„■& ^ ^, V THE HATE BREEDERS THE HATE BREEDERS A DRAMA OF WAR AND PEACE IN ONE ACT AND FIVE SCENES By EDNAH AIKEN Author of The River With an Introduction by Henri La Fontaine, President of the International Bureau of Peace INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright 1916 TaE Bobbs-Merrill Company All Dramatic Rights Reserved t*r<* * **.«& PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. SOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN, N. Y. MAR 29 1916 ©CI.D 43620 To "My Son" My "Max" Douglas Sedgwick Aiken INTRODUCTION Where does the spirit float to on the seething sea of anesthesia? Does it dream, or lose itself, or remem- ber? The German soldier in this play remembers! He lives through his revolt against the stupendous stu- pidity of man, he relives his rebellion against the tricks which lure men to the brilliant death — armies singing, armies cheering in a rapture of pride and might, flags unfurled and waving, in a glory of sun- shine and color! He passes again through the grim reality, no more a splendid picture, but a tragedy of blood and groans, of remorse and death. Terrible in its swift antithesis the unusual and sug- gestive work before us, enriching American and world literature alike, new in the form adopted, new in its crude realism, it avoids a declamatory tone, and re- mains human throughout. A nightmare of despair ! To the soldier, struck down in the fight, no other thought is conceivable than to escape by death without awaking from the hell into which the entire world seemed plunged. What other hope could he have, sur- rounded as he is by sufferings unspeakable, himself, his world, victims ! How could he hope for better times when force is worshiped as the almighty power? Logically, no idea can prevail in his anguished mind but the idea of annihilation, the idea of a collective annihilation of the peoples, of an earth rid of men and freed of crimes. We, however, the bystanders and onlookers, far off or near the terrible holocaust, we to whom leisure is allowed to ponder and speculate, are we unable to draw another conclusion? Are we ready indeed to agree with the maimed warrior and to support his separate wish? Is death, for the world, the goal of six thousand years of struggle and illusion? INTRODUCTION We have subdued mountains and seas, fire and air, but we have not subdued ourselves. And the earth became a hell by our common and ruthless will. And the kings, emperors and rulers became the satraps of death. Are we bound forever to repeat, again and again, that war is war, that there was always war, and that there will always be, that men are not masters of their destinies, that freedom for the peoples is a vain dream, that brotherhood is a farce, that races which are long- ing for peace are doomed to be slaughtered, looted, crushed and killed ; that universal hatred is the normal status of mankind? Such are the questions, pressing and countless and confusing, which will pour down on the readers of the following pages. What answer will be theirs ? Will they claim that they are powerless and that it is wasted time to oppose those who want war? Or will they grasp at last that numerous are those who abhor the bloody game; that the crowds, by their cowardice and their dumbness alone, have given power to their war- like leaders? Will they be the trumpets of anger and contempt which will throw down the walls of preju- dice and ignorance? At all the crossroads, men and women have preached this gospel, but to them the masses have listened with deaf ears. Here it is, as it is, this cursed war, in this play, with its rapid and striking scenes. May it arouse ideas, and awake hearts and brains, and instil in men the definite and peremptory will to wipe out forever the crime made of crimes, the breeder of crimes, the crime war is ! Henri La Fontaine, President of the International Bureau of Peace, Professor of International Law. THE HATE BREEDERS THE HATE BREEDERS FIRST SCENE The interior of a chateau near Louvain. The room, distinguished by a fine renaissance mantel, and deco- rated in the style of Louis Quinze, makes an incongru- ous operating-room. An operating table is in the center of the room, in disordered and unpleasantly suggestive condition. The room opens at right into a hall. There are two doors at left. The windows at the rear give a distant view of Louvain. Every little while lurid lights flame up, turning the eyes of the nurses and doctors with pitiful, or gratified, comprehension to- ward the blaze. The lights die down, and flame up again. Two Red Cross nurses, both German, are cleaning up after an operation which has just taken place. They hurry, in a scattered, nervous way, every light in the distance, every noise startling them and stopping their work. There is heard a loud explosion, not far distant. FIRST NURSE Dropping bloody towels that she had just picked up. r Abomb! SECOND NURSE ] Ach! Those fearful bombs ! THE HATE BREEDERS FIRST NURSE Not far off, that one ! ANOTHER NURSE Peering in from hall. Hurry up with this room. They're wait- ing for it. Sounds of screaming come through the open door. SECOND NURSE What's that? FIRST NURSE How near was that bomb? NURSE I didn't hear anything. Withdraws, closing the door after her. SECOND NURSE What was that noise? Screams — Retreating. THE HATE BREEDERS 3 FIRST NURSE One of the mad ones. They brought in another this morning. He's screamed ever since they brought him in. SECOND NURSE Pitifully, as though she were looking down on the wounded soldier. Really mad, you mean? Or out of his head, the poor dear? FIRST NURSE Mad, they said. They think he's not badly hurt. But he keeps on screaming. It gets on my nerves. They were going to give him the ray. SECOND NURSE Shivering as she returns to her work. The mad ones are the worst. FIRST NURSE Cleaning up vigorously the operating table. Do you wonder they go mad, the smells, the fearful sights, the noise? 