Introduction to "Pandora's Box"
FRANK WEDEKIND
PANDORA'S BOX
ACT ONE
A magnificent hall in German Renaissance
style, with an oppressive ceiling of carved oak. The walls are covered up to a
certain height by dark wood carvings. On both side walls, somewhat faded
tapestries. The back wall is closed at the top by a veiled gallery with
curtains, from which a monumental staircase descends, on the left, to the
middle of the stage. In the middle, under the gallery, the entrance door with
columns and architrave. On the right wall, a large stove. Further forward, a
window with heavy curtains, which opens onto a balcony. On the left wall, in
front of the end of the staircase, a door closed by a curtain. In front of the
column that tops the staircase railing, a decorative, empty easel. In front, to
the left, a long ottoman. In the middle of the room,
a square table and, around it, three high-backed chairs. To the front, on the
right, a small table and, near it, an armchair. The room is weakly illuminated
by a very veiled kerosene lamp, placed on the middle table.
(Alwa Schön walks back and forth in front of the
entrance door. Rodrigo is seated on the ottoman,
dressed as a servant. On the right, in the armchair, Countess
Geschwitz, neatly dressed in black, sunken among cushions, with a
blanket over her knees; next to her, on the small table, a coffee pot and a cup
of black coffee.)
RODRIGO. This Schigolch is keeping us waiting
longer than an orchestra conductor!
THE COUNTESS. Please, don't talk...!
RODRIGO. And how can one keep quiet when one's head
is full of thoughts, as mine is?... I cannot explain in any way why, despite
everything, she has improved.
THE COUNTESS. She is more beautiful than ever!
RODRIGO. God forbid that I base my happiness on her
tastes, Countess! ... If the illness has done her as much good as it has done
you, I am ready. You have come out of the isolation ward like a woman who has
set herself up as a fairground faster. You can barely blow your nose, it takes
you a quarter of an hour to straighten your fingers, and one has to be
extremely cautious not to break them.
THE COUNTESS. What buries us gives her strength and
health.
RODRIGO. Everything is well and good. But tonight,
I probably won't leave with her.
THE COUNTESS. You don't expect your fiancée to
travel alone, do you...?
RODRIGO. Firstly, the old man is going with her, to
defend her in case of danger; my presence could only arouse suspicion.
Secondly, I have to wait for my costumes to be finished. I will cross the
border in due time. And in the meantime, I hope she gains a little weight:
after we get married, I intend to be able to present her in public. In women, I
adore the practical side; theories leave me indifferent. Don't you agree with
me, Doctor?
ALWA. I wasn't listening to what you were saying...
RODRIGO. I wouldn't have gotten involved in this
plot if it hadn't already been bothering me before her conviction... Provided
she doesn't cause too much trouble abroad...! I'd like to take her to London
for six months: I'd stuff her with plum cakes! In London, the sea air is enough
to restore one's vigour. Also, there you don't feel the hand of destiny on your
throat with every sip of beer.
ALWA. For eight days I've been wondering if a
person condemned to prison can act as a protagonist in a modern drama...
THE COUNTESS. If only he would come at once...!
RODRIGO. On the other hand, I still have to
retrieve my tools: six hundred kilos of excellent quality iron. Transporting
them always costs me three times my own fare. And to think that altogether they
are worth nothing! When I went to pawn them, all sweaty from the effort, they
asked me if they were authentic... Come to think of it: it would have been
wiser to have the costumes made abroad. The Parisians, for example, notice at
first glance where the merits are and allow themselves to have necklines without
restraint. But these are not things that are learned living on one's back; they
must be studied in people of classical culture. Here they are as afraid of bare
skin as they are of bombs abroad. Two years ago, at the Alhambra Theatre, I was
fined fifty marks when they realized I had some hair on my chest, and that was
barely enough to make a small toothbrush with! The Minister of Public
Instruction was of the opinion that female students could lose the desire to
knit because of it. Since then, I get shaved once a month.
ALWA. If "The World Dominator" didn't
require all my spiritual energy right now, I would most likely start studying
that problem. The whole mistake of our young literature lies in that we are too
literary. We know no problems other than those experienced by writers and
professionals. Our horizon does not extend beyond our class interests. To find
the way back to great and strong art, we must move, possibly, among men who
have never in their lives read a book and whose actions are guided by the
simplest animal instincts. Already in my "Earth Spirit" I tried to
work vigorously according to those principles. The woman who was to serve as a
model for the protagonist of the drama has been seeing the sun through bars for
a year now. And yet, the drama was represented only for the free literary
society. While my father was alive, all the theaters in Germany opened their
doors to my creations. Now things have changed a lot.
RODRIGO. I had tights made of a tender
greenish-blue color; if they don't succeed abroad, I'll dedicate myself to
selling mousetraps. The tights are so tight that I can't sit on the edge of a
table. Only my horrendous belly breaks the good impression; that belly which I
owe to my effective collaboration in this grandiose conspiracy. Being
hospitalized for three full months, enjoying full health, cannot but make even
the worst treated vagabond gain weight like a pig. Since I left, I only eat
Karlsbad pastilles: I endure an orchestra in my guts night and day! ... When I
manage to cross the border I will be so weak that I won't even be able to lift
a cork stopper.
THE COUNTESS. It was comforting to see yesterday,
in the hospital, how the guards avoided her... The garden was deserted. The
convalescents did not dare to go out, despite the beautiful midday sun. In the
background, near the isolation ward, she moved between the mulberry trees and
swayed on her ankles. The doorman had recognized me and a nurse who found me in
a corridor gave a start, as if he had heard a revolver shot. The nurses went
into the rooms or remained glued to the walls ... When I returned, there was
not a soul in the garden or at the door. There could not have been a better
opportunity, if we had already had those damn passports. And now this one says
he doesn't want to go!
RODRIGO. I understand those poor devils at the
hospital: one has a bad foot; another, a swollen cheek; and lo and behold, the
agent of death insurance suddenly appears among them, in the flesh! In the
noble rooms—that's what they call that beneficial section through which I
organized my espionage—as soon as the news spread that Sister Teophila had gone
to the other world, none wanted to stay in their bed. They climbed onto the
iron bars of the windows, even at the cost of dragging tons of suffering with
them. I have never heard such curses in my life!
ALWA. Allow me to repeat my proposal, Countess...
That woman murdered my father in this room; I have not yet found anything in
that homicide and its punishment other than a horrible misfortune that struck
her. I even believe that my father, had he survived, would not have completely
abandoned her... I still have doubts about the result of your liberation
project and I wouldn't want to discourage you. But I cannot find words for the
admiration that your selflessness, your energy, your superhuman contempt for
death inspire in me. I believe that a man has never risked so much for a woman,
much less for a friend... I am unaware of your fortune, Countess, but I
understand that the expenses of this undertaking have ended your assets. Can I
therefore offer you a loan of twenty thousand marks, which you could dispose of
without causing me any difficulty?
THE COUNTESS. How happy we were when Sister
Teophila truly died! After that day we were left without surveillance. We
changed beds as we pleased. I combed her hair like mine and began to imitate
her voice. When the professor came, he treated her as a young lady and told me;
"It's better here than in jail, isn't it?" When the nun unexpectedly
failed to appear, we looked at each other nervously; we had both been sick for
five days: the moment seemed to have arrived. The next day the nurse came. "How
is Sister Teophila?" "She died." We understood each other with a
glance across her back and when she left, we embraced: "Praise be to
God!" (How much I had to struggle to convince my dear one not to betray
herself and reveal that she was already cured!) "You still have nine years
of prison ahead of you!" I repeated it to her from morning to night. Now
they won't leave her in the isolation ward for more than three days.
RODRIGO. I spent three full months in the hospital
to feel the ground, laboriously feigning the merits for such a long stay. Now,
Doctor, I act as your servant here so that no strange servants enter the house.
When has a husband done more for his wife?... My finances are also on the
floor.
ALWA. If you manage to make that woman a real
artist, you will have earned the title of benefactor of humanity. With the
temperament and beauty that she can draw from within herself, she is capable of
keeping the most bored audience open-mouthed. And besides, by representing
passion, she will never again be tempted to commit another crime in real life.
RODRIGO. I'll make sure her whims pass!
THE COUNTESS. Here he comes!
(Footsteps are heard in the gallery; the curtains
open at the top of the gallery and Schigolch appears,
dressed in a black street suit and carrying a white umbrella in his hand.
During the three acts, he often interrupts himself to yawn.)
SCHIGOLCH. How dark it is! ... Outside there is a
sun that burns the eyes.
THE COUNTESS. (Laboriously getting rid of the
blanket.) I'll be ready in a moment.
RODRIGO. The Countess has not seen the sunlight for
three days. Here we live like in a snuff box.
SCHIGOLCH. Since this morning all I've done is
wander among ragpickers. I have dispatched three brand new suitcases, full to
the brim with old pants, to Buenos Aires, via Bremerhaven. My legs are shaking
like clappers. Luckily, now we will change our lives!
RODRIGO. Where do you think she will be tomorrow
morning?
SCHIGOLCH. I hope it's not at a police station!
RODRIGO. I can recommend an excellent inn, where I
stayed with a lion tamer. The owners are Berliners.
THE COUNTESS. (Getting up from the armchair.) Come
on, help me...!
RODRIGO. (Coming to do so.) In that inn they will
be safer from the police than at the top of a bell tower.
THE COUNTESS. (To Schigolch.) Rodrigo wants you to
leave alone with her tonight,
SCHIGOLCH. I imagine the cold has made him crazy!
RODRIGO. Do you intend for me to show up to fulfill
my new contract in house clothes and slippers?
SCHIGOLCH. Sister Teophila would not have gone to
Paradise so soon if she had not burned so much in love for our patient.
RODRIGO. If someone has to attend to her during the
honeymoon, she will manage to do so. In any case, it won't hurt her to air
herself out a bit beforehand...
ALWA. (With a briefcase in his hand, to the
Countess, who is next to the central table, leaning on the back of a chair.)
Here are ten thousand marks.
THE COUNTESS. No, thank you.
ALWA. Accept them... I beg you.
THE COUNTESS. Come on, let's go at once!
SCHIGOLCH. Don't be impatient, Countess, it's only
two steps. In five minutes I'll be back with her.
ALWA. Will you bring her here?
SCHIGOLCH. Yes. Or are you afraid for your health?
ALWA. You can see that I have no fear.
RODRIGO. According to the latest news, the Doctor
is traveling to Constantinople, where his "Earth Spirit" will be
performed for the Sultan by odalisques and eunuchs...
ALWA. (Opening the middle door, under the gallery)
This way they will leave more directly... (Schigolch and the Countess leave the
room; he then closes the door behind them.)
RODRIGO. To think that he still wanted to give
money to that mummy...!
ALWA. And what does it matter to you?
RODRIGO. I get paid like a bootblack, even though
in the hospital I had to corrupt all the nuns. Then it was the nurses' and
doctors' turn. And then...
ALWA. Do you really mean to tell me that the
doctors allowed themselves to be influenced by you?
RODRIGO. With the money those good gentlemen cost
me I could become President of the United States in America!
ALWA. However, the Countess reimbursed you down to
the last penny you had to spend. Besides, as far as I know, she receives a
monthly salary of five hundred marks from her... At certain times, it is not
easy to believe in your love for that unhappy murderer... If I begged the
Countess a while ago to accept my help, I certainly didn't do it to excite your
insatiable thirst for money. The admiration I feel for the Countess in this
matter I do not feel remotely for you. I cannot in any way understand what claims
you can make against me. Although you were coincidentally present at my
father's murder, a bond of kinship was not established between you and me
because of it. Instead, I am convinced that, if the heroic undertaking of
Countess Geschwitz had not been useful to you, today you would be drunk and
penniless, thrown in a ditch.
RODRIGO. And do you know what would become of you
if you hadn't sold the pamphlet your father published for two million...? You
would have joined the most insignificant dancer and today you would be the last
worker in the Vattelapesca Circus. What have you done, after all? Write a
dramatic mess full of horrors, in which my fiancée's legs are the true
protagonists: a drama that no serious theater represents... Drone! Show-off!... Until two years ago, I held two
military horses with all their harnesses on this chest. True: I don't know how
I'm going to end up now with this belly. Foreigners will have a nice concept of
German art when, with every kilo I gain, they see sweat appear through my
tights. I will stink up the entire room with my perspiration!
ALWA. You are a simpleton!
