The Land of Many Names/Act 2
ACT TWO
The same city. Above, on the horizon, a large star then begins to shine with a changing light. A Man with a Spade is on the stage. Enter a Father and Mother, both dressed in mourning. At the back is projected the image of a small graveyard on a hill.
The Man with the Spade (wipes the sweat from his forehead) (aside):
Another few days of work and I shall be starting on my journey.
The Father (supporting the Mother by the arm):
Now, come, come! don’t cry now! Who knows what trouble he might have met with if he had lived? Perhaps he’s better off as he is.
The Man with the Spade:
I see you have just come from the graveyard.
The Mother:
Yes, and a sad journey it was.
The Man with the Spade:
I have heard that you lost your little boy. May God comfort you.
The Father:
I thank you for your sympathy. Our son!
And so suddenly too, poor little fellow! I used to see him going to school. He was a fine lad.
The Mother:
And a good one, too. It was scarlet fever. He suffered a lot, but he was not ill for long.
The Father:
Our son!
The Mother:
The fever kept increasing; the boy was delirious, until the doctor said that there was no more hope. Oh, if only death had taken me instead!
The Man with the Spade:
It’s a pity, for the child’s sake.
The Mother:
The boy was delirious in his fever. “Father,” he shouted, “I’m going to the New Land. I shall become king in the New Land, and then I’ll bring you great riches.”
The Father:
My son! Before he fell ill, he said to us: “I’m going to the New Land, and then one day I’ll come back to you. You will sit alone at supper and think: Where is our Jenik? He must be grown-up by now. What can he be doing? Has he forgotten us? And then somebody will knock at the door, and that will be me. And I shall bring you nice things and great treasures.”
Poor little fellow!
The Mother:
He was raving only about this New Land. He dreamt about nothing else. He was quite wrapped up in it, he and the other boys, his play-fellows.
The Father:
Our son!
The Man with the Spade:
And, poor boy, he never lived to see it. But boys are not the only ones whose heads are full of this New Land, this Land of Hopes. It has caught everybody’s fancy. Everyone is raving about it and wants to go there. I myself
The Mother:
Ah! and he here, my husband. He’s always trying to persuade and urge me that we should go.
The Man with the Spade:
You, too? To begin a new life
The Father:
Yes, that’s what I want; there’s nothing to keep me here now. We’ve lost our child, and everything here reminds me now of our latest sorrow. Our son! I can live here no longer. His only longing was for the New Land.
The Man with the Spade:
Ay, like all of us.
No, not me, though. I don’t want to go. I could never do it. I don’t want to go anywhere. I can’t; I dare not go from here
The Father:
Why, we have lost our child here, and there is nothing here to make me forget. Even a bird—a creature tiny of heart and with tearless eyes—when death has taken away its young, leaves the bereaved nest and flies to a distant place.
The Mother:
No, I beg of you, no. The bird—a creature small of heart and with unweeping eyes—has its wings, has its resounding song and a wide home amid the flowers. But I have no wings. Oh, happy is the bird’s lot, while I, luckless one, I pray you, have pity on me! The bird’s soul is small, yet it has wings, but we have lost our child and here is his grave. A bird has its wide home amid all flowers and its element is the airy horizon. But my flowers and horizon are yonder tomb in the graveyard. I beseech you, I cannot go away
The Man with the Spade:
Do not urge her any more, for in truth she mourns more sorrowfully than a bird. It is woeful to hear. With all my heart I wish both of you strength and comfort. God comfort you.
The Man with the Spade:
A sad thing—sad indeed. But I am alone and have no ties here. I am free to prepare for departure, that I may seek my fortune in the New Land. It is sad to be fettered by a grave and a woman, by a mother who has lost her child, by a weeping dove who cannot be comforted. It is sad to stand in the midst of one’s grief and not to depart from it. Not so a freeman. He goes away as he pleases; he regrets nothing and is reminded of nothing. And why? This is how I look at it: he who goes away leaves unhappiness behind him.
The scene is changed by the projection of an image of suburban fences and factories.
Singing behind the scene.
And new land has arisen from the sea,
And this land shall be
All shrewd people’s property.
And those who journey there,
They shall get it. Stay-at-homes shall ne’er
Be given any share.
You must take whate’er
Shows itself, and only those with ready hand
Shall hold any of this land.
Tralala.
First Man:
Hallo! man is as free as a bird, eh?
The Man with the Spade:
As a bird? As a swallow!
The Stripling:
As a swallow? As a sea-gull, as a hawk, as an eagle!
And he can go anywhere.
First Man:
Anywhere? A bird can do that. But a man does not fly anywhere; a man knows where to go.
The Stripling:
Yes, where he wants to go.
The Man with the Spade:
Where he feels himself drawn to.
First Man:
Ha, ha! We know where you are drawn to.
The Man with the Spade:
How do you know where I want to go?
The Stripling:
Ha, ha! Because we want to go there as well.
The Man with the Spade:
I don’t know. All according to what it’s like there.
The Stripling (feverishly):
But I know well enough what I want there. There’s nothing here. There’s nothing here for me. Here I should never have anything. What there is here is no use to me. Here I could never make my way as long as I live.
The Man with the Spade:
Why, you are young, but I’m getting on in years, and still I have not managed to help myself to anything. I am still without anything of my own; I still possess nothing.
First Man:
Well, what is there here? What have we here? Here is nothing but bare misery.
The Stripling:
Here? Here is only drudgery and beggary. Just look at me. Why, I shall never get on like this. I want to do something big.
First Man:
And you’re right. What sort of a life is this here? Always hunting after a. wretched crust of bread and always having nothing. Except our bare hands
The Stripling:
That’s just what I say. There’s nothing more to be done here. It’s not worth spitting on. But there? There it’s different. There is a new land. It can never be used up. There’s plenty of everything and nobody’s been there yet. Nothing’s been touched there yet. All you have to do is to make a grab
First Man:
That’s it. Just properly stretch out your hand
The Stripling:
But I’ll set about it with my sleeves properly rolled up.
The Man with the Spade:
The lad’s got pluck.
Ay, that I have. And I’ve got the whole business all thought out, from start to finish. Aha, old fellow! I’m going there all right, and no shilly-shallying, either. Here’s my knife. A fine one, too. And now I’ll have to bag a rifle from somewhere
The Man with the Spade:
A knife? A rifle? What for?
The Stripling:
Hm, what for? For wild animals and human beings, too. My good chap, I’m not going to stop on the outside of it; I’m going straight for the interior. That’s where the big forests are, and it’s the cities I want to keep clear of. I shan’t stop in them
The Man with the Spade:
Big forests? Cities?
The Stripling:
Why, of course, savages and wild beasts. It’s a barbarous country. No European’s foot has ever trod there. That’s where the wild tribes are, but that’s where the wealth is too
The Man with the Spade:
I can’t get the hang of what you’re saying. I thought that I should take a nice bit of land somewhere there and set up a farm.
The Stripling:
Ha, ha! a farm! Carting dung and drudging in the fields. I’m taking a shorter cut than that, old fellow.
Ha, ha, ha! a farm! Ploughing like an ox, when all you need do is to rake over the right spot with a mattock
The Stripling:
Or with this knife here. Ha, ha! if only I could get hold of a rifle.
The Man with the Spade:
What are you laughing for, you fools? It’s you who make me laugh! You’re talking about cities, forests, people
The Stripling and First Man:
Of course.
The Man with the Spade:
Then tell me whether anyone has ever seen cities and people and trees at the bottom of the water.
The Stripling:
What of it? Supposing anyone did see them.
The Man with the Spade:
But this land rose up right out of the sea, you fools! Where could the cities and wild tribes and forests come from? If you say good soil, I’ll agree with you.
The Stripling:
It is a new, unknown land, and I say that’s what it’s like there. A wild country, beasts of prey, wild nations, great dangers, but great wealth. Ha! I’m sure of it. That’s what it’s always like in such countries. And the man that goes there must have luck and courage. And that’s all I’ve got to say about it.
Pieris (to Elan Chol):
I am old, it is true, but I also am resolved to proceed to the New Land. My spirits were already drooping a little, but now once more I hope, I have faith, I am resurrected by new hopes.
