Henrik Ibsens Prose Dramas, Vol III. | Page 6

whither he goes.
ELINA (throws herself, with a cry of joy, at her mother's feet and
seizes her hands). My mother! My mother! Forgive me, if you can, all
the wrong I have done you!

LADY INGER. What do you mean? Elina, I do not understand you.
ELINA. Then they were all deceived! You are still true at heart!
LADY INGER. Rise, rise and tell me----
ELINA. Do you think I do not know who the stranger is?
LADY INGER. You know? And yet----?
ELINA. Do you think the gates of Ostrat shut so close that never a
whisper of evil tidings can slip through? Do you think I do not know
that the heir of many a noble line wanders outlawed, without rest or
shelter, while Danish masters lord it in the home of their fathers?
LADY INGER. And what then?
ELINA. I know well that many a high-born knight is hunted through
the woods like a hungry wolf. No hearth has he to rest by, no bread to
eat----
LADY INGER (coldly). Enough! Now I understand you.
ELINA (continuing). And that is why the gates of Ostrat must stand
open by night! That is why he must remain a stranger to all, this guest
of whom none must know whence he comes or whither he goes! You
are setting at naught the harsh decree that forbids you to harbour or
succor the exiles----
LADY INGER. Enough, I say! (After a short silence, adds with an
effort:) You mistake, Elina--it is no outlaw that I look for----
ELINA (rises). Then I have understood you ill indeed.
LADY INGER. Listen to me, my child; but think as you listen; if
indeed you can tame that wild spirit of yours.
ELINA. I am tame, till you have spoken.

LADY INGER. Then hear what I have to say--I have sought, so far as
lay in my power, to keep you in ignorance of all our griefs and miseries.
What could it avail to fill your young heart with wrath and care? It is
not weeping and wailing of women that can free us from our evil lot;
we need the courage and strength of men.
ELINA. Who has told you that, when courage and strength are indeed
needed, I shall be found wanting?
LADY INGER. Hush, child;--I might take you at your word.
ELINA. How mean you, my mother?
LADY INGER. I might call on you for both; I might----; but let me say
my say out first. Know then that the time seems now to be drawing
nigh, towards which the Danish Council have been working for many a
year--the time for them to strike a final blow at our rights and our
freedom. Therefore must we now----
ELINA (eagerly). Throw off the yoke, my mother?
LADY INGER. No; we must gain breathing-time. The Council is now
sitting in Copenhagen, considering how best to aim the blow. Most of
them are said to hold that there can be no end to dissensions till
Norway and Denmark are one; for if we should still have our rights as a
free land when the time comes to choose the next king, it is most like
that the feud will break out openly. Now the Danish Councillors would
hinder this----
ELINA. Ay, they would hinder it----! But are we to endure such things?
Are we to look on quietly while----?
LADY INGER. No, we will not endure it. But to take up arms--to
begin open warfare--what would come of that, so long as we are not
united? And were we ever less united in this land than we are even
now?--No, if aught is to be done, it must be done secretly and in silence.
Even as I said, we must have time to draw breath. In the South, a good
part of the nobles are for the Dane; but here in the North they are still in

doubt. Therefore King Frederick has sent hither one of his most trusted
councillors, to assure himself with his own eyes how we stand affected.
ELINA (anxiously). Well--and then----?
LADY INGER. He is the guest I look for to-night.
ELINA. He comes here? And to-night?
LADY INGER. He reached Trondhiem yesterday by a trading ship.
Word has just been brought that he is coming to visit me; he may be
here within the hour.
ELINA. Have you not thought, my mother, how it will endanger your
fame thus to receive the Danish envoy? Do not the people already
regard you with distrustful eyes? How can you hope that, when the
time comes, they will let you rule and guide them, if it be known----
LADY INGER. Fear not. All this I have fully weighed; but there is no
danger. His errand in Norway is a secret; he has come unknown