Chapter V: Part 5

HAHN

An' a bit o' brandy wouldn't come amiss neither.

GOLISCH

August, you might be treatin' us to a quart.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

He'd better invite us all to the weddin'.

GOLISCH

We're all comin' to the weddin'. They says it's to be soon.

HEINZEL

I'm not comin'. What for? To swill cold water? I needn't go no farther than the spring for that. Or for the sake of a little coffee.

HAHN

An' prayin' an' singin' for dessert. An' mebbe, there's no tellin', the parson from Jenkau will come over an' see if we know the ten commandments.

HEINZEL

Or the seven beatitudes on top o' that! That'd be a fine state of affairs. I've long forgot it all.

KLEINERT

You folks had better stop teasin' August. I'm tellin' you now, if I had a girl of my own, I wouldn't be wantin' no better son-in-law. He knows his business! You always know where to find him.

_The working men and women have scattered themselves at ease in a
semicircle and are eating their evening meal; coffee in tin pots and
great wedges of bread from which they cut pieces with their
clasp-knives._

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

There comes Rosie Bernd around from behind the farm.

GOLISCH

Look an' see, will you, how that girl can jump.

KLEINERT

She can lift a sack o' wheat and drag it to the very top o' the barn. This very mornin' I saw her with a great heavy chest o' drawers on a wheelbarrow, trundlin' it over to the new house. That there girl has got sap an' strength. She'll take care o' her household.

HAHN

If I could get along in the world like August in other respecks, my faith, I wouldn't a bit mind tryin'; I'd see what bein' pious can do for a man.

GOLISCH

You've got to know how to run after good fortune; then you'll get hold of it.

HAHN

When you consider how he used to go around from village to village with a sack full o' tracts; an' how, after that, he used to be writin' letters for people ... an' now, to-day, he's got the finest bit o' property an' can marry the handsomest girl in the county.

_ROSE BERND approaches. In a basket she is carrying the evening meal
for AUGUST and OLD BERND._

ROSE

A good afternoon to you.

SEVERAL VOICES

Good evenin'!--Good evenin'! Many thanks!

GOLISCH

You're lettin' your sweetheart starve, Rosie.

ROSE

[_Merrily unpacking the food._] Don't you worry! He don't starve so easy as that.

HEINZEL

You must be feedin' him well, Rosie, or he'll put on no flesh.

GOLISCH

That's true. He'll be a sight too lean for you, lass.

BERND

Where have you been keepin' yourself so long? We've been waitin' this half hour.

AUGUST

[_In a subdued but annoyed voice._] An' now the whole crowd is here again! An' we might have been through this long time.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

Let him scold, lass, an' don't mind it.

ROSE

Who's scoldin'? There's no one here to scold. August wouldn't do it in a lifetime.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

Even so! But that's right: you shouldn't care nothin' about it.

HEINZEL

'Cause, if he don't scold now, that'll be comin' later.

ROSE

I'm not afraid o' that ever comin'.

GOLISCH

You're mighty friendly, all of a sudden.

ROSE

We was always agreed with each other, wasn't we, August? What are you laughin' at? [_She kisses him. Laughter is heard among the people._]

GOLISCH

Well, well, and I thought as I might be climbin' into her window some day.

KLEINERT

If you did, you'd be carrying home your bones in a handkerchief!

THE HEAD MAID SERVANT

[_Sarcastically._] O Lordy, Lordy! I'd try it all the same. You can't never tell.

BERND

[_Sombre but calm._] Take care what you're sayin', woman.

KLEINERT

Hear what he says, I tell you! Be careful of what you're sayin'. Old Bernd, he don't take no jokes.

ROSE

She's not sayin' anythin' special. Let her be.

KLEINERT

[_Lighting his pipe._] He may be lookin' real mild now, but when he lets go, you won't hardly believe it. I know how it used to be when he was manager of the estate; the women folks didn't have much cause for laughin' then. He got the upper hand o' ten like you; there wasn't no gaddin 'about with fellers for them!

HEAD MAID SERVANT

Who's gaddin' about with fellers, I'd like to know!

KLEINERT

You'd better be askin' the machinist, Streckmann,

HEAD MAID SERVANT

[_Crimson._] For all I care you can ask the Lord hisself!

[_All present laugh._

_The machinist STRECKMANN appears. He is dusty and comes straight
from the threshing machine. He shows the effects of liquor._

STRECKMANN

Who's talkin' about the machinist Streckmann aroun' here? He's right here! He's standin' right here. Anybody wantin' to pick a quarrel with him? Good day to you all! Hope you're havin' a pleasant meal.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

Talk of the devil an' he appears.

STRECKMANN

An' you're the devil's grandmother, I suppose. [_He takes off his cockade and wipes the sweat from his forehead._] I tell you people I can't keep up with this: this kind o' work uses a man up skin and bones!--Hello, August! Good day to you, Rosie! Well, father Bernd--Great God, can't anybody answer?

HEINZEL

Let him be! Some people's better off than they can stand.

STRECKMANN

The Lord lets his own people have an easy time. A feller like me works and works and can't get ahead. [_He has assumed a reclining position and squeezed himself between HEINZEL and KLEINERT. He now hands his whisky bottle to HEINZEL._] Let her go aroun'.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

You live the best life of us all, Streckmann! What in Heaven's name has you to complain about? You drinks your drinks and makes three times over what we do--all for standin' by the machine a bit.

STRECKMANN

What I want is work for my brain. I got a head on me. That's what you bran-heads can't understand. Of course! What does an old woman know about that! An', anyhow--the trouble I got....

GOLISCH

Lord, Streckmann and trouble--

STRECKMANN

More than enough!--there's somethin' that sticks into me, I can tell you--sticks into my belly and into my heart. I feel so rotten bad I'd like to be doin' somethin' real crazy. [_To the ASSISTANT MAID._] Lass, shall I lie down with you?

ASSISTANT MAID

I'll bang you over the head with a whetstone!

