Henrik Ibsen doll house. "A Doll's House" (Ibsen): description and analysis of the play

CHARACTERS

Lawyer Helmer.

Nora, his wife.

Doctor Rank.

Fru Linne.

Private Attorney Krogstad.

Three small children of the Helmers.

Anna Maria, their nanny.

Maid in Helmer's house.

Messenger.

The action takes place in Helmer's apartment.

Act one

NORA. Hide the tree well, Elene. The children must not see her before the evening when she is decorated. (To the messenger, taking out his purse.) How much?

MESSENGER. Fifty era!

NORA. Here is the crown... No, keep everything for yourself.

Yes, he is at home. (Humming again as she walks over to the table.)

HELMER (from the office). What is it, the lark sang?

NORA (expanding purchases). He is.

HELMER. The squirrel is messing around there?

HELMER. When did the squirrel return?

NORA. Just now. (Hides the sack of biscuits in his pocket and wipes his lips.) Come here, Torvald, look what I've bought!

HELMER. Wait, don't interfere. (After a while he opens the door and looks into the room, pen in hand.) Bought it, you say? All this? .. So the bird flew away again to waste money?

NORA. You know, Torvald, it's time for us to unwind a little at last. It's the first Christmas we don't need to embarrass ourselves like that.

HELMER. Well, we can’t wind either.

NORA. A little bit is possible! Is it true? The most amazing thing! You've been given a big salary now, and you'll be earning lots and lots of money.

HELMER. Yes, new year. But they will give me a salary only after three months.

NORA. Trivia! You can take it for now.

HELMER. Nora! (Comes up and jokingly takes her by the ear.) Again, our frivolity is right there. Just imagine, today I will borrow a thousand crowns, you will spend them on holidays, and on the eve of the New Year, tiles from the roof will fall on my head - and you're done.

NORA (covering his mouth with her hand). Ugh! Don't say such mean things.

HELMER. No, you imagine a similar case - what then?

NORA. If such a horror had already happened, then it would not matter to me whether I have debts or not.

HELMER. Well, what about the people I would borrow from?

NORA. For them? Why think about them! After all, they are strangers!

HELMER. Nora, Nora, you are the est woman! But seriously, Nora, you know my views on this matter. No debt! Never borrow! On the hearth, based on loans, on debts, some ugly shadow of dependence falls. We have held out, bravely, to this day, so we will endure and a little more, - not for long, after all.

NORA (going to the stove). Yes, whatever you want, Torvald.

HELMER (behind her). Well, well, here the bird lowered its wings. A? The squirrel pouted. (Takes out a purse.) Nora, what do you think I have here?

NORA (turning, briskly). Money!

HELMER. It is for you! (Gives her some papers.) Lord, I know how much the house spends on holidays.

NORA (counting). Ten, twenty, thirty, forty. Thank you, thank you, Torvald. Now I have enough for a long time.

HELMER. Yes, you try.

NORA. Yes, yes, definitely. But come here, I'll show you what I bought. And how cheap! Look, here's Ivaru's new suit and saber. Here is a horse and a pipe for Bob. And here is the doll and doll bed for Emmy. Unpretentious, but she will still break them soon. And here on the dresses and aprons of the servants. The old woman Anna-Maria should, of course, have been given more ...

HELMER. What's in this package?

NORA (jumping up). No, no, Torvald! You can't see this until tonight!

HELMER. Oh well! And you tell me, little reel, what did you look after yourself?

NORA. Hey, I don't need anything.

HELMER. Of course you must! Tell me now something so reasonable that you would like most of all.

The birth of the "new drama" was facilitated by the great playwrights of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries - A.P. Chekhov and M. Maeterlinck, B. Shaw and A. Strindberg. The Norwegian playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828-1906) is considered to be the father of the new literary movement. He is recognized as a great national playwright who brought Norwegian literature to the first steps of European culture. The essence of Ibsen's innovation is the creation of a discussion play, with the help of which the characters get to the truth.

The most remarkable work of Ibsen

The heroes of Ibsen's works are not historical figures, but real people with their own problems, which it was not customary to talk about. Ibsen said this. "A Doll's House" is the first play that so excited society. Each work of this playwright was an event: "Peer Gynt", "Greta Gabler", "Wild Duck" and his most famous play, which went and goes, without exaggeration, on all stages of the world - "A Doll's House". Nora has been played by all the great actresses. The significance of this work is evidenced by the fact that the manuscript of this play was included by UNESCO in 2001 in the "Memory of the World" list. This is a high honor that the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen rightfully deserves. "A Doll's House" made people talk about the soullessness of society, about its hypocrisy. It is now, in our time, emancipation has reached the point that four military ministers of European countries are women. And then the very fact that the doll-toy spoke, and even throws accusations in the face of her husband and declares that she has a sacred right not only to him and the children, but also to herself, produced the effect of an exploding bomb.

Feminism

Why is the heroine of the play so popular that an asteroid is even named after her? It must be understood that in contemporary Ibsen Europe, a woman did not have practically any rights. Therefore, it was here that such a socio-political movement as feminism arose. This is the struggle of women against discrimination based on sex, for equal social rights with men. Ibsen wrote "A Doll's House" based on real events. And they were such that, described in a dramatic work, they were perceived by contemporaries as a hymn to feminism.

Deafening impression

The commotion caused by the new play was so great, the discussions so heated, that notices were put up in some congregations asking them not to talk about The Burrow. Heinrich Ibsen's "A Doll's House" was also released under the name "Nora", because the central theme is the tragedy of a young woman who bears this name. Everyone argued about the play, because, on the one hand, "Nora" forced society to discuss the lack of rights of women, on the other hand, no one, not even ardent fans of the play, could justify her leaving the children. It was condemned always and everywhere. And the fact that a minute before the happy resolution of the terrible situation, the husband took her children from her and forbade communication with them did not save the heroine. And he allowed Nora to stay in the family, only to "not wash dirty linen in public."

Story taken from real life

Ibsen wrote A Doll's House in 1879. The playwright did not conceive it as some kind of challenge to public opinion, especially as some kind of program document, as it was perceived by a part of society, especially the feminist movement. In fact, Ibsen "A Doll's House" wrote from nature.

The story of her life was told to Ibsen by a fan of his talent, 19-year-old Laura Keeler. They met on the basis of creativity, since Laura, shocked by the strength of the personality of the protagonist of Ibsen's early play Brand, wrote its sequel. It was Ibsen who advised her to devote herself to literature, as a result of which the woman became a popular children's writer.

Real story

Having married a decent man, a young woman, according to the conditions of that time, became just a wife and really could not help her husband, who did not tolerate financial difficulties very well, up to fits of rage that affected the family. Who else? Working tirelessly to avoid a lack of money, associate (trainee, assistant professor) Victor Keeler becomes ill with tuberculosis. Up to the diagnosis, Ibsen repeats the story of a woman in his play. "A Doll's House" was written under a strong personal impression - nothing in it is far-fetched. What this play excited society - people recognized themselves. Laura loves her husband and wants to help him with all her might. At this point it is necessary to make a retreat. Victor has a very rich father. The son was brought up in such a way that, being on the verge of life and death, he cannot and, according to the conditions of society, should not turn to his father. As a Russian person, no matter which one: Soviet or post-perestroika (although it will be more difficult with this generation) - with his mentality he can understand why a father does not help his son, why is a woman who has committed an unfeminine act in the name of saving a loved one so condemned by society? This is what Ibsen was shocked by in this story. "A Doll's House" continues to repeat the story of Laura. Enlisting the support of an influential friend at that time, she takes a loan, takes her husband to the south, where he fully restores his health.

Unappreciated sacrifice

So that in the future nothing would disturb the nearby man, the woman takes another loan, but, earning secretly, like Nora, on the interest on the loan, keeping a secret that in itself can undermine any health, the woman falls ill. Guarantors become insolvent. The truth comes out. Needless to say, her husband sympathized with her a little, but then he took the side of society. Children are taken away from the future writer, they are recognized as mentally ill and turned into an outcast of society. True, everything gradually returned to normal, Laura Keeler began to earn money by literary activity and gradually paid off all her debts. And imagine, her husband forgave her!

clockwork puppets

Heinrich Ibsen's A Doll's House ends differently. There is no happy ending. Nora goes into the unknown, and when asked by her husband about whether they will ever be able to reunite, she replies that this would most likely be a miracle, because one must overcome what cannot be overcome.

People who lived happily for a while, had children, were, in fact, strangers to each other. This is what Ibsen wrote about. "A Doll's House", a brief summary of which is contained in its title, made a reality carefully hushed up by society. It cannot be said that all people in the Western world live according to the principle "a man is a stranger to a stranger", but individuals like Nora, who are internally rich, who have an understanding of human values, are rare. In the doll house live dolls, devoid of passion and compassion.

Legalized insincerity

This is said aloud for the first time in the play "A Doll's House". Ibsen did not decorate the content of his "Nora" with anything. In life, Laura's husband at first sympathized with her very much. In the dramatic work, Helmer, the husband of the main character, did not feel compassion for her for a second, he immediately condemned her, called his songbird a liar, a hypocrite and a criminal.

And it is he, not the court, who takes the children from her. In the play, it was necessary to sharpen the situation, which Ibsen did. "A Doll's House", the summary of which is that the family remained a family, and the husband was affectionate and loving only until the first major trouble. There was no question of joint overcoming, although Nora did not doubt her husband for a minute.

The play begins with preparations for Christmas and New Year, the most joyful event for most people. Everything is fine in this family - the husband received a new position as director of the bank. In principle, the main character is a very dishonorable person - he is the first to cut off a school friend who is now uneven with him, but once there were on you, and in the past Krogstad had sins. But this is the same person from whom Nora took a loan for a health trip to the south. In addition, in order to receive this money, the woman needed a guarantee. And Nora forged the signature of her own father, who would never give her money. Is it normal? And dad was already dead. Nora, who was known in the family as a winder, collected money for interest on a loan, denying herself everything, and even earned extra money.

New heroes

According to the plot, an old friend of the main character Fru Linne appears. Some literary critics consider it to be the embodiment of sacrifice. She gave up her great mutual love for Krogstad in order to save her sick mother and little brothers who needed to be educated. Even now, being a widow, she is ready to take care of Krogstad and his four small children left without a mother. It is she who persuades the happy man to pick up the letter sent to Nora's husband, in which the angry Krogstad told everything about the loan and the forgery of the bill. But the letter has already gone. Then a decent person sends another, with which he sends Nora's receipt. It must be said that the astute Frau Linne did not like Helmar, knew the whole story and wanted to open her friend's eyes to her husband's dishonesty. The festive party ended, Nora's family returned home, her husband read the letter, and the climax of the play came, which was built in the form of a dialogue by the innovative playwright G. Ibsen. "A Doll's House" ends with Nora's accusatory speech - in front of her eyes, her husband changed like a chameleon twice. At first, from an affectionate gentleman, he turned into someone else's, vicious enemy, and after receiving a receipt, he again wanted to restore everything as it was. But the words were spoken, Nora, realizing his falsity, leaves. This is how Ibsen ends the play. "A Doll's House", a summary of which was outlined above, really became a shocking play for contemporaries. She deservedly got into the list of "Memory of the World".

Henrik Ibsen

Dollhouse

CHARACTERS

Lawyer Helmer.

Nora, his wife.

Doctor Rank.

Fru Linne.

Private Attorney Krogstad.

Three small children of the Helmers.

Anna Maria, their nanny.

Maid in Helmer's house.

Messenger.

The action takes place in Helmer's apartment.

Act one

A cozy room, furnished with taste, but inexpensive furniture. In the depths, in the middle wall, there are two doors: one, on the right, leads to the front room, the other, on the left, to Helmer's office. Between these doors is a piano. There is a door in the middle of the left side wall, a window closer to the proscenium. Near the window there is a round table with armchairs and a sofa. In the right wall, somewhat further inland, there is also a door, and in front is a tiled stove; in front of her are several armchairs and a rocking chair. There is a table between the stove and the door. Engravings on the walls. A bookcase with porcelain and other trinkets, a bookcase with books in luxurious bindings. There is a carpet on the floor. There is fire in the stove. Winter day. In the front bell. After a while, you can hear the door being unlocked. Nora enters the room from the front room, singing merrily, in her outer clothes, loaded with a pile of packages and bundles, which she puts on the table to the right. The door to the anteroom remains open, and a messenger is seen there, bringing a Christmas tree and a basket, which he gives to the maid who opens the door.

NORA. Hide the tree well, Elene. The children must not see her before the evening when she is decorated. (To the messenger, taking out his purse.) How many?

MESSENGER. Fifty era!

NORA. Here is the crown... No, keep everything for yourself.

The messenger bows and leaves. Nora shuts the front door, takes off her outer dress, and continues to laugh with a low, contented laugh. Then he takes a bag of macaroons out of his pocket and eats a few. Carefully goes to the door leading to the husband's room, and listens.

Yes, he is at home. (Humming again as she walks over to the table.)

HELMER (from office). What is it, the lark sang?

NORA (expanding purchases). He is.

HELMER. The squirrel is messing around there?

HELMER. When did the squirrel return?

NORA. Just now. (Puts the cookie bag in his pocket and wipes his lips.) Come here, Torvald, look what I have bought!

HELMER. Wait, don't interfere. (After a while he opens the door and looks into the room, pen in hand.) Bought, you say? All this? .. So the bird flew away again to waste money?

NORA. You know, Torvald, it's time for us to unwind a little at last. It's the first Christmas we don't need to embarrass ourselves like that.

HELMER. Well, we can’t wind either.

NORA. A little bit is possible! Is it true? The most amazing thing! You've been given a big salary now, and you'll be earning lots and lots of money.

HELMER. Yes, new year. But they will give me a salary only after three months.

NORA. Trivia! You can take it for now.

HELMER. Nora! (Comes up and jokingly takes her by the ear.) Again, our frivolity is right there. Just imagine, today I will borrow a thousand crowns, you will spend them on holidays, and on the eve of the New Year, tiles from the roof will fall on my head - and that's it.

NORA (covering his mouth with his hand). Ugh! Don't say such mean things.

HELMER. No, you imagine a similar case - what then?

NORA. If such a horror had already happened, then it would not matter to me whether I have debts or not.

HELMER. Well, what about the people I would borrow from?

NORA. For them? Why think about them! After all, they are strangers!

HELMER. Nora, Nora, you are the est woman! But seriously, Nora, you know my views on this matter. No debt! Never borrow! On the hearth, based on loans, on debts, some ugly shadow of dependence falls. We have held out, bravely, to this day, so we will endure and a little more, - not for long, after all.

NORA (going to the stove). Yes, whatever you want, Torvald.

HELMER (behind her). Well, well, here the bird lowered its wings. A? The squirrel pouted. (Pulls out wallet.) Nora, what do you think I have here?

NORA (turning around, lively). Money!

HELMER. It is for you! (Gives her some papers.) Lord, I know how many holiday expenses there are in the house.

NORA (counting). Ten, twenty, thirty, forty. Thank you, thank you, Torvald. Now I have enough for a long time.

HELMER. Yes, you try.

NORA. Yes, yes, definitely. But come here, I'll show you what I bought. And how cheap! Look, here's Ivaru's new suit and saber. Here is a horse and a pipe for Bob. And here is the doll and doll bed for Emmy. Unpretentious, but she will still break them soon. And here on the dresses and aprons of the servants. The old woman Anna-Maria should, of course, have been given more ...

HELMER. What's in this package?

NORA (jumping up). No, no, Torvald! You can't see this until tonight!

HELMER. Oh well! And you tell me, little reel, what did you look after yourself?

NORA. Hey, I don't need anything.

HELMER. Of course you must! Tell me now something so reasonable that you would like most of all.

NORA. Right, you don't have to. Or listen, Torvald...

HELMER. Well? N o r a (fingering through the buttons of his jacket without looking at him). If you want to give me something, then you would ... you would ...

HELMER. Well, well, speak up.

NORA (fast). You would give me money, Torvald. How much can you. I would then, one of these days, and bought myself something for them.

HELMER. No, listen, Nora...

NORA. Yes, yes, do it, dear Torvald! Please! I would wrap the money in gold paper and hang it on the Christmas tree. Wouldn't that be fun?

HELMER. And what are the names of those birds who are always littering with money?

NORA. I know, I know - skeins. But let's do as I say, Torvald. Then I will have time to think about what I especially need. Isn't that prudent? A?

HELMER (smiling). Of course, that is, if you could really keep this money and then really buy something for yourself with it. And then they will go to the economy, to various unnecessary trifles, and again I will have to fork out.

NORA. Oh Torvald...

HELMER. There is no need to argue, my dear! (Hugs her.) The bird is cute, but spends an awful lot of money. It is simply unbelievable how expensive such a bird is for a husband.

NORA. Ugh! How can you say that! I save as much as I can.

HELMER (funny). That's the real truth! How much can you. But you can't at all.

NORA (sings and smiles). Hm! If only you knew how many expenses we, larks and squirrels, have, Torvald!

HELMER. You are a little freak! Two drops of water - your father. All you're doing is trying to get money. And when you get it - look, they passed between your fingers, you yourself never know where you put them. Well, you have to take you the way you are. It's in your blood. Yes, yes, it's hereditary in you, Nora.

NORA. Ah, I wish I could inherit more of his qualities from my father!

HELMER. And I would not want you to be different from what you are, my dear lark! But listen, it seems to me that you ... you have ... how should I put it? You look kind of suspicious today.

NORA. I have?

HELMER. Well, yes. Look me right in the eyes.

NORA (looks at him). Well?

HELMER (shaking finger). Gourmand didn't go out a little in the city today?

NORA. No, what are you!

HELMER. As if the gourmet didn’t run into a candy store?

NORA. But I assure you, Torvald...

HELMER. And didn't you taste the jam?

NORA. And I didn't think.

HELMER. And didn't nibble on the almond biscuits?

NORA. Ah, Torvald, I assure you...

HELMER. Well well well! Of course, I'm just kidding...

NORA (going to the table to the right). It would never have crossed my mind to go against you.

HELMER. I know I know. You gave me your word. (Approaching her.) Well, keep your little Christmas secrets to yourself, my dear Nora. They'll probably come out tonight, when the tree is lit.

NORA. Did you remember to invite Dr. Rank?

HELMER. Didn't invite. Yes, this is not necessary. Of course, he dine with us. However, I still have time to remind him: he will come before dinner. I ordered good wine. Nora, you won't believe how happy I am tonight.

NORA. And I! And the children will be so happy, Torvald!

HELMER. Oh, what a pleasure to realize that you have achieved a sure, secure position, that you will now have a solid income. Isn't it a pleasant consciousness?

NORA. Oh wonderful!

HELMER. Do you remember last Christmas? For three whole weeks you shut yourself up in your evenings and until late at night you kept making flowers and some other charms for the Christmas tree with which you wanted to impress us all. Wow, I can't remember a more boring time.

NORA. I didn't get bored at all.

HELMER (with a smile). But it didn't help much, Nora.

NORA. Are you teasing me again? What could I do if the cat got in and tore everything to pieces!

HELMER. Well, of course she couldn't help it, my poor thing. You wholeheartedly wanted to please us all, and that's the whole point. But it's good that those tough times are over.

NORA. Yes, absolutely wonderful!

HELMER. I no longer need to sit alone and be bored, nor you to spoil your sweet, glorious eyes and tender hands ...

NORA (clapping hands). Isn't it true, Torvald, no more is needed? Oh, how wonderful, delightful to hear that! (Takes him by the arm.) Now I will tell you how I dream of getting settled, Torvald. Here, as soon as the holidays are over ... The call is in the front. Ah, they're calling! (Tweaks a little in the room.) That's right, someone to us. It's annoying.

HELMER. If anyone is visiting, I'm not at home, remember.

SERVANT (in front door). Fru, there is an unknown lady.

NORA. So ask here.

SERVANT (to Helmer). And the doctor.

HELMER. Did you go straight to me?

SERVANT. Yes Yes.

Helmer goes into the office. The maid brings in Frau Linne, dressed in travel clothes, and closes the door behind her.

FRU LINNE (embarrassed, stammering). Hello Nora.

NORA (unsure). Hello…

FRU LINNE. You don't seem to recognize me?

NORA. No. I don't know... Yes, it seems... (Impetuous.) How! Christina... Are you?!

FRU LINNE. I.

NORA. Christina! I didn't recognize you right away! And how was it... (Lowering voice.) How you have changed, Christina!

FRU LINNE. Still would. For nine or ten long years...

NORA. Haven't we seen each other for so long? Yes, yes, it is. Ah, the last eight years - that, really, was a happy time! .. So you came here, to our city? Set off on such a long journey in winter! Brave!

FRU LINNE. I just arrived today with the morning boat.

NORA. To have fun on holidays, of course. Ah, how nice! Well, let's have some fun! Let you undress. You're not cold, are you? (Helps her.) Like this. Now sit down comfortably near the stove. No, you're in a chair! And I'm on a rocking chair! (Takes her by the hand.) Well, now you have your old face again. This is only in the first minute ... Although you still turned a little pale, Christina, and, perhaps, lost a little weight.

FRU LINNE. And very, very old, Nora.

NORA. Perhaps a little, a little, not much at all. (Suddenly stops and changes to a serious tone.) But what an empty-headed I am - I'm sitting here, chatting! Dear, dear Christina, forgive me!

FRU LINNE. What's the matter, Nora?

NORA (quiet). Poor Christina, you are a widow.

FRU LINNE. Three years ago.

NORA. Yes, I know. I read in the papers. Oh, Christina, believe me, I was going to write to you so many times at that time, but I kept putting it off, everything got in the way.

FRU LINNE. Dear Nora, I understand perfectly.

NORA. No, that was nasty of me, Christina. Oh, poor thing, how much you must have endured. And he didn't leave you any funds?

FRU LINNE. None.

NORA. No children?

FRU LINNE. No children.

NORA. Nothing, then?

FRU LINNE. Nothing. Not even grief or regrets, which could fuel the memory.

NORA (looking at her incredulously). But how can that be, Christina?

FRU LINNE (with a bitter smile, stroking Nora's head). Sometimes it happens, Nora.

NORA. So one is alone. How terribly hard it must be. And I have three lovely children. Now you won't see them. They walk with the nanny. But you will certainly tell me about everything ...

FRU LINNE. No, no, no, tell me better.

NORA. No, first you. Today I don't want to be selfish. I want to think only about your affairs. But I still need to tell you one thing. Do you know what kind of happiness came to us the other day?

FRU LINNE. No. Which?

NORA. Imagine, the husband became the director of the Joint Stock Bank!

FRU LINNE. Your husband? That's luck!..

NORA. Incredible! The advocacy is such an unfaithful bread, especially if you want to take on only the purest, good things. And Torvald, of course, never took others, and I, of course, fully agree with him. Oh, you understand how glad we are. He will take office from the New Year and will receive a large salary and good interest. Then we will be able to live in a completely different way than before, quite to our liking. Oh, Christina, my heart has become so light, I am so happy! After all, it's wonderful to have a lot, a lot of money and not know any need or worries. Is it true?

FRU LINNE. Yes, anyway, it must be wonderful to have everything you need.

NORA. No, not only essentials, but lots and lots of money.

FRU LINNE (smiling). Nora, Nora! You still haven't gotten smarter! At school, you were a big winder.

NORA (quietlaughing). Torvald still calls me that. (Shaking his finger.) However, "Nora, Nora" is not as crazy as you imagine ... We, really, did not live in such a way that I could wind. We both had to work!

FRU LINNE. And you?

NORA. Well, yes, there are various little things in terms of needlework, knitting, embroidery and the like. (In passing.) And… something else. You do know that Thorwald left the ministry when we got married? There were no prospects for an increase, but after all, it was necessary to earn more than before. Well, in the first year, he worked beyond his powers. Just awful. He had to take all sorts of extra classes - you understand - and work from morning to evening. Well, he could not stand it, fell ill, was dying, and the doctors announced that it was necessary to send him to the south.

FRU LINNE. Did you spend a whole year in Italy then?

NORA. Well, yes. And it was not easy for us to get up, believe me. Ivar had just been born then. But it was still necessary to go. Oh, what a wonderful, wondrous trip it was! And Torvald was saved. But how much money went - passion, Christina!

FRU LINNE. I can imagine.

NORA. One thousand two hundred daler spices. Four thousand eight hundred crowns. Big money.

FRU LINNE. Yes, but, in any case, it is a great happiness if there is somewhere to take them at such a time.

NORA. I gotta tell you, we got them from dad.

FRU LINNE. Ah, yes. Yes, it seems that your father died just then.

NORA. Yes, just then. And think, I couldn't go to him, follow him. I was expecting little Ivar from day to day. And besides, I had my poor Thorvald in my arms, almost dying. Dear, dear dad! I never got to see him again, Christine. This is the hardest grief that I experienced married.

FRU LINNE. I know you loved your father very much. So, after that you went to Italy?

NORA. Yes. After all, we had money, but the doctors were driven ... We left a month later.

FRU LINNE. And your husband returned quite healthy?

NORA. Absolutely!

FRU LINNE. And... a doctor?

NORA. That is?

FRU LINNE. I think the girl said that the gentleman who came with me is a doctor.

NORA. Ah, this is Dr. Rank. But he doesn't come for a medical visit. This is our best friend, and at least once a day, let him visit us. No, Torvald has not even once fallen ill since then. And the children are vigorous and healthy, and so am I. (Jumping up and clapping her hands.) Oh my God, Christina, how wonderful it is to live and feel happy! No, it's just disgusting of me - I'm only talking about myself. (Sits down on the bench next to Fru Linne and puts his hands on her knees.) Don't be angry with me!.. Tell me, is this true: you really didn't love your husband? Why did you marry him?

FRU LINNE. My mother was still alive, but so weak, helpless, she did not get out of bed. And I also had two younger brothers. I did not consider myself entitled to refuse him.

NORA. Yes, yes, you are probably right. So he was rich then?

FRU LINNE. Pretty wealthy, it seems. But his work was not well established. And when he died, everything collapsed and nothing remained.

FRU LINNE. And I had to survive in petty trade, a small school, and everything in general. These past three years have dragged on for me like one long, continuous working day without rest. It's over now, Nora. My poor mother doesn't need me anymore - she's dead. And the boys got on their feet, they can take care of themselves.

NORA. So now you feel at ease...

FRU LINNE. I will not say. On the contrary, it is terribly empty. No one else to live for. (Gets up excitedly.) That's why I could not stand it there with us, in the bear's corner. Here, it is true, it will be easier to find what to apply one's strength to and what to occupy one's thoughts with. If only I could get some permanent employment, some clerical job...

NORA. Oh, Christina, this is so terribly tiring, and you already look so haggard. You'd better go somewhere for a swim.

FRU LINNE (going to the window). I don't have a dad to give me travel money, Nora.

NORA (getting up). Ah, don't be angry with me!

FRU LINNE (going to her). Dear Nora, don't be angry with me. The worst thing about my situation is that so much bitterness is deposited in my soul. There is no one to work for, but still you have to work hard and fight in every possible way. After all, you have to live, so you become selfish. You just told me about the happy change in your circumstances, and I - believe me - was happy not so much for you as for myself.

NORA. How so? Oh, I understand: you think Torvald can do something for you?

FRU LINNE. I thought it.

NORA. He will, Christina. Just leave everything to me. I'll prepare everything so subtly, I'll come up with something so special to appease him. Ah, I wish I could help you.

FRU LINNE. How sweet of you, Nora, that you take up my case so ardently ... Doubly sweet of you - you yourself are so little familiar with worldly worries and hardships.

NORA. To me? Are they not familiar to me?

FRU LINNE (smiling). Well, my God, some needlework and the like ... You are a child, Nora!

NORA (throws her head and paces around the room). You shouldn't have spoken to me in that tone.

FRU LINNE. Yes?

NORA. And you are like others. You all think I'm not good for anything serious...

FRU LINNE. Oh well?

NORA. That I have experienced absolutely nothing like this in this difficult life.

FRU LINNE. Dear Nora, you just told me all your trials.

NORA. Eh, nothing but nonsense! (Quiet.) I didn't tell you the main thing.

FRU LINNE. Main? What do you want to say?

NORA. You keep looking down on me, Christina. And this is in vain. You are proud that you carried such a hard, long work for the sake of your mother ...

FRU LINNE. I really don't look down on anyone. But it is true - I am proud and glad, remembering that it fell to my lot to lighten the rest of my mother's days.

NORA. You are also proud, remembering what you did for the brothers.

FRU LINNE. I think I'm right.

NORA. And so it seems to me. But listen, Christina. And I have something to be proud of, something to rejoice at.

FRU LINNE. No doubt! But in what sense?

NORA. Speak quieter. Suddenly Torvald will hear! He's not allowed for anything in the world... No one can know about this, Christina, no one but you.

FRU LINNE. Yes, what's the matter?

NORA. Come here. (He draws her to the couch next to him.) Yes, you see ... and I have something to be proud of, something to rejoice at. It was I who saved Torvald's life.

FRU LINNE. Saved? How did you save?

NORA. I told you about the trip to Italy. Thorvald would not have survived if he had not gone south.

FRU LINNE. Well, yes. And your father gave you the necessary funds.

NORA (with a smile). It is Torvald who thinks so, and all the others, but...

FRU LINNE. But…

NORA. Papa didn't give us a penny. It was I who got the money.

FRU LINNE. You? All this large amount?

NORA. One thousand two hundred spices. Four thousand eight hundred crowns. What are you going to say?

FRU LINNE. But how is that possible, Nora? Won the lottery, right?

NORA (contemptuously). To the lottery! (Snorts.) It wouldn't be a thing!

FRU LINNE. So where did you get them from?

NORA (humming and smiling mysteriously). Hm! Tra-la-la-la!

FRU LINNE. You couldn't take it.

NORA. Here? Why is that?

FRU LINNE. Yes, a wife cannot make debts without the consent of her husband.

NORA (throwing head). Well, if the wife knows a little about business, if the wife understands how to smartly get down to business, then ...

FRU LINNE. Nora, I absolutely do not understand anything.

NORA. And you don't need to understand. I didn't say I borrowed money. I could have gotten them some other way. (Leans back on the sofa.) I could get it from some fan. With such an attractive appearance as mine ...

FRU LINNE. You are crazy.

NORA. Now, don't you really want to know everything, Christina?

FRU LINNE. Listen, dear Nora, did you do something reckless?

NORA (straightening up on the couch). Is it foolish to save your husband's life?

FRU LINNE. I think it's reckless if you don't know him...

NORA. Why, he couldn't have known! Lord, how can you not understand this? He shouldn't have suspected the danger he was in. It was the doctors who told me that his life was in danger, that the only way out was to take him south. Do you think I didn't try to get out first? I started talking about how I would like to go abroad, like other young ladies. I cried and begged; she said that it would not be bad for him to remember my “position”, that now he had to please me in every possible way; hinted that you can borrow money. So he almost got angry, Christina. He said that I had a wind in my head and that it was his duty, as a husband, not to indulge my whims and whims - that's how he seemed to put it. Okay, okay, I think, but you still need to be saved, and I found a way out ...

FRU LINNE. And your husband never found out from your father that the money wasn't from him?

NORA. So I didn't know. Papa died just in those days. I wanted to let him in on the matter and ask him not to give me away. But he was already so bad - and I, unfortunately, did not need to resort to this.

FRU LINNE. And you still haven't confessed to your husband?

NORA. No, God forbid you! He's so strict on that part. And besides, with his masculine vanity ... It would be so painful, humiliating for him to find out that he owes me something. It would turn our whole relationship upside down. Our happy family life would then cease to be what it is.

FRU LINNE. And you never tell him?

