SCENE ONE
SCENE--_A lonely place in the park, half hidden by trees and shrubbery. Under a flowering acacia tree stands a painted wooden bench. From the distance, faintly, comes the tumult of the amusement park. It is the sunset of the same day._
_When the curtain rises the stage is empty._
_MARIE enters quickly, pauses at center, and looks back._
MARIE
Julie, Julie! [_There is no answer._] Do you hear me, Julie? Let her be! Come on. Let her be. [_Starts to go back._]
[_JULIE enters, looks back angrily._]
JULIE
Did you ever hear of such a thing? What's the matter with the woman anyway?
MARIE
[_Looking back again._] Here she comes again.
JULIE
Let her come. I didn't do anything to her. All of a sudden she comes up to me and begins to raise a row.
MARIE
Here she is. Come on, let's run. [_Tries to urge her off._]
JULIE
Run? I should say not. What would I want to run for? I'm not afraid of her.
MARIE
Oh, come on. She'll only start a fight.
JULIE
I'm going to stay right here. Let her _start_ a fight.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Entering._] What do you want to run away for? [_To JULIE._] Don't worry. I won't eat you. But there's one thing I want to tell you, my dear. Don't let me catch you in my carousel again. I stand for a whole lot, I have to in my business. It makes no difference to me whether my customers are ladies or the likes of you--as long as they pay their money. But when a girl misbehaves herself on my carousel--out she goes. Do you understand?
JULIE
Are you talking to me?
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you! You--chamber-maid, you! In my carousel----
JULIE
Who did anything in your old carousel? I paid my fare and took my seat and never said a word, except to my friend here.
MARIE
No, she never opened her mouth. Liliom came over to her of his own accord.
MRS. MUSKAT
It's all the same. I'm not going to get in trouble with the police, and lose my license on account of you--you shabby kitchen maid!
JULIE
Shabby yourself.
MRS. MUSKAT
You stay out of my carousel! Letting my barker fool with you! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?
JULIE
What? What did you say?
MRS. MUSKAT
I suppose you think I have no eyes in my head. I see everything that goes on in my carousel. During the whole ride she let Liliom fool with her--the shameless hussy!
JULIE
He did not fool with me! I don't let any man fool with me!
MRS. MUSKAT
He leaned against you all through the ride!
JULIE
He leaned against the panther. He always leans against something, doesn't he? Everybody leans where he wants. I couldn't tell him not to lean, if he always leans, could I? But he didn't lay a hand on me.
MRS. MUSKAT
Oh, didn't he? And I suppose he didn't put his hand around your waist, either?
MARIE
And if he did? What of it?
MRS. MUSKAT
You hold your tongue! No one's asking you--just you keep out of it.
JULIE
He put his arm around my waist--just the same as he does to all the girls. He always does that.
MRS. MUSKAT
I'll teach him not to do it any more, my dear. No carryings on in my carousel! If you are looking for that sort of thing, you'd better go to the circus! You'll find lots of soldiers there to carry on with!
JULIE
You keep your soldiers for yourself!
MARIE
Soldiers! As if we wanted soldiers!
MRS. MUSKAT
Well, I only want to tell you this, my dear, so that we understand each other perfectly. If you ever stick your nose in my carousel again, you'll wish you hadn't! I'm not going to lose my license on account of the likes of you! People who don't know how to behave, have got to stay out!
JULIE
You're wasting your breath. If I feel like riding on your carousel I'll pay my ten heller and I'll ride. I'd like to see anyone try to stop me!
MRS. MUSKAT
Just come and try it, my dear--just come and try it.
MARIE
We'll see what'll happen.
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you will see something happen that never happened before in this park.
JULIE
Perhaps you think you could throw me out!
MRS. MUSKAT
I'm sure of it, my dear.
JULIE
And suppose I'm stronger than you?
MRS. MUSKAT
I'd think twice before I'd dirty my hands on a common servant girl. I'll have Liliom throw you out. He knows how to handle your kind.
JULIE
You think Liliom would throw me out.
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, my dear, so fast that you won't know what happened to you!