GOLISCH

That's just what's troublin' him; everythin' gets black before his eyes, he don't see nothin' more, an' sudden like, he's lyin' abed with a lass.

[_Loud laughter._

STRECKMANN

Yon can laugh, ye ragamuffins, laugh all ye want to! It's no laughin' matter with me, I can tell ye. [_Blustering:_] I'll let the machine squeeze off one of my arms! Or ye can run the piston through me if ye want to! Kill me, for all I care.

HAHN

Or mebbe you'd like to set a barn afire.

STRECKMANN

By God! There's fire enough inside of me. August there, he's a happy man ...

AUGUST

Whether I'm happy or whether I'm unhappy, that don't concern no one in this world.

STRECKMANN

What am I doin' to you? Can't you be sociable with a feller?

AUGUST

I'll look for my society elsewhere.

STRECKMANN

[_Looks at him long with smouldering hatred; represses his rage and grasps the whisky bottle which has been handed back to him._] Give it to me! A feller's got to drown his sorrow!--[_To ROSE._] You needn't be lookin' at me; a bargain's a bargain. [_He gets up._] I'm goin'!--I don't want to come between you.

ROSE

You can go or you can stay for all I care.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

[_Calling STRECKMANN back._] Look here, Streckmann, what was that happened t'other day? About three weeks ago at the threshin' machine?...

[_Men and women burst into laughter._

STRECKMANN

That's all over. I don't know nothin' about that.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

An' yet, you swore by all that was good and holy....

KLEINERT

You people stop your gossippin'.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

He needn't be talkin' so big all the time.

STRECKMANN

[_Comes back._] And I tell you what I says, that I puts through. I'll be damned if I don't! Let it go at that. I don't say no more.

[_Exit._

OLD MRS. GOLISCH It's done just as easy without talkin'.

STRECKMANN

[_Comes back, is about to speak out, but restrains himself._] Never mind! I don't walk into no such trap! But if you want to know exactly what it's all about, ask August there or father Bernd.

BERND

What's all this about? What's this we're supposed to know?

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

'Twas that time you went to the magistrate's, 'twas that time! An' didn't Streckmann pass you on the road an' didn't he cry out somethin' after ye?

KLEINERT

It's about time for you to be stoppin'.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

An' why, I'd like to know? That's all nothin' but a joke ... People wonders if that there time you all agreed, or if Rosie wasn't so willin' to join in!

BERND

God Almighty forgive you all for your sins! What I wants to ask you is this: Why can't the whole crowd o' you leave us in peace? Or is it that we ever did any harm to any o' ye?

GOLISCH

An' we're not doin' any wrong neither.

ROSE

An' whether I was willin' on that day or not--you needn't give yourself no concern about that! I'm willin' now an' that settles it,

KLEINERT

That's the right way, Rosie!

AUGUST

[_Who has hitherto been reading, with apparent absorption, in his New Testament, now closes the book and arises._] Come, father, let's go to work.

HAHN

That takes it out o' you more than pastin' prayer books together or stirrin' the paste in your pot!

HEINZEL

And how do you think he'll feel after the weddin'? A girl like Rosie--she makes demands!

[_Laughter._

STRECKMANN

[_Also laughing._] Gee ...! I almost said somethin' I oughtn't to!--[_He steps back among the people._] I'll give you a riddle to guess. Shall I? Still waters run deep! 'Tis bad. You mustn't taste blood--no, no! The thirst only gets worse an' worse--that's all.

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

What's that? Where did you get the taste o' blood?

BERND

I suppose he means the taste for whisky!

STRECKMANN

I'm goin' my way! Good-bye! I'm a good feller! Good-bye, father Bernd! Good-bye, August! Good-bye, Rosie! [_To AUGUST._] What's wrong?--August, don't be showin' off. 'Tis all well! I'm willin'! You'll not see me again! But you--you've got reason enough to be grateful to me. You've always been an underhanded kind o' crittur! But I've given my consent to let things be! I've given my consent an' everything can go smoothly.

[_STRECKMANN goes._

ROSE

[_With violent energy._] Let him talk, August; pay no attention to him.

KLEINERT

Flamm is comin'! [_He looks at his watch._] 'Tis over half an hour!

[_The whistle of the engine is heard._

HAHN

[_During the general stir._] Forward, Prussians! It's misery whistlin' for us!

_The workingmen and the maids disappear swiftly with their scythes.
ROSE, OLD BERND and AUGUST remain alone on the scene._

BERND

All the evil on earth seems broken loose here' What's all that Streckmann is sayin'? Tell me, Rose, do you understand it?

ROSE

No, an' I've got better things to be thinkin' of! [_She gives AUGUST a friendly nudge on the head._] Isn't it so, August? We have no time for nonsense! We have to hurry these comin' six weeks.

[_She gathers up the remnants of the meal in her basket._

AUGUST

Come over to us a bit later.

ROSE

I must wash and iron and sew buttonholes. 'Tis almost time now.

BERND

We'll be comin' to our supper after seven.

[_Exit._

AUGUST

[_Before he goes, earnestly:_] Do you care for me, Rosie?

ROSE

Yes, I do care for you.

_AUGUST disappears and ROSE is left alone. The hum of the threshing
machine is heard as well as the muttering of thunder on the horizon.
After ROSE has replaced bread, butter, the coffee pots and cups into
her basket, she straightens herself up and seems to become aware of
something in the distance which attracts her and holds her captive.
With sudden, determination, she snatches up the head kerchief that
has fallen to the ground and hurries off. Before she has disappeared
from view, however, FLAMM becomes visible on the scene and calls to
her._

FLAMM

Rose! Wait there! Confound it all! [_Rose stands still with her face turned away._] You are to give me a drink! I suppose I'm worth a draught of water.

ROSE

There's plenty of water here.

