The Cadets of Gascony

A post occupied by the company of CARBON DE CASTEL-JALOUX at the siege of Arras. In the background is an embankment across the whole stage. Beyond is a view of plains extending to the horizon. The countryside is covered with entrenchments. The walls of Arras and the outlines of its roofs can be seen in the distance. Tents, weapons, armor, and drums are strewn about. Day is breaking with a faint glimmer of yellow sunrise in the east. Sentinels keep watch at various points. Campfires are burning. The cadets of Gascony, wrapped in their cloaks, are sleeping. CARBON DE CASTEL-JALOUX and LE BRET are keeping watch. They are very pale and thin. CHRISTIAN sleeps among the others in his cloak in the foreground, his face illuminated by the fire. There is silence.

Scene I

CHRISTIAN, CARBON DE CASTEL-JALOUX, LE BRET, the CADETS, then CYRANO.

LE BRET:

It's terrible!

CARBON:

Not a morsel of food left.

LE BRET:

Mordious!

CARBON:

[making a sign that he should speak lower] Curse under your breath. You will awaken them. [to the CADETS] Hush! Go back to sleep. [to LE BRET] He who sleeps can dine by dreaming of food.

LE BRET:

That's not much comfort to those who cannot sleep! What starvation!

[Firing is heard in the distance.]

CARBON:

Oh, damn their firing! It will wake my boys. [to the CADETS, who lift up their heads] Go back to sleep!

[Firing is heard again, nearer this time.]

A CADET:

[moving] Damn! Again!

CARBON:

’Tis nothing! It's just Cyrano coming back!

[Those who have lifted up their heads prepare to sleep again.]

A SENTINEL:

[from offstage] Halt! Who goes there?

VOICE OF CYRANO:

Bergerac.

SENTINEL:

[on the embankment] Stop! Who goes there?

CYRANO:

[appearing at the top of the embankment] It's Bergerac, you idiot!

[He comes down. LE BRET advances anxiously to meet him.]

LE BRET:

Heavens!

CYRANO:

[making signs that he should not awaken the others] Hush!

LE BRET:

Are you wounded?

CYRANO:

No. You should know by now they make a habit of missing me every morning.

LE BRET:

This is too much! To risk your life every morning in order to deliver letters!

CYRANO:

[stopping before CHRISTIAN] I promised that he would write often. [He looks at CHRISTIAN.] He sleeps. How pale he is! But still handsome, despite his sufferings. If his poor lady-love knew that he is dying of hunger…

LE BRET:

Get yourself to bed, quickly.

CYRANO:

Don't scold me, Le Bret! The risk I take is smaller than you think.
I've found an easy spot to pass through the Spanish lines, where the men go to sleep drunk every night.

LE BRET:

You should try to bring us back some food next time.

CYRANO:

A man must carry no weight if he is to get by there! But there will be a surprise for us tonight. If I'm not mistaken, the French will either eat or die tonight.

LE BRET:

Oh! What's going on? Tell me!

CYRANO:

No, not yet. I'm not certain of it yet. You'll see.

CARBON:

We're the besiegers, and yet we're starving! How disgraceful!

LE BRET:

Alas, this siege is full of complications! While we're besieging, we ourselves are caught in a trap and are besieged by the Cardinal Infante of Spain.

CYRANO:

It would come full circle if he were besieged as well!

LE BRET:

This isn't funny. I'm serious.

CYRANO:

Oh! Of course!

LE BRET:

To think that you should risk your precious life everyday, for the sake of a letter. [seeing him turning to enter the tent] Where are you going?

CYRANO:

To write another one!

[He enters the tent and disappears.]

Scene II

The same, with all but CYRANO. The day is breaking in a rosy light. The town of Arras is golden on the horizon. The report of cannon fire is heard in the distance, followed immediately by the beating of drums far away to the left. Other drums are heard much nearer. There are sounds of stirring in the camp and voices of officers in the distance.

