On the Cross: A Romance of the Passion Play at Oberammergau
the sin I had committed--and this time I should have accomplished it. I
walked night and day, with one desire in my heart, one goal before my
eyes, and now--to be rejected thus--oh, it is too much, it is the last
blow!"
"Herr Freyer--I am extremely sorry, and can understand how it must
wound you, yet you must see yourself that we cannot instantly give a
man who voluntarily, not to say _wilfully_, deserted us and remained
absent so long that he has become a stranger, the most important part
in the Play when want forces him to again seek a livelihood in
Ammergau."
"I am become a stranger because I remained absent ten years? May God
forgive you, Herr Burgomaster. We must both render an account to Him of
our fulfilment of His sacred mission--He will then decide which of us
treasured His image more deeply in his heart--you here--or I in the
world outside."
"That is very beautiful and sounds very noble--but, Herr Freyer, you
_prove_ nothing by your appeal to God, He is patient and the day which
must bring this decision is, I hope, still far distant from you and
myself!"
"It is perhaps nearer to me than you suppose, Herr Burgomaster!"
"Such phrases touch women, but not men, Herr Freyer!"
Freyer straightened himself like a bent bush which suddenly shakes off
the snow that burdened it. "I have not desired to touch any one, my
conscience is clear, and I do not need to appeal to your compassion. A
person may be ill and feeble enough to long for sympathy, without
intending to profit by it. I thought that I might let my heart speak,
that I should be understood here. I was mistaken. It is not _I_ who
have become estranged from my home--home has grown alienated from me
and you, as the ruling power in the community, who might mediate
between us, sever the last bond which united me to it. Answer for it
one day to Ammergau, if you expel those who would shed their heart's
blood for you, and to whom the cause of the Passion Play is still an
earnest one."
"Oh, Herr Freyer, it would be sad indeed if we were compelled to seek
earnest supporters of our cause in the ranks of the deserters--who
abandoned us from selfish motives."
"Herr Burgomaster!--" Freyer reflected a moment--it was difficult to
fathom what was passing in his mind--it seemed as if he were gathering
strength from the inmost depths of his heart to answer this accusation.
"It is a delicate matter to speak in allegories, where deeds are
concerned--you began it out of courtesy to me--and I will continue from
the same motive, though figurative language is not to my taste--we
strike a mark in life without having aimed! But to keep to your simile:
I have only deserted in my own person, if you choose to call it so, and
have now voluntarily returned--But you, Herr Burgomaster, how have you
guarded, in my absence, the fortress entrusted to your care?"
The burgomaster flushed crimson, but his composure remained unshaken:
"Well?"
"You have opened your gates to the most dangerous foes, to everything
which cannot fail to destroy the good old Ammergau customs; you have
done everything to attract strangers and help Ammergau in a business
way--it was well meant in the material sense--but not in the ideal one
which you emphasize so rigidly in my case! The more you open Ammergau
to the influences of the outside world, the more the simplicity, the
piety, the temperance will vanish, without which no great work of faith
like the Passion Play is possible. The world has a keen appreciation of
truth--the world believes in us because we ourselves believe in it--as
soon as we progress so far in civilization that it becomes a farce to
our minds, we are lost, for then it will be a farce to the world also.
You intend to secure in the Landrath the cutting of a road through the
Ettal Mountain. That would be a great feat--one might say: 'Faith
removes mountains,' for on account of the Passion Play consent would
perhaps be granted, then your name, down to the latest times, would be
mentioned in the history of Ammergau with gratitude and praise. But do
you know what you will have done? You will have let down the drawbridge
to the mortal foe of everything for which you battle, removed the wall
which protected the individuality of Ammergau and amid all the changes
of the times, the equalizing power of progress, has kept it that
miracle of faith to which the world makes pilgrimages. For a time the
world will come in still greater throngs by the easier road--but in a
few decades it will no longer find the Ammergau it seeks--its flood
will have submerged it, washed it away, and a new, prosperous, politic
population will move upon the ruins of a vanished time and a buried
tradition.
"Freyer!" The burgomaster was evidently moved: "You see the matter in
too dark colors--we are still the old people of Ammergau and God will
help us to remain so."
"No, you are so no longer. Already there are traces of a different,
more practical view of life--of so-called progress. I read to-day at
Ludwig's the play-bills of the practise theatre which you have
established during the last ten years since the Passion Play! Herr
Burgomaster, have you kept in view the seriousness of the mission of
Ammergau when you made the actors of the Passion buffoons?"
"Freyer!" The burgomaster drew himself up haughtily.
