The Haitian Trilogy: Plays

by Derek Walcott

  GARCÍA

  The fellow is a lizard, whenever the complexion

  Of the world’s opinion changes, then so does his.

  Since Las Casas, apostle of the Indies, made his sermons,

  He has turned into a subtle hypocrite.

  FERNANDO (Fixing ropes.)

  Yet at what cost has this instruction gone?

  For every Arawak converted to a Christian

  Thousands of them have perished in the mines.

  Surely it will be a terribly steep bill

  Which these grey friars will present to God.

  BARTOLOME

  One needs the Indians to work the mines. It’s facts.

  Either Spain gets the gold, or others will.

  GARCÍA

  There’s an extra wineskin down in the hold. Fetch it.

  FERNANDO

  Fetch it yourself.

  GARCÍA

  I’ll fetch it.

  (Enter PACO.)

  Well, as I live and breathe sour wine, a cannibal.

  What dost thou want, little Indian?

  PACO

  Señor, I seek the officer of the watch.

  BARTOLOME

  Remove thy cap in the presence of authority.

  Didst thou not study the spectacle of the admiral?

  GARCÍA

  There is thy officer meditating on a biscuit.

  Kneel before Lieutenant Fernando and be christened.

  FERNANDO

  Leave him alone, García, his lip is trembling.

  PACO

  Señor Officer, I kneel only to God.

  GARCÍA (Grabbing him by the hair.)

  Thou art a cannibal,

  Thou art a foul mixture, thou wert misbegotten

  Between the mailed thighs of a lecherous soldier. Kneel!

  PACO

  I will kneel down, I will kneel down, my officer.

  FERNANDO

  García, Quadrado should complete his circuit soon,

  If he should find thee torturing the boy …

  BARTOLOME

  You can’t talk to this one when he’s drunk.

  GARCÍA

  I’m not the Indian-loving, hypocritical officer.

  Swear this as a good Christian. I vow never to eat

  White flesh again, be mutinous to a Spanish officer …

  (Enter QUADRADO.)

  QUADRADO

  Go hang some lanterns up now, all of you. García!

  GARCÍA

  I am giving this barbarian some instruction.

  He flouts all discipline, thanks to your good friars.

  BARTOLOME

  He’s that way when he’s drunk, Lieutenant, we had

  A few on shore, he don’t mean no harm with the kid.

  Come, fool, do what the officer has instructed.

  FERNANDO

  I’ll drench his head; he’ll be all right, Lieutenant.

  GARCÍA

  My watch is midnight, and till the appointed glass,

  I’ll do no other labour for this officer.

  QUADRADO

  This is the best of the conquest, rebellious trash!

  GARCÍA

  I won’t be called filth before an Indian bastard.

  QUADRADO

  Bartolome, Fernando, go fetch some lanterns for the admiral.

  BARTOLOME

  Come, drunkard, let us harvest illuminations.

  (Exit with GARCÍA.)

  QUADRADO

  Come, niño, we’ll walk the pavement of the deck

  And watch the sun go down in the dark sea.

  What is thy name, why art thou on this vessel?

  These rotting ribs that hold the heart of Spain?

  PACO

  Paco, señor. I am the new grometto.

  QUADRADO

  Thou art a boy of mixed blood. Where is thy father?

  PACO

  In Spain, my lord, he was a Spanish soldier.

  My mother died with the last moon in the mines.

  My brothers would not work, and the dogs ate them.

  QUADRADO

  Of what nation of the Indians art thou?

  PACO

  Of the Tainos, Excellency.

  QUADRADO

  The Tainus. Yes, the peaceful ones.

  How many will be left to slaughter now?

  The Chibchas, the Chocos, the Mayas,

  The Lucayos, the Tainos.

  PACO

  Many of our warriors were killed, señor,

  It was a good thing. They were savages.

  QUADRADO

  Niño, there are no righteous wars. Listen.

  (Takes hourglass.)

  I shall show you the functions of a grometto.

  This, Paco, is an hourglass, an ampolleta.

  With each half hour, the top sphere of sand

  Dwindles into the lower and marks that time.

  Now, when the lower half fills, reverse the glass,

  And do this hourly; your watch is at midnight.

  Unless we come too early into white seas,

  In which event you must steady the glass.

  By this we tell our speed and hourly

  Express our thanks to Christ for our safe conduct.

  Recite for me “The Salve Regina.”

  PACO

  Bendite … sea luz, y la Santa Vera Cruz,

  Y la Santa Trinidad.

  QUADRADO

  With less speed and more faith.

  What is the matter, what are you watching?

  (COLUMBUS enters above.)

  PACO

  The admiral, my officer; why do his own people

  Do him this dishonour, what has he done?

  QUADRADO

  He disobeyed the Queen. Also, he harmed your people.

  PACO

  Hast thou not killed any savages, my officer?

  QUADRADO

  Why do you ask?

  PACO

  My father also was a Spanish soldier.