FLAMM

I see. I'm not blind. But I don't care to drink like the beasts. Have you no cups in your basket? [_ROSE pushes the cover of her basket aside._] Well, then! You even have a cup of Bunzlauer ware! I like to drink out of that best of all. [_She hands him the cup, still with averted face._] I beg your pardon. You might practise a little politeness! I suppose you'll have to force yourself to it this one more time. [_ROSE walks over to the spring, rinses the cup, fills it with water, sets it down next to the spring and then returns to her basket. She picks the latter up and waits with her back to FLAMM._] No, Rosie--that won't do at all. You might get rid of some gaol bird in that fashion. I don't know the habits of such persons very exactly. As things are, I'm still the magistrate Flamm. Am I going to get a drink or am I not? Well: One ... two ... three ... and ... there's an end to this, I' beg for some decency! No more nonsense! [_ROSE has returned to the spring, has picked up the cup and now holds it out to FLAMM, still refusing to look at him._] So! Higher, though, a little higher! I can't get at it yet!

ROSE

But you must hold it.

FLAMM

How can I drink this way?

ROSE

[_Amused against her will, turns her face to him._] Oh, but....

FLAMM

That's better already!--That's good!--[_Apparently unintentionally and as if merely to hold the cup, he puts his own hands upon ROSE'S which support it. His mouth at the rim he lowers himself more and more--until he kneels on one knee._] So! Thank you, Rosie! Now you can let me go.

ROSE

[_Making gentle efforts to disengage herself._] Oh, no! Do let me be, Mr. Flamm!

FLAMM

Is that so? You think, then, that I ought to let you be? Now, when at last I've succeeded in catching you! No, lassie,'tis not so easy as that. It won't do and you needn't ask it of me. You needn't wear yourself out! You can't escape me! First of all, look me square in the eyes once more! I haven't changed! I know; I know about--everything! I've had 'a talk with the magistrate Steckel about your having agreed to everything now. I thank God that I'm no longer the official who attends to the matchmaking! Another man takes care of the man-traps now. I even know the date of the funeral ... I'll be ... I meant the wedding, of course. And in addition, I've talked to myself, too. Rose, 'tis a hard nut! I hope we won't break our teeth on it!

ROSE

I dare not stand this way with you here.

FLAMM

You must. Whether you may or not--I don't care! In fact I don't give a tinker's damn! If this thing is really decreed in the council of God, as the song has it--I want a dismissal in all due form: I refuse to be just coolly shunted off.--Rose, is there anything in the past for which I need to ask your forgiveness?

ROSE

[_Touched, shakes her head with energy._] Nothin', nothin' at all, Mr. Flamm.

FLAMM

No? Is that honest? [_ROSE nods a hearty affirmation._] Well, I'm glad of that, at least! I hoped it would be so. Then at least we can keep something that's harmonious in our memories. Ah, Rose, it was a good, good time....

ROSE

An' you must go back to your wife....

FLAMM

A good time! And it rushes past ... past! And what do we keep of it?

ROSE

You must be kind, very kind to your wife, Mr. Flamm. She's an angel; 'tis she that saved me!

FLAMM

Come, let's sit down under the pear tree! Very well. But why talk of it? I'm always kind to my wife. Our relations are the very friendliest. Come, Rose! Tell me all about that. What d'you mean by that? Saved? What did she save you from, Rose? I'd naturally like to know that! What was the matter with you? Mother did drop all sorts of hints; but I was no wiser for them.

ROSE

Mr. Christopher ... Mr. Flamm! I can't sit down here. An' it don't matter! It can't lead to anythin'. 'Tis all over an' past now--well--'tis all dead an' gone. I know God will forgive me the sin. An' He won't lay it up against the poor, innocent child neither. He's too merciful to do that!

FLAMM

[_Alluding to the hum of the threshing machine which grows louder and louder._] That confounded buzzing all the time!--What did you say, Rose? Sit down just a moment. I won't harm you; I won't even touch you! I give you my word, Rose. Have some confidence in me! I want you to speak out--to tell what's on your heart!

ROSE

I don't know ... there's ... there's just nothin' more to say! When once I'm married, you can go an' ask the good missis. Maybe she'll tell you then what was the trouble with me. I haven't told August nothin' either. I know he's good. I'm not afraid o' that. He's soft o' heart an' a good Christian man. An' now: Good-bye, Christie--keep well.--We've a long life ahead of us now an', maybe, we can be reel faithful an' do penance an' work hard an' pay off the debt.

FLAMM

[_Holding ROSE'S hand fast in his._] Rose, stay one moment. It's all right and I must be satisfied. I'm not coming to your wedding, God knows! But even if I don't come to your wedding, still I admit that you're right.--But, oh, lass, I've loved you so truly, so honestly.... I can never tell you how much! And it's been, upon my word, as far back as I can think.--You had crept into my heart even in the old days when you were a child and were always so honest ... so frank about a thousand little things--so straight and true, however things were. No sneakiness, no subterfuge--whatever the consequences. I've known women enough in Tarant and in Eberswalde at the agricultural college and in the army, and I was usually lucky with them--ridiculously so. And yet I never knew true happiness except through you.

ROSE

Oh, Christie, I've loved you too!

FLAMM

Why you've been in love with me ever since you were a little thing! Why you used to make eyes at me.... Do you believe you'll ever think of it? And think of the mad, old sinner Flamm?

ROSE

That I will. I have a pledge....

FLAMM

You mean the ring with the bit of stone? And won't you come to our house some time?

ROSE

No, that can't be. That would cut a body too sorely to the heart. That wouldn't be nothin' but double sufferin' an' misery! There's got to be an end to it all. I'll bury myself in the house! There's work an' moil enough for two! 'Tis a new life that's beginnin' an' we mustn't look back on the old life. There's nothin' but sorrow an' heart's need on this earth; we has to wait for a better place.

FLAMM

And so this is to be our last farewell, Rose?

ROSE

Father an' August will be wonderin' now.

