They call it stepmother. I'm more than that, +am I not? + + MARIE. + +Certainly, mamma dear. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You see, then I could not get used to having two such big daughters. +But it's all right now? [Marie _nods_.] And we do love each other? + + MARIE. + +Very much, mamma dear. [_She kisses her_.] + + _Enter_ Franziska. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Irritably_.] One's always disturbing these affecting tableaux! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What did the General say? + + FRANZISKA. + +The General? H'm, he was angry enough. "To leave us alone for an hour +and a half, that's nice courtesy," he said. And I think myself-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_To_ Marie, _very sadly_.] There, what did I tell you? + + FRANZISKA. + +Well, this time I smoothed the thing over, so that the gentlemen went +away in a good humor. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Really! Oh, I thank you, Frankie, a thousand times. + + FRANZISKA. + +Yes, I'm good enough to run errands and play the scullery-maid; but +when it comes to being one of the family, an old aunt with her heart +full of love-- + + MARIE. + +Who has offended you, Aunt Frankie? + + FRANZISKA. + +Yes, that's very fine. But a little while ago, when I was so upset, no +one troubled himself about me one bit. To guarantee an income so that +our little miss can be married, I am-- + + MARIE. + +Aunt Frankie! + + FRANZISKA. + +But as long as I live-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What are you talking about? + + FRANZISKA. + +We know, we two. And to-day. Who brought back your daughter to you? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +But she hasn't yet-- + + FRANZISKA. + +I brought back your daughter to you. And who thanks me for it? And who +recognizes that I have pardoned her? For I have pardoned her +[_weeping_] everything! + + _Enter_ Theresa, _in great excitement_. + + MARIE. + +What is it, Theresa? + + THERESA. + +I am so frightened-- + + MARIE. + +What's the matter? + + THERESA. + +The carriage-- + + MARIE. + +What carriage? + + THERESA. + +The same as last night. + + MARIE. + +Is it there? Is it there? [_Runs to the window_.] Mamma, mamma, come, +she's there--the carriage-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why, there _is_ a carriage. + + MARIE. + +[_Beating on the door at the left_.] Papa, papa! Come quickly, be +merciful, come quickly! + + [_Exit_ Theresa _at a sign from_ Franziska.] + + _Enter_ Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What's the matter? + + MARIE. + +Magda--the carriage! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Good God! [_Hurries to the window_.] + + MARIE. + +Look--look! She's standing up! She's trying to look into the windows. +[_Clapping her hands_.] Papa! papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +What is it you have to say? + + MARIE. + +[_Frightened_.] I? Nothing. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Perhaps you were going to say, "She stood before your door and you +would not open it." Eh? + + MARIE. + +Yes, yes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Do you hear, wife? She stands before our door. Shall we--in spite of +our pride--shall we call her in? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, Leopold, since everybody thinks so much of her-- + + MARIE. + +Ah! She's driving away! + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no, she's not. Come, we will bring her to you. + + FRANZISKA. + +Yes, yes, bring her to me, too. + [_Exit_ Schwartze _and_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + MARIE. + +She's sitting back again! If only the carriage doesn't-- What a long +time they are! They must have got downstairs. [_Frightened, almost +beside herself_.] There--there--oh, don't go away! Magda! Magda! + + FRANZISKA. + +Don't scream so! What's the matter? + + MARIE. + +She's looking round. She's seen them. She's stopping. She's bursting +open the door. She's jumped out! Now! Now! She's in father's arms! +[_Covers her face and sobs_.] Oh, Aunt Frankie! Aunt Frankie! + + FRANZISKA. + +What else could a father do? Since I have forgiven her, he could +not--he could not hold out-- + + MARIE. + +She's between father and mother. Oh, how grand she is! She's +coming--she's coming. What a homely little thing I shall seem beside +her! Oh, I am so frightened! [_Leans against the wall, left. A pause. +Voices of_ Magda _and her parents are heard outside_.] + +_Enter_ Magda, _brilliantly dressed, with a large mantle, and a Spanish +veil on her head. She embraces_ Marie. + + MAGDA. + +My puss! My little one! How my little one has grown! My +pet--my--[_kissing her passionately_]. But what's the matter? You're +dizzy. Come, sit down. No, no, please sit down. Now. Yes, you must. +[_Places_ Marie _in an arm-chair_.] Dear little hands, dear little +hands! [_Kneels before her, kissing and stroking her hands_.] But +they're rough and red, and my darling is pale. There are rings round +her eyes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Lays his hand lightly on her shoulder_.] Magda, we are here too. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, yes--I'm entirely--[_Standing up, affectionately_.] Dear old papa! +How white you have become! Dear papa! [_Taking his hand_.] But what's +the matter with your hand? It's trembling. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Nothing, my child. Don't ask about it. + + MAGDA. + +H'm--and you've grown handsomer with the years. I can't look at you +enough. I shall be very proud with such a handsome papa. But she must +get better [_indicating_ Marie]. She's as white as milk. Do you take +iron? Eh? You must take iron? [_tenderly_]. Just to think that I am at +home! It seems like a fairy tale. It was a capital idea of yours to +call me back without any explanations--_senza complimenti_--for we've +outgrown those silly misunderstandings long ago. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Misunderstandings! + + MAGDA. + +I came near driving away. Would not that have been bad of me? But you +must acknowledge, I have scratched at the door--very quietly, very +modestly--like Lady when she had run away. Where is Lady? Her place is +empty. [_Whistles_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why, she's been dead seven years! + + MAGDA. + +Ah, _povera bestia_--yes, I forgot. And, mamma!--yes, mamma! I haven't +looked at you yet. How pretty you've grown! You used to have an air of +belated youth about you that was not becoming. But now you're a dear, +old little mother. One wants to lay one's head quietly in your lap. I +will, too. It'll do me good. Ah, what fine quarrels we used to have! I +was a contrary little beast. And you held up your end. But now we'll +smoke the pipe of peace, sha'n't we? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You're joking with me, Magda. + + MAGDA. + +Sha'n't I? Mayn't I? There, there,--pure love, pure love. We will have +nothing but love. We shall be the best of friends. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Who has for a long time tried to attract attention_.] And we also, +eh, my dear Magda? + + MAGDA. + +_Tiens, tiens_! [_Examines her critically through her lorgnette_.] Same +as ever. Always active? Always, as of old, the centre of the family? + + FRANZISKA. + +Oh-- + + MAGDA. + +Well, give us your hand! There. I never could bear you, and shall never +learn, I'm afraid. That runs in the blood, doesn't it? + + FRANZISKA. + +I have already forgiven you. + + MAGDA. + +Really! Such magnanimity! I hardly-- Do you really forgive everything? +From top to bottom? Even that you stirred up my mother against me +before she ever came into the house? That you made my father--[_Puts +her hand to her lips_.] _Meglio tacere! Meglio tacere!_ + + MARIE. + +[_Interrupting_.] For Heaven's sake, Magda! + + MAGDA. + +Yes, my darling--nothing, not a word. + + FRANZISKA. + +She has a fine presence! + + MAGDA. + +And now let me look about me! Ah, everything's just the same. Not a +speck of dust has moved. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +I hope, Magda, that you won't find any specks of dust. + + MAGDA. + +I'm sure of that, _mammina_. That wasn't what I meant. Twelve years! +Without a trace! Have I dreamed all that comes between? + + SCHWARTZE. + +You will have a great deal to tell us, Magda. + + MAGDA. + +[_Starting_.] What? Well, we will see, we will see. Now I should +like-- What would I like? I must sit still for a moment. It all comes +over me so. When I think-- From that door to the window, from this +table to the old bureau,--that was once my world. + + SCHWARTZE. + +A world, my child, which one never outgrows, which one never should +outgrow--you have always held to that? + + MAGDA. + +What do you mean? And what a face you make over it! Yes, yes, +though--that question came at the right time. I have been a fool! I +have been a fool! My dear old papa, this happiness will be short. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why? + + MAGDA. + +What do you think of me? Do you think I am as free as I appear? I'm a +weary, worn-out drudge who is only fortunate when the lash is on her +back. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Whose drudge? What lash? + + MAGDA. + +That I can't explain, dear father. You don't know my life. You probably +wouldn't understand it, either. Every day, every hour has its work laid +out. Ah, well, now I must go back to the hotel. + + MARIE. + +No, Magda, no. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, puss, yes. There have been six or seven men there for ever so +long, waiting for an audience. But I tell you what, I must have you +to-night. Can't you sleep with me? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Of course. That is--what do you mean--sleep where? + + MAGDA. + +At the hotel. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What? You won't stay! You'll put such an affront on us? + + MAGDA. + +What are you thinking of? I have a whole retinue with me. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Your father's house is the place for this retinue. + + MAGDA. + +I don't know. It is rather lively. First, there's Bobo, my parrot, a +darling,--he wouldn't be bad; then my pet maid, Giulietta, a little +demon,--I can't live without her; then my courier,--he's a tyrant, and +the terror of landlords; and then we mustn't forget my teacher. + + FRANZISKA. + +He's a very old man, I hope. + + MAGDA. + +No, he's a very young man. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_After a silence_.] Then you must have forgotten your--your _dame +d'honneur_. + + MAGDA. + +What _dame d'honneur_? + + SCHWARTZE. + +You can't travel about from country to country with a young man +without-- + + MAGDA. + +Ah! does that disquiet you? I can,--be quite easy,--I can. In my world +we don't trouble ourselves about such things. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What world is that? + + MAGDA. + +The world I rule, father dear. I have no other. There, whatever I do is +right because I do it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +That is an enviable position. But you are still young. There must be +cases when some direction--in short, whose advice do you follow in your +transactions? + + MAGDA. + +There is no one who has the right to advise me, papa dear. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Well, my child, from this hour your old father claims that right. +Theresa! [Theresa _answers from outside_.] Go to the German House and +bring the baggage-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Entreatingly_.] Pardon, father dear, you forget that my orders are +necessary. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What?--Yes, yes, I forgot. Do what you will, my daughter. + + MARIE. + +Magda--oh, Magda! + + MAGDA. + +[_Taking her mantle_.] Be patient, darling. We'll have a talk soon all +to our two selves. And you'll all come to breakfast with me, won't you? +We can have a good chat and love each other!--so much! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +We--breakfast with you? + + MAGDA. + +I want to have you all under my roof. + + SCHWARTZE. + +The roof of a hotel? + + MAGDA. + +Yes, papa dear, I have no other home. + + SCHWARTZE. + +And this? + + MARIE. + +Don't you see how you've hurt him? + +_Enter the_ Pastor. _He stops, and seems to control strong emotion_. +Magda _examines him with her lorgnette_. + + MAGDA. + +He too! Let me see. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think. She is going away again! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I don't know whether I am known to the lady. + + MAGDA. + +[_Mockingly_.] You're too modest, Pastor. And now since I have seen you +all--[_Puts on her mantle_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Quickly, aside_.] You must keep her. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I? If you are powerless, how can I-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Try! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Constraining himself, with embarrassment_.] Pardon me, madam, it +seems very officious of me--if I--will you give me a few moments' +interview? + + MAGDA. + +What have we two to say to each other, my dear pastor? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, do, please! He knows best about everything. + + MAGDA. + +[_Ironically_.] Indeed! + + MARIE. + +I may never ask you for anything again, but do this one thing for my +sake! + + MAGDA. + +[_Patting her and looking from one to the other_.] Well, the child asks +so prettily. Pastor, I am at your service. [Marie _thanks her +silently_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Aside to_ Mrs. Schwartze.] Now he'll give her a lecture. Come. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You were once the cause of my sending her from my home. To-day you must +see to it that she remains. [Heffterdingt _expresses doubt_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Marie! + + MARIE. + +Yes, papa. + [_Exit_ Schwartze, Mrs. Schwartze, Franziska, _and_ Marie. + + MAGDA. + +[_Sits down and examines him through her lorgnette_.] So this is the +man who undertakes by a five minutes' interview entirely and absolutely +to break my will. That they believe in your ability to do it shows me +that you are a king in your own dominions. I make obeisance. And now +let me see you ply your arts. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I understand no arts, madam, and would avail myself of none. If they +put some trust in me here, it is because they know that I seek nothing +for myself. + + MAGDA. + +[_Ironically_.] That has always been the case? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, madam. I had, once in my life, a strong, an intense desire. It was +to have you for my wife. I need only look at you to see that I was +presumptuous. Since then I have put the wish away from me. + + MAGDA. + +Ah, Pastor, I believe you're paying court to me now. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Madam, if it were not discourteous-- + + MAGDA. + +Oh, then even a shepherd of souls may be discourteous! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I should commiserate you on the atmosphere which has surrounded you. + + MAGDA. + +[_With mocking superiority_.] Really? What do you know about my +atmosphere? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It seems to me that it has made you forget that serious men are to be +taken seriously. + + MAGDA. + +Ah! [_Rising_.] Well, then I will take you seriously; and I will tell +you that you have always been unbearable to me, with your well-acted +simplicity, your droning mildness, your-- Since, however, you +condescended to cast your eyes on my worthlessness and drove me from +home with your suit,--since then, I have hated you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It seems to me that according to this I was the foundation of your +greatness. + + MAGDA. + +You're right there. Here I was parched and stifled. No, no, I don't +hate you. Why should I hate you so much? It's all so far, so very far, +behind me. If you only knew how far! You have sat here day after day in +this heavy close air, reeking of lavender, tobacco, and cough mixture, +while I have felt the storm breaking about my head. Pastor, if you had +a suspicion of what life really is,--of the trial of strength, of the +taste of guilt, of conquest, and of pleasure,--you would find yourself +very comical with your clerical shop-talk. Ha, ha, ha! Pardon me, I +don't believe such a laugh has rung through this respectable house for +twelve years; for there's no one here who knows how to laugh. Is there, +eh? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, I fear not. + + MAGDA. + +Fear, you say. That sounds as though you deprecated it. But don't you +hate laughter? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Most of us cannot laugh, madam. + + MAGDA. + +And to those who could, laughter is sin. You might laugh yourself. What +have you to be solemn about? You need not look at the world with this +funereal mien. Surely you have a little blond wife at home who knits +industriously, and half a dozen curly heads around her, of course. It's +always so in parsonages. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I have remained single, madam. + + MAGDA. + +Ah! [_Silence_.] Did I hurt you so much, then? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Let that be, shall we not? It is so long ago. + + MAGDA. + +[_Letting her mantle fall_.] And your work,--does not that bring +happiness enough? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Thank God, it does. But if one takes it really in earnest, one cannot +live only for one's self; at least, I cannot. One cannot exult in the +fulness of one's personality, as you would call it. And then many +hearts are opened to me-- One sees too many wounds there, that one +cannot heal, to be quite happy. + + MAGDA. + +You're a remarkable man-- I don't know--if I could only get rid of the +idea that you're insincere. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Will you let me ask you one question before you go? + + MAGDA. + +Well! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It is about an hour since you entered this house, your home--no, not so +much. I could not have been waiting for you nearly as long as that. + + MAGDA. + +For me? You? Where? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +In the corridor outside your room. + + MAGDA. + +What did you want there? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My errand was useless, for now you are here. + + MAGDA. + +Do you mean to say that you came for me--you to whom I-- If any one had +an interest in keeping me away, it was you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Are you accustomed to regard everything which those about you do as the +result of selfish interest? + + MAGDA. + +Of course. It's so with me! [_Struck by a new thought_.] Or perhaps +you-- No, I'm not justified in that assumption. [_Sharply_.] Ah, such +nonsense! it is only fit for fairy tales. Well, Pastor, I'll own that I +like you now better, much better than of old when you--what shall I +say?--made an honorable proposal. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +H'm! + + MAGDA. + +If you could only end it all with a laugh--this stony visage of yours +is so unfriendly--one is quite _sconcertata_. What do you say? _Je ne +trouve pas le mot_. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Pardon me, may I ask the question now? + + MAGDA. + +Good Lord, how inquisitive the holy man is! And you don't see +that I was coquetting with you a little. For, to have been a man's +fate,--that flatters us women,--we are grateful for it. You see I have +acquired some art meanwhile. Well, out with your question! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Why--why did you come home? + + MAGDA. + +Ah! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Was it not homesickness? + + MAGDA. + +No. Well, perhaps a very little. I'll tell you. When I received the +invitation to assist at this festival--why they did me the honor, I +don't know--a very curious feeling began to seethe within me,--half +curiosity and half shyness, half melancholy and half defiance,--which +said: "Go home incognito. Go in the twilight and stand before the +paternal house where for seventeen years you lived in bondage. There +look upon what you were. But if they recognize you, show them that +beyond their narrow virtues there may be something true and good." + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Only defiance then? + + MAGDA. + +At first, perhaps. Once on the way, though, my heart beat most +wonderfully, as it used to do when I'd learnt my lesson badly. And I +always did learn my lessons badly. When I stood before the hotel, the +German House,--just think, the German House, where the great officials +and the great artists stayed,--there I had again the abject reverence +as of old, as if I were unworthy to step on the old threshold. I +entirely forgot that I was now myself a so-called great artist. Since +then, every evening I have stolen by the house,--very quietly, very +humbly,--always almost in tears. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +And nevertheless you are going away. + + MAGDA. + +I must. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +But-- + + MAGDA. + +Don't ask me why. I must. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Has any one offended your pride? Has any one said a word of your +needing forgiveness? + + MAGDA. + +Not yet--or, yes, if you count the old cat. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What is there in the world which draws you away again after an hour? + + MAGDA. + +I will tell you. I felt it the first minute I came. The paternal +authority already stretches its net over me again, and the yoke stands +ready beneath which I must bow. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +But there is neither yoke nor net here. Do not fear shadows. Here are +only wide-opened arms which wait to clasp the lost daughter to the +empty breast. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, I beg you, none of that. I do not intend to furnish a pendant to +the prodigal son. If I came back as a daughter, as a lost daughter, I +should not hold my head up before you as I do; I should grovel in the +dust in full consciousness of all my sins. [_With growing +excitement_.] And that I will not do--that I cannot do--for I am +what I am, and I cannot be another. [_Sadly_.] And therefore I have no +home--therefore I must go forth again--therefore-- + + _Enter_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +For Heaven's sake, hush! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Excuse me, Pastor, I only wanted to know about supper. [_Imploringly +to_ Magda, _who sits turned away with her hands before her face_.] We +happen to have a warm joint to-day. You know, Pastor, the gentlemen of +the card-club were to be with us. Now, Magda, whether you're going away +or not, can't you eat a mouthful in your father's house? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Don't ask now, my dear madam. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, if I'm interrupting--I only thought-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Later. + + MARIE. + +[_Appearing in the doorway_.] Will she stay? [Magda _shrinks at the +sound of the voice_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +'Sh! [_Exit_ Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Marie. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You have no home, Miss Magda? Did you hear the old mother beseeching +and alluring with the best that she has, though it's only a poor dish? +Did you hear Marie's voice trembling with tears in the fear that I +should not prevail? They trust me too much; they think I only need to +speak the word. They don't suspect how helpless I stand here before +you. Look! Behind that door are three people in a fever of sorrow and +love. If you cross this threshold, you rob each of them of so much +life. And you have no home? + + MAGDA. + +If I have one, it is not here. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Embarrassed_.] Perhaps-- Nevertheless you should not go. Only a few +days,--just not to take away the idea that you belong here. So much you +owe to them! + + MAGDA. + +[_Sadly_.] I owe nothing now to any one here. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No? Really nothing? Then I must tell you about a certain day,--eleven +years ago now. I was called into this house in haste, for the Colonel +was dying. When I came, he lay there stiff and motionless, his face +drawn and white; one eye was already closed, in the other still +flickered a little life. He tried to speak, but his lips only quivered +and mumbled. + + MAGDA. + +What had happened? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What had happened? I will tell you. He had just received a letter in +which his eldest daughter bade him farewell. + + MAGDA. + +My God! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It was a long time before he recovered from the apoplectic stroke. Only +a trembling in the right arm, which you perhaps have noticed, now +remains. + + MAGDA. + +That is indeed a debt I owe. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Ah, if that were all, Miss Magda! Pardon me, I call you by the name I +used long ago. It springs to my lips. + + MAGDA. + +Call me what you like. Go on. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +The necessary result followed. When he received his discharge,--he will +not believe in the cause, don't speak to him of it,--then his mind +broke down. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, yes; that is my debt too. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Then you see, Miss Magda, began my work. If I speak of it, you must not +think I am pluming myself on it to you. What good would that do me? For +a long, long time I nursed him, and by degrees I saw his mind revive +again. First I let him collect slugs from the rose-bushes. + + MAGDA. + +[_With a shudder_.] Ugh! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Yes, so far had it gone; then I gave him charge of some money, and then +I made him my assistant in the institutions with whose management I was +intrusted. There is a hospital and a soup-kitchen and an infirmary, and +it makes a great deal to be done. So he became a man once more. I have +tried to influence your step-mother too; not because I was greedy for +power. Perhaps you'll think that of me. In short, the old tension +between her and Marie has been slowly smoothed away. Love and +confidence have descended upon the house. + + MAGDA. + +[_Staring at him_.] And why did you do all this? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Well, first it is my calling. Then I did it for his sake, for I love +the old man; and above all--for--your sake. + + [Magda _starts, and points to herself interrogatively_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Yes, for your sake. For this weighed upon me: The day will come when +she will turn homeward,--perhaps as victor; but perhaps also as +vanquished, broken and ruined in body and soul-- Pardon me these +thoughts, I had heard nothing of you-- In either case she shall find a +home ready for her. That was my work, the work of long years; and now I +implore you not to destroy it. + + MAGDA. + +[_In anguish_.] If you knew through what I have passed, you would not +try to keep me. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That is all shut out. This is home. Let it alone; forget it. + + MAGDA. + +How can I forget it? How dare I? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Why should you resist when all stretch their hands out to you in +rejoicing? It's very easy. Let your heart speak when you see all around +overflowing with love for you. + + MAGDA. + +[_In tears_.] You make me a child again. [_A pause_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Then you will stay? + + MAGDA. + +[_Springing up_.] But they must not question me! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Must not question you? + + MAGDA. + +About my life outside there. They wouldn't understand,--none of them; +not even you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Well, then, they sha'n't. + + MAGDA. + +And you will promise me, for yourself and for the others? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Yes, I can promise it. + + MAGDA. + +[_In a stifled voice_.] Call them, then. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Opening the door on the left_.] She will stay. + +_Enter_ Marie; _then_ Mrs. Schwartze, Franziska, _and_ Schwartze. Marie +_throws herself joyfully into_ Magda's _arms_. Mrs. Schwartze _also +embraces her_. + + SCHWARTZE. + +It was your duty, my child. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, father. [_She softly takes his right hand in both of hers, and +carries it tenderly to her lips_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +Thank Heaven! Now we can have supper at last! [_Opens the sliding door +into the dining-room. The supper-table is seen, all set, and lighted +brightly by a green-shaded hanging-lamp_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Gazing at it_.] Oh, look! The dear old lamp! [_The women go slowly +out_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Stretching out his hands_.] This is your greatest work, Pastor. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Oh, don't, I beg you! And there's a condition attached. + + SCHWARTZE. + +A condition? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +We must not ask about her life. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Startled_.] What? What? I must, not-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, no; you must not ask--you must not ask--or-- [_Struck by a new +thought_.] If you do not--yes--I am sure she will confess everything +herself. + + + + + ACT III. + +Scene: _the same. Morning. On the table at the left, coffee-service and +flowers._ + + + [Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Franziska _discovered_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Excitedly_.] Thank Heaven, you've come. Such a time we've had this +morning! + + FRANZISKA. + +So? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think, two people have come from the hotel,--a gentleman who looks +like a lord, and a young lady like a princess. They're her servants. + + FRANZISKA. + +What extravagance! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And they're calling and talking all over the house, and neither of them +knows any German. And her ladyship ordered a warm bath, that was not +warm enough; and a cold douche, which was not cold enough; and spirits, +which she simply poured out of the window; and toilet vinegar, which we +didn't have at all. + + FRANZISKA. + +What demands! And where is your famous young lady? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +After her bath she has gone back to bed again. + + FRANZISKA. + +I would not have such sloth in my house. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +I shall tell her so. For Leopold's sake-- [_Enter_ Theresa.] What do +you want, Theresa? + + THERESA. + +Councillor von Keller--he has sent his servant here to ask whether the +Lieutenant has come yet, and what is the young lady's answer. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What young lady? + + THERESA. + +That's what I don't know. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Then just give our regards, and say that the Lieutenant has not come +yet. + + FRANZISKA. + +He is on duty till twelve. After that he'll come. + +[_Exit_ Theresa. _As she opens the door, a great noise is heard in the +hall,--a man's voice and a woman's disputing in Italian_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Listen to that! [_Speaking outside_.] Just you wait. Your Signora'll be +here soon. [_Shuts the door_.] Ah! And now, breakfast. What do you +think she drinks? + + FRANZISKA. + +Why, coffee. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +No. + + FRANZISKA. + +Tea, then? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +No. + + FRANZISKA. + +Then it must be chocolate! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +No; coffee and chocolate mixed. + + FRANZISKA. + +Horrible! But it must be good. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And yesterday half a dozen trunks came from the hotel, and as many more +are still there. Ah, what there is in them all! One whole trunk for +hats! A peignoir of real point, and open-work stockings with gold +embroidery, and [_in a whisper_] silk chemises-- + + FRANZISKA. + +What? Silk-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_With a gesture of horror_.] It is simply sinful. + +_Enter_ Magda, _in brilliant morning toilette, speaking outside as she +opens the door_. + + MAGDA. + +_Ma che cosa volete voi? Perche non aspettate, finché vi commando?_ Ha? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Now they are getting their share! + + MAGDA. + +No, no; _è tempo_! [_Shutting the door_.] _Va, bruto_! Good-morning, +mamma. [_Kisses her_.] I'm a late sleeper, eh? Ah, good-morning, Aunt +Frankie. In a good humor? So am I. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What did the strange gentleman want, Magda? + + MAGDA. + +Stupid beast! He wanted to know when I was going away, the idiot! How +can I tell? [_Patting her_.] Eh, _mamma mia_? Oh, children, I slept +like the dead. My ear on the pillow, and off! And the douche was so +nice and cold. I feel so strong. _Allons, cousine_! Hop! [_Seizes_ +Franziska _by the waist and jumps her into the air_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Furiously_.] What do you-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Haughtily_.] Eh? + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Cringingly_]. You are so facetious. + + MAGDA. + +Am I? [_Clapping her hands_.] Breakfast! + + _Enter_ Marie, _with a tray of coffee things_. + + MARIE. + +Good-morning. + + FRANZISKA. + +Good-morning, my child. + + MAGDA. + +I'm dying of hunger. Ah! [_Pats her stomach_. Marie _kisses_ +Franziska's _hand_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Taking off the cover, with unction_.] Delicious! One would know +Giulietta was in the house. + + FRANZISKA. + +She has made noise enough, at least. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, she couldn't live without a good row. And when she gets too +excited, she quietly throws a plate at your head. I'm accustomed to it. +What is papa doing? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +He's making his excuses to the members of the Committee. + + MAGDA. + +Is your life still half made up of excuses? What sort of a committee is +it? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +It's the Christian Aid Society. They should have had a meeting here +this morning in our house. Now we thought it would not do. It would +look as if we wanted to introduce you. + + FRANZISKA. + +But, Augusta, now it will look as if your daughter were more important +to you-- + + MAGDA. + +Well, I hope she is! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Of course! But--oh dear, you don't know what sort of people they are. +They are deserving of great respect. For instance, there's Mrs. General +von Klebs. [_Proudly_.] We are friends of hers. + + MAGDA. + +[_With sham respect_.] Really? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Now, they'll probably come to-morrow. Then you'll meet, besides, some +other pious and aristocratic ladies whose patronage gains us a great +deal of influence. I'm curious to see how they'll like you. + + MAGDA. + +How I shall like them, you should say. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes--that is--but we're talking and talking-- + + MARIE. + +[_Jumping up_.] Oh, excuse me, mamma. + + MAGDA. + +No, you must stay here. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, Magda; but about your trunks at the hotel,--I am constantly on the +rack for fear something should be left. + + MAGDA. + +Send for them, then, children. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Aside to_ Mrs. Schwartze.] Now I'll question her thoroughly, Augusta. +Leave us alone. + + [_Exit_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Sitting down, with importance_.] And now, my dear Magda, you must +tell your old aunt all about it. + + MAGDA. + +Eh? Ah, look here, mamma needs help. Go on, quick! Make yourself +useful. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Viciously_.] If you command it. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, I have only to request. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Rising_.] It seems to me that your requests are somewhat forcible. + + MAGDA. + +[_Laughing_.] Perhaps. + + [_Exit_ Franziska _in a rage_. + + MARIE. + +Oh, Magda! + + MAGDA. + +Yes, sweet. That's the way to go through the world,--bend or break; +that is, I never bend. It's the only way. + + MARIE. + +Oh, good Heavens! + + MAGDA. + +Poor child! Yes, in this house one learns quite other views. I bent, +myself, yesterday disgracefully. Ah, how nice our old mamma is! +[_Earnestly, pointing to the mother's picture_.] And she up there! Do +you remember her? [Marie _shakes her head_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Thoughtfully_.] She died too soon! Where's papa? I want him. And yet +I'm afraid of him too. Now, child, while I eat my breakfast, now you +must make your confession. + + MARIE. + +Oh, I can't. + + MAGDA. + +Just show me the locket! + + MARIE. + +There! + + MAGDA. + +A lieutenant! Naturally. With us it's always a tenor. + + MARIE. + +Oh. Magda, it's no joke. He is my fate. + + MAGDA. + +What is the name of this fate? + + MARIE. + +It's Cousin Max. + + MAGDA. + +[_Whistles_.] Why don't you many the good youth, then? + + MARIE. + +Aunt Frankie wants a better match for him, and so she won't give him +the guaranty he needs. It's abominable! + + MAGDA. + +_Si! C'est bête, ça!_ And how long have you loved each other? + + MARIE. + +I don't remember when we did not. + + MAGDA. + +And where does he meet you? + + MARIE. + +Here. + + MAGDA. + +I mean elsewhere--alone. + + MARIE. + +We are never alone together. I think this precaution we owe to our own +self-respect. + + MAGDA. + +Come here--close--tell me the truth--has it never entered your mind to +cast this whole network of precaution and respect away from you, and to +go with the man you love out and away--anywhere--it doesn't matter +much--and as you lie quietly on his breast, to hurl back a scornful +laugh at the whole world which has sunk behind you? + + MARIE. + +No, Magda, I never feel so. + + MAGDA. + +But would you die for him? + + MARIE. + + [_Standing up with a gesture of enthusiasm_.] +I would die a thousand deaths for him! + + MAGDA. + +My poor little darling! [_Aside_.] They bring everything to naught. The +most terrible of all passions becomes in their hands a mere resigned +defiance of death. + + MARIE. + +Whom are you speaking of? + + MAGDA. + +Nothing, nothing. See here, how large is this sum you need? + + MARIE. + +Sixty thousand marks. + + MAGDA. + +When can you be married? Must it be now, or will afternoon do? + + MARIE. + +Don't mock me, Magda. + + MAGDA. + +You must give me time to telegraph. One can't carry so much money about +with one. + + MARIE. + +[_Slowly taking it in, and then, with an outburst of joy, throwing +herself at_ Magda's _feet_.] Magda! + + MAGDA. + +[_After a silence_.] Be happy, love your husband. And if you hold your +first-born on your arm, in the face of the world [_holding out her arms +with angry emphasis_]-- so, face to face, then think of one who-- Ah! +some one's coming. + + _Enter_ Heffterdingt _with a portfolio_. + + MAGDA. + +[_Crossing to him_.] Oh, it's you. That's good. I wanted you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You wanted me? What for? + + MAGDA. + +Only--I want to talk with you, holy man. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Isn't it good, Miss Magda, to be at home again? + + MAGDA. + +Oh, yes, except for the old aunt's sneaking about. + + MARIE. + +[_Who is collecting the breakfast-things; laughing, but frightened_.] +Oh, Heavens, Magda! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good-morning, Miss Marie. + + MARIE. + +Good-morning, Pastor. + + [_Exit, with the table_. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Heavens, how she beams! + + MAGDA. + +She has reason. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Isn't your father here? + + MAGDA. + +No. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Isn't he well? + + MAGDA. + +I think so. I haven't seen him yet. Yesterday we sat together till +late. I told him what I could tell. But I think he was very unhappy; +his eyes were always searching and probing. Oh, I fear your promise +will be badly kept. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That seems like a reproach. I hope you don't regret-- + + MAGDA. + +No, my friend, I don't regret it. But I feel very curiously. I seem to +be in a tepid bath, I'm so weak and warm. What they call German +sentiment is awaking again, and I have been so unused to it. My heart +seems like a Christmas number of the "Gartenlaube,"--moonlight, +betrothals, lieutenants, and I don't know what! But the best of it is, +I know that I'm playing with myself. I can cast it all off as a child +throws away its doll, and be my old self again. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That would be bad for us. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, don't be angry with me. I seem to be all torn and rooted up. And +then I am so afraid-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Of what? + + MAGDA. + +I can't--I can't be quite one of you. I am an intruder. [_Aside, +fearfully_.] If a spectre from without were to appear, this whole idyl +would go up in flames. [Heffterdingt _suppresses a start of +astonishment_.] And I'm confined, hemmed in. I begin to be a coward. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I don't think one should be terrified at feeling filial love. + + MAGDA. + +Filial love? I should like to take that snow-white head in my lap and +say, "You old child!" And nevertheless I must bend my will, I must bend +my will. I am not accustomed to that. I must conquer; I must sing down +opposition. I sing or I live,--for both are one and the same,--so that +men must will as I do. I force them, I compel them to love and mourn +and exult and lament as I do. And woe to him who resists! I sing them +down,--I sing and sing until they become slaves and playthings in my +hands. I know I'm confused, but you understand what I mean. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +To work the impress of one's own personality,--that's what you mean, +isn't it? + + MAGDA. + +_Si, si, si, si_! Oh, I could tell you everything. Your heart has +tendrils which twine about other hearts and draw them out. And you +don't do it selfishly. You don't know how mighty you are. The men +outside there are beasts, whether in love or hate. But you are a man. +And one feels like a man when one is near you. Just think, when you +came in yesterday, you seemed to me so small; but something grows out +from you and becomes always greater, almost too great for me. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good Heavens, what can it be? + + MAGDA. + +What shall I call it,--self-sacrifice, self-abnegation? It is something +with self--or rather the reverse. That is what impresses me. And that +is why you can do so much with me. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +How strange! + + MAGDA. + +What? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I must own it to you--it is--it is nonsense; but since I have seen you +again, a sort of longing has awakened within me to be like you. + + MAGDA. + +Ha, ha! You, model of men! Like me! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I have had to stifle much in my nature. My peace is the peace of the +dead. And as you stood before me yesterday in your freshness, your +natural strength, your--your greatness, I said to myself, "That is what +you might have been if at the right moment joy had entered into your +life." + + MAGDA. + +[_In a whisper_.] And one thing more, my friend,-- sin! We must sin if +we wish to grow. To become greater than our sins is worth more than all +the purity you preach. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Impressed_.] That would be-- [_Voices outside_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Starting and listening_.] 'Sh! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What's the matter? + + MAGDA. + +Nothing, it's only my stupid nervousness; not on my own account, +believe me, only out of pity for all these. We shall still be friends? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +As long as you need me. + + MAGDA. + +And when I cease to need you? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +There will be no change in me, Miss Magda. [_As he is going, he meets_ +Schwartze _in the doorway_.] + + _Enter_ Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Good-morning, my dear pastor! Will you go out on the porch for a +moment? I will follow you. [_Exit_ Heffterdingt.] Now, did you sleep +well, my child? [_Kisses her on the forehead_.] + + MAGDA. + +Finely. In my old room I found the old sleep of childhood. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Had you lost it? + + MAGDA. + +Haven't you? + + SCHWARTZE. + +They say a good conscience-- Come to me, my child. + + MAGDA. + +Gladly, papa! No, let me sit at your feet. There I can see your +beautiful white beard. When I look at it, I always think of Christmas +eve and a quiet snow-covered field. + + SCHWARTZE. + +My child, you know how to say pretty things. When you speak, one seems +to see pictures about one. Here we are not so clever; that is why we +have nothing to conceal here. + + MAGDA. + +We also-- But speak quietly, papa. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, I must. You know what agreement you made with the pastor. + + MAGDA. + +Which you will keep? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I am accustomed to keep to what I have promised. But you must see +that the suspicion--whatever I may do, the suspicion weighs like a +mountain-- + + MAGDA. + +What do you suspect? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I don't know. You have appeared among us as wonderfully as gloriously. +But brilliance and worldly honor and all that don't blind a father's +eyes. You seem to be warm at heart too. At least, one would think so to +hear you speak. But there is something in your eyes which does not +please me, and a scornful curl about your lips. + + MAGDA. + +Dear, good old papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +You see! This tenderness is not that of a daughter towards her father. +It is so that one pets a child, whether it be a young or an old one. +And although I'm only a poor soldier, lame and disabled, I demand your +respect, my child. + + MAGDA. + +I have never withheld it. [_Rising_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +That is good, that is good, my daughter. Believe me, we are not so +simple as we may appear to you. We have eyes to see, and ears to hear, +that the spirit of moral revolt is abroad in the world. The seed which +should take root in the heart, begins to decay. What were once sins +easily become customs to you. My child, soon you will go away. When you +return, you may find me in the grave. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, no, papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +It's in God's hand. But I implore you-- Come here, my +child--nearer--so-- [_He draws her down to him, and takes her head +between his hands_.] I implore you--let me be happy in my dying hour. +Tell me that you have remained pure in body and soul, and then go with +my blessing on your way. + + MAGDA. + +I have remained--true to myself, dear father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +How? In good or in ill? + + MAGDA. + +In what--for me--was good. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Blankly_.] In what--for you--then? + + MAGDA. + +[_Rising_.] And now don't worry any more. Let me enjoy these few days +quietly. They will be over soon enough. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Broodingly_.] I love you with my whole heart, because I have sorrowed +for you--so long. [_Threateningly, rising_.] But I must know who you +are. + + MAGDA. + +Father dear-- [_Bell rings_. Mrs. Schwartze _bursts in_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think! the ladies of the Committee are here! They want to +congratulate us in person. Do you think we ought to offer them coffee, +Leopold? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I will go into the garden, Augusta. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +For Heaven's sake--they're just coming--you must receive their +congratulations. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I can't--no--I can't do it! [_Exit, left_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What is the matter with your father? + + _Enter_ Mrs. General Von Klebs, Mrs. Justice + Ellrich, Mrs. Schumann, _and_ Franziska. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_As she opens the door_.] My dear, the ladies-- + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +[_Giving her hand to_ Mrs. Schwartze.] What a day for you, my dear! +The whole town rejoices in the happy event. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Permit me--my daughter--Mrs. General von Klebs, Mrs. Justice Ellrich, +Mrs. Schumann. + + MRS. SCHUMANN. + +I am only the wife of a simple merchant; but-- + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +My husband will do himself the honor soon-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Won't you sit down, ladies? [_They sit_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +[_With aplomb_.] Yes, it is truly a joyful event for the whole family. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +We have unfortunately not shared the pleasures of the festival, my dear +young lady. I must therefore refrain from expressing that admiration to +which you are so well accustomed. + + MRS. SCHUMANN. + +If we had known, we should certainly have ordered tickets. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Do you expect to remain here for very long? + + MAGDA. + +That I really cannot say, madam--or, pardon me--your ladyship? + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +I must beg you--no. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, pardon me! + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Oh, please! + + MAGDA. + +We are such birds of passage, my dear madam, that we can really never +plan for the future. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +But one must have one's real home. + + MAGDA. + +Why? One must have a vocation. That seems to me enough. + + FRANZISKA. + +It's all in the point of view, dear Magda. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Ah, we're so far removed from all these ideas, my dear young lady. +Every now and then some person gives lectures here, but the good +families have nothing to do with it. + + MAGDA. + +[_Politely_.] Oh, I can quite understand that. The good families need +nothing, as they have plenty to eat. [_A silence_.] + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +But at least you must have some residence? + + MAGDA. + +If you call it so,--a place to sleep. Yes, I have a villa by the Lake +of Como and an estate at Naples. [_Sensation_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +But you've said nothing to us about that. + + MAGDA. + +I hardly ever make use of them, mamma dear. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +Art must be a very trying occupation? + + MAGDA. + +[_In a friendly tone_.] It depends upon how one follows it, my dear +madam. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +My daughter used to take singing-lessons, and it always taxed her very +much. + + MAGDA. + +[_Politely_.] Oh, I'm sorry for that. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +Naturally, you only do it for pleasure. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, it's so much pleasure! [_Aside to_ Mrs. Schwartze, _who sits near +her_.] Get these women away, or I shall be rude! + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Are you really engaged by a theatre, my dear young lady? + + MAGDA. + +[_Very sweetly_.] Sometimes, my dear madam. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Then you are out of an engagement at present? + + MAGDA. + +[_Murmurs_.] Oh, come, come! [_Aloud_.] Yes, I'm a vagabond now. [_The +ladies look at each other_.] + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +There are really not many daughters of good families on the stage, are +there? + + MAGDA. + +[_In a friendly tone_.] No, my dear madam; most of them are too stupid. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, Magda! + + _Enter_ Max. + + MAGDA. +Oh, that must be Max! [_Goes to him and shakes hands_.] Just think, I +had quite forgotten your face. We were great friends, were we not? + + MAX. + +Were we? [_Astonished_.] + + MAGDA. + +Well, we can begin now. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +[_Aside_.] Do you understand this? + +[Mrs. Von Klebs _shrugs her shoulder. The ladies rise and take their +leave, shaking hands with_ Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Franziska, _and bowing +to_ Magda.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Confused_.] Must you go already, ladies? My husband will be so +sorry-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Coolly_.] _Au revoir_, ladies, _au revoir_! + [_Exit the ladies in the order of their rank_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Turning back from the door_.] Mrs. von Klebs was offended, or she +would have stayed. Magda, you certainly must have offended Mrs. von +Klebs. + + FRANZISKA. + +And the other ladies, too, were hurt. + + MAGDA. + +Mamma dear, won't you see about my trunk? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, I'll go to the hotel myself. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! + [_Exit_. + + FRANZISKA. + +Wait, I'm coming too. [_Spitefully_.] I must make myself useful, of +course! + + MAGDA. + +Oh, Aunt Frankie, a word with you. + + FRANZISKA. + +Now? + + MAGDA. + +We're going to celebrate a betrothal to-day. + + FRANZISKA. + +What betrothal? + + MAGDA. + +Between him and Marie. + + MAX. + +[_Joyfully_.] Magda! + + FRANZISKA. + +I think, as I occupy a mother's position towards him, that it is my +right-- + + MAGDA. + +No; the giver alone has rights, my dear aunt. And now don't fail. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Furiously_.] I will make you-- [_Exit_. + + MAX. + +How shall I thank you, my dear Miss-- + + MAGDA. + +Magda, my dear cousin, Magda! + + MAX. + +Pardon me, it was my great respect-- + + MAGDA. + +Not so much respect, my boy,--I don't like it; more weight, more +individuality! + + MAX. + +Ah, my dear cousin, should a young lieutenant with twenty-five marks' +pay, not to speak of debts, have individuality? It would only be a +hindrance to him. + + MAGDA. + +Ah! + + MAX. + +If I manage my men properly, and dance a correct figure at our +regimental balls, and am not a coward, that is enough. + + MAGDA. + +To make a wife happy, certainly. Go and find her. Go along! + + MAX. + +[_Starts to go, and turns back_.] Oh, excuse me, in my happiness I +entirely forgot the message I-- Early this morning--by-the-by, you +can't think what a tumult the whole city is in about you--well, early +this morning--I was still in bed--an acquaintance came in who is also +an old acquaintance of yours, very pale from excitement, and he asked +whether it were all true, and if he might come to see you. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, let him come. + + MAX. + +He wanted me to ask you first. He would then send in his card this +morning. + + MAGDA. + +What formalities the men go through here! Who is he? + + MAX. + +Councillor von Keller. + + MAGDA. + +[_Speaking with difficulty_.] He--what?--he? + + MAX. + +[_Laughing_.] Pardon me, but you're as white now as he was. + + MAGDA. + +[_Quietly_.] I? White? + + _Enter_ Theresa _with a card_. + + MAX. + +Here he is. Dr. von Keller. + + MAGDA. + +Let him come up. + + MAX. + +[_Smiling_.] I'll only say to you, my dear cousin, that he's a very +important man, who has a great career before him, and promises to be a +pillar of our religious circle. + + MAGDA. + +Thank you! + + _Enter_ Von Keller _with a bouquet_. + + MAX. + +[_Crossing to him_.] My dear Councillor, here is my cousin, who is +delighted to see you. You will excuse me. + + [_Exit, with a bow to each_. + +[Von Keller _remains standing at the door_. Magda _moves about +nervously. Silence_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Aside_.] Here is my spectre! [_Indicates a seat at the table, left, +and sits down opposite_.] + + VON KELLER. + +First, you must allow me to express my warmest and most sincere good +wishes. This is a surprise which you happily could not have expected. +And as a sign of my interest, allow me, my dearest friend, to present +you with these modest flowers. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, how thoughtful! [_Takes the flowers with a laugh, and throws them +on the table_.] + + VON KELLER. + +[_In embarrassment_.] I--I see with sorrow that you resent this +approach on my part. Have I in any way been wanting in the necessary +delicacy? In these narrow circles a meeting could not have been +avoided. I think it is better, my dearest friend, that we should come +to an understanding,--that we should know the relations-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Rising_.] You're right, my friend. I was not at the height of my own +nature just now. Had I been, I might have played the deserted +Marguerite to the end. The morals of home had infected me a little. But +I am myself again. Give me your hand bravely. Don't be afraid, I won't +harm you. So--tight--so! + + VON KELLER. + +You make me happy. + + MAGDA. + +I've painted this meeting to myself a thousand times, and have been +prepared for it for years. Something warned me, too, when I undertook +this journey home--though I must say I hardly expected just here +to-- Yes, how is it that, after what has passed between us, you came +into this house? It seems to me a little-- + + VON KELLER. + +I tried to avoid it until quite recently; but since we belong to the +same circles, and since I agree with the views of this family--that is, +at least in theory-- + + MAGDA. + +Yes, yes. Let me look at you, my poor friend. How you have changed! + + VON KELLER. + +[_Laughing nervously_.] I seem to have the misfortune to make a rather +absurd figure in your eyes. + + MAGDA. + +No, oh, no! I can see it all. The effort to keep worthy of respect +under such difficulties, with a bad conscience, is awkward. You +look down from the height of your pure atmosphere on your sinful +youth,--for you are called a pillar, my dear friend. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Looking at the door_.] Pardon me--I can hardly accustom myself again +to the affectionate terms. And if any one should hear us-- Would it not +be better-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Sadly_.] Let them hear us. + + VON KELLER. + +[_At the door_.] Good Heavens! Well [_sitting down again_], as I was +saying, if you knew with what real longing I look back from this height +at my gay, discarded youth-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Half to herself_.] So gay,-- yes, so gay. + + VON KELLER. + +Well, I felt myself called to higher things. I thought-- Why should I +undervalue my position? I have become Councillor, and that +comparatively young. An ordinary ambition might take satisfaction in +that. But one sits and waits at home, while others are called to the +ministry. And this environment, conventionality, and narrowness, all is +so gray,--gray! And the ladies here--for one who cares at all about +elegance--I assure you something rejoiced within me when I read this +morning that you were the famous singer,--you to whom I was tied by so +many dear memories and-- + + MAGDA. + +And then you thought whether it might not be possible with the help of +these dear memories to bring a little color into the gray background? + + VON KELLER. + +[_Smiling_.] Oh, pray don't-- + + MAGDA. + +Well, between old friends-- + + VON KELLER. + +Really, are we that, really? + + MAGDA. + +Certainly, _sans rancune_. Oh, if I took it from the other standpoint, +I should have to range the whole gamut,--liar, coward, traitor! But as +I look at it, I owe you nothing but thanks, my friend. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Pleased, but confused_.] This is a view which-- + + MAGDA. + +Which is very convenient for you. But why should I not make it +convenient for you? In the manner in which we met, you had no +obligations towards me. I had left my home; I was young and innocent, +hot-blooded and careless, and I lived as I saw others live. I gave +myself to you because I loved you. I might perhaps have loved any one +who came in my way. That--that seemed to be all over. And we were so +happy,--weren't we? + + VON KELLER. + +Ah, when I think of it, my heart seems to stop beating. + + MAGDA. + +There in the old attic, five flights up, we three girls lived so +merrily in our poverty. Two hired pianos, and in the evening bread and +dripping. Emmy used to warm it herself over the oil-stove. + + VON KELLER. + +And Katie with her verses! Good Lord! What has become of them? + + MAGDA. + +_Chi lo sà_? Perhaps they're giving singing-lessons, perhaps they're on +the stage. Yes, we were a merry set; and when the fun had lasted half a +year, one day my lover vanished. + + VON KELLER. + +An unlucky chance, I swear to you. My father was ill. I had to travel. +I wrote everything to you. + + MAGDA. + +H'm! I did not reproach you. And now I will tell you why I owe you +thanks. I was a stupid, unsuspecting thing, enjoying freedom like a +runaway monkey. Through you I became a woman. For whatever I have done +in my art, for whatever I have become in myself, I have you to thank. +My soul was like--yes, down below there, there used to be an Æolian +harp which was left mouldering because my father could not bear it. +Such a silent harp was my soul; and through you it was given to the +storm. And it sounded almost to breaking,--the whole scale of passions +which bring us women to maturity,--love and hate and revenge and +ambition [_springing up_], and need, need, need--three times need--and +the highest, the strongest, the holiest of all, the mother's +love!-- All I owe to you! + + VON KELLER. + +What--what do you say? + + MAGDA. + +Yes, my friend, you have asked after Emmy and Katie. But you haven't +asked after your child. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Jumping up and looking about anxiously_.] My child! + + MAGDA. + +Your child? Who calls it so? Yours? Ha, ha! Dare to claim portion +in him and I'll kill you with these hands. Who are you? You're a +strange man who gratified his lust and passed on with a laugh. But I +have a child,--my son, my God, my all! For him I lived and starved +and froze and walked the streets; for him I sang and danced in +concert-halls,--for my child who was crying for his bread! [_Breaks out +in a convulsive laugh which changes to weeping, and throws herself on a +seat, right_.] + + VON KELLER. + +[_After a silence_.] I am confounded. If I could have suspected,--yes, +if I could have suspected--I will do everything; I will not shrink from +any reparation. But now, I beg you to quiet yourself. They know that I +am here. If they saw us so, I should be--[_correcting himself_] you +would be lost. + + MAGDA. + +Don't be afraid. I won't compromise you. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, I was not speaking for myself, not at all. But just think, if it +were to come out, what the town and your father-- + + MAGDA. + +Poor old man! His peace is destroyed, at any rate. + + VON KELLER. + +And think! the more brilliantly you are placed now, the more certain is +your ruin. + + MAGDA. + +[_Madly_.] And if I wish for ruin! If I-- + + VON KELLER. + +For Heaven's sake, hush! some one's coming. + + MAGDA. + +[_Springing up_.] Let them come! Let them all come! I don't care, I +don't care! To their faces I'll say what I think of you,--of you and +your respectable society. Why should I be worse than you, that I must +prolong my existence among you by a lie! Why should this gold upon my +body, and the lustre which surrounds my name, only increase my infamy? +Have I not worked early and late for ten long years? Have I not woven +this dress with sleepless nights? Have I not built up my career step by +step, like thousands of my kind? Why should I blush before any one? I +am myself, and through myself I have become what I am. + + VON KELLER. + +Good! You may stand there proudly, but you might at least consider-- + + MAGDA. + +Whom? [_As he is silent_.] Whom? The pillar! Ha, ha! The pillar begins +to totter! Be easy, my dear friend. I am not revengeful. But when I +look at you in all your cowardly dignity--unwilling to take upon you +the slightest consequence of your doings, and contrast you with myself, +who sank through your love to be a pariah and an outcast-- Ah, I'm +ashamed of you. Pah! + + VON KELLER. + +For Heaven's sake! Your father! If he should see you like this! + + MAGDA. + +[_In agony_.] My father! [_Escapes through the door of the dining-room, +with her handkerchief to her face_.] + +_Enter_ Schwartze, _happy and excited, through the hall-door_. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ah, my dear Councillor--was that my daughter who just disappeared? + + VON KELLER. + +[_In great embarrassment_.] Yes, it was-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Why should she run away from me? Magda! + + VON KELLER. + +[_Trying to block his path_.] Had you not better-- The young lady +wished to be alone for a little! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Now? Why? When one has visitors, one does not-- Why should she-- + + VON KELLER. + +She was a little--agitated. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Agitated? + + VON KELLER. + +Yes; that's all. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Who has been here? + + VON KELLER. + +No one. At least, as far as I know. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Then, what agitating things could you two have to talk about? + + VON KELLER. + +Nothing of importance,--nothing at all, I assure you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What makes you look so, then? You can scarcely stand. + + VON KELLER. + +I? Oh, you're mistaken, you're mistaken. + + SCHWARTZE. + +One question, Councillor-- You and my daughter-- Please sit down. + + VON KELLER. + +My time is unfortunately-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Almost threatening_.] I beg you to sit down. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Not daring to resist_.] Thank you. [_They sit_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +You met my daughter some years ago in Berlin? + + VON KELLER. + +Yes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Councillor von Keller, I know you to be as discreet as you are +sensible; but there are cases in which silence is a crime. I ask +you--and your life-long relations with me give me the right to ask, as +well as the mystery--which just now-- In short, I ask you, Do you know +anything discreditable about my daughter's life there? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, for Heaven's sake, how can you-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Do you not know how and where she lived? + + VON KELLER. + +No. I am absolutely-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Have you never visited at her house? + + VON KELLER. + +[_More and more confused_.] No, no, never, never. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Not once? + + VON KELLER. + +Well, I called on her once; but-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Your relations were friendly? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, entirely friendly--of course, only friendly. [_A pause_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Passes his hand over his forehead, looks earnestly at_ Von +Keller; _then, speaking absently_.] So? Then, honestly--if it might +be--if--if-- [_Gets up, goes to_ Von Keller, _and sits down again, +trying to quiet himself_.] Dr. von Keller, we both live in a quiet +world, where scandals are unknown. But I have grown old, very old. And +therefore I can't--can't control my thoughts as I should. And I can't +rid myself of an idea which has--suddenly--taken possession of me. I +have just had a great joy which I don't want to be embittered. But, to +quiet an old man, I beg you--give me your word of honor that-- + + VON KELLER. + +[_Rising_.] Pardon me, this seems almost like a cross-examination. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You must know, then, what I-- + + VON KELLER. + +Pardon me, I wish to know nothing. I came here innocently to make a +friendly visit, and you have taken me by surprise. I will not be taken +by surprise. [_Takes his hat_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Dr. von Keller, have you thought what this refusal means? + + VON KELLER. + +Pardon me, if you wish to know anything, I beg you to ask your +daughter. She will tell you what--what-- And now you must let me go. +You know where I live. In case-- I am very sorry it has happened so: +but-- Good-day, Colonel! [_Exit_. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_After brooding for a time_.] Magda! + + MARIE. + +[_Running in anxiously_.] For Heaven's sake, what's the matter? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Chokingly_.] Magda,--I want Magda. + + MARIE. + +[_Goes to the door and opens it_.] She's coming now--down the stairs. + + SCHWARTZE. + +So! [_Pulls himself together with an effort_.] + + MARIE. + +[_Clasping her hands_.] Don't hurt her! [_Pauses with the door open_. +Magda _is seen descending the stairs. She enters in travelling-dress, +hat in hand, very pale, but calm_.] + + MAGDA. + +I heard you call, father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I have something to say to you. + + MAGDA. + +And I to you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Go in--into my room. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, father. [_She goes to the door, left_. Schwartze _follows her_. +Marie, _who has drawn back frightened to the dining-room door, makes an +unseen gesture of entreaty_.] + + + + + ACT IV. + + Scene: _the same_. + + +[Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Marie _discovered_. Mrs. Schwartze, _in hat and +cloak, is knocking on the door at the left_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold! Oh, Heaven, I dare not go in. + + MARIE. + +No, no, don't! Oh, if you'd only seen his face! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And they've been in there half an hour, you say? + + MARIE. + +Longer, longer! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Now she's speaking! [_Listening, frightened_.] He's threatening her. +Marie, Marie! Run into the garden. The pastor's there, in the arbor. +Tell him everything,--about Mr. von Keller's being here,--and ask him +to come in quickly. + + MARIE. + +Yes, mamma. [_Hurries to the hall-door_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Wait a minute, Marie. Has Theresa heard anything? If it should get +about-- + + MARIE. + +I've already sent her away, mamma. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +That's right, that's right. [_Exit_ Marie. Mrs. Schwartze _knocks +again_.] Leopold! listen to me, Leopold! [_Retreating_.] Oh, Heaven! +he's coming! [_Enter_ Schwartze, _bent and tottering_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +How do you feel, Leopold? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Sinking into a chair_.] Yes, yes,--just like the roses. The knife +conies, and cuts the stem, and the wound can never be healed. What am I +saying? What? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +He's out of his mind. + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no, I'm not out of my mind. I know quite well-- [Magda _appears at +the door, left_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What have you done to him? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, what have you--what have you? That is my daughter. What shall I do +with my daughter now? + + MAGDA. + +[_Humbly, almost beseechingly_.] Father, isn't it best, after what has +happened, that you should let me go,--that you should drive me into the +streets? You must get free of me if this house is to be pure again. + + SCHWARTZE. + +So, so, so! You think, then, you have only to go--to go away, out +there, and all will be as before? And we? What will become of us? +I--good God!--I--I have one foot in the grave--soon it will be +over--but the mother, and your sister--your sister. + + MAGDA. + +Marie has the husband she wants-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +No one will marry a sister of yours. [_With aversion_.] No, no. Don't +think it! + + MAGDA. + +[_Aside_.] My God! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_To_ Mrs. Schwartze.] See, she's beginning now to realize what she has +done. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes; what-- + + MAGDA. + +[_In tender sympathy, but still with a tinge of superiority_.] My poor +old father--listen to me--I can't change what has passed. I will give +Marie half my fortune. I will make up a thousand times all that I have +made you suffer to-day. But now, I implore you, let me go my way. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Oho! + + MAGDA. + +What do you want of me? What am I to you? Yesterday at this time you +did not know even whether I still lived; and to-day-- It is madness to +demand that I should think and feel again as you do; but I am afraid of +you, father, I'm afraid of you all--ah, I am not myself-- [_Breaking +out in torment_.] I cannot bear the sorrow. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ha, ha! + + MAGDA. + +Father dear, I will humble myself before you willingly. I lament with +my whole heart that I've brought sorrow to you to-day, for my flesh and +blood still belong to you. But I must live out my own life. That I owe +to myself,--to myself and mine. Good-by! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Stopping her_.] Where are you going? + + MAGDA. + +Let me pass, father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I'll kill you first. [_Seizes her_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold! [_Enter_ Heffterdingt. _He throws himself between them with a +cry of horror_. Magda, _freed by the old man, goes slowly back, with +her eyes fixed on the_ Pastor, _to the seat, left, where she remains +motionless_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_After a silence_.] In God's name! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, yes, Pastor--it made a fine family group, eh? Look at her! +She has soiled my name. Any scoundrel can break my sword. That is my +daughter; that is-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Dear Colonel, these are things which I do not understand, and which I +do not care to understand. But it seems to me there must be something +to do, instead of-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, to do,--yes, yes,--there's much to do here. I have much to do. I +don't see why I'm standing here. The worst of it is--the worst of it +is, he can say to me--this man--you are a cripple--with your shaking +hand--with such a one I can't fight, even if I have had your daughter +for a-- But I will show him-- I will show him-- Where is my hat? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Where are you going, Leopold? [Magda _rises_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +My hat! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Gives him hat and stick_.] Here, here! + + SCHWARTZE. + +So! [_To_ Magda.] Learn to thank the God, in whom you disbelieve, that +he has preserved your father until this hour, for he shall bring you +back your honor! + + MAGDA. + +[_Kneeling, and kissing his hand_.] Don't do it, father! I don't +deserve this of you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Bends weeping over her head_.] My poor, poor child! + + MAGDA. + +[_Calling after him_.] Father! + + [_Exit_ Schwartze _quickly_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +My child, whatever happens, we women--we must hold together. + + MAGDA. + +Thanks, mamma. The play will soon be played out now. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My dear Mrs. Schwartze, Marie is out there, full of sorrow. Go and say +a kind word to her. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What shall I say to comfort her, when all the happiness has gone out of +her life? [Magda _jumps up in anguish_.] Oh, Pastor, Pastor! + + [_Exit_. + + MAGDA. + +[_After a silence_.] Oh, I am so tired! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Magda! + + MAGDA. + +[_Brooding_,] I think I shall see those glaring bloodshot eyes before +me always--wherever I go. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Magda! + + MAGDA. + +How you must despise me! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Ah, Miss Magda, I have long been a stranger to despite. We are all poor +sinners-- + + MAGDA. + +[_With a bitter laugh_.] Truly we are-- Oh, I am so tired!--it is +crushing me. There is that old man going out to let himself be shot +dead for my sake, as if he could atone for all my sins with his single +life! Oh, I am so tired! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Magda--I can only conjecture--what all this means--but you have +given me the right to speak to you as a friend. And I feel that I am +even more. I am your fellow-sinner, Miss Magda! + + MAGDA. + +Good Heavens! Still harping on that! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Do you feel the obligation, Miss Magda, to bring honor and peace back +to this house? + + MAGDA. + +[_Breaking out in anguish_.] You have lived through the sorrow, and ask +whether I feel it? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I think your father will obtain from that gentleman the declaration +that he is ready for any sort of peaceable satisfaction. + + MAGDA. + +Ha, ha! The noble soul! But what can I do? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You can--not spurn the hand which he will offer you. + + MAGDA. + +What? You don't mean-- This man--this strange man whom I despise--how, +how could I-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Dear Miss Magda, there comes an hour to almost every man when he +collects the broken pieces of his life, to form them together into a +new design. I have found it so with myself. And now it is your turn. + + MAGDA. + +I will not do it--I will not do it. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You will have to. + + MAGDA. + +I would rather take my child in my arms and throw myself into the sea. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Suppresses a violent start; continues after a silence, hoarsely_.] Of +course, that is the simplest solution. And your father can follow you. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, have pity on me! I must do whatever you demand. I don't know how +you have gained such power over me. Oh, man, if the slightest memory of +what you once felt, if the least pity for your own youth, still lives +within you, you cannot sacrifice me so! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I do not sacrifice you alone, Miss Magda. + + MAGDA. + +[_With awakening perception_.] Good God! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +There's no other way. I see none. You know yourself that the old man +would not survive it. And what would become of your mother, and what +would become of your poor sister? Miss Magda, it is as if with your own +hand you set fire to the house and let everything burn that is within. +And this house is still your home-- + + MAGDA. + +[_In growing agony_.] I will not, I will not. This house is not my +home. My home is with my child! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +This child, too. He will grow up fatherless, and will be asked, "Where +is your father?" He will come and ask you, "Where is my father?" What +can you answer him? And, Miss Magda, he who has not peace in his heart +from the beginning will never win it in the end. + + MAGDA. + +All this is not true, and if it were true, have I not a heart too? Have +I not a life to live also? Have I not a right to seek my own happiness? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Harshly_.] No; no one has that. But do as you will. Ruin your home, +ruin your father and sister and child, and then see what heart you have +to seek your own happiness. [Magda _bows her head, sobbing. The_ Pastor +_crosses to her, and leans over the table pityingly, with his hand on +her hair_.] My poor-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Seizing his hand_.] Answer me one question. You have sacrificed your +life for my sake. Do you think, to-day, in spite of what you know and +what you do not know, do you think that I am worth this sacrifice? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Constrained, as if making a confession_.] I have said already I am +your fellow-sinner, Miss Magda. + + MAGDA. + +[_After a pause_.] I will do what you demand. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I thank you. + + MAGDA. + +Good-by. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good-by. [_Exit. He is seen through the open door speaking to_ Marie +_and sending her in_. Magda _remains motionless, with her face in her +hands until he has gone_. + + _Enter_ Marie. + + MARIE. + +What can I do, Magda? + + MAGDA. + +Where has the pastor gone? + + MARIE. + +Into the garden. Mamma is with him. + + MAGDA. + +If father asks for me, say I shall wait there. [_Nods towards left_.] + + MARIE. + +And haven't you a word for me, Magda? + + MAGDA. + +Oh, yes. Fear nothing. [_Kisses her on the forehead_.] Everything will +come out well, so well--no, no, no. [_In weary bitterness_.] Everything +will come out quite well. [_Exit, left_. Marie _goes into the +dining-room_.] + +_Enter_ Schwartze. _He takes out a pistol-case and opens it. Takes a +pistol, cocks it with difficulty, examines the barrel, and aims at a +point on the wall. His arm trembles violently. He strikes it angrily, +and lets the pistol sink. Enter_ Max. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Without turning_.] Who's there? + + MAX. + +It's I, uncle. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Max? Ah, you may come in. + + MAX. + +Uncle, Marie told me-- What are the pistols for, uncle? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ah, they used to be fine pistols,--beautiful pistols. See, boy, with +this I have hit the ace of hearts at twenty paces, or say fifteen. +And fifteen would be enough. We ought to have been in the garden +already, but--but [_helplessly touches his trembling arm, almost in +tears_]--but I can nevermore-- + + MAX. + +[_Hurrying to him_.] Uncle? [_They embrace each other for a moment_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +It's all right,--it's all right. + + MAX. + +Uncle, I need not say that I take your place, that I meet any man you +point out; it is my right. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yours,--why? In what capacity? Will you marry into a disgraced family? + + MAX. + +Uncle! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Are you prepared to strip off the uniform of our regiment? Yes, I might +set up a gambling-house, and you could play the stool-pigeon for a +living. There is no knowing what we might do. What! you, with your +beautiful name, your noble name, propose this sacrifice,--and I to +profit by it! Ha, ha! No, my boy; even if you still were willing, I am +not. This house and all within are marked for ruin. Go your way from +it. With the name of Schwartze you have nothing more to do. + + MAX. + +Uncle, I demand that you-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Hush! Not now! [_Motions to the door_.] Soon I may need you as one +needs a friend in such affairs, but not now--not now. First I must find +the gentleman. He was not at home--the gentleman was not at home. But +he shall not think he has escaped me. If he is out a second time, then, +my son, your work begins. Until then, be patient,--be patient. + + _Enter_ Theresa _from hall_. + + THERESA. + +Councillor von Keller. [Schwartze _starts_.] + + MAX. + +He here! How-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Let him come in. [_Exit_ Theresa. + + MAX. + +Uncle! [_Points to himself in great excitement_. Schwartze _shakes his +head, and signs to_ Max _to leave the room. Enter_ Von Keller. _Exit_ +Max. _They meet in the doorway_. Von Keller _greets_ Max _courteously_. +Max _restrains himself from insulting him_.] + + VON KELLER. + +Colonel, I am grieved at having missed you. When I returned from the +Casino, where I am always to be found at noon,--where, I say, I am +always to be found,--your card lay on the table; and as I imagine that +there are matters of importance to be discussed between us, I made +haste--as I say, I have made haste-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Councillor, I do not know whether in this house there should be a chair +for you, but since you have come here so quickly, you must be tired. I +beg you to be seated. + + VON KELLER. + +Thanks. [_Sits down, near the open pistol-case, starts as he sees it, +watches the_ Colonel _apprehensively_.] H'm! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Now, have you nothing to say to me? + + VON KELLER. + +Allow me first one question: Did your daughter, after our conversation, +say anything to you about me? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Councillor, have you nothing to say to me? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, certainly, I have a great deal to say to you. I would gladly, for +instance, express to you a wish, a request; but I don't quite know +whether-- Won't you tell me, at least, has your daughter spoken of me +at all favorably? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Angrily_.] I must know, sir, how we stand, in what light I am to +treat you. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, pardon me, now I understand-- [_Working himself up_.] Colonel, +you see in me a man who takes life earnestly. The days of a light +youth-- [Schwartze _looks up angrily_.] Pardon me, I meant to +say--since early this morning a holier and, if I may say so, a more +auspicious resolution has arisen within me. Colonel, I am not a man of +many words. I have already wandered from the point. As one man of honor +to another, or-- in short, Colonel, I have the honor to ask you for the +hand of your daughter. [Schwartze _sits motionless, breathing +heavily_.] Pardon me, you do not answer--am I perhaps not worthy-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Groping for his hand_.] No, no, no; not that,--not that. I am an old +man. These last hours have been a little too much for me. Don't mind +me. + + VON KELLER. + +H'm, h'm! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Rising, and closing the lid of the pistol-case_.] Give me your hand, +my young friend. You have brought heavy sorrow upon me,--heavy sorrow. +But you have promptly and bravely made it good. Give me the other hand. +So, so! And now do you wish to speak to her also? You will have much to +say. Eh? + + VON KELLER. + +If I might be allowed. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Opens the hall-door and speaks off, then opens the door, left_.] +Magda! + + _Enter_ Magda. + + MAGDA. + +What is it, father? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Magda, this gentleman asks for the honor-- [_As he sees the two +together, he looks with sudden anger from one to the other_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Anxiously_.] Father? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Now everything's arranged. Don't make it too long! [_To_ Magda.] Yes, +everything's all right now. [_Exit_. + + VON KELLER. + +Ah, my dearest Magda, who could have suspected it? + + MAGDA. + +Then we are to be married. + + VON KELLER. + +Above all, I don't want you to entertain the idea that any design of +mine has been at the bottom of this development which I welcome so +gladly, which I-- + + MAGDA. + +I haven't reproached you. + + VON KELLER. + +No, you have no reason. + + MAGDA. + +None whatever. + + VON KELLER. + +Let me further say to you that it has always been my strongest wish +that Providence might bring us together again. + + MAGDA. + +Then you have really never ceased to love me? + + VON KELLER. + +Well, as an honorable man and without exaggeration I can scarcely +assert that. But since early this morning a holier and a more +auspicious resolution has arisen within me-- + + MAGDA. + +Pardon me, would this holy and auspicious resolution have arisen within +you just the same if I had come back to my home in poverty and shame? + + VON KELLER. + +My dearest Magda, I am neither self-seeking nor a fortune-hunter, but I +know what is due to myself and to my position. In other circumstances +there would have been no social possibility of making legitimate our +old relations-- + + MAGDA. + +I must consider myself, then, very happy in these ten long years to +have worked up unconsciously towards such a high goal. + + VON KELLER. + +I don't know whether I am too sensitive, but that sounds almost like +irony. And I hardly think that-- + + MAGDA. + +That it is fitting from me? + + VON KELLER. + +[_Deprecatingly_.] Oh! + + MAGDA. + +I must ask for your indulgence. The role of a patient and forbearing +wife is new to me. Let us speak, then, of the future [_sits and motions +to him to do the same_]--of our future. What is your idea of what is to +come? + + VON KELLER. + +You know, my dearest Magda, I have great designs. This provincial town +is no field for my statesmanship. Besides, it is my duty now to find a +place which will be worthy of your social talents. For you will give up +the stage and concert-hall,--that goes without saying. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, that goes without saying? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, I beseech you--you don't understand the conditions; it would be a +fatal handicap for me. I might as well leave the service at once. + + MAGDA. + +And if you did? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, you can't be in earnest. For a hardworking and ambitious man who +sees a brilliant future before him to give up honor and position, and +as his wife's husband to play the vagabond,--to live merely as the +husband of his wife? Shall I turn over your music, or take the tickets +at the box-office? No, my dearest friend, you underestimate me, and the +position I fill in society. But don't be uneasy. You will have nothing +to repent of. I have every respect for your past triumphs, but +[_pompously_] the highest reward to which your feminine ambition can +aspire will be achieved in the drawing-room. + + MAGDA. + +[_Aside_.] Good Heaven, this thing I'm doing is mere madness! + + VON KELLER. + +What do you say? [Magda _shakes her head_.] And then the wife, the +ideal wife, of modern times is the consort, the true, self-sacrificing +helper of her husband. For instance, you, by your queenly personality +and by the magic of your voice, will overcome my enemies, and knit even +my friends more closely to me. And we will be largely hospitable. Our +house shall be the centre of the most distinguished society, who still +keep to the severely gracious manners of our forefathers. Gracious and +severe may seem contradictory terms, but they are not. + + MAGDA. + +You forget that the child on whose account this union is to be +consummated will keep the severely inclined away from us. + + VON KELLER. + +Yes, I know, dear Magda, it will be painful for you; but this child +must of course remain the deepest secret between us. No one must +suspect-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Astounded and incredulous_.] What--what do you say? + + VON KELLER. + +Why, it would ruin us. No, no, it is absurd to think of it. But we can +make a little journey every year to wherever it is being educated. One +can register under a false name; that is not unusual in foreign parts, +and is hardly criminal. And when we are fifty years old, and other +regular conditions have been fulfilled, [_laughing_], that can be +arranged, can't it? Then we can, under some pretext, adopt it, can't +we? + + MAGDA. + +[_Breaks into a piercing laugh; then, with clasped hands and +staring eyes_.] My sweet! My little one! _Mio bambino! Mio +povero_--_bam_--you--you--I am to--ha, ha, ha! [_Tries to open the +folding door_.] Go! go! + + _Enter_ Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What-- + + MAGDA. + +Good you're here! Free me from this man, take this man away from me. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What? + + MAGDA. + +I have done everything you demanded. I have humbled myself, I have +surrendered my judgment, I have let myself be carried like a lamb to +the slaughter. But my child I will not leave. Give up my child to save +his career! [_Throws herself into a chair_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Mr. von Keller, will you please-- + + VON KELLER. + +I am inconsolable, Colonel. But it seems that the conditions which for +the interest of both parties I had to propose, do not meet the +approbation-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +My daughter is no longer in the position to choose the conditions under +which she-- Dr. von Keller, I ask your pardon for the scene to which +you have just been subjected. Wait for me at your home. I will myself +bring you my daughter's consent. For that I pledge you my word of +honor. [_Sensation_. Magda _rises quickly_.] + + VON KELLER. + +Have you considered what-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Holding out his hand_.] I thank you, Dr. von Keller. + + VON KELLER. + +Not at all. I have only done my duty. + + [_Exit, with a bow_. + + MAGDA. + +[_Stretching herself_.] So! Now I'm the old Magda again. [Schwartze +_locks the three doors silently_.] Do you think, father, that I shall +become docile by being shut up? + + SCHWARTZE. + +So! Now we are alone. No one sees us but He who sees us--there +[_pointing upward_] Quiet yourself, my child. We must talk together. + + MAGDA. + +[_Sits down_.] Good! We can come to an understanding, then,--my home +and I. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Do you see that I am now quite calm? + + MAGDA. + +Certainly. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Quite calm, am I not? Even my arm does not tremble. What has happened, +has happened. But just now I gave your betrothed-- + + MAGDA. + +My betrothed?-- Father dear! + + SCHWARTZE. + +I gave your betrothed my word of honor. And that must be kept, don't +you see? + + MAGDA. + +But if it is not in your power, my dear father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Then I must die,--then I must simply die. One cannot live on when +one-- You are an officer's daughter. Don't you understand that? + + MAGDA. + +[_Compassionately_.] My God! + + SCHWARTZE. + +But before I die, I must set my home in order, must I not? Every one +has something which he holds sacred. What is sacred to your inmost +soul? + + MAGDA. + +My art. + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, that is not enough. It must be more sacred. + + MAGDA. + +My child. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Good! Your child,--your child,--you love it? [Magda _nods_.] You wish +to see it again? [_She nods_.] And--yes--if you made an oath upon its +head [_makes a motion as if he laid his hand upon a child's head_], +then you would not perjure yourself? [Magda _shakes her head, smiling_.] +That's well. [_Rising_.] Either you swear to me now, as upon his head, +that you will become the honorable wife of his father, or--neither of +us two shall go out of this room alive. [_Sinks back on the seat_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_After a short silence_.] My poor, dear papa! Why do you torture +yourself so? And do you think that I will let myself be constrained by +locked doors? You cannot believe it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You will see. + + MAGDA. + +[_In growing excitement_.] And what do you really want of me? Why do +you trouble yourself about me? I had almost said, what have you all to +do with me? + + SCHWARTZE. + +That you will see. + + MAGDA. + +You blame me for living out my life without asking you and the whole +family for permission. And why should I not? Was I not without family? +Did you not send me out into the world to earn my bread, and then +disown me because the way in which I earned it was not to your taste? +Whom did I harm? Against whom did I sin? Oh, if I had remained the +daughter of the house, like Marie, who is nothing and does nothing +without the sheltering roof of the home, who passes straight from the +arms of her father into the arms of her husband; who receives from the +family life, thought, character, everything,--yes, then you would have +been right. In such a one the slightest error would have ruined +everything,--conscience, honor, self-respect. But I? Look at me. I was +alone. I was as shelterless as a man knocked about in the world, +dependent on the work of my own hands. If you give us the right to +hunger--and I have hungered--why do you deny us the right to love, as +we can find it, and to happiness, as we can understand it? + + SCHWARTZE. + +You think, my child, because you are free and a great artist, that you +can set at naught-- + + MAGDA. + +Leave art out of the question. Consider me nothing more than the +seamstress or the servant-maid who seeks, among strangers, the little +food and the little love she needs. See how much the family with its +morality demand from us! It throws us on our own resources, it gives us +neither shelter nor happiness, and yet, in our loneliness, we must live +according to the laws which it has planned for itself alone. We must +still crouch in the corner, and there wait patiently until a respectful +wooer happens to come. Yes, wait. And meanwhile the war for existence +of body and soul is consuming us. Ahead we see nothing but sorrow and +despair, and yet shall we not once dare to give what we have of youth +and strength to the man for whom our whole being cries? Gag us, stupefy +us, shut us up in harems or in cloisters--and that perhaps would be +best. But if you give us our freedom, do not wonder if we take +advantage of it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +There, there! That is the spirit of rebellion abroad in the world. My +child--my dear child--tell me that you were not in earnest--that +you--that you--pity me--if-- [_Looking for the pistol-case_]. I don't +know what may happen--child--have pity on me! + + MAGDA. + +Father, father, be calm, I cannot bear that. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I will not do it--I cannot do it-- [_Looking still for the +pistol-case._] Take it from me! Take it from me! + + MAGDA. + +What, father? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Nothing, nothing, nothing. I ask you for the last time. + + MAGDA. + +Then you persist in it? + + SCHWARTZE. + +My child, I warn you. You know I cannot do otherwise. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, father, you leave me no other way. Well, then, are you sure that +you ought to force me upon this man--[Schwartze _listens_] that, +according to your standards, I am altogether worthy of him? +[_Hesitating, looking into space_.] I mean--that he was the only one in +my life? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Feels for the pistol-case and takes the pistol out_.] You jade! [_He +advances upon her, trying to raise the weapon. At the same moment he +falls back on the seat, where he remains motionless, with staring eyes, +the pistol grasped in his hand, which hangs down by his side_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_With a loud cry_.] Father! [_She flies toward the stove for shelter +from the weapon, then takes a few steps, with her hands before her +face_.] Father! [_She sinks, with her knees in a chair, her face on the +back. Calling and knocking outside. The door is broken open_.] _Enter_ +Max, Marie, Heffterdingt, and Mrs. Schwartze. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold, what's the matter? Leopold! [_To the_ Pastor.] O my God, he's +as he used to be! + + MARIE. + +Papa dear! Speak, one word! [_Throws herself down at his right_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Get the doctor, Max. + + MAX. + +Is it a stroke? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I think so. [_Exit_ Max. _Aside to_ Magda.] Come to him. [_As she +hesitates_.] Come; it is the end. [_Leads her trembling to_ Schwartze's +_chair_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Who has tried to take the pistol_.] Let it go, Leopold; what do you +want with it? See, he's holding the pistol and won't let it go. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Aside_.] It is the convulsion. He cannot. My dear old friend, can you +understand what I'm saying to you? [Schwartze _bows his head a little_. +Magda _sinks down at his left_.] God, the All-Merciful One, has called +you from on high. You are not her judge. Have you no sign of +forgiveness for her? [Schwartze _shakes his head slowly_.] + + MARIE. + +[_Sinking down by_ Magda.] Papa, give her your blessing, dear papa! [_A +smile transfigures his face. The pistol escapes from his hand. He +raises his hand slowly to place it on_ Marie's _head. In the midst of +this motion a spasm goes through his body. His arm falls back, his head +sinks_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Crying out_.] Leopold! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Taking her hand_.] He has gone home. [_He folds his hands. Silent +prayer, broken by the sobbing of the women_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Springing up and spreading out her arms in agony_.] Oh, if I had only +never come! [Heffterdingt _makes a motion to beg her silence. She +misunderstands_.] Are you going to drive me away? His life was the cost +of my coming. May I not stay now? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Simply and peacefully_. ] No one will hinder you from praying upon +his grave. + + + + [_Curtain falls slowly_.] + + + + + THE END. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 1: Without which officers in the German army may not marry.] + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Magda, by Hermann Sudermann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGDA *** + +***** This file should be named 34184-8.txt or 34184-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/8/34184/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Magda + A Play in Four Acts + +Author: Hermann Sudermann + +Translator: Charles Edward Amory Winslow + +Release Date: November 1, 2010 [EBook #34184] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGDA *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br> +Page scan source: http://books.google.com/books?id=9pUnAAAAMAAJ&printsec</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>MAGDA</h1> +<h2>A Play In Four Acts</h2> +<br> + +<h3><i>By</i></h3> +<h2>HERMANN SUDERMANN</h2> +<br> + +<h3><i>Translated from the German by</i></h3> +<h3>CHARLES EDWARD AMORY WINSLOW</h3> + + +<hr class="W10"> + +<h4>Copyright, 1895, by<br> +Lamson, Wolffe and Company.</h4> + +<h4>Assignment of above Copyright to<br> +<br> +Emanuel Lederer,<br> +13 West 42d Street, New York City,<br> +<br> +recorded in Assignment Book<br> +V. 21 Page 143, June 8,1899, Washington, D. C.</h4> + + +<hr class="W10"> +<br> + +<p class="normal">CAUTION.-Professionals and amateurs are hereby notified that this play +is fully copyrighted under the existing laws of the United States +Government, and nobody is allowed to do this play without first having +obtained permission of Samuel French, 24 West 22d Street, New York +City, U. S. A.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4><i>Copyright, 1895</i>,<br> +By Lamson, Wolffe, and Company.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>MAGDA</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CHARACTERS</h2> + + +<p class="continue">Lieutenant-Colonel Leopold Schwartz.<br> +Pastor Heffterdingt<br> +Dr. Von Kellner<br> +Max<br> +Major-General Von Klebs<br> +Prof. Beckmann<br> +Mrs. Schwartz, the stepmother</p> +<table style="width:30%; margin-top:-9pt; margin-bottom:-9pt"> +<tr> +<td>Magda Schwartz</td> +<td rowspan="2" style="font-size:24pt">}</td> +<td rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle">sisters</td> +</tr><tr> +<td>Marie Schwartz</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p class="continue">Franziska<br> +Mrs. General Von Klebs<br> +Mrs. Justice Ellrich<br> +Mrs. Schumann<br> +Theresa, the Schwartzs' maid</p> +<br> + +<hr class="W10"> +<br> + +<h3>SYNOPSIS</h3> + +<table style="width:40%; margin-left:30%"> +<tr> +<td> +Scene--The Schwartzs' home.<br> +Act I.--Afternoon.<br> + +Act II.--Evening of the same day.<br> + +Act III.--The next morning.<br> + +Act IV.--The same morning.</td> +</tr></table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>Note.