Poem: El-Dorado (in English and in Russian)
Play: The Prince is Stolen.
Characters: Robert Johnson – a detective, Dr.Simpleton – his assistant, the Prime – minister of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Countess, her maid-servant, the Butcher
Song: Oh, My Baby!
Poem: This is the House…
Song: There was an Old Woman.
Compere: Good evening, everybody! We shall begin our party with the poem by Edgar Poe el-Dorado first in English and then in Russian.
El-Dorado
Gaily bedight
A gallant knight
In sunshine and in shadow
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song
In search of El-Dorado.
And he grew old.
This knight so bold,
And over his heart a shadow
Fell, as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like El-Dorado.
And when his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow.
“Shadow,” said he,
“Where can it be
This land of El-Dorado?”
“Over the mountains of the Moon,
Down the valley of Shadow
Ride, boldly ride,”
The shade replied,
“If you look for El-Dorado.”
Эльдорадо
Перевод Э. Гольдернеса
Надев перевязь
И не боясь
Ни зноя, ни стужи, ни града,
Весел и смел
Шёл рыцарь и пел
В поисках Эльдорадо.
Но вот уж видна
В волосах седина,
Сердце песням больше не радо:
Хоть земля велика –
Нет в ней уголка,
Похожего на Эльдорадо.
Устал он идти,
Но раз на пути
Заметил тень странника рядом
И решился спросить:
– Где может быть
Чудесный край Эльдорадо?
– Ночью и днём,
Млечным путём
За кущи райского
Держи свой путь,
Ну и стоек будь,
Если ищешь ты Эльдорадо.
Compere: Now see the play called The Prince is Stolen. The characters are Robert Johnson – a detective, Dr.Simpleton – his assistant, the Prime-minister of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Countess, her maid-servant and a Butcher.
Scene: Robert Johnson is sitting in his office. He has a long green gown on. Black spectacles lie on his writing-table. He is looking at a paper through a magnifying glass. A knock is heard. Robert Johnson hurriedly puts on his black spectacles.
R. Johnson: Come in!
Dr.Simpleton comes in.
R. Johnson: Oh, it’s you! (takes off his spectacles).
Dr. Simpleton: Sir, would you like to hear about a very mysterious crime?
R. Johnson: Ha! Are you sure it is mysterious? What do the London Police say?
Dr.Simpleton: Oh, they are simply at a loss. They have tried to solve the mystery, but they can’t do anything.
R.Johnson: And if we fail to solve it, England will be at war with the whole world in a few days. Is that so?
Dr.Simpleton: Yes, sir, you are right.
R.Johnson: Then tell me what it is.
Dr.Simpleton (bending over R.Johnson): The Prince Wurtlemberg has been stolen!
R.Johnson (stands up and sits down again): The Prince stolen! One of the oldest families in Europe. This is a mystery worthy of my brain (strokes his forehead thoughtfully). How did you know about it?
Dr.Simpleton (hands him a telegram): Look at this telegram.
R.Johnson (reads): “The Prince of Wurttemberg stolen, perhaps in London. Must have him in Paris for the opening day of Exhibition. One thousand pounds reward.”(A knock is heard.) Come in!
A visitor in black spectacles and in a black cloak comes in. He throws down his spectacles and a cloak and stops in the middle of the room.
R.Johnson (standing up): Good Heavens! The Prime-minister of England! (Bows.)
Prime-minister: Yes, it’s me.
R.Johnson: Oh, please take a seat here, sir. (the Prime-minister sits down.) You have come about the Prince of Wurttemberg.
Prime-minister: How do you know?
R.Johnson (shrugs his shoulders and smiles): A detective knows everything. (He and Dr.Simpleton sit down.)
Prime-minister: I shall speak frankly to you. I am interested, deeply interested, in this affair.
R.Johnson: The Exhibition in Paris is of great political importance, isn’t it?
Prime-minister: It is indeed. Find the Prince, and I shall add 300 pounds to the reward.
R.Johnson: Would you like to give us a description of the Prince?
Prime-minister: Well, let me think. (Thinks.) He has short legs, broad ears, a long body. (R.Johnson nods, and Dr.Simpleton writes everything down in his notebook.) He likes to bathe and is a good swimmer. His skin is brown. He can bark. Now I must return to my political affairs. Good-bye!
R.Johnson (stands up, bows): Good-bye, sir. We shall begin our search at once.(The Prime-minister goes out. To Dr.Simpleton): Please, Simpleton, go at once to the sea-shore and look for that good swimmer who has a brown skin, short legs and can bark. Go at once!
Dr.Simpleton bows and goes out. A knock is heard. R.Johnson puts on his black spectacles. A visitor in a long purple cloak and black spectacles comes in and stops in the middle of the room.)
R.Johnson (to himself): Good Heavens! The Archbishop of Canterbury! (to the Archbishop) Oh, Your Grace, please, sit down! (The Archbishop sits down.) You are here about the Prince of Wurttemberg.
Archbishop: Are you a magician? How do you know?
R,Johnson (smiling): We, detectives, must know everything. And we will find him, you may be sure.
