The Ride Across Lake Constance and Other Plays (12 page)
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Authors: Peter Handke
Tags: #Fiction, #Literary
BOOK: The Ride Across Lake Constance and Other Plays
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Â
BERGNER
(
Answers in another modeling pose.
) No, he's simply flinching.
Answers in another modeling pose.
) No, he's simply flinching.
Â
PORTEN
Two people sit there, don't look at each other, and are silent. Are they angry with one another?
Â
BERGNER
(
Delivers her sentence in a new pose
.) No, they simply sit there, don't look at each other, and are silent!
Delivers her sentence in a new pose
.) No, they simply sit there, don't look at each other, and are silent!
Â
PORTEN
Someone bangs on the table. To get his way?
Â
BERGNER
(
In a different pose
.) Couldn't he for once simply bang on the table? (
They run toward each other with a little yelp of joy, embrace and separate again at once, looking at one another tensely.
BERGNER
points to
GEORGE
.
) He's polishing the cutlery and putting it on display on a red cloth. Does he want to sell it? (PORTEN
is standing there with arms hanging down, only shakes her head briefly.
GEORGE
, feeling as if released, now begins to polish the utensils lightheartedly.
BERGNER
points to
JANNINGS,
saying simultaneously)
He turns his back on us, sits in the most comfortable fauteuil. Does that mean he's more powerful than all of us? (PORTEN
looks into her eyes and only shakes her head briefly.
JANNINGS
stretches himself, relieved, in his fauteuil, obviously delighted to have lost his significance.
BERGNER
points with her head to
VON STROHEIM. ) He's sitting alone in the corner on a big sofa. Does he want to tell us that we should sit down next to him? (PORTEN
now merely smiles as one does about something that has turned out to be a dream.
VON STROHEIM
also forgets himself, smiles amiably, and is obviously relaxing.)
And the mirror over there?
In a different pose
.) Couldn't he for once simply bang on the table? (
They run toward each other with a little yelp of joy, embrace and separate again at once, looking at one another tensely.
BERGNER
points to
GEORGE
.
) He's polishing the cutlery and putting it on display on a red cloth. Does he want to sell it? (PORTEN
is standing there with arms hanging down, only shakes her head briefly.
GEORGE
, feeling as if released, now begins to polish the utensils lightheartedly.
BERGNER
points to
JANNINGS,
saying simultaneously)
He turns his back on us, sits in the most comfortable fauteuil. Does that mean he's more powerful than all of us? (PORTEN
looks into her eyes and only shakes her head briefly.
JANNINGS
stretches himself, relieved, in his fauteuil, obviously delighted to have lost his significance.
BERGNER
points with her head to
VON STROHEIM. ) He's sitting alone in the corner on a big sofa. Does he want to tell us that we should sit down next to him? (PORTEN
now merely smiles as one does about something that has turned out to be a dream.
VON STROHEIM
also forgets himself, smiles amiably, and is obviously relaxing.)
And the mirror over there?
Â
JANNINGS
(
Gets up and strolls toward the women
.) It's quite a simple mirror.
Gets up and strolls toward the women
.) It's quite a simple mirror.
Â
GEORGE
(
Joins in
. ) Perhaps there's a flyspeck on it!
Joins in
. ) Perhaps there's a flyspeck on it!
Â
BERGNER
And why can't the drawer be pulled out of the chest?
Â
JANNINGS
(
Hesitates just slightly
.) It's stuck.
Hesitates just slightly
.) It's stuck.
Â
BERGNER
And why is it stuck?
Â
VON STROHEIM
(
Jumps off the sofa
.) Let it be stuck!
Jumps off the sofa
.) Let it be stuck!
Â
GEORGE
Yes, let it be stuck!
Â
GEORGE and VON STROHEIM
(
Skip and dance toward each other, lifting their legs like dancing bears
.) Let it be stuck!
Skip and dance toward each other, lifting their legs like dancing bears
.) Let it be stuck!
