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ACT IV
(SCENE.--A large and handsomely furnished sitting-room at the
EVJE'S. The room is brightly lit and the fire burning. The entrance
door is on the right, and beyond it a door leading to the dining-room.
INGEBORG is busy taking the covers off the chairs, folding them
carefully as she does so. After a little, the bell rings. She
goes to open the door, and returns, showing in the DOCTOR.)
The DOCTOR. Oho! Is it to be in here to-night?
INGEBORG (who has resumed her work of making the room ready). Yes,
sir.
The DOCTOR. Where are they all?
INGEBORG. At the meeting, sir.
The DOCTOR. All of them?
INGEBORG. Yes, all of them. Miss Gertrud went first--
The DOCTOR. Yes, I saw her well enough!
INGEBORG. And then the master, and a farmer gentleman with him,
came in to fetch the mistress.
The DOCTOR (to himself). Something has happened here, then.
(Aloud.) Tell me, Ingeborg--has _he_ been here again? You know
who I mean. (Coughs in imitation of the EDITOR'S cough.)
INGEBORG. Oh, the Editor; no, sir.
The DOCTOR (to himself). I wonder what has happened. (Aloud.)
Well, evidently there is to be a festivity here to-night; and, as I
see the chairs are getting their covers taken off, I may as well
take mine off too. (Takes off his coat and gives it to INGEBORG,
who carries it out.) I don't blame Evje for wanting to celebrate
Harald's success after a meeting like that! He is not exactly
eloquent in the ordinary sense of the word--doesn't bother about
his antitheses and climaxes and paradoxes, and all that sort of
nonsense; but he is a _man_! He goes bail for what he says, and he
says what he likes--ha, ha! And that dear Gertrud, too! Follows
him into the hall, and, as there isn't a single seat left there,
goes up on to the platform among the committee, and sits there
looking at him with those trustful blue eyes of hers, as if there
was no one else in the room! And _we_ were all looking at _her_!
She helped him more than ten good speakers would have done, I am
sure. Her faith in him bred it in others, whether they liked it or
no. She is one who would die for her faith! Yes, yes! The man
that gets her--. (INGEBORG comes back.) Well! (Rubs his hands
together.) Look here, Ingeborg. (Very politely.) Do you know
what is meant by the Rights of Man?
INGEBORG (going on with her work). No, sir. Something we have
earned, I suppose.
The DOCTOR. Yes, you earn them every day.
INGEBORG. Our meals, perhaps?
The DOCTOR (laughing). No, it isn't something to eat,
unfortunately. (Politely.) Do you ever read papers, Ingeborg?
INGEBORG. Papers? Oh, you mean the price-lists they leave at the
kitchen door. Yes, sir; every day, before we go to market, I--
The DOCTOR. No, I don't mean papers of that sort. I mean--
INGEBORG. Oh, you mean the newspaper I take in to master's room
every morning. No, Sir, I don't read that. I am told there are such
horrors in it.
The DOCTOR. Quite so. Don't you care to read about horrors, then?
INGEBORG. Oh, we poor folk see enough of them in our everyday lives,
without reading about them!--But perhaps the gentry enjoy it.
The DOCTOR. You are a very wise woman. Let me tell you, though,
that there is a fight going on, about--oh, well, never mind what it
is about. And the Editor and Mr. Rejn, who both come to this
house, are the two chief fighters. Don't you want to know what
they are fighting about?
INGEBORG (going on unconcernedly with her work). Oh, so they are
fighting, are they? No, I don't care the least bit, sir!
The DOCTOR (to himself). Ha, ha--the difference between Ingeborg
and me is that I am interested in the fight merely as a student of
human nature, and she is not interested in it at all. I wonder
which is farthest from any genuine belief in politics?--from our
"duty as a citizen," as they call it? (To INGEBORG.) Ingeborg, do
you know what your "duty as a citizen" means?
INGEBORG. My "duty as a citizen"? That mean; paying fines, doesn't
it, sir?
The DOCTOR. Yes; and a very heavy fine, into the bargain!
INGEBORG. The master was fined because the pavement was not swept.
John was ill.
The DOCTOR. Quite right, that was one of his duties as a citizen.--
Tell me, Ingeborg, are they expecting a lot of people here to-night?
INGEBORG. No, sir, I have only laid table for quite a few.
The DOCTOR. And what are they going to have?
