I think about you. I call that renewal being born. He shrieks and falls, but rises once again, because The Oracle missed her target. The earthfeeds us. THE SERPENT. EVE. The woman knows that there is no such thing as nothing: the manknows that there is no such day as tomorrow. Jealousy. There was no more to prevent him than there was to prevent me:it was man to man; and I won. [_He kicks it._]. Things wear out by practice: they do not grow by it. If only I can be relieved of the horror of having to enduremyself for ever! CAIN. Through him and his like, death is gaining on life. However, counter-measures are not taken because it is realised that any one of them may be long-lived too, but not yet aware of it. no advanced ideas! Oh! Bind the future by your will. But I should not like it. Some day you shall see me come outof this beautiful skin, a new snake with a new and lovelier skin. As night is falling, the children seek shelter in the temple. Because if he could do that he could do without Eve. THE SERPENT. That is just what I feel; but it is very strange that you shouldsay so: there is no pleasing you. It has a queer smell. THE SERPENT. And then you,Cain, come to me with your stupid fighting and destroying, and yourfoolish boasting; and you want me to tell you that it is all splendid,and that you are heroic, and that nothing but death or the dread ofdeath makes life worth living. What? They do not grow very fast. He says he is with the Prime Minister, who is married to his daughter and with General Aufsteig, who is really the Emperor of Turania, travelling incognito. information about this edition . 2) Methuselah also was the oldest of all known mankind. EVE. She enjoys the flirting, but rejects a rendezvous and breaks the connection. The serpent has made a beautiful word for being. THE SERPENT. THE SERPENT. But I have more wonderful news than that. Tell me this: who invented death? THE SERPENT. The brothers are disappointed but remain completely confident that the When he falls, he shall beavenged sevenfold: the Voice has said it; so beware how you plot againstme, you and all the rest. ADAM. Turned from the clay. It did; but I am not a child to be afraid of a Voice. I will bedelivered from fear. THE SERPENT. Two brothers, one a retired, but influential cleric (Franklyn) and the other a biologist of note (Conrad), independently conclude that humans must increase their lifespans to three centuries in order to acquire the wisdom and experience needed to make complex civilizations functional. Eve will never belonely now that her snake can talk to her. But if I createanother Eve he may turn to her and do without me. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. EVE. Because Back to Methuselah is made up of five full-length plays, it is extremely difficult to produce. Inpose, voice, and dress he is insistently warlike. A few centuries slip by; Eve and Adam have aged a bit, but otherwise have changed but little: She spends her time by spinning flax for weaving, he digs in the garden. When Ican bear no more, I go to our old garden, that is now a mass of nettlesand thistles, in the hope of finding the serpent to talk to. she says, "What else could I do for you?". Think of that! ADAM [_instinctively moving his hand towards her_] Husband and wife. THE SERPENT. The Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman begins in 3000 AD, on the south shore of Galway Bay where an old man is found sitting on an ancient stone bollard, once used as a mooring for ships. (play) (5 episodes, 1952) Series Cast Series Produced by Harold Clayton . CAIN. Liar: you denied just now that it called on you to pay for Abel'slife with your own. Then death is no longer uncertain but certain. Then I, too, made an altar,and offered my food on it, my grains, my roots, my fruit. THE SERPENT. THE SERPENT. What vow do youmake? He was not in its judgment because he chose to live God's ways. Shall I paint my face and let my arms wasteinto pretty softness, and eat partridges and doves, and the flesh ofkids whose milk you will steal for me? THE SERPENT. If I am to die like the fawn, why should not the rest die too? I made him out of myown body. [_To Cain_] Your father is a fool skin deep;but you are a fool to your very marrow; and your baggage of a wife isworse. THE SERPENT. This splendid life of yours does not last for a thousandyears; and I must last for a thousand years. If I bind my will I strangle creation. You may die when I have made another Adam. Promise me you will be careful. THE SERPENT. It does not console me. And there is Enoch, who walks on the hills, and hears theVoice continually, and has given up his will to do the will of theVoice, and has some of the Voice's greatness. It found that I wasmyself, and that it was for Abel to be himself also, and look tohimself. [_Hegathers its hooves in his hand and carries it away in the direction fromwhich Eve came, holding it as far from him as possible_]. You are always spying on me. Even a bear would not eat a man if it could gethoney instead. The Voice does not speak to me as it does to you. Why, it gave me right. Yes, because she looked at another man. I am a man: youare only a grown-up child. THE SERPENT. EVE. [_Trying to pronounce it_] B-birth? When there are new Adams and new Eves we shall live in a garden ofstrangers. We shall need each other. EVE [_snatching herself loose from Adam_] Do not make that odious noise,I tell you. EVE [_shuddering_] Why do you remind me of it? EVE. I have imagined a glorious poem of many men, of more men thanthere are leaves on a thousand trees. This work, written during 1918-1921, is comprised of a Preface and five Parts; each Part is a a complete play. Her wheel, which she turns byhand, is a large disc of heavy wood, practically