The Infernal Machine and Other Plays

by Jean Cocteau

  SPHINX. You’re very amusing.

  OEDIPUS. You’re inquisitive, like all modern young women. You want to know what the Sphinx looks like. Whether it has claws, a beak, wings. Whether it resembles the tiger or the vulture.

  SPHINX. Oh, come now.

  OEDIPUS. The Sphinx is the most mysterious criminal of our time. No one has seen it. Whoever finds it first is promised a fabulous reward. Cowards tremble. Young men die. But a young woman, like you, might easily venture into the forbidden region …

  SPHINX. Interesting, but inaccurate. I’m returing to my relative’s house in the country. I’d forgotten there was a Sphinx … and that the outskirts of Thebes weren’t safe. I just happened to sit down for a rest on these rocks.

  OEDIPUS. That’s disappointing. All the people I’ve come across lately have been so dull. I was hoping to meet someone different. I’m sorry.

  SPHINX. Good night.

  OEDIPUS. Good night.

  They pass. Oedipus turns.

  I….

  SPHINX. Yes?

  OEDIPUS. Forgive me, but I don’t believe you. It’s mysterious to find you here.

  SPHINX. Is it?

  OEDIPUS. An ordinary girl would have been too scared to probe about in a place like this.

  SPHINX. You’re getting funnier and funnier.

  OEDIPUS. I know! You are my rival.

  SPHINX. Your rival? Are you looking for the Sphinx?

  OEDIPUS. I’ve been looking for a whole month. I was so excited when I found myself near Thebes, I was ready to challenge any white pillar of stone. And there you were, in your white dress, and… I mean, I thought you were after the same thing.

  SPHINX. When you saw me come out of the shadow before, you didn’t look like a man who was ready to contend with the Sphinx.

  OEDIPUS. That’s true. I was dreaming of fame. The monster would have taken me by surprise. Tomorrow I shall get my equipment in Thebes, and the hunt will be on.

  SPHINX. It’s fame you want?

  OEDIPUS. I’m not sure. I know that I like stamping crowds, trumpets, banners, palm branches waving, the sun, the gold and purple, happiness, luck … life!

  SPHINX. That’s what you call life?

  OEDIPUS. Don’t you?

  SPHINX. No, to me life is something quite different.

  OEDIPUS. What?

  SPHINX. Love. Loving someone, and being loved.

  OEDIPUS. I shall love my people and they will love me.

  SPHINX. You won’t find love in the public square.

  OEDIPUS. I don’t expect to. The people of Thebes are looking for a man. If I kill the Sphinx, I will be that man. I will marry Queen Jocasta. She is a widow and …

  SPHINX. And old enough to be your mother.

  OEDIPUS. The important thing is: she’s not my mother.

  SPHINX. Do you believe that a queen and a whole people will give themselves to the first man to come along?

  OEDIPUS. Of course, if he has conquered the Sphinx.

  She laughs.

  What are you laughing about? I’m not just “the first man to come along.” I’m a prince; my father is the King of Corinth. I could have had anything I wanted at home. My parents were old and couldn’t do enough for me. But it was all too slow. I like action, adventure. I was looking for any excuse to get away. One evening a drunk shouted, “You’re not Merope’s son; you’re not Polybus’ son … you don’t belong here!” I pretended to be angry and thrashed him, but I knew that this was the chance I’d been waiting for. Next day I told my mother and father I owed it to them to ask the oracles the truth about myself. My poor parents! They wept and tried to prevent me, but I was determined to take advantage of whatever the oracles told me. Well, they told me I would kill my father and marry my mother.

  SPHINX. What?

  OEDIPUS. Yes, it scared me too — at first — but I soon realized that either the prophecy was nonsense, or the priests — who can send birds with messages from temple to temple — were plotting to trick me out of my inheritance. Anyway, the threat of parricide and incest gave me the perfect excuse to get away from home and go out into the world on my own.

  SPHINX. I’m sorry I laughed at you. Please forgive me, Prince.

  OEDIPUS. Certainly. Give me your hand. May I ask your name? Mine is Oedipus. I am nineteen.

  SPHINX. What does the name of an unimportant girl of seventeen matter to you, Oedipus? You like illustrious names…

  OEDIPUS. You’re laughing again.

