EVE [_throwing her arms round the serpent_] My beautiful snake. Ultimately he is asking if it would be expedient to hold elections now or better to put them off till spring. EVE. But you used to complainof having to exist always and for ever. THE SERPENT. Shaw also advocates what he calls homeopathy as a pedagogical method, arguing that society "can only be lamed and enslaved by" education. Why not be born again and again as I am, new and beautifulevery time? EVE. The Voice does not speak to me as it does to you. Yes. Suppose you were to trip and fall, would you go like that? That is the true nature of woman. We shall need each other. What a beautiful word! ADAM [_in sullen rage_] I have half a mind to shew you that my spade cansplit your undutiful head open, in spite of your spear. I can make better use of my time thanto play the husband to the clay beneath my feet. Adamlooks worried, like a farmer. EVE [_jarred and startled_] What a hateful noise! You will find more snakes than there are fingers onyour hands. [12] The BBC, in contrast, was able to provide lavish scenery by sheer power of description for its 1958 radio production of the entire play,[13]. I tell you I am verysubtle. THE SERPENT. They put all sorts ofthoughts into my head. Thatis birth. On the west side stands a little classic temple and in the middle of the glade there is a marble altar, shaped like a table, and long enough for a man to lie on. To me there is only one voice. They tell me too of their last-born:the clever thing the darling child said yesterday, and how much morewonderful or witty or quaint it is than any child that ever was bornbefore. She agrees to let him stay and grasps his hands and looks at him. The hard work of government is carried out by hired consultants from Africa and China unless competent Scots, Irishmen or Welshmen chance to be available. [_He chuckles and goes awayslowly, laughing his first laugh_]. _Cain kicks the hurdle out of his way, and strides into the garden. If I bind my will I strangle creation. That is too short a word for so long a thing. I do not want to be a bear. When Lilith told me whatshe had imagined in our silent language (for there were no words then) Ibade her desire it and will it; and then, to our great wonder, the thingshe had desired and willed created itself in her under the urging of herwill. [_He sitsdown again, sulkily_]. Andnettles, too! 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. I feel as if the ground were giving wayunder my feet when it speaks. Love is uncertain. Sit down and be quiet; and listen tome. I call yours the Devil. 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. EVE. That is too wonderful. I will bedelivered from fear. THE SERPENT. Life is still long enough to learn to dig, short as they aremaking it. No: he, too, must desire and will. You shall notlisten to that snake any more. Arriving hand in hand, they are gratified by the attention they receive. Whilst the east wind prevails Britain shall prosper. Butwhen it is short it will be very sweet. Let us listen to the snake. I am very subtle; but Man is deeper in his thought thanI am. And the manthat slays me shall have her for his booty. EVE. May your tongue be accurst for such blasphemy! And of Lua they will say nothing; but when they thinkof her they will spit. Then there is no such thing as divine justice, unless you arelying. At theopposite side of the garden is a thorn brake with a passage through itbarred by a hurdle. He who has never fought has never lived. Martellus laughs, but not in mockery; he says he, too, attempted such a project, but has smashed all his sculptures and thrown away his tools. He leaves and the children pledge to stay forever young, but Chloe, somewhat older, says she feels drawn toward the ancient's way of life. all those multitudes of menfighting, fighting, killing, killing! CAIN. ADAM. Other articles where Back to Methuselah is discussed: George Bernard Shaw: Works after World War I: plays under the collective title Back to Methuselah (1922). Adam and Eve, as avatars for aboriginal humanity, discover a fawn dead from a broken neck and realize they, too, will die eventually from some mishap, even though they are immune to aging. She did not know then thatimagination is the beginning of creation. Fear will drive me to anything. It stirs inside me. I have never in my soul listenedwillingly when you have told me of the Voice that whispers to you. I make no vows. Moreover, he has recognized the person as the currently alive and active Archbishop of York. the howls of rage! Two must shareit. THE SERPENT. A housemaid announces the opportune arrival of Lubin and Burge, two prominent politicians with antagonistic viewpoints; they will serve as sounding-boards while the brothers present their case for the need of longer lifetimes. (The foreigners live no longer than the English, but they mature early.). Back to Methuselah Quotes Showing 1-7 of 7 "You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?" George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah tags: inspirational 3948 likes Like "You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul." George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. ADAM. You are more her slave than Adam's ox oryour own sheepdog. I do not blame you. I want to see my work sometimes. Listen to me, Eve; and you,snake, listen too, that your memory may hold my vow. Go on with your work, I tell you; or you shall go without bread. Soon there will be as many snakes inEden as there are scales on my body. Yourhair streams in the wind as if it were trying to stretch itself furtherand further. But I have known what it is to sit and brood