{"id":2255,"date":"2025-08-05T09:40:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T13:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/?p=2255"},"modified":"2025-08-05T09:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T13:56:29","slug":"the-ghost-sonata-by-august-strindberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/the-ghost-sonata-by-august-strindberg\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ghost Sonata, by August Strindberg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You will find this play in other formats here: https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/44302<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SP\u00d6K-SONATEN)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

CHAMBER PLAYS: OPUS III<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

1907<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

CHARACTERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OLD HUMMEL
The<\/em> STUDENT, named Arkenholtz<\/em>
The<\/em> MILKMAID, an apparition<\/em>
The<\/em> JANITRESS
The<\/em> GHOST of the Consul<\/em>
The<\/em> DARK LADY, daughter of the Consul and the<\/em> JANITRESS
The<\/em> COLONEL
The<\/em> MUMMY, wife of the<\/em> COLONEL
The<\/em> YOUNG LADY, supposedly the<\/em> COLONEL\u2019S daughter<\/em>,
but in reality the daughter of<\/em> OLD HUMMEL
The<\/em> DANDY, called Baron Skansenkorge and engaged to<\/em>
the<\/em> DARK LADY
JOHANSSON, in the service of<\/em> HUMMEL
BENGTSSON, the valet of the<\/em> COLONEL
The<\/em> FIANC\u00c9E, a white-haired old woman, formerly engaged<\/em>
to<\/em> HUMMEL
The<\/em> COOK
A<\/em> SERVANT-GIRL
BEGGARS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

FIRST SCENE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stage shows the first and second stories of a modern corner home. At the left, the house continues into the wings; at the right, it faces on a street supposed to be running at right angle to the footlights<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The apartment on the ground floor ends at the corner in a round room, above which is a balcony belonging to the apartment on the second floor. A flagstaff is fixed to the balcony<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the shades are raised in the windows of the Round Room, a statue of a young woman in white marble becomes visible inside, strongly illumined by sunlight. It is surrounded by palms. The windows on the left side of the Round Room contain a number of flower-pots, in which grow blue, white, and red hyacinths<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bedquilt of blue silk and two pillows in white cases are hung over the railing of the balcony on the second floor. The windows at the left of the balcony are covered with white sheets on the inside<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A green bench stands on the sidewalk in front of the house. The right corner of the foreground is occupied by a drinking fountain; the corner at the left, by an advertising column<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main entrance to the house is near the left wing. Through the open doorway appears the foot of the stairway, with steps of white marble and a banister of mahogany with brass trimmings. On the sidewalk, flanking the entrance, stand two laurel-trees in wooden tubs<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the left of the entrance, there is a window on the ground floor, with a window-mirror outside<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a bright Sunday morning<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the curtain rises, the bells of several churches are heard ringing in the distance<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doors of the entrance are wide open, and on the lowest step of the stairway stands the<\/em> DARK LADY. She does not make the slightest movement<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> JANITRESS is sweeping the hallway. Then she polishes the brass knobs on the doors. Finally she waters the laurel-trees<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the advertising column<\/em>, OLD HUMMEL is reading his paper, seated in an invalid\u2019s chair on wheels. His hair and beard are white, and he wears spectacles<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID enters from the side street, carrying milk-bottles in a crate of wire-work. She wears a light dress, brown shoes, black stockings, and a white cap<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She takes off her cap and hangs it on the fountain; wipes the perspiration from her forehead; drinks out of the cup; washes her hands in the basin, and arranges her hair, using the water in the basin as a mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A steamship-bell is heard outside. Then the silence is broken fitfully by a few bass notes from the organ in the nearest church<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When silence reigns again, and the<\/em> MILKMAID has finished her toilet, the<\/em> STUDENT enters from the left, unshaved and showing plainly that he has spent a sleepless night. He goes straight to the fountain. A pause ensues<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Can I have the cup?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID draws back with the cup<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Are you not almost done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID stares at him with horror<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [To himself<\/em>] With whom is he talking? I don\u2019t see anybody. Wonder if he\u2019s crazy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[He continues to look at them with evident surprise<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why do you stare at me? Do I look so terrible\u2014It is true that I haven\u2019t slept at all, and I suppose you think I have been making a night of it\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID remains as before<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You think I have been drinking, do you? Do I smell of liquor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID remains as before<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I haven\u2019t shaved, of course\u2026. Oh, give me a drink of water, girl. I have earned it. [Pause<\/em>] Well? Must I then tell you myself that I have spent the night dressing wounds and nursing the injured? You see, I was present when that house collapsed last night\u2026. Now you know all about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID rinses the cup, fills it with water, and hands it to him<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Thanks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> Milkmaid stands immovable<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Hesitatingly<\/em>] Would you do me a favour? [Pause<\/em>] My eyes are inflamed, as you can see, and my hands have touched wounds and corpses. To touch my eyes with them would be dangerous\u2026. Will you take my handkerchief, which is clean, dip it in the fresh water, and bathe my poor eyes with it?\u2014Will you do that?\u2014Won\u2019t you play the good Samaritan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID hesitates at first, but does finally what he has asked<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Thank you! [He takes out his purse<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID makes a deprecatory gesture<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Pardon my absent-mindedness. I am not awake, you see\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID disappears<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hummel. [To the<\/em> STUDENT] Excuse a stranger, but I heard you mention last night\u2019s accident\u2026. I was just reading about it in the paper\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is it already in the papers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. All about it. Even your portrait. They are sorry, though, that they have not been able to learn the name of the young student who did such splendid work\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Glancing at the paper<\/em>] Oh, is that me? Well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Whom were you talking to a while ago?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Didn\u2019t you see? [Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Would it be impertinent\u2014to ask\u2014your estimable name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What does it matter? I don\u2019t care for publicity. Blame is always mixed into any praise you may get. The art of belittling is so highly developed. And besides, I ask no reward\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Wealthy, I suppose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Not at all\u2014on the contrary\u2014poor as a durmouse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Look here\u2026. It seems to me as if I recognised your voice. When I was young, I had a friend who always said \u201cdur\u201d instead of door. Until now he was the one person I had ever heard using that pronunciation. You are the only other one\u2026. Could you possibly be a relative of the late Mr. Arkenholtz, the merchant?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. He was my father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Wonderful are the ways of life\u2026. I have seen you when you were a small child, under very trying circumstances\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, I have been told that I was born just after my father had gone bankrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. So you were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. May I ask your name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I am Mr. Hummel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You are? Then I remember\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Have you often heard my name mentioned at home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. And not in a pleasant way, I suppose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> STUDENT remains silent<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. That\u2019s what I expected.\u2014You were told, I suppose, that I had ruined your father?\u2014All who are ruined by ill-advised speculations think themselves ruined by those whom they couldn\u2019t fool. [Pause<\/em>] The fact of it is, however, that your father robbed me of seventeen thousand crowns, which represented all my savings at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. It is queer how the same story can be told in quite different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. You don\u2019t think that I am telling the truth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. How can I tell what to think? My father was not in the habit of lying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No, that\u2019s right, a father never lies\u2026. But I am also a father, and for that reason\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What are you aiming at?