Scene I
(Paris. The sitting room of a fifth floor walk-up.
Seated at a dining table are CLAUDE FRECKETTE and MAMMALOU. He is 60, pasty-faced, pudgybodied and suffering from arthritis. She is a robust, mature, dark-skinned woman of indeterminant age and origin. He is drinking from a large bottle of wine and nibbling on bits of cheese. He is in a wheelchair.)
FRECHETTE: With cheese one should drink beaujolais. (She stares at him stonily.) Beaujolais is the proper wine for cheese. (He waits for an answer. There isn't any.) This is not beaujolais. (with swift, defiant strokes she pours a glass of wine and throws it down her throat.) It is nothing. It is vin ordinaire. It has the color of blood. (Unconsciously he makes a sudden movement with his head, jerking it to one side, spitting out chicken squawks.) Cluck-cluck! (Speaking normally again as he always does after these habitual outbursts-this time near tears.) Why. . . why... is it not possible ... compassion ... to be at least, if not friends. . not friends then perhaps a respect.. . some mutual ... (As he speaks and falters, MAMMA LOU rises, stands behind him and cradles his head on her ample bosom. She strokes his head and croons soothing sounds. His teary sniffling subsides.) Mammalou?
MAMMALOU: Yes?
FRECHETTE: Today he will come?
MAMMALOU: He will come today.
FRECHETTE: You said that yesterday....
MAMMALOU: And the day before and the day before that.
FRECHETTE: Then you have been coddling me?
MAMMALOU: For as long as I can remember, but today he will come. I assure you.
FRECHETTE: Hah! How can you be sure?
MAMMALOU: Because.... (She moves away from him and to the window.) I feel it. Deep. Deeply. I see him.
FRECHETTE: Le Dix?
MAMMALOU: Fernand....
FRECHETTE: Le Dix! When? How?
MAMMALOU: I saw him. It is enough. Drink your wine. Eat your cheese. You are becoming a dried gourd with rattling bones.
FRECHETTE: Mumbo-jumbo. Black mumboJumbo. Bitch of a woman. Cow. I should have thrown her out years ago. Cut her off. (Sudden jerk of head.) Cluck-cluck. (Normal.) What is for dinner? What time is it?
MAMMALOU: Why do I stay with you, old man?
FRECHETTE: I offer you the facade of respectability, whore.
MAMMALOU: Then do you keep me because I offer you the facade of virility?
FRECHETTE: I'm tired of Paris. Even in summer my bones ache. This heat no longer warms, it merely stifles.
MAMMALOU: Shall we move south?
FRECHETTE: Yes!
MAMLAWU: How far? Biarritz? St.Tropez? Algiers?
FRECHETTE: Africa! Yes, you would like that, you primitive, you savage. Flashing your teeth in the jungle night. A wild animal free to prey on the flesh of men. Free to slash, to cut.... (Jerk of head.) Cluckcluck!
MAMMALOU: Algeria is a dry country. It is a desert land. There is no jungle.
FRECHETTE: Then you have been there!
MAMMALOU: I have been there, yes and many, many places mon vieux chien. I had somewhat of a life before I met you.
FRECHETTE: Somewhat, eh, yes' I am the only man in Paris, no, I venture to say in all of France who has lived beneath the same roof with a woman, what has it been, how many years? and has absolutely no inkling of her age, her place of birth, her true race, her ... anything! You are my own walking, breathing, sphinx!
MAMMALOU: Ask me anything.
(He looks at her hopefully and she grins back at him with apparent wide-eyed innocence, but with the taunting glare of defiance that always lurks in her eyes. He begins to formulate questions and discards each one as it bubbles on his lips. Finally, he blows out a stream of air, deflated.)
FRECHETTE: You would evade and not answer.
MAMMALOU: Another day, perhaps?
FRECHETTE: Yes, certainly another day... (She moves to the window and looks down at the street as he drinks more wine, draining the last of the bottle.)
MAMMALOU: Jules is coming down the street.... He walks with such vigor....
FRECHETTE: I have finished this bottle.
(She automatically opens another bottle and places it before him all the while speaking of JULES.)
MAMMALOU: Such apparent purpose. He strides like a staRion in heat, but in reality he is completely abstract. '
FRECHETTE: He is a philosophy student.
MAMMALOU: That is not excuse enough for Mammalou. One day I shall grab that pendulous sex between his ligs and yank him into reality.
FRECHETTE: When Le Dix arrives it will be I who shall propel Jules into reality! He will be deflowered by the maiden. He will obtain his manhood when the blood flows. Cluck-duck!
MAMMALOU: If Le Dix arrives.
FRECHETTE: But you assured me-you promised-you saw him-you said....
MAMMALOU: I know, I know, it can't be helped. It doesn't matter what I say. (She returns to the table and sits opposite him as he nibbles on cheese and drinks.)
FRECHETTE: With cheese it is proper to have beaujolais.
MAMMALOU: No! It is not proper! I will not let you be deceived any longer. Today you may drink any wine you choose with cheese. Things have changed while you have been sitting here. 7bere are no more rules. There is no such word as proper. Whatever takes your fancy, drink it!
(Visibly shaken, he does not quite know how to react to her statement; nor does he know whether to believe her. He speaks to her quietly.)
FRECHETTE: We should move to a modem building. We should move to a building with an elevator. I feel so closed in not being able to walk five flights of stairs.
MAMMALOU: The new buildings aren't comfortable. They are sterile.
FRECHETTE: Then we should remain in an old building?
MAMMALOU: Yes!
FRECHETTE: And move to street level!
MAMMALOU: No!
FRECHETTE: No? But, why no?
MAMMAMLOU: We would lose our view.
FRECHETTE: I protest.
MAMMALOU: You with your sense of propriety would prefer to live surrounded by exhaust fumes and dog shit? (After a moment his nose twitches and he sniffs the air.)
FRECHETTE: What is that smell?
JULES: (off.) Dog shit, uncle. I stepped in some.
FRECHETTE: Clean it off! Clean it off!
JULES: (off.) I'm doing that.
FRECHETTE: Vile!
MAMMALOU: Abominable. Amazing, that you of all people should be so offended by the smell of....
FRECHETTE: I do not wish to hear that word again!
JULES: Hello, uncle. Mammalou? (He slaps a newspaper down on the tabl&) See what horrendous things are happening in the world! (He throws himself into a chair.) It is murder! (He fills a glass with wine and drains it. Meanwhile, FRECHETTE has opened the paper to read and MAMMALOU stands behind JULES cradling his head against her bosom and stroking it soothingly.)
FRECHETTE: It is done! The criminal has been sentenced to death! Cluck-cluck!
JULES: We have reverted to barbarism!
FRECHETTE: (To MAMMALOU.) You were right. Today, Le Dix will arrive.
JULES: There has not been an execution in ten years! Now this. We remain in the slime!
MAMMALOU: Calm yourself, calm yourself. It is the way things are.
FRECHETTE: The man committed a heinous crime.
JULES: A manifestation of illness.
FRECHETTE: A criminal act.
MAMMALOU: It is out of your hands.
JULES. You expect me to sit idly by?
MAMMALOU: There is nothing you can do.
JULES: I have organized the students.
FRECHETTE: You have your examinations.
JULES: Fuck my examinations!
MAMMALOU: Always abstract.
(Without warning, a MAN with a congenial air, enters.)
LE DIX: Bon jour, mes amis!
FRECHETTE: Le Dix!
MAMMALOU: Fernand
LE DIX: Mammalou, you are still the most woman of any woman I have ever known.
MAMMALOU: And you, Fernand, are you still the fighting cock ... (She slaps her hands on his legs.) with your iron flanks?
FRECHETTE: Five flights! He climbs five flights without a bead of sweat popping on his brow.
MAMMALOU: His stomach is flat.
LE DIX: And his appetite huge! (He embraces her.)
MAMMALOU: Still?
LE DIX: It helps keep my stomach flat. Who is this?
FRECHETTE: My nephew, Jules. He is living with me while he studies at the university. Monsieur Le Dix is…
LE DIX: With the government.
FRECHETTE: Unh, yes, he is with the government.
(LE DIX extends his hand to JULES, who rejects it.)
JULES: I see.
LE DIX: You do not approve?
JULES: Frankly, monsieur, no!
LE DIX: Of this government in particular or of government in general?
JULES: Perhaps it is that I do not approve of gentlemen of your obvious calibre being cloistered in the government.
LE DIX: Again I ask, this government in particular or government in general?
JULES: The answer to that would depend more on the precise calibration of the gentleman asking the question.
LE DIX: And for a man of my measurement?
JULES: The answer must be carefully weighed.
LE DIX: You would do well in the government, Jules.
JULES: This government in particular or government in general?
LE DIX: Yes, you must see me after you finish at the university.
JULES: Excuse me, I have work to attend. (He. starts to leave for his room.)
FRECHETTE: He must study for his examinations.
JULES: And plan the overthrow of the government. (Again, he moves to leave, but LE DIX stops him with a command.)
LE DIX: Wait! Are you serious?
JULES: But of course.
LE DIX: Are you an anarchist?
FRECHETTE: Le Dix! He is my flesh and blood!
