Chapter III: Part 3

[_Embraces JULIE, weeping._] It's the best thing that could have happened to you, Julie, the best thing.

JULIE

Don't cry, Marie. [_MARIE and WOLF exit._]

MOTHER HOLLUNDER

I'll make a little black coffee. You haven't had a thing to eat today. Then you'll come home with us. [_MOTHER HOLLUNDER and her son exit. MRS. MUSKAT comes over to JULIE._]

MRS. MUSKAT

Would you mind if I--looked at him?

JULIE

He used to work for you.

MRS. MUSKAT

[_Contemplates the body; turns to JULIE._] Won't you make up with me?

JULIE

I wasn't angry with you.

MRS. MUSKAT

But you were. Let's make it up.

JULIE

[_Raising her voice eagerly, almost triumphantly._] I've nothing to make up with _you._

MRS. MUSKAT

But I have with you. Everyone says hard things against the poor dead boy--except us two. You don't say he was bad.

JULIE

[_Raising her voice yet higher, this time on a defiant, wholly triumphant note._] Yes, I _do._

MRS. MUSKAT

I understand, my child. But he beat me, too. What does that matter? I've forgotten it.

JULIE

[_From now on answers her coldly, drily, without looking at her._] That's your own affair.

MRS. MUSKAT

If I can help you in any way----

JULIE

There's nothing I need.

MRS. MUSKAT

I still owe him two kronen, back pay.

JULIE

You should have paid him.

MRS. MUSKAT

Now that the poor fellow is dead I thought perhaps it would be the same if I paid you.

JULIE

I've nothing to do with it.

MRS. MUSKAT

All right. Please don't think I'm trying to force myself on you. I stayed because we two are the only ones on earth who loved him. That's why I thought we ought to stick together.

JULIE

No, thank you.

MRS. MUSKAT

Then you couldn't have loved him as I did.

JULIE

No.

MRS. MUSKAT

I loved him better.

JULIE

Yes.

MRS. MUSKAT

Good-bye.

JULIE

Good-bye. [_MRS. MUSKAT exits. JULIE puts the candle on the table near LILIOM'S head, sits on the edge of the stretcher, looks into the dead man's face and caresses it tenderly._] Sleep, Liliom, sleep--it's no business of hers--I never even told you--but now I'll tell you--now I'll tell you--you bad, quick-tempered, rough, unhappy, wicked--_dear_ boy--sleep peacefully, Liliom--they can't understand how I feel--I can't even explain to you--not even to you--how I feel--you'd only laugh at me--but you can't hear me any more. [_Between tender motherliness and reproach, yet with great love in her voice._] It was wicked of you to beat me--on the breast and on the head and face--but you're gone now.--You treated me badly--that was wicked of you--but sleep peacefully, Liliom--you bad, bad boy, you--I love you--I never told you before--I was ashamed--but now I've told you--I love you, Liliom--sleep--my boy--sleep. [_She rises, gets a Bible, sits down near the candle and reads softly to herself, so that, not the words, but an inarticulate murmur is heard. The CARPENTER enters at back._]

CARPENTER

[_Stands near the door; in the dimness of the room he can scarcely be seen._] Miss Julie----

JULIE

[_Without alarm._] Who is that?

CARPENTER

[_Very slowly._] The carpenter.

JULIE

What does the carpenter want?

CARPENTER

Can I be of help to you in any way? Shall I stay here with you?

JULIE

[_Gratefully, but firmly._] Don't stay, carpenter.

CARPENTER

Shall I come back tomorrow?

JULIE

Not tomorrow, either.

CARPENTER

Don't be offended, Miss Julie, but I'd like to know--you see, I'm not a young man any more--I have two children--and if I'm to come back any more--I'd like to know--if there's any use----

JULIE

No use, carpenter.

