The Hunting Party
For Bruno Ganz
*
I asked about the mechanism of
these figures, and about how it had been possible without having myriads of
threads on one’s fingers to govern the individual limbs thereof and their
joints as the rhythm of their movements or the dance dictated.
Kleist
*
Dramatis personae
GENERAL
The GENERAL’S WIFE
FIRST MINISTER
SECOND MINISTER1
PRINCE
PRINCE
ANNA, the cook
ASAMER, a woodcutter
WRITER
The general’s hunting lodge
*
Before the Hunt
A large tiled stove
Armchairs, other chairs
A record player
A deck of cards on a table
WRITER standing
at the window
Constantly pacing up and down
with both hands pressed against my temples
I’ll have you know
without hitting on the decisive word
in the aphorism
The GENERAL’s WIFE sitting at the table, gazing outside
It’s snowing
WRITER
The constant opening
and shutting of the window
was making it impossible
for me to keep warm
and so I was forced
to put on my fur waistcoat
You know this waistcoat
parts the
front of his fur waistcoat, then draws it back together
my Polish fur waistcoat
Which immediately reminds me of Poland of course
Three days in Krakow
and
no conversation
nothing
the general’s wife picks up the deck of cards as
if planning to start a game; the writer takes the cards away from her; tossing
the cards on to the table he says
Of
course I sent you the Gobelins’ design
The
wild mouflon
Ovis
musimon
goes to the window
Remember
how when I got to Warsaw
literally
six or seven steps ahead of me
that
falling icicle
suddenly
killed
quite
suddenly killed
that
young woman
the
wife of a young agrarian engineer as it turned out
The
hunts in Poland are very popular nowadays
How
many times has the general been to Poland
GENERAL’S WIFE
Three times
WRITER stepping away from the window
I
love that country
literally
like no other
GENERAL’S WIFE
It
snows
uninterruptedly
it seems
At
first no snow at all
then
it snows uninterruptedly
WRITER
At
first I thought
a
warm winter
but
it’s a cold winter
clear
and
cold
I’ve
been incessantly thinking
of
course I’ve got my Polish waistcoat on
this
waistcoat I bought in Krakow
GENERAL’S WIFE
And your Lermontov in the waistcoat
WRITER returns to the window
So
then I’ve naturally stopped
being
able to keep warm even in bed
takes A HERO OF OUR TIME out of his waistcoat and
reads:2
So
far as I am concerned, said the doctor
I
am convinced of one thing only
And
that is? I asked, desirous of learning the opinion
of
a man who had been silent till then. Of the fact, he answered,
that
sooner or later, one fine morning, I shall die
shuts the book and pockets it
As
you know I’ve constantly
been
reading Lermontov
GENERAL’S WIFE
Sherry
WRITER pours himself and the general’s wife a glass of sherry and steps back
up to the window
Two
hours of Lermontov
and
then another two hours of Lermontov
GENERAL’S WIFE
Or
two hours of Mayakovsky
and
then another two hours of Mayakovsky
WRITER
Or
Pushkin
All
at once I remembered the aphorism
Rest
puts everything back to rights
But
I didn’t get any further
over
and over again rest puts everything back to rights
after a pause
No
puts nothing back to rights
But
again nothing further nothing further
The
aphorism I kept thinking The aphorism
Rest
puts everything back to rights
and
its continuation
No
rest puts nothing back to rights
And
yet and yet and yet
do
you understand
the
whole time I was thinking
then
I said to myself quite distinctly quite loudly
And
yet and yet and yet
pacing
to and fro
over
and over again
I
opened all the windows
because
I couldn’t handle the madness
of
closed windows do you understand
This
cold madam
and
the thought
of
having to suffocate
and
that it was all about an error
Then
I came down here
and
shuffled the cards
I
continually shuffled the cards
GENERAL’S WIFE
Those cards that you abominate so much
WRITER
Shuffled
and shuffled
for
an hour
then
again in my room upstairs
Rest
puts everything back to rights Rest
But
I failed to recall the decisive word
When
you want to crush your head to a pulp
with
your own two hands
Then
once again I thought about
stoking
the stove myself
But
I wasn’t strong enough to do it
I
had literally locked myself in my room
and
taken away the key
then
for more than an hour I searched for
the
key
and
opened the windows
and
closed the windows again
and
the key was gone
then
for more than an hour I searched for
the
key
at
the same time I was constantly thinking
of
the aphorism
of
the key on the one hand
of
the aphorism on the other
What
a state I was in
Do
you understand madam when one simply cannot recite
an
aphorism from beginning to end anymore
so
I spent the entire night with the thought
of
not being able to recite the aphorism in its entirety anymore
By
reading I hoped to distract myself from the aphorism
I
kept thinking
of
distracting myself by reading
In
the morning I got up
without
having slept for a single instant
but
the entire time
as
I was getting dressed
washing
getting
dressed
as
I was shaving and combing my hair
that
awful ordeal with my bootlaces
Then
all at once as I was walking to the post office
suddenly
as
I was thinking of something completely different
while
walking to the post office
and
hence in the middle of all the people in the village square
while
fornicating with my thoughts
Fornicating
in
that cold air
as
I was saying something to the mayor
who
had said something
I
remembered the aphorism
Correctly
phrased the aphorism goes
Rest
puts everything back to rights
No
it isn’t rest that puts everything back to rights
but
rather
more
salubrious movement
but
rather
more
salubrious movement
In
the blink of an eye I was exhausted
madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
Do
sit down
The writer sits down
Once
you’re agitated
you
calm back down
for
long stretches you’re agitated
then
you’re calm again
WRITER.
It's
a terrible thing
using
language
using
your mind
GENERAL'S WIFE.
Then
you just sit there
dumb
mum
hanging
your head
Then
you're driven almost to the point of madness
by
staying silent
by
nothing
WRITER.
Nothing
Nothing
time and again
GENERAL'S WIFE.
And
then you hit upon the idea
of
playing blackjack3
nonstop
all
day long
and
saying nothing
and
winning
and
constantly winning
with
terrifying certainty
And
I lose
with
the same
uninterrupted
terrifying
certainty
picks up the deck of cards
WRITER
This
most mindless of all card games
takes the cards from the general’s wife and puts
them on the table
which
exerts the greatest fascination on me
to
be sure
GENERAL’S WIFE
To
think that in the afternoons
and
in the evenings
and
for entire nights
as
you’re keeping yourself from your work
I’m
shuffling myself to death
laughs and again says
shuffling
myself to death
WRITER laughing
Shuffling
yourself to death
shuffling
yourself to death
GENERAL’S WIFE
Then
when
I’m completely exhausted
WRITER
Apathetic
GENERAL’S WIFE
Apathetic
exhausted
and apathetic
WRITER
When you loathe this game like nothing else
GENERAL’S WIFE
When
I am completely exhausted
you
say
one
more game
And
then over and over again
one
more game one more game
You
say it threateningly
threateningly
mind you
everything
about you
within
you
is
threatening
It
never occurs to you to quit doing it
to
quit doing it
because
I am exhausted
when
literally everything in me
and
in you as well
is
exhausted
one
more hand you say one more
one
more one more one more
we
play
we
keep playing
we
play as if we
were
about to go mad
WRITER
There’s
no game
that
exerts a greater fascination on me
and
that allows me
all
the while that I am flying into a rage
to
calm down
with
greater certainty
GENERAL’S WIFE
You’re
torturing me
because
right now
we’re
not playing
we’re
not playing now
You
want to torture me
torture
me
torture
me
Because
when I’m in the mood
to
play
you
don’t play
But
when you are in the mood to play
we
play
then
the game continues without interruption
to
the point of unconsciousness
Let’s
play
a
hand
I’ve
said
and
you’ve immediately refused
you’ve
always flat-out refused
I
want to play
You
refuse
WRITER rises, goes to the window
As
if a condition
an
inner condition
a
mental condition
could
be improved
by
playing cards
GENERAL’S WIFE
It’s
a way to pass the time
nothing
but a way to pass the time
gazes outside
as
it snows outside
until
my husband comes back
WRITER
Then
I always get
the
same headaches
the
same headaches
GENERAL’S WIFE
Now
you’re digressing about your headaches
All
of a sudden you were talking
you
were refusing
let’s
play I said
let’s
play
WRITER
It’s become a shared habit of ours
GENERAL’S WIFE
Because
as you yourself say
there’s
nothing like
playing
cards
for
keeping one’s head together
picks up the deck of cards and puts it back down
on the table
Because
I’d like to play cards
you
won’t play
You
immediately digressed from playing cards
to
your headache
from
my head complaint
to
your head complaint
WRITER
It’s
impossible to play nonstop
without
literally going mad
madam
looks outside
It’s
getting dark
GENERAL’S WIFE
Throughout
the forest
it
suddenly
gets
dark
Once
the forest has been felled
That
won’t happen
ever
again
WRITER
The
silence of a mortal illness
is
an enormity
enter Asamer from stage left with an armful of
firewood with which he then stokes the fire inside the tile stove
GENERAL’S WIFE
This
sudden darkness
it’s
abrupt
you
know
WRITER
I
now know everything
about
the bark beetle
everything
madam
And
about the eye condition
that
is termed
a
cataract
GENERAL’S WIFE
Through
this colossal forest
in
the background
it’s
abrupt
WRITER
The
cataract I’ll have you know
and
the bark beetle
The
one a terror
and
the other a monster
GENERAL’S WIFE