FLAMM

And if the little fishes in the river were to stand on their tails in wonderment and the bitterns on the trees did the same--I wouldn't lose one second--now! So it's to be all, all over and done with? And you won't even come to see mother?

ROSE

[_Shaking her head._] I can't look her in the face no more! Maybe some day! Maybe in ten years or so! Maybe all this'll be conquered then. Good-bye, Mr. Christie! Good-bye, Mr. Flamm!

FLAMM

So be it. But, lass, I tell you, if it weren't for mother ... now ... even now ... I wouldn't fool around much ... I wouldn't give you much time....

ROSE

Yes, if it wasn't for that little word "if"! If August wasn't livin', an' father wasn't--who knows what I'd do. I'd like to go out into the wide world.

FLAMM

And I with you, Rose! Well, then we know what's in our hearts.--And now you might give me your hand once more.... [_He presses her hand and their glances melt hotly into each other in this last farewell._] So it is. What was to be, must be! I suppose we must leave each other now.

[_He turns resolutely and walks away with firm steps and without
looking back._

ROSE [_Looking after him, mastering herself, with tense volition:_] What must be, must be!--'tis well now!--

[_She put back the can into her basket and is about to walk in the
opposite direction._

_STRECKMANN appears._

STRECKMANN

[_With pale, contorted face, creeping and basely hesitant in demeanour._] Rose! Rose Bernd! D'you hear? That was that rascally Flamm again! If ever I gets my hand on him ... I'll smash every bone in his carcase!--What's up? What did he want again! But I'm tellin' you this: things don't go that way! I won't bear it! One man is as good as another! I won't let nobody turn me off this way!

ROSE

What d'you say? Who are you anyhow?

STRECKMANN

Who am I? Damn it, you know that well enough!

ROSE

Who are you? Where did I ever see you?

STRECKMANN

Me? Where you saw me? _You?_ You can look for somebody else to play your monkey tricks on!

ROSE

What do you want? What are you? What business has you with me?

STRECKMANN

What business? What I wants? Nothin' much, y'understand? God ... don't scream so!

ROSE

I'll call for all the world to come if you don't get out o' my way this minute!

STRECKMANN

Think o' the cherry tree! Think o' the crucifix....

ROSE

Who are you! Lies! Lies! What do you want with me? Either you get away from here straightway ... or I'll cry out for some one to come an' help me!

STRECKMANN

Girl, you've lost your senses!

ROSE

Then I won't have to drag 'em around with me no longer! Who are you! Lies! You've seen nothin'! I'll cry out! I'll shriek as long as I has breath in my body, if you don't go this very second.

STRECKMANN

[_Frightened._] I'm goin', Rosie. It's all right.

ROSE

But now! This minute! Y'understand!

STRECKMANN

Right away! For all I care! An' why not? [_He makes a farcical gesture as though avoiding a shower of rain._]

ROSE

[_Half-mad with rage and scorn._] There he runs! The vile scoundrel! When you see a fellow like that from behind, you see the best side o' him! Fy, I says! He's all smooth an' spruce on the outside, an' his innards rotten as dirt. A body could die o' disgust!

STRECKMANN

[_Turns, pale and sinister._] Ah ...! An' is that so indeed! You don't never mean it!... 'Tis not very appetisin' the way you makes it out. Why was you so hot after it, then?

ROSE

I? Hot after you?

STRECKMANN

Maybe you've forgotten already?

ROSE

Scoundrel!

STRECKMANN

Maybe I am.

ROSE

Scoundrel! Ruffian! Why do you go sniffin' around me now! Who are you? What has I done? You stuck to my heels! You followed me an' baited me an' snapped at me ... Rascal ... worse'n a dog ...

STRECKMANN

'Twas you that ran after me!

ROSE

What ...?

STRECKMANN

You came to my house an' made things hot for me!

ROSE

An' you ...

STRECKMANN

Well, what?

ROSE

An' you? An' you?

STRECKMANN

Well, I don't refuse a good thing that's offered.

ROSE

Streckmann! You has to die some day! D'you hear? Think o' your last hour! You has to stand before your Judge some day! I ran to you in the awful terror o' my heart! An' I begged you for the love o' God not to put nothin' between me an' August. I crept on my knees before you--an' you say, you, I ran after you! What was it truly? You committed a crime--a crime against me! An' that's worse'n a scoundrel's trick! 'Twas a crime--doubly and trebly! An' the Lord'll bring it home to you!

STRECKMANN

Listen to that! I'll take my chances!

ROSE

Is that what you say? You'll take your chances in that court? Then a person can spit in your face!

STRECKMANN

Think o' the cherry tree! Think o' the crucifix!

ROSE

An' you swore to me that you'd never mention it again! You swore by all that's holy. You put that hand o' yours on the cross, an' by the cross you swore--an' now you're beginnin' to persecute me again! What do you want?

STRECKMANN

I'm as good as Flamm. An' I don't want no more goin's on between you an' him!

ROSE

I'll jump into his bed, scoundrel! An' it wouldn't concern you that much!

STRECKMANN

Well, we'll see what'll be the end of all that!

ROSE

What? 'Tis violence that you did to me! You confused me! You broke me down! You pounced on me like a wild beast! I know! I tried to get out by the door! An' you took hold an' you rent my bodice an' my skirt! I bled! I might ha' gotten out by the door! Then you shot the latch! That's a crime, a crime! An' I'll denounce....

_BERND and AUGUST appear on the scene. After them KLEINERT and
GOLISCH and the other field hands._

BERND

[_Close to STRECKMANN._] What's all this? What did you do to my lass?

AUGUST

[_Pulls BERND back and thrusts himself forward._] 'Tis my place, father. What did you do to Rosie?

STRECKMANN

Nothin'!

BERND

[_Coming forward again._] What did you do to the lass?

STRECKMANN

Nothin'!

AUGUST

[_Approaching STRECKMANN once more._] You'll tell us now what you did to her!

STRECKMANN

Nothin'! The devil! I say nothin'!

