Garland Double Miracle THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES VAGABOND PLAYS No. 1 * THE DOUBLE .MIRACLE A Melodrama in One Act -By \ Robert Garland The Norman Remington Company Baltimore TO RICHARD D. STEUART. ANCH 10 SONO PITTORE! "The Double Miracle" was produced publicly in Amer ica for the first time in the Vagabond Theatre, Baltimore, by the Vagabond Players on the night of Thursday, Feb ruary 1, 1917, with the following cast: Mariannina Edmonia Nolley Pancrazio _ William E. Coale Salvatore _._ - Raymond W. Sovey Old Peasant Jacob Frank Young Peasant Woodruff Smith This play was first printed in The Forum Magazine. It has been translated into the Sicilian dialect for the use of Grasso and his Sicilian Players. Copyright, 1915, by Robert Garland. For performing rights, address "The Vagabond Play ers," Baltimore, Md. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE Robert Garland CHARACTERS MARIANNINA A young peasant girl SALVATORE A donkey boy PANCRAZIO One of the carabinieri THE OLD PEASANT THE YOUNG PEASANT The period is the present. The place is Sicily. The rising curtain reveals the resting place before the mountain shrine of the Madonna della Rocca. This little square, "piazzetta" in the language of the country, is but the widening of the steeply winding donkey path that leads from Taormina, huddled on the cliffs more than a thousand feet below, to Castelmola, perched perilously above. The path rises to the right by a series of rough stone steps, curving sharply out of view, and sinks gradually to the left. There are huge deformed-looking cacti in the corner of the rocks which form the larger part of the back ground, but their crude aggressiveness is somewhat re lieved by the yellow genestra which everywhere raises its head between the cacti and the rocks. And even here, high above the Ionian Sea, an occasional almond tree is in bloom, projecting from the cliff above the lonely shrine. A strange, faint, all but ghostly glimmer the reflection of the night-glow on Etna s snow dimly yet completely lights the scene. The night i,s windless, and the stars are very near. From the valley below the music of a band drifts fitfully for a moment it may be heard distinctly, then the music all but fades away, to return as a wistful little breeze stirs the petals of the almond trees. There is a "festa" in Taormina, the rockets of which now and again jllumine the scene. It is as if the nearer stars had fallen from the sky. 1105305 2 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE Upon the altar two candles burn with steady flame; be tween them is a metal crucifix. Above the ledge upon which stands the crucifix is a statue of Madonna, behind a screen of glass. For a long moment there is an empty stage. Two peasants, one quite old, with quaint stocking- cap and twisted staff; the other younger, dressed in gayer colors, descend from the right, on their way to the "festa" in Taormina. They pause for a moment before the shrine, crossing themselves, each murmuring a faint and rather hurried petition to the Virgin. A brilliant light is thrown upon the shrine, suddenly. The peasants fall upon their knees. THE OLD PEASANT: A miracle! ... A miracle! THE YOUNG PEASANT: A miracle! . . . And here before our very eyes. (The light upon the shrine quivers for a moment as if to go away, and yet it does not go.) THE OLD PEASANT: Mother of God, have mercy upon us! THE YOUNG PEASANT: Mother of God, have mercy upon us! THE OLD PEASANT: O blessed, blessed night! THE YOUNG PEASANT: This is a night to put the other nights to shame. THE OLD PEASANT (as if speaking to himself): Ma donna mia! . . . Madonna mia! (The light slowly disappears.) It is finished. THE YOUNG PEASANT (also as if speaking to himself) : Per Dio! THE OLD PEASANT (looking about cautiously): You saw the light upon the Virginia face? THE YOUNG PEASANT: Dost think that I am blind? THE OLD PEASANT: It was the glance of God ... THE YOUNG PEASANT: And in its light I saw the Virgin smile. THE OLb PEASANT: I, too, saw her smile. THE YOUNG PEASANT: Her smile was sweet and very kind. THE OLD PEASANT: She murmured blessings with her sacred lips. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 3 THE YOUNG PEASANT: I saw her raise her hand, as if to show the blessing was for me . . . And O, the glory of her eyes! THE OLD PEASANT: Her blessing was for both of us, as anyone could see. THE YOUNG PEASANT (crossing himself): Madonna mia! (They rise to their feet, hesitatingly.) THE OLD PEASANT: What means this unexpected mir acle ? ... I do not understand. THE YOUNG PEASANT: When one is old one never understands. THE OLD PEASANT: What holy undertaking are we chosen fcr? THE YOUNG PEASANT: We must ask the priest . . . He alone would know. THE OLD PEASANT: Yes ... Yes ... The priest would know. THE YOUNG PEASANT: A mirable is a very sacred thing . . . if it realy was a miracle ? THE OLD PEASANT: Do you doubt what happened here before your eyes? THE YOUNG PEASANT (gaining courage): Are not the days of miracles gone by? THE OLD PEASANT (again crossing himself) : This is an age of unbelief . . . It is not strange to see the glance of God upon the hills. THE YOUNG PEASANT: Who are we that miracles should be performed for us? THE OLD PEASANT: Saint Peter was a fisherman. THE YOUNG PEASANT: Saint Peter was a worthy man, far worthier than you and I. THE OLD PEASANT: It was a miracle. THE YOUNG PEASANT: It may have been ... I do not know . . . But there are many natural things that cannot be explained . . . THE OLD PEASANT: That light was not a natural thing ... It was a miracle . . . The holy father can explain. THE YOUNG PEASANT: You re old, my friend, and carry a priest upon your back. 4 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE THE OLD PEASANT: A priest is better than a pack of modern lies. THE YOUNG PEASANT: Very well . . . Come to the town; there s wine and dance and music there. (The young peasant approaches the wall, and leans far over it) Behold . . . the tower of every church is hung with lamps, and in the squares the color-torches are ablaze. THE OLD PEASANT: Be careful how you lean across that wall . . . You ll slip, and fall a thousand feet upon the rocks below . . . Once, years ago, a man THE YOUNG PEASANT: I ve got my wits about me . . . Come on ... I do not think that miracles are for such as you and me . . . God does not even know that we re alive, nor does he seem to care. THE OLD PEASANT: Be quiet! THE YOUNG PEASANT: What I say is true. THE OLD PEASANT: What you say is very true, but twere not wise to let the Virgin overhear. (Another rocket bursts, there is a flash of light, and then the night draws in again) THE YOUNG PEASANT (moving away) : Come . . . Come! (Exit the young peasant.) THE OLD PEASANT (loudly): I come. (He turns toward the altar and crosses himself again.) It was a miracle. (As the old peasant is leaving, Marianna enters. She is a pretty Sicilian girl of nineteen or twenty. Her eyes are large and dark and warm, and her lips are very red. Over a skirt of some reddish material, with bands of black near the hem, is an apron of vivid green. Her blouse is blue, while upon her head is a folded kerchief of the orange tone the natives love. Despite the general air of chromatic chaos, the girl s costume produces a pleasing primi tive effect. She carries a small bouquet of yellow flowers. (The old peasant looks at her closely.) THE OLD PEASANT: Buona sera, Mariannina. MARIANNINA: Buona sera. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 5 THE OLD PEASANT: What are you doing here when there s a festa in the town? MARIANNINA (seriously): I have business here. THE OLD PEASANT: Business? Here? MARIANNINA (lightly) Perhaps I hold a festa of my own. THE OLD PEASANT (with kindly interest) : It were well to remember this, my dear: For you there should be no festa that Salvatore does not share . . . You are to wed him on Saint George s day ... Do not for get. MARIANNINA: Never fear, I shall not forget. (Turning away.) Dear God ... I wish I could! THE OLD PEASANT (as if stating an established fact) : You do not love him any more. MARIANNINA. Who told you that ? THE OLD PEASANT: You yourself . . . Just now I overheard you say MARIANNINA: The old hear many things that are not true. THE OLD PEASANT: You love Pancrazio. MARIANNINA: Be quiet! . . . You re old, and like the old. romantic. ... I marry Salvatore upon Saint George s day . . . Remember that; tell all the wom en in the town. THE OLD PEASANT (reflectively): Young people now adays are very strange . . . Buona sera, Marian- nina. (Mariannina does not seem to hear.) (Exit the old peasant.) (Mariannina places the flowers upon the dimly lighted shrine, then kneels before it. Her hands are folded in front of her, her head is raised so that her eyes may rest upon the Virgin s face.) MARIANNINA: O mother of God, mother of all of us, help me in my time of need! . . . You have suffered mightily, you have also loved . . . You suffered and you loved so all the world might gain, and when one suffers for mankind it makes the pain an easier thing, (For a moment she pauses, as if to gain courage to go on, then casts her pleading attitude aside and addresses the Virgin as if she were a friend.) 