</h2> +<br> + +<p class="continue">Herr Hermann Sudermann has achieved surprising success in passing from +novel-writing to dramatic authorship. He has a style of the utmost +distinction, and is well skilled in technique. His masterpiece, +"Heimat," is absolutely original. No play has ever produced a more +impressive effect upon German audiences. When it ceases to be +performed, it will still hold a permanent and important place in the +libraries of dramatic literature. Though a psychological study, there +is no concentration of attention upon morbid conditions. All these have +passed before the play begins. There is no passion for mere passion's +sake. Its development proceeds from the energies of circumstances and +character. + +Herr Sudermann, unlike some of the new dramatists, is not lacking in +humor; and the snobbishness, stuffy etiquette, and scandal-mongering of +a provincial town are well illustrated by the minor characters. Into +this atmosphere comes the whirlwind from the outer world with fatal +effect. It is scarcely possible to conceive more varied and intense +emotions naturally and even inevitably evolved from the action of a +single day. The value of the drama lies in the sharp contrasts between +the New and the Old, alternately commanding, in their strife, the +adhesion of the spectator or reader. The preparation for the return of +"The Prodigal Daughter" occupies an entire act, and invests her +entrance with an interest which increases until the tremendous climax. +Yet the proud martinet father commands our respect and sympathy; and +the Pastor, in his enlightened self-conquest, is the antithesis alike +of the narrowness and lawlessness of parent and child, and remains the +hero of the swift tragedy. + +It is not uncommon that the scrupulousness attending circumstances +where partiality would be a natural impulse, makes criticism even +unusually exacting. It is believed that in this spirit the present +translation may be somewhat confidently characterized as being both +spirited and faithful.</p> + +<p class="right">E. W.</p> + +<div style="margin-right:70%"> +<p class="normal"><span class="sc">The Oxford</span>.</p> +<p style="text-indent:.5in"><i>January</i>, 1896.</p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>Persons.</h2> +<br> +<table style="width:80%; margin-left:10%"> +<tr> +<td colspan="3"> +<span class="sc">Schwartze</span>, <i>Lieutenant-Colonel on half-pay</i>.</td> +</tr><tr> +<td><span class="sc">Magda</span>,</td> +<td rowspan="2" style="font-size:24pt;vertical-align:middle">}</td> +<td rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle"><i>his children by his first wife</i>.</td> +</tr><tr> +<td height="21"><span class="sc">Marie</span>,</td> +<td> </td> +</tr><tr> +<td colspan="3"> +<span class="sc">Augusta</span>, <i>born</i> Von Wendlowski, <i>his second wife</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Franziska von Wendlowski</span>, <i>her sister</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Max von Wendlowski</span>, <i>Lieutenant, their nephew</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Heffterdingt</span>, <i>Pastor of St. Mary's</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Dr. von Keller</span>, <i>Councillor</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Beckmann</span>, <i>Professor Emeritus</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Von Klebs</span>, <i>Major-General on half-pay</i>.<br> +<span class="sc">Mrs. von Klebs</span>.<br> +<span class="sc">Mrs. Justice Ellrich</span>.<br> +<span class="sc">Mrs. Schumann</span>.<br> +<span class="sc">Theresa</span>, <i>maidservant of the Schwartze family</i>.</td> +</tr></table> +<br> + +<p style="margin-left:15%"><i>Place</i>. The principal city of a province.<br> + +<i>Time</i>. The present.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>MAGDA.</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>ACT I.</h2> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Scene</span>. <i>Living-room in house of</i> <span class="sc">Lieutenant-Colonel Schwartze</span>, +<i>furnished in simple and old-fashioned style. Left, at back, a glass +door with white curtains through which the dining-room is seen. There +is also a hall door, through which a staircase to the upper story is +visible. Right, a corner window, with white curtains, surrounded by +ivy. Left, a door to the </i> <span class="sc">Lieutenant-Colonel's </span><i>room. Steel engravings +of a religious and patriotic character, in tarnished gold frames, +photographs of military groups, and cases of butterflies on the walls. +Right, over the sofa, among other pictures, is the portrait of the +first Mrs. Schwartze, young and charming, in the costume of the +sixties. Behind the sofa, an old-fashioned desk. Before the window, a +small table with workbox and hand sewing-machine. At the back, between +the doors, an old-fashioned tall clock. In the left-hand corner, a +stand with dried grasses; in front, a table with a small aquarium. +Left, in front, a corner sofa with a small pipe-cupboard behind it. A +stove with a stuffed bird on it; and behind, a bookcase with a bust of +the old Emperor William.</i></p> + + +<p class="hang1">[<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>discovered</i>. <span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>at the door</i>. +<span class="sc">Marie </span> <i>is +occupied with the sewing-machine</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Miss Marie!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well!</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is your father still lying down?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What's the matter? Has any one called?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, but-- There! Look at that! [<i>Producing a magnificent mass of +flowers</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good Heavens! Take it to my room quickly, or papa-- But, Theresa, when +the first came yesterday, weren't you told not to let any more be left?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I'd have sent the florist's boy away if I could, but I was up on the +ladder fixing the flag, and he laid it down and was gone before I could +stop him. My, my, though, they're beautiful! and if I might make a +guess, the Lieutenant--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You may not make a guess.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">All right, all right. Oh, I know what I wanted to ask. Does the flag +hang well? [<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>looks out, and nods assent</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">The whole town is full of flags and flowers, and the most expensive +tapestries are hung out of the windows. One would think it was the +King's birthday. And all this fuss is about a stupid Music Festival! +What is this Music Festival, Miss Marie? Is it different from a choral +festival?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, indeed.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is it better?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, much better!</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, well, if it's better-- [<i>A knock</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Come in! + +<i>Enter</i> Max.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, <i>now</i> I suppose I can leave the flowers.</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>, <i>laughing</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Max.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">What on earth do you mean?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Aren't these flowers yours?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good Heavens! I can afford a few pennies for a bunch of violets once in +a while, but this-- Oh, no!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nor yesterday's?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, nor yesterday's. [<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>rings</i>.]</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Please throw these flowers away.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What! Throw those beautiful flowers away?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You are right. The pastor would say, "If God's gifts do not please us, +we must at least take care that they give pleasure to others." Wouldn't +he?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Probably he would.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then you had better take them back to the florist's. Did they come from +Zimmerman's? [<span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>nods</i>.] Well, we'll sell them if we can, and +give the money to Pastor Heffterdingt for his hospital.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Shall I go now?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">After you have made the coffee. I'll serve it myself. [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.] +These flowers are an insult! I need not tell you, Max, that I have +given no one the shadow of an excuse for such a thing.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">I'm very sure of that.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And papa was so angry. He simply stormed. And I was quiet because I +suspected it was you. If he got hold of the poor fellow, it would go +hard with him.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you think it would be any better if I got hold of him?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What rights have you in the case?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Marie! [<i>Takes her hand</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Gently disengaging herself</i>.] Oh, Max, please--not that. You know +every corner of my heart. But we must think of the proprieties.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Proprieties! Oh, pshaw!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, you know what a world we live in. Here, every one is afraid of +every one else because each depends upon the good opinion of the other. +If a few anonymous flowers can make me talked of, how much more--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, yes, I know.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Laying her hand on his shoulder</i>.] Max, you'll speak again to Aunt +Frankie, won't you, about the guaranty<a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01">[1]</a> of your income?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have already.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Shrugging his shoulders</i>.] As long as she lives, not a penny.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then there's only one person who can help us.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Your father?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No. For Heaven's sake, don't let him hear of it. He might forbid you +the house.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">What has he against me?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You know how he has been since our misfortune. He feels that there is a +blot to be wiped out; and especially now, when the whole town echoes +with music,--when everything recalls Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">What if she should come back, some day?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">After twelve years? She will never come.</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Weeps</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Marie!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You're right, you're right. I will put it away from me.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">But who is the one person who can help us?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why, the pastor!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, he might.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">He can do everything. He stirs your very heart--as if-- And then he +seems like a kind of relation. He should have been my brother-in-law.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, but she wouldn't have it so.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't speak angrily, Max. She must have made atonement. [<i>A ring</i>.] Oh, +perhaps this is he.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no, I forgot to tell you. Councillor von Keller asked me to bring +him here to-day.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What does he want?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">He wants to interest himself in the missions--no, it's in our home work +particularly, I think. I don't know-- Well, at any rate he wants to +come to the committee meeting tomorrow.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I'll call father and mother. [<i>Enter</i> <span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>with a card</i>.] Show him +in. [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.] Entertain him until I come back. [<i>Gives him her +hand</i>.] And we'll talk again about the pastor some other time?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">In spite of the proprieties?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, Max, I've been too forward! Haven't I?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Marie!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no--we won't speak of it. Good-by.</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Von Keller</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">You must content yourself with me for a few minutes, my dear Von +Keller. [<i>They shake hands</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">With pleasure, my good sir, with pleasure. [<i>Sits</i>.] How our little +town is changed by the festival! It really seems as if we were in the +great world.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Laughing</i>.] I advise you not to say that aloud.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">What did I say? I assure you I did not mean anything. If such a +misunderstanding got abroad--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">You have nothing to fear from me!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, of course not. Ah, how much better it would be to know nothing of +the outer world!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">How long were you away?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Five years, with examinations and being sent down to commissioners and +all that. Well, now I am back again. I drink home-brewed beer; I +patronize local tailors; I have even, with a noble fearlessness of +death, eaten the deer-steak of the season; and this I call pleasure! +Yes, youth, travel, and women are good things; but the world must be +ruled, and sober men are needed. Your time will come some day. The +years of honor are approaching. Yes, yes, especially when one joins the +ecclesiastical courts.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Are you going to do that?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I think of it. And to be at one with those of the cloth-- I speak quite +openly with you--it is worth my while, in short, to interest myself in +religious questions. I have of late in my speeches, as perhaps you +know, taken this position; and as for the connections which this +household has--let me tell you I am proud of them.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">You might have been proud long ago.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Excuse me, am I over-sensitive? Or do I read a reproach in your words?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not quite that, but--if you will pardon me, it has sometimes +appeared--and not to me alone--as if you avoided the houses where my +uncle's family were to be found.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">And my presence here now--does not that prove the contrary?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Exactly. And therefore I too will speak very frankly. You were the last +person to meet my lost cousin, Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Confused</i>.] Who says--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">You yourself have spoken of it, I am told. You met her with my friend +Heydebrand when he was at the military academy.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, it's true.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">It was wrong of me not to ask you about her openly, but you will +probably understand my reticence. I feel almost as if I belonged to +this family and I feared to learn something which might disgrace it.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, not at all, not in the least. It was like this. When I was in +Berlin for the State Examinations, I saw one day on Leipsic Street a +familiar face,--a home face, if I may say so. You know what that is +when one is far away. Well, we spoke to each other. I learned that she +was studying to sing in opera, and that for this purpose she had left +her home.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not exactly. She left home to be companion to an old lady. +[<i>Hesitates</i>.] There was a difference with her father.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">A love affair?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">In a way. Her father supported the suitor and told her to obey or leave +his house.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">And she went away?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes. Then, a year later, when she wrote that she was going on the +stage, it made the breach complete. But what else did you hear?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">That's all.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing else?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, well,--I met her once or twice at the opera-house where she had a +pass.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">And you know absolutely nothing of her life?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With a shrug</i>.] Have you heard nothing from her?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing at all. Well, at any rate, I am grateful to you. I beg you, +however, not to mention the meeting to my uncle, unless he asks you +about it directly. He knows of it, of course, but the name of the lost +daughter is never mentioned in this house.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, I have tact enough not to do that.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">And what do you think has become of her?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, music is a lottery. Ten thousand blanks and one prize. A host of +beginners and but one who makes a career. If one becomes a Patti or a +Sembrich, or, to come down to our own Festival--</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Shaking hands</i>.] Welcome to my house! Councillor von Keller, my wife.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pray sit down.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I should not have dared, madam, to ask the honor of this introduction +had I not wished so strongly to share in the good and useful work which +centres here. My purpose may excuse my temerity.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You're very kind; but you do us too much honor. If you seek the centre +of the whole movement, Pastor Heffterdingt is the man. He inspires all; +he controls all; he--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you know our pastor, sir?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have heard him speak many times, dear lady, and have admired equally +the sincerity of his convictions and his naïve faith in human nature. +But I cannot comprehend the influence he exerts.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You will find it out. He is so plain and simple that one hardly +realizes what a man he is. He brings every one round.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I am almost converted already, dear lady.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">As for us here, all I can do is to give these weak and useless hands to +help on the great work. It's only right that an old soldier should +dedicate the little strength left him by the throne to the service of +the altar. Those are the two causes to fight for.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">That's a great thought!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Thanks, thanks, but no more of this. Ah, ten years ago, when they gave +me my discharge, I was a devil of a fellow. Max, doesn't my old +battalion still tremble at my name?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">That they do, uncle.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, that is one thing you escape in the civil service,--being laid on +the shelf without any fault of your own,--without the shadow of a +fault. Then there came a slight stroke of apoplexy. See how my hand +trembles now! And what had I to look forward to? It was then that my +young friend, Heffterdingt, showed me the way, through work and prayer, +to a new youth. Without him I never should have found it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You mustn't believe all he says, Mr. von Keller. If he didn't always +depreciate himself, he would be better thought of in the highest +circles.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">High and low, madam, everywhere your husband is known and honored.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Lighting up</i>.] Indeed? Ah, well, no vanity. No, no, that is the moth +that corrupts.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is it really so wrong to wish for a little honor?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is honor? You would call it being led up the room by the governor, +or being asked to tea at the castle when the royal family is here.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You know very well that the latter honor has never fallen to my lot.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, yes, pardon me. I knew your weak spot. I should have avoided it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, just think, Councillor, Mrs. Fanny Hirschfeld of the Children's +Hospital was invited, and I was not.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Deprecatingly</i>.] Oh!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Laughing, and stroking her head</i>.] Ah, the moth that corrupts, the +moth that corrupts! [<i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Marie </span><i>with the coffee. She bows in a +friendly way to </i><span class="sc">Von Keller</span>.] Herr von Keller, my daughter--my only +daughter.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I've already had the pleasure.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I can't offer you a hand for welcome, Dr. Von Keller, but you may have +a cup of coffee instead.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Helping himself and looking at the others</i>.] I am very fortunate in +being treated like an old acquaintance of the family.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">As far as we are concerned, you shall become not only an acquaintance +but a friend. And that is no conventional politeness, Councillor; for I +know you, and in these times, when all the ties of morality and +authority seem strained to bursting, it is doubly necessary that those +who stand for the good old patriarchal order should hold together.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Very true, very true indeed. One doesn't hear such sentiments as that +in the world in general, where modern ideas pass current for small +change.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Modern ideas! Oh, pshaw! I know them. But come into the quiet homes +where are bred brave soldiers and virtuous wives. There you'll hear no +talk about heredity, no arguments about individuality, no scandalous +gossip. There modern ideas have no foothold, for it is there that the +life and strength of the Fatherland abide. Look at this home! There is +no luxury,--hardly even what you call good taste,--faded rugs, birchen +chairs, old pictures; and yet when you see the beams of the western sun +pour through the white curtains and lie with such a loving touch on the +old room, does not something say to you, "Here dwells true happiness"? +[<span class="sc">Von Keller </span><i>nods with conviction</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Broodingly</i>.] And here it might have dwelt!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Hurrying to him</i>.] Papa!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, I know. Well, in this house rules old-fashioned paternal +authority. And it shall rule as long as I live. And am I therefore a +tyrant? Tell me. You ought to know.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You're the best, the dearest--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">He is so excitable, you see, Councillor.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Have you not been well brought up? And shall we not hold together, we +three? But the age goes on planting rebellion in children's hearts, +putting mistrust between man and wife [<i>rises</i>], and it will never be +satisfied till the last roof-tree smokes in ruins, and men wander about +the streets, fearful and alone, like homeless curs. [<i>Sinks back +exhausted</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You ought not to get so wrought up, papa. You know it is bad for you. +[<span class="sc">Max </span><i>makes a sign to </i><span class="sc">Von Keller</span>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Shall I go? [<span class="sc">Max </span><i>nods</i>.] This is an interesting subject to develop, +Colonel. I must say I think perhaps you are a little severe. But my +time--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Severe? Ah, well, don't think ill of an old man for speaking a little +too hotly.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, sir, heat is the badge of youth. I believe I am a graybeard beside +you.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no. [<i>Presses his hand</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Madam! Miss Marie! [<i>Exit</i>. <span class="sc">Max </span><i>follows him</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Greet the battalion for me, my boy.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">I will, dear uncle.<span style="letter-spacing:10px"> </span> [<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">A very agreeable man.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Almost too agreeable.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You are speaking of our guest! [<span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>makes</i> <span class="sc">Marie </span><i>a sign +to be careful</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Will you have your pipe, papa?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, dear.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">The gentlemen of the card-club will be here soon. How lucky that we +didn't eat the haunch of venison Sunday! I've ordered some red wine for +the General, too. I paid three marks; that's not too dear, is it?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not if it's good. Is your sister coming to-day?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I think so.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">She was asked to the Governor's yesterday, wasn't she?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sighing</i>.] Yes.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And we were not. Poor thing! She must look out for me to-day if she +boasts. [<i>Aside</i>] Old cat!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Kneels before him, lighting his pipe</i>.] Be good, father dear. What +harm does it do you?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, darling. I'll be good. But my heart is sore. [<i>Bell rings</i>. +<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>hurries out</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Here they are.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter</i> <span class="sc">Major-general Von Klebs</span>, <span class="sc">Professor +Beckmann</span>, <i>and </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">My humblest respects to the ladies. Ah, my dear madam! [<i>Kisses her +hand</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Make yourselves at home, gentlemen.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ha, my dear Colonel, hearty as ever? All ready for the fray, little +one? Now we are all right. But we were almost too late. We were caught +in the Music Festival crowd. Such a confusion! I was bringing the +schoolmaster along, and just as we passed by the German House, there +was a great crush of people, gaping as if there were a princess at the +least. And what do you suppose it was? A singer! These are really what +one may call goings-on. All this fuss about a singer! What do they call +the person?</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, General, we seem to be in a strange land to-day.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">We are under a curse, my dear madam. We are bearing a penance. [<i>They +sit</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">But you must know dall' Orto, the great Italian Wagner singer. We are +very fortunate in getting her for the festival. If she were not here--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, well, what if she were not? Eh? I hoped that our strictly moral +circle, at least, would hold itself aloof from all this. But since the +Governor gives receptions in the lady's honor! And, best of all, to cap +the climax, who do you think was standing to-day among the enthusiasts, +craning his neck like the rest? You'll never guess. It's too +inconceivable. The pastor!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">The pastor?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, our pastor.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">How extraordinary!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now, I ask you, what did he want there? And what did the others want +there? And what good is the whole festival?</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">I should think that the cultivation of the faculty of the ideal among +the people was an object--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">The way to cultivate the faculty of the ideal is to found a Soldiers' +Union.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">But, General, every one isn't so lucky as to be a soldier.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sorting his cards</i>.] Well, we have been, Colonel. I know no one, I +wish to know no one, who has not been a soldier. And all this so-called +Art,--what good does it do?</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">Art raises the moral tone of the people.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">There we have it, madam!--We're beaten, beaten by the hero of +Königgrätz.--I tell you Art is a mere invention of those who are afraid +to be soldiers to gain an important position for themselves. I pass.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I pass.</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">And will you maintain that Art-- I have the nine of spades.</p> +<br> +<p class="hang2">[<i>Bell rings. Exit </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>. <span class="sc">Von Klebs </span><i>makes an impatient movement</i>. +<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>quiets him. They begin to play</i>.]</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Franziska</span>, <i>followed by the </i><span class="sc">Pastor</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, Miss Franziska! [<i>Aside</i>] That is the end of us!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no, we'll send her into the garden.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Throwing herself into a chair</i>.] Oh, I am so hot! I must get my +breath. Pray don't put yourself out, General.</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nine of spades!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Hello, here's the pastor too!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> + +<p class="normal">Good-day to you! [<i>He shakes hands with each</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">How long have you been running after the singers. Pastor? +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">What? Oh, yes. Yes, I am running after singers. That's my occupation +now.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You can play with our card party though, can't you?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Unfortunately, no. I must, on the contrary, ask for a few serious words +with you, my dear sir.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, but you'll put it off, won't you, Pastor?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, for Heaven's sake! It's so important. There must be no delay.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is my sister-in-law in it too?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Very much so.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, well, we can go away again.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, we shouldn't like that at all.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">If it were not you, dear pastor, who separated us!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">But perhaps, Marie, the gentlemen would be willing to take a turn with +you in the garden.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Certainly! That's good! That's famous! That's what we'll do! Miss +Marie, be so good as to lead the way.</p> +<br> +<h3>BECKMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">Shall we leave the cards as they lie?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, you have the nine of spades. Come on.</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Von Klebs</span>, <span class="sc">Beckmann</span>, <i>and </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good Lord, don't you see how upset I am? You might at least give me a +glass of water. [<span class="sc">MRS. Schwartze </span><i>brings it</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Will you promise me, my dear sir, that whatever may happen you will +preserve your calmness? You may believe me, much depends upon it.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes; but what--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Miss Franziska will tell you better.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After drinking the water</i>.] This is a day indeed! Fate is avenging +me. This man has for years outraged my holiest feelings, but today I +can heap coals of fire on his head. [<i>Moved</i>.] Brother-in-law, give me +your hand. Sister, yours.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon me, dear Miss Franziska, I think your news is so important +that--</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Melting</i>.] Don't be angry, don't be angry. I am so upset! Well, +yesterday I was at the Governor's. Only the nobility and the most +important people were asked. You weren't asked?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Angrily</i>.] No.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I did not mean to offend you. Oh, I am so upset! [<i>Suppressing a sob at +a sign from the </i><span class="sc">Pastor</span>.] Yes, yes, yes. I had on my yellow silk dress +with the Brussels lace--you know I've had the train shortened. Well, as +I stepped into the room--whom do you think I saw?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, well, who?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sobbing</i>.] Your child! Magdalene!</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">[<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>staggers, and is supported by the </i><span class="sc">Pastor</span>. <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>cries +out. A pause.</i>]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pastor?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">It is true.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Standing up</i>.] Magdalene is no longer my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, just wait. If you listen, you'll look at it in quite another light. +Such a child you will welcome with open arms.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magdalene is no longer my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">But you may at least hear the circumstances.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Dazed</i>.] Yes, I suppose so.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>At a sign from </i><span class="sc">Heffterdingt</span>.] Well, the great dining-hall was +crammed. They were almost all strangers. Then I saw his Excellency +coming down the room. And on his arm was a lady--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">On his Excellency's arm?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">With dark hair, and very proud and tall--and around her a crowd of men +just like the circle about royalty--and chatting and laughing. And any +one to whom she spoke seemed as happy as if it were the Princess. And +she wore half a dozen orders, and an orange band with a medal about her +neck. I was wondering what royal personage it could be--when she turned +half around--and--I knew Magda's eyes!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Impossible!</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">That is what I saw!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">My dear Colonel, it is true.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">If she-- [<i>Clasping his hands</i>.] At least she has not fallen! She has +not fallen! Father in Heaven, Thou hast kept her safely!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And what is she, to have such honor--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">She has become a great singer, and calls herself, in Italian, Maddalene +dall' Orto.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Listen, listen, Leopold, the famous singer of whom the papers are so +full is our child!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda is no longer my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is that your fixed resolve?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What sort of a heart have you? You ought to imitate me. She offended me +as only she could,--the little wretch! That is, then she was a little +wretch. But now--well, she did not look at me; but if she had--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Leopold, she was on his Excellency's arm!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I tell you, and you,--and you, too, Pastor,--that I would rather have +seen her lying in rags and tatters at my feet and begging for +forgiveness. For then I should have known that she was still, at heart, +my child. But why has she come back here? The world was large enough +for her triumph. Why should she rob this humble provincial nest of +ours? I know why. To show her miserable father how far one can rise in +the world by treading filial duty into the dust,--that is her +intention. Pride and arrogance speak in her, and nothing else.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">My dear Colonel, I might ask, what speaks in you? A father's love? You +could make no pretence to that. Your rights? I think rather it would be +your right to rejoice in the good fortune of your child. Offended +custom? I don't know-- Your daughter has done so much through her own +strength that even offended custom might at least condone it. It +appears to me that pride and arrogance speak in you--and nothing else.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Angrily</i>.] Pastor!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, don't be angry--there is no need of that. When I have something to +say, I must say it, mustn't I? I might almost think that it displeased +you that she has climbed so high in spite of you. Your pride demands +something to forgive, and you are angry because there is nothing to be +forgiven. And now, let me ask you, do you seriously wish that she had +found her way home, lost and ruined? Do you dare answer for such a wish +before the throne of God? [<i>A silence</i>.] No, my dear old friend. You +have often, in jest, called me your good angel; let me be so once, in +reality. Come with me--now--to-day.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">If you'd only seen-- [<span class="sc">Heffterdingt </span><i>stops her</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Has she made the slightest effort to approach her parents? Has she +thought of her home with one throb of love? Who will vouch for it that +my outstretched hand will not be repulsed with scorn?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I will vouch for it.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You? You, above all, have had a proof of her untamable pride.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With embarrassment</i>.] You should not have reminded me of that.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Marie </span><i>with flowers, and </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Papa, papa, listen to what Theresa-- Oh! am I interrupting?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Pulling himself together</i>.] What is it?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">To-day I got some more flowers; and when I sent Theresa back to the +florist's, she found out it was not a man, but a lady, who had ordered +them. And she couldn't sell them again; so she brought them back. [<i>The +others exchange glances</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Tell me, Theresa, did they describe this lady to you?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">She was tall, with great dark eyes, and there was something very +distinguished and foreign about her.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Leads </i><span class="sc">Marie </span><i>to the back of the stage, and lays his hand on </i> +<span class="sc">Schwartze's </span><i>arm</i>.] You asked for a token of love!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Staring at the flowers</i>.] From her!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">They must have cost a small fortune!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Theresa has something else very wonderful to tell, too.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is it, Theresa? Quick!</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">If the pastor wishes it. When I came back, the porter told me that last +evening in the twilight a carriage stopped before the door; there was a +lady inside. She didn't get out, but kept watching all the windows of +our house where there were lights. And when he went out to ask what she +wanted, she said something to her coachman, and they were gone! [<i>All +show signs of astonishment</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">That's all, Theresa.<span class="letter-spacing:10px"> </span> [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon us, dear Miss Marie, if we treat you once more like a child, and +ask you to leave us alone for a moment.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I am so frightened at all this, Pastor. [<i>Imploringly</i>.] Papa?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is it, child?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Papa, papa, do you know who this lady is?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I? No. I can only guess.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Bursting out</i>.] Magdalene--Magda! Magda is here! [<i>Falling on her +knees</i>.] Oh, you will forgive her?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Get up, my child. Your sister is far above my poor forgiveness.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">She is not above your love.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda is here! Magda herself is here! [<i>Throws her arms about her +mother's neck, weeping</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Won't any one bring me a glass of water? I am so upset!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Are you quite resolved? [<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>remains motionless</i>.] Will you let +her go on her way without--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">That would be best.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">How will it be with you if in your death-hour a longing for your lost +child comes upon you, and all you can say to yourself is, "She stood +before my door and I would not open it"?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Shaken and half convinced</i>.] What would you have me do? Must I abase +myself before my runaway child?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, you shall not do that. I--I--will go to her.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You? Pastor--you?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">This afternoon I waited before her hotel to see if Miss Franziska had +not been mistaken. At a quarter to four she came out of the house and +got into her carriage.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You saw her?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">How did she look? What did she have on?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">The performance began at four, and must be almost over now. I will wait +for her again at the hotel, and will tell her that she will find your +arms open to her. May I?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, papa, won't you let him?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Just think with whom your daughter--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Will you swear to me that no weak and personal motives are mixed with +your intention,--that you do what you do in the name of our Lord and +Saviour?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I swear it!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then God's will be done. [<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>gives a cry of joy</i>. <span class="sc">Heffterdingt </span> +<i>presses </i><span class="sc">Schwartze's </span><i>hand</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Holding his hand, speaking softly</i>.] The way will be hard for you, I +know. Your lost youth--your pride--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Dear Colonel, I begin to think that pride is a very poor sort of thing. +It really profits us little to have it always in our mouths. I am +giving back a daughter to an old father. I am giving back a home to an +erring soul. That, I think, is enough. [<i>Exit</i>. <span class="sc">Marie </span><i>throws herself +on her father's breast, laughing and crying</i>.]</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>ACT II.</h2> +<br> + +<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Scene </span><i>same as</i> Act I. <i>It is evening; only a slight glow of sunset +still shines through the windows</i>.</p> +<br> +<p class="center">[<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>discovered</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Bringing in a lighted lamp</i>.] Miss Marie! Miss Marie!--What is she +staring at all the time? Miss Marie!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE <span style="font-weight:normal">[<i>starting</i>.]</span></h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>From the window</i>.] What do you want?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Shall I lay the supper?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not yet.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's half-past seven.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And he left at half-past six. The performance must have been over long +ago. She will not come.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Who? Is any one coming to supper?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no, no. [<i>As </i><span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>is going</i>.] Theresa! do you suppose you +could pick a couple of bouquets in the garden?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I might try, but I couldn't tell what I was getting. It's almost pitch +dark.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes. You may go.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Shall I try to pick the flowers, or--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No--thank you, no.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside</i>.] What is the matter with her?</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, Marie, whatever happens I've put on my other cap,--the one with +the ribbons. Is it straight?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, mamma dear, very nice.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Hasn't Aunt Frankie come up yet?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Heavens! I forgot the two gentlemen entirely. And papa has locked +himself up, and will hear nothing and see nothing. Oh, if the General +should be offended! It is our most aristocratic connection. That would +be a misfortune indeed.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, mamma dear, when he hears what is the matter!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, I know. And the pastor has not come either. Marie, one +minute. If she should ask you--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Who?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why, Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What am I to you, Marie? They call it stepmother. I'm more than that, +am I not?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Certainly, mamma dear.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You see, then I could not get used to having two such big daughters. +But it's all right now? [<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>nods</i>.] And we do love each other?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Very much, mamma dear. [<i>She kisses her</i>.] + +<i>Enter</i> Franziska.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Irritably</i>.] One's always disturbing these affecting tableaux!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What did the General say?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">The General? H'm, he was angry enough. "To leave us alone for an hour +and a half, that's nice courtesy," he said. And I think myself--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>To</i> Marie, <i>very sadly</i>.] There, what did I tell you?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, this time I smoothed the thing over, so that the gentlemen went +away in a good humor.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Really! Oh, I thank you, Frankie, a thousand times.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, I'm good enough to run errands and play the scullery-maid; but +when it comes to being one of the family, an old aunt with her heart +full of love--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Who has offended you, Aunt Frankie?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, that's very fine. But a little while ago, when I was so upset, no +one troubled himself about me one bit. To guarantee an income so that +our little miss can be married, I am--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Aunt Frankie!</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">But as long as I live--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What are you talking about?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">We know, we two. And to-day. Who brought back your daughter to you?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">But she hasn't yet--</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I brought back your daughter to you. And who thanks me for it? And who +recognizes that I have pardoned her? For I have pardoned her +[<i>weeping</i>] everything!</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>, <i>in great excitement</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is it, Theresa?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I am so frightened--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What's the matter?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">The carriage--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What carriage?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">The same as last night.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is it there? Is it there? [<i>Runs to the window</i>.] Mamma, mamma, come, +she's there--the carriage--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why, there <i>is</i> a carriage.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Beating on the door at the left</i>.] Papa, papa! Come quickly, be +merciful, come quickly!</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>at a sign from </i><span class="sc">Franziska</span>.] + +<i>Enter</i> Schwartze.