JULES: No, I am not an anarchist.
LE DIX: What then? Communist? Student activist? Discontent progressive" Surely not an ultra-conservative reactionary?
JULES: I am a citizen of the.republic whose'conscience has been offended by the most recent brutal dictum of the state.
MAMMALOU: Fernand, he is a boy from the country.
FRECHETTE: He has no knowledge of the ways of the world.
LE DIX: Yes, yes, of course I understand; nevertheless, I would like to know what is this grave insult that has so assailed our young innocent's sensibilities.
FRECHETTE: It is of no consequence....
LE DIX: Could it be the sentence of death passed by the court on the criminal Bleyer
JULES: Executions were abolished by law!
LE DIX: There are exceptions.
JULES: Without exceptions!
LE DIX: Monsieur, allow us this one exception.
JULES: Monsieur, never!
LE DIX: My dear Jules, you must aflow for certain realities of life despite the fact that they do not coincide with your ideology. I tell you now, there are exceptions. Britain, West Germany and Italy ... the Scandinavian countries, most Latin-American countries have abolished capital punishment for civilians, but-they can still get you when you wear a uniform. As for the United States and the Soviet Union-they like to keep their options open. None of them are willing to relinquish their God-given legacy, "He that smiteth a man so that he die, shall be surely put to death."
FRECHETTE: Amen.
LE DIX: After all, Bleyer did assassinate the president of the republic, I should think it would call for a rather harsh remedy, wouldn't you?
FRECHETTE: You must concede, Jules.
MAMMALOU: For your uncle's sake.
JULES: Uncle Claude? What has he to do with it?
LE DIX: He is a vegetarian, is he not? Ask him why. Ask him why he eats no flesh.
FRECHETTE: Le Dix, not now. Allow me to tell him in my own way in my own time?
LE DIX: Time is short. Action imperative.
MAMMALOU: You always had some of the machine about you, Fernand. Even at the most intimate moments I recall the sense of gears meshing.
LE DIX: Smoothly, I hope.
FRECHETTE: He is right. There is no time for sentimentality. We are faced with a grave situation.
LE DIX: Well put, Frechette!
FRECHETTE: It was unintentional, I assure you.
JULES: What the hell are you all babbling? Gears meshing! Vegetarian! (To LE DIX.)'You, monsieur. What is so demanding that could possibly involve my Uncle? Obviously, there's little he can do confined to a wheelchair.
LE DIX: (Interrupts-turns to FRECHETTE.) Yes, my old friend, I had no idea you were ill. What is the trouble?
FRECHETTE: Nothing, nothing.
MAMMALOU: A touch of arthritis.
(LE DIX makes a sympathetic sound and. pats FRiCHETTE'S knee. He winces.)
LE DIX: You see, Mammalou, I am not entirely without feeling.
MAMMALOU: I have never said, entirely without.
JULES: Monsieur Le Dix, I must insist that you state the purpose of your visit.
LE DIX: To see your uncle.
JULES: Why?
LE DIX: To employ his services.
JULES: But he is retired,
LE DIX: From what?
JULES: Why, he was a baker.
LE DIX: True, but as someone once said, "Man does not live by bread alone."
MAMMALOU: Fernand, do not tease the boy.
LE DIX: You are right, it was a rotten joke.
JULES: I'm tired of these games.
FRECHETTE: No, Jules, wait. It is time you learned the truth.
JULES: What truth?
LE DIX: Your beloved uncle is none other than Monsieur de Paris!
JULES: Impossible! (He turns to FRECHETTE.) You, the public executioner?
FRECHETTE: Yes.
JULES: Uncle Claude?
FRECHETTE: Yes!
JULES: Then how is it possible I didn't know?
FRECHETTE: Your mother wished it so.
MAMMALOU: It is why she married a farmer and moved far from Paris. She was ashamed.
FRECHETTE: She was afraid.
LE DIX: That you would follow in the family tradition, for headsmen beget headsmen.
MAMMALOU: And once the stain is set, whether by, association, law or blood, there is no removing it.
LE DIX: In the eyes of your fellow men you are a pariah.
FRECHETTE: A paradox. The citizens scream for the criminal's death. "Off with his head!"-Cluckcluck! "I leave the murderer to Monsieur de Paris!"
LE DIX: Monsieur de Paris will see that justice is done!
MAMMALOU: A typical scene in the life of Monsieur de Paris!
FRECHETTE: (To LE DIX.) Bon jour, monsieur. I have the honor to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage.
LE DIX: Ah! you are a fine looking fellow, What is it you do?
FRECHETTE: I am a civil servant. Monsieur.
LE DIX: Excellent! There is nothing like having the security of a steady position. What is your rank?
FRECHETTE: I am the chief of my division.
LE DIX: The chief! A son-in-law to be proud of! Are your responsibilities serious?
FRECHETTE: They are, if I may say, singular
(MAMMALOU giggles.)
LE DIX: What precisely is it that you do?
FRECHETTE: Chop off people's heads! Cluck cluck!
LE DIX: Out of my house, villain!
JULES: Enough! Stop this charade!
MAMMALOU: It is no game ....
FRECHETTE: It is quite real.
LE DIX: It is ineluctable.
FRECHETTE: We are teaching you the facts of life.
MAMMALOU: In general.
LE DIX: And in particular.
FRECHETTE: Your life, There is tradition. There is precedent.
LE DIX: It is the natural order of things. Cause and effect. One generation bequeaths to the following generation.
FRECHETTE: You have your duty.
LE DIX: And if you perform well.
MAMACALOU- You will have your reward.(Pause.)
JULES: You expect me to, to act as executioner in my uncle's place?
FRECHETTE: I will assist you. I will teach you everything. You needn't worry, it will all go smoothly. Mammalou, bring me the model. (MAMMALOU exits.)
JULES: (To LE DIX.) You're doing this, aren't you? The government is behind this. You knew all along I was one of the student organizers. You knew what our plans were if you went ahead with the death penalty. You have agents everywhere, even among the students. Admit it!
LE DIX: I cannot deny that we keep ourselves somewhat informed, but in all modesty, allow me to assure you that we are not so ubiquitous as you make us out to be.
JULES - Bravo, Monsieur Le Dix. Then can you also deny that you've manipulated my poor uncle in this most cynical fashion?
LE DIC: I can and I do.
JULES: You're not dealing with a feeble invalid now!
FRECHETTE: Jules! I protest!
JULES: I'm sorry, uncle. But this devil has somehow managed to ensnare you for the purpose of discrediting me and all I represent.
LE DIX: Which is?
JULES; The threat to everything you represent! The threat to your very existence by the revelation of your sins! (He pauses, then laughs.) Oh, God, I sound like a fanatic! (Pause.) Why, Uncle Claude, why, why?
(MAMMALOU enters carrying a three-foot-high working model of a guillotine. She sets it on the table before FRECHETTE, who Zaresses it.)
FRECHETTE: (Croons.) Ahh, the lovely maiden. (He speaks to the guillotine.) And now, my dear, I offer you the client. (He takes a long French bread, slams it down vigorously on the bascule ..a slab that is upright, but tilts to horizontal when the condemned is laid on it and places his head in position beneath the blade... releGses the spring which sends the blade hurtling down to chop off a slice of bread. As soon as the blade lands, there is a Blackout and FRECHETTE squawks his loud cluck-cluck.)
Scene II
(Later.)
FRECHETTE: (To JULES.) So you see. every step must be taken with dispatch. To falter, to hesitate in the slightest would only,serve to instill excess anguish to the client's condition and that would be…
LE DIX: Reprehensible.
MAMMALOU: Inhumane.
FRECHETTE: Unprofessional! One must act with absolute authority. Once the official decree is given us we repair to Sante prison. We check the maiden to make certain she is resting level. We bathe her with the finest oil. We test the fall of her blade and then we wait-the goddess of justice and her servants-we wait until dawn.
LE DIX: Everything is done with the utmost consideration for the condemned. After all, his fate is sealed.
MAMMALOU: There is no need to be unduly cruel.
LE DIX: Just before the first rays of sun slide over the east wall, two warders in their stockinged feet silently approach the prisoner's cell.
FRECHETTE: His last moments of sleep must not be disturbed. Suddenly…
LE DIX: They fling open the door and seize the prisoner.
MAMMAMOU: He is blissfully confused. He asks himself.
FRECHETTE: "Is this real, or am I dreaming?"
LE DIX: The chaplain and the officials who have waited outside in the corridor enter the cell. The prison director speeks the traditional words.
FRECHETTE: "Your appeal has been rejected. Be brave."
LE DIX: The prisoner smokes a cigarette, drinks a glass of rum.
FRECHETTE: Writes a letter. There is no hurry. From the chaplain he may receive.
MAMMALOU: If he wishes, prayer.
LE DIX: Benediction.
FRECHETTE: Consolation.
MAMMALOV: Or such comfort as the chaplain can provide.
FRECHEM: He is brought to us in the records office. We attend to his toilette: clip the hair from the back of his neck; cut away the upper part of his shirt. Nothing must obstruct the final fall of the blade.
LE DIX:'The prisoner signs his record sheet.
