Moon-Child: A Play
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About this ebook
In Moon-Child, the poet and playwright Derek Walcott returns to the island of St. Lucia for a lush and vivid tale of spirituality and the supernatural. In this lyrical new work, the crafty Planter (who may or may not be the Devil in disguise) schemes to take over the island for development. Between him and his goal lies the Bouton family, whose ailing matriarch strikes a bargain: if any of her three sons can get the Devil to feel anger and human weakness, the islanders will win the right to spend the rest of their days in wealth and peace.
In a fable that reaches from St. Lucia's verdant forests to an explosive ending amid its plantation homes, Walcott has crafted a masterwork rich in flowing language and colorful Creole patois. With roots in Caribbean folklore and an eye toward the island's postcolonial legacy and complex racial identities, Moon-Child marks a remarkable new addition to the canon of one of the world's most prolific Caribbean playwrights.
Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott nació en 1930 en Claistres, capital de la antigua colonia británica de Santa Lucía, una isla en las Pequeñas Antillas. Hijo de un pintor británico que murió cuando él contaba un año de edad y nieto de esclavos, a esta mezcla de culturas hay que añadir que su familia fuera protestante en una comunidad donde predominaba el catolicisimo. Estudió en el University College of the West Indies. Es fundador de Trinidad Theater Workshop, y autor de numerosas obras de teatro y libros de poesía. Entre sus obras traducidas al castellano figuran: Islas, El testamento de Arkansas, La voz del crepúsculo, La abundancia. En cuanto a Omeros, está considerada como su obra maestra y fue galardonada con el premio W. H. Smith. En 1992 le fue concedido el Premio Nobel. Foto © Lisbeth Salas
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Book preview
Moon-Child - Derek Walcott
I
PROLOGUE
[THE MOTHER and WASHERWOMEN, washing by the river stones.]
THE MOTHER
If you tell me You lie!
you
can trust me, I’ll understand;
that man pulling a canoe
on the cold morning sand
at Bouton with one hand
was Alcindor, my husband,
Soufrière born and bred.
Is twelve years since he dead.
His back broad as the laurel,
we never never quarrel.
I lie! We quarrel once.
WASHERWOMEN
The white stones by the river—
Every one of them believe her
THE MOTHER
A man of good reasoning,
He leave me with three sons.
He was my daily bread,
my salt, my seasoning.
I miss him as dry season
in March missing the rain;
men so don’t come again.
Everything does pass, even pain.
In early, early morning
when the stuttering candle
of the morning star go out,
I have so much to handle,
so much to think about,
I wish that every bundle
of washing was his shirt.
WASHERWOMEN
The white stones by the river—
Every one of them believe her.
[Exit.]
ONE
[A full moon over Soufrière. FELIX PROSPÈRE’s cabaret. A corner near the window. NARRATOR enters, sits at a small table.]
NARRATOR
Set in a ring of mountains
in sulphurous blue air,
a church tower and its fountain’s
dry mouth say Soufrière.
When woodsmoke climbs the valley
and immortelles catch flame,
blackbirds shoot in a volley
if you should shout his name.
[Stands, shouts.]
Ti-Jean, Ti-Jean, oy!
TI-JEAN’S VOICE
[Distant.]
Ayti?
Yes?
NARRATOR
Ous la’ toujours?
You still there?
TI-JEAN
[Distant.]
Toujours!
NARRATOR
The coiled ear hears the call
of the sea curled in a