Cornell University Library PT 2647.E22F9 1909a 3 1924 026 314 645 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Joseph Whitmore Barry dramatic library THE GIFT OF TWO FRifeND*- ; OF Cornell University 1934- : The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026314645 IRVING PLACE— FRUEHLINGS ERWACHEN. Tragedy in three acts and fifteen scenes, by Frank Wedekind. March 22. Produced on by Gustav Ambejrg, \i\\V Melchior Ga'bor Poldl Murauer Moritz Stiefel George W. Pabst Otto Schroder ■ . . . . Adolf Neuendortf Urnest Rilrl^! Christian Rub rilinschc n i '..low Curt Wehrle \\'(jndla Lergmann Piitzi Cassan! Thea .Tulle Harburger Martha Trude Jaclclitscb llso Clementine von Pothy Herr CSabor Adolf Heine Frau (Jabor Georgine von Neuendorff Frau Bergmann Lina Hiinseler Ina Miiller Annie Forster Director Sonnenstlch Ernst Robert Professor Miiller .,.;..... Bmil Berla Professor Abendrot •-. j ■ . Eugen Keller _ Professor Friedepol : . . . Felix Marx Professor Schulze Rudolf Diirlng PedcH Habebald Louis Pratorius Pastor Kahlbaucb Otto Meyer Itentier Stiefel Heinrich Falk ' The Masked Man Otto Ottbert More than ordinary interest or curiosity drew a< large audience to the American xjremiere of Prank Wedekind's child tragedy, Fruehlings Erwachen (The i Awakening ot Spring) . It was presented by Max ! Ileinhardt some years ago as a piece de resistance at , his Berlin Theatre, before that institution had ac- quired an international reputation, and the masterly production by this remarkable exponent of stage-craft i resulted in a sensational run. Herr Wedekind's main subject is more fitting for scientific pedagogy than for the stage. Our sociolo- gists have become involved in acrimonious discussion 'in their endeavors to handle the problem intelligently. The theory that parents should open the eyes of their children to the mystery of life has as many opponents as champions. Many conditions affect a successful practice of this idea, and it is questionable if the majority of fathers and mothers are capaWe of pre- senting the subject so a child would fully grasp the true import. Against this we have the children them- selves, each of a different mentality ; some quick to realize, while others with an insatiable yearning for knowledge, would not be content without personal investigation, resulting i)erhaps in irreparable harm, jjerr^ Wederkind offers no tangibly solution,, picturing a condition without" sugg^gting a, "cure7"_ His attack'up- oB-the German gyiflnasg system "may also in part be applicable to our elementary school system. Dr. Maximilliau Groszman, preceding the play, be- , sought a thoughtful and decorous reception of the , offering. A few spirits frivolously inclined were ( hissed into silence during the performance. The play is in fifteen episodes or pictures, and the limited re- sources of the Irving Place scenic investiture necessi- i tated curtailing some scenes, ^Mle a_judicious. blue penciling eliininated .that-JKbich- was3iettei:-leEt-io-tlie imagination. Herr Wederkind has contributed an in- tense and absorbing work, and has presented his sub- ject in an earnest and impressive manner. He is 1 entitled to commendation, whether one coincides or not ! with his views. Its adaptation into Eiiglish is hard- ly probable, for its fate would be problematical. The leading characters are children in the adoles- j ]c$jst period. Melchior Gabor, a bright lad, has done much quiet investigation on his own account, and con- Ijfeequently is advanced in worldly knowledge beyond *tl;e understanding of his companions. Moritz Stiefel, a classmate of Mechior, in terror of not being ad- vanced in his class, is sorely distressed by the new problem that life is openi) g up to him. Wendla BerfTTifln a srirl of f'-iirteei rebels at her mo''H'>r'' Irving Place Theater Irving Place and I5th StreeVNew York Telephone, Stuyvessnt 1350 Direction i GVSTAV AMBERG Mittwoch, den 27. Maerz, Abends 8.15 rriihlings Erwachen Eine Kindertragodie in 3 Akten (15 Bildern) von Frank Wedekind. Buhnen-Einrichtung : Herr Erich Ehrhardt-Platen. PERSONEN : Melchior Gabor . . . Moritz Stiefel Otto Schroder . . . . Ernest Robel Hanschen Rielow . Wendla Bergmann 'i. hea )i.,,iartha I'lse H'err Gabor Schiiler Schiilerinnen Poldi Murauer Geo. W. Pabst . . . Adolf Neuendorf f Christian Rub Curt Wehrle Putzi Cassani .... Julie Harburger Trude Jacklitsch Clementine von Pothy Adolf Heine Frau Gabor Georgine von Neuendorff Frau Bergmann Lina Hanseler Ina Miiller • Annie Forster Direktor Sonnenstich Ernst Robert Professor Miiller Emil Berla Professor Abendrot Eugen Keller Professor Friedepol Felix Marx Professor Schulze Rudolf Diiring ■pedell Habebald Eouis Pratorius Pastor Kahlbauch Otto Meyer Rentier Stiefel Heinrich Falk Der vermummte Herr C'tto Ottbert Regie : Erich Ehrhardt-Platen. STEINWAY PIANO USED LUGHOWS 14th Street Opposite Irving Place Ai~.-M.. LETZTE VORSTELLUNGEN DER SAISON. Doniierstag, d. 28. Marz Abends 8.15 Freitag, den 20. Marz Ab ends 8.15 Samstag, den 30. Marz Matinee ; 2-IS (Mat .-Pr.) I Samstag, den 30. Marz Abends 8.15 Crete Meyers Ehren- Abend : DIE SCHOENE HELE DER WAEZERTRAU AI I N N A VON B A R N H E Zweite und letzte Auffiihrung DER ZIGEUNERBAR' >«»«»..»..»-». ■■■■■■»..»l.»-».l»ll»ll»ll»ll — |l-« H »"—<'«»— ■»"•"•— '••—*««M«^«..»»»„>-.>„^,»..^..»_^. enthaltend 25 oder 50 Glaser" Wiirzburger Hofbrau oder Pilsner Genossenschatts- THE AWAKENING OF SPRING The Awakening of Spring A TRAQBDY OK CHILDHOOD BY FRANK WEDEKIND Translated from the German by Francis J. Ziegler PHILADELPHIA, PA. BROWN BROTHERS 1909 E.M- 4 ips-^y^^ Copyright, 1909 BY BROWN BROTHERS A PROEM FOR PRUDES ^'HAT it is a fatal error to bring up children, either Vl^ boys or girls, in ignorance of their sexual nature is the thesis of Frank Wedekind's drama " Friihlings Erwachen." From its title one might suppose it a peaceful little idvl of the youth of the year. Xo idea could be more mistaken. It is a tragedy of frightful im^port, and its action is concerned with the develop - ment of natural instincts in the adolescent jof.ioth. The playwright has attacked his theme with European frankness; but of plot, in the usual acceptance of the term, there is little. Instead of the coherent drama of conventional type, TTedekind has given us a series of loosely connected scenes illuminative of character — scenes which surely have profound significance for all occupied in the training of the young. He sets before us a group of school children, lads and lassies just past the age of puberty, and shows logically that death and degradation may be their lot as the outcome of parental reticence. They are not vicious children, but little ones such as we meet every day, imaginative beings living in a world of youthful ideals and speculating about the mysteries which surround them. Wendla, sent to her grave by the abortive administered with the connivance of her afFectionate but mistaken mother, is a most lova- ble creature, while Melchior, the father of her unborn vi A PEOEM FOR PEUDES. child, is a high type of boy whose downfall is due to a philosophic temperameiit, which leads him to inquire into the nature of life and to impart his knowledge to others; a temperament which, under proper guidance, would make him a useful, intelligent man. It is Mel- chior's very excellence of character which proves his imdoing. That he should be imprisoned as a moral de- generate only serves to illustrate the stupidity of his parents and teachers. As for the suicide of Moritz, the imaginative youth who kills himself because he has failed in his examinations, that is another crime for which the dramatist makes false