AUGUST

You'll either be tellin' us now what you did to her--or ...

STRECKMANN

Or? Well, what? What about "or"?--Hands off!... Take your hands from my throat!!

KLEINERT

[_Trying to separate them._] Hold on, now.

STRECKMANN

Hands off, I tell you!

BERND

You'll have to take the consequences now! Either ...

AUGUST

What did you do to the girl?

STRECKMANN

[_Backing, in sudden fright, toward the pear tree, cries out:_] Help!

AUGUST

What did you do to the girl? Answer me that! I got to know that!

[_He has freed himself and faces STRECKMANN._

STRECKMANN

[_Lifts his arm and strikes AUGUST full in the face._] There's my answer! That's what I did!

KLEINERT

Streckmann!

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

Catch hold o' August! He's fallin'!

HEAD MAID

[_Supports the falling man._] August!

BERND

[_Paying no attention to AUGUST, but addressing STRECKMANN:_] You'll have to account for this! It'll be brought home to you!

STRECKMANN

What? On account o' that there wench that's common to anybody as wants her....

[_Withdraws._

BERND

What was that he said ...?

KLEINERT

[_Who is helping the MAID, HAHN, GOLISCH and MRS. GOLISCH support AUGUST._] His eye is out!

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

Father Bernd, August didn't fare so very well this time....

KLEINERT

'Tis an evil wooin' that he has!

BERND

What? How? Christ In Heaven! [_He goes to him._] August!

AUGUST

My left eye hurts that bad!

BERND

Rose, bring some water!

OLD MRS. GOLISCH

'Tis a misfortune.

BERND

Rose, fetch some water! D'you hear me?

GOLISCH

That'll mean a good year o' prison!

ROSE

[_Suddenly awakening from a dazed condition._] He says ... he says ... What's the meanin' o' ... Didn't I get a doll o' Christmas....

THE MAID

[_To ROSE._] Are you asleep?

ROSE

... There's no tellin' what ... No, lass: it can't be done! Such things don't come to good! ... Mebbe a girl can't do without a mother.

THE CURTAIN FALLS

THE FOURTH ACT

_The same room in FLAMM'S house as in the second act. It is a
Saturday afternoon toward the beginning of September. FLAMM is
sitting over his accounts at the roller-top desk. Not far from the
door to the hall stands STRECKMANN._

FLAMM

According to this there is due you the sum of twelve pounds, ten shillings, sixpence.

STRECKMANN

Yes, Mr. Flamm.

FLAMM

What was wrong with the machine? You stopped working one forenoon?

STRECKMANN

I had a summons to appear in the county court that day. There wasn't nothin' wrong with the machine.

FLAMM

Was that in connection with the trouble about ... Keil?

STRECKMANN

Yes. An' besides that Bernd sued me for slanderin' his daughter.

FLAMM

[_Has taken money from a special pigeon hole and counts it out on the large table._] Here are twelve pounds and eleven shillings. So you owe me sixpence.

STRECKMANN

[_Pockets the money and gives FLAMM a small coin._] An' so I'm to tell the head bailiff that by the end o' December you'll be ready for me again.

FLAMM

Yes, I want you for two days. Say, by the beginning of December. I'd like to empty the big barn at that time.

STRECKMANN

By the beginnin' o' December. All right, Mr. Flamm. Good-bye.

FLAMM

Good-bye, Streckmann. Tell me, though, what's going to be the outcome of that affair?

STRECKMANN

[_Stops and shrugs his shoulders._] It isn't goin' to be much of an outcome for me!

FLAMM

Why?

STRECKMANN

I suppose I'll have to suffer for it.

FLAMM

What consequences a little thing will sometimes have!--How did it happen that you quarreled?

STRECKMANN

I can't say as I can remember clearly. That day--I must ha' been off my head--but the truth is I just can't get it straight how it did happen.

FLAMM

The bookbinder is known to be a very peaceable man.

STRECKMANN

An' yet he's always quarrelin' with me! But the thing's just gone from me.--All I know is that they fell on me just like hungry wolves! I thought they was tryin' to kill me right there! If I hadn't been thinkin' that, my hand wouldn't ha' slipped the way it did.

FLAMM

And the man's eye couldn't--be saved?

STRECKMANN

No, an' it makes a feller feel sorry. But ... there's nothin' to be done. The misfortune isn't on my conscience.

FLAMM

A thing of that kind is bad enough in itself. And when the courts take a hand in it, that only makes it worse. I'm especially sorry for the girl.

STRECKMANN

Yes; I'm thin an' wasted with the misery of it. It's gone straight to my heart. I tell you, your honour, I don't know what it is to sleep no more. I haven't got nothin' against August really. But, as I said, I just can't account for it.

FLAMM

You ought to go over and see Bernd some day. If you insulted his daughter and weren't in a clear state of mind, you could simply retract what you said.

STRECKMANN

That's none o' my business. That's his'n. Of course, if he knew what'll come out--he'd take back his accusation. Somebody else ought to tell him. He's not doin' the girl no service by it. That's how things is. Good-bye, your honour.

FLAMM

Good-bye.

_STRECKMANN leaves the room._

FLAMM [_Excitedly, to himself._] If one could only get at the throat of a creature like that!

_MRS. FLAMM is wheeled in by a maid from FLAMM'S den._

MRS. FLAMM

What are you muttering about again?--[_At a gesture from her the maid retires._]--Did you have any annoyance?

FLAMM

Oh, yes; a little.

MRS. FLAMM

Wasn't that Streckmann?

FLAMM

The handsome Streckmann. Yes, that was the handsome Streckmann.

MRS. FLAMM

How is that affair getting on now, Christie? Did you talk about Keil?

FLAMM

[_Scribbling._] Oh, pshaw! My head is full of figures.

MRS. FLAMM

Do I disturb you, Christie?

FLAMM

No; only you must keep quiet.

MRS. FLAMM

If I can't do anything else--you can be sure I can do that.

