Federico Garca Lorca
The House of Bernarda Alba
(La casa de Bernarda Alba)
1936
A drama of women in the villages of Spain
A. S. Kline 2007 All Rights Reserved
This work may be freely reproduced, stored, and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose. Permission to perform this version of the play, on stage or film, by amateur or professional companies, and for commercial purposes, should be requested from the translator, mailto:tonykline@yahoo.com.
Contents
Cast List................................................................................................. 4
Act I........................................................................................................ 5
Act II..................................................................................................... 27
Act III................................................................................................... 51
Cast List
Bernarda, aged sixty
Mara Josefa, (Bernardas mother), aged eighty
Angustias, (Bernardas daughter), aged thirty-nine
Magdalena, (Bernardas daughter), aged thirty
Amelia, (Bernardas daughter), aged twenty-seven
Martirio, (Bernardas daughter), aged twenty-four
Adela, (Bernardas daughter), aged twenty
Servant, aged fifty
La Poncia (a servant), aged sixty
Prudencia, aged fifty
Beggar woman with little girl
Women mourners
Woman 1
Woman 2
Woman 3
Woman 4
Young girl
The poet declares that these three acts are intended to serve as a
photographic record.
Act I
(The bright white interior of Bernardas house. Thick walls. Arched doorways with canvas curtains edged with tassels and ruffles. Rush chairs. Paintings of non-realistic landscapes with nymphs and legendary kings. It is summer. A vast shadowy silence fills the scene. When the curtain rises the stage is empty. The tolling of bells is heard. The Servant enters.)
SERVANT: I can feel the tolling of those bells right between my temples.
LA PONCIA: (She enters eating bread and sausage) Theyve been making thatrow for more than two hours now. There are priests here from all the villages. The church looks lovely. During the first response Magdalena fainted.
SERVANT: Shes the one wholl be most bereft.
LA PONCIA: She was the only one who loved her father. Ay! Thank Godwere alone for a while! I was hungry.
SERVANT: If Bernarda could see you!
LA PONCIA: Now shes not eating, she wants us all to die of hunger! So strict!So domineering! But hard luck! Ive opened the sausage jar.
SERVANT: (Sadly, with longing) Poncia, wont you give me some for my littlegirl?
LA PONCIA: Go on, and take a handful of chick-peas too. She wont notice it,today!
VOICE: (From within) Bernarda!
LA PONCIA: The old woman. Is she locked in?
SERVANT: Two turns of the key.
LA PONCIA: You should use the bolt too. Shes got fingers like picklocks.
VOICE: Bernarda!
LA PONCIA: (Shouting) Shes coming! (To the Servant) Make sure the wholeplace is clean. If Bernarda doesnt find everything gleaming shell pull out the little hair I have left.
SERVANT: What a woman!
LA PONCIA: Tyrant of all she surveys. She could squat on your chest for ayear and watch you die slowly without wiping that cold smile from her cursed face! Clean those pots: go on!
SERVANT: My hands are red raw from endless cleaning.
LA PONCIA: Shes the cleanest; shes the most decent; shes the loftiest ofbeings. Her poor husband deserves a good rest.
(The bells cease ringing.)
SERVANT: Are all the relatives here?
LA PONCIA: On her side. His family detests her. They came to make sure hewas dead, and make the sign of the cross.
SERVANT: Are there enough chairs?
LA PONCIA: Plenty. Let them sit on the floor. Since Bernardas father died noone has set foot inside these walls. She doesnt want them to see her in her stronghold! Curse her!
SERVANT: Shes always been good to you.
LA PONCIA: For thirty years Ive laundered her sheets; for thirty years Iveeaten her leftovers; spent nights awake when she had a cough; whole days peering through the cracks to spy on the neighbours and bring her the news; there are no secrets between us, and yet I curse her! May needles prick out her eyes!
SERVANT: Woman!
LA PONCIA: But Im a good bitch and bark when Im told, and bite the heelsof the beggars when she whips me on; my sons work her fields and theyre both married too, but one day Ill have had enough.
SERVANT: And then
LA PONCIA: Then Ill lock myself in a room with her, and spit on for her ayear. Bernarda, heres for this, and that, and the other, until she looks like a lizard the children squashed, because thats what she is, and all her family. But I dont envy her life, thats for sure. Shes five women on her hands, five ugly daughters. Except for Angustias, the eldest, whos the first husbands daughter and has some money, the rest of them have lots of fine lace, and linen camisoles, but their only inheritance is bread and water.
SERVANT: I wouldnt mind having what they have!
LA PONCIA: We have our hands, and well have a hole in Gods earth.
SERVANT: Thats the only earth theyll give us, who have nothing.
LA PONCIA: (By the cupboard) This glass has marks on it.
SERVANT: They wont come off even with soap and water.
(The bells sound.)
LA PONCIA: The final prayers. Im off to hear them. I love the priestssinging. In the paternoster his voice rose up, and up, and up like a pitcher slowly filling with water. Of course at the end he gave a screech, but it was a glory to hear him! Theres no one these days to match the old sexton, Tronchapinos. He sang at the Mass for my mother, who is in glory. The walls would shake, and when he said Amen it was if a wolf was in church. (Imitating him) Ameeeen! (She begins coughing)
SERVANT: Youll strain your windpipe.
LA PONCIA: I may have strained something else! (She goes out laughing)
(The servant goes on cleaning. The bells ring)
SERVANT: (Picking up the sound) Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong. MayGod grant him forgiveness!
BEGGARWOMAN: (With her little girl) Praise be to God!
SERVANT: Ding, ding. dong. May he wait long years for us. Ding, ding, dong.
BEGGARWOMAN: (Loudly with annoyance) Praise be to God!
SERVANT: (Annoyed) Forever!
BEGGARWOMAN: Ive come for the leavings.
(The bells cease ringing.)
SERVANT: The streets that way. Todays leavings are for me.
BEGGARWOMAN: Youve someone to feed you, woman. My child and I are onour own!
SERVANT: The dogs are on their own too, but they survive.
BEGGARWOMAN: They always give me the scraps.
SERVANT: Get out of here. Who said you could enter? Youve left dirtyfootmarks already. (The woman leaves. The Servant goes on cleaning.) Polished floors, cupboards, pedestals, iron bed -frames, while those of us who live in a mud hut with only a plate and a spoon have a bitter pill to swallow. I pray for the day when theres none of us left to tell the tale! (The bells ring out again) Yes, yes, go on ringing! Bring on the box with its goldtrimmings and the silk straps to lift it by! Well both end up the same! Rot then, Antonio Mara Benavides, stiff in your wool suit and your tall boots. Rot! Youll not be lifting my skirts again behind the stable door!
(At the back of the stage the Women Mourners enter in pairs. They wear voluminous black skirts and shawls and carry black fans. They enter slowly until they have filled the stage.)
SERVANT: (Beginning to wail) Ay, Antonio Mara Benavides, never will yousee these walls again or eat bread in this house! I was the one of all your
servants who loved you most. (Pulling at her hair) Must I live on when you are gone? Must I live on?
(The crowd of women have now entered, and Bernarda appears with her five daughters.)
BERNARDA: (To the Servant) Be silent!
SERVANT: (Weeping) Bernarda!
BERNARDA: Less wailing and more work. You should have made sure thishouse was clean for the mourners. Go. This isnt your place. (The Servant exits sobbing.) The poor are like animals. Its as if theyre made of someother substance.
FIRST WOMAN: The poor have their sorrows too.
BERNARDA: But they forget them faced with a plate of chickpeas.
YOUNG GIRL: (Timidly) You have to eat to live.
BERNARDA: At your age you shouldnt speak in front of your elders.
FIRST WOMAN: Hush, child.
BERNARDA: I never let anyone lecture me. Be seated. (They sit. Pause.)(Firmly) Magdalena, stop crying. If you want to weep, get under your bed. Do you hear me?
SECOND WOMAN: (To Bernarda) Have you started harvesting?
BERNARDA: Yesterday.
THIRD WOMAN: The sun feels as heavy as lead.
FIRST WOMAN: Ive not known heat like this for years!
(Pause. They fan themselves.)
BERNARDA: Is the lemonade ready?
LA PONCIA: (Entering with a large tray, full of small white jars which shehands around.) Yes, Bernarda.
BERNARDA: Give some to the men.
LA PONCIA: Theyve already have theirs in the yard.
BERNARDA: Let them leave the way they entered. I dont want them comingthrough here.
YOUNG GIRL: (To Angustias) Pepe el Romano was with the mourners.
ANGUSTIAS: He was there.
BERNARDA: It was his mother. She saw his mother. No one saw Pepe, neithershe nor I.
YOUNG GIRL: I thought
BERNARDA: The widower from Darajali was there. By your aunt. We all sawhim.
SECOND WOMAN: (Aside, in a low voice) Evil, worse than evil!
THIRD WOMAN: (To the Servant) A tongue like a knife!
BERNARDA: Women shouldnt look at any man in church except the priest,and only because he wears a skirt. Gazing around is for those seeking the warmth of a pair of trousers.
FIRST WOMAN: (In a low voice) Dried up old lizard!
LA PONCIA: (Muttering) A crooked vine to be looking for a mans heat!
BERNARDA: (Striking the floor with her stick) Praise be to God!
ALL: (Crossing themselves) May He be blessed and praised forever!
BERNARDA:Rest in peace, with the host
of saints above your head!
ALL:Rest in peace!
BERNARDA: With St Michael the Archangelarmed with his sword of justice.
ALL:Rest in peace!