CARBON:

[sighing] The reveille! [The CADETS move and stretch themselves.] Nourishing sleep is at an end! I know what their first cry will be!

A CADET:

[sitting up] I'm so hungry!

ANOTHER:

Oh, I'm dying of hunger!

TOGETHER:

Oh!

CARBON:

Up with you!

THIRD CADET:

I cannot move a limb!

FOURTH CADET:

Nor can I!

FIRST:

[looking at himself in a piece of armor] My tongue is yellow. The air we've been living on is not quite in season—it's hard on the digestion.

ANOTHER:

I'd give my coronet for a bit of cheese!

ANOTHER:

If I don't get something for the juices in my stomach to work on, I'll give up and retire to my tent like old Achilles!

ANOTHER:

Oh, something, anything! Even just a crust!

CARBON:

[going to the tent and calling softly] Cyrano!

ALL THE CADETS:

We're dying!

CARBON:

[continuing to speak under his breath at the opening of the tent] Help me, Cyrano. You always know what to say to make them feel better. Come, cheer them up.

SECOND CADET:

[rushing toward another who is munching on something] What are you eating there?

FIRST CADET:

Cannon wadding fried in axle-grease! It's poor game-hunting around here!

A CADET:

[entering] I've been hunting game!

ANOTHER:

[following him] And I've been after fish!

ALL:

[rushing to the two newcomers] Well!—What have you brought?—A pheasant?—A carp?—Come, show us quick!

FISHER:

A minnow.

HUNTER:

One tiny sparrow.

ALL TOGETHER:

[exasperated] It's more than we can bear! We'll mutiny!

CARBON:

Cyrano! Come to my aid!

[The daylight has now come.]

Scene III

The same, with CYRANO.

CYRANO:

[appearing from the tent, very calm, with a pen stuck behind his ear and a book in his hand] What's wrong? [There is silence. He speaks to the FIRST CADET.] Why do you drag yourself around so sadly?

CADET:

I have something in my feet which weighs them down.

CYRANO:

And what might that be?

CADET:

My stomach!

CYRANO:

I have the same problem!

CADET:

But aren't you bothered by it?

CYRANO:

No, being so thin only makes us look taller!

A THIRD:

My stomach's hollow.

CYRANO:

Then it shall make a fine drum to bang during the assault!

ANOTHER:

I have a ringing in my ears.

CYRANO:

No, no! That can't be! A hungry stomach has no ears!

ANOTHER:

Oh, for a morsel of anything, with just a dab of oil!

CYRANO:

[pulling off the CADET's helmet and holding it out to him] Here's your salad!

ANOTHER:

What, in God's name, can we eat?

CYRANO:

[throwing him the book which he is carrying] The Iliad! A little food for thought!

ANOTHER:

The prime minister in Paris gets his four meals a day!

CYRANO:

It would be courteous of him to send you a few partridges!

SAME CADET:

Yes, it would! And wine too!

CYRANO:

A little Burgundy, please, Cardinal!

ANOTHER:

I'm as ravenous as a giant!

CYRANO:

Then feast on some of your giant's fat!

FIRST CADET:

[shrugging] You're always so quick with your pointed words!

CYRANO:

Yes, pointed words! And I hope that when I die, I shall die making a pointed word for a good cause. I'll die a soldier's death by a soldier's sword, wielded by some brave adversary. I'll die on blood-stained ground, not in a sickbed, with a pointed word on my lips, and a real point within my heart.

ALL THE CADETS:

I'm hungry!