6 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE But, madre mia, her am I, a lonely, poor Sicilian maid, unnoted by the world, suffering for a mistake I did not make, and it is more, far more, than I can bear . . . Day after day I ve gone into the church to ask for aid, but all my prayers have been to no avail . . . Night after night I ve knelt beside my bed and cried aloud for help, but help has been withheld . . . And now I come to you, you who have loved. You cannot fail to understand. Once you were young and filled with love, with earthly love that could not be denied . . . I oft have dreamed of how, when work was done, you wan dered down the long white road to meet a humble car penter returning from his toil; of how he kissed you time and time again; of how you entered Nazareth, his hand in yours . . . Madonna mia, try to under stand, for as Saint Joseph was to you, so my Pancrazio is to me . . . Madonna mia, I love him so. (She sobs silently.) (Pancrazio enters from the right. He is a handsome Sicilian of the dark Grecian type found so often today along the east coast of the island, especially about Taormina. He is dressed in the picturesque costume of the carabinieri; loose trousers, tight jacket and peaked cap. His rifle is hung about his shoulder by a strap. A cigarette is between his lips, a crimson carnation above his ear. He crosses the stage, and, placing his arm about Mariannina, raises her face to his and kisses her on the lips. She rises and embraces him.) MARIANNINO: Pancrazio! PANCRAZIO: Mariannina mia! MARIANNINA: You re ahead of time to-night. PANCRAZIO: I could not wait ... I hoped that you d be here. MARIANNINA: I came to pray. PANCRAZIO: I came to love. MARIANNINA: O my dear ... my very dear! PANCRAZIO: How I have ached to hold you in my arms! MARIANNINA: How I have longed to feel your arms about he, your strong brown arms! PANCRAZIO: My arms are strong, and all their strength is yours. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 7 MARIANNINA: They seem to protect me from all the world, to encase me in their loving surety. PANCRAZIO: You are divine to-night. MARIANNINA: I never felt more human. Your body calls aloud to mine, makes me forget I ever had a souL PANCRAZIO: Kiss me ... my dear. MARIANNINA: When I kiss you the entire world goes mad, and God himself withdraws beyond the sky. (They kiss.) PANCRAZIO: I could hold you here within my arms until the dawn creeps silently across the sea and turns its grey to warmest blue. MARIANNINA: I could kiss you all the night, and still be kissing you when Our Mountain s* cheek blushes at the coming day. PANCRAZIO: Kiss me again. MARIANNINA: My love . . . (They kiss.) PANCRAZIO: The perfume of your hair is sweeter than the orange blooms. MARIANNINI: Heaven is here within your arms. PANCRAZIO: Your mouth is soft and warm and made for love. MARIANNINA: Your breath is burning on my face; your heart keeps time with mine. PANCRAZIO : The greatest thing a man can know is love. MARIANNINA: The only thing a woman feels is love like yours and mine . . . All else must disappear like water spilled upon the ground, or else it is not love. PANCRAZIO: Love is a valued coin, but there are many counterfeits. MARIANNINA: Like any coin, real love rings true. False love can only fool the stupid, and those who do not care. PANCRAZIO: Kiss me again. (They kiss.) Our love is real, as real as anything can be. MARIANNINA: Thank God for that. * The average Sicilian peasant has never heard of Etna by that name. In the native parlance it is always referred to as "Our Moun tain." THE DOUBLE MIRACLE PANCRAZIO: Now I must go; my duty lies upon the mountainside. (He turns upon her suddenly.) Has Salvatore troubled you again? MARIANNINA: What matters that . . . to-night? PANCRAZIO: Has he? That is what I want to know. MARIANNINA: Not to-day . . but yesterday. PANCRAZIO: How dare he? MARIANNINA: He is more than ever mad for me now that he knows, or thinks he knows, that I love you. PANCRAZIO: Salvatore is no fool. MARIANNINA: Remember, dear, that he and I are prom ised each to each. Our parents willed it so, and here in Sicily their will is law. PANCRAZIO: I know ... I know. MARIANNINA: And, Pancrazio, I love you so! PANCRAZIO: I cannot bear to have you wed, but what is there to do? MARIANNINA: There is nothing we can do but wait . . . and pray. PANCRAZIO: That is a woman s plan. If it were not for this uniform and all it represents I d have killed him long ago. MARIANNINA (with an unavoidable touch of pride) : Salvatore is strong, and very brave. PANCRAZIO: A well-aimed stiletto can pierce the bravest man; but for a soldier such deeds can never be. I know not what to do. MARIANNINA: Ask the Virgin for her help. I was asking when you came and drove me mad with love. PANCRAZIO: The Virgin has no time for us ... But prayers can do no harm. MARIANNINA: Our happiness means everything to me. I ll pray again when you are gone. I ll bring Madonna flowers every day. I ll PANCRAZIO (impatiently): That can do no good. The gods are dead, or else they do not hear. (He walks to the wall, leans over, listening.) Some one is coming up the path, I can see his swinging lantern far balow. It were best for you to go. MARIANNINA (in a