A Doll's House and Other Plays (Penguin)

by Henrik Ibsen

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Yes, yes, yes; it all stems from the lies and hollow deceit.

  MISS HESSEL: So why don’t you break with the lies and hollow deceit?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Now? Now it’s too late, Lona.

  MISS HESSEL: Tell me, Karsten, what sort of satisfaction does this sham and deception bring you?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: It brings me none. I’ll go under like the rest of this tired community. But a generation is growing up after us; it’s my son I’m working for; it’s for him I’m building up a life’s work. There’ll come a time when truth will descend on the life of our community, and on that he’ll found a happier existence than his father’s.

  MISS HESSEL: With a lie as its basis? Think carefully what it is that you’re giving your son as an inheritance.

  KARSTEN BERNICK [in suppressed despair]: The inheritance I’m giving him is a thousand times worse than you know. But the curse must lift some day surely. Then again – perhaps – [Bursting out] How could you two bring all this down on me! But it’s happened now. I must move forward. You won’t succeed in crushing me!

  HILMAR TØNNESEN, with an opened note in his hand, arrives quickly and in a state of agitation from the right.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: But this is utterly –. Betty, Betty!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: What now? Are they coming already?

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: No, no; but I really must talk to somebody –

  He goes out through the door furthest back to the left.

  MISS HESSEL: Karsten: you talk of our coming to crush you. Then let me tell you what stuff 49 he’s made of, this prodigal son your moral community shuns like the plague. He can do without all of you, because he’s gone now.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: But he wanted to come back –

  MISS HESSEL: Johan won’t ever come back. He’s gone for good, and Dina’s gone with him.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Won’t come back? And Dina with him?

  MISS HESSEL: Yes, to be his wife. That’s their way of slapping your virtuous community in the face, just as I once – well!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Gone; her too – with the Indian Girl –!

  MISS HESSEL: No; he didn’t dare entrust such a precious cargo to that dissolute mob. Johan and Dina have gone with the Palm Tree.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Ah! So – all for nothing – [Walks quickly over to his room, flings the door open and shouts] Krap, stop the Indian Girl; she mustn’t sail tonight!

  KRAP [inside]: The Indian Girl has already put to sea, Mr Consul, sir.

  KARSTEN BERNICK [closes the door and says dully]: Too late – and to no purpose –

  MISS HESSEL: What do you mean?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Nothing, nothing. Get away from me –!50

  MISS HESSEL: Hm. Look here, Karsten. Johan wants you to know that he’s entrusted me with the name and reputation he once lent you, and the one you robbed him of in his absence. Johan will keep quiet, and I can do exactly as I please in the matter. Look, I have your two letters here in my hand.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: You’ve got them! And so – now you’ll – this very evening – perhaps when the parade –

  MISS HESSEL: I didn’t come here to expose you, but to shake you up so that you’d speak of your own free will. It’s not succeeded. So go on standing there in your lie. Look: I’m tearing your two letters up. Take the scraps; there you have them. Now there’s nothing to bear witness against you, Karsten. You’re safe now; be happy now too – if you can.

  KARSTEN BERNICK [completely shaken]: Lona – why didn’t you do this before! It’s too late now; my whole life is in ruins; I can’t go on living after this day.

  MISS HESSEL: What’s happened?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Don’t ask me. – But I must live even so! I want to live – for Olaf’s sake. He’ll rectify and atone for everything –

  MISS HESSEL: Karsten –!

  HILMAR TØNNESEN comes hurrying back in.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Nobody to be found; gone; not Betty either!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: What’s the matter with you?

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: I don’t dare tell you.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: What is it? You must and will tell me!

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: All right; Olaf’s run away on the Indian Girl.

  KARSTEN BERNICK [stumbles backwards]: Olaf – on the Indian Girl! No, no!

  MISS HESSEL: He has, yes! I understand now –. I saw him jump out of the window.

  KARSTEN BERNICK [in the doorway to his room, cries out in despair]: Krap, stop the Indian Girl at any price!