First Man:
Do you hear that? He’s going there too.
Pieris:
See! What I have dreamt of all my life, it is here, it is before us, it has become a reality. No, no. From the old continents nothing more can be awaited; the old continents are played out; they are incapable of giving birth to new life; but there, there upon new foundations a new world is becoming an accomplished fact. At last! Now we have lived to see it. Already I behold the dawn of a new morning. Yonder, yonder shall perhaps fall to our lot the golden age of mankind which the ages have desired.
The Stripling:
Do you hear that? Do you hear? The golden age.
Pieris:
And like Simeon
The Man with the Spade:
Sirs, pardon us for disturbing you. There is something we should like you to explain to us.
Elan Chol, are you not preparing to go to the Land of Hopes?
Elan Chol:
I do not know—I think—perhaps I too will go there.
The Stripling:
And tell us, are there any people in this Land of Hopes?
Elan Chol:
I see them there. I see people there in tents, by fires and in rocky clefts
The Stripling:
Wild nations. And what else do you see?
Elan Chol:
I see great waters, and my gaze beholds a sandy wilderness above which a red moon rises. Against a rocky shore a wave mournfully breaks and a mighty girdle of clouds drifts above the new continent. In the clouds a white bird soars and utters a piercing cry. The south wind and the east have clashed, and the first rain has gathered above the new continent. You must think of yourself. Sit down yonder on that promontory. From the new continent gaze out at the five old continents; they are five stars and in their midst the sixth one, the most beautiful of them, with its dark lustre.
The Stripling:
And is any wealth there?
Is there wealth?
The Stripling:
Elan Chol!
First Man:
He does not hear. Is there any wealth? Sir!
The Man with the Spade:
He does not hear. Sir—hi, sir!
Pieris:
Let him be. He is absent-minded.
First Man:
An ill-fated being.
The Man with the Spade:
Well then, sir, you speak. Tell us what the land is like and what people are to seek there.
Pieris:
It is the sixth star amid the five, the most brilliant of them. This is the Star of Hopes.
The Stripling, First Man and the Man with the Spade:
The most brilliant, you say.
Pieris:
Yes, a white star. A marble tablet still without any inscription. Life has not yet visited it. It does not yet contain a single green blade nor any dew. Neither the white-breasted swallow nor the songful blackbird has nested there yet. The swift-footed stag, that soft-eyed creature, has not yet gone to drink from its springs. Not yet! Not yet do the tree-tops rustle on the hill-sides and the reeds by the waters. It possesses no shadow and not yet do the blue beetle and the seven-specked lady-bird sleep in the fallen leafage. Not yet have the seasons visited it
The Stripling, First Man and the Man with the Spade:
Then it is waste?
Pieris:
Then the earth was bare and waste, and the spirit of God hovered above the waters. And it was evening and it was morning, the first day.
The Stripling:
And riches, treasures?
Pieris:
Oh, treasure-house of a happy future! It is a new continent, a new paradise. The age-old dream is here becoming real. To us is granted a new world, new life. In unutterable purity gleams the naked earth. It is radiant with hopes and glows with the glory of coming ages. An immaculate, shining, uninscribed tablet awaits the advent of man, that he may mark it with his love and his spirit.
The Stripling and First Man:
Let us go there.
Ah! behold, it is not the violent man with massive jaw and fist clenched in his pocket who will go there. Lo! this time it is the unhappy man who will go there to perform his task. Upon him has this land been lavished by destiny, upon the one who suffers. The realm of peace and brotherhood will now be fashioned by him, the man of sorrows.
The Man with the Spade:
We had to suffer much in this old world.
First Man:
And you say that there will be no poor there?
Pieris:
Neither poor nor rich. Only one brotherhood of goodness.
The Stripling:
But I want to be rich.
First Man:
And I too.
The Man with the Spade:
So do I, if it comes to that.
Pieris:
You will be rich with love.
The Stripling:
Would you feed us on love?
First Man:
We want wealth.
Alas! what will you seek in the Land of Hopes?
The Stripling:
Gold.
The Man with the Spade:
Property, at last, and for the first time in our lives—property.
First Man:
What else but gold?