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What's the matter?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda--the carriage!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good God! [<i>Hurries to the window</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Look--look! She's standing up! She's trying to look into the windows. +[<i>Clapping her hands</i>.] Papa! papa!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is it you have to say?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Frightened</i>.] I? Nothing.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Perhaps you were going to say, "She stood before your door and you +would not open it." Eh?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you hear, wife? She stands before our door. Shall we--in spite of +our pride--shall we call her in?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, Leopold, since everybody thinks so much of her--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah! She's driving away!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no, she's not. Come, we will bring her to you.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, bring her to me, too.</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">She's sitting back again! If only the carriage doesn't-- What a long +time they are! They must have got downstairs. [<i>Frightened, almost +beside herself</i>.] There--there--oh, don't go away! Magda! Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't scream so! What's the matter?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">She's looking round. She's seen them. She's stopping. She's bursting +open the door. She's jumped out! Now! Now! She's in father's arms! +[<i>Covers her face and sobs</i>.] Oh, Aunt Frankie! Aunt Frankie!</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What else could a father do? Since I have forgiven her, he could +not--he could not hold out--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">She's between father and mother. Oh, how grand she is! She's +coming--she's coming. What a homely little thing I shall seem beside +her! Oh, I am so frightened! [<i>Leans against the wall, left. A pause. +Voices of </i><span class="sc">Magda </span><i>and her parents are heard outside</i>.]</p> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>, <i>brilliantly dressed, with a large mantle, and a Spanish +veil on her head. She embraces </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">My puss! My little one! How my little one has grown! My +pet--my--[<i>kissing her passionately</i>]. But what's the matter? You're +dizzy. Come, sit down. No, no, please sit down. Now. Yes, you must. +[<i>Places </i><span class="sc">Marie </span><i>in an arm-chair</i>.] Dear little hands, dear little +hands! [<i>Kneels before her, kissing and stroking her hands</i>.] But +they're rough and red, and my darling is pale. There are rings round +her eyes.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Lays his hand lightly on her shoulder</i>.] Magda, we are here too.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes--I'm entirely--[<i>Standing up, affectionately</i>.] Dear old papa! +How white you have become! Dear papa! [<i>Taking his hand</i>.] But what's +the matter with your hand? It's trembling.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing, my child. Don't ask about it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">H'm--and you've grown handsomer with the years. I can't look at you +enough. I shall be very proud with such a handsome papa. But she must +get better [<i>indicating </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>]. She's as white as milk. Do you take +iron? Eh? You must take iron? [<i>tenderly</i>]. Just to think that I am at +home! It seems like a fairy tale. It was a capital idea of yours to +call me back without any explanations--<i>senza complimenti</i>--for we've +outgrown those silly misunderstandings long ago.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Misunderstandings!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I came near driving away. Would not that have been bad of me? But you +must acknowledge, I have scratched at the door--very quietly, very +modestly--like Lady when she had run away. Where is Lady? Her place is +empty. [<i>Whistles</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why, she's been dead seven years!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, <i>povera bestia</i>--yes, I forgot. And, mamma!--yes, mamma! I haven't +looked at you yet. How pretty you've grown! You used to have an air of +belated youth about you that was not becoming. But now you're a dear, +old little mother. One wants to lay one's head quietly in your lap. I +will, too. It'll do me good. Ah, what fine quarrels we used to have! I +was a contrary little beast. And you held up your end. But now we'll +smoke the pipe of peace, sha'n't we?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You're joking with me, Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Sha'n't I? Mayn't I? There, there,--pure love, pure love. We will have +nothing but love. We shall be the best of friends.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i> Who has for a long time tried to attract attention</i>.] And we also, +eh, my dear Magda?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal"><i>Tiens, tiens</i>! [<i>Examines her critically through her lorgnette</i>.] +Same +as ever. Always active? Always, as of old, the centre of the family?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, give us your hand! There. I never could bear you, and shall never +learn, I'm afraid. That runs in the blood, doesn't it?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have already forgiven you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Really! Such magnanimity! I hardly-- Do you really forgive everything? +From top to bottom? Even that you stirred up my mother against me +before she ever came into the house? That you made my father--[<i>Puts +her hand to her lips</i>.] <i>Meglio tacere! Meglio tacere!</i></p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Interrupting</i>.] For Heaven's sake, Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, my darling--nothing, not a word.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">She has a fine presence!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And now let me look about me! Ah, everything's just the same. Not a +speck of dust has moved.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I hope, Magda, that you won't find any specks of dust.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I'm sure of that, <i>mammina</i>. That wasn't what I meant. Twelve years! +Without a trace! Have I dreamed all that comes between?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You will have a great deal to tell us, Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Starting</i>.] What? Well, we will see, we will see. Now I should +like-- What would I like? I must sit still for a moment. It all comes +over me so. When I think-- From that door to the window, from this +table to the old bureau,--that was once my world.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">A world, my child, which one never outgrows, which one never should +outgrow--you have always held to that?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What do you mean? And what a face you make over it! Yes, yes, +though--that question came at the right time. I have been a fool! I +have been a fool! My dear old papa, this happiness will be short.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What do you think of me? Do you think I am as free as I appear? I'm a +weary, worn-out drudge who is only fortunate when the lash is on her +back.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Whose drudge? What lash?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">That I can't explain, dear father. You don't know my life. You probably +wouldn't understand it, either. Every day, every hour has its work laid +out. Ah, well, now I must go back to the hotel.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, Magda, no.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, puss, yes. There have been six or seven men there for ever so +long, waiting for an audience. But I tell you what, I must have you +to-night. Can't you sleep with me?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Of course. That is--what do you mean--sleep where?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">At the hotel.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What? You won't stay! You'll put such an affront on us?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What are you thinking of? I have a whole retinue with me.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Your father's house is the place for this retinue.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I don't know. It is rather lively. First, there's Bobo, my parrot, a +darling,--he wouldn't be bad; then my pet maid, Giulietta, a little +demon,--I can't live without her; then my courier,--he's a tyrant, and +the terror of landlords; and then we mustn't forget my teacher.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">He's a very old man, I hope.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, he's a very young man.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a silence</i>.] Then you must have forgotten your--your <i>dame +d'honneur</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What <i>dame d'honneur</i>?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You can't travel about from country to country with a young man +without--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah! does that disquiet you? I can,--be quite easy,--I can. In my world +we don't trouble ourselves about such things.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What world is that?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">The world I rule, father dear. I have no other. There, whatever I do is +right because I do it.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">That is an enviable position. But you are still young. There must be +cases when some direction--in short, whose advice do you follow in your +transactions?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">There is no one who has the right to advise me, papa dear.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, my child, from this hour your old father claims that right. +Theresa! [<span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>answers from outside</i>.] Go to the German House and +bring the baggage--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Entreatingly</i>.] Pardon, father dear, you forget that my orders are +necessary.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What?--Yes, yes, I forgot. Do what you will, my daughter.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda--oh, Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Taking her mantle</i>.] Be patient, darling. We'll have a talk soon all +to our two selves. And you'll all come to breakfast with me, won't you? +We can have a good chat and love each other!--so much!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">We--breakfast with you?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I want to have you all under my roof.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">The roof of a hotel?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, papa dear, I have no other home.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And this?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't you see how you've hurt him?</p> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><i>Enter the </i><span class="sc">Pastor</span>. <i>He stops, and seems to control strong emotion</i>. +<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>examines him with her lorgnette</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">He too! Let me see.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Just think. She is going away again!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I don't know whether I am known to the lady.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Mockingly</i>.] You're too modest, Pastor. And now since I have seen you +all--[<i>Puts on her mantle</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Quickly, aside</i>.] You must keep her.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I? If you are powerless, how can I--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Try!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Constraining himself, with embarrassment</i>.] Pardon me, madam, it +seems very officious of me--if I--will you give me a few moments' +interview?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What have we two to say to each other, my dear pastor?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, do, please! He knows best about everything.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Ironically</i>.] Indeed!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I may never ask you for anything again, but do this one thing for my +sake!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Patting her and looking from one to the other</i>.] Well, the child asks +so prettily. Pastor, I am at your service. [<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>thanks her +silently</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside to </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.] Now he'll give her a lecture. Come.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You were once the cause of my sending her from my home. To-day you must +see to it that she remains. [<span class="sc">Heffterdingt </span><i>expresses doubt</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Marie!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, papa.</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>, <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>, <span class="sc">Franziska</span>, <i>and </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sits down and examines him through her lorgnette</i>.] So this is the +man who undertakes by a five minutes' interview entirely and absolutely +to break my will. That they believe in your ability to do it shows me +that you are a king in your own dominions. I make obeisance. And now +let me see you ply your arts.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I understand no arts, madam, and would avail myself of none. If they +put some trust in me here, it is because they know that I seek nothing +for myself.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Ironically</i>.] That has always been the case?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, madam. I had, once in my life, a strong, an intense desire. It was +to have you for my wife. I need only look at you to see that I was +presumptuous. Since then I have put the wish away from me.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, Pastor, I believe you're paying court to me now.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Madam, if it were not discourteous--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, then even a shepherd of souls may be discourteous!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I should commiserate you on the atmosphere which has surrounded you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With mocking superiority</i>.] Really? What do you know about my +atmosphere?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">It seems to me that it has made you forget that serious men are to be +taken seriously.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah! [<i>Rising</i>.] Well, then I will take you seriously; and I will tell +you that you have always been unbearable to me, with your well-acted +simplicity, your droning mildness, your-- Since, however, you +condescended to cast your eyes on my worthlessness and drove me from +home with your suit,--since then, I have hated you.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">It seems to me that according to this I was the foundation of your +greatness.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">You're right there. Here I was parched and stifled. No, no, I don't +hate you. Why should I hate you so much? It's all so far, so very far, +behind me. If you only knew how far! You have sat here day after day in +this heavy close air, reeking of lavender, tobacco, and cough mixture, +while I have felt the storm breaking about my head. Pastor, if you had +a suspicion of what life really is,--of the trial of strength, of the +taste of guilt, of conquest, and of pleasure,--you would find yourself +very comical with your clerical shop-talk. Ha, ha, ha! Pardon me, I +don't believe such a laugh has rung through this respectable house for +twelve years; for there's no one here who knows how to laugh. Is there, +eh?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, I fear not.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Fear, you say. That sounds as though you deprecated it. But don't you +hate laughter?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Most of us cannot laugh, madam.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And to those who could, laughter is sin. You might laugh yourself. What +have you to be solemn about? You need not look at the world with this +funereal mien. Surely you have a little blond wife at home who knits +industriously, and half a dozen curly heads around her, of course. It's +always so in parsonages.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have remained single, madam.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah! [<i>Silence</i>.] Did I hurt you so much, then?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Let that be, shall we not? It is so long ago.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Letting her mantle fall</i>.] And your work,--does not that bring +happiness enough?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Thank God, it does. But if one takes it really in earnest, one cannot +live only for one's self; at least, I cannot. One cannot exult in the +fulness of one's personality, as you would call it. And then many +hearts are opened to me-- One sees too many wounds there, that one +cannot heal, to be quite happy.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">You're a remarkable man-- I don't know--if I could only get rid of the +idea that you're insincere.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Will you let me ask you one question before you go?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">It is about an hour since you entered this house, your home--no, not so +much. I could not have been waiting for you nearly as long as that.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">For me? You? Where?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">In the corridor outside your room.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What did you want there?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">My errand was useless, for now you are here.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you mean to say that you came for me--you to whom I-- If any one had +an interest in keeping me away, it was you.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Are you accustomed to regard everything which those about you do as the +result of selfish interest?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Of course. It's so with me! [<i>Struck by a new thought</i>.] Or perhaps +you-- No, I'm not justified in that assumption. [<i>Sharply</i>.] Ah, such +nonsense! it is only fit for fairy tales. Well, Pastor, I'll own that I +like you now better, much better than of old when you--what shall I +say?--made an honorable proposal.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">H'm!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">If you could only end it all with a laugh--this stony visage of yours +is so unfriendly--one is quite <i>sconcertata</i>. What do you say? <i>Je ne +trouve pas le mot</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon me, may I ask the question now?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good Lord, how inquisitive the holy man is! And you don't see +that I was coquetting with you a little. For, to have been a man's +fate,--that flatters us women,--we are grateful for it. You see I have +acquired some art meanwhile. Well, out with your question!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why--why did you come home?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Was it not homesickness?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No. Well, perhaps a very little. I'll tell you. When I received the +invitation to assist at this festival--why they did me the honor, I +don't know--a very curious feeling began to seethe within me,--half +curiosity and half shyness, half melancholy and half defiance,--which +said: "Go home incognito. Go in the twilight and stand before the +paternal house where for seventeen years you lived in bondage. There +look upon what you were. But if they recognize you, show them that +beyond their narrow virtues there may be something true and good."</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Only defiance then?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">At first, perhaps. Once on the way, though, my heart beat most +wonderfully, as it used to do when I'd learnt my lesson badly. And I +always did learn my lessons badly. When I stood before the hotel, the +German House,--just think, the German House, where the great officials +and the great artists stayed,--there I had again the abject reverence +as of old, as if I were unworthy to step on the old threshold. I +entirely forgot that I was now myself a so-called great artist. Since +then, every evening I have stolen by the house,--very quietly, very +humbly,--always almost in tears.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">And nevertheless you are going away.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I must.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">But--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't ask me why. I must.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Has any one offended your pride? Has any one said a word of your +needing forgiveness?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not yet--or, yes, if you count the old cat.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is there in the world which draws you away again after an hour?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I will tell you. I felt it the first minute I came. The paternal +authority already stretches its net over me again, and the yoke stands +ready beneath which I must bow.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">But there is neither yoke nor net here. Do not fear shadows. Here are +only wide-opened arms which wait to clasp the lost daughter to the +empty breast.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, I beg you, none of that. I do not intend to furnish a pendant to +the prodigal son. If I came back as a daughter, as a lost daughter, I +should not hold my head up before you as I do; I should grovel in the +dust in full consciousness of all my sins. [<i> With growing +excitement</i>.] And that I will not do--that I cannot do--for I am +what I am, and I cannot be another. [<i>Sadly</i>.] And therefore I have no +home--therefore I must go forth again--therefore--</p> +<br> + + +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">For Heaven's sake, hush!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Excuse me, Pastor, I only wanted to know about supper. [<i>Imploringly +to </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>, <i>who sits turned away with her hands before her face</i>.] We +happen to have a warm joint to-day. You know, Pastor, the gentlemen of +the card-club were to be with us. Now, Magda, whether you're going away +or not, can't you eat a mouthful in your father's house?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't ask now, my dear madam.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, if I'm interrupting--I only thought--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Later.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Appearing in the doorway</i>.] Will she stay? [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>shrinks at the +sound of the voice</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">'Sh! [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">You have no home, Miss Magda? Did you hear the old mother beseeching +and alluring with the best that she has, though it's only a poor dish? +Did you hear Marie's voice trembling with tears in the fear that I +should not prevail? They trust me too much; they think I only need to +speak the word. They don't suspect how helpless I stand here before +you. Look! Behind that door are three people in a fever of sorrow and +love. If you cross this threshold, you rob each of them of so much +life. And you have no home?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">If I have one, it is not here.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Embarrassed</i>.] Perhaps-- Nevertheless you should not go. Only a few +days,--just not to take away the idea that you belong here. So much you +owe to them!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sadly</i>.] I owe nothing now to any one here.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">No? Really nothing? Then I must tell you about a certain day,--eleven +years ago now. I was called into this house in haste, for the Colonel +was dying. When I came, he lay there stiff and motionless, his face +drawn and white; one eye was already closed, in the other still +flickered a little life. He tried to speak, but his lips only quivered +and mumbled.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What had happened?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">What had happened? I will tell you. He had just received a letter in +which his eldest daughter bade him farewell.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">My God!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">It was a long time before he recovered from the apoplectic stroke. Only +a trembling in the right arm, which you perhaps have noticed, now +remains.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">That is indeed a debt I owe.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, if that were all, Miss Magda! Pardon me, I call you by the name I +used long ago. It springs to my lips.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Call me what you like. Go on.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">The necessary result followed. When he received his discharge,--he will +not believe in the cause, don't speak to him of it,--then his mind +broke down.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes; that is my debt too.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then you see, Miss Magda, began my work. If I speak of it, you must not +think I am pluming myself on it to you. What good would that do me? For +a long, long time I nursed him, and by degrees I saw his mind revive +again. First I let him collect slugs from the rose-bushes.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i> With a shudder</i>.] Ugh!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, so far had it gone; then I gave him charge of some money, and then +I made him my assistant in the institutions with whose management I was +intrusted. There is a hospital and a soup-kitchen and an infirmary, and +it makes a great deal to be done. So he became a man once more. I have +tried to influence your step-mother too; not because I was greedy for +power. Perhaps you'll think that of me. In short, the old tension +between her and Marie has been slowly smoothed away. Love and +confidence have descended upon the house.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Staring at him</i>.] And why did you do all this?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, first it is my calling. Then I did it for his sake, for I love +the old man; and above all--for--your sake.</p> + +<p class="hang2">[<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>starts, and points to herself interrogatively</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, for your sake. For this weighed upon me: The day will come when +she will turn homeward,--perhaps as victor; but perhaps also as +vanquished, broken and ruined in body and soul-- Pardon me these +thoughts, I had heard nothing of you-- In either case she shall find a +home ready for her. That was my work, the work of long years; and now I +implore you not to destroy it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In anguish</i>.] If you knew through what I have passed, you would not +try to keep me.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">That is all shut out. This is home. Let it alone; forget it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">How can I forget it? How dare I?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why should you resist when all stretch their hands out to you in +rejoicing? It's very easy. Let your heart speak when you see all around +overflowing with love for you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In tears</i>.] You make me a child again. [<i>A pause</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then you will stay?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Springing up</i>.] But they must not question me!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Must not question you?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">About my life outside there. They wouldn't understand,--none of them; +not even you.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, then, they sha'n't.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And you will promise me, for yourself and for the others?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, I can promise it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In a stifled voice</i>.] Call them, then.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Opening the door on the left</i>.] She will stay.</p> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>; <i>then </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>, <span class="sc">Franziska</span>, <i>and </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>. +<span class="sc">Marie </span> +<i>throws herself joyfully into </i><span class="sc">Magda's </span><i>arms</i>. <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>also +embraces her</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">It was your duty, my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, father. [<i>She softly takes his right hand in both of hers, and +carries it tenderly to her lips</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Thank Heaven! Now we can have supper at last! [<i>Opens the sliding door +into the dining-room. The supper-table is seen, all set, and lighted +brightly by a green-shaded hanging-lamp</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Gazing at it</i>.] Oh, look! The dear old lamp! [<i>The women go slowly +out</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Stretching out his hands</i>.] This is your greatest work, Pastor.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, don't, I beg you! And there's a condition attached.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">A condition?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">We must not ask about her life.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Startled</i>.] What? What? I must, not--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no; you must not ask--you must not ask--or-- [<i>Struck by a new +thought</i>.] If you do not--yes--I am sure she will confess everything +herself.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>ACT III.</h2> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><span class="sc">Scene</span>: <i>the same. Morning. On the table at the left, coffee-service and +flowers.</i></p> + +<br> +<p class="center">[<span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>and</i> <span class="sc">Franziska </span><i>discovered</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Excitedly</i>.] Thank Heaven, you've come. Such a time we've had this +morning!</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">So?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Just think, two people have come from the hotel,--a gentleman who looks +like a lord, and a young lady like a princess. They're her servants.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What extravagance!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And they're calling and talking all over the house, and neither of them +knows any German. And her ladyship ordered a warm bath, that was not +warm enough; and a cold douche, which was not cold enough; and spirits, +which she simply poured out of the window; and toilet vinegar, which we +didn't have at all.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What demands! And where is your famous young lady?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">After her bath she has gone back to bed again.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I would not have such sloth in my house.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I shall tell her so. For Leopold's sake-- [<i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.] What do +you want, Theresa?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Councillor von Keller--he has sent his servant here to ask whether the +Lieutenant has come yet, and what is the young lady's answer.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What young lady?</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">That's what I don't know.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then just give our regards, and say that the Lieutenant has not come +yet.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">He is on duty till twelve. After that he'll come.<br> +<br> +<p class="hang1">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>. <i>As she opens the door, a great noise is heard in the +hall,--a man's voice and a woman's disputing in Italian</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Listen to that! [<i>Speaking outside</i>.] Just you wait. Your Signora'll be +here soon. [<i>Shuts the door</i>.] Ah! And now, breakfast. What do you +think she drinks?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why, coffee.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Tea, then?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then it must be chocolate!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No; coffee and chocolate mixed.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Horrible! But it must be good.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And yesterday half a dozen trunks came from the hotel, and as many more +are still there. Ah, what there is in them all! One whole trunk for +hats! A peignoir of real point, and open-work stockings with gold +embroidery, and [<i>in a whisper</i>] silk chemises--</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What? Silk--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With a gesture of horror</i>.] It is simply sinful.</p> +<br> +<p class="hang1"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>, <i>in brilliant morning toilette, speaking outside as she +opens the door</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal"><i>Ma che cosa volete voi? Perche non aspettate, finché vi commando?</i> Ha?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now they are getting their share!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no; <i>è tempo</i>! [<i>Shutting the door</i>.] <i>Va, bruto</i>! +Good-morning, +mamma. [<i>Kisses her</i>.] I'm a late sleeper, eh? Ah, good-morning, Aunt +Frankie. In a good humor? So am I.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What did the strange gentleman want, Magda?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Stupid beast! He wanted to know when I was going away, the idiot! How +can I tell? [<i>Patting her</i>.] Eh, <i>mamma mia</i>? Oh, children, I slept +like the dead. My ear on the pillow, and off! And the douche was so +nice and cold. I feel so strong. <i>Allons, cousine</i>! Hop! [<i>Seizes </i> +<span class="sc">Franziska </span><i>by the waist and jumps her into the air</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Furiously</i>.] What do you--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Haughtily</i>.] Eh?</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Cringingly</i>]. You are so facetious.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Am I? [<i>Clapping her hands</i>.] Breakfast!</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>, <i>with a tray of coffee things</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-morning.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-morning, my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I'm dying of hunger. Ah! [<i>Pats her stomach</i>. <span class="sc">Marie </span><i>kisses </i> +<span class="sc">Franziska's </span><i>hand</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Taking off the cover, with unction</i>.] Delicious! One would know +Giulietta was in the house.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">She has made noise enough, at least.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, she couldn't live without a good row. And when she gets too +excited, she quietly throws a plate at your head. I'm accustomed to it. +What is papa doing?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">He's making his excuses to the members of the Committee.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is your life still half made up of excuses? What sort of a committee is +it?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's the Christian Aid Society. They should have had a meeting here +this morning in our house. Now we thought it would not do. It would +look as if we wanted to introduce you.</p> +<br> + +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">But, Augusta, now it will look as if your daughter were more important +to you--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, I hope she is!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Of course! But--oh dear, you don't know what sort of people they are. +They are deserving of great respect. For instance, there's Mrs. General +von Klebs. [<i>Proudly</i>.] We are friends of hers.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With sham respect</i>.] Really?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now, they'll probably come to-morrow. Then you'll meet, besides, some +other pious and aristocratic ladies whose patronage gains us a great +deal of influence. I'm curious to see how they'll like you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">How I shall like them, you should say.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes--that is--but we're talking and talking--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Jumping up</i>.] Oh, excuse me, mamma.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, you must stay here.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, Magda; but about your trunks at the hotel,--I am constantly on the +rack for fear something should be left.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Send for them, then, children.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside to </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.] Now I'll question her thoroughly, Augusta. +Leave us alone.</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sitting down, with importance</i>.] And now, my dear Magda, you must +tell your old aunt all about it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Eh? Ah, look here, mamma needs help. Go on, quick! Make yourself +useful.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Viciously</i>.] If you command it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, I have only to request.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Rising</i>.] It seems to me that your requests are somewhat forcible.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Laughing</i>.] Perhaps. + +[<i>Exit</i> <span class="sc">Franziska </span><i>in a rage</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, sweet. That's the way to go through the world,--bend or break; +that is, I never bend. It's the only way.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, good Heavens!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Poor child! Yes, in this house one learns quite other views. I bent, +myself, yesterday disgracefully. Ah, how nice our old mamma is! +[<i>Earnestly, pointing to the mother's picture</i>.] And she up there! Do +you remember her? [<span class="sc">Marie </span><i>shakes her head</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Thoughtfully</i>.] She died too soon! Where's papa? I want him. And yet +I'm afraid of him too. Now, child, while I eat my breakfast, now you +must make your confession.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, I can't.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Just show me the locket!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">There!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">A lieutenant! Naturally. With us it's always a tenor.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh. Magda, it's no joke. He is my fate.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is the name of this fate?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's Cousin Max.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Whistles</i>.] Why don't you many the good youth, then?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Aunt Frankie wants a better match for him, and so she won't give him +the guaranty he needs. It's abominable!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal"><i>Si! C'est bête, ça!</i> And how long have you loved each other?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I don't remember when we did not.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And where does he meet you?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Here.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I mean elsewhere--alone.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">We are never alone together. I think this precaution we owe to our own +self-respect.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Come here--close--tell me the truth--has it never entered your mind to +cast this whole network of precaution and respect away from you, and to +go with the man you love out and away--anywhere--it doesn't matter +much--and as you lie quietly on his breast, to hurl back a scornful +laugh at the whole world which has sunk behind you?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, Magda, I never feel so.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">But would you die for him?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Standing up with a gesture of enthusiasm</i>.] +I would die a thousand deaths for him!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">My poor little darling! [<i>Aside</i>.] They bring everything to naught. The +most terrible of all passions becomes in their hands a mere resigned +defiance of death.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Whom are you speaking of?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing, nothing. See here, how large is this sum you need?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Sixty thousand marks.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">When can you be married? Must it be now, or will afternoon do?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't mock me, Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">You must give me time to telegraph. One can't carry so much money about +with one.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Slowly taking it in, and then, with an outburst of joy, throwing +herself at </i><span class="sc">Magda's </span><i>feet</i>.] Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a silence</i>.] Be happy, love your husband. And if you hold your +first-born on your arm, in the face of the world [<i>holding out her arms +with angry emphasis</i>]-- so, face to face, then think of one who-- Ah! +some one's coming.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Heffterdingt </span><i>with a portfolio</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Crossing to him</i>.] Oh, it's you. That's good. I wanted you.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">You wanted me? What for?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Only--I want to talk with you, holy man.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Isn't it good, Miss Magda, to be at home again?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, yes, except for the old aunt's sneaking about.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Who is collecting the breakfast-things; laughing, but frightened</i>.] +Oh, Heavens, Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-morning, Miss Marie.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-morning, Pastor.</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit, with the table</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Heavens, how she beams!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">She has reason.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Isn't your father here?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Isn't he well?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I think so. I haven't seen him yet. Yesterday we sat together till +late. I told him what I could tell. But I think he was very unhappy; +his eyes were always searching and probing. Oh, I fear your promise +will be badly kept.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">That seems like a reproach. I hope you don't regret--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, my friend, I don't regret it. But I feel very curiously. I seem to +be in a tepid bath, I'm so weak and warm. What they call German +sentiment is awaking again, and I have been so unused to it. My heart +seems like a Christmas number of the "Gartenlaube,"--moonlight, +betrothals, lieutenants, and I don't know what! But the best of it is, +I know that I'm playing with myself. I can cast it all off as a child +throws away its doll, and be my old self again.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">That would be bad for us.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, don't be angry with me. I seem to be all torn and rooted up. And +then I am so afraid--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Of what?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I can't--I can't be quite one of you. I am an intruder. [<i>Aside, +fearfully</i>.] If a spectre from without were to appear, this whole idyl +would go up in flames. [<span class="sc">Heffterdingt </span><i>suppresses a start of +astonishment</i>.] And I'm confined, hemmed in. I begin to be a coward.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I don't think one should be terrified at feeling filial love.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Filial love? I should like to take that snow-white head in my lap and +say, "You old child!" And nevertheless I must bend my will, I must bend +my will. I am not accustomed to that. I must conquer; I must sing down +opposition. I sing or I live,--for both are one and the same,--so that +men must will as I do. I force them, I compel them to love and mourn +and exult and lament as I do. And woe to him who resists! I sing them +down,--I sing and sing until they become slaves and playthings in my +hands. I know I'm confused, but you understand what I mean.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">To work the impress of one's own personality,--that's what you mean, +isn't it?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal"><i>Si, si, si, si</i>! Oh, I could tell you everything. Your heart has +tendrils which twine about other hearts and draw them out. And you +don't do it selfishly. You don't know how mighty you are. The men +outside there are beasts, whether in love or hate. But you are a man. +And one feels like a man when one is near you. Just think, when you +came in yesterday, you seemed to me so small; but something grows out +from you and becomes always greater, almost too great for me.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good Heavens, what can it be?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What shall I call it,--self-sacrifice, self-abnegation? It is something +with self--or rather the reverse. That is what impresses me. And that +is why you can do so much with me.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">How strange!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I must own it to you--it is--it is nonsense; but since I have seen you +again, a sort of longing has awakened within me to be like you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ha, ha! You, model of men! Like me!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have had to stifle much in my nature. My peace is the peace of the +dead. And as you stood before me yesterday in your freshness, your +natural strength, your--your greatness, I said to myself, "That is what +you might have been if at the right moment joy had entered into your +life."</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In a whisper</i>.] And one thing more, my friend,-- sin! We must sin if +we wish to grow. To become greater than our sins is worth more than all +the purity you preach.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Impressed</i>.] That would be-- [<i>Voices outside</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Starting and listening</i>.] 'Sh!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">What's the matter?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing, it's only my stupid nervousness; not on my own account, +believe me, only out of pity for all these. We shall still be friends?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">As long as you need me.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And when I cease to need you?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">There will be no change in me, Miss Magda. [<i>As he is going, he meets </i> +<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>in the doorway</i>.]</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-morning, my dear pastor! Will you go out on the porch for a +moment? I will follow you. [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Heffterdingt</span>.] Now, did you sleep +well, my child? [<i>Kisses her on the forehead</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Finely. In my old room I found the old sleep of childhood.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Had you lost it?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Haven't you?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">They say a good conscience-- Come to me, my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Gladly, papa! No, let me sit at your feet. There I can see your +beautiful white beard. When I look at it, I always think of Christmas +eve and a quiet snow-covered field.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">My child, you know how to say pretty things. When you speak, one seems +to see pictures about one. Here we are not so clever; that is why we +have nothing to conceal here.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">We also-- But speak quietly, papa.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, I must. You know what agreement you made with the pastor.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Which you will keep?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I am accustomed to keep to what I have promised. But you must see +that the suspicion--whatever I may do, the suspicion weighs like a +mountain--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What do you suspect?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I don't know. You have appeared among us as wonderfully as gloriously. +But brilliance and worldly honor and all that don't blind a father's +eyes. You seem to be warm at heart too. At least, one would think so to +hear you speak. But there is something in your eyes which does not +please me, and a scornful curl about your lips.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Dear, good old papa!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You see! This tenderness is not that of a daughter towards her father. +It is so that one pets a child, whether it be a young or an old one. +And although I'm only a poor soldier, lame and disabled, I demand your +respect, my child.