Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (38 page)

SCENE X
I

[LADY KIRSTEN and HEMMING enter from the left.]

HEMMING. Here he was; — why — now he is gone!

LADY KIRSTEN. And he said he was waiting for the bride who was to come?

HEMMING. Yes, but whom he had in mind I could not quite make out; for his speech was strangely incoherent. Ingeborg he did not mean, — that is certain.

LADY KIRSTEN. Say nothing, good Hemming! say nothing of what he just said! You did well to let me alone know he was here. You shall be richly rewarded for this, but first we must find him again —

HEMMING.
[As he looks out to the right.]
See, — see there, in the moonlight, on the hill near the river, — yes, surely I think —

LADY KIRSTEN. Hush, hush, it is Olaf!

HEMMING. There are two; a woman is with him —

LADY KIRSTEN. Heavenly saints!

HEMMING. He is pointing out the village as if — there they go!

LADY KIRSTEN. Call Lord Arne and our people! We will meet again here; I bring Olaf with me!

HEMMING. But dare you then — ?

LADY KIRSTEN. Do as I say; but say nothing of what you have heard and seen. You can say that Olaf came up here to hunt deer and bear, and that he went astray in the mountain.

HEMMING. You can rely on me, Lady Kirsten!

[Goes out to the left.]

LADY KIRSTEN. Is it true, then? Have evil sprites gained control over him? Yes, so I can pretend to Arne of Guldvik, but little I believe it myself; — and yet it is said it happened often enough in the days gone by. But it is elfen maids no doubt of flesh and blood that — . There he goes down to the river, — I must hasten!

[Goes out to the right in the background.]

CHORUS.
[From the forest to the left.]
  With ringing of bells we hurry along,
  We wander in field and in dell!
  O Christian, come, give heed to our song,
  Wake up from your magic spell!

SCENE XI
I

[OLAF and ALFHILD come in from the right in the background. Later LADY KIRSTEN.]

ALFHILD. O, you must tell me still more of the world!
Your words to my soul are refreshing indeed;
It seems as if here in the wonders you tell
My innermost longings you read!….

Did you ne’er on a summer night sit by a tarn,
So deep that no one could fathom it quite,
And see in the water the stars so bright,
Those knowing eyes that express with their flickering light
Much more than a thousand tongues could possibly say?

I often sat thus; I sought with my hands to capture
The sparkling riddles below in the deep —
I snatched after them, I would see them close,
Then they grew blurred like eyes that weep, —
It is idle to search and to seek —

So too in my soul there was many a riddle
I yearned to solve in the days that are gone!
They tricked me as did all the stars in the deep,
Grew stranger and stranger the more I brooded thereon!

OLAF. Am I not to myself a mysterious riddle?
Am I Olaf Liljekrans, the nobly born,
The knight so proud, who vaunted his race,
Who laughed the singing of birds to scorn!
And yet, from my heart I tear what I was!
Happy I am, — and that can I understand —
Your prophecy failed, — I should happiness find,
When the fairest of flowers I had found in the land.
Ah! happiness here I have found!

ALFHILD. I prophesied nothing.
But — tell me more of the life that is yonder!

OLAF. The life that is yonder may go its own way;
Here is my home; with you will I wander,
My lovely wife! Alfhild, behold!
Is it not as if here in the mountainous fold
Were built for us two a bower so fair!
The snowdrops in splendor stand garbed everywhere;
In here there is feasting, there is joy, there is mirth,
More real than any I have found on this earth!
The song rings out from the river so deep;
It is that which makes me both laugh and weep!
The song of magic, the mysterious lay,
Has made me so free, so happy and gay!

[Seizes her passionately in his arms.]

OLAF. Farewell to the village below I say!
‘Tis here that my bridal-bed I shall prepare;
Farewell to the world forever and ay, —
For here I shall hold my beautiful bride!

ALFHILD.
[Moves away apprehensively.]
Olaf!

OLAF.
[Stops suddenly, as if seized with a vague and painful
remembrance.]
My bride! What is it I say!
Tell me — when first — I happened this way —
Can you still remember the very first night?
What was it I sought? — No longer I know!
Did I come to fetch you — to — the village below?
Did I come the wedding guests to invite?

ALFHILD. What mean you? Wedding? I can’t understand — ?

OLAF. Our betrothal at Guldvik was held, you remember!
For three weeks thereafter our wedding was planned —
But it seems to me that, — no, my brow like an ember
Burns hot! I will try no more to remember!

CHORUS.
[Softly and far in the forest.]
Olaf Liljekrans! Olaf Liljekrans!
Why sleep you so deep and so long?

ALFHILD. Hush, Olaf! do you hear?

OLAF. Did you hear it too?

ALFHILD. What was it?

OLAF. A memory of long ago,
Which often comes back when I wander with you!
‘Tis evil, — it calls from the village below.

LADY KIRSTEN.
[Aside, as she enters from the rear of the stage unobserved by the others.]
Ah, there! He speaks; could I understand — !

[Approaches listening.]

OLAF.
[With increasing vehemence.]
Yes, yes, I come; not alone will I ride!
For ladies and knights shall heed my command,
And come hither with song to greet my bride!
For you shall be saddled my swiftest steed,
The poet and minstrel shall ride in the lead,
Thereafter shall follow the steward and priest,
The people shall all be bid to the feast!
Pages so courtly shall guide your steed,
And beautiful flowers be strewn at your feet,
The peasant shall bow to the ground like a weed,
His wife shall curtsy to you as is meet!
The church bell shall ring to the countryside:
Now rides Olaf Liljekrans home with his bride!