RODRIGO. I wish you were right!... Or perhaps you
wanted to offend me? Because in that case, I will kick you under the chin so
that your tongue gets embedded in your palate!
ALWA. Try it! (Footsteps and voices are heard
outside.) Who could it be?
RODRIGO. Thank heaven we have an audience!
ALWA. Who could it be?
RODRIGO. My lover. We haven't seen each other for a
year now.
ALWA. They can't be back yet... Who will it be? I'm
not expecting anyone.
RODRIGO. Come on, what the hell! Open!
ALWA. Hide!
RODRIGO. I'll go in here, behind the screen. I was
there a year ago.
(Rodrigo disappears behind the screen, front left.
Alwa opens the middle door. Alfredo Hugenberg
enters, hat in hand.)
ALWA. With whom do I have...? You? But aren't
you...?
HUGENBERG. ... Alfredo Hugenberg, indeed.
ALWA. What do you want?
HUGENBERG. I come from Münsterburg. I escaped this
morning.
ALWA. My eyes are bad. I am forced to keep the
blinds closed.
HUGENBERG. I need your help. I trust you won't deny
it... I have a plan... Are we alone?
ALWA. What are you talking about...? What plan is
that?
HUGENBERG. Are you alone?
ALWA. Yes. What do you want to tell me?
HUGENBERG. I have successively discarded two other
projects. But I have studied the plan that I will explain to you below in
detail. If I had money, I wouldn't tell you. I have thought about it for a long
time... Will you allow me to explain it to you?
ALWA. Will you tell me at once what you are talking
about?
HUGENBERG. It is not possible that that woman is so
indifferent to you that I have to tell you: what you said before the examining
judge favored her more than all the defender's arguments.
ALWA. I beg you to spare me such an imputation.
HUGENBERG. I say it for the sake of saying it. I
understand, I understand... You, however, were the best witness for her
defense.
ALWA. You were! You said my father wanted to force
her to kill herself!
HUGENBERG. And that was true, in fact. But they
didn't believe me. They didn't make me swear.
ALWA. And now, where do you come from?
HUGENBERG. From a reformatory, from which I escaped
this morning.
ALWA. What are your intentions?
HUGENBERG. I have gained the trust of a guard.
ALWA. What will you live on?
HUGENBERG. I am staying at the place of a girl who
has had a son with my father.
ALWA. What does your father do?
HUGENBERG. He is a police commissioner. I know the
jail without ever having been inside and as I am now no guard will recognize
me. But I'm not counting on that. I know of an iron ladder that goes up from
the first courtyard to the roof. Once on the roof, you can enter the attic
through a skylight. Once in the attic there is no way out. In the five
buildings, there are tables and piles of boards in the attics. I can gather the
tables and wood into a single group and set them on fire. My pockets are full
of flammable material.
ALWA. But, in that case... you would burn too!
HUGENBERG. Yes... if they don't save me. To reach
the first courtyard, however, I must have the jailer in my grip, and for that I
need money. It's not that I want to bribe him, although he wouldn't refuse: I
will simply lend him the money so he can send his three little children on
vacation. Under those conditions, I can slip inside around four in the morning,
when the detainees who are going to regain their freedom are being prepared...
You close the door behind me and ask me what my intentions are. I beg you to
let me out again when night falls. And before dawn breaks again I will be in
the attic.
ALWA. How did you manage to escape from the
reformatory?
HUGENBERG. Through the window... I need two hundred
marks so that poor man can send his family on vacation.
RODRIGO. (Coming out from behind the screen.) Does
the Baron wish coffee in the music room or on the gazebo?
HUGENBERG. Where did this one come from...? From
the same door! He came out of the same door!
ALWA. He is in my service. He is trustworthy.
HUGENBERG. (Putting his hands to his temples.) How
stupid I am! Oh, how stupid!
RODRIGO. Indeed: we have already seen each other
before. Go to your new mother's place. Your little brother would like to become
your siblings' uncle. Let your father become the grandfather of your little
children. We were only missing you!... If in the next two weeks you fall under
my sight again, I will crush your brains!
ALWA. Calm down!
HUGENBERG. How stupid... how stupid!
RODRIGO. What do you want us to do with your
flammable materials?... Don't you know that woman died three weeks ago?
HUGENBERG. How?... Did they cut off her head?
RODRIGO. No, she still has it. She died of cholera.
HUGENBERG. It can't be!
RODRIGO. What do you know...! Look, read here. (He
takes a newspaper from his pocket and points to a piece of news.) "The
murderer of Doctor Schön..." (He hands him the newspaper.)
HUGENBERG. (Reads.) "The murderer of Doctor
Schön, through an inexplicable chance, became ill with cholera in jail."
It doesn't say she died.
RODRIGO. What else could have happened?... She has
been resting in the cemetery for three weeks. In the back left corner, behind
the manure pile where the small nameless crosses are, you will find her under
the first cross. It's easy to find the place because grass doesn't grow there.
Lay a tin wreath and then hurry back to your reformatory, because if not, I
will report you to the police. I know the prostitute who lets you sweeten her
leisure hours.
HUGENBERG. (To Alwa.) Is it true that she died?
ALWA. Yes, thank God!... Now I ask you to leave.
The doctor has forbidden me visitors.
HUGENBERG. What do I want to live for now...! For
her happiness, I would have spent the little that life still counts for me. Now
nothing matters to me. In any case, I will also go to hell.
RODRIGO. If you dare to bother Dr. Schön, my friend
Schigolch or myself in any way, I will accuse you of arson. You need three
years in prison to learn where not to poke your nose. And now, get out of here!
HUGENBERG. How stupid I am...!
RODRIGO. Out! (He pushes Hugenberg towards the door
and shoves him out, then returns.) I'm surprised that you didn't also put your
briefcase at the disposal of that idiot.
ALWA. Finish with your filth once and for all!... A
finger of that boy is worth more than all of you!
RODRIGO. For company, the Geschwitz is enough for
me. If my fiancée is to become a limited liability company, third parties are
superfluous. I intend to make her the most brilliant tightrope walker and for
that I gladly put my life at stake. But afterwards, in my house, I will be the
boss, and I will indicate which gentlemen she can receive.
ALWA. That boy possesses what our time lacks: he
has a hero's soul. That is why, naturally, he is heading towards ruin. Remember
how he jumped onto the witness stand, before the sentence was pronounced, and
shouted at the judge: "How do you know what you would have become if at
ten years old you had had to wander barefoot through cafes?"
RODRIGO. I would have kicked him in the snout...!
Thank God reformatories exist where geniuses like him are taught respect for
the laws!
ALWA. He could serve as a model for my "World
Dominator". For twenty years, literature has produced nothing but
half-men: men who do not conceive children and women who fail to give birth to
them. And this is what they call "The modern problem"!
RODRIGO. I had a hippopotamus whip made two fingers
wide. If it doesn't work with her, I'll admit that I have anything but
brains... Whether it's love or a lie, that woman doesn't care: as long as she
has fun, she remains fresh and standing... Now she is twenty years old and has
already had three husbands. She has satisfied an immense multitude of lovers
and lo and behold, the needs of the heart are finally making themselves felt.
But you have to have the seven deadly sins on your forehead for her to respect
you. When you give the impression of having been spat out onto the street by
the executioner, you no longer have to fear the competition of any prince with
such women... I will rent a fifty-foot high coach house and I will make her
exercise in it, and when she has executed the first jump without breaking her
neck, I will put on my black tuxedo and I will not move another finger until I
die... Given her practical dispositions, the woman does not do even half of
what the man does to support her husband. The only thing the husband needs to
do is provide her with intellectual work and not let the sense of family be
lost!
ALWA. I have learned to dominate humanity and make
it run ahead of me, harnessed as if it were a team of four horses... but that
boy doesn't want to leave my head... The truth is that I could take private
lessons in contempt for the world from these high school students.
RODRIGO. And she will have her lining made of
thousand-mark notes!... I will suck the fees out of the directors as if I were
a centrifugal pump. I know that breed. When they don't need you, they make you
polish their shoes, but when they need an artist, they hang themselves on the
gallows with their own hands among the most submissive compliments.
ALWA. In my situation, I have nothing to fear in
this world except death; in the realm of feelings, on the other hand, I am the
poorest of beggars. But I cannot find the moral courage to exchange my solid
position for the turmoil of the unbridled life of the adventurer.
RODRIGO. They had sent Papa Schigolch and me on a
commission to discover a strong remedy for insomnia for you. Each one received
twenty marks. And it was then that we found that boy at the
"Nightlight" cafe. He was in it like a criminal in the dock.
Schigolch sniffed him all over and said: "This one is still a
virgin". (Upstairs, in the gallery, shuffling footsteps are heard.) It's
her!... She will become the most spectacular tightrope walker of our time!
(The curtains open at the top of the stairs and Lulu, dressed in black, slowly and laboriously descends
the steps, leaning on Schigolch.)
SCHIGOLCH. Damn it...! We must cross the border
today!
RODRIGO. (Looking at Lulu, stupefied.) Death and
damnation!...
LULU. (Speaks until the end of the act in a
cheerful tone.) Slowly... you're hurting my arm!
RODRIGO. How dare you escape from jail with such a
wolf's face?
SCHIGOLCH. Don't start!
RODRIGO. I'm going to the police to report it! ...
And this scarecrow wants to be seen in tights! To gain weight, it would only
require two months of expenses!... You are the most perfidious adventurer that
jail has ever housed!
ALWA. I ask you not to insult this woman...
RODRIGO. He calls it an insult...! They made me
gain weight for this chewed bone!... With her, no profit is possible. And I
want to be an acrobat again, if I am still capable of lifting a broom handle.
May I die right now if I don't manage to extract a life annuity of ten thousand
marks a year from your messes! I swear it to you! ... Farewell! I'm running to
the police station! (Exits.)
SCHIGOLCH. Run, run...!
LULU. He will be very careful not to!
SCHIGOLCH. Well... we got rid of him. Now... coffee
for the lady!
ALWA. (Next to the small table, front, on the
right.) Here it is. All you have to do is serve it.
SCHIGOLCH. I still have to get the tickets for the
sleeper car...
LULU. (Serene.) Oh, freedom...! My God!
SCHIGOLCH. I'll come look for you in half an hour.
We will celebrate the farewell at the station restaurant. I will order a dinner
that will last until tomorrow morning... Good day, Doctor!
ALWA. Good afternoon!
SCHIGOLCH. Rest!... Thanks, I know all the doors
here. See you later! Have fun! (Exits through the middle door.)
LULU. It's been a year and a half since I saw a
real room... Curtains, chairs, paintings...
ALWA. Do you want to drink something...?
LULU. I haven't done anything but drink coffee for
five days... Don't you have anything strong?
ALWA. Elixir de Spa...
LULU. Memories of other times... (While Alwa fills two
glasses, she looks around.) Where is my portrait?
ALWA. I have it in my room so no one can see it.
LULU. Go get it!
ALWA. Haven't you lost your vanity even in jail?
LULU. You can't imagine how distressed one feels
when for months and months one doesn't see one's own image!... One day they
gave me a brand new shovel. At seven in the morning, when I was sweeping, I
looked at myself in it as if it were a mirror. The tin didn't make me look
beautiful, of course, but, in a certain sense, it was a distraction... Come on,
go get my portrait. Or do you want me to go too?
ALWA. Please... you must have looked at yourself
quite a bit in your life.
LULU. I have never looked at myself enough! (Alwa
exits through the left door to fetch the portrait.) He is sick at heart, but to
have tormented himself with his fantasy for fourteen months...! He kisses me
with mortal anguish and his knees tremble like an clumsy waiter's. Oh, if I
hadn't shot his father in the back in this very room...!
ALWA. (Returns with the portrait of Lulu, dressed
as Pierrot.) It is full of dust... I had placed it on the fireplace, face
against the wall.
LULU. Didn't you look at it in my absence?
ALWA. You know...? I had so many things to arrange
to sell our newspaper! ... Countess Geschwitz would gladly have hung it in her
house, but she feared a house search would occur. (Places the painting on the
easel.)
LULU. (Cheerful.) To think that now, that
unfortunate monster gets to know the happy life of prison in the flesh...!
ALWA. I still don't notice the connection between
the events...
LULU. Oh, the Geschwitz has stitched things
together very wisely! I admire her inventive spirit!... You know well that this
summer the cholera raged in Hamburg in a dreadful way. And on that fact, she
founded the project of my escape... She attended a nursing course and when she
obtained the necessary certificates she went to Hamburg to assist the cholera
patients. At the first opportunity that presented itself, she stole the white
clothes of a recently deceased person, clothes that, strictly speaking, should
have been burned. The same day she traveled here and went to the jail to visit
me. In my cell, while the guard was away, we quickly changed white clothes.
