Hermann Sudermann

“ SCHWARTZE. A world, my child, which one never outgrows, which one never should outgrow--you have always held to that?
MAGDA. What do you mean? And what a face you make over it! Yes, yes, though--that question came at the right time. I have been a fool! I have been a fool! My dear old papa, this happiness will be short.
MRS. SCHWARTZE. Why?
MAGDA. What do you think of me? Do you think I am as free as I appear? I'm a weary, worn-out drudge who is only fortunate when the lash is on her back.
SCHWARTZE. Whose drudge? What lash? ”

“ MAGDA. Ha, ha! You, model of men! Like me!
HEFFTERDINGT. I have had to stifle much in my nature. My peace is the peace of the dead. And as you stood before me yesterday in your freshness, your natural strength, your--your greatness, I said to myself, "That is what you might have been if at the right moment joy had entered into your life."
MAGDA. [In a whisper.] And one thing more, my friend,-- sin! We must sin if we wish to grow. To become greater than our sins is worth more than all the purity you preach. ”

“ HEFFTERDINGT. To work the impress of one's own personality,--that's what you mean, isn't it?
MAGDA. Si, si, si, si! Oh, I could tell you everything. Your heart has tendrils which twine about other hearts and draw them out. And you don't do it selfishly. You don't know how mighty you are. The men outside there are beasts, whether in love or hate. But you are a man. And one feels like a man when one is near you. Just think, when you came in yesterday, you seemed to me so small; but something grows out from you and becomes always greater, almost too great for me. ”

“ SCHWARTZE. I gave your betrothed my word of honor. And that must be kept, don't you see?
MAGDA. But if it is not in your power, my dear father.
SCHWARTZE. Then I must die,--then I must simply die. One cannot live on when one-- You are an officer's daughter. Don't you understand that?
MAGDA. [Compassionately.] My God!
SCHWARTZE. But before I die, I must set my home in order, must I not? Every one has something which he holds sacred. What is sacred to your inmost soul? ”

“ SCHWARTZE. I tell you, and you,--and you, too, Pastor,--that I would rather have seen her lying in rags and tatters at my feet and begging for forgiveness. For then I should have known that she was still, at heart, my child. But why has she come back here? The world was large enough for her triumph. Why should she rob this humble provincial nest of ours? I know why. To show her miserable father how far one can rise in the world by treading filial duty into the dust,--that is her intention. Pride and arrogance speak in her, and nothing else. ”

“ HEFFTERDINGT. I don't think one should be terrified at feeling filial love.
MAGDA. Filial love? I should like to take that snow-white head in my lap and say, "You old child!" And nevertheless I must bend my will, I must bend my will. I am not accustomed to that. I must conquer; I must sing down opposition. I sing or I live,--for both are one and the same,--so that men must will as I do. I force them, I compel them to love and mourn and exult and lament as I do. ”

“ MRS. VON KLEBS. Oh, please!
MAGDA. We are such birds of passage, my dear madam, that we can really never plan for the future.
MRS. ELLRICH. But one must have one's real home.
MAGDA. Why? One must have a vocation. That seems to me enough.
FRANZISKA. It's all in the point of view, dear Magda.
MRS. VON KLEBS. Ah, we're so far removed from all these ideas, my dear young lady. Every now and then some person gives lectures here, but the good families have nothing to do with it.
MAGDA. [Politely.] Oh, I can quite understand that. The good families need nothing, as they have plenty to eat. ”

“ MAGDA. And if you did?
VON KELLER. Oh, you can't be in earnest. For a hardworking and ambitious man who sees a brilliant future before him to give up honor and position, and as his wife's husband to play the vagabond,--to live merely as the husband of his wife? Shall I turn over your music, or take the tickets at the box-office? No, my dearest friend, you underestimate me, and the position I fill in society. But don't be uneasy. You will have nothing to repent of. ”

“ SCHWARTZE. You can't travel about from country to country with a young man without--
MAGDA. Ah! does that disquiet you? I can,--be quite easy,--I can. In my world we don't trouble ourselves about such things.
SCHWARTZE. What world is that?
MAGDA. The world I rule, father dear. I have no other. There, whatever I do is right because I do it.
SCHWARTZE. That is an enviable position. But you are still young. There must be cases when some direction--in short, whose advice do you follow in your transactions?
MAGDA. There is no one who has the right to advise me, papa dear. ”