CARPENTER

[_As he exits._] God be with you. [_JULIE resumes her reading. FICSUR enters, slinks furtively sideways to the stretcher, looks at LILIOM, shakes his head. JULIE looks up from her reading. FICSUR takes fright, slinks away from the stretcher, sits down at right, biting his nails. JULIE rises. FICSUR rises, too, and looks at her half fearfully. With her piercing glance upon him he slinks to the doorway at back, where he pauses and speaks._]

FICSUR

The old woman asked me to tell you that coffee is ready, and you are to come in. [_JULIE goes to the kitchen door. FICSUR withdraws until she has closed the door behind her. Then he reappears in the doorway, stands on tiptoes, looks at LILIOM, then exits. Now the body lies alone. After a brief silence music is heard, distant at first, but gradually coming nearer. It is very much like the music of the carousel, but slower, graver, more exalted. The melody, too, is the same, yet the tempo is altered and contrapuntal measures of the thieves' song are intertwined in it. Two men in black, with heavy sticks, soft black hats and black gloves, appear in the doorway at back and stride slowly into the room. Their faces are beardless, marble white, grave and benign. One stops m front of the stretcher, the other a pace to the right. From above a dim violet light illuminates their faces._]

THE FIRST

[_To LILIOM._] Rise and come with us.

THE SECOND

[_Politely._] You're under arrest.

THE FIRST

[_Somewhat louder, but always in a gentle, low, resonant voice._] Do you hear? Rise. Don't you hear?

THE SECOND

We are the police.

THE FIRST

[_Bends down, touches LILIOM'S shoulder._] Get up and come with us. [_LILIOM slowly sits up._]

THE SECOND

Come along.

THE FIRST

[_Paternally._] These people suppose that when they die all their difficulties are solved for them.

THE SECOND

[_Raising his voice sternly._] That simply by thrusting a knife in your heart and making it stop beating you can leave your wife behind with a child in her womb----

THE FIRST

It is not as simple as that.

THE SECOND

Such things are not settled so easily.

THE FIRST

Come along. You will have to give an account of yourself. [_As both bow their heads, he continues softly._] We are God's police. [_An expression of glad relief lights upon LILIOM'S face. He rises from the stretcher._] Come.

THE SECOND

You mortals don't get off quite as easy as that.

THE FIRST

[_Softly._] Come. [_LILIOM starts to walk ahead of them, then stops and looks at them._] The end is not as abrupt as that. Your name is still spoken. Your face is still remembered. And what you said, and what you did, and what you failed to do--these are still remembered. Remembered, too, are the manner of your glance, the ring of your voice, the clasp of your hand and how your step sounded--as long as one is left who remembers you, so long is the matter unended. Before the end there is much to be undone. Until you are quite forgotten, my son, you will not be finished with the earth--even though you _are_ dead.

THE SECOND

[_Very gently._] Come. [_The music begins again. All three exit at back, LILIOM leading, the others following. The stage is empty and quite dark save for the candle which burns by the stretcher, on which, in the shadows, the covers are so arranged that one cannot quite be sure that a body is not still lying. The music dies out in the distance as if it had followed LILIOM and the two POLICEMEN. The candle flickers and goes out. There is a brief interval of silence and total darkness before_

THE CURTAIN FALLS

SCENE SIX

SCENE--_In the Beyond. A whitewashed courtroom. There is a green-topped table; behind it a bench. Back Center is a door with a bell over it. Next to this door is a window through which can be seen a vista of rose-tinted clouds._

_Down right there is a grated iron door. Down left another door._

_Two men are on the bench when the curtain rises. One is richly, the other poorly dressed._

_From a great distance is heard a fanfare of trumpets playing the refrain, of the thieves' song in slow, altered tempo._

_Passing the window at back appear LILIOM and the two POLICEMEN._

_The bell rings._

_An old GUARD enters at right. He is bald and has a long white beard. He wears the conventional police uniform._

_He goes to the door at back, opens it, exchanges silent greetings with the two POLICEMEN and closes the door again._

_LILIOM looks wonderingly around._

THE FIRST

[_To the old GUARD._] Announce us. [_The GUARD exits at left._]

LILIOM

Is this it?

THE SECOND

Yes, my son.

LILIOM

This is the police court?

THE SECOND

Yes, my son. The part for suicide cases.

LILIOM

And what happens here?

THE FIRST

Here justice is done. Sit down. [_LILIOM sits next to the two men. The two POLICEMEN stand silent near the table._]

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

[_Whispers._] Suicide, too?

LILIOM

Yes.

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

[_Points to the POORLY DRESSED MAN._] So's he. [_Introducing himself._] My name is Reich.

THE POORLY DRESSED MAN

[_Whispers, too._] My name is Stephen Kadar. [_LILIOM only looks at them._]

THE POORLY DRESSED MAN

And you? What's your name?

