"It's probably any time after that." "But he seems so healthy." "Does he know?" "Mr. Brovik?" "What?" "What?" "Can you all come into the office now, please?" "Mr. Solness just woke up." "Oh, thank-- thank you." "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stand this." "Oh, God, you haven't been looking well all afternoon." "It's, uh" "I think it's getting worse every day." "M-Maybe this isn't a good time, Father." "Maybe... you should just go home and try to sleep a little." "You mean just lie down and get a little rest?" "When I lie down, that-- that other thing starts-- the choking." "So, has anyone been here looking for me?" "Uh... yes." "Uh, that young couple came by." "You know, the people who want to build the villa out by the lake." "They've already been here two or three times this week." "Well, they're gonna have to wait." "I'm not sure about the design." "Well, they kept saying that it's terribly important... that they get the drawings soon." "Oh, is that right?" "Well, they said they were just so eager... to move into their own place." "A place." "A place to move into." "That's not the same as a home." "Don't they see that?" "Well, it's absolutely fine, but then they should go to somebody else, leave me out of it." "Why don't you just tell them that when they come back next time?" "Go to somebody else?" "Do you..." "honestly mean that?" "Yes, I do, for God's sake." "They want me to just put up a building... without taking the time to work out a meaningful design." "I mean, I don't even really know these people." "Oh, they're very good people." "Ragnar knows them." "He's visited them often." "Everyone here at Lovestrand... wants a building designed by me... as a sort of symbol of prestige." "Well, I'm sick of it." "I don't want to deal with strangers anymore." "Let them go to anyone they like." "I really don't care." "Uh, do you think we might have a few moments... to discuss something in private?" "Of course." "Will you give us a minute, dear?" "I don't" "Please, Ragnar, just give us a moment alone." "Come on, Kaya." "I, uh-- I don't want the children to know how sick I am." "Yes, you've been looking... awfully weak recently." "I'm not going to be around much longer." "That's the reality." "Each day I seem to lose something or other-- one more faculty." "It's all going-- all my strength." "Yes." "You see, what weighs on me so terribly is... what's going to become of Ragnar?" "Well, I mean, he can stay here with me for as long as he likes." "You see, apparently, he feels that he just can't stay any longer." "What are you saying?" "Does he want a raise?" "No." "It's more that the day has to come... when he'll have the opportunity to do his own work." "Oh, I see." "And are you positive that he has... all the particular qualities he would need for that?" "No." "That's what's so awful." "I'm not positive." "Even I, myself, have begun to doubt his abilities." "But you have never said one single encouraging word about him." "But I know in my heart that he is talented." "But he just hasn't fully mastered that much of the discipline." "I mean, he knows how to draw." "You hadn't mastered that much of the discipline either... when you were working for me." "But that didn't stop you from... plunging in" "and seizing the moment... and making a tremendous impression on everyone." "No." "It didn't stop you from luring away the wind... that was in my sails at the time." "It didn't stop you from just rushing past everyone around you." "Yes, it worked out that way, didn't it?" "Oh, yes." "It did." "That's the way it worked out." "Seriously, you can't" "You can't let me go to my grave... without having a chance... to see what Ragnar can make of himself." "He needs to be married." "Is that what Kaya wants?" "Well, maybe she's a little less passionate about it than he is, but Ragnar talks about it all day long." "He needs to be married, and I need to see some work that my boy has done." "Yes, but" "I can't bring commissions down out of the sky for him." "He could obtain an excellent commission right now, as a matter of fact-- an important project, something really worthwhile." "He could?" "Yes, he could." "If you would give your permission." "And what project is that?" "He could build the villa out at the lake." "What?" "But I'm going to be doing that project myself." "But you no longer have any desire to do it." "I no longer have any desire to do it?" "Who in the world had the audacity to tell you that?" "You-- You said it yourself two minutes ago." "Oh, for God's sake, I was joking." "But seriously, could Ragnar really get that commission?" "Oh, yes." "He knows the family well." "Actually, for his own amusement, he did do a few sketches... of some things he might do-- a few drawings, a few estimates." "And you think that the family was pleased by these drawings?" "Oh, yes, yes." "I mean, if you would simply give your approval." "Then they'd actually let Ragnar complete the building?" "Well, they-- they liked-- they liked what he proposed to them very much." "They said they thought it was original, something really new." "Oh, I see." "Really new." "Not like the sort of very conventional buildings... that I always build, with their flavor of the past?" "Look, look, look, y-you're" "So, it was actually Ragnar they came here to see." "No, no." "They" " They came to see you, really." "Really, they did." "They simply" "Oh." "Oh, they simply wanted to know if you might be willing to step aside" "Step aside?" "In case you found that Ragnar's drawings" "To step aside for Ragnar?" "They simply meant, you know, to take your name." "Oh, no." "I understand what they meant." "Well, well." "So the moment has come... when Halvard Solness starts to "step aside"... to make way for those who are younger." "That's wonderful." "But surely... there's room for more than one single solitary" "No, no, no." "Not really." "No, there isn't as much room as you think." "In any case, it's irrelevant... because I'm not going to step aside." "Oh." "So... am I really going to leave this earth... without the happiness, w-without the conf" "I mean, am I going to go to my grave... without being able to see a single piece of work... that's been done by my boy?" "You're gonna leave this world... with as much dignity... as you can find in yourself." "Ragnar!" "What is it, Father?" "We're going now." "I got him." "Well, Miss Fosli can't leave yet." "There's a letter that has to be written, I'm afraid." "So... is there a letter?" "No." "Of course there isn't." "Kaya." "Yes?" "Come over here." "Tell me what you want." "Are you the one I should thank for this situation?" "Please, you mustn't" "I mean, you're terribly eager to be married, it seems." "Well," "Ragnar and I have been engaged for four or five years." "Yes?" "He and his father keep talking about it, and I suppose eventually I'll have to give in." "And of course, you have a certain affection for Ragnar?" "I used to have a great deal of affection for him... before I came to work for you." "But you don't anymore?" "I only care about one person-- one." "I don't care about anybody else." "And I never will." "Well, you say that, but then at the same time, you seem to be making plans to leave me, aren't you?" "But couldn't I still work here even if I" "No." "No!" "It can't happen that way." "If Ragnar goes off and he sets up on his own, he's going to need you himself, don't you see that?" "Well, I don't think I can be separated from you." "It's impossible." "I just" "Can't you just convince him to stay here?" "He has a good position here." "And that's the only way I'm gonna be able to-- to keep you with me, Kaya." "My dear little Kaya." "It would be so wonderful if it could work out like that." "Because-- Because I can't-- Shh!" "I can't not have you." "Oh." "I have to have you with me." "Every day." "You have to be with me." "Oh, God!" "Oh, God." "I have to" "Mmm." "Mmm." " Halvard?" " Yes, dear?" "Have I come at an inconvenient moment?" "No, no, no." "Miss Fosli just has a short letter to write, and then she's" "Did you need me for something, Aline?" "No." "I just wanted to say that Dr. Herdal is here." "He came over to see me, and, um, he wanted to say hello to you at the same time." "Oh, good." "Good." "I feel like your wife is just thinking terrible thoughts about me." "Oh, no, no." "I'm sure she's just thinking the same things... that she always thinks." "But you may as well go on home now." "It's a good time to go." "Yes." "Yes." "Oh, no." "Wait, wait, wait." "Bring me Ragnar's drawings." "Oh." "Yes." "That's wonderful, really." "I mean, for your sake, Kaya, I can at least" "Yes, yes!" "Oh!" "Well, good afternoon." "Think kind thoughts about me." "Always, my sweet little Kaya." "Always." "Always." "I can't keep the doctor waiting here any longer." "Well, by all means, come in." "All finished with that letter, Miss Fosli?" "Letter?" "Mm-hmm." "You may as well go along home now, Miss Fosli." "Be sure you're on time tomorrow morning." "Yes, I certainly will be." "Uh, good afternoon, Mrs. Solness." "Must be a really good thing for you to have found that young woman, Halvard." "Oh, yes, she's just so useful in so many ways." "Oh, yes, she seems as if she would be." "And she's, uh, good at bookkeeping?" "Well, she's had an awful lot of practice at bookkeeping in the last two years." "The other thing is, she's such a kind person." "She's ready to do whatever comes up that needs to be done." "Well, that certainly must give you a feeling of comfort, Halvard." "Well, it does, it does." "It does." "And it's been a long time since I've had anyone here... who is available to look after my needs." "Halvard, how can you say such things?" "Oh, Aline, now please forgive