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Title: Eyes that cannot see
A play in one act
Author: Albert Theodor Gnudtzmann
Translator: Arvid Paulson
Release date: July 29, 2026 [eBook #79218]
Language: English
Original publication: Cincinatti: Stewart Kidd Company, 1923
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79218
Credits: Sam Lamb and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EYES THAT CANNOT SEE ***
STEWART KIDD MODERN PLAYS
Edited by Frank Shay
EYES THAT CANNOT SEE
EYES THAT CANNOT SEE
A PLAY IN ONE ACT
By
ALBERT GNUDTZMANN
Translated from the Danish by Arvid Paulson
[Illustration]
CINCINNATI
STEWART KIDD COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
STEWART KIDD COMPANY
[Illustration]
_All rights reserved_
EYES THAT CANNOT SEE is fully protected by copyright and no performance
may be given without the consent of the translator, Mr. Arvid Paulson,
who may be addressed in care of the publishers.
Printed in the United States of America
THE CAXTON PRESS
TO
THE MEMORY OF MY FRIEND
RICHARD MANSFIELD 2ND,
WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY,
I DEDICATE THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THIS PLAY.
--A. P.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
HAMMELEV, _a public school teacher_
MRS. HAMMELEV, _his wife_
ANTON, _their son_
LOUISE THORSEN
KIRSTEN
The action of the play takes place in the living quarters of the
Hammelevs in a Danish country school.
Produced at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen for the first time on the
tenth of September, 1903.
THE STAGE
A living-room at the Hammelevs’, with low ceiling and antique
furniture. In the background two windows, through which is seen a
garden. Between the windows an old-fashioned linen closet. By the
windows, on the right, a platform with a sewing-table. A bird-cage
with a canary bird stands on the window-sill; white curtains; a number
of flower pots. Doors on each side of the stage. To the right a big
chiffonier. Nearer the footlights a smoking-table, above which, on the
wall, hangs a pipe-rack with pipes. On the left a sofa; in front of
it stands a table with a rocking-chair and a couple of other chairs.
Above the sofa hangs a mirror; on each side of the mirror portraits
of Luther and Melanchthon; underneath these, photographs of members
of the family. The room has the stamp of cozy homeliness--sunshine
outside--the sun rays pour into the room in broad streams through the
windows.
EYES THAT CANNOT SEE
SCENE I
(_Mrs. Hammelev and Kirsten. They are drinking coffee at the centre
table, which is covered with a small tablecloth_.)
KIRSTEN
Yes, Lavst’s promised. The carriage will be there, I’m sure. It’s all
been arranged.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Thank you very much, Kirsten. And remember now, it is the 8.20 train.
KIRSTEN
Oh, yes, yes--
MRS. HAMMELEV (_eagerly_)
And the carriage should be at the station in plenty of time. I should
say eight o’clock at the latest. So it must leave here at seven.
KIRSTEN
Oh, it don’t take no more than a half hour to get there.
MRS. HAMMELEV
I am always so afraid that something may happen. And if we should come
late! You must remember, Kirsten, that he is quite helpless. And in a
railroad station, especially, in the midst of people who think only of
themselves.
KIRSTEN
Yes--I wonder sometimes how he can travel like that, all alone,
without gettin’ into trouble, the poor boy! How helpless a man is
without a pair of eyes to see with!
MRS. HAMMELEV
Everything is in God’s power, Kirsten. And then you must know that by
this time he has become accustomed to helping himself. It is now seven
years since the misfortune came upon him.
KIRSTEN
Heavens! Is it really? Yes, time flies--indeed it does! I remember very
well the time when you and Mr. Hammelev took him to the doctor, and you
was told that poor Anton was goin’ to lose his eyesight. Both me and
Furst felt awful sorry over it.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_painfully touched_)
Yes, Kirsten, but--
KIRSTEN (_without interruption_)
It was an awful and terrible thing to think of! Such a nice-lookin’ boy
as he was! He had that curly hair of his that suited him so fine--and
them beautiful eyes of his--oh, what beautiful eyes he had, anyhow!
Poor Anton! Yes, we used to always call him “poor little Anton”, ’cause
he wasn’t very strong. But he was a pretty big lad at that time. Wasn’t
he just goin’ to graduate? Let’s see--he graduated from high school
when--
MRS. HAMMELEV
Twice--two years in succession he failed, and he used to be the first
one in his class, and then--(_Pauses_.) But, God be praised, he has
amounted to something in spite of all. He has turned out to be a very
clever boy--although he took up a different profession than we had
wanted him to.
KIRSTEN
Yes, both Mr. Hammelev and you wanted him to study to be a minister,
didn’t you? And what’s a musician! And _you_ was a minister’s daughter!
MRS. HAMMELEV
Musician! But, Kirsten, my son is not an ordinary musician. He is an
artist--yes--you know what that means, don’t you, Kirsten? He plays in
big halls where people gather just to hear music. Have I never read to
you what has been said of him in the newspapers?
KIRSTEN
Yes, thanks, and I must say it was a real pleasure and comfort for me
to hear, ’specially when it’s a person you have no right to expect too
much from; that Fate has struck like him and who must bend to the will
of our Lord, as long as it’s got to be. But it’s awful sad to think
that His choice should fall on poor Anton. I always thought, when I saw
him, that he was made to live in sunshine and light all the time. And
to think that he should have to wander in darkness!--as it is written
in the Bible.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_half to herself_)
Yes, Kirsten, there was a time when I thought as you do. Many a night I
have lain awake, struggling with God for my child. I wouldn’t let him
go until He blessed me. And when I saw that Anton’s sight, with every
day that passed, grew dimmer and dimmer, there was a moment when I
turned against Him, and in my foolishness wanted Him to account for His
acts. At times I almost thought it would be best if He would take the
child back to Him.
KIRSTEN (_with sincerity_)
Perhaps it would have been best.
MRS. HAMMELEV
No, Kirsten, it wouldn’t. And I shall never forgive myself that I once
in a dark moment let Anton understand that I did think so. Now it has
dawned upon me that God nevertheless has heard my prayers. He has given
my son new light; but He has lighted it in the depth of his soul.
