CUHK Series:The Other Shore: Plays by Gao Xingjian
Page 19
(Sleepwalker turns in a circle, casually points to a direction and walks away.
The roar of an engine approaches then stops. Sleepwalker looks up, and sees a flyover hanging high at the back of the stage.)
Sleepwalker:
Last train?
(The engine starts again and moves away.)
Sleepwalker:
Yes, it’s probably past midnight.
(Ruffian enters. Sleepwalker stops. Ruffian walks to him, stops, and checks him out.
Sleepwalker hesitates. When he takes one step to the left, Ruffian follows with one step. When Sleepwalker goes to the right, Ruffian follows with another step to the right. The two eventually collide.)
Sleepwalker:
Oh, sorry!
Ruffian:
Christ, don’t you know how to walk?
Sleepwalker:
You say you already said sorry. You didn’t do it on purpose.
Ruffian:
A bastard with eyes that can’t see.
Sleepwalker:
You say why are you cursing people for no reason?
Ruffian:
‘Cause you crashed into yours sincerely.
Sleepwalker:
You say you have eyes too, why did you crash right into you when the street was practically empty?
Ruffian:
You want trouble?
Sleepwalker:
You say you waited until the wee hours to come out for a walk just to avoid trouble. You never expected to crash into anyone.
Ruffian:
You were in my way!
Sleepwalker:
You say you heard the footsteps and you were going to step aside. But you suddenly stopped…
Ruffian:
You said it. You heard me coming, right? Why didn’t you listen more carefully when I stopped?
Sleepwalker:
You say you’ve come out to take a walk, not to listen to anybody, or for that matter, for anyone’s footsteps. You don’t have to listen to anybody! You ask him to go away, then each will go his separate way. All you want is just some peace and quiet.
Ruffian:
I’m really dying to know what it is that you really want! But I’m gonna smash your stinking dog face in first—. (Raises his hand.)
(The tapping of high-heel shoes. Prostitute enters, wearing a super-mini skirt and holding an opened umbrella. Ruffian turns and walks away at once.)
Prostitute:
Hi there!
Sleepwalker:
Good evening.
Prostitute:
(Raises the umbrella and approaches him for a close inspection.) How’s it going?
Sleepwalker:
Nothing much, just living, that’s all.
(Prostitute circles him, lowers the umbrella and walks away. Ruffian comes up at once, walks by her side and whistles. Prostitute turns away.)
Ruffian:
The weather, is it hot enough for you?
Prostitute:
(Lowers the umbrella.) You like it hot?
Ruffian:
The broad, she’s really something!
Prostitute:
Wanna buy me a drink?
Ruffian:
Sure, your place?
Prostitute:
The pub!
Ruffian:
Where? They’re all closed for the night.
Prostitute:
Some are still open.
Ruffian:
Don’t you have a pad close by?
Prostitute:
How about your place?
Ruffian:
Too far, broad.
Prostitute:
Doesn’t matter. It’s only a cab ride away.
Ruffian:
Why don’t we just pick a quiet corner, eh? Saves a lot of trouble. That guy, you with him?
Prostitute:
You want a threesome?
Ruffian:
Don’t make me sick, babe. Just you will do.
Prostitute:
Got any dough?
Ruffian:
Can’t do without. (Takes out a cigarette and lights up to inspect her.) Mm, not bad.
Prostitute:
As long as you like it. Alright, where?
Ruffian:
(Lights the cigarette.) Sweetie! (Embraces her.)
Prostitute:
How much are you willing to pay? How much, huh?
(Ruffian stretches out his hand towards her.)
Prostitute:
Don’t rush it—Hold on a sec!
Ruffian:
I’ll pay you.
Prostitute:
Well, pay first.
Ruffian:
A fresh one, still not quite used up.
Prostitute:
Don’t touch! Don’t you know the rules!
Ruffian:
You want me to teach you something first? (Cups her chin with his hand.)
Prostitute:
(Pushes his hand away.) What an asshole!
Ruffian:
Look at you. Don’t be so uptight. That’s no way to treat a customer. (Forcibly raises her chin with his fingers.) Yeah, that’s more like it. (Takes the cigarette from his mouth and stuffs it into hers.) Fun, isn’t it? You’ve gotta learn.
Prostitute:
(Spits out the cigarette.) Get lost!
(Ruffian laughs. Prostitute turns to walk away.)
Ruffian:
(Follows her.) Sweetie, where do you think you’re goin’?
Prostitute:
Get away from me, you’re sick—(Forces him away.)
Ruffian:
You slut! Don’t you like it when men do it to you?
Prostitute:
Bastard! (Walks faster, exits.)
Ruffian:
All right! (Takes a glance at Sleepwalker and stamps his foot on the cigarette she threw away. Chases after her in big strides. Exits.)
(The tapping of Prostitute’s high heels moves further away. It becomes faster and faster, then suddenly stops. Silence.)
Sleepwalker:
(Screaming.) Son of a bitch—!
