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Title: Liliom - A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue
Author: Molnár, Ferenc
Language: English
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LILIOM
A LEGEND IN SEVEN SCENES
AND A PROLOGUE
BY
FRANZ MOLNAR
ENGLISH TEXT AND INTRODUCTION BY
BENJAMIN F. GLAZER
HORACE LIVERIGHT
PUBLISHER NEW YORK
LILIOM
COPYRIGHTED, 1921, BY
UNITED PLAYS INC.
_All rights reserved_
First Printing, May, 1921
Second Printing, June, 1921
Third Printing, August, 1921
Fourth Printing, November, 1921
Fifth Printing, September, 1922
Sixth Printing, December, 1922
Seventh Printing, January, 1926
Eighth Printing, December, 1927
Ninth Printing, November, 1928
_CAUTION_--All persons are hereby warned that the plays published in
this volume are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United
States and all foreign countries, and are subject to royalty, and any
one presenting any of said plays without the consent of the Author or
his recognized agents, will be liable to the penalties by law
provided. Applications for the acting rights must be made to the
United Plays, Inc., 1428 Broadway, New York City.
_Printed in the United States of America_
1921, at the Garrick Theatre, New York City.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
(In the order of their appearance)
_Marie_ Hortense Alden
_Julie_ Eva Le Gallienne
_Mrs. Muskat_ Helen Westley
_"Liliom"_ Joseph Schildkraut
"Liliom" is the Hungarian for lily, and the slang term for "a tough"
{ Frances Diamond
_Four Servant Girls_ { Margaret Mosier
{ Anne de Chantal
{ Elizabeth Parker
{ Howard Claney
_Policemen_ { Lawrence B. Chrow
_Captain_ Erskine Sanford
_Plainclothes Man_ Gerald Stopp
_Mother Hollunder_ Lilian Kingsbury
_"The Sparrow"_ Dudley Digges
_Wolf Berkowitz_ Henry Travers
_Young Hollunder_ William Franklin
_Linzman_ Willard Bowman
_First Mounted Policeman_ Edgar Stehli
_Second Mounted Policeman_ George Frenger
_The Doctor_ Robert Babcock
_The Carpenter_ George Frenger
_First Policeman of the Beyond_ Erskine Sanford
_Second Policeman of the Beyond_ Gerald Stopp
_The Richly Dressed Man_ Edgar Stehli
_The Poorly Dressed Man_ Philip Wood
_The Old Guard_ Walton Butterfield
_The Magistrate_ Albert Perry
_Louise_ Evelyn Chard
_Peasants, Townspeople, etc._
Lela M. Aultman, Janet Scott, Marion M. Winsten, Katherine
Fahnestock, Lillian Tuchman, Ruth L. Cumming, Jacob Weiser,
Maurice Somers, John Crump.
_Prologue_ An Amusement Park on the Outskirts of Budapest
_First Scene_ A Lonely Place in the Park
_Second Scene_ The Tin Type Shop of the Hollunders
_Third Scene_ The Same
_Fourth Scene_ A Railroad Embankment Outside the City
_Intermission_
_Fifth Scene_ Same as Scene Two
_Sixth Scene_ A Courtroom in the Beyond
_Seventh Scene_ Before Julie's Door
_Produced under the direction of_ FRANK REICHER
_Costumes and scenery designed by_ LEE SIMONSON
_Technical Director_ SHELDON K. VIELE
_Scenery painted by_ ROBERT BERGMAN
_Costumes executed by_ NETTIE DUFF READE
_Stage Manager_ WALTER GEER
_Assistant Stage Manager_ JACOB WEISER
_Music arranged_ by DEEMS TAYLOR
_Executive Director_ THERESA HELBURN
INTRODUCTION
The première of "LILIOM" at Budapest in December, 1909, left both
playgoer and critic a bit bewildered. It was not the sort of play the
Hungarian capital had been accustomed to expect of its favorite
dramatist, whose THE DEVIL, after two years of unprecedented success,
was still crowding the theatres of two continents.
One must, it was true, count on a touch of fantasy in every Molnar
work. Never had he been wholly content with everyday reality, not in
his stories, or in his sketches or in his earlier plays; and least of
all in THE DEVIL wherein the natural and supernatural were most
whimsically blended. But in LILIOM, it seemed, he had carried fantasy
to quite unintelligible lengths. Budapest was frankly puzzled.
What did he mean by killing his hero in the fifth scene, taking him
into Heaven in the sixth and bringing him back to earth in the
seventh? Was this prosaic Heaven of his seriously or satirically
intended? Was Liliom a saint or a common tough? And was his abortive
redemption a symbol or merely a jibe? These were some of the questions
Budapest debated while the play languished through thirty or forty
performances and was withdrawn.
Almost ten years passed before it was revived. This time it was an
immediate and overwhelming triumph. Perhaps the wide circulation of
the play in printed form had made its beauty and significance clearer.
Perhaps the tragedy of the war had made Molnar's public more sensitive
to spiritual values. Whatever the reason, Budapest now accepted
ecstatically what it had previously rejected, and Molnar was more of a
popular hero than ever. From which it may be gleaned that Hungary
takes its drama and dramatists more seriously, disapproves them more
passionately and praises them more affectionately than we Americans
can conceive. In Paris I once saw an audience rise en masse, because
the sculptor Rodin had entered the auditorium, and remain on its feet
cheering until he had taken his seat. Something of the kind greets
Molnar whenever he appears in public, and nothing is more certain than
that he is the hero, the oracle, the spoiled darling of club, salon
and coffee house in which artistic Hungary foregathers.
But the years immediately following the first production of LILIOM
were for him a period of eclipse. It was the first time that even the
threat of failure had cast its shadow across his career. He became
timid, wary of failure, too anxious to please his public. His
subsequent plays were less original, less daring, more faithful to
routine. Never again did he touch the heights of LILIOM; and some of
his best friends aver that he never will again until he has banished
the dread of failure that obsesses him.
An odd situation, truly, and in some aspects a tragic one. Genius
lacking the courage to spread its wings and soar. A potential immortal
bidding fearfully for the praise of a coffee-house clique. Is it
vanity? Is it abnormal sensitiveness? Biographical data cast little
light on the enigma.
Franz Molnar was born in Budapest on January 12, 1878, the son of a
wealthy Jewish merchant. He graduated from the Universities of Geneva
and Budapest. His literary career was begun as a journalist at the age
of eighteen. He wrote short sketches and humorous dialogues of such
beauty and charm that he became a national figure almost at once, and
the circulation of his newspaper increased until it was foremost in
Budapest. Then he married Margaret Vaszi, the daughter of his editor,
herself a journalist of note. Two years later he was divorced from
her, and subsequently he married an actress who had played rôles in
his own plays.
For a portrait of him as he is today you have to think of Oscar Wilde
at the height of his glory. A big pudgy face, immobile, pink,
smooth-shaven, its child-like expressionlessness accentuated by the
monocle he always wears, though rather belied by the gleam of humor in
his dark alert eyes. His hair is iron-gray, his figure stocky and of
about medium height. A mordant wit, an inimitable raconteur, he loves
life and gayety and all the luxuries of life. Nothing can persuade him
out of his complacent and comfortable routine. He will not leave
Budapest, even to attend the première of one of his plays in nearby
Vienna. The post-war political upheaval which has rent all Hungary
into two voluble and bitter factions left him quite unperturbed and
neutral. His pen is not for politics.
Yet it is a singularly prolific pen. His novels and short stories are
among the finest in Hungarian literature. He has written nine long
plays and numerous short ones. A chronology of his more important
dramatic works is as follows:
1902 A DOKTOR UR (The Doctor).
1904 JOZSI.
1907 AZ ÖRDÖG (The Devil).
1909 LILIOM.
1911 TESTÖR (Played in this country as "Where Ignorance is Bliss").
1913 A FARKAS (Played in this country as "The Phantom Rival").
1914 URIDIVAT (Attorney for Defence).
1919 A HATTYU (The Swan).
1920 SZINHAZ (Theatre: Three One-Act Plays).
Undoubtedly the greatest of these is LILIOM. Indeed, I know of no play
written in our own time which matches the amazing virtuosity of
LILIOM, its imaginative daring, its uncanny blending of naturalism and
fantasy, humor and pathos, tenderness and tragedy into a solid
dramatic structure. At first reading it may seem a mere improvization
in many moods, but closer study must reveal how the moods are as
inevitably related to each other as pearls on a string.
And where in modern dramatic literature can such pearls be
matched--Julie incoherently confessing to her dead lover the love she
had always been ashamed to tell; Liliom crying out to the distant
carousel the glad news that he is to be a father; the two thieves
gambling for the spoils of their prospective robbery; Marie and Wolf
posing for their portrait while the broken-hearted Julie stands
looking after the vanishing Liliom, the thieves' song ringing in her
ears; the two policemen grousing about pay and pensions while Liliom
lies bleeding to death; Liliom furtively proffering his daughter the
star he has stolen for her in heaven. . . . The temptation to count
the whole scintillating string is difficult to resist.
What is the moral of LILIOM? Nothing you can reduce to a creed. Molnar
is not a preacher or a propagandist for any theory of life. You will
look in vain in his plays for moral or dogma. His philosophy--if
philosophy you can call it--is always implicit. And nothing is plainer
than that his picture of a courtroom in the beyond is neither devoutly
nor satirically intended. Liliom's Heaven is the Heaven of his own
imagining. And what is more natural than that it should be an
irrational jumble of priest's purgatory, police magistrate's justice
and his own limited conception of good deeds and evil?
For those who hold that every fine dramatic architecture must have its
spire of meaning, that by the very selection of character and incident
the dramatist writes his commentary on life, there is still an
explanation possible. Perhaps Molnar was at the old, old task of
revaluing our ideas of good and evil. Perhaps he has only shown how
the difference between a bully, a wife-beater and a criminal on the
one hand and a saint on the other can be very slight. If one must tag
LILIOM with a moral, I prefer to read mine in Liliom's dying speech to
Julie wherein he says: "Nobody's right . . . but they all think they
are right. . . . A lot they know."
BENJAMIN F. GLAZER.
_New York, April, 1921._
LILIOM
SYNOPSIS OF SCENES
PROLOGUE--_An amusement park on the outskirts of Budapest._
FIRST SCENE--_A lonely place in the park._
SECOND SCENE--_The photographic studio of the HOLLUNDERS._
THIRD SCENE--_Same as scene two._
FOURTH SCENE--_A railroad embankment outside the city._
FIFTH SCENE--_Same as scene two._
SIXTH SCENE--_A courtroom in the beyond._
SEVENTH SCENE--_JULIE'S garden._
There are intermissions only after the second and fifth scenes.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
LILIOM
JULIE
MARIE
MRS. MUSKAT
LOUISE
MRS. HOLLUNDER
FICSUR
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
WOLF BEIFELD
THE CARPENTER
LINZMAN
THE DOCTOR
THE MAGISTRATE
TWO MOUNTED POLICEMEN
TWO PLAINCLOTHES POLICEMEN
TWO HEAVENLY POLICEMEN
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
THE GUARD
A SUBURBAN POLICEMAN
THE PROLOGUE
An amusement park on the outskirts of Budapest on a late afternoon in
Spring. Barkers stand before the booths of the sideshows haranguing
the passing crowd. The strident music of a calliope is heard;
laughter, shouts, the scuffle of feet, the signal bells of
merry-go-round.
The merry-go-round is at Center. LILIOM stands at the entrance, a
cigarette in his mouth, coaxing the people in. The girls regard him
with idolizing glances and screech with pleasure as he playfully
pushes them through entrance. Now and then some girl's escort resents
the familiarity, whereupon LILIOM'S demeanor becomes ugly and
menacing, and the cowed escort slinks through the entrance behind his
girl or contents himself with a muttered resentful comment.
One girl hands LILIOM a red carnation; he rewards her with a bow and a
smile. When the soldier who accompanies her protests, LILIOM cows him
with a fierce glance and a threatening gesture. MARIE and JULIE come
out of the crowd and LILIOM favors them with particular notice as they
pass into the merry-go-round.
MRS. MUSKAT comes out of the merry-go-round, bringing LILIOM coffee
and rolls. LILIOM mounts the barker's stand at the entrance, where he
is elevated over everyone on the stage. Here he begins his harangue.
Everybody turns toward him. The other booths are gradually deserted.
The tumult makes it impossible for the audience to hear what he is
saying, but every now and then some witticism of his provokes a storm
of laughter which is audible above the din. Many people enter the
merry-go-round. Here and there one catches a phrase "Room for one more
on the zebra's back," "Which of you ladies?" "Ten heller for adults,
five for children," "Step right up"----
It is growing darker. A lamplighter crosses the stage, and begins
unperturbedly lighting the colored gas-lamps. The whistle of a distant
locomotive is heard. Suddenly the tumult ceases, the lights go out,
and the curtain falls in darkness.
END OF PROLOGUE
LILIOM
SCENE ONE
SCENE--_A lonely place in the park, half hidden by trees and
shrubbery. Under a flowering acacia tree stands a painted wooden
bench. From the distance, faintly, comes the tumult of the amusement
park. It is the sunset of the same day._
_When the curtain rises the stage is empty._
_MARIE enters quickly, pauses at center, and looks back._
MARIE
Julie, Julie! [_There is no answer._] Do you hear me, Julie? Let her
be! Come on. Let her be. [_Starts to go back._]
[_JULIE enters, looks back angrily._]
JULIE
Did you ever hear of such a thing? What's the matter with the woman
anyway?
MARIE
[_Looking back again._] Here she comes again.
JULIE
Let her come. I didn't do anything to her. All of a sudden she comes
up to me and begins to raise a row.
MARIE
Here she is. Come on, let's run. [_Tries to urge her off._]
JULIE
Run? I should say not. What would I want to run for? I'm not afraid of
her.
MARIE
Oh, come on. She'll only start a fight.
JULIE
I'm going to stay right here. Let her _start_ a fight.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Entering._] What do you want to run away for? [_To JULIE._] Don't
worry. I won't eat you. But there's one thing I want to tell you, my
dear. Don't let me catch you in my carousel again. I stand for a whole
lot, I have to in my business. It makes no difference to me whether my
customers are ladies or the likes of you--as long as they pay their
money. But when a girl misbehaves herself on my carousel--out she
goes. Do you understand?
JULIE
Are you talking to me?
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you! You--chamber-maid, you! In my carousel----
JULIE
Who did anything in your old carousel? I paid my fare and took my seat
and never said a word, except to my friend here.
MARIE
No, she never opened her mouth. Liliom came over to her of his own
accord.
MRS. MUSKAT
It's all the same. I'm not going to get in trouble with the police,
and lose my license on account of you--you shabby kitchen maid!
JULIE
Shabby yourself.
MRS. MUSKAT
You stay out of my carousel! Letting my barker fool with you! Aren't
you ashamed of yourself?
JULIE
What? What did you say?
MRS. MUSKAT
I suppose you think I have no eyes in my head. I see everything that
goes on in my carousel. During the whole ride she let Liliom fool with
her--the shameless hussy!
JULIE
He did not fool with me! I don't let any man fool with me!
MRS. MUSKAT
He leaned against you all through the ride!
JULIE
He leaned against the panther. He always leans against something,
doesn't he? Everybody leans where he wants. I couldn't tell him not to
lean, if he always leans, could I? But he didn't lay a hand on me.
MRS. MUSKAT
Oh, didn't he? And I suppose he didn't put his hand around your waist,
either?
MARIE
And if he did? What of it?
MRS. MUSKAT
You hold your tongue! No one's asking you--just you keep out of it.
JULIE
He put his arm around my waist--just the same as he does to all the
girls. He always does that.
MRS. MUSKAT
I'll teach him not to do it any more, my dear. No carryings on in my
carousel! If you are looking for that sort of thing, you'd better go
to the circus! You'll find lots of soldiers there to carry on with!
JULIE
You keep your soldiers for yourself!
MARIE
Soldiers! As if we wanted soldiers!
MRS. MUSKAT
Well, I only want to tell you this, my dear, so that we understand
each other perfectly. If you ever stick your nose in my carousel
again, you'll wish you hadn't! I'm not going to lose my license on
account of the likes of you! People who don't know how to behave, have
got to stay out!
JULIE
You're wasting your breath. If I feel like riding on your carousel
I'll pay my ten heller and I'll ride. I'd like to see anyone try to
stop me!
MRS. MUSKAT
Just come and try it, my dear--just come and try it.
MARIE
We'll see what'll happen.
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you will see something happen that never happened before in this
park.
JULIE
Perhaps you think you could throw me out!
MRS. MUSKAT
I'm sure of it, my dear.
JULIE
And suppose I'm stronger than you?
MRS. MUSKAT
I'd think twice before I'd dirty my hands on a common servant girl.
I'll have Liliom throw you out. He knows how to handle your kind.
JULIE
You think Liliom would throw me out.
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, my dear, so fast that you won't know what happened to you!
JULIE
He'd throw me---- [_Stops suddenly, for MRS. MUSKAT has turned away.
