CUHK Series:Snow in August
Page 8
A living Bodhisattva has descended. He’s touring the four corners of the world!
(His hands are waving and his feet are dancing.)
The Star of Fortune shines up above! Money and treas-ures for everyone! (He hits the gong once, giggling like the Buddha himself.)
[Enter Old Woman.
Old Woman:
(Claps and then rubs her hands.)
Goodness gracious, so very kind!
Crazy Master:
(As soon as he hits the gong, he performs “face changing,” and his face turns from gold to white.)
A crazy old fool, always laughing out loud.…That’s me, your crazy old monk!
(Opens his mouth and reveals a mouthful of gold teeth.)
Singsong Girl:
(Plucks the strings, walks to centre stage and sings in a high voice.)
Dhyana!
Writer:
What a beautiful sight!
Singsong Girl:
(Turns and smiles at him.)
What are you looking at?
Writer:
He who looks will have a throbbing heart!
Singsong Girl:
(Sways her waist slightly.)
It is a dead heart that stops throbbing, isn’t it?
Old Woman:
I was like that many years ago. Now my teeth have all fallen out, and I can eat only porridge.
Old Master:
Lady, I hope you’re not here to beg for alms. You know, the monks here at the temple need your support…
Old Woman:
You’re old and you’re a monk. Why are you still afraid of women?
Old Master:
Old woman, hold your sharp tongue!
Old Woman:
But I meant well! So what if I’m an old woman? Can’t I come and pay my homage at the temple? I’m just here to join in the fun. Suppose I sang a song, then what? Do you think the Bodhisattvas would be scared away by my singing?
Old Master:
Never mind. I’m hard of hearing and I can’t see well.
Crazy Master:
I’m a monk, but I eat meat and I drink. See, I’m what they call a “flower monk,” totally uninhibited! What have you got? Come on, show me all you’ve got!
Singsong Girl:
Sure I’m here to entertain, and I make money with my art. But listen, my looks are not for sale!
Crazy Master:
So what if you sold your body? Remember Buddha is present even in any old and stinking body.
Singsong Girl:
Okay, monk! Listen up! (Plays the strings.)
Old Woman:
This crazy monk, I’m not sure if he’s really crazy or just faking it.
Crazy Master:
Reality is not real, falsity is not false. Real or false, where can we find the real spirit of Buddha?
Old Woman:
You’re crazy. You don’t look like you have it!
Crazy Master:
(Giggling.)
Old woman, what are you talking about, having and not having?
Singsong Girl:
(Plucks strings in fast pace. Sings in high-pitched style.)
Snow in August,
How strange it is,
Cao Mountain is quiet and serene,
A beautiful shadow
Cavorts with the clear and crisp wind.
Look at the snowy mountain top,
There is meaning for us to know.
In the green grassland,
A place to seek out your thoughts.
Look again,
Even insensate stones think of moving,
And try to send us a little message.
The way of Heaven,
They say it’s enlightenment,
It is but one big mass of nothingness.
All Masters:
(Sing.)
The ultimate Dharma is no Dharma,
The big merit needs no cultivation.
Crazy Master:
(Strikes the gong hard, then puts his hand on it to halt the sound.)
The big sound has no sound!
One Master:
Where did this wild cat come from?
Another Master:
Your Reverence, what are you looking for?
[Enter Layman A stealthily. He has something hidden inside his shirt. When he squeezes it, it cries out “meow.”
He tiptoes and sneaks around. When he squeezes “the thing” inside his shirt again, there is another cry of “meow.”
That Master:
(Hollers.)
Bad karma!
Nice Master:
Get out of here!
(Nice Master gives Layman A a thump with his staff, and the latter scurries all over the stage to constant cat meowing. Again and again Nice Master keeps on hollering and thumping with his staff. Everybody chases around aimlessly amid sounds of the gong and ringing bells. Pandemonium ensues.)
Layman A:
(Running away.)
Go get him! Don’t let him get away! (Exit running.)
Singsong Girl:
(Plays strings and sings.)
Dhya—na!
All Laymen:
(Sing in chorus.)
All sentient beings are Buddha,
And Buddha is us.
[Enter Layman A with a cat under his armpit, running.
Layman A:
Don’t let the guy get away!
Crazy Master:
That’s the guy, the cat guy! (Hits the gong and laughs out loud.)
[Layman A scurries around the stage. The cat keeps meowing. Everybody laughs.
One Master:
(Suddenly starts hollering and runs.)
Thief! Thief! Catch him!
Another Master:
Cat or thief? Which one are we supposed to catch?
Right Master:
(Suddenly starts hollering and running.)
Fire! Fire! The inner chamber is on fire! (Exit running.)
Wrong Master:
Get him! Get that crazy firebug!
Quite Master:
What did you say? Who set whose house on fire?
That Master:
He who set the fire knows he’s the one.
Singsong Girl:
(Plays the strings and sings.)
Dhyana!