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I saved your father from misery, and he repaid me with the ruthless hatred that is born out of obligation\u2026. He taught his family to speak ill of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Perhaps you made him ungrateful by poisoning your assistance with needless humiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. All assistance is humiliating, sir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. And what do you ask of me now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Not the money back. But if you will render me a small service now and then, I shall consider myself well paid. I am a cripple, as you see. Some people say it is my own fault. Others lay it to my parents. I prefer to blame life itself, with its snares. To escape one of these snares is to walk headlong into another. As it is, I cannot climb stairways or ring door-bells, and for that reason I ask you: will you help me a little?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What can I do for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Give my chair a push, to begin with, so that I can read the bills on that column. I wish to see what they are playing to-night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Pushing the chair as directed<\/em>] Have you no attendant?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Yes, but he is doing an errand. He\u2019ll be back soon. Are you a medical student?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. No, I am studying philology, but I don\u2019t know what profession to choose\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Well, well! Are you good at mathematics?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Reasonably so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. That\u2019s good! Would you care to accept a position?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Fine! [Studying the playbills<\/em>] They are playing \u201cThe Valkyr\u201d at the matinee\u2026. Then the Colonel will be there with his daughter, and as he always has the end seat in the sixth row, I\u2019ll put you next to him\u2026. Will you please go over to that telephone kiosk and order a ticket for seat eighty-two, in the sixth row?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Must I go to the opera in the middle of the day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Yes. Obey me, and you\u2019ll prosper. I wish to see you happy, rich, and honoured. Your d\u00e9but last night in the part of the brave rescuer will have made you famous by to-morrow, and then your name will be worth a great deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [On his way out to telephone<\/em>] What a ludicrous adventure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Are you a sportsman?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, that has been my misfortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Then we\u2019ll turn it into good fortune.\u2014Go and telephone now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> STUDENT goes out<\/em>. HUMMEL begins to read his paper again. In the meantime the<\/em> DARK LADY has come out on the sidewalk and stands talking to the<\/em> JANITRESS. HUMMEL is taking in their conversation, of which, however, nothing is audible to the public<\/em>. After a while the<\/em> STUDENT returns<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Ready?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. It\u2019s done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Have you noticed this house?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, I have been watching it\u2026. I happened to pass by yesterday, when the sun was making every window-pane glitter\u2026. And thinking of all the beauty and luxury that must be found within, I said to my companion: \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be nice to have an apartment on the fifth floor, a beautiful young wife, two pretty little children, and an income of twenty thousand crowns?\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. So you said that? Did you really? Well, well! I am very fond of this house, too\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Do you speculate in houses?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Mm-yah! But not in the way you mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Do you know the people who live here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. All of them. A man of my age knows everybody, including their parents and grandparents, and in some manner he always finds himself related to every one else. I am just eighty\u2014but nobody knows me<\/em>\u2014not through and through. I am very much interested in human destinies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that moment the shades are raised in the Round Room on the ground floor, and the<\/em> COLONEL becomes visible, dressed in civilian clothes. He goes to one of the windows to study the thermometer outside. Then he turns back into the room and stops in front of the marble statue<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. There\u2019s the Colonel now, who will sit next to you at the opera this afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is he<\/em>\u2014the Colonel? I don\u2019t understand this at all, but it\u2019s like a fairy-tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. All my life has been like a collection of fairy-tales, my dear sir. Although the tales read differently, they are all strung on a common thread, and the dominant theme recurs constantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Whom does that statue represent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. His wife, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Was she very lovely?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Mm-yah\u2014well\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Speak out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Oh, we can\u2019t form any judgment about people, my dear boy. And if I told you that she left him, that he beat her, that she returned to him, that she married him a second time, and that she is living there now in the shape of a mummy, worshipping her own statue\u2014then you would think me crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I don\u2019t understand at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I didn\u2019t expect you would. Then there is the window with the hyacinths. That\u2019s where his daughter lives? She is out for a ride now, but she will be home in a few moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. And who is the dark lady talking to the janitress?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. The answer is rather complicated, but it is connected with the dead man on the second floor, where you see the white sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Who was he?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. A human being like you or me, but the most conspicuous thing about him was his vanity\u2026. If you were born on a Sunday, you might soon see him come down the stairway and go out on the sidewalk to make sure that the flag of the consulate is half-masted. You see, he was a consul, and he revelled in coronets and lions and plumed hats and coloured ribbons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You spoke of being born on a Sunday\u2026. So was I, I understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No! Really?\u2026 Oh, I should have known\u2026. The colour of your eyes shows it\u2026. Then you can see what other people can\u2019t. Have you noticed anything of that kind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Of course, I can\u2019t tell what other people see or don\u2019t see, but at times\u2026. Oh, such things you don\u2019t talk of!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I was sure of it! And you can talk to me, because I\u2014I understand\u2014things of that kind\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yesterday, for instance\u2026. I was drawn to that little side street where the house fell down afterward\u2026. When I got there, I stopped in front of the house, which I had never seen before\u2026. Then I noticed a crack in the wall\u2026. I could hear the floor beams snapping\u2026. I rushed forward and picked up a child that was walking in front of the house at the time\u2026. In another moment the house came tumbling down\u2026. I was saved, but in my arms, which I thought held the child, there was nothing at all\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Well, I must say!\u2026 Much as I have heard\u2026. Please tell me one thing: what made you act as you did by the fountain a while ago? Why were you talking to yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Didn\u2019t you see the Milkmaid to whom I was talking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Horrified<\/em>] A milkmaid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, the girl who handed me the cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Oh, that\u2019s what it was\u2026. Well, I haven\u2019t that kind of sight, but there are other things\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A white-haired old woman is seen at the window beside the entrance, looking into the window-mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Look at that old woman in the window. Do you see her?\u2014Well, she was my fianc\u00e9e once upon a time, sixty years ago\u2026. I was twenty at that time\u2026. Never mind, she does not recognise me. We see each other every day, and I hardly notice her\u2014although once we vowed to love each other eternally\u2026. Eternally!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. How senseless you were in those days! We don\u2019t talk to our girls like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Forgive us, young man! We didn\u2019t know better.\u2014Can you see that she was young and pretty once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. It doesn\u2019t show\u2026. Oh, yes, she has a beautiful way of looking at things, although I can\u2019t see her eyes clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> JANITRESS comes out with a basket on her arm and begins to cover the sidewalk with chopped hemlock branches, as is usual in Sweden when a funeral is to be held<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. And the Janitress\u2014hm! That Dark Lady is her daughter and the dead man\u2019s, and that\u2019s why her husband was made janitor\u2026. But the Dark Lady has a lover, who is a dandy with great expectations. He is now getting a divorce from his present wife, who is giving him an apartment-house to get rid of him. This elegant lover is the son-in-law of the dead man, and you can see his bedclothes being aired on the balcony up there\u2026. That\u2019s a bit complicated, I should say!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, it\u2019s fearfully complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. It certainly is, inside and outside, no matter how simple it may look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. But who was the dead man?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. So you asked me a while ago, and I answered you. If you could look around the corner, where the servants\u2019 entrance is, you would see a lot of poor people whom he used to help\u2014when he was in the mood\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. He was a kindly man, then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Yes\u2014at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Not always?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No-o\u2026. People are like that!\u2014Will you please move the chair a little, so that I get into the sunlight? I am always cold. You see, the blood congeals when you can\u2019t move about\u2026. Death isn\u2019t far away from me, I know, but I have a few things to do before it comes\u2026. Just take hold of my hand and feel how cold I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Taking his hand<\/em>] I should say so!