SCENE SIXSCENE—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 appearLILIOMand the twoPOLICEMEN.The bell rings.An oldGUARDenters 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 twoPOLICEMENand closes the door again.LILIOMlooks wonderingly around.THEFIRST[To the oldGUARD.] Announce us. [TheGUARDexits at left.]LILIOMIs this it?THESECONDYes, my son.LILIOMThis is the police court?THESECONDYes, my son. The part for suicide cases.LILIOMAnd what happens here?THEFIRSTHere justice is done. Sit down. [LILIOMsits next to the two men. The twoPOLICEMENstand silent near the table.]THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN[Whispers.] Suicide, too?LILIOMYes.THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN[Points to thePOORLYDRESSEDMAN.] So’s he. [Introducing himself.] My name is Reich.THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN[Whispers, too.] My name is Stephen Kadar. [LILIOMonly looks at them.]THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANAnd you? What’s your name?LILIOMNone of your business. [Both move a bit away from him.]THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANI did it by jumping out of a window.THERICHLYDRESSEDMANI did it with a pistol—and you?LILIOMWith a knife. [They move a bit further away from him.]THERICHLYDRESSEDMANA pistol is cleaner.LILIOMIf I had the price of a pistol——THESECONDSilence![ThePOLICEMAGISTRATEenters. 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. TheGUARDreënters behind him and sits on the bench with the dead men. As theMAGISTRATEenters, all rise, exceptLILIOM,who remains surlily seated. When theMAGISTRATEsits down, so do the others.]THEGUARDYesterday’s cases, your honor. The numbers are entered in the docket.THEMAGISTRATENumber 16,472.THEFIRST[Looks in his notebook, beckons theRICHLYDRESSEDMAN.] Stand up, please. [THERICHLYDRESSEDMANrises.]THEMAGISTRATEYour name?THERICHLYDRESSEDMANDoctor Reich.THEMAGISTRATEAge?THERICHLYDRESSEDMANForty-two, married, Jew.THEMAGISTRATE[With a gesture of dismissal.] Religion does not interest us here—why did you kill yourself?THERICHLYDRESSEDMANOn account of debts.THEMAGISTRATEWhat good did you do on earth?THERICHLYDRESSEDMANI was a lawyer——THEMAGISTRATE[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?THERICHLYDRESSEDMANYes, sir.THEMAGISTRATEHe 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?THERICHLYDRESSEDMANMy debts——THEMAGISTRATEThey do not matter here. Here we are concerned only with the affairs of the soul.THERICHLYDRESSEDMANThen—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.THEMAGISTRATE[ToTHESECOND.] You will take Dr. Reich back and let him kiss his son Oscar.THESECONDCome with me, please.THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN[ToTHEMAGISTRATE.] I thank you. [He bows and exits at back withTHESECOND.]THEMAGISTRATE[After making an entry in the docket.] Number 16,473.THEFIRST[Looks in his notebook, then beckonsLILIOM.] Stand up.LILIOMYou saidpleaseto him. [He rises.]THEMAGISTRATEYour name?LILIOMLiliom.THEMAGISTRATEIsn’t that your nickname?LILIOMYes.THEMAGISTRATEWhat is your right name?LILIOMAndreas.THEMAGISTRATEAnd your last name?LILIOMZavocki—after my mother.THEMAGISTRATEYour age?LILIOMTwenty-four.THEMAGISTRATEWhat good didyoudo on earth? [LILIOMis silent.] Why did you take your life? [LILIOMdoes not answer.THEMAGISTRATEaddressesTHEFIRST.] Take that knife away from him. [THEFIRSTdoes so.] It will be returned to you, if you go back to earth.LILIOMDo I go back to earth again?THEMAGISTRATEJust answer my questions.LILIOMI wasn’t answering then, I was asking if——THEMAGISTRATEYou don’t ask questions here. You only answer. Only answer, Andreas Zavocki! I ask you whetherthere is anything on earth you neglected to accomplish? Anything down there you would like to do?LILIOMYes.THEMAGISTRATEWhat is it?LILIOMI’d like to break Ficsur’s head for him.THEMAGISTRATEPunishment is our office. Is there nothing else on earth you’d like to do?LILIOMI don’t know—I guess, as long as I’m here, I’ll not go back.THEMAGISTRATE[ToTHEFIRST.] Note that. He waives his right. [LILIOMstarts back to the bench.] Stay where you are. You are aware that you left your wife without food or shelter?LILIOMYes.THEMAGISTRATEDon’t you regret it?LILIOMNo.THEMAGISTRATEYou are aware that your wife is pregnant, and that in six months a child will be born?LILIOMI know.THEMAGISTRATEAnd that the child, too, will be without food or shelter? Do you regret that?LILIOMAs long as I won’t be there, what’s it got to do with me?THEMAGISTRATEDon’t try to deceive us, Andreas Zavocki. We see through you as through a pane of glass.LILIOMIf you see so much, what do you want to ask me for? Why don’t you let me rest—in peace?THEMAGISTRATEFirst you must earn your rest.LILIOMI want—only—to sleep.THEMAGISTRATEYour obstinacy won’t help you. Here patience is endless as time. We can wait.LILIOMCan I ask something—I’d like to know—if Your Honor will tell me—whether the baby will be a boy or a girl.THEMAGISTRATEYou shall see that for yourself.LILIOM[Excitedly.] I’ll see the baby?THEMAGISTRATEWhen you do it won’t be a baby any more. But we haven’t reached that question yet.LILIOMI’ll see it?THEMAGISTRATEAgain I ask you: Do you not regret that you deserted your wife and child; that you were a bad husband, a bad father?LILIOMA bad husband?THEMAGISTRATEYes.LILIOMAnd a bad father?THEMAGISTRATEThat, too.LILIOMI couldn’t get work—and I couldn’t bear to see Julie—all the time—all the time——THEMAGISTRATEWeeping! 