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Title: Land and Liberty Author: Ricardo Flores Magón Date: 1916 Language: en Topics: play, plays, Mexico, Theatre Source: Retrieved on April 10, 2018 from https://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/magon/tlplayen.htm Notes: Translated by Mitchell Verter
CHARACTERS
DON JULIÁN, rich landowner RAMÓN, peasant
DON BENITO, priest TERESA, Ramón's companion
JUAN, peasant JAILER
MARTA, Juan's companion MINISTER
MARCOS, peasant LÓPEZ, labor leader
ROSA, Marcos' companion
SEÑORITA SOFÍA MERINDIETA, professor at a teacher's college
OFFICIAL, ASSISTANT, SENTINEL, DELEGATE, first, second, third, fourth
fifth PEASANT; soldiers, peasants of both sexes and of different ages;
workers of the city
The action occurs in Mexico.
The stage decoration represents a path through a forest.
DON JULIAN AND MARTA
DON JULIAN (Emerging from the left and halting in the middle of the
stage.) This time the girl will not escape me. How absurd that a man
like me, powerful, owner of one thousand square kilometers of land and
with great influence before the President would permit myself to drool
over a wretched peasant like that Marta! (Looking towards the right.)
She should not be long in passing through here. (Consulting a gold
watch.) It is ten minutes to eleven, the hour when she carries the food
to that imbecile Juan. And the food that those pigs devour my dogs
wouldn't eat! But that is what those people deserve. How pretty it would
be if they ate what their masters ate! As much as that girl is pretty.
She has only been married to Juan for three months; I know that they
love each other well, but I am the master and I have the right to her.
(Looking towards the right.) Here comes Marta; I will hide myself. (He
crosses towards the left and hides himself behind a tree.)
MARTA (She emerges from the right carrying a basket in her arms and
stops in the middle of the stage.) (Sighing.) Poor Juan! He works so
much and I bring him nothing more than beans. My heart breaks before
such injustice, and in my breast I feel I know only mute rage. I am an
ignorant person, but to me it is unjust that he who works lives in
misery, while those who do nothing useful live enjoying all classes of
comforts. (She puts down the basket; she kneels and puts herself to
arranging the napkin.) (Sighing.) I know nothing, but I think that it is
not just that those who work the land, sow the grain, and reap the
harvest have less to eat than those who live in a continuous holiday
without doing anything useful. (Turning her head in all directions.)
Poor Juan! Not only do you wear yourself out and sacrifice yourself in
your work so that your masters live in leisure, but they are not even
satisfied with making you the victim of their exploitation; they try to
snatch away the only happiness you have, your only treasure, which is my
affection. You do not know that Don Julian persecutes me without rest.
Despicable rich people! they do not content themselves with sucking
blood; they are not satisfied with destroying our health with their
prison labor: they also want our heart. Scoundrels, scoundrels!
DON JULIAN (He emerges from his hiding place and approaches Marta.) Good
morning, Marta.
MARTA (Without turning her face towards him.) Good morning.
DON JULIAN (Trying to embrace her around her waist.) How beautiful you
are! (Marta rejects him.) Why do you reject my affection?
MARTA Because I love Juan.
DON JULIAN Juan is a poor wretch, while I am rich.
MARTA But Juan I love, and you I hate. (Energetically.) Go away!
DON JULIAN Come on, calm down, little lady, you do not know what you are
doing. Know this: hundreds of women would feel happy if I only directed
a word at them. I am so powerful that I can obligate you to surrender
your heart to me. Do not reject me, because the love that you deny me
today with such pride you will have to come offer me tomorrow on your
knees, and I will reject it then with the point of my boot.
MARTA (Showing terrible agitation.) Impossible! This never! I would
rather die than be humiliated! Get away from me!
DON JULIAN Don't you realize my power? Well fine, know this: I can make
them arrest Juan. I have influence with the Government and your husband
can be recruited as a soldier. With one word from me, the political boss
can hand him over to the Court to be killed like a dog at the side of
the road. I can ...
MARTA (Interrupting him in a lively manner.) Do not touch him! Do not
touch him! What crime has Juan committed to merit being treated in this
manner?
DON JULIAN (With dignity.) I am the master here, and I can do whatever
pleases me.
MARTA We will complain to the Government.
DON JULIAN Ha, ha, ha! We rich are the Government!
MARTA Get away from me!
DON JULIAN Love me; I need your love like thirst needs water, like the
lungs need air. Decide: me or no one. Decide before it becomes too late.
Remember what I have told you. I can order the arrest of Juan; I can
order him to serve in the Army; I can hand him over to the Court to be
killed like a dog; I can ...
MARTA (Interrupting in a lively manner.) Impossible! Impossible! What
wrong has Juan done to anyone?
DON JULIAN He has not done anyone wrong; he is a good laborer,
compliant, hard working, honorable, but I am the force and I can
determine your future, your tranquility, your life. Well, then, decide
on you action.
MARTA Impossible! (She runs off and disappears left.)
DON JULIAN (Watching her run) It is good; in a few minutes you will know
how powerful I am. (He leaves right.)
(Change of stage decoration)
The stage decoration represents a labor camp.
JUAN, MARTA, DON BENITO, DON JULIAN, AN OFFICIAL AND SOLDIERS
JUAN (Put in a ditch up to his to his waist, he persistently removes the
ground from the bottom with a shovel and accumulates it on one of the
edges.) (He dries the perspiration from his face and directs a look
towards the sky.) It is now almost midday and Marta has not arrived with
the food. What could have happened? She never fails to be here at eleven
and soon it will be twelve. (Far away twelve bell strokes slowly toll.)
Twelve o'clock and Marta has not shown up. This lateness fills me with
anxiety. (Pause.) How lovely is my Marta....! She is my blessing, she is
my solace. (Pause.) But what will happen? Why does Marta not come?
(Resuming his task.) The boss wants this work to be finished today, and
finishing it requires three days, but it has to be concluded today
because the master can fine me, he will fine me, if I don't complete it.
(Straightening out his body and clutching his gut with his left hand.) I
am so tired ....! What a great disgrace it is to be poor! (Looking
towards the right.) Here comes Marta! (Astonished.) But how strange she
seems to me. (He leaves the ditch to receive her.)
MARTA (She appears from the right with her hair in disorder and throws
herself in the arms of her Juan.) Oh Juan! My Juan! (Sobbing.) Have you
had to wait long?
JUAN (Alarmed.) What happened? Why are you crying? Are we not happy with
our love in spite of our misery? (Caressing her.) Calm yourself and tell
me what has happened. (They sit down on a rock.) Never have I seen you
cry.
MARTA (Drying off her tears.) We are disgraced ......
JUAN Yes, we are poor, we do not rely on good fortune; we live day to
day, but our hearts are lucky: our love is a treasure and we are the
owners of it. Who could snatch away this blessing?
MARTA The master.
JUAN The master? The master will be able to wither me up in work, giving
me prison tasks in exchange for a few cents each day, like he is doing,
like he has always done, like he did with my father and with the father
of my father. But how could he rob us of the blessing of our love? As
long as you love me, what can the master do?
MARTA (Embracing Juan.) Oh Juan, my poor Juan, the master wants me to
become his; he has told me so many times; he just told me so and he has
threatened me with taking you and sending you to a military barracks or
with shooting you down as a fugitive if I do not submit my body over to
him. Let's escape, Juan, let's escape the plantation.
JUAN (Somberly.) Escape ...! And to where? To another plantation? To the
city? Where would we go that the master would not know?
MARTA Let's implore a judge to do us justice. The Law will protect us.
JUAN (Somberly.) The Law! Look, my Marta, the Law is a thing which does
not benefit the poor. In the name of the Law they collect payments from
the poor; in the name of the Law, they obligate the poor to donate their
free services to the Authorities; in the name of the Law, they pull away
the poor from the bosom of his family to make him a soldier, and if the
family, abandoned in this manner, must rob or prostitute themselves so
they do not perish from hunger, in the name of the Law they punish it
... The Law has been made by the rich to protect the rich ...!
MARTA (Looking towards the left.) (Exaltedly.) Here comes the priest Don
Benito; he will save us.
DON BENITO (Entering from the left.) The Lord is with thee, my children.
Such a warm day!
MARTA AND JUAN (In one voice.) Good afternoon, father. (Vehemently.)
Save us, father! (They kneel.)
DON BENITO Save thee from what? What is happening? Tell it to me and
with the help of All Powerful God I will save thee. (He makes them stand
up.)
MARTA (Sobbing.) We are very unfortunate.