[_Silence._]

FLAMM

[_Bursting out._] I'll be damned and double damned! There are times when one would like to take a gun and simply shoot down a scoundrel like that! There'd be no trouble about taking that on one's conscience.

MRS. FLAMM

But, Christie, you really frighten me.

FLAMM

It isn't my fault! I'm frightened myself!--I tell you, mother, that man is so low, so rotten with evil ... I tell you ... at least he has spells when he's that way ... that a man like myself, who is no saint either, feels as if his very bowels were turning in him! There's no end to that kind of corruption. A man may think he knows life inside out, that he's digested some pretty tough bits himself--but things like that--crimes--I tell you, one never gets beyond the elements in that kind of knowledge!

MRS. FLAMM

What has roused you so again?

FLAMM

[_Writing again._] Oh, I'm only speaking in general.

MRS. FLAMM

I thought it was somehow connected with Streckmann. Because, Christie, I can't rid myself of the thought of that affair. And when it's convenient to you some day, I'd like to have a good talk with you about it!

FLAMM

With me? How does Streckmann concern me?

MRS. FLAMM

Not Streckmann exactly--not the man. But surely old Bernd and Rose. As far as the girl is concerned, 'tis bitter earnest for her--the whole thing! And if I weren't tied down here as I am, I would have gone over to see her long ago. She's never seen here any more.

FLAMM

You ... you want to go and see Rose? What do you want of her?

MRS. FLAMM

But, don't you see, Christie--you understand that--she isn't exactly the first comer! I ought to see about setting her affairs to rights a bit!

FLAMM

Ah well, mother! Do what you think is your duty. I hardly think that you'll accomplish much for the girl.

MRS. FLAMM

How is that, Christie? What do you mean?

FLAMM

One shouldn't mix up into other people's affairs. All you get for your pains is ingratitude and worry.

MRS. FLAMM

Even so! We can bear the worry, an' ingratitude--that's what you expect in this world. An' as far as Rose Bernd is concerned, I always felt as if she were more than half my own child. You see, Christie, as far as I can think back--when father was still chief forester--her mother already came to wash for us. Afterward, in the churchyard, at our little Kurt's grave--I see the girl standin' as clear as if it was to-day, even though I was myself more dead than alive. Except you an' me, I can tell you that, nobody was as inconsolable as the girl.

FLAMM

Do as you please, as far as I'm concerned! But what are your intentions exactly? I can't think what you're after, child!

MRS. FLAMM

First, I'm going to be real curious now.

FLAMM

What about?

MRS. FLAMM

Oh, about nothing you can describe exactly! You know, usually, I don't interfere in your affairs. But now ... I'd like real well to know ... what's come over you this while past?

FLAMM

Over me? I thought you were talking about Rose Bernd.

MRS. FLAMM

But now I'm talking about you, you see.

FLAMM

You can spare yourself the trouble, mother. My affairs are no concern of yours.

MRS. FLAMM

You say that! 'Tis easily said. But if a person sits still as I have to do and sees a man growing more an' more restless, an' unable to sleep o' nights, an' hears him sighin' an' sighin', and that man happens to be your own husband--why, you have all kinds of thoughts come over you!

FLAMM

Now, mother, you've gone off your head entirely. You seem to want to make me look utterly foolish! _I_ sigh! Am I such an imbecile? I'm not a lovelorn swain.

MRS. FLAMM

No, Christie, you can't escape me that way!

FLAMM

Mother, what are you trying to do? Do you want, simply, to be tiresome, to bore me? Eh? Or make the house too disagreeable to stay in? Is that your intention? If so, you're going about it the best way possible.

MRS. FLAMM

I don't care what you say; you're keeping something secret!

FLAMM

[_Shrugging his shoulders._] Do you think so?--Well, perhaps I _am_ keeping something from you! Suppose it is so, mother.... You know me.... You know my nature in that respect.... The whole world could turn upside down and not get that much [_he snaps his fingers_] out of me! As for annoyance ... everyone has his share of it in this world! Yesterday I had to dismiss one of the brewers; day before yesterday I had to send a distiller to the devil. And, all in all, apart from such incidents, the kind of life one has to live here is really flat and unprofitable enough to make any decent individual as cross as two sticks.

MRS. FLAMM

Why don't you seek company? Drive in to town!

FLAMM

Oh, yes, to sit in the inn playing at cards with a crowd of Philistines or to be stilted with his honour, the prefect of the county! God forbid! I have enough of that nonsense! It couldn't tempt me out of the house! If it weren't for the bit of hunting a man could do--if one couldn't shoulder one's gun occasionally, one would be tempted to run away to sea.

MRS. FLAMM

Well, you see! There you are! That's what I say! You've just changed entirely! Till two, three months ago, you was as merry as the day's long; you shot birds an' stuffed them, increased your botanical collection, hunted birds' eggs--and sang the livelong day! 'Twas a joy to see you! An' now, suddenly, you're like another person.

FLAMM

If only we had been able to keep Kurt!

MRS. FLAMM

How would it be if we adopted a child?

FLAMM

All of a sudden? No, mother. I don't care about it now. Before, you couldn't make up your mind to it; now I've passed that stage too.

MRS. FLAMM

'Tis easily said: Take a child into the house! First of all it seemed to me like betraying Kurt ... yes, like a regular betrayal ... that's what the very thought of It seemed to me. I felt--how shall I say it?--as if we were putting the child away from us utterly--out of the house, out of his little room an' his little bed, an', last of all, out of our hearts.--But the main thing was this: Where can you get a child in whom you can hope to have some joy?--But let that rest where it is. Let's go back to Rose once more!--Do you know how it is with her, Christopher?

FLAMM

Oh, well! Of course; why not? Streckmann has cast a slur upon her conduct and old Bernd won't suffer that! 'Tis folly, to be sure, to bring suit in such a matter.--Because it is the woman who has to bear the brunt of it in the end.