Both look off stage until LILIOM enters, surrounded by four giggling
servant girls._]
LILIOM
Go away! Stop following me, or I'll smack your face!
A LITTLE SERVANT GIRL
Well, give me back my handkerchief.
LILIOM
Go on now----
THE FOUR SERVANT GIRLS
[_Simultaneously._] What do you think of him?--My handkerchief!--Give
it back to her!--That's a nice thing to do!
THE LITTLE SERVANT GIRL
[_To MRS. MUSKAT._] Please, lady, make him----
MRS. MUSKAT
Oh, shut up!
LILIOM
Will you get out of here? [_Makes a threatening gesture--the four
servant girls exit in voluble but fearful haste._]
MRS. MUSKAT
What have you been doing now?
LILIOM
None of your business. [_Glances at JULIE._] Have you been starting
with her again?
JULIE
Mister Liliom, please----
LILIOM
[_Steps threateningly toward her._] Don't yell!
JULIE
[_Timidly._] I didn't yell.
LILIOM
Well, don't. [_To MRS. MUSKAT._] What's the matter? What has she done
to you?
MRS. MUSKAT
What has she done? She's been impudent to me. Just as impudent as she
could be! I put her out of the carousel. Take a good look at this
innocent thing, Liliom. She's never to be allowed in my carousel
again!
LILIOM
[_To JULIE._] You heard that. Run home, now.
MARIE
Come on. Don't waste your time with such people. [_Tries to lead JULIE
away._]
JULIE
No, I won't----
MRS. MUSKAT
If she ever comes again, you're not to let her in. And if she gets in
before you see her, throw her out. Understand?
LILIOM
What has she done, anyhow?
JULIE
[_Agitated and very earnest._] Mister Liliom--tell me please--honest
and truly--if I come into the carousel, will you throw me out?
MRS. MUSKAT
Of course he'll throw you out.
MARIE
She wasn't talking to you.
JULIE
Tell me straight to my face, Mister Liliom, would you throw me out?
[_They face each other. There is a brief pause._]
LILIOM
Yes, little girl, if there was a reason--but if there was no reason,
why should I throw you out?
MARIE
[_To MRS. MUSKAT._] There, you see!
JULIE
Thank you, Mister Liliom.
MRS. MUSKAT
And I tell you again, if this little slut dares to set her foot in my
carousel, she's to be thrown out! I'll stand for no indecency in my
establishment.
LILIOM
What do you mean--indecency?
MRS. MUSKAT
I saw it all. There's no use denying it.
JULIE
She says you put your arm around my waist.
LILIOM
Me?
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you! I saw you. Don't play the innocent.
LILIOM
Here's something new! I'm not to put my arm around a girl's waist any
more! I suppose I'm to ask your permission before I touch another
girl!
MRS. MUSKAT
You can touch as many girls as you want and as often as you want--for
my part you can go as far as you like with any of them--but not this
one--I permit no indecency in my carousel. [_There is a long pause._]
LILIOM
[_To MRS. MUSKAT._] And now I'll ask you please to shut your mouth.
MRS. MUSKAT
What?
LILIOM
Shut your mouth quick, and go back to your carousel.
MRS. MUSKAT
What?
LILIOM
What did she do to you, anyhow? Tryin' to start a fight with a little
pigeon like that . . . just because I touched her?--You come to the
carousel as often as you want to, little girl. Come every afternoon,
and sit on the panther's back, and if you haven't got the price,
Liliom will pay for you. And if anyone dares to bother you, you come
and tell _me._
MRS. MUSKAT
You reprobate!
LILIOM
Old witch!
JULIE
Thank you, Mister Liliom.
MRS. MUSKAT
You seem to think that I can't throw you out, too. What's the reason I
can't? Because you are the best barker in the park? Well, you are very
much mistaken. In fact, you can consider yourself thrown out already.
You're discharged!
LILIOM
Very good.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Weakening a little._] I can discharge you any time I feel like it.
LILIOM
Very good, you feel like discharging me. I'm discharged. That settles
it.
MRS. MUSKAT
Playing the high and mighty, are you? Conceited pig! Good-for-nothing!
LILIOM
You said you'd throw me out, didn't you? Well, that suits me; I'm
thrown out.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Softening._] Do you have to take up every word I say?
LILIOM
It's all right; it's all settled. I'm a good-for-nothing. And a
conceited pig. And I'm discharged.
MRS. MUSKAT
Do you want to ruin my business?
LILIOM
A good-for-nothing? Now I know! And I'm discharged! Very good.
MRS. MUSKAT
You're a devil, you are . . . and that woman----
LILIOM
Keep away from her!
MRS. MUSKAT
I'll get Hollinger to give you such a beating that you'll hear all the
angels sing . . . and it won't be the first time, either.
LILIOM
Get out of here. I'm discharged. And you get out of here.
JULIE
[_Timidly._] Mister Liliom, if she's willing to say that she hasn't
discharged you----
LILIOM
You keep out of this.
JULIE
[_Timidly._] I don't want this to happen on account of me.
LILIOM
[_To MRS. MUSKAT, pointing to JULIE._] Apologize to her!
MARIE
A-ha!
MRS. MUSKAT
Apologize? To who?
LILIOM
To this little pigeon. Well--are you going to do it?
MRS. MUSKAT
If you give me this whole park on a silver plate, and all the gold of
the Rothschilds on top of it--I'd--I'd---- Let her dare to come into
my carousel again and she'll get thrown out so hard that she'll see
stars in daylight!
LILIOM
In that case, dear lady [_takes off his cap with a flourish_], you are
respectfully requested to get out o' here as fast as your legs will
carry you--I never beat up a woman yet--except that Holzer woman who I
sent to the hospital for three weeks--but--if you don't get out o'
here this minute, and let this little squab be, I'll give you the
prettiest slap in the jaw you ever had in your life.
MRS. MUSKAT
Very good, my son. Now you _can_ go to the devil. Good-bye. You're
discharged, and you needn't try to come back, either. [_She exits. It
is beginning to grow dark._]
MARIE
[_With grave concern._] Mister Liliom----
LILIOM
Don't you pity me or I'll give _you_ a slap in the jaw. [_To JULIE._]
And don't you pity me, either.
JULIE
[_In alarm._] I don't pity you, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
You're a liar, you _are_ pitying me. I can see it in your face. You're
thinking, now that Madame Muskat has thrown him out, Liliom will have
to go begging. Huh! Look at me. I'm big enough to get along without a
Madame Muskat. I have been thrown out of better jobs than hers.
JULIE
What will you do now, Mister Liliom?
LILIOM
Now? First of all, I'll go and get myself--a glass of beer. You see,
when something happens to annoy me, I always drink a glass of beer.
JULIE
Then you _are_ annoyed about losing your job.
LILIOM
No, only about where I'm going to get the beer.
MARIE
Well--eh----
LILIOM
Well--eh--what?
MARIE
Well--eh--are you going to stay with us, Mister Liliom?
LILIOM
Will you pay for the beer? [_MARIE looks doubtful; he turns to
JULIE._] Will you? [_She does not answer._] How much money have you
got?
JULIE
[_Bashfully._] Eight heller.
LILIOM
And you? [_MARIE casts down her eyes and does not reply. LILIOM
continues sternly._] I asked you how much you've got? [_MARIE begins
to weep softly._] I understand. Well, you needn't cry about it. You
girls stay here, while I go back to the carousel and get my clothes
and things. And when I come back, we'll go to the Hungarian
beer-garden. It's all right, I'll pay. Keep your money. [_He exits.
MARIE and JULIE stand silent, watching him until he has gone._]
MARIE
Are you sorry for him?
JULIE
Are you?
MARIE
Yes, a little. Why are you looking after him in that funny way?
JULIE
[_Sits down._] Nothing--except I'm sorry he lost his job.
MARIE
[_With a touch of pride._] It was on our account he lost his job.
Because he's fallen in love with you.
JULIE
He hasn't at all.
MARIE
[_Confidently._] Oh, yes! he is in love with you. [_Hesitantly,
romantically._] There is someone in love with me, too.
JULIE
There is? Who?
MARIE
I--I never mentioned it before, because you hadn't a lover of your
own--but now you have--and I'm free to speak. [_Very
grandiloquently._] My heart has found its mate.
JULIE
You're only making it up.
MARIE
No, it's true--my heart's true love----
JULIE
Who? Who is he?
MARIE
A soldier.
JULIE
What kind of a soldier?
MARIE
I don't know. Just a soldier. Are there different kinds?
JULIE
Many different kinds. There are hussars, artillerymen, engineers,
infantry--that's the kind that walks--and----
MARIE
How can you tell which is which?
JULIE
By their uniforms.
MARIE
[_After trying to puzzle it out._] The conductors on the street
cars--are they soldiers?
JULIE
Certainly not. They're conductors.
MARIE
Well, they have uniforms.
JULIE
But they don't carry swords or guns.
MARIE
Oh! [_Thinks it over again; then._] Well, policemen--are they?
JULIE
[_With a touch of exasperation._] Are they what?
MARIE
Soldiers.
JULIE
Certainly not. They're just policemen.
MARIE
[_Triumphantly._] But they have uniforms--and they carry weapons, too.
JULIE
You're just as dumb as you can be. You don't go by their uniforms.
MARIE
But you said----
JULIE
No, I didn't. A letter-carrier wears a uniform, too, but that doesn't
make him a soldier.
MARIE
But if he carried a gun or a sword, would he be----
JULIE
No, he'd still be a letter-carrier. You can't go by guns or swords,
either.
MARIE
Well, if you don't go by the uniforms or the weapons, what _do_ you go
by?
JULIE
By---- [_Tries to put it into words; fails; then breaks off
suddenly._] Oh, you'll get to know when you've lived in the city long
enough. You're nothing but a country girl. When you've lived in the
city a year, like I have, you'll know all about it.
MARIE
[_Half angrily._] Well, how _do_ you know when _you_ see a real
soldier?
JULIE
By one thing.
MARIE
What?
JULIE
One thing---- [_She pauses. MARIE starts to cry._] Oh, what are you
crying about?
MARIE
Because you're making fun of me. . . . You're a city girl, and I'm
just fresh from the country . . . and how am I expected to know a
soldier when I see one? . . . You, you ought to tell me, instead of
making fun of me----
JULIE
All right. Listen then, cry-baby. There's only one way to tell a
soldier: by his salute! That's the only way.
MARIE
[_Joyfully; with a sigh of relief._] Ah--that's good.
JULIE
What?
MARIE
I say--it's all right then--because Wolf--Wolf---- [_JULIE laughs
derisively._] Wolf--that's his name. [_She weeps again._]
JULIE
Crying again? What now?
MARIE
You're making fun of me again.
JULIE
I'm not. But when you say, "Wolf--Wolf--" like that, I have to laugh,
don't I? [_Archly._] What's his name again?
MARIE
I won't tell you.
JULIE
All right. If you won't say it, then he's no soldier.
MARIE
I'll say it.
JULIE
Go on.
MARIE
No, I won't. [_She weeps again._]
JULIE
Then he's not a soldier. I guess he's a letter-carrier----
MARIE
No--no--I'd rather say it.
JULIE
Well, then.
MARIE
[_Giggling._] But you mustn't look at me. You look the other way, and
I'll say it. [_JULIE looks away, MARIE can hardly restrain her own
laughter._] Wolf! [_She laughs._] That's his real name. Wolf, Wolf,
Soldier--Wolf!
JULIE
What kind of a uniform does he wear?
MARIE
Red.
JULIE
Red trousers?
MARIE
No.
JULIE
Red coat?
MARIE
No.
JULIE
What then?
MARIE
[_Triumphantly._] His cap!
JULIE
[_After a long pause._] He's just a porter, you dunce. Red cap . . .
that's a porter--and he doesn't carry a gun or a sword, either.
MARIE
[_Triumphantly._] But he salutes. You said yourself that was the only
way to tell a soldier----
JULIE
He doesn't salute at all. He only greets people----
MARIE
He salutes me. . . . And if his name _is_ Wolf, that doesn't prove he
ain't a soldier--he salutes, and he wears a red cap and he stands on
guard all day long outside a big building----
JULIE
What does he do there?
MARIE
[_Seriously._] He spits.
JULIE
[_With contempt._] He's nothing--nothing but a common porter.
MARIE
What's Liliom?
JULIE
[_Indignantly._] Why speak of him? What has he to do with me?
MARIE
The same as Wolf has to do with me. If you can talk to me like that
about Wolf, I can talk to you about Liliom.
JULIE
He's nothing to me. He put his arm around me in the carousel. I
couldn't tell him not to put his arm around me after he had done it,
could I?
MARIE
I suppose you didn't like him to do it?
JULIE
No.
MARIE
Then why are you waiting for him? Why don't you go home?
JULIE
Why--eh--he _said_ we were to wait for him.
[_LILIOM enters. There is a long silence._]
LILIOM
Are you still here? What are you waiting for?
MARIE
You told us to wait.
LILIOM
Must you always interfere? No one is talking to you.
MARIE
You asked us--why we----
LILIOM
Will you keep your mouth shut? What do you suppose I want with two of
you? I meant that one of you was to wait. The other can go home.
MARIE
All right.
JULIE
All right. [_Neither starts to go._]
LILIOM
One of you goes home. [_To MARIE._] Where do you work?
MARIE
At the Breier's, Damjanovitsch Street, Number 20.
LILIOM
And you?
JULIE
I work there, too.
LILIOM
Well, one of you goes home. Which of you wants to stay? [_There is no
answer._] Come on, speak up, which of you stays?
MARIE
[_Officiously._] She'll lose her job if she stays.
LILIOM
Who will?
MARIE
Julie. She has to be back by seven o'clock.
LILIOM
Is that true? Will they discharge you if you're not back on time?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
Well, wasn't I discharged?
JULIE
Yes--you were discharged, too.
MARIE
Julie, shall I go?
JULIE
I--can't tell you what to do.
MARIE
All right--stay if you like.
LILIOM
You'll be discharged if you do?
MARIE
Shall I go, Julie?
JULIE
[_Embarrassed._] Why do you keep asking me that?
MARIE
You know best what to do.
JULIE
[_Profoundly moved; slowly._] It's all right, Marie, you can go home.
MARIE
[_Exits reluctantly, but comes back, and says uncertainly._]
Good-night. [_She waits a moment to see if JULIE will follow her.
JULIE does not move. MARIE exits. Meantime it has grown quite dark.
During the following scene the gas-lamps far in the distance are
lighted one by one. LILIOM and JULIE sit on the bench. From afar, very
faintly, comes the music of a calliope. But the music is
intermittently heard; now it breaks off, now it resumes again, as if
it came down on a fitful wind. Blending with it are the sounds of
human voices, now loud, now soft; the blare of a toy trumpet; the
confused noises of the show-booths. It grows progressively darker
until the end of the scene. There is no moonlight. The spring
irridescence glows in the deep blue sky._]
LILIOM
Now we're both discharged. [_She does not answer. From now on they
speak gradually lower and lower until the end of the scene, which is
played almost in whispers. Whistles softly, then._] Have you had your
supper?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Want to go eat something at the Garden?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Anywhere else?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
[_Whistles softly, then._] You don't come to this park very often, do
you? I've only seen you three times. Been here oftener than that?
JULIE
Oh, yes.
LILIOM
Did you see me?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
And did you know I was Liliom?
JULIE
They told me.
LILIOM
[_Whistles softly, then._] Have you got a sweetheart?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Don't lie to me.
JULIE
I haven't. If I had, I'd tell you. I've never had one.
LILIOM
What an awful liar you are. I've got a good mind to go away and leave
you here.
JULIE
I've never had one.
LILIOM
Tell that to someone else.
JULIE
[_Reproachfully._] Why do you insist I have?
LILIOM
Because you stayed here with me the first time I asked you to. You
know your way around, you do.
JULIE
No, I don't, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
I suppose you'll tell me you don't know why you're sitting here--like
this, in the dark, alone with me--You wouldn't 'a' stayed so quick, if
you hadn't done it before--with some soldier, maybe. This isn't the
first time. You wouldn't have been so ready to stay if it was--what
_did_ you stay for, anyhow?
JULIE
So you wouldn't be left alone.
LILIOM
Alone! God, you're dumb! I don't need to be alone. I can have all the
girls I want. Not only servant girls like you, but cooks and
governesses, even French girls. I could have twenty of them if I
wanted to.
JULIE
I know, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
What do you know?
JULIE
That all the girls are in love with you. But that's not why _I_
stayed. I stayed because you've been so good to me.
LILIOM
Well, then you can go home.
JULIE
I don't want to go home now.
LILIOM
And what if I go away and leave you sitting here?
JULIE
If you did, I wouldn't go home.
LILIOM
Do you know what you remind me of? A sweetheart I had once--I'll tell
you how I met her---- One night, at closing time, we had put out the
lights in the carousel, and just as I was---- [_He is interrupted by
the entrance of two plainclothes POLICEMEN. They take their stations
on either side of the bench. They are police, searching the park for
vagabonds._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
What are you doing there?
LILIOM
Me?
SECOND POLICEMAN
Stand up when you're spoken to! [_He taps LILIOM imperatively on the
shoulder._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
What's your name?
