The Haitian Trilogy: Plays

by Derek Walcott

  And now you know the difference ’tween

  Unjust and righteous wars.

  (Music and dancing.)

  BARTOLOME

  The sailors and the conquerors do homage to a queen

  And many a Spanish regiment is rotting on the green.

  It takes a hundred niggers now to dig the gold we earn,

  And I’m too dumb to understand investment and return,

  So keep the jewels in the vaults, and pity out-of-doors,

  While we’ll dance to the fiddles and

  The laughter of the whores.

  (Laughter. Drums beat off.)

  FIRST WHORE

  It’s more soldiers, there’s a ship in the harbour.

  There’s war in the air, friend.

  SECOND WHORE

  And tough times ahead for us.

  PACO

  Who are they going to fight? I have seen many soldiers.

  FIRST WHORE

  They’re preparing many years now against the English,

  And they have made expeditions against the Dutch.

  I lost two brothers who fought against the Dutch.

  This King is preparing a great Armada.

  PACO

  Does a Spanish soldier live well now? How are they paid?

  SECOND WHORE

  Well, you are fed and clothed, some of the mercenaries

  Can do well, and there is no faith asked of them

  While they are paid. Oh, I love the thought of war.

  (The SOLDIERS take leave of the WHORES and run off.)

  BARTOLOME

  Well, it’s a better life if a man had both legs

  Than scrounging on the piers, begging from merchants.

  They’re out to conquer England and preserve the Indies.

  If I had half of my strength, that’s where I’d be.

  (Drums sound nearer.)

  PACO

  Oh, the drums, the drums, colours and the fifes.

  My father’s profession calls me. Bartolome, here’s a coin.

  I’m on the side with the money still, Quadrado!

  And I leave you this kingdom of the wharf, adiós, adiós!

  (He runs off.)

  BARTOLOME

  Come on, let’s go into the inn where the drinks are warm.

  It seems to me I felt there the edge of the winter.

  (Sings.)

  For a wise tropic shark removed his legs,

  And now the winter’s coming, and he begs.

  (Exit, limping, after WHORES. Martial music.)

  (Fade-out.)

  Scene 3

  Aboard ship. Near dawn. Two SPANISH SAILORS dicing. In the hold below SLAVES chanting.

  FIRST SAILOR

  Christ! You’ve got all the luck in this world.

  SECOND SAILOR

  I’m a good Spaniard. How about another throw? For daybreak?

  FIRST SAILOR

  What’s the bet? That the sun won’t rise?

  (Rises.)

  I’d better take a look below the decks.

  Sometimes the sick ones kill themselves.

  SECOND SAILOR

  Not your responsibility. How can you stand the stench?

  FIRST SAILOR

  Well, for God’s sake, don’t wave the lantern about.

  We’re in warm seas, and nearing the islands,

  And there’s Dutch and English privateers about.

  Pass me the lantern.

  SECOND SAILOR

  Hey! You can’t leave me in the dark!

  FIRST SAILOR

  Dawn is enough to count your profits by.

  (He moves off with lantern.)

  SECOND SAILOR

  Pity you have no luck, amigo.

  FIRST SAILOR

  I don’t believe in luck. I believe in God.

  SECOND SAILOR

  It’s just faith. Faith in the dice, amigo.

  FIRST SAILOR

  Sure, sure. Your father must have been at the foot of the cross.

  (Exit. The JEW enters above.)

  JEW

  Because they have wrenched my people from the roots,

  I am like a shattered timber cast adrift. O God,

  The shores of the new lands will soon be known.

  Preserve my faith, O Lord, comfort Thy people.

  (He exits.)

  Scene 4

  The ship: SLAVES, men and women and two children, chained in pairs, emerge from hold. The sick KING attended by WOMEN.

  MALE SLAVE

  Look, though we do not wish it, dawn will break.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  We cannot stop the law of time: only the gods.

  MALE SLAVE

  My gods and yours are different. I am an Ibo.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Were you captured in the battle with our tribe?

  MALE SLAVE (Laughs.)

  I was forced to fight, but I am no warrior.

  It is comical, I was captured during the confusion.

  But as you say it is nothing. Your King is quiet.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  I do not think that he will last the long voyage.

  He lost his pride in his battle against the Ibo.

  I lost two sons when you attacked our village.

  My husband is somewhere with the rest, in there.

  MALE SLAVE

  I think that the fellow chained to me is dead.

  Can you help me lug him onto the deck?

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Why should I touch the dead? The dead are lucky,

  They have caught the happy plague.

  Oh God, my sons.

  MALE SLAVE

  Day will break soon, and we are nearing islands,

  I can hear the creaking of seabirds this morning.

  (Pause.)

  We can see his face when the dawn comes up.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  You are a funny one. Why do you wish to see it?

  MALE SLAVE

  He must have died last night. Are you afraid?

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Man is a beast. Man is a beast. Believe me.

  MALE SLAVE

  It is true, I have never understood fighting.

