Bertolt Brecht: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder 7
Page 7
ROBERT: Catch us driving his stuff through Noah’s Flood!
SIMONE: But you’ll take the sick and the children, won’t you?
ROBERT: The refugees are a different matter.
PÈRE GUSTAVE: You keep out of it, Simone, that’s my advice to you.
SIMONE: But our beautiful France is in grave danger, Père Gustave.
PÈRE GUSTAVE: She got that out of that damned book of hers. ‘Is not our beautiful France in danger?’
ROBERT: Madame Soupeau’s come down. She is beckoning you.
Simone goes to Madame Soupeau.
WOMAN to the crowd at the gate: Why don’t we take the lorries, and the food too?
MADAME SOUPEAU: Simone, take this key and give these people as much food as they want. Père Gustave, Georges, you give them a hand.
MAYOR loudly: Bravo, Madame Soupeau!
PATRON: Maman, how can you? What are you doing down here anyway? You could catch your death in this draught. And our cellars have got 70,000 francs’ worth of food and fine wines in them.
MADAME SOUPEAU to the Mayor: It is all at the disposal of the Saint-Martin council. To the Patron, coldly: Would you rather it was looted?
SIMONE to the woman with the baby: You’ll get the food.
MADAME SOUPEAU: Simone! My son has followed your suggestion and just put the hostelry’s entire stock of food at the disposal of the council. That leaves only the china and the silver, which will take up very little room. Is anybody going to load it for us?
WOMAN: And what about making room for us in the lorries?
MADAME SOUPEAU: Madame, we shall take as many of you as possible, and the hostelry will be honoured to feed those who stay behind.
THE FIRST REFUGEE calling back towards the gate: Would old Monsieur and Madame Creveux and the Meunier family stay behind if they’re certain to get fed here?
CALL FROM THE BACKGROUND: It’s possible, Jean.
WOMAN: Just a minute, if we’re going to be fed here I want to stay behind too.
MADAME SOUPEAU: You will be welcome.
MAYOR in the gateway: Messieurs, Mesdames, help yourselves. The hostelry’s stocks are at your disposal.
Some of the refugees move hesitantly towards the store room.
MADAME SOUPEAU: And bring us a few bottles of cognac, Simone, the 1884 Martell.
SIMONE: Very well, Madame. She beckons to the refugees and goes into the store room with them, Père Gustave and Georges.
PATRON: This will be the death of me, Maman.
ONE OF THE REFUGEES drags out a crate of provisions with Georges’s help and cheerfully mimics a street seller: Fruit, ham, chocolate! Provisions for your journey! All free today!
PATRON looking indignantly at the tins which Georges and the refugee are carrying across the yard towards the street: Oh, my delicacies! That’s foie gras!
MADAME SOUPEAU softly: Shut up. To the refugee, politely: I hope you enjoy it, Monsieur. The other refugee, with Père Gustave’s help, is dragging baskets full of food across the yard.
PATRON lamenting: My 1915 Pommard! And there goes my caviar! And there …
MAYOR: There are times when one must make sacrifices, Henri. Sceptically: It’s a matter of showing good will.
MAURICE imitating the Patron’s anguish: ‘My Pommard!’ He bursts out laughing and slaps Simone on the shoulder. I’ll load your china, Simone, for a sight like that!
PATRON offended: What’s so funny? Pointing to the disappearing baskets: That’s looting.
ROBERT good-naturedly, carrying a basket: Don’t take it to heart, Monsieur Henri. Your china will get loaded all right.
MADAME SOUPEAU: Agreed. She takes some tins and bottles of wine to Simone’s parents. Help yourselves. You too. Glasses for your parents, Simone.
Simone gives them glasses, then she takes a stool, puts it up against the wall and hands food from one of the baskets to the refugees on the other side.
MADAME SOUPEAU: Maurice, Robert, Père Gustave, get yourselves glasses too. With a glance at the policemen: I see the force is already equipped. To the woman with the baby: Take a sip with us, Madame. To everybody: Mesdames, Messieurs, let us raise our glasses to the future of our beautiful France.
PATRON standing alone and apart from the rest: What about me? Fills a glass and joins the others.
