Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1963, Síða 90

72
TÍMARIT ÞJÓÐRÆKNISFÉLAGS ÍSLENDINGA
unintentionally, or to leave undone
what is right.
Firefly: Can’t you accept my guid-
ance—not for your sake, but for
mine?
Worrn: Where one is not free, one
can’t make any sacrafices. Perhaps
a new environment would call forth
a spirit of self-sacrifice.
Firefly: But you want to do every-
thing within your power to be eman-
cipated.
Worm: “The good that I would I
I do not.”
Firefly exits to the left. Worm grows
pensive; starts when Ant opens the
door of the house. Ant and Butterfly
disappear into the house; the door is
slammed shut. Worm looks a long
time at the closed door; throws him-
self face down into the earth. By
now it is fully dark. A light goes on
in the window of the house.
CURTAIN
ACT II
An orange grove; reddish yellow
fruit clusters hanging on dark-green
boughs. The roar of the waterfall is
heard in the distance. It is evening;
darkness is falling.
Worm, wearing white, prosperous-
looking summer clothes, lies sleep-
ing at the roots of one of the trees.
Butterfly enters from the right;
shakes the tree. An orange drops
down on Worm’s chest; he awakens.
Butterfly (takes up the orange; be-
gins to eat it): You have been sleep-
ing since this morning.
Worm: Yes, I have slept soundly.
But what is this? (Rises.) I see that
all of a sudden I am across the
border. How did I get here, since
you broke your promise to go with
me, and took up with Ant, my
master and enemy, who made me
lame and blinded me in one eye?
Butterfly: That is quite a dream you
have had.
Worm: Has it been only a dream?
Butterfly: Walk around and look
about you; see whether Ant has
made you lame and blinded you.
Worm (walks; looks about): I am
not lame; I see with both my eyes.
Then all that I thought took place in
the vegetable garden has been a
dream.
Butterfly: You must be satisfied
now, for your wishes have come
true; you have found everything
you searched for.
Worm: Yes, I have found it, only to
realize that this is not what I was
searching for.
Butterfly: You are here in an ex-
quisite orchard, where fruits are
hanging on the branches of the trees
and where everything is free.
Worm: This orchard is like a snow-
covered graveyard, horrible in the
dim light of a half-moon wading
through the clouds.
Butterfly: You are here with your
Butterfly, who loves you.
Worm: Your love is as unsatisfac-
tory here in the orchard as Firefly’s
was in the vegetable garden.
Butterfly: Remember, Worm, that
we have promised to be faithful to
each other as long as we live.