BERNARDA:With the key that opens all gates and the hand that closes them.
ALL:Rest in peace!
BERNARDA: With all those who are blessedand the little lights of the field.
ALL:Rest in peace!
BERNARDA:With holy charity
and the souls of earth and sea.
ALL:Rest in peace!
BERNARDA: Grant rest to your servant Antonio Mara Benavides, and thecrown of your sacred glory.
ALL: Amen.
BERNARDA: (Rises and chants) Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
ALL: (Rising and chanting in Gregorian mode) Et lux perpetua luceat eis.(They cross themselves.)
FIRST WOMAN: May you have health to pray for his soul.
(They begin to file out.)
THIRD WOMAN: You shall never want for a loaf of warm bread.
SECOND WOMAN: Nor a roof over your daughters heads.
(They file out past Bernarda. Angustias exits through the door leading to the courtyard.)
FOURTH WOMAN: May you enjoy the true harvest of your marriage.
LA PONCIA: (Entering with a bag) This money is from the men, for prayers.
YOUNG GIRL: (To Magdalena) Magdalena.
BERNARDA: (To Magdalena who is starting to cry) Shhh! (She strikes thefloor with her stick. They all leave.) (Towards those who have left) Go on,back to your caves and criticise everything youve witnessed! I hope it will be long before you darken my door again.
LA PONCIA: Youve no room for complaint. The whole village was there.
BERNARDA: Yes, to fill my house with the sweat from their clothing and thevenom of their tongues.
AMELIA: Mother, dont speak like that!
BERNARDA: Its the only way to speak when you live in a cursed villagewithout a river, without wells, where one drinks the water fearing always that its poisoned.
LA PONCIA: Look what theyve done to the floor!
BERNARDA: As if a flock of goats had trampled over it. (La Poncia scrubs atthe floor.) Child, pass me a fan.
AAMELIA: Take this one. (She hands her a circular fan decorated withflowers in red and green.)
BERNARDA: (Throwing the fan on the ground) Is this the fan to hand to awidow? Give me a black one, and learn to respect your fathers memory.
MARTIRIO: Take mine.
BERNARDA: And you?
MARTIRIO: I dont feel hot.
BERNARDA: Find another one, youll need it. Through the eight years ofmourning not a breeze shall enter this house. Consider the doors and windows as sealed with bricks. Thats how it was in my fathers house and my grandfathers. Meanwhile, you can embroider your trousseaux. In the chest Ive twenty pieces of cloth from which you can cut sheets and covers. Magdalena can embroider them.
MAGDALENA: Its all the same to me.
ADELA: (Sourly) If you dont want to embroider them, leave them plain.
Yours will look better that way.
MAGDALENA: Yoursandmine. I know Ill never be married. Id rather humpsacks to the mill. Anything but sit here day after day in this dark room.
BERNARDA: Thats what it is to be a woman.
MAGDALENA: Then curses on all women.
BERNARDA: Here, you do what I say. You cant go telling tales to your father.A needle and thread for women. A whip and a mule for men. Thats how it is for people born without wealth.
(Adela exits)
A VOICE: Bernarda! Let me out!
BERNARDA: (In a loud voice.) Let her out, now!
(The servant enters.)
SERVANT: It was an effort to hold her down. She may be eighty years old butyour mother is tough as an oak tree.
BERNARDA: It runs in the family. My grandmother was the same.
SERVANT: While the mourners were here I had to gag her several times withan empty sack because she wanted to shout for you to bring her a drink of dishwater, and the dog meat she says you give her.
MARTIRIO: Shes a troublemaker!
BERNARDA: (To the Servant) She can let off steam in the yard.
SERVANT: Shes taken the rings and amethyst earrings from her box, and putthem on, and she tells me she wants to get married.
(The daughters laugh.)
BERNARDA: Go with her and take care she doesnt go near the well.
SERVANT: I doubt shell throw herself in.
BERNARDA: No, not thatbut if shes there the neighbours can see her fromtheir windows.
(The Servant exits)
MARTIRIO: Well go and change our clothes.
BERNARDA: Very well, but keep your headscarves on. (Adela enters.) Andwheres Angustias?
ADELA: (Pointedly) I saw her peeping through a crack in the gate. The menhave just left.
BERNARDA: And why were you at the gate, yourself?
ADELA: I went to see if the hens had laid.
BERNARDA: But the male mourners should already have left!
ADELA: (Deliberately) There was a group of them still standing outside.
BERNARDA: (Angrily) Angustias! Angustias!
ANGUSTIAS: (Entering) What is it?
BERNARDA: What were you gazing at, and whom?
ANGUSTIAS: No one.
BERNARDA: Is it proper for a woman of your class to be trying to attract aman on the day of your fathers funeral? Answer me! Who were you gazing at?
(Pause)
ANGUSTIAS: I
BERNARDA: You!
ANGUSTIAS: No one!
BERNARDA: (Advancing with her stick) Spineless, sickly creature! (She hitsher.)
LA PONCIA: (Rushing over) Bernarda, be calm! (She holds her: Angustiaweeps.)
BERNARDA: All of you, leave! (They exit)
LA PONCIA: She did it without thinking what she was doing, and that is waswrong of course. I was shocked to see her sneaking towards the courtyard! Then she stood by the window listening to the mens conversation, which as always was not fit to hear.
BERNARDA: Thats what they come to funerals for! (With curiosity) Whatwere they saying?
SERVANT: They were talking about Paca la Roseta. Last night they tied herhusband to the manger, and carried her off on horseback to the heights of the olive grove.
BERNARDA: And she?
LA PONCIA: She was willing enough. They said she went with her breastsexposed and Maximiliano held her tight as if he were gripping a guitar. Disgraceful!
BERNARDA: And what happened?
LA PONCIA: What was bound to happen. They came back at daybreak. Paca laRoseta had her hair down, and a garland of flowers on her head.
BERNARDA: Shes the only loose woman in the village.
LA PONCIA: Because shes not from here. Shes from far off. And those whowent with her are sons of foreigners too. Men from here arent up to such things.
BERNARDA: No, but they like to look on, and gossip, and smack their lipsover what occurred.
LA PONCIA: They said other things too.
BERNARDA: (Looking round with some apprehension.) What sort of things?
LA PONCIA: Im ashamed to mention them.
BERNARDA: And my daughter heard them.
LA PONCIA: She must have done?
BERNARDA: She takes after her aunts; white and sickly and making sheepseyes at any old flatterers compliments. How we have to suffer and struggle to make sure people act decently and dont slide downhill!
LA PONCIA: Your daughters are of an age to receive compliments! Theyscarcely oppose you. Angustias must be over thirty by now.
BERNARDA: Thirty nine to be exact.
LA PONCIA: Imagine. And shes never had a suitor
BERNARDA: (Angrily) No, none of them has, and they dont need them!Theyre fine as they are.
LA PONCIA: I didnt mean to offend you.
BERNARDA: Theres no one who can compare to them for miles around. Themen here are not of their class. Would you have me give them up to any beggar who asks?
LA PONCIA: You should have moved to some other village.
BERNARDA: Indeed, to sell them off!
LA PONCIA: No, Bernarda, for a changeOf course anywhere else theyd bepoor!
BERNARDA: Hold your spiteful tongue!
LA PONCIA: Theres no talking to you. Are we not friends?
BERNARDA: No, were not. You serve me, and I pay you. Nothing more!
SERVANT: (Entering) Don Arturo is here, hes come to discuss the will.
BERNARDA: Im coming. (To the Servant) Start whitewashing the courtyard.
(To Poncia) And you: go and put all the dead ones clothes in the big chest.
LA PONCIA: We could give some of the things.
BERNARDA: Nothing. Not a button! Not even the handkerchief we covered hisface with! (She goes out slowly, leaning on her stick and looks back at her servants as she goes. The servants leave. Amelia and Martirio enter.)
AMELIA: Have you taken your medicine?
MARTIRIO: For all the good it will do!
AMELIA: But youve taken it.
MARTIRIO: I do things without any faith in them, like a piece of clockwork.
AMELIA: You seem better since the new doctor arrived.
MARTIRIO: I feel the same.
AMELIA: Did you notice? Adelaida wasnt there at the funeral.
MARTIRIO: I knew she wouldnt be. Her fianc wont let her walk in the
streets. She used to be happy: now she doesnt even powder her face.
AMELIA: I no longer know if its better to have a fianc or not.
MARTIRIO: It makes no difference.
AMELIA: Its all the gossip thats to blame, they wont let you live. Adelaidamust have had a bad time of it.
MARTIRIO: Theyre afraid of mother. Shes the only one who knows the truthabout Adelaidas father and how he got his land. Whenever she comes here, mother sticks the knife in. Her father killed his first wifes husband, in Cuba, in order to marry the wife. Then he abandoned her here, and went off with another woman who had a daughter, and then had an affair with the daughter, Adelaidas mother, and married her when the second wife died insane.
AMELIA: And why is the wretch not in jail?
MARTIRIO: Because men cover up things of that nature among themselves,and no ones willing to speak out.
AMELIA: But Adelaidas not to blame for all that.
MARTIRIO: No, but tales are repeated. And to me it all seems one dreadfulrepetition. Her fate is the same as her mothers and her grandmothers, both wives of the man who engendered her.
AMELIA: What a terrible thing!
MARTIRIO: Its preferable never to see a man. Since childhood they make meafraid. Id see them in the yard yoking the oxen and lifting the sacks of
wheat, shouting and stamping, and I was always afraid of growing older and suddenly finding myself in their arms. God has made me feeble and ugly and has always kept them away from me.
