Berliner Ensemble Adaptations

by Bertolt Brecht

  The village in Touraine. Jacques Legrain is hammering a wine barrel. Grandfather Breuil, an old man from a neighboring village, steps up, leading a Child by the hand.

  Grandfather Breuil Well, Jacques, that was a long visit you had with François at the “St. Peter’s Catch.” Something like five years.

  Legrain One thing led to another, Grandfather Breuil.

  Breuil A man sets out for Rouen and ends up in Paris, hein? The English are there too, I suppose.

  Legrain Not any more, grandfather, not any more.

  Breuil What do you mean, not any more?

  Legrain The artisans from the suburbs, the drapers and tanners, the vegetable women from the market have driven them out.

  Breuil And fellows like Jacques Legrain, I daresay. I suppose they’re still in Compiègne?

  Legrain Not there either. Nor in Rheims or Châlons. They’re still in Calais, though, and down in Bordeaux; but not for long.

  Breuil (to the Child) Did you hear that? The French are making themselves at home in France.

  Child Did you see her, Monsieur Legrain?

  Legrain I saw her burn, Pierre.

  Breuil She led France.

  Legrain Yes, but France led her as well.

  Breuil I thought she was led by voices.

  Legrain Yes, our voices.

  Breuil What do you mean?

  Legrain Well, it was like this: First she led the people against the enemy, that’s how she was captured. Then when they locked her up in the tower in Rouen, she didn’t hear from us and became weak like you and me. She even recanted. But when she recanted, the common people of Rouen got so angry at her that they went to the docks and beat up the English. She heard about it, nobody knows how, and her courage came back. She realized that a law court is as good a battleground as the earthworks before Orléans. So she turned her greatest defeat into our greatest victory. After her lips were silenced, her voice was heard.

  Breuil Well, well. The war isn’t over yet.

  Child Will the English soldiers come back, grandfather?

  Breuil I doubt it. How’s the wine at your place this year?

  Legrain I wasn’t there last year, but the girls say it’s as sweet as in twenty-eight.

  (The Girls are heard singing as they pick the grapes)

  Girls (singing)

  The Maid stood trial for half a year

  All France was waiting until May.

  And those she spoke to did not hear.

  Then she was taken out into the day.

  And as they dragged her to the stake

  As torches hissed and the wind blew shrill

  She cried out: Frenchmen, Frenchmen, wake

  And fight for France, for the soil you till!

  Legrain They’re singing that song in both halves of France now, ours and theirs.

  Don Juan

  Molière

  Adaptation

  Collaborators: B. Besson, E. Hauptmann

  Translator: Ralph Manheim

  Characters

  Don Juan, son of Don Luis Tenorio La Violette, servant to Don

  Sganarelle, Don Juan’s servant Juan

  Don Luis Tenorio Ragotin, Don Juan’s equerry

  Donna Elvira, Don Juan’s wife Pieter, a fisherman

  Don Carlos and Don Alonso, Berthelot, Angelot, Colin,

  Donna Elvira’s brothers boatmen

  The Statue of The Commander Charlotte and Mathurine,

  Angelica, the commander’s fisher maidens

  daughter Marphurius, a physician

  Mr. Dimanche, a tailor A Beggar

  Guzman, Donna Elvira’s Seraphine, Don Juan’s

  equerry cook

  The action is laid in Sicily.

  Act One

  Entrance of an elegant town house. In front of it, pieces of baggage.

  1

  Sganarelle. Guzman.

