Peter Grimes

Responsief blok lib/tran/syn

Peter Grimes Libretto

PROLOGUE(Interior of the Moot Hall, arranged as for Coroner's

PROLOGUEInquest. Coroner, Mr. Swallow, at table on dais, clerk

PROLOGUEat table below. A crowd of townspeople in the body of

PROLOGUEthe hall is kept back by Hobson acting as Constable.

PROLOGUEMr. Swallow is the leading lawyer of the Borough and

PROLOGUEat the same time its Mayor and its Coroner. A man of

PROLOGUEunexceptionable career and talents, he nevertheless

PROLOGUEdisturbs the burgesses by his air of a man with an

PROLOGUEarrière pensée)

shouts

HOBSONPeter Grimes!

Peter Grimes steps forward from among the crowd.

reading

SWALLOWPeter Grimes, we are here to investigate

SWALLOWthe cause of death of your apprentice William Spode,

SWALLOWwhose body you brought ashore from your boat,

SWALLOW"The Boy Billy", on the 26th ultimo.

SWALLOWDo you wish to give evidence?

Peter nods.

SWALLOWWill you step into the box. Peter Grimes.

Take the oath.

SWALLOWAfter me. "I swear by Almighty God"

PETER"I swear by Almighty God"

SWALLOW"That the evidence I shall give"

PETER"That the evidence I shall give"

SWALLOW"Shall be the truth"

PETER"Shall be the truth"

SWALLOW"The whole truth and nothing but the truth."

PETER"The whole truth and nothing but the truth."

SWALLOWTell the court the story in your own words.

Peter is silent.

SWALLOWYou sailed your boat round the coast

SWALLOWwith the intention of putting in at London.

SWALLOWWhy did you do this?

PETERWe'd caught a huge catch,

PETERtoo big to sell here.

SWALLOWAnd the boy died on the way?

PETERThe wind turned against us, blew us off our course.

PETERWe ran out of drinking water.

SWALLOWHow long were you at sea?

PETERThree days.

SWALLOWWhat happened next?

PETERHe died lying there among the fish.

SWALLOWWhat did you do?

PETERThrew them all overboard, set sail for home.

SWALLOWYou mean you threw the fish overboard?...

SWALLOWWhen you landed did you call for help?

PETERI called Ned Keene.

SWALLOWThe apothecary here?

indicates Ned

SWALLOWWas there anybody else called?

PETERSomebody brought the parson.

SWALLOWYou mean the Rector, Mr. Horace Adams?

SWALLOW(The Rector steps forward.

SWALLOWSwallow waves him back.)

SWALLOWAll right, Mr. Adams.

He turns back to Peter.

SWALLOWWas there a certain amount of excitement?

Bob Boles started shouting.

SWALLOWThere was a scene in the village street

SWALLOWfrom which you were rescued by our landlady?

PETERYes. By Auntie.

SWALLOWWe don't call her that here...

SWALLOWYou then took to abusing a respectable lady.

Peter glares.

SWALLOWAnswer me... You shouted abuse at a certain person?

SWALLOW(Mrs. Sedley pushes forward. Mrs. Sedley is the widow

SWALLOWof a retired factor of the East India Company and is

SWALLOWknown locally as 'Mrs. Nabob'. She is 65, self-assertive,

SWALLOWinquisitive, unpopular.)

MRS. SEDLEYSay who! Say who!!

SWALLOWMrs. Sedley here.

fiercely

PETERI don't like interferers.

PETER(A slight hubbub among the spectators resolves itself

PETERinto a chorus which is more like the confused muttering

PETERof a crowd than something fully articulate.)

CHORUSWhen women gossip the result

CHORUSIs someone doesn't sleep at night.

shouting

HOBSONSilence!

SWALLOWNow tell me this.

SWALLOWWho helped you carry the boy home?

SWALLOWThe schoolmistress, the widow, Mrs. Ellen Orford?

Renewed hubbub. Ellen steps forward to Swallow.

WOMEN'S CHORUSO when you pray you shut your eyes

WOMEN'S CHORUSAnd then can't tell the truth from lies.

shouts

HOBSONSilence!

SWALLOWMrs. Orford, as the schoolmistress, the widow,

SWALLOWhow did you come into this?