LILIOM
Andreas Zavoczki. [_JULIE begins to weep softly._]
SECOND POLICEMAN
Stop your bawling. We're not goin' to eat you. We are only making our
rounds.
FIRST POLICEMAN
See that he doesn't get away. [_THE SECOND POLICEMAN steps closer to
LILIOM._] What's your business?
LILIOM
Barker and bouncer.
SECOND POLICEMAN
They call him Liliom, Chief. We've had him up a couple of times.
FIRST POLICEMAN
So that's who you are! Who do you work for now?
LILIOM
I work for the widow Muskat.
FIRST POLICEMAN
What are you hanging around here for?
LILIOM
We're just sitting here--me and this girl.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Your sweetheart?
LILIOM
No.
FIRST POLICEMAN
[_To JULIE._] And who are you?
JULIE
Julie Zeller.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Servant girl?
JULIE
Maid of All Work for Mister Georg Breier, Number Twenty Damjanovitsch
Street.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Show your hands.
SECOND POLICEMAN
[_After examining JULIE'S hand._] Servant girl.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Why aren't you at home? What are you doing out here with him?
JULIE
This is my day out, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
It would be better for you if you didn't spend it sitting around with
a fellow like this.
SECOND POLICEMAN
They'll be disappearing in the bushes as soon as we turn our backs.
FIRST POLICEMAN
He's only after your money. We know this fine fellow. He picks up you
silly servant girls and takes what money you have. Tomorrow you'll
probably be coming around to report him. If you do, I'll throw you
out.
JULIE
I haven't any money, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Do you hear that, Liliom?
LILIOM
I'm not looking for her money.
SECOND POLICEMAN
[_Nudging him warningly._] Keep your mouth shut.
FIRST POLICEMAN
It is my duty to warn you, my child, what kind of company you're in.
He makes a specialty of servant girls. That's why he works in a
carousel. He gets hold of a girl, promises to marry her, then he takes
her money and her ring.
JULIE
But I haven't got a ring.
SECOND POLICEMAN
You're not to talk unless you're asked a question.
FIRST POLICEMAN
You be thankful that I'm warning you. It's nothing to me what you do.
I'm not your father, thank God. But I'm telling you what kind of a
fellow he is. By tomorrow morning you'll be coming around to us to
report him. Now you be sensible and go home. You needn't be afraid of
him. This officer will take you home if you're afraid.
JULIE
Do I _have_ to go?
FIRST POLICEMAN
No, you don't _have_ to go.
JULIE
Then I'll stay, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Well, you've been warned.
JULIE
Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Come on, Berkovics. [_The POLICEMEN exit. JULIE and LILIOM sit on the
bench again. There is a brief pause._]
JULIE
Well, and what then?
LILIOM
[_Fails to understand._] Huh?
JULIE
You were beginning to tell me a story.
LILIOM
Me?
JULIE
Yes, about a sweetheart. You said, one night, just as they were
putting out the lights of the carousel---- That's as far as you got.
LILIOM
Oh, yes, yes, just as the lights were going out, someone came along--a
little girl with a big shawl--you know---- She came--eh--from----
Say--tell me--ain't you--that is, ain't you at all--afraid of me? The
officer told you what kind of a fellow I am--and that I'd take your
money away from you----
JULIE
You couldn't take it away--I haven't got any. But if I had--I'd--I'd
give it to you--I'd give it all to you.
LILIOM
You would?
JULIE
If you asked me for it.
LILIOM
Have you ever had a fellow you gave money to?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Haven't you ever had a sweetheart?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Someone you used to go walking with. You've had one like that?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
A soldier?
JULIE
He came from the same village I did.
LILIOM
That's what all the soldiers say. Where _do_ you come from, anyway?
JULIE
Not far from here. [_There is a pause._]
LILIOM
Were you in love with him?
JULIE
Why do you keep asking me that all the time, Mister Liliom? I wasn't
in love with him. We only went walking together.
LILIOM
Where did you walk?
JULIE
In the park.
LILIOM
And your virtue? Where did you lose that?
JULIE
I haven't got any virtue.
LILIOM
Well, you had once.
JULIE
No, I never had. I'm a respectable girl.
LILIOM
Yes, but you gave the soldier something.
JULIE
Why do you question me like that, Mister Liliom?
LILIOM
Did you give him something?
JULIE
You have to. But I didn't love him.
LILIOM
Do you love me?
JULIE
No, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
Then why do you stay here with me?
JULIE
Um--nothing. [_There is a pause. The music from afar is plainly
heard._]
LILIOM
Want to dance?
JULIE
No. I have to be very careful.
LILIOM
Of what?
JULIE
My--character.
LILIOM
Why?
JULIE
Because I'm never going to marry. If I was going to marry, it would be
different. Then I wouldn't need to worry so much about my character.
It doesn't make any difference if you're married. But I shan't
marry--and that's why I've got to take care to be a respectable girl.
LILIOM
Suppose I were to say to you--I'll marry you.
JULIE
You?
LILIOM
That frightens you, doesn't it? You're thinking of what the officer
said and you're afraid.
JULIE
No, I'm not, Mister Liliom. I don't pay any attention to what he said.
LILIOM
But you wouldn't dare to marry anyone like me, would you?
JULIE
I know that--that--if I loved anyone--it wouldn't make any difference
to me what he--even if I died for it.
LILIOM
But you wouldn't marry a rough guy like me--that is,--eh--if you loved
me----
JULIE
Yes, I would--if I loved you, Mister Liliom. [_There is a pause._]
LILIOM
[_Whispers._] Well,--you just said--didn't you?--that you don't love
me. Well, why don't you go home then?
JULIE
It's too late now, they'd all be asleep.
LILIOM
Locked out?
JULIE
Certainly. [_They are silent a while._]
LILIOM
I think--that even a low-down good-for-nothing--can make a man of
himself.
JULIE
Certainly. [_They are silent again. A lamp-lighter crosses the stage,
lights the lamp over the bench, and exits._]
LILIOM
Are you hungry?
JULIE
No. [_Another pause._]
LILIOM
Suppose--you had some money--and I took it from you?
JULIE
Then you could take it, that's all.
LILIOM
[_After another brief silence._] All I have to do--is go back to
her--that Muskat woman--she'll be glad to get me back--then I'd be
earning my wages again. [_She is silent. The twilight folds darker
about them._]
JULIE
[_Very softly._] Don't go back--to her---- [_Pause._]
LILIOM
There are a lot of acacia trees around here. [_Pause._]
JULIE
Don't go back to her---- [_Pause._]
LILIOM
She'd take me back the minute I asked her. I know why--she knows,
too---- [_Pause._]
JULIE
I can smell them, too--acacia blossoms---- [_There is a pause. Some
blossoms drift down from the tree-top to the bench. LILIOM picks one
up and smells it._]
LILIOM
White acacias!
JULIE
[_After a brief pause._] The wind brings them down. [_They are silent.
There is a long pause before_]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
SCENE TWO
SCENE--_A photographer's "studio," operated by the HOLLUNDERS, on the
fringe of the park. It is a dilapidated hovel. The general entrance is
Back Left. Back Right there is a window with a sofa before it. The
outlook is on the amusement park with perhaps a small Ferris-wheel or
the scaffolding of a "scenic-railway" in the background._
_The door to the kitchen is up Left and a black-curtained entrance to
the dark room is down Left. Just in front of the dark room stands the
camera on its tripod. Against the back wall, between the door and
window, stands the inevitable photographer's background-screen, ready
to be wheeled into place._
_It is forenoon. When the curtain rises, MARIE and JULIE are
discovered._
MARIE
And _he_ beat up Hollinger?
JULIE
Yes, he gave him an awful licking.
MARIE
But Hollinger is bigger than he is.
JULIE
He licked him just the same. It isn't size that counts, you know, it's
cleverness. And Liliom's awful quick.
MARIE
And then he was arrested?
JULIE
Yes, they arrested him, but they let him go the next day. That makes
twice in the two months we've been living here that Liliom's been
arrested and let go again.
MARIE
Why do they let him go?
JULIE
Because he is innocent.
[_MOTHER HOLLUNDER, a very old woman, sharp-tongued, but in reality
quite warm-hearted beneath her formidable exterior, enters at back
carrying a few sticks of firewood, and scolding, half to herself._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
Always wanting something, but never willing to work for it. He won't
work, and he won't steal, but he'll use up a poor old widow's last bit
of firewood. He'll do that cheerfully enough! A big, strong lout like
that lying around all day resting his lazy bones! He ought to be
ashamed to look decent people in the face.
JULIE
I'm sorry, Mother Hollunder. . . .
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
Sorry! Better be sorry the lazy good-for-nothing ain't in jail where
he belongs instead of in the way of honest, hard-working people. [_She
exits into the kitchen._]
MARIE
Who's that?
JULIE
Mrs. Hollunder--my aunt. This is her [_with a sweeping gesture that
takes in the camera, dark room and screen_] studio. She lets us live
here for nothing.
MARIE
What's she fetching the wood for?
JULIE
She brings us everything we need. If it weren't for her I don't know
what would become of us. She's a good-hearted soul even if her tongue
is sharp. [_There is a pause._]
MARIE
[_Shyly._] Do you know--I've found out. He's not a soldier.
JULIE
Do you still see him?
MARIE
Oh, yes.
JULIE
Often?
MARIE
Very often. He's asked me----
JULIE
To marry you?
MARIE
To marry me.
JULIE
You see--that proves he isn't a soldier. [_There is another pause._]
MARIE
[_Abashed, yet a bit boastfully._] Do you know what I'm doing--I'm
flirting with him.
JULIE
Flirting?
MARIE
Yes. He asks me to go to the park--and I say I can't go. Then he
coaxes me, and promises me a new scarf for my head if I go. But I
don't go--even then. . . . So then he walks all the way home with
me--and I bid him good-night at the door.
JULIE
Is that what you call flirting?
MARIE
Um-hm! It's sinful, but it's so _thrilling._
JULIE
Do you ever quarrel?
MARIE
[_Grandly._] Only when our Passionate Love surges up.
JULIE
Your passionate love?
MARIE
Yes. . . . He takes my hand and we walk along together. Then he wants
to swing hands, but I won't let him. I say: "Don't swing my hand"; and
he says, "Don't be so stubborn." And then he tries to swing my hand
again, but still I don't let him. And for a long time I don't let
him--until in the end I let him. Then we walk along swinging hands--up
and down, up and down--just like this. _That_ is Passionate Love. It's
sinful, but it's awfully _thrilling._
JULIE
You're happy, aren't you?
MARIE
Happier than--anything---- But the most beautiful thing on earth is
Ideal Love.
JULIE
What kind is that?
MARIE
Daylight comes about three in the morning this time of the year. When
we've been up that long we're all through with flirting and Passionate
Love--and then our Ideal Love comes to the surface. It comes like
this: I'll be sitting on the bench and Wolf, he holds my hand
tight--and he puts his cheek against my cheek and we don't talk . . .
we just sit there very quiet. . . . And after a while he gets sleepy,
and his head sinks down, and he falls asleep . . . but even in his
sleep he holds tight to my hand. And I--I sit perfectly still just
looking around me and taking long, deep breaths--for by that time it's
morning and the trees and flowers are fresh with dew. But Wolf doesn't
smell anything because he's so fast asleep. And I get awfully sleepy
myself, but I don't sleep. And we sit like that for a long time. That
is Ideal Love---- [_There is a long pause._]
JULIE
[_Regretfully; uneasily._] He went out last night and he hasn't come
home yet.
MARIE
Here are sixteen Kreuzer. It was supposed to be carfare to take my
young lady to the conservatory--eight there and eight back--but I made
her walk. Here--save it with the rest.
JULIE
This makes three gulden, forty-six.
MARIE
Three gulden, forty-six.
JULIE
He won't work at all.
MARIE
Too lazy?
JULIE
No. He never learned a trade, you see, and he can't just go and be a
day-laborer--so he just does nothing.
MARIE
That ain't right.
JULIE
No. Have the Breiers got a new maid yet?
MARIE
They've had three since you left. You know, Wolf's going to take a new
job. He's going to work for the city. He'll get rent free, too.
JULIE
He won't go back to work at the carousel either. I ask him why, but he
won't tell me---- Last Monday he hit me.
MARIE
Did you hit him back?
JULIE
No.
MARIE
Why don't you leave him?
JULIE
I don't want to.
MARIE
I would. I'd leave him. [_There is a strained silence._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Enters, carrying a pot of water; muttering aloud._] He can play
cards, all right. He can fight, too; and take money from poor servant
girls. And the police turn their heads the other way---- The carpenter
was here.
JULIE
Is that water for the soup?
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
The carpenter was here. There's a _man_ for you! Dark, handsome, lots
of hair, a respectable widower with two children--and money, and a
good paying business.
JULIE
[_To MARIE._] It's three gulden sixty-six, not forty-six.
MARIE
Yes, that's what I make it--sixty-six.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He wants to take her out of this and marry her. This is the fifth time
he's been here. He has two children, but----
JULIE
Please don't bother, Aunt Hollunder, I'll get the water myself.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He's waiting outside now.
JULIE
Send him away.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He'll only come back again--and first thing you know that vagabond
will get jealous and there'll be a fight. [_Goes out, muttering._] Oh,
he's ready enough to fight, he is. Strike a poor little girl like
that! Ought to be ashamed of himself! And the police just let him go
on doing as he pleases. [_Still scolding, she exits at back._]
MARIE
A carpenter wants to marry you?
JULIE
Yes.
MARIE
Why don't you?
JULIE
Because----
MARIE
Liliom doesn't support you, and he beats you--he thinks he can do
whatever he likes just because he's Liliom. He's a bad one.
JULIE
He's not really bad.
MARIE
That night you sat on the bench together--he was gentle then.
JULIE
Yes, he was gentle.
MARIE
And afterwards he got wild again.
JULIE
Afterwards he got wild--sometimes. But that night on the bench . . .
he was gentle. He's gentle now, sometimes, very gentle. After supper,
when he stands there and listens to the music of the carousel,
something comes over him--and he is gentle.
MARIE
Does he say anything?
JULIE
He doesn't say anything. He gets thoughtful and very quiet, and his
big eyes stare straight ahead of him.
MARIE
Into your eyes?
JULIE
Not exactly. He's unhappy because he isn't working. That's really why
he hit me on Monday.
MARIE
That's a fine reason for hitting you! Beats his wife because he isn't
working, the ruffian!
JULIE
It preys on his mind----
MARIE
Did he hurt you?
JULIE
[_Very eagerly._] Oh, no.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Enters haughtily._] Good morning. Is Liliom home?
JULIE
No.
MRS. MUSKAT
Gone out?
JULIE
He hasn't come home yet.
MRS. MUSKAT
I'll wait for him. [_She sits down._]
MARIE
You've got a lot of gall--to come here.
MRS. MUSKAT
Are you the lady of the house, my dear? Better look out or you'll get
a slap in the mouth.
MARIE
How dare you set foot in Julie's house?
MRS. MUSKAT
[_To JULIE._] Pay no attention to her, my child. You know what brings
me here. That vagabond, that good-for-nothing, I've come to give him
his bread and butter back.
MARIE
He's not dependent on you for his bread.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_To JULIE._] Just ignore her, my child. She's just ignorant.
MARIE
[_Going._] Good-bye.
JULIE
Good-bye.
MARIE
[_In the doorway, calling back._] Sixty-six.
JULIE
Yes, sixty-six.
MARIE
Good-bye. [_She exits. JULIE starts to go toward the kitchen._]
MRS. MUSKAT
I paid him a krone a day, and on Sunday a gulden. And he got all the
beer and cigars he wanted from the customers. [_JULIE pauses on the
threshold, but does not answer._] And he'd rather starve than beg my
pardon. Well, I don't insist on that. I'll take him back without it.
[_JULIE does not answer._] The fact is the people ask for him--and,
you see, I've got to consider business first. It's nothing to me if he
starves. I wouldn't be here at all, if it wasn't for business----
[_She pauses, for LILIOM and FICSUR have entered._]
JULIE
Mrs. Muskat is here.
LILIOM
I see she is.
JULIE
You might say good-morning.
LILIOM
What for? And what do _you_ want, anyhow?
JULIE
I don't want anything.
LILIOM
Then keep your mouth shut. Next thing you'll be starting to nag again
about my being out all night and out of work and living on your
relations----
JULIE
I'm not saying anything.
LILIOM
But it's all on the tip of your tongue--I know you--now don't start or
you'll get another. [_He paces angrily up and down. They are all a bit
afraid of him, and shrink and look away as he passes them. FICSUR
shambles from place to place, his eyes cast down as if he were
searching for something on the floor._]
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Suddenly, to FICSUR._] You're always dragging him out to play cards
and drink with you. I'll have you locked up, I will.
FICSUR
I don't want to talk to you. You're too common. [_He goes out by the
door at back and lingers there in plain view. There is a pause._]
JULIE
Mrs. Muskat is here.
LILIOM
Well, why doesn't she open her mouth, if she has anything to say?
MRS. MUSKAT
Why do you go around with this man Ficsur? He'll get you mixed up in
one of his robberies first thing you know.
