The Haitian Trilogy: Plays: Henri Christophe, Drums and Colours, and The Haytian Earth (13 page)

But he has some spirit. What is this one, a scholar?

These the King’s sons? You can throw them in as extra.

(
They examine
SLAVES
.)

BROKER

I can’t throw in anything extra, I can’t afford it.

GARCÍA

What’s the King’s name?

NEPHEW
(
Checking.
)

Mano.

GARCÍA

They haven’t been branded yet?

BROKER

I don’t want to brand them here.

GARCÍA

I think I have an iron on board. All right, move them on.

I’ll separate them when we get aboard.

(
The
SLAVES
are loaded aboard.
)

BROKER

You’re a hard-bargaining bastard, García.

GARCÍA

I got a sick mother.

(
The
BROKER
pays
GARCÍA
.)

NEPHEW
(
To the
JEW
)

You may go aboard now, señor, and a safe passage.

It is a long voyage, I hope you can endure it.

JEW

That is kind of you, I wish you the same.

Good night, good night, my little friend.

PACO

Sometimes I wish to go back there myself, the Indies.

But I have bad memories. They say half of my people

Are left, and those are dying.
Adiós,
señor.

(
The
JEW
goes aboard.
)

BROKER

Do me a favour once you take charge, García,

Don’t treat them like humans, they’re more valuable …

GARCÍA
(
Ascends steps.
)

I’ll treat them like my sick mother.
Adiós,
Amadeo.

BROKER

Adiós.

GARCÍA
(
Throws coin to
PACO
.)

Look after the girls for me, it’s a long trip.

Ah, where’s Quadrado now, eh? And his catechism?

(
Climbs the steps.
)

Where did you get that nephew from?

BROKER
(
Shouting to ship.
)

It’s his first day here, he’s my sister’s son.

He should be in a monastery, he’s very profound.

(
A
MERCHANT
passes.
)

How is it, friend, did you ship anything?

MERCHANT

One of my ships, that by some ill luck steered

Out of its course from the Canaries this last week,

Ran up against some pirates, Dutch or English.

They say the numbers are increasing, and I know

There’s more of the buzzards hanging on the horizon

And waiting for the fat cargoes to pass by them.

What did you ship today?

NEPHEW
(
Checking.
)

                                             Thirty or so Negroes …

BROKER
(
Hurriedly
)

A few, most of them sickly.

MERCHANT

Troubles, that’s all a man inherits, troubles.

I hope nothing happens to your shipment, Señor Amadeo.

I have had bad luck. I’ll tell you where the profits

Are multiplying now. I have a cousin who’s an armourer,

And you should see the trade he gets; it’s certain

That with this piracy, which the King must resent,

And with this struggle for the possession of the Indies,

There’s a war coming with the English, that’s where the money is.

The sea is an ungrateful business.

BROKER

                                                           I know, I know.

(
Exit
MERCHANT
.)

PACO

Hey, señor, how about my money?

BROKER

Here you are, Paco, is that enough?

(
He throws coins.
PACO
and
BARTOLOME
scramble for them.
)

Come, my profound accountant, take up the furniture.

(
Exit
BROKER
and
NEPHEW
.)

PACO

Why don’t you work another wharf, Bartolome?

BARTOLOME

                                                        Well, half of it, friend, half,

Or would you have me clout you with this crutch?

We’re both victims of civilisation, little savage.

PACO

Go pick up garbage, you sickness.

I earned this fairly, I did work for it,

I’m not a bad singer of vile songs.

WOMAN
(
Calling offstage from tavern.
)

Paco,
¡hola!,
Paco. Where’s the little savage? Paco, come here.

(
She enters, followed by
SOLDIERS
and
WHORES
.)

Inside,
grometto,
or sing us a holy song.

PACO

For money? Then listen. “The Song of Conversion.”

(
Sings.
)

I linger on the darkened pier when the great ships have gone

And curse the Spanish admiral called Cristóbal Colón.

I think of catechisms the grey friars made us learn,

How if I was no Christian child in what great fires I’d burn.

And now that I’m in holy Spain the Church may shut its doors,

For we’re dancing to the fiddles and

The laughter of the whores.

WHORES

Dance, dance, we made some money today!

PACO

The friars in the Indies said that men live differently.

I had not met the merchants with their special piety.

I cannot doubt the friars’ truth, but I have bread to earn,

And anyhow, the Inquisition makes the Jews to burn,

So I left my pagan paradise for civilisation’s shores,

And now you know the difference ’tween

Unjust and righteous wars.

(
Music and dancing.
)

BARTOLOME

The sailors and the conquerors do homage to a queen

And many a Spanish regiment is rotting on the green.

It takes a hundred niggers now to dig the gold we earn,

And I’m too dumb to understand investment and return,

So keep the jewels in the vaults, and pity out-of-doors,

While we’ll dance to the fiddles and

The laughter of the whores.

(
Laughter. Drums beat off.
)

FIRST WHORE

It’s more soldiers, there’s a ship in the harbour.

