The Awakening of Spring: A Tragedy of Childhood — John Shaqi
The Awakening of Spring: A Tragedy of ChildhoodWedekind, Frank
General
The Awakening of Spring: A Tragedy of Childhood
Wedekind, Frank
German drama -- Translations into English
MORITZ.
Yes!
MELCHIOR.
All of her?
MORITZ.
Certainly!
MELCHIOR.
So have I!----Then we won't need any illustrations.
MORITZ.
During the Schützenfest in Leilich's anatomical museum! If it had
leaked out I should have been hunted out of school.----Beautiful as
the light of day, and----oh, so true to nature!
MELCHIOR.
I was at Frankfurt with Mamma last summer----Are you going already,
Moritz?
MORITZ.
I must work.----Good-night.
MELCHIOR.
'Till we meet again.
SCENE THIRD.
_Thea, Wendla and Martha come along the street arm in arm._
MARTHA.
How the water gets into one's shoes!
WENDLA.
How the wind blows against one's cheeks!
THEA.
How one's heart thumps!
WENDLA.
Let's go out there to the bridge. Ilse says the stream is full of
bushes and trees. The boys have built a raft. Melchi Gabor was almost
drowned yesterday.
THEA.
Oh, he can swim!
MARTHA.
I should think so, child!
WENDLA.
If he hadn't been able to swim he would have been drowned!
THEA.
Your hair is coming down, Martha, your hair is coming down.
MARTHA.
Pooh!----Let it come down! It bothers me day and night. I may not
wear short hair like you; I may not wear my hair down my back like
Wendla; I may not wear bangs, and I must always do my hair up at
home----all on account of my aunt!
WENDLA.
I'll bring the scissors with me to-morrow to devotions. While you are
saying, “Blessed are they who do not stray,” I will clip it off.
MARTHA.
For heaven's sake, Wendla! Papa would beat me black and blue, and
Mamma would lock me up in the coal hole for three nights.
WENDLA.
What does he beat you with, Martha?
MARTHA.
It often seems to me as if they would miss something if they didn't
have an ill-conditioned brat like me.
THEA.
Why, girl!
MARTHA.
Are you ever allowed to put a blue ribbon through the top of your
chemise?
THEA.
A pink ribbon! Mamma thinks a pink ribbon goes well with my big dark
eyes.
MARTHA.
Blue suits me to a T!----Mamma pulled me out of bed by the hair. I
fell with my hands out so on the floor.----Mamma prayed night after
night with us----
WENDLA.
In your place I should have run away long ago.
MARTHA.
There you have it! The reason I am going away!----There you have
it!----They will soon see----oh, they will soon see! At least I shall
never be able to reproach my mother----
THEA.
H'm, h'm.----
MARTHA.
Can you imagine, Thea, what Mamma meant by it?
THEA.
I can't----can you, Wendla?
WENDLA.
I should simply have asked her.
MARTHA.
I lay on the floor and shrieked and howled. Then Papa came in.
Rip----he tore off my chemise. Out of the door I went. There you have
it!----I only wanted to get out in the street that way----
WENDLA.
But that is not so, Martha.
MARTHA.
I froze. I was locked up. I had to sleep all night in a sack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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