One-Act Plays Part 96

THE LITTLE MAN[54]

By JOHN GALSWORTHY

[Footnote 54: From _The Little Man and Other Satires_; copyright, 1915, by Charles Scribner's Sons. By permission of the publishers. Acting rights, professional and amateur, reserved to the author in care of the publisher.]

"Close by the Greek temples at Paestum there are violets that seem redder, and sweeter, than any ever seen--as though they have sprung up out of the footprints of some old pagan G.o.ddess; but under the April sun, in a Devonshire lane, the little blue scentless violets capture every bit as much of the spring." Affection for the West country that was the home of John Galsworthy's ancestors heightens the glamour of this enchanting bit of writing from one of his essays. As he himself has said, the Galsworthys have been in Devonshire as far back as records go--"since the flood of Saxons at all events." He was born, though, at Coombe in Surrey in 1867. From 1881 to 1886, he was at Harrow where he did well at work and games. He was graduated with an honor degree in law from New College, Oxford, in 1889. Following his father's example, he took up the law and was called to the bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1890. "I read," he says, "in various chambers, practised almost not at all, and disliked my profession thoroughly."

For nearly two years thereafter, Galsworthy traveled, visiting among other places, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Fiji Islands, and South Africa. On a sailing-ship plying between Adelaide and the Cape he met and made a friend of the novelist, Joseph Conrad, then still a sailor. Galsworthy was soon to become a writer himself, publishing his first novel in 1899. Since that date he has written novels, plays, essays, and verse that have made him famous.[55]

Through his writings he has become a great social force. In this respect his influence resembles that of Charles d.i.c.kens. He has made people who read his books or see his plays acted think about the justice or injustice of inst.i.tutions commonly accepted without a question. The presentation of his play _Justice_ (1909), moved the Home Secretary of the day, Winston Churchill, to put into effect several important reforms affecting the English prison system.

[Footnote 55: For a short bibliography, see Sheila Kaye-Smith, _John Galsworthy_, London, 1916.]

_The Little Man_, no less a socializing agency in its way, was produced in New York at Maxine Elliott's Theatre in February, 1917, as a curtain raiser to G. K. Chesterton's play, Magic. The part of the Little Man himself was taken by O. P. Heggie, one of the most intelligent and distinguished actors on the English-speaking stage. J.

Ranken Towse, reviewing the performance for the Sat.u.r.day Magazine of the _New York Evening Post_, on February 17, 1917, wrote: "Another entertainment of notable excellence is that provided by the double bill at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, consisting of Galsworthy's _The Little Man_ and Chesterton's _Magic_. Here are two plays of diverse character and superior quality, in which some highly intelligent and artistic acting is done by Mr. O. P. Heggie. Some sensitive reviewers have found cause of offense in Mr. Galsworthy's somewhat fanciful American, but the dramatist has been equally disrespectful in his handling of Germans, Dutch, and English. The value and significance of the piece, of course, are to be looked for, not in its broad humors--which are largely conventional--but in the ethical and moral lesson and profound social philosophy which they suggest and ill.u.s.trate." It is hard to sympathize with the "sensitive reviewers,"

though to the native ear, to be sure, the utterances of the American lack verisimilitude. The author of _The Little Man_ has even been humorously reproached with using the speech of Deadwood d.i.c.k for his model.

The play was also given quite recently, during the season of 1920-21, as part of the repertory at the Everyman Theatre in London. On the programs invariably appears the note which is prefixed also to this as to every printed version. It explains carefully that this play was written before the days of the Great War. This note bespeaks the playwright's perfect detachment which is, as has been said, "an artistic device, not a matter of divine indifference." Yet the satire does seem to be directed, incidentally at least, against certain familiar national characteristics, for it is the humanity of the Little Man, whose mixed ancestry is described by the American as being "a bit streaky," that puts to shame the various types of human arrogance and indifference with which he is surrounded.