JULIE
He'd throw me---- [_Stops suddenly, for MRS. MUSKAT has turned away. Both look off stage until LILIOM enters, surrounded by four giggling servant girls._]
LILIOM
Go away! Stop following me, or I'll smack your face!
A LITTLE SERVANT GIRL
Well, give me back my handkerchief.
LILIOM
Go on now----
THE FOUR SERVANT GIRLS
[_Simultaneously._] What do you think of him?--My handkerchief!--Give it back to her!--That's a nice thing to do!
THE LITTLE SERVANT GIRL
[_To MRS. MUSKAT._] Please, lady, make him----
MRS. MUSKAT
Oh, shut up!
LILIOM
Will you get out of here? [_Makes a threatening gesture--the four servant girls exit in voluble but fearful haste._]
MRS. MUSKAT
What have you been doing now?
LILIOM
None of your business. [_Glances at JULIE._] Have you been starting with her again?
JULIE
Mister Liliom, please----
LILIOM
[_Steps threateningly toward her._] Don't yell!
JULIE
[_Timidly._] I didn't yell.
LILIOM
Well, don't. [_To MRS. MUSKAT._] What's the matter? What has she done to you?
MRS. MUSKAT
What has she done? She's been impudent to me. Just as impudent as she could be! I put her out of the carousel. Take a good look at this innocent thing, Liliom. She's never to be allowed in my carousel again!
LILIOM
[_To JULIE._] You heard that. Run home, now.
MARIE
Come on. Don't waste your time with such people. [_Tries to lead JULIE away._]
JULIE
No, I won't----
MRS. MUSKAT
If she ever comes again, you're not to let her in. And if she gets in before you see her, throw her out. Understand?
LILIOM
What has she done, anyhow?
JULIE
[_Agitated and very earnest._] Mister Liliom--tell me please--honest and truly--if I come into the carousel, will you throw me out?
MRS. MUSKAT
Of course he'll throw you out.
MARIE
She wasn't talking to you.
JULIE
Tell me straight to my face, Mister Liliom, would you throw me out? [_They face each other. There is a brief pause._]
LILIOM
Yes, little girl, if there was a reason--but if there was no reason, why should I throw you out?
MARIE
[_To MRS. MUSKAT._] There, you see!
JULIE
Thank you, Mister Liliom.
MRS. MUSKAT
And I tell you again, if this little slut dares to set her foot in my carousel, she's to be thrown out! I'll stand for no indecency in my establishment.
LILIOM
What do you mean--indecency?
MRS. MUSKAT
I saw it all. There's no use denying it.
JULIE
She says you put your arm around my waist.
LILIOM
Me?
MRS. MUSKAT
Yes, you! I saw you. Don't play the innocent.
LILIOM
Here's something new! I'm not to put my arm around a girl's waist any more! I suppose I'm to ask your permission before I touch another girl!
MRS. MUSKAT
You can touch as many girls as you want and as often as you want--for my part you can go as far as you like with any of them--but not this one--I permit no indecency in my carousel. [_There is a long pause._]
LILIOM
[_To MRS. MUSKAT._] And now I'll ask you please to shut your mouth.
MRS. MUSKAT
What?
LILIOM
Shut your mouth quick, and go back to your carousel.
MRS. MUSKAT
What?
LILIOM
What did she do to you, anyhow? Tryin' to start a fight with a little pigeon like that . . . just because I touched her?--You come to the carousel as often as you want to, little girl. Come every afternoon, and sit on the panther's back, and if you haven't got the price, Liliom will pay for you. And if anyone dares to bother you, you come and tell _me._
MRS. MUSKAT
You reprobate!
LILIOM
Old witch!
JULIE
Thank you, Mister Liliom.
MRS. MUSKAT
You seem to think that I can't throw you out, too. What's the reason I can't? Because you are the best barker in the park? Well, you are very much mistaken. In fact, you can consider yourself thrown out already. You're discharged!
LILIOM
Very good.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Weakening a little._] I can discharge you any time I feel like it.
LILIOM
Very good, you feel like discharging me. I'm discharged. That settles it.
MRS. MUSKAT
Playing the high and mighty, are you? Conceited pig! Good-for-nothing!
