Three Comedies. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
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because—(Turns away.)
Axel. But what has made you so unkind? (MATHILDE stops for a moment, as though she were going to answer; then goes hurriedly out.) What on earth is the matter with her? Has anything gone wrong between her and Laura? Or is it something about the house that is worrying her? She is too level-headed to be disturbed by trifles.—Well, whatever it is, it must look after itself; I have something else to think about. If the one of them can't understand me, and the other won't, and the old couple neither can nor will, I must act on my own account—and the sooner the better! Later on, it would look to other people like a rupture. It must be done now, before we settle down to this state of things; for if we were to do that, it would be all up with us. To acquiesce in such an unnatural state of affairs would be like crippling one's self on purpose. I am entangled hand and foot here in the meshes of a net of circumspection. I shall have to sail along at "dead slow" all my life—creep about among their furniture and their flowers as warily as among their habits. You might just as well try to stand the house on its head as to alter the slightest thing in it. I daren't move!—and it is becoming unbearable. Would it be a breach of a law of nature to move this couch a little closer to the wall, or this chair further away from it? And has it been ordained from all eternity that this table must stand just where it does? Can it be shifted? (Moves it.) It actually can! And the couch, too. Why does it stand so far forward? (Pushes it back.) And why are these chairs everlastingly in the way? This one shall stand there—and this one there. (Moves them.) I will have room for my legs; I positively believe I have forgotten how to walk. For a whole year I have hardly heard the sound of my own footstep—or of my own voice; they do nothing but whisper and cough here. I wonder if I have any voice left? (Sings.)
"Bursting every bar and band,
My fetters will I shatter;
Striding out, with sword in hand,
Where the fight"—
(He stops abruptly, at the entrance of the FATHER, the MOTHER, LAURA and MATHILDE, who have come hurriedly from the breakfast table. A long pause.)
Laura. Axel, dear!
Mathilde. What, all by himself?
Mother. Do you think you are at a ball?
Father. And playing the part of musician as well as dancer?
Axel. I am amusing myself.
Father. With our furniture?
Axel. I only wanted to see if it was possible to move it.
Mother. If it was possible to move it?
Laura. But what were you shouting about?
Axel. I only wanted to try if I had any voice left.
Laura. If you had any voice left?
Mother. There is a big wood near the house, where you can practise that.
Father. And a waterfall—if you are anxious to emulate Demosthenes.
Laura. Axel, dear—are you out of your mind?
Axel. No, but I think I soon shall be.
Mother. Is there anything wrong?
Axel. Yes, a great deal.
Mother. What is it? Some unpleasant news by post?
Axel. No, not that—but I am unhappy.
Mother. Two days after your wedding?
Father. You have a very odd way of showing it.
Axel. I am taken like that sometimes.
Mother. But what is it? Evidently you are not as happy as we hoped you would be. Confide in us, Axel; we are your parents now, you know.
Axel. It is something I have been thinking about for a long time, but have not had the courage to mention.
Mother. Why? Aren't we good to you?
Axel. You are much too good to me.
Father. What do you mean by that?
Axel. That everything is made far too smooth for me here; my faculties get no exercise; I cannot satisfy my longing for activity and conflict—nor my ambition.
Father. Dear me! What do you want, if you please?
Axel. I want to work for myself, to owe my position in life to my own efforts—to become something.
Father. Really.—What a foolish idea! (Moves towards the door.)
Mother. But an idea we must take an interest in. He is our child's husband now, remember. What do you want to be, my boy? Member of Parliament?
Axel. No; but my uncle, who has about the largest legal practice in these parts, offered long ago to hand it over to me.
Mother. But you wouldn't be able to look after it from here, would you, Axel?
Father (at the door). A ridiculous idea!—Come back to breakfast. (Turns to go.)
Mother. That is true, isn't it? You couldn't look after it from here?
Axel. No; but I can move into town.
All. Move into town? (A pause. The FATHER turns back from the door.)
Father. That is still more impossible, of course.
Mother. There must be something at the bottom of this. Is anything worrying you? (Lowering her voice.) Are you in debt?
Axel. No, thanks to the kindness of you two. You have freed me from that.
Mother. Then what is it, Axel? You have been so, strange lately—what is it, my dear boy?
Father. Nonsensical ideas—probably his stomach is disordered. Remember the last time I ate lobster!—Come along in and have a glass of sherry, and you will forget all about it.
Axel. No, it isn't a thing one can forget. It is always in my thoughts—more and more insistently. I must have work for my mind—some outlet for my ambition. I am bored here.
Mother. Two days after your wedding!
Father. Set to work then, for heaven's sake! What is there to hinder you? Would you like to take charge of one of my farms? Or to start some improvements on the estate?—or anything you please! I have no doubt you have ideas, and I will provide the money—only do not let us have any of this fuss!
Axel. But then I shall be indebted to you for everything, and shall feel dependent.
Father. So you would rather feel indebted to your uncle?
Axel. He will give me nothing. I must buy it from him.
Father. Really!—How?
Axel. With my work and my—. Oh well, I suppose you would lend me a little capital?
Father. Not a penny.
Axel. But why?
Father. I will tell you why. Because my son in law must be my son-in-law, and not a speculating lawyer who sits with his door open and a sign hung out to beg for custom.
Axel. Is a lawyer's profession a dishonourable one, then?
Father. No, it is not. But you have been received into one of the oldest and richest families in the country, and you owe some respect to its traditions. Generation after generation, from time immemorial, the heads of our family have been lords of the manor—not office seekers or fortune hunters. The honourable offices I have held have all been offered to me and not sought by me; and I am not going to have you chattering about your university degree or your talents. You shall stay quietly here, and you will be offered more than you want.
Mother. Come, come, my dear, don't get heated over it; that always makes you so unwell. Let us arrive at some arrangement without wrangling. Axel, you must be reasonable; you know he cannot stand any over-exertion. Laura, get your father a glass of water. Come, my dear, let us go back to the dining-room.
Father. Thanks, I have no appetite left now.
Mother. There, you see!—Axel, Axel!
Laura. For shame, Axel!
Mother.