George.--How often the best student, Jozwowicz, helped Pretwic with his exercises.
Doctor.--You have a good memory, sir.
George.--Very good, indeed, for then we did not call each other "sir."
Once more, Stanislaw, I welcome you.
Doctor.--And I return the welcome.
George--But do I not remember that after you went through college you studied law?
Doctor.--And afterward I became a doctor of medicine.
Prince.--Be seated. Jan, bring the lights.
Stella.--How charming that you are acquainted!
Doctor.--The school-bench, like misery, unites people. But then, social standing separates them. George"s future was a.s.sured. I was obliged to search for mine.
Prince.--He has searched also, and found adventures.
Drahomir.--In two parts of the world.
Czeska.--That is splendid.
Doctor.--Well, he followed his instinct. Even in school he broke the horses, went shooting and fenced.
George.--Better than I studied.
Doctor (laughing).--Yes--we used to call him the general, because he commanded us in our student fights.
Drahomir.--George, I recognized you there.
Czeska.--But now, I think, he will stop fighting.
Stella.--Who knows?
George.--I am sure of it.
Doctor.--As for me, I was his worst soldier. I never was fond of playing that way.
Prince.--Because those are the distractions of the n.o.bility and not of a doctor.
Doctor.--We begin to quarrel already. You are all proud of the fact that your ancestors, the knights, killed so many people. But if the prince knew how many people I have killed with my prescriptions! I can guarantee you that none of Your Highness"s ancestors can be proud of such great number.
Drahomir.--Bravo. Very good!
Prince.--And he is my doctor!
Stella.--Papa! The doctor is joking.
Prince.--Thanks for such jokes. But it is sure that the world is now upside-down.
Doctor.--Your Highness, we will live a hundred years more. (To George.) Come, tell me, what became of you? (They go out.)
Prince.--You would not believe how unhappy I am because I cannot get along with that man. He is the son of a blacksmith from Stanislawow.
I sent him to school because I wished to make an overseer of him. But afterwards he went to study at the University.
Drahomir.--He is twice a doctor--he is an intelligent man. One can see that by merely looking at him.
Stella.--Very much so.
Czeska.--So intelligent that I am afraid of him.
Drahomir.--But the prince must be satisfied.
Prince.--Satisfied, satisfied! He has lost his common sense. He became a democrat--a _sans culotte_. But he is a good doctor, and I am sick.
I have some stomach trouble. (To Drahomir.) Have you heard of it?
Drahomir.--The prince complained already some time ago.
Czeska.--For twenty years.
Prince.--Sorrow and public service have ruined my health.
Czeska.--But Your Highness is healthy.
Prince (angrily).--I tell you that I am sick. Stella, I am sick--am I not?
Stella.--But now you will feel better.
Prince.--Because he alone keeps me alive. Stella would have died also with heart trouble if it had not been for him.
Drahomir.--If that is so, he is a very precious man.
Stella.--We owe him eternal grat.i.tude.
Prince (looking at George).--He will also be necessary to Pretwic.
What, Stella, will he not?
Stella (laughing).--Papa, how can I know that?
Drahomir.--Truly, I sometimes envy those stalwart men. During the battle they strengthen in themselves the force which lessens and disappears in us, because nothing nourishes it. Perhaps we are also made of n.o.ble metal, but we are eaten up with rust while they are hardened in the battle of life. It is a sad necessity.
Czeska.--How about Mr. Pretwic?
Drahomir.--George endured much, it is true, and one feels this although it is difficult to describe it. Look at those two men. When the wind blows George resists like a century-old tree, and men like the doctor subdue it and order it to propel his boat. There is in that some greater capacity for life, therefore the result is more easy to be foreseen. The tree is older, and although still strong, the more it is bitten by the storms, the sooner it will die.
Prince.--I have said many times that we die like old trees. Some other thicket grows, but it is composed only of bushes.