Bertolt Brecht: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder 3 by Bertolt Brecht
He sits down and writes a letter.
GUIDE: It was a mistake to sit down together. Take care, that’s an evil man. Gives the Coolie his water-bottle. Hide this bottle and keep it in reserve. He’ll certainly take yours if you lose the way. How are you going to find it? I must try to explain the route to you.
COOLIE: Please don’t. If we talk he may dismiss me too. But I would get nothing because I have no union like you, and no rights.
MERCHANT to the Landlord: Give this letter to the men who will arrive tomorrow and are also on their way to Urga. I am going on with my porter.
LANDLORD: But he’s not a guide.
MERCHANT: So he does understand. He just didn’t want to understand. He knows what’s going on, but he won’t get involved. Harshly, to the Landlord: Explain the route to Urga to my porter.
The Landlord goes out and does so. The Coolie nods frequently.
MERCHANT: I can see this is going to be a battle. He takes out his revolver and cleans it. He sings:
The sickly man dies and the strong man wins through.
What makes the earth yield up its gift of oil to Mankind?
What makes the coolie so willing to give his labour?
This oil needs a tough battle
With the earth and with the coolie.
And, as always in this fight
The sickly man dies and the strong man wins through
He enters the other yard, ready for his journey. Do you know the way now?
COOLIE: Yes, master.
MERCHANT: Then start.
Merchant and Coolie go. The Landlord and the Guide watch them.
GUIDE: I don’t know if he understood the route. He understood too quickly.
4
CONVERSATION IN A DANGEROUS REGION
COOLIE sings:
This is the road to the town of Urga
Nothing can stop me until I reach Urga.
Thieves cannot stop me from reaching Urga.
The desert cannot stop me reaching Urga
I can eat in the town of Urga and get paid.
MERCHANT: This porter seems quite unworried. There are thieves and bandits in this area near the outpost. But he sings. To the Coolie: That guide – I never did take to him. One day he’d be surly, the next day he’d crawl. Untrustworthy.
COOLIE: Yes, master. He goes on singing:
The road is rough all the way to Urga
I hope my feet last out on the long road to Urga.
There is untold suffering on the road to Urga.
But in Urga I can rest my body and get paid.
MERCHANT: Why are you singing, tell me, and why are you so cheerful, friend? You’re not afraid of thieves? I suppose you think what they could take from you is not yours. Whatever you have that could be taken is mine.
COOLIE sings:
And my wife waits for me in Urga.
And my small son also waits for me in Urga
And . . .
MERCHANT: I don’t like your singing. We have nothing to sing about. You can be heard all the way to Urga. There’s no better way of attracting bandits. You can sing tomorrow as much as you please.
COOLIE: Yes, master.
MERCHANT going ahead of him: He wouldn’t defend himself for a moment, if anyone tried to take his pack. What would he do? It should be his duty to protect my property as his own, if it was in danger. But he never would. No breeding. He never says a word, either. That’s the worst sort. I can’t see what’s going on inside his head. What is he plotting? He has no cause to laugh, but he laughs. Why does he laugh? Why, for instance, does he let me walk in front? He knows the route. Where is he taking me, actually? He looks round and sees the Coolie wiping out their tracks in the sand with a cloth. What are you doing?
COOLIE: I am wiping out our tracks, master.
MERCHANT: What for?
COOLIE: In case of bandits.
MERCHANT: Ah, in case of bandits. But it ought to be possible for someone to find where you have taken me. Where are you taking me? Walk ahead. They walk on silently. To himself: It’s true, one really leaves very clear tracks in this sand. Actually it’s a very good idea to wipe out our tracks.
5
THE CROSSING OF THE RIVER IN FLOOD
COOLIE: We have come the right way, master. Here is the river Myr. Usually at this time of year it is easy to cross, but if it is in flood, one can drown in the current. It is in flood.
MERCHANT: We have to cross it.
