Journey Through the Impossible (11 page)

A square in Goa, i on the wateont. To the right, the city appears in the form
of an amphitheatre, with mosques, Hindu houses, and tree-shaded villas. To
the left, a hotel with a tent and verandah, and to the right of this a jeweller's
shop. In the background can be seen part of the harbor; with ships, fishing
boats, and in the distance an ocean-going vessel about to leave under half-sail,
flying the British flag. An Englishman, Captain Anderson,' an Officer, a
jeweller; Hindus, porters, and sailors mingle with a crowd of men and children. The crowd moves back and forth over the square, which is closed off at
the end by a balustrade that forms a dock on the harbor: It is broad daylight.

First Hindu: Well, has the terrible monster appeared again?

Jeweller: Not yet, but if it does, I wouldn't give a sequin3 for all the
ships in Goa harbor.

First Hindu: The Indian ocean is definitely not safe any more. I feel
sorry for any ships sailing near our shores.

Voices (in the crowd): There it is! There it is!

First Hindu: No, no, that's only the reflection of the sun on the
horizon.

he excited crowd rushes to the side of the square nearest the harbor:)

Jeweller: That terrible creature will make a lot of trouble for me.
Ships won't dare come into Goa harbor any more. No more ships,
no more travelers. Then what will happen to our business in jewellery and precious stones?

The Englishman (to Captain Anderson): This sea monster is throwing a good many people into a panic, isn't it, captain?

The Officer: But wait a minute. Is it really a sea monster?

Anderson: What else could it be? Many sailors have seen it, and several ships that it attacked just barely escaped. It may even be
responsible for the disappearance of a number of ships that have
been lost without a trace.

The Officer: Oh, I don't deny that there have been catastrophes due
to the presence of a powerful creature that has been appearing on
the surface of the ocean for the past several years. One day it's in
the Atlantic, another day in the Indian Ocean. It seems to have a
prodigious ability to move from place to place.4

Anderson: It's a real danger to navigation. But I have business to discuss with some passengers over there. Will you excuse me, please?

The Officer: By all means, captain, by all means.

(Exit Anderson.)

(Enter Valdemar, coming out of the inn)

Valdemar: Bon voyage, gentlemen. So now they're planning to visit
the bottom of the sea. Well, I won't follow them. I went with them
to the center of the earth. Fine! And I came back, which is even
better! But now I've had enough. I didn't even find anything
there, either in the fire or in the ground. The only thing I brought
back was this (taking a pebble from his pocket)-this stone that hit
me in the back. It's cluttering up my pocket for no good reason.
I'm not going to carry it around any longer.

(He throws it onto the ground, accidentally hitting the foot of the jeweller as he comes out of his shop.)

The Jeweller: Ouch! What's this?

Valdemar: Excuse me, sir. It's a stone that I dropped.

The Jeweller (annoyed): A stone, sir, a stone?

Valdemar: Yes. Look. It's a rather unusual stone, in fact. I brought it
back from the center of the earth.

(Shows it to him)

The Jeweller: From the center of the earth, did you say? (examining
the stone, aside) But ... No, I'm not mistaken. This pebble ... Can
it really be? ... It's a ... Yes, it's a precious stone.

Valdemar: A precious stone! If you think it's worth anything, what
would you give me for it?

The Jeweller: I'd give you ... I'd give you ... two hundred sequins.
How does that sound?

Valdemar (with a surprised laugh): Two hundred sequins for that? Ha!

The Jeweller: Will you take it?

Valdemar (laughing): You're making fun of me. Come, now. This
stone? Two hundred sequins?

The Jeweller (aside): He knows what it's worth. (Aloud) All right,
then. My offer is ...

Valdemar: Is a joke.

The Jeweller: That's right. Just a little joke.

Valdemar: That's what I said.

The Jeweller: Seriously, though, I'll give you ten thousand sequins
for it.

Valdemar (angrily): Ten thousand! Ah! Now you're really making fun
of me sir, and I won't stand for it.

The Jeweller: Forgive me, your lordship, forgive me. Don't be angry.
I see that you know perfectly well what your rough diamond is
worth, and I am prepared to give you....

