Scene Fifth
A bedchamber.—Frau Bergmann, Ina Müller and Doctor von Brausepulver. Wendla, in bed.
Dr. von Brausepulver.
How old are you, exactly?
Wendla.
Fourteen and a half.
Dr. von Brausepulver.
I have been ordering Blaud’s pills for fifteen years and have noticed astonishing results in the majority of cases. I prefer them to cod liver oil and wine of iron. Begin with three or four pills a day, and increase the number just as soon as you are able. I ordered Fräulein Elfriede, Baroness von Witzleben to increase the number of them by one, every third day. The Baroness misunderstood me and increased the number every day by three. Scarcely three weeks later the Baroness was able to go to Pyrmont with her mother to complete her cure.——I will allow you to dispense with exhausting walks and extra meals; therefore, promise me, dear child, to take frequent exercise and to avoid unwholesome food as soon as the desire for it appears again. Then this palpitation of the heart will soon cease——and the headache, the chills, the giddiness——and this frightful indigestion. Fräulein Elfriede, Baroness von Witzleben, ate a whole roast chicken with new potatoes for her breakfast eight days after her convalescence.
Frau Bergmann.
May I offer you a glass of wine, Doctor?
Dr. von Brausepulver.
I thank you, dear Frau Bergmann, my carriage is waiting.——Do not take it so to heart. In a few weeks our dear little patient will be again as fresh and bright as a gazelle. Be of good cheer.——Good-day, Frau Bergmann, good-day, dear child, good-day, ladies——good-day.
(Frau Bergmann accompanies him to the door.)
Ina.
(At the window.)
Now your plantains are in bloom again.——Can you see that from your bed?——A short display, hardly worth rejoicing over them, they come and go so quickly. I, too, must go right away now. Müller is waiting for me in front of the post-office, and I must go first to the dressmaker’s. Mucki is to have his first trousers and Karl is to have new knit leggings for winter.
Wendla.
Sometimes I feel so happy——all joy and sunshine. I had not guessed that it could go so well in one’s heart! I want to go out, to go over the meadows in the twilight, to look for primroses along the river and to sit down on the banks and dream—Then comes the toothache, and I feel as if I had to die the next morning at daybreak; I grow hot and cold, it becomes dark before my eyes; and then the beast flutters inside.——As often as I wake up, I see Mother crying. Oh, that hurts me so.——I can’t tell you how much, Ina!
Ina.
Shall I lift your pillows higher?
Frau Bergmann.
(Returning.)
He thinks the vomiting will soon cease; and then you can get up in peace——I, too, think it would be better if you got up soon, Wendla.
Ina.
Possibly when I visit you the next time you will be dancing around the house again. Good-bye, Mother. I must positively go to the dressmaker’s. God guard you, Wendla dear. (Kisses her.) A speedy, speedy recovery! (Exit Ina.)
Wendla.
What did he tell you, Mother, when he was outside?
Frau Bergmann.
He didn’t say anything.——He said Fraülein von Witzleben was subject to fainting spells also. It is almost always so with chlorosis.
Wendla.
Did he say that I have chlorosis, Mother?
Frau Bergmann.
You are to drink milk and eat meat and vegetables when your appetite comes back.
Wendla.
O, Mother, Mother, I believe I haven’t chlorosis——
Frau Bergmann.
You have chlorosis, child. Be calm, Wendla, be calm, you have chlorosis.
Wendla.
No, Mother, no! I know it. I feel it. I haven’t chlorosis. I have dropsy——
Frau Bergmann.
You have chlorosis. He said positively that you have chlorosis. Calm yourself, girl. You will get better.
Wendla.
I won’t get better. I have the dropsy, I must die, Mother.——O, Mother, I must die!
Frau Bergmann.
You must not die, child! You must not die—Great heavens, you must not die!
Wendla.
But why do you weep so frightfully, then?
Frau Bergmann.
You must not die, child! You haven’t the dropsy, you have a child, girl! You have a child!——Oh, why did you do that to me!
Wendla.
I haven’t done anything to you.
Frau Bergmann.
Oh don’t deny it any more, Wendla!——I know everything. See, I didn’t want to say a word to you.——Wendla, my Wendla——!
Wendla.
But it’s not possible, Mother. I’m not married yet!
Frau Bergmann.
Great Almighty God——that’s just it, that you are not married! That is the most frightful thing of all!——Wendla, Wendla, Wendla, what have you done!!
Wendla.
God knows, I don’t know any more! We lay in the hay——I have loved nobody in the world as I do you, Mother.
Frau Bergmann.
My sweetheart——
Wendla.
O Mother, why didn’t you tell me everything!
Frau Bergmann.
Child, child, let us not make each other’s hearts any heavier! Take hold of yourself! Don’t make me desperate, child. To tell that to a fourteen-year-old girl! See, I expected that about as much as I did the sun going out. I haven’t acted any differently towards you than my dear, good mother did toward me.——Oh, let us trust in the dear God, Wendla; let us hope for compassion, and have compassion toward ourselves! See, nothing has happened yet, child. And if we are not cowardly now, God won’t forsake us.——Be cheerful, Wendla, be cheerful!——One sits so at the window with one’s hands in one’s lap, while everything changes to good, and then one realizes that one almost wanted to break one’s heart——Wa——why are you shivering?
Wendla.
Somebody knocked.
Frau Bergmann.
I didn’t hear anything, dear heart. (Goes and opens the door.)
Wendla.
But I heard it very plainly——Who is outside?
Frau Bergmann.
Nobody——Schmidt’s Mother from Garden street.——You come just at the right time, Mother Schmidt.