  Sganarelle (fishes a snuffbox out of Don Juan’s baggage and looks at it) Whatever Aristotle and the other philosophers may say, there’s nothing better than tobacco. It’s a passion with the nobility. Ah, they choose their passions wisely! To live without tobacco in this day and age is not to live at all. Not only does it cleanse and rejoice the brain, but above all it confers that divine peace of mind without which a nobleman cannot be a nobleman. Tobacco alone allows a nobleman to forget sufferings, especially other people’s. One or two of our farms are on the rocks? We take a pinch of snuff and things don’t look half so bleak. A petitioner makes a nuisance of himself, a creditor importunes us? Take a pinch of snuff, my friend, be a philosopher! A pinch of snuff satisfies the giver as well as the taker. The mere gesture of offering: you don’t wait to be asked, you anticipate your fellow man’s desires—tobacco is what he wants—you satisfy them with a smile. Take a pinch, friend Guzman, help yourself.

  Guzman Thank you kindly. But let’s get back to the subject. Perhaps I haven’t made myself quite clear.

  Sganarelle Oh yes you have. Donna Elvira has hurried after us, overpowered by love for my master. She can neither live nor die without him. In short, you are here.

  Guzman But tell me this: What sort of reception can we expect?

  Sganarelle Shall I tell you what I think? I am afraid that her love will be ill-rewarded, that her journey will do her no good. She would have done better to stay at home.

  Guzman Why? Has your master intimated that his love has grown cold so soon? Is that the reason for his sudden departure?

  Sganarelle Oh no! What do you imagine? We never discuss our love affairs. To tell you the truth, I’ve known him so long, I can see how the land lies without his breathing a word. Sometimes I know better than he does himself. Experience!

  Guzman What! Then this sudden journey of his was merely a contemptible betrayal? And Don Juan has miserably deserted Donna Elvira after only a few weeks of marriage? Without a word of explanation?

  Sganarelle (takes a pinch of snuff) Oh! We’re still young and short on courage …

  Guzman A man of his station!

  Sganarelle Station, my foot! His station won’t stand in his way. Do you really think he would deny himself the slightest pleasure for the sake of his station?

  Guzman But the holy ties of matrimony?

  Sganarelle Ah, my dear Guzman, my poor friend! Even holy ties are—ties. You don’t know Don Juan.

  Guzman I am beginning to fear that I don’t. Those sacred oaths, those ardent letters, his impatience until he had lured her out of her pious refuge at the convent of Santa Regina! How can he abandon her after all that? I don’t understand.

  Sganarelle If you knew the fellow, you would know that such things give him no trouble at all. Incidentally, I haven’t said a word. I had to come here ahead of him to make certain arrangements, and since his arrival I haven’t spoken to him. I don’t know anything definite. But to be on the safe side, I’d better inform you that my master, Don Juan, is the biggest scoundrel that ever walked the earth, a madman, a devil, a heathen, who believes neither in heaven nor in hell, who lives like a wild beast, an Epicurean pig, a Sardanapalus! Very well, he married your mistress. To get what he wanted he’d have married you too and the priest and the dog and the cat. What’s a marriage to him? It’s simply the trap in which he catches them all. He is the greatest of all marriers before the Lord: housewife or virgin; noble or shopkeeper; countess or peasant woman; mayor’s wife or novice—nothing’s too hot or too cold for him. If I were to list all the women he had married in various parts of the world, we’d still be standing here tomorrow morning. But there’s one thing I’ve got to admit: he attracts women as jam attracts flies. He’s a magnet that none can resist. His poor old father endures disgrace after disgrace and wonders how he can go on. And the debts! But what can we do? Nothing. One day heaven in its wrath will crush him.

  Guzman Sh-h! Here he comes. What shall I tell my mistress?

  Sganarelle (shrugs his shoulders)

  Guzman (goes off in despair)

  2

  Don Juan. Sgan
arelle.

  Sganarelle (reporting) The light campaign baggage.

  Don Juan Whom were you talking to just now? Wasn’t that Donna Elvira’s equerry? Guzman?

  Sganarelle Mm, someone of the sort.

  Don Juan (threatening him with his stick) Was it or wasn’t it?

  Sganarelle It was.

  Don Juan How long has he been in this city?

  Sganarelle Just arrived.

  Don Juan What brings him here?

  Sganarelle You ought to know.

  Don Juan Our journey?

