[Goes to him.] Oswald, what is the matter with you?
[Seems to shrink together in the chair; all his muscles relax; his face is expressionless, his eyes have a glassy stare.]
[Quivering with terror.] What is this? [Shrieks.] Oswald! what is the matter with you? [Falls on her knees beside him and shakes him.] Oswald! Oswald! look at me! Don’t you know me?
[Tonelessly as before.] The sun.—The sun.
[Springs up in despair, entwines her hands in her hair and shrieks.] I cannot bear it! [Whispers, as though petrified;] I cannot bear it! Never! [Suddenly.] Where has he got them? [Fumbles hastily in his breast.] Here! [Shrinks back a few steps and screams:] No; no; no!—Yes!—No; no!
[She stands a few steps away from him with her hands twisted in her hair, and stares at him in speechless horror.
[Sits motionless as before and says.] The sun.—The sun.
1. Fortnightly Review, July 1906.
2. See “The Mausoleum of Ibsen,” Fortnightly Review, August 1893. See also Mr. Bernard Shaw’s Quintessence of Ibsenism, p. 89, and my introduction to Ghosts in the single-volume edition (Walter Scott).
3. In the original “Fru Linde.”
4. In the original “Anne-Marie.”
5. About sixpence. There are 100 öre in a krone or crown, which is worth thirteenpence halfpenny.
6. “Spillefugl,” literally “playbird,” means a gambler.
7. The dollar (4s. 6d.) was the old unit of currency in Norway. The crown was substituted for it shortly before the date of this play.
8. “Död og pine,” literally “death and torture”; but by usage a comparatively mild oath.
9. In the original, “We say ‘thou’ to each other.”
10. Chamberlain (Kammerherre) is the only title of honour now existing in Norway. It is a distinction conferred by the King on men of wealth and position, and is not hereditary.
11. This and other French words used, by Regina are in that language in the original.
12. A “krone” is equal to one shilling and three-halfpence.
13. A phrase equivalent to the German Prosit die Mahlzeit—“May good digestion wait on appetite.”
14. “Sige du” = Fr. tutoyer.
There was no anchor for the footnote on p. 276. An anchor has been placed on the most likely spot, based on the context.
There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The conventional period following the character’s name is sometimes missing and has been added for consistency’s sake without further comment. Those missing from setting and stage direction are also added without comment, since there is no obvious purpose to be served by the omission. However, the restoration of punctuation missing from dialogue is noted below, since the punctuation is frequently expressive. Several instances of dubious ‘?’ marks have been corrected, based on context.
Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume, but noted none in Volume VII.
The contraction ‘mustn’t’ appears twenty-one times, but twice without the internal ‘t’ as ‘musn’t’. These have been corrected.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.
| 13.3 | how wonderful it is to think of[?/!] | Replaced. |
| 14.2 | I see you don’t recognise me[.] | Added. |
| 28.16 | Yes, of cou[r]se. | Inserted. |
| 36.11 | Ugly[?] | Added. |
| 47.27 | Only unpleasantness[.] | Added. |
| 52.5 | to your father[?] | Added. |
| 54.22 | b[n/u]t soon pauses. | Inverted. |
| 55.18 | Has anybody been here[./?] | Replaced. |
| 68.21 | I’ll tell you something[?/.] | Replaced. |
| 72.19 | “trying on[.]” | Inserted. |
| 84.15 | Look here[!] Look! | Added. |
| 84.22 | look at the rest too[.] | Added. |
| 98.28 | That l[a/e]tter is from Krogstad | Replaced. |
| 103.12 | you mus[t]n’t even touch | Inserted. |
| 106.28 | mustn’t look at the letter-box[.] | Added. |
| 122.2 | I shall not speak[?/.] | Replaced. |
| 133.14 | it is best to go silently[.] | Added. |
| 207.19 | be kept [r/s]ecret | Replaced. |
| 273.8 | Regin[a.] | Restored. |
| 289.7 | though [I] should like to live | Missing. |
| 291.24 | Regina is not here[.] | Added. |