Early Plays, Henrik Ibsen [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗

world and its golden delight.

All things but deceit have vanished away;

So much have I learned on my bridal day!

My father lied; he was wrong when he said

The dead are borne to the dwelling of God;

But Olaf knew better the fate of the dead:

The dead sink below, far under the sod!

 

ALFHILD.  [She breaks out in deepest agony.]

Ah, well do I see now you knew what you did;

For low in the grave my body is hid.

 

OLAF.  Alfhild!  Your words deal so crushing a blow!

O, God! was your heart once so young and so bold--

Forgive me my sin and forget all your woe!

 

ALFHILD.  [With marked and increasing bewilderment.]

Hush, do not speak to me!  Olaf, behold!

A corpse they carry, to the grave they creep;

But no mother is there, no children who weep,

No pillows are there of blue or of red,--

Alfhild on shavings and straw lies dead!

I shall never ride now to the heaven above,

And awake in the arms of the God of love.

No mother have I whose heart will break,

No one who follows and weeps for my sake;

No person have I in the world so wide,

Who weeps for me at the bier,--

No angels to scatter on every side

Blue pearls in the heavenly sphere;

And ne'er shall I reach the dwelling of God,

Where the dead dream only of mirth!

 

OLAF.  Alfhild!

 

ALFHILD.  They lower me under the sod!

They cover me over with earth!

And here must I lie with all my dread,

Must live and suffer although I be dead:

Must know there is nothing now left for me,

Yet cannot forget, nor fight myself free;

Must hear when he whom my love I gave

Rides off to the church right over my grave;

Must hear him forever suffer and languish,

And yet can not lessen his anguish!

O, how my bosom is filled with despair!

The angels of God have forgotten my prayer!

They heed no longer my weeping and woe--

The portal is closed to the heavenly bliss--

Dig me up again!  Let me not lie here below!

 

[She rushes out to the left.]

 

OLAF.  Alfhild!  Alfhild!  O, Christ, what is this?

 

[He follows her quickly.]

ACT3 SCENE4

 

[INGEBORG and HEMMING enter, after a pause, from the

right.]

 

INGEBORG.  Well, here we are up here!  How lovely and bright and

peaceful it is!

 

HEMMING.  Yes, here we shall live happily together!

 

INGEBORG.  But mark you well that you are my servant, and nothing

else,--until my father has given his consent.

 

HEMMING.  That he will never do!

 

INGEBORG.  Never you mind,--we'll find some means or other.--But

now we must think about choosing a cabin to live in.

 

HEMMING.  There are plenty of them around here.  Over the whole

valley there are deserted huts; everything is just the same as it

was when the last people died in the terrible plague many years

ago.

 

INGEBORG.  Here I like it very much!  Over there, too, there is

just such an old hut; the water is near by, and the forest must

surely be alive with game.  You can fish and hunt; aye, we shall

live a wonderful life!

 

HEMMING.  Yea, forsooth, a wonderful life!  I shall fish and hunt

the while you gather berries and keep the house in order.

 

INGEBORG.  Do I?  No, that you must take care of!

 

HEMMING.  Yes, yes, as you please.  O, a delightful life we shall

live!

 

[Stops and adds somewhat dejectedly.]

 

HEMMING.  But when I stop to think a bit;--I have neither bow nor

fishing outfit.

 

INGEBORG.  [Likewise with an expression of despondency.]  And it

occurs to me there are no servants here who can help me.

 

HEMMING.  That shall I willingly do!

 

INGEBORG.  No, thanks.--And all my good clothes--I didn't bring

anything along except my bridal gown which I am wearing.

 

HEMMING.  That was thoughtless of you!

 

INGEBORG.  True enough, Hemming!  And for that reason you shall

steal down to Guldvik some night and bring me clothes and other

things as much as I have need of.

 

HEMMING.  And be hanged as a thief!

 

INGEBORG.  No, you shall be careful and cautious,--that I warn

you.  But when finally the long winter comes?  There are no

people up here,--music and dancing we shall never have--Hemming!

Shall we stay here or--

 

HEMMING.  Well, where else is there we can go?

 

INGEBORG.  [Impatiently.]  Yes, but human beings cannot live

here!

 

HEMMING.  Why, surely, they can!

 

INGEBORG.  Well, you see yourself they are all of them dead!

Hemming!  I think it best I go home to my father.

 

HEMMING.  But what will become of me?

 

INGEBORG.  You shall go to war!

 

HEMMING.  To war!  And be killed!

 

INGEBORG.  Not at all!  You shall perform some illustrious deed,

and then will you be made a knight, and then will my father no

longer be opposed to you.

 

HEMMING.  Yes, but what if they kill me in the meantime?

 

INGEBORG.  Well, we'll have plenty of time to think about that.

Today and tomorrow we shall have to remain here, I suppose; so

long will the guests sit in the festive house and celebrate,--if

they look for us, it will probably be about in the village; up

here we can be safe and--

 

[She stops and listens.]

 

CHORUS.  [Far away off the stage to the right.]

  Away,--away to find

  Alfhild, the false, unkind;

  For all our woe and strife

  She must pay with her life!

 

HEMMING.  Ingeborg!  Ingeborg!  They are after us!

 

INGEBORG.  Where shall we find refuge?

 

HEMMING.  Well, how can I know--

 

INGEBORG.  Go into the hut; lock the door so that it can be

bolted from within.

 

HEMMING.  Yes, but--

 

INGEBORG.  Do as I say!  I shall go up on the hill the meanwhile

and see if they are far away.

 

[She goes out to the right.]