ELLENI did what I could to help.

SWALLOWWhy should you help this kind of fellow - callous,

SWALLOWbrutal, and coarse?

to Grimes

SWALLOWThere's something here perhaps in your favour.

SWALLOWI' m told you rescued the boy from drowning

SWALLOWin the March storms.

Peter is silent.

SWALLOWHave you something else to say?

SWALLOWNo? - Then I have.

SWALLOWPeter Grimes, I here advise you -

SWALLOWdo not get another boy apprentice.

SWALLOWGet a fisherman to

help you - big enough to stand up for himself.

SWALLOWOur verdict is - that William Spode, your apprentice,

SWALLOWdied in accidental circumstances. But that's the kind

SWALLOWof thing people are apt to remember.

CHORUSBut when the crowner sits upon it,

CHORUSWho can dare to fix the guilt?

shouts

HOBSONSilence! Silence!

Peter has stepped forward and is trying to speak.

PETERYour honour! Like every other fisherman

PETERI have to hire an apprentice. I must have help -

SWALLOWThen get a woman help you look after him.

PETERThat's what I want - but not yet -

SWALLOWWhy not?

PETERNot till I've stopped people's mouths.

The hubbub begins again.

makes a gesture of dismissal

SWALLOWStand down! Clear the court. Stand down!

PETER"Stand down" you say. You wash your hands.

PETERThe case goes on in people's minds

PETERThe charges that no court has made

PETERWill be shouted at my head.

PETERThen let me speak, let me stand trial,

PETERBring the accusers into the hall.

PETERLet me thrust into their mouths,

PETERThe truth itself, the simple truth.

He shouts this excitedly against the hubbub chorus.

CHORUSWhen women gossip, the result

CHORUSIs someone doesn't sleep at night.

CHORUSBut when the crowner sits upon it,

CHORUSWho can dare to fix the guilt?

Against them all Constable Hobson shouts his:

HOBSONClear the court!

(Swallow rises with slow dignity. Everybody stands up

while he makes his ceremonial exit. The crowd then

HOBSONbegins to go out. Peter and Ellen are left alone.)

PETERThe truth - the pity - and the truth.

ELLENPeter, come away!

PETERWhere the walls themselves

PETERGossip of inquest.

ELLENBut we'll gossip, too,

ELLENAnd talk and rest.

PETERWhile Peeping Toms

PETERNod as you go.

PETERYou'll share the name

PETEROf outlaw, too.

ELLENPeter, we shall restore your name.

ELLENWarmed by the new esteem

ELLENThat you will find.

PETERUntil the Borough hate

PETERPoisons your mind.

ELLENThere'll be new shoals to catch:

ELLENLife will be kind.

PETERAy! only of drowning ghosts:

PETERTime will not forget:

PETERThe dead are witness

PETERAnd fate is blind.

ELLENUnclouded,

ELLENThe hot sun

ELLENWill spread his rays around.

BOTHMy/Your voice out of the pain,

BOTHIs like a hand

BOTHThat you/I can feel and know:

BOTHHere is a friend.

They walk off slowly as the curtain falls.

BOTHInterlude 1

BOTHDawn

SYSTEMACT I

SYSTEMScene 1

BOTH(Street by the sea: Moot Hall exterior with its outside

BOTHstaircase, next door to which is "The Boar". Ned

BOTHKeene's apothecary's shop is at the street corner.

BOTHOn the other side breakwaters run down to the sea. It

BOTHis morning, before high tide, several days later. Two

fishermen are turning the capstan, hauling in their

BOTHboat. Prolonged cries as the boat is hauled ashore.

Women come from mending nets to take the fish baskets

BOTHfrom other fishermen who now disembark. Captain

BOTHBalstrode sits on the breakwater looking out to sea

BOTHthrough his glass. Balstrode is a retired merchant sea

BOTHcaptain, shrewd as a travelled man should be, but with

BOTHa general sympathy that makes him the favourite rentier

BOTHof the whole Borough. He chews a plug of tobacco

BOTHwhile he watches)

CHORUS OF FISHERMEN AND WOMENOh hang at open doors the net, the cork,

CHORUS OF FISHERMEN AND WOMENWhile squalid sea-dames at their mending work

CHORUS OF FISHERMEN AND WOMENWelcome the hour when fishing through the tide

The weary husband throws his freight aside.