Â
JANNINGS
(
Joins them.
) Let it be stuck! Let it be stuck!
Joins them.
) Let it be stuck! Let it be stuck!
Â
GEORGE, VON STROHEIM, JANNINGS
(
The three dance around one another
.) Let it be stuck, the drawer! The drawer, oh, let it be stuck! Let it, the drawer, let it, oh, let it be stuck! (
They sing in unison
.) Oh, let the drawer be stuck, oh, oh, let the drawer be stuck! (
They stand still and sing the same words to the melody of “Whisky, Please Let Me Alone” in a canon with assigned voices, with a break in the middle, after an “Oh,” whereupon they all look at one another in silence, raise their index fingers, whereupon one of them continues singing an octave lower: “ ⦠let
the drawer be stuck!
” whereupon the other two voices also join in one by one, also an octave lower, and they finish the song in harmony. They all look at one another gravely and tenderly
.) We are free? We are free! (
Pell-mell
) We only
dreamed all that! Did we only dream all that? What? I have already forgotten! And I'm just noticing how I'm forgetting! I'm standing quite still and am myself observing how I gradually forget. I'm trying to remember, but as I'm trying to remember, I notice that it sinks down lower and lower, it is as if I had swallowed something, and with each attempt to regurgitate it, it slips down lower and lower. It is sinking and you loom more and more. Where have you been, I was looking for you?! Who are you? Do I know you? (
They embrace, bend their heads toward one another, hide them, rub them together, caress each other with heads and hands. They separate and busy themselves lightheartedly with the objects: touch them, press them to their bodies, lean playfully against them, prop them up, cradle them in their arms, bring two objects into contact as for an embrace, pinch, pat, and caress them, wipe dust off them, remove hairs from them ⦠While doing so, they sigh, hum, giggle, laugh, trill ⦠Only once they become briefly uncertain and quiet: one of the women stands leaning against the bannister, her face turned away and her shoulders twitching. After an anxious moment, one of the men walks up to her and turns her timidly around; she is laughing quietly, and by and by they all become merry again.
The three dance around one another
.) Let it be stuck, the drawer! The drawer, oh, let it be stuck! Let it, the drawer, let it, oh, let it be stuck! (
They sing in unison
.) Oh, let the drawer be stuck, oh, oh, let the drawer be stuck! (
They stand still and sing the same words to the melody of “Whisky, Please Let Me Alone” in a canon with assigned voices, with a break in the middle, after an “Oh,” whereupon they all look at one another in silence, raise their index fingers, whereupon one of them continues singing an octave lower: “ ⦠let
the drawer be stuck!
” whereupon the other two voices also join in one by one, also an octave lower, and they finish the song in harmony. They all look at one another gravely and tenderly
.) We are free? We are free! (
Pell-mell
) We only
dreamed all that! Did we only dream all that? What? I have already forgotten! And I'm just noticing how I'm forgetting! I'm standing quite still and am myself observing how I gradually forget. I'm trying to remember, but as I'm trying to remember, I notice that it sinks down lower and lower, it is as if I had swallowed something, and with each attempt to regurgitate it, it slips down lower and lower. It is sinking and you loom more and more. Where have you been, I was looking for you?! Who are you? Do I know you? (
They embrace, bend their heads toward one another, hide them, rub them together, caress each other with heads and hands. They separate and busy themselves lightheartedly with the objects: touch them, press them to their bodies, lean playfully against them, prop them up, cradle them in their arms, bring two objects into contact as for an embrace, pinch, pat, and caress them, wipe dust off them, remove hairs from them ⦠While doing so, they sigh, hum, giggle, laugh, trill ⦠Only once they become briefly uncertain and quiet: one of the women stands leaning against the bannister, her face turned away and her shoulders twitching. After an anxious moment, one of the men walks up to her and turns her timidly around; she is laughing quietly, and by and by they all become merry again.