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[He shrinks back<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Don\u2019t leave me! I am tired now, and lonely, but I haven\u2019t always been like this, you know. I have an endlessly long life back of\u2014enormously long\u2026. I have made people unhappy, and other people have made me unhappy, and one thing has to be put against the other, but before I die, I wish to see you happy\u2026. Our destinies have become intertwined, thanks to your father\u2014and many other things\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Let go my hand! You are taking all my strength! You are freezing me! What do you want of me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Patience, and you\u2019ll see, and understand\u2026. There comes the Young Lady now\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. The Colonel\u2019s daughter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. His daughter\u2014yes! Look at her!\u2014Did you ever see such a masterpiece?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. She resembles the marble statue in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. It\u2019s her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You are right\u2026. Never did I see such a woman of woman born!\u2014Happy the man who may lead her to the altar and to his home!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. You see it, then? Her beauty is not discovered by everybody\u2026. Then it is written in the book of life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> YOUNG LADY enters from the left, wearing a close-fitting English riding-suit. Without looking at any one, she walks slowly to the entrance, where she stops and exchanges a few words with the<\/em> JANITRESS. Then she disappears into the house. The<\/em> STUDENT covers his eyes with his hand<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Are you crying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Can you meet what is hopeless with anything but despair?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I have the power of opening doors and hearts, if I can only find an arm to do my will\u2026. Serve me, and you shall also have power\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is it to be a bargain? Do you want me to sell my soul?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Don\u2019t sell anything!\u2026 You see, all my life I have been used to take<\/em>. Now I have a craving to give\u2014to give! But no one will accept\u2026. I am rich, very rich, but have no heirs except a scamp who is tormenting the life out of me\u2026. Become my son! Inherit me while I am still alive! Enjoy life, and let me look on\u2014from a distance, at least!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What am I to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Go and hear \u201cThe Valkyr\u201d first of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. That\u2019s settled\u2014but what more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. This evening you shall be in the Round Room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. How am I to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Through \u201cThe Valkyr.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why have you picked me to be your instrument? Did you know me before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Of course, I did! I have had my eyes on you for a long time\u2026. Look at the balcony now, where the Maid is raising the flag at half-mast in honour of the consul\u2026. And then she turns the bedclothes\u2026. Do you notice that blue quilt? It was made to cover two, and now it is only covering one\u2026. [The<\/em> YOUNG LADY appears at her window, having changed dress in the meantime; she waters the hyacinths<\/em>] There is my little girl now. Look at her\u2014look! She is talking to her flowers, and she herself looks like a blue hyacinth. She slakes their thirst\u2014with pure water only\u2014and they transform the water into colour and fragrance\u2026. There comes the Colonel with the newspaper! He shows her the story about the house that fell down\u2014and he points at your portrait! She is not indifferent\u2014she reads of your deeds\u2026. It\u2019s clouding up, I think\u2026. I wonder if it\u2019s going to rain? Then I shall be in a nice fix, unless Johansson comes back soon [The sun has disappeared, and now the stage is growing darker; the white-haired old woman closes her window<\/em>] Now my fianc\u00e9e is closing her window\u2026. She is seventy-nine\u2014and the only mirror she uses is the window-mirror, because there she sees not herself, but the world around her\u2014and she sees it from two sides\u2014but it has not occurred to her that she can be seen by the world, too\u2026. A handsome old lady, after all\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the<\/em> GHOST, wrapped in winding sheets, comes out of the entrance<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Good God, what is that I see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. What do<\/em> you see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Don\u2019t you<\/em> see?\u2026 There, at the entrance\u2026. The dead man?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I see nothing at all, but that was what I expected. Tell me\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. He comes out in the street\u2026. [Pause<\/em>] Now he turns his head to look at the flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. What did I tell you? And you may be sure that he will count the wreaths and study the visiting-cards attached to them\u2026. And I pity anybody that is missing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Now he goes around the corner\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. He wants to count the poor at the other entrance\u2026. The poor are so decorative, you know\u2026. \u201cFollowed by the blessings of many\u201d\u2026. But he won\u2019t get any blessing from me!\u2014Between us, he was a big rascal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. But charitable\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. A charitable rascal, who always had in mind the splendid funeral he expected to get\u2026. When he knew that his end was near, he cheated the state out of fifty thousand crowns\u2026. And now his daughter goes about with \u2026 another woman\u2019s husband, and wonders what is in his will\u2026. Yes, the rascal can hear every word we say, and he is welcome to it!\u2014There comes Johansson now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON enters from the left<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Report!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON can be seen speaking, but not a word of what he says is heard<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Not at home, you say? Oh, you are no good!\u2014Any telegram?\u2014Not a thing\u2026. Go on!\u2014Six o\u2019clock to-night?\u2014That\u2019s fine!\u2014An extra, you say?\u2014With his full name?\u2014Arkenholtz, a student, yes\u2026. Born\u2026. Parents\u2026. That\u2019s splendid! I think it\u2019s beginning to rain\u2026. What did he say?\u2014Is that so?\u2014He won\u2019t?\u2014Well, then he must!\u2014Here comes the Dandy\u2026. Push me around the corner, Johansson, so I can hear what the poor people have to say\u2026. [To the<\/em> STUDENT] And you had better wait for me here, Arkenholtz\u2026. Do you understand?\u2014[To<\/em> JOHANSSON] Hurry up now, hurry up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON pushes the chair into the side street and out of sight. The<\/em> STUDENT remains on the same spot, looking at the<\/em> YOUNG LADY, who is using a small rake to loosen up the earth in her pots. The<\/em> DANDY enters and joins the<\/em> DARK LADY, who has been walking back and forth on the sidewalk. He is in mourning<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DANDY. Well, what is there to do about it? We simply have to wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DARK LADY. But I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DANDY. Is that so? Then you\u2019ll have to go to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DARK LADY. I don\u2019t want to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DANDY. Come this way, or they\u2019ll hear what we are saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They go toward the advertising column and continue their talk inaudibly<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. [Entering from the right; to the<\/em> STUDENT] My master asks you not to forget that other thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Dragging his words<\/em>] Look here\u2026. Tell me, please\u2026. Who is<\/em> your master?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Oh, he\u2019s so many things, and he has been everything\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is he in his right mind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Who can tell?\u2014All his life he has been looking for one born on Sunday, he says\u2014which does not mean that it must be true\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What is he after? Is he a miser?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. He wants to rule\u2026. The whole day long he travels about in his chair like the god of thunder himself He looks at houses, tears them down, opens up new streets, fills the squares with buildings\u2026. At the same time he breaks into houses, sneaks through open windows, plays havoc with human destinies, kills his enemies, and refuses to forgive anything\u2026. Can you imagine that a cripple like him has been a Don Juan\u2014but one who has always lost the women he loved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. How can you make those things go together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. He is so full of guile that he can make the women leave him when he is tired of them\u2026. Just now he is like a horse thief practising at a slave-market\u2026. He steals human beings, and in all sorts of ways\u2026. He has literally stolen me out of the hands of the law\u2026. Hm\u2026. yes\u2026. I had been guilty of a slip. And no one but he knew of it. Instead of putting me in jail, he made a slave of me. All I get for my slavery is the food I eat, which might be better at that\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. And what does he wish to do in this house here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. No, I don\u2019t want to tell! It\u2019s too complicated\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I think I\u2019ll run away from the whole story\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> YOUNG LADY drops a bracelet out of the window so that it falls on the sidewalk<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Did you see the Young Lady drop her bracelet out of the window?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without haste, the<\/em> STUDENT picks up the bracelet and hands it to the<\/em> YOUNG LADY, who thanks him rather stiffly; then he returns to<\/em> JOHANSSON.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. So you want to run away? That is more easily said than done when he<\/em> has got you in his net\u2026. And he fears nothing between heaven and earth except one thing or one person rather\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Wait\u2014I think I know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. How could you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I can guess! Is it not\u2014a little milkmaid that he fears?