CYRANO:

All you think about is food! Bertrandou the fifer, you were a shepherd once. Draw your fife from its leather case and play for these greedy, gluttonous soldiers. Play some sweet country songs to remind us of our Gascon homes. Play those songs that softly echo the dear voices of family, in which each note calls to us like a little sister. Play those tunes that rise slowly, like the smoke-wreaths rise from the hearthstones of our native villages. Their music strikes the air like Gascon patois! [BERTRANDOU seats himself, and gets his flute ready.] Your flute is sadly at war now, but it was not always a warrior. As your fingers dance upon its stem in a bird-like minuet, remember that flutes were not always made of wood, but were made first out of simple reeds. Use your flute to recall those pastoral days, the soul-time of your youth, in country pastures! [The old man begins to play a Gascon tune.] Listen to the music, Gascons! It's no longer the piercing fife of battle, but beneath his fingers, the flute of the woods! No more the call to combat, it's now the love-song of the wandering goat-herds! Listen! It's the valley, the wetlands, the forest, the sunburnt shepherd boy with scarlet beret, the dusk of evening on the Dordogne River! ’Tis Gascony! Listen, Gascons, to the music!

[The CADETS sit with bowed heads. Their eyes have a far-off look as if they are dreaming. Once in a while, they furtively wipe away their tears with their cuffs and the corner of their cloaks.]

CARBON:

[to CYRANO in a whisper] But you're making them weep!

CYRANO:

Yes, but for homesickness. It's a nobler pain than hunger. It's a pain of the soul, not the body. I'm pleased to see their pain changed. Heart- ache is better than stomach-ache.

CARBON:

But aren't you weakening their courage by playing with their hearts?

CYRANO:

[making a sign to a drummer to approach] Not at all! The hero that sleeps inside of every Gascon is easily awakened. All it takes is—

[He makes a signal and the drum begins to beat.]

ALL THE CADETS:

[standing up and rushing to take up their weapons] What? What is it?

CYRANO:

[smiling] See! One roll of the drum is enough! Goodbye dreams, regrets, native land, love! All that the pipe brought forth, the drum has chased away!

A CADET:

[looking toward the back of the stage] Ugh! Here comes Monsieur de Guiche.

[All the CADETS mutter irritably.]

CYRANO:

[smiling] That's a flattering welcome!

A CADET:

We are sick to death of him!

ANOTHER:

With his lace collar over his armor, acting like he's a fine gentleman!

ANOTHER:

A soldier should not wear linen over steel!

THE FIRST:

Unless he's using it to bandage a boil on his neck!

THE SECOND:

He's not a true soldier! He's a scheming courtier!

ANOTHER:

He's his uncle's nephew!

CARBON:

But he's still a Gascon.

THE FIRST:

Oh, but a false Gascon! I don't trust him at all. True Gascons are madmen, but he is too sane. There's nothing more dangerous than a rational Gascon!

LE BRET:

He's so pale!

ANOTHER:

Oh, he's hungry, just as we are. But since he wears gilded studs on his armor, his stomach-ache glitters in the sunlight!

CYRANO:

[hurriedly] Let's not look like we're suffering! Take out your cards and pipes and dice! [They all begin lighting pipes and spreading out games on the drums, the stools, the ground, and on their cloaks.] And I shall read Descartes.

[He walks up and down, reading a little book which he has drawn from his pocket. DE GUICHE enters. Everyone appears absorbed and happy. DE GUICHE is very pale. He goes up to CARBON.]

Scene IV

The same, with DE GUICHE.

DE GUICHE:

[to CARBON] Good day! [They examine each other. De Guiche speaks in an aside, with satisfaction.] He's quite green!

CARBON:

[looking at DE GUICHE with the same sort of satisfaction and also speaking in an aside] His cheeks are sunken and his eyes are as big as saucers!

DE GUICHE:

[looking at the CADETS] So! Here are the rebels! I've been hearing from all sides that you country louts scoff at me—your colonel! It seems that you mountain-bred aristocrats harbor a disdain for me, calling me a plotter and a scheming courtier! I hear that it doesn't please your mightiness to see a lace collar on my armor! You're all simply enraged by the fact that a man can be still be a Gascon without looking like a ragged beggar! [There is silence. Everyone continues to smoke and to play.] Shall I command your captain to punish you? No.

