you? [_They are speechless before him._] I knows you ain’ ’ca’se I knows
who _has_ got hit.
MADISON
[_Involuntarily._] Who?
WILLIAMS
I has. [_He observes them and then chuckles softly._] I has de money an’
de bargum’s closed, fer de goods is bin delivered an’ dey’re right in
dis room in dat corner. One guitar at eight hunderd dollahs. Insterments
comes higher’n what dey did once but you would have it an’ now you got it
an’ everybody’s fixed.
MADISON
[_Groaning and bending over the table._] Oh!
WILLIAMS
Yassuh, de man what buys guitars at dat price su’tinly plays on de
golden strings. Eight hunderd fer one guitar makes ’m mighty near twenty
thousand dollehs er dozen. De cos’ er livin’ is shore gone up but ef you
mus’ you mus’.
MADISON
Oh!
WILLIAMS
Well, I cain’ stay heah, I got er be amblin’ on. I much erblige ter you
to mek youah plans to move out er heah fo’ I got ter sell de house befo’
sundown. Well, so long, an’ I hopes you gits all de good er youah high
price music. [_He turns again with his feeble old man’s step toward the
doorway, putting on his hat._] I wish y’all good evenin’.
MADISON
[_Moving toward him with the threatening determination of despair._] Say,
I’ve got to have dat money. I sees red. I’m gone bad an’ I’ll kill befo’
I’ll lose hit.
[_WILLIAMS suddenly turns with a swiftness and agility
astounding in so old a man. Starting forward he confronts
MADISON with such dominance and fire that he seems suddenly to
tower._]
WILLIAMS
_You_ kill _me_! _You_ tek money away from _me_! Why, you po’ grain er
chaff, you don’ know me. I’m a king in my own right. I got ways an’
means er pertecktin’ myse’f dat you don’ even dream on an’ I don’ need to
lay a fingeh on you to do hit. Furdermo’ I could brain you wif dis stick
but ef you cross me I won’ be dat easy on you. Ef you don’ wan’ wuss’n
dat don’ cross me no furder er youah troubles’ll begin fer fa’r.
LUCY
Oh, please don’ lay nothin’ on him.
WILLIAMS
You po’ sufferin’ gal, I won’ lay nothin’ onto ’im but I’m a-goin’ to tek
sumpin’ off’n you. I’m goin’ tek de burding er dish yere pack er laziness
off’n you. An’ fus’ I wants ter show you dish yere piece er papeh. [_He
produces a folded document and opens it._] Does yo’ know who wrote it?
Answeh me. [_He shoves the paper under MADISON’S eye._]
MADISON
It looks like dat Wilson Byrd’s writin’.
WILLIAMS
Yassuh, an’ what’s mo’ it is dat man’s writin’. It’s his confession dat
he fo’ge Lucy Sparrow’s name. I saw dat man steal my guitar an’ follered
him home. Dah I grabbed him, dah I foun’ de purse wif Lucy’s name inside
an’ dah I made dat thief write out his confession. Knowed so much of
his meanness already dat he had to do hit. An’ now I owns you. Does you
undehstan’ dat? Answeh me.
MADISON
Yas suh, no suh.
WILLIAMS
Well, I’ll take’n cl’ar up de myst’ry fer you. I got dis confession outer
Byrd an’ I got other things ter prove hit an’ I kin bring him an’ you
too, bofe befo’ de gran’ jury.
LUCY
Oh, my sweet Jesus, save him. [_The old man stands watching the two
before him for some time in silence. LUCY falls on her knees before
him._] Oh, don’t sen’ Madison to de lawyers.
WILLIAMS
No, Lucy, I ain’ wishful ter.
LUCY
You won’t?
