Journey Through the Impossible

by Jules Verne

  Valdemar: That's amazing!

  Tartelet: It's wonderful. Let's keep on playing.

  (While Tartelet is playing, a few creatures with bizarre faces, very low foreheads, a wild look in their eyes, and disheveled hair; appear between the rocks upstage, listening and showing signs of the greatest surprise)

  Eva (sees them and screams): Oh! Look at those monsters!

  George (moving upstage): Good God!

  Eva: George! George! Stop!

  (Tartelet stops playing. The monsters disappear

  Ox: Yes, stay here. Anyway, as you see, they've disappeared.

  George: What are these strange creatures?

  Ox: This is the first of the mysteries that will be revealed to us. In the subterranean depths there's a whole population of living creatures.

  George: A whole population!

  Valdemar: A whole population!

  Tartelet: Of living creatures! All right, then, we'll introduce them to the elementary principles of the dance.

  Valdemar: Perhaps it was one of those gentlemen who threw the stone at me.

  George: But how could a race of human beings have come into being and live way down here?

  Volsius: Ask the learned Dr. Ox to answer that question.

  Ox: Nothing could be more simple. All that was needed was for some inhabitants of the earth to be swallowed up here during one of the natural catastrophes that occurred thousands of years ago. They probably populated these vast solitary spaces, and their descen dants, gradually modified by the environment in which they lived, lost their resemblance to the human race and became the lower creatures that you have just seen .14

  Valdemar: Really!

  Eva: It seemed to me just now that music had a sort of fascination for them.

  Volsius: Yes, that's true.

  George: What became of them? Let's go and look for them.

  Eva: No, no!

  Ox: What we need to find now is the route that will take us to our goal.

  (A loud subterranean noise is heard.)

  George: Listen to those noises coming through the earth's crust.

  Valdemar: It's having convulsions now.

  Ox: Soon, perhaps, the fire will open a path for us, leading from the earth to the crater of Vesuvius.

  Volsius: And would you dare to travel that path?

  George: Yes, yes.

  Ox: We will dare!

  Volsius: As I told you before, this goes beyond recklessness, it's ....

  Ox: It's courage, plain and simple. Do you know what courage is, Professor Lidenbrok?

  Volsius: Go wherever your pride drives you, then. (To Eva) I will pray fervently for you, you poor child. You are the soul of resignation, virtue, and piety. (To Ox) Do you know what piety and virtue are, Dr. Ox? (Exit)

  Eva: He's going away.

  Ox: Let him go. He can spare us his cowardly advice. (Another noise, louder than before) Listen, listen again. The route we're looking for will open up in that direction.

  George: Come. We'll look for it together.

  Eva: George. (Exit Ox and George) George!

  Valdemar: I think the other one was wiser. I'll try to catch up with him. (Exit on the other side)

  Eva: Ah! He doesn't even hear my voice.

  Tartelet: That was a bad idea of your grandmother's, to call this damned doctor to the castle.

  Eva: He would have come anyway, my friend, sooner or later.

  Tartelet: What do you mean?

  Eva: Sooner or later, he would have taken over George's imagination in the way he did, not to give him peace of mind, not to cure him, but to destroy him.

  Tartelet: And to what end?

  Eva: This man is the one who was always following me.

  Tartelet: Him! Ah! Now I understand. He has the audacity to love you. Ah! Dr. Ox, what a pretty dance this dancing master would teach you, if only I could!

  Eva: Don't attack him, my friend. He has some strange, supernatural power. (Enter Ox upstage) Everything about him terrifies me: his imperious, dominating voice, the irresistible fascination of his glance. (Ox, who has slowly come downstage, now approaches Tartelet)

  Tartelet: It's true that the expression in his eyes is strangely diabol....

  Eva: Him!

  Tartelet (catches sight of Ox staring him in the face): Strangely diabol. ... No.... I ... I mean.

  (Ox holds out his arm and gestures to him to leave)

  Tartelet: Allow me, doctor.... You wish.... You want.... (Aside) Oh! That look! That look!

  Ox: Leave us!

  Eva: Don't go, Mr. Tartelet.

  Ox (more imperiously than before, and looking Tartelet straight in the face): Do as I say!

