Man of La Mancha Read Online Free PDF Page A

throws up his hands
)
    ANTONIA    (
Voice forlorn, wistful
) Sansón. I had hoped for so much for us. For
you
, really. Everything was to be for you. My uncle’s house … his lands …
    PADRE    (
The devil’s advocate
) True, Doctor. In time they would all be yours. After all, if one is to serve science, one must have the means.
    DR. CARRASCO    (
Outraged
) Are you priest or pawnbroker?
    PADRE    (
Swiftly revising his approach
) What I meant was—consider the challenge.
    DR. CARRASCO Challenge?
    PADRE    Think what cleverness it would take to wean this man from madness. To turn him from his course and persuade him to return home.
    (CERVANTES
rises: clever approach
)
    DR. CARRASCO    (
Pondering
) Hmmm … that
is
a challenge.
    PADRE    Impossible.
    DR. CARRASCO    He can’t have gotten far?
    PADRE    No more than a day’s journey!
    DR. CARRASCO    Get ready, Padre. We shall go after him.
(
As they prepare to leave, the
DOCTOR
sings
)
    But as we go …
But as we go …
There is one thing that I want the world to know!
    PADRE    (
Singing, aside
)
    I feel, with pain,
That once again,
We now will hear a very often heard refrain.
    (
They sing in choru
s
)
DR. CARRASCO
PADRE
I’m only thinking of him—
He’s only thinking of him,
ANTONIA and HOUSEKEEPER
You’re only thinking of him—
He’s only thinking of him, just him.
    ANTONIA, HOUSEKEEPER AND DR. CARRASCO
    Whatever we may do or say,
We’re only thinking of him.
    In our bodies it’s well known
There is not one selfish bone …
ANTONIA, HOUSEKEEPER
and DR. CARRASCO
PADRE
  We’re only thinking and
      worrying about him!
  They’re only thinking and
      worrying about him!
    (
Lights dim out on them as
CERVANTES ,
isolated in his own light, steps forward
)
    CERVANTES    Let us return now to the inn. To the
kitchen
of the inn. A kitchen, ladies, if you please? Thank you. (
Taking the pots, sniffing as he places them
) Ah yes, tomorrow’s onion stew. Chicken tripes, with … pepper.Now then! As everyone knows, it is imperative that each knight shall have a lady—for a knight without a lady is like a body without a soul. To whom would he dedicate his conquests? What vision sustain him when he sallies forth to do battle with ogres and with giants? (
He points to the stage area where lights come up on
ALDONZA ,
seated in what is now the kitchen, gobbling her supper
. SANCHO
is seen approaching
. CERVANTES
hands him a sheet of paper
) Don Quixote, having discovered his lady, sends his faithful squire to her with a missive.
    (
The transition is complete;
CERVANTES
exits
)
    ALDONZA    (
To
SANCHO ,
suspiciously
) Missive? What’s a missive?
    SANCHO    A sort of a letter. He warned me to give it only into your hand.
    ALDONZA    (
Darkly
) Let’s see it. (
She takes the rolled sheet from
SANCHO ,
inspects both sides. Sullenly
) I can’t read.
    SANCHO    Neither can I. But my master, foreseeing such a possibility, recited it to me so I could commit it to heart.
    ALDONZA    (
Angrily
) What made him think I couldn’t read?
    SANCHO    Well, as he explained it, noblewomen are so busy with their needlework—
    ALDONZA    
Needlework?
    SANCHO    Embroidering banners for their knights. He said they had no time for study.
    ALDONZA    (
Contemptuously
) What’s it say?
    (SANCHO
takes the letter from her, holds it beforehim, and closes his eyes. Music: the quotations from the letter are sung. All other lines are spoken
)
    SANCHO
    “Most lovely sovereign and highborn lady—”
    ALDONZA (
Continuing to gobble her supper
)   Ho.
    SANCHO
    “The heart of this, thy vassal knight, faints for thy favor.”
    ALDONZA Ha.
    SANCHO
    “Oh, fairest of the fair, purest of the pure;
Incomparable Dulcinea—”
    ALDONZA    
That
again. My name is Aldonza!
    SANCHO    (
Patiently
) My master calls you Dulcinea.
    ALDONZA    (
Glowering
) Why?
    SANCHO    I don’t know, but I