MAYOR to Madame Soupeau: Madame, in the name of the Saint-Martin council I thank the hostelry for its generous contribution. Raising his glass: To France. To our future.
GEORGES: Where’s Simone?
Simone is still busy passing food over the wall to the refugees.
MAYOR: Simone!
Simone approaches, flushed and hesitating.
MADAME SOUPEAU: Yes, you must have a glass too, Simone. We all owe you a debt of gratitude.
They all drink.
PATRON to the drivers: Friends again? Do you really think I was so set against taking the refugees? Maurice, Robert, I am an obstinate man but I can appreciate noble motives when I see them. I don’t mind admitting my faults. You should do the same. Let’s forget our little personal squabbles and firmly close our ranks against the common enemy. We’ll shake hands on it.
The Patron starts with Robert, who shakes his hand with a sheepish smile; then Georges gives him his left hand. Then the Patron embraces the woman with the baby. Père Gustave, still angry, grumbles as he shakes hands. Then the Patron turns to the driver Maurice. Maurice makes no attempt to give him his hand.
PATRON: Oho! Are we all Frenchmen or aren’t we?
SIMONE reproachfully: Maurice!
MAURICE shakes hands with reluctance. Ironically: Long live our new Saint Joan, unifier of the French!
Monsieur Machard boxes Simone’s ears.
MADAME MACHARD: That’s for your obstinacy in knowing better than the Patron.
PATRON to Machard: No, Monsieur, you shouldn’t have done that. He embraces Simone and comforts her. Simone’s my pet, Madame. I’ve a soft spot for her. To the drivers: But let’s start loading up, boys. I’m sure Monsieur Machard will lend a hand too.
MAYOR to his policemen: How about your helping Monsieur Soupeau?
PATRON with a deep bow to the woman with the baby: Madame! They disperse, as does the crowd outside. Only the Patron, the Mayor, Madame Soupeau, Simone, the two drivers and Georges remain on the stage.
PATRON: Boys, I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. Devil take the caviar and the Pommard. All I want is unity!
MAURICE: And what about the brickworks?
PATRON whose sore spot this is: What about it? Well, what? All right, if any of the lorries are low on petrol send them to the brickworks. They can fill up there. Does that make you happy?
ROBERT: In Abbeville the German tanks filled up from the pumps on the road. No wonder they get ahead so fast.
GEORGES: Our 132nd Regiment was overrun by tanks before you could say How’s your father? Two battalions wiped out in no time.
SIMONE terrified: Not the Seventh?
GEORGES: No, not the Seventh.
MAYOR: All stocks of petrol must be destroyed, Henri.
PATRON: Aren’t you jumping the gun? One can’t destroy everything just like that. We may still drive the enemy back. Eh, Simone? Tell Monsieur Chavez that France isn’t lost yet, not by a long chalk. To Madame Soupeau: Well, it’s au revoir, Maman. It worries me to leave you behind. He kisses her. But Simone will look after you. Au revoir, Simone. I’m not ashamed to thank you. You are a good Frenchwoman. Kisses her. As long as you’re here nothing will fall into German hands, I’m sure. The hostelry must be left bare, we’re agreed on that, aren’t we? I’m sure you will do everything just as I would wish it. Au revoir, Philippe, old chap. Embraces him, picks up his own luggage. Simone wants to help him. He waves her aside: Leave it. Talk to my mother about what should be done with our food stocks.
Exit to the street.
SIMONE running after the two drivers: Maurice, Robert! She kisses them on the cheeks. Maurice and Robert finally leave.
MAYOR pale, beyond himself: They could be here tonight.
MADAME SOUPEAU: Don’t be such an old woman, Philippe.
SIMONE: Madame, Père Gustave and Georges and I will just run over to the brickworks. We’ll destroy the petrol stocks.
MADAME SOUPEAU: You heard what the Patron ordered. He asked us to do nothing in a hurry. You must leave some of the decisions to us, my dear.
SIMONE: But Madame, Maurice says the Germans move so quickly.
MADAME SOUPEAU: That’s enough, Simone. Turns to leave. There’s a nasty draught here. To the Mayor: Thank you, Philippe, for everything you’ve done for the hostelry today. In the doorway: By the way, Simone, now they’ve all gone away I’ll probably be closing the hostelry down. Give me back the key of the food store. Simone, deeply hurt, gives her the key. I think it would be best for you to go home now to your parents. I’ve been well satisfied with your services.
