Cover & Book design: Alan Deare(June 19) Fallen Empire: Maui in the Underworld, Kupe & the Fountain of Youth, Hatupatu & the Nile-monster: Three Play-Fragments from the Literary Remains of The Society of Inner Light. Attributed to Bertolt Wegener. Edited with an introduction by Jack Ross. Illustrations by Karl Chitham. Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (20 June – 21 July 2012). Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012. 46 pp.
- Introduction (19-20/5/11-9/1/12)
- Opening Chorus - Tell me Muses (6-7/1/12)
- Scenes:
- Calypso’s Isle
- The Seashore in New Zealand
- Tartarus
- The Whare in Hawaiki
- Final Chorus - You can’t strike (7-9/1/12)
- Opening Chorus - He who sailed the deep (6-9/1/12)
- Scenes:
- The Seashore at Kapiti
- Kapiti
- The Pool of the Taniwha
- The Seashore at Kapiti
- Final Chorus - My friend I held so dear (6-9/1/12)
- Opening Chorus - Hatupatu (6-9/1/12)
- Scenes:
- The Pa at Taupo
- The Pa at Taupo
- Lake Taupo
- The Pa at Taupo
- Final Chorus - May he cross (7-9/1/12)
Maui in the Underworld
[Synopsis]
Kupe and the Fountain of Youth
[Synopsis]
Hatupatu and the Nile-monster
[Synopsis]
Blurb:
This publication was created by the Museum of True History's archives department as a permanent record of the Society of Inner Light Collections related specifically to the work of Bertolt Wegener. While not all of the materials donated to MOTH are able to be documented in this small reader the Director and Senior Curator see this as an opportunity to bring this intriguing group's work into focus so that further research can be undertaken in the future.
MOTH would like to thank all of those involved in putting this exhibition and publication together, particularly the amazingly detailed reconstructive talents of Karl Chitham and the dedication and perseverance of Dr Jack Ross whose significant academic investment in this project has given the previously untold story of the Society of Inner Light new life. MOTH would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alan Deare of AREA Design and Blue Oyster Art Project Space for their belief in this project.
Maui
in the Underworld
Kupe
& the Fountain of Youth
Hatupatu
& the Nile-monster
Three Play-Fragments
from the literary remains of
The Society of Inner Light
Attributed to
Bertolt Wegener
Edited with an introduction
by Jack Ross
•
Late in 2010, a cache of old papers, costumes and religious
paraphernalia came to light in the back of an abandoned
storehouse in Raetihi, in the Central North Island.
On examination, this material turned out to be all that was
left behind by the members of a once-flourishing sect (or
secret society, if you prefer) called the Society of
Inner Light.
Rather like Annie Besant and Madam Blavatsky's Theosophists,
the Inner Lighters appear to have been interested in esoteric
philosophy, magical rituals, and Astral instructions conveyed
to them in a number of ways by a set of spiritual advisers
located somewhere on the high plateau of the Andes.
There's a lot about Atlantis and Lemuria/Mu in their surviving
writings. They held some very revisionist ideas about the accepted
chronology of world history. Among other things, they were convinced
that Earth had been colonised by aliens from a distant star many
thousands of millennia ago, and that the descendants of these star
aliens were still to be encountered here and there (though probably
not in the original flesh). Séances were a common component of the
rites which apparently took place behind that shabby shop-front
in Raetihi.
Their delight in ritual and religious ceremony seems to have
shaded off at times into something which can only be described
as musical theatre. One of their number had been associated with
New York's Yiddish theatre, and wrote a number of rather ponderous
operettas designed to convey the Society's doctrines to the
children and young people of the Order (given their esoteric and
eccentric nature, it seems difficult to believe that any of these
pieces were ever meant for the general public).
Like Mozart's Magic Flute, the three plays which have survived
(albeit in fragments) have a surface meaning and a hidden
significance apparent only to initiates. Ostensibly, they set
out to dramatise a series of classical myths: the stories
(respectively) of Odysseus, Osiris and Gilgamesh, paralleling
each with a Maori myth which they apparently believed had
inspired it:
• The story of Odysseus is paired with Maui's various adventures
and escapades.
• Gilgamesh's quest for eternal life is retold as the story of
Kupe and his quest for the Fountain of Youth.
• Osiris's death, dismemberment, and resurrection is (rather
strangely) associated with the Legend of Hatupatu and the
Bird-woman.
Unlike contemporary believers in the so-called 'Celtic New Zealand'
hypothesis, the Society of Inner Light seems to have reversed the
conventional order of transmission of these stories. Polynesian
culture was, to them, primary and almost inconceivably ancient.
The emissaries of civilization (for them) emanated originally from
the Pacific – specifically from the lost continent of Mu / Lemuria,
which now survives only in the form of the scattered islands of
the Oceanic archipelago – to teach the arts of agriculture and
architecture to the primitive peoples of Africa, Asia, Europe and
the Americas. The Sphinx was originally carved by them, for instance,
and reflects the society's emphasis on ritual cat-worship.
