He tips the shelving over, sits down on it and writes out his bill.
THE WOMAN: He’ll have the clothes off your back for his rotten old planks if you don’t stop him. My advice is never admit a claim, right or wrong, or you’ll be smothered in claims, right or wrong. Throw a bit of meat in your dustbin, and every mongrel in the place will be at each other’s throats in your back yard. What are solicitors for?
SHEN TEH: He has done some work and can’t go away with nothing. He has a family too. It’s dreadful that I can’t pay him. What will the gods say?
THE MAN: You did your bit when you took us in, that’s more than enough.
Enter a limping man and a pregnant woman.
THE LIMPING MAN, to the couple: So there you are. A credit to the family, I don’t think. Going and leaving us waiting at the corner.
THE WOMAN, embarrassed: This is my brother Wung and my sister-in-law. To the two: Stop nagging and sit quietly out of the way, and don’t bother our old friend Miss Shen Teh. To Shen Teh: We ought to take them both in, I think, what with my sister-in-law being four months gone. Or are you against it?
SHEN TEH: You are welcome.
THE WOMAN: Thank her. The cups are over there. To Shen Teh: They would never have known where to go. Just as well you’ve got this shop.
SHEN TEH, laughing to the audience as she brings tea: Yes, just as well I have got it.
Enter Mrs Mi Tzu, the proprietress, with a document in her hand.
MRS MI TZU: Miss Shen Teh, I am Mrs Mi Tzu, the proprietress of this building. I hope we will get on together. Here is the agreement for the lease. While Shen Teh studies the agreement: An auspicious moment, do you not think, gentlemen, when a small business is opened? She looks round her. A few gaps on the shelves still, but it will do. I suppose you can provide me with one or two references?
SHEN TEH: Is that necessary?
MRS MI TZU: You see, I have really no idea who you are.
THE MAN: Can we vouch for Miss Shen Teh, maybe? We’ve known her ever since she first came to town, and we’d cut off our right hands for her.
MRS MI TZU: And who are you?
THE MAN: I am Ma Fu, tobacconist.
MRS MI TZU: Where’s your shop?
THE MAN: I haven’t got a shop at the moment. It’s like this:
I’ve just sold it.
MRS MI TZU: Aha. To Shen Teh: And is there no one else who can give me any information about you?
THE WOMAN, prompting: Cousin … your cousin …
MRS MI TZU: But you must have someone who can tell me what kind of tenant I’m getting in my house. This is a respectable house, my dear. I can’t sign any agreement with you otherwise.
SHEN TEH, slowly, with lowered eyes: I have got a cousin.
MRS MI TZU: Oh, so you’ve got a cousin? Round here? We could go straight over now. What is he?
SHEN TEH: He doesn’t live here; he’s in another town.
THE WOMAN: In Shung, weren’t you saying?
SHEN TEH: Mr Shui Ta. In Shung.
THE MAN: But of course I know him. Tall, skinny.
THE NEPHEW, to the carpenter: You’ve had to do with Miss Shen Teh’s cousin too, chum. Over the shelving.
THE CARPENTER, grumpily: I’m just making out his bill. There you are. He hands it over. I’ll be back first thing in the morning. Exit.
THE NEPHEW, calling after him, for the proprietress’s benefit:
Don’t you worry. Her cousin will pay.
MRS MI TZU, with a keen look at Shen Teh: Well, I shall also be glad to meet him. Good evening, madam. Exit.
THE WOMAN, after an interval: It’s bound to come out now.
You can bet she’ll know all about you by the morning.
THE SISTER-IN-LAW, quietly to the nephew: This set-up won’t last long!
Enter an old man, guided by a boy.
THE BOY, calling back: Here they are.
THE WOMAN: Hello, grandpa. To Shen Teh: The dear old man. He must have been worrying about us. And the youngster, look how he’s grown. He eats like an ostrich. Who else have you got with you?
THE MAN, looking out: Only your niece. To Shen Teh: A young relation up from the country. I hope we aren’t too many for you. We weren’t such a big family when you used to live with us, were we? Ah yes, we grew and grew. The worse it got, the more of us there seemed to be. And the more of us there were the worse it got. But we’d better lock up or we’ll have no peace.