me." "Please?" "Doctor, will you be returning later to have some dinner with us?" "Soon as I finish my house calls, I'll come right back." "Could you please stay for a minute?" "I'd very much like to talk with you." "Well, of course." "Thank you." "Now, look." "I know you know Aline better than anyone." "She's said to me many times you're her only friend." "So, can I ask you, did you notice anything in particular about her just now... in relation to me?" "Well, yes, for God's sake." "I mean" " I mean, one could hardly help noticing that she, uh" "Yes?" "Well" "She doesn't seem to be terribly fond of that Miss Fosli of yours." " Well" " I mean, it's not that surprising... that she doesn't particularly like the fact... that you spend every single day in the company of another woman." "Well, but that happens to be something that can't be changed." "Well, why not?" "Couldn't you find a male secretary?" "Oh!" "No, I mean, if your wife really feels" "In other words, she's a very fragile woman, and it's something, you know, that she really can't bear" "I mean, to look at this young girl" "Oh, for God's sakes." "So what?" "Who cares?" "Well, I mean I do, in a way." "I do, obviously." "But... the situation is what it is." "You mean there's no alternative?" "That's right." "There's no alternative." "Of course, women's perceptions are often infuriatingly accurate on certain topics." "Yes?" "And so when your wife happens to find... that she just can't stand that Kaya Fosli, don't you think that maybe there's some sort of a basis... for that sort of... involuntary reflex of antipathy?" "No, no, not at all." "I see." "There's just no basis for your wife's feeling at all, in other words." "Only her own suspiciousness, I suppose." "Now, of course" "I know you've come in contact with a great many women... in the course of your life." "Yes?" "And you've been rather fond of some of them." "Hmm." "So, I mean, in this case" "No, no." "No, no, no, no." "I said no." "But see, there is something I very much... want to discuss with you." "I would like to tell you a very strange story." "I mean, if you'd be willing to listen to it." "I'm always happy to listen to a strange story." "Very well then." "I'm sure you remember... that many years ago, I brought both Knut Brovik and his son... over to work for me at a time... when everything had gone terribly wrong for the old man." "Mm-hmm." "Yes." "At a certain point, a few years after that," "Ragnar suddenly came up with the idea of getting married... and leaving my office to go set up an office of his own." "But I needed Ragnar to stay here with me... because Ragnar happens to be extremely clever... about calculating, you know, the volume of things, the carrying capacity... and all that sort of tedious detail." "Well, it's an important part of your business, yes." "Now listen to what I'm trying to tell you." "One day, a young woman whom I'd never seen before... came over to the office to see Ragnar, and this turned out to be Ragnar's fiancée," "Kaya Fosli." "When I saw how incredibly infatuated with each other... she and Ragnar were, the idea came to me, if I could get this young girl to come work here in the office, then maybe Ragnar would stay here too." "Yes, I see." "So I just stood there staring at her, wishing I could think of how to convince her to work here." "Then we were introduced, but we had no conversation of any kind." "And then she went away." "Well, the next night, after Ragnar and Brovik had gone home, she came back here, and just as if I'd already made an arrangement with her, she asked me what her new responsibilities would be... and whether she could start work immediately the next morning." "But I never asked her to work here." "My goodness!" "And then as soon as she started working for me, she seemed to drift away from Ragnar" "And drifted over towards you perhaps?" "I mean, I know she can actually feel it... if I look at her from behind." "And if I come anywhere near her, she starts to shake, she literally trembles." "How can you account for that?" "Well, I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for it out there somewhere." "No." "I mean" "What made her imagine I had said these things to her, which, in fact, I'd only thought?" "Things I'd said silently inside my head to myself." "I mean, what can you say about that?" "Can you explain that?" "Mm-mmm." "I wouldn't want even to speculate about that." "Yes." "That's exactly what I thought you'd say." "Of course, it's left me in a terrible situation." "Every day, I have to come in here and pretend that" "It's a terrible thing to do to this sweet little creature, but I can't stop doing it." "'Cause if she were ever to leave me, then Ragnar would go too." "So you've allowed your wife to believe that you really" "Yes." "But why?" "Well... there's a sort of wonderful, well-deserved punishment... that I can inflict on myself... by allowing Aline to condemn me... when she really shouldn't." "You know, I have to admit I don't know what you're talking about." "All right." "Look, shall we just be very frank with each other for a moment?" "What do you think?" "See, I would like you to tell me honestly-- just tell me very directly... about some of the concerns that you've had recently about me." " What do you mean?" " Well, I've already seen it." "I've seen it very clearly." "Seen" " Seen what?" "I've seen you watching me." "What do you mean, watching you?" "Oh, for Christ's sake!" "Just tell me!" "Haven't you started to think the very same thing that Aline thinks?" "What would that be?" "She's begun to think that in some way, or to some degree, I'm mentally sick." "Oh." "What?" "Mentally sick?" "She has absolutely never said a word to me about anything like that." "It's never occurred to me either." "I've never thought for a second that there's anything's wrong with you mentally." "See, I think you've always seen me as Halvard Solness, this terribly fortunate man, for whom everything has gone well." "How could such a terribly fortunate man... be mentally sick?" "Well, would that be some sort of an illusion then?" "Aren't you a terribly fortunate man?" "It seems to me you've experienced good fortune... to an almost unbelievable extent, frankly." "I know that." "What's that sound?" "What sound?" "Well, who-- Who's doing that?" "Ingrid, what's going on?" "It's 48, weak and irregular." "Ingrid, there's a blue bottle with a red label in my bag." "I think I left it at the nurses' station." "Please hurry." "Solness?" "Are you all right?" "Am I all right?" "Of course, I'm fine." "But you were out cold for a moment there, just all of a sudden." "What are you talking about?" "I was sitting here listening to you tell me what a fortunate man I am." "Please continue." "Well-- I mean, tell me seriously, what is it that makes you feel... that I have been so terribly fortunate?" "Well, I mean, obviously, you've had a lot of good luck in your life." "I mean, first, when that ugly old mansion burned down" "That place looked like a thieves' castle in a fairy tale." "Please, that was Aline's family home." "Well, yes, for Aline, it must have been a very sorrowful event." "Very painful, I'm sure." "Oh, she's never gotten over it." "It's been years and years, and she still hasn't recovered from it." "And what happened afterwards was terrible." "Yes." "But... that fire, really, was good luck for you." "I mean, that fire actually made everything possible, didn't it, really?" "You were just a poor boy from the country." "And now you are absolutely the leading man in your field." "You are." "I know." "And that's exactly what's kept me... in such an awful state of uninterrupted anxiety." "Anxiety?" "Because you've had good luck?" "Yes!" "It starts every morning when I get up, doesn't stop until I fall asleep at night." "'Cause I know that my luck is going to turn around." "Everything is gonna spin out in the opposite direction." "Now, why would you think that?" "What would make that happen?" "Well, those who are younger will begin the process." "I know that." "No." "I have to say, I think that's absurd." "No." "One or another of those younger people... is gonna ask me to step aside, and that will be that." "You know what they say:" ""The younger generation will just show up one day and knock on the door."" "Well, what if they do?" "What if they do?" "Well, that'll simply be the end of Master Builder Solness." "That's all I'm saying." "It will simply be the end of Master Builder Solness." "That's all I'm saying." "Solness!" "Ingrid, I need that blue bottle!" "Solness?" "Solness?" "Solness!" "Well, you know what they say:" ""The younger generation will just show up one day and knock on the door."" "Well, what if they do?" "What if they do?" "Well, that will simply be the end of Master Builder Solness." "That's all I'm saying." "Come in!" "Hello." "Hello." " I almost thought you didn't recognize me." " Oh, no, no." "Although I have to say that just at the moment" "Well, I certainly recognize you." " Oh, it's you!" " Yes, it's me." "Yes, we met this summer up at one of those hostels in the mountains." "I've always wondered where that whole group of ladies went." "What happened to them?" "Oh, they all left the hotel for some unknown reason." "They probably weren't crazy about listening to us having so much fun in the evenings." "No, they certainly weren't." "Now, you-- you have to admit that you were just toying with all of us, weren't you?" "That's right." "You were just playing games with all of us." "Well, it was certainly more fun... than sitting with those ladies and knitting winter stockings." "I understand." "I understand." "So now, uh-- now, let me guess." "Have you possibly just arrived in town this evening?" "I've