Prince Hagen

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by Upton Sinclair

bit of it for me!

  GER. Tell me the story.

  EST. Why, you know, Lord Alderdyce had heard about this wild fellow,

  Steve O'Hagen, who's made such a sensation this campaign. And he's

  interested in our election and wanted to hear O'Hagen speak. He said

  he had a friend who'd arrange for us to be introduced to him; and so

  we went down there. And there was a most frightful crowd . . . it was

  an outdoor meeting, you know. We pushed our way into a saloon, where

  the mob was shouting around this O'Hagen. And then he caught sight of

  us . . . and Gerald, from the moment he saw me he never took his eyes

  off me! Never once!

  GER. [Smiling.] Well, Estelle . . . you've been looked at before.

  EST. Ah, but never like that!

  GER. What sort of a man is he?

  EST. He's small and dark and ugly . . . he wore a rough reefer and cap

  . . . but Gerald, he's no common man! There's something strange and

  terrible about him . . . there's a fire blazing in him. The detective

  who was with us introduced us to him . . . and he stood there and

  stared at me! I tried to say something or other . . . "I've been so

  interested in your speech, Mr. O'Hagen." And he laughed at me . . .

  "Yes, I've no doubt." And then suddenly . . . it was as if he leaped

  at me! He pointed his finger straight into my face, and his eyes

  fairly shone. "Wait for me! I'll be with you! I'm coming to the top!"

  GER. Good God!

  EST. Imagine it! I was simply paralyzed! "Mark what I tell you," he

  went on . . . "it'll be of interest to you some day to remember it.

  You may wait for me! I'm coming! You will not escape me!"

  GER. Why . . . he's mad!

  EST. He was like a wild beast. Everybody in the place was staring at

  us as he rushed on. "You have joy and power and freedom . . . all the

  privileges of life . . . all things that are excellent and beautiful.

  You are born to them . . . you claim them! And you come down here to

  stare at us as you might at some strange animals in a cage. You

  chatter and laugh and go your way . . . but remember what I told you .

  . . I shall be with you! You cannot keep ME down! I shall be master of

  you all!"

  GER. Incredible!

  EST. And then in a moment it was all over. He made a mocking bow to

  the party . . . "It has given me the greatest pleasure in the world to

  meet you!" And with a wild laugh he went out of the door . . . and the

  crowd in the street burst into a roar that was like a clap of thunder.

  [A pause.] Gerald, what do you think he meant?

  GER. My dear, you've been up against the class-war. It's rather the

  fashion now, you know.

  EST. Oh, but it was horrible! I can't get it out of my mind. We heard

  some of his speech afterwards . . . and it seemed as if every word of

  it was meant for me! He lashed the crowd to a perfect fury . . . I

  think they'd have set fire to the city if he'd told them to. What do

  you suppose he expects to do?

  GER. I can't imagine, I'm sure.

  EST. I should like to know more about him. He was never raised in the

  slums, I feel certain.

  GER. Steve O'Hagen. The name sounds Irish.

  EST. I don't think he's Irish. He's dark and strange- looking . . .

  almost uncanny.

  GER. I shall go down there and hear him the first chance I get. And

  now, I guess I'd best get out, if I want to dodge old Plimpton.

  EST. Yes . . . and Rutherford, too. Isn't it a bore! I think they are

  perfectly odious people.

  GER. Why do you suppose mother invited them?

  EST. Oh, it's a business affair . . . they have forced their way into

  some deal of father's, and so we have to cultivate them.

  GER. Plimpton, the coal baron! And Rutherford, the steel king! I

  wonder how many hundred millions of dollars we shall have to have

  before we can choose our guests for something more interesting than

  their Wall Street connections!

  EST. I think I hear them. [Listens.] Yes . . . the voice. [Mocking

  PLIMPTON'S manner and tone.] Good evening, Miss Isman. I guess I'll

  skip it!

  [Exit right.]

  GER. And I, too!

  [Exit left.]

  RUTHERFORD. [A stout and rather coarse-looking man, enters, right,

  with PLIMPTON.] It's certainly an outrageous state of affairs,

  Plimpton!

  PLIMPTON. [A thin, clerical-looking person, with square-cut beard.]

  Disgraceful! Disgraceful!

  RUTH. The public seems to be quite hysterical!

  PLIMP. We have got to a state where simply to be entrusted with great

  financial responsibility is enough to constitute a man a criminal; to

  warrant a newspaper in prying into the intimate details of his life,

  and in presenting him in hideous caricatures.

