The Great Wall, often considered a symbol of strength, was actually a symbol of fear. It was out of fear of an invasion by the barbarian Hu tribes that the First Emperor of Ch'in had it built. During his 50 years of life, this First Emperor, who united China after it had suffered 250 years of incessant civil war, was obsessed by a maddening sense of insecurity, which can be traced to his hazardous childhood. Not even after he had his father, Premier Lu Pu Wei, poisoned, his mother confined, his stepfather killed and all six of his enemy kingdoms subjugated, was he free from fear. For he was then seized by another kind of fear—the fear of death. He sent Hsu Sheh, a necromancer, to the fairy island Pung Lai with three thousand boys and girls in search for an elixir for immortal life. He also built the grand Ah Fung Labyrinth, with hundreds of palaces connected by covered corridors and subways, where he secluded himself to study Taoism. Thus the power of the throne gradually fell into the hands of a liaison official, a treacherous eunuch named Chao Kao.
Act VI: The Completion of the Great Wall
Scene I
Time: The 12th year of the Ch'in Empire (210 B. C.)
Scene: A market place in the outskirts of Yu Yang.
Dramatis Personae: Chiang Nu: A young girl whose husband was drafted on their wedding day.
Chang Liang: A prince of the defunct Kingdom of Han.
Dog Butcher: A man of magnanimous character but forced by circumstances to be a dog butcher. Battling his sorrow with wine, he is seldom sober. Sometimes he even forgets his own name. Everyone calls him the "Dog Butcher." He is a friend of the late assassins, Ching Keh and Kao Chien Li.
Eunuch Chao Chung: Still disguised as an old woman, he is now bent with age and his hair is silvery white.
A slave dealer: A dodger of forced labor.
A fortune teller: A fugitive over 50 years of age.
A crippled earthernware maker: An ex-thief.
Stage Setting: The market place is a round cobblestoned clearing. In the background there are several small booths. The money changer and the wine shop advertise their trades in bold characters, "GOLD" and "WINE", on white flags. There is a sun dial in the middle of the clearing. On the left, there is a wooden shelf with various kinds of earthernware and bowls of colored varnish. A small charcoal stove in front of the shelf is for drying the wares. On the right, there is a railed corral for livestock.
The Curtain Rises
The crippled earthernware maker sits before his shelf painting an urn with colored varnish. His crutch lies beside him on the ground. The fortune teller is spreading his mat next to the earthernware shelf. From his sleeves he produces a few tortoise shells, some bamboo slabs and several bamboo chips. He also produces an oil lamp from his sash. He arranges these articles on his mat with care and deliberation. Meanwhile he carries on a conversation with the earthernware maker.
FORTUNE TELLER: Hey! Cripple Lee, do you know anything about astrology?
CRIPPLE LEE: (Cuttingly.) I have told you many times that I don't.
FORTUNE TELLER: Last night I studied the constellations. I was sorry to note that Yao Erh Star is threateningly near the Tze Wei Star. Do you know what it means?
CRIPPLE LEE: (Brusquely.) No!
FORTUNE TELLER: It means that there is a traitor among the Emperor's intimates. And I also noticed that the Tze Wei Star is very dim. I presume you know what that means?
CRIPPLE LEE: (Impatiently.) No, no, no!
FORTUNE TELLER: It means that the Emperor is either seriously ill or in danger.
CRIPPLE LEE: (Mockingly.) Everyone here knows you've been to court and seen the Emperor with your OWN eyes. But now, you'd better thank your stars that you are here, hundreds of li away from Hsien Yang. You are lucky to have escaped being buried alive!
FORTUNE TELLER: Why are you so sore every time I mention the Emperor?
CRIPPLE LEE: (Points to his missing leg.) My leg was cut off only because I ate a stray old hen! I've reason to be sore at the whole world! (A slave dealer walks in, leading an old woman by a rope around her neck.)
SLAVE DEALER: (To Cripple Lee.) You ought to be thankful that you are a cripple, otherwise you would have been drafted to build the Great Wall. None of the wall builders ever returns. (He opens a door of the corral, pushes the old woman in and ties the end of the rope to one of the rails.) In fact, once you are drafted to build the wall, the road, the palace or the tomb, your family will consider you dead. (Sits down on the ground.) My father and my four brothers were drafted. My mother waited for them for 14 years and then she hanged herself. Luckily I was a bad egg and was chased out of home. That saved me from being an unburied corpse somewhere along the Great Wall. (Dog Butcher saunters in, leading a live dog and carrying some dog meat over his shoulder. He is a dark and husky man with hair and beard sticking out in all directions like a porcupine. He has eyes round like bells. Without greeting anyone, he goes straight to the corral. But the dog barks fiercely upon seeing the old woman.)
SLAVE DEALER: Hey! Take that dog away. (Points to the old woman.) That old woman is all the property I have. (Dog Butcher stares at the slave dealer and the latter shudders.)
DOG BUTCHER: (Throws his arms up in the air and roars.) A strayed tiger from its mountainous habitat is barked at by dogs! (He leads the dog to his meat booth, ties it to the frame of his chopping board, puts the meat on a hook hanging from the canopy, then vanishes into the wine shop. From offstage he is heard yelling: "WINE WINE!")
FORTUNE TELLER: (To slave dealer.) How many heads do you have?
SLAVE DEALER: Of course I've only one head.
FORTUNE TELLER: Then don't try to pluck the beard of that tiger (Points in the direction of the wine shop.) any more. He can squeeze out your brain and wring your neck as if you're made of dough.
SLAVE DEALER: (Sticks out his tongue.) Who is he?
FORTUNE TELLER: No one knows his real name. I think he has forgotten it himself. Everybody calls him Dog Butcher. He was a very good swordsman forced by circumstances to take this lowly trade. (In a subdued voice.) People say he and the assassins Ching Keh and Kao Chien Li were the best of friends. (Dog Butcher comes out from the wine shop, drinking from the snout of a pot. Then he gets impatient. He throws away the lid and drinks from the opening. Wine flows all over his face. When he empties the pot, he throws it away. It breaks to fragments on the cobblestones. The owner of the wine shop rushes out.)
WINE SHOP OWNER: Hey! Dog Butcher!
DOG BUTCHER: (Stares at the owner.) Shut up! I'll pay you. (Goes to his meat booth and throws a piece of meat to the owner. The owner picks up the meat, shakes his head, sighs, then returns to his shop.)
DOG BUTCHER: (Takes out his butcher knife from his girdle, beats it on the chopping board and sings.)
"Soughing winds chilled the water of River Yi.
The brave sailed but never returned!
In vain I sought him in my dreams!
In vain I invoked his ghost!
He never returned!
He never returned!"
(Tears roll down Dog Butcher's face. He makes no attempt to wipe them away. He lifts his head toward the sky.)
Ching Keh! Ching Keh!
I heard that if one dies a violent death, his ghost will not disperse. Why isn't yours coming back to me? Why isn't yours coming back to me? (Enter Chang Liang. He goes to the Dog Butcher and bows.)
CHANG LIANG: Dog Butcher, I've been looking for you for quite some time.
DOG BUTCHER: (Holds Chang's arm.) Who are you?
CHANG LIANG: (In a low voice.) Chang Liang.