LILIOM
What's it to you who I go with? I do what I please. What do you want?
MRS. MUSKAT
You know what I want.
LILIOM
No, I don't.
MRS. MUSKAT
What do you suppose I want? Think I've come just to pay a social call?
LILIOM
Do I owe you anything?
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you do--but that's not what I came for. You're a fine one to come
to for money! You earn so much these days! You know very well what I'm
here for.
LILIOM
You've got Hollinger at the carousel, haven't you?
MRS. MUSKAT
Sure I have.
LILIOM
Well, what else do you want? He's as good as I am.
MRS. MUSKAT
You're quite right, my boy. He's every bit as good as you are. I'd not
dream of letting him go. But one isn't enough any more. There's work
enough for two----
LILIOM
One was enough when _I_ was there.
MRS. MUSKAT
Well, I might let Hollinger go----
LILIOM
Why let him go, if he's so good?
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Shrugs her shoulders._] Yes, he's good. [_Not once until now has she
looked at LILIOM._]
LILIOM
[_To JULIE._] Ask your aunt if I can have a cup of coffee. [_JULIE
exits into the kitchen._] So Hollinger is good, is he?
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Crosses to him and looks him, in the face._] Why don't you stay home
and sleep at night? You're a sight to look at.
LILIOM
He's good, is he?
MRS. MUSKAT
Push your hair back from your forehead.
LILIOM
Let my hair be. It's nothing to you.
MRS. MUSKAT
All right. But if I'd told you to let it hang down over your eyes
you'd have pushed it back--I hear you've been beating her,
this--this----
LILIOM
None of your business.
MRS. MUSKAT
You're a fine fellow! Beating a skinny little thing like that! If
you're tired of her, leave her, but there's no use beating the
poor----
LILIOM
Leave her, eh? You'd like that, wouldn't you?
MRS. MUSKAT
Don't flatter yourself. [_Quite embarrassed._] Serves me right, too.
If I had any sense I wouldn't have run after you---- My God, the
things one must do for the sake of business! If I could only sell the
carousel I wouldn't be sitting here. . . . Come, Liliom, if you have
any sense, you'll come back. I'll pay you well.
LILIOM
The carousel is crowded just the same . . . _without me?_
MRS. MUSKAT
Crowded, yes--but it's not the same.
LILIOM
Then you admit that you _do_ miss me.
MRS. MUSKAT
Miss you? Not I. But the silly girls miss you. They're always asking
for you. Well, are you going to be sensible and come back?
LILIOM
And leave--her?
MRS. MUSKAT
You beat her, don't you?
LILIOM
No, I don't beat her. What's all this damn fool talk about beating
her? I hit her once--that was all--and now the whole city seems to be
talking about it. You don't call that beating her, do you?
MRS. MUSKAT
All right, all right. I take it back. I don't want to get mixed up in
it.
LILIOM
Beating her! As if I'd beat her----
MRS. MUSKAT
I can't make out why you're so concerned about her. You've been
married to her two months--it's plain to see that you're sick of
it--and out there is the carousel--and the show booths--and money--and
you'd throw it all away. For what? Heavens, how can anyone be such a
fool? [_Looks at him appraisingly._] Where have you been all night?
You look awful.
LILIOM
It's no business of yours.
MRS. MUSKAT
You never used to look like that. This life is telling on you.
[_Pauses._] Do you know--I've got a new organ.
LILIOM
[_Softly._] I know.
MRS. MUSKAT
How did you know?
LILIOM
You can hear it--from here.
MRS. MUSKAT
It's a good one, eh?
LILIOM
[_Wistfully._] Very good. Fine. It roars and snorts--so fine.
MRS. MUSKAT
You should hear it close by--it's heavenly. Even the carousel seems to
know . . . it goes quicker. I got rid of those two horses--you know,
the ones with the broken ears?
LILIOM
What have you put in their place?
MRS. MUSKAT
Guess.
LILIOM
Zebras?
MRS. MUSKAT
No--an automobile.
LILIOM
[_Transported._] An automobile----
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes. If you've got any sense you'll come back. What good are you doing
here? Out there is your _art_, the only thing you're fit for. You are
an artist, not a respectable married man.
LILIOM
_Leave_ her--this little----
MRS. MUSKAT
She'll be better off. She'll go back and be a servant girl again. As
for you--you're an artist and you belong among artists. All the beer
you want, cigars, a krone a day and a gulden on Sunday, and the girls,
Liliom, the girls--I've always treated you right, haven't I? I bought
you a watch, and----
LILIOM
She's not that kind. She'd never be a servant girl again.
MRS. MUSKAT
I suppose you think she'd kill herself. Don't worry. Heavens, if every
girl was to commit suicide just because her---- [_Finishes with a
gesture._]
LILIOM
[_Stares at her a moment, considering, then with sudden, smiling
animation._] So the people don't like Hollinger?
MRS. MUSKAT
You know very well they don't, you rascal.
LILIOM
Well----
MRS. MUSKAT
You've always been happy at the carousel. It's a great life--pretty
girls and beer and cigars and music--a great life and an easy one.
I'll tell you what--come back and I'll give you a ring that used to
belong to my dear departed husband. Well, will you come?
LILIOM
She's not that kind. She'd never be a servant girl again.
But--but--for my part--if I decide--that needn't make any difference.
I can go on living with her even if I do go back to my art----
MRS. MUSKAT
My God!
LILIOM
What's the matter?
MRS. MUSKAT
Who ever heard of a married man--I suppose you think all girls would
be pleased to know that you were running home to your wife every
night. It's ridiculous! When the people found out they'd laugh
themselves sick----
LILIOM
I know what you want.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Refuses to meet his gaze._] You flatter yourself.
LILIOM
You'll give me that ring, too?
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Pushes the hair back from his forehead._] Yes.
LILIOM
I'm not happy in this house.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Still stroking his hair._] Nobody takes care of you. [_They are
silent. JULIE enters, carrying a cup of coffee. MRS. MUSKAT removes
her hand from LILIOM'S head. There is a pause._]
LILIOM
Do you want anything?
JULIE
No. [_There is a pause. She exits slowly into the kitchen._]
MRS. MUSKAT
The old woman says there is a carpenter, a widower, who----
LILIOM
I know--I know----
JULIE
[_Reëntering._] Liliom, before I forget, I have something to tell you.
LILIOM
All right.
JULIE
I've been wanting to tell you--in fact, I was going to tell you
yesterday----
LILIOM
Go ahead.
JULIE
But I must tell you alone--if you'll come in--it will only take a
minute.
LILIOM
Don't you see I'm busy now? Here I am talking business and you
interrupt with----
JULIE
It'll only take a minute.
LILIOM
Get out of here, or----
JULIE
But I tell you it will only take a minute----
LILIOM
Will you get out of here?
JULIE
[_Courageously._] No.
LILIOM
[_Rising._] What's that!
JULIE
No.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Rises, too._] Now don't start fighting. I'll go out and look at the
photographs in the show-case a while and come back later for your
answer. [_She exits at back._]
JULIE
You can hit me again if you like--don't look at me like that. I'm not
afraid of you. . . . I'm not afraid of anyone. I told you I had
something to tell you.
LILIOM
Well, out with it--quick.
JULIE
I can't tell you so quick. Why don't you drink your coffee?
LILIOM
Is that what you wanted to tell me?
JULIE
No. By the time you've drunk your coffee I'll have told you.
LILIOM
[_Gets the coffee and sips it._] Well?
JULIE
Yesterday my head ached--and you asked me----
LILIOM
Yes----
JULIE
Well--you see--that's what it is----
LILIOM
Are you sick?
JULIE
No. . . . But you wanted to know what my headaches came from--and you
said I seemed--changed.
LILIOM
Did I? I guess I meant the carpenter.
JULIE
I've been--what? The carpenter? No. It's something entirely
different--it's awful hard to tell--but you'll have to know sooner or
later--I'm not a bit--scared--because it's a perfectly natural
thing----
LILIOM
[_Puts the coffee cup on the table._] What?
JULIE
When--when a man and woman--live together----
LILIOM
Yes.
JULIE
I'm going to have a baby. [_She exits swiftly at back. There is a
pause. FICSUR appears at the open window and looks in._]
LILIOM
Ficsur! [_FICSUR sticks his head in._] Say, Ficsur,--Julie is going to
have a baby.
FICSUR
Yes? What of it?
LILIOM
Nothing. [_Suddenly._] Get out of here. [_FICSUR'S head is quickly
withdrawn. MRS. MUSKAT reënters._]
MRS. MUSKAT
Has she gone?
LILIOM
Yes.
MRS. MUSKAT
I might as well give you ten kronen in advance. [_Opens her purse.
LILIOM takes up his coffee cup._] Here you are. [_She proffers some
coins. LILIOM ignores her._] Why don't you take it?
LILIOM
[_Very nonchalantly, his cup poised ready to drink._] Go home, Mrs.
Muskat.
MRS. MUSKAT
What's the matter with you?
LILIOM
Go home [_sips his coffee_] and let me finish my coffee in peace.
Don't you see I'm at breakfast?
MRS. MUSKAT
Have you gone crazy?
LILIOM
Will you get out of here? [_Turns to her threateningly._]
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Restoring the coins to her purse._] I'll never speak to you again as
long as you live.
LILIOM
That worries me a lot.
MRS. MUSKAT
Good-bye!
LILIOM
Good-bye. [_As she exits, he calls._] Ficsur! [_FICSUR enters._] Tell
me, Ficsur. You said you knew a way to get a whole lot of money----
FICSUR
Sure I do.
LILIOM
How much?
FICSUR
More than you ever had in your life before. You leave it to an old
hand like me.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Enters from the kitchen._] In the morning he must have his coffee,
and at noon his soup, and in the evening coffee again--and plenty of
firewood--and I'm expected to furnish it all. Give me back my cup and
saucer.
[_The show booths of the amusement-park have opened for business. The
familiar noises begin to sound; clear above them all, but far in the
distance, sounds the organ of the carousel._]
LILIOM
Now, Aunt Hollunder. [_From now until the fall of the curtain it is
apparent that the sound of the organ makes him more and more uneasy._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
And you, you vagabond, get out of here this minute or I'll call my
son----
FICSUR
I have nothing to do with the likes of him. He's too common. [_But he
slinks out at back._]
LILIOM
Aunt Hollunder!
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
What now?
LILIOM
When your son was born--when you brought him into the world----
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
Well?
LILIOM
Nothing.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Muttering as she exits._] Sleep it off, you good-for-nothing lout.
Drink and play cards all night long--that's all you know how to
do--and take the bread out of poor people's mouths--you can do that,
too. [_She exits._]
LILIOM
Ficsur!
FICSUR
[_At the window._] Julie's going to have a baby. You told me before.
LILIOM
This scheme--about the cashier of the leather factory--there's money
in it----
FICSUR
Lots of money--but--it takes two to pull it off.
LILIOM
[_Meditatively._] Yes. [_Uneasily._] All right, Ficsur. Go away--and
come back later.
[_FICSUR vanishes. The organ in the distant carousel drones
incessantly. LILIOM listens a while, then goes to the door and
calls._]
LILIOM
Aunt Hollunder! [_With naïve joy._] Julie's going to have a baby.
[_Then he goes to the window, jumps on the sofa, looks out. Suddenly,
in a voice that overtops the droning of the organ, he shouts as if
addressing the far-off carousel._] I'm going to be a father.
JULIE
[_Enters from the kitchen._] Liliom! What's the matter? What's
happened?
LILIOM
[_Coming down from the sofa._] Nothing. [_Throws himself on the sofa,
buries his face in the cushion. JULIE watches him a moment, comes over
to him and covers him with a shawl. Then she goes on tip-toe to the
door at back and remains standing in the doorway, looking out and
listening to the droning of the organ._]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
SCENE THREE
SCENE--_The setting is the same, later that afternoon. LILIOM is
sitting opposite FICSUR, who is teaching him a song. JULIE hovers in
the background, engaged in some household task._
FICSUR
Listen now. Here's the third verse. [_Sings hoarsely._]
"Look out, look out, my pretty lad.
The damn police are on your trail;
The nicest girl you ever had
Has now commenced to weep and wail:
Look out here comes the damn police,
The damn police,
The damn police,
Look out here comes the damn police,
They'll get you every time."
LILIOM
[_Sings._]
"Look out, look out, my pretty lad.
The damn police----"
FICSUR, LILIOM
[_Sing together._]
"Are on your trail
The nicest girl you ever had
Has now commenced to weep and wail."
LILIOM
[_Alone._]
"Look out here comes the damn police,
The damn police,
The damn police----"
[_JULIE, troubled and uneasy, looks from one to the other, then exits
into the kitchen._]
FICSUR
[_When she has gone, comes quickly over to LILIOM and speaks
furtively._] As you go down Franzen Street you come to the railroad
embankment. Beyond that--all the way to the leather factory--there's
not a thing in sight, not even a watchman's hut.
LILIOM
And does he always come that way?
FICSUR
Yes. Not along the embankment, but down below along the path across
the fields. Since last year he's been going alone. Before that he
always used to have someone with him.
LILIOM
Every Saturday?
FICSUR
Every Saturday.
LILIOM
And the money? Where does he keep it?
FICSUR
In a leather bag. The whole week's pay for the workmen at the factory.
LILIOM
Much?
FICSUR
Sixteen thousand kronen. Quite a haul, what?
LILIOM
What's his name?
FICSUR
Linzman. He's a Jew.
LILIOM
The cashier?
FICSUR
Yes--but when he gets a knife between his ribs--or if I smash his
skull for him--he won't be a cashier any more.
LILIOM
Does he have to be killed?
FICSUR
No, he doesn't _have_ to be. He can give up the money _without_ being
killed--but most of these cashiers are peculiar--they'd rather be
killed.
[_JULIE reënters, pretends to get something on the other side of the
room, then exits at back. During the ensuing dialogue she keeps coming
in and out in the same way, showing plainly that she is suspicious and
anxious. She attempts to overhear what they are saying and, in spite
of their caution, does catch a word here and there, which adds to her
disquiet. FICSUR, catching sight of her, abruptly changes the
conversation._]
FICSUR
And the next verse is:
"And when you're in the prison cell
They'll feed you bread and water."
FICSUR AND LILIOM
[_Sing together._]
"They'll make your little sweetheart tell
Them all the things you brought her.
Look out here comes the damn police,
The damn police,
The damn police.
Look out here comes the damn police
They'll get you every time."
LILIOM
[_Sings alone._]
"And when you're in the prison cell
They'll feed you bread and water----"
[_Breaks off as JULIE exits._]
And when it's done, do we start right off for America?
FICSUR
No.
LILIOM
What then?
FICSUR
We bury the money for six months. That's the usual time. And after the
sixth month we dig it up again.
LILIOM
And then?
FICSUR
Then you go on living just as usual for six months more--you don't
touch a heller of the money.
LILIOM
In six months the baby will be born.
FICSUR
Then we'll take the baby with us, too. Three months before the time
you'll go to work so as to be able to say you saved up your wages to
get to America.
LILIOM
Which of us goes up and talks to him?
FICSUR
One of us talks to him with his mouth and the other talks with his
knife. Depends on which you'd rather do. I'll tell you what--you talk
to him with your mouth.
LILIOM
Do you hear that?
FICSUR
What?
LILIOM
Outside . . . like the rattle of swords. [_FICSUR listens. After a
pause, LILIOM continues._] What do I say to him?
FICSUR
You say good evening to him and: "Excuse me, sir; can you tell me the
time?"
LILIOM
And then what?
FICSUR
By that time I'll have stuck him--and then you take _your_ knife----
[_He stops as a POLICEMAN enters at back._]
POLICEMAN
Good-day!
FICSUR, LILIOM
[_In unison._] Good-day!
FICSUR
[_Calling toward the kitchen._] Hey, photographer, come out. . . .
Here's a customer. [_There is a pause. The POLICEMAN waits. FICSUR
sings softly._]
"And when you're in the prison cell
They'll feed you bread and water
They'll make your little sweetheart tell."
LILIOM, FICSUR
[_Sing together, low._]
"Them all the things you brought her.
Look out here comes the----"
[_They hum the rest so as not to let the POLICEMAN hear the words "the
damn police." As they sing, MRS. HOLLUNDER and her son enter._]
POLICEMAN
Do you make cabinet photographs?
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
Certainly, sir. [_Points to a rack of photographs on the wall._] Take
your choice, sir. Would you like one full length?
POLICEMAN
Yes, full length. [_MOTHER HOLLUNDER pushes out the camera while her
son poses the POLICEMAN, runs from him to the camera and back again,
now altering the pose, now ducking under the black cloth and pushing
the camera nearer. Meanwhile MOTHER HOLLUNDER has fetched a plate from
the dark room and thrust it in the camera. While this is going on,
LILIOM and FICSUR, their heads together, speak in very low tones._]
LILIOM
Belong around here?
FICSUR
Not around here.
LILIOM
Where, then?