MAMMALOU: Beneath his signature, the director writes.
FRECHETTE: Handed over to Monsieur the Executioner for carrying out of the sentence.
LE DIX: Monsieur de Paris initials the document. The condemned no longer belongs to the prison authorities. He is the property of.
(Just as FRECHETTE speaks, they all point at JULES.)
FRECHETTE: The executioner!
JULES: Animals!
MAMMALOU: At is not finished.
LE DIX: Not yet. Not until we assist the condemned.
FRECHETTE: Who is hobbled by the cords around his ankles.
MAMMALOU: Which force him to walk with difficulty the short distance to the machine.
FRECHETTE: The maiden!
LE DIX. All this is done with the utmost courtesy.
FRECRETTE: Now, we act quickly. (He uses a piece of bread to represent the condemned.) With split second timing-thrust him against the bascule. It tips him into position. The lunette circles his neck. Press the lever. The blade falls. Head drops into bucketbody tips into basket. Justice is served!
(LE DIX takes the bread that was cut and offers it to JULES.)
LE DIX: Take a bit of bread.
MAMMALOU: Drink a glass of wine.
JULES: I'll be damned before I take your unholy communion.
LE DIX: Very romantic, the religious metaphor.
FRECHETTE: Not accurate. For generations she has been, "The Maiden."
JULES: My God, uncle, it's bbscene the way you caress that thing as if it were a ... a female.
FRECHETTE: It wasn't I who christened her. You can see that whenever you insert the male between her legs how the blood flows.
LE DIX: The eternal virgin.
MAMMALOU: She is many things, but she is not a woman. She hasn't the warmth of a woman's bodythe heat you feel between a woman's legs--the gratification....
FRECHETTE: She is the ultimate satisfaction.
LE DIX: Shall we say at least, the ultimate?
JULES: Christ! I don't believe it! You speak of murder.
FRECHETTE: Justice!
JULES: Murder! The ritual killing of a human being in the same blithe context as you would speak of an act of sex.
LE DIX: Is that so unusual?
MAMMALOU: (Goes close to JULES.) You are right, mon cher, it is profane to confuse the two. A man's duty is one thing: he performs it for the benefit of others, but a man's sex life is meant to be purely for his own pleasure.
LE DIX: And a woman's only duty is to afford a man his pleasure, eh, Mammalou? (She puts her arm around JULES' waist.)
FRECHETTE: Spider! Must you consume everything within your web?
MAMMALOU: I have abstained for too long, living off dead flies and dried fruit.
LE DIX: Ahh, but vintage wine is not to be sneered at.
(JULES pulls himself free Irom MAMMALOU'S arms and begins laughing loudly. They all stop and stare. Each time JULES looks at one of them, his laughter increases. He reels around the room laughing, holding his sides, kissing the others on the check, shaking their hands. Soon his laughter becomes infectious and the others are laughing as well. Suddenly. after the laughter has built to a crescendo, JULES stops laughing, and shouts.)
JULES: What's so damned funny?
FRECHETTE; Jules, this is no time for jokes.
JULES: It's the only way I'm able to deal with you. Suddenly, with you, I'm an object ... a piece of dough to be pushed, lumped, manipulated for your own purposes without the least consideration for mine. And I allow you to do it.... Why?
MAMMALOU: (Brightly.) You enjoy it.
LE DIX: I believe the question was rhetorical. (To JULES.) Continue . . . please?
JULES: Ahh, what's the use!
LE DIX: No, no, my dear Jules, you are absolutely right! Please accept my apologies.
FRECHETTE: And mine.
MAMMALOU: Mine too. (There is a long silence.) Well, why! Why did you allow it?
JULES: (Quickly, without thought.) I was fascinated!
(MAMMALOU hisses triumphantly.)
LE DIX: Well, now that that's over with, we can get down to business.
FRECHETTE: Yes, yes, we must never lose sight of the job. Mammalou, bring in the justice box. (She exits.)
JULES: Whatever it is, this justice box, will not persuade me.
LE DIX: I assure you, you will be persuaded, but not by the justice box.
FRECHETTE: That is not its function.
LE DIX: The justice box does exactly what its name implies.
FRECHETrE: It contains justice! (MAMMALOU enters carrying a flat silverware box. She hands it to FRECHETTE, who holds it carefully on his lap. He opens the box and takes out a gleaming trapezoidal shaped blade that is used on the guillotine. He holds the blade aloft-proudly.) Justice!
JULES: Your deranged idea of justice.
LE DIX: Look closely at the blade. The word is engraved on it.
MAMMALOU: In Latin.
FRECHTETTE: Justitia! (He brings the blade down with a slashing motion and clucks.) The finest steel.
LE DIX: Tempered with mercy.
JULES: Murder. I still say murder.
LE DIX: Call it what you will, I am weary arguing the semantics, only this I promise you-it will be done.
JULES: Not by me nor by.
LE DIX: Anyone? You are mistaken. I would prefer it be done by you for obvious political reasons.
JULES: What, no sentiment for my uncle's feelings?
LE DIX: It will be done.
JULES: And I repeat, it will not. (LE DIX and JULES stare defiantly at each other for some moments.)
MAMMALOU: Impasse!(Pause.)
LE DIX: I will strike a bargain with you.
JULES: You have nothing to offer but the revocation of Bleyer's execution.
LE DIX: That I cannot do.
JULES: Therefore, you have nothing to offer.
LE DIX: Don't be hasty. There is always some point that can be negotiated.
JULES: What's your proposition?
LE DIX: First, let me tell you that I am aware of your political role in this affair and…
JULES: My concern is purely with the immorality of this intended execution.
LE DIX: I know that you have a following large enough to be bothersome.
JULES: More than bothersome, I promise you.
FRECHETTE: What is this? What are you talking about?
LE DIX: Your nephew is the leader of the student movement opposed to the execution of Bleyer.
FRECHETTE: Jules? Never!
LE DIX: Their opposition, along with a handful of intellectuals.
JULES: And artists and working people and journalists and.
LE DIX: Yes, yes, they had brought sufficient pressure to bear to make the government hesitate before it would pass sentence.
MAMMALOU: Jules, I would never have guessed.
FRECHETTE: Why do you do this, Jules?
JULES: Uncle, you are possibly the last person in the world to whom I could explain it.
MAMMALOU: What about me?
JULES: (Caresses her cheek.) Dear Mammalou, if my uncle doesn't know the difference between a moral and an immoral act, how could I possibly explain it to you who are totally amoral?
MAMMALOU: How smug of you to accuse me.
JULES: Evaluate....
MAMMALOU: Tell me I'm without morals. I suppose you think that makes you better than the rest of us.
JULES: I suppose it does.
LE DIX: Where were we?
JULES: In mutual disagreement.
LE DIX: Not entirely. I had made some concession that you could cause a degree of trouble.
JULES: Enough so that you would like me out of the way.
LE DIX: My purpose is to win you over to our side.
JULES: Impossible.
LE DIX: Hear my bargain. I will not interfere with any of your plans to prevent the execution.
JULES: You promise to keep hands off no matter what tactics we use?
LE DIX: You have my word.
JULES: Provided.
LE DIX: Provided you perform three simple tasks.
JULES: What? Only three? I would have thought there'd be at least twelve.
LE DIX: Nothing so Herculean. The first task is to attend the late president's daughter.
JULES: Calculated to elicit my sympathy. Done!
LE DIX: The second is to visit the criminal Bleyer.
JULES: Calculated to enjeinder my hatred. Done!
LE DIX: And the third ... the third is to carry with you at all times, until the execution... (He takes the justice box'and offers it to JULES.) the justice box! (JULES doesn't take it.) Why do you hesitate? Surely you are not intimidated by an inanimate object?
JULES: Calculated to familiarize me with the instrument of death.
LE DIX: Is it a bargain? (LE DIX extends his hand. JULES takes it and shakes it once, hard.)
JULES: Done!
(Blackout.)
Scene III
(Seated at a small cafe table are OSCAR dnd FRANCOZSE. OSCAR is sketching a anti-government poster on a large pad. FRANCOISE is working out a timetable for a demonstration and strike.)
OSCAR: Come on, let's go.
FRANCOISE: There isn't time.
OSCAR: I'm ready to burst.
FRANCOISE: You won't. Jules will be here any mintue.
OSCAR: You've been saying that since we got here. We could've been laid three times by now.
FRANCOISE: This is more important.
OSCAR: Nothing is more important.
FRANCOISE: We may very well be the determining factor in the overthrow of the government and you sweat like a rutting goat.
OSCAR: I can't help it, Francoise. When I'm near you my lust boils through every pore.
FRANCOISE: Oh, stop pretending you're an ignorant animal.
OSCAR; I am an ignorant animal.
FRANCOISE: No, you're not.
OSCAR: You're right, I'm not. (LE DIX enters with a beauW girl in her early twenties. They squeeze past OSCAR and FRANCOISE with an apology and stand to the side in the shadows. The GIRL appears nervous. LE DIX takes out a pill box and offers her a pill which she immediately swallows, After a moment, she seems calmer.) All I know is that governments come and go, but sex is constant and necessary.
FRANCOISE: What time is it?