DOG BUTCHER: (Makes a deep bow.) Prince Chang Liang. (Chang pales, then casts a quick furtive glance around.) Don't worry. Those people are all fugitives, deserters or draft dodgers. They dare not report us to the authorities. For if they do, the chances are that their own heads'll leave their necks before ours do. Ha, ha, ha, ha ... (Embraces Chang.) You're the second prince to bow to a dog butcher.
CHANG LIANG: Please don't call me a prince any more. The Kingdom of Han no longer exists.
DOG BUTCHER: (The wine begins to have an effect on him. He pays no heed to Chang.) Crown Prince Tan also befriended me. But he was killed by his father ...(Opens his eyes wide.) ... by his OWN FATHER! (Grabs Chang's arms.) Have you ever heard of a father killing his own son? That old fool King Hsi offered the head of his first born and heir to that tyrant! He thought that would stop the pursuing soldiers of Ch'in! That old fool! He killed the only hope of Yen! (Fresh tears.) But where is the Kingdom of Yen now! Vanquished!
CHANG LIANG: Why cry like a woman? I was told that northerners shed only blood, not tears. (Pulls Dog Butcher's arm.) Come to my inn. I want to talk to you.
DOG BUTCHER: (Shakes off Chang's hand.) I'm a man possessed by evil spirits. Whoever has befriended me has met a violent death. So please LEAVE ME ALONE! (Chang Liang drags Dog Butcher offstage. Meanwhile, some other dealers have entered.)
FORTUNE TELLER: (To slave dealer.) You're a newcomer and I promise that you'll meet all kinds of interesting characters here. That fellow Chang Liang (Points in the direction where Chang and Dog Butcher went.) once hired a strong man to waylay the Emperor at Po Long Sha. But unfortunately he hit the Emperor's double.
CHORUS: The Emperor's DOUBLE?
FORTUNE TELLER: Yes, the Emperor always travels with a double, a man who looks very much like him, dresses like him and rides in a chariot next to his.
SLAVE DEALER: (To fortune teller.) Hey, old man, how come you know all this?
CRIPPLE LEE: (Points to fortune teller mockingly.) He was once at court! He even saw the Emperor with his OWN eyes. Ha, ha, ha, ha ... (All laugh except the fortune teller.)
SLAVE DEALER: (Points to someone offstage.) Here comes another interesting character, an ex-princess! (Enter Chiang Nu with a carrying pole over her right shoulder. Hanging from one end of the pole is a big bundle and from the other a few pairs of thatched sandals.)
CHIANG NU: (Curtsies.) Would anyone of you gentlemen kindly tell me the way to the terminal of the Great Wall?
FORTUNE TELLER: The Great Wall branches off at its middle. Therefore, there are two terminals: One in Liao Tung, the other in Long Ya. Which one are you referring to?
CHIANG NU: (Bursts into tears.) What shall I do? What shall I do?
FORTUNE TELLER: Tell me your trouble. Maybe I can help you.
CHIANG NU: I want to send some winter clothes to my husband. The soldiers who drafted him told me he would be sent to build the terminal section of the Great Wall, but they didn't tell me there were two terminals. Now which one shall I go to? What shall I do! (Cries afresh.)
SLAVE DEALER: How about travelling with me? I'll help you find your husband.
OLD WOMAN: (Stands up from where she has been sitting on the ground and shouts.) Young lady, don't trust this man. (Points at the slave dealer.) He is a slave dealer; he'll sell you to a brothel!
SLAVE DEALER: (Strikes the old woman across the face.) Stop barking, you old bitch!
CRIPPLE LEE: (Jokingly.) Why bother to look for your husband, young lady? Marry me!
OLD WOMAN: Don't you people have a heart? Making fun of a lady in distress!
SLAVE DEALER: (Strikes the old woman again.) None of your damned business!
CHIANG NU: (Curtsies to the old woman.) Thank you, old lady, for defending me. I hope I can get you out of your misery, too. (To the men.) Gentlemen, I'm a common woman and have nothing worthy to speak of except faith. Faith, gentlemen, it's faith that makes a common man uncommon, a lowly person great and a meek person strong. I promised my husband when we were married to serve him till I die. And I promised to send him winter clothes when he was drafted. I must keep my pledges even if I have to sacrifice my very life. (Takes a dagger from her breast pocket.) I'll kill myself if anyone tries to lay hands on me. (The slave dealer and Cripple Lee bow their heads in shame.)
CHIANG NU: (To fortune teller.) Please consult the horoscope for me. I want to know where my husband is.
FORTUNE TELLER: Tell me the eight cyclic characters of your husband's birth.
CHIANG NU: (At a loss, blushes.) I don't know. (People all start to laugh. Tears swell in her eyes.) My husband was drafted on our wedding day! (Laughter stops abruptly.)
FORTUNE TELLER: (Picks up a tortoise shell.) Then I'll have to use a tortoise shell. (He wipes it inside and out with his dirty sleeve, then places it in the center of the mat with reverence. He draws a piece of moxa punk from his· sleeve, lights it at the small stove of Cripple Lee. Ignoring Lee's stare, he lights his oil lamp. He sits himself straight and heaves a long sigh, then he points at the tortoise shell.) This sanctified tortoise shell, young lady, will be able to tell you everything you wish to know.
CHIANG NO: (Happily.) Please ask it to tell me where my husband is and how he is faring.
FORTUNE TELLER: (Picks up the shell with both hands, turns it upside down over the lamp flame and chants with his eyes half closed.) "The Universe was a turbid torrent before Pan K'u divided Heaven and Earth. The two prinmorms forms were called Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang begot the four symbols and the four symbols were subdivided into eight diagrams. From Yin and Yang are evolved the principles of existence and from the eight diagrams are derived the truth of life." (He suddenly opens his eyes.) What's the name of your husband?
CHIANG NU: Chi Liang.
FORTUNE TELLER: (Turns over the tortoise shell, looks at it for a while, then knits his brows and sighs.) Very bad, very bad. (Shakes his head.) The cracks on the shell show two characters: separation and death!
CHIANG NU: (Falls on the ground and wails.) What shall I do? What shall I do? FORTUNE TELLER: Young lady, don't cry. There is still some remedy.
CHIANG NU: (Stands up and gathers herself together.) Tell me, please.
FORTUNE TELLER: (Brazenly.) If you give me two taels of silver, I'll advise you how to avert misfortune.
CHIANG NU: (Worriedly.) I've only less than a hundred coppers. (It suddenly dawns on her.) But I still have this. (About to take off a gold pin from her hair.)
OLD WOMAN: Young lady, don't believe that scoundrel. If he knows how to get other people out of misfortune, why can't he do something for himself? Look at him! What a poor wretch he is! (Chiang Nu hesitates.) Young lady, with that gold pin you can buy me as your slave. I'll try my very best to protect you. Young lady, the roads are beset with robbers, convicts and cheats. Young lady, you need a companion. Though I'm old, I'm experienced and I know all the roads and ... and I can still walk ... like a young man.
CRIPPLE LEE: (Laughs.) Listen to this "like a young man." This old bitch has her own sex mixed up. (All laugh except Chiang Nu. She walks firmly toward the slave dealer and hands the gold pin to him.)
CHIANG NU: I want to buy this old lady.
SLAVE DEALER: (Overjoyed, takes the pin.) Sure, sure, but first I'll go to the money changer's to find out whether it's real gold or not.
