Bertolt Brecht: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder 2
Page 26
You still can eat like little Annie
In Louisiana –
Crabmeat! Porkchops! Sweet-corn! Chicken!
And those golden biscuits spread with honey!
Spare your home in old Louisiana!
Think! – It’s growing! More and more it needs you!
Therefore curb your craving! Gluttons will be punished!
5
Lust
Annie now has an admirer who is extremely rich, loves her and brings her jewels and clothes; likewise a lover whom she in turn loves and who takes the jewels off her. Annie I reproaches her and persuades her to leave Fernando and be faithful to Edward. But one day Annie II passes a cafe where Annie I is sitting with Fernando, who is paying court to her (though to no effect). Thereupon Annie II assaults Annie I and they roll about in the street wrestling under the eyes of Fernando and his friends, together with a horde of street children and bystanders. The children point out her valuable bottom, and Edward runs away in horror. Then Annie I reproaches her sister and, after a touching parting from Fernando, sends her back to Edward.
ANNIE I:
Then we met a wealthy man in Boston
And he paid her a lot because he loved her.
But I had to keep a watch on Annie
Who was too loving, and she loved another;
And she paid him a lot
Because she loved him.
So I said: ‘Cheat the man who protects you
And you’ve lost half your value then:
He may pay once although he suspects you
But he won’t pay time and time again.
You can have your fun with money
When you’ve no provider you must face;
But for girls like us, it’s not funny
If we ever even once forget our place.’
‘Don’t try to sit between two stools,’ I told her.
Then I went to visit her friend
And said: ‘If you’re kind, you won’t hold her,
For this love will be your sweetheart’s bitter end.’
Girls can have their fun with money
When the money is their own to give;
But for girls like us, it’s not funny
If we even once forget the way we live.’
Then I’d meet him as bad luck would have it.
There was nothing going on. Naturally!
Until Annie found out and, worse luck
Blamed the whole affair on me.
FAMILY:
O Lord, look down upon our daughter
Show her the way that leads the Good to Thy reward
Incline her heart to observe all Thy commandments
That her works on earth may prosper.
ANNIE I:
Now she shows off her little round white fanny
Worth twice a little Texas Motel
And for nothing the poolroom can stare at Annie
As though she’d nothing to sell.
That’s why most girls don’t get rich, for
They go wrong when they forget their place:
You’re not free to buy what you itch for
When you’ve got a good provider you must face.
FAMILY:
Who fights the Good Fight and all Self subdues
Will gain her renown.
ANNIE I:
It wasn’t easy putting that in order:
Saying good-bye to young Fernando
Then back to Edward to apologise
Then the endless nights I heard my sister
Sobbing like a baby and repeating;
ANNIE II:
It’s right like this, Annie, but so hard!
6
Avarice
Shortly afterwards Edward shoots himself, having been ruined by Annie. Then the newspapers print flattering reports about her, with the effect that the readers doff their hats to her respectfully and immediately follow her, newspaper in hand, in the hope of being ruined too. Soon after that another young man flings himself out of a window after Annie has left him penniless; then her sister intervenes and saves yet another one from hanging himself, by taking his money back from Annie II and returning it to him. She does this because people are starting to shun her sister, who has got a bad name on account of her avarice.
FAMILY:
Annie, so the paper says
Is now set up in Baltimore:
Lots of folk seem to be
Shooting themselves for her.
She must be doing all right
And raking it in,
To get in the news like that!
Well, so far, so good; to be talked about helps
A young girl up the ladder.
Let her beware of overdoing it!
Folk shy away from a girl
Who’s said to be mean.
Folk give a wide wide berth
To those who grab all they can get
Point unfriendly fingers at
One whose greed goes beyond all bounds.
In the measure you give
You will surely be given
And as you do, so
Will you be done by:
Fair is fair.
All must keep this law.
We sincerely hope our smart little Annie
Also has common sense
And will let them keep a shirt or two
When she lets them go for good.
Shameless hoarders earn themselves a bad name.
7
Envy
Once again we see Annie traversing the big city and glimpsing other Annies as she goes – all the other dancers being masked to look like Annie – who indulge in idleness etc. etc., thereby committing with impunity all those deadly sins that have been forbidden her. A ballet represents the theme THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST thus: As the other Annies proudly walk around in the light, Annie II laboriously drags herself in, bent double. But then her apotheosis begins and she walks with increasing pride, finally triumphing as the other Annies crumple, abashed, and are forced to make way for her.
ANNIE:
And the last big town we came to was San Francisco.