COOLIE: One may have to wait a week for the water to go down. Now it is dangerous.
MERCHANT: We shall see. We can’t wait a single day.
COOLIE: Then we should find a ford, or a boat.
MERCHANT: That takes too much time.
COOLIE: But I swim very badly.
MERCHANT: The water’s not so high.
COOLIE trying it with a stick: It is very high.
MERCHANT: Once you are in the water you’ll swim all right. Because you’ll have to. Try to see the whole picture, like me. Why are we going to Urga? Can’t you get it into your thick skull that it’s a service to Mankind to raise oil from the ground? Raising oil from the ground means a railway and the spread of prosperity. There’ll be food and clothing and God knows what else. And who will have done it? Us. It depends on our journey. Think. The eyes of the nation are on you, on you, a little man like you. And you can hesitate to do your duty?
COOLIE who has been bowing respectfully in the course of this speech: I swim very badly.
MERCHANT: I am risking my life too. Coolie bows. I can’t understand you. You’re not interested in reaching Urga as fast as possible. You want to make this journey last as long as possible. You have no real interest in this journey, only in your pay.
COOLIE standing on the bank in fear: What shall I do? He sings:
1
Here is the river.
To swim across is dangerous.
Here on its bank two men are standing.
One plunges in to swim over. The other
Hesitates. Is the one courageous?
Is the other cowardly? On the far side
The first sees profit to be made.
2
Up out of danger the first man climbs
Taking new breath
Standing proud upon the other bank
Ready for his new venture
And for eating good new food.
But the other climbs up out of danger
Panting, for nothing
Except new dangers to face with less
Strength than before. Are these men both brave?
Are these men both clever?
Together they conquered the river
But they do not share the conquest.
3
‘We’ and ‘I and you’
Are not the same at all.
We are the conquerors
But you still conquer me.
At least allow me half a day’s rest. I am tired from carrying. After a rest I would be stronger.
MERCHANT: I’ve got a better idea. A revolver in your back. Shall we lay a bet that you get across? He pushes him forward To himself: My money makes me fear the danger from bandits and ignore the danger from the river. He speaks to music:
This is how Man triumphs
Over the desert and the river in flood
And triumphs also over his own kind
To find oil, which Man needs.
6
A CAMP FOR THE NIGHT
In the evening the Coolie, his arm broken, is trying to put up a tent. The Merchant sits by.
MERCHANT: I’ve already said you needn’t put up the tent today, since your arm was broken crossing the river. The Coolie continues silently. If I hadn’t pulled you out, you’d have drowned. The Coolie continues. Your accident was not my fault. After all, that log could have struck me too. All the same, the accident occurred when you were on a journey with me. I just don’t have much cash on me, but when we get to Urga I’ll give you some money from my bank
COOLIE: Yes, master.
MERCHANT: A short answer. He blames me with every look. How these coolies can bear you a grudge! To the Coolie: You can rest now. He goes and sits a little way off. I’m sure his injury is less worrying to him than it is to me. His sort don’t care about being intact or damaged. Their ambition ends at the rim of a food bowl. They are born low and they stay low. When we fail we start again. They never start at all because they are failures from the start. Only the man born to fight succeeds. He sings:
The sick man will die and the strong man will fight
That’s as it should be.
The strong get glory, leave the weak to their plight
That’s as it should be.
If he’s down let him lie, take a kick at his head
That’s as it should be.
The one who wins is the one who gets fed
That’s as it should be.
The feast after battle won’t include the dead
How else could it be?
God gives to each his place, either servant or lord!
That’s how it must be.
If you’re in luck – well done. If not, it’s your fault
That’s as it should be.
The Coolie has approached. The Merchant sees him and is frightened.
MERCHANT: He was listening. Stop where you are. What is it?
COOLIE: The tent is ready, master.