NORA (thinking and smiling slightly). Yes ... someday, perhaps ... when many, many years pass and I will no longer be so pretty. Don't laugh. Of course, I want to say: when Torvald no longer likes me as much as now, when he will no longer be entertained by my dancing, dressing up, recitations. Then it would be nice to have some kind of voucher... (Breaking off.) Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! This will never happen!.. Well, what do you say about my great secret, Christina? Am I good for something? Don't think that this business doesn't cause me much trouble. It’s true that sometimes it’s not at all easy for me to justify my obligations on time. In the business world, I'll tell you, there's interest on thirds and installments on debt, you name it. And money is always terribly hard to get. So I had to save on everything you can ... you understand? From the money for the household, I could not save much - Torvald needed a good table. And children could not be dressed somehow. What I got on them, then entirely on them and went. My dear little ones.

FRU LINNE. So you, right, had to deny yourself, poor thing?

NORA. It's clear. After all, I was the most interested! Thorwald used to give me money for a new dress and the like, but I always spend only half. Everything was cheaper and easier to buy. I'm also lucky that everything suits me and Torvald never noticed anything. But sometimes it was not easy for me myself, Christina. It's such a pleasure to dress well! Is it true?

FRU LINNE. Perhaps.

NORA. Well, I had, of course, other sources. Last winter, I was lucky, I received a lot of correspondence. Every evening she locked herself in her room and wrote, wrote until late at night. Oh, sometimes before that, it happened, you get tired! But all the same, it was terribly pleasant to sit like this and work, earn money. I felt almost like a man.

FRU LINNE. But how much did you manage to pay in this way?

NORA. I can't tell you for sure. In such cases, you see, it is very difficult to understand. I only know that I paid as much as I could put together. But often my hands went straight down. (Smiling.) Then I would sit down, it used to be, and begin to imagine that a rich old man had fallen in love with me ...

FRU LINNE. What? What old man?

NORA. Oh, no! .. That he was dying, his will was opened, and it was written in large letters: “All my money is received immediately and neatly by the most kind Frau Nora Helmer.”

FRU LINNE. But, dear Nora, who is this old man?

NORA. Lord, don't you understand? There was no old man at all. It's just my imagination. I just consoled myself with this when I did not know where to get money. Well, God bless him completely, with this boring old man. Now I don't care. I don't want him or his will anymore. Now I have no worries, Christina! (Jumps up.) Oh my god, what a delight! Just think: no worries! Do not know any worries or troubles! Live for yourself and live, mess with the kids! Furnish your house as beautifully, elegantly as Thorvald loves. And there, think, not far off and spring, blue sky, space. Maybe you can ride somewhere. Perhaps to see the sea again! Oh, right, how wonderful to live and feel happy!

A call is heard in the front.

FRU LINNE (rises). They call. I should probably leave.

NORA. No, stay. It is unlikely that anyone will come here. This, right, to Torvald ...

SERVANT (in front door). Excuse me, fru, there is a gentleman here who wants to speak with Mr. Lawyer.

NORA. That is, with the director of the bank, you want to say.

SERVANT. With Mr. Director. But I don’t know, because there is a doctor ...

NORA. And what is this gentleman?

KROGSTAD (in the door). It's me, Fru Helmer.

Fru Linne, startled, shudders and turns to the window.

NORA (taking a step towards the newcomer, with excitement, lowering his voice). You? What does it mean? What do you want to talk about with my husband?

KROGSTAD. About banking, in a way. I hold a small position in the Joint Stock Bank, and your husband will now be our director, as I heard ...

NORA. Means…

KROGSTAD. On a personal matter, Mrs. Helmer. Nothing more.

NORA. So please go to his office. (He bows indifferently, closes the door to the hallway, then goes to the stove to see if it heats up well.)

FRU LINNE. Nora... who was that?

NORA. Private Attorney Krogstad.

FRU LINNE. So he really is.

NORA. Do you know this person?

FRU LINNE. I knew… A few years ago. After all, he did business in our area at one time.

NORA. Yes its true.

FRU LINNE. How he has changed!

NORA. He seems to have had a very unfortunate marriage.

FRU LINNE. Is he a widower now?

NORA. With a bunch of children... Well, it's flared up. (Closes the stove door and pushes the rocker slightly aside.)

FRU LINNE. He, they say, is engaged in a variety of things?

NORA. Yes. Very possible. I don't know at all. But it's enough for us to think about business. It's boring. Dr. Rank comes out of Helmer's office.

DOCTOR RANK (still at the door). No, no, I don't want to interfere. I'd rather visit your wife. (She closes the door behind her and sees Frau Linne.) Ah, sorry! I seem to get in the way here too.

NORA. Not at all. (Introduces them to each other.) Dr. Rank to Mrs. Linne.

RANK. Here's how. This is a name I often heard here in the house. I think I overtook you on the stairs on my way here.

FRU LINNE. Yes!.. I rise very slowly. It's hard for me…

RANK. Yeah... A little damage to the internal mechanism?

FRU LINNE. More like just fatigue.

RANK. Only? So, right, you came to the city to relax ... running around for guests?

FRU LINNE. I came here looking for work.

RANK. Well, is this a particularly sure remedy for overwork?

FRU LINNE. You have to live, doctor.

RANK. Yes, it is somehow customary to think that this is necessary.

NORA. Well, you know, doctor! .. And you, too, are not averse to living.

RANK. Well, let's put it. No matter how bad I feel, I'm still ready to live and suffer as long as possible. And so do all my patients. And all moral cripples are the same. Now here is one such sitting with Helmer ...

FRU LINNE (quiet). A!..

NORA. Who do you mean?

RANK. Krogstad's private attorney, a man you don't know anything about. His very roots of character are rotten, ma'am. But even there he began to repeat, as something immutable, that he, too, had to live.

NORA. Yes? What did he come to talk to Torvald about?

RANK. Right, I don't know. I only heard something about the Joint Stock Bank.

NORA. I didn't know that Krog... that this private attorney Krogstad was involved in the bank.

RANK. Yes, he has a position there. (Fru Linne.) I don’t know if there are people of this kind in your area who, as if in a fever, snoop around, sniffing out if there is a smell of moral rot somewhere, so that later they can be seen to be assigned to some profitable position. Healthy people have to humbly remain behind the flag ..

FRU LINNE. After all, the sick are the ones who need care the most.

RANK (shrugs). That's it and that's it. Thanks to such views, society turns into a hospital. Nora, preoccupied with her own thoughts, suddenly bursts into soft laughter and claps her hands. What are you laughing at? Do you really know what society is?

NORA. I really need your boring company! I laugh in a completely different way ... Terribly funny! Tell me, doctor, are all the employees in this bank now subordinate to Torvald?

RANK. Is that what amuses you so terribly?

NORA (smiling and singing). It's my business. My business. (Walks around the room.) Yes, indeed, it is terribly pleasant to think that we ... that is, Torvald has acquired such an influence on many, many people. (Takes a bag out of his pocket.)

RANK. Te-te-te! Macaroons! I thought it was your forbidden fruit.

NORA. Yes, but it was Christina who brought me some.

FRU LINNE. What am I?..

NORA. Well, well, well, don't be afraid. You couldn't know what Torvald banned. I have to tell you, he's afraid I'll ruin my teeth. But what a misfortune - once! Really, doctor? Please! (Puts cookies in his mouth.) Here's to you, Christina. And I can have one thing, a small one, or two, so be it. (Walks around again.) Yes, I'm really, really happy. There is only one thing I wish I had more...

RANK. Well? What is it?

NORA. I would terribly want to say one thing in front of Torvald.

RANK. So why don't you say?

NORA. I don't dare. It's disgusting.

FRU LINNE. Ugly?

RANK. In that case, I don't recommend it. But with us you can safely ... Well, what is it that you would so terribly want to say in front of Helmer?

NORA. I would terribly want to say: damn it!

RANK. What are you, what are you!

FRU LINNE. Have mercy, Nora!

RANK. Tell. Here he goes.

NORA (hides cookie bag). Shh-shh-shh!

Helmer, with his coat thrown over his arm and holding his hat in the other hand, leaves the office.

(Walking towards him.) Well, honey, did you send him off?

HELMER. Yes, he left.

NORA. Let me introduce you. This is Christina, she came here to the city ...

HELMER. Christina?.. I'm sorry, but I don't know...

NORA. Fru Linne, dear, Fru Christina Linne!

HELMER. Ah, that's it! Apparently my wife's childhood friend?

FRU LINNE. Yes, we are old friends.

NORA. And imagine, she set off on such a long journey to talk to you.

HELMER. That is, how is it?

FRU LINNE. Not really…

NORA. Christina is just an excellent clerk, and she really wants to get into the service of a sensible person in order to learn more ...

HELMER. Very reasonable, sir.

NORA. And when she found out that you had been appointed director of the bank - it was about this in the newspapers - she immediately flew here ... True, Torvald, you will do something for Christina for my sake? A?

HELMER. Yes, it's possible. Are you a widow?

FRU LINNE. Yes.

HELMER. And experienced in clerical work?

FRU LINNE. Yes, decent.

HELMER. So it is very likely that I can deliver you a place…

NORA (clapping hands). You see, you see!

HELMER. You have come at just the right moment, madame.

FRU LINNE. Oh, how I thank you!

HELMER. My pleasure. (Puts on coat.) But today you'll excuse me...

RANK. Wait, and I'm with you. (Brings his fur coat from the hall and warms it in front of the stove.)

NORA. Just don't hesitate, dear Torvald!

HELMER. An hour, no more.

NORA. And you're leaving, Christina?

FRU LINNE (putting on coat). Yes, we should go look for a room.

HELMER. So maybe we can go out together?

NORA (helps Fra Linna). What a shame that we are so crowded, there is no way ...

HELMER. What you! Who is thinking about it! Farewell, dear Nora, and thank you for everything.

NORA. Farewell for now. In the evening you, of course, will come again. And you, doctor. What? If you feel good? Well, of course you will. Just wrap yourself up nicely. Everyone goes out, saying goodbye and chatting, into the hall.

It's them! They! (Runs and opens the outer door.)

Nanny Anna-Maria enters with the children.

Come in! Come in! ( Leaning down and kissing the children.) Oh, you, my dear, glorious! Look at them Christina! Well, aren't you cuties?

RANK. Chatting in a draft is prohibited!

HELMER. Come, Fru Linne. Now it's time to stay alone mothers.

Exeunt Dr. Rank, Helmer, and Frau Linne; Anna Maria enters the room with the children; Nora also enters the room, shutting the front door.

NORA. How fresh and cheerful you are. And what ruddy cheeks! Just like apples, roses! .. Was it so fun? Ah, that's great. Yes? Did you skid both Bob and Emmy? Both at once? Think! Well done my little boy Ivar!.. No, let me hold her, Anna-Maria! My dear, sweet doll! ( He takes the youngest girl from the nanny and circles with her.) Yes, yes, mom will dance with Bob too! What? Did you play snowballs? Oh, it's a pity that I wasn't with you... No, leave it, I'll undress them myself, Anna-Maria. Give it to me, please, it's so much fun. There's coffee left for you on the stove. Nanny goes through the door on the left.

Nora undresses the children, throwing their coats all over the place and continuing to chat with them.

Here's how? Was the big dog chasing you? But didn’t she bite? .. No, dogs don’t bite such glorious, tiny dolls ... No, no! Do not look into the packages, Ivar! What is there? .. Yes, you would know what is there! No no! This is bad!.. What? Do you want to play? How are we going to play? Hide-and-seek? Well, let's hide and seek. Let Bob hide first... Oh, me? Okay, I'm first.

The game begins, accompanied by laughter and fun; hiding in this room and in the next to the right. Finally Nora hides under the table; children rush into the room noisily, look for their mother, but cannot immediately find her, hear her muffled laughter, rush to the table, lift the tablecloth and find her. Full delight. Nora leans out, as if to frighten them. New explosion of delight. Meanwhile, there is a knock on the front door. Nobody notices. Then the front door opens a little and Krogstad is shown. He waits a minute. Game continues.

KROGSTAD. Sorry, Mrs Helmer...

NORA (with a slight cry turns around and half rises). A! What do you want?

KROGSTAD. Sorry. The front door stood open. They forgot to close.

NORA (up). My husband is not at home, Mr. Krogstad.

KROGSTAD. I know.

NORA. Well... so what do you want?

KROGSTAD. Talk to you.

NORA. With… (Children are quiet.) Go to Anna Maria. What? No, someone else's uncle will not do anything bad to mom. When he leaves, we will play again. (He leads the children into the room on the left and locks the door behind them. With uneasiness, tensely.) Do you want to talk to me?

KROGSTAD. Yes I want to.

NORA. Today?.. But it's not the first day yet...

KROGSTAD. No, it's Christmas Eve. And it's up to you to make yourself happy holidays.

NORA. What do you need? I can't at all today...

KROGSTAD. We won't talk about this for now. About other. Do you have a free minute?

NORA. Hm… yes, of course, there is, though…

KROGSTAD. Fine. I was sitting downstairs in the Olsen restaurant and saw your husband walking down the street...

NORA. Yes Yes.

KROGSTAD. With a lady.

NORA. And what?

KROGSTAD. Let me ask you, is this not Fru Linne?

KROGSTAD. Just arrived in town?

NORA. Yes today.

KROGSTAD. Is she your close friend?

NORA. Yes. But I do not see…

KROGSTAD. And I used to know her.

NORA. I know.

KROGSTAD. Yes? So you know? I thought so. Then let me ask you in no uncertain terms: will Mrs. Linne get a job at the bank?

NORA. How dare you question me, Herr Krogstad, you, my husband's subordinate? But since you asked, then know: yes, Ms. Linne will get a place. And it was I who took care of her, Mr. Krogstad. There you are!

KROGSTAD. So I didn't miscalculate.

NORA (walks up and down the room). I think we can still have some influence. From the fact that you are born a woman, it does not follow at all ... And in the position of a subordinate, Mr. Krogstad, you really should beware of hurting who ... um ...

KROGSTAD. Who has influence?

NORA. Exactly!

KROGSTAD (changing tone). Fru Helmer, would you care to use your influence in my favor?

NORA. How so? What do you want to say?

KROGSTAD. Would you like to see to it that I retain my position as a subordinate in the bank.

NORA. What does it mean? Who thinks to deprive you of it?

KROGSTAD. Oh, you don't need to play the dunce in front of me. I understand very well that your friend cannot be pleased to risk running into me, and I also know to whom I will be indebted for expulsion.

NORA. But I assure you...

KROGSTAD. Yes, yes, yes, in a word, the time has not yet passed, and I advise you to use your influence to prevent this.

NORA. But, Herr Krogstad, I have absolutely no influence!

KROGSTAD. None? I think you just said...

NORA. Of course, I don't mean that. I... How can you think that I have any such influence over my husband?

KROGSTAD. Oh, I've known your husband since college days. I do not think that Mr. Director was firmer than other husbands.

NORA. If you speak disrespectfully of my husband, I will show you the door.

KROGSTAD. You are very brave, Mrs Helmer.

NORA. I am not afraid of you anymore. After the New Year, I will quickly end all this.

KROGSTAD (more restrained). Listen, fru Helmer. If necessary, I will fight for life and death because of my modest position in the bank.

NORA. That looks like it, right.

KROGSTAD. Not only because of the salary. He is the least of my worries. But here - something else ... Well, yes, to be honest! That's the problem. Of course, you know as well as anyone else that I once did something rash.

NORA. Seems like I've heard something.

KROGSTAD. The case did not go to court, but all the ways for me were definitely closed from that time. Then I took on those cases… you know. There had to be something to hold on to. And, dare I say, I was not the worst of my kind. But now I have to get out of this situation. My sons are growing up. For their sake, I need to restore my former position in society - as far as possible. A place in the bank was, as it were, the first step. And suddenly now your husband is pushing me back into the pit.

NORA. But, my God, Mr. Krogstad, it is not at all in my power to help you.

KROGSTAD. Because you don't want to, but I have the means to force you.

NORA. Will you tell my husband what I owe you?

KROGSTAD. Hm! What if he told?

NORA. It would be shameless of you. (With tears in his voice.) How? He learns this secret - my pride and joy - in such a rude, vulgar way - from you? You want to put me in the most terrible trouble! ..

KROGSTAD. Only trouble?

NORA (hot). But just try it, you yourself will be worse off. Then my husband will finally know what a bad person you are, and he will never leave you in a bank.

KROGSTAD. I ask you, are you only afraid of domestic troubles?

NORA. If my husband finds out, he will, of course, pay the entire balance at once, and there will be no need for you and me to know.

KROGSTAD (taking a step towards her). Listen, Mrs. Helmer, either you have a short memory or you don't know anything about business. Apparently, I'll have to explain the matter to you in more detail.

NORA. How so?

KROGSTAD. When your husband was sick, you came to me to borrow 1,200 spices.

NORA. I didn't know who else to turn to.

KROGSTAD. I undertook to get you this amount ...

NORA. And got it.

KROGSTAD. I undertook to get it to you on certain terms. You were then so busy with your husband's illness, so preoccupied with where to get money for the trip, that, perhaps, you had no time to sort out the details. So it is not superfluous to remind you of them. Yes, I undertook to get you money and drew up a promissory note for you.

NORA. Well, yes, which I signed.

NORA. Should he?.. He signed.

KROGSTAD. I left room for a number. That is, your father himself had to put down the day and date when he signed the paper. Do you remember that, ma'am?

NORA. Seems…

KROGSTAD. I gave you a promissory note to mail it to your father. Is not it?

KROGSTAD. You, of course, did so at once, for five or six days later you brought me a bill signed by your father. And the amount was given to you.

NORA. Well, yes, and didn’t I pay neatly?

KROGSTAD. Wow. But ... to return to the subject of our conversation ... Surely, it was hard for you then, Mrs. Helmer?

KROGSTAD. Your father seems to have been seriously ill?

NORA. At death's door.

KROGSTAD. And died soon after?

KROGSTAD. Tell me, Mrs Helmer, do you happen to remember the day your father died? That is, what month and date did he die?

NORA. Dad died on the twenty-ninth of September.

KROGSTAD. Quite right; I inquired. And this is where the weirdness comes in... (pulls out paper) which I can't explain to myself.

NORA. What's the oddity? I don't know…

KROGSTAD. Such a strange thing, Mrs. Helmer, that your father signed this promissory note three days after his death.

NORA. How so? I don't understand.

KROGSTAD. Your father died on the twenty-ninth of September. But take a look. Here he marked his signature on the second of October. Isn't that weird?

Nora is silent.

Can you explain it to me?

Nora is silent.

It is also noteworthy that the words "second of October" and the year are not written in your father's handwriting, but in a different one that seems familiar to me. Well, this can be explained further: your father may have forgotten to put the date and year under his signature, and someone else did it at random, not yet knowing about his death. There is nothing wrong with this yet. The key is in the signature itself. Is she real, Mrs Helmer? Is it really your father who signed up?

NORA (after a short pause, she throws her head back and looks at him defiantly). No, not him. I signed up for him.

KROGSTAD. Listen, Mrs. Helmer... do you know this is a dangerous confession?

NORA. Why? You will soon receive your money in full.

KROGSTAD. May I ask you why you didn't send the paper to your father?

NORA. It was impossible. He was seriously ill. If I asked for his signature, I had to explain to him why I needed the money. But I couldn’t write to him when he himself was so ill that my husband was on the edge of the grave. It was unthinkable.

KROGSTAD. So you'd be better off not going abroad.

NORA. And it was impossible. The salvation of my husband depended on this trip. I couldn't refuse her.

KROGSTAD. But you didn't think that you were deceiving me in this way?

NORA. There was absolutely nothing for me to pay attention to. I didn't want to think about you. I couldn't stand you for all your heartless chicanery that you did, although you knew the danger my husband was in.

KROGSTAD. Fru Helmer, you obviously do not understand clearly what you are, in essence, to blame. But I can tell you this: what I was caught in and what ruined my entire social position was no worse, no more terrible than this.

NORA. You? Are you trying to convince me that you could have done something like that to save your wife's life?

KROGSTAD. Laws do not cope with motives.

NORA. So bad, so these are the laws.

KROGSTAD. Bad or not, if I submit this paper to the court, you will be convicted according to the laws.

NORA. I don't believe in anything. So that the daughter does not have the right to save the dying old father from anxiety and grief? So that a wife does not have the right to save her husband's life? I don't know the exact laws, but I'm sure it should be allowed somewhere in them. And you, a lawyer, don't know that! You must be a bad lawyer, Mr. Krogstad!

KROGSTAD. Let it be. But in matters ... in such as we have begun with you, you, of course, admit that I understand something? So. Do what you want. But here's what I'm telling you: if I get kicked out again, you'll keep me company. (He bows and leaves through the hall.)

NORA (after a moment's thought, throwing his head back). Eh, what's there! Wanted to scare me! I'm not that simple. (He begins to tidy up the children's things, but soon leaves.) But... No, it still can't be! I did it out of love.

CHILDREN (in the door on the left). Mom, someone else's uncle came out of the gate.

NORA. Yes, yes, I know. Just don't talk about someone else's uncle to anyone. Do you hear? Even dad!

CHILDREN. Yes, yes, mother, but will you play with us again?

NORA. No, no, not now.

CHILDREN. Oh, mother, you promised!

NORA. Yes, but I can't now. Come on, I have so much to do. Go, go, my dear children! (Affectionately he sends them out of the room and closes the door behind them. Then he sits down on the sofa, starts embroidering, but after making a few stitches he stops.) No! (She quits her job, gets up, goes to the front door and calls.) Elene! Come here tree! (Goes to the table to the left and opens the drawer, stops again.) No, it's just unthinkable!

SERVANT (with Christmas tree). Where to put, lady?

NORA. There. In the middle of the room.

SERVANT. Anything else to submit?

NORA. No thanks, I have everything at hand.

The maid leaves after setting up the tree.

(Starting to decorate the Christmas tree.) Here are the candles, here are the flowers... A disgusting man... Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Nothing like this can be! The tree will be amazing. I will do everything as you like, Torvald ... I will sing to you, dance ...

Helmer enters from the hall with a pile of papers under his arm.

Ah! .. Already returned?

HELMER. Yes. Has anyone come in?

NORA. Did you come in? .. No.

HELMER. Strange. I saw Krogstad come out of the gate.

NORA. Yes?.. Oh yes, really, Krogstad, he came here for a minute.

HELMER. Nora, I can see by your face that he came to ask you to put in a good word for him.

HELMER. And in addition, as if by herself? Hiding from me that he was here? Did he ask for this too?

NORA. Yes, Torvald, but...

HELMER. Nora, Nora, could you go for it? Negotiate with such a person, promise him something! And besides, tell me lies!

NORA. Not true?

HELMER. Didn't you say no one came by? (Shaking his finger.) So that it doesn't happen again, songbird. A songbird's neck must always be clean, not a single false sound! (He hugs her around the waist.) Is not it? Yes, I knew it. (Releasing her.) Oh, how warm and cozy it is here. (Flips through the papers.)

NORA (busy decorating the Christmas tree, after a short pause). Torvald!

HELMER. What?

NORA. I am terribly glad that the day after tomorrow there is a costume party at the Stenborgs.

HELMER. And I'm terribly curious, something you will surprise this time.

NORA. Ah, this stupid idea!

HELMER. Well?

NORA. I can't think of anything suitable. Everything comes out somehow stupid, meaningless.

HELMER. Did little Nora come to that conclusion?

NORA (coming in from behind and resting his elbows on the back of his chair). Are you very busy, Torvald?

HELMER. Hm!

NORA. What are these papers?

HELMER. Banking.

NORA. Already?

HELMER. I obtained from the previous board the authority to make the necessary changes in the personnel and in the work plan. This is what will take me through the Christmas week. I want everything to be in order by the New Year.

NORA. So that's why this poor Krogstad...

HELMER. Hm!

NORA (still resting his elbows on the back of the chair, quietly runs his fingers through her husband's hair). If you weren't so busy, I would ask you for one huge favor, Torvald.

HELMER. Let's listen. About what?

NORA. No one else has taste like you. And I would love to be pretty at this costume party. Torvald, can't you take care of me, decide what I should be and how to dress?

HELMER. Yeah, little stubborn looking for a savior?

NORA. Yes, Torvald, I can't manage without you.

HELMER. OK OK. Let's think and, surely, we will be able to help the grief.

NORA. Oh, how kind of you! (Goes back to the tree, pause.) And how beautifully red flowers stand out. But tell me, what this Krogstad was guilty of, is it really very bad?

HELMER. He was guilty of forgery. Do you have any idea what it is?

NORA. Did he do it out of necessity?

HELMER. Yes, or, like many, out of frivolity. And I am not so heartless as to irrevocably condemn a person for one such act.

NORA. Yes, isn't it, Torvald?

HELMER. A fallen person can rise morally again if he frankly admits his guilt and is punished.

NORA. Punishment?

HELMER. But Krogstad did not follow this path. He got out of it by hook or by crook, and this ruined him morally.

NORA. Do you think you should have...

HELMER. Just imagine how a person with such a stain on his conscience has to lie, dodge, pretend in front of everyone, wear a mask, even in front of his loved ones, even in front of his wife and his own children. And as for the children, that's the worst, Nora.

NORA. Why?

HELMER. Because the atmosphere poisoned by lies infects, corrupts the whole home life. Children with every breath of air perceive the germs of evil.

NORA (approaching him from behind). Are you sure about this?

HELMER. Oh, honey, I've seen enough of that in the course of my law practice. Almost all people who go astray early have had false mothers.

NORA. Why mothers?

HELMER. Most often it originates from the mother. But the fathers, of course, influence in the same spirit. This is well known to every lawyer. And this Krogstad poisoned his children for years with lies and hypocrisy, which is why I call him morally corrupt. (Holding out his hands to her.) So let my dear Nora promise me not to ask for him. Give me your hand, you promise. Well, well, what is it? Give me your hand. Like this. So, a deal. I assure you, it would be simply impossible for me to work with him; I feel a direct physical disgust for such people.

NORA (frees his hand and crosses to the other side of the tree). It's hot in here. And I have so much trouble...

HELMER (gets up and collects papers). Yeah, I need to do a little bit of this before lunch too. And I'll take care of your costume. And I can probably find something to hang on the Christmas tree in a golden piece of paper. (Puts her hands on her head.) Oh, my priceless songbird! (Goes into the office and closes the door behind him.)

NORA (pause, quietly). Eh, what's there! This will not happen. This is impossible. Should be impossible.

ANNA MARIA (in the door on the left). Children are so touchingly asking for their mother.

NORA. No no no! Don't let them come to me! Stay with them, Anna-Maria.

ANNA MARIA. Well, well, well. (Closes the door.)

NORA (blushing in horror). Spoil my babies! Poison my family! (After a short pause, tossing her head.) It is not true. It can't be true, never, forever and ever!

Action two

Same room. In the corner, near the piano, stands a ragged, tattered Christmas tree with burnt candles. Nora's coat and hat are on the sofa. Nora, alone in agitation, wanders around the room, finally stops by the sofa and takes her coat.

NORA (letting go of the coat). Someone is coming! (Goes to the door, listens.) No... no one. Of course, no one will come today - the first day of Christmas ... And tomorrow too. But maybe… (Opens the door and looks out.) No, there's nothing in the letterbox, it's completely empty. (Goes back.) Eh, nonsense! Of course, he won't actually do anything like that. Nothing like this can be. This is impossible. I have three small children.

ANNA MARIA (left out of the door to the left, carrying a large cardboard box). I struggled to find this cardboard with masquerade dresses.

NORA. Thanks, put it on the table.

ANNA MARIA (puts). Only they, right, God knows what a mess.

NORA. Oh, to tear them to shreds!

ANNA MARIA. Here you go! They can be repaired. Just a little patience.

NORA. So I'm going to ask Fra Linne to help me.

ANNA MARIA. Again from the yard? In this kind of weather? Fru Nora will catch a cold... fall ill.

NORA. It's not so scary yet... What about children?

ANNA MARIA. Playing with new toys, poor things. Only…

NORA. Do they often ask about me?

ANNA MARIA. I'm used to being around my mother.

NORA. Yes, you see, Anna-Maria, now it will not be possible for me to be with them as much as before.

ANNA MARIA. Well, kids get used to everything.

NORA. You think? Do you think they would forget their mother if she were gone?

ANNA MARIA. Lord have mercy! It didn't!

NORA. Listen, Anna-Maria... I often think... how did you have the courage to give your child to strangers?

ANNA MARIA. I had to; how could it be otherwise, since I became a nurse for little Nora?

NORA. But how did you want to become a wet nurse?

ANNA MARIA. To such a good place? The poor girl in such trouble should have rejoiced. That bad man did nothing to help me after all.

NORA. But your daughter, right, has forgotten you?

ANNA MARIA. Well, why? She wrote to me both when she was confirmed and when she got married.

NORA (wrapping her arms around her neck). My old lady, you were a good mother to me when I was little.

ANNA MARIA. Poor Nora didn't have anyone else but me.

NORA. And if my little ones didn't have another, I know you would... Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! (Opens a box.) Go to them. Now I need ... Tomorrow you will see what a beauty I will be.

ANNA MARIA. It's true, no one will be more beautiful at the whole ball. (Goes off to the left.)

NORA (starts to empty the carton, but soon drops everything). Ah, if only I could decide to go out. If only no one came. Nothing would have happened here without me. Nonsense. Nobody will come. Just don't think. Don't think about it... We need to clean the clutch. Wonderful gloves, marvelous gloves... No need to think, no need! One two three four five six… (Screams.) A! They're coming! (He wants to rush to the door, but hesitates.)

Fru Linne enters from the anteroom, already without her top dress. Oh, it's you, Christina!

And there is no one else there? .. It's good that you came.

FRU LINNE. They told me you came to me, asked me.

NORA. Yes, I was just passing by. I really need your help. Let's sit here on the sofa. You see, tomorrow evening at the upstairs, at Consul Stenborg's, there is a costume party, and Thorvald wants me to be a Neapolitan fisherwoman and dance the tarantella. I studied in Capri.

FRU LINNE. That's what? So will you give the whole performance?

NORA. Torvald says that it is necessary. So here's the suit. Torvald ordered it for me there. But now it's broken and I just don't know...

FRU LINNE. Well, we'll fix that right now. Only the trim is slightly torn off. Needles, threads?.. Ah, that's all you need.

NORA. How nice of you.

FRU LINNE (sews). So are you dressing up tomorrow, Nora? You know, I'll come by for a minute to look at you dressed up. But I completely forgot to thank you for yesterday's pleasant evening.

NORA (gets up and walks around the room). Well, yesterday, in my opinion, was not at all as nice as usual. You should come to our city early, Christina. Yes, Torvald is a great master of arranging everything gracefully and beautifully.

FRU LINNE. And you are no less, I think. No wonder you are your father's daughter. But tell me, is Dr. Rank always as bruised as he was yesterday?

NORA. No, yesterday he was somehow special ... However, he suffers from a very serious illness. The poor fellow has dry spinal cord. I must tell you, his father was a disgusting man, kept mistresses and all that. So the son was born so ill, you understand?

FRU LINNE (dropping work to her knees). But, my dear Nora, where did you get such knowledge from?

NORA (walking around the room). Eh! .. Since you have three children, it means that you are sometimes visited by such ... such ladies who also understand something in medicine. Well, sometimes they will tell you something.

Fru Linne sews again; short pause.

FRU LINNE. Does Dr. Rank visit you every day?

NORA. Every single day. He's Torvald's best friend from a young age and a good friend of mine. He is just like ours.

FRU LINNE. But tell me, is he quite a straight man? That is, not one of those who like to say nice things to people?

NORA. Against. Where did you get it from?

FRU LINNE. Yesterday, when you introduced us, he assured me that he often heard my name here in the house. And then I noticed that your husband had no idea about me. How could Dr. Rank?

NORA. Yes, that's exactly right, Christina. Torvald loves me so infinitely that he does not want to share me with anyone ... as he says. At first, he was downright jealous of me, as soon as I started talking about my dear relatives, about my native places. Well, obviously I stopped. But with Dr. Rank, I often talk about all this. You see, he loves to listen.

FRU LINNE. Look, Nora, you're still a child in many ways. I'm older than you, more experienced. And I'll tell you what: you should try to get out of this story - with Dr. Rank.