_There_ grow flowers and sparkle springs as pure as neither you nor I
have imagination to dream of, Kirsten. (_Noise outside of voices of
children, mingled with the clatter of their wooden shoes._) I suppose
school is over.
KIRSTEN (_rising from her chair_)
Good heavens! Is it that late? Oh, I got to be goin’!
MRS. HAMMELEV
Oh, no. Stay a while, Kirsten. Mr. Hammelev will be in soon. We’ll have
another cup of coffee.
SCENE II
(_Hammelev enters from the left. An elderly man with a kindly,
somewhat tired expression on his face_.)
MRS. HAMMELEV
Kirsten is here, pa!
HAMMELEV
So I see, mother, I see. (_Goes to Kirsten and shakes hands with her_.)
How do you do, Kirsten? I hear that your husband will drive to the
station for us to-night. I want to thank you for your kindness.
KIRSTEN
Oh, that’s nothin’ to thank us for, Mr. Hammelev. It ain’t the season
of the year when we use our horses much.
HAMMELEV
No, oh no--now that you’ve got the hay in, I guess you don’t. But it
isn’t the first time we have had reason to thank you and your husband.
Since we haven’t any horse and carriage, we ought to be thankful that
we have such kind and helpful neighbors. (_Goes to the pipe-rack, takes
down a pipe, and fills it with tobacco_.) Well, Kirsten, I suppose you
know what a great day it was in school to-day?
KIRSTEN
Oh, yes, I can imagine, Mr. Hammelev. It is in a way a day of
rejoicin’--we can’t say nothin’ else. The Lord has dealt severe with
you, so we are glad when He helps you along a little and makes it
easier for you.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_who has been serving the coffee, interrupting_)
You’ll take a cup of coffee, too, won’t you, pa?
HAMMELEV (_who has lighted his pipe_)
Yes, thanks; we can always drink a little coffee. (_Sits, smokes,
and drinks his coffee_.) Yes, you see the cross we have to bear,
Kirsten--we ought never to complain of that. (_Good-naturedly_.)
At your house you don’t complain, anyhow, I don’t think. Do you,
Kirsten?--You haven’t anything to complain of.
KIRSTEN (_knocks under the table, from superstition_)
I’d better knock on wood before it’s too late.
HAMMELEV
Yes, do that, Kirsten. Well, I won’t say that we have anything to
complain of over here, either. We get our daily bread. And now this
great joy when our son comes home. We haven’t seen him for four years.
KIRSTEN
Is it as long as that?
MRS. HAMMELEV (_to herself_)
Four long years!
HAMMELEV
Yes, it has always been worst for mother, of course. You see, I have
the school and the church singing to think of. But she has to sit alone
here in this room day after day. Then, of course, her thoughts go far,
far off--we all know how it is. I often say to mother: “Mother, I have
a hundred little children to take care of every day.” That means a
hundred little hearts and a hundred little brains that I must keep
watch over. And so I say to mother, it seems to me as if she ought to
be able to keep track of at least herself. But it is easy enough to
find fault. Sorrow is a weed that it is not so easy to pull up by the
roots.
KIRSTEN
Yes, if I’d had such a misfortune to think of, I don’t know what I’d
have done.
HAMMELEV
But now mother will get her reward for all she has gone through, poor
mother. To-night he’ll be here in this room, he whom she is always
thinking of. She hasn’t even slept during the last half-dozen nights.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_smiling_)
Now you are exaggerating again, pa!
HAMMELEV
Well, well--you haven’t had very much sleep. A little with one eye
is about all, if we should sum it up. And there has been such a
house-cleaning and scrubbing and frying and baking, as if the vicar
himself was expected. The boy’s room is fixed for him; it is just as it
was when he was at home last, excepting, of course, that everything is
newly washed and cleaned and polished.
KIRSTEN
But when he ain’t able to see it--
HAMMELEV
No, he can’t see it. But the blind instinctively feel what we others
see. They can, for instance, enjoy a beautiful landscape. The color
rays work on their skin, you understand, Kirsten. It is just as if they
were taking a sort of bath in all the beauty. And then, of course, they
have the sense of smell. Well, now--and there are twelve new shirts and
twelve pairs of socks for him on his bed. Those he can get a great deal
of pleasure from. Would you like to see them, Kirsten?
MRS. HAMMELEV (_somewhat impatiently_)
Oh, that’s nothing--
HAMMELEV
Yes, Kirsten, just to make mother feel ashamed, I’ll show you how
diligent she has been. She knows how to do these things. She has a
linen closet that would make many a woman envious.
KIRSTEN
Yes, we sure have to have clothes on our body.
HAMMELEV
Yes, Kirsten; but you and your husband no doubt have more than we. Come
along now; I’ll show you what mother has made for our boy.
KIRSTEN (_puts away her coffee-cup, rises, shakes hands with both_)
Yes, all right. Well--thank you ever so much for the coffee.
(_All three go out, right. At the same moment are seen, through
the windows in the background, Anton Hammelev and Louise Thorsen,
approaching by the roadway outside_.)
SCENE III
(_Anton Hammelev and Louise Thorsen enter from the left. Anton is a
young man in his twenties. He has the appearance of an artist--face
smooth-shaven and hair rather long. In spite of his blindness he
moves about in the room without any apparent difficulty. Louise is
in her thirties--a weary and somewhat faded and passée woman. It is
apparent that she is trying to improve her appearance with the use of
powder and paint. She is quite well dressed. She gives the impression
of being of an amiable though timid disposition, and she has a sad
look in her eyes_.)
ANTON (_merrily_)
You never thought, Louise, that _I_ should ever lead _you_. Did you
notice how well I knew the way? And I know where every piece of
furniture stands in this room. (_Points_.) There stands mother’s
sewing-table--and there are father’s pipes. Am I not right? You may ask
me about every little thing if you wish. I can tell you where every
picture hangs on the wall. Do you want to try?
LOUISE (_pleadingly_)
No, Anton, not now.
ANTON
Why not? You haven’t lost your courage, have you?
LOUISE
We shouldn’t have done this, I think. If you had come alone, you could
have explained to your parents much better.
ANTON (_somewhat impatiently_)
If I could ever get you to understand why I have arranged it as I have!
What do you think my parents are, anyhow? Do you think they’ll assault
me? Assault a defenseless woman--eh?