  SPHINX. And yet the best way for you to counter the oracle, I’d say, would be to marry a girl younger than yourself.

  OEDIPUS. You sound like a mother in Thebes, talking to one of the few eligible young men left.

  SPHINX. I didn’t expect you to say a nasty thing like that.

  OEDIPUS. Have I traveled over mountains and streams only to marry a woman who will soon grow into a kind of Sphinx? — or worse, a Sphinx with breasts and claws? No, thank you.

  SPHINX. Oedipus …

  OEDIPUS. No , I’ll take my chance. But here’s my belt. It will identify you, if you want to see me after I kill the monster.

  SPHINX. Have you ever killed before?

  OEDIPUS. Yes, I have. A carriage with a man inside came by as I was walking along where the roads from Delphi and Daulia meet. One of the horses reared up and I knocked into a footman. The fool lifted his arm, and I swung my stick. He dodged and it struck the man in the carriage. The horses bolted, dragging him behind. I ran after them, but the servants fled and I was left with the blood-covered corpse of the old man and the tangled horses who were scrambling to free themselves and whining as they broke their legs. It was terrible!

  SPHINX. Yes, it is terrible to kill.

  OEDIPUS. It wasn’t my fault, so I don’t think about it any more. I have to keep my eyes fixed ahead and avoid sentiment. I have to follow my star.

  SPHINX. Good-by then, Oedipus. My sex is distracting to heroes.

  OEDIPUS. Not as distracting as you think.

  SPHINX. And what if the Sphinx kills you?

  OEDIPUS. Oh, no, it will ask me a riddle, and if I guess the right answer, it won’t even touch me. It will just die.

  SPHINX. And if you don’t guess the answer?

  OEDIPUS. I’m more intelligent and better educated than any of the rabble in Thebes.

  SPHINX. That sounds promising.

  OEDIPUS. This simple monster doesn’t expect to be confronted by the pupil of the finest scholars in Corinth.

  SPHINX. You’ve an answer for everything. It’s a pity. I’m attracted to weak people, and I’d have liked to find some weakness in you.

  OEDIPUS. Good-by.

  SPHINX, calling after him. Oedipus!

  OEDIPUS. Yes?

  SPHINX, fixing him with unblinking eyes. Then for you — your heart, your mind, your soul — it’s the Sphinx or nothing.

  OEDIPUS. It’s the Sphinx!

  SPHINX. If there were somebody who could help you, somehow, would you be grateful to him — or her?

  OEDIPUS. Of course, why?

  SPHINX. Suppose I could tell you a tremendous secret.

  OEDIPUS. You?

  SPHINX. A secret that would bring you into contact with the enigma of enigmas, the human monster, the bitch that sings … the Sphinx.

  OEDIPUS. You ? … You? How could you — how? Or perhaps I guessed right. You were curious and you stumbled on the hideout. But no! I see now. This is another girl’s trick — the baited hook.

  SPHINX. Good-by.

  OEDIPUS. Wait.

  SPHINX. Good-by …

  OEDIPUS. Please, I was very foolish. I’m sorry.

  SPHINX. It’s no use.

  OEDIPUS. You want me to kneel down and beg your forgiveness? I said I’m sorry.

  SPHINX. You’re sorry you missed an opportunity.

  OEDIPUS. Yes, I’m ashamed of myself. Tell me. I believe you now. But if this is a trick, I’ll drag you by the hair and crush the blood out of your body.

  SPHINX. Come here
, then.

  She leads him opposite the pedestal.

  Close your eyes and count up to fifty. Do not cheat.

  OEDIPUS. Be carefull.

  He closes his eyes.

  SPHINX. It is your turn to be careful!

  Oedipus turns to face the audience, lowers his head, and counts.

  OEDIPUS. One … two … three… four… five …

  The Sphinx runs across and stands behind the pedestal. As Oedipus reaches the count of “fifty,” a pair of wings sprout from the wing fragments of the pedestal, with the head and shoulders of the Sphinx between them. Her arms, in long spotted gloves, rest on the sides of the pedestal.

  … forty-seven … forty-eight… forty-nine … fifty!

  Turns and draws in breath.

  You!

  SPHINX, in a remote voice, joyous and terrible. Yes, I… I am the Sphinx.

  OEDIPUS. I’m dreaming.