LILIOM
You said you'd throw me out, didn't you? Well, that suits me; I'm thrown out.
MRS. MUSKAT
[_Softening._] Do you have to take up every word I say?
LILIOM
It's all right; it's all settled. I'm a good-for-nothing. And a conceited pig. And I'm discharged.
MRS. MUSKAT
Do you want to ruin my business?
LILIOM
A good-for-nothing? Now I know! And I'm discharged! Very good.
MRS. MUSKAT
You're a devil, you are . . . and that woman----
LILIOM
Keep away from her!
MRS. MUSKAT
I'll get Hollinger to give you such a beating that you'll hear all the angels sing . . . and it won't be the first time, either.
LILIOM
Get out of here. I'm discharged. And you get out of here.
JULIE
[_Timidly._] Mister Liliom, if she's willing to say that she hasn't discharged you----
LILIOM
You keep out of this.
JULIE
[_Timidly._] I don't want this to happen on account of me.
LILIOM
[_To MRS. MUSKAT, pointing to JULIE._] Apologize to her!
MARIE
A-ha!
MRS. MUSKAT
Apologize? To who?
LILIOM
To this little pigeon. Well--are you going to do it?
MRS. MUSKAT
If you give me this whole park on a silver plate, and all the gold of the Rothschilds on top of it--I'd--I'd---- Let her dare to come into my carousel again and she'll get thrown out so hard that she'll see stars in daylight!
LILIOM
In that case, dear lady [_takes off his cap with a flourish_], you are respectfully requested to get out o' here as fast as your legs will carry you--I never beat up a woman yet--except that Holzer woman who I sent to the hospital for three weeks--but--if you don't get out o' here this minute, and let this little squab be, I'll give you the prettiest slap in the jaw you ever had in your life.
MRS. MUSKAT
Very good, my son. Now you _can_ go to the devil. Good-bye. You're discharged, and you needn't try to come back, either. [_She exits. It is beginning to grow dark._]
MARIE
[_With grave concern._] Mister Liliom----
LILIOM
Don't you pity me or I'll give _you_ a slap in the jaw. [_To JULIE._] And don't you pity me, either.
JULIE
[_In alarm._] I don't pity you, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
You're a liar, you _are_ pitying me. I can see it in your face. You're thinking, now that Madame Muskat has thrown him out, Liliom will have to go begging. Huh! Look at me. I'm big enough to get along without a Madame Muskat. I have been thrown out of better jobs than hers.
JULIE
What will you do now, Mister Liliom?
LILIOM
Now? First of all, I'll go and get myself--a glass of beer. You see, when something happens to annoy me, I always drink a glass of beer.
JULIE
Then you _are_ annoyed about losing your job.
LILIOM
No, only about where I'm going to get the beer.
MARIE
Well--eh----
LILIOM
Well--eh--what?
MARIE
Well--eh--are you going to stay with us, Mister Liliom?
LILIOM
Will you pay for the beer? [_MARIE looks doubtful; he turns to JULIE._] Will you? [_She does not answer._] How much money have you got?
JULIE
[_Bashfully._] Eight heller.
LILIOM
And you? [_MARIE casts down her eyes and does not reply. LILIOM continues sternly._] I asked you how much you've got? [_MARIE begins to weep softly._] I understand. Well, you needn't cry about it. You girls stay here, while I go back to the carousel and get my clothes and things. And when I come back, we'll go to the Hungarian beer-garden. It's all right, I'll pay. Keep your money. [_He exits. MARIE and JULIE stand silent, watching him until he has gone._]
MARIE
Are you sorry for him?
JULIE
Are you?
MARIE
Yes, a little. Why are you looking after him in that funny way?
JULIE
[_Sits down._] Nothing--except I'm sorry he lost his job.
MARIE
[_With a touch of pride._] It was on our account he lost his job. Because he's fallen in love with you.
JULIE
He hasn't at all.
MARIE
[_Confidently._] Oh, yes! he is in love with you. [_Hesitantly, romantically._] There is someone in love with me, too.
JULIE
There is? Who?