CARBON:

Let me remind you that these are my men, and I would refuse to punish them.

DE GUICHE:

Ah!

CARBON:

These men are of my company. I take orders only from headquarters.

DE GUICHE:

Is that so? Fine, then. [addressing himself to the cadets] I am above your taunts, because it's well known how I've shown myself in this war. Just yesterday, at Bapaume, I beat back the Count of Bucquoi. I assembled my men and we charged on him three separate times!

CYRANO:

[without lifting his eyes from his book] Yes, and don't forget the part about your white scarf.

DE GUICHE:

[surprised and gratified] Oh, you've heard that detail? It's true! I'll tell you how it happened. While turning about to recall the troops for the third charge, I was swept up with a band of fugitives. They bore me with them, and we came dangerously close to the enemy. I was in peril of capture or sudden death! I quickly had the idea to loosen the scarf which told my military rank and I let it fall. This way, I was unnoticed and was able to leave the swarm. I went back, rallied my men, and we charged and scattered them! What do you say to that, Sir?

[The CADETS pretend not to be listening, but the cards and the dice-boxes remain suspended in their hands, the smoke of their pipes in their cheeks. They wait.]

CYRANO:

I say that Henry the Fourth would never have stripped himself of his scarf, no matter the danger.

[There is silent delight among the cadets. The cards fall, the dice rattle, the smoke is puffed.]

DE GUICHE:

But it was a good trick! And it worked!

[The CADETS again suspend their movements and wait.]

CYRANO:

Oh, that may be true! But I don't believe in lightly abdicating the honor of being the enemy's target. [Cards and dice fall again, and the cadets smoke with delight.] We have very different ideas of what courage is, Sir. If I had been there when your scarf fell, I would have picked it up and put it on myself.

DE GUICHE:

Oh, that's just Gascon bragging!

CYRANO:

Bragging? Give the scarf to me. I promise that tonight I will lead the assault while wearing it across my chest.

DE GUICHE:

Another Gascon boast! You know very well that my scarf now lies on the river bank in enemy territory. The place is riddled with gunfire! No one can bring it back!

CYRANO:

[drawing the scarf from his pocket, and holding it out to him] Here it is.

[There is silence. The cadets stifle their laughter in their cards and dice-boxes. DE GUICHE turns and looks at them. They instantly become serious and return to their games. One of them whistles indifferently the tune that was just played by the fifer.]

DE GUICHE:

[taking the scarf] I thank you. And now I shall make a signal that I was unable to make until now.

[He goes to the embankment and waves the scarf three times.]

ALL:

What's he doing?

SENTINEL:

[from the top of the embankment] I see a man running away down there!

DE GUICHE:

[descending] He's a false Spanish spy. He's extremely useful to me. I give him false news to carry to the enemy, and such news influences their decisions!

CYRANO:

He's a traitor and a scoundrel!

DE GUICHE:

[carelessly knotting his scarf] But he's extremely helpful to us. Now, what were we talking about? Ah! I have news for you. Last night, the Marshal secretly left for Dourlens in order to bring back food and drink for us. But to ensure that he would be able to return to camp more easily, he took most of the troops with him. If we get attacked now, we'll be in serious trouble. Half of the army is absent from the camp!

CARBON:

Yes, if the Spaniards knew this, it would be terrible for us. But they know nothing?

DE GUICHE:

Oh, they know. And they will attack us.

CARBON:

Ah!

DE GUICHE:

My false spy came to warn me of their attack. He told me, “I can have them attack at whichever point you'd like them to, by telling them that it's the point which is least defended. Where do you want it to happen?” I answered, “Leave the camp and watch for my signal. I will sign to you from the point I have chosen.”

CARBON:

[to the CADETS] Make ready!

[All the CADETS rise. There are sounds of swords being picked up and belts being buckled.]

DE GUICHE:

It will happen in one hour.

FIRST CADET:

Oh, in that case…

[They all sit down again and take up their games.]

