The Constant Nymph

I have telephoned all over Brussels for you.

What kind of a husband are you to do something like this?

The kind that walks from the office

by way of the park.

And while you walked in the park,

I had to send for Dr. Renee.

Because you're ill?

No. Mr. Dodd had a letter

or something from the papers from London.

A border in our house gets a letter,

so you send for the doctor?

I thought he would go insane.

He threw his piano over on the floor,

tore up his music... all of it, the work of a year.

Then good. We shall not hear it again.

He shouted out loud to himself

that he was no longer a composer.

I would have shouted it to him long before

if boarders were easy to find.

He said he was no longer a composer, but a mechanic.

A mechanic, maybe. I go up.

Tell me, my dear doctor,

do you know the difference between a consonance

and a dissonance?

I am a doctor of medicine,

not a doctor of music.

I don't like doctors. I don't need doctors.

Then what do you need, Mr. Dodd?

Nothing?

What should I need, when I have everything?

This is very inconvenient. I have patients at the hospital.

Why am I here?

Why are any of us here, doctor?

I don't know why we're here now,

but I know why you will not be here tomorrow.

Marie and I will require this room.

Georges, you will consult me about that.

I've decided.

The house is in my charge.

That is my bureau, and this is my chair!

Is there any insanity in your family, monsieur Dodd?

I have no family,

so how could I have any insanity in it?

My dear doctor, I'd like to pay you

to thank you and say goodbye.

It is my opinion

that you are much more than slightly mad.

Well, thank you, doctor.

Adieu.

Goodbye.

And before you put, uh, that money back,

will you glance at this piano?

It's broken.

Can no one be right but me?

What would calm you, Mr. Dodd?

I don't know.

Brandy will not calm you,

and you are smoking all the time.

You received something from England, Marie said.

Oh, yes, yes. From London.

As you know, my symphony was presented at regents hall

in London last week.

Remember?

Yes, we know. It was very strange music.

Did you ever tell me it was strange, Georges?

You heard it?

We heard it so many times, Mr. Dodd.

I see. And it made you uncomfortable.

Oh, no, no.

But, yes. Why should we be afraid?

Georges is right. Listen to this.

This is the foremost music critic in London.

"It is inconceivable to this critic

"that a program as delicately conceived as this

"should be marred by the rude intrusion

of uncomfortable dissonance."

They were uncomfortable, Georges, and so were you.

It must be that I was not comfortable,

and I conveyed it through my music.

Oh, but we tried to make you comfortable here.

You worked for a whole year.

That's right, a year, to become a mechanic.

Listen to this.

"However, it is to be considered that monsieur Dodd,

"the brilliant, young, Belgian modernist,

has accomplished a series of total mechanics."

Now you see, I am a mechanic!

There was another foreign letter.

I didn't see it.

Yes, two of them.

One from London and one from Switzerland.

Switzerland? The Sangers!

Well... What about dinner, Marie?

What about dinner, Marie?

Every Christmas, when you go to the Sangers,

you come back so changed and so gay.

Well, I've known them since they were babies.

I've seen them grow up.

Your Dr. Renee should meet the Sangers.

There you would find insanity of the most enchanting kind.

Good place for you to go.

Oh, Georges, please. Now.

What about dinner, Marie?

Poor old Sanger.

Mr. Dodd? Hmm?

You remember, you wrote a little song

for the Sanger children?

Little song?

But you did not send it.

Oh, that. Oh, no. It was too sad.

They are so gay. I threw it away.

No. I found it in the rubbish.

Here it is.

You did. Look.

Cello for Kate... she's the eldest.

Violin for Paula... little Paula.

She's the youngest.

Piano for Toni...

And viola for Tessa, the pick of the bunch.

And the mother?

Oh, they all had different mothers,

except Paula and Tessa.

Yes, these two shared the same mother.

And what has Mr. Sanger besides children

and all their mothers?

A genius for music and a new Russian wife.

He's rich?

Tremendously rich.

So much so,

sometimes he hasn't got enough money to buy food.

And yet, they live in a chalet in Switzerland?

Yes, a beautiful, dilapidated, old heaven of a spot.

I must go there tonight. I cannot wait.

Give Georges a hug, give him a kiss,

and tell him not to be angry,

and ask him to send a telegram for me to Albert Sanger.

Here's the address.

Uh, "arriving Wednesday.

"Kill a pig, and buy some decent Brandy.

Lewis."

Thank you, Marie.

What's the matter, Roberto?

What is it?

"Arrive there Wednesday.

Kill a pig, and buy some decent Brandy... Lewis"!

Oh, dear, I've been swimming in the lake,

and I've got my hair all wet!

Oh! Kate!

Kate! Kate!

Oh, quiet. You'll wake your father.

He's coming! He's coming! Lewis! Lewis is coming!

Oh, Roberto.

"Kill a pig and buy some decent Brandy"!

Senorita.

There! Yeah. Brandy.

For Mr. Sanger. Give it to me.

Don't you think we ought to get his room ready,

some lovely flowers?

No, no, no. We have another guest coming,

a mister... Mr. Trigorin.

He must have that room,

and, uh, Lewis must go to the stable loft!

Loft?

Oh, dear. I've gone and got my hair wet.

If I'd only known!

It'll dry in the sun!

Now go and get Paula.

You can both help me with the room.

Paula! Paula!!

Quiet, you'll wake your father.

Who cares?

You've broken my spine.

I suppose you know that.

Lewis is coming.

When? Any minute.

That ribbon happens to belong to me.

Well, where's mine?

I don't know.

Better hurry up and get dressed

if you want to come to the village to meet Lewis.

He'll be here any minute!

I don't want to stay here with you,

you drunken pig!

Drunken pig!

He's a drunken pig!

That's my father you're talking about.

My husband.

Kate? Kate!

Any coffee is hot?

Please, Lina.

Tessa, take this up to father,

and tell him about Lewis and that other...

that Mr. Trigorin.

Oh, lend me that ribbon, will you?

Your hair's prettier without it.

You had a stomachache yesterday.

Give me that.

It's better today.

Here, fasten me up.

What's the matter with you, Tessa?