MARIE
I--I never mentioned it before, because you hadn't a lover of your own--but now you have--and I'm free to speak. [_Very grandiloquently._] My heart has found its mate.
JULIE
You're only making it up.
MARIE
No, it's true--my heart's true love----
JULIE
Who? Who is he?
MARIE
A soldier.
JULIE
What kind of a soldier?
MARIE
I don't know. Just a soldier. Are there different kinds?
JULIE
Many different kinds. There are hussars, artillerymen, engineers, infantry--that's the kind that walks--and----
MARIE
How can you tell which is which?
JULIE
By their uniforms.
MARIE
[_After trying to puzzle it out._] The conductors on the street cars--are they soldiers?
JULIE
Certainly not. They're conductors.
MARIE
Well, they have uniforms.
JULIE
But they don't carry swords or guns.
MARIE
Oh! [_Thinks it over again; then._] Well, policemen--are they?
JULIE
[_With a touch of exasperation._] Are they what?
MARIE
Soldiers.
JULIE
Certainly not. They're just policemen.
MARIE
[_Triumphantly._] But they have uniforms--and they carry weapons, too.
JULIE
You're just as dumb as you can be. You don't go by their uniforms.
MARIE
But you said----
JULIE
No, I didn't. A letter-carrier wears a uniform, too, but that doesn't make him a soldier.
MARIE
But if he carried a gun or a sword, would he be----
JULIE
No, he'd still be a letter-carrier. You can't go by guns or swords, either.
MARIE
Well, if you don't go by the uniforms or the weapons, what _do_ you go by?
JULIE
By---- [_Tries to put it into words; fails; then breaks off suddenly._] Oh, you'll get to know when you've lived in the city long enough. You're nothing but a country girl. When you've lived in the city a year, like I have, you'll know all about it.
MARIE
[_Half angrily._] Well, how _do_ you know when _you_ see a real soldier?
JULIE
By one thing.
MARIE
What?
JULIE
One thing---- [_She pauses. MARIE starts to cry._] Oh, what are you crying about?
MARIE
Because you're making fun of me. . . . You're a city girl, and I'm just fresh from the country . . . and how am I expected to know a soldier when I see one? . . . You, you ought to tell me, instead of making fun of me----
JULIE
All right. Listen then, cry-baby. There's only one way to tell a soldier: by his salute! That's the only way.
MARIE
[_Joyfully; with a sigh of relief._] Ah--that's good.
JULIE
What?
MARIE
I say--it's all right then--because Wolf--Wolf---- [_JULIE laughs derisively._] Wolf--that's his name. [_She weeps again._]
JULIE
Crying again? What now?
MARIE
You're making fun of me again.
JULIE
I'm not. But when you say, "Wolf--Wolf--" like that, I have to laugh, don't I? [_Archly._] What's his name again?
MARIE
I won't tell you.
JULIE
All right. If you won't say it, then he's no soldier.
MARIE
I'll say it.
JULIE
Go on.
MARIE
No, I won't. [_She weeps again._]
JULIE
Then he's not a soldier. I guess he's a letter-carrier----
MARIE
No--no--I'd rather say it.
JULIE
Well, then.
MARIE
[_Giggling._] But you mustn't look at me. You look the other way, and I'll say it. [_JULIE looks away, MARIE can hardly restrain her own laughter._] Wolf! [_She laughs._] That's his real name. Wolf, Wolf, Soldier--Wolf!
JULIE
What kind of a uniform does he wear?
MARIE
Red.
JULIE
Red trousers?
MARIE
No.
JULIE
Red coat?
MARIE
No.
JULIE
What then?
MARIE
[_Triumphantly._] His cap!
JULIE
[_After a long pause._] He's just a porter, you dunce. Red cap . . . that's a porter--and he doesn't carry a gun or a sword, either.
MARIE
[_Triumphantly._] But he salutes. You said yourself that was the only way to tell a soldier----
JULIE
He doesn't salute at all. He only greets people----
MARIE
He salutes me. . . . And if his name _is_ Wolf, that doesn't prove he ain't a soldier--he salutes, and he wears a red cap and he stands on guard all day long outside a big building----
JULIE
What does he do there?