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. He turns his head away whenever he meets a milk wagon\u2026. And at times he talks in his sleep\u2026. He must have been in Hamburg at one time, I think\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is this man to be trusted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. You may trust him\u2014to do anything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What is he doing around the corner now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Watching the poor dropping a word here and a word there\u2026. loosening a stone at a time \u2026 until the whole house comes tumbling down, metaphorically speaking\u2026. You see, I am an educated man, and I used to be a book dealer\u2026. Are you going now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I find it hard to be ungrateful\u2026. Once upon a time he saved my father, and now he asks a small service in return\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. What is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. To go and see \u201cThe Valkyr\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. That\u2019s beyond me\u2026. But he is always up to new tricks\u2026. Look at him now, talking to the police-man! He is always thick with the police. He uses them. He snares them in their own interests. He ties their hands by arousing their expectations with false promises\u2014while all the time he is pumping them\u2026. You\u2019ll see that he is received in the Round Room before the day is over!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What does he want there? What has he to do with the Colonel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. I think I can guess, but know nothing with certainty. But you\u2019ll see for yourself when you get there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I\u2019ll never get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. That depends on yourself!\u2014Go to \u201cThe Valkyr.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is that the road?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Yes, if he has said so\u2014Look at him there\u2014look at him in his war chariot, drawn in triumph by the Beggars, who get nothing for their pains but a hint of a great treat to be had at his funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OLD HUMMEL appears standing in his invalid\u2019s chair, which is drawn by one of the<\/em> BEGGARS, and followed by the rest<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Give honour to the noble youth who, at the risk of his own, saved so many lives in yesterday\u2019s accident! Three cheers for Arkenholtz!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> BEGGARS bare their heads, but do not cheer. The<\/em> YOUNG LADY appears at her window, waving her handkerchief. The<\/em> COLONEL gazes at the scene from a window in the Round Room. The<\/em> FIANC\u00c9E rises at her window. The<\/em> MAID appears on the balcony and hoists the flag to the top<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Applaud, citizens! It is Sunday, of course, but the ass in the pit and the ear in the field will absolve us. Although I was not born on a Sunday, I have the gift of prophecy and of healing, and on one occasion I brought a drowned person back to life\u2026. That happened in Hamburg on a Sunday morning just like this\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID enters, seen only by the<\/em> STUDENT and<\/em> HUMMEL. She raises her arms with the movement of a drowning person, while gazing fixedly at<\/em> HUMMEL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Sits down; then he crumbles in a heap, stricken with horror<\/em>] Get me out of here, Johansson! Quick!\u2014Arkenholtz, don\u2019t forget \u201cThe Valkyr!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What is the meaning of all this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. We\u2019ll see! We\u2019ll see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtain<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

SECOND SCENE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Round Room. An oven of white, glazed bricks occupies the centre of the background. The mantelpiece is covered by a large mirror. An ornamental clock and candelabra stand on the mantelshelf<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the right of the mantelpiece is a door leading into a hallway, back of which may be seen a room papered in green, with mahogany furniture. The<\/em> COLONEL is seated at a writing-desk, so that only his back is visible to the public<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statue stands at the left, surrounded by palms and with draperies arranged so that it can be hidden entirely<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A door at the left of the mantelpiece opens on the Hyacinth Room, where the<\/em> YOUNG LADY is seen reading a book<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON, the valet, enters from the hallway, dressed in livery. He is followed by<\/em> JOHANSSON in evening dress with white tie<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Now you\u2019ll have to do the waiting, Johansson, while I take the overclothes. Do you know how to do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Although I am pushing a war chariot in the daytime, as you know, I wait in private houses at night, and I have always dreamt of getting into this place\u2026. Queer sort of people, hm?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Yes, a little out of the ordinary, one might say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Is it a musicale, or what is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. The usual spook supper, as we call it. They drink tea and don\u2019t say a word, or else the Colonel does all the talking. And then they munch their biscuits, all at the same time, so that it sounds like the gnawing of a lot of rats in an attic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Why do you call it a spook supper?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Because they look like spooks\u2026. And they have kept this up for twenty years\u2014always the same people, saying the same things or keeping silent entirely, lest they be put to shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Is there not a lady in the house, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Yes, but she is a little cracked. She sits all the time in a closet, because her eyes can\u2019t bear the light. [He points at a papered door<\/em>] She is in there now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. In there, you say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. I told you they were a little out of the ordinary\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. How does she look?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Like a mummy\u2026. Would you care to look at her? [He opens the papered door<\/em>] There she is now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Mercy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Talking baby talk<\/em>] Why does he open the door? Haven\u2019t I told him to keep it closed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. [In the same way<\/em>] Ta-ta-ta-ta! Polly must be nice now. Then she\u2019ll get something good. Pretty polly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Imitating a parrot<\/em>] Pretty polly! Are you there, Jacob? Currrrr!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. She thinks herself a parrot, and maybe she\u2019s right [To the<\/em> MUMMY] Whistle for us, Polly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MUMMY whistles<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Much I have seen, but never the like of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Well, you see, a house gets mouldy when it grows old, and when people are too much together, tormenting each other all the time, they lose their reason. The lady of this house\u2026. Shut up, Polly!\u2026 That mummy has been living here forty years\u2014with the same husband, the same furniture, the same relatives, the same friends\u2026. [He closes the papered door<\/em>] And the happenings this house has witnessed! Well, it\u2019s beyond me\u2026. Look at that statue. That\u2019s the selfsame lady in her youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Good Lord! Can that be the Mummy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Yes, it\u2019s enough to make you weep!\u2014And somehow, carried away by her own imagination, perhaps, she has developed some of the traits of the talkative parrot\u2026. She can\u2019t stand cripples or sick people, for instance\u2026. She can\u2019t bear the sight of her own daughter, because she is sick\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Is the Young Lady sick?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Don\u2019t you know that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. No.\u2014And the Colonel\u2014who is he?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. That remains to be seen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. [Looking at the statue<\/em>] It\u2019s horrible to think that\u2026. How old is she now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Nobody knows. But at thirty-five she is said to have looked like nineteen, and that\u2019s the age she gave to the Colonel\u2026. In this house\u2026. Do you know what that Japanese screen by the couch is used for? They call it the Death Screen, and it is placed in front of the bed when somebody is dying, just as they do in hospitals\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. This must be an awful house! And the Student was longing for it as for paradise\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. What student? Oh, I know! The young chap who is coming here to-night\u2026. The Colonel and the Young Lady met him at the opera and took a great fancy to him at once\u2026. Hm!\u2026 But now it\u2019s my turn to ask questions. Who\u2019s your master? The man in the invalid\u2019s chair?\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Well, well! Is he coming here, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. He has not been invited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. He\u2019ll come without invitation\u2014if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OLD HUMMEL appears in the hallway, dressed in frock coat and high hat. He uses crutches, but moves without a noise, so that he is able to listen to the two servants.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. He\u2019s a sly old guy, isn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. Yes, he\u2019s a good one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. He looks like the very devil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON. He\u2019s a regular wizard, I think because he can pass through locked doors\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Comes forward and pinches the ear of<\/em> JOHANSSON] Look out, you scoundrel! [To<\/em> BENGTSSON] Tell the Colonel I am here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. We expect company\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I know, but my visit is as good as expected, too, although not exactly desired, perhaps\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. I see! What\u2019s the name? Mr. Hummel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON crosses the hallway to the Green Room, the door of which he closes behind him<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [To<\/em> JOHANSSON] Vanish!