At one time one of the men walks from an end of the stage toward the others, who are just walking toward him. He walks as if they will collide, but just when one seems to see them collide he feints with his body and steps elegantly aside. He does that across the entire stage. The other men imitate him, walk toward the women and skirt them elegantly before walking on in the same direction; the three men avoid objects the same way. They are delighted with one another, and the women laugh.
One of them turns a cartwheel; the other leaps merrily over an obstacle over which he could have simply stepped; the third elegantly demonstrates a gesture with his lower arm by lifting the arm and quickly bending the elbow, letting,
as if by magic, the sleeve slip to the elbow. He repeats this several times, finally with the same movement giving himself playfully a light.
as if by magic, the sleeve slip to the elbow. He repeats this several times, finally with the same movement giving himself playfully a light.
At last, quite as a matter of course, one after the other sits down by the table, the women in the fauteuils with footstools,
VON STROHEIM
in the fauteuil without footstool,
JANNINGS
in the easy chair,
GEORGE
in the straight chair. As in an afterimage they still hint at their previous playful acts, still repeat what they said to one another
.) I forgot myself completely. “I”? We! We forgot ourselves.
VON STROHEIM
in the fauteuil without footstool,
JANNINGS
in the easy chair,
GEORGE
in the straight chair. As in an afterimage they still hint at their previous playful acts, still repeat what they said to one another
.) I forgot myself completely. “I”? We! We forgot ourselves.
Â
(
Finally they calm down. Only
BERGNER
is still playing with her handbag and does not know where to put it.
)
Finally they calm down. Only
BERGNER
is still playing with her handbag and does not know where to put it.
)
Â
VON STROHEIM
Why don't you leave it on your lap?
Â
JANNINGS
Having something on your lap is most pleasant.
Â
GEORGE
(
It occurred to him simultaneously
.) ⦠something on your lap is most pleasant. (
They laugh
.) In your lap you have the most pleasant feeling for something.
It occurred to him simultaneously
.) ⦠something on your lap is most pleasant. (
They laugh
.) In your lap you have the most pleasant feeling for something.
Â
PORTEN
(
It occurred to her too, but a little later
.) In your lap you have the most pleasant feeling for something. (
They all laugh
. BERGNER
cautiously puts the handbag on her lap, and with little wiggling movements puts herself into a comfortable position in the fauteuil. She emits a small sound.
It occurred to her too, but a little later
.) In your lap you have the most pleasant feeling for something. (
They all laugh
. BERGNER
cautiously puts the handbag on her lap, and with little wiggling movements puts herself into a comfortable position in the fauteuil. She emits a small sound.
All of them try what it is like to have things on one's lap, are satisfied, and put the things back in their places.
PORTEN
shows her naked arm to
VON STROHEIM.) You see, I've got goose pimples.
PORTEN
shows her naked arm to
VON STROHEIM.) You see, I've got goose pimples.
Â
VON STROHEIM
Are you ⦠Do you feelâ(
He stops in time.
) So you have goose pimples, do you? (
He laughs.
)
He stops in time.
) So you have goose pimples, do you? (
He laughs.
)
Â
(
All laugh as if it were an unpleasant memory
. )
All laugh as if it were an unpleasant memory
. )
Â
PORTEN
Yes, I simply have goose pimples.
Â
(
Pause.
JANNINGS
pulls something out of his upholstered seat. He holds it up and shows it to
GEORGE
. At the same time, as if unintentionally, with the index finger of the other hand he elongates one eye.
GEORGE
ignores that, bends toward what
JANNINGS
has in his hand. )
Pause.
JANNINGS
pulls something out of his upholstered seat. He holds it up and shows it to
GEORGE
. At the same time, as if unintentionally, with the index finger of the other hand he elongates one eye.
GEORGE
ignores that, bends toward what
JANNINGS
has in his hand. )
Â
VON STROHEIM
(
Also turns his head toward
JANNINGS
. In a playful mood)
You have something there. What is it? Nothing special, I assume? Nothing worth mentioning, I hope. There's no need to talk about it, is there?