Pieris:
Oh, may you never reach the Land of Hopes.
First Man:
What, you and not us?
The Stripling:
So that you can dig there and get rich yourselves, liars that you are.
The Man with the Spade:
So that we should have nothing.
First Man:
You want to put us off with fine words.
The Stripling:
You won’t catch us that way, my good fellow.
First Man:
I tell you, we’d do better to ask no questions, but see that we get there as soon as possible.
There’s only one other thing I ought to have, and that’s a proper rifle that shoots.
Preris (alone):
Ah, the Land of Hopes! The Land of Hopes!
[Enter Lover with Beloved. The scene changes. The shining image of a pink star bursts into light.)
The Beloved:
Ah, my dearest! I am looking forward to it so much.
The Lover:
Yes, we are going. We are going there; we shall fly away like birds on the wing. They say that this new land is the most beautiful of all. They also call it the Star of Love.
The Beloved:
The Star of Love! That is a beautiful name. There will be no bad people there, will there? Love will be our lot there
The Lover:
And we shall be like a new Adam and Eve in a new paradise. I shall work. Life there will be different—better than here in the old world. The people there will be only good and happy, on the Star of Love
Pieris (stretching out his hands towards them):
Take me with you. I will go with you.
With us? We are all in all to each other.
The Lover (with the same gesture):
We need nobody. The old fool!
Pieris (in bitter perplexity):
No, I am not a fool. I am old, but I am not a fool—surely I am not a fool.
The scene is changed by the projected image of bare highways. The star bursts into a yellowish light. Enter a tattered and curly-haired man of somewhat southern appearance, encumbered with a knapsack. He is closely followed by a woman pushing a child’s pram filled with paltry chattels. She carries a child on her back. A second child follows whimpering.
The Man in a Hurry:
Good God! good God! Confound it! Hurry up a little! Do look sharp! Come along quicker!
The Wife of the Man in a Hurry:
I can’t go any quicker than that.
The Man in a Hurry:
My God! my God! what a cursed burden, a wife and children like that! At this rate we’ll never reach the New Land. Everybody else will be there before us, and then there’ll be nothing left for us.
I can’t keep up; we can’t keep up—the children
The Man in a Hurry:
Come, come, move yourself quicker—move yourself, or I’ll leave you here. Why should I dawdle about with you? Oh, my God! Confound it all! Then you stay here on the way, and I’ll go on alone and leave you here, you and these brats. You go there by yourselves. I don’t care a rap about you.
The Wife of the Man in a Hurry:
We’re coming—we’re coming. Oh, dear me, but the children, and I can’t go any farther—we can’t go any farther—we can’t keep up—we can’t keep up
Around the star there later appear inscriptions:
The new continent!
Do you want to go to the Land of Hopes?
Buy the Dollarson shares!
The star then bursts into increasingly golden, orange light.
[The blow of a drum and a gong. Enter two Sandwichmen with the same poster, and stand one on each side of a gateway.]
Are you interested in the New Continent?
Obtain particulars from Dollarson!
Second Sandwichman:
Do you want to go to the Land of Hopes?
Apply to Dollarson.
Dollarson will do everything for you.
First Sandwichman:
Do you want to inspect the New Continent?
Dollarson is arranging a trip which will be the most comfortable and the least expensive.
Dollarson will provide and arrange everything for you.
Apply to his travel bureau and you will get satisfaction.
Second Sandwichman:
He is arranging tourist excursions in three classes.
First class, maximum comfort, on a luxurious scale.
Second class, less expensive, first-rate style.
Third class, unusually low rates, for popular needs.
All prices most moderate.
First Sandwichman:
Do you want to join the Dollarson pleasure trips of exploration to the Land of Hopes?
Dollarson will make your arrangements for you.
He will draw up a travel scheme and supply the necessary schedule.
Equipment, provisions, transport facilities and staff.
Companions, guides, expert advice and attendants to take charge of your personal safety.
And he will insure you against accidents under the most advantageous conditions.
Second Sandwichman:
In all matters concerning the New Land apply to the Dollarson travel bureau.
It is a vast organisation, the first and only one of its kind.
First Sandwichman:
Dollarson takes thought, considers and foresees on your behalf, the result being that you obtain full advantages at the lowest rates.