DON BENITO Yes, thou art poor; but poverty is a virtue; with it thou
shalt open the doors of heaven.
MARTA We do not complain of poverty, but of injustice.
DON BENITO (With unction.) Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty
for justice, for theirs shall be the kingdom of heaven.
MARTA The master wants to force me to love him, and threatens me with
sending Juan to jail or handing him over to the Court to be killed if I
do not surrender myself to his whims.
DON BENITO (Feigning amazement.) But, my children, what are you saying!
How dare you offend the Lord Our God with such slanderous fabrications.
MARTA We are not lying: we are telling the truth.
DON BENITO Thou shalt die in mortal sin if thou insist on thine calumny.
Don Julian is an honorable and very pious man. He has done more for the
Church in my parish than any other man. He confesses, takes communion,
and attends the sacred mass on all the holy days. He is a man who, when
he dies, will die in the scent of saintliness.
MARTA (With energy) What we are telling you is the truth.
DON BENITO What has happened is that thou dost not live in fear of God.
Juan will have committed some crime when the master tries to hand him
over to the law.
MARTA AND JUAN (Speaking at the same time in a lively manner.) We have
not committed any crime.
DON BENITO This is what thou sayest, but thine irregular life makes me
suspect that thou will have committed some crime. I'll bet thou are not
even married by law. All you people do the same.
JUAN Father: we are rustic people who are ignorant of everything, but we
believe that, for a man and a woman to live tranquilly, loving each
other and helping each other in life, they do not need to report their
union to anybody. It is the same as when you make a friend. Nobody is
given a report of it, neither the State nor the Church ....
DON BENITO (Arrogantly.) Silence, blasphemer, thou art offending God
with thine words. (Aside.) So it is with almost all these people: they
marry without giving an account to either the State or the Church, to
either God or the Devil. (To them.) Thou art excommunicated. (Marta and
Juan, horrified, raise their hands to their temples.) (Aside.) If the
poor devils only knew that I do not believe what I say. (To them.) God,
justly offended by thy sins, has punished thee here on Earth. However,
the day shall arrive when he shall punish thee after death with the
fires of Hell. (Aside.) If I do not fill them with dread, they are
capable of killing Don Julian - and me as well. (To them.) God wants to
test thee; he wants to give thee an opportunity in which thou shalt
demonstrate that thou shalt fear him and thou shalt revere his sovereign
will. (Aside.) I have to defend Don Julian, the source of authority, so
that this rabble does not rebel. (To them.) Thou shall suffer with
patience all the pains of this life; thou shall resign yourself to all
the sacrifices; it is God who ordains suffering in order to reward you
over there. All thine sufferings here down below shall be rewarded up
there by All Merciful God. All that happens on the Earth occurs because
God has ordained it there in Heaven. Well, then, suffer in silence and
pray to God to save thy souls.
JUAN Pardon us, Father: will the soul of Don Julian be saved?
DON BENITO (Indignantly.) Silence, blasphemer! Only God shall judge
mankind. (Aside.) If we would permit these people to make use of their
reason, to what end would Don Julian and I come?
MARTA (Calling attention to the left.) (Astonished.) A crowd approaches.
What does it mean?
JUAN They are soldiers; I also see Don Julian.
MARTA Juan, they are coming to take you, let's flee .... .....
JUAN (Dejectedly.) Flee ....? And to where? Where can the poor slave go
that his master's dogs do not overtake him?
MARTA (Agitated.) Let's flee, let's flee! (Directed to Don Benito.) Save
us, Father!
DON BENITO Calm yourselves, my children. Let the will of God be done.
The rich are the representatives of God on the Earth and one must obey
them. (Aside.) If I don't preach these things, some day the poor will
rise up against the rich.
DON JULIAN (He appears from the left in front of an official and a
platoon of soldiers.) (Pointing Juan out to the soldiers.) This is Juan,
the thief who stole the steer. Take him!
OFFICIAL (Pistol in his hand.) (To Juan.) Give yourself up! Do not move
or I will order them to kill you like a dog! (Directing himself to the
soldiers.) Tie up this man. (The soldiers approach him and tie his hands
together.)
JUAN (Supplicating.) Do not harm me; I am innocent; I am an honorable
man who lives from his labor. I have never stolen anything from anyone;
I have as witnesses all the peasants on the plantation; if I have done
anything throughout my entire life, since I was a child, it has been to
work. Don Julian knows well that I have always worked. Let me go free!
See that I have a young wife who needs my support. (Desperately.) Ah,
I'm going crazy! (The soldiers pull him and he resists.) Do not take me
away! Let me go, let me go!
OFFICIAL (To the soldiers.) Hm, force him to march with you to the jail.
(Juan throws himself to the ground, resisting them.) Make him march to
the blows of your rifles. (The soldiers assault his fallen body with
their kicks and the blows of their rifles.)
MARTA (Embracing Juan.) (Desperately.) Kill the two of us! (The soldiers
strike both of them.) (Panting.) The rich ... drink our blood ... rob
our tranquility ... kill us ... scoundrels, scoundrels, scoundrels! (She
faints.)
OFFICIAL (To the soldiers.) Bring some stretchers to lift up those dogs.
(The soldiers march quickly to the left.)
DON BENITO (Approaching Don Julian.) So shall it be by the love of God!
(Speaking to his ear.) I know everything! Now it is necessary that the
people do not realize the story of the true cause of this violence. I
have been able to notice in the people an uneasiness which I had little
recognized before. Throughout the country, the peasantry are rising up
in insurrections against the landlords. The inhabitants of this
plantation have always been very peaceful, but some time ago I have
noticed the unequivocal sign of something fermenting in the base of the
working class. An infernal leaflet, an abortion of the Devil with the
name "Regeneration" has successfully been introduced into the peasant's
shacks, mocking the vigilant squeeze of the authorities, and the people
are waking up more than is necessary, damaging the Church and the sacred
principle of Authority. I have striven from the pulpit to return the
people to their simple ignorance so they will remain comfortable with
their condition, but I observe that my words do not have the influence
now that they had before: a spirit of rebellion floats in the air and
rumors of revolt circulate all over. (Exaltedly.) Don Julian, I foresee
that the end of our empire over the disinherited class is approaching
with giant steps: a social cataclysm is about to happen; the masses are
rising up against their masters, and a new social order might result
from this unrest, from this discontent which agitates the proletariats
....
DON JULIAN (Angrily.) That mob will not dare to make an attempt on the
lives of their masters!
DON BENITO Such confidence thou demonstrate, Don Julian, and that is
because thou art not in contact with the people; but I, who discovers in
the confessional the most intimate thoughts of these people, can tell
thou that we are nearing a formidable catastrophe. Until a short while
ago, the people lived in fear of God, respecting their masters and the
Government, and waiting for their salvation after death. Now, I greatly
fear that they want their redemption in this life, and only God shall be
able to save society from the ire of the people. (Vehemently.) Don
Julian, we need to impress the people with solemn religious sermons, we
must paint Hell with terrible colors so they submit to it, and for all
this, the Church needs money.
DON JULIAN (Boastfully.) Money thou shalt not lack, beloved father, for
I shall give thee all that thou might need, for in the end all that I
spend for this shall come from the ribs of those dogs.
DON BENITO Understood.
The interior of a hut with no furniture other than rough pieces of wood
and stones that serve as seats; a petate, a flat stone for grinding
corn, is placed by the side of an extinguished hearth, composed of three
rocks, upon which rests a smoking pot. In a corner hangs a hammock made
from a sack which functions as a cradle. The body of a baby wrapped in
cloths of uncertain color rests in the cradle. A door is on the right.
From one corner to another, some coarse pieces of men's and women's
clothes hang to dry from a cord. The cord should be high enough so that
it will not obstruct the view of the characters. In another corner, a
trunk and, on top of this, a cot rolled up into a mat.
ROSA AND MARCOS, THEN RAMON AND TERESA; FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH,
AND FIFTH PEASANTS; MEN, WOMEN, OLD PEOPLE AND CHILDREN OF THE WORKING
CLASS; DON BENITO, OFFICIAL, AND SOLDIERS
ROSA (Rocking the cradle with a cord.) I do not know what we are going
to do; each day we are more poor, and each day the master becomes more
demanding. Today the majordomo, on behalf of the master, tells me that I
am not permitted to bring up my hens on the land of the plantation, and
that I have to eat them or sell them to the master's chicken coop; and I
know what that means: that I make a gift of my animals.
