Early Plays, Henrik Ibsen [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗
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- Author: Henrik Ibsen
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ARNE. [Bitterly but in subdued voice.] Hemming! this wedding
makes me sick; there are so many vexations about it.
ARNE. [Gazes out to the right.] There they run,--just look at
them! It was she who hit upon the idea of going over the
mountain instead of following the highway; we should reach our
goal the sooner, she thought;--and yet notwithstanding--hm! I
could go mad over it; tomorrow is she to go to the altar. Are
these the decorous customs she ought to observe! What will Lady
Kirsten say when she finds my daughter so ill disciplined?
ARNE. [As HEMMING starts to speak.] Yes, for that she is; she
is ill disciplined, I say.
HEMMING. Master! You should never have married your daughter
into Lady Kirsten's family; Lady Kirsten and her kinsmen are
high-born people--
ARNE. You art stupid, Hemming! High-born, high-born! Much good
that will do,--it neither feeds nor enriches a man. If Lady
Kirsten is high-born, then I am rich; I have gold in my chests
and silver in my coffers.
HEMMING. Yes, but your neighbors make merry over the agreement
you have concluded with her.
ARNE. Ah, let them, let them; it is all because they wish me
ill.
HEMMING. They say that you have surrendered your legal right in
order to have Ingeborg married to Olaf Liljekrans; I shouldn't
mention it, I suppose,--but a lampoon about you is going the
rounds, master!
ARNE. You lie in your throat; there is no one dares make a
lampoon about Arne of Guldvik. I have power; I can oust him from
house and home whenever I please. Lampoon! And what do you know
about lampoons!--If they have composed any songs, it is to the
honor of the bride and her father!
ARNE. [Flaring up.] But it is a wretched bit of verse
nevertheless, really a wretched bit of verse, I tell you. It is
no man skilled in the art of poetry who has put it together, and
if I once get hold of him, then--
HEMMING. Aha, master! then you know it too? Is there some one
who has dared sing it to you?
ARNE. Sing, sing! Now don't stand there and delay me with your
twaddle.
ARNE. [To the others.] Away, my kinsmen; little must we delay
if we are to reach the bridal house before midnight. You should
have heard what Hemming is telling. He says there is a rumor
around that Lady Kirsten has baked and brewed for five whole days
in honor of our coming. Is it not so, Hemming?
HEMMING. Aye, master!
ARNE. He says she owns not the beaker of silver so costly but
she places it on the table shining and polished; so splendid a
feast she has not prepared since the king came to visit her
blessed lord twenty years ago. Is it not true, Hemming?
HEMMING. Aye, master!
HEMMING. [Whispering.] But, master, it is ill-thought to say
such things; Lady Kirsten is proud of her birth; she thinks this
marriage is somewhat of an honor to you; little you know how she
intends to show herself to her guests.
ARNE. [Softly.] Ah, what nonsense!
ARNE. [To the others.] He says Lady Kirsten gives herself no
rest; both day and night she is busy in pantry and cellar. Is it
not--?
ARNE. [Startled as he looks out to the right.] Hemming! what is
that? See here, who is that coming?
HEMMING. [With a cry.] Lady Kirsten Liljekrans!
ALL. [Astonished.] Lady Kirsten!
OLAF LILJEKRANS_ACT1 SCENE3
[The Preceding. LADY KIRSTEN comes with her HOUSE
CARLS from the left.]
LADY KIRSTEN. [To her followers, without noticing the others.]
Now just a little farther and I am sure we shall find him.
LADY KIRSTEN. [Taken aback, aside.] Arne of Guldvik! Heaven
help me!
ARNE. [As he goes to meet her.] The peace of God, Lady Kirsten
Liljekrans!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Composes herself and gives him her hand.] The
peace of God to you!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Aside.] Does he then know nothing?
ARNE. [Contentedly.] And well met at the boundary! Indeed,
this pleases me; yet almost too great is the honor you show me.
LADY KIRSTEN. What mean you?
ARNE. I mean too great is the honor you show me, when you travel
miles over fields and wildernesses in order to bid me welcome on
your land.
LADY KIRSTEN. Ah, Lord Arne--
LADY KIRSTEN. [Aside.] He knows nothing as yet!
ARNE. And that on a day like this, when you have enough things
to attend to; 'tis at your house we celebrate the wedding of our
children, since my estate lies too far from the church, and yet
you come here to meet me with all your servants.
LADY KIRSTEN. [Embarrassed.] I beg you, say no more about that.
ARNE. Aye, I will speak of it loudly; the village people have
said that you pride yourself on your noble birth, that you look
down upon me and mine, and that you entered into the agreement
only in order to put an end to the long-standing disputes which
grew troublesome now that you have become a widow and begin to
grow old; and if that had not been the case, you would never--
LADY KIRSTEN. How can you listen to what evil tongues invent?
No more will we think of our differences which have lasted since
the days of your ancestors. I think our families have suffered
enough these years, yours as well as mine. Look around you, Lord
Arne! Is not the hillside here like the wildest of upland
pastures? And yet in our fathers' days it was a region much
frequented and rich. A bridge there was across the river, and a
highway from Guldvik to my father's house. But with fire and
sword they sallied forth from both sides; they laid everything
waste that they came upon, for it seemed to them that they were
too near neighbors. Now all sorts of weeds grow in the highway,
the bridge is broken, and it is only the bear and the wolf that
make their homes here.
