Effi Briest Page #6

Roswitha...

l'm going down to the square

where the merry-go-round is.

l'll wait for you there.

The first day, they met as arranged.

UsuaIIy, though, when Roswitha

reached the merry-go-round...

nobody was there...

and when she entered the haII

at home again...

Effi wouId come toward her and say.:

''Where have you been, Roswitha?

I got back ages ago.''

It went on Iike this for weeks.

''Forgive my sudden departure, lnnstetten.

lt all happened so quickly.

''l shall try to spin it out.

''lt's good to get away for a while.

''My regards to your charming wife

and my benefactress.

''Major Crampas.''

A good thing, too!

-What do you mean?

-That he's gone away.

He's always saying the same things.

When he comes back, at least

he'll have something new to talk about.

l must go away as well. To Berlin.

Perhaps l can bring back

something new, too.

My Effi always likes to hear something new.

She's bored in dear old Kessin.

l'll be away for about a week...

perhaps one day longer.

And don't be afraid.

lt won't come back.

You know what l mean...

that thing upstairs.

Effi smiIed to herseIf...

and in her smiIe was a hint of meIanchoIy.

She recaIIed the day

Crampas had Iast toId her...

Innstetten was enacting a comedy

with the ghost and her fear.

''The born schooImaster!''

But wasn't he right?

Wasn't the comedy justified?

ConfIicting thoughts, good and eviI,

went through her mind.

Three days Iater, Innstetten Ieft.

He said nothing about

his reasons for going to BerIin.

SHE GAVE UP HER WALKS

TO THE BEACH AND THE PLANTATlON

WHlLE CRAMPAS WAS lN STETTlN,

BUT SHE RESUMED THEM ON HlS RETURN.

NOT EVEN lNCLEMENT WEATHER

COULD DETER HER.

Either it was unrequited love,

or it might have been requited...

and the Chinaman couldn't bear

the thought that it was suddenly all over.

The Chinese are human beings as well.

They feel everything just as we do.

Everything.

-l need the leather varnish.

-l'll bring it out to you, Kruse.

Everything as we do.

There's a time and place for everything.

But that business with the Chinaman

is very strange.

lt's a load of nonsense.

And instead of attending

to what's important...

my wife talks about things like that.

When l need a clean shirt,

there's a button missing.

Then there's the black chicken!

lt doesn't even lay eggs.

And anyway...

how should it lay eggs?

lt doesn't even get out.

You men are worse than one thinks.

l ought to take the brush...

and paint your moustache.

Well...

l could accept that from you, Roswitha.

Roswitha!

l must remind you

that Kruse is a married man.

l know, ma'am.

One knows so many things

and behaves as if one didn't.

lf you're reckoning on her illness,

you'll be disappointed.

Sick people live longest of all.

How was it the first time with you?

ls it something you can tell me?

Yes, l can tell you.

lt was terrible...

and for that reason...

you can set your mind at rest

as far as Kruse is concerned.

When you've been through

what l've been through, you've had enough.

The next day, l always feel shattered.

And such terrible anxiety!

Tell me, then. How was it?

l know from at home, with women like you,

it's always the same story.

Yes...

in the end, it probably is always the same.

l don't want to pretend

my case was anything special.

Not in the least.

But when they accused me to my face...

and l suddenly had to admit:

''Yes, it's true.''

That was dreadful.

My mother wasn't too hard on me.

But my father, the village blacksmith,

was strict and terrible.

When he heard about it, he went for me

with an iron bar from the fire.

He wanted to kill me.

l had a younger sister...

who used to point at me and say,

''Shame on you!''

When the child was due,

l went into a nearby barn...

because l didn't dare show my face at home.

Strangers found me half dead.

They carried me into the house

and put me to bed.

On the third day...

they took my child away...

and when l asked later where it was...

they said it was in good hands.

Oh, ma'am...

may the Holy Virgin

protect you from such heartache!

The things you say!

l'm a married woman.

You shouldn't say things like that.

lt's out of place.

lt's unseemly.

Oh, ma'am....

Tell me...

how do you imagine a ministry?

A ministry?

That can mean two things.

lt may mean clever, distinguished men

who govern the country...

or it could be a building, a palazzo.

Would you like to live in such a palazzo?

l mean...

in such a ministry?

Heavens above, Geert!

They haven't made you a minister?

Gieshuebler said something of the kind.

And the prince is all-powerful.

He's done it at last...

and l'm only 18!

No, Effi, not a minister.

We haven't come that far yet.

To tell the truth...

we won't even live in a ministry...

but l'll be going to one every day.

And you'll be the wife of

a leading official and live in Berlin...

Soon, you'll hardly remember...

you once lived in Kessin...

with only Gieshuebler...

and the dunes...

and the plantation for company.

Thank God!

Get up, Effi! What's the matter?

What's the matter?

l thought you were happy here.

You say ''Thank God''

as if it had been an affliction here.

Was l the affliction?

Tell me!

How can you ask such a thing, Geert?

Oh, ma'am...

Kessin is...

all well and good...

but it's not Berlin.

Some days, you see no more

than half a dozen people.

And nothing but the dunes...

and the sea out there...

rushing and surging.

But that's all there is.

Yes, you're right, Roswitha.

lt rushes and surges...

but that's not life.

One has all kinds of foolish ideas.

You have to admit...

that matter with Kruse was not right.

Yes, my dear Gieshuebler,

but just for a moment.

l've come to say goodbye.

But, my dear lady, surely you'll be back.

l heard it was for just 3 or 4 days...

Yes, l should return.

ln a week at the latest,

l'm supposed to be back in Kessin.

But who knows if l shall return?

l don't have to tell you,

so many things can happen.

You want to say l'm too young...

but even young people die.

And if l lived to be a hundred,

l'd never forget you.

There were times when l felt lonely here.

Sometimes my heart was heavy,

more than you can imagine.

l haven't always done the right thing.

But whenever l saw you...

l felt better, a better person, too.

But, my dear lady....

And l want to thank you for that.

Goodbye, my dear friend!

Give my regards to your friend,

Miss Trippelli.

l have thought of her a lot recently

and of Prince Kotschukoff.

lt's a strange relationship.

Yet l can understand it.

Let me hear from you.

Or l shall write.

''I am Ieaving tomorrow by boat,

and this is a fareweII note.

''Innstetten expects me back in a few days,

but I shaII not return.

''You know why.

''It wouId have been better

if I had never seen this pIace.

''I beg you not to take this as a reproach.

''It was aII my fauIt.

''In view of your home Iife...

''your actions may be excusabIe,

but not mine.

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