FICSUR
Suburban. [_There is a pause._]
LILIOM
[_Bursts out suddenly in a rather grotesquely childish and
overstrained lament._] O God, what a dirty life I'm leading--God, God!
FICSUR
[_Reassuring him benevolently._] Over in America it will be better,
all right.
LILIOM
What's over there?
FICSUR
[_Virtuously._] Factories . . . industries----
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
[_To the POLICEMAN._] Now, quite still, please. One, two, three.
[_Deftly removes the cover of the lens and in a few seconds restores
it._] Thank you.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
The picture will be ready in five minutes.
POLICEMAN
Good. I'll come back in five minutes. How much do I owe you?
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
[_With exaggerated deference._] You don't need to pay in advance, Mr.
Commissioner. [_The POLICEMAN salutes condescendingly and exits at
back. MOTHER HOLLUNDER carries the plate into the dark room. YOUNG
HOLLUNDER, after pushing the camera back in place, follows her._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Muttering angrily as she passes FICSUR and LILIOM._] You hang around
and dirty the whole place up! Why don't you go take a walk? Things are
going so well with you that you have to sing, eh? [_Confronting FICSUR
suddenly._] Weren't you frightened sick when you saw the policeman?
FICSUR
[_With loathing._] Go 'way, or I'll step on you. [_She exits into the
dark room._]
LILIOM
They like Hollinger at the carousel?
FICSUR
I should say they do.
LILIOM
Did you see the Muskat woman, too?
FICSUR
Sure. She takes care of Hollinger's hair.
LILIOM
Combs his hair?
FICSUR
She fixes him all up.
LILIOM
Let her fix him all she likes.
FICSUR
[_Urging him toward the kitchen door._] Go on. Now's your chance.
LILIOM
What for?
FICSUR
To get the knife.
LILIOM
What knife?
FICSUR
The kitchen knife. I've got a pocket-knife, but if he shows fight,
we'll let him have the big knife.
LILIOM
What for? If he gets ugly, I'll bat him one over the head that'll make
him squint for the rest of his life.
FICSUR
You've got to have something on you. You can't slit his throat with a
bat over the head.
LILIOM
Must his throat be slit?
FICSUR
No, it _mustn't._ But if he asks for it. [_There is a pause._] You'd
like to sail on the big steamer, wouldn't you? And you want to see the
factories over there, don't you? But you're not willing to
inconvenience yourself a little for them.
LILIOM
If I take the knife, Julie will see me.
FICSUR
Take it so she won't see you.
LILIOM
[_Advances a few paces toward the kitchen. The POLICEMAN enters at
back. LILIOM knocks on the door of the dark room._] Here's the
policeman!
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Coming out._] One minute more, please. Just a minute. [_She reënters
the dark room. LILIOM hesitates a moment, then exits into the kitchen.
The POLICEMAN scrutinizes FICSUR mockingly. FICSUR returns his stare,
walks a few paces toward him, then deliberately turns his back.
Suddenly he wheels around, points at the POLICEMAN and addresses him
in a teasing, childish tone._] Christiana Street at the corner of
Retti!
POLICEMAN
[_Amazed, self-conscious._] How do you know that?
FICSUR
I used to practice my profession in that neighborhood.
POLICEMAN
What is your profession?
FICSUR
Professor of pianola---- [_The POLICEMAN glares, aware that the man is
joking with him, twirls his moustache indignantly. YOUNG HOLLUNDER
comes out of the dark room and gives him the finished pictures._]
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
Here you are, sir. [_The POLICEMAN examines the photographs, pays for
them, starts to go, stops, glares at FICSUR and exits. When he is
gone, FICSUR goes to the doorway and looks out after him. YOUNG
HOLLUNDER exits. LILIOM reënters, buttoning his coat._]
FICSUR
[_Turns, sees LILIOM._] What are you staring at?
LILIOM
I'm not staring.
FICSUR
What then are you doing?
LILIOM
I'm thinking it over.
FICSUR
[_Comes very close to him._] Tell me then--what will you say to him?
LILIOM
[_Unsteadily._] I'll say--"Good evening--Excuse me, sir--Can you tell
me the time?" And suppose he answers me, what do I say to him?
FICSUR
He won't answer you.
LILIOM
Don't you think so?
FICSUR
No. [_Feeling for the knife under LILIOM'S coat._] Where is it? Where
did you put it?
LILIOM
[_Stonily._] Left side.
FICSUR
That's right--over your heart. [_Feels it._] Ah--there it
is--there--there's the blade--quite a big fellow, isn't it--ah, here
it begins to get narrower. [_Reaches the tip of the knife._] And here
is its eye--that's what it sees with. [_JULIE enters from the kitchen,
passes them slowly, watching them in silent terror, then stops. FICSUR
nudges LILIOM._] Sing, come on, sing!
LILIOM
[_In a quavering voice._]
"Look out for the damn police."
FICSUR
[_Joining in, cheerily, loudly, marking time with the swaying of his
body._]
"Look out, look out, my pretty lad."
LILIOM
"--look out, my pretty lad." [_JULIE goes out at back. LILIOM'S glance
follows her. When she has gone, he turns to FICSUR._] At night--in my
dreams--if his ghost comes back--what will I do then?
FICSUR
His ghost won't never come back.
LILIOM
Why not?
FICSUR
A Jew's ghost don't come back.
LILIOM
Well then--afterwards----
FICSUR
[_Impatiently._] What do you mean--afterwards?
LILIOM
In the next world--when I come up before the Lord God--what'll I say
then?
FICSUR
The likes of you will never come up before Him.
LILIOM
Why not?
FICSUR
Have you ever come up before the high court?
LILIOM
No.
FICSUR
Our kind comes up before the police magistrate--and the highest we
_ever_ get is the criminal court.
LILIOM
Will it be the same in the next world?
FICSUR
Just the same. We'll come up before a police magistrate, same as we
did in this world.
LILIOM
A police magistrate?
FICSUR
Sure. For the rich folks--the Heavenly Court. For us poor people--only
a police magistrate. For the rich folks--fine music and angels. For
us----
LILIOM
For us?
FICSUR
For us, my son, there's only justice. In the next world there'll be
lots of justice, yes, nothing but justice. And where there's justice
there must be police magistrates; and where there're police
magistrates, people like us get----
LILIOM
[_Interrupting._] Good evening. Excuse me, sir, can you tell me the
time? [_Lays his hand over his heart._]
FICSUR
What do you put your hand there for?
LILIOM
My heart is jumping--under the knife.
FICSUR
Put it on the other side then. [_Looks out at the sky._] It's time we
started--we'll walk slow----
LILIOM
It's too early.
FICSUR
Come on. [_As they are about to go, JULIE appears in the doorway at
back, obstructing the way._]
JULIE
Where are you going with him?
LILIOM
Where am I going with him?
JULIE
Stay home.
LILIOM
No.
JULIE
Stay home. It's going to rain soon, and you'll get wet.
FICSUR
It won't rain.
JULIE
How do you know?
FICSUR
I always get notice in advance.
JULIE
Stay home. This evening the carpenter's coming. I've asked him to give
you work.
LILIOM
I'm not a carpenter.
JULIE
[_More and more anxious, though she tries to conceal it._] Stay home.
Marie's coming with her intended to have their picture taken. She
wants to introduce us to her intended husband.
LILIOM
I've seen enough intended husbands----
JULIE
Stay home. Marie's bringing some money, and I'll give it all to you.
LILIOM
[_Approaching the door._] I'm going--for a walk--with Ficsur. We'll be
right back.
JULIE
[_Forcing a smile to keep back her tears._] If you stay home, I'll get
you a glass of beer--or wine, if you prefer.
FICSUR
Coming or not?
JULIE
I'm not angry with you any more for hitting me.
LILIOM
[_Gruffly, but his gruffness is simulated to hide the fact that he
cannot bear the sight of her suffering._] Stand out of the way--or
I'll---- [_He clenches his fist._] Let me out!
JULIE
[_Trembling._] What have you got under your coat?
LILIOM
[_Produces from his pocket a greasy pack of cards._] Cards.
JULIE
[_Trembling, speaks very low._] What's under your coat?
LILIOM
Let me out!
JULIE
[_Obstructing the way. Speaks quickly, eagerly, in a last effort to
detain him._] Marie's intended knows about a place for a married
couple without children to be caretakers of a house on Arader Street.
Rent free, a kitchen of your own, and the privilege of keeping
chickens----
LILIOM
Get out of the way! [_JULIE stands aside. LILIOM exits. FICSUR follows
him. JULIE remains standing meditatively in the doorway. MOTHER
HOLLUNDER comes out of the kitchen._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
I can't find my kitchen knife anywhere. Have you seen anything of it?
JULIE
[_Horrified._] No.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
It was on the kitchen table just a few minutes ago. No one was in
there except Liliom.
JULIE
He didn't take it.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
No one else was in there.
JULIE
What would Liliom want with a kitchen knife?
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He'd sell it and spend the money on drink.
JULIE
It just so happens--see how unjust you are to him--it just so happens
that I went through all of Liliom's pockets just now--I wanted to see
if he had any money on him. But he had nothing but a pack of cards.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Returns to the kitchen, grumbling._] Cards in his pocket--cards! The
fine gentlemen have evidently gone off to their club to play a little
game. [_She exits. After a pause MARIE, happy and beaming, appears in
the doorway at back, and enters, followed by WOLF._]
MARIE
Here we are! [_She takes WOLF by the hand and leads him, grinning
shyly, to JULIE, who has turned at her call._] Hello!
JULIE
Hello.
MARIE
Well, we're here.
JULIE
Yes.
WOLF
[_Bows awkwardly and extends his hand._] My name is Wolf Beifeld.
JULIE
My name is Julie Zeller. [_They shake hands. There is an embarrassed
silence. Then, to relieve the situation, WOLF takes JULIE'S hand again
and shakes it vigorously._]
MARIE
Well--this is Wolf.
WOLF
Yes.
JULIE
Yes. [_Another awkward silence._]
MARIE
Where is Liliom?
WOLF
Yes, where is your husband?
JULIE
He's out.
MARIE
Where?
JULIE
Just for a walk.
MARIE
Is he?
JULIE
Yes.
WOLF
Oh! [_Another silence._]
MARIE
Wolf's got a new place. After the first of the month he won't have to
stand outside any more. He's going to work in a club after the first
of the month.
WOLF
[_Apologetically._] She don't know yet how to explain these things
just right--hehehe---- Beginning the first I'm to be second steward at
the Burger Club--a good job, if one conducts oneself properly.
JULIE
Yes?
WOLF
The pay--is quite good--but the main thing is the tips. When they play
cards there's always a bit for the steward. The tips, I may say,
amount to twenty, even thirty kronen every night.
MARIE
Yes.
WOLF
We've rented two rooms for ourselves to start with--and if things go
well----
MARIE
Then we'll buy a house in the country.
WOLF
If one only tends to business and keeps honest. Of course, in the
country we'll miss the city life, but if the good Lord sends us
children--it's much healthier for children in the country. [_There is
a brief pause._]
MARIE
Wolf's nice looking, isn't he?
JULIE
Yes.
MARIE
And he's a good boy, Wolf.
JULIE
Yes.
MARIE
The only thing is--he's a Jew.
JULIE
Oh, well, you can get used to that.
MARIE
Well, aren't you going to wish us luck?
JULIE
Of course I do. [_She embraces MARIE._]
MARIE
And aren't you going to kiss Wolf, too?
JULIE
Him, too. [_She embraces WOLF, remains quite still a moment, her head
resting on his shoulder._]
WOLF
Why are you crying, my dear Mrs.---- [_He looks questioningly at MARIE
over JULIE'S shoulder._]
MARIE
Because she has such a good heart. [_She becomes sentimental, too._]
WOLF
[_Touched._] We thank you for your heartfelt sympathy---- [_He cannot
restrain his own tears. There is a pause before MOTHER HOLLUNDER and
her son enter. YOUNG HOLLUNDER immediately busies himself with the
camera._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
Now if you don't mind, we'll do it right away, before it gets too
dark. [_She leads MARIE and WOLF into position before the
background-screen. Here they immediately fall into an awkward pose,
smiling mechanically._] Full length?
MARIE
Please. Both figures full length.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
Bride and groom?
MARIE
Yes.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER, YOUNG HOLLUNDER
[_Speak in unison, in loud professionally-expressionless tones._] The
lady looks at the gentleman and the gentleman looks straight into the
camera.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
[_Poses first MARIE, then WOLF._] Now, if you please.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
[_Who has crept under the black cloth, calls in muffled tones._]
That's good--that's very good!
MARIE
[_Stonily rigid, but very happy, trying to speak without altering her
expression._] Julie, dear, do we look all right?
JULIE
Yes, dear.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
Now, if you please, hold still. I'll count up to three, and then you
must hold perfectly still. [_Grasps the cover of the lens and calls
threateningly._] One--two--three! [_He removes the cover; there is
utter silence. But as he speaks the word "one" there is heard, very
faintly in the distance, the refrain of the thieves' song which FICSUR
and LILIOM have been singing. The refrain continues until the fall of
the curtain. As he speaks the word "three" everybody is perfectly
rigid save JULIE, who lets her head sink slowly to the table. The
distant refrain dies out._]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
SCENE FOUR
SCENE--_In the fields on the outskirts of the city. At back a railroad
embankment crosses the stage obliquely. At Center of the embankment
stands a red and white signal flag, and near it a little red signal
lamp which is not yet lighted. Here also a wooden stairway leads up to
the embankment._
_At the foot of the embankment to the right is a pile of used railroad
ties. In the background a telegraph pole, beyond it a view of trees,
fences and fields; still further back a factory building and a cluster
of little dwellings._
_It is six o'clock of the same afternoon. Dusk has begun to fall._
_LILIOM and FICSUR are discovered on the stairway looking after the
train which has just passed._
LILIOM
Can you still hear it snort?
FICSUR
Listen! [_They watch the vanishing train._]
LILIOM
If you put your ear on the tracks you can hear it go all the way to
Vienna.
FICSUR
Huh!
LILIOM
The one that just puffed past us--it goes all the way to Vienna.
FICSUR
No further?
LILIOM
Yes--further, too. [_There is a pause._]
FICSUR
It must be near six. [_As LILIOM ascends the steps._] Where are you
going?
LILIOM
Don't be afraid. I'm not giving you the slip.
FICSUR
Why should you give me the slip? That cashier has sixteen thousand
kronen on him. Just be patient till he comes, then you can talk to
him, nice and polite.
LILIOM
I say, "Good evening--excuse me, sir; what time is it?"
FICSUR
Then he tells you what time it is.
LILIOM
Suppose he don't come?
FICSUR
[_Coming down the steps._] Nonsense! He's got to come. He pays off the
workmen every Saturday. And this is Saturday, ain't it? [_LILIOM has
ascended to the top of the stairway and is gazing along the tracks._]
What are you looking at up there?
LILIOM
The tracks go on and on--there's no end to them.
FICSUR
What's that to stare about?
LILIOM
Nothing--only I always look after the train. When you stand down there
at night it snorts past you, and spits down.
FICSUR
Spits?
LILIOM
Yes, the engine. It spits down. And then the whole train rattles past
and away--and you stand there--spat on--but it draws your eyes along
with it.
FICSUR
Draws your eyes along?
LILIOM
Yes--whether you want to or not, you've got to look after it--as long
as the tiniest bit of it is in sight.
FICSUR
Swell people sit in it.
LILIOM
And read newspapers.
FICSUR
And smoke cigars.
LILIOM
And inhale the smoke. [_There is a short silence._]
FICSUR
Is he coming?
LILIOM
Not yet. [_Silence again. LILIOM comes down, speaks low,
confidentially._] Do you hear the telegraph wires?
FICSUR
I hear them when the wind blows.
LILIOM
Even when the wind doesn't blow you can hear them humming, humming----
People talk through them.
FICSUR
Who?
LILIOM
Jews.
FICSUR
No--they telegraph.
LILIOM
They talk through them and from some other place they get answered.
And it all goes through the iron strings--that's why they hum like
that--they hum-m----
FICSUR
What do they hum?
LILIOM
They hum! ninety-nine, ninety-nine. Just listen.
FICSUR
What for?
LILIOM
That sparrow's listening, too. He's cocked one eye and looks at me as
if to say: "I'd like to know what they're talking about."
FICSUR
You're looking at a bird?
LILIOM
He's looking at me, too.
FICSUR
Listen, you're sick! There's something the matter with you. Do you
know what it is? Money. That bird has no money, either; that's why he
cocks his eye.
LILIOM
Maybe.
FICSUR
Whoever has money don't cock his eye.
LILIOM
What then does he do?
FICSUR
He does most anything he wants. But nobody works unless he has money.
We'll soon have money ourselves.
LILIOM
I say, "Good evening. Excuse me, sir, can you tell me what time it
is!"
FICSUR
He's not coming yet. Got the cards? [_LILIOM gives him the pack of
cards._] Got any money?
LILIOM
[_Takes some coins from his trousers pocket and counts._] Eleven.
FICSUR
[_Sits astride on the pile of ties and looks off left._] All
right--eleven.
LILIOM
[_Sitting astride on the ties facing him._] Put it up.