just arrived this moment, as a matter of fact." "And did you come entirely alone, Miss Wangel?" "Yes, I certainly did." "Wangel?" "Your name is Wangel?" "I believe it is, if I'm not wrong." "But... could you possibly be the daughter... of the district doctor up at Sangerly?" "Who else's daughter could I be?" "Then we met each other up there... the summer when I was staying there... and I built the tower for the old church." "Yes." "That was when we met." "Well, that was a long time ago." "It was 10 years ago." "Ten years ago!" "You would have been just a child, I imagine." "Well, I was 12 years old." "Is this the first time you've ever been to our town, Miss Wangel?" "Yes, it certainly is." "Then maybe you don't know anyone here." "No one but you." "Oh, you and your wife." "You know my wife?" "I don't know her well, but yes, we were at that spa together for a few days." "Up there!" "Yes." "She said I should be sure to pay a visit if I came to town." "Sort of a superfluous invitation, wasn't it?" "Well, she certainly never mentioned anything of the sort to me." "Well, I'm going to ask if I might be allowed to stay here tonight." "Well, I think that could be arranged." "'Cause I don't have any clothes here at all." "I mean, apart from the ones I'm wearing." "And I have some underwear in my bag here, but it's absolutely filthy." "Overdue for a wash." "Well, I think we could do something about that as well." "Oh!" "So, I'll just do my house calls, and then" "Yes, exactly." "Then you'll come right back." "Goddamn right!" "I'll come right back!" "Aline!" "Would you be kind enough to come in here, please?" "There's a Miss Wangel here, whom you know, apparently." "Oh." "Is it you?" "So... you did come to visit our town after all." "Yes." "Miss Wangel has just this very moment arrived in town, so she wondered if she might be able to stay here overnight." "Here at the house?" "Oh, well..." "we'd be delighted." "You know, just so that she can sort of get herself organized a bit and" "I'll certainly do my best to look after you." "Um, "An unexpected guest is a blessed obligation,"" "my Aunt Thea used to say." "So, I suppose your luggage will be coming along a little bit later?" "No, I-- I don't have any." "Oh!" "Well, that's all right." "I'm sure it will all be fine anyway." "Well, I'm afraid that you'll have to be satisfied with my husband's company... for a little while while I see about getting a room in some sort of shape for you." "Well, why don't we use one of the children's rooms?" "They're already made up." "Yes." "We certainly have plenty of space up there." "So... do you have many children's rooms here in the house?" "Oh, yes, we have three altogether." "That's quite a few." "So I suppose you must have quite a few children then?" "No, no, we don't have any children." "But in the meantime, you can be our child." "Yes." "I'll be your child for tonight." "But I won't cry." "I'll try to see if I can sleep like a stone right through the night." "Well, I'm sure you're bound to be awfully tired." "No, not at all." "But I do love to lie in bed, to sleep and to dream." "So, when you go to sleep at night, do you often dream?" "Yes." "Practically always." "And what do you dream about most then?" "I'm not gonna tell you that." "I might tell you some time." "Oh!" "Are you, uh, trying to find something, or" "Oh, no, I'm just looking at things." "Should I not do that?" "Oh, no." "Go right ahead." "Are you the one who writes in this ledger?" "Uh, no." "The bookkeeper writes in that ledger." "I see." "Would that happen to be a member of the other sex?" "Yes, naturally." "A person of that sex who's regularly employed here?" "Uh, yes." "Is she perhaps married?" "No." "I see." "But she's going to be getting married very soon, I believe." "That's very nice for her then, isn't it?" "But it's not so nice for me... because I'm going to be left with no one here to help me." "Can't you find someone else who'd be just as good?" "Well, maybe you'd like to stay here and write in the ledger." "Yes." "Oh, thank you very much." "That is something that is never gonna happen... because I believe I might have some business to attend to here... that has nothing to do with bookkeeping." " Am I right?" " Oh, yes, absolutely." "Well, I mean, the first thing you're gonna do, obviously, is to go around to the shops and get some proper clothes for yourself." "No, I think I'm going to omit that step." "Oh?" "Yes, because I'm afraid I've spent all my money." "I squandered it, unfortunately." "So, it seems that you have... no luggage, no money." "That's right." "But, you know, "What the hell," as they say." "Oh, my dear." "Do you know that attitude really makes me like you?" "Oh." "Is that the only thing that does?" "No." "There are actually quite a few things." "I-Is your father still alive?" "Yes, he is." "But you were thinking... that you might like to come and study here in our town?" "No, that thought has never occurred to me." "So you're here for a long visit or you're" "Master Builder Solness?" "Yes?" "Do you think you're a very forgetful person?" "No, I'm not aware that I am forgetful." "No." "Are you really not going to speak to me at all about what happened up there?" "Up there at Sangerly?" "Well, there isn't really very much to say about it, is there?" "Why are you talking like this?" "Well, tell me what you're referring to." "When the tower on the old church was completed, we had a big celebration in town." "Oh, I haven't forgotten that." "I could never forget that remarkable day." "No?" "Well, that's so nice of you to say that." "So, there was music in the churchyard... and many, many hundreds of people." "And all of us girls from the school were dressed in white, and we all had little flags." "Yes, I remember those flags!" "And you started to climb the tower right up the scaffolding, all the way up to the very highest point." "And as you climbed, you carried this enormous wreath." "And you hung that wreath all the way up on the weather vane." "Oh, yes, yes, I used to do that at that time... because that's a very old custom, you know-- the "Ceremony of the Wreath."" "It was so incredibly suspenseful and exciting... to stand down there and watch you." "Just think" " Just imagine, what if he were to fall?" "What if the Master Builder were to fall?" "Yes, well, yes, that could have happened, actually." "It could have because one of those little angels in white, one of those terrifying little evil devils... was screaming up at me" ""Bravo, Master Builder!" Yes!" "And she was waving her flag around so wildly... that when I saw it, something happened." "I-I became dizzy." "Look." "Yes." "That's right." "That was you." "I just couldn't believe that there was a man on earth... who could build such a high tower." "And then that very same man could just stand there on top of it... and not become even the slightest bit dizzy." "Well" "That's when the thing happened which" "Which what?" "Well, I'm sure I don't have to remind you of that part of the story." "I'm sorry." "Please, I" "Do you remember there was a big banquet held in your honor at the club?" "Oh, yes, of course." "Well, after the banquet, you were invited to come over to our house for tea." "That's absolutely right." "I must say, Miss Wangel, it's really rather remarkable how well you've managed... to remember all these meaningless details." ""Meaningless details"?" "You really are quite funny, aren't you?" "Do you also think it was a sort of "meaningless detail"... that when you came into the living room, I was there, completely alone?" "Were you?" "I don't think you called me an evil devil then." "I'm sure I didn't." "You said I looked beautiful in my white dress." "Beautiful." ""Like a very small princess," you said." "I'm sure you did look like a princess, Miss Wangel." "And then you said, when I grew up," "I would be your princess." "I did?" "Yeah." "Yes, you did." "And when I asked you how long I'd have to wait before you came back, you said you would return in 10 years, and like some weird half-human mountain creature, you would seize me, you would kidnap me," "you would abduct me and you would carry me off to Spain." "And there you promised... you would buy me a kingdom." "I would buy you a kingdom." "Yes, yes!" "Well, after a banquet, with all sorts of lovely things to eat and drink, one would never think of buying anything cheap." "Oh, my God." "Did I really say all those things?" "Yes, you did." "You also said what my kingdom would be called." "Oh?" "Tell me." "The Kingdom of Orange Juice." "Well, that sounds delicious." "Well, I didn't like it." "It was as though you were trying to make fun of me." "Well, I'm sure I had no desire to hurt your feelings." "No, I'm sure you didn't." "I would imagine not, when you think of what you were about to do." "What in the world was I about to do?" "You're saying now that you've forgotten that?" "I'm sorry." "No, no!" "Those are things that a person remembers forever." "Please, I'm sorry." "You held me." "You kissed me, Master Builder Solness." "I did?" "Yes, you did." "You took hold of me, and you wrapped your arms around me, and you pressed into me so hard that we leaned over backwards, and you kissed me." "No." "No." "No, you can't!" "You're not going to say that you didn't do that!" "No, I absolutely did not do that!" "No!" "No!" "Listen!" "This story that you told me, this has to be something that you dreamed... very vividly, maybe, or" "Or" " Or, all right." "All right." "I must have wanted to do it." "I must have felt like doing it." "I must have felt like doing it, and the impression of-- of" "Oh, yes!" "All right." "Yes!" "Yes, yes!" "Yes!" "I did." "It happened." "So you admit it now?" "Oh, yes." "You