educational methods responsible. A grim vein of , humor is exhibited now and then, as when we are introduced to the conference room in which the members of a jgymiiaaijim__ faculty, met to consider the regulation of their pupils' morals, sit be- neath the portraits of Pestalozzi and J. J. Rousseau disputing with considerable acrimony about the opening and shutting of a window. The exchange of unpleasant personalities is interrupted only by the entrance of the accused student, to whose defense the faculty refuses to listen, having marked the boy for expulsion prior to the formal farce of his trial. Wedekind has been accused of depicting his adults as too ignorant and too indifferent to the needs of the younger generation. But most of us will have to admit that the majority of his scenes and characters seem very true to life. "Friihlings Erwachen" may not be pleasant reading exactly, but there is no forgetting it after one has perused it ; there is an elemental strength about it which A PEOEM rOK PKUDES. vii grips the intellect. As a play it stands uniqne in the annals of dramatic art. That it has succeeded in at- tracting much attention abroad is shown by the fact that this drama in book form has gone through twenty- six editions in its original version and has been trans- lated into several European tongues, Russian included, while stage performances of the work have been given in France as well as in Germany. The Teutonic grimness of the work puzzled tlie Parisians, who are not used to having philosophy thrust at them over the footlights ; but in Grermauy "Eriihlings Erwachen" proved much more successful. In Berlin, indeed, it has become part of the regular stock of plays acted at "Das Neue Theater," where it is said to be certain of drawing a crowded audience. That the play is radically different from anything given on the Ameri- can stage is undoubtedly true. It must be remembered, however, that the ContinentaLEuropean -playwright re- „garSE. To drink warm goat's milk! I will singe your hair and hang a little bell about your neck. Then we have another kid with which you can play. OF SPRING. 101 MOEITZ. I must go back. I have yet the Sassanides, the Ser- mon on the Mount and the parallelepipedon on my thoughts. Good-night, Use! Ilse. Sleep well ! ^Do you ever go to the wigwam where Melchi Gabor buried my tomahawk? Brrr! until you are married I'll lie in the straw. (Buns out.) MOEITZ. (Alone.) It might have cost only a word. (He calls) — Use ? -Ilse! Thank God she doesn't hear me any more. 1 am not in the humor. One needs a clear head and a happy heart for it. What a lost oppor- tunity! 1 would have said that I had many crystal mirrors over my bed ^that I had trained an un- broken iilly that I had her proudly march in front of me on the carpet in long black silk stockings and black patent leather shoes, long black gloves, black vel- vet about her neck had strangled her in a moment of madness with my cushions. I would laugh when the talk turned on passion 1 would cry out! Cry out! Cry out! It is you, Use! Priapia! ^Loss of memory ! That takes my strength ! / 102 THE AWAKENIISTG This child of fortune, this sunny child this joyous maiden on my dolorous path ! O ! O ! {In the hushes by the hank.) Have I found it again unwillingly — the seat of turf. The mulleins seem to have grown since yesterday. The outlook between the willows is still the same The water runs as heavy as melted lead. I musn't forger. {He takes Fruu Oahor's letter from his pocket and hums it.) ^How the sparks fly — here and there, dovsTiward and upward souls! shooting stars! Before I struck a light one could see the grass and a streak on the horizon. ^ISTow it is dark. Now I shall never return home again. ACT III. SCENE FIKST. The Board Room — On the walls pictures of Pesta- lozzi and Jean Jacques Bousseau. Professors Affenschmalz, Knuppeldich, Hungergurt, Knochenhruch, Zungenschlag and Fliegentod are seated around a green-covered table, over which are burning several gas jets. At the upper end, on a raised, seat, is Rector Sonnenstich. Beadle Habebald squats near the door. SoNNEN"STICH. Has any gentleman something further to remark? -Gentlemen ! We cannot help moving the expulsion of our guilty pupil before the !N^ational Board of Edu- cation ; there are the strongest reasons why we cannot : We cannot, because we must expiate the misfortune which has fallen upon us already ; we cannot, because of our need to protect ourselves from similar blows in the future ; we cannot, because we must chastise our guilty pupil for the demoralizing influence he exerted upon his classmates; we cannot, above all, because we must hin- der him from exerting the same influence upon his re- maining classmates. We cannot ignore the charge — and 105 106 THE AWAKENING this, gentlemen, is possibly the weightiest of all on any pretext concerning a ruined career, because it is our duty to protect ourselves from an epidemic of sui- cide similar to that which has broken out recently in various grammar schools, and which until to-day has mocked all attempts of the teachers to shackle it by any means known to advanced education ^Has any gen- tleman something further to remark? KNtrppELniCK. I can rid myself of the conception no longer that it is time at last to open a window here. Zui'fGENSCHI.AG. Th- th- there is an a- a- at- atmosphere here li- li- like th- th- that of the cata- catacombs, like that in the document room of the former Cha-Cha-Chamber of Justice at Wetzlar. SONNENSTICH. Habebald ! Habebald. At your service, Herr Rector. SOWNENSTICH. Open a window. Thank God there's fresh air eno-agh outside. Has any other gentleman anything to say ? OF SPKING. 107 Fliegentod. If my associate wants to have a ■window opened, I haven't the least objection to it. Only I should like to ask that the window opened is not the one directly be- hind my back ! SONNENSTICH. Habebald! Habebald. At your service, Herr Rector. SONNENSTICH. Open the other window! Has any other gentle- man anything to remark ? HUNGEEGITET. Without wishing to increase the controversy, I should like to recall the important fact that the other window has been walled up since vacation. SONITENSTICH. Habebald ! Habebald. At your service, Herr Eector. 108 THE AWAKENING SoNlTEIfSTICH. Leave the other window shut ! 1 find it necessary, gentlemen, to put this matter to a vote. I request those who are in favor of having the only window which can enter into this discussion opened to rise from their seats. (He counts.') One, two, three one, two, three Habebald! Habebald. At your service, Herr Rector. SOWITEITSTICH. Leave that window shut likewise ! I, for my part, am of the opinion that the air here leaves nothing to be desired ! Has any gentleman anything further to re- mark? Let us suppose that we omitted to move the expulsion of our guilty pupil before the National Board of Education, then the National Board of Education would hold us responsible for the misfortune which has overwhelmed us. Of the various grammar schools vis- ited by the epidemic of self-murder, those in which the devastation of self-murder has reached 25 per cent, have been closed by the National Board of Education. It is our duty, as the guardians and protectors of our in- stitute, to protect our institute from this staggering blow. It grieves us deeply, gentlemen, that we are not in a position to consider the other qualifications of our guilt-laden pupil as mitigating circumstances. An in- dulgent treatment, which would allow our guilty pupil to be vindicated, would not in any conceivable way im- or SPEING. 