Effi Briest Page #11

who was a perfect gentIeman, not petty...

and whose heart was in the right pIace.

''A pity that stupid affair had to happen!

''They were the perfect coupIe.''

What a glorious summer!

l should never have thought

a year ago that l could be so happy.

Just get well again!

Happiness will come.

Not past happiness, but a new one.

There are many types of happiness.

You'll see, we'll find something for you.

The summer passed...

and the nights with

shooting stars were over.

On these nights,

Effi had sat Iong at her window...

never tired of watching.

''I never was a very good Christian,

but perhaps we do come from up there...

''and when it's aII over here,

we'II return to our heavenIy home...

''to the stars up there, or beyond.

''I don't know, and I don't want to know.

''I simpIy feeI a Ionging....''

You wanted to tell me something.

Yes, because you spoke

of my being still very young.

Of course l'm young.

But that makes no difference.

ln happier days, lnnstetten

would read to me in the evening.

He had some fine books...

and in one of them there was the story...

of a man being called away

from a festive table.

On the following day, the man asked...

what had happened after he'd left.

He received the reply:

''Oh, all sorts of things...

''but you didn't really miss anything.''

You see, Mama,

those words stuck in my mind.

lt doesn't matter if one's called away

from the table earlier than others.

And since l mentioned

old times and lnnstetten...

l must tell you something else.

You're exciting yourself, Effi.

No. Getting something off one's mind...

doesn't excite one. lt's calming.

l wanted to tell you, Mama...

l shall die reconciled

with God and mankind...

with him, too.

Did you feel such bitterness

in your heart towards him?

ln a way...

forgive my saying this now...

you really brought

these sorrows on yourself.

Yes, sadly enough.

But when misfortune befell me...

and finally there was

that business with Annie...

then...

if l may use the absurd expression...

l simply turned the tables...

and convinced myself he was to blame...

because he was sober and calculating

and cruel, too, in the end.

l cursed him.

And now it weighs on your conscience?

Yes, and l want him to know...

that during the days l've been ill...

which have been almost

the loveliest days of my life...

l've come to see...

that he was right in everything.

ln the matter concerning

poor Major Crampas...

what else could he have done?

The thing with which he hurt me most...

was the way he raised...

my own child against me.

But as much as it grieves me...

as hard as it affects me...

he was right in that, too.

Let him know l died convinced of that.

lt will console him, give him new heart,

reconcile him perhaps.

For there was a lot of good in his nature...

and he was as fine a man

as anyone can be...

who doesn't know true love.

A smaII change had occurred

in the circuIar fIowerbed.

The sundiaI was gone,

and its pIace had been taken...

by a white marbIe sIab...

which bore onIy the words ''Effi Briest''...

with a cross beneath.

That was Effi's Iast request.

''I'd Iike to have

my oId name on my gravestone...

''I did no honour to my other name.''

And her request was granted.

Look, Briest...

Rollo's lying by the stone again.

lt has affected him more deeply than us.

He won't eat a thing.

Yes, Luise, these creatures!

That's what l always say...

we're not as remarkable as we think.

We talk about instinct...

and in the end, it's the best thing.

Not a day has passed,

since she was buried there...

-without these questions arising.

-What questions?

Whether we're not perhaps to blame?

Nonsense, Luise!

What do you mean?

Whether we shouldn't

have been stricter with her.

We most of all.

Niemeyer is useless really...

because he casts doubt on everything.

And then, Briest...

l'm sorry to have to say it,

your constant equivocation.

Finally, l ask myself...

since l don't wish to remain

blameless in this matter...

whether she wasn't perhaps too young?

Oh, Luise, don't go on.

That's much too vast a subject.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes