The Tragedy of Man

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I M RE M A DĂ C H

T H E T RAG E DY OF MAN

with images from the animated film adaptation by

M A RC E L L J A N KO V I C S


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F I R S T

S C E N E

**

[H E AV E N . T H E L O R D B E F O R E T H E T H RO N E .

I N G L O RY O N H I S T H RO N E .

G R E AT

ANGELS’ CHORUS

THE LORD

A

H O S T O F A N G E L S K N E E L I N G.

THE FOUR ARCHANGELS

S TA N D

B R I L L I A N C E .]

Glory to our God in the highest. Let the earth and the firmament adore Him, Whose word has called all things into being And on whose glance the fate of all depends. He is all power, wisdom and bliss. Our share is only the shadow he has cast on us. Let us adore Him for his eternal grace, in granting Such a share in His light to us. The eternal great idea has taken shape. Lo, the Creation is already finished And the Lord from all to whom He gives life’s breath Awaits due tribute at His holy footstool. Verily the great work is accomplished, The machine goes round, the creator takes his rest. So for a million years will it rotate Before one single cog need be renewed. Arise then, guardian spirits of light, arise.

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S E C O N D

S C E N E

**

[T H E G A R D E N A DA M IN

AND

OF

EVE

E D E N. I N

T H E M I D D L E T H E T R E E S O F K N OW L E D G E A N D O F E T E R N A L L I F E .

E N T E R S U R RO U N D E D B Y VA R I O U S K I N D S O F A N I M A L S W I T H TA M E C O N F I D E N C E .

T H E O P E N G AT E O F T H E S K Y A G L O RY S E N D S F O RT H R AY S , A N D T H E S O F T H A R M O N I E S O F T H E

A N G E L S ’ C H O RU S C A N B E H E A R D.

EVE ADAM EVE

ADAM

EVE

SUNNY

DAY.]

How sweet, how beautiful it is to live! And to be lords over everything. To feel that we are fully cared for And for all this we merely stammer thanks To him, dispenser of all these joys. Dependence is thy way of life, I see. I’m thirsty, Eve, see how temptingly This fruit looks down on us. I’m going to pick one.

THE VOICE OF THE LORD

Stop, stop, the whole earth is thine Adam, only avoid, avoid these two trees. Another spirit guards their luscious fruit And he who tastes thereof shall die the death. Yonder the grapes are showing purple There soft shade invites thee to repose During the sweltering heat of the radiant noon.

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T H I R D

S C E N E

**

[S P L E N D I D C O U N T RY O U T S I D E E D E N . A S TA K E S A S A F E N C E .

ADAM

EVE

LUCIFER

ADAM

EVE

L I T T L E RO U G H WO O D E N H OV E L .

IS MAKING AN ARBOUR.

A DA M

IS DRIVING IN

L U C I F E R .]

This is my own. Instead of the wide world This place shall be my home. It is my domain. From noxious animals I shall guard it; And shall compel it to produce for me. I am making just such an arbour As we had before, and so can conjure up The Eden we have lost. Alas! Fine words Fall from your lips. The family and property Will be the world’s twain motive power The source of all its pleasures and its pains. These two ideas will grow unceasingly. From them will come the Nation and Industry Begetting everything that’s great and noble And, Saturn-like, devouring their own offspring. Thou speak’st in riddles. Thou hast promised knowledge, For this I have renounced instinctive pleasures 37


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F O U R T H

S C E N E

**

[E G Y P T. I N LUCIFER

F RO N T O F A N O P E N H A L L .

A DA M ,

AS

P H A R AO H ,

YO U N G , S E AT E D O N A T H RO N E .

A S H I S M I N I S T E R : AT A R E S P E C T F U L D I S TA N C E , A B R I L L I A N T R E T I N U E .

IN

THE

B AC K G RO U N D S L AV E S A R E AT WO R K , B U I L D I N G A P Y R A M I D, U N D E R OV E R S E E R S W H O K E E P O R D E R W I T H W H I P S.

