Ghosts - Henrik Ibsen (most read books in the world of all time .TXT) š
- Author: Henrik Ibsen
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REGINA. Ugh!
ENGSTRAND. And besides, it was when your mother was that aggravatingāI had to find something to twit her with, my child. She was always setting up for a fine lady. [Mimics.] āLet me go, Engstrand; let me be. Remember I was three years in Chamberlain Alvingās family at Rosenvold.ā [Laughs.] Mercy on us! She could never forget that the Captain was made a Chamberlain while she was in service here.
REGINA. Poor mother! you very soon tormented her into her grave.
ENGSTRAND. [With a twist of his shoulders.] Oh, of course! Iām to have the blame for everything.
REGINA. [Turns away; half aloud.] Ughā! And that leg too!
ENGSTRAND. What do you say, my child?
REGINA. Pied de mouton.
ENGSTRAND. Is that English, eh?
REGINA. Yes.
ENGSTRAND. Ay, ay; youāve picked up some learning out here; and that may come in useful now, Regina.
REGINA. [After a short silence.] What do you want with me in town?
ENGSTRAND. Can you ask what a father wants with his only child? Aānāt I a lonely, forlorn widower?
REGINA. Oh, donāt try on any nonsense like that with me! Why do you want me?
ENGSTRAND. Well, let me tell you, Iāve been thinking of setting up in a new line of business.
REGINA. [Contemptuously.] Youāve tried that often enough, and much good youāve done with it.
ENGSTRAND. Yes, but this time you shall see, Regina! Devil take meā
REGINA. [Stamps.] Stop your swearing!
ENGSTRAND. Hush, hush; youāre right enough there, my girl. What I wanted to say was just thisāIāve laid by a very tidy pile from this Orphanage job.
REGINA. Have you? Thatās a good thing for you.
ENGSTRAND. What can a man spend his haāpence on here in this country hole?
REGINA. Well, what then?
ENGSTRAND. Why, you see, I thought of putting the money into some paying speculation. I thought of a sort of a sailorās tavernā
REGINA. Pah!
ENGSTRAND. A regular high-class affair, of course; not any sort of pig-sty for common sailors. No! damn it! it would be for captains and mates, andāandāregular swells, you know.
REGINA. And I was toā?
ENGSTRAND. You were to help, to be sure. Only for the look of the thing, you understand. Devil a bit of hard work shall you have, my girl. You shall do exactly what you like.
REGINA. Oh, indeed!
ENGSTRAND. But there must be a petticoat in the house; thatās as clear as daylight. For I want to have it a bit lively like in the evenings, with singing and dancing, and so on. You must remember theyāre weary wanderers on the ocean of life. [Nearer.] Now donāt be a fool and stand in your own light, Regina. Whatās to become of you out here? Your mistress has given you a lot of learning; but what good is that to you? Youāre to look after the children at the new Orphanage, I hear. Is that the sort of thing for you, eh? Are you so dead set on wearing your life out for a pack of dirty brats?
REGINA. No; if things go as I want them toāWell thereās no sayingā thereās no saying.
ENGSTRAND. What do you mean by āthereās no sayingā?
REGINA. Never you mind.āHow much money have you saved?
ENGSTRAND. What with one thing and another, a matter of seven or eight hundred crowns. [A ākroneā is equal to one shilling and three-halfpence.]
REGINA. Thatās not so bad.
ENGSTRAND. Itās enough to make a start with, my girl.
REGINA. Arenāt you thinking of giving me any?
ENGSTRAND. No, Iām blest if I am!
REGINA. Not even of sending me a scrap of stuff for a new dress?
ENGSTRAND. Come to town with me, my lass, and youāll soon get dresses enough.
REGINA. Pooh! I can do that on my own account, if I want to.
ENGSTRAND. No, a fatherās guiding hand is what you want, Regina. Now, Iāve got my eye on a capital house in Little Harbour Street. They donāt want much ready-money; and it could be a sort of a Sailorsā Home, you know.
REGINA. But I will not live with you! I have nothing whatever to do with you. Be off!
ENGSTRAND. You wouldnāt stop long with me, my girl. No such luck! If you knew how to play your cards, such a fine figure of a girl as youāve grown in the last year or twoā
REGINA. Well?
ENGSTRAND. Youād soon get hold of some mateāor maybe even a captainā
REGINA. I wonāt marry any one of that sort. Sailors have no savoir vivre.
ENGSTRAND. Whatās that they havenāt got?
REGINA. I know what sailors are, I tell you. Theyāre not the sort of people to marry.
ENGSTRAND. Then never mind about marrying them. You can make it pay all the same. [More confidentially.] Heāthe Englishmanāthe man with the yachtāhe came down with three hundred dollars, he did; and she wasnāt a bit handsomer than you.
REGINA. [Making for him.] Out you go!
ENGSTRAND. [Falling back.] Come, come! Youāre not going to hit me, I hope.
REGINA. Yes, if you begin talking about mother I shall hit you. Get away with you, I say! [Drives him back towards the garden door.] And donāt slam the doors. Young Mr. Alvingā
ENGSTRAND. Heās asleep; I know. Youāre mightily taken up about young Mr. Alvingā[More softly.] Oho! you donāt mean to say itās him asā?
REGINA. Be off this minute! Youāre crazy, I tell you! No, not that way. There comes Pastor Manders. Down the kitchen stairs with you.
ENGSTRAND. [Towards the right.] Yes, yes, Iām going. But just you talk to him as is coming there. Heās the man to tell you what a child owes its father. For I am your father all the same, you know. I can prove it from the church register.