FICSUR
[_Puts the money on the ties; rapidly shuffles the cards._] We'll play
twenty-one. I'll bank. [_He deals deftly._]
LILIOM
[_Looks at his card._] Good. I'll bet the bank.
FICSUR
Must have an ace! [_Deals him a second card._]
LILIOM
Another one. [_He gets another card._] Another. [_Gets still
another._] Over! [_Throws down his cards. FICSUR gathers in the
money._] Come on!
FICSUR
Come on what? Got no more money, have you?
LILIOM
No.
FICSUR
Then the game's over--unless you want to----
LILIOM
What?
FICSUR
Play on credit.
LILIOM
You'll trust me?
FICSUR
No--but--I'll deduct it.
LILIOM
Deduct it from what?
FICSUR
From your share of the money. If _you_ win you deduct from my share.
LILIOM
[_Looks over his shoulder to see if the cashier is coming; nervous and
ashamed._] All right. How much is bank?
FICSUR
That cashier is bringing us sixteen thousand kronen. Eight thousand of
that is mine. Well, then, the bank is eight thousand.
LILIOM
Good.
FICSUR
Whoever has the most luck will have the most money. [_He deals._]
LILIOM
Six hundred kronen. [_FICSUR gives him another card._] Enough.
FICSUR
[_Laying out his own cards._] Twenty-one. [_He shuffles rapidly._]
LILIOM
[_Moves excitedly nearer to FICSUR._] Well, then, double or nothing.
FICSUR
[_Dealing._] Double or nothing.
LILIOM
[_Gets a card._] Enough.
FICSUR
[_Laying out his own cards._] Twenty-one. [_Shuffles rapidly again._]
LILIOM
[_In alarm._] You're not--cheating?
FICSUR
Me? Do I look like a cheat? [_Deals the cards again._]
LILIOM
[_Glances nervously over his shoulder._] A thousand.
FICSUR
[_Nonchalantly._] Kronen?
LILIOM
Kronen. [_He gets a card._] Another one. [_Gets another card._] Over
again! [_Like an inexperienced gambler who is losing heavily, LILIOM
is very nervous. He plays dazedly, wildly, irrationally. From now on
it is apparent that his only thought is to win his money back._]
FICSUR
That makes twelve hundred you owe.
LILIOM
Double or nothing. [_He gets a card. He is greatly excited._] Another
one. [_Gets another card._] Another. [_Throws down three cards._]
FICSUR
[_Bends over and adds up the sum on the ground._]
Ten--fourteen--twenty-three---- You owe two thousand, four hundred.
LILIOM
Now what?
FICSUR
[_Takes a card out of the deck and gives it to him._] Here's the red
ace. You can play double or nothing again.
LILIOM
[_Eagerly._] Good. [_Gets another card._] Enough.
FICSUR
[_Turns up his own cards._] Nineteen.
LILIOM
You win again. [_Almost imploring._] Give me an ace again. Give me the
green one. [_Takes a card._] Double or nothing.
FICSUR
Not any more.
LILIOM
Why not?
FICSUR
Because if you lose you won't be able to pay. Double would be nine
thousand six hundred. And you've only got eight thousand altogether.
LILIOM
[_Greatly excited._] That--that--I call that--a dirty trick!
FICSUR
Three thousand, two hundred. That's all you can put up.
LILIOM
[_Eagerly._] All right, then--three thousand, two hundred. [_FICSUR
deals him a card._] Enough.
FICSUR
I've got an ace myself. Now we'll have to take our time and squeeze
'em. [_LILIOM pushes closer to him, as he takes up his cards and
slowly, intently unfolds them._] Twenty-one. [_He quickly puts the
cards in his pocket. There is a pause._]
LILIOM
Now--now--I'll tell you now--you're a crook, a low-down---- [_Now
LINZMAN enters at Right. He is a strong, robust, red-bearded Jew about
40 years of age. At his side he carries a leather bag slung by a strap
from his shoulder. FICSUR coughs warningly, moves to the right between
LINZMAN and the embankment, pauses just behind LINZMAN and follows
him. LILIOM stands bewildered a few paces to the left of the railroad
ties. He finds himself facing LINZMAN. Trembling in every limb._] Good
evening. Excuse me, sir, can you tell me the time? [_FICSUR springs
silently at LINZMAN, the little knife in his right hand. But LINZMAN
catches FICSUR'S right hand with his own left and forces FICSUR to his
knees. Simultaneously LINZMAN thrusts his right hand into his coat
pocket and produces a revolver which he points at LILIOM'S breast.
LILIOM is standing two paces away from the revolver. There is a long
pause._]
LINZMAN
[_In a low, even voice._] It is twenty-five minutes past six.
[_Pauses, looks ironically down at FICSUR._] It's lucky I grabbed the
hand with the knife instead of the other one. [_Pauses again, looks
appraisingly from one to the other._] Two fine birds! [_To FICSUR._] I
should live so--Rothschild has more luck than you. [_To LILIOM._] I'd
advise you to keep nice and quiet. If you make one move, you'll get
two bullets in you. Just look into the barrel. You'll see some little
things in there made of lead.
FICSUR
Let me go. I didn't do anything.
LINZMAN
[_Mockingly shakes the hand which still holds the knife._] And this?
What do you call this? Oh, yes, I know. You thought I had an apple in
my pocket, and you wanted to peel it. That's it. Forgive me for my
error. I beg your pardon, sir.
LILIOM
But I--I----
LINZMAN
Yes, my son, I know. It's so simple. You only asked what time it is.
Well, it's twenty-five minutes after six.
FICSUR
Let us go, honorable sir. We didn't do anything to you.
LINZMAN
In the first place, my son, I'm not an honorable sir. In the second
place, for the same money, you could have said Your Excellency. But in
the third place you'll find it very hard to beg off by flattering me.
LILIOM
But I--_I_ really didn't do anything to you.
LINZMAN
Look behind you, my boy. Don't be afraid. Look behind you, but don't
run away or I'll have to shoot you down. [_LILIOM turns his head
slowly around._] Who's coming up there?
LILIOM
[_Looking at LINZMAN._] Policemen.
LINZMAN
[_To FICSUR._] You hold still, or---- [_To LILIOM teasingly._] How
many policemen are there?
LILIOM
[_His eyes cast down._] Two.
LINZMAN
And what are the policemen sitting on?
LILIOM
Horses.
LINZMAN
And which can run faster, a horse or a man?
LILIOM
A horse.
LINZMAN
There, you see. It would be hard to get away now. [_Laughs._] I never
saw such an unlucky pair of highway robbers. I can't imagine worse
luck. Just today I had to put a pistol in my pocket. And even if I
hadn't--old Linzman is a match for four like you. But even that isn't
all. Did you happen to notice, you oxen, what direction I came from?
From the factory, didn't I? When I _went_ there I had a nice bit of
money with me. Sixteen thousand crowns! But now--not a heller. [_Calls
off left._] Hey, come quicker, will you? This fellow is pulling pretty
strong. [_FICSUR frees himself with a mighty wrench and darts rapidly
off. As LINZMAN aims his pistol at the vanishing FICSUR, LILIOM runs
up the steps to the embankment. LINZMAN hesitates, perceives that
LILIOM is the better target, points the pistol at him._] Stop, or I'll
shoot! [_Calls off left to the POLICEMEN._] Why don't you come down
off your horses? [_His pistol is leveled at LILIOM, who stands on the
embankment, facing the audience. From the left on the embankment a
POLICEMAN appears, revolver in hand._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
Stop!
LINZMAN
Well, my boy, do you still want to know what time it is? From ten to
twelve years in prison!
LILIOM
You won't get me! [_LINZMAN laughs derisively. LILIOM is now three or
four paces from the POLICEMAN and equally distant from LINZMAN. His
face is uplifted to the sky. He bursts into laughter, half defiant,
half self-pitying, and takes the kitchen knife from under his coat._]
Julie---- [_The ring of farewell is in the word. He turns sideways,
thrusts the knife deep in his breast, sways, falls and rolls down the
far side of the embankment. There is a long pause. From the left up on
the embankment come the TWO POLICEMEN._]
LINZMAN
What's the matter? [_The FIRST POLICEMAN comes along the embankment as
far as the steps, looks down in the opposite side, then climbs down at
about the spot where LILIOM disappeared. LINZMAN and the other
POLICEMAN mount the embankment and look down on him._] Stabbed
himself?
VOICE OF FIRST POLICEMAN
Yes--and he seems to have made a thorough job of it.
LINZMAN
[_Excitedly to the SECOND POLICEMAN._] I'll go and telephone to the
hospital. [_He runs down the steps and exits at left._]
SECOND POLICEMAN
Go to Eisler's grocery store and telephone to the factory from there.
They've a doctor there, too. [_Calling down to the other POLICEMAN._]
I'm going to tie up the horses. [_Comes down the steps and exits at
left. The stage is empty. There is a pause. The little red signal lamp
is lit._]
VOICE OF FIRST POLICEMAN
Hey, Stephan!
VOICE OF SECOND POLICEMAN
What?
VOICE OF FIRST POLICEMAN
Shall I pull the knife out of his chest?
VOICE OF SECOND POLICEMAN
Better not, or he may bleed to death. [_There is a pause._]
VOICE OF FIRST POLICEMAN
Stephan!
VOICE OF SECOND POLICEMAN
Yes.
VOICE OF FIRST POLICEMAN
Lot of mosquitoes around here.
VOICE OF SECOND POLICEMAN
Yes.
VOICE OF FIRST POLICEMAN
Got a cigar?
VOICE OF SECOND POLICEMAN
No. [_There is a pause. The FIRST POLICEMAN appears over the opposite
side of the embankment._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
A lot of good the new pay-schedule's done us--made things worse than
they used to be--we _get_ more but we _have_ less than we ever had. If
the Government could be made to realize that. It's a thankless job at
best. You work hard year after year, you get gray in the service, and
slowly you die--yes.
SECOND POLICEMAN
That's right.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Yes. [_In the distance is heard the bell of the signal tower._]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
SCENE FIVE
SCENE--_The photographic "studio" a half hour later that same
evening._
_MOTHER HOLLUNDER, her son, MARIE and WOLF stand in a group back
right, their heads together. JULIE stands apart from them, a few paces
to the left._
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
[_Who has just come in, tells his story excitedly._] They're bringing
him now. Two workmen from the factory are carrying him on a stretcher.
WOLF
Where is the doctor?
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
A policeman telephoned to headquarters. The police-surgeon ought to be
here any minute.
MARIE
Maybe they'll pull him through after all.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
He stabbed himself too deep in his chest. But he's still breathing. He
can still talk, too, but very faintly. At first he lay there
unconscious, but when they put him on the stretcher he came to.
WOLF
That was from the shaking.
MARIE
We'd better make room. [_They make room. Two workmen carry in LILIOM
on a stretcher which has four legs and stands about as high as a bed.
They put the stretcher at left directly in front of the sofa, so that
the head is at right and the foot at left. Then they unobtrusively
join the group at the door. Later, they go out. JULIE is standing at
the side of the stretcher, where, without moving, she can see LILIOM'S
face. The others crowd emotionally together near the door. The FIRST
POLICEMAN enters._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
Are you his wife?
JULIE
Yes.
FIRST POLICEMAN
The doctor at the factory who bandaged him up forbade us to take him
to the hospital.--Dangerous to move him that far. What he needs now is
rest. Just let him be until the police-surgeon comes. [_To the group
near the door._] He's not to be disturbed. [_They make way for him. He
exits. There is a pause._]
WOLF
[_Gently urging the others out._] Please--it's best if we all get out
of here now. We'll only be in the way.
MARIE
[_To JULIE._] Julie, what do you think? [_JULIE looks at her without
answering._] Julie, can I do anything to help? [_JULIE does not
answer._] We'll be just outside on the bench if you want us. [_MOTHER
HOLLUNDER and her son have gone out when first requested. Now MARIE
and WOLF exit, too. JULIE sits on the edge of the stretcher and looks
at LILIOM. He stretches his hand out to her. She clasps it. It is not
quite dark yet. Both of them can still be plainly seen._]
LILIOM
[_Raises himself with difficulty; speaks lightly at first, but later
soberly, defiantly._] Little--Julie--there's something--I want to tell
you--like when you go to a restaurant--and you've finished eating--and
it's time--to pay--then you have to count up everything--everything
you owe--well--I beat you--not because I was mad at you--no--only
because I can't bear to see anyone crying. You always cried--on my
account--and, well, you see,--I never learned a trade--what kind of a
caretaker would I make? But anyhow--I wasn't going back to the
carousel to fool with the girls. No, I spit on them all--understand?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
And--as for Hollinger--he's good enough--Mrs. Muskat can get along all
right with him. The jokes he tells are mine--and the people laugh when
he tells them--but I don't care.--I didn't give you anything--no
home--not even the food you ate--but you don't understand.--It's true
I'm not much good--but I couldn't be a caretaker--and so I thought
maybe it would be better over there--in America--do you see?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
I'm not asking--forgiveness--I don't do that--I don't. Tell the
baby--if you like.
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
Tell the baby--I wasn't much good--but tell him--if you ever talk
about me--tell him--I thought--perhaps--over in America--but that's no
affair of yours. I'm not asking forgiveness. For my part the police
can come now.--If it's a boy--if it's a girl.--Perhaps I'll see the
Lord God today.--Do you think I'll see Him?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
I'm not afraid--of the police Up There--if they'll only let me come up
in front of the Lord God Himself--not like down here where an officer
stops you at the door. If the carpenter asks you--yes--be his
wife--marry him. And the child--tell him he's his father.--He'll
believe you--won't he?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
When I beat you--I was right.--You mustn't always think--you mustn't
always be right.--Liliom can be right once, too.--It's all the same to
me who was right.--It's so dumb. Nobody's right--but they all think
they are right.--A lot they know!
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
Julie--come--hold my hand tight.
JULIE
I'm holding it tight--all the time.
LILIOM
Tighter, still tighter--I'm going---- [_Pauses._] Julie----
JULIE
Good-bye. [_LILIOM sinks slowly back and dies. JULIE frees her hand.
THE DOCTOR enters with the FIRST POLICEMAN._]
DOCTOR
Good evening. His wife?
JULIE
Yes, sir. [_Behind the DOCTOR and POLICEMAN enter MARIE, WOLF, MOTHER
HOLLUNDER, YOUNG HOLLUNDER and MRS. MUSKAT. They remain respectfully
at the doorway. The DOCTOR bends over LILIOM and examines him._]
DOCTOR
A light, if you please. [_JULIE fetches a burning candle from the dark
room. The DOCTOR examines LILIOM briefly in the candle-light, then
turns suddenly away._] Have you pen and ink?
WOLF
[_Proffering a pen._] A fountain-pen--American----
DOCTOR
[_Takes a printed form from his pocket; speaks as he writes out the
death-certificate at the little table._] My poor woman, your husband
is dead--there's nothing to be done for him--the good God will help
him now--I'll leave this certificate with you. You will give it to the
people from the hospital when they come--I'll arrange for the body to
be removed at once. [_Rises._] Please give me a towel and soap.
POLICEMAN
I've got them for you out here, sir. [_Points to door at back._]
DOCTOR
God be with you, my good woman.
JULIE
Thank you, sir. [_The DOCTOR and POLICEMAN exit. The others slowly
draw nearer._]
MARIE
Poor Julie. May he rest in peace, poor man, but as for you--please
don't be angry with me for saying it--but you're better off this way.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He is better off, the poor fellow, and so are you.
MARIE
Much better, Julie . . . you are young . . . and one of these days
some good man will come along. Am I right?
WOLF
She's right.
MARIE
Julie, tell me, am I right?
JULIE
You are right, dear; you are very good.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
There's a good man--the carpenter. Oh, I can speak of it now. He comes
here every day on some excuse or other--and he never fails to ask for
you.
MARIE
A widower--with two children.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He's better off, poor fellow--and so are you. He was a bad man.
MARIE
He wasn't good-hearted. Was he, Wolf?
WOLF
No, I must say, he really wasn't. No, Liliom wasn't a good man. A good
man doesn't strike a woman.
MARIE
Am I right? Tell me, Julie, am I right?
JULIE
You are right, dear.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
It's really a good thing for her it happened.
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
He's better off--and so is she.
WOLF
Now you have your freedom again. How old are you?
JULIE
Eighteen.
WOLF
Eighteen. A mere child! Am I right?
JULIE
You are right, Wolf. You are kind.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
Lucky for you it happened, isn't it?
JULIE
Yes.
YOUNG HOLLUNDER
All you had before was bad luck. If it weren't for my mother you
wouldn't have had a roof over your head or a bite to eat--and now
Autumn's coming and Winter. You couldn't have lived in this shack in
the Winter time, could you?
MARIE
Certainly not! You'd have frozen like the birds in the fields. Am I
right, Julie?
JULIE
Yes, Marie.
MARIE
A year from now you will have forgotten all about him, won't you?
JULIE
You are right, Marie.
WOLF
If you need anything, count on us. We'll go now. But tomorrow morning
we'll be back. Come, Marie. God be with you. [_Offers JULIE his
hand._]
JULIE
God be with you.