CRIPPLE LEE: Why all the bother. Even if the pin is made of copper, it'll still be a good bargain for you.
SLAVE DEALER: (Bites the pin.) It's real gold. Thank you, thank you, young lady. (Goes into the corral, unties the rope from the rail and leads the old woman out. He puts the end of the rope into Chiang Nu's hand.) Young lady, from now on she is yours. (Chiang Nu removes the rope from the old woman's neck. Meanwhile, the for tune teller, with a mean look on his face, walks to the slave dealer.)
FORTUNE TELLER: (Virulently.) Give the pin to me. (Points to Chiang Nu.) She hasn't paid me for casting her horoscope. I used a hundred-year-old tortoise shell. This pin'll barely cover the cost.
SLAVE DEALER: (Angrily.) Hey, old man, if you were not so old I'd knock your brains out!
FORTUNE TELLER: (Narrowing his eyes.) You dare not, for I know who you are. Chou Da, you are a dodger of forced labor! (The slave dealer pales. He is just about to surrender the pin to the fortune teller when the old woman deters him.)
OLD WOMAN: (To fortune teller.) Coincidently, I know who you are. (The fortune teller also pales.) You were the imperial astrologer, an accomplice of Lao Ai, the insurgent!
FORTUNE TELLER: (In a trembling voice.) Who are you?
OLD WOMAN: I am Eunuch Chao Chung!
(File photo)
CURTAIN
Scene II
Time: The 12th year of the Ch'in Empire.
Scene: The terminal of the inner Great Wall on the shores of Po Hai.
Dramatis Personae: The First Emperor of Ch'in.
Prince Hu Hai: The 18th son of the Emperor and the most favored.
Li Sze: Left Premier.
Chao Kao: Chief eunuch.
Count Meng Tien: Former Gen. Meng Tien.
Hsu Sheh: The necromancer.
A leather curer: One of the craftsmen taken by Hsu Sheh on his second voyage to the Fairy Islands.
Captain Li Wen and convict laborers.
Captain Wu Kong and several scholar convicts.
Stage Setting: A section of the Great Wall, slanting slightly because it is built on the escarpment of a mountain, showing part of its crest with parapets. In the background is a mountain range with the Great Wall winding on its sharp ridges like a dragon, joining the section of the wall on the stage by a guard tower. Over the lower reach of the wall a green patch of the sea can be seen. In front of the wall there is a clearing, leading to the top of the wall by a flight of steps. Near the wall there is a brick encirclement where mortar is being mixed. As this scene follows an earthquake, part of the guard tower is damaged. Some of the parapets are gone and others askew with debris are lying about. The sound of an earthquake is heard before the curtain rises.
The Curtain Rises
Brown-clothed convicts are hard at work: a foursome carrying a huge stone block, a few mixing mortar by stamping with their bare feet; some trying to fix the parapets and the damaged guard tower. The afternoon sun beats relentlessly on the workers whose skin, after long exposure to its merciless rays, is as brown as the clothes they wear. Unlike ordinary workers; they do not sing the rhythmic "Yu Ho A Hai" to ensure coordination. Mute and dull-eyed, they look more dead than alive. Captain Li Wen, driven mad by the disaster and his languid workers, runs about like a lunatic, whipping the workers one by one. But there is no groan, no murmur, nor even a sigh from his victims.
LI WEN: (In jumping fettle.) CRY! GROAN! MOAN! MAKE SOME HUMAN SOUND! (He whips a worker with all his might, then points at his own nose.) Now curse me! Curse me! CURSE ME! (The worker goes right on with his task without any response.) You are not human beings. You're just cockroaches! COCKROACHES, ALL OF YOU! I bet you'll be cockroaches in your next incarnation! (The workers remain as mute as ever. Li Wen loses all self-control. He drops his whip, pulls his hair, slaps his own face, jumps up and down until blue veins appear on his forehead and his face turns purple. But the mute workers go on with their tasks undisturbed. Li Wen collapses against the wall and groans. Enter a few scholars in wooden collar cangues herded by Captain Wu Kong. Looking extremely pale and emaciated, with white gowns hanging loose from their sloping shoulders, the scholars present a striking contrast to the brown workers, though they share the same fate. )
WU KONG: (To the still groaning Li Wen.) What's the matter with you? Are you sick?
LI WEN: I'm cursed by Heaven! Possessed by ghosts! I'm doomed! (Stands up straight and throws his arms up in the air.) I'M DOOMED! I'M GOING TO DIE! (Grabs Wu Kong.) My head will be chopped off in a few seconds! (Points to the damage and the debris.) Look! The earth quaked just after I was told that the Emperor is coming to inspect the Great Wall, starting from here!
WU KONG: I've more cause to worry. You can always pick a scapegoat and blame him for having said something blasphemous to Heaven or the Earth Dragon that brought on the disaster.
LI WEN: (Overjoyed.) That's right! (Embraces Wu.) You have saved my life! Now tell me what your trouble is. Maybe I can help you in return.
WU KONG: I was ordered to take those bookworms to Liao Tung. But they walk like women. There are only ten days left. Still we are hundreds of Ii away from our destination. You know what'll happen if I don't get them there on time. (Making a gesture of beheading with his hand.)
LI WEN: I heard that they were burying those bookworms in Hsien Yang. Why weren't they buried?
WU KONG: Labor shortage. Acute shortage!
LI WEN: But how can you expect those worms to work? They've never learned how to use their hands. "Good for nothing but chewing books" — that's our Emperor's famous saying.
WU KONG: (Nods.) You're quite right. There were thirty of them when we started but there are only six left.
LI WEN: What's happened to the rest?
WU KONG: Some died on the way and some became too sick to move, so I had to leave them behind. (Points to the shaking legs of a scholar.) Look at that one. He can't even stand straight. (At this juncture, the scholar with the shaking legs faints. One of the four stone block carriers trips over his body; the stone block tumbles; two carriers and the scholar are caught underneath. They scream sharply in pain. The two unhurt carriers quickly get on their feet and with the help of some others lift the stone, push it aside and drag out the victims. All three are badly hurt.)
1ST SCHOLAR CONVICT: I'm a physician. Remove my cangue. I may be able to help them.
LI WEN: (To Wu Kong.) I suggest you remove the cangues of all of them. How can you expect those worms to survive this long journey with their heads and hands locked up in those wooden blocks! (Wu Kong removes the cangues of the scholars. The physician immediately goes to the victims to tend their wounds. Another scholar with distinguished features steps up on top of the stone block.)
2ND SCHOLAR CONVICT: (Claps his hands to attract attention.) Listen, all of you! (All the others turn toward him except the physician who is busy with his work.) Captains, soldiers and fellow convicts! Although we come from different walks of life, we share the same fate. We've nothing to look forward to except work until we drop dead. Our corpses will not even be buried! (All sigh.) Why not fight for our freedom? Why wait for death? (His audience look at one another blankly.) Ch'in has forsaken the teachings of the saints, killed the learned, burnt the books, abandoned morality and righteousness, encouraged treachery, inflicted punishment and tortures on innocent people. Men, laboring in the rice fields, cannot keep enough husks to fill their own bellies; women, bending over their looms day and night, cannot keep enough cloth to cover their bodies; laborers shed sweat and blood year in and year out without hope of seeing their families. All are doomed to death. (Some among his audience burst out into tears; some wail. A pale face appears between the parapets of the wall.)