LOUISE
No, of course not. But--I don’t know--when I look about in this room
it seems to me as if I had entered it to steal something that doesn’t
belong to me.
ANTON
Oh, is it that way? Listen now, Louise. Who do you suppose knows the
old folks best--you or I?
LOUISE
Why--you, of course, but--
ANTON
Well, then let it be so. Now, don’t you think it would be best to
let me do as I think fit? (_More quietly_.) I’ll tell you, Louise,
my parents have hitherto not been used to see anything but a child
in me! “Poor little Anton,” they always used to call me, even after
I had gone through the conservatory. Four years ago, when last I was
at home, father couldn’t get it into his head that I, like other
men, had to shave and get my hair cut. And I was at that time a big
chap--nineteen years old. (_In a temper_.) Good God! Am I then but a
child! A helpless, unfortunate, poor being, and can I never grow to be
like other human beings!
LOUISE
You who know so much--you are not as badly off as that! And you know
it, too, Anton.
ANTON
Yes, God help me, Louise! When one is lacking in one of the senses one
is a child, an incomplete specimen, three-fourths of a man or hardly
that. But let that be as it may! The fact remains that neither father
nor mother in their wildest moments of imagination would think that I
might become engaged. And I don’t think it would be of any use for me
to begin to explain how the whole thing has happened. Even if I should
describe you as an angel of God, they would say I was the most foolish
being in the world. Just for that very reason they ought to have the
chance of seeing for themselves.
LOUISE
If only we hadn’t met, Anton! It would have been so much better for you.
ANTON
What nonsense! When once they see you! That’s why I wanted you to come
with me and surprise them.
LOUISE
Oh, God! I only wish I was twenty miles from here. I don’t even know
what to say to them.
ANTON
You don’t need to say anything at all. I’ll talk for you; you’ll see.
I’ll say: “Look here, father and mother, this is Louise. She is the
woman to whom I owe everything. If it hadn’t been for her I wouldn’t
be a human being with a cheery outlook on life--I wouldn’t care to
live. I myself have never seen her, but I know so well how she looks.
She is fair as the day, and she has a dimple in either cheek--they
are just like a couple of little rills where the sunbeams play
hide-and-seek. She has also a little bent-up nose--quite a resolute
little nose--that always points in the right direction, just like a
compass needle. But what is most beautiful about her are her eyes; they
are so deep, and yet so clear; one feels so sure there is something
beyond their depth--but one can’t see it. And the other little things
about her--can’t you see for yourself how fine and nice and good she
is?”
LOUISE (_pained_)
Oh, Anton, but I don’t look like that!
ANTON
Yes, that is how you do look. I know it. (_Takes hold of both her
hands_.) And yet I can’t show them your warm, faithful heart; they’ll
have to learn to know that little by little.
LOUISE
If you would only not make so much of me, Anton! If one of us has
anything to be grateful for, it is I. And you know I haven’t hidden
anything from you.
ANTON (_drops her hands; seriously_)
You had nothing to hide, Louise. I know you have had a hard time.
But pure metal can’t be spoiled, and you have come out of it all
unstained--with your beautiful eyes and your good heart. Perhaps you
have cried a great deal. Perhaps others can see the traces in your
face--if so, it is an advantage to me to be blind. (_Listens_.) But
listen! I can hear the old folks upstairs. I think, perhaps it would
be best, if you went out for a second; you need only go outside till I
call you. You see--I think I ought to be alone with them the very first
moments.
LOUISE (_close to him; entreating him_)
Anton--don’t you want me to leave you now? Shan’t I--
ANTON (_impatiently_)
You must do as I say. Be a sensible girl--don’t be hysterical. Now go,
please.
LOUISE (_going out to the left_)
I’ll do as you wish me to. But if you regret it, remember I told you
you shouldn’t do it.
(_Anton stands for a moment listening to the steps of his parents
overhead. Then he hides himself behind the door to the right, which
opens at the same moment_.)
SCENE IV
(_Kirsten, Mrs. Hammelev, and Hammelev enter from the right_.)
KIRSTEN
Yes, Lavst will be there in plenty of time to-night, I promise.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Thank you, Kirsten. You understand, we are a little nervous. But what
is--
ANTON (_coming forward with open arms_)
Mother!
MRS. HAMMELEV (_overwhelmed; sobbing_)
Anton! (_She throws herself on his bosom and kisses him passionately._)
Oh, Anton, Anton--
HAMMELEV (_who, in his excitement, has taken the pipe from his mouth_)
But, Anton, dear--we didn’t expect you until to-night!
ANTON
Yes, but “poor little Anton” had a notion to surprise you. So we
took--so I took an earlier train. (_He feels with one hand in the air,
while holding his mother tightly pressed to his bosom with the other._)
How do you do, father!
HAMMELEV (_pressing his hand_)
How are you, dear boy?
KIRSTEN
Well, I guess I ought to say how do you do, too. I am Kirsten, Lavst’s
wife.
ANTON (_lets go his mother’s hand and presses Kirsten’s hand in a
faltering manner_)
How do you do, Kirsten. I suppose everything is the same with you as
ever?
KIRSTEN
Yes, thank the Lord!
HAMMELEV
But how did you ever get out here, Anton? Didn’t anybody come with you?
ANTON (_somewhat embarrassed_)
No--well--yes, you see I know the way. And--yes, I’ll tell you--
KIRSTEN
Well, I don’t want to disturb you no longer, and there’s no need of no
carriage goin’ to the station to-night, I guess.
HAMMELEV
No, I don’t think so, Kirsten. But thank you just the same for your
willingness. Good-bye! And give my regards to your husband!
KIRSTEN
Good-bye! (_Shakes hands and goes out to the right_.)
ANTON
Why don’t you say something, mother? Was it too much of a surprise?
MRS. HAMMELEV (_moves her hand to her heart; smiles_)
Yes, it was a bit sudden--but now.... Oh, Anton--when you are here, you
know--don’t you know.... And how well and happy you look!
KIRSTEN (_puts her head inside the door_)
Excuse me. I just wanted to tell you there is a strange lady standin’
outside here.
HAMMELEV (_slightly annoyed_)
A strange lady! What does she want, I wonder? Tell her to come in!
