Alois Jirásek, translated by Bernice Heřman and George Rapall Noyes

“ At some distance in front of the temple, but not quite in line with it, somewhat more in the foreground, is an old, spreading oak, under which is a birch bench.
In the background a number of picnickers pass by, grouped in couples, the men with coats off and hats in hand; girls hasten by; a pretzel man with pretzels on a rod is among the crowd: all are going towards the left, whence is heard the sound of a solo on a hunter's horn. A student, bending in conversation with a town girl, comes from the left to the right and disappears with her in the rear among the trees. ”

“ Plavec.—Oh, oh, don't be so severe, madam. Life will equalize everything.
Mrs. Rettig.—Sometimes only death can do so. And doctor, suppose that Lenka should have some one dear to her heart—
Plavec.—O, some student's love affair! All that is merely day dreams. My friend the magistrate, if you will pardon my saying so, is surely not your first love and you may not be his. When I was a student I thought several times of getting married. O, dreams, rosy dreams! We got over them, and so will Miss Lenka. ”

“ Rettig.—It's of no use; he defends himself, will not yield. If those young people don't help me out, or rather help themselves—And now, Ančka, here is what I wanted to tell you before. You must impress on the retainer that at the picnic in the grove he should not show himself at the dancing, that he should keep rather out of the way, in some hiding place, or perhaps that he should wait in that out-of-the-way nook, the Temple of Silence, you know. ”

“ Mrs. Rettig.—No, he has not gone; and I am going to have another talk with him today. (Goes to the right among the trees and looks out.)
Lenka (Alarmed) .—The doctor already—
Mrs. Rettig.—No, it was not he. (Comes back under the oak.) But I must go look for him, that he may not search for us long and vainly. You wait here, Lenka dear.
A hunter's horn is heard at the rear, in the distance. Ah, do you hear? (Listens.) How beautiful! (At the right is heard a fanfare, but more dimly, like an echo.) How beautiful! ”

“ Roller.—That was worth while.
Gülich.—But who knows of that work, madam? If you had but written in German—! Why found a new literature? It will always remain poor, kann nicht anders sein? [42] Why then, when we have already so great and so rich a literature? That will be of more service to culture und der Humanität. Und die ist das Höchste, der Gipfel der Bildung. [43]
Mrs Rettig.—But that great and rich literature is still only foreign and-Humanität! [44] In its name you wish us to take our own lives, to cease to live. And we wish to live our own lives, doctor; we feel strength for life. ”

“ Lenka (Exclaims, bitterly) .—And Mr. Valenta stopped writing; for over half a year not a line—
Mrs. Rettig.—But he hasn't changed.
Lenka.—And now he thinks that only for gain—O, I beg you, madam!
Mrs. Rettig.—To tell him.
Lenka.—So that he may believe.
Mrs. Rettig.—Do you love him? (Gazes at her; Lenka looks down.) And so you will go to the altar and swear fidelity and love to Dr. Plavec; you will lie to the man to whom you wish to show the greatest gratitude.
Lenka (Alarmed) .—But my duty bids me—
Mrs. Rettig.—Love from duty? Why don't you tell the doctor just how things are? ”

“ Rettig.—You will miss her.
Plavec (Testily) .—Yes, I shall, but now that she's still here— (stops short) and—and—she didn't even make the dumplings and everything else—
Mrs. Rettig.—She burned and oversalted. That's the way a cook does when she's in love. And a doctor in love fumes and frets. O happy lover!
Plavec.—O happy lover! (Seats himself on the bench.) O me O my!—An accepted lover, and I hardly get a glimpse of my lady except to see her dancing with other men. (Angrily.) The students chase after her as if they had formed a conspiracy. ”

“ For Lenka the world is just beginning to unfold itself. You wish merely to warm yourself, but she will desire the fire itself.
Plavec (Forcing himself to assume a gay tone once more) .—Ah, honored friend, such seriousness, when after all it is a question only of a picnic!
Mrs. Rettig.—But it bears on more important things. You try to avoid it, but what will you do later when other pastimes come up and her young blood—? (Suddenly.) Shall you not be jealous?
Plavec.—Jealous? Of whom?
Mrs. Rettig.—Perhaps even today. They say that retainer Valenta is in love with Lenka. ”

“ Plavec (Interrupting) .—But if the young girl without constraint—
Mrs. Rettig.—Must constraint be in words, threats, promises? May it not come from a sense of gratitude, when that suddenly flashes forth? When a physician saves the father of a poor family, the wage-earner; when he cares for them in illness and otherwise—
Plavec (Disturbed) .—What, what, do you think that—?
Mrs. Rettig.—Friend and patriot, never in your life have you received such a fee, the blood of a young heart. ”

“ Tyny.—That is, the magistrate's wife. She reads Bohemian with us, explains everything beautifully. And she teaches us woman's work too.
Frony (Suddenly) .—And Tyny dear, (confidentially, eagerly) sometimes students come there—
Tyny (Quickly) .—No, never; that's a slander!
Frony.—But they go to Mrs. Rettig's house for Bohemian books.
Tyny (Emphatically) .—But when we aren't there.
Frony.—Well, then they come here to the park. Now don't get angry, but really Mrs. Rettig is a great matchmaker.
Tyny.—That isn't true!
Frony.—And how about Lenka the tax-collector's daughter? ”

“ Mrs. Rettig.—There, that's the way it should be! (Gives her hand to Valenta.) You see!
Valenta.—Madam, how can I thank you! (Kisses her hand, Roubal comes in from the rear.)
Ančka (Has been watching everything with unconcealed emotion, then speaks with decision) .—And old Mrs. Zelenek after all is absolutely right!
Mrs. Rettig.—The singing will start now.
All move towards the left. Chadima and Rejsek, in the rear, follow them.
Chadima.—You see, you see, she is better than a lawyer! (Goes out with Rejsek.)
It is growing dark; the moonlight shimmers through the trees. ”

“ Rettig has her fingers. People don't take things into consideration. These look like mere trifles: Bohemian shop signs, Bohemian declamations, a Bohemian theater, Bohemian books, and so forth—but she is ensnaring young girls, has students in her power, the whole young generation. She knows well what she wants, to turn everything topsy-turvy.
Roubal.—A woman! To upset everything, a woman!
Ančka (Comes in from the left. She is a woman of fifty, wearing a white cap, a blue apron under which may be seen a purse, and slippers) .—Good morning, gentlemen. Have you seen the doctor, may I ask? ”

“ Plavec from the left on the main walk in the foreground. Plavec is a man of sixty, with gray hair; he wears a dark coat, white neckerchief, and beaver hat, and carries a cane in his hand. Tyny and Frony, horrified, watch them curiously.
Plavec (Good naturedly) .—My dear Miss Lenka, you are in a great hurry. Uf! I have delayed you; mass has already begun.
Lenka (Slackens her pace and speaks quietly) .—We shall probably get there before it is over.
Plavec.—Today everything went wrong. Even on Sunday there is no peace. Ančka kept announcing people. So many patients from the villages! ”

“ Rejsek.—I am always eager for books, madam. Reading is a part of one's life. I have read splendid things.
Mrs. Rettig.—I have heard that you own a good many books.
Rejsek.—I do: Melantrich, [49] Hájek, [50] "The Labyrinth of the World [51] ," "The History of the World," and various stories, one of Mount Blanik; [52] he who wrote that, I must say, did a fine piece of work.
Chadima (Unable to restrain himself, bursts forth) .—And Rejsek here, too, madam, will have a sign that is a Bohemian sign.
Mrs. Rettig—That was a dirty trick that they played on your sign. ”

“ There are two varieties of shoemakers, the field variety and the rocky variety. The rocky ones are wilder, and when they get angry they bristle up their backs. And Chadima is—
Rejsek (Reddening) .—Chadima, doctor, is an excellent workman, a good man, and not stupid.
Gülich.—O, a reader of books, like yourself; we know, we know.
Rejsek.—And that some learned gentlemen dislike! Rocky or not, he is a good man. And I should like to inquire how many varieties of advocates there are, and to what variety you belong. Good day. (Goes out on the left.)
Scene VII
Gulich, Roubal, later Ančka. ”

“ Nowadays a man must not begrudge the extra steps. And I can go a bit further with you. Lenka.—Please do. (They go out on the left.)
Gülich.—Verliebter Narr! [23] (Goes towards the right.)
Roubal (Chuckling) .—There's nothing like an old fool. (Goes out with Gulich.)
Scene IX
Ančka, Valenta.
Ančka (With a horrified glance after Dr. Plavec and Lenka) —Well— (She turns and walks towards the rear.)
Valenta (Comes in quickly from the right. He wears a huntsman's jacket, tight trousers, and low boots with tops) .—Good day to you, Ančka! (Follows her; they remain in the background.) ”