  I remember him, that he was much like you.

  QUADRADO

  So you have learnt the value of our faith.

  (Removes a coin.)

  Do you know what this is, my little disciple?

  PACO

  It is gold, my officer, I have learnt that.

  QUADRADO

  In the Old World that men called civilization,

  Acquire it if you wish to make some mark.

  The true stamp of acquisitive man is here,

  Compounded in his image, not his maker’s.

  Study this coin, it gathers darkness around it,

  And like the sun, brings its own darkness, guilt.

  This barbarous metal, which has less iridescence

  Now night descends than the star-crusted sea,

  Induced our country, mercenaries, and gentlemen

  To sell their souls, for this pus-coloured metal,

  Spanish gold.

  PACO

  It is called money, my officer.

  We did not call it that when in the ground.

  (GARCÍA enters unobserved, listening.)

  QUADRADO

  We gather this, grometto, with much devotion,

  As peaceful Indians harvest yellow maize;

  It makes our markets and controls the state

  And sets up barriers that obscure that view

  Where now the admiral achieves his degradation.

  PACO

  And that is why the admiral looked for these islands?

  QUADRADO

  You must ask him yourself. Here, keep the coin,

  Since my own people taught you of its value,

  See how it dims in the bewildering dusk,

  But though you take it, please remember this,

  That gold outlasts the wearer. Here, keep our God.

  PACO

  I thank you, my officer, I shall keep it always.

  QUADRADO

  Also, Paco, until this mutinous vessel reaches Spain,

  T
hink of me not as your officer but as your father.

  Now, go fetch the admiral his supper, go.

  (Exit PACO; enter FERNANDO.)

  FERNANDO

  I have brought the lantern. It will be a rough night.

  It will be different for them as cannot sleep.

  But I say envy no man anything but his gold.

  QUADRADO

  Take up the lantern, where’s Bartolome?

  BARTOLOME (Singing in hold.)

  There is a fount in Paradise,

  A much distasteful place,

  So high indeed that fountain jets,

  It touches the far lunar sphere.

  I can’t see a damn in this wet hellhole, move, move.

  Here comes the prince of purgatory with his lanterns.

  GARCÍA

  Be careful with that fire, and plug your bung.

  (BARTOLOME appears.)

  FERNANDO (Climbing steps to COLUMBUS.)

  I have brought thee a lantern, grizzle gut,

  And there’ll be food soon for your stomach.

  And a sea high enough to quench the stars.

  BARTOLOME (Hanging hammock.)

  O come with me, across the seas,

  To where the gold flown is Cathay …

  What’s in that darkened mind of yours, García?

  GARCÍA

  Gold is the lamp that leads us all to hell.

  I saw the remorseful officer, Quadrado,

  Give the mestizo a coin, his wealth to the poor.

  FERNANDO (Descends, sets blankets on deck.)

  Well, God rest us all, and wake us for the watch.

  Lower the tongue of the lantern, good Bartolome.

  BARTOLOME

  And God give us all good rest, and spare us envy,

  And too much rattling of chains.

  FERNANDO

  When you pray, friend,

  Turn your sour breath away from the wind.

  (They settle. GARCÍA lounges on steps, awake.)

  QUADRADO (Alone)

  Now I am left to walk the deck alone.

  The wind is high, the guards are at their poles,

  And on this minute, the ship boy should sing out.

  BOY’S VOICE

  One glass is gone and now the third floweth.

  More shall run down, if my God willeth.

  QUADRADO

  These fellows sleep like brutes without a past.

  Murders and theft, they shake them off as horses

  Twitch flies from flesh, with a quick shudder.

  García, Fernando, and Bartolome. And the admiral.

  Only our two remorseful souls are vigilant.

  You there on the watch, how is the passage?

  LOOKOUT

  An open passage, high seas, please God, Lieutenant.

  QUADRADO

  There are flies on the cordage, flies, flies on these dead.

  And when I halt I hear their moans again.

  FERNANDO (Whispering.)

  Bartolome, look, Quadrado …

  QUADRADO

  All of my nights I sweat beads for the slain,

  Treading this deck as to a gallows tree.

  The frightened moon has scurried into her cave.

  The cold quicksilver sweat of fear breaks out

  And ghosts creep from the deep slime of the sea.

  (MUSIC: figures of slaughtered Indians emerge from the shadows.)

  COLUMBUS

  Light! Light!

  QUADRADO

  Who cried out there?

  Look, now they come, O Mother of God, prevent them,

  As rotten leaves are whirled in a black wind,

  I hear the spectres of these slaughtered men

  Wail in the wind, the autumn of their race.

  One walks there like Sebastian, branched with arrows.

  One brings his lantern like a bleeding head.

  Mother of God.

  (The ghosts descend through a trapdoor.)

  BARTOLOME

  Mother of God, this is most strange, preserve us.

  GARCÍA

  Get back to sleep. The moon is beautiful.

  PACO (Running up from hold.)

  My officer, my officer, what is it?

