Rome (Prologues and Act One)

A comedy performed in the Council Hall by the company called "the Pomet Players."

THE CHARACTERS

Long Nose, a necromancer (in the prologue). Uncle Maroje, a merchant of Dubrovnik. Maro, his son. Bokčilo, Maroje's servant, who kept his wine tavern. Popiva, Maro's servant. Pera, Maro's betrothed, dressed as a boy. Dživo, her first cousin. Pera's old nurse. Laura, known as Mande from Krk, a courtesan. Petrunjela, her maid. Ugo, a German. Pomet Trpeza, Ugo's servant. Tripčeta, from Kotor. Dživulin, from the island of Lopud. Niko, Pijero and Vlaho, young men of Dubrovnik. Mazija, the courier. Pavo of Novo Brdo, a friend of Maroje's, and Grubiša, his son. Gulisav, a Croat. Sadi, a Jew. Gianpaulo, a banker. Lessandro, a Roman merchant. Camillo, a Roman. The captain of the watch and his constables. Two Roman innkeepers.

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LONG NOSE, A NECROMANCER, SPEAKS

LONG NOSE: I, Long Nose, necromancer of the Great Indies, wish a good day, a peaceful night and a fat year to the bright and mighty lords of Dubrovnik, and I greet this old people, men and women, old and young, a people that lives with peace at home and watches war from afar.

Since I was last among you, I have traveled to the Great Indies, where donkeys, herons, frogs and monkeys speak with tongues; to the Little Indies, where tiny men fight wars with cranes; to the New Indies, where dogs are tied up with sausages. And by necromancy I reached the Old Indies, where no one else can go. There I found the true life: an eternal spring, fruit that no thorns guard and no greed keeps from anyone, for there the names "mine" and "yours" do not exist. Its people are gentle, quiet, wise and reasonable; they carry their hearts in front of their eyes, so that everyone can see their good thoughts. They are called people for real.

There, too, I saw little men of wood and stone, with the faces of monkeys, parrots and frogs, the legs of herons and the bodies of toads. Necromancers had once brought them there to trade for gold, and the women of that country laughed and said: "Make them live, and you shall have gold." And the necromancers, for greed, gave them breath. These people for show walked and talked and played the fool, and bred, until there were more of them than of real people; and when they plotted to take power, the real people drove them out. They came to our part of the world when good old Saturn died and the golden age ended; and ever since, the people for show have fought the people for real for mastery.

Now I take the padlocks off envious mouths, so that they may show themselves for what they are; and I shall show you Rome, and in Rome a comedy, with Uncle Maroje, Pomet and Grubiša, whom you liked before. The good will take it in good part; the faces of monkeys and toads will speak ill of everything, for nothing but evil can come out of evil mouths. Pay attention to the comedy!

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PROLOGUE

Noble and kindly gathering: since our ancestors set aside the carnival for merriment, the Pomet Players would not let it pass without some entertainment. This comedy continues our first comedy of Pomet: the first was played in Dubrovnik, this one in Rome, and you will watch it from Dubrovnik.

Here is the argument. Uncle Maroje gave his son Maro five thousand ducats, to go to Ancona, and from there to Florence to buy cloth; and if he did well, his father would make him his heir and marry him off. But first take a lesson from us: never put money into the hands of a young man until you have tried him, for youth is heedless and full of wind, and its wits reach no further than its eyes. From Ancona Maro did not go to Florence, but to Rome, and spent the ducats there; and Uncle Maroje, hearing of it, went off to Rome like a madman, with Bokčilo, his tavern-keeper. Several comedies like this have been played in earnest in your city, and ended in tragedy; not everyone has Uncle Maroje's luck. And Maro's betrothed, loving him and fearing to be abandoned, took three hundred ducats from her aunt's chest and set out for Rome with her cousin, dressed as his servant boy. Pay attention, and God be with you!

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ACT ONE

Scene 1

Rome. A street with three inns. Uncle Maroje and Bokčilo; then Tripčeta, from Kotor, and two innkeepers.

MAROJE: Oh, my old age, what have you brought me to! Wandering the world after a wastrel son! Five thousand ducats I put in a child's hands, like giving meat to a wolf to keep!