took hold of me." "You wrapped your arms tightly around me." "Oh, yes." "And you pressed into me hard so that we leaned over backwards, and you were kissing me and kissing me again and again." "That's right." "So, you see," "I finally lured the little animal out of its hole." "I brought it out of you." "Yes, how strange-- how strange that I could forget something like that." "I'm sure you've kissed so many girls in the course of your life, it's hard to remember them all." "Don't say that!" "Don't." "But then, how did-- how did" "What happened then?" "Nothing happened, as you know very well, 'cause all the other guests came into the room." "Oh, yes!" "Oh!" "Oh, it's so incredible that I could forget that too." "You haven't actually forgotten anything." "You're just a little bit-- a little bit embarrassed about what you did." "People don't forget things like that." "They just don't." "Yes, it would seem impossible to forget things like that." "Have you perhaps forgotten one thing anyway?" "What day it was." "What day it was?" "Yes." "What day it was." "The day when you carried the wreath to the top of the tower." "What was the day?" "Tell me." "Say it." "What?" "You mean the actual day?" "I mean, I only know it was 10 years ago." "It was the end of the summer." "Yes, it was 10 years ago." "It was September the 19th." "Well, it was definitely around then." "My goodness." "So you remember that too." "Wait a minute." "It's September the 19th today, isn't it?" "Yes." "It's September the 19th today." "And the 10 years are up." "And you didn't come, as you promised you would." "Promised?" "Oh, yes, well, I threatened to come get you, didn't I?" "I didn't see it as a threat." "Well, a teasing sort of threat." "Oh!" "Is that what you were doing?" "Were you teasing me?" "Well, I was joking around." "I was having a little fun with you." "I don't know." "I don't remember." "Jesus Christ!" "That's all it could possibly have been... because you were only a child!" "I don't know how much of a child I was." "I wasn't exactly the innocent little girl you might think I was." "What are you saying?" "Are you saying... that you've quite seriously, for 10 years, been expecting that I would return to Sangerly?" "Yes, of course." "That's exactly what I expected." "That I would come to your house and carry you away with me?" "Like some weird half-human mountain creature." "And that I would make you my princess?" "That's what you promised me." "And that I would give you a kingdom?" "Well, why not?" "It didn't have to be the ordinary kind of kingdom." "No, just something that would be just as nice as one." "Yes." "Something that would be just as nice as one or maybe nicer." "After all, if you could build the highest church tower in the world, surely you could find some way of creating... a special sort of kingdom." "Do you know that I honestly can't figure you out at all?" "You can't?" "Really?" "I'm so simple." "Well, you're not so simple... 'cause I honestly can't tell whether you really mean all these things you're saying... or whether you're joking." "Oh, you mean teasing?" "The way you teased me." "And, uh, by the way, haven't you known for all these years... that I happen to be married?" "Yes, of course." "Why do you ask me that?" "I don't know." "I just" "Look." "Please tell me honestly." "Why have you come here?" "I've come to take over my kingdom." "The 10 years are up now." ""Bring me my kingdom, Master Builder!" "Now!" "Now!"" "No, really, tell me, tell me." "Why have you come?" "What do you actually want to do here?" "What do I want to do?" "Ah!" "Well, first, before anything," "I so much want to make a tour of all the buildings you've built around here." "Well" "You're gonna have a lot of running around to do." "Yes, I know." "You've done such an enormous amount of work." "Well, I have, especially in these last few years." "Have you done a lot of those towers?" "The really high ones?" "Oh, no." "I don't do them anymore." "What do you do then?" "I build homes." "You know, for human beings." "I wonder, wouldn't it be possible to build something like a church tower... on people's homes?" "God, it's remarkable that you say that... 'cause, you know, that's exactly what I'd like to do... more than anything in the world." "Why don't you do it?" "Ah, because people don't want it." "That is unbelievable!" "They don't want it?" "God, that's just incredible!" "But just now, I'm building a new home for Aline and myself just in front here." "Really?" "Yeah, it's almost finished." "And on top of that home, oh, yes, there is a tower." "A high one?" "Oh, yes!" "A very high one?" "Believe me." "The people around here are going to say it's much too high." "So tell me now, what's your first name?" "You don't" "You don't remember that my first name is Hilde?" "Oh, Hilde." "Of course." "You certainly called me that 10 years ago." "I did, eh?" "Actually, you called me "little Hilde." That I didn't like." "Oh, no?" "You didn't like it that I called you "little Hilde"?" "No, I didn't." "But in any case, now..." "I quite like the sound of "Princess Hilde."" "Exactly." "Oh, Hilde." "It is so good for me that you came here at this particular moment." "It is?" "Really?" "Because I have been sitting here in this house... with a feeling of being completely alone... and just sort of staring helplessly at absolutely everything." "And you know, the funny thing is... that I've become so disturbed by younger people." "What?" "Younger people?" "They upset me so much... that I've sort of closed my door here and locked myself in." "I mean, I'm afraid that they're gonna come here, and they're gonna knock on the door, and then they're going to break in." "Well, I think you should just open the door and let them in." "Open the door?" "Yes." "Yes." "So that they can gently and quietly come inside, and it can be something good for you." "Open the door?" "Can you?" "Master Builder, can you in some way make use of me?" "Well, are you two still talking?" "Well, you know, we found quite a bit to talk about." "Yes, it's been wonderfully interesting... because Master Builder Solness... has such an absolutely incredible memory." "He instantly recalls even the most meaningless details." "Your room is all ready for you, Miss Wangel." "Oh, one of the children's rooms?" "Yes, the middle one, but, um" "So..." "Hilde will sleep in one of the children's rooms." "Hilde?" "Yes, Miss Wangel is called Hilde." "And do you know," "I knew Hilde when she was a child." "You did?" "Well, Halvard, really?" "Hello." "I just wanted to tell you that I'm here." "Good." "Good." "How's old Brovik doing today?" "Not very well." "He wanted me to tell you that he's terribly sorry, but he has to spend the day in bed." "Oh, of course." "He must stay in bed." "Well, you can get to work, if you like." "See you later." "The next one to die, so... he's on his way too now, I'd say." ""He's on his way too"?" "What's that supposed to mean?" "Old Brovik." "He's certainly going to die." "We'll be hearing about his death any day now, I'd say." "Aline, darling." "Do you think maybe you should go out for a while... and take a little walk or something?" "Yes, absolutely." "That's exactly the thing I need to do." "Is she still asleep?" "You're wondering about Miss Wangel?" "Yes, I just suddenly wondered" "I'm sure she's been up for hours." "Really?" "Mm-hmm." "When I went in to look in on her, she was busy arranging all of her little things." "Well, we've finally found a good use for one of the children's rooms, haven't we, Aline?" "Yes, at last." "I mean, it's wonderful to not just leave all of them empty." "You're quite right, Halvard." "The nightmare of that emptiness." "Things are gonna be better, my darling." "Believe me, things are gonna start to get better." "Everything is gonna be easier and nicer for both of us." ""Things are going to start to get better"?" "Believe me, Aline." "You mean because that girl's come here?" "Hmm?" "No, I was talking about the fact... that we're gonna move into our new house." "Do you believe that, Halvard?" "Do you really believe that's gonna make things better?" "I don't doubt it for a second." "I mean, you think that too, don't you?" "No." "Because when I think about the new house, I go blank." "I feel absolutely nothing." "You know it's very hard for me when you say things like that, Aline, because, I mean, I-- you're the main reason" "I built it for you." "Yes, for me." "You do much too much "for me."" "I mean, I'm still gonna tell you... you're going to see that I'm right." "Things are going to be nice." "They're gonna be very, very nice for you, Aline, when we move into the new" ""Nice for me." Yes, they will be... because there's going to be so much there... that's gonna remind you of your" "Parents' house?" "It's gonna remind me of my parents' house... that burned down in the fire." "Aline, darling." "Don't you understand... that you can work and build for the rest of your life, Halvard, but you will never be able to give me back a home that feels right to me!" "Well, then for God's sake, let's not talk anymore about the subject." "We never do talk about it anyway." "I mean, you avoid the subject." "I avoid the subject?" "I avoid the subject?" "Why in the world would I do that?" "Halvard, I know you so well." "You really would like to save me from everything that weighs down on me." "You'd like to pardon me too." " Pardon you?" " Yes, me!" "This again?" "But" " Because with my parents' house, whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen." "When terrible things start to fall out of the sky, you can't stop them." "Of course." "But the horror is what happened after the fire." "That's the thing." "That" " That" " That-- Aline." "Aline, Aline." "You