by Ian Doescher
And friend to Captain Solo, who e’en now
Is in thy custody. I know that thou
Art powerful, O Jabba, and that thy
Great anger t’ward Han Solo equally
Must pow’rful be. I seek an audience
With thy esteem’d and mighty personage,
To bargain for my friend Han Solo’s life.
With thy vast wisdom we shall, doubtless, find
A goodly compromise that shall, indeed,
Be mutually beneficial, and
Allow both you and I to ’scape a more
Unpleasant confrontation. As a sign
And symbol of my honest will, I do
Present unto thee, as a gift, these droids.
They are hardworking, and shall serve thee well.
C-3PO
Alas, what hath he said?
R2-D2
—Beep, whistle, meep!
C-3PO
Nay, nay! R2, I say, your message errs!
Our master never would betray us so!
CRUMB
O foolish droids, whose master fools them so!
BIB
[ to Jabba:] Na maska bagweni, ees no Jedi.
JABBA
Ha ono wangee goghpah, ool.
C-3PO
—We’re doom’d!
He will not bargain with good Master Luke.
JABBA
Nuh peecha wangee cogh pah, tong nam nee
Took chan kee troi. Ne Solo fah keechwa.
C-3PO
O, R2, look, ’tis Captain Solo, still
A’frozen in the carbonite.
R2-D2
—Beep, hoo!
CRUMB
A little more than dud and less than dead.
JABBA
Na pushka nab, de foghla pah nubin!
Enter EV-9D9 , a droid, as Gamorrean guards lead C-3PO and R2-D2 to him.
C-3PO
O what hath come upon my master Luke?
Did I offend him by some errant word?
Was he disturb’d by something I have said?
Or is this but a human’s changing whim?
Belike I’ll never fully comprehend
These people and their wayward, shifting ways.
One moment with my service is he pleas’d,
The next he sendeth me away in scorn
To serve the gangster Jabba of the Hutt.
Grant me thy mercy, Sir, I beg of thee—
Whatever my offense, O master true,
I prithee, do forgive C-3PO!
R2-D2
[ aside:] What scenes of horror lie herein! I see
That droids are tortur’d here, fix’d fast upon
The rack and torn to bits, or burnèd on
The feet as though they were a piece of meat
Upon a spit. O terror to mine eyes—
And yet I know my master hath a plan.
Indeed, within my head I hold the light
That shall illumine our profound escape.
EV-9D9
New acquisitions, excellent. Thou art
A droid of protocol: say, is this so?
C-3PO
I am C-3PO, of human—
EV-9D9
—Aye,
Or nay shall serve.
C-3PO
—O. Aye.
EV-9D9
—Of languages,
How many dost thou speak?
C-3P
—Six million forms
Of speech I may claim knowledge of—
EV-9D9
—’Tis well.
We have not had a court interpreter
Since our great master anger’d was by our
Most recent droid of protocol, and had
Him thoroughly disintegrated.
C-3PO
—O!
Disintegrated? Fate most vile and cruel!
EV-9D9
I prithee, guard, this droid of protocol
May useful be. Take him and fit him with
A strong restraining bolt, and then return
Him unto our great master’s chamber.
G. GUARD 2
—Mrk.
C-3PO
O, R2, do not leave me all alone!
[Gamorrean Guard 2 leads C-3PO back to Jabba of the Hutt.
R2-D2
Beep, squeak!
EV-9D9
—Thou art a feisty little droid,
But soon shall learn respect when thou dost serve
Upon my master’s sail barge. Thou shalt see!
[Exeunt EV-9D9 and R2-D2.
C-3PO
[ aside:] Within the court of Jabba now I serve.
But O, what wretched things I see within,
For when he loseth temper—which befalls
Most frequently—thou mayst be certain it
Doth mean the death of someone who is nigh.
For lo, unto the rancor’s pit they fall,
Where such a massive terror lives that I
Cannot bear watch, though all the courtiers here
Do laugh and cheer as though it were a sport.
The rancor cometh forth with growls and barks
And catches up the poor and helpless soul
Who, screaming in its terror, doth fall mute
As rancor sinks large teeth into its flesh.
The slaughter of the blameless! O, it is
A vile and filthy service I fulfill.
Grant me the patience to endure this time!
[The Max Rebo Band plays a song of tribute to Jabba of the Hutt.
REBO BAND
[ sings:] A gangster, aye, a gangster, O!
’Tis well to be a gangster.
A blaster ever by thy side,
A stately barge in which to ride,
A fair, young damsel to thee tied,
’Tis well to be a gangster.
A gangster, aye, a gangster, O!
’Tis well to be a gangster.
Full many servants lend thee aid,
More guards than a Naboo brigade,
And bounty hunters on parade—
’Tis well to be a gangster.
A gangster, aye, a gangster, O!
’Tis well to be a gangster.
The drinks all flowing fast and free,
A sarlacc pit not far from thee,
A rancor for thine enemy,
’Tis well to be a gangster.