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?THEMAGISTRATE[Emphatically.] Yes.LILIOM[After an astounded pause.] The police down there never said that.THEMAGISTRATEYou beat that poor, frail girl; you beat her because she loved you. How could you do that?LILIOMWe 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.THEMAGISTRATEAre 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 atTHEMAGISTRATE.]THEMAGISTRATE[Confidently expectant.] Are you sorry?LILIOM[With a stare.] I’m not sorry for anything.THEMAGISTRATELiliom, Liliom, it will be difficult to help you.LILIOMI’m not asking any help.THEMAGISTRATEYou were offered employment as a caretaker on Arader Street. [ToTHEFIRST.] Where is that entered?THEFIRSTIn the small docket. [Hands him the open book.THEMAGISTRATElooks in it.]THEMAGISTRATERooms, kitchen, quarterly wages, the privilege of keeping poultry. Why didn’t you accept it?LILIOMI’m not a caretaker. I’m no good at caretaking. To be a caretaker—you have to be a caretaker——THEMAGISTRATEIf 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?LILIOMNo.THEMAGISTRATEWhy not?LILIOMBecause—because that’s just why I died.THEMAGISTRATEThat is not true, my son. You died because you loved little Julie and the child she is bearing under her heart.LILIOMNo.THEMAGISTRATELook me in the eye.LILIOM[Looks him in the eye.] No.THEMAGISTRATE[Stroking his beard.] Liliom, Liliom, if it were not for our Heavenly patience—— Go back to your seat. Number 16,474.THEFIRST[Looks in his note book.] Stephan Kadar. [THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANrises.]THEMAGISTRATEYou came out today?THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANToday.THEMAGISTRATE[Indicating the crimson sea of clouds.] How long were you in there?THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANThirteen years.THEMAGISTRATEOfficer, you went to earth with him?THEFIRSTYes, sir.THEMAGISTRATEStephan 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?THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANWhen 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.”THEMAGISTRATEOfficer?THEFIRSTThat’s what happened.THEMAGISTRATEStephan 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. [THEFIRSTescorts thePOORLYDRESSEDMANout at left with great deference.] Liliom! [LILIOMrises.] You have heard?LILIOMYes.THEMAGISTRATEWhen 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.LILIOMWhat’s he done, anyhow? Any roofer can fix a roof. It’s much harder to be a barker in an amusement park.THEMAGISTRATELiliom, 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——LILIOMMy daughter!THEMAGISTRATEWhen your daughter has reached the age of sixteen—— [LILIOMbows his head, covers his eyes with his hands, and to keep from weeping laughs defiantly, sadly.]THEMAGISTRATEWhen your daughter has reached the age of sixteen you will be sent for one day back to earth.LILIOMMe?THEMAGISTRATEYes—just as you may have read in the legends of how the dead reappear on earth for a time.LILIOMI never believed them.THEMAGISTRATENow you see they are true. You will go back to earth one day to show how far the purification of your soul has progressed.LILIOMThen I must show what I can do—like when you apply for a job—as a coachman?THEMAGISTRATEYes—it is a test.LILIOMAnd will I be told what I have to do?THEMAGISTRATENo.LILIOMHow will I know, then?THEMAGISTRATEYou 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?THEMAGISTRATENow 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.THEGUARDstands at attention. There is a pause.]THEFIRST[ApproachesLILIOM.] Come along, my son. [He goes to the door at right; pulls open the bolt and waits.]LILIOM[To the oldGUARD,softly.] Say, officer.THEGUARDWhat do you want?LILIOMPlease—can I get—have you got——?THEGUARDWhat?LILIOM[Whispers.] A cigarette? [The oldGUARDstares 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 toLILIOM—who has gone over to the door at right—gives him the cigarette.THEFIRSTthrows open the door. An intense rose-colored light streams in. The glow of it is so strong that it blindsLILIOMand he takes a step backward and bows his head and covers his eyes with his hand before he steps forward into the light.]THECURTAINFALLS
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 appearLILIOMand the twoPOLICEMEN.