  I had a small place, near a river, fishing,

  And I had no enemies, I was waiting for a wife.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Yes, bring children into the world, to bury them.

  MALE SLAVE

  It is how the gods made it. We must bear that.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Explain it.

  MALE SLAVE

  You women have it hard, daylight is here.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Oh, look at his face, oh God.

  MALE SLAVE

  Why, do you know him?

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Yes, it is my husband.

  MALE SLAVE

  Your husband?

  WOMAN SLAVE

  He used to praise all war as honourable,

  And boasting always of the beauty of death,

  Look at him now, in his beauty of death.

  MALE SLAVE

  I never had children.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  I am not thinking of warriors but their women.

  This is the kind of suffering I would have honoured,

  Oh God, oh God, what will happen to my sons?

  MALE SLAVE

  Be patient. Life is very long.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Africa, Guinea.

  (She weeps.)

  MALE SLAVE

  Life is good, woman.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Africa, the white birds by the river’s edge at sunrise,

  The clear waters over white stones, the children

  Splashing in mud.

  (They begin a new chant.)

  MALE SLAVE

  It is strange what the gods allow. Listen,

  Your people are singing. The children are frightened.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Do they whip them, too?


  (A CHILD comes over.)

  MALE SLAVE

  I do not know.

  Is this one of the King’s sons?

  WOMAN SLAVE

  Yes. Man is a beast. Man is a beast.

  What will they do this one, at such an age?

  MALE SLAVE

  They will put the mark on him, as we do beasts.

  (Pause, chanting.)

  In our country, we thank the gods for each day.

  WOMAN SLAVE

  And so do we. I suppose so do all lucky men.

  MALE SLAVE

  I do not believe in luck. I believe in God.

  Here comes our days-long anguish, let us be brave.

  (GARCÍA, whip in hand, appears.)

  GARCÍA

  All right, stir them up there, get them awake.

  We’ll get them dancing to limber up their muscles,

  They must land in a purchasable condition.

  How many dead this voyage?

  SAILOR

  There’s one dead here.

  GARCÍA

  That one wasn’t worth much anyway.

  Pablo, get the drum and start their exercises.

  You, take the carcass below, do you hear me?

  Get below, you bastard, d’you understand?

  (He kicks a SLAVE. Drumming starts; no one moves.)

  I hate to use this, but you’d better start moving.

  What’s the matter, doesn’t the King love music?

  Come on, everybody’s equal here, Your Majesty.

  (They start to move slowly, wearily; the KING falls.)

  Wait a minute, stop the drumming, stop it.

  Get up, Your Majesty, get up and dance.

  Take that child away from him. Now, come on, dance.

  (The KING is unable to move.)

  He’s a stubborn bastard.

  SAILOR

  This might help him.

  (He punches the KING, who falls; the SLAVES stop.)

  GARCÍA

  Keep them dancing and drag the body off.

  Keep the child from him. Come, tear him off.

  (The CHILD is lifted off the KING’s body and thrown near the steps.)

  JEW (Coming down the steps.)

  Señor, the child, I will buy the boy from you.

  GARCÍA

  Get out of the way, this is none of your concern.

  (To PABLO, another sailor)

  You’re fumbling up everything, keep them dancing.

  JEW

  The boy. The child. I’ll buy him from you.

  GARCÍA

  I can’t hear you. You want to buy the boy?

  JEW

  Yes, yes, how much?

  GARCÍA

  Twenty pieces.

  JEW

  I have only fifteen; will you take fifteen?

  GARCÍA

  Seventeen. Two more when we land. Fifteen right now.

  All right, enough. Take them below and feed them.

  Fifteen all right with you, he’s a king’s son?

  Let me tell you, you’re a damned fool, mister.

  The boy is sure to die of one thing or another.

  JEW

  Not if I own him. Come, come to me, child.

  (The CHILD huddles to him.)

  SAILOR (Aloft.)

  Sail, sail to leeward.

  GARCÍA

  What colours, you idiot?

  SAILOR

  Inglesi, Inglesi.

  (The SLAVES herded out through the central door, back. The door is closed. Chanting offstage more urgent now, wails and screams from the WOMEN.)

  GARCÍA

  Tell them there’s no gold aboard, only niggers.

  (To JEW)

  Get out of the way, sir, with your purchase.

  Get out the cannon there, stand by to fire.

  (Cannon fire. MALE SLAVE comes up through the trapdoor, stabs GARCÍA.)

  O Mother of God, get me a priest, I am dying.

  (He falls.)

  When did I offend you, Jew?

  JEW (Bending over GARCÍA.)

  It was the slave, I could not kill a man. You killed the King.

  GARCÍA

  The darkness comes, O Mother of God.

  Do not leave me alone, sir.

  (Cannon fire.)

  JEW

  … I have to save the boy.

  What is it?

  GARCÍA

  I remember Quadrado … Oh God … Life has gone the dial.

  (He dies.)

  JEW (With CHILD.)

  That is a passage you must go alone, poor man.

