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Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, May 23, 1891 By: Various |
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OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. VOL. 100. May 23, 1891.
MR. PUNCH'S POCKET IBSEN. ( CONDENSED AND REVISED VERSION, BY MR. P.'S OWN HARMLESS IBSENITE. ) NO. IV. THE WILD DUCK. ACT I. At WERLE's house. In front a richly upholstered study.
(R.) a green baize door leading to WERLE's office. At back,
open folding doors, revealing an elegant dining room, in
which a brilliant Norwegian dinner party is going on. Hired
Waiters in profusion. A glass is tapped with a knife. Shouts
of "Bravo!" Old Mr. WERLE is heard making a long speech,
proposing according to the custom of Norwegian society on
such occasions the health of his Housekeeper, Mrs. SÖRBY.
Presently several short sighted, flabby, and thin haired
Chamberlains, enter from the dining room, with HIALMAR
EKDAL, who writhes shyly under their remarks. A Chamberlain . As we are the sole surviving specimens of Norwegian
nobility, suppose we sustain our reputation as aristocratic sparklers
by enlarging upon the enormous amount we have eaten, and chaffing
HIALMAR EKDAL, the friend of our host's son, for being a professional
Photographer? [Illustration: "Father, a word with you in private. I loathe you!"] The other Chamberlains . Bravo! We will. [ They do; delight of HIALMAR. Old WERLE comes in, leaning
on his Housekeeper's arm, followed by his son, GREGERS
WERLE. Old Werle ( dejectedly ). Thirteen at table! ( To GREGERS, with
a meaning glance at HIALMAR.) This is the result of inviting an old
College friend who has turned Photographer! Wasting vintage wines on
him , indeed! [ He passes on gloomily. Hialmar ( to Gregers ). I am almost sorry I came. Your old min is
not friendly. Yet he set me up as a Photographer fifteen years ago.
Now he takes me down! But for him, I should never have married GINA,
who, you may remember, was a servant in your family once. Gregers . What? my old College friend married fifteen years ago and
to our GINA, of all people! If I had not been up at the works all
these years, I suppose I should have heard something of such an event.
But my father never mentioned it. Odd! [ He ponders; Old EKDAL comes out through the green baize
door, bowing, and begging pardon, carrying copying work. Old
WERLE says "Ugh" and "Puh" involuntarily. HIALMAR shrinks
back, and looks another way. A Chamberlain asks him
pleasantly if he knows that old man. Hialmar . I oh no. Not in the least. No relation! Gregers ( shocked ). What, HIALMAR, you, with your great soul, deny
your own father! Hialmar ( vehemently ). Of course what else can a Photographer
do with a disreputable old parent, who has been in a Penitentiary
for making a fraudulent map? I shall leave this splendid banquet. The
Chamberlains are not kind to me, and I feel the crushing hand of fate
on my head! [ Goes out hastily, feeling it. Mrs. Sörby ( archly ). Any Nobleman here say "Cold Punch"? [ Every Nobleman says "Cold Punch," and follows her out in
search of it with enthusiasm. GREGERS approaches his father,
who wishes he would go. Gregers . Father, a word with you in private. I loathe you. I am
nothing if not candid. Old EKDAL was your partner once, and it's my
firm belief you deserved a prison quite as much as he did. However,
you surely need not have married our GINA to my old friend HIALMAR.
You know very well she was no better than she should have been! Old Werle . True but then no more is Mrs. SÖRBY. And I am going to
marry her if you have no objection, that is. Gregers . None in the world! How can I object to a stepmother who
is playing Blind Man's Buff at the present moment with the Norwegian
nobility? I am not so overstrained as all that. But really I can not
allow my old friend HIALMAR, with his great, confiding, childlike
mind, to remain in contented ignorance of GINA's past. No, I see my
mission in life at last! I shall take my hat, and inform him that his
home is built upon a lie... Continue reading book >>
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