Early Plays by Henrik Ibsen (best novels in english txt) 📕

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!

[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!

[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.