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON hesitates<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Vanish, I say!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON disappears through the hallway<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Looking around and finally stopping in front of the statue, evidently much surprised<\/em>] Amelia!\u2014It is she!\u2014She!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He takes another turn about the room, picking up various objects to look at them; then he stops in front of the mirror to arrange his wig; finally he returns to the statue<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [In the closet<\/em>] Prrretty Polly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Startled<\/em>] What was that? Is there a parrot in the room? I don\u2019t see it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Are you there, Jacob?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. The place is haunted!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Jacob!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Now I am scared!\u2026 So that\u2019s the kind of secrets they have been keeping in this house! [He stops in front of a picture with his back turned to the closet<\/em>] And that\u2019s he\u2026. He!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Comes out of the closet and pulls the wig of<\/em> HUMMEL] Currrrr! Is that Currrrr?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Almost lifted off his feet by fright<\/em>] Good Lord in heaven!\u2026 Who are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Speaking in a normal voice<\/em>] Is that you, Jacob?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Yes, my name is Jacob\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Deeply moved<\/em>] And my name is Amelia!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Oh, no, no, no!\u2014Merciful heavens!\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. How I look! That\u2019s right!\u2014And have<\/em> looked like that! [Pointing to the statue<\/em>] Life is a pleasant thing, is it not?\u2026 I live mostly in the closet, both in order to see nothing and not to be seen\u2026. But, Jacob, what do you want here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. My child our child\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. There she sits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Where?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. There\u2014in the Hyacinth Room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Looking at the<\/em> YOUNG LADY] Yes, that is she! [Pause<\/em>] And what does her father say\u2026. I mean the Colonel\u2026. your husband?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Once, when I was angry with him, I told him everything\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. And?\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. He didn\u2019t believe me. All he said was: \u201cThat\u2019s what all women say when they wish to kill their husbands.\u201d\u2014It is a dreadful crime, nevertheless. His whole life has been turned into a lie\u2014his family tree, too. Sometimes I take a look in the peerage, and then I say to myself: \u201cHere she is going about with a false birth certificate, just like any runaway servant-girl, and for such things people are sent to the reformatory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Well, it\u2019s quite common. I think I recall a certain incorrectness in regard to the date of your own birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. It was my mother who started that\u2026. I was not to blame for it\u2026. And it was you, after all, who had the greater share in our guilt\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No, what wrong we did was provoked by your husband when he took my fianc\u00e9e away from me! I was born a man who cannot forgive until he has punished. To punish has always seemed an imperative duty to me\u2014and so it seems still!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. What are you looking for in this house? What do you want? How did you get in?\u2014Does it concern my daughter? If you touch her, you must die!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I mean well by her!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. And you have to spare her father!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Then you must die \u2026 in this very room \u2026 back of that screen\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Perhaps\u2026. but I can\u2019t let go when I have got my teeth in a thing\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. You wish to marry her to the Student? Why? He is nothing and has nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. He will be rich, thanks to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Have you been invited for to-night?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No, but I intend to get an invitation for your spook supper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Do you know who will be here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Not quite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. The Baron\u2014he who lives above us, and whose father-in-law was buried this afternoon\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. The man who is getting a divorce to marry the daughter of the Janitress\u2026. The man who used to be\u2014your lover!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Another guest will be your former fianc\u00e9e, who was seduced by my husband\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Very select company!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. If the Lord would let us die! Oh, that we might only die!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. But why do you continue to associate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Crime and guilt and secrets bind us together, don\u2019t you know? Our ties have snapped so that we have slipped apart innumerable times, but we are always drawn together again\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I think the Colonel is coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. I\u2019ll go in to Ad\u00e8le, then\u2026. [Pause<\/em>] Consider what you do, Jacob! Spare him\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Pause; then she goes out<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. [Enters, haughty and reserved<\/em>] Won\u2019t you be seated, please?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL seats himself with great deliberation; pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. [Staring at his visitor<\/em>] You wrote this letter, sir?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Your name is Hummel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. It is. [Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. As I learn that you have bought up all my unpaid and overdue notes, I conclude that I am at your mercy. What do you want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Payment\u2014in one way or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. In what way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. A very simple one. Let us not talk of the money. All you have to do is to admit me as a guest\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. If a little thing like that will satisfy you\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Anything more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Discharge Bengtsson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Why should I do so? My devoted servant, who has been with me a lifetime, and who has the medal for long and faithful service\u2026. Why should I discharge him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Those wonderful merits exist only in your imagination. He is not the man he seems to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Who is<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Taken back<\/em>] True!\u2014But Bengtsson must go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Do you mean to order my household?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. I do \u2026 as everything visible here belongs to me \u2026 furniture, draperies, dinner ware, linen and other things!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. What other things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Everything! All that is to be seen is mine! I own it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Granted! But for all that, my coat of arms and my unspotted name belong to myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No\u2014not even that much! [Pause<\/em>] You are not a nobleman!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Take care!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Producing a document<\/em>] If you\u2019ll read this extract from the armorial, you will see that the family whose name you are using has been extinct for a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. [Reading the document<\/em>] I have heard rumours to that effect, but the name was my father\u2019s before it was mine\u2026. [Reading again<\/em>] That\u2019s right! Yes, you are right\u2014I am not a nobleman! Not even that!\u2014Then I may as well take off my signet-ring\u2026. Oh, I remember now\u2026. It belongs to you\u2026. If you please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Accepting the ring and putting it into his pocket<\/em>] We had better continue. You are no colonel, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Am I not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No, you have simply held the title of colonel in the American volunteer service by special appointment. After the war in Cuba and the reorganisation of the army, all titles of that kind were abolished\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Is that true?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [With a gesture toward his pocket<\/em>] Do you wish to see for yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. No, it won\u2019t be necessary.\u2014Who are you, anyhow, and with what right are you stripping me naked in this fashion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. You\u2019ll see by and by. As to stripping you naked\u2014do you know who you are in reality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. How dare you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Take off that wig, and have a look at yourself in the mirror. Take out that set of false teeth and shave off your moustache, too. Let Bengtsson remove the iron stays\u2014and perhaps a certain X Y Z, a lackey, may begin to recognise himself\u2014the man who used to visit the maid\u2019s chamber in a certain house for a bite of something good\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> COLONEL makes a movement toward a table on which stands a bell, but is checked by<\/em> HUMMEL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Don\u2019t touch that bell, and don\u2019t call Bengtsson! If you do, I\u2019ll have him arrested\u2026. Now the guests are beginning to arrive\u2026. Keep your composure, and let us continue to play our old parts for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Who are you? Your eyes and your voice remind me of somebody\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Don\u2019t try to find out! Keep silent and obey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Enters and bows to the<\/em> COLONEL] Colonel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. I bid you welcome to my house, young man. Your splendid behaviour in connection with that great disaster has brought your name to everybody\u2019s lips, and I count it an honour to receive you here\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Being a man of humble birth, Colonel and considering your name and position\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. May I introduce?