4 THE HATE BREEDERS SECOND NURSE Clapping her hands over her ears as though to shut out memories. A ch, the noises ! HEAD NURSE Coming in. Is everything ready? FIRST NURSE Bustling around. A few minutes. It was a bloody mess. SECOND NURSE Stopping in front of one of the long win- dows. See! That light! A fire! It's growing brighter. It's a big fire. SECOND NURSE Looking up from the basket into which she is throwing rags and lint and gory ban- dages. Is it the mad one next? I don't like the mad ones! THE HATE BREEDERS 5 HEAD NURSE Set that basket out. I don't know. Each one as it comes. Was the floor washed up? FIRST NURSE We had to do it ourselves. As well as we could in the time they gave us. The char- woman ran off to see if it was her son that was brought in dying. We haven't seen her since. We were not given time to do it right. HEAD NURSE Looking around the room with an expres- sion of resignation in which determina- tion is blended. One can see that hers is a character of executive sternness tem- pered with sorrow and fatigue. She looks strained almost to the breaking point. Get yourselves ready. The two nurses go to a basin, and "scrub up" vigorously. HEAD NURSE Picking up scraps of lint here and there, and straightening things in a weary su- perficial way. 6 THE HATE BREEDERS This will have to do. The door opens, and a surgeon enters from the hall. SURGEON r All ready? HEAD NURSE Shrugging. It's not very fit! SURGEON We've got to get him on the table before he begins again. SECOND NURSE To herself, drying her arms. It is the mad one! SURGEON He's been screaming ever since we found him. He screamed until he fainted. Under the ray. He was pretending death when we found him. SECOND NURSE Clasping her hands with piteous compre- hension. THE HATE BREEDERS J He didn't want to live. He didn't want to get well ! Surgeon goes to basin to scrub as the door opens and a wheeled stretcher is brought in, followed by two men, a doctor and the head surgeon, and a white-swathed nurse. SECOND NURSE Her sympathy pulling her toward the stretcher, her eyes full of pitiful under- standing. Not mad! Not mad, the poor dear! The stretcher is moved toward the table as the head surgeon goes to a basin and falls briskly and cheerfully to the work of "scrubbing up." The white-swathed nurse waits on him, holding out steril- ized towels and green soap. She is all in white. Her head is turbaned in white gauze; her arms are bandaged with white gauze. FIRST NURSE Look! The fire! They are burning Louvain ! SECOND NURSE Crosses herself. Burning the churches! 8 THE HATE BREEDERS SECOND SURGEON Get him on the table. Take his feet. Careful if he comes to ! He's wild. SECOND NURSE Standing with crossed arms, and looking down on him pitifully. And only a boy! They unfasten his straps which bind him to the stretcher. They raise him care- fully, placing him on the table, feet fronting toward the stage. SECOND SURGEON Have a care ! He's coming to ! They all jump forward as the wounded soldier struggles to a sitting posture. He sits bolt upright, deadly pale. He glares at the nurses and surgeons, giv- ing the audience opportunity to see his face distinctly. He is a strong husky lad of about twenty-three. He wears a small mustache, and has three Heidel- berg scars across his cheeks, long pur- ple welts. The attendants try to get him down, but he fends them off with surprising strength. The doctor makes a sign to an attendant to get behind him, and together they support him from behind. THE HATE BREEDERS 9 SOLDIER Fiercely. I won't live. I tell you. I won't live. I won't go back to that hell. You shall not send me back. Hell, d'ye hear me say it? He glares wildly around at the strange faces that are staring at him. Hell! FIRST NURSE He is raving. SECOND NURSE Shaking her head, and speaking softly, as though to herself. The poor dear ! He is not raving ! SURGEON Coming over from basin, and rubbing his hands complacently. He is a tall bearded man with glasses, which make him look like an owl. He is the type of German doctor who has made up his mind to everything. He has furnished it, that complacent mind of his, as one furnishes a room in the prevailing, con- ventional mode ; has closed all the win- dows, and pulled to the curtains. There is a ready bland sympathy of lips and IO THE HATE BREEDERS eyes, a mask-like, unwarming sympathy, because he can not understand anything he does not want to believe. There, there, that's all right, my dear boy. You will be all right to-morrow. SOLDIER Trying to free himself from the strong hands which hold him. I won't live. I won't live. Why did you bring me here? Why didn't you let me die? Do you think I am afraid of death? What is death ! But that — hell ! You want to send me back there? What right have you? What right have you to say, first: You must not live! And then: You must not die? SURGEON Quiet, quiet, mein lieber. It's going to be all right. You mustn't excite yourself. SECOND SURGEON Get him down. SOLDIER Don't touch me. Don't you touch me! THE HATE BREEDERS II SURGEON We've got to get those bullets, mein lieber. SOLDIER You won't. I tell you, you won't. It is my body. They're my bullets. You'll not take them from me. It is my death. You'll not take it from me. Swiftly, before they realize what he is do- ing, he begins to tear off his bandages. SECOND SURGEON God ! Get him down ! They fall on him, and strap him, scream- ing. SECOND SURGEON The anesthesia! DOCTOR Ready! He is in white, like the two surgeons. He holds in his hands the cone for the an- esthesia. 12 THE HATE BREEDERS THE NURSE There, mein lieber. Breathe deep. No, quiet. Try to breathe quietly. Try to sleep. Think that your mother is here. No, quiet, my dear. Think that it is your mother who holds your hand. Can you feel it? Hold it tight. No, no, mein lieber, ruhig, ruhig, bleiben. Breathe deep, my son. The maternal words are softly incongru- ous. Though the madonna light is in her eyes, she looks, in her white swath- ings, like a girl of sixteen. Breathe deep, my son! HEAD SURGEON Don't let go of him until he's well under! The soldier can be seen to struggle under the white sheets, and the cone moves violently. WHITE-ROBED NURSE } Ach, quiet, my son ! There, there, breathe deep! Quiet, quiet, my son! SURGEON Keep hold of him. THE HATE BREEDERS 13 NURSE He's getting it now! As they stand watching him, one surgeon holding his pulse, his eye on his watch, a small noise starts, like the sound of an approaching electric car, or a dynamo, clap, clap, clap, getting louder as the room grows darker. NURSE Leaning over patient. Can you hear me speak? Press my hand. To doctor. Give him more. Can you hear me now? Press my hand. The throbbing grows louder, almost deaf- ening, until the room is in total darkness, the light of the fires outside appearing to be slowly shrouded. VOICE OF THE NURSE As though muffled, and from a distance. 