WILLIAMS
Mebbe not. But fus’, les’ put all dis talk aside dat I bin talkin’ up
to now. I bin puttin’ on an’ pretendin’ in ordeh ter try you bofe an’
sif’ de chaff from de grain in you. I des bin playin’ wif you ter see
how good you is an’ how ornry dish yere man er youahn is. Yit I’ll take
an’ give him er chance even so, an’ I’ll pluck him f’um de bu’nin’ ef
he follers de paf I p’ints out ter him. But we all got ter have cl’ar
unde’stan’in’ ’bout dat. Fus’ an’ fo’mos’ youah money is all safe wif me.
De house is youah’n.
LUCY
You means you sell it fer de money.
WILLIAMS
In co’se. You didn’t speck I’d steal too, like a w’ite man, did you? I’ll
fetch you de deeds fo’ hit fus’ thing in de mo’nin’.
LUCY
Oh, fu’give me, I was all mix up. But you won’ sen’ Madison to de gran’
jury neitheh?
WILLIAMS
I say I ain’ honin’ ter.
LUCY
Oh, my Makeh, I thank Thee fo’ Thy mercy.
WILLIAMS
But I shorely goin’ to put dis man er youah’n th’oo er tes’ ter see
whetheh he’s fitten ter keep out er jail. Madison, will you tek er tes’?
MADISON
[_Humbly._] Yassuh. What is it?
WILLIAMS
A guitar.
MADISON
A guitar!
WILLIAMS
Yassuh, dat’s hit, no mo’ ner no less. I’m goin’ give you dat
guitar—but—dere’s suhtinly goin’ to be a string tied to it. You kin take
dat guitar but you got to make somethin’ outer yourself wif her or back
she’ll come to me. You kin give lessons an’ learn folks music or you kin
write down de music you make, but you got to do somethin’ wif it fer
Lucy. You got to wake up or I’ll take de guitar. Which’ll it be? Make
youah choice.
MADISON
[_Crushed._] I’ll—keep de guitar.
WILLIAMS
An’ dat ain’ all. You got ter quit runnin’ wif Byrd an’ Byrd wif you, you
got ter be a better husban’ an’ you got to min’ everything Lucy tells
you. Will you do hit?
MADISON
Yassuh.
WILLIAMS
An’ yo’ ain’ much of er temp’unce man neitheh, is you, Madison?
MADISON
I’s a temp’unce man but I ain’ no frantic.
WILLIAMS
Well, suh, you got ter jine de frantics now. No dram drinking at all.
Will you quit hit er go ter jail?
MADISON
I’ll quit.
WILLIAMS
Well, dat’s on’y a promise but I’ll shore hol’ you to hit er put you
behin’ de bahs. Why, look heah, man, does you know how you stan’ ’pon top
er dis yu’th? Does you know how you liken to er tree? ’Sposin’ sumpin’
wif er cool eye like er tree could see you an’ talk. I cain’ jedge you
ca’m but er tree could. Tree would look at you an’ say, “Does dat ’ere
man wu’k?” Win’ ’ud whispeh, “No.” “Do he eat?” “Yas ’n git fat,” respon’
de win’. “Who shines on him?” “His wife,” win’ say. “Do he put fo’th
flower an’ bless de wife?” say de tree. “No.” “Do he give shade an’
shelteh ter de wife?” say de tree. “No.” “Well, chop’m down an’ bu’n him
befo’ he rots,” say de tree. “Dat’s all.” But mebbe I kin mek mo’ of him
dan dat an’ so I’ll try prunin’ him an’ graftin’ some good labeh onto
him. An’ I kin’ er think hit’ll save him yit. Well’m, I must be er goin’
now. Hit’s late an’ I mus’ git my res’ fer I got to do a lot er bossin’
termorrer an dat’s allers ha’d fer me. Lucy, I’ll fetch you de deeds ter
de house befo’ nine termorrer an’, Madison, you kin repo’t to me at eight
o’clock sha’p an’ give my little boy a lesson on de guitar. You’ll be
dah, won’t you?
MADISON
[_Meekly._] Yassuh.
WILLIAMS
Ready to whu’l in an’ scratch.
