A Doll's House and Other Plays (Penguin) Page 7

  OLAF [who has walked up on to the garden steps]: Were you pursued by a walrus, Uncle?

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: I dreamed it, you clothead! But are you still running around playing with that ludicrous bow? Why don’t you get hold of a proper gun?

  OLAF: Oh yes, I’d love that, but –

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Because a proper gun, there’s some sense in that; there’s always certain nervous thrill to be had when one’s about to fire.

  OLAF: And then I could shoot bears, Uncle. But Father won’t let me.

  MRS BERNICK: You really mustn’t put things like that into his head, Hilmar.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Hm – well, it’s some generation being raised nowadays! All this talk about sports and more sports15 – heavens preserve us – it’s all nothing but play, never any serious drive towards the toughening-up process that comes from staring danger manfully in the eye. Don’t stand there pointing that bow at me, you clot; it might go off.

  OLAF: No, Uncle, there’s no arrow in it.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: You can’t be sure of that; there might just be an arrow in it after all. Put it away, I say! – Why in hell have you never gone over to America with one of your father’s ships? There you might see a buffalo hunt or a battle with Redskins.

  MRS BERNICK: But Hilmar –

  OLAF: Oh, I’d love that, Uncle; and then perhaps I could meet Uncle Johan and Aunt Lona.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Hm – stuff and nonsense.

  MRS BERNICK: You can go back down into the garden now, Olaf.

  OLAF: Can I go out into the street too, Mummy?

  MRS BERNICK: Yes, but not too far.

  OLAF runs out through the metal gate.

  MR RØRLUND: You oughtn’t to put such notions into the child’s head, Mr Tønnesen.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: No, naturally, he ought to hang about here and turn into a stay-at-home, like so many others.

  MR RØRLUND: Why don’t you travel over there yourself?

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Me? With my illness? Yes, well, goes without saying, nobody gives much consideration to that here in town. But, that aside – one does have certain duties towards the community one is a part of. There’s got to be somebody here to hold the flag of ideas aloft. Oof, now he’s screaming again!

  THE LADIES: Who’s screaming?

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Oh, I don’t know. Their voices are a little raised in there, and it makes me nervous.

  MRS RUMMEL: That’s probably my husband, Mr Tønnesen. But you mustn’t forget, he’s so used to speaking at big meetings –

  MR RØRLUND: The others aren’t too quiet either, if you ask me.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: No, heavens preserve us, when it comes to guarding their wallets, then –. Everything’s reduced to petty materialistic calculation round here. Oof!

  MRS BERNICK: It’s better than before at least, when everything was reduced to the pursuit of pleasure.

  MRS LYNGE: Was it really that bad here before?

  MRS RUMMEL: Oh yes, believe you me, Mrs Lynge. You can count yourself lucky you didn’t live here at the time.

  MRS HOLT: Yes, we’ve certainly had some changes here! When I think back to my girlhood –

  MRS RUMMEL: Oh, just think back fourteen, fifteen years. Mercy upon us, what goings-on! Back then we had the Ballroom Society and the Music Society –

  MISS BERNICK: And the Dramatics Society. I remember that well.

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, that’s where your play was put on, Mr Tønnesen.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN [moving away into the background]: Ah, what, what –?!

  MR RØRLUND: A play – by our student Tønnesen?16

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, it was a long time before you came here, Mr Rørlund. Besides, it was only performed once.

  MRS LYNGE: Wasn’t that the play you told me about – where you played the mistress, Mrs Rummel?

  MRS RUMMEL [shoots a glance at the SCHOOLMASTER]: Me? What, I certainly can’t remember that, Mrs Lynge. But I do remember all the noisy socializing that went on in some families.

  MRS HOLT: Yes, I even know houses where they had two big dinner parties a week.

  MRS LYNGE: And there was a company of travelling actors here, so I’ve heard.

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, now that really was the worst –!

  MRS HOLT[uneasy]: Hrrm, hrrm –

  MRS RUMMEL: Ah, actors? No, not at all, I don’t remember that.

  MRS LYNGE: Yes, they’re meant to have done so many crazy things, I hear. What was actually behind these stories?

  MRS RUMMEL: Oh, nothing at all really, Mrs Lynge.

  MRS HOLT: Dina, my sweet, hand me that piece of linen.

  MRS BERNICK [at the same time]: Dina dear, go out and ask Katrine to bring the coffee.