[He goes out through the second door to the right, which REGINA has opened, and closes again after him. REGINA glances hastily at herself in the mirror, dusts herself with her pocket handkerchief; and settles her necktie; then she busies herself with the flowers.]
[PASTOR MANDERS, wearing an overcoat, carrying an umbrella, and with a small travelling-bag on a strap over his shoulder, comes through the garden door into the conservatory.]
MANDERS. Good-morning, Miss Engstrand.
REGINA. [Turning round, surprised and pleased.] No, really! Good morning, Pastor Manders. Is the steamer in already?
MANDERS. It is just in. [Enters the sitting-room.] Terrible weather we have been having lately.
REGINA. [Follows him.] Itās such blessed weather for the country, sir.
MANDERS. No doubt; you are quite right. We townspeople give too little thought to that. [He begins to take of his overcoat.]
REGINA. Oh, maynāt I help you?āThere! Why, how wet it is? Iāll just hang it up in the hall. And your umbrella, tooāIāll open it and let it dry.
[She goes out with the things through the second door on the right. PASTOR MANDERS takes off his travelling bag and lays it and his hat on a chair. Meanwhile REGINA comes in again.]
MANDERS. Ah, itās a comfort to get safe under cover. I hope everything is going on well here?
REGINA. Yes, thank you, sir.
MANDERS. You have your hands full, I suppose, in preparation for to-morrow?
REGINA. Yes, thereās plenty to do, of course.
MANDERS. And Mrs. Alving is at home, I trust?
REGINA. Oh dear, yes. Sheās just upstairs, looking after the young masterās chocolate.
MANDERS. Yes, by-the-byeāI heard down at the pier that Oswald had arrived.
REGINA. Yes, he came the day before yesterday. We didnāt expect him before to-day.
MANDERS. Quite strong and well, I hope?
REGINA. Yes, thank you, quite; but dreadfully tired with the journey. He has made one rush right through from Parisāthe whole way in one train, I believe. Heās sleeping a little now, I think; so perhaps weād better talk a little quietly.
MANDERS. Sh!āas quietly as you please.
REGINA. [Arranging an arm-chair beside the table.] Now, do sit down, Pastor Manders, and make yourself comfortable. [He sits down; she places a footstool under his feet.] There! Are you comfortable now, sir?
MANDERS. Thanks, thanks, extremely so. [Looks at her.] Do you know, Miss Engstrand, I positively believe you have grown since I last saw you.
REGINA. Do you think so, Sir? Mrs. Alving says Iāve filled out too.
MANDERS. Filled out? Well, perhaps a little; just enough.
[Short pause.]
REGINA. Shall I tell Mrs. Alving you are here?
MANDERS. Thanks, thanks, there is no hurry, my dear child.ā By-the-bye, Regina, my good girl, tell me: how is your father getting on out here?
REGINA. Oh, thank you, sir, heās getting on well enough.
MANDERS. He called upon me last time he was in town.
REGINA. Did he, indeed? Heās always so glad of a chance of talking to you, sir.
MANDERS. And you often look in upon him at his work, I daresay?
REGINA. I? Oh, of course, when I have time, Iā
MANDERS. Your father is not a man of strong character, Miss Engstrand. He stands terribly in need of a guiding hand.
REGINA. Oh, yes; I daresay he does.
MANDERS. He requires some one near him whom he cares for, and whose judgment he respects. He frankly admitted as much when he last came to see me.
REGINA. Yes, he mentioned something of the sort to me. But I donāt know whether Mrs. Alving can spare me; especially now that weāve got the new Orphanage to attend to. And then I should be so sorry to leave Mrs. Alving; she has always been so kind to me.
MANDERS. But a daughterās duty, my good girlāOf course, we should first have to get your mistressās consent.
REGINA. But I donāt know whether it would be quite proper for me, at my age, to keep house for a single man.
MANDERS. What! My dear Miss Engstrand! When the man is your own father!
REGINA. Yes, that may be; but all the sameāNow, if it were in a thoroughly nice house, and with a real gentlemanā
MANDERS. Why, my dear Reginaā
REGINA. āone I could love and respect, and be a daughter toā
MANDERS. Yes, but my dear, good childā
REGINA. Then I should be glad to go to town. Itās very lonely out here; you know yourself, sir, what it is to be alone in the world. And I can assure you Iām both quick and willing. Donāt you know of any such place for me, sir?
MANDERS. I? No, certainly not.
REGINA. But, dear, dear Sir, do remember me ifā
MANDERS. [Rising.] Yes, yes, certainly, Miss Engstrand.
REGINA. For if Iā
MANDERS. Will you be so good as to tell your mistress I am here?
REGINA. I will, at once, sir. [She goes out to the left.]
MANDERS. [Paces the room two or three times, stands a moment in the background with his hands behind his back, and looks out over the garden. Then he returns to the table, takes up a book, and looks at the title-page; starts, and looks at several books.] Haāindeed!
[MRS. ALVING enters by the door on the left; she is followed by REGINA, who immediately goes out by the first door on the right.]
MRS. ALVING. [Holds out her hand.] Welcome, my dear Pastor.
MANDERS. How do you do, Mrs. Alving? Here I am as I promised.
MRS. ALVING. Always punctual to the minute.
MANDERS. You may believe it was not so easy for me to get away. With all the Boards and Committees I belong toā
MRS. ALVING. That makes it all the kinder of you to come so early. Now we can get through our business before dinner. But where is your portmanteau?
MANDERS. [Quickly.] I left it down at the inn. I shall sleep there to-night.
MRS. ALVING. [Suppressing a smile.] Are you really
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