EVE. Liar: you denied just now that it called on you to pay for Abel'slife with your own. 2) Methuselah also was the oldest of all known mankind. No woman shall make me live my father'slife. To me there is only one voice. Why, I--I! ADAM. It is I who must conceive. EVE. CAIN. 25253):[14]. The birthing proceeds: In procession, youths carry a new tunic, ewers of water, big sponges and, finally a huge egg, which is placed upon the altar. But then,as soon as you like. You and Adam. You think youcould, because you know that you will never have to make your thoughtgood. I tell you I am verysubtle. ADAM. What more is there to tell? ADAM. I could not sit still then. She will fish him out and dry him off and then let nature take its course. One does not speak to a child as to a man.And a man does not listen and tremble in silence. But am I idle? She says she is the oracle, but he has contempt for women and insists he be directed to one of the older and more able men. Ultimately he is asking if it would be expedient to hold elections now or better to put them off till spring. The Serpent invents the words love, stranger, life, birth, death, jealousy, years, chance, fear, marriage, hope and the act of laughing. ADAM [_releasing her_] That is true. I can talk of many things. I revolt against the food. ADAM [_brightening_] That noise takes away fear. I had not thought of that. I adore her. and internal kicking rocks it so hard that it must be held steady to keep it from rolling off the altar. I call yours the Devil. The rock and tree are on the border of a glade in which lies a dead fawnall awry, its neck being broken. I have watched thosefaces and willed; and then I have made a woman-child that has grown upquite like them. Andnettles, too! As they dance, a stranger, physically in the prime of life but with a wrinkled, timeworn face, comes down the stony stairs, rapt in contemplation, and bumps heedlessly into a pair of dancers. . You may die when I have made another Adam. And I will love Eve all that time and noother woman. You say thatI make a mere convenience of Adam: I who spin and keep the house, andbear and rear children, and am a woman and not a pet animal to pleasemen and prey on them! If I must have food or die, I will at least have it at as far aremove from the earth as I can. There is no mistaking itfor any voice of the birds or beasts, or for your voice. CAIN. Well, as the serpent used to say, why not? Rebecca Sunshine performing a monologue 'The Serpent's Tale'. Your bowels become rotten; yourhair falls from you; your teeth blacken and drop out; and you die beforeyour time, not because you will, but because you must. EVE. Tell me this: who invented death? Their two greatest sculptors will show their latest masterpieces and be crowned with flowers, honoured with dithyrambs and have dances done around them. [_He turns quickly towards the serpent, and in doingso puts his foot on something sharp_]. You should not. Even a bear would not eat a man if it could gethoney instead. ButAbel was a discoverer, a man of ideas, of spirit: a true Progressive. When Adam delved and Eve span, where was then the gentleman? But you have not made a vow yet. 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. THE SERPENT. But he must give hisdesire and his will to you. [_She rises, and passing behind him, strolls offcarelessly to the tree and leans against it, stroking a ring of thesnake_]. Back to Methuselah (A Metabiological Pentateuch) by George Bernard Shaw consists of a preface (The Infidel Half Century) and a series of five plays: In the Beginning: B.C. [_Shesits on the rock and pulls him down beside her, clasping him to her withher right arm_]. If they shorten their lives, they will dig and fight and kill anddie; and their baby Enochs will tell them that it is the will of theVoice that they should dig and fight and kill and die for ever. She told it to me as a marvellous story of something thatnever happened to a Lilith that never was. ADAM. I followed your teaching. Back to Methuselah: With Fanny Rowe, Ursula Howells, Ellen Pollock, Ernest Clark. THE SERPENT. This work, written during 1918-1921, is comprised of a Preface and five Parts; each Part is a a complete play. Quick. Do you never think ofthat? There was no more to prevent him than there was to prevent me:it was man to man; and I won. He was not in its judgment because he chose to live God's ways. That which makes the difference between the dead fawn andthe live one. It stirs inside me. The Garden of Eden. EVE. She, being long lived understands