DEFENCE COUNSEL: Fish! Did they give you anything to drink at Dogsborough’s restaurant? Fish! Fish!
GIRI, bellowing: Go on and shout! Looks like his tyre’s gone down.
We’ll see who’s running things in this here town!
Uproar. Darkness. The organ starts again to play Chopin’s Funeral March in dance rhythm.
g
As the lights go on for the last time, the judge stands up and in a toneless voice delivers the sentence. The defendant is deathly pale.
THE JUDGE: Charles Fish, I find you guilty of arson and sentence you to fifteen years at hard labour.
A sign appears.
9
a
Cicero. A woman climbs out of a shot-up truck and staggers forward.
THE WOMAN: Help! Help! Don’t run away. Who’ll testify?
My husband is in that truck. They got him. Help!
My arm is smashed … And so’s the truck. I need
A bandage for my arm. They gun us down
Like rabbits. God! Won’t anybody help?
You murderers! My husband! I know who’s
Behind it. Ui! Raging: Fiend! Monster! Shit!
You’d make an honest piece of shit cry out:
Where can I wash myself? You lousy louse!
And people stand for it. And we go under.
Hey you! It’s Ui!
A burst of machine-gun fire nearby. She collapses.
Ui did this job!
Where’s everybody? Help! who’ll stop that mob?
b
Dogsborough’s country house. Night toward morning.
Dogsborough is writing his will and confession.
DOGSBOROUGH:
And so I, honest Dogsborough acquiesced
In all the machinations of that bloody gang
After full eighty years of uprightness.
I’m told that those who’ve known me all along
Are saying I don’t know what’s going on
That if I knew I wouldn’t stand for it.
Alas, I know it all. I know who set
Fire to Hook’s warehouse. And I know who dragged
Poor Fish into the restaurant and doped him.
I know that when Sheet died a bloody death
His steamship ticket in his pocket, Roma
Was there. I know that Giri murdered Bowl
That afternoon outside of City Hall
Because he knew too much about myself
Honest old Dogsborough. I know that he
Shot Hook, and saw him with Hook’s hat.
I know that Givola committed five
Murders, here itemised. I also know
All about Ui, and I know he knew
All this – the deaths of Sheet and Bowl, Givola’s
Murderers and all about the fire. All this
Your honest Dogsborough knew. All this
He tolerated out of sordid lust
For gain, and fear of forfeiting your trust.
10
Hotel Mammoth. Ui’s suite. Ui is sitting slumped in a deep chair, staring into space. Givola is writing and two bodyguards are looking over his shoulder, grinning.
GIVOLA: And so I, Dogsborough, bequeath my bar
To good hard-working Givola. My country
House to the brave, though somewhat hot-headed Giri.
And I bequeath my son to honest Roma.
I furthermore request that you appoint
Roma police chief, Giri judge, and Givola
Commissioner of welfare. For my own
Position I would warmly recommend
Arturo Ui, who, believe your honest
Old Dogsborough, is worthy of it. – That’s
Enough, I think, let’s hope he kicks in soon.
This testament will do wonders. Now that the old
Man’s known to be dying and the hope arises
Of laying him to rest with relative
Dignity, in clean earth, it’s well to tidy up
His corpse. A pretty epitaph is needed.
Ravens from olden time have battened on
The reputation of the fabulous
White raven that somebody saw sometime
And somewhere. This old codger’s their white raven.
I guess they couldn’t find a whiter one.
And by the way, boss, Giri for my taste
Is too much with him. I don’t like it.
UI, starting up: Giri?
What about Giri?
GIVOLA: Only that he’s spending
A little too much time with Dogsborough.
UI: I
Don’t trust him.
Giri comes in wearing a new hat, Hook’s.
GIVOLA: I don’t either. Hi, Giri How’s Dogsborough’s apoplexy?
GIRI: He refuses
To let the doctor in.
GIVOLA: Our brilliant doctor
Who took such loving care of Fish?
GIRI: No other
Will do. The old man talks too much.
UI: Maybe somebody’s talked too much to him …
GIRI: What’s that? To Givola: You skunk, have you been stinking up
The air around here again?
GIVOLA, alarmed: Just read the will
Dear Giri.
GIRI, snatches it from him:
What! Police chief? Him? Roma?
You must be crazy.
GIVOLA: He demands it. I’m
Against it too. The bastard can’t be trusted
Across the street.
Roma comes in followed by bodyguards.
Hi, Roma. Take a look at
This will.
ROMA, grabbing it out of his hands:
Okay, let’s see it. What do you know!
Giri a judge! But where’s the old man’s scribble?
GIRI: Under his pillow. He’s been trying to Smuggle it out. Five times I’ve caught his son.
ROMA holds out his hand:
Let’s have it, Giri.
GIRI: What? I haven’t got it.
ROMA: Oh yes, you have!
They glare at each other furiously.