MARIE
[_Embraces JULIE, weeping._] It's the best thing that could have
happened to you, Julie, the best thing.
JULIE
Don't cry, Marie. [_MARIE and WOLF exit._]
MOTHER HOLLUNDER
I'll make a little black coffee. You haven't had a thing to eat today.
Then you'll come home with us. [_MOTHER HOLLUNDER and her son exit.
MRS. MUSKAT comes over to JULIE._]
MRS. MUSKAT
Would you mind if I--looked at him?
JULIE
He used to work for you.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Contemplates the body; turns to JULIE._] Won't you make up with me?
JULIE
I wasn't angry with you.
MRS. MUSKAT
But you were. Let's make it up.
JULIE
[_Raising her voice eagerly, almost triumphantly._] I've nothing to
make up with _you._
MRS. MUSKAT
But I have with you. Everyone says hard things against the poor dead
boy--except us two. You don't say he was bad.
JULIE
[_Raising her voice yet higher, this time on a defiant, wholly
triumphant note._] Yes, I _do._
MRS. MUSKAT
I understand, my child. But he beat me, too. What does that matter?
I've forgotten it.
JULIE
[_From now on answers her coldly, drily, without looking at her._]
That's your own affair.
MRS. MUSKAT
If I can help you in any way----
JULIE
There's nothing I need.
MRS. MUSKAT
I still owe him two kronen, back pay.
JULIE
You should have paid him.
MRS. MUSKAT
Now that the poor fellow is dead I thought perhaps it would be the
same if I paid you.
JULIE
I've nothing to do with it.
MRS. MUSKAT
All right. Please don't think I'm trying to force myself on you. I
stayed because we two are the only ones on earth who loved him. That's
why I thought we ought to stick together.
JULIE
No, thank you.
MRS. MUSKAT
Then you couldn't have loved him as I did.
JULIE
No.
MRS. MUSKAT
I loved him better.
JULIE
Yes.
MRS. MUSKAT
Good-bye.
JULIE
Good-bye. [_MRS. MUSKAT exits. JULIE puts the candle on the table near
LILIOM'S head, sits on the edge of the stretcher, looks into the dead
man's face and caresses it tenderly._] Sleep, Liliom, sleep--it's no
business of hers--I never even told you--but now I'll tell you--now
I'll tell you--you bad, quick-tempered, rough, unhappy, wicked--_dear_
boy--sleep peacefully, Liliom--they can't understand how I feel--I
can't even explain to you--not even to you--how I feel--you'd only
laugh at me--but you can't hear me any more. [_Between tender
motherliness and reproach, yet with great love in her voice._] It was
wicked of you to beat me--on the breast and on the head and face--but
you're gone now.--You treated me badly--that was wicked of you--but
sleep peacefully, Liliom--you bad, bad boy, you--I love you--I never
told you before--I was ashamed--but now I've told you--I love you,
Liliom--sleep--my boy--sleep. [_She rises, gets a Bible, sits down
near the candle and reads softly to herself, so that, not the words,
but an inarticulate murmur is heard. The CARPENTER enters at back._]
CARPENTER
[_Stands near the door; in the dimness of the room he can scarcely be
seen._] Miss Julie----
JULIE
[_Without alarm._] Who is that?
CARPENTER
[_Very slowly._] The carpenter.
JULIE
What does the carpenter want?
CARPENTER
Can I be of help to you in any way? Shall I stay here with you?
JULIE
[_Gratefully, but firmly._] Don't stay, carpenter.
CARPENTER
Shall I come back tomorrow?
JULIE
Not tomorrow, either.
CARPENTER
Don't be offended, Miss Julie, but I'd like to know--you see, I'm not
a young man any more--I have two children--and if I'm to come back any
more--I'd like to know--if there's any use----
JULIE
No use, carpenter.
CARPENTER
[_As he exits._] God be with you. [_JULIE resumes her reading. FICSUR
enters, slinks furtively sideways to the stretcher, looks at LILIOM,
shakes his head. JULIE looks up from her reading. FICSUR takes fright,
slinks away from the stretcher, sits down at right, biting his nails.
JULIE rises. FICSUR rises, too, and looks at her half fearfully. With
her piercing glance upon him he slinks to the doorway at back, where
he pauses and speaks._]
FICSUR
The old woman asked me to tell you that coffee is ready, and you are
to come in. [_JULIE goes to the kitchen door. FICSUR withdraws until
she has closed the door behind her. Then he reappears in the doorway,
stands on tiptoes, looks at LILIOM, then exits. Now the body lies
alone. After a brief silence music is heard, distant at first, but
gradually coming nearer. It is very much like the music of the
carousel, but slower, graver, more exalted. The melody, too, is the
same, yet the tempo is altered and contrapuntal measures of the
thieves' song are intertwined in it. Two men in black, with heavy
sticks, soft black hats and black gloves, appear in the doorway at
back and stride slowly into the room. Their faces are beardless,
marble white, grave and benign. One stops m front of the stretcher,
the other a pace to the right. From above a dim violet light
illuminates their faces._]
THE FIRST
[_To LILIOM._] Rise and come with us.
THE SECOND
[_Politely._] You're under arrest.
THE FIRST
[_Somewhat louder, but always in a gentle, low, resonant voice._] Do
you hear? Rise. Don't you hear?
THE SECOND
We are the police.
THE FIRST
[_Bends down, touches LILIOM'S shoulder._] Get up and come with us.
[_LILIOM slowly sits up._]
THE SECOND
Come along.
THE FIRST
[_Paternally._] These people suppose that when they die all their
difficulties are solved for them.
THE SECOND
[_Raising his voice sternly._] That simply by thrusting a knife in
your heart and making it stop beating you can leave your wife behind
with a child in her womb----
THE FIRST
It is not as simple as that.
THE SECOND
Such things are not settled so easily.
THE FIRST
Come along. You will have to give an account of yourself. [_As both
bow their heads, he continues softly._] We are God's police. [_An
expression of glad relief lights upon LILIOM'S face. He rises from the
stretcher._] Come.
THE SECOND
You mortals don't get off quite as easy as that.
THE FIRST
[_Softly._] Come. [_LILIOM starts to walk ahead of them, then stops
and looks at them._] The end is not as abrupt as that. Your name is
still spoken. Your face is still remembered. And what you said, and
what you did, and what you failed to do--these are still remembered.
Remembered, too, are the manner of your glance, the ring of your
voice, the clasp of your hand and how your step sounded--as long as
one is left who remembers you, so long is the matter unended. Before
the end there is much to be undone. Until you are quite forgotten, my
son, you will not be finished with the earth--even though you _are_
dead.
THE SECOND
[_Very gently._] Come. [_The music begins again. All three exit at
back, LILIOM leading, the others following. The stage is empty and
quite dark save for the candle which burns by the stretcher, on which,
in the shadows, the covers are so arranged that one cannot quite be
sure that a body is not still lying. The music dies out in the
distance as if it had followed LILIOM and the two POLICEMEN. The
candle flickers and goes out. There is a brief interval of silence and
total darkness before_
THE CURTAIN FALLS
SCENE SIX
SCENE--_In the Beyond. A whitewashed courtroom. There is a
green-topped table; behind it a bench. Back Center is a door with a
bell over it. Next to this door is a window through which can be seen
a vista of rose-tinted clouds._
_Down right there is a grated iron door. Down left another door._
_Two men are on the bench when the curtain rises. One is richly, the
other poorly dressed._
_From a great distance is heard a fanfare of trumpets playing the
refrain, of the thieves' song in slow, altered tempo._
_Passing the window at back appear LILIOM and the two POLICEMEN._
_The bell rings._
_An old GUARD enters at right. He is bald and has a long white beard.
He wears the conventional police uniform._
_He goes to the door at back, opens it, exchanges silent greetings
with the two POLICEMEN and closes the door again._
_LILIOM looks wonderingly around._
THE FIRST
[_To the old GUARD._] Announce us. [_The GUARD exits at left._]
LILIOM
Is this it?
THE SECOND
Yes, my son.
LILIOM
This is the police court?
THE SECOND
Yes, my son. The part for suicide cases.
LILIOM
And what happens here?
THE FIRST
Here justice is done. Sit down. [_LILIOM sits next to the two men. The
two POLICEMEN stand silent near the table._]
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
[_Whispers._] Suicide, too?
LILIOM
Yes.
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
[_Points to the POORLY DRESSED MAN._] So's he. [_Introducing
himself._] My name is Reich.
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
[_Whispers, too._] My name is Stephen Kadar. [_LILIOM only looks at
them._]
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
And you? What's your name?
LILIOM
None of your business. [_Both move a bit away from him._]
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
I did it by jumping out of a window.
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
I did it with a pistol--and you?
LILIOM
With a knife. [_They move a bit further away from him._]
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
A pistol is cleaner.
LILIOM
If I had the price of a pistol----
THE SECOND
Silence!
[_The POLICE MAGISTRATE enters. He has a long white beard, is bald,
but only in profile can be seen on his head a single tuft of
snow-white hair. The GUARD reënters behind him and sits on the bench
with the dead men. As the MAGISTRATE enters, all rise, except LILIOM,
who remains surlily seated. When the MAGISTRATE sits down, so do the
others._]
THE GUARD
Yesterday's cases, your honor. The numbers are entered in the docket.
THE MAGISTRATE
Number 16,472.
THE FIRST
[_Looks in his notebook, beckons the RICHLY DRESSED MAN._] Stand up,
please. [_THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN rises._]
THE MAGISTRATE
Your name?
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
Doctor Reich.
THE MAGISTRATE
Age?
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
Forty-two, married, Jew.
THE MAGISTRATE
[_With a gesture of dismissal._] Religion does not interest us
here--why did you kill yourself?
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
On account of debts.
THE MAGISTRATE
What good did you do on earth?
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
I was a lawyer----
THE MAGISTRATE
[_Coughs significantly._] Yes--we'll discuss that later. For the
present I shall only ask you: Would you like to go back to earth once
more before sunrise? I advise you that you have the right to go if you
choose. Do you understand?
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
Yes, sir.
THE MAGISTRATE
He who takes his life is apt, in his haste and his excitement, to
forget something. Is there anything important down there you have left
undone? Something to tell someone? Something to undo?
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
My debts----
THE MAGISTRATE
They do not matter here. Here we are concerned only with the affairs
of the soul.
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
Then--if you please--when I left--the house--my youngest son,
Oscar--was asleep. I didn't trust myself to wake him--and bid him
good-bye. I would have liked--to kiss him good-bye.
THE MAGISTRATE
[_To THE SECOND._] You will take Dr. Reich back and let him kiss his
son Oscar.
THE SECOND
Come with me, please.
THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN
[_To THE MAGISTRATE._] I thank you. [_He bows and exits at back with
THE SECOND._]
THE MAGISTRATE
[_After making an entry in the docket._] Number 16,473.
THE FIRST
[_Looks in his notebook, then beckons LILIOM._] Stand up.
LILIOM
You said _please_ to him. [_He rises._]
THE MAGISTRATE
Your name?
LILIOM
Liliom.
THE MAGISTRATE
Isn't that your nickname?
LILIOM
Yes.
THE MAGISTRATE
What is your right name?
LILIOM
Andreas.
THE MAGISTRATE
And your last name?
LILIOM
Zavocki--after my mother.
THE MAGISTRATE
Your age?
LILIOM
Twenty-four.
THE MAGISTRATE
What good did _you_ do on earth? [_LILIOM is silent._] Why did you
take your life? [_LILIOM does not answer. THE MAGISTRATE addresses THE
FIRST._] Take that knife away from him. [_THE FIRST does so._] It will
be returned to you, if you go back to earth.
LILIOM
Do I go back to earth again?
THE MAGISTRATE
Just answer my questions.
LILIOM
I wasn't answering then, I was asking if----
THE MAGISTRATE
You don't ask questions here. You only answer. Only answer, Andreas
Zavocki! I ask you whether there is anything on earth you neglected to
accomplish? Anything down there you would like to do?
LILIOM
Yes.
THE MAGISTRATE
What is it?
LILIOM
I'd like to break Ficsur's head for him.
THE MAGISTRATE
Punishment is our office. Is there nothing else on earth you'd like to
do?
LILIOM
I don't know--I guess, as long as I'm here, I'll not go back.
THE MAGISTRATE
[_To THE FIRST._] Note that. He waives his right. [_LILIOM starts back
to the bench._] Stay where you are. You are aware that you left your
wife without food or shelter?
LILIOM
Yes.
THE MAGISTRATE
Don't you regret it?
LILIOM
No.
THE MAGISTRATE
You are aware that your wife is pregnant, and that in six months a
child will be born?
LILIOM
I know.
THE MAGISTRATE
And that the child, too, will be without food or shelter? Do you
regret that?
LILIOM
As long as I won't be there, what's it got to do with me?
THE MAGISTRATE
Don't try to deceive us, Andreas Zavocki. We see through you as
through a pane of glass.
LILIOM
If you see so much, what do you want to ask me for? Why don't you let
me rest--in peace?
THE MAGISTRATE
First you must earn your rest.
LILIOM
I want--only--to sleep.
THE MAGISTRATE
Your obstinacy won't help you. Here patience is endless as time. We
can wait.
LILIOM
Can I ask something--I'd like to know--if Your Honor will tell
me--whether the baby will be a boy or a girl.
THE MAGISTRATE
You shall see that for yourself.
LILIOM
[_Excitedly._] I'll see the baby?
THE MAGISTRATE
When you do it won't be a baby any more. But we haven't reached that
question yet.
LILIOM
I'll see it?
THE MAGISTRATE
Again I ask you: Do you not regret that you deserted your wife and
child; that you were a bad husband, a bad father?
LILIOM
A bad husband?
THE MAGISTRATE
Yes.
LILIOM
And a bad father?
THE MAGISTRATE
That, too.
LILIOM
I couldn't get work--and I couldn't bear to see Julie--all the
time--all the time----
THE MAGISTRATE
Weeping! Why are you ashamed to say it? You couldn't bear to see her
weeping. Why are you afraid of that word? And why are you ashamed that
you loved her?
LILIOM
[_Shrugs his shoulders._] Who's ashamed? But I couldn't bear to see
her--and that's why I was bad to her. You see, it wouldn't do to go
back to the carousel--and Ficsur came along with his talk about--that
other thing--and all of a sudden it happened, I don't know how. The
police and the Jew with the pistol--and there I stood--and I'd lost
the money playing cards--and I didn't want to be put in prison.
[_Demanding justification._] Maybe I was wrong not to go out and steal
when there was nothing to eat in the house? Should I have gone out to
steal for Julie?
THE MAGISTRATE
[_Emphatically._] Yes.
LILIOM
[_After an astounded pause._] The police down there never said that.
THE MAGISTRATE
You beat that poor, frail girl; you beat her because she loved you.
How could you do that?
LILIOM
We argued with each other--she said this and I said that--and because
she was right I couldn't answer her--and I got mad--and the anger rose
up in me--until it reached here [_points to his throat_] and then I
beat her.
THE MAGISTRATE
Are you sorry?
LILIOM
[_Shakes his head, but cannot utter the word "no"; continues softly._]
When I touched her slender throat--then--if you like--you might
say---- [_Falters, looks embarrassed at THE MAGISTRATE._]
THE MAGISTRATE
[_Confidently expectant._] Are you sorry?
LILIOM
[_With a stare._] I'm not sorry for anything.
THE MAGISTRATE
Liliom, Liliom, it will be difficult to help you.
LILIOM
I'm not asking any help.
THE MAGISTRATE
You were offered employment as a caretaker on Arader Street. [_To THE
FIRST._] Where is that entered?
THE FIRST
In the small docket. [_Hands him the open book. THE MAGISTRATE looks
in it._]
THE MAGISTRATE
Rooms, kitchen, quarterly wages, the privilege of keeping poultry. Why
didn't you accept it?
LILIOM
I'm not a caretaker. I'm no good at caretaking. To be a caretaker--you
have to be a caretaker----
THE MAGISTRATE
If I said to you now: Liliom, go back on your stretcher. Tomorrow
morning you will arise alive and well again. Would you be a caretaker
then?
LILIOM
No.
THE MAGISTRATE
Why not?
LILIOM
Because--because that's just why I died.
THE MAGISTRATE
That is not true, my son. You died because you loved little Julie and
the child she is bearing under her heart.
LILIOM
No.
THE MAGISTRATE
Look me in the eye.
LILIOM
[_Looks him in the eye._] No.
THE MAGISTRATE
[_Stroking his beard._] Liliom, Liliom, if it were not for our
Heavenly patience---- Go back to your seat. Number 16,474.
THE FIRST
[_Looks in his note book._] Stephan Kadar. [_THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
rises._]
THE MAGISTRATE
You came out today?
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
Today.
THE MAGISTRATE
[_Indicating the crimson sea of clouds._] How long were you in there?
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
Thirteen years.
THE MAGISTRATE
Officer, you went to earth with him?
THE FIRST
Yes, sir.
THE MAGISTRATE
Stephan Kadar, after thirteen years of purification by fire you
returned to earth to give proof that your soul had been burned clean.