LILIOM

None of your business. [_Both move a bit away from him._]

THE POORLY DRESSED MAN

I did it by jumping out of a window.

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

I did it with a pistol--and you?

LILIOM

With a knife. [_They move a bit further away from him._]

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

A pistol is cleaner.

LILIOM

If I had the price of a pistol----

THE SECOND

Silence!

[_The POLICE MAGISTRATE enters. He has a long white beard, is bald, but only in profile can be seen on his head a single tuft of snow-white hair. The GUARD reënters behind him and sits on the bench with the dead men. As the MAGISTRATE enters, all rise, except LILIOM, who remains surlily seated. When the MAGISTRATE sits down, so do the others._]

THE GUARD

Yesterday's cases, your honor. The numbers are entered in the docket.

THE MAGISTRATE

Number 16,472.

THE FIRST

[_Looks in his notebook, beckons the RICHLY DRESSED MAN._] Stand up, please. [_THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN rises._]

THE MAGISTRATE

Your name?

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

Doctor Reich.

THE MAGISTRATE

Age?

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

Forty-two, married, Jew.

THE MAGISTRATE

[_With a gesture of dismissal._] Religion does not interest us here--why did you kill yourself?

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

On account of debts.

THE MAGISTRATE

What good did you do on earth?

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

I was a lawyer----

THE MAGISTRATE

[_Coughs significantly._] Yes--we'll discuss that later. For the present I shall only ask you: Would you like to go back to earth once more before sunrise? I advise you that you have the right to go if you choose. Do you understand?

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

Yes, sir.

THE MAGISTRATE

He who takes his life is apt, in his haste and his excitement, to forget something. Is there anything important down there you have left undone? Something to tell someone? Something to undo?

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

My debts----

THE MAGISTRATE

They do not matter here. Here we are concerned only with the affairs of the soul.

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

Then--if you please--when I left--the house--my youngest son, Oscar--was asleep. I didn't trust myself to wake him--and bid him good-bye. I would have liked--to kiss him good-bye.

THE MAGISTRATE

[_To THE SECOND._] You will take Dr. Reich back and let him kiss his son Oscar.

THE SECOND

Come with me, please.

THE RICHLY DRESSED MAN

[_To THE MAGISTRATE._] I thank you. [_He bows and exits at back with THE SECOND._]

THE MAGISTRATE

[_After making an entry in the docket._] Number 16,473.

THE FIRST

[_Looks in his notebook, then beckons LILIOM._] Stand up.

LILIOM

You said _please_ to him. [_He rises._]

THE MAGISTRATE

Your name?

LILIOM

Liliom.

THE MAGISTRATE

Isn't that your nickname?

LILIOM

Yes.

THE MAGISTRATE

What is your right name?

LILIOM

Andreas.

THE MAGISTRATE

And your last name?

LILIOM

Zavocki--after my mother.

THE MAGISTRATE

Your age?

LILIOM

Twenty-four.

THE MAGISTRATE

What good did _you_ do on earth? [_LILIOM is silent._] Why did you take your life? [_LILIOM does not answer. THE MAGISTRATE addresses THE FIRST._] Take that knife away from him. [_THE FIRST does so._] It will be returned to you, if you go back to earth.

LILIOM

Do I go back to earth again?

THE MAGISTRATE

Just answer my questions.

LILIOM

I wasn't answering then, I was asking if----

THE MAGISTRATE

You don't ask questions here. You only answer. Only answer, Andreas Zavocki! I ask you whether there is anything on earth you neglected to accomplish? Anything down there you would like to do?

LILIOM

Yes.

THE MAGISTRATE

What is it?

LILIOM

I'd like to break Ficsur's head for him.

THE MAGISTRATE

Punishment is our office. Is there nothing else on earth you'd like to do?

LILIOM

I don't know--I guess, as long as I'm here, I'll not go back.

THE MAGISTRATE

[_To THE FIRST._] Note that. He waives his right. [_LILIOM starts back to the bench._] Stay where you are. You are aware that you left your wife without food or shelter?

LILIOM

Yes.

THE MAGISTRATE

Don't you regret it?

LILIOM

No.

THE MAGISTRATE

You are aware that your wife is pregnant, and that in six months a child will be born?

LILIOM

I know.

THE MAGISTRATE

And that the child, too, will be without food or shelter? Do you regret that?

LILIOM

As long as I won't be there, what's it got to do with me?