MADISON
Yassuh.
WILLIAMS
Well den, les’ all shek han’s on de noo nes’ an’ de noo aig. [_They shake
hands. He puts on his hat and turns to the door._] An’ dat remin’s me,
Lucy, you better tell Madison to play on dat guitar a plenty tonight
because he’ll need music fer to stan’ up undeh all de lessons I’m goin’
to lay onto him. Well, I wish you good night. I’m er gittin’ kin’er ole
an’ I cain’ stay up late no mo’ without bein’ crosser in de mornin’. Good
night den an’ far’ you well bofe. Eight o’clock, Madison. Good night.
[_He goes, closing the door after him. The pair stand silent
for a moment, MADISON with hanging head and in deep dejection._]
LUCY
[_Throwing her arms around him._] Oh, my husban’, I’ll pray fer you. Don’
sorrer now. Git youah res’ tonight. We kin be hones’ now. We’ve got de
house at las’ an heah’s de guitar.
MADISON
Yassuh, heah’s de guitar. [_He plays it and fondles it. Then his face
assumes again its melancholy look._]
LUCY
What’s de trouble?
MADISON
I don’ undehstan’ dis worl’. If I wants to make music why cain’t folks
lemme alone to make music? If I dream a fine dream why is it I always
wake up? Looks to me like somebody’s always tryin’ to crowd me out an’
git me in a tight place.
LUCY
You wuz doin’ all right till you got mix up wif dat white man an’ his
tricks. De trouble wuz dat dis dream of youahs wuzn’t a good dream.
MADISON
Yes, but not all of my dreams is bad ones. All, I wants is room to dream
my good dreams an’ make my own music.
CURTAIN
SIMON THE CYRENIAN
NOTE.—Although Cyrene was in northern Africa, the wall-paintings in the
vast Cyrenian tombs depict black people instead of brown.
That Jesus’ cross-bearer was a black man, as the early painters
represented him, is a fact that holds a certain suggestion bearing upon a
phase of modern society.
It has been the author’s design that all the characters in this play
should be represented by persons entirely or partly of Negro blood; and
this intention has been carried out in the original stage production.
Simon is a full-blooded Negro, Battus is a little less dark, Acte is a
mulatto as were most Egyptians of the later dynasties. Her attendants
comprise both mulattoes and Negroes. The Roman characters are played by
persons of slighter negroid strain.
SIMON THE CYRENIAN
And as they led him away they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, ...
and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
Luke 23, 26.
PERSONS OF THE PLAY
PROCULA, the wife of Pilate
DRUSUS, a young Roman
ACTE, Princess of Egypt
BATTUS, a Libyan prince, a boy
SIMON
PILATE, governor of Judea
BARABBAS, an insurrectionist
THE MOCKER WITH THE SCOURGE
THE MOCKER WITH THE SCARLET ROBE
THE MOCKER WITH THE CROWN OF THORNS
A CENTURION
LONGINUS, a soldier
PROCULA’S ATTENDANTS
ACTE’S ATTENDANTS
SOLDIERS
TIME—The day of the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth
SCENE: _A garden of Pilate’s house at Jerusalem. The whole
scene is strictly Roman, softened by its eastern location and
by the beginnings of Rome’s decadence, but there is no trace
of Judean influence. At the back there is a gallery or raised
portico reaching entirely across the garden. It is roofed but
open and beyond it the morning sky is seen. This passageway,
which will be called the portico, leads from the Praetorium
on the left to other buildings on the right. The garden has
entrances toward the back at both left and right. At the left,
near the front, a narrow portion of the façade of Pilate’s
house is seen, with a doorway reached by three steps. At the
right of the garden, near the front, there is a wall fountain.