no metaphors and speaks the literal truth, while he consistently uses figures of speech instead of stating simple facts. Adam has invented something new. And to fight. ADAM. Yes: it was by meditating on Life that I gained the powerto do miracles. She rears her head slowly from thebed of Johnswort, and speaks into Eve's ear in a strange seductivelymusical whisper. [_She dusts her hands, and draws awayfrom it_]. Burge-Lubin, realising that he, or anyone else, might turn out to be long-lived, counsels moderation. [5] These concepts had some currency among Shaw's contemporaries, and the Methuselah plays are based on Shaw's extrapolations from the two principles. _Adam throws down his spade, and stands looking darkly at Eve._. Only,there must be some end, some end: I am not strong enough to beareternity. And others makelittle mammoths out of clay, or make faces appear on flat stones, andask me to create women for them with such faces. She was alone: there was no man with her. He humanizes them to the point of wishing to die for each other, then allows them to die. He will not. I _have_ to think about you. I callit fighting. [_He sitsdown again, sulkily_]. It was I whowhispered the word to you that you did not know. EVE [_displeased, turning away from the serpent_] But it will destroyhope. Discovering the possibility of death suggests possibilities for other changes and a discussion follows that deals progressively with loneliness and love, uncertainty and fear, fidelity and marriage and the courage found in laughter. What is a fool? Begone. A miracle is an impossible thing that is neverthelesspossible. (Shaw was in his mid-60s when the plays were written). [6][7]offers a solution: Lilith, who came before them, and was, in fact, their mother, made them male and female, so they have the ability to reproduce. There is a voice in the garden that tells me things. It has not yet told me the secret. Look atthat thick roll of hard flesh on your strong arm! THE SERPENT. claim that all sensible people agree with him, put forward in Back to Methuselah by both Savvy and Professor Conrad. Poor mother! THE SERPENT. the howls of rage! You must tell us your secret. . The Ancient refuses, saying he is too mature for gambolling; ancients must stick to their own ways of enjoyment. Oh, I haveheard it all a thousand times. EVE. CAIN [_rising_] You did well: I, too, do not want to live for ever. I musthave certainty. Youmust never put yourself in danger of stumbling. And you? Keep a guard on your own tongue; and do not curse my son. He will be in your power through hisdesire. Whereupon she vanishes, the lighting turns to daylight and the abyss is no more. And it burst; and a little snake came out; and it became biggerand bigger from day to day until it was as big as I. He kept himself alive byeating meat. Life must not cease. All Rights Reserved. EVE [_shaking him_] Adam: you must not brood. EVE. EVE. Do not listen to her: the noise is good: it lightens my heart.You are a jolly snake. 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. Think. That is too much for the Elderly Gentleman to swallow. Zoo is the replacement. He is an "Ancient". [_She comes quickly behind him andturns up his face to her_]. Be reasonable, boy. Death. I have imagined a glorious poem of many men, of more men thanthere are leaves on a thousand trees. But the rest of us will die sooner or later, like the fawn. ADAM. So I have to come back and listen to Adam saying thesame thing for the ten-thousandth time, or to receive a visit from thelast great-great-grandson who has grown up and wants to impress me withhis importance. We shall fall like thefawn and be broken. I had not thought of that. The Devil thank her for it! ADAM [_throwing his arm round her shoulder with an expression ofanguish_] Oh no: that is plain without any voice. Forsooth, when you have slain the boar at the riskof your life, you will throw her a morsel of it for her pains! Back to Methuselah; a metabiological Pentateuch. Serpent (5:349). It is very low; but it is so nearthat it is like a whisper from within myself. EVE [_jarred and startled_] What a hateful noise! Instead of breathing you sneeze, or coughup your insides, and wither and perish. It is not only its eyes. What is the matterwith you? ADAM. Every man who has not seen it, heardit, felt it, risked it, will feel a humbled fool in the presence of theman who has. Everything is possible. ADAM. A housemaid announces the opportune arrival of Lubin and Burge, two prominent politicians with antagonistic viewpoints; they