NORA. What kind of story should I try to extricate myself from?

FRU LINNE. Of all these stories in general. Yesterday you were talking about a rich suitor bequeathing you money.

NORA. Yes, but there is no such thing, unfortunately! .. Well, so what?

FRU LINNE. Dr. Rank is a wealthy man?

NORA. Yes, wealthy.

FRU LINNE. And he doesn't have anyone to take care of?

NORA. Nobody. But…

FRU LINNE. And he comes here every day in the house?

NORA. Well, yes, you've heard that before.

FRU LINNE. How can a well-mannered person be so indelicate?

NORA. I positively do not understand you.

FRU LINNE. Don't introduce yourself, Nora. Do you think I don't know who lent you those 1200 spices?

NORA. Are you in your mind? How could it come to your mind? Our friend who visits us every day! It would be an unbearably painful situation!

FRU LINNE. So he's not?

NORA. I assure you. It couldn't have even occurred to me for a minute!.. And where would he have gotten the money to lend out then? He received his inheritance later.

FRU LINNE. Well, this is perhaps your happiness, dear Nora.

NORA. No, it would never have crossed my mind to ask Dr. Rank ... However, I am quite sure if I only asked him ...

FRU LINNE. But of course you won't.

NORA. No, naturally. Somehow I can't imagine it. But I'm pretty sure that if I talked to Dr. Rank...

FRU LINNE. Behind your husband?

NORA. I still need to get this done. Also behind him. We must finish.

FRU LINNE. Yes, yes, and I told you yesterday, but...

NORA (walks back and forth). It is much easier for a man to get rid of such cases than for a woman ... FruLynne. If this is her own husband - yes.

NORA. Trivia. (Stopping.) Once you pay the entire debt in full, then you get the debt obligation back?

FRU LINNE. Of course it's understandable.

NORA. And you can tear it into small pieces, burn this nasty, dirty little piece of paper?

FRU LINNE (looks straight at Nora, puts work aside and slowly gets up). Nora, you're hiding something from me.

NORA. Is it noticeable?

FRU LINNE. Something has happened to you since yesterday morning, Nora, what's the matter?

NORA (walking towards her). Christina! (Listens.) Shh! Torvald is back. Listen, go to the children for now. Torvald does not like to be bothered with sewing in his presence. Let Anna Maria help you.

FRU LINNE (picks up some things). Yes, yes, but I won't leave you until we've had a clean talk. (Goes off to the left.)

At the same moment, Helmer enters from the hall.

NORA (walks towards him). Ah, I can't wait for you, dear Torvald.

HELMER. It's a seamstress, isn't it?

NORA. No, it's Christina. She helps me fix my suit. You will see what effect I will produce.

HELMER. Yes, didn't I have a good idea?

NORA. Amazing! But am I not smart enough to listen to you too?

HELMER (takes her by the chin). Clever - because you obey your husband? Oh you cheat! I know you didn't mean to say that. But I won't bother you. You really need to try on.

NORA. And you, right, to work?

HELMER. Yes. (Showing a pile of papers.) Here. I went to the bank. (Wants to go home.)

NORA. Torvald...

HELMER (stopping). What?

NORA. And if your squirrel nicely asks you for one thing? ..

HELMER. So what?

NORA. Would you do?

HELMER. First, of course, you need to know what exactly.

NORA. The squirrel would have played out like that, played pranks, would have amused you if you were so nice, obeyed!

HELMER. So speak.

NORA. The lark would have filled the whole house, in every way.

HELMER. Well, he's not silent.

NORA. I would show you a sylph, dancing in the moonlight, Torvald!

HELMER. Nora... I hope it's not about yesterday again?

NORA (closer to him). Yes, Torvald! I beg, I beg you!

HELMER. And do you really have the guts to bring it up again?

NORA. Yes, yes, you must listen to me, you must leave Krogstad his place in the bank!

HELMER. But, my dear Nora, I have decided to take Fru Linne in his place.

NORA. It's terribly nice of you, but you can turn down one of the clerks instead of Krogstad.

HELMER. No, it's just incredible stubbornness! Due to the fact that you here made rash promises to plead for him, I am obliged! ..

NORA. Not because of that, Torvald. For your own sake. After all, this man writes in the most vile newspapers - you said it yourself. He can hurt you terribly. I am deathly afraid of him.

HELMER. Yeah, I understand. You remember the old days and get scared.

NORA. What do you mean?..

HELMER. Of course you remember your father.

NORA. Yes, well, yes. Just remember what evil people wrote about the pope, how cruelly they slandered him. Indeed, they would have won his resignation if the ministry had not sent you as an auditor and if you had not treated the pope with such participation and benevolence.

HELMER. Dear Nora, there is a significant difference between your father and me. Your father was not an irreproachable official. And that is exactly what I am, and that is what I hope I will remain as long as I hold my post.

NORA. Ah, no one knows what evil people can come up with! And now we could just live so well, calmly, happily, peacefully, without worries - you, and I, and the children, Torvald! That's why I'm asking you so...

HELMER. Yes, just standing up for him, you deprive me of the opportunity to leave him. The bank already knows that I have decided to fire Krogstad. So it is necessary that now there will be talk that the new director is changing his decisions under the influence of his wife ...

NORA. And if so? What of it?

HELMER. Well, of course, as long as the stubborn one gets her way! Should I put myself in a ridiculous position in front of all the employees?.. Give people a reason to interpret that I am controlled by all sorts of extraneous influences? Believe me, I would soon experience the consequences! And besides ... there is a circumstance that makes it absolutely impossible to leave Krogstad in the bank while I am the director there.

NORA. What is the circumstance?

HELMER. I could still turn a blind eye to his moral shortcomings in case of extreme ...

NORA. Isn't that right, Torvald?

HELMER. And, they say, he is a pretty efficient worker. But here's the thing: we've known him since we were young. This is one of those hasty youthful acquaintances, because of which a person often finds himself in an awkward position later. Yes, I will not hide from you: we are even with him on “you”. And he is so tactless that he does not think to hide it in front of others. On the contrary, he believes that this gives him the right to be familiar, he now and then trumps with his “you”, “you, Helmer”. I assure you, this irritates me in the highest degree. He is able to make my position in the bank downright unbearable.

NORA. Torvald, you are not saying all this seriously.

HELMER. How so?

NORA. Well, yes, because all these are such petty considerations.

HELMER. What are you talking about? Petty? Do you think I'm a petty person?

NORA. No, on the contrary, dear Torvald. And that's why...

HELMER. Doesn't matter. You call my motives petty, so, apparently, so am I. Petty! That's how! .. Well, we must put an end to all this. (Goes to the front door and calls.) Elene!

NORA. What do you want?

HELMER (searching through papers). Put an end to. (To the maid who enters.) Take this letter and go now. Find a messenger and have him deliver it. Only alive. Address written. Here's the money.

Servant. Fine. (Exit with letter.)

HELMER (collecting papers). That's right, lady stubborn!

NORA (holding breath). Torvald, what was that letter?

HELMER. Dismissal of Krogstad.

NORA. Bring it back, bring it back, Torvald! It's not too late, Torvald, give me back! For me, for yourself, for the children. Do you hear, Torvald, return it. You don't know how this might affect us all.

HELMER. Late.

NORA. Yes, it's late.

HELMER. Dear Nora, I forgive you this fear, although, in essence, it is offensive to me. Yes Yes! Or do you think I'm not offended by your suggestion that I might fear the vengeance of some misguided chisel? But I still excuse you, because this is such a cute picture of your ardent love for me. (He draws her to him.) That's right, my sweet, dear Nora. And then let it be what will be. If it comes to that, believe me, I have enough courage and strength. You'll see, I'm the type of person who can take on anything.

NORA (struck by horror). What do you want to say?

HELMER. Everything I say...

NORA (mastering myself). I will never let you.

HELMER. Fine. So let's share with you, Nora... as husband and wife. The way it should be. (caressing her.) Satisfied now? Well well well! No need for such frightened pigeon eyes. It's all just a fantasy after all. Now you could play the tarantella and practice the tambourine. I'll go to my room and close all the doors so I won't hear anything. You can make as much noise as you want. (Turning around at the door.) Yes, if Rank comes, tell him where I am. (Nodding to her, he goes to his room and locks the door behind him.)

NORA (confused, frightened, standing stock still and whispering). It will become of him. He will do so. He will do it - by all means ... No, never in his life, for nothing! This cannot be allowed! Rather everything else! Salvation!.. Exit!..

Bell in front.

Dr. Rank! .. Rather, everything is different! Rather, everything else - whatever it is. (He runs his hands over his face and, making an effort on himself, goes and opens the door to the hall.)

Doctor Rank takes off his fur coat in the hall and hangs it up. During the next scene it begins to get dark.

Hello Dr Rank. I recognized you by call. But you don't go to Torvald's now, he seems to be busy.

RANK. And you? (Entering the room.)

NORA (shuts the door to the hallway). Oh, you know - I always have a free minute for you.

RANK. Thank you. I will use this as long as I can.

NORA. What do you mean by that? While you can?..

RANK. That's it. Does it scare you?

NORA. You said it in such a weird way. What could possibly happen?

RANK. What I have long expected. But really, I didn't think it would happen so soon.

NORA (grabs his hand). What is it you learned? Doctor, tell me.

RANK (sitting by the stove). That's bad. I'm rolling downhill. It's nothing you can do.

NORA (taking breath). So are you talking about yourself?

RANK. And then about whom? There is nothing to lie to yourself. I am the most miserable of all my patients, Mrs. Helmer. These days I made a general revision of my internal state. Bankrupt. In less than a month, perhaps, I will rot in the cemetery.

NORA. Fu, how nasty you put it.

RANK. The case itself is out of hand. But the worst thing is that even before that there will be a lot of nasty, ugly things. Now I have only one study left. I will finish it and I will know approximately when the decomposition will begin. And here's what I'll tell you. Helmer, with his refined nature, has an irresistible aversion to any ugliness. I won't let him near my bed...

NORA. But Dr. Rank...

RANK. I will not allow. No way. I'll lock the doors for him... As soon as I'm absolutely sure that the worst is coming, I'll send you my business card with a black cross. Know then that the abomination of destruction has begun.

NORA. No, you're just insufferable today. And I really wanted you to be in a particularly good mood today.

RANK. With death behind you?.. And so pay for the sins of others?! Where is the justice here? And in every family, in one way or another, a similar inexorable retribution affects.

NORA (covering ears). Nonsense! More fun, more fun!

RANK. Yes, honestly, all that remains is to laugh at all this. My poor innocent spinal cord has to pay the price for the fun days of my father's officer life!

NORA (at the table to the left). Was he very fond of asparagus and Strasbourg pate? Yes?

RANK. Yes, and truffles.

NORA. Yes, yes, and truffles. And oysters, I think?

RANK. Yes, and oysters, oysters of course.

NORA. And for all sorts of ports and champagne. It's a shame that all these delicious things will certainly respond to the spine.

RANK. And it is especially a shame that they respond on the ill-fated backbone of the one who has not tasted a drop of these blessings!

NORA. Yes, that's the most annoying thing.

RANK (looking inquisitively at her). Hm!..

NORA (a little later). What are you smiling at?

RANK. No, you chuckled.

NORA. No, you smiled, doctor!

RANK (getting up). And you're even smarter than I thought.

NORA. Today I am tempted to throw out something like this ...

RANK. Noticeably.

NORA (puts both hands on his shoulders). Dear, dear Doctor Rank, do not leave us with Torvald.

RANK. Well, you can easily come to terms with this loss. Out of sight - and out of mind.

NORA (looks at him fearfully). You think?

RANK. New connections will be made, and ...

NORA. Who will make new connections?

RANK. Both you and Helmer when I'm gone. Yes, you are already on the way to it, it seems. What did you need this Fru Linne for last night?

NORA. Ah-ah, aren't you jealous of poor Christina?

RANK. Well, yes. She will be my substitute here in the house. When I have to be away, this woman, perhaps ...

NORA. Shh! Not so loud. She is there.

RANK. And today? Here you see!

NORA. She only came to help me fix my suit. God, you are insufferable. (Sits down on the sofa.) Well, be smart, Dr. Rank. Tomorrow you will see how wonderfully I will dance, and you can imagine that I am for you alone - well, of course, for Torvald, of course. (Pulls out various things from the cardboard.) Dr. Rank, sit down here. I'll show you something.

RANK (sits down). What's happened?

NORA. Here! Look!

RANK. Silk stockings.

NORA. Flesh color. Isn't it lovely? Yes, it's dark now, but tomorrow... No, no, no, you'll see only up to the rise. However, you can be shown higher.

RANK. Hm!..

NORA. What are you looking at so critically? Do you think they don't fit?

RANK. I do not undertake to judge this for the lack of any well-founded opinion.

NORA (looks at him for a minute). Fu, shame on you! (Lightly hits him on the ear with stockings.) Here's to you for it. (Puts things away again.)

RANK. What other treasures would I see?

NORA. You won't see another crumb. You are insufferable. (Singing, rummaging through things.)

RANK (after a short silence). Sitting with you like this, easily, I don't understand... I don't comprehend... what would become of me if I hadn't been in your house.

NORA (smiling). Yes, it seems to me that you, in fact, feel quite well with us.

RANK (quieter, looking into space). And willy-nilly to leave it all ...

NORA. Nonsense! Don't leave.

RANK (still). To leave without leaving even a somewhat grateful memory, even a fleeting regret ... nothing but an empty place that can be occupied by the first comer.

NORA. What if I asked you now? No…

RANK. About what?

NORA. About the big proof of your friendship...

RANK. Oh well?

NORA. No, see, what I mean is a huge favor.

RANK. Would you really give me such happiness for once?

NORA. Oh, you don't know what's up.

RANK. So say.

NORA. No, I can't, doctor. This is too much a favor - here is advice, and help, and a service ...

RANK. The bigger, the better. But I don't understand what it could be. Speak now! Do I not have your trust?

NORA. Like no one else. You are my truest, best friend - I know, I know. That's why I want to tell you. Well, all right, doctor. You must help me prevent something. You know how sincerely, how endlessly Torvald loves me. He wouldn't hesitate for a moment to lay down his life for me.

RANK (leaning towards her). Nora, do you think he's the only one?

NORA (slightly startled). One…

RANK. … who would gladly lay down his life for you?

NORA (dejectedly). Here you go…

RANK. I swore to myself that you would know about this before I was gone. I can't wait for a better opportunity. Yes, Nora, now you know. And you know, too, that you can trust me more than anyone else.

NORA (gets up, in a calm, even tone). Miss me.

RANK (letting her pass, while he continues to sit). Nora…

NORA ( at the front door). Elene, bring the lamp. (Goes to the stove.) Ah, dear Doctor Rank, that was really not good of you.

RANK (getting up). That I loved you as sincerely as the other? Is it so stupid?

NORA. No, but what are you telling me about it. And it wasn't necessary at all.

RANK. That is? Or did you know?.. The maid enters with a lamp, puts it on the table and leaves. Nora... Mrs. Helmer... I ask you, did you know anything?

NORA. Oh, how do I know what I knew, what I didn't know? I really can't tell you... And how it hurt you, doctor! Everything was so good.

RANK. At least now you can be sure that I am at your disposal, body and soul. So you say...

NORA (looks at him). After that?

RANK. Please let me know what's the matter.

NORA. You won't know anything now.

RANK. No no. Don't punish me like that. Let me do everything for you that is only in the power of man.

NORA. Now there is nothing you can do for me. However, I probably don't need any help. You will see that all this is just fantasy. Of course. Certainly. (Sits on the rocking chair, looks at him and smiles.) Yes, I tell you, you are good! Aren't you ashamed now, by the lamp?

RANK. No, as a matter of fact. But, perhaps, I should leave right away ... forever?

NORA. Not at all. Naturally, you will continue to come. You know Torvald can't do without you.

RANK. And you?

NORA. Well, and I always have terribly fun with you when you come to us.

RANK. This is what baffled me. You are a mystery to me. More than once it seemed to me that you enjoyed my company almost as much as Helmer's.

NORA. You see, you love some people more than anything in the world, but somehow you most want to be with others.

RANK. Perhaps there is some truth in this.

NORA. At home, of course, I loved papa most of all. But I've always taken great pleasure in sneaking into the servants' room. They didn't lecture me a bit there, and there were always such merry conversations.

RANK. Yeah, so that's who I replaced for you.

NORA (jumping up and running towards him). Oh, dear, good Dr. Rank, that's not what I meant at all. But you understand that with Torvald, as with dad ...

SERVANT (enters from front). Lady… (Whispers something and gives a card.)

NORA (looking at the card). A! (Puts it in his pocket.)

RANK. Any trouble?

NORA. No, no, not at all. It's just... a new suit for me...

RANK. How? Yes, there he lies.

NORA. Ah, that's not the one. That's another. I ordered ... But Torvald does not need to know ...

RANK. Ah, there it is, the great secret!

NORA. Exactly. Go to him. He is at home. Hold him for now.

RANK. Keep calm. He won't leave me. (Goes into the office.)

NORA (servant). So he's waiting in the kitchen?

SERVANT. Yes, I came from the back door.

NORA. Didn't you tell him there were outsiders here?

SERVANT. She said it didn't help.

NORA. So he doesn't want to leave?

SERVANT. He doesn't want to until he talks to the mistress.

NORA. So bring him here, just quietly, Elena. And don't tell anyone about it. This will surprise my husband.

SERVANT. Yes, yes, I understand, I understand... (Exits.)

NORA. Trouble is coming... Still going. No no no! It won't be, it can't be! (Goes and bolts the door to the office.)

The maid opens the door from the hallway, lets Krogstad into the room and closes the door behind him. He is in a travel coat, high boots and a fur hat.

NORA (walking towards him). Speak quietly - the husband is at home.

KROGSTAD. And let him.

NORA. What do you need from me?

KROGSTAD. Learn about something.

NORA. So soon. What's happened?

KROGSTAD. You know, of course, that I was fired.

NORA. I couldn't stop it, Herr Krogstad. I defended you to the last extreme, but all in vain.

KROGSTAD. So your husband loves you so little? He knows what I can bring on you, and yet he dares? ..

NORA. How can you think he knows about it?

KROGSTAD. No, I didn't really think so. It would not be in the nature of my dear Thorvald Helmer to show such courage ...

NORA. Mr. Krogstad, I demand respect for my husband.

KROGSTAD. Pardon me, with due respect. But since you keep this matter under such a terrible secret, I dare to assume that you are now better than yesterday, you understand what, in fact, you have done.

NORA. Better than you could ever explain to me.

KROGSTAD. Why, such a bad lawyer as I am! ..

NORA. What do you need from me?

KROGSTAD. I just came to see how things are going with you, Mrs. Helmer. I've been thinking about you all day. A usurer, a chisel-maker, well, in a word, one like me, too, you see, is not deprived of what is called a heart.

NORA. So prove it. Think of my little children.

KROGSTAD. Have you and your husband thought of mine? Well, it doesn't matter now. I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to take this matter too seriously. At first, I will not initiate legal proceedings against you.

NORA. Is not it? Oh, I knew, I knew.

KROGSTAD. Everything can still end peacefully. There is no need to involve people here. The matter will remain between the three of us.

NORA. My husband must never know anything about it.

KROGSTAD. How will you prevent this? Or can you pay in full?

NORA. No, right now, I can't.

KROGSTAD. Or maybe you have some other combination in mind - will you get the money one of these days?

NORA. No combination that I could use.

KROGSTAD. She wouldn't help you anyway. If you lay out to me, even now, in cash, any amount you like, you will not get back your receipt from me.

NORA. So explain what you want to do with it.

NORA. Exactly.

KROGSTAD. If you were thinking about leaving your home and family...

NORA. Exactly!

KROGSTAD. Or you could think of something even worse...

NORA. How do you know?

KROGSTAD. So leave these things.

NORA. How do you know I came up with this?

KROGSTAD. Most of us think about it - at the beginning. And I, too, at one time ... But the spirit was not enough ...

KROGSTAD (breathing in relief). Yes, right? And so do you, too? Lacks?

NORA. Not enough, not enough.

KROGSTAD. It would have been stupid. One has only to pass the first domestic storm ... I have a letter in my pocket for your husband ...

NORA. And everything is said there?

KROGSTAD. In the softest terms. As far as it's possible.

NORA (fast). This letter should not reach the husband. Rip it apart. I will find a way out, I will get money.

KROGSTAD. Excuse me ma'am, I think I just told you...

NORA. Oh, I'm not talking about my debt to you. Tell me how much you want to demand from your husband, and I will get you this money myself.

KROGSTAD. I won't take any money from your husband.

NORA. What do you require?

KROGSTAD. Now you will know. I want to get on my feet, ma'am, I want to get up, and your husband must help me. For a year and a half I was not noticed in anything so dishonorable, and all this time I fought like a fish on ice, but I was pleased that I could rise again with my work - little by little. Now I've been kicked out and I won't be satisfied with just being accepted back - out of mercy. I want to get up, I tell you. I want to be accepted into the bank with a promotion. Your husband will have to create a special position for me...

NORA. He will never do it!

KROGSTAD. Will do. I know him. He dare not utter a word. And as soon as I sit there next to him, you will see: in less than a year, I will be the right hand of the director. Nils Krogstad, not Thorvald Helmer, will run the bank.

NORA. You will never expect this!

KROGSTAD. Maybe you…

NORA. Now I have the courage.

KROGSTAD. Don't scare me. Such a gentle, spoiled lady like you...

NORA. See! See!

KROGSTAD. Under the ice maybe? Into the icy, black depths. And in the spring to emerge disfigured, unrecognizable, with her hair coming out ...

NORA. You won't scare me.

KROGSTAD. And you me. They don't do things like that, Mrs. Helmer. And what would it serve? He will still be in my hands.

NORA. And after that? When I already...

KROGSTAD. You forget that then I will have power over your memory. Nora, dumbfounded, looks at him. Now you have been warned. So don't do anything stupid. When Helmer receives my letter, I will wait for news from him. And remember, your husband himself forced me to embark on this path again. I will never forgive him for this. Goodbye, Fru Helmer. (Leaves through the front.)

NORA (goes to the front door, opens it a little and listens). Leaves. Doesn't send letters. Oh no, no, that would be impossible! Impossible! (Opens the door more and more.) What is this? He is behind the doors. Doesn't go down. Thinking? Is he…

A letter is heard falling into a box, then the footsteps of Krogstad are heard coming down the stairs; gradually the steps freeze below. Nora, with a suppressed cry, runs back into the room to the table in front of the sofa. Short pause.

Letter! ... In the box! (timidly creeps again to the front door.) Lying there ... Torvald, Torvald ... now there is no salvation for us!

FRU LINNE (left with a suit in his hands from the room to the left). Well, I don't know what else to fix. Do not try on?

NORA (quiet and hoarse). Christina, come here.

FRU LINNE (throwing dress on sofa). What happened to you? You are not yourself.

NORA. Come here. Do you see the letter? There. Look through the glass, in the letterbox.

FRU LINNE. Well, well, I see, I see.

NORA. From Krogstad...

FRU LINNE. Nora... did you borrow that money from Krogstad?

NORA. Yes. And now Torvald will know everything.

FRU LINNE. Trust me, Nora, it's the best thing for both of you.

NORA. You don't know everything yet. I forged my signature...

FRU LINNE. But, for God's sake...

NORA. I want to ask you only one thing, Christina, that you be a witness.

FRU LINNE. What witness? In what?

NORA. If I lost my mind - and this can easily happen ...

FRU LINNE. Nora!

NORA. Or if something else happened to me - something that would prevent me from being here ...

FRU LINNE. Nora, Nora, you don't remember yourself!

NORA. So if someone decides to take the blame on themselves, do you understand? ..

FRU LINNE. Yes, yes, but what's in your head ...

NORA. You will testify that this is not true, Christina. I haven't freaked out yet. I am fully sane. And I tell you: no one else knew anything about it. I did everything alone. Remember!

FRU LINNE. Yes Yes. But I still don't understand...

NORA. Where are you to understand? Now a miracle is being prepared.

FRU LINNE. Miracle?

NORA. Yes, a miracle. But it's terrible, Christina, you don't need it for anything in the world!

FRU LINNE. I'll go and talk to Krogstad right away.

NORA. Don't go to him. He will offend you.

FRU LINNE. There was a time when he was ready to do anything for me.

FRU LINNE. Where does he live?

NORA. How do I know?.. Oh, yes! (Pulls out a card from his pocket.) Here is his card. But a letter, a letter!

HELMER (from the office, knocking on the door). Nora!

NORA (shouts in fear). A! What's happened? What do you want?

HELMER. Well, well, don't be so scared. We will not enter. You've locked the door. Trying it out, right?

NORA. Yes, yes, I'm trying. Oh, I'll be so pretty, Torvald.

FRU LINNE (reading the inscription on the card). He lives right here, around the corner.

NORA. Yes. But nothing will come of it. We have no salvation. The letter is in the box.

FRU LINNE. Does your husband have the key?

NORA. Always.

FRU LINNE. Let Krogstad demand his letter back unopened... Let him find an excuse...

NORA. But just at this time, Torvald always ...

FRU LINNE. Hold him up. Stay with him for now. I will return as soon as possible. (Quickly leaves through the hall.)

NORA (goes to the door of the study, opens it and looks into the room). Torvald!

HELMER (from another room). Well, will a man finally be allowed into his own living room? Come on, Rank, let's see. (In the door.) But what does this mean?

NORA. What is it, honey?

HELMER. I was expecting, according to Rank, a great dressing scene...

RANK (in the door). That's what I understood, but apparently I was wrong.

NORA. No one will see me in all my splendor until tomorrow evening.

HELMER. But, dear Nora, you are somehow exhausted. Rehearsed?

NORA. Haven't rehearsed yet.

HELMER. However, it is necessary...

NORA. Absolutely necessary, Torvald. But I can't do anything without you. I forgot everything.

HELMER. Well, we'll refresh that memory.

NORA. Yes, you will certainly take care of me, Torvald. Promise? Ah, I'm so afraid. Such a large society... Donate to me this entire evening. So that not a single thing - do not take the pen in hand! A? Is that right, honey?

HELMER. I promise. I will be at your service all evening, my poor, helpless creature ... Hm! Yes... at first only... (Goes to the front door.)

NORA. Why are you there?

HELMER. Just to see if there are letters.

NORA. No, no, don't, Torvald!

HELMER. What else?

NORA. Torvald! I am begging you! There is nothing.

HELMER. Let me take a look! (Wants to go.)

Nora rushes to the piano and starts playing the tarantella.

(Stops at the door.) Aha!

NORA. I can't dance tomorrow if I don't rehearse with you.

HELMER (goes to her). Are you really that much of a coward, my dear?

NORA. Scary. Let's rehearse now. There is still time before dinner. Sit down and play for me, honey. Show me, teach me, as always!

HELMER. With pleasure, with pleasure, if you so desire. (Sits down at the piano.)

NORA (grabs a tambourine and a long colorful scarf from a cardboard box, drapes it hastily, then stands in the middle of the room with one jump and shouts). Play now! I am dancing!

Helmer plays and Nora dances, Dr. Rank stands behind Helmer and watches.

HELMER (playing). Slower, slower...

NORA. I can't do otherwise.

HELMER. Not so rough, honey!

NORA. Exactly! So be it!

HELMER (breaking). No, no, that doesn't fit at all.

NORA (laughing and shaking tambourine). Well, didn't I tell you?

RANK. Let me sit down to play.

HELMER (rises). Okay, it'll be more convenient for me to point it out to her.

Rank sits down at the piano and plays. Nora dances with ever-increasing fervor. Helmer, standing by the stove, incessantly gives Nora instructions and remarks, but she does not seem to hear, her hair has loosened and falls over her shoulders, she does not pay attention to this, continuing to dance. Fru Linne enters.

FRU LINNE (stops dead at the door). A!

NORA (continues to dance). See what fun we have here, Christina!

HELMER. But, dear, dear Nora! You dance so, as if it were about life!

NORA. This is true.

HELMER. Rank, stop it. It's just crazy. Stop it, I say! Rank stops playing, and Nora stops at once. (Nora.) That's what I would never believe - you resolutely forgot everything I taught you.

NORA (throwing tambourine). You see yourself.

HELMER. Yes, you have to learn.

NORA. Here you see how it is necessary to deal with me. You will teach me until the last minute. Promise, Torvald?

HELMER. Be calm.

NORA. Not today, not tomorrow, so that you don’t have another thought in your head, only about me. And do not open letters today ... do not open the box ...

HELMER. Aha! Are you afraid of that person?

NORA. Yes, yes, and that too.

HELMER. Nora, I see by your face, there is already a letter from him. N o r a. Don't know. Seems. But don't you dare read anything like that now. We don't want any trouble until it's all over.

RANK (quietly to Helmer). Don't contradict her.

HELMER ( hugging her). Well, the child has achieved his goal. But tomorrow night after your dance...

NORA. Then you are free.

SERVANT (in the door to the right). Lady, the table is set.

NORA. Give me some champagne, Elena.

SERVANT. Fine. (Exits.)

HELMER. Ege-ge, so a feast by a mountain?

NORA. Feast until dawn. (Screams after the maid.) And a little bit of macaroons, Elene... No, more!.. Once, all right.

HELMER (taking her by the hand). Well, well, well, no need for this wild fearfulness. Be my sweet lark as always.

NORA. Yes, yes, I will, I will. But get there for now. And you, doctor. Christina, help me straighten my hair.

RANK (quietly, heading with Helmer to the right). After all, it can’t be that there was something like that here? .. She is not in a position? ..

HELMER. Nothing like that, my dear. Just the same childish fear I told you about. They leave to the right.

NORA (Fru Linne). Well?

FRU LINNE. Left for the city.

NORA. I guessed from your face.

FRU LINNE. Will return home tomorrow evening. I left him a note.

NORA. It was not necessary. You won't interfere with anything. And, in fact, such a delight - to wait any minute for a miracle.

FRU LINNE. What are you waiting for?

NORA. Ah, you don't understand. Step up to them. I'm in this minute.

Fru Linne goes to the right. Nora stands for a minute, as if trying to compose herself, then looks at her watch.

Five. Seven o'clock to midnight. And then twenty-four hours until midnight. Then the tarantella will be finished. Twenty four and seven. Thirty-one hours of life.

HELMER (in the door to the right). Well, where is my lark?

NORA (rushing towards him with open arms). Here he is, the lark! ..

Act Three

Same room. The table in front of the sofa has been moved to the middle of the room, along with the chairs. There is a lamp on the table. The front door is open. The sounds of ballroom music are heard from the top floor. Fru Linne is sitting at the table, mechanically leafing through the book, trying to read, but apparently unable to collect her thoughts. From time to time he listens to see if anyone is coming.

FRU LINNE (looking at his watch). He's still gone. Meanwhile, time is running out now. If only he didn't... (He listens again.) A! Goes! (Goes into the hall and carefully unlocks the outer door; soft footsteps are heard on the stairs; she whispers.) Sign in. Nobody here.

KROGSTAD (in the door). I found your note at home. What does it mean?

FRU LINNE. I need to talk to you.

KROGSTAD. Here's how? And certainly here, in this house?

FRU LINNE. I couldn't have. My room does not have a separate entrance. Sign in. We are alone. The maid is sleeping, and the Helmers are upstairs at the party.

KROGSTAD (enters the room). Tell! Are the Helmers dancing tonight? Indeed?

FRU LINNE. Why not?

KROGSTAD. N-yes, indeed.

FRU LINNE. So, Krogstad, let's talk.

KROGSTAD. Do we have anything else to talk about?

FRU LINNE. Yes, a lot.

KROGSTAD. Did not think.

FRU LINNE. Because they never understood me properly.

KROGSTAD. What was there not to understand? How much easier! A heartless woman escorts a man to all four sides as soon as a more profitable party seems to her.