  Come stand by me; perhaps we shall be taken,

  But we shall find roots in the new land together.

  Come, move out of this danger of the battle.

  I will take care of thee, as my own son,

  For we are outcasts together in one sorrow.

  (Blackout.)

  (Cannon fire. Music.)

  Scene 5

  Boyhood of Raleigh

  Music: Reprise of PACO’s song. A wintry beach in England. PACO, an old beggar, walking.

  PACO (Singing BARTOLOME’s song.)

  You generous burghers, English, Portuguese,

  Who warm white jewelled hands, with winter near.

  Here is old Paco, who sailed the green Indies.

  The winter wind blows round his tattered legs …

  A man may walk on all the broken beaches of this world, and come to the warmth of an inn in winter, and sí, death is the landlord. I’ve seen the four-hued seasons, the fox-coloured autumn, the broad-leafed summer, and the green spring, but I’ll be damned if I can get used to this English winter; it moulders an old man’s flesh. My purse, where’s my purse? The fur from this old Flemish collar’s gone, and my old teeth ache. I need new boots. There’s enough wreckage here to start a fire with. It’s cold, winter’s coming on like the great grey wolf, and me with no summer in these swollen veins. Wait, here’s something half hidden in the sand. (Finds stumps of wood.) Nothing, only wood. Still, it will make a fire. Count the coins again, count the purse. Here’s five Spanish pieces, two Dutch, and God knows where I lost Quadrado’s coin these last forty years.

  (BOYS’ voices off.)

  Put the coins away, they’re after you. The little dogs are hounding the old bear.

  (Enter young RALEIGH and young GILBERT.)

  RALEIGH (Dancing around him.)

  It’s the old Spaniard, Paco, Paco, ay, cannibal!

  PACO

  Keep from me, you two, I chew human flesh.

  GILBERT

  Leave him, Walter, he hates to be annoyed.

  PACO

  That’s right, you tell him, niño, I chew English flesh.

  You come near old Paco the cannibal and see.

  I’ll split your heads open with this bit of wood.

  RALEIGH

  Look at his eyes and his hair. Throw it, Spaniard.

  PACO

  You’re a brave imp. What’s your name, boy?

  RALEIGH

  What’re you doing on this beach?

  PACO

  What’s your friend’s name, then?

  GILBERT

  He’s Walter Raleigh. I’m his cousin Humphrey Gilbert.

  PACO

  Well then, Master Gilbert, if you’re a Christian,

  Tell your friend here, I’m a great chewer of children.

  My people, the Tainos, were great eaters of Christians.

  But you’re grand gentlemen’s sons, I can see,

  So throw a coin to an ancient sailor, for honestly,

  I have no sides but the sharp wind finds holes

  Through the ribs of this wreck I am, friends.

  Do that, and I’ll be off.

  GILBERT

  Are you cold, sir?

  PACO

  Ay, ay, boy, cold in three languages.

  RALEIGH

  I’ve heard of him, cousin, he’s a great liar.

  He tells lies in all the inns, for drink
,

  And he’s a foul old Spaniard.

  PACO

  Half, half, mate.

  The rest of this carcass is proud Indian, Tainos.

  (Hopping around.)

  Oh, it’s the biting cold I can’t shake off by dancing.

  But a coin or two from you Christian boys, I’ll tell you.

  You’ve heard tell of the great Admiral Columbus.

  I fed the old man his supper once, you doubt it?

  Then leave me alone!

  (He hurls wood.)

  GILBERT

  Shall I give him a coin, cousin?

  PACO

  Look, do you see this wood I threw at you?

  Bring it here, mate, and I’ll tell you a thing.

  GILBERT

  Here.

  (He throws a coin.)

  PACO

  Thank you, lad. It’s a fragment of Spanish ship.

  Can you read what’s marked on it, Master Gilbert?

  RALEIGH

  Don’t go near him, cousin.

  PACO (To RALEIGH)

  There, you read it, then, though there’s sea grime

  Grooved in the letters; can you read it, then?

  RALEIGH (Spelling out letters.)

  El Dorado, El Dorado.

  PACO

  Ah! El Dorado, now, have you heard of that?

  RALEIGH

  Yes, it’s in the west, but it’s a Spanish legend.

  PACO

  Legend, legend, he says, like a sceptical Christian.

  I was like you, my boy, before I saw the great legend

  That Quadrado called Europe; but now what would you say

  If I said, kissing this cross, that I’ve seen the legend.

  Would that provoke a coin from your purse, lad?

  (He pauses.)

  This El Dorado is a golden country,

  I showed it once to an officer called Quadrado.

  Oh, I’ve tossed like an old cork on the seas of the world.

  Seen whales and marvels in my old age, but this,

  This bewilders belief. This bit of log, mates,

  Tells of a golden city in the green heart of Guiana,

  And these two words, they mean the gilded king.

  But it’ll take another coin to unlock my tongue.

  RALEIGH

  Then if this legend is so certain,