The Other Shore (9 page)

Crowd:

(
Stopping Man
.) Play!

Come on, be a good sport. Don’t be such a party popper.

Just play one game. Just one.

Play once and then we’ll go.

Man:

Don’t you understand? You’re not really playing cards, he’s playing a trick on you. You can’t win. Your card, yours, and yours are all no trumps, including all the cards still in the deck. The only spade in the deck is in his hand! (
Card Player giggles
.) Let’s go! Why waste our time on this guy.

Card Player:

There is no such thing as time here. (
He blows on the oil lamp and the light flickers, and it gradually turns brighter again
.) There is only eternal light. (
He takes the lamp and shines on everyone from below the chin. The papered faces look like gargoyles
.) I’m a sucker for big crowds. You’re scared, aren’t you?

Man:

You’re a devil.

Card Player:

Why don’t you try feeling their arses? They’ve all got a bristly tail down there! (
He points to the Crowd’s bottoms and laughs out loud. Then he pushes a deck of cards in front of Man
.) Take a card! Let everyone see if it’s a spade or no trumps? (
Turns over a no trump card and flashes it in front of the Crowd
.) What is it, is it a spade or not?

Person A:

I can’t really tell.

Card Player:

What’r you say?

Person B:

It looked like—

Card Player:

You must have seen it clearly.

Person C:

I think I saw a—spade.

Card Player:

That’s right! Young lady, what do you think?

Obedient Girl:

Spades.

Card Player:

That a girl. You’ve made my day. Old Sir, how about you?

Person D:

Spades, how can it not be spades?

Card Player:

Bless you. (
Suddenly explodes
.) How can we let him bullshit us like this and tell us that they’re all no trumps? Huh?

Crowd:

It’s spades.

Of course it’s spades. It can’t be anything else.

No mistake about it.

We all saw it.

We’re all witnesses!

Card Player:

You heard what they said, didn’t you? Why did you lie, why did you insist that a spade is no trump? You’re scared, aren’t you? Have you ever tried eating rat meat? A bouncing baby rat, its hair not fully grown and its eyes unopened, the little creature still squeaking when you dip it in the sauce and put it in your mouth, ready for a bite? If you had, then you’d be brave enough to tell the truth. My friend, I’m gonna give you one more chance to tell the truth. Tell me, was it spades or a no trump?

Man:

I think…that’s still a no trump.

Card Player:

You’re no fun, you make people miserable. Tell me, people, is this guy bad or what?

Crowd:

(
Passing the wine pot and taking sips one after another.
) Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad…

Card Player:

(
Takes the wine from them.
) What shall we do with this bad guy?

Crowd:

(
Surround Man
.) Throw him out!

Tell him to get out of here!

Trouble-maker.

A real pest.

When he’s here, we’ve got no wine to drink.

Teach him a lesson!

Spank him!

Strip him!

Take off his pants!

(
The Crowd try to take off Man’s pants.
)

Card Player:

I’m gonna give you a second chance. Think clearly. Think again!

Man:

(
Holding up his pants
.) But I remember…it looked like a…no trump.

(Card Player tucks the wine pot under his arm and turns away. The Crowd pull at Man as if they were teasing a bird.)

Crowd:

Tell him to fly!

What? What did you say?

Fly like a bird!

Men are not birds, why should they learn to fly like birds?

Wow, it’s so fun!

Fly!

Lower your head, let your arms fly!

Card Player:

My friend, I refuse to believe that you’re a stubborn man.

Obedient Girl:

(
Takes pity on Man.
) You can’t turn a spade into a no trump. What’s with you? Please, try to take hold of yourself.

Man:

Maybe it was really a spade…

Obedient Girl:

Then why did you say it was a no trump?

Man:

I think it should be…

Obedient Girl:

But what should be is not necessarily the truth.

Card Player:

You’re a loser because you’re a pighead. What do you mean by “should be”? It either is or isn’t. To hell with “should be.”

Man:

But why can’t we have “should be”?

Card Player:

(
Irritated
.) Should be my foot! What do you say, should be or not should be?

Crowd:

(
Immediately tear at Man
.) We don’t want any “should be”!

We want “yes” or “no”!

We want spades, not no trumps!

Down with no trumps!

Spades are the best!

Man:

It…seemed…like a…sp…

Crowd:

(
Beating their chests and stamping their feet
.) Speak up!

Louder!

Can’t hear you!

You’ve got to clear this up!

Man:

Sp…Spa…It’s spades…(
On his knees and collapses.
)

(
The Crowd surround Card Player and perform a strange and awkward dance. They exit.

A woman dressed in a white cotton skirt appears. She covers Man with her skirt, bends down and wraps herself in it as well. The two form a white object which disappears with the gradually approaching drumbeat. The drumbeat builds up into a heart-thumping bang. A scrawny monk comes out jumping and beating a gigantic drum with his fingers, palms, elbows, and knees as if he were bewitched. Zen Master enters, dressed in a Buddhist robe of kasaya, his hands clasped together and his right shoulder bare. Other monks and nuns, all cloaked in grey kasaya, follow Zen Master onto the stage. The Crowd enter in a single file, chanting “Amitabha” as they come. Their chanting is not in any particular order, each singing their own tune and at their own pitch. The chanting comes and goes, combining with the drumbeat into a cacophony of intersecting sounds. Man is following the Crowd; he also chants and looks around him at times. The Crowd all put down a futon, on which they sit with their legs crossed. Man does the same. The drum stops, followed by the sound of a wooden fish
^[24-1]
and an inverted bell.
)

Zen Master:

(
Recites the Vajraccedika prajna paramita sutra, his palms clasped together and his right knee on the ground
.) “... How much the Bodhisattvas, the great beings, have been helped with the greatest help by the Tathagata, the Fully Enlightened One. It is wonderful, O Lord, how much the Bodhisattvas, the great beings, have been favoured with the highest favour by the Tathagata, the Fully Enlightened One. How then, O Lord, should good men and women stand, who seek the supreme wisdom, how progress, how control their thoughts?”