LUCIFER

FINE

DAY.]

Your Majesty! Thy folk who count it happiness To bleed for thee, is asking anxiously What can it be which does not let great Pharaoh Take his repose upon his cushioned throne? Why dost thou renounce the pleasures of the day And the sweet visions which come by night And dost not to thy slave, as is befitting Confide the care of thy vast projects, When already, all the glory and the power Of this great world, and all the luxury Which man can bear, belong to thee? The riches of a hundred provinces acclaim their lord. The scented flower opens its cup for thee And for thee only brings forth its sweet fruit. A thousand women’s hearts are sighing for thee: The fair skinned beauty with her languid eye 51


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F I F T H

S C E N E

**

[A T H E N S . T H E A G O R A — S E AT S

F O R O R AT O R S I N T H E M I D D L E .

IN

F RO N T AT T H E S I D E , A N O P E N

T E M P L E W I T H S TAT U E S O F G O D S , W R E AT H S O F F L OW E R S A N D A N A LTA R . OF

C O M M A N D E R M I LT I A D E S , W I T H

HER SON

K I M O N,

A

AS

LUCIA, THE

WIFE

AC C O M PA N I E D B Y M A N Y S E RVA N T S C A R RY I N G

O F F E R I N G S , C O M E S U P T O T H E P O RT I C O O F T H E T E M P L E . M A R K E T- P L AC E .

EVE,

R AG G E D

PEOPLE LOUNGE ABOUT THE

F I N E M O R N I N G .]

EVE

KIMON

EVE

Come, come this way my dear little son. See! that’s the way your father went, in a swift ship To fight far away from our country’s frontiers. There dwells a barbarous folk, who daringly Threaten the liberty of our fatherland. Let us pray, let us pray, my son, That Heaven will defend our country’s right And bring your hero father safely back to us. But why did father go so far away To protect these ragged cowardly people While grief consumes his lovely wife at home? Alas, don’t criticise your good father. A child who does so is accursed of God. Only a loving wife may be allowed To sorrow o’er her husband’s exploits, 69


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S I X T H

S C E N E

**

[RO M E . O P E N I S BU R N I N G.

A DA M AND

AS

P O RT I C O W I T H S TAT U E S O F T H E G O D S A N D M AG N I F I C E N T V E S S E L S I N W H I C H I N C E N S E

THE APENNINES

ARE VISIBLE.

S E R G I O L U S, L U C I F E R

CLUVIA,

AS

IN

T H E M I D D L E A S P R E A D TA B L E W I T H T H R E E C O U C H E S .

N I D O, C AT U L U S — A L L

C O U RT E S A N S , D R E S S E D WA N T O N LY .

G L A D I AT O R S

S TA N D WA I T I N G F O R O R D E R S , F L AU T I S T S A R E P L AY I N G .

CATULUS

ADAM CATULUS

ADAM LUCIFER

CATULUS

T H E S E D E B AU C H E E S ;

DUSK,

EVE

AS

JULIA, HIPPIA

A R E F I G H T I N G O N A S TAG E , S L AV E S

A F T E RWA R D S N I G H T.]

Sergiolus, look how restrained and dexterous That gladiator with the red ribbon is. I’ll bet you that he beats the other one. No, by Hercules! Hercules indeed, Who of us still believes in Gods? Swear by your Julia, then I might believe you. So be it. That’s a powerful kind of oath Substituting one false God for another. But say, what may we take this oath to mean: Do you swear by her beauty or your love Or only by her faithfulness to you? Charm is a fleeting thing and were it not You would be bored to-morrow with what delights to-day 97


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S E V E N T H

S C E N E

**

[C O N S TA N T I N O P L E . S Q UA R E P AT R I A R C H ’ S

WITH SOME

CITIZENS

L O U N G I N G A B O U T.