Also turns his head toward
JANNINGS
. In a playful mood)
You have something there. What is it? Nothing special, I assume? Nothing worth mentioning, I hope. There's no need to talk about it, is there?
Â
(BERGNER
and
PORTEN
turn their heads slightly too, but look away again immediately
.)
and
PORTEN
turn their heads slightly too, but look away again immediately
.)
Â
JANNINGS
A pin. (
They all look at it, as though surprised.
)
They all look at it, as though surprised.
)
Â
VON STROHEIM
A pin? You don't mean “the pin”?
Â
JANNINGS
The very one.
Â
PORTEN
And it really exists? It isn't merely a figure of speech?
Â
JANNINGS
Here, see for yourself.
Â
(
He hands the pin to
GEORGE,
who hands it to
VON STROHEIM
very matter-of-factly, who hands it to
PORTEN
. )
He hands the pin to
GEORGE,
who hands it to
VON STROHEIM
very matter-of-factly, who hands it to
PORTEN
. )
Â
PORTEN
It has all turned out to be true. Not even the ruby-red pinhead is missing. It has all come true.
Â
VON STROHEIM
Did you dream about it?
Â
PORTEN
Someone mentioned it in the dream. (
She hands the pin to
BERGNER.) When I saw the pin just now, I remembered it again. And I had thought it was also only just another word.
She hands the pin to
BERGNER.) When I saw the pin just now, I remembered it again. And I had thought it was also only just another word.
Â
GEORGE
Once someone told me about a corpse with a pinhead-sized wound on his neck. (
Pause.
) (
To
JANNINGS) Did
you
tell me about that?
Pause.
) (
To
JANNINGS) Did
you
tell me about that?
Â
JANNINGS
I can't remember. But when you started telling the story, it seemed familiar to me, too.
Â
GEORGE
No, it was a movie. (
Pause
.) It was thundering and at the same time fog banks on the village street â¦
Pause
.) It was thundering and at the same time fog banks on the village street â¦
Â
BERGNER
Should I drop it?
Â
(
They all become quiet and do not move
.
She drops
the
pin.)
They all become quiet and do not move
.
She drops
the
pin.)
Â
GEORGE
(
Negates the effect by speaking again too soon.)
Children with lumps of plaster on their eyesâ(
He breaks off, but it is already too late. However, they only smile, leave the pin where it fell.
)
Negates the effect by speaking again too soon.)
Children with lumps of plaster on their eyesâ(
He breaks off, but it is already too late. However, they only smile, leave the pin where it fell.
)
Â
VON STROHEIM
I already told you the story about the lake?
Â
PORTEN
No.
Â
(
He looks at
BERGNER:
she shakes her head tenderly.
)
He looks at
BERGNER:
she shakes her head tenderly.
)
Â
JANNINGS
(
Simultaneously
) No.
Simultaneously
) No.
Â
VON STROHEIM
Then I probably only thought of it.
Â
PORTEN
Does it have anything to do with the pin?
Â
VON STROHEIM
I was sitting by a lakeshore in the morning and the lake was sparkling. Suddenly I noticed: the lake is
sparkling.
It is really sparkling.
sparkling.
It is really sparkling.
Â
(
Pause
.)
Pause
.)
Â
PORTEN
Something similar happened to me one time when someone told me that his pockets were empty. “My pockets are empty!” I didn't believe him and he turned his pockets inside out. They really were empty. Incredible!
(GEORGE
takes a cigar out of the cigar box, then offers the box to
JANNINGS
, who takes out a cigar.
GEORGE
strikes a match and hands it to
JANNINGS
; he lights his cigar and blows out the match.
GEORGE
lights himself another match.
takes a cigar out of the cigar box, then offers the box to
JANNINGS
, who takes out a cigar.
GEORGE
strikes a match and hands it to
JANNINGS
; he lights his cigar and blows out the match.
GEORGE
lights himself another match.
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