Those who do not suffer death

THOSE WHO DO NOT SUFFER DEATH 

~ 

M fr rv \V 2.. ~,· N s 

by Vu. Kh ac V.hoan 

t r anslated by: 

u ane E . Hauch

Female clerk 

Customer 

Indian Janttor 

Thu, his daughter 

Son, a young man 

The Man 

A stranger 

A policeman 

A chorus of mannequins 

THE CAST 

(in order of appearance)

1 

A corner of a bustling city. 

even-story department 

store designed for the more aff ent. ~a ch floor of 

the building is divided into many r ms connected by an int 

icate system of co ridors, each r. om specializes in a 

particular type of goods - kimonos from Japan, black 

European evening we ar, gaudy chec ed skirts from France, 

cider from Norrnandie, rose wine, hinese wine, preserved 

pork from Van Nam province · · , caviar, a Louis XV 

living room set, a carved wooden bed and c aoinet from the 

Tong dynasty j.;Q; viQt Nam , deep blue glazed pottery from 

the Thanh Dynasty, Dong-Son ce,st bronze drums, stained glass 

~nglish windows, canned goods, kitchen ~nsils, televisi on 

sets, odds and ends, etc. 

The play o ens in one room hidden deep in the back of the 

seventh flo?r, here is a~ elevator in the corridor nenby, 

there are windows opening into other rooms and endless 

corrid rs. In this ro m are sold ready to wear clothes. 

There are many wooden mannequins shaped into life-like sizes 

of persons wearing sets of clothes. In addition, there are 

display cases for acces ,ories, scarves, ne ckties, buttons • • • 

A l arge curtai n covers all t he back area, In it is the 

dressing r ?om where customers try on clothes. he curtain 

opens on a late ·afternoon, a customer still lingers, looking 

at a ne cktie. Suddenly many sounds of ca r horns rise up from 

the street below. There is the s ound of a car's breaks 

stopping suddenly. The clerk runs out to the window for a 

moment then comes back. 

Clerk : A olice car. I d n't understand what they're doing down 

ther e . (The custore r puts the necktie d

2 

Clerk: 

Customer: 

Clerk : 

Customer: 

Seven o'clock here . {points t oward the curtain) But over 

there, 6:45. Here there is no siren, here ther>e is only a 

bell - rings two times. 

What is on the other side? 

Don•t you know t hat a building is being constructed over 

there? flight behind that curtain, They are nearly finished. 

constructing it already. There is only one more floor to go . 

Each day ther e are four sirens. 7:15 they go in, 11:45 the 

rest bell rings, 1:45 they return to work then at 6:45 return 

home . hey can be heard cl~ly here . 

Can you see it? 

Cle r k : Yes. 

Customer: Wh ere? (looking around) 

Clerk: If you pull this curtain, you can see. 

Customer: 

Ah, the dressing room • •• { he clerk goes to the curtain and 

pulls it open. At the back wall of the dressing ro m is a 

large glass window) 

Clerk : Look. "' ta.nding here, c an you see elearly? Wh en there are 

no cus tomers, I come here and watch them construct the 

building. Its lots of fun. 

Customer: 

Its very high! 

Cler k: As high as this place . Seven stories. The last floor. 

Customer: Seven floors . If t here's no elevator, who could climb that 

high? 'fhis pl ace i s so large and very complex. Coming in 

here for the first time, one could get lost. 

Clerk: 

Ge t ting lost is a definite possibility. 

Cus t omer: But here you sell everything. 

Clerk: 

From one bottle of champagne •••• 

Cus tamer: 

To, one brassiere. 

Clerk: (l aughing) Everything: 

Customer: I thinl{ if you had to s t ay h ere your whole life, you could 

have enough to e a t and enough to wear. (pauses then laughs) 

I'd only be troubled by one thing. 

Cleek: 

Truobled by what?

3 

Oust mer: Ghosts. (laughs) 

Cl erk: 

(tens ely) Ghosts ••• how do you know? 

Customer: How do I know? I •••• 

Cl erk : 

Customer: 

e r e •••• The r e really are 8hosts here. 

You joke ••• 

Cl erk: No . Peo le have told me . When night comes •••• 

Cust mer: 

At night, is there no one guarding? 

Clerk : There is. An old guard. An Indian.,,People say that, when 

night canes ••• 

CustJmer: ~ ho are those eonle? The guard? 

Cl e r te : 

The guard 

strange. 

also very 

a trance. 

didn' t say aiything. He d sn 1 t talk much . He ' s 

All day he spends with his girl, but the girl is 

strange. Half Indian, Crazy •• Looks like she ' s in 

Oh, but what was I saying? 

Clerk: 

Oh, Ghosts. Tm t - when night cones... (' he bell rings. Both 

don't speak but are startled, then they laugh) 

Customer: {Lootcs at his watch) Five minutes to Seven. 

Clerk: That was just t he first bell. Still have five more minutes. 

, ive more minutes t hen the door is closed. 

CusiDmer: Ah, its very late already. Well, goodbye. (Goes to the 

door, turns around) Oh, about the story ofthe ghost. 

Cler 1 {: Another t me (laughs) The day you buy a necktie then I '11 

tell you the story. duy one thing, get one story. 

(The customer laughs and exits. The clerk pulls back the 

curtain as bef~re , turns around, looks into the mirror, fi xes 

her hair, s t raightens her bl use, and smiles at hersel f , 

The second sound ofthe g ' ng is heard. This is followed by 

the sound of a crowd of people laughing, speaking, calling 

each other as they leave their offices. The clerk takes 

her purse, looks around one more time, then waves at the 

mannequins who are still il1ng, each in its own special 

pose, one dancing, another apologizing, another greeting, 

another thi nking. · he clerk exi ts. The curtain doo sn ' t 

fall, but the lights gradually fade out to continue right 

on to Ac t I .

4 

ACT I 

Janitor: 

Girl: 

Janitor: 

Girl: 

Jani tor: 

Gw 1: 

J anitor: 

Girl: 

Jm i tor: 

Girl: 

Jani tor: 

The s und of footsteps i heard as the lights come back up 

on the s ame scene sometime later. An Indian enters, carrying 

a large key ring. He is the janitor, a man almost ageless, 

neither thin nor fat, neither tall nor short . He looks ar~und 

at the mannequins. ~uddenly he turns ar und. A girl is 

standing in the doorway, an Indian, about 15 years old, lon g 

blacl{ flowing hair, large deeply inset black eyes, her 

clothes disheveled. 

Here againZ Why do you come up here? (silence) How many 

times is this? Each time you come u he re, but you don't 

ay anything ••• are you mute? 

I'm not mute . 

You're not mute? So why don't you s eak? Do you c me here 

to steal? 

Steal ? 

What is there here to steal? 

I don ' t know. uut I am res onsible to guard all thin ~ s her} 

you und'ilrstand? If' the O'\-mer should come in and find you 

here, I d be f reed to go eut and beg on the streets, you 

he ar me? 

It is better to go begging. 

You are cra zy. I'm not talking with you anymore. I only 

want to ask you this: you sneak in here by yourself t do 

what? 

Play. 

Play. Play with your ancestors? Play with whom? 

Play by myself. If I don ' t play by m~self , then is t he 

anyone else to play with? Is it forb dden to play by myself? 

What can I do . now? (She begins to cry. The sound of so obing 

is li e a litt l e child crying for milk , 1he j anitor gradually 

p aces bac~ and forth. He trys to soothe her) 

t n . D?n 1 t cry anymore . You are big already. 15 years 

old. Why do you cry like such a little one? Don't cry 

anymore, my child. Stop now, I have ut aside money for you 

to get a husband. Then, we can r eturn to our rntive land. 

He r e, they do not recognize us. Don ' t cry anymore . There 

is only Me and you, my daughte r ••• (Girl still cries. e 

puts his hand on her head)

5 

Gtrl: 

(steps back, yells) Leave me alone. 

Janitor: 

(Surprised) Why? 

Girl: I won't marry . I won't :r>eturn home . 

Janitor: (constraining his angry voice) Then, what do you want? 

Gr l: I want to be like every person, as every person playing out 

on the street, on the sidewalk. I want to go to school. I 

want to have friends. ne friend would be o . k . , a small 

friend would also be ok. But nobody plays with me . Indians 

despise me . Vietnamese despise me . I'm only a black halfbreed. 

(A moment) If my mother was still alive, •• • (The sound 

'mother' has the effect of a leather whi striking the face 

of the janitor. A moment later, the s~und of his voice hisses 

loudly) 

~ ~·li(l•r: Don't speak about your mother.. on' t speak ab ut her. I 

have told you that many times already. 

Gr 1 : 

re you af'raid? 

Janitor: Jhe is dead already. 

Girl: Mot her is dead already. She died when I was five years old. 

I know. but,,but why did she die? Why? 

Janitor: ( Iis voice sounds -r eamlike) She i s dead already, ~he has 

been dead f or a long time already. Do not mention it again. 

Girl: You a e afraid. ight. You are afraid. 

Janitor: Afraid - 

Your ancestorslJ What do I fear? 

Girl: If y u are not afraid, t hen s eak . 

did mother die? 

ea 

so I c an hear. 

hy 

Janitor: (deeply) I hated your mother. She wa s a Vje tna~e se . 

Grl : 

Then why did you marry her? 

Janitor: She married me for my money. he des ised me . he called 

me a Nigger . he chased after men, sle t with her Vietnamese 

lover. 

Girl: 

(laughs ha pily as though guessing a truth) Ah, then you 

killed her, right? 

Janitor: (appears frightened) Don't be so insolent. I did not kill 

her. caught her with her lover. I struck ••• 

Girl: Then she became ill, She died • . Its the same as killing her.

6 

Janitor: No, she was lovesick . Sick because her lover married. 

(A moment) I hit her, but not hard. (His voice is suddenly 

filled with regret) Your mother Y.1as a weak woman ••• 

{The girl looks at her father, the light ofhe r eyes becomes 

calm again. The janitor' blackness fades into the background, 

his eyes narrowed. Silence for a long moment) 

Girl: 

Mother was very white, wasn't she father? 

Jani tori Very white. White., becaus e she didn t t Have to do anything. 

I spoiled her, bouib.t all kind of things f r her. out, then 

she uas always sad ... 

Girl: 

Am I similar to her, father? 

Jani tor: (Not paying attention) Now and then,. , 

Girl: Was m t her :more beautiful t han I, father? I don't rave any 

picture of her. 

Janitor: More beautiful . 

Girl: 

(hesitating) You loved her very much, didn ' t you? ( he j!ll itor 

looks as though he is just waking from a dream. His voice is 

indif erent) 

Janitor: Why do you ask? 

Girl: Because you loved her, you hit her. If you love, then you 

must kill . You killed he r 11 You killed mother didn't you, 

father? 

Janitor: (loudly) No , I didn't kill . 

Gtrl : 

Janitor: 

Girl ; 

Janitor: 

Why don 1 t you tell me? Are you afraid? It was rl ght tm t 

you killed her. If I were ou, I would also have killed her, 

(still sh uting) But I didn ' t kill. I d~n ' t kill. 

(resolutely) You killed. 

It is certain that you killed, 

Are you going to shut up? You want me to kill? I 'll kil l 

you. I 1 11 kill you. (He tales astep . 'l'he girl, panicked, 

turns and runs, t aking shelter behind the mannequins. The 

janitor raises his hand, throws the keys, hitting the middle 

of the chest of one of the mannequins. I a sher t moment, 

the audience can see the dummy ma.1-re a face and try to pro tee t 

himself, This imn ession dise.p ears with the sound of the 

keys falling on the flo r) Where are you? (Silence . He 

bends down to ick up the keys then looks a.round) The next 

time I see your face here, then I won 1 t be res onsible, 

you hear? (.::>till silence. In t he dista.YJ.ce there is the

7 

Girl: 

sound of the police whistl e on the street below) I cbn't 

understand why the pol ice are still standing on the streets 

like that. {A momont) Where are you Jai e? The kind of girl 

like you .follows boys just like your mother. ( e looks arcund 

a moment then gradually goes out the door, his steps like a 

sleepwalker 4 The sound of his footsteps becomes faded in 

the silence of the clothinG room with its mannequins • • his 

f'ootsteps f'ade into the im :redible vastness of a building!! lled 

with goods and without p e ople . Am ment l

8 

' l 

l 

I 

' \ 

\ ! 

.I 

"\ 

Before, I was very white , I wa s simil ar to my mother. Mothr 

was also Vietnamese, like you . My mother was very beautiful. 

Father l oved my mother very much. l am certain tha~ he killed 

my mother. Because they had loved eachoother and had betrayed 

e ach other th~n they must ~ill each other, right? A while 

ago, when I said that nobody pl ayed with me , it was a joke 

to my f ather,. Many people want to play wi t h me . Nightly, 

t hey come to invite me to play ~ 3ut I don't like to go with 

them. They a r e still very young, t hey only know how to pul l 

each other from this street corner to t hat corner looking at 

people eating ic ) cr9a.m, looking at people we aring beautiful 

clothes, watching people dance, seeing peopl e love each other, 

Tats all. I a.m very bordd with t h0m already. I only like to 

come here and pl a y with these men and women and ••• watt for you. 

Because I knew .for certain t hat you would also c om.e ,. I knew 

I'd be able to M.eet you . I have dreamed of seeing you. Hair 

like this, eyes al30 like this, a mouth like t his, a body also 

l ike this. (caresses the chest f t he statue) You are very 

thin. In my dreams, often you were thinner, so thin that 

t he wind from the river bl ew against you and I had to hold on to 

your h and, There was on e time, you flew with the wind - all 

I ne to do was to cry. The moment I woke up, I wa s still 

sobY:>ing ,. Have you ever cried? When you could cry be. ·a.use 

you were very happy, my lover, Many times when I f lee here, 

I only do so to cry by myselr. Oh, no, I cry wfth these men 

and women here, The men a:i d women here 11 1-e m ~ very much, 

They t 'Y'eat me kindly. :rhey love me because th y clearl y 

know my story, my father' s story, and ospecially the story of 

you and me . What was I s aying? Ah, cryi ng, Becca.us e I was 

crying .i; my chest was tight a s though a person was holdi ng me 

tightly, l ike a ers n r olled up in a cloth, Then I made an 

effort to breathe . The hurt ma.de me cry fully, I still r emember 

the moment my mother died, peopl e al so wrapped re r body 

with clothes like t hat.. The peopl es 1· hands held her tightly, 

wra ping her several times. When I s aw that, I couldn' t 

breathe anymore . Then I r eally felt I couldn't breat he anymore 

. hat time was the f irst time I knew t hat I wa s crying. 

