|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 104
ALL (terrified). Silence! Blasphemer!
TEMPTER. Answer, serpent! (Lightning and a clap of thunder; all
flee, except the TEMPTER, who has fallen to the ground, and the
PILGRIM, the STRANGER and the LADY. The TEMPTER begins to recover;
he then gets up and sits down in an attitude that recalls the
classical statue 'The Polisher,' or 'The Slave.') Causa finalis, or
the first cause--you can't discover that! For if the serpent's to
blame, then we're comparatively innocent--but mankind mustn't be
told that! The Accused, however, seems to have got out of this
business! And the Court of justice has dissolved like smoke! Judge
not. Judge not, O Judges!
LADY (to the STRANGER). Come with me.
STRANGER. But I'd like to listen to this man.
LADY. Why? He's like a small child, putting all those questions
that can't be answered. You know how little children ask about
everything. 'Papa, why does the sun rise in the east?' You know the
answer?
STRANGER. Hm!
LADY. Or: 'Mama, who made God?' You think that profound? Well, come
with me.
STRANGER (fighting his admiration for the TEMPTER). But that about
Eve was new. ...
LADY. Not at all. I learnt it in my Bible history, when I was
eight. And that we inherit the debts of our fathers is part of the
law of the land. Come, my son.
TEMPTER (rising, shaking his limbs and climbing up the rocky wall
to the right with a limp). Come, I'll show you the world you think
you know, but don't.
LADY (climbing up the rocky wall to the left). Come with me, my
son, and I'll show you God's beautiful world, as I've come to see
it, since the tears of sorrow washed the dust from my eyes. Come
with me!
(The STRANGER stands irresolute between them.)
TEMPTER (to the LADY). And how have you seen the world through your
tears? Like meadow banks reflected in troubled water! A chaos of
curved lines in which the trees seemed to be standing on their
heads. (To the STRANGER.) No, my son, with my field-glasses, dried
in the fire of hate--with my telescope I can see everything as it
is. Clear and sharp, precisely as it is.
LADY. What do you know of things, my son? You can never see the
thing itself, only its picture; and the picture is illusion and not
the thing. So you argue about pictures and illusions.
TEMPTER. Listen to her! A little philosopher in skirts. By Jupiter
Chronos, such a disputation in this giant amphitheatre of the
mountains demands a proper audience. Hullo!
LADY. I have mine here: my friend, my husband, my child! If he'll
only listen to me, good; all will be well with me, and him. Come to
me, my friend, for this is the way. This is the mountain Gerizim,
where blessings are given. And that is Ebal, where they curse.
TEMPTER. Yes, this is Ebal, where they curse. 'Cursed be the earth,
woman, for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and
thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'
And then to the man this: 'Cursed is the ground for thy sake,
thorns and thistle shall it bring forth to thee, and in the sweat
of thy brow shalt thou labour!' So spoke the Lord, not I!
LADY. 'And God. blessed the first pair; and He blessed the seventh
day, on which He had completed His work--and the work was good.'
But you, and we, have made it something evil, and that is why. ...
But he who obeys the commandments of the Lord dwells on Gerizim,
where blessings are given. Thus saith the Lord. 'Blessed shalt thou
be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed
shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou
comest in, and blessed when thou goest out. And the Lord shall give
rain unto thy land in his season to increase thy harvest, and thy
children shall flourish. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in
goods, to lend to the peoples, and never to borrow. And the Lord
will bless all the work of thy hand, if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God!' (Pause.) So come, my friend, and
lay your hand in mine. (She falls on her knees with clasped hands.)
I beg you, by the love that once united us, by the memory of the
child that drew us together; by the strength of a mother's love--a
mother's--for so have I loved you, erring child, whom I've sought
in the dark places of the wood and whom at last I've found, hungry
and withered for want of love! Come back to me, prodigal one; and
bury your tired head on my heart, where you rested before ever you
saw the light of the sun. (A change comes over her during this
speech; her clothing falls from her and she is seen to have changed
into a white-robed woman with her hair let down and with a full
maternal bosom.)
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|