The bell rings.
An oldGUARDenters 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 twoPOLICEMENand closes the door again.
LILIOMlooks wonderingly around.
THEFIRST
[To the oldGUARD.] Announce us. [TheGUARDexits at left.]
LILIOM
Is this it?
THESECOND
Yes, my son.
LILIOM
This is the police court?
THESECOND
Yes, my son. The part for suicide cases.
LILIOM
And what happens here?
THEFIRST
Here justice is done. Sit down. [LILIOMsits next to the two men. The twoPOLICEMENstand silent near the table.]
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
[Whispers.] Suicide, too?
LILIOM
Yes.
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
[Points to thePOORLYDRESSEDMAN.] So’s he. [Introducing himself.] My name is Reich.
THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN
[Whispers, too.] My name is Stephen Kadar. [LILIOMonly looks at them.]
THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN
And you? What’s your name?
LILIOM
None of your business. [Both move a bit away from him.]
THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN
I did it by jumping out of a window.
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
I did it with a pistol—and you?
LILIOM
With a knife. [They move a bit further away from him.]
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
A pistol is cleaner.
LILIOM
If I had the price of a pistol——
THESECOND
Silence!
[ThePOLICEMAGISTRATEenters. 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. TheGUARDreënters behind him and sits on the bench with the dead men. As theMAGISTRATEenters, all rise, exceptLILIOM,who remains surlily seated. When theMAGISTRATEsits down, so do the others.]
THEGUARD
Yesterday’s cases, your honor. The numbers are entered in the docket.
THEMAGISTRATE
Number 16,472.
THEFIRST
[Looks in his notebook, beckons theRICHLYDRESSEDMAN.] Stand up, please. [THERICHLYDRESSEDMANrises.]
THEMAGISTRATE
Your name?
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
Doctor Reich.
THEMAGISTRATE
Age?
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
Forty-two, married, Jew.
THEMAGISTRATE
[With a gesture of dismissal.] Religion does not interest us here—why did you kill yourself?
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
On account of debts.
THEMAGISTRATE
What good did you do on earth?
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
I was a lawyer——
THEMAGISTRATE
[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?
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
Yes, sir.
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
My debts——
THEMAGISTRATE
They do not matter here. Here we are concerned only with the affairs of the soul.
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
[ToTHESECOND.] You will take Dr. Reich back and let him kiss his son Oscar.
THESECOND
Come with me, please.
THERICHLYDRESSEDMAN
[ToTHEMAGISTRATE.] I thank you. [He bows and exits at back withTHESECOND.]
THEMAGISTRATE
[After making an entry in the docket.] Number 16,473.
THEFIRST
[Looks in his notebook, then beckonsLILIOM.] Stand up.
LILIOM
You saidpleaseto him. [He rises.]
THEMAGISTRATE
Your name?
LILIOM
Liliom.
THEMAGISTRATE
Isn’t that your nickname?
LILIOM
Yes.
THEMAGISTRATE
What is your right name?
LILIOM
Andreas.
THEMAGISTRATE
And your last name?
LILIOM
Zavocki—after my mother.
THEMAGISTRATE
Your age?
LILIOM
Twenty-four.
THEMAGISTRATE
What good didyoudo on earth? [LILIOMis silent.] Why did you take your life? [LILIOMdoes not answer.THEMAGISTRATEaddressesTHEFIRST.] Take that knife away from him. [THEFIRSTdoes so.] It will be returned to you, if you go back to earth.
LILIOM
Do I go back to earth again?
THEMAGISTRATE
Just answer my questions.