Later
when
all the trees have been chopped down
the
darkness won’t descend
abruptly
anymore
then
it’ll set in slowly
WRITER
To
think that the general
has
dinner with the ministers
in
addition
to
his regular dinner
GENERAL’S WIFE
My
husband does
what’s
proper
to Asamer
In
a quarter of an hour shut
the
stove
fill
it up now
and
in a quarter of an hour shut it
Asamer
The
general could come at any moment now
Have
the beds for the ministers been made
are
the rooms all well-heated
well-heated
Asamer well-heated
aside
it’s
been two months
since
the place was last heated
it’s
cold all over the lodge
to the writer
It’s
not enough
to
start heating the lodge
the
day before we get here
the
lodge has got to be heated
for
an entire week
before
we get here
the
walls are cold
the
walls exude coldness
WRITER
I
know everything about the bark beetle
madam
and
about cataracts
I’m
better informed
than
the ophthalmologists
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
walls need an entire week
to
get properly warm
but
my husband says
it’s
too expensive
to
start heating the place a whole week before
we
get here
WRITER
The
bark beetle
and
the cataracts
that
prevent him from seeing the bark beetle
addressing the general’s wife point-blank
and
his kidney disease
an
abrupt
and
less awkward
way
of rounding out one’s life madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
Even
though we’ve got so much wood laughs
a
colossal amount of wood
Once
the forest has been felled
we’ll
have so much wood
that
it will crush us
and
the funny thing is
I wasn’t
the one who used to worry about the bark beetle
it
was my husband
not
me
my
husband
my
husband always used to go on about the bark beetle
to Asamer
put
as much wood as possible in
and
then
after
a quarter of an hour
shut
it
WRITER
Then
the stove will deliver just enough heat
Asamer
GENERAL’S WIFE
For
twenty years
I’ve
known how to time it
but
the lodge has still never been heated
early
enough beforehand
I’ve
never succeeded in convincing my husband
of
the fact
that
a full week
WRITER
At least a week
GENERAL’S WIFE
At
least a week
before
we get here
the
lodge has got to be heated
exit Asamer
My
husband worries
that
these people could be
using
more of the firewood than necessary
that
they could be up to something
we
don’t know about
WRITER
Asamer
what
a strange name
GENERAL’S WIFE
That
we can’t see everything
they
get up to
And
now the whole forest has got to be chopped down
because
the bark beetle has infested the whole forest
WRITER
Bostricida
Xylophaga
GENERAL’S WIFE
With
his eyes
he
can go wherever likes
he
doesn’t see the bark beetle
he
fails to see the whole infestation
and
as long as nobody says anything about it to him
he
won’t know about it
WRITER
The
ministers come here
to
drop him
and
prop him
laughs
the
one minister props
his
left arm
which
he hasn’t got
and
the other minister props
his
right arm
and
they both drop him
GENERAL’S WIFE
Sixty-by-ninety
kilometers
have
you any notion
of
how big that is
WRITER
A
colossal surface area madam
A
properly grand grand estate
GENERAL WIFE
Throughout
the year
he
keeps saying
keep
a close eye
on
the woodcutters
and
the other woodsmen
keep
a close eye on them
he
often says that in his sleep
then
he suddenly wakes up
in
a sweat
in
a sweat you know in a sweat
and
says
Keep
a close eye on the woodcutters
WRITER
It
really beggars the imagination
Sixty-by-ninety
kilometers
and
the whole thing
is
full of bark beetles
and
so
because
a forest infested so heavily with the bark beetle
must
be felled
we’ll
end up with a huge expansive surface of completely bare land
According
to the letter of the law madam
a
tree
that
is infested with the bark beetle
must
be felled
and
if the whole forest is infested with the bark beetle
the
whole forest must be felled
And
if the proprietor of the bark beetle-infested forest
lacks
the wherewithal
to
have his forest felled
the
government will fell his forest
but
as long as he has got the wherewithal
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
wakes up at night
and
suddenly says
Keep
a close eye on the woodcutters
he’s
constantly tormented by the thought
that
something is being done
that
isn’t supposed to be done
Because
he is always talking about two worlds
one
of them is behind his back
a
world that must be looked into suddenly
as
he says
unexpectedly
He
trusts the prince implicitly
if
something that goes against my husband’s wishes happens
the
prince has got to make a report
The
prince is responsible
My
husband trusts him one hundred percent
He
loves the princess
on
account of her eye complaint
Who
sees nothing
or
almost nothing in such beauty
he
says
The
prince is my husband’s closest confidant
The
prince protects my husband
from
the woodcutters’ ever-recurring shamelessness
just
as he protects the woodcutters
from
my husband’s ruthlessness
WRITER
There
won’t be anybody
in
the hunting lodge anymore
once
the forest has been leveled
GENERAL’S WIFE
We
live in an age
in
which the demands of the rabble
are
pandered to
that
is unprecedented he says
WRITER picks up the cards and shuffles them
Death
by shuffling
death
by shuffling
throws the cards onto the table
An
interruption of my work
is
harmless
when
one takes one’s head
unexpectedly
quite
unexpectedly madam
into
another landscape suddenly
as
when one plunges it into a refreshing spring
An
interruption
of
my work
and
forgetting
my
writing
if
that were possible
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
constant fear
of
being found out
WRITER
Because
here in the forest
after
the war
only
hunger
and
denunciation
prevailed
along
with the severest of all winters
GENERAL’S WIFE to Asamer, who is stoking the fire
In
a quarter of an hour shut it
WRITER
The
art of heating up a stove
is
the art of conscientiousness
in
stoking
and
the art of punctuality
in
shutting
Most
people fail to master this art
and
it’s got to be swept
at
regular intervals
Asamer stands up and makes as if to go
GENERAL’S WIFE to him
Make
sure all the rooms are well-heated
put
a hot brick in the general’s bed
and
also put hot bricks in the ministers’ beds
We’ll
wait until the lady and gentlemen get here
to
have dinner
Anna
must serve the compote cold
suddenly
Has
everything been shoveled clean
Asamer
make sure everything’s been shoveled clean
exit Asamer
WRITER
A
snow-in
When
everything is entirely snowed in all at once
GENERAL’S WIFE
It’s
not at dawn
it’s
at dusk
whereas
in the morning everything is heralded slowly
slowly
do you understand
in
the evening the darkness descends
abruptly
it’s
suddenly dark
Leaving
the lights off for a long time
Hearing
people speak
but
not seeing them
Hearing
the fire in the stove
but
seeing nothing
hearing
the fire in the stove
but
seeing nothing
or
at least only so
that
it isn’t painful
WRITER
When
the forest has been chopped down
there
won’t be any more of this painful abrupt
descent
of darkness
as
if the daylight
is
suddenly being extinguished
GENERAL’S WIFE
Two
hundred extra woodcutters are going
to
have to be hired
WRITER
The prince said something about bribery
GENERAL’S WIFE
Can
you even imagine it
twenty-eight
tractors
goodness
knows how many chainsaws
WRITER
If
a mind can allow itself
to
put up with such an awful din
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
won’t be here
he
won’t see anything
he
won’t see anything
or
hear anything
at
first I thought
I
wouldn’t be here
but
now I think
I’ll
have to be on hand
Because
I was the only one who couldn’t bear the thought
that
the entire forest is going to be chopped down
Of
looking on as the trees fall
Enter Asamer with a message on a slip of paper,
which he hands to the general’s wife
The general’s wife reads the message, then says
Fine
Asamer
Exit Asamer
Anna
doesn’t
dare come in here
she
wants to go home
for
a half-day tomorrow
When
you’re here
she
doesn’t dare come in here
Instead
she sends a message
laughs
WRITER
When
was it
When
did you make the discovery
that
the bark beetle
GENERAL’S WIFE
A
year-and-a-half ago
But
by then it was already too late
WRITER
And his illness
GENERAL’S WIFE
A year ago
WRITER
People
with this kind of condition
stop
being able to hold their water
it
is a tedious
and
at the same time painful process
So
his development of cataracts
is
quite timely
GENERAL’S WIFE
It’s
quite impossible to explain
how
every part of the forest
WRITER
Of
a truly colossal forest
GENERAL’S WIFE
Has
become infested with bark beetles
at
the same time
it’s
inexplicable
the
professors at the University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources
are
burying their faces in their hands
At
first they said It’s impossible
out
of the question
there’s
absolutely no rational explanation for it
it
even quite literally defies the laws of nature
They
find this situation quite unimaginable
The
experts were irritated
WRITER
Every
science
is
always at a loss for words madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
Because
nobody believed
in
the possibility
of
simultaneity
Because
such a thing quite simply
contradicts
the laws of nature
WRITER
Natural law
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
bark
of
all the trees almost simultaneously
WRITER
Simultaneously
turned
dead
dry
withered
madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
couldn’t see it anymore
but
everybody else sees it
all the more clearly
all the more clearly
It
was Asamer who in seeing it first
made
the discovery
Luckily
my
husband believed
just
a couple of trunks were infested
I
can still see my husband
there
where you’re standing
there
at the window
I
was sitting