FRU LINNE. Do you think I'm completely heartless? Do you think it was easy for me to break?

KROGSTAD. Is not it so?

FRU LINNE. Krogstad, did you really think so?

KROGSTAD. Otherwise, why would you write me such a letter then?

FRU LINNE. Yes, I could not do otherwise! Since I had to break with you, it was my duty to tear out of your heart every feeling for me.

KROGSTAD (clasping hands). So that's it. And it's all about money!

FRU LINNE. Don't forget, I had an old mother and two young brothers in my arms. We couldn't wait for you, Krogstad. Your prospects for the future were then still so uncertain.

KROGSTAD. Let it be. But you had no right to leave me for anyone else.

FRU LINNE. I don't know. More than once I asked myself this question - whether I was right.

FRU LINNE. For help, perhaps, it was not far to go.

KROGSTAD. She was close. But you came and blocked my way.

FRU LINNE. Without knowing it, Krogstad. I just found out today that I am being appointed to your place.

KROGSTAD. I believe you when you say it. But now won't you give in?

FRU LINNE. No. It still wouldn't do you any good.

KROGSTAD. Eh, good, good!.. If I were you, I would still do it this way.

KROGSTAD. And life taught me not to believe the words.

FRU LINNE. So life has taught you a very reasonable thing. Well, do you still believe in deeds?

KROGSTAD. That is, how is it?

FRU LINNE. You said you looked like a shipwreck who floated out on a wreck.

KROGSTAD. And I think I had reason to say this.

FRU LINNE. And I, too, am like a woman who was wrecked and floated on the wreckage. No one to feel sorry for, no one to care about!

KROGSTAD. They chose their share.

FRU LINNE. I didn't have any other choice then.

FRU LINNE. Krogstad, what if we two shipwrecked people shook hands with each other?

KROGSTAD. What are you talking about?

FRU LINNE. Together, together on the wreckage, it will still be stronger, more reliable than staying apart, each separately.

KROGSTAD. Christina!

FRU LINNE. Why do you think I came here?

KROGSTAD. Do you remember me?

FRU LINNE. I can't live without work, without work. All my life, as far as I can remember, I have worked, and work has been my best and only joy. But now I am left alone like a finger ... Terribly empty, lonely ... To work for oneself alone is not enough joy. Krogstad, give me a goal - for what and for whom to work.

KROGSTAD. I don't believe in anything like that. This is all one female enthusiasm, a generous need to sacrifice oneself.

FRU LINNE. Have you ever noticed in me a tendency to rapture?

KROGSTAD. So you really could... Tell me... Do you know everything... about my past?

FRU LINNE. Yes.

KROGSTAD. And you know what kind of fame goes about me?

FRU LINNE. I understood from your words that, in your opinion, with me you could become a different person.

KROGSTAD. Certainly!

FRU LINNE. So is time gone?

KROGSTAD. Cristina... are you being serious? Yes Yes. I see in your face. So do you really have the courage?

FRU LINNE. I need someone to love, someone to take care of, someone to take the place of a mother, and your children need a mother. You and I need each other. Krogstad, I believe you have a good foundation; and together with you I am ready for anything.

KROGSTAD (grabbing her hands). Thank you, thank you Christina! Now I will be able to rise in the eyes of others ... Oh, yes, I forgot ...

FRU LINNE (listens). Shh! Tarantella! Go away.

KROGSTAD. Why? What's the matter?

FRU LINNE. Do you hear the tarantella dancing upstairs? When it is finished, they will come here.

KROGSTAD. Yes, yes, so I'll go. And besides, it's all in vain. Of course, you don't know what step I took against the Helmers.

FRU LINNE. I know, Krogstad.

KROGSTAD. Would you still have the courage?

FRU LINNE. I understand well what the despair of a man like you can lead to.

KROGSTAD. Oh, if only I could take back what I've done!

FRU LINNE. Could you. Your letter is still in the box.

KROGSTAD. Are you sure?

FRU LINNE. Quite. But…

KROGSTAD (looks at her inquisitively). Is it not necessary to understand the matter in this way? You want to save your friend no matter what. Tell me straight. So?

FRU LINNE. Krogstad! He who once sold himself because of others will not do it a second time.

KROGSTAD. I need my letter back.

FRU LINNE. No no.

KROGSTAD. Naturally. I will wait for Helmer and tell him to return my letter to me, that it concerns only me, my resignation, that he does not need to read it.

FRU LINNE. No, Krogstad, don't ask for your letter back.

KROGSTAD. But tell me, isn't that why you called me here?

FRU LINNE. Yes, at first, out of fear. But now a whole day has passed, and I just can’t believe what I haven’t seen enough of here in the house during this time. Let Helmer find out. May this unfortunate mystery come to light. Let them finally explain themselves to each other in purity. It is impossible for it to continue like this - these eternal secrets, subterfuges.

KROGSTAD. Well, well, since you decide to do it ... But at least I can do one thing, and I must do it right now ...

FRU LINNE (listening). Quicker! Go away! The dance is over. We can be caught any minute.

KROGSTAD. I'll wait for you downstairs.

FRU LINNE. Fine. Then walk me home.

KROGSTAD. I have never been so incredibly happy in my entire life! (Exits.)

The front door is still open.

FRU LINNE (cleans up the table a little and prepares his outer clothes). What a twist! What a twist! It will work for someone ... for whom to live ... where to bring light and warmth. Yes, you will have to stick around. Would rather come... (Listens.) Ah, here they are. Get dressed quickly. (Puts on hat and coat.)

Offstage, the voices of Helmer and Nora are heard; you can hear the key turning in the lock, and then Helmer almost by force brings Nora into the hall. She is in a Neapolitan costume and wrapped in a large black shawl. He is in a tailcoat and an open black domino thrown over the top.

NORA (still at the door, resisting). No no no! I don't want to come here! I want to go up again. I don't want to leave so early.

HELMER. But dear Nora...

NORA. Well, I beg you, I beg you, Torvald ... Well, please ... at least an hour more!

HELMER. Not a minute more, my dear. Do you remember the deal? Like this. Here. You'll still catch a cold here in the hallway. (Carefully leads his wife, despite her resistance, into the room.)

FRU LINNE. Good evening!

NORA. Christina!

HELMER. How, fru Linne, are you here at such a late hour?

FRU LINNE. Yes, sorry, I really wanted to see Nora's costume.

NORA. So you all sat and waited for me?

FRU LINNE. Yes, I, unfortunately, was late, you were already upstairs, well, I didn’t want to leave without looking at you.

HELMER (taking off the shawl from Nora). Well, take a good look at her. Right, worth a look. What's not good, fru Linne?

FRU LINNE. Yes, I confess...

HELMER. Isn't it amazingly good? Everyone there agreed with one voice. But she's a terrible stubborn, this sweet baby. What can you do? Imagine, I almost had to take her out of there by force.

NORA. Ah, Torvald, you will repent that you did not let me have fun for at least half an hour.

HELMER. Listen, Fru Linne! She dances the tarantella... makes a splash... well-deserved... although the performance was, perhaps, too artless, that is, more natural than it is, strictly speaking, desirable from the point of view of art. Well, let it be! The main thing is that she made a splash, a huge sensation. And let her stay after that? Decrease the impact? No thanks. I took my lovely Capricciano—a capricious Caprician, one might say—by the arm, marched through the hall, bowed in general, and—as they say in the novels—the beautiful vision vanished. The end must always be spectacular, Mrs. Linne. But how can I explain this to Nora? No way. Phew, it's hot in here! (Throws down the dominoes and opens the door to the office.) E! Yes, it's dark there. Yes of course. Sorry… (He goes to his room and lights candles there.)

NORA (quick whisper, panting). Oh well?

FRU LINNE (quiet). I spoke to him.

NORA. And what?

FRU LINNE. Nora... you must tell your husband everything.

FRU LINNE. You have nothing to fear from Krogstad. But you have to say everything.

NORA. I will not say.

FRU LINNE. So the letter says.

NORA. Thank you Christina I know what to do now. Shh!

HELMER (included). Well, fru Linne, have you admired her?

FRU LINNE. Yes, yes, and now I'm sorry.

HELMER. Already? And this is your work, knitting?

FRU LINNE (takes a job). Yes, thank you. Almost forgot.

HELMER. So do you knit?

FRU LINNE. It happens.

HELMER. You know, you'd better embroider.

FRU LINNE. Here's how? Why?

HELMER. Yes, it's much prettier. You see: they hold the work like this, with their left hand, and with their right they make stitches ... like this ... with light, free strokes ... Isn't it?

FRU LINNE. I think, yes…

HELMER. Knitting, on the contrary, cannot come out beautifully; always kind of clumsy. Look: these clenched hands... these knitting needles... up and down... some kind of Chinese... Ah, what great champagne was served there!

FRU LINNE. So farewell, Nora, and don't be stubborn any more.

HELMER. Well said, Mrs. Linne!

FRU LINNE. Good night, Mr. Director.

HELMER (walking her to the door). Good night Good Night. Hope you get home safely. I'd love to... but you're not far away. Good night Good Night. Fru Linne leaves, he locks the door behind her and returns. Finally got her out. Terribly boring person.

NORA. Are you very tired, Torvald?

HELMER. No, nothing.

NORA. And you don't want to sleep?

HELMER. Not at all. On the contrary, I am unusually lively. And you? Yes, you look rather tired and sleepy.

NORA. Yes, I am very tired. And soon I will fall asleep.

HELMER. Here you see! So I did well that we didn't stay longer.

NORA. Ah, you are doing well.

HELMER (kissing her forehead). Well, the lark spoke like a human being. Did you notice how Rank was animated today?

NORA. Yes? Is it? I didn't get to talk to him.

HELMER. And almost me too. But I haven't seen him in such a good mood for a long time. (Looks at her for a minute, then comes closer to her.) Hm! .. However, how wonderful to find yourself at home again. Oh, you charming young beauty!

NORA. Don't look at me like that, Torvald!

HELMER. What? Am I not allowed to look at my most precious treasure? To all this beauty that belongs to me, to me alone, all of it!

NORA (going to the other side of the table). You don't have to talk to me like that today.

HELMER (following her). You still have the tarantella in your blood, I see. And that's why you are even more charming ... Do you hear? .. The guests begin to disperse. (Lowering voice.) Nora... soon everything will be quiet in the house.

NORA. Hope.

HELMER. Isn't that right, my love? Oh, you know, when I'm with you in society, you know why I don't talk much with you there, stay away from you, only steal a glance at you? .. Do you know why? Because I imagine that you are my secret love, that we are secretly engaged to you and no one even suspects that there is something between us.

NORA. Yes, yes, yes, I know that all your thoughts are around me.

HELMER. And when we are about to leave and I throw a shawl over your tender, youthful shoulders ... on this wonderful bend of the neck from the back of the head ... I imagine that you are my young bride ... that we are right from under the crown ... that I will introduce you for the first time now into my home... for the first time I'll be alone with you... alone with you, my young, trembling charm! All this evening I had no other thought, no other desire, except for you. When I saw how you rush about and beckon in a tarantella ... my blood began to boil ... I could no longer ... That's why I took you away from there so early ...

NORA. Go, Torvald... Leave me alone. I don't want…

HELMER. What does it mean? Are you teasing me, little Nora? I don’t want to?.. Or am I not your husband?..

A knock on the front door.

NORA (shuddering). Do you hear?

HELMER (turns around). Who's there?

RANK (behind doors). It's me. May I have a minute?

HELMER (quietly, annoyed). And what does he need now? (Loud.) Now. (Goes and unlocks the door.) It's nice that you didn't pass us by.

HELMER. It seems that you were well upstairs today, comfortable.

RANK. Amazing. And why not? Why not take from life everything that it gives? In any case, as long as possible and as long as possible. The wine was excellent...

HELMER. Especially champagne!

RANK. And did you notice? I just can't believe how much I could pour into myself.

NORA. Torvald also drank a lot of champagne today.

NORA. Yes, and after that he is always in a great mood.

RANK. Well, why not have a bite in the evening after a useful day?

HELMER. Well spent! I, unfortunately, cannot boast of this.

RANK (hitting him on the shoulder). And I can!

NORA. Dr. Rank, did you undertake any scientific research today?

RANK. That's it.

HELMER. Te-te-te! Little Nora talking about scientific research?

NORA. And congratulations on your success?

RANK. No, you can.

NORA. So the result is good?

RANK. The best thing for both doctor and patient is confidence.

NORA (quickly, inquisitively). Confidence?

RANK. Complete confidence. Well, how not to kutnut after that?

NORA. Yes, you did the right thing, doctor.

HELMER. And I'll say the same. If only you didn't have to pay for it tomorrow.

RANK. Well, nothing in this life comes for nothing!

NORA. Dr. Rank, you're a masquerade hunter, aren't you?

RANK. Yes, if there are a lot of funny masks ...

NORA. Listen, what should we dress up for next time?

HELMER. Oh you windmill! Are you thinking about next time?

RANK. We are with you? I'll tell you now. You are a darling of happiness ...

HELMER. And you come up with an outfit that would clearly express this idea.

RANK. May your wife appear as she always is in life ...

HELMER. Here it is aptly said. Well, have you figured out what you will be yourself?

RANK. Yes mate, I've got it figured out.

HELMER. Well?

RANK. At the next masquerade, I will appear invisible ...

HELMER. That's such an invention!

RANK. There is such a big black hat, or have you not heard of an invisibility hat? It is worth putting it on - and the person is as if it had not happened.

HELMER (suppressing a smile). Yes it is.

RANK. But I completely forgot what I actually came for. Helmer, give me a cigar, dark Havana.

HELMER. With the greatest pleasure. (Offers a cigarette case.)

RANK (takes one and cuts off the tip). Thank you.

NORA (strike a match). And let me offer you a spark.

RANK. Thank you.

She holds a match in front of him and he lights a cigarette.

And goodbye!

HELMER. Farewell, farewell, friend!

NORA. Sleep well, Dr. Rank.

RANK. Thanks for the wish.

NORA. Wish me the same.

RANK. To you? Well, if you want a restful sleep. And thanks for the spark. (Nods to both of them and leaves.)

NORA (absently). Perhaps.

Helmer takes his keys out of his pocket and goes into the hall.

Torvald... why are you?

HELMER. We need to empty the box. It's already full. There is not enough room for the morning papers...

NORA. Do you want to work at night?

HELMER. You know I don't want... What is it? Someone's been messing around with the lock!

NORA. With a lock?

HELMER. Yes, sure. What's stuck in there? We can't let the servants... Yes, there's a broken hairpin. Nora, your hairpin!

NORA (fast). Oh, that's right, kids...

HELMER. Well, they need to be discouraged from it. Hm! .. Hm! .. Well, finally managed to unlock it. (Takes out letters from the drawer and shouts into the kitchen.) Elene! Elene! We must turn off the lamp in the front. (Enters the room and locks the front door, showing Nora a stack of letters.) See how much you've got! (Listening through the letters.) What is it?

NORA (near the window). Letter! Don't, don't, Torvald!

HELMER. Two business cards from Rank.

NORA. From Rank?

HELMER (looks at them). "M.D. Rank". They were lying on top: apparently, he put them in when he left.

NORA. Is there anything written on them?

HELMER. There is a black cross above the name. Look. What a terrible fantasy! Accurately announces his own death.

NORA. The way it is.

HELMER. What? Do you know anything? Did he say anything to you?

NORA. Yes. Since we received these cards, it means that he said goodbye to us. Now lock himself up and die.

HELMER. My poor friend! .. I knew that I would not be able to save him for long. But so soon ... And hide from everyone, like a wounded beast ...

NORA. Time to be - it's better without further ado. Is that right, Torvald?

HELMER (walks back and forth). We got along so well with him. Somehow I can't imagine that it won't. He, his suffering, his loneliness created some kind of light cloudy background for our happiness, bright as the sun ... Well, maybe it's for the best. For him, anyway. (Stops.) Yes, perhaps, for us, Nora. Now you and I will be alone - completely for each other. (Embracing her.) My love... I keep feeling like I'm not holding you tight enough. You know, Nora… more than once I wished that you were in imminent trouble and that I could put my life and blood on the line - and everything, everything for you.

NORA (releasing, firmly, resolutely). Read your letters, Helmer.

HELMER. No, no, not today. I want to be with you, my beloved, with you.

NORA. Knowing that your friend is dying?

HELMER. You're right. It excited both of us. Something ugly invaded our relationship - the thought of death, of decay. We must first get rid of it. For now, let's go each to ourselves ...

NORA (wrapping her arms around his neck). Torvald... good night! Good night!

HELMER (kissing her forehead). Good night, my little songbird! Sleep well, Nora. Now I will read the letters. (Goes into the study with letters and closes the door behind him.)

NORA (with a wandering gaze, staggers around the room, grabs Helmer's domino, throws it on himself and whispers quickly, hoarsely, intermittently). Never see him again. Never. Never. Never. (Throws a shawl over her head.) And never see the kids either. And them too. Never. Never. Never... Oh! Right into the dark, icy water... into the bottomless depth... Oh! It would rather be over, rather... Now he has taken the letter... he is reading... No, no, not yet... Torvald, goodbye! And you and the kids... (He wants to rush into the hall.)

At that moment, the office door swings open, and Helmer appears on the threshold with a printed letter in his hands.

HELMER. Nora!

NORA (screams loudly). A!

HELMER. What is this? Do you know what is in this letter?

NORA. I know. Let me in! Let go!

HELMER (holding her). Where are you going?

NORA (trying to get out). And don't think about saving me, Torvald.

HELMER (recoiling). Is it true! So, is it true what he writes? Terrible! No no! It's impossible for this to be true.

NORA. This is true. I loved you more than anything in the world.

HELMER. Oh, go with your absurd subterfuges!

NORA (taking a step towards him). Torvald!

HELMER. Unhappy… What have you done?!

NORA. Let me go. You can't have to pay for me. You don't have to take it upon yourself.

HELMER. Don't do comedy! (Locks the front door with a key.) Don't move until you give me a report. Do you understand what you did? Answer! You understand?

NORA (looks at him point-blank and speaks with a frozen face). Yes, now I begin to understand - completely.

HELMER (walking around the room). Oh, what a terrible awakening! All these eight years... she, my joy, my pride... was a hypocrite, a liar... worse, worse... a criminal! Oh, what a bottomless abyss of dirt and disgrace! Ugh! Ugh!

Nora is silent and, as before, does not look away from him.

(Stops in front of her.) I should have anticipated the possibility of such a thing. Should have been foreseen. All the frivolous principles of your father... Be quiet. You have inherited all the frivolous principles of your father. No religion, no morality, no sense of duty ... Oh, how punished I was for having looked at his case through my fingers then. For you. And that's how you thanked me.

NORA. Yes, that's how.

HELMER. Now you've ruined all my happiness. Ruined my whole future. Horror to think! I am in the hands of an unscrupulous man. He can do what he wants with me, demand anything from me, order me, push me around as he pleases. I dare not utter a word. And fall into such a hole, perish in this way because of a windy woman!

NORA. Since I will not be in the world, you are free.

HELMER. Ah, no tricks! And your father always had such phrases ready. What good would it do me if you weren't around, as you say. Not the slightest. He can still solve the case. And if he does, I'll probably be suspected of knowing about your crime. Perhaps they will think that I myself stood behind your back, that it was I who taught you! And for all this I can thank you! And I carried you in my arms all the time. Do you understand now what you did to me?

NORA (with cold calmness). Yes.

HELMER. It's so unbelievable that I just can't come to my senses. But you have to try to get out somehow. Take off your shawl. Take it off, I tell you! You'll have to appease him somehow. The matter must be hushed up at all costs. As for you and me, we mustn't even show it: we must hold on as if everything is going on in the old way. But this, of course, is only for humans. You will stay in the house, that goes without saying. But you will not raise children. I dare not entrust them to you... Oh! And I have to say this to the one I loved so much and who else ... But this is the end. From now on, there is no longer any talk of happiness, but only about saving the remnants, fragments, decorum! Bell in front. (Starting.) Who is this? So late. Is it really necessary to wait for the most terrible? .. Is it really him? .. Hide, Nora! Say sick!

Nora doesn't move. Helmer goes and opens the front door.

SERVANT (semi-dressed, from the front). Letter to the lady.

HELMER. Come here. (Seizes the letter and closes the door.) Yes, from him. You won't get. I'll read it myself.

NORA. Read.

HELMER (near the lamp). I barely have the heart. Perhaps we have already died, and you and I ... No, you have to find out. (He feverishly opens the envelope, runs his eyes over a few lines, looks at the paper enclosed in the letter, and exclaims with joy.) Nora!

Nora looks at him questioningly.

Nora... No, let me read it again... Yes, yes, yes. Saved! Nora, I'm saved!

NORA. And I?

HELMER. And you, of course. We are both saved, you and me. Look! He returns your debt to you. He writes that he repents and regrets ... that a happy turn in his fate ... Well, it doesn’t matter what he writes there. We're saved, Nora! Nobody can do anything to you. Ah, Nora, Nora!.. No, first destroy all this muck. Let's see... (Glances at the receipt.) No, I don't want to watch. Let all this be just a dream for me. (Tears both the letter and the promissory note to shreds, throws it into the stove and watches how everything burns.) Like this. Now there is no trace left ... He wrote that you had been since Christmas Eve ... Oh, what a terrible three days those were for you, Nora!

NORA. I fought hard these three days.

HELMER. And she suffered and saw no other outcome than ... No, there is no need to remember all this horror. Let us now only rejoice and repeat: everything is gone, gone! Listen, Nora, you don't seem to understand that it's all over. What is it ... You seem to be petrified? Oh, poor little Nora, I understand, I understand. You can't believe that I forgave you. But I forgave you, Nora, I swear I forgave you everything. I know that everything you have done, you have done out of love for me.

NORA. It's right.

HELMER. You loved me as a wife should love her husband. You just didn't get the hang of it. But do you really think that I will love you less because you are unable to act on your own? No, no, feel free to lean on me, I will be your adviser, leader. I wouldn't be a man if it wasn't for this feminine helplessness that made you twice as sweet in my eyes. Think no more of those harsh words that escaped me at the moment of my first fright, when it seemed to me that everything around me was collapsing. I have forgiven you, Nora. I swear to you, I have forgiven you.

NORA. Thank you for your forgiveness. (Goes out the door to the right.)

HELMER. No, wait... (Looking over there.) What do you want?

NORA (from another room). Throw off the fancy dress.

HELMER (at the door). Yes, yes, fine. And try to calm down, come to your senses, my poor frightened songbird. Lean calmly on me, I have wide wings to cover you. (Walks around the door.) Oh, how nice and cozy it is here, Nora. Here is your shelter, here I will cherish you like a downtrodden dove, which I rescued unharmed from the claws of a hawk. I can calm your poor trembling heart. It will work out little by little, Nora, trust me. Tomorrow everything will seem completely different to you, and soon everything will go back to the old way, I won’t have to repeat to you for a long time that I have forgiven you. You will feel it for yourself. How can you think that it could now occur to me to push you away or even reproach you for anything? Oh, you don't know the heart of a real husband, Nora. It is inexpressibly sweet and pleasant for a husband to know that he has forgiven his wife ... forgave him from the bottom of his heart. From this, she seems to become doubly his own - his inalienable treasure. He seems to give her life a second time. She becomes, so to speak, both his wife and child. And now you will be both for me, my helpless, confused creature. Do not be afraid of anything, Nora, just be sincere with me, and I will be both your will and your conscience ... What is this? Are you not going to bed? Changed clothes?

NORA (in ordinary house dress). Yes, Torvald, changed clothes.

HELMER. What for? At this late hour?

NORA. I can't sleep tonight...

HELMER. But dear Nora...

NORA (looks at his watch). It's not that late. Sit down, Torvald. You and I have something to talk about. (Sits down at the table.)

HELMER. Nora... what is it? This frozen expression...

NORA. Sit down. The conversation will be long. I have a lot to say to you.

HELMER (sitting down at the table across from her). You scare me, Nora. And I don't understand you.

NORA. In fact of the matter. Do you understand me. And I didn't understand you...until tonight. No, don't interrupt me. You just listen to me ... Let's settle the score, Torvald.

HELMER. What are you talking about?

NORA (after a short pause). One thing does not strike you, right now, when we are sitting like this with you?

HELMER. What could it be?

NORA. We have been married for eight years. Doesn't it occur to you that this is the first time you and I, husband and wife, have sat down to talk seriously?

HELMER. Seriously...in what sense?

NORA. For eight whole years ... more ... from the first minute of our acquaintance, we never once exchanged a serious word about serious things.

HELMER. What was it for me to dedicate you to my business concerns, which you still could not ease for me.

NORA. I'm not talking about business concerns. I say that we never had a serious conversation at all, we never tried to discuss anything together, to delve into something serious.

HELMER. Well, dear Nora, was it your part?

NORA. Here we got to the point. You never understood me... I was treated very unfairly, Torvald. First dad, then you.

HELMER. What! We two?.. When we both loved you more than anyone in the world?

NORA (shaking head). You never loved me. You only liked being in love with me.

HELMER. Nora, what are those words?

NORA. Yes, that's how it is, Torvald. When I lived at home, with my dad, he laid out all his views to me, and I had the same ones; if I had others, I hid them - he would not like it. He called me his doll-daughter, amused me as I am with my dolls. Then I came to your house ....

HELMER. What an expression when you talk about our marriage!

NORA (deadpan). I want to say that I passed from my father's hands into yours. You arranged everything to your liking, and I got your taste, or I just pretended that it was so - I don’t know exactly. Probably both. Sometimes it happened like this, sometimes like that. When I look back now, it seems to me that I led the most miserable life here, living from day to day! .. They gave me water, food, clothes, and my business was to entertain, amuse you, Torvald. This is what my life has been like. You made it so. You and dad have a lot to blame for me. It's your fault that nothing came out of me.

HELMER. Nora! What nonsense! What ingratitude! Weren't you happy here?

NORA. No never. I imagined that I was, but in fact it never was.

HELMER. You weren't... you weren't happy!

NORA. No, just fun. And you were always so sweet to me, affectionate. But our whole house was just a big nursery. I was here your doll-wife, as at home with dad I was daddy's doll-daughter. And the children were already my dolls. I liked that you played and played with me, as they liked that I play and play with them. This is what our marriage consisted of, Torvald.

HELMER. There is, perhaps, a grain of truth, no matter how exaggerated or pompous. But now things are going to be different for us. The time for fun is over! It's time to take up education.

NORA. For whose? For me or the kids?

HELMER. For yours and theirs, dear Nora.

NORA. Oh, Torvald, it's not for you to raise a real wife out of me.

HELMER. And you say it?

NORA. And I… am I prepared to raise children?

HELMER. Nora!

NORA. Didn't you yourself just say that you dare not entrust me with this task?

HELMER. In a moment of irritation. Is it possible to pay attention to this!

NORA. No, you reasoned correctly. This task is not for me. I need to solve another problem first. We must try to educate ourselves. And I'm not looking for help from you. I need to do this alone. That's why I'm leaving you.

HELMER (jumping up). What did you say?

NORA. I need to be left alone to figure out myself and everything else. That's why I can't stay with you.

HELMER. Nora! Nora!

NORA. And I'll leave now. Christina, right, will give me a lodging for the night ...

HELMER. You're out of your mind! Who will let you! I forbid!

NORA. Now in vain to forbid me anything. I'll take only mine with me. I won't take anything from you, not now, not after.

HELMER. What madness is this!

NORA. Tomorrow I will go home ... that is, to my hometown. It will be easier for me to settle down there.

HELMER. Oh, you blinded, inexperienced creature!

NORA. One must gain some experience, Torvald.

HELMER. Leave home, husband, children! And don't you think about what people will say?

NORA. I have nothing to pay attention to. I only know that I need it.

HELMER. No, this is outrageous! You are so capable of neglecting your most sacred duties!

NORA. What do you consider my most sacred duties?

HELMER. And it still needs to be said to you? Or do you have no obligations to your husband and to your children?

NORA. I have others equally sacred.

HELMER. You don't have those! What is it?

NORA. Duties to yourself.

HELMER. You are first and foremost a wife and mother.

NORA. I don't believe in it anymore. I think that first of all I am a human, just like you, or at least I should try to become a human. I know that the majority will be on your side, Torvald, and that the books say the same thing. But I can no longer be satisfied with what the majority says and what the books say. I need to think about these things myself and try to figure them out.

HELMER. As if your position in your own house is not clear even without that? Don't you have reliable guidance on such matters? No religion?

NORA. Ah, Torvald, I don't know very well what religion is.

HELMER. What are you saying?

NORA. I know this only from the words of Pastor Hansen, where I was preparing for confirmation. He said that religion is so-and-so. When I am released from all these fetters, I am left alone, I will figure it out. I want to see if Pastor Hansen was telling the truth, or at least if it could be true for me.

HELMER. No, this is simply unheard of from such a young woman! But if religion cannot reason with you, then let me hurt your conscience. Do you have a moral sense? Or - answer me - and you do not have it?

NORA. You know, Torvald, that's not easy to answer. I'm right, I don't know that either. I'm just like in the woods in all these matters. I only know that I judge everything differently than you do. They tell me that the laws are not at all what I thought. But for these laws to be correct, I can’t understand this at all. It turns out that a woman has no right to spare her dying old father, no right to save her husband's life! I don't believe this.

HELMER. You judge like a child. You don't understand the society you live in.

NORA. Yes, I don't understand. That's what I want to take a look at. I need to find out for myself who is right - society or me.

HELMER. You are sick, Nora. You have a fever. I'm willing to think you've lost your mind.

NORA. Never before have I been in a more sound mind and firmer memory.

HELMER. And you, in your right mind and memory, leave your husband and children?

HELMER. Then one thing is left to guess.

NORA. Namely?

HELMER. That you don't love me anymore.

NORA. Yes, that's the whole point.

HELMER. Nora... And you say it!

NORA. Ah, it hurts me, Torvald. You were always so nice to me. But there's nothing I can do about it. I do not love you anymore.

HELMER (with an effort to overcome himself). Did you also decide this in your right mind and solid memory?

NORA. Yes, quite healthy. That's why I don't want to stay here.

HELMER. And can you also explain to me the reason why I lost your love?

NORA. Yes, I can. It happened tonight, when the miracle kept itself waiting. I saw that you are not who I thought you were.

HELMER. Explain yourself better, I don't understand you at all.

NORA. I patiently waited for eight whole years. Lord, I knew that miracles do not happen every day. But this horror hit me. And I was unshakably sure: now a miracle will happen. While Krogstad's letter lay there, it never crossed my mind that you could surrender to his terms. I was unshakably sure that you would tell him: announce at least to the whole world. And when that would happen...

HELMER. Well, what then? When I would betray my own wife to shame and reproach! ..

NORA. Whenever that happened... I was so unshakably sure that you would step forward and take it all on yourself - you would say: I am the one responsible.

HELMER. Nora!

NORA. Are you saying that I would never accept such a sacrifice from you? By itself. But what would my assurances mean in comparison with yours? .. Here is the miracle that I was waiting for with such trepidation. And to stop him, I wanted to commit suicide.

HELMER. I would gladly work for you day and night, Nora... endure grief and need for you. But who will sacrifice his honor even for a loved one?

NORA. Hundreds of thousands of women donated.

HELMER. Ah, you judge and speak like a foolish child.

NORA. Let it be. But you don't judge or speak like someone I could rely on. When your fear has passed - not for me, but for yourself - when all the danger for you has passed, it was as if nothing had happened to you. In the old way, I remained your bird, a lark, a chrysalis, which you only have to handle even more carefully, since it turned out to be so fragile, fragile. (Rises.) Torvald, at that moment it became clear to me that all these eight years I had lived with a stranger and had three children with him ... Oh, I can’t remember! It would have torn itself to shreds!

NORA. Such as I am now, I am not fit to be your wife.

HELMER. I have the strength to be different.

NORA. Perhaps - if they take the doll from you.

HELMER. To part ... to part with you! .. No, no, Nora, I can’t imagine!