FISHERMENO cold and wet and driven by the tide,

FISHERMENBeat your tired arms against your tarry side.

FISHERMENFind rest in public bars where fiery gin

FISHERMENWill aid the warmth that languishes within.

FISHERMEN(Several fishermen cross to "The Boar" where

FISHERMENAuntie stands in the doorway.)

FISHERMANAuntie!

AUNTIECome in gentlemen, come in.

BOLESHer vats flow with poisoned gin!

(Boles the Methodist fisherman stands aside

BOLESfrom all this dram drinking.)

FISHERMANBoles has gone Methody!

Points and laughs.

AUNTIEA man should have

AUNTIEHobbies to cheer his private life.

AUNTIE(Fishermen go into "The Boar". Others remain

AUNTIEwith their wives at the nets and boats.)

WOMENDabbling on shore half-naked sea-boys crowd,

WOMENSwim round a ship, or swing upon a shroud

WOMENOr in a boat purloined with paddles play

WOMENAnd grow familiar with the watery way.

WOMEN(While the second boat is being hauled in,

WOMENboys are scrambling over the first.)

BALSTRODEShoo, you little barnacles!

BALSTRODEUp your anchors, hoist your sails!

BALSTRODE(Balstrode chases them from the boat. A more

BALSTRODErespectable figure now begins, with much hat-raising,

BALSTRODEhis morning progress down the High Street. He makes

BALSTRODEstraight for "The Boar".)

touches cap

FISHERMANDr. Crabbe.

points as the swing door closes

BOLESHe drinks "Good Health" to all diseases!

BOLESAnother FISHERMAN

BOLESStorm?

FISHERMENStorm?

They shade their eyes looking out to sea.

glass to his eye

BALSTRODEA long way out. Sea horses.

BALSTRODEThe wind is holding back the tide.

BALSTRODEIf it veers round, watch for your lives.

CHORUS OF FISHERSAnd if the spring tide eats the land again

CHORUS OF FISHERSTill even the cottages and cobbled walls of fishermen

CHORUS OF FISHERSAre billets for the thievish waves which take

CHORUS OF FISHERSAs if in sleep, thieving for thieving's sake -

CHORUS OF FISHERS(The Rector comes down the High Street. He is

CHORUS OF FISHERSfollowed as always by the Borough's second most

CHORUS OF FISHERSfamous rentier, the widow, Mrs. (Nabob) Sedley. From

CHORUS OF FISHERS"The Boar" come the two 'nieces' who give Auntie her

CHORUS OF FISHERSnickname. They stand in front of the pub taking the

CHORUS OF FISHERSmorning sun. Ned Keene, seeing Mrs. Sedley, pops out

CHORUS OF FISHERSof his shop door.)

right and left

RECTORGood morning, good morning!

NIECESGood morning!

MRS. SEDLEYGood morning, dear Rector.

NEDHad Auntie no nieces we'd never respect her.

SWALLOWGood morning! Good morning!

NIECESGood morning!

MRS. SEDLEYGood morning, your worship, Mr. Swallow.

to Keene

AUNTIEYou jeer, but if they wink you're eager to follow!

AUNTIE(The Rector and Mrs. Sedley continue towards

AUNTIEthe church.)

shouts across to Auntie

NEDI'm coming tonight to see your nieces.

dignified

AUNTIEThe Boar is at its patron's service.

BOLESGod's storm will drown your hot desires!

BALSTRODEGod stay the tide, or I shall share your fears.

CHORUSFor us sea-dwellers, this sea-birth can be

CHORUSDeath to our gardens of fertility.

CHORUSYet only such contemptuous springtide can

CHORUSTickle the virile impotence of man.

calls off

PETERHi! Give us a hand!

Chorus stops.

PETERHaul the boat!

shouts back

BOLESHaul it yourself, Grimes!

off

PETERHi! Somebody bring the rope!

(Nobody does. Presently he appears and takes the

PETERcapstan rope himself and pulls it after him [off] to the

boat. Then he returns. The fishermen and women turn

PETERtheir backs on him and slouch away awkwardly.)

going to capstan

I'll give a hand, the tide is near the turn.