where
I’m now sitting
then
Asamer comes in
and
stokes the stove
and
says
a
couple of trees have got the bark beetle
and
then my husband laughs
he
laughed so heartily
And
then my husband asks Asamer where
and
Asamer says right behind the hunting lodge
my
husband quickly forgot about the whole thing
Right
then I already knew the extent of the catastrophe
knew
that the bark beetle
was
in every tree
and
the professors have been coming here in perfect secrecy
to
keep my husband from learning anything about it
If
he’s got cataracts
and
he has got cataracts
they
said
he
won’t see a thing
they
said
They
were standing there at the window
where
you’re standing now
All
week long the forestry people
were
conducting inspections
here
there
and
everywhere
there
were bark beetles
Abandon
it
abandon
all the dead dry wood
I
thought
the
bark beetles are bound to devour the lot
WRITER
Seen
in this light
which
is very much the right light his illness
is
a blessing
and
so are the cataracts
GENERAL’S WIFE
I have silenced everybody
WRITER
A
forest infested by the bark beetles like this
must
be chopped down in its entirety
GENERAL’S WIFE
I’ve
always been worried
that
word of it would spread
and
my husband would hear about it
WRITER
The
fact that he’s working on his book
on
his life’s work madam
and
is completely preoccupied with this life’s work of his
and
is constantly holed up in his room in the city
is
doing him good
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
young officers are doing his work
at
the ministry
On
the other hand he thinks of nothing
but
the forest
nothing
but the forest matters to him
you
know
He
has concentrated all his inner energies
on
the forest
WRITER
Then
we’ll be confronted here
with
an enormous empty expanse
GENERAL’S WIFE
Here
my husband always came up with
his
best ideas
WRITER
Impulses
Ideas
GENERAL’S WIFE
With
his best ideas
not
in the city
in
the country
in
the forest
he
could be alone for days on end
even
the woodcutters
disturbed
him
he
avoided them
in
his boots
and
with pencil and paper
WRITER
And
with his green hat
on
his head
GENERAL’S WIFE
When
he heard the woodcutters
he
would make a detour
not
a word with them
often
for years on end
not
a word with them
apart
from with Asamer
When
I’m in the forest
he
always said
In
the forest I’m thinking
All
these changes
that
basically
can
be traced back
to
my husband’s walks in the forest
Everything
that this government has changed
has
established
as
he’s always saying
you’ve
got to have a forest like this
to
have ideas like that
WRITER
A
character
like
your husband’s character
An
ability to act in the background
is
also typical of it
like
a
forest like this in which everything is to be found
but
rest
quoting the general
A
forest like this one
in
which everything but rest may be found
is
everything for my mind
GENERAL’S WIFE
At
the end of the war
we
hid out here
if
they had found us
they
would have killed us
We
were in the forest
you
understand
not
in the hunting lodge
we
didn’t dare go into the hunting lodge
Anyone
who went into the hunting lodge
was
killed by them
they
killed everyone in the hunting lodge
In
constant dread
of
being discovered you know
WRITER
When
as you did
one
comes into possession of such an enormous estate
and
is then
for
example forced to hide out in one’s own
enormous
forest
The
dread of being killed
in
such an enormous forest
GENERAL’S WIFE
Of
being suddenly
discovered
WRITER
In
a forest like this
in
which everything
is
to be found
but
rest
When
two colossal estates
are
combined into a single colossal estate
madam
in
which one is forced
to
hide away
GENERAL’S WIFE gazing outside
Now
it’s
completely
dark
enter Asamer, who then shuts the stove
When
you can still hear footsteps
but
see nothing
still
hear
see
nothing
Asamer makes as if to turn on the lights
No
no
light Asamer
Is
the stove shut tightly
to the writer
You
know
I’m
afraid
of
my husband
and
I loathe the ministers
I
have loathed those two from the very beginning
they
double-cross my husband
they
have been exploiting him
for
years
for
decades they have exploited him
he’s
the one who got them their positions
one
of them was only twenty-four
when
he brought him into the ministry I’ll have you know
those
ministers owe everything to my husband
and
now they’re double-crossing him
they
want to get rid of him
get
rid of him do you understand
they’ve
come here now to coerce my husband
into
tendering his resignation
We’re
not safe from the lower ranks anywhere
Preferably
alone
in
the darkness
at
first you’ve got to be coerced into it
then
you love this situation
at
first it’s coercion
Nobody
can withstand the darkness
to
the point when nothing’s happening do you understand
coercion
you’ve
got to coerce yourself into it
then
you
love
this situation
WRITER
One
fine day you consolidated your estate
with
your husband’s estate
in
order to force yourself into hiding out
in
the resulting colossal estate
GENERAL’S WIFE
And
now it’s restful
no
war
nothing
WRITER
And the bark beetle has arrived on the scene
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
bark beetle
to Asamer
Is
the stove shut Asamer
ASAMER
Yes madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
This
incessant attentiveness
and
work
indeed
dread you know
until
one feels completely warm
exit Asamer
the general’s wife calling after him
turn
on the garden light Asamer
And
shovel everything clean
to the writer
The
ministers receive an incredibly huge subsidy
from
the Church
My
husband loathes the Church
WRITER
He’s the archetypal born atheist
GENERAL’S WIFE rises and turns on the light; sits back down
One
more hunt
before
he checks into the clinic
I
coaxed him into it
WRITER
Little
by little
probably
under the influence of his terminal illness
of
which he is oblivious
he’s
starting to listen to you madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
I coaxed him into it
WRITER
Now
all
of a sudden
you
don’t want to hurt him anymore
GENERAL’S WIFE with great pathos
I
have erected a wall of silence
around
him
he
mustn’t
know
a thing
about
the bark beetle
WRITER
That’s
the question I’ve been posing to myself
whether
the general actually doesn’t know anything
whether
it’s actually the case that he doesn’t know anything
or
whether he’s only acting as if he doesn’t know anything
This
is undoubtedly the end madam
Mark
my words madam
a
general is someone who can be told
and
told frankly mark my words madam frankly
what
must be told
namely
the prognosis of his condition
GENERAL’S WIFE
But
he isn’t
is
he
WRITER
Yes
because he’s a man
whose
signature trait
is
unsparing frankness
A
person as enlightened as he is
exists
with a completely different sort of mind
madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
doesn’t know about it
he
mustn’t know about it
Entirely
regardless of time or place
he’s
always talking about his forest
nonstop
WRITER
To
think that you have managed
to
conceal
the
bark beetle from him
To
bring the gamekeepers
and
the woodcutters to keep silent
about
everything
having
to do with the forest
because
it’s hard madam
to
bring people who were born to talk
to
keep silent
especially
over such a vast area
an
entire
community
incessantly
absorbed
by curiosity
and
the spreading of gossip
Thanks
to incessant
and
to my mind intelligent bribery
you
have successfully
achieved
what you set out to achieve
GENERAL’S WIFE
Not
a soul
nobody
has
said a thing
WRITER
The
fact of the matter is
that
the bark beetle
is
eating up everything connected with the hunting lodge
that
it’s destroying
devouring
everything here
everything
GENERAL’S WIFE
Like
you
the
doctor talks
about
a terminal illness
quite
frankly
it’s
only a matter
of
very little time
WRITER
This
is the reason
why
even though it’s only a matter
of
very little time
you
keep the bark beetle secret from him
And
the cataracts
he
has
are
your co-conspirators
The
frankness
evinced
by doctors
in
certain circumstances
is
baffling
GENERAL’S WIFE
A
minor procedure
my
husband thinks
WRITER
And
yet
even
before the doctors arrived here
you
suspected
your
husband
was
suffering
from
a terminal illness
You
said he had changed
some
time before
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
suddenly
changed
It
was
on
the road shoulder
WRITER
I
remember
on
the road shoulder
goes to the record player and puts on a record of
Handel’s Suite No. 5 for harpsichord
But
even though you believed
he
would come down with the illness only much later
there
was that incident with the chainsaw
An
injury
like
the injury he received from the chainsaw
causes
one to come down with a terminal illness
And
the day after tomorrow when your husband
is
in the clinic
and
perhaps exactly
when
he’s undergoing the procedure
which
of course is no mere procedure
because
as you know it’s actually
an
extremely complicated
and
even quite risky operation
when
you are anticipating the worst
madam
the
first trees will be falling
Then
the period of convalescence
the
time at the seashore
the
time in Rome
that
he longs for
GENERAL
The end will come in Rome
WRITER
Then
you’ll come back
and
the trees will already be gone
and
possibly not a visible trace of the entire forest
will
be left
GENERAL’S WIFE
Naturally
he knows something is up
but
he doesn’t know the truth
I
have spoken with the ministers
I
have told that that he’s dying
Just
wait I’ve told them
my
husband the general will die very soon
a
man who’s going to die very soon
doesn’t
need to be forced to resign
They’ve
got to have his decision now
now
He’s
going to die
but
he isn’t going to resign
do
you understand
And
he’s not even thinking about resigning