whisper) : Who can it be ? PANCRAZIO: Momento. (He leans far over, the wall.) THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 9 MARIANNINA: Be careful, dear. I would not have you dashed upon the rocks below. PANCRAZIO (returning): It looks like Salvatore. MARIANNINA: Salvatore! my God! PANCRAZIO: Leave him to me. MARIANNINA: Do not .let him harm you. PANCRAZIO: Harm me? MARIANNINA: What can we do? There s no way to escape. PANCRAZIO: That s true. You cannot enter Castelmola at this hour of night, the guard would halt you at the gate. MARIANNINA: And even if he let me pass he d spread the news that I was wandering on the hills where you kept watch. PANCRAZIO: Don t try to hide. Just slip into the shadows there beside the shrine and see God move his marionettes about the stage. MARIANNINA (smiling): I hope God knows the play. PANCRAZIO: The play is his, my dear. The trouble is, we will not learn our parts. MARIANNINA: Be careful, caro mio. PANCRAZIO: Never fear ,love will find a way. (Hope fully) It may not be Salvatore after all. MARIANNINA: I pray it is not he. PANCRAZIO: What matters it? This thing must end some time, as all things must. Human endurance has an end, and mine is at the breaking point. MARIANNINA (thoughtfully): Yes, it must end some time. I fear for you. (A rocket bursts and lights the scene for a moment as he kisses her.) PANCRAZIO: Trust to me, my dear. Remember love and trust are one. (She steps into the shadows of the shrine. Pancrazio seats himself upon the wall that lines the path leading up to Castelmola. He unstraps his rifle from about his shoulder, examines it carefully, then lays it beside him on the ledge, after which he lights a cigarette. For a moment he smokes in silence, listening to the music of the distant band, which dies away as the sound of approaching foot- 10 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE steps is heard. Pancrazio looks up suddenly, grasp ing his rifle as he speaks. A rocket bursts, and for a fleeting second lights the stage.) Fermatevi! SALVOTORE: Si. PANCRAZIO: Who goes there? SALVATORE: Tis I. PANCRAZIO: And who are you? (Enter Salvatore. He is dressed in the nondescript costume of the youthful Sicilian peasant, and a scar let sash is twisted about his waist. He is handsome in an entirely Italian way, with hardly a suggestion of the Greek about him. He carries a candle-lan tern in his hand.) SALVATORE: Tis I, Salvatore. PANCRAZIO: Which Salvatore? Here in Sicily the Sal- vatores are as thick as fleas, and as troublesome. Where you stand the shadows lie upon your face. SALVATORE (drawing nearer): Tis I, Salvatore Mar- tinetti, the donkey-boy. (Salvatore holds the lantern before his face.) (Pancrazio lays down his rifle.) PANCRAZIO: Why do you fail to linger in the town where love and laughter are ? Do you not feel in festive mood? SALVATORE: No, per Dio! PANCRAZIO: As I passed through the village streets the maidens wandered arm in arm, all dressed in holiday attire. SALVATORE (shortly): What s that to me? I know a maid who was not there. PANCRAZIO: I wished that I might stay. SALVATORE: A festa is a hollow thing unless there also be a festa in the heart. PANCRAZIO: And is there not a festa in your heart? SALVATORE: I do not feel in festive mood to-night. I stopped before the altars in the street and asked the Virgin s blessing. Then I came away. PANCRAZIO: It s lonely here upon the mountain. What do you here? SALVATORE: I search for Mariannina. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE n PANCRAZIO (with slight uneasiness): For Mariannina? SALVATORE: You heard me, did you not? PANCRAZIO: I heard you. SALVATORE (turning upon him): You do not know where she may be? PANCRAZIO: Is she not in the town? SALVATORE: No ... she is not in the town. You do not know where she may be ? PANCRAZIO: What should 1 know of Mariannina? SALVATORE: That s what I want to know. What do you know of Mariannina? PANCRAZIO: I know nothing of her. SALVATORE: You know that she s to marry me, and that s enough for you to know. PANCRAZIO: Why all this fuss? SALVATORE: Why all this talk and talk and talk ? Let s get to facts. I know that she was here with you, or else she will be soon. Whatever else I seem to be, don t take me for a fool. I can see what all the village sees. PANCRAZIO: And what does all the village see? SALVATORE: That Mariannina is in love with you, and you are mad for her. (Coming closer) Remember this: Mariannina belongs to me, and always will. There s nothing in God s world can part us now. She s mine, you hear, she s mine! PANCRAZIO: There s one thing that can part you now, or any other time. SALVATORE: And what is that? PANCRAZIO: I ll whisper in your ear. (He draws very near, a knife gleaming in his hand.) SALVATORE: Keep away! (His knife also is behind him.) Speak out. (Looking carelessly about him) You say there s no one near to overhear. What is this thing you say can come between us now. PANCRAZIO: A little thing called Death. I hear it stalking down the mountainside. SALVATORE: It does not come for me. PANCRAZIO: I think it does. (He makes a violent lunge at Salvatore, and at the same moment a rocket bursts and lights the scene. Mariannina screams, and rushes Jfrom her hiding place. The two men separate at once, one on either side of her, leaving her in the cent}*? of the stage.) 