  RUTH. I can sympathize with you, Plimpton . . . these government

  investigations are certainly a trial. [Laughing.] I've had my turn at

  them . . . I used to lie awake nights trying to remember what my

  lawyers had told me to forget!

  PLIMP. Ahem! Ahem! Yes . . . a rather cynical jest! I can't say

  exactly . . .

  MRS. IS. [In doorway, right.] Ah, Mr. Plimpton! How do you do? And Mr.

  Rutherford?

  PLIMP. Good evening, Mrs. Isman.

  RUTH. Good evening, Mrs. Isman.

  MRS. IS. You managed to tear yourself away from business cares, after

  all!

  PLIMP. It was not easy, I assure you.

  MRS. IS. Won't you come in?

  RUTH. With pleasure.

  [Exit, right, with MRS. ISMAN, followed by PLIMPTON.]

  GER. [Enters, left.] That pious old fraud! [Sits in chair.] Well, I'm

  safe for a while!

  [Sprawls at ease and reads.]

  HICKS. [Enters, centre.] A gentleman to see you, Mr. Gerald.

  GER. Hey? [Takes card, looks, then gives violent start.] Prince Hagen!

  [Stands aghast, staring; whispers, half dazed.] Prince Hagen!

  HICKS. [After waiting.] What shall I tell him, sir?

  GER. What . . . what does he look like?

  HICKS. Why . . . he seems to be a gentleman, sir.

  GER. How is he dressed?

  HICKS. For dinner, sir.

  GER. [Hesitates, gazes about nervously.] Bring him here . . . quickly!

  HICKS. Yes, sir.

  GER. And shut the door afterwards.

  HICKS. Yes, sir.

  [Exit.]

  GER. [Stands staring.] Prince Hagen! He's come at last!

  [Takes the faded telegrams from his pocket; looks at them; then goes

  to door, right, and closes it.]

  HICKS. [Enters, centre.] Prince Hagen.

  HAGEN. [Enters; serene and smiling, immaculately clad.] Ah, Gerald!

  GER. [Gazing.] Prince Hagen!

  HAGEN. You are surprised to see me!

  GER. I confess that I am.

  HAGEN. Did you think I was never coming back?

  GER. I had given you up.

  HAGEN. Well, here I am . . . to report progress.

  GER. [After a pause.] Where have you been these two years?

  HAGEN. Oh, I've been seeing life . . .

  GER. You didn't like the boarding school?

  HAGEN. [With sudden vehemence.] Did you think I would like it? Did you

  think I'd come to this world to have my head stuffed with Latin

  conjugations and sawdust?<
br />
  GER. I had hoped that in a good Christian home . . .

  HAGEN. [Laughing.] No, no, Gerald! I let you talk that sort of thing

  to me in the beginning. It sounded fishy even then, but I didn't say

  anything . . . I wanted to get my bearings. But I hadn't been twenty-

  four hours in that good Christian home before I found out what a

  kettleful of jealousies and hatreds it was. The head master was an old

  sap-head; and the boys! . . . I was strange and ugly, and they thought

  they could torment and bully me; but I fought 'em . . . by the Lord, I

  fought 'em day and night, I fought 'em all around the place! And when

  I'd mastered 'em, you should have seen how they cringed and toadied!

  They hated the slavery they lived under, but not one of them dared

  raise his hand against it.

  GER. Well, you've seen the world in your own way. Now are you ready to

  go back to Nibelheim?

  HAGEN. Good God, no!

  GER. You know it's my duty to send you back.

  HAGEN. Oh, say! My dear fellow!

  GER. You know the solemn promise I made to King Alberich.

  HAGEN. Yes . . . but you can't carry it out.

  GER. But I can!

  HAGEN. How?

  GER. I could invoke the law, if need be. You know you are a minor . . .

  HAGEN. My dear boy, I'm over seven hundred years old!

  GER. Ah, but that is a quibble. You know that in our world that is

  only equal to about eighteen . . .

  HAGEN. I have read up the law, but I haven't found any provision for

  reducing Nibelung ages to your scale.

  GER. But you can't deny . . .

  HAGEN. I wouldn't need to deny. The story's absurd on the face of it.

  You know perfectly well that there are no such things as Nibelungs!

  [GERALD gasps.] And besides, you're a poet, and everybody knows you're

  crazy. Fancy what the newspaper reporters would do with such a yarn!