Tramp:
(Stretching his neck out from the other side of the cardboard box.) What are you doing?
Sleepwalker:
You say you’re not doing anything.
Tramp:
(Crawling out of the box.) Then why are you making such a racket at this God-forsaken hour?
Sleepwalker:
You say over there—(Silence.)
Tramp:
That’s also a profession.
Sleepwalker:
You say maybe she’s being raped.
Tramp:
Well, if you’re in the business, it’s bound to happen, isn’t it?
Sleepwalker:
Don’t you have any compassion, just a little bit of compassion?
Tramp:
Oh yeah? You’re saying that you do, right? But what’s the use?
Sleepwalker:
You say you’re pissed off!
Tramp:
Why don’t you go and rescue her then?
Sleepwalker:
You say you know you can’t save her. Even if you gave up your life to save her once, you wouldn’t be able to save her the second time around.
Tramp:
That’s the whole point, isn’t it?
Sleepwalker:
You say that’s why you screamed!
Tramp:
If you want to scream, go home, close the door and scream your heart out. Don’t do it here and make a pest of yourself!
Sleepwalker:
You…How should you put it? You have no heart, no feeling! You say you’re telling you.
Tramp:
And you…how about you? You wanna save the world? You’re preaching to an old man like me?
Sleepwalker:
You say, you have nothing to say to you.
Tramp:
Don’t say it then.
Sleepwalker:
&nbs
p; You say you go back to your sleep, and you’ll go back to your street.
(Tramp crawls back into the cardboard box.)
Sleepwalker:
(After a while.) You’re not going to say anything any more, not even a word. You’re not even going to make any sound. You’ll only immerse yourself in your own world, you won’t make friends with anybody! You can’t stand anybody, everything in this world stifles you! You’re still alive, you still act like a human being, but only because you’re still thinking, more or less. (Stands up motionless like a statue.)
(Faint music is wafted along with the wind.)
Sleepwalker:
(Changes his posture.) You’re all by yourself, you’re talking to yourself. What are you thinking about? It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’re still thinking, that you still have your own thoughts. Never mind if they seem totally worthless in other people’s eyes.
(Changes into another posture.) Other people are nothing to you. They’re their own business; you are you, and only you. You are a human being, or maybe a worm, a butterfly, or an ant. Why should you worry about what you look like in other people’s eyes? Happiness is only when you’re contemplating things by yourself.
(Changes into yet another posture.) You contemplate and you wander without any worries, between heaven and earth, in your own private world, and in this way you acquire supreme freedom—
(He makes a turn towards the inside and comes to a black doorway opposite to the street, which is littered with piles of cardboard boxes. Suddenly an arm appears and takes a firm hold of his throat. Unable to move, he is dragged into the shadow of the doorway.)
Thug:
(In a low voice.) Freeze! Make a sound and you’re history! Pose for me! Keep dancing like you were! Yeah, that’s it. You know what’s poking you in your back, right? (Lets go his hand.) Take one step forward and wait at that bright spot over there. Change your pose, marvellous. Where are you from? Who sent you? C’mon talk to me, I’m asking you a question!
Sleepwalker:
No…nobody. You say you’re…only taking a walk by yourself…
Thug:
Don’t get smart with me! You’re playing with your life!
Sleepwalker:
It’s true, you say no…nobody sent you. Really, nobody did. You just felt like it all of a sudden, it just came to you out of the blue, it wasn’t planned. You can’t help it if you don’t believe it. Do what you want, guns haven’t got eyes anyway. Whoever gets hit will certainly go down. You can’t do anything if it’s in your fate.
Thug:
What the hell were you doing, waiting here all night long? I’m tellin’ ya, I’ve had my eyes on you for more than an hour!
Sleepwalker:
You say you either lost your sense of direction, or you didn’t want to go in any particular direction, so you just decided to take a turn every now and then. You say you probably don’t understand it, not that you don’t want to understand, but you still might not understand even if you tried to explain it. If you put yourself in your shoes and imagine yourself in the same situation, of course it’s quite impossible, but if you did you’d still find it hard to understand why you kept on turning around and around on the same spot.
Thug:
Either you’re a moron or you’re an asshole!
Sleepwalker:
Maybe, maybe both. You say you don’t know which is which and why you’ve become so stupid.
Thug:
Enough. I haven’t got all day to chew the fat with you. You son of a bitch, you wanna play, right? You’re gonna play for a long long time!
Sleepwalker:
(Frightened.) Don’t—Don’t—
Thug:
Switch, change to a different pose!
(Sleepwalker switches to a strange pose, rather like a suffering Jesus Christ.)
Thug:
You know that guy? Answer me!
Sleepwalker:
Which guy? That horny bastard who just went by? You say you utterly refuse to be friends with such scoundrels.
Thug:
I mean that scum hiding in the cardboard box on the other side.
Sleepwalker:
You ask, do you mean that homeless tramp?
Thug:
Yes, I’m asking you!
