A spacious veranda with statues of gods, ornamental vessels with perfumed herbs burning in them, and a view of the Apennines. In the centre there are three couches and a low table laid for a feast. Around it Adam, as Sergiolus, Lucifer, as Milo, and Catullus are enjoying themselves in the company of three lightly clad prostitutes, Eve, as Julia, Hippia and Cluvia. On a raised platform gladiators are fighting. In the background slaves are standing by to receive orders, and flute players provide music. Twilight; later, night.
CATULLUS
You see the fellow with the scarlet sash?
A real fighter, that! Sergiolus,
I bet you anything he’ll beat your man.
ADAM
Not he, by Hercules!
CATULLUS
What? Hercules?
It won’t do. No one here believes in gods.
Swear by your concubine. It’s more convincing.
ADAM
I do.
LUCIFER
Your oath is well established now.
Let pseudo-goddess beat a demigod.
But for your oath, how are we meant to take it?
You meant her beauty? Or your love for her?
Or, no, you didn’t mean fidelity?
CATULLUS
Female charms fade, you know. In any case,
what fascinates today may bore tomorrow.
Another woman, and with less to offer,
may turn your head - for sheer variety.
ADAM
It’s her fidelity I meant. What else?
It costs me quite a bit.
HIPPIA
How wrong you are!
Can you make love to her without fatigue?
Suppose you can, though, greedy as you are
for satisfaction, it’s a wasted effort:
you find pleasure in fragments, now and then,
however hard you try, in any woman.
Our dreams of absolute delight and beauty
remain, it seems, for ever out of reach.
And as for her, who knows? Infatuation
or just a whim may land her with another.
Suppose a gladiator’s bruised muscles…
ADAM
I know, I know! Enough said, Hippia!
I reach out, like a Tantalus, for pleasure:
no Herculean brawn to match my yearning,
or Protean’ skill to make that vital change,
while wretched slaves who labour days on end
can have an hour’s enjoyment - which their master
can only dream of. Tell me: what is pleasure?
A drink of water for the thirsty pilgrim,
or an ocean to engulf the luckless bather?
LUCIFER
A proper lecture on morality -
reclining on your woman, sipping wine.
But what about your wager?
ADAM
If I lose
you have my Julia.
CATULLUS
And if you win?
ADAM
I’ll have your horse.
CATULLUS
You want her back, of course?
In one month? Or I’ll feed her to my eels.
LUCIFER
[to Julia]
Enjoy this dish of appetising fish
before the fish consider you a dish.
[The others applaud.]
EVE
What of the worms? They’ll make a feast of you.
So, have a drink! Make merry while you can!
[She takes a drink.]
We might convince ourselves it’s fun to live.
ADAM
[to a gladiator]
Get on with it there!
CATULLUS
Smartly now! Come on!
Catullus’ gladiator falls, and lying on the ground he raises his fingers begging for his life. Adam is about to give the sign for mercy, but Catullus arrests his hand and, with his fist clenched, he turns his thumb down towards the fallen gladiator.
Recipe ferrum! He’s a craven mongrel
I can afford to lose. Got plenty of them.
Besides, who would begrudge the thrill of bloodshed
in such appreciative company?
The carnal appetite grows all the keener,
and kisses deeper, when some blood is spilt.
Meanwhile the gladiator is killed by his opponent.
ADAM
I’ve got the horse! Come, hug me, Julia!
There! Take away the corpse! Let’s have the dancers!
I feel I need some lighter entertainment.
I’ve had enough of this.
The corpse is taken out; the platform is occupied by dancers.
CATULLUS
Come, Cluvia!
Can’t bear to see another male embracing
and having fun.
LUCIFER
You hear that, Hippia?
Well, what about it? Shall we follow suit?
But lick your lips first: see they aren’t poisoned.
There! There! All right, you’re safe. What fun we have!
ADAM
How loud your heart is beating, Julia!
It makes me strangely moved. I can’t relax.
[They continue whispering.]
LUCIFER
You hear that fool? He talks about her heart!
CATULLUS
I wouldn’t meddle with your heart, my dear.
Do what you like with it: don’t let me know.
As long as I have this - I’m well contented.
CLUVIA
How generous! This calls for celebration.
[She takes a drink.]
CATULLUS
Come back, my Cluvia! You know I’d miss you.
What would I do without your supple breasts.
I’ve dropped my Laurel, see, trying to please you.
[to one of the dancing girls]
I say, I like that twist around your hips.
You’ve got erotic fire and well proportioned…
CLUVIA
You should be blindfolded. Stop staring at her!
There’s fire in here. Come, take a closer look!
Don’t these deserve appreciative remarks?
[pointing at Lucifer]
Look at that sour-faced fellow over there!
One wonders why he keeps that lovely girl:
I’m sure she could be put to better use.
He lets her fall asleep. Just look at him!
He leers with frozen smiles and stony eyes
at everything we do to lend the party
that piquant savour we appreciate.
CATULLUS
You’re right. That face could cast a frosty spell
to numb the poetry of centuries…
The man who can’t relish the moment’s pleasure
and let his senses take him where they may…
No good, I say. I wish he’d stayed at home.