NORA (goes right). The more inevitable it is. (He returns with outerwear and a small bag in his hands, which he puts on a chair near the table.)

HELMER. Nora, Nora, not now! Wait at least until the morning.

NORA (putting on coat). I can't sleep with a stranger.

HELMER. But couldn't we live like brother and sister?

NORA (tying hat ribbons). You know very well that it wouldn't last long... (Puts on a shawl.) Farewell, Torvald. I will not say goodbye to children. I know they are in better hands than mine. They don't need a mother like me now.

HELMER. But someday, Nora... someday?

NORA. How can I know? I don't know at all what will come of me.

HELMER. But you are my wife now and in the future - whatever you become.

NORA. Listen, Torvald ... Since a wife leaves her husband, like me, then, as I heard, he is legally free from all obligations towards her. In any case, I free you completely. Don't feel bound by anything, and neither will I. Both sides should be completely free. Here is your ring. Give me mine.

HELMER. And that's it?

NORA. And this.

HELMER. Here.

NORA. So. Now it's over. This is where I'll put the keys. The servants know everything about the house better than I do. Tomorrow, when I'm gone, Christina will come to pack the things I brought with me from home. Have them sent to me.

HELMER. Of course of course! Nora, won't you ever think of me?

NORA. No, it’s true, I will often remember you, and the children, and the house.

HELMER. May I write to you, Nora?

NORA. No never. This is impossible.

HELMER. But after all, it will be necessary to send you ...

NORA. Absolutely nothing, nothing.

HELMER. Help you in case of need.

NORA. No, I say. I won't take anything from a stranger.

HELMER. Nora, will I forever remain only a stranger to you?

NORA (takes his bag). Ah, Torvald, then a miracle of miracles must be accomplished.

HELMER. Tell me what!

NORA. Such that both you and I have changed so much ... No, Torvald, I no longer believe in miracles.

HELMER. And I will believe. Finish the deal! Changed enough to...

NORA. So that our cohabitation could become marriage. Goodbye. (Leaves through the front.)

HELMER (falls on a chair by the door and covers his face with his hands). Nora! Nora! (Looks around and gets up.) Empty. She's not here anymore. (A ray of hope lights up his face.) But - a miracle of miracles ?!

From below there is a rumble of slamming gates.

Henrik Ibsen

Dollhouse

CHARACTERS

Lawyer Helmer.

Nora, his wife.

Doctor Rank.

Fru Linne.

Private Attorney Krogstad.

Three small children of the Helmers.

Anna Maria, their nanny.

Maid in Helmer's house.

Messenger.

The action takes place in Helmer's apartment.

Act one

A cozy room, furnished with taste, but inexpensive furniture. In the depths, in the middle wall, there are two doors: one, on the right, leads to the front room, the other, on the left, to Helmer's office. Between these doors is a piano. There is a door in the middle of the left side wall, a window closer to the proscenium. Near the window there is a round table with armchairs and a sofa. In the right wall, somewhat further inland, there is also a door, and in front is a tiled stove; in front of her are several armchairs and a rocking chair. There is a table between the stove and the door. Engravings on the walls. A bookcase with porcelain and other trinkets, a bookcase with books in luxurious bindings. There is a carpet on the floor. There is fire in the stove. Winter day. In the front bell. After a while, you can hear the door being unlocked. Nora enters the room from the front room, singing merrily, in her outer clothes, loaded with a pile of packages and bundles, which she puts on the table to the right. The door to the anteroom remains open, and a messenger is seen there, bringing a Christmas tree and a basket, which he gives to the maid who opens the door.

NORA. Hide the tree well, Elene. The children must not see her before the evening when she is decorated. (To the messenger, taking out his purse.) How many?

MESSENGER. Fifty era!

NORA. Here is the crown... No, keep everything for yourself.

The messenger bows and leaves. Nora shuts the front door, takes off her outer dress, and continues to laugh with a low, contented laugh. Then he takes a bag of macaroons out of his pocket and eats a few. Carefully goes to the door leading to the husband's room, and listens.

Yes, he is at home. (Humming again as she walks over to the table.)

HELMER (from office). What is it, the lark sang?

NORA (expanding purchases). He is.

HELMER. The squirrel is messing around there?

HELMER. When did the squirrel return?

NORA. Just now. (Puts the cookie bag in his pocket and wipes his lips.) Come here, Torvald, look what I have bought!

HELMER. Wait, don't interfere. (After a while he opens the door and looks into the room, pen in hand.) Bought, you say? All this? .. So the bird flew away again to waste money?

NORA. You know, Torvald, it's time for us to unwind a little at last. It's the first Christmas we don't need to embarrass ourselves like that.

HELMER. Well, we can’t wind either.

NORA. A little bit is possible! Is it true? The most amazing thing! You've been given a big salary now, and you'll be earning lots and lots of money.

HELMER. Yes, new year. But they will give me a salary only after three months.

NORA. Trivia! You can take it for now.

HELMER. Nora! (Comes up and jokingly takes her by the ear.) Again, our frivolity is right there. Just imagine, today I will borrow a thousand crowns, you will spend them on holidays, and on the eve of the New Year, tiles from the roof will fall on my head - and that's it.

NORA (covering his mouth with his hand). Ugh! Don't say such mean things.

HELMER. No, you imagine a similar case - what then?

NORA. If such a horror had already happened, then it would not matter to me whether I have debts or not.

HELMER. Well, what about the people I would borrow from?

NORA. For them? Why think about them! After all, they are strangers!

HELMER. Nora, Nora, you are the est woman! But seriously, Nora, you know my views on this matter. No debt! Never borrow! On the hearth, based on loans, on debts, some ugly shadow of dependence falls. We have held out, bravely, to this day, so we will endure and a little more, - not for long, after all.

NORA (going to the stove). Yes, whatever you want, Torvald.

HELMER (behind her). Well, well, here the bird lowered its wings. A? The squirrel pouted. (Pulls out wallet.) Nora, what do you think I have here?

NORA (turning around, lively). Money!

HELMER. It is for you! (Gives her some papers.) Lord, I know how many holiday expenses there are in the house.

NORA (counting). Ten, twenty, thirty, forty. Thank you, thank you, Torvald. Now I have enough for a long time.

HELMER. Yes, you try.

NORA. Yes, yes, definitely. But come here, I'll show you what I bought. And how cheap! Look, here's Ivaru's new suit and saber. Here is a horse and a pipe for Bob. And here is the doll and doll bed for Emmy. Unpretentious, but she will still break them soon. And here on the dresses and aprons of the servants. The old woman Anna-Maria should, of course, have been given more ...

HELMER. What's in this package?

NORA (jumping up). No, no, Torvald! You can't see this until tonight!

HELMER. Oh well! And you tell me, little reel, what did you look after yourself?

NORA. Hey, I don't need anything.

HELMER. Of course you must! Tell me now something so reasonable that you would like most of all.

NORA. Right, you don't have to. Or listen, Torvald...

HELMER. Well? N o r a (fingering through the buttons of his jacket without looking at him). If you want to give me something, then you would ... you would ...

HELMER. Well, well, speak up.

NORA (fast). You would give me money, Torvald. How much can you. I would then, one of these days, and bought myself something for them.

HELMER. No, listen, Nora...

NORA. Yes, yes, do it, dear Torvald! Please! I would wrap the money in gold paper and hang it on the Christmas tree. Wouldn't that be fun?

HELMER. And what are the names of those birds who are always littering with money?

NORA. I know, I know - skeins. But let's do as I say, Torvald. Then I will have time to think about what I especially need. Isn't that prudent? A?

HELMER (smiling). Of course, that is, if you could really keep this money and then really buy something for yourself with it. And then they will go to the economy, to various unnecessary trifles, and again I will have to fork out.

NORA. Oh Torvald...

HELMER. There is no need to argue, my dear! (Hugs her.) The bird is cute, but spends an awful lot of money. It is simply unbelievable how expensive such a bird is for a husband.

NORA. Ugh! How can you say that! I save as much as I can.

HELMER (funny). That's the real truth! How much can you. But you can't at all.

NORA (sings and smiles). Hm! If only you knew how many expenses we, larks and squirrels, have, Torvald!

HELMER. You are a little freak! Two drops of water - your father. All you're doing is trying to get money. And when you get it - look, they passed between your fingers, you yourself never know where you put them. Well, you have to take you the way you are. It's in your blood. Yes, yes, it's hereditary in you, Nora.

NORA. Ah, I wish I could inherit more of his qualities from my father!

HELMER. And I would not want you to be different from what you are, my dear lark! But listen, it seems to me that you ... you have ... how should I put it? You look kind of suspicious today.

NORA. I have?

HELMER. Well, yes. Look me right in the eyes.

NORA (looks at him). Well?

HELMER (shaking finger). Gourmand didn't go out a little in the city today?

NORA. No, what are you!

HELMER. As if the gourmet didn’t run into a candy store?

NORA. But I assure you, Torvald...

HELMER. And didn't you taste the jam?

NORA. And I didn't think.

Henrik Ibsen

Dollhouse

CHARACTERS

Lawyer Helmer.

Nora, his wife.

Doctor Rank.

Fru Linne.

Private Attorney Krogstad.

Three small children of the Helmers.

Anna Maria, their nanny.

Maid in Helmer's house.

Messenger.

The action takes place in Helmer's apartment.

Act one

A cozy room, furnished with taste, but inexpensive furniture. In the depths, in the middle wall, there are two doors: one, on the right, leads to the front room, the other, on the left, to Helmer's office. Between these doors is a piano. There is a door in the middle of the left side wall, a window closer to the proscenium. Near the window there is a round table with armchairs and a sofa. In the right wall, somewhat further inland, there is also a door, and in front is a tiled stove; in front of her are several armchairs and a rocking chair. There is a table between the stove and the door. Engravings on the walls. A bookcase with porcelain and other trinkets, a bookcase with books in luxurious bindings. There is a carpet on the floor. There is fire in the stove. Winter day. In the front bell. After a while, you can hear the door being unlocked. Nora enters the room from the front room, singing merrily, in her outer clothes, loaded with a pile of packages and bundles, which she puts on the table to the right. The door to the anteroom remains open, and a messenger is seen there, bringing a Christmas tree and a basket, which he gives to the maid who opens the door.

NORA. Hide the tree well, Elene. The children must not see her before the evening when she is decorated. (To the messenger, taking out his purse.) How many?

MESSENGER. Fifty era!

NORA. Here is the crown... No, keep everything for yourself.

The messenger bows and leaves. Nora shuts the front door, takes off her outer dress, and continues to laugh with a low, contented laugh. Then he takes a bag of macaroons out of his pocket and eats a few. Carefully goes to the door leading to the husband's room, and listens.

Yes, he is at home. (Humming again as she walks over to the table.)

HELMER (from office). What is it, the lark sang?

NORA (expanding purchases). He is.

HELMER. The squirrel is messing around there?

HELMER. When did the squirrel return?

NORA. Just now. (Puts the cookie bag in his pocket and wipes his lips.) Come here, Torvald, look what I have bought!

HELMER. Wait, don't interfere. (After a while he opens the door and looks into the room, pen in hand.) Bought, you say? All this? .. So the bird flew away again to waste money?

NORA. You know, Torvald, it's time for us to unwind a little at last. It's the first Christmas we don't need to embarrass ourselves like that.

HELMER. Well, we can’t wind either.

NORA. A little bit is possible! Is it true? The most amazing thing! You've been given a big salary now, and you'll be earning lots and lots of money.

HELMER. Yes, new year. But they will give me a salary only after three months.

NORA. Trivia! You can take it for now.

HELMER. Nora! (Comes up and jokingly takes her by the ear.) Again, our frivolity is right there. Just imagine, today I will borrow a thousand crowns, you will spend them on holidays, and on the eve of the New Year, tiles from the roof will fall on my head - and that's it.

NORA (covering his mouth with his hand). Ugh! Don't say such mean things.

HELMER. No, you imagine a similar case - what then?

NORA. If such a horror had already happened, then it would not matter to me whether I have debts or not.

HELMER. Well, what about the people I would borrow from?

NORA. For them? Why think about them! After all, they are strangers!

HELMER. Nora, Nora, you are the est woman! But seriously, Nora, you know my views on this matter. No debt! Never borrow! On the hearth, based on loans, on debts, some ugly shadow of dependence falls. We have held out, bravely, to this day, so we will endure and a little more, - not for long, after all.

NORA (going to the stove). Yes, whatever you want, Torvald.

HELMER (behind her). Well, well, here the bird lowered its wings. A? The squirrel pouted. (Pulls out wallet.) Nora, what do you think I have here?

NORA (turning around, lively). Money!

HELMER. It is for you! (Gives her some papers.) Lord, I know how many holiday expenses there are in the house.

NORA (counting). Ten, twenty, thirty, forty. Thank you, thank you, Torvald. Now I have enough for a long time.

HELMER. Yes, you try.

NORA. Yes, yes, definitely. But come here, I'll show you what I bought. And how cheap! Look, here's Ivaru's new suit and saber. Here is a horse and a pipe for Bob. And here is the doll and doll bed for Emmy. Unpretentious, but she will still break them soon. And here on the dresses and aprons of the servants. The old woman Anna-Maria should, of course, have been given more ...

HELMER. What's in this package?

NORA (jumping up). No, no, Torvald! You can't see this until tonight!

HELMER. Oh well! And you tell me, little reel, what did you look after yourself?

NORA. Hey, I don't need anything.

HELMER. Of course you must! Tell me now something so reasonable that you would like most of all.

NORA. Right, you don't have to. Or listen, Torvald...

HELMER. Well? N o r a (fingering through the buttons of his jacket without looking at him). If you want to give me something, then you would ... you would ...

HELMER. Well, well, speak up.

NORA (fast). You would give me money, Torvald. How much can you. I would then, one of these days, and bought myself something for them.

HELMER. No, listen, Nora...

NORA. Yes, yes, do it, dear Torvald! Please! I would wrap the money in gold paper and hang it on the Christmas tree. Wouldn't that be fun?

HELMER. And what are the names of those birds who are always littering with money?

NORA. I know, I know - skeins. But let's do as I say, Torvald. Then I will have time to think about what I especially need. Isn't that prudent? A?

HELMER (smiling). Of course, that is, if you could really keep this money and then really buy something for yourself with it. And then they will go to the economy, to various unnecessary trifles, and again I will have to fork out.

NORA. Oh Torvald...

HELMER. There is no need to argue, my dear! (Hugs her.) The bird is cute, but spends an awful lot of money. It is simply unbelievable how expensive such a bird is for a husband.

NORA. Ugh! How can you say that! I save as much as I can.

HELMER (funny). That's the real truth! How much can you. But you can't at all.

NORA (sings and smiles). Hm! If only you knew how many expenses we, larks and squirrels, have, Torvald!

HELMER. You are a little freak! Two drops of water - your father. All you're doing is trying to get money. And when you get it - look, they passed between your fingers, you yourself never know where you put them. Well, you have to take you the way you are. It's in your blood. Yes, yes, it's hereditary in you, Nora.

NORA. Ah, I wish I could inherit more of his qualities from my father!

HELMER. And I would not want you to be different from what you are, my dear lark! But listen, it seems to me that you ... you have ... how should I put it? You look kind of suspicious today.

NORA. I have?

HELMER. Well, yes. Look me right in the eyes.

NORA (looks at him). Well?

HELMER (shaking finger). Gourmand didn't go out a little in the city today?

NORA. No, what are you!

HELMER. As if the gourmet didn’t run into a candy store?

NORA. But I assure you, Torvald...

HELMER. And didn't you taste the jam?

NORA. And I didn't think.

HELMER. And didn't nibble on the almond biscuits?

NORA. Ah, Torvald, I assure you...

HELMER. Well well well! Of course, I'm just kidding...

NORA (going to the table to the right). It would never have crossed my mind to go against you.

HELMER. I know I know. You gave me your word. (Approaching her.) Well, keep your little Christmas secrets to yourself, my dear Nora. They'll probably come out tonight, when the tree is lit.

NORA. Did you remember to invite Dr. Rank?

HELMER. Didn't invite. Yes, this is not necessary. Of course, he dine with us. However, I still have time to remind him: he will come before dinner. I ordered good wine. Nora, you won't believe how happy I am tonight.

NORA. And I! And the children will be so happy, Torvald!

HELMER. Oh, what a pleasure to realize that you have achieved a sure, secure position, that you will now have a solid income. Isn't it a pleasant consciousness?

NORA. Oh wonderful!

HELMER. Do you remember last Christmas? For three whole weeks you shut yourself up in your evenings and until late at night you kept making flowers and some other charms for the Christmas tree with which you wanted to impress us all. Wow, I can't remember a more boring time.

NORA. I didn't get bored at all.

HELMER (with a smile). But it didn't help much, Nora.

NORA. Are you teasing me again? What could I do if the cat got in and tore everything to pieces!

HELMER. Well, of course she couldn't help it, my poor thing. You wholeheartedly wanted to please us all, and that's the whole point. But it's good that those tough times are over.

NORA. Yes, absolutely wonderful!

HELMER. I no longer need to sit alone and be bored, nor you to spoil your sweet, glorious eyes and tender hands ...

NORA (clapping hands). Isn't it true, Torvald, no more is needed? Oh, how wonderful, delightful to hear that! (Takes him by the arm.) Now I will tell you how I dream of getting settled, Torvald. Here, as soon as the holidays are over ... The call is in the front. Ah, they're calling! (Tweaks a little in the room.) That's right, someone to us. It's annoying.

HELMER. If anyone is visiting, I'm not at home, remember.

SERVANT (in front door). Fru, there is an unknown lady.

NORA. So ask here.

SERVANT (to Helmer). And the doctor.

HELMER. Did you go straight to me?

SERVANT. Yes Yes.

Helmer goes into the office. The maid brings in Frau Linne, dressed in travel clothes, and closes the door behind her.

FRU LINNE (embarrassed, stammering). Hello Nora.

NORA (unsure). Hello…

FRU LINNE. You don't seem to recognize me?

NORA. No. I don't know... Yes, it seems... (Impetuous.) How! Christina... Are you?!

FRU LINNE. I.

NORA. Christina! I didn't recognize you right away! And how was it... (Lowering voice.) How you have changed, Christina!

FRU LINNE. Still would. For nine or ten long years...

NORA. Haven't we seen each other for so long? Yes, yes, it is. Ah, the last eight years - that, really, was a happy time! .. So you came here, to our city? Set off on such a long journey in winter! Brave!

FRU LINNE. I just arrived today with the morning boat.

NORA. To have fun on holidays, of course. Ah, how nice! Well, let's have some fun! Let you undress. You're not cold, are you? (Helps her.) Like this. Now sit down comfortably near the stove. No, you're in a chair! And I'm on a rocking chair! (Takes her by the hand.) Well, now you have your old face again. This is only in the first minute ... Although you still turned a little pale, Christina, and, perhaps, lost a little weight.

FRU LINNE. And very, very old, Nora.

NORA. Perhaps a little, a little, not much at all. (Suddenly stops and changes to a serious tone.) But what an empty-headed I am - I'm sitting here, chatting! Dear, dear Christina, forgive me!

FRU LINNE. What's the matter, Nora?

NORA (quiet). Poor Christina, you are a widow.

FRU LINNE. Three years ago.

NORA. Yes, I know. I read in the papers. Oh, Christina, believe me, I was going to write to you so many times at that time, but I kept putting it off, everything got in the way.

FRU LINNE. Dear Nora, I understand perfectly.

NORA. No, that was nasty of me, Christina. Oh, poor thing, how much you must have endured. And he didn't leave you any funds?

FRU LINNE. None.

NORA. No children?

FRU LINNE. No children.

NORA. Nothing, then?

FRU LINNE. Nothing. Not even grief or regrets, which could fuel the memory.

NORA (looking at her incredulously). But how can that be, Christina?

FRU LINNE (with a bitter smile, stroking Nora's head). Sometimes it happens, Nora.

NORA. So one is alone. How terribly hard it must be. And I have three lovely children. Now you won't see them. They walk with the nanny. But you will certainly tell me about everything ...

FRU LINNE. No, no, no, tell me better.

NORA. No, first you. Today I don't want to be selfish. I want to think only about your affairs. But I still need to tell you one thing. Do you know what kind of happiness came to us the other day?

FRU LINNE. No. Which?

NORA. Imagine, the husband became the director of the Joint Stock Bank!

FRU LINNE. Your husband? That's luck!..

NORA. Incredible! The advocacy is such an unfaithful bread, especially if you want to take on only the purest, good things. And Torvald, of course, never took others, and I, of course, fully agree with him. Oh, you understand how glad we are. He will take office from the New Year and will receive a large salary and good interest. Then we will be able to live in a completely different way than before, quite to our liking. Oh, Christina, my heart has become so light, I am so happy! After all, it's wonderful to have a lot, a lot of money and not know any need or worries. Is it true?

FRU LINNE. Yes, anyway, it must be wonderful to have everything you need.

NORA. No, not only essentials, but lots and lots of money.

FRU LINNE (smiling). Nora, Nora! You still haven't gotten smarter! At school, you were a big winder.

NORA (quietlaughing). Torvald still calls me that. (Shaking his finger.) However, "Nora, Nora" is not as crazy as you imagine ... We, really, did not live in such a way that I could wind. We both had to work!

FRU LINNE. And you?

NORA. Well, yes, there are various little things in terms of needlework, knitting, embroidery and the like. (In passing.) And… something else. You do know that Thorwald left the ministry when we got married? There were no prospects for an increase, but after all, it was necessary to earn more than before. Well, in the first year, he worked beyond his powers. Just awful. He had to take all sorts of extra classes - you understand - and work from morning to evening. Well, he could not stand it, fell ill, was dying, and the doctors announced that it was necessary to send him to the south.

FRU LINNE. Did you spend a whole year in Italy then?

NORA. Well, yes. And it was not easy for us to get up, believe me. Ivar had just been born then. But it was still necessary to go. Oh, what a wonderful, wondrous trip it was! And Torvald was saved. But how much money went - passion, Christina!

FRU LINNE. I can imagine.

NORA. One thousand two hundred daler spices. Four thousand eight hundred crowns. Big money.

FRU LINNE. Yes, but, in any case, it is a great happiness if there is somewhere to take them at such a time.

NORA. I gotta tell you, we got them from dad.

FRU LINNE. Ah, yes. Yes, it seems that your father died just then.

NORA. Yes, just then. And think, I couldn't go to him, follow him. I was expecting little Ivar from day to day. And besides, I had my poor Thorvald in my arms, almost dying. Dear, dear dad! I never got to see him again, Christine. This is the hardest grief that I experienced married.

FRU LINNE. I know you loved your father very much. So, after that you went to Italy?

NORA. Yes. After all, we had money, but the doctors were driven ... We left a month later.

FRU LINNE. And your husband returned quite healthy?

NORA. Absolutely!

FRU LINNE. And... a doctor?

NORA. That is?

FRU LINNE. I think the girl said that the gentleman who came with me is a doctor.

NORA. Ah, this is Dr. Rank. But he doesn't come for a medical visit. This is our best friend, and at least once a day, let him visit us. No, Torvald has not even once fallen ill since then. And the children are vigorous and healthy, and so am I. (Jumping up and clapping her hands.) Oh my God, Christina, how wonderful it is to live and feel happy! No, it's just disgusting of me - I'm only talking about myself. (Sits down on the bench next to Fru Linne and puts his hands on her knees.) Don't be angry with me!.. Tell me, is this true: you really didn't love your husband? Why did you marry him?

FRU LINNE. My mother was still alive, but so weak, helpless, she did not get out of bed. And I also had two younger brothers. I did not consider myself entitled to refuse him.

NORA. Yes, yes, you are probably right. So he was rich then?

FRU LINNE. Pretty wealthy, it seems. But his work was not well established. And when he died, everything collapsed and nothing remained.

FRU LINNE. And I had to survive in petty trade, a small school, and everything in general. These past three years have dragged on for me like one long, continuous working day without rest. It's over now, Nora. My poor mother doesn't need me anymore - she's dead. And the boys got on their feet, they can take care of themselves.

NORA. So now you feel at ease...

FRU LINNE. I will not say. On the contrary, it is terribly empty. No one else to live for. (Gets up excitedly.) That's why I could not stand it there with us, in the bear's corner. Here, it is true, it will be easier to find what to apply one's strength to and what to occupy one's thoughts with. If only I could get some permanent employment, some clerical job...

NORA. Oh, Christina, this is so terribly tiring, and you already look so haggard. You'd better go somewhere for a swim.

FRU LINNE (going to the window). I don't have a dad to give me travel money, Nora.

NORA (getting up). Ah, don't be angry with me!

FRU LINNE (going to her). Dear Nora, don't be angry with me. The worst thing about my situation is that so much bitterness is deposited in my soul. There is no one to work for, but still you have to work hard and fight in every possible way. After all, you have to live, so you become selfish. You just told me about the happy change in your circumstances, and I - believe me - was happy not so much for you as for myself.

NORA. How so? Oh, I understand: you think Torvald can do something for you?

FRU LINNE. I thought it.

NORA. He will, Christina. Just leave everything to me. I'll prepare everything so subtly, I'll come up with something so special to appease him. Ah, I wish I could help you.

FRU LINNE. How sweet of you, Nora, that you take up my case so ardently ... Doubly sweet of you - you yourself are so little familiar with worldly worries and hardships.

NORA. To me? Are they not familiar to me?

FRU LINNE (smiling). Well, my God, some needlework and the like ... You are a child, Nora!

NORA (throws her head and paces around the room). You shouldn't have spoken to me in that tone.

FRU LINNE. Yes?

NORA. And you are like others. You all think I'm not good for anything serious...

FRU LINNE. Oh well?

NORA. That I have experienced absolutely nothing like this in this difficult life.

FRU LINNE. Dear Nora, you just told me all your trials.

NORA. Eh, nothing but nonsense! (Quiet.) I didn't tell you the main thing.

FRU LINNE. Main? What do you want to say?

NORA. You keep looking down on me, Christina. And this is in vain. You are proud that you carried such a hard, long work for the sake of your mother ...

FRU LINNE. I really don't look down on anyone. But it is true - I am proud and glad, remembering that it fell to my lot to lighten the rest of my mother's days.

NORA. You are also proud, remembering what you did for the brothers.

FRU LINNE. I think I'm right.

NORA. And so it seems to me. But listen, Christina. And I have something to be proud of, something to rejoice at.

FRU LINNE. No doubt! But in what sense?

NORA. Speak quieter. Suddenly Torvald will hear! He's not allowed for anything in the world... No one can know about this, Christina, no one but you.

FRU LINNE. Yes, what's the matter?

NORA. Come here. (He draws her to the couch next to him.) Yes, you see ... and I have something to be proud of, something to rejoice at. It was I who saved Torvald's life.

FRU LINNE. Saved? How did you save?

NORA. I told you about the trip to Italy. Thorvald would not have survived if he had not gone south.

FRU LINNE. Well, yes. And your father gave you the necessary funds.

NORA (with a smile). It is Torvald who thinks so, and all the others, but...

FRU LINNE. But…

NORA. Papa didn't give us a penny. It was I who got the money.

FRU LINNE. You? All this large amount?

NORA. One thousand two hundred spices. Four thousand eight hundred crowns. What are you going to say?

FRU LINNE. But how is that possible, Nora? Won the lottery, right?

NORA (contemptuously). To the lottery! (Snorts.) It wouldn't be a thing!

FRU LINNE. So where did you get them from?

NORA (humming and smiling mysteriously). Hm! Tra-la-la-la!

FRU LINNE. You couldn't take it.

NORA. Here? Why is that?

FRU LINNE. Yes, a wife cannot make debts without the consent of her husband.

NORA (throwing head). Well, if the wife knows a little about business, if the wife understands how to smartly get down to business, then ...

FRU LINNE. Nora, I absolutely do not understand anything.

NORA. And you don't need to understand. I didn't say I borrowed money. I could have gotten them some other way. (Leans back on the sofa.) I could get it from some fan. With such an attractive appearance as mine ...

FRU LINNE. You are crazy.

NORA. Now, don't you really want to know everything, Christina?

FRU LINNE. Listen, dear Nora, did you do something reckless?

NORA (straightening up on the couch). Is it foolish to save your husband's life?

FRU LINNE. I think it's reckless if you don't know him...

NORA. Why, he couldn't have known! Lord, how can you not understand this? He shouldn't have suspected the danger he was in. It was the doctors who told me that his life was in danger, that the only way out was to take him south. Do you think I didn't try to get out first? I started talking about how I would like to go abroad, like other young ladies. I cried and begged; she said that it would not be bad for him to remember my “position”, that now he had to please me in every possible way; hinted that you can borrow money. So he almost got angry, Christina. He said that I had a wind in my head and that it was his duty, as a husband, not to indulge my whims and whims - that's how he seemed to put it. Okay, okay, I think, but you still need to be saved, and I found a way out ...

FRU LINNE. And your husband never found out from your father that the money wasn't from him?

NORA. So I didn't know. Papa died just in those days. I wanted to let him in on the matter and ask him not to give me away. But he was already so bad - and I, unfortunately, did not need to resort to this.

FRU LINNE. And you still haven't confessed to your husband?

NORA. No, God forbid you! He's so strict on that part. And besides, with his masculine vanity ... It would be so painful, humiliating for him to find out that he owes me something. It would turn our whole relationship upside down. Our happy family life would then cease to be what it is.

FRU LINNE. And you never tell him?

NORA (thinking and smiling slightly). Yes ... someday, perhaps ... when many, many years pass and I will no longer be so pretty. Don't laugh. Of course, I want to say: when Torvald no longer likes me as much as now, when he will no longer be entertained by my dancing, dressing up, recitations. Then it would be nice to have some kind of voucher... (Breaking off.) Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! This will never happen!.. Well, what do you say about my great secret, Christina? Am I good for something? Don't think that this business doesn't cause me much trouble. It’s true that sometimes it’s not at all easy for me to justify my obligations on time. In the business world, I'll tell you, there's interest on thirds and installments on debt, you name it. And money is always terribly hard to get. So I had to save on everything you can ... you understand? From the money for the household, I could not save much - Torvald needed a good table. And children could not be dressed somehow. What I got on them, then entirely on them and went. My dear little ones.

FRU LINNE. So you, right, had to deny yourself, poor thing?

NORA. It's clear. After all, I was the most interested! Thorwald used to give me money for a new dress and the like, but I always spend only half. Everything was cheaper and easier to buy. I'm also lucky that everything suits me and Torvald never noticed anything. But sometimes it was not easy for me myself, Christina. It's such a pleasure to dress well! Is it true?

FRU LINNE. Perhaps.

NORA. Well, I had, of course, other sources. Last winter, I was lucky, I received a lot of correspondence. Every evening she locked herself in her room and wrote, wrote until late at night. Oh, sometimes before that, it happened, you get tired! But all the same, it was terribly pleasant to sit like this and work, earn money. I felt almost like a man.

FRU LINNE. But how much did you manage to pay in this way?

NORA. I can't tell you for sure. In such cases, you see, it is very difficult to understand. I only know that I paid as much as I could put together. But often my hands went straight down. (Smiling.) Then I would sit down, it used to be, and begin to imagine that a rich old man had fallen in love with me ...

FRU LINNE. What? What old man?

NORA. Oh, no! .. That he was dying, his will was opened, and it was written in large letters: “All my money is received immediately and neatly by the most kind Frau Nora Helmer.”

FRU LINNE. But, dear Nora, who is this old man?

NORA. Lord, don't you understand? There was no old man at all. It's just my imagination. I just consoled myself with this when I did not know where to get money. Well, God bless him completely, with this boring old man. Now I don't care. I don't want him or his will anymore. Now I have no worries, Christina! (Jumps up.) Oh my god, what a delight! Just think: no worries! Do not know any worries or troubles! Live for yourself and live, mess with the kids! Furnish your house as beautifully, elegantly as Thorvald loves. And there, think, not far off and spring, blue sky, space. Maybe you can ride somewhere. Perhaps to see the sea again! Oh, right, how wonderful to live and feel happy!