  Sganarelle He wanted to know the reason for it.

  Don Juan What did you tell him?

  Sganarelle That you hadn’t confided in me.

  Don Juan And what is your opinion?

  Sganarelle Mine? Begging your pardon, I think we’re after another young lady.

  Don Juan That’s what you think?

  Sganarelle Yes.

  Don Juan You’re not mistaken. We are. Another has banished Elvira from my thoughts.

  Sganarelle I know my master like my little finger. Your heart is insatiable.

  Don Juan Can it be that you don’t approve?

  Sganarelle Well, my lord …

  Don Juan Well, what?

  Sganarelle Of course I approve if that’s what you want. In that case I haven’t a word to say. But if you wanted something different, it might be different.

  Don Juan Never mind that. Just tell me what you think. I authorize you.

  Sganarelle In that case, my lord, I’ll put it plainly. This indiscriminate loving is abominable.

  Don Juan What? Would you wish me to chain myself to the first one who comes along and have no eyes for others? Fidelity—what an absurd notion! All the beauties in the world have the right to bewitch us. If in justice to one I succumb to her charms, does it mean that I should be unjust to the others? Is it right that one who has had the good fortune to cross our path should deprive all others of their just claims to our heart? My eyes are open to every woman’s qualities; I am resolved to pay each one the tribute that nature imposes. A chair! (Sganarelle brings him the folding traveling chair. Don Juan sits down) What ineffable pleasure it is to invent the thousand flatteries that subjugate a young beauty’s heart! To take note each day of the progress one has made. How gratifying to lay siege, with protestations, tears, and sighs, to a chaste soul reluctant to surrender. Step by step to overcome her tender resistance, to surmount the pangs of conscience on which she prides herself, and to lead her gently where we want her. Once the fortress is ours, we have nothing more to say or desire: we fall asleep. In this domain, my friend, I have the ambitions of a conqueror, who races eternally from one victory to the next, recognizing no boundary to his wishes. Nothing, nothing can halt my impetuous desires. This heart that beats within me aspires to love the whole world. Like Alexander of Macedon, I long for still other worlds to subject to the power of my love. What do you say to that, Sganarelle?

  Sganarelle Well, my lord … your way of life … I just don’t like the way you live.

  Don Juan What do you mean? How do I live?

  Sganarelle Oh, splendidly. Excellently. Except—well, this business of getting married every few weeks.

  Don Juan But it’s delightful!

  Sganarelle Undoubtedly. I wouldn’t mind doing it myself if only it weren’t so sinful. Making a mockery of such a sacred institution!

  Don Juan Come, come. That’s between me and heaven.

  Sganarelle Oh, sir. They say that the vengeance of heaven is terrible. People who mock it …

  Don Juan Hold your tongue! Don’t you know that I can’t abide sermons? Blockhead!

  Sganarelle God forbid. I wasn’t referring to you. You can’t help it. You have your justifications. Such power to attract! So full of fire! It grieves me to say that there are men who take morality lightly without such excellent justifications. If I had that kind of master, I’d say it to his face: You earthworm, I’d say, you crawling louse, how dare you make a mockery of something that all mankind holds sacred! Do you think because you’re a nobleman with a blond, prettily curled wig, and feathers on your hat—that’s what I’d say to him—do you think because you wear a gold-embroidered coat with dashing red braid that you can do anything you please?—that’s what I’d say to him …

  Don Juan (smiling) Rascal.

  Sganarelle It would be my duty to tell that kind of man what I thought of him.

  Don Juan That’s enough. We haven’t much time. Now we must speak of the beauty who has brought us here …

  Sganarelle (aside) Brought!

  Don Juan … by bringing herself.

  Sganarelle That’s just it! Must I remind you that you killed the Commander, Don Rodrigo, here in this province? Aren’t you afraid?

  Don Juan What is there to be afraid of? I killed him, didn’t I? According to all the rules of the art.

