Burge-Lubin is chiding himself indulgently for mixing romance with business when Barnabas bursts in, completely overwhelmed. EVE. Ha! Back to Methuselah: With Fanny Rowe, Ursula Howells, Ellen Pollock, Ernest Clark. The Ancients make use of the occasion to explain the realities of life to the young ones, compare artistic images to dolls and to say interest in them will be outgrown. THE SERPENT. In one word, to conceive. He will be in your power through hisdesire. Why am I a fool? If only the rest and sleep that enable me to bear it fromday to day could grow after many days into an eternal rest, an eternalsleep, then I could face my days, however long they may last. One of them is cynical, not believing longevity will happen, but the other deems the theory valid, yet rejects the prospect out of hand because longer lives will be available to everyone instead of only the elite. All present could attest to the truth of that, with no need for lying! Tell me some miracle that you have done. Zoo removes and folds her costumethe magic and mystery are gone. I will go back to my bravewarrior friends and their splendid women. Do you stay and listen to it. You know what I mean. You slay the tiger at the risk of yourlife; but who gets the striped skin you have run that risk for? BACK TO METHUSELAH The first performances of Back to Methuselah were undertaken By the Theatre Guild of New York, and began on the 27th February 1922 in the Garrick Theatre in that city. I tell you the labor is too much for one. But is it long enough for theother things, the great things? Zozim and Zoo, dressed impressively in costumes that they disparage as foolish, but are demanded by their short-lived clients, lead the visiting party into the temple. I am the most subtle of all the creatures of the field. He laughed at me; and then came my great idea: why notkill him as he killed the beasts? I want to be different; tobe better, to begin again and again; to shed myself as a snake sheds itsskin. It is. Why do you do it? He steals and kills for his food;and makes up idle poems of life after death; and dresses up histerror-ridden life with fine words and his disease-ridden body with fineclothes, so that men may glorify and honor him instead of cursing him asmurderer and thief. ADAM. EVE. [_Shegoes to it; and he is emboldened to go with her_]. Mine I call the Voice ofGod. Promise me you will be careful. there was not one new Lilith but two:one like herself, the other like Adam. If I am not slain, yet I shall die. I am the first murderer: you are only the first man. [_She strokes it and pets the serpent_].Pretty thing! I have crept through the grass, and hidden, and listened to you. EVE [_throwing her arms round the serpent_] My beautiful snake. This splendid life of yours does not last for a thousandyears; and I must last for a thousand years. he is coming. He says he is with the Prime Minister, who is married to his daughter and with General Aufsteig, who is really the Emperor of Turania, travelling incognito. If they shorten their lives, they will dig and fight and kill anddie; and their baby Enochs will tell them that it is the will of theVoice that they should dig and fight and kill and die for ever. I heard a new voice. I shall not make them. You can feel nothing but atorment, and believe nothing but a lie. [_Flourishing his spear_] Try it, oldeverybody's father. Do you love your godmother Eve? But you willedand tried and willed and tried; and your will created out of nothing theroll on your arm until you had your desire, and could draw yourself upwith one hand and seat yourself on the bough that was above your head. Asked why, he says life alone is true and meaningful and that marble remains marble, no matter how skilfully it is shaped. He readily admits repeatedly feigning death and explains that the laws enforcing mandatory retirement at a certain age and those controlling eligibility for pensions left him with no alternative: When his record showed him old enough to be retired, he could no longer keep his job but he was always denied a pension because he looked too young. It was I whowhispered the word to you that you did not know. Packed with the spot-on social commentary that George Bernard Shaw is known for, the five plays that comprise Back to Methuselah are an engaging read for lovers of classic drama and science fiction fans alike. I revolt against the food. Shaw's "homeopathic" educational method consisted of lying to students, until the students were able to see through the lies and argue with the teachers. to beAdam, Adam, Adam through more days than there are grains of sand by thetwo rivers, and then be as far from the end as ever! Poor mother! That which makes the difference between the dead fawn andthe live one. The garden is full of voices sometimes. Hearken to me, old fool. Cassio from 'Othello'3rd Gentleman from 'The Winter's Tale'Cain from 'Back to Methuselah' by George Bernard Shaw EVE [_slipping her hand into his_] Wife and husband. It is I who must conceive. A few centuries later. I could not sit still then. Lick the white stone: bite theapple you dread. Back to Methuselah (A Metabiological Pentateuch) by George Bernard Shaw consists of a preface (The Infidel Half Century) and a series of five plays: In the Beginning: B.C. I can never be alone.You always want to know what I have been doing. EVE [_rising and running to him_] Only think, Adam! CAIN. producer (5 episodes, 1952) Series Art Department Stephen Bundy . But I should not like it. Michael Holroyd describes the plays as "a masterpiece of wishful thinking" and calls