HIPPIA
Poor man! He often worries me, you know.
He looks as if he’s got the plague already.
They say it rages in the city…
ADAM
Hush!
No sordid detail! It’s a song we need.
Who is to sing the bawdiest song today?
HIPPIA
[singing]
Of wine and of pleasure
we must have full measure:
in every cupful
another delight…
And the ecstasy! Let the ecstasy,
like the sunset over a broken monument,
enfold us in glorious light.
<ALL IN CHORUS>
Enfold us in glorious light.
<HIPPIA>
Of wine and of pleasure
we must have full measure:
another bedfellow
for every night…
And the ecstasy! Let the ecstasy,
like the sunset over a broken monument,
enfold us in glorious light.
Enfold us in glorious light.
CATULLUS
Well done! How fitting! Your turn, Cluvia.
CLUVIA
[singing]
What a crazy world it was the day
when a comely wife, Lucretia lay
in her lonely bed, not lonely for long,
for an amorous young man came along…
Alas! the lady wasn’t a whore,
she seized a knife - and her trick was o’er.
ALL IN CHORUS
Of course, we have more sense today:
have fun and pleasure while we may.
CLUVIA
[singing]
What a crazy world it was the day
when Brutus, keen to have his way,
to put things right as a soldier might,
he buckled his sword and off to fight,
to please the mob, by Jove, he went -
no pleasure to find, but a nasty end.
ALL IN CHORUS
Of course, we have more sense today:
have fun and pleasure while we may.
CLUVIA
[singing]
What a crazy world it was the day
they acclaimed the hero (or so they say).
But wouldn’t it also raise a cheer,
if a mad hero should still appear?
He would entertain us all, he would:
the show to us - to the beasts the food.
ALL IN CHORUS
Of course, we have more sense today:
have fun and pleasure while we may.
LUCIFER
O, very good, indeed! I like the message.
I wish I had composed the song myself.
ADAM
Now, Julia! Won’t you sing for us today?
What’s wrong? We’re waiting. Everyone’s delighted.
Don’t spoil the evening. Don’t you like it here?
EVE
I do, I do. You see, Sergiolus,
this merry-making, somehow, makes me sad.
I feel this mirth is only a make-believe.
A measure of unutterable pain
mingles with all our moments of delight,
as if deep down we knew our joys - Like flowers -
were bound to shed their bloom.
ADAM
I know the feeling.
EVE
The sound of music strangely touches me.
Sometimes I let it rock me like a sea
till words and meaning seem to pass me by,
and as the rhythm lulls me into a dream,
I feel transported into a past existence,
where once I lived in childlike innocence,
happy, contented, in the shade of palm trees,
my soul inspired by thoughts beyond belief…
Forgive me! All this nonsense… Mere illusion…
It’s all forgotten. Kiss me! I’m awake.
ADAM
Silence the music! Dancers, all, get out!
Enough! Confound this honeyed sea of pleasure!
I’m tired of wallowing: I want some change,
bitterness, wormwood in my wine, a sting
on ruby lips, some menacing disaster…
The dancers leave in a hurry. Laud wailing is heard from outside.
What are these horrid shrieks that pierce the brain?
LUCIFER
They are about to crucify some madmen
who talk of brotherhood and human rights.
CATULLUS
It serves them right. Why don’t they stay at home
to mind their business and enjoy themselves?
Why meddle with another man’s affairs?
LUCIFER
The poor may call the rich their brothers now,
but change their roles and they will crucify them.
CATULLUS
This - to the powers that be, the penury,
the pestilence which decimates the town,
with all the bother fate can fling at us…
Another burst of wailing is heard. Adam, lost in his thoughts, muttering.
ADAM
…and as the rhythm lulls me into a dream,
I feel transported into a past existence…
my soul inspired by thoughts beyond belief…
You said that, Julia, didn’t you?
JULIA
Yes, I did.
Meanwhile it has grown dark. In front of the veranda a funeral procession passes, with flutes, torches and mourning women. For a moment the revellers gaze at the sight in a deadly hush, then Lucifer starts laughing.
LUCIFER
I see the merry mood’s been somewhat blighted.
Have we run out of wine or you of jokes?
Must I, the sour-faced fellow, play the jester?
You won’t have taken fright, by any chance,
and feel repentant?
ADAM
[throwing his cup at him]
Damn you if you think so.
LUCIFER
I’ll ask another guest to join the party:
he might restore the festive cheer to us.
Hey, servants! There! Bring in this traveller
passing the house with all his entourage.
Perhaps he’ll share with us a drink of wine.
They bring in the corpse on an open bier which is placed on the table. The mourners remain in the background. Lucifer drinks a toast to the dead man.
Drink, friend! My turn tomorrow, yours today!
HIPPIA
[to the corpse]
Here, would you like a kiss?
LUCIFER
Give him a hug -
and pinch that coin they put between his teeth.
HIPPIA
I don’t mind kissing you: what difference?
She kisses the dead man. The Apostle Peter steps forward from among the mourners.
THE APOSTLE
Stop that, woman! It is the plague you’re sucking!
[All rise and recoil in horror.]