OSCAR: It's late. Let's go. (FRANCOISE signals the WAITER.)
FRANCOISE: Two more coffees, please. (The WAITER nods and exits.)
OSCAR: Jesus, Joseph and Mary! You are stubborn!
FRANCOISE: I don't want to. I simply don't want to. Can't you understand that?
OSCAR: No.
FRANCOISE: My mind wouldn't be on it.
OSCAR: Your mind has nothing to do with it.
FRANCOISE: You think everyone has sex as a matter of course with nothing to interfere. Just pop into bed or behind a bush and that's it.
OSCAR: But of course, that's it. Otherwise you're talking about those poor repressed people.
FRANCOISE: Oscar, take my word for it, I wouldn't enjoy it. Besides, I think I'm falling mi love with Jules.
OSCAR: Oh, well, Christ, why didn't you say so? I Wouldn't have wasted all this time. I would have called Brigitte or Jeanne or ... but damnit, they don't have your intelligence. (The WAITER brings the coffee.) Bring me a whiskey. (The WAITER leaves. FRANCOISE gives OSCAR a reproving look.) Don't worry, my head will be clear for Jules.
FRANCOISE: Maybe later tonight, after the meeting, we can, I mean for old times' sake....
OSCAR: If I'm still in the mood. (77tey drink their coffee. JULES enters carrying the justice box. He shakes OSCAR's hand, kisses FRANCOISE's cheek and sits center, facing the audience. He hasn't noticed LE DIX, who exits with the GIRL. The WAITER comes on with OSCAR's whiskey. He questions JULES.)
WAITER: What would you like?
JULES: Nothing.... (WAITER turns to go; JULES stops him.) Ah, bring me a dry vermouth, (The WAITER.shrugs his shoulders wearily and exits.)
FRANCOISE: Well, when do we make our move? My people are ready.
OSCAR: So are mine, What are you lugging in that case, explosives?
JULES: Justice.
OSCAR: Ah, the propaganda. What do you think of this poster design?
FRANCOISE: Look at these schedules I've worked out.
JULES: Wait, wait a minute. There's been a change in the plan. (Pause.) I have an appointment to meet the President's daughter. (Pause.)
OSCAR: No one's seen her for years. The rumors were that she was in a convent or a hospital because she was crippled ... and things like that.
JULES: I'll soon find out. (The WAITER brings JULES' drink and exits.)
FRANCOISE: What's she to do with us?
JULES: I'm not entirely sure yet, but I have to meet her. It's all part of an agreement. (He pats the justice box.) So is this. I have to carry it with me everywhere. Look. (He opens the box and they peer in, fascinated.)
FRANCOISE: My God!
OSCAR: Fantastic! Is that what I think it is? (JULES nods.)
FRANCOISE: Where did you get it?
OSCAR: Is it the real thing? (JULES nods.) Where did you get it? (JULES leans forward conspiratorially. They lean forward.)
JULES: (Whispers.) I've been secretly chosen by the government to be the executioner of Bleyer. (They react with shocked silence.) And I think I'll accept the job. (Pause.)
OSCAR: Is that the actual blade you're going to kill him with?
JULES: I'm not going to execute him, you clown. All I said was that I was chosen to do the job. But if I were going to chop off his head, yes, this is the very blade.
OSCAR: Let me hold it. (He takes it on his lap. FRANCOISE reaches out to touch it.)
FRANCOISE; God! it's almost unreal. I've seen pictures of it in books and films. . . .
OSCAR: It's heavy. Has it ever been used before?
JULES: Yes, many times. It even has a name. See, it's inscribed in Latin.
FRANCOISE: Justice!
OSCAR: I suppose it'll have to sharpened.... Now that you have the blade and accepted the position.
JULES: I haven't told them I've decided to accept.
FRANCOISE: Well then.
JULES: I wanted to talk it over with you first.
FRANCOISE: (To OSCAR.) Put it back. (OSCAR replaces the blade.)
JULES: If I take the job it puts us in the advantageous position because this way they'll have to let me know exactly when the execution will take place.
FRANCOISE: That's true. No one on the outside ever knows when they're going to do it.
JULES: That leaves us two possibilities.
OSCAR: Either you execute Bleyer or you don't!
JULES: Precisely!
FRANCOISE: You couldn't take the life of a man in cold blood. It's the very thing we're against,
JULES: No, no, you're jumping ahead. Oscar is on the right track. We must follow the argument to its logical conclusion.
OSCAR: Which tactic will justify our goals?
FRANCOISE: That's too arbitrary ... too....
JULES: Fascistic.
FRANCOISE: Yes!
JULES: Francoise is right. It's a question of morality we're dealing with, but! there is also a question of reality. As it has been made quite clear to me, someone will execute Bleyer.
OSCAR: Therefore, is it better to have a martyr for the cause or a ... a what, Jules?
JULES: A free and living Bleyer.
OSCAR: An escape!
FRANCOISE: Do you think we can pull it off?
JULES: We must! If there's any possibility to save him, it's our obligation. That's been our purpose from the beginning-the preservation of the sanctity of human life.
FRANCOISE: Bravo, Jules!
OSCAR: Christ, how exciting! A romantic adventure.
FRANCOISE: The three musketeers!
OSCAR: All for one and one for all!
JULES: We will capture the imagination of all France!
FRANCOISE: Europe!
OSCAR: ... all the World!
(Blackout.)
Scene IV
(A fashionable sitting room. JULES is seated on a small divan. Opposite him. seated on the edge of a small upholstered chair, FRANCOISE seems poised for flight. Between them is a low table with a silver coffee service, cups for two and a plate of petit fours. OSCAR is studying an oil painting.)
OSCAR: This Corot is the real thing. All the paintings are.
JULES: What did you expect?
OSCAR: I don't know. I guess you're right.
FRANCOISE: Let's leave.
JULES: Don't you want to meet the President's mysterious daughter?
FRANCOISE: No, I think what you … what we are doing is wrong.
OSCAR: What? Have you changed your mind so soon?
FRANCOISEi Yes. I have an uneasy feeling. I think we're making a mistake. I think we should go back to the original plan.
OSCAR: But that's so . . . ordinary! We have a general strike. All works stops. We call for an election to overthrow the regime. It's been done so many thmes.
JULES: I know that the new plan sounds dangerous, but it's really quite simple.
OSCAR: And in many ways more reliable.
JULES: I don't give in to Le Dix until after meeting with Bleyer.
OSCAR: That way Le Dix thinks that Jules was finally convinced by meeting the bloody criminal.
JULES: On the morning of the execution there will only be a few of us at the guillotine-unarmed.
OSCAR: Except for Jules and myself.
JULES: And I'll be in charge. The guillotine itself is in a narrow courtyard right near the side gate to the prison.
OSCAR: outside the gate our own people will be waiting in a police van.
JULES: Just as we reach the guillotine, I cut Bleyer's ropes.
OSCAR: That's my signal to pull my gun.
JULES: We open the side gate and whisk Bleyer away in the police van, bells clanging.
OSCAR: Heroes of France.
FRANCOISE: Three criminals instead of one. I don't like it.
JULES: Originally you were very enthusiastic. Besides, I've given Le Dix my word.
FRANCOISE: Renege! They always do, don't they?
JULES. Then he would have us at a disadvantage.
FRANCOISE: He's playing with us. I can feel it.
OSCAR: Feel, feel! Why must you always be so pessimistic?
FRANCOISE: Cynical.
JULES: Frightened.
FRANCOISE: That too. Why are we kept sitting here so long? No one has showed himself since we were let in.
OSCAR. We're probably being kept under observation.
FRANCOISE: You joke, but I feel that too.
OSCAR: Again feel! Well, I'll tell you how I feel. I feel excited, optimistic and sexy.
JULES: Tell us something new.
OSCAR: And I feel hungry so I'll help myself to a cookie. . . , (He pops one in his mouth.) And I feel thirsty so I'll have a coffee. Who'll join me?
FRANCOISE: That's another thing. There is only service for two. I don't think they want Oscar and me to stay.
(LE DIX strides into the room.)
LE DIX: You are perfectly correct, mademoiselle, although you don't have to rush off this instant. I am Fernand Le Dix.
JULES: What are you doing here?
LE DIX: What are they doing here?
JULES: They're my colleagues. This is....
LE DIX: Yes, yes, but they weren't part of the agreement. Are you at least carrying the justice box? (JULES picks it up from behind the divan.) Good, good.
OSCAR: Monsieur Le Dik haven't we met someplace before?
LE DIX: Is that so important, young man?
OSCAR: These things have a way of nagging at you. Something tells me you're a treacherous man.
LE DIX: Quite the opposite. I've always been a faithful man.
FRANCOISE: To what?
LE DIX: The government.
FRANCOISE: Since I was born there have been at least six governments. Have you been faithful to all of them'7
LE DIX: You outsiders always think of the government as the elected officials-those who are immediately visible. But, my government is that of the men who police the streets; the men who supply the water and power; the little cl6rks who issue the licenses.... That is the true government-the one to which I've been faithful.
FRANCOISE: He's more dangerous than I thought.
OSCAR: Monsieur Le Dix, what do you expect to accomplish by making Jules go through these tasks?