  MISS BERNICK: I’ll come with you, Dina.

  DINA and MISS BERNICK exit through the door at the back to the left.

  MRS BERNICK [gets up]: And you’ll have to excuse me for a moment too, ladies; I think we’ll take our coffee outside.

  She goes out on the garden steps and lays a table; the SCHOOLMASTER stands in the doorway talking with her. HILMAR TØNNESEN sits outside smoking.

  MRS RUMMEL [quietly]: Goodness, Mrs Lynge, you gave me a fright there!

  MRS LYNGE: Me?

  MRS HOLT: Well, you were the one who actually started it, Mrs Rummel.

  MRS RUMMEL: Me? How can you say that, Mrs Holt? Not one word crossed my lips.

  MRS LYNGE: But what is all this?

  MRS RUMMEL: How could you start talking about –! Just think – didn’t you see that Dina was here?

  MRS LYNGE: Dina? But, my goodness, has it got something to do with –?

  MRS HOLT: And in this house! You must know it was Mrs Bernick’s brother –?

  MRS LYNGE: What – him? I know nothing at all; I am very new here –

  MRS RUMMEL: So you’ve not heard –? Hmm – [To her daughter] You can go down into the garden for a bit, Hilda.

  MRS HOLT: You too, Netta. And be really friendly to that poor Dina when she comes.

  MISS RUMMEL and MISS HOLT go out into the garden.

  MRS LYNGE: Well, so what was this about Mrs Bernick’s brother?

  MRS RUMMEL: Don’t you know he’s the one that was involved in that awful story?

  MRS LYNGE: Mr Tønnesen, the student – in some awful story?

  MRS RUMMEL: Good Lord, no, Mrs Lynge, the student is her cousin of course. I’m talking about her brother –

  MRS HOLT: – the Prodigal Tønnesen –17

  MRS RUMMEL: Johan was his name. He ran off to America.

  MRS HOLT: Had to run off, you see.

  MRS LYNGE: And he was in this awful story?

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, it was something – how should I describe it? It was something to do with Dina’s mother. Oh, I remember it as though it were yesterday. Johan Tønnesen was working in old Mrs Bernick’s office at the time; Karsten Bernick had just come home from Paris – wasn’t yet engaged –

  MRS LYNGE: Yes, but the awful story?

  MRS RUMMEL: Well, you see – that winter Møller’s Actors’ Company was here in town –

  MRS HOLT: – and among this company were the actor Dorf and his wife. All the young men were completely besotted with her.

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, Lord knows how they could find her attractive. But then Dorf came home late one evening –

  MRS HOLT: – rather unexpectedly –

  MRS RUMMEL: – and found – no, it really doesn’t bear telling.

  MRS HOLT: And found nothing, Mrs Rummel, because the door was locked from the inside.

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying; he found the door locked! And just imagine, the man who’s inside has to leap out of the window.

  MRS HOLT: All the way from the loft window!

  MRS LYNGE: And that was Mrs Bernick’s brother?

  MRS RUMMEL: It was indeed.

  MRS LYNGE: And that was when he ran off to America?

  MRS HOLT: Yes, he had to, you’ll understand.

  MRS RUMMEL: Bec
ause later something was discovered that was almost as bad; just think, he’d had his hands in the till –

  MRS HOLT: But nobody knows that for sure, Mrs Rummel; it may just have been a rumour.

  MRS RUMMEL: Really now, I must say –! Wasn’t it known all over town? Wasn’t old Mrs Bernick close to going bankrupt because of it? I have it from Rummel himself. But heaven guard my tongue.

  MRS HOLT: Well, one thing’s certain, Madam Dorf didn’t get the money, because she –

  MRS LYNGE: Yes, how did things go between Dina’s parents afterwards?

  MRS RUMMEL: Well, Dorf went off, leaving his wife and child behind. But she was brazen enough to stay here for a whole year. She didn’t dare appear at the theatre again, of course, but she made a living by washing and sewing for people –

  MRS HOLT: And then she tried to get a dancing school going.

  MRS RUMMEL: That didn’t work, of course. What parent would entrust their children to a person like that? Not that she lasted very long anyway; that fine madam clearly wasn’t used to work; something went to her chest, and she died.

  MRS LYNGE: Oh, that really is an awful story!

