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Scene I | Scene II | Scene
III | Scene IV ]
No. 1 PROLOGUE Loudspeaker
(in
front of curtain):
SCENE IThe first scene takes place somewhere; Death and Harlequin sit at the borderline of a living that can no longer laugh, and a dying that can no longer cry, in a world that has forgotten how to enjoy life while living and how to achieve death when dying. Death offended by the speed and technology of modern life breaks his sword to teach mankind a lesson, and decides that from now on he will allow no one to die!No. 2 PRELUDE WITH DANCE No. 3 HARLEQUIN'S SONG The moon on stilts is skirting the rooftops of the town; Young men are thirsting for love and wine. The moon, despite their yearning, takes both away; There's no returning, love nor wine returning. So what are we to drink now? Blood is what we'll drink now. The world's all topsy-turvy and it's whirling like a carousel. But we're the ones who ride. The moon is white, the blood is hot; the wine is sweet, and Love is in Paradise. In this poor world then, what's our share? We'd sell our souls at the nearest fair. Will no one buy us? Will no one buy us, since each man wants to be rid of himself? We must go wherever the four winds drive us. Ah! 4 No. 4RECITATIVE AND DUET: Death and Harlequin. DEATH: No more. What sone was that? HARLEQUIN: Oh, just a song. DEATH: Well, tell me what day it is today. HARLEQUIN: I've stopped keeping track of days as I used to, since I've got no shirt to speak of. I'll only take up a new day, when I've got some fresh, clean under-wear. DEATH: Then you must be stuck way back in last year by now! HARLEQUIN: Perhaps Tuesday? Wednesday? Friday? Each just like the other. DUET: One day, two days, who'll buy new days? One day, two days, who'll buy new days? One day, two days, who'll buy new days? Lovely fresh days, undiscovered; one day, two days, who'll buy new days. Each just leek the other. Who'll buy new days? Who'll buy new days? Perhaps one of them will bring luck, good luck. You'll be a king then. You'll be a king then. Old days cheap, or come try one. Who'll buy new days, who'll buy new days? Who'll buy old days? Who'll buy old days? Buy one. No. 5 RECITATIVE: Harlequin, Death. HARLEQUIN: From the day I first looked with loathing upon myself, I've had a sickness deep inside me! I wish you would kill me. It's your profession after all, and I am so bored, ev'ry moment unbearable! DEATH : Leave me in peace, no power on earth can kill you; The laughter that mocks itself is immortal. You're still yourself; there's no escaping. You will always be Harlequin! ARIA: Harlequin: And who is that? Only a memory, paler than all the yellowed photographs of these wretched creatures, who can smile no longer. I get laughs from no one. . . 5 If I could just forget what young wine tastes like! If once more the long forgotten touch of a woman could wake my being. . . RECITATIVE: Death: Ridiculous! It makes me laugh when I hear you. You're scarcely three hundred years old, and I, I've been part of this nonsense ever since time was! Now I am old and cannot keep up. . . .You should have seen me back then! ARIA: Death: They had such wars then! The most spectacular clothes were worn to pay me homage, to pay me homage! Gold and purple, glittering coats of mail. . .they decked them-selves for me the way a bride prepares for her consort. Colorful banners fluttered over the cavalry. . .Footsol- diers rolled out their dice on the battledrum; and when they danced, the bones of the women would crack, they were wet with the sweat of their partner. . .So often I raced beside the little horses of Attila as they galloped! And ahead of Hannibal's elephants, and the tigers of Djehagir that my old legs are so weary I'm too tired to follow the motorized legions of fighters. What can I do now but limp in the wake of Death's new battalion of angels, a lowly tradesman of dying? NO. 7 RECITATIVE: DRUMMER. (Drumroll. The drummer appears behind the fence and issues a pro-clamation:) Hello, hello! (spoken:) Attention! Attention! In the name of his majesty, the Emperor Overall! ARIA: 'By the grace of God, we, Overall the Glorious, pride of the Fatherland, blessing to