Life, there, was fine, only Annie felt so tired
And grew envious of others:
Of those who pass the time at their ease and in comfort
Those too proud to be bought –
Of those whose wrath is kindled by injustice
Those who act upon their impulses happily
Lovers true to their loved ones
And those who take what they need without shame.
Whereupon I told my poor tired sister
When I saw how much she envied them:
‘Sister, from birth we may write our own story
And anything we choose we are permitted to do
But the proud and insolent who strut in their glory –
Little they guess
Little they guess
Little they guess the fate they’re swaggering to.
’Sister, be strong! You must learn to say No to
The joys of this world, for this world is a snare;
Only the fools in this world will let go, who
Don’t care a damn
Don’t care a damn –
Don’t-care-a-damn will be made to care.
‘Don’t let the flesh and its longings get you.
Remember the price that a lover must pay
And say to yourself when temptations beset you –
What is the use?
What is the use?
Beauty will perish and youth pass away.
‘Sister, you know, when our life here is over
Those who were good go to bliss unalloyed
Those who were bad are rejected forever
Gnashing their teeth
Gnashing their teeth
Gnashing their teeth in a gibbering void!
FAMILY:
Who fights the Good Fight and all Self subdues
Wins the Palm, gains the Crown.
Epilogue
ANNIE I:
Now we’re coming back to you, Louisiana
Where the moon on the Mississippi is a-shining ever.
Seven years we’re been away in the big towns
Where one goes to make money;
And now our fortune’s made, and now you’re there
Little home in old Louisiana.
We’re coming back to you
Out little home down by
The Mississippi in
Louisiana.…
Right, Annie.
ANNIE II:
Right, Annie.
Notes and Variants
MAN EQUALS MAN
Texts by Brecht
THE MAN EQUALS MAN SONG
1
Hey, Tom, have you joined up too, joined up too?
’Cos I’ve joined up just like you, just like you.
And when I see you marching there
I know I’m back on the old barracks square
Have you ever seen me in your life?
’Cos I’ve never seen you in my life.
It ain’t the plan
For man equals man
Since time began.
Tommy boy, let me tell you, it really ain’t the plan
For man is man!
There’s no other plan.
The red sun of Kilkoa shines
Upon our regimental lines
Where seven thousand men can die
And not a soul will bat an eye
’Cos all the lot are better gone
So who cares where Kilkoa’s red sun shone?
2
Hey, Tom, was there rice in your Irish stew?
’Cos I had rice in my Irish stew
And when I found they’d left out the meat
The army didn’t seem such a treat.
Hey, Tom, has it made you throw up yet?
’Cos I’ve not stopped throwing up as yet.
It ain’t the plan
For man equals man
Since time began.
Tommy boy, let me tell you, it really ain’t the plan
For man is man!
There’s no other plan.
The red sun of Kilkoa shines
Upon our regimental lines
Where seven thousand men can die
And not a soul will bat an eye
’Cos all the lot are better gone
So who cares where Kilkoa’s red sun shone?
3
Hey, Tom, did you see Jenny Smith last night?
’Cos me I saw Jenny Smith last night.
And when I look at that old bag
The army don’t seem half such a drag.
Hey, Tom, have you also slept with her?
’Cos you know I’ve also slept with her.
It ain’t the plan
For man equals man
Since time began.
Tommy boy, let me tell you, it really ain’t the plan
For man is man!
There’s no other plan.
The red sun of Kilkoa shines
Upon our regimental lines
Where seven thousand men can die
And not a soul will bat an eye
’Cos all the lot are better gone
So who cares where Kilkoa’s red sun shone?
4
Hey, Tom, have you got your kit packed up?
’Cos I have got my kit packed up.
And when I see you with your kit
I feel the army’s fighting fit.
But did you have bugger all to pack yours with?
’Cos I find I’ve bugger all to pack mine with.
It ain’t the plan
For man equals man
Since time began.
Tommy boy, let me tell you, it really ain’t the plan
For man is man!
There’s no other plan.
The red sun of Kilkoa shines
Upon our regimental lines
Where seven thousand men can die
And not a soul will bat an eye
’Cos all the lot are better gone
So who cares where Kilkoa’s red sun shone?
5
Hey, Tom, are you quite ready to move off?
’Cos me I’m quite ready to move off.
And when I see you march I guess
I’ll march wherever the army says.
Have you got a clue where we’re marching to?
’Cos I’ve not got a clue where we’re marching to.
It ain’t the plan
For man equals man
Since time began.
Tommy boy, let me tell you, it really ain’t the plan
For man is man!
There’s no other plan.
The red sun of Kilkoa shines
Upon our regimental lines
Where seven thousand men can die
And not a soul will bat an eye
’Cos all the lot are better gone
So who cares where Kilkoa’s red shone?