109 aginable vindicate the present imperiled existence of our institute. We see ourselves under the necessity of judg- ing the guilt-laden that we may not be judged guilty ourselves. Habehald ! Habebald. At your service, Herr Rector ! SONNENSTICH. Bring him up! {Exit Habebald.) ZUNGENSCHLAG. If the pre-present atmosphere leaves little or nothing to desire, I should like to suggest that the other v^indow be walled up during the summer va- va- va- vacation. Flieg-entod. If our esteemed colleague, Zungenschlag, does not find our room ventilated sufficiently, I should like to suggest that our esteemed colleague, Zugenschlag, have a ventil- ator set into his forehead. Zungenschlag. I do- do- don't have to stand that ! 1- I- I- I- do- do- don't have to st- st- st- stand rudeness! 1 have rny fi- fi- five senses ! 110 THE AWAKENIISTG SONNENSTICH. I nrast ask our esteemed colleagues, Fliegentod and Zungenschlag, to preserve decorum. It seems to me that our guilt-laden pupil is already on the stairs. (Habebald opens the door, whereupon Melchior, pale but collected, appears before the meeting.) SONNENSTICH. Come nearer to the table ! After Herr Stiefel be- came aware of the profligate deed of his son, the dis- tracted father searched the remaining efl^ects of his son Moritz, hoping if possible, to find the cause of the abominable deed, and discovered among them, in an unexpected place, a manuscript, v^hich, while it did not make us understand the abominable deed, threw an un- fortunate and sufficient light upon the moral disorder of the criminal. This manuscript, in the form of a dialogue entitled "The JtTuptual Sleep," illustrated with life-size pictures full of shameless obscenity, has twenty pages of long explanations that seek to satisfy every claim a profligate imagination can make upon a lewd book. Melchioe. I have SONNBWSTICH. You have to keep quiet! After Herr Stiefel had questioningly handed us this manuscript and we had promised the distracted father to discover the author at any price, we compared the handwriting before us with OF SPRING. Ill the collected handwriting of the fellow-students of the deceased profligate, and concluded, in the unanimous judgment of the teaching staff, as well as with the full coincidence of a valued colleague, the master of calli- graphy, that the resemblance to your Melchiob. I have SONNENSTICH. You have to keep quiet ! In spite of this likeness, recognized as crushing evidence by incontrovertable au- thority, we believe that we should allow ourselves to go further and to take the widest latitude in examining the guilty one at iirst hand, in order to make him answerable to this charge of an offense against morals, and to discover its relationship to the resultant sui- cide. I have- Melchioe. SONNENSTICH. You have to answer the exact questions which I shall put to you, one after the other, with a plain and modest "yes" or "no." Habebald ! Habebald. At your service, Herr Eector ! 112 THE AWAKENING SONNENSTICH. The minutes ! 1 request our writing master, Herr Eliegentod, from now on to take down the proceedings as nearly verbatim as possible. {to Melchior.) Do you know this writing ? Melchioe. Yes. SONNENSTICH. Do you know whose writing it is ? Melchioe. Yes. SONNENSTICH. Is the writing in this manuscript yours ? Melchioe. Yes. SONNENSTICH. Are you the author of this obscene manuscript ? Melchioe. Yes 1 request you, sir, to show me anything ob- scene in it. SONITENSTICH. You have to answer with a modest "yes" or "no" the oxar-t questions which I put to you ! OF SPEING. 113 Melchiok. I have wTitten neither more nor less than what are well-known facts to all of you. SONNENSTICH. You shameless boy! Melchioe. I request you to show me an offense against morals in this manuscript ! SoNNENSTICH. Are you counting on a desire on my part to be a clown for you ? Habebald ! Melchioe. I have SoNNEIirSTICH. You have as little respect for the dignity of your assembled teachers as you have a proper appreciation of mankind's imj^e sense of shame which belongs to a moral world ! Habebald ! Habebaxd. At your service, Herr Rector ! 114 THE AWAKENIITG SONNENSTICH. It is past the time for the three hours' exercise in agglutive Volapuk. Mblchioe. I have SOKNENSTICH. I will request our secretary, Herr Eliegentod, to close the minutes. Melchioe. I have SONWENSTICH. You have to keep still ! ! Habebald ! Habebald. At your service, Herr Eector ! SONNENSTICH. Take him down! OF SPEING. 115 SCEISTE SECOND. A graveyard in the pouring rain Pastor Kahl- hauch stands heside an open grave with a raised umbrella in Ms hand. To his right are Renter Stiefel, his friend Ziegenmelker and Uncle Probst. To the left Rector Sonnenstich tvith Professor Knochenbruch. The gram- mar school students complete the circle. Martha and Use stand somewhat apart upon a fallen monument. Pastoe Kahlbattch. For lie who rejects the grace with which the Everlast- ing Father has blessed those born in sin, he shall die a spiritual death ! He, however, who in wilful carnal abnegation of God's proper honor, lives for and serves evil, shall die the death of the body ! Who, however, wickedly throws away from him the cross which the All Merciful has laid upon him for his sins, verily, verily, I say unto you, he shall die the everlasting death I {He throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) Let us, however, praise the All Gracious Lord and thank Him for His inscrutable grace in order that we may travel the thorny path more and m.ore surely. For as truly as this one died a triple death, as truly wrll the Lord God conduct the righteous unto happiness and everlasting life. Kentee Stiefel. {His voice stopped ivith tears, throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) The boy was not mine! The boy was not mine! The boy didn't please me from infancy ! 116 THE AWAKENING Kectok Sonnenstich. {Throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) Suicide being the greatest conceivable fault against the moral order of the world, is the greatest evidence of the moral order of the world. The suicide himself spares the world the need of pronouncing judgment of condemnation against himself, and confirms the exist- ence of the moral order of the world. Peofessoe Knochenbeuch. (Throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) Wasted — soiled — debauched — -tattered and squan- dered ! Uncle Peobst. (Throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) I would not have believed my own mother had she told me that a child could act so basely towards its own parents. Feiend Ziegenmelkee. (Throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) To treat a father so, who for twenty years, from late to early, had no other thought than the welfare of his child ! Pastoe Kahlbauch. (ShaJcing Renter StiefeVs hand.) We know that those who love God serve all things OF SPEING. 