There is a marble seat at back centre. All the architecture is
of mellow marble as dark as alabaster._
[_As the curtain rises PROCULA is discovered upon the steps
of her house. She is in an extreme state of agitation. Her
attendants are in the garden. The sound of a mob, with cries of
“Crucify him,” “To the Place of the Skull,” “On to Golgotha,”
etc. is heard at the rise of the curtain and at intervals
throughout the play._]
PROCULA
Go! Go, send more messengers. Ah, Hera, help me.
[_A MESSENGER runs into the garden from the right and kneels
before her, breathless._]
PROCULA
Has Simon the Cyrenian been found?
MESSENGER
The swiftest horseman reached him. He is nearing the city.
PROCULA
Hasten him. Bring him. Your freedom for it. [_The MESSENGER hurries out._]
PROCULA
[_To ATTENDANTS._] Is there no news yet?
ATTENDANT
One messenger has not returned. He who was sent to the royal woman of
Egypt.
PROCULA
Send others after him, take wings. [_DRUSUS enters the garden from the
left._] Drusus! Help me draw him swiftly.
DRUSUS
The wife of Pilate speaks. Whom shall I send to her?
PROCULA
Too late, too late. I speak foolishly. I have already sent.
DRUSUS
You are tormented.
PROCULA
Are mine the only eyes that see the doom unrolling?
DRUSUS
You speak strangely.
PROCULA
The Furies whip me.
DRUSUS
Tell me your secret.
PROCULA
This Jesus the Nazarene—
DRUSUS
You need not fear him. He is in Pilate’s hands.
PROCULA
Out of that is my agony. Ah, my dream.
DRUSUS
Dreams?—
PROCULA
Did you feel the earth heave last night?
DRUSUS
I was drinking at Herod’s palace.
PROCULA
Trees groaned, the statues shuddered, the fountains dried, the walls
sweated, a red dew fell in the gardens.
DRUSUS
I felt nothing. I saw nothing.
PROCULA
I saw—I cannot tell it. Horror was heaped on horror.
DRUSUS
You dreamed of this Nazarene?
PROCULA
Of him. He must not die. I begged his life of Pilate but he fears the
Jews. Help me.
DRUSUS
Help you? How?
PROCULA
Bring Simon the Cyrenian.
DRUSUS
That tiger?
PROCULA
I heard many voices in my dream and one voice cried, “Simon the African
shall bear the burden.”
DRUSUS
You have not felt his claws.
PROCULA
Then you too believe him dangerous?
DRUSUS
The most dangerous man in the empire.
PROCULA
Dangerous to Romans, it may be, but—
DRUSUS
[_Scornfully._] The friend of slaves! Wherever he goes insurrection
follows him. He was the secret leader of last year’s armed uprising
in Rome when thirty thousand perished. He hollows out the empire with
sedition.
PROCULA
A stronger man than Rome.
DRUSUS
His influence spreads through the provinces. He plans world empire,
undermining Rome. Cæsar has been warned of him, but is afraid or listless.
PROCULA
[_Half to herself._] Surely such power should avail to save one life.
DRUSUS
There is a rumour that he was here two nights ago to renew the
insurrection of Barabbas. We had spies set upon him.
PROCULA
Does he fear spies? I have sent for this man. If the Nazarene is
condemned Simon must kindle riot and take him from the soldiers.
DRUSUS
Will the wife of Pilate breed rebellion to Rome?
PROCULA
It is for Rome’s sake and in my extremity. What singing is that? I heard
it in my dream.
[_During the last few speeches a marching song by men’s and
women’s voices is heard off left, at first faintly then,
growing louder; the words are indistinguishable._]
DRUSUS
The air is African.
PROCULA
May it be Simon.
DRUSUS
[_Looking off left._] A litter with Ethiopian bearers.
PROCULA
Ethiopians! It is the Egyptian. [_DRUSUS starts to go off right._]
PROCULA
Though I sent for her I fear her. Stay with me.
DRUSUS
I cannot. I bear word from Pilate to Herod. [_He goes off right. A HERALD
in Egyptian dress enters from left._]
THE HERALD
Acte of Egypt to the wife of Pilate.