MARIE
[_Seriously._] He spits.
JULIE
[_With contempt._] He's nothing--nothing but a common porter.
MARIE
What's Liliom?
JULIE
[_Indignantly._] Why speak of him? What has he to do with me?
MARIE
The same as Wolf has to do with me. If you can talk to me like that about Wolf, I can talk to you about Liliom.
JULIE
He's nothing to me. He put his arm around me in the carousel. I couldn't tell him not to put his arm around me after he had done it, could I?
MARIE
I suppose you didn't like him to do it?
JULIE
No.
MARIE
Then why are you waiting for him? Why don't you go home?
JULIE
Why--eh--he _said_ we were to wait for him.
[_LILIOM enters. There is a long silence._]
LILIOM
Are you still here? What are you waiting for?
MARIE
You told us to wait.
LILIOM
Must you always interfere? No one is talking to you.
MARIE
You asked us--why we----
LILIOM
Will you keep your mouth shut? What do you suppose I want with two of you? I meant that one of you was to wait. The other can go home.
MARIE
All right.
JULIE
All right. [_Neither starts to go._]
LILIOM
One of you goes home. [_To MARIE._] Where do you work?
MARIE
At the Breier's, Damjanovitsch Street, Number 20.
LILIOM
And you?
JULIE
I work there, too.
LILIOM
Well, one of you goes home. Which of you wants to stay? [_There is no answer._] Come on, speak up, which of you stays?
MARIE
[_Officiously._] She'll lose her job if she stays.
LILIOM
Who will?
MARIE
Julie. She has to be back by seven o'clock.
LILIOM
Is that true? Will they discharge you if you're not back on time?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
Well, wasn't I discharged?
JULIE
Yes--you were discharged, too.
MARIE
Julie, shall I go?
JULIE
I--can't tell you what to do.
MARIE
All right--stay if you like.
LILIOM
You'll be discharged if you do?
MARIE
Shall I go, Julie?
JULIE
[_Embarrassed._] Why do you keep asking me that?
MARIE
You know best what to do.
JULIE
[_Profoundly moved; slowly._] It's all right, Marie, you can go home.
MARIE
[_Exits reluctantly, but comes back, and says uncertainly._] Good-night. [_She waits a moment to see if JULIE will follow her. JULIE does not move. MARIE exits. Meantime it has grown quite dark. During the following scene the gas-lamps far in the distance are lighted one by one. LILIOM and JULIE sit on the bench. From afar, very faintly, comes the music of a calliope. But the music is intermittently heard; now it breaks off, now it resumes again, as if it came down on a fitful wind. Blending with it are the sounds of human voices, now loud, now soft; the blare of a toy trumpet; the confused noises of the show-booths. It grows progressively darker until the end of the scene. There is no moonlight. The spring irridescence glows in the deep blue sky._]
LILIOM
Now we're both discharged. [_She does not answer. From now on they speak gradually lower and lower until the end of the scene, which is played almost in whispers. Whistles softly, then._] Have you had your supper?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Want to go eat something at the Garden?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Anywhere else?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
[_Whistles softly, then._] You don't come to this park very often, do you? I've only seen you three times. Been here oftener than that?
JULIE
Oh, yes.
LILIOM
Did you see me?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
And did you know I was Liliom?
JULIE
They told me.
LILIOM
[_Whistles softly, then._] Have you got a sweetheart?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Don't lie to me.
JULIE
I haven't. If I had, I'd tell you. I've never had one.
LILIOM
What an awful liar you are. I've got a good mind to go away and leave you here.
JULIE
I've never had one.
LILIOM
Tell that to someone else.
JULIE
[_Reproachfully._] Why do you insist I have?
LILIOM
Because you stayed here with me the first time I asked you to. You know your way around, you do.
JULIE
No, I don't, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
I suppose you'll tell me you don't know why you're sitting here--like this, in the dark, alone with me--You wouldn't 'a' stayed so quick, if you hadn't done it before--with some soldier, maybe. This isn't the first time. You wouldn't have been so ready to stay if it was--what _did_ you stay for, anyhow?