THE PALE FACE: (Yelling loudly.) I want to go home! I want to go home NOW!
LI WEN: (Shouts back at him.) Who doesn't? But if we do, before we reach home our beloved ones will have already been killed by the authorities. Now the work is almost done. The date of our freedom is drawing near. Let's finish our job and go home in peace.
(File photo)
THE PALE FACE: (Laughs hysterically.) Go home in peace! Are you joking? Can you order the Earth not to quake? (Bursts into a loud wail.) I'm very sick! I can't wait! I'll soon die! (He crawls up and stands between two parapets. His legs tremble and his body sways. With one arm holding the parapet, he begins to sing.)
"The Great Wall is ten thousand li long!
Our fingers bleed and our nails are gone but no one takes pity on us."
("No one takes pity on us!" chorus the others.)
"The Great Wall is ten thousand li long! The summer sun sets our backs on fire and our working days are long." ("our working days are long" chorus the others.)
"The Great Wall is ten thousand li long! Winter blizzards penetrate our bones and we've no warm "clothing on!"
("We've no warm clothing on" chorus the others.)
"Our white haired parents and loving wives, Are they still trying to get us back or are they letting us down?"
("Letting us down" chorus the others. All burst into tears.)
2ND SCHOLAR CONVICT: What's the use of crying, you fools! Let's go and join the rebelling farmers in the Kuan Chung Plain. They've stored some food there.
MOST OF THE CONVICTS: LET'S GO!
2ND SCHOLAR CONVICT: LET'S GO!
PHYSICIAN CONVICT: What shall we do with the wounded?
LI WEN: I'll stay behind. I'll take care of them. (Exit 2nd scholar convict, Captain Wu Kong and most of the other convicts. The pale faced man tries to move but his legs shake violently.)
THE PALE FACE: (Howls despairingly.) My legs are weak and my home is far ... far away. (He knocks his head hard against the parapet several times, then collapses. The only other convict left on the crest of the wall rushes to him.)
CONVICT: (Shouts.) Captain Li Wen, he is dead. (Captain Li Wen sits abruptly on the ground.)
LI WEN: (Remorsefully.) I've been a beast! A man-eating beast! A mad beast! Now that my own death is drawing near, I begin to realize how beastly and foolish I've been. (Pulls down his hair.) My hair was pitch black when I joined the army, now (Mournfully.) it's already gray! (Buries his head in his hands and cries. The mourning of the wounded, the sobbing of the captain and the sighing of the handful of convicts left behind dominate the stage. From offstage comes the faint sound of kong striking and a voice shouting.)
VOICE: (Offstage.) Clear the road! His Majesty is coming!
LI WEN: (Bounces up. Despairingly.) What shall I do? What shall I do?
A CONVICT: Captain, why don't you run away?
LI WEN: I've a family, a family I treasure more than my own life: Parents, my beautiful young wife and my little son. When I left he was only this high. (His hand indicates the height of the child.) Now he may be taller than I. (Tears roll down his cheeks.) My poor wife! (Pulls at his chest as if he wants to tear out his own heart.) To think that I've let the delicate girl shoulder the heavy burden of my family ... all these years and ALONE! ALL ALONE! (Suddenly he grabs the sympathetic convict in front of him by the collar and a mad look comes to his eyes.) But ... but ... but what if she's unfaithful to me! Night after night I lie awake thinking she might be in the arms of someone else! (He gnashes his teeth, narrows his eyes then slowly puts his hands around the convict's neck. Enter Hsu Sheh and the leather curer.)
HSU SHEH: (Shouts to Li Wen.) Hey! Are you trying to strangle him?
LI WEN: (Wakes up with a jolt, composes himself, then stares at Hsu Sheh with surprise.) Are you a ghost?
HSU SHEH: (Laughs.) No ghost comes out during the daytime. No, I'm a human being.
LI WEN: If you aren't a ghost, then you're a fool.
HSU SHEH: What do you mean?
LI WEN: How dare you wear Taoist robes? Don't you know that the Emperor has ordered all Taoists to be buried alive?
HSU SHEH: (Surprised.) Why?
LI WEN: Because a necromancer named Hsu Sheh spent millions in gold but failed to bring back the elixir of immortality from the fairy islands for His Majesty.
HSU SHEH: (Shocked.) His Majesty must be very angry at Hsu Sheh.
LI WEN: Of course, lucky that fellow Hsu Sheh was away on another voyage, but His Majesty said if Hsu Sheh fails again this time, he'll surely cut off his head. (From offstage comes the crescendo of kong striking and the shouting "Clear the road! His Majesty comes!" Hsu Sheh's face turns paler and paler. The kong striking and shouting continue till the entrance of the emperor.)
LEATHER CURER: (Pulls Hsu's sleeve.) Master, the Emperor's coming. Let's get out of here.
LI WEN: There's no other road. You'll be running right into His Majesty's party!
LEATHER CURER: (Nervously.) We had better hide somewhere. (To Li Wen.) Where can we hide? (Looks around.) Ah, there! I'll hide behind the pile of bricks. (Runs offstage.)
LI WEN: (To Hsu Sheh.) You're the one who ought to run. Or may I suggest you take off your Taoist robes and borrow some brown clothes from the convict—the dead one.
HSU SHEH: (Calmly.) It's no use. The Emperor will move Heaven and Earth to find me out. Besides, I've already informed the local authorities that I'm here.
LI WEN: You sound like a mightly important person! Who are you?
HSU SHEH: I am Hsu Sheh. (Li Wen's chin drops and his eyes pop. For a long while, he stares at Hsu Sheh, stupefied. Enter the First Emperor, Prince Hu Hai, Li Sze, Count Meng Tien and Chao Kao. Everyone on the stage kneels.)
EMPEROR: (Shocked at the sight, angrily to Meng Tien.) Meng Tien, how dare you report to me that the Great Wall is completed!
MENG TIEN: (Bows.) Your Majesty, I waited six months before I dared report to you the completion of the Great Wall. But another earthquake occurred just three days before Your Majesty's arrival!
EMPEROR: Where are all the workers? Why don't they hurry up and repair the damage?
LI WEN: Your Majesty, a lot of the workers died and a lot ran away.
EMPEROR: (Stares at Li.) I give you ten days to repair all the damage!
LI WEN: (Knocks his head soundly on the ground.) Your Majesty, the damage can be easily fixed, but there is a huge chasm right below that guard tower caused by this recent quake. The local people say it's the mouth of the Earth Dragon. No matter how much earth we pour in, it cannot be filled!
HU HAI: (Bows to the Emperor.) My divine sire! I've a way to seal up the mouth of the Earth Dragon.
EMPEROR: (Smiles.) Good, Hu Hai, my son, say it.
HU HAI: As I rode along this Great Wall I saw many dead unburied and heard the wounded mourning like hogs. They make such a sore sight and ghastly sound and they stink. Why not cast the dead and the half dead into the mouth of this Earth Dragon as sacrifices?
EMPEROR: (Slaps Hu Hai's shoulder with glee.) A wonderful idea! You are a son after my own heart. You'll make a good emperor! I may consider you my heir!
