Dr. Stockmann. It is a petty thing to catch me up on a word,
Mr. Aslaksen. What I mean is only that I got scent of the unbelievable
piggishness our leading men had been responsible for down at the Baths. I can't
stand leading men at any price!—I have had enough of such people in my time.
They are like billy-goats on a young plantation; they do mischief everywhere.
They stand in a free man's way, whichever way he turns, and what I should like
best would be to see them exterminated like any other vermin—. (Uproar.)
Peter Stockmann. Mr. Chairman, can we allow such expressions to
pass?
Aslaksen (with his hand on his bell). Doctor—!
(...)
Dr. Stockmann. Very well, gentlemen, I will say no more about
our leading men. And if anyone imagines, from what I have just said, that my
object is to attack these people this evening, he is wrong—absolutely wide of
the mark. For I cherish the comforting conviction that these parasites—all
these venerable relics of a dying school of thought—are most admirably paving
the way for their own extinction; they need no doctor's help to hasten their
end. Nor is it folk of that kind who constitute the most pressing danger to the
community. It is not they who are most instrumental in poisoning the sources of
our moral life and infecting the ground on which we stand. It is not they who
are the most dangerous enemies of truth and freedom amongst us.
Shouts from all sides. Who then? Who is it? Name! Name!
Dr. Stockmann. You may depend upon it—I shall name them! That
is precisely the great discovery I made yesterday. (Raises his voice.) The most
dangerous enemy of truth and freedom amongst us is the compact majority—yes,
the damned compact Liberal majority—that is it! Now you know! (Tremendous
uproar. Most of the crowd are shouting, stamping and hissing. Some of the older
men among them exchange stolen glances and seem to be enjoying themselves. MRS.
STOCKMANN gets up, looking anxious. EJLIF and MORTEN advance threateningly upon
some schoolboys who are playing pranks. ASLAKSEN rings his bell and begs for
silence. HOVSTAD and BILLING both talk at once, but are inaudible. At last quiet
is restored.)
Aslaksen. As Chairman, I call upon the speaker to withdraw the
ill-considered expressions he has just used.
Dr. Stockmann. Never, Mr. Aslaksen! It is the majority in our
community that denies me my freedom and seeks to prevent my speaking the truth.
Hovstad. The majority always has right on its side.
Billing. And truth too, by God!
Dr. Stockmann. The majority never has right on its side. Never,
I say! That is one of these social lies against which an independent,
intelligent man must wage war. Who is it that constitute the majority of the
population in a country? Is it the clever folk, or the stupid? I don't imagine
you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an
absolutely overwhelming majority all the world over. But, good Lord!—you can
never pretend that it is right that the stupid folk should govern the clever
ones! (Uproar and cries.) Oh, yes—you can shout me down, I know! But you cannot
answer me. The majority has might on its side—unfortunately; but right it has
not. I am in the right—I and a few other scattered individuals. The minority is
always in the right. (Renewed uproar.)
Hovstad. Aha!—so Dr. Stockmann has become an aristocrat since
the day before yesterday!
(...)
Morten. And what are we going to do, when you have made liberal-minded
and high-minded men of us?
Dr. Stockmann. Then you shall drive all the wolves out of the country,
my boys!
(EJLIF looks rather doubtful about it; MORTEN jumps about crying
"Hurrah!")
Mrs. Stockmann. Let us hope it won't be the wolves that will drive you
out of the country, Thomas.
Dr. Stockmann. Are you out of your mind, Katherine? Drive me out!
Now—when I am the strongest man in the town!
Mrs. Stockmann. The strongest—now?
Dr. Stockmann. Yes, and I will go so far as to say that now I am the
strongest man in the whole world.
Morten. I say!
Dr. Stockmann (lowering his voice). Hush! You mustn't say anything
about it yet; but I have made a great discovery.
Mrs. Stockmann. Another one?
Dr. Stockmann. Yes. (Gathers them round him, and says confidentially:)
It is this, let me tell you—that the strongest man in the world is he
who stands most alone.
Mrs. Stockmann (smiling and shaking her head). Oh, Thomas, Thomas!
Petra (encouragingly, as she grasps her father's hands). Father!
Title: An Enemy of the People
Author: Henrik Ibsen
Translator: R. Farquharson Sharp
Release Date: December, 2000 [EBook #2446]
Last updated: May 1, 2019
Language: English
CUANDO LA NATURALEZA DOMINA SOBRE LA HISTORIA, LO QUE SE RIDICULIZA ES LA DISIDENCIA
EL SATÍRICO AFIRMA LA VIDA CONTRA LA NATURALEZA
CONTRA EL SACRIFICIO DEL HOMBRE AL MITO, SEA ÉSTE LA SOCIEDAD SIN CLASES O EL MERCADO LIBRE
(Juan Mayorga, Elipses, Necesidad de la sátira)