Writer:
(Recites loudly.)
If you want to play, go ahead and play;
If you want to make noise, just make noise.
Your house is your castle, how can anyone stop you?
[Enter a monk and a layman. One of them is pushing a drum and the other hitting it. Loud drumming.
Enter Right Master running. He is holding a torch in his hand.
Right Master:
Your Reverences, where’s the chamber that’s on fire?
Layman A:
(Hollers.)
Don’t let the thief get away! (Chases after Right Master.)
Right Master:
Fire, fire, fire! (Scurries around the stage.)
Layman A:
Meow, meow, meow—(Chases after Right Master around the stage.)
[Exit Right Master running.
All Masters:
(Chase after Layman A and run around the stage after him. Sing in chorus.)
No matter monk or layman,
We are all human,
Bodhisattvas are always true,
Each and every one.
[Exit Layman A running.
All Laymen:
(Sing in chorus.)
You suffer and I suffer,
You live hard and I live hard.
If not we’d all be in vain,
And our lives not worth living.
[Enter Right Master waving a torch.
Right Master:
Thief! Thief! Catch the thief! (Runs all over the stage.)
Crowd:
(Sing in chorus.)
O fire, fire, fire, fire!
O fire, fire, fire—
[Enter Layman A holding a cat a
nd chases after Right Master. Exit Right Master running.
Layman A:
He set the fire and he cries: “Catch the thief.” Just like a thief shouting: “Catch the thief!”
[Meowing is heard all over the stage. All chase after Layman A.
Crazy Master:
That’s him, the cat guy! (Hits the gong and laughs out loud.)
Crowd:
Get him!
Get him!
Don’t let him get away!
Layman A:
I’d like to see how you’re gonna find it! (Puts down the cat. Exit running.)
Crowd:
(Chasing after the cat.)
Meow—meow—meow—meow—
[Enter Right Master running while holding a torch.
Right Master:
It’s burning! It’s burning! My house is burning down!
(Exit running, his mouth spitting fire.)
Layman C:
The fire burns the cat,
And the cat runs away,
People stomp their feet,
On this blasted day!
Wrong Master:
Is this the trick you have in store?
How can you get to the other shore?
Old Master:
Amitabha! (Exit.)
Singsong Girl:
(Sings loudly.)
Dhya—na!
All Masters and Laymen:
(Sing.)
You’re crazy, I’m crazy,
You’re crazy, I’m crazy.
Small craziness is just not having it,
Big craziness reveals the true spirit!
Crowd:
(Enter Layman A carrying a package wrapped in cloth.)
(Shout one after another.)
Catch him!
Stop him!
Block his way!
Close him off!
Don’t let the guy get away!
[All, standing all over the stage, surround Layman A. Enter Old Master and Big Master, who is holding a big axe.
Le Feu 火 Gao Xingjian 94.5 × 67 cm 1991
Old Master:
(Pointing at Layman A.)
That scumbag started it all! It’s all his fault!
Big Master:
What’s going on here?
Layman A:
(Giggling.)
The cat started it all, all by itself—
Big Master:
Bring it over here!
[Layman A hands over the cloth package. Big Master takes it and holds it steady on a stump and chops it with his axe in one go. Silence. Crowd disperse. Enter Right Master carrying an unlit torch.
Right Master:
It’s all over.
Big Master:
What’s all over?
[Silence. Fire gradually rises upstage.
Big Master:
Go! Go! Go! The worship hall has become a mad playhouse. This is no place to linger. Go away and make your own living! (Exit.)
Singsong Girl:
(Plays the strings and sings.)
Dhya—na!
All Masters:
(Sing in chorus.)
Great wisdom is to reach the other shore,
Great mercy is to have an ordinary heart.
All Laymen:
(Sing in chorus.)
The brick carriers carry the bricks,
The cleaners do the cleaning up.
[Everybody cleans up the stage while singing. Among them, one laughs out loud, one cries endlessly, one waves his hand, and one keeps on staring. Singsong Girl walks towards front stage, swaying her body.
Singsong Girl:
(Sings.)
The writer pushes his pen,
The butcher holds his cleaver.
In health you enjoy a cup of tea,
In sickness the drugs administer.
Writer:
(Comes forward and sings.)
The baker kneads his dough,
The sewage collector wakes up early.
Singsong Girl:
(Sings.)
The baby cries,
Writer:
(Sings.)
It’s born.
Singsong Girl:
(Sings.)
The old man noiselessly
Writer:
(Sings.)
Passes away.
Singsong Girl:
(Sings.)
The lights are turned on,
Like many guns cracking at the same time,
Writer:
(Sings.)
Cannons go “boom, boom,”
On the other side of the river.
All Masters:
(Sing.)
The dead are sleeping, they’re not moving,
All Laymen:
(Sing.)
The living have to live, and live happily!
Writer:
(Sings.)
House buyers buy their houses,
Singsong Girl:
(Sings.)
Smile sellers sell their smiles.