[‘Der Mann-ist-Mann-Song,’ from the 1927 edition of the play, republished in GW Gedichte, pp. 138 ff. The former edition gives Brecht’s own tune, subsequently arranged by Paul Dessau.]
PRESS RELEASE
Disastrous prank by three privates of the Worchester Regiment stationed at Kankerdan, East India/Prank? Or crime?/J. Galgei, docker, takes himself for a soldier called Jerome Jip.
Saipong. All Hindustan is talking about the incredible case of J. Galgei,* a porter at the docks. Four private soldiers from Kankerdan, on detachment to Saipong, are alleged to have committed a hitherto baffling crime in order to obtain whisky (!!!), and to have been forced to abandon one of their number in the process. Realising that the absence of the fourth man might have betrayed the crime in question they camouflaged it by exploiting the person of the docker J. Galgei. Moved in the first place by mere sympathy, the latter was twice persuaded to stand in at roll calls for the missing man, one Jerome Jip. However when he cited family reasons and refused to oblige them for an additional two days till the unit moved off they cast him as the leading player in a comedy worthy of the silver screen. Along with a canteen proprietress of most dubious character they conspired to give him an alleged British army elephant free gratis and for nothing to sell as he might wish. Due to the unbridled consumption of whisky then prevalent Galgei failed to detect the true character of this dangerous gift: a highly lifelike elephant constructed of nothing but some tarpaulins and his would-be benefactors the three privates. They thereupon arrested him for this ‘theft’ at the ‘scene of the crime’, and summarily shot him beneath the three sycamore trees of Saipong. They then revived this helplessly befuddled accomplice, who had fainted away well before his (obviously) faked execution, and told him he was to deliver a funeral oration on a certain Galgei who had just been shot. Now highly confused, he complied with all their demands and offered virtually no resistance. The following day too inspired peculiar misgivings in the unfortunate docker, who by now had become unsure of his own personality. Using an army paybook the soldiers brought their cruel game to its climax. Galgei’s attitude to his wife, who had managed to track him down in his military guise, showed that at this point he was already uncertain of his own identity. As soon as the ‘fun-loving’ soldiers started making difficulties for him even with regard to his use of the name Jip, he so vehemently annexed that name that even the reappearance of the real Jip could not prise him away from it. Together with the simultaneous case of Sergeant P., who was so infuriated by the loss of self-control due to his unrestrained sexual urges as to castrate himself with his own hand, this entire episode shows how thin the veneer of individuality has become in our time.
[‘Für Zeitungen,’ from GW Schriften zum Theater, pp. 973 f. Prefaced to the 1925 typescript of the play.]
EPIC SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
The transformation of a living person in the Kilkoa military cantonment in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-five.
1
&nb
sp; then they all joined together to make a false elephant and led the man galy gay unto it and bade him sell it but the sergeant came as he was holding it by a rope and they were afraid saying: what will he do? for they could not stay with him because of the sergeant and they observed him over a wall when he was alone to see if he would examine the elephant and notice that it was unreal however they saw that the man never looked at it and from thenceforward they knew that there was one who believed what was good for him and would sooner know nothing therefore he ignored the elephant not seeing that it was unreal for he wished to sell it and the woman that was with him took the sergeant away
2
so the man sold the elephant that was not his and was unreal to boot but thereupon one of them approached him laid his hand on his shoulder and spake to him: what art thou doing? and because he could not justify himself they brought suit against him but they condemned him to death then he denied that he was the criminal galy gay but they acted as if they believed him not and did shoot deceivingly at him from seven riflebarrels and he fainted and fell
3
however when he awakened they put a box before him telling him that the man galy gay who had been shot lay within it thereupon his reason became utterly confused and he began to think that he was not galy gay who had been shot and lay within the box nor did he wish to be wherefore he stood up and spake about galy gay as though he were a stranger that they might believe that he was not he for he feared to die and they buried the box which was empty and he delivered the funeral speech.
so they took him away with them that night
[‘Epischer Verlauf.’ Fragment from BBA 348/68.]
Annex
a man was travelling in a train from kilkoa to tibet and they laid a woman beside him that he might sleep with her and ask no questions for they had told him that he was one of their men and when he woke he found the woman beside him but he knew her not then they said to him: who is the woman with whom thou hast slept? and he did not know for he had not slept with the woman but did not know it when they saw that he knew her not they mocked him saying perchance thou knowest not thyself then he said i know myself but he lied they however tested him in all ways and he was downcast and sat apart and knew not who he was but then he heard a voice behind the partition and a man began to lament and say what a disgrace has overtaken me where is my name that once was great beyond the oceans where is the yesterday that has vanished even my raiment is gone that i wore