She shuts the door and all sit down.
THE WOMAN: The great thing is, we mustn’t get in your way in the shop. It’s up to you to keep the home fires burning. We planned it like this: the kids’ll be out during the day, and only grandpa and my sister-in-law will stay, and perhaps me. The others will just be looking in once or twice during the daytime, see? Light that lamp, boys, and make yourselves at home.
THE NEPHEW, facetiously: I hope that cousin doesn’t blow in tonight, tough old Mr Shui Ta! The sister-in-law laughs.
THE BROTHER, reaching for a cigarette: One more or less won’t matter.
THE MAN: You bet.
They all help themselves to something to smoke. The brother hands round a jug of wine.
THE NEPHEW: Drinks on old cousin!
THE GRANDFATHER, solemnly to Shen Teh: Hullo!
Shen Teh is confused by this delayed greeting, and bows. In one hand she holds the carpenter’s bill, in the other the agreement for the lease.
THE WOMAN: Can’t you people sing something to entertain our hostess?
THE NEPHEW: Grandpa can kick off.
They sing:
SONG OF THE SMOKE
THE GRANDFATHER:
Once I believed intelligence would aid me
I was an optimist when I was younger
Now that I’m old I see it hasn’t paid me:
How can intelligence compete with hunger?
And so I said: drop it!
Like smoke twisting grey
Into ever colder coldness you’ll
Blow away.
THE MAN:
I saw the conscientious man get nowhere
And so I tried the crooked path instead
But crookedness makes our sort travel slower.
There seems to be no way to get ahead.
Likewise I say: drop it!
Like smoke twisting grey
Into ever colder coldness you’ll
Blow away.
THE NIECE:
The old, they say, find little fun in hoping.
Time’s what they need, and time begins to press.
But for the young, they say, the gates are open.
They open, so they say, on nothingness.
And I too say: drop it!
Like smoke twisting grey
Into ever colder coldness you’ll
Blow away.
THE NEPHEW: Where did that wine come from?
THE SISTER-IN-LAW: He pawned the sack of tobacco.
THE MAN: What? That tobacco was all we had left. We didn’t touch it even to get a bed. You dirty bastard!
THE BROTHER: Call me a bastard just because my wife’s half frozen? And who’s been drinking it? Give me that jug.
They struggle. The shelves collapse.
SHEN TEH touches them: O look out for the shop, don’t smash everything! It’s a gift of the gods. Take whatever’s there if you want, but don’t smash it!
THE WOMAN, sceptically: It’s a smaller shop than I thought. A pity we went and told Aunty and the others. If they turn up too there won’t be much room.
THE SISTER-IN-LAW: Our hostess is getting a bit frosty too.
There are voices outside, and a knocking on the door.
CRIES: Open up! It’s us!
THE WOMAN: Is that you, Aunty? How are we going to manage now?
SHEN TEH: My beautiful shop! Oh, such hopes! No sooner opened, than it is no more. To the audience:
The dinghy which might save us
Is straightway sucked into the depths:
Too man
y of the drowning
Snatch greedily at it.
CRIES from outside: Open up!
Interlude
Under a Bridge
The water-seller is crouching by the stream.
WANG, looking round: All quiet. That makes four days I have been hiding. They won’t find me, I’ve got my eyes open. I took the same direction as them on purpose. The second day they crossed the bridge; I heard their footsteps overhead. By now they must be a long way off; I have nothing more to fear.
He has leant back and gone to sleep. Music. The slope becomes transparent, and the gods appear.
WANG, holding his arm in front of his face, as though he were about to be struck: Don’t say anything! I know! I failed to find anybody who would take you into his house! Now I have told you! Now go your way!
THE FIRST GOD: No, you did find somebody. As you left they came up. They took us in for the night; they watched over our sleep; and they lighted our way next morning when we left them. You had told us that she was a good person, and she was good.
WANG: So it was Shen Teh who lodged you?
THE THIRD GOD: Of course.
WANG: And I ran away, I had so little faith! Just because I thought she couldn’t come. Because she had been down on her luck she couldn’t come.
THE GODS:
O feeble one!
Well-meaning but feeble man!