INGEBORG. Oh, one or two dishes and one or two sorts of wine--.
The DOCTOR. Aha! (A ring is heard at the bell. INGEBORG goes to the
door.) There they are! Now we shall have a fine time!
INGEBORG (coming back with a letter). It is a note for you, sir.
The DOCTOR. Oh, bother I
INGEBORG. The man who brought it was not sure whether you would be
at the meeting or here.
The DOCTOR. How could he know--? (Putting on his glasses.) Oh, from
my assistant--that is quite another thing. Of course he wants my
help or my advice. Well, he shan't have it! I have run about quite
enough to-day. Tell the messenger that I haven't time! I have my
Duties as a Citizen to attend to! (Calls after her.) And my
Manhood's Rights too! (Opens the envelope.) No, I won't read it; if
I do, the matter will worry me all the evening. I know what I am.
(Puts the note in his pocket.) I mean to enjoy this evening!
(Suddenly.) I wonder how our friend the Editor is enjoying this
evening! Was he at the meeting, I wonder? A remarkable personality
--but malignity itself! Lion-hearted, though! He would fight till
the last drop of his blood! But what is it, really, that he is
fighting for? That question has always interested me, for I can't
make it out. (To INGEBORG, who has comeback.) Well?
INGEBORG. The messenger has gone.--Yes, sir, I told him everything
you told me to.
The DOCTOR. Of course. You would! Why the deuce does any one pay
any attention to what I say! (The bell rings.) Here they are at
last! Now we shall have a delightful evening! (EVJE and MRS. EVJE
come in.) I am first, you see!
EVJE and MRS. EVJE. Were you at the meeting, too?
The DOCTOR. Where else should I be?
EVJE. Did you see me?
MRS. EVJE. There were so many people there, dear.
EVJE. But I was standing on a seat.
MRS. EVJE. Yes, he was standing on a seat!
The DOCTOR. There were plenty of people doing that.
EVJE. I wanted to be seen!--There _have_ been goings on here
to-day, my friend!
MRS. EVJE. You will never guess what has happened!
The DOCTOR. Anyway I can see that something has happened.
EVJE and MRS. EVJE. Oh--!
The DOCTOR. What is it, then?
EVJE. Those articles will be in to-morrow's paper.
The DOCTOR. In the paper?--Yes, I didn't find him.
EVJE. But I found him!
The DOCTOR (impatiently). Well?
EVJE. I will tell you all about it another time. But I have read them--
MRS. EVJE. And he has told me all about them!
The DOCTOR. Are they very bad?
EVJE. Oh--oh!
MRS. EVJE. Oh--oh--oh!
The DOCTOR (with a look of pleased curiosity.) As bad as all that?
EVJE and MRS. EVJE. Oh--oh--oh--oh!
The DOCTOR. And _that_ was why you went to the meeting!
EVJE. Of course--tit for tat! It was my wife's idea.
MRS. EVJE. It was the obvious thing to do, dear.
EVJE. Our whole family at the meeting!--So that all the town should
know that it was nothing but the meanest political persecution
because I had joined my son-in-law's party.
MRS. EVJE. We are party people now, you know!
EVJE. Do you know, there is something exciting about being mixed
up with such things--something invigorating, something--
The DOCTOR (stepping back). Are _you_ bitten with it, too?
EVJE. Yes, if I can't be left in peace, I shall become a party man.
The DOCTOR (enthusiastically). Did you see Gertrud?
EVJE and MRS. EVJE (with emotion). Our Gertrud! Yes, indeed we did!
The DOCTOR. Did you see her coming in with him!
EVJE and MRS. EVJE (as before). Yes, we saw her coming in with him!
The DOCTOR. I suppose you did not know she was going?
EVJE and Mrs. Evje. Oh, yes!
MRS. EVJE. She had said she would go with us--
EVJE. But when we went to fetch her, the bird had flown!
The DOCTOR. How pretty she looked, too! All the men were looking
at her. And how she looked at him!
MRS. EVJE. It made me want to cry. I had quite a job to prevent
myself.
EVJE. You need not have minded, dear! God has given us great
happiness. Her faith in him and her love shone to from her eyes
that it went to my heart. I felt quite upset! (Wipes his eyes.)
The DOCTOR. And what about _him_--eh? I don't fancy any one will
think about stopping his career. We have been a pack of fools.
EVJE. That we have!