There’s war in the air, friend.

SECOND WHORE

                                                  And tough times ahead for us.

PACO

Who are they going to fight? I have seen many soldiers.

FIRST WHORE

They’re preparing many years now against the English,

And they have made expeditions against the Dutch.

I lost two brothers who fought against the Dutch.

This King is preparing a great Armada.

PACO

Does a Spanish soldier live well now? How are they paid?

SECOND WHORE

Well, you are fed and clothed, some of the mercenaries

Can do well, and there is no faith asked of them

While they are paid. Oh, I love the thought of war.

(
The
SOLDIERS
take leave of the
WHORES
and run off.
)

BARTOLOME

Well, it’s a better life if a man had both legs

Than scrounging on the piers, begging from merchants.

They’re out to conquer England and preserve the Indies.

If I had half of my strength, that’s where I’d be.

(
Drums sound nearer.
)

PACO

Oh, the drums, the drums, colours and the fifes.

My father’s profession calls me. Bartolome, here’s a coin.

I’m on the side with the money still, Quadrado!

And I leave you this kingdom of the wharf,
adiós, adiós!

(
He runs off.
)

BARTOLOME

Come on, let’s go into the inn where the drinks are warm.

It seems to me I felt there the edge of the winter.

(
Sings.
)

For a wise tropic shark removed his legs,

And now the winter’s coming, and he begs.

(
Exit, limping, after
WHORES
.
Martial music.
)

(
Fade-out.
)

Scene 3

Aboard ship. Near dawn. Two
SPANISH SAILORS
dicing. In the hold below
SLAVES
chanting.

FIRST SAILOR

Christ! You’ve got all the luck in this world.

SECOND SAILOR

I’m a good Spaniard. How about another throw? For daybreak?

FIRST SAILOR

What’s the bet? That the sun won’t rise?

(
Rises.
)

I’d better take a look below the decks.

Sometimes the sick ones kill themselves.

SECOND SAILOR

Not your responsibility. How can you stand the stench?

FIRST SAILOR

Well, for God’s sake, don’t wave the lantern about.

We’re in warm seas, and nearing the islands,

And there’s Dutch and English privateers about.

Pass me the lantern.

SECOND SAILOR

                                     Hey! You can’t leave me in the dark!

FIRST SAILOR

Dawn is enough to count your profits by.

(
He moves off with lantern.
)

SECOND SAILOR

Pity you have no luck, amigo.

FIRST SAILOR

I don’t believe in luck. I believe in God.

SECOND SAILOR

It’s just faith. Faith in the dice, amigo.

FIRST SAILOR

Sure, sure. Your father must have been at the foot of the cross.

(
Exit. The
JEW
enters above.
)

JEW

Because they have wrenched my people from the roots,

I am like a shattered timber cast adrift. O God,

The shores of the new lands will soon be known.

Preserve my faith, O Lord, comfort Thy people.

(
He exits.
)

Scene 4

The ship:
SLAVES
,
men and women and two children, chained in pairs, emerge from hold. The sick
KING
attended by
WOMEN
.

MALE SLAVE

Look, though we do not wish it, dawn will break.

WOMAN SLAVE

We cannot stop the law of time: only the gods.

MALE SLAVE

My gods and yours are different. I am an Ibo.

WOMAN SLAVE

Were you captured in the battle with our tribe?

MALE SLAVE
(
Laughs.
)

I was forced to fight, but I am no warrior.

It is comical, I was captured during the confusion.

But as you say it is nothing. Your King is quiet.

WOMAN SLAVE

I do not think that he will last the long voyage.

He lost his pride in his battle against the Ibo.

I lost two sons when you attacked our village.

My husband is somewhere with the rest, in there.

MALE SLAVE

I think that the fellow chained to me is dead.

Can you help me lug him onto the deck?

WOMAN SLAVE

Why should I touch the dead? The dead are lucky,

They have caught the happy plague.

Oh God, my sons.

MALE SLAVE

Day will break soon, and we are nearing islands,

I can hear the creaking of seabirds this morning.

(
Pause.
)

We can see his face when the dawn comes up.

WOMAN SLAVE

You are a funny one. Why do you wish to see it?

MALE SLAVE

He must have died last night. Are you afraid?

WOMAN SLAVE

Man is a beast. Man is a beast. Believe me.

MALE SLAVE

It is true, I have never understood fighting.

I had a small place, near a river, fishing,

And I had no enemies, I was waiting for a wife.

WOMAN SLAVE

Yes, bring children into the world, to bury them.

MALE SLAVE

It is how the gods made it. We must bear that.

WOMAN SLAVE

Explain it.

MALE SLAVE

You women have it hard, daylight is here.

WOMAN SLAVE

Oh, look at his face, oh God.

MALE SLAVE

                                                    Why, do you know him?

WOMAN SLAVE

Yes, it is my husband.

MALE SLAVE

                                       Your husband?

WOMAN SLAVE

He used to praise all war as honourable,

And boasting always of the beauty of death,