\u2014Mr. Arkenholtz\u2014Mr. Hummel. The ladies are in there, Mr. Arkenholtz\u2014if you please\u2014I have a few more things to talk over with Mr. Hummel\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guided by the<\/em> COLONEL, the<\/em> STUDENT goes into the Hyacinth Room, where he remains visible, standing beside the<\/em> YOUNG LADY and talking very timidly to her<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. A splendid young chap\u2014very musical\u2014sings, and writes poetry\u2026. If he were only a nobleman\u2014if he belonged to our class, I don\u2019t think I should object\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. To what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Oh, my daughter\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. Your<\/em> daughter, you say?\u2014But apropos of that, why is she always sitting in that room?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. She has to spend all her time in the Hyacinth Room when she is not out. That is a peculiarity of hers\u2026. Here comes Miss Betty von Holstein-Kron\u2014a charming woman\u2014a Secular Canoness, with just enough money of her own to suit her birth and position\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hummel. [To<\/em>himself<\/em>] My fianc\u00e9e!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> FIANC\u00c9E enters. She is white-haired, and her looks indicate a slightly unbalanced mind<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Miss von Holstein-Kron\u2014Mr. Hummel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> FIANC\u00c9E curtseys in old-fashioned manner and takes a seat. The<\/em> DANDY enters and seats himself; he is in mourning and has a very mysterious look.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Baron Skansenkorge\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Aside, without rising<\/em>] That\u2019s the jewelry thief, I think\u2026. [To the<\/em> COLONEL] If you bring in the Mummy, our gathering will be complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. [Going to the door of the Hyacinth Room<\/em>] Polly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Enters<\/em>] Currrrr!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. How about the young people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No, not the young people! They must be spared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is seated in a circle, no one saying a word for a while<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Shall we order the tea now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. What\u2019s the use? No one cares for tea, and I can\u2019t see the need of pretending. [Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLONEL. Shall we make conversation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Speaking slowly and with frequent pauses<\/em>.] Talk of the weather, which we know all about? Ask one another\u2019s state of health, which we know just as well? I prefer silence. Then thoughts become audible, and we can see the past. Silence can hide nothing\u2014but words can. I read the other day that the differentiation of languages had its origin in the desire among savage peoples to keep their tribal secrets hidden from outsiders. This means that every language is a code, and he who finds the universal key can understand every language in the world\u2014which does not prevent the secret from becoming revealed without any key at times, and especially when the fact of paternity is to be proved\u2014but, of course, legal proof is a different matter. Two false witnesses suffice to prove, anything on which they agree, but you don\u2019t bring any witnesses along on the kind of expedition I have in mind. Nature herself has planted in man a sense of modesty, which tends to hide that which should be hidden. But we slip into situations unawares, and now and then a favourable chance will reveal the most cherished secret, stripping the impostor of his mask, and exposing the villain\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long pause during which everybody is subject to silent scrutiny by all the rest<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. How silent everybody is! [Long silence<\/em>] Here, for instance, in this respectable house, this attractive home, where beauty and erudition and wealth have joined hands\u2026. [Long silence<\/em>] All of us sitting here now\u2014we know who we are, don\u2019t we? I don\u2019t need to tell\u2026. And all of you know me, although you pretend ignorance\u2026. In the next room is my daughter\u2014mine<\/em>, as you know perfectly well. She has lost the desire to live without knowing why\u2026. The fact is that she has been pining away in this air charged with crime and deceit and falsehood of every kind\u2026. That is the reason why I have looked for a friend in whose company she may enjoy the light and heat radiated by noble deeds [Long silence<\/em>] Here is my mission in this house: to tear up the weeds, to expose the crimes, to settle all accounts, so that those young people may start life with a clean slate in a home that is my gift to them. [Long silence<\/em>] Now I grant you safe retreat. Everybody may leave in his due turn. Whoever stays will be arrested. [Long silence<\/em>] Do you hear that clock ticking like the deathwatch hidden in a wall? Can you hear what it says?\u2014\u201dIt\u2019s time! It\u2019s time!\u201d\u2014When it strikes in a few seconds, your time will be up, and then you can go, but not before. You may notice, too, that the clock shakes its fist at you before it strikes. Listen! There it is! \u201cBetter beware,\u201d it says\u2026. And I can strike, too [He raps the top of a table with one of his crutches<\/em>] Do you hear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while everybody remains silent<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Goes up to the dock and stops it; then she speaks in a normal and dignified tone<\/em>] But I can stop time in its course. I can wipe out the past and undo what is done. Bribes won\u2019t do that, nor will threats\u2014but suffering and repentance will [She goes to<\/em> HUMMEL] We are miserable human creatures, and we know it. We have erred and we have sinned\u2014we, like everybody else. We are not what we seem, but at bottom we are better than ourselves because we disapprove of our own misdeeds. And when you, Jacob Hummel, with your assumed name, propose to sit in judgment on us, you merely prove yourself worse than all the rest. You are not the one you seem to be\u2014no more than we! You are a thief of human souls! You stole mine once upon a time by means of false promises. You killed the Consul, whom they buried this afternoon\u2014strangling him with debts. You are now trying to steal the soul of the Student with the help of an imaginary claim against his father, who never owed you a farthing\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having vainly tried to rise and say something<\/em>, HUMMEL sinks back into his chair; as the<\/em> MUMMY continues her speech he seems to shrink and lose volume more and more<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. There is one dark spot in your life concerning which I am not certain, although I have my suspicions\u2026. I believe Bengtsson can throw light on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[She rings the table-bell<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. No! Not Bengtsson! Not him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. So he does<\/em> know? [She rings again<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> MILKMAID appears in the hallway, but is only seen by<\/em> HUMMEL, who shrinks back in horror. Then<\/em> BENGTSSON enters, and the<\/em> MILKMAID disappears<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. Do you know this man, Bengtsson?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON. Oh yes, I know him, and he knows me. Life has its ups and downs, as you know. I have been in his service, and he has been in mine. For two years he came regularly to our kitchen to be fed by our cook. Because he had to be at work at a certain hour, she made the dinner far ahead of time, and we had to be satisfied with the warmed-up leavings of that beast. He drank the soup-stock, so that we got nothing but water. Like a vampire, the sucked the house of all nourishment, until we became reduced to mere skeletons\u2014and he nearly got us into jail when we dared to call the cook a thief. Later I met that man in Hamburg, where he had another name. Then he was a money-lender, a regular leech. While there, he was accused of having lured a young girl out on the ice in order to drown her, because she had seen him commit a crime, and he was afraid of being exposed\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Making a pass with her hand over the face of<\/em> HUMMEL as if removing a mask<\/em>] That\u2019s you! And now, give up the notes and the will!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHANSSON appears in the hallway and watches the scene with great interest, knowing that his slavery will now come to an end<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL produces a bundle of papers and throws them on the table<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Stroking the back of<\/em> HUMMEL] Polly! Are you there, Jacob?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [Talking like a parrot<\/em>] Here is Jacob!\u2014Pretty Polly! Currrr!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. May the clock strike?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL. [With a clucking noise like that of a clock preparing to strike<\/em>] The dock may strike! [Imitating a cuckoo-clock]<\/em> Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Opening the closet door<\/em>] Now the clock has struck! Rise and enter the closet where I have spent twenty years bewailing our evil deed. There you will find a rope that may represent the one with which you strangled the Consul as well as the one with which you meant to strangle your benefactor\u2026. Go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMMEL enters the closet<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. [Closes the door after him<\/em>] Put up the screen, Bengtsson\u2026. The Death Screen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON places the screen in front of the door.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MUMMY. It is finished! God have mercy on his soul!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ALL. Amen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long silence. Then the<\/em> YOUNG LADY appears in the Hyacinth Room with the<\/em> STUDENT. She seats herself at a harp and begins a prelude, which changes into an accompaniment to the following recitative<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Singing<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing the sun, it seemed to my fancy
That I beheld the Spirit that\u2019s hidden.
Man must for ever reap what he planted:
Happy is he who has done no evil.
Wrong that was wrought in moments of anger
Never by added wrong can be righted.
Kindness shown to the man whose sorrow
Sprang from your deed, will serve you better.