  Eva: No, no!

  Ox (as before): Leave us! I want you to leave.

  Tartelet: What is the matter with me? I try, but I can't.... I can't....

  (He backs out)

  Eva (calling): George, George!

  Ox: George is far away. He can't hear you.

  Eva: I'll find a way to get to him. (Calling) George!

  Ox (blocking her way): I have to talk to you, Eva. Do you know why I used to follow you around wherever you went? Why I was always wandering around your home?

  Eva: I don't want to know!

  Ox: Because I love you.

  Eva (sarcastically): You love me? You?

  Ox: I didn't come to Andernak Castle for your grandmother or your fiance George. I came for you, and no one else. I wanted to be close to you. I wanted to see you and hear you, because I love you.

  Eva: That's enough! Not another word!

  Ox: And do you know why I told George who his father was, why I pushed him along this path, why I gave him the power to accomplish all these dreams? Because I don't want George to become your husband. (His voice rises.) And because I love you.

  Eva: When George finds out what your intentions are, and why you're pushing him along toward this impossible world, he'll come to his senses and drive you away like an evil genie that has finally been unmasked.

  Ox: You won't tell him, Eva. That would set us against each other, like two rivals. And you know very well that the struggle would be more dreadful for him than for me.

  Eva: I will speak....

  Ox: Then you'll kill him. I'll have no further reason to drive him mad. You will have driven him to his death.

  Eva (terrified): My God! George! George! This man would kill you.

  Ox: Understand what I'm saying, Eva. I love you. I love you!

  Eva: Ah! Don't profane that word. Go ahead, threaten me! I prefer your anger to your threats.

  Ox: Very well, so be it. Your pleading is a waste of time. But remember my final words. Soon you'll come yourself and implore me to have pity on George. You'll beg me to stop him on the road he's following. You'll ask me to spare his sanity ... his life. But it will be too late.

  (He moves away from hey.)

  Eva: Have pity. Have pity on him.

  Ox (turning around): It will be too late. (Exit.)

  (Enter Eva. She comes downstage, distraught and exhausted.)

  Eva: My God! What shall I do? What will become of me? He'll kill him! Ah! I feel faint. I can't do anything more. I think I'm dying. (Calling) George! George! George!

  (Her voice trails away and she falls unconscious. At this point, behind the rocks upstage and on the sides, the wild inhabitants of this subterranean region reappear. They advance cautiously. One of them, who is their leader; guides them to center stage, where the unconscious young woman is lying. They approach her and watch her with the keenest surprise. They bend over her The leader kneels, lifts her head, lets down her hair, touches her face and hands, then listens to see whether she is still breathing. He looks around, signals to his companions to move aside, then lifts her up and is about to carry her off. Eva regains consciousness, notices the monsters all around her, and utters a cry of horror)

  Eva: Oh!

  (Eva manages to break free and is about to run away when the leader seizes her again) />
  Eva (struggling): Help!

  he leader picks her up in his arms and rushes upstage)

  (Enter George, running in from stage left.)

  George: Those cries! (noticing Eva in the hands of the natives) Eva!

  Eva: Help! Help!

  George: I'll save you, Eva. I'll save you or die with you!

  (He rushes at the leader, but the others seize him and throw him to the ground.)

  (Enter Dr. Ox, stage right, then Valdemar, Volsius, and Tartelet, stage left)

  Tartelet: Ah! My God!

  Valdemar: Those horrible monsters!

  Ox (coldly): They're doomed!

  he natives turn toward them, then grip George and Eva by the throat.)

  Eva and George: Ah!

  George: Save her! Save Eva!

  Tartelet: Let's run!

  Volsius: Silence! (He seizes the violin that Tartelet is carrying)

  Ox: But her ... Eva.

  Volsius: Stand still, everyone!

  (From the violin he produces sounds of a strange intensity. The natives stop, listen, and seem fascinated. Volsius continues to play. The leader has released his grip on Eva. He slowly approaches Volsius, listening intently. He listens more closely. He brings his head up to the instrument. His companions also creep close; as if chained to the bow. Volsius goes offstage again, followed by the natives, while the sound of the violin is still heard in the distance)

  George (runs to Eva and takes her in his arms): Ah! Eva! My dear Eva!