Going to capstan.

NEDWe'll drown the gossips in a tidal storm.

NED(Peter Grimes goes back to the boat. Balstrode

and Keene turn the capstan.)

at the door of the Boar

AUNTIEParsons may moralise and fools decide,

AUNTIEBut a good publican takes neither side.

BALSTRODEO haul away! The tide is near the turn.

NEDMan invented morals but tides have none.

with arms akimbo watches their labour

BOLESThis lost soul of a fisherman must be

BOLESShunned by respectable society.

BOLESOh let the captains hear, let the scholars learn:

BOLESShielding the sin, they share the people's scorn.

AUNTIEI have my business.

AUNTIELet the preachers learn:

AUNTIEHell may be fiery

AUNTIEbut the pub won't burn.

The tide that floods will ebb, the tide, the tide will turn.

The boat is hauled up. Grimes appears.

NEDGrimes, you won't need help from now.

NEDI've got a prentice for you.

BALSTRODEA workhouse brat?

NEDI called at the workhouse yesterday.

NEDAll you do now is fetch the boy.

NEDWe'll send the carter with a note.

NEDHe'll bring your bargain on his cart.

shouts

NEDJim Hobson, we've a job for you.

enters

HOBSONCart's full sir. More than I can do.

NEDListen, Jim. You'll go to the workhouse

NEDAnd ask for Mr. Keene his purchase.

NEDBring him back to Grimes.

HOBSONCart's full sir. I have no room.

NEDHobson, you'll do what there is to be done.

NED(It is near enough to an argument to attract

NEDa crowd. Fishermen and women gather

round. Boles takes his chance.)

BOLESIs this a Christian country?

BOLESAre pauper children so enslaved

BOLESThat their bodies go for cash?

NEDHobson, will you do your job?

NED(Ellen Orford has come in. She is a widow of about 40.

NEDHer children have died, or grown up and gone away,

NEDand in her loneliness she has become the Borough

NEDschoolmistress. A hard life has not hardened her. It

NEDhas made her the more charitable.)

HOBSONI have to go from pub to pub

HOBSONPicking up parcels, standing about.

HOBSONMy journey back is late at night.

HOBSONMister, find some other way

HOBSONTo bring your boy back.

CHORUSHe's right. Dirty jobs!

HOBSONMister, find some other way...

ELLENCarter! I'll mind your passenger.

CHORUSWhat! And be Grimes's messenger? You?

ELLENWhatever you say, I'm not ashamed.

ELLENSomebody must do the job.

ELLENThe carter goes from pub to pub,

ELLENPicking up parcels, standing about.

ELLENThe boy needs comfort late at night,

ELLENHe needs a welcome on the road,

ELLENComing here strange he'll be afraid.

ELLENI'll mind your passenger!

NEDMrs. Orford is talking sense.

CHORUSEllen - you're leading us a dance,

CHORUSFetching boys of Peter Grimes,

CHORUSBecause the Borough is afraid

CHORUSYou who help will share the blame.

ELLENWhatever you say…

ELLENLet her among you without fault

ELLENCast the first stone

ELLENAnd let the Pharisees and Sadducees

ELLENGive way to none.

ELLENBut whosoever feels his pride

ELLENHumbled so deep

There is no corner he can hide

ELLENEven in sleep!

ELLENWill have no trouble to find out

ELLENHow a poor teacher

ELLENWidowed and lonely finds delight

ELLENIn shouldering care.

as she moves up the street

ELLENMr. Hobson, where's your cart?

ELLENI'm ready.

HOBSONUp here, ma'am. I can wait.

HOBSON(The crowd stands round and watches.

HOBSONSome follow Ellen and Hobson. On the

HOBSONedge of the crowd are other activities.)

whispers to Ned

MRS. SEDLEYHave you my pills?

NEDI'm sorry, ma'am.

MRS. SEDLEYMy sleeping draught?

NEDThe laudanum

NEDIs out of stock, and being brought

NEDBy Mr. Carrier Hobson's cart.

NEDHe's back tonight.

MRS. SEDLEYGood Lord, good Lord -

NEDMeet us both at this pub, "The Boar"

NEDAuntie's we call it. It's quite safe.

MRS. SEDLEYI've never been in a pub in my life.