under the terror ofeternity, of immortality. THE SERPENT. EVE. Did you find it like that? I am the most subtle of all the creatures of the field. Fool: she makes you fight because you bring her the ornaments andthe treasures of those you have slain, and because she is courted andpropitiated with power and gold by the people who fear you. A few centuries slip by; Eve and Adam have aged a bit, but otherwise have changed but little: She spends her time by spinning flax for weaving, he digs in the garden. she inquires and he says "Yes," adding that he is touring these islands for sentimental reasons because, in ancient times, they were the centre of the British Commonwealth. It found that I wasmyself, and that it was for Abel to be himself also, and look tohimself. What is a fool? CAIN. She spins resignedly; he digs impatiently. Man-eating! You despise your father; but when he dies the world willbe the richer because he lived. EVE. EVE [_shuddering_] Why do you remind me of it? Do you mean that Adam must share it with me? 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; And Ihave eaten strange things: stones and apples that you are afraid to eat. Why should I forget it? ADAM. She is not yet visible to anyone unaware of her presence, as The Emperor of Turania, calling himself Napoleon, impatient of ceremony, bursts into the courtyard of the Temple of the Oracle. You think too much. Now the secret. Make a vow. It is the horror of having to be with myself forever. ADAM. Oh yes, some of them, of course. The garden is full of voices sometimes. EVE. Look atthat thick roll of hard flesh on your strong arm! You learnt nothing from him: youdrudged and drudged and drudged, and dug and dug and dug, and made me dothe same. When you fighters do notget killed in fighting one another or fighting the beasts, you die frommere evil in yourselves. Barnabas goes to meet the American inventor, who wants to use Records Office film footage to create a Boy: you have asked us a terrible question. EVE [_throwing herself on the ground beside him, and grasping his knee_]You must be careful. Ask that woman whom you made, who is also my wife,whether she would have me as I was in the days when I followed the waysof Adam, and was a digger and a drudge? The serpent never dies. The new Adams and Eves might kill us. I spare you;but others may kill you. promotional cinema showing sundry important Britons who have lost their lives by drowning, but who, with the invention's help, might not have perished. Languages: English, Espanol | Site Copyright Jalic Inc. 2000 - 2023. That is too much for the Elderly Gentleman to swallow. So that is what comes of turning your face to the clean clearheavens! THE SERPENT. Adam invents the word to-morrow. THE SERPENT. The birthing proceeds: In procession, youths carry a new tunic, ewers of water, big sponges and, finally a huge egg, which is placed upon the altar. Skip to main content. Confucius congratulates him on having reached the first stage of maturity. Burge-Lubin is chiding himself indulgently for mixing romance with business when Barnabas bursts in, completely overwhelmed. Your hood is most lovely. She looks seventeen years old. And it burst; and a little snake came out; and it became biggerand bigger from day to day until it was as big as I. EVE. He loved his brother. No voice is needed to make me feel that. It is not only its eyes. And I am very wilful, andmust have what I want; and I have willed and willed and willed. 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. I tell you the labor is too much for one. I revolt against the food. You and Adam. ADAM. If only the care of this terrible garden may pass onto some other gardener! By another thing, called birth. THE SERPENT. . She learns of the Archbishop's longevity with great interest but no evident surprise and it soon emerges that she, also, is long lived and remembers Archbishop Haslam from the time she was parlour maid for Franklyn Barnabas. I am what I am:nothing can alter that. Poorwretch: do you think I do not know her, and know you, better than that?Do you risk your life when you trap the ermine and the sable and theblue fox to hang on her lazy shoulders and make her look more like ananimal than a woman? THE SERPENT. EVE. I am not, perhaps, very clever; but--. Do you dig any better because you have been digging forhundreds of years? Theynever want to die, because they are always learning and always creatingeither things or wisdom, or at least dreaming of them. EVE. A fine dream, truly! Well, will you pamper me ashe pampers his woman? She says she is the oracle, but he has contempt for women and insists he be directed to one of the older and more able men. CAIN. ADAM. You think youcould, because you know that you will never have to make your thoughtgood. Besides, if it happened to you, _I_should be alone. The voice in the garden is your own voice. Danger and fear follow my steps everywhere. But you could come softly up behind me and [_she suddenly pounceson his shoulders and throws him forward on his face_] throw me down sothat I should die. Yes: that must not be. Then love will be no longer uncertain. You may die when I have made another Adam. Why should I? Let itnow give me certainty or go in fear of me. Why did it not tell Cain that? Does not theVoice tell you that as no man dare slay you for murdering your brother,you ought to slay yourself? Bernard Shaw's epic "Back to Methuselah", which was first performed in 1922, has been revived by The Royal Shakespeare Company to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Shaw's death. The egg keeps shouting "I want to be born! 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