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THE CARPET WEAVERS
Scenes 1 – 6 CHARACTERS Mohammed Weaver 1 Weaver 2 Weaver 3 Mohammed’s Mother Mohammed’s Father Pasha Asif Imran Overseer Boys American Woman Clerk
SCENE
1.
HARP MOHAMMED: Who are you? WEAVERS 1,2,3: We are weavers. MOHAMMED: Why are you all dressed in snakes of many colours? WEAVER 1: These are skeins of wool. We use them to weave the story of the world. That is why we need so many colours. MOHAMMED: Why are there three of you? WEAVERS 2: There must be three of us. We are the north, the south, the east. The west is unknown. WEAVER 3: The story of the world is born in the east. But its destiny is in the west, where the sun dies before being reborn. MOHAMMED: Am I of the world? WEAVER 1: Of course you are. MOHAMMED: Will you weave my story? WEAVER 1: Of course. MOHAMMED: What colour will you weave my story? WEAVER 2: We do not know. We do not choose. WEAVER 3: We will weave your story as the colours unfold. HARP MOTHER: Mohammed! Wake up. MOHAMMED: What is it, mother? MOTHER: We must go to the river to bathe. MOHAMMED: Now? MOTHER: Now. Your father wishes to speak to you. It is an important matter. Come along. MOHAMMED: The river is good to us, isn't it, mother? It provides us with water to drink and to wash and to soften our hides, so the leather we make will be good and people will buy our sandals. MOTHER: It is good, yes. But soon, perhaps, we shall have no more hides to make leather. (ABRUPTLY) Come on now, you are big enough to wash yourself. Into the river with you. SPLASHING
SOUNDS That's right. Now out you come. Wrap yourself in this cloth and we'll be off home. I'll take care of your old clothes. MOHAMMED: I can carry them, mother. MOTHER: No. I will keep them. (PAUSE) MOHAMMED: What is it, mother? You seem sad. MOTHER: I wish you could have sandals. MOHAMMED: When I am big I shall have sandals. I am growing all the time, mother. If I had sandals, I should have to have a new pair every week. MOTHER: Such a child! There are more children behind you, Mohammed, who would use your outgrown sandals. FATHER: Here you are, Mohammed. Come inside. I have something to say to you. (PAUSE) You know we are poor, Mohammed. You know the last cow has died. So now you must take your place as a man, young as you are. When you were born, you were promised in marriage and preparations were made. Fine clothes were made for your wedding and put away until the day should come. The day has not yet come, but you must go away from us and so we will dress you in those fine clothes that were put away for your coming of age. See these leggings, patterned with the gold of the sun upon the green of the good earth. Put them on, to your waist and higher. They will reach to the ground, to the sandals that we do not have to give you. See this brocade coat, woven with castles interlocking, shifting in colour and sheen. Though it reach beyond your knees, put it on over the shirt that we do not have to give you. Put this cap on your head and remember it is the crown that we do not have to give you. And now we must leave. SCENE
2. FATHER: Mohammed, you have done well to walk through the night. Now that day is dawning behind us and we have nearly reached the railway line, we shall not have far to go. See that water tower beside the line? We shall wait there. SOUND
OF A TRAIN ARRIVING, BRAKING FATHER: Open your eyes, Mohammed. You see that man dressed in silk and carrying a stick, who has descended to the lower step of the train? (SORROWFULLY) You must go with him. One day, perhaps, you will return to us a wealthy man. I will help you up to the step. PASHA: Into the baggage car to the right,
boy, and don't move till I
come for you. SOUND
OF COINS HITTING THE EARTH, ONE BY ONE It was three pieces of silver, we said, was it not? MOHAMMED: Weavers! Do you hear, do you see, do you know what is happening to me? WEAVER 1, 2, 3: We do not know. But we hear. We see. WEAVER 1: And we weave. WEAVER 2: The train is going to the city. WEAVER 3: We will need darker colours for our weaving in the city. SCENE 3. CITY NOISE, WITH THE REGULAR SOUND OF A
STICK ACCOMPANYING FOOTSTEPS, AND MORE DISTANT RUNNING AND
PANTING. A HEAVY DOOR OPENS, THE FOOTSTEPS AND
STICK ENTER, THEN STOP. THE RUNNING AND PANTING BECOME LOUDER, THEN
THE RUNNING STOPS AS THE PANTING CONTINUES. PASHA: You have kept me waiting. Follow me inside. THEY
ENTER THE WEAVING ROOM OF A FACTORY, HEAVY WITH THE SOUND OF
LOOMS. AS THEY ENTER, THE
LOOMS STOP, ONE BY ONE. PASHA: You will sit with these two boys. They will show you what to do. I expect you to learn quickly. (RAISES VOICE.) Did I give any instruction for work to cease?
