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4d 1902 ANNOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE
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BRUNO Gustav!
(waving a newspaper) Is that any way to tell your friends
you're getting married?! Shame on you! Anyway, Congratulations!
Congratulations!
MAHLER Don't
make so much noise, Bruno! You'll wake the dead.
BRUNO Oh!
Could it be that the bridegroom is embarrassed?
MAHLER Well,
How would you feel if the newspapers announced you'd fallen
in love!
BRUNO Isn't
it true?
MAHLER Alright,
it's true. I've fallen in love. I admit it.
BRUNO Then
I'll say it again: congratulations!
MAHLER Please
don't congratulate me....
BRUNO Why
not? What's wrong with you?
MAHLER There's
nothing wrong. Alright, you can congratulate me, but do it
quickly, and let's not talk about it any more.
BRUNO Oh,
what a funny bridegroom!
MAHLER That's
Enough , Bruno!
BRUNO Enough,
enough! The man is marrying a 22-year-old beauty, the most
gorgeous girl in Vienna ---
MAHLER Have
you decided to make a speech?
BRUNO Yes!
MAHLER Then
do me a favour and cancel it!
BRUNO No,
no, no! Not now, Gustav. Listen. Listen! - Dear friends, dear
enemies! After a very consistent life as a bachelor, our good
friend Gustav Mahler is finally going to marry a woman to
whom he is not related, and this is a good reason for us to
celebrate! So let's all raise our glasses and say Lehayim!
But since we are among friends, let me tell you this: frankly
speaking, we, his friends, his kindred spirits, are somewhat
worried. As a matter of fact, we wouldn't be real Jews if
we weren't. You shouldn't take it too seriously, Alma, on
the contrary, relax: a Jew always worries. - We, Gustav's
friends, we are worrying not because he is 41 and you are
22: this is an insignificant difference , because when he
is 120, you'll be 101, which won't be a big difference at
all ! But what really makes us worry is the difference in
your temperaments, the difference in your characters: you,
Alma, are such a stormy young creature, full of life and bursting
with vitality, and you're hungry for the joys of social life
- whereas Gustav, our good old Gustav, is quite an ascetic
character... and that's putting it mildly ! He's so unworldly,
and if he loves anything in concurrence with his music, it's
his loneliness. You need to know that, Alma, if you open your
heart to him. So if you were to decide to marry, you have
to remember just one thing: your life will be a very difficult
étude, maybe a nocturne, maybe a mazurka - but no matter
what, you will have to play it as a piece for four hands...
U.S. Alma and the nurse (Alma 1) arrive at the room for “Alma,
you have not lived!”.
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