will serve as sounding-boards while the brothers present their case for the need of longer lifetimes. For it whispers to me that death is not really death:that it is the gate of another life: a life infinitely splendid andintense: a life of the soul alone: a life without clods or spades,hunger or fatigue--. ADAM. We shall need each other. The moment you find we need not last for ever,you talk as if we were going to end today. Soon there will be as many snakes inEden as there are scales on my body. He was the inventor of killing. I will live athousand sets of the four seasons--. EVE [_throwing herself down discontentedly and plucking at the grass_]That is so like a man. When he was a mere child of eighty, his babyishattempts to understand the Voice were more dangerous than the wrath ofCain. THE SERPENT. Butwhen it is short it will be very sweet. ADAM. For you werethe first children in the world, and filled us with such wonder anddelight as no couple can ever again feel while the world lasts. EVE. [_He goes away roaring with laughter, which ceases as he cries from thedistance_] Goodbye, mother. You slay the tiger at the risk of yourlife; but who gets the striped skin you have run that risk for? Fear is stronger in me than hope. Her fury turns to delight with the beauty of her tunic when they dress her. EVE [_now pitying him maternally_] Love! Something that never could happen, and yet does happen. Youfight because you think that your fighting makes her admire and desireyou. If only the care of this terrible garden may pass onto some other gardener! Everything is possible: everything. ADAM. Back to Methuselah (Revival, Play, Comedy, Broadway) opened in New York City Mar 26, 1958 and played through Apr 19, 1958. But for her, I could notresist the sport of trying to kill you, in spite of my fear that youwould kill me. According to Louis Crompton in Shaw the Dramatist (pp. ADAM. That is how; but it is not why. ADAM. Burge-Lubin excuses himself, saying he must confer privately with the Minister of Health. There is a terrible danger in this procrastination. You neither of you know anything about life. And there, next to it, a briar. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, and As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920. Instead of sculptures, he has brought a scientist, Pygmalion, who is a greater artist than the world has seen before. It is poisoning the air. That is how I pay forAbel's blood. ADAM [_grumbling_] He might have put the hurdle back, lazy hound! EVE. Skip to main content. Mother: the making of men is your right, your risk, your agony,your glory, your triumph. I will clear themaway tomorrow. At the end the Serpent whispersfor Eve's ears alonethe secret of reproduction, which Eve hears with greatly mixed emotions. They can remembertheir dreams. THE SERPENT. [10] comes close to qualifying. I made him out of myown body. I do not blame you. Are you tempted, Adam? You have made the beasts afraid of us; and the snake hasinvented poison to protect herself against you. And each host shall tryto kill the other host. They will not overrun the wholegarden for a long time: not until you have laid down your burden andgone to sleep for ever. Whatever I fear to do is wicked. You invented murder. And that request was granted: "Go home, poor fool" the oracle replies repeating what she had said to Eastwind. But youhave made the serpent our enemy: she has left the garden, or is dead: Inever see her now. It is a burden. You are no superman: you are Anti-Man: you are to othermen what the stoat is to the rabbit; and she is to you what the leech isto the stoat. So that is what comes of turning your face to the clean clearheavens! Then death will not matter: thissnake and that snake will die; but the snakes will live. You think too much. I, too, have thought of something. 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. The sun will give life. It is; and it is not. CAIN. THE SERPENT [_responding affectionately_] It is so, dear Adam. But you could come softly up behind me and [_she suddenly pounceson his shoulders and throws him forward on his face_] throw me down sothat I should die. Shetakes it to lie on, and flings you the carrion flesh you cannot eat. Something quite different to myself, like you. The first performances in England began at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre under the management of Barry Jackson on the 9th October 1923. Eat the dust. Then love will be no longer uncertain. But why did she divide into two, and make us different? It