THE MAGISTRATE

Don't try to deceive us, Andreas Zavocki. We see through you as through a pane of glass.

LILIOM

If you see so much, what do you want to ask me for? Why don't you let me rest--in peace?

THE MAGISTRATE

First you must earn your rest.

LILIOM

I want--only--to sleep.

THE MAGISTRATE

Your obstinacy won't help you. Here patience is endless as time. We can wait.

LILIOM

Can I ask something--I'd like to know--if Your Honor will tell me--whether the baby will be a boy or a girl.

THE MAGISTRATE

You shall see that for yourself.

LILIOM

[_Excitedly._] I'll see the baby?

THE MAGISTRATE

When you do it won't be a baby any more. But we haven't reached that question yet.

LILIOM

I'll see it?

THE MAGISTRATE

Again I ask you: Do you not regret that you deserted your wife and child; that you were a bad husband, a bad father?

LILIOM

A bad husband?

THE MAGISTRATE

Yes.

LILIOM

And a bad father?

THE MAGISTRATE

That, too.

LILIOM

I couldn't get work--and I couldn't bear to see Julie--all the time--all the time----

THE MAGISTRATE

Weeping! Why are you ashamed to say it? You couldn't bear to see her weeping. Why are you afraid of that word? And why are you ashamed that you loved her?

LILIOM

[_Shrugs his shoulders._] Who's ashamed? But I couldn't bear to see her--and that's why I was bad to her. You see, it wouldn't do to go back to the carousel--and Ficsur came along with his talk about--that other thing--and all of a sudden it happened, I don't know how. The police and the Jew with the pistol--and there I stood--and I'd lost the money playing cards--and I didn't want to be put in prison. [_Demanding justification._] Maybe I was wrong not to go out and steal when there was nothing to eat in the house? Should I have gone out to steal for Julie?

THE MAGISTRATE

[_Emphatically._] Yes.

LILIOM

[_After an astounded pause._] The police down there never said that.

THE MAGISTRATE

You beat that poor, frail girl; you beat her because she loved you. How could you do that?

LILIOM

We argued with each other--she said this and I said that--and because she was right I couldn't answer her--and I got mad--and the anger rose up in me--until it reached here [_points to his throat_] and then I beat her.

THE MAGISTRATE

Are you sorry?

LILIOM

[_Shakes his head, but cannot utter the word "no"; continues softly._] When I touched her slender throat--then--if you like--you might say---- [_Falters, looks embarrassed at THE MAGISTRATE._]

THE MAGISTRATE

[_Confidently expectant._] Are you sorry?

LILIOM

[_With a stare._] I'm not sorry for anything.

THE MAGISTRATE

Liliom, Liliom, it will be difficult to help you.

LILIOM

I'm not asking any help.

THE MAGISTRATE

You were offered employment as a caretaker on Arader Street. [_To THE FIRST._] Where is that entered?

THE FIRST

In the small docket. [_Hands him the open book. THE MAGISTRATE looks in it._]

THE MAGISTRATE

Rooms, kitchen, quarterly wages, the privilege of keeping poultry. Why didn't you accept it?

LILIOM

I'm not a caretaker. I'm no good at caretaking. To be a caretaker--you have to be a caretaker----

THE MAGISTRATE

If I said to you now: Liliom, go back on your stretcher. Tomorrow morning you will arise alive and well again. Would you be a caretaker then?

LILIOM

No.

THE MAGISTRATE

Why not?

LILIOM

Because--because that's just why I died.

THE MAGISTRATE

That is not true, my son. You died because you loved little Julie and the child she is bearing under her heart.

LILIOM

No.

THE MAGISTRATE

Look me in the eye.

LILIOM

[_Looks him in the eye._] No.

THE MAGISTRATE

[_Stroking his beard._] Liliom, Liliom, if it were not for our Heavenly patience---- Go back to your seat. Number 16,474.

THE FIRST

[_Looks in his note book._] Stephan Kadar. [_THE POORLY DRESSED MAN rises._]

THE MAGISTRATE

You came out today?

THE POORLY DRESSED MAN

Today.

THE MAGISTRATE

[_Indicating the crimson sea of clouds._] How long were you in there?

THE POORLY DRESSED MAN

Thirteen years.

THE MAGISTRATE

Officer, you went to earth with him?

THE FIRST

Yes, sir.