ALWA. So that's how both she and you got sick with
cholera on the same day!
LULU. Exactly. Naturally, the Geschwitz was
immediately removed from her house and interned in the isolation ward of the
hospital. And no other place was found for me either. Thus we found ourselves
in a room in the ward and, from the first day, the Geschwitz resorted to all
her arts to make our faces look as similar as possible. Yesterday she was
discharged. Today she returned, claiming to have forgotten her watch. I put on
her clothes, she put on mine and I came here. (Contented.) And now she's there,
turned into the murderer of Dr. Schön!
ALWA. As far as external appearance is concerned,
you are still up to the level of this portrait.
LULU. My face is somewhat more emaciated, but I
haven't lost anything else. Except that in jail, one becomes incredibly
nervous.
ALWA. When you entered you looked quite
disastrous...
LULU. It was necessary; to get rid of that
tightrope walker... And you, what have you done in this year and a half?
ALWA. I had great success in the intellectual
environment with a drama written about you...
LULU. Who is your lover?
ALWA. An actress... for whom I rented an apartment
on St. Charles Street.
LULU. Does she love you?
ALWA. How could I know?... I haven't seen her for
six weeks.
LULU. And doesn't she rebel...?
ALWA. You will never understand these things... In
me, there is an intimate balance between my sensuality and my intellectual
activity. Faced with you, for example, I only have the choice of portraying you
artistically or loving you.
LULU. (As if recounting a dream.) Every two nights
I dreamed that I fell into the clutches of a murderer by my own will... Come,
give me a kiss!
ALWA. In your eyes there is a glow like the one
seen in the water of a deep well, when a stone is thrown into it.
LULU. Come!
ALWA. (Kisses her.) It's true: your lips have
become thinner...
LULU. Come! (She pushes him onto a chair and sits
on his knees.) Do I horrify you...? In jail we took a warm bath once a month.
As soon as we were in the water, the guards took the opportunity to visit our
pockets. (She kisses him passionately.)
ALWA. Oh, oh...!
LULU. Are you perhaps afraid that you will no
longer be able to write a poem about me when I leave...?
ALWA. On the contrary, I will write a dithyramb
about your magnificence.
LULU. My only annoyance is these horrible shoes I'm
wearing...
ALWA. They do not diminish your fascination... We
can take advantage of the opportunity.
LULU. I really don't feel like it tonight... Do you
remember that costume ball I went to dressed as a page? How the drunken women
chased me!... The Geschwitz wouldn't leave my side and begged me to kick their
faces in.
ALWA. Come, my dear... come!
LULU. (With the tone used to calm an annoying
child.) Come on, come on...! I killed your father.
ALWA. I don't love you any less for that! Kiss me!
LULU. Lift your head. (She kisses him
deliberately.)
ALWA. You skillfully curb the ardor of my soul. And
your breathing is very chaste... In any case, if it weren't for your big, dark,
childlike eyes, I should consider you the cleverest prostitute who ever ruined
a man.
LULU. (Jovial.) I wish I were!... You come with us
tonight across the border too! That way we can see each other at will and be
even happier for being together.
ALWA. Through this dress I feel your being like a
symphony: the thin ankles, a cantabile: the careful calves, your knees... a
capriccio; and the powerful andante of voluptuousness. How calmly the two rival
legs embrace knowing that neither has a superior beauty in the other... until
the capricious dominator of both awakens and the two rivals separate like two
opposing poles!... I will sing your praises until you are dizzy!
LULU. (Cheerful.) Meanwhile, I sink my hands into
your hair. (She does so.) But here... we are bothered.
ALWA. You have made me lose control.
LULU. Aren't you coming with us tonight?
ALWA. The old man is going with you!
LULU. He won't show up again... Is this still the
same couch where your father bled to death?
ALWA. Hush!... Hush!
CURTAIN
ACT TWO
A spacious room with white stucco. In the
background, a large double door; on both sides of it, tall mirrors. On each of
the side walls, two doors; between the two on the left, a Rococo console topped by a white marble slab; above, on
the wall, the portrait of Lulu dressed as Pierrot in a thin gold frame. In the
middle of the room, a delicate Louis XV sofa,
upholstered in a light fabric; wide armchairs, also light, with thin legs and
weak arms. To the front, on the right, a small table. In the background, to the
left, the access door. The front door leads to the dining room. The back door
is open and a large baccarat table can be seen,
surrounded by upholstered Turkish chairs.
(Alwa Schön, Rodrigo Quast, the Marquis of
Casti-Piani, the banker Punciu, the journalist Pleimann, Lulu, Countess
Geschwitz, Magelona, Cadidia, Bianetta and Ludmila Steinherz circulate
animatedly. The men wear formal dress. Lulu wears an Empire
style dress, white, with wide cuffs and white lace, which falls
freely from the top edge of the waist to the feet; long white gloves, high
hairstyle and topped by a small white plume. Countess Geschwitz wears a light
blue hussar jacket, with silver frogging and edged with white fur; white tie,
white lace on the bust, tight light green cuffs, pearl gray gloves, loose black
hair under a wide green lace hat with white feathers. Bianetta has a dark green
velvet dress; pearl necklace, muslin sleeves, loose pleated tunic, without a
waist and with the hem decorated with large fake topazes set in silver. Ludmila
wears a lively beach set in red and turquoise stripes.)
RODRIGO. (With a full glass in his hand.) Ladies
and gentlemen... Excuse me. I ask for a moment of silence and allow me to
toast... in honor of the birthday of our gracious hostess... (Takes Lulu by the
arm) Countess Adelaida d'Oubra... reincarnation of Satan! Cheers... cheers,
gentlemen! (Everyone surrounds Lulu and clinks their glasses.)
ALWA. (To Rodrigo, shaking his hand.)
Congratulations...
RODRIGO. I'm sweating like an animal...!
ALWA. (To Lulu.) Let's go see if everything is in
order in the game room... (Exits with her to the back.)
BIANETTA. (To Rodrigo.) A moment ago they assured
me that you are the strongest man in the world...
RODRIGO. They told you the truth, miss. And if you
want, you can dispose of my strength.
MAGELONA. I prefer marksmen. Three months ago I saw
one at the Casino who, every time he said "boom!", he made me shake
like this. (Shakes her body, mostly from the waist down.)
CASTI-PIANI. (Who will speak in a tired and bored
tone throughout the act; to Magelona.) My dear, you have to clarify... how is
it that today we see your pretty little princess here for the first time
(pointing to Cadidia)?
MAGELONA. Do you really think she's pretty...? She
is still in school and must return to it next Monday.
CADIDIA. What were you saying, mommy?
MAGELONA. That last week you got the highest grade
in the class in geometry.
HEILMANN. What beautiful hair this creature has...!
CASTI-PIANI. Look at her feet, besides...! How she
walks!
PUNCIU. She's a wonderful girl!
MAGELONA. (Smiling.) Please, gentlemen... please!
She is still a child...!
PUNCIU. (To Magelona.) That wouldn't stop me in the
slightest! (To Heilmann.) I would give ten years of my life to be able to
initiate her into the rites of our secret cult!
MAGELONA. But I won't give my consent even for a
million. I don't want her to ruin her youth as I did mine.
CASTI-PIANI. Confessions of a beautiful soul! (To
Magelona.) Wouldn't you allow it even in exchange for a set of authentic
diamonds?
MAGELONA. Don't show off!... You know perfectly
well that you don't give real diamonds to my daughter or me. (Cadidia goes to
the game room.)
THE COUNTESS. Aren't we playing tonight...?
LUDMILA. Of course, Countess. I am counting on it.
BIANETTA. Then, let's go take our places. The men
will follow us immediately.
THE COUNTESS. Excuse me for a moment... I have to
speak a few words with my friend.
CASTI-PIANI. (Offering his arm to Bianetta.) Do you
grant me the honor of playing half with you...? You have such a lucky hand!
LUDMILA. Give me your other arm and take us right
away! (Casti-Piani and the two women leave for the game room.)
MAGELONA. Tell me, Mr. Punciu... Do you still have
some Jungfrau shares for me?
PUNCIU. Jungfrau...? (To Heilmann.) The lady is
referring to the funicular that will be built soon... (To Magelona.) I possibly
have about four thousand left, but I'd rather keep them for myself. The
opportunity to earn a small fortune does not often arise.
HEILMANN. I only have one of those shares. And I
would like to get others too.
PUNCIU. I will try to get them for you, Mr.
Heilmann. But I warn you now: you will pay a high price for them!
MAGELONA. My palm reader advised me and I have been
after them for a long time. I have invested all my savings in Jungfrau shares.
If it fails, I will scratch your eyes out, Mr. Punciu!
PUNCIU. I am absolutely sure of the business.
ALWA. (Who has returned from the game room, to
Magelona.) I guarantee you that your fears are absolutely unfounded. I paid a
very high price for my shares and I do not regret it. They go up from one day
to the next. It's something never seen.
MAGELONA. I hope you are right! (Taking Punciu by
the arm.) Let's go. I want to try my luck at baccarat. (Magelona, Punciu, Alwa
and Heilmann go to the game room and Rodrigo and Countess Geschwitz remain.)
RODRIGO. (Scribbles something on a piece of paper
and folds it; then notices the Countess.) Oh, Countess...! (After she gives a
start.) Do I look so dangerous? (To himself.) I have to be very skillful.
(Aloud.) May I take a liberty...?
THE COUNTESS. Go to hell!
CASTI-PIANI. (Returning with Lulu.) Allow me just
two words...
LULU. (While Rodrigo, secretly, puts his message in
her hand.) As many as you want...
RODRIGO. See you later... (He goes to the game
room.)
LULU. Tell me everything you want right away.
CASTI-PIANI. Don't you have any more money to keep
giving me?
LULU. How did it occur to you that we are out of
money?
CASTI-PIANI. You yourself gave me the last
remainder yesterday.
LULU. If you are sure of it, so be it.
CASTI-PIANI. You and your writer are penniless.
LULU. And why so many words...? If you want to have
me with you, there is no need to threaten me first with the butcher's knife.
CASTI-PIANI. I know. But I have told you many times
that you do not understand my case. I did not despoil you because you loved me,
but I loved you so I could despoil you. I like Bianetta better than you; from
head to toe. You are a mixture of the choicest snacks, but when you have eaten
them, you are hungrier than before. You have been loving for too long, even for
our environment. All you do is ruin young men's nervous systems. You are much
better suited, however, to the position I have chosen for you.
LULU. You are crazy. Did I ask you to find me a
position?
CASTI-PIANI. I have also told you many times that I
work as an employment agent...
LULU. What you did tell me was that you were a
police spy.
CASTI-PIANI. It's not enough to live on.
Originally, I was an employment agent until I ran into the daughter of a pastor
whom I had located in Valparaíso. That little angel, in her childish dreams,
had imagined life to be even more intoxicating than it is and complained to her
mother. Then they caught me. But, with my honest behavior, I immediately gained
the trust of the police. And they sent me here with a monthly allowance of one
hundred and fifty marks, as the capacity of the prison would have to be tripled
due to the frequency of bombs and attacks. But who goes around here with one
hundred and fifty marks per month? My colleagues are supported by women. For
me, however, it was more natural to resume my old profession, and among the
countless adventuresses who gather here—women from the best families all over
the world—I have already sent more than one young creature eager to live to the
place that best suited her nature.
LULU. (Determined.) I do not agree to that
profession.
CASTI-PIANI. I am not interested in your opinions
on the matter. The State Prosecutor's Office has a thousand marks for anyone
who hands over the murderer of Dr. Schön to the police. It would be enough for
me to whistle to the guard on the corner to pocket a thousand marks. Instead,
the Oikonomopulos Establishment in Cairo offers you seventy pounds sterling.
That is twelve hundred marks; that is, two hundred more than the Prosecutor's
Office gives. On the other hand, I am still philanthropic enough to help those
I love be happy, rather than precipitate them into misfortune.