  QUADRADO

  Nothing, nothing. I was at my prayers, a custom

  You can put down to nothing and the troubled night.

  Is that the admiral’s supper? Take it up. Wait!

  (GARCÍA drops back.)

  Did you see nothing as you climbed the steps?

  PACO

  Nothing but the shadows from the swinging lamp.

  QUADRADO

  You have not lost the gold I gave you, boy?

  PACO

  No, my officer, I remember your catechism.

  QUADRADO

  Remember you have seen nothing, only a soldier

  Who cannot sleep, and who has certain fears.

  That is the way you will meet your admiral.

  I must walk another section of the ship.

  (Exit. PACO goes up.)

  PACO

  Your supper, Excellency. I have your supper.

  COLUMBUS

  You are half Indian, why are you on this ship?

  PACO

  I am a grometto, I sing the “Salve” and reverse the glass.

  COLUMBUS

  I am not very hungry, boy. I am not well.

  PACO

  Even a god must eat, my admiral.

  COLUMBUS

  I am not a god, grometto.

  PACO

  Eat, and I will talk out through the night with thee.

  (Pause.)

  Dost thou know of an officer called Quadrado?

  COLUMBUS

  I knew many officers of several degrees. Why?

  PACO

  He was a soldier, now he prays for Spain.

  COLUMBUS

  I am sea-worn, grometto, I need some sleep.

  There will be many nights ahead of this.

  PACO

  Weren’t thou afraid of the great sea, my admiral?

  COLUMBUS

  I see that you’ll have me talk no matter what.

  Well, perhaps it is best, than to remember sins.

  Yes, I had great fear, grometto, but I had trust.

  PACO

  Yes, my admiral, in the God who was nailed up.

  BARTOLOME (Below.)

  It’s a bad passage. García, go to sleep.

  GARCÍA

  Be quiet; I’ll wake you for the watch.

  COLUMBUS

  There is a sea the Arabs knew, that scholars called

  Mare tenebricosum, the green sea of gloom.

  There, pass me the flat plate and I’ll show thee, boy.

  (Holds up the plate.)

  Before me, men thought the world’s design

  Was of this shape, the horizon, the plate’s edge,

  And on the rim of the world was hell and darkness.

  Now, assist me with this iron round my ankles.

  This, niño, is the certain shape of the world.

  PACO (Kneeling.)

  Tell of the voyage, the monsters, and the lands.

  COLUMBUS

  And this spoon is Columbus beating on the gates

  Of the great princes of the world. A coin,

  A coin. I need a coin.

  PACO

  Here is one, Excellency.

  COLUMBUS (Holds coin.)

  Place this gold here, a circle, like the sun

  That daily in its course turns round this iron

  And casts its shadow on one side, the night.

  The city I was born in, superb Genoa,

  Stares with her white breast southward to the sea,

  Into the sun, that at its summer solstice

  Sets like a burning carrack, fierce with fire,

  Behind the pinnacle of Mount Beguia.

  Turn up the lantern, and I’ll tell thee more.

  (PACO takes down the lantern.)


  I was a weaver’s son, strange how we start.

  While I worked patiently at my father’s shuttle,

  I could not guess the web of destinations

  That I would weave within the minds of men.

  QUADRADO (Returns.)

  So now he has an Indian for his friend; the boy is safe.

  (Exits. GARCÍA creeps up steps.)

  PACO

  Señor, now may I have the coin?

  COLUMBUS

  Thou art shrewd. Thou shouldst go the distance.

  GARCÍA (Below.)

  And the distance being from his purse to my pocket.

  PACO

  Sit down, señor; sit down, you are not well.

  COLUMBUS

  A little after sunset, one of my sailors

  Noticed the phosphorescence of the sea,

  And fishing in the glittering waters found

  A twig that had a bunch of withered berries on it.

  And there were other signs. The third day passed

  And so the dark descended on the sea.

  Sometimes it seemed we caught the scent of land.

  We waited, quiet, there was silence like this,

  There where the shadow of the steady helmsman

  Tosses upon the huge screen of the sail.

  Merely to breathe seemed an offence to faith.

  An hour before the lantern of the moon

  Climbed to the stair of heaven where no cloud

  Can mantle it, I thought I saw what one might call a light.

  I called to my helmsman, Pedro Gutiérrez,

  Whose eyes were best in the deceiving darkness.

  PACO

  What was the light, señor? Were you afraid?

  COLUMBUS (Rises, distracted.)

  Oh, all the cruel patience of the long years,

  The fawning humiliation before great princes,

  The fears and terrors of the whale-threshed seas

  Broke through my cloud now, with his cry of light!

  PACO

  My admiral, my admiral, sit down, sit down.

  COLUMBUS

  Honours now hollow are heaped on my crest,

  Admiral of ocean, and a tamer of tides,

  What will they make of this world is my wonder?

  Hypocrites and malefactors have wrecked my work.

  PACO

  … Excellency …