I
told the ministers
that
the forest was full of bark beetles
and
that the whole forest would have to be chopped down
It
had no effect
WRITER
Every
once in a while
under
the influence of his intelligence madam
a
man picks up a chainsaw
or
some other tool
that
he has absolutely no business handling
every
once in a while an intelligent man suddenly super-suddenly
thinks
about
felling
a tree
all
of a sudden a man like this feels a need
to
hammer a nail into a wall
a
man who’s been sitting at a desk year after year and without a break
suddenly
up and walks into a gravel pit
or
quite simply into the forest
a
man like this suddenly fancies
he’s
got to smash something to bits or cut something down
just
as your husband the general super-suddenly
went
into the forest with a chainsaw
suddenly
a man like this goes out of his mind
and
goes into the forest
and
fells a tree
or
he goes into the gravel pit or he kills a man do you understand
or
a man like this
who
has always worn underwear of the finest quality
suddenly
puts on a pair of the kind of underpants
that
woodcutters wear
all
of a sudden a man like this runs off in a pair of sheepskin boots
or
he dons a felt cap
even
though he is accustomed to wearing nothing but the most expensive hats
This
leads to terrible
and
very often lethal injuries madam
The
general cut his leg with the chainsaw
and
this injury actually precipitated the onset
of
his terminal illness
each
and every one of us harbors a terminal illness
and
some injury often an insignificant one and often indeed one that is scarcely
even noticed
precipitates
the onset of that illness
GENERAL’S WIFE
Luckily
Asamer was with him
and
dragged him out of the forest
and
into the hunting lodge
And
luckily he made it into the hands of a good surgeon
Outside there are footfalls, talking, laughing
WRITER
The
general
stops the music
So
nothing disastrous happened
Enter the general, who is missing his left arm,
the ministers, the prince, the princess, the cook, and Asamer, who takes their
coats and steps back outside
The general embraces his wife
The writer lingers in the background
the prince and princess linger in the doorway
GENERAL
This
sudden snowfall
everything’s
snowed under
everything’s
snowed under
The
last bit on foot
WRITER
A
dry
cold
winter general
GENERAL exclaims
Ah
the writer
the general and writer approach each other and
shake hands
You
keep my wife from getting bored
Your
philosophy
or
rather your philosophies
distract
her
Just
think of it
my
secretary
has
seen your comedy
more
of an operetta than a comedy I think
an
excellent production
The
history-maker
or
the so-called history-maker in your play
more
of an operetta
delighted
her enormously
To
rehearse such a role
one
needs a comedic mind doesn’t one
a mind
like a machine
and
exceptional talent
One
has got to have talent
Talent
talent
Actors
must have talent
and
must be a machine
with
a mind like a theater
not
with a theatrical mind
when
they arrive in the world
laughs
to all the others
Please
be seated
sit
down
Please
be seated
everybody sits down
GENERAL’S WIFE asks
Sherry brandy
EVERYBODY ELSE only vaguely in unison
Brandy
sherry
Sherry
brandy
GENERAL’S WIFE to the general
I
was worried
that
you wouldn’t be coming
that
something had happened
GENERAL
Without the help of the ministers
GENERAL’S WIFE
There’s
never been
this
much snow
GENERAL
The
writer in his lunacy
writes
a comedy
or
rather an operetta
and
the actors are taken in
by
this comedy
by
this
operetta
And
then the world the cultivated world is
believes
it’s something philosophical
The
writer attacks philosophy
or
a whole heap of philosophies
and
quite simply imposes his mind on the actors
and
if the play is a tragedy
he
maintains
it’s
a comedy
and
if it’s a comedy
he
maintains
it’s
a tragedy
when
it’s actually nothing but an operetta
The
writers force actors
into
a dramatic process
and
every medium is fine with them
into
a dramatic process
inimical
to actors
and
the whole thing is nothing but an oxymoron
to the ministers
Watch
what you say
this
gentleman
puts
what he sees
onstage
give
careful thought to what you share with us
and
what you keep to yourself sirs
for
any old vulgar claptrap
comes
across as something philosophical
onstage
This
gentleman will turn even you into an operetta
the ministers laugh
No
man is more taciturn than the prince
and
no woman is more charming than the princess
The
prince writes poems
which
he reads to us from time to time
his
wife
is
preoccupied
with
taking care of their two delightful children
Our
writer is observing
but
I’ll have you know
he’s
observing something other
than
reality
to the ministers
He
understands nothing
about
ballistics gentlemen
and
yet for him gentlemen
the
term political intrigue is
enter the cook with an air of being about to say
something
GENERAL’S WIFE
Dinner
silently makes it clear to the cook that she is
to leave the room
exit the cook
the general’s wife rises
everybody else rises
GENERAL
I’ve
got a colossal appetite
everyone begins exiting
the general referring to the writer
An
inscrutable mind
an
utterly and thoroughly inscrutable mind
exeunt omnes
*
During the Hunt
The forest is quite distinctly visible through
the windows of the hunting lodge
As the curtain rises the general’s wife and the
writer are playing cards, drinking brandy, laughing
GENERAL’S WIFE throwing her cards onto the table;
throughout the scene she keeps a running tally of wins and losses on a slip of
paper
I
win
I
win
Picks up the deck of cards and shuffles it, deals
from it
WRITER
That
loud laugh
Your
loud laugh
Looks at his cards, deals himself two more cards
There
is something highly interesting
about
terminal illnesses
really
throws his cards onto the table
I
win
in
theatrical proceedings
the general’s wife shuffles, deals
the writer drinks
If
we observe
and
don’t get involved in events
looks at his cards, deals himself three more
cards
Foolishness
and
purposelessness
the
means by which people
who
simply aren’t cut out for this
GENERAL’S WIFE pounding the table with both hands
I
win
I
win
I
win
drinks
WRITER
We
needn’t take part in things
to
be sure we have a part to play in
them
but
we needn’t take part in them
If
we exert our gift for observation
throws his cards onto the table
You
win
shuffle
shuffle
the general’s wife quickly shuffles the cards
A huge
sum of money
an
enormous sum
really
an enormous sum
dealing himself a hand of cards
Possibly
possibly
GENERAL’S WIFE dealing herself an unusually large hand of
cards
What
do you mean by possibly
WRITER
Possibly
it
isn’t a terminal illness at all
laughs
possibly
it’s the furthest thing in the world from
a
terminal illness
His
best anecdote is the one
where
he talks about
his
left arm being torn off
in
Stalingrad
laughs
GENERAL’S WIFE
When he almost bled to death
WRITER
Whenever
he tells that story
you
always round it out by saying
you
almost bled to death
whereupon
he always rejoins
I
wouldn’t wish the Siberian cold
on
my worst enemy
they both laugh
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
first thing he wanted to do
was
to take a trip to the Oktoberfest
but
as it happened
we
ended up not going
WRITER
Because
when you’ve only got one arm
you
can’t sway back and forth
GENERAL’S WIFE
You can’t sway back and forth
WRITER
You
can’t sway back and forth
sway
back and forth
sway
back and forth
GENERAL’S WIFE throws her cards onto the table
I
win
I
win
do
you see
now
I’m winning
just
so I can start losing again
WRITER
Shuffle
You’ve
got to shuffle quickly
The
whole point of this game
is
to shuffle the cards quickly
and
play very quickly
Now
that we’ve been playing for an hour
you’re
suddenly shuffling awfully slowly
Shuffle
quickly
quickly
do you understand
takes the cards out of her hand; shuffles quickly
This
quickly do you see
you’ve
got to shuffle like this
this
is how blackjack should be played
like
this like this
deals the cards
With
one arm
you
can’t sway back and forth
There
are so many things you can’t do
with
one arm
And
yet cripples
the
crippled
are
the most ambitious people on earth
deals himself five cards
We
observe this
when
we take a close look
at
history
when
we go back into history
when
we get mixed up
in
that senseless pursuit
The
cripples not the non-cripples
are
the rulers of the earth
WRITER throws down his cards
I win
the general’s wife is shuffling
and dealing, now suddenly very quickly
It’s a truism
it’s nothing but a truism
deals himself six cards
Time and again we expose ourselves
as we get mixed up in repulsiveness
whether it’s a thing
or it’s people
we are dealing with a repulsive thing
time and again
time and again we’re also dealing with repulsive people
we’re attracted to what’s repulsive
drinks
The hunt for example
is repulsive
the hunt repels me
The hunt is repulsive
GENERAL’S WIFE
He loathes you
but not as deeply
as you loathe him
throws down her cards
I win
WRITER
Here we see a so-called distinguished man
for example
GENERAL’S WIFE
He reads to me
from his manuscript
but I’m disgusted
by his voice
and even more so by what he’s reading
WRITER
At the same time it’s all quite cogent
everything he writes
is quite cogent
And his competence
is peerless
An incorruptible individual
throws the cards onto the table
GENERAL’S WIFE
Now you’re winning again
I win twice
and then you start winning
and you keep winning
picks up the cards, shuffles,
deals
Up in the attic
I’ll have you know
he’s still got his army coat
And under the army coat
the uniform
that he was wearing
when his arm was torn off
WRITER
When he almost bled to death