[_The voices off left are heard approaching and singing
the tune that today is known as the Negro spiritual “Walk
Together, Children.” ACTE enters from left walking with her
litter-bearers and women. With her is BATTUS, a boy of ten._]
ACTE
The wife of Pilate sent to me?
PROCULA
For Simon the Cyrenian. Men say you are his friend.
ACTE
I have come here to find him.
PROCULA
He is not here.
ACTE
If his mood holds he will not fail to come since you have sent for him.
Your men have told me that he nears the city.
PROCULA
Oh, help me rouse him when he comes.
ACTE
What is your need?
PROCULA
A hidden service.
ACTE
You ask my aid? Then trust me.
PROCULA
[_Coming down close to ACTE and speaking in a low voice._] Jesus the
Nazarene must not die.
ACTE
Has he been doomed?
PROCULA
Not yet. But if—
ACTE
Are you not Pilate’s wife?
PROCULA
He fears the Jews.
ACTE
And Simon?
PROCULA
If Jesus is condemned Simon must seize him.
ACTE
Never.
PROCULA
It must be done. I beg you help me.
ACTE
This Nazarene has no friend in me.
PROCULA
And you have never seen him.
ACTE
No, but I suffer much because of him.
PROCULA
And I. Jesus must live. Oh, move Simon to strike.
ACTE
More lives than this magician’s wait on Simon. [_An ATTENDANT of PROCULA
enters from left._]
ATTENDANT
[_Calling._] Pilate has gone up toward the Judgment Hall.
PROCULA
Beg him to stay for me, for one word more. I’ll follow. [_ATTENDANT goes
out left. To ACTE._] Command my household, wait here for Simon. [_Seizing
ACTE and pointing toward the Judgment Hall._] In there and at this hour
the fate of earth and heaven dangles in the hands of blind men. Tell
Simon this, see that his eyes are open.
[_PROCULA hastens into her house. During Procula’s words one
of Acte’s ATTENDANTS, who has strayed off right has reëntered,
looking off._]
ATTENDANT
Lord Simon rushes toward this place.
ACTE
Make ready all.
[_Her tire-women attend her and her men stand looking
expectantly off right. SIMON enters from right. He is a Negro
of majestic bearing, with a sad, severe countenance. He is
dressed as a soldier._]
SIMON
Egypt!
BATTUS
[_Rushing joyfully toward SIMON._] Simon, Simon.
SIMON
Battus, Royal Battus. [_He embraces the boy._]
BATTUS
You have been long away.
SIMON
Not so long as to have forgotten Battus.
BATTUS
And have you forgotten Cyrene and Egypt and our kingdom of the free?
[_ACTE hushes the boy, looking apprehensively about._]
SIMON
No, Battus.
ACTE
[_To her ATTENDANTS._] Take the boy deeper in the garden. Wait there till
I call him. [_The ATTENDANTS lead BATTUS off left._]
ACTE
[_Moving swiftly to SIMON._] You are in danger here. What sorcery called
you back?
SIMON
Where is the wife of Pilate?
ACTE
She is asleep—or she listens to the harp.
SIMON
Why are you here?
ACTE
I came to meet you. Why did you return?
SIMON
Messengers from the wife of Pilate reached me.
ACTE
What spell is on you, you who were never trapped? This is the wolf’s own
mouth. You tempt it to close upon you.
SIMON
The tiger’s blood is never lapped by wolves.
ACTE
Many can pull down one. Go back.
SIMON
When is the Nazarene to be tried by Pilate?
ACTE
So, I have found the hunter that has snared you.
SIMON
When is he to be tried?
ACTE
Who knows? Tomorrow. Perhaps never.
SIMON
Today, the message said.
ACTE
Perhaps this afternoon. Oh, Simon, wake. Shake off this net of dreams.
How were you taken in it?
SIMON
I am not taken.
ACTE
You have seen this Nazarene?
SIMON
I saw him.