Archbishop: You must, at all costs. And I must say this: my sister, the Countess, is coming here. She is very unhappy because the Prince is lost. Get him back or she will be ruined! Get him back! (Stands up.)
R.Johnson: We’ll do everything to get him back, Your Grace! (The Archbishop nods.) Good-bye, Your Grace!
The Archbishop goes out. A loud knock is heard. A beautiful lady comes in with her maid-servant, who is holding a bag. The lady is richly dressed R.Johnson stands up and bows politely.
R.Johnson: How do you do , my lady! Please sit down! You have come about the Prince of Wurttemberg?
Countess (puts a handkerchief to her eyes): Oh, my poor little Prince!
R.Johnson: I believe, you are greatly interested in him?
Countess: Interested? I shall be ruined if he does not come back before the Exhibition in Paris begins.
A knock is heard.
R.Johnson: Come in. (Dr.Simpleton comes in. His head is bandaged.) Well, what are the results? Why are you bandaged up?
Dr.Simpleton: No results yet. I was looking for the Prince on the sea-shore. Many young men had brown skins, many of them could swim well, but none of them could bark. I wanted to examine them better and I got (points to his bandaged head) this.
R.Johnson: Ha! That’s too bad! What can you add to the description of the Prince?
Countess: Well, he has a nice long – (wipes her eyes)
R.Johnson: Face, you wish to say? Oh, don’t lose hope. We’ll find him. (A knock is heard.) Come in!
A butcher in a white apron with a basket in his hands comes in.
Butcher: Does a detective live here?
R.Johnson: Yes, he does. You are looking at him.
Butcher: So perhaps you will find the master or the mistress of a bad puppy that got into my shop yesterday and stole a piece of meat and two chickens? Here are the bones (takes the bones out of the basket). But, mind, his master or his mistress – it’s all the same to me – will have to pay me for the meat or I’ll kill that little thief. Here he is.
He takes a little dog out of the basket. The Countess turns towards the butcher and rushes up to him.
Countess: Oh, my little Prince, here you are! Oh, how happy I am! (Tries to take the dog out of the butcher’s hands.)
Butcher: No, no, money first!
Countess (to her maid-servant): Please, my purse (takes some money out of it and hands it to the butcher). Will that do?
Butcher: Yes, my lady, thank you. Here is your dog.
The maid-servant takes it. The butcher goes out, the Countess and her maid-servant with the dog follow him.
Countess (stopping and turning to Robert Johnson): Excuse me for troubling you, sir! I’ll send you a ticket for the dog Exhibition. I’m sure my Prince will take the first prize! So my fortune will be saved! Good-bye!
Dr,Simpleton: Hm! Her fortune will be saved – and what about my poor head? (Taps his forehead.)
Robert Johnson shrugs his shoulders.
Compere: Now comes the famous Negro folk-song Oh, My Baby.
Oh, my baby, my curly-headed baby,
I’ll sing you first to sleep
And love you so as I sing
Oh, my baby, my curly-headed baby,
Just tuck your head like little bird
Beneath your mother’s wing.
So, lul-la-lul-la
Lul-la-lul-la-by, by.
Do you want the stars to play with?
Or the moon to run away with?
They,ll come if you don’t cry.
So, lul-la-lul-la
Lul-la-lul-la-by, by.
In your mother’s arms be creeping,
And soon you’ll be asleeping.
So, lul-la-lul-la
Lul-la-lul-la-by.
Compere: Now comes the poem called The House that Jack Built.
Scene: Some children bring in a huge book, nearly a square metre in size. They put the book upright on two chairs, so that the spectators see whatever is in the book when the actors turn the pages. There is a picture on each page: the house, the bread, the rat, etc.
Pupil 1 (goes up to the book, opens it and points to the first page):
This is the house
That Jack built.
(Goes behind the book.)
Pupil 2 (turns the page):
This is the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes behind pupil 1).
Pupil 3 (turns the page):
This is the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes and stands behind pupil 2).
Pupil 4 (turns the page):
This is the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes and stands behind pupil 3).
Pupil 5 (turns the page):
This is the dog
That chased the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes and stands behind pupil 4).
Pupil 6 (turns the page):
This is the cow
That tossed the dog
That chased the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes and stands behind pupil 5).
Pupil 7 (turns the page):
This is the girl
That milked the cow
That tossed the dog
That chased the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes and stands behind the pupil 6).
Pupil 8 (turns the page):
This is the fellow
That kissed the girl
That milked the cow
That tossed the dog
That chased the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Goes and stands behind pupil 7).
Pupil 9 (turns the page):
This is the cock
That woke the fellow
That kissed the girl
That milked the cow
That tossed the dog
That chased the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the bread
That was in the house
That Jack built.
(Shuts the book).
Compere: Now listen to a song There Was an Old Woman.
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had five children who had much to do.
One child was cooking from morning till night,
One child was washing black clothes and white,
One child was mending the clothes that were torn,
One child was planting potatoes and corn.
The last one was dancing and singing a song.
The children were happy and merry and strong. (Repeated twice.)
Compere: Our English party is over now. Good-bye, everybody! We’ll be glad to see you again.