I knew tm t if I ever wanted to cry, I would know what to do . 

Everyth ing must be s t u died ,, Surely love al so must be still. :e d , 

Have you loved s.nyone yet? I'm sure you know how to l ove but 

have not loved yet . You must wait for me ~ You will teach me 

to love. You will teach ::ne to love you. (She stops spear ing, 

wal ks back and f r th. A moment l ater , the sound of her "£> ice 

is re solemn. ) Now its time I tell you t he beginnin g and 

the end of t he story for you to hear . Our story. (She goo s 

to the t abl e facing the youthful figure . She sits on it, 

h e r l egs dangling) Our story is not very clear ,. I don''t know 

where to begin . (A moment) Shoul 1 I begin from the time fa\her 

me t my mo t her, and he loved her. Or , did it begin from la th e

9 

moment my mother died? uut ••• at that moment I was still very 

small. Perhaps it was t he first time I caught my father by 

himself in the deep corrido.r ofthis building, wal ing with 

his head down. He shook a bunch of the keys. M notonous 

footste s. The monotonous sound of raindrops on the tin roof. 

I thought of the wheel of the train rolling on the track of a 

long train running in a tunnel. My love, I had seen that 

train one time when I went to the movies. The tunnel was 

long, drak, winding, deep . Once i n a while, the mouth of the 

tunnel appeared and disappeared, I s aw the l ight of the sky 

outside. Then, the darkness again covered everything, all 

of my body. I felt suffocating and wished the train would 

get out of the mouth of the tunnel , and ••• my love, in the nigit, 

the building was so quiet, listening to my £ather's .footsteps, 

listening to the raindrops .f alling above, .falljns down into 

my brain, thinking ofthe shrill sound of the wheel on the 

r ail. _. I saw everyth1.ng clearly. I s aw the destiny of my 

father. Sn .J my destiny 1 My fatre r will live by himself until 

his life is over. My father paid back the &ebt to my mother. 

And me ,. I am a long tra ln rolling on the tracks, rolling thr out h 

the everlasting tunne'}. But the train will get out ofthe 

tunnel, I believe that. I believe that I wil l see the blue 

sky, see the green rice field. I belie ve ths.t I will meet 

you . { he stands up , gestures and sounds liz{e • woman in a 

trance. She stands close to him. ) My love, I pray and pr ay. 

God, Bu Jdha, let me b e able to love,. Love each other c ompletely 

for one night, then I'm r eady to die. But death with love, 

death without betrayal, not to keill each other, to be alone 

by myself for the rest of my life in t he quiet of the building. 

I want to die at dawn, die i n the strong wind ind dark blue 

sky. (to him) will die by myself'. You will live by yourself, 

For you to love me forever. God, Bu 1dha. .i.'ormnorrow I will 

die , Tomorrow I ask to die . 

(Suddenly in the silence of the might in the departmm t 

store, the sound of the olice whistle is heard, There is 

the sound f peo1l e callingeach other. and the sound of the 

elevator moving, ' here is the sound of footsteps stopping 

in front of the d~or to the ro m. The youthful statue sliddenJ.y 

holds the girl tightly. A frightened feeling suddenly occupies 

Thu totally. A sound does not have time to tter forth when 

she falls unconscious in the arms of the statue. The young 

man looks to the front do r . In the ilence, thePe is tbe 

sound of the janitor talking with a stranger. 

Ja'litor: This room contains clothing. 

Do you need to go in and see? 

Stranger: We '11 wait until tomorrow morning. 

Janitor: So , do you have to stand watch all night long? 

Stranger; We take turns . Is it nine yet?

10 

Janitor: Ten minutes to nine . 

, t ranger: Oh, e're going to change watches now. 

ell, l ets go down. 

Janitor: how many of them are there? 

Stranger: Just one. 

Janitor: Then why are you afraid? 

Stranger: Not really afraid, but this id !ls very dangerous. He has 

a.knife. 

Janit or: 

Stranger: 

Thu: 

Oh my God. 

D esn 1 t matter, though. We've surrounded the place tightly. 

Don't be afraid. (There is the sound of footsteps leaving 

the door, the sound of the elevator going down. 'fhen, silence 

again engulfs the nuilding. The young man slowly puts the 

girl down in a chair, steps bac k , pulls out a ife from his 

shirt, and stares at Thu. A moment later, he sha es his head, 

goes to the mannequin and while 'hu gradually awakens, he 

hides the knife in the shirt of a mid e - aged dummy wearing 

a grey bathrobe , 

(her voice trembling) God. (looks at the yo ng man and suddenly 

remembers) You. Wh o are you? Ar y u a eal human oeing? 

::>on: (em arrassed) I am • •• a er son • •• A real h rian b e n , see . You 

seJ, I c n sueak. 

Thu: 3ut wh did ynu come in he~e for? Who are you? 

Son: (st 11 embarrassed) I am • • •• well, call me Son. Call me on 

and that will be fine . 

Thu: (' hinking) Son, Son • •• He tries to ftll fill the cuum 0£ 

conversation to keep her from being afraid, to prevent h e r 

sud len r eac t ion) 

Son: Feo le call me that. ' on. i

11 

Thu: The story of a whi.le a.go . I was talking aimlessly t o myself. 

Son: 

Thu: 

\llhy do you say alrnlessly? You spoike of de stiny* of love. 

Why do you call it aimless? 

But you... what did you come here for? 

$on: I cam in here ••• to meet you. Haverlt you been waiting for me ? 

You have been raying to God, to uddha. 

Thu: (to herself) I have been praying to God, to rln 1 dha. Plea se 

God, Please, Ju d d.ha .~ 

Son: (c nttnuing) Let us meet each othe r . Thu. Everyn night I 

also nray li"k:e that .• 

Thu: 

(sincerely) Is that true? 

0n: {as +.hough p rs.ying) Please God, please Judd.ha . Let me know 

love. I didn' t have t he love of my father,. I didn•t have 

the love of my mother ~ No brother, no friends, no relatives, 

Let me be ~ble to meet a young girl 4 Let me meet love. We 

promise to love each other the r est of our lives. 

Thu: 

Son: 

Don't you have a father or mo ther? 

I have been an orphan since I was small. 

Thu: I am not better off than you . My mother •• • 

Son: Your mother has been dead since you were sMall. I know • 

.1.'hu: 

Hou do you know? {remembers) Of, from my story. 

Son: Thu, lis ten to me . .1.'ha.t story ,of yours a while ago had noth i ng 

aimless about it. You s oke everything that had been a secret 

in your heart. What is aimless? Is lmring each other without 

pur p se? You spole of the train in the tunnel . My life is 

also li ce that. But now I' ve met you and my life is now out 

of the t unnel. The same for you. 

Thu: Keep n sneaking. Y u sneak so well. 

Son: Till now, I have lived by myself', 1n darl

12 

Thu: 

Son: 

Talk about what? 

Our story_ 

Thu: Go ahead. ~ell your story. You haven's finished telling 

your story yet . Who told you to come here? How c ould you 

get in here and wear t hese clothes? 

Son: Don't a sk, thy are you asking? We hnve met each other, 

isn't that enough? 

Thu: I'I'l sor·ry, I ·won't e.sk anymore . 

~on: 

Thl.t's better. Even if you .eep asking, nobody can answer 

you. How can t hey anser? You see. tlhy don't I have a mother 

and father? Why do you w t for me ? hy do we meet each other? 

Why? Why? wha t do y u want to ask for? 

Thu: I won't ask anymore . I will lis ten toy u. 

on: You 1 re very nice. Now, e.rmi t rne to asi::: you one question. 

Thu: (laughs jokingly) You jus t told me not to ask anyt h ing. 

Son: One question only. nl y one question. 

Thu: Ask . 

Son: I asked ou a moment ago but you haven't answered it yeti 

Thu: 

Then, a s k me again. 

1 

S n: ~ho 

else is here in t his buil ding oesides you and your father? 

Thu: {laughs) Oh, there are many more •• 

Son: 

{afraid) Who? 

'fhu: (Laughing and pointing at t he mannequins) Them. 

Son; 

Oh • •••• 

I'm only joking . 

and me . (loo ing 

The truth is, here t here is only rny father 

rectly at Son) Why do you act so afraid? 

Son: 

(regaining his c ~u o su re) 

I fo rbid you to ask. 

Thu: (mock ing Son's vob e of a moment ago) ne question only. 

nly one question. Then, its totally forbidden. Nobody c an 

ask anymore . (normal v •ice) Why are you so afra id? 

Son: I'm afraid of everything. I ' m afraid for us. Don ' t you 

know that nobody love s us.

13 

Thu: 

My father. 

Son: Your father doesn't know me . 

Thu: 

In another moment , I'll o to taJ.k w1thmy fatmr. 

Son: { suDpri sed) No, don't talk to him. 

Thu: 

Son: 

Thu: 

Son: 

Should I wait until tomorrow? 

(sighing) Tomorrow? Who knows what will happen tomorrow. 

(seriously) 'l'hu, don 1 t tell anyone at all. Our story, we 

must keep 1 t as a secret, you hear? When I speak, t hen you 

must listen. 

(as though she's hyt>notized) I'm lis tening. 1'11 keep the 

secret. {to herself) God . Bu ddha . Let us liT,e the whole 

night. Then, tomorrow, I will ask to d,e. ' 

You 're t al king nonsense. 

Thu: I have prayed already. Tomo rrow, I intend •• , 

Son: Tom' rrow, i\ts wait for tomrnorrow, See what happens. 

Thu: 

Are you finished being afraid? 

Son; I don't feel fear for myself. When I met you, I began to 

feRr . Thu , I had said that I'm afraid for us. Therefore, 

I fear everything. Outsi de there. In here . I fear all 

the se dummi e s , Who knows they may be pretending, like me . 

(he goes cl Jse to the old man wearing the tweed suit) Look 

at this old man (then, poi nts to the middle-aged woman) And 

at this. woman, Are t hey any differ ent t han real poo ple? 

(points at t he man wearing the shirt where he hid the knife ) 

And soeeially this one. Especially this man. Thu 1 Wl.o know s 

that at midnight when the bu ilding is deserted, they won't 

wake -ae.ch other up? r: ey will whis er our story. Then at. 1 

the building will know the story. Then all the streets, all 

the peple,, everybody, (clasp s Thu ' s shoulders tightly) 

Remember, you must kee this secret, don't ta k to anyone , not 

even your father. (sighs) Only this one night. 

Thu: 

Son: 

Thu: 

Son: 

I '11 remember. I won't talk to anyone. I swe ar ••• 

You don't have to sear, 

I believe you, 

(In the silence, Thu looks around) 

Afraid of what? (Thu points to t he figures) 

You made me afraid. 

Oh.• ••

14 

Thu: 3efore I wasn't afraid. But Wl.en I listened to you talk, 

then I remembered the story peo le tell ••• 

Son: 

Thu: 

tory about what? 

Ghosts. 

on: Don't talk nonsens. There are no ghosts. 

Thu: 

Son: 

Peple hive seen shosts, truly have seen them. 

vho were thoee pecple? 

Thu: The old man who worked here be:fore my :fat r . He's retjra ed 

now. He said t t nightly they appeared, especially on the 

nights of rain and high wind. They wandered from this room 

to that roo~ . There were times they t alked to themselves. 

Then, when t he morning lightp.:anpeared, they disappeared. 

Son, if t hey don't go away, hen they ••• (points to the 

manne quins) As you had said a moment ago . (~on turns and 

looks at the figures . In his motion, the audience can s~ 

a little fear, but nly a moment l at er, on has c ntro~l ed 

himself. He laughs suddenly and loudly, loo ~ ing at t he 

mannequins. After his laugh ••• ) 

Son: (pointi ng at t he figures) Have t hey been changed into statues? 

Did they silently snea and stand here? Oh, don't think 

such nonsense. 

Thu : 

You just said something a mom nt ago. 

Son: I told ••• a story only . I:fwha t I said ~ad e you afraid, then 

I 'm sor r y . How c an there be ghosts? Bven i:f, •• ~ ven if t ere ' s 

a ghost, you don' t have to be afrai d. What can gha.:. ts do 

to us? A while ago I said that when I met you, I began 'b 

know fear. But fear of eople and not ghosts . People are 

worth being afraid of. Loo here (Son moves t owards the 

figure having the ife hidlen in his shibt A flash of 

thought aryp ears on t he youth ' s f ace; Son t urns toward the 

old man we aring the tweed suit. ;:;on uts his two hands on 

the shoulders of the old man ) Look over here. ( He shaKes 

the old man ' s shoulders str ongly) This shost (Then mo ves 

toward the young an.) An d this woman also. (He punches 

her hard on the chest) This ghost (turns bac t towar d Thu) 

Are you afraid anymore? (At t hat moment , Thu runs t oward him 

but cannot stop him) 

Thu : top . Dont. Have ity. ( on is t urning toward the middleaged 

man, gesturing like a man boxing, pundling his fist 

just in front of the face of the statue) 

Son: 

Have you stopped being afraid ofghosts yet? 

Thu: qo mor . I'm finished. I 'm not afraid anymore.

1.5 

Son: (puts his hands down) Ok, then. (he Jiaughs. Thu also laugi s, 

then both are silent) Now, we'll do this: we'll walk around 

the building and see whats happening. 

Thu: Oh, yes. We'll walk around. See everything, many interesting 

things, my love. We 'll pretend to be customers buying goods. 