LE DIX: Surely, he's confided in you,
FRANCOISE: I think there's more to it than that.
LE DIX: Of course there is.
OSCAR: Don't worry, Francoise, Jules will never do it. I'll tell you what. To show you how much faith I have in him, I pledge that if Jules agrees to be the executioner, I volunteer to act as his assistant ... without pay! By the way, Le Dix, do executioners get paid by the head?
JULES: Now I'm double challenged to maintain my principles. My manly integrity is at stake. I must uphold it at all costs.
OSCAR: I stand foursquare behind you.
FRANCOISE: Stop it! Stop treating this as if it were a game. See how callous you've become in so short a time. (To JULES.) Carrying that grisly object around with you-these meetings-I don't like it one bit.
JULES: Please stop worrying.
FRANCSOISE: (Pointing to LE DIX.) He makes me worry.
OSCAR: You underestimate Jules.
FRANCOISE: You underestimate Le Dix. I'm afraid he's cleverer than Jules.
(LE DIX bows to FRANCOISE.)
tE DIX: Thank you for the compliment.
JULES: (Bows to FRANCOISE.) Thank you for the aspersion.
FRANCOISE: I didn't mean to be disparaging. It's just that I don't trust such a devious man.
LE DIX: Mademoiselle, messieurs, we must discontinue our little social. Time is growing short. .
JULES: Well, trot out the girl and let's get on wii it.
LE DIX: As soon as your friends leave.
JULES: But they're in this with me, at least Oscar is. (OSCAR clicks his heels and snaps a salute.)
OSCAR: All the way, mon capitain.
JULES: He's entitled to meet the young lady.
LE DIX: Another time.
OSCAR: Rejected again. One crushing blow after another. My ego is losing its resiliency.
LE DIX: Perhaps your lovely companion will help it bounce back.
OSCAR: An excellent suggestion!
FRANCOISE: Jules, won't you come with us?
JULES: (With mock shock.) Really, Francoise, a menage a trois? ... Go along with Oscar. I'll see yoti later.
FRANCOISE: Be careful. Be careful.
JULES: (Assumes a fencing pose.) I'll keep my guard up. (They exit.) All right, Le Dix, play your next card.
LE DIX: That would be the Queen.
JULES: Of trumps, no doubt.
LE DIX: Which needs at least a King to best her.
JULES: In this particular game, I believe a Knave has already turned that trick. .
LE DIX: That would indeed make it a strange game.
JULES: Shall we stop shuffling and lay our cards 'on the table'?
LE DIX: Quite right. It's time I dealt. Excuse me. (He exits.)
(JULES stands about indecisively. He adjusts his jacket, then runs his fingers through his hair to straighten it. He spots the justice box on the floor near the divan and goes to it, kneels. opens it slowly, touches it as if to make certain that it's real and not a dream.
LE DIX enters with the GIRL from the cafe. JULES quickly shuts the box and jumps to his feet. LE DIX and the GIRL cross to him.)
LE DIX: Mademoiselle Delphine--Monsieur Jules.
(DELPHINE extends her hand. JULES takes it, starts to bend over as if to'kiss it, feels awkward and unsure of himself, changes his mind. straightens up, forces himself to took the girl in the eye and gives her hand one strong shake.)
JULES: How do you do, mademoiselle? (She puts her other hand on his so that she is holding his hand in both of hers.)
DELPHINE: I do quite well, thank you. How do you manage?
JULES: Rather awkwardly, I'm afraid.
DELPHINE: I would never have expected it.
LE DIX: Well, I see that you two -shall get along without me. I'll speak to you both soon.
DELPHINE: (A quick note of anxiety in her voice.) Soon? How soon Will that be? I haven't any ... tonic in the house
LE DIX: Ah. yes. (He takes a pill box out of his pocket and opens it.) I have two tablets, left. That should hold you over. (He gives her the pill box.)
DELPHINE: (To JULES.) They are for my nerves, I've been rather on edge lately.
LE DIX: Until we meet again. (He exits.)
(DELPHINE and JULES silently try to size each other up without being too obvious.)
DELPHINE: Sit down, please. Coffee?
JULES: Yes, thank you. (She pours a cup for him and one for herself.)
DELPHINE: A cookie? (She passes the plate. He accepts one.)
JULES: Thank you. (He nibbles cookie and sips coffee.) What do you think of my being here?
DELPHINE: I hadn't expected you to be so attractive.
JULES: I didn't know what to expect. You've always been something of a mystery.
DELPHINE: I've never thought of myself as a mystery.
JULES: Of course not. You always knew who you were.
DELPHINE: I've never been that definite. Have you?
JULES: Ah! You mean a sense of identity-that kind of knowing who you are.
DELPHINE: I'm never with people my own agenot for any length of time. What has Le Dix told you about me?
JULES: Nothing.
DELPHINE: He's told you nothing ... at all?
JULES: Nothing. What has he told you about me? What are your plans?
DELPHINE: I'm going to return to America-to Hollywood. I shall be in films.
JULES: You're a film actress? Yes, I can believe that. You're beautiful enough.
DELPHINE: You don't believe me, do you?
JULES: I just said I did. You're still upset and nervous.
DELPHINE: What do you mean by that?
JULES: Recent events. You said so yourself. Maybe you shouldn't drink the coffee. Take one of those pills.
DELPHINE: It's too soon. (Pause.)
JULES: So that's where you've been, Hollywood. What's it like?
DELPHINE:1 don't want to talk about it.
JULES: Your father was ashamed of your being an actress. I seldomgo to the cinema. I enjoy them, but I seldom go.
DELPHINE: I don't want to talk about it. (Pause.) I saw you and your friends earlier. You looked as if you were having fun.
JULES: Where?
DELPHINE: In the cafe.
JULES: Did you know it was us?
DELPHINE: I don't remember. I took a pill.
JULES: All right. (Pause.) What's your next move?
DELPHINE: Move?
JULES: How are you going to persuade me? What feminine wiles are you going to employ?
DELPHINE: You said I was beautiful. Did you mean it?
JULES: Absolutely! Yes, yes, you're very beautiful.
DELPHINE: I'm glad. That will make our being together easier.
JULES: Ahh, if you're going to seduce me to win me over, I won't mind at all.
DELPHINE: Win you over? To what?
JULES: To your side. Oh, come on, you don't have to be that mysterious. I was enchanted by you from the first moment.
DELPHINE: Would you kiss me? (JULES, momentarily taken aback, nods dumbly. He approaches DELPHINE hesitantly, places his hands on her shoulders and hisses her lightly on the lips. She draws against his chest; they embrace and kiss more passionately.) Thank you.
JULES: Thank you.
DELPHINE: Do you believe that you are the first boy I've ever kissed like that?
JULES: No.
DELPHINE: I wish you would. Please?
JULES: A girl like you...a filmactress.
DELPHINE: Never mind about that! That has nothing to do with it. It's easy for you to say things like that.
JULES: No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I wouldn't offend you for the world. Forgive me?
DELPHINE: Let's do something!
JULES: Anything! Name it!
DELPHINE: Take me to the cafe. The one you were at with your friends.. I would like to havefun.
JULES: All right! (He picks up the justice box.)
Would you like to meet them? They're a lot of fun. Especially Oscar.
DELPHINE: Yes! But not now. Now I want to be with you.
JULES: I was hoping you'd say that. Let's go. (They cross the stage to a cafe table set up with aperitifs.)
DELPHINE: What do you carry in that case?
JULES: Something that is too abstract to be carried in a case.
DELPHINE: And yet you carry it?
JULES: Only because others insist that it's Eangible.
DELPHINE: May I see? (He opens the box. She looks inside, then runs her hand across the blade.) What is it?
JULES: Justice.
DELPHINE: It looks clumsy.
JULES: No, actually, it's quite brilliantly designed. This concrete form is much more efficient than its abstract sister. The trapezoidal shape makes the cleanest cut. And it's beautifully machined. Almost a work of art. Yes, in its own way it's quite beautiful.
DELPHINE: Is that why you carry it?
JULES: No, I promised Le Dix.
DELPHINE: He gets people to do anything he wants.
JULES: I won't be carrying it around much longer. Does he get you to do what he wants?
DELPHINE: None of your business.
JULES: I'm sorry.
DELPHINE: That's all you ever say, "I'm sorry."
JULES: I was joking. About Le Dix, I mean.
DELPHINE: I don't want to talk about him. Why should you care anyway?
JULES: Well ... I just do.
DELPHINE: I thought -we were going to have fun.
JULES: We will!
(As the lights dim down on JULES and DELPHINE, the lights go up on FRECHETTE'S apartment. FRECHETTE is sitting alone at the table with his wine and cheese. The model of the guillotine is still on the table. LE DIX and MAMMALOU are in the next room. We hear MAMMALOU intermittently la4ghing and groaning.)