SIMONE who cannot understand: But can’t I help when the council comes for the food?
Madame Soupeau, without a further word, disappears into the hostelry.
SIMONE after a pause, haltingly: Have I been dismissed, Monsieur le Maire?
MAYOR: I’m afraid so. But don’t be offended. You heard her, she’s been well satisfied with your services. Coming from her, that means a lot, Simone.
SIMONE flatly: Yes, Monsieur le Maire.
Exit Mayor dejectedly. Simone’s glance follows him.
Second Dream of Simone Machard
Night of 15-16 June
A confusion of festive music. A waiting group looms out of the darkness: the Mayor in royal robes, the Patron and the Colonel both in armour, carrying field marshals’ batons; the Colonel is wearing his dustcoat over his armour.
COLONEL: Our Joan has taken Orléans and Rheims after first clearing the whole length of Route 20 for our troops’ advance. We must bestow great honours on her, clearly.
MAYOR: That is my business as King, Monsieur. The dignitaries and great families of France now gathering here will bow deeply before her.
In the background the names and titles of dignitaries and great French families are called out continually till the end of the scene, as though they were assembling.
MAYOR: By the way, didn’t I hear she had been dismissed? Discreetly: On the express wish of the Queen Mother, the proud Queen Isabeau, I understand.
PATRON: I know nothing about that, I wasn’t there. That would be quite unacceptable. Simone is my pet. Of course she’ll stay.
The Mayor says something incomprehensible in the dream language, apparently something evasive.
COLONEL: Here she comes.
Simone marches in, wearing a helmet and sword, preceded by her bodyguard consisting of Maurice, Robert and Georges, all dressed in armour. From the darkness Simone’s parents have emerged together with the employees of the hostelry, ‘the People’. The bodyguard uses its long pikes to thrust them back.
ROBERT: Make way for the Maid!
MADAME MACHARD craning her neck: There she is. That helmet quite suits her.
MAYOR advancing: Dear Joan, what can we do for you? Wish yourself something.
SIMONE with a bow: First of all, King Charles, my beloved home town must continue to be fed from the hostelry’s food stores. As you know, I have been sent to help the poor and needy. Taxes are to be remitted.
MAYOR: That goes without saying. What more?
SIMONE: Next, Paris must be taken. The second campaign must commence without delay.
PATRON astonished: A second campaign?
COLONEL: What will old Madame Soupeau, the proud Queen Isabeau, have to say to that?
SIMONE: I need an army with which I can decisively defeat the enemy, and I need it this year, King Charles.
MAYOR smiling: Dear Joan, we are well satisfied with your services. Coming from us, that means a lot. So be content. You must leave some of the decisions to us. I am now closing the hostelry down, so you can go home. But before that you will of course be raised to the nobility. Lend me your sword (I have mislaid mine) so I may declare you Dame of France.
SIMONE hands him the sword and kneels: Here’s the key. The confused music now includes an organ and choir, and suggests festive church ceremonies in the distance. The Mayor solemnly touches Simone’s shoulder with the sword.
BODYGUARD AND PEOPLE: Long live the Maid! Long live the Dame of France!
SIMONE as the Mayor is about to leave: One moment, King Charles. You’re forgetting to give back my sword. Urgently: The English are not defeated yet, and the Burgundians are raising a new army, even more terrifying than their first. The most difficult tasks still lie ahead.
MAYOR: I am greatly obliged to you for your offer. And thank you for everything else, Joan. Hands over Simone’s sword to the Patron. Take it safely to Bordeaux, Henri. We for our part must talk in private now with old Madame Soupeau, the proud Queen Isabeau. Good-bye, Joan, it was a great pleasure meeting you. Exit with Patron and Colonel.
SIMONE very frightened: But listen to me, the enemy is coming!
The music dies down to a murmur, the light dims, the crowd disappears in the darkness.
SIMONE remains still, then: André! Help me! Descend, archangel! Speak to me! The English are gathering their army, and Burgundy has gone over, and our men are running away.