is I who have to do the miracle. Why should I forget it? The Voice of The Serpent (Original) . If only the sentinel set by the Voice can berelieved! Cain, witha laughing one, throws down his shield and spear. She had a mighty will: shestrove and strove and willed and willed for more moons than there areleaves on all the trees of the garden. Leave us in peace. CAIN. One's own body is the last of many dolls and it will be shed, as well. There is something else.We do not yet know what it is; but some day we shall find out; and thenwe will live on that alone; and there shall be no more digging norspinning, nor fighting nor killing. Make a vow. How am I a greater fool than you? I am the old serpent, older than Adam, older than Eve. 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. In rejecting yourdrudgery, have I not embraced evils and agonies of which you knownothing? EVE. ADAM. She is a better sort of woman to live with than you. Danger and fear follow my steps everywhere. Barnabas hotly contested the legality of this and favoured prosecuting. EVE [_angrily to the snake_] This death that you have brought into thegarden is an evil thing. That is hope. Without danger I cannot be great. I know the craftof fighting and of hunting: in a word, the craft of killing. Icannot bear this knowledge. EVE. Pygmalion has successfully created a pair of living, artificial human beings and is ready to display them, which he does, to an audience made impatient by his incomprehensible scientific explanations. A He-Ancient, who is called to decide the creatures' fate. English Deutsch Franais Espaol Portugus Italiano Romn Nederlands Latina Dansk Svenska Norsk Magyar Bahasa Indonesia Trke Suomi Latvian Lithuanian esk . He reveals that the drowned notables in the film clips at the Records Office are all the same person whose multiple demises had ended several significant careers. Adam is digging in themiddle of the garden. I will hunt: I will fight and strive to the very bursting of mysinews. Will you die the moment you have made a new Eve? Ha! The Prime Minister, now called The Envoy, is too overwhelmed to ask his question until he swallows a half-pint of brandy. THE SERPENT. ADAM. I do not want to be a bear. ADAM. No: he, too, must desire and will. ADAM. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, and As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920. I know you: Iam your mother. Your hood is most lovely. No matter. She buries herface in her hands_. Cassio from 'Othello'3rd Gentleman from 'The Winter's Tale'Cain from 'Back to Methuselah' by George Bernard Shaw I was the first conqueror. Shaw had an exalted opinion of Back to Methuselah as both literature and philosophy; in the press release he wrote for its publishers (Constable & Co., London) he said it would "interest biologists, religious leaders, and lovers of the marvellous in fiction as well as lovers of the theatre" and described it as his supreme work in dramatic literature. I call it dead. I make no vows. That is what hasbrought me to my mother today. EVE. THE SNAKE. It is the horror of having to be with myself forever. Methuselah acceptable only as his worst play.D A reading of Back to Methuselah in terms of Blake's magnum opus, Jerusalem, will, I hope, contribute towards a better understanding of the play that Shaw in 1944 chose as his "world classic." II. As night is falling, the children seek shelter in the temple. THE SERPENT. Man shall be the master ofWoman, not her baby and her drudge. Life is still long enough to learn to dig, short as they aremaking it. Rows of curved marble benches, spaced well apart, fan out from the altar. DidI? His question: "How am I to satisfy my genius for fighting until I die?" Pretty thing! Those whom I slay woulddie if I spared them. That is a dreadful thought. David Fielding's abridgement has succeeded in shortening this five-part play down to 4 fascinating hours. I dug and dugand dug. And there is yet nearly sevenhundred years of it to endure. ADAM [_to Eve, grumpily_] Why do you live on, if you can find nothingbetter to do than complain? EVE. I cleared away the thistles and briars. He became so happy that heshared his meal with the Voice that had whispered all his inventions tohim. When, e.g., the stage director for the Birmingham production asked how the Serpent was to be presented, Shaw responded with a clumsy sketch and suggested an artist be employed to design costume, colouring and lighting. THE SERPENT. I worship you, Eve. 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