We cannot die!
[(4)
LOOK ON DEATH
From the centre of the Chorus a dancer comes slowly forward and performs a dance of death. As the music ends, the Airman cries out:
AIRMAN:
I cannot die!
CHORUS to the Airman:]
7(5)
INSTRUCTION
THE CHORUS turns to the Crashed Airmen:
We have no help to give you.
Just a book, just a single thought, just a word of guidance
Can we give you on your way.
Die
But still seeking, seeking
And in seeking learn truth.
AIRMAN:
I have but little time:
Not enough for much learning.
CHORUS:
Though your time is short
Still it is enough
For the way of truth is easy.
The Speaker steps forward from the Chorus, a book in his hand. He goes to the Crashed Airmen, sits down and reads from the commentaries.
THE SPEAKER reading:
1. He who takes something away will keep hold of something. And he from whom something has been taken will also keep hold of it. And he who keeps hold of something will have it taken away.
Whoever of us shall die, what does he lay aside? Surely he does not lay simply his table or his bed aside. He of us who dies knows this: I lay aside all that exists. I give away more than I have. Whoever dies lays aside the street which he knows, but also that which he does not know; the treasures that he has and also those that he does not have; poverty itself; his own hand.
Yet how shall he who is not practised lift up a stone? How shall he lift up a large stone? How shall he who has not learned to lay aside, lay aside his table or – even more – lay aside everything that he has and everything that he does not have? The street which he knows, and also that which he does not know; the treasures that he has and also those that he does not have; poverty itself; his own hand?
[AIRMAN sings:
So I learn to see:
What I have done was wrong.
Now I learn to see that a man
Must lie prostrate and not strive
For heights, nor depths, nor yet velocity.
THE SPEAKER reading:]
2. When the thinking man was overtaken by a great storm, he was seated in a large carriage, taking up much room. The first thing that he did was to descend from his carriage. The second was to take off his cloak. The third thing was that he laid himself down on the ground. Thus he conquered the storm in his smallest dimension.
AIRMAN addresses the Speaker:
Did he thus outlast the storm?
[CHORUS and CROWD] THE SPEAKER:
In his smallest dimension he outlasted the storm.
THE CRASHED AIRMEN:
In his smallest dimension he outlasted the storm.
THE SPEAKER continues:
3. Encouraging a fellow-being to face up to his death, the thinking man bade him lay his goods aside. When he had laid them all aside, there remained to him only his life. Lay yet more aside, said the thinking man.
[CHORUS and CROWD:
Lay yet more aside.
THE SPEAKER continues:]
4. When the thinking man conquered the storm, he did so because he recognised the storm and agreed to it. Thus, if you wish to conquer death, you may conquer it by recognising death and agreeing to it. But let whoever has the wish to agree hold on to his poverty. Let him not cling to objects. For objects can be taken away, and then there is no agreement. Similarly, let him not cling to life. For life can be taken away, and then there is no agreement. Nor should he cling to his thoughts. For thoughts too can be taken away, and there too there is then no agreement.
8(7)
EXAMINATION
The Chorus examines the Airmen in the presence of the Crowd
i
CHORUS:
How high then were you flying?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
Unimaginably high was I flying.
CHORUS:
How high then were you flying?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
Over twelve thousand feet was I flying.
CHORUS:
How high then were you flying?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
Fairly high was I flying.
CHORUS:
How high then were you flying?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
I raised myself but little over the earth’s surface.
[CROWD] THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS turns to the Crowd:
He raised himself but little above the earth’s surface.
THE CRASHED AIRMAN:
I flew unimaginably high.
CHORUS:
And he flew unimaginably high.
ii
CHORUS:
Was your deed acclaimed?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
No, it was not enough acclaimed.
CHORUS:
Was your deed acclaimed?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
It was acclaimed.
CHORUS:
Was your deed acclaimed?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
It was enough acclaimed.
CHORUS:
Was your deed acclaimed?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
I for my deed was vastly acclaimed.
[CROWD] THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS to the Crowd:
For his deed he was vastly acclaimed.
THE CRASHED AIRMAN:
I was not enough acclaimed.
CHORUS:
And he was not enough acclaimed.
iii
CHORUS:
Who are you?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
We are those who have [I am he who has] flown across the ocean.
CHORUS:
Who are you?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
We are ones [I am the one] like yourselves.
CHORUS:
Who are you?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
I am no one.
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS to the Crowd:
They are no one.
THE CRASHED AIRMAN:
I am Charles Nungesser.