THE MAGISTRATE

Stephan Kadar, after thirteen years of purification by fire you returned to earth to give proof that your soul had been burned clean. What good deed did you perform?

THE POORLY DRESSED MAN

When I came to the village and looked in the window of our cottage I saw my poor little orphans sleeping peacefully. But it was raining and the rain beat into the room through a hole in the roof. So I went and fixed the roof so it wouldn't rain in any more. My hammering woke them up and they were afraid. But their mother came in to them and comforted them. She said to them: "Don't cry! It's your poor, dear father hammering up there. He's come back from the other world to fix the roof for us."

THE MAGISTRATE

Officer?

THE FIRST

That's what happened.

THE MAGISTRATE

Stephan Kadar, you have done a good deed. What you did will be written in books to gladden the hearts of children who read them. [_Indicates the door at left._] The door is open to you. The eternal light awaits you. [_THE FIRST escorts the POORLY DRESSED MAN out at left with great deference._] Liliom! [_LILIOM rises._] You have heard?

LILIOM

Yes.

THE MAGISTRATE

When this man first appeared before us he was as stubborn as you. But now he has purified himself and withstood the test. He has done a good deed.

LILIOM

What's he done, anyhow? Any roofer can fix a roof. It's much harder to be a barker in an amusement park.

THE MAGISTRATE

Liliom, you shall remain for sixteen years in the crimson fire until your child is full grown. By that time your pride and your stubbornness will have been burnt out of you. And when your daughter----

LILIOM

My daughter!

THE MAGISTRATE

When your daughter has reached the age of sixteen---- [_LILIOM bows his head, covers his eyes with his hands, and to keep from weeping laughs defiantly, sadly._]

THE MAGISTRATE

When your daughter has reached the age of sixteen you will be sent for one day back to earth.

LILIOM

Me?

THE MAGISTRATE

Yes--just as you may have read in the legends of how the dead reappear on earth for a time.

LILIOM

I never believed them.

THE MAGISTRATE

Now you see they are true. You will go back to earth one day to show how far the purification of your soul has progressed.

LILIOM

Then I must show what I can do--like when you apply for a job--as a coachman?

THE MAGISTRATE

Yes--it is a test.

LILIOM

And will I be told what I have to do?

THE MAGISTRATE

No.

LILIOM

How will I know, then?

THE MAGISTRATE

You must decide that for yourself. That's what you burn sixteen years for. And if you do something good, something splendid for your child, then----

LILIOM

[_Laughs sadly._] Then? [_All stand up and bow their heads reverently. There is a pause._] Then?

THE MAGISTRATE

Now I'll bid you farewell, Liliom. Sixteen years and a day shall pass before I see you again. When you have returned from earth you will come up before me again. Take heed and think well of some good deed to do for your child. On that will depend which door shall be opened to you up here. Now go, Liliom. [_He exits at left. THE GUARD stands at attention. There is a pause._]

THE FIRST

[_Approaches LILIOM._] Come along, my son. [_He goes to the door at right; pulls open the bolt and waits._]

LILIOM

[_To the old GUARD, softly._] Say, officer.

THE GUARD What do you want?

LILIOM

Please--can I get--have you got----?

THE GUARD

What?

LILIOM

[_Whispers._] A cigarette? [_The old GUARD stares at him, goes a few paces to the left, shakes his head disapprovingly. Then his expression softens. He takes a cigarette from his pocket and, crossing to LILIOM--who has gone over to the door at right--gives him the cigarette. THE FIRST throws open the door. An intense rose-colored light streams in. The glow of it is so strong that it blinds LILIOM and he takes a step backward and bows his head and covers his eyes with his hand before he steps forward into the light._]

THE CURTAIN FALLS

SCENE SEVEN

SCENE--_Sixteen years later. A small, tumble-down house on a bare, unenclosed plot of ground. Before the house is a tiny garden enclosed by a hip-high hedge._

_At back a wooden fence crosses the stage; in the center of it is a door large enough to admit a wagon. Beyond the fence is a view of a suburban street which blends into a broad vista of tilled fields._

_It is a bright Sunday in Spring._

_In the garden a table for two is laid._

_JULIE, her daughter LOUISE, WOLF and MARIE are discovered in the garden. WOLF is prosperously dressed, MARIE somewhat elaborately, with a huge hat._

JULIE

You could stay for lunch.

