Jaroslav Hilbert

“ Havlin remains motionless. He gazes into space, murmurs a few words and then is silent again. The moonlight is dying away and the bright summer night is rapidly changing into the greyness of an early dawn. The grave-yard now assumes a different aspect. The haggard faces of the soldiers show their dishevled condition, on their uniforms the mud and stains predominate, in the daylight the grotesque side of the scene is apparent. The only familiar sight is the usual friendly approach of a summer morning. ”

“ Yelling, shots, the creaking of wheels, grating and rasping, the cracking of whips, a stray shot or two—again the cannon thunders, drowning for the moment the noise of the highway. Now the first soldier appears in the church-yard. The others drop in at various intervals afterward.
All the soldiers are excited and fatigued. They are out of breath, wan, tattered, bloody and muddy. All are quite young.
Vonka (Opens the gate, stops a moment, looks about, then turns back) .—Hi! you! Moravian.
(Vichodil comes in followed by Havlin.) ”

“ At the present time it would be asking too much of my audience to accept as a scientific truth doctrines which have had their birth in Austria and Germany, where truth appears to be monopolized by professors and divines for academic purposes only of outrage and destruction of civilization and all that civilization means, were it not that I can give assurance that those doctrines have been tested and accepted, by earnest workers and profound thinkers in Switzerland, America and Great Britain. ”

“ Brothers! (He hurries to them and is parting them.) Don’t scuffle—Two Czechs—let them go—we Czechs will stand together.
Soukup.—He is a traitor. (Havlin utters some sounds. Now the noise of the approaching batteries is growing.)
Vonka (Pale, trembling, in an attitude of defiance) .—Away! All of you! Away with everyone of you, this moment! I order it!—In ten days the whole country will belong to the Prussians—but I won’t have a single one of you here. Cowards—you fight each other before the battle—but you have forfeited our country, you fools. ”

“ In the distance, hardly audible at first but increasing in nearness and volume, comes the familiar sound of the fife and drum. The melody is the one which was later converted into a folk-song “When to us came the Prussians a-marching——” etc. It means that the vanguard is near the scene and that the invasion of Bohemia is continuing. The sound gains about a third in volume and designates thereby how rapidly the soldiers are approaching. Even Ebner, overcome and exhausted, sleeps. Havlin is the only one to hear—he starts. His face is the face of a frightened madman. ”

“ Svacha (After a moment) .—I heard you all—yea—I even understood what you were saying—my friend is seriously wounded—and my life does not count—you won’t compel him to struggle on or to lie and suffer in some open field—I am sure you will have pity on him.
(Suk exhausted—seriously wounded; is hardly able to stand—he sighs.)
Svacha (On whose shoulders he is supported, makes a few steps as though he were looking for a place where Suk could be set down—but the soldiers are indifferent to them and silent) .—You would not have the heart! ”

“ Ours are the days when to hold aloof from the hue and cry of the maddening crowds is an angelic virtue. No one ever realized how potent and all absorbing was the mob spirit dormant even in the minds of those who condemned it. ”

“ Spravil.—He is crazy.
(Havlin has now awakened fully—he jumps up and screams.)
Svacha.—Dear Jean—do you want anything—it is I—do you know me, Jean— (The wounded man opens his eyes, his lips move, he recognizes Svacha. With difficulty he is about to say something, when again—)
Kovar.—The chosen ones to defend—the chosen ones to die, chosen to die but die for our country. It is most sacred to die for the country. There is nothing greater.
Svacha (Despairing, forgetting Suk’s condition) .—Quit—for God’s sake—can’t you see he is dying? ”

“ All the other soldiers are lying on the ground and attempting sleep. For a long time the impatient moving about and forced efforts to sleep are audible—then again a compelled silence—loud breathing, sighing—feverish rest—at times a snatched word can be discerned—the real sleep is slow in coming. ”

“ The Prussians followed them and at that point inflicted another defeat. The action takes place on the evening of the 28th of June after the battle of Skalitz and before the dawn of the 29th, on which occurred the defeat of Schweinschadel.
The impression which the defeat at Königgratz left in the popular mind of the newly awakened nation was quite lasting. The Czechs who were defending their own land against their racial enemy fought bravely and desperately, but the proverbial bad leadership of the Austrian Generals made their cause a hopeless one. ”

“ It is the sound of horses’ hoofs on the road toward Skalitz. Levinsky raised his head “What is it?” but Vonka silenced him, “Quiet,” he adds, however, in a moment.)
Vonka.—Riderless horses of our troops running amuck. They are gathered into a group and gallop aimlessly. (Suddenly, without changing his tone.) Comrades, listen. Here are a lot of horses without men. Something frightened them and they are running about. But they’ll quiet down soon, stop and graze in the field. Rosenzweig’s batteries are still between us and the Prussians, but that protection will soon be gone. ”