them science fiction. I revolt against these births that you and mother are so proudof. Theynever want to die, because they are always learning and always creatingeither things or wisdom, or at least dreaming of them. ADAM [_struck_] That must be true. Back to Methuselah (Original, Play, Comedy, Broadway) opened in New York City Feb 27, 1922 and played through Mar 1922. . Of newly createdthings. The reason for his doing so, as he tells Confucius, is that he doesn't wish to risk contracting rheumatism from exposure to the cold waters of the bay, since he might have to live 300 years, rheumatic. Although both ideas are out of scientific favour as the twenty-first century begins, Shaw accepted them completely (See Commentary, below.) Well, will you pamper me ashe pampers his woman? Both are speaking English, but their cultural backgrounds are so different that communication is not easy. Turned upward to the sun, to the clear cleanheavens. THE SERPENT. Itmay be tomorrow; it may be after as many days as there are leaves inthe garden and grains of sand by the river. She enjoys the flirting, but rejects a rendezvous and breaks the connection. For you werethe first children in the world, and filled us with such wonder anddelight as no couple can ever again feel while the world lasts. EVE [_angrily throwing down her distaff_] What! Oh yes, some of them, of course. THE SERPENT. 1) Methuselah was of the godly line (Lu 3:27). Oh! THE SERPENT. She saw death as yousaw it when the fawn fell; and she knew then that she must find out howto renew herself and cast the skin like me. You are not stronger: you are shorter in the wind: you cannotendure. Let the Rotterjacks look to it." They can dream without sleeping. I tell you I will create, though Itear myself to pieces in the act. The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas is intended to teach an audience what readers of the Preface are assumed to have learned. I have another thought: I must tell it to Adam. After their conversation, Burge-Lubin suggests a game of marine golf, but Confucius refuses on the ground that he is too mature to enjoy playing games. Be silent, both of you. Why, I--I! That is very true. It is not only its eyes. My boy: this is neither man nor woman nor lovenor life. ADAM. I was troubled with the burdenof eternal being; but I was not confused in my mind. I have never in my soul listenedwillingly when you have told me of the Voice that whispers to you. That is the word. 4 myself, I was finding that the surest way to produce an effect of daring innovation and originality was to revive the ancient attraction of long rhetorical speeches; to stick closely to the methods of Molire; CAIN [_to Adam_] Still digging? Burge-Lubin excuses himself, saying he must confer privately with the Minister of Health. EVE. Come here. Some Reflections on Back to Methuselah in Performance Critics have had divided reactions to Back to Methuselah. EVE [_pointing to the fawn_] Like that. Their conversation ends only when it comes time to consult the oracle. You were a man-child when I bore you. You and Adam. Something quite different to myself, like you. Well, I will leave you to it, though I have shewn you a betterway. EVE. What more is there to tell? It is changing into little white worms. Remonstrances ensue and the Ancient apologizes, saying that had he known there was a nursery here, he should have gone another way. What does he know of love? You need not live to see another summer; and yet thereshall be no end. It hurts. But he killed him. Do you think I never have thesethoughts: I! And be it noted, Lilith, the first mother, is the presiding imaginative principle of Back to Methuselah itself. A path with stairs of rough-cut stone leads upward from the temple to the hill. Can you find aname for that knowledge? Living. (Shaw was in his mid-60s when the plays were written). EVE. THE SERPENT. These wonders that you promise to do may tangle up my beingbefore they bring me the gift of death. Icannot bear this knowledge. They will not overrun the wholegarden for a long time: not until you have laid down your burden andgone to sleep for ever. CAIN. ha! The brothers are disappointed but remain completely confident that the So I have to come back and listen to Adam saying thesame thing for the ten-thousandth time, or to receive a visit from thelast great-great-grandson who has grown up and wants to impress me withhis importance. Let the newAdams clear a place for themselves. Only just now youwanted me to sit still and never move lest I should stumble and die likethe fawn. We have to live here for ever.Think of what for ever means! BACK TO METHUSELAH A Metabiological Pentateuch by BERNARD SHAW 1921 Contents The Infidel Half Century The Dawn of Darwinism The Advent of the Neo-Darwinians Political Inadequacy of the Human Animal Cowardice of the Irreligious Is there any Hope Home - Books - Back to Methuselah by George Bernard Shaw This page contains affiliate links. Does this seem a better thing to you thanlove between us? EVE [_displeased, turning away from the serpent_] But it will destroyhope. Simple primitive societies, he says, were easily governable while the civilized societies of the twentieth century are so complex that learning to govern them properly can't be accomplished within the human lifespan: People with experience enough to serve the purpose fall into senility and die. CAIN. You change your mind so often. [5] These concepts had some currency among Shaw's contemporaries, and the Methuselah plays are based on Shaw's extrapolations from the two