William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back (10 page)

And will he finish

The thing he doth begin here?

I prithee, tell me.

I shall not fail thee: ’tis my promise true,

For I am not afraid of anything.

Thou shalt be yet, Luke.

My words most carefully heed:

Thou shalt be, indeed.

[Exeunt.

Good Sir, if I may venture my belief—

I tell thee honestly, C-3PO,

That neither appetite nor inclination

Have I to feast upon your odd beliefs.

Do thou thy work but keep opinion out,

And we shall feast together on the silence.

O Han, a horrid sight I have just seen!

Whilst I did in the cockpit sit and think—

On what? Pray tell: what didst thou think upon?

’Tis not the time for jokes and parries, please!

As I did sit there, suddenly a jolt

Went through me as I heard a sound upon

The window. Looking closer, I espied

A second beast outside that hard upon

The window fell. There’s something out there, Han—

Beyond the ship, abiding in the cave.

[A great sound is heard and the ship shakes.

Auugh!

—Listen!

—I shall venture out to see.

Nay, art thou mad? It is not wise or safe

To go without when there are creatures we

Know nothing of.

—This bucket is just fix’d,

Wouldst thou I let some thing tear it apart?

I see thy reason, and shall go with thee.

I shall with courage and with honor stay

Behind to bravely guard the ship.

[
Another sound is heard.

O dear!         

[Exit C-3PO as the others go outside the ship.

What is this ground that we do walk upon?

’Tis strange—it doth not feel at all like rock.

Indeed, with thine assessment I agree:

It seems there is much moisture in this place.

I have a feeling bad about this cave.

What odd new situation find we here?

Do not these signs and portents give thee fear?

Aye.

[Han sees something move.

Take thou cover!

[He shoots.

’Tis all right.

     —What is’t?

’Tis what I did suspect: some mynocks. They

Are fasten’d to the ship, a’chewing on

The power cables.

—Mynocks? O what beasts!

Return inside, and we shall search for more.

[Several mynocks fly by. Han shoots, and the cave walls shake.

But hold one moment, something seems awry,

For blaster fire should not cause walls to shake.

[Han shoots the cave wall, and the ground shakes mightily.

O, horror, for I now do understand:

The cave doth quake whenever it is shot.

But what knows rock of pain, or stone of hurt?

Whenever did a cave feel anything?

Impossible it is, unless this cave

Is much more than a cave. [
To Leia and Chewbacca:
] Pray, go inside!

[They run into the
Millennium Falcon.

With speed now, Chewie, let us fly away!

[following Han to the cockpit:]
The Empire is without, we should not go—

We’ve no time to discuss this in committee.

O, fie! Thou scoundrel, I am no committee!

[They arrive in the cockpit and start the ship.

See reason! For thou canst not make the jump

To lightspeed midst this field of asteroids.

Make sure thy back end finds a seat—we go!

[They begin to leave the cave, which is actually an exogorth, or space slug. Its mouth begins to close.

Observe! We are destroy’d!

—I see it plain.

O, we are doom’d!

—The cave, it doth collapse!

This is no cave, and I am not its food.

Now we do fly—another close escape!

[Exeunt C-3PO, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and
Chewbacca in the
Milennium Falcon,
flying out
of exogorth’s mouth and leaving it alone on stage.

Alas, another meal hath fled and gone,

And in the process I am sorely hurt.

These travelers who have escap’d my reach

Us’d me past the endurance of a block!

My stomach they did injure mightily

With jabs and pricks, as though a needle were

A’bouncing in my belly. O cruel Fate!

To be a space slug is a lonely lot,

With no one on this rock to share my life,

No true companion here to mark my days.

And now my meals do from my body fly—

Was e’er a beast by supper so abus’d?

Was e’er a creature’s case so pitiful?

Was e’er an exogorth as sad as I?

Was e’er a tragedy as deep as mine?

I shall with weeping crawl back to my cave,

Which shall, sans food, belike become my grave.

[Exit.