LOOMS CLATTER. PASHA'S FOOTSTEPS AND
STICK FADE. LOOMS CONTINUE.
ASIF: (V.O.) Who are you? What's your name? MOHAMMED: (V.O.) Mohammed. ASIF: (V.O.) I'm Asif. And this is Imran. It's good you're here – it makes the work easier. But you must do as you're told, no messing about. Else they'll beat you – and us too, most likely. So watch it, right? MOHAMMED: (V.O.) Right. SOUND
OF LOOMS IN THE BACKGROUND FADES ASIF: Right, then. Sit beside us at the loom and we'll show you what to do. See these threads, they're called warp threads. It looks like there's a piece of cloth on the loom, but when I run my fingers across you can see there are just loads of threads. MOHAMMED: Oh yes. That's like a harp. I've seen a harp.
A man came to our village once and let me do that with the strings and there was this beautiful sound, like a river in spring. But this is a silent harp. IMRAN: Not when you work the loom, it isn’t. MOHAMMED: No. ASIF: OK, Imran.
Down you go, underneath. Let's make the shed. CLATTER
OF THE LOOM SHED OPENING MOHAMMED: Oh. There's a tunnel. There's a boat going through the tunnel. ASIF: When we make the shed, the warp threads separate – one back one front, one back one front. Then the boat carries the weaving thread through the tunnel we've just made. Imran! CLATTER OF THE SHED OPENING Then we reverse everything. The threads that were at the back are now in front and the ones that were in front are now at the back. So we have a different tunnel for the weaving thread to come back through. Got it? MOHAMMED: Er, yes. No. I’m not sure. ASIF: Look at it – you can see those warp threads holding the long thread snaking from side to side of the carpet we're making. Come on up, Imran. Now we'll show him how to beat. MOHAMMED: Beat? IMRAN: Yeah, you have to beat the thread down hard on top of the last one. Otherwise, there'll be holes in the carpet. SOUND
OF BEATING THE CARPET. (V.O.) Come on, you can help with this. MOHAMMED: (V.O.) OK BEATING OF CARPET CONTINUES. THEN STOPS. ASIF: Right, you've got that part of the job. But it's not the main part. We only do that to hold down the knots. See lower down on the weaving we've already done – you can't see the snake thread, can you? Those snakes are just there to hold the coloured threads in place, the ones that make the pattern. Imran, show him. IMRAN: Are you watching carefully? Right. You take a ball of coloured wool and this little twig of a stick and you wrap the wool round the first two threads of the warp, then round the stick. Is that OK? MOHAMMED: Yeah, yeah. IMRAN: And you keep going like that until you've got to the end of the row. Then you take the stick out, leaving a line of loops from one side of the carpet to the other. MOHAMMED: OK. So you make a row of loops tied around those threads hanging down. From one side of the carpet to the other. IMRAN Yeah. But if you change the ball of wool from time to time, to a ball of a different colour, you can make a pattern and the more rows you do, the carpet grows and the pattern becomes a picture. MOHAMMED: It's like the cloth my wedding clothes are made of. My father said they were castles, the pattern was made of castles, but I think they looked more like elephants in line, holding each other's tails with their trunks. ASIF: I have heard that in the mountains and far away places, there are looms that reach to the heavens. Not like ours, that are like a flat roof to the earth, separating us from the sky. MOHAMMED: I have seen such a loom, but I cannot tell you where. There are three women, who sit at the loom and weave stories to the sky. One day, I shall see the story they weave. ASIF: Imran, don't forget the cutting. IMRAN: Oh yes, after you take the stick out, you cut the loops that are left sticking up, still knotted to the long warp threads.. MOHAMMED: Like a field of cornstalks, instead of the flat earth. IMRAN: Yeah, I suppose. It's the difference between a carpet and a piece of cloth. ASIF: We don't get corn - we just get rice to eat. They feed us so little but at least we don't grow too big. We need small fingers to work the wool around the threads. We need small arms and legs to dive beneath the loom to change the thread and throw the weaving boat. We need small bodies so that we can all sleep beneath the roof of the looms at night the loom is our heaven. MOHAMMED: What will happen to us when we grow too big to weave? ASIF: Maybe we will die. (SILENCE) MOHAMMED: Weavers! Do you see, do you
hear? Help me in this dark place to face dark fear. WEAVER 1, 2, 3: We see. We hear. WEAVER 1: And we weave. WEAVER 2: It is you must help your friends. WEAVER 3: And your friends will help you. HARP SCENE
4. STICK
BANGS ON THE FLOOR. OVERSEER: I'm coming for your bowls. It's time you were working again. MOHAMMED: I want some more rice, please. (SILENCE) SOUND OF MANY HEAVY FEET, COMING CLOSE. SOUND
OF BEATING. SOUND OF A BODY DROPPING TO THE FLOOR.
