Three Major Plays (10 page)

My uncle John! You know full well

600

I'm not in love with you, but maybe there's . . .
Well . . . just a little spark . . .

FRONDOSO
. Look there!
The Commander!

LAURENCIA
. He must be hunting deer.
Hide in the trees!

FRONDOSO
. I shall, and burn
With jealousy!

The
Commander
enters
.

COMMANDER . Well who'd have thought

605

That, in pursuit of frightened deer,*
I'd come across much prettier game?

LAURENCIA
. I'm having a break from washing clothes.
I'll get back to the stream if you
Don't mind, sir.

COMMANDER . Such coldness, my sweet

610

Laurencia, offends the beauty God
Has given you. It makes of you
A real monster. But if at other times
You've managed to escape my amorous

Requests, this place shall now become

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Their silent witness. I cannot think
That, since we are alone, you are
So proud as to reject your lord
And master, turning away from me!

Sebastiana, Pedro Redondo's wife,

620

Surrendered willingly, as did
Martin del Pozo's after just
Two days of marriage.

LAURENCIA
. Both of them
Had been along that road before,

My lord. They knew exactly how

625

To please you. So God go with you
In the hunt, sir . . . I mean for deer.

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If it weren't for that cross upon
Your chest, I'd take you for the devil, such
Is your pursuit of me!

COMMANDER . Such language is

630

Offensive! I'll put my bow* aside
And let my hands overcome those airs
And graces!

LAURENCIA
. What are you doing? Have you
Gone mad?

Enter
FRONDOSO,
picking up the crossbow
.

COMMANDER
. Stop struggling!

FRONDOSO
. The bow!

Please God I shan't be forced to use it!

635

COMMANDER
. Come on! No point resisting!

LAURENCIA
. Oh, God,
Please help me!

COMMANDER
. We're all alone. No need
To be afraid!

FRONDOSO
. Noble COMMANDER, leave her!
Despite my reverence for the Cross,

My anger will not hesitate

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To make your breast the arrow's target.

COMMANDER
. You peasant dog!

FRONDOSO
. I don't see any dog, sir.

LAURENCIA
, run!

LAURENCIA
.
FRONDOSO
, be careful!

FRONDOSO
. Go!
[
She leaves

COMMANDER
. The man's a fool who leaves his sword

Behind. I left it, thin KING it

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Would scare my quarry.

-25-

FRONDOSO
. I only need
To press the trigger and it's your feet
They'll be tying together.*

COMMANDER
. She's gone,
You fool! Give me the bow! Release it!

FRONDOSO
. Why?

So you can kill me? Have you forgotten love

650

Is deaf? Where it rules it doesn't listen.

COMMANDER
. Am I, a man of worth, to turn
My back upon a peasant? I shall not break
The rules of chivalry!*

FRONDOSO
. I don't

Intend to kill you. I know my place.

655

But since I need to stay alive,
I'll keep the crossbow.
[
Exit
FRONDOSO

COMMANDER
. That was, indeed,
A close-run thing! But I shall take
Revenge on him for this, both for

The insult and the interruption.

660

I should have tackled him! That I
Did not adds further to my sense of shame!
[
Exit the
COMMANDER

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Enter
ESTEBAN
and
FIRST ALDERMAN.
^*

ESTEBAN. I think it wiser if we do
Not draw upon our stocks of grain.
The year bodes ill, the weather worsens.
Although the others don't agree,

We need to keep the grain we have.

5

FIRST ALDERMAN. That's always been my policy In seeking to govern properly.

ESTEBAN. Then let's approach Fernán Gómez.
I cannot stand these forecasters
^*

Who, knowing nothing, claim that they

10

Can tell the future, making us
Believe that they alone have access to
God's secrets. They carry on like theologians,
Debating what has and will occur,

But, as for the present, which is

15

What matters most to us, the one who seems
The wisest is the greatest fool.
You'd think the clouds and all the movements of
The stars are their property!

How can they know what's happening

20

Above to worry us to death
With their prophecies? They tell
Us what and when we ought to sow:
Your wheat here, your barley there; your veg,

Your mustard, cucumbers, pumpkins.

25

Ask me, it's them that are pumpkins!
They forecast the death of some great leader;
It happens, yes, but in Transylvania.
^*
As for wine, they tell us there won't be any,

But the beer's alright -- in Germany!

30

In Gascony all the cherries will freeze,

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In Hircania
^*
tigers will grow on trees!
But sow or not, does it really matter
If we know every year ends in December?

Enter
LEONELO,
a graduate, and
BARRILDO.

LEONELO. No way you'll be teacher's pet today.

35

The others have got there before us.

BARRILDO. How was it in Salamanca?
^*

LEONELO. So, so.

BARRILDO. You'll know as much as Bartolo,
^*
then.

LEONELO. But not as much as your local barber.

Everything I told you's known

40

To everyone.

BARRILDO. But even so,
You've come back educated.

LEONELO. I've tried
To learn the things that matter.

BARRILDO. There's such
A lot of books these days, everyone thinks
He's an expert.