[
aside:
] This Yoda is indeed a teacher wise,

And hath agreed to train me in the way

Of Jedi. Strong and quick I show myself—

With leaps and flips I train my body and

Instill within a Jedi’s discipline.

Aye, with the Force I like a sand bat fly.

My spirit feeleth free, my muscles strong,

My mind is calm inside, my heart is still.

What gratitude I feel toward this new

And treasur’d mentor. Thus I train my best—

His expectations I’ll not disappoint.

Now run, indeed, run!

A Jedi’s strength doth surely

Come from the Force, Luke.

But mind the dark side.

Anger, fear, aggression—from

The dark side are they.

Easily they flow,

Quick to join you in a fight.

Aye, they do not fail!

Once on the dark path,

Forever shall it control

Thy destiny, Luke.

It shall consume thee,

As it did the apprentice

Of good Obi-Wan.

Darth Vader: legendary is his pow’r.

But Master, hath the dark side greater strength?

Nay, nay—forsooth: nay.

’Tis quicker, easier, more

Seductive only.

But how, good master, shall I know the good

Side from the bad, the darkness from the light?

Thou shalt know, my lad,

When thou art calm and passive.

[
Aside:
] I hope thou shalt know.

When fac’d with terror,

And with thy father’s grim fate,

I hope thou shalt know.

[
To Luke:
] A Jedi uses

The Force only for knowledge

And defense. Is’t clear?

The Force is no club,

Neither is it a weapon

Us’d for attacking.

Yet it is still a weapon for defense.

So wherefore may I not the Force employ—

Nay, there’s no wherefore.

Nothing more shall come today.

From thy questions, rest.

[
aside:
] Reliev’d am I this training to complete,

If only for this day, which hath been years.

But is this not a strange and troubling thing?

Where only moments past I felt at ease,

Now there’s some sprite within that troubles me—

A chill, a solemn aura in my bones.

I would not much ado o’er nothing make,

But still shall I ask Yoda what it is.

[
To Yoda:
] I feel a cold, a presage here of death.

What is it that I sense within this place?

[Yoda points to the opening of a cave.

With the Force’s dark side

Is that place yonder quite strong.

A place of evil.

Discover thou shalt

That wherever good is found,

Evil is nearby.

Here on Dagobah

’Tis also so. For e’en here

That evil place is.

Bound thou art now, Luke,

To enter it, and face its

Deepest darknesses.

But Sir, I prithee, tell me: what’s within?

Only that which thou

Shalt take away with thee, Luke.

[Luke begins to enter the cave, carrying his weapons.

Take not thy weapons.

Beep, meep, meep, squeak, beep, whistle, meep,

beep, nee!

[Luke enters, bringing his weapons, as Yoda and R2-D2 remain outside.

What twists of knotted vines and tangl’d fates

Await me in this hole? I shall go in,

And prove that I am not afraid of it,

Nor any task or misadventure here.

What evil can await I have not seen?

For I have facèd evil enemies

Who kill’d my mentor and my family.

What evil in this place can greater be?

Now doth time seem to slowly beat its pace.

And all is like a thick and restless dream.

But wait, who comes unto this deep, dark place?

It moves with grace—is it my father good?

Nay, nay, how I have been deceiv’d, abus’d!

For it is Vader here, my greatest foe,

The cruel defiler of my father’s youth.

I stand preparèd to do battle as

A Jedi, full of rage and righteous hate.

Now up, lightsaber, light my keen revenge!

Lay on, Darth Vader, damnèd henchman vile.

And now we fight! Yet seems it that my limbs

Are made of stone—but he is slower still!

I see my chance to strike, and let it fall—

The blow that shall release my father’s soul.

Now Vader’s head doth fall onto the ground

And I feel no relief, but only pain.

The mask doth split, his visage to reveal!

O, I shall see the face that kill’d a man,

That kill’d a thousand fathers like my own.

But wait, what is this here—and can it be?

This is no face of Vader: ’tis my face!

The horror, O the horror! Darker yet

That e’er I had imagin’d possible.

The greatest evil I may face—myself!

[Exit Luke, in fear.