Son: 

Thu: 

Son: 

Thu: 

Man: 

If we meet someone, then what? 

Who c an we meet? My father is downstairs. 

But if something unexpected • •• , 

Don't be afraid. There are many pl aces t o hide . Follow me . 

(Thu nulls Son out t he door. The two pa> pl e go out of q 

sight into the corridcr , the sound ofthe:t.r footsteps fadl:J g 

gradually into the silence of the building. When the audience 

begins to adjust to t he em tiness, from the middle of the 

mannequins t h ere c an be heard the sound of sighing . From the 

middle of the figures , suddenly one figure - the man wear.ing 

the grey sil k bathrobe, in whose shirt Son had p ut the k1fe, 

that man begins to move . He stretches himself just like a 

person made of flesh and bone. He i s a real Jl'rson. He 

steps out from the crowd of mannequins, he turns toward the 

door, stares out and returns to t he room, pulls out Son's 

knife and l ooks, t inking. A moment later, he nods repe41t.edly 

and put s the knife back into the shirt . ) 

(mumbling t o himsel f) Huhhhh, truly dangerous. A littl e more 

and he woul d have hit me . He's a rude one. I don ' t understand 

where he c ame from with this {nife•• and why the police w 

h!\m. This ki d certainly isn't a good man. I must defend 

myself. Very comp lic a ted~ I must ge t out ofthe way for a 

while and see what happens. (He l ook s around then goe s to 

the background. He nulls back the curtain then enters. The 

room again becomes sil ent, but only a moment l a ter, in the 

sil ence, from among the manna uins, t heee is the sJunds of 

voi e es singing, beginning soft then noisily like the wind 

befor e a l arge stcrm, later gradually clear ing, low pi tc~ d 

and high pi ~ched , l ike t he soun d of a choir. Looking ath 

the immovable f'igures and l istening to the choir, singing 

in the neon lights, the audience reco izes -~hat those sounds 

are the sounds from the peopl e whose bodies . ~r e been nail ed 

together 1n a f ixed position from the moment i:;hey were rrRde . 

The audience can wonder: are they wooi en peopl e or real pED pl e, 

l i ving or dead, immortal or peopl e who rof'use to die . While 

the choir continues to perform, one e in a while, mixed in 

the choir trere is the high- pitched voice of a woman and the 

deep sound of' an old man . ) 

Mann equins; We don't suffer death. We l i ve f r ever. We don ' t have 

feelings. S eaking more cl early, our f'eeling i s communal . 

Our feelings are t hose of people who do not die any more.

16 

\e are not afraid of Hell because we deny Heaven. We don't 

fear reincarnation because we only have one life, an eternal 

life with nn eternal gesture. It is one eternal state of life, 

one immobile destiny. (high v 1ice) I smile with half a smile, 

my eyes look to the right, legs straight but not stiff, my 

two arms raised in a greeting, not to friends, not to strangers. 

My destiny is a destiny of a hostess greeting guests at a 

party. (deep voice) I'm serious but smile with my eyes. I 

am almost 70 . I have money and enjoy the rest of my life. My 

destiny is the destiny of man who still has his strength, 

looking at life and ready to gorg:hre everybody. (Choir) like 

that forever (deep voice) Standing in one pl ace but satisfied. 

(high vo:lc e) My gesture does not corresnond with my traveling 

clothes. Travel for what? (choir) We don ' t care for speace. 

Therefore, we don't c are for time. (Sound ofthe bell striking 

le o 1 clock)(high voice) 10 oclock. (deep voice) Our space 

is im.rnobile, we don't need a watch. (high voice} Once in a 

while but only for decoration (deep voice) ok, a small pocket 

watch, very thin, made of 18 carat goJld, pr oduced in Switzerland, 

the band is also 18 carat gold. A Wdtch li. e this to put in 

a vest p0cket, to see the time to drink sweet liquers (choir ) 

\le are happy. (deep voic e) I thi nk we feel sorry for Thu . 

Who pushed her into choosing love? (high voice) Destiny. 

(deep voice) Why only one night? Why did she put her destiny 

into one limited time? (high voice) 3ut ~at is love? (deep 

voice) What do we ask for? We don' t love. We don' t hate, 

we 're not j ealous, we're not vengeful , we don ' t have ity. 

(high voice) Me , I have i t y for that young man . I s ee him 

as a tra ped wil d animal . He fights, jum s . (deep voice) 

Useless. I know he dreams of farway places, deserted ~ 

jungle s . e desires strange horizons. But his destiny is e. 

always tied into a small, l imited, three-dimensional space. 

He fights, rsists, but its usel ess, useless. He will (high 

voice) please, I ask you not to speak it out too soon. T 

Things will c0me when they have to come . (deep voice) He is 

terrible. He shook my shoulders. (high vo~e) He even hit 

me . (dee voice ) The age oftwenty is as f i erce as a panther • 

(high voice) surely he knows we had ceLsed having feelings . 

(choir) We don't know pain or suffering, (deep voice) Gee , 

in t hat moment I only wished he had trul y hit and broken the 

face of that fellow. (high voice) All day, that guy stard s 

next to ~e . I can't bear it. (deep v ~ ice) Jut he preterrls 

rather well . (high voice) He imitates us. u~ why? (choir) 

Ladies and Gentlemen, in the name of the ueople who don't 

death. we formally denounce the conternptible action, 

the fake a ction of a r eal pers n, a person made of f leshrl 

and bones. We don' t know what his name is, don't know where 

he comes from. He is a middleaged man, his body covered 

with a grey silk bathrobe . When the sun rises; he raises 

his hands and f eet, stands motionless, undetected by customers, 

arranged in the ranks of us, people who do not suffer death.

17 

But, when tho sun sets, he looks around everywhere, from this 

room to that room, immediately eating and drinking by himself 

doing those things done by any wretched person who has life 

and death. He is a parasite living by our name, but living 

on canned food in the supermarke t . He 1 s a rat. (high voice) 

1et! If he hears (deep voice) He wertalrdady, but how 

could he hear? Its our voice, only p e in our world, people 

who do not suffer death only we can catch the sound waves of 

our voices. (high voice) dut he will r eturn. I'm afraid for 

Son. (deep voice) Destiny. So, wha t can he do? (choir) Destiny 

is a sec t ion of the river that runs into the bottom of the 

sea. Prople don't know t hat t he water in the Hoang Ha river 

goes to the ocean and never returns. (deep voice ) An illusion 

of space. A supermar ke t , 6 meters by 8 meters. (high voice ) 

an i l lusion of time. ne night, not a comol ete night. The 

sun rises and t he sun sets. {choir) And one middleaged 

supermarket rat, and one rnife. Destiny, (high voice ) Stop. 

d n 1 t speak out too e arly. Useless. The river will flow 

into the bottom of the sea. {choir) The water of the Hoang 

Ha river runs into the ocean and ne ver come s backJ A 

And with this sentence, the curtain r slowly falls.

18 

Act II 

The same rooms as efore, an hour later. The silent 

figures are also as oefore. There is the sound of footsteps 

outside the room. l'he door opens, on and Thu enter. 

Thu: Ohhh, so tired. I told y u we should have used the eJ.evator ••• 

Son: Couldn't. If your father had heard, ,.. .•• but, we only 

climbed a few floors. H w can you complain? 

Thu: 

even floors. 

Son: Seven floors. Very igh, Seven floors, only one elevator 

and one staircase. 

hu: ' nd two exits. The main door is in front • • • 

Son: changes his exp r ession, pays attentiont to her. ) Is there 

another door? 

Thu : There is also a door in back . But, you must go t hrough my 

father 1 s room. Don't worry. Nobody can come in here. Don' t 

worry about anyone bothering us here. 

Son: (to himself) Nobody can enter . HMmm (to Thu) And so, 

its also difficult t ge t out, right? 

hu: Out? What for? We are here for the whole night. I need 

to have it this way. Toni ght the building is yours and mine . 

(A moment) You d:>n 1 t like it here? 

Son: Like i t ? I could stay here all my life. 

'J:hu: 

Son: 

Thu: 

Son: 

Thu: 

ontt y u see• nothing is lack ing. 

ut, it would be bett er if w~~-c ould go in and out freely. 

In here, I feel like I'm im~ · , 1 tied up, forced into a 

corner of a jail. (suddenly) hu. A while ago you asked me 

who I was, you wanted to know why I came here, why I wear 

these clothes. Do you still want to know? Do you want me 

to answer you? 

Why didn't you answer me a Wiile ago? 

Now its differ ent. than before. (In the silence, t he eyes of 

Thu and Son look deeply at eaeh otre r) 

(as though t alking to herself) This moment is different , 

very different. I also see it this way. I see this moment 

as th ugh we are moving in a gog. I don 1 t want to ask. I 

don't want to know. I only want it like t his, forever •••

19 

(The sound o:f the clock bell cuts of':f hu' s words. Eleven 

sounds ring out in the silence. 11 oclock. Thu and Son 

stand. Both o:f them sense something important in this 

moment of time on their continuous path of destiny) 

Son; (as to himself) The sound ofthe clocl{. 

Thu: 

The room over there sells watches. (she suddenly grabs Son ' s 

hands) Son, do you notice anything different? ~uddenly I 

f eel something ghostly •• • 

Son: What's there to feel ghostly of? The watches still run. Each 

hour the clock strikes, Now its 11 oclock . 11 at nigtlt. 

What's different? 

Thu : 

But, before, it didn•t strike. 

Son: Its a clock so it must strike. ~u rely its only because you 

didn 1 t pay attention. 

Thu: Maybe so. Maybe before I didn't pay a t tention. rlut now its 

different , Now I see I must put attenti n to each second, each 

minute as it passes. Its goig to be midnight, then the whole 

night will be almost gone. We must do everything now. 

Son: 

We must wait for midnight. 

Thu: What for? And why must we wait until midnight. 

Son: Wait for half the night in order to begin. Thu. Tha. ts my 

ha.bit. The place I'm from usually starts everything at midni ght, 

when the gong s unds, the lights are turned off 1 when all the 

doors are locked, when light penetrates through the oars of 

the door, higher than the r each of my hand. 

Thu: 

(grabs his hands) 

on. 

Son: You don ' t want to hear anymore. You are afraid. (Thu doesn' t 

have time to answer when from outside the room is heard the 

sound of a person moving to ward the room, stopping at the 

door. Silence, a moment later:) 

Janitor: Jane ••• are you still in here, Jane? (A m >ment, then the sound 

of striking at the door) Janel. Where are you? This hour and 

you're not yet asleep? Still wandering around? Bad girl. 

It won't be long until you 'll become just like your mother. 

(The sound of' his footsteps gradually f ades away. A momen. t 

later) 

Thu: ( speaking in a whisper) My father. Very dangerous. 

~on: 

He l eft already,

20 

Thu: 

I must go downstairs for a moment. 

Son: 

Thu: 

Why can't you stay here? 

I cannot, If I don't go d · m, then my father will come back 

her e and look f r me . He lfuows I am always in here . I'll 

go cb l'm i'or a moment then beturn right away. You wait for me . 

:::>on: Hurry up . .I'll wait f'or you ., 

rhu: I 'll be bacl{ up right away. I'm going. (turns to go. Son 

is hesitant and just as · hu gets to the door •• • ) 

Son: Th:u J ( :::>he stops. · Son moves forward. His tone is imbibed 

with hesitancy) Thu, come up right avay.. I ' m here by myself'. 

(Thu exits, closing the door. Son stands in the silence, looking 

after her. He bends his head in thought., Am ment later , as 

if he suddenly r emembers something, he t urns and goes to the 

mannequins . He's. su ldenly startled. He recognizes the absen c e 

of the mannequin in who se shirt he had hidden his knii'e. Son 

excitedly puts his hand into the poc ets of the other dummies, 

then h9 ste s back . ) 

Son: (confused) Very strange. (he looks at the r ear, t hen steps 

gradually back to the c urtain . He raises his hand but doesn' t 

have time to pull the curtRin when the curtain i s suddenly 

pulled: the middleaged man we aring the grey silk bathrobe 

appeqrs. Son steps back three steps. Silence) 

Man : I'm here. You want to see me? 

Son: (trys to control himself) Who are you? 

Man: A person, ma de of flesh and bones, like you. Here ~ Look . 

I c an speak like you . 

on: I know. You are also 11 e me . out I ask: ed you, who are you? 

What are you doing here'? 

Man: You are very inquisitive, You shouldn 1 t ask, Can m yone 

answer me ? 

Son: Do you :lntend to make fun .fme? 

Ma.n: No , 

Son: 

Man: 

So , what do you want? 

Before. a long ttme ago, I wanted n:any things., • to have money,

21 

S n: 

Man: 

to have love, for example. But now, now I must confess to you 

I have finished wanting th,ngs. There, you see t!Bre are so 

many clothes displayed, but I only choose a modest bath robe ••• 

a grey bathro e . Look . I oould wear evening clothes like you. 

(as he speaks, he gradually moves to Son who at that moment 

stands confused in silence) Excuse me , you are wearing your 

b w tie upsi e dovm. (he adjusts Son's black bowtie) What did 

I just say? 

You've said a lot, but you still haven't yet answered my 

question. What do you want? 

(as if he doesn't pay attentionto Son• words) Oh, I remerrber. 

I was t alking about evening clothes. !'~ you wear evening 

clothes on a cool evening .. you must also we l? r a mood for 

waiting. That means that if you wish for something,, it will 

happen. An accidental encounter between two glasses of wine. 

A vague conversation between two dances, a vague conversation 

that persons talking have Rlready completely told by their 

eyes. That mood, that wish, I d n 1 t have ... I've finished having •. 

I also can wear a tweed suit (points t the old man) like this 

old man. 0ut •••• me, surely in me there is no 1 nger existing 

the youthful desires of a man 70 years old, the need that 

forees him to makeup to c ver his old age, waiting for the time 

to drink wine because I •••• 

Son: (losing his c alrnness ) Excuse me , I didn·• t understarrl anything 

you said at all, 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

I'm not very surprised. ecause I have the feeling that 1h e 

words were not very simple. 

