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(A somnambulistic drama in four acts)

Actors:

Jean-Paul Marat; 
Charles Barbarou;
Charlotte Corday;
1st Philosopher;
2nd Philosopher;
The Commentator’s Voice.

Act 1. A tavern. Two philosopher sit at the table; 
Marat sits at the other, some distance away.

1st Philosopher 

…or even worse: “In the unbounded space,
the countless spheres glow and a dozen
of other spheres, tenth of their size, 
revolve around them. Hot from inside,
they're covered in an malodorous breadcrumb 
on which a mold breeds life". How is this for 
a matter that is given to us in 
the form of senses? 

2nd Philosopher
                                
                                  It's invigorating.
However, the exact same Schopenhauer
a page before assured that the world
is just a dream. 

1st Philosopher 

                       Then so be it, and I
dream you. I'm, frankly, more worried about
the waiter who is probably asleeps.
Hello, is there anyone? A habit
of wisdom breeds the thirst. 

Marat

                                         How nice these men!
I’ll sit with them. Allow me, gentlemen?

1st Philosopher 

God only gentle is. We are the hard
philosophers who suffer from the lack 
of sherry in the blood. 

2nd Philosopher

                                We do not like
the emptiness of vessels, but we seek
to empty vessels. 

Marat

                          Let me ask you, where
you're both from. 

1st Philosopher 

                         The same place as the others
come into being. 

Marat

                         What are your names? 

1st Philosopher 

                                                           You tell him.

2nd Philosopher

I am John Doe. He is Doe John.

Marat

My name is… 

1st Philosopher 

                   Nobody. Friend of the People
you were once called. 

Marat

                               Why once? They call me yet
the same name… 

1st Philosopher 

                         Never mind. You'd better tell us
what deadly wind has blown you in that dream.

Marat

I wandered over lands and seas. I crossed
the endless sands with slavers; I sailed through 
Aurora Borealis* that aflames
in skies as our universal soul;
the Eastern heathens showed me the place
where the dawn is born, but as you know
the wider sea, the sweeter overseas:
the fantasy enticed me and one day
I set feet in this land, a little groggy
of rocking and the strongest sailor’s grog.
Lead me, my fantasy, across the glens,
the gaps, the valleys where wild centaurs 
graze on the misty pastures, where the rainbows
stand over the flood plains, where the griffins
on the forbidding rocks sit on the eggs 
of wealth and further, where the haunted forest
extends as far as heaven. Shrubs and trees
talk to each other in these woods; the flowers
as beautiful as death, between tree trunks 
throb, glow, breath, exchange the signs and lure 
but don't approach these shifters, wanderer!
Sedating with a wonderful aroma, 
bewitching by an otherworldly dream,
they’ll drink the dreamer like a sack of wine.
I walked four days through haunted trees and went
down to the forest lake. There was a tribe
of feathered men. Who cares they may not know
the math, the write, the craft but they are free
from any earthy fuss: they fly like birds
and God himself gives them the daily bread.
Their princess, dressed in beads and hair only,
caressed me so sweet as no man
has been caressed by woman since the fall.
She birdcalled me to stay with her but thunders
of revolutions from across the sea
drowned out her chirping. 

1st Philosopher 

                                     Well, it’s all the same:
at first the thunder, then the bloody rain.

Marat

My French compatriots are just like children:
they were punished for the greater good.
Le couperet** drew the circumference:
may happy children live inside the circle.

1st Philosopher 

Next, he will tell: “I opened the breadbaskets,
I gave them wine and money.” By the way,
I hope you’re got some cash on you. I can’t
believe you did not save up in your journey.

Marat

What’s money? Dust. All reputable gold
and silver, as inconstant as a mind, 
on earth are not enough to make souls joined,
not bodies. 

2nd Philosopher

                Rings shine brightly on your fingers.

Marat

A handy star cannot compare with 
a star of heaven. 

2nd Philosopher

                         Hm, the golden tiepin.

Marat

To tell the truth, I'm curious about 
your interest in such prosaic things:
my money doesn’t bring me happiness.

1st Philosopher

Your money does to bring me affluence.
A healthy man is like a cuckold. Oh,
tremendous burden of marital assets!
I'm looking to take on your wallet’s weight  
but wear your horns yourself. 

2nd Philosopher

                                          “In other words”.
That’s what they say in plays when a punchline
of the first scene is close. In other words,
give us your money. 

1st Philosopher

                              What's worth more to you:
your wallet or your life? A trite dilemma
but you are sure to look at it anew.

Marat

My friend! 

1st Philosopher

               Did you just call me friend? 

Marat

                                                       My brother!

2nd Philosopher

Alas, I wish I had a brother, but
I have a sister. She was once a saint,
but I have put her in the city brothel 
to sell a holey holiness. 

Marat
                                  Help me! 
Somebody, help me! 

1st Philosopher

                              Just shut up and die.
Hold him like that and squeeze it. 

2nd Philosopher

                                                What a hard
and sturdy neck! Tough little devil. 

1st Philosopher

                                                   Dead.


* (lat.) Northern lights
** (fr.) Guillotine's blade
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