MRS. FLAMM

I wrote a couple of letters to Rose and asked the lass to come here. In her situation, Christopher, she may really not know what to do nor where to turn.

FLAMM

Why do you think so?

MRS. FLAMM

Because Streckmann is right!

FLAMM

[_Taken aback and with a show of stupidity._] What, mother? You must express yourself more clearly.

MRS. FLAMM

Now, Christie, don't let your temper get the better of you again! I've kept the truth from you till now because I know you're a bit harsh in such matters. You remember the little maid that you put straight out o' the house, and the trunk-maker to whom you gave a beating! Now this lass o' ours made a confession to me long ago--maybe eight weeks. An' we have to consider that 'tis not only Rose that's to be considered now, but ... a second being ... the one that's on the way. Did you understand me? Did you?

FLAMM

[_With self-repression._] No! Not entirely, mother, I must say frankly. I've got a kind of a ... just to-day ... it comes over me ... the blood, you know ... it seems to go to my head suddenly, once in a while. It's like a ... it's horrible, too ... like an attack of dizziness! I suppose I'll have to ... at least, I think I'll have to take the air a bit. But it's nothing of importance, mother. So don't worry.

MRS. FLAMM

[_Looking at him through her spectacles._] And where do you want to go with your cartridge belt?

FLAMM

Nowhere! What did I want to do with the cartridge belt? [_He hurls the belt aside which he has involuntarily picked up._] One learns nothing ... is kept in the dark about everything! And then a point comes where one suddenly feels blind and stupid ... and a stranger ... an utter stranger in this world.

MRS. FLAMM

[_Suspiciously._] Will you tell me, Christie, the meanin' of all this?

FLAMM

It hasn't any, mother--not the slightest ... none at all, in fact. And I'm quite clear in my head again, too--quite! Only now and then a feeling comes over me, a kind of terror, all of a sudden, I don't know how ... and I feel as if there were no solid footing under me any longer, and as if I were going to crash through and break my neck.

MRS. FLAMM

'Tis strange things you are saying to-day, Christie. [_A knocking is heard at the door._] Who's knocking there? Come in!

AUGUST

[_Still behind the scenes._] 'Tis only me, Mrs. Flamm.

_FLAMM withdraws rapidly into his den._

MRS. FLAMM

Oh, 'tis you, Mr. Keil. Just step right in.

_AUGUST KEIL appears on the scene. He is paler than formerly, more
emaciated and wears dark glasses. His left eye is hidden by a black
patch._

AUGUST

I have come, Mrs. Flamm, to bring Rose's excuses to you. Good-day, Mrs. Flamm.

MRS. FLAMM

Good-day to you, Mr. Keil.

AUGUST

My betrothed had to go to the county court to-day, or she would ha' come herself. But she'll be comin' in this evenin'.

MRS. FLAMM

I'm real pleased to get a chance to see you. How are you getting on? Sit down.

AUGUST

God's ways are mysterious! An' when His hand rests heavy on us, we mustn't complain. On the contrary, we must rejoice. An' I tell you, Mrs. Flamm, that's almost the way I'm feelin' nowadays. I'm content. The worse things gets, the gladder I am. 'Tis layin' up more an' more treasures in heaven.

MRS. FLAMM

[_Taking a deep and difficult breath._] I trust you are right, Mr. Keil.--Did Rose get my letters?

AUGUST

She gave them to me to read. An' I told her, it wouldn't do--that she'd have to go to see you now.

MRS. FLAMM

I must tell you, Keil, I'm surprised that, after all these recent happenin's, she never once found her way here. She knows that she'll find sympathy here.

AUGUST

She's been reel afraid o' people recently. An', Mrs. Flamm, if you'll permit me to say so, you mustn't take it ill. First of all she had her hands full with tendin' to me. I was so in need o' care--an' she did a good work by me! An' then, since that man slandered her so terrible, she scarce dared go out o' the room.

MRS. FLAMM

I don't take offence, Keil. Oh, no! But how is she otherwise? An' what does she do?

AUGUST

'Tis hard to say, that's certain. To-day, for instance, when she had to go to court at eleven o'clock--'twas a regular dance she led us! She talked so strange, Mrs. Flamm, 'twas enough to scare a body out o' his wits.--First of all she didn't want to be goin' at all; next she thought she wanted to take me with her. In the end she was gone like a flash an' cried out to me that I wasn't to follow. Times she kept weepin' all day!--Naturally, a man has his thoughts.

MRS. FLAMM

What kind o' thoughts?

AUGUST

About several things.--Firstly, this mishap that came to me! She spoke of it to me many a time. That's cut her straight to the heart! An' about father Bernd an' that he has taken that business o' Streckmann so serious.

MRS. FLAMM

We're all alone here, Mr. Keil. Why shouldn't we speak openly for once. Did it never occur to you ... I mean about this Streckmann matter ... to you or, maybe to father Bernd--that there might be some truth in it?

AUGUST

I don't let myself have no thoughts about that.

MRS. FLAMM

That's right! I don't blame you for that in the least. There are times in life when one can't do better than stick one's head in the sand like an ostrich. But that isn't right for a father!

AUGUST

Well, Mrs. Flamm, as far as old Bernd goes, his mind is as far as the sky from any suspicion that somethin' mightn't be quite right. His conviction's as firm as a rock. He'd let you chop off his hands for it. Nobody wouldn't believe how strictly he thinks about things o' that kind. His honour was there too an' tried to persuade him to withdraw his charge....

MRS. FLAMM

[_Excitedly._] Who was there?

AUGUST

His honour, Mr. Flamm.

MRS. FLAMM

My husband?

AUGUST

Yes! He talked to him a long time. You see, as for me--I've lost an eye, to be sure--but I don't care to have Streckmann punished. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. But father--he can't be persuaded to think peaceably about this matter. Ask anythin' o' me, says he, but not that!

MRS. FLAMM

You say my husband went to see old Bernd?