CHORUS OF WEDDING GUESTS.
[Animated, yet softly, in the forest
to the left.]
  Now hasten we all
  To the wedding hall!
  The foal runneth light and gay!
  The hoofs resound
  On the grassy ground,
  As the merry swains gallop away!

LADY KIRSTEN.
[Aside during the chorus.]
Heaven he praised then! Hemming has told — !

ALFHILD.
[Jubilant.]
They come, they come, their voices I hear!
How sweetly it sounds! O Olaf, behold!

LADY KIRSTEN. Olaf, my son!

[Rushes to him unobserved by ALFHILD, who continues to look out to the left.]

OLAF. God help me! What’s here!
My mother!

LADY KIRSTEN. My poor unfortunate son!
Now are you saved from the evil one!
There comes Lord Arne with Ingeborg, your wife!

OLAF.
[With a cry and as if suddenly awakening.]
Ingeborg! — With that have you shattered my life!
My happiness then was not what it seemed!
Alas, that you had to inform me of this!

OLAF.
[In despair.]
Dear mother! a beautiful dream I have dreamed;
You waken me now, — there’s an end to my bliss!

SCENE XII
I

[The Preceding. ARNE, INGEBORG, HEMMING, WEDDING
GUESTS, and LADY KIRSTEN from the left.]

ARNE. Good luck, Lady Kirsten, to you! You have found him again, I am told.

LADY KIRSTEN. Of course I have found him. — And now for home!

ARNE.
[To OLAF.]
And no harm has been done you?

OLAF.
[Absent-minded.]
Me! What do you mean?

LADY KIRSTEN.
[Interrupting.]
Of course not, Lord Arne! He went astray on the hunt and —

INGEBORG.
[Pointing to ALFHILD.]
But this young woman — ?

LADY KIRSTEN. A poor child! She has given him lodging and shelter.

ARNE. But there is no one who lives up here.

LADY KIRSTEN. Yet a stray one here and there! There is many a solitary family still dwells among the mountains since the time of the plague.

ARNE. Then come, come! The horses are waiting below on the hill.

OLAF.
[Painfully, as he glances at ALFHILD.]
O mother! I cannot!

LADY KIRSTEN.
[Softly and resolute.]
You must! It will be your eternal shame if you —

ARNE. What does he mean?

LADY KIRSTEN. He is sick and tired as yet, but it will pass off.
Come!

LADY KIRSTEN.
[With a significant look at OLAF.]
The young woman comes too!

INGEBORG. You mean that she — !

LADY KIRSTEN. Faithfully has she nursed him; it is only fitting that she be rewarded.

ARNE. And tomorrow the wedding is held!

LADY KIRSTEN. Tomorrow, — that I solemnly swear!

ARNE. I have your word!

HEMMING.
[Softly and triumphant, as he brings forth the ring.]
And I have Ingeborg’s golden ring!

INGEBORG.
[Takes the ring from him and says carelessly.]
My ring! Aha, — so you have my ring, Hemming! Thanks, I shall now take care of it myself!

[HEMMING stands a moment dumfounded and then follows very slowly the rest, who all except ALFHILD go out to the left.]

SCENE XI
V

[ALFHILD. Shortly afterwards THORGJERD from the background.]

ALFHILD. (Has observed in silent and childlike amazement the preceding scene without however heeding the action; when they are gone she suddenly comes to herself as from a dream.)

They are gone! Can I trust my eyes; — is it true?
Yes, here in the moonlight they stood in full view!
There I see them again down the mountain side,
And I must go with them, for I am the bride!

[Starts as if to rush out to the left.]

THORGJERD.
[In the background.]
Alfhild! my child! And how come you here?
I have told you before —

ALFHILD. O my father dear!
Now must I be free — as free as the wind,
No longer can I in the hills be confined!

THORGJERD.
[Comes nearer.]
What has befallen you?

ALFHILD.
[In ecstasy.]
Now is he come!

THORGJERD. But who?

ALFHILD. The fair knight! He will carry me home!
Now first do I grasp all the restless desire,
That long has been smouldering in me like fire!
We often have sat, as the river rushed by,
While you sang of the princess enthralled in the hill!
The princess, my father! the princess am I;
But he, the fair knight, bent the troll to his will! —
And now I am free to do what I may;
I will hence into life and its motley affray!
His words were like song! I am free as the wind;
No power can stay me or hold me behind!

THORGJERD. Poor child! You would down to the village below;
It will cost you your happiness; stay, do not go!

ALFHILD. But, father, I must! Your sweetest lays
Will seem to me now like a misty haze!

THORGJERD. Then go, my Alfhild! and dream while you may,
Your father will guard you alway!
But look you take care of the crafty young swains
With words so cunning and free!

ALFHILD. Away in the distant and sunny domains, —
Where Olaf is, there must I be!
There stands his castle with golden hall!
From the ballads you sang his face I recall;
The king’s son is he, the knight who can ride,
And I, the poor Alfhild, — I am his bride!
Poor, did I say, — no, the princess on high,
O, more than the princess, — his sweetheart am I!

[The wedding chorus is heard far down the mountain side.]

ALFHILD. Listen, he calls with his trumpet and horn!
Farewell now, forest and flower and thorn!
Farewell, my valley; you have cramped me too long,
The whole world is calling with laughter and song!
Tomorrow attired in gold I shall ride
Away to the church as Olaf’s bride!
We shall sit on the throne of honor within —
Ah, now shall my life in its fulness begin!

[She rushes out to the left. THORGJERD gazes after her thoughtfully. The chorus dies away in the distance as the curtain falls.]