William Shakespeare's The Phantom Menace (10 page)

O, Anakin, I bid thee: be thou safe.

Thy words, sweet mother, are like balm to me.

Thus hear my dutiful response: I shall

In ev'ry turn attempt to keep me safe.

[Exit Shmi. Sebulba, aside, breaks a part of Anakin's podracer
.

Uh-oh … ha ha! [
Approaching Anakin:
] Bazda wahota, shag.

Dob'ella Nok. Yoka to Bantha pood'.

Cha skrunee da pat, sleemo.

[Exit Sebulba
.

He doth say

This race shall see the end of me, but nay,

Methinks that I shall see the end of it.

Art thou preparèd, Anakin?

—Forsooth!

Then I shall lift thee e'en as thou lift us.

[Qui-Gon lifts Anakin into his podracer
.

I prithee, do remember these few things:

Fear not, but concentrate upon the moment,

Be mindful of thy feelings, not thy thoughts,

And utilize what instincts thou dost have.

Kind sir, I thank thee and shall these obey.

The Force be always with thee, brilliant boy.

[Exeunt Qui-Gon and Jar Jar as Anakin dons his helmet
.

O grandio lust, amu intoe paren':

A Jabba o du Hutt.

—See Jabba here

To start our glorious race.

Enter
J
ABBA OF THE
H
UTT
,
aside
.

—Tam ka chee Boon'

Kee madda hodrudda du wundee na.

Ka bazza kundee hodrudda, ho ho!

Ya pawa culka doe rundee hazzah!

With Jabba's speech the race may now commence!

The power couplings are engag'd, whilst all

Do flee the grid. The race begins anon!

[Exit Jabba
.

Enter
Q
UI
-G
ON
J
INN
, P
ADMÉ
, J
AR
J
AR
B
INKS
,
and
S
HMI
S
KYWALKER
above, on balcony, spectating
.

Are all his nerves beset with fear and angst?

Methinks he shall do well; be not afeard.

You Jedi have an undue recklessness.

The queen shall not—

—Nay, handmaiden, be still.

Presume thou not to speak for thy great queen.

She trusts my judgment, e'en as thou shouldst do.

Thou dost assume too much, with pride too great.

Podracers all, give fire unto your engines!

O dissen be messee, me no watch …

[Courtiers play a fanfare, signaling the start of the podrace. The podracers fly off, exiting, except Anakin Skywalker and Ben Quadinaros
.

Alack, so swift begun and swiftly stopp'd!

The others fly, while I am here assail'd.

My engine runneth down—what foul mischance!

Ahh, look! Small Skywalker hath stall'd at once.

O, Anakin, be gone—take wing and fly!

The field flies far beyond me, gone. Fie, fie!

Ben Quadinaros hath some trouble, too.

The systems now respond. 'Tis not too late!

Go, vessel swift, and help us reach the goal.

[Anakin's podracer flies off; exit Anakin
.

Skywalker hath let fly at last. He goes!

Wethinks he'll find it difficult indeed

To match the others' speed and take the lead.

[
to Padmé and Jar Jar:
] I bid thee, mark the race and bring us news.

[Exeunt Padmé and Jar Jar
.

[
To Shmi:
] My lady, do not fear: all shall be well,

For verily the boy's a pilot skill'd.

He knoweth well the import of this race

And I believe he shall not fail our hopes.

Enter
J
AR
J
AR
B
INKS
.

Sebulba knockee Mawhonic, oo,

He downee onna grounnee hurtsa.

And what of Anakin? Hast thou seen him?

He stilla comin' from behinnee—

Dey comin' to da canyon soonee.

[Exit Jar Jar Binks
.

The canyon putteth all of them betwixt

A formidable rock and a hard place.

Enter
P
ADMÉ
.

He pulls ahead with speed superior!

Those farthest back he passeth easily—

Mayhap the lad may still the leaders catch.

They disappear'd unto the dark-fill'd caves,

Some other pod and Anakin withal.

Upon the other side did Anakin

Come forth, yet not the other—maybe he

Some misadventure in the tunnel had.

I bid thee thanks for this complete report.

[Exit Padmé
.

He still doth live: thus far, it is enough.

Some Tusken Raiders are position'd on

The canyon dune turn, there to fire upon

The hapless racers.

—Nay? May they do this?

E'en if they may not, seemeth it they will.

[Ben Quadinaros's podracer bursts into flame and breaks into pieces
.