AUGUST

Yes, that time he got the summons.

MRS. FLAMM

What kind o' summons was that?

AUGUST

To appear before the examining magistrate.

MRS. FLAMM

[_With growing excitement._] Who? Old Bernd?

AUGUST

No; Mr. Flamm.

MRS. FLAMM

Was my husband examined too? What did he have to do with the affair?

AUGUST

Yes, he was examined too.

MRS. FLAMM

[_Deeply affected._] Is that so? That's news to me! I didn't know about that. Nor that Christie went to see old Bernd!... I wonder where my smellin' bottle is?--No, August, you might as well go home now. I'm a bit ... I don't know what to call it! An' any special advice I can't give you, the way it all turns out. There's something that's gone through an' through me. Go home an' wait to see how everything goes. But if you love the lass truly, then ... look at me: I could tell you a tale! If a body is made that way: whether 'tis a man that the women run after, or a woman that all the men are mad about--then there's nothin' to do but just to suffer an' suffer and be patient!--I've lived that way twelve long years. [_She pats her hand to her eyes and peers through her fingers._] An' if I want to see things at all, I have to see them from behind my hands.

AUGUST

I can't never believe that, Mrs. Flamm.

MRS. FLAMM

Whether you believe me or not. Life don't ask us if we want to believe things. An' I feel exactly like you: I can't hardly realise it either. But we have to see how we can reconcile ourselves to it--I made a promise to Rose! 'Tis easy promisin' an' hard keepin' the promise sometimes in this world. But I'll do the best in my power.--Good-bye--I can't expect you to ... God must take pity on us. That's all.

_AUGUST, deeply moved, grasps the hand which MRS. FLAMM offers him
and withdraws in silence._

MRS. FLAMM leans her head far back and, lost in thought, looks up.
She sighs twice deeply and with difficulty. FLAMM enters, very pale,
looks sidewise at his wife and begins to whistle softly. He opens the
book case and pretends to be eagerly hunting for something._

MRS. FLAMM

Yes, yes; there it is--you whistle everything down the wind! But this ... this ... I wouldn't ha' thought you capable of.

_FLAMM swings around, falls silent, and looks straight at her. He
lifts both hands slightly and shrugs his shoulders very high. Then,
he relaxes all his muscles and gazes simply and without
embarrassment--thoughtfully rather than shamefacedly--at the floor._

MRS. FLAMM

You men take these things very lightly! What's to happen now?

FLAMM

[_Repeating the same gesture but less pronouncedly._] That's what I don't know.--I want to be quite calm now. I should like to tell you how that came about. It may be that you will be able to judge me less harshly then. If not ... why, then I should be very sorry for myself.

MRS. FLAMM

I don't see how a body can fail to judge such recklessness harshly.

FLAMM

Recklessness? I don't think that it was mere recklessness. What would you rather have it be, mother--recklessness, or something more serious?

MRS. FLAMM

To destroy the future of just this girl, for whom we have to bear all the responsibility! We made her come to the house! An' she an' her people had blind confidence in us! 'Tis enough to make one perish o' shame! It looks as if one had ... that ... in view!

FLAMM

Are you done, mother?

MRS. FLAMM

Far from it!

FLAMM

Well, then I'll have to wait a bit longer.

MRS. FLAMM

Christie, what did I tell you that day when you out with it an' said you wanted to marry me?

FLAMM

What was it?

MRS. FLAMM

I'm much too old for you. A woman can be sixteen years younger than her husband, but not three or four years older. I wish you had listened to me then!

FLAMM

Isn't it real idle to dish up those old stories now? Haven't we something more important to do?--I may be wrong, but it seems to me that we have, mother.--I've had no notion until to-day of what Rose means to me. Otherwise I'd have acted very differently, of course. Now it's got to be seen if there's anything that can be retrieved. And for that very reason, mother, I was going to beg you not to be petty, and I wanted first of all to try to see whether you could gain some comprehension of what really happened. Up to the moment when it was agreed that that tottery manikin was to marry Rose--our relations were strictly honourable. But when that marriage was determined on--it was all over.--It may be that my ideas are becoming confused. I had seen the girl grow up ... some of our love for little Kurt clung to her. First of all I wanted to protect her from misfortune, and finally, one day, all of a sudden, the way such things happen ... even old Plato has described that correctly in the passage in Phaedrus about the two horses:--the bad horse ran away with me and then ... then the sea burst in and the dykes crashed down.

MRS. FLAMM

'Tis a real interesting story that you've told me, an' even tricked out with learned allusions. An' when you men do that--you think there's no more to say. A poor woman can look out then to see how to get even! Maybe you did it all just to make Rose happy, an' sacrificed yourself into the bargain ... There's no excuse for such things!

FLAMM

Very well, mother. Then we'll adjourn the session. Remember though, that when Kurt died, I couldn't bear to see the girl around the house. Who kept her and persuaded her to come back?

MRS. FLAMM

Because I didn't want life to become so dead around us. I didn't keep her for my sake.

FLAMM

And I have said nothing for your sake.

MRS. FLAMM

Every tear is wasted that one might shed for you an' your kind. But you can spare me your speeches, Flamm.

_The MAID brings in the afternoon coffee._

THE MAID

Rose Bernd's out in the kitchen.

MRS. FLAMM

Come, girl! Wheel me out! [_To FLAMM._] You can help shove me aside. Somewhere in the world there'll be a little room for me! I won't be in the way. You can call her in when I'm gone.

FLAMM

[_Sternly, to the MAID._] Tell the girl to wait for a moment. [_The MAID leaves the room._] Mother, you have to say a word to her! I can't.... My hands are tied.

MRS. FLAMM

An' what am I to say to her, Flamm?

FLAMM

Mother, you know that better than I! You know very well ... you spoke of it yourself.... For heaven's sake, don't be petty at this moment! She mustn't go from our door in any such fashion!

MRS. FLAMM

I can't clean her boots, Flamm!

FLAMM