A call is heard in the front.

FRU LINNE (rises). They call. I should probably leave.

NORA. No, stay. It is unlikely that anyone will come here. This, right, to Torvald ...

SERVANT (in front door). Excuse me, fru, there is a gentleman here who wants to speak with Mr. Lawyer.

NORA. That is, with the director of the bank, you want to say.

SERVANT. With Mr. Director. But I don’t know, because there is a doctor ...

NORA. And what is this gentleman?

KROGSTAD (in the door). It's me, Fru Helmer.

Fru Linne, startled, shudders and turns to the window.

NORA (taking a step towards the newcomer, with excitement, lowering his voice). You? What does it mean? What do you want to talk about with my husband?

KROGSTAD. About banking, in a way. I hold a small position in the Joint Stock Bank, and your husband will now be our director, as I heard ...

NORA. Means…

KROGSTAD. On a personal matter, Mrs. Helmer. Nothing more.

NORA. So please go to his office. (He bows indifferently, closes the door to the hallway, then goes to the stove to see if it heats up well.)

FRU LINNE. Nora... who was that?

NORA. Private Attorney Krogstad.

FRU LINNE. So he really is.

NORA. Do you know this person?

FRU LINNE. I knew… A few years ago. After all, he did business in our area at one time.

NORA. Yes its true.

FRU LINNE. How he has changed!

NORA. He seems to have had a very unfortunate marriage.

FRU LINNE. Is he a widower now?

NORA. With a bunch of children... Well, it's flared up. (Closes the stove door and pushes the rocker slightly aside.)

FRU LINNE. He, they say, is engaged in a variety of things?

NORA. Yes. Very possible. I don't know at all. But it's enough for us to think about business. It's boring. Dr. Rank comes out of Helmer's office.

DOCTOR RANK (still at the door). No, no, I don't want to interfere. I'd rather visit your wife. (She closes the door behind her and sees Frau Linne.) Ah, sorry! I seem to get in the way here too.

NORA. Not at all. (Introduces them to each other.) Dr. Rank to Mrs. Linne.

RANK. Here's how. This is a name I often heard here in the house. I think I overtook you on the stairs on my way here.

FRU LINNE. Yes!.. I rise very slowly. It's hard for me…

RANK. Yeah... A little damage to the internal mechanism?

FRU LINNE. More like just fatigue.

RANK. Only? So, right, you came to the city to relax ... running around for guests?

FRU LINNE. I came here looking for work.

RANK. Well, is this a particularly sure remedy for overwork?

FRU LINNE. You have to live, doctor.

RANK. Yes, it is somehow customary to think that this is necessary.

NORA. Well, you know, doctor! .. And you, too, are not averse to living.

RANK. Well, let's put it. No matter how bad I feel, I'm still ready to live and suffer as long as possible. And so do all my patients. And all moral cripples are the same. Now here is one such sitting with Helmer ...

FRU LINNE (quiet). A!..

NORA. Who do you mean?

RANK. Krogstad's private attorney, a man you don't know anything about. His very roots of character are rotten, ma'am. But even there he began to repeat, as something immutable, that he, too, had to live.

NORA. Yes? What did he come to talk to Torvald about?

RANK. Right, I don't know. I only heard something about the Joint Stock Bank.

NORA. I didn't know that Krog... that this private attorney Krogstad was involved in the bank.

RANK. Yes, he has a position there. (Fru Linne.) I don’t know if there are people of this kind in your area who, as if in a fever, snoop around, sniffing out if there is a smell of moral rot somewhere, so that later they can be seen to be assigned to some profitable position. Healthy people have to humbly remain behind the flag ..

FRU LINNE. After all, the sick are the ones who need care the most.

RANK (shrugs). That's it and that's it. Thanks to such views, society turns into a hospital. Nora, preoccupied with her own thoughts, suddenly bursts into soft laughter and claps her hands. What are you laughing at? Do you really know what society is?

NORA. I really need your boring company! I laugh in a completely different way ... Terribly funny! Tell me, doctor, are all the employees in this bank now subordinate to Torvald?

RANK. Is that what amuses you so terribly?

NORA (smiling and singing). It's my business. My business. (Walks around the room.) Yes, indeed, it is terribly pleasant to think that we ... that is, Torvald has acquired such an influence on many, many people. (Takes a bag out of his pocket.)

RANK. Te-te-te! Macaroons! I thought it was your forbidden fruit.

NORA. Yes, but it was Christina who brought me some.

FRU LINNE. What am I?..

NORA. Well, well, well, don't be afraid. You couldn't know what Torvald banned. I have to tell you, he's afraid I'll ruin my teeth. But what a misfortune - once! Really, doctor? Please! (Puts cookies in his mouth.) Here's to you, Christina. And I can have one thing, a small one, or two, so be it. (Walks around again.) Yes, I'm really, really happy. There is only one thing I wish I had more...

RANK. Well? What is it?

NORA. I would terribly want to say one thing in front of Torvald.

RANK. So why don't you say?

NORA. I don't dare. It's disgusting.

FRU LINNE. Ugly?

RANK. In that case, I don't recommend it. But with us you can safely ... Well, what is it that you would so terribly want to say in front of Helmer?

NORA. I would terribly want to say: damn it!

RANK. What are you, what are you!

FRU LINNE. Have mercy, Nora!

RANK. Tell. Here he goes.

NORA (hides cookie bag). Shh-shh-shh!

Helmer, with his coat thrown over his arm and holding his hat in the other hand, leaves the office.

(Walking towards him.) Well, honey, did you send him off?

HELMER. Yes, he left.

NORA. Let me introduce you. This is Christina, she came here to the city ...

HELMER. Christina?.. I'm sorry, but I don't know...

NORA. Fru Linne, dear, Fru Christina Linne!

HELMER. Ah, that's it! Apparently my wife's childhood friend?

FRU LINNE. Yes, we are old friends.

NORA. And imagine, she set off on such a long journey to talk to you.

HELMER. That is, how is it?

FRU LINNE. Not really…

NORA. Christina is just an excellent clerk, and she really wants to get into the service of a sensible person in order to learn more ...

HELMER. Very reasonable, sir.

NORA. And when she found out that you had been appointed director of the bank - it was about this in the newspapers - she immediately flew here ... True, Torvald, you will do something for Christina for my sake? A?

HELMER. Yes, it's possible. Are you a widow?

FRU LINNE. Yes.

HELMER. And experienced in clerical work?

FRU LINNE. Yes, decent.

HELMER. So it is very likely that I can deliver you a place…

NORA (clapping hands). You see, you see!

HELMER. You have come at just the right moment, madame.

FRU LINNE. Oh, how I thank you!

HELMER. My pleasure. (Puts on coat.) But today you'll excuse me...

RANK. Wait, and I'm with you. (Brings his fur coat from the hall and warms it in front of the stove.)

NORA. Just don't hesitate, dear Torvald!

HELMER. An hour, no more.

NORA. And you're leaving, Christina?

FRU LINNE (putting on coat). Yes, we should go look for a room.

HELMER. So maybe we can go out together?

NORA (helps Fra Linna). What a shame that we are so crowded, there is no way ...

HELMER. What you! Who is thinking about it! Farewell, dear Nora, and thank you for everything.

NORA. Farewell for now. In the evening you, of course, will come again. And you, doctor. What? If you feel good? Well, of course you will. Just wrap yourself up nicely. Everyone goes out, saying goodbye and chatting, into the hall.

It's them! They! (Runs and opens the outer door.)

Nanny Anna-Maria enters with the children.

Come in! Come in! ( Leaning down and kissing the children.) Oh, you, my dear, glorious! Look at them Christina! Well, aren't you cuties?

RANK. Chatting in a draft is prohibited!

HELMER. Come, Fru Linne. Now it's time to stay alone mothers.

Exeunt Dr. Rank, Helmer, and Frau Linne; Anna Maria enters the room with the children; Nora also enters the room, shutting the front door.

NORA. How fresh and cheerful you are. And what ruddy cheeks! Just like apples, roses! .. Was it so fun? Ah, that's great. Yes? Did you skid both Bob and Emmy? Both at once? Think! Well done my little boy Ivar!.. No, let me hold her, Anna-Maria! My dear, sweet doll! ( He takes the youngest girl from the nanny and circles with her.) Yes, yes, mom will dance with Bob too! What? Did you play snowballs? Oh, it's a pity that I wasn't with you... No, leave it, I'll undress them myself, Anna-Maria. Give it to me, please, it's so much fun. There's coffee left for you on the stove. Nanny goes through the door on the left.

Nora undresses the children, throwing their coats all over the place and continuing to chat with them.

Here's how? Was the big dog chasing you? But didn’t she bite? .. No, dogs don’t bite such glorious, tiny dolls ... No, no! Do not look into the packages, Ivar! What is there? .. Yes, you would know what is there! No no! This is bad!.. What? Do you want to play? How are we going to play? Hide-and-seek? Well, let's hide and seek. Let Bob hide first... Oh, me? Okay, I'm first.

The game begins, accompanied by laughter and fun; hiding in this room and in the next to the right. Finally Nora hides under the table; children rush into the room noisily, look for their mother, but cannot immediately find her, hear her muffled laughter, rush to the table, lift the tablecloth and find her. Full delight. Nora leans out, as if to frighten them. New explosion of delight. Meanwhile, there is a knock on the front door. Nobody notices. Then the front door opens a little and Krogstad is shown. He waits a minute. Game continues.

KROGSTAD. Sorry, Mrs Helmer...

NORA (with a slight cry turns around and half rises). A! What do you want?

KROGSTAD. Sorry. The front door stood open. They forgot to close.

NORA (up). My husband is not at home, Mr. Krogstad.

KROGSTAD. I know.

NORA. Well... so what do you want?

KROGSTAD. Talk to you.

NORA. With… (Children are quiet.) Go to Anna Maria. What? No, someone else's uncle will not do anything bad to mom. When he leaves, we will play again. (He leads the children into the room on the left and locks the door behind them. With uneasiness, tensely.) Do you want to talk to me?

KROGSTAD. Yes I want to.

NORA. Today?.. But it's not the first day yet...

KROGSTAD. No, it's Christmas Eve. And it's up to you to make yourself happy holidays.

NORA. What do you need? I can't at all today...

KROGSTAD. We won't talk about this for now. About other. Do you have a free minute?

NORA. Hm… yes, of course, there is, though…

KROGSTAD. Fine. I was sitting downstairs in the Olsen restaurant and saw your husband walking down the street...

NORA. Yes Yes.

KROGSTAD. With a lady.

NORA. And what?

KROGSTAD. Let me ask you, is this not Fru Linne?

KROGSTAD. Just arrived in town?

NORA. Yes today.

KROGSTAD. Is she your close friend?

NORA. Yes. But I do not see…

KROGSTAD. And I used to know her.

NORA. I know.

KROGSTAD. Yes? So you know? I thought so. Then let me ask you in no uncertain terms: will Mrs. Linne get a job at the bank?

NORA. How dare you question me, Herr Krogstad, you, my husband's subordinate? But since you asked, then know: yes, Ms. Linne will get a place. And it was I who took care of her, Mr. Krogstad. There you are!

KROGSTAD. So I didn't miscalculate.

NORA (walks up and down the room). I think we can still have some influence. From the fact that you are born a woman, it does not follow at all ... And in the position of a subordinate, Mr. Krogstad, you really should beware of hurting who ... um ...

KROGSTAD. Who has influence?

NORA. Exactly!

KROGSTAD (changing tone). Fru Helmer, would you care to use your influence in my favor?

NORA. How so? What do you want to say?

KROGSTAD. Would you like to see to it that I retain my position as a subordinate in the bank.

NORA. What does it mean? Who thinks to deprive you of it?

KROGSTAD. Oh, you don't need to play the dunce in front of me. I understand very well that your friend cannot be pleased to risk running into me, and I also know to whom I will be indebted for expulsion.

NORA. But I assure you...

KROGSTAD. Yes, yes, yes, in a word, the time has not yet passed, and I advise you to use your influence to prevent this.

NORA. But, Herr Krogstad, I have absolutely no influence!

KROGSTAD. None? I think you just said...

NORA. Of course, I don't mean that. I... How can you think that I have any such influence over my husband?

KROGSTAD. Oh, I've known your husband since college days. I do not think that Mr. Director was firmer than other husbands.

NORA. If you speak disrespectfully of my husband, I will show you the door.

KROGSTAD. You are very brave, Mrs Helmer.

NORA. I am not afraid of you anymore. After the New Year, I will quickly end all this.

KROGSTAD (more restrained). Listen, fru Helmer. If necessary, I will fight for life and death because of my modest position in the bank.

NORA. That looks like it, right.

KROGSTAD. Not only because of the salary. He is the least of my worries. But here - something else ... Well, yes, to be honest! That's the problem. Of course, you know as well as anyone else that I once did something rash.

NORA. Seems like I've heard something.

KROGSTAD. The case did not go to court, but all the ways for me were definitely closed from that time. Then I took on those cases… you know. There had to be something to hold on to. And, dare I say, I was not the worst of my kind. But now I have to get out of this situation. My sons are growing up. For their sake, I need to restore my former position in society - as far as possible. A place in the bank was, as it were, the first step. And suddenly now your husband is pushing me back into the pit.

NORA. But, my God, Mr. Krogstad, it is not at all in my power to help you.

KROGSTAD. Because you don't want to, but I have the means to force you.

NORA. Will you tell my husband what I owe you?

KROGSTAD. Hm! What if he told?

NORA. It would be shameless of you. (With tears in his voice.) How? He learns this secret - my pride and joy - in such a rude, vulgar way - from you? You want to put me in the most terrible trouble! ..

KROGSTAD. Only trouble?

NORA (hot). But just try it, you yourself will be worse off. Then my husband will finally know what a bad person you are, and he will never leave you in a bank.

KROGSTAD. I ask you, are you only afraid of domestic troubles?

NORA. If my husband finds out, he will, of course, pay the entire balance at once, and there will be no need for you and me to know.

KROGSTAD (taking a step towards her). Listen, Mrs. Helmer, either you have a short memory or you don't know anything about business. Apparently, I'll have to explain the matter to you in more detail.

NORA. How so?

KROGSTAD. When your husband was sick, you came to me to borrow 1,200 spices.

NORA. I didn't know who else to turn to.

KROGSTAD. I undertook to get you this amount ...

NORA. And got it.

KROGSTAD. I undertook to get it to you on certain terms. You were then so busy with your husband's illness, so preoccupied with where to get money for the trip, that, perhaps, you had no time to sort out the details. So it is not superfluous to remind you of them. Yes, I undertook to get you money and drew up a promissory note for you.

NORA. Well, yes, which I signed.

NORA. Should he?.. He signed.

KROGSTAD. I left room for a number. That is, your father himself had to put down the day and date when he signed the paper. Do you remember that, ma'am?

NORA. Seems…

KROGSTAD. I gave you a promissory note to mail it to your father. Is not it?

KROGSTAD. You, of course, did so at once, for five or six days later you brought me a bill signed by your father. And the amount was given to you.

NORA. Well, yes, and didn’t I pay neatly?

KROGSTAD. Wow. But ... to return to the subject of our conversation ... Surely, it was hard for you then, Mrs. Helmer?

KROGSTAD. Your father seems to have been seriously ill?

NORA. At death's door.

KROGSTAD. And died soon after?

KROGSTAD. Tell me, Mrs Helmer, do you happen to remember the day your father died? That is, what month and date did he die?

NORA. Dad died on the twenty-ninth of September.

KROGSTAD. Quite right; I inquired. And this is where the weirdness comes in... (pulls out paper) which I can't explain to myself.

NORA. What's the oddity? I don't know…

KROGSTAD. Such a strange thing, Mrs. Helmer, that your father signed this promissory note three days after his death.

NORA. How so? I don't understand.

KROGSTAD. Your father died on the twenty-ninth of September. But take a look. Here he marked his signature on the second of October. Isn't that weird?

Nora is silent.

Can you explain it to me?

Nora is silent.

It is also noteworthy that the words "second of October" and the year are not written in your father's handwriting, but in a different one that seems familiar to me. Well, this can be explained further: your father may have forgotten to put the date and year under his signature, and someone else did it at random, not yet knowing about his death. There is nothing wrong with this yet. The key is in the signature itself. Is she real, Mrs Helmer? Is it really your father who signed up?

NORA (after a short pause, she throws her head back and looks at him defiantly). No, not him. I signed up for him.

KROGSTAD. Listen, Mrs. Helmer... do you know this is a dangerous confession?

NORA. Why? You will soon receive your money in full.

KROGSTAD. May I ask you why you didn't send the paper to your father?

NORA. It was impossible. He was seriously ill. If I asked for his signature, I had to explain to him why I needed the money. But I couldn’t write to him when he himself was so ill that my husband was on the edge of the grave. It was unthinkable.

KROGSTAD. So you'd be better off not going abroad.

NORA. And it was impossible. The salvation of my husband depended on this trip. I couldn't refuse her.

KROGSTAD. But you didn't think that you were deceiving me in this way?

NORA. There was absolutely nothing for me to pay attention to. I didn't want to think about you. I couldn't stand you for all your heartless chicanery that you did, although you knew the danger my husband was in.

KROGSTAD. Fru Helmer, you obviously do not understand clearly what you are, in essence, to blame. But I can tell you this: what I was caught in and what ruined my entire social position was no worse, no more terrible than this.

NORA. You? Are you trying to convince me that you could have done something like that to save your wife's life?

KROGSTAD. Laws do not cope with motives.

NORA. So bad, so these are the laws.

KROGSTAD. Bad or not, if I submit this paper to the court, you will be convicted according to the laws.

NORA. I don't believe in anything. So that the daughter does not have the right to save the dying old father from anxiety and grief? So that a wife does not have the right to save her husband's life? I don't know the exact laws, but I'm sure it should be allowed somewhere in them. And you, a lawyer, don't know that! You must be a bad lawyer, Mr. Krogstad!

KROGSTAD. Let it be. But in matters ... in such as we have begun with you, you, of course, admit that I understand something? So. Do what you want. But here's what I'm telling you: if I get kicked out again, you'll keep me company. (He bows and leaves through the hall.)

NORA (after a moment's thought, throwing his head back). Eh, what's there! Wanted to scare me! I'm not that simple. (He begins to tidy up the children's things, but soon leaves.) But... No, it still can't be! I did it out of love.

CHILDREN (in the door on the left). Mom, someone else's uncle came out of the gate.

NORA. Yes, yes, I know. Just don't talk about someone else's uncle to anyone. Do you hear? Even dad!

CHILDREN. Yes, yes, mother, but will you play with us again?

NORA. No, no, not now.

CHILDREN. Oh, mother, you promised!

NORA. Yes, but I can't now. Come on, I have so much to do. Go, go, my dear children! (Affectionately he sends them out of the room and closes the door behind them. Then he sits down on the sofa, starts embroidering, but after making a few stitches he stops.) No! (She quits her job, gets up, goes to the front door and calls.) Elene! Come here tree! (Goes to the table to the left and opens the drawer, stops again.) No, it's just unthinkable!

SERVANT (with Christmas tree). Where to put, lady?

NORA. There. In the middle of the room.

SERVANT. Anything else to submit?

NORA. No thanks, I have everything at hand.

The maid leaves after setting up the tree.

(Starting to decorate the Christmas tree.) Here are the candles, here are the flowers... A disgusting man... Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Nothing like this can be! The tree will be amazing. I will do everything as you like, Torvald ... I will sing to you, dance ...

Helmer enters from the hall with a pile of papers under his arm.

Ah! .. Already returned?

HELMER. Yes. Has anyone come in?

NORA. Did you come in? .. No.

HELMER. Strange. I saw Krogstad come out of the gate.

NORA. Yes?.. Oh yes, really, Krogstad, he came here for a minute.

HELMER. Nora, I can see by your face that he came to ask you to put in a good word for him.

HELMER. And in addition, as if by herself? Hiding from me that he was here? Did he ask for this too?

NORA. Yes, Torvald, but...

HELMER. Nora, Nora, could you go for it? Negotiate with such a person, promise him something! And besides, tell me lies!

NORA. Not true?

HELMER. Didn't you say no one came by? (Shaking his finger.) So that it doesn't happen again, songbird. A songbird's neck must always be clean, not a single false sound! (He hugs her around the waist.) Is not it? Yes, I knew it. (Releasing her.) Oh, how warm and cozy it is here. (Flips through the papers.)

NORA (busy decorating the Christmas tree, after a short pause). Torvald!

HELMER. What?

NORA. I am terribly glad that the day after tomorrow there is a costume party at the Stenborgs.

HELMER. And I'm terribly curious, something you will surprise this time.

NORA. Ah, this stupid idea!

HELMER. Well?

NORA. I can't think of anything suitable. Everything comes out somehow stupid, meaningless.

HELMER. Did little Nora come to that conclusion?

NORA (coming in from behind and resting his elbows on the back of his chair). Are you very busy, Torvald?

HELMER. Hm!

NORA. What are these papers?

HELMER. Banking.

NORA. Already?

HELMER. I obtained from the previous board the authority to make the necessary changes in the personnel and in the work plan. This is what will take me through the Christmas week. I want everything to be in order by the New Year.

NORA. So that's why this poor Krogstad...

HELMER. Hm!

NORA (still resting his elbows on the back of the chair, quietly runs his fingers through her husband's hair). If you weren't so busy, I would ask you for one huge favor, Torvald.

HELMER. Let's listen. About what?

NORA. No one else has taste like you. And I would love to be pretty at this costume party. Torvald, can't you take care of me, decide what I should be and how to dress?

HELMER. Yeah, little stubborn looking for a savior?

NORA. Yes, Torvald, I can't manage without you.

HELMER. OK OK. Let's think and, surely, we will be able to help the grief.

NORA. Oh, how kind of you! (Goes back to the tree, pause.) And how beautifully red flowers stand out. But tell me, what this Krogstad was guilty of, is it really very bad?

HELMER. He was guilty of forgery. Do you have any idea what it is?

NORA. Did he do it out of necessity?

HELMER. Yes, or, like many, out of frivolity. And I am not so heartless as to irrevocably condemn a person for one such act.

NORA. Yes, isn't it, Torvald?

HELMER. A fallen person can rise morally again if he frankly admits his guilt and is punished.

NORA. Punishment?

HELMER. But Krogstad did not follow this path. He got out of it by hook or by crook, and this ruined him morally.

NORA. Do you think you should have...

HELMER. Just imagine how a person with such a stain on his conscience has to lie, dodge, pretend in front of everyone, wear a mask, even in front of his loved ones, even in front of his wife and his own children. And as for the children, that's the worst, Nora.

NORA. Why?

HELMER. Because the atmosphere poisoned by lies infects, corrupts the whole home life. Children with every breath of air perceive the germs of evil.

NORA (approaching him from behind). Are you sure about this?

HELMER. Oh, honey, I've seen enough of that in the course of my law practice. Almost all people who go astray early have had false mothers.

NORA. Why mothers?

HELMER. Most often it originates from the mother. But the fathers, of course, influence in the same spirit. This is well known to every lawyer. And this Krogstad poisoned his children for years with lies and hypocrisy, which is why I call him morally corrupt. (Holding out his hands to her.) So let my dear Nora promise me not to ask for him. Give me your hand, you promise. Well, well, what is it? Give me your hand. Like this. So, a deal. I assure you, it would be simply impossible for me to work with him; I feel a direct physical disgust for such people.

NORA (frees his hand and crosses to the other side of the tree). It's hot in here. And I have so much trouble...

HELMER (gets up and collects papers). Yeah, I need to do a little bit of this before lunch too. And I'll take care of your costume. And I can probably find something to hang on the Christmas tree in a golden piece of paper. (Puts her hands on her head.) Oh, my priceless songbird! (Goes into the office and closes the door behind him.)

NORA (pause, quietly). Eh, what's there! This will not happen. This is impossible. Should be impossible.

ANNA MARIA (in the door on the left). Children are so touchingly asking for their mother.

NORA. No no no! Don't let them come to me! Stay with them, Anna-Maria.

ANNA MARIA. Well, well, well. (Closes the door.)

NORA (blushing in horror). Spoil my babies! Poison my family! (After a short pause, tossing her head.) It is not true. It can't be true, never, forever and ever!

Action two

Same room. In the corner, near the piano, stands a ragged, tattered Christmas tree with burnt candles. Nora's coat and hat are on the sofa. Nora, alone in agitation, wanders around the room, finally stops by the sofa and takes her coat.

NORA (letting go of the coat). Someone is coming! (Goes to the door, listens.) No... no one. Of course, no one will come today - the first day of Christmas ... And tomorrow too. But maybe… (Opens the door and looks out.) No, there's nothing in the letterbox, it's completely empty. (Goes back.) Eh, nonsense! Of course, he won't actually do anything like that. Nothing like this can be. This is impossible. I have three small children.

ANNA MARIA (left out of the door to the left, carrying a large cardboard box). I struggled to find this cardboard with masquerade dresses.

NORA. Thanks, put it on the table.

ANNA MARIA (puts). Only they, right, God knows what a mess.

NORA. Oh, to tear them to shreds!

ANNA MARIA. Here you go! They can be repaired. Just a little patience.

NORA. So I'm going to ask Fra Linne to help me.

ANNA MARIA. Again from the yard? In this kind of weather? Fru Nora will catch a cold... fall ill.

NORA. It's not so scary yet... What about children?

ANNA MARIA. Playing with new toys, poor things. Only…

NORA. Do they often ask about me?

ANNA MARIA. I'm used to being around my mother.

NORA. Yes, you see, Anna-Maria, now it will not be possible for me to be with them as much as before.

ANNA MARIA. Well, kids get used to everything.

NORA. You think? Do you think they would forget their mother if she were gone?

ANNA MARIA. Lord have mercy! It didn't!

NORA. Listen, Anna-Maria... I often think... how did you have the courage to give your child to strangers?

ANNA MARIA. I had to; how could it be otherwise, since I became a nurse for little Nora?

NORA. But how did you want to become a wet nurse?

ANNA MARIA. To such a good place? The poor girl in such trouble should have rejoiced. That bad man did nothing to help me after all.

NORA. But your daughter, right, has forgotten you?

ANNA MARIA. Well, why? She wrote to me both when she was confirmed and when she got married.

NORA (wrapping her arms around her neck). My old lady, you were a good mother to me when I was little.

ANNA MARIA. Poor Nora didn't have anyone else but me.

NORA. And if my little ones didn't have another, I know you would... Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! (Opens a box.) Go to them. Now I need ... Tomorrow you will see what a beauty I will be.

ANNA MARIA. It's true, no one will be more beautiful at the whole ball. (Goes off to the left.)

NORA (starts to empty the carton, but soon drops everything). Ah, if only I could decide to go out. If only no one came. Nothing would have happened here without me. Nonsense. Nobody will come. Just don't think. Don't think about it... We need to clean the clutch. Wonderful gloves, marvelous gloves... No need to think, no need! One two three four five six… (Screams.) A! They're coming! (He wants to rush to the door, but hesitates.)

Fru Linne enters from the anteroom, already without her top dress. Oh, it's you, Christina!

And there is no one else there? .. It's good that you came.

FRU LINNE. They told me you came to me, asked me.

NORA. Yes, I was just passing by. I really need your help. Let's sit here on the sofa. You see, tomorrow evening at the upstairs, at Consul Stenborg's, there is a costume party, and Thorvald wants me to be a Neapolitan fisherwoman and dance the tarantella. I studied in Capri.

FRU LINNE. That's what? So will you give the whole performance?

NORA. Torvald says that it is necessary. So here's the suit. Torvald ordered it for me there. But now it's broken and I just don't know...

FRU LINNE. Well, we'll fix that right now. Only the trim is slightly torn off. Needles, threads?.. Ah, that's all you need.

NORA. How nice of you.

FRU LINNE (sews). So are you dressing up tomorrow, Nora? You know, I'll come by for a minute to look at you dressed up. But I completely forgot to thank you for yesterday's pleasant evening.

NORA (gets up and walks around the room). Well, yesterday, in my opinion, was not at all as nice as usual. You should come to our city early, Christina. Yes, Torvald is a great master of arranging everything gracefully and beautifully.

FRU LINNE. And you are no less, I think. No wonder you are your father's daughter. But tell me, is Dr. Rank always as bruised as he was yesterday?

NORA. No, yesterday he was somehow special ... However, he suffers from a very serious illness. The poor fellow has dry spinal cord. I must tell you, his father was a disgusting man, kept mistresses and all that. So the son was born so ill, you understand?

FRU LINNE (dropping work to her knees). But, my dear Nora, where did you get such knowledge from?

NORA (walking around the room). Eh! .. Since you have three children, it means that you are sometimes visited by such ... such ladies who also understand something in medicine. Well, sometimes they will tell you something.

Fru Linne sews again; short pause.

FRU LINNE. Does Dr. Rank visit you every day?

NORA. Every single day. He's Torvald's best friend from a young age and a good friend of mine. He is just like ours.

FRU LINNE. But tell me, is he quite a straight man? That is, not one of those who like to say nice things to people?

NORA. Against. Where did you get it from?

FRU LINNE. Yesterday, when you introduced us, he assured me that he often heard my name here in the house. And then I noticed that your husband had no idea about me. How could Dr. Rank?

NORA. Yes, that's exactly right, Christina. Torvald loves me so infinitely that he does not want to share me with anyone ... as he says. At first, he was downright jealous of me, as soon as I started talking about my dear relatives, about my native places. Well, obviously I stopped. But with Dr. Rank, I often talk about all this. You see, he loves to listen.

FRU LINNE. Look, Nora, you're still a child in many ways. I'm older than you, more experienced. And I'll tell you what: you should try to get out of this story - with Dr. Rank.

NORA. What kind of story should I try to extricate myself from?

FRU LINNE. Of all these stories in general. Yesterday you were talking about a rich suitor bequeathing you money.

NORA. Yes, but there is no such thing, unfortunately! .. Well, so what?

FRU LINNE. Dr. Rank is a wealthy man?

NORA. Yes, wealthy.

FRU LINNE. And he doesn't have anyone to take care of?

NORA. Nobody. But…

FRU LINNE. And he comes here every day in the house?

NORA. Well, yes, you've heard that before.

FRU LINNE. How can a well-mannered person be so indelicate?

NORA. I positively do not understand you.

FRU LINNE. Don't introduce yourself, Nora. Do you think I don't know who lent you those 1200 spices?

NORA. Are you in your mind? How could it come to your mind? Our friend who visits us every day! It would be an unbearably painful situation!

FRU LINNE. So he's not?

NORA. I assure you. It couldn't have even occurred to me for a minute!.. And where would he have gotten the money to lend out then? He received his inheritance later.

FRU LINNE. Well, this is perhaps your happiness, dear Nora.

NORA. No, it would never have crossed my mind to ask Dr. Rank ... However, I am quite sure if I only asked him ...

FRU LINNE. But of course you won't.

NORA. No, naturally. Somehow I can't imagine it. But I'm pretty sure that if I talked to Dr. Rank...

FRU LINNE. Behind your husband?

NORA. I still need to get this done. Also behind him. We must finish.

FRU LINNE. Yes, yes, and I told you yesterday, but...

NORA (walks back and forth). It is much easier for a man to get rid of such cases than for a woman ... FruLynne. If this is her own husband - yes.

NORA. Trivia. (Stopping.) Once you pay the entire debt in full, then you get the debt obligation back?

FRU LINNE. Of course it's understandable.

NORA. And you can tear it into small pieces, burn this nasty, dirty little piece of paper?

FRU LINNE (looks straight at Nora, puts work aside and slowly gets up). Nora, you're hiding something from me.

NORA. Is it noticeable?

FRU LINNE. Something has happened to you since yesterday morning, Nora, what's the matter?

