A Dolls House | Page 5

And then?--
Mrs. Linde. Well, I had to turn my hand to anything I could find- -first a small shop, then a small school, and so on. The last three years have seemed like one long working-day, with no rest. Now it is at an end, Nora. My poor mother needs me no more, for she is gone; and the boys do not need me either; they have got situations and can shift for themselves.
Nora. What a relief you must feel if--
Mrs. Linde. No, indeed; I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for anymore. (Gets up restlessly.) That was why I could not stand the life in my little backwater any longer. I hope it may be easier here to find something which will busy me and occupy my thoughts. If only I could have the good luck to get some regular work--office work of some kind--
Nora. But, Christine, that is so frightfully tiring, and you look tired out now. You had far better go away to some watering-place.
Mrs. Linde (walking to the window). I have no father to give me money for a journey, Nora.
Nora (rising). Oh, don't be angry with me!
Mrs. Linde (going up to her). It is you that must not be angry with me, dear. The worst of a position like mine is that it makes one so bitter. No one to work for, and yet obliged to be always on the lookout for chances. One must live, and so one becomes selfish. When you told me of the happy turn your fortunes have taken--you will hardly believe it--I was delighted not so much on your account as on my own.
Nora. How do you mean?--Oh, I understand. You mean that perhaps Torvald could get you something to do.
Mrs. Linde. Yes, that was what I was thinking of.
Nora. He must, Christine. Just leave it to me; I will broach the subject very cleverly--I will think of something that will please him very much. It will make me so happy to be of some use to you.
Mrs. Linde. How kind you are, Nora, to be so anxious to help me! It is doubly kind in you, for you know so little of the burdens and troubles of life.
Nora. I--? I know so little of them?
Mrs. Linde (smiling). My dear! Small household cares and that sort of thing!--You are a child, Nora.
Nora (tosses her head and crosses the stage). You ought not to be so superior.
Mrs. Linde. No?
Nora. You are just like the others. They all think that I am incapable of anything really serious--
Mrs. Linde. Come, come--
Nora.--that I have gone through nothing in this world of cares.
Mrs. Linde. But, my dear Nora, you have just told me all your troubles.
Nora. Pooh!--those were trifles. (Lowering her voice.) I have not told you the important thing.
Mrs. Linde. The important thing? What do you mean?
Nora. You look down upon me altogether, Christine--but you ought not to. You are proud, aren't you, of having worked so hard and so long for your mother?
Mrs. Linde. Indeed, I don't look down on anyone. But it is true that I am both proud and glad to think that I was privileged to make the end of my mother's life almost free from care.
Nora. And you are proud to think of what you have done for your brothers?
Mrs. Linde. I think I have the right to be.
Nora. I think so, too. But now, listen to this; I too have something to be proud and glad of.
Mrs. Linde. I have no doubt you have. But what do you refer to?
Nora. Speak low. Suppose Torvald were to hear! He mustn't on any account--no one in the world must know, Christine, except you.
Mrs. Linde. But what is it?
Nora. Come here. (Pulls her down on the sofa beside her.) Now I will show you that I too have something to be proud and glad of. It was I who saved Torvald's life.
Mrs. Linde. "Saved"? How?
Nora. I told you about our trip to Italy. Torvald would never have recovered if he had not gone there--
Mrs. Linde. Yes, but your father gave you the necessary funds.
Nora (smiling). Yes, that is what Torvald and all the others think, but--
Mrs. Linde. But--
Nora. Papa didn't give us a shilling. It was I who procured the money.
Mrs. Linde. You? All that large sum?
Nora. Two hundred and fifty pounds. What do you think of that?
Mrs. Linde. But, Nora, how could you possibly do it? Did you win a prize in the Lottery?
Nora (contemptuously). In the Lottery? There would have been no credit in that.
Mrs. Linde. But where did you get it from, then? Nora (humming and smiling with an air of mystery). Hm, hm! Aha!
Mrs. Linde. Because you couldn't have borrowed it.
Nora. Couldn't I? Why not?
Mrs. Linde. No, a wife cannot borrow without her