MENG TIEN: Your Majesty, Prince Hu Hai's suggestion is most inhuman. (Boldly.) If he should become the Second Emperor, all the people will be doomed. (A pause. Chao Kao and Hu Hai stare at Meng Tien with hatred but Meng pays no need.) After almost two years with the Crown Prince Fu Soo, I've found out that His Highness has all the good qualities of an emperor: compassion and righteousness. He loves and honors Your Majesty; he loves his people and his associates.
EMPEROR: Count Meng Tien, what I don't like about Fu Soo is he has the heart of a woman. Love, Count Meng Tien, is the greatest of all vices. If my son Fu Soo is victimized by this base emotion, his judgment will be impaired; his vision blurred; his hearing affected and he'll never make a good emperor.
MENG TIEN: Your Majesty, the law says that the crown prince cannot be deposed without sufficient reasons. I hope Your Majesty'll not do anything contrary to the law on purely hypothetical grounds.
EMPEROR: Count Meng Tien, do I have to remind you' that I'm the Emperor and I can add or delete any code in the Book of Law! (Count Meng Tien's face burns with anger. The Emperor slaps Meng Tien's shoulder and smiles.) I'm not going to die YET. We'll discuss it some other time, some other place.
CHAO KAO: Your Majesty, Hsu Sheh is here! (Points to Hsu who is still kneeling.)
EMPEROR: (Sternly.) Hsu Sheh, have you brought back the elixir of immortality, the Ling Tze Fungus?
(File photo)
HSU SHEH: Yes, Your Majesty.
EMPEROR: (Overjoyed.) Where is it? Let me have it AT ONCE!
HSU SHEH: But, Your Majesty, when I sailed near the Gulf of Po Hai, an enormous fish raised its head from the sea and threatened to overturn the boat if I refused to give it the Fungus ...
EMPEROR: (Seethes with anger.) Another fabricated tale! Meng Tien, kill him RIGHT NOW!
HSU SHEH: (Calmly.) Your Majesty, killing me is just like killing an ant or a cockroach. Killing me will not gain back the million taels of gold spent. It will only discourage those who really have Your Majesty's welfare at heart.
EMPEROR: Meng Tien, put away your sword. (To Hsu Sheh.) Rumor has it that you've become the king of one of the fairy islands. Is that true?
HSU SHEH: If it is true, it only proves that I value more honoring my promise to Your Majesty than the glory of being a king, otherwise I wouldn't have risked my life crossing the dangerous sea again to come back to you.
EMPEROR: All right, now tell me what are you going to do next?
HSU SHEH: I wish Your Majesty would let me have one hundred good archers to kill that big fish.
LI SZE: (Laughs out loud.) Forgive me, Your Majesty, I couldn't help laughing. (To Hsu Sheh.) A big fish swims a thousand li a day. The sea is so vast and so deep. How can you tell Where it is and which one it is?
HSU SHEH: Your Excellency, it's not an ordinary fish. It's half human. It lives with its family on an island at the mouth of the Gulf of Po Hai. Most of the fishermen have seen it. It has the arms and breast of a human being. Sometimes it sits on top of that small island nursing its young. From a distance it looks almost like a giant woman. The fishermen say that the oil from its belly can be used as lamp oil. It burns for years without getting dry. But so far no one dares o kill it.
EMPEROR: Ah! Excellent oil for the amps in my tomb!
HSU SHEH: Your Majesty will never have to use that tomb. I swear to Your Majesty that I'll bring back the Ling Tze Fungus next time. (A pause.) Your Majesty, may I have the archers?
EMPEROR: (In high spirits.) Yes, and I'm going with you.
HSU SHEH: (Slightly disturbed.) All the way to the fairy islands?
EMPEROR: No, just to the mouth of the Gulf. I want to see that fish myself.
HSU SHEH: (Relieved.) It's a great honor to me, Your Majesty. When shall we start?
EMPEROR: Now! (To Chao Kao.) Get the ships ready to sail.
CHAO KAO: Yes, Your Majesty. (Exits.) EMPEROR: Meng Tien, (Points to the wounded at tile foot of the wall.) dump all those eyesores into the mouth of the Earth Dragon. (Meng Tien bows. Exit the Emperor and his suite.)
MENG TIEN: (To Li Wen.) Get my soldiers to remove the dead and the wounded.
LI WEN: And throw them into that chasm?
MENG TIEN: (Hesitates for a while.) You've heard the Emperor's order. (Exit Li Wen. To himself.) Am I doing the right thing to follow his order blindly: to work to death the living and to bury alive the wounded? But what can I do? If I disobey, I'll be charged with insubordination. (Shakes his head.) I have no choice! (Sighs. Enter Li Wen and soldiers.)
MENG TIEN: (To soldiers.) Dump all the dead and wounded into yonder chasm.
ONE OF THE WOUNDED: (Feebly.) My name is Chi Liang. My name is Chi Liang. When my wife comes, please tell her where I am buried.
1ST SOLDIER: What's the name of your wife? How does she look?
CHI LIANG: Her name is Chiang Nu. She is very young and very pretty. I was drafted on my wedding day.
2ND SOLDIER: You mean you didn't even spend the night with your bride?
CHI LIANG: (Sadly.) The authorities wouldn't allow me. (Sobs.)
3RD SOLDIER: (To the other two wounded.) Do you have anything to say?
2ND WOUNDED: I've an aged mother. She won't be able to come to collect my bones. (The third just sobs aloud, saying nothing.)
MENG TIEN: (Covers his. eyes, talks to himself.) I've seen many dead and wounded in the battlefield but this sight is too much even for an old warrior. (Stiffens himself. To the soldiers.) Hurry up!
CHI LIANG: (Dolefully.) Chiang Nu! Chiang Nu! I'll see you in my next incarnation! (The soldiers carry away the wounded. Two others carry· down the dead convict from the crest of the wall.)
VOICE: (Offstage.) A thief! A thief behind the brick pile. (Everybody on stage turns his head. In a short while the leather curer is dragged in by another soldier.)
MENG TIEN: Who are you?
LEATHER CURER: (Trembles.) I'm a leather curer.
MENG TIEN: Why were you hiding there behind the pile of bricks?
LEATHER CURER: I was afraid of the Emperor.
LI WEN: This man came back with Hsu Sheh.
MENG TIEN: (With a leary smile.) So you are also a necromancer?
LEATHER CURER: (Shakes violently.) No, no. I'm a leather curer. Hsu Sheh took me and many others on his second voyage.
MENG TIEN: Tell me the truth. Has he found those fairy islands!
LEATHER CURER: (Laments.) Fairy Islands! There is nothing but wilderness, inhabited only by barbarous aborigines of the stone ages! They have no language; know nothing about farming; they don't even have fishing boats except canoes!
MENG TIEN: (Seeing light.) That's why Hsu Sheh took with him on his last voyage seeds and sprouts and craftsmen of the hundred trades. He needed them to develop those wild islands! (The leather curer nods.) What's he up to this time?
LEATHER CURER: He came back this time for some good archers and some weapons. One of the barbarian tribes on Pong Lai Island always makes trouble.
MENG TIEN: Rumor has it that he was made king of Pong Lai.
LEATHER CURER: A friendly tribe elected him chieftain.
MENG TIEN: (Gnashes his teeth.) The rogue! I'll wring his neck as soon as he comes back from his fish hunting.