'He's off! There is an interim of darkness, during which the anesthetic clapping or throb- bing continues. Muffled whispers and hurried movements can be heard, here and there a word detaching itself from the throbbing. More ether! Breathe deep! The gauze! SECOND SCENE When the lights return, an underground beer hall in Berlin is disclosed. It is night. Tables are about the room, surrounded by men in uniform and in civilian clothes. The soldier of the preceding scene, from now on called Max Dohrman, is the center of an excited group. FIRST SPEAKER The war is here. We can't stop it. MAX We can. If we refuse to fight, if the Ger- man Socialist refuses to fight, we will light a torch in Germany that will rouse the world. If the Kaiser's soldiers refuse to fight, how can he have war? ANOTHER VOICE They'll drag us in. They'll force us. MAX How can they force us? SECOND VOICE They'll shoot us. 14 THE HATE BREEDERS 15 FIRST SPEAKER They'll shoot us, whatever we do. They'll shoot us if we don't fight, and they'll let us be shot if we do fight, and there you are, as I see it. MAX Inflammatorily. What's being shot? What's the death of a few men, a glorious martyr's death, a death for a cause, for a principle, what's that sort of death? Glorious! What's the death of a few men who say: "There shall be no more wars. We are not savages. Nor slaves." Being shot, that's nothing. Being shot, that's all ! The death of a few of us, instead of thousands; no, millions! And ruined homes, and a ruined country; and then more hatreds working up more wars! Let's end it. Being shot's easy. God, do you know what war is? It's hell. Just hell. It's hunger, it's fire, it's anger and cruelty; it's lust; it's torture. Just hell. Being shot's nothing. Dying's nothing. They'll shoot 16 THE HATE BREEDERS true, our companions, and then it's done. War is done. No more war; king-made wars. No more hell. THIRD VOICE It's hell we're in for. MAX Gloomily. Leaping on table. No, I tell you. No! You can stop it. You and I! We can raise a cry that will wake Germany. She's asleep, Germany is, dreaming the dreams they tell her to dream. Say that the German soldier has refused to fight. Say that there shall be no more war, no more organized murder. This is either the birthday of our freedom, of civilization, or its funeral. But it's now, comrades. It's nowl FOURTH VOICE To be shot as a traitor! FIFTH VOICE The death of a traitor won't help the cause! THE HATE BREEDERS 17 MAX Afire with enthusiasm. Where are your principles? Your ideas of freedom? Gone at the sound of a bugle call! Who was it said he'd refuse to die the death of a slave and a savage? In this very room! It wasn't a month ago! Carl Heise! HEISE Ach! But a month ago! There wasn't war then! Now we are called to defend our country! MAX Who made it necessary to defend it? Were you asked about it? Closet-made wars! PROPRIETOR Bustling up to them. Careful, die Herren! No treason ! They'd shut my shop ! MAX They'll shut your shop, all right! They'll shut your shop, anyway! They'll drag you out, and take your goods. They'll tie a 18 THE HATE BREEDERS sword to you. They'll make a target out of you, a target for the Kaiser's cousins. Ay, and our brothers! Who was it said we are all brothers? The one who said: Thou shalt not kill! And why do they say we must kill? For the Fatherland, and what is the Fatherland? Isn't it the people, our brothers? The people they are going to kill by millions? Isn't it the women who send their sons to the firing-line? Isn't it the little children, the children who are robbed of their fathers, the children who must pay the war-debts by the sweat of their backs? Have they no right to say whether they want to be saved that way? Then our country is in danger! But war won't save it! War means more wars; more hatreds. We need ports, Germany does, markets for our goods, colonies to consume them. We need a place in the sun. We must fight to get it; we must fight to keep it. Expansion. That's what this war means. And expansion THE HATE BREEDERS 19 means more war. Alsace and Lorraine again. What have they brought to us but hatreds? There is a confusion of voices, out of which the proprietor tries in vain to be heard. PROPRIETOR Die H err en! Die H err en! MAX Tell your Kaiser. Never a better time to tell him. He'll listen to you now. You've got the power. Without you, he can't fight. He doesn't want war. He wants what war can bring to him. The gunmakers, those men who have purses for hearts, they don't want war. It is the only way they can get what they do want, a market for their goods, for their gold fringe, for their guns, for their brass buttons. They are selling the wrong goods! Make them sell the right goods ! Make them stop making money out of the maimed bodies of men; out of the tears and shame of women ; out of the bur- 20 THE HATE BREEDERS dens of a stunted race. We are slaves! Tell the Kaiser to fight his own duel with the Czar, his cousin. He doesn't hate the Czar. He is afraid of Russia. So we're told to hate Russians. Do we hate them? I don't. They're men, just like us. My sister mar- ried a Russian. VOICE My brother's wife's a Russian. ANOTHER VOICE My mother was a Russian. She came from Moscow. MAX I told you. We don't hate Russians. But we've got to kill Russians. We don't hate the English, but we must kill Englishmen. It's our business to murder Englishmen, Frenchmen, everybody but Germans. That's our trade, paid murderers. A VOICE The English hate us. They are jealous of us, of our trade. the hate breeders 21 max: They're told to hate us. So they hate Germany, the idea of Germany. We hate the idea of France, of England. That is what the kings teach us. That is what they call patriotism, loving your country, believ- ing it is always right; hating the other coun- tries; believing them always wrong. The kings tell us that; the newspapers rub it into us. We are their fighting machine. We are fed with songs, with the Idea in them; we are made drunk with pride and singing and fury. Singing! The other night — for three nights didn't they keep us whipped up, singing, drinking, crying, "Hoch der Kaiser, hoch das Vaterland!" before they dared tell us there'd be war? And then when we were drunk with the Idea, they proclaimed war. And you don't call it slavery? Shot if we don't kill men we don't hate, shot if we don't make widows and orphans of helpless women and children! 