MARIE

Impossible, dear. Since he became the proprietor of the Café Sorrento, Wolf simply has to be there all the time.

JULIE

But you needn't stay there all day, too.

MARIE

Oh, yes. I sit near the cashier's cage, read the papers, keep an eye on the waiters and drink in the bustle and excitement of the great city.

JULIE

And what about the children?

MARIE

You know what modern families are like. Parents scarcely ever see their children these days. The four girls are with their governess, the three boys with their tutor.

LOUISE

Auntie, dear, do stay and eat with us.

MARIE

[_Importantly._] Impossible today, dear child, impossible. Perhaps some other time. Come, Mr. Beifeld.

JULIE

Since when do you call your husband mister?

WOLF

I'd rather she did, dear lady. When we used to be very familiar we quarreled all the time. Now we are formal with each other and get along like society folk. I kiss your hand, dear lady.

JULIE

Good-bye, Wolf.

MARIE

Adieu, my dear. [_They embrace._] Adieu, my dear child.

LOUISE

Good-bye, Aunt Marie. Good-bye, Uncle Wolf. [_WOLF and MARIE exit._]

JULIE

You can get the soup now, Louise dear. [_LOUISE goes into the house and reënters with the soup. They sit at the table._]

LOUISE

Mother, is it true we're not going to work at the jute factory any more?

JULIE

Yes, dear.

LOUISE

Where then?

JULIE

Uncle Wolf has gotten us a place in a big establishment where they make all kinds of fittings for cafés. We're to make big curtains, you know, the kind they hang in the windows, with lettering on them.

LOUISE

It'll be nicer there than at the jute factory.

JULIE

Yes, dear. The work isn't as dirty and pays better, too. A poor widow like your mother is lucky to get it. [_They eat. LILIOM and the two HEAVENLY POLICEMEN appear in the big doorway at back. The POLICEMEN pass slowly by. LILIOM stands there alone a moment, then comes slowly down and pauses at the opening of the hedge. He is dressed as he was on the day of his death. He is very pale, but otherwise unaltered. JULIE, at the table, has her back to him. LOUISE sits facing the audience._

LILIOM

Good day.

LOUISE

Good day.

JULIE

Another beggar! What is it you want, my poor man?

LILIOM

Nothing.

JULIE

We have no money to give, but if you care for a plate of soup---- [_LOUISE goes into the house._] Have you come far today?

LILIOM

Yes--very far.

JULIE

Are you tired?

LILIOM

Very tired.

JULIE

Over there at the gate is a stone. Sit down and rest. My daughter is bringing you the soup. [_LOUISE comes out of the house._]

LILIOM

Is that your daughter?

JULIE

Yes.

LILIOM

[_To LOUISE._] You are the daughter?

LOUISE

Yes, sir.

LILIOM

A fine, healthy girl. [_Takes the soup plate from her with one hand, while with the other he touches her arm. LOUISE draws back quickly._]

LOUISE

[_Crosses to JULIE._] Mother!

JULIE

What, my child?

LOUISE

The man tried to take me by the arm.

JULIE

Nonsense! You only imagined it, dear. The poor, hungry man has other things to think about than fooling with young girls. Sit down and eat your soup. [_They eat._]

LILIOM

[_Eats, too, but keeps looking at them._] You work at the factory, eh?

JULIE

Yes.

LILIOM

Your daughter, too?

LOUISE

Yes.

LILIOM

And your husband?

JULIE

[_After a pause._] I have no husband. I'm a widow.

LILIOM

A widow?

JULIE

Yes.

LILIOM

Your husband--I suppose he's been dead a long time. [_JULIE does not answer._] I say--has your husband been dead a long time?

JULIE

A long time.

LILIOM

What did he die of? [_JULIE is silent._]

LOUISE

No one knows. He went to America to work and he died there--in the hospital. Poor father, I never knew him.

LILIOM

He went to America?

LOUISE

Yes, before I was born.

LILIOM

To America?

JULIE

Why do you ask so many questions? Did you know him, perhaps?

LILIOM

[_Puts the plate down._] Heaven knows! I've known so many people. Maybe I knew him, too.

JULIE

Well, if you knew him, leave him and us in peace with your questions. He went to America and died there. That's all there is to tell.

LILIOM

All right. All right. Don't be angry with me. I didn't mean any harm. [_There is a pause._]

LOUISE

My father was a very handsome man.

