The Saint-Domingue Plantation; or, The Insurrection: A Drama in Five Acts

Act III

ACT III Same set as in Act II. At rise, Morin, down center, is talking with César Julien, a mulatto, who is holding a shotgun. Other blacks pass back and forth from time to time. césar julien. What a brilliant idea, I must say! To come here this morning, while I was out hunting... morin. Oh? césar julien. ...and see that deputy from the Assemblée. The one who’s spending the day with the Valombres... What a pleasure it’s going to be to meet him! morin. Maybe for you... Frankly, I have no stomach for those windbags from the Continent, who honor us with their presence ... Who don’t know sugarcane from bamboo, and who turn everything topsy-turvy in the presses... césar julien. But he’s not here to see the presses. (Pointing right.) They’re running just fine! He’s here for other, more important matters. morin. More important? Well, I can’t stand these busybodies who poke their noses into my business. The blacks give us enough 68 THE SAINT-DOMINGUE PLANTATION trouble, thank you! I don’t need someone to come add to it with more rules and regulations, and all kinds of damnable problems! césar julien. Come, come, my friend. The questions the Colonial Constitution1 is bringing up at the moment are certainly not unreasonable . And questions that the motherland has to address, in its fatherly wisdom!... (He smiles at his bon mot.) Present conditions are in need of reform. Surely you’ll not deny— morin, interrupting. True enough... Monsieur de Valombre tells me time and again that we have to take care not to let the mulattoes elbow their way into the running of the colony. césar julien, taken aback. Oh? He tells you— morin, with a shrug. But then... césar julien. I must say, that doesn’t sound like him, my friend. His views are usually so enlightened, so... (looking for a word) …so philanthropistic... morin, nodding, without conviction. Of course... Of course... césar julien. None of those small-minded prejudices of color! morin. No... No... césar julien. I mean, what difference can the shade of one’s skin make to those natural rights conferred on us at birth? How can one refuse a political life to educated men like us, I ask you? morin. Us? césar julien. It’s a disgrace! morin. And you think that the deputy is here to change all that? 1. There was no constitution in Saint-Domingue prior to 1801. The author perhaps seeks here to call attention to the character’s faulty understanding of the events occurring around him. ACT III 69 césar julien. Can you doubt it? A man with his experience, his knowledge... Why else would he be here? The present regime is quite intolerable for our kind... (As morin stares up in the air, down left, over the footlights.) I say, what are you looking at? morin, pointing in the air, down left, following with his finger. You see that flamingo? césar julien. Ah! Wait... (Aiming his shotgun.) Let me get it... morin. Don’t waste your fire. It’s off too far. You’ll never— césar julien. You think so, do you? This gun may be small, but even thirty feet farther... morin. Bah! césar julien. Would you like to bet? Two gourdes2 and a glass of cherry brandy! morin. Forget it... césar julien, pointing down right, over the footlights. You see that black?3 The one over there, picking sweet potatoes? I bet I can hit him right between the shoulders. He takes aim. morin, pushing the gun aside. Careful with that! If you wound him he’ll have an excuse not to work. And at a busy time like this... césar julien. Don’t worry. It’s only buckshot. (Shooting.) Fire! morin, with a laugh. He didn’t even turn around! 2. A gourde is the basic unit of money in Haiti. 3. Persons of color were slow to recognize common political cause with black slaves. Some were themselves slave owners. 70 THE SAINT-DOMINGUE PLANTATION césar julien. Goddamn! His hide must be made of leather! I have a charge in the other barrel. Let me show you... morin. Don’t bother!... You’re lucky to have so much time to go hunting. I wish I could! césar...