Fear and guilt have their home together:
Happy indeed is the guiltless man!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtain<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

THIRD SCENE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A room furnished in rather bizarre fashion. The general effect of it is Oriental. Hyacinths of different colours are scattered everywhere. On the mantelshelf of the fireplace is seen a huge, seated Buddha, in whose lap rests a bulb. From that bulb rises the stalk of a shallot<\/em> (Allium Ascalonicum), spreading aloft its almost globular cluster of white, starlike flowers<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An open door in the rear wall, toward the right-hand side, leads to the Round Room, where the<\/em> COLONEL and the<\/em> MUMMY are seated. They don\u2019t stir and don\u2019t utter a word. A part of the Death Screen is also visible<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another door, at the left, leads to the pantry and the kitchen. The<\/em> YOUNG LADY [Ad\u00e8le] and the<\/em> STUDENT are discovered near a table. She is seated at her harp, and he stands beside her<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Sing to my flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Is this the flower of your soul?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. The one and only.\u2014Are you fond of the hyacinth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I love it above all other flowers. I love its virginal shape rising straight and slender out of the bulb that rests on the water and sends its pure white rootlets down into the colourless fluid. I love the colour of it, whether innocently white as snow or sweetly yellow as honey; whether youthfully pink or maturely red; but above all if blue\u2014with the deep-eyed, faith-inspiring blue of the morning sky. I love these flowers, one and all; love them more than pearls or gold, and have loved them ever since I was a child. I have always admired them, too, because they possess every handsome quality that I lack\u2026. And yet\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. What?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. My love is unrequited. These beautiful blossoms hate me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. How do you mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Their fragrance, powerful and pure as the winds of early spring, which have passed over melting snow\u2014it seems to confuse my senses, to make me deaf and blind, to crowd me out of the room, to bombard me with poisoned arrows that hurt my heart and set my head on fire. Do you know the legend of that flower?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Tell me about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Let us first interpret its symbolism; The bulb is the earth, resting on the water or buried in the soil. From that the stalk rises, straight as the axis of the universe. At its upper end appear the six-pointed, starlike flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Above the earth\u2014the stars! What lofty thought! Where did you find it? How did you discover it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Let me think\u2026. In your eyes!\u2014It is, therefore, an image of the Cosmos. And that is the reason why Buddha is holding the earth-bulb in his lap, brooding on it with a steady gaze, in order that he may behold it spread outward and upward as it becomes transformed into a heaven\u2026. This poor earth must turn into a heaven! That is what Buddha is waiting for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. I see now\u2026. Are not the snow crystals six-pointed, too, like the hyacinth-lily?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You are right! Thus the snow crystal is a falling star\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. And the snowdrop is a star of snow\u2014grown out of the snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. But the largest and most beautiful of all the stars in the firmament, the red and yellow Sirius, is the narcissus, with its yellow-and-red cup and its six white rays\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Have you seen the shallot bloom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Indeed, I have! It hides its flowers within a ball, a globe resembling the celestial one, and strewn, like that, with white stars\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. What a tremendous thought! Whose was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. No, yours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Ours, then! We have jointly given birth to something: we are wedded\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Not yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What more remains?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. To await the coming ordeal in patience!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I am ready for it. [Pause<\/em>] Tell me! Why do your parents sit there so silently, without saying a single word?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Because they have nothing to say to each other, and because neither one believes what the other says. This is the way my father puts it: \u201cWhat is the use of talking, when you can\u2019t fool each other anyhow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. That\u2019s horrible\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Here comes the Cook\u2026. Look! how big and fat she is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What does she want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Ask me about the dinner\u2026. You see, I am looking after the house during my mother\u2019s illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Have we to bother about the kitchen, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. We must eat\u2026. Look at that Cook\u2026. I can\u2019t bear the sight of her\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What kind of a monster is she?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young Lady. She belongs to the Hummel family of vampires. She is eating us alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why don\u2019t you discharge her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Because she won\u2019t leave. We can do nothing with her, and we have got her for the sake of our sins\u2026. Don\u2019t you see that we are pining and wasting away?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Don\u2019t you get enough to eat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Plenty of dishes, but with all the nourishment gone from the food. She boils the life out of the beef, and drinks the stock herself, while we get nothing but fibres and water. In the same way, when we have roast, she squeezes it dry. Then she eats the gravy and drinks the juice herself. She takes the strength and savour out of everything she touches. It is as if her eyes were leeches. When she has had coffee, we get the grounds. She drinks the wine and puts water into the bottles\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Kick her out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. We can\u2019t!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. We don\u2019t know! But she won\u2019t leave! And nobody can do anything with her. She has taken all our strength away from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Will you let me dispose of her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. No! It has to be as it is, I suppose.\u2014Here she is now. She will ask me what I wish for dinner, and I tell her, and then she will make objections, and in the end she has her own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why don\u2019t you leave it to her entirely?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. She won\u2019t let me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What a strange house! It seems to be bewitched!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. It is!\u2014Now she turned back on seeing you here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COOK. [Appearing suddenly in the doorway at that very moment<\/em>] Naw, that was not the reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[She grins so that every tooth can be seen<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Get out of here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COOK. When it suits me! [Pause<\/em>] Now it does suit me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[She disappears<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Don\u2019t lose your temper! You must practise patience. She is part of the ordeal we have to face in this house. We have a chambermaid, too, after whom we have to put everything back where it belongs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Now I am sinking! Cor in aethere!<\/em> Music!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Wait!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Music!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Patience!\u2014This is named the Room of Ordeal\u2026. It is beautiful to look at, but is full of imperfections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Incredible! Yet such things have to be borne. It is very beautiful, although a little cold. Why don\u2019t you have a fire?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Because the smoke comes into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Have the chimney swept!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. It doesn\u2019t help.\u2014Do you see that writing-table?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Remarkably handsome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. But one leg is too short. Every day I put a piece of cork under that leg. Every day the chambermaid takes it away when she sweeps the room. Every day I have to cut a new piece. Both my penholder and my inkstand are covered with ink every morning, and I have to clean them after that woman\u2014as sure as the sun rises. [Pause]<\/em> What is the worst thing you can think of?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. To count the wash. Ugh!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. That\u2019s what I have to do. Ugh!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Anything else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. To be waked out of your sleep and have to get up and dose the window\u2014which the chambermaid has left unlatched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Anything else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. To get up on a ladder and tie on the cord which the chambermaid has torn from the window-shade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Anything else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. To sweep after her; to dust after her; to start the fire again, after she has merely thrown some wood into the fireplace! To watch the damper in the fireplace; to wipe every glass; to set the table over again; to open the wine-bottles; to see that the rooms are aired; to make over your bed; to rinse the water-bottle that is green with sediment; to buy matches and soap, which are always lacking; to wipe the chimneys and cut the wicks in order to keep the lamps from smoking and in order to keep them from going out when we have company, I have to fill them myself\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Music!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Wait! The labour comes first\u2014the labour of keeping the filth of life at a distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. But you are wealthy, and you have two servants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. What does that help? What would it help to have three? It is troublesome to live, and at times I get tired\u2026. Think, then, of adding a nursery!