You
promised
me a kingdom,
and then you went and--well!
and then you went and--well!
World's Greatest Books - Volume 17 - Poetry and Drama
--when he always gets so dizzy.
HILDA: He--dizzy? I've seen him with my own eyes
at the top of a high church tower.
MRS. SOLNESS: Impossible!
SOLNESS: True, all the same.
MRS. SOLNESS: You, who can't even go out on the
second-floor balcony?
SOLNESS: You will see something different this evening.
MRS. SOLNESS: You're ill, you're ill! I'll write at
once to the doctor. Oh, God, Oh, God!
[_She goes out. _
HILDA: Don't tell me _my_ master builder daren't, _cannot_
climb as high as he builds.
You promised me a kingdom,
and then you went and--well! Don't tell me you
can ever be dizzy!
SOLNESS: This evening, then, we'll hang up the wreath,
Princess Hilda.
HILDA (_bitterly_): Over your new home--yes.
SOLNESS: Over the new house, which will never be a
_home_ for _me_.
HILDA (_looks straight in front of her with a far-away
expression, and whispers to herself. The only words
audible are_): Frightfully thrilling----
ACT III
SCENE. --_A large, broad verandah attached to_ SOLNESS'S
_dwelling-house. A flight of steps leads down to the garden
below. Far to the right, among the trees, is a glimpse of
the new villa, with scaffolding round the tower. Evening
sky, with sun-lit clouds. _
MRS. SOLNESS: Have you been round the garden, Miss
Wangel?
HILDA: Yes, and I've found heaps of flowers.
MRS. SOLNESS: Are there, really?
HILDA: He--dizzy? I've seen him with my own eyes
at the top of a high church tower.
MRS. SOLNESS: Impossible!
SOLNESS: True, all the same.
MRS. SOLNESS: You, who can't even go out on the
second-floor balcony?
SOLNESS: You will see something different this evening.
MRS. SOLNESS: You're ill, you're ill! I'll write at
once to the doctor. Oh, God, Oh, God!
[_She goes out. _
HILDA: Don't tell me _my_ master builder daren't, _cannot_
climb as high as he builds.
You promised me a kingdom,
and then you went and--well! Don't tell me you
can ever be dizzy!
SOLNESS: This evening, then, we'll hang up the wreath,
Princess Hilda.
HILDA (_bitterly_): Over your new home--yes.
SOLNESS: Over the new house, which will never be a
_home_ for _me_.
HILDA (_looks straight in front of her with a far-away
expression, and whispers to herself. The only words
audible are_): Frightfully thrilling----
ACT III
SCENE. --_A large, broad verandah attached to_ SOLNESS'S
_dwelling-house. A flight of steps leads down to the garden
below. Far to the right, among the trees, is a glimpse of
the new villa, with scaffolding round the tower. Evening
sky, with sun-lit clouds. _
MRS. SOLNESS: Have you been round the garden, Miss
Wangel?
HILDA: Yes, and I've found heaps of flowers.
MRS. SOLNESS: Are there, really?