PA L AC E ; T O T H E R I G H T A C O N V E N T, T O T H E L E F T A WO O D .

I N T H E P R I M E O F L I F E , W I T H OT H E R K N I G H T S , AT T H E H E A D O F T H E F RO M

ASIA, WITH

E V E N I N G,

IN

THE MIDDLE

A DA M ,

C RU S A D E R S

F L U T T E R I N G B A N N E R S A N D T H E S O U N D O F D RU M S .

LUCIFER

AS

THE

TA N C R E D

RETURNING

AS HIS SQUIRE.

L AT E R N I G H T.]

FIRST CITIZEN

SECOND CITIZEN

FIRST CITIZEN ADAM

Look, once more a troop of ruffians is arriving. Let’s run and bar up all our doors and windows In case they mean to plunder us again. Hide away our ladies! This wild mob Is well acquainted with the seraglio’s joys. Our ladies, too, have known the victor’s right. Stop! Why do you flee from us like that? Do you not perceive this holy sign, Brotherhood, which unites us in a common cause? To Asia we have borne our faith’s true light, The doctrine of Love, so that unruly millions Of men, where the holy cradle rocked Which brought to us salvation, should feel its grace. How then should you be without charity? 115


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E I G H T H

S C E N E

**

[P R AG U E . T H E

GARDEN OF THE

E M P E RO R ’ S

PA L AC E .

TO

THE RIGHT AN ARBOUR, TO THE LEFT

A N O B S E RVAT O RY W I T H A L A R G E B A L C O N Y I N F RO N T W I T H A S T RO N O M I C A L I N S T RU M E N T S .

LADIES

LUCIFER

C O U RT I E R S

AND

W I F E —T H E

E M P E RO R RU D O L P H

G RO U N D A B O N F I R E F O R

IS

KEPLER’S

K E P L E R ’ S S E RVA N T

O N T H E B A L C O N Y.

WA L K A B O U T I N G RO U P S , A M O N G T H E M

EVE,

I S I N D E E P C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H

HERETICS

I S BU R N I N G.

E V E N I N G,

W R I T I N G - TA B L E , C H A I R A N D

AS

A DA M

IN

THE GARDEN

BORBALA, KEPLER’S AS

L AT E R N I G H T.

KEPLER. IN

T H E B AC K -

T WO C O U RT I E R S

COME

T O T H E F RO N T O F T H E S TAG E .]

F I R S T C O U RT I E R

SECOND COURTIER

F I R S T C O U RT I E R

Who is it, who is burning over there, A heretic or witch? I don’t know. It’s not the fashion now to take an interest, Only riff-raff collect round the bonfire And they don’t get delirious for joy, But look on silently and mutter to themselves. In my time a burning was a festival. The Count and the Nobility were there. Ah, what a falling off from those good times.

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N I N T H

S C E N E

**

[T H E

S C E N E S U D D E N LY C H A N G E S T O T H E

P L AC E

DE

GREVE

AT

PA R I S ;

THE BALCONY INTO THE

S C A F F O L D O F A G U I L L OT I N E , T H E W R I T I N G - TA B L E I N T O T H E G U I L L OT I N E B Y W H I C H S TA N D S A S

E X E C U T I O N E R . A DA M

AS

DA N T O N

LUCIFER

F RO M T H E E D G E O F T H E S C A F F O L D I S S P E A K I N G T O

T H E H OW L I N G M O B .—T O T H E S O U N D O F D RU M S A T RO O P O F R E C RU I T S I N R AG S A R R I V E S A N D L I N E S U P AT T H E S C A F F O L D.

ADAM

CROWD ADAM

BRIGHT

DAY.]