The DOCTOR. He is not exactly eloquent, but--
EVJE. That is precisely what I was saying to my wife! He is not
exactly eloquent, but he is--
The DOCTOR. --a man!
EVJE. A man! My very words, weren't they, my dear?
MRS. EVJE. Yes.--And I say he is so strong a man that he can afford
to be tender-hearted. For he certainly has been that.
EVJE. Yes, he has been that!
The DOCTOR (laughing). In spite of his strength!
EVJE. Oh, you may make the most of your--. Aha! (Loud ringing at
the bell is heard.) Here they are!
MRS. EVJE. Let us go and meet them!
The DOCTOR. No; look here--let us wait for them at the other side
of the room, so that they may make a triumphal progress up to us!
EVJE and MRS. EVJE, Yes! (They go to the opposite end of the room,
while HARALD comes in rather quickly, with GERTRUD on his arm. As
they cross the room, the others cry out: "Bravo! Bravo!" and clap
their hands.)
GERTRUD (still holding to HARALD's arm). And he is my man! My man!
(Throws her arms round his neck, crying with happiness, and kisses
him; then does the same to her mother, and then to her father, to
whom she whispers: Thank you!)
The DOCTOR. Oh--me too!
GERTRUD (after a moment's hesitation). Yes--you too!
(The DOCTOR helps her to take off her cloak, and talks to her,
whispering and laughing.)
HARALD (shaking EVJE's hand). Good evening!
EVJE. Forgive me!
HARALD. With all my heart!
MRS. EVJE. And now everything is all right!
HARALD. For good!
EVJE and MRS. EVJE. For good!
HARALD. And, thank you for coming to the meeting.
EVJE. It was no more than our duty! Look here--did you see me?
HARALD. The whole time! But, tell me, was it a delusion, or was it
my brother Haakon that was standing on the floor beside you, rather
in the shadow?
EVJE and MRS. EVJE. It _was_ he!
EVJE. I fetched him from your brother Halvdan's.
HARALD. I am so glad! It must have pleased Haakon. Gertrud and I at
first thought of going in to see Halvdan before we came on here;
but we saw all his lights were out. He must be asleep.
EVJE. I can give you news of him. He is all right.
HARALD. And Haakon?
EVJE. Very well, too. A fine fellow! I wanted him to come home with
us now; but he said he was tired after his journey.
MRS. EVJE (to INGEBORG, who has come in from the dining room). Is
it ready?
INGEBORG. Yes, ma'am.
MRS. EVJE. Then come along. (INGEBORG opens the dining-room door.)
The DOCTOR and EVJE. Yes, come along!
The DOCTOR. But we must go ceremoniously! Let us make a little
festivity of it to-night! You must head the procession, Evje--and
then the two young people Gertrud (taking HARALD's arm). Yes!
The DOCTOR. And Mrs. Evje and I will bring up the rear! (Offers her
his arm.)
EVJE. Forward!(The bell rings. He stops.) Who can it be--as late as this?
The DOCTOR. Probably some friends on their way back from the
meeting.
MRS. EVJE. We must wait a moment!(To INGEBORG, who is going to open
the door.)Put a leaf in the table, and lay places for as many as
come.
INGEBORG. Yes, ma'am. (The bell rings again, as she goes to open
the door.)
The DOCTOR. They are impatient! So much the better--it shows they
are in a good humour after the meeting! (A knock is heard at the
door.)
ALL. Come in!(The EDITOR comes in, with no overcoat on, but wearing
his hat, which he forgets to take of till he is well into the
room. He goes straight up to EVJE, who has crossed over to the
left-hand side of the room.)
ALL (when they see him in the doorway). You! (GERTRUD clings closer
to HARALD.)
The EDITOR. I wanted once more, as in the old days, not to go to
bed without--this time it is not a question of thanking you for the
happy time we have had together but without begging your pardon!(He
speaks quietly, but with suppressed emotion.)There has been some
unfortunate misunderstanding. Those articles have been printed, in
spite of my express instructions to the contrary--I do not know how.
EVJE. I have read them.
The EDITOR. You have read them?
EVJE. Yes, the copy of the paper that was meant for you came into
my hands.
The EDITOR. So that was it!--Forgive me, old friend! Won't you give
me your hand?
MRS. EVJE (coming forward). That he shall never do!