  [Cheerfully.] Come, old man, forget about it, and let's be friends.

  You'll have a lot more fun watching my career. And besides, what do

  you want? I've come back, and I'm ready to follow your advice.

  GER. How do you mean?

  HAGEN. You told me to stay in school until I'd got my bearings in the

  world. And then I was to have a career. Well, I've got my education

  for myself . . . and now I'm ready for the career. [After a pause.]

  Listen, Gerald. I said I'd be a self-made man. I said I'd conquer the

  world for myself. But of late I've come to realize how far it is to

  the top, and I can't spare the time.

  GER. I see.

  HAGEN. And then . . . besides that . . . I've met a woman.

  GER. [Startled.] Good heavens!

  HAGEN. Yes. I'm in love.

  GER. But surely . . . you don't expect to marry!

  HAGEN. Why not? My mother was an earth-woman, and her mother, also.

  GER. To be sure. I'd not realized it. [A pause.] Who is the woman?

  HAGEN. I don't know. I only know she belongs in this world of yours.

  And I've come to seek her out. I shall get her, never fear!

  GER. What are your plans?

  HAGEN. I've looked this Christian civilization of yours over . . . and

  I'm prepared to play the game. You can take me up and put me into

  Society . . . as you offered to do before. You'll find that I'll do

  you credit.

  GER. But such a career requires money.

  HAGEN. Of course. Alberich will furnish it, if you tell him it's

  needed. You must call Mimi.

  GER. Mimi is here now.

  HAGEN. [Starting.] What!

  GER. He is in the house.

  HAGEN. For what?

  GER. He came to look for you.

  HAGEN. What is the matter?

  GER. I don't know. He wants you to return to Nibelheim.

  HAGEN. Find him. Let me see him!

  GER. All right. Wait here.

  [Exit left.]

  HAGEN. What can that mean?

  EST. [Enters, right, sees PRINCE HAGEN, starts wildly and screams.]

  Ah! [She stands transfixed; a long pause.] Steve O'Hagen! [A pause.]

  Steve O'Hagen! What does it mean?

  HAGEN. Who are you?

  EST. I live here.

  HAGEN. Your name?

  EST. Estelle Isman.

  HAGEN. [In a transport of amazement.] Estelle Isman! You are Gerald's

  sister!

  EST. Yes.

  HAGEN. By the gods!

  EST. [Terrified.] You know my brother!

  HAGEN. Yes.

  EST. You . . . Steve O'Hagen!

  HAGEN. [Gravely.] I am Prince Hagen

  EST. Prince Hagen!

  HAGEN. A foreign nobleman.

  EST. What . . . what do you mean? You were on the Bowery!

  HAGEN. I came to this country to study its institutions. I wished to

  know them for myself . . . therefore I went into politics. Don't you

  see?

  EST! [Dazed.] I see!

  HAGEN. Now I am on the point of giving up the game and telling the

  story of my experiences.

  EST. What are you doing here . . . in this house?

  HAGEN. I came for you.

  EST. [Stares at him.] How dare you?

  HAGEN. I would dare anything for you! [They gaze at each other.] Don't

  you understand?

  EST. [Vehemently.] No! No! I am afraid of you! You have no business to

  be here!

  HAGEN. [Taking a step towards her.] Listen . . .

  EST. No! I will not hear you! You cannot come here!

  [Stares at him, then abruptly exit, centre.]

  HAGEN. [Laughs.] Humph! [Hearing voices.] Who is this?

  RUTH. [Off right.] I don't agree with you.

  IS. Nor I, either, Plimpton. [Enters with PLIMPTON and RUTHERFORD;

  sees HAGEN.] Oh . . . I beg your pardon.

  HAGEN. I am waiting for your son, Sir.

  IS. I see. Won't you be seated?

  HAGEN. I thank you. [Sits at ease in chair.]

  PLIM. My point is, it's as Lord Alderdyce says . . . we have no

  hereditary aristocracy in this country, no traditions of authority . .

  . nothing to hold the mob in check.

  IS. There is the constitution.

  PLIM. They may over-ride it.

  IS. There are the courts.

  PLIM. They may defy the courts.

  RUTH. Oh, Plimpton, that's absurd!

  PLIM. Nothing of the kind, Rutherford! Suppose they were to elect to

  office some wild and reckless demagog . . . take, for instance, that

  ruffian you were telling us about . . . down there on the Bowery . . .