[CONTINUING]

Equality, fraternity, liberty. Death to the man who does not acknowledge them. I say that, too.—Two swords will save The great idea attacked on every side To all good men we say the one “The country is in danger, and they awake. The other we thunder at the miscreant— That word is “Tremble”—and they are destroyed. Kings have risen up in arms against us And we have cast our monarch’s head before them, The priests have risen, and we have wrenched The lightning from their hands, restoring To its throne Reason, so long persecuted. 171


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T E N T H

S C E N E

**

[T H E

W H O L E S U D D E N LY C H A N G E S B AC K A S I T WA S I N T H E E I G H T H S C E N E .

W I T H H I S H E A D L E A N I N G O N H I S W R I T I N G TA B L E , HIM ON THE SHOULDER.

LUCIFER ADAM

LUCIFER ADAM

THE

LUCIFER,

AS

FA M U L U S,

A DA M ,

AG A I N A S

KEPLER,

S TA N D S B Y H I M A N D TA P S

DAY B E G I N S T O DAW N .]

This time there’s no beheading. [RISING

UP]

Oh, where am I, where are my dreams? They have gone off with the fumes, my master. In this mean age can drunkenness alone Create in worn-out hearts some great idea? How splendid was the vision that appeared to me. Blind is the man who cannot see God’s spark, If it has been besmeared with blood and dirt. Its vice, its virtue, how gigantic And how prodigious, both of them For they were hall marked with the stamp of strength. Oh, why did I wake up? that gazing round I better should perceive the smallness of the age With its vices hidden under a smiling face And its conventional sham virtue? 191


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E L E V E N T H

S C E N E

**

[L O N D O N . A A N D ROA R S ,

T OWA R D S

MARKET BETWEEN THE

A DA M ,

T OW E R

AND THE

A S A D E C R E P I T M A N, W I T H

T H A M E S. A

LUCIFER,

M OT L E Y M U LT I T U D E S U R G E S

IS ON A BASTION OF THE

T OW E R .

E V E N I N G .]

C H O RU S

[MINGLING

W I T H T H E M U R M U R O F T H E B U Z Z I N G C ROW D,

AC C O M PA N I E D B Y S O F T M U S I C ]

The flowing tide of life roars on. Each wave is a new world. What do you care if that one sinks down? What do you fear if this one towers up? Now you’re afraid that the crowd Swallows up the individual Now you’re afraid that a man of mark Annihilates millions. To-day Art frightens you. To-morrow Science does the same And in the bounds of a narrow system You confine the waves. For all your struggles and pains After all you only get water. 201


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T W E L F T H

S C E N E

**

[T H E C O U RT

OF A SPLENDID

PHALANSTER,

B U I LT I N T H E S H A P E O F A

O F T H E T WO W I N G S I S O P E N , F O R M I N G A P O RT I C O.

IN

U. T H E

G RO U N D F L O O R

T H E H A L L O N T H E R I G H T WO R K M E N

A R E E M P L OY E D A M O N G C I R C U L A R S T E A M E N G I N E S I N M OT I O N .

IN

T H AT O N T H E L E F T A

S AVA N T

I S WO R K I N G , I T I S A M U S E U M F I L L E D W I T H VA R I O U S K I N D S O F N AT U R A L H I S T O RY S P E C I M E N S , M E C H A N I C A L , A S T RO N O M I C A L A N D C H E M I C A L A P PA R AT U S A N D C U R I O S I T I E S . OF THE

PHALANSTER

ARE DRESSED ALIKE.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE

ADAM LUCIFER

ADAM

A DA M

AND

LUCIFER

ALL MEMBERS

E M E R G E F RO M T H E G RO U N D

C O U RT. D AY.]