FRECHETTE: Listen to 'ern grunt, grunt, heave, heave. The old cow. Sounds like she can barely lift her ass off the sheets. I'll bet he's sweating plenty. He may be able to climb five flights. of stairs, but everyone has his limits. You reach a certain age, you have to learn yourlimits. (Calling off.) Have you reached your limit yet, Le Dix? Ha. ha, ha, ha. The conceited ass! Wasting his time with Mammalou, when he should be concentrating on Jules. . . . They've been in there a hell of a long time. Ha, ha, ha, ha, you reach a certain age you have to take plenty of rests in between. Maybe he thinks I believe he's been going all that time. Ahh, who cares? LeVern do what they want. We're none of us angels. He knew her before I did . . . even introduced me to her. She wasn't a virgin then, so why should I care now? ... Who'd she decide to stay with anyway? With me, Claude Frechette! So who does that make the better man? If not for this damned arthritis . . . These women are never satisfied. (Caresse's guillotine.) Not even you, my sweet, my insatiable maiden always with your mute appeal for more and more. Well, don't you worry. Soon another
Frechette will thrust a lover between your sturdy legs and for a while at least you can rest. . . Nevertheless, it was gauche of Fernand to do it here, right under my nose. . . even though he did ask my consent. My consent! What difference would that make? It's all up to her, the whore! At least she could have suggested going someplace else. There are plenty of inexpensive hotels in this neighborhood . . . and they're clean! I know her excuse, "I can't leave you alone, mon vieux chien. What if you should need something? What if there were an emergency?" Emergency! ... And I'm sick and tired of being called an old dog! (Picks up bottle and slams it on the table.) This bottle is finished! This bottle is finished!
(Blackout.)
(Lights come up on JULES and DELPHINE.)
JULES: All right, all right, I believe you. You know nothing about me except that I'm a philosophy student. That's all Le Dix told you.
DELPHINE: Yes. Kiss me again. (They kiss.)
JULES* (To himself.) Why would he go to all this trouble? Maybe Francoise was right.
DELPHINE: I wish Le Dix were dead. (She look& around as Lf to see if anyone overheard.) May I tell you a secret, Jules? (He nods.) Swear you won't tell Le Dix?
JULES: I wouldn't tell him the time of day.
DELPHINE: I killed my father. (JULES reacts.) It's true. Do you believe in willing something to happen and it does? Using great, great amounts of will to get your own way? That's how I did it. For years and years and years I hated my father. I wished him to be dead. Every night before I went to sleep I would pray that someone would kW him.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray dear God my wish to keep
That daddy would die before I wake
And make the devil his black soul take! ...
And my will grew and grew until it happened!
JULES: But, but Delphine, those are a child's wishes. The man who killed your father is in Sante prison awaiting execution.
DELPHINE: I know!. I know, damn you, but it was I who made him do it. He should be set free, as free as I am now! Oh, Jules, I love you! Make love to me.
JULES: Yes, yes, of course I'll make love to you ... But first, I think we should rest. It's been a trying day.
DELPHINE:. Oh, Christ. You think I'm crazy. I thought you'd understand. You of all people.
JULES I'm trying to, Delphine, but....
DELPHINE: Do you think it's so crazy to wish my father dead when he'd been doing the very same thing to me and my mother as far back as I could remember?
JULES: It's hard to believe that anyone would want you dead.
DELPHINE: He did because we wanted to live our own lives. My mother was a beautiful and talented woman. She could have been anything she wanted, certainly more than a lifeless mannequin wound up for state functions. "Smile at such and such; don't speak to Ambassador so a nd so; take one sip of white wine, pat the children on the head; smile for the Press, smile adoringly; smile, smile." She hated him. She wanted to get away. She wanted to take me away. She knew that I too had beauty and talent and could be a fine actress, but he wouldn't hear of it. He shut us in tighter and tighter until we were suffocating and she finally died of it, my poor, dear mother. He killed her and he tried to kill me, but I had the last word after all. (A long pause.)
JULES: You've had a hard time, dear, sweet Delphine. Now you should rest. Take a pill and you'll be able to rest. Then we can go some place quiet, perhaps to Montmartre to visit Oscar and Francoise. You'll like them very much ... and they'll like you.
DELPHINE: A pill. Yes. Yes, enough time has passed. I'll take a pill. (She takes one. She continues talking, at first spasmodically and then as the pill takes effect, more calmly until she reaches an almost dreamlike state.) The pills help.... I get upset.... Nerves.. . . Le Dix got them for me.... He tries to help... When I've had a chance to rest, he said held help me.. . . Le Dix knows everyone.... A persuasive man.... Man of connections.... He thinks I'd make a fine actress. He tells me how pretty I am. He touches me. Whenever he talks to me he touches me. But he gives me the pills and I feel better.... When will you take me to see your friends? Sacre Coeur watches over Montmartre like a white queen of India. it is the most beautiful church in the world.... Do you believe in God? I never did. I wasn't sure there was a God in heaven.... I was taken to Notre Dame. . . . We climbed way up to the top to a parapet overlooking all Paris. It was cloudy. It rained earlier in the day. I was looking straight across the city at Sacre Coeur. I wished that the sun would come out.... Suddenly, just at that moment, a shaft of sunlight fell directly on Sacre Coeur. No place else. The white dome blazed like a beacon. I knew there was God. I knew. I knew.
JULES: Yes. Of course. And now we'll go to Montmartre,
DELPHINE: We'll go to the church. We'll visit your friends. You promised.
JULES: I promised and I shall take you to meet my friends Oscar and Francoise.
DELPHINE: Is Oscar an artist?
JULES: Certainly he's an artist. He lives in Montmartre. (JULES stands and helps DELPHINE to her feet. She leans on him, totally dependent, "walking almost trancelike. As they walk, the set lights on OSCAR's apartment. He is sprawled fast asleep on a bed. A sheet covers his naked body from the waist down. Seated on a beat-up rocking chair is FRANCOISE. She's wearing OSCAR's shirt with nothing underneath. She's rocking bach. and forth. lost in thought. JULES and FRANCOISE slowly traverse the stage until they are outside the apartment.)
FRANCOISE: Who is it?
JULES: Jules. (JULES and DELPHINE enter. When he sees the way FRANCOISE is dressed and OSCAR in bed, he mumbles apologetically and turns to leave. FRANCOISE stops him.)
FRANCOISE: No, no, it's all right. Come in.
JULES: You're sure?
FRANCOISE: Don't be silly. (Indicating DELPHINE.) Is this?
JULES: Yes.
FRANCOISE: What's wrong with her? She looks. . . .
JULES: She took a pill. Some sort of tranquilizer. She barely responds.
FRANCOISE: Let's sit her in the chair. (They do so.) She's lovely.
JULES: She asked me to make love to her.
FRANCOISE: Can I get you something? Wine? A cigarette?
JULES: Her bastard father brutalized her.... God knows what Le Dix is doing.... A cigarette. No, a glass of wine, please?
FRANCOISE: (Pours him a glass.) What happened?
JULES: Nothing happened. I expected a seduction, I suppose.
FRANCOISE: You said she asked you to make love to her.
JULES: Yes, but it was as if she were desperate. It had no relevance to why we were together.
FRANCOISE: Are you sure?
JULES: She was so unpredictable.
FRANCOISE: That's to be expected. Her father recently murdered.
JULES: That's what I thought, at first,. but she hated her father. Wanted him dead. She blesses Bleyer. Thinks he should be free.
FRANCOISE: What does she say about Le Dix?
JULES: Very little. She seems afraid to discuss him, but she also depends on him. (Pause.)
FRANCOISE: Did you make love?
JULES: What? Oh. no. Look at her. How could you make love to someone in a state like that? You only want to protect her.
FRANCOISE: She wasn't like that before she took the tranquilizer. Didn't you want to go to bed with her?
JULES: Yes and no. I was somewhat apprehensive. The whole affair felt unwholesome.
FRANCOISE: That wouldn't have stopped Oscar.
JULES: I'm beginning to envy him. He must be a very satisfying lover.
FRANCOISE: Yes. It's good while it lasts, but…
JULES: That isn't enough?
FRANCOISE: No, not for me. Maybe I expect too much. but after we finish, Oscar always rolls over and falls dead asleep and I'm left feeling tentative.
JULES: I wish we had made love.
FRANCOISE: We can.
JULES: Not now.
FRANCOISE: No, a little later.
JULES: Yes, I want to.
FRANCOISE: So do I. With you.
JULES: The last time I was with a girl was years ago, at a party. I was very callow and got drunk. I don't even remember what it was like.
FRANCOISE: Then you come to me as innocent as a virgin.
JULES: Yes, an innocent. Is that good, to have let so much of life go untouched?
FRANCOISE: We shall find out later on.
JULES: It's pointless to worry the past.
FRANCOISE: What happens, happens in its own time.
JULES: My only ambition was to become a teacher, a good teacher. And later in life, when I felt wiseenough, perhaps to write a book on what I had learned. I tried to absorb so much knowedge from books and treatises and ... and now I'm going to learn from you.
FRANCOISE: Yes! And then you'll be a truly splendid teacher!
JULES: I hope so. I hope I can go back to what I was-to what I started out to be.
FRANCOISE: Why not! Of course you can!
JULES: My uncle says I must follow tradition, but my father is a farmer and I wish to to teach. Le Dix says to carry the justice box and I follow his dictates.
FRANCOISE: You still carry that vile thing. Get rid of it!