Where hardship is, he thinks there is no goodness.
Where danger lies, he thinks there is no courage.
O feebleness, that believes no good whatever!
O hasty judgement! O premature despair!
WANG: I am deeply ashamed, Illustrious Ones.
THE FIRST GOD: And now, O water-seller, be so good as to return quickly to the city and look to dear Shen Teh, so that you can keep us posted about her. She is doing well now. She is said to have acquired the money to set up a small shop, so she can freely follow the impulses of her gentle heart. Show some interest in her goodness, for no one can be good for long if goodness is not demanded of him. We for our part wish to travel further and continue our search, and discover still more people like our good person in Szechwan, so that we can put a stop to the rumour which says that the good have found our earth impossible to live on.
They vanish.
2
The Tobacconist’s
Sleeping bodies everywhere. The lamp is still burning. A knock.
THE WOMAN raises herself, drunk with sleep. Shen Teh! Somebody knocking! Where has the girl got to?
THE NEPHEW: Getting breakfast, I expect. It’s on her cousin.
The women laughs and slouches to the door. Enter a young gentleman, the carpenter behind him.
THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN: I am her cousin.
THE WOMAN, falling from the clouds: What did you say you were?
THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN: My name is Shui Ta.
THE FAMILY, shaking one another awake: Her cousin! But it was all a joke, she’s got no cousin! But here’s someone who says he’s her cousin! Don’t tell me, and at this hour of the day!
THE NEPHEW: If you’re our hostess’s cousin, mister, get us some breakfast right away, will you?
SHUI TA, turning out the lamp: The first customers will be arriving any moment. Please be quick and get dressed so that I can open up my shop.
THE MAN: Your shop? I fancy this shop belongs to our friend Shen Teh? Shui Ta shakes his head. What, do you mean to say it’s not her shop at all?
THE SISTER-IN-LAW: So she’s been having us on. Where’s she slunk off to?
SHUI TA: She has been detained. She wishes me to tell you that now I am here she can no longer do anything for you.
THE WOMAN, shaken: And we thought she was such a good person.
THE NEPHEW: Don’t you believe him! Go and look for her!
THE MAN: Right, we will. He organises them: You and you and you and you, go and comb the place for her. Grandpa and us will stay here and hold the fort. The boy can go and find us something to eat. To the body: See that baker’s at the corner. Nip over and stuff your shirt full.
THE SISTER-IN-LAW: And don’t forget some of those little round cakes.
THE MAN: But mind the baker doesn’t catch you. And keep clear of the policeman!
The boy nods and goes off. The others get fully dressed.
SHUI TA: Won’t cake-stealing damage the reputation of the shop which has given you refuge?
THE NEPHEW: Don’t mind him, we’ll soon find her. She’ll tell him what’s what.
Exeunt nephew, brother, sister-in-law and niece.
THE SISTER-IN-LAW, as she goes: Leave us a bit of breakfast.
SHUI TA, calmly: You won’t find her. My cousin naturally regrets being unable to make unbounded concessions to the laws of hospitality. But I fear you are too numerous. This is a tobacconist’s, and it is Miss Shen Teh’s livelihood.
THE MAN: Our Shen Teh could never bring herself to say such things.
SHUI TA: You may be right. To the carpenter: The unfortunate fact is that the poverty in this city is too much for any individual to correct. Alas, nothing has changed in the eleven centuries since a poet wrote:
That so many of the poor should suffer from cold what can we do to prevent!
To bring warmth to a single body is not much use.
I wish I had a big rug ten thousand feet long,
Which at one time could cover up every inch of the City.*
He starts clearing up the shop.
THE CARPENTER: I see you are trying to straighten out your cousin’s affairs. There is a small bill to be settled for the shelves; she has admitted it before witnesses. 100 silver dollars.
SHUI TA, drawing the bill out of his pocket, not unkindly: Wouldn’t you say that 100 silver dollars was rather much?
THE CARPENTER: No. I can’t do it for less. I’ve a wife and family to look after.
SHUI TA, hard: How many children?
THE CARPENTER: Four.
SHUI TA: Then my offer is 20 silver dollars.
THE CARPENTER laughs: Are you crazy? These shelves are walnut.