22 THE HATE BREEDERS And then they must fight, the children, later on, because of the hate we've passed on to them. What end is there to re- venge? What end to hate once started? Boundaries to humanity! Why should there be boundaries to humanity? Did the white Christ tell us to kill our enemies? Did He tell you to love patriotism? Kings' patriotism means revenge, killing your brothers. Let's forswear patriotism! Let's crush the Idea! Put in its place the Christ idea! Humanity! Brotherhood! All of you! Hoch humanity! Humanity! VOICES Weakly, as though in spite of their fears. Humanity ! Humanity ! PROPRIETOR Helplessly. But this is treason! Ich bitte Sie, die Herren! No one pays any attenion to him. He flut- ters around like a distracted fowl. THE HATE BREEDERS 23 MAX Beside himself with fervor and prophecy. Humanity! It is the hour! Eberhard, Hans, who is brave enough to die for his principles? Carl, all of you! Down with the Idea ! Think of Ehrman ! A VOICE Angrily. Ay, what happened to Ehrman? ANOTHER VOICE Shot as a traitor! Left a widow and son to be called the widow and son of a traitor! MAX It's the system that calls him a traitor. Because we are slaves. Generations to come will know the name of Ehrman! MAN In uniform. I've been ordered to join my regiment. 24 THE HATE BREEDERS MAX Beside himself with impatience. Ordered! Does that make you go? Order your regiment to stay at home! You can. It can't go without you. It isn't a regiment without you. Oh, why won't you see it? On us, the few of us here to-night, hangs the peace or the crime of Europe. Death for the rebels against slavery, and Germany's free! Free to rise to the stature of a human being. Free to be called a Christian nation; no longer a barbarous nation — VOICE Take that back! ANOTHER VOICE You call all of our heroes barbarians? MAX In a rage. I won't take it back. We're slaves. Is slavery civilized? Our heroes didn't know any better. We've traveled a long way, the THE HATE BREEDERS 25 last fifty years. What makes a sin? The conviction of sin! You've all said it, that you can't make wrong right, and you can't make might right! And that's the rotten kernel — Might! They've buried His law of love miles deep under their forts, under their guns and their cannons, and then they pray to 'Him: Lord, lead our armies! Every nation is barbarous until she learns to despise that lie. Might is the Prussian idea. The whole world's afraid of it, and so what does it do? Follows the same plan! All the nations straining to keep up a rela- tive mountain of defense, when a relative valley of defense would be as powerful and wouldn't crush the people! Can might keep power? That was Rome's idea, too. And where is Rome? China has seen na- tion after nation try that same plan, and die. And we scorn China! We haven't learned our world lessons yet; what we take by the sword, we lose by the sword! To set Ger- 26 THE HATE BREEDERS many free, that's my patriotism! To free Germany from her shackles, from her superstitions. VOICES Germany free! MAX Waving his hands above his head. Hear me say it. I refuse to fight. I, Max Dohrman. I choose Ehrman's way. That's heroism! PROPRIETOR Thrusting himself forward apoplectically. Ich bitte Sie, no treason! No treason, die Herren! He stops short as the door at the top of the stairs is pushed in. The street can be seen to be full of people, men and women staring down into the beer hall. A MAN There he is. GIRL'S VOICE Oh, where is he? She comes running down the stairs, break- ing through the dour group, and flings THE HATE BREEDERS 27 herself on Max, who has jumped down at the sound of her voice. THESI Oh, Max! MAX Why did you come here, my Thesi? THESI Oh, Max, I can not bear it. They told me such fearful things. They say you are going to defy the — Kaiser! You are going to be sh-shot! Sh-sh-shot as a traitor! MAX Folding her in his arms, and pulling up her face that he may drink up the sweetness of every feature. It is a surprise to my Thesi? When she knows what I believe, how I feel? THESI Sobbing in his arms. Ach, it used to sound grand! But then, there was no war. Now, it's different. 28 THE HATE BREEDERS MAX Tenderly as to a little child. No, my Thesi, it's not different. A VOICE It's true what she says. It is different. Orders make the difference. They turn suddenly to one another, uncon- sciously huddling. They question with awed eyes the sound of tramping feet coming to them out of the silence of a minute before. There is a muffled sound of drums, of martial music. THESI In ecstasy of fright. They're coming! They're coming after you! MAX Supporting her. Who's coming, my Thesi? THESI Soldiers! They will shoot you! They will shoot you, Max! THE HATE BREEDERS 29 MAX Proudly. Because I am a slave! Because we are barbarians! Because we are not free! THESI Go with them, Max! Go with them, Max! MAX To his companions, imploringly. Stand firm. Don't let them scare you! The door is flung open as the music dies into the last strain of Die Wacht am Rhein. An officer, followed by a hand- ful of soldiers, steps inside. There is a glimpse of uniforms, of soldiers, before the door is shut. OFFICER His Majesty, our gracious Kaiser, know- ing the grief and confusion which this war so wantonly thrust upon him must cause his subjects, is disposed to be lenient toward the few of his soldiers who have not sprung to their country's need. His most gracious pardon is here extended to those who avail 30 THE