NORA (walking towards her). Christina! (Listens.) Shh! Torvald is back. Listen, go to the children for now. Torvald does not like to be bothered with sewing in his presence. Let Anna Maria help you.

FRU LINNE (picks up some things). Yes, yes, but I won't leave you until we've had a clean talk. (Goes off to the left.)

At the same moment, Helmer enters from the hall.

NORA (walks towards him). Ah, I can't wait for you, dear Torvald.

HELMER. It's a seamstress, isn't it?

NORA. No, it's Christina. She helps me fix my suit. You will see what effect I will produce.

HELMER. Yes, didn't I have a good idea?

NORA. Amazing! But am I not smart enough to listen to you too?

HELMER (takes her by the chin). Clever - because you obey your husband? Oh you cheat! I know you didn't mean to say that. But I won't bother you. You really need to try on.

NORA. And you, right, to work?

HELMER. Yes. (Showing a pile of papers.) Here. I went to the bank. (Wants to go home.)

NORA. Torvald...

HELMER (stopping). What?

NORA. And if your squirrel nicely asks you for one thing? ..

HELMER. So what?

NORA. Would you do?

HELMER. First, of course, you need to know what exactly.

NORA. The squirrel would have played out like that, played pranks, would have amused you if you were so nice, obeyed!

HELMER. So speak.

NORA. The lark would have filled the whole house, in every way.

HELMER. Well, he's not silent.

NORA. I would show you a sylph, dancing in the moonlight, Torvald!

HELMER. Nora... I hope it's not about yesterday again?

NORA (closer to him). Yes, Torvald! I beg, I beg you!

HELMER. And do you really have the guts to bring it up again?

NORA. Yes, yes, you must listen to me, you must leave Krogstad his place in the bank!

HELMER. But, my dear Nora, I have decided to take Fru Linne in his place.

NORA. It's terribly nice of you, but you can turn down one of the clerks instead of Krogstad.

HELMER. No, it's just incredible stubbornness! Due to the fact that you here made rash promises to plead for him, I am obliged! ..

NORA. Not because of that, Torvald. For your own sake. After all, this man writes in the most vile newspapers - you said it yourself. He can hurt you terribly. I am deathly afraid of him.

HELMER. Yeah, I understand. You remember the old days and get scared.

NORA. What do you mean?..

HELMER. Of course you remember your father.

NORA. Yes, well, yes. Just remember what evil people wrote about the pope, how cruelly they slandered him. Indeed, they would have won his resignation if the ministry had not sent you as an auditor and if you had not treated the pope with such participation and benevolence.

HELMER. Dear Nora, there is a significant difference between your father and me. Your father was not an irreproachable official. And that is exactly what I am, and that is what I hope I will remain as long as I hold my post.

NORA. Ah, no one knows what evil people can come up with! And now we could just live so well, calmly, happily, peacefully, without worries - you, and I, and the children, Torvald! That's why I'm asking you so...

HELMER. Yes, just standing up for him, you deprive me of the opportunity to leave him. The bank already knows that I have decided to fire Krogstad. So it is necessary that now there will be talk that the new director is changing his decisions under the influence of his wife ...

NORA. And if so? What of it?

HELMER. Well, of course, as long as the stubborn one gets her way! Should I put myself in a ridiculous position in front of all the employees?.. Give people a reason to interpret that I am controlled by all sorts of extraneous influences? Believe me, I would soon experience the consequences! And besides ... there is a circumstance that makes it absolutely impossible to leave Krogstad in the bank while I am the director there.

NORA. What is the circumstance?

HELMER. I could still turn a blind eye to his moral shortcomings in case of extreme ...

NORA. Isn't that right, Torvald?

HELMER. And, they say, he is a pretty efficient worker. But here's the thing: we've known him since we were young. This is one of those hasty youthful acquaintances, because of which a person often finds himself in an awkward position later. Yes, I will not hide from you: we are even with him on “you”. And he is so tactless that he does not think to hide it in front of others. On the contrary, he believes that this gives him the right to be familiar, he now and then trumps with his “you”, “you, Helmer”. I assure you, this irritates me in the highest degree. He is able to make my position in the bank downright unbearable.

NORA. Torvald, you are not saying all this seriously.

HELMER. How so?

NORA. Well, yes, because all these are such petty considerations.

HELMER. What are you talking about? Petty? Do you think I'm a petty person?

NORA. No, on the contrary, dear Torvald. And that's why...

HELMER. Doesn't matter. You call my motives petty, so, apparently, so am I. Petty! That's how! .. Well, we must put an end to all this. (Goes to the front door and calls.) Elene!

NORA. What do you want?

HELMER (searching through papers). Put an end to. (To the maid who enters.) Take this letter and go now. Find a messenger and have him deliver it. Only alive. Address written. Here's the money.

Servant. Fine. (Exit with letter.)

HELMER (collecting papers). That's right, lady stubborn!

NORA (holding breath). Torvald, what was that letter?

HELMER. Dismissal of Krogstad.

NORA. Bring it back, bring it back, Torvald! It's not too late, Torvald, give me back! For me, for yourself, for the children. Do you hear, Torvald, return it. You don't know how this might affect us all.

HELMER. Late.

NORA. Yes, it's late.

HELMER. Dear Nora, I forgive you this fear, although, in essence, it is offensive to me. Yes Yes! Or do you think I'm not offended by your suggestion that I might fear the vengeance of some misguided chisel? But I still excuse you, because this is such a cute picture of your ardent love for me. (He draws her to him.) That's right, my sweet, dear Nora. And then let it be what will be. If it comes to that, believe me, I have enough courage and strength. You'll see, I'm the type of person who can take on anything.

NORA (struck by horror). What do you want to say?

HELMER. Everything I say...

NORA (mastering myself). I will never let you.

HELMER. Fine. So let's share with you, Nora... as husband and wife. The way it should be. (caressing her.) Satisfied now? Well well well! No need for such frightened pigeon eyes. It's all just a fantasy after all. Now you could play the tarantella and practice the tambourine. I'll go to my room and close all the doors so I won't hear anything. You can make as much noise as you want. (Turning around at the door.) Yes, if Rank comes, tell him where I am. (Nodding to her, he goes to his room and locks the door behind him.)

NORA (confused, frightened, standing stock still and whispering). It will become of him. He will do so. He will do it - by all means ... No, never in his life, for nothing! This cannot be allowed! Rather everything else! Salvation!.. Exit!..

Bell in front.

Dr. Rank! .. Rather, everything is different! Rather, everything else - whatever it is. (He runs his hands over his face and, making an effort on himself, goes and opens the door to the hall.)

Doctor Rank takes off his fur coat in the hall and hangs it up. During the next scene it begins to get dark.

Hello Dr Rank. I recognized you by call. But you don't go to Torvald's now, he seems to be busy.

RANK. And you? (Entering the room.)

NORA (shuts the door to the hallway). Oh, you know - I always have a free minute for you.

RANK. Thank you. I will use this as long as I can.

NORA. What do you mean by that? While you can?..

RANK. That's it. Does it scare you?

NORA. You said it in such a weird way. What could possibly happen?

RANK. What I have long expected. But really, I didn't think it would happen so soon.

NORA (grabs his hand). What is it you learned? Doctor, tell me.

RANK (sitting by the stove). That's bad. I'm rolling downhill. It's nothing you can do.

NORA (taking breath). So are you talking about yourself?

RANK. And then about whom? There is nothing to lie to yourself. I am the most miserable of all my patients, Mrs. Helmer. These days I made a general revision of my internal state. Bankrupt. In less than a month, perhaps, I will rot in the cemetery.

NORA. Fu, how nasty you put it.

RANK. The case itself is out of hand. But the worst thing is that even before that there will be a lot of nasty, ugly things. Now I have only one study left. I will finish it and I will know approximately when the decomposition will begin. And here's what I'll tell you. Helmer, with his refined nature, has an irresistible aversion to any ugliness. I won't let him near my bed...

NORA. But Dr. Rank...

RANK. I will not allow. No way. I'll lock the doors for him... As soon as I'm absolutely sure that the worst is coming, I'll send you my business card with a black cross. Know then that the abomination of destruction has begun.

NORA. No, you're just insufferable today. And I really wanted you to be in a particularly good mood today.

RANK. With death behind you?.. And so pay for the sins of others?! Where is the justice here? And in every family, in one way or another, a similar inexorable retribution affects.

NORA (covering ears). Nonsense! More fun, more fun!

RANK. Yes, honestly, all that remains is to laugh at all this. My poor innocent spinal cord has to pay the price for the fun days of my father's officer life!

NORA (at the table to the left). Was he very fond of asparagus and Strasbourg pate? Yes?

RANK. Yes, and truffles.

NORA. Yes, yes, and truffles. And oysters, I think?

RANK. Yes, and oysters, oysters of course.

NORA. And for all sorts of ports and champagne. It's a shame that all these delicious things will certainly respond to the spine.

RANK. And it is especially a shame that they respond on the ill-fated backbone of the one who has not tasted a drop of these blessings!

NORA. Yes, that's the most annoying thing.

RANK (looking inquisitively at her). Hm!..

NORA (a little later). What are you smiling at?

RANK. No, you chuckled.

NORA. No, you smiled, doctor!

RANK (getting up). And you're even smarter than I thought.

NORA. Today I am tempted to throw out something like this ...

RANK. Noticeably.

NORA (puts both hands on his shoulders). Dear, dear Doctor Rank, do not leave us with Torvald.

RANK. Well, you can easily come to terms with this loss. Out of sight - and out of mind.

NORA (looks at him fearfully). You think?

RANK. New connections will be made, and ...

NORA. Who will make new connections?

RANK. Both you and Helmer when I'm gone. Yes, you are already on the way to it, it seems. What did you need this Fru Linne for last night?

NORA. Ah-ah, aren't you jealous of poor Christina?

RANK. Well, yes. She will be my substitute here in the house. When I have to be away, this woman, perhaps ...

NORA. Shh! Not so loud. She is there.

RANK. And today? Here you see!

NORA. She only came to help me fix my suit. God, you are insufferable. (Sits down on the sofa.) Well, be smart, Dr. Rank. Tomorrow you will see how wonderfully I will dance, and you can imagine that I am for you alone - well, of course, for Torvald, of course. (Pulls out various things from the cardboard.) Dr. Rank, sit down here. I'll show you something.

RANK (sits down). What's happened?

NORA. Here! Look!

RANK. Silk stockings.

NORA. Flesh color. Isn't it lovely? Yes, it's dark now, but tomorrow... No, no, no, you'll see only up to the rise. However, you can be shown higher.

RANK. Hm!..

NORA. What are you looking at so critically? Do you think they don't fit?

RANK. I do not undertake to judge this for the lack of any well-founded opinion.

NORA (looks at him for a minute). Fu, shame on you! (Lightly hits him on the ear with stockings.) Here's to you for it. (Puts things away again.)

RANK. What other treasures would I see?

NORA. You won't see another crumb. You are insufferable. (Singing, rummaging through things.)

RANK (after a short silence). Sitting with you like this, easily, I don't understand... I don't comprehend... what would become of me if I hadn't been in your house.

NORA (smiling). Yes, it seems to me that you, in fact, feel quite well with us.

RANK (quieter, looking into space). And willy-nilly to leave it all ...

NORA. Nonsense! Don't leave.

RANK (still). To leave without leaving even a somewhat grateful memory, even a fleeting regret ... nothing but an empty place that can be occupied by the first comer.

NORA. What if I asked you now? No…

RANK. About what?

NORA. About the big proof of your friendship...

RANK. Oh well?

NORA. No, see, what I mean is a huge favor.

RANK. Would you really give me such happiness for once?

NORA. Oh, you don't know what's up.

RANK. So say.

NORA. No, I can't, doctor. This is too much a favor - here is advice, and help, and a service ...

RANK. The bigger, the better. But I don't understand what it could be. Speak now! Do I not have your trust?

NORA. Like no one else. You are my truest, best friend - I know, I know. That's why I want to tell you. Well, all right, doctor. You must help me prevent something. You know how sincerely, how endlessly Torvald loves me. He wouldn't hesitate for a moment to lay down his life for me.

RANK (leaning towards her). Nora, do you think he's the only one?

NORA (slightly startled). One…

RANK. … who would gladly lay down his life for you?

NORA (dejectedly). Here you go…

RANK. I swore to myself that you would know about this before I was gone. I can't wait for a better opportunity. Yes, Nora, now you know. And you know, too, that you can trust me more than anyone else.

NORA (gets up, in a calm, even tone). Miss me.

RANK (letting her pass, while he continues to sit). Nora…

NORA ( at the front door). Elene, bring the lamp. (Goes to the stove.) Ah, dear Doctor Rank, that was really not good of you.

RANK (getting up). That I loved you as sincerely as the other? Is it so stupid?

NORA. No, but what are you telling me about it. And it wasn't necessary at all.

RANK. That is? Or did you know?.. The maid enters with a lamp, puts it on the table and leaves. Nora... Mrs. Helmer... I ask you, did you know anything?

NORA. Oh, how do I know what I knew, what I didn't know? I really can't tell you... And how it hurt you, doctor! Everything was so good.

RANK. At least now you can be sure that I am at your disposal, body and soul. So you say...

NORA (looks at him). After that?

RANK. Please let me know what's the matter.

NORA. You won't know anything now.

RANK. No no. Don't punish me like that. Let me do everything for you that is only in the power of man.

NORA. Now there is nothing you can do for me. However, I probably don't need any help. You will see that all this is just fantasy. Of course. Certainly. (Sits on the rocking chair, looks at him and smiles.) Yes, I tell you, you are good! Aren't you ashamed now, by the lamp?

RANK. No, as a matter of fact. But, perhaps, I should leave right away ... forever?

NORA. Not at all. Naturally, you will continue to come. You know Torvald can't do without you.

RANK. And you?

NORA. Well, and I always have terribly fun with you when you come to us.

RANK. This is what baffled me. You are a mystery to me. More than once it seemed to me that you enjoyed my company almost as much as Helmer's.

NORA. You see, you love some people more than anything in the world, but somehow you most want to be with others.

RANK. Perhaps there is some truth in this.

NORA. At home, of course, I loved papa most of all. But I've always taken great pleasure in sneaking into the servants' room. They didn't lecture me a bit there, and there were always such merry conversations.

RANK. Yeah, so that's who I replaced for you.

NORA (jumping up and running towards him). Oh, dear, good Dr. Rank, that's not what I meant at all. But you understand that with Torvald, as with dad ...

SERVANT (enters from front). Lady… (Whispers something and gives a card.)

NORA (looking at the card). A! (Puts it in his pocket.)

RANK. Any trouble?

NORA. No, no, not at all. It's just... a new suit for me...

RANK. How? Yes, there he lies.

NORA. Ah, that's not the one. That's another. I ordered ... But Torvald does not need to know ...

RANK. Ah, there it is, the great secret!

NORA. Exactly. Go to him. He is at home. Hold him for now.

RANK. Keep calm. He won't leave me. (Goes into the office.)

NORA (servant). So he's waiting in the kitchen?

SERVANT. Yes, I came from the back door.

NORA. Didn't you tell him there were outsiders here?

SERVANT. She said it didn't help.

NORA. So he doesn't want to leave?

SERVANT. He doesn't want to until he talks to the mistress.

NORA. So bring him here, just quietly, Elena. And don't tell anyone about it. This will surprise my husband.

SERVANT. Yes, yes, I understand, I understand... (Exits.)

NORA. Trouble is coming... Still going. No no no! It won't be, it can't be! (Goes and bolts the door to the office.)

The maid opens the door from the hallway, lets Krogstad into the room and closes the door behind him. He is in a travel coat, high boots and a fur hat.

NORA (walking towards him). Speak quietly - the husband is at home.

KROGSTAD. And let him.

NORA. What do you need from me?

KROGSTAD. Learn about something.

NORA. So soon. What's happened?

KROGSTAD. You know, of course, that I was fired.

NORA. I couldn't stop it, Herr Krogstad. I defended you to the last extreme, but all in vain.

KROGSTAD. So your husband loves you so little? He knows what I can bring on you, and yet he dares? ..

NORA. How can you think he knows about it?

KROGSTAD. No, I didn't really think so. It would not be in the nature of my dear Thorvald Helmer to show such courage ...

NORA. Mr. Krogstad, I demand respect for my husband.

KROGSTAD. Pardon me, with due respect. But since you keep this matter under such a terrible secret, I dare to assume that you are now better than yesterday, you understand what, in fact, you have done.

NORA. Better than you could ever explain to me.

KROGSTAD. Why, such a bad lawyer as I am! ..

NORA. What do you need from me?

KROGSTAD. I just came to see how things are going with you, Mrs. Helmer. I've been thinking about you all day. A usurer, a chisel-maker, well, in a word, one like me, too, you see, is not deprived of what is called a heart.

NORA. So prove it. Think of my little children.

KROGSTAD. Have you and your husband thought of mine? Well, it doesn't matter now. I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to take this matter too seriously. At first, I will not initiate legal proceedings against you.

NORA. Is not it? Oh, I knew, I knew.

KROGSTAD. Everything can still end peacefully. There is no need to involve people here. The matter will remain between the three of us.

NORA. My husband must never know anything about it.

KROGSTAD. How will you prevent this? Or can you pay in full?

NORA. No, right now, I can't.

KROGSTAD. Or maybe you have some other combination in mind - will you get the money one of these days?

NORA. No combination that I could use.

KROGSTAD. She wouldn't help you anyway. If you lay out to me, even now, in cash, any amount you like, you will not get back your receipt from me.

NORA. So explain what you want to do with it.

NORA. Exactly.

KROGSTAD. If you were thinking about leaving your home and family...

NORA. Exactly!

KROGSTAD. Or you could think of something even worse...

NORA. How do you know?

KROGSTAD. So leave these things.

NORA. How do you know I came up with this?

KROGSTAD. Most of us think about it - at the beginning. And I, too, at one time ... But the spirit was not enough ...

KROGSTAD (breathing in relief). Yes, right? And so do you, too? Lacks?

NORA. Not enough, not enough.

KROGSTAD. It would have been stupid. One has only to pass the first domestic storm ... I have a letter in my pocket for your husband ...

NORA. And everything is said there?

KROGSTAD. In the softest terms. As far as it's possible.

NORA (fast). This letter should not reach the husband. Rip it apart. I will find a way out, I will get money.

KROGSTAD. Excuse me ma'am, I think I just told you...

NORA. Oh, I'm not talking about my debt to you. Tell me how much you want to demand from your husband, and I will get you this money myself.

KROGSTAD. I won't take any money from your husband.

NORA. What do you require?

KROGSTAD. Now you will know. I want to get on my feet, ma'am, I want to get up, and your husband must help me. For a year and a half I was not noticed in anything so dishonorable, and all this time I fought like a fish on ice, but I was pleased that I could rise again with my work - little by little. Now I've been kicked out and I won't be satisfied with just being accepted back - out of mercy. I want to get up, I tell you. I want to be accepted into the bank with a promotion. Your husband will have to create a special position for me...

NORA. He will never do it!

KROGSTAD. Will do. I know him. He dare not utter a word. And as soon as I sit there next to him, you will see: in less than a year, I will be the right hand of the director. Nils Krogstad, not Thorvald Helmer, will run the bank.

NORA. You will never expect this!

KROGSTAD. Maybe you…

NORA. Now I have the courage.

KROGSTAD. Don't scare me. Such a gentle, spoiled lady like you...

NORA. See! See!

KROGSTAD. Under the ice maybe? Into the icy, black depths. And in the spring to emerge disfigured, unrecognizable, with her hair coming out ...

NORA. You won't scare me.

KROGSTAD. And you me. They don't do things like that, Mrs. Helmer. And what would it serve? He will still be in my hands.

NORA. And after that? When I already...

KROGSTAD. You forget that then I will have power over your memory. Nora, dumbfounded, looks at him. Now you have been warned. So don't do anything stupid. When Helmer receives my letter, I will wait for news from him. And remember, your husband himself forced me to embark on this path again. I will never forgive him for this. Goodbye, Fru Helmer. (Leaves through the front.)

NORA (goes to the front door, opens it a little and listens). Leaves. Doesn't send letters. Oh no, no, that would be impossible! Impossible! (Opens the door more and more.) What is this? He is behind the doors. Doesn't go down. Thinking? Is he…

A letter is heard falling into a box, then the footsteps of Krogstad are heard coming down the stairs; gradually the steps freeze below. Nora, with a suppressed cry, runs back into the room to the table in front of the sofa. Short pause.

Letter! ... In the box! (timidly creeps again to the front door.) Lying there ... Torvald, Torvald ... now there is no salvation for us!

FRU LINNE (left with a suit in his hands from the room to the left). Well, I don't know what else to fix. Do not try on?

NORA (quiet and hoarse). Christina, come here.

FRU LINNE (throwing dress on sofa). What happened to you? You are not yourself.

NORA. Come here. Do you see the letter? There. Look through the glass, in the letterbox.

FRU LINNE. Well, well, I see, I see.

NORA. From Krogstad...

FRU LINNE. Nora... did you borrow that money from Krogstad?

NORA. Yes. And now Torvald will know everything.

FRU LINNE. Trust me, Nora, it's the best thing for both of you.

NORA. You don't know everything yet. I forged my signature...

FRU LINNE. But, for God's sake...

NORA. I want to ask you only one thing, Christina, that you be a witness.

FRU LINNE. What witness? In what?

NORA. If I lost my mind - and this can easily happen ...

FRU LINNE. Nora!

NORA. Or if something else happened to me - something that would prevent me from being here ...

FRU LINNE. Nora, Nora, you don't remember yourself!

NORA. So if someone decides to take the blame on themselves, do you understand? ..

FRU LINNE. Yes, yes, but what's in your head ...

NORA. You will testify that this is not true, Christina. I haven't freaked out yet. I am fully sane. And I tell you: no one else knew anything about it. I did everything alone. Remember!

FRU LINNE. Yes Yes. But I still don't understand...

NORA. Where are you to understand? Now a miracle is being prepared.

FRU LINNE. Miracle?

NORA. Yes, a miracle. But it's terrible, Christina, you don't need it for anything in the world!

FRU LINNE. I'll go and talk to Krogstad right away.

NORA. Don't go to him. He will offend you.

FRU LINNE. There was a time when he was ready to do anything for me.

FRU LINNE. Where does he live?

NORA. How do I know?.. Oh, yes! (Pulls out a card from his pocket.) Here is his card. But a letter, a letter!

HELMER (from the office, knocking on the door). Nora!

NORA (shouts in fear). A! What's happened? What do you want?

HELMER. Well, well, don't be so scared. We will not enter. You've locked the door. Trying it out, right?

NORA. Yes, yes, I'm trying. Oh, I'll be so pretty, Torvald.

FRU LINNE (reading the inscription on the card). He lives right here, around the corner.

NORA. Yes. But nothing will come of it. We have no salvation. The letter is in the box.

FRU LINNE. Does your husband have the key?

NORA. Always.

FRU LINNE. Let Krogstad demand his letter back unopened... Let him find an excuse...

NORA. But just at this time, Torvald always ...

FRU LINNE. Hold him up. Stay with him for now. I will return as soon as possible. (Quickly leaves through the hall.)

NORA (goes to the door of the study, opens it and looks into the room). Torvald!

HELMER (from another room). Well, will a man finally be allowed into his own living room? Come on, Rank, let's see. (In the door.) But what does this mean?

NORA. What is it, honey?

HELMER. I was expecting, according to Rank, a great dressing scene...

RANK (in the door). That's what I understood, but apparently I was wrong.

NORA. No one will see me in all my splendor until tomorrow evening.

HELMER. But, dear Nora, you are somehow exhausted. Rehearsed?

NORA. Haven't rehearsed yet.

HELMER. However, it is necessary...

NORA. Absolutely necessary, Torvald. But I can't do anything without you. I forgot everything.

HELMER. Well, we'll refresh that memory.

NORA. Yes, you will certainly take care of me, Torvald. Promise? Ah, I'm so afraid. Such a large society... Donate to me this entire evening. So that not a single thing - do not take the pen in hand! A? Is that right, honey?

HELMER. I promise. I will be at your service all evening, my poor, helpless creature ... Hm! Yes... at first only... (Goes to the front door.)

NORA. Why are you there?

HELMER. Just to see if there are letters.

NORA. No, no, don't, Torvald!

HELMER. What else?

NORA. Torvald! I am begging you! There is nothing.

HELMER. Let me take a look! (Wants to go.)

Nora rushes to the piano and starts playing the tarantella.

(Stops at the door.) Aha!

NORA. I can't dance tomorrow if I don't rehearse with you.

HELMER (goes to her). Are you really that much of a coward, my dear?

NORA. Scary. Let's rehearse now. There is still time before dinner. Sit down and play for me, honey. Show me, teach me, as always!

HELMER. With pleasure, with pleasure, if you so desire. (Sits down at the piano.)

NORA (grabs a tambourine and a long colorful scarf from a cardboard box, drapes it hastily, then stands in the middle of the room with one jump and shouts). Play now! I am dancing!

Helmer plays and Nora dances, Dr. Rank stands behind Helmer and watches.

HELMER (playing). Slower, slower...

NORA. I can't do otherwise.

HELMER. Not so rough, honey!

NORA. Exactly! So be it!

HELMER (breaking). No, no, that doesn't fit at all.

NORA (laughing and shaking tambourine). Well, didn't I tell you?

RANK. Let me sit down to play.

HELMER (rises). Okay, it'll be more convenient for me to point it out to her.

Rank sits down at the piano and plays. Nora dances with ever-increasing fervor. Helmer, standing by the stove, incessantly gives Nora instructions and remarks, but she does not seem to hear, her hair has loosened and falls over her shoulders, she does not pay attention to this, continuing to dance. Fru Linne enters.

FRU LINNE (stops dead at the door). A!

NORA (continues to dance). See what fun we have here, Christina!

HELMER. But, dear, dear Nora! You dance so, as if it were about life!

NORA. This is true.

HELMER. Rank, stop it. It's just crazy. Stop it, I say! Rank stops playing, and Nora stops at once. (Nora.) That's what I would never believe - you resolutely forgot everything I taught you.

NORA (throwing tambourine). You see yourself.

HELMER. Yes, you have to learn.

NORA. Here you see how it is necessary to deal with me. You will teach me until the last minute. Promise, Torvald?

HELMER. Be calm.

NORA. Not today, not tomorrow, so that you don’t have another thought in your head, only about me. And do not open letters today ... do not open the box ...

HELMER. Aha! Are you afraid of that person?

NORA. Yes, yes, and that too.

HELMER. Nora, I see by your face, there is already a letter from him. N o r a. Don't know. Seems. But don't you dare read anything like that now. We don't want any trouble until it's all over.

RANK (quietly to Helmer). Don't contradict her.

HELMER ( hugging her). Well, the child has achieved his goal. But tomorrow night after your dance...

NORA. Then you are free.

SERVANT (in the door to the right). Lady, the table is set.

NORA. Give me some champagne, Elena.

SERVANT. Fine. (Exits.)

HELMER. Ege-ge, so a feast by a mountain?

NORA. Feast until dawn. (Screams after the maid.) And a little bit of macaroons, Elene... No, more!.. Once, all right.

HELMER (taking her by the hand). Well, well, well, no need for this wild fearfulness. Be my sweet lark as always.

NORA. Yes, yes, I will, I will. But get there for now. And you, doctor. Christina, help me straighten my hair.

RANK (quietly, heading with Helmer to the right). After all, it can’t be that there was something like that here? .. She is not in a position? ..

HELMER. Nothing like that, my dear. Just the same childish fear I told you about. They leave to the right.

NORA (Fru Linne). Well?

FRU LINNE. Left for the city.

NORA. I guessed from your face.

FRU LINNE. Will return home tomorrow evening. I left him a note.

NORA. It was not necessary. You won't interfere with anything. And, in fact, such a delight - to wait any minute for a miracle.

FRU LINNE. What are you waiting for?

NORA. Ah, you don't understand. Step up to them. I'm in this minute.

Fru Linne goes to the right. Nora stands for a minute, as if trying to compose herself, then looks at her watch.

Five. Seven o'clock to midnight. And then twenty-four hours until midnight. Then the tarantella will be finished. Twenty four and seven. Thirty-one hours of life.

HELMER (in the door to the right). Well, where is my lark?

NORA (rushing towards him with open arms). Here he is, the lark! ..

Act Three

Same room. The table in front of the sofa has been moved to the middle of the room, along with the chairs. There is a lamp on the table. The front door is open. The sounds of ballroom music are heard from the top floor. Fru Linne is sitting at the table, mechanically leafing through the book, trying to read, but apparently unable to collect her thoughts. From time to time he listens to see if anyone is coming.

FRU LINNE (looking at his watch). He's still gone. Meanwhile, time is running out now. If only he didn't... (He listens again.) A! Goes! (Goes into the hall and carefully unlocks the outer door; soft footsteps are heard on the stairs; she whispers.) Sign in. Nobody here.

KROGSTAD (in the door). I found your note at home. What does it mean?

FRU LINNE. I need to talk to you.

KROGSTAD. Here's how? And certainly here, in this house?

FRU LINNE. I couldn't have. My room does not have a separate entrance. Sign in. We are alone. The maid is sleeping, and the Helmers are upstairs at the party.

KROGSTAD (enters the room). Tell! Are the Helmers dancing tonight? Indeed?

FRU LINNE. Why not?

KROGSTAD. N-yes, indeed.

FRU LINNE. So, Krogstad, let's talk.

KROGSTAD. Do we have anything else to talk about?

FRU LINNE. Yes, a lot.

KROGSTAD. Did not think.

FRU LINNE. Because they never understood me properly.

KROGSTAD. What was there not to understand? How much easier! A heartless woman escorts a man to all four sides as soon as a more profitable party seems to her.

FRU LINNE. Do you think I'm completely heartless? Do you think it was easy for me to break?

KROGSTAD. Is not it so?

FRU LINNE. Krogstad, did you really think so?

KROGSTAD. Otherwise, why would you write me such a letter then?

FRU LINNE. Yes, I could not do otherwise! Since I had to break with you, it was my duty to tear out of your heart every feeling for me.

KROGSTAD (clasping hands). So that's it. And it's all about money!

FRU LINNE. Don't forget, I had an old mother and two young brothers in my arms. We couldn't wait for you, Krogstad. Your prospects for the future were then still so uncertain.

KROGSTAD. Let it be. But you had no right to leave me for anyone else.

FRU LINNE. I don't know. More than once I asked myself this question - whether I was right.

FRU LINNE. For help, perhaps, it was not far to go.

KROGSTAD. She was close. But you came and blocked my way.

FRU LINNE. Without knowing it, Krogstad. I just found out today that I am being appointed to your place.

KROGSTAD. I believe you when you say it. But now won't you give in?

FRU LINNE. No. It still wouldn't do you any good.

KROGSTAD. Eh, good, good!.. If I were you, I would still do it this way.

KROGSTAD. And life taught me not to believe the words.

FRU LINNE. So life has taught you a very reasonable thing. Well, do you still believe in deeds?

KROGSTAD. That is, how is it?

FRU LINNE. You said you looked like a shipwreck who floated out on a wreck.

KROGSTAD. And I think I had reason to say this.

FRU LINNE. And I, too, am like a woman who was wrecked and floated on the wreckage. No one to feel sorry for, no one to care about!

KROGSTAD. They chose their share.

FRU LINNE. I didn't have any other choice then.

FRU LINNE. Krogstad, what if we two shipwrecked people shook hands with each other?

KROGSTAD. What are you talking about?

FRU LINNE. Together, together on the wreckage, it will still be stronger, more reliable than staying apart, each separately.

KROGSTAD. Christina!

FRU LINNE. Why do you think I came here?

KROGSTAD. Do you remember me?

FRU LINNE. I can't live without work, without work. All my life, as far as I can remember, I have worked, and work has been my best and only joy. But now I am left alone like a finger ... Terribly empty, lonely ... To work for oneself alone is not enough joy. Krogstad, give me a goal - for what and for whom to work.