MERCHANT: Don’t creep around in the dark. I won’t have that. When a man comes near me I want to hear his footsteps. Also I want him to look me in the face when I speak to him. Go and lie down, and stop busying yourself around me. The Coolie goes back. Stop. You’ll sleep in the tent. I’ll sit here. I’m used to the air. The Coolie goes into the tent. I’d like to know how much of my song he heard. Pause. What’s he doing now? He’s still moving about.
The Coolie can be seen carefully preparing his bed in the tent.
COOLIE: I hope he won’t complain. It’s difficult to cut grass with one hand.
MERCHANT: I’d be a fool not to be on my guard. Trust is foolish. This man was injured because of me, perhaps for the rest of his life. It’s only to be expected that he should want to pay me back. And a strong man asleep is no better than a weak man asleep. It’s a weakness to need sleep at all. It’s true if I sat in the tent I wouldn’t risk catching the sickness in the air. But what sickness can be as dangerous as a man can be? For little money that man marches by my side, and I have a lot of money. But the journey is equally hard for us both. When he was tired he was beaten. When the guide sat with him, the guide was dismissed. When he covered up our tracks in the sand, perhaps really because of bandits, he was shown lack of trust. When he was afraid on the bank of the river, he got a revolver in his back. How can I sleep in the same tent as that man? He can’t make me believe that he’ll forget all that. I wonder what he’s scheming up in there now. The Coolie can be seen quietly lying down to sleep. I’d be a fool to go in that tent.
7
a
AT THE END OF THE TRACK
MERCHANT: Why have you stopped?
COOLIE: Master, there is no more track.
MERCHANT: Well?
COOLIE: Master, beat me if you must, but not on the arm. I don’t know the way any more.
MERCHANT: But it was explained to you at the outpost at Han.
COOLIE: Yes, master.
MERCHANT: Then I asked you if you understood it, and you said yes.
COOLIE: Yes, master.
MERCHANT: And you did not understand it?
COOLIE: No, master.
MERCHANT: Then why did you say yes?
COOLIE: I was afraid of being dismissed. I only knew that one must follow the waterholes.
MERCHANT: Then follow the waterholes.
COOLIE: But I don’t know where they are.
MERCHANT: Walk on, and don’t fool around with me. I know that you’ve travelled this route before.
They go on.
COOLIE: Shouldn’t we wait for the others coming behind us?
MERCHANT: No.
They go on.
b
THE SHARING OF THE WATER
MERCHANT: Where do you think you’re going now? That way is north. East is there. The Coolie goes on in that direction. Stop. What are you thinking of? The Coolie stops, but doesn’t look at the Merchant. Why do you avoid my eyes?
COOLIE: I thought that way was east.
MERCHANT: Right, I’ll teach you a lesson in finding the way. He beats him. Now, where’s east?
COOLIE screams: Not on the arm.
MERCHANT: Where is east?
COOLIE: That way.
MERCHANT: And where are the waterholes?
COOLIE: That way.
MERCHANT furious: That way? But you were going that way.
COOLIE: No, master.
MERCHANT: So? You weren’t going that way? Were you going that way? Beats him.
COOLIE: Yes, master.
MERCHANT: Where are the waterholes? The Coolie does not answer. The Merchant, trying to appear calm: You said just now that you knew where the waterholes are. Do you know? The Coolie is silent. The Merchant beats him and repeats: Do you know?
COOLIE: Yes.
MERCHANT beats him: Do you know?
COOLIE: No.
MERCHANT: Give me your water-bottle. The Coolie gives it. I could now take the view that all the water belongs to me, since you’ve led me the wrong way. Instead, I shall divide the water out between us. Take your mouthful and then walk on. To himself: I lost control. In this situation I shouldn’t have beaten him.
They go on.
c
MERCHANT: We’ve been here before. There are our tracks.
COOLIE: If we have been here before, we can’t be far off our way.
