Kaspar and Other Plays (10 page)
XXVI
| The light on stage is very gradually extinguished, the tone adjusting itself to the light. Kaspar is speaking as the light goes out. He begins to speak in a deep, well-modulated voice, but raises it as the light and the continuous sound subside. The darker the stage and the softer the tone, the more shrill and ill-sounding Kaspar's voice becomes. Finally, with the onset of complete darkness and the ceasing of the continuous sound, he is whimpering in the highest registers: Everything that is bright is peaceful: everything that is quiet is peaceful: everything that is in its place is peaceful: everything peaceful is friendly: everything friendly is inhabitable: everything inhabitable is comfortable: everything comfortable is no longer ominous: everything I can name is no longer ominous: everything that is no longer ominous belongs to me: I am at ease with everything that belongs to me: everything I am at ease with strengthens my self-confidence: everything that belongs to me is familiar to me: everything I am familiar with strengthens my self-confidence: everything that is familiar to me lets me breathe a sigh of relief: everything I am familiar with is orderly: everything that is orderly is beautiful: everything that is beautiful is good for my eyes: everything that is good for my eyes is good for me: everything that is good for me makes me good: everything that makes me good makes me good for something. It is now completely dark. As it again becomes bright very gradually, Kaspar begins to speak again, at first with a pleasant-sounding voice, but the brighter it becomes, the higher and shriller his voice gets: Everything that is in order is in order because I say to myself that it is in order, just as everything that lies on the floor is a dead fly because I say to myself that everything that lies on the floor is only a dead fly, just as everything that lies on the floor lies there only for a short while because I say to myself that it lies there only for a short while, just as everything that lies gets up again because I say to myself that it gets up again, just as everything that I say to myself is in order because I say to myself that everything that I say to myself is in order. |
| The prompters speak while Kaspar is speaking, however without making him incomprehensible, whereas they themselves are only barely comprehensible because they speak too softly, their words overlap, they leave out syllables, reverse the order of the words, or put the wrong emphasis on them. In regular sequence they speak something like the following text: Hit the table. Sat between the chairs. Rolled up the sleeves. Stayed on the floor. Looked behind curtains. Spat into hands. Struck the table. Stayed on the floor. Rolled up sleeves. Sat down between chairs. Sat down at the table together. Struck the table. Sat down in the nettles. Slammed the door. Rolled up sleeves. Struck the chairs. Beaten to a pulp. Struck the table. Sat down in the nettles. Knocked down. Spit in front of feet. Struck between the eyes. Broke the china. Stayed tough. Sat down in the nettles. Knocked out. Beat down the request. Showed the fists. Beaten to a pulp. Struck a low blow. Exterminated from head to toe. Smashed the floor. Spat in front of the feet. Struck between the eyes. Broke the china. Pushed into the nettles. Smashed the table. Struck a low blow. Smashed the communal table. Struck down. Smashed the set. Smashed the door. Struck down the heckler. Stayed tough. Smashed all prejudices. |
XXVII
| Kaspar is now taught the model sentences with which an orderly person struggles through life. While he was uttering his last sentences, he sat down in the rocking chair. During the following course of instruction he continues to sit in the chair, but begins to rock only gradually. At first he drawls his words, although speaking with intensity, without punctuation marks; then he begins to speak with full stops, finally with hyphens, finally he makes exaggerated sense, and ultimately he utters model sentences. | While Kaspar is sitting in the rocking chair, the words the prompters uttered just now, which anticipate the aphorisms, are repeated: now, because Kaspar is silent, they are more comprehensible and become completely comprehensible toward the end, and then turn into the following model sentences: Every sentence helps you along: you get over every object with a sentence: a sentence helps you get over an object when you can't really get over it, so that you really get over it: a sentence helps you to get over every other sentence by letting itself take the place of the other sentence: the door has two sides: truth has two sides: if the door had three sides, truth would have three sides: the door has many sides: truth has many sides: the door: the truth: no truth without a door. You beat the dust off your pants: you beat the thought out of your head: if you couldn't beat the dust off your pants, you couldn't beat the thought out of your head. You finish speaking: you finish thinking: if you couldn't finish speaking, you couldn't say the sentence: I finish thinking. You look again: you think again: if you couldn't look again, you couldn't say the sentence: I reflect: if you couldn't look again, you couldn't reflect. |
| The pupil of the eye is round fear is round had the pupil perished fear would have perished but the pupil is there and fear is there if the pupil weren't honest I couldn't say fear is honest if the pupil were not permitted fear wouldn't be permitted no fear without pupil if the pupil weren't moderate I couldn't say fear only arises at room temperature fear is less honest than is permitted fear is drenched warm as a hand on the contrary | |