HATE BREEDERS themselves of this opportunity, their last, to wipe the stain of dishonor from their uni- forms, from their families, from their na- tion. Carl Eberhard! MAX Turning from his Thesi. No! OFFICER Carl Eberhard! EBERHARD Glancing wildly at Max as though implor- ing his forgiveness. Here! OFFICER Carl Heise! Max Dohrman moves as though to inter- pose himself between the officer and Heise, but Thesi clings to him. HEISE Slowly, painfully, as though disowning his child. Here! MAX Appalled. Comrades, what do you do? THE HATE BREEDERS 31 OFFICER Silence there! Ludwig Stroebel! STROEBEL Here! OFFICER Franz Weber! WEBER Slowly. Here! OFFICER Otto Wideman! WIDEMAN Trying to get Max to look at him, but Max has turned away, sick at heart. Here! OFFICER Wilhelm Dittmer! DITTMER Briskly. Here! There is a silence, a tension, before : OFFICER Max Dohrman! Max tries to speak, but his Thesi's fingers have gone over his lips. She nods to Wideman, beseechingly. 32 THE HATE BREEDERS WIDEMAN Choking. Here! MAX Hurling her from him. It is a lie. I did not answer. I say: No! I, Max Dohrman. I will not fight. I will not be a beast for any Kaiser! OFFICER Then it's death. Death for Max Dohr- man. MAX Crossing his arms proudly, and smiling at the soldiers who stare at him abashed. I'm here. Put it down: Death for Max Dohrman. THESI Crying. Max, you must not! If not for your own sake, if you don't care for yourself any more, for your own honor any more, then for your Thesi's sake, for your mother; oh, think of your poor mother, Max! Max! You must hear me! THE HATE BREEDERS 33 OFFICER With distinct emphasis. Death, with dishonor. MAX Folding his arms. IVe chosen. THESI Wildly. I will not let you choose. I have the right to your life. You promised it to me. I give it to your country. You will come back to me. The war will soon be over. You will come back to me! MAX Ach, Thesi, that is all over. The chance of life. Of love. This is death. THESI Shuddering. A coward's death! MAX Fiercely turning on her. Is it a coward who says: Shoot me! Shoot me now! Tell my countrymen I died to save them! 34 THE HATE BREEDERS THESI No! No! Flings herself wildly across his chest, her arms outstretched, facing with collapsed defiance the officer and the soldiers. OFFICER Line up. That's a sensible fellow. Your death would be useless. It would be hushed up. No one would hear of it. Your people would be ashamed to tell of it, or to weep for you. Useless. Line up, Dohrman. EBERHARD Behind Max. It's too strong for us ! MAX His head suddenly drooping, falling into line. It's too strong for us! The officer wheels, marches up the steps, followed by his soldiers, and Max and his comrades. As Max passes Thesi, who has fallen into a chair, her head on the table in a passion of weeping, of re- lief and fear and grief, he pats her on the shoulder. She raises her head to look after him, through tears. As the THE HATE BREEDERS 35 door opens, the band can be heard play- ing Deutschland iiber A lies. One by one, the men file through the door. Max, the last, his face as though already dead, is about to pass out. THESI Max! Springing up, sudden realization coming to her. She holds out her arms to him. He walks out as though in a trance, without turn- ing to her bitter cry. As the door shuts, the room darkens, and the anesthetic throbbing begins. There is a period of total darkness, during which the throb- bing dynamo can be heard, and the muffled whispers of doctors and nurses. More ether! More light! THIRD SCENE The curtain rises on a street scene, daylight, in Konigsplatz, looking west down the Siegesalle, or street of heroes, whose statues flank the street. The great Siegessaule, or monument of victory, two hun- dred feet high, carrying the cannon of despoiled na- tions, crowns the Platz. Men and women are march- ing back and forth, eagerly talking; some women are weeping. WOMEN They're coming! They're coming! A MAN'S VOICE The troops ! Men, women and children all line up at foot of the Siegessaule to make room for the troops. Their handkerchiefs fly, as a band enters playing the national airs. The troops follow. VOICES Ach, the brave soldiers! My Fritz ! The splendid army! The Kaiser's children! 36 THE HATE BREEDERS 37 OLD WOMAN With a basket, and leaning on a cane. If I could only get a look at my boy! My boy is out there! If I could only see my boy! A WOMAN Turning curiously to look at her. I heard he refused to fight? OLD WOMAN Not fight? My Max? It was wicked lying men who said that! He is a good Christian lad, my Max. Of course he will fight! ANOTHER WOMAN I thought he was a Socialist? OLD WOMAN Ach, he had notions. All boys have no- tions. But he would never refuse to fight. I brought him up too well for that! VOICES Here they are! 38 THE HATE BREEDERS The troops ! The soldiers! The crowd gets in the way of the lame woman as the troops march on to the stage. The band is playing Deutsch- land ilber A lies. Voices in the crowd take up the song. There is a thrill of emotion in every voice, excitement in every face. Women pelt the soldiers with posies, crying, singing, smiling. The soldiers are halted in their march by some unseen blockade ahead. Eber- hard and Max are near the monument to Victory. Eberhard stoops to pick up a blossom at his feet. EBERHARD This is better than being shot! MAX Sullenly. A trick. They are heating our blood. They are feeding our engines. OLD WOMAN I wish I could see my boy! EBERHARD Joining in the song. Deutschland, Deutschland, ilber alles, ilber alles in der Welt, THE HATE BREEDERS 39 Wenn es stets zu Schutz and Trutze, brude- lich zuzammen halt; Von der Maas bis an die Memel, vone der Etsch bis an den Belt; Deutschland, Deutschland, uber alles, ilber alles in der Welt. EBERHARD Turning to Max as the band stops. Do you remember how we used to sing that at Heidelberg? MAX A trick ! Heating our blood ! The band starts again with Die Wacht am Rhein. The crowd joins in the song. EBERHARD Nudging Max. Sing, Max! MAX Swept in reluctantly at first, the song fir- ing him. Es brauset ein Ruf wie Donnerhall, Mit Schwert-geklirr und Wogenprall, 40 THE HATE BREEDERS Zum Rhein, zum Rhein, zum deutschen Rhein, Wer will des Stromes Hitter sein?> Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig seinf Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig seinf Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein! Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein! OLD WOMAN WITH CANE I hear my boy's voice! I hear my boy's voice! MAN Noticing her excitement. Have you a son there? OLD WOMAN Wiping her eyes. I heard his voice. If I could only see his face I MAN Picking her up in his arms. There, can you see your boy now? THE HATE BREEDERS 41 OLD WOMAN Oh, I see him! I see him! My Max. How fine he looks! My boy! Look at me, Max! MAX Singing, waves at her. Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein! OLD WOMAN Let me down ! I must go to him ! I must go to my boy! She tries to push her way through the crowd which thickens between her and the troops. OLD WOMAN Crying, bewildered, not knowing which way to go. I Ve lost my boy ! Where is my boy? I've lost my boy! A voice from the street calls out, Hoch der Kaiser! The cry surges through the street, like a swelling wave. Hoch der Kaiser! Hoch das Vaterland! 42 THE HATE BREEDERS AN OFFICER. To old woman who is getting in the way. Stand back! The troops are moving! OLD WOMAN But I am his mother! I may never see him again! I am his mother! MAN In the crowd. The country is his mother! The Kaiser is his father! VOICES Hoch der Kaiser! OFFICER Who has been observing Max, approaches him, glowering. EBERHARD Nudging Max. Hoch der Kaiser. MAX Wildly. Hoch der Kaiser. Hoch das Vaterland. Hoch the great Idea! THE HATE BREEDERS 43 OLD WOMAN Catching a glimpse of her boy as the troops begin to move. Max ! Speak to me, Max ! Your mother, Max ! Your mother ! MAX Stumbling blindly. The Fatherland! Amid cries of das Vaterland, and der Kaiser! the troops march away, hand- kerchiefs flying after them, tears falling for them. The band still plays. A sol- dier roughly pushes the old woman back into the crowd. SOLDIER Gruffly. Stand back, woman ! Let the troops pass ! You're blocking the way! OLD WOMAN But he is my son! Sobbing. I've lost my son ! I've lost my son ! VOICES The Fatherland! The Kaiser! The Kaiser! The Fatherland! 44 THE HATE BREEDERS Darkness again, and the throbbing as of dynamos. The voice of the doctor can be heard. Quick! Give me that knife! And then the sweet voice of the nurse, as though from a distance : Breathe deep, mein lieber, breathe deep. Hold my hand! SURGEON'S VOICE Ach, Gott, he's coming to! HEAD SURGEON More ether! And then muffled rustlings in the dark, sound of footsteps running. Then a sudden silence. FOURTH SCENE Curtain rises on a gloomy scene. Twilight slipping into night in a deserted corner of the battle-field, by a trench. Over the ground are strewn terribly still bodies. Two soldiers lie side by side, Max Dohrman and a Belgian, the latter mortally wounded, his face graying. Dohrman is lying against a mound of earth, his eyes staring right at You! In the distance, to the right, is the cathedral of Louvain. A few prostrate wretches writhe and moan from time to time, but most of them lie rigid, and one by one the moans die away into the stillness of death. The face of Max can be plainly seen, because of his semi-upright position. He is suffering; his features work with pain; every little while his hand moves over his chest. During this scene, the twilight slowly deepens. BELGIAN Weakly. I want a drink! If I could only have a drink! MAX There's only a drop in my flask. Can you reach your hand? This fire in my chest — BELGIAN I can't. Simply. Both my arms are gone. 45 46 THE HATE BREEDERS MAX Sorrowfully. Did I do that? I saw you running. Run- ning toward me. I felt a fury, a fury to kill you! You were the Idea, the great Idea. I had to get you. How you must hate me! BELGIAN It doesn't matter, so much, not now! It's war! I got a shot or two into you. But I'm done for. MAX Trying to see the other, but falling back again. It's not so bad as that? God! I mean as good as that! If you had only killed me! BELGIAN Haven't you — any one to live for? MAX I've a sweetheart, and an old mother. But they wanted me to kill people. The Idea had them, too, of hate. That's patriotism, THE HATE BREEDERS 47 hating everybody that wasn't born in your own country. Have you a sweetheart, too? BELGIAN I've — a wife! It wasn't a year ago that we were married. There's a baby coming. It may be here now. And I'll never see it. MAX It will grow up to be a soldier. It will grow up wanting to kill Germans. He will help cry for the next war. We are war breeders, that's what we are, hate breeders! BELGIAN Moans. r A drink! MAX God! Is it as bad as that, comrade? BELGIAN I'm dying. MAX God in Heaven, if I could change places with you ! BELGIAN Weakly. 48 THE HATE BREEDERS You're a German. I didn't know they could be kind I MAX We're all men. If we could all meet each other, we'd find we are just men. It's war that makes brutes of us; war finishes what the barracks begin. All this day, I wanted to run away somewhere. I lay in that trench, the sun beating down on my head, the ground steaming from the rain of last night. The sun shone so, and I had ter- rible thoughts. I wanted to get away from this — hell! I wanted to run and find the white Christ, if He isn't dead, too, to tell Him to stop His children from killing one another. Then I saw you running. I was a beast in a minute. You were Belgium! The thing we must kill to get past you! I shot at you, shot at you, shot at you ! Again, and again, and again! BELGIAN Some one cried the Prussians were right THE HATE BREEDERS 49 back of us — the confusion, I was running away! MAX It makes us all mad, much of this. You dying, and wanting to live. And I pray- ing for death to come quick! But they won't let me die! They will patch me up, and send me back here, as long as I can carry a gun! And I'll go on killing, killing! You'll go on living, too. Living and kill- ing! BELGIAN I'm finished! MAX Lifting himself up with difficulty, but fall- ing back, gasping. Don't leave me, Belgium. I should go mad, lying here, watching you whom I've killed. That's worse than death, madness, watching some one you've killed. I didn't hate you! I didn't know you! Last night, if I could forget last night! 