DE GUICHE:

[to CARBON] The Marshal will be on his way back, so we must keep the enemy occupied here for as long as we can.

CARBON:

How do you propose we do that?

DE GUICHE:

By letting them continue their attack until every last one of your cadets are killed.

CYRANO:

Ah! So this is your revenge!

DE GUICHE:

I am not saying that if I loved you all, I would have chosen differently. As boastful and courageous as you are, you are my best choice. In this way, I serve both my King and my grudge at the same time.

CYRANO:

Permit me to express my gratitude.

DE GUICHE:

I know you love to fight against the odds. I hope you're not complaining now.

[He goes up with CARBON.]

CYRANO:

[to the CADETS] We shall add to the Gascon coat of arms a new mark! Among its six bars of blue and gold, we'll add one more—a blood-red bar that was missing before!

[DE GUICHE speaks in a low voice with CARBON at the back. Orders are given. Preparations go forward. CYRANO goes up to CHRISTIAN, who stands with crossed arms.]

CYRANO:

[putting his hand on CHRISTIAN'S shoulder] Christian?

CHRISTIAN:

[shaking his head] Roxane!

CYRANO:

Yes, I know.

CHRISTIAN:

If I could only, at the very least, say goodbye to her in a letter!

CYRANO:

I had a suspicion that today might be the day, so I already wrote— [He draws a letter out of his jacket.]

CHRISTIAN:
Show it to me!

CYRANO:

Shall I—

CHRISTIAN:

[taking the letter] Yes! [He opens it and reads.] Wait a minute!

CYRANO:

What?

CHRISTIAN:

This little spot!

CYRANO:

[taking the letter, with an innocent look] A spot?

CHRISTIAN:

It's a tear!

CYRANO:

Alas, poets are so good at inventing emotion that they sometimes get caught up in it themselves! This letter was so sad and moving that I wept myself while writing it!

CHRISTIAN:

You wept? But why?

CYRANO:

Oh, death itself is nothing. But to never see her again! That is something worse than death! To think that I shall never—[CHRISTIAN looks at him.] I mean, to think that we shall—[quickly] I mean, that you—

CHRISTIAN:

[snatching the letter from him] Give me that letter!

[A distant rumbling is heard far off in the camp.]

VOICE OF SENTINEL:

Who goes there?

[Shots and voices and carriage bell are heard.]

CARBON:

What is it?

SENTINEL:

[on the embankment] ’Tis a carriage!

[Everyone rushes to see.]

CRIES:

A carriage? In the camp? It's coming! The enemy! Fire on it! No! The coachman! What did he say? “On the King's service!”

[Everyone is on the embankment, staring. The bells come nearer.]

DE GUICHE:

The King's service? How?

[Everyone comes down and falls into line.]

CARBON:

Hats off, everyone!

DE GUICHE:

The King's service! Get in line, all of you! Don't you know how to welcome a king?

[The carriage enters at full speed covered with dust and mud. The curtains are drawn closed. Two LACKEYS follow behind. The carriage stops suddenly.]

CARBON:

Beat the salute!

[A roll of drums sounds. The CADETS take off their hats.]

ROXANE:

[jumping down from the carriage] Good day!

[All are bowing to the ground, but at the sound of a woman's voice every head is instantly raised.]

Scene V

The same, with ROXANE.

DE GUICHE:

On the King's service! You?

ROXANE:

Yes, I come in the service of the king called love! What other king is there?

CYRANO:

Great God!

CHRISTIAN:

[rushing forward] Why have you come?

ROXANE:

This siege is going on too long!

CHRISTIAN:

But—

ROXANE:

I will tell you all!

CYRANO:

[who, at the sound of her voice, has stood still, rooted to the ground, afraid to raise his eyes] My God! I don't dare to look at her!

DE GUICHE:

You cannot stay here!