LEONELO. Which is why I think

45

They know far less. It's not condensed
Enough, you see. Instead of summaries,
It's all long-winded stuff, all froth
That only leads to more confusion.

The experienced reader sees so many books,

50

He ends up driven to distraction.
I don't deny, of course, that printing has
Allowed true genius to emerge,
And furthermore protects great works

Against the ruthless march of time,

55

Making them known throughout the world.
It was invented by a German,
A certain Gutenberg from Mainz,
^*
Whose place in history is thus

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Assured. But many men, who were

60

Regarded as important, lost
Their reputation when their works
Appeared in print. As well as this,
There are those so-called experts who

Have published pure rubbish in

65

The guise of wisdom, and those who,
Driven by envy, publish in the name
^*
Of someone else they hate, merely to harm
His reputation.

BARRILDO. I disagree
With you.

LEONELO. You think it right that fools

70

Should take revenge on men of talent?

BARRILDO. But LEONELO, printing is progress.

LEONELO. For centuries we've done without it.
What's more, this century of ours,

It hasn't given us another Saint Jerome

75

Or an Augustine!

BARRILDO. Let's leave it! Take
A seat! No point in arguing.

Enter
JUAN ROJO
and another
PEASANT.

JUAN ROJO. Believe me, nowadays you'd need
To sell four farms to give a girl

A proper dowry. The people here

80

Can criticize, but really they
Have no idea.

PEASANT. Any news
Of the Commander? Did I say something
I shouldn't?

JUAN ROJO. You heard how he treated
Laurencia!

PEASANT. The man's a beast!

85

I'd have him swing from that olive-tree!

-29-

Enter the
COMMANDER, ORTUÑO,
and
FLORES.

COMMANDER. God be with you all!

ALDERMAN. My good lord!

COMMANDER. I beg you, do not rise!
^*

ALDERMAN. But let
Your lordship sit as usual.

The rest of us are better standing.

90

COMMANDER. I insist, you must be seated.

ESTEBAN. It falls
To noblemen to grant true honour. Those
Who have no honour cannot grant it.

COMMANDER. Come now, sit! There are matters to discuss.

ESTEBAN. Did your lordship see the greyhound? *

95

COMMANDER. My men were quite amazed to see
How fleet of foot it was.

ESTEBAN. In truth,
An amazing creature. As fast
As any runaway thief or coward's tongue.

COMMANDER. I'd like to have you set it on

100

A hare
^*
that keeps escaping me.

ESTEBAN. It shall be done. Where is it?

COMMANDER. There!
Your daughter!

ESTEBAN. My daughter? You think
She merits being chased by you?

COMMANDER. She needs a talking to!

ESTEBAN. But why?

105

COMMANDER. She persists in annoying me.
One of the other women here,
The wife of someone in this square,

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And quite important, saw how taken I was

With her and let herself be taken.

110

ESTEBAN. Then she did wrong. And you, my lord,
Do wrong in speaking quite so freely.

COMMANDER. Oh, what an eloquent peasant you are!
Flores! Arrange for him to have

A copy of Aristotle's Politics. *

115

He has to read it.

ESTEBAN. This town, my lord,
Is happy to be governed by you.
But there are people of great worth
In Fuente Ovejuna.

LEONELO. Was there ever
Such scant respect?

COMMANDER. Alderman, have I

120

Said something to upset you?

ALDERMAN. You speak
Unjustly. To speak of us like that
Is to deny us honour.

COMMANDER. You believe
You have honour?
^*
You'll be claiming next

You are knights of Calatrava!

125

ALDERMAN. There are doubtless some who wear the Cross You place upon their breast whose blood
Is far less pure
^*
than ours.

COMMANDER. You think
My blood makes yours more impure?

ALDERMAN. Bad deeds have never cleansed, my lord.

130

They merely stain.

COMMANDER. At all events,
I honour your women.

MAGISTRATE. Your words
Dishonour them, your actions even more.

-31-

COMMANDER. Such tedious peasant values! Thank God

For cities! There at least a man

135

Of quality enjoys himself
Without hindrance. Why, married men
Are glad to see their wives favoured.
ESTEBAN. I'm sure they aren't. You are saying this

To put us off our guard. God lives

140

In cities too, and punishment
Can come with even greater speed.

COMMANDER. Away with you!

MAGISTRATE. How dare he speak to us
Like this!

COMMANDER. Get out of the square! All of you!

ESTEBAN. We are going.

COMMANDER. And show more respect!

145

FLORES. Please, sir, calm down!

COMMANDER. They intend to hatch
Some plot behind my back!

ORTUÑO. Patience, sir!

COMMANDER. I can't believe I
am
so patient!
Go back to your houses . . . separately!

LEONELO. Heavens, can you endure this?

150

ESTEBAN. I'm going this way.

[
Exit
PEASANTS

COMMANDER. What can one say
Of such people?

ORTUÑO. You never hide
The fact you can't be bothered listening
When they complain.

COMMANDER. Are they my equals?

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