S
B
25. Profe. rnhandi
12 PROFESSOR BERNHARDI: A PLAY
that occurred in Prague, where we had a jan¬
itor that was addicted to liquor. That fellow
actually drank even the alcohol out of the
specimen jars.
(Bernhardi enters.)
Oscar (from the sick-room): Oh, father, if
you want to speak to her—
(Bernhardi exits.)
Adler (to Cyprian): A dying patient!
(Priest enters. Young man, twenty-eight
vears old, with an energetic, intelligent face.
The Acolyte remains standing at the door
Adler greets him.)
Priest: Good day, gentleman. I hope that
T am not too late?
Kurt: No, your Reverence, the professor
is with the patient now.
Priest: Then you have not given up hope?
Kurt: Yes, it is a perfectly hopeless case!
(Hochroitzpointner offers the priest a chair.)
Priest: I will wait until the professor has
left the patient.
Cyprian: Your Reverence, if only we could
help all of these patients; but sometimes we
cannot do anything better than to comfort
them.
Kurt: And lie to them.
Priest: You use a very hard word there.
Kurt: Pardon, your Reverence, I was re¬
ferring to the physician; still that is some¬
times the most difficult and noblest part of our
professienal duty.
(Bernhurdi is seen at the door; the priest
arises. There are now present in the room:
Hochroitzpointner, Adler, Kurt, Cyprian, Os¬
box 31/8
PROFESSOR BERNHARDI: A PLAY 13
car, Priest and Bernhardi. The Sister follows
Bernhardi in from the sick-room.)
Bernhardi: Oh, Your Reverence!
We take
Priest (shakes hands with him):
each other’s places, Professor. Will I find the
patient still conscious?
Bernhardi: Yes, you might say—in a heigh¬
tened state of consciousness; she is in a state
of absolute euphoria. She is, you might say
—well, she feels well.
Priest: Ohl that is perfectly beautiful.
Only the other day I had the joy of seeing a
young man on the street, who, fully prepared
to die, had a few weeks previously received
from me the last ointment.
Adler: Who knows whether it was not
Your Reverence who gave him back the
strength and courage for the new life.
Bernhardi (turning to Adler): His Rever¬
ence has misunderstood me. I mean to say
that the patient has no conception of her true
condition; she is going, but imagines that she
is recovering.
Priest: Really?
Bernhardi: And I almost fear that your
appearance, Your Reverence—
Priest: Fear nothing for your patient; 1
have not come to pronounce the death sentence.
When may I prepare the patient? It would
be best to prepare her.
(At a glance from the priest to the Sister,
unnoticed by Bernhardi, the Sister enters the
sick-room.)
Bernhardi: That would not help matters.
As I have told you already, the patient has no
B
25. Profe. rnhandi
12 PROFESSOR BERNHARDI: A PLAY
that occurred in Prague, where we had a jan¬
itor that was addicted to liquor. That fellow
actually drank even the alcohol out of the
specimen jars.
(Bernhardi enters.)
Oscar (from the sick-room): Oh, father, if
you want to speak to her—
(Bernhardi exits.)
Adler (to Cyprian): A dying patient!
(Priest enters. Young man, twenty-eight
vears old, with an energetic, intelligent face.
The Acolyte remains standing at the door
Adler greets him.)
Priest: Good day, gentleman. I hope that
T am not too late?
Kurt: No, your Reverence, the professor
is with the patient now.
Priest: Then you have not given up hope?
Kurt: Yes, it is a perfectly hopeless case!
(Hochroitzpointner offers the priest a chair.)
Priest: I will wait until the professor has
left the patient.
Cyprian: Your Reverence, if only we could
help all of these patients; but sometimes we
cannot do anything better than to comfort
them.
Kurt: And lie to them.
Priest: You use a very hard word there.
Kurt: Pardon, your Reverence, I was re¬
ferring to the physician; still that is some¬
times the most difficult and noblest part of our
professienal duty.
(Bernhurdi is seen at the door; the priest
arises. There are now present in the room:
Hochroitzpointner, Adler, Kurt, Cyprian, Os¬
box 31/8
PROFESSOR BERNHARDI: A PLAY 13
car, Priest and Bernhardi. The Sister follows
Bernhardi in from the sick-room.)
Bernhardi: Oh, Your Reverence!
We take
Priest (shakes hands with him):
each other’s places, Professor. Will I find the
patient still conscious?
Bernhardi: Yes, you might say—in a heigh¬
tened state of consciousness; she is in a state
of absolute euphoria. She is, you might say
—well, she feels well.
Priest: Ohl that is perfectly beautiful.
Only the other day I had the joy of seeing a
young man on the street, who, fully prepared
to die, had a few weeks previously received
from me the last ointment.
Adler: Who knows whether it was not
Your Reverence who gave him back the
strength and courage for the new life.
Bernhardi (turning to Adler): His Rever¬
ence has misunderstood me. I mean to say
that the patient has no conception of her true
condition; she is going, but imagines that she
is recovering.
Priest: Really?
Bernhardi: And I almost fear that your
appearance, Your Reverence—
Priest: Fear nothing for your patient; 1
have not come to pronounce the death sentence.
When may I prepare the patient? It would
be best to prepare her.
(At a glance from the priest to the Sister,
unnoticed by Bernhardi, the Sister enters the
sick-room.)
Bernhardi: That would not help matters.
As I have told you already, the patient has no