LULU. (As before.) Life in such a house will never
be able to make a woman of my class happy. Perhaps at fifteen I might have
liked it, since then I despaired of ever being happy. I bought a revolver, and
one night, barefoot, in the middle of the snow, I crossed the bridge and ran to
the park to kill myself. Afterwards, on the other hand, I happily spent three
months in a hospital without ever seeing a man. Then my eyes were opened and I
knew myself. Every night I saw in dreams the man I was made for and who, in
turn, was made for me. When I was thrown among men again later, I had ceased to
be a goose. Since then, I can see a hundred paces away in the darkest night if
someone is made for me or not. And when I sin against my intuition, the next
day I feel dirty in body and soul, and I need weeks to overcome my disgust with
myself. And you pretend, now, that I want to give myself to any bum...!
CASTI-PIANI. Bums don't frequent the Oikonomopulos
in Cairo. Their clientele is made up of English Lords, Russian dignitaries,
Indian governors, and our dynamic great industrialists from the Rhine. For my
part, I only have to guarantee that you master French. Given your eminent
aptitude for studying languages, you will quickly learn the little English
necessary for your activity. Think that you will have a princely apartment
overlooking the minarets of the El Azhar mosque, that you will glide all day on
Persian carpets a palm high, that you will wear a fantastic Parisian party
dress every night, that you will drink a lot of champagne—as much as your
clients can pay for—and, finally, that to a certain extent, you will even be
your own mistress. If the man doesn't like you, you don't have to show him any
special affection. Let him hand over his bills and everything will be ready. If
those women didn't do it that way, the whole task would be impossible, since
after the first four weeks, each one would go to hell with a drum roll.
LULU. (With a trembling voice.) It seems to me that
from yesterday to today your brain has stopped working as it should... Do you
want me to believe that this Egyptian you speak of would pay five hundred
francs for a person he does not know?
CASTI-PIANI. I have taken the liberty of sending
him your portraits...
LULU. Did you send him the portraits you gave to
yourself?
CASTI-PIANI. You see that he has appreciated them
better than I did... As soon as you settle in there, he will hang the one where
you embody Eve in front of the mirror on your door. Furthermore, you have to
take one thing into consideration: at the Oikonomopulos you will be safer from
your persecutors than if you took refuge in a virgin forest in Canada. It is
not easy to take an Egyptian courtesan to a German prison. First, for economic
reasons; and second, for fear of deceiving eternal justice with it.
LULU. (Proud, with a clear voice.) What do I care
about your eternal justice! You can be as sure as two and two are four that I
will not allow myself to be confined in such a house!
CASTI-PIANI. Then, you will allow me to call up the
police officer.
LULU. (Surprised.) But listen, why don't you simply
ask me for twelve hundred marks if you need them?
CASTI-PIANI. I don't need money. Furthermore, I'm
not asking you for it because you don't have it anymore.
LULU. We still have thirty thousand marks left.
CASTI-PIANI. Yes, in Jungfrau shares! I have never
dealt with shares. The State Prosecutor's Office pays in German money and the
Oikonomopulos in English gold... Tomorrow morning you can be on board. The
crossing does not require much more than five days. Within two weeks, at the
latest, you will be safe. Here you are closer to jail than anywhere else. It is
a miracle—a miracle that, as a secret agent, I cannot understand—that you have
been able to live for a whole year without being bothered. But since I have
discovered your background, in the same way, given your strong... experience in
men, one of my colleagues can make the same fortunate discovery at any moment.
Then he could snatch the bite from me and you would spend the best years for
pleasure in the shadows... Don't make me angry: decide immediately. The train
leaves at half past twelve. If by eleven o'clock we haven't reached an
agreement, I will call the police. Otherwise, I will put you in a car as you
are, take you to the station and tomorrow morning I will personally accompany
you to the ship.
LULU. I can't believe you're serious...
CASTI-PIANI. Don't you understand that I am only
trying to save you?
LULU. I would go with you to America or China, but
I cannot sell myself. It's worse than jail.
CASTI-PIANI. Read this letter! (He pulls out a
letter.) I'll read it to you. Look at the stamp and the seal of Cairo so you
don't think I'm using fake documents. It is from a Berliner girl who was
married for two years to a man I would have sent you, a friend of mine who now
travels on behalf of a colonial company in Hamburg.
LULU. (Cheerful.) Will she then remember the woman
from time to time...?
CASTI-PIANI. Very possibly. But listen to this
impulsive expression of her feelings... You should know that my girl
trafficking doesn't seem any more honorable to me than a judge would deem it,
but a glimmer of joy like this makes me feel a certain moral satisfaction. And
I am proud to earn my living by distributing happiness with open hands.
(Reads.) "Dear Mr. Meyer—that is my name in my capacity as a girl
trafficker—: If you go through Berlin, I ask you to immediately go to the
Conservatory on Postdamer Strasse and meet with Tina von Rosenkron, the most
beautiful woman you have ever seen—delightful hands and feet, naturally
slender, erect torso, blossoming body, large eyes and a snub nose—all according
to your taste. I have already written to her. Singing does not offer her any
possibility of a future. Her mother does not have a penny. Unfortunately, she
is already twenty-two years old, but she is consumed with love. I have spoken
with Madame. She would gladly welcome another German woman as long as she is well
educated and has musical talents. Italian and French women cannot compete with
us because they are too uncultured. If you find Fritz—Fritz is the husband
(divorced, naturally)—tell him that I am suffering from enormous annoyance. He
was excellent and I..." Well, an exact enumeration of...
LULU. (Exasperated.) I cannot sell the only thing
that has always been mine!
CASTI-PIANI. Let me read further!
LULU. (As before.) I will give you all our fortune
tonight!
CASTI-PIANI. Believe me when I tell you that I have
already accepted your last cent. If we don't leave this house by eleven
o'clock, tomorrow you will be repatriated with all the entourage.
LULU. You cannot betray me like this!
CASTI-PIANI. Do you think that would be the worst
thing I've done in my life...? If we leave tonight, I still have to say two
words to Bianetta. (He goes to the game room and leaves the door open. Lulu
stares into space while crumpling the message Rodrigo gave her and which she
held in her hand throughout the conversation. Alwa gets up from the game table
with a promissory note in his hand and returns to the living room.)
ALWA. (To Lulu) Magnificent! We are doing
magnificently!... The Countess is betting her shirt. Punciu promised me ten
more Jungfrau shares. The Steinherz is pocketing some winnings. (Exits through
the right door, front.)
LULU. (Alone.) Me in a brothel...! (Reads the
message in her hand and bursts into crazy laughter.)
ALWA. (Who returns from the right with a small box
in his hand.) Don't you feel well...?
LULU. Yes, yes... why not?
ALWA. By the way, the news came out today in the
"Berliner Tageblatt" that Alfredo Hugenberg threw himself down the
stairs in jail.
LULU. Was he also imprisoned?
ALWA. Yes, but only in a kind of preventive prison.
(He goes to the game room. She is about to imitate him, but runs into the
Countess.)
THE COUNTESS. Are you leaving because I'm
coming...?
LULU. (Determined.) No. But if you really come, I
am leaving.
THE COUNTESS. You have taken all the possessions I
still had in this world. And in your behavior toward me, you could at least
observe the forms of courtesy.
LULU. (As before.) I am as courteous to you as to
any other woman. I only ask that you also be courteous to me.
THE COUNTESS. Have you already forgotten the
passionate oaths with which you induced me, when we were in the hospital, to
have myself confined in your place?
LULU. And why did cholera attack me first?...
During the trial I swore many other things! Unlike the promises I made!... I
get chills just thinking that all that might come true one day.
THE COUNTESS. So, you knowingly deceived me?
LULU. (Cheerful.) Why "deceived"?... Your
physical gifts have found such an enthusiastic admirer here that I wonder if
one day I will not have to give piano lessons to live. No seventeen-year-old
girl can make a man fall in love more than you, so reluctant, have done with
that poor devil.
THE COUNTESS. Who are you talking about...? I don't
understand a word.
LULU. (As before.) I'm talking about your acrobat,
Rodrigo Quast. He is an athlete capable of supporting the weight of two saddled
horses. Can a woman ask for more...? He told me a moment ago that, if you don't
take pity on him, he will throw himself into the river tonight.
THE COUNTESS. I don't envy you the ability to
torment the helpless victims that an inscrutable destiny entrusts to you. I
can't exactly envy you... The compassion you inspire in me I haven't even felt
for my own pain. I feel as free as a God when I think of whose slave you are.
LULU. Who are you talking about now?
THE COUNTESS. About Casti-Piani, who has the most
abject vulgarity written on his forehead in letters of fire.
LULU. Shut up! If you speak ill of him, I will kick
your face in!... He loves me with a sincerity before which your most marvelous
sacrifices are a misery. He gives me such proofs of selflessness that they make
me understand how despicable you are... You were incomplete in your mother's
womb: you are neither woman nor man. You are not a human creature like the
others. For a man, the material was insufficient, and for a woman, you have too
much brain in your skull. That's why you're crazy. Turn your attention to Miss
Bianetta. She will lend herself to everything. It is enough to pay her. Put
half a Louis in her hand and she is yours. (Bianetta, Magelona, Ludmila,
Rodrigo, Casti-Piani, Punciu, Heilmann and Alwa leave the game room and enter
the living room.) What happened...?
PUNCIU. Nothing, absolutely nothing. We are
thirsty, that's all.
MAGELONA. They all won. It's incredible!
BIANETTA. I have the impression of having won a
fortune!
LUDMILA. Don't boast, darling. It brings bad luck.
MAGELONA. The bank also won. How is that possible?
ALWA. Where the hell did all this money come from?
CASTI-PIANI. Let's not investigate!... And let's
not skimp on the champagne!
HEILMANN. When I leave I can at least pay for
dinner at a luxury restaurant.
ALWA. Gentlemen: to the buffet. Let's go to the
buffet!
(Everyone enters the dining room, except Lulu, who
is detained by Rodrigo.)
RODRIGO. One moment, sweetheart... Did you read my
love message?
LULU. You can threaten to denounce me all you want:
I don't have any more money!
RODRIGO. Don't lie, whore! You still have forty
thousand Jungfrau shares... The one we call your husband boasted about it a
moment ago.
LULU. Why don't you go to him with your demands...?
I don't care how he uses his money.
RODRIGO. Thank you, dear: with that idiot it takes
forty hours before he understands what you're talking about. Then comes the
discussion and those make me sick. In the meantime, my fiancée writes to me:
"It's over!" and I can close the business.
LULU. How...? Are you engaged?
RODRIGO. Did I have to ask your permission?... What
was your gratitude for having gotten you out of jail at the cost of my health?
You abandoned me!... I would have had to work as a laborer if that girl hadn't
taken me under her wing. As soon as I presented myself on stage, the very first
night, a velvet armchair was thrown at my head. This country is too decadent to
appreciate authentic displays of strength. If I were a fighting kangaroo they
would have interviewed and photographed me for all the newspapers... Luckily, I
had already met my Celestina. She has all her savings from twenty years of work
in the bank. And she loves me selflessly. She doesn't live like you, always
chasing vulgarity. She has three children from an American bishop and they are
all very promising. The day after tomorrow morning we will get married at the
civil registry.
LULU. You have my blessing!
RODRIGO. I don't need it. I told my fiancée that I
have twenty thousand marks in securities in the bank.
LULU. (Amused.) And you are so foolish as to have
told me that she loves you selflessly...!
RODRIGO. Celestina adores the man of heart in me,
not physical strength, as you and all the others did!... That point is over.
First they tear off my clothes and then they embrace the stable boy. I prefer
to become a skeleton before lending myself again to such amusements.
LULU. And why the hell are you pursuing the poor
Countess with your proposals...?
RODRIGO. Because she belongs to the nobility. I am
a man of the world and I know better than all of you what the tone of
aristocratic conversation is... And let's stop talking, because I'm fed up.
Will you give me the money or not before tomorrow night?
LULU. I don't have any.
RODRIGO. That won't save you. If it were, you could
well say that I have chicken poop instead of brains... He will give you every
last cent just by you doing your filthy duty once and for all. You threw that
poor boy into this and now he must look for a way to decently use his
erudition.
LULU. What do you care if he wastes his money on
women or gambling?
RODRIGO. Do you really want to spend every last
cent that his father earned with the newspaper on this band of strangers?...
Look, you would make four people happy if you didn't look out so much for the
helpless and sacrificed yourself for a pious work. Does it necessarily always,
always and only, have to be Casti-Piani?
LULU. Do you want me to ask him to show you the
exit door...?
RODRIGO. Whatever you want, Countess... If by
tomorrow night I don't have the twenty thousand marks, I will report it to the
police and your band of bandits will fry in their own oil! Farewell!
(Heilmann enters from the back on the right,
breathless.)