After these words the Lord said to the Venerable Subhuti: “Well said, well said, Subhuti! So it is, Subhuti, so it is as you say! The Tathagata has helped the Bodhisattvas, the great beings with the greatest help, and he has favoured them with the highest favour. Therefore, Subhuti, listen well, and attentively!...”

(
Incense smoke permeates the whole place during the chanting. The Crowd close their eyes in meditation, and Man gradually does so as well. Young Girl appears, her eyes slightly closed. She is squatting in a corner and doing her mental exercise, like a baby who is sleeping not too tightly in a transparent egg shell, its hands and feet pressed against the four walls of the shell. Young Man, who has been hiding behind her, gets up slowly and walks towards Young Girl in gingerly steps. The chanting gradually fades. The Crowd disappear.
)

Zen Master:

(
The sound of chanting can still be heard faintly
.) “Monks of the Buddha, nuns of the Buddha, I will teach you how they should stand, who seek the supreme wisdom, how progress, how control their thoughts.”

“So be it, O Lord. With a joyful heart we long to hear,” the Venerable Subhuti replied to the Lord.

The Lord said: “Here, Subhuti, someone who seeks supreme wisdom should produce a thought in this manner…”

(
Young Man stretches his hand to touch Young Girl’s fingers. Surprised, she wakes and withdraws her hand immediately.
)

Young Girl:

Stop it!

Young Man:

Are you doing your mental exercise?

Young Girl:

Yes.

Young Man:

May I ask what kind of exercise are you doing?

Young Girl:

They say it’s called Small Circular Heaven.

Young Man:

Is there a Big Circular Heaven as well?

Young Girl:

I don’t know.

Young Man:

You’re doing something you don’t know anything about?

Young Girl:

(
Nervously.
) Stop interrogating me! Just stop it!

Young Man:

(
Mischievously.
) Then perhaps you don’t know what’s the use of this exercise? (
Grabs her hand.
)

Young Girl:

No, don’t, you can’t do that—

Young Man:

Why not?

Young Girl:

I’m scared…

Young Man:

What’s there to be scared of?

Young Girl:

Don’t touch me!

Young Man:

What if I do?

Young Girl:

Then I’r feel the pain.

Young Man:

So you don’t feel any pain right now?

Young Girl:

(
Painfully
.) I can’t say for sure…

Young Man:

(
Grabs her hand by force.
) Then for once I’ll let you feel the pain!

Young Girl:

(
Begging him and trying to struggle free
.) Oh no, don’t…

(
Father enters carrying an umbrella. The chanting Zen Master and the meditating Crowd have all disappeared. Only Man is left sitting on the futon with his eyes closed
.)

Young Man:

Father!

Father:

Don’t get into trouble. Come home with me, now!

(
Father drags Young Man along.
)

(
Young Girl disappears.
)

Young Man:

(
Turns back to look. Nonchalantly.
) Why? It’s not raining.

Father:

I tell you it will.

Young Man:

But it’s not raining now.

Father:

It’ll be too late if it does.

Young Man:

What if it doesn’t.

Father:

It’s going to rain sooner or later! Look, what do you think I’ve brought my umbrella for?

Young Man:

You’ve brought it because you have nothing else to do.

Father:

I’ve been carrying an umbrella all my life!

Young Man:

You’ve brought it upon yourself.

Father:

How dare you talk to your father like that?

Young Man:

Fine, I won’t say anything then.

Father:

Get away from me! Go as far as you possibly can! Don’t even bother coming back to see me. I don’t have a son like you! (
Exits angrily.
)

(
Young Man is bewildered. Man is still sitting on the futon meditating. The sound of chanting approaches, but there is no sign of Zen Master
.)

Chanting Sound:

The Buddha said: Here, subhuti, someone who seeks supreme wisdom should produce a thought in this manner: “As many beings as there are in the universe of beings, comprehended under the term ‘beings’—egg-born, born from a womb, moisture-born, or miraculously born; with or without form; with perception, without perception,—as far as any conceivable form of beings is conceived: all these I must lead to Nirvana, into that Realm of Nirvana which leaves nothing behind…”

(
Young Man turns and finds a wall of people behind him. He tries unsuccessfully to find a way to get over it. Old Lady comes out from a crack in the “wall.”
)

Old Lady:

Young man, do you want to go over there?

Young Man:

I just want to take a look.

Old Lady:

Look, look. Everybody wants to take a look. Do you have any money?

Young Man:

(
He searches all his pockets and finally takes out a coin.
) Here.

Old Lady:

(
Laughs out loud.
) You want to take care of me with this? Don’t you have anything valuable on you at all? Something your mother gave you, for example?