Synopsis
Scene 5 – By the Raging River
(English film text / Translation: Leigh Hoch, Hamburg)
COOLIE: We took the right route, sir. What we see over there is the river Myr. Though usually not hard to cross at this time of year, when the water stands high the current is quite strong and perilous. The river is high.
MERCHANT: We must get across.
COOLIE: Waiting up to 8 days is common before it can be crossed safely. It’s very dangerous now.
MERCHANT: We’ll see. We can’t wait a single day.
COOLIE: Then we have to look for a ford or a boat.
MERCHANT: That will take too long.
COOLIE: But I’m a very poor swimmer.
MERCHANT: The water’s not that high.
COOLIE : It is very high.
MERCHANT: Once you’re in the water, you’ll swim. Because you’ll have to. The point is, you can’t see this from all sides like I can. Why do we have to go to Urga? Have you heard that roads and even a railway are supposed to be built across this region? Just picture it: there’ll be a bridge here and a wide road here; and have you heard that oil was found there?
LEFT CHORUS: We hear that when oil
is discovered, it’s hidden.
Whoever plugs the hole the oil
comes from receives hush money.
The victims fall prey in the millions,
yet the oil doesn’t come.
MERCHANT: There will be food and clothing and God knows what. And who’s going to do that? We are. It all depends on our journey. Just picture it: that the eyes of this whole country, so to speak, are on you, on one little man. And you shy away from doing your duty?
COOLIE: I’m not a good swimmer.
MERCHANT: But I’m risking my life, too. I understand you. Guided by lowly, profit-seeking deliberations, you have no interest at all in reaching the town of Urga as soon as possible. Your interest lies in getting there as late as possible because you’re paid per day. So it’s not the journey that really interests you, it’s merely the pay.
COOLIE: What should I do?
LEFT CHORUS: Here is the river.
To swim across is dangerous
Two men stand on the riverbank
That one swims across, the other
Hesitates. Is that one daring?
Is the other cowardly? Beyond the river
That one has business waiting.
That one scales the surmounted riverbank
Emerging from peril with a sigh of relief
He sets foot on his property
He eats a new meal.
But the other emerges from peril
Gasping into nothingness.
The weakened one is welcomed with
New danger. Are both of them brave?
Are both of them wise?
Alas! From the jointly vanquished river
No two victors emerge.
COOLIE: We and: you and I
That’s not the same.
We achieve the victory
And you prevail over me.
COOLIE: At least let me rest for half a day. I am tired from all the lugging. When rested, perhaps I can get across.
MERCHANT: I know a better remedy. I’ll stick this gun in your back. Want to bet that you’ll get across? My money makes me fear the bandits and forget the river.
RIGHT CHORUS. Such is how man overcomes
the desert and the raging river
and overcomes himself, the human being,
and garners the oil that’s needed.
________________________
The complete German text is published in: The Brecht Yearbook 43 (2018)
Bertolt Brecht “The Exception and the Rule” – learning-play with
two choruses, edited critically by Reiner Steinweg