KIRSTEN (_calls_)
Yes, you can come in, if you want to. (_She goes out_.)
SCENE V
(_Louise comes from the left and remains standing right, inside the
door_.)
HAMMELEV (_goes towards her_)
You wish to speak with me?
LOUISE (_falteringly, embarrassed_)
Yes--but I thought--perhaps I--ought not to--
ANTON
Why, of course you should. (_He feels his way to her, takes her by
the hand, and leads her out into the room; the parents seem to be
shocked_.) I wanted to tell you first, but as it now has happened
differently than I had thought--here is the woman who has helped me to
find the way out here to-day. And she has done more than that: she has
led me through the darkest moments of my life.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_who, in a glance, has taken in Louise; in a voice of
anxiety_)
Anton--what does this mean?
ANTON
It means, father and mother, that in the last two years she and I have
been one. And we will never separate from each other.
HAMMELEV (_with strained kindliness_)
So--so you are engaged, poor little Anton? You haven’t written and told
us anything about it.
ANTON
I didn’t want you to worry over me--to know that I--helpless as I
was--had bound myself to another human being. I wanted you to _see_
her first. (_Moved_.) For I knew that in the same moment that you saw
her, you’d understand it is for our mutual happiness. Isn’t that true
when she has chosen to love me? As fine and beautiful as she is! You
must understand how much she thinks of me. But you needn’t fear for her
sake, I feel sure. I can make her happy; and for her it is happiness to
be able to give of her full, rich heart--to give to one who longs with
all his soul for sun and light--as I do.
MRS. HAMMELEV
I think, if we should speak of the richness of heart, that few have as
much to give away as you have, Anton.
ANTON
No, no! don’t compare me with her. Remember--for her the whole world
lies open; she need but stretch out her arms. But I--I have nothing to
give up, nothing to offer. And there is nobody who asks anything from
me, anyhow. Nature has now once for all--it seems to me--given me the
right to be a bit selfish....
HAMMELEV
We had thought that--
ANTON
Yes, father, I might have known that this would come as a great
surprise to you. And I know that before long you will love Louise as
much as I myself do.
HAMMELEV
Louise--so that’s her name--your.... And her last name, if I may ask?
LOUISE
Thorsen.
HAMMELEV
Louise Thorsen--oh, yes.... (_Heartily_.) Well, well, my dear
Anton--and you also, my dear--Louise Thorsen, I suppose I ought to wish
you all sorts of health and happiness.
(_Approaches Anton with extended hand_.)
MRS. HAMMELEV (_goes between them_)
Hammelev--I think you first ought to let us speak with the young lady.
(_With an emotion that she can hardly conceal_.) May I only say this:
Anton knows that I, too, wish him happiness--that nobody could wish him
more happiness than I--but it is not more than right that I learn to
know her a little better before I--
ANTON (_quietly_)
Of course you may, mother.
MRS. HAMMELEV
You must understand me rightly, Anton. Father and I have been waiting
for months for the happy day when you would come home. We spoke of
it when we sat here the other evening--we thought of when you would
step inside the door--we thought of how it would be with all of us
together, the three of us. Now the whole thing will have to be changed.
I can’t quite reconcile myself to it at once. Therefore, I want to have
a chance to learn to know her first--she, whom you have chosen for
yourself.
ANTON
Yes, mother, since you look at it that way--I think myself it is the
best way. For I know very well that when you have talked with her ten
minutes you’ll love her as if you had known her for many years. Father
and I will take a walk in the garden in the meantime.
HAMMELEV
Anton ought to go up to his room, too. But you ought to show him that
yourself, mother.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_nervously_)
Do as you like. I--
ANTON (_merrily_)
Let’s go out in the garden. I am longing to find out how much the big
pear tree has grown that I planted out there myself when I still had my
sight. But I tell you this, mother: you mustn’t make Louise regret that
she cares for me, poor mole. For if I lose her, I’ll never find my way
any more in life. (_Hammelev and Anton go out_.)
SCENE VI
MRS. HAMMELEV
Now we’ll have a talk, we two--it is necessary. You may take off your
things--the large hat--the coat. (_Louise takes her coat and hat off
and puts them away. She is dressed in a plain, simple dress_.) Yes--I
like you so much better without those things on. Now sit down here
at the table--right here in front of me. (_They both of them sit
down_.) What I am going to tell you now may hurt you. But I trust you
understand that nobody could love Anton any more than his mother.
Therefore I want to speak openly to you.
LOUISE (_bows down her head_)
I suppose you want me to call it off with him.
MRS. HAMMELEV
I had meant to ask you whether you yourself think that you are the kind
of wife he ought to have. I don’t know you, of course. But I know him,
and I know that he deserves to have a good woman and a woman who is
pure. Can you stand before the face of God and say that you are that?
You need not answer me. It is God who awaits your answer.
LOUISE (_slowly_)
I know very well I haven’t always been what I should have been.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_mildly_)
None of us have. But you must let your own conscience decide whether
you can stand with raised head as my son’s bride. If you can not, I beg
of you to give him up. Yes, in such a case you _must_. Could you expect
me to ask anything else of you?
LOUISE (_rocking back and forth in great agony_)
I have been so fond of Anton.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Yes, poor girl! You mustn’t think I am so hard-hearted that I don’t
feel sorry for you. But life puts its mark on each one of us. And you
have received yours. I saw it on you at once.
LOUISE
I have often regretted that I gave Anton my promise. I am sorry for his
sake. I have often thought that perhaps it would dawn on him some day
that I wasn’t fit for him. And I promised myself solemnly--if such a
day should come--he should be free from me at once.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Perhaps--if you had enough strength left. But what about all the years
you had taken away from him in the meantime?
LOUISE
I felt that way because he cared for me and wanted to have me near him.
MRS. HAMMELEV
But you have no right to think anything like that. We have no right to
masquerade, to pretend we are what we are not. And you must remember
that my son can’t form an opinion for himself of human beings in the
same way that we can.
LOUISE (_bravely_)
You mustn’t think, Mrs. Hammelev, that I have hidden anything from
Anton.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Hidden! To leave things untold is the same as to hide.
LOUISE
I have told him everything that I have been--that I was once--
MRS. HAMMELEV (_sharply_)
A fallen woman!