  Eva: Let's get away from this cursed place. Take me away. Take me away, please.

  Valdemar: Ah yes. Let's get away from here!

  Tartelet: Ah! That Master Lidenbrok. I would never have played like that.

  Valdemar: My friend, my dear friend, listen to me. Let's get out of here.

  George: Yes, yes, they're right. Let's go back the way we came. Eva, I want to take you far away from here. I don't want to expose you to any more such dangers. Let's go.

  Ox: Go? When at any moment the obstacle that lies between us and our goal may disappear?

  George: What did you say?

  Eva: Don't listen to that man, George. Don't listen to him.

  (A rumbling is heard.)

  Ox: Wait a minute. Listen, look. The ground is opening up at last. Look! Look, George Hatteras. This is the first step up on your road to fame and glory. It's the first step through the impossible!

  The center of the earth. Everywhere there are flames,25 showers of sparks, incandescent lava flowing in all directions. Torrents of liquid metal, molten silver and gold. Ox, George, Eva, Tartelet, and Valdemar stand watching the spectacle.

  Ox: Well, now do you believe in the power I've given you? And do you promise to follow me from now on?

  George: Everywhere, doctor, wherever you want to take me.

  Eva (aside): I've lost him!

  George (He has run through the theater; looking distractedly at everything): Yes, yes. This is really the incandescent center of the earth. There's fire everywhere, everywhere. I feel enveloped by it, but not consumed. I take deep breaths of it. And what a new life has come over me! What an irresistible strength! Fire is the soul of nature, the universal life. It makes my blood a thousand times hotter. It boils in my head and flows through my veins like torrents of lava.

  Ox (sarcastically): Good, good!

  George: It electrifies my soul. It reveals to my wondering eyes mysteries unknown to man.

  Ox (to Eva, pointing to George): Listen to him. Look at him.

  George: No, you are no longer empty and fictional beings, you marvellous inhabitants of fire. Come, phoenix, will-o'-the-wisp, salamanders, show yourselves. I'll shout throughout the world the news that you really exist, for I will have seen you. I see you. I see you!

  he phoenixes, will-o'-the-wisps, and salamanders appear:)

  (BALLET 26)

  (Toward the end of the ballet, Ox brings George back to center stage)

  Ox: Son of Hatteras! You have surpassed Professor Lidenbrok. Come now and outshine the glory of Captain Nemo!

  (They disappear in the midst of the final dance)

  END OF ACT I

  Cover sheet of a quadrille that was not in the play but was written because the play was such a success. The music of the play itself (the ballet) was lost, and this quadrille is the only surviving music connected with the play.

  A square in Goa, i on the wateont. To the right, the city appears in the form of an amphitheatre, with mosques, Hindu houses, and tree-shaded villas. To the left, a hotel with a tent and verandah, and to the right of this a jeweller's shop. In the background can be seen part of the harbor; with ships, fishing boats, and in the distance an ocean-going vessel about to leave under half-sail, flying the British flag. An Englishman, Captain Anderson,' an Officer, a jeweller; Hindus, porters, and sailors mingle with a crowd of men and children. The crowd moves back and forth over the square, which is closed off at the end by a balustrade that forms a dock on the harbor: It is broad daylight.

  First Hindu: Well, has the terrible monster appeared again?

  Jeweller: Not yet, but if it does, I wouldn't give a sequin3 for all the ships in Goa harbor.

  First Hindu: The Indian ocean is definitely not safe any more. I feel sorry for any ships sailing near our shores.

  Voices (in the crowd): There it is! There it is!

  First Hindu: No, no, that's only the reflection of the sun on the horizon.

  he excited crowd rushes to the side of the square nearest the harbor:)

  Jeweller: That terrible creature will make a lot of trouble for me. Ships won't dare come into Goa harbor any more. No more ships, no more travelers. Then what will happen to our business in jewellery and precious stones?

  The Englishman (to Captain Anderson): This sea monster is throwing a good many people into a panic, isn't it, captain?

  The Officer: But wait a minute. Is it really a sea monster?