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
has the key
to
the trunk
in
which he has placed
these
garments
It
is his wish
to
be buried
in
this uniform
WRITER
And in a rough-hewn softwood coffin
GENERAL’S WIFE
And in a rough-hewn softwood coffin
WRITER throws his cards onto the table, drinks
I
win
the general’s wife suddenly bursts into laughter
Why
are you laughing
Why
are you laughing
Your
loud laughter
the general’s wife deals the cards
A year
for pheasants
I
read it’s
a year
for pheasants
GENERAL’S WIFE
He
loathes playing cards
It’s
always been this way
when
he’s hunting
I
wait here
I’ve
always waited
here
alone
WRITER
At
first cataracts occasion
no
pain whatsoever
suddenly
the pains set in
GENERAL’S WIFE
As
he’s aiming his gun
he
says
it’s
like a veil
like
he’s shooting
through
a veil
through
a veil
WRITER throws down his cards
I
win
the general’s wife picks up the cards, shuffles,
deals
You
swore the foresters
and
the woodcutters
to
secrecy
All
your energies
have
been focused exclusively
on
keeping the bark beetle a secret
from
your husband
enter Asamer to check on the stove
GENERAL’S WIFE
It’s
fine Asamer
Wait
until the others get back
then
stoke it
wait
until then
ASAMER
Yes
ma’am
Exit Asamer
GENERAL’S WIFE
In
reality
these
simple people’s loyalty
has
always
repelled
me
it
quite simply repels me
drinks
there are sounds of shots being fired outside
WRITER
A year
for pheasants
madam
GENERAL’S WIFE
Blackjack
I’ve
got blackjack
WRITER
I’ve
also got blackjack
GENERAL’S WIFE
Whenever
I’ve got blackjack
you’ve
also got blackjack
picks up the cards, shuffles, deals
WRITER
If
we double
your
luck will improve
GENERAL’S WIFE takes eight cards
Shut up
WRITER lays his cards on the table
Blackjack
GENERAL’S WIFE
You
see
throws down her cards
Playing
with you always means
losing
losing
do
you understand
losing
picks up the cards, shuffles, deals
WRITER
What
a huge sum of money
you’re
going
to
have to pay out to me
drinks
GENERAL’S WIFE
The
truth is
I
often say
things
that aren’t supposed to be said
You’re
the most ruthless person
I
know
there
isn’t a human being alive
who’s
more ruthless than you are
WRITER lays his cards on the table
I
win
I’ve
got two aces
GENERAL’S WIFE picks up the cards and shuffles, deals
The
truth is that
whenever
anybody else
takes
the smallest liberty
On
the other hand
WRITER
On the other hand
GENERAL’S WIFE
On the other hand
it’s a pleasure
and the greatest pleasure of all is
playing
cards with you
When
you burst out laughing so loudly
and
your mind
is
dwelling on a philosophical topic
or
on something indecent
WRITER throws down his cards
I win
GENERAL’S WIFE
Did
you hear me
something
indecent
shuffles, deals, drinks
the
great thing about this little pastime
is
that you’re an appalling individual
WRITER throws his cards down
I win
GENERAL’S WIFE picks up the cards, shuffles, deals
Then
I phone you
I
write to you
I
phone you
Gunshots
I
phone you
And
always the uncertainty
whether
you’ll come at all
disgraceful
Because
quite often you say
you’ll
come
and
then you never show up
Quite
often I write
and
I receive no reply
First
thing in the morning your wine
with
your special label
is
placed in your room
the
baked deserts are served cold
WRITER throws his cards onto the table
I win
drinks
GENERAL’S WIFE picks up the cards, shuffles, deals
It’s
all for you
the
entire house
has
geared itself up for you
And
then you never show up
suddenly
after
maybe eight days
if
I’m lucky
you
turn up here
No
apology
nothing
as
if nothing had happened
You
eat and drink
and
laugh
And
what a laugh you laugh
what
a laugh you laugh
what
a laugh you can laugh
WRITER lays his cards on the table, laughs
I win
GENERAL’S WIFE picks up the cards, shuffles, deals
The
we play
blackjack
and
say nothing
Suddenly
you leave
WRITER
When
we look at a person
no
matter what sort of person
we
are looking at someone who’s dying
at
a dying person
And
the moment we wake up
we
always see
We
are condemned to immobility
Do
you understand
we
are dead
everything
is dead
everything
in us is dead
everything
is dead
throws down his cards
I
win
laughing
I
win
I
win
WRITER and GENERAL’S WIFE laughing
WRITER: I win
GENERAL’S WIFE: You win
WRITER
Whatever
something is
it’s
death
We
hear a voice
shots outside
we
ask who it is
It’s
death
This
fine human being we say
He’s
death
This
rigorous work
It’s
death
the general’s wife shuffles the cards, deals
the writer takes nine cards
Whatever
we publish
It’s
death
We
are alone
We
are defunct
It’s
death
All
these faces
I’ll
have you know
are
suddenly dead
we
see them
and
see them suddenly dead
suddenly
dead
Every
face
as
a dead face
The
infamy with which people [ignore]4
their
dead face
gunshots
The
means that we
drinks
When
we understand what’s what madam
everything
darkens
We
hesitate
we
procrastinate
we
loathe
what
we are
Everything
we put on paper
is
death
GENERAL’S WIFE lays his cards on the table
You
win
You
win
WRITER
What
we see
the
moment
the
terminus
is
death
A
friend dies
everything
is dead
do
you see
lays his cards on the table
the general’s wife picks up the cards, shuffles,
deals
If
we go into our room
we
ask
why
where
are we located
when
we’re in our room
gunshots
we
are alone
or not alone
or not alone
we
listen to music
or
we don’t listen to music
Every
object madam
is
death
Everything
we touch
is
defunct
it’s
defunct
Everything
we touch
defunct
defunct
madam
GENERAL’S WIFE and WRITER laughing, only vaguely in unison
Defunct
defunct
gunshots
WRITER
We
despise
whatever
we hear
Whatever
we see
we
despise
This
person
with
this feeling we say
this
person
with
this past
this
person
with
this face
lays his cards on the table
I
win
the general’s wife picks up the cards, shuffles,
deals
We
expect something
a
person
a
terminal illness
persistently
madam
insistently
That’s
why we’re ill
that’s
why we
each
of us
has
a terminal illness
It’s
always something different
a
different person
that’s
why we’re unhappy
takes five cards
What
is this idea
we
ask ourselves
from
which we have emerged
We
inquire after our own cause
Is
it this
or
is that
we
ask
and
when we’ve killed one of them off
the
other one is there
Where
do we end up when we
say
we to ourselves
and
we are incessantly citing
our
own character as an authority
we
accuse individuals
of
weakness of character madam
and
at the same time we cite
injustice
as
if it’s justice
but
life
or
more properly speaking existence madam
raising his voice
I
win
throws his cards onto the table
is
a nightmare
the general’s wife picks up the cards, shuffles,
deals
When
we see a human being
we
must ask ourselves
where
does this person fit into everything else
when
we see a character
where
does character fit into everything else
and
so on in this fashion
with
regard to every object we see
we
are constantly
on
the verge
of
going insane
Because
incessantly rejecting everything
renouncing
one’s mind
is
an impossibility
The
facts are always terrifying
as
are thoughts of this kind
so
terrifying that they disintegrate matter itself
and
everything is always in the process of dissolving
you
know
which
is why we have no choice but to despair
A
human being
is
a human being in despair
everything
else is a lie
But
then we lose
because
we are so consistent
making
connections time and again
at
every instant I’ll have you know
and
everything is a crude falsification
Suddenly
we remember
the
surface
gunshots
and
bury our faces in our hands
It’s
a huge process of exploitation
nothing
else
GENERAL’S WIFE lays her cards on the table
gunshots
You
win
WRITER
I win
gunshots
the writer throws
his cards onto the table
the general’s wife
picks up the cards, shuffles, drinks
the writer drinks,
takes five cards
Then I ask myself
why do I come here
What is there
for me to look for here
takes two more
cards
What is there
for me to do here
for me to do here
What is the general
what is the president
gunshots
He is an idealist
The ministers will force him out
He will have to give in
Probably he’s already given them his word
I know what these people are like
these people are intransigent
What is a cabinet
minister
Take a good look at these people
But with disdain on its own
nothing gets done
nothing
GENERAL’S WIFE
He is an idealist
WRITER drinks
But
an idealist is an imbecile
throws his cards onto the table, exclaims
I
win
GENERAL’S WIFE picks up the cards, shuffles, deals
You with your
communist stockpile of ideas
WRITER laughs, takes four cards
Blackjack
GENERAL’S WIFE
Blackjack
WRITER
Let’s double
General’s wife
shuffles, deals
So when I crisscross the forest
on foot with you
it’s very nice
drinks
GENERAL’S WIFE
These people
my husband says
who just want
to destroy everything
who are degrading everything
pulling everything apart
throws down his
cards
WRITER
I
win
I
just won
GENERAL’S WIFE
Yours is a nature
always bent on changing everything
gunshots
WRITER
Listen
listen
shots
When
we are happy
for
example here in the hunting lodge
we
are pulling a fast one on ourselves
but
even when we’re unhappy and nothing
but
an unhappy emotion
we
exist only in a state of delusion
What
we see
is
something different madam
This
person, we say
and
he is a different person
this
air that I am inhaling is a different air
These
cards
holds the cards up in the air
are
all different do you understand
And
everything is so pathetic
that
we can hardly stand it
Events
are only ever delusorily similar
Our
understanding a different one
And
completely pervading it all is death
he
world is a crippled world
and
human nature a crippled nature
and
when we speak of beauty
we
are really only speaking in microscopic terms
What