A SOLDIER: (Shouts down from the crest of the wall.) Your Excellency, please come up here and see! The Royal Barge and other boats are sailing out to sea! (Meng Tien, Li Wen and other soldiers mount the crest. The leather curer rushes offstage in a hurry.)
SOLDIER: (Facing the sea.) How beautiful they look!
LI WEN: (Points at an object in the sea.) Look, there is a black spot in the sea. It looks like a big fish! Ah! The Emperor is shooting at it himself! (Grabs the arm of the soldier beside him.) His Majesty's arrow has hit the fish! Look how it jumps! (People on the crest look on with excitement and interest. Suddenly they all shout out together: "Ah!" and Meng Tien hurriedly rushes down the wall and runs offstage.)
SOLDIER: What do you think has happened to His Majesty, Captain Li?
LI WEN: The Emperor must have fainted!
CURTAIN
Scene III
Time: One summer night in the 12th year of the Ch'in Empire.
Scene: A room in the deserted Sha Chiu Palace, built by the defunct Kingdom of Chao.
Dramatis Personae: The First Emperor of Ch'in: The long journey has made him gaunt and haggard and he is fatally ill.
Li Sze: Left Premier.
Chao Kao: Chief eunuch.
Hu Hai: The 18th son of the Emperor.
Yen Niang: A favored royal concubine.
Two eunuchs.
Stage Setting: A dilapidated room, with cracks on the walls and spider webs on the fancy latticework of the window. There is no furniture except a low bed and several thatched cushions. An oil lamp in an alcove in the wall sheds a dim light. The bed is upstage, left, and covered with an embroidered quilt. On the opposite wall is a round window, through which can be seen old trees with overhanging branches.
The Curtain Rises
The Emperor is tossing and groaning in the bed. Yen Niang sits at his bedside cooling him with a feathered fan. Two eunuchs, using cushions as pillows, are soundly asleep. It is stiflingly hot. Yen Niang keeps on wiping her perspiring forehead. Suddenly lightning flashes, followed by loud thunder and a summer shower begins to fall. The windows flap on their loose hinges. Cooling winds sweep the room and Yen Niang heaves a sigh of relief. The Emperor lies quietly for a while, then turns in his bed and talks in his sleep. Some rain drops fall continuously on a piece of metal outside the window making sounds like a sword duel.
EMPEROR: (Talking aloud in his sleep.) Hey! Small boys! Are you training yourselves to be generals? Hey! You are pretty good swordsmen! Not bad indeed! ... Of course I can lift it. WATCH! ... (Pants a little.) There's nothing to it. I can lift a tripod much heavier than this one ... (Suddenly his voice sounds panicky.) What are you two doing? Hey! You are taking off your own heads! What! You hold your own heads in your hands! How can you do it? HELP! HELP! HELP! GHOST! GHOST! GHOST! (Sits up abruptly in his bed. He wipes his forehead with a trembling hand. Looks about.) Where am I?
YEN NIANG: (Softly.) We are in the deserted Sha Chiu Palace. Had another nightmare? (The Emperor looks at her. His eyes are still glossy with fear. He holds Yen Niang's hand in his.)
EMPEROR: (Hoarsely.) Those two little ghosts have been haunting me ever since ... ever since ... ever since ... (His voice trails off.) They were timid little things. Who could know they would become such fierce ghosts? Worse even than Ching Keh's ghost!
YEN NIANG: Who were those little boys?
EMPEROR: They were my step-brothers, Lao Ai's sons. I had them killed. Their ghosts have been haunting me ... haunting me ... haunting me ... (Pulls Yen Niang a little bit closer to him.) Yen Niang, fear has dominated my life every since I was born. Fear, like an evil spirit, has possessed me, driven me mad, made me kill so many innocent people ... made me kill even my own father!
YEN NIANG: Your own father?
EMPEROR: (Nods.) Put a few more pillows behind my back. (Yen obeys.) Yen Niang, I'm going to die!
YEN NIANG: No!
EMPEROR: Yes, I know I'm dying. (With a leary smile.) How foolish I've been to think I could live forever! (A gust of wind shakes the flame of the lamp. Yen gets up and closes the window. Eyeing the flickering flame.) Like a flame, life can be snuffed out with a puff.
YEN NIANG: Your Majesty, please don't think too much.
EMPEROR: I did too little thinking. That's the trouble with me. (A pause.) This long illness has given me time to think, to review all my past life; some incidents are salient and vivid, others receding and blurred, but they all seem to have happened only yesterday. The fifty years of my life have passed in a glimpse! (In the soft lamp light the Emperor's face looks almost benign.)
YEN NIANG: (Shocked at the change.) Shall I bring Your Majesty some honey and water?
EMPEROR: Get the eunuch to do it.
YEN NIANG: (Wakes up one of the eunuchs.) Go and get some honey and water. (Exit the eunuch.)
EMPEROR: Yen Niang, now that death is at my door, I begin to realize how much I have missed. I have denied myself the very things that make life worth living and the only thing I can take away with me from this world.
YEN NIANG: What is it, Your Majesty?
EMPEROR: Love.
YEN NIANG: Love?
EMPEROR: Yes, love. My legalist teachers taught me that to love is to sin and I believed them. My mother loved me, I drove her crazy; my father loved me, I had him poisoned; my eldest son loved me, I had him exiled. I have been like a man burning with thirst, but denied water, dying of hunger, but refused food; so parched with the want of love that my heart has turned as hard as stone, and I can't even shed one tear, yet all the time I have avoided love like poison.
(File photo)
YEN NIANG: Your Majesty, you need a rest. Talk about it tomorrow.
EMPEROR: There'll be no tomorrow for me. I feel unusually elated. That's the prelude to death after a long illness. (Pants a little.) Open the window. (Yen Niang opens the window. The shower has stopped. Moonlight glimmers through the tree leaves.) That's better. Come and massage my back. (Yen Niang sits at the bed side and begins to massage.) Do you know why I like you best of all among the thousands of girls in my harem?
YEN NIANG: No, Your Majesty. Some of them are much prettier.
EMPEROR: Indeed, but your eyes are different from others. Only one other woman had the same kind of eyes as you.
YEN NIANG: May I know who she is, Your Majesty?
EMPEROR: My mother.
YEN NIANG: (Surprised.) The Queen Mother?
EMPEROR: (Nods.) She died hating me! Yen Niang, do you remember how the first time I saw you I thought I had seen you before? (Yen shakes her head.) Yen Niang, I'm going to make your son my heir.
YEN NIANG: My SON! (With a cynical laugh.) I don't even know where he is. He was taken away from me when he was born.
EMPEROR: It was because you were a captive, not a native of Ch'in; it was because I wanted your son to be my heir; it's because you are the only woman I love. Compared with you, all the others are like mud dolls.
YEN NIANG: Your Majesty, don't you think it's time to tell me where my son is? EMPEROR: He is right here with us.
YEN NIANG: (Shocked.) Not Hu Hai! EMPEROR: Yes, it is Hu Hai!
YEN NIANG: (Covers her face with her hands.) No, no, no, no! NOT HIM!
EMPEROR: (Drags Yen Niang into his arms.) Death is creeping on me now. I can't move my legs! (Holds Yen's face in his shaky hands.) Say you love me! Say it! (Pleadingly.) Say you love me.