LOUISE (_bending herself down in silence, as if being struck_)
That is a word which is not used by oneself about oneself. (_With
strong emotion_.) Yet on the very first day we met I told him I should
bring shame and sorrow to him. I told him I had done things that I
couldn’t even tell him about, and that I wasn’t worthy of walking by
his side in the street.
MRS. HAMMELEV
You did tell him that?
LOUISE
As true as there is a God! I have told him everything. Oh, but he--he
only smiled. He understood so well, he said, that I had gone through so
many things. But when a woman had the strength to rise again, it tended
to prove that she had the real stuff in her--that’s what he said. Then
it seemed to him also as if it, in a way, was a sort of counter-balance
to his being such a wretched human being. In a way, you understand. For
we each had our own misfortune to bear.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_passionately_)
Don’t you dare to compare his misfortune with yours! God knows my poor
boy can not be blamed for what has befallen him. Whereas you have
been a bad and weak woman. You have brought your sin and shame upon
yourself, and you can not wash yourself clean of it now. I am not
judging you--don’t think that! But how could you come out here with
him? How could you think that we, his parents, could look on quietly
and see him throw himself away on a--a woman who--who was unworthy of
him?
LOUISE
Oh, God! I didn’t think so. I didn’t think so. I begged him again and
again to go alone. But he wouldn’t listen to me; he wasn’t satisfied
until I promised to go with him. And he kept on saying: “When they only
see how much you are to me, they will have to like you as much as I
do.” And then--then--I don’t know--then there were moments when I hoped
myself it would be as he hoped it would.
MRS. HAMMELEV
You ought to have known that, in spite of telling him about your life,
you are still deceiving him; that everybody else can see with their
eyes what he can’t! You also have a bad conscience. It is for that
reason you have tried to fix yourself up. But can’t you understand that
you are thus holding up my poor little boy as a target for fun-making
and mockery and pity?
LOUISE (_struggling with her tears_)
He told me to fix myself up so that you might like me. I never
thought--(_suddenly taking hold of Mrs. Hammelev’s hand_.) You must
believe me! I did it all with the best of intentions.
MRS. HAMMELEV
I readily believe that. But if you really loved Anton, I do not
understand why you couldn’t see that you would drag him down with you.
But there must be an end to this now. You must give him up.
LOUISE (_in a low voice_)
Give up! Yes, I suppose I must--I wouldn’t think of standing between
him and his parents. Yes, I’ll--I’ll tell him we must part.
MRS. HAMMELEV
No. You shan’t do that. You need but leave quietly. I’ll speak myself
to my son.
LOUISE
You speak to him! Yes--if you could only get him to listen. But I know
him. He’ll want me back, anyway. Do you know that I left him once?
No--how could you know that!--
MRS. HAMMELEV
You were--you were going to--leave him!
LOUISE
I wanted to give him back his liberty, as you want me to give it to him
now. I explained my reasons for doing it in a letter to him--I have
learned the alphabet of the blind. Then I moved to some relatives of
mine that I had never spoken to him of. The next day he had found out
where I was and came to me.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Yes, I realize that you have understood how to make him attached to
you. It will be a blow to him--yes, I don’t reproach you.
LOUISE
Reproach me!
MRS. HAMMELEV
I tell you, I don’t blame you. And if I could give you a helping hand,
so that both you and my son could become happy and contented, I would
do so. But it wouldn’t be right for me to think of anything else but my
son’s future. Remember that I am so much older than you are and have
had so many more years’ experience of life. And I have learned that one
cannot build a house on sand or dirt.
LOUISE (_rising_)
Anton’s future shan’t be built on such a foundation. It is better for
us--it is better for him to have the sorrow of losing me now. And this
time it shall be for ever. There are places where he won’t be able to
find me.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Are you going upstairs to talk to him now?
LOUISE (_nods_)
Yes, that is one of the conditions I want to make.
MRS. HAMMELEV
You must believe me--I am doing this with the best of intentions. It is
only because I love Anton so much.
LOUISE (_with a sorrowful nod_)
I know. When one loves some one--
MRS. HAMMELEV (_takes Louise’s hand_)
But one thing you must promise me. You must be sensible. You mustn’t do
anything rash or foolish. Think of Anton. His life is dark enough as it
is.
LOUISE
I have already taken into consideration everything. Almost as long as I
have known Anton have I had on my mind to do what I am going to do now.
I shall go--far away--that’s all. And then neither you nor Anton will
have to see me any more. (_She goes out to the right. Mrs. Hammelev
walks about the room restlessly for a moment; then she seats herself at
the table in deep thought_.)
SCENE VII
(_Hammelev enters from the right_.)
HAMMELEV
Well, I showed Anton up to the room, mother. I thought he’d long to
see--to come up there. If you had only seen how he went around and felt
everything! “Oh, God!” he exclaimed, “there hangs the little rack.” And
he felt all the books. “There is my ‘Ivanhoe’--and there is Dickens’
‘Oliver Twist’; and there ‘The Last of the Mohicans’!” He felt all of
them by their backs. But the shirts and the socks--you could have saved
yourself the trouble of making them, Mother.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Why?
HAMMELEV
A person can never get enough of such things, of course, in a way. But
he is well looked after in this respect. She, his sweetheart, has sewn
and fixed and looked after everything for him. She works, by the way,
in a dressmaking establishment.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_with an expression of surprise_) She works--she works
at a dressmaker’s!
HAMMELEV
Yes--in one of those large department stores in Copenhagen. She is in
charge of the dressmaking department. She makes good money, too, he
says.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_as before_)
Good for her!
HAMMELEV
And a good thing for him, too. How would they have got along otherwise?
MRS. HAMMELEV
I should hope Anton does not have to receive anything from anybody.
HAMMELEV
But he had to do so once. Do you know who kept him alive? When he took
lessons from that professor, you know. We thought he was living with
that friend of his he wrote about.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Wasn’t he?
HAMMELEV
Well, yes--yes, he was, in a way. But his friend most of the time wears
skirts, and her name is Louise Thorsen. And it was she who took care of
him the best way she could.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_passionately_)
And stole his youth. For if they shared things with each other, it
must have meant that they lived together.