LAUGHTER. LOOMS CLATTER – LOW (SILENCE) SOUND OF CRAWLING ALONG THE FLOOR AS
MOHAMMED DRAGS HIMSELF UP ONTO THE WEAVING BENCH. ASIF: (LOW VOICE) Just sit beside us, Mohammed, if you can. We'll do all the work. Don't worry. HARP STICK
BANGS ON THE FLOOR OVERSEER: I'm coming for your bowls. It's time you were working again. And that means you too – I expect you to know your place, after last time. MOHAMMED: I want some more rice, please. (SILENCE) OVERSEER: So you want another beating, do you? SOUND OF MANY HEAVY FEET, COMING CLOSE. SOUND
OF BEATING. SOUND OF A BODY DROPPING TO THE FLOOR.
LAUGHTER. LOOMS CLATTER – LOW. (SILENCE) SOUND OF CRAWLING ALONG THE FLOOR AS
MOHAMMED DRAGS HIMSELF UP ONTO THE WEAVING BENCH. ASIF: (LOW) Mohammed, are you all right? MOHAMMED: Yes. All right. ASIF: Mohammed, they killed a boy once. You must be careful. MOHAMMED: They are afraid. I feel it. HARP STICK
BANGS ON THE FLOOR OVERSEER: I'm coming for your bowls. And you'd better give us no trouble this time, or I won't vouch for your safety. MOHAMMED: I want some more rice, please. OVERSEER: You heard what I said. MOHAMMED: I heard. And I want some more rice. SOUND
OF MANY LIGHT FEET, COMING CLOSE. BOYS: (LOW) Mohammed, we are with you. Mohammed, we will protect you. MOHAMMED: It is easier to find men to beat boys than to train a good weaver. (SILENCE) A DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES. THE DOOR
OPENS AND CLOSES AGAIN. (SILENCE) PASHA: So. You want some more, do you? (PAUSE) (LAUGHING LOUDLY) And why should you not! SOUND OF A STICK SLAMMED SUDDENLY ON THE
GROUND. PASHA: Rice! THE DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES AGAIN. HARP MOHAMMED: (V.O.) Weavers, thank you. HARP SCENE 5. OVERSEER: You again! Why aren't you at your loom, working? MOHAMMED: I am now ten years of age, the age at which I should be married. I should like my wedding clothes to be returned to me. OVERSEER: (LAUGHS). MOHAMMED: I say again, I should like my wedding clothes to be returned to me. OVERSEER: (SHOUTING) Just you go back to your work, or I won't be answerable for you. Who do you think you are? I'll give you such a beating you'll be sorry you were ever born. MOHAMMED: A third time I say to you, I should like my wedding clothes to be returned to me. SOUND OF MANY LIGHT FEET, COMING CLOSE. BOYS: (LOW) Mohammed, we are with you. Mohammed, we will protect you. A DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES. THE DOOR OPENS
AND CLOSES AGAIN. PASHA: So. You want your wedding clothes. Let me tell you that slaves are not allowed to marry. So you can stop wasting everybody's time and patience and get on with your work. Inexcusable, inexcusable that work should be delayed. If you disobey me, the consequences will be terrible – for you and for all the other boys. MOHAMMED: I am no slave. Nobody owns me. Nobody can ever own me. If it is my wish to marry, as my parents wished me to marry, then nobody shall deny me. I shall honour my parents' wishes. OVERSEER: (SHOUTING) Just you go back to your work, all of you, or it will be the worse for you. BOYS: (LOW) Mohammed, we are with you. Mohammed, we will protect you. DOOR OPENS. SOUNDS OF PEOPLE ENTERING. AMERICAN WOMAN: Pasha, (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I tried to tell her you were busy. PASHA: Get her out of here. Tell her, tell her I can't speak to her now. Very sorry, very sorry. CLERK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) AMERICAN WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: She wants to know what's going on here. MOHAMMED: Would you be so kind as to bring me my wedding clothes. I have reached the age at which my parents wished me to marry? PASHA: Tell her to wait for me in the outer office. I'll be with her in a minute. Very sorry. I must first deal with these boys. CLERK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) AMERICAN WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: She wants to know what the boy
said. She said she likes the
look of him. PASHA: (LOW) Bring them, the clothes.
DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES, OPENS AND CLOSES AGAIN. MOHAMMED: Thank you. ASIF: Hey, Mohammed, what wonderful clothes! Put them on - let us see you in them. MOHAMMED: First, I must put on the leggings high to the waist. See, they are patterned gold as the sun giving life to the green earth. Next I must don this fine coat, reaching almost to the knees from the high circle of the neck. See, it is patterned like the carpets we weave, with castles of shifting blue and purple and a sparkling sheen like the stars of the night. And here is the crown for my head, the castle's turret. ASIF & IMRAN: You look amazing. AMERICAN WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: She wants to know what is going on. MOHAMMED: I'm going to be married. Tell her. CLERK: Shall I? PASHA: Tell her. CLERK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) AMERICAN WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: She thinks you are too young to be married. She wants you to go with her, to go to school before you are married. She is looking for a boy like you. MOHAMMED: I have heard of the schools of the city and I should like very much to go to school. But I must honour the wishes of my parents. CLERK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) AMERICAN WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: She asks that you go to your parents. Tell them what she has said and ask their permission to go with her. MOHAMMED: I will go to my parents. CLERK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) AMERICAN WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS) CLERK: You, Pasha, she thanks for helping her achieve her great wish of adopting a child. (SILENCE) MOHAMMED: Weavers, do you hear, do you see? .Tell me, advise me. What I should do? WEAVER 1, 2, 3: We hear. We see. WEAVER 1: And we weave. WEAVER 2: But we cannot tell you what to do. WEAVER 3: Only, to God be true. HARP SCENE 6. CLERK: What shall I tell her? What is your decision? MOHAMMED: Tell her my parents are happy that I should go to school. I shall be married when I return. Tell her I will go with her in the great white bird that bellows like an elephant. I will go to the great city full of light. SOUND OF WATER
AND THE BEATING OF LEATHER. MOHAMMED: Asif, Imran! You are here! You have come to my father's home! ASIF: We had to see you before you left. We always helped each other with the work, is that not so? IMRAN: And now we will help you beat the leather, as once we beat the weaving together. MOHAMMED: I am so happy to see you. Now we shall play, as well as work. ASIF: And will you go, will you really go? IMRAN: What will it be like, this MOHAMMED: I shall find this out. ASIF: How will you go to school, if they do not speak our language? MOHAMMED: I shall learn the language they themselves speak. IMRAN: Are you not afraid, to go into the west, where the sun dies each day? MOHAMMED: The sun always returns to the east. ASIF: But you will not return. You will forget us in the sleep of night. You will stay fast with the dying day. MOHAMMED: I will return with the sun, here to the east. ASIF: The workshop is greatly changed since you left. There are no more young ones and not so many looms.The light comes in during the day and we no longer sleep under the carpets. We have our own home and we eat good food. But best of all, we never see Pasha or the men with sticks. MOHAMMED: Look, a storm is coming, like a great black bird out of the eastern mountains. See, its wings are tinged red with dust. We must go home. Quickly. RUNNING FOOTSETPS. ASIF: Mohammed, Pasha is here. He has come with his men and their sticks. MOHAMMED: Who is that man, so tall, so beautifully dressed, his coat woven in white silk brocade? He is bringing my parents. His look chases Pasha away. IMRAN: His look says to us, 'Come with me'. HARP … |
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