THE LITTLE MAN[56]

[Footnote 56: AUTHOR'S NOTE

Since it is just possible that someone may think _The Little Man_ has a deep, dark reference to the war, it may be as well to state that this whimsey was written in October, 1913.]

_SCENE I.--Afternoon, on the departure platform of an Austrian railway station. At several little tables outside the buffet persons are taking refreshment, served by a pale young waiter. On a seat against the wall of the buffet a woman of lowly station is sitting beside two large bundles, on one of which she has placed her baby, swathed in a black shawl._

WAITER [_approaching a table whereat sit an English traveler and his wife_]. Zwei Kaffee?

ENGLISHMAN [_paying_]. Thanks. [_To his wife, in an Oxford voice._]

Sugar?

ENGLISHWOMAN [_in a Cambridge voice_]. One.

AMERICAN TRAVELER [_with field-gla.s.ses and a pocket camera--from another table_]. Waiter, I'd like to have you get my eggs. I've been sitting here quite a while.

WAITER. Yes, sare.

GERMAN TRAVELER. Kellner, bezahlen! [_His voice is, like his mustache, stiff and brushed up at the ends. His figure also is stiff and his hair a little gray; clearly once, if not now, a colonel._]

WAITER. Komm' gleich! [_The baby on the bundle wails. The mother takes it up to soothe it. A young, red-cheeked Dutchman at the fourth table stops eating and laughs._]

AMERICAN. My eggs! Get a wiggle on you!

WAITER. Yes, sare. [_He rapidly recedes. A LITTLE MAN in a soft hat is seen to the right of the tables. He stands a moment looking after the hurrying waiter, then seats himself at the fifth table._]

ENGLISHMAN [_looking at his watch_]. Ten minutes more.

ENGLISHWOMAN. Bother!

AMERICAN [_addressing them_]. 'Pears as if they'd a prejudice against eggs here, anyway. [_The English look at him, but do not speak._]

GERMAN [_in creditable English_]. In these places man can get nothing.

[_The WAITER comes flying back with a compote for the DUTCH YOUTH, who pays._]

GERMAN. Kellner, bezahlen!

WAITER. Eine Krone sechzig. [_The GERMAN pays._]

AMERICAN [_rising, and taking out his watch--blandly_]. See here! If I don't get my eggs before this watch ticks twenty, there'll be another waiter in heaven.

WAITER [_flying_]. Komm' gleich!

AMERICAN [_seeking sympathy_]. I'm gettin' kind of mad!

[_The ENGLISHMAN halves his newspaper and hands the advertis.e.m.e.nt half to his wife. The BABY wails. The MOTHER rocks it. The DUTCH YOUTH stops eating and laughs. The GERMAN lights a cigarette. The LITTLE MAN sits motionless, nursing his hat. The WAITER comes flying back with the eggs and places them before the AMERICAN._]

AMERICAN [_putting away his watch_]. Good! I don't like trouble. How much? [_He pays and eats. The WAITER stands a moment at the edge of the platform and pa.s.ses his hand across his brow. The LITTLE MAN eyes him and speaks gently._]

LITTLE MAN. Herr Ober! [_The WAITER turns._] Might I have a gla.s.s of beer?

WAITER. Yes, sare.

LITTLE MAN. Thank you very much. [_The WAITER goes._]

AMERICAN [_pausing in the deglut.i.tion of his eggs--affably_]. Pardon me, sir; I'd like to have you tell me why you called that little bit of a feller "Herr Ober." Reckon you would know what that means? Mr.

Head Waiter.

LITTLE MAN. Yes, yes.

AMERICAN. I smile.

LITTLE MAN. Oughtn't I to call him that?

GERMAN [_abruptly_]. Nein--Kellner.

AMERICAN. Why, yes! Just "waiter." [_The ENGLISHWOMAN looks round her paper for a second. The DUTCH YOUTH stops eating and laughs. The LITTLE MAN gazes from face to face and nurses his hat._]

LITTLE MAN. I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

GERMAN. Gott!