MARCOS (Scratching his head.) I do not know what we are going to do. The
administrator tells me this morning that I owe the plantation two
hundred thirty pesos, because the hundred seventy pesos which my
deceased father owed has been charged to me. We will be lucky to obtain
a single cent when we sell the hens to the plantation. The price,
calculated by the master, will be so low, that it will be deducted from
my debt. (He spits with rage and yells) Rosa, this is intolerable. Such
injustice has to stop.
ROSA (With conviction.) Yes, it must stop. (Calling to the door) Who is
it?
RAMON (From outside.) It is Teresa and I. Open up immediately! (Marcos
opens the door and Ramon and Teresa enter showing signs of great
agitation.)
TERESA Do you know what has happened this afternoon?
MARCOS AND ROSA (Speaking at the same time.) What?
TERESA The master has ordered Juan to be arrested.
MARCOS (Astonished.) Has the master ordered the arrest of Juan?
ROSA (Astonished) But Juan is perhaps the finest man in the region!
RAMON Yes, the master has ordered the arrest of Juan. The master tries
to seduce Marta. Marta rejects the master's flattery. The master sees
that the obstacle is Juan, for whom Marta feels profound love, and to
get rid of Juan, the master has ordered his arrest, accusing him of
robbing a steer. Juan has been taken to the city jail, where they will
make him enlist as a soldier.
ROSA (Indignant) This is more than I can support.
MARCOS (Furious) Such an infamy demands a quick end.
RAMON My friends, we must do something. Some neighbors on the plantation
will soon be coming, who desire that you Marcos, who knows how to write
with such great style and who has read so many books and so many
newspapers, writes a petition for them to the Government, calling their
attention to the injustices of which we are the victims, so that they
apply a remedy.
MARCOS A petition to the Government?
RAMON Yes, in it you will tell them that we all find ourselves in
misery: that we need land for sowing for our own well-being; that we be
freed from the debts that we have with the plantation, that ....
MARCOS Enough! I will not participate in making petitions of this
nature.
ROSA Very well, Marcos, now is not the time to beg, but to take. (A
murmur of voices is heard from outside.)
RAMON Here come the neighbors.
ROSA Let's open the door. (Marcos opens the door. Some thirty people
enter, men, women, old people and children, all belonging to the working
class of the country.)
FIRST PEASANT (Entering.) Good evening.
ROSA, MARCOS, RAMON, AND TERESA (In one voice.) Good evening
FIRST PEASANT We come to ask you a favor, Marcos. Will you, who knows
how to write so well, write a request to the Government so that ...
SECOND PEASANT (Interrupting him.) Do you know yet what happened to Juan
this ...?
THIRD PEASANT (Interrupting him.) Don't forget to say, Marcos, that we
need land to cultivate for our ...
FOURTH PEASANT (Interrupting him.) Also water for irrigating our ...
FIFTH PEASANT (Interrupting him.) And to put an end to the draft,
Marcos; and don't forget to tell them that we want them to pardon the
debts which we have with the plantation.
MARCOS (Impatiently.) Enough! You are little children, so innocent like
some little children. For you, it is as if time has not passed. You
think and work like your fathers thought and worked a hundred years ago,
like your ancestors thought and worked five hundred, a thousand years
ago. You want the Government to free you from tyranny and save you from
misery .... Innocents! When have you seen the Government give bread to
the hungry or freedom to the slave? (He pauses.) (He walks intensely
throughout the hut. The spectators exchange astonished looks and whisper
words in each other's ears. He stops and continues his speech.) I do not
need to tell you this; the facts speak for themselves: all government is
bad for the poor!
FIRST PEASANT (Convinced.) What Marcos says is the real truth, and ...
SECOND PEASANT (Interrupting him.) My parents were as wretchedly poor as
I am, even though they lived under a government and ...
THIRD PEASANT (Interrupting him.) Also my grandparents said that, in
their long life, they never saw the Government protect the poor, and ...
FOURTH PEASANT (Interrupting him.) Also the truth is that I do not
remember a single time when I have seen the Government protecting the
weak, nor ....
FIFTH PEASANT (Interrupting him.) My father died in prison; my brother,
in a military barracks ...
MARCOS And with all this experience you still wait for justice from the
Government? Open your eyes! What we poor need is for us to take justice
with our own hands. We must rebel!
ALL, EXCEPT MARCOS AND ROSA (Crossing themselves.) Hail Mary the Virgin!
MARCOS (Indignant) Are you afraid? Well then, bow down your ears and
remain bent under the weight of your shame. If you don't hurt
yourselves, at least you do not add a new humiliation to those you
already have. What a serious humiliation it would be to ask our
torturers for justice when dignity cries to us that we must tear it by
force from the hands of our oppressors. Leave me in peace! Go away!
(Vehemently) I feel the earth tremble with indignation under the
footsteps of your herd. (All remain in their respective places;
dismayed, most scratch their heads.) Go away! Return to your trenches to
weed them with your sweat so that your tyrants profit from the harvests;
go receive, as a prize to your meekness, the rape of your daughters by
the masters, and the military barracks, being shot down a fugitive, or
prison for yourselves. This is what people deserve when they do not rise
up to stop the committing of a crime. Ask? (Scornfully) Well good,
accept what they then give you: slavery, degradation, and death.
RAMON (Calm.) We are not afraid, Marcos. Is death not a thousand times
sweeter than the torments that the poor suffer? We are not afraid of
dying, but what do we gain by rebelling? If we knew that by rebelling we
would ensure bread for our children and would secure their liberty, we
would not hesitate in doing so; but it does not happen like this. We
have had many revolutions and what has always happened? One bad
government falls in order to establish another one which is just as bad
as the one that fell. The poor always remain poor.
MARCOS The poor always remain poor because, in raising their arms, the
poor hope for a new government to make them happy. The Government will
not free anyone from the misery of poverty, because that is not its
mission. The mission of the Government, of any government, of all
government, is to protect the interests of the rich, interests which can
only prosper by means of the sacrifice of the poor. If the poor will
work only for himself and for his family, what would the rich eat? From
where would the powerful then obtain the luxuries they flaunt? So that
the rich enjoy is precisely why the poor suffer. Well then, what is
needed is that there be no more rich, that we all be equal, and to
accomplish this, there is only one method: To seize from the hands of
the rich the land, the houses, the machines, everything that exists, and
to make all of it the property of everyone. In this manner, we will not
need to rent our bodies to any master, and all that the workers produce
will be for the workers, and the comfort which the rich enjoy now will
be enjoyed by all the workers.
ROSA (With conviction) This has been our mistake: that we have raised
ourselves in arms to topple one government and to put another one in its
place, instead of snatching the riches from the hands of the rich. (A
knock on the door. All exchange astonished looks.)
MARCOS Who is it?
DON BENITO (From outside.) Open up, my children.
ALL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MARCOS AND ROSA (In one voice.) Father
Benito! (Rosa rushes to open the door.)
DON BENITO (He enters making blessings to his right and left.) (With
unction.) Good evening, my children.
ALL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MARCOS AND ROSA (Kneeling.) (In one voice.)
Good evening, Father.
DON BENITO (Aside.) Those condemned Rosa and Marcos are heretics. (To
all.) Rise up, my children, so that God may bless thee. Are thou
entertaining thineselves? Are thou celebrating some special occasion?
(Aside.) How will I justify my presence in this place and at this hour.
I will tell these brutes some little lie. (To all.) I was passing on the
priestly road when I was surprised to see a light through the cracks of
the door. Someone is sick, I told myself, and I ventured to call at the
door. (Hypocritically.) It is so sweet to console those who suffer!
MARCOS Here we do not celebrate any special occasion nor has anyone
contracted a sickness. As for how many suffer .... It is all of us!
DON BENITO (With unction.) Blessed are those who suffer on the Earth,
because theirs will be the kingdom of Heaven.
ROSA (With cunning.) And those who are happy on the Earth, can they also
enter the kingdom of Heaven?
DON BENITO Naturally, my daughter, naturally if they are good
Christians.
ROSA Well then, it would be good if all of us will enjoy everything
here, on the Earth, and in the kingdom of Heaven. At least, this would
be just. A truly just God would devote himself to making sure that we
all would be happy, like a good father of a family devotes himself to
the happiness of all his children.
DON BENITO No one may judge the works of God. (Aside) Damn it, how this
rabble has woken up! (To Rosa.) The divine wisdom wants there to be poor
and rich, in order to determine which are the good ones who maintain,
with humility, their poverty, and merit, for the same reason, to enter
the kingdom of Heaven, and which are the disobedient ones, for whom
exist the fires of Hell. (All, with the exception of Marcos and Rosa,
exchange horrified looks and make the sign of the cross.) (Aside.) I
must terrify the people by painting hells and devils because, if I
didn't, poor rich people and we poor representatives of God: we would
have to work to eat. (To all.) To what, my children, does this reunion
owe itself?