I know what’s on your mind.
There’s something about Sheet. That concerns me.
GIRI: Bowl figures in it too. That concerns me.
ROMA: Okay, but you’re both jerks, and I’m a man.
I know you, Giri, and you too, Givola.
I’d even say your crippled leg was phony.
Why do I always find you bastards here?
What are you cooking up? What lies have they
Been telling you about me, Arturo? Watch
Your step, you pipsqueaks. If I catch you trying
To cross me up, I’ll rub you out like blood spots.
GIRI: Roma, you’d better watch your tongue. I’m not One of your two-bit gunmen.
ROMA, to his bodyguards: That means you!
That’s what they’re calling you at headquarters.
They hobnob with the Cauliflower Trust –
Pointing to Giri.
That shirt was made to order by Clark’s tailor –
You two-bit gunmen do the dirty work –
And you – To Ui. – put up with it.
UI, as though waking up: Put up with what?
GIVOLA: His shooting up Caruther’s trucks. Caruther’s
A member of the Trust.
UI: Did you shoot up
Caruther’s trucks?
ROMA: I gave no orders. Just
Some of the boys. Spontaneous combustion.
They don’t see why it’s always the small grocers
That have to sweat and bleed. Why not the big wheels?
Damn it, Arturo, I myself don’t get it.
GIVOLA: The Trust is good and mad.
GIRI: Clark says they’re only
Waiting for it to happen one more time.
He’s put in a complaint with Dogsborough.
UI, morosely: Ernesto, these things mustn’t happen.
; GIRI: Crack down, boss!
These guys are getting too big for their breeches.
GIVOLA: The Trust is good and mad, boss.
ROMA pulls his gun. To Giri and Givola:
Okay. Hands up!
To their bodyguards:
You too!
Hands up the lot of you. No monkey business!
Now back up to the wall.
Givola, his men, and Giri raise their hands and with an air of resignation back up to the wall.
UI, indifferently: What is all this?
Ernesto, don’t make them nervous. What are you guys
Squabbling about? So some palooka’s wasted
Some bullets on a cauliflower truck.
Such misunderstandings can be straightened out.
Everything is running smooth as silk.
The fire was a big success. The stores
Are paying for protection. Thirty cents
On every dollar. Almost half the city
Has knuckled under in five days. Nobody
Raises a hand against us. And I’ve got
Bigger and better projects.
GIVOLA, quickly: Projects? What
For instance?
GIRI: Fuck your projects. Get this fool
To let me put my hands down.
ROMA: Safety first, Arturo.
We’d better leave them up.
GIVOLA: Won’t it look sweet
If Clark comes in and sees us here like this?
UI: Ernesto, put that rod away!
ROMA: No dice!
Wake up, Arturo. Don’t you see their game?
They’re selling you out to the Clarks and Dogsboroughs.
‘If Clark comes in and sees us!’ What, I ask you
Has happened to the shipyard’s funds? We haven’t
Seen a red cent. The boys shoot up the stores
Tote gasoline to warehouses and sigh:
We made Arturo what he is today
And he doesn’t know us any more. He’s playing
The shipyard owner and tycoon. Wake up
Arturo!
GIRI: Right. And speak up. Tell us where You stand.
UI jumps up: Are you boys trying to pressure me
At gunpoint? Better not, I’m warning you
You won’t get anywhere with me like that.
You’ll only have yourselves to blame for
The consequences. I’m a quiet man. But
I won’t be threatened. Either trust me blindly
Or go your way. I owe you no accounting.
Just do your duty, and do it to the full.
The recompense is up to me, because
Duty comes first and then the recompense.
What I demand of you is trust. You lack
Faith, and where faith is lacking, all is lost.
How do you think I got this far? By faith!
Because of my fanatical, my unflinching
Faith in the cause. With faith and nothing else
I flung a challenge at this city and forced
It to its knees. With faith I made my way
To Dogsborough. With faith I climbed the steps
Of City Hall. With nothing in my naked
Hands but indomitable faith.
ROMA: And
A tommy gun.
UI: No, other men have them
But lack firm faith in their predestination
To leadership. And that is why you too
Need to have faith in me. Have faith! Believe that
I know what’s best for you and that I’m
Resolved to put it through. That I will find
The road to victory. If Dogsborough
Passes away, then I decide who gets to
Be what. I say no more, but rest assured:
You’ll all be satisfied.
GIVOLA puts his hand on his heart:
Arturo!
ROMA, sullenly: Scram
You guys!
Giri, Givola and Givola’s bodyguard go out slowly with their hands up.
GIRI, leaving, to Roma: I like your hat.
GIVOLA, leaving: Dear Roma …
ROMA: Scram!
Giri, you clown, don’t leave your laugh behind.
And Givola, you crook, be sure to take
Your clubfoot, though I’m pretty sure you stole it.
When they are gone, Ui relapses into his brooding.