117 best (1 Corinthians 12:15). Think of the be- reaved mother and strive to console her for her loss by doubled love. Eectoe Sonnenstich. (Shaking Renter Stiefel's hand.) Indeed, we could not possibly have promoted him. Peofessoe Knochenbeuch. (Shaking Renter Stiefel's hand.) And if we had promoted him, next spring he would have certainly failed to pass. UiircLE Peobst. (Shaking Renter Stiefel's hand.) It is your duty now to think of yourself first of all. You are the father of a family Feiekd Ziegenmelkee. (Shaking Renter Stiefel's hand.) Trust yourself to my guidance! This devilish weather shakes one's guts! The man who doesn't prevent it with a grog will ruin his heart valves. Reutee Stiefel. (Blowing his nose.) The boy didn't belong to me — —the boy didn't be- long to me! 118 THE AWAKENIJSTG (Renter Stiefel leaves, accompanied iy Pastor Kahlr hauch. Rector Sonnenstich, Professor Knochenbruch, Uncle Probst and Friend Ziegenmelker. The rain ceases.) Haws Rilow. (Throws a shovelful of earth into the grave.) Eest in peace, you honest fellow! Greet my eternal brides for me, those sacrificed remembrances, and commend me respectfully to the grace of God you poor clown They will put a scarecrow on top of your grave because of your angelic simplicity. Geoege. Did they find the pistol ? EOBEET. There's no use looking for the pistol ! Ernest. Did you see him, Eobert ? Robert. It's a damned infernal swindle! ^Who did see him « Who did ? Otto. He was hidden ! They threw a covering over him. OF SPEIiq^G. 119 Geoegb. Was his tongue hanging out ? KOBEET. His eyes That's why they threw the cloth over him. Otto. Frightful! Hans Eilow. Do you know for certain that he hanged himself ? Eenest. They say he has no head left. Otto. Incredible ! ITonsense ! EOBEET. I have the clue in my hands. I have never seen a man who hanged himself that they haven't thrown a cloth over. George. He couldn't have taken his leave in a vulgarer way ! Hans Eilow. The devil! A hanged man must he a pretty sight! 120 THE AWAKENING Otto. He owes me five marks. We had a bet. He swore he would keep his place. Haits Rilow. You are to blame for his lying there. You called him a boaster. Otto. IsToiiseiise ! I, too, must grind away all night. If he had learned .the history of Greek literature he would not have had to hang himself ! Eenest. Have you your composition, Otto ? Otto. First comes the introdiiction. Eenest. I don't know at all what to write. Geoege. Weren't you there when AfFenschmalz gave us the theme ? Hans Rilow. I'll fake up something out of Democritus. OF SPRINa. 121 Eenst. I will see if there is anything left to be found in Meyer's Little Encyclopedia. Otto. Have you your Virgil for to-morrow ? {The schoolboys leave Martha and Use approach the grave.) Ilse. Quick, quick ! Here are the grave-diggers coming ! Maetha. Hadn't we better wait, Hse? Ilse. What for ? We'll bring fresh ones. Always fresh ones. There are enough growing. Maetha. You're right, Ilse! {_8he throws a wreath of ivy into the grave. Ilse drops her apron and allows a shower of fresh anemones to rain down on the coffin.) Maetha. I'll dig up our roses. I'll be beaten for it ! They will be of some use here. 122 THE AWAKENING Ilse. I'll water them as often as I pass here. I'll fetch violets from the brook and bring some iris from our house. Martha. It will be beautiful ! ^beautiful ! Ilse. I was just across the brook on that side when I heard the shot. Maetha. Poor dear ! Ilse. And I know the reason, too, Martha. Maetha. Did he tell you anything? Ilse. Parallelepipedon ! But don't tell anybody. Maetha. My hand on it. Ilse. Here is the pistol. or SPEING. 123 Maetha. That's the reason they didn't find it ! IlSE. J. took it right out of his hand when I came along in the morning. Maetha. Give it to me, Use ! Please give it to me ! Ilsb. 1^0, I'm going to keep it for a souvenir. Maetha. Is it true, Use, that he lay there without a head ? Ilse. He must have loaded it with water ! The mulleins were spattered all over with blood. His brains were scattered about the pasture. SCENE THIED. Kerr and Frau Gabor. Feau Gaboe. They needed a scapegoat. They did not dare meet 124 THE AWAKENING the charge that was made everywhere against them- selves. And now that my child has had the misfortune to run his head into the noose at the right moment, shall I, his own mother, help to end the work of his execution- ers ? God keep me from it ! Heee Gaboe. For fourteen years I have looked on at your spirited educational methods in silence. They were contrary to my ideas. I had always lived in the conviction that a child was not a plaything; a child should have a claim upon our most earnest efforts. Biit, I said to myself, if the spirit and the grace of the one parent are able to compensate for the serious maxims of the other, they may be given preference over the serious maxims. I am not reproaching you, Eanny, but don't stand in my way when I seek to right your injustice and mine toward the lad. Featj Gaboe. I will block the way for you as long as a warm drop of blood beats in me. My child would be lost in the House of Correction. A criminal nature might be bettered in such an institution. I don't know. A fine natured man would just as surely turn into a crimiftalTiTke^the-^ants when they arekept ffom~sufi'art3 light. I am conscious of no injustice on my part. To-day, as always, I thank heaven that it showed me the way to awaken righteous- ness of character and nobility of thought in my child. What has he done which is so frightful ? It doesn't oc- cur to me to apologize for him ^now that they have OF SPEING. 125 hunted him out of school, he bears no fault ! And if it was his fault he has paid for it. You may know better. You may be entirely right theoretically. But I cannot allow my only child to be forcibly hunted to death. Hebe Gaboe. That doesn't depend on us, Eanny. That is the risk we took with our happiness. He who is too weak to march stops by the wayside. And, in the end, it is not the worst when what was certain to come comes in time to be bettered. Heaven protect us from that ! It is our duty to strengthen the loiterer as long as reason supplies a means. That they have hunted him out of school is not his own fault. If they hadn't hunted him out of school, that wouldn't have been his fault, either ! ■ You are so lighthearted. You perceive inconsider- able trifles when the question concerns a fundamental injury to character. You women are not accustomed "fo judge such things. Anyone who can write what Melehior wrote must be rotten to the core of his being. The mark is plqin. A half-healthy nature wouldn't do such a thing. ISTone of us are saints. Each of us wanders from the straight path. His writing, on the contrary,, tramples on principle. His writing is no evidence of a chance slip in the usual way ; it sets forth with dreadful plainness and a frankly definite purpose that natural longing, that propensity foc^immorality, ^y^' beca use it is immorali ty. His writing manifests that exceptional state of spiritual corruption which we jurists classify under the term "moral imbecility." If anything can be done in his case, I am not able to 126 THE AWAKEXIXG say. If we want to preserve a glimmer of hope, and keep our spotless consciences as the parents of the victim, it is time for us to go to work determinedly in earnest. — ^Don't let us contend any more, Fanny! I feel how hard it is for you. I know that you idolize him because he expresses so entirely your genial nature. Be stronger than yourself. Show yourself for once devoid of self-interest towards your son. . Feau Gaboe. God help me, how can one get along that way ! One must he a man to he able to talk that way! One must be a man to be able to blind oneseK so with the dead letter ! One must be a man to be so blind that one can't see what stares him in the eyes. I have conscientiously and thoughtfully managed Melehior from his first day, because I found him impressionable to his surroundings. Are we answerable for what has happened ? A tile might fall off the roof upon your head to-morrow, and then comes your friend — your father, and, instead of taking care of you, tramples upon you! 1 will not let my child be destroyed before my eyes. That's the reason I'm his mother. It is inconceivable I It is not to be believed ! What did he write, then, after all ! Isn't it the most striking proof of his harmlessness, of his stupidity, of his childish obscurity, that he can write so! One must possess no intuitive knowledge of mankind one must be an out and out bureaucrat, or weak in intellect, to scent moral corruption here! Say what you will. If you land Melehior in the House of Correction, I will get a divorce. Then let me see if OF SPEING. 