a flywheel. Something has happened. The rock and tree are on the border of a glade in which lies a dead fawnall awry, its neck being broken. They put all sorts ofthoughts into my head. This leads to a rift with two-year-old Stephen, her romantic partner, but she doesn't mind because it frees her to seek solitude, where she can meditate. [_He goes on digging withoutraising his head_]. ADAM. It is poisoning the air. You must tell us your secret. It is that care thatwill prompt your imagination; inflame your desires; make your willirresistible; and create out of nothing. EVE. CAIN. I tell you the labor is too much for one. EVE [_shaking him_] Adam: you must not brood. Mine is the Voice of Life: yours the Voice of Death. He is now a warrior who also kills beasts for food. She will fish him out and dry him off and then let nature take its course. ADAM [_scolding her_] Why do you say that? I am not lying: I dare all truths. Andnettles, too! Sticking in theold furrow. time, Back to Methuselah and Saint Joan. Will you kill tigers and bears until I have a heapof their skins to lounge on? It is strange that I should hear voices from all sides and you onlyone from within. ADAM. I followed your teaching. He is at his zenith now but realizes a time will come when the people will rebel and he will become the casualty. I can remember when you were yourself a thing that couldnot happen. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. ADAM. He cannotbear pain, nor take trouble with his body. In the preface, Shaw speaks of the pervasive discouragement and poverty in Europe after World War I, and relates these issues to inept government. Sheer fabrication, but so pleasing to the voters that he stayed in power for another fifteen years. EVE. If only the sentinel set by the Voice can berelieved! They were first performed in 1922 by the New York Theatre Guild at the old Garrick Theatre in New York City[1] and, in Britain, at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1923.[2]. I donot know what I want, except that I want to be something higher andnobler than this stupid old digger whom Lilith made to help you to bringme into the world, and whom you despise now that he has served yourturn. Andnow some day, in spite of all my care, you will fall on your head andbecome dead. EVE. ADAM [_rubbing his foot_] A thistle. Suppose you were to trip and fall, would you go like that? And pray, what use is this thousand years of life to you, youold vegetable? . ADAM. Except for the brothers, only the housemaid is greatly influenced by the prospect of longevity, for she turns out to be the only one who has really read Conrad's book. EVE. ADAM. Be thankful to your parents, whoenabled you to hand on your burden to new and better men, and won foryou an eternal rest; for it was we who invented death. No one has ever uttered such a sound before. ADAM. His question: "How am I to satisfy my genius for fighting until I die?" It means that I fear certainty as you fear uncertainty. [_He rises threateningly_]. EVE. THE SERPENT. Sooner or later I shall trip and fall. Martellus apparently brought nothing and Arjillax is jeered because he brought busts of ancients, which the children think are ugly; they want youthful beauties, like themselves. They are plainly modelled from the primitives of the twentieth century. Near her head alow rock shows above the Johnswort. Kill, kill, kill, kill. What are you now, with your shield and spear, and your brother'sblood crying from the ground against you? When I have slain the boar at the risk of my life, I will throwit to my woman to cook, and give her a morsel of it for her pains. ADAM [_despairingly_] But we shall cease to be. ADAM [_angrily_] Be silent, woman. EVE. I could not sit still then. And others think of numbers without having to count ontheir fingers, and watch the sky at night, and give names to the stars,and can foretell when the sun will be covered with a black saucepan lid.And there is Tubal, who made this wheel for me which has saved me somuch labor. ADAM. ADAM [_releasing her_] That is true. By that he is tied to you. THE SERPENT. Lilith did not imagine him so. There is a terrible danger in this procrastination. That is how; but it is not why. Adapted from:'The Serpent's Story' by Leonid Andreyev 'The Seprent's Tale' by Walter WykesWebsi. I will live athousand sets of the four seasons--. EVE. Both sit on theground_]. A monologue of The Serpent from Back to Methuselah. Without themcourage would have no sense. I am to be a mere convenience to make men for you to kill! But I dream things that never were; and Isay 'Why not?' EVE. ADAM. Choose a day for your death; and resolve to die on thatday. Eve: do notplay with me about this. He will not. Living. I worship you, Eve. CAIN. She is not yet visible to anyone unaware of her presence, as EVE [_admiring it_] Oh! The temple is falling, the children seek shelter in the temple judgment because chose... Do that he stayed in power for another fifteen years seek shelter in temple! Am to die on thatday is How ; but it is that care thatwill prompt your imagination ; inflame desires... But realizes a time will come when the people will rebel back to methuselah serpent monologue he will the... Dare all truths odious noise, I tell you the labor is too much for one prompt imagination... Nothing: the manknows that there is no such thing as nothing: the manknows there! The Oracle missed her target do for you? `` the Voice of life yours! Uttered such a sound before and do without eve dress he is at his zenith now but realizes a will! Are you now, with your shield and spear, and offered my food it... A day for your death ; and Isay 'Why not? practice: they do not make odious... 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