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have never withheld it. [<i>Rising</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">That is good, that is good, my daughter. Believe me, we are not so +simple as we may appear to you. We have eyes to see, and ears to hear, +that the spirit of moral revolt is abroad in the world. The seed which +should take root in the heart, begins to decay. What were once sins +easily become customs to you. My child, soon you will go away. When you +return, you may find me in the grave.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, no, papa!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's in God's hand. But I implore you-- Come here, my +child--nearer--so-- [<i>He draws her down to him, and takes her head +between his hands</i>.] I implore you--let me be happy in my dying hour. +Tell me that you have remained pure in body and soul, and then go with +my blessing on your way.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have remained--true to myself, dear father.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">How? In good or in ill?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">In what--for me--was good.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Blankly</i>.] In what--for you--then?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Rising</i>.] And now don't worry any more. Let me enjoy these few days +quietly. They will be over soon enough.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Broodingly</i>.] I love you with my whole heart, because I have sorrowed +for you--so long. [<i>Threateningly, rising</i>.] But I must know who you +are.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Father dear-- [<i>Bell rings</i>. <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>bursts in</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Just think! the ladies of the Committee are here! They want to +congratulate us in person. Do you think we ought to offer them coffee, +Leopold?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I will go into the garden, Augusta.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">For Heaven's sake--they're just coming--you must receive their +congratulations.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I can't--no--I can't do it! [<i>Exit, left</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is the matter with your father?</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Mrs. General Von Klebs</span>, <span class="sc">Mrs. Justice +Ellrich</span>, <span class="sc">Mrs. Schumann</span>, <i>and </i><span class="sc">Franziska</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>As she opens the door</i>.] My dear, the ladies--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Giving her hand to </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.] What a day for you, my dear! +The whole town rejoices in the happy event.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Permit me--my daughter--Mrs. General von Klebs, Mrs. Justice Ellrich, +Mrs. Schumann.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHUMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">I am only the wife of a simple merchant; but--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">My husband will do himself the honor soon--</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Won't you sit down, ladies? [<i>They sit</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With aplomb</i>.] Yes, it is truly a joyful event for the whole family.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">We have unfortunately not shared the pleasures of the festival, my dear +young lady. I must therefore refrain from expressing that admiration to +which you are so well accustomed.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHUMANN.</h3> +<p class="normal">If we had known, we should certainly have ordered tickets.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you expect to remain here for very long?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">That I really cannot say, madam--or, pardon me--your ladyship?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">I must beg you--no.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, pardon me!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, please!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">We are such birds of passage, my dear madam, that we can really never +plan for the future.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. ELLRICH.</h3> +<p class="normal">But one must have one's real home.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why? One must have a vocation. That seems to me enough.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's all in the point of view, dear Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, we're so far removed from all these ideas, my dear young lady. +Every now and then some person gives lectures here, but the good +families have nothing to do with it.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Politely</i>.] Oh, I can quite understand that. The good families need +nothing, as they have plenty to eat. [<i>A silence</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. ELLRICH.</h3> +<p class="normal">But at least you must have some residence?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">If you call it so,--a place to sleep. Yes, I have a villa by the Lake +of Como and an estate at Naples. [<i>Sensation</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">But you've said nothing to us about that.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I hardly ever make use of them, mamma dear.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. ELLRICH.</h3> +<p class="normal">Art must be a very trying occupation?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In a friendly tone</i>.] It depends upon how one follows it, my dear +madam.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. ELLRICH.</h3> +<p class="normal">My daughter used to take singing-lessons, and it always taxed her very +much.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Politely</i>.] Oh, I'm sorry for that.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. ELLRICH.</h3> +<p class="normal">Naturally, you only do it for pleasure.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, it's so much pleasure! [<i>Aside to </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>, <i>who sits near +her</i>.] Get these women away, or I shall be rude!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Are you really engaged by a theatre, my dear young lady?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i> Very sweetly</i>.] Sometimes, my dear madam.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then you are out of an engagement at present?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Murmurs</i>.] Oh, come, come! [<i>Aloud</i>.] Yes, I'm a vagabond now. [<i>The +ladies look at each other</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. VON KLEBS.</h3> +<p class="normal">There are really not many daughters of good families on the stage, are +there?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In a friendly tone</i>.] No, my dear madam; most of them are too stupid.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, Magda! + +<i>Enter</i> Max.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, that must be Max! [<i>Goes to him and shakes hands</i>.] Just think, I +had quite forgotten your face. We were great friends, were we not?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Were we? [<i>Astonished</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, we can begin now.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. ELLRICH.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside</i>.] Do you understand this?</p> +<br> +<p class="hang1">[<span class="sc">Mrs. Von Klebs </span><i>shrugs her shoulder. The ladies rise and take their +leave, shaking hands with </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Franziska</span>, <i>and bowing +to </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Confused</i>.] Must you go already, ladies? My husband will be so +sorry--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Coolly</i>.] <i>Au revoir</i>, ladies, <i>au revoir</i>!</p> +<p class="right">[<i>Exit the ladies in the order of their rank</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Turning back from the door</i>.] Mrs. von Klebs was offended, or she +would have stayed. Magda, you certainly must have offended Mrs. von +Klebs.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And the other ladies, too, were hurt.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Mamma dear, won't you see about my trunk?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, I'll go to the hotel myself. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! +[<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Wait, I'm coming too. [<i>Spitefully</i>.] I must make myself useful, of +course!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, Aunt Frankie, a word with you.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">We're going to celebrate a betrothal to-day.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What betrothal?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Between him and Marie.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Joyfully</i>.] Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I think, as I occupy a mother's position towards him, that it is my +right--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No; the giver alone has rights, my dear aunt. And now don't fail.</p> +<br> +<h3>FRANZISKA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Furiously</i>.] I will make you-- [<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">How shall I thank you, my dear Miss--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda, my dear cousin, Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon me, it was my great respect--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not so much respect, my boy,--I don't like it; more weight, more +individuality!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, my dear cousin, should a young lieutenant with twenty-five marks' +pay, not to speak of debts, have individuality? It would only be a +hindrance to him.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">If I manage my men properly, and dance a correct figure at our +regimental balls, and am not a coward, that is enough.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">To make a wife happy, certainly. Go and find her. Go along!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Starts to go, and turns back</i>.] Oh, excuse me, in my happiness I +entirely forgot the message I-- Early this morning--by-the-by, you +can't think what a tumult the whole city is in about you--well, early +this morning--I was still in bed--an acquaintance came in who is also +an old acquaintance of yours, very pale from excitement, and he asked +whether it were all true, and if he might come to see you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, let him come.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">He wanted me to ask you first. He would then send in his card this +morning.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What formalities the men go through here! Who is he?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Councillor von Keller.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Speaking with difficulty</i>.] He--what?--he?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Laughing</i>.] Pardon me, but you're as white now as he was.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Quietly</i>.] I? White? + +<i>Enter</i> <span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>with a card</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Here he is. Dr. von Keller.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Let him come up.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Smiling</i>.] I'll only say to you, my dear cousin, that he's a very +important man, who has a great career before him, and promises to be a +pillar of our religious circle.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Thank you!</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Von Keller </span><i>with a bouquet</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Crossing to him</i>.] My dear Councillor, here is my cousin, who is +delighted to see you. You will excuse me.</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit, with a bow to each</i>.</p> + +<p class="center">[<span class="sc">Von Keller </span><i>remains standing at the door</i>. <span class="sc">Magda </span><i>moves about +nervously. Silence</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside</i>.] Here is my spectre! [<i>Indicates a seat at the table, left, +and sits down opposite</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">First, you must allow me to express my warmest and most sincere good +wishes. This is a surprise which you happily could not have expected. +And as a sign of my interest, allow me, my dearest friend, to present +you with these modest flowers.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, how thoughtful! [<i>Takes the flowers with a laugh, and throws them +on the table</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In embarrassment</i>.] I--I see with sorrow that you resent this +approach on my part. Have I in any way been wanting in the necessary +delicacy? In these narrow circles a meeting could not have been +avoided. I think it is better, my dearest friend, that we should come +to an understanding,--that we should know the relations--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Rising</i>.] You're right, my friend. I was not at the height of my own +nature just now. Had I been, I might have played the deserted +Marguerite to the end. The morals of home had infected me a little. But +I am myself again. Give me your hand bravely. Don't be afraid, I won't +harm you. So--tight--so!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">You make me happy.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I've painted this meeting to myself a thousand times, and have been +prepared for it for years. Something warned me, too, when I undertook +this journey home--though I must say I hardly expected just here +to-- Yes, how is it that, after what has passed between us, you came +into this house? It seems to me a little--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I tried to avoid it until quite recently; but since we belong to the +same circles, and since I agree with the views of this family--that is, +at least in theory--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes. Let me look at you, my poor friend. How you have changed!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Laughing nervously</i>.] I seem to have the misfortune to make a rather +absurd figure in your eyes.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, oh, no! I can see it all. The effort to keep worthy of respect +under such difficulties, with a bad conscience, is awkward. You +look down from the height of your pure atmosphere on your sinful +youth,--for you are called a pillar, my dear friend.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Looking at the door</i>.] Pardon me--I can hardly accustom myself again +to the affectionate terms. And if any one should hear us-- Would it not +be better--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sadly</i>.] Let them hear us.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>At the door</i>.] Good Heavens! Well [<i>sitting down again</i>], as I was +saying, if you knew with what real longing I look back from this height +at my gay, discarded youth--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Half to herself</i>.] So gay,-- yes, so gay.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, I felt myself called to higher things. I thought-- Why should I +undervalue my position? I have become Councillor, and that +comparatively young. An ordinary ambition might take satisfaction in +that. But one sits and waits at home, while others are called to the +ministry. And this environment, conventionality, and narrowness, all is +so gray,--gray! And the ladies here--for one who cares at all about +elegance--I assure you something rejoiced within me when I read this +morning that you were the famous singer,--you to whom I was tied by so +many dear memories and--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And then you thought whether it might not be possible with the help of +these dear memories to bring a little color into the gray background?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Smiling</i>.] Oh, pray don't--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, between old friends--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Really, are we that, really?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Certainly, <i>sans rancune</i>. Oh, if I took it from the other standpoint, +I should have to range the whole gamut,--liar, coward, traitor! But as +I look at it, I owe you nothing but thanks, my friend.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Pleased, but confused</i>.] This is a view which--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Which is very convenient for you. But why should I not make it +convenient for you? In the manner in which we met, you had no +obligations towards me. I had left my home; I was young and innocent, +hot-blooded and careless, and I lived as I saw others live. I gave +myself to you because I loved you. I might perhaps have loved any one +who came in my way. That--that seemed to be all over. And we were so +happy,--weren't we?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, when I think of it, my heart seems to stop beating.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">There in the old attic, five flights up, we three girls lived so +merrily in our poverty. Two hired pianos, and in the evening bread and +dripping. Emmy used to warm it herself over the oil-stove.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">And Katie with her verses! Good Lord! What has become of them?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal"><i>Chi lo sà</i>? Perhaps they're giving singing-lessons, perhaps they're on +the stage. Yes, we were a merry set; and when the fun had lasted half a +year, one day my lover vanished.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">An unlucky chance, I swear to you. My father was ill. I had to travel. +I wrote everything to you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">H'm! I did not reproach you. And now I will tell you why I owe you +thanks. I was a stupid, unsuspecting thing, enjoying freedom like a +runaway monkey. Through you I became a woman. For whatever I have done +in my art, for whatever I have become in myself, I have you to thank. +My soul was like--yes, down below there, there used to be an Æolian +harp which was left mouldering because my father could not bear it. +Such a silent harp was my soul; and through you it was given to the +storm. And it sounded almost to breaking,--the whole scale of passions +which bring us women to maturity,--love and hate and revenge and +ambition [<i>springing up</i>], and need, need, need--three times need--and +the highest, the strongest, the holiest of all, the mother's +love!-- All I owe to you!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">What--what do you say?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, my friend, you have asked after Emmy and Katie. But you haven't +asked after your child.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Jumping up and looking about anxiously</i>.] My child!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Your child? Who calls it so? Yours? Ha, ha! Dare to claim portion +in him and I'll kill you with these hands. Who are you? You're a +strange man who gratified his lust and passed on with a laugh. But I +have a child,--my son, my God, my all! For him I lived and starved +and froze and walked the streets; for him I sang and danced in +concert-halls,--for my child who was crying for his bread! [<i>Breaks out +in a convulsive laugh which changes to weeping, and throws herself on a +seat, right</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a silence</i>.] I am confounded. If I could have suspected,--yes, +if I could have suspected--I will do everything; I will not shrink from +any reparation. But now, I beg you to quiet yourself. They know that I +am here. If they saw us so, I should be--[<i>correcting himself</i>] you +would be lost.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Don't be afraid. I won't compromise you.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, I was not speaking for myself, not at all. But just think, if it +were to come out, what the town and your father--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Poor old man! His peace is destroyed, at any rate.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">And think! the more brilliantly you are placed now, the more certain is +your ruin.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Madly</i>.] And if I wish for ruin! If I--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">For Heaven's sake, hush! some one's coming.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Springing up</i>.] Let them come! Let them all come! I don't care, I +don't care! To their faces I'll say what I think of you,--of you and +your respectable society. Why should I be worse than you, that I must +prolong my existence among you by a lie! Why should this gold upon my +body, and the lustre which surrounds my name, only increase my infamy? +Have I not worked early and late for ten long years? Have I not woven +this dress with sleepless nights? Have I not built up my career step by +step, like thousands of my kind? Why should I blush before any one? I +am myself, and through myself I have become what I am.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good! You may stand there proudly, but you might at least consider--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Whom? [<i>As he is silent</i>.] Whom? The pillar! Ha, ha! The pillar begins +to totter! Be easy, my dear friend. I am not revengeful. But when I +look at you in all your cowardly dignity--unwilling to take upon you +the slightest consequence of your doings, and contrast you with myself, +who sank through your love to be a pariah and an outcast-- Ah, I'm +ashamed of you. Pah!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">For Heaven's sake! Your father! If he should see you like this!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In agony</i>.] My father! [<i>Escapes through the door of the dining-room, +with her handkerchief to her face</i>.]</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>, <i>happy and excited, through the hall-door</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, my dear Councillor--was that my daughter who just disappeared?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In great embarrassment</i>.] Yes, it was--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why should she run away from me? Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Trying to block his path</i>.] Had you not better-- The young lady +wished to be alone for a little!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now? Why? When one has visitors, one does not-- Why should she--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">She was a little--agitated.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Agitated?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes; that's all.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Who has been here?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">No one. At least, as far as I know.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then, what agitating things could you two have to talk about?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing of importance,--nothing at all, I assure you.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What makes you look so, then? You can scarcely stand.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I? Oh, you're mistaken, you're mistaken.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">One question, Councillor-- You and my daughter-- Please sit down.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">My time is unfortunately--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Almost threatening</i>.] I beg you to sit down.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Not daring to resist</i>.] Thank you. [<i>They sit</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You met my daughter some years ago in Berlin?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Councillor von Keller, I know you to be as discreet as you are +sensible; but there are cases in which silence is a crime. I ask +you--and your life-long relations with me give me the right to ask, as +well as the mystery--which just now-- In short, I ask you, Do you know +anything discreditable about my daughter's life there?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, for Heaven's sake, how can you--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you not know how and where she lived?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">No. I am absolutely--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Have you never visited at her house?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>More and more confused</i>.] No, no, never, never.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not once?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, I called on her once; but--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Your relations were friendly?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, entirely friendly--of course, only friendly. [<i>A pause</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Passes his hand over his forehead, looks earnestly at </i><span class="sc">Von +Keller</span>; <i>then, speaking absently</i>.] So? Then, honestly--if it might +be--if--if-- [<i>Gets up, goes to </i><span class="sc">Von Keller</span>, <i>and sits down again, +trying to quiet himself</i>.] Dr. von Keller, we both live in a quiet +world, where scandals are unknown. But I have grown old, very old. And +therefore I can't--can't control my thoughts as I should. And I can't +rid myself of an idea which has--suddenly--taken possession of me. I +have just had a great joy which I don't want to be embittered. But, to +quiet an old man, I beg you--give me your word of honor that--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Rising</i>.] Pardon me, this seems almost like a cross-examination.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You must know, then, what I--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon me, I wish to know nothing. I came here innocently to make a +friendly visit, and you have taken me by surprise. I will not be taken +by surprise. [<i>Takes his hat</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Dr. von Keller, have you thought what this refusal means?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon me, if you wish to know anything, I beg you to ask your +daughter. She will tell you what--what-- And now you must let me go. +You know where I live. In case-- I am very sorry it has happened so: +but-- Good-day, Colonel! [<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After brooding for a time</i>.] Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Running in anxiously</i>.] For Heaven's sake, what's the matter?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i> Chokingly</i>.] Magda,--I want Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i> Goes to the door and opens it</i>.] She's coming now--down the stairs.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">So! [<i>Pulls himself together with an effort</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Clasping her hands</i>.] Don't hurt her! [<i>Pauses with the door open</i>. +<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>is seen descending the stairs. She enters in travelling-dress, +hat in hand, very pale, but calm</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I heard you call, father.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have something to say to you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And I to you.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Go in--into my room.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, father. [<i>She goes to the door, left</i>. <span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>follows her</i>. +<span class="sc">Marie</span>, <i>who has drawn back frightened to the dining-room door, makes an +unseen gesture of entreaty</i>.]</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>ACT IV.</h2> +<br> +<p class="center"><span class="sc">Scene</span>: <i>the same</i>.</p> + + +<p class="hang1">[<span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>and </i><span class="sc">Marie </span><i>discovered</i>. <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>, <i>in hat +and +cloak, is knocking on the door at the left</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Leopold! Oh, Heaven, I dare not go in.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no, don't! Oh, if you'd only seen his face!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And they've been in there half an hour, you say?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Longer, longer!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now she's speaking! [<i>Listening, frightened</i>.] He's threatening her. +Marie, Marie! Run into the garden. The pastor's there, in the arbor. +Tell him everything,--about Mr. von Keller's being here,--and ask him +to come in quickly.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, mamma. [<i>Hurries to the hall-door</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Wait a minute, Marie. Has Theresa heard anything? If it should get +about--</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I've already sent her away, mamma.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">That's right, that's right. [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>. <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze </span><i>knocks +again</i>.] Leopold! listen to me, Leopold! [<i>Retreating</i>.] Oh, Heaven! +he's coming! [<i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>, <i>bent and tottering</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">How do you feel, Leopold?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sinking into a chair</i>.] Yes, yes,--just like the roses. The knife +conies, and cuts the stem, and the wound can never be healed. What am I +saying? What?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">He's out of his mind.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, no, I'm not out of my mind. I know quite well-- [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>appears at +the door, left</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What have you done to him?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, what have you--what have you? That is my daughter. What shall I do +with my daughter now?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Humbly, almost beseechingly</i>.] Father, isn't it best, after what has +happened, that you should let me go,--that you should drive me into the +streets? You must get free of me if this house is to be pure again.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">So, so, so! You think, then, you have only to go--to go away, out +there, and all will be as before? And we? What will become of us? +I--good God!--I--I have one foot in the grave--soon it will be +over--but the mother, and your sister--your sister.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Marie has the husband she wants--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No one will marry a sister of yours. [<i>With aversion</i>.] No, no. Don't +think it!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside</i>.] My God!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>To </i><span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.] See, she's beginning now to realize what she has +done.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes; what--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In tender sympathy, but still with a tinge of superiority</i>.] My poor +old father--listen to me--I can't change what has passed. I will give +Marie half my fortune. I will make up a thousand times all that I have +made you suffer to-day. But now, I implore you, let me go my way.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oho!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What do you want of me? What am I to you? Yesterday at this time you +did not know even whether I still lived; and to-day-- It is madness to +demand that I should think and feel again as you do; but I am afraid of +you, father, I'm afraid of you all--ah, I am not myself-- [<i>Breaking +out in torment</i>.] I cannot bear the sorrow.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ha, ha!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Father dear, I will humble myself before you willingly. I lament with +my whole heart that I've brought sorrow to you to-day, for my flesh and +blood still belong to you. But I must live out my own life. That I owe +to myself,--to myself and mine. Good-by!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Stopping her</i>.] Where are you going?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Let me pass, father.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I'll kill you first. [<i>Seizes her</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Leopold! [<i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Heffterdingt</span>. <i>He throws himself between them with a +cry of horror</i>. <span class="sc">Magda</span>, <i>freed by the old man, goes slowly back, with +her eyes fixed on the </i><span class="sc">Pastor</span>, <i>to the seat, left, where she remains +motionless</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a silence</i>.] In God's name!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, yes, yes, Pastor--it made a fine family group, eh? Look at her! +She has soiled my name. Any scoundrel can break my sword. That is my +daughter; that is--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Dear Colonel, these are things which I do not understand, and which I +do not care to understand. But it seems to me there must be something +to do, instead of--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, to do,--yes, yes,--there's much to do here. I have much to do. I +don't see why I'm standing here. The worst of it is--the worst of it +is, he can say to me--this man--you are a cripple--with your shaking +hand--with such a one I can't fight, even if I have had your daughter +for a-- But I will show him-- I will show him-- Where is my hat?</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Where are you going, Leopold? [Magda <i>rises</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">My hat!</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Gives him hat and stick</i>.] Here, here!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">So! [<i>To </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>.] Learn to thank the God, in whom you disbelieve, that +he has preserved your father until this hour, for he shall bring you +back your honor!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Kneeling, and kissing his hand</i>.] Don't do it, father! I don't +deserve this of you.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Bends weeping over her head</i>.] My poor, poor child!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Calling after him</i>.] Father!</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>quickly</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">My child, whatever happens, we women--we must hold together.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Thanks, mamma. The play will soon be played out now.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">My dear Mrs. Schwartze, Marie is out there, full of sorrow. Go and say +a kind word to her.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What shall I say to comfort her, when all the happiness has gone out of +her life? [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>jumps up in anguish</i>.] Oh, Pastor, Pastor!</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a silence</i>.] Oh, I am so tired!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Miss Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Brooding</i>,] I think I shall see those glaring bloodshot eyes before +me always--wherever I go.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Miss Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">How you must despise me!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, Miss Magda, I have long been a stranger to despite. We are all poor +sinners--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With a bitter laugh</i>.] Truly we are-- Oh, I am so tired!--it is +crushing me. There is that old man going out to let himself be shot +dead for my sake, as if he could atone for all my sins with his single +life! Oh, I am so tired!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Miss Magda--I can only conjecture--what all this means--but you have +given me the right to speak to you as a friend. And I feel that I am +even more. I am your fellow-sinner, Miss Magda!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good Heavens! Still harping on that!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you feel the obligation, Miss Magda, to bring honor and peace back +to this house?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Breaking out in anguish</i>.] You have lived through the sorrow, and ask +whether I feel it?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I think your father will obtain from that gentleman the declaration +that he is ready for any sort of peaceable satisfaction.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ha, ha! The noble soul! But what can I do?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">You can--not spurn the hand which he will offer you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What? You don't mean-- This man--this strange man whom I despise--how, +how could I--</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Dear Miss Magda, there comes an hour to almost every man when he +collects the broken pieces of his life, to form them together into a +new design. I have found it so with myself. And now it is your turn.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I will not do it--I will not do it.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">You will have to.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I would rather take my child in my arms and throw myself into the sea.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Suppresses a violent start; continues after a silence, hoarsely</i>.] Of +course, that is the simplest solution. And your father can follow you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, have pity on me! I must do whatever you demand. I don't know how +you have gained such power over me. Oh, man, if the slightest memory of +what you once felt, if the least pity for your own youth, still lives +within you, you cannot sacrifice me so!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I do not sacrifice you alone, Miss Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With awakening perception</i>.] Good God!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">There's no other way. I see none. You know yourself that the old man +would not survive it. And what would become of your mother, and what +would become of your poor sister? Miss Magda, it is as if with your own +hand you set fire to the house and let everything burn that is within. +And this house is still your home--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In growing agony</i>.] I will not, I will not. This house is not my +home. My home is with my child!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">This child, too. He will grow up fatherless, and will be asked, "Where +is your father?" He will come and ask you, "Where is my father?" What +can you answer him? And, Miss Magda, he who has not peace in his heart +from the beginning will never win it in the end.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">All this is not true, and if it were true, have I not a heart too? Have +I not a life to live also? Have I not a right to seek my own happiness?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Harshly</i>.] No; no one has that. But do as you will. Ruin your home, +ruin your father and sister and child, and then see what heart you have +to seek your own happiness. [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>bows her head, sobbing. The </i><span class="sc">Pastor </span> +<i>crosses to her, and leans over the table pityingly, with his hand on +her hair</i>.] My poor--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Seizing his hand</i>.] Answer me one question. You have sacrificed your +life for my sake. Do you think, to-day, in spite of what you know and +what you do not know, do you think that I am worth this sacrifice?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i> Constrained, as if making a confession</i>.] I have said already I am +your fellow-sinner, Miss Magda.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a pause</i>.] I will do what you demand.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I thank you.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-by.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good-by. [<i>Exit. He is seen through the open door speaking to </i><span class="sc">Marie </span> +<i>and sending her in</i>. <span class="sc">Magda </span><i>remains motionless, with her face in her +hands until he has gone</i>.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Marie</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What can I do, Magda?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Where has the pastor gone?</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Into the garden. Mamma is with him.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">If father asks for me, say I shall wait there. [<i>Nods towards left</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">And haven't you a word for me, Magda?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, yes. Fear nothing. [<i>Kisses her on the forehead</i>.] Everything will +come out well, so well--no, no, no. [<i>In weary bitterness</i>.] Everything +will come out quite well. [<i>Exit, left</i>. <span class="sc">Marie </span><i>goes into the +dining-room</i>.]</p> + +<p class="hang1"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>. <i>He takes out a pistol-case and opens it. Takes a +pistol, cocks it with difficulty, examines the barrel, and aims at a +point on the wall. His arm trembles violently. He strikes it angrily, +and lets the pistol sink. Enter </i><span class="sc">Max</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Without turning</i>.] Who's there?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's I, uncle.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Max? Ah, you may come in.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Uncle, Marie told me-- What are the pistols for, uncle?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, they used to be fine pistols,--beautiful pistols. See, boy, with +this I have hit the ace of hearts at twenty paces, or say fifteen. +And fifteen would be enough. We ought to have been in the garden +already, but--but [<i>helplessly touches his trembling arm, almost in +tears</i>]--but I can nevermore--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Hurrying to him</i>.] Uncle? [<i>They embrace each other for a moment</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">It's all right,--it's all right.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Uncle, I need not say that I take your place, that I meet any man you +point out; it is my right.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yours,--why? In what capacity? Will you marry into a disgraced family?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Uncle!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Are you prepared to strip off the uniform of our regiment? Yes, I might +set up a gambling-house, and you could play the stool-pigeon for a +living. There is no knowing what we might do. What! you, with your +beautiful name, your noble name, propose this sacrifice,--and I to +profit by it! Ha, ha! No, my boy; even if you still were willing, I am +not. This house and all within are marked for ruin. Go your way from +it. With the name of Schwartze you have nothing more to do.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Uncle, I demand that you--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Hush! Not now! [<i>Motions to the door</i>.] Soon I may need you as one +needs a friend in such affairs, but not now--not now. First I must find +the gentleman. He was not at home--the gentleman was not at home. But +he shall not think he has escaped me. If he is out a second time, then, +my son, your work begins. Until then, be patient,--be patient.</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Theresa </span><i>from hall</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>THERESA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Councillor von Keller. [<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>starts</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">He here! How--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Let him come in. [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Theresa</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Uncle! [<i>Points to himself in great excitement</i>. <span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>shakes his +head, and signs to </i><span class="sc">Max </span><i>to leave the room. Enter </i><span class="sc">Von Keller</span>. <i>Exit </i> +<span class="sc">Max</span>. <i>They meet in the doorway</i>. <span class="sc">Von Keller </span><i>greets </i><span class="sc">Max </span><i> +courteously</i>. +<span class="sc">Max </span><i>restrains himself from insulting him</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Colonel, I am grieved at having missed you. When I returned from the +Casino, where I am always to be found at noon,--where, I say, I am +always to be found,--your card lay on the table; and as I imagine that +there are matters of importance to be discussed between us, I made +haste--as I say, I have made haste--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Councillor, I do not know whether in this house there should be a chair +for you, but since you have come here so quickly, you must be tired. I +beg you to be seated.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Thanks. [<i>Sits down, near the open pistol-case, starts as he sees it, +watches the </i><span class="sc">Colonel </span><i>apprehensively</i>.] H'm!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now, have you nothing to say to me?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Allow me first one question: Did your daughter, after our conversation, +say anything to you about me?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Councillor, have you nothing to say to me?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, certainly, I have a great deal to say to you. I would gladly, for +instance, express to you a wish, a request; but I don't quite know +whether-- Won't you tell me, at least, has your daughter spoken of me +at all favorably?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Angrily</i>.] I must know, sir, how we stand, in what light I am to +treat you.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, pardon me, now I understand-- [<i>Working himself up</i>.] Colonel, +you see in me a man who takes life earnestly. The days of a light +youth-- [<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>looks up angrily</i>.] Pardon me, I meant to +say--since early this morning a holier and, if I may say so, a more +auspicious resolution has arisen within me. Colonel, I am not a man of +many words. I have already wandered from the point. As one man of honor +to another, or-- in short, Colonel, I have the honor to ask you for the +hand of your daughter. [<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>sits motionless, breathing +heavily</i>.] Pardon me, you do not answer--am I perhaps not worthy--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Groping for his hand</i>.] No, no, no; not that,--not that. I am an old +man. These last hours have been a little too much for me. Don't mind +me.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">H'm, h'm!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Rising, and closing the lid of the pistol-case</i>.] Give me your hand, +my young friend. You have brought heavy sorrow upon me,--heavy sorrow. +But you have promptly and bravely made it good. Give me the other hand. +So, so! And now do you wish to speak to her also? You will have much to +say. Eh?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">If I might be allowed.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Opens the hall-door and speaks off, then opens the door, left</i>.] +Magda!</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What is it, father?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Magda, this gentleman asks for the honor-- [<i>As he sees the two +together, he looks with sudden anger from one to the other</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Anxiously</i>.] Father?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Now everything's arranged. Don't make it too long! [<i>To </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>.] Yes, +everything's all right now.<span style="letter-spacing:10px"> </span> [<i>Exit</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Ah, my dearest Magda, who could have suspected it?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then we are to be married.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Above all, I don't want you to entertain the idea that any design of +mine has been at the bottom of this development which I welcome so +gladly, which I--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I haven't reproached you.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, you have no reason.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">None whatever.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Let me further say to you that it has always been my strongest wish +that Providence might bring us together again.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then you have really never ceased to love me?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Well, as an honorable man and without exaggeration I can scarcely +assert that. But since early this morning a holier and a more +auspicious resolution has arisen within me--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Pardon me, would this holy and auspicious resolution have arisen within +you just the same if I had come back to my home in poverty and shame?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">My dearest Magda, I am neither self-seeking nor a fortune-hunter, but I +know what is due to myself and to my position. In other circumstances +there would have been no social possibility of making legitimate our +old relations--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I must consider myself, then, very happy in these ten long years to +have worked up unconsciously towards such a high goal.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I don't know whether I am too sensitive, but that sounds almost like +irony. And I hardly think that--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">That it is fitting from me?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Deprecatingly</i>.] Oh!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I must ask for your indulgence. The role of a patient and forbearing +wife is new to me. Let us speak, then, of the future [<i>sits and motions +to him to do the same</i>]--of our future. What is your idea of what is to +come?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">You know, my dearest Magda, I have great designs. This provincial town +is no field for my statesmanship. Besides, it is my duty now to find a +place which will be worthy of your social talents. For you will give up +the stage and concert-hall,--that goes without saying.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, that goes without saying?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, I beseech you--you don't understand the conditions; it would be a +fatal handicap for me. I might as well leave the service at once.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">And if you did?