Hadda Pada | Page 8

and it was Hadda
Padda who made him take them up again. ... From Christmas on, last
year, he studied from morning to night,--and now he will pass his
examination, and begin here as an attorney. Then they will probably
marry next autumn.
LADY ANNA [_nods_]. He must be kind to Hrafnhild--she is more
than just fond of him. Have you noticed that she is beginning to
resemble him?
THE JUDGE. Now, in spite of everything, I think we are beginning to
grow old; our sight is failing us.
LADY ANNA. Not my sight. Listen to me. You should have seen her
with the flowers this summer while she was home. When she watered
them, she talked with them as if they could understand her. It was as if
she returned every rise of fragrance with a smile. And the flowers
thrived and blossomed, as if they absorbed her tenderness.
THE JUDGE. I have noticed something else lately: that every time she
comes into a room it is as though the air were filled with the beauty of
peace. I could have myself blindfolded, and all Reykavik could walk
through the room on soles of velvet--when SHE entered I could
recognize her by the delightful calm that accompanies her.
LADY ANNA. This excessive love ... it is worrying me. Maybe it was
mostly on that account that I delayed agreeing to her departure.
THE JUDGE. There are so many things that worry you. Why doesn't
Ingolf come back? [Kisses her on the cheek.] I will talk to him about it.
[Goes out.]
RANNVEIG [enters]. The servants want to know how many places to
lay for dinner.
LADY ANNA [putting aside her needlework]. Well, I'm
coming--[Goes out.]
RANNVEIG [walks slowly to the centre of the room, stands looking at
the terra cotta statue]. When you dream something, you don't want to
come true, you ought to tell it to some one--better to a stone than to no
one. [Hands folded, she walks slowly up to the statue, whispering in its
ear,] I dreamed of a beautiful and marvellous diamond palace. I walked

around it, but it had no doors. No one could get in. If any one were
inside, he could not get out. I heard weeping inside the palace. It
seemed to tear my heart. I recognised the weeping?--[She passes her
hand over her eyes, looks at the statue a long time, walks away from it,
looks back at it once more, and goes out. In the doorway she encounters
Hadda, looks at her, pats her cheek, and disappears.]
HADDA PADDA [enters with a water jug in her hand, walks up to a
flower in the window].
INGOLF [enters and steals up to her].
INGOLF. Now I know the secret. You are going with me to
Copenhagen. Hadda Padda, Hadda Padda, I love you! Let me sing to
you. [He takes both her hands and while he sings, wild with joy, she
hums the tune.]
You shall stand upon my skis, In a mad precipitation We, together,
cleave the breeze: We will, My daffodil!
To the place where we'll abide On my white horse you'll be riding:
Clouds of dust the moon will hide-- They will, My daffodil!
[He lifts her in his arms. The sun is shining through the window and
lights up the room.]
HADDA PADDA [stretches her arms toward the light]. It is as though I
had wings. [Turns round in his arms, and folds him in her embrace.] I
will fly to my happiness.
CURTAIN

ACT II
(The following summer. A drawing-room in the Sheriff's house. The
furniture old-fashioned and elaborate. On the left, a door leading to the
dining-room. Against the wall, in front, a piano. On the right, under a
window, a chaise-longue. In the back, an open window, through which
can be seen green meadows, rising to a plateau, over the edge of which
roars a water-fall. At the horizon, deep blue mountains. Bright sunshine,
a hot summer's day.)
(In the middle of the room, around a table, set for coffee, the Sheriff
and Lady Margaret, Olof and Steindor, Ingolf, Hrafnhild and Kristrun
are sitting. The children, Little Skuli, Sigga, Doddi and Magga are
seated at a small table near the window.)
OLOF [to the children]. You may go out now, children.

THE CHILDREN [rise].
SIGGA [To Olof]. Mother, when may we go berry-picking with Hadda
Padda?
HADDA PADDA [smiles at the children]. We'll go next Sunday.
OLOF. Now go out and play! It's such lovely weather!
STEINDOR. And you may build your little play-house, but not in the
part that isn't mowed.
SKULI. Come along, children!
DODDI. Come along! [The children go out.]
HADDA PADDA. I had a letter from my friend Helga to-day. She
writes she is coming to see me for