ACTE
When?
SIMON
Two nights ago.
ACTE
After you left me.
SIMON
Afterward. I had summoned to a garden
The bravest of the slaves to help them plan
A new sedition that would free Barabbas.
There as I roused the jungles against Rome
I saw lights in another part of the garden,
I saw men come with torches and seize a man.
I hurried near and through the olive leaves
His eyes looked into mine,
His eyes burned into mine. I have seen them since,
Waking or sleeping.
ACTE
You followed him?
SIMON
No, and none saw me. I turned back through
the shadows and joined my men.
ACTE
And did you plot again that night?
SIMON
My thoughts went wide. My words were broken.
I told the slaves to wait till my next coming.
Then, before dawn, I set out for the sea.
ACTE
Oh, my Cyrenian, where is that fierce blood
That poured out from your heart fires to burn Rome?
SIMON
My spirit is fiercer than it was before,
The groans of the oppressed louder than ever.
ACTE
Then why have you turned back?
SIMON
I have seen the whole world’s sorrow in one man’s eyes.
ACTE
What does it mean? You are changed.
SIMON
There as I looked upon him in the garden
A wound came in my side like a spear’s thrust,
Bleeding for him.
ACTE
Is this all you know of him?
SIMON
As I went seaward
I met men coming to the yearly feast.
These told me of his works, they spoke of marvels,
Of healings and of resurrections.
He suffers the old wrong of the downtrodden.
ACTE
Are there no wrongs then in our Africa?
SIMON
The whole earth groans beneath the persecuted;
The outcast, the despised cry out to me.
ACTE
And you whom they trust to save them turn aside
To this one man.
SIMON
I have not turned aside, yet I may help him.
ACTE
Go back. Your peril grows. You will be trapped.
SIMON
Rome cannot take me.
ACTE
It is not Rome I fear but this Judean.
SIMON
[_Moving toward the doorway of Pilate’s house._]
Why does the wife of Pilate stay,
Having summoned me with horsemen?
ACTE
[_Going with him._] Doubtless she forgets.
Her whims are many.
SIMON
I must hear from her
What they have done with him.
ACTE
[_Placing herself before him._] Simon!
Mists are before your eyes,
Mists of forgetting.
You have forgotten Battus and all your holy vows before the priests of
Libya and Egypt to bring him back to Africa Rome’s conqueror.
[_She calls off left to BATTUS. The ATTENDANTS enter with him._]
Come, lad, sit here. [_She leads him to a seat at centre._] Let’s play at
worlds for Simon. Who are you?
BATTUS
I am Battus.
ACTE
And who is Battus?
BATTUS
Son of Cyrenian kings and kings of Egypt,
Son of all Africa.
ACTE
Who shall be your army?
BATTUS
The slaves of Rome.
ACTE
Who shall lead them up to victory?
BATTUS
Simon and I.
ACTE
And then?
BATTUS
They shall be free. All wrongs shall be righted.
The great shall be brought low, the lowly raised.
ACTE
How shall we reach our own?
BATTUS
Through blood and fire.
ACTE
Who shall be our own?
BATTUS
All those who suffer wrongs, the poor, the captives.
ACTE
[_To SIMON._] What do you say, now you have heard the faith he lives by?
SIMON
Oh, I have not forgotten. We shall go forward.
ACTE
To triumph.
SIMON
Yes, to triumph.
ACTE
Through fire and blood.
SIMON
Through fire and blood.
ACTE
Ah, I have never doubted the fierce heart in you. Never be tamed.
[_PROCULA appears in her doorway. ACTE sees her and moves
apprehensively aside. PROCULA sees SIMON._]
PROCULA
You are the Libyan captain?
[_ACTE waves BATTUS and her attendants off left._]
SIMON
The wife of Pilate sees him.
PROCULA
[_Going swiftly to him._] You have seen Jesus the Nazarene?
SIMON
I have seen him.
PROCULA
Save him.