JULES: Not yet.
(OSCAR disturbed by the noise, wakes up.)
OSCAR: What the hell's going on?
FRANCOISE: Nothing! Jules and I are arguing politics. (OSCAR grunts.) Go back to sleep.
OSCAR: Good night, Jules. (He rolls over and falls asleep.)
JULES: I allow myself to be enveloped in intrigues, but I say I'm only interested in philosophy. Am I deceiving them or only myseif?
FRANCOISE: Get rid of that box and you'll be out of it.
JULES: I must see it through.
FRANCOISE: That thing is like a leech on your soul. It wdl suck the life out of you.
JULES: We must save Bleyer.
FRANCOISE: To hell with Bleyer! Let him be destroyed rather than you.
JULES: (Clutches the box.) Nothing will happen to me. As long as I have this, I hold the power.
FRANCOISE: Please, please give it all up. You don't know what you're getting into.
JULES: What are you so afraid of?
FRANCOISE: That . ... that ... you are a fine marble statue not yet finished and there will be one single, wrong blow and you'll be shattered into iffetrievable pieces.
(There is a long silence. Then, in a little girl's voice. DELPHINE begins to recite. JULES and FRANCOISE turn to her.)
DELPHINE: Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray dear God my wish to keep--
That daddy would die before I wake
And make the devil his black soul take!
(OSCAR sits up.)
OSCAR: Oh, my God.
(DELPHINE stands and walks to JULES as the lights quickly go down.)
Scene V
(Seated at a cafe table are JULES and LE DIX.)
JULES: Tell me honestly, Le Dix.
LE DIX: Anything, my friend.
JULES: Do you really believe in capital punishment?
LE DIX: Absolutely!
JULES: But why? You're an intelligent, well-educated man-you've lived, seen the world.
LE DIX: From many angles.
JULES: And you're completely aware that execution of a criminal has never prevented others from committing murder.
LE DIX: Perhaps. It might have prevented some.
JULES: But generally speaking, this punishment that is calculated to intimidate men from committing murder is a failure.
LE DIX: Not at all.
JULES: It doesn't stop men from killing. The punishment is designed to affect normal men and men who kill don't do it in a normal state of mind.
LE DIX: True, but that doesn't make it a failure.
JULES: You just agreed that it has nothing whatever to do with ordinary psychological processes.
LE DIX: Yes, so far as the murderer is concerned. Conversely, for man to not demand the death penalty in certain cases is also to negate the psychological processes....
JULES: The need for revenge?
LE DIX: Yes, that. It's part of our daily experience. I'm positive you've felt the need to kill....
JULES: Not in the terms you speak of. On my father's farm I've slaughtered animals I raised from birth. I made their blood flow, not with joy, but out of Nature's purpose.
LE DIX: It's just as natural for men to kill other men. There is a drive.
JULES: A madness.
LE DIX: A necessity. An historical imperative, if you will.
JULES: Has not the validity of a moral imperative, which must be categorical.
LE DIX: In the matter of Bleyer, pragmatism takes precedent over your Kantian formalism. We have a need for retribution and it shall be dealt.
JULES: We must remove that need. That's being civilized.
LE DIX: Or frightened. But what if you had nothing to fear? What would you do if you could kill with impunity someone you despised?
JULES: That person would have to be despicable beyond my imagination.
LE DIX: Beyond your imagination? Really? I doubt that.
JULES: Ah! Well, if you mean a tyrant like a…
LE DIX: Couldn't you ever be so outraged by a crime that you would feel the only way to deal with the criminal was to have him killed? That nothing less would suffice?
JULES: I've never had that experience..
LE DIX: If you did, do you admit the possibility that you would feel such an urge?
JULES: Anything is possible. But I would inhibit the urge.
LE DIX: Then, my friend, you are graced with being in a far advanced state of civilization. Unfortunately, most men haven't yet reached that plateau.
JULES: We must lead them to those heights.
LE DIX: Yes, I understand you see that as your elite function. As for myself, I must be more practical. My job is to attend the immediate needs of the people. Right now they demand the execution of Bleyer. That too is a psychological process-the need to delude themselves that they are not impotent bystanders who can do nothing to protect themselves or prevent further atrocities, You believe you can serve the needs
of the people by not acting. Don't you think yours is the greater delusion?
JULES: "Delusion," is your word.
LE DIX: Very well, no more word games.
JULES: At last.
LE DIX: The truth.
JULES: What you claim is truth.
LE DIX: I, Fernand Le Dix. stand for something.
JULES: You stand for yourself-Your own perpetuation and that of your government.
LE DIX: That is a truth-government. The continuum of government; the smooth running of government to prevent chaos.
JULES: Government, government, government.
LE DIX: Are you now suggesting that we don't need government?
JULES: Not your government.
LE DIX: Nor any government?
JULES: Not a government without morality.
LE DIX: And you are the arbiter of morality?
JULES: Yes. As is every citizen of a republic.
LE DIX: On what do you base your moral judgment-me? What do you really know ' about me? Nothing, except what you choose to know: that I am an immoral manipulator of men. Has the possibility ever occurred to you that I am not a monster? Have you ever entertained the thought that I do what I do not for myself, but for the good of others? That I, just as you, would like a world free of killing, free of wars, of disease, deprivation, all the ills of society?
JULES: You're saying that we're cut from the same cloth. And lilacs bloom in the snow.
LE DIX: Anything is possible. You and I have the capacity to govern. We could work together-towards a more perfect world.
JULES: If. . . If I were to join your government.
LE DIX: And had the power…
JULES; And had the power! Your means of governing would have to be changed.
LE DIX: The means are whatever works. Oh, my friend, to change the world takes drudgery. You progress a few inches and you slide back a foot. Sometimes you fly like an eagle, but mostly you slog in the mud. Battles are won by foot soldiers and that's what we are, Jules, like it or not.
JULES: And what is Bleyer, one of your casualties?
LE DIX: Yes.
JULES: Why?
LE DIX: What do you know about him? (Pause.)
JULES: Nothing. The papers were filled with thousands of words that told nothing. All I know is that Bleyer was the President's secretary and one day he killed him by smashing in hig-skull with a paper weight.
LE DIX: And there you have it.
JULES: There's more. I know there's more. What is it?
LE DIX: Ask him yourself.
(The lights come up on BLEYER's cell. JULES enters. BLEYER is sitting on his bunk applying eye drops. JULES waits patiently. Finally he speaks.)
JULES: Monsieur Bleyer? (BLEYER wipes his thick eye glasses before speaking.)
BLEYER: Have you read Proust?
JULES: Some.
BLEYER: I'm trying to complete "Remembrance of Things Past," before I die. I've read "Swann's Way," "Within a Budding Grove," "Guermantes Way," and I'm just reading Volume Three of "Cities of the Plain." That leaves Volume Four of "Cities. . . I ' and two volumes each of "The Captive ... .. The Sweet Cheat Gone" and "Time Regained." It's been my dream to read them all but I've never had the time until I came here. I wonder if I'll have the time now? I doubt it.
JULES: Would you like time regained in actuality, monsieur?
BLEYER: What, an amnesty? Not in my case.
JULES: In a manner of speaking, it can be arranged.
BLEYER: No, no, don't trifle with me. I'm quite prepared to die.
JULES: Are you truly?
BLEYER: Yes, for Jesus' sake, I'm prepared to die for my sins! (Pause.) I would like to finish the Proust before I do.
JULES: If you allow me, I can be your savior.
BLEYER: My salvation lies in heaven... or in hell.' (Pause.) Who are you? Are you with the government? Don't waste my time! I must get back to my books.
JULES: I've been selected to be your executioner.
BLEYER: When ... when is it to be? No. don't tell me! Yes! Tell me! I'm prepared. Will I have enough time to finish?
JULES: I don't know, but
BLEYER: You're lying! Get out!
JULES: Please, let me finish.
BLEYER: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream at you.
JULES: It's all right, I understand.
BLEYER: Do you? Do you really? Oh, that's marvelous. At last, someone who understands. I don't want you to go. I really didn't mean what I said about going. Will you stay? Please?
JULES: Yes, yes of course.
BLEYER: Good! Oh, you're so young! You have a fine face. A lovely face. I'm just a fat old frog. I don't see how you can bear to look at me.
JULES: Monsieur Bleyer, we haven't much time. I must go over our plan with you.
BLEYER: You remind me of a friend. He too has a lovely face, a bit more delicate than yours perhaps, but very much alike in many ways.... Oh, forgive me. I interrupted you. You were saying? (As JULES speaks, BLEYER studies his face intensely.)
JULES: I am not really a professional executioner. . BLEYER pats JULES' knee.)
BLEYER: Of course not. I never thought you were. You're much too young....
JULES- Age has nothing to do with it!
BLEYER: Disposition then. Are you a student?
JULES: Yes, I.
BLEYER: I though so. God. it's nice to have someone intelligent to talk with. None of the jailers speak to me. They hate me. Call me vile names. I'll be well out of it, I assure you.
JULES: That's my purpose in being here. .
BLEYER: I'm not really frightened, you know. I'm a good Catholic.