127 I can't find help and means somewhere in the world to rescue my child from destruction. HeeE GrABOE. You must prepare yourself for it if not to-day, then to-morrow. It is not easy for anyone to discount misfortune. I will stand beside you, and when your courage begins to fail will spare no trouble or effort to relieve your heart. The future seems so gray to me, so full of clouds it only remains for you to leave me too. Fkau Gaboe. I should never see him again : I should never see him again ! He can't bear the vulgar. He will not be able to stand the dirt. He will break under restraint; the most frightful examples will be before his eyes! And if I see him again Oh, God, oh, God, that joy- ous heart his clear laughter all, all, his childish resolution to fight courageously for good and righteousness oh, this morning sky, how I cherished it light and pure in his soul as my highest good Hold me to account if the sin cries for expiation ! Hold me to account ! Do with me what you will ! I will bear the guilt. But keep your frightful hand off the boy. Heee Gaboe. He has gone wrong! 128 THE AWAKENING Frau Gaboe. He has not gone wrong ! Here Gaboe. He has gone wrong ! 1 would have given every- thing to be able to spare your boundless love. A ter- rified woman came to me this morning, scarcely able to control her speech, with this letter in her hand a letter to her fifteen-year-old daughter. She had opened it simply out of curiosity ; the girl was not at home. • In the letter Melchior explains to the fifteen-year-old girl that his manner of acting left him no peace, that he had sinned against her, etc., etc., and that naturally he would answer for it. She must not fret herself even if she felt results. He was already on the road after help; his expulsion made it easier for him.^^he pre- vious false step could still lead to her happiness ■ and more of such irrational nonsense. Impossible ! Feau Gaboe. Heek Gaboe. The letter is forged. It's a cheat. Somebody is try- ing to take advantage of his generally known expulsion. I have not yet spoken to the lad about it but please look at this hand ! See the writing ! Eeau Gaboe. An unprecedented, shameless bit of knavery ! or SPKING. 129 Heee Gaboe. That's what I'm afraid ! Teau Gaboe. No, no never, never! Hebe Gabob. It would be so much the better for us, The woman, wringing her hands, asked me what she should do. I told her she should not leave her fifteen-year-old daugh- ter lying about a haymow. Fortunately she left me the letter. If we send Melchior to another grammar school, where he is not under parental supervision, in three weeks we shall have the same result, A new expulsion his joyful heart will get used to it after awhile. Tell me, Fanny, where shall I send the lad ? Feau Gaboe. To the House of Correction Hebe Gaboe. To the ? Feau Gaboe. House of Correction! Heee Gaboe. He will find there, in the first place, that which has 130 THE AWAKENING been wrongfully withheld from him at home, parental discipline, principles, and a moral constraint to which he must submit under all circimistances. ^Moreover, the House of Correction is not a place of terror, as you think it. The greatest weight is laid in the establish- ment upon the development of Christian thought and sensibility. The lad will learn at last to follow good in place of desire and n ot to follow his natural instincts, but to observe the letter o?~Ehe law. A halt hour ago I received a telegram from my brother that confirms the woman's statement. Melchior has confided in him and begged him for 200 marks in order to fly to England Feau Gaboe. (Covering her face.) Merciful heavens ! SCENE EOUETH. The House of Correction. — A corridor. — Diethelm, Rheinhold, Ruprecht, Helmuth, Gaston and Melchior. Diethelm. Here is a twenty pfennig piece ! OF SPEIWG. 131 Eheinhold. What shall we do with it ? DiETHELM. I will lay it on the floor. Arrange yourselves about it. Who can get it can keep it. EUPEECHT. Won't you join us, Melchior? Melchioe. ~So, thank you. Helmuth. The Joseph! Gaston. He can't do anything else. He is here for recreation. Melchioe. (To himself.) It is not wise for me to separate myself from them. They all have an eye on me. I must join them or the creature goes to the devil imprisonment drives it to suicide. If I break my neck, all is well ! If I escape, that is good, too ! I can only win. Ruprecht would become my friend. He has acquaintances here. 1 had better give him the chapter of Judas' daugh- 132 THE AWAKENING ter-in-law, Thamar, of Moab, of Lot and his kindred, of Queen Vashti and of Abishag the Shunammite. He has the unhappiest physiognomy of the lot of them. RUPEECHT. I have it ! Helmuth. I'll get it yet ! Gaston. The day after to-morrow, perhaps. Helmuth. Right away! Now! O God! O God! AXL. Summa Summa cum laude! ! EUPKECHT. (Taking the money.) Many thanks ! Helmuth. Here, you dog! RuPEECHT. You swine! Helmuth. Gallows bird! or SPRIlsrG. 133 EUPEECHT. (^Hits him in the face.) There! (Buns away.) Helmuth. (Running after him.) I'll strike you dead ! { The Eest of Them. (Running after.) Chase him ! Chase him ! Chase him ! Chase him ! Melchioe. (Alone, wandering toward the window.) The lightning rod runs down there. One would have to wind a pocket handkerchief about it. ^When I think of them the blood always rushes to my head. And Moritz turns my feet to lead. ^I'll go to a news- paper. If they pay me by space I'll be a free lance ! collect the news of the day ^write ^locals ethical ^psychophysical one doesn't starve so easily nowadays. Public soup houses, Cafe Tem- perance The house is sixty feet high and the cornice is crumbling They hate me ^they hate me be- cause I rob them of liberty. Handle myself .as I will, there remain misdemeanors 1 dare only hope in the course of the year, gradually ^It will be new moon 134 THE AWAKENING in eight days. To-morrow I'll grease the hinges. By Sunday evening I must find out somehow who has the key. Sunday evening, during prayers, a cataleptic fit 1 hope to God nobody else will be sick! Everything seems as clear to me as if it had happened. Over the window-frames I can reach easily — a swing — a clutch — but one must wind a handkerchief about it. There comes the head inquisitor. {Ihit to the left.) (Dr. Prohrustes enters from the iright with a loch- smith.) De. Peokbustes. The window is on the third floor and has stinging nettles planted under it, but what do the degenerates care for stinging nettles ! Last winter one of them got out of the trap door on the roof, and we had the whole trouble of capturing him, bringing him back, and locking him up again The Locksmith. Do you want the grating of wrought iron ? De. Peokbustes. Of wrought iron riveted so they cannot meddle with it. OF SPEING. 