strikes us as most beautiful
Mutilation
madam
To
be sure human beings turn up
but
they are different
do
you understand
This
entire hunting party
is
a different one
Quite
simply a figure of speech madam
this
is philosophical
but
the whole of philosophy is nonsense
lays his cards on the table
I
win
the general’s wife picks up the cards, shuffles
the writer drinks, takes five cards
The
environment madam
has
an ear
against
the mind
and
it will stop at nothing
to
destroy the intellect
throws his cards onto the table, exclaims
I
win
GENERAL’S WIFE pounding on the table with both hands
You’ve
won
You’ve
won
gunshots
Curtain
*
After the Hunt
The general, the general’s wife, the ministers,
the prince, and the princess, along with the writer, drinking and smoking at
the table
Around five in the morning
My
dear writer
life
in a general’s uniform
is
never at any time
an
affair for a sensitive person
or
even for an exceptionally emotional character
To
be sure in the case of an independent person
such
as yourself
the writer laughs loudly
Who
can do what he likes with his independence
the writer laughs loudly
But
that’s a different affair
In
any case you’re a person
who
keeps his eyes and ears open
and
keeps no secrets
Twenty-six
hares
General
four
pheasants
two
badgers
Very
much so gentlemen
for
such an ultra-short hunt
And
then you must of course take into account
my
nearsightedness
and
the fact
that
I lost my left arm
Torn
off gentlemen
I
can’t tell you what it was like
gentlemen
I
was completely surrounded
I
held out
The
greatest battle
In
the history of all battles
to the writer
Doubtless
you exist in a different world
You’re
a commentator
My
husband has been most strictly forbidden
Absolutely
forbidden my dear sirs
Calamity
is
as we know
the
inevitable product of all human natures
and
the entirety of history is nothing but a calamity
And
when we look into the future
The
day after tomorrow my husband
is
checking into the clinic
for
a couple of days so to speak
GENERAL to the ministers
For a couple of days so to speak
you know
This sojourn at the clinic is coming
just in the nick of time
A pause for breath I’ll have you know
so that I can move further along
in my great undertaking my book
GENERAL’S WIFE
My husband wanted to go
on one more hunt beforehand
SECOND MINISTER
The general
is a celebrity as a hunter
to his colleagues
The general has attained the highest distinctions
that exist in the world of hunting
You know
during a hunt I regenerate
I get a breath of fresh air
I’m a different person
a new person
Admittedly my wife abhors hunts
She’s a woman under the influence of an artistic feeling
I’ll have you know
a feeling that puts her off the hunt
And she’s a woman under the influence
points at the writer
of this man
to the writer
With ideas like the ones
you have
you corrupt innocent minds
and thereby transform them from perfectly serviceable minds
into completely unserviceable ones
Only a deranged society
can tolerate something like this
laughs, then addresses the
ministers
Complications ought to be abolished gentlemen
abolished
GENERAL’S WIFE
In a couple of weeks my husband will be back in the office
after his sojourn in the clinic
he’ll go
back to work
with renewed energy
to the ministers
If only you could have seen
those incredible heaps of papers on government policy
that he had delivered
and that I’ll have to carry to him in the clinic
My husband is keenly attentive
to everything having to do with development
GENERAL
Geopolitical development
which is constantly accelerating nowadays gentlemen
GENERAL’S WIFE
Then each and every day I’m ordered
to bring the very latest newspapers
and all the most important journals
to him in the clinic
to the ministers
to the ministers
My husband has got big plans
to the prince
naturally this is bad for the forest
When he spends more time on politics
the forest falls into the background
to the ministers
But the prince makes sure
that the forest isn’t neglected
GENERAL crying out
Just try to find a gamekeeper
like the prince
WRITER
I’ve read
that this has been a particularly good year for pheasants
GENERAL
A good year for pheasants
a good year for pheasants
did you hear that
crying out
And four whole pheasants
FIRST MINISTER
Very fine pheasants
Very fine pheasants
SECOND MINISTER
Very fine pheasants
GENERAL
A diversion
for example the hunt
gentlemen
facilitates concentration
The mind is diverted
to concentration
do you understand
to the writer
Concentration is everything
isn’t it
GENERAL’S WIFE referring to the writer
He won’t allow himself to be disturbed in the slightest
he won’t tolerate the slightest irritation
he completely sequesters himself
he won’t let anyone come near him
And of course one of my husband’s best-known sayings is
These constant intrusive disturbances
have got to stop
GENERAL
The prince shields me
he protects my body from vexation
and even more importantly
my mind from it
and what’s more I can also still talk with him
about nature
which I can’t do with anybody else
GENERAL’S WIFE
No excuse for being irritated
my husband’s always saying
no excuse for being irritated
The time has come
in which everything must be intensified
an intensification of the punishment
as we see we are dealing with
a society that’s completely gone to seed
A couple of weeks from now General
we’ll see you here again in the hunting lodge
At the very height of the season
In the meantime the work
An estate as large as this one
requires the absolutely unflagging attention
of hundreds of people
The minutest particulars of such an estate
must be paid the minutest attention to at all times
If we didn’t own this forest
my husband wouldn’t be
what he is
The army
and the forest
the restlessness of the city
and the restfulness of the country
in constant alternation don’t you know
The one
The prince is the finest forest ranger around today
A graduate of the University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources in
Vienna
a thoroughly scientific character
and yet he’s never lost touch
with the earth beneath his feet
His publications
regularly appear in professional journals
and cause a sensation in the world of professional forestry
Such a well-grounded man can easily permit himself
to write poems in his spare time
GENERAL’S WIFE
Without the prince
nothing
absolutely nothing
point-blank to the prince
You enjoy my husband’s
absolutely implicit trust
to the ministers
Walking and thinking
Thinking and walking
do you understand
The forest is the main thing
GENERAL
The fact that during a hunt
my thoughts are honed
Breathing in the air
waiting
Feeling my way
groping my way do you understand
The silence into which
the shot falls next
SECOND MINISTER
The general
has explained to me
how to hold a firearm
GENERAL rejoining suddenly on how to hold a firearm
Like this
mimes the right grip
Not like this
mimes the wrong grip and laughs
SECOND MINISTER to the general’s wife
It had been ten years
since I last took part
in a hunt
In the Dolomites madam
GENERAL
Walking by turns
walking and standing
and thinking
to the prince
Lepus europaeus
Ovis musimon
Cervus sika
Twenty-two hunters today
lots of new faces
to the ministers
Farmhands
Woodcutters
and the sons of woodcutters
A tavern packed to the bursting point
to the prince
The higher pay rate for the hunters
kicks in tomorrow
the prince is writing
everything down
the higher wage rate
for the woodcutters
If only we could
hold onto people
hold onto people
to the ministers
They simply leave for the factory
unless you double their pay
It’s been a long time since I found it possible
to reward everybody
I went to school
with most of them
enter Asamer with an armful of
firewood in preparation for stoking the stove
How’s it going
Asamer
Is your wife well again
to the ministers
removal of a goiter
I’ll have you know
a completely bungled operation
to Asamer
How’s your wife
how are her lungs
Sometimes they’re better
sometimes worse
laughs
suddenly they’ll up and give
out
Seriously Asamer
is she still coughing
ASAMER
No General
GENERAL
No General
And your children
to the ministers
you’ve got to ask people about their children
and not only the simple people
first about their wives and then
about their children
They all get good grades
the best grades that children
at that village school have ever gotten
to the ministers as Asamer is
stoking the stove
at Christmastime my wife gets them all to memorize and perform
a so-called Christmas play
Actual angels everything in white you know
And from up above you hear
the voice of the Lord
to Asamer
Your children always recite
the verses beautifully
not one of them has ever forgotten his lines
to the ministers
Then there’s always
a good supper
and presents for the children of course
presents that my wife has selected herself
Before Christmas she drives to town
in the car
and buys things for the children
to Asamer
And how is your leg Asamer
are you going to the doctor
to the ministers
You don’t mess around
with a smoker’s leg
to Asamer
With a smoker’s leg
you’ve got to go regularly
to the doctor
regularly
to Asamer
Are you still a sexton
ASAMER
Yes General
GENERAL
And a gravedigger too
ASAMER
Yes General
Asamer rises and exits
GENERAL to the ministers
What a fine human being
he’s the last of his kind gentlemen
GENERAL’S WIFE to the ministers and to the prince and
princess
Please do eat
please do eat some more
gives the writer a slice of
sausage
WRITER with the slice of sausage in his hand
We’re squandering all our time
on a mere idea
that in any case leads to nothing
A human life madam
is ultimately nothing
but a human catastrophe