| You are standing. The table is standing. The table is not standing, it was placed there. You are lying. The corpse is lying. The corpse is not lying, it was placed there. If you couldn't stand and if you couldn't lie, you couldn't say: the table is standing, and the corpse is lying: if you couldn't lie and stand, you couldn't say: I can neither lie nor stand. | |
| A fat man is true to life cold sweat is commonplace if a fat man weren't true to life and if his cold sweat weren't commonplace a fat man couldn't become afraid and if a fat man couldn't lie on his stomach I couldn't say he neither stands up nor can he sing | |
| The room is small but mine. The stool is low but comfortable. The sentence is harsh but just. The rich man is rich but friendly. The poor man is poor but happy. The old man is old but sturdy. The star is famous but modest. The madman is mad but harmless. The criminal is scum but a human being nonetheless. The cripple is pitiable but also a human being. The stranger is different, but it doesn't matter: | |
| But the snow falls contentedly. The fly runs over the water but not excessively. The soldier crawls through the mud but pleasurably. The whip cracks on the back but aware of its limits. The fool runs into the trap but at peace with the world. The condemned man leaps into the air but judiciously. The factory gate squeaks but that passes away. | |
| The ring is decorative as well as an object of value. The community is not only a burden but also a joy. War is indeed a misfortune, but sometimes inescapable. The future is obscure but it also belongs to the enterprising. Playing is not only a diversion, but is also a preparation for reality. Force is indeed a dubious method, but it can be useful. A harsh youth is indeed unjust, but it makes you hard. Hunger is bad indeed, but there are worse things. Whipping is reprehensible indeed, but one also has to see the positive side: | |
| The sunflowers are not only abundant, but also summer and winter. The corners are glowing indeed, but for dying of thirst they are not only made to order but also spend a meditative old age observed by daylight. The better solutions are not only not worth striving for, but indeed cat right out of my hand, yet will also decisively and emphatically reject any and all interference. | |
| The more lovingly the table has been laid, the more you love to come home. The greater the want of space, the more dangerous the thoughts. The more happily you work, the more quickly you find a way to yourself. The more self-assured you are, the easier it is for you to get ahead. The greater the mutual trust, the more bearable the living together. The more the hand perspires, the less sure of himself the man is. The cleaner the apartment, the cleaner the tenant. The farther south you go, the lazier the people: | |
| The more wood on the roof, the more mildew in the bread oven. The more cities with cellars, the more machinations on the slag heaps. The brighter the clotheslines, the more suicides in the trade department. The more emphatic the demand for reason in the mountains, the more ingratiating the dog-eat-dog laws of free nature. | |
| It goes without saying that a large vase stands on the floor, just as it goes without saying that a smaller vase stands on a stool, while it goes without saying that an even smaller vase stands on a chair, just as it goes without saying that an even smaller vase stands on the table, while it goes without saying that creepers stand even higher. It goes without saying that well-being is determined by achievement. It goes without saying that despair is out of place here: | |
| It goes without saying that the flour sack strikes the rat dead. It goes without saying that hot bread lets children come prematurely into the world. It goes without saying that discarded matches introduce a demonstration of confidence. | |
| You gain something new from each object. No one stands on the sidelines. Every day the sun rises. No one is irreplaceable. Every new building means peace. No one is an island. Every industrious person is liked everywhere. No one is allowed to shirk his task. Each new shoe hurts in the beginning. No one has the right to exploit another. Every courteous person is punctual. No one who has a high opinion of himself lets others do his work for him. Every sensible person will bear the whole situation in mind with every step he takes. No one points the finger at others. Every person deserves respect, even a cleaning woman. | |
| Every split straw is a vote for the progressive forces. No country fair means security for all. Each dripping faucet is an example of a healthy life. No sensible arm is lifted for the burning department store. Every pneumatic-drill operator who comes upon a corpse corresponds to a rapid-firing mechanism that can deliver six thousand rounds per minute. | |
| A cat is no getting on. A stone is not a completely satisfied need. A strawman is no body count. Running away is no equality of rights. To stretch a rope across the path is no permanent value. | Poverty is no disgrace. War is not a game. A state is not a gangster organization. An apartment is no sanctuary. Work is no picnic. Freedom is no license. Silence is no excuse. A conversation is no interrogation. |