Sleepwalker:
You say you don’t know anybody, you don’t socialize with anybody, in fact you’re afraid to socialize with people and that’s why you’ve come out to take a walk by yourself at this hour of the night.
Thug:
Get him out of there!
Sleepwalker:
You haven’t got the nerve to bother him, you say, after all you’re the one who’s always being bothered, not the opposite. Besides, it’s not that you don’t want to bother people, it’s that you’re unable and you’re powerless, you even lack the courage. That’s why you’re in such dire straits.
Thug:
Get your ass over there and pull the guy out of the garbage dump for me! And keep on dancing!
Sleepwalker:
You say your legs and stomach are sore. They won’tlisten to your commands…You say you’re not a dancer, you really haven’t had any training. Would it be possible to stop?
Thug:
I told you to pose for me! Just like before. That’s right. Stay there, you got me?
Sleepwalker:
You say you’re not going to risk your life. Man only lives once, wouldn’t you say?
Thug:
Scram!
(Sleepwalker extracts himself completely out of the shadow of the doorway. Immobilized at the centre of the street, he tries in vain to recapitulate his former movements.
A car zooms by somewhere in the distance. Silence resumes.
Prostitute enters, empty-handed and without her umbrella.)
Prostitute:
(Approaching Sleepwalker.) What’s wrong? Stomach ache?
Sleepwalker:
No, just tying my shoelaces.
Prostitute:
Got any cigarettes? Give me one.
Sleepwalker:
No, you say, at this moment you have nothing. (Thinking to himself.) Except your life, which is also in other people’s hands.
Prostitute:
Oh, forget it. Stay with me for a while!
Sleepwalker:
You say no problem. You also want to have someone here with you. (Thinking to himself.) That way there’d be someone to call the police in case you’re hit by a stray bullet or something. (Looks back at the doorway.)
Prostitute:
What are you looking at?
Sleepwalker:
Oh, you say you’re not looking at anything. Talking to yourself has become a bad habit, and you don’t even know you’re doing it.
Prostitute:
(Turns her head and looks at her own leg.) There’s a hole.
Sleepwalker:
(Startled.) You ask, what hole?
Prostitute:
The hole in my stockings. (Adjusts her pantyhose.)
Sleepwalker:
Oh, stockings. They’ll run after some time. There aren’t any stockings that don’t run.
Prostitute:
But they’re new. I bought them only yesterday.
Sleepwalker:
That’s certainly quite regrettable. (Thinking to himself.) It’s amazing, she feels no regret for herself.
Prostitute:
I stumbled and fell.
Sleepwalker:
You say it’s raining and you’re wearing high heels, no wonder you stumbled and fell. (Thinking to himself.) You didn’t want to know whether she did stumble and fall, only whether or not she was raped, but it’s too embarrassing to ask.
Prostitute:
I’m beat.
Sleepwalker:
Go home then, you say you also feel that you’ve had enough.
Prostitute:
I wouldn’t dare…
Sleepwalker:
(Thinking to h
imself.) You feel the same way. You can’t go home either, but you don’t tell her.
Prostitute:
I’m scared.
Sleepwalker:
(Thinking to himself.) It’s the same with you, you’re in the same boat. Apart from the fact that you haven’t been raped, you’re not that much better. You’ve taken one step already, but you don’t know whether or not you’d be able to take another one. Of course you didn’t tell her.
Prostitute:
(Whispering in his ears anxiously.) I’m sure he’s still there. He hasn’t let go of me and he’s still watching me somewhere near by. You see, when I left he was tailing me. I can’t let him know where I live and I can’t let him know I’m scared of him, I definitely cannot let myself fall into his hands. You got me?
Sleepwalker:
(Thinking to himself.) You understand totally and completely. Your situation is more or less the same as hers. She’s already told you, but you still can’t tell her yet.
Prostitute:
(Loudly.) You, you’re such a lousy yellow-bellied wimp!
Sleepwalker:
Why? You can’t help asking.
Prostitute:
Ever slept with a woman?
Sleepwalker:
You say of course you’re not a virgin, and you’re not a homosexual either. The problem is, you see, at this time you can’t pay.
Prostitute:
We can go to your place if it’s not too far, that is, if you don’t have an old lady waiting for you at home. But you don’t look like you’re hitched.
Sleepwalker:
You say of course it’d be a pleasure, but you don’t want to die in the hands of a woman.
Prostitute:
Do you think women are terrifying or something?
Sleepwalker:
It depends on what kind of woman.
Prostitute:
Don’t you find them sexy? Or is it because you don’t really want to do it?
Sleepwalker:
Oh, you say, you find them more than sexy. They’re so lovely, so vulnerable, and so alive, unlike those deadpan images on the billboards.
Prostitute:
That’s it, let’s go straight to your place! (Whispering.) How much? It’s up to you.
Sleepwalker:
Surely it’s a dream. (Whispering.) A bad dream! (Loudly.) You say of course you’re willing to have a woman with you, because there’d be a witness in case you’re shot by a sniper’s bullet. You say you’re a lovely girl. It makes one’s heart ache.