AMELIA: Dont say such things! Enrique Humanes was after you and he likedyou.
MARTIRIO: People invent things! Once I stood by the window in mynightgown till dawn, because his farmhands daughter told me he was going to stop by, but he never came. It was all talk. Then he married another girl with more money than I.
AMELIA: And she, as ugly as the devil!
MARTIRIO: What does beauty mater to them? What matters are land, oxen,and a submissive bitch to fetch them their food.
AMELIA: Ay!
(Magdalena enters)
MAGDALENA: What are you doing?
MARTIRIO: Standing here.
AMELIA: And you?
MAGDALENA: Im walking about, to stretch my legs a while. Ive beenlooking at the pictures grandmother embroidered, the little poodle and the Negro fighting a lion that we loved so much when we were children. That was a happier time. A wedding lasted ten days and there was no malicious gossip. Today theyre more refined. Brides wear white veils as they do in the towns, and we drink bottled wine, but we waste away because of their chatter.
MARTIRIO: God only knows what used to go on!
AMELIA: (To Magdalena) One of your shoelaces is undone.
MAGDALENA: What of it!
AMELIA: Youll step on it and fall!
MAGDALENA: One less
MARTIRIO: Wheres Adela?
MAGDALENA: Oh, she put on the green dress that she first wore on herbirthday, and went into the yard and shouted: Hen, hens, look at me! I had to laugh!
AMELIA: If mother had seen her!
MAGDALENA: Poor thing! Shes the youngest of us and full of illusions. Idgive anything to see her happy.
(Pause. Angustias crosses the stage with some towels in her hands.)
ANGUSTIAS: What time is it?
MAGDALENA: It must be twelve.
ANGUSTIAS: That late?
AMELIA: Its about to strike!
(Angustias exits)
MAGDALENA: (Pointedly) Have you heard? (Indicating Angustias)
AMELIA: No.
MAGDALENA: Come on!
MARTIRIO: I dont know what youre referring to!
MAGDALENA: You know more about it than I. You always have your headstogether, like little sheep, but you never tell anyone anything. This business about Pepe el Romano!
MARTIRIO: Oh that!
MAGDALENA: (Imitating her) Oh that! Its talked about all over the place.Pepe el Romano is to marry Angustias. He was round the house last night, and I think hell soon send someone to ask for her.
MARTIRIO: Im pleased! Hes a good man.
AMELIA: And I. Angustias has fine qualities.
MAGDALENA: Neither of you are pleased.
MARTIRIO: Magdalena!
MAGDALENA: If he wanted Angustias for herself, for Angustias the woman,Id be pleased, but hes after the money. Angustias is our sister but were family and know shes ageing and unwell, and of us all she has always had the least to offer. If she looked like a broomstick with clothes on at twenty, what is she now at forty!
MARTIRIO: Dont talk like that. Good fortune comes to those who leastexpect it.
AMELIA: She speaks the truth though! Angustias has her fathers money,shes the only wealthy one in this house and now that our father is dead and theyre sharing out his estate, theyre after her!
MAGDALENA: Pepe el Romano is twenty-five years old and the handsomestman in the whole neighbourhood. The natural thing would be for him to court you, Amelia, or Adela, who is only twenty, but not go after the least attractive one in this house, a woman who, like her father, talks through her nose.
MARTIRIO: Perhaps he likes her!
MAGDALENA: Ive never been able to stand your hypocrisy!
MARTIRIO: Heaven preserve us!
(Adela enters)
MAGDALENA: Have the chickens seen you in that yet?
ADELA: And what would you have me do with it?
AMELIA: If mother sees you shell drag you about by the hair!
ADELA: Im so pleased with this dress. I thought Id wear it if we were to goand eat melons by the mill. Thered be nothing to equal it.
MARTIRIO: Its a lovely dress!
ADELA: And it suits me. Its the best Magdalena ever made.
MAGDALENA: And what did the chickens say to it?
ADELA: They passed on some of their fleas, and my legs got bitten. (Theylaugh.)
MARTIRIO: You could dye it black.
MAGDALENA: The best she can do is pass it on to Angustias when she wedsPepe el Romano.
ADELA: (With suppressed emotion) Pepe el Romano!
AMELIA: Havent you heard the talk?
ADELA: No.
MAGDALENA: Well now you know!
ADELA: But its not possible!
MAGDALENA: Money makes everything possible!
ADELA: Is that why she followed the mourners and looked through the door.(Pause) And that man is capable of
MAGDALENA: Hes capable of anything.
(Pause)
MARTIRIO: What are you thinking of, Adela?
ADELA: Im thinking that this mourning period has come at the worstpossible time in my life.
MAGDALENA: Youll get used to it.
ADELA: (Bursting into angry tears) No, no I wont get used to it! I dont wantto be shut in. I dont want my skin to become like yours. I dont want to lose my bloom in these rooms! Tomorrow Ill put on my green dress and Ill go for a walk in the street! I want to go out!
(The Servant enters.)
MAGDALENA: (Authoritatively) Adela!
SERVANT: Poor child! She misses her father so! (She exits.)
MARTIRIO: Hush!
AMELIA: It will be the same for all of us.
(Adela calms down.)
MAGDALENA: The servant almost overheard you.
SERVANT: (Appearing) Pepe el Romanos at the top of the street.
MAGDALENA: Lets go and look!
(They exit swiftly)
SERVANT: (To Adela) Arent you going with them?
ADELA: No, Im not interested.
SERVANT: When he turns the corner you can see him best, from the windowin your room. (She exits.)
(Adela remains there, in two minds. After a moment she too rushes out, to her room. Bernarda and La Poncia enter.)
BERNARDA: Cursed will!
LA PONCIA: What a lot of money for Angustias!
BERNARDA: Yes.
LA PONCIA: And for the others, quite a lot less.
BERNARDA: Youve said it three times already and I chose not to answer.
Quite a lot less: much less. Dont remind me again.
(Angustias enters, her face made up.)
BERNARDA: Angustias!
ANGUSTIAS: Mother.
BERNARDA: How dare you powder your face? How dare you even wash it, onthe day of your fathers funeral?
ANGUSTIAS: He wasnt my father. Mine died years ago. Have you forgottenabout him?
BERNARDA: You owe more to this man, your sisters father, than your own!Thanks to this one youve inherited a fortune.
ANGUSTIAS: That remains to be seen!
BERNARDA: If only out of decency! Out of respect!
ANGUSTIAS: Mother, let me go out.
BERNARDA: Out! After youve cleaned that powder from your face! Cunninglittle hypocrite! Just like your aunts! (She rubs the powder off vigorously with her handkerchief.) Now, go out!
LA PONCIA: Bernarda, dont meddle so much!
BERNARDA: Even if my mothers crazy I have my five senses intact, and Iknow exactly what Im doing.
(The other daughters enter.)
MAGDALENA: Whats going on?
BERNARDA: Nothings going on.
MAGDALENA: (To Angustias) If youre arguing about the inheritance, you, therichest of us anyway, you can stick the lot of it.
ANGUSTIAS: Watch your foul tongue!
BERNARDA: (Banging on the floor with her stick) Dont think it will give youany power over me! Till I leave this house, feet first, Ill manage your business and mine!
(Voices are heard and Mara Josefa, Bernardas mother, appears, very old and with hair and breast decked with flowers.)
MARA JOSEFA: Bernarda, wheres my shawl? You dont need anything ofmine, not my rings, and not my black moir dress, because none of you will ever be married. Not one! Bernarda, give me my pearl necklace!
BERNARDA: (To the Servant) Why did you let her in here?
SERVANT: (Trembling) She escaped me!
MARA JOSEFA: I escaped her because I want to get married, because I wish tomarry a handsome young man from the seashore: here the men run away from women.
BERNARDA: Be quiet, mother!
MARA JOSEFA: No, I wont be quiet. I dont want to see these single women,foaming at the mouth for marriage, their hearts turning to dust, and I want to go back to my village. Bernarda, I want a man to marry and be happy with!
BERNARDA: Lock her up!
MARA JOSEFA: Let me go out, Bernarda!
(The Servant takes hold of Mara Josefa.)
BERNARDA: Help, all of you!
(They all help to drag the old woman away.)
MARA JOSEFA: I want to go! Bernarda! I want to be married by the seashore,by the seashore!
Swift Curtain
Act II
(The bright white interior of Bernardas house. The doors on the left lead to the bedrooms. Bernardas daughters are seated on low chairs, sewing. Magdalena embroiders. La Poncia is with them.)
ANGUSTIAS: Ive finished cutting the third sheet.
MARTIRIO: Its for Amelia.
MAGDALENA: Angustias, shall I do Pepes initials as well?
ANGUSTIAS: (Drily) No.
MAGDALENA: (Loudly) Adela, are you coming?
AMELIA: Shes lying down.
LA PONCIA: Shes got something. Shes restless, quivering, frightened, as ifshe had a lizard between her breasts.
MARTIRIO: Shes got nothing more than what we all have.
MAGDALENA: All except Angustias.
ANGUSTIAS: Im fine, and anyone who doesnt like it can go to the devil.
MAGDALENA: Well, one has to say the best things about you have alwaysbeen your figure and your sensitivity.
ANGUSTIAS: Fortunately, Ill soon be free of this hell.
MAGDALENA: Perhaps you wont be!
MARTIRIO: Lets change the subject!
ANGUSTIAS: And, besides, better an ounce of gold in ones coffer than a pairof dark eyes in ones head!