NEDYou'll come?

MRS. SEDLEYAll right.

NEDTonight?

MRS. SEDLEYAll right.

She moves off up the street.

NEDIf the old dear takes much more laudanum

NEDShe'll land herself one day in Bedlam!

looks seaward through his glass

BALSTRODELook! The storm cone!

BALSTRODEThe wind veers

BALSTRODEIn from the sea

BALSTRODEAt gale force.

CHORUSLook out for squalls!

CHORUSThe wind veers

CHORUSIn from the sea

CHORUSAt gale force.

CHORUSMake your boat fast!

CHORUSShutter your windows!

CHORUSAnd bring in all the nets!

ALLNow the flood tide

ALLAnd the sea-horses

ALLWill gallop over

ALLThe eroded coast

ALLFlooding, flooding

ALLOur seasonal fears.

ALLLook! The storm cone

ALLThe wind veers.

ALLA high tide coming

ALLWill eat the land

ALLA tide no breakwaters can withstand.

ALLFasten your boats. The springtide's here

ALLWith a gale behind.

CHORUSIs there much to fear?

NEDOnly for the goods you're rich in:

NEDIt won't drown your conscience,

NEDit might flood your kitchen.

passionately

BOLESGod has his ways which are not ours:

BOLESHis high tide swallows up the shores.

BOLESRepent!

NEDAnd keep your wife upstairs.

ALLO Tide that waits for no man

ALLSpare our coasts!

(There is a general exeunt - mostly through the swing

ALLdoors of "The Boar". Dr. Crabbe's hat blows away, is

ALLrescued for him by Ned Keene, who bows him into the

ALLpub. Finally only Peter and Balstrode are left, Peter

ALLgazing seaward, Balstrode hesitating at the pub door.)

BALSTRODEAnd do you prefer the storm

BALSTRODETo Auntie's parlour and the rum?

PETERI live alone. The habit grows.

BALSTRODEGrimes, since you're a lonely soul

BALSTRODEBorn to blocks and spars and ropes

BALSTRODEWhy not try the wider sea

BALSTRODEWith merchantman or privateer?

PETERI am native, rooted here.

BALSTRODERooted by what?

PETERBy familiar fields,

PETERMarsh and sand,

PETEROrdinary streets,

PETERPrevailing wind.

BALSTRODEYou'd slip these moorings if you had the mind.

PETERBy the shut faces

PETEROf the Borough clans;

PETERAnd by the kindness

PETEROf a casual glance.

BALSTRODEYou'll find no comfort there.

BALSTRODEWhen an urchin's quarrelsome

BALSTRODEBrawling at his little games,

BALSTRODEMother stops him with a threat,

BALSTRODE"You'll be sold to Peter Grimes!"

PETERSelling me new apprentices,

PETERChildren taught to be ashamed

PETEROf the legend on their faces -

PETER"You've been sold to Peter Grimes!"

BALSTRODEThen the Crowner sits to

BALSTRODEHint, but not to mention crimes,

BALSTRODEAnd publishes an open verdict

BALSTRODEWhispered about this "Peter Grimes".

BALSTRODEYour boy was workhouse starved -

BALSTRODEMaybe you're not to blame he died.

PETERPicture what that day was like

PETERThat evil day.

PETERWe strained into the wind

PETERHeavily laden,

PETERWe plunged into the wave's

PETERShuddering challenge

PETERThen the sea rose to a storm

PETEROver the gunwales,

PETERAnd the boy's silent reproach

PETERTurned to illness.

PETERThen home

PETERAmong fishing nets

PETERAlone, alone, alone

PETERWith a childish death!

BALSTRODEThis storm is useful. You can speak your mind

BALSTRODEAnd never mind the Borough commentary.

BALSTRODEThere is more grandeur in a gale of wind

BALSTRODETo free confession, set a conscience free.

PETERThey listen to money

PETERThese Borough gossips

PETERI have my visions

PETERFiery visions.

PETERThey call me dreamer

PETERThey scoff at my dreams

PETERAnd my ambition.

PETERBut I know a way

PETERTo answer the Borough

PETERI'll win them over.

BALSTRODEWith the new prentice?

PETERWe'll sail together.