RAMON Father Benito, we have come to ask Marcos to write us a petition
to the government requesting justice.
DON BENITO (Feigning amazement.) Justice! But what happened to thee?
RAMON They have taken Juan, accusing him of robbing a steer. Juan is the
most honorable man of the plantation, agreeable, hard-working, a good
neighbor. He is a man incapable of committing a crime ....
ROSA (Interrupting him.) (With contempt.) Tell the truth, Ramon: they
have taken him because Marta is pretty and he is the obstacle that
prevents the master from making her his own.
MARCOS The same story as always: we have to sweat for the boss and we
have to have a woman for the boss. (Spits with rage.)
DON BENITO (Feigning amazement.) But is this possible?
FIRST PEASANT Don't you remember, Father, that the Court killed
Melquiades the herdsman because he accused the master of dishonoring his
daughter?
SECOND PEASANT And who has forgotten that Santiago, the cart driver,
rots in jail just because he made the master see that the blanket he
sells us in the wage store, besides being bad, is expensive?
THIRD PEASANT But without going very far, how many days ago was Gregorio
the gardener sent as a recruit to the military barracks, just because
somebody warned the master that he walked around saying that we are made
to work like men, but we are fed like dogs.
FOURTH PEASANT We want justice!
FIFTH PEASANT We want land to work for our own benefit!
DON BENITO (Aside.) Land to work for their own benefit, and then who
will work for the master, for the Government, and for me. (To all.) My
children, God, great and merciful, put thee on the Earth to see if thou
were strong enough to endure all the miseries in this valley of tears
and then later to lift thee up to his breast. The more thou suffer here,
the more probability thou have of ascending to Heaven. (Aside.) I am
going to make myself laugh with such lies: if these idiots knew that
there is no heaven, they would want to enjoy life here; and then this
would bring ruin to all of us who do not know how to work. (To all.) Do
not covet the goods of the Earth. The master, all the rich, administer
these riches for your benefit. What would you do without the rich? Who
would pay your salaries? (Emphatically.) You would die of hunger!
MARCOS (With disgust.) Only those who would not want to work would die
of hunger!
DON BENITO (Caustically.) What are you saying, foolish man?
MARCOS (Firmly) What you hear, imposter!
DON BENITO (Trembling with rage.) Thou art excommunicated! Hell awaits
thee! (Aside.) This one must be made to disappear.
MARCOS Hell? Will there be a Hell worse than what the poor suffer? If
there were a Hell, it would be filled, not with miserable wretches like
me, but with crooks like you, who use fear to bind the hand of the poor
so that it does not raise up against its oppressors.
DON BENITO (Hiding his anger.) God told me to have compassion for
sinners. Therefore, I pardon you, Marcos. (Aside.) Pardon him, a demon!
He will soon see what awaits him. (To all.) My children, it is already
quite late and I must retire to my bed. (Consulting his watch.) Hail
Mary the Virgin! It is ten o'clock in the evening. (Aside.) In five
minutes, I am going to talk to the leader of the military detachments
and to see that he softens that Marcos. (To all.) Remain with God, my
children. Good evening. (Nobody salutes him; he goes towards the door.)
(Aside.) The people do not fear God, the kingdom of injustice is going
to tumble down.
ROSA (Embracing Marcos effusively.) My Marcos, how proud you are!
MARCOS (Radiant.) Death to the rich!
ALL (In one voice.) Death! (They surround Marcos and embrace him.)
MARCOS To your arms, brothers, to take back what belong to us! Long live
the Social Revolution!
ALL (In one voice.) Viva!
OFFICIAL (From outside, he pounds the door with the hilt of his sword.)
(With a thunderous voice.) Open this door in the name of justice!
MARCOS (Indignant.) The priest has denounced us.
OFFICIAL (From outside.) (With a thunderous voice.) Open up in the name
of justice, or this door will be brought down! (He repeatedly pounds
with the hilt of his sword.) Soldiers, bring down this door with the
butts of your rifles .... ! (The racket of rifle blows is heard
accompanied by cries of "Death to the bandits!" "Long live the Supreme
Government!")
MARCOS Comrades: if any victim has to be taken, I will be that victim! I
will accept all the responsibility!
ROSA (Vehemently.) And me too! (She moves herself to Marcos' side.) (The
door falls down, and the official and ten soldiers hurriedly enter
pointing their guns.)
OFFICIAL (With a thunderous voice.) Surrender, bandits! You here have
conspired against Law and Order. (Aside.) With this deed, the government
makes me a colonel. (He gets in front of Marcos and, putting the point
of his sword in his breast, shouts at him.) Surrender, wretch!
MARCOS (He rapidly removes the sword from his breast. At the same time
he draws out a dagger which he secretly lifts from beneath his shirt and
stabs the official in the heart.) (Energetically) Take this! (The
official falls dead at his feet: the soldiers, astonished, lower their
arms.) In the name of the Law you came to apprehend me; well then, in
the name of Justice I defended myself. (To the soldiers, in a solemn
tone.) Death has come to your oppressor. Would you now dare to take your
brother? (He pounds his fist against his chest.) All of you are poor
like all of us, and by supporting the government with your rifles, you
support that which makes wretched ourselves and yourselves as well. Your
families live in misery, suffer hunger, nakedness and oppression, and
you, with your rifles, sustain that which causes the suffering of your
own people, of the flesh of your flesh and the blood of your blood.
(With vehemence.) The soldier is the oppressor of his own parents,
brothers, and children. Remember that you are men and unify with us to
demolish the oppression of the accursed trilogy who have disgraced human
beings with poverty: the bourgeoisie, the clergy, and the government.
SOLDIERS (In one voice.) Long live the revolution!
ALL (In one voice.) Viva! (The soldiers and peasants embrace each
other.)
MARCOS Comrades: we must not lose time: The hour for the liberation of
slaves has rung. Everyone must call from door to door announcing the
good news so that we may gather together all those who have a heart to
redeem Juan and Marta immediately, and to take, for once and for all,
possession of the plantation for the benefit of all the workers. Let's
go! (Directs himself to the door and exits, accompanied by Rosa, who has
taken the child in the cradle.)
ALL (Directing themselves towards the door and exiting.) (In one voice.)
Death to the rich! Death to the priests! Death to governments! Long live
land and liberty!
ACT THREE
The stage decoration represents two prison cells, separated by a wall
which divides the stage in two parts. A straw mat and a pitcher in each
of the cells.
UNIQUE SCENE
JUAN, MARTA, DON JULIAN, DON BENITO, JAILER, MARCOS, ROSA, RAMON,
TERESA, PEASANTS OF BOTH SEXES AND DIFFERENT AGES
MARTA (In the cell on the right, sitting on the mat.) (Sighing.) Where
will Juan be? (Pauses.) Will the Court have killed him? (She lifts
herself, seized with great excitement.) (Yelling.) Assassins! Villains!
Scoundrels! (She shakes her arms with desperation and finally lays down
on the mat, hiding her face in her hands.)
JUAN (He paces along his cell; he stops.) What will become of my Marta?
Will she have surrendered to the appetites of the master? (Desperately.)
Ah, it is driving me crazy. (He paces.)
MARTA (Sitting up.) If only they would have allowed me to see my Juan
for the final time ...! (She sobs.) (She remains seated with her head
between her knees.)
JUAN (He stops.) (Lifting his hands to his head.) My head is going to
explode! (He hurls himself to the mat and reclines, remaining
motionless.)
MARTA (She stretches out her hand to the pitcher and drinks; she places
the pitcher back in its place.) (Bitterly.) How disgraced are the poor!
We are not even the masters of our own bodies! (The noise of the latch
comes from the door; she throws herself upon the mat and pretends to be
sleeping.)
JAILER (He opens the door and appears brandishing a garrote in his hand,
fastened by a cord; he approaches Marta.) (With an imperious voice) Do
you sleep? (Marta does not move; he shakes her with the tip of the
garrote.) Wake up, pig!
MARTA (Grumbling.) Ay, I suffer so much!
JAILER That will teach you to respect your masters. Imbecile!
MARTA (Sitting up.) I respect everyone; but the master does not respect
me.
JAILER (Irritated.) And who are you that the master should respect you?
A poor wretch!
MARTA (Firmly.) I am a human being; I am a woman. What would you feel if
the mother who carried you in her womb was in my place?
JAILER (Impatiently.) Bah, enough philosophies! What you must do is
comply with what the master requests of you.
MARTA Would you be capable of submitting the woman you love to the
caresses of the master?