| The appendix bursts. The grenade bursts. If the appendix couldn't burst, you couldn't say: the grenade bursts. | |
| The dog barks. The commander barks. | |
| The water is rising. The fever is rising. If the water couldn't rise, the fever couldn't rise. | |
| The avalanche roars. The angry man roars. | |
| The angry man thunders. Thunder thunders. Without the angry man, thunder couldn't thunder. | |
| The flags flutter. The eyelids flutter. | |
| The balloon swells. The jubilation swells. Without the balloon, the jubilation couldn't swell. | |
| The laughing man gurgles. The swamp gurgles. | |
| The nervous nelly jerks. The hanged man jerks. If it weren't for the nervous nelly, the hanged man couldn't jerk. | |
| The firewood cracks. The bones crack. | |
| The blood screams to high heaven. The injustice screams to high heaven. Without the blood, injustice could not scream to high heaven. | |
| The door springs open. The skin springs open. The match bums. The slap burns. The grass trembles. The fearful girl trembles. The slap in the face smacks. The body smacks. The tongue licks. The flame licks. The saw screeches. The torture victim screeches. The lark trills. The policeman trills. The blood stops. The breath stops. | |
| It is not true that the conditions are as they are represented; on the contrary, it is true that the conditions are different from their representation. | |
| It is untrue that the representation of the conditions is the only possible representation of the conditions: on the contrary, it is true that there exist other possibilities of the representation of the conditions. Kaspar speaks along with the prompters to the end of this sequence. | It is untrue that the representation of the conditions is the only possible representation of the conditions: on the contrary, it is true that there exist other possibilities of the representation of the conditions. It does not correspond to the facts to represent the conditions at all; on the contrary, it corresponds to the facts not to represent them at all. That the conditions correspond to the facts is untrue. |
| You bend down; someone sees you you rise; you see yourself. You move yourself; someone reminds you; you set yourself down; you remember yourself. You are afraid of yourself; someone quiets you; someone explains you; you rush yourself; you explain yourself; you disquiet yourself: | |
| I am quieting myself. | |
| You were already making a fist. | |
| I was still screaming. | |
| You still took a deep breath. | |
| I was already there. | |
| The chair still stands in its place. | |
| I was still standing. | |
| Nothing has changed yet. | |
| I was already awake. | |
| The door is already shut tight. | |
| I was already kicking. | |
| Some were still sleeping. | |
| I am whispering already. | |
| One can still hear throbbing. | |
| I still wasn't hearing anything. | |
| Some still won't listen. | |
| I am outside already. | |
| Here and there someone is still moving. | |
| I am still unbelieving. | |
| Many are already placing their hands on the head. | |
| I am already running. | |
| Some are still breathing. | |
| I am pulling in my head already. | |
| Someone still objected. | |
| I am already hearing. | |
| A single person is still whispering. | |
| I already understand. | |
| Single shots are still being fired. | |
| I know already. | |
| you | |
| went past | |
| you | |
| living weight | |
| you | |
| light and easy | |
| you | |
| within reach | |
| you | |
| nothing to look for | |
| you | |
| a better life | |
| you | |
| good laugh | |
| you | |
| master everything | |
| you | |
| will win everywhere | |
| you | |
| lowered the mother mortality | |
| you | |
| was leading | |
| you | |
| more and more comprehensively | |
| you | |
| free of | |
| you | |
| is peace and future | |
| you | |
| a relationship to the world | |
| you | |
| which moved things closer | |
| you | |
| peaceful purposes | |
| you | |
| constantly growing | |
| you | |
| in case of emergency to | |
| you | |
| only for protection | |
| you | |
| irresistibly | |
| you | |
| stretched myself | |
| you | |
| trampled | |
| you | |
| called | |
| you | |
| was and is | |
| you | |
| recognized me. | |
| You know what you are saying. You say what you are thinking. You think like you feel. You feel what it depends on. | |
| You know on what it depends. You know what you want. You can if you want to. You can if you only want to. You can if you must. | |
| You only want what everyone wants. You want because you feel pressed. You feel you can do it. You must because you can. | |
| Say what you think. You can't say except what you think. You can't say anything except what you are also thinking. Say what you think. When you want to say what you don't think you must begin to think it that very moment. Say what you think. You can begin to speak. You must begin to speak. When you begin to speak you will begin to think what you speak even when you want to think something different. Say what you think. Say what you don't think. When you have begun to speak you will think what you are saying. You think what you are saying, that means you can think what you are saying, that means it is good that you think what you are saying, that means you ought to chink what you are saying, that means, on the one hand, that you may think what you are saying, and on the other hand, that you must think what you are saying, because you are not allowed to think anything different from what you are saying. Think what you are saying: |
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