mankind, ruler of the Indies, Emp'ror of Atlantis, Imperial Duke in the lands of Ophir, High Priest of Astarte, Ban of Hungary, Card'nal Prince of Ravenna, King of Jerusalem, RECITATIVE:(Drummer cont.) and to glorify our divine descent from God, Arch Pope, have, in our flaw-less, truly perfect, all penetrating wisdom, decided to declare, through all our lands total, God inspired War! Each against the other! No survivors!' No. 8 ARIA AND RECITATIVE: Drummer, Death, Harlequin. ARIA: Drummer: Every child, both male and female; Every maiden, wife and mother; Every man, deformed or able bodied, Shall now carry weapons in this holy crusade which must end in victory for our true apostolic Majesty and in the destruction of wickedness through our dominions. All shall end. And as you hear these words we proclaim our campaign triumphantly opened. 6 RECITATIVE: DRUMMER: Our old friend, our ally, Death, will lead the way with his glorious banner in the name of our great future and his great past. Fight bravely! Decreed in the fifteenth year of our prosperous reign. Signed: Emp'ror Overall. DEATH: Hear that, hear how I'm sneered at? It's only I who can take men's souls! (spoken:) My banner 'lead the way'! My 'great past'! Your 'great future'! My obedi-ence! Your friend!! HARLEQUIN: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! DEATH: (draws his sabre) Hi! Hi! In the name of your great future! HARLEQUIN: What are you doing? DRUMMER: 'By the grace of God, we, Overall the Glorious. . .' DEATH:(breaks his sabre) I'm making the future of mankind great. . .and long. . .long!! LOUDSPEAKER:(may be spoken over Intermizzo music) From his office in the palace, the Emperor of Atlantis communicates with his ministers by telephone and radio. Following the attempted execution of several prisoners, he realizes that Death has decided to stop working. People cannot die, the old and the sick are doomed to endure the throes of death forever. The Emperor tries to prevent the panic this news must bring; he tells his subjects they will be liberated by Death's abdication; set free from a tyranny that till now has sub-jugated every living creature. No. 9 DANCE
INTERMEZZO: Dance of Death
NO.
10 RECITATIVE AND ARIA
EMPEROR:(suddenly
ducks, starts up and looks quickly behind him. He shouts into the telephone.)
What
time is it?
LOUDSPEAKER:
Five thirty-two. (Overall sets his watch.) Hello, hello! Royal guard
reporting! Sentry commander! All defenses 'round the palace have been tripled
as ordered!
EMPEROR:
Armed and ready?
7
LOUDSPEAKER:
Armed and ready.
EMPEROR
: Good.
LOUDSPEAKER:
Hello, hello! Assaulting battalions, dive bombers, underground torpedoes
have demolished the ramparts surrounding the third largest city. The in-habitants
are dead. Corpses have been delivered to the recycling plant.
EMPEROR:
How
much?
LOUDSPEAKER:
Ten thousand kilos of phosphorous.
EMPEROR:
Fine! (He dials a number.) The ministry!
LOUDSPEAKER:
Hello, hello, Ministry. According to orders, hanged at four thirteen.
EMPEROR:
Well then, are they dead?
LOUDSPEAKER:
Death's certain to come any moment now!
EMPEROR:
What? Certain to? When was the sentenced carried out?
LOUDSPEAKER:
Four thirteen.
EMPEROR:
But it's now five thirty-five!
LOUDSPEAKER:
Death's certain to come any moment now!
EMPEROR:
Have you lost your senses? Has the hang- man in an hour and twenty-two
minutes failed to kill them?
LOUDSPEAKER:
Death's certain to come any moment now!
EMPEROR:(jumps
up) Am I really going crazy? Are then wrestling Death away from me?
Who after this will still obey me> Does Death refuse his duty? Has he smashed
his ancient sabre? Who will give allegiance to the Kaiser of Atlantis?
Hello, fill them with bullets!
LOUDSPEAKER:
Performed as ordered.
EMPEROR:
Well?!
LOUDSPEAKER:
Death's certain tom come any moment now.
EMPEROR:(steps
back. Spoken) What? (picks up telephone) The doctor.
8
LOUDSPEAKER:
Hello,
doctor speaking.
EMPEROR:
Well?
LOUDSPEAKER:
They're still alive. A very strange sickness has broken out. People cannot
die.
EMPEROR:
Is it such a bad thing that people can't die?. . .How many have died since
the epidemic began?
LOUDSPEAKER:
None. Thousands, mortally wounded, are fighting against life so they can
die.