12 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE V SALVATORE (to Mariannina): So I ve caught you twa at last! MARIANNINA (to Salvatore): Yes, thank God, you ve caught us two at last, and I am glad. I m tired of all this futile make-believe, the vain pretense; at best it only put this hour off a little way, this hour that had to come. No longer could I burlesque love. SALVATORE (who has become quite calm): So! You do not love me any more ? MARIANNINA: I do not love you any more. I ve tried; dear God, how I have tried! Time after time I ve told myself that it is you I love, that we are promised for Saint George s day; but when I thought of love, Pan- crazio came to mind. Night after night I ve prayed my self to sleep, your name upon my lips, and then I dreamed Pancrazio came and sat beside me on the bed and kissed me tenderly. SALVATORE (very calmly): You do not love me any more. MARIANNINA: When the old wives stopped me in the streets and talked about my wedding day I tried to think of you, but, try as I might, it was Pancrazio who stood beside me in the church; I even saw the candle light upon his hair, felt the priest place my hand in his. And when to-day a women came to me and spoke of little children, of the joys and cares they bring, I felt them tugging at my skirts and looking up at me witl- Pancrazio s eyes. And then I knew that this must em that you and I could never wed. SALVATORE (with increasing calmness): You are quite right, we could never, never wed. (He pauses for a second). But did you ever stop to think how I must feel, I who love you? . . . Ever since a boy I ve called you mine; ever since a lad I ve dreamed and worked for you. Do you think I like to loaf about the streets and guide the forestieri here and there, urge them to sights they do not want to see, take them to ruins they do not for a moment understand ? Do you think I like to sit all day about the square, offering my very soul for sale to anyone who has the price to pay? Do you think I like to follow travelers about the towr begging them to buy my more than silly wares while my neighbors and friends look on and jeer at me? (He THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 13 raises his voice just a little) Do you think it does not hurt me to display the wretched poverty of our Sicily as if it were a setting on some stage and not the setting for our lives ? Why do you think I did these things if not for you, so I might offer you a home bought with the money that they bring? ... It pays to be a donkey-boy! It pays to sell the strangers things they do not want! It pays to lift your cap and flatter them, although you hate and envy them with all your soul. All these things pay, my dear . . . and I did them all for you. MARIANNINA (almost in tears): I did not understand. SALVATORE: That is a habit that you women have. MARIANNINA: If I had known (She approaches him, but Salvatore motions her away) SALVATORE: One moment, please, and then the thing is done. You should have come to me and told me that your love was dead. Why could you not explain that this man here had won your heart from me? Love, I know, is not a thing that can be forced and made to grow in alien ground. I would have understood. But this you cculd not do. You and your silly lover stand ing there could not be honest if you tried. You met in darkened corners, talked of love. You kissed upon the hills, thinking the stars alone would know . . . Like all who try to live a lie, you thought you were much cleverer than the rest. And I sat back and trusted y (He is growing more and more angry) The boys in the streets told of you and him; I kicked them for their pains. The women spinning before their doors whis pered of you and him as I passed by, and yet I would not hear. And now when there s a festa in the town you make me walk the streets alone, and meet your lover here before the Virgin s shrine . . . You say that you can never marry me, and what you say is true. But by the ever-living God, you shall not marry him. You ve taken all that counts from out my life and left me all alone. You ve robbed me of my happiness. You ve killed my self-respect. You ve made of me a fool for everyone to see. And now, by God, you ve got to pay! MARIANNINA (horrified): My God! My God! What can I do? There s nothing that can help the