ALL
O, gods! The plague! Go! Take the corpse away!
THE APOSTLE
O, cowardly race! You wretched generation!
How arrogant, while fortune smiles upon you,
how like the flies cavorting in the sun,
defiling virtue, mocking God Himself?
But when disaster knocks upon your door,
or God’s almighty finger points at you,
you shrivel in contemptible despair.
Why? Can’t you see it’s Heaven’s retribution
that’s bearing down on you? Look at your world!
Your city desolate; your golden harvest
all trampled down; barbarians on the march;
no order left: no one to take command,
no one to listen either; theft and murder
parade themselves unchallenged on the streets
with pallid fear and terror in their wake.
No hope, no help under your empty skies.
And yet, obsessed with pleasures as you are,
you can’t suppress, you can’t ignore the warning
which echoes still within your heart of hearts,
trying to stir you from your decadence.
Why can’t you find contentment any more?
Your self-indulgence ends in self-reproach,
but in your fright, struggling to find the words,
you cannot pray, you have renounced your faith:
your ancient gods have hardened into stone.
[The statues of gods disintegrate.]
They crumble - and yet you haven’t found a new god
to help you rise above your dustbound nature.
Go, ask what drains your city’s population
more potently than any pestilence!
Thousands abandon their luxurious couches
to add their numbers to the anchorites
who seek the wilderness of Thebais
to find seclusion and a new experience,
to rouse and stimulate their blunted senses.
You brood of decadence, the time’s upon you:
the world must once again be rendered clean.
HIPPIA
[collapsing beside the table]
I’m terrified. What’s happening to me?
What’s this? Cold sweat? And this infernal fire!
The plague! I’ve got the plague! I must be dying!
Won’t any of you come - and try to help?
For old times’ sake, don’t leave me here to die!
LUCIFER
Your turn today, tomorrow mine, my dear.
HIPPIA
Then kill me or be damned, the lot of you!
THE APOSTLE
[moving towards Hippia]
No! No! Don’t curse! You must forgive, my daughter!
I’ll comfort you, so will Almighty God
that everlasting God of holy love.
Lift up your heart to Him and with this water
He’s sure to cleanse you from the dross of sin.
Hasten to Him!
He baptizes her with some water from a bowl on the table.
HIPPIA
Yes, Father. This is peace.
[She dies. Catullus is about to leave.]
CATULLUS
I’m off to Thebais - this very day.
I’m sick and tired of this disgusting world.
CLUVIA
Catullus, wait! I want to come with you.
Both leave. Deep in thought, Adam comes into the foreground. Eve follows him.
ADAM
Ah, Julia! Still around? Why, you are waiting!
Mirth is no more: death murdered happiness.
EVE
Should I not stay with you, whatever happened?
Sergiolus, within this “pretty” bosom
you might have found some noble sentiments
if you had looked for more than entertainment.
ADAM
And in myself. For shame, I’ve never noticed.
To perish in this mean, ungracious manner,
and suffer all the way… If there’s a god,
[kneeling with arms raised to heaven]
who cares for us, who has the power to do it,
let him create new people, new ideals:
our played-out race must be regenerated,
while noble minds latch on the goal ahead.
We need a purpose. All we have to offer
is past repairing and we lack the drive
to make a fresh start. Hear me, hear me, God!
With a great radiance the cross appears in the sky. Beyond the mountains the horizon is reddened by the flames of burning cities. Savage hordes are seen descending from the heights, and from the distance the singing of hymns is heard. Lucifer to the audience.
LUCIFER
That sight can send a shiver down the spine.
But, after all, it’s Man I have to fight:
what I can’t do, he will. I’ll have him do it.
We’ve played this game before. That radiance
will dwindle by and by to leave the world
its legacy: that cross there, steeped in blood.
THE APOSTLE
The Lord has heard your prayer. Now, look and listen!
Your worn-out world is being born anew.
See those barbaric, bearskinned warriors
who devastate your lands and burn your cities,
who have their horses trample down the crops
you’ve grown for centuries, who stable brutes
in burnt-out shrines! - They have the quickening
new blood to animate your palsied veins.
And hear those martyrs in the circus singing
until their throats are mangled by the tigers!
They have the vision - that of brotherhood
and freedom for the individual mind -
the vision to revive your ailing world.
ADAM
O yes! I see, there is a higher goal.
This slothful ease won’t gratify the soul,
but shedding of your heart’s blood, I declare,
must be a joy indeed, beyond compare.
THE APOSTLE
Sum up your precepts thus: to God the glory;
to you the work. An individual agent,
you’re free to realise your aspirations,
observing only one commandment: love.
ADAM
For this new world I am prepared to fight.
Forward to battle! All your words of wisdom
shall be embodied in the knightly virtues,
whose poetry, enshrined beside the altar,
shall be the exalted state of womanhood.
Accompanied by the Apostle, Adam leaves the stage. Eve follows them. Lucifer turns to the audience.
LUCIFER
The unattainable intrigues you, Man,
but you must still attempt it if you can:
God will be pleased to see you reach the sky,
and come the disappointment, so will I.
[He follows the others.]