  Sganarelle That is true. He can’t complain on that score.

  Don Juan Who’s afraid of the dead? Anyway, I was tried, my father interceded for me, I was pardoned. The affair is dead and buried.

  Sganarelle Yes, dead and buried. But there are friends, close relations, a young daughter—do you suppose those friends and relations were overjoyed to see you pardoned?

  Don Juan That’s enough. It’s time to think of the pleasures that lie ahead of us. The beauty I referred to is a young … (He catches sight of Donna Elvira) Donna Elvira! A most unwelcome sight. Scoundrel! Traitor! Why didn’t you tell me she was here?

  Sganarelle You didn’t ask me, my lord.

  Don Juan Has she lost her mind? Traveling around in evening dress!

  3

  Don Juan. Donna Elvira. Sganarelle.

  Donna Elvira Don Juan! May I ask you to recognize me? May I hope at least that you will deign to look my way?

  Don Juan My lady, I must own that I am surprised. I wasn’t expecting you here.

  Donna Elvira Yes, I can see you were not expecting me. Your surprise is not of the kind I had hoped for. It convinces me of what I had refused to believe. And now I am amazed at my simplicity and the folly of my heart that led me to doubt your treachery despite so many proofs. I was good, or rather stupid, enough to deceive myself. I thought up a hundred reasons for your sudden departure. In order to acquit you of the crime of which my reason convicted you, I gave ear to a thousand fantastic whisperings that proclaimed your innocence. But this reception dispels all doubt; your look when you saw me revealed more than I wished to know. And yet I should be glad to hear from your own lips the reasons for your sudden departure. Speak, Don Juan, I implore you. I am curious to see how you will justify yourself.

  Don Juan Sganarelle here will tell you why I went away, my lady.

  Sganarelle (in an undertone to Don Juan) I, my lord? Begging your pardon, sir, I don’t know a thing.

  Donna Elvira Speak, Sganarelle. It makes no difference from whom I learn the truth.

  Don Juan (motions Sganarelle to approach Donna Elvira) Go ahead, tell the lady.

  Sganarelle (in an undertone) What should I say?

  Don Juan Speak up!

  Sganarelle My lady …

  Donna Elvira Well?

  Sganarelle (to Don Juan) My lord … what … (A stern look from Don Juan) Well … my lady … the great conquerors … Alexander of Macedon … and the other worlds … were to blame for our departure … that’s as much as I know.

  Donna Elvira Don Juan, may I ask you to explain your puzzling explanation?

  Don Juan To tell the truth, my lady …

  Donna Elvira Heavens, how clumsily you defend yourself! Didn’t they teach you anything at court? Couldn’t you simply swear that your feelings for me are unchanged, that you still love me with the same matchless ardor, and that death alone can part you from me? Couldn’t you tell me that an affair of the utmost importance obliged you to slip away without taking leave of me, that you are compelled, quite against your will, to stay here for a time, that I should return home in the certainty that you will
follow as soon as possible, and that in my absence you suffer like a body separated from its soul.

  That’s how you should defend yourself instead of just standing there!

  Don Juan My lady, I must own that I have no talent for dissimulation. I can only tell the truth. I will not say that I still harbor the same feelings for you, that I am burning with desire to be reunited with you, when it is plain that I fled from you. Not for the reasons you suppose, but for reasons imposed by my conscience. To continue living with you would be a sin. Today I see what I have done through the eyes of my immortal soul. Today I see that in order to marry you I ravished you from the holy seclusion of the convent. That you have broken the vows that bound you to another. Heaven, as everyone knows, is extremely jealous in such matters. I fear, my lady, that our marriage is adultery in disguise. I fear the wrath of heaven for both of us. I am trying to forget you. It is my duty to let you return to your former bonds. My lady, would you oppose so pious a thought? Would you have me, by remaining with you, bring down the wrath of heaven on my head? My lady, our obligation to heaven and our fellow creatures often demands painful sacrifices …