“ MARIE. I am so frightened at all this, Pastor. [Imploringly.] Papa?
SCHWARTZE. What is it, child?
MARIE. Papa, papa, do you know who this lady is?
SCHWARTZE. I? No. I can only guess.
MARIE. [Bursting out.] Magdalene--Magda! Magda is here! [Falling on her knees.] Oh, you will forgive her?
SCHWARTZE. Get up, my child. Your sister is far above my poor forgiveness.
HEFFTERDINGT. She is not above your love.
MARIE. Magda is here! Magda herself is here! [Throws her arms about her mother's neck, weeping.]
FRANZISKA. Won't any one bring me a glass of water? I am so upset! ”

“ VON KELLER. Oh, pardon me, now I understand-- [Working himself up.] Colonel, you see in me a man who takes life earnestly. The days of a light youth-- [Schwartze looks up angrily.] Pardon me, I meant to say--since early this morning a holier and, if I may say so, a more auspicious resolution has arisen within me. Colonel, I am not a man of many words. I have already wandered from the point. As one man of honor to another, or-- in short, Colonel, I have the honor to ask you for the hand of your daughter. [Schwartze sits motionless, breathing heavily.] ”

“ MAGDA. Oh, how thoughtful! [Takes the flowers with a laugh, and throws them on the table.]
VON KELLER. [In embarrassment.] I--I see with sorrow that you resent this approach on my part. Have I in any way been wanting in the necessary delicacy? In these narrow circles a meeting could not have been avoided. I think it is better, my dearest friend, that we should come to an understanding,--that we should know the relations--
MAGDA. [Rising.] You're right, my friend. I was not at the height of my own nature just now. Had I been, I might have played the deserted Marguerite to the end. ”

“ And, Miss Magda, he who has not peace in his heart from the beginning will never win it in the end.
MAGDA. All this is not true, and if it were true, have I not a heart too? Have I not a life to live also? Have I not a right to seek my own happiness?
HEFFTERDINGT. [Harshly.] No; no one has that. But do as you will. Ruin your home, ruin your father and sister and child, and then see what heart you have to seek your own happiness. [Magda bows her head, sobbing. The Pastor crosses to her, and leans over the table pityingly, with his hand on her hair.] ”

“ MARIE. Sixty thousand marks.
MAGDA. When can you be married? Must it be now, or will afternoon do?
MARIE. Don't mock me, Magda.
MAGDA. You must give me time to telegraph. One can't carry so much money about with one.
MARIE. [Slowly taking it in, and then, with an outburst of joy, throwing herself at Magda's feet.] Magda!
MAGDA. [After a silence.] Be happy, love your husband. And if you hold your first-born on your arm, in the face of the world [holding out her arms with angry emphasis] -- so, face to face, then think of one who-- Ah! some one's coming.
Enter Heffterdingt with a portfolio. ”

“ SCHWARTZE. You're very kind; but you do us too much honor. If you seek the centre of the whole movement, Pastor Heffterdingt is the man. He inspires all; he controls all; he--
MRS. SCHWARTZE. Do you know our pastor, sir?
VON KELLER. I have heard him speak many times, dear lady, and have admired equally the sincerity of his convictions and his naïve faith in human nature. But I cannot comprehend the influence he exerts.
MRS. SCHWARTZE. You will find it out. He is so plain and simple that one hardly realizes what a man he is. He brings every one round. ”

“ FRANZISKA. Yes, I'm good enough to run errands and play the scullery-maid; but when it comes to being one of the family, an old aunt with her heart full of love--
MARIE. Who has offended you, Aunt Frankie?
FRANZISKA. Yes, that's very fine. But a little while ago, when I was so upset, no one troubled himself about me one bit. To guarantee an income so that our little miss can be married, I am--
MARIE. Aunt Frankie!
FRANZISKA. But as long as I live--
MRS. SCHWARTZE. What are you talking about?
FRANZISKA. We know, we two. And to-day. Who brought back your daughter to you? ”

“ MARIE. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Max.
MAX. What on earth do you mean?
MARIE. Aren't these flowers yours?
MAX. Good Heavens! I can afford a few pennies for a bunch of violets once in a while, but this-- Oh, no!
MARIE. Nor yesterday's?
MAX. No, nor yesterday's. [Marie rings.]
Enter Theresa.
MARIE. Please throw these flowers away.
THERESA. What! Throw those beautiful flowers away?
MARIE. You are right. The pastor would say, "If God's gifts do not please us, we must at least take care that they give pleasure to others." Wouldn't he?
MAX. Probably he would. ”

