Singer/Arkadi Flashcards
Memorize Lines
Opening 6 sec after lights come down
THE SINGER:
In olden times, in a bloody time,
There ruled in a Caucasian city –
Men called it City of the Damned – A Governor.
His name was Georgi Abashwili.
He had a beautiful wife
He had a healthy baby.
No other governor had so many horses in his stable
So many beggars on his doorstep
So many soldiers in his service.
On Easter Sunday, The Governor and his family went to church.
CROWD:
–Mercy! Mercy, Your Grace!
-The child is starving in my arms!
-The baby!
-I can’t see it, don’t shove so hard!
-God bless the child, Your Grace!
SINGER: For the first time, the people saw the apple of the Governor’s eye. Even the mighty Prince Kazbeki bows before him at the church door.
GOVERNOR: Yes, at once. Tomorrow.
SINGER: The city is still. Pigeons strut in the church square. A soldier of the Palace Guard is joking with a kitchen maid as she comes up from the river with a bundle.
SIMON (shouting after her): I didn’t bring any friend along!
THE SINGER:
The city is still but why are there armed men?
The Governor’s palace is at peace but why is it a fortress?
Noon was no longer the hour to eat:
Noon was the hour to die.
GOVERNOR’S WIFE: It’s impossible to live in such a slum. But, Georgi, of course, will only build for his little Michael. Never for me! Michael is all!
THE SINGER:
O Blindness of the great!
They go their way like gods, trusting in the power which has lasted so long.
But long is not forever.
Up, great sir, deign to walk upright!
Look about you once more, blind man! (The arrested man looks around)
Does all you had please you?
You are walking to a place whence no one returns. (The Governor is led off)
When the house of a great one collapses many little ones are slain.
Those who had no share in the good fortunes of the mighty often have a share in their misfortunes.
SERVANTS (among themselves):
-The baskets!
-Take them all into the third courtyard!
-Food for five days!
- We’ll be slaughtered like chickens!
SINGER: There’s bloodshed in the city already.
FAT PRINCE: This morning at the church door I said “I love a gay sky.” Actually, I prefer the lightning that comes out of a gay sky. Yes, indeed. It’s a pity they took the brat along. I need him, urgently.
SINGER:
As she was standing between courtyard and gate,
She heard or she thought she heard a low voice calling.
“Woman,” it said, “help me.”
Hearing this she went back for one more look at the child. (She walks a few steps toward the CHILD and bends over it.)
Only to sit with him for a moment or two,
Only until someone should come.
Only till she would have to leave, for the danger was too great.
Fearful is the seductive power of goodness!
And she sat with the child a long time,
Till evening came, till night came, till dawn came.
Too long she saw the soft breathing, the small clenched fists,
Till toward morning the seduction was complete
And she rose, and took the child and carried it away.
___
Grusha Vashadze left the city
And went northward
The Prince’s Ironshirts went after her.
___
When Grusha Vashnadze came to the River Sirra,
Flight grew too much for her, the helpless child too heavy.
GRUSHA: No I haven’t heard a thing.
SINGER:
Run, kind girl! The killers are coming!
Help the helpless baby, helpless girl!
And so she runs!
CORPORAL: I’ll just take a look. (Grusha looks round in despair, sees a log of wood, seizes it and hits the CORPORAL over the head from behind. CORPORAL collapses. She picks up the child and runs off)
SINGER:
And in her flight from the Ironshirts
After twenty-two days of journeying
Grusha Vashnadze decided to adopt the child.
GRUSHA:
Since no one else will take you, son, you must take me.
My legs are tired, my feet are sore: But I wouldn’t be without you anymore.
I’ll throw your silken shirt away
And wrap you in rags and tatters.
I’ll wash you, son, and christen you in glacier water.
We’ll see it through together.
SINGER:
When Grusha Vashnadze came to the bridge on the glacier leading to the villages of the Eastern Slope…She risked two lives.
GRUSHA:
Live together, die together.
Deep is the abyss, son,
I see the weak bridge sway
But it’s not for us, son
To choose the way.
SINGER:
Seven days across the glacier and down the slopes she journeyed.
“When I enter my brother’s house, she thought.
“He will rise and embrace me.”
When the sister came to the brother, she was ill from walking.
GRUSHA (starting up): He’s got a farm!
SINGER:
The sister was so ill, the cowardly brother had to give her shelter.
Summer departed, winter came. The winter was long, the winter was short.
People mustn’t know anything.
LAVRENTI: I’ll let the peasant woman know. (Quick exit)
SINGER:
The bridegroom was on his deathbed when the bride arrived.
The bridegroom’s mother was waiting at the door, telling her to hurry.
The bride brought a child along. The witness hid it during the wedding.
PEASANT: Don’t stare at me like that! Where’s this wife you’ve saddled me with? Get out before I throw you out!
SINGER:
O confusion! The wife discovers she has a husband.
By day there’s the child, by night there’s the husband.
The lover is on his way both day and night.
Husband and wife look at each other.
GRUSHA (Quietly): I didn’t mean to cheat you out of it.
SINGER:
As she sat by the stream to wash the linen
She saw his image in the water
And his face grew dimmer with the passing moons.
His voice grew fainter. Sighs grew more numerous. Tears and sweat flowed.
With the passing moons the child grew up.
SIMON: Does the young lady wish to say someone has come too late?
SINGER:
So many words are said, so many left unsaid.
The soldier has come.
Where he comes from, he does not say.
Hear what he thought but did not say.
The battle grew bloody at noon, my neck caught fire, my hands froze in my gloves, my toes in my socks.
SIMON: The wife need say no more. (GRUSHA looks into her lap and is silent)
SINGER:
There was yearning but there was no waiting.
The oath is broken.
Neither could say why.
Hear what she thought but did not say.
While you were in battle, I found a helpless infant, I had not the heart to destroy him, I had to care for a creature that was lost.
GRUSHA: Please! He’s mine!
SINGER:
The Ironshirts took the child to the city.
She who had borne him demanded the child.
She who had raised him faced trial.
To whom will the child be assigned?
On that Easter Sunday of the great revolt, when Governor Abashwili lost his head, The Village Scrivener Azdak was made judge by the Ironshirts.
AZDAK: It does justice good to be done in the open: the wind blows her skirts up and you can see what she’s got.
SINGER: Hear now the story of the trial concerning Governor Abashwili’s child and the determination of the true mother by the famous test of the Chalk Circle.
GRUSHA: Now I can tell you: I took him because on that Easter Sunday I got engaged to you. So he’s a child of love.
SINGER:
You who have listened to the Story of the Chalk Circle, take note what men of old concluded:
That what there is shall go to those who are good for it,
Children to the motherly, that they prosper,
Carts to good drivers, that they be driven well,
The valley to the waterers, that it yield fruit.