JAILER (Irritated.) Enough! I did not come here for you to confess to
me, do you hear? Two hours ago, they took your brute of a husband, with
his elbows tied together, to the city ...and you know, already on the
road ... (he coughs) on the road .... (he coughs and smiles derisively)
on the road thirst will attack him. ..... and how it breaks the hearts
of us government employees to see our neighbor suffer. Well, then, give
him your "water". Ha, ha, ha!
MARTA (Horrified, she stands up.) (She yells.) It is a lie! It can not
be like this! Bring me to my Juan or kill me with him!
JAILER (Clapping her back.) (Paternally.) Calm down, little lady, calm
down. There is still time to return you to your Juan. It can be arranged
with a telephone call to the places where he will pass with his escort,
that they bring him back, and you will return to having him with you.
(Clapping her back in a wheedling manner.) Foolish woman. In your hands
is the life of Juan! Surrender yourself to the master!
MARTA (Disgusted, she recoils from the jailer.) (Resolutely.) This
never! I would rather die than offend Juan. Ah, my Juan, I am sure that
you would prefer to die, better than seeing me in the arms of the
master. (Lifting both hands to her temples.) How much I suffer. (She
hurls herself upon the mat.)
JAILER (Shrugging his shoulders.) Good, now you know. On you everything
now depends. (He spits with scorn and leaves. The noise of the latch is
heard)
JUAN (Sitting up.) If only I knew how Marta is .....! Poor darling! How
great a heart is hers! To share blows with me ...! (He stands up and
resumes his pacing.) (Feeling his body.) My body hurts so much even
though I am accustomed to abuse ever since I was a child. How much will
she suffer? Scoundrels! Cowards! (The sound of a latch is heard; he
resumes his pacing.)
JAILER (He opens the door and appears brandishing a garrote in his hand,
attached by a leather strap. Juan continues his pacing without fixing
his attention on the visitor. The jailer gives him a terrible garrote
blow on the back, which spreads him down on his face; soon after, he
kicks Juan to make him stand up.) Get up, dog!
JUAN (Alternately rising and falling to the kicks.) (Pleading.) Do not
... strike .. me your grace. I am so ... ti..red. (He succeeds in
standing up.) You don't hit a defenseless man. See that I am a harmless
man.
JAILER (Sarcastically.) Yes, quite harmless, such a harmless little
angel that if he will be allowed to flutter his wings he would end up
eating all the master's bulls.
JUAN (Desperately.) I am innocent!
JAILER (Irritated.) Innocent, you say? (Scornfully.) Bah, nobody
innocent falls into the hands of Justice! Look at the master, at Father
Benito, at all the good men, at the employees of the Government: when
does the Law put its hand upon them? (Emphatically.) The sword of
Justice does not fall upon honorable men. (Insolently.) Look at me!
JUAN (Desperately.) I am innocent! I am innocent! My crime is to be
married to a beautiful woman!
JAILER (Scornfully.) Your wife, bah, a tramp!
JUAN (Panting.) What do you say about my Marta?
JAILER (Sneering.) And so Juan Lanas dares to call to (emphasizing) his
Mar-ta! Do you know what (emphasizing) your Mar-ta is doing while you,
idiot, find yourself here?
JUAN (Desperately.) What? What? Speak, please, or I will go crazy!
JAILER (Sneering.) She is amusing herself with the soldiers .... Ha, ha,
ha!
JUAN (Lifting his hands to his temples and staggering like a drunk.)
(Bitterly.) What is this I hear? Ah, I feel like dying! My heart cries
blood! (He sobs convulsively.)
JAILER (Aside, smiling.) It appears that he is swallowing the fish hook.
(Rubbing his hands with satisfaction.) If I win Marta for the master,
they will make me a political boss. (To Juan, clapping him
compassionately on the back.) Do not cry, silly, do not worry. There are
so many woman in the world! Abandon Marta, who does not deserve your
sacrificing yourself for her. (From outside is heard the racket of
drunken people, the laughter of men and women; later, various voices
sing: "The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she
used to be, many long years ago." Explosions of laughter, howls, and out
of tune shouts interrupt the song. The noise ceases.) Do you hear? There
is Marta. (Aside, smiling and rubbing his hands with satisfaction.) They
will make me a political boss, they will make me governor.
JUAN (Supplicating.) Ah, leave me alone, please. I am so disgraced! I
have lost my treasure, the love of Marta! (He sobs.)
JAILER (Compassionate, slapping him on the back.) Do not torture
yourself, Juan. (Aside.) Who will be able to prevent me from ever
becoming the President of the Republic? First, political Boss; then
Governor; from there to the Senate, to the Ministry, and, finally, I
will see myself occupying the presidential seat. Then who will snort at
me? I will rule with an iron fist. (Exalted.) Yes, the people need an
iron fist so they don't fling themselves against honorable people.
Damned wretches! What would happen to the goods of the rich if there
were no authority? (To Juan.) Do not torture yourself. Look: you are
talking with an honorable man with a good heart who is going to give you
some advice for your own good: abandon Marta.
JUAN Ah, I feel like I fainting. (He hurls himself on the mat and
remains immobile.)
JAILER Think carefully, Juan. (He goes towards the door.) (Aside.) He is
going to abandon her. My political career is guaranteed. (Exits, closing
the door behind him; the sound of a latch is heard.)
MARTA (Sitting up.) If I die, what happiness! (The sound of a latch is
heard.)
JAILER (The door opens and the jailer appears followed by Don Benito.)
(Showing her to Don Benito.) She is awake. I am retiring to bed, Father,
so that you can devote yourself in peace to the sacred functions of your
ministry. (He leans over, kisses the priest's hand, and leaves.)
DON BENITO (Approaching Marta.) (Paternal.) Good evening, my daughter.
MARTA (Sadly.) Good evening, Father.
DON BENITO (Hypocritically.) Understanding that you suffer, I come to
console you. (Raising his hands up high.) Merciful God, take pity on
your sheep; let your divine hand cover the heart of the sorrowful, so
that it revives the hope in them. Illuminate me so that I may give
consolation to this unfortunate woman. (He sweetly places his hands on
Marta's tilted head.)
MARTA (Bitterly.) I suffer so much!
DON BENITO (Aside, smiling.) So much the better; I will attain my
objective more easily. (To her.) Resign yourself, my daughter, to know
the worst thing.
MARTA (Standing up hastily.) (Panting.) Have they already killed Juan?
DON BENITO (Caressing her cheeks.) No, I don't want to say that. Simply
that it is best that you are prepared for the worst. The crime of Juan
is serious, very serious. It has greatly offended God, who in his divine
wisdom ordained: Thou shalt not steal!
MARTA (Desperately.) Juan is innocent! Juan is innocent!
DON BENITO (With conviction.) Juan is guilty, my daughter. His crime is
one that the Lord Our God punishes with the eternal flames of Hell, and
the government of Earth with the death penalty. Juan is going to die
....
MARTA (Interrupting him in a lively manner.) Lord! Lord! I would give up
my own life if only you save Juan. (She falls to her knees; she embraces
Don Benito's legs and sobs convulsively.)
DON BENITO (With a triumphant smile.) (Aside.) I see the bishop's office
in my future. (To her.) Juan was already handed over to the Court, and
at this hour he should already be at the point of suffering the pain of
human law, after which he will receive the punishment of God, who is All
Merciful. (Smiling, aside.) How boldly merciful it is to burn someone
for all eternity! Luckily these idiots do not reason. (To her.) Resign
yourself and pray for his soul.
MARTA (Lifting her arms toward Don Benito.) (Desperately.) Save my Juan
for me, Father, save him for me. Ah, I am dying of anguish! What will I
do to save him? What will I do? (She remains on her knees, crying, with
her head hidden in her hands.)
DON BENITO (Aside) This is the moment, Benito; take advantage of it or
say goodbye to the bishop's crown. (To her.) Ask the master for
forgiveness and ... (He pauses.)
MARTA (Lifting her head.) (Lively.) And what?
DON BENITO (Slowly) And if he caresses you, you caress him as well.
MARTA (Lifting herself up indignantly) This, never! This, never! (She
twists her arms, seized with great agitation.)
DON BENITO Well, then, upon your head will weigh the corpse of Juan and
the remorse will gnaw away your heart until death! In these very
moments, Juan marches surrounded by his escort. Imagine it! Imagine it!
His guardians ride on their horses, cheerful like those who go out for a
stroll. So travel those who carry out their duty to keep vigil over the
sacred interests of society! Him, on foot, his elbows tied together,
collapsing of fatigue, thinking of you .... (Getting more excited.)