CHORUS:
And he is Charles Nungesser.
iv
CHORUS:
Who waits for you now?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
Many over the sea wait for us [me] now.
CHORUS:
Who waits for you now?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
Our fathers [My father] and our mothers [my mother] are awaiting us [me] now.
CHORUS:
Who waits for you now?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
No one is waiting now.
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS to the Crowd:
[He is no one, and] no one waits for him now.
v
CHORUS:
Who therefore dies when you die?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
We [He] whose deed was acclaimed too much.
CHORUS:
Who therefore dies when you die?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
We [He] who raised ourselves [himself] but little from the ground.
CHORUS:
Who therefore dies when you die?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
We [He] whom no one waits for.
CHORUS:
Who therefore dies when you die?
[AIRMAN] THE THREE MECHANICS:
No one.
CHORUS:
Now you [he] have [has] seen it:
No one dies when he dies.
[CROWD:
Now he has seen it:
No one dies when he dies.
CHORUS:
Now is his smallest dimension attained.
CROWD:]
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Now is their [his] smallest dimension attained.
THE CRASHED AIRMAN:
But I with my flight
Reached my greatest dimension.
However high I flew, none flew
Higher.
I was not enough acclaimed, I
Cannot be acclaimed enough
I flew for nothing and for nobody.
I flew for flying’s sake.
No one awaits me, I
Do not fly towards you, I
Fly away from you, I
Shall never die.
9
FAME AND DISPOSSESSION
CHORUS:
But now
Show what you have achieved.
For only
Achievement is real.
So now lay aside the engine
Wings and undercarriage, everything
With which you flew and
Together made.
Lay it aside.
THE CRASHED AIRMAN:
I will not lay it aside
What is
The aircraft without the airman?
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
Take it!
The aircraft is carried off to the opposite corner of the stage by the Crashed Airman. During the dispossession, the CHORUS acclaim the Crashed Airmen:
Rise up, airmen, you have changed the earthly laws.
Ages long all things fell in a downward direction
Except for the birds themselves.
On the oldest of tablets
No one has come on drawings
Of human beings flying through the air.
Only you found the secret.
Near the end of the second millennium, as we reckon time.
THE THREE CRASHED MECHANICS suddenly point to the Crashed Airman:
Look, what is that?
THE LEADER quickly, to the Chorus:
Begin the ‘Completely Unrecognisable’.
CHORUS groups around the Crashed Airman:
Completely unrecognisable to us
Has now become the face
Of him who
Needed us as we
Had need of him: for such
Was he.
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
This
Holder of a function
Though but self-assumed
Took from us what he needed, and
Denied us that of which we had need.
Thus his face
Was extinguished with his function:
He had but one.
Four members of the Chorus discuss him over his body.
THE FIRST:
If he was here –
THE SECOND:
He was here.
THE FIRST:
What was he?
THE SECOND:
He was no one.
THE THIRD:
Had he been someone –
THE FOURTH:
He was no one.
THE THIRD:
How did one bring him into sight?
THE FOURTH:
By giving him something to do.
ALL FOUR:
By calling on him he comes into existence.
When one changes him he is there.
Who needs him recognises him.
Who finds him useful enlarges him.
THE SECOND:
And still he is no one.
CHORUS all together, to the Crowd:
What lies there functionless
Is no longer human.
Die now, you No-Longer-Man!
THE CRASHED AIRMAN:
I cannot die.
THE THREE MECHANICS:
Man, you have dropped out of the flow.
Man, you were never in the flow.
You are too big, you are too rich
You are too self-contained.
That is why you cannot die.
CHORUS:
But
He who cannot die
Will yet die.
He who cannot swim
Will yet swim.
10 (3)
THE CHORUS SPEAKS TO THE CRASHED AIRMAN
CHORUS:
One of our kind
In his body, face and his thinking
To us all akin
Must now take leave of us, for
He has been branded overnight and
Since this morning has his breath been stinking.
See how his flesh decays, and his face which
Once we knew, is now strange to us.
Come, speak to us now, we await
From the usual place the sound of your voice. Speak!
He speaks not. Not a word from
His mouth. Be not afraid, for you
Must go now. Go at once!
Do not look round, go
Away from us.
II
AGREEMENT
CHORUS addressing the Three Mechanics:
You, however, who have shown you agree to the flow of things
Do not sink back into the void.
Do not dissolve like salt in water, but
Dying
Rise to your death
As you worked at your work
By revolutionising a revolution.