EMPEROR:
Thank you. Issue commands. Ministry! Posters on every corner, special announcements
on the radio. Drummers in the villages: (sung) We, Overall, the
Glorious, give to all our deserving citizens a secret formula for life
everlasting. He who possesses it shall be protected from death, and neither
sickness nor any harm can henceforth prevent him from carrying the sword
of his fatherland, and his leader. Death, where is thy sting? Hell, where
is thy victory?! (Curtain)
LOUDSPEAKER:(spoken)
A soldier and a girl, from the two enemy camps, confront each other (on
the battlefield), brandishing weapons. The news that people are unable
to die transforms their warlike spirit into love. Instead of killing each
other, they embrace. The Drummer tries in vain to persuade the man to follow
him.
No.
11 RECITATIVE AND DUET
SOLDIER:
Who's there?
GIRL:
Halt! Stop! Who goes there?
SOLDIER:
A
man.
GIRL:
Yes, but a foe! (She points her pistol at him; he wrestles it away;
they fight; he overpowers her.)
DRUMMER:(behind
the scene) ". . . give to all deser- ving citizens a secret formula
for life everlasting. . ."
SOLDIER:
How beautiful!
DRUMMER:
". . .shall be protected from Death. . ."
9
SOLDIER:
In my young days, I would sometimes walk with a girl and stroll beside
the river. She had eyes that were bright, like yours!
GIRL:
I'm not old yet enough to have such moments to remember. . . Hear him calling!
DRUMMER:
"Death, where is thy sting? Hell, where is thy victory?"
SOLDIER:
Heavy weapons, steel adornments press upon your tender flesh! Girl, you
should endure no torments; see, the world is bright and fresh. (He kisses
her. She raises her weapon, when throws it down and rushes into his arms.)
No.
12 ARIA
GIRL:
Is it true? Are there landscapes on earth, not all ravaged and cratered?
And say, are there words on earth free of spite and hatred? And say, are
there fields on earth full of brightness and fragrance? Is it true? Are
there hills on earth that shimmer blue in the radiance?
No.
13 RECITATIVE, ARIA AND TRIO
DRUMMER:(He
steps forward.) You must not stay; come go with me! Go with me!
GIRL:
You
must not stay, come go with me! Come away!.
DRUMMER:
Both
king and duty bid you fight!
GIRL:
We're beckoned by the distant light!
DRUMMER:
You're called to fight, you're called to Death.
GIRL:
No, Death is dead; Humanity need fight no more!
DRUMMER:
The war drum roars and pounds; a man can't help but be lured by its sounds.
Ah! For its skin is smooth, its feel is warm, and rounded like a woman's
form.
No.
14 ARIA
GIRL
AND SOLDIER: We see what transforms even Death's grim face: the flower
of love that inspires us, that inspires us all to embrace.
DRUMMER:
It speaks a language loud and full. A man must follow at its call! A man
must follow at its call!
10
GIRL
AND SOLDIER: See, the sullen clouds that hovered have been lifted from
our sight, And the land-scape, greyly covered, suddenly is bathed in light.
Deepest shadows turn to fire at the rising of the sun, Death takes up the
poet's lyre, now that he and Love are one.
No.
15 DANCE INTERMESSO: The Living Death (War and Love, two girls,
compete for the soldiers.)
LOUDSPEAKER:
Because of Death's refusal to let the people die, the Emperor witnesses
a total collapse of society. The sick are terrified at being robbed of
de-liverance from their pain, and a chaotic madness sets in.
The
Emperor, too, is seized the universal panic. Harlequin stirs Overall with
long forgotten memories from his childhood; but the Drummer urges him to
hold firm.
EMPEROR:
(spoken)
Has no none else died? No sick, no old, no wounded?
LOUDSPEAKER:
No one.
No.
16 RECITATIVE AND ARIA
EMPEROR:
(spoken)
I can hardly believe it. I'm getting so confused. Once we were children.
. .
DRUMMER:(behind
the scene) 'We, Overall, we Overall, the world is full, the world is
full with all our doings. Go, if you dare, no matter where, we'll meet
you there, we'll meet you there and be your ruin. Sense is but nonsense,
Wisdom is a fool, we Overall."
11
HARLEQUIN:
(sits down at the desk and sings with ironic simplicity) Bye, lullaby,
an epitaph am I. Your father perished in the war, Your mother's red mouth
finished her, Bye, lullaby. Sleep, baby, sleep, the man in the moon doth
reap. He reaps our joy, he cuts the crop, And in the sun it all dries up.
You'll put your little red dress on then, And start the same old song again..
DIALOGUE:
Emperor and Loudspeaker.
