Gülich.—And, dear ladies, that patriotic society also has a secret emblem.
| Mrs. Roller.— | Was?[1] | |
| Mrs. Roubínek.— | Ach! | |
| Roubínek.— | And the honorable authorities permit it! | |
| Roubal (Peevishly).— | What sort of an emblem! |
Gülich.—Georgine, die neue, moderne Blume[2]. Or, as they call it, dahlia.
Mrs. Roller.—Ah, now I understand! Last fall a stranger came here asking for Mrs. Rettig the magistrate's wife, and before he called on her he sent her a bouquet, lauter Georginen.[3]
Roubal.—Secret societies—
Gülich.—Whoever wishes to become a member must pass an examination aus Jungmann's grossem böhmischen Lexicon.[4]
Mrs. Roller (Glancing to the right).—Ah, the wife of Magistrate Rettig is coming.
Gülich (To Roubal).—Achtung,[5] steward, mind your grammar, look our for your declensions!
Roubal.—Let me alone; I—
Mrs. Roller.—Und dann sagt man hochböhmisch[6] "been" not "bin."
Mrs. Roubínek.—And not ain't but isn't.
Roubal.—How happy that makes me!
Roubínek.—So we know what grammar is. Been and isn't! Hm, and good morning! Zizka and the Emperor Joseph were the best of Cechs. "I wish you good morning;" what a phrase! From time immemorial it has been, "Morning to you."
Roubal.—It's enough to make a man furious! I'd like to—! "Ex-qui-site colt!" Gehorsamster Diener[7]—(Goes out quickly on the left.)
Scene XIII
Mrs. Rettig; the same, without Roubal
Mrs. Rettig (Comes in from the right. She is a woman of fifty, in holiday attire; on her breast is a gold cross set with jewels, hanging from a gold chain. Graciously).—Good morning.
- ↑ What?
- ↑ The dahlia, the new, modern flower.
- ↑ Of nothing but dahlias.
- ↑ Jungmann's Bohemian-German Dictionary is one of the great books of the Bohemian revival. It was published in 1835–39, so that its mention here, in a play of which the action is supposed to occur in 1836, is a slight anachronism.
- ↑ Attention
- ↑ And then they say in literary Bohemian.
- ↑ Your most humble servant.