JULIE
So you wouldn't be left alone.
LILIOM
Alone! God, you're dumb! I don't need to be alone. I can have all the girls I want. Not only servant girls like you, but cooks and governesses, even French girls. I could have twenty of them if I wanted to.
JULIE
I know, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
What do you know?
JULIE
That all the girls are in love with you. But that's not why _I_ stayed. I stayed because you've been so good to me.
LILIOM
Well, then you can go home.
JULIE
I don't want to go home now.
LILIOM
And what if I go away and leave you sitting here?
JULIE
If you did, I wouldn't go home.
LILIOM
Do you know what you remind me of? A sweetheart I had once--I'll tell you how I met her---- One night, at closing time, we had put out the lights in the carousel, and just as I was---- [_He is interrupted by the entrance of two plainclothes POLICEMEN. They take their stations on either side of the bench. They are police, searching the park for vagabonds._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
What are you doing there?
LILIOM
Me?
SECOND POLICEMAN
Stand up when you're spoken to! [_He taps LILIOM imperatively on the shoulder._]
FIRST POLICEMAN
What's your name?
LILIOM
Andreas Zavoczki. [_JULIE begins to weep softly._]
SECOND POLICEMAN
Stop your bawling. We're not goin' to eat you. We are only making our rounds.
FIRST POLICEMAN
See that he doesn't get away. [_THE SECOND POLICEMAN steps closer to LILIOM._] What's your business?
LILIOM
Barker and bouncer.
SECOND POLICEMAN
They call him Liliom, Chief. We've had him up a couple of times.
FIRST POLICEMAN
So that's who you are! Who do you work for now?
LILIOM
I work for the widow Muskat.
FIRST POLICEMAN
What are you hanging around here for?
LILIOM
We're just sitting here--me and this girl.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Your sweetheart?
LILIOM
No.
FIRST POLICEMAN
[_To JULIE._] And who are you?
JULIE
Julie Zeller.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Servant girl?
JULIE
Maid of All Work for Mister Georg Breier, Number Twenty Damjanovitsch Street.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Show your hands.
SECOND POLICEMAN
[_After examining JULIE'S hand._] Servant girl.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Why aren't you at home? What are you doing out here with him?
JULIE
This is my day out, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
It would be better for you if you didn't spend it sitting around with a fellow like this.
SECOND POLICEMAN
They'll be disappearing in the bushes as soon as we turn our backs.
FIRST POLICEMAN
He's only after your money. We know this fine fellow. He picks up you silly servant girls and takes what money you have. Tomorrow you'll probably be coming around to report him. If you do, I'll throw you out.
JULIE
I haven't any money, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Do you hear that, Liliom?
LILIOM
I'm not looking for her money.
SECOND POLICEMAN
[_Nudging him warningly._] Keep your mouth shut.
FIRST POLICEMAN
It is my duty to warn you, my child, what kind of company you're in. He makes a specialty of servant girls. That's why he works in a carousel. He gets hold of a girl, promises to marry her, then he takes her money and her ring.
JULIE
But I haven't got a ring.
SECOND POLICEMAN
You're not to talk unless you're asked a question.
FIRST POLICEMAN
You be thankful that I'm warning you. It's nothing to me what you do. I'm not your father, thank God. But I'm telling you what kind of a fellow he is. By tomorrow morning you'll be coming around to us to report him. Now you be sensible and go home. You needn't be afraid of him. This officer will take you home if you're afraid.
JULIE
Do I _have_ to go?
FIRST POLICEMAN
No, you don't _have_ to go.
JULIE
Then I'll stay, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Well, you've been warned.
JULIE
Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
FIRST POLICEMAN
Come on, Berkovics. [_The POLICEMEN exit. JULIE and LILIOM sit on the bench again. There is a brief pause._]
JULIE
Well, and what then?
LILIOM
[_Fails to understand._] Huh?
JULIE
You were beginning to tell me a story.
LILIOM
Me?
JULIE
Yes, about a sweetheart. You said, one night, just as they were putting out the lights of the carousel---- That's as far as you got.