KROGSTAD. I don't believe in anything like that. This is all one female enthusiasm, a generous need to sacrifice oneself.

FRU LINNE. Have you ever noticed in me a tendency to rapture?

KROGSTAD. So you really could... Tell me... Do you know everything... about my past?

FRU LINNE. Yes.

KROGSTAD. And you know what kind of fame goes about me?

FRU LINNE. I understood from your words that, in your opinion, with me you could become a different person.

KROGSTAD. Certainly!

FRU LINNE. So is time gone?

KROGSTAD. Cristina... are you being serious? Yes Yes. I see in your face. So do you really have the courage?

FRU LINNE. I need someone to love, someone to take care of, someone to take the place of a mother, and your children need a mother. You and I need each other. Krogstad, I believe you have a good foundation; and together with you I am ready for anything.

KROGSTAD (grabbing her hands). Thank you, thank you Christina! Now I will be able to rise in the eyes of others ... Oh, yes, I forgot ...

FRU LINNE (listens). Shh! Tarantella! Go away.

KROGSTAD. Why? What's the matter?

FRU LINNE. Do you hear the tarantella dancing upstairs? When it is finished, they will come here.

KROGSTAD. Yes, yes, so I'll go. And besides, it's all in vain. Of course, you don't know what step I took against the Helmers.

FRU LINNE. I know, Krogstad.

KROGSTAD. Would you still have the courage?

FRU LINNE. I understand well what the despair of a man like you can lead to.

KROGSTAD. Oh, if only I could take back what I've done!

FRU LINNE. Could you. Your letter is still in the box.

KROGSTAD. Are you sure?

FRU LINNE. Quite. But…

KROGSTAD (looks at her inquisitively). Is it not necessary to understand the matter in this way? You want to save your friend no matter what. Tell me straight. So?

FRU LINNE. Krogstad! He who once sold himself because of others will not do it a second time.

KROGSTAD. I need my letter back.

FRU LINNE. No no.

KROGSTAD. Naturally. I will wait for Helmer and tell him to return my letter to me, that it concerns only me, my resignation, that he does not need to read it.

FRU LINNE. No, Krogstad, don't ask for your letter back.

KROGSTAD. But tell me, isn't that why you called me here?

FRU LINNE. Yes, at first, out of fear. But now a whole day has passed, and I just can’t believe what I haven’t seen enough of here in the house during this time. Let Helmer find out. May this unfortunate mystery come to light. Let them finally explain themselves to each other in purity. It is impossible for it to continue like this - these eternal secrets, subterfuges.

KROGSTAD. Well, well, since you decide to do it ... But at least I can do one thing, and I must do it right now ...

FRU LINNE (listening). Quicker! Go away! The dance is over. We can be caught any minute.

KROGSTAD. I'll wait for you downstairs.

FRU LINNE. Fine. Then walk me home.

KROGSTAD. I have never been so incredibly happy in my entire life! (Exits.)

The front door is still open.

FRU LINNE (cleans up the table a little and prepares his outer clothes). What a twist! What a twist! It will work for someone ... for whom to live ... where to bring light and warmth. Yes, you will have to stick around. Would rather come... (Listens.) Ah, here they are. Get dressed quickly. (Puts on hat and coat.)

Offstage, the voices of Helmer and Nora are heard; you can hear the key turning in the lock, and then Helmer almost by force brings Nora into the hall. She is in a Neapolitan costume and wrapped in a large black shawl. He is in a tailcoat and an open black domino thrown over the top.

NORA (still at the door, resisting). No no no! I don't want to come here! I want to go up again. I don't want to leave so early.

HELMER. But dear Nora...

NORA. Well, I beg you, I beg you, Torvald ... Well, please ... at least an hour more!

HELMER. Not a minute more, my dear. Do you remember the deal? Like this. Here. You'll still catch a cold here in the hallway. (Carefully leads his wife, despite her resistance, into the room.)

FRU LINNE. Good evening!

NORA. Christina!

HELMER. How, fru Linne, are you here at such a late hour?

FRU LINNE. Yes, sorry, I really wanted to see Nora's costume.

NORA. So you all sat and waited for me?

FRU LINNE. Yes, I, unfortunately, was late, you were already upstairs, well, I didn’t want to leave without looking at you.

HELMER (taking off the shawl from Nora). Well, take a good look at her. Right, worth a look. What's not good, fru Linne?

FRU LINNE. Yes, I confess...

HELMER. Isn't it amazingly good? Everyone there agreed with one voice. But she's a terrible stubborn, this sweet baby. What can you do? Imagine, I almost had to take her out of there by force.

NORA. Ah, Torvald, you will repent that you did not let me have fun for at least half an hour.

HELMER. Listen, Fru Linne! She dances the tarantella... makes a splash... well-deserved... although the performance was, perhaps, too artless, that is, more natural than it is, strictly speaking, desirable from the point of view of art. Well, let it be! The main thing is that she made a splash, a huge sensation. And let her stay after that? Decrease the impact? No thanks. I took my lovely Capricciano—a capricious Caprician, one might say—by the arm, marched through the hall, bowed in general, and—as they say in the novels—the beautiful vision vanished. The end must always be spectacular, Mrs. Linne. But how can I explain this to Nora? No way. Phew, it's hot in here! (Throws down the dominoes and opens the door to the office.) E! Yes, it's dark there. Yes of course. Sorry… (He goes to his room and lights candles there.)

NORA (quick whisper, panting). Oh well?

FRU LINNE (quiet). I spoke to him.

NORA. And what?

FRU LINNE. Nora... you must tell your husband everything.

FRU LINNE. You have nothing to fear from Krogstad. But you have to say everything.

NORA. I will not say.

FRU LINNE. So the letter says.

NORA. Thank you Christina I know what to do now. Shh!

HELMER (included). Well, fru Linne, have you admired her?

FRU LINNE. Yes, yes, and now I'm sorry.

HELMER. Already? And this is your work, knitting?

FRU LINNE (takes a job). Yes, thank you. Almost forgot.

HELMER. So do you knit?

FRU LINNE. It happens.

HELMER. You know, you'd better embroider.

FRU LINNE. Here's how? Why?

HELMER. Yes, it's much prettier. You see: they hold the work like this, with their left hand, and with their right they make stitches ... like this ... with light, free strokes ... Isn't it?

FRU LINNE. I think, yes…

HELMER. Knitting, on the contrary, cannot come out beautifully; always kind of clumsy. Look: these clenched hands... these knitting needles... up and down... some kind of Chinese... Ah, what great champagne was served there!

FRU LINNE. So farewell, Nora, and don't be stubborn any more.

HELMER. Well said, Mrs. Linne!

FRU LINNE. Good night, Mr. Director.

HELMER (walking her to the door). Good night Good Night. Hope you get home safely. I'd love to... but you're not far away. Good night Good Night. Fru Linne leaves, he locks the door behind her and returns. Finally got her out. Terribly boring person.

NORA. Are you very tired, Torvald?

HELMER. No, nothing.

NORA. And you don't want to sleep?

HELMER. Not at all. On the contrary, I am unusually lively. And you? Yes, you look rather tired and sleepy.

NORA. Yes, I am very tired. And soon I will fall asleep.

HELMER. Here you see! So I did well that we didn't stay longer.

NORA. Ah, you are doing well.

HELMER (kissing her forehead). Well, the lark spoke like a human being. Did you notice how Rank was animated today?

NORA. Yes? Is it? I didn't get to talk to him.

HELMER. And almost me too. But I haven't seen him in such a good mood for a long time. (Looks at her for a minute, then comes closer to her.) Hm! .. However, how wonderful to find yourself at home again. Oh, you charming young beauty!

NORA. Don't look at me like that, Torvald!

HELMER. What? Am I not allowed to look at my most precious treasure? To all this beauty that belongs to me, to me alone, all of it!

NORA (going to the other side of the table). You don't have to talk to me like that today.

HELMER (following her). You still have the tarantella in your blood, I see. And that's why you are even more charming ... Do you hear? .. The guests begin to disperse. (Lowering voice.) Nora... soon everything will be quiet in the house.

NORA. Hope.

HELMER. Isn't that right, my love? Oh, you know, when I'm with you in society, you know why I don't talk much with you there, stay away from you, only steal a glance at you? .. Do you know why? Because I imagine that you are my secret love, that we are secretly engaged to you and no one even suspects that there is something between us.

NORA. Yes, yes, yes, I know that all your thoughts are around me.

HELMER. And when we are about to leave and I throw a shawl over your tender, youthful shoulders ... on this wonderful bend of the neck from the back of the head ... I imagine that you are my young bride ... that we are right from under the crown ... that I will introduce you for the first time now into my home... for the first time I'll be alone with you... alone with you, my young, trembling charm! All this evening I had no other thought, no other desire, except for you. When I saw how you rush about and beckon in a tarantella ... my blood began to boil ... I could no longer ... That's why I took you away from there so early ...

NORA. Go, Torvald... Leave me alone. I don't want…

HELMER. What does it mean? Are you teasing me, little Nora? I don’t want to?.. Or am I not your husband?..

A knock on the front door.

NORA (shuddering). Do you hear?

HELMER (turns around). Who's there?

RANK (behind doors). It's me. May I have a minute?

HELMER (quietly, annoyed). And what does he need now? (Loud.) Now. (Goes and unlocks the door.) It's nice that you didn't pass us by.

HELMER. It seems that you were well upstairs today, comfortable.

RANK. Amazing. And why not? Why not take from life everything that it gives? In any case, as long as possible and as long as possible. The wine was excellent...

HELMER. Especially champagne!

RANK. And did you notice? I just can't believe how much I could pour into myself.

NORA. Torvald also drank a lot of champagne today.

NORA. Yes, and after that he is always in a great mood.

RANK. Well, why not have a bite in the evening after a useful day?

HELMER. Well spent! I, unfortunately, cannot boast of this.

RANK (hitting him on the shoulder). And I can!

NORA. Dr. Rank, did you undertake any scientific research today?

RANK. That's it.

HELMER. Te-te-te! Little Nora talking about scientific research?

NORA. And congratulations on your success?

RANK. No, you can.

NORA. So the result is good?

RANK. The best thing for both doctor and patient is confidence.

NORA (quickly, inquisitively). Confidence?

RANK. Complete confidence. Well, how not to kutnut after that?

NORA. Yes, you did the right thing, doctor.

HELMER. And I'll say the same. If only you didn't have to pay for it tomorrow.

RANK. Well, nothing in this life comes for nothing!

NORA. Dr. Rank, you're a masquerade hunter, aren't you?

RANK. Yes, if there are a lot of funny masks ...

NORA. Listen, what should we dress up for next time?

HELMER. Oh you windmill! Are you thinking about next time?

RANK. We are with you? I'll tell you now. You are a darling of happiness ...

HELMER. And you come up with an outfit that would clearly express this idea.

RANK. May your wife appear as she always is in life ...

HELMER. Here it is aptly said. Well, have you figured out what you will be yourself?

RANK. Yes mate, I've got it figured out.

HELMER. Well?

RANK. At the next masquerade, I will appear invisible ...

HELMER. That's such an invention!

RANK. There is such a big black hat, or have you not heard of an invisibility hat? It is worth putting it on - and the person is as if it had not happened.

HELMER (suppressing a smile). Yes it is.

RANK. But I completely forgot what I actually came for. Helmer, give me a cigar, dark Havana.

HELMER. With the greatest pleasure. (Offers a cigarette case.)

RANK (takes one and cuts off the tip). Thank you.

NORA (strike a match). And let me offer you a spark.

RANK. Thank you.

She holds a match in front of him and he lights a cigarette.

And goodbye!

HELMER. Farewell, farewell, friend!

NORA. Sleep well, Dr. Rank.

RANK. Thanks for the wish.

NORA. Wish me the same.

RANK. To you? Well, if you want a restful sleep. And thanks for the spark. (Nods to both of them and leaves.)

NORA (absently). Perhaps.

Helmer takes his keys out of his pocket and goes into the hall.

Torvald... why are you?

HELMER. We need to empty the box. It's already full. There is not enough room for the morning papers...

NORA. Do you want to work at night?

HELMER. You know I don't want... What is it? Someone's been messing around with the lock!

NORA. With a lock?

HELMER. Yes, sure. What's stuck in there? We can't let the servants... Yes, there's a broken hairpin. Nora, your hairpin!

NORA (fast). Oh, that's right, kids...

HELMER. Well, they need to be discouraged from it. Hm! .. Hm! .. Well, finally managed to unlock it. (Takes out letters from the drawer and shouts into the kitchen.) Elene! Elene! We must turn off the lamp in the front. (Enters the room and locks the front door, showing Nora a stack of letters.) See how much you've got! (Listening through the letters.) What is it?

NORA (near the window). Letter! Don't, don't, Torvald!

HELMER. Two business cards from Rank.

NORA. From Rank?

HELMER (looks at them). "M.D. Rank". They were lying on top: apparently, he put them in when he left.

NORA. Is there anything written on them?

HELMER. There is a black cross above the name. Look. What a terrible fantasy! Accurately announces his own death.

NORA. The way it is.

HELMER. What? Do you know anything? Did he say anything to you?

NORA. Yes. Since we received these cards, it means that he said goodbye to us. Now lock himself up and die.

HELMER. My poor friend! .. I knew that I would not be able to save him for long. But so soon ... And hide from everyone, like a wounded beast ...

NORA. Time to be - it's better without further ado. Is that right, Torvald?

HELMER (walks back and forth). We got along so well with him. Somehow I can't imagine that it won't. He, his suffering, his loneliness created some kind of light cloudy background for our happiness, bright as the sun ... Well, maybe it's for the best. For him, anyway. (Stops.) Yes, perhaps, for us, Nora. Now you and I will be alone - completely for each other. (Embracing her.) My love... I keep feeling like I'm not holding you tight enough. You know, Nora… more than once I wished that you were in imminent trouble and that I could put my life and blood on the line - and everything, everything for you.

NORA (releasing, firmly, resolutely). Read your letters, Helmer.

HELMER. No, no, not today. I want to be with you, my beloved, with you.

NORA. Knowing that your friend is dying?

HELMER. You're right. It excited both of us. Something ugly invaded our relationship - the thought of death, of decay. We must first get rid of it. For now, let's go each to ourselves ...

NORA (wrapping her arms around his neck). Torvald... good night! Good night!

HELMER (kissing her forehead). Good night, my little songbird! Sleep well, Nora. Now I will read the letters. (Goes into the study with letters and closes the door behind him.)

NORA (with a wandering gaze, staggers around the room, grabs Helmer's domino, throws it on himself and whispers quickly, hoarsely, intermittently). Never see him again. Never. Never. Never. (Throws a shawl over her head.) And never see the kids either. And them too. Never. Never. Never... Oh! Right into the dark, icy water... into the bottomless depth... Oh! It would rather be over, rather... Now he has taken the letter... he is reading... No, no, not yet... Torvald, goodbye! And you and the kids... (He wants to rush into the hall.)

At that moment, the office door swings open, and Helmer appears on the threshold with a printed letter in his hands.

HELMER. Nora!

NORA (screams loudly). A!

HELMER. What is this? Do you know what is in this letter?

NORA. I know. Let me in! Let go!

HELMER (holding her). Where are you going?

NORA (trying to get out). And don't think about saving me, Torvald.

HELMER (recoiling). Is it true! So, is it true what he writes? Terrible! No no! It's impossible for this to be true.

NORA. This is true. I loved you more than anything in the world.

HELMER. Oh, go with your absurd subterfuges!

NORA (taking a step towards him). Torvald!

HELMER. Unhappy… What have you done?!

NORA. Let me go. You can't have to pay for me. You don't have to take it upon yourself.

HELMER. Don't do comedy! (Locks the front door with a key.) Don't move until you give me a report. Do you understand what you did? Answer! You understand?

NORA (looks at him point-blank and speaks with a frozen face). Yes, now I begin to understand - completely.

HELMER (walking around the room). Oh, what a terrible awakening! All these eight years... she, my joy, my pride... was a hypocrite, a liar... worse, worse... a criminal! Oh, what a bottomless abyss of dirt and disgrace! Ugh! Ugh!

Nora is silent and, as before, does not look away from him.

(Stops in front of her.) I should have anticipated the possibility of such a thing. Should have been foreseen. All the frivolous principles of your father... Be quiet. You have inherited all the frivolous principles of your father. No religion, no morality, no sense of duty ... Oh, how punished I was for having looked at his case through my fingers then. For you. And that's how you thanked me.

NORA. Yes, that's how.

HELMER. Now you've ruined all my happiness. Ruined my whole future. Horror to think! I am in the hands of an unscrupulous man. He can do what he wants with me, demand anything from me, order me, push me around as he pleases. I dare not utter a word. And fall into such a hole, perish in this way because of a windy woman!

NORA. Since I will not be in the world, you are free.

HELMER. Ah, no tricks! And your father always had such phrases ready. What good would it do me if you weren't around, as you say. Not the slightest. He can still solve the case. And if he does, I'll probably be suspected of knowing about your crime. Perhaps they will think that I myself stood behind your back, that it was I who taught you! And for all this I can thank you! And I carried you in my arms all the time. Do you understand now what you did to me?

NORA (with cold calmness). Yes.

HELMER. It's so unbelievable that I just can't come to my senses. But you have to try to get out somehow. Take off your shawl. Take it off, I tell you! You'll have to appease him somehow. The matter must be hushed up at all costs. As for you and me, we mustn't even show it: we must hold on as if everything is going on in the old way. But this, of course, is only for humans. You will stay in the house, that goes without saying. But you will not raise children. I dare not entrust them to you... Oh! And I have to say this to the one I loved so much and who else ... But this is the end. From now on, there is no longer any talk of happiness, but only about saving the remnants, fragments, decorum! Bell in front. (Starting.) Who is this? So late. Is it really necessary to wait for the most terrible? .. Is it really him? .. Hide, Nora! Say sick!

Nora doesn't move. Helmer goes and opens the front door.

SERVANT (semi-dressed, from the front). Letter to the lady.

HELMER. Come here. (Seizes the letter and closes the door.) Yes, from him. You won't get. I'll read it myself.

NORA. Read.

HELMER (near the lamp). I barely have the heart. Perhaps we have already died, and you and I ... No, you have to find out. (He feverishly opens the envelope, runs his eyes over a few lines, looks at the paper enclosed in the letter, and exclaims with joy.) Nora!

Nora looks at him questioningly.

Nora... No, let me read it again... Yes, yes, yes. Saved! Nora, I'm saved!

NORA. And I?

HELMER. And you, of course. We are both saved, you and me. Look! He returns your debt to you. He writes that he repents and regrets ... that a happy turn in his fate ... Well, it doesn’t matter what he writes there. We're saved, Nora! Nobody can do anything to you. Ah, Nora, Nora!.. No, first destroy all this muck. Let's see... (Glances at the receipt.) No, I don't want to watch. Let all this be just a dream for me. (Tears both the letter and the promissory note to shreds, throws it into the stove and watches how everything burns.) Like this. Now there is no trace left ... He wrote that you had been since Christmas Eve ... Oh, what a terrible three days those were for you, Nora!

NORA. I fought hard these three days.

HELMER. And she suffered and saw no other outcome than ... No, there is no need to remember all this horror. Let us now only rejoice and repeat: everything is gone, gone! Listen, Nora, you don't seem to understand that it's all over. What is it ... You seem to be petrified? Oh, poor little Nora, I understand, I understand. You can't believe that I forgave you. But I forgave you, Nora, I swear I forgave you everything. I know that everything you have done, you have done out of love for me.

NORA. It's right.

HELMER. You loved me as a wife should love her husband. You just didn't get the hang of it. But do you really think that I will love you less because you are unable to act on your own? No, no, feel free to lean on me, I will be your adviser, leader. I wouldn't be a man if it wasn't for this feminine helplessness that made you twice as sweet in my eyes. Think no more of those harsh words that escaped me at the moment of my first fright, when it seemed to me that everything around me was collapsing. I have forgiven you, Nora. I swear to you, I have forgiven you.

NORA. Thank you for your forgiveness. (Goes out the door to the right.)

HELMER. No, wait... (Looking over there.) What do you want?

NORA (from another room). Throw off the fancy dress.

HELMER (at the door). Yes, yes, fine. And try to calm down, come to your senses, my poor frightened songbird. Lean calmly on me, I have wide wings to cover you. (Walks around the door.) Oh, how nice and cozy it is here, Nora. Here is your shelter, here I will cherish you like a downtrodden dove, which I rescued unharmed from the claws of a hawk. I can calm your poor trembling heart. It will work out little by little, Nora, trust me. Tomorrow everything will seem completely different to you, and soon everything will go back to the old way, I won’t have to repeat to you for a long time that I have forgiven you. You will feel it for yourself. How can you think that it could now occur to me to push you away or even reproach you for anything? Oh, you don't know the heart of a real husband, Nora. It is inexpressibly sweet and pleasant for a husband to know that he has forgiven his wife ... forgave him from the bottom of his heart. From this, she seems to become doubly his own - his inalienable treasure. He seems to give her life a second time. She becomes, so to speak, both his wife and child. And now you will be both for me, my helpless, confused creature. Do not be afraid of anything, Nora, just be sincere with me, and I will be both your will and your conscience ... What is this? Are you not going to bed? Changed clothes?

NORA (in ordinary house dress). Yes, Torvald, changed clothes.

HELMER. What for? At this late hour?

NORA. I can't sleep tonight...

HELMER. But dear Nora...

NORA (looks at his watch). It's not that late. Sit down, Torvald. You and I have something to talk about. (Sits down at the table.)

HELMER. Nora... what is it? This frozen expression...

NORA. Sit down. The conversation will be long. I have a lot to say to you.

HELMER (sitting down at the table across from her). You scare me, Nora. And I don't understand you.

NORA. In fact of the matter. Do you understand me. And I didn't understand you...until tonight. No, don't interrupt me. You just listen to me ... Let's settle the score, Torvald.

HELMER. What are you talking about?

NORA (after a short pause). One thing does not strike you, right now, when we are sitting like this with you?

HELMER. What could it be?

NORA. We have been married for eight years. Doesn't it occur to you that this is the first time you and I, husband and wife, have sat down to talk seriously?

HELMER. Seriously...in what sense?

NORA. For eight whole years ... more ... from the first minute of our acquaintance, we never once exchanged a serious word about serious things.

HELMER. What was it for me to dedicate you to my business concerns, which you still could not ease for me.

NORA. I'm not talking about business concerns. I say that we never had a serious conversation at all, we never tried to discuss anything together, to delve into something serious.

HELMER. Well, dear Nora, was it your part?

NORA. Here we got to the point. You never understood me... I was treated very unfairly, Torvald. First dad, then you.

HELMER. What! We two?.. When we both loved you more than anyone in the world?

NORA (shaking head). You never loved me. You only liked being in love with me.

HELMER. Nora, what are those words?

NORA. Yes, that's how it is, Torvald. When I lived at home, with my dad, he laid out all his views to me, and I had the same ones; if I had others, I hid them - he would not like it. He called me his doll-daughter, amused me as I am with my dolls. Then I came to your house ....

HELMER. What an expression when you talk about our marriage!

NORA (deadpan). I want to say that I passed from my father's hands into yours. You arranged everything to your liking, and I got your taste, or I just pretended that it was so - I don’t know exactly. Probably both. Sometimes it happened like this, sometimes like that. When I look back now, it seems to me that I led the most miserable life here, living from day to day! .. They gave me water, food, clothes, and my business was to entertain, amuse you, Torvald. This is what my life has been like. You made it so. You and dad have a lot to blame for me. It's your fault that nothing came out of me.

HELMER. Nora! What nonsense! What ingratitude! Weren't you happy here?

NORA. No never. I imagined that I was, but in fact it never was.

HELMER. You weren't... you weren't happy!

NORA. No, just fun. And you were always so sweet to me, affectionate. But our whole house was just a big nursery. I was here your doll-wife, as at home with dad I was daddy's doll-daughter. And the children were already my dolls. I liked that you played and played with me, as they liked that I play and play with them. This is what our marriage consisted of, Torvald.

HELMER. There is, perhaps, a grain of truth, no matter how exaggerated or pompous. But now things are going to be different for us. The time for fun is over! It's time to take up education.

NORA. For whose? For me or the kids?

HELMER. For yours and theirs, dear Nora.

NORA. Oh, Torvald, it's not for you to raise a real wife out of me.

HELMER. And you say it?

NORA. And I… am I prepared to raise children?

HELMER. Nora!

NORA. Didn't you yourself just say that you dare not entrust me with this task?

HELMER. In a moment of irritation. Is it possible to pay attention to this!

NORA. No, you reasoned correctly. This task is not for me. I need to solve another problem first. We must try to educate ourselves. And I'm not looking for help from you. I need to do this alone. That's why I'm leaving you.

HELMER (jumping up). What did you say?

NORA. I need to be left alone to figure out myself and everything else. That's why I can't stay with you.

HELMER. Nora! Nora!

NORA. And I'll leave now. Christina, right, will give me a lodging for the night ...

HELMER. You're out of your mind! Who will let you! I forbid!

NORA. Now in vain to forbid me anything. I'll take only mine with me. I won't take anything from you, not now, not after.

HELMER. What madness is this!

NORA. Tomorrow I will go home ... that is, to my hometown. It will be easier for me to settle down there.

HELMER. Oh, you blinded, inexperienced creature!

NORA. One must gain some experience, Torvald.

HELMER. Leave home, husband, children! And don't you think about what people will say?

NORA. I have nothing to pay attention to. I only know that I need it.

HELMER. No, this is outrageous! You are so capable of neglecting your most sacred duties!

NORA. What do you consider my most sacred duties?

HELMER. And it still needs to be said to you? Or do you have no obligations to your husband and to your children?

NORA. I have others equally sacred.

HELMER. You don't have those! What is it?

NORA. Duties to yourself.

HELMER. You are first and foremost a wife and mother.

NORA. I don't believe in it anymore. I think that first of all I am a human, just like you, or at least I should try to become a human. I know that the majority will be on your side, Torvald, and that the books say the same thing. But I can no longer be satisfied with what the majority says and what the books say. I need to think about these things myself and try to figure them out.

HELMER. As if your position in your own house is not clear even without that? Don't you have reliable guidance on such matters? No religion?

NORA. Ah, Torvald, I don't know very well what religion is.

HELMER. What are you saying?

NORA. I know this only from the words of Pastor Hansen, where I was preparing for confirmation. He said that religion is so-and-so. When I am released from all these fetters, I am left alone, I will figure it out. I want to see if Pastor Hansen was telling the truth, or at least if it could be true for me.

HELMER. No, this is simply unheard of from such a young woman! But if religion cannot reason with you, then let me hurt your conscience. Do you have a moral sense? Or - answer me - and you do not have it?

NORA. You know, Torvald, that's not easy to answer. I'm right, I don't know that either. I'm just like in the woods in all these matters. I only know that I judge everything differently than you do. They tell me that the laws are not at all what I thought. But for these laws to be correct, I can’t understand this at all. It turns out that a woman has no right to spare her dying old father, no right to save her husband's life! I don't believe this.

HELMER. You judge like a child. You don't understand the society you live in.

NORA. Yes, I don't understand. That's what I want to take a look at. I need to find out for myself who is right - society or me.

HELMER. You are sick, Nora. You have a fever. I'm willing to think you've lost your mind.

NORA. Never before have I been in a more sound mind and firmer memory.

HELMER. And you, in your right mind and memory, leave your husband and children?

HELMER. Then one thing is left to guess.

NORA. Namely?

HELMER. That you don't love me anymore.

NORA. Yes, that's the whole point.

HELMER. Nora... And you say it!

NORA. Ah, it hurts me, Torvald. You were always so nice to me. But there's nothing I can do about it. I do not love you anymore.

HELMER (with an effort to overcome himself). Did you also decide this in your right mind and solid memory?

NORA. Yes, quite healthy. That's why I don't want to stay here.

HELMER. And can you also explain to me the reason why I lost your love?

NORA. Yes, I can. It happened tonight, when the miracle kept itself waiting. I saw that you are not who I thought you were.

HELMER. Explain yourself better, I don't understand you at all.

NORA. I patiently waited for eight whole years. Lord, I knew that miracles do not happen every day. But this horror hit me. And I was unshakably sure: now a miracle will happen. While Krogstad's letter lay there, it never crossed my mind that you could surrender to his terms. I was unshakably sure that you would tell him: announce at least to the whole world. And when that would happen...

HELMER. Well, what then? When I would betray my own wife to shame and reproach! ..

NORA. Whenever that happened... I was so unshakably sure that you would step forward and take it all on yourself - you would say: I am the one responsible.

HELMER. Nora!

NORA. Are you saying that I would never accept such a sacrifice from you? By itself. But what would my assurances mean in comparison with yours? .. Here is the miracle that I was waiting for with such trepidation. And to stop him, I wanted to commit suicide.

HELMER. I would gladly work for you day and night, Nora... endure grief and need for you. But who will sacrifice his honor even for a loved one?

NORA. Hundreds of thousands of women donated.

HELMER. Ah, you judge and speak like a foolish child.

NORA. Let it be. But you don't judge or speak like someone I could rely on. When your fear has passed - not for me, but for yourself - when all the danger for you has passed, it was as if nothing had happened to you. In the old way, I remained your bird, a lark, a chrysalis, which you only have to handle even more carefully, since it turned out to be so fragile, fragile. (Rises.) Torvald, at that moment it became clear to me that all these eight years I had lived with a stranger and had three children with him ... Oh, I can’t remember! It would have torn itself to shreds!

NORA. Such as I am now, I am not fit to be your wife.

HELMER. I have the strength to be different.

NORA. Perhaps - if they take the doll from you.

HELMER. To part ... to part with you! .. No, no, Nora, I can’t imagine!

NORA (goes right). The more inevitable it is. (He returns with outerwear and a small bag in his hands, which he puts on a chair near the table.)

HELMER. Nora, Nora, not now! Wait at least until the morning.

NORA (putting on coat). I can't sleep with a stranger.

HELMER. But couldn't we live like brother and sister?

NORA (tying hat ribbons). You know very well that it wouldn't last long... (Puts on a shawl.) Farewell, Torvald. I will not say goodbye to children. I know they are in better hands than mine. They don't need a mother like me now.

HELMER. But someday, Nora... someday?

NORA. How can I know? I don't know at all what will come of me.

HELMER. But you are my wife now and in the future - whatever you become.

NORA. Listen, Torvald ... Since a wife leaves her husband, like me, then, as I heard, he is legally free from all obligations towards her. In any case, I free you completely. Don't feel bound by anything, and neither will I. Both sides should be completely free. Here is your ring. Give me mine.

HELMER. And that's it?

NORA. And this.

HELMER. Here.

NORA. So. Now it's over. This is where I'll put the keys. The servants know everything about the house better than I do. Tomorrow, when I'm gone, Christina will come to pack the things I brought with me from home. Have them sent to me.

HELMER. Of course of course! Nora, won't you ever think of me?

NORA. No, it’s true, I will often remember you, and the children, and the house.

HELMER. May I write to you, Nora?

NORA. No never. This is impossible.

HELMER. But after all, it will be necessary to send you ...

NORA. Absolutely nothing, nothing.

HELMER. Help you in case of need.

NORA. No, I say. I won't take anything from a stranger.

HELMER. Nora, will I forever remain only a stranger to you?

NORA (takes his bag). Ah, Torvald, then a miracle of miracles must be accomplished.

HELMER. Tell me what!

NORA. Such that both you and I have changed so much ... No, Torvald, I no longer believe in miracles.

HELMER. And I will believe. Finish the deal! Changed enough to...

NORA. So that our cohabitation could become marriage. Goodbye. (Leaves through the front.)

HELMER (falls on a chair by the door and covers his face with his hands). Nora! Nora! (Looks around and gets up.) Empty. She's not here anymore. (A ray of hope lights up his face.) But - a miracle of miracles ?!

From below there is a rumble of slamming gates.