“ Rettig.—But she makes the dumplings well.
Plavec.—Yesterday she forgot about them entirely. So you may be sure that I told her this morning to have them on hand today.
Mrs. Rettig.—I should think so; they don't make them so well in any other place.
Plavec.—No indeed—das heisst, [54] madam, in your house—
Mrs. Rettig (Merrily) .—Careful, careful; you'll get caught in the net! I know what you said to Ančka.—But I asked you to call—
Plavec (Sitting down as if weary) .—Is some one ill?
Mrs. Rettig.—You yourself, doctor, your heart. But you won't admit it. ”

“ Rettig (Sympathetically) .—My dear, you would have provided only for yourself. O, how weak woman is! No, not weak, but she cannot do more—all those considerations—And next, my child?
Lenka.—Dr. Plavec saved our father's life. He alone. He took such pains; he came to visit him even at night, and he was always so good and obliging, and always so encouraging. At home we were sometimes in despair; but things always grew brighter and more cheerful when the doctor came. He brought the medicine himself ”

“ That much is sure, and the rest—Even if the old man could bring the dead to life, he couldn't accomplish anything here—neither aconite nor belladonna, nothing, no amount of learning—! The heart will have no prescriptions.
Valenta (Listens with excitement, and finally with impatience; looks about him, and then suddenly exclaims) .—She is unfaithful to me!
Ančka.—No storms now, no laments! And now go and have a talk with her (Points to the left.)
Valenta.—And I was so happy! (Hurries off to the left.)
Ančka gazes for a moment after him and then goes out at the rear.
Scene XII
Dr. ”

“ Tyny.—I am stupified.
Frony.—Such an old grandfather!
Tyny.—Why does she do it!
Frony.—Why! Because the old man has gone crazy and wants to make her a doctor's wife. She will have a title, be a gentlewoman.
Tyny.—I don't think so. That isn't a bit like Lenka.
Frony.—You won't give her up. Just ask Mrs. Rettig, "auntie;" she will tell you. Besides, at her house Lenka was embroidering something for him, for the doctor, with hair, on white silk, and with a Bohemian motto.
Tyny.—Yes, that's true; she was embroidering:
"Sail on, unceasingly ”

“ And once more, thank you, Mr. Vacek, for the declamation. That was really a joy, it seemed to impress people deeply: I could see that in many cases, especially when you concluded: "Blessed are we, yes, thrice blessed;" ”

“ Tyny.—Forgive us, we got to talking a bit about the picnic.
Mrs. Rettig.—And my good husband will have to pay the penalty; he too will have his duck "a trifle scorched." But it is my fault, mostly my fault, because I have been neglecting you so. But that is what happens when the cook blows on other people's mush, so that other people may not burn their mouths. Come, Tyny dear! (She goes out quickly through the door at the rear, Tyny follows her.)
ACT III
A section of the grove at Nedošín. In the right foreground under an oak is a small pavilion in the form of an antique temple. ”

“ She won't go to her any more; she's going to get married.
Tyny.—Impossible!
Frony.—She is engaged, really. I just now heard it. She is going to marry Dr. Plavec. Well, he is a patriot too, and a good friend of Mrs. Rettig and her husband. He visits them.
Tyny.—That is impossible! He is surely a man past sixty, and Lenka is so young that—
Frony (Catches her by the hand, motioning to her) .—Softer; look, here they are—there you have them.
Scene II
The same, Lenka, Dr. Plavec
Lenka, a girl of twenty, more poorly dressed than Frony and Tyny, in a light-colored gown, enters with Dr. ”

“ I'll bring her back with me, doctor. (Goes out on the left.)
Plavec.—Thank you, madam, thank you.
Scene X
Dr. Pravec, Mrs. Roller.
Dr. Pravec wipes his brow and leans against the tree trunk. The notes of a slow waltz can be dimly heard. Dr. Plavec yawns, drowsiness begins to overcome him. Mrs. Roller, who has appeared in the background at the end of the preceding scene and waited for Mrs. Rettig to leave, now walks cautiously forward under the oak, knitting a stocking. She watches the doctor and then goes up to him.
Plavec (Starting) .—Lenka dear—O, pardon me! ”