Man From the USSR & Other Plays (26 page)

 

Captain Scott
Fleming
Kingsley
Johnson

 

“He was a very gallant gentleman” (from Scott's notebook)

 

Interior of a tent. Four figures: Captain Scott, dubbed “Chief, ” and Fleming semi-reclining; Kingsley and Johnson asleep, totally bundled up. All four have their legs in fur bags.

 

FLEMING

Only twelve miles to go—yet we must wait....
What a snowstorm ... it roves, it tears....Still writing,
Chief?

 

CAPT. SCOTT

(leafing through his diary)

Yes, it must be done.... It's forty-four days now since we departed from the pole, and it is the fifth day that we have been held captive by the storm inside this tent, and have no food....

 

JOHNSON

(sleepily)

                Oh....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                    You're awake? How are you feeling?

 

JOHNSON

          Not too bad.... It's curious....

It seems as if I'm split into two parts—
one is myself, strong, lucid ... while the other's
scorbutic, drowsy ... a real sleepyhead....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

How about a little water?

 

JOHNSON

                    No, no thanks....

Another thing: I had a dream when I
was little—I still remember—that my feet,
when I looked down, had turned into the feet of
an elephant,
(laughs)

                          I guess my dream's come true now. How's Kingsley?

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                    Bad, I gather—he was raving... but now he's still.

 

JOHNSON

                    When we are all back home
we'll organize a banquet ... what a banquet—
we'll have a turkey and, above all, speeches,
speeches....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

          I know—you could pass for a turkey yourself, when you get really good and drunk!

Eh, Johnson?

          He's already asleep....

 

FLEMING

                                  Just think—
twelve miles between us and the coast, the inlet,
where, tilting to one side its hoary masts,
amid blue icebergs waits our ship! I can
see it so clearly!...

 

CAPT. SCOTT

            Well, what can we do,
Fleming? Our luck ran out. That's all....

 

FLEMING

                    And only
twelve miles to go! Chief, I don't know—what do
you think: after the blizzard has abated,
could we, dragging the sick on sleds behind
us, make it back?...

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                I doubt it....

 

FLEMING

                      Right. And if...
If they weren't there?

 

CAPT. SCOTT
                         Forget that....Who knows all
the things one can conceive of.... Would you check the time, my friend.

 

FLEMING

                You're right, Chief....It is six past one....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

          Oh, well—we can hold out until nightfall....You realize, Fleming—after all, they're looking for us, coming from the coast to meet us.... Maybe they will stumble on us.... Meanwhile let's sleep.... It will be easier....

 

FLEMING

I don't feel sleepy.

 

CAPT. SCOTT

          In that case, you'll wake me—say—in an hour. Or else I might just lapse, just lapse.... Oh well, you understand....

 

FLEMING

                    Aye, aye, Chief.

(pause)

All three asleep.... Lucky for them.... To whom, then,
can I explain that I am strong and avid,
that I could gobble up not twelve but hundreds
of miles, so stubborn is the life within me.
My hunger and the icy wind have forced
all of my strength into one burning, bursting
mote....And there is nothing in the world
a mote like that cannot achieve....
(pause)
                        Johnson,
what is it? Do you need some help?

 

JOHNSON

                            I'll manage,
don't worry.... I'm going outside, Fleming....

 

FLEMING

                        Where?

 

JOHNSON

Oh, I just want to have a look if there
is anything in sight. I may well be
some time....

 

FLEMING

        Take care—don't lose your bearings in the blizzard....

                Gone....A miracle that he's
still capable of walking, with his feet
already rotting....
(pause)

                What a storm! The whole
tent shudders from the snowy din....

 

KINGSLEY
(delirious)

                    Oh, Jessie,
my darling—It's so beautiful.... We've seen
the pole, and I have brought you back a penguin.
Here, Jessie—you just take a look how smoo-
smoo-smooth he is ... and how he waddles.... Jessie,
you're honeysuckle....
(laughs)

 

FLEMING

                Lucky man.... I have
no one to be delirious about....
The Captain has a wife and little son
in London. Kingsley has a fiancée,
almost a widow.... Johnson, I don't know—
I think his mother....What a notion to
go walking. Funny chap, that Johnson, really.
To him life is a mixture of exploit
and prank....He knows no doubts, his soul is straight as
the shadow of a post on level snow....
A lucky man.... While I must be a coward....
Danger enticed me, but aren't women enticed
like that by an abyss? My life's not been
much good....I've been a ship's boy and a diver,
hurled my harpoon upon uncharted seas. Oh,
those years of seafaring, of wandering,
of longing....Few have been the peaceful nights,
the happy days I've had from life ... and yet....