What country is this, what people have we got to? Those old ideas exist no more. Wasn’t country a paltry conception Originally begotten by prejudice, Then cherished by narrowness and rivalry. Now the whole earth is one country, All now are comrades with a common aim, And the calm course of their fair ordered life Has for its guardian—Science which they revere. My soul’s ideal is then accomplished, All now is well, as I desired it should be. There’s only one thing I regret—country, That idea might, I think, have remained 251


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T H I R T E E N T H

S C E N E

**

[T H E V O I D. A

S E G M E N T O F O U R E A RT H I S S E E N I N T H E D I S TA N C E , C O N T I N UA L LY B E C O M I N G

S M A L L E R T I L L I T O N LY A P P E A R S A S A S TA R A M O N G M A N Y OT H E R S . H A L F DA R K N E S S , W H I C H G R A D UA L LY B E C O M E S P I T C H DA R K N E S S . WITH

AT

FIRST THE SCENE IS IN

A DA M ,

A S A N O L D M A N , F LY I N G

L U C I F E R .]

ADAM LUCIFER

ADAM

Tell, where does this mad flight of ours lead to? Did you not yearn to rise, freed from the dross, To higher spheres, where if I understood you right You heard the voice of kindred spirits. That’s true, but I did not imagine That my path to them would be so desolate. This place appears so lone, so strange As if a sacrilegious man had passed by it. Two feelings struggle in my breast— I feel, how small the earth is, so that it restricts My lofty spirit, and I yearn to quit its sphere; But yet, alas, I weep, that I have left it. Ah, Lucifer, glance back upon our Earth. First the flowers vanish from our eyes, Then the quivering leaves of the forest. 283


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F O U R T E E N T H

S C E N E

**

[A

M O U N TA I N L E S S , T R E E L E S S

C O U N T RY

D U L L G L O B E A M O N G L AY E R S O F M I S T.

C OV E R E D W I T H

DOUBTFUL

L I G H T.

DWA R F B I R C H E S , J U N I P E R S A N D TA N G L E D P I N E S A N

S N OW IN

ESKIMO

AND

ICE. THE

T H E F RO N T O F T H E S TAG E A M O N G S O M E H U T.

A DA M

A S A C O M P L E T E LY B RO K E N

O L D M A N L E A N I N G O N A S T I C K C O M E S D OW N F RO M T H E M O U N TA I N W I T H

ADAM

LUCIFER

SUN IS A BLOOD-RED

L U C I F E R .]

Why have we come to this endless world of ice Where death with hollow eyes gazes upon us? Only a seal makes a splash, as it plunges Startled at the sound of our footsteps; Where vegetation, too, is tired of struggling, Dwarf bushes wave among the lichens, And the red-faced moon shines from behind the mist Like a death lamp in a sepulchre. Oh, lead me where the palms are green To that fair land of sun and scents There where man’s soul is lifted up To a full consciousness of its power. We are there. That blood-red ball is the sun, Beneath our feet lies the equator. Science has failed to conquer destiny. 291


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F I F T E E N T H

S C E N E

**

[T H E

S C E N E C H A N G E S T O T H E C O U N T RY O F PA L M T R E E S O F T H E T H I R D S C E N E .

AS A

Y O U N G M A N , V E RY

EVE

D O Z E S W I T H I N.

ADAM

LUCIFER

ADAM

LUCIFER

A DA M ,

AG A I N

S L E E P Y, C O M E S O U T O F T H E H U T, A N D L O O K S RO U N D I N A M A Z E M E N T.

LUCIFER

S TA N D S I N T H E M I D D L E O F T H E S TAG E .

RADIANT

DAY.]

Horrible visions; where have you gone to? How all around me lives and smiles Just as I left it, yet my heart is broken. Presumptuous man! You wish, perhaps, That nature’s order should be changed That a new comet should shine in your night, That the earth should tremble, if a worm should perish. Did I only dream, or am I dreaming now, And is life but a dream Which for a moment alights on lifeless matter To dissolve at last together with it? Why, why these moments of consciousness, That we may see the horror of non-existence? Do you shed tears? It is mere cowardice Not to resist and to accept a blow Which you have power to avoid. 301


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I require strife, a want of harmony Which begets new strength and gives us a new world.


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ADAM

Page 315

The end is death, life is a struggle And man’s end is the struggle itself.



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