PETERThese Borough gossips

PETERListen to money

PETEROnly to money:

PETERI'll fish the sea dry,

PETERSell the good catches-

PETERThat wealthy merchant

PETERGrimes will set up

PETERHousehold and shop

PETERYou will all see it!

PETERI'll marry Ellen!

BALSTRODEMan - go and ask her

BALSTRODEWithout your booty,

BALSTRODEShe'll have you now.

PETERNo - not for pity!...

BALSTRODEThen the old tragedy

BALSTRODEIs in store:

BALSTRODENew start with new prentice

BALSTRODEJust as before.

PETERWhat Peter Grimes decides

PETERIs his affair.

BALSTRODEYou fool, man, fool!

(The wind has risen. Balstrode is shouting

BALSTRODEabove it. Peter faces him angrily.)

PETERAre you my conscience?

BALSTRODEMight as well

Try shout the wind down as to tell

BALSTRODEThe obvious truth.

PETERTake your advice -

PETERPut it where your money is.

BALSTRODEThe storm is here. O come away.

PETERThe storm is here and I shall stay.

PETER(The storm is rising. Auntie comes out of "The Boar"

PETERto fasten the shutters, in front of the windows. -

PETERBalstrode goes to help her. - He looks back

PETERtowards Peter, then goes into the pub.)

PETERWhat harbour shelters peace?

PETERAway from tidal waves, away from storm

What harbour can embrace

PETERTerrors and tragedies?

PETERWith her there'll be no quarrels,

PETERWith her the mood will stay,

PETERA harbour evermore

PETERWhere night is turned to day.

(The wind rises. He stands a moment as if

PETERleaning against the wind. Curtain.)

PETERInterlude II

PETERStorm

SYSTEMScene 2

PETER(Interior of "The Boar", typical main room of a

PETERcountry pub. No bar. Upright settles, tables, log fire.

When the curtain rises Auntie is admitting Mrs. Sedley.

PETERThe gale has risen to hurricane force and Auntie holds

PETERthe door with difficulty against the wind which rattles

PETERthe windows and howls in the chimney. They both push

PETERthe door closed)

AUNTIEPast time to close!

MRS. SEDLEYHe said half-past ten.

AUNTIEWho?

MRS. SEDLEYMr. Keene.

AUNTIEHim and his women!

MRS. SEDLEYYou referring to me?

AUNTIENot at all, not at all.

AUNTIEWhat do you want?

MRS. SEDLEYRoom from the storm.

That is the sort of weak politeness

AUNTIEMakes a publican lose her clients.

AUNTIEKeep in the corner out of sight.

(Balstrode and a Fisherman enter. They struggle

AUNTIEwith the door.)

BALSTRODEPhew, that's a bitch of a gale all right.

nods her head towards Mrs. Sedley

AUNTIESh-h-h.

BALSTRODESorry. I didn't see you, missis.

You'll give the regulars a surprise.

AUNTIEShe's meeting Ned.

BALSTRODEWhich Ned?

AUNTIEThe quack.

AUNTIEHe's looking after her heart attack.

BALSTRODEBring us a pint.

AUNTIEIt's closing time.

BALSTRODEYou fearful old female -

BALSTRODEwhy should you mind?

AUNTIEThe storm!

(Bob Boles and other fishermen enter. The wind howls

AUNTIEthrough the door and again there is difficulty in closing

AUNTIEit.)

BOLESDid you hear the tide

BOLESHas broken over the Northern Road?

(He leaves the door open too long with disastrous

BOLESconsequences. A sudden gust howls through the door,

BOLESthe shutters of the window fly open, a plane blows in.)

shouts

BALSTRODEGet those shutters.

screams

AUNTIEO-o-o-o-o!

BALSTRODEYou fearful old female, why do you

BALSTRODELeave your windows naked?

AUNTIEO-o-o-o-o!

BALSTRODEBetter strip a niece or two

BALSTRODEAnd clamp your shutters!

BALSTRODE(The two 'nieces' run in. They are young, pretty enough

BALSTRODEthough a little worn, conscious that they are the chief

BALSTRODEattractions of "The Boar". At the moment they are in

BALSTRODEmild hysterics, having run downstairs in their night

BALSTRODEclothes, though with their unusual instinct for

BALSTRODEprecaution they have found time to don each a wrap.