LULU. Are you looking for Mrs. Magelona...? She's
not here,
HEILMANN. No, I'm looking for something else.
RODRIGO. (Pointing to the access door.) The second
door on the left...
LULU. (To Rodrigo.) Did you learn that from your
fiancée...?
HEILMANN. (Who runs into Punciu in the indicated
doorway.) Excuse me...!
PUNCIU. Ah, it's you...! Mrs. Magelona is waiting
for you in the elevator.
HEILMANN. Do me a favor: accompany her for a
moment... I'm coming right away. (He runs out the entrance door. Lulu goes to
the dining room. Rodrigo follows her.)
PUNCIU. (Alone.) Uff, how hot...! If I don't
liquidate you, you liquidate me!... If I can't rent my Josafat, I need to make
do with my brain. My brain doesn't get rough: it doesn't get sick; you don't
have to bathe it with cologne water.
(Bob, a fifteen-year-old errand boy, dressed in
red, tight leather pants and shiny high boots, arrives with a telegram in his
hand.)
BOB. Mr. Punciu... telegram for you.
PUNCIU. (Opens the telegram and murmurs.)
"Jungfrau funicular shares fall to..." That's how the world goes!...
(To Bob.) Wait. (Gives him a tip.) Tell me, what is your real name?
BOB. Alfredo, sir... but they call me Bob because
it's fashionable.
PUNCIU. How old are you?
BOB. Fifteen.
CADIDIA. (Enters timidly from the dining room.)
Excuse me... haven't you seen mommy?
PUNCIU. No, dear. (To himself.) What a wonderful
girl, my God...!
CADIDIA. I've looked everywhere for her and I can't
find her...
PUNCIU. She will reappear! ... As sure as my name
is Punciu! And those legs without stockings...! Holy God! It makes one tremble!
(Exits through the back, right)
CADIDIA. (To Bob.) Didn't you see mommy...?
BOB. No, but it will be enough if she comes with
me.
CADIDIA. Where...?
BOB. She went up in the elevator. Come on, come
on...!
CADIDIA. No, no. I don't want to go up.
BOB. We can hide up there... in the hallway.
CADIDIA. No, no, I'm not going. They'll scold me
afterwards.
MAGELONA. (Enters through the access door, very
agitated, and takes Cadidia by the arm.) Ah, finally I find you...! Look how
badly behaved you are!
CADIDIA. (Sobbing.) Mommy, mommy... I was looking
for you!
MAGELONA. Were you looking for me...? Did I tell
you to do it? What were you doing with him...? (Heilmann, Alwa, Ludmila,
Punciu, Countess Geschwitz and Lulu return from the dining room; Bob has
slipped away.) And don't cry in front of people, do you understand...?
(Everyone surrounds Cadidia.)
LULU. Why are you crying, dear... why are you
crying?
PUNCIU. She is really crying!... Who hurt you,
little angel?
LUDMILA. (Kneels in front of her and hugs her.)
Tell me, little one, what happened?... Do you want a little cake? Chocolate...?
MAGELONA. It's her nerves... her nerves. They are
making themselves felt too soon in this child. The best thing would be not to
worry...
PUNCIU. Yes, yes... you would be very capable. You
are an unnatural mother. You will see that the judicial authority will end up
taking this little daughter away from you and entrusting her guardianship to
me... (Stroking Cadidia's cheeks.) Isn't that right, little one?
THE COUNTESS. What do you think if we go back to
baccarat...?
(They all move to the game room. Lulu, in the
doorway, is detained by Bob, who whispers something inaudibly to her.)
LULU. Yes, let him in...
(Bob opens the hallway door and lets Schigolch pass, wearing a tuxedo, white tie, cracked
patent leather shoes and a top hat.)
SCHIGOLCH. (With a look at Bob.) Where did you get
it?
LULU. In the circus.
SCHIGOLCH. What is his salary?
LULU. Ask him, if you're interested... (To Bob.)
Close the door.
(Bob goes to the dining room and closes the door
behind him.)
SCHIGOLCH. (Sitting down.) I'm here to tell you
that I need money... I have rented an apartment for my mistress.
LULU. Have you also found a mistress here...?
SCHIGOLCH. She's from Frankfurt. When she was
young, she was the wife of the King of Naples. Every day she repeats to me
that, in her time, he was fascinating.
LULU. (Apparently very calm.) And does money have
the same effect on her...?
SCHIGOLCH. Yes, she wants to furnish the
apartment... It's an amount that is nothing to you.
LULU. (Suddenly taken by convulsive weeping, she
throws herself at Schigolch's feet.) My God! My God!
SCHIGOLCH. (Stroking her.) And now...? What's new?
LULU. (Sobbing convulsively.) It's horrible!
SCHIGOLCH. (He makes her sit on his knees and holds
her in his arms like a child.) Come on! You exaggerate, little girl!... Look,
every once in a while you should get into bed with a novel... Cry, cry, let it
out. You were shaking the same way fifteen years ago. Since then, no one has
cried out as you did. Then you didn't have a small white plume in your hair yet
and you didn't have transparent stockings. You didn't have stockings or shoes!
LULU. (Crying.) Take me with you! Tonight! Take
me!... We will find a car immediately?
SCHIGOLCH. I will, I will... But what's going on?
LULU. It's about my life!... They are going to
denounce me!
SCHIGOLCH. Who?
LULU. The tightrope walker.
SCHIGOLCH. (Very calmly.) I will take care of him.
LULU. (Imploring.) Take care, yes... take care of
him! Afterwards you will do with me whatever you want!
SCHIGOLCH. If he were to look for me, I would be
finished... My window overlooks the river. (Shaking his head.) But he won't
go... he won't go.
LULU. Where do you live?
SCHIGOLCH. At 376. The last house before the
Hippodrome.
LULU. I will send him to you! He will go with that
crazy woman who crawls at my feet... Tonight. Go and make her find him warm.
SCHIGOLCH. Let them come, no more...
LULU. Tomorrow bring me the gold earrings she has
in her ears.
SCHIGOLCH. What? Does she wear earrings?
LULU. You can take them off before throwing him
down. When he gets drunk he doesn't realize anything.
SCHIGOLCH. And afterwards, little girl?...
Afterwards?
LULU. I will give you the money for your mistress!
SCHIGOLCH. That's called being stingy...!
LULU. And what else do you want still...? It's all
I have.
SCHIGOLCH. We haven't had anything between us for
almost ten years...
LULU. If it's just that...! But you have a
mistress.
SCHIGOLCH. It's not from today, for crying out
loud...!
LULU. You must swear it to me.
SCHIGOLCH. Have I ever broken my word?
LULU. Swear that you will liquidate him.
SCHIGOLCH. I will liquidate him.
LULU. Swear!... Swear it to me!
SCHIGOLCH. (Placing a hand on her ankle.) By the
most sacred thing!... Tonight, when he goes:
LULU. By the most sacred thing!... How cold!
SCHIGOLCH. How hot!
LULU. Now go home right away. They will go in half
an hour. Take a car!
SCHIGOLCH. I'm going, I'm going...!
LULU. Quick! I beg you!... My God!
SCHIGOLCH. And now, why are you looking at me like
that?
LULU. Nothing, nothing...
SCHIGOLCH. Tell me. Or did your tongue freeze?
LULU. One of my garters came undone...
SCHIGOLCH. And so...?
LULU. Do you know what it means?
SCHIGOLCH. No, what?... If you stay still, I'll put
it back on you.
LULU. It means... misfortune.
SCHIGOLCH. (Yawning.) Not for you, dear. Rest
assured: I will liquidate him. (Exits. Lulu puts her foot on a stool, puts on
her garter and then goes towards the game room. Rodrigo pushes Casti-Piani from
the dining room into the living room.)
RODRIGO. At least, treat me decently!
CASTI-PIANI. (Totally apathetic.) What could induce
me to do that?... I want to know what you talked about with her a while ago.
RODRIGO. You have the wrong address.
CASTI-PIANI. Will you answer me once and for all,
you son of a bitch?... You claimed that I went up in the elevator with you!
RODRIGO. That is a treacherous and shameless lie!
CASTI-PIANI. She told me herself. You threatened to
denounce her to the police if she didn't go with you. Are you looking for me to
put a bullet in your body?
RODRIGO. How shameless! As if such an idea could
occur to me!... If I wanted her, I certainly wouldn't have to show her the jail
to get her.
CASTI-PIANI. Thank you. That's all I wanted to
know. (Exits through the access door.)
RODRIGO. (Alone.) Filthy!... A guy I could throw
against the ceiling and crush until he was softer than fresh cheese!... Come,
come here so I can tear your guts out! It would be very nice!
LULU. (Returns from the game room with joy.) Where
had you gone to?... You are harder to find than a pinhead!
RODRIGO. I showed him what it means to mess with
me!
LULU. Who?
RODRIGO. Your dear Casti-Piani. Why did you go and
tell him that I wanted to seduce you?
LULU. Didn't you claim that for twenty thousand
marks in Jugfrau shares I would give myself to my late husband's son?
RODRIGO. Because it is your duty to treat that boy
well. You killed his father in the prime of his life!... But don't worry: your
Casti-Piani will think twice before putting you in front of me again. I will
give him such a blow to the belly that I will scatter his guts in the air like
firecrackers!... If he doesn't have anything better to replace me with, I
regret having enjoyed your favor once.
LULU. Countess Geschwitz is in appalling
condition... She is twisting in the midst of great convulsions. If you keep her
waiting any longer, she is very capable of throwing herself into the river.
RODRIGO. And what is that beast waiting for?
LULU. She is waiting for you... She waits for you
to take her.
RODRIGO. Then give her my greetings and tell her to
go ahead and throw herself into the river.
LULU. She is lending me twenty thousand marks to
save myself from ruin provided you save her. If you take her with you today,
tomorrow I will go to a bank to deposit twenty thousand marks in your name.
RODRIGO. And if I don't...?
LULU. I will report you. Alwa and I are on our way.
RODRIGO. Damn them all...!
LULU. You will make four people happy if you don't
mess around with foolish formalities and sacrifice yourself for a beneficial
purpose.
RODRIGO. It won't be possible. I see it now. I've
tried enough already... How can one assume so much honesty in such a chunk of
rock?... In my opinion, the price of that one was belonging to the aristocracy.
I have behaved more chivalrously than German artists do. If only I had pinched
her buttocks...!
LULU. (Spying on him.) She is still a virgin...
RODRIGO. (With a sigh.) If there is a God, one day
you will pay for your jokes... I predict it.
LULU. The Countess is waiting. What should I tell
her...?
RODRIGO. Give her my compliments and tell her that
I am perverted.
LULU. Well... I'll tell her.
RODRIGO. Wait a moment!... Are you sure I'll get
those twenty thousand marks?
LULU. Ask her!
RODRIGO. In that case... tell her I'm ready. I'll
wait for her in the dining room. First, I have to get a good can of caviar.
(Enters the dining room.)
LULU. (Opens the game room door and calls out
loud.) Marta...! (After Countess Geschwitz enters the living room and closes
the door behind her, in a good mood.) Listen, my love... today you can save my
life.
THE COUNTESS. How?
LULU. By going to a hotel with the tightrope
walker.
THE COUNTESS. And why should I do that?
LULU. He says that if tonight you are not his... he
will report me to the police.
THE COUNTESS. You know well that I cannot belong to
any man... Destiny made me this way.
LULU. If he doesn't like it, let him put up with
it. Who ordered him to fall in love with you?
THE COUNTESS. He will be more brutal than a
butcher!... He will take his disappointment out on me and break my bones. It
has already happened to me... Is there no way to spare me that atrocious
ordeal?
LULU. What do you gain if he denounces me?
THE COUNTESS. I still possess enough for the two of
us to go to America in a first-class cabin. There you will be safe from all
your persecutors.
LULU. (Cheerful.) I want to stay here. I cannot be
happy in any other city... You must tell him that you cannot live without him.
He will be flattered and will become a little angel... He also has to pay for
the car. Give the coachman this paper: it is the address. Number 376 is a
sixth-rate hotel and they are waiting for you there tonight with him.
THE COUNTESS. How can this abnormality save you? I
don't understand... To torment me, you have provoked the most terrible destiny
that can strike a woman like me, already well punished by her own nature.
LULU. (Spying on her.) Who knows... maybe this
encounter will cure you...!
THE COUNTESS. (Sighing.) Oh, Lulu... if there is
justice in the afterlife, I wouldn't want to have to answer for you! I cannot
admit that there is no God above us. Perhaps you are right when you maintain
that there isn't. How else can I, an insignificant worm, have provoked his
wrath so that only I should experience horrors while every living being enjoys
a thousand delights?