YEN NIANG: (Struggles free; stands out of reach and stares at him.) You are asking a starving person for food, a thirsty one for water. No, I have no love for you.
EMPEROR: (Hoarsely.) Is there some one else? (Yen nods. Fiercely.) Who is He?
YEN NIANG: Gen. Li Mu.
EMPEROR: Li Mu of Chao? (Yen nods.) It's a lie! You came to me a virgin.
YEN NIANG: I won't explain because you won't understand. But if I were you, I would not make Hu Hai your heir. (The Emperor stares at her with stony eyes.) Because I, his mother, have plotted against you! I stole Yu Liao's war plans from your private archives. I conspired with the assassin Ching Keh. I shouted behind your back to betray your position to the blind Kao Chien Li ...
EMPEROR: (Shouts despairingly.) Why didn't you kill me yourself?
YEN NIANG: (Coldly.) Because you are the father of my son!
EMPEROR: (Throws himself at Yen Niang with outstretched arms and clawing hands.) You cheat! I'll strangle you! (Yen dodges and the Emperor falls on the floor heavily. The eunuch re-enters with a cup, hastily puts it in the alcove and helps Yen Niang put the Emperor back to bed. The Emperor pants heavily.)
YEN NIANG: Why did it take you so long to get some honey? Give the cup to me, quick! (The eunuch quickly fetches the cup and gives it to Yen Niang. Of habit, she takes a sip. Angrily.) It's just water! You rice barrel! (Throws the cup on the ground.)
EUNUCH: I went to the supply officer. He wasn't there. I yelled, "Will someone get me an urn of honey?" In the darkness a weird voice answered: "There's not a drop of honey but plenty of blood!"
EMPEROR: (Wailing deliriously; his eyes dull and unseeing; his hands groping in the air aimlessly.) Chao Kao, Chao Kao!
YEN NIANG: (To eunuch.) Get Chao Kao, hurry! (Exit eunuch. Kicks the still sleeping eunuch.) Get up! (The second eunuch rubs his eyes and gets up.) Ask Left Premier Li Sze to come at once. The Emperor is dying! (The eunuch is about to leave.) Wait! Get Prince Hu Hai ... (Exit the eunuch in a hurry. To herself.) Hu Hai! Hu Hai! He is my son! (Sits abruptly on a thatched cushion, covers her face with her hands and begins to tremble.) It's Heaven's punishment, a justified punishment for a treacherous woman! I deserve to have a son like Hu Hai. (Gnashing her teeth.) That despicable little beast, worse than his father. I hope he'll not be the second emperor, never!
EMPEROR: (Weakly.) Chao Kao! Chao Kao! Chao Kao!
YEN NIANG: (Again to herself.) I hope Li Sze will come before that damned eunuch. Why didn't the Emperor choose Li Sze to be Hu Hai's tutor instead of that infamous eunuch Chao Kao?
EMPEROR: Chao Kao! Chao Kao! Chao (Enter Chao Kao and the eunuch.)
CHAO KAO: (Hurries to the Emperor's bedside and kneels down.) Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Chao Kao is here.
EMPEROR: Chao Kao, write an edict for me to my first born, my heir Fu Soo, asking him to come to Hsien Yang to bury me ... bury me ... (His voice trails off and dies.)
CHAO KAO: Your Majesty, Your Majesty, YOUR MAJESTY! (The Emperor opens his eyes wide and breathes his last. Chao Kao pulls off a thread of his own hair and places it under the Emperor's nostrils, stands up.) His Majesty, the First Emperor, has ascended to Heaven! (Enter Li Sze, Hu Hai and the other eunuch.)
HU HAI: (Cries.) Oh! My divine sire!
CHAO KAO: (Grabbing him.) It's no time for tears. (Bows to Hu Hai.) His Majesty, the First Emperor, before his ascension to Heaven, named you, Prince Hu Hai, as his successor, (Kneels down before Prince Hu Hai ceremoniously.) Long Live the Second Emperor! (Li Sze is about to kneel down too but is stopped by Yen Niang.)
YEN NIANG: (Points to Chao Kao.) Your Excellency, don't believe a word of what that treacherous eunuch has just said. I clearly heard the Emperor say, "Write to my first born, my heir Fu Soo, asking him to come to Hsien Yang to bury me ... "
LI SZE: (Shocked.) Lady, is there any other witness?
YEN NIANG: (Points to one of the two eunuchs.) This eunuch must have also heard it.
LI SZE: (To the eunuch.) Will you verify what this lady has just said? (The eunuch steals a furtive glance at Chao Kao, then at Yen Niang, he bows his head and remains mute.)
LI SZE: (To Yen Niang.) Since he won't answer, will you swear ...
CHAO KAO: (Insolently.) Li Sze, I admit that the Emperor said it, but it's up to me whether to write it or not. Remember I'm the Keeper of the Royal Seal. (Smiles.) Li Sze, when Hu Hai becomes the Second Emperor, you'll be "the" premier!
LI SZE: (Ignores Chao Kao, as if talking to himself.) I've long wished to go hunting with my youngest son and my faithful yellow dog. From now on I'll be able to enjoy the rest of my years free of all official duties.
CHAO KAO: (Takes out a dagger and points it at Li Sze.) Li Sze, your life is in my hands; either you obey or die!
LI SZE: (Sighs.) I wish I could say "No" to you, but (Sighs again.) I'm such a coward!
CHAO KAO: (Overjoyed.) I knew you would cooperate with me. (Slaps Hu Hai's back.) Congratulations, Your Majesty. (Bows.)
HU HAI: (Worried.) But I'm so young and inexperienced and I have so many older brothers.
CHAO KAO: (Laughs.) Don't worry. Chao Kao will handle all your brothers and even your sisters (Laughs again.) and all the officials if they should oppose you. You stay in the deep palace and enjoy the luxurious life befitting an emperor. Chao Kao will tackle all the problems for you. (To one of the eunuchs.) Go and get the jade box in my room. Also bring me my writing brush and pad. (Yen Niang drags the eunuch aside and whispers something into his ears. Chao Kao sees this and laughs again.) Yen Niang, you are wasting your breath. Those eunuchs, in fact all the Emperor's intimates, 'are my ears and eyes, claws and teeth. I have even bought over the majority of the court officials. So don't try to do anything behind my back. Ha ha ha ha … (Exit the eunuch. Chao Kao drags Hu Hai to a dark corner and begins to give him some secret instructions. Li Sze walks toward the window, looks up at the sky and sighs.)
LI SZE: (Talking to himself.) "Look back when you are forging ahead to make sure there is always enough room behind for you to retreat. He who knows contentment will not suffer disgrace; he who knows when to stop will not incur danger." Who said this to me? I can't remember now. It was so long ago.
CHAO KAO: (Looks over his shoulder.) Li Sze, what are you mumbling about?
LI SZE: I just recalled some sayings of an old friend of mine. (Re-enter the eunuch with the jade box and the writing brush.)
CHAO KAO: (To the eunuch.) Put all those in the alcove. (The eunuch does so, cuts the wick of the lamp, spreads the silk scroll and pours out some varnish into the pad. Speaks to Li Sze.) Don't look so sullen. Should Fu Soo become emperor, the Meng brothers will ease you out in no time. Besides, Fu Soo hates the legalists and you are now leader of that school. Now, with Hu Hai as the Second Emperor, you and I will be the real power behind the throne. Congratulations! Premier Li Sze!