matter now. There s nothing I can do. 14 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE SALVATORE: Oh, yes, there is, for you can die. Your blood can blot the writing from the page. PANCRAZIO: You ve talked and talked enough, but that is all you do. (Mariannina is sobbing.) SALVATORE (turning toward Pancrazio): Never fear, my friend. My words will change to actions all too soon. PANCRAZIO: God knows, it s time. SALVATORE: I ve news for you. You, too, have got to die. PANCRAZIO: Your jest is carried far enough. SALVATORE: To prove that I agree with you, I m go ing to kill you first. PANCRAZIO: That s news, indeed. (He makes a dash after his rifle, which is on the stone wall. Salvatore rushes after him.) SALVATORE: Oh, no, you don t touch that! PANCRAZIO: By God, the fool is mad! SALVATORE: There ll be no trickery in this fight. (Pancrazio gets his rifle in his grasp, but Salvatore wrests it from him and flings it in the shrubbery, in the shadow of the shrine.) This is a fair Sicilian fight, a fight with knives. (Mariannina is sobbing wildly before the altar, call ing "Madonna mia, Madonna mia!" time and time again. Meantime Pancrazio and Salvatore close and are locked in one another s arms, their knives gleaming in their hands. There is the sound of sharply indrawn breath, an occasional "Ah," a mut tered oath or curse when a vantage point is lost or gained. One overcomes the other, and, after a mo mentary struggle on the ground, in which Salva tore gains slowly, there is a frightful shriek and Pancrazio lies still upon his side, close to the shrub bery where Salvatore has thrown his rifle. Salva tore rises and turns toward Mariannina, wiping his blood-stained knife upon his sleeve. He grasps her roughly by the shoulder and turns her completely round, facing him. He replaces his knife in his sash.) SALVATORE: Now comes your turn. (She does not reply, but merely looks at him with wide open eyes.) THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 15 My God, you re beautiful to-night! (He holds her off at arm s length, taking in her every line.) No wonder that the man that s dead desired and took his fill of you. Your bodp, tainted as it is by him, is a thing to make a man forget all else. When I behold your lips and feel the hotness of your breath upon my face, I almost understand how for the sake of you a man could well betray his friend and soil the woman that he is to wed. MARIANNINA: O! . . . Madonna mia! SALVATORE (roughly): How often have you been with him? MARIANNINA: Never ... I swear. SALVATORE (with increasing roughness) : How of have you been with him? MARIANNINA (fiercely): I swear by God and all the saints that I am free from sin. SALVATORE: You lie! MARIANNINA: Whatever else I may have done, I ve kept myself for you. SALVATORE: You lie! MARIANNINA: The saints bear witness, what I say is true. SALVATORE : If I but knew MARIANNINA: I could not lie at such a time. SALVATORE: If you could prove what you say is so MARIANNINA: If I could prove that what I say is so, what would you do? SALVATORE: I d but what matters it? You cannot prove a lie. MARIANNINA: I ll swear it here before the shrine . . . I speak the truth. SALVATORE : I know not what to think. MARIANNINA: I ll swear before God s mother here. What more is there to do? SALVATORE: How can I believe you now, after what you ve done ? MARIANNINA: I have not lied to you. SALVATORE: You ve lived a lie. (Salvatore approaches the shrine and picks up the metal crucifix that stands upon the ledge below the glass-encased statue of the Virgin.) 16 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE Will you swear by this? MARIANNINA (eagerly): Yes ... for what I say is true. (Salvatore holds the crucifix towards her. She, too, places her hands upon it. His hands touch hers.) SALVATORE (with tremendous earnestness) : With your hands upon God s Son, you say you have not sinned? MARIANNINA: With my hands upon God s Son, I say I have not sinned. SALVATORE: Your finger-tips touch mine, and all my common sense takes flight. MARIANNINA: Salvatore . . . SALVATORE: Why did you play with love? MARIANNINA: I have not sinned. SALVATORE: I wish to God I could believe! (His hands drop to his side, the crucifix remains in hers.) MARIANNINA (turning to the shrine): Madonna mia, let there be a sign. You who know everything, know I ve kept myself for him I was to wed. Whatever else that I may be, I am not what he thinks. You know I have not sinned. ( She kneels before the shrine.) Ma donna mia, Mother of God, guardian of your people in the town below, hear my prayer and let there be a sign. You who are all powerful and ever kind, let there be one little sign so Salvatore may believe. SALVATORE (turning towar dthe shrine) : Yes, let there be a sign. MARIANNINA: Madonna, intercede for me. SALVATORE: There is no sign. MARIANNINA (looking at the crucifix she holds before her) : A miracle from you may save a human soul. Dear God, I do not want to die. I m young, and life is very dear. I do not want to die. MARIANNINA (looking up once more): O Mary, hear my prayer! SALVATORE (half regretfully): The Virgin does not hear, or else she knows that you have once more lied to me. MARIANNINA: Wait a little moment. SALVATORE (approaching her): You have to die . . . There is no sign. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 17 (Slowly the altar is again lighted from without. The light grows very strong, and for a moment the shrine seems enwrapped in a mysterious unearthly glow.) MARIANNINA: A miracle! . . . Dear God, a mir acle! SALVATORE (falling to his knees): A miracle! The Virgin heard your prayers. MARIANNINA (sobbing): Thank God! . . . Thank God! Now you will believe. (The light slowly fades away.) SALVATORE (rising): To think that I have doubted God s will! MARIANNINA (still upon her knees): Now you believe? SALVATORE: Yes, I believe. How can I do otherwise? MARIANNINA: God has been very good to me. SALVATORE: The thing is finished. I ll go away and leave you here to make your peace with God and thank the Blessed Virgin for her aid. MARIANNINA: Salvatore (She rises from her knees, leaving the metal crucifix upon the ground.) SALVATORE: Don t speak to me. The thing is done, I say. MARIANNINA: You ve spared my life SALVATORE: It was not I. It was the hand of God. MARIANNINA : Salvatore SALVATORE: Keep away from me. Each time I look into your eyes I feel my hate for you return. Each time I hear your voice it drives the blood into my brain and all my rage returns. But if you live or die there s noth ing left me now. Pancrazio dead, my freedom will be taken from me, and that was all I had to call my own. Now even that is gone. (Te turns to leave, facing in the direction from which the light has come. He halts as if fastened to the spot, and laughs a brutal, horrid laugh, turning upon Mariannina, who has stood quite still, watching his every move with fascinated eyes, fear strong upon her countenance.) 18 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE A miracle, indeed! Another trick of yours to save your worthless life. A miracle! O God! why should the Blessed Virgin intervene for you? MARIANNINA: You saw the sign . . . (Salvatore laughs again.) SALVATORE: That was no sgin. Look here. (He approaches the wall, pointing beyond it.) Come! I ll show you how your miracle was done. (She follows him towards the wall.) See far below, where Naxos juts into the sea, a fleet is anchored near the shore. The ship before Giardini plays its light upon our cliffs. MARIANNINA: A miracle can happen in a natural way. SALVATORE: God would not raise His hand to save your life. You knew the ships were anchored down be low, you saw their searchlights here upon the hills, you hoped this would occur. Look! even now a light is play ing on the mountain side. MARIANNINA: I did not know. SALVATORE (a tremendous anger sweeping over him): You lie, you know you lie. Even in the face of death you lie. You re rotten through and through. MARIANNINA: I did not know. SALVATORE: You did not know! How well you lie! Of course you knew. Or if you did not know, you hoped to put me off by playing at repentance, by calling on a God who does not care. (She comes near him, touching him with her hand.) MARIANNINA: I swear (He pushes her away.) SALVATORE: You ve sworn enough. Be quiet! Women such as you make the world a living hell. You lie and lie and lie, and thus you break the hearts of men. (Once again she touches him, once again he pushes her aside.) MARIANNINA: I swear SALVATORE: Be quiet, I say! You women play with passion as if it were a toy. But now the game is at an end. You re going to die. MARIANNINA: O God! . . . O God! SALVATORE (approaching her): You re going to join your lover over there. THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 19 (He points to where Pancrazio lies.) MARIANNINA: No! ... No! ... I do not want to die. SALVATORE: Your body is too beautiful to ruin with a knife. I ll spare you that. (He grasps her about the body. She struggles fright fully to get away, but he is very strong, and slowly drags her toward the wall beyond which the cliff drops straight to the rocky outskirts of Taormina, hundreds of feet below. She cries "Madonna mia" and then "Madonna, Madonna," once or twice, after which she is silent save for bitter sobbing. Salva- tore drags her to the wall. Her body relaxes, as if it had become unconscious. Salvatore picks up the candle-lantern, which he has placed near the wall, and holds it to her face.) My God, how beautiful you are! (He puts the lantern down.) It maddens me to hold you in my arms. (He kisses her on the lips, smoothes back her hair, then kisses