Morris tribune., 1896-02-26
ELEANoRA BUSES STORY.
xHow the Great italian Actress Learned
That She Had Heart.


That She Had Heart.
Eyes" said Eleanora Duse, al
quoted in Today, i have had many
axperienoes-too many, but they are
more like trials; trials that have
cost many tears and the remem
branoe of which makes me cry, cry,
s0ry.
sit was fen years ago in Rio. The
yellow fever went from house tc
house, from palace to hut, gathering
in victims. One day at rehearsal
Diotti appeared with the pallor OF
death on his brow, tired, hardly able
to stand on his feet. =
What ails thee?' / asked. For
Gods sake tell
" Nothing - a strange feeling.
My head is not right. But come, let
us make a start
''And he did begin. I saw he was
mot himself. ] saw him tremble as
ST shaken by intense cold.
Do not attempt the impossible,
\ said I am going to close the
theater.
And thy fortune?' he made an
sswer. All thy fortune is at stake.
Twill be better tonight. Letus pro-
ceed with rehearsal
Suddenly, in the midst of an ex-
citing situation, he broke down. Tt
was the fever. We had to play be-
cause we were under contract, while
ae was lying alone, deserted, fight
ang the battle of death.
Con the first evening Fedora
The house was, as stated, sold out,
and Ia failure, in all that word
Implies. The theater-a great, i'm.
znense struoture-I myself small, in
significant, a person Of no conse-
quence. My voioe-great God, how
should my voice penetrate. into the
parterre? I believe I might as well
have said, 'Loris. I love thee, as
Loris, leave me-. Nobody would
have known the difference. Add to
Ehis that there were continuous
whispering and murmuring in all
parts of the house, in the boxes, in
the galleries, e&erywhere, all the
time, from the beginning up to the
curtains fall. Ny heart, my head,
my voice, they seemed not to belong
TO me. had no power over them.
I was thinking of him all the time
of him alone.
Next day-intermission. We
played only three times week. The
newspapers gave their final decision.
They said I had something about
me that attracted attention, but my
voioe-well, half of what had said
they could not hear, and the other
half they We're unable to understand.
The following day we had our Sec
a0nd performance-'Denise. The
6heater-that immense barn-emp-
fy Only three OF four rows of seats
were taken and to the right and left
fwo or three boxes.
Comedy indeed! Is there any
thing more tragic than life? And |
there before those footlights I pray
ed: % Madonna, save my friend!
Save him, for he has father and a
mother whose only hope in life he
is. Save him and take me in his
stead. Let me die. Letme lose ev-
renovn, my talents,
my future-but save him.
"Two days later, and all was at
an end. And we continued playing
As for myself, I heaped
upon success, and every tri-
g7naphI earned increased my sorrow,
made me more wretched. Why had
heaven refused the offering of my
poor self?
Son the evening of Diotti's death
day I played Fernando, and then
and there I became what I am. Then
and there I felt for the first time
That I had a heart; that / had soul
and blood in that heart. Then and
hhere I learned that life is not base;
only sorrowful and hard to bear.
This felt. Do you call it an event?
Z don't know whether it is impor-
SAINT enough to be so classed by
others. AS for me, it was the mark
stone of my life A life in a lifeP'