SIMON
When is he to be tried?
PROCULA
He has been tried.
SIMON
[_To ACTE._] Who has deceived me? [_To PROCULA._] Has he been condemned?
PROCULA
Not yet, not yet.
SIMON
Your husband holds him.
PROCULA
I have no power in this.
SIMON
You sent for me.
PROCULA
Save this one man. I know your power.
ACTE
Remember Cyrene, Egypt and our world, Battus and Africa.
SIMON
Their roots are in my heart.
ACTE
Then come away with me.
SIMON
My breast can nourish both this Judean and our kingdom.
ACTE
No, for this man’s spirit threatens to overcome you; they have called him
king; there cannot be two kings, and you the lesser, in the world we plan.
SIMON
Not that he is a king but that he is a captive my heart flows most to
him.
ACTE
Legions of captives in the empire wait for you to set them free. Shall
you yourself be captive?
PROCULA
He was betrayed.
ACTE
[_To SIMON._] Look to it that you are not yourself betrayed by him.
PROCULA
Herod mocked him.
ACTE
[_To SIMON._] If you are now led astray you mock our Africa and the new
world we plan there.
SIMON
Plan no more worlds if this man is destroyed. But he shall conquer Pilate.
PROCULA
Save him. Waken the mob. Breed riot. Take him from the soldiers.
[_She suddenly looks upward off left back and gives a cry._]
Pilate ascends to the outer judgment seat.
[_She rushes to SIMON._]
Burn the city if he is condemned.
[_SIMON stands brooding motionless. PROCULA runs toward her
doorway._]
I’ll send to Pilate even on the judgment seat.
[_She rushes into her house. SIMON moves after her as though he
would follow._]
ACTE
[_Recalling him by a touch so that he turns._] The time is not yet ripe.
A new sedition now suddenly bursting would dash down all our dreams.
SIMON
Pilate at last will listen. With such a pleader the Sufferer is safe.
ACTE
You are taken in this soothsayer’s mesh.
SIMON
He has not spoken to me.
ACTE
Has he not led you?
SIMON
He leads me most who suffers most injustice.
ACTE
And on that night when you were first led captive
The lonely lions and the Libyan moon
Watched over Africa, faithful to her,
When you grew faithless.
SIMON
Africa shall triumph. This man, not I, not Battus, shall restore her.
ACTE
If Pilate pleases.
SIMON
He shall conquer Pilate.
ACTE
Shall he indeed?
SIMON
What’s there?
[_A loud murmur of many voices has been heard at intervals in
the Praetorium at left back during the past scene. This murmur
has now increased into a roar out of which the cry “Crucify
him! Crucify him!” rises. The cries and the roar suddenly
become triumphant as SIMON listens. Then from the entrance at
right there appears a fantastic impish figure bearing a great
scourge. He is followed by another bearing a gorgeous scarlet
robe and by a third bearing upon a cushion a crown of thorns._]
SIMON
What are these?
THE MOCKER WITH THE SCOURGE
A scourge for a prophet.
THE MOCKER WITH THE CROWN OF THORNS
A crown of thorns for a king.
THE MOCKER WITH THE SCARLET ROBE
A scarlet robe for a saviour.
[_The mockers cross the garden and disappear at left back.
SIMON watches them motionless and transfixed by their sinister
meaning as it begins to dawn upon him. PILATE appears in the
upper portico at back left. He enters walking slowly backward
and looking off left with evident horror. A wailing is heard
off left, it grows and PROCULA enters from her doorway._]
PROCULA
Woe, woe, the air is bleeding, the doom has fallen.
O Pilate, you have judged a world and doomed it.
Your hands are bloody; wash them again, wash them.
[_PILATE glances at her and then motions, looking off to the
left. A slave appears with him on the portico bearing a basin
of water. PILATE washes his hands and then goes off left._]
PROCULA
[_Going to SIMON who stands motionless._] What will you do now, now that
he is condemned?