But you, you must mnderstand my words. 

You sneak very f'luently. I heard your conversation with Thu . 

You speak well. 

hat wa s our private talk. 

about that. 

Man: (thinking) Its not altogether tr.at way. 

Son: I don't understand whRt you want 1n say. 

You d )n't need to have an opinion 

Man: 

Son: 

I want to say its hard to distinguish between private and ublic , •• 

(strongly) \ at? Difficult to distinguish? If necessary I 

will distinguish for you. 

Mani You should keep calm. My words didn' t have any hidden intent. 

Like you I also don 1 t have any bad intentions. On the co:rt rary •••

22 

on: So, what do you want? h a t do you want? I still don' t 

understand what you want . 

Man: 

(as though suddenly realizing something) I :round out. I know 

what I want now. 

:son: 

Man : 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man; 

Son: 

Please let me hear it. 

I want to speak . Thats all . I crave to talk with a stranger. 

(nods repeatedly) That's right . Just now I understand why 

suddenly I have sympathy for you. Only because we can talk 

togeth e!'. To converse with you, thats all . Do you know what 

I thought a while ago ,. before I met you, in the afternoon when 

I saw you sneak up and stand in among the dummL.-s. Standing 

even a few meters away, I was looking for a way to •• , to push 

you off' this .fl oor, ( 11 he man forces a laugh; the laugh is 

strange b ecause the mouth has a smile but the laugh i s as it 

just has escaped the mouth and has been shut off in the 

silence of' the room) Excuse me , I laugh ••• I laugh at myself. 

But don't be S'lrprised, I know how to laugh like this. Now, 

what was I saying? 

You were talking •.•• • 

rlight . ight. I'm t&king. I'm conversing with you. Truly 

strange, it only ta es a fe~.minutes talking withs someone 

different from myself', with • then I again see myself completely 

changed. 

You mean y')u've stopped wanting to push me out of here . 

Yes, now its like that. 

So, in another moment you still 

could c 1ange your mind. 

Man : ~he n that moment core s 1 you 1 11 know. At tm t moment I will 

let you know first. 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Thank you. (changes his tone And you believe that I will 

be completely passive, just p t my hat down and leave this 

plac e after saying g>odbye . Do y u know what I intend to do ? 

No . 

Curse. 

Man : 

(calmly) Curse. hy curse? 

SJn: You don't know why? You truly don' t know why? 

Man : N 0 ! I speak the truth, No. I don 1 t understand you.

23 

Son: 

Man: 

The he~e, you listen clearly. (changes tone of his voice) 

Don't you see that so far you've been talking to me a s if 

your are my father. (The man looks up , open-mouthed ) 

Father. Talk like your father. Ok . Ok . I ' m not angry at 

you even though you just talked harshly to me . A conversation 

must be thi s way - can 1 t be anything else. There are many 

thoughts, then again these thoughts are e.xoressed by language . 

'rhen, to be aole to hear a persond different f'rom me tall

24 

Son: 

I onl y need to ask you two things. 

Man: lowly., We still have much :free time. Too much f'ree time. 

The first thing, 

Son: I want to know who you are. What are you doing !ere? {The 

man halfpsmiles again., A moment later) 

Man: 

Son: 

You have asl£d that thing lready. 

And you haven't replied yet .• 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

:::>on: 

Man: 

I've answered but you say it wasn't clear. 

So, who a r e you 'Z 

If I answer that I am also similar to you, will you believe 

me? 

Like me-how? 

How? you mus t know .. 

Son: (thinking) It cannot be •• • 

Man: There - you don't belie ve? Even if' I 'd tol d the truih , you 

st ill would be doubtful . So wha. t do you want to ask for? 

Son: l'hen I don 1 t bel :b ve anything, huh? I don' t know who you a re 

so how can I believe? 

Man~ You don't know me , but I know you. You sneaked in here. Then 

you made yourself up like a mannequin because there are pol i c e 

men looking for you, I know you. To me , you are out in the 

light., To you, I am compl etely in darkness. I have the upper 

hand. 

Son:. I 'm impatient. You think you c an hide from me'l Do you think 

I couldn 1 t guess what kind ofperson you are? 

Man : 

Son: 

Man: 

Go ahead and guess to prove if you are right .~ ~ 

You are like me ._ You also fled up here lil

25 

on: ( ~o ves in) The second thing is •• • (there is a cold l ook about 

Son Oihich cau es the man to step bac 1

26 

Han: You should be careful. The knife is uresently in my hands 

and I know how to use it. I have used it many times, surely 

many more times than you. (Son agressively steps bac'ta.y calm. Follow me . ( e standf: among the dummies; 

on quickly follows after him. In a moment both of them become 

tTo statues, each gesturing in the manner appropriate to the 

style of clothes worn. At that moment ••• ) 

Stranger: Lets go in. (The door opens, t he janitor ond a policeman 

ste in) 

Jani tor: Here. Bee. { ut the policeman is motionless staring e.t the 

dummies) 

(points e.t the dumrni os) 

·rhose things. 

Janitor: laug..tiing) Ah - dunnnies . · hey 1 r e all mannequins . 

Policeman: Wow. I thought they were real people. Very nimilar. ( 

he touches the shoulders of tho old man ) He re, look at the 

man and see. Who dares say its a dummy (point.s to the man who 

at that moment is motionless in the gesture of a person selecting 

n book to read before going up to oed to sleep) And 

this mann over here. Huh ••• I bet with you •••• (both talking 

and walking to the direction ofthe mid e-aged man) 

Jani tor: (not paying at t ent ion to the policeman 1 s words) Ah ••• 

Policeman: (turning around) t ? 

Jani tor: Let me ask. Wh at did that young man do to make all of you 

search for him so thoroughly?

27 

Policeman: Its not nece ssary to search anymore. He's definitely hiding 

in here. Tomorrow, e arly tomorrow morning ~ we' l l break in 

and get him .for sure. 

Janitor: 

out what terrible thing did he do? 

Policeman: 

Killed a person. 

Janitor: Oh. Killed who? 

Poli ceman : 

he old guard at the reformatory. 

Janitor: God, he i s dangerous. 

he kill the guard? 

Why was he put in there and how idd 

Policeman: A vaga ond. He was being hel d there, but they didn•t 

understand why be bec ame so angry and sta bed the old man 

in the stomach. 

Janitor: Terri ble, isn' t it? 

o we have to be alert to defend ourselves. 

Pol i ceman: What ~o you have to do to have to defend yourself? 

Janitor: 

I'm also the guard here. 

Policeman: (laughing) 

Janitor: Oh • • •• 

So you think every guard is going to be sta ed. 

Policeman: (suddenly sees the curtain of the dressing room) There, 

(goes toward the curta in) Is there anything 1n here? 

Janitor: You c an go in and s ee . Its a room to change clothes . Pull 

the curtain and see. 

Policeman: ( is hand holding the curtain) You enter with me . 

J anitor: You have a gun, so go i n . I can stand out her e . I'm 

not going to play around foolishly. If ••• { he policeman 

jerks the curt ~ in aside then steps ba ck a few steps, his 

hand keeping his weapon r eady) 

Poli ceman: (looking in) Hell, nothing in here. (moves toward the 

window pane and l ooks up at t he sky) Very high. (Looks around 

then puts his hand on the wirrlow pane. ) Very fragile. It 

would be unfortunate to fall and to his t his window pane. 

he only way this kid could run t s to run up to the sky. 

(looks around him) Wow. A lot of clothes. 

Janitor: All kinds. 

All kinds. 

Policeman: 

There still one kind la eking here.

28 

Janitor: Whats lacking? 

Policeman: Lacking uniforms -of olic:smen. (both laugh. ) Is there 

another floor? 

Jani tor: This is the top i'loor. Do you need to see the re xt room? The 

room that sells watches? 

Polk eman: Well, its not necessary . It can wait till early tomor row 

morning, 

Janitor: You say e arly tomo.t>row. 

::;urely you mean 6 or 6:.30, right? 

Policeman: Exactly at 7. I have my orders. Exactly at 7 AM., Not 

early,. not l ate. 

Janitor: Very confusing .. 

or what? 

Policeman: 

Jan i tor: Terrible ,, 

more time. 

Forget about the store. 

xaetly at 7 ocloek then we open the doors, 

Wel l ., perhaps we should go down to check one 

Down there is still the ck door. 

Policeman: The door next to your room? Don't werry. There are guards 

outside already. {The gx janitor and policeman exit. he 

sound of footstep s then the elevator fade away. The man 

and on gradual ly r eturn to their normal selves. They step 

out from midst the mannequins. Suddenly Son looks up and 

laughs, the silent laugh of the man. A moment later, while 

the man i s still surprised looking at Son • • • ) 

Son: What are you thinking? It seems that you are also afraid of 

the pol:ice like me ,. 

.So, its even, o'k? 

Man : tlight . Even. You guessed right .. 

Son: 

So, fr m now on you'd better speak nicely so that I can unders 

tand ea sily,, ok? 

Man: 

(putting his hand in his shirt) You forget ••• 

Son: The knife , huh? (laughs) Now, its not needed, You hbld on 

to it. The knife is usel ess, 

Man: Why useless. I still can . .. 

::>on: 

Stab me , huh? (pulls his shirt open t o bare h i s chest) StabJ 

Go ahead and stabf You don' t stab? Or should I go down and 

eaJ.l the police up here. Wow .. A while ago you made me very 

cold, Yes? You also don ' t call?

29 

Man: 

Son: 

You have t he upper hand now. 

Hell, ther e's no such thing as upper hand or lower hand. 

What have you decided for me now? 

Man: 

Decide for you? 

private affair. 

hy must I decide for you? 

The.ts your own 

~on: (laughs) You are being foolish now. I don't h ave anything 

privat e. dut, do you still remember what you said,. Between 

the private and the public is very difficult to distinguish. 

Right. If you plan for me, then you pl an for yourself 1 right? 

Man: Is t hat so strange? 

Son: There's nothing strange. You've finished wanting to live here. 

Man: Ah, I understand . Continue,. 

Son: Tal k . I 1 11 talk. I'm finished e ing afraid. Early tomorrow, 

I' 11 b e captu r e d , t hen I '11 t ell them everything. 

Man: I know, I know. 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

S n: 

Man: 

S n: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Don 1 t you believe? 

I belie ve ••• 0ut, there a r e things I didn't expect. 

What didn ' t you expect? 

I didn't expect that you would be as quick-·qitted as this ~ 

You c an turn the s1 tua.t ion up sid e down . You transformed 

defeat into victory. I praise you for that, 

3top. 

Ok . Stop. Now, we'll go straight into the problem. In rum, 

you want to find a place to be safe. Actually, t hats not ver y 

ea sy. 

~ut 

it was easy for you. 

My c ase is much different than your c a se. 

Different in what way? 

I came in here and nobody knew. I lived here without mybody 

knowing. And you complicated everything. 

ecause its complicated, I must ask your help.

30 

Man: 

5on: 

Man : 

.':) n: 

Man: 

Be calm while I think (he looks at Son, nodding his head in 

thought . ) 

Have you been here a long time? 

ather long. 

I'm certain peo le have f orgot ten me already. 

Peonle don ' t forget. neve r forget• my friend • 

Ten y ears already. 

~on : (stunned) How many? f ow many years did you say? 

Man : 

Ten years. 

on: Oh• brother, ten years . At that time, I wa s only eigtt; . 

Man : 

.3on: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man; 

Son: 

Man: 

:3on: 

Man: 

Atha t moment ••• that moment ••• . 

Surely at that i me you were still young. 

Thirty. 

This ye r you're forty years old. 

er ty. Right . 

Ten years, oy yourself. That you lived like t his and coul d 

endure it i s truly strange . 

At the beginning it was very uncomfortable. ut l a t er I bec ame 

accustomed ••• And, also I must practice. Like pretending to be 

a statue. 

Must practice being a statue? 

¥hy not? 

I din 1 t practice this afternoon, but • • • 

One afternoon, noone paid attention to you. 

esc aped. ut pretend • • • a t t t moment t here 

wanti ng t o ouy a set of evening clothes, the 

are we ring. 

.1.'herefore you 

was a per son 

~i nd of suit you 

Son: 

Man: 

on: 

Would they strip off this suit? 

(laughs) 

at onl y . 

No •••.l.'m t suit you wear is a model • to let eople l ook 

If they want to buy •••• over there{points to the shirts ) 

I was thinking •••• (laughs)

31 

Man : 

They won' t strip you. Jut they will look closely, weighing 

the quality. • , . You will have to look at them and smile sweetly 

for hours. 

Son: hats enough to malce me worry. So what must I do? 

Man: 

Must practice, · hat's all . 

Son: 

Man: 

on: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man : 

Peactice - practice what? 

Practice oreathing, practice looking, practice standing, practice 

laughing, practice we aring clothes. See, a whil e ago, you 

were we aring your bow t ie upside down. 

I •d be very tired. 

ut those things are rea atively easy, all day acting like a 

statue is easy. Ni ght i s dangerous ••• when night come s the 

building is silent, you return to being a person, at that moment 

you will see all your l onesomeness. Up , down, in all the 

corridors., eat, drink, then alone with yourself in ea ch store, 

mumbling to yourself until that moment when you don 1 t know 

what to do, to that time when you only hear the sounds of your 

own footsteps in rythm with the golden s n d of t he ticking 

of the clock , to the moment you crave to look into the f a ce 

of a person made of flesh and bone, you crave to be looked a t 

as a person with flesh and bones , hear a breath, clasp a hand 

and •• , and t al k one conversation. One true conversation, A 

two-way conversation. 

You% already t alked like this a while ago. 

I spoke the truth . 

method of attack •. 

waste thejr method 

like to lie. 

I didn' t lie. Lying is destroying your 

Only the wicked knights lacking forc e 

of attack , Only people h aving com lexes 

~on: (laughing) When you t alk like that, t hen truly I don't 

understand. 