The last to start is now the first who's finish'd:

Ben Quadinaros' power coupling fails!

Contenders in the ranks now lack by one.

Enter
S
EBULBA
and other
PODRACERS
on one side
.
All fly through and quickly exit except
O
DY
M
ANDRELL
,
who stops to make repairs to his podracer
.

Chubba ni chees!

—Sebulba in the lead!

Ody Mandrell coona wa wunda dung'.

His droid pit team is slow to make repairs.

And what's this we behold? One droid is pull'd

Into his engine, and his pod's destroy'd.

But where is Master Anakin?

—Beep, squeak!

Look now, he comes anon. O, Anakin!

Young Skywalker advanceth in the field!

Enter
A
NAKIN
S
KYWALKER
and other
PODRACERS
on one side, flying through and quickly exiting
.

Hurrah!

[
aside:
]        —Exciting 'tis, but all's not won:

Let us not spend our eagerness too soon.

[
To C-3PO:
] Beep, meep, meep, hoo, squeak, whistle, whistle, beep.

Full two more revolutions he must make?

O dear—I fear 'tis two too many, troth.

Enter
J
AR
J
AR
B
INKS
.

What news canst share? Hath he yet passèd more?

De bad Gasgano stay in frontee.

No lettee Anakin go passee.

And den Boles Roor did hittee Ani,

But he jes' flip and pass him over!

Your words do testify unto his skill.

[Exit Jar Jar Binks
.

[
aside:
] O, hear my plea, you fates and fortunes all:

Let not my boy meet his untimely end

Upon this field where injury and death

So speedily consume whome'er they wish.

He is not made for crushing done in haste,

He'd not be broken by rapidity,

He should not in a hurry meet his end,

He doth deserve a life at his own pace.

Instead, let him return for all that shall

Occur in his most strange and charmèd life.

These strangers to his future hold the key,

'Tis plain to me, though 'tis unknown as yet.

Thus, give him all success for their fond hopes.

Yet even more, my heart's entreaty is:

Bring him yet safely back into my arms,

That I may tell him of his mother's love.

Enter
P
ADMÉ
.

More news: Sebulba plied his trickery

Upon a racer, which did make him crash.

The fragments of his podracer ran swift

Past Anakin. Indeed, I thought him gone,

For none could those projectiles large avoid.

Yet I was wrong, the boy did make escape,

And started to draw nearer to the front.

'Tis wonderful.

—Nay, I have not told all.

As he approach'd, his cockpit disengag'd

From one of his two engines. This did throw

His pod into some disarray. The last

That I did see, ere hither I return'd,

He had not set his errant pod aright.

Skywalker spinneth wildly, sans control!

Go quickly, handmaiden, see what befalls!

[Exit Padmé
.

The lad is clever, madam, and shall make

This problem into opportunity.

Pray, mark my words: his instincts shall not fail.

Enter
J
AR
J
AR
B
INKS
.

Be nottee fraydee, he's okayee!

The little Anakin did usee

A magnet, wowsa powafulla,

He pullee line back to his selfa,

Den reconnect da ting and fixee!

Den back he go, into da canyon.

Thank ev'ry mercy that my son is safe.

Full many thanks, sweet Jar Jar, for this news.

Now thither go again to see what's next!

[
aside:
] Mayhap he should go see it for himself.

Am I his scratching post and eyesight both?

But soft now, Jar Jar, all is for the good:

This boy indeed shall fashion our next steps.

[Exit Jar Jar
.

Alas, I care not where thou hailest from,

Such crash shall put thee in a wretched state.

What's this of “crash”? What doth the creature mean?

Indeed, I do not know. Belike our true

And loyal messengers shall tell us all.

It is the knowing not that maketh me

So ache with fear and anguish for my boy.

Enter
P
ADMÉ
.

What now, what news? We heard some tell of crash.

'Twas not our Anakin. The Tuskens have

Once more struck from the heights, and with their guns

Did shoot down yet another luckless pod.

By all that's marvelous, the lad still flies,

And ever nearer to Sebulba draws.

Enter
J
AR
J
AR
B
INKS
.

Behold, iss Anakin. Owooee!

Enter
S
EBULBA
, A
NAKIN
S
KYWALKER
,
and other
PODRACERS
on one side, flying through and quickly exiting
.

Against all expectation, as the lap—

Yea, e'en the final lap—commenceth, 'tis

Sebulba in the front with Skywalker

Near to his heels, and biting at his lead!