This is an unrivalled organisation,
In which Dollarson out-Dollarsons Dollarson.
[Enter Dollarson. An illuminated advertisement of the Dollarson undertakings is then projected as the scene continues.]
Dollarson:
Ah! beautiful piece of work, magnificent thrill, devised by a shrewd brain. Oh, superb activities which bustle along at the impact of my ideas! See what I have contrived! And this is only the modest beginning of Dollarson’s tremendous business. Who would not visit the Land of Hopes? Who would not become wealthy?
First Sandwichman:
Buy the Dollarson shares.
The shares of the Dollarson Amalgamated Undertakings, Ltd.
The Dollarson Joint Stock Transit Company takes charge of transport traffic on its own boats and lines. A huge influx of tourists is under way. To meet this demand the Dollarson Joint Stock Hotel Company is building on the New Land first-class and also popular hotels, provided with modern comfort, bathrooms, cafés, cabarets, concerts, casinos, dancing-halls and playing-fields.
Second Sandwichman:
Buy shares of the Dollarson Transit Company.
First Sandwichman:
Buy shares of the Dollarson Hotel Company.
Dollarson:
Motor-buses, charabancs, horse and mule caravans, motor-boats and palanquins provide traffic facilities on the coast and in the interior.
First Sandwichman:
Buy shares in the Dollarson Traffic Association.
Dollarson will earn huge profits for you.
Dollarson:
The brainy man does not allow events to take him by surprise, but has the knack of taking advantage of them in good time. Join in with your capital. Most advantageous investment for savings. Highest interest, splendid dividends. It would be the devil’s own job to stop you and me from getting rich.
Second Sandwichman:
Join in! The Dollarson shares are now issued.
Don’t delay, but subscribe now.
The man with his wits about him foresees, uses his judgment, and watches over his success. We are faced by far-reaching problems of colonisation. Remember the emigrants. Watch over your fellow-countrymen in a foreign clime. Who will lend the colonists the necessary money, the same to be repaid in fixed instalments? Who will advance money for building houses, for implements and for the supply of cattle?
First Sandwichman:
The Dollarson Colonisation Bank of the New Hope.
Second Sandwichman:
Subscribe while there is still time.
Dollarson:
This bank solves all problems of colonisation on both sides—for the needy emigrants, to whom it secures the requisite advances, and for those who desire by means of their capital to share advantageously in the labour of emigrants.
Second Sandwichman:
Emigrants, apply in all confidence to the Dollarson Colonisation Bureau
First Sandwichman:
Capitalists, become shareholders in the Dollarson Colonisation Bank.
Dollarson:
These bureaus will occupy the whole street. We shall open them very shortly; their inauguration will be proclaimed by a solemn salute of guns. Do not delay; come forward, take action, subscribe. A man with his wits about him, a man who uses his brains, will not allow events to take him by surprise. I, at any rate, do not. Wandergold may be different. I am untiring and prompt with my ideas. With brilliant creative power I am unfolding the chain of a big concern, a huge speculation, a magnificent piece of work. Do not hesitate; walk up; the moment is at hand. (Sound of gong.) The Dollarson Amalgamated Undertakings have got going. This way for the New Land. I open the sluice of wealth.
The Crowd (rushing across the stage):
Me! Me! Me! Me!
First and Second Sandwichmen:
Take shares in the Dollarson concerns.
Dollarson will lay the foundation-stone of your prosperity.
This way for the Land of Hopes.
Dollarson:
This way for the Land of Hopes! A great work has been started. A new continent sheds its golden radiance upon you.
Chorus of Paupers (entering):
Exult, O song of gladsome aim,
Now earth a joy divine can claim,
A boundlessly entrancing prize
Dollarson:
Excellent! This way for the Land of Hopes!
Who are these people?
Woe is ended, grief is ended.
The Land of Hopes from the sea ascended.
Bliss, endless bliss, shall unto it arise.
Dollarson:
Who are you?
Chorus of Paupers:
We are beggars.
Dollarson:
Beggars! I should never have believed that there are so many beggars in the world.
Chorus of Paupers:
There are many of us.
