Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1963, Page 94

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TÍMARIT ÞJÓÐRÆKNISFÉLAGS ÍSLENDINGA
others can keep their houses clean
and so that women like you won’t
have to nurse them.
Butterfly: I am going to watch over
Worm.
Ant: In return for what?
Butterfly: Watching over him is its
own reward.
Ant: If you will serve me instead of
him, I will cover you with feathers
plucked from birds which, before
the very eyes of the birds brooding
in their nests, have bled to death
from losing their feathers. I will
adorn you with new pearls brought
up from the deep by dead men who
drowned in diving for them.
Butterfly: Oh, Ant, such a reward
would be an ill-fated gift.
Ant: You must choose between
serving me or Worm. You can’t
serve both of us; you have to throw
one of us overboard.
Butterfly: From now on I intend to
serve God and dedicate my life to
Him.
Ant: Me, you mean?
Butterfly: No!
Ant: Then you are of course not go-
ing to serve Worm.
Butterfly: Yes, him exactly. (Begins
to wash Worm’s face and hands.)
Ant: It looks to me as if God can
stand having his face washed.
Butterfly: It was my fault that
Worm spent the night outside and
got sick.
Ant: When all is said and done, I
have to admit that I am to blame.
Butterfly: To the extent that I can
do so, I am going to make amends
for the wrong I did him.
Ant: I am going to have a sana-
torium built for God so that I shan’t
have to have him in my house.
(Goes out.)
Worm: Now I am ready to leave.
Butterfly: No, your are not ready
yet. I will go with you across the
border when you are well again.
Worm: I can get to the orchard on
my own if I awake here to con-
sciousness of myself there.
Butterfly: But you are not asleep.
Worm: If I should happen to awake
here without being conscious of my-
self in the orchard, I should become
a lame and one-eyed slave.
Butterfly: But, Worm, you are lame
and one-eyed.
Worm (realizing that he is blind in
one eye): In the orchard I did
not limp and I had full sight, but
I was bound to become lame and
one-eyed on my return to the vege-
table garden. If I should awake here
to consciousness of myself in the
orchard with Firefly, my leg and my
eye will be restored to their normal
use again.
Butterfly: Worm, you have been
dreaming.
Worm: This is real.
Butterfly: In sleep it might be con-
sidered real, but you are not sleep-
ing. You are still dreaming even
though you are awake.
Worm: I am not awake. I haven’t
yet awaked here to consciousness of
myself in the orchard with Firefly,
where her light shines like molten
gold poured over mercury.