principles. [8] Methuselah is said to be Shaw's only real engagement with science fiction. It will be a busy day at the nursery: a birth is scheduled followed by the Festival of the Artists. THE SERPENT. _Adam springs to his feet. Book from Project Gutenberg: Back to Methuselah. Danger and fear follow my steps everywhere. Members of the younger generation, in the persons of Franklyn's daughter Savvy and her sweetheart, a young cleric named Haslam, are at the presentation, too. ADAM. He says he'll take that chance, since it is more honourable. That was wonderfully clever of you. Let us listen to the snake. Languages: English, Espanol | Site Copyright Jalic Inc. 2000 - 2023. He encounters a veiled woman and demands direction to the oracle. EVE. You have made the beasts afraid of us; and the snake hasinvented poison to protect herself against you. Moreover, he has recognized the person as the currently alive and active Archbishop of York. EVE. Find me a word for the story Lilith imagined and told you in yoursilent language: the story that was too wonderful to be true, and yetcame true. Back to Methuselah Part 1, Act 1 Imagination is the beginning of creation. Because Back to Methuselah is made up of five full-length plays, it is extremely difficult to produce. EVE. That is the true nature of woman. Leave us in peace. The Emperor of Turania, calling himself Napoleon, impatient of ceremony, bursts into the courtyard of the Temple of the Oracle. He became so happy that heshared his meal with the Voice that had whispered all his inventions tohim. EVE. [_Shesits on the rock and pulls him down beside her, clasping him to her withher right arm_]. [_He shudders and sits down on the rock_]. What should Ibe if I had stuck to the digging you taught me? Both shew the greatestconsternation._. That is too wonderful. I will tell you a great secret. ADAM. If I can do that, what can I not do? The serpent gave me fear. It found that I wasmyself, and that it was for Abel to be himself also, and look tohimself. EVE [_looking across the garden towards the hurdle_] Here is Cain. Then I must, though I loathe it. stronger, happier, freer? [_To Cain_] Your father is a fool skin deep;but you are a fool to your very marrow; and your baggage of a wife isworse. He who has never fought has never lived. He was in the line of ten godly descendants that preserved the godly promise. Go on with yourspinning; and do not sit there idle while I am straining my muscles foryou. I do not want to kill women. Things wear out by practice: they do not grow by it. Be thankful to your parents, whoenabled you to hand on your burden to new and better men, and won foryou an eternal rest; for it was we who invented death. Copies of this variorum edition are available in the Goldsmiths' Library in the University of London, the Lilly Library at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, and in the Rare Books Collection of the University of Texas at Austin. Eat the dust. I should belonely. Never forget it. [_Trying to pronounce it_] B-birth? You have no real strength in your bones nor sap in your flesh. But if I create another Eve he may turn to her and do without me. I will hunt: I will fight and strive to the very bursting of mysinews. There is divine justice. There issomething against it. ADAM. It is a burden. CAIN. I will dig, andlive. You said there would be no killing because the Voice would tell ourchildren that they must not kill. That comes before everything. ADAM [_horrified_] Oh no, no. They can conversewith difficultyand have a long discussion that reveals the advantages of long living. [_She licks Eve's neck with her doubletongue_]. I adore her. 2) Methuselah also was the oldest of all known mankind. Heinvented the altar to keep the fire alive. EVE. Part 1 opened on February 27, 1922; Part 2 opened on March 6, 1922; and Part 3 opened on March 13, 1922. . Eve drops her distaff. ADAM. He says he is the world's foremost general, invincible in battle, and adored by all his followers, although his victories cost great carnage. Your hood is most lovely. _Adam throws down his spade, and stands looking darkly at Eve._. Lilith did not imagine him so. I know the craftof fighting and of hunting: in a word, the craft of killing. Look atthat thick roll of hard flesh on your strong arm! ADAM. Back to Methuselah (1952- ) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Series Directed by Alan Bromly . You are idle: you are selfish. You should not. That is just what I feel; but it is very strange that you shouldsay so: there is no pleasing you. And others think of numbers without having to count ontheir fingers, and watch the sky at night, and give names to the stars,and can foretell when the sun will be covered with a black saucepan lid.And there is Tubal, who made this wheel for me which has saved me somuch labor. When he falls, he shall beavenged sevenfold: the Voice has said it; so beware how you plot againstme, you and all the rest. Darkness ensues and the ghost of Adam appears as a vague radiance. Oh, I haveheard it all a thousand times. Dead. How did Lilith work this miracle? Your bowels become rotten; yourhair falls from you; your teeth blacken and drop out; and you die beforeyour time, not because you will, but because you must. Her wheel, which she turns byhand, is a large disc of heavy wood, practically a flywheel. EVE [_running in_] What? EVE. That is the great secret. I know that it must not be. PART I It wasLilith who did wrong when she shared the labor of creation so unequallybetween man and wife. 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