135 , / SCENE EIETH. A bedchamber. — Frau Bergmann, Ina Muller and Doctor von Brausepidver. Wendla in bed. De. von Beausepulvee. How old are you, exactly? Wendla. Eourteen and a half. De. von Beausepulvee. I have been ordering Blaud's pills for fifteen years and have noticed astonishing results in the majority of cases. I prefer them to cod liver oil and wine of iron. Begin with three or four pills a day, and increase the number just as soon as you are able. I ordered Frau- lein Elfriede, Baroness von Witzleben to increase the number of them by one, every third day. The Baroness misunderstood me and increased the number every day by three. Scarcely three weeks later the Baroness was able to go to Pyrmont with her mother to complete her cure. 1 will allow you to dispense with exhausting walks and extra meals; therefore, promise me, dear child, to take frequent exercise and to avoid unwhole- some food as soon as the desire for it appears again. Then this palpitation of the heart will soon cease and the headache, the chills, the giddiness and this 136 THE AWAKEOTNG frightful indigestion. Eraulein Elfriede, Baroness von Witzleben, ate a whole roast chicken with new potatoes for her breakfast eight days after her convalescence. Eeau Beegmanit. May I offer you a glass of wine, Doctor ? De. von Beatjseptjlvee. I thank you, dear Erau Bergmann, my carriage is waiting. ^Do not take it so to heart. In a few weeks our dear little patient will be again as fresh and bright as a gazelle. Be of good cheer. Good-day, Frau Bergmann, good-day, dear child, good-day, ladies good-day. (Frau Bergmann accompanies him to the door.) Ina. (At the window.) Now your plantains are in bloom again. Can you see that from your bed? A short display, hardly worth rejoicing over them, they come and go so quickly. I, too, must go right away now. Miiller is waiting for me in front of the postoffice, and I must go first to the dressmaker's. Mucki is to have his first trousers and'Karl is to have new Icnit leggins for winter. Wendla. Sometimes I feel so happy all joy and sunshine. OF SPKING. 137 I had not guessed that it could go so well in one's heart ! I want to go out, to go over the meadows in the twi- light, to look for primroses along the river and to sit down on the banks and dream — Then comes the tooth- ache, and I feel as if I had to die the next morning at daybreak; I grow hot and cold, it becomes dark be- fore my eyes; and then the beast flutters inside. As often as I wake up, I see Mother crying. Oh, that hurts me so. 1 can't tell you how much, Ina ! Ina. Shall I lift your pillows higher ? Featj Beegmann. (Betuming.) He thinks the vomiting will soon cease ; and then you can get up in peace 1, too, think it would be better if you got up soon, Wendla. Ina. Possibly when I visit you the next time you will be dancing around the house again. Good-bye, Mother. I must positively go to the dressmaker's. God guard you, Wendla dear. (Kisses her.) A speedy, speedy recov- ery! (Exit Ina.) Wendla. What did he tell you, Mother, when he was outside ? 138 THE AWAKENING Eeatj Bebgmann. He didn't say anything. He said Fraulein von Witzleben was subject to fainting spells also. It is almost always so with chlorosis. Wendla. Did he say that I have chlorosis, Mother ? Feau Beegmann. You are to drink milk and eat meat and vegetables when your appetite comes hack. Wendla. 0, Mother, Mother, I believe I haven't chlorosis Feau Beegmann. You have chlorosis, child. Be calm, Wendla,^ be calm, you have chlorosis. Wendla. No, Mother, no ! I know it. I feel it. I haven't chlorosis. I have dropsy FeATJ BsEGMANIir. You have chlorosis. He said positively that you have chlorosis. Calm yourself, girl. You will get better. OF SPEING. 139 Wendla. I won't get better. I have the dropsy, I must die, Mother. O, Mother, I must die ! Feau Beegmann. You must not die, child ! You must not die — Great heavens, you must not die ! Wendla. But why do you weep so frightfully, then ? Feau Beegmann. You must not die, child! You haven't the dropsy, you have a child, girl ! You have a child ! Oh, why did you do that to me ! Wendxa. I haven't done anything to you. Featt Beegmann. Oh don't deny it any more, Wendla! 1 know everything. See, I didn't want to say a word to you. ^Wendla, my Wendla ! Wendla. But it's not possible, Mother. I'm not married yet ! 140 THE AWAKElSrilSTG Featt Beeomank. Great Almighty God that's just it, that you are not married! That is the most frightful thing of all! Wendla, Wendla, Wendla, what have you done! ! Wendla. God knows, I don't know any more ! We lay in the hay 1 have loved nobody in the world as I do you, Mother. Feait Beegmann. My sweetheart Wendla. O Mother, why didn't you tell me everything ! Featt Beegmann. Child, child, let us not make each other's hearts any heavier! Take hold of yourself! Don't make me des- perate, child. To tell that to a fourteen-year-old girl! See, I expected that about as much as I did the sun going out. I haven't acted any differently towards you than my dear, good mother did toward me. Oh, let us trust in the dear God, Wendla ; let us hope for com- passion, and have compassion toward ourselves! See, nothing has happened yet, child. And if we are not cowardly now, God won't forsake us. Be cheerful, Wendla, be cheerful! One sits so at the window with one's hands in one's lap, while everything changes OF SPEING. 141 to good, and then one realizes that one almost wanted to break one's heart ^Wa ^why are you shivering ? Wendla. Somebody knocked. Feau Beegmann. I didn't hear anything, dear heart. {Goes and opens the door.) Wendla. But I heard it very plainly Who is outside? Feau Beegmann. Nobody Schmidt's Mother from Garden street. ^You come just at the right time, Mother Schmidt. SCENE SIXTH. Men and women wine-dressers in the vineyard. The sun is setting behind the peaks of the mountains in the west. A clear sound of bells rises from the valley he- low. Hans Rilow and Ernest Robel roll about in the dry grass of the highest plot under the overhanging rocks. Eenest. I have overworked myself. 142 THE AWAKENIlSTG Hans. Don't let us be sad! ^It's a pity the minutes are passing. Ernest. One sees them hanging and can't manage any more and to-morrow they are in the wine press. Hans. Fatigue is as intolerable to me as hunger. Eenest. Oh, I can't eat any more. Hans. Just this shining muscatelle! Eenest. My elasticity has its limit. Hans. If I bend down the vine, we can sway it from mouth to mouth. N'either of us will have to disturb himself. We can bite off the grapes and let the branches fly back to the trunk. Eenest. One hardly decides upon a thing, when, see, that van- ishing power begins to darken. or SPEING. 143 Hans. Hence the flaming firmament and the evening bells 1 promise myself little more for the future. Eenest. Sometimes I see myself already as a worthy pastor — with a good-natured little wife, a well-filled library and offices and dignities all about me. For six days one has to think, and on the seventh one opens one's mouth. When out walking, one gives one's hand to the school- girls and boys, and when one comes home the coffee steams, the cookies are brought out and the maids fetch apples through the garden door. Can you imagine anything more beautiful ? Hans. I imagine half-closed eyelids, half-open lips and Turkish draperies. 1 do not believe in pathos. Our elders show us long faces in order to hide their stupid- ity. Among themselves they call each other donkeys just as we do. I know that. ^When I am a million- aire I'll erect a monument to God. Imagine the future as a milkshake with sugar and cinnamon. One fellow upsets it and howls, another stirs it all together and sweats. Why not skim off the cream ? Or don't you believe that one can learn how? Eenest. Let us skijn ! 144 THE AWAKENING Hans. What remains the hens will eat. 1 have pulled my head out of so many traps already Ebnest. Let ,us skim, Hans ! Why do you laugh ? Hans. Are you beginning again already ? Eenest. But one of us must begin. >> Hans. Thirty years from now, on some evening like to-day, if we recall this one, perhaps it will seem too beautiful for expression. Ernest. And how everything springs from itself ! Hans. Why not ? Ernest. If by chance ore were alone one might like to weep ! 17 or SPEING. 