Thinking of you, of the selfish woman who is not capable of sacrificing
herself to save him from death! (Insinuating.) Do you see it? How great
is his fatigue! He slows down his steps; now he can no longer walk
anymore; from his face the sweat pours copiously .... with the tips of
their sables they scratch his kidneys, and it livens up his step! Do you
see it? Do you see it? In his mind arises an image: it is you, whom he
adores. (Marta sobs convulsively.) Now, he can hardly take a step. Do
you see it? He has just fallen down, and the jabs of the sables make him
get up. "Oh, Marta, Marta, save me!" he screams in his pain. He can not
do it anymore; he throws himself to the ground ... and a bullet ends his
tortures ...
MARTA (Desperately.) Ah, I belong to the master! I will surrender myself
to the master! Just return me to my Juan! (She throws herself sobbing
upon the mat.)
DON BENITO (Aside, smiling and rubbing his hands.) I have won the
bishop's crown! I will be a bishop! Blessed is God! Halleluyah!
Halleluyah! (To her.) I will run to give notice to the master that he
should instruct the authorities by telephone to return Juan. God wants
your sacrifice to make it in time! (Aside, smiling.) If only that stupid
woman knew that the only thing that separates her from Juan is this
wall! (Touching his forehead with the point of his index finger.) For
genius, only a minister of the Lord! (Going to the door.) Now, to see
what they sniffed out in Marcos' house. (He exit.)
JAILER (Sticking out his head.) (Aside.) It appears she is sleeping. I
will take my turn. (He leaves, making the latch sound.)
JUAN (Sitting up.) How sweet it would be to die!
MARTA (Sitting up.) When will the slave break his chains?
JUAN I feel I will not survive my sorrow! (He lets himself fall to the
mat.)
MARTA If my caresses were poison, I would lavish them so passionately
upon the master ... (She lets herself fall to the mat.) (The latch in
the door rumbles.)
DON JULIAN (He enters and closes the door behind him.) (Aside.) Will
what the priest told me be true? (To her.) Good evening, Marta. (Marta
does not answer.) That rotten woman would be asleep! (He approaches her,
sits down on the mat and surrounds her waist with his arms.) (With
feigned sweetness.) Awaken, my love, awaken, for here is the man who
would give all his fortune for your love. I have already given the
authorities the order that they set free that stubborn Juan. What other
proof of my love do you want?
MARTA (Sitting up.) (Supplicating.) Have compassion for me; do not add
the sting of your mockery to my immense pain. You do not feel love for
me. (Energetically.) You feel the appetite of a beast: satiate it,
monster! Love can not reside in your heart, or is there perfume in the
mud? (Like a dream.) Love is the sunrise of life, love is the light that
bathes the heart in the clarity of dawn. (Becoming excited.) Appetite
snakes down the tortuous paths of crime to obtain its object: love does
not crawl; it has wings! (She lets herself fall to the mat.)
DON JULIAN (Inflamed.) However it wants to be: you will become mine.
That I crawl..... If you were of my class, I would not crawl; but you
are so low that I have been forced to crawl!
MARTA (Sitting up.) (Lively.) Abuse your force, tyrant, while the hour
of vengeance rings. (Desperately.) I am yours! Devour me! (She lets
herself fall upon the mat; Don Julian embraces her and kisses her with
ardor; but at the same time, the song of the Anarchist Marseilles is
heard, intoned by men, women and children, mixed with shouting, rifle
shots, and the clash of combat.)
"To the proletarian revolt,
"The day of redemption already gleams;
"That the sublime ideal liberty
"Will be the North Star of the rebellion.
(This verse is repeated.)
"Let us dignify the life of man
"In a new social organism,
"Destroying the causes of evil
"Of this vile accursed society.
"Workers, to the struggle!
"To the revolution!
"With the decision
"To conquer
"Our emancipation."
DON JULIAN (Standing up excitedly at the commencement of the song and
the rumble of combat.) (Juan and Marta do the same.) (Alarmed.) What do
I hear? What does it mean?
MARTA (Elatedly.) It means the people are breaking their chains!
JUAN Will the sacred day of vengeance have arrived? (He paces
nervously.)
JAILER (He hastily enters Marta's cell.) (Trembling with fear, to Don
Julian.) Sir, we have lost! The peasants have rebelled! Some soldiers
have made common cause with the populace!
DON JULIAN (Alarmed.) And what does this rabble want?
JAILER Land and Liberty! (The jailer and Don Julian remain annihilated.
Marta is radiant with enthusiasm.)
JUAN (He stops.) The moment longed for, finally it arrives! (Resuming
his pacing.)
MARTA (Yelling.) Rebellion, how blessed you are!
DON JULIAN (Startled.) We must flee!
JAILER (Discouraged.) It is useless; the jail is surrounded by the
rebels. All exits are cut off. The loyalists battle with valor for the
Supreme Government and the sacred interests of society, but the bandits
are more than them. We are doomed!
DON JULIAN (Astonished.) Nevertheless, we must try to escape.
JAILER (Somberly.) There remains for us no exit other than the cemetery.
The reign of injustice is ending!
MARCOS (The noise of the latch in Juan's cell door is heard. Marcos
enters accompanied by Rosa, Ramon, Teresa, and some peasants of both
sexes and of different ages, armed with rifles, hoes, scythes, sickles,
pistols, and garrotes. One of the peasants carries a red flag which
shows in white letters this inscription: Land and Liberty.) (He throws
himself in Juan's arms.) Brother, you are free in the name of the
Revolution. Now, let us go to liberate Marta.
JUAN (Astonished.) How! Hasn't she been seized?
MARCOS All the time she has remained in her cell like you.
JUAN (Elated.) Ah, how happy I am! The jailer lied to me so I would
reproach Marta! Let's go liberate her! (Juan and Marcos exit followed by
the others.)
JAILER (Leaning out the door.) (Trembling.) The rebels are closing in.
DON JULIAN (Looking in vain for a refuge in the cell.) Mercy! Mercy!
(Marcos, Juan, Rosa, Ramon, Teresa, and the others who entered Juan's
cell appear. Some of the peasants push Don Benito to make him walk, his
elbows tied together.)
JUAN (Throwing himself in the arms of Marta.) (Sweetly.) My Marta!
MARTA (Sweetly.) My Juan! (They remain embracing each other.)
MARCOS (Directing himself to the jailer, Don Julian, and Don Benito)
(Solemnly) Tyrants: for centuries and centuries, you have sucked our
blood. The tears which you have made us spill would be enough to drown
you. The people have waited patiently for the arrival of a Messiah who
would save us: but all the Messiahs have turned out to be traitors to
the cause of humanity, The people had allowed you to live and with you
the institutions you represent. Now it is different. You are going to
die and with you will die Authority, Capitalism, and the Church, the
three oppressors of the human species. From today forward, there will
not be a man who dares to make others obey him; there will not be a man
who exploits the work of another man, there will not be swindlers who
between popular justice and crime set fire to the flames of Hell in
order to protect those on top from the rebellion of those below. (To the
revolutionaries) Comrades: we must complete social justice. Let us cut
off the head of the hydra and take possession of all that exists for the
well-being of all. Long live Land and Liberty!
ALL (In one voice.) Viva! (They seize the prisoners and conduct them
outside of the cell with their arms tied together.) (All exit.)
ACT FOUR
The stage decoration represents a field on the edge of a settlement
composed of shacks. Disseminated groups of male and female peasants of
different ages, sitting on blankets, form a border in which others eat
and drink happily. Male and female peasants circulate everywhere,
expressing great rejoicing in their attitudes. Children frolic. In a
prominent place, the red banner with the inscription "Land and Liberty"
in white letters. Weapons in a pavilion are mixed with farm instruments.
JUAN, MARTA, MARCOS, ROSA, RAMON, TERESA, SENTINEL
MARCOS (Juan, Marta, Marcos, Rosa, Ramos, Teresa and others form part of
one of the groups.) (Smiling.) It has been only twenty four hours that
this old sun has toasted the backs of the herd, and today it kisses the
fronts of free men. Still yesterday we were not owners of a clod of
earth to recline our heads; today everything is ours.
RAMON (Enthusiastically.) We owe everything to you, Marcos. Comrades: a
round of applause for Marcos. (Many of those who walk about and even
those who form groups approach.)
MARCOS (With liveliness and dignity.) Stop there! Nothing is owed to me.