All Laymen:
(Sing.)
Pile drivers drive their piles every day,
All Masters:
(Sing.)
When old bridges crumble new ones are built.
Writer:
(Sings.)
The world was like this in the beginning,
Singsong Girl:
(Sings.)
Even if the Tai Mountain falls in a moment,
Or the Jade Mountain refuses to die,
People look for troubles themselves.
Writer:
(Sings.)
The night rain hits the banana leaves,
When a light carriage passes by,
The wind murmurs.
All Masters and Laymen:
(Sing.)
Tonight and tomorrow morning,
It’s the same, the same, just the same,
Tonight and tomorrow morning,
It’s goin’ to be wonderful just the same,
Still wonderful just the same!
[The end.
Paris, November 1997
Présence 自在 Gao Xingjian 89 × 86 cm 1997
Notes
P. 1, line 1: Snow in August
Snow in August was first written in Chinese in 1997. Since then it has undergone several revisions. The script was first published in 2000 in Taipei (Lianjing Chubanshe 聯經出版社). Then a revised edition was included in Gao Xingjian juzuo xuan 高行健劇作選 (Selected plays by Gao Xingjian) (Hong Kong: Ming Pao Press, 2001). Gao also wrote an opera version, in which he added many songs, for the 2002 production in Taipei. The script of the opera version was published in Performing Arts Journal 《台灣戲專學刊》, No. 5, December 2002, and in the program August Snow 八月雪 (Taipei: Council for Cultural Affairs, Executive Yuan, 2002). The source text of my translation is the 2001 version in Gao Xingjian juzuo xuan, which according to Gao Xingjian, is the latest version.
The literal translation of the title 八月雪 is “Snow in the eighth month of the lunar calendar.” Depending on the year, the eighth month of the lunar calendar usually falls in late August or September. Huineng died on the third day of the eighth month, when it was quite possibly still August in the Roman calendar. The time was still late summer in southern China, thus the peculiarity and unnaturalness of snow. I have translated 八月 as “August” because the weather in September in many parts of the world can be quite cool and snow is unusual but not unheard of, and “snow in September” would not be seen as strange as it is described in the play.
P. 1, line 8: Boundless Treasure 無盡藏
The literal meaning of Wujincang 無盡藏 is “repertory of boundless merits.” Wujincang was also the name of a Buddhist nun. As recorded in Xu biqiuni zhuan 續比丘尼傳 (Biographies of Buddhist nuns, second volume) and other books, she once met Huineng when she was reciting the Nirvana Sutra and was surprised by the fact that he could clearly elucidate the tenets of the sutra despite his illiteracy.
P. 1, line 9: Hongren 弘忍 (602-675)
Tang Dynasty Zen master. It was said that he was a child prodigy. He met the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin when he was only seven and became a disciple. Later he succeeded Daoxin and was chosen as the Fifth Patriarch. His two most famous disciples were Huineng and Shenxiu. Huineng was the founder of the Southern School of Sudden Enlightenment and Shenxiu was the founder of the Northern School of Gradual Enlightenment.
P. 1, line 10: Shenxiu 神秀 (c. 606-706)
Tang Dynasty Zen master. When he was young, he studied the Confucian classics and prepared himself for the civil examination. (Some biographies say that he studied Daoism before joining the Buddhist order.) He probably became a monk around the age of fifteen. Later he went to see Hongren, who took him in as a disciple and made him First Instructor of the temple. After Hongren’s death, Shenxiu left the temple and practiced Dhuta asceticism in his travels. As his fame spread, Empress Wu summoned him to the capital and bestowed on him the title of Abbot of the Two Capitals and Teacher of Three Kingdoms. He was known as the founder of the School of Gradual Enlightenment in Zen Buddhism.
P. 1, line 13: Yinzong 印宗 (627-713)
Tang Dynasty Zen master. He became a monk when he was very young and was a student of Hongren. An expert in the sutras, he was famous for writing a book entitled Niepan 涅盤 (Nirvana). The emperor once summoned him to serve at a temple in the capital city, but he refused. He met Huineng at Dharma Nature Temple and performed the ordination ceremony for him.
P. 1, line 14: Shenhui 神會 (c. 684-c. 758)
Tang Dynasty Zen master. When he was young he studied Confucianism and Daoiam before converting to Buddhism and becoming a monk at the age 40. (Some books claim that he was Huineng’s “boy disciple” at age thirteen or fourteen, but scholars have proved this false.) A student of Huineng, he attacked the rival School of Gradual Enlightenment and was largely responsible for the revival and rise of Huineng’s School of Sudden Enlightenment. Later he helped financed government troops in their campaign against the rebels during the An Lushan Rebellion. After the campaign, he was honored by the imperial court and given a temple at the capital to promulgate the teaching of the School of Sudden Enlightenment, which became the dominant force in Buddhism in China. He was known as the Seventh Patriarch of the Southern School of Zen Buddhism in China.