Dollarson:
Beggars, eh? Only beggars. Oh, I see that there are many of you—many beyond question—in fact, too many. Upon my soul, I am appalled to think that there can be so many of you.
First Pauper:
Sir, our numbers are steadily increasing; more and more of us are coming along.
Dollarson:
And where are you bound for?
Chorus of Paupers:
We’re on our way to the Land of Hopes.
This is appalling! Ha, ha, ha! Beggars going to the Land of Hopes!
First and Second Sandwichmen:
Who wants to go to the Land of Hopes?
Buy the Dollarson shares.
Dollarson:
Wait a bit. So you’re going to the Land of Hopes?
First Pauper:
Yes, to the Land of Hopes, as it’s named, but they also call it the Land of Justice, the Land of Fulfilment, the New Paradise, the Star of the Sea, and so on.
Second Pauper:
Yes, it’s also named the Land of New Happiness.
Dollarson:
Ha, ha, ha! So you—ha, ha, ha!—you think perhaps that the New Land wants you? That the New Land first of all has need of you? That—ha, ha, ha!—this is awful—ha, ha!—that all it lacks are beggars? Oh, what jolly travellers you are! God bless me! it’s the right people have chosen the right destination.
Chorus of Paupers:
Sir, we are seeking happiness.
Dollarson:
Happiness!—ay, happiness. I wish you much happiness in finding this happiness of yours! The New Land is just waiting for you. Oh, to be sure, there’s nothing it needs so much as beggars! Yes, yes, it contains everything and lacks only misery. Ha, ha, ha! So you’re going to fill up a big gap.
First Pauper:
Sir, don’t jest so cruelly. The New Land was born for all people.
Second Pauper:
It is well known that the Land of Hopes belongs to all.
Dollarson:
You think so, do you? And what do you want to do there? How does it concern you? Misery’s the only thing you know about. What do you want in the Land of Hopes?
First Pauper:
It is the land of the disinherited. To us also the New Land was assigned by destiny!
Second Pauper:
Now it’s our turn!
Third Pauper:
We want riches!
First Pauper:
Soil!
Third Pauper:
And gold!
And gold! Do you not know that there the gold lies on the surface of the earth? It’s for the one who picks it up. You only have to bend down
Third Pauper:
Do you not know that gold and precious stones are lying there in the light of day? And that all riches are scattered there in the dust of the earth? There’s enough riches for everyone there. There is riches for the disinherited!
Chorus of Paupers:
In the Land of Hopes!
Dollarson (to the public):
Ha, ha, ha! Who wouldn’t go to the Land of Hopes? Buy the Dollarson shares! Do you hear? There’s soil, gold, riches
Fifth Pauper (leaping to the front):
Not only riches and gold; there’s more than that.
Dollarson:
More? More than that? What greater thing do you want to seek there?
Fifth Pauper:
Liberty!
Sixth Pauper (leaping to the front):
More!
Dollarson:
Still more?
Oh, peace of mind, escape, oblivion.
Seventh Pauper:
And a refuge. I want a refuge. I want to take refuge!
Eighth Pauper:
Oh, more! I want more. I want health. I know that only there shall I find health.
Ninth Pauper:
Still more. I want to get freedom, strength and power there!
Tenth Pauper:
More!
Dollarson:
More! What more is there?
Tenth Pauper:
Sleep! There is sleep. I want to find sleep there!
Eleventh Pauper:
I shall find God there!
Dollarson:
On the New Continent—everything—but God quite slipped my memory. (To the paupers.) Shout for all you’re worth; I’ll pay you for it. I’ll engage you as announcers. (With a broad sweep of the arm towards the public.) Who wouldn’t go to the New Land? Apply to the Dollarson Bureaus, Dollarson is busy with the Land of Hopes. Come forward, prepare, start off, subscribe!
[The stage ts filled with a Crowd in the background.
Chorus of Paupers:
To the Land of Hopes!
First and Second Sandwichmen:
The Dollarson organisations!
Dollarson:
Excursions to the Land of Hopes! Colonisation of the Land of Hopes! There are estates; there you will earn riches; there you will find gold!
Chorus of Paupers:
Everything can be found there!