Here each one of us has wanted to be free, and to be free each has
accepted the necessity of fighting for the liberty of the others, for no
one can be free when others are slaves. In this manner, all of us are
courageous and commendable at this time. Do not begin, comrades, to make
leaders, because by tomorrow they will transform into tyrants. When one
man convinces himself that the liberty of a people is owed to him, that
man comes to believe himself superior to the others.
ROSA (Animated.) Very good! Very good! Let us applaud everyone; let us
congratulate everyone, because we owe each one and all of us for this
beautiful day when we can celebrate the festival of brotherhood,
equality, and liberty.
TERESA All that you say is very well said, but if Marcos had not
persuaded us of the uselessness of asking for justice from our tyrants,
we would be waiting and we would continue to wait, for centuries, that a
shred of liberty, a scrap of justice, or a crumb of bread would come to
us from the heights, when we have done no more than decide to raise up
our fists in order to become free people and the owners of social
wealth.
MARCOS Comrades, the experience acquired in these last twenty four hours
teaches us the great wisdom of the maxim which says "the emancipation of
the workers must be the labor of those same workers." If the workers of
the cities would do the same as us ....! But no, manipulated by astute
politicians, they have entrusted the Government with the task of
emancipating them, which is like entrusting the wolf with guarding the
lamb. Now, brothers, to work the earth for our exclusive well-being, but
without abandoning the rifle. The enemy is not sleeping; in the city
they will conspire against the revolution of the peasants.
ROSA (Enthusiastically.) Yes comrades, alert! The workers of the cities,
ignorant of the solidarity that should exist between all the exploited,
have made common cause with the political parties and are against us.
They wait for a government to emancipate them. Poor misled brothers!
What government has benefited the poor? The Government, all government,
has to be the oppressor of the worker and the guardian angel of the
bourgeoisie! Death to all government!
ALL (In one voice) Death!
SENTINEL (Entering hastily from the right.) (Agitated.) The enemy is
approaching the canyon of La Quemada.
ALL To arms! Long live land and liberty! (They take their weapons and
the red flag; at the same time, they intone the second stanza of the
Anarchist Marseilles.)
"No more to the governing master
"For a vile salary do we want to serve;
"No longer the humiliating charity,
"No longer do we beg or ask.
(This verse is repeated.)
"When the proletariat asked for bread,
"With an impotent voice because hunger accosted him,
"The rifle of the uniformed oppressor,
"Murderous and ferocious, answered him.
"Workers, to the struggle!
"To the revolution!
"With the decision
"To conquer
"Our emancipation."
(They leave singing, towards the right, expressing great enthusiasm and
combative ardor.) (The stage decoration changes.)
The stage decoration represents the office of an important character.
MINISTER, SENORITA SOFIA MERINDIETA, LOPEZ, DELEGATE, ASSISTANT, WORKERS
MINISTER (Smoking a cigar at the side of his desk; he consults his
watch.) (Yawning.) May lightning strike down that Lopez! It is eleven
twenty five in the morning and he still hasn't shown his nostrils. (He
blows smoke trails from his cigar.) If those labor bosses weren't so
useful to capitalism and to the Government, I would lift them out to the
trashcan, not pay them more salary. But what would we do without them?
If the workers were allowed to work for their own initiative ...
goodbye, capitalist system! However, we have bosses, and we and these
bosses understand each other, and those bosses take charge of making
them sleep. Without bosses, the workers would have already cast
themselves upon the machinery to work it for their own account, like the
peasants are taking possession of the land to make themselves
economically independent; but the bosses use their cunning to entertain
those blockheads with reforms and only with this can we assure that the
system of private property does not come crashing down. (The sound of an
electric bell is heard.) Finally that damned Lopez has arrived! (An
assistant enters with a tray on which there is a card. The minister
picks up the card and reads, aside.) "Miss Sofia Merindieta, Professor."
(To the assistant.) Let her in! (The assistant exits.) (Rubbing his
hands.) That little schoolteacher is so pretty. (Miss Merindieta
enters.)
SENORITA MERINDIETA (Bowing.) Good day, Sir.
MINISTER (He lifts himself from his chair and effusively shakes the hand
of the visitor.) Good day, Madame. Please sit down. (They sit down on a
sofa.) (Honey voiced.) Please tell me how I can be useful.
SENORITA MERINDIETA We are in misery. We need any kind of employment. My
family is dying of hunger
MINISTER Yesterday, I received the communication that you requested this
audience, and of course I agreed to receive it today, for our duty as
government officials is to attend promptly to all petitions.
(Emphatically.) For this we exist: to serve the people
SENORITA MERINDIETA Thank you, Sir.
MINISTER But I have the pain of telling you that the government is going
through a terrible crisis. The country is infested with bandits raised
up in arms, who respect neither property nor persons and who threaten to
destroy the social order, and we government ministers must make all
kinds of economic decisions, to reduce all expenses to the point of
sacrifice, so that we can confront the situation. For such a reason,
Madame, it grieves me to inform you that, at least for today, it is
impossible to give you any position. Later, we will see. You will have
to present us with your name and your address so that a call can be
ordered.
SENORITA MERINDIETA (Expressing great sorrow.) Sir, my mother is sick in
bed; my little brothers ask for bread .... (She sobs.)
MINISTER (Smiling, aside.) All the better, with more ease will you
accept my caresses. (To her.) My heart breaks before such suffering.
(Hypocritically.) Why else would God give me such a sensitive heart?
SENORITA MERINDIETA (Supplicating.) Please help me, Sir. Since
yesterday, not a morsel can be found in my house, my mother does not
have her medicines, the children are cold and hungry ... (She sobs.)
MINISTER (Smiling, aside.) She will be mine! (To her.) For the love of
God, you are killing me with your sorrow! (She sobs convulsively; he
surrounds her figure with his arm; aside.) She has to fall, she has to
fall. If there were no pain below, from where would we on top draw our
mistresses? (The door opens.)
ASSISTANT Mr. Lopez!
MINISTER (Aside.) May lightning strike him down! (To the assistant.) Let
him in. (To her.) Please come tomorrow at eleven so that I may endeavor
to alleviate your situation. You have not touched a heart of stone.
(Shaking her hand effusively.) Until tomorrow.
SENORITA MERINDIETA (Desperately.) Twenty four more hours of agony! (She
leaves sobbing.)
MINISTER (Furious.) What bad timing this Lopez has! Ten minutes more and
.. she falls.
LOPEZ (Entering.) Good morning, Sir.
MINISTER Good morning, Mr. Lopez. (He shakes his hand.) Please take a
seat. (They sit down.)
LOPEZ Conforming to what you and I agreed upon yesterday, I spoke last
night with members of the labor unions. They seemed very distrustful,
saying that the pact made between them and the Government has not
produced one more crumb of bread, and in no way has it reduced working
hours. (Solemnly.) I have been able to detect symptoms of rebellion,
Sir. I don't know how, but that damned newspaper those Californian
renegades publish, that tabloid called REGENERATION, has been able to
slip into proletarian homes; in any case, I have seen it in more than
one home and its influence is disturbing, because it kills the workers'
faith in the church and in their leaders and awakens in them the desire
to take possession of the social riches, as the only way to escape
misery and tyranny. They did not receive me as well as before, and they
did not confide in me as they usually do. I don't know how they have
come to notice that obviously I get paid to discuss social problems in a
manner that benefits the Government.
MINISTER These are bad symptoms, Mr. Lopez.
LOPEZ Very bad, Sir. They already dislike the labor unions. They say
that the unions do not aid the worker. Before long, they will want to
devote themselves to the expropriation of the social riches, like the
workers of the fields have done. I have tried to convince them that
violence does not lead to anything good, and that workers should strive
for their emancipation using only peaceful means, especially when they
can rely on a government which is a friend to the workers.
MINISTER Bravo! Bravo, Mr. Lopez! With labor bosses like you, we will
keep those bums under our thumbs.
LOPEZ They did not remain very satisfied, and decided to send a
commission this day to solicit a promise of help from you. Ha, ha, ha!
The idiots!
MINISTER Ha, ha, ha! Those suckers still swallow the fishhook! The reign
of exploitation has more years of life! (The door opens and the
assistant appears.)
ASSISTANT (Going towards the minister.) Sir, some workers desire to
speak with you.
MINISTER Let them in immediately. (The assistant exits.) The
circumstances are turning this into a comedy. Contact with the mob fills
me with such disgust ...!
DELEGATE (Various worker delegates enter. From the torpidity of their
movements and the awkwardness of their attitudes, one can guess that
finding themselves in an environment so different from their own
perturbs them greatly.) (Fidgeting with his hat.) Good morning, Sir. (To
Lopez.) Greetings, comrade.