LI SZE: (Shakes his head and sighs.) Don't congratulate me for a calamity is often a fortune in disguise and a fortune is often a cause of calamity.
CHAO KAO: (Goes to the alcove and holds the writing brush in his hand. Suddenly he laughs. Holds the brush high.) This brush will write a death sentence to the one who invented it.
LI SZE: What do you mean? What do you intend to do?
CHAO KAO: I'm writing an edict for the Emperor to Gen. Meng Tien and I'll send it along with an urn of Cheng wine.
LI SZE: Chao Kao, that's too much.
CHAO KAO: (With a leary smile.) Too much! Huh! Li Sze, prepare yourself for a real shock: I'm going to write another edict to Fu Soo ... (Yen Niang goes up to Chao Kao and slaps his face hard.)
HU HAI: (Holds back Yen Niang.) How dare you! Woman! I shall have you buried with my father. Buried alive!
CHAO KAO: (With a knowing smile.) Hu Hai, you cannot bury this one.
HU HAI: I'm going to have all of them buried with my father, all of them who have no sons or daughters.
CHAO KAO: This woman has a son.
HU HAI: (Surprised.) Who is he?
CHAO KAO: His name is HU HAI! (Yen Niang covers her face and cries. Chao Kao turns to his writing and the rest stand there stunned. Suddenly the winds begin to blow. They waft leaves from the trees outside the window. The winds howl and the leaves groan as if thousands of wandering ghosts are demanding to have their wrongs righted. Mingled woefully with the mourning of the trees is heard a weird voice singing:
"The First Emperor dies;
The land divides.
Ch'in falls and
Hu thrives!")
YEN NIANG: (Walks slowly toward Hu Hai. Points at Hu Hai's nose.) HU HAI thrives and Ch'in falls!
CURTAIN
FINALE
Time: Forty days after Scene III.
Scene: The shore of the Ching River, a tributary of the Yellow River.
Dramatis Personae: Dog Butcher.
Chao Kao.
Yen Niang.
Other eunuchs.
Stage Setting: The shore of the Ching River, where the earth is so soft that the beaten caravan road sinks below the earth level. Yonder, across the river, the city of Hsien Yang, capital of Ch'in, can vaguely be seen. Above, the sun, shrouded by a yellow aura, overlooks the desolate scene.
The Curtain Rises
A distant hubbub and sound of horses' hoofs can be heard approaching. A few eunuchs run onto the scene. They climb on to the bank from a furrowed road. With their feet oozing in and out of the loess earth, they search along the river for a while, then face one another shaking their heads. One of them looks up, points at the jaundiced sun and shouts: "No wonder there isn't any boat. A sand storm is coming. Better hurry back and tell the chief eunuch that we can't cross the river today." All the rest nod in agreement. Exit all eunuchs. From offstage come their shouts: "Halt! Turn back! A sand storm is coming!"
CHAO KAO: (Offstage.) We'll have to cross the river today. His Majesty is very ill!
A EUNUCH: (Offstage.) But there isn't any boat.
CHAO KAO: (Offstage.) All right, the rest of you turn back. The royal concubine and I will go to the river bank to offer some sacrifice to the River God. He will grant us safe passage. (Sound of a carriage approaching. Chao Kao leads in a curtained carriage. He pulls the horse to a stop, then he covers his nose and pulls open the curtain.)
CHAO KAO: Yen Niang, please come out. (Yen Niang comes out from the carriage and as soon as her feet touch the ground she begins to vomit.)
YEN NIANG: Chao Kao, I can't stand it any longer.
CHAO KAO: (Points to the city of Hsien Yang.) Tomorrow we'll cross the Ching River and as soon as we reach Hsien Yang, we'll announce the death of the First Emperor, then you'll be freed from accompanying that stinking corpse.
YEN NIANG: I heard that necromancer Hsu Sheh has found the fairy islands. I hope I can be allowed to go there.
CHAO KAO: (Smiles.) You needn't go to those barbarous islands. You'll stay with me in the Ah Fong Palace (Embraces Yen.) and enjoy life.
YEN NIANG: (Pushes Chao away from her.) How dare you! I'm going to tell the premier that you are not a real eunuch, and you'll be beheaded for that.
CHAO KAO: (Laughs.) I am a REAL eunuch. But as the saying goes: "A man not born blind will not forget the habit of looking; a man not born crippled will often look for his shoes." Though a eunuch, I can't help being attracted by women.
YEN NIANG: Leave me alone! There are thousands of others in the harem.
CHAO KAO: But you are especially attractive to me. It's because you look like a lady I once admired and worshipped.
YEN NIANK: The Queen Mother.
CHAO KAO: (Surprised.) How do you know?
YEN NIANG: Never mind. Chao Kao, I warn you! If Hu Hai really becomes the Second Emperor, I'll be the Queen Mother and I'll kill you if you even d re as much as touch me.
CHAO KAO: (Laughs aloud.) Hu Hai! He is just a puppet! I made him and I can break him! He is so used to listening to me that even if I call a moose a horse, he dares not differ.
YEN NIANG: You ungrateful pig! The First Emperor, though a tyrant, treated you like a brother!
(File photo)
CHAO KAO: (Gnashing his teeth.) A brother! What a brother! He had me castrated! Now, what am I, neither a man nor a woman! I can't enjoy life, can't have sons to carryon my name! I hate him! I'm going to have revenge for the three thousand eunuchs and the seven hundred thousand builders of the Ah Fong Palace whom he castrated. I'm going to kill all his sons, all his daughters, HIS ENTIRE POSTERITY! (Yen Niang starts to run but Chao grabs her. He puts his hands around Yen Niang's neck.) Hsien Yang is just across the river. Your service is no longer needed. I'll send you right to your beloved husband. (Tightens his hands. At this juncture, Dog Butcher jumps out from his hideout behind a small mound of loess earth with a huge club in his 'hand and knocks down Chao Kao, then he quickly pushes open the curtain of the carriage and raises his club! But his club stops in midair.)
DOG BUTCHER: (Stutters.) Dead! Already rotten! (Drops his club.)
YEN NIANG: (Weakly.) Forty days already! Rotten to the bones now! I've travelled sixteen hundred li with that stinking corpse!
DOG BUTCHER: I thought it was the fish that stank! (Puts his hand over his nose.) You've concealed his death so well. YEN NIANG: (Points to the unconscious Chao Kao.) It was all that treacherous eunuch's plot. He wrote two false edicts commanding Crown Prince Fu Soo and Gen. Meng Tien to commit suicide. He concealed the death of the First Emperor so that no one would suspect that the edicts were forged.
DOG BUTCHER: (Picks up his club.) I'd like to finish that rogue off!
YEN NIANG: (Holds his arm.) Let him live. He'll hasten the downfall of Ch'in quicker than all of us put together. (Dog Butcher is about to leave but Yen Niang calls him back.) Kindly accompany me to the next village. (Dog Butcher nods. Exit Dog Butcher and Yen.)
The wind begins to blow and yellow sand billows down. The curtains of the carriage fly wide open. The corpse of the First Emperor lies on the seat of the coach, with black spots all over his swollen face. The horse neighs loudly and Chao Kao slowly comes to. He fastens the curtains and leads the horse and carriage offstage.
CURTAIN
The End