  Anderson: What else could it be? Many sailors have seen it, and several ships that it attacked just barely escaped. It may even be responsible for the disappearance of a number of ships that have been lost without a trace.

  The Officer: Oh, I don't deny that there have been catastrophes due to the presence of a powerful creature that has been appearing on the surface of the ocean for the past several years. One day it's in the Atlantic, another day in the Indian Ocean. It seems to have a prodigious ability to move from place to place.4

  Anderson: It's a real danger to navigation. But I have business to discuss with some passengers over there. Will you excuse me, please?

  The Officer: By all means, captain, by all means.

  (Exit Anderson.)

  (Enter Valdemar, coming out of the inn)

  Valdemar: Bon voyage, gentlemen. So now they're planning to visit the bottom of the sea. Well, I won't follow them. I went with them to the center of the earth. Fine! And I came back, which is even better! But now I've had enough. I didn't even find anything there, either in the fire or in the ground. The only thing I brought back was this (taking a pebble from his pocket)-this stone that hit me in the back. It's cluttering up my pocket for no good reason. I'm not going to carry it around any longer.

  (He throws it onto the ground, accidentally hitting the foot of the jeweller as he comes out of his shop.)

  The Jeweller: Ouch! What's this?

  Valdemar: Excuse me, sir. It's a stone that I dropped.

  The Jeweller (annoyed): A stone, sir, a stone?

  Valdemar: Yes. Look. It's a rather unusual stone, in fact. I brought it back from the center of the earth.

  (Shows it to him)

  The Jeweller: From the center of the earth, did you say? (examining the stone, aside) But ... No, I'm not mistaken. This pebble ... Can it really be? ... It's a ... Yes, it's a precious stone.

  Valdemar: A precious stone! If you think it's worth anything, what would you give me for it?

  The Jeweller: I'd give you ... I'd give you ... two hundred sequins. How does that sou
nd?

  Valdemar (with a surprised laugh): Two hundred sequins for that? Ha!

  The Jeweller: Will you take it?

  Valdemar (laughing): You're making fun of me. Come, now. This stone? Two hundred sequins?

  The Jeweller (aside): He knows what it's worth. (Aloud) All right, then. My offer is ...

  Valdemar: Is a joke.

  The Jeweller: That's right. Just a little joke.

  Valdemar: That's what I said.

  The Jeweller: Seriously, though, I'll give you ten thousand sequins for it.

  Valdemar (angrily): Ten thousand! Ah! Now you're really making fun of me sir, and I won't stand for it.

  The Jeweller: Forgive me, your lordship, forgive me. Don't be angry. I see that you know perfectly well what your rough diamond is worth, and I am prepared to give you....

  Valdemar (taking back the diamond): What did you say? My what?

  The Jeweller: Your rough diamond.

  Valdemar (very agitated): My diamond. My rough diamond. It's a diamond, and still in the rough. All right, now. Let's understand each other. You're telling me that this is really a diamond?

  The Jeweller: You mean you didn't know?

  Valdemar: I hadn't the faintest idea.

  The Jeweller (in a loud voice): He didn't know!

  Valdemar: You're the one who told me just now. (Shakes his hand.) Thank you, thank you. You're an honest jeweller. It's a diamond! A diamond that you will buy for....

  The Jeweller: For five hundred thousand sequins. There! Do we have a deal?

  Valdemar: It's a diamond! And what a size! A diamond that I've been offered five hundred thousand sequins for. That means it must be worth a million, at least. (He dances) Tra deri dera deri deri dera.

  The Jeweller: Have you decided not to sell it?

  Valdemar: Oh I'll sell it, all right. I'll sell it in Europe, in France.

  The Jeweller: In France!

  Valdemar: My fortune will be made. And what a fortune! Ah! My dear little Babichok, my faithful fiancee, waiting for me back there, with cousin Finderup. Now I'll marry you, with cousin.... I'll marry you right away, by telegram. You'll be so happy! You can stop worrying that I'll be poor. And cousin Finderup. How delighted he will be! I'm rich! Rich! Rich! (He dances) Tra deri dera deri dera dera. If Tartelet could see me now. And with my toes pointing out. Ah! What joy! What happiness!