HAMMELEV
Yes--and what is there to be said? She is a woman and he a man. And,
besides, he is an artist. So we ought not to judge, I think.
MRS. HAMMELEV
But we must be allowed to have our opinions. We have only this one
child. And he is in need of parental love more than other children.
HAMMELEV
Yes, mother dear, but I think it has been a great fortune for him to
have found her. What can _we_ do for him, we two old cronies? We shall
soon have enough to do straightening out our own affairs until we
meet up there with the great Doctor who opens all eyes. And when we
have gone, who would he then have to cling to? No--a young woman like
her is what a man like him needs. And the old doctor said that--thank
God--should he get children, there was no danger that his affliction
would be hereditary.
MRS. HAMMELEV
But there are greater afflictions that _can_ be inherited.
HAMMELEV
Yes, I can see that you are not very pleased with the whole thing.
Before she took off her coat it seemed to me, too, as if she looked a
bit too “cityfied.” But I think she really is a good girl.
SCENE VIII
(_Anton and Louise come from the right_.)
ANTON (_half outside_)
No, Louise, you can’t go away like this. If I can’t make you stay,
mother must try to. (_He pulls her, in spite of her opposition, into
the room_.) Have you ever heard anything like it? Louise wants to go
back to the city to-night.
LOUISE
Yes, I must, Anton. I didn’t have the courage to tell you before. But
now--I feel that I know your parents--and....
ANTON
Know--know--one can’t learn to know anybody in an hour. Anyhow, it’s
strange that your employer wants you to return at once. And just on
this occasion! Before, you have always been able to get off whenever
you wanted to be with me.
LOUISE
I have asked to be free too often, dear Anton. Now, you see, they must
have grown tired of it in the store. I want to tell you right now that
hereafter I am afraid we shall not be able to be together as often as
before.
ANTON
Well, then we must get married. To think that you should be the slave
of the yardstick! Now I’ll dictate a letter for you. I’ll say that you
cannot be back until the day after to-morrow at the earliest.
LOUISE
No, it won’t do, Anton--you must not ask me to do it.
ANTON
But help me, then, father and mother. Can you look on quietly and
silently while your daughter-in-law, who has hardly put her foot inside
your door, wants to disappear again?
HAMMELEV
No, we want, of course, to--
MRS. HAMMELEV
I think you had best let Louise go, Anton. You mustn’t let her take the
risk of losing her position.
ANTON
And you say that, mother! But don’t you know how I had looked forward
to this day--when you would see her--and learn to love her and--
MRS. HAMMELEV
You must be sensible, Anton. It might influence your future if she--
ANTON
The future! Always the future, always to-morrow and again to-morrow,
and please wait like a good child! But God have mercy, I am of course,
unreasonable. Go, Louise, go! Hurry, that you will not be late for the
train!
LOUISE (_sadly_)
Are you angry with me now, Anton?
ANTON (_softly_)
With you--no! I am a bit angry, I suppose. But not with you. I want to
tell you this, however, that I will let you go only on one condition:
that you soon take a long vacation. And then we’ll come out here again,
both of us. Will you promise me that, Louise?
LOUISE (_softly patting his hand_)
There shall soon be happiness for both of us, Anton.
ANTON
Y-e-s--I couldn’t be angry with you now. So go upstairs to my room. At
the very top of my traveling bag you’ll find a little package. Bring it
down to me. There is something in it for you. It was my intention not
to give it to you until to-night. But as long as you can’t wait--
LOUISE
You shouldn’t spend your money on buying presents for me.
ANTON
What! I don’t lose anything by it. I don’t ruin myself by it, do I?
LOUISE
But I would rather you didn’t give me anything.
ANTON
Is it your intention to make me real angry--seriously angry? I can’t
understand what ails you to-day. My parents have seen an engaged
couple before. Or do you think, perhaps, that they, in their peasant
simplicity, may take offense?
LOUISE
No, but--
ANTON
Well, if you want to leave at once, then go. And take all the time
you want while you are upstairs. Five minutes, if you like. There is
something I want to speak to mother about in the meantime. Can you find
your way to the room?
HAMMELEV
I’ll show Louise the way. At the same time I’ll show her the room where
she was to have slept, if she had stayed over night.
ANTON
Five minutes, Louise. But no longer. We have yet a few hours till you
have to leave for the train. And we will be very greedy of these two
hours--we four.
LOUISE (_bends over him and kisses him_)
Anton, dear, you know I have always wished to do what was best for you.
Whatever may happen or whatever I may do, you must always believe in
me. Do you hear, Anton--always!
(_Louise and Hammelev go out, right_.)
SCENE IX
ANTON
It was only this I wished to tell you, mother: I know that you have
made Louise feel sad.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_with anxiety_)
Has she then told you?--
ANTON
She has told me nothing; but don’t you think I know her voice? And
there was a false note vibrating in it. Have you anything against her?
If you have--tell me.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_avoiding the question_)
Why, I scarcely know her--
ANTON
Then I can only think that you are worried on account of me. It doesn’t
seem to you that I ought to take the responsibility of founding a
family--I who have to stumble along and feel my way like a mole here in
this pitiful world.
MRS. HAMMELEV
But, my dear boy, how can you say so!
ANTON
Oh, yes, _it is that_. What else could it be? But now I want to tell
you one thing. You who have your sight often think of us blind ones
as of feeble-minded beings. We know nothing, we are fit for nothing.
But that is where you are mistaken. We are just like other human
beings: we can think and dream, can love and hate just like others. You
know--sometimes when I stand before an audience, it seems to me as if I
were all alone. There is nobody whose soul or thoughts reach me; nobody
who can disturb me. I am like the fertile soil that is left to take
care of itself; there is an abundance of sunshine saved within me. That
is why I feel life so strongly--like something warm and fruitful within
me. And it is this feeling that gives me faith; that tells me I have a
future awaiting me in spite of all.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Thank God for that, Anton! Thank God for that!
ANTON
But perhaps you mean to say that what Louise feels for me is nothing
but pity; that she will cease to care sooner or later. If that is what
you think, I want to tell you something--I want to tell you how we
first learned to know each other.
MRS. HAMMELEV
No, you need not tell me that, Anton.