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, believe me, it’s been very painful for the Bernicks. It is, as Rummel once put it, the murky blot on their sun of happiness. So you must never ever mention these things in this house, Mrs Lynge.

  MRS HOLT: Nor, for heaven’s sake, her half-sister!

  MRS LYNGE: Yes, Mrs Bernick has a half-sister too, hasn’t she?

  MRS RUMMEL: Did have – fortunately. I’d say any sense of kinship is over between the two of them now. Oh yes, she was one of a kind! Imagine, she cut off her hair and wore men’s boots when it rained.

  MRS HOLT: And when her half-brother – that prodigal creature – had run off, and the whole town was naturally in an uproar over him – do you know what she does? She follows him over!

  MRS RUMMEL: Yes, but the scandal she made before she left, Mrs Holt!

  MRS HOLT: Shush, don’t talk about it.

  MRS LYNGE: Goodness, did she make a scandal too?

  MRS RUMMEL: Well, it was like this, Mrs Lynge. Bernick had just got engaged to Betty Tønnesen; and just as he comes in with her on his arm to announce to her aunt –

  MRS HOLT: The Tønnesens were parentless, you see –

  MRS RUMMEL: – Lona Hessel gets up from the chair she’s sitting on and slaps that fine, cultured Karsten Bernick so hard his ears rang.

  MRS LYNGE: No, well I never –!

  MRS HOLT: Yes, it’s the truth.

  MRS RUMMEL: And then she packed her suitcase and went to America.

  MRS LYNGE: But then she must have had an eye for him herself.

  MRS RUMMEL: You can be sure of it. She’d gone about here deluding herself that they’d be a couple when he got home from Paris.

  MRS HOLT: Yes, to think she could believe such a thing! Bernick – that young, charming man of the world – an absolute gentleman – darling of all the ladies –

  MRS RUMMEL: – and yet so respectable, Mrs Holt; and such a moral man.

  MRS LYNGE: But what did this Miss Hessel do with herself in America?

  MRS RUMMEL: Well, you see, thereover rests, as Rummel once put it, a veil that ought not to be lifted.

  MRS LYNGE: Meaning what?

  MRS RUMMEL: She no longer has any contact with the family, of course; but this much the whole town knows: she’s sung for money in the taverns over there –

  MRS HOLT: – and held lectures in public halls –18

  MRS RUMMEL: – and published some crackpot book.

  MRS LYNGE: Never –!

  MRS RUMMEL: Oh, yes, Lona Hessel is yet another murky blot on the sun of the Bernick’s family happiness. Anyway, you’ve been informed now, Mrs Lynge. I have, God knows, only mentioned this so you’ll exercise caution.

  MRS LYNGE: Absolutely, you can rest assured I shall. – But that poor Dina Dorf! I feel so dreadfully sorry for her.

  MRS RUMMEL: Well, for her it was rather lucky of course. Imagine, if she’d remained in her parents’ hands! We took care of her, all of us, naturally, and we offered her instruction as best we could. Later Miss Bernick insisted on her coming here into this house.

  MRS HOLT: But she’s always been a difficult child. You can just imagine – with all those bad examples. That sort isn’t like one of our own, of course; she must be taken as she comes, Mrs Lynge.

  MRS RUMMEL: Shh – here she is. [Loudly] Yes, that Dina, she’s such a clever girl. Oh, is that you, Dina? We were just sitting here putting our needlework away.

  MRS HOLT: I say, how delicious your coffee smells, Dina darling. A nice cup of afternoon coffee –

  MRS BERNICK [out on the garden steps]: Here we are, ladies!

  MISS BERNICK and DINA have meanwhile helped the maid bring out the coffee things. All the ladies take their places outside; they talk to DINA in an exaggeratedly friendly tone. Moments later she goes into the room and looks for her needlework.

  MRS BERNICK [outside by the coffee table]: Dina, don’t you want to join us –?

  DINA: No, thank you, I don’t.

  She sits down with her sewing. MRS BERNICK and the SCHOOLMASTER exchange a few words; a moment later he comes into the room.

  MR RØRLUND [makes an excuse to go over to the table and says quietly]: Dina.

  DINA: Yes.

  MR RØRLUND: Why didn’t you want to be out there?

  DINA: When I came in with the coffee, I saw from the new lady’s expression that they’d talked about me.

  MR RØRLUND: Then you must also have seen how friendly she was to you out there.