JULIE

Don't talk so much.

LOUISE

Did I say anything----?

LILIOM

Surely the little orphan can say that about her father.

LOUISE

My father could juggle so beautifully with three ivory balls that people used to advise him to go on the stage.

JULIE

Who told you that?

LOUISE

Uncle Wolf.

LILIOM

Who is that?

LOUISE

Mr. Wolf Beifeld, who owns the Café Sorrento.

LILIOM

The one who used to be a porter?

JULIE

[_Astonished._] Do you know him, too? It seems that you know all Budapest.

LILIOM

Wolf Beifeld is a long way from being all Budapest. But I do know a lot of people. Why shouldn't I know Wolf Beifeld?

LOUISE

He was a friend of my father.

JULIE

He was not his friend. No one was.

LILIOM

You speak of your husband so sternly.

JULIE

What's that to you? Doesn't it suit you? I can speak of my husband any way I like. It's nobody's business but mine.

LILIOM

Certainly, certainly--it's your own business. [_Takes up his soup plate again. All three eat._]

LOUISE

[_To JULIE._] Perhaps he knew father, too.

JULIE

Ask him, if you like.

LOUISE

[_Crosses to LILIOM. He stands up._] Did you know my father? [_LILIOM nods. LOUISE addresses her mother._] Yes, he knew him.

JULIE

[_Rises._] You knew Andreas Zavocky?

LILIOM

Liliom? Yes.

LOUISE

Was he really a very handsome man?

LILIOM

I wouldn't exactly say handsome.

LOUISE

[_Confidently._] But he was an awfully good man, wasn't he?

LILIOM

He wasn't so good, either. As far as I know he was what they called a clown, a barker in a carousel.

LOUISE

[_Pleased._] Did he tell funny jokes?

LILIOM

Lots of 'em. And he sang funny songs, too.

LOUISE

In the carousel?

LILIOM

Yes--but he was something of a bully, too. He'd fight anyone. He even hit your dear little mother.

JULIE

That's a lie.

LILIOM

It's true.

JULIE

Aren't you ashamed to tell the child such awful things about her father? Get out of here, you shameless liar. Eats our soup and our bread and has the impudence to slander our dead!

LILIOM

I didn't mean--I----

JULIE

What right have you to tell lies to the child? Take that plate, Louise, and let him be on his way. If he wasn't such a hungry-looking beggar, I'd put him out myself. [_LOUISE takes the plate out of his hand._]

LILIOM

So he didn't hit you?

JULIE

No, never. He was always good to me.

LOUISE

[_Whispers._] Did he tell funny stories, too?

LILIOM

Yes, and _such_ funny ones.

JULIE

Don't speak to him any more. In God's name, go.

LOUISE

In God's name. [_JULIE resumes her seat at the table and eats._]

LILIOM

If you please, Miss--I have a pack of cards in my pocket. And if you like, I'll show you some tricks that'll make you split your sides laughing. [_LOUISE holds LILIOM'S plate in her left hand. With her right she reaches out and holds the garden gate shut._] Let me in, just a little way, Miss, and I'll do the tricks for you.

LOUISE

Go, in God's name, and let us be. Why are you making those ugly faces?

LILIOM

Don't chase me away, Miss; let me come in for just a minute--just for a minute--just long enough to let me show you something pretty, something wonderful. [_Opens the gate._] Miss, I've something to give you. [_Takes from his pocket a big red handkerchief in which is wrapped a glittering star from Heaven. He looks furtively about him to make sure that the POLICE are not watching._]

LOUISE

What's that?

LILIOM

Pst! A star! [_With a gesture he indicates that he has stolen it out of the sky._]

JULIE

[_Sternly._] Don't take anything from him. He's probably stolen it somewhere. [_To LILIOM._] In God's name, be off with you.

LOUISE

Yes, be off with you. Be off. [_She slams the gate._]

LILIOM

Miss--please, Miss--I've got to do something good--or--do something good--a good deed----

LOUISE

[_Pointing with her right hand._] That's the way out.

LILIOM

Miss----

LOUISE

Get out!

LILIOM

Miss! [_Looks up at her suddenly and slaps her extended hand, so that the slap resounds loudly._]

LOUISE

Mother! [_Looks dazedly at LILIOM, who bows his head dismayed, forlorn. JULIE rises and looks at LILIOM in astonishment. There is a long pause._]

JULIE

[_Comes over to them slowly._] What's the matter here?

