Part 1 (1/2)

The Joy of Living (Es lebe das Leben).

by Hermann Sudermann.

Note

_The translation of dramatic dialogue is attended with special difficulties, and these are peculiarly marked in translating from German into English. The German sentence carries more ballast than English readers are accustomed to, and while in translating narrative one may, by means of subordinate clauses, follow the conformation of the original, it is hard to do so in rendering conversation, and virtually impossible when the conversation is meant to be spoken on the stage. To English and American spectators the long German speeches are a severe strain on the attention, and even in a translation intended only for the ”closet” a too faithful adherence to German construction is not the best way of doing justice to the original._

_Herr Sudermann's dialogue is more concise than that of many other German dramatists; yet in translation his sentences and speeches need to be divided and recast: to preserve the spirit, the letter must be modified. This is true not only of the construction of his dialogue but also of his forms of expression. Wherever it has been possible, his a.n.a.logies, his allusions, his ”tours de phrase,” have been scrupulously followed; but where they seemed to obscure his meaning to English readers some adaptation has been necessary. Apart from these trifling changes, the original has been closely followed; and such modifications as have been made were suggested solely by the wish to reproduce Herr Sudermann's meaning more closely than a literal translation would have allowed._

CHARACTERS

Count Michael von Kellinghausen.

Beata, his wife.

Ellen, their daughter.

Baron Richard von Volkerlingk.

Leonie, his wife.

Norbert, their son, reading for the Bar.

Baron Ludwig von Volkerlingk (_Secretary of State, Richard's step-brother_).

Prince Usingen.

Baron von Brachtmann.

Herr von Berkelwitz-Grunhof.

Dr. Kahlenberg (_Privy Councillor at the Board of Physicians_).

Holtzmann (_candidate for Holy Orders, private Secretary to Baron Richard von Volkerlingk_).

Meixner.

A Physician.

Conrad, servant at Count Kellinghausen's.

George, Baron Richard's servant.

Another Servant.

_The scene is laid in Berlin--the first three and the fifth acts at the house of Count Kellinghausen; the fourth act at Baron Richard Volkerlingk's._

_Period: about 1899_.

ACT I

THE JOY OF LIVING