“ Enter Schwartze, happy and excited, through the hall-door.
SCHWARTZE. Ah, my dear Councillor--was that my daughter who just disappeared?
VON KELLER. [In great embarrassment.] Yes, it was--
SCHWARTZE. Why should she run away from me? Magda!
VON KELLER. [Trying to block his path.] Had you not better-- The young lady wished to be alone for a little!
SCHWARTZE. Now? Why? When one has visitors, one does not-- Why should she--
VON KELLER. She was a little--agitated.
SCHWARTZE. Agitated?
VON KELLER. Yes; that's all.
SCHWARTZE. Who has been here?
VON KELLER. No one. At least, as far as I know. ”

“ FRANZISKA. So?
MRS. SCHWARTZE. Just think, two people have come from the hotel,--a gentleman who looks like a lord, and a young lady like a princess. They're her servants.
FRANZISKA. What extravagance!
MRS. SCHWARTZE. And they're calling and talking all over the house, and neither of them knows any German. And her ladyship ordered a warm bath, that was not warm enough; and a cold douche, which was not cold enough; and spirits, which she simply poured out of the window; and toilet vinegar, which we didn't have at all.
FRANZISKA. What demands! And where is your famous young lady? ”

“ In such a one the slightest error would have ruined everything,--conscience, honor, self-respect. But I? Look at me. I was alone. I was as shelterless as a man knocked about in the world, dependent on the work of my own hands. If you give us the right to hunger--and I have hungered--why do you deny us the right to love, as we can find it, and to happiness, as we can understand it?
SCHWARTZE. You think, my child, because you are free and a great artist, that you can set at naught--
MAGDA. Leave art out of the question. ”

“ Consider me nothing more than the seamstress or the servant-maid who seeks, among strangers, the little food and the little love she needs. See how much the family with its morality demand from us! It throws us on our own resources, it gives us neither shelter nor happiness, and yet, in our loneliness, we must live according to the laws which it has planned for itself alone. We must still crouch in the corner, and there wait patiently until a respectful wooer happens to come. ”

“ VON KELLER. Very true, very true indeed. One doesn't hear such sentiments as that in the world in general, where modern ideas pass current for small change.
SCHWARTZE. Modern ideas! Oh, pshaw! I know them. But come into the quiet homes where are bred brave soldiers and virtuous wives. There you'll hear no talk about heredity, no arguments about individuality, no scandalous gossip. There modern ideas have no foothold, for it is there that the life and strength of the Fatherland abide. ”

“ Mrs. Schwartze knocks again.] Leopold! listen to me, Leopold! [Retreating.] Oh, Heaven! he's coming! [Enter Schwartze, bent and tottering.]
MRS. SCHWARTZE. How do you feel, Leopold?
SCHWARTZE. [Sinking into a chair.] Yes, yes,--just like the roses. The knife conies, and cuts the stem, and the wound can never be healed. What am I saying? What?
MRS. SCHWARTZE. He's out of his mind.
SCHWARTZE. No, no, I'm not out of my mind. I know quite well-- [Magda appears at the door, left.]
MRS. SCHWARTZE. What have you done to him?
SCHWARTZE. Yes, what have you--what have you? That is my daughter. ”

“ MAGDA. [Letting her mantle fall.] And your work,--does not that bring happiness enough?
HEFFTERDINGT. Thank God, it does. But if one takes it really in earnest, one cannot live only for one's self; at least, I cannot. One cannot exult in the fulness of one's personality, as you would call it. And then many hearts are opened to me-- One sees too many wounds there, that one cannot heal, to be quite happy. ”

“ SCHWARTZE. Then God's will be done. [Marie gives a cry of joy. Heffterdingt presses Schwartze's hand.]
SCHWARTZE. [Holding his hand, speaking softly.] The way will be hard for you, I know. Your lost youth--your pride--
HEFFTERDINGT. Dear Colonel, I begin to think that pride is a very poor sort of thing. It really profits us little to have it always in our mouths. I am giving back a daughter to an old father. I am giving back a home to an erring soul. That, I think, is enough. [Exit. Marie throws herself on her father's breast, laughing and crying.] ”

“ MAGDA. That it is fitting from me?
VON KELLER. [Deprecatingly.] Oh!
MAGDA. I must ask for your indulgence. The role of a patient and forbearing wife is new to me. Let us speak, then, of the future [sits and motions to him to do the same] --of our future. What is your idea of what is to come?
VON KELLER. You know, my dearest Magda, I have great designs. This provincial town is no field for my statesmanship. Besides, it is my duty now to find a place which will be worthy of your social talents. For you will give up the stage and concert-hall,--that goes without saying. ”