MAGDALENA: In one ear and out the other.
AMELIA: (To La Poncia) Open the door to the courtyard, and see if we canhave a little fresh air in here.
(La Poncia does so.)
MARTIRIO: All last night I couldnt sleep with the heat.
AMELIA: Nor I!
MARTIRIO: I got out of bed to cool myself. There was a black storm cloudand even a few drops of rain.
LA PONCIA: It was one in the morning, and the earth was still fiery. I got outof bed too. Angustias was at the window with Pepe.
MAGDALENA: (Ironically) Was it as late as that? What time did he leave?
ANGUSTIAS: Magdalena, why ask since you saw him?
AMELIA: He left at about half past one.
ANGUSTIAS: Yes. How do you know that?
AMELIA: I heard his cough, and the hooves of his mare.
LA PONCIA: But I heard him leaving at four!
ANGUSTIAS: Then it wasnt him!
LA PONCIA: Im sure it was!
AMELIA: It seemed to me too
MAGDALENA: How odd!
(Pause.)
LA PONCIA: Listen, Angustias, what did he say to you the first time he cameto your window?
ANGUSTIAS: Nothing. What would he say? Trivial things.
MARTIRIO: Whats truly odd is that two people who dont know each othershould suddenly meet at an open window and become engaged.
ANGUSTIAS: I dont find it astonishing.
AMELIA: It would make me feel strange.
ANGUSTIAS: No it wouldnt, because when a man comes to your window healready knows from the coming and going, from the give and take, that the answer can only be yes.
MARTIRIO: Fine, but he still has to ask.
ANGUSTIAS: Of course!
AMELIA: (Curious) So, what did he say?
ANGUSTIAS: Well, nothing much. You know Im after you, that I need agood woman, a modest one, and that its you if youll agree.
AMELIA: Things like that embarrass me!
ANGUSTIAS: Me too, but you have to suffer them!
LA PONCIA: And did he say anything else?
ANGUSTIAS: Yes, he never stopped talking.
MARTIRIO: And you?
ANGUSTIAS: I couldnt speak. My heart almost leapt out of my mouth. It wasthe first time Id been alone at night with a man.
MAGDALENA: And such a handsome man.
ANGUSTIAS: His figures not bad.
LA PONCIA: Thats how it is between people who have a little experience,who know how to speak and wave their hands aboutThe first time my husband Evaristo el Colorn came to my windowha, ha, ha!
AMELIA: What happened?
LA PONCIA: It was quite dark. I saw him there and as he approached he said:Good evening. Good evening, I said in reply, and then we were silent for half an hour or more. Sweat bathed my whole body. Then Evaristo came closer, closer, as if he wanted to squeeze through the bars, and said in a whisper, Come here, let me feel you!
(They all laugh. Amelia rises, runs to the door, and peers out.)
AMELIA: Ay! I thought mother was coming.
MAGDALENA: Then wed have been for it! (They continue laughing.)
AMELIA: Shushshell hear us!
LA PONCIA: Afterwards he behaved very well. Instead of chasing after otherthings he bred linnets till the day of his death. Its good for you single women to know that a fortnight after the wedding a man forgoes bed for the table, and later on the table for the tavern. And the woman who cant accept it will waste away, crying in a corner.
AMELIA: You accepted it.
LA PONCIA: I could handle him!
MARTIRIO: Is it true you struck him on occasions?
LA PONCIA: Yes, and nearly blinded him.
MAGDALENA: Thats how all women should behave!
LA PONCIA: Im of your mothers school. One day he said something to me,who knows what, and I slaughtered all his linnets with the rolling pin. (They laugh.)
MAGDALENA: Adela, child, the things youre missing.
AMELIA: Adela. (Pause.)
MAGDALENA: Ill go and find her! (She exits.)
LA PONCIA: The child is ill!
MARTIRIO: Of course, she barely sleeps!
LA PONCIA: What does she do instead?
MARTIRIO: How do I know what she does!
LA PONCIA: You know better than I, you only have a wall between you.
ANGUSTIAS: Envy is eating her.
AMELIA: Dont exaggerate things.
ANGUSTIAS: I can see it in her eyes. Shes beginning to look like amadwoman.
MARTIRIO: Dont talk about madness. This is the one place where such wordsshould not be spoken.
(Magdalena enters with Adela.)
MAGDALENA: You werent asleep, then?
ADELA: I felt unwell.
MARTIRIO: (Pointedly) Didnt you sleep well last night?
ADELA: Yes.
MARTIRIO: Then?
ADELA: (Angrily) Leave me alone! Sleeping or waking, its nobodys affairbut mine! Ill do as I want with my own body!
MARTIRIO: Im merely concerned for you!
ADELA: Concerned, or inquisitive. Werent you sewing just now? Well carryon. I wish I were invisible, so as to walk through these rooms without you forever asking where Im going!
SERVANT: (Entering) Bernarda is asking for you. The man with the lace ishere.
(They exit, and as they do so Martirio looks fixedly at Adela.)
ADELA: Stop staring at me! If you want you can have my eyes, that are hardlyused, and my shoulders to bear that hump you carry, but turn your head away when I pass.
(Martirio exits.)
LA PONCIA: Adela, shes your sister, and the one that loves you most!
ADELA: She follows me everywhere. She even looks into my room to see ifIm asleep. She doesnt let me breathe. And always its: What a shame about that pretty face! What a shame about that body, that no one will ever see! Its not so! My body will be for whomever I want!
LA PONCIA: (Pointedly in a low voice) For Pepe el Romano, is that it?
ADELA: (Startled) What do you mean?
LA PONCIA: What I say, Adela!
ADELA: Be silent!
LA PONCIA: (Loudly) Did you think I hadnt noticed?
ADELA: Lower your voice!
LA PONCIA: Suppress such thoughts!
ADELA: What do you know about it?
LA PONCIA: Old women can see through walls. Where do you go at nightwhen you get up?
ADELA: You should have your eyes put out!
LA PONCIA: My hands are as full of eyes as my head when it comes to thisbusiness. For all my thinking about it I dont known what youre up to. Why else were you standing there half-naked at the window with the light on when Pepe was here the second time he came to talk with your sister?
ADELA: Thats not true!
LA PONCIA: Dont be such a child! Let your sister be, and if its Pepe elRomano you want, reconcile yourself. (Adela weeps.) Besides, who says you cant marry him? Your sister Angustias is not well. She wont survive her first child. Shes narrow-waisted and old, and from my experience Id say shell die. Then Pepe will do what all the widowers here do: hell marry the youngest and prettiest, and thats you. Cling to that hope and forget him for now. Do what you like, but dont act against the law of God.
ADELA: Be silent!
LA PONCIA: I wont be silent!
ADELA: Mind your own business, you nosy traitor!
LA PONCIA: I shall be your shadow!
ADELA: Instead of cleaning the house and praying for the dead when you goto bed, you go around like an old sow poking around in men and womens business, so you can slobber over it.
LA PONCIA: I keep watch, so that people wont spit when they pass this door!
ADELA: What vast affection you suddenly feel for my sister!
LA PONCIA: Ive no loyalty to any of you, but I want to live in a decent house.
I dont want my old age to be tarnished.
ADELA: Your advice is useless. Its too late. Id not just ignore you, but alsomy mother, in order to quench this fire that licks me from head to foot. What can you say of me? That I lock myself in my room and wont open the door? That I dont sleep? Im cleverer than you. See if you can catch this hare in your hands.
LA PONCIA: Dont defy me, Adela, dont defy me! Because I can shout outloud, light all the lamps, and set the bells ringing.
ADELA: Bring four thousand yellow flares, and set them up on the walls ofthe stable-yard. No one can escape the fact that what is to happen will happen.
LA PONCIA: You want the man as much as that!
ADELA: Yes, as much as that! Gazing into his eyes I feel as if Im slowlydrinking his blood.
LA PONCIA: I wont listen to you.
ADELA: Youll listen! I was afraid of you. But now Im stronger than you!
(Angustias enters.)
ANGUSTIAS: Forever arguing!
LA PONCIA: Of course. In all this heat she insists I go and fetch her somethingfrom the store.
ANGUSTIAS: Did you buy that bottle of scent for me?
LA PONCIA: The dearest one: and the powder. Ive put them on the table inyour room.
(Angustias exits.)
ADELA: Not a word!
LA PONCIA: Well see about that!
(Martirio, Amelia and Magdalena enter.)
MAGDALENA: (To Adela) Have you seen the lace?
AMELIA: The lace for Angustias wedding sheets is beautiful.
ADELA: (To Martirio, who is holding some lace) And that?
MARTIRIO: Its for me. For a petticoat.
ADELA: (Sarcastically) One has to have a sense of humour!
MARTIRIO: (Pointedly) For my own eyes. I dont need to show off to anyone.
LA PONCIA: No one sees you in your petticoat.
MARTIRIO: (Pointedly looking at Adela) Sometimes they do! But I adoreunderwear. If I were rich Id have it of finest linen. Its one of the few pleasures left to me.
LA PONCIA: This lace is fine for a babys bonnet or for a christening gown. Icould never dress mine in it. Lets see if Angustias can hers. If she starts having children youll be sewing day and night.
MAGDALENA: Ive no intention of sewing a stitch.
AMELIA: Much less look after someone elses children. Look at theneighbours down the street, martyrs to four little idiots.
LA PONCIA: Theyre better off than you are. At least they have a laugh andyou can hear them fighting!
MARTIRIO: Then go and serve them.