50 THE HATE BREEDERS BELGIAN It rained last night! MAX Back there, there are houses. I'd gone after water. A girl ran out from a hut, screaming. There were soldiers, two brutes, after her. She looked like my Thesi. She cried to me to save her. I saved her from them. But God wasn't by to save her from me. See what they have made of me. That's war. I can never forget her face. It looked like my Thesi's. BELGIAN: Don't stop talking! MAX It's so bad, the pain, then? How can you speak to me? BELGIAN It's the pain, too, but those men, groan- ing! And my wife, my wife back there! No one to look after her, now I'm gone. I THE HATE BREEDERS 51 don't want to hear my own thoughts. Go on talking. MAX 'Have you thought what war is? I've lain in these trenches, soaked with rain, burned up with sun, and I've thought, and thought. I've seen the truth about war. Why it goes on. BELGIAN His voice growing weaker. There has always been war. There will always be war. MAX There will always be war as long as men think war, plan for war. What you get ready for, what you are always thinking about is sure to happen. They tricked us with the lie that we could prevent war by getting ready for war. It was be- cause we were ready that we wouldn't take time to talk about it. Taking time to talk things over, that's the way to cool things £2 THE HATE BREEDERS down. Men should make a law that nations can not fight for a year after any trouble. You've got to settle it by talking after the fighting's done; why not do it first before the wounds have made everybody sore? It looks simple in the trenches. It doesn't look simple outside in the world because of all the money invested. Every dollar a nation invests in war, in preparing for war, it is going to get back in blood. Blood and broken bodies, and fired towns. When the people learn how they are tricked, they'll put an end to war. It's the people who will do it; when they wake up. They'll tear down the forts as they did the Bastille. They'll throw the guns into the sea. BELGIAN Gasping. Yes. Go on ! MAX Slowly, as though hunting for ideas, gath- ering fire as he talks. I said we were breeding hate here. We'll THE HATE BREEDERS '53 have to rest for a while, they'll all have to rest for a while, when this is over, and then the gunmakers will begin talking revenge again, revenge and these hatreds. Remem- ber Louvain ! your people will cry. They'll work them all up again! Your child, too, maybe. That girl that looked like my Thesi! She'll teach her baby's lips to curse the Germans. Why, we're not fiends, we Germans. See what it does to make all men soldiers! You think it was Germany that ruined your country. I tell you, it was war ! Some day the world will understand it. War's the fiend men should make war on! Max pauses to listen, goes on slowly. Our homes aren't burned yet, German homes, nor our churches, and we're proud because we say we can keep our enemies out of the Fatherland! Have we? What has war brought to us, in Germany? In my regiment there was a doctor. He had spent twenty years finding a cure for a tef- 54 THE HATE BREEDERS rible disease. War came. He had to go, for he was a slave. I saw him shot through the heart. That wasn't one death. Thou- sands died that minute, the thousands he would have saved. There's a man who wrote books, poetry that makes your heart beat quick, that makes you proud to be a man and a German. I saw him fall; Belgian bullets. More than a man was killed, splendid thinking — splendid help- ing! There's a man who made heavenly music ; played it, wrote it. They made his blood boil with hate. They turned him into a beast, a murdering, ravenous beast. They say's he mad now. Lots of them go mad. They can't stand this. If you leave me, Belgium, I'll go mad, too! BELGIAN Gasping. Keep — on — talking to me! MAX The best painter in Germany. His head THE HATE BREEDERS '$$ blown off! England did it — or France. We've ruined you, Belgium, but we've ruined ourselves, too! There is no answer. It has grown dark. The two men lie silent. Max, question- ing at last the silence, tries to see the face of the Belgian. Listens with rising terror. MAX At last. I can't hear him breathe. Belgium! Speak to me! Breathe for me! Belgium! Again there is silence on the field of death. Max listening. MAX His voice shrilling. He's gone! It grows darker. The dead are scarcely visible. The stricken wretches have stopped their writhings. MAX Don't leave me, Belgium! I'll see Her face, the girl that looked like my Thesi. I'll see your face, the man I butchered, taunting me, Max Dohrman, murderer. 56 THE HATE BREEDERS Stay with me, talk to me ! Stay till the night is gone. Belgium ! Just one word ! Moan, moan, anything, just live, Belgium! I'll go mad! Those smells; The dark! Those faces, blue eyes, like my Thesi ! Silence. My cartridges gone! Not one, God! to end it! If I could reach his belt! I'll reach his belt! Crawls, moaning piteously, slowly toward the body of the dead soldier. They won't find me! I won't be here when they come ! Reaches, painfully crawling, the body of the Belgian. God's hell! Lying on it! Fire in my chest! Fire in my head! Pain! Pain! Don't look at me that way, Thesi! I didn't know it was you, Thesi! You sent me; it was you, you! If women knew what war is, they wouldn't want their men to be sol- diers. You didn't want me to be a coward; you wanted me to kill that poor Bel- THE HATE BREEDERS '57 gian — I I didn't hate him! God, the brute I am! Don't look like that, Belgium! Covers his face with his hands. Lying on your belt to get even with me! God, you're even. Alone, alone! Where's my knife? Gone, too! Don't you look at me, don't you touch me ! Screams. Belgium! The darkness is intense, and the silence. Only the beating, like that of a fright- ened heart, can be heard, clapping like a dynamo somewhere, beyond, outside, throbbing, throbbing. Then in the back- ground come lights, like fireflies moving close to the ground, flickering over the field. Dark shapes, as of silent men, are behind them. Then they all pass away but one, which settles against the wall of the cathedral. It swells into a great white moon, growing larger — a great Brobdingnagian moon. Over its surface, pictures begin to play. PICTURES A doctor in his laboratory at work. Into his room comes an officer who looks like the Kaiser. He hands the doctor orders. There is the sound of martial music; of Deutschland uber A lies. The doctor drops his vial as he stretches out his hand for the orders. 