BALSTRODEIt is not clear whether they are sisters, friends or simply

BALSTRODEcolleagues: but they behave like twins, as though each

BALSTRODEhas only half a personality and they cling together

BALSTRODEalways to sustain their self-esteem.)

NIECESOo! Oo!

NIECESIt's blown our bedroom windows in.

NIECESOo! we'll all be drowned.

BALSTRODEPerhaps in gin.

NIECESI wouldn't mind if it didn't howl.

NIECESIt gets on my nerves.

BALSTRODED'you think we

BALSTRODEShould stop our storm for such as you -

BALSTRODEComing all over palpitations!

BALSTRODE"Oo! Oo!"

BALSTRODEAuntie, get some new relations.

takes it ill

AUNTIELoud man, I never did have time

AUNTIEFor the kind of creature who spits in his wine.

AUNTIEA joke's a joke and fun is fun,

AUNTIEBut say your grace and be polite for all

AUNTIEthat we have done.

NIECESFor his peace of mind.

MRS. SEDLEYThis is no place for me!

AUNTIELoud man, you're glad enough to be

AUNTIEPlaying your cards in our company.

AUNTIEA joke's a joke and fun is fun,

AUNTIEBut say your grace and be polite for all

AUNTIEthat we have done.

NIECESFor his peace of mind.

MRS. SEDLEYThis is no place for me!

AUNTIELoud man!

AUNTIE(Some more fishermen and women come in.

AUNTIEUsual struggle with the door.)

FISHERMANThere's been a landslide up the coast.

rising unsteadily

BOLESI'm drunk. Drunk!

BALSTRODEYou're a Methody wastrel.

staggers to one of the nieces

BOLESIs this a niece of yours?

AUNTIEThat's so.

BOLESWho's her father?

AUNTIEWho wants to know?

BOLESI want to pay my best respects

BOLESTo the beauty and misery of her sex.

BALSTRODEOld Methody, you'd better tune

BALSTRODEYou piety to another hymn.

BOLESI want her!

BALSTRODESh-h-h.

cold

Turn that man out.

BALSTRODEHe's the local preacher.

BALSTRODEHe's lost the way of carrying liquor.

BALSTRODEHe means no harm.

BOLESNo, I mean love!

BALSTRODECome on, boy!

BALSTRODE(Boles hits him. Mrs. Sedley screams. Balstrode

BALSTRODEquietly overpowers Boles and sits him in a chair.)

BALSTRODEWe live and let live,

BALSTRODEAnd look we keep our hands to ourselves.

BALSTRODE(Boles struggles to his feet. Balstrode sits him

BALSTRODEdown again, laying the law down.)

BALSTRODEPub conversation should depend

BALSTRODEOn this eternal moral;

BALSTRODESo long as satire don't descend

BALSTRODETo fisticuff or quarrel.

BALSTRODEWe live and let live, and look

BALSTRODEWe keep our hands to ourselves.

BALSTRODE(And while Boles is being forced into

BALSTRODEhis chair again, the bystanders comment)

CHORUSWe live and let live, and look

CHORUSWe keep our hands to ourselves.

BALSTRODEWe sit and drink the evening through

BALSTRODENot deigning to devote a

BALSTRODEThought to the daily cud we chew

BALSTRODEBut buying drinks by rota.

ALLWe live and let live, and look

ALLWe keep our hands to ourselves.

ALL(Door opens. The struggle with the wind is worse

ALLthan before as Ned Keene gets through.)

NEDHave you heard the cliff is down

NEDUp by Grimes's hut?

AUNTIEWhere is he?

MRS. SEDLEYThank God you've come!

NEDYou won't blow away.

MRS. SEDLEYThe carter's over half an hour late!

BALSTRODEHe'll be later still:

BALSTRODEthe road's under flood.

MRS. SEDLEYI can't stay longer. I refuse.

NEDYou'll have to stay if you want your pills.

MRS. SEDLEYWith drunken females and in brawls!

NEDThey're Auntie's nieces, that's what they are,

And better than you for kissing, ma.

NEDMind that door!

ALLMind that door!

ALL(The door opens again. Peter Grimes has come in.