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. The greatest of joys\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. And the costliest\u2026. Is life really worth so much trouble?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. It depends on the reward you expect for your labours\u2026. To win your hand I would face anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Don\u2019t talk like that. You can never get me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. You mustn\u2019t ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You dropped your bracelet out of the window\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Yes, because my hand has grown too small\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> COOK appears with a bottle of Japanese soy in her hand<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. There is the one that eats me and all the rest alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. What has she in her hand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COOK. This is my colouring bottle that has letters on it looking like scorpions. It\u2019s the soy that turns water into bouillon, and that takes the place of gravy. You can make cabbage soup out of it, or mock-turtle soup, if you prefer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Out with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COOK. You take the sap out of us, and we out of you. We keep the blood for ourselves and leave you the water\u2014with the colouring. It\u2019s the colour that counts! Now I shall leave, but I stay just the same\u2014as long as I please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[She goes out<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Why has Bengtsson got a medal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. On account of his great merits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Has he no faults?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Yes, great ones, but faults bring you no medals, you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Both smile<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You have a lot of secrets in this house\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. As in all houses\u2026. Permit us to keep ours! [Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Do you care for frankness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Within reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. At times I am seized with a passionate craving to say all I think\u2026. Yet I know that the world would go to pieces if perfect frankness were the rule. [Pause<\/em> I attended a funeral the other day\u2014in one of the churches\u2014and it was very solemn and beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. That of Mr. Hummel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Yes, that of my pretended benefactor. An elderly friend of the deceased acted as mace-bearer and stood at the head of the coffin. I was particularly impressed by the dignified manner and moving words of the minister. I had to cry\u2014everybody cried\u2026. A number of us went to a restaurant afterward, and there I learned that the man with the mace had been rather too friendly with the dead man\u2019s son\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/em> YOUNG LADY stares at him, trying to make out the meaning of his words<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I learned, too, that the dead man had borrowed money of his son\u2019s devoted friend\u2026. [Pause<\/em>] And the next day the minister was arrested for embezzling the church funds.\u2014Nice, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Oh! [Pause<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Do you know what I am thinking of you now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Don\u2019t tell, or I\u2019ll die!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I must, lest I<\/em> die!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. It is only in the asylum you say all that you think\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. Exactly! My father died in a madhouse\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Was he sick?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. No, perfectly well, and yet mad. It broke out at last, and these were the circumstances. Like all of us, he was surrounded by a circle of acquaintances whom he called friends for the sake of convenience, and they were a lot of scoundrels, of course, as most people are. He had to have some society, however, as he couldn\u2019t sit all alone. As you know, no one tells people what he thinks of them under ordinary circumstances, and my father didn\u2019t do so either. He knew that they were false, and he knew the full extent of their perfidy, but, being a wise man and well brought up, he remained always polite. One day he gave a big party\u2026. It was in the evening, naturally, and he was tired out by a hard day\u2019s work. Then the strain of keeping his thoughts to himself while talking a lot of damned rot to his guests\u2026. [The<\/em> YOUNG LADY is visibly shocked<\/em>] Well, while they were still at the table, he rapped for silence, raised his glass, and began to speak\u2026. Then something loosed the trigger, and in a long speech he stripped the whole company naked, one by one, telling them all he knew about their treacheries. At last, when utterly tired out, he sat down on the table itself and told them all to go to hell!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Oh!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. I was present, and I shall never forget what happened after that. My parents had a fight, the guests rushed for the doors\u2014and my father was taken to a madhouse, where he died! [Pause<\/em>] To keep silent too long is like letting water stagnate so that it rots. That is what has happened in this house. There is something rotten here. And yet I thought it paradise itself when I saw you enter here the first time\u2026. It was a Sunday morning, and I stood gazing into these rooms. Here I saw a Colonel who was no colonel. I had a generous benefactor who was a robber and had to hang himself. I saw a Mummy who was not a mummy, and a maiden\u2014how about the maidenhood, by the by?\u2026 Where is beauty to be found? In nature, and in my own mind when it has donned its Sunday clothes. Where do we find honour and faith? In fairy-tales and childish fancies. Where can I find anything that keeps its promise? Only in my own imagination!\u2026 Your flowers have poisoned me and now I am squirting their poison back at you\u2026. I asked you to become my wife in a home full of poetry, and song, and music; and then the Cook appeared\u2026. Sursum corda!<\/em> Try once more to strike fire and purple out of the golden harp\u2026. Try, I ask you, I implore you on my knees\u2026. [As she does not move<\/em>] Then I must do it myself! [He picks up the harp, but is unable to make its strings sound<\/em>] It has grown deaf and dumb! Only think that the most beautiful flower of all can be so poisonous\u2014that it can be more poisonous than any other one\u2026. There must be a curse on all creation and on life itself\u2026. Why did you not want to become my bride? Because the very well-spring of life within you has been sickened\u2026. Now I can feel how that vampire in the kitchen is sucking my life juices\u2026. She must be a Lamia, one of those that suck the blood of children. It is always in the servants\u2019 quarters that the seed-leaves of the children are nipped, if it has not already happened in the bedroom\u2026. There are poisons that blind you, and others that open your eyes more widely. I must have been born with that second kind of poison, I fear, for I cannot regard what is ugly as beautiful, or call evil good\u2014I cannot! They say that Jesus Christ descended into hell. It refers merely to his wanderings on this earth\u2014his descent into that madhouse, that jail, that morgue, the earth. The madmen killed him when he wished to liberate them, but the robber was set free. It is always the robber who gets sympathy! Woe! Woe is all of us! Saviour of the World, save us\u2014we are perishing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toward the end of the<\/em> STUDENT\u2019S speech, the<\/em> YOUNG LADY has drooped more and more. She seems to be dying. At last she manages to reach a bell and rings for<\/em> BENGTSSON, who enters shortly afterward<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUNG LADY. Bring the screen! Quick! I am dying!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BENGTSSON fetches the screen, opens it and places it so that the<\/em> YOUNG LADY is completely hidden behind<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. The liberator is approaching! Be welcome, thou pale and gentle one!\u2014Sleep, you beauteous, unhappy and innocent creature, who have done nothing to deserve your own sufferings! Sleep without dreaming, and when you wake again\u2014may you be greeted by a sun that does not burn, by a home without dust, by friends without stain, by a love without flaw! Thou wise and gentle Buddha, who sitst waiting there to see a heaven sprout from this earth, endow us with patience in the hour of trial, and with purity of will, so that thy hope be not put to shame!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strings of the harp begin to hum softly, and a white light pours into the room<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. [Singing<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing the sun, it seemed to my fancy
That I beheld the Spirit that\u2019s hidden.
Man must for ever reap what he planted:
Happy is he who has done no evil.
Wrong that was wrought in moments of anger
Never by added wrong can be righted.
Kindness shown to the man whose sorrow
Sprang from your deed, will serve you better.
Fear and guilt have their home together:
Happy indeed is the guiltless man!\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A faint moaning sound is heard from behind the screen<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDENT. You poor little child\u2014you child of a world of illusion, guilt, suffering, and death\u2014a world of eternal change, disappointment, and pain\u2014may the Lord of Heaven deal mercifully with you on your journey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole room disappears, and in its place appears Boecklin\u2019s \u201cThe Island of Death\u2026.\u201d Soft music, very quiet and pleasantly wistful, is heard from without<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curtain<\/em>.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a>The lines recited by the STUDENT<\/em> are a paraphrase of several passages from \u201cThe Song of the Sun\u201d in the Poetic Edda. It is characteristic of Strindberg\u2019s attitude during his final period that this Eddic poem, which apparently has occupied his mind great deal, as he has used it a number of times in \u201cThe Bridal Crown\u201d also, is the only one of that ancient collection which is unmistakably Christian in its colouring. It has a certain apocryphal reputation and is not regarded on a par with the other contents of the Poetic Edda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You will find this play in other formats here: https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/44302 (SP\u00d6K-SONATEN) CHAMBER PLAYS: OPUS III […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scene-for-project-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2262,"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255\/revisions\/2262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scenicandlighting.com\/lightlabs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}