  DINA: But I can’t bear it!

  MR RØRLUND: You have a stubborn spirit, Dina.

  DINA: Yes.

  MR RØRLUND: But why?

  DINA: I can’t be any different.

  MR RØRLUND: Couldn’t you at least try to be different?

  DINA: No.

  MR RØRLUND: Why not?

  DINA [looks at him]: I am one of the morally depraved.

  MR RØRLUND: Dina, really!

  DINA: Mother was also one of the morally depraved.

  MR RØRLUND: Who’s been talking to you about such things?

  DINA: Nobody; they never talk. Why don’t they? Everybody always treats me so delicately, as if I’d break if –. Oh, how I loathe all their good-heartedness.

  MR RØRLUND: My dear Dina, I do understand your finding it rather oppressive here, but –

  DINA: Yes, if only I could get away, far away. I’m sure I’d be able to help myself get on if I didn’t live amongst people who were so – so –

  MR RØRLUND: So what?

  DINA: So respectable and so moral.

  MR RØRLUND: But, Dina, you don’t mean that.

  DINA: Oh, you know very well what I mean. Every day Hilda and Netta come here so that I’ll model myself on them. I’ll never be as proper as they are. I don’t want to be. Oh, if I was some place far away, I’m sure I’d prove myself capable.

  MR RØRLUND: But you already are capable, Dina dear.

  DINA: What good is that to me here?

  MR RØRLUND: But to leave –. Are you considering that seriously?

  DINA: I wouldn’t stay one day longer if you weren’t here.

  MR RØRLUND: Dina, tell me – why exactly do you like to spend time with me?

  DINA: Because you teach me so much that’s beautiful.

  MR RØRLUND: Beautiful? You call what I can teach you beautiful?

  DINA: Yes. Or, rather – you don’t exactly teach me anything, but when I hear you speak I see so much that’s beautiful.

  MR RØRLUND: What exactly do you understand by a beautiful thing?

  DINA: That’s not something I’ve ever thought about.

  MR RØRLUND: Think about it now, then. What do you understand by a beautiful thing?

  DINA: A beautiful thing is something big – and far away.

  MR RØRLUND: Hm. – Dina my dear, I am deeply concerned about you.

  DINA: Nothing m
ore?

  MR RØRLUND: You know very well how unutterably dear you are to me.

  DINA: If I were Hilda or Netta you wouldn’t be frightened of people noticing it.

  MR RØRLUND: Oh, Dina, you have such scant insight into the hundreds of considerations –. When a man is tasked with being a moral pillar of the community in which he lives, well – one just can’t be too careful. If I could only be sure that people would really know how to interpret my motives correctly. – But never mind that; you must and shall be helped up. Are we agreed, Dina, that when I come – when circumstances allow me to come – and I say: here is my hand – then will you take it and be my wife? – Do you promise me, Dina?

  DINA: Yes.

  MR RØRLUND: Thank you, thank you. And the same goes for me –. Oh, Dina, I really do hold you so very dear –. Shh; someone’s coming. Dina, for my sake – go out to the others.

  She goes outside to the coffee table. At the same moment RUMMEL, SANDSTAD and VIGELAND come out from the room in the foreground to the left, followed by CONSUL BERNICK, who has a pile of papers in his hand.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Right, so the matter’s settled.

  VIGELAND: In the name of our Lord, let us hope so.

  RUMMEL: It’s settled, Bernick! A Norseman’s word19 stands as solid as the rocks of Dovre Mountain, you know that!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: And none shall waver; none shall fall away, whatever opposition we might meet.

  RUMMEL: We stand or fall together, Bernick!

  HILMAR TØNNESEN [who has appeared at the garden door]: Fall? Permit me, isn’t it the railway that’s to take the fall here?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Quite the contrary; it’s going to run –

  RUMMEL: – full steam, Mr Tønnesen.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN [closer]: Oh?

  MR RØRLUND: How?

  MRS BERNICK [at the garden door]: But, Karsten dear, what is all this –?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Oh, Betty my dear, how could it possibly interest you? [To the three gentlemen] But we must get the subscription lists ready now, the sooner the better. Needless to say, the four of us will sign up first. The position we occupy in the community makes it our duty to stretch ourselves to the utmost.

  SANDSTAD: Of course, Mr Consul, sir.

  RUMMEL: It will happen, Bernick; we’re sworn to it.