LILIOM
Oh, yes, yes, just as the lights were going out, someone came along--a little girl with a big shawl--you know---- She came--eh--from---- Say--tell me--ain't you--that is, ain't you at all--afraid of me? The officer told you what kind of a fellow I am--and that I'd take your money away from you----
JULIE
You couldn't take it away--I haven't got any. But if I had--I'd--I'd give it to you--I'd give it all to you.
LILIOM
You would?
JULIE
If you asked me for it.
LILIOM
Have you ever had a fellow you gave money to?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Haven't you ever had a sweetheart?
JULIE
No.
LILIOM
Someone you used to go walking with. You've had one like that?
JULIE
Yes.
LILIOM
A soldier?
JULIE
He came from the same village I did.
LILIOM
That's what all the soldiers say. Where _do_ you come from, anyway?
JULIE
Not far from here. [_There is a pause._]
LILIOM
Were you in love with him?
JULIE
Why do you keep asking me that all the time, Mister Liliom? I wasn't in love with him. We only went walking together.
LILIOM
Where did you walk?
JULIE
In the park.
LILIOM
And your virtue? Where did you lose that?
JULIE
I haven't got any virtue.
LILIOM
Well, you had once.
JULIE
No, I never had. I'm a respectable girl.
LILIOM
Yes, but you gave the soldier something.
JULIE
Why do you question me like that, Mister Liliom?
LILIOM
Did you give him something?
JULIE
You have to. But I didn't love him.
LILIOM
Do you love me?
JULIE
No, Mister Liliom.
LILIOM
Then why do you stay here with me?
JULIE
Um--nothing. [_There is a pause. The music from afar is plainly heard._]
LILIOM
Want to dance?
JULIE
No. I have to be very careful.
LILIOM
Of what?
JULIE
My--character.
LILIOM
Why?
JULIE
Because I'm never going to marry. If I was going to marry, it would be different. Then I wouldn't need to worry so much about my character. It doesn't make any difference if you're married. But I shan't marry--and that's why I've got to take care to be a respectable girl.
LILIOM
Suppose I were to say to you--I'll marry you.
JULIE
You?
LILIOM
That frightens you, doesn't it? You're thinking of what the officer said and you're afraid.
JULIE
No, I'm not, Mister Liliom. I don't pay any attention to what he said.
LILIOM
But you wouldn't dare to marry anyone like me, would you?
JULIE
I know that--that--if I loved anyone--it wouldn't make any difference to me what he--even if I died for it.
LILIOM
But you wouldn't marry a rough guy like me--that is,--eh--if you loved me----
JULIE
Yes, I would--if I loved you, Mister Liliom. [_There is a pause._]
LILIOM
[_Whispers._] Well,--you just said--didn't you?--that you don't love me. Well, why don't you go home then?
JULIE
It's too late now, they'd all be asleep.
LILIOM
Locked out?
JULIE
Certainly. [_They are silent a while._]
LILIOM
I think--that even a low-down good-for-nothing--can make a man of himself.
JULIE
Certainly. [_They are silent again. A lamp-lighter crosses the stage, lights the lamp over the bench, and exits._]
LILIOM
Are you hungry?
JULIE
No. [_Another pause._]
LILIOM
Suppose--you had some money--and I took it from you?
JULIE
Then you could take it, that's all.
LILIOM
[_After another brief silence._] All I have to do--is go back to her--that Muskat woman--she'll be glad to get me back--then I'd be earning my wages again. [_She is silent. The twilight folds darker about them._]
JULIE
[_Very softly._] Don't go back--to her---- [_Pause._]
LILIOM
There are a lot of acacia trees around here. [_Pause._]
JULIE
Don't go back to her---- [_Pause._]
LILIOM
She'd take me back the minute I asked her. I know why--she knows, too---- [_Pause._]
JULIE
I can smell them, too--acacia blossoms---- [_There is a pause. Some blossoms drift down from the tree-top to the bench. LILIOM picks one up and smells it._]
LILIOM
White acacias!
JULIE
[_After a brief pause._] The wind brings them down. [_They are silent. There is a long pause before_]
THE CURTAIN FALLS