LOUDSPEAKER:
Hello, hello, Supreme General here. Hospital 34 for the Living Dead was
captured by the rebels at three o'clock. Doctors and instructors surrendered
en masse. The insurgents carry black flags and display a bloody plough
on their coat of arms. They fight without a battle-cry, silent and bitter.
The General Staff of the Twelfth Army has not yet submitted its report.
EMPEROR:
What else?
LOUDSPEAKER:
That
is all.
EMPEROR:
Good. Hello, ministry. Which headquarters have fallen into the hands of
the rebels?
LOUDSPEAKER:
57-3-Roman numeral 8, 120-Roman numeral 32 / 1 / 10 / 11B.
EMPEROR:
Is the proclamation printed?
LOUDSPEAKER:
Printed and dispatched.
EMPEROR:
Yes. (He searches around the dial. A jumble of voices is heard; fragments
of the Emperor's proclamation; noise, then:)
LOUDSPEAKER:(Another
headquarters): An awesome surgeon has removed our cataracts and healed
us of our blindness; great as the madness of our sins is the punishment,
terrible the anguish we must endure. Let us bear it with humility, and
never rest till we've rooted from our hearts the last rank weed of hate
and disharmony. With bare hands we shall tear down the devil's steel ramparts.
. . (Overall switches off abruptly. He writes, half-madly, as if in
a trance.)
12
17.
MADNESS TRIO: Emperor, Drummer, Harlequin
(Emperor
jumps up and falls forward.)
DRUMMER:
He
hid behind
Am
I am man? Am I a man?
HARLEQUIN:
He
hid behind
Am
I a man? A man?
EMPEROR:
I
hid behind -
But
what are men like?
Can
I be called a man, or ust the adding
Or
just the adding machine of God?
(Overall
pulls down the sheet. Within the mirror stands Death. Overall recoils and
draws his pistol.)
HARLEQUIN
AND DRUMMER: (spoken) A living dead man, ha, ha, ha . . . (They
disappear.)
DEATH:
(spoken)
Hold your fire, Overall. I've been in the state you'd like to put me in
for millions of years already.
EMPEROR:
Who are you?
No.
18 ARIA OF DEATH
I'm
known as Death, the Gardener Death; I sow the seeds of sleep in pain-cut
furrows. I'm known as Death, the Gardener Death; I pull pale weeds exhausted
after many morrows. Men call me Death, the Gardener Death;
13
And
in the ripened fields I reap the corn of sorrows. I'm not, I'm not the
plague that brings you pain; I bring relief. I'm not the one who tortures
men, But he who soothes their grief. I am the comfortable warm nest to
which an anguished soul at last can fly. I'm freedom's festival the last
and best. I am the final lullaby. Hushed is my house and glad to great
each guest. . . Come, take your rest!
DIALOGUE:
Emperor and Death
EMPEROR:
Then you'll come back to us? Without you mankind cannot survive.
DEATH:
I'll come back if you'll be the first one to die (suffer the new death).
EMPEROR:
I could make this sacrifice. But the people don't deserve it. . .
DEATH:
Then I can't come back to you.
EMPEROR:
Should I refuse to experience what all who suffer beg of you . . . I'll
do it.
DEATH:
Give me you hand.
No.
19 THE EMPEROR'S FAREWELL
The
war is over. So you say with pride. No other war has stopped, no war but
this; the last one? White banners fluttering, from every tower the bells
ringing out their festive tidings, and the fools will all come dancing,
singing, leaping. Ah, but how long will it last? The flame is merely weakened
not put out. It soon will blaze anew, it soon will blaze anew. Once more
shall murder rage, and I yearned to share the grave's repose. O were my
task accomplished! Freed from these fetters forged by man, the land would
stretch in golden realms of unploughed meadows. Ah, were we turned to dust
the wilds would flourish free: we've maimed them forever; none would halt
the roaring of the mighty river. Death would come as hunger love and life!
Sometimes slowly or quick as light, but never to stay. Only in your hand
lies our life. Take it away, take it, take it away.
14
(Death
takes the Emperor gently by the hand and leads him off through the mirror
under his broad cloak, while backstage the chorale is sung.)
No.
20 FINALE
Come,
Death, our dearly honored guest, into our hearts descending. Lift all Life's
burdens from our breast, lead us to rest, our sorrow's ending. Make us
prize all human worth; to others' lives awaken. Let this commandment be
our truth: The great sovereign name of Death must not be lightly taken!
(The
curtain falls.) |
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