ANTON
But I want you to listen to me. You remember, no doubt, a few years
ago--I had graduated from the conservatory--had had the best of
teachers--and the time came for me when I had to get something to do.
But nobody wished to have anything to do with a blind musician--who
could not see. So I had to take a position out of town--
MRS. HAMMELEV
In the café, yes.
ANTON
Should we, perhaps, rather say in the barroom. Or in a place still
worse. All around me nothing but rough, vulgar, and drunken talk of
wanton women and beasts of men. And ’midst all this noise and the smell
of liquor I had to sit and play music that was disgusting to me--only
for the alms that they cared to throw to me. For it was for alms that
I played. Right above the place where I sat there was nailed a sign:
“Don’t forget the blind musician!”--
MRS. HAMMELEV
My poor boy! My poor, poor boy!--
ANTON
It was then that I wrote to you; I had to have a human being to whom I
could open my heart. It was for that reason I didn’t or couldn’t spare
your feelings.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Nobody could be nearer to you than your mother.
ANTON
Do you remember how you answered me? That I should hope and trust that
I might come to the place where all eyes are opened and all tears are
dried.
MRS. HAMMELEV
I had fought with God over you. But I thought He wouldn’t listen to my
prayers--not as I wished Him to do. It was then I began to think there
was only one consolation.
ANTON (_nodding_)
Death--yes. What else could there have been? Death is charitable, if
one will only wait for it. But to wait--that was what seemed so hard to
me--
MRS. HAMMELEV
For God’s sake, Anton.
ANTON
Don’t take it so to heart, mother; it is over now--long ago. But that
evening, on going home, I searched my way down to the river. Of what
importance in life could a poor blind musician ever be? And the Lord
would not have turned me away if I had come a little too early to Him,
I don’t believe.
MRS. HAMMELEV
God have mercy! And I could be at rest here at home. Why didn’t I know,
why couldn’t I have thought, that you were so much in need!
ANTON
Probably because nothing happened; because nothing was meant to happen.
It is strange to think how often a mere chance can change a whole life.
Chance would have it that evening that I went astray and passed through
streets where I had never been before. I had fumbled around about an
hour’s time when I felt somebody touch my hand, and a woman’s voice
asked whether I had trouble in finding my way. I have become used to
judging people by their voices, and I said to myself at once: “Here is
one who is also in despair and who, like you, is wishing for a river,
too.” And I opened my heart to her.
MRS. HAMMELEV
And that woman--that--was--
ANTON
That was Louise--yes. And I wasn’t mistaken in her. She had gone
through many things; as much as I had. But she didn’t look for the
river any more. She had got over that. Well, I went home with her to
her little room. She lived in a hall-room. In the daytime she went out
sewing.
MRS. HAMMELEV
You went home with her--in the middle of the night!
ANTON (_with a smile_)
Yes, mother. I am not used to finding much difference between day and
night. To me it is all one color. And she dared not let me go. Who
knows--perhaps I might have found the river, anyhow, then. So she sat
up all night and talked to me about life and its joys.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Life and its joys. And I--
ANTON
Yes, mother--that you have given to me. Well, that was not all she did.
She didn’t only _speak_ to me. She gave me a place to sleep and she
gave me food to eat, so that I shouldn’t have to play any more in the
barroom. For fourteen days she shared every penny of her wages with
me. And in the afternoon, when she came home from her work, we went
out together to look for a position for me. She advertised and put in
applications for me, and--thank God! at last I got a position as an
organist. Then came the stipend and then the rest. And during all my
struggles she remained by my side.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_tenderly_)
She has been much to you, Anton.
ANTON
She has been everything to me, mother, everything. Should anybody take
her away from me, they’ll take my life at the same time.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_frightened, agonized_)
Anton--Oh, no--
ANTON
Yes, for I would believe God had regretted that He did not let me go
into the river that night, after all. (_He rises and gropes his way_.)
It’s strange--it seems to me as if the room suddenly had become so
different. It is just as if I wasn’t at home here any more. Isn’t that
Louise’s steps I hear above me now?
SCENE X
(_Hammelev comes from the right with a little package_.)
HAMMELEV
Louise asked me to give you her regards, and say--
ANTON (_full of anxiety_)
Asked you to--to say--what?
HAMMELEV (_gives him the package_)
And she asked me to give you this.
ANTON (_takes it_)
Thanks--it is the rings. I have bought rings for both of us. Now I must
give it to her at once. I hadn’t intended to do it otherwise until
to-night. But why doesn’t she come?
HAMMELEV
She is gone to the station.
MRS. HAMMELEV (_screams_)
To the station?
HAMMELEV (_somewhat surprised_)
Yes--she thought it would be better to--she wanted to spare Anton from
saying farewell.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Anton, Anton! She must not go! Oh, God! It is I--it is I who
have--she’ll never come back--no, never. (_She wants to run out_.)
ANTON (_puts himself intuitively in her way_)
Let me go, mother. I’ll stop her. She wouldn’t heed your voice, I fear.
(_Goes to the door, but turns on the threshold_.) For I suppose you
want us to come back--don’t you?
MRS. HAMMELEV (_as if in a trance_)
Yes--yes--and never again--never again--
(_Anton goes out, left. Mrs. Hammelev has sunk down on a chair. It is
as if something had suddenly broken within her, for she bursts into
tears_.)
HAMMELEV (_goes over to her; he pats her head and hair_)
There--there, mother dear. You loved him too much. Mothers are the only
ones who can love so much that they can kill with love. (_He goes to
the window and looks out_.) He runs so safely there on the road, as if
he still had his sight. Now he stops and calls her. She turns.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Are they coming back?
HAMMELEV
Of course they are coming. Now they are speaking to each other. Of
course they are coming.
MRS. HAMMELEV
Not to me. I have lost Anton for ever.
HAMMELEV (_doesn’t hear her_)
So that was the trip to the city. (_Goes to open the door_.) Come right
in, please. (_Anton and Louise enter_.) Well, Louise--I may call you
Louise, may I not? You came to stay, anyhow.
ANTON (_quietly_)
Louise will stay--yes. Mother will ask her--won’t you, mother?
MRS. HAMMELEV
Yes, my boy. Now I beg her to stay. And, what’s more--that she will
always remain with you.