LA PONCIA: No. Ive been sent to serve in this convent!
(Distant bells are heard, as if through several walls.)
MAGDALENA: Its the men going back to work.
LA PONCIA: It struck three a moment ago.
MARTIRIO: In this heat!
ADELA: (Sitting down) Oh, if I could only be out in the fields too!
MAGDALENA: (Sitting down) Each class to its own!
MARTIRIO: (Sitting down) Thats so!
AMELIA: (Sitting down) Ay!
LA PONCIA: Theres nothing like being in the fields at this time of year.
Yesterday morning the harvesters arrived. Forty or fifty strapping men.
MAGDALENA: Where have they come from this year?
LA PONCIA: From a long way off. Theyre from the mountains. A happycrowd! Like sun-scorched trees! Shouting and throwing stones! Last night a woman with a sequined dress arrived in the village and danced to an accordion, and fifteen of the men hired her and took her off to the olive grove. I watched them from a distance. The one who organised the hiring was a young man with green eyes, lean as a sheaf of wheat.
AMELIA: Is that a fact?
ADELA: Well, its possible!
LA PONCIA: Years ago one of these women came here and I gave her moneymyself so my eldest could go with her. Men must do these things!
ADELA: Everything is forgiven them.
AMELIA: To be born a woman is the great crime.
MAGDALENA: Not even our eyes are our own.
(The sound of singing is heard in the distance. It draws nearer.)
LA PONCIA: Thats them. They have some fine songs.
AMELIA: Theyre off to the reaping, now.
CHORUS:The reapers are leaving, theyre off to the reaping, and with them the hearts of all the girls watching.
(Tambourines, and carraacas traditional instruments, small wooden or metal plates scraped with sticks are heard. Pause. All the women listen, in a silence pierced by sunlight.)
AMELIA: The heat doesnt bother them.
MARTIRIO: They reap amidst the fiery rays.
ADELA: Id like to be a reaper so I could come and go at will. Then Id beable to forget whats gnawing at us.
MARTIRIA: What is it you need to forget?
ADELA: Each of us has something.
MARTIRIO: (With feeling) Each of us!
LA PONCIA: Hush! Hush!
CHORUS: (Far off)
You girls there from the village
open your doors and windows;
the reaper wants your roses
to brighten his sombrero.
LA PONCIA: What a song!
MARTIRIO: (Nostalgically)
You girls there from the village
open your doors and windows
ADELA: (Passionately)
the reaper wants your roses
to brighten his sombrero. (The sound of the singing grows fainter.) LA PONCIA: Theyre turning the corner now.
ADELA: Lets go and watch them from the window of my room.
LA PONCIA: Take care not to open it too wide, because theyre up to shovingat it to see whos looking at them.
(The three of them leave. Martirio remains seated on the low chair with her head in her hands.)
AMELIA: (Approaching) What is it?
MARTIRIO: The heat is making me ill.
AMELIA: No more than that?
MARTIRIO: I wish it was November, with days of rain and frost; anything butthis interminable summer.
AMELIA: It will pass and return again.
MARTIRIO: Of course! (Pause) What time did you go to sleep last night?
AMELIA: I dont know. I sleep like a log. Why?
MARTIRIO: Nothing, only I thought I heard someone in the stable yard.
AMELIA: You did?
MARTIRIO: Very late.
AMELIA: And you werent scared?
MARTIRIO: No. Ive heard it on other nights.
AMELIA: We should be on guard. Might it have been the farmhands?
MARTIRIO: The farmhands arent here till six.
AMELIA: Perhaps a young mule that needs breaking in.
MARTIRIO: (In a low voice, full of hidden meaning) Ah, yes! A young mule,one that needs breaking in.
AMELIA: We should warn the others.
MARTIRIO: No! No, say nothing. Its probably my imagination.
AMELIA: Perhaps.
(Pause. Amelia starts to leave.)
MARTIRIO: Amelia.
AMELIA: (In the doorway) What is it?
(Pause)
MARTIRIO: Nothing.
(Pause)
AMELIA: Why did you call to me?
(Pause)
MARTIRIO: It slipped out. It was unintentional.
(Pause)
AMELIA: Go and lie down for a while.
ANGUSTIAS: (Entering angrily in a way which creates a sharp contrast withthe previous pauses.) Where is the photograph of Pepe that was under mypillow? Which of you has it?
MARTIRIO: Neither of us.
AMELIA: Its not as if Pepe was a silver Saint Bartholomew.
(La Poncia, Magdalena and Adela enter.)
ANGUSTIAS: Where is the photo?
ADELA: What photo?
ANGUSTIAS: One of you has hidden it.
MAGDALENA: How dare you say that to us?
ANGUSTIAS: It was in my room and now its not.
MARTIRIO: Maybe it slipped out to the stable yard in the night? Pepe likes tostroll in the moonlight.
ANGUSTIAS: Dont waste your wit on me! When he comes Ill tell him.
LA PONCIA: No, dont do that! It will turn up! (Looking at Adela)
ANGUSTIAS: I want to know which one of you has it!
ADELA: (Looking at Martirio) Someone does! But not me!
MARTIRIO: (Pointedly) Naturally!
BERNARDA: (Entering leaning on her stick) Whats this noise in my houseamidst all this stifling silence? The neighbours must have their ears glued to the walls.
ANGUSTIAS: Theyve stolen my fiancs photograph.
BERNARDA: (Fiercely) Who has? Who?
ANGUSTIAS: They have!
BERNARDA: Which of you was it? (Silence) Answer me. (Silence. To LaPoncia) Search their rooms, and their beds. This is what comes of notkeeping you all on a tighter leash. But Ill haunt your dreams! (To Angustias.) Are you sure?
ANGUSTIAS: Yes.
BERNARDA: Youve searched for it properly?
ANGUSTIAS: Yes, Mother.
(They are all standing. An awkward silence ensues.)
BERNARDA: At my time of life, youd make me drink the bitterest venom amother has to swallow. (To La Poncia, entering) You found it?
LA PONCIA: Here it is.
BERNARDA: Where did you find it?
LA PONCIA: It was
BERNARDA: Dont be afraid to say.
LA PONCIA: (Surprised) Between the sheets of Martirios bed.
BERNARDA: (To Martirio) Is that true?
MARTIRIO: Its true.
BERNARDA: (Advancing and striking her with her stick) May you be cut topieces, you good-for-nothing! You sower of discord!
MARTIRIO: (Angrily) Dont you hit me, Mother!
BERNARDA: As much as I want!
MARTIRIO: If I let you! Do you hear? Get away from me!
LA PONCIA: Show your mother some respect.
ANGUSTIAS: (Restraining Bernarda) Leave her alone. Please!
BERNARDA: Not a tear in her eyes.
MARTIRIO: Ill not cry just to please you.
BERNARDA: Why did you take the photo?
MARTIRIO: Cant I even play a joke on my sister? Why else would I want it?
ADELA: (Jealously) This was no joke: youve never liked jokes. It wassomething else in you seeking expression. Out with it now.
MARTIRIO: Be quiet, and dont make me talk, because if I do the walls willclose in from shame!
ADELA: An evil tongue never stops inventing things!
BERNARDA: Adela!
MAGDALENA: Youre both mad.
AMELIA: And thinking evil thoughts about us.
MARTIRIO: Others do worse things than that.
ADELA: Until they strip them naked and throw them in the river.
BERNARDA: Wicked girl!
ANGUSTIAS: Its not my fault that Pepe el Romana fell for me.
ADELA: For your money!
ANGUSTIAS: Mother!
BERNARDA: Silence!
MARTIRIO: For your fields, and your orchards.
MAGDALENA: Thats right!
BERNARDA: Silence, I said! I knew the storm was coming, but I didnt expectit so soon. Ay! What a shower of stones rains down on my heart! But Im not an old woman yet and Ive halters for all five of you and this house that my father built so that not even the weeds will know my desolation. Get out of here! (They leave. Bernarda sits desolate. La Poncia stands near the wall. Bernarda composes herself, bangs her stick down and speaks) I shall have totake a firm grip! Remember, Bernarda, its your duty!
LA PONCIA: Can I say something?
BERNARDA: Speak. Im sorry you had to hear that. Its not good to have anoutsider mixed up in family matters.
LA PONCIA: What Ive seen, Ive seen.
BERNARDA: Angustias must get married at once.
LA PONCIA: You must get her away from here.
BERNARDA: Not her. Him!
LA PONCIA: Yes, you must get him away from here! A good thought.
BERNARDA: I dont think. There are things you cant and shouldnt thinkabout. I command.
LA PONCIA: And you think hell be prepared to go?
BERNARDA: (Rising) Whats going on in that head of yours?
LA PONCIA: Of course hell marry Angustias!
BERNARDA: Say it. I know you well enough to spot when youre ready to stabwith your knife.
LA PONCIA: Ive never considered a warning to be murder.
BERNARDA: Youre going to warn me of something?
LA PONCIA: Im not accusing you of anything, Bernarda. Im merely saying:
open your eyes and see.
BERNARDA: And what is there to see?
LA PONCIA: Youve always been sharp. You can see the evil in people ahundred miles off. Ive often thought you can read others minds. But its different with your daughters. Now youre blind.
BERNARDA: You mean Martirio?
LA PONCIA: Indeed, Martirio (Expressing curiosity) Why did she hide thephoto?
BERNARDA: (Protective of her daughter) After all she says it was just a joke.What else could it be?
LA PONCIA: (Sarcastically) You believe that?