  KRAP [comes out]: Impossible, Mr Consul, sir. How d’you think –?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: We must stop her; Olaf’s on board!

  KRAP: What!

  RUMMEL [comes out]: Olaf’s run away? Impossible!

  SANDSTAD [comes]: He’ll be sent back with the harbour pilot, Mr Consul, sir.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: No, no; he’s written to me; [shows the note] he says he’ll hide in the cargo until they’re on the open sea.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: I’ll never see him again!

  RUMMEL: Oh, nonsense; a strong, sound ship, newly repaired –

  VIGELAND [who has also come out]: – from your own yard, Mr Consul, sir!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: I’ll never see him again, I tell you. I’ve lost him, Lona, and – now I see it – he was never mine. [Listens] What’s that?

  RUMMEL: Music. Here comes the parade.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: I can’t, I don’t want to receive anyone!

  RUMMEL: What are you thinking of? That’s impossible.

  SANDSTAD: Impossible, Mr Consul, sir; consider what’s at stake for you.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: What does all this matter to me now! Who have I got to work for now?

  RUMMEL: How can you ask that? You have ourselves and the community.

  VIGELAND: Yes, never a truer word.

  SANDSTAD: And surely the consul’s not forgetting that we –

  MISS BERNICK comes through the furthest door to the left. The music can be heard muffled, far down the street.

  MISS BERNICK: Here comes the parade; but Betty’s not at home; I can’t understand where she –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Not at home! You see, Lona; no support, either in joy or in sorrow.

  RUMMEL: Away with the curtains! Come and help me, Mr Krap. You too, Mr Sandstad. A wretched shame that the family should be so split right now; utterly contrary to the programme.

  The curtains are pulled at the windows and doorway. The whole street can be seen lit up. On the house opposite there is a large transparency51 with the words ‘Long Live Karsten Bernick, Pillar of our Community!’

  KARSTEN BERNICK [shies away]: Take it all away! I don’t want to see it! Put out the lights, put them out!

  RUMMEL: With due respect, are you out of your mind?

  MISS BERNICK: What’s the matter with him, Lona?

  MISS HESSEL: Shh! [Speaks quietly with her.]

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Take away that mocking inscription, I say! Can’t you all see these lights are poking their tongues out at us?

  RUMMEL: Now, I must say –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Oh, what would any of you know –! But I, I –! They’re candles in a death chamber.

  KRAP: Hm –

  RUMMEL: No, but really – you’re taking this much too hard.

  SANDSTAD: The boy gets a trip over the Atlantic, and then you get him back.

  VIGELAND: Just put your trust in the Almighty’s hand, Mr Consul, sir.

  RUMMEL: And in the ship, Bernick; it’s hardly about to sink.

  KRAP: Hm –

  RUMMEL: If it was one of those floating coffins we hear of in those larger communities –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: I feel my hair turning grey at this moment.

  MRS BERNICK with a large shawl over her head comes in through the garden door.

  MRS BERNICK: Karsten, Karsten, did you know –?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Yes, I do know – but you – who see nothing – you, who can’t keep a mother’s eye on him –!

  MRS BER
NICK: Oh, do listen now –!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Why didn’t you watch over him! Now I’ve lost him. Give him back to me, if you can!

  MRS BERNICK: Yes, I can; I’ve got him!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: You’ve got him!

  THE GENTLEMEN: Ah!

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Well, I thought as much.

  MISS BERNICK: You’ve got him back, Karsten!

  MISS HESSEL: So win him now too.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: You’ve got him! Is it true – what you’re saying? Where is he?

  MRS BERNICK: You shan’t know before you’ve forgiven him.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Oh what, forgive –! But how did you find out –?

  MRS BERNICK: You don’t think a mother sees? I was frightened to death you’d get to know. A couple of words he let slip yesterday – and when his room was empty, and his backpack and clothes gone –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Yes, yes –?

  MRS BERNICK: I ran; got hold of Aune; we went out in his sailboat; the American ship was about to set sail. Thank God, we got there in time – got on board – searched the hold, found him. Oh, Karsten, you mustn’t punish him!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Betty!