JULES: You needn't worry about that if…
BLEYER: No, no, my lovely boy, I'm not worried. I will atone for my sins and sweet Jesus will forgive me.
JULES: I keep trying to tell you, if you'll only listen, that you don't have to die. I'm here to save you!
BLEYER: Save me? From what?
JULES - From execution! From being slaughtered like a dumb animal. . . . (JULES snaps open the justice box and takes out the blade. He rises and holds the blade above his head.) With this chopping off your ugly head!
BLEYER: Oh, God, you hate me too. Oh, God, you're like the rest of them
JULES: (Returns the blade to the- box on the floor.) Damn you, Bleyer, listen to me! I don't condone what you did, even though I despised the President as much as you.
BLEYER: Oh, no.
JULES: I'm not going to see you the at the hands of the State.
BLEYER: What! Don't be foolish!
JULES: It's all worked out. It's all arranged.
BLEYER; Unarrange it! I won't permit it!
JULES: Are you mad? Do you want to die?
BLEYER: Yes! Yes! I must find peace. I must rest.
JULES: You'll have plenty of time for that after we get you out of here.
BLEYER: I Must atone for my sins. Don't you understand?
JULES: The deed is clone. There's no undoing it no matter how many times they drop the blade.
BLEYER: You don't -understand. You think it's so simple.
JULES: It is.
BLEYER: Listen to me, listen to me. Oh, God, you're bright and you're lovely, but so naive. What will you save me for? A life of ridicule and shame and hiding? After you've rescued me, who will have me? Have you thought of that?
JULES: Did you think of it before you killed the President?
BLEYER: No, no, God help me, I didn't think of anything. I didn't mean to kill him at all.
JULES * You didn't mean to... ? Then why?
BLEYER: Oooh, you are naive. How sweeL Yet, how were you to know? They did keep it well hidden from the public. They said it was a political assassination. The government must protect itself, mustn't it? Funny how I assumed everyone knew.
JULES: What, for Christ's sake?
BLEYER: Look at me. What do you see?
JULES: Why, unh, why a…
BLEYER: Don't be embarrassed, say it. I'm a fat, ugly homosexual. It's obvious. You can see that, can't you?
JULES: Unh, yes.
BLEYER: Bravo. Everyone knew it, especially the President. After all, I was his confidential secretary. .
JULES: You mean on top of everything else, the President was…?
BLEYER: Queer? No. He had his other deviations, but homosexuality? Not that it showed. He was a great man. We knew each other for years. I fought in the war alongside him.
JULES: You?
BLEYER: My sexual proclivities never hampered my ability to fire a gun or slit an enemy gizzard. I wasn't always old and fat and clumsy. The President knew that. He knew how well I could fight and how loyal I could be. That's why he kept me with him all these years. We had great adventures together. I even saved his life once. God, how I loved him....
JULES: Then how could you kill him?
BLEYER: Sometimes love and hate become confused-it's a danger with intimate relationships. I killed him easily-passionately. It was late in the day. We'd been working since early that morning. I had an appointment with the boy I was telling you about, the one you remind me of. I was very fond of him. It was to be our second time together. I was very anxious to leave, to be with him. I was afraid that if I'd be late he wouldn't wait for me. The President sensed my anxiety. He wouldn't let me go. He insisted that I stay and have drinks with him. He saw how agitated I was becoming and he began to tease me about it. He drank glass after glass of whiskey and forced me to drink. He kept insisting that I would have a better time with him than with an insipid boy. I told him that he didn't know what it was like. I pleaded with him-argued--cajoled. Told him he had no right to torture me this way. faccused him of brutality-insensitivity--melty-of no understanding of what it is to love another man.' I was drunk and so was he. Then he drew himself up from his chair to his full height and shouted down at me, "Bleyer! Show me how it is to love another man! Make me feel it! " With that, he dropped his trousers, turned his back to me and leaned over the desk, exposed. I was shocked. I didn't know what to do, to think. "Come on!" he bellowed, "Stick your little thing in my ass and let's see what all this fuss is about!" I drew closer to him. I didn't dare do anything. He turned his face to me, grinning, "Well, wouldn't you like to screw your old army buddy?" He wasn't looking at me, but he began to laugh, "But remember this, Bleyer, you little fairy, I'm also your President, offering you a rare privilege and you'll have to pay the price. After you finish with me, you'll never be able to do it with anyone else, because I'm going to cut your pecker off!" He laughed uproariously, so I picked up a paperweight and bashed and bashed and bashed in his head. (Long pause.)
JULES: You killed him for that? You killed him for an insult?
BLEYER: Yes! Then I fucked him in the ass! (He slaps'his hand in the crook of his opposite elbow in an obscene gesture.) I fuck them all! (He breaks down and cries.) Oh, God, sweet Jesus, I don't want to live! I don't want to live. (He takes the blade out of the box.) You're going to kill me with this.... (Pause.) You are my own beautiful angel of death. (He takes JULES' face in his hands and kisses him on the mouth. The lights fade.
A few moment# later, the lights come up on JULES and LE DIX in the cell.)
JULES: Very well, Le Dix, I'll do the job.
LE DIX: Good! What made you change your mind?
JULES: I said I'll do it. That's enough.
LE DIX: Not quite. Now that you have accepted the position, you are an official of the government and as such, I must warn you that if you don't fulfill your duty you shall be properly punished.
JULES: Imprisonment?
LE DIX: Or worse.
JULES: That would be ironic, wouldn't it?
(The lights go out. As we hear the voices from offstage. the lights fade up on BLEYER asleep on his cot. For this final scene. the guillotine need not be on stage; it can be played off, with sound and light effects.)
LE DIX: (off.) Just before the first rays of sun slide over the east wall, two warders in their stockinged feet silently approach the prisoner's cell....
FRECHETTE: (off.) His last moments of sleep must not be disturbed. Suddenly. . . .
LE DIX: (off.) They fling open the door and seiie the prisoner.... (BLEYER sits up; startled.)
MAMMALOU: (Off.) He is blissfully confused. He asks himself....
FRECHETTE: (Off.) "Is this real or am I dreaming?"
LE DIX: (off.) The chaplain and the officials enter the cell. (BLEYER rises.) The prison director speaks the traditional words....
FRECHETTE: (off.) "Your appeal has been rejected. Be brave."
LE DIX: (off.) The prisoner is offered a cigarette. . (BLEYER shakes his head-negative.)
MAMMALOU: (off.) A glass of rum.... (BLEYER shakes his head-negative. He kneels before CHAPLAIN.)
FRECHETTE: (off.) From the chaplain he receives.... (Voice of CHAPLAIN begins intoning prayer of absolution.)
MAMMALOU: (off.) Prayer....
LE DIX: (off.) Benediction. . . .
FRECHETTE: (off.) Consolation....
CHAPLAIN: (off.) Misereatur tui omnipotens Dues et dismissis peccatis tuis perducat te ad vitam aeternam. Amen. . . . Indulgentium, absolutionem et remissionem, peccatorurn tuorum tribuat tibi omnipotens et misericors Dominus. Amen. Dominus noster leusus Christus te absolvat, et ego auctoritate ipsius to absolvo ab omni vinculo excommunicationis. suspensionis et interdicti, in quantum possum et tu indiges. Deinde Ego te absolvi a oeccatus tyus ub binube Oatrus et Filli et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
(JULES and OSCAR enter during the prayer. When it is completed, they lift BL E YER to his feet. JULES tears off the collar from BLEYER's shirt. LE DIX enters. presents BLEYER with a document and a pen. BLEYER signs. LE DIX then hands the document to JULES. He hesitates, then signs. LE DIX exits. JULES signals OSCAR to tie BLEYER's feet while he ties his hands. After they tie him, OSCAR indicates that he has his gun ready. JULES nods. They walk BLEYER to the guillotine. Once they are before the machine, they hesitate for a moment, then suddenly, JULES thrusts BLEYER against the bascule which tips the fat man forward and prone beneath the blade. JULES quickly presses down the lever. The blade rushes down with a great thunk.)
(Blackout)
(A spot comes up on JULES. The others enter and take places in pre-set spots. After they speak, their spots go out.)
FRECHETTE: He did what was expected of him.
FRANCOISE: You should have stopped him.
OSCAR: I didn't expect it. It happened so fast.
MAMMALOU: He's spoiled now. He'll never be the same.
LE DIX: Ah, well, now it is over. Society can breathe easily. Who knows, this might have been the final execution.
JULES: The way of it is, there was nothing to stop me. . . . except myself and that wasn't enough. So I killed him. He wanted to die. He was so willing to die. He was irresistible. So I killed him. I loathed his fat, pale perversity. I loathed the ugliness of him; the sweaty smell and touch of him. They gave me the means and the power, so I killed him. He won't be the last to die. There will be other killings because I killed him. If I had not, if I had refused, that might have been an end to it. But I killed him. If I couldn't refuse. if I couldn't stop, then the killing will go on. The killing will continue. The killing will be endless, endless, endless....
(The spot closes more and more to a pinpoint on JULES'face. His features contort insanely and with a grievous inhuman wail. he makes the clucking sounds of FRECHETTE. The spot reduces to black.)
CURTAIN