Man : 

Son: 

Man: 

You will understand l ater .. 

I know. That is t he style 

two way conversation, I ' ve 

f i nd it new •• , 

My style of speaking 1s not easy •• 

oftalking to oneself. The style of 

not used in a long time, so I aJs o 

urely, you have been a stat ue so long that you ' ve forgotten 

many things. True? 

ight . 1 

ut also I s ee that acting like a statue is more 

pleasurable than acting like a person. 3ecause · can be 

forgot ten. s with me now,. then t he work all day of' standing 

still in one position has beco:rm one way of lif'e, p art of'the

32 

Son.i;i 

Man: 

Son: 

span of the journey is to forget people. I see myself as the 

other person, see other persons as myself, see everything, me , 

you, the olerl-r , the customer, the store, the mannequins, all 

are only a flickering, appearing, drifting. At tm t moment, 

I dare challenge each kind of policeman of life, I dare to 

challenge e ach bind of life, I dare to challenge all my past. 

Everything is diluted, floating. ut then the sound of tm 

office bells still rings, night returns to the silent building. 

You know what for a long time_, f'or t hese few years, I only 

wished to be able to live one night like this night ._ One 

night to wake up , to see myself leaving everything in ord~ 

to return to my former self, lonely 1 devoid of m ything again 

to be a le to m et a person, to meet you, to ha ve a talk. You 

came at the right moment. You appeared at truly the right 

moment. 

I also don•t know where to run anymore. In all corners, no 

mat t er wha t place, I'll henr the whistle, see the pol ice. 

You see,. I c ame in here, but they still pursue me . 

Rest assured, in here you can escape. 

(eagerly) I put myself in your hands. 

Man: I c an help you. Bu t , na t urally there are c nditions .~. 

on: 

Let me kne» • whatever,the conditions, I 1 11 .:fbllow them. 

Man : Only one . 'l'he only one condition, You must absolutely listen 

and follow my words. la ts all. 

Son: (laug i"Jing) You are awfully elever. One becone s everything •• 

Jut thats all ri$ht. Tell me and I 1 11 do it. Whatever you 

order, I 1 11 do. \ l aughs) Unl ess, unless you try to capttr e 

me . 

Man : 

Son: 

an: 

Son: 

Man: 

Go over to the door over t h ere. (points to the gl ass door 

behind the curtain) 

Jump? 

(smiling) You are making a joke. You should remember tm t 

my helping y u is to help you live, unless • • • 

Unless? 

Unless t hat is the only way to save your life? 

Son: What s trange way to save one's life. Seven floors.-... 

Man: I know. '3even noors •• ,jut I was just talking. When me eting 

happiness, who c an force you to do these thing s .

33 

Son: Please cee me from that thing. As for the rest, I 1 m ready 

to do everything. 

Man: 

Including killing some ne? 

~on: Including killing. I'm not bothered by that. In my hands 

there has been a man's life already. 

Man: 

The j anitor? 

on: The janitor of the reformatory. · efore I thought it was difficult 

to stick a whole knife into a greasy stona. ch. Once in a while, 

when threatening children, I would take my ife carei'ully, 

just piercing a litt le, never daring to th;rrust the ife fully. 

Ah, but, t en, yesterday •• l ast night ••• I don' t understand how 

I dared to shove my hand fully into the jm. irot 1 s stomach. His 

gut as greasy as a pig gut. His chest thrown out, two eye~ 

red, staring straight into my face . He didn 1 t suspect. 4 hen 

he lifted his hands up and took my shoulders. Gradually u 

to my necl{ . I quickly turned the knif'e one m re time. e 

trembled with fear, mouth gaµing open, alchohol , stinking, 

breath blew out onto my face, disgusting. He became limp, 

slumped dovm. He gradually slumped down to the ground. I saw 

a nile of flesh and ocean of blood under my f eet and a red 

knife in my hand. Tm ts all , Not difficult. I saw that 

killing a person i s not difr • 

Man : (not paying attention} No , not difficult. 

on: Then - surely y u know too well alr eady. (he man looks at Son, 

then turns his face and doesn't s eak. n continues:) ir, 

the truth is I didn' t want to kill anyone. Even the janitor. 

(annoyed) Everything is ecause he was very fat . His 

stomach stuck out in layers. His two breasts jumped up and 

down li ~ e a wom&n 1 s . Each time he car.ie into the room he unbuttoned 

and bardd his chest. I even saw the hair growing 

one his nip le. He forced us to squat on the f'loor. Then, 

if he hated anyone, he kicked him in the face so badly he 

couldn't soe anymore. One night, just last night but it 

seems so far away, I was sleeping and suddenly m )Onlig.."lt covered 

the whole room" I felt I wanted to go out. fhe leaves made 

a rustling s und. I suddenly rememoered all the wrapping 

papers blown by the wind in the market place at night. I 

wished I could see the flashing neon lights at the end of the 

street, wh1chid could stay outside the theatre and listen to 

the songs. I desired everything. Then I felt completely dark. 

vhen the moon set, I don ' t know. The shadow ofthe bar of the 

window covered my eye. I don' t know why I kept thin.~ ing of 

the stomach of that guard. I thought &f the stomach of that 

man were as big as the bar , god, I 1 d never be aole to see the 

light outside the window. His stomach became the bar. The 

bar became his sto:nach. I ' d been thinking that when the

34 

guard crune in. (Son sto s, in the s lance his eyes open 

widely, he seems to be witnessing a terrible scene in whidl 

he is a man involved) 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Then you broke the bar. 

I 

stabbed the guard to death. (silenee) 

Each person has one bar surrounding him. A woman, a thing, 

I understand. And now you want me to help you. 

Son: I rave "1een p lite with you. Hep me . I'd be in your service 

the rest or my life. 

Man: 

on: 

You'll a· solutely what I 

Even to killing. 

say. 

Man: 

If n ec essary. If I see it as needed for your survival. (he 

looks a t Son, nods repeatedly) A while ago I said that your 

case is completely diff erent from my case. Do you remem ber? 

I ca.me here and nobody knew. I lived here and nobody knew. 

~u t you, , •• , . 

Son: The uolice look for me . I know. 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

They have surrounded the building. Tomorrow morning~ befcre 

o enj.ng the doors they will force eheir way in here. out • •• 

they won ' t find you ,. They won 1·t find you, here, I ' m sure of 

it. I have a plan. 

Wonderful" 

::>o the police will not cause a problem any more. 

Son: Thats fine. I ' m only afraid of the police. 

Man; 

Are you sure? 

Son: Is t here anyone else. desides the police, is th::re anybody 

who knows I'm here? 

Man: 

Son: ( smiling) Ah , right ••• there 1s you., •• 

Man: (slow and poised) here ' s someone else. Think carefully. 

Son: Me. (suddenly stops. Two people stared at each other slowly 

then Son speaks) Oh, God ., Yes.

35 

Man: Tm ts it. (a heavy silence descends on the room. Son clasps 

his hands, hms eyes staring out in the air.. A moment later) 

Son: 

What to do now? 

Man: 

There is a way• 

Son: I know. '3ut {suddenly) I ca. on. I cannot. 

Man: 

Up to you. 

Son: I cannot. I cannot do that. Is there any other way. I 

geg of you_ 

Man : You pray to god. (forc ibly ) you must choose. Son. You mus t 

choose or- •• is it a very deep l ove? It can't be. 

on: 

No , I only feel s.orry for • • • 

Man: Pity is death already. It :ls the beginning of the establ ishment 

of a bar. 

Son: Then, wha t can I do!. {'rhe man smiles) 

Man: 

I've spoken and you understand. 

~on: Oh, but when I think of i t again. I don ' t understand any1hing 

at Rll . 

Man: Therefore never re ... think. Everythi ng is like this. Deci de, 

then do 1t. so, What do you decide? 

Son: You try to think fo:r~ me . You are a very clever man, Isn' t 

there another way? 

Man : There is another way. 3ut again ••• very difficult. For you m d 

me . 

Son: 

Let me know. 

Man: Jump through that window pane. (points toward the dressing 

room) rloth you and I . The pane is think. It would be tie 

end. Tha.t w uld finish the story. (a contented smile f l a.shea 

in the eyes of the man ) Come , we t11 go out here to t alk mor e 

conveniently. (he goes toward the back curtain. Son is ab::>u t 

to follow him when suddenly the s uld of the clock eell r i ngs 

i n the silence. Son is motionless 11s tening to each of tle 

twelve rings, Midnight has begun, ) 

Son: Twelve oclock. t welve oelock . 

Man: Twelve oclock. Whats str ange about that? The bell has been 

ringing. a All the cloaks still r un r e gul ar ly, Now 1 t s half' 

t he night,

36 

on: 

Man: 

Midnight. 

Wm ts the m'ltter with midnight? 

Son: No . Nothings the matter. {to himself) A while ago it was 

Eleven ocloc.r. Now its twelve oclock. Midni ht. Each things 

begins. Sach thing begins at the moment of midnight. 

Man: (harshly) hat? 

>:>on: (as though suddenly wakir:s) Ah• I 1 r.i here, l';n here. ( hen, 

following the steps of the man. he go s ast the curtain into 

the room, becomes hidden behind the curtain , )( When the 

room is about to become a silent space, th~ sounds from the 

choir r i se up) 

Mannequins: Midnight. he time of blackness, criminal blac.mess, 

the time of r ed human blood, the time of pointed knives and 

poison, the time to stab from behind ru1d murder. Midnight. 

The time of people. Midnight . (high voice) Are you sure? 

Aro you sur0 its midnight? Can you st 11 believe those rude 

cloc ~ s? (de~p voice) Whoever sees clearly, twelve ieces of 

incoherent time uilt up in the li~e 0£ a person? harp and 

concise, sueet but l a c king an echo. 3ut what ~an e done? 

(choir) Ca."1 any ne henr the world' s i l lusions °!:>-lilt up 

around t he life of a ~erson , colors, sound~, shapes, bitter 

taste of yeast (deep voice) he bitter taste of yeast. (hi gh 

voic ) The smell oforchids of the jungl • (deep voice) Strong 

smell of the night, the waPm smell of a woman (high vo i ce ) 

This old man i ~rong . (deep voice) Why wron ? How is the 

warm smell of a l·Dman? (high voice) Li e me 11 deep voice) 

Woman - you are no longer a 1oman. Like e , I ' m not a man . 

(choir) We are no longer vile persons with masculine and 

feminine oders, h aving jealousy, love, hate, rear . (high voice) 

There is lif e, t re is death. I ' n y ung f orever. For ever, 

I'll be in the most eautiful age. Jetween the naive age but 

not yet r eaching old age. (dee voice) Tho autumn season. The 

sun is still rising above the top of the bamboo trees. Like 

me . (high voice) rhe golden rays of sunset on the arms of 

the throne lacquered in red and gold. eautiful because it 

is breakable, oontining mat erials of love, because its about 

to be shut off, be cause night is returning, t he thinck black 

night of midnight, (daep voice) I reign in the g ~ogeous sunlight 

of the sunset. (Ch ir) Different from man ' s life, there 

is a four season cycle, there i s the epring, in the budding 

of youth, there is the dy~ng sunli ht. r he ~ eginning is b~ne . 

The mid part is bloody. 1 he end aatches up to you. ~ he re 

can it be chased to? The space is filled with bars ••• time is 

divided into .;iany pieces, scattered as grains of' s and in the 

Hang river. 

26,438,400,000 seconds. And how many l inl::s? Every wink is 

a mcve toards death. We don ' t dio. We don't wink. We ar e 

36, 000 cays, 7, 340, 000 hours, 4J+0, 64o. ooo minutes,

37 

innnobile. We don't suffer death. (high voice) Death is 

only a noun (deep vol· e) That is a kind of bar. high 

voice) That is R language. Language is just a cover. The 

cover can desappear. The coven can oe broken up. (deep 

voice) Language can oe a weapon. Conversation is a swor d 

duel . (high v ice) That man is terrible. le sharpens the 

language (deep voice) as he sharperls his sword. He uses 

his language like a knight of old times whose talent had 

achieved the hi he st leveJ. . (high voice) Only I oi ty that 

naive lad. (dee voice) Desttny. (choir) We cannot speak 

out. Only some more hourse left ~ ·fhe current will r n into 

the sea. Destiny. It ., a dead end, a knife. 1 

he current of 

the river will surely flow into the sea. 

(The voice s of ~he choir gradually fade into the silence of 

the building and t he curtain falls slowly. )

38 

ACT I II 

Son: 

Man: 

$on: 

Still the same scene. The man stands leaning against the 

table with h~.s hands crossed> lo )king at Son pacing. In 

a moment there is the sould the cloc bells ringing. Two 

sounds . S n sto s suddenly, panicked. 

Damn. wo oclock. Two ocloc ~ already. 

Two in th'3 Il'.lorning, and in three more hourse the sun will 

rise. { oints to the b~ c k curtain) r h at direct:t n. 

God • •• how much longer waiting li

39 

Son: Right. I reme . er. You know that I 1 ve been su.ff'ering from 

those stupid things. 

Man : 

Son: 

Man : 

Son: 

Man: 

on: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

hy? 

A Catholic Father . He sually c ame to visit us. He caressed 

the heads o.f the young kids. He a s ~ ~d if they had confessed 

yet. 'l. 1 hey didn 1 t underBtand anythin • They thought the pro ple 

wanted to know the er minal kids to send to the pris ~n island, 

so the kids wese scared and refused. 11 Father, I didn't do anything 

to be a criminal. People saw me homeless, wandering in 

the str .~ ets and ya r ket, t hey pi tied me and brought me here. 

' hats all . I didn 1 t do anything to b e a crimin .... 1. 11 he kids 

stared inmisunderstandi ng. They yelled that t hey didn't know 

11 

who their ancestors were. e are j ust uncla imed kids, no 

11 

fathersf no ancest rs." Later the Father had to threaten. If' 

y ou don t confess, then don't blame me later on, l ater on 

you'll die and have to go t o ell, devils will burn you gradually 

all the rest of' your life. n So .funny, there we r e kids so scared 

they yelled and didn't sleep all night. Later they asked to 

be sent to t he church. 