ARNE. Yes, they ran the road around the mountain below; it is a
good deal longer and they could thus better keep an eye on one
another; but there is little need of that now,--which is well and
good for both of us.
LADY KIRSTEN. To be sure, to be sure! But Ingeborg, the bride,
where is she? I do not see her, and the bridesmaids likewise are
lacking; surely she is not--
ARNE. She follows in the rear; she must shortly be here.
But--listen, Lady Kirsten! One thing I will tell you, as well
first as last, although, I should think, you know it. Ingeborg
has at times whims and moods,--I swear to you she has them,
however well disciplined she may be.
LADY KIRSTEN. [Expectant.] Well, what then?
LADY KIRSTEN. [Aside.] Is she too--
ARNE. Such things you must tame; I, as her father, will never
succeed, but you will no doubt find ways and means.
LADY KIRSTEN. Aye, rest you assured.
LADY KIRSTEN. [Aside.] And Olaf, who is nowhere to be seen!
HEMMING. [Who has looked out to the right.] There comes
Mistress Ingeborg.
HEMMING. [Aside.] How fair she is advancing foremost in the
group!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Slowly to her servants.] You will keep silent
about your errand up here.
A SERVANT. You may be sure of that.
HEMMING. [Aside, sighing, as he continues to look out
to the right.] Ah, happy is Olaf, who will have her!
OLAF LILJEKRANS_ACT1 SCENE4
[The Preceding. INGEBORG and the Bridesmaids come over
the bridge.]
INGEBORG. [Still in the background.] Why do you run away from
me? What good will that do? There can be no wedding anyway
before I come.
INGEBORG. [Notices LADY KIRSTEN and her retinue.] Lady Kirsten!
you here? Well, I am glad of that.
[Casually to the retinue.]
[To LADY KIRSTEN as she looks about.]
LADY KIRSTEN. Olaf!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Aside.] Woe is me! now it will out.
ARNE. Yes, Olaf, indeed! Ha, ha, ha! I must have been blind;
'tis well the bride sees better than I; for I have not noticed
that the bridegroom is lacking; but now I understand very well
how it comes that we meet here,--it is he who is causing--
LADY KIRSTEN. He--you mean--you know, that--
ARNE. I mean it has grown tedious for him down there in the
festive hall. Aye, aye, I remember now my own wedding day; at
that time I also was young. He has had a great desire to meet
the bride, and accordingly he prevailed upon you to go with him.
LADY KIRSTEN. He greatly desired, to be sure, to meet the bride,
but--
INGEBORG. But what?
LADY KIRSTEN. Olaf is not here with us.
HEMMING. [Approaches.] Not with you!
ARNE. And why not?
INGEBORG. Speak, I beg you!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Embarrassed and jestingly.] Truly, it appears
the bride also is anxious! Come along, come along with me down
to the bridal hall; there, I imagine he will be found.
HEMMING. [Whispering to ARNE.] Master! remember I gave you
warning.
ARNE. [Suspiciously to LADY KIRSTEN.] First answer me; then
shall we follow.
LADY KIRSTEN. Well then,--he is ridden out to the hunt.
LADY KIRSTEN. [As she is about to go.] Come, 'tis fast growing
dark.
INGEBORG. To the hunt?
LADY KIRSTEN. Aye! Does that surprise you? You know the song
of course:
"The knight likes to ride in the forest around,
To test his horse and his hound!"
INGEBORG. Does he think so little of his young bride that he
uses the wedding days to go hunting wild animals?
LADY KIRSTEN. Now you are jesting. Come along, come along!
ARNE. [Who has in the meantime kept his eye on LADY KIRSTEN and
her retinue.] No, wait, Lady Kirsten! I hardly dare measure
myself in wisdom with you, but one thing clearly I see, and that
is that you are concealing your real errand up here.
LADY KIRSTEN. [Confused.] I? How can you think that?
ARNE. From one thing and another I can see you are concealing
something. You are strangely downcast, and yet you pretend to be
playful in spirit; but it won't do--
LADY KIRSTEN. 'Tis nothing new for you to think ill of me and
mine.
ARNE. Perhaps; but never did I do so without just cause.
ARNE. [Bursting out.] As sure as I live, there is something you
are hiding from me.
LADY KIRSTEN. [Aside.] What will be the end of this?
ARNE. I let myself be fooled by you, but now I see clearly
enough. You said you came to greet me at the boundary. How did
you know we took the way over the mountain? It was Ingeborg who
suggested this way just as we left Guldvik, and no one could have
informed you about it.
ARNE. [When LADY KIRSTEN does not answer.] You are silent, as I
might have known.
HEMMING. [In an undertone.] You see, master! Will you now
believe what I said?
ARNE. [Likewise.] Hush!
LADY KIRSTEN. [Who has in the meantime composed herself.] Well
and good, Lord Arne! I will be honest with you; let chance take
care of the rest.
ARNE. Then tell us--
INGEBORG. What mean you?
LADY KIRSTEN. The agreement between us is sealed with word and
with hand,--many honorable men whom I see here can bear witness
to that: Olaf, my son, was to wed your daughter; tomorrow at my
house the wedding was to be held--
ARNE. [Impatiently.] Yes, yes!
LADY KIRSTEN. Dishonor to him who breaks his word, but--
ARNE AND THE GUESTS.. What then! Speak out!
LADY KIRSTEN. There can be no wedding tomorrow as we had agreed.
ARNE. No wedding?
LADY KIRSTEN. It must be postponed.
HEMMING. Ah, shame and disgrace!
INGEBORG.
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