  SPHINX. You are no dreamer, Oedipus. You know exactly what you want… what you always wanted.

  OEDIPUS. But why do you …?

  SPHINX. Silence! Here I reign. Come forward. Nearer.

  He struggles as though his arms are pinioned.

  Hop, then.

  He falls to his knees.

  Crawl! It is good for heroes. That’s right, forward! There’s nobody watching you.

  He advances on his knees, writhing in fury.

  Stop! And now …

  OEDIPUS. This is how you snare men and slay them.

  SPHINX. And now, I shall give you a demonstration. I shall show you what would happen if you were some ordinary good-looking boy from Thebes and not Oedipus, who has the privilege of pleasing me.

  OEDIPUS. I know how far I can trust your privileges.

  SPHINX. Don’t resist. Don’t make it more difficult for me — I may hurt you.

  OEDIPUS. I will resist!

  He shuts his eyes and turns his head.

  SPHINX. In vain you close your eyes or turn your head I do not charm through my voice or my sight

  Chants.

  I am more adroit than a blind man

  Swifter than a gladiator’s net

  Finer than lightning

  Greedier than insects

  Slicker than the fingers of a pickpocket

  Defter than the hangmen of the East

  More buoyant and majestic than a fully rigged ship

  Colder than a judge

  More bloodthirsty than birds

  More deceitful than the heart

  More mysterious than the egg

  More fatal than the stars

  More fascinated than the snake licking its prey.

  I secrete my thread; I pay it out,

  Spin it back and wind it in;

  I have only to will and these knots appear;

  To think — and they tighten or slacken away

  So fine is my threat that you cannot conceive it,

  So volatile that you might imagine

  Yourself the victim of some strange poison;

  So rigid that if I make a mistake

  One of your limbs will snap from your body;

  So tense that the bow of a violin played

  Between us would raise a celestial sound.

  My thread is the curl of the sea and the rose,

  Sinewed and supple and strong as the octopus,

  Saved from the trappings of dimly known dreams,

  And, above all, invisible, regal and still

  Like the flow of blood through the veins of a statue.

  My thread envelopes you, binds you, quiets you

  In fine arabesques of drawn honey

  Dropping into a pool of honey

  Until you are wrapped in the hold of a reptile,

  Numb as an arm you have slept on and deadened.

  OEDIPUS, weakly. Let me go! Mercy!

  SPHINX. And you would cry for mercy and you would not be the first. I have heard prouder men than you cry for their mothers; and seen more arrogant men in tears.

  OEDIPUS. Merope … Mother!

  SPHINX. Then I would order you to come a little nearer: I would untighten your limbs.

  He crawls forward further.

  So! And I would question you. I would ask you, for example, which animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? And you would comb your mind till you could think of nothing but some tiny medal you won as a child. Or you would mumble a number, or count the stars between these broken columns. And then I would reveal the answer to the riddle. The animal is man. He crawls on all fours as an infant; he walks on two legs when he is grown up; and when he is old, he leans on a stick for a third leg.

  OEDIPUS. Of course! How simple!

  SPHINX. You would shout: “Of course — How simple!” … as everybody else does. Then … then, I would call my helper, Anubis. Anubis!

  Anubis appears and stands on the right of the pedestal with his head turned to the side.

  OEDIPUS. No! No! Please, Sphinx! Please don’t. No!

  SPHINX. I would make you go down to your knees. Down, down, further! That’s right. You would bend your head… and Anubis would spring and open his wolf jaws …

  OEDBPUS. A-a-ah!

  SPHINX, calmly. I said, “Would. ” I said, “would bend,” “would spring,” “would open.” Don’t be terrified. It was all a performance, Oedipus, a mere performance. You are free.

  OEDBPUS, bewildered and incredulous.

  Free!

  He moves his arm, his leg. He stands up, staggers, clasps his forehead.

  I am free.

  ANUBIS. Sphinx, he is not allowed to leave; he has not answered the riddle.

  SPHINX. But —

  ANUBIS. Ask him.

  OEDIPUS. But —

  ANUBIS. He must answer the riddle! Ask him!

  Oedipus turns away and waits, motionless.

  SPHINX, with a last look of surprise at Anubis. I’ll ask him … I’ll ask him. Which animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?