You were tal ing a out the present . 

I'm talking about the present. It was this Father who had 

tried to ex l a in t me the word Present. And the past and 

the future . But, I ept thinking, I thought that •• • • 

hat did y u think, .Son? 

Not ng a t all. Present . Futw e, Past • •. just li'\:e inherited 

crimes. Made up . Everything' s made up. I thought so. 

Who made it up? 

You adults, who else? Make things up in order to threaten 

youth, to threaten us. Present,, future, nast, crimes of 

ancest ors, then Adam and Eve. To listen to those things i s 

terrible. I must forget the past, esnecially my past. I 

must be resigned to prepare myself in the present in order to 

prepare for the future . In sum, nothing to do at all. Only 

waiting,, waiting, waiting all my lif'e. As you've said, it 

means I've lost , lost everything, lost my life. 

Still, you don't have anything a t all? 

r here is som thing. An i age of something, 0uts its very 

f'unny , wandering like a spider' s t hread in a bush, an illusion 

like the dream of a girl. I umst grast pit i mmediately, I 

c an ' t wai t , even waiting five days till I reach eighteen, till 

I get pushed out of this nrison. I must grao with my own 

hand. as though graooing a knife) Hold tight. Jump right 

in, Then I don't care what ha pens.

40 

Man: A knife deep in the st.omach @f a guard. That is a kind of 

present. Made of flesh and bones .. Sump right in. Agree . 

l3ut also you must know how to jump out. 3ut the planto jump 

out must pose a different irriage of the present, a di 1'ferent 

kind of bar. {laughs) Now it is the poli~e or me, SonY 

Son; (looks at the man a PlOillent) lllon 1 t worry. Now its the police • 

Man: 

>5on: 

Man: 

Son: 

Now its the first phase, I understand. 

There won't be a second phase, if you want. (his tone becomes 

sincere) Why do you distrust me like this? You don't believe 

me or what? 

Presently I )elieve. 

(bitterly) l'he first ph$lse. 

Man: Presently you need me . 

Son: (sincerely) ~ tg b r other •. 

Man : 

Wra t do you want? 

Son: I want ••• to ask you one thing. I ask very sincerely, and I 

want you to re ly sincerely to me . 

Man: Go ahead and ask. I'm listening. 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Do you ever thj_nk of going out there? Do you intend to stay 

here forever or what? I know to ask like this is not appropriate 

but talking with you naturally I'm curi us, want to know ••• 

want to know much about you. It seems you have mnny secret 

things you want to f rget, You want to forget everything, 

If not, then a man li ~ e you • •• 

rrm not clear. Jut the truth is, I'm afratd of you, and 

before I came here I didn't fear anyone . 

In sum you want me to tell you my innermost confidenc e s . 

I don't dare asr • • • I only thought that if ••• you, with me •• • us. 

Man : 

Me wtth you, us, •• why? (laughs) Ah, I understand. 

to collab rate with me , collaborate closely, 

You want 

Son: 

(sincerely) We will hide here a little while and then go rut 

to e r rn a livins. I will contact members of my gang. Y u 

will lead us, you are a leader . You c an sit quietly in one 

lace. The affair of stab ing elongs to us , Well?

1'1an: 

I think that you are planning somethi ng completely in contradiction 

with your thoughts. S n, you are planning the futyee • 

But the future is li e and past and i t doo sn 1 t mean anything 

at all . Thats what you sairl a moment ago, surely you remember . 

My past. Your future •• • All made up . And thats what it is. 

What is my nast? You want to know much a.bout me . I alsow ant 

to tell very much about myself' to you, because I am thirsty 

f'or conversation. 3ut whats lef't? Trying to remem er the 

past is just .falling in a little bit of useless life which 

I oa'l.llot ~ut into any category. Taste or smell, sound or 

color? A little bit of useless life, thats my nast. Nothing 

to say about it. And the fut1J.re .,. . Son, on't worry about my 

future , its my own af.fair, I cansettle my own accounts, I 1 l l 

take care of' it. 

Son: Settle accounts? I don 1 t understand. 

Man: 

I'm a rat . Don't be surµrmsed. _,et me continue, I am a rat, 

I chew, gradually, hour by hour, night by night, all my .future, 

all MY life, all my time, everything. (a moment) You , you 1 re 

diff'erent . .3ecause you are facing a present. A thread floati ng 

in a bush. Again, thats what you said a moment ago. Illusionous 

dreams of a girl ts figure . A girl, Son, thats your p resent, 

do you know that? 

.3on: 

(emphatic) 

1 

hu, I know. I •m waiting, I ' m waiting here • 

'1an: Lets solve the resent and t k about the fut'l.r e 1a ter. 

Son: (sud1enly) 3ut if • • (he suddenly stops ta king. The bell 

o.f the clock strikes three tim s) 

Man: 

on: 

Man: 

Three oclock. 

G ( 

Oh, od, why so fa.st? a moment late ,. he recalls something ) 

Jut , ir·rhu does not ... 

Thu won't come up? It may happen (suddenly turns his head, 

listening) Don ' t worry, Thu is coming up . 

Son: (surprised) \"here? Where? 

Man: 

Can't you hear? (f otsteps in the corrid r a.re heard in the 

silence of the uilding. An ast nished look comes onto Son• s 

face.) e calm. 

Son: Calm. Su pose you were in rny osi ti on,. 

Man: Each pers n as a different way of living. No ody can be in 

your posjti::m. You remem er. At Four ocock sharp . lell , 

wish y u good luck.

42 

Son: 

Man : 

Thu: 

\here are you going now? 

dack to join my group . (he turns and fa.des into the manne quins) 

(footsteps in the cort>tdor suddenly stop in front of the room • . 

Son stands and loo 1 {S toward the door. ·.rriu enters. Son is 

astonishe • ·rhu is not the same as before. She t s turned into 

an extaordinary character, o. princess whori .Son used to see in 

the advertisements in front of the t heatre. her hair flowing 

down, the ark eyes have lost their naive qualities like the 

surface of' a l a\.e ·wrimch now has bec ome two eep wells. Thu 

wears a pinl{ silk drAss, styled aR a Western evening gown. 

i'his is th!? first tlme the dress has )een worn., still with 

creases . It looks out of date, unreal , easy to mel6 away. 

The sk i.rt reaches the floor, covering her steps ~ Thu enters 

as though in a dream,. a lm s her movements untrue, like a 

rincess in the time of the Crusades. uhe stops in frontof 

Son who is still looking at her, astonished) . 

Son, my darling, I'm Thu. 

Son: Thu, really you . trange. 

Thu: Why strange? (smiles) So its even. A while ago y ou made me 

afraid. Now its your turn. (circles him, the skirt fiows 

gracefully. ) Do I look beautiful, my darling? This is the 

fir st time I• ve worn this dress. My father bought if for .me, 

here, on se.le - if' not, it 1 d had been very expensive. Do 

you ~now (points to the female statue) the dress of this lady. 

Last year she w re it for a long time,. rlut, hey, why are you 

l ooking at me like hat? Why don ' t you say sore thing to me? 

Are you angry it took me so long to come up? I had to wait 

a long time until my father fell asleeu, to c mb my hair, 

Son: 

Bllt whya are you dressing like this? 

hu: Isn t t it beautiful? 

Son: Yes, but you still haven't ans.we r ed me . What are you wearing 

a dress like this? 

Thu: I et you know. 

Son: 

I give up. 

Thu: You forget. T night is my night. T night is yo 1 r night . 

Tonight is our Ja st night. 

Son; Don't talk like that . Its bad. 

Thu: Why bad? I lB. d already prayed: God, Please, Buddha. (:::>on steps 

.forward to prevent 'rhu from s-i:e aking. His face l')olrn str~e . 

They look teach other like two strangers. )

43 

"' n: (Shrugs, as though he has no choice) Go ahead and say your p 

prayer to uddha. 

Thu: (still surprised) Wrat.'s the matter with you, Son? 

Son: Nothing, nothings the matter aL all . You pray to uddha . I 

want yo to live for~ver with ~e . 

Thu : Cannot. I've prayed for a long time already. God. 

Let me m et love. One ni2'.ht only. 'l'hen, tcmorrow, I 

on't you see? I've rayed already. omorrow morning. 

what time is it already? 

3u1.dha. 

will di. 

G 0 d , 

don: 

Past three oclock, almost three- thirty. 

Thu: i::>0 1 

its almost four ocock, almo .... t morning. I want the night to 

stretch out foreve and day never come. un, stop rising. 

::>on : (sighing) The sun "rill rise, hu (points to the curta in in the 

b a c lrground) l'hl t di rec t i on. 

Thu: 

How do y.u know? 

'on: 'l'hats the ea.st. I have to know. 

Thu: Right . Thats east. ho sun rises in the east. Tnats ok. 

Just exactly like my prayer . God. ~u ldha, let ·ne love then 

I'll be ready to die. Let me die in the dawn, in the strong 

wind and really .Jlue sl{y, die with love, dying naturally as a 

baby c ming into life, die without etr yal, w"thout killing 

e ch other . .. . 

Son: {holds Thu 1 s shoulders tightly) Stop. Thu . I don't want to 

listen anymore. ( Faced with l hu's astonishment , ~on puts his 

hand down andturns ) I want it to be silent like this i'orever. 

Thu: ~f things go like this then I'll not be afraid of anything. 

1ruly, I 1 n also afraid of death. ut now I ' ~ sure I 'm g ing 

to die just li~e this. I'm sure death is ••• only silence in 

the night which is stretched out. Or are we dying, or have , 

e died alrearly, my dqrling? 

.:>on: qt yet • hat's why its so bad. Much ore convenient to die. 

hu: 

on: 

dn't. y u want t o live? 

I For what ? 

Thu: / ·o love me . 

Son: Love y u . ~ut you no longer exist for me to love y u . Y u 

are d .termined to die . 

Thu : 

Oh, SQ what are you living f or?

44 

Son: 

See! 

Thu: Tha~ doesn't make sense. 

Son: NNothine; rakes sensA. If you think it over, then nothing 

makes sense. Like this store, p ants~ shirts, and then a bunch 

of' statues, me and you, nonsense, nonsense. 

Thu: 

A while ago when Iwaa downstair s thinking of you I thought 

you w~l'e like a gust; of wind that core s and goes. I came up 

he...,e , opened t;he door, saw you and didn't worry arry more . 

Son: You h ven' t known clearly who I arn. You are still dream~ng . 

Tnu: I don• t H.eed to know clearl y . ·rhis is enough. 

Son: I run an ornhan - no father 1 no mother, 

Thu : 

I kno"r. 

Son: I live by crawling around the streets and alleys. I live 

as a ic 0cket, snat ching and running. I live by stabbing . 

I 1 ve t:een locked up in a Heforma.tory. Then one night,, I 

don ' t know why, I couldn' t bear it anymor e, I stabbed a guard 

to death. Then I ran, I ran in here . Took this set of 

clothes, hid behind the statues. And . •• the police encircled 

the building. lomorrow, tor1o r row morning, the police will 

f orce their way in here I ilJ be captured, imprinsoned, 

hanged, or a.t least pnt into

45 

Thu: A p rin&ess sleeuing in the forest. I am Hang, sleeping in 

the f rest . I know. Have I awa ened yet .. my love? Or must 

I wait till tho time when the east contains the rising sun? 

Son: I run here to wake you 

Thu : And tomorrow, dai..m, I will go ac1t into sleep. Night falls· 

" th e when '-;he s "liln rises? 

Son: 

Either way is the same thing. 

Thu : ~mn , don' t r:Is e. Don ' t e ver rise again. I hate the sun. 

Oh, my love, whs.t time is it alr eady? 

Son: (excited) ? our ocloc~ . Certainly its a out four already. 

Four in the m rning. Now, what should ·we do? 

'rhu : W t . (a moment ) Do you hear anything? 

Son: 

The sound of the clock running. Tic Toe Tic oc. There. 

{in the silence the sound of the cl ck r esounds from the 

ac 1 -< like a hammer beatin g on a nail .four times Th,e .fea ing 

of being uushed, strangled, occu ies both of them) 

oth: 

There. (Son runs out, as ho wan r, s to sha e off the ghostly 

power f that feeling . He returns) 

Son: Four oclock. Go , Why so fast? (the tone is different) Thu . 

Thu: {as if su denly awairnning) I ' m here. 

Son: I f'eel dizzy• Jud i.enly I see things spinning,. 

Thu; (steps over to him) You t r e dizzy, or,. •• 

Son: No, I'm not hungry, I'm thir'3ty. Is there any wat er rare? 

Thu: '.J. here is, but downstairs. I' 11 go d wn and get some . You 

wait for me . 

Son: 

Thu: 

C me up right away. 

1 ht away. (she turns and goes to the door, smiles, then 

exits. The sound of her footste s fades into the sil ence 

of the corridor. A moment later the man grad~ally appears 

Rnd stands in uaok of 'on. "'j.lence. ) 

Son: Where? You give it to me right away. Thu is g ing to co me 

up .

46 

Man: We have time. Don t t worry. Do you remember. Do you renember 

everything? 

Son: 

Man: 

I remember. 

Come here. (Son follows him like a machine to the back curtain. 

he man pulls the curtain and goes close to t he glass door at 

the be.ck . He stands still for a moment and t hen turns t h e 

l atch and pushes the door strongly. The door opens out onto 

the sky. The unfinished building seems clser. The geometric 

corners of those unfinished statues rise up, printing their 

wild image into the dark blue sky like thiluc chinese ink,, 

filled with stars) Over thare. (Son is h:r¥notized, he mo ve s 

£orward,, ) Be c areful Son. Seven Floors. (he man suddenly 

sticks his head out, looks down at the s treet then ulls 

back in, his oack still towards Son) Damn, very hi gh. Just 

looking makes my body shiver . To me the depth has an attractive 

ghostly power, a deep pit, a deep valley, a deep well. 'l'ats 

my weak point. 'l'here were nights I stood here for hours. I 

enjoyed t he scary i'eeling of an action of .falling in the 

eternal depth •• • (Suddenly t he man turns back , stretches his 

arms in the middle of the door .. His back still faces tm stree t . 