“ Just then the gate creaks and the men turn—They were expecting Vonka but Levinsky utters “Woman” and surely enough a poor woman appears—she is Anna Petrova the wife of the railroad watchman, past forty. She didn’t expect anybody in the grave-yard but is too simple-minded to show surprise. She stands quietly, arms akimbo, looking at the soldiers and then breaks in with an explanation.
Anna Petrova.—The Prussians are in Skalitz: there is no staying there (and as no one is answering her, she adds.) They took away my man—he was the railroad watchman. ”

“ Kovar.—Well, countrymen now you know it I guess—Yes, we all do— (He laughs.) We were sold—sold to the russians! In Olmütz we all cried that we would drive them out with a wet rag but now—we were sold—our country— (The cannon barks—Kovar, an artillery man, listens like an expert.) Boom! that’s Rosenzweig, he's making them believe he is covering our retreat— Now once more, boom! (He laughs for true to his word there is another cannon shot. The noise in the church-yard attracts three soldiers who peer into the yard. These are Spravil, Soukup and Levinsky.) ”

“ And for that we all have to be sacrificed so that you will not have to hide your shame. (Vonka approaches him but is speechless—There is a moment of absolute quiet and just then from the road the noise of horsemen and quickly passing cannon is audible.)
Kloc.—Prussians——
Kovar.—These are ours. It’s Rosenzweig’s men.
Havlin (All are silent now. The noise behind the scene is increasing. The excitement has subsided for the moment—but it is about to break loose. The start is made by Havlin who runs to the gate, breaks it open, shouts.) Treason! Over here! Deserters! To the church-yard here. ”

“ The action in this play relates to the Austrian army sent to oppose the Prussians around Trautenau. While Benedek had not met the main army of the Prussians as yet, his losses in trying to check the advance of the three corps were so heavy that he telegraphed to Vienna to the Emperor advising peace at any price. The official communications are as follows:
Benedek to the Emperor: “I earnestly entreat Your Majesty to conclude peace at any price. A catastrophe to the army is inevitable. ”

“ Soldiers.—Swear!
Vonka.— —that in her great hour of need you will not forsake her!
Soldiers.—Swear!
Vonka.—Join hands on our oath!
(Excepting Havlin who stands aside, they all join hands and orm an irregular chain. Ebner is lying on the ground.)
Vonka.—Beloved mother country of ours! In your moment of sorrow we who have sworn faith to thee will defend thee to the last drop of our blood—to our last breath—we are mindful all of the pledge that we made in our national songs—our hymn—— (Irregularly, monotonously they do not sing but speak the Bohemian National hymn) :
“O Homeland mine. ”

“ In his plays he introduces an innovation, which departs from the cardinal rules of the drama, but his treatment of the innovation is not sufficiently consistent and strong. In describing the action of a character, he goes into the psychological cause of the action so that his play becomes not only dramatic, but a psychological study as well. ”

“ General mobilization was ordered on June 14 and on June 15, Prussia declared war against Hanover, Saxony, Bavaria, and Austria. On June 27 the Prussians defeated the Hanoverians. On June 24 Austria dealt a severe defeat to the Italians at Custozza. This play however concerns itself with the main events of this war which took place in Bohemia. The Austrian army was commanded by Gen. Ludwig von Benedek and at the outbreak of the war he was stationed in Moravia at Olmütz. The Austrians numbered 240,000 men. ”

“ If we had something that would strengthen him— (They are all helpless.)
Spravil.—There’s nothing here.
Vonka.—Wait. (Goes off thru centre—the soldiers follow him silently then.)
Levinsky.—He ran away.
Soukup.—No. (They all turn back.)
Svacha (Kneeling over Suk) .—He fainted.
Vichodil.—He might be asleep. Leave him alone. Let him rest.
Svacha (Rises. Moved but quietly) .—He will not last very long—I just wanted him to feel that he is among his own—After that—it’s the end of everything anyhow— (No one answers.) We were at the railroad depot and he was wounded there. ”

“ Vonka.—Here is a drop of water— it is all I could find. (With a glance at Suk.) He died——
Svacha.—Yes.
Vonka (Depositing pitcher) .—Do not permit the dead to stay with us too long.
Suk.—He is dead— (To Svacha, who is still kneeling.) Let us raise him— (Soukup hastens to help. They raise the body.)
Vonka (Pointing to the grave where they had deposited the Magyar) .—There! (Two soldiers quietly walk over carrying the body—the others watch silently—Svacha seizes the hand of the dead man and follows—then Petrova joins them.) ”

“ Their swords are rust
Their souls are with their Gods we trust.”
PREFACE
The incident of this so-called comedy dates from the year 1866 but the similarity to events of our day makes the sketch so timely that with but a change of names and location this terrible farce on patriotic heroism could have been played near the San River or in the environs of Ypres in the year 1915.
It happened in 1866 when Bismarck drove home his coup d’etat by ending forever Austrian interference in German affairs. In April of that year, he entered into an alliance with Italy against Austria. ”

“ Perhaps the best brief graphic account of the prevailing critical condition of the European imbroglio may be gathered from the correspondence of the contemporary historian John Motley, then American Ambassador to Vienna. ”