MINISTER Good morning, sirs. (He hurries to give them his hand, which he
surreptitiously cleans off in the folds of his jacket.)
LOPEZ Greetings, comrades. (He chuckles, aside.)
MINISTER Sit down, my friends. (All sit down; some scratch their heads,
others fidget with their hats, and some do not know what to do with
their hands and their feet.) Make yourselves at home. To what do I owe
the honor of having shaken these honorable hands?
DELEGATE (Perturbed, fidgeting with his hat.) Well ... well ... already
the gentleman here (designating Lopez and scratching his head) ....
says, already comrade Lopez will have given you some details of what we
workers want.
MINISTER If effect, already Mr. Lopez tells me that you would come to
see me in order to solicit the Government, of which I have the honor of
forming a part, for the security of its support. (Emphatically.) The
Government is with all of you, noble sons of Labor. (He pats the
delegate's knee, then immediately cleans off his hand in the folds of
his jacket.)
LOPEZ Yes, comrades, I have just had a long conversation with the
minister. I have explained your situation to him, the misery you suffer
because the salaries you receive are so stingy, and the minister, with
his good heart, has felt pity for your sufferings and has sworn to put
those capitalists in line in order to alleviate your situation; but
because we are struggling with great difficulty fighting against many
bandits raised up in arms, it is not possible to put into practice the
reforms that will have to emancipate you, the worker, from the
capitalist yoke. It is necessary, comrades, that you give all your
support to the Revolution Made Government to secure peace and to help
together in the great work of national reconstruction.
DELEGATE We are ready to spill the last drop of our blood in defense of
the Government.
MINISTER (Aside.) They will fall for it! (To them.) I could not hope for
another thing from the noble sons of the workshop, the forceful heroes
of the factory, the champions of the hammer and the square, than that
they be on the side of the Revolution Made Government to vanquish the
bandits. (Solemn.) In the name of the Fatherland I salute you, soldiers
of justice. The peasantry of the plantation of La Purisima rose up last
night in arms and committed a thousand crimes; the bandits will violate
women, will rob, will commit arson, will murder, and will carry their
audacity to the degree of declaring themselves owners of the plantation.
What will these outrages do to society? These peasants are your worst
enemies, because with their acts of savagery and their constant
rebellion retarding the advent of peace, business stagnates, salaries
can not increase, and the country loses its international reputation.
LOPEZ Death to the bandits! (The workers stand up and shout: death!)
Comrades: exterminate those vipers who prevent the Government from
putting into practice its redemptive reforms. (The workers: death to the
bandits!) Fly to join together with all your comrades! The military
commander will provide you with arms and munitions. March like men to
vanquish the reactionaries. A special train will put you at the scene of
the action in three hours. Long live the Social Revolution! (The workers
shout: viva!, and, after giving their hands to the minister and to
Lopez, they hurriedly exit the office. The door closes. Lopez and the
minister look each other in the eyes and burst into uproarious
laughter.)
MINISTER (Disgustedly cleaning his hand.) If they were not idiots, what
would become of us?
LOPEZ (With conviction.) If they were not idiots, we would have to sweat
to win our bread. Without workers who have no class consciousness, so
much of the bourgeoisie, as well as the priests, the government, and the
many parasites who live off the sweat of the poor, would have to roll up
our sleeves and to adjust to the pick and the shovel if we would not
want to perish of hunger.
MINISTER Thank god the number of imbeciles is infinite.
LOPEZ Yes, but they are waking up. Be careful that we don't sleep. Well,
I am leaving. Good evening, Sir. Tomorrow we will know the results of
the encounter between the workers of the city and those of the field.
Brothers against brothers! Blessed is the ignorance of the masses that
assures our tranquility! (He gives his hand to the minister and leaves.)
MINISTER (Disgustedly cleans his hand.) I have to give my hand to Judas!
(Change of stage decoration.)
The stage decoration represents a mountainous place. On the right, large
crags form a natural rampart. Peasants of both sexes and different ages
lie dead in different places, mainly at the foot of the large rocks on
the right, where the majority of the defenders of the rampart, men and
women, are to be found. The children strip the dead of their ammunition
and deliver it to the survivors. Some children leave to the enemy field
to strip the dead supporters of the government of their ammunition and
they return carrying it in baskets. The red flag, in a prominent place.
General shooting.
JUAN, MARTA, MARCOS, ROSA, RAMON AND TERESA
MARCOS Arise, comrades! The anarchist poet Praxedis Guerrero tells us
"Live to be free or die to cease being slaves." (He shoots his rifle.)
ROSA (At Marcos' side.) Long live the Mexican Liberal Party! (All reply:
viva!) Long live Anarchy! (All reply: viva!) Long live Land and Liberty!
(All reply: viva!) (She falls down dead.)
MARCOS (He leans over and places Rosa's head upon his knees.) (Sadly.)
She is dead! (He kisses her.) She has ceased to be a slave. (He embraces
her with tenderness.) Those are not the tyrants who have wrenched away
your life, my Rosa. It is a proletariat who has struck you down dead.
The assassin is your brother, is Cain! You wanted to break his chains,
and he has paid you with death. Ah, what hell awaits this deluded slave!
He will return triumphant to his home, with his hands painted in the
blood of his own people, of those of his class, but without a crust of
bread for the children who faint from hunger. Then he will comprehend
that he has murdered you in order to ensure well-being for the rich and
to refasten his own chains. (He embraces her.) Sleep, my Rosa, sleep. In
a few minutes, I will be with you. (He kisses her tenderly and gently
rests her on the earth. He raises up and continues shooting his rifle.
From outside are heard cries of "Surrender bandits!" "Long live the
Supreme Government!" The defenders of the rampart intone the third
stanza of the Anarchist Marseilles.)
"The privileges of the bourgeoisie
"Let us annihilate them with a tenacious arm,
"And the fields of the tyranny
"Be the pasture of a voracious fire
(This verse is repeated.)
"We do not remain under the heel of the state and its laws,
"That always enslaved the people ferociously
"And the ignorance expires which it conserved
"With its Fatherlands, its Gods, and its Kings
"Workers, to the struggle!
"To the revolution!
"With the decision
"To conquer
"Our emancipation."
(The defenders go falling dead)
JUAN (He seizes the red flag and waves it over the parapet.) (Directing
himself to the enemies.) Brothers, workers of the city: this flag
represents the blood of all the oppressed of the world. She has the
color of your blood and of our blood. Unite with us, who are your
brothers of class, and let us fight together against the common enemy:
the bourgeoisie, the priesthood, and the government! Long live Land and
Liberty! (Those outside: death to the bandits! Juan falls, wounded, in
the arms of Marta.) They have wounded me!
MARTA (Reposing him in her knees, she separates the hair of his
forehead.) Murderers! Assassins! (She kisses his forehead.) Each death
of ours is one link more you add to your chains. (She raises her hands
to her head.) I am wounded. (She falls.) (Those outside shout: Long live
the Supreme Government! The defenders respond: death!)
TERESA (She lifts the red flag and shakes it.) We die, but the idea that
this flag represents will not die. (Directing herself to the enemy.)
Tomorrow, when the tyrant wounds your flanks with his spurs, you will
remember us, and the remorse will gnaw away your hearts. Then you will
lift up this flag which death tears from our hands. (She falls down
dead.)
RAMON (He bows down and kisses her.) One more victim of bourgeois
brutality. (He stands up and shoots his rifle at the enemy.) Kill us,
for liberty needs the blood of good people, but also it is nourished by
the heads of tyrants. (He falls down dead.)
MARCOS The enemy advances its assault on our rampart! Everyone here,
let's receive it with a volley of bullets. (All respond to the call and
prepare their rifles.) (A voice from outside: surrender!) Fire! (All
shoot; those outside respond to the shots and all the defenders of the
rampart, with the exception of Marcos, go falling to their deaths, until
only Marcos remains.) (A voice from outside: surrender!)
(Energetically.) An anarchist does not surrender! (A shot is heard and
he falls down wounded. He gets up unsteadily.) You who sustain crime
should surrender to me, who represents justice. Drink my blood, you
senseless fools, and carry my heart to your hungry children for them to
devour, because your masters will not toss them a single bone from their
banquet. (From outside: surrender bandit!) (Starting to spin.) Ah, all
are dead: but while there is hunger and injustice, the revolution will
continue forward. (He unfastens his shirt and places his hand over his
chest.) Kill me! Murder your class brother, so that your oppressors will
be happy! Give me death without delay so that you may return to the city
to receive the kicks of your masters as a reward for your treason. Long
live Land and Liberty! (A voice: fire! A shot is heard. He falls down
dead.)
END