The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - novelonlinefull.com
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SCENE VII
SOPHY, _like a ghost; can hardly stand or speak; dragged in forcibly by the_ FORESTER.
FORESTER.
Where is my child?
ANDREW.
Mother, what ails you?
[_He supports her on one side, the_ PASTOR _on the other_.]
SOPHY.
Andrew! At least one!
FORESTER (_shakes her_).
My child! My child! Where is my child?
SOPHY (_with repulsion, but faintly_).
Leave me, you--
FORESTER.
My Mary!
SOPHY.
To the Dell--you--
FORESTER.
Creature, you lie!
SOPHY.
To Robert--
FORESTER.
Yes, she met me--in the fog--as I was coming--
SOPHY.
That was William.
FORESTER.
It was Mary, woman; Mary!
PASTOR.
She cannot answer any more. She has fainted.
STEIN.
Take her away from the madman!
FORESTER.
You mean to say that I--my own child--
ANDREW.
Mother! Mother!
[_He and the_ PASTOR _are busy about her, at the table to the right_.]
STEIN (_who in the meantime is trying to keep the_ FORESTER _away from her_).
Hands off, you madman!
FORESTER.
Madman? G.o.d grant that I am!
[_A knock is heard; he steps back in horror and stretches out his hands toward the door, as if warding off something_.]
Nonsense! What do you want, the whole lot of you? Why, that is Mary. She is standing outside, and does not dare to come in, because she ran out in the night. She hasn't the courage. I am severe--oh, I am severe!
Silly wench!
[_Stands up straight_.]
Come what may!
[_He rushes toward the door; before he reaches it, another knock is heard; he steps back again horrified and powerless_.]
The raging fever has seized me--nothing else. These are the symptoms--chattering of the teeth and chills along the spine.
Elderberry-tea--a night or two of perspiration! What has the knocking to do with my fever? Why does not some one open, some one call her in? Why are you all so pale and tongueless? Has some one told a fairy-tale, and are you afraid? My Mary was a living fairy-tale--she is-she is, I mean to say. That Mary could be dead--but she would not give me such pain!
She knows that I cannot live without my Mary. Do you hear her giggling outside? Now she will come skipping in and hold her hands over my eyes, as she is accustomed to do, and I must not spoil her fun. Oh, it is--[_Attempts to laugh, but sobs_.]--a--[_Beside himself_.]--After all, it has to be! Come in!
[_Attempts to go to the door, but with eyes closed sinks into a chair on the left_.]
