POCAHONTAS AND CAPTAIN SMITH
SCENE I
TIME: a spring morning; three hundred years ago.
PLACE : forest near Jamestown.
POCAHONTAS.
INDIAN WOMAN.
INDIAN GIRLS.
INDIAN BOYS.
[POCAHONTAS and the INDIAN GIRLS are playing in the forest. An INDIAN WOMAN comes with bows and arrows.]
WOMAN. The deer go to the river! You must shoot them while they drink. Here are your bows and arrows.
A GIRL. I'll shoot a doe!
SECOND GIRL. I'll shoot a stag with horns!
THIRD GIRL. And I, a fawn!
WOMAN. Come, Pocahontas, and get your bow and arrows.
POCAHONTAS. I will not shoot at deer!
WOMAN. Ah, but you must. The braves have gone to watch the white men. So we must do the hunting. Come!
POCAHONTAS. I will not shoot at deer!
THIRD GIRL. She never shoots at them.
WOMAN. Why, what is this?
FOURTH GIRL. She only shoots at trees and sedges peeping from the water.
WOMAN. Now why do you not shoot at deer?
POCAHONTAS. They look at me so gently. I cannot bear to kill them.
FIRST GIRL. She will not kill anything.
SECOND GIRL. She will not even shoot a bird.
WOMAN. Can this be true?
POCAHONTAS. I will not kill the pretty things. This forest is their home, the same as it is ours.
WOMAN. Such talk I never heard before! The braves must know of this.
POCAHONTAS. No, no! They will tell my father!
WOMAN. Aye! Chief Powhatan must know.
POCAHONTAS. I beg you not to tell him!
THIRD GIRL. He will send her from his wigwam! Do not tell him!
"i will not shoot at deer"
FOURTH GIRL. He will send her alone into the forest! Do not tell him!
POCAHONTAS. Do not tell him!
WOMAN. Then take your bow and kill a deer.
POCAHONTAS. I will not! I have told you that! I cannot!
WOMAN. Powhatan shall know. Before the sun sets, Powhatan shall know.
[INDIAN BOYS enter.]
FIRST BOY. The braves have brought a prisoner!
SECOND BOY. It is the white chief from the village!
THIRD BOY. They have taken him to Powhatan!
FOURTH BOY. Come, if you would see him!
WOMAN. I come! I come!
GIRLS. And I! And I! And I!
[They go.]
SCENE II
TIME: a little later.
PLACE: Indian camp.
| CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. | MEDICINE MAN. | |
| CHIEF POWHATAN. | POCAHONTAS. | |
| BRAVES, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN. |
[CAPTAIN SMITH stands before POWHATAN. He holds a small compass in his hand.]
SMITH. Let me live, great chief! Let me live and you shall have my talking needle!
POWHATAN. Talking needle! What is that?
SMITH. It is this needle in this box. It talks whenever I wish it.
POWHATAN. What does it say?
SMITH. It tells me where to find the north. I turn the box this way,—I turn the box that way. But the needle always shows the north to me.
POWHATAN. Why, so it does! It is very strange and wonderful!
A BRAVE. Will it tell the north at night?
SMITH. In the darkest night it tells you.
ANOTHER BRAVE. Will it tell the north on water?
SMITH. On river or on lake it tells you.
POWHATAN. Come, show me how to make it talk.
SMITH. Will you let me go in peace?
POWHATAN. You shall live and go in peace.
MEDICINE MAN. Great chief, is it wise to let so wise a man go from us?
POWHATAN. Is it your wish to keep him here?
MEDICINE MAN. There is no place for such a wise man.
POWHATAN. What do you mean?
MEDICINE MAN. Let him go, or let him stay, he will only make more wise things.
POWHATAN. That is true.
MEDICINE MAN. Things too wise for Powhatan's braves. Things too wise for Powhatan.
POWHATAN. What is that? Things too wise for Powhatan!
MEDICINE MAN. The white man makes talking needles. This needle shows the north to him. Another needle may show him how to be chief in your place, Powhatan.
A BRAVE. Yes, yes! That is true!
ALL BRAVES. Yes, yes!
MEDICINE MAN. He is too wise to live, great chief!
BRAVES. Yes, yes, yes!
(Pause.)
POWHATAN. Bind him to the ground, braves! Put his head on that stone there!
SMITH. Powhatan! I beg you—
POWHATAN. Take him, braves! Be ready with your war clubs!
[The braves throw Captain Smith on the ground, and stand over him with uplifted clubs. Enter POCAHONTAS. She runs to Captain Smith and kneels beside him, shielding his head with her arms. Enter WOMEN and CHILDREN.]
POCAHONTAS. You shall not kill him!
POWHATAN. My daughter! Come away!
POCAHONTAS. You shall not kill him! You shall not kill him!
A WOMAN. Pocahontas!
A GIRL. Pocahontas! They will kill you!
SECOND GIRL. Pocahontas! Come away! Come away!
POCAHONTAS. I will not move!
MEDICINE MAN. Drag her away, braves! Drag her away, I say!
POWHATAN. Do not dare to touch her! Do you hear? Do not dare to touch her! The Great Spirit lives in the child! The Great Spirit has breathed His courage into her! Captain Smith, you shall live and go in peace. I, Powhatan, do say these words!