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Oh, you can't be in earnest. For a hardworking and ambitious man who +sees a brilliant future before him to give up honor and position, and +as his wife's husband to play the vagabond,--to live merely as the +husband of his wife? Shall I turn over your music, or take the tickets +at the box-office? No, my dearest friend, you underestimate me, and the +position I fill in society. But don't be uneasy. You will have nothing +to repent of. I have every respect for your past triumphs, but +[<i>pompously</i>] the highest reward to which your feminine ambition can +aspire will be achieved in the drawing-room.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside</i>.] Good Heaven, this thing I'm doing is mere madness!</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">What do you say? [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>shakes her head</i>.] And then the wife, the +ideal wife, of modern times is the consort, the true, self-sacrificing +helper of her husband. For instance, you, by your queenly personality +and by the magic of your voice, will overcome my enemies, and knit even +my friends more closely to me. And we will be largely hospitable. Our +house shall be the centre of the most distinguished society, who still +keep to the severely gracious manners of our forefathers. Gracious and +severe may seem contradictory terms, but they are not.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">You forget that the child on whose account this union is to be +consummated will keep the severely inclined away from us.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, I know, dear Magda, it will be painful for you; but this child +must of course remain the deepest secret between us. No one must +suspect--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Astounded and incredulous</i>.] What--what do you say?</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Why, it would ruin us. No, no, it is absurd to think of it. But we can +make a little journey every year to wherever it is being educated. One +can register under a false name; that is not unusual in foreign parts, +and is hardly criminal. And when we are fifty years old, and other +regular conditions have been fulfilled, [<i>laughing</i>], that can be +arranged, can't it? Then we can, under some pretext, adopt it, can't +we?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Breaks into a piercing laugh; then, with clasped hands and +staring eyes</i>.] My sweet! My little one! <i>Mio bambino! Mio +povero</i>--<i>bam</i>--you--you--I am to--ha, ha, ha! [<i>Tries to open the +folding door</i>.] Go! go!</p> +<br> +<p class="center"><i>Enter </i><span class="sc">Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good you're here! Free me from this man, take this man away from me.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">What?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">I have done everything you demanded. I have humbled myself, I have +surrendered my judgment, I have let myself be carried like a lamb to +the slaughter. But my child I will not leave. Give up my child to save +his career! [<i>Throws herself into a chair</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Mr. von Keller, will you please--</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">I am inconsolable, Colonel. But it seems that the conditions which for +the interest of both parties I had to propose, do not meet the +approbation--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">My daughter is no longer in the position to choose the conditions under +which she-- Dr. von Keller, I ask your pardon for the scene to which +you have just been subjected. Wait for me at your home. I will myself +bring you my daughter's consent. For that I pledge you my word of +honor. [<i>Sensation</i>. <span class="sc">Magda </span><i>rises quickly</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Have you considered what--</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Holding out his hand</i>.] I thank you, Dr. von Keller.</p> +<br> +<h3>VON KELLER.</h3> +<p class="normal">Not at all. I have only done my duty.</p> + +<p class="right">[<i>Exit, with a bow</i>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Stretching herself</i>.] So! Now I'm the old Magda again. [Schwartze +<i>locks the three doors silently</i>.] Do you think, father, that I shall +become docile by being shut up?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">So! Now we are alone. No one sees us but He who sees us--there +[<i>pointing upward</i>] Quiet yourself, my child. We must talk together.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sits down</i>.] Good! We can come to an understanding, then,--my home +and I.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Do you see that I am now quite calm?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Certainly.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Quite calm, am I not? Even my arm does not tremble. What has happened, +has happened. But just now I gave your betrothed--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">My betrothed?-- Father dear!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I gave your betrothed my word of honor. And that must be kept, don't +you see?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">But if it is not in your power, my dear father.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then I must die,--then I must simply die. One cannot live on when +one-- You are an officer's daughter. Don't you understand that?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Compassionately</i>.] My God!</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">But before I die, I must set my home in order, must I not? Every one +has something which he holds sacred. What is sacred to your inmost +soul?</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">My art.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">No, that is not enough. It must be more sacred.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">My child.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Good! Your child,--your child,--you love it? [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>nods</i>.] You wish +to see it again? [<i>She nods</i>.] And--yes--if you made an oath upon its +head [<i>makes a motion as if he laid his hand upon a child's head</i>], +then you would not perjure yourself? [<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>shakes her head, smiling</i>.] +That's well. [<i>Rising</i>.] Either you swear to me now, as upon his head, +that you will become the honorable wife of his father, or--neither of +us two shall go out of this room alive. [<i>Sinks back on the seat</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>After a short silence</i>.] My poor, dear papa! Why do you torture +yourself so? And do you think that I will let myself be constrained by +locked doors? You cannot believe it.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You will see.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>In growing excitement</i>.] And what do you really want of me? Why do +you trouble yourself about me? I had almost said, what have you all to +do with me?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">That you will see.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">You blame me for living out my life without asking you and the whole +family for permission. And why should I not? Was I not without family? +Did you not send me out into the world to earn my bread, and then +disown me because the way in which I earned it was not to your taste? +Whom did I harm? Against whom did I sin? Oh, if I had remained the +daughter of the house, like Marie, who is nothing and does nothing +without the sheltering roof of the home, who passes straight from the +arms of her father into the arms of her husband; who receives from the +family life, thought, character, everything,--yes, then you would have +been right. In such a one the slightest error would have ruined +everything,--conscience, honor, self-respect. But I? Look at me. I was +alone. I was as shelterless as a man knocked about in the world, +dependent on the work of my own hands. If you give us the right to +hunger--and I have hungered--why do you deny us the right to love, as +we can find it, and to happiness, as we can understand it?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">You think, my child, because you are free and a great artist, that you +can set at naught--</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Leave art out of the question. Consider me nothing more than the +seamstress or the servant-maid who seeks, among strangers, the little +food and the little love she needs. See how much the family with its +morality demand from us! It throws us on our own resources, it gives us +neither shelter nor happiness, and yet, in our loneliness, we must live +according to the laws which it has planned for itself alone. We must +still crouch in the corner, and there wait patiently until a respectful +wooer happens to come. Yes, wait. And meanwhile the war for existence +of body and soul is consuming us. Ahead we see nothing but sorrow and +despair, and yet shall we not once dare to give what we have of youth +and strength to the man for whom our whole being cries? Gag us, stupefy +us, shut us up in harems or in cloisters--and that perhaps would be +best. But if you give us our freedom, do not wonder if we take +advantage of it.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">There, there! That is the spirit of rebellion abroad in the world. My +child--my dear child--tell me that you were not in earnest--that +you--that you--pity me--if-- [<i>Looking for the pistol-case</i>]. I don't +know what may happen--child--have pity on me!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Father, father, be calm, I cannot bear that.</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">I will not do it--I cannot do it-- [<i>Looking still for the +pistol-case.</i>] Take it from me! Take it from me!</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">What, father?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Nothing, nothing, nothing. I ask you for the last time.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Then you persist in it?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">My child, I warn you. You know I cannot do otherwise.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">Yes, father, you leave me no other way. Well, then, are you sure that +you ought to force me upon this man--[<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>listens</i>] that, +according to your standards, I am altogether worthy of him? +[<i>Hesitating, looking into space</i>.] I mean--that he was the only one in +my life?</p> +<br> +<h3>SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Feels for the pistol-case and takes the pistol out</i>.] You jade! [<i>He +advances upon her, trying to raise the weapon. At the same moment he +falls back on the seat, where he remains motionless, with staring eyes, +the pistol grasped in his hand, which hangs down by his side</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>With a loud cry</i>.] Father! [<i>She flies toward the stove for shelter +from the weapon, then takes a few steps, with her hands before her +face</i>.] Father! [<i>She sinks, with her knees in a chair, her face on the +back. Calling and knocking outside. The door is broken open</i>.] <i>Enter </i> +<span class="sc">Max</span>, <span class="sc">Marie</span>, <span class="sc">Heffterdingt</span>, and <span class="sc">Mrs. Schwartze</span>.</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Leopold, what's the matter? Leopold! [<i>To the </i><span class="sc">Pastor</span>.] O my God, he's +as he used to be!</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">Papa dear! Speak, one word! [<i>Throws herself down at his right</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">Get the doctor, Max.</p> +<br> +<h3>MAX.</h3> +<p class="normal">Is it a stroke?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">I think so. [<i>Exit </i><span class="sc">Max</span>. <i>Aside to </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>.] Come to him. [<i>As she +hesitates</i>.] Come; it is the end. [<i>Leads her trembling to </i><span class="sc">Schwartze's </span> +<i>chair</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Who has tried to take the pistol</i>.] Let it go, Leopold; what do you +want with it? See, he's holding the pistol and won't let it go.</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Aside</i>.] It is the convulsion. He cannot. My dear old friend, can you +understand what I'm saying to you? [<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>bows his head a little</i>. +<span class="sc">Magda </span><i>sinks down at his left</i>.] God, the All-Merciful One, has called +you from on high. You are not her judge. Have you no sign of +forgiveness for her? [<span class="sc">Schwartze </span><i>shakes his head slowly</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MARIE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Sinking down by </i><span class="sc">Magda</span>.] Papa, give her your blessing, dear papa! [<i>A +smile transfigures his face. The pistol escapes from his hand. He +raises his hand slowly to place it on </i><span class="sc">Marie's </span><i>head. In the midst of +this motion a spasm goes through his body. His arm falls back, his head +sinks</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MRS. SCHWARTZE.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Crying out</i>.] Leopold!</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Taking her hand</i>.] He has gone home. [<i>He folds his hands. Silent +prayer, broken by the sobbing of the women</i>.]</p> +<br> +<h3>MAGDA.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Springing up and spreading out her arms in agony</i>.] Oh, if I had only +never come! [<span class="sc">Heffterdingt </span><i>makes a motion to beg her silence. She +misunderstands</i>.] Are you going to drive me away? His life was the cost +of my coming. May I not stay now?</p> +<br> +<h3>HEFFTERDINGT.</h3> +<p class="normal">[<i>Simply and peacefully</i>. ] No one will hinder you from praying upon +his grave.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="center">[<i>Curtain falls slowly</i>.]</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>THE END.</h3> +<br> +<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: Without which officers in the German army may not marry.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Magda, by Hermann Sudermann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGDA *** + +***** This file should be named 34184-h.htm or 34184-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/8/34184/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Magda + A Play in Four Acts + +Author: Hermann Sudermann + +Translator: Charles Edward Amory Winslow + +Release Date: November 1, 2010 [EBook #34184] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGDA *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + + + + + + +Page scan source: +http://books.google.com/books?id=9pUnAAAAMAAJ&printsec + + + + + + MAGDA + A Play In Four Acts + + + _By_ + HERMANN SUDERMANN + + + _Translated from the German by_ + CHARLES EDWARD AMORY WINSLOW + + + * * * + + Copyright, 1895, by + Lamson, Wolffe and Company. + + Assignment of above Copyright to + + Emanuel Lederer, + 13 West 42d Street, New York City, + + recorded in Assignment Book + V. 21 Page 143, June 8,1899, Washington, D. C. + + + * * * + + +CAUTION.-Professionals and amateurs are hereby notified that this play +is fully copyrighted under the existing laws of the United States +Government, and nobody is allowed to do this play without first having +obtained permission of Samuel French, 24 West 22d Street, New York +City, U. S. A. + + + + + + + _Copyright, 1895_, + By Lamson, Wolffe, and Company. + + + + + + + MAGDA + + + + + CHARACTERS + + + Lieutenant-Colonel Leopold Schwartz. + Pastor Heffterdingt + Dr. Von Kellner + Max + Major-General Von Klebs + Prof. Beckmann + Mrs. Schwartz, the stepmother + Magda Schwartz \ + > sisters + Marie Schwartz / + Franziska + Mrs. General Von Klebs + Mrs. Justice Ellrich + Mrs. Schumann + Theresa, the Schwartzs' maid + + + * * * + + + SYNOPSIS + + + Scene--The Schwartzs' home. + Act I.--Afternoon. + Act II.--Evening of the same day. + Act III.--The next morning. + Act IV.--The same morning. + + + + + Note. + + +Herr Hermann Sudermann has achieved surprising success in passing from +novel-writing to dramatic authorship. He has a style of the utmost +distinction, and is well skilled in technique. His masterpiece, +"Heimat," is absolutely original. No play has ever produced a more +impressive effect upon German audiences. When it ceases to be +performed, it will still hold a permanent and important place in the +libraries of dramatic literature. Though a psychological study, there +is no concentration of attention upon morbid conditions. All these have +passed before the play begins. There is no passion for mere passion's +sake. Its development proceeds from the energies of circumstances and +character. + +Herr Sudermann, unlike some of the new dramatists, is not lacking in +humor; and the snobbishness, stuffy etiquette, and scandal-mongering of +a provincial town are well illustrated by the minor characters. Into +this atmosphere comes the whirlwind from the outer world with fatal +effect. It is scarcely possible to conceive more varied and intense +emotions naturally and even inevitably evolved from the action of a +single day. The value of the drama lies in the sharp contrasts between +the New and the Old, alternately commanding, in their strife, the +adhesion of the spectator or reader. The preparation for the return of +"The Prodigal Daughter" occupies an entire act, and invests her +entrance with an interest which increases until the tremendous climax. +Yet the proud martinet father commands our respect and sympathy; and +the Pastor, in his enlightened self-conquest, is the antithesis alike +of the narrowness and lawlessness of parent and child, and remains the +hero of the swift tragedy. + +It is not uncommon that the scrupulousness attending circumstances +where partiality would be a natural impulse, makes criticism even +unusually exacting. It is believed that in this spirit the present +translation may be somewhat confidently characterized as being both +spirited and faithful. + + E. W. + +The Oxford. + _January_, 1896. + + + + + Persons. + + + Schwartze, _Lieutenant-Colonel on half-pay_. + + Magda, \ + > _his children by his first wife_. + Marie, / + + Augusta, _born_ Von Wendlowski, _his second wife_. + Franziska von Wendlowski, _her sister_. + Max von Wendlowski, _Lieutenant, their nephew_. + Heffterdingt, _Pastor of St. Mary's_. + Dr. von Keller, _Councillor_. + Beckmann, _Professor Emeritus_. + Von Klebs, _Major-General on half-pay_. + Mrs. von Klebs. + Mrs. Justice Ellrich. + Mrs. Schumann. + Theresa, _maidservant of the Schwartze family_. + + + _Place_. The principal city of a province. + + _Time_. The present. + + + + + MAGDA. + + + + + ACT I. + +Scene. _Living-room in house of_ Lieutenant-Colonel Schwartze, +_furnished in simple and old-fashioned style. Left, at back, a glass +door with white curtains through which the dining-room is seen. There +is also a hall door, through which a staircase to the upper story is +visible. Right, a corner window, with white curtains, surrounded by +ivy. Left, a door to the_ Lieutenant-Colonel's _room. Steel engravings +of a religious and patriotic character, in tarnished gold frames, +photographs of military groups, and cases of butterflies on the walls. +Right, over the sofa, among other pictures, is the portrait of the +first Mrs. Schwartze, young and charming, in the costume of the +sixties. Behind the sofa, an old-fashioned desk. Before the window, a +small table with workbox and hand sewing-machine. At the back, between +the doors, an old-fashioned tall clock. In the left-hand corner, a +stand with dried grasses; in front, a table with a small aquarium. +Left, in front, a corner sofa with a small pipe-cupboard behind it. A +stove with a stuffed bird on it; and behind, a bookcase with a bust of +the old Emperor William._ + + +[Marie _and_ Theresa _discovered_. Theresa _at the door_. Marie _is +occupied with the sewing-machine_.] + + + THERESA. + +Miss Marie! + + MARIE. + +Well! + + THERESA. + +Is your father still lying down? + + MARIE. + +What's the matter? Has any one called? + + THERESA. + +No, but-- There! Look at that! [_Producing a magnificent mass of +flowers_.] + + MARIE. + +Good Heavens! Take it to my room quickly, or papa-- But, Theresa, when +the first came yesterday, weren't you told not to let any more be left? + + THERESA. + +I'd have sent the florist's boy away if I could, but I was up on the +ladder fixing the flag, and he laid it down and was gone before I could +stop him. My, my, though, they're beautiful! and if I might make a +guess, the Lieutenant-- + + MARIE. + +You may not make a guess. + + THERESA. + +All right, all right. Oh, I know what I wanted to ask. Does the flag +hang well? [Marie _looks out, and nods assent_.] + + THERESA. + +The whole town is full of flags and flowers, and the most expensive +tapestries are hung out of the windows. One would think it was the +King's birthday. And all this fuss is about a stupid Music Festival! +What is this Music Festival, Miss Marie? Is it different from a choral +festival? + + MARIE. + +Yes, indeed. + + THERESA. + +Is it better? + + MARIE. + +Oh, much better! + + THERESA. + +Oh, well, if it's better-- [_A knock_.] + + MARIE. + +Come in! + + _Enter_ Max. + + THERESA. + +Well, _now_ I suppose I can leave the flowers. + + [_Exit_ Theresa, _laughing_. + + MARIE. + +You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Max. + + MAX. + +What on earth do you mean? + + MARIE. + +Aren't these flowers yours? + + MAX. + +Good Heavens! I can afford a few pennies for a bunch of violets once in +a while, but this-- Oh, no! + + MARIE. + +Nor yesterday's? + + MAX. + +No, nor yesterday's. [Marie _rings_.] + + _Enter_ Theresa. + + MARIE. + +Please throw these flowers away. + + THERESA. + +What! Throw those beautiful flowers away? + + MARIE. + +You are right. The pastor would say, "If God's gifts do not please us, +we must at least take care that they give pleasure to others." Wouldn't +he? + + MAX. + +Probably he would. + + MARIE. + +Then you had better take them back to the florist's. Did they come from +Zimmerman's? [Theresa _nods_.] Well, we'll sell them if we can, and +give the money to Pastor Heffterdingt for his hospital. + + THERESA. + +Shall I go now? + + MARIE. + +After you have made the coffee. I'll serve it myself. [_Exit_ Theresa.] +These flowers are an insult! I need not tell you, Max, that I have +given no one the shadow of an excuse for such a thing. + + MAX. + +I'm very sure of that. + + MARIE. + +And papa was so angry. He simply stormed. And I was quiet because I +suspected it was you. If he got hold of the poor fellow, it would go +hard with him. + + MAX. + +Do you think it would be any better if I got hold of him? + + MARIE. + +What rights have you in the case? + + MAX. + +Marie! [_Takes her hand_.] + + MARIE. + +[_Gently disengaging herself_.] Oh, Max, please--not that. You know +every corner of my heart. But we must think of the proprieties. + + MAX. + +Proprieties! Oh, pshaw! + + MARIE. + +Well, you know what a world we live in. Here, every one is afraid of +every one else because each depends upon the good opinion of the other. +If a few anonymous flowers can make me talked of, how much more-- + + MAX. + +Oh, yes, I know. + + MARIE. + +[_Laying her hand on his shoulder_.] Max, you'll speak again to Aunt +Frankie, won't you, about the guaranty[1] of your income? + + MAX. + +I have already. + + MARIE. + +Well? + + MAX. + +[_Shrugging his shoulders_.] As long as she lives, not a penny. + + MARIE. + +Then there's only one person who can help us. + + MAX. + +Your father? + + MARIE. + +No. For Heaven's sake, don't let him hear of it. He might forbid you +the house. + + MAX. + +What has he against me? + + MARIE. + +You know how he has been since our misfortune. He feels that there is a +blot to be wiped out; and especially now, when the whole town echoes +with music,--when everything recalls Magda. + + MAX. + +What if she should come back, some day? + + MARIE. + +After twelve years? She will never come. + [_Weeps_.] + + MAX. + +Marie! + + MARIE. + +You're right, you're right. I will put it away from me. + + MAX. + +But who is the one person who can help us? + + MARIE. + +Why, the pastor! + + MAX. + +Yes, yes, he might. + + MARIE. + +He can do everything. He stirs your very heart--as if-- And then he +seems like a kind of relation. He should have been my brother-in-law. + + MAX. + +Yes, but she wouldn't have it so. + + MARIE. + +Don't speak angrily, Max. She must have made atonement. [_A ring_.] Oh, +perhaps this is he. + + MAX. + +No, no, I forgot to tell you. Councillor von Keller asked me to bring +him here to-day. + + MARIE. + +What does he want? + + MAX. + +He wants to interest himself in the missions--no, it's in our home work +particularly, I think. I don't know-- Well, at any rate he wants to +come to the committee meeting tomorrow. + + MARIE. + +I'll call father and mother. [_Enter_ Theresa _with a card_.] Show him +in. [_Exit_ Theresa.] Entertain him until I come back. [_Gives him her +hand_.] And we'll talk again about the pastor some other time? + + MAX. + +In spite of the proprieties? + + MARIE. + +Oh, Max, I've been too forward! Haven't I? + + MAX. + +Marie! + + MARIE. + +No, no--we won't speak of it. Good-by. + [_Exit_ Marie. + + _Enter_ Von Keller. + + MAX. + +You must content yourself with me for a few minutes, my dear Von +Keller. [_They shake hands_.] + + VON KELLER. + +With pleasure, my good sir, with pleasure. [_Sits_.] How our little +town is changed by the festival! It really seems as if we were in the +great world. + + MAX. + +[_Laughing_.] I advise you not to say that aloud. + + VON KELLER. + +What did I say? I assure you I did not mean anything. If such a +misunderstanding got abroad-- + + MAX. + +You have nothing to fear from me! + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, of course not. Ah, how much better it would be to know nothing of +the outer world! + + MAX. + +How long were you away? + + VON KELLER. + +Five years, with examinations and being sent down to commissioners and +all that. Well, now I am back again. I drink home-brewed beer; I +patronize local tailors; I have even, with a noble fearlessness of +death, eaten the deer-steak of the season; and this I call pleasure! +Yes, youth, travel, and women are good things; but the world must be +ruled, and sober men are needed. Your time will come some day. The +years of honor are approaching. Yes, yes, especially when one joins the +ecclesiastical courts. + + MAX. + +Are you going to do that? + + VON KELLER. + +I think of it. And to be at one with those of the cloth-- I speak quite +openly with you--it is worth my while, in short, to interest myself in +religious questions. I have of late in my speeches, as perhaps you +know, taken this position; and as for the connections which this +household has--let me tell you I am proud of them. + + MAX. + +You might have been proud long ago. + + VON KELLER. + +Excuse me, am I over-sensitive? Or do I read a reproach in your words? + + MAX. + +Not quite that, but--if you will pardon me, it has sometimes +appeared--and not to me alone--as if you avoided the houses where my +uncle's family were to be found. + + VON KELLER. + +And my presence here now--does not that prove the contrary? + + MAX. + +Exactly. And therefore I too will speak very frankly. You were the last +person to meet my lost cousin, Magda. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Confused_.] Who says-- + + MAX. + +You yourself have spoken of it, I am told. You met her with my friend +Heydebrand when he was at the military academy. + + VON KELLER. + +Yes, yes, it's true. + + MAX. + +It was wrong of me not to ask you about her openly, but you will +probably understand my reticence. I feel almost as if I belonged to +this family and I feared to learn something which might disgrace it. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, not at all, not in the least. It was like this. When I was in +Berlin for the State Examinations, I saw one day on Leipsic Street a +familiar face,--a home face, if I may say so. You know what that is +when one is far away. Well, we spoke to each other. I learned that she +was studying to sing in opera, and that for this purpose she had left +her home. + + MAX. + +Not exactly. She left home to be companion to an old lady. +[_Hesitates_.] There was a difference with her father. + + VON KELLER. + +A love affair? + + MAX. + +In a way. Her father supported the suitor and told her to obey or leave +his house. + + VON KELLER. + +And she went away? + + MAX. + +Yes. Then, a year later, when she wrote that she was going on the +stage, it made the breach complete. But what else did you hear? + + VON KELLER. + +That's all. + + MAX. + +Nothing else? + + VON KELLER. + +Well, well,--I met her once or twice at the opera-house where she had a +pass. + + MAX. + +And you know absolutely nothing of her life? + + VON KELLER. + +[_With a shrug_.] Have you heard nothing from her? + + MAX. + +Nothing at all. Well, at any rate, I am grateful to you. I beg you, +however, not to mention the meeting to my uncle, unless he asks you +about it directly. He knows of it, of course, but the name of the lost +daughter is never mentioned in this house. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, I have tact enough not to do that. + + MAX. + +And what do you think has become of her? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, music is a lottery. Ten thousand blanks and one prize. A host of +beginners and but one who makes a career. If one becomes a Patti or a +Sembrich, or, to come down to our own Festival-- + + _Enter_ Schwartze _and_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Shaking hands_.] Welcome to my house! Councillor von Keller, my wife. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Pray sit down. + + VON KELLER. + +I should not have dared, madam, to ask the honor of this introduction +had I not wished so strongly to share in the good and useful work which +centres here. My purpose may excuse my temerity. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You're very kind; but you do us too much honor. If you seek the centre +of the whole movement, Pastor Heffterdingt is the man. He inspires all; +he controls all; he-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Do you know our pastor, sir? + + VON KELLER. + +I have heard him speak many times, dear lady, and have admired equally +the sincerity of his convictions and his naive faith in human nature. +But I cannot comprehend the influence he exerts. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You will find it out. He is so plain and simple that one hardly +realizes what a man he is. He brings every one round. + + VON KELLER. + +I am almost converted already, dear lady. + + SCHWARTZE. + +As for us here, all I can do is to give these weak and useless hands to +help on the great work. It's only right that an old soldier should +dedicate the little strength left him by the throne to the service of +the altar. Those are the two causes to fight for. + + VON KELLER. + +That's a great thought! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Thanks, thanks, but no more of this. Ah, ten years ago, when they gave +me my discharge, I was a devil of a fellow. Max, doesn't my old +battalion still tremble at my name? + + MAX. + +That they do, uncle. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ah, that is one thing you escape in the civil service,--being laid on +the shelf without any fault of your own,--without the shadow of a +fault. Then there came a slight stroke of apoplexy. See how my hand +trembles now! And what had I to look forward to? It was then that my +young friend, Heffterdingt, showed me the way, through work and prayer, +to a new youth. Without him I never should have found it. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You mustn't believe all he says, Mr. von Keller. If he didn't always +depreciate himself, he would be better thought of in the highest +circles. + + VON KELLER. + +High and low, madam, everywhere your husband is known and honored. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Lighting up_.] Indeed? Ah, well, no vanity. No, no, that is the moth +that corrupts. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Is it really so wrong to wish for a little honor? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh! + + SCHWARTZE. + +What is honor? You would call it being led up the room by the governor, +or being asked to tea at the castle when the royal family is here. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You know very well that the latter honor has never fallen to my lot. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, yes, pardon me. I knew your weak spot. I should have avoided it. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, just think, Councillor, Mrs. Fanny Hirschfeld of the Children's +Hospital was invited, and I was not. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Deprecatingly_.] Oh! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Laughing, and stroking her head_.] Ah, the moth that corrupts, the +moth that corrupts! [_Enter_ Marie _with the coffee. She bows in a +friendly way to_ Von Keller.] Herr von Keller, my daughter--my only +daughter. + + VON KELLER. + +I've already had the pleasure. + + MARIE. + +I can't offer you a hand for welcome, Dr. Von Keller, but you may have +a cup of coffee instead. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Helping himself and looking at the others_.] I am very fortunate in +being treated like an old acquaintance of the family. + + SCHWARTZE. + +As far as we are concerned, you shall become not only an acquaintance +but a friend. And that is no conventional politeness, Councillor; for I +know you, and in these times, when all the ties of morality and +authority seem strained to bursting, it is doubly necessary that those +who stand for the good old patriarchal order should hold together. + + VON KELLER. + +Very true, very true indeed. One doesn't hear such sentiments as that +in the world in general, where modern ideas pass current for small +change. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Modern ideas! Oh, pshaw! I know them. But come into the quiet homes +where are bred brave soldiers and virtuous wives. There you'll hear no +talk about heredity, no arguments about individuality, no scandalous +gossip. There modern ideas have no foothold, for it is there that the +life and strength of the Fatherland abide. Look at this home! There is +no luxury,--hardly even what you call good taste,--faded rugs, birchen +chairs, old pictures; and yet when you see the beams of the western sun +pour through the white curtains and lie with such a loving touch on the +old room, does not something say to you, "Here dwells true happiness"? +[Von Keller _nods with conviction_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Broodingly_.] And here it might have dwelt! + + MARIE. + +[_Hurrying to him_.] Papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, I know. Well, in this house rules old-fashioned paternal +authority. And it shall rule as long as I live. And am I therefore a +tyrant? Tell me. You ought to know. + + MARIE. + +You're the best, the dearest-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +He is so excitable, you see, Councillor. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Have you not been well brought up? And shall we not hold together, we +three? But the age goes on planting rebellion in children's hearts, +putting mistrust between man and wife [_rises_], and it will never be +satisfied till the last roof-tree smokes in ruins, and men wander about +the streets, fearful and alone, like homeless curs. [_Sinks back +exhausted_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You ought not to get so wrought up, papa. You know it is bad for you. +[Max _makes a sign to_ Von Keller.] + + VON KELLER. + +Shall I go? [Max _nods_.] This is an interesting subject to develop, +Colonel. I must say I think perhaps you are a little severe. But my +time-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Severe? Ah, well, don't think ill of an old man for speaking a little +too hotly. + + VON KELLER. + +Ah, sir, heat is the badge of youth. I believe I am a graybeard beside +you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no. [_Presses his hand_.] + + VON KELLER. + +Madam! Miss Marie! [_Exit_. Max _follows him_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Greet the battalion for me, my boy. + + MAX. + +I will, dear uncle. [_Exit_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +A very agreeable man. + + MARIE. + +Almost too agreeable. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You are speaking of our guest! [Mrs. Schwartze _makes_ Marie _a sign +to be careful_.] + + MARIE. + +Will you have your pipe, papa? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, dear. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +The gentlemen of the card-club will be here soon. How lucky that we +didn't eat the haunch of venison Sunday! I've ordered some red wine for +the General, too. I paid three marks; that's not too dear, is it? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Not if it's good. Is your sister coming to-day? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +I think so. + + SCHWARTZE. + +She was asked to the Governor's yesterday, wasn't she? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Sighing_.] Yes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +And we were not. Poor thing! She must look out for me to-day if she +boasts. [_Aside_] Old cat! + + MARIE. + +[_Kneels before him, lighting his pipe_.] Be good, father dear. What +harm does it do you? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, darling. I'll be good. But my heart is sore. [_Bell rings_. +Marie _hurries out_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Here they are. + + _Enter_ Major-general Von Klebs, Professor + Beckmann, _and_ Marie. + + VON KLEBS. + +My humblest respects to the ladies. Ah, my dear madam! [_Kisses her +hand_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Make yourselves at home, gentlemen. + + VON KLEBS. + +Ha, my dear Colonel, hearty as ever? All ready for the fray, little +one? Now we are all right. But we were almost too late. We were caught +in the Music Festival crowd. Such a confusion! I was bringing the +schoolmaster along, and just as we passed by the German House, there +was a great crush of people, gaping as if there were a princess at the +least. And what do you suppose it was? A singer! These are really what +one may call goings-on. All this fuss about a singer! What do they call +the person? + + BECKMANN. + +Ah, General, we seem to be in a strange land to-day. + + VON KLEBS. + +We are under a curse, my dear madam. We are bearing a penance. [_They +sit_.] + + BECKMANN. + +But you must know dall' Orto, the great Italian Wagner singer. We are +very fortunate in getting her for the festival. If she were not here-- + + VON KLEBS. + +Well, well, what if she were not? Eh? I hoped that our strictly moral +circle, at least, would hold itself aloof from all this. But since the +Governor gives receptions in the lady's honor! And, best of all, to cap +the climax, who do you think was standing to-day among the enthusiasts, +craning his neck like the rest? You'll never guess. It's too +inconceivable. The pastor! + + SCHWARTZE. + +The pastor? + + VON KLEBS. + +Yes, our pastor. + + SCHWARTZE. + +How extraordinary! + + VON KLEBS. + +Now, I ask you, what did he want there? And what did the others want +there? And what good is the whole festival? + + BECKMANN. + +I should think that the cultivation of the faculty of the ideal among +the people was an object-- + + VON KLEBS. + +The way to cultivate the faculty of the ideal is to found a Soldiers' +Union. + + SCHWARTZE. + +But, General, every one isn't so lucky as to be a soldier. + + VON KLEBS. + +[_Sorting his cards_.] Well, we have been, Colonel. I know no one, I +wish to know no one, who has not been a soldier. And all this so-called +Art,--what good does it do? + + BECKMANN. + +Art raises the moral tone of the people. + + VON KLEBS. + +There we have it, madam!--We're beaten, beaten by the hero of +Koeniggraetz.--I tell you Art is a mere invention of those who are afraid +to be soldiers to gain an important position for themselves. I pass. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I pass. + + BECKMANN. + +And will you maintain that Art-- I have the nine of spades. + +[_Bell rings. Exit_ Marie. Von Klebs _makes an impatient movement_. +Schwartze _quiets him. They begin to play_.] + + _Enter_ Franziska, _followed by the_ Pastor. + + VON KLEBS. + +Ah, Miss Franziska! [_Aside_] That is the end of us! + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no, we'll send her into the garden. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Throwing herself into a chair_.] Oh, I am so hot! I must get my +breath. Pray don't put yourself out, General. + + BECKMANN. + +Nine of spades! + + VON KLEBS. + +Hello, here's the pastor too! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good-day to you! [_He shakes hands with each_.] + + VON KLEBS. + +How long have you been running after the singers. Pastor? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What? Oh, yes. Yes, I am running after singers. That's my occupation +now. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You can play with our card party though, can't you? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Unfortunately, no. I must, on the contrary, ask for a few serious words +with you, my dear sir. + + VON KLEBS. + +Ah, but you'll put it off, won't you, Pastor? + + FRANZISKA. + +Oh, for Heaven's sake! It's so important. There must be no delay. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Is my sister-in-law in it too? + + FRANZISKA. + +Very much so. + + VON KLEBS. + +Oh, well, we can go away again. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, we shouldn't like that at all. + + SCHWARTZE. + +If it were not you, dear pastor, who separated us! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +But perhaps, Marie, the gentlemen would be willing to take a turn with +you in the garden. + + VON KLEBS. + +Certainly! That's good! That's famous! That's what we'll do! Miss +Marie, be so good as to lead the way. + + BECKMANN. + +Shall we leave the cards as they lie? + + VON KLEBS. + +Yes, you have the nine of spades. Come on. + [_Exit_ Von Klebs, Beckmann, _and_ Marie. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Well? + + FRANZISKA. + +Good Lord, don't you see how upset I am? You might at least give me a +glass of water. [Mrs. Schwartze _brings it_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Will you promise me, my dear sir, that whatever may happen you will +preserve your calmness? You may believe me, much depends upon it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes; but what-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Franziska will tell you better. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_After drinking the water_.] This is a day indeed! Fate is avenging +me. This man has for years outraged my holiest feelings, but today I +can heap coals of fire on his head. [_Moved_.] Brother-in-law, give me +your hand. Sister, yours. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Pardon me, dear Miss Franziska, I think your news is so important +that-- + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Melting_.] Don't be angry, don't be angry. I am so upset! Well, +yesterday I was at the Governor's. Only the nobility and the most +important people were asked. You weren't asked? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Angrily_.] No. + + FRANZISKA. + +I did not mean to offend you. Oh, I am so upset! [_Suppressing a sob at +a sign from the_ Pastor.] Yes, yes, yes. I had on my yellow silk dress +with the Brussels lace--you know I've had the train shortened. Well, as +I stepped into the room--whom do you think I saw? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Well, well, who? + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Sobbing_.] Your child! Magdalene! + +[Schwartze _staggers, and is supported by the_ Pastor. Mrs. Schwartze +_cries out. A pause._] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Pastor? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It is true. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Standing up_.] Magdalene is no longer my child. + + FRANZISKA. + +Ah, just wait. If you listen, you'll look at it in quite another light. +Such a child you will welcome with open arms. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Magdalene is no longer my child. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +But you may at least hear the circumstances. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Dazed_.] Yes, I suppose so. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_At a sign from_ Heffterdingt.] Well, the great dining-hall was +crammed. They were almost all strangers. Then I saw his Excellency +coming down the room. And on his arm was a lady-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +On his Excellency's arm? + + FRANZISKA. + +With dark hair, and very proud and tall--and around her a crowd of men +just like the circle about royalty--and chatting and laughing. And any +one to whom she spoke seemed as happy as if it were the Princess. And +she wore half a dozen orders, and an orange band with a medal about her +neck. I was wondering what royal personage it could be--when she turned +half around--and--I knew Magda's eyes! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Impossible! + + FRANZISKA. + +That is what I saw! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My dear Colonel, it is true. + + SCHWARTZE. + +If she-- [_Clasping his hands_.] At least she has not fallen! She has +not fallen! Father in Heaven, Thou hast kept her safely! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And what is she, to have such honor-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +She has become a great singer, and calls herself, in Italian, Maddalene +dall' Orto. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Listen, listen, Leopold, the famous singer of whom the papers are so +full is our child! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Magda is no longer my child. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Is that your fixed resolve? + + FRANZISKA. + +What sort of a heart have you? You ought to imitate me. She offended me +as only she could,--the little wretch! That is, then she was a little +wretch. But now--well, she did not look at me; but if she had-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold, she was on his Excellency's arm! + + SCHWARTZE. + +I tell you, and you,--and you, too, Pastor,--that I would rather have +seen her lying in rags and tatters at my feet and begging for +forgiveness. For then I should have known that she was still, at heart, +my child. But why has she come back here? The world was large enough +for her triumph. Why should she rob this humble provincial nest of +ours? I know why. To show her miserable father how far one can rise in +the world by treading filial duty into the dust,--that is her +intention. Pride and arrogance speak in her, and nothing else. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My dear Colonel, I might ask, what speaks in you? A father's love? You +could make no pretence to that. Your rights? I think rather it would be +your right to rejoice in the good fortune of your child. Offended +custom? I don't know-- Your daughter has done so much through her own +strength that even offended custom might at least condone it. It +appears to me that pride and arrogance speak in you--and nothing else. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Angrily_.] Pastor! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Oh, don't be angry--there is no need of that. When I have something to +say, I must say it, mustn't I? I might almost think that it displeased +you that she has climbed so high in spite of you. Your pride demands +something to forgive, and you are angry because there is nothing to be +forgiven. And now, let me ask you, do you seriously wish that she had +found her way home, lost and ruined? Do you dare answer for such a wish +before the throne of God? [_A silence_.] No, my dear old friend. You +have often, in jest, called me your good angel; let me be so once, in +reality. Come with me--now--to-day. + + FRANZISKA. + +If you'd only seen-- [Heffterdingt _stops her_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Has she made the slightest effort to approach her parents? Has she +thought of her home with one throb of love? Who will vouch for it that +my outstretched hand will not be repulsed with scorn? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I will vouch for it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You? You, above all, have had a proof of her untamable pride. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_With embarrassment_.] You should not have reminded me of that. + + _Enter_ Marie _with flowers, and_ Theresa. + + MARIE. + +Papa, papa, listen to what Theresa-- Oh! am I interrupting? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Pulling himself together_.] What is it? + + MARIE. + +To-day I got some more flowers; and when I sent Theresa back to the +florist's, she found out it was not a man, but a lady, who had ordered +them. And she couldn't sell them again; so she brought them back. [_The +others exchange glances_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Tell me, Theresa, did they describe this lady to you? + + THERESA. + +She was tall, with great dark eyes, and there was something very +distinguished and foreign about her. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Leads_ Marie _to the back of the stage, and lays his hand on_ +Schwartze's _arm_.] You asked for a token of love! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Staring at the flowers_.] From her! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +They must have cost a small fortune! + + MARIE. + +Theresa has something else very wonderful to tell, too. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What is it, Theresa? Quick! + + THERESA. + +If the pastor wishes it. When I came back, the porter told me that last +evening in the twilight a carriage stopped before the door; there was a +lady inside. She didn't get out, but kept watching all the windows of +our house where there were lights. And when he went out to ask what she +wanted, she said something to her coachman, and they were gone! [_All +show signs of astonishment_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That's all, Theresa. [_Exit_ Theresa. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Pardon us, dear Miss Marie, if we treat you once more like a child, and +ask you to leave us alone for a moment. + + MARIE. + +I am so frightened at all this, Pastor. [_Imploringly_.] Papa? + + SCHWARTZE. + +What is it, child? + + MARIE. + +Papa, papa, do you know who this lady is? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I? No. I can only guess. + + MARIE. + +[_Bursting out_.] Magdalene--Magda! Magda is here! [_Falling on her +knees_.] Oh, you will forgive her? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Get up, my child. Your sister is far above my poor forgiveness. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +She is not above your love. + + MARIE. + +Magda is here! Magda herself is here! [_Throws her arms about her +mother's neck, weeping_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +Won't any one bring me a glass of water? I am so upset! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Are you quite resolved? [Schwartze _remains motionless_.] Will you let +her go on her way without-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +That would be best. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +How will it be with you if in your death-hour a longing for your lost +child comes upon you, and all you can say to yourself is, "She stood +before my door and I would not open it"? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Shaken and half convinced_.] What would you have me do? Must I abase +myself before my runaway child? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, you shall not do that. I--I--will go to her. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You? Pastor--you? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +This afternoon I waited before her hotel to see if Miss Franziska had +not been mistaken. At a quarter to four she came out of the house and +got into her carriage. + + MARIE. + +You saw her? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +How did she look? What did she have on? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +The performance began at four, and must be almost over now. I will wait +for her again at the hotel, and will tell her that she will find your +arms open to her. May I? + + MARIE. + +Yes, yes, papa, won't you let him? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think with whom your daughter-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Will you swear to me that no weak and personal motives are mixed with +your intention,--that you do what you do in the name of our Lord and +Saviour? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I swear it! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Then God's will be done. [Marie _gives a cry of joy_. Heffterdingt +_presses_ Schwartze's _hand_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Holding his hand, speaking softly_.] The way will be hard for you, I +know. Your lost youth--your pride-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Dear Colonel, I begin to think that pride is a very poor sort of thing. +It really profits us little to have it always in our mouths. I am +giving back a daughter to an old father. I am giving back a home to an +erring soul. That, I think, is enough. [_Exit_. Marie _throws herself +on her father's breast, laughing and crying_.] + + + + + ACT II. + + +Scene _same as_ Act I. _It is evening; only a slight glow of sunset +still shines through the windows_. + + [Marie _and_ Theresa _discovered_.] + + THERESA. + +[_Bringing in a lighted lamp_.] Miss Marie! Miss Marie!--What is she +staring at all the time? Miss Marie! + + MARIE [_starting_.] + +[_From the window_.] What do you want? + + THERESA. + +Shall I lay the supper? + + MARIE. + +Not yet. + + THERESA. + +It's half-past seven. + + MARIE. + +And he left at half-past six. The performance must have been over long +ago. She will not come. + + THERESA. + +Who? Is any one coming to supper? + + MARIE. + +No, no, no. [_As_ Theresa _is going_.] Theresa! do you suppose you +could pick a couple of bouquets in the garden? + + THERESA. + +I might try, but I couldn't tell what I was getting. It's almost pitch +dark. + + MARIE. + +Yes, yes. You may go. + + THERESA. + +Shall I try to pick the flowers, or-- + + MARIE. + +No--thank you, no. + + THERESA. + +[_Aside_.] What is the matter with her? + [_Exit_. + + _Enter_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Well, Marie, whatever happens I've put on my other cap,--the one with +the ribbons. Is it straight? + + MARIE. + +Yes, mamma dear, very nice. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Hasn't Aunt Frankie come up yet? + + MARIE. + +No. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Heavens! I forgot the two gentlemen entirely. And papa has locked +himself up, and will hear nothing and see nothing. Oh, if the General +should be offended! It is our most aristocratic connection. That would +be a misfortune indeed. + + MARIE. + +Oh, mamma dear, when he hears what is the matter! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, I know. And the pastor has not come either. Marie, one +minute. If she should ask you-- + + MARIE. + +Who? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why, Magda. + + MARIE. + +Magda! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What am I to you, Marie? They call it stepmother. I'm more than that, +am I not? + + MARIE. + +Certainly, mamma dear. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You see, then I could not get used to having two such big daughters. +But it's all right now? [Marie _nods_.] And we do love each other? + + MARIE. + +Very much, mamma dear. [_She kisses her_.] + + _Enter_ Franziska. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Irritably_.] One's always disturbing these affecting tableaux! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What did the General say? + + FRANZISKA. + +The General? H'm, he was angry enough. "To leave us alone for an hour +and a half, that's nice courtesy," he said. And I think myself-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_To_ Marie, _very sadly_.] There, what did I tell you? + + FRANZISKA. + +Well, this time I smoothed the thing over, so that the gentlemen went +away in a good humor. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Really! Oh, I thank you, Frankie, a thousand times. + + FRANZISKA. + +Yes, I'm good enough to run errands and play the scullery-maid; but +when it comes to being one of the family, an old aunt with her heart +full of love-- + + MARIE. + +Who has offended you, Aunt Frankie? + + FRANZISKA. + +Yes, that's very fine. But a little while ago, when I was so upset, no +one troubled himself about me one bit. To guarantee an income so that +our little miss can be married, I am-- + + MARIE. + +Aunt Frankie! + + FRANZISKA. + +But as long as I live-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What are you talking about? + + FRANZISKA. + +We know, we two. And to-day. Who brought back your daughter to you? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +But she hasn't yet-- + + FRANZISKA. + +I brought back your daughter to you. And who thanks me for it? And who +recognizes that I have pardoned her? For I have pardoned her +[_weeping_] everything! + + _Enter_ Theresa, _in great excitement_. + + MARIE. + +What is it, Theresa? + + THERESA. + +I am so frightened-- + + MARIE. + +What's the matter? + + THERESA. + +The carriage-- + + MARIE. + +What carriage? + + THERESA. + +The same as last night. + + MARIE. + +Is it there? Is it there? [_Runs to the window_.] Mamma, mamma, come, +she's there--the carriage-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why, there _is_ a carriage. + + MARIE. + +[_Beating on the door at the left_.] Papa, papa! Come quickly, be +merciful, come quickly! + + [_Exit_ Theresa _at a sign from_ Franziska.] + + _Enter_ Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What's the matter? + + MARIE. + +Magda--the carriage! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Good God! [_Hurries to the window_.] + + MARIE. + +Look--look! She's standing up! She's trying to look into the windows. +[_Clapping her hands_.] Papa! papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +What is it you have to say? + + MARIE. + +[_Frightened_.] I? Nothing. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Perhaps you were going to say, "She stood before your door and you +would not open it." Eh? + + MARIE. + +Yes, yes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Do you hear, wife? She stands before our door. Shall we--in spite of +our pride--shall we call her in? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, Leopold, since everybody thinks so much of her-- + + MARIE. + +Ah! She's driving away! + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no, she's not. Come, we will bring her to you. + + FRANZISKA. + +Yes, yes, bring her to me, too. + [_Exit_ Schwartze _and_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + MARIE. + +She's sitting back again! If only the carriage doesn't-- What a long +time they are! They must have got downstairs. [_Frightened, almost +beside herself_.] There--there--oh, don't go away! Magda! Magda! + + FRANZISKA. + +Don't scream so! What's the matter? + + MARIE. + +She's looking round. She's seen them. She's stopping. She's bursting +open the door. She's jumped out! Now! Now! She's in father's arms! +[_Covers her face and sobs_.] Oh, Aunt Frankie! Aunt Frankie! + + FRANZISKA. + +What else could a father do? Since I have forgiven her, he could +not--he could not hold out-- + + MARIE. + +She's between father and mother. Oh, how grand she is! She's +coming--she's coming. What a homely little thing I shall seem beside +her! Oh, I am so frightened! [_Leans against the wall, left. A pause. +Voices of_ Magda _and her parents are heard outside_.] + +_Enter_ Magda, _brilliantly dressed, with a large mantle, and a Spanish +veil on her head. She embraces_ Marie. + + MAGDA. + +My puss! My little one! How my little one has grown! My +pet--my--[_kissing her passionately_]. But what's the matter? You're +dizzy. Come, sit down. No, no, please sit down. Now. Yes, you must. +[_Places_ Marie _in an arm-chair_.] Dear little hands, dear little +hands! [_Kneels before her, kissing and stroking her hands_.] But +they're rough and red, and my darling is pale. There are rings round +her eyes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Lays his hand lightly on her shoulder_.] Magda, we are here too. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, yes--I'm entirely--[_Standing up, affectionately_.] Dear old papa! +How white you have become! Dear papa! [_Taking his hand_.] But what's +the matter with your hand? It's trembling. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Nothing, my child. Don't ask about it. + + MAGDA. + +H'm--and you've grown handsomer with the years. I can't look at you +enough. I shall be very proud with such a handsome papa. But she must +get better [_indicating_ Marie]. She's as white as milk. Do you take +iron? Eh? You must take iron? [_tenderly_]. Just to think that I am at +home! It seems like a fairy tale. It was a capital idea of yours to +call me back without any explanations--_senza complimenti_--for we've +outgrown those silly misunderstandings long ago. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Misunderstandings! + + MAGDA. + +I came near driving away. Would not that have been bad of me? But you +must acknowledge, I have scratched at the door--very quietly, very +modestly--like Lady when she had run away. Where is Lady? Her place is +empty. [_Whistles_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why, she's been dead seven years! + + MAGDA. + +Ah, _povera bestia_--yes, I forgot. And, mamma!--yes, mamma! I haven't +looked at you yet. How pretty you've grown! You used to have an air of +belated youth about you that was not becoming. But now you're a dear, +old little mother. One wants to lay one's head quietly in your lap. I +will, too. It'll do me good. Ah, what fine quarrels we used to have! I +was a contrary little beast. And you held up your end. But now we'll +smoke the pipe of peace, sha'n't we? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +You're joking with me, Magda. + + MAGDA. + +Sha'n't I? Mayn't I? There, there,--pure love, pure love. We will have +nothing but love. We shall be the best of friends. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Who has for a long time tried to attract attention_.] And we also, +eh, my dear Magda? + + MAGDA. + +_Tiens, tiens_! [_Examines her critically through her lorgnette_.] Same +as ever. Always active? Always, as of old, the centre of the family? + + FRANZISKA. + +Oh-- + + MAGDA. + +Well, give us your hand! There. I never could bear you, and shall never +learn, I'm afraid. That runs in the blood, doesn't it? + + FRANZISKA. + +I have already forgiven you. + + MAGDA. + +Really! Such magnanimity! I hardly-- Do you really forgive everything? +From top to bottom? Even that you stirred up my mother against me +before she ever came into the house? That you made my father--[_Puts +her hand to her lips_.] _Meglio tacere! Meglio tacere!_ + + MARIE. + +[_Interrupting_.] For Heaven's sake, Magda! + + MAGDA. + +Yes, my darling--nothing, not a word. + + FRANZISKA. + +She has a fine presence! + + MAGDA. + +And now let me look about me! Ah, everything's just the same. Not a +speck of dust has moved. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +I hope, Magda, that you won't find any specks of dust. + + MAGDA. + +I'm sure of that, _mammina_. That wasn't what I meant. Twelve years! +Without a trace! Have I dreamed all that comes between? + + SCHWARTZE. + +You will have a great deal to tell us, Magda. + + MAGDA. + +[_Starting_.] What? Well, we will see, we will see. Now I should +like-- What would I like? I must sit still for a moment. It all comes +over me so. When I think-- From that door to the window, from this +table to the old bureau,--that was once my world. + + SCHWARTZE. + +A world, my child, which one never outgrows, which one never should +outgrow--you have always held to that? + + MAGDA. + +What do you mean? And what a face you make over it! Yes, yes, +though--that question came at the right time. I have been a fool! I +have been a fool! My dear old papa, this happiness will be short. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Why? + + MAGDA. + +What do you think of me? Do you think I am as free as I appear? I'm a +weary, worn-out drudge who is only fortunate when the lash is on her +back. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Whose drudge? What lash? + + MAGDA. + +That I can't explain, dear father. You don't know my life. You probably +wouldn't understand it, either. Every day, every hour has its work laid +out. Ah, well, now I must go back to the hotel. + + MARIE. + +No, Magda, no. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, puss, yes. There have been six or seven men there for ever so +long, waiting for an audience. But I tell you what, I must have you +to-night. Can't you sleep with me? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Of course. That is--what do you mean--sleep where? + + MAGDA. + +At the hotel. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What? You won't stay! You'll put such an affront on us? + + MAGDA. + +What are you thinking of? I have a whole retinue with me. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Your father's house is the place for this retinue. + + MAGDA. + +I don't know. It is rather lively. First, there's Bobo, my parrot, a +darling,--he wouldn't be bad; then my pet maid, Giulietta, a little +demon,--I can't live without her; then my courier,--he's a tyrant, and +the terror of landlords; and then we mustn't forget my teacher. + + FRANZISKA. + +He's a very old man, I hope. + + MAGDA. + +No, he's a very young man. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_After a silence_.] Then you must have forgotten your--your _dame +d'honneur_. + + MAGDA. + +What _dame d'honneur_? + + SCHWARTZE. + +You can't travel about from country to country with a young man +without-- + + MAGDA. + +Ah! does that disquiet you? I can,--be quite easy,--I can. In my world +we don't trouble ourselves about such things. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What world is that? + + MAGDA. + +The world I rule, father dear. I have no other. There, whatever I do is +right because I do it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +That is an enviable position. But you are still young. There must be +cases when some direction--in short, whose advice do you follow in your +transactions? + + MAGDA. + +There is no one who has the right to advise me, papa dear. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Well, my child, from this hour your old father claims that right. +Theresa! [Theresa _answers from outside_.] Go to the German House and +bring the baggage-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Entreatingly_.] Pardon, father dear, you forget that my orders are +necessary. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What?--Yes, yes, I forgot. Do what you will, my daughter. + + MARIE. + +Magda--oh, Magda! + + MAGDA. + +[_Taking her mantle_.] Be patient, darling. We'll have a talk soon all +to our two selves. And you'll all come to breakfast with me, won't you? +We can have a good chat and love each other!--so much! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +We--breakfast with you? + + MAGDA. + +I want to have you all under my roof. + + SCHWARTZE. + +The roof of a hotel? + + MAGDA. + +Yes, papa dear, I have no other home. + + SCHWARTZE. + +And this? + + MARIE. + +Don't you see how you've hurt him? + +_Enter the_ Pastor. _He stops, and seems to control strong emotion_. +Magda _examines him with her lorgnette_. + + MAGDA. + +He too! Let me see. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think. She is going away again! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I don't know whether I am known to the lady. + + MAGDA. + +[_Mockingly_.] You're too modest, Pastor. And now since I have seen you +all--[_Puts on her mantle_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Quickly, aside_.] You must keep her. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I? If you are powerless, how can I-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Try! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Constraining himself, with embarrassment_.] Pardon me, madam, it +seems very officious of me--if I--will you give me a few moments' +interview? + + MAGDA. + +What have we two to say to each other, my dear pastor? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, do, please! He knows best about everything. + + MAGDA. + +[_Ironically_.] Indeed! + + MARIE. + +I may never ask you for anything again, but do this one thing for my +sake! + + MAGDA. + +[_Patting her and looking from one to the other_.] Well, the child asks +so prettily. Pastor, I am at your service. [Marie _thanks her +silently_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Aside to_ Mrs. Schwartze.] Now he'll give her a lecture. Come. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You were once the cause of my sending her from my home. To-day you must +see to it that she remains. [Heffterdingt _expresses doubt_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Marie! + + MARIE. + +Yes, papa. + [_Exit_ Schwartze, Mrs. Schwartze, Franziska, _and_ Marie. + + MAGDA. + +[_Sits down and examines him through her lorgnette_.] So this is the +man who undertakes by a five minutes' interview entirely and absolutely +to break my will. That they believe in your ability to do it shows me +that you are a king in your own dominions. I make obeisance. And now +let me see you ply your arts. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I understand no arts, madam, and would avail myself of none. If they +put some trust in me here, it is because they know that I seek nothing +for myself. + + MAGDA. + +[_Ironically_.] That has always been the case? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, madam. I had, once in my life, a strong, an intense desire. It was +to have you for my wife. I need only look at you to see that I was +presumptuous. Since then I have put the wish away from me. + + MAGDA. + +Ah, Pastor, I believe you're paying court to me now. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Madam, if it were not discourteous-- + + MAGDA. + +Oh, then even a shepherd of souls may be discourteous! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I should commiserate you on the atmosphere which has surrounded you. + + MAGDA. + +[_With mocking superiority_.] Really? What do you know about my +atmosphere? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It seems to me that it has made you forget that serious men are to be +taken seriously. + + MAGDA. + +Ah! [_Rising_.] Well, then I will take you seriously; and I will tell +you that you have always been unbearable to me, with your well-acted +simplicity, your droning mildness, your-- Since, however, you +condescended to cast your eyes on my worthlessness and drove me from +home with your suit,--since then, I have hated you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It seems to me that according to this I was the foundation of your +greatness. + + MAGDA. + +You're right there. Here I was parched and stifled. No, no, I don't +hate you. Why should I hate you so much? It's all so far, so very far, +behind me. If you only knew how far! You have sat here day after day in +this heavy close air, reeking of lavender, tobacco, and cough mixture, +while I have felt the storm breaking about my head. Pastor, if you had +a suspicion of what life really is,--of the trial of strength, of the +taste of guilt, of conquest, and of pleasure,--you would find yourself +very comical with your clerical shop-talk. Ha, ha, ha! Pardon me, I +don't believe such a laugh has rung through this respectable house for +twelve years; for there's no one here who knows how to laugh. Is there, +eh? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, I fear not. + + MAGDA. + +Fear, you say. That sounds as though you deprecated it. But don't you +hate laughter? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Most of us cannot laugh, madam. + + MAGDA. + +And to those who could, laughter is sin. You might laugh yourself. What +have you to be solemn about? You need not look at the world with this +funereal mien. Surely you have a little blond wife at home who knits +industriously, and half a dozen curly heads around her, of course. It's +always so in parsonages. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I have remained single, madam. + + MAGDA. + +Ah! [_Silence_.] Did I hurt you so much, then? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Let that be, shall we not? It is so long ago. + + MAGDA. + +[_Letting her mantle fall_.] And your work,--does not that bring +happiness enough? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Thank God, it does. But if one takes it really in earnest, one cannot +live only for one's self; at least, I cannot. One cannot exult in the +fulness of one's personality, as you would call it. And then many +hearts are opened to me-- One sees too many wounds there, that one +cannot heal, to be quite happy. + + MAGDA. + +You're a remarkable man-- I don't know--if I could only get rid of the +idea that you're insincere. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Will you let me ask you one question before you go? + + MAGDA. + +Well! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It is about an hour since you entered this house, your home--no, not so +much. I could not have been waiting for you nearly as long as that. + + MAGDA. + +For me? You? Where? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +In the corridor outside your room. + + MAGDA. + +What did you want there? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My errand was useless, for now you are here. + + MAGDA. + +Do you mean to say that you came for me--you to whom I-- If any one had +an interest in keeping me away, it was you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Are you accustomed to regard everything which those about you do as the +result of selfish interest? + + MAGDA. + +Of course. It's so with me! [_Struck by a new thought_.] Or perhaps +you-- No, I'm not justified in that assumption. [_Sharply_.] Ah, such +nonsense! it is only fit for fairy tales. Well, Pastor, I'll own that I +like you now better, much better than of old when you--what shall I +say?--made an honorable proposal. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +H'm! + + MAGDA. + +If you could only end it all with a laugh--this stony visage of yours +is so unfriendly--one is quite _sconcertata_. What do you say? _Je ne +trouve pas le mot_. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Pardon me, may I ask the question now? + + MAGDA. + +Good Lord, how inquisitive the holy man is! And you don't see +that I was coquetting with you a little. For, to have been a man's +fate,--that flatters us women,--we are grateful for it. You see I have +acquired some art meanwhile. Well, out with your question! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Why--why did you come home? + + MAGDA. + +Ah! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Was it not homesickness? + + MAGDA. + +No. Well, perhaps a very little. I'll tell you. When I received the +invitation to assist at this festival--why they did me the honor, I +don't know--a very curious feeling began to seethe within me,--half +curiosity and half shyness, half melancholy and half defiance,--which +said: "Go home incognito. Go in the twilight and stand before the +paternal house where for seventeen years you lived in bondage. There +look upon what you were. But if they recognize you, show them that +beyond their narrow virtues there may be something true and good." + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Only defiance then? + + MAGDA. + +At first, perhaps. Once on the way, though, my heart beat most +wonderfully, as it used to do when I'd learnt my lesson badly. And I +always did learn my lessons badly. When I stood before the hotel, the +German House,--just think, the German House, where the great officials +and the great artists stayed,--there I had again the abject reverence +as of old, as if I were unworthy to step on the old threshold. I +entirely forgot that I was now myself a so-called great artist. Since +then, every evening I have stolen by the house,--very quietly, very +humbly,--always almost in tears. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +And nevertheless you are going away. + + MAGDA. + +I must. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +But-- + + MAGDA. + +Don't ask me why. I must. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Has any one offended your pride? Has any one said a word of your +needing forgiveness? + + MAGDA. + +Not yet--or, yes, if you count the old cat. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What is there in the world which draws you away again after an hour? + + MAGDA. + +I will tell you. I felt it the first minute I came. The paternal +authority already stretches its net over me again, and the yoke stands +ready beneath which I must bow. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +But there is neither yoke nor net here. Do not fear shadows. Here are +only wide-opened arms which wait to clasp the lost daughter to the +empty breast. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, I beg you, none of that. I do not intend to furnish a pendant to +the prodigal son. If I came back as a daughter, as a lost daughter, I +should not hold my head up before you as I do; I should grovel in the +dust in full consciousness of all my sins. [_With growing +excitement_.] And that I will not do--that I cannot do--for I am +what I am, and I cannot be another. [_Sadly_.] And therefore I have no +home--therefore I must go forth again--therefore-- + + _Enter_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +For Heaven's sake, hush! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Excuse me, Pastor, I only wanted to know about supper. [_Imploringly +to_ Magda, _who sits turned away with her hands before her face_.] We +happen to have a warm joint to-day. You know, Pastor, the gentlemen of +the card-club were to be with us. Now, Magda, whether you're going away +or not, can't you eat a mouthful in your father's house? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Don't ask now, my dear madam. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, if I'm interrupting--I only thought-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Later. + + MARIE. + +[_Appearing in the doorway_.] Will she stay? [Magda _shrinks at the +sound of the voice_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +'Sh! [_Exit_ Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Marie. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You have no home, Miss Magda? Did you hear the old mother beseeching +and alluring with the best that she has, though it's only a poor dish? +Did you hear Marie's voice trembling with tears in the fear that I +should not prevail? They trust me too much; they think I only need to +speak the word. They don't suspect how helpless I stand here before +you. Look! Behind that door are three people in a fever of sorrow and +love. If you cross this threshold, you rob each of them of so much +life. And you have no home? + + MAGDA. + +If I have one, it is not here. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Embarrassed_.] Perhaps-- Nevertheless you should not go. Only a few +days,--just not to take away the idea that you belong here. So much you +owe to them! + + MAGDA. + +[_Sadly_.] I owe nothing now to any one here. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No? Really nothing? Then I must tell you about a certain day,--eleven +years ago now. I was called into this house in haste, for the Colonel +was dying. When I came, he lay there stiff and motionless, his face +drawn and white; one eye was already closed, in the other still +flickered a little life. He tried to speak, but his lips only quivered +and mumbled. + + MAGDA. + +What had happened? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What had happened? I will tell you. He had just received a letter in +which his eldest daughter bade him farewell. + + MAGDA. + +My God! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +It was a long time before he recovered from the apoplectic stroke. Only +a trembling in the right arm, which you perhaps have noticed, now +remains. + + MAGDA. + +That is indeed a debt I owe. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Ah, if that were all, Miss Magda! Pardon me, I call you by the name I +used long ago. It springs to my lips. + + MAGDA. + +Call me what you like. Go on. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +The necessary result followed. When he received his discharge,--he will +not believe in the cause, don't speak to him of it,--then his mind +broke down. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, yes; that is my debt too. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Then you see, Miss Magda, began my work. If I speak of it, you must not +think I am pluming myself on it to you. What good would that do me? For +a long, long time I nursed him, and by degrees I saw his mind revive +again. First I let him collect slugs from the rose-bushes. + + MAGDA. + +[_With a shudder_.] Ugh! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Yes, so far had it gone; then I gave him charge of some money, and then +I made him my assistant in the institutions with whose management I was +intrusted. There is a hospital and a soup-kitchen and an infirmary, and +it makes a great deal to be done. So he became a man once more. I have +tried to influence your step-mother too; not because I was greedy for +power. Perhaps you'll think that of me. In short, the old tension +between her and Marie has been slowly smoothed away. Love and +confidence have descended upon the house. + + MAGDA. + +[_Staring at him_.] And why did you do all this? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Well, first it is my calling. Then I did it for his sake, for I love +the old man; and above all--for--your sake. + + [Magda _starts, and points to herself interrogatively_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Yes, for your sake. For this weighed upon me: The day will come when +she will turn homeward,--perhaps as victor; but perhaps also as +vanquished, broken and ruined in body and soul-- Pardon me these +thoughts, I had heard nothing of you-- In either case she shall find a +home ready for her. That was my work, the work of long years; and now I +implore you not to destroy it. + + MAGDA. + +[_In anguish_.] If you knew through what I have passed, you would not +try to keep me. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That is all shut out. This is home. Let it alone; forget it. + + MAGDA. + +How can I forget it? How dare I? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Why should you resist when all stretch their hands out to you in +rejoicing? It's very easy. Let your heart speak when you see all around +overflowing with love for you. + + MAGDA. + +[_In tears_.] You make me a child again. [_A pause_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Then you will stay? + + MAGDA. + +[_Springing up_.] But they must not question me! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Must not question you? + + MAGDA. + +About my life outside there. They wouldn't understand,--none of them; +not even you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Well, then, they sha'n't. + + MAGDA. + +And you will promise me, for yourself and for the others? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Yes, I can promise it. + + MAGDA. + +[_In a stifled voice_.] Call them, then. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Opening the door on the left_.] She will stay. + +_Enter_ Marie; _then_ Mrs. Schwartze, Franziska, _and_ Schwartze. Marie +_throws herself joyfully into_ Magda's _arms_. Mrs. Schwartze _also +embraces her_. + + SCHWARTZE. + +It was your duty, my child. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, father. [_She softly takes his right hand in both of hers, and +carries it tenderly to her lips_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +Thank Heaven! Now we can have supper at last! [_Opens the sliding door +into the dining-room. The supper-table is seen, all set, and lighted +brightly by a green-shaded hanging-lamp_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Gazing at it_.] Oh, look! The dear old lamp! [_The women go slowly +out_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Stretching out his hands_.] This is your greatest work, Pastor. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Oh, don't, I beg you! And there's a condition attached. + + SCHWARTZE. + +A condition? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +We must not ask about her life. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Startled_.] What? What? I must, not-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +No, no; you must not ask--you must not ask--or-- [_Struck by a new +thought_.] If you do not--yes--I am sure she will confess everything +herself. + + + + + ACT III. + +Scene: _the same. Morning. On the table at the left, coffee-service and +flowers._ + + + [Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Franziska _discovered_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Excitedly_.] Thank Heaven, you've come. Such a time we've had this +morning! + + FRANZISKA. + +So? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think, two people have come from the hotel,--a gentleman who looks +like a lord, and a young lady like a princess. They're her servants. + + FRANZISKA. + +What extravagance! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And they're calling and talking all over the house, and neither of them +knows any German. And her ladyship ordered a warm bath, that was not +warm enough; and a cold douche, which was not cold enough; and spirits, +which she simply poured out of the window; and toilet vinegar, which we +didn't have at all. + + FRANZISKA. + +What demands! And where is your famous young lady? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +After her bath she has gone back to bed again. + + FRANZISKA. + +I would not have such sloth in my house. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +I shall tell her so. For Leopold's sake-- [_Enter_ Theresa.] What do +you want, Theresa? + + THERESA. + +Councillor von Keller--he has sent his servant here to ask whether the +Lieutenant has come yet, and what is the young lady's answer. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What young lady? + + THERESA. + +That's what I don't know. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Then just give our regards, and say that the Lieutenant has not come +yet. + + FRANZISKA. + +He is on duty till twelve. After that he'll come. + +[_Exit_ Theresa. _As she opens the door, a great noise is heard in the +hall,--a man's voice and a woman's disputing in Italian_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Listen to that! [_Speaking outside_.] Just you wait. Your Signora'll be +here soon. [_Shuts the door_.] Ah! And now, breakfast. What do you +think she drinks? + + FRANZISKA. + +Why, coffee. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +No. + + FRANZISKA. + +Tea, then? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +No. + + FRANZISKA. + +Then it must be chocolate! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +No; coffee and chocolate mixed. + + FRANZISKA. + +Horrible! But it must be good. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And yesterday half a dozen trunks came from the hotel, and as many more +are still there. Ah, what there is in them all! One whole trunk for +hats! A peignoir of real point, and open-work stockings with gold +embroidery, and [_in a whisper_] silk chemises-- + + FRANZISKA. + +What? Silk-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_With a gesture of horror_.] It is simply sinful. + +_Enter_ Magda, _in brilliant morning toilette, speaking outside as she +opens the door_. + + MAGDA. + +_Ma che cosa volete voi? Perche non aspettate, finche vi commando?_ Ha? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Now they are getting their share! + + MAGDA. + +No, no; _e tempo_! [_Shutting the door_.] _Va, bruto_! Good-morning, +mamma. [_Kisses her_.] I'm a late sleeper, eh? Ah, good-morning, Aunt +Frankie. In a good humor? So am I. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What did the strange gentleman want, Magda? + + MAGDA. + +Stupid beast! He wanted to know when I was going away, the idiot! How +can I tell? [_Patting her_.] Eh, _mamma mia_? Oh, children, I slept +like the dead. My ear on the pillow, and off! And the douche was so +nice and cold. I feel so strong. _Allons, cousine_! Hop! [_Seizes_ +Franziska _by the waist and jumps her into the air_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Furiously_.] What do you-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Haughtily_.] Eh? + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Cringingly_]. You are so facetious. + + MAGDA. + +Am I? [_Clapping her hands_.] Breakfast! + + _Enter_ Marie, _with a tray of coffee things_. + + MARIE. + +Good-morning. + + FRANZISKA. + +Good-morning, my child. + + MAGDA. + +I'm dying of hunger. Ah! [_Pats her stomach_. Marie _kisses_ +Franziska's _hand_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Taking off the cover, with unction_.] Delicious! One would know +Giulietta was in the house. + + FRANZISKA. + +She has made noise enough, at least. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, she couldn't live without a good row. And when she gets too +excited, she quietly throws a plate at your head. I'm accustomed to it. +What is papa doing? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +He's making his excuses to the members of the Committee. + + MAGDA. + +Is your life still half made up of excuses? What sort of a committee is +it? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +It's the Christian Aid Society. They should have had a meeting here +this morning in our house. Now we thought it would not do. It would +look as if we wanted to introduce you. + + FRANZISKA. + +But, Augusta, now it will look as if your daughter were more important +to you-- + + MAGDA. + +Well, I hope she is! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Of course! But--oh dear, you don't know what sort of people they are. +They are deserving of great respect. For instance, there's Mrs. General +von Klebs. [_Proudly_.] We are friends of hers. + + MAGDA. + +[_With sham respect_.] Really? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Now, they'll probably come to-morrow. Then you'll meet, besides, some +other pious and aristocratic ladies whose patronage gains us a great +deal of influence. I'm curious to see how they'll like you. + + MAGDA. + +How I shall like them, you should say. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes--that is--but we're talking and talking-- + + MARIE. + +[_Jumping up_.] Oh, excuse me, mamma. + + MAGDA. + +No, you must stay here. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, Magda; but about your trunks at the hotel,--I am constantly on the +rack for fear something should be left. + + MAGDA. + +Send for them, then, children. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Aside to_ Mrs. Schwartze.] Now I'll question her thoroughly, Augusta. +Leave us alone. + + [_Exit_ Mrs. Schwartze. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Sitting down, with importance_.] And now, my dear Magda, you must +tell your old aunt all about it. + + MAGDA. + +Eh? Ah, look here, mamma needs help. Go on, quick! Make yourself +useful. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Viciously_.] If you command it. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, I have only to request. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Rising_.] It seems to me that your requests are somewhat forcible. + + MAGDA. + +[_Laughing_.] Perhaps. + + [_Exit_ Franziska _in a rage_. + + MARIE. + +Oh, Magda! + + MAGDA. + +Yes, sweet. That's the way to go through the world,--bend or break; +that is, I never bend. It's the only way. + + MARIE. + +Oh, good Heavens! + + MAGDA. + +Poor child! Yes, in this house one learns quite other views. I bent, +myself, yesterday disgracefully. Ah, how nice our old mamma is! +[_Earnestly, pointing to the mother's picture_.] And she up there! Do +you remember her? [Marie _shakes her head_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Thoughtfully_.] She died too soon! Where's papa? I want him. And yet +I'm afraid of him too. Now, child, while I eat my breakfast, now you +must make your confession. + + MARIE. + +Oh, I can't. + + MAGDA. + +Just show me the locket! + + MARIE. + +There! + + MAGDA. + +A lieutenant! Naturally. With us it's always a tenor. + + MARIE. + +Oh. Magda, it's no joke. He is my fate. + + MAGDA. + +What is the name of this fate? + + MARIE. + +It's Cousin Max. + + MAGDA. + +[_Whistles_.] Why don't you many the good youth, then? + + MARIE. + +Aunt Frankie wants a better match for him, and so she won't give him +the guaranty he needs. It's abominable! + + MAGDA. + +_Si! C'est bete, ca!_ And how long have you loved each other? + + MARIE. + +I don't remember when we did not. + + MAGDA. + +And where does he meet you? + + MARIE. + +Here. + + MAGDA. + +I mean elsewhere--alone. + + MARIE. + +We are never alone together. I think this precaution we owe to our own +self-respect. + + MAGDA. + +Come here--close--tell me the truth--has it never entered your mind to +cast this whole network of precaution and respect away from you, and to +go with the man you love out and away--anywhere--it doesn't matter +much--and as you lie quietly on his breast, to hurl back a scornful +laugh at the whole world which has sunk behind you? + + MARIE. + +No, Magda, I never feel so. + + MAGDA. + +But would you die for him? + + MARIE. + + [_Standing up with a gesture of enthusiasm_.] +I would die a thousand deaths for him! + + MAGDA. + +My poor little darling! [_Aside_.] They bring everything to naught. The +most terrible of all passions becomes in their hands a mere resigned +defiance of death. + + MARIE. + +Whom are you speaking of? + + MAGDA. + +Nothing, nothing. See here, how large is this sum you need? + + MARIE. + +Sixty thousand marks. + + MAGDA. + +When can you be married? Must it be now, or will afternoon do? + + MARIE. + +Don't mock me, Magda. + + MAGDA. + +You must give me time to telegraph. One can't carry so much money about +with one. + + MARIE. + +[_Slowly taking it in, and then, with an outburst of joy, throwing +herself at_ Magda's _feet_.] Magda! + + MAGDA. + +[_After a silence_.] Be happy, love your husband. And if you hold your +first-born on your arm, in the face of the world [_holding out her arms +with angry emphasis_]-- so, face to face, then think of one who-- Ah! +some one's coming. + + _Enter_ Heffterdingt _with a portfolio_. + + MAGDA. + +[_Crossing to him_.] Oh, it's you. That's good. I wanted you. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You wanted me? What for? + + MAGDA. + +Only--I want to talk with you, holy man. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Isn't it good, Miss Magda, to be at home again? + + MAGDA. + +Oh, yes, except for the old aunt's sneaking about. + + MARIE. + +[_Who is collecting the breakfast-things; laughing, but frightened_.] +Oh, Heavens, Magda! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good-morning, Miss Marie. + + MARIE. + +Good-morning, Pastor. + + [_Exit, with the table_. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Heavens, how she beams! + + MAGDA. + +She has reason. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Isn't your father here? + + MAGDA. + +No. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Isn't he well? + + MAGDA. + +I think so. I haven't seen him yet. Yesterday we sat together till +late. I told him what I could tell. But I think he was very unhappy; +his eyes were always searching and probing. Oh, I fear your promise +will be badly kept. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That seems like a reproach. I hope you don't regret-- + + MAGDA. + +No, my friend, I don't regret it. But I feel very curiously. I seem to +be in a tepid bath, I'm so weak and warm. What they call German +sentiment is awaking again, and I have been so unused to it. My heart +seems like a Christmas number of the "Gartenlaube,"--moonlight, +betrothals, lieutenants, and I don't know what! But the best of it is, +I know that I'm playing with myself. I can cast it all off as a child +throws away its doll, and be my old self again. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +That would be bad for us. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, don't be angry with me. I seem to be all torn and rooted up. And +then I am so afraid-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Of what? + + MAGDA. + +I can't--I can't be quite one of you. I am an intruder. [_Aside, +fearfully_.] If a spectre from without were to appear, this whole idyl +would go up in flames. [Heffterdingt _suppresses a start of +astonishment_.] And I'm confined, hemmed in. I begin to be a coward. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I don't think one should be terrified at feeling filial love. + + MAGDA. + +Filial love? I should like to take that snow-white head in my lap and +say, "You old child!" And nevertheless I must bend my will, I must bend +my will. I am not accustomed to that. I must conquer; I must sing down +opposition. I sing or I live,--for both are one and the same,--so that +men must will as I do. I force them, I compel them to love and mourn +and exult and lament as I do. And woe to him who resists! I sing them +down,--I sing and sing until they become slaves and playthings in my +hands. I know I'm confused, but you understand what I mean. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +To work the impress of one's own personality,--that's what you mean, +isn't it? + + MAGDA. + +_Si, si, si, si_! Oh, I could tell you everything. Your heart has +tendrils which twine about other hearts and draw them out. And you +don't do it selfishly. You don't know how mighty you are. The men +outside there are beasts, whether in love or hate. But you are a man. +And one feels like a man when one is near you. Just think, when you +came in yesterday, you seemed to me so small; but something grows out +from you and becomes always greater, almost too great for me. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good Heavens, what can it be? + + MAGDA. + +What shall I call it,--self-sacrifice, self-abnegation? It is something +with self--or rather the reverse. That is what impresses me. And that +is why you can do so much with me. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +How strange! + + MAGDA. + +What? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I must own it to you--it is--it is nonsense; but since I have seen you +again, a sort of longing has awakened within me to be like you. + + MAGDA. + +Ha, ha! You, model of men! Like me! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I have had to stifle much in my nature. My peace is the peace of the +dead. And as you stood before me yesterday in your freshness, your +natural strength, your--your greatness, I said to myself, "That is what +you might have been if at the right moment joy had entered into your +life." + + MAGDA. + +[_In a whisper_.] And one thing more, my friend,-- sin! We must sin if +we wish to grow. To become greater than our sins is worth more than all +the purity you preach. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Impressed_.] That would be-- [_Voices outside_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Starting and listening_.] 'Sh! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +What's the matter? + + MAGDA. + +Nothing, it's only my stupid nervousness; not on my own account, +believe me, only out of pity for all these. We shall still be friends? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +As long as you need me. + + MAGDA. + +And when I cease to need you? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +There will be no change in me, Miss Magda. [_As he is going, he meets_ +Schwartze _in the doorway_.] + + _Enter_ Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Good-morning, my dear pastor! Will you go out on the porch for a +moment? I will follow you. [_Exit_ Heffterdingt.] Now, did you sleep +well, my child? [_Kisses her on the forehead_.] + + MAGDA. + +Finely. In my old room I found the old sleep of childhood. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Had you lost it? + + MAGDA. + +Haven't you? + + SCHWARTZE. + +They say a good conscience-- Come to me, my child. + + MAGDA. + +Gladly, papa! No, let me sit at your feet. There I can see your +beautiful white beard. When I look at it, I always think of Christmas +eve and a quiet snow-covered field. + + SCHWARTZE. + +My child, you know how to say pretty things. When you speak, one seems +to see pictures about one. Here we are not so clever; that is why we +have nothing to conceal here. + + MAGDA. + +We also-- But speak quietly, papa. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, I must. You know what agreement you made with the pastor. + + MAGDA. + +Which you will keep? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I am accustomed to keep to what I have promised. But you must see +that the suspicion--whatever I may do, the suspicion weighs like a +mountain-- + + MAGDA. + +What do you suspect? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I don't know. You have appeared among us as wonderfully as gloriously. +But brilliance and worldly honor and all that don't blind a father's +eyes. You seem to be warm at heart too. At least, one would think so to +hear you speak. But there is something in your eyes which does not +please me, and a scornful curl about your lips. + + MAGDA. + +Dear, good old papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +You see! This tenderness is not that of a daughter towards her father. +It is so that one pets a child, whether it be a young or an old one. +And although I'm only a poor soldier, lame and disabled, I demand your +respect, my child. + + MAGDA. + +I have never withheld it. [_Rising_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +That is good, that is good, my daughter. Believe me, we are not so +simple as we may appear to you. We have eyes to see, and ears to hear, +that the spirit of moral revolt is abroad in the world. The seed which +should take root in the heart, begins to decay. What were once sins +easily become customs to you. My child, soon you will go away. When you +return, you may find me in the grave. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, no, papa! + + SCHWARTZE. + +It's in God's hand. But I implore you-- Come here, my +child--nearer--so-- [_He draws her down to him, and takes her head +between his hands_.] I implore you--let me be happy in my dying hour. +Tell me that you have remained pure in body and soul, and then go with +my blessing on your way. + + MAGDA. + +I have remained--true to myself, dear father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +How? In good or in ill? + + MAGDA. + +In what--for me--was good. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Blankly_.] In what--for you--then? + + MAGDA. + +[_Rising_.] And now don't worry any more. Let me enjoy these few days +quietly. They will be over soon enough. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Broodingly_.] I love you with my whole heart, because I have sorrowed +for you--so long. [_Threateningly, rising_.] But I must know who you +are. + + MAGDA. + +Father dear-- [_Bell rings_. Mrs. Schwartze _bursts in_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Just think! the ladies of the Committee are here! They want to +congratulate us in person. Do you think we ought to offer them coffee, +Leopold? + + SCHWARTZE. + +I will go into the garden, Augusta. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +For Heaven's sake--they're just coming--you must receive their +congratulations. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I can't--no--I can't do it! [_Exit, left_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What is the matter with your father? + + _Enter_ Mrs. General Von Klebs, Mrs. Justice + Ellrich, Mrs. Schumann, _and_ Franziska. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_As she opens the door_.] My dear, the ladies-- + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +[_Giving her hand to_ Mrs. Schwartze.] What a day for you, my dear! +The whole town rejoices in the happy event. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Permit me--my daughter--Mrs. General von Klebs, Mrs. Justice Ellrich, +Mrs. Schumann. + + MRS. SCHUMANN. + +I am only the wife of a simple merchant; but-- + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +My husband will do himself the honor soon-- + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Won't you sit down, ladies? [_They sit_.] + + FRANZISKA. + +[_With aplomb_.] Yes, it is truly a joyful event for the whole family. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +We have unfortunately not shared the pleasures of the festival, my dear +young lady. I must therefore refrain from expressing that admiration to +which you are so well accustomed. + + MRS. SCHUMANN. + +If we had known, we should certainly have ordered tickets. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Do you expect to remain here for very long? + + MAGDA. + +That I really cannot say, madam--or, pardon me--your ladyship? + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +I must beg you--no. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, pardon me! + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Oh, please! + + MAGDA. + +We are such birds of passage, my dear madam, that we can really never +plan for the future. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +But one must have one's real home. + + MAGDA. + +Why? One must have a vocation. That seems to me enough. + + FRANZISKA. + +It's all in the point of view, dear Magda. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Ah, we're so far removed from all these ideas, my dear young lady. +Every now and then some person gives lectures here, but the good +families have nothing to do with it. + + MAGDA. + +[_Politely_.] Oh, I can quite understand that. The good families need +nothing, as they have plenty to eat. [_A silence_.] + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +But at least you must have some residence? + + MAGDA. + +If you call it so,--a place to sleep. Yes, I have a villa by the Lake +of Como and an estate at Naples. [_Sensation_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +But you've said nothing to us about that. + + MAGDA. + +I hardly ever make use of them, mamma dear. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +Art must be a very trying occupation? + + MAGDA. + +[_In a friendly tone_.] It depends upon how one follows it, my dear +madam. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +My daughter used to take singing-lessons, and it always taxed her very +much. + + MAGDA. + +[_Politely_.] Oh, I'm sorry for that. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +Naturally, you only do it for pleasure. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, it's so much pleasure! [_Aside to_ Mrs. Schwartze, _who sits near +her_.] Get these women away, or I shall be rude! + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Are you really engaged by a theatre, my dear young lady? + + MAGDA. + +[_Very sweetly_.] Sometimes, my dear madam. + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +Then you are out of an engagement at present? + + MAGDA. + +[_Murmurs_.] Oh, come, come! [_Aloud_.] Yes, I'm a vagabond now. [_The +ladies look at each other_.] + + MRS. VON KLEBS. + +There are really not many daughters of good families on the stage, are +there? + + MAGDA. + +[_In a friendly tone_.] No, my dear madam; most of them are too stupid. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Oh, Magda! + + _Enter_ Max. + + MAGDA. +Oh, that must be Max! [_Goes to him and shakes hands_.] Just think, I +had quite forgotten your face. We were great friends, were we not? + + MAX. + +Were we? [_Astonished_.] + + MAGDA. + +Well, we can begin now. + + MRS. ELLRICH. + +[_Aside_.] Do you understand this? + +[Mrs. Von Klebs _shrugs her shoulder. The ladies rise and take their +leave, shaking hands with_ Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Franziska, _and bowing +to_ Magda.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Confused_.] Must you go already, ladies? My husband will be so +sorry-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Coolly_.] _Au revoir_, ladies, _au revoir_! + [_Exit the ladies in the order of their rank_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Turning back from the door_.] Mrs. von Klebs was offended, or she +would have stayed. Magda, you certainly must have offended Mrs. von +Klebs. + + FRANZISKA. + +And the other ladies, too, were hurt. + + MAGDA. + +Mamma dear, won't you see about my trunk? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, I'll go to the hotel myself. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! + [_Exit_. + + FRANZISKA. + +Wait, I'm coming too. [_Spitefully_.] I must make myself useful, of +course! + + MAGDA. + +Oh, Aunt Frankie, a word with you. + + FRANZISKA. + +Now? + + MAGDA. + +We're going to celebrate a betrothal to-day. + + FRANZISKA. + +What betrothal? + + MAGDA. + +Between him and Marie. + + MAX. + +[_Joyfully_.] Magda! + + FRANZISKA. + +I think, as I occupy a mother's position towards him, that it is my +right-- + + MAGDA. + +No; the giver alone has rights, my dear aunt. And now don't fail. + + FRANZISKA. + +[_Furiously_.] I will make you-- [_Exit_. + + MAX. + +How shall I thank you, my dear Miss-- + + MAGDA. + +Magda, my dear cousin, Magda! + + MAX. + +Pardon me, it was my great respect-- + + MAGDA. + +Not so much respect, my boy,--I don't like it; more weight, more +individuality! + + MAX. + +Ah, my dear cousin, should a young lieutenant with twenty-five marks' +pay, not to speak of debts, have individuality? It would only be a +hindrance to him. + + MAGDA. + +Ah! + + MAX. + +If I manage my men properly, and dance a correct figure at our +regimental balls, and am not a coward, that is enough. + + MAGDA. + +To make a wife happy, certainly. Go and find her. Go along! + + MAX. + +[_Starts to go, and turns back_.] Oh, excuse me, in my happiness I +entirely forgot the message I-- Early this morning--by-the-by, you +can't think what a tumult the whole city is in about you--well, early +this morning--I was still in bed--an acquaintance came in who is also +an old acquaintance of yours, very pale from excitement, and he asked +whether it were all true, and if he might come to see you. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, let him come. + + MAX. + +He wanted me to ask you first. He would then send in his card this +morning. + + MAGDA. + +What formalities the men go through here! Who is he? + + MAX. + +Councillor von Keller. + + MAGDA. + +[_Speaking with difficulty_.] He--what?--he? + + MAX. + +[_Laughing_.] Pardon me, but you're as white now as he was. + + MAGDA. + +[_Quietly_.] I? White? + + _Enter_ Theresa _with a card_. + + MAX. + +Here he is. Dr. von Keller. + + MAGDA. + +Let him come up. + + MAX. + +[_Smiling_.] I'll only say to you, my dear cousin, that he's a very +important man, who has a great career before him, and promises to be a +pillar of our religious circle. + + MAGDA. + +Thank you! + + _Enter_ Von Keller _with a bouquet_. + + MAX. + +[_Crossing to him_.] My dear Councillor, here is my cousin, who is +delighted to see you. You will excuse me. + + [_Exit, with a bow to each_. + +[Von Keller _remains standing at the door_. Magda _moves about +nervously. Silence_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Aside_.] Here is my spectre! [_Indicates a seat at the table, left, +and sits down opposite_.] + + VON KELLER. + +First, you must allow me to express my warmest and most sincere good +wishes. This is a surprise which you happily could not have expected. +And as a sign of my interest, allow me, my dearest friend, to present +you with these modest flowers. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, how thoughtful! [_Takes the flowers with a laugh, and throws them +on the table_.] + + VON KELLER. + +[_In embarrassment_.] I--I see with sorrow that you resent this +approach on my part. Have I in any way been wanting in the necessary +delicacy? In these narrow circles a meeting could not have been +avoided. I think it is better, my dearest friend, that we should come +to an understanding,--that we should know the relations-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Rising_.] You're right, my friend. I was not at the height of my own +nature just now. Had I been, I might have played the deserted +Marguerite to the end. The morals of home had infected me a little. But +I am myself again. Give me your hand bravely. Don't be afraid, I won't +harm you. So--tight--so! + + VON KELLER. + +You make me happy. + + MAGDA. + +I've painted this meeting to myself a thousand times, and have been +prepared for it for years. Something warned me, too, when I undertook +this journey home--though I must say I hardly expected just here +to-- Yes, how is it that, after what has passed between us, you came +into this house? It seems to me a little-- + + VON KELLER. + +I tried to avoid it until quite recently; but since we belong to the +same circles, and since I agree with the views of this family--that is, +at least in theory-- + + MAGDA. + +Yes, yes. Let me look at you, my poor friend. How you have changed! + + VON KELLER. + +[_Laughing nervously_.] I seem to have the misfortune to make a rather +absurd figure in your eyes. + + MAGDA. + +No, oh, no! I can see it all. The effort to keep worthy of respect +under such difficulties, with a bad conscience, is awkward. You +look down from the height of your pure atmosphere on your sinful +youth,--for you are called a pillar, my dear friend. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Looking at the door_.] Pardon me--I can hardly accustom myself again +to the affectionate terms. And if any one should hear us-- Would it not +be better-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Sadly_.] Let them hear us. + + VON KELLER. + +[_At the door_.] Good Heavens! Well [_sitting down again_], as I was +saying, if you knew with what real longing I look back from this height +at my gay, discarded youth-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Half to herself_.] So gay,-- yes, so gay. + + VON KELLER. + +Well, I felt myself called to higher things. I thought-- Why should I +undervalue my position? I have become Councillor, and that +comparatively young. An ordinary ambition might take satisfaction in +that. But one sits and waits at home, while others are called to the +ministry. And this environment, conventionality, and narrowness, all is +so gray,--gray! And the ladies here--for one who cares at all about +elegance--I assure you something rejoiced within me when I read this +morning that you were the famous singer,--you to whom I was tied by so +many dear memories and-- + + MAGDA. + +And then you thought whether it might not be possible with the help of +these dear memories to bring a little color into the gray background? + + VON KELLER. + +[_Smiling_.] Oh, pray don't-- + + MAGDA. + +Well, between old friends-- + + VON KELLER. + +Really, are we that, really? + + MAGDA. + +Certainly, _sans rancune_. Oh, if I took it from the other standpoint, +I should have to range the whole gamut,--liar, coward, traitor! But as +I look at it, I owe you nothing but thanks, my friend. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Pleased, but confused_.] This is a view which-- + + MAGDA. + +Which is very convenient for you. But why should I not make it +convenient for you? In the manner in which we met, you had no +obligations towards me. I had left my home; I was young and innocent, +hot-blooded and careless, and I lived as I saw others live. I gave +myself to you because I loved you. I might perhaps have loved any one +who came in my way. That--that seemed to be all over. And we were so +happy,--weren't we? + + VON KELLER. + +Ah, when I think of it, my heart seems to stop beating. + + MAGDA. + +There in the old attic, five flights up, we three girls lived so +merrily in our poverty. Two hired pianos, and in the evening bread and +dripping. Emmy used to warm it herself over the oil-stove. + + VON KELLER. + +And Katie with her verses! Good Lord! What has become of them? + + MAGDA. + +_Chi lo sa_? Perhaps they're giving singing-lessons, perhaps they're on +the stage. Yes, we were a merry set; and when the fun had lasted half a +year, one day my lover vanished. + + VON KELLER. + +An unlucky chance, I swear to you. My father was ill. I had to travel. +I wrote everything to you. + + MAGDA. + +H'm! I did not reproach you. And now I will tell you why I owe you +thanks. I was a stupid, unsuspecting thing, enjoying freedom like a +runaway monkey. Through you I became a woman. For whatever I have done +in my art, for whatever I have become in myself, I have you to thank. +My soul was like--yes, down below there, there used to be an AEolian +harp which was left mouldering because my father could not bear it. +Such a silent harp was my soul; and through you it was given to the +storm. And it sounded almost to breaking,--the whole scale of passions +which bring us women to maturity,--love and hate and revenge and +ambition [_springing up_], and need, need, need--three times need--and +the highest, the strongest, the holiest of all, the mother's +love!-- All I owe to you! + + VON KELLER. + +What--what do you say? + + MAGDA. + +Yes, my friend, you have asked after Emmy and Katie. But you haven't +asked after your child. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Jumping up and looking about anxiously_.] My child! + + MAGDA. + +Your child? Who calls it so? Yours? Ha, ha! Dare to claim portion +in him and I'll kill you with these hands. Who are you? You're a +strange man who gratified his lust and passed on with a laugh. But I +have a child,--my son, my God, my all! For him I lived and starved +and froze and walked the streets; for him I sang and danced in +concert-halls,--for my child who was crying for his bread! [_Breaks out +in a convulsive laugh which changes to weeping, and throws herself on a +seat, right_.] + + VON KELLER. + +[_After a silence_.] I am confounded. If I could have suspected,--yes, +if I could have suspected--I will do everything; I will not shrink from +any reparation. But now, I beg you to quiet yourself. They know that I +am here. If they saw us so, I should be--[_correcting himself_] you +would be lost. + + MAGDA. + +Don't be afraid. I won't compromise you. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, I was not speaking for myself, not at all. But just think, if it +were to come out, what the town and your father-- + + MAGDA. + +Poor old man! His peace is destroyed, at any rate. + + VON KELLER. + +And think! the more brilliantly you are placed now, the more certain is +your ruin. + + MAGDA. + +[_Madly_.] And if I wish for ruin! If I-- + + VON KELLER. + +For Heaven's sake, hush! some one's coming. + + MAGDA. + +[_Springing up_.] Let them come! Let them all come! I don't care, I +don't care! To their faces I'll say what I think of you,--of you and +your respectable society. Why should I be worse than you, that I must +prolong my existence among you by a lie! Why should this gold upon my +body, and the lustre which surrounds my name, only increase my infamy? +Have I not worked early and late for ten long years? Have I not woven +this dress with sleepless nights? Have I not built up my career step by +step, like thousands of my kind? Why should I blush before any one? I +am myself, and through myself I have become what I am. + + VON KELLER. + +Good! You may stand there proudly, but you might at least consider-- + + MAGDA. + +Whom? [_As he is silent_.] Whom? The pillar! Ha, ha! The pillar begins +to totter! Be easy, my dear friend. I am not revengeful. But when I +look at you in all your cowardly dignity--unwilling to take upon you +the slightest consequence of your doings, and contrast you with myself, +who sank through your love to be a pariah and an outcast-- Ah, I'm +ashamed of you. Pah! + + VON KELLER. + +For Heaven's sake! Your father! If he should see you like this! + + MAGDA. + +[_In agony_.] My father! [_Escapes through the door of the dining-room, +with her handkerchief to her face_.] + +_Enter_ Schwartze, _happy and excited, through the hall-door_. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ah, my dear Councillor--was that my daughter who just disappeared? + + VON KELLER. + +[_In great embarrassment_.] Yes, it was-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Why should she run away from me? Magda! + + VON KELLER. + +[_Trying to block his path_.] Had you not better-- The young lady +wished to be alone for a little! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Now? Why? When one has visitors, one does not-- Why should she-- + + VON KELLER. + +She was a little--agitated. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Agitated? + + VON KELLER. + +Yes; that's all. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Who has been here? + + VON KELLER. + +No one. At least, as far as I know. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Then, what agitating things could you two have to talk about? + + VON KELLER. + +Nothing of importance,--nothing at all, I assure you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What makes you look so, then? You can scarcely stand. + + VON KELLER. + +I? Oh, you're mistaken, you're mistaken. + + SCHWARTZE. + +One question, Councillor-- You and my daughter-- Please sit down. + + VON KELLER. + +My time is unfortunately-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Almost threatening_.] I beg you to sit down. + + VON KELLER. + +[_Not daring to resist_.] Thank you. [_They sit_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +You met my daughter some years ago in Berlin? + + VON KELLER. + +Yes. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Councillor von Keller, I know you to be as discreet as you are +sensible; but there are cases in which silence is a crime. I ask +you--and your life-long relations with me give me the right to ask, as +well as the mystery--which just now-- In short, I ask you, Do you know +anything discreditable about my daughter's life there? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, for Heaven's sake, how can you-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Do you not know how and where she lived? + + VON KELLER. + +No. I am absolutely-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Have you never visited at her house? + + VON KELLER. + +[_More and more confused_.] No, no, never, never. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Not once? + + VON KELLER. + +Well, I called on her once; but-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Your relations were friendly? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, entirely friendly--of course, only friendly. [_A pause_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Passes his hand over his forehead, looks earnestly at_ Von +Keller; _then, speaking absently_.] So? Then, honestly--if it might +be--if--if-- [_Gets up, goes to_ Von Keller, _and sits down again, +trying to quiet himself_.] Dr. von Keller, we both live in a quiet +world, where scandals are unknown. But I have grown old, very old. And +therefore I can't--can't control my thoughts as I should. And I can't +rid myself of an idea which has--suddenly--taken possession of me. I +have just had a great joy which I don't want to be embittered. But, to +quiet an old man, I beg you--give me your word of honor that-- + + VON KELLER. + +[_Rising_.] Pardon me, this seems almost like a cross-examination. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You must know, then, what I-- + + VON KELLER. + +Pardon me, I wish to know nothing. I came here innocently to make a +friendly visit, and you have taken me by surprise. I will not be taken +by surprise. [_Takes his hat_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Dr. von Keller, have you thought what this refusal means? + + VON KELLER. + +Pardon me, if you wish to know anything, I beg you to ask your +daughter. She will tell you what--what-- And now you must let me go. +You know where I live. In case-- I am very sorry it has happened so: +but-- Good-day, Colonel! [_Exit_. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_After brooding for a time_.] Magda! + + MARIE. + +[_Running in anxiously_.] For Heaven's sake, what's the matter? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Chokingly_.] Magda,--I want Magda. + + MARIE. + +[_Goes to the door and opens it_.] She's coming now--down the stairs. + + SCHWARTZE. + +So! [_Pulls himself together with an effort_.] + + MARIE. + +[_Clasping her hands_.] Don't hurt her! [_Pauses with the door open_. +Magda _is seen descending the stairs. She enters in travelling-dress, +hat in hand, very pale, but calm_.] + + MAGDA. + +I heard you call, father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I have something to say to you. + + MAGDA. + +And I to you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Go in--into my room. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, father. [_She goes to the door, left_. Schwartze _follows her_. +Marie, _who has drawn back frightened to the dining-room door, makes an +unseen gesture of entreaty_.] + + + + + ACT IV. + + Scene: _the same_. + + +[Mrs. Schwartze _and_ Marie _discovered_. Mrs. Schwartze, _in hat and +cloak, is knocking on the door at the left_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold! Oh, Heaven, I dare not go in. + + MARIE. + +No, no, don't! Oh, if you'd only seen his face! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +And they've been in there half an hour, you say? + + MARIE. + +Longer, longer! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Now she's speaking! [_Listening, frightened_.] He's threatening her. +Marie, Marie! Run into the garden. The pastor's there, in the arbor. +Tell him everything,--about Mr. von Keller's being here,--and ask him +to come in quickly. + + MARIE. + +Yes, mamma. [_Hurries to the hall-door_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Wait a minute, Marie. Has Theresa heard anything? If it should get +about-- + + MARIE. + +I've already sent her away, mamma. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +That's right, that's right. [_Exit_ Marie. Mrs. Schwartze _knocks +again_.] Leopold! listen to me, Leopold! [_Retreating_.] Oh, Heaven! +he's coming! [_Enter_ Schwartze, _bent and tottering_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +How do you feel, Leopold? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Sinking into a chair_.] Yes, yes,--just like the roses. The knife +conies, and cuts the stem, and the wound can never be healed. What am I +saying? What? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +He's out of his mind. + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, no, I'm not out of my mind. I know quite well-- [Magda _appears at +the door, left_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What have you done to him? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, what have you--what have you? That is my daughter. What shall I do +with my daughter now? + + MAGDA. + +[_Humbly, almost beseechingly_.] Father, isn't it best, after what has +happened, that you should let me go,--that you should drive me into the +streets? You must get free of me if this house is to be pure again. + + SCHWARTZE. + +So, so, so! You think, then, you have only to go--to go away, out +there, and all will be as before? And we? What will become of us? +I--good God!--I--I have one foot in the grave--soon it will be +over--but the mother, and your sister--your sister. + + MAGDA. + +Marie has the husband she wants-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +No one will marry a sister of yours. [_With aversion_.] No, no. Don't +think it! + + MAGDA. + +[_Aside_.] My God! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_To_ Mrs. Schwartze.] See, she's beginning now to realize what she has +done. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Yes; what-- + + MAGDA. + +[_In tender sympathy, but still with a tinge of superiority_.] My poor +old father--listen to me--I can't change what has passed. I will give +Marie half my fortune. I will make up a thousand times all that I have +made you suffer to-day. But now, I implore you, let me go my way. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Oho! + + MAGDA. + +What do you want of me? What am I to you? Yesterday at this time you +did not know even whether I still lived; and to-day-- It is madness to +demand that I should think and feel again as you do; but I am afraid of +you, father, I'm afraid of you all--ah, I am not myself-- [_Breaking +out in torment_.] I cannot bear the sorrow. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ha, ha! + + MAGDA. + +Father dear, I will humble myself before you willingly. I lament with +my whole heart that I've brought sorrow to you to-day, for my flesh and +blood still belong to you. But I must live out my own life. That I owe +to myself,--to myself and mine. Good-by! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Stopping her_.] Where are you going? + + MAGDA. + +Let me pass, father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I'll kill you first. [_Seizes her_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold! [_Enter_ Heffterdingt. _He throws himself between them with a +cry of horror_. Magda, _freed by the old man, goes slowly back, with +her eyes fixed on the_ Pastor, _to the seat, left, where she remains +motionless_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_After a silence_.] In God's name! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, yes, yes, Pastor--it made a fine family group, eh? Look at her! +She has soiled my name. Any scoundrel can break my sword. That is my +daughter; that is-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Dear Colonel, these are things which I do not understand, and which I +do not care to understand. But it seems to me there must be something +to do, instead of-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yes, to do,--yes, yes,--there's much to do here. I have much to do. I +don't see why I'm standing here. The worst of it is--the worst of it +is, he can say to me--this man--you are a cripple--with your shaking +hand--with such a one I can't fight, even if I have had your daughter +for a-- But I will show him-- I will show him-- Where is my hat? + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Where are you going, Leopold? [Magda _rises_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +My hat! + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Gives him hat and stick_.] Here, here! + + SCHWARTZE. + +So! [_To_ Magda.] Learn to thank the God, in whom you disbelieve, that +he has preserved your father until this hour, for he shall bring you +back your honor! + + MAGDA. + +[_Kneeling, and kissing his hand_.] Don't do it, father! I don't +deserve this of you. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Bends weeping over her head_.] My poor, poor child! + + MAGDA. + +[_Calling after him_.] Father! + + [_Exit_ Schwartze _quickly_. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +My child, whatever happens, we women--we must hold together. + + MAGDA. + +Thanks, mamma. The play will soon be played out now. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +My dear Mrs. Schwartze, Marie is out there, full of sorrow. Go and say +a kind word to her. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +What shall I say to comfort her, when all the happiness has gone out of +her life? [Magda _jumps up in anguish_.] Oh, Pastor, Pastor! + + [_Exit_. + + MAGDA. + +[_After a silence_.] Oh, I am so tired! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Magda! + + MAGDA. + +[_Brooding_,] I think I shall see those glaring bloodshot eyes before +me always--wherever I go. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Magda! + + MAGDA. + +How you must despise me! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Ah, Miss Magda, I have long been a stranger to despite. We are all poor +sinners-- + + MAGDA. + +[_With a bitter laugh_.] Truly we are-- Oh, I am so tired!--it is +crushing me. There is that old man going out to let himself be shot +dead for my sake, as if he could atone for all my sins with his single +life! Oh, I am so tired! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Miss Magda--I can only conjecture--what all this means--but you have +given me the right to speak to you as a friend. And I feel that I am +even more. I am your fellow-sinner, Miss Magda! + + MAGDA. + +Good Heavens! Still harping on that! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Do you feel the obligation, Miss Magda, to bring honor and peace back +to this house? + + MAGDA. + +[_Breaking out in anguish_.] You have lived through the sorrow, and ask +whether I feel it? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I think your father will obtain from that gentleman the declaration +that he is ready for any sort of peaceable satisfaction. + + MAGDA. + +Ha, ha! The noble soul! But what can I do? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You can--not spurn the hand which he will offer you. + + MAGDA. + +What? You don't mean-- This man--this strange man whom I despise--how, +how could I-- + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Dear Miss Magda, there comes an hour to almost every man when he +collects the broken pieces of his life, to form them together into a +new design. I have found it so with myself. And now it is your turn. + + MAGDA. + +I will not do it--I will not do it. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +You will have to. + + MAGDA. + +I would rather take my child in my arms and throw myself into the sea. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Suppresses a violent start; continues after a silence, hoarsely_.] Of +course, that is the simplest solution. And your father can follow you. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, have pity on me! I must do whatever you demand. I don't know how +you have gained such power over me. Oh, man, if the slightest memory of +what you once felt, if the least pity for your own youth, still lives +within you, you cannot sacrifice me so! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I do not sacrifice you alone, Miss Magda. + + MAGDA. + +[_With awakening perception_.] Good God! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +There's no other way. I see none. You know yourself that the old man +would not survive it. And what would become of your mother, and what +would become of your poor sister? Miss Magda, it is as if with your own +hand you set fire to the house and let everything burn that is within. +And this house is still your home-- + + MAGDA. + +[_In growing agony_.] I will not, I will not. This house is not my +home. My home is with my child! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +This child, too. He will grow up fatherless, and will be asked, "Where +is your father?" He will come and ask you, "Where is my father?" What +can you answer him? And, Miss Magda, he who has not peace in his heart +from the beginning will never win it in the end. + + MAGDA. + +All this is not true, and if it were true, have I not a heart too? Have +I not a life to live also? Have I not a right to seek my own happiness? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Harshly_.] No; no one has that. But do as you will. Ruin your home, +ruin your father and sister and child, and then see what heart you have +to seek your own happiness. [Magda _bows her head, sobbing. The_ Pastor +_crosses to her, and leans over the table pityingly, with his hand on +her hair_.] My poor-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Seizing his hand_.] Answer me one question. You have sacrificed your +life for my sake. Do you think, to-day, in spite of what you know and +what you do not know, do you think that I am worth this sacrifice? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Constrained, as if making a confession_.] I have said already I am +your fellow-sinner, Miss Magda. + + MAGDA. + +[_After a pause_.] I will do what you demand. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I thank you. + + MAGDA. + +Good-by. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Good-by. [_Exit. He is seen through the open door speaking to_ Marie +_and sending her in_. Magda _remains motionless, with her face in her +hands until he has gone_. + + _Enter_ Marie. + + MARIE. + +What can I do, Magda? + + MAGDA. + +Where has the pastor gone? + + MARIE. + +Into the garden. Mamma is with him. + + MAGDA. + +If father asks for me, say I shall wait there. [_Nods towards left_.] + + MARIE. + +And haven't you a word for me, Magda? + + MAGDA. + +Oh, yes. Fear nothing. [_Kisses her on the forehead_.] Everything will +come out well, so well--no, no, no. [_In weary bitterness_.] Everything +will come out quite well. [_Exit, left_. Marie _goes into the +dining-room_.] + +_Enter_ Schwartze. _He takes out a pistol-case and opens it. Takes a +pistol, cocks it with difficulty, examines the barrel, and aims at a +point on the wall. His arm trembles violently. He strikes it angrily, +and lets the pistol sink. Enter_ Max. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Without turning_.] Who's there? + + MAX. + +It's I, uncle. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Max? Ah, you may come in. + + MAX. + +Uncle, Marie told me-- What are the pistols for, uncle? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Ah, they used to be fine pistols,--beautiful pistols. See, boy, with +this I have hit the ace of hearts at twenty paces, or say fifteen. +And fifteen would be enough. We ought to have been in the garden +already, but--but [_helplessly touches his trembling arm, almost in +tears_]--but I can nevermore-- + + MAX. + +[_Hurrying to him_.] Uncle? [_They embrace each other for a moment_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +It's all right,--it's all right. + + MAX. + +Uncle, I need not say that I take your place, that I meet any man you +point out; it is my right. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Yours,--why? In what capacity? Will you marry into a disgraced family? + + MAX. + +Uncle! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Are you prepared to strip off the uniform of our regiment? Yes, I might +set up a gambling-house, and you could play the stool-pigeon for a +living. There is no knowing what we might do. What! you, with your +beautiful name, your noble name, propose this sacrifice,--and I to +profit by it! Ha, ha! No, my boy; even if you still were willing, I am +not. This house and all within are marked for ruin. Go your way from +it. With the name of Schwartze you have nothing more to do. + + MAX. + +Uncle, I demand that you-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Hush! Not now! [_Motions to the door_.] Soon I may need you as one +needs a friend in such affairs, but not now--not now. First I must find +the gentleman. He was not at home--the gentleman was not at home. But +he shall not think he has escaped me. If he is out a second time, then, +my son, your work begins. Until then, be patient,--be patient. + + _Enter_ Theresa _from hall_. + + THERESA. + +Councillor von Keller. [Schwartze _starts_.] + + MAX. + +He here! How-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Let him come in. [_Exit_ Theresa. + + MAX. + +Uncle! [_Points to himself in great excitement_. Schwartze _shakes his +head, and signs to_ Max _to leave the room. Enter_ Von Keller. _Exit_ +Max. _They meet in the doorway_. Von Keller _greets_ Max _courteously_. +Max _restrains himself from insulting him_.] + + VON KELLER. + +Colonel, I am grieved at having missed you. When I returned from the +Casino, where I am always to be found at noon,--where, I say, I am +always to be found,--your card lay on the table; and as I imagine that +there are matters of importance to be discussed between us, I made +haste--as I say, I have made haste-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +Councillor, I do not know whether in this house there should be a chair +for you, but since you have come here so quickly, you must be tired. I +beg you to be seated. + + VON KELLER. + +Thanks. [_Sits down, near the open pistol-case, starts as he sees it, +watches the_ Colonel _apprehensively_.] H'm! + + SCHWARTZE. + +Now, have you nothing to say to me? + + VON KELLER. + +Allow me first one question: Did your daughter, after our conversation, +say anything to you about me? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Councillor, have you nothing to say to me? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, certainly, I have a great deal to say to you. I would gladly, for +instance, express to you a wish, a request; but I don't quite know +whether-- Won't you tell me, at least, has your daughter spoken of me +at all favorably? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Angrily_.] I must know, sir, how we stand, in what light I am to +treat you. + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, pardon me, now I understand-- [_Working himself up_.] Colonel, +you see in me a man who takes life earnestly. The days of a light +youth-- [Schwartze _looks up angrily_.] Pardon me, I meant to +say--since early this morning a holier and, if I may say so, a more +auspicious resolution has arisen within me. Colonel, I am not a man of +many words. I have already wandered from the point. As one man of honor +to another, or-- in short, Colonel, I have the honor to ask you for the +hand of your daughter. [Schwartze _sits motionless, breathing +heavily_.] Pardon me, you do not answer--am I perhaps not worthy-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Groping for his hand_.] No, no, no; not that,--not that. I am an old +man. These last hours have been a little too much for me. Don't mind +me. + + VON KELLER. + +H'm, h'm! + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Rising, and closing the lid of the pistol-case_.] Give me your hand, +my young friend. You have brought heavy sorrow upon me,--heavy sorrow. +But you have promptly and bravely made it good. Give me the other hand. +So, so! And now do you wish to speak to her also? You will have much to +say. Eh? + + VON KELLER. + +If I might be allowed. + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Opens the hall-door and speaks off, then opens the door, left_.] +Magda! + + _Enter_ Magda. + + MAGDA. + +What is it, father? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Magda, this gentleman asks for the honor-- [_As he sees the two +together, he looks with sudden anger from one to the other_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Anxiously_.] Father? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Now everything's arranged. Don't make it too long! [_To_ Magda.] Yes, +everything's all right now. [_Exit_. + + VON KELLER. + +Ah, my dearest Magda, who could have suspected it? + + MAGDA. + +Then we are to be married. + + VON KELLER. + +Above all, I don't want you to entertain the idea that any design of +mine has been at the bottom of this development which I welcome so +gladly, which I-- + + MAGDA. + +I haven't reproached you. + + VON KELLER. + +No, you have no reason. + + MAGDA. + +None whatever. + + VON KELLER. + +Let me further say to you that it has always been my strongest wish +that Providence might bring us together again. + + MAGDA. + +Then you have really never ceased to love me? + + VON KELLER. + +Well, as an honorable man and without exaggeration I can scarcely +assert that. But since early this morning a holier and a more +auspicious resolution has arisen within me-- + + MAGDA. + +Pardon me, would this holy and auspicious resolution have arisen within +you just the same if I had come back to my home in poverty and shame? + + VON KELLER. + +My dearest Magda, I am neither self-seeking nor a fortune-hunter, but I +know what is due to myself and to my position. In other circumstances +there would have been no social possibility of making legitimate our +old relations-- + + MAGDA. + +I must consider myself, then, very happy in these ten long years to +have worked up unconsciously towards such a high goal. + + VON KELLER. + +I don't know whether I am too sensitive, but that sounds almost like +irony. And I hardly think that-- + + MAGDA. + +That it is fitting from me? + + VON KELLER. + +[_Deprecatingly_.] Oh! + + MAGDA. + +I must ask for your indulgence. The role of a patient and forbearing +wife is new to me. Let us speak, then, of the future [_sits and motions +to him to do the same_]--of our future. What is your idea of what is to +come? + + VON KELLER. + +You know, my dearest Magda, I have great designs. This provincial town +is no field for my statesmanship. Besides, it is my duty now to find a +place which will be worthy of your social talents. For you will give up +the stage and concert-hall,--that goes without saying. + + MAGDA. + +Oh, that goes without saying? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, I beseech you--you don't understand the conditions; it would be a +fatal handicap for me. I might as well leave the service at once. + + MAGDA. + +And if you did? + + VON KELLER. + +Oh, you can't be in earnest. For a hardworking and ambitious man who +sees a brilliant future before him to give up honor and position, and +as his wife's husband to play the vagabond,--to live merely as the +husband of his wife? Shall I turn over your music, or take the tickets +at the box-office? No, my dearest friend, you underestimate me, and the +position I fill in society. But don't be uneasy. You will have nothing +to repent of. I have every respect for your past triumphs, but +[_pompously_] the highest reward to which your feminine ambition can +aspire will be achieved in the drawing-room. + + MAGDA. + +[_Aside_.] Good Heaven, this thing I'm doing is mere madness! + + VON KELLER. + +What do you say? [Magda _shakes her head_.] And then the wife, the +ideal wife, of modern times is the consort, the true, self-sacrificing +helper of her husband. For instance, you, by your queenly personality +and by the magic of your voice, will overcome my enemies, and knit even +my friends more closely to me. And we will be largely hospitable. Our +house shall be the centre of the most distinguished society, who still +keep to the severely gracious manners of our forefathers. Gracious and +severe may seem contradictory terms, but they are not. + + MAGDA. + +You forget that the child on whose account this union is to be +consummated will keep the severely inclined away from us. + + VON KELLER. + +Yes, I know, dear Magda, it will be painful for you; but this child +must of course remain the deepest secret between us. No one must +suspect-- + + MAGDA. + +[_Astounded and incredulous_.] What--what do you say? + + VON KELLER. + +Why, it would ruin us. No, no, it is absurd to think of it. But we can +make a little journey every year to wherever it is being educated. One +can register under a false name; that is not unusual in foreign parts, +and is hardly criminal. And when we are fifty years old, and other +regular conditions have been fulfilled, [_laughing_], that can be +arranged, can't it? Then we can, under some pretext, adopt it, can't +we? + + MAGDA. + +[_Breaks into a piercing laugh; then, with clasped hands and +staring eyes_.] My sweet! My little one! _Mio bambino! Mio +povero_--_bam_--you--you--I am to--ha, ha, ha! [_Tries to open the +folding door_.] Go! go! + + _Enter_ Schwartze. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What-- + + MAGDA. + +Good you're here! Free me from this man, take this man away from me. + + SCHWARTZE. + +What? + + MAGDA. + +I have done everything you demanded. I have humbled myself, I have +surrendered my judgment, I have let myself be carried like a lamb to +the slaughter. But my child I will not leave. Give up my child to save +his career! [_Throws herself into a chair_.] + + SCHWARTZE. + +Mr. von Keller, will you please-- + + VON KELLER. + +I am inconsolable, Colonel. But it seems that the conditions which for +the interest of both parties I had to propose, do not meet the +approbation-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +My daughter is no longer in the position to choose the conditions under +which she-- Dr. von Keller, I ask your pardon for the scene to which +you have just been subjected. Wait for me at your home. I will myself +bring you my daughter's consent. For that I pledge you my word of +honor. [_Sensation_. Magda _rises quickly_.] + + VON KELLER. + +Have you considered what-- + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Holding out his hand_.] I thank you, Dr. von Keller. + + VON KELLER. + +Not at all. I have only done my duty. + + [_Exit, with a bow_. + + MAGDA. + +[_Stretching herself_.] So! Now I'm the old Magda again. [Schwartze +_locks the three doors silently_.] Do you think, father, that I shall +become docile by being shut up? + + SCHWARTZE. + +So! Now we are alone. No one sees us but He who sees us--there +[_pointing upward_] Quiet yourself, my child. We must talk together. + + MAGDA. + +[_Sits down_.] Good! We can come to an understanding, then,--my home +and I. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Do you see that I am now quite calm? + + MAGDA. + +Certainly. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Quite calm, am I not? Even my arm does not tremble. What has happened, +has happened. But just now I gave your betrothed-- + + MAGDA. + +My betrothed?-- Father dear! + + SCHWARTZE. + +I gave your betrothed my word of honor. And that must be kept, don't +you see? + + MAGDA. + +But if it is not in your power, my dear father. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Then I must die,--then I must simply die. One cannot live on when +one-- You are an officer's daughter. Don't you understand that? + + MAGDA. + +[_Compassionately_.] My God! + + SCHWARTZE. + +But before I die, I must set my home in order, must I not? Every one +has something which he holds sacred. What is sacred to your inmost +soul? + + MAGDA. + +My art. + + SCHWARTZE. + +No, that is not enough. It must be more sacred. + + MAGDA. + +My child. + + SCHWARTZE. + +Good! Your child,--your child,--you love it? [Magda _nods_.] You wish +to see it again? [_She nods_.] And--yes--if you made an oath upon its +head [_makes a motion as if he laid his hand upon a child's head_], +then you would not perjure yourself? [Magda _shakes her head, smiling_.] +That's well. [_Rising_.] Either you swear to me now, as upon his head, +that you will become the honorable wife of his father, or--neither of +us two shall go out of this room alive. [_Sinks back on the seat_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_After a short silence_.] My poor, dear papa! Why do you torture +yourself so? And do you think that I will let myself be constrained by +locked doors? You cannot believe it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +You will see. + + MAGDA. + +[_In growing excitement_.] And what do you really want of me? Why do +you trouble yourself about me? I had almost said, what have you all to +do with me? + + SCHWARTZE. + +That you will see. + + MAGDA. + +You blame me for living out my life without asking you and the whole +family for permission. And why should I not? Was I not without family? +Did you not send me out into the world to earn my bread, and then +disown me because the way in which I earned it was not to your taste? +Whom did I harm? Against whom did I sin? Oh, if I had remained the +daughter of the house, like Marie, who is nothing and does nothing +without the sheltering roof of the home, who passes straight from the +arms of her father into the arms of her husband; who receives from the +family life, thought, character, everything,--yes, then you would have +been right. In such a one the slightest error would have ruined +everything,--conscience, honor, self-respect. But I? Look at me. I was +alone. I was as shelterless as a man knocked about in the world, +dependent on the work of my own hands. If you give us the right to +hunger--and I have hungered--why do you deny us the right to love, as +we can find it, and to happiness, as we can understand it? + + SCHWARTZE. + +You think, my child, because you are free and a great artist, that you +can set at naught-- + + MAGDA. + +Leave art out of the question. Consider me nothing more than the +seamstress or the servant-maid who seeks, among strangers, the little +food and the little love she needs. See how much the family with its +morality demand from us! It throws us on our own resources, it gives us +neither shelter nor happiness, and yet, in our loneliness, we must live +according to the laws which it has planned for itself alone. We must +still crouch in the corner, and there wait patiently until a respectful +wooer happens to come. Yes, wait. And meanwhile the war for existence +of body and soul is consuming us. Ahead we see nothing but sorrow and +despair, and yet shall we not once dare to give what we have of youth +and strength to the man for whom our whole being cries? Gag us, stupefy +us, shut us up in harems or in cloisters--and that perhaps would be +best. But if you give us our freedom, do not wonder if we take +advantage of it. + + SCHWARTZE. + +There, there! That is the spirit of rebellion abroad in the world. My +child--my dear child--tell me that you were not in earnest--that +you--that you--pity me--if-- [_Looking for the pistol-case_]. I don't +know what may happen--child--have pity on me! + + MAGDA. + +Father, father, be calm, I cannot bear that. + + SCHWARTZE. + +I will not do it--I cannot do it-- [_Looking still for the +pistol-case._] Take it from me! Take it from me! + + MAGDA. + +What, father? + + SCHWARTZE. + +Nothing, nothing, nothing. I ask you for the last time. + + MAGDA. + +Then you persist in it? + + SCHWARTZE. + +My child, I warn you. You know I cannot do otherwise. + + MAGDA. + +Yes, father, you leave me no other way. Well, then, are you sure that +you ought to force me upon this man--[Schwartze _listens_] that, +according to your standards, I am altogether worthy of him? +[_Hesitating, looking into space_.] I mean--that he was the only one in +my life? + + SCHWARTZE. + +[_Feels for the pistol-case and takes the pistol out_.] You jade! [_He +advances upon her, trying to raise the weapon. At the same moment he +falls back on the seat, where he remains motionless, with staring eyes, +the pistol grasped in his hand, which hangs down by his side_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_With a loud cry_.] Father! [_She flies toward the stove for shelter +from the weapon, then takes a few steps, with her hands before her +face_.] Father! [_She sinks, with her knees in a chair, her face on the +back. Calling and knocking outside. The door is broken open_.] _Enter_ +Max, Marie, Heffterdingt, and Mrs. Schwartze. + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +Leopold, what's the matter? Leopold! [_To the_ Pastor.] O my God, he's +as he used to be! + + MARIE. + +Papa dear! Speak, one word! [_Throws herself down at his right_.] + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +Get the doctor, Max. + + MAX. + +Is it a stroke? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +I think so. [_Exit_ Max. _Aside to_ Magda.] Come to him. [_As she +hesitates_.] Come; it is the end. [_Leads her trembling to_ Schwartze's +_chair_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Who has tried to take the pistol_.] Let it go, Leopold; what do you +want with it? See, he's holding the pistol and won't let it go. + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Aside_.] It is the convulsion. He cannot. My dear old friend, can you +understand what I'm saying to you? [Schwartze _bows his head a little_. +Magda _sinks down at his left_.] God, the All-Merciful One, has called +you from on high. You are not her judge. Have you no sign of +forgiveness for her? [Schwartze _shakes his head slowly_.] + + MARIE. + +[_Sinking down by_ Magda.] Papa, give her your blessing, dear papa! [_A +smile transfigures his face. The pistol escapes from his hand. He +raises his hand slowly to place it on_ Marie's _head. In the midst of +this motion a spasm goes through his body. His arm falls back, his head +sinks_.] + + MRS. SCHWARTZE. + +[_Crying out_.] Leopold! + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Taking her hand_.] He has gone home. [_He folds his hands. Silent +prayer, broken by the sobbing of the women_.] + + MAGDA. + +[_Springing up and spreading out her arms in agony_.] Oh, if I had only +never come! [Heffterdingt _makes a motion to beg her silence. She +misunderstands_.] Are you going to drive me away? His life was the cost +of my coming. May I not stay now? + + HEFFTERDINGT. + +[_Simply and peacefully_. ] No one will hinder you from praying upon +his grave. + + + + [_Curtain falls slowly_.] + + + + + THE END. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 1: Without which officers in the German army may not marry.] + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Magda, by Hermann Sudermann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGDA *** + +***** This file should be named 34184.txt or 34184.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/8/34184/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by Google Books + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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