  MRS BERNICK: Nor Mr Aune!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Aune? What do you know about him? Is the Indian Girl under sail again?

  MRS BERNICK: No, that’s just it –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Speak, speak!

  MRS BERNICK: Aune was as shaken as me; the search took time; darkness was falling so the harbour pilot was making objections; and then Aune took the liberty – in your name –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Well?

  MRS BERNICK: Of stopping the ship till tomorrow.

  KRAP: Hm –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Oh, what unspeakable good fortune!

  MRS BERNICK: You’re not angry?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Oh, what extraordinary good fortune, Betty!

  RUMMEL: You really do have far too great a conscience.

  HILMAR TØNNESEN: Yes, the instant it means a little battle with the elements, then – oof!

  KRAP [up by the windows]: The parade’s coming through the garden gate now, Mr Consul, sir.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Yes, they can come now.

  RUMMEL: The whole garden’s filling up with people.

  SANDSTAD: The whole street’s chock-a-block.

  RUMMEL: The whole town’s come out, Bernick. A truly blazingly inspirational moment.

  VIGELAND: Let’s take this in a spirit of humility, Mr Rummel.

  RUMMEL: All the banners are out. What a parade! There we have the events committee with Mr Rørlund at the front.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Let them come, I say!

  RUMMEL: But listen; given your present state of agitation –

  KARSTEN BERNICK: What of it?

  RUMMEL: I might just be persuaded to give a speech in your place.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: No, thank you; tonight I shall speak for myself.

  RUMMEL: But you do know what you’ve got to say?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Yes, trust me, Rummel – now I know what I must say.

  The music has stopped in the meantime. The garden door is opened. RØRLUND, leading the EVENTS COMMITTEE, steps in, followed by a few HIRED SERVANTS carrying a draped basket. Behind them the TOWN’S INHABITANTS of all classes follow, as many as the room can hold. A vast CROWD with banners and flags can be made out in the garden and in the street.

  MR RØRLUND: Most highly esteemed Mr Consul, sir! I see by the amazement painted on your face that it is as unexpected guests we intrude upon you in your happy family circle, at your peaceful hearth and surrounded by loyal, industrious friends and fellow citizens. But our hearts have compelled us to pay you homage. This is not the first time such a thing has happened, but it is the first on such a grand scale. We have come to you with our thanks many times, for the broad moral foundation on which you have, so to speak, built our community. This time we salute you especially as the clear-sighted, untiring, unselfish, nay, self-sacrificing citizen, who has grasped the initiative for an enterprise which according to all expert opinion will give a powerful impetus to this community’s earthly comfort and well-being.

  VOICES IN THE CROWD: Bravo, bravo!

  MR RØRLUND: Mr Consul, sir, for many years you have led our town by the light of your example. I am not speaking of your exemplary family life, or your spotless moral conduct in general. Such things are for contemplation in the private chamber and not for the grand hall! No, I speak now of your civic contributions, such as are apparent for all eyes to see. Well-equipped ships leave your yards and fly the flag upon the furthest seas. A contented and numerous workforce looks up to you as to a father. In bringing new branches of industry to life you have laid the foundations for the well-being of hundreds of families. You are, in the most eminent sense, the cornerstone of this community.

  VOICES: Hear, hear, bravo!

  MR RØRLUND: And it is this altruism that touches your every action with its radiance, which has such an indescribably beneficial effect, especially in these times. You stand now on the threshold of bringing us – well, I shan’t hesitate to give it its plain and prosaic name – a railway line.

  MANY VOICES: Bravo! Bravo!

  MR RØRLUND: But this enterprise appears to be running into difficulties, mostly dictated by narrow and selfish concerns.

  VOICES: Hear; hear!

  MR RØRLUND: It has not passed unnoticed that certain individuals who do not belong to our community have stolen the march on our hard-working citizens and taken ownership of certain advantages for themselves that ought rightly to have been to our own town’s benefit.

  VOICES: Yes! Yes! Hear! Hear!