The wind outside blows his grey hair, he s cowls, staring directLy 

at Son. 3ut Son's face stares,, he is frozen in one place as 

though he's i n a defensive positon, but his eyes go beyond 

the man f ac ing him, further, directed $oward s ome blinking 

star very high up. ) I know what t hings you're thiking. You 

think that one only needs a sudden movement, then I'm •••• 

finished. right? rlut now the s uddenness is gone alre ady. 

And right after you 1 ve re al iz e d these dar k thoughts, t hen, 

after that, •• what will you do? The problem still is untouched. 

The poli ce st ill will look for you. Perhaps they can l ook f or 

you faster . 

Son: (calm) You' re wrong. I'm not thinking m ything at all . 

Man : You are staring a.t me . 

Son: dut I don' t see you. From a moment ago, f rom the moment the 

door o ened out onto the s ky, then I haven't seen you Eny:more . 

Man: Wm t do you see? What are you looking at so thoughtfuly? 

Son: 

At t he building being constructed on the other side of t he 

street and at the stars in the sky. You ha ve been attracted 

because of the depth. You're infatuated with the depth • 

As for my , it a pear s to be a height. From the time I was 

small, I only liked t he things stretching up . The birds flying 

away, l anes lost in the cl ouds. An unfinished high building. 

'l'he stars flickering very far away in the vault of the sky. 

I feel a vastness, cool . I .feel ••• (Then, Son is silent, 

the man looks at Son, no lding repeatedly)

47 

Man: 

Son: 

Man : 

I apologize for thinking badly of you. Continue. I'm sure 

that you have many interesting thoughts in your head, but 

haven•t yet had the opportunity to reveal them. dut, now 

its still early. ~e can t alk with each other a few minutes 

more . You said that you like height. hat else, Son? 

What else? I don't understand. Its very difficult. I see 

things as complicated. Has there been a time when you've been 

loc1{ed up in a pitch dark apartment, a room without even a 

small window. I was once. And I found a strange peace of mind. 

The sad things was t hat there was a small door opening out onto 

the sky, a hole to let me hear the sounds outside. In the dark 

silence then, I didn't think anything at all . 3ut ••• one piece 

of blue sky, one s .mnd of the ship in the port, one branch of 

s tree, a bit of win~ . That was something similar to me , 

something excited. I wanted to break out •• I •• , . {rlut ~on is 

forced to stop. 'l'he mu£fled steps in the hallway are becoming 

cJe arer) 

(quickly shuting the door) I didn't olose the latbh. To be 

certain ••• 

Son: You give it to me . 

Man: { tal

48 

Son: 

Thinking about Thu. 

Thu: 

You're joking. 

~on: Don't you elieve me? 

Thu : 

I believe, but • •• 

Son: 

rlut what? 

Thu: Once in a while I see you far from me . You are thinking of 

sanething very terri )le. 

on: Thinking of you, thinking of the .future of the ilwe of us. Is 

that terri ble? 

Thu: The future - is that tmnorrow? 

Son: Our future egins fromt this night. a moment) Come out here. 

( on g es to the ba c k room, pulls wide the curtain. Thu 

follows. The two stop close to each mm other, looking out 

at the street. ) 

Thu: 

Very close.(steps up close to t he glass door., looks out onto 

the street) I think I c an jump over the glass do r . (Son steps 

up li

49 

Son: 

Are you finished being afraid yet? 

Thu: Finished alre ady. I 1 m really silly. 

Son: 

•rhu: 

Son: 

' ome in here. 

No, I want to stBnd here (gradually t urns around, looks d 

outside) I want to stand here foreve r . If, a while ago ••• 

Don 1 t speak anymore, Thu. 

Thu: I'm finished being afraid. on, my love, I thought if I 

fell down, if I was careless and fell down then its finisre d . 

Nothing coul d e done. 

on: ::>ure . 

Thu: I t s convenient to b e li e that. The end of the story. End 

of both tomorrow and today. The end. I don 1 t understand why 

I r emember my mother. I feel a so bbing in my h eart. I feel 

suff ereing, but choked with tears of happiness. When I say 

these things, you donit ~augh at me , plea se. I read a sotry 

once and t this moment the lovers also talked lilrn this. 

right? 

Son: I • •• • I on ' t know . From time I was small, no one loved me . 

I haven't known wha t love is (su denly chru:iging his tone) 

Thu. hu, I ask you sincerely, do y · u •••• ? 

Thu: (turns and embra ces him) Yes, oh od, yes. I want to cry. 

on: (loJks outside to see) Look carei'ull y . Do you see anything? 

hu: The sky and sta rs. The night is still long. 

'on: 

Th e stars are gradually fading. 

Thu: Not at all . The night is still long. ( suddmly bo t h hold 11 

their breath. The bell of t he clock resounds one time. The 

air seems tense. .)ut 1 ts a very short sound. Thats all . 

ilence) 

Son: Oh, why is it only one s 0und? Four oclock was a long time 

ago, or ~ay o e its four- thirty. 

~ Th o es t he clock h ere beat ev ry half hour? 

Thu: I don' t know, t h e r·e are so many clocks le re, r hey beat 

c onfusedly one after the other. 'r here are s one clocks that 

stri ke every thirty minutes. Jut only one strike so it mwt 

surely be four- thirty. 

3on: No , its five oclock .

50 

Thu: Impossible. If it were five , we ould have heard five strikes. 

Son: 

Never did we henr the clock strike every half hour. 

Thu: Maybe we didn' t pay attention. Oh 1 

God. 3efore I never paid 

attention to the clocks. 

~on: 

•ro me , I'm suro it must be five-thirty. Never mind, look 

over there. F.ruc A moment ago, I wanted you to see ••• 

hu: 

Son: 

Wha t , darling? 

That building on the other side of the road. 

Thu : Oh yes, its very clear, isn't it1 3ut it looks so terrible. 

It doesn't :ta ve any form at all . 

Son: Jecause its still unfinished. Thu , do you know what I've been 

wishing I could do? No ,. not a knight. I don• t know how to 

ride a horse, pa .s through seven dense jungles, climb up nine 

high mountains. And I don't want to kill anybody either. I 

don•t want to kill a man . I only wi.shed I could become a waker, 

a craftsman, a ricklayer. I wanted to mix limest ne with 

brown sand, I need a trowel and I would build every piece of 

brick t o ma.lee the wal higher and higher, to make the building 

bigger and bigger. I'm thirsty. I wish I coul finish the 

building on the other side. 

Thu: 

Son: 

Every afternoon, hms body covered with limestone and sand, he 

returns home . I wait to heDr your voice coming from far away. 

You 're singing the song of the workers on the othr side of t~ 

street, t he song praising the ower of the arms, the blood 

of the heart and the fire of love. ( hu suddenly starts 

singing the song of the workers constructing the building on 

the other side, the song t al king of the muscle, the heart of 

a an who loves his 1 ife. 1 

'hu ts voice :is pure 1 

the air of the 

room becomes extraordinary. It seems to f!ll up with life, 

seems to be slightly filled with the ocean wind, white clouds 

in the til ue sky and the smiling life of the age of twenty. 

Suddenly, the song stops. The sound of the clock bell rings 

in the silence. Thu , clon count the sounds in their re a.d. 

Six s unds, slow, cle ar.) 

Six. 

Thu: Why Six, Strange . 

Son: Six oclock. It can't be. 

Thu: The clock strickes strangel y . We can•t trust it.

51 

... on: 

Son: 

Thu: 

If you ce.n.~ot trust the clock then what can we believe in? 

I feel as lost in a dark night. No sense of time. This 

afternoon you talked about a train going in the tunnel. Its 

exactly lik:e our c ase now. 

(joyful, yells) I figured that out already. The song of the 

worker across the street. Listening to the singing and then 

we c an know tho time. We don't need clock s anymore. The song 

I sung a moment ago will be our time . 

What time do t hey go to work? 

Six-forty five. As soon as they start working, they sing. 

Son: .:>ix-forty five . Daytch!ne already. 

Thu: Daytime already. {a moment) I think of my prayer. Tomorrow 

morning. 

Son: (quic ly) Thu, listen to me . Now we'll wait. .See what 

happens. Tomorrow morning. we'll listen to the song. We'll 

find a way t o escape. We 1 11 get out of the tunnel. 

hu: We'll see the blue s ky and ripening rice,. right? (a moment) 

but •••• 

on: ·o buts at all. {a moment> I egret that we didn't h:tve wine 

here to drink. I want to get drunk . 

Thu: 

Do you know how to drink alchohol? 

Son: No . (tries to smile} We 'll drink water then. Sit here. 

(he nulls her down on a small chair next to the table ) I'm 

going to get some water (not waiting for Thu to answer, he 

turns away and goes outside, holding the unfinished glass of 

water. He raises the glass toward Thu then drinks it all . 

· hen, in a very natu r al gesture, he suddenly goes to the car ner 

of the sto~e , to t he curtain at t he back pulled back but 

still covering a corner. Hidden from Thu , he uplls out a nill 

from his shirt pocket and puts in in the glass ; he returns to 

his nlace. he holds the bottle and pours the water into tre 

glass and very slowly ste s toward Thu , She stands up) Now 

its your turn. Even wat~ r will make you drunk, my dear Thu . 

Go ahead and drink it . p:hu holds the glass, raises it to her 

motuh. Suddenly) Sto:(> l ( 1 'hu stops. A bit of hesitancy appears 

on the face of the boy} ~ Ok, thats ok. Go ahead ani 

drink it. Finish it up. ( .1.hu drinks it in one gu.lp m d puts 

the glass on the table, stands silently looking at Son) Thu . 

now,, I've rre.de my deeision. I'll have to continue to pl ay the 

role of the knight. You are correct. I already killed a very 

wicked man. but its not finisred yet. One more man. This man 

1s r eally the leader of a gang.. He will Kidnap you, But I 

have gone through seven den se jungles, crossed nine high mountains, 

and I ca.me in time. I promise that I'll protect you, Thu,

52 

even though I •11 be killed. To let you live. You must live. 

You know why? 

Thu: (as though in a dream) Speak, my darling. 

Son: To let eighteen years of my living in the streets be meaningf'ul . 

You understand? 

'rhu: 

I understand, but •• , but I a. lready prayed. 

on: We'll pray gain. t ow is the beginning. Pray. Say a prayer 

to Judd.ha. 

'l'hu: Is there enough time, darling. ( suddenly) I d:> n ·' t know why •• 

Son: 

{astonished) What, darling? 

Thu: No , nothing at all . Hut my head feels heavy. I feel dizzy, 

on: (touching her shoulders) Do y u f eel uncomfortable? 

fhu: No , not uncomfortable. I feel as though I'm rockign on a boat. 

'fhe boat is floating, blue water, blue sky. 

Son: 

You pray, you pray to duddha. 

Thu: No time , darling. The sky is blue. My eyes start getting 

heavy, 

3on: (holding rhusts :shoulders tightly) Pleas e~ God. Please, 

3uddha, speak. 

Thu: (trying) Please God. (then she slumps down) 

on: Oh, God. Thu. I1hu . ( on helps Thu to sit on the cahir. 

Thu slumps, puts her head on the table, immobile . Suddenly 

.:3on turns at the man who is st nding behind him.. Son raises 

his hand intending to put it on the re ad of Thu,. but hesitates, 

t akes i~ back. frightened:) You told me it was a sleepir:g 

pill ., ( 1 he rr.a n still looks at Son without spe a.king) Is :t t 

r ·ally a sleeping pill? (suddenly ) or ••• (The man suddenly 

o ens his mouth and bursts out laughing) Hey. Why do you Ja ugh? 

You tole me it was a sleeping pill,. (Stepping toward Thu, 

raises his hands, ut when his hands almost touoh her hair 1 

he stops and takes them back) Thu • •• sleeping is that right? 

In an hour Thu will awake again. You frighten me . You ma 

me afraid. 

Man: Are you sure ••• , 

Son: (worrying) What ? Wh· t did you say?

53 

Man: 

But, if ••• 

Son: 3ut if what? You already told me that • • •. 

Man: You trust me that much , huh? (in the silence, Son looks 

surprisedly at the man. Son doesn't understand, suspect, dare 

think of the idea hidden in the wcr ds of the man. When he 

speaks again his vo ice is still fil::e d with surprise~ His 

voice has the quality of questioning for not only the man but 

also for life) 

Son: But why? Why? Why Thu? 

Man: 

Son: 

Uestiny. 

Whits destiny? Its you who gave me the pill. 

Man: But i t s you who gave the pill to the girl. You see ? Why did 

the girl me et you? Why did you !'lleet me: Why? Try to answer 

me . The only thing clear is that we me t e ach other and each 

is obliged to play one role with each other until the curtain 

falls. The curtain hasn 1 t fallen yet . 

Son: The curtain hasn• t fall.en yet? What else do you want? 

Man: You want, not me . You forget tba t its you who a sked me , who 

had agreed with me last night when you • •• • 

Son: (angrily) It~ not me alone who forgets. Its you. You fer get 

too. 

Man: 

Son: 

What do I forget? 

You assured me t hat that jill is just a sleeping pill. 

Man: Oh, Cmle on, you planned too c arefully. Sleep or no sleep, 

whats the difference. Either ways is the same, either way ••• 

(gesture toward t he background) You see, Well, l ets begin. 

Its almos t d aylight, Why? (Son still looks at the man,) 

Son: {suddenly changes his v :ice, sh akes hi s head) What else? I 

now have the u per hand, mister. 

I4ant 

(a bit surprised) What did you sty? 

Son: A moment ago I was still hesitant. Now I'm no longer hesitant. 

I've made my decis ion. 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

hat means ••• 

Those words I spoke to Thu a moment ago, do you still remenb es 

them? 