SHUI TA: Then take them away.
THE CARPENTER: What do you mean?
SHUI TA: I can’t afford it. I suggest you take your walnut shelves away.
THE WOMAN: One up to you. She in turn laughs.
THE CARPENTER, uncertainly: I would like Miss Shen Teh to be fetched. She seems to be a decent person, unlike you.
SHUI TA: Obviously. She is ruined.
THE CARPENTER resolutely seizes some shelving and takes it to the door: You can stack your goods on the floor then. It doesn’t matter to me.
SHUI TA, to the man: Give him a hand.
THE MAN takes some more shelving and takes it to the door with a grin: Here we go. Chuck the lot out!
THE CARPENTER: You bastard. Do you want my family to starve?
SHUI TA: Let me repeat my offer: you can have 20 silver dollars, to save me stacking my goods on the floor.
THE CARPENTER: 100.
Shui Ta looks indifferently out of the window. The man sets about removing the shelves.
THE CARPENTER: Anyway, don’t smash them into the doorpost, you fool! In confusion: But they’re made to fit. They won’t go anywhere else. The boards had to be cut to size, sir.
SHUI TA: Exactly. That’s why I can’t offer you more than 20 silver dollars. Because the boards were cut to size.
The woman squeals with delight.
THE CARPENTER suddenly decides he has had enough: I can’t go on. Keep the shelves and pay me what you like.
SHUI TA: 20 silver dollars.
He lays two big coins on the table. The carpenter takes them.
THE MAN, bringing back the shelves: Good enough for a lot of cut-up boards!
THE CARPENTER: About good enough to get drunk on! Exit.
THE MAN: Good riddance!
THE WOMAN, wiping away tears of laughter: ‘But they’re walnut!’ – ‘Take them away!’ – ‘100 silver dollars, I’ve got four children!’ �
�� ‘Then I’ll pay 20!’ – ‘But they’ve been cut to fit!’ – ‘Exactly, 20 silver dollars!’ That’s the way to deal with his sort!
SHUI TA: Yes. Seriously: Leave here at once.
THE MAN: What, us?
SHUI TA: Yes, you. You are thieves and parasites. Leave at once, waste no time in arguing, and you can still save your skins.
THE MAN: It is better not to take any notice of him. No arguing on an empty stomach. I wonder where the nipper is?
SHUI TA: Yes, where is he? I told you I will not have him here with stolen cakes. Suddenly shouting: For the second time. Get out!
They remain seated.
SHUI TA, calm once more: All right then.
He walks to the door and bows deeply to someone outside. A policeman looms up in the doorway.
SHUI TA: I take it I am addressing the police representative for this district?
THE POLICEMAN: You are, Mr …
SHUI TA: Shui Ta. They exchange smiles. Pleasant weather today!
THE POLICEMAN: A trifle warm, perhaps.
SHUI TA: Perhaps a trifle warm.
THE MAN, softly to his wife: If he goes on gassing till the kid gets back we’ll be done for.
He tries to make Shui Ta a surreptitious sign.
SHUI TA, without noticing: It all depends whether one is contemplating the weather from a cool establishment like this or from the dusty street.
THE POLICEMAN: It certainly does.
THE WOMAN: Don’t worry. He’ll keep away when he sees the copper standing in the door.
SHUI TA: But do come in. It really is cooler here. My cousin and I have opened a shop. Let me tell you that we consider it highly important to be on good terms with the authorities.
THE POLICEMAN enters: That is very kind of you, sir. Why yes, it really is cooler in here.
THE MAN, softly: He’s asked him in just so the kid won’t see him.
SHUI TA: Some guests. Distant acquaintances of my cousin’s, apparently. They have a journey to make. Bows are exchanged. We were just saying goodbye.
THE MAN, hoarsely: All right then, we’ll be going.
SHUI TA: I will tell my cousin that you thanked her for her hospitality, but could not wait for her return.
Noises from the street and cries of ‘Stop thief!’
THE POLICEMAN: What’s that about?
The boy appears in the door. Cakes and rolls are tumbling out of his shirt. The woman motions him desperately to get out. He turns and tries to go off.
Bertolt Brecht: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder 6 Page 7