  OEDIPUS. Why… Man. He crawls on four feet when he’s small, walks on two feet when he’s big, and when he’s old, he uses a stick as a third leg.

  The Sphinx sways.

  I’ve won!

  He runs off left. The Sphinx slips down behind the pedestal, disappears behind the wall, and reappears without wings.

  SPHINX. Oedipus! Where is he? Where is he?

  ANUBIS. He’s charging down the hill toward Thebes to announce his victory.

  SPHINX. Without so much as a glance at me, without caring … or even a “thank you.”

  ANUBIS. Did you expect anything else?

  SPHINX. The fool! He understood nothing.

  ANUBIS. Nothing at all.

  SPHINX. After him, then, Anubis. Chase him! Bite him!

  ANUBIS. I am not a dog and you are not a woman.

  SPHINX. Forgive me. My hands are trembling and I’m like fire. I want to catch him, disfigure him, crush him, castrate him, flay him alive.

  ANUBIS. That’s more like you.

  SPHINX. Help me, avenge me!

  ANUBIS. You really hate this man?

  SPHINX. I hate him.

  ANUBIS. The worst that could happen to him would not be enough for you?

  SPHINX. Not enough.

  ANUBIS, taking the side of her dress. Look at the folds in this fabric. Press them together. Now, if you run a pin through them, then withdraw the pin and smooth out the material so that the folds are gone, do you think a simpleton would believe that those spaced-out holes were all made at the same time by the one pin?

  SPHINX. Of course he wouldn’t.

  ANUBIS. Man’s time is folded and hidden in eternity. But I, the God of the Dead, see the whole life of Oedipus unfolded, stretched out before me like a picture in one dimension. All the episodes, from his birth to his death, are pinpricks in the fabric of time.

  SPHINX. What do you see, Anubis? I’m burning to know.

  ANUBIS. The son
of Laius and Jocasta is a scourge.

  SPHINX. A scourge!

  ANUBIS. A monster, a thing unclean.

  SPHINX. Faster!

  ANUBIS. The man he killed at the crossroads —

  SPHINX. The man in the carriage —

  ANUBIS. Was Laius, his father.

  SPHINX. And …

  ANUBIS. And he will marry Jocasta, his mother.

  SPHINX. And I said to him: She is old enough to be your mother. And he replied: The important thing is, she is not my mother. Oh, Anubis, Anubis!

  ANUBIS. His two sons will cut each other’s throats. One of his two daughters will hang herself. And so will Jocasta.

  SPHINX. The wedding of Oedipus and Jocasta — son and mother! How soon will he know?

  ANUBIS. Soon enough.

  SPHINX. If I could only be there.

  ANUBIS. You will be.

  SPHINX. Will I?

  ANUBIS. It is time to remind you that you are not a young girl of Thebes. There is all eternity between you and this ephemeral body. You have assumed the role of the Sphinx. You are a goddess, the greatest of the great… Vengeance — Nemesis!

  He prostrates himself.

  SPHINX. Yes, Nemesis.

  She turns, facing the ruins with her arms crossed, in a momentary trance. Abruptly she breaks away and runs upstage, staring after Oedipus.

  I wonder how far off he is now. I want to see him run from trap to trap like a dazed rat.

  ANUBIS. Is that the cry of the goddess, or the wail of a jealous woman?

  SPHINX. The goddess. I shall be worthy of the role the gods have given me.

  ANUBIS. At last!

  SPHINX, suddenly seeing Oedipus, she is no longer the goddess. Why look! You lied to me, you dog.

  ANUBIS. I lied?

  SPHINX. Yes, liar! Liar! Look, Oedipus is coming back, he’s running, flying. He does love me. He did understand.

  ANUBIS. I told you how he will pay for his success.

  SPHINX. See how he leaps from rock to rock, just as my heart…

  ANUBIS. Yes, he is so triumphant over your death that he forgot the most important thing.

  SPHINX. Does he want to find me dead?

  ANUBIS. Not you, my little fury — the Sphinx. He thinks he has killed the Sphinx, but he will have to prove it to others. Thebes will expect evidence, not just a fairy tale.

  SPHINX. You’re lying again. I’ll tell him everything. I’ll warn him. I’ll save him. I’ll lead him away from Thebes, and save him from Jocasta.

  ANUBIS. Take care!

  SPHINX. I will tell him.