Ye s , and so what?

54 

Son: 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

Th03 e were the truth. 

'rhat means you've been wishing to be a worker. 

No, a knight. 

And stab through the chest of' a wic'Lred man ••• 

Son: Like you. Tha t is my decision. 

Man: 

You're not joking, are you? 

Son: At my age .. I don 1 t know how to joke. 

Man: Very good. .out tre re 1 s one thing you forgot . 'i'here are rome 

policemen down there . 

Son: 

Man: 

No . t myself will invite t hem up here. What else can I do? 

I d n t have a sword but I want to be a knight. Do you pemit 

me? (Son starts to turn away when the man quickly draws tb 

knife from his pocket. ) 

No . 

8on: (calmly) You already threatened me once. 

Man: 

Thats why this time I'll try not to threaten you anymore. 

Son: Then just go ahead and s t ab me, So I won' t have to jump down 

from t his seventh floor. 

Man: 

Son: 

Man: 

You already told me the s am e t hing. 

Last night, I r emember . 

soon. Its diff erent. 

Wh ts the dif ference? 

ut now i t s g?ing to be dayl ight 

Excuse me , I'm using your own langi age. 

Son: 

Thats ok, but I repea t that now 1t s different because I 1 m 

different. 

Man: {looks a t ::>on) To me, you're still the same . 

Son: 

Man: 

I just became a grown up adult. 

There are still ome more days left if I ' m not m:.S taken. 

Son: Jometimes you have to live hurriedly. Now I know myself very 

well. 

Man: Is that so? Thn. now what are you? Wl:a t have you turned ind>o?

55 

Son: 

Zero. 

Man· Oh, I thought it was something else. (laughing) :::io you ~ve 

thought that,. •• 

Son: Yes, I thought th.at I was very tough. rhats why I fbught , I 

stabb ed. I threatened. I ran away. I flattered, bent down, 

lied, all ~hat just to survdi.ve, just to breathe a little bit, _ 

(paces bac l< and forth ) A l ittl e bit. Now its different, 

Man: (laughs) Now the Zero already knows lilimself' and ls going to 

revolt, right? 

Son: I don 1 t understand whRt you've sRid. The only thing I know is 

that I'm no longer afraid of you. Well 1 goodby, (Son turn s 

away) 

Man: 

Are you determined? 

Son: Truly. I culdn't s e e any other way. 

Man: And, of c urse, y-you are going to report me ? 

don: 

Man: 

I couldn't see another way t o pull the curtain down. 

You think they ' re going to ha ve p i ty on you? 

Son: No , but they' re not going to have pity n you either - that s 

enough. 

Man: (angrily) Wba t do you want? 

Son: (smiles sadly) I remember wh t you s ai d l ast night . You 

will permit me to repeat it? (hal f - joking, half- serious) 

I we.nted so many thing s , but now it s fin5.shed. {angrily) 

this boy i s only a Zero. Nothing left of f'or this lad to 

want and wish f'or. 

Befre 

Now 

Man : There i s still something. ( 1 'hen he steps toward Thu who's 

still put her head on the t able unconsciously. He points the 

shining ,nife at the back of t he girl. ) There ' s still sone t hing . 

Son: Thu. (alughs ) Hey, Mister , who can die twice. 

Man : Oh, my little Son,, now I have the upper han . Miss Thus hasn' t 

died yet .• (Son is surprised) So far we ' ve been discussing on 

the hypothBsis that the pill she took is not a sleeping u ill. 

(opens his mouth to Augh} 3ut •• ,. 

Son: You are so complicated. Jut wby?

.56 

Man: I never told a lie. Only those bad knights who cannot fight 

well, only those men with com lexes like to lie. I already 

told you so, you remember? 

Son: (ste s forward) Thu •••• 

Man: 

Son: 

rhu 1 s sleeping, you see. 

(steps forward. hisitantly. Slightly puts his hMd on Thu•s 

forehead. He puts his fac~ close to Thu 1 s . He stands up . 

A strange voice) What do you want? 

Man: (laughs) Its interesting. Now its your turn to pose a qta stdm. 

Interesting. 

' on: 

I'm not joking,. 

Man~ Your age d esn't kn w how to joke. I know. But at my age 

I no longer want to joke. (seriously) I'm not joking either. 

Son; Sh1t. Then what do you want? Speak out, 

Man: You already forgot what I told you last n:tght? I only want 

you to continue your part. Thats all . ( on looks at the man 

quietly) How? You still remember? Thu 1 s sleeping. Now its 

time for you to pick her up . Right? (Son is thinking of 

somet ing which has just come to his mind vaguely. He still 

doesn't believe it. He ~epeats the man 1 s sords, in a monoton 

ous reading tone:) 

Son: 

I nick Thu u • 

Man: And then you go to that directi 1 :m over there (pointing t> 

t he back) 

Son: That direction. That direction. The gl ass door. (Son l augJ.s 

loudly, the way that the man laughs} Oh, God. I ' m really 

silly. 

Man: (surprised) What did you say? 

Son: No , nothing at all . How? I pick Thi up and carry her to that 

door, right? 

Man: 

Right. 

Son: And then close to the door, and then ••• (laughing) Then you 

stand right ehind us, right behind our back. 

Man: To open the door for you. And also to enjoy the scenery of 

a little virgin girl in a pink dress falling in the blue sky 

filled with morning br eezes. Step ing lightly into the silence

57 

of the depths, the attract:tve ghostly power of' the depth. 

How could I let that rare occasion pass by? A J.ce t star. A 

falling leaf. An ang l slowly landing. 

Son: 

Man: 

Two, two - mister. 

Why two? 

on: iJ:e too. 

Man : Why you to ? {shakes his head) Ah, I understand. 

Sonb 

It only takes a ve.ry light gest1 re. 

Man : Very light. Light, 3ut, ifanything comes, I have to warn 

you in adva.nce. I already primes you so.. You m ve the right 

to be suspicious. Its useless for me to sqy it again , particularly 

now. Now I only need to ask you one question: Wla.ts 

your plan? 

Son: 

I'm not used to planning. 

Man: 

1 

rhis is a selective problem.. You or the girl (gestures toward 

the gac '{ground. ) 

Son: I don't select. I 1 m only a Zero~ I can stay here sefely if' 

you keep your promise. 3ut for What? To ecorte a kind of • • • 

rat like you? ach person has his own destiny, mister. To 

y ou it is the dirty depth of holes, sewage. To me its differen t . 

Man: To J!r.ou 1 ts helght, You al eady told me and I remember. ou 

were orn Zero,. You were born to rise up. Ea.ch erron has 

his own destiny, you t re rj_ght, I have sy:m a thy for you. I ' m 

.ta telling the truth. ow, suppose I remind you a bout tra 

future ••• 

Son: (laughing) Future? You again forget. All 11'1 J!llde up. I ofi'er 

you both the ~uture and tm past. The past for you to for get 

to keep you busy. To help you from hearing the sound oft!B 

clock. The future for you to chew gradually with all the 

canned food in these seven floors~ of the supermar ket. 

Everything I have is in front of me . I only have the present 

time . I have to hold it t ightly. 

Man: nd then l)mp right in. Your th ught.s are very funny. I want 

very much to continue the conversation, but, sorry that 

daylight is coming. Its going to be mo ming., 

Son: (awakened) Daylight coming. (looks at the baclrground) Stars 

fading, sky brightening. 

Man: According to the plan, I•m sup n o~ed to open the door for ynu 

ersonally. .Jut now , you•re only lone and me , It..11 have

58 

to be busy wi t h Miss Thu. ( suddmly) You understand why~ 

You understand me . Then you go ahead, open the Chor. 

You'll have all the height in front of you. Sky, stars, 

wind, verythine, 

Son: (suddenly) I ask you one more thing (pointing to Thu) You 

promise me that •• • 

Ma.n: Of' course .. 

Son: 

Even when the moment Thu awakes. 

Man: '- nd sees me . Yes, it is complicated. 

Son: 

Man: 

The clock •• • 

You still believe the clocks here? (As s on as he finishes his 

words, the sound of the clock rises once. t that mo, ent, 

sounds f rom the streets below can be heard, the sounds of a c1tJ 

beginning to revive. And then the sounds fade away. The run 

i s rising. 'rhe sounds spread out and become a background andf 

from t hat, one by one, from the lower to the upper floor or 

the unfinished ouilding aaross the street rises many voices. 

The pa.le neon lights of the store f a c e the sunlight of the 

morning rays which c at the glass door. Soth "' on and the man 

stand watch ing each other. Son hesitates) 

Son: The clock strikes correctly. Its six- forty five .. 

Man: 

Son: 

Mant 

Son ' 

Man: 

That so? 

The song, do you hear it clearly? 

(listening) Not ver y clearly. 

In a moment it will be cl Jar. Day is coming UD to the top 

floor. Seven floor . you know. (the song can be heard mor e 

clearly. When he speak s , the man seems not able t o hide hi s 

emoti on. He tries to control himsel f • ) 

Now, listen to me care.ful ly. I 'll let you listen to the 'th ole 

song. It mean s that I ' v alre ady accepted both of your condi tions. 

When the song is finished, I''ll ro unt to three. Af'ter that, if' 

you still hesitate, if you still show that you like the supermarket 

rats which a e all of li s including these gentlemen(points 

t o the wooden statues) If vou still show that Y?U are not 

finished with this narrow r oom, if you still don t want to hold 

tightly to whats in front of you, whats out there, wha t belong s 

to you, to jump right in and then of course, I ' ll be forced t o ••• 

(gesturs meaningf'uly with the shining knire in his hand . The 

song can be heard mor clearly now. The workers have come .

59 

They have appeared on top of' the building on the other side 

o.f the street. The power of ar.ms of the workers fills up 

the store) 

Son: (as if hypnotized) The power of the arms, the blood of the 

he· rt, and the fire of love. (he stP,ps f oward hu, lightly 

puts his hands on the shining bl ack hair o.fthe girl who is 

still sleeping soundly. Then he stR.nds straight. The knife 

of the mi:m is bright under the f'irst light ofthe morning. It 

still points at the back of the girl) 

Son (softly} Thu . 

Man : (tenderly) Love . 

Son: ( t..hinlting ) Maybe . 

Man: I have lived A. surprisingly interesting ni ht. Thmnk you very 

much. Love? I ••• • (stops a moment ) You're not ma.dz at me , 

young on? 

on: (looking at the man) •ach man has his own destiny. Each 

person has his own. way ofliving. (as though r ecalling sorrething) 

You 1 re right, Do you still remember? (pointing 1D 

the background } Thats my only way of living. (The song suddenly 

stops. i.:>llence. 'on' s voice beconB s f irm) ·rhe song ts 

finished. You just go a.head andstar t . 

Man: The door i s not ~ a t ched . You just push it lightly and it' l l 

open. ($on ~t eps towar d the ackground to the door. The 

door opens. The sunlight coming in fills uu the stor . The 

wind blows at the dark hair of' the young man. He slowl y 

turns back. The two l ook at each othe r . ~he young man is 

prepar:ing t o l aunch himself' into a new life where there is a 

Man: One . 

Son: Goodbye . 

f our- dir ectional space. The forty-year- old man tries to 

rema n a.t one place in an envir n.ment wher-e all life had 

stopped for a long time . ~on turns areound in a c:ir cle, Th e 

de art ment st

60 

attention to the girl who suddenly moves and awakes. 

clearly heard the voice ofSon) 

Thu 

Thu: {in a v ery sleepy voice) Son, oh, Son, my da:rling. I ' m here 

and PWa{e alre dy 1 but I'm still closing my eyes. I still 

want God to make things nice forever , and the night dark all 

the t ime. .rust go ahead and stand t;here and wait for me . I 'll 

be out rieht away. I know the way. I know the way even though 

I have my eyes closed. (~ hen Thu stands up, 6"",13 s closed, wal k s 

to the '-)11ckground, without stop ing toward her destiny. The 

light on her hair falls, shining black. He pick dress flies 

with the wind. he walks close to the man. The man stands 

irarrioblie in a gesture of a wooden s r.atue. The s hlning knife 

still at his right hand still po:lnting out straight ahead. 

Only his eyes are still living - the dei'ensive nature of an 

animal which is ushed into a c rner ofthe dense jungle. With 

the spirit oftreating life fatrly, ofk keeping a nromis e to 

himself, a rinciple of survival, the onotonous voice of the 

girl arises. ) Stay still my darling, don 1 t speak , The 

night must be silent. I'll come close to you to wait f or the 

song. I ray to ~~ddha ~ We still have time, my darling. 

Night is still long. I want t l ove forever. Pb ase, God. 

Please, . ••• (the word Judd.ha is lost in space; fhu after Son 

no longer exists) 

voice of Thu: (lost in space) Sono., (silence. And then, in the c mer 

f the st r, still hidden and in the darkness, t e whispering: 

Mannequins: Thats all . t The water of the Hoang iver has already reached 

the sea. ;rha.ts the end of the story. {high voice) Love , 

o"TI.eo and Juliette. (low voic e ) Love is just a cau qe . This 

is just a v0yRge , an adventure into the new measurement of 

space. (high voice) The f urth measurement f r e lity. (Choi r) 

Care . >ecans there's care, there ' s death. e don •t car e f or 

space. We ' 11 be here forever.. A small and pretty space , but 

avery immense and infinite spac e , We don ' t have time. We 

deny death. We deny deat h . Amen. (The word Amen is mixed with 

the whistle of a police siren on the street below. Ft>om afar 

the s iren of an ambulance is heard. Like the ghosts melting 

in the morning fog, the low goie e ~ the high voice e f the 

mannequins fades a.way out of the sunlight of :a new beautiful 

morning. 

The man silently ta.lees out a handkerchief, cleans his knife. 

carefully and puts it on the table. Ihen he slwly walks 

toward the mannequins and aecomes one ofthe , ) 

The curtatn slowly falls in rhythm or.the step ofthe man.

Those who do not suffer death

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