Little Eyolf
LITTLE EYOLF. By Henrik Ibsen Translated, With an Introduction, by William Archer INTRODUCTION. Little Eyolf was written in Christiania during 1894, and published in Copenhagen on December 11 in that year. By this time Ibsen's correspondence has become so scanty as to afford us no clue to what may be called the biographical antecedents of the play. Even of anecdotic history very little attaches to it. For only one of the characters has a definite model been suggested. Ibsen himself told his French translator, Count Prozor, that the original of the Rat-Wife was "a little old woman who came to kill rats at the school where he was educated. She carried a little dog in a bag, and it was said that children had been drowned through following her." This means that Ibsen did not himself adapt to his uses the legend so familiar to us in Browning's _Pied Piper of Hamelin_, but found it ready adapted by the popular imagination of his native
"She just looked at you as though you were a stranger. You needn't be
afraid of _her_. She's too stupid to put two and two together."
"She must know about the letter, though. What I can't see is how she
managed to stick here in spite of it. Every room here was spoken for
last June. Mrs. Weatherbee told me so. I'll bet Elsie's had to go to
another campus house. It's a shame! That letter was meant to do two
things. Get Jane Allen out of the Hall and Elsie in. Don't stop to talk
with old Weatherbee, Maizie," was Marian's injunction. "We'll just say
'How do you do. We're back,' and hustle upstairs. Be sure to notice if
she seems as cordial as ever. If she is, it will be a good sign that
we're safe."
Meanwhile, out on the veranda, Adrienne was remarking under her breath
to Jane:
"Did you observe the face of Marian Seaton? Ah, but she is the guilty
one!"
"I noticed," replied Jane dryly. "I was determined to make her look at
me, and she did. It upset her to see me here. She wasn't expecting it."
"It is the annoyance that she has returned," sighed Adrienne. "All has
been so delightful without her."
"I'm going to forget that she's here," avowed Jane sturdily. "Come on,
LITTLE EYOLF. By Henrik Ibsen Translated, With an Introduction, by William Archer INTRODUCTION. Little Eyolf was written in Christiania during 1894, and published in Copenhagen on December 11 in that year. By this time Ibsen's correspondence has become so scanty as to afford us no clue to what may be called the biographical antecedents of the play. Even of anecdotic history very little attaches to it. For only one of the characters has a definite model been suggested. Ibsen himself told his French translator, Count Prozor, that the original of the Rat-Wife was "a little old woman who came to kill rats at the school where he was educated. She carried a little dog in a bag, and it was said that children had been drowned through following her." This means that Ibsen did not himself adapt to his uses the legend so familiar to us in Browning's _Pied Piper of Hamelin_, but found it ready adapted by the popular imagination of his native