have to promise me that you'll never start thinking like this again." "Promise you." "Promise all you like." "Oh, my God." "It's so hopeless." "It's so hopeless." "There's never a ray of light." "There's never a ray of light." "There's never one ray of light inside this home we live in." "Halvard, this isn't a home." "All right." "Fine." "It isn't." "No." "Aline, let's be serious." "Do you think... that you might just possibly be going around here, looking to see... if there's a special hidden significance... in the things I do and the things I say?" "What?" "Am I what?" "No, it's-- it's totally understandable, Aline." "I mean, it really is." "How else are you supposed to behave... when you have to cope with a mentally sick man in the house?" ""Mentally sick."" "Are you mentally sick?" "Well, now, let's not say "sick."" "Let's just say a bit disturbed." "Oh, for Christ's sake, Halvard." "A bit unbalanced." "But" " But oddly, you're mistaken." "You and the doctor are completely mistaken, because there's absolutely nothing wrong with me." "Well, of course there isn't." "So what are you so upset about?" "Upset?" "Am I upset?" "I think I might be upset because of the burden of all the guilt, Aline." "I haven't done anything, and yet I feel..." "I'm being ground down into the dirt, overpowered by guilt." "Towards me?" "Well, yes, yes." "Towards you, my dear." "Well then, Halvard, you really are sick." "You are." "Well, I suppose I must be, or something of that nature." "Oh." "Now, this lets in a little light, now, doesn't it, Aline?" "Good morning, Master Builder." " Did you sleep well?" " Yes, sir." "It was wonderful." "It was as if I were being rocked in a cradle." "I just lay there and..." "I stretched out like a princess." "Very appropriate." "Did you dream a little bit too, maybe?" "Yes, but that was awful." "Oh?" "I dreamt that I was falling down an enormously high, steep cliff." "Do you ever have that dream?" "Yes!" "Sometimes I do!" "It's horrible, but it's also this exciting feeling, the way you sort of drift down farther and farther." "There's a sort of icy sensation, cold, freezing." "Yes!" "Do you sometimes pull your legs up under you as you fall?" " Right up to my chest!" " Yes!" "Yes!" "Halvard, I guess I'd better go into town now." "I, um" "I'll see if I can find you a few clothes... and some other things you're obviously gonna need." "Dear, lovely Mrs. Solness, that's so incredibly kind of you." "You're being so kind to me." "Minimal obligation to a guest." "I'm not kind at all." "Oh, wh" " I mean" "I can perfectly well go to town myself and get what I need." "To be absolutely frank, I think you might possibly attract attention there somehow." "Attention?" "Really?" "Attention?" "Really?" "Well, that would be fun, wouldn't it?" "Mmm, but then... people there might start to think that you, too, were crazy." "Crazy?" "Why?" "Is there an enormous number of crazy people here in your town?" "Well, there-- there's-- there's a" "Oh!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" " Do you mean that you haven't noticed it yet?" " No." "No." "Absolutely not." "I mean" "I mean, no-- Maybe, you know" "Maybe in-- in one particular way." "Whoa." "Did you hear that, Aline?" " Yeah?" "Well, what is that one particular way?" " I'm not gonna say." " Come on." "Tell us." " No." "Do you think I'm crazy?" "I'm sure when you two are alone, she'll tell you, Halvard." "Really?" "Do you think so?" "Yes, I do." "Because you knew her so well at one time, when she was a child." "I believe you told me." "So" "So... is your wife just incapable of liking me at all?" "I'm sorry." "I" "I mean, uh" "In these last few years," "Aline has become very reclusive, ill at ease around people." "Yes." "If only you could get to know her a little." "She's actually... a kind, good, wonderful person." "If she's so kind, why did she talk that way about obligation?" "Obligation?" "Yes." "She said she would go buy me some things out of obligation." "Christ, I hate that word." "It's so revolting, so ugly." ""Obligation"?" "I mean, if she really is so kind as you say she is, why would she use a word like that?" "But what sort of words do you think that she should have used?" "Well, she might have said that she wanted to go buy me some things... because she liked me very much and she wanted to do it." "That's what she could have said." "Something warm, from her heart." "That's what you hoped that Aline would say?" "Are you the one who's done all these drawings?" "No!" "They were done by... a young man whom I have here assisting me." "Oh." "Someone you've trained?" "Yes." "An advanced practitioner?" "Do you think you can tell that from looking at those drawings?" "No." "I just meant that if he studied with you, he must be very advanced." "Believe me, there are a lot of people around here who have studied with me, and they haven't become very advanced at all." "Why do you take on all these students?" "I don't understand." "Well-- I think it's absurd." "You shouldn't teach students the things that you know." "You're the only one who should be allowed to build." "You should get all the jobs yourself." "Hilde!" "What?" "Hilde, that is outrageous!" "Wait." "Is that the new house?" "What?" "Over by the stone quarry?" "Yes!" "It's so big!" "Yes!" "So... does that one have children's rooms also?" "Yes." "Hmm." "Children's rooms, but no children." "Yes." "Hmm." "Well, then wasn't I possibly just a little bit right?" "What do you mean?" "I mean that you really are just a little bit crazy." "Was that what you meant when you said that?" "Yes." "I was thinking of all these empty children's rooms." "Well, Hilde, you see, Aline and I did have children." "Um, two little boys." "Twins." "This was quite some time ago." "And they're both" "Well, we only had them... for a little bit less than three weeks." "And then they died." "Oh, Hilde." "It's so good for me that you came to me." "It's such a wonderful feeling to have someone to talk with." "You mean you can't talk with her?" "Well, not in the way I want to talk... and need to talk." "I mean, we simply can't talk about this." "Or about most things, really." "Was that what you meant yesterday when you said that you needed me?" "Was that the only thing, or" "See, over there, on the high ground, where you can see the new house," "well, that was where Aline and I had lived when we were first married." "Because at that time, there was an old house there... that had belonged to her mother and" "That house had been given to us, along with this whole, enormous garden around it." "Did that house also have a tower?" "Oh, no." "Nothing like that." "On the contrary, from the outside, that house was actually, uh, just a huge, dark, depressing, ugly box." "But inside, though, it was actually very comfortable and cozy and-- and... that was where we lived... when the two little boys were born." "When they first came into the world, they were so healthy and strong." "They were growing every day." "You could actually see it." "Yes, they grow so fast in the first few days." "And the sight of Aline, lying in bed with the two little babies, that was the most beautiful sight you could ever see in your life." "But then one night, we had a fire." "A fire?" "What happened?" "Well, that was a terrible night." "Alarms." "Chaos." "Everybody scrambling and pushing, outside at night in the freezing cold." "Aline and the boys carried out in their beds." "Well, Aline... went into a state of sheer terror, and as a result she developed a fever." "And that, in turn, affected her milk." "And she insisted that she had to nurse the little babies herself, no matter how ill she was." "She said that was her obligation." "So both of the little boys got sick, and they both died." "They couldn't survive drinking the milk?" "No, that's right." "That must have been so hard for you, so painful." "Yes." "It was 10 times worse for Aline." "I mean, can you believe this, that things like that are allowed to happen in the world?" "From the day I lost my boys, I hated building churches." "And now I don't build anything like that anymore." "Only homes, where people can live." "Homes for people." "Homes with high towers and spires though." "Yes." "I must admit I do prefer them that way." "Anyway" "See, that fire lifted me up to a great height... as a master builder... because, see, I parceled out almost that whole piece of land... into lots for houses, and of course I was the one who was able to build the houses." "And after that, everything started going in my direction." "You must be a very happy man, the way it's all gone for you." "Now you're saying that too, like everybody else." "Well, you must be." "I think that you must be... if only you could manage to stop thinking all the time... about those two little children" "Well, Hilde-- I mean, do they still... stand in the way of everything all the time, after all these years?" "But don't you see that in order to get that opportunity... to build homes for other people," "I had to give up forever any hope at all... of having a home myself?" "I mean, a home with a mother and a father and children." "You mean, because" "That was the price I had to pay... for all this wonderful good fortune that people love to talk about." "And yet... you're building a home... with rooms for children." "Hilde." "Have you ever noticed... that sometimes the thing which is impossible... can somehow still tempt you, can somehow still cry out to you?" "So you know about that too, do you?" "Yes, Hilde, I do." "Well, it sounds like there might be... some weird, half-human mountain creature... just running around somewhere inside you." "Yes, maybe." "But you see, there's always a