"Well, Herr Burgomaster, have you performed no farces, or at least
comic popular plays? Was the Carver of Ammergau--which for two years
you had _publicly_ performed on the consecrated ground of the Passion
Theatre, adapted to keep the impression of the Passion Play in the
souls of the people of Ammergau? No--the last tear of remembrance which
might have lingered would be dried by the exuberant mirth, which once
roused would only too willingly exchange the uncomfortable tiara for
the lighter fool's cap! And you gave the world this spectacle, Herr
Burgomaster, you showed the personators of the story of our Lord and
Saviour's sufferings in this guise to the strangers, who came, still
full of reverence, to see the altar--on which the sacred fire had
smouldered into smoke! I know you will answer that you wished to give
the people a little breathing space after the terrible earnestness of
the Passion Play and, from your standpoint, this was prudent, for you
will be the gainer if the community is cheerful under your rule. Happy
people are more easily governed than grave, thoughtful ones! I admit
that you have no other desire than to make the people happy according
to your idea, and that your whole ambition is to leave Ammergau great
and rich. But, Herr Burgomaster, you cannot harmonize the two objects
of showing the world, with convincing truth, the sublime religion of
pain and resignation, and living in ease and careless frivolity. The
divine favor cannot be purchased without the sacrifice of pleasure and
personal comfort, otherwise we are merely performing a puppet show with
God, and His blessing will be withdrawn."
Freyer paused and stood gazing into vacancy with folded arms.
The burgomaster watched him calmly a long time. "I have listened to you
quietly because your view of the matter interested me. It is the idea
of an enthusiast, a character becoming more and more rare in our
prosaic times. But pardon me--I can give it only a subjective value.
According to your theory, I must keep Ammergau, as a bit of the Middle
Ages, from any contact with the outside world, rob it of every aid in
the advancement of its industrial and material interests in order, as
it were, to prepare the unfortunate people, by want and trouble, to be
worthy representatives of the Passion. This would be admirable if,
instead of Burgomaster of Ammergau, I were Grand Master of an Order for
the practice of spiritual asceticism--and Ammergau were a Trappist
monastery. But as burgomaster of a secular community, I must first of
all provide for its prosperity, and that this would produce too much
luxury there is not, as yet, unfortunately, the slightest prospect! My
task as chief magistrate of a place is first to render it as great,
rich, and happy as possible, that is a direct obligation to the village
and an indirect one to the State. Not until I have satisfied _this_ can
I consider the more ideal side of my office--in my capacity as director
of the Passion Play. But even there I have no authority to exercise any
moral constraint in the sense of your noble--but fanatical and
unpractical view. You must have had bitter experiences, Herr Freyer,
that you hold earthly blessings so cheap, and you must not expect to
convert simple-hearted people, who enjoy their lives and their work, to
these pessimistic views, as if we could serve our God only with a
troubled mind. We must let a people, as well as a single person, retain
its individuality. I want to rear no hypocrites, and I cannot force
martyrdom on any one, in order to represent the Passion Play more
naturally. Such things cannot be enforced."
"For that very reason you need people who will do them voluntarily! And
though, thank Heaven, they still exist in Ammergau, you have not such
an over supply that you need repel those who would fain increase the
little band. Believe me, I have lived in closer communion with my home
in the outside world than if I had remained here and been swayed by the
various opposing streams of our brothers' active lives! Do you know
where the idea of the Passion Play reveals itself in its full beauty?
Not here in Ammergau--but in the world outside--as the gas does not
give its light where it is prepared, but at a distance. Therefore, I
think you ought not to measure a son of Ammergau's claim according to
the time he has spent here, but according to the feeling he cherishes
for Ammergau, and in this sense even _the stranger_ may be a better
representative of Ammergau than the natives of the village themselves."
"Yes, Freyer, you are right--but--_one_ frank word deserves another.
You have surprised and touched me--but although I am compelled to make
many concessions to circumstances and the spirit of the times, which
are in contradiction to my own views and involve me in conflicts with
myself, of which you younger men probably have no idea--nothing in the
world will induce me to be faithless to my principles in matters
connected with the Passion. Forgive the harsh words, Freyer, but I must
say it: Your actions do not agree with the principles you have just
uttered, and you cannot make this contradiction appear plausible to any
one. Who will credit the sincerity of your moral rigor after you have
lived nine years in an equivocal relation with the lady with whom you
left us? Freyer, a man who has done _that_--can no longer personate the
Christ."
Freyer stood silent as a statue.
The burgomaster held out his hand--"You see that I cannot act
otherwise; do you not? Rather let the Play die out utterly than a
Christus on whom rests a stain. So long as you cannot vindicate
yourself--"
Freyer drew himself proudly: "And that I will never do!"
"You must renounce it."
"Yes, I must renounce it. Farewell, Herr Burgomaster!"
Freyer bowed and left the room--he was paler than when he entered, but
no sound betrayed the mortal anguish gnawing at his heart. The
burgomaster, too, was painfully moved. His poor head was burning--he
was sorry for Freyer, but he could not do otherwise.
Just as Freyer reached the door, a man hurried in with a letter, Freyer
recognized the large well-known chirography on the envelope as he
passed--Countess Wildenau's handwriting. His brain reeled, and he was
compelled to cling to the door post. The burgomaster noticed it.
"Please sit down a moment, Herr Freyer--the letter is addressed to me,
but will probably concern you."
The man retired. Freyer stood irresolute.