Valdemar (taking back the diamond): What did you say? My what?

The Jeweller: Your rough diamond.

Valdemar (very agitated): My diamond. My rough diamond. It's a diamond, and still in the rough. All right, now. Let's understand each
other. You're telling me that this is really a diamond?

The Jeweller: You mean you didn't know?

Valdemar: I hadn't the faintest idea.

The Jeweller (in a loud voice): He didn't know!

Valdemar: You're the one who told me just now. (Shakes his hand.)
Thank you, thank you. You're an honest jeweller. It's a diamond!
A diamond that you will buy for....

The Jeweller: For five hundred thousand sequins. There! Do we
have a deal?

Valdemar: It's a diamond! And what a size! A diamond that I've been
offered five hundred thousand sequins for. That means it must be
worth a million, at least. (He dances) Tra deri dera deri deri dera.

The Jeweller: Have you decided not to sell it?

Valdemar: Oh I'll sell it, all right. I'll sell it in Europe, in France.

The Jeweller: In France!

Valdemar: My fortune will be made. And what a fortune! Ah! My
dear little Babichok, my faithful fiancee, waiting for me back
there, with cousin Finderup. Now I'll marry you, with cousin....
I'll marry you right away, by telegram. You'll be so happy! You can
stop worrying that I'll be poor. And cousin Finderup. How
delighted he will be! I'm rich! Rich! Rich! (He dances) Tra deri
dera deri dera dera. If Tartelet could see me now. And with my
toes pointing out. Ah! What joy! What happiness!

The Jeweller (aside): He's going out of his mind!

Valdemar: My friend, is there a telegraph office in this town?

The Jeweller: Yes, and it has a line to Europe.

Valdemar: I can send a message, then?

The Jeweller: Of course.

Valdemar: And if I paid ten times, or a hundred times the price of the
message, would I get an answer right away?

The Jeweller: Very likely.

Valdemar: Ah! Babichok! Dear little Babichok! I'm a millionaire! I'm
a millionaire seventeen times over. You'll have carriages and castles and an Indian cashmere shawl. (To the jeweller) There must be
Indian cashmere shawls in India?

The Jeweller: Splendid ones. They come from Paris.

Valdemar: I'll buy nine. The telegraph office. Where's the telegraph
office?

The Jeweller (aside): He's going crazy!

(Enter Anderson)

Valdemar (to Anderson): Excuse me, sir, where's the telegraph office?

Anderson: Over there, to the right.

Valdemar: Thank you, sir. I'm going to send a telegram to Babichok,
sir, to tell her about my fortune.

(He runs out.)

The Jeweller: I missed out on a wonderful deal.

(He goes back into his shop)

(Enter Dr. Ox, coming out of the hotel, followed by George, Tartelet,
and Eva)

Ox: Well, sir, is everything ready for us to come on board your ship?

Anderson: Yes, sir.

George (excitedly): We're about to leave, any minute now. We'll reach
the open sea, and when we're there, doctor.... Ah!

Ox (in a low voice): Silence!

Anderson: My ship makes excellent time, gentlemen, and I have no
doubt that within six weeks I can land you at Valparaiso.5

George: At Valparaiso! Us? Ah!

Eva (looking at him nervously): George!

Ox: We will not be getting off your ship at Valparaiso, sir.

Anderson: But gentlemen, I am going directly from Goa to the coast
of South America, and unless you want to get off in mid-ocean....

Ox: Who knows? In mid-ocean? Perhaps.

George: In mid-ocean! Yes, that's the route we must take, diving
through the water, down to the depths of the abyss.

Eva: George, you're terrifying me.

George (coming out of his reverie): Eva, my dear Eva, don't worry. You
won't have to face these dangers. I don't want you to.

Eva: I'll never be separated from you!

Anderson (aside): I seem to have some peculiar passengers here.

Tartelet (who has been mingling with the crowd, now comes back onstage):
What are these good people saying? They claim there's a sea
monster swimming about in their harbor.

Ox (laughing): A monster?

Anderson: Don't laugh, gentlemen. There really has been a dreadful
creature traveling through the waters of the Indian Ocean for the
past month.