balancing that has to occur." "In other words, everything I've done, everything I've achieved, it all has to be balanced out." "Has to be paid for." "Even after the down payment, a price must still be paid." "And the currency... in which the payment is demanded... isn't money." "It's human happiness." "And my good fortune, it can't be paid for just with my happiness alone." "No, it also has to be paid for with the happiness of other people." "You see, every day..." "I have to get up... and I have to watch the price being paid for my benefit... all day long." "Obviously you're talking about your wife." "Yes." "But you have to understand this, Hilde." "Aline" "Aline also had a great talent." "She had a talent for building and shaping... the souls of young children." "She would have enabled her children to grow up... with a kind of equanimity and a kind of grace." "All that talent just lies there now... like a pile of rubble after an enormous explosion." "It's completely useless." "Yes, but even if that's true" "Well, it is true." "It is true." "I know Aline." "But the point is, it wasn't your fault." "None of it was your fault." "No?" "But that's the question, isn't it?" "'Cause I think it probably was my fault." "What?" "The fire?" "Yes, all of it." "Everything that happened." "Master Builder, when you talk like that, you sound as though you really are mentally sick." "Well, there" "Excuse me." "Oh, well, please come in, so we can settle this." "Yes, that'd be great." "Things aren't going any better for your father, I hear." "No, he's, uh, deteriorating very fast." "Um" "That's why I've come here to ask you" "Please, could you possibly write a few words on one of my drawings?" "You know, just anything that he could read before he" "Ragnar, could you please not talk to me any more about those drawings?" "Why?" "Have-- Have you looked at them?" "Oh, yes, of course." "So... perhaps you don't find them very good." "Or perhaps... you don't think that I'm very" "Ragnar, please just stay here... and keep on working with me." "You'll have everything that you could possibly want." "You can get married to Kaya." "You'll live without any anxieties." "You might even be happy." "You just have to stop thinking about... becoming a builder yourself." "All right." "Fine." "So, uh... that's what I'll go home and tell Father." "Fine." "Well... good." "'Cause I promised to tell him exactly what you said." "And that's what you want me to tell him before he dies, right?" "Well, for God's sake, tell him whatever you like." "The best thing, really, would be to tell him nothing." "May I take the drawings with me then?" " Yes, please." " No, leave them." "Leave them?" "Leave them for what?" "Because I want to take a look at them too." "But you've already" "Fine." "Leave them then." "Ragnar, you mustn't ask me for something that I can't give you." "Of course." "Of course." "Excuse me." "That was incredibly cruel." "I-I-I" "Oh, do you think so?" "Yes, that's just what he was thinking." "You were brutal with him." "It was sickening." "You said I was the only one... who should be allowed to build." "Yes." "I said it." "Youshouldn'tsayit." "Hilde, if I can't have... a single moment of inner peace in my life, please at least allow me to keep my position in the world." "Why can't you have a single moment of inner peace?" "All right, I will tell you." "See, Hilde, in the old house where we used to live, the one that burned down," "there was an attic, and I used to go up there very frequently." "And one day, when I was in the attic," "I noticed a crack in the chimney pipe there." "And every time that I would go up to the attic," "I would check to see if the crack was still there." "And it always was." "Yes, because nobody but me knew about it." "And you never mentioned it to anyone?" "No, I didn't." "A cracked chimney pipe is incredibly dangerous." "Didn't it occur to you to get it fixed?" "Yes, it occurred to me, but every time I was about to do something about it, something stopped me, as if a hand had suddenly come out of nowhere and was holding on to me, and I would just say to myself, "Well, I'll do it tomorrow."" "So the crack was never mended." "You just ignored it?" "How could you do that?" "Because I kept on wondering about that little crack." "Could I possibly fly through that crack... and fly up to a great height as a master builder?" "That must have been a very exciting thought." "See, I kept thinking of... this little-- this little story," "and it all seemed so natural." "It seemed so simple and easy." "It would all take place, naturally, in the wintertime, a little before lunch, and Aline and I would be out, and I'd be driving her around somewhere." "And of course those who stayed behind... would have lit big roaring fires in all of the stoves." "Yes, 'cause it would have been a terribly cold day." "Yes, bitterly, bitterly cold." "So it would happen as we'd be riding toward home, we'd see smoke rising." "You'd just see smoke." "At first, just smoke." "But then as we would approach the garden gate, we'd be able to see the whole house, like a big wooden box, in a ring of flame-- a surging, pulsing ring of flame." "I see." "Tell me, are you-- are you absolutely certain that the fire was caused... by that little crack in the chimney pipe?" "Oh, no, no, no." "No, on the contrary, the crack in the chimney pipe, I definitely know... had nothing to do with it." "What?" "Oh, no, it was clearly determined... the fire broke out in a clothes closet in a completely different part of the house." "Well, then why are you talking to me about this?" "Oh, well, I can explain!" "I can explain!" "Hilde-- Hilde, I can explain this." "I can explain this." "You see" " Listen to me." "I have to ask you something." "Would you agree with me, possibly, that there are certain people in the world, certain particular selected individuals... who have received a certain favor... and they've been granted a certain power... so that they can desire something so passionately... that the thing they wish for simply has to take place?" "Well, if there are, we'll learn one day whether I'm one of them." "But see, Hilde, an individual can't accomplish things like that... entirely on their own." "See, there are forces in the universe... that serve people and that help people." "And in order for one's desires to be realized, those forces have to be there." "They don't just suddenly appear, Hilde." "One has to call for them... with a sort of intense inner determination." "And I did that." "I called for them." "I called, and they came, and they did exactly what I wanted them to do." "And that's why I say that it was my fault that the boys died... and that Aline was never able to be what she should have been." "Master Builder, I wonder... if perhaps you were simply born... with an oversensitive conscience." "Wh-What does that mean?" "It means that your conscience is very delicate, and it's much too weak, and it is too easily crushed by heavy things." "I see." "And what sort of a conscience should I have then?" "I would like you to have a more robust conscience... which can lift up those things and bear their weight." "You know, in all those old books of the Norse sagas" "Have you done any reading in those old books, Hilde?" "Oh, yes, certainly." "Well, they always talk about the Vikings." "They always describe how the Vikings went to foreign countries and... they set fire to the countryside... and they robbed, and they stole, and they beat men to death." "They seized the women." "They just took them away." "Carried them off in their ships." "Well, those Vikings... really had those consciences that were s-- that were strong and robust." "You know, and in so many of those stories, some of those women whom they carried off, they became so attached to the men that they refused to be parted from them." "Does that make any sort of sense to you, Hilde?" "It makes complete sense to me." "So you could make that same sort of a choice yourself then?" "Why wouldn't I?" "You could make the choice to move in and live... with someone who had violated you?" "If I'd come to love him, yes." "Oh, Hilde." "You are like a wild bird of the forest, Hilde." "No, I'm not, because I don't fly off and hide in the shrubbery." "Yes." "Maybe you're more like a bird of prey." "Perhaps I am something more like that sort of bird." "Why shouldn't I be?" "Why shouldn't I go off in search of my prey?" "Why shouldn't I seize the prize I want so desperately?" "Do you know what I feel that you really are?" "A very strange bird, I'm sure you're gonna say." "You are like a day which is dawning, Hilde." "When I look at you, it's as if I were looking at the sun rising." "Yes." "Here." "What are you doing?" "Take them." "Why, I've been looking at these drawings all day." "Yes, I know." "Now you're going to write on them for him." "Oh, Hilde, not in a million years." "Not when that old man is lying on his bed, face to face with death?" "I mean, my God, can't you offer just a moment of happiness... between the old man and his son... before they're separated for good?" "Even if you don't really like the drawings, surely you just bring yourself to lie a little." "Now you're asking me to lie?" "And if you do, write some really nice things on the young man's drawings... that might actually help him to get the job of building the house." "It might help him to get the job?" "Hilde, don't you understand this?" "That's the only reason he wants me to write on the drawings-- to get the job." "To get the job." "Right." "That's enough." "Stop it." "Stop it." "Maybe for his old father's sake I could do something like that, because at one point in the past, Hilde, when I was rising up," "I pulled that old