ANTON (_feeling his way_)
Where are you, mother? (_He turns intuitively to Louise and takes hold
of her._) There--what? No, it’s you, Louise, isn’t it? (_He pulls her
close to himself and is entirely taken up with her. Mrs. Hammelev,
who had stretched out her arms toward him, lets them sink with an
expression of grief on her face_.)
HAMMELEV (_seeing it_)
Yes, mother dear, now you must be content with me. (_Puts his arms
around her waist_.)
MRS. HAMMELEV
He finds me no longer. We drift from each other in the darkness. How
much evil we can do where we wish to do only good!
HAMMELEV
It is we who have been blind, mother dear. It is we who cannot see....
CURTAIN
_Stewart Kidd Dramatic Anthologies_
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays
Edited by
FRANK SHAY and PIERRE LOVING
This volume contains FIFTY REPRESENTATIVE ONE-ACT PLAYS of the MODERN
THEATER, chosen from the dramatic works of contemporary writers all
over the world and is the second volume in the _Stewart Kidd Dramatic
Anthologies_, the first being European Theories of the Drama, by
Barrett H. Clark, which has been so enthusiastically received.
The editors have scrupulously sifted countless plays and have selected
the best available in English. One-half the plays have never before
been published in book form; thirty-one are no longer available in any
other edition.
The work satisfies a long-felt want for a handy collection of the
choicest plays produced by the art theaters all over the world. It is
a complete repertory for a little theater, a volume for the study of
the modern drama, a representative collection of the world’s best short
plays.
CONTENTS
AUSTRIA
Schnitzler (Arthur)--Literature
BELGIUM
Maeterlinck (Maurice)--The Intruder
BOLIVIA
More (Federico)--Interlude
DENMARK
Wied (Gustave)--Autumn Fires
FRANCE
Ancey (George)--M. Lamblin
Porto-Riche (Georges)--Francoise’s Luck
GERMANY
Ettinger (Karl)--Altruism
von Hofmannsthal (Hugo)--Madonna Dianora
Wedekind (Frank)--The Tenor
GREAT BRITAIN
Bennett (Arnold)--A Good Woman
Calderon (George)--The Little Stone House
Cannan (Gilbert)--Mary’s Wedding
Dowson (Ernest)--The Pierrot of the Minute
Ellis (Mrs. Havelock)--The Subjection of Kezia
Hankin (St. John)--The Constant Lover
INDIA
Mukerji (Dhan Gopal)--The Judgment of Indra
IRELAND
Gregory (Lady)--The Workhouse Ward
HOLLAND
Speenhoff (J. H.)--Louise
HUNGARY
Biro (Lajos)--The Grandmother
ITALY
Giacosa (Giuseppe)--The Rights of the Soul
RUSSIA
Andreyev (Leonid)--Love of One’s Neighbor
Tchekoff (Anton)--The Boor
SPAIN
Benavente (Jacinto)--His Widow’s Husband
Quintero (Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez-)--A Sunny Morning
SWEDEN
Strindberg (August)--The Creditor
UNITED STATES
Beach (Lewis)--Brothers
Cowan (Sada)--In the Morgue
Crocker (Bosworth)--The Baby Carriage
Cronyn (George W.)--A Death in Fever Flat
Davies (Mary Carolyn)--The Slave with Two Faces
Day (Frederick L.)--The Slump
Flanner (Hildegard)--Mansions
Glaspell (Susan)--Trifles
Gerstenberg (Alice)--The Pot Boiler
Helburn (Theresa)--Enter the Hero
Hudson (Holland)--The Shepherd in the Distance
Kemp (Harry)--Boccaccio’s Untold Tale
Langner (Lawrence)--Another Way Out
MacMillan (Mary)--The Shadowed Star
Millay (Edna St. Vincent)--Aria da Capo
Moeller (Philip)--Helena’s Husband
O’Neill (Eugene)--Ile
Stevens (Thomas Wood)--The Nursery Maid of Heaven
Stevens (Wallace)--Three Travelers Watch a Sunrise
Tompkins (Frank G.)--Sham
Walker (Stuart)--The Medicine Show
Wellman (Rita)--For All Time
Wilde (Percival)--The Finger of God
YIDDISH
Asch (Sholom)--Night
Pinski (David)--Forgotten Souls
_Large 8vo, 585 pages. Net, $5.00_
_Send for Complete Dramatic Catalogue_
STEWART KIDD COMPANY
PUBLISHERS, CINCINNATI, U. S. A.
_Stewart Kidd Dramatic Anthologies_
TWENTY CONTEMPORARY ONE-ACT PLAYS
AMERICAN
_Edited by_ FRANK SHAY
This volume represents a careful and intelligent selection of the best
One-act Plays written by Americans and produced by the Little Theatres
in America during the season of 1921. They are representative of the
best work of writers in this field and show the high level to which the
art theatre has risen in America.
The editor has brought to his task a love of the theatre and a
knowledge of what is best through long association with the leading
producing groups.
The volume contains the repertoires of the leading Little Theatres,
together with bibliographies of published plays and books on the
theatre issued since January, 1920.
Aside from its individual importance, the volume, together with =Fifty
Contemporary One-Act Plays=, will make up the most important collection
of short plays published.
_In the Book are_
_the following Plays_ _by_ _the following Authors_
Mirage George M. P. Baird
Napoleon’s Barber Arthur Cæsar
Goat Alley Ernest Howard Culbertson
Sweet and Twenty Floyd Dell
Tickless Time Susan Glaspell and George Cram Cook
The Hero of Santa Maria Kenneth Sawyer Goodman and Ben Hecht
All Gummed Up Harry Wagstaff Gribble
Thompson’s Luck Harry Greenwood Grover
Fata Deorum Carl W. Guske
Pearl of Dawn Holland Hudson
Finders-Keepers George Kelly
Solomon’s Song Harry Kemp
Matinata Lawrence Langner
The Conflict Clarice Vallette McCauley
Two Slatterns and a King Edna St. Vincent Millay
Thursday Evening Christopher Morley
The Dreamy Kid Eugene O’Neill
Forbidden Fruit George J. Smith
Jezebel Dorothy Stockbridge
Sir David Wears a Crown Stuart Walker
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