145 Hans. Don't let us be sad ! (He kisses him on the mouth.) Eenest. {Returning the kiss.) I left the house with the idea of just speaking to you and turning hack again. Hans. I waited for you. -S^irtuejs^not a bad garmejat, but it requires an imposing figure. Eenest. :.' It fits us loosely as yet. 1 should not have been content if I had not met you. 1 love you, Hans, as I have never loved a soul Hans. Let us not be sad. If we recall this in thirty years, perhaps we shall make fun of it. And yet every- thing is so beautiful. The mountains glow; the grapes hang before our mouths and the evening breeze ca- resses the rocks like a playful flatterer. 146 THE AWAKENING SCENE SEVENTH. A clear November night. The dry foliage of the hushes and trees rustles. Torn clouds chase each other heneath the moon Melchior clamhers over the churchyard wall. Melchioe. {Springing down inside.) The pack won't follow me here. While they are searching the brothels I can get my breath and discover how much I have accomplished. Coat in tatters, pockets empty I'm not safe from the most harmless.- — — I must try to get deeper into the wood to-morrow. I have trampled down a cross Even to-day the flowers are frozen ! The earth is cold all around In the domain of the dead ! To climb out of the hole in the roof was not as hard as this road ! It was only there that I kept my presence of mind I hung over the abyss everything was lost in it, vanished Oh, if I could have stayed there. Why she, on my account! ^Why not the guilty! Inscrutable providence! 1 would have broken stones and gone hungry ! ^What is to keep me straight \ now ? Offense follows offense. I am swallowed up ' in the morass. I haven't strength left to get out of it OF SPKIISTG. 147 I was not bad ! 1 was not bad ! 1 was not bad ! No mortal ever wandered so dejectedly over graves before. Pah! ^I won't lose courage! Oh, if I should go crazy during this very night ! I must seek there among the latest ones! The wind pipes on every stone in a different key — an an- guishing symphony ! The decayed wreaths rip apart and swing with their long threads in bits about the mar- ble crosses ^A wood of scarecrows! Scarecrows on every grave, each more gruesome than the other as high as houses, from which the devil runs away. The golden letters sparkle so coldly The weeping willows groan and move their giant fingers over the inscriptions A praying angel a tablet. The clouds throw their shadows over it. How the wind hurries and howls ! ^Like the march of an army it drives in from the east. Not a star in the heavens Evergreen in the garden plot ? ^Evergreen ? A maiden HERE RESTS IN GOD TRUenOla 3Bersmann, born ilBas 5, 1878, 6(e0 from Cblorosts, ©ctober 27, 1892. Bles8e^ are tbe pure of Ibeart 148 THE AWAKENING And I am her murderer. I am her murderer ! Despair is left me 1 dare not weep here. Away from here! Away MoEiTz Stiefel. (With his head under his arm, comes stamping over the graves.) A moment, Melchior ! The opportunity will not oc- cur so readily again. You can't guess what depends upon the place and the time Melchioe. Where do you come from ? MOBITZ. From over there over by the wall. You knocked down my cross. I lie by the wall. Give me your hand, Melchior. Melchioe. You are not Moritz Stiefel ! MOEITZ. Give me your hand. I am convinced you will thank me. It won't be so easy again ! This is an unusually fortunate encounter. 1 came out especially Melchioe. Don't you sleep ? or SPKING. 149 MOEITZ. Not what you call sleep. ^We sit on the church- tower, on the high gables of the roof wherever we please. Eestless ? Melchioe. MOEITZ. Half happy. We wander among the Mayflowers, among the lonely paths in the woods. We hover over gatherings of people, over the scene of accidents, gar- dens, festivals. ^We cower in the chimneys of dwelling-places and behind the bed curtains. Give me your hand. We don't associate with each other, but we see and hear everything that is going on in the world. We know that everything is stupidity, every- thing that men do and contend for, and we laugh at it. Melchior. What good does that do? MOEITZ. What good does it have to do? We are fit for nothing more, neither good nor evil. We stand high, high above earthly beings — each for himself alone. We do not associate with each other, because it would bore us. We are indifferent both to sorrow and to joy. We 150 THE. AWAKENING can hardly pity them. They amuse us with their do- ings, hecause, being alive, they are not worthy of com- passion. We laugh at their tragedies — each by him- self and make reflections upon them. Give me your hand! If you give me your hand, you will fall down with laughter over the sensation which made you give me your hand. 1 Melchioe. Doesn't that disgust you ? MOEITZ. We are too high for that. We smile! ^At my burial I was among the mourners. I had a right good time. That is sublimity, Melchior! I howled louder than any and slunk over to the wall to hold my belly from shaking with laughter. Our unapproachable sub- limity is the only viewpoint which the trash understands They would have laughed at me also before I swung myself off. Melchioe. I have no desire to laugh at myself. MOEITZ. The living, as such, are not really worth compassion ! -I admit I should not have thought so either. And now it is incomprehensible to me how one can be so naive. I see through the fraud so clearly that not a OF SPEING. 151 cloud remains. ^Why do you want to loiter now, Melchior ! Give me your hand ! In the turn of a head you will stand heaven high above yourself, ^Your life is a sin of omission Mblchioe. Can you forget ? MOEITZ. We can do everything. Give me your hand! We can pity the young, who take their timidity for ideal- ism, and the old, who break their hearts from sto- ical deliberation. We see the Kaiser tremble at a scurri- lous ballad and the lazzaroni before the youngest police- man. We ignore the masks of comedians and see the poet in the shadow of the mask. We see happiness in beggars' rags and the capitalist in misery and toil. We observe lovers and see them blush before each other, foreseeing that they are deceived deceivers. We see parents bringing children into the world that they may be able to say to them: "How happy you are to have such parents !" and see the children go and do like- wise. We can observe the innocent girl in the qualms of her first love, and the five-groschen harlot reading Schiller. ^We see God and the devil blaming each other, and cherish the unspeakable belief that both of them are drunk Peace and joy, Melchior! You only need to reach me your little finger. You may be- come snow-white before you have such a favorable op- portunity again! 152 THE AWAKENIl^G Melchioe. If I gave you my hand, Moritz, it would be from self-contempt. 1 see myself outlawed. What lent me courage lies in the grave. I can no longer consider noble emotions as worthy. And see nothing, noth- ing, that can save me now from my degradation. To myself I am the most contemptible creature in the uni- verse. ' MOBITZ. What delays you ? (A masked man appears.) The Masked Man. (To Melchior.) You are trembling from hunger. You are not fit to judge. (To Moritz.) You go! Melchioe. Who are you? The Masked Man. I refuse to tell. (To Moritz.) Vanish! ^What business have you here! Why haven't you on your head? MOEITZ. I shot myself. OF SPRING. 