Act One /
Scene one
[An
old man walking through the woods, dragging his donkey behind him. Sounds of footsteps,
sounds of nature, and the brays of the donkey]
I am sure you will agree
with me, won’t you my dear friend? Oh, I knew you would. You are the best thing in my
life right now. You are the only friend I have. You are a true friend. You have been with
me through thick and thin and have yet to fail me. And you will never fail me. I am sure
of it. I am sure of it. Not you. Surely life is not going to be that cruel as to let
something like this happen; and even if life is that cruel, God, may He be infinitely
elevated from the profanity of our nature, cannot be. No, He cannot be. Or can He now?
[HÂFÎ BRAYS]
Oops! I think I have just
uttered some sort of a blasphemy, Hâfî, may God, in His infinite grace forgive me, I did
not mean it to come out this way. I really didn’t. But I am sure God will forgive me,
after all, I am an eighty-year old man, I am a haggard man, my tong is bound to slip every
now and then, inspite of me, inspite of me, it s only natural at my age. Heavens,
it is even natural for my mind too to slip at this age. Oh yes, Hâfî, my mind is
definitely bound to slip someday, and then what will become of you? Who will look after
you? I have no one, I have never had anyone, and neither have you. But God will provide.
Oh yes, He will provide. I am sure He will provide. He always provides. That is His
business, you see, Hâfî, to provide, just to provide.
[HÂFÎ BRAYS]
Oops! Dear me, I think I
have just uttered another blasphemy. May God in His Highest Heaven forgive me. No wonder
we are instructed to pray for God’s forgiveness ninety-nine times at dawn and
ninety-nine times at dusk, and ninety-nine times whenever we get the chance to, blasphemy
is in our nature, we have to keep fighting it all the time. Which reminds me, I have
brought my rosary with me, that will help.
Now let’s see…hmm,
may god forgive me, may god forgive me, may god forgive me, may god forgive me…
[HÂFÎ BRAYS]
Ah, how my feet hurt. This
new pair of shoes will really come at the right time. I mean, I don’t think I can
really take this pain any longer. I really don’t. I am an eighty-year old man, and I
have had so much pain in my life, you would think I’d get used to it by now. But no.
Pain is not something that anyone could ever get used to, on the contrary my dear, dear
friend, on the contrary, the more you have pain, the sicker you get of it. And the more
afraid. Physical pain, mental pain, it does not matter, you get sick of it more and more
as time goes by. But it never disappears really, no, it just transforms.
So I know my dear friend.
Of, yes I know. I know that the new shoes will ease the pain of my feet, only so that some
other part of me should has its turn at it and begin to hurt. But so be it. I am buying
this new pair of shoes, oh yes I am buying this new pair of shoes, and that s that. I will
not change mind this time. Nothing will make me change my mind this time. Nothing will
prevent me from buying it…
God willing, of course, God
willing. Ah, me and blasphemous mouth, me and my continuously slipping tong, me and my
about-to-slip-too mind. May God forgive me, may God forgive me, may God forgive me, may
God forgive me…
[HÂFÎ BRAYS]
Happiness, Hâfî,
happiness. I will know happiness again. I will experience happiness again. That is one
really good way of looking at things my dear friend, don’t you think? I will finally
get to shed something old and put on something new instead. And that will make me happy. I
mean, change is good, even for an eighty-year old man. Yes, change can be good. It really
can. It really can.
With my new pair of shoes,
the ground itself will be new, the marketplace, the people, and you; yes, even you will be
new. Yes, even you. And of course, yours truly. Yes, I, too, shall be new. For I will have
defeated old age in my humble little way. Can you imagine how simple it will prove to be
to defeat old age? With a simple pair of shoes, well not simple really, but a new
luxurious pair of shoes, we have to bear this in mind my dear friend, oh yes we do, oh yes
we do; with a new luxurious pair of shoes, I will have defeated old age. Hell, and perhaps
dotage too. Imagine that, with a single but new pair of shoes. Hey, hey. Hey, hey.
[HÂFÎ BRAYS]
Oops! I have just uttered
another blasphemy, dear Hâfî. But who cares? God is All-Forgiving, isn’t He? So He
must forgive this temporary foolishness of an old man like me. I mean He must. Don’t
you think? Don’t you? Don’t you?
May god forgive me, may god
forgive me, may god forgive me, may god forgive me… ah, the town at last. The town.
We have made it, Hâfî. we have finally made it. Oh, I can’t wait. I just can’t
wait to get in.
[HÂFÎ BRAYS]
The Shoes
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lust for salvation, Brother, as though it were a woman, and I - a man.
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