Dollarson:
Yes, there you’ll find entertainments and jollity; you’ll gain possessions, earn riches, discover gold!
Chorus of Paupers:
In the Land of Hopes there is everything
First and Second Sandwichmen:
Apply to Dollarson!
Dollarson:
That’s it! There is liberty too. There you’ll find peace of mind, a refuge, escape and oblivion!
First and Second Sandwichmen:
The Dollarson organisations!
There you’ll find everything!
Dollarson:
Do you crave for strength and power? There you’ll develop your desires and power. Do you seek health or sleep? There you’ll attain recovery. Yes, and more besides. Even God is there. And even more? All prosperity and all gain. All you want.
Chorus of Paupers:
In the Land of Hopes there is everything
Dollarson:
Dollarson will arrange everything for you
Chorus of Paupers:
This way for the Land of Hopes!
The Crowd:
The Land of Hopes!
First and Second Sandwichmen:
Who else wants Dollarson shares?
[The hooter of a motor-car. Vandergold makes his appearance.]
The Crowd:
Look! Vandergold!
Vandergold:
That’s me.
Dollarson:
Ah, Mr. Vandergold, it’s you, eh? I’m glad to see you. I thought you were ill. May I venture to hope that you also have come to take shares in my organisations?
First Sandwichman:
The magnificent Dollarson organisations.
Second Sandwichman:
The greatest prosperity and gain!
Vandergold:
Not a bit of it.
Dollarson:
Then perhaps I may assume that you have made speculations of your own? Although I did not hear that you were concerned in anything. And yet I am surprised, where so splendid an object
Vandergold:
No.
First and Second Sandwichmen:
Listen! Dollarson has surpassed Vandergold.
Dollarson:
Ah, my friend, a strong man does not allow events to take him by surprise.
Vandergold:
You haven’t let the events take you by surprise?
Dollarson:
That I haven’t. Just look at all I am doing.
Vandergold has been left behind by Dollarson.
Dollarson leads and Vandergold has withdrawn.
Second Sandwichman:
Vandergold is handicapped!
Put your money on Dollarson!
Dollarson:
It’s clear, my friend, that you’ve allowed the events to take you by surprise. I’m astonished that you didn’t realise, that you didn’t seize the opportunity of doing business in the matter of the New Land.
Vandergold:
What’s that you say?
Dollarson:
What? The New Land, the Land of Hopes!
Vandergold:
And what else?
The Crowd:
The Land of New Happiness!
Chorus of Paupers:
The Land of the Poor!
Vandergold:
It’s got other names as well. Everywhere they call it differently.
Dollarson:
Bah! what does the name matter? It is the new sixth continent.
The name announces the thing and says what it is. (To the crowd.) Speak and enumerate it. Come, now, let’s hear how the land is called.
First Voice from the Crowd (the Stripling):
It’s called the Golden Star!
Second Voice from the Crowd (the Man with the Spade):
The Land of Blessing!
Fourth Pauper:
The Land of Fulfilment!
Third Voice from the Crowd (the Lover):
The New Paradise!
First Pauper:
The Land of the Poor!
Third Pauper:
The New Land of Plenty!
Fourth Voice from the Crowd:
The New Utopia!
Fifth Pauper:
The Land of Equality! The Land of Justice!
Fifth Voice from the Crowd (the Herald):
Not at all! The Land of Salvation!
What does it matter about the names? The names just show with what affection and with what hopes mankind welcomes the New Land.
Vandergold:
Oh, go on, go on! What else do you call it?
Sixth Voice from the Crowd:
The Realm of the Centuries!
Sixth Pauper:
The Land of Thule!
Eleventh Pauper:
Not so. It is called the Continent of Jesus’ Heart!
Seventh Voice from the Crowd:
Not at all! The New Zion!
Eighth Man from the Crowd (rushing forward):
Nonsense! It is called the Land of Karl Marx!
Ninth Man from the Crowd (dashing after him):
Never! We want no Land of Karl Marx! It will be called the Land of the Strong!
Tenth Man from the Crowd (dashing after the previous one):
Away with you! But you will see. It will bear the name of Leninia!
[Disturbance in the crowd, which splits up into hostile groups.]
