Scene IV
Dr. Gulich, Roubal (a Steward).
Dr. Gulich enters on the left in the foreground. He is a man over fifty, of a sallow complexion, with side whiskers and hair curling slightly over his forehead. He is dressed in a fashionable brown dress-coat and wears a black satin neckerchief.
Gülich.—Gehorsamster Diener,[1] steward. Have you also come for the morning promenade? (Waits for him to approach.)
Roubal, who has come in from the rear, walks toward Gulich. He too is a man of over fifty, with a full, red face and light yellow hair. He wears a blue dress-coat,, with yellow buttons, tight trousers, high top boots, and a beaver hat. A huge watch fob swings from the pocket of his white flowered waistcoat. He walks slowly with his hands behind him. He has a gruff way of speaking.
Gülich.—How did you sleep?
Roubal.—I? I didn't sleep much; I went to bed late, it was past eleven o'clock. The count has come home unexpectedly from his world tour.
Gülich.—So I hear. He arrived alone with just a huntsman.
Roubal.—That was a commotion!
Gülich.—How does the count look, after his illness on the trip?
Roubal.—Thin as a rail and brown as a gypsy.
Gülich.—No wonder, after so long a journey.
Roubal (With evident incredulity).—They say, clear to Africa.
Gülich.—And why not?
Roubal.—They say, clear to the Red Sea; they say he has brought back a sample of it in a bottle.
Gülich (With a malicious smile).—And is it red?
Roubal.—I haven't seen it. O, I know how things will go now; nothing but hunting up things to show. (Suddenly.) But it certainly paid the hunter to go.
Gülich.—Retainer Valenta?
Roubal.—A retainer no longer. Because he had courage and started out with the count, and also because he cared for the count during his illness—
Gülich.—He has received a huntsman's house.
Roubal.—In Lubná. The count told him yesterday when they arrived here.
- ↑ Your most humble servant.