man down, I destroyed him." "Really?" "Him too?" "And now Ragnar wants to rise up." "Yes, but if the poor fellow has no talent" "If Ragnar rises up," "I'm going to go down." "Oh, yes, oh, yes." "He'll destroy me, just the way I destroyed his father." "Oh." "You mean he actually does have talent?" "Oh, yes." "Oh, there's no question about that." "Enormous talent." "Enormous talent." "And I'm afraid... that the forces in the universe that serve people and help them, they are not going to be obeying my wishes anymore." "Then you'll have to set off on your own." "That's all you can do." "Without help?" "It's hopeless, Hilde." "What are you trying to do?" "Are you trying to take my life away from me, the thing that means more to me than life itself?" "To see you with a wreath in your hand, standing high, high up on an enormous tower." "Mmm." "So, write." "Write... some really nice things for this... awful Ragnar." "So, now you have to tell me something, Hilde." "Have you ever loved anyone?" "Anyone else, you mean?" "Anyone else?" "Of course I've liked other men slightly, for a little while anyway, particularly when I was angry with you for not coming to find me." "Mmm." "I'm sure you understand." "I've brought these little things back for you myself, Miss Wangel." "And, uh, the larger things will be delivered a little bit later." "That's so nice of you." "It's the least I could do." "Aline?" "Did you happen to notice if the bookkeeper was out there?" "Of course she was out there." "She was bent over her documents, her usual pose when I'm in the vicinity." " I'm going to bring her this." " No." "Let me have the pleasure of doing that." "What was her name again?" "Her name is Miss Fosli." "That's awfully cold." "I mean her first name." "It's, uh..." "Kaya." "Kaya!" "Please come in here right away." "The master builder wants to speak with you." "Yes?" "Kaya, you can take these now." "The master builder has written various things on them." "So..." "bring these to old Brovik... as quickly as you can." "Yes, I will." "So Ragnar will have his chance to build something." "Would it be all right then... for him to come over and-- and to thank you right away?" "Oh, no, no." "I'm sorry." "I-I don't want any thanks." "Why don't you just... send him my greetings and tell him that specifically?" "Yes, all right." "And you can also tell him... that I won't be needing him here from now on." "And, um," "I won't be needing you either." "Won't be needing me?" "Well, you are gonna have a great many concerns of your own... to be thinking about now." "Thinking about and taking care of." "Aww" "I think y-you should go home as quickly as possible... with the drawings." "The sooner the better." "Don't you think you should go?" "Yes." "All right." "Mrs. Solness." "Are you really gonna let them go?" "Oh, yes." "But I don't want you to be thinking about any of that now." "I just want you to be thinking about the fact... that we're going to be moving into our new house." "And I want to make that move as soon as possible." "We are going to raise the wreath today!" "We'll raise it up... to the top of the tower!" "What do you think about that, Miss Hilde?" "It'll be unbelievably beautiful to see you high up in the sky again." "Me?" "No, no." "My God in heaven, Miss Wangel, don't even think such thoughts." "My husband, he suffers from the most terrible dizziness." "Your husband suffers from dizziness?" "Mm-hmm." " No, he doesn't." " He does." "He does." "But I saw him myself on top of an incredibly tall church tower." "I've heard people telling that story, and it's absolutely impossible." "Oh, yes, it's absolutely impossible." "And yet, well..." "I actually was up there." "Halvard, how can you say such things?" "You can't even go out on our balcony here, one flight up." "And that's the way you've always been." "Well, you might perhaps have the opportunity... to see a different side of me today." "No, no, no, no." "God save me from that." "That's something that I won't see." "Because I'm gonna write a note to the doctor right this minute, and he will definitely persuade you not to do it." "Oh, Aline." "No, no, no." "Because the way you are talking, you really are sick." "You are, Halvard." "It's the only explanation." "You're sick." "So... is that true?" "What?" "That I don't like high places?" "That I get dizzy?" "Yes." "Have you been taking a walk in the garden, Miss Wangel?" "Mm-hmm." "I was looking around a bit." "I see you found some flowers." "Oh, uh, yes, definitely." "There's lots of them down there, growing up between the bushes." "Really?" "They're still growing down there?" "Well, you see, I almost never go down there anymore." "No?" "Really?" "Don't you at least run down there once each day?" "I must say, running isn't something I really do now." "Don't you go down there once in a while just to say hello to all the lovely things?" "No." "It's all become alien territory, as far as I'm concerned." "I'd almost feel uncomfortable about seeing it again." "Your own garden?" "It's not mine now." "It's not the way it was... in my mother's and father's time." "They've gotten rid of so much of the garden, it's pitiable, really." "Imagine what they've done." "They've parceled it all out, and they've built houses for-- for strangers, houses for people that I don't even know, and these strangers, you see, can sit in their windows and stare at me." "I mean, isn't that something?" "Mrs. Solness?" "Would it be all right if I sat with you here for a short while?" "It would be very nice if you feel you'd like to." "Ah." "A perfect spot to just sit and sun yourself like a cat." "It's so kind of you to want to sit with me." "I thought you'd be going in to be with my husband now." "What would you think I'd be doing with him?" "Helping him, I suppose." "No." "Please." "Anyway, he isn't in there." "He's gone over to see the men who are working on the new house." "Oh." "The expression he had on his face, he looked so fierce and dangerous," "I really didn't have the courage to speak to him." "Is that so?" "But did you know that my husband really has... the most gentle disposition in the world?" "He does?" "Mm-hmm." "You see, you don't know him properly yet, Miss Wangel." "So are you happy to be moving over into the new house?" "I ought to be because he so much wants me to be happy about it." "I'm sure that's not the only reason to be happy, is it?" "Oh, yes, it is, yes." "That's my simple obligation in life, Miss Wangel-- to do what he wants." "Simply to yield." "But there are many occasions when it's terribly hard... to beat one's spirit into the necessary submission." "Um, yes, uh, that must be hard." "Yes, it is hard, if one isn't a better person than I am, at any rate." "Mrs. Solness," "I mean, when someone has been through really hard times the way that you have" "How do you know I've been through hard times?" "Your husband said that you had." "Oh." "He says so little about those things to me." "But yes, it's true." "I've been through quite a bit in the course of my life, yes, I have." "Dear Mrs. Solness, first everything burned up in the fire." "Yes, everything I had." "And then... so much worse." "Worse?" "What happened which was worse." "What do you mean?" "I meant... losing the boys." "Oh." "That." "Well... that was sort of a-- a decision by a higher power, and one has to submit oneself to something like that... and-- and even give thanks for it." "Do you do that?" "Not always, I'm afraid." "But I know that that's my obligation." "That's what I ought to do." "But, um, sometimes I just can't." "I think that's so understandable." "Again, I have to say to myself, it was a just punishment." "I don't understand." "Quite honestly, Miss Wangel, please, please stop talking about the two little boys." "We should only be happy for them now... because things are so good for them." "Very, very good." "And, um... i-it's the little things in life that really break your heart, when-- when you-- when you lose certain little things... that-- that most people might consider almost worthless." "Dear, sweet Mrs. Solness, will you tell me, please" "Just" " I don't know." "Unimportant things." "All the, um-- the portraits that were on the walls, uh, they all burned and... all of the... silk dresses" "You know, the ones that had been in the family for such a long, long time." "Well..." "they just burned." "And all the lacework that had been done by the mothers and the grandmothers, all of it just..." "burned." "And can" " Oh!" "Can you imagine the jewelry?" "Oh." "And, uh" "And all the dolls." "The dolls?" "I had nine beautiful dolls." "And they burned?" "Yes, every one of them." "And that was painful for me." "That was very painful." "So" "So you'd always kept the dolls you had as a young girl?" "No, I didn't just keep them." "I would take them out and I would hold them... and play with them and look at them." "Even after you were grown up?" "Oh, long after." "Even after you were married?" "Oh, yes." "I played with them when he couldn't see me." "But then, they burnt." "Poor little things just burnt." "And no one made an attempt to save them." "God, it's-- it's awful imagining them burning." "Don't laugh at me." "No, I'm not." "Because, you see, in a way, they were alive." "I carried them around in my arms... like small children not-- just not quite born yet." "Well" " Ah!" "So, Mrs. Solness" "So you're sitting in this drafty room and letting yourself catch a cold." "Is that it?" "No." "It's nice and warm here." "Mm-hmm." "Well, I suppose." "But you sent me a note." "Is there some sort of problem or" "I have to talk to you about something." "All right." "I see you've put on your mountain climbing uniform today." "Absolutely." "Of course I