Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (61 page)

LIND.
         In heaven’s name, who’s been ravaging
Our sanctum? There the lamp lies dashed
To pieces, curtain dragged to floor, pen smashed,
And on the mantelpiece the ink pot splashed —

FALK
[clapping him on the shoulder]
.
This wreck’s the first announcement of my spring;
No more behind drawn curtains I will sit,
Making pen poetry with lamp alit;
My dull domestic poetising’s done,
I’ll walk by day, and glory in the sun:
My spring is come, my soul has broken free,
Action henceforth shall be my poetry.

LIND.
Make poetry of what you please for me;
But how if Mrs. Halm should take amiss
Your breaking of her furniture to pieces?

FALK.
What! — she, who lays her daughters and her nieces
Upon the altar of her boarders’ bliss, —
She frown at such a bagatelle as this?

LIND
[angrily]
.
It’s utterly outrageous and unfair,
And compromises me as well as you!
But that’s her business, settle it with her.
The lamp was mine, tho’, shade and burner too —

FALK.
Tut, on that head, I’ve no account to render;
You have God’s summer sunshine in its splendour, —
What would you with the lamp?

LIND.
                              You are grotesque;
You utterly forget that summer passes;
If I’m to make a figure in my classes
At Christmas I must buckle to my desk.

FALK
[staring at him]
.
What, you look forward?

LIND.
                        To be sure I do,
The examination’s amply worth it too.

FALK.
Ah but — you ‘only sit and live’ — remember!
Drunk with the moment, you demand no more —
Not even a modest third-class next December.
You’ve caught the bird of Fortune fair and fleet,
You feel as if the world with all its store
Were scattered in profusion at your feet.

LIND.
Those were my words; they must be understood,
Of course,
cum grano salis
—

FALK.
                               Very good!

LIND.
In the forenoons I well enjoy my bliss;
That I am quite resolved on —

FALK.
                              Daring man!

LIND.
I have my round of visits to the clan;
Time will run anyhow to waste in this;
But any further dislocation of
My study-plan I strongly disapprove.

FALK.
A week ago, however, you were bent
On going out into God’s world with song.

LIND.
Yes, but I thought the tour a little long;
The fourteen days might well be better spent.

FALK.
Nay, but you had another argument
For staying; how the lovely dale for you
Was mountain air and winged warble too.

LIND.
Yes, to be sure, this air is unalloyed;
But all its benefits may be enjoyed
Over one’s book without the slightest bar.

FALK.
But it was just the Book which failed, you see,
As Jacob’s ladder —

LIND.
                    How perverse you are!
That is what people say when they are free —

FALK
[looking at him and folding his hands in silent
    amazement]
.
Thou also, Brutus!

LIND
[with a shade of confusion and annoyance]
.
                   Pray remember, do!
That I have other duties now than you;
I have my
fiancee
. Every plighted pair,
Those of prolonged experience not excepted, —
Whose evidence you would not wish rejected, —
Will tell you, that if two are bound to fare
Through life together, they must —

FALK.
                                   Prithee spare
The comment; who supplied it?

LIND.
                              Well, we’ll say
Stiver, he’s honest surely; and Miss Jay,
Who has such very great experience here,
She says —

FALK.
           Well, but the Parson and his — dear?

LIND.
Yes, they’re remarkable. There broods above
Them such placidity, such quietude, —
Conceive, she can’t remember being wooed,
Has quite forgotten what is meant by love.

FALK.
Ah yes, when one has slumber’d over long,
The birds of memory refuse their song.
    [Laying his hand on LIND’s shoulder, with an
      ironical look.
You, Lind, slept sound last night, I guarantee?

LIND.
And long. I went to bed in such depression,
And yet with such a fever in my brain,
I almost doubted if I could be sane.

FALK.
Ah yes, a sort of witchery, you see.

LIND.
Thank God I woke in perfect self-possession.

[During the foregoing scene STRAWMAN has been seen from time to time walking in the background in lively conversation with ANNA; MRS. STRAWMAN and the children follow. MISS JAY now appears also, and with her MRS. HALM and other ladies.

MISS JAY
[before she enters]
.
Ah, Mr. Lind.

LIND
[to FALK]
.
              They’re after me again!
Come, let us go.

MISS JAY.
                 Nay, nay, you must remain,
Let us make speedy end of the division
That has crept in between your love and you.

LIND.
Are we divided?

MISS JAY
[pointing to ANNA, who is standing further
        off in the garden]
.
                Gather the decision
From yon red eyes. The foreign mission drew
Those tears.

LIND.
             But heavens, she was glad to go —

MISS JAY
[scoffing]
.
Yes, to be sure, one would imagine so!
No, my dear Lind, you’ll take another view
When you have heard the whole affair discussed.

LIND.
But then this warfare for the faith, you know,
Is my most cherished dream!

MISS JAY.
                            O who would build
On dreaming in this century of light?
Why, Stiver had a dream the other night;
There came a letter singularly sealed —

MRS. STRAWMAN.
It’s treasure such a dream prognosticates.