UI: I want to be alone.
ROMA, standing still: Arturo, if I
Hadn’t the kind of faith you’ve just described
I’d sometimes find it hard to look my
Men in the face. We’ve got to act. And quickly.
Giri is cooking up some dirty work.
UI: Don’t worry about Giri. I am planning
Bigger and better things. And now, Ernesto
To you, my oldest friend and trusted lieutenant
I will divulge them.
ROMA, beaming: Speak, Arturo. Giri
And what I had to say of him can wait.
He sits down with Ui. Roma’s men stand waiting in the corner.
UI: We’re finished with Chicago. I need more.
ROMA: More?
UI: Vegetables are sold in other cities.
ROMA: But how are you expecting to get in?
UI: Through
The front door, through the back door, through the windows.
Resisted, sent away, called back again.
Booed and acclaimed. With threats and supplications
Appeals and insults, gentle force and steel
Embrace. In short, the same as here.
ROMA: Except
Conditions aren’t the same in other places.
UI: I have in mind a kind of dress rehearsal
In a small town. That way we’ll see
Whether conditions are so different. I
Doubt it.
ROMA: And where have you resolved to stage
This dress rehearsal?
UI: In Cicero.
ROMA: But there
They’ve got this Dullfeet with his Journal
For Vegetables and Positive Thinking
Which every Saturday accuses me
Of murdering Sheet.
UI: That’s got to stop.
ROMA: It will. These journalists have enemies.
Their black and white makes certain people
See red. Myself, for instance. Yes, Arturo
I think these accusations can be silenced.
UI: I’m sure they can. The Trust is negotiating
With Cicero right now. For the time being
We’ll just sell cauliflower peacefully.
ROMA: Who’s doing this negotiating?
UI: Clark.
But he’s been having trouble. On our account.
ROMA: I see. So Clark is in it. I wouldn’t trust
That Clark around the corner.
UI: In Cicero
They say we’re following the Cauliflower
Trust like its shadow. They want cauliflower, but
They don’t want us. The shopkeepers don’t like us.
A feeling shared by others: Dullfeet’s wife
For instance, who for years now has been running
A greengoods wholesale house. She’d like to join
The Trust, and would have joined except for us.
ROMA: You mean this plan of moving in on Cicero
Didn’t start with you at all, but with the Trust?
Arturo, now I see it all. I see
Their rotten game.
UI: Whose game?
ROMA: The Trust’s.
The goings-on at Dogsborough’s! His will!
It’s all a machination of the Trust.
They want the Cicero connection. You’re in
The way. But how can they get rid of you?
You’ve got them by the balls, because they needed
You for their dirty business and connived at
Your methods. But now they’ve fo
und a way:
Old Dogsborough confesses and repairs
In ash and sackcloth to his coffin.
The cauliflower boys with deep emotion
Retrieve this paper from his hands and sobbing
Read it to the assembled press: how he repents
And solemnly adjures them to wipe out
The plague which he – as he confesses – brought
In, and restore the cauliflower trade
To its time-honoured practices.
That’s what they plan, Arturo. They’re all in it:
Giri, who gets Dogsborough to scribble wills
And who is hand in glove with Clark, who’s having
Trouble in Cicero because of us
And wants pure sunshine when he shovels shekels.
Givola, who smells carrion. – This Dogsborough
Honest old Dogsborough with his two-timing will
That splatters you with muck has got to be
Rubbed out, Arturo, or your best-laid plans
For Cicero are down the drain.
UI: You think
It’s all a plot? It’s true. They’ve kept me out
Of Cicero. I’ve noticed that.
ROMA: Arturo
I beg you: let me handle this affair.
I tell you what: my boys and I will beat
It out to Dogsborough’s tonight
And take him with us. To the hospital
We’ll tell him – and deliver him to the morgue.
UI: But Giri’s with him at the villa.
ROMA: He
Can stay there.
They exchange glances.
Two birds one stone.
UI: And Givola?
ROMA: On the way back I’ll drop in at the florist’s
And order handsome wreaths for Dogsborough.
For Giri too, the clown. And I’ll pay cash.
He pats his gun.
UI: Ernesto, this contemptible project of
The Dogsboroughs and Clarks and Dullfeets
To squeeze me out of Cicero’s affairs
By coldly branding me a criminal
Must be frustrated with an iron hand.
I put my trust in you.
ROMA: And well you may.
But you must meet with us before we start
And give the boys a talk to make them see
The matter in its proper light. I’m not
So good at talking.
UI, shaking his hand: It’s a deal.
ROMA: I knew it
Arturo. This was how it had to be
Decided. Say, the two of us! Say, you
And me! Like in the good old days.
To his men.
What did
I tell you, boys? He gives us the green light.
Brecht Collected Plays: 6: Good Person of Szechwan; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; Mr Puntila and his Man Matti (World Classics) Page 21