ROXANE:

[merrily] Yes, I can! Who will give me a drum to sit on? [She seats herself on the drum that is rolled forward.] Thank you! [She laughs.] My carriage was fired at! [proudly] It looks just like a pumpkin, doesn't it? And my footmen like rats turned into handsome men, just like in the fairy tale! [blowing a kiss to CHRISTIAN] Good morning! [examining them all] You don't look very cheerful! Don't you know it's a long way from Paris to Arras? [seeing CYRANO] Cousin! I'm delighted to see you!

CYRANO:

[coming up to her] But how, in Heaven's name—?

ROXANE:

How did I find my way here? It was simple enough. I just had to keep going until I saw the countryside laid to waste. Ah, what horrors were there! If I had not seen it, I would never have believed it! Well, gentlemen, if this is the way you serve your king, I would certainly rather serve mine!

CYRANO:

But this is sheer madness! Where in the devil's name did you get through?

ROXANE:

Where? Through the Spanish lines, of course!

FIRST CADET:

Only a woman could get away with something like that!

DE GUICHE:

But how did you pass through their lines?

LE BRET:

Yes, that must have been extremely difficult!

ROXANE:

Not really. I simply drove calmly forward in my carriage, and whenever some proud Spaniard stopped me, I gave him my sweetest smile. And since Spaniards are the most gallant gentlemen in the world—after Frenchmen, of course—they allowed me to pass on!

CARBON:

True, that smile of yours makes a pretty passport! But were you not asked to give an account of where you were going, Madame?

ROXANE:

Yes, frequently. And in answer, I would say, “I'm going to see my lover.” At that word, the fiercest Spaniard of them all would gravely shut the carriage door, and, with a gesture that a king might envy, would signal to his men to lower the guns leveled at me. Then, with sad and graceful dignity, he would doff his hat and bow low to me, saying, “Pass on, Señorita!”

CHRISTIAN:

But, Roxane—

ROXANE:

Forgive me for saying “my lover.” But think of it! If I had said “my husband” not one of them would have let me pass!

CHRISTIAN:

But…

ROXANE:

What's the matter?

DE GUICHE:

You must leave here!

ROXANE:

Must I?

CYRANO:

Yes, and right now!

LE BRET:

At once!

CHRISTIAN:

Indeed, you must.

ROXANE:

But why must I?

CHRISTIAN:

[embarrassed] Because—

CYRANO:

[also embarrassed] In three quarters of an hour—

DE GUICHE:

[with the same look] Or less—

CARBON:

[the same] It would be best if—

LE BRET:

[the same] You might want to—

ROXANE:

You're going to fight, aren't you? I'm staying here!

ALL:

No, no!

ROXANE:

He is my husband! [She throws herself into CHRISTIAN'S arms.] They shall kill us both together!

CHRISTIAN:

What a fiery look in your eyes!

ROXANE:

You know what it signifies!

DE GUICHE:

[in despair] This is a post of mortal danger!

ROXANE:

[turning around] Mortal danger?

CYRANO:

He should know. He stationed us here.

ROXANE:

[to DE GUICHE] So! You wanted to make a widow out of me!

DE GUICHE:

No! I swear to you—

ROXANE:

I will not go! I'm reckless now, and I shall not move from here! Besides, it's quite amusing!

CYRANO:

Oh! So the lady intellectual is now a heroine as well!

ROXANE:

I am your cousin, Monsieur de Bergerac.

A CADET:

We'll defend you well!

ROXANE:

[more and more excited] I do not doubt that at all, my friends!

ANOTHER:

[ecstatically] Ah! The whole camp smells like irises!

ROXANE:

And what luck! I'm wearing a hat that will look so nice on the battlefield! [looking at DE GUICHE] Shouldn't you be going? Surely they'll begin the attack any moment!

DE GUICHE:

I won't stand for this! I'm going to inspect the cannons. When I return, I hope to see that you've changed your mind!

ROXANE:

Never!

[DE GUICHE goes out.]