GENERAL
The butcher’s son
the teacher’s son
the doctor’s son
the woodcutters’ sons
the rangers’ sons
the prince’s children
all memorize
my wife’s verses
the ones she’s written
A Christmas play gentlemen
a full-fledged theatrical play
and there
points at the opposite corner
of the room
there in that corner
the presents are laid out
And there’s something individual
for each child
something utterly individual
original gentlemen
The first one of these Christmas plays
was twenty full years ago gentlemen
In that first play
the prince played
a prince
and the princess
a princess
GENERAL’S WIFE
And my husband
spoke the Lord’s lines
GENERAL
to
the king
are
still the handsomest genuflections
in
living memory
You
were fourteen then
to the ministers
It
was the mainstay of his mother’s existence
to
cook a huge meal at each and every sort of hunting party
and
wedding reception
and
at each and every sort of funeral
And
she used to darn the laundry at the manor houses
and
at the castles
to the prince
A
colossal estate
that
your forebears lost in Bohemia
The
princess’s father
was
a lieutenant
and
was killed in Finland
I
knew him when he was still a child
I can
still hear his voice
that
childlike
that
childlike voice
to the princess
During
the Corpus Christi procession your father got to carry
the
Madonna
That
was a special distinction
One
time your father fell with the Madonna
and
injured his head
A
severe head injury I’ll have you know
to the writer
Time
has passed over everything
passed
over it
passed
over it
passed
over it
One
of the prince’s uncles is the French ambassador in Vienna
and
another of the prince’s uncles was an attaché at the French embassy
to the ministers
The
prince writes
poems
in
his spare time
once
in a while he reads from them
to
my wife
Everybody
here writes
everybody
to the writer
Would
it be fair of me to say that
what
you write
is
always thoroughly philosophical
Even
though you describe it as comedy
Or
would it be fairer
of
me to say
that
what you write is comedy
whereas
you yourself maintain
it’s
actually philosophy
laughs
Everybody
who lives here
writes
if
he isn’t a woodcutter
he
writes
even
the rangers write here
I’ll
have you know
to the ministers
on
the one hand people walk a great deal
on
the other hand they write
walking
and writing
they
divide their time between the two
to the writer
When
you were last here you were plumb in the middle
of
writing a comedy
or
let us rather call it
something
you yourself described as a comedy
What
you describe as a comedy
I
personally don’t regard as a comedy
A
comedy is after all quite a hard and fast concept
and
what you’re writing has nothing in common with it
What
you’re writing
has
nothing in common with a comedy
It’s
something different from what I think of as a comedy
or
even what I think of as a play
to the ministers
A
comedy you say
and
the whole thing has got nothing in common with a comedy
but
one mustn’t discuss concepts
with
the writer
A
lot of the what you’ve observed here in the hunting lodge
is
in this comedy that you’ve written
and
also had performed
also
had performed mind you
I
don’t go to see plays at the theater
I avoid
going as a matter of principle
the
theater is a repulsive thing
I’m
constantly reminded of this repulsiveness
whenever
I’m at the theater
although
I can’t explain
what
this repulsiveness is
but
it is repulsive
But
perhaps you’re preoccupying yourself with the theater
precisely
because you find it repulsive
I
find actors revolting
when
an actor speaks
I
get a headache
My
father also loathed actors
a
stage performance
gives
me nausea
in
point of fact I can only tolerate dilettantism at the theater
the
suburban stage
Amateur
theatricals at private parties do you understand
but not theater
but not theater
as
high art
to the writer
My
dear writer
you
are practicing a despicable art
my
wife admires you
to the ministers
My
wife needs a person like him
she’s
got no use for hunting
and
solitude torments her here
to the writer
You’ll
put what you’re seeing here
onstage
to the ministers
In
a comedy gentlemen
Because
our esteemed writer is a comic playwright
Enter the cook with several bottles of wine
by
the stove
the cook sets the bottles down next to the stove
and exits
general’s wife to the general
Anna
needs a man
a
husband do you understand
Be
patient
You
want my decision
I
have made my decision
to everybody else
These
gentlemen say
my
illness but of course they mean
my
political untrustworthiness
They
say my stay at the clinic
My
convalescence
they
mean my physical frailty do you understand
and
they say
the
intellectual frailty resulting from this physical frailty
but
they mean my political untrustworthiness
They
say that I shall be retiring as a man known entirely for his merits
a
man distinguished with the highest honors in the land
a
banquet hosted by the chancellor etc.
The highest honors
The highest honors
to the ministers
Be
patient
You
must be patient
one
must be patient
drinks
Everybody
writes here
everybody
writes here
Everybody
plays cards
or
does nothing
or
writes
Our
writer
is
writing a comedy
and
every one of us sitting here
will
appear in his comedy
The
curtain will rise
We’ll
be sitting here
and
we’ll be a comedy
to the writer
You’re
always taking notes
even
when it looks as though
you’re
not taking notes
You’re
listening
attentively
listening
and
even when you’re looking away
To the ministers
Do
you see those interior walls inside his brain
he’s
filling it with writing
filling
it
a
brain full of writing
a
brain chock-full of writing
and
hence a completely darkened brain
filled
with writing with such celerity
that
the whole thing has been already written over many times
like
a madman
The
entire inner surface of his brain
which
even he can’t read anymore
to the writer
So
make sure you realize that not even you
can
read
anything
you’ve written down
in
your brain anymore
to the ministers
like
a madman
gentlemen
And
my wife insists
on
my inviting
the
writer personally
So
I write to the writer
with
punctilious politeness I’ll have you know
Come
my dear sir our esteemed writer
I’ll
have you know
we’re
having a hunt
the writer
With
such celerity in your brain
and
with such ruthlessness
which
you in your lunacy have written
anyone
who behaves like this
is
consequently
a
certifiably insane individual my dear sirs
to the ministers
A
comedy do you hear
A
comedy
And
if we tear up the whole thing
simply
tear it to pieces like a sheet of paper
tear
it up
tear
the comedy up
drinks
Super-suddenly
to the writer
Isn’t
that right
it’ll
be gone
torn
to pieces
WRITER after the general has clearly said his piece
The
people who falter everywhere
because their mind is a line
and the surface of the world
a deformity
We suddenly give up completely
We’ve got to be alone
We are necrotizing
we are dead
as soon as we see a person
with perfect clarity
we see
that he is dead
one existence after another
and what we hear
is something dead
Which is said to us
which we must teach ourselves
constantly teach ourselves and drill into ourselves
in the light of this we must say
there goes a dead person
whenever we see a person
walking by us
If we know anything
we know
that we are dead
to the general’s wife
But naturally we cherish
our opportunities for necrotization
we cherish them
and take notes on them
and publish them
We rely
on death
This person I think
and everything is dead
so we are constantly worried
about meeting this or that person
because then we’ll see
we are dead
When we wake up we see
that what we’re interested in
is nothing we say nothing to ourselves
Not a human soul
no science
and not the slightest hint of nature
We embark on pursuits that are purely and simply lethal
the prince rises and fetches
two bottles of wine from the stove, uncorks the bottles and fills everyone’s
glass
We wake up and see
no interests
we make this observation
uninterestedly
Because we can take no interest
let’s say
And we have breakfast and get dressed madam
and establish contact
Take refuge in a task madam
pick up an axe
or sit down at a desk
or we hurry to the train station
or we compose something
or we take even more medicine
more and more medicine madam
We wake up feeling a fundamental lack of interest
simply because we’re around other people
or we aren’t
the prince sits down
whether we wake up in town or not
we always wake up in the same uninterested state
we make this observation
because we can’t fall back asleep
and we can’t kill ourselves yet
over and over again not yet
that’s a fact
because we haven’t got the strength to do it
The same people
the same requirements madam
the same relations and processes
which allow us to see quite distinctly madam
that nature
nature in its entirety is nothing but uninterest madam
and illness
and strictly speaking a terminal illness
Each and every day we wake up into our terminal illness
we go to sleep and wake up
in the same terminal illness of nature
and are always in an uninterested state
the rest is lies
this constant incessant walking
in a state of absolute mental and physical unconsciousness
is an undeniable fact
We dread
what we’re going to do
just as we dread
what we’re not going to do
And apart from this there exists entirely in our imagination
the notion that our existence is a bearable existence madam
a notion that allows us to exist
But we don’t talk about it
and when we do talk about it
we talk about it
as though
we were talking
about whatever else we are talking about
not real in any sense
not in any real sense at all madam
We are incessantly talking about something unreal
