Pictures of Sweden

Ch. 8 - The Puppet Showman

There was an elderly man on the steam-boat, with such a contented face

that, if it did not lie, he must be the happiest man on earth. That he

indeed said he was: I heard it from his own mouth. He was a Dane,

consequently my countryman, and was a travelling theatrical manager.

He had the whole _corps dramatique_ with him; they lay in a large

chest--he was a puppet showman. His innate good-humour, said he, had

been tried by a polytechnic candidate,[D] and from this experiment on

his patience he had become completely happy. I did not understand him

at the moment, but he soon laid the whole case clearly before me; and

here it is.

[Footnote D: One who has passed his examination at a polytechnic

school.]

"It was in Slagelse," said he, "that I gave a representation at the

parsonage, and had a brilliant house and a brilliant company of

spectators, all young persons, unconfirmed, except a few old ladies.

Then there came a person dressed in black, having the appearance of a

student: he sat down amongst the others, laughed quite at the proper

time, and applauded quite correctly; that was an unusual spectator!

"I was bent on ascertaining who he was, and then I heard that he was a

candidate from the polytechnic school, who had been sent out to

instruct people in the provinces. At eight o'clock my representation

was over; the children were to go early to bed, and one must think of

the convenience of the public.

"At nine o'clock the candidate began his lectures and experiments, and

now _I_ was one of _his_ auditory.

"It was remarkable to hear and look at! The chief part of it went over

my head and into the parson's, as one says. Can it be possible,

thought I, that we human beings can find out such things? in that

case, we must also be able to hold out longer, before we are put into

the earth. It was merely small miracles that he performed, and yet all

as easy as an old stocking--quite from nature. In the time of Moses

and the prophets, such a polytechnic candidate would have been one of

the wise men of the land, and in the Middle Ages he would have been

burnt. I could not sleep the whole night, and as I gave a

representation the next evening, and the candidate was there again, I

got into a real merry humour.

"I have heard of an actor, who when playing the lovers' parts, only

thought of one of the spectators; he played for _her_ alone, and

forgot all the rest of the house; the polytechnic candidate was my

_her_, my only spectator, for whom I played. And when the performance

was over, all the puppets were called forward, and I was invited by

the polytechnic candidate to take a glass of wine with him; and he

spoke about my comedy, and I of his science; and I believe we each

derived equal pleasure from the other. But yet I had the advantage,

for there was so much in his performance that he could not account

for: as for instance, that a piece of iron which falls through a

spiral line, becomes magnetic,--well, how is that? The spirit comes

over it, but whence does it come from? it is just as with the human

beings of this world, I think; our Lord lets them fall through the

spiral line of time, and the spirit comes over them--and there stands

a Napoleon, a Luther, or a similar person.

"'All nature is a series of miracles,' said the candidate, 'but we are

so accustomed to them that we call them things of every-day life.' And

he spoke and he explained, so that it seemed at last as if he lifted

my scull, and I honestly confessed, that if I were not an old fellow,

I would go directly to the polytechnic school, and learn to examine

the world in the summer, although I was one of the happiest of men.

"'One of the happiest!' said he, and it was just as if he tasted it.

'Are you happy?' 'Yes!' said I, 'I am happy, and I am welcome in all

the towns I come to with my company! There is certainly one wish, that

comes now and then like a night-mare, which rides on my good-humour,

and that is to be a theatrical manager for a living company--a company

of real men and women.'

"'You wish to have your puppets animated; you would have them become

real actors and actresses,' said he, 'and yourself be the manager? you

then think that you would be perfectly happy?'

"Now he did not think so, but I thought so; and we talked for and

against; and we were just as near in our opinions as before. But we

clinked our glasses together, and the wine was very good; but there

was witchcraft in it, or else the short and the long of the story

would be--that I was intoxicated.

"That I was not; my eyes were quite clear; it was as if there was

sunshine in the room, and it shone out of the face of the polytechnic

candidate, so that I began to think of the old gods in my youth, and

when they went about in the world. And I told him so, and then he

smiled, and I durst have sworn that he was a disguised god, or one of

the family!--And he was so--my first wish was to be fulfilled: the

puppets become living beings and I the manager of men and women. We

drank that it should be so! he put all my puppets in the wooden chest,

fastened it on my back, and then let me fall through a spiral line. I

can still hear how I came down, slap! I lay on the floor, that is

quite sure and certain, and the whole company sprang out of the chest.

The spirit had come over us all together; all the puppets had become

excellent artists--they said so themselves--and I was the manager.

Everything was in order for the first representation; the whole

company must speak with me, and the public also. The female dancer

said, that if she did not stand on one leg, the house would be in an

uproar: she was master of the whole and would be treated as such.

"She who played the queen, would also be treated as a queen when off

the stage, or else she should get out of practice, and he who was

employed to come in with a letter made himself as important as the

first lover. 'For,' said he, 'the small are of just as much importance

as the great, in an artistic whole.' Then the hero demanded that the

whole of his part should only be retorts on making his exit, for these

the public applauded; the prima donna would only play in a red light,

for that suited her best--she would not be blue: they were all like

flies in a bottle, and I was also in the bottle--for I was the

manager. I lost my breath, my head was quite dizzy! I was as miserable

as a man can be; it was a new race of beings I had come amongst; I

wished that I had them altogether again in the chest, that I had never

been a manager: I told them that they were in fact only puppets, and

so they beat me to death. That was my feeling!

"I lay on the bed in my chamber; but how I had come there from the

polytechnic candidate, he must know best--for I do not. The moon shone

in on the floor where the puppet-chest lay upset, and all the puppets

spread about--great and small, the whole lot. But I was not floored! I

sprang out of bed, and threw them all into the chest; some on their

heads, and some on their legs; I smacked the lid down and sat myself

upon it: it was worth painting, can't you conceive it? I can! 'Now you

shall be there!' said I, 'and I will never more wish that you may

become flesh and blood!' I was so glad; I was the happiest man

alive--the polytechnic candidate had tried me! I sat in perfect bliss,

and fell asleep on the chest; and in the morning--it was, properly

speaking, at noon, for I slept so very long that morning--I sat there

still, happy and edified--I saw that my previous and only wish had

been stupid. I inquired for the polytechnic candidate, but he was

gone, like the Greek and Roman gods.

"And from that time I have been the happiest man alive. I am a

fortunate manager; my company does not argue with me, neither does the

public; they are amused to their heart's content, and I can myself put

all my pieces nicely together. I take the best parts out of all sorts

of comedies that I choose, and no one troubles himself about it.

Pieces that are now despised at the large theatres, but which thirty

years ago the public ran to see, and cried over--those pieces I now

make use of. I now present them before the young folks; and the young

folks--they cry just as their fathers and mothers used to do. I give

'Johanna Montfakon' and 'Dyveke,' but abbreviated; for the little

folks do not like long, twaddling love-stories. They must have it

unfortunate--but it must be brief. Now that I have travelled through

Denmark, both to the right and left, I know everybody and am known

again. Now I have come to Sweden, and if I am successful and gain much

money, I will be a Scandinavian, if the humour hold; and this I tell

you, as you are my countryman."

And I, as his countryman, naturally tell it again--only for the sake

of telling it.