153 The Masked Man-. Then stay where you belong. You are done with! Don't annoy us here with your stink of the grave. It's inconceivable! ^Look at your fingers! Pfu, the devil ! They will crumble soon. MOEITZ. Please don't send me away Melchioe. Who are you, sir? ? MOEITZ. Please don't send me away. Please don't. Let me stay here a bit with you; I won't disturb you in any- thing It is so dreadful down there. The Masked Man. Why do you gabble about sublimity, then? You know that that is humbug sour grapes! Why do you lie so diligently, you chimera? If you consider it so great a favor, you may stay, as far as I am con- cerned. But take yourself to leeward, my dear friend and please keep your dead man's hand out of the game! Melchioe. Will you tell me once for all who you are, or not ? 154 THE AWAKENING The Masked Maw. No 1 propose to you that you shall confide your- self to me. I will take care of your future success. Melchioe. You are ^my father ? The Masked Man. Wouldn't you know your father by his voice ? Melchioe. No. The Masked Man. Your father seeks consolation at this momenllin the sturdy arms of your mother. 1 will open the world to you. Your momentary lack of resolution springs from your miserable condition. With a warm supper inside of you, you will make fun of it. Melchioe. (To himself.) It can only be the devil! (Alovd.) After that of which I have been guilty, a warm supper cannot give me back my peace! The Masked Man. That will follow the supper ! 1 can tell you this OF SPEING. 155 much, the girl had hetter have given hirth. She was built properly. Unfortunately, she was killed by the abortives given by Mother Schmidt. 1 will take you out among men. I will give you the opportunity to en- large your horizon fabulously. I will make you thor- oughly acquainted with everything interesting that the world has to offer. Melchioe. Who are you? Who are you? 1 can't trust a man that I don't know. The Masked Maw. You can't learn to know me unless you trust me. Melchioe. Do you think so ? The Masked Mak. Of course ! Besides, you have no choice. Melchioe. I can reach my hand to my friend here at any mo- ment. The Masked Man. Your friend is a charlatan. ISTobody laughs who has a pfennig left in cash. The sublime humorist is the most miserable, most pitiable creature in creation. 156 THE AWAKENIKG Melchioe. Let the humorist be what he may; you tell me who you are, or I'll reach the humorist my hand. The Masked Man. What then? MOEITZ. He is right, Melchior. I have boasted. Take his advice and profit by it. No matter how masked he is he is, at least. Melchioe. Do you believe in God? The Masked Man. Yes, conditionally. Melchioe. WiU you tell me who discovered gunpowder ? The Masked Man. Berthold Schwarz alias Konstantin AnMitzen. A Franciscan monk at Freiburg in Breisgau, in 1330. MOEITZ. What wouldn't I give if he had let it alone ! OF SPEIJSTG. 157 The Masked Man. You would only have hanged yourself then. Melchioe. What do you think about morals ? The Masked Mait. You rascal, am I your schoolboy? Melchioe. Do I know what you are ? Moeitz. Don't quarrel ! Please don't quarrel. What good does that do? Why should we sit, two liying men and a corpse, together in a churchyard at two o'clock in the morning if we want to quarrel like topers ! It will be a pleasure to me to arbitrate between you. If you want to quarrel, I'll take my head under my arm and go ! Melchioe. You are the same old fraid cat as ever. The Masked Man. The phantom is not wrong. One shouldn't forget one's dignity. By morals I understand the real 158 THE AWAKEI^^IITG product of two imaginary quantities. The imaginary quantities are "shall" and "will." The product is called morals and leaves no doubt of its reality. MOEITZ. If you had only told me that earlier ! My morals hounded me to death. For the sake of my dear parents I killed myself. "Honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long in the land." The text disgraced me prenomenally. f ^.; ) The Masked Man'. Give yourself up to no more illusions, dear friend. Your dear parents would have died as little from it as you did. Judged righteously, they would only have raged and stormed from the healthiest necessity. Melchioe. That may be right as far as it goes. -I can assure you, however, sir, that if I reach Moritz my hand, 'sooner or later my morals alone will have to bear the blame. The Masked Maw. That is just the reason you are not Moritz ! MOEITZ. But I don't believe the difference is so material, so compulsive at least, esteemed unknown, but what by OF SPEING. 159 chance the same thing might have happened to you as happened to me that time when I trotted through the alder grove with a pistol in my pocket. The Masked Mak. Don't you remember me? You have been standing for the moment actually between life and death. Moreover, in my opinion, this is not exactly the place in which to continue such a profound debate. MOEITZ. Certainly, it's growing cold, gentlemen! They dressed me in my Sunday suit, but I wear neither un- dershirt nor drawers. Melchioe. Farewell, dear Moritz. I don't know where the man is taking me. But he is a man Moeitz. « Don't blame me««for seeking to kill you, Melchior. It was old attachment. All my life I shall only be able to complain and lament that I cannot accompany you once more. The Masked Man. At the end everyone has his part ^You the consol- ing consciousness of having nothing- ^you an ener- vating doubt of everything. — Farewell. 160 THE AWAKENING Melchioe. Farewell, Moritz. Tate my heartfelt thanks for ap- pearing before me again. How many former bright days have we lived together during the fourteen years ! I promise you, Moritz, come what may, whether during the coming years I become ten times another, whether I prosper or fail, I shall never forget you MOEITZ. Thanks, thanks, dear friend. Melchioe. -and when at last I am an old man with gray hair, then, perhaps, you will again stand closer to me than all those living about me. MOEITZ. I thank you. Good luck to your journey, gentlemen. Do not delay any longer. The Masked Man. Come, child! {He lays his arm upon that of Melchior and disappears with him over the graves.) MOEITZ. (Alone.) Xow I sit here with my head under my arm. The OF SPEING. 161 moon covers her face, unveils herself again and seems not a hair the cleverer, 1 will go back to my place, right my cross, which that madcap trampled down so inconsiderately, and when everything is in order I will lie down on my back again, warm myself in the cor- ruption and smile. TEOM A LENGTHY ESSAY m "THE FRANK- FUETEE ZEITUISTG." Wedekind's dramas are remmiscent of the pre- Shakesperian stage. But often enougli one may recall Shakespeare himself. But we do not wish to fall into the error of that unstable enthusiasm which always makes comparison with the very greatest when only something remarkable is in question. The aim of these lines is not to hail Wedekind as the Messiah of the drama, nor as the John of a coming Messiah. For all I care, he might be the devil himself. Only one thing is certain : he is a power without his like among us, and where such a power has worked once it produces after results. Power releases power. With this drink in their bodies the public will not long continue to suppoi^t either lyrical lemonade on the stage nor the dregs of dramatic penury. This poet, this artist is at the same time a knower of life. One cannot be mistaken ! This is no joke. Be- hind all this swarm of jumping, dancing, tumbling, con- tending, inflamed, agitated discourse; behind all this pushing, roaring, foaming, gargling, flood of action, stands intuition of the world, stands the sense of life, as made manifest in the thoughts of Wedekind. It is no tearer, no eradicator, no f alterer, who in this fright- fully beautiful bustle of passion and inevitableness has given a picture of his own dissoluteness. He is a poet- animal trainer, who knows and rules his beasts. A man — if you please.