  [HAGEN starts, and listens] and he were to defy the law and the

  courts? He is preaching just that to the mob . . . striving to rouse

  the elemental wild beast in them! And some day they will pour out into

  this avenue . . .

  RUTH. [Vehemently.] Very well, Plimpton! Let them come! Have we not

  the militia and the regulars? We could sweep the avenue with one

  machine gun . . .

  PLIM. But suppose the troops would not fire?

  RUTH. But that is impossible!

  PLIM. Nothing of the kind, Rutherford! No, no . . . we must go back of

  all that! It is in the hearts of the people that we must erect our

  defenses. It is the spirit of this godless and skeptical age that is

  undermining order. We must teach the people the truths of religion. We

  must inculcate lessons of sobriety and thrift, of reverence for

  constituted authority. We must set our fa
ces against these new

  preachers of license and infidelity . . . we must go back to the old-

  time faith . . . to love, and charity, and self-sacrifice . . .

  HAGEN. [Interrupting.] That's it! You've got it there!

  IS. [Amazed.] Why . . .

  PLIM. Sir?

  HAGEN. You've said it! Set the parsons after them! Teach them heaven!

  Set them to singing about harps and golden crowns, and milk and honey

  flowing! Then you can shut them up in slums and starve them, and they

  won't know the difference. Teach them non-resistance and self-

  renunciation! You've got the phrases all pat . . . handed out from

  heaven direct! Take no thought saying what ye shall eat! Lay not up

  for yourselves treasures on earth! Render unto Caesar the things that

  are Caesar's!

  IS. Why . . . this is preposterous!

  PLIM. This is blasphemy!

  HAGEN. You're Plimpton . . . Plimpton, the coal baron, I take it. I

  know you by your pictures. You shut up little children by tens of

  thousands to toil for you in the bowels of the earth. You crush your

  rivals, and form a trust, and screw up prices to freeze the poor in

  winter! And you . . . [to RUTHERFORD] you're Rutherford, the steel

  king, I take it. You have slaves working twelve hours a day and seven

  days a week in your mills. And you mangle them in hideous accidents,

  and then cheat their widows of their rights . . . and then you build

  churches, and set your parsons to preach to them about love and self-

  sacrifice! To teach them charity, while you crucify justice! To trick

  them with visions of an imaginary paradise, while you pick their

  pockets upon earth! To put arms in their hands, and send them to shoot

  their brothers, in the name of the Prince of Peace!

  RUTH. This is outrageous!

  PLIM. [Clenching his fists.] Infamous scoundrel!

  RUTH. [Advancing Upon HAGEN.] How dare you!

  HAGEN. It stings, does it? Ha! Ha!

  PLIM. [Sputtering.] You wretch!

  IS. This has gone too far. Stop, Rutherford! Calm yourself, Plimpton.

  Let us not forget ourselves! [To PRINCE HAGEN, haughtily.] I do not

  know who you are, sir, or by what right you are in my house. You say

  that you are a friend of my son's . . .

  HAGEN. I claim that honor, sir.

  IS. The fact that you claim it prevents my ordering you into the

  street. But I will see my son, sir, and find out by what right you are

  here to insult my guests. [Turning.] Come, Plimpton. Come, Rutherford

  . . . we will bandy no words with him!

  [They go off, centre.]

  HAGEN. [Alone.] By God! I touched them! Ha, ha, ha! [Grimly.] He will

  order me into the street! [With concentrated fury.] That is it! They

  shut you out! They build a wall about themselves! Aristocracy!

  [Clenching his fast.] Very well! So be it! You sit within your

  fortress of privilege! You are haughty and contemptuous, flaunting

  your power! But I'll breach your battlements, I'll lay them in the

  dust! I'll bring you to your knees before me!

  [A silence. Suddenly there is heard, very faintly, the Nibelung theme.

  It is repeated; HAGEN starts.]

  MIMI. [Enters, left.] Prince Hagen!

  HAGEN. Mimi!

  MIMI. At last!

  HAGEN. [Approaching.] What is it?

  MIMI. [Beckons.] Come here.

  HAGEN. [In excitement.] What do you want?

  MIMI. You must come back!

  HAGEN. What do you mean?

  MIMI. The people want you.

  HAGEN. What for?

  MIMI. They need you. You must be king.

  HAGEN. [Wildly.] Ha?

 

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