MISS JAY
[nodding]
.
Yes, and next day they sued him for the rates.

   [The ladies make a circle round LIND and go in
      conversation with him into the garden.

STRAWMAN
[continuing, to ANNA, who faintly tries to escape]
.
From these considerations, daughter mine,
From these considerations, buttressed all
With reason, morals, and the Word Divine,
You now perceive that to desert your Call
Were absolutely inexcusable.

ANNA
[half crying]
.
Oh! I’m so young —

STRAWMAN.
                    And it is natural,
I own, that one should tremble to essay
These perils, dare the lures that there waylay;
But from doubt’s tangle you must now break free, —
Be of good cheer and follow Moll and me!

MRS. STRAWMAN.
Yes, your dear mother tells me that I too
Was just as inconsolable as you
When we received our Call —

STRAWMAN.
                            And for like cause —
The fascination of the town — it was;
But when a little money had come in,
And the first pairs of infants, twin by twin,
She quite got over it.

FALK
[sotto voce to STRAWMAN]
.
                       Bravo, you able
Persuader.

STRAWMAN
[nodding to him and turning again to ANNA]
.
           Now you’ve promised me, be stable.
Shall man renounce his work? Falk says the Call
Is not so very slender after all.
Did you not, Falk?

FALK.
                   Nay, pastor —

STRAWMAN.
                                 To be sure — !
                                     [To ANNA.
Of something then at least you are secure.
What’s gained by giving up, if that is so?
Look back into the ages long ago,
See, Adam, Eve — the Ark, see, pair by pair,
Birds in the field — the lilies in the air,
The little birds — the little birds — the fishes —

   [Continues in a lower tone, as he withdraws with
      ANNA.

[MISS JAY and the AUNTS return with LIND.

FALK.
Hurrah! Here come the veterans in array;
The old guard charging to retrieve the day!

MISS JAY.
Ah, in exact accordance with out wishes!
                                       [Aside.
We have him, Falk! — Now let us tackle her!
                             [Approaches ANNA.

STRAWMAN
[with a deprecating motion]
.
She needs no secular solicitation;
The Spirit has spoken, what can Earth bestead — ?
                                      [Modestly.
If in some small degree my words have sped,
Power was vouchsafed me — !

MRS. HALM.
                           Come, no more evasion,
Bring them together!

AUNTS
[with emotion]
.
                     Ah, how exquisite.

STRAWMAN.
Yes, can there be a heart so dull and dead
As not to be entranced at such a sight!
It is so thrilling and so penetrating,
So lacerating, so exhilarating,
To see an innocent babe devoutly lay
Its offering on Duty’s altar.

MRS. HALM.
                              Nay,
Her family have also done their part.

MISS JAY.
I and the Aunts — I should imagine so.
You, Lind, may have the key to Anna’s heart,
                          [Presses his hand.
But we possess a picklock, you must know,
Able to open where the key avails not.
And if in years to come, cares throng and thwart,
Only apply to us, our friendship fails not.

MRS. HALM.
Yes, we shall hover round you all your life, —

MISS JAY.
And shield you from the fiend of wedded strife.

STRAWMAN.
Enchanting group! Love, friendship, hour of gladness,
Yet so pathetically touched with sadness.
                              [Turning to LIND.
But now, young man, pray make an end of this.
                        [Leading ANNA to him.
Take thy betrothed — receive her — with a kiss!

LIND
[giving his hand to ANNA]
.
I stay at home!

ANNA
[at the same moment]
.
I go with you!

ANNA
[amazed]
.
               You stay?

LIND
[equally so]
.
                         You go with me?

ANNA
[with a helpless glance at the company]
.
Why, then, we are divided as before!

LIND.
What’s this?

THE LADIES.
            What now?

MISS JAY
[excitedly]
.
                     Our wills are at war —

STRAWMAN.
She gave her solemn word to cross the sea
With him!

MISS JAY.
         And he gave his to stay ashore
With her!

FALK
[laughing]
.
They both complied; what would you more!

STRAWMAN.
These complications are too much for me.
            [Goes toward the background.

AUNTS
[to one another]
.
How in the world came they to disagree?

MRS. HALM
[To GULDSTAD and STIVER, who have been walking
         in the garden and now approach.
The spirit of discord’s in possession of her.
                        [Talks aside to them.

MRS. STRAWMAN
[To MISS JAY, noticing that the table is
             being laid.
There comes the tea.

MISS JAY
[curtly]
.
                     Thank heaven.

FALK.
                                   Hurrah! a cheer
For love and friendship, maiden aunts and tea!

STIVER.
But if the case stands thus, the whole proceeding
May easily be ended with a laugh;
All turns upon a single paragraph,
Which bids the wife attend the spouse. No pleading
Can wrest an ordinance so clearly stated —

MISS JAY.
Doubtless, but does that help us to agree?