so that we can tolerate it
put up with it
because we have made our existence into an entertainment mechanism
into nothing but a shabby entertainment mechanism
into an artificial natural catastrophe madam
GENERAL motionless, staring at the floor with his
legs stretched out, echoing the writer
An artificial natural catastrophe
WRITER
When we wake up
we observe
that we are suffering
from a weakness of will
because we are basically composed of nothing
but death
we perceive a bearable life
Perceptions madams
we perceive
But the truth is spoken only by the deceased
When I’m in the general’s company
I enjoy hearing some talk about weaponry
especially about ballistics
but he gets stuck on a philosophical subject
In such a situation
no conversation can take place
He wants to talk about literature
about Heinrich von Kleist for example
but I
don’t like talking about it
I’m interested in military science
but he asks me
about my comedy
in this way your husband and I
encounter difficulties immediately
Soon we stop talking completely
Then your husband ends up saying
I’m observing things
This kind of observation madam
Which gradually irritates everybody
The general rises, goes to the record
player, puts on a record of the “Haffner” Symphony and returns to his seat,
then resumes his previous posture. Very soft music
The concept of guilt is nonsensical madam
If we’re afraid
of description
this is nonsensical
We stage a play for ourselves
a play in which a general is one of the main characters
and this general has a terminal illness
in Stalingrad they tore his left arm off
And one fine day he goes into the forest
and injures himself with his chainsaw
and at the same time he’s diagnosed
with cataracts
And there are also two cabinet ministers madam
who are forcing the general to retire
I imagine I’m watching a hunt
a hunting party
at one of our finest hunting lodges
in a forest completely cut off from the outside world
A privately owned forest just imagine it
Two well-dressed gentlemen are invited to the hunt by the general
and so is a prince
sitting beside the general
the princess
as charming as she is silent
And possibly madam
I take the liberty of letting the bark-beetle be mentioned
Whatever is described gentlemen
is something different
just as whatever is observed is already something different
Everything is different
possibly a philosophy
the general would say
When a one-armed general figures in one of my plays
it’s somebody else
And perhaps madam people will say
I myself am a character in my plays
But it’s somebody else
GENERAL’S WIFE referring to the general
When one is under such enormous strain
as my husband is
such enormous strain
such an important position I’ll have you know
in an age of overwhelming ruthlessness
fills her glass, then the
others’
I’ve had a go at learning foreign languages
foreign languages
at studying the natural sciences
spills wine, knocks over a
glass, sets it upright again
At teaching myself foreign languages
WRITER
Every human being is imprisoned in
besotted with
his misfortune
I now know everything about the bark beetle
And about cataracts madam
GENERAL’S WIFE looking through the window
Clear
Clear and cold
WRITER
It’s a clear night
Everyone is looking out through
the window; only the general has not changed his posture
PRINCESS after a pause and while looking out through
the window longer than the others
Lovely
WRITER
And wipe away everything
everything
Nip everything in the bud
wipe away
sciences
friendships
kinships
wipe them away
Thus for two years I preoccupied myself
with wiping away everything
with simply wiping away every budding thing
GENERAL’S WIFE still gazing through the window
Cold and clear
WRITER pulls his Lermontov out of his waistcoat,
opens the book and reads aloud from it:2
The events of that evening produced a somewhat deep
impression upon me
and excited my nerves
I do not know for certain
whether I now
believe in predestination or not
but on that evening I believed in it firmly
The proof was startling
and I notwithstanding that I had laughed at our forefathers and their
obliging astrology fell involuntarily
into their way of thinking
However I stopped myself in time from
following that dangerous road
and as I have made it a rule
not to reject anything decisively
and not to trust anything blindly I cast metaphysics aside
and began to look at what was beneath my feet
The precaution was well-timed
I only just escaped stumbling
over something thick and soft
but to all appearance inanimate
I bent down to see what it was
and by the light of the moon which now shone right upon the road
I perceived that it was a pig
which had been cut in two with a sabre
slams the book shut, pours
himself some wine; as he is pouring, everybody else apart from the general
suddenly bursts out laughing; as the laughter continues the writer starts
laughing as well
Lermontov
to the ministers
Lermontov gentlemen
the general rises and goes into
the next room; no sooner has he done so than everybody else bursts out laughing
again
Parentage
Origins
Ancestry
wipe everything away
do you understand
wipe everything away
emphasizing what he is saying
with his right hand
away
away
away
One must liberate oneself
Then all of a sudden
as a natural matter of course this force weakens
Old age do you understand
People sell themselves
safeguard themselves
be it through a scientific discipline
a party
a form of art
everybody suddenly seeks refuge
all of a sudden they convert to Catholicism
or reconvert to Catholicism
to avoid going insane
To persevere in this state of insecurity
of fathomlessness
of licentiousness madam
that’s the thing
to speak this unintelligible language
this single valid unintelligible language
to put up a fight against making oneself intelligible
with a motion of her hand the
general’s wife knocks over a glass; leaving the glass knocked over, she pours
herself more wine into a new one
Because we have given up
we are human
referring to the general
In recent days
he’s been reminiscing about Paulus
who on the eve of his capture
was appointed field marshal general
because Hitler believed
he would kill himself
but even Paulus preferred life
to immortality
GENERAL’S WIFE
Every time he goes into the forest
and he comes across an animal that’s frozen to death
he thinks of the soldiers who froze to death
WRITER
Of the thousands and hundreds of thousands of them
Nothing but frozen corpses madam
How fascinating it was to hear
what I heard tell of then
he says
and straight-away
all those faces
I see a limb on the ground
I think it’s an arm
a foot
the head
of a dead man
to the ministers
if you observe the general attentively
it is slowly getting lighter
outside
you will realize
that he hasn’t got the slightest hint
of resignation in him
And listen
a general at sixty
to the general’s wife
The thing that made the deepest impression on me
to the ministers
and that expresses his keen intelligence
with extraordinarily unusual clarity
is the chapter
in which the general describes his last meeting
with Field Marshall General Paulus
He has an eye for the dead
because of course death in general
plays an enormous role in his work
he is peculiarly preoccupied with death
profoundly so
His description of the frozen corpses
is in my opinion the most unusual and compelling
vision of death there has ever been
a shot rings out from the next
room
The general’s wife jumps up; everybody else rises, looks at
the door of the next room. The prince
goes to the door and opens it. Everybody
looks in at the corpse of the general lying in the next room
Enter Asamer and the cook
The writer stops the record
player
GENERAL’S WIFE to the cook
Bring the wash basin
quickly
the wash basin
Silence
the sound of saws and axes being
employed in felling the forest begins and becomes ever more intense, ever
louder
WRITER
Listen madam
listen
GENERAL’S WIFE
The woodcutters
WRITER
How well they’re working
The End
Author’s Note on The Hunting Party
With the exception
of the general, who is to wear a general’s uniform, and the writer, all the characters
are to be attired in hunting outfits.
The play is in three movements; the last movement is the “slow
movement.”
Th.B.
Translator’s Notes:
1. In a revision made on May 7, 2018, FIRST MINISTER
and SECOND MINISTER replace PRIME MINISTER and DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, which are
of course both untenable in the light of the general’s reference to a chancellor, although I still like to
think of this play as taking place in some country that is not identical to
Austria or any other extant German-speaking country in every respect (yes,
despite the references to Vienna, the Battle of Stalingrad, etc.).
2. Here instead of Englishing Bernhard’s German or
Lermontov’s Russian I insert the corresponding passage from J.H. Wisdom Marr
Murray’s 1916 translation of A Hero of Our Time.
3.
Siebzehnundvier in the original.
Those who find blackjack too
evocative of Las Vegas may silently substitute twenty-one.
4. “Ignore” is my own indisputably disputable guess
at the verb the writer has in mind before he trails off (or has his train of
thought interrupted by the gunshots).
English word order, in contrast to German, requires this verb to be
supplied.
THE END
Translation unauthorized but Copyright ©2018 by Douglas Robertson
Source:
Thomas Bernhard, Stücke 1 (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1988), pp.
172-249.
The
authorized translation is by Gitta Honegger and was published in Vol. 5, No. 1 of Performing Arts Journal
in 1980.
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