The EDITOR (glancing over his shoulder at her). Let no one come
between us at a moment like this! You don't know--. A hundred times
in my life I would have done what I am doing now, had I not been
afraid that people would call it affectation on my part and repulse
me. Don't _you_ do that!--least of all now! Give me your hand,
Evje! I beg you, in the sight and hearing of you all--. (EVJE seems
to vacillate.)
MRS. EVJE. No, you shan't!--not while he has anything to do with a
newspaper. Otherwise it will all begin over again to-morrow. He
is not his own master, you know.
The EDITOR. I have done with it all.
MRS. EVJE. Oh, you have said that so often! Nobody believes it.
No; when a man can push political hatred so far as to write about
an old friend, in whose house he has been a daily guest, as if he
were a criminal--and all because he doesn't like his son-in-law, or
his servant--one doesn't shake hands with him the very day his
attacks appear in the paper.
The EDITOR (who, all the tinge, has kept his back turned to MRS.
EVJE, and has not looked at her). Evje, you are a good-hearted
fellow, I know. Don't listen to what others say, now. This is a
very bitter hour for me. You would be doing a good deed! Give
me your hand--or a word! I am in such a state now that I must
have visible signs of _some one's_ forgiveness, or I shall--!
MRS. EVJE (emphatically). Yes, a little repentance will do you
good! But it will do you no good if you obtain forgiveness easily!
You want to learn, just for once, what it is to be wounded at
heart. You are only accustomed to deal with people whom you can
flog one day and have at your feet--either from fear or from
vanity--the next. And have we--God forgive us!--ever thought
seriously the worse of you for it? No; because we never understood
what it was till we were hit by it ourselves. But that is all the
more reason why we should do our duty now! Hatred shall be met with
hatred!
The DOCTOR (at the back of the room, to GERTRUD and HARALD). She is
her father's daughter, after all, when it comes to the point!
The EDITOR (turns upon MRS. EVJE, with his fist clenched, but
restrains himself from answering her). Then you won't shake hands,
Evje? Not a word of forgiveness?
EVJE. I think my wife is right.
The EDITOR (controlling himself with difficulty). You are a weak
man, I know--
EVJE. What do you mean?
The EDITOR. --but do not be weak this time! If you knew everything,
you would know you _must_ not refuse me what I ask. There are
others concerned--and for that reason--
The DOCTOR. Let us go!
MRS. EVJE. No, stay! He shall not have his way again.
The EDITOR. Well, of all--! It is certainly true that those who are
hardest on sinners are those who have never been tempted
themselves--and the most merciless creature in the world is an
injured woman.
MRS. EVJE. Now he is coming out in his true colours!
The DOCTOR (not without glee). Yes, that he is!
The EDITOR (controlling himself once more). Evje--you, who know me,
know what it must cost me to do this--and you can form some idea of
the need I am in. I have never--
EVJE. I believe you; but I never can feel sure what your next move
will be. You have so many.
The EDITOR. My next move is to have done with it all, as sure as--
MRS. EVJE. Don't believe him! A man who can ask for your sympathy
one moment and abuse you the next is not fit to promise anything--
and certainly not fit to be forgiven, either.
The EDITOR (with an outburst of passion). Then may everything evil
overtake me if I ever ask you or any one else for sympathy again!
You have succeeded in teaching me that I can do without it! I can
rise above your cowardly cruelty. (To EVJE.) You are a miserable,
weak creature--and have always been, for all your apparent
good-natured shrewdness! (To MRS. EVJE.) And as for you, who have
often laughed so heartily at my so-called malice, and now all at
once have become so severely virtuous--why, you are both like
part-proprietors of my paper! You have taken all the profit you could
from me, as long as it served your purpose--I have seen that for a
long time! And all my pretended friends are like you--secret
holders of shares in me, so as to secure their own safety and the
persecution of others!--every bit as guilty as I am, only more
prudent, more timid, more cowardly--!
EVJE. Once more--leave this house, which you have outraged!
MRS. EVJE. And how dare you set foot in here again?
The EDITOR. No, I am not going until all the anger that is in my
heart has turned into fear in yours! Because now I will _not_ have
done with it all! No--it is just through _his_ death that respect
for me will revive--it will be like a rampart of bayonets round me!
"There goes one who can kill a man with a word, if he likes!"
_That_ will make them treat me respectfully!
HARALD and the Doctor. What does he mean?