LULU. There is no reason for you to complain... If
you become happy, you will be a hundred, a thousand times happier than us, mere
mortals.
THE COUNTESS. I already know that... I don't envy
anyone. But I am still waiting. You have deceived me so many times already...!
LULU. I will be yours, darling... if you keep the
tightrope walker calm until tomorrow. He seeks nothing more than to see his
vanity satisfied... You have to manage to make him take pity on you.
THE COUNTESS. And tomorrow...?
LULU. I will wait for you, dear... I will not open
my eyes until you come. I will not see the maid or the hairdresser, I repeat
that I will not open my eyes until you are with me.
THE COUNTESS. Well, then... Make him come.
LULU. You have to throw yourself around his neck,
do you understand, my love...? Do you have the house number?
THE COUNTESS. Yes... 376. But let's do it as soon
as possible!
LULU. (Looks out into the dining room.) Do you want
to come, my dear...?
RODRIGO. (Entering.) The ladies will have to excuse
me if I come with my mouth full...
THE COUNTESS. (Taking his hand.) I adore you!...
Have pity on my pain!
RODRIGO. À la bonne
heure!... Then, let's go up to the
gallows! (He offers his arm to the Countess and leaves with her.)
LULU. Have a good time, boys...! (She accompanies
the couple to the hallway and returns with Bob.) Quickly... quickly, Bob! We
have to leave immediately! You will accompany me... But first we have to change
our clothes.
BOB. (With a clear voice.) As the lady commands!
LULU. (Taking his hand.) Unlike the Lady of
Egypt...! Give me your clothes and put on mine. Let's go! (She enters the
dining room with Bob. An argument breaks out in the game room. The door bursts
open. Punciu, Heilmann, Alwa, Bianetta, Magelona, Cadidia and Ludmila enter.)
HEILMANN. (A folder of shares in his hand, on the
cover of which an alpine landscape is seen; to Punciu.) Will you accept this
Jungfrau share, yes or no?
PUNCIU. But it's a worthless security, my dear
friend...!
HEILMANN. Scoundrel! He doesn't want to grant me a
rematch!
MAGELONA. (To Bianetta.) Do you understand what is
happening...?
LUDMILA. Punciu won all his money and now refuses
to continue playing.
HEILMANN. This filthy Jew is suspending the game!
PUNCIU. Who said I'm not playing anymore? Who said
I'm suspending the game?... But the gentleman must play with hard cash. Are we
in my exchange office here?... You can offer me your piece of paper tomorrow
morning.
HEILMANN. You call it a piece of paper...? As I
understand it, these shares are at two hundred and ten.
PUNCIU. Yesterday... they were at two hundred and
ten: you are right. But not today. And tomorrow, you will not find anything
more exquisite and at a better price to wallpaper the entrance hall of your
house.
ALWA. Is it possible...? We'll be on the street,
then...!
PUNCIU. What should I say, since I am losing all my
fortune?... Tomorrow morning I will have the pleasure of undertaking the
struggle for a secure existence for the thirty-sixth time.
MAGELONA. (Stepping forward.) Am I dreaming or did
I hear correctly...? Are the Jungfrau shares falling?
PUNCIU. Yes, they are already lower than you... You
can use them to curl your hair.
MAGELONA. My God... ten years of work! (She
faints.)
CADIDIA. Mommy... mommy...!
BIANETTA. Tell me, Mr. Punciu, where will you have
dinner tonight after having lost your fortune?
PUNCIU. Wherever you want, miss. Take me wherever
you want, but make it quick! The end of the world will break out here! (Exits
with Bianetta.)
HEILMANN. (Makes a ball of his security and throws
it on the floor.) These are the gifts received from those scoundrels!
LUDMILA. Why does he have to base all his
speculations on the Jungfrau...? Send news of this people to the German
police... Any little thing will mean a sure profit.
HEILMANN. I've never tried it in my life, but if
you want to give me a hand...
LUDMILA. Let's go to a restaurant that is open all
night... Do you know "The Five-Legged Ram"?
HEILMANN. I don't like it...
LUDMILA. Or "The Milk-Fed Calf"... or
"The Steaming Dog"... They are all close to here. We can be calm in
any of them. And before dawn, we will have the note ready.
HEILMANN. Won't you sleep...?
LUDMILA. Of course I will, but not at night! (Exits
with Heilmann.)
ALWA. (Has been leaning over Magelona for a while,
trying to revive her.) Her hands are frozen. What a beautiful woman!... We
should loosen her chest... Come closer, Cadidia; loosen your mother's bust a
little. It's too tight.
CADIDIA. (Without moving.) I'm afraid...
(Lulu arrives from the dining room dressed in a red
jacket, riding hat, white leather pants and boots with the edge folded; on her
back, a mantilla.)
LULU. Alwa... do you still have money?
ALWA. (Looking up.) Have you gone crazy?
LULU. The police will arrive in two minutes. We
have been reported. You can stay, if you want.
ALWA. (Getting up.) God in heaven...! (Exits with
Lulu through the access door.)
CADIDIA. (Crying and shaking her mother.) Mommy...
mommy...! Wake up, mommy! Everyone is gone!
MAGELONA. (Coming to her senses.) Goodbye, youth...
goodbye, beautiful days! Oh, what a life!
CADIDIA. I'm still young, mommy. Why couldn't I
earn money?... I don't want to go back to the convent. I beg you, mommy: keep
me with you...!
MAGELONA. God bless you, dear! You don't know what
you're saying... No, no, I'll try to get hired at a variety theater and sing
people my misfortunes with the Jungfrau shares. That is always applauded.
CADIDIA. But you don't have a voice, mommy...
MAGELONA. True... it's true.
CADIDIA. Take me to the theater with you!
MAGELONA. No, no! My heart is breaking!... But, if
nothing else can be done, if that is your destiny, what can we do?... Tomorrow
we can go to the Olympia together,
CADIDIA. What joy you give me, mommy!
A POLICE COMMISSIONER. (In plain clothes, entering
from the hallway.) You are arrested in the name of the law!
CASTI-PIANI. (Following him, tired.) Let's go,
don't do anything foolish!... It's not her.
CURTAIN
ACT THREE
A windowless attic. Two large
sloping skylights, from the roof, allow light to enter. To the
front, on the right, a door. To the back, on the left, another door, which
closes badly; to the front, another smaller door, which leads to a small,
usable cubbyhole. In the proscenium, on the left, a damaged
gray mattress. To the front, on the right, a wobbly three-legged table; on it,
a bottle and a smoking kerosene lamp. To the right, in the back, an old chaise lounge; near the door, a well-used straw chair.
Under one of the skylights, a basin collects water from a leak.
(Rain is heard hitting the roof. Lying on the
mattress is Schigolch, wrapped in a long gray coat. In the chaise
lounge, Alwa Schön, muffled in a travel blanket, whose strap is
seen hanging on the wall above him.)
ALWA. An ideal time to get started...! I was just
dreaming that we were all having lunch together in the dining room of the
Olympia. Bianetta was also there... The tablecloth was overflowing with
champagne on all four sides!
SCHIGOLCH. Yes, yes... And I dreamed of a Christmas
sweet bread. (Lulu enters, in a shabby black dress, barefoot and with her hair
loose and short.) Where were you, daughter of God...? Curling your hair?
ALWA. She does it enough to refresh old memories...
LULU. If only I could warm myself next to one of
you...!
ALWA. Are you going to start your pilgrimage
barefoot?
SCHIGOLCH. The first step always costs tears and
sighs... Twenty years ago, the situation was not much better, and yet, how much
you have learned since then!... But let's stop adding fuel to the fire. After
ten days, not even ten locomotives could hold her back in this attic.
ALWA. The basin is about to overflow...
LULU. Where do I throw the water...?
ALWA. Out the window...
LULU. (Climbs onto a chair and empties the basin
through the skylight.) It looks like it's going to stop raining...
SCHIGOLCH. You are wasting the hour when men return
to their homes...
LULU. I would like to be already where no step can
ever wake me up again!
ALWA. Me too. Why keep dragging this life on? It is
better to starve to death tonight, but in peace and harmony... In any case, it
is the last stop.
LULU. Why don't you go get us something to eat...
You haven't earned a cent in your life yet.
ALWA. How...? With this filthy weather?
LULU. I do, on the other hand! I have to fill your
mouths with the little blood I still have left in my body!
ALWA. I don't want a cent of that money.
SCHIGOLCH. Don't distract her anymore... I really
want to celebrate Christmas; that's all I ask.
ALWA. I'll settle for a steak and a cigarette. And
then, die... I was also dreaming of a cigarette such as has never been smoked
in life.
SCHIGOLCH. He prefers to see us die rather than
procure us a little pleasure...
LULU. The men I approach on the street will prefer
to give me their coat rather than come with me for free. If only I hadn't sold
my dresses, I wouldn't be forced to shy away from the streetlights!... I'd like
to see what woman could earn anything with these rags!
ALWA. I did what was humanly possible. As long as I
had money, I spent my nights elaborating tables with which even the most
refined gamblers were to be defeated, and the only thing I achieved was to lose
more every night, as if I had thrown bills after bills out the windows. Later,
I offered myself to the courtesans, but they don't take anyone who doesn't have
the ring of judicial authority and they notice at first sight whether one has
business with the guillotine or not.
SCHIGOLCH. Yes, yes...
ALWA. I have suffered all the disappointments: when
I wove spiritual words, they laughed at me; when I presented myself as the
being full of good-naturedness that I am, they mocked me: when I tried to be
vulgar, everyone became chaste and pure in a way that made my hair stand on end
with horror. He who has not overcome human society does not find faith in
others.
SCHIGOLCH. Haven't you decided to put on your
shoes, dear?... I don't think I will get older than I already am in this house.
My toes have been numb for months now... Around midnight I will go down to the
bar to have a few drinks. The landlady hinted to me yesterday that I have
serious prospects of becoming her lover.
LULU. Damn you...! I'm going down now. (Takes the
bottle from the table and drinks from it.)
SCHIGOLCH. Of course... so they smell you coming
half an hour away!
LULU. I've barely had anything.
ALWA. No, you won't go down. You are mine and you
won't go down. I forbid it!
LULU. What can you forbid your wife if you are not
capable of supporting yourself?
ALWA. Whose fault is it? Whose, but my wife's, who
has made me sick?
LULU. Am I sick?
ALWA. Who threw me into the mud? Who made me murder
my father?
LULU. Did you kill him...? You haven't lost much,
but when I see you lying there like that, I would have my hands amputated for
having sinned against my conviction! (Exits through the left and goes into her
room.)
ALWA. Those miserable people never start suffering
early enough, and that is, if they don't finally end up as angels.
SCHIGOLCH. She should have been born Empress of
Russia... That would have been her place. Another Catherine II.
LULU. (Comes from her room with a pair of broken
shoes and sits on the floor to put them on.) Why don't you throw yourself down
the stairs...! Ugh, how cold!... Is there anything sadder in the world than a
woman of the street?
SCHIGOLCH. Patience, patience...! Business requires
a lot of air.
LULU. I still have to adapt... Furthermore, I have
nothing more to lose. (Approaches the bottle.) This warms me up a bit!... Damn
world! (Exits through the door on the right.)
SCHIGOLCH. When we hear her return, we have to
retreat to our cubbyhole...
ALWA. What a sin Lulu is committing! When I think
about it... In a way, I grew up with her.
SCHIGOLCH. She will certainly resist as long as I
live...
ALWA. In the beginning, she and I were like brother
and sister. Then mommy was still alive... One day I ran into her by chance
while she was getting ready. Doctor Goll had been called for a consultation.
Lulu's hairdresser had read my first poem published in a magazine: "Sic on
the pack so it climbs the mountain! Afterwards it will return, dripping with
sweat..."
SCHIGOLCH. Oh, yes...!
ALWA. Then she went to the Spanish embassy ball in
a pink tulle dress, under which she only had a white satin bodice. Doctor Goll
seemed to foresee his death. He begged me to dance with her so she wouldn't do
anything crazy. And while dad followed us with his eyes, she, over my shoulder,
looked at him continuously, and only at him. And she ended up killing him with
a pistol shot. It's incredible...!
SCHIGOLCH. I don't think it will be easy for her to
get anyone...
ALWA. I wouldn't advise anyone...
SCHIGOLCH. What an idiot!