George: Good!

Anderson: What did you say?

George: We'll do battle with it, captain.

Ox: It's some mythical octopus,6 some legendary Kraken.7

Anderson: No, it's a kind of whale, a phosphorescent monster about
two hundred and fifty feet long. It creates a frightful eddy as it
goes, and leaves a dazzling white wake behind it.

Shouts from the crowd: There it is! There it is!

Anderson: They must have caught sight of it just now.

George: Come on. Let's run!

(He goes back upstage with Ox and Anderson. All three cross the dock
at the back of the stage, amongst the crowd.)

Tartelet: Ali! Poor Mr. George gets more and more excited all the
time. Dr. Ox's control over him, with its incomprehensible power,
is only too clearly justified. Now we're left to fend for ourselves.
(Looking around) By the way, what's become of young Valdemar?
Where can he be?

(Eva goes back upstage and rejoins George)

(Enter Valdemar, quickly, from the left.)

Valdemar: Ah! Mr. Tartelet, my dear Mr. Tartelet.

Tartelet: What's the matter, young Valdemar?

Valdemar: The matter? What's the matter? I'm in such a state I can't
talk. I can't say a word, Tartelet, I'm too flustered.

Tartelet: Yes! And when you're flustered, your toes point in. Look.
Just look. Your feet!

Valdemar: This is no time to worry about such nonsense.

Tartelet (hurt): What's that? Nonsense, you say?

Valdemar: Later! I'll do whatever you want then. I'll take lessons
from you at ten sous each, or a hundred francs, or a thousand
francs.

Tartelet: He left his sanity behind in the central fire. His brain is
cooked!

Valdemar: No, it isn't cooked, but it's boiling, its boiling, it's boiling.
Just think. That stone that hit me in the back.

Tartelet: What about it?

Valdemar: It's a diamond. A diamond! It's worth millions!

Tartelet: That's impossible.

Valdemar: I was offered five hundred thousand sequins for it, right here.

Tartelet: Five hundred thousand sequins? Here?

Valdemar: Yes. My dear Mr. Tartelet, I'm a millionaire. Or rather,
we're millionaires.

Tartelet: We're millionaires, did you say? Did you say "we"? Ah, my
friend. Ah, my good friend. You did say "we," didn't you?

Valdemar: Certainly. We're millionaires, Miss Babichok and I.

Tartelet: Ah! Miss Babi.... That's true, of course. Congratulations,
Vladimir. Ah! Now she'll marry you.

Valdemar: Will she marry me! Twice over! So I've just sent a message
to her in Copenhagen, telling her about my good luck and saying
that I'm leaving shortly for Europe. I'm waiting now for her
answer. Can you imagine what her answer will be?

Tartelet: Certainly I can imagine it. You'll be leaving us, then?

Valdemar: Yes, but I'm not a selfish person. I like you, Tartelet.

Tartelet: Thank you.

Valdemar: I'll brighten up the final years of your life, Tartelet. When
you're old, you'll come and spend your last days in our house, in
our castle. It will be a palace.

Tartelet: Old! But I'm old now, my friend, I'm old now.

Valdemar: Oh no, you're not old enough yet, Tartelet. It's your lastyour very last days that I want to brighten up.

Tartelet (aside): He's stupid, but he means well. (Aloud) Dear
Matthew. Point your toes out, my friend, point your toes out!

Valdemar: Yes, professor, yes. Wait a minute! I'm rich! I'm entitled
to point my toes in. See, this is how I want to walk from now on.
(He walks with his toes pointing in) I'll make it the fashion. I'm rich!
And I'm really going to live up to my status from now on. This is
the fashion, the real fashion.

(Enter Captain Anderson)

(A boat large enough to hold seven or eight persons has come up to the dock)

Anderson: Get in! Get in!

(George and Ox get in the boat)

Tartelet: Goodbye, young Valdemar.

Valdemar: Goodbye, then, my dear professor.

(As Tartelet is about to embark, a telegram arrives)

Employee: Mr. Valdemar? Telegram for Mr. Valdemar.