Vandergold
Oh, calm down, calm down! There’s no need to kill each other on that account! And the land has other names as well! Come, now
First Voice from the Crowd:
The New Atlantis!
First Sandwichman:
The Star of the West!
Second Sandwichman:
The Heritage of the West !
Second Voice from the Crowd:
The Land of the North!
First Sandwichman:
The New Europe!
Second Sandwichman:
The New America!
Third Voice from The Crowd:
No, the New Africa!
Fourth Voice from the Crowd:
The Latin Star!
Fifth Voice from the Crowd:
Absurd! The Celtic Star!
Sixth Voice from the Crowd:
The Crown of States!
Fifth Voice from the Crowd:
No other States! It is the Morning Star of Iberia!
The New England!
Second Sandwichman:
The New France!
Seventh Voice from the Crowd:
No! The Land of all Continents!
Eighth Voice from the Crowd:
No, never! never! The New Germany!
Vandergold:
Do you hear that? Do you hear?
Dollarson:
Why continue with this litany of names? They merely indicate the economic, political, social and intellectual importance which the whole world attaches to the New Continent, and what great hopes are associated with its future. That is why it is called the Land of Hopes.
Vandergold:
Then for the time being you’d better just call it the Land of Many Names. But it will bear only a single name.
Dollarson:
Which one?
Vandergold:
I don’t know yet. But it will bear the name of the one to whom it will belong.
To whom will it belong?
The Crowd:
Doesn’t it belong to all?
Vandergold:
But the Land of Hopes isn’t on the moon. It exists to-day; it is the centre of the most diverse interests and conflicting purposes, and it is located within the spheres of authority of the interested Continents of States throughout the world. It has become the subject of mutual negotiations. Well, these negotiations have not attained their purpose.
The Crowd:
What does that matter to us? It belongs to us all.
Vandergold:
Oh yes. Why not? Let’s suppose it’ll be yours. But first of all the Land of Hopes will have to be redeemed.
The Crowd:
Redeemed?
Eighth Man from the Crowd:
Tell us more clearly how we are to understand this.
Dollarson:
Redeemed? By what?
Vandergold:
By blood and suffering.
Blood and suffering upon you who say such a thing!
Dollarson:
Blood and suffering
Vandergold:
Let’s put it more concisely: war!
[The bright star, with the golden radiance, reddens.
The Crowd:
We don’t want war! We want the New Land!
Vandergold:
You will have it, but not for nothing. That is my news. It is prompt and accurate. The negotiations between the States have broken down. Now the force of arms is to decide.
The Crowd:
Alas!
[Billstickers paste the mobilisation orders on the gateway.]
First and Second Sandwichmen:
Mobilisation!
Dollarson:
My organisations!
Vandergold:
Mr. Dollarson, you again allowed events to take you by surprise.
I vow it’s for the last time, Vandergold. War, then
The Remaining Crowd:
Alas, war! Alas! but the Land of Hopes must be ours.
Vandergold:
Yes, war. Attention, people! Those who are not called up for the army will find employment in my factories, which I have now completely transformed for the manufacture of war materials. I shall employ as many women, old men and children as are not affected by the mobilisation order. You can apply at my offices.
Voice of the Crowd (afar):
To the fighting-line, to war
Vandergold:
Yes, first of all comes war. Death at once walks side by side with man.
[The stage is empty. The sound of drums behind. The star glows blood-red. Under the redly blazing star the shadow picture of soldiers on the march.]
Song of the Soldiers:
O merrily, O merrily, my gun that goes with me.
Hurrah! we’ll win the New Land there that lies beyond the sea!
Now off we go to fight,
On us the star shines bright,
And this new star, it mine must be!
Alas, war!—again war!
Song of the Soldiers:
The banners—ha! the banners, they higher yet shall soar.
The New Land’s there beyond the sea, and ye shall scan it over.
From that land fair,
From that star rare,
The Woman in the Black Veil (kneels down):
Oh, my son
[The shadow picture of the soldiers on the march vanishes. The star glows darkly.]
Song of the Soldiers (afar):
The Woman in the Black Veil (sinks down):
My son
Curtain.