So in your dying do not
Observe death’s demands
But accept from us the charge
To rebuild our aircraft.
Begin!
So as to fly for us
To the place where we have need of you
And at the necessary time. For
We call on you
To march with us, and with us
To change not only
An earthly law, but
The basic law
Accepting that all must be altered
The world and all mankind
Above all, the disorder
Of human classes because there are two kinds of people
Exploitation and ignorance.
THE THREE MECHANICS:
We agree to the alteration.
CHORUS:
And we request you:
Alter our engine and improve it.
Also increase safety and speed
And in the swifter outset do not forget the goal.
THE THREE MECHANICS:
We improve engines, safety and
Speed.
CHORUS:
Then lay them aside.
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
March on!
CHORUS:
Having improved the world, then
Improve the improved world.
Lay it aside.
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
March on!
CHORUS:
If in improving the world you have fulfilled truth, then
Fulfil this fulfilled truth.
Lay it aside!
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
March on!
CHORUS:
In altering the world, alter yourselves!
Lay yourselves aside!
THE LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
March on!
He Said Yes/He Said No
Opera for schools
(after the Japanese play Taniko or The Valley-Hurling by Zenchiku, as translated into English by Arthur Waley)
Collaborators: ELISABETH HAUPTMANN, KURT WEILL
Translator: ARTHUR WALEY from the Japanese, adapted to Brecht’s text by JOHN WILLETT
Characters:
THE TEACHER
THE BOY
THE MOTHER
THE THREE STUDENTS
THE FULL CHORUS
Note: This version follows the text of Universal-Edition’s piano score of 1930 (UE 8206). Additional passages from Brecht’s Versuche edition of 1931 are indicated and appended as notes numbered 1 to 14; we know that two of them were set by Weill, but there is no trace of music for the others. Other changes from Waley are however included and form part of the work. The ten episodes correspond to the musical ‘numbers’ in the sco
re.
He Said Yes
ACT ONE
1
THE FULL CHORUS:
Nothing is more important to learn than agreement.
Many can say yes; at the same time there is no agreement.
Many are not even asked, and many
May be agreeing to error. Therefore:
Nothing is more important to learn than agreement.
2
The Teacher in Space 1, the Mother and the Boy in Space 2.
THE TEACHER: I am a teacher. My school is at a temple in the town. And there I have a pupil who has lost his father; he has only got his mother to care for him. I am on my way to see them so I may say farewell to them, for I shall very soon be starting to make a journey to the mountains.1 He knocks at the door. May I please come in?
THE BOY: Who is there? It’s the Master who’s come, the Master who has come out to see us!
THE TEACHER: Why has it been so long since you came to my classes at the temple?
THE BOY: I have not been able to since my mother fell ill.
THE TEACHER: I had no idea. Kindly tell her at once I am out here.
THE BOY calls to Space 2: Mother, the Master is here.
THE MOTHER from Space 2: Ask if he would kindly come in.
THE BOY: Kindly step through this door.
3
The Boy and the Teacher both enter Space 2.
THE TEACHER: It’s a long time since I last saw you. Your son says you have caught the illness. Tell me now, are you better?
THE MOTHER: There’s no need for you to worry because of my illness. It is a thing of no importance.2
THE TEACHER: I am glad that you say so.3 I have come here so I may say goodbye to you, because I shall be leaving shortly to make an expedition to the mountains.4 There is a town beyond the mountains with some outstanding teachers.
THE MOTHER: Oh, a scientific5 mountain-climbing! Yes, indeed; they tell me that many very famous doctors live there; but I have also been informed that it can be a dangerous pilgrimage. So do you mean to take my child there with you?
THE TEACHER: It is not a journey a young child is fit to make.
THE MOTHER:6 I hope you will come back in safety, sir.
THE TEACHER: Now I must go. Farewell to you.
BOY and MOTHER: Farewell to you.
4
THE BOY: I’ve something to tell you.
THE TEACHER: What will you tell me?
THE BOY: That I will set out for the mountains too.
THE TEACHER:
It is as I said to your mother
This is such a difficult and
Dangerous excursion. You could not possibly
Join us. And besides:
How could you think of
Abandoning your mother’s bedside?
Of deserting your mother who is not well?
You stay here! There’s
No question of your coming with us.
THE BOY:
It’s because of my mother’s illness that
Brecht Collected Plays: 3: Lindbergh's Flight; The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent; He Said Yes/He Said No; The Decision; The Mother; The Exception & the ... St Joan of the Stockyards (World Classics) Page 7