LILIOM
I wasn’t answering then, I was asking if——
THEMAGISTRATE
You don’t ask questions here. You only answer. Only answer, Andreas Zavocki! I ask you whetherthere is anything on earth you neglected to accomplish? Anything down there you would like to do?
LILIOM
Yes.
THEMAGISTRATE
What is it?
LILIOM
I’d like to break Ficsur’s head for him.
THEMAGISTRATE
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
[ToTHEFIRST.] Note that. He waives his right. [LILIOMstarts back to the bench.] Stay where you are. You are aware that you left your wife without food or shelter?
LILIOM
Yes.
THEMAGISTRATE
Don’t you regret it?
LILIOM
No.
THEMAGISTRATE
You are aware that your wife is pregnant, and that in six months a child will be born?
LILIOM
I know.
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEMAGISTRATE
First you must earn your rest.
LILIOM
I want—only—to sleep.
THEMAGISTRATE
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
You shall see that for yourself.
LILIOM
[Excitedly.] I’ll see the baby?
THEMAGISTRATE
When you do it won’t be a baby any more. But we haven’t reached that question yet.
LILIOM
I’ll see it?
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEMAGISTRATE
Yes.
LILIOM
And a bad father?
THEMAGISTRATE
That, too.
LILIOM
I couldn’t get work—and I couldn’t bear to see Julie—all the time—all the time——
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEMAGISTRATE
[Emphatically.] Yes.
LILIOM
[After an astounded pause.] The police down there never said that.
THEMAGISTRATE
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
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 atTHEMAGISTRATE.]
THEMAGISTRATE
[Confidently expectant.] Are you sorry?
LILIOM
[With a stare.] I’m not sorry for anything.
THEMAGISTRATE
Liliom, Liliom, it will be difficult to help you.
LILIOM
I’m not asking any help.
THEMAGISTRATE
You were offered employment as a caretaker on Arader Street. [ToTHEFIRST.] Where is that entered?
THEFIRST
In the small docket. [Hands him the open book.THEMAGISTRATElooks in it.]
THEMAGISTRATE
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——
THEMAGISTRATE
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
Why not?
LILIOM
Because—because that’s just why I died.
THEMAGISTRATE
That is not true, my son. You died because you loved little Julie and the child she is bearing under her heart.
LILIOM
No.
THEMAGISTRATE
Look me in the eye.
LILIOM
[Looks him in the eye.] No.
THEMAGISTRATE
[Stroking his beard.] Liliom, Liliom, if it were not for our Heavenly patience—— Go back to your seat. Number 16,474.
THEFIRST
[Looks in his note book.] Stephan Kadar. [THEPOORLYDRESSEDMANrises.]
THEMAGISTRATE
You came out today?
THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN
Today.
THEMAGISTRATE
[Indicating the crimson sea of clouds.] How long were you in there?
THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN
Thirteen years.
THEMAGISTRATE
Officer, you went to earth with him?
THEFIRST
Yes, sir.
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEPOORLYDRESSEDMAN
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.”
THEMAGISTRATE
Officer?
THEFIRST
That’s what happened.
THEMAGISTRATE
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. [THEFIRSTescorts thePOORLYDRESSEDMANout at left with great deference.] Liliom! [LILIOMrises.] You have heard?
LILIOM
Yes.
THEMAGISTRATE
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
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!
THEMAGISTRATE
When your daughter has reached the age of sixteen—— [LILIOMbows his head, covers his eyes with his hands, and to keep from weeping laughs defiantly, sadly.]
THEMAGISTRATE
When your daughter has reached the age of sixteen you will be sent for one day back to earth.
LILIOM
Me?
THEMAGISTRATE
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.
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEMAGISTRATE
Yes—it is a test.
LILIOM
And will I be told what I have to do?
THEMAGISTRATE
No.
LILIOM
How will I know, then?
THEMAGISTRATE
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?
THEMAGISTRATE
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.THEGUARDstands at attention. There is a pause.]
THEFIRST
[ApproachesLILIOM.] Come along, my son. [He goes to the door at right; pulls open the bolt and waits.]
LILIOM
[To the oldGUARD,softly.] Say, officer.
THEGUARD
What do you want?
LILIOM
Please—can I get—have you got——?
THEGUARD
What?
LILIOM
[Whispers.] A cigarette? [The oldGUARDstares 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 toLILIOM—who has gone over to the door at right—gives him the cigarette.THEFIRSTthrows open the door. An intense rose-colored light streams in. The glow of it is so strong that it blindsLILIOMand he takes a step backward and bows his head and covers his eyes with his hand before he steps forward into the light.]
THECURTAINFALLS