her again.) My love, my love! Mariannina! Mariannina! God, I love you so! Speak to me. MARIANNINA (slowing raising her head a little way) : Pancrazio! Pancrazio mio! SALVATORE (savagely): Pancrazio! O Christ, this is more than I can bear! Thank God to cast you from my life at last! (He drops her over the ledge; leans to watch her fall.) Ah! (He shivers, as if with cold.) The rocks are cold and hard, my love, and different from Pancrazio s arms. (He turns back, looking at Pan crazio, who lies quite still upon his side.) She must have loved him mightily. And now she s man gled on the rocks below. (He half turns toward the shrine upon which the can dles burn peacefully. Idly he stoops and picks up the metal crucifix from the ground where Marian nina has left it. Holding it in his hand, he looks at it with eyes that do not seem to see.) There s nothing left me for my own, even my gods are gone. There s no belief can help me bear my pain. I 20 THE DOUBLE MIRACLE never knew man could be so alone. Mine is an ache the Virgin well could ease, but there she stands and smiles and smiles . . . and here her Son is fastened to his cross. (He stares at the crucifix, then smiles.) Man or God, nailed to your cross, I pity you. You, too, were caught within the wheel of Fate and dashed against the wall of circumstance. To think that I be lieved in your divinity. (He faces the statue of the Virgin, which stands be hind its screen of glass.) You re nothing but a lump of greyish clay dug from the valley down below, cast in the semblance of a futile fe male god ... I still can see a smile upon your painted face, and, heaven knows, there s little wonder that you smile at all the hopeless human worms that writhe and wriggle at your feet. (He laughs harshly, sneeringly.) I hate you, and I hate the things you represent, you err ing mother of a wandering Son whose dreams could never quite come true as long as men were men. Twas you that called the child you hold within your arms divine, and by that lie you fooled the world. (He laughs again without the slightest mirth.) The gods had died. Why did your Son not let them be? Why need he raise them up again and dub them with his name? . . . There s nothing new about them. Here atop our sunlit hills are temples raised to gods older far than you and yours, and they are dead, deader than Mariannina scattered on the rocks below, deader than dead . . . And all these gods are turned to dust, as you will be some day. (He draws closer to the statue.) And you re no different from those older, happier gods, you tawdry thing, your jewels even falser than your creed. (He fairly shrieks with anger.) No longer have you any power, for if you had you d kill me where I stand, and yet you let me live and tell you what I think of you and that Son of yours. (Salvatore points at the Virgin, and bursts into a fit of contemptuous, hysterical laughter. Taking the THE DOUBLE MIRACLE 21 crucifix by the top, he flings it at the statue. The glass before it breaks with a crash, but Madonna remains unharmed. At the moment Salvatore fin ishes speaking, Pancrazio quietly rises upon his elbow and reaches for the rifle that is beside him, unnoted by Salvatore. He takes quick aim at the jeering figure before the shrine, and, a moment after Salvatore has thrown the crucifix, Pancrazio fires. There is a loud report, a flash of light, a cry of "O God" and, clutching at his side, Salvatore tumbles in a heap.) A miracle! ... A miracle! (He rises upon one elbow, crosses himself.) Blessed mother ... I believe! ... I believe! (He sinks upon the ground, his head in his arms, sob bing.) I believe, dear God, yes, I believe. (After a moment he raises his head again, looks up at the statue with a smile upon his face, then falls upon the ground dead. Pancrazio rises slowly, with great effort, and half drags himself to the wall over which Mariannina has been thrown and gazes sadly into the valley below. He speaks with deep emotion.) PANCRAZIO: Mariannina. my Mariannina, I loved you so; O God, I loved you so! (He moves heavily to where Salvatore lies. He looks down at him, pushes him lightly with the toe of his boot.) Compared with love, death is a little thing. (He turns wearily, head in hand, as if about to faint, and leans heavily upon one end of the shrine. His head drops to his folded arms. Then slowly he be gins to fall, and in stretching out his hands to save himself he sweeps both candles from the shrine With him, they fall to the ground.) (She stage is in darkness. A rocket momentarily lights the scene, after which the darkness closes in once more. The curtain descends swiftly.) Press of 20th Century Printing Co. Baltimore, Md. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-50m-4, 61(B8994s4)444 THE NORMAN, REMINGTON CO. Charle* Street, at Mulberry BALTIMORE. M- V PS 3513 Gl83Ud