BERNARDA: (Energetically) No I dont. Youre right!
LA PONCIA: Fair enough, its your family. But if it was the neighbour acrossthe street, what then?
BERNARDA: Now youre beginning to twist the knife.
LA PONCIA: (With sustained cruelty) No Bernarda; something serious is in thewind here. I dont wish to blame you, but youve not allowed your daughters their freedom. Martirio is made to fall in love readily, whatever you may say. Why didnt you let her marry Enrique Humanes? Why on the very day he was going to come to her window did you send him a message not to come?
BERNARDA: (Forcefully) Id do it a thousand times over! My blood will notmix with that of the Humanes family as long as I live! His father was a farmhand.
LA PONCIA: And this is what your pride has brought you to!
BERNARDA: Im proud because Ive a right to be. And you havent, since youknow very well what you come from.
LA PONCIA: (With hatred) Dont remind me! Im old now, and Ive alwaysbeen grateful for your protection.
BERNARDA: (Imperiously) It doesnt seem like it!
LA PONCIA: (Her hatred smoothly concealed) Martirio will forget about him.
BERNARDA: And if she doesnt the worse for her. I dont think there issomething serious going on here. Nothings going on here. Its only what youd like to be happening! And if anything does be sure it wont escape these walls.
LA PONCIA: I dont know about that! There are those in the village who canalso read hidden thoughts from afar.
BERNARDA: How youd love to see me and my daughters on the road to thenearest brothel!
LA PONCIA: No one knows where anyone will end up.
BERNARDA: I know what my end will be! I and my daughters! The brothelwas fitting for a certain dead woman
LA PONCIA: (Fiercely) Bernarda! Respect my mothers memory!
BERNARDA: Then dont persecute me with your evil thoughts!
(Pause)
LA PONCIA: Its better if I have nothing to do with it.
BERNARDA: Thats what you should do. Work and keep silent about things.
Thats the duty of anyone whos paid to work.
LA PONCIA: But I cant. Do you think Martirio is better suited to marry Pepethansay Adela?
BERNARDA: I dont see why.
LA PONCIA: (Pointedly) Adela. She was made to be a Romanos fianc!
BERNARDA: Things are never as wed wish them.
LA PONCIA: But its hard to go against ones true inclinations. It seems wrongto me that Pepe is with Angustias, and it seems wrong to others too, and even to Nature herself. Who knows whether theyll pay for it somehow!
BERNARDA: Here we go againYou slip things in to give me bad dreams.And I dont want to listen to you, because if I did understand all you were saying Id be tempted to scratch your eyes out.
LA PONCIA: It wont come to it!
BERNARDA: Fortunately my daughters respect me, and have never goneagainst my wishes!
LA PONCIA: Thats so! But as soon as you let them free theyll be climbingthe roof.
BERNARDA: Ill hurl stones to bring them down again!
LA PONCIA: Youve always been the pluckiest!
BERNARDA: I was always a fiery one!
LA PONCIA: But its strange how things turn out! At her age: you should seeAngustias enthusiasm for this fianc of hers! And he seems taken with her too! My son told me that yesterday when he went past with the oxen at four thirty in the morning, they were still talking.
BERNARDA: At four thirty!
ANGUSTIAS: (Entering) Thats a lie!
LA PONCIA: Thats what they told me.
BERNARDA: (To Angustias) Well?
ANGUSTIAS: Pepe has been leaving at one, for more than a week. God strikeme dead if Im lying.
MARTIRIO: (Entering) I heard him leaving at four as well.
BERNARDA: But did you see him with your own eyes?
MARTIRIO: I didnt want to look out. Dont you talk to him from the windowin the alleyway?
ANGUSTIAS: No, I talk to him from my bedroom window.
(Adela appears in the doorway)
MARTIRIO: Then
BERNARDA: What has been going on here?
LA PONCIA: Beware what you might find! Anyway, its clear that Pepe was atone of the windows at four in the morning.
BERNARDA: You know that for certain?
LA PONCIA: Nothings certain in this life.
ADELA: Mother, dont listen to her: she wants to destroy us all.
BERNARDA: Ill find out for myself! If the people in this village want to makefalse accusations theyll find me hard as rock. Well not speak of this any more. Sometimes people will throw mud at others to destroy them.
MARTIRIO: Ive no wish to tell lies.
LA PONCIA: There must be something in it.
BERNARDA: Theres nothing in it. I was born with my eyes open. And theyllstay open till the day I die.
ANGUSTIAS: I have a right to know whats going on.
BERNARDA: Your only right is that of obedience. Nobody tells me what to do.(To La Poncia) And you: keep to your own affairs. No one will take a step here without my knowing!
SERVANT: (Entering) Theres a big crowd at the top of the street and all theneighbours are at their doors!
BERNARDA: (To La Poncia) Run, and see whats happening! (The womenstart to run off) Where are you going? I always knew you were the sort ofwomen who cant wait to display themselves at windows, and break your mourning vow. All of you, to the courtyard!
(They leave as does Bernarda. Distant murmurs are heard. Martirio and Adela enter and stand listening, not daring to take another step towards the exit.)
MARTIRIO: Be grateful I kept my tongue in check.
ADELA: I could have spoken too.
MARTIRIO: And what would you have said? To wish is not to do!
ADELA: The one who does is the one who can, and who gets there first. Youwished but you couldnt have him.
MARTIRIO: You wont have him much longer.
ADELA: Ill have him all to myself!
MARTIRIO: Ill snatch him from your arms!
ADELA: (Pleading) Martirio, let us alone!
MARTIRIO: Never!
ADELA: He wants me to live with him!
MARTIRIO: I saw him embrace you!
ADELA: I didnt want him to. Its as if I was dragged along by a rope.
MARTIRIO: Ill see you dead first!
(Magdalena and Angustias appear. The noise outside increases.)
LA PONCIA: (Entering with Bernarda) Bernarda!
BERNARDA: Whats going on?
LA PONCIA: Libradas daughter, the unmarried one, has had a daughter and noone knows who the father is.
ADELA: A child?
LA PONCIA: And to hide her shame she killed it, and buried it under somerocks; but the dogs, with more heart than many a human creature, dug it up and, as if guided by Gods hand, left it on her doorstep. Now people want to kill her. Theyre dragging her down the street, and there are men running along the paths, and out of the olive-groves, shouting loud enough to make the earth tremble.
BERNARDA: Thats right, let them bring olive branches and pick-handles, andlet them kill her.
ADELA: No, no, not kill her!
MARTIRIO: Yes, and let us go see.
BERNARDA: And may she who tramples on her honour pay the price.
(A womans cry and a great uproar are heard outside.)
ADELA: Let them only release her! Dont go outside!
MARTIRIO: (Gazing at Adela) May she pay what she owes!
BERNARDA: (In the archway) Finish her off before the police come! Aburning coal in the place of her sin!
ADELA: (Clutching her belly) No! No!
BERNARDA: Kill her! Kill her!
Curtain
Act III
(Four white walls, bathed in pale blue light, in the internal courtyard of Bernardas house. It is night. The setting should be utterly simple. The doorways, illuminated by interior lighting, cast a bright glow on the stage. In the centre a table with an oil lamp, at which Bernarda and her daughters are eating. La Poncia is serving them. Prudencia is seated apart. As the curtain rises there is a complete silence, broken only by the sound of plates and cutlery. )
PRUDENCIA: I should go. Its been a long visit. (She rises.)
BERNARDA: Stay. We never see each other.
PRUDENCIA: Has the last bell for the rosary sounded?
LA PONCIA: Not yet.
(Prudencia sits down.)
BERNARDA: And how is your husband?
PRUDENCIA: The same.
BERNARDA: We never see him either.
PRUDENCIA: You know what hes like. Since he quarrelled with his brothersover the inheritance he never goes out the front door, he uses a ladder and climbs over the wall by the stable-yard.
BERNARDA: So like a man. And your daughter?
PRUDENCIA: He hasnt forgiven her.
BERNARDA: Hes right.
PRUDENCIA: I dont know what to say. It makes me suffer.
BERNARDA: A disobedient daughter ceases to be your daughter and insteadbecomes your enemy.
PRUDENCIA: I let it flow over me. The only comfort I have is to take refuge inthe church, but now Im losing my sight Ill have to stop going so the children wont mock at me. (A heavy blow against the wall is heard.) What was that?
BERNARDA: The stallion, hes shut in, and kicks at the wall. (Calling out)Hobble him, and let him out in the yard! (In a lower voice) He must be hot.
PRUDENCIA: Are you going to let him loose on the new mares?
BERNARDA: At dawn.
PRUDENCIA: Youve done well to increase your stable.
BERNARDA: By dint of pain and money.
LA PONCIA: (Interrupting) And now shes got the best stable in the region!Its a shame prices are so low.
BERNARDA: Would you like some honey and cheese?
PRUDENCIA: I dont feel like eating.
(Another blow is heard.)
LA PONCIA: Dear God!
PRUDENCIA: That went straight to my heart!
BERNARDA: (Rising angrily) Do I have to say everything twice? Let him outto roll in the straw! (She pauses, and as if speaking to the stable lads) Shut the mares in the stable, but let him out, before he brings the wall down. (She goes back to the table and sits down) Ay, what a life!
PRUDENCIA: You have to do a mans work.
BERNARDA: Thats right. (Adela gets up from the table) Where are you going?
ADELA: For a drink of water.
BERNARDA: (Calling) Bring a jug of fresh water. (To Adela) You can sitdown. (Adela sits)
PRUDENCIA: And Angustias, when does she get married?