LOUISE

[_Bewildered, does not take her eyes off LILIOM._] Mother--the man--he hit me--on the hand--hard--I heard the sound of it--but it didn't hurt--mother--it didn't hurt--it was like a caress--as if he had just touched my hand tenderly. [_She hides behind JULIE. LILIOM sulkily raises his head and looks at JULIE._]

JULIE

[_Softly._] Go, my child. Go into the house. Go.

LOUISE

[_Going._] But mother--I'm afraid--it sounded so loud---- [_Weepingly._] And it didn't hurt at all--just as if he'd--kissed my hand instead--mother! [_She hides her face._]

JULIE

Go in, my child, go in. [_LOUISE goes slowly into the house. JULIE watches her until she has disappeared, then turns slowly to LILIOM._]

JULIE

You struck my child.

LILIOM

Yes--I struck her.

JULIE

Is that what you came for, to strike my child?

LILIOM

No--I didn't come for that--but I did strike her--and now I'm going back.

JULIE

In the name of the Lord Jesus, who are you?

LILIOM

[_Simply._] A poor, tired beggar who came a long way and who was hungry. And I took your soup and bread and I struck your child. Are you angry with me?

JULIE

[_Her hand on her heart; fearfully, wonderingly._] Jesus protect me--I don't understand it--I'm not angry--not angry at all---- [_LILIOM goes to the doorway and leans against the doorpost, his back to the audience. JULIE goes to the table and sits._]

JULIE

Louise! [_LOUISE comes out of the house._] Sit down, dear, we'll finish eating.

LOUISE

Has he gone?

JULIE

Yes. [_They are both seated at the table. LOUISE, her head in her hands, is staring into space._] Why don't you eat, dear?

LOUISE

What has happened, mother?

JULIE

Nothing, my child. [_The HEAVENLY POLICEMEN appear outside. LILIOM walks slowly off at left. The FIRST POLICEMAN makes a deploring gesture. Both shake their heads deploringly and follow LILIOM slowly off at left._]

LOUISE

Mother, dear, why won't you tell me?

JULIE

What is there to tell you, child? Nothing has happened. We were peacefully eating, and a beggar came who talked of bygone days, and then I thought of your father.

LOUISE

My father?

JULIE

Your father--Liliom. [_There is a pause._]

LOUISE

Mother--tell me--has it ever happened to you--has anyone ever hit you--without hurting you in the least?

JULIE

Yes, my child. It has happened to me, too. [_There is a pause._]

LOUISE

Is it possible for someone to hit you--hard like that--real loud and hard--and not hurt you at all?

JULIE

It is possible, dear--that someone may beat you and beat you and beat you,--and not hurt you at all.---- [_There is a pause. Nearby an organ-grinder has stopped. The music of his organ begins._]

THE CURTAIN FALLS

Transcriber's Note

This transcription is based on images scanned from a copy made available by Cornell University and posted by the Internet Archive at:

archive.org/details/cu31924026943195

These images were supplemented by images scanned from a copy made available by Harvard University and posted by the Internet Archive at:

archive.org/details/liliomalegendin00glazgoog

The following changes were noted:

- For consistency, all names in the stage directions have been capitalized.

- p. 12: I'll stand for no indecency in my establishment--Added a period to the end of the sentence.

- p. 29: Which of you wants to stay. [_There is no answer._]--Changed the period after "stay" to a question mark.

- p. 47: _The door to the kitchen is up Left and a black-curtained entrance to the dark-room is down Left._--For consistency, changed "_dark-room_" to "_dark room_".

- p. 49: [_with a sweeping gesture that takes in the camera, dark-room and screen_]--For consistency, changed "_dark-room_" to "_dark room_".

- p. 75: _FICSUR'S head is quickly withdrawn. MRS. MUSKAT re-enters._--Changed "re-enters" to "reënters". The hyphenation occurs at the end of a line. Elsewhere in the text the word is printed with a diaeresis.

- p. 162: THE MAGISTRAT--Changed the character title to "THE MAGISTRATE".

Alternate spellings such as "irridescence," "moustache," "improvization," and "reënters" have been retained as has the inconsistent spelling of Liliom's last name ("Zavoczki," "Zavocki," and "Zavocky").