  MR RØRLUND: This regrettable fact has of course come to your attention too, Mr Consul, sir. Yet you remain as unshakeable as ever in the pursuit of your project, knowing as you do that a citizen of the state52 should not merely favour his own borough.

  DISPARATE VOICES: Hm! No, no! Yes, yes!

  MR RØRLUND: It is as a true citizen53 of the state then – man as he should and ought to be – that we salute you this evening. May your enterprise prove a true and lasting success for this community! The railway line can, of course, become a pathway by which we expose ourselves to the influx of corrupting outside elements, but also one by which we might swiftly remove them. And even now we are unable to keep ourselves free of such unsavoury outside elements. Yet the very fact that upon this festive evening we have been blessed, or so rumour has it, by the unexpectedly swift removal of precisely such elements –

  VOICES: Shh! Shh!

  MR RØRLUND: – this fact, I take as a happy omen for the enterprise. That I even touch upon this particular issue here is proof we are in a house where ethical principles are placed above family ties.

  VOICES: Hear! Hear! Bravo!

  KARSTEN BERNICK [simultaneously]: Allow me –

  MR RØRLUND: Just a word more, Mr Consul, sir. What you’ve done for this borough has clearly not been motivated by the thought that it might bring you any tangible reward. But you surely couldn’t decline a humble token of appreciation from your grateful fellow citizens, least of all at this significant moment, when, according to the assurances of practical men, we stand at the start of a new age.

  MANY VOICES: Bravo! Hear! Hear!

  He gives the HIRED SERVANTS a signal; they bring the basket closer; the MEMBERS OF THE EVENTS COMMITTEE take out and present during the following the objects as they are mentioned.

  MR RØRLUND: So, Mr Consul, sir, we shall now present you with a silver coffee service. May it grace your table when in the future, as so often before, we have the joy of gathering in this hospitable house. And you too, gentlemen, who have been so ready and willing to stand by our community’s first man, we ask to accept a small memento. This silver goblet is for you, Mr Rummel, sir. You have so often with your eloquent words, amid the clinking of goblets, championed our community’s civic interests; may you find many a worthy occasion to lift and drain this goblet. – To you, Mr Sandstad,
sir, I present this album of photographs of your fellow citizens. Your widely credited and creditable humanity puts you in the pleasant position of counting friends in every section of our community. – And to you, Mr Vigeland, sir, I give, to adorn your private chamber, this book of family devotions,54 on vellum and in luxury binding. With the ripening of the years, you have gained a solemn view of life; your everyday business activities have for many a year been purified and ennobled by thoughts of higher things and of the hereafter. [Turns to the CROWD] And with that, my friends, long live Consul Bernick and his fellow men-at-arms! Three cheers for the pillars of our community!

  THE WHOLE CROWD: Long live Consul Bernick! Long live the pillars of the community! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

  MISS HESSEL: Congratulations, brother-in-law!

  Expectant silence.

  KARSTEN BERNICK [begins seriously and slowly]: My fellow citizens – it has been said through your spokesman that we stand this evening at the start of a new age – and I hope this may indeed prove right. But for this to come about we must take possession of the truth – the truth which has, wholly and comprehensively, until this evening, been reduced to a homeless wanderer in our community.

  Surprise among the CROWD.

  KARSTEN BERNICK: So I must begin by declining the praises which you, Mr Rørlund, according to the custom on such occasions, have showered upon me. I do not deserve them, because I have not, up to this day, been a selfless man. Even if I have not always sought financial reward, I am aware, now at least, that a desire and hunger for power, influence and esteem have been the driving force for most of my actions.

  RUMMEL [quietly]: Oh, what now?

  KARSTEN BERNICK: Standing here before my fellow citizens, I do not upbraid myself for this, since I still believe that I can count myself in the first rank among the competent men of our town.

  MANY VOICES: Yes, yes, yes!

  KARSTEN BERNICK: But what I do condemn myself for is that I have so often been weak enough to take the crooked byway, because I knew and feared our community’s tendency to see impure motives behind anything a man does around here. And now I come to a subject that relates to this.

  RUMMEL [uneasily]: Hm – hm!