MERCHANT: Pitch the tent. We’ve finished the water in our bottle. My own bottle is empty. The Merchant sits while the Coolie puts up the tent. The Merchant drinks secretly from his own bottle. To himself: He mustn’t know that I still have some water. Otherwise if he has a spark of sense in his head he’ll attack me. If he comes near, I shall shoot him. He takes out his revolver and puts it in his lap. If we can only find that last waterhole again. My throat’s already dried up. How long can one last without water?
COOLIE: I must give him the bottle that the guide gave me. Otherwise, if they find us and I’m still alive but he is dead, they’ll punish me.
He takes out the bottle and goes towards the Merchant. The Merchant suddenly sees him standing there and does not know if the Coolie saw him drinking or not. The Coolie has not seen him drinking. The Coolie holds out his bottle. The Merchant, thinking it is a large stone and that the Coolie is enraged and about to attack him, cries out.
MERCHANT: Put down that stone. And he shoots the Coolie who, not understanding, still holds out the water-bottle. Right, you brute. That’s finished you.
8
THE SONG OF THE LAWCOURTS
THE ACTORS as they prepare the scene for the court, sing:
Behind the thieves and bandits
The law comes scavenging.
And when an innocent man has fallen
Judges, lawyers and their clerks gather round his body to condemn him.
The law will destroy
His innocence and his rights.
The words of the court at work
Cast the shadow of a slaughterer’s knife.
That slaughterer’s knife is quite sharp enough
Without the attachment called a verdict.
The sky goes dark. The vultures are circling above.
Starved out by the desert they have flown here.
In the courts murderers find refuge. Trackers
Gather there in safety. And here in the lawcourts
Thieves can hide their stolen goods, wrapped in a piece of paper
On which is written the law.
9
THE COURT
The Guide and the victim’s Wife are already seated in the c
GUIDE to the Wife: Are you the wife of the dead coolie? I am the guide who hired him. I have heard that at this trial you will ask for the merchant to be punished and for compensation. I came at once, because I have the evidence which will prove that your husband was innocent. It is here in my pocket.
LANDLORD to the Guide: I have heard that you have evidence in your pocket. Let me give you some advice. Leave it where it is.
GUIDE: But is it right that the coolie’s wife should not be compensated?
LANDLORD: But is it right that you should be blacklisted?
GUIDE: I’ll think about your advice.
The Judge enters, as do the accused Merchant and the Leader of the Second Expedition.
JUDGE: I declare this court in session. Let the wife of the dead man speak first.
WIFE: My husband was a porter for this gentleman across the Yahi Desert. Near the end of the journey this gentleman shot him. Although it will not bring my husband back to life, I claim that his murderer should be punished.
JUDGE: And also you are claiming compensation.
WIFE: Yes, because I and my small son have lost our breadwinner.
JUDGE to Wife: Do not feel ashamed of your material concern. It is quite proper. To the Leader of the Second Expedition. Behind the expedition of the merchant Karl Langmann there came a second expedition, which had been joined, after his dismissal, by the guide of the first expedition. The expedition which came to grief was sighted hardly a mile from the route. What did you find as you approached?
LEADER 2: The merchant had almost no water left in his bottle, and the coolie lay dead in the sand.
JUDGE to Merchant: Did you shoot the porter?
MERCHANT: Yes. He attacked me suddenly without warning.
JUDGE: How did he attack you?
MERCHANT: He wanted to strike me from behind with a stone.
JUDGE: Can you explain why he should attack you?
MERCHANT: No.
JUDGE: Did you drive your men especially hard?
MERCHANT: No.
JUDGE: Is the guide from the first expedition present?
GUIDE: I am.
JUDGE: Can you add any information?
GUIDE: In my eyes, what mattered to the merchant was reaching Urga as soon as possible, to secure an oil concession.
JUDGE to Leader 2: Would you say that the expedition ahead of you was travelling unusually fast?
LEADER: No, not unusually. They had a day’s lead and they held it.