THE ANGEL appearing on the garage roof, reproachfully: Joan, tell me, where has your sword gone?
SIMONE confused, apologetically: They dubbed me Dame with it, then they didn’t give it back. Quietly, ashamed: I’ve been dismissed.
THE ANGEL: That explains it. After a silence: Maid, hear me: don’t let them pack you off. Hold out. France demands it. Better not return yet to your parents; they’d worry themselves to a skeleton over your dismissal. Moreover you promised to keep your brother’s job in the garage warm for him, because one day he will be returning. Joan, remain here! How could you abandon your divine mission when you know the invader might arrive from one moment to the next?
SIMONE: Should we go on fighting even after the enemy has won?
THE ANGEL: Do you feel the night wind blowing?
SIMONE: Yes.
THE ANGEL: Is there not a tree in the yard?
SIMONE: Yes, the poplar.
THE ANGEL: Do its leaves rustle when the wind blows?
SIMONE: Yes, distinctly.
THE ANGEL: Then you must not quit the fight even if defeated.
SIMONE: But how can I fight if I have no sword?
THE ANGEL:
After the conqueror occupies your town
He must feel he’s isolated, on his own.
No one of you must ever permit him to come in:
He can’t count as a guest, so treat him like vermin.
No place for him shall be laid, no meal prepared
Every stick of furniture must have disappeared.
Whatever can’t be burned has to be hidden
Pour all your milk away, bury each crust of bread as bidden
Till he’s screaming: Help me! Till he’s known as: Devilry.
Till he’s eating: ashes. Till he’s living in: débris.
He must be given no mercy, no kind of aid
And your town must be a memory, from the map let it fade.
Let each prospect be blank, every track bare and savage
And provide no vestige of shelter, only dust and sewage.
Go forth now and ravage!
The stage darkens. Above the music the Angel’s voice can repeatedly be heard, softly and persistently calling ‘Go forth and ravage!’ as the rumble of heavy tanks becomes evident.
3
THE FIRE
(a)
Old Madame Soupeau, dressed entirely in black, together with, behind her, Thérèse the chambermaid and Père Gustave in his best suit, are standing at the gate to the yard waitin
g for the German captain. Georges, now dressed as a civilian, is leaning against the garage in which Simone is hiding from Madame Soupeau and listening to him. Rumbling of passing tanks outside.
SIMONE: She’s white as a sheet and scared.
GEORGES: She imagines they’re going to take her hostage and then shoot her. She was in a state last night and Thérèse heard her shouting out: ‘The butchers will kill us all.’ And yet out of sheer greed she stayed, and now she’s waiting for the German captain to come.—I can’t understand why you don’t want her to see you. Is something the matter?
SIMONE lying: No, no. But if she sees me she’ll send me away. For fear the Germans might do something to me.
GEORGES distrustfully: Is that the only reason you don’t want her to see you?
SIMONE changing the subject: Do you suppose the Germans have caught up with Maurice and Robert?
GEROGES: Maybe.—Tell me, why did you move out of your room in the main building?
SIMONE lying: Oh, there’s room now in the drivers’ quarters. Do you suppose André will be back soon?
GEORGES: I doubt it.—She hasn’t dismissed you, has she, Simone?
SIMONE lying: No.
GEORGES: Here come the Germans.
From the street comes the German captain, accompanied by Captain Fétain. At the gate Madame Soupeau and the two officers exchange civilities. Their words cannot be distinguished.
GEORGES: That captain and crypto-fascist is taking a real pride in introducing our hereditary enemy to Madame. All very civil to one another. They’re sniffing and each seems to find the other’s smell all right. Our hereditary enemy is a proper gent, educated too, which is obviously a great relief to Madame. Whispers: They’re coming this way.
Simone steps back. Madame Soupeau leads the two gentlemen across the yard into the hostelry, with Thérèse the chambermaid following.
PÈRE GUSTAVE goes over to Georges and Simone after Madame has whispered something to him: Madame no longer wishes to see that mob from the hall here. It might upset the German gentlemen. As it turns out, the Patron might just as well have stayed.
GEORGES: Their first announcement on the radio was ‘Those who respect law and order have nothing to fear’.