58 THE HATE BREEDERS Comes a woman into the room, and pleads with him, clinging to him. He kisses her, and tears himself from her arms. A man sits at his desk writing. He raises his head, as though challenging a sound. He jumps to his feet, raising a window back of his desk. Cries of Hoch der Kaiser, hoch das Vaterland? He throws down his manuscript, and rushes from the room. A man at a piano, playing dreamily, as though im- provising. The Kaiser officer enters, throws the sheets of music lying on the piano roughly to the ground. He points to the open door, and one hears a band in the distance, as though veiled, playing Deutschland iiber A lies. As in a trance, the player follows the officer from the room, gazing wistfully back as though saying farewell to all his dreams. A painter at his easel. Comes the sound of march- ing music, comes the sound of marching feet. He throws down his brushes, and jumps up, to face the officer. The far-off strains of Deutschland are heard. A peaceful fireside scene. A man with his children, his wife, and his old mother, who is knitting. Into this peace strides the Kaiser officer, and throws the orders into the man's hands. Peace becomes woe. The wife weeps and pleads with the officer. The children cast themselves upon him. The old mother's knitting drops to the ground, her face showing a terrible de- spair. The next scene is one of battle. One scene after an- other passes across the Brobdingnagian moon. Men in the trenches; men firing guns; men shooting at human THE HATE BREEDERS 59 targets; men dying. And then, the light is seen to dwindle; it moves low to the ground; comes nearer to Max, until it is seen to be a bull's eye lantern carried by a doctor. He is follawed by an assistant. MAX Whispering. Coming! Coming to find me! I shall fool them! I shall not breathe! Lies motionless as the lantern draws nearer. The doctor and his assistant stop to ex- amine the bodies, listening, prodding. SURGEON His hand on the Belgian's heart. Dead. Quite cold. ASSISTANT Touching Max. Both dead. Hold on ! I'm not sure about this one! This one's not dead! SURGEON He's not dead! Give me that light. His pulse is all right. Why, we can save this one! MAX Suddenly yelling. 6o THE HATE BREEDERS You won't save me ! I won't let you save me ! I won't come back here ! Do you hear me? I won't come back to this hell! Kill me here! Finish your work! Hoch the great Idea! Let it live forever, the great Idea, Might! Let it kill Germany! SURGEON Another of the mad ones ASSISTANT Straightening. Poor devil ! SURGEON We must rush him to the hospital ! Puts a whistle to his lips. Blows. MAX Wildly. Kill me here! Bury me with the poems and the music, with the books and the dis- coveries! Burn us all up! Burn us over there! Points to horizon, where a fire is beginning. The outlines of the church can be seen. THE HATE BREEDERS 6l ASSISTANT Firing Louvain? MAX The world is burning! Civilization is burning! SURGEON We'll have to strap him. MAX Everything is gone but hate! SURGEON Hold his hands. He'll hurt himself. MAX Hoch the great Idea! Men come, carrying a stretcher. As they are raising him, the bull's eye lantern full upon him, a gust of wind comes, blowing the blankets which the men hold into sails. SURGEON Wrap him up. A cold wind's rising. The wind increases, and the lanterns ap- pear to be blown out. Darkness wraps 62 THE HATE BREEDERS the battle-field. The anesthetic throb- bing begins. The sound of hurrying steps are heard, and whispers, indistin- guishable whispers. Before the lights flare out again, the voice of the surgeon is heard. SURGEON, Quick, a towel ! NURSE He's coming to. FIFTH SCENE The lights come on. The operating-room is dis- closed. The surgeons and the nurses are bloodspat- tered. The table, the space around the table are gory. DOCTOR To surgeon. Shall I give him more ether? SURGEONi Let him come to. WHITE-WRAPPED NURSE Tenderly. There, quiet, my son. There, there, my boy. You have had a nice sleep, mein lieber. You've been dreaming. MAX Dead! Dead! His voice is thick. SURGEON Living! Far from dead, mein lieber! SECOND NURSE Impulsively. 63 64 THE HATE BREEDERS Oh, why can't you let him think it a while longer? Don't torture him yet! SURGEON Staring at her through his large glasses solemnly, as though she were a child speaking when not spoken to. She re- treats. No, mein lieber. Living! We've saved another brave soldier for his regiment. In six weeks — SECOND SURGEON Quick, hold his hands! Doctors and nurses hold him. Outside in the distance a bomb explodes, blanching the faces of the nurses. MAX Stares, then screams. You've patched me up, you'll send me back to that? God, why didn't you kill me? Don't look at me like that, Thesi! Looks wildly at the white-robed nurse. Blue eyes, blue eyes, like my Thesi! I thought she was an angel, too, but she was THE HATE BREEDERS 65 mad, like all the world. Mad to kill. It is burning us all up. I didn't hate you, Bel- gium. You were in my way. I had to get you, to get past you! It wasn't my fault! I didn't begin it! The others began it! I didn't hate any one! He said not to kill — Exhausted, he falls back. SURGEON Raving again ! He'll be all right to-mor- row. He's not out of the ether yet. SECOND NURSE Shaking her head sadly. He's not raving. He's seen the truth out there ! Nobody listens to her. MAX With superhuman strength, suddenly pulls himself up. Kill me! Burn me! They fall on him, and get him down. SURGEON Strap his feet! 66 THE HATE BREEDERS Enter the head nurse, followed by attend- ants. She motions them toward the sol- dier on the table. They move forward, with the stretcher. HEAD NURSE Turning briskly to the other nurses. Clean up for the next! MAX Screams as the attendants touch him. Slaves ! QUICK CURTAIN % o V