ALWA. Then, despite already being a grown woman,
she had the expression of a lively and healthy five-year-old girl. She was only
three years younger than me, but how much time has passed!... Despite her
wonderful superiority for practical life, she had me explain the content of
"Tristan and Isolde" to her, and how difficult it was to get her to
stay still and listen!... The little sister who, after getting married, still
felt like a schoolgirl, later became the unhappy and hysterical wife of an
artist. The artist's wife later became my poor father's consort, my father's
wife was later my lover, and so the world goes. What good would it be to
object!
SCHIGOLCH. Provided she doesn't bring us men with
serious intentions and doesn't bring us just any homeless person after
exchanging secrets of the heart with him...!
ALWA. The first time, I kissed her while she was
still wearing her rustling wedding dress, but later she pretended not to
remember. And even today I still believe that she was thinking of me already in
my father's arms... Furthermore, it couldn't have been much later. He had
already passed his brilliant period and she was cheating on him with the
coachman and the stable boy. But when she gave herself to him, I was in her
heart. And so... without me realizing it, she conquered her terrible power over
me.
SCHIGOLCH. Here she comes! (Heavy footsteps are
heard climbing the stairs.)
ALWA. (Standing up.) I don't want, I don't want!
I'll kick him out!
SCHIGOLCH. (Struggling to his feet, takes Alwa by
the lapels and pushes him towards the cubbyhole door.) Come on, come on! How do
you expect the young man to confess his things if we stay here?
ALWA. Provided he doesn't pretend to do anything
infamous to her...!
SCHIGOLCH. Provided... provided...! What else do
you expect him to pretend to do to her at this point?... He will also be a man
like us.
ALWA. We will leave the door open.
SCHIGOLCH. (Pushing Alwa.) Don't play the fool!...
Shut your mouth!
ALWA. (Already inside.) I will listen. And may God
protect him!
SCHIGOLCH. (Closing the door behind him; from
inside.) Silence!
ALWA. (From inside.) He better be careful not
to...! (Lulu opens the door and lets Mr. Hunidei in. He is a giant man, with a
red, clean-shaven face, blue eyes and a friendly smile. He is wearing a wool
coat and a top hat, and carries a dripping umbrella in his hand.)
LULU. This is my room... (Hunidei puts his index
finger to his lips and looks at her meaningfully. Then he opens the umbrella
and leaves it on the floor in the background, to drain.) It's not very
comfortable, shall we say, but... (Hunidei steps forward and covers her mouth
with his hand.) What does this mean...? (Hunidei keeps his hand over her mouth
and with the other motions for her to be quiet.) I don't understand... (He
quickly covers her mouth again. Lulu frees herself.) We are alone. No one can hear
us. (Hunidei, with his index finger on his lips, shakes his head, points to
Lulu, opens his mouth as if to speak, points to himself and then to the door;
she comments to herself.) He is quite good-looking...! A monster! (Hunidei
closes her mouth. He then goes to the back, takes off his coat, folds it and
places it over the back of the chair that is near the door. Then he returns
and, winking, takes Lulu's head between his hands and kisses her on the
forehead.)
SCHIGOLCH. (Behind the closed cubbyhole door.) It
seems to me that he is missing a screw...
ALWA. Be on guard...!
SCHIGOLCH. He couldn't have brought a more
unexpected individual...
LULU. (Drawing back.) I hope you will give me
something, won't you?... (Hunidei covers her mouth and puts a gold coin in her
hand. She examines it and passes it from one hand to the other. He looks at her
inquiringly.) Yes, yes... it's good. (She puts it in a pocket. He closes her
mouth again, gives her a silver coin and gives her a significant look.) That's
better...! (Hunidei breaks into jumping around the room like a madman, waving
his arms and looking up like a desperate man. She cautiously approaches him,
wraps one arm around his neck and kisses him on the mouth. He breaks free,
laughing, and looks around as if searching for something. She takes the lamp
from the table and opens the door to her room. He enters, smiling, and takes
off his hat on the threshold. The scene is dark, except for a ray of light
coming from Lulu's room, whose door closes badly. Alwa and Schigolch crawl out
of their cubbyhole.)
ALWA. Are they gone...?
SCHIGOLCH. (Behind him.) Wait a moment.
ALWA. I don't hear anything...
SCHIGOLCH. Enough has been heard already!
ALWA. I will kneel in front of her door...
SCHIGOLCH. You must be crazy...! (He steps ahead of
Alwa, blindly crosses the stage, takes Hunidei's coat and searches his pockets.
Alwa has crawled up to Lulu's door.) The gloves... and nothing else. (He
searches the inner pockets and finds a book, which he holds out to Alwa.) Look
at this...!
ALWA. (Places the book in the ray of light coming
from the room and laboriously deciphers the title.) "Guide for the Devout
Pilgrim and for the One Who Wants to Become One"... Very useful!... Price:
two shillings and sixpence.
SCHIGOLCH. It seems to me that this one is going to
be rejected by God... (He puts the coat back on the chair and heads towards the
cubbyhole.) There is nothing to be done with this people... The nation has
already passed its golden age.
ALWA. Life is never as treacherous as we imagine
it!... (He also crawls back towards the cubbyhole.)
SCHIGOLCH. He doesn't even have a silk
handkerchief... And we, in Germany, kneel before this rabble!
ALWA. Come, come... hide us quickly.
SCHIGOLCH. The thing is that she only thinks about
herself and grabs the first person she comes across. Let's hope this animal
can't forget her for the rest of his life!
(Alwa and Schigolch enter the cubbyhole and close
the door. Shortly after, Lulu appears, putting the lamp back on the table.)
LULU. Will you return...? (Hunidei covers her
mouth. She looks desperately towards the sky and shakes her head. He has put on
his coat and approaches her, winking. She throws her arms around his neck; he
gently frees himself, kisses her hand, takes his umbrella and leaves. She wants
to accompany him, but he signals for her to stay and leaves without making a
sound. Schigolch and Alwa come out of their cubbyhole.)
LULU. (Hoarse.) How excited he made me...!
ALWA. How much did he give you?
LULU. (As before.) Here you go. Everything. Take
it. I'm going out again.
SCHIGOLCH. We'll be able to live like princes...!
ALWA. Silence!... He's coming back!
SCHIGOLCH. Hide us immediately!
ALWA. He will want his prayer book... Here it is.
It must have fallen out of his pocket.
LULU. (Listening.) No, it's not him... It must be
someone else.
ALWA. Someone is coming up... I can hear it
perfectly.
LULU. He's checking the door... Who could it be?
SCHIGOLCH. Maybe it's a friend of his, whom he
recommended to you... Come in!
(Countess Geschwitz
enters. She is poorly dressed and has a roll of fabric in her hand.)
THE COUNTESS. If I am interrupting, I will leave
immediately... I haven't talked to anyone for ten days... I wanted to tell you
that I haven't received any money. My brother didn't even answer me.
SCHIGOLCH. So, the Countess would like to stretch
her legs under our table, wouldn't she?...
LULU. (Hoarse.) I have to go out.
THE COUNTESS. Where do you want to go dressed like
that?... I don't bring money, but I don't come empty-handed: I bring you
something. A guy offered me twelve shillings on the street for this fabric... I
didn't have the heart to part with it... But you, if you want, you can sell it.
SCHIGOLCH. What is it?
ALWA. Let's see... show it. (He takes the roll,
unwraps it and exclaims with joy.) Look! Lulu's portrait!
LULU. (With a scream.) And you, monster, bring it
here?... Take it away immediately! Throw it out the window!
ALWA. (Suddenly revived and very happy.) Certainly
not!... In front of this portrait I regain my self-esteem. My destiny becomes
understandable to me. Everything we have gone through is clear. (In a somewhat
elegiac tone.) He who, in front of these red and flourishing lips, these large
eyes of an innocent girl, this blossoming, white and pink body, feels secure in
his bourgeois position... let him cast the first stone at us!...
SCHIGOLCH. We have to hang it up... It will make an
excellent impression on our clientele.
ALWA. (Diligent.) There's a nail on the wall...
SCHIGOLCH. How did you get it?
THE COUNTESS. In the Paris house... after you
abandoned it.
ALWA. It's a shame that it's a bit chipped at the
edges!... You didn't roll it carefully enough. (He hangs the fabric from a
nail.)
SCHIGOLCH. It needs another nail at the bottom to
keep it steady... The whole atmosphere has become more elegant... Let me, I'll
do it; I know how. (He pulls some other nails from the wall, takes off a shoe
and fixes the nails with the heel, on the edges of the portrait.) It needs to
be there for a while so it can fulfill its purpose... Whoever sees it will
immediately believe they are in a Hindu harem.
ALWA. When this portrait was painted, her body was
at the height of its development... Give me the lamp, dear. It seems to me that
it is very discolored.
THE COUNTESS. The one who did it must have been a
great artist...
LULU. (Already calm, approaching the painting with
the lamp.) Didn't you know him...?
THE COUNTESS. No. I only knew that you criticized
him because, in his persecution mania, he had slashed his throat.
ALWA. (Comparing the portrait with Lulu.) Despite
everything that has happened since then, the childish expression in her eyes
remains the same. (With joy.) But the pearly freshness of the skin, the
perfumed breath, the radiant light that spreads from the white forehead and
this inviting magnificence of the youthful flesh, of the neck and arms...
SCHIGOLCH. ...it's all gone to waste! She can
proudly say: "That's how I was once!" He who holds her in his hands
today has no remote idea of our youth.
ALWA. Luckily, when living together, one doesn't
notice the progressive decadence... (Not giving importance to the words.) For
us, the woman blossoms the moment she is about to throw the man to ruin for
life. Nature has assigned her that destiny.
SCHIGOLCH. Outside, under the streetlights, she can
still mix with a dozen ghosts circulating on the street... At this hour, he who
seeks company focuses more on charity of heart than on the value of the body.
And he chooses that pair of black eyes in which less willingness to steal
shines.
LULU. (As cheerful as Alwa.) We will see if you are
right... See you later.
ALWA. (Suddenly angry.) You will not leave here!
THE COUNTESS. Where are you going?
ALWA. To look for a man.
THE COUNTESS. Lulu...!
ALWA. Today she already did it once.
THE COUNTESS. Lulu, Lulu!... Wherever you go, I
will go too!
SCHIGOLCH. If you want to make your skeleton
produce, do us the favor of finding us another room.
THE COUNTESS. I will not separate from you, Lulu. I
am armed.
SCHIGOLCH. Damn it!... You, Countess, want to catch
us with our own hooks.
LULU. Kill me, but I can't stand it in here
anymore!
THE COUNTESS. You don't have to be afraid. I am
with you.
(Lulu leaves with the Countess.)
SCHIGOLCH. Damn it!...
ALWA. (Sinks into the chaise lounge, sobbing.) I
don't think I can expect anything good from this life anymore...
SCHIGOLCH. We had to hold on to that woman at any
cost!... With that aristocratic skull of hers, she will scare away every living
being!
ALWA. She has made me sick and covered me with
thorns inside and out...
SCHIGOLCH. In compensation, she has the courage of
ten men in her body.
ALWA. No wounded man would thank me more than I
would for the coup de grâce...
SCHIGOLCH. If she hadn't attracted the tightrope
walker to my house, we would still have him on our backs.
ALWA. I see him hanging over my head like Tantalus
to the branch with golden honey...
SCHIGOLCH. (Lying on the mattress.) Do you want to
turn up that lamp a little...?
ALWA. Who could affirm that primitive man suffered
so enormously in his solitude?... My God, what have I done with my life!
SCHIGOLCH. Look what this filthy weather has done
to my blanket!... At twenty-five, I knew how to manage.
ALWA. Not everyone had my magnificent, my splendid
youth...
SCHIGOLCH. It seems to me that it is about to go
out... When they return, we will be as dark here as in the womb.
ALWA. I voluntarily sought the company of men who
had never read a book. I embraced them with all my selflessness and all my
enthusiasm to be transported to the maximum heights of poetic glory. The
calculation was wrong. I am a martyr to my profession. After my father's death,
I never wrote another verse.
SCHIGOLCH. Provided they didn't stay together...!
If you're not a real fool, you don't travel with two at once.
ALWA. No, they didn't stay together!
SCHIGOLCH. Let's hope not. She is very capable, if
necessary, of kicking her away.
ALWA. One, risen from the mud, is the most
celebrated man in the nation; another, born in a cradle of gold, is piled up in
the dregs and cannot die.
SCHIGOLCH. They're coming back...!