 

KINGSLEY

(delirious)

Come on, come on! That's it, nice going! Hurry!

Don't dawdle, shoot—shoot at the goal!...Our Father,
Which art...
(mumbles)

 

FLEMING

          And yet I've an unbearable
desire to live....Yes, to pursue a ball,
a woman, or the sun or—still more simply—
to eat, to eat a lot, to tear the plump
sardines in golden oil out of their tin....
I want to live so much, it maddens me,
it hurts—to live somehow....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                    What's that? Who's there?
What happened?

 

FLEMING

            Nothing, Chief. Everything's quiet....
Except for Kingsley—he's delirious....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

I had a kind of radiant, fearful dream....
Where's Johnson?

 

FLEMING

          Gone, to have a look if there are
rescuers in sight.

 

CAPT. SCOTT

          How long ago?

 

FLEMING

By now, I'd say it's twenty minutes.

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                              Fleming,
you really shouldn't have let him go outside....
However.... Hurry, hurry, help me up—
we're going out.

 

FLEMING

          I'm sorry, Chief—I thought...

 

CAPT. SCOTT

No, it is not your fault.

 

            Look at that snow!
(They go out together.)
(pause)

 

KINGSLEY

(alone, delirious)
Don't push—I can do it myself....Stop it,
I don't need to be pushed....
(raises himself up)
                  Chief, Fleming, Johnson!
Hey, Chief!...No one....Ah yes, I understand—
all three of them are gone. They must have thought
that I was dead already....They have left me,
they have set out....
            No! It must be a joke!
Wait, please come back....1 have something to tell you....
I want to tell....So—this is what death means: a
glass entrance ... water ... water ... it's all clear.
(pause)
(Capt. Scott and Fleming return.)

 

CAPT. SCOTT

How silly—I can't use my feet.
                            Oh, thanks....
No matter. Not much chance of finding Johnson
in any case....You realize what he's done?

 

FLEMING

Of course....He weakened, fell—called, helplessly,
perhaps....All this is very frightening....
(goes back
into the depths of the tent)

 

CAPT. SCOTT
(aside)
That's wrong—he did not call. He only thought
that, being sick, he was a burden to
the rest, and so he left....It was so simple,
so valorous.... My bag is like a rock—
I can't get into it....

 

FLEMING

              Chief, this is dreadful—
Kingsley is dead....Look at him....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

               My poor Eric!
Why did I have to bring him with me? He was
the youngest one of us....Remember how
he cried when he discovered, at the pole, the
Norwegian flag?...The body can stay here—
don't touch it....
(pause)

 

FLEMING

        We are left alone now, Chief....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

But not for long, my friend, but not for long....

 

FLEMING

The blizzard's dying down....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

            You know, I was just
thinking—Columbus, for example....True,
he suffered, but, in recompense, discovered
such splendid lands, while we have suffered to
discover only ruinous white deserts—
and still, you know, it had to be....

 

FLEMING

            Well, Chief,
what if we tried to make a go for it?
Only twelve miles, and we'll be saved....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                      No, Fleming—
I can't get up....

 

FLEMING

          We have a sled....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

            You'd never
make it with me—I'm heavy. I am better
off here. It's peaceful. And so is my soul—
like Sunday in a Scottish townlet ... feet
just hurt a little—and often they're a wee
bit tedious, our slow Sundays....Pity we
don't have a chess set—we could have....

 

FLEMING

                            Yes, pity....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

Now listen, Fleming—you go by yourself....

 

FLEMING

And leave you here alone? Weak as you are....
You said yourself you might not last the night....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

Go on alone. It's what I want....

 

FLEMING

                    But how....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

I'll last, I'll last....You will have enough time
to send them for me when you reach the inlet.
Go on! Perhaps you'll even meet our men
along the way. I want you to—go on....I
demand it....

 

FLEMING

Yes, then I shall go, I think....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

Go on.... What will you take along?

 

FLEMING

                                      The sled
I do not need....I'll only take these skis, and
a stick....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

          No, wait—you take another pair....
It seems to me the heel strap on that ski is weak....
        Farewell....Give me your hand.... If you—
no, never mind....

 

FLEMING

            My compass.... Damn, it's broken....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

Here's mine—you take it....

 

FLEMING

              Right....
                        I guess I'm ready....
All right. Good-bye, Chief. I'll be coming back
with help. No later than tomorrow night....
Be careful not to fall asleep....

 

CAPT. SCOTT

                          Farewell....
(Fleming leaves.)
Yes, he will make it.... It's twelve miles....Besides,
the blizzard's dying down....
(pause)