What good deed did you perform?
THE POORLY DRESSED MAN
When I came to the village and looked in the window of our cottage I
saw my poor little orphans sleeping peacefully. But it was raining and
the rain beat into the room through a hole in the roof. So I went and
fixed the roof so it wouldn't rain in any more. My hammering woke them
up and they were afraid. But their mother came in to them and
comforted them. She said to them: "Don't cry! It's your poor, dear
father hammering up there. He's come back from the other world to fix
the roof for us."
THE MAGISTRATE
Officer?
THE FIRST
That's what happened.
THE MAGISTRATE
Stephan Kadar, you have done a good deed. What you did will be written
in books to gladden the hearts of children who read them. [_Indicates
the door at left._] The door is open to you. The eternal light awaits
you. [_THE FIRST escorts the POORLY DRESSED MAN out at left with great
deference._] Liliom! [_LILIOM rises._] You have heard?
LILIOM
Yes.
THE MAGISTRATE
When this man first appeared before us he was as stubborn as you. But
now he has purified himself and withstood the test. He has done a good
deed.
LILIOM
What's he done, anyhow? Any roofer can fix a roof. It's much harder to
be a barker in an amusement park.
THE MAGISTRATE
Liliom, you shall remain for sixteen years in the crimson fire until
your child is full grown. By that time your pride and your
stubbornness will have been burnt out of you. And when your
daughter----
LILIOM
My daughter!
THE MAGISTRATE
When your daughter has reached the age of sixteen---- [_LILIOM bows
his head, covers his eyes with his hands, and to keep from weeping
laughs defiantly, sadly._]
THE MAGISTRATE
When your daughter has reached the age of sixteen you will be sent for
one day back to earth.
LILIOM
Me?
THE MAGISTRATE
Yes--just as you may have read in the legends of how the dead reappear
on earth for a time.
LILIOM
I never believed them.
THE MAGISTRATE
Now you see they are true. You will go back to earth one day to show
how far the purification of your soul has progressed.
LILIOM
Then I must show what I can do--like when you apply for a job--as a
coachman?
THE MAGISTRATE
Yes--it is a test.
LILIOM
And will I be told what I have to do?
THE MAGISTRATE
No.
LILIOM
How will I know, then?
THE MAGISTRATE
You must decide that for yourself. That's what you burn sixteen years
for. And if you do something good, something splendid for your child,
then----
LILIOM
[_Laughs sadly._] Then? [_All stand up and bow their heads reverently.
There is a pause._] Then?
THE MAGISTRATE
Now I'll bid you farewell, Liliom. Sixteen years and a day shall pass
before I see you again. When you have returned from earth you will
come up before me again. Take heed and think well of some good deed to
do for your child. On that will depend which door shall be opened to
you up here. Now go, Liliom. [_He exits at left. THE GUARD stands at
attention. There is a pause._]
THE FIRST
[_Approaches LILIOM._] Come along, my son. [_He goes to the door at
right; pulls open the bolt and waits._]
LILIOM
[_To the old GUARD, softly._] Say, officer.
THE GUARD What do you want?
LILIOM
Please--can I get--have you got----?
THE GUARD
What?
LILIOM
[_Whispers._] A cigarette? [_The old GUARD stares at him, goes a few
paces to the left, shakes his head disapprovingly. Then his expression
softens. He takes a cigarette from his pocket and, crossing to
LILIOM--who has gone over to the door at right--gives him the
cigarette. THE FIRST throws open the door. An intense rose-colored
light streams in. The glow of it is so strong that it blinds LILIOM
and he takes a step backward and bows his head and covers his eyes
with his hand before he steps forward into the light._]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
SCENE SEVEN
SCENE--_Sixteen years later. A small, tumble-down house on a bare,
unenclosed plot of ground. Before the house is a tiny garden enclosed
by a hip-high hedge._
_At back a wooden fence crosses the stage; in the center of it is a
door large enough to admit a wagon. Beyond the fence is a view of a
suburban street which blends into a broad vista of tilled fields._
_It is a bright Sunday in Spring._
_In the garden a table for two is laid._
_JULIE, her daughter LOUISE, WOLF and MARIE are discovered in the
garden. WOLF is prosperously dressed, MARIE somewhat elaborately, with
a huge hat._
JULIE
You could stay for lunch.
MARIE
Impossible, dear. Since he became the proprietor of the Café Sorrento,
Wolf simply has to be there all the time.
JULIE
But you needn't stay there all day, too.
MARIE
Oh, yes. I sit near the cashier's cage, read the papers, keep an eye
on the waiters and drink in the bustle and excitement of the great
city.
JULIE
And what about the children?
MARIE
You know what modern families are like. Parents scarcely ever see
their children these days. The four girls are with their governess,
the three boys with their tutor.
LOUISE
Auntie, dear, do stay and eat with us.
MARIE
[_Importantly._] Impossible today, dear child, impossible. Perhaps
some other time. Come, Mr. Beifeld.
JULIE
Since when do you call your husband mister?
WOLF
I'd rather she did, dear lady. When we used to be very familiar we
quarreled all the time. Now we are formal with each other and get
along like society folk. I kiss your hand, dear lady.
JULIE
Good-bye, Wolf.
MARIE
Adieu, my dear. [_They embrace._] Adieu, my dear child.
LOUISE
Good-bye, Aunt Marie. Good-bye, Uncle Wolf. [_WOLF and MARIE exit._]
JULIE
You can get the soup now, Louise dear. [_LOUISE goes into the house
and reënters with the soup. They sit at the table._]
LOUISE
Mother, is it true we're not going to work at the jute factory any
more?
JULIE
Yes, dear.
LOUISE
Where then?
JULIE
Uncle Wolf has gotten us a place in a big establishment where they
make all kinds of fittings for cafés. We're to make big curtains, you
know, the kind they hang in the windows, with lettering on them.
LOUISE
It'll be nicer there than at the jute factory.
JULIE
Yes, dear. The work isn't as dirty and pays better, too. A poor widow
like your mother is lucky to get it. [_They eat. LILIOM and the two
HEAVENLY POLICEMEN appear in the big doorway at back. The POLICEMEN
pass slowly by. LILIOM stands there alone a moment, then comes slowly
down and pauses at the opening of the hedge. He is dressed as he was
on the day of his death. He is very pale, but otherwise unaltered.
JULIE, at the table, has her back to him. LOUISE sits facing the
audience._
LILIOM
Good day.
LOUISE
Good day.
JULIE
Another beggar! What is it you want, my poor man?
LILIOM
Nothing.
JULIE
We have no money to give, but if you care for a plate of soup----
[_LOUISE goes into the house._] Have you come far today?
LILIOM
Yes--very far.
JULIE
Are you tired?
LILIOM
Very tired.
JULIE
Over there at the gate is a stone. Sit down and rest. My daughter is
bringing you the soup. [_LOUISE comes out of the house._]
LILIOM
Is that your daughter?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
[_To LOUISE._] You are the daughter?
LOUISE
Yes, sir.
LILIOM
A fine, healthy girl. [_Takes the soup plate from her with one hand,
while with the other he touches her arm. LOUISE draws back quickly._]
LOUISE
[_Crosses to JULIE._] Mother!
JULIE
What, my child?
LOUISE
The man tried to take me by the arm.
JULIE
Nonsense! You only imagined it, dear. The poor, hungry man has other
things to think about than fooling with young girls. Sit down and eat
your soup. [_They eat._]
LILIOM
[_Eats, too, but keeps looking at them._] You work at the factory, eh?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
Your daughter, too?
LOUISE
Yes.
LILIOM
And your husband?
JULIE
[_After a pause._] I have no husband. I'm a widow.
LILIOM
A widow?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
Your husband--I suppose he's been dead a long time. [_JULIE does not
answer._] I say--has your husband been dead a long time?
JULIE
A long time.
LILIOM
What did he die of? [_JULIE is silent._]
LOUISE
No one knows. He went to America to work and he died there--in the
hospital. Poor father, I never knew him.
LILIOM
He went to America?
LOUISE
Yes, before I was born.
LILIOM
To America?
JULIE
Why do you ask so many questions? Did you know him, perhaps?
LILIOM
[_Puts the plate down._] Heaven knows! I've known so many people.
Maybe I knew him, too.
JULIE
Well, if you knew him, leave him and us in peace with your questions.
He went to America and died there. That's all there is to tell.
LILIOM
All right. All right. Don't be angry with me. I didn't mean any harm.
[_There is a pause._]
LOUISE
My father was a very handsome man.
JULIE
Don't talk so much.
LOUISE
Did I say anything----?
LILIOM
Surely the little orphan can say that about her father.
LOUISE
My father could juggle so beautifully with three ivory balls that
people used to advise him to go on the stage.
JULIE
Who told you that?
LOUISE
Uncle Wolf.
LILIOM
Who is that?
LOUISE
Mr. Wolf Beifeld, who owns the Café Sorrento.
LILIOM
The one who used to be a porter?
JULIE
[_Astonished._] Do you know him, too? It seems that you know all
Budapest.
LILIOM
Wolf Beifeld is a long way from being all Budapest. But I do know a
lot of people. Why shouldn't I know Wolf Beifeld?
LOUISE
He was a friend of my father.
JULIE
He was not his friend. No one was.
LILIOM
You speak of your husband so sternly.
JULIE
What's that to you? Doesn't it suit you? I can speak of my husband any
way I like. It's nobody's business but mine.
LILIOM
Certainly, certainly--it's your own business. [_Takes up his soup
plate again. All three eat._]
LOUISE
[_To JULIE._] Perhaps he knew father, too.
JULIE
Ask him, if you like.
LOUISE
[_Crosses to LILIOM. He stands up._] Did you know my father? [_LILIOM
nods. LOUISE addresses her mother._] Yes, he knew him.
JULIE
[_Rises._] You knew Andreas Zavocky?
LILIOM
Liliom? Yes.
LOUISE
Was he really a very handsome man?
LILIOM
I wouldn't exactly say handsome.
LOUISE
[_Confidently._] But he was an awfully good man, wasn't he?
LILIOM
He wasn't so good, either. As far as I know he was what they called a
clown, a barker in a carousel.
LOUISE
[_Pleased._] Did he tell funny jokes?
LILIOM
Lots of 'em. And he sang funny songs, too.
LOUISE
In the carousel?
LILIOM
Yes--but he was something of a bully, too. He'd fight anyone. He even
hit your dear little mother.
JULIE
That's a lie.
LILIOM
It's true.
JULIE
Aren't you ashamed to tell the child such awful things about her
father? Get out of here, you shameless liar. Eats our soup and our
bread and has the impudence to slander our dead!
LILIOM
I didn't mean--I----
JULIE
What right have you to tell lies to the child? Take that plate,
Louise, and let him be on his way. If he wasn't such a hungry-looking
beggar, I'd put him out myself. [_LOUISE takes the plate out of his
hand._]
LILIOM
So he didn't hit you?
JULIE
No, never. He was always good to me.
LOUISE
[_Whispers._] Did he tell funny stories, too?
LILIOM
Yes, and _such_ funny ones.
JULIE
Don't speak to him any more. In God's name, go.
LOUISE
In God's name. [_JULIE resumes her seat at the table and eats._]
LILIOM
If you please, Miss--I have a pack of cards in my pocket. And if you
like, I'll show you some tricks that'll make you split your sides
laughing. [_LOUISE holds LILIOM'S plate in her left hand. With her
right she reaches out and holds the garden gate shut._] Let me in,
just a little way, Miss, and I'll do the tricks for you.
LOUISE
Go, in God's name, and let us be. Why are you making those ugly faces?
LILIOM
Don't chase me away, Miss; let me come in for just a minute--just for
a minute--just long enough to let me show you something pretty,
something wonderful. [_Opens the gate._] Miss, I've something to give
you. [_Takes from his pocket a big red handkerchief in which is
wrapped a glittering star from Heaven. He looks furtively about him to
make sure that the POLICE are not watching._]
LOUISE
What's that?
LILIOM
Pst! A star! [_With a gesture he indicates that he has stolen it out
of the sky._]
JULIE
[_Sternly._] Don't take anything from him. He's probably stolen it
somewhere. [_To LILIOM._] In God's name, be off with you.
LOUISE
Yes, be off with you. Be off. [_She slams the gate._]
LILIOM
Miss--please, Miss--I've got to do something good--or--do something
good--a good deed----
LOUISE
[_Pointing with her right hand._] That's the way out.
LILIOM
Miss----
LOUISE
Get out!
LILIOM
Miss! [_Looks up at her suddenly and slaps her extended hand, so that
the slap resounds loudly._]
LOUISE
Mother! [_Looks dazedly at LILIOM, who bows his head dismayed,
forlorn. JULIE rises and looks at LILIOM in astonishment. There is a
long pause._]
JULIE
[_Comes over to them slowly._] What's the matter here?
LOUISE
[_Bewildered, does not take her eyes off LILIOM._] Mother--the man--he
hit me--on the hand--hard--I heard the sound of it--but it didn't
hurt--mother--it didn't hurt--it was like a caress--as if he had just
touched my hand tenderly. [_She hides behind JULIE. LILIOM sulkily
raises his head and looks at JULIE._]
JULIE
[_Softly._] Go, my child. Go into the house. Go.
LOUISE
[_Going._] But mother--I'm afraid--it sounded so loud----
[_Weepingly._] And it didn't hurt at all--just as if he'd--kissed my
hand instead--mother! [_She hides her face._]
JULIE
Go in, my child, go in. [_LOUISE goes slowly into the house. JULIE
watches her until she has disappeared, then turns slowly to LILIOM._]
JULIE
You struck my child.
LILIOM
Yes--I struck her.
JULIE
Is that what you came for, to strike my child?
LILIOM
No--I didn't come for that--but I did strike her--and now I'm going
back.
JULIE
In the name of the Lord Jesus, who are you?
LILIOM
[_Simply._] A poor, tired beggar who came a long way and who was
hungry. And I took your soup and bread and I struck your child. Are
you angry with me?
JULIE
[_Her hand on her heart; fearfully, wonderingly._] Jesus protect me--I
don't understand it--I'm not angry--not angry at all---- [_LILIOM goes
to the doorway and leans against the doorpost, his back to the
audience. JULIE goes to the table and sits._]
JULIE
Louise! [_LOUISE comes out of the house._] Sit down, dear, we'll
finish eating.
LOUISE
Has he gone?
JULIE
Yes. [_They are both seated at the table. LOUISE, her head in her
hands, is staring into space._] Why don't you eat, dear?
LOUISE
What has happened, mother?
JULIE
Nothing, my child. [_The HEAVENLY POLICEMEN appear outside. LILIOM
walks slowly off at left. The FIRST POLICEMAN makes a deploring
gesture. Both shake their heads deploringly and follow LILIOM slowly
off at left._]
LOUISE
Mother, dear, why won't you tell me?
JULIE
What is there to tell you, child? Nothing has happened. We were
peacefully eating, and a beggar came who talked of bygone days, and
then I thought of your father.
LOUISE
My father?
JULIE
Your father--Liliom. [_There is a pause._]
LOUISE
Mother--tell me--has it ever happened to you--has anyone ever hit
you--without hurting you in the least?
JULIE
Yes, my child. It has happened to me, too. [_There is a pause._]
LOUISE
Is it possible for someone to hit you--hard like that--real loud and
hard--and not hurt you at all?
JULIE
It is possible, dear--that someone may beat you and beat you and beat
you,--and not hurt you at all.---- [_There is a pause. Nearby an
organ-grinder has stopped. The music of his organ begins._]
THE CURTAIN FALLS
Transcriber's Note
This transcription is based on images scanned from a copy made
available by Cornell University and posted by the Internet Archive at:
archive.org/details/cu31924026943195
These images were supplemented by images scanned from a copy made
available by Harvard University and posted by the Internet Archive at:
archive.org/details/liliomalegendin00glazgoog
The following changes were noted:
- For consistency, all names in the stage directions have been
capitalized.
- p. 12: I'll stand for no indecency in my establishment--Added a
period to the end of the sentence.
- p. 29: Which of you wants to stay. [_There is no answer._]--Changed
the period after "stay" to a question mark.
- p. 47: _The door to the kitchen is up Left and a black-curtained
entrance to the dark-room is down Left._--For consistency, changed
"_dark-room_" to "_dark room_".
- p. 49: [_with a sweeping gesture that takes in the camera, dark-room
and screen_]--For consistency, changed "_dark-room_" to "_dark room_".
- p. 75: _FICSUR'S head is quickly withdrawn. MRS. MUSKAT
re-enters._--Changed "re-enters" to "reënters". The hyphenation occurs
at the end of a line. Elsewhere in the text the word is printed with a
diaeresis.
- p. 162: THE MAGISTRAT--Changed the character title to "THE
MAGISTRATE".
Alternate spellings such as "irridescence," "moustache,"
"improvization," and "reënters" have been retained as has the
inconsistent spelling of Liliom's last name ("Zavoczki," "Zavocki,"
and "Zavocky").
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Liliom - A Legend in Seven Scenes and a Prologue" ***
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