ALLUnlike the rest he wears no oilskins. His hair looks

ALLwild. He advances into the room, shaking off the

ALLraindrops from his hair. Mrs. Sedley faints.

ed Keene catches her as she falls.)

NEDGet the brandy, aunt.

AUNTIEWho'll pay?

NEDHer. I'll charge her for it.

As Peter moves forward the others shrink back.

CHORUSTalk of the devil and there he is

CHORUSA devil he is, and a devil he is.

CHORUSGrimes is waiting his apprentice.

NEDThis widow's as strong as any two

NEDFishermen I have met.

NEDEverybody's very quiet!

NED(No-one answers. Silence is broken by Peter,

NEDas if thinking aloud.)

PETERNow the great Bear and Pleiades

PETERwhere earth moves

Are drawing up the clouds

PETERof human grief

PETERBreathing solemnity in the deep night.

PETERWho can decipher

PETERIn storm or starlight

PETERThe written character

PETERof a friendly fate -

PETERAs the sky turns, the world for us to change?

PETERBut if the horoscope's

PETERbewildering

PETERLike a flashing turmoil

PETERof a shoal of herring,

PETERWho can turn skies back and begin again?

Silence again. Then muttering in undertones.

CHORUSHe's mad or drunk.

CHORUSWhy's that man here?

NIECESHis song alone would sour the beer.

CHORUSHis temper's up.

CHORUSO chuck him out.

NIECESI wouldn't mind if he didn't howl.

CHORUSHe looks as though he's nearly drowned.

staggers up to Grimes

BOLESYou've sold your soul, Grimes.

BALSTRODECome away.

BOLESSatan's got no hold on me.

Leave him alone, you drunkard.

Goes to get hold of Boles.

BOLESI'll hold the gospel light before

BOLESThe cataract that blinds his eyes.

as the drunk stumbles up to him

PETERGet out.

Grimes thrusts Boles aside roughly and turns away.

BOLESHis exercise

BOLESIs not with men but killing boys.

(Boles picks up a bottle and is about to bring it down

BOLESon Grimes's head when Balstrode knocks it out of his

BOLEShand and it crashes in fragments on the floor.)

AUNTIEFor God's sake, help me keep the peace.

AUNTIED'you want me up at the next Assize?

BALSTRODEFor peace sake, someone start a song.

Keene starts a round.

AUNTIEThat's right, Ned!

The round is

ALLOld Joe has gone fishing and

ALLYoung Joe has gone fishing and

ALLYou Know has gone fishing and

ALLFound them a shoal.

ALLPull them in handfuls,

ALLAnd in canfuls,

ALLAnd in panfuls

ALLBring them in sweetly,

ALLGut them completely,

ALLPack them up neatly,

ALLSell them discretely,

ALLOh, haul a-way.

Peter comes into the round: the others stop.

PETERWhen I had gone fishing

PETERWhen he had gone fishing

PETERWhen You Know's gone fishing

PETERWe found us Davy Jones.

PETERBring him in with horror!

PETERBring him in with terror!

PETERAnd bring him in with sorrow!

PETEROh, haul a-way.

PETER(This breaks the round, but the others recover in a

PETERrepeat. At the climax of the round the door opens

PETERto admit Ellen Orford, the boy and the carrier. All

PETERthree are soaking, muddy and bedraggled.)

HOBSONThe bridge is down,

HOBSONwe half swam over.

NEDAnd your cart? Is it seaworthy?

NED(The women go to Ellen and the boy. Auntie

NEDfusses over them. Boles reproaches.)

ELLENWe're chilled to the bone.

to Ellen

BOLESServes you right, woman.

AUNTIEMy dear

AUNTIEThere's brandy and hot water to spare.

Let's look at the boy.

rising

ELLENLet him be.

admiring

NIECESNice sweet thing.

protecting him

ELLENNot for such as you.

PETERLet's go. You ready?

AUNTIELet them warm up

AUNTIEThey've been half drowned.

PETERTime to get off.

AUNTIEYour hut's washed away.

PETEROnly the cliff.

PETERYoung prentice, come.

The Boy hesitates, Ellen leads him to Peter.

ELLENGoodbye, my dear, God bless you.

ELLENPeter will take you home.

ALLHome? Do you call that home?

(Peter takes the boy out the door into the howling

ALLstorm. Curtain.)