 

HEMMING.  Yes, yes!  Alas, if only they don't get us!

 

[He goes into the house.]

ACT3 SCENE5

 

[OLAF comes from the forest to the left.  Immediately

afterwards INGEBORG from the right.]

 

OLAF.  [Looks about and calls softly.]  Alfhild!  Alfhild!  She

is nowhere to be seen!  Like a bird she disappeared from my view

into the wood and I--

 

INGEBORG.  They are right close and--

 

[Stops, frightened.]

 

INGEBORG.  Olaf Liljekrans!

 

OLAF.  Ingeborg!

 

HEMMING.  [Sticks his head out of the door and spies OLAF.]

Lord Olaf!  So!  Now is it surely all up with me!

 

[Withdraws hastily.]

 

INGEBORG.  [Aside.]  He must have ridden in advance of the rest.

 

OLAF.  [Aside.]  She must have come up here with her father to

look for me.

 

INGEBORG.  [Aside.]  But I will not go with him!

 

OLAF.  [Aside.]  I will not stir from here!

 

INGEBORG.  [Aloud, as she draws nearer.]  Olaf Liljekrans!  Now

you have me; but you will do ill if you try to compel me.

 

OLAF.  That is furthest from my mind!

 

INGEBORG.  Why then come you here in company with my kinsmen?

 

OLAF.  Do I?  On the contrary, it is you who--

 

INGEBORG.  That invention won't fool me; only a moment ago I saw

the whole crowd--

 

OLAF.  Who?  Who?

 

INGEBORG.  My father and our relatives!

 

OLAF.  Up here?

 

INGEBORG.  Why, yes, right close at hand!

 

OLAF.  Ah, then is my mother with them.

 

INGEBORG.  Of course, she is with them.  But how can that

frighten you?

 

OLAF.  You see,--it is I they seek!

 

INGEBORG.  No, it is I!

 

OLAF.  [Astonished.]  You!

 

INGEBORG.  [Begins to grasp the connection.]  Or--wait a

moment--Ha, ha, ha!  What an idea!  Come, shall we two be honest

with each other?

 

OLAF.  Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind!

 

INGEBORG.  Well, then, tell me, at what hour came you up here?

 

OLAF.  During the night!

 

INGEBORG.  I, too!

 

OLAF.  You!

 

INGEBORG.  Yes, yes!  And you went away without any one's knowing

it?

 

OLAF.  Yes!

 

INGEBORG.  I, too!

 

OLAF.  But tell me--

 

INGEBORG.  Hush, we have only a moment or two!  And you fled up

here because you had but little desire to go to the altar with

me?

 

OLAF.  Aye, how can you think--

 

INGEBORG.  Yes, that I can easily think.  Answer me now; we were

to speak honestly.

 

OLAF.  Well, then, it was therefore that I--

 

INGEBORG.  Well and good, I did likewise!

 

OLAF.  You, Ingeborg!

 

INGEBORG.  And now you would rather not have any one come upon

your tracks?

 

OLAF.  Well, it can't be denied!

 

INGEBORG.  I, too!  Aha,--'tis a jolly coincidence; I fled from

you, and you from me!  We both fled up here, and now just as our

relatives are after us we meet again!  Listen, Olaf Liljekrans!

Say we promise not to betray one another!

 

OLAF.  I promise.

 

INGEBORG.  But now we must part!

 

OLAF.  I understand!

 

INGEBORG.  For, if they found us together, then--

 

OLAF.  Yes, then it would be still more difficult for you to be

rid of me!

 

INGEBORG.  Farewell!  If ever I come to have a wedding you shall

be my bride's man.

 

OLAF.  And if anything like that should happen to me, you will, I

am sure, accommodate me in the same way.

 

INGEBORG.  Of course!  Farewell!  Farewell!  And do not think

unkindly of me.

 

OLAF.  Indeed not; I shall give you my hand wherever we meet!

 

INGEBORG.  I, too!  Wherever we meet--only not at the altar.

 

[She goes into the house.  OLAF goes into the forest on the right

at the back.]

ACT3 SCENE6

 

[LADY KIRSTEN, ARNE of Guldvik, WEDDING GUESTS,

PEASANTS and SERVANTS from the right.]

 

LADY KIRSTEN.  See, here will we begin the hunt.  Our people must

spread about and search all around the tarn;--she shall come

forth and then--woe upon her! no mercy or pity is there in my

soul.

 

ARNE.  What will you do then?

 

LADY KIRSTEN.  Hold judgment upon her--right on the spot where

she is found!  All the damage she has done on my dominions I have

power and authority to punish in accordance with reason and

justice.

 

ARNE.  Yes, but what good is that?  What is lost can not thereby

be won back again.

 

LADY KIRSTEN.  No, but I shall get revenge, and that is no little

gain.  Revenge,--revenge I must have, if I am to bear and live

down my loss and all the shame she has brought upon me.  The

storm last night ruined the whole of my year's crop; not a single

uninjured straw is left in my fields; and in here, where she

herself has said she has her home, here everything thrives and

blossoms more luxuriantly than I have ever seen!  Is not that the

operation of secret arts?  Olaf she has snared so securely in her

devilish net that he fled out of the village in the wildest storm

to follow her.  My house she burned clear to the ground; all the

openings and doors she barred on the outside;--it was a miracle

of God that the servants brought their timely help!

 

ARNE.  Alas, alas; I am afraid if has cost two lives that I

thought much of,--Ingeborg and my man Hemming!

 

LADY KIRSTEN.  Come, come, Lord Arne!  You must not completely

despair of