ALWA. And how many happy hours of glorious shared
creation they lived together...!
SCHIGOLCH. All the more reason they can do it
now... We have to hide.
ALWA. I'll stay here.
SCHIGOLCH. Why do you truly pity her...? He who
spends his own capital always has his good reasons for doing so.
ALWA. I no longer have the moral courage to allow
myself to be bothered by a dirty handful of bills. (He settles under the travel
blanket.)
SCHIGOLCH. Noblesse oblige!... The good man acts
according to his social position. (He hides in the cubbyhole.)
LULU. (Opening the door.) Come in, darling... come
in!
CUNGU PÓTI. (Hereditary Prince of Uahubee: light
coat, light pants, white gaiters, yellow shoes and gray top hat; when speaking,
he does so with the singular African gutturality and his words are frequently
interrupted with burps.) Goddam... The stairs are very dark!
LULU. It's clearer here, my love... (She makes him
advance by pulling his hand.) Come, come...!
CUNGU PÓTI. It's cold here. Very cold.
LULU. Do you want a little drink of grappa?
CUNGU PÓTI. Grappa?... I always drink grappa.
Grappa is good.
LULU. (Holding out the bottle.) Take... I don't
know where the glass is.
CUNGU PÓTI. It's nothing... (He takes the bottle
and drinks.) Grappa! .Lots of grappa!
LULU. You are a handsome boy.
CUNGU PÓTI. My father is the Emperor of Uahubee. I
have six wives here: two Spanish, two French and two English. Well... I don't
love my wives.
LULU. How much will you give me...?
CUNGU PÓTI. Gold coin. You can believe it: you will
have gold coin. Always give gold coin.
LULU. You can give it to me later, but in the
meantime show it to me.
CUNGU PÓTI. Don't understand, don't understand!...
Come! (He takes Lulu by the waist.) Come!
LULU. (Breaking free.) Leave me!
(Alwa has struggled to his feet from the mattress,
approaches Cungu Poti from behind and pulls his neck.)
CUNGU PÓTI. (Turning around with a jump.) Oh, oh...
murderers here! Come, friend... give you a sleeping pill! (He hits Alwa on the
head with a kind of cudgel and Alwa collapses with a groan.) Sleeping pill!
Opium!... It brings nice dreams. Nice dreams!... (He gives Lulu a kiss and
points to Alwa.) Dream of you!... Nice dreams! (Running towards the door.) Door
here! (Exits.)
LULU. I won't stay here another moment!... Who can
resist this? The street is better! (She also exits.)
SCHIGOLCH. (Comes out of his hiding place: he leans
over Alwa.) Blood!... Alwa!... We have to get him out of here!... Up! If not,
our relations will be scandalized... Alwa, Alwa!.... He who is not at peace
with himself... Come on, it will be late soon!... I'll try to lift him. (He
lights a match and puts it under his neck. Alwa does not move.) I understand:
he wants to rest... But one does not sleep here. (He drags him by the neck
towards Lulu's room. Then he tries to turn up the lamp's flame.) It will also
be time for me; if not, I won't find any sweet bread at the bar... Who knows
when they will return from their pleasure trip.... (Observing Lulu's portrait.)
She doesn't know her trade. She cannot live from love because her life is
love... That's all! I'll try to convince her... (The door opens and Countess
Geschwitz appears.) If you want to spend the night with us, do us the favor of
making sure nothing is stolen.
THE COUNTESS. How dark it is here...!
SCHIGOLCH. And it will get darker still... The
Doctor is already resting.
THE COUNTESS. She told me to go ahead...
SCHIGOLCH. She did well... If anyone looks for me,
I'm at the bar downstairs... (Exits.)
THE COUNTESS. (Alone.) I will stay near the door...
I want to see everything without blinking. (She sits in the straw chair, next
to the door.) Men do not know themselves... they don't know how they are made.
Only he who is not a man knows them. Every word they say is false... a lie.
They are unaware of it because today they are one way and tomorrow another,
depending on whether they have or have not eaten, drunk and loved. Only the
body remains what it is for some time and only children have common sense. Adults
are like beasts: they don't know what they are doing. When they reach the
height of happiness they cry, they complain; and when they are at the bottom of
the deepest misery they enjoy the smallest thing... It is strange how hunger
takes away men's strength to be unhappy! When they are satiated, on the other
hand, they turn the world into a torture chamber and give their lives to
satisfy a whim... Who could affirm that there have been men made happy by love?
What does their happiness truly consist of if not in being able to sleep better
and forget everything... My God, I thank you for not having made me like
them!... I am not a human creature, my body has nothing in common with the
bodies of men. Do I have a human soul?... Tormented men carry a small, petty
heart in their chests; I, on the other hand, know that it is not my merit if I
give everything... if I sacrifice everything...
(Lulu opens the door and lets Doctor Hilti in. The Countess remains unseen,
motionless next to the door.)
LULU. (Lively.) Come... come in! Will you stay with
me all night?
HILTI. Yes, but I only have five shillings... I
never carry more when I go out.
LULU. They will be enough since it is you. You have
such kind eyes...! Come and give me a kiss!
HILTI. By all the devils!... What a woman!
LULU. Do me a favor: don't talk.
HILTI. Devils... this is the first time I've gone
with a girl. You can believe me... To tell the truth, I had imagined it very
differently.
LULU. Are you married?
HILTI. Why do you think I would be?... No, I am a
professor, a freelance professor; I teach philosophy at the University. Devils!
You need to know: I am from one of the best families in Basel. When I was a
student, I only received two francs for small pleasures and I had better ways
to use them than with girls.
LULU. And that's why you've never been with a
woman?
HILTI. Yes, but now I need to. Tonight I got
engaged to a girl. She is also from Basel, but she lives here.
LULU. Is she pretty?...
HILTI. Yes, she has two million... I am very
curious to see how it turns out for me.
LULU. (Pushing her hair back.) You are very lucky.
(She gets up and takes the lamp.) Well... if it doesn't bother you, Mr.
Professor... (She leads Doctor Hilti to her room.)
THE COUNTESS. (Takes a small black pistol from her
purse and puts it to her temple.) Come, adored one... come!
HILTI. (Violently opens the door and exits to the
corridor.) Oh, stinking carrion!... There is one inside!
LULU. (Lamp in hand, holds him by the sleeve.) Stay
with me...!
HILTI. A dead man! A corpse!
LULU. Stay with me here!
HILTI. (Breaking free.) Devils of hell!...
Scoundrel!
LULU. Stay here!
HILTI. Which way out? (Discovering the Countess.)
Even the Devil is present!
LULU. Stay, I beg you...!
HILTI. Carrion from hell!... Damn you! (Exits.)
LULU. Stay... stay...! (She runs after him and also
exits.)
THE COUNTESS. (Alone, lowers the pistol.) No,
better hang myself!... If she saw me bleeding, she wouldn't shed a tear. I have
always been the easy tool for her to use for the most difficult affairs. From
the first day she deeply abhorred me... Wouldn't it be better if I threw myself
off the bridge? Which will be colder? The water or her heart?... I will dream
until the moment of suffocation. No, better hang myself! Or maybe hurt
myself?... Nothing is resolved... How many times I dreamed that she kissed me! But
a minute later, an owl would tap on my window and wake me up!... Better hang
myself! Not the water; the water is too clean for me. (Suddenly regaining
composure.) She's coming back!... Quick, before she arrives! (She unhooks the
travel blanket strap, climbs onto the chair, hooks the strap to a hook on the
door frame, wraps the other end around her neck, kicks the chair and falls to
the floor.) Damned life, damned life!... Do I have to keep living?... Let me
speak to your heart just once, my dear!... But no, you are so cold!... It's not
time for me to disappear yet. Maybe I will also be happy once... Listen, Lulu:
it's not time for me to disappear yet. (She crawls until she is in front of
Lulu's portrait, kneels and clasps her hands.) Angel of my heart, my love, star
of my life...! Have pity on me! Have pity! Pity!
(Lulu opens the door and brings in Jack. He is a plump man, with elastic movements, a pale
face, reddish eyes, bushy eyebrows, drooping mustache, abundant beard,
protruding sideburns and red hands with gnawed nails. His gaze is fixed on the
floor. He wears a dark coat and a small round cloth hat.)
JACK. (Discovering the Countess.) Who is this?
LULU. My sister, sir... She is crazy. I don't know
how to get rid of her.
JACK. You have a pretty mouth...
LULU. I inherited it from my mother.
JACK. I see. How much do you want...? I don't have
much.
LULU. Don't you want to stay all night...?
JACK. No, I don't have time. I have to go home.
LULU. You can say you missed the last bus and that
you slept at a friend's house.
JACK. How much do you want?
LULU. I don't ask for a gold coin... but I do ask
for a silver coin.
JACK. (Moves away to leave.) Good night.
LULU. (Holding him back.) No, no, stay, for
heaven's sake...!
JACK. (Passes in front of the Countess and opens
the cubbyhole.) Why should I stay until tomorrow...? It seems suspicious to
me... While I sleep they will go through my wallet.
LULU. I don't usually do that! And no one does it
for me... Don't leave because of that!
JACK. How much do you want?
LULU. Give me half of what I told you...
JACK. No, it's too much... You look like a novice.
LULU. Today is the first time... (The Countess,
still kneeling, has turned towards Jack; Lulu pulls the strap that is still
around her neck.) Go to your bed....!
JACK. Leave her!... She's not your sister. And
she's in love with you. (He strokes her head like a dog.) Poor animal...!
LULU. Why did you look at me like that...?
JACK. I judged you by the way you walked... I said
to myself: "She must have a beautiful body".
LULU. Can you see it?
JACK. I also saw that you had a pretty mouth... But
I only have one silver coin...
LULU. What does it matter?... Give it to me anyway.
JACK. ...and you have to give me half back so I can
take the bus tomorrow.
LULU. I don't have a single cent in my purse.
JACK. Look, look closely... What is that? Let me
see!
LULU. (Holding out her hand.) It's all I have.
JACK. Give me my coin back.
LULU. Tomorrow I will exchange it and give you
half.
JACK. No, give it to me now.
LULU. (Gives it to him.) That's fine! But now, come
with me! (She takes the lamp)
JACK. There is no need for light. There is
moonlight.
LULU. (Leaves the lamp.) Whatever you want... (She
throws her arms around his neck.) I won't hurt you. I love you, I love you very
much. Don't
play hard to get...!
JACK. Good. (He follows her to Schigolch's
cubbyhole. The lamp goes out. Two rectangles of moonlight are marked on the
floor under the skylights. Every object in the room can be distinguished.)
THE COUNTESS. (Alone: speaks as if in a dream.)
This is the last night I spend with these people. I will return to Germany...
My mother will send me money for the trip. I will enroll in the University. I
have to fight for women's rights; I will study law.
LULU. (Barefoot, in a shirt, suddenly opens the
door, screaming, and closes it from the outside.) Help me... help me!
THE COUNTESS. (Rushes to the door, pulls out the
pistol and, pushing Lulu away, aims at the door. To Lulu.) Let him out!
(Jack, crouching, opens the door from inside and
buries a knife in the Countess's abdomen; she manages to fire a
shot into the air and falls to the floor with a groan.)
JACK. (Takes the gun from her and rushes towards
the exit door.) God dam!... I never saw a more beautiful mouth! (His hair is
dripping with sweat and his hands are bloody. Panting deeply, he looks at the
floor with his eyes popping out of their sockets. Lulu looks around, trembling
entirely savagely. She suddenly takes the bottle, breaks it against the edge of
the table and, holding the neck in her hand, rushes towards Jack. He lifts his
right foot and Lulu stumbles and falls. Then he lifts her.)
LULU. No, no!... Mercy!... Murderer!... Help, help!
Police...!
JACK. It's useless! Now you won't escape! (He goes
with her into the cubbyhole.)
LULU. (From inside.) No, no, no!... Oh, oh...!
JACK. (Returns after a moment and puts the basin on
the table.) I'm so tired...! (Washing his hands.) I have terrible luck! (He
looks around looking for a towel.) They don't even have a towel here... What a
miserable den! (He dries his hands on the Countess's skirt.) This monster had
nothing to fear from me... (To the Countess.) Everything will end soon for you
too. (Exits.)
THE COUNTESS. (Alone.) Lulu...! Angel of my
heart!... Let me see you once more!... I am close to you. Let me be... for all
eternity. (Collapsing
on her elbows.) Damn it...! (Dies.)
FINAL CURTAIN
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