BERNARDA: Theyll ask for her hand in three days time.
PRUDENCIA: You must be very happy!
ANGUSTIAS: Of course!
AMELIA: (To Magdalena) Now, youve spilt the salt!
MAGDALENA: Things cant be worse for you than they are already.
PRUDENCIA: It always brings bad luck.
BERNARDA: Enough of that!
PRUDENCIA: (To Angustias) Has he given you the ring yet?
ANGUSTIAS: (Displaying it) See for yourself.
PRUDENCIA: Its beautiful. Three pearls. In my day pearls signified tears.
ANGUSTIAS: Well times have changed.
ADELA: I dont think so. Such things mean the same. An engagement ringshould be set with diamonds.
PRUDENCIA: Thats more appropriate.
BERNARDA: With pearls or without them, its what you make of things.
MARTIRIO: Or what God makes of them.
PRUDENCIA: They tell me your furniture is fine too.
BERNARDA: Its cost me a small fortune.
LA PONCIA: (Intervening) The best piece is the wardrobe, with a mirror.
PRUDENCIA: Ive never seen a wardrobe with a mirror.
BERNARDA: All we had was a chest.
PRUDENCIA: Whats important is that everything works out for the best.
ADELA: One can never tell.
BERNARDA: Theres no reason why it shouldnt.
(The distant sound of bells is heard.)
PRUDENCIA: The last call. (To Angustias) Ill visit again so you can show meyour trousseau.
ANGUSTIAS: Whenever you wish.
PRUDENCIA: God give us goodnight.
BERNARDA: Goodbye, Prudencia.
THE FIVE DAUGHTERS: God go with you.
(Pause. Prudencia exits.)
BERNARDA: Weve finished. (They rise.)
ADELA: Im going to the main door to stretch my legs and get some air.(Magdalena sits down in a low chair against the wall.)
AMELIA: Ill go with you.
MARTIRIO: And I.
ADELA: (With suppressed hatred) I wont get lost.
AMELIA: Darkness begs company.
(They leave. Bernarda sits. Angustias is clearing the table.)
BERNARDA: Ive told you, I want you to talk to your sister Martirio. Whathappened with the photograph was a joke and should be forgotten.
ANGUSTIAS: You know she doesnt like me.
BERNARDA: Each sees into their own heart. I never pry into hearts, but Idesire a united front and family harmony. Do you understand?
ANGUSTIAS: Yes.
BERNARDA: Then thats fine.
MAGDALENA: (Half-asleep) Anyway, youll have left here before you knowit! (She falls asleep)
ANGUSTIAS: Not soon enough.
BERNARDA: What time did you finish talking last night?
ANGUSTIAS: Twelve-thirty.
BERNARDA: What does Pepe have to say?
ANGUSTIAS: He seems distracted. He talks to me as if hes thinking ofsomething else. If I ask him whats on his mind, he just says: We men have our own worries.
BERNARDA: You shouldnt ask him; thats even more true when youremarried. Speak if he speaks, and look at him when he looks at you. Youll be better off that way.
ANGUSTIAS: Mother, I think he hides a great deal from me.
BERNARDA: Dont try and find out what it is, dont question him, and, aboveall, dont let him ever see you cry.
ANGUSTIAS: I should be happy and Im not.
BERNARDA: Its no matter.
ANGUSTIAS: I often gaze at Pepe through the bars of the window, and hisimage is blurred, as if he were cloaked in a shroud of dust thrown up by his sheep.
BERNARDA: Youre not well, thats all.
ANGUSTIAS: I hope its that!
BERNARDA: Is he here tonight?
ANGUSTIAS: No. Hes gone to the city with his mother.
BERNARDA: Then well retire early. Magdalena!
ANGUSTIAS: Shes asleep.
(Adela, Martirio and Amelia enter.)
AMELIA: What a dark night!
ADELA: You cant see two feet in front of you.
MARTIRIO: A fine night for thieves, or for someone who needs to hide.
ADELA: The stallion was in the centre of the yard. So white! Twice as big,and filling the darkness.
AMELIA: Thats right. He was frightening. Like a phantom!
ADELA: The sky is filled with fistfuls of stars.
MARTIRIO: She stared at them so hard she almost strained her neck.
ADELA: Dont you love them too?
MARTIRIO: What happens above the rooftops means nothing to me. Whatgoes on inside these four walls is enough for me.
ADELA: Thats typical.
BERNARDA: She has her ways as you have yours.
ANGUSTIAS: Good night.
ADELA: Youre off to bed already?
ANGUSTIAS: Yes, Pepes not here tonight. (She exits.)
ADELA: Mother, when a meteor passes, or theres a flash of lightning, why dopeople say:
Blessed Santa Barbara
in the sky with paper
youre writ, and holy water?
BERNARDA: In past days they knew many things that weve forgotten.
AMELIA: I shut my eyes so as not to see them.
ADELA: I dont. I like to see things flash out fire that have been dormant foryears and years.
MARTIRIO: Those things have nothing to do with us.
BERNARDA: And its best not to think of them.
ADELA: What a beautiful night! Id like to stay up late to catch the breezefrom the fields.
BERNARDA: But its time for bed. Magdalena!
AMELIA: Shes fast asleep.
BERNARDA: Magdalena!
MAGDALENA: (Annoyed) Leave me in peace!
BERNARDA: Its time for bed!
MAGDALENA: (Rising in a bad mood) You cant let anyone alone! (She exitsmuttering)
AMELIA: Good night. (She exits.)
BERNARDA: You two, go on now.
MARTIRIO: Why isnt Angustias fianc coming by tonight?
BERNARDA: Hes away.
MARTIRIO: (Looking at Adela) Ah!
ADELA: Till the morning. (She exits)
(Martirio has a drink of water and exits slowly looking towards the door of the stable-yard. La Poncia enters.)
LA PONCIA: Youre still here?
BERNARDA: Enjoying the silence and unable to understand what this seriousthing is thats supposed to be going on here.
LA PONCIA: Bernarda, forget about it.
BERNARDA: Everything is as it should be in this house. My vigilance guardsagainst all.
LA PONCIA: Nothing you can see, thats true. You daughters live as thoughthey were shut in a cupboard. But neither you nor anyone else can see inside someones heart.
BERNARDA: My daughters can breathe tranquility.
LA PONCIA: That matters to you because youre their mother. Ive enough todo looking after this house.
BERNARDA: So youre saying nothing.
LA PONCIA: I keep to my place, in peace.
BERNARDA: The fact is theres nothing to say. If there was grass here youdbe the first to let the neighbours sheep in to graze.
LA PONCIA: I conceal more than you think.
BERNARDA: Has your son seen Pepe here again at four in the morning? Arepeople still repeating a litany of lies against this house?
LA PONCIA: No one says a thing.
BERNARDA: Because they cant, because theres nothing for them to sink theirteeth into. My vigilance has seen to that!
LA PONCIA: I dont want to say anything, Bernarda, because I dont knowwhat youre after. But dont be so certain.
BERNARDA: Im utterly certain!
LA PONCIA: Perhaps a lightning bolt will suddenly strike you! Perhaps ablood clot will suddenly block your heart!
BERNARDA: Nothing will happen. Im alert to all your suspicions.
LA PONCIA: All the better for you then.
BERNARDA: Certainly!
SERVANT: (Entering) Ive finished washing the dishes. Do you need anythingelse, Bernarda?
BERNARDA: (Rising) Nothing. Im going to bed.
LA PONCIA: What time do you want me to call you?
BERNARDA: Dont bother. Ill sleep well tonight. (She exits.)
LA PONCIA: When you cant fight the tide, the easiest thing is to turn yourback on it.
SERVANT: Shes so full of pride she has a mote in her eye.
LA PONCIA: I cant do anything about it. I want to stop things before they goany further, but they frighten me too much. You hear this silence? Yet there are storms brewing in each of these rooms. The day they break out theyll sweep us all away. Ive had my say.
SERVANT: Bernarda thinks no one can match her, but she doesnt know theeffect a man can have on a house full of single women.
LA PONCIA: Its not all Pepe el Romanos fault. Its true that last year he wasafter Adela, and she was mad about him, but she should have kept to herself and not incited him. A man is a man,
SERVANT: Some say hes been talking with Adela too often at night.
LA PONCIA: Theyre right. (Whispering) And there have been other things.
SERVANT: I dont know what will happen here.
LA PONCIA: Id like to cross the water and leave this warring house.
SERVANT: Bernarda is hastening the wedding on, and maybe nothing willhappen.
LA PONCIA: Things have already gone too far. Adela is determined, while theothers keep watch on her all the time.
SERVANT: Martirio too?
LA PONCIA: Shes the worst. Shes a poisonous well. She knows Pepe is notfor her and shed drown the world if she could so no one else should have him.
SERVANT: Theyre wicked girls!
LA PONCIA: Theyre women without a man thats all. In such cases evenblood ties are forgotten. Shhh! (She listens)
SERVANT: What is it?
LA PONCIA: (Rising) The dogs are barking.
SERVANT: Someone must have passed the door.
(Adela enters in white bodice and petticoat.)
LA PONCIA: Havent you been to bed?
ADELA: I wanted a drink of water. (She drinks from a glass on the table.)
LA PONCIA: I thought you were asleep.
ADELA: I was thirsty. And you two: arent you going to bed?
SERVANT: Shortly.
(Adela leaves.)
LA PONCIA: Lets be gone.
SERVANT: Weve earned our sleep. All day, Bernarda never lets me rest.
