Brecht Collected Plays: 1: Baal; Drums in the Night; In the Jungle of Cities; Life of Edward II of England; & 5 One Act Plays: "Baal", "Drums in the Night", "In the Jungle of Ci (World Classics) by Bertolt Brecht Read Free Book Online Page B

the bodies were still in them.
He listens
. My heart’s pounding like a horse’s hoof.
With enthusiasm
: Oh Johanna, one more night in your aquarium, and I would have rotted among the fish. But now I smell the warm May nights. I’m a lover with no one to love. I give in.
He drinks and gets up
. I must move. First I’ll get myself a woman. To move out alone is sad.
He looks out of the window
. No matter who. One with a face like a woman.
Humming, he goes out. Tristan is being played down below on the hurdy gurdy
.
    Johannes enters, wretched and pale. He riffles the papers on the table, picks up the bottle and goes shyly to the door.
He waits there
.
    Noise on the landing. Whistling
.
    BAAL
pulling Sophie Barger into the room. Whistles
: Be nice to me, darling. That is my room.
He sits down, sees Johannes
. What are you doing here?
    JOHANNES : I only wanted to …
    BAAL : So you wanted to? What are you standing there for? A tombstone for my Johanna, who’s been washed away? The ghost of Johannes from another world, is that it? I’ll throw you out! Leave this room at once!
Runs round him
. It’san impertinence! I’ll knock you down. It’s spring, anyway. Get out!
    Johannes looks at him and goes
.
    Baal whistles
.
    SOPHIE : What did the poor boy do to you? Let me go!
    BAAL
opens the door wide
: When you get to the first floor, turn to the right.
    SOPHIE : They followed us after you picked me up in front of the door. They’ll find me.
    BAAL : No one will find you here.
    SOPHIE : I don’t even know you. What do you want from me?
    BAAL : If you mean that, you may as well go.
    SOPHIE : You rushed up to me in the street. I thought it was an orangutan.
    BAAL : It’s spring, isn’t it? I need something white in this damned hole, a cloud.
He opens the door and listens
. Those idiots, they’ve lost their way.
    SOPHIE : I’ll get thrown out if I come home late.
    BAAL : Especially —
    SOPHIE : Especially what?
    BAAL : The way a woman looks when I’ve made love to her.
    SOPHIE : I don’t know why I’m still here.
    BAAL : I can give you the information.
    SOPHIE : You needn’t think the worst of me, please!
    BAAL : Why not? You’re a woman like any other. The faces vary, the knees are always weak.
    Sophie is half prepared to go; at the door she looks round
.
    Baal looks at her, astride a chair
.
    SOPHIE : Good-bye!
    BAAL
indifferently
: Do you feel faint?
    SOPHIE
leans against the wall
: I don’t know. I feel so weak.
    BAAL : I know. It’s April. It’s growing dark, and you smell me. That’s how it is with animals.
Gets up
. Now you belong to the wind, white cloud.
He goes to her quickly, slams the door, and takes Sophie Barger into his arms
.
    SOPHIE
breathlessly
: Let me go!
    BAAL : My name’s Baal.
    SOPHIE : Let me go!
    BAAL : You must console me. The winter left me weak. And you look like a woman.
    SOPHIE
looks up at him
: Your name’s Baal?
    BAAL : That makes you want to stay?
    SOPHIE
looking up at him
: You’re so ugly, so ugly, it’s frightening. – But then —
    BAAL : Mm?
    SOPHIE : Then it doesn’t matter.
    BAAL
kisses her
: Are your knees steady, mm?
    SOPHIE : You don’t even know my name. I’m Sophie Barger.
    BAAL : Forget your name.
Kisses her
.
    SOPHIE : Don’t – don’t – it’s the first time anybody’s ever …
    BAAL : Untouched? Come!
He leads her to the bed. They sit down
. You see! Bodies have poured through this room like water. But now I want a face. We’ll go out tonight. We’ll lie down in the fields. You’re a woman. I’ve become unclean. You must love me, for a while.
    SOPHIE : Is that what you’re like? … I love you.
    BAAL
rests his head on her breasts
: Now the sky’s above us, and we’re alone.
    SOPHIE : But you must lie still.
    BAAL : Like a child.
    SOPHIE
sitting up
: My mother’s at home. I have to go home.
    BAAL : Is she old?
    SOPHIE : She’s seventy.
    BAAL : Then she’s used to wickedness.
    SOPHIE : What if the earth swallowed me up? What if I’m