The EDITOR (as he hears HARALD'S voice). And you--you mountebank,
who can stand up in public and seek applause before your brother's
corpse is cold--don't come talking rant to me! You are more
contemptible than I am! I couldn't have done that; I couldn't stand
there, as you are doing now, impatient to get to your champagne and
pretty speeches!--Oh, how I despise all such lying and heartlessness!
(They all look at him and at each other with a questioning
expression.)
HARALD. Is my brother dead?
MRS. EVJE. Is his brother dead?
GERTRUD. Good God, is Halvdan dead?
EVJE. Is he dead? Impossible!
The DOCTOR. Is Rejn dead--and I--?
EVJE. I saw him only a couple of hours ago, looking quite well.
The EDITOR (in a broken voice). Didn't you know?
ALL (except the DOCTOR). No!
The DOCTOR. Ah, that letter, that letter! (Looks in his pocket for
it and his glasses.)
The EDITOR. I am the wretchedest man alive! (Sinks into a chair.)
The DOCTOR. I had a letter from my assistant, but I have not read
it!
MRS. EVJE. Read it, read it!
The DOCTOR (reading). "I am writing in great haste. As I expect you
will be going to your old friends' after the meeting, and will meet
Harald Rejn there, the task will probably fall to you of telling
him--(the EDITOR gets up to go, but stands still)--that Halvdan
Rejn died about eight o'clock of a fresh attack of hemorrhage!
(HARALD leaves GERTRUD'S side and comes forward, with a cry. The
EDITOR steadies himself by holding on to the table.) No one was
with him; he was found lying across the threshold of his bedroom. A
copy of the newspaper was lying on the floor behind him." (HARALD,
with a groan, advance threateningly towards the EDITOR.)
GERTRUD. Harald, my ring!--my ring! (HARALD Stops, collects
himself, buries his face in his hands and bursts into uncontrollable
tears. GERTRUD puts her arms round him and holds him folded in them.)
The DOCTOR (laying a hand on HARALD's arm). "The housekeeper told
me he had only spoken two words, and they were 'Forgive him!'"
(HARALD bursts into tears.)
The DOCTOR (after waiting for a little). "Apparently chance--or
perhaps something else--decreed that the maid who ran for help,
should meet the very man, who hats caused the tragedy, and that it
should be _he_ who helped the housekeeper to lay him on his
deathbed." (All look at the EDITOR.)
EVJE. That was why he came! (A pause.)
GERTRUD. Harald! (HARALD, who has turned away from her to struggle
with his emotion, does not turn round.) If _he_ could forgive--
The EDITOR (with a gesture of refusal). No!
GERTRUD (quietly, to the EDITOR). If you want to deserve it, make
an end of all this!
The EDITOR. It is all at an end! (To MRS. EVJE.) You were right. I
knew it myself, too. My armour is pierces pierced through. A child
might conquer me now--and this child has done so; for she has
begged for mercy for me, and no one has ever done that before.
(Puts his hand over his eyes, turns away, and goes out. As he is
going out the bell rings. A moment later, INGEBORG Shows in HAAKON
REJN.)
GERTRUD (who has put her arms round HARALD, whispers). Who is it?
HARALD. My brother. (Goes to meet HAAKON and throws himself into
his arms.) You had a talk with him this afternoon, then?
HAAKON. Yes.
MRS. EVJE. Let us all go to him.
EVJE and Gertrud. Yes.
MRS. EVJE (to INGEBORG). Bring in our cloaks and hats again, and
afterwards clear the table. (INGEBORG does so.)
HARALD (unable to control his emotion). Haakon, this is my future
wife. (Goes away from them.)
HAAKON. Well, my dear, your engagement has begun seriously; take
all the future seriously, too.
The DOCTOR. You need not say that to _her_. What she needs is to
take life more lightly.
HAAKON. Oh, yes--if she lays everything in God's hands she can
always take life lightly.
MRS. EVJE. It is our own fault, I expect, when we take it too
lightly.
EVJE. But sometimes we learn a lesson by that.
HAAKON. Oh, yes. Well, we must stand by one another, we who
take life in the same way.
MRS. EVJE. Shall we go, children?
HARALD (to HAAKON). Will you bring Gertrud, Haakon? I would rather
go alone. (They go out. The curtain falls.)
Content of ACT IV
-THE END-
Bjornstjerne Bjornson's play/drama: The Editor
_
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