won't be climbing today." "I won't be breaking my neck." "Uh, you and I, we're going to stay down here on level ground and watch." "Aren't we, Doctor?" "And what are we going to be watching, I wonder?" "For Christ's sake, stop talking about that." "Please, please just try and get that idea out of his head." "I think that we should be friends, Miss Wangel." "Don't you think that we could be friends?" "If we could be, that would be so wonderful." "Have you ever noticed... that the minute I show up somewhere, my wife leaves?" "Actually, I've noticed that the minute you show up somewhere, you drive her out." "Oh." "Maybe." "But that's completely out of my control, I'm afraid." "Tell me, why did you come up here just now?" "To see you." "Surely you can see that I was here with her." "Well, I knew she'd leave." "Doesn't it upset you that she'd run away from you like that?" "Sometimes it makes life easier." "It's easier for you when she isn't there." "Mmm." "So you don't have to see her suffering." "Right." "Did you talk with her for a long time?" "Was it a long conversation?" "Hilde?" "What did she talk about?" "Poor Aline." "I'm sure she mentioned the boys, obviously." "She'll never get over it." "She'll never" "I want to leave." "Leave?" "Yes." " Well, you can't!" " What am I supposed to do here?" "Hilde, just-- just be here." "For God's sake, you know it wouldn't stay like that." "Well?" "I can't do something that wrong against someone I know." "Maybe if she were someone I'd never met, it would be different, but someone I've come close to." "No, I" " I can't." "I'm sorry." "I'm leaving." "And what will become of me then?" "What would I have to live for after you leave?" "You don't have to worry about that... because you have something." "You have the debt you have to pay-- your obligation to her." "Live for that." "No." "No, it's too late... because Aline is dead." "Because of me, she is dead." "All of the blood has been drained out of her body, and now I'm living my life... chained to someone who is actually dead." "But I am still capable of experiencing joy." "Help me!" "Help me." "I'm still alive." " What?" " I just think it is ridiculous... not to have the courage to just-- just reach out and just take happiness-- just take it-- and life-- life itself-- just 'cause there's someone in the way whom you happen to know." "Someone you don't have the right to leave." "Maybe that's not true." "Maybe the truth is, you really always do have the right." "But then it would" "It would" "God." "Oh" "Oh, God." "If we could just fall asleep" "If we could just fall asleep, this whole thing-- this whole thing could" "I know what you're going to build next, Master Builder." "Really?" "What?" "It's going to be a palace." "Tell me how you've imagined it, Hilde." "My palace will stand very, very high up on a hill, with nothing around it on any side, so that I can see far, far off, way out over the land." "And I'm sure there will be a high tower on it." "Yes." "Oh, yes." "The tower, you see, will be frightfully high up." "And way, way up at the top of the tower, yes, a balcony will be there encircling the whole thing." "And outside on the balcony, that's where I'll stand." "Oh, my God." "That you would stand up there, so horribly high up, so dizzyingly high up." "That's where I'll stand, and of course, you'll be able to come up also." "The master builder will be permitted to come up to the princess?" "Yes, of course." "But maybe he won't be able to build anymore, poor Master Builder." "No." "He will build." "Because, you see, you and I are going to be partners now." "But what are we gonna build, Hilde?" "Excuse me." "Look!" "It's going to be so incredibly beautiful." "Uh, what are you doing here?" "Well, I promised the foreman I'd bring the wreath." "Now?" "So, uh... is your father doing a bit better then?" "Mmm." "Not really." "But, um, did the things I wrote... cheer him up at all?" "No, they came too late, I'm sorry to say." "Oh." "You mean" "When Kaya arrived, he was already in a coma." "He'd had a stroke actually." "For God's sake, go home and take care of him." "There's nothing more I can do for him now." "Well, you ought to be with him." "Well, she's with him." "She's sitting by the bed." " You mean Kaya?" " Yeah." "Kaya." "But, you see, I don't have anything for you to do here." "Yes, I know." "But I'm staying for the ceremony." "Oh." "I see." "Well, all right then." "I'll take this down to the men, and I'll be back in a moment." "I would have thought you might have thanked him at least." "Thanked him?" "You think I should have thanked him?" "Yes, of course." "You're probably the one I should actually thank." "Am I right?" " What do you mean?" " Where is he?" "He took the wreath to the men who are working down there." "He took the wreath?" "What if he gets it in his head to go up that scaffolding?" " I've got to stop him." " I'm sorry." "Some visitors need attending to at the front door." "I can't." "But the women have just arrived." "They've come to see you." "They've come now?" "They've come to watch the ceremony." "Can't you just ask them to leave?" "No, it's impossible." "They've come to my house." "It's certainly my obligation to look after them." "But you can stay here, and when he comes back just hold on to him." "Don't let him go." "There are so many things I need to be doing right now." "Excuse me." "Can we step in here for a minute?" "Look, I don't want to upset you." "I just want to say I think you ought to proceed with caution." "Because I'd be very surprised if you really know him yet." "I know him better than anyone in the world knows him." "You think I should have thanked him." "Can I tell you something?" "This is the man who kept me down at the lowest level, year after year." "He ruined my father's life." "He made my father lose his respect for me." "He made me lose whatever respect I might once have had for myself." "And this man is such a coward, he can't even climb the towers he himself has designed, not even this one for his own house." "I saw him climb up an enormous tower and tie a wreath to a church's weather vane." "You saw him do that?" "He's going to do it again today." "We're all going to see it." "Yes, but he won't." "He can't." "Maybe at one time he could, but now he can't." "There's something else I have to tell you, something I've just learned this afternoon." "Is that right?" "Do you have any idea why he did everything he could... to stop me from leaving this office?" "He didn't want me to leave because if I left... he couldn't get his dirty hands on my fiancée." "That's not true." "That's a lie." "She told me herself this afternoon." "She said he literally controls her soul." "No, it's all about you." "He had to keep you from setting off on your own." "Why?" "Oh, my God." "It's what I've always thought." "He knew I would be a good architect." "He was afraid of me." "Well, everything is going terribly well down there." "The foreman, Mr. Tesman, is going to take the wreath up the tower." "It's all going to be fantastic." "Yes, that Tesman really is a courageous fellow." "He's a man I admire." "He's an honorable, upstanding, decent man." "What are you trying to say to us exactly?" "Just..." "Tesman is a man I respect." "So" "What?" "It's true, isn't it?" "The bookkeeper?" "Kaya?" " What are you?" "Aline, I need that blue bottle!" "Solness." "Solness!" "Are you really afraid to climb the tower?" "Is that what you are, you pathetic creature?" "If that's how you see me, I can't bear that." "Then let me see you differently." "Let me see you up there on that tower, high up and standing free." "No, I can't!" "That's what I want!" "That is what I want." "But I can't do that." "I told you." "This is the moment everything is going to stop." "I am going to stop building!" "No, this is the moment when you're going to start." "Because you won't be alone." "I'll be with you, and we'll do it together." "But what are we going to build, Hilde?" "We're going to build these very special structures... that will be more beautiful than anything on earth." "You mean-- Yes." "We're going to build dream palaces... that will be able to stand firmly... right in the middle of the sky." "They will stand firmly in the middle of the sky." "Solness!" "If I were to try it, Hilde" "If I were to try to climb the tower tonight" "If I were to make it to the top of the tower," "I would stand there and I would make a very simple vow-- to devote the rest of my life to building the only structures... which actually can contain human happiness." "That's right." "Those extraordinary towers... that stand firmly right in the middle of the sky." "And I would vow to build them together... with a princess whom I love." "I need that blue bottle!" "Then I would wave wildly to everyone below, and I would climb down, and I would throw my arms around my princess's neck, and I would kiss her and kiss her." "I've got it." "My master builder." "My master builder." "Mr. Tesman asked me to tell you he's ready to climb the tower with the wreath." "Well, I'm going to go down there myself now." "What are you going to do down there, Halvard?" "Well, I need to be with the men who are working down there." "I mean, that's where I usually am on these occasions." "You have to tell Mr. Tesman he has to be so careful-- when he climbs that tower." "Promise me you won't forget to tell him." "Halvard, no." "I have it!" "I've got it!" "No." "It's him." "Climbing higher." "Oh, my God." "Higher." "He's bound to turn around." "He can't keep going." "Climbing." "Climbing." "Almost there." "Almost there at the very top!" "Now he's hanging the wreath." "Now he's waving!" "Yes!" "Halvard." "No." "My master builder." "My master builder."