LA PONCIA: Bring the lamp.
SERVANT: The dogs are barking like mad things.
LA PONCIA: Theyll stop us sleeping.
(They leave. The stage is almost dark. Mara Josefa enters carrying a lamb in her arms.)
MARA JOSEFA:
Little lamb, my little one,
well go, down to the sea.
The little ant shall open his door,
I shall give you milk and more.
Bernarda,
leopard-face.
Magdalena
she-hyena.
Little lamb!
Baa, baa.
Flowers therell be at Bethlehem Gate.
(She laughs.)
You and I dont want to sleep.
By itself the door will open
well hide along the shore
deep inside a reef of coral.
Bernarda,
Leopard-face.
Magdalena,
she-hyena.
Baa, baa.
Flowers therell be at Bethlehem Gate.
(She goes out singing. Adela enters. She looks around her carefully, and vanishes through the door to the stable-yard. Martirio enters through another door and stands centre-stage in a state of agonised alertness. She is also in her petticoat. She has covered herself with a waist-length black shawl. Mara Josefa enters.)
MARTIRIO: Grandmother, where do you think youre going?
MARA JOSEFA: Are you going to open the door for me? Who are you?
MARTIRIO: What are you doing here?
MARA JOSEFA: I escaped. Who are you?
MARTIRIO: Go to bed.
MARA JOSEFA: Youre Martirio, I see that now. Martirio: with the face of amartyr. When are you going to have a child? This is mine.
MARTIRIO: Where did you find the lamb?
MARA JOSEFA: I know its a lamb, but why shouldnt a lamb be a child? Itsbetter to have a lamb than nothing at all. Bernarda with a leopards face: Magdalena with a hyenas.
MARTIRIO: Dont raise your voice.
MARA JOSEFA: True. Its all quite dark. Because Ive white hair you think Icant have a child, but I can: children, children, and more children. This child will be clothed in white, and therell be another child and another and theyll all be snow-white, and well be like the waves, every one of us. Then well know everything, and our heads will be white, and well be sea-foam. Why is there no sea-foam here? Here there are only mourning shawls.
MARTIRIO: Hush, hush.
MARA JOSEFA: When my neighbour had a child, I would take it chocolateand afterwards she would bring me some, and so it was, always, always, always. Youll have white hair, but the neighbours wont visit you. I want to take a walk but Im afraid the dogs will bite me. Will you go with me till were past the fields? I dont like fields. I like houses, but houses that are wide open, and the women, our neighbours, sleeping in their beds with their little children, and their men outside sitting on chairs. Pepe el Romano is an ogre. All of you want him. But hell devour you. Because youre grains of wheat. No, not grains of wheat. Tongue-less frogs!
MARTIRIO: (Energetically) Come, you must go to bed. (She pushes at her.)
MARA JOSEFA: Yes, but youll let me out later, wont you?
MARTIRIO: Of course I will.
MARA JOSEFA: (Weeping) Little lamb, my little one,well go, down to the sea.
The little ant shall open his door,
I shall give you milk and more.
(She exits. Martirio shuts the door through which she has gone, and moves towards the door to the stable yard. She hesitates then advances a few more steps.)
MARTIRIO: (Whispering) Adela. (Pause. She continues to the door. Loudly)Adela!
(Adela appears. Her hair is tousled.)
ADELA: Why are you calling me?
MARTIRIO: Leave that man alone!
ADELA: Who are you to speak to me like that?
MARTIRIO: Its not the role of an honest woman.
ADELA: Wouldnt you love to be there yourself!
MARTIRIO: (Loudly) Its time for me to speak out. This cant go on.
ADELA: Its only just beginning. Ive had the courage to take what I want.The spirit and power you lack. Ive felt death beneath this roof and Im off to seek what is mine, what belongs to me.
MARTIRIO: That man without a soul came here for another woman. Youintercepted him.
ADELA: He came for the money, but his eyes were on me all the time.
MARTIRIO: I wont allow you to take him. Hes to marry Angustias.
ADELA: You know as well as I he doesnt love her.
MARTIRIO: I know.
ADELA: You know, because youve seen: he loves me.
MARTIRIO: (Desperately) Yes.
ADELA: (Coming closer) He loves me, he loves me.
MARTIRIO: Stick a knife in me, if thats what you wish, but dont speak thosewords again.
ADELA: Thats why you dont want me to see him. You dont care if heembraces someone he doesnt love. Nor do I. He can live with Angustias for a hundred years. But its him embracing me thats so terrible for you, because you love him, you love him too!
MARTIRIO: (Dramatically) Yes! I can say it without shame. Yes! Let mybitter heart split open like a pomegranate. I love him!
ADELA: (Impulsively, moving to embrace her) Martirio, Martirio, its not myfault.
MARTIRIO: Dont touch me! Dont try to soften my heart. My blood is nolonger like yours, and even if I wish to see you as a sister now I only see you as the other woman. (She pushes her away)
ADELA: Theres no remedy here. Whoever must drown will drown. Pepe elRomano is mine. He will take me to the rushes by the shore.
MARTIRIO: He will not!
ADELA: I cant stand the horror of living under this roof having tasted thesweetness of his mouth. Ill be whatever he wants me to be. With the whole village against me; scorched by their tongues of fire, hounded by those who call themselves decent people, Ill stand before them all with a crown of thorns on my brow, the one that a woman loved by a married man wears.
MARTIRIO: Be silent!
ADELA: Yes, yes. (Quietly) Lets go to sleep, let him marry Angustias. I dontcare. Ill go and live in a little house all by myself, where he can see me whenever he wants, when need overcomes him.
MARTIRIO: That wont happen as long as Ive a drop of blood in my veins.
ADELA: Not to you, who are weak: but I can bring a wild stallion to its kneesby lifting my little finger.
MARTIRIO: Dont raise your voice, it disturbs me. My heart is gripped by soevil a force that, regardless of my wishes, its smothering me.
ADELA: They tell us to love our sisters. God must have abandoned me, in themidst of darkness, because I see you more clearly than ever before.
(The sound of someone whistling is heard and Adela runs to the door, but Martirio blocks her passage.)
MARTIRIO: Where are you off to?
ADELA: Get away from the door!
MARTIRIO: Push past me if you can!
ADELA: Away! (They struggle.)
MARTIRIO: (Shouting) Mother! Mother!
ADELA: Let me go!
(Bernarda appears. She is wearing petticoats and a black shawl.)
BERNARDA: Quiet. Quiet. A pity I havent a lightning bolt in my hand!
MARTIRIO: (Pointing at Adela) She was with him! Look at her petticoatcovered with straw!
BERNARDA: A bed of straw is the bed of a whore! (She approaches Adelaangrily.)
ADELA: (Confronting her) Thats enough of your gaolers voice! (She takeshold of her mothers walking stick and breaks it in half.) Thats how I treatthe tyrants rod. Dont take another step. No one but Pepe can command me!
(Magdalena appears.)
MAGDALENA: Adela!
(La Poncia and Angustias enter.)
ADELA: Im his woman. (To Angustias) Listen, go into the yard and tell himso. Hell rule this whole household. Hes there now, breathing like a lion.
ANGUSTIAS: Dear God!
BERNARDA: The shotgun! Wheres the shotgun? (She exits in haste)
(Amelia enters upstage, looking on in terror, her head against the wall. Martirio exits.)
ADELA: No one can stop me! (She starts to exit.)
ANGUSTIAS: (Restraining her) Youll not leave here in triumph, you thief, todishonour our house!
MAGDALENA: Let her go: so that well never have to see her again!
(A gunshot is heard.)
BERNARDA: (Entering) Go on, look for him now if you dare!
MARTIRIO: (Entering) Thats the last of Pepe el Romano.
ADELA: Pepe! My God! Pepe! (She rushes out.)
LA PONCIA: Did you finish him off?
MARTIRIO: No! He galloped off on his horse!
BERNARDA: It wasnt for want of trying. But we women are poor shots.
MAGDALENA: Why say such things, then!
MARTIRIO: For her benefit! Id like to pour a whole river of blood over herhead.
LA PONCIA: You witch.
MAGDALENA: You she-devil!
BERNARDA: Its better this way. (A thud is heard.) Adela! Adela!
LA PONCIA: (At the door.) Open up!
BERNARDA: Open up now. Dont think this house can hide your shame.
SERVANT: (Entering) Youve woken the neighbours.
BERNARDA: (In a low harsh voice) Open the door, before I break it down!(Pause. Total silence.) Adela! (She moves away from the door.) Bring an axe! (La Poncia pushes open the door and goes inside. She utters a scream and reappears.) What is it?
LA PONCIA: (Clasping her hands to her throat) Pray God none of us may endlike that!
(The sisters shrink back. The servant crosses herself. Bernarda gives a cry and steps forward.)
LA PONCIA: Dont go in!
BERNARDA: No. No, I shall not! Pepe: you may have fled for your life nowthrough the dark branches, but one day youll be brought low. Cut her down! My daughter died a virgin! Carry her to her room and dress her as a maiden. No one will dare say a word! She died a virgin! Tell them to ring the bells twice at dawn.
MARTIRIO: She was a thousand times fortunate: to have had him.
BERNARDA: And no tears. Death must be stared straight in the face. Silence!(To another daughter) Silence, I say! (To another) You can shed tears when youre alone. Well drown ourselves in a sea of mourning! She, the youngest of Bernarda Albas daughters died a virgin. Do you hear? Silence, Silence I say! Silence!
Curtain
Friday the 19th of June, 1936.
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