BOKČILO: God knows who's killing whom. My soul is leaving me from hunger and thirst, and you want to feed Bokčilo on your sorrows. What are ducats for, if not to eat and drink and make merry?

TRIPČETA (coming along): By Saint Tripun, you're our people! I'm from Kotor.

MAROJE: A neighbor! My soul came back to me when I heard you speak. My son, my wastrel son, has squandered five thousand ducats! I sent him to Ancona, to go on to Florence; and he went to Rome, to this delightful place. They tell me he's sunk it all in bad women.

TRIPČETA: If he's sunk it in Rome, wash your hands of it; the ship has broken on the rocks. You'll lose your son too.

MAROJE: Him? What do I care for him! It's the ducats I'm sorry for.

TRIPČETA: What's his name?

MAROJE: Maro.

TRIPČETA: Maro, amaro! Bitter for you, sweet for some courtesan. I know a young gentleman from Dubrovnik here, all in velvet with a chain round his neck, a lord, called Signor Marin, whose father's name is Maroje. And there's his sweetheart's house: the foremost courtesan in Rome.

MAROJE: Signor Marin! Now we call him Signor Marin! Signori are not my sons! Oh, my heart forebodes evil.

TRIPČETA: There are three inns here: "Misery," "Folly," and "Plenty." Signor Marin lodges at Plenty, of course.

MAROJE: He lodges at Plenty, and I'll lodge at Folly, for I was a fool to let money out of my hands.

The innkeepers call out their dishes; they go into the Folly inn.

Scenes 2–4

Ugo the German and his servant Pomet Trpeza at Laura's door. Laura shuts the window in their faces.

POMET (to the window): Signora Laura, I knew you when you were called Mande in Kotor! Not so proud! After sweet summer comes bitter winter.

Maroje, peering from the inn, mistakes Ugo for his son, and is relieved. Then Popiva, Maro's servant, comes along with a jeweler's case.

POPIVA: Pomet, once great, now small! The signora doesn't want your sweet words; she wants chains, gold, jewels! See this chain, this collar, this pendant? Three hundred ducats, and Maro, son of Maroje, is giving them all to Signora Laura.

Scenes 5–6

Maroje and Bokčilo listening from the inn.

MAROJE (aside): Maro, son of Maroje! L'è fatta, it's done!

POMET: Where are you, Uncle Maroje? Your ducats, earned with such sweat, how they're being spent! What Popiva can't drink himself, he makes others drink; what he can't ruin of his master, he gets Mande from Krk to ruin.

Maro comes out of Laura's house, in velvet, with a chain.

MARO: Pomet, if I see you hanging round this house again, I'll slash your face and run your German through the belly. Popiva, go to the goldsmith and fetch that diamond and that ruby. Two hundred ducats? I'll pay it. And buy pheasants and capons and a hot marzipan for supper at the signora's. Whoever wants signoras must keep his purse open.

MAROJE (aside): Keep his purse open! Let me get down there: I'll pull out all his hair!

TRIPČETA (holding him back): Misser, non in furia!

Maro goes back in. Pomet, alone, praises the German way of dining, platter after platter, and goes off to his master's table.

Scene 8

TRIPČETA: Wait until the boy comes out. Then take him gently by the hand and lead him off the bad road; if you frighten him, not all the hounds in Rome will catch him.

MAROJE: Well, I've put my anger aside. Do as you think best.

Scene 9

Dživo and Pera, dressed as a boy.

PERA: Don't call me Pera, Dživo; call me Petar. Oh, auntie, how badly you'll think of me! Three years, and not one letter from him; and now I find he's with bad women and has squandered everything. I'd rather throw myself into the sea than go back to the City without him.

Dživulin of Lopud, a sailor, passes and tells them he came over with an old man named Maroje, chasing his son Maro.

PERA: Master Maroje has come! If he finds me here, all the blame will fall on me!

DŽIVO: Don't worry; commend yourself to God. Come; I know what I'll do.

(End of Episode 1 — continued in Episode 2: The Father Disowned)