A gangster, aye, a gangster, O!
’Tis well to be a gangster.
A blast is heard. Enter CHEWBACCA and BOUSHH , a bounty hunter.
BOUSHH
Eyah-tay, eyah-tay, yo-toe.
C-3PO
—Chewbacca!
CHEWBAC.
—Auugh!
JABBA
Cheesa eejah wahkee Chewbacca—ho!
FETT
[ aside:] The Wookiee hath been captur’d—e’en
he who with my grand prize Solo once did fly.
’Tis fortunate he hath to Jabba also been deliver’d.
I only wish that I had been his captor, and reap’d
the reward this bounty hunter surely shall receive.
Even so, this Wookiee doth complete the set of
smugglers for Jabba’s merriment. Belike he too
shall frozen in carbonite be, or mayhap be a
supper for a rancor.
JABBA
Kahjee ta, droid.
C-3PO
—Aye, here am I, indeed,
Thy worshipfulness.
JABBA
—Yu-bahk ko rahto
Kama wahl-bahk. Eye yess ka cho. Kawa
Na Wookiee.
C-3PO
—Bounty hunter strong and brave:
The mighty Jabba of the Hutt doth bid
Thee welcome, and shall gladly pay to thee
The goodly sum of five-and-twenty thousand.
CRUMB
[ aside:] No bounty hunter would be fool enough
To take the first pri
ce offer’d, I’ll be sworn.
BOUSHH
Yoto. Yoto.
C-3PO
—’Tis fifty thousand, and
No less.
JABBA
[ striking C-3PO:] —Ahh, uun yun kuss tah fiti pun.
C-3PO
Whatever was it that I said, Sirrah?
I did perform the function thou hast giv’n:
Precisely did I translate this one’s words.
JABBA
Moonon keejo!
FETT
[ aside:] This scamp had best beware, if
he would be a bounty hunter in the service of
great Jabba. It seemeth he hath little appreciation
for the famèd anger of the Hutt.
C-3PO
[ to Boushh:] —The mighty Jabba asks
The reason wherefore fifty thousand is
The sum demanded of thee.
BOUSHH
—Ay yo-toe!
C-3PO
The knave doth threaten us—he holdeth in
His hands a thermal detonator. O!
[Jabba’s courtiers shrink in fear. Boba Fett takes out his blaster.
JABBA
Ho, ho. Kaso ya yee koli tra do
Kahn nee go. Yu bahn chuna leepa nah.
CRUMB
The Hutt doth call him fearless and inventive,
But never did invention make me fear
As this one’s thermal detonator doth.
JABBA
[ to C-3PO:] Kuo meeta tah te fye. Dah tee teema
Nye.
C-3PO
[ to Boushh:] —Mighty Jabba offers thirty-five,
And were I in thy place, I would accept
The deal. ’Tis better, as they say, to make
The peace than make us all in pieces be.
And truly thirty-five while living is
A sum more numerous than zero dead.
BOUSHH
Ya-toe cha.
C-3PO
—Praise the maker, he agrees!
CHEWBAC.
Auugh!
[Chewbacca is led away by Gamorrean guards as music begins to play again.
LANDO
[ aside:] —This sad scene I witness with contempt:
Another bounty hunter earns his sum
For bringing in a harmless innocent.
Now all is merriment and patting on
The back whilst yet another’s added to
Their clan. A scoundrel’s life ’tis true I’ve known,
Yet never did I stoop so low as this.
But still, I smile at what I here survey,
For I know well this bounty hunter is
No normal man—no normal man indeed!
And his apparent prize—my Wookiee friend
Chewbacca—is not as a pris’ner come.
Bear thou this burden bravely, Lando, for
The wait is almost over—soon the plan
O’er which we took great pains shall come to pass.
Be still, my scoundrel heart, with patience wait,
For retribution comes in time, though late.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 3.
The desert planet Tatooine, at Jabba’s Palace. Night.
Enter BOUSHH.
BOUSHH
The silence of the night doth mark my work
And like a gentle breeze sweeps o’er the air.
In stealth I move throughout the palace dark,
That no one shall bear witness to my acts.
Now cross the court, with footsteps nimbly plac’d.
Ne’er did a matter of such weight depend
Upon a gentle footfall in the night.
Put out the light, and then relume his light—
Aye, now I spy my goal: the frozen Han.
Thy work is finish’d, feet. Now ’tis the hands
That shall a more profound task undertake.
Quick to the panel, press the needed code.
O swiftly fly, good hands, and free this man
From his most cold and undeservèd cell.
O true decryptionist, thy codes are quick!
The scheme hath work’d, the carbonite doth melt.
Forsooth, ’tis done—within the silent dark
The greatest light doth sing within my heart!
[Han Solo melts from the carbonite and falls to the floor.
[ To Han Solo:] Relax thou for a moment; thou art free
Of carbonite’s embrace, but thou dost burn