The surviving remnants of these three curious plays: Maui in
the Underworld, Kupe and the Fountain of Youth and Hatupatu
and the Nile-monster, written in a curious amalgam of contemporary
slang and Shakespearean English (possibly on the analogy of Yiddish,
though it's doubtful how fluent the author, who has now been
identified as a certain Bertolt Wegener, was in English), have
now been edited to accompany an exhibition of the model theatres
which must have been used by the dramatist to plan the action
of his mini-dramas.
The main body of members came to NZ after WW1. The Society
flourished in the 20s and 30s. Despite the internment of all the
principal adults for their pacifist views in the early to mid 40s,
it survived into the 1960s, with two or three survivors still
performing the rituals to an empty congregation. The last one
left standing turned out the lights, leaving everything in situ,
sometime around 1973, at the time of the global oil crisis.
•
Note on the Text
A good deal of deduction and silent reconstruction has had to go on
behind the scenes in order to put together even so fragmentary a
presentation of these few, fugitive dramatic materials as this.
The opening and final choruses for the plays have survived in
full simply because they were transcribed onto sheet music and
kept in a separate folder from the rest of the script. However,
only a few pages of the original dialogue for each play could be
pieced together – enough, though, to enable me to compile the
cast lists and character descriptions from them.
The list of scenes has been worked out principally from the
prop-lists for each play. Writing the synopses, on the other hand,
would not have been possible if it had not been for the chance
survival of a notebook with stage directions (presumably intended
for the lighting crew).
Working with sheets of paper which disintegrate almost at a
touch has necessitated a fairly liberal approach to the question
of “reconstruction.” I do not believe there to be anything here
which goes beyond the existing remains, but it has seemed
impractical to me to explain all the evidence which has led to
each conjecture.
As for the larger meaning of these works, I leave that for the
reader to conjecture. One notes at once the presence of certain
common themes: the futility (and simultaneous fascination) of quests
for immortality; the impracticability of schemes of revenge (however
justified); and the overarching power of the Queen of the Dead
(whether named Ereshkigal, Hine-Nui-te-Pō, or Persephone).
One wonders, in fact, if the original purpose of these plays wasn’t
to illustrate certain larger points of theological conjecture to an
already baffled congregation. Certainly this editor has found it
hard at times to understand just why all these strands of Greek,
Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Polynesian mythology have been woven
together in quite this way.
– Jack Ross
(20/5/11-9/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 5-7.
•
Maui
in the Underworld
Principals:
Calypso
Maui
Nausikäa
Hine-Nui-te-Pō
Chorus of sea-nymphs
Chorus of Maui’s brothers
Settings:
Opening & Final Choruses
In front of the curtain
Scene 1: Calypso’s Isle [afternoon]
Inside the cave (interior)
Scene 2: The Seashore in New Zealand [morning]
On the beach (exterior)
Scene 3: Tartarus [night]
Beside the trench (exterior)
Scene 4: The Whare in Hawaiki [evening]
Inside the hall (interior)
•
Scene 1: Calypso’s Isle Maui & Calypso Maui, the veteran of many adventures, has been stranded for quite some time on this small island, the domain of the nymph Calypso. He talks her into letting him go exploring once again, claiming that he knows a surefire way of defeating death, Hine-Nui-Te-Po, if he is only allowed to seek her out. Scene 2: The Seashore in New Zealand Maui & Nausikäa Maui has been washed ashore after a great storm at sea, but manages (despite being stark naked and covered in wounds and bruises) to persuade the young princess Nausikäa to give him shelter in her parents’ house. His intention, soon put into practice, is (of course) to seduce her, then leave her behind. Scene 3: Tartarus Maui & Hine-Nui-te-Pō Having filled a trench with blood to attract the spirits, Maui tries to talks them into giving him directions back to Hawaiki. The Queen of the Dead, Hine-Nui-te-Pō, arrives instead, and assents to his proposition as long as he agrees to return to her afterwards. Way back is way forward, though: he must return to the birth canal and be reborn to find his homeland again. Scene 4: The Whare in Hawaiki Maui & Hine-Nui-te-Pō Chorus of Brothers Maui has tricked his brothers into welcoming him home with a great feast. Once they’ve all arrived in the hall, he bolts the doors and sets out to destroy them one by one. As the last one falls, threatening an eternal bloodfeud, the curtain falls on Maui vainly mouthing and boasting to himself as he continues to concoct plans of escape from the power of the Queen of the Dead.
(2011)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 12.
•
[sung by the sea-nymphs]Tell me Muses of that man of many ruses Maui driven far astray after he fished up islands from the deep many men he talked to sorrows suffered seeking to return to his own country even so he could not rescue any who set out with him those fools who cut the flesh of the great fish leaving him in exile on the island of Calypso nymph or nymphet?
(6-7/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 13.
Notes:
- Adapted from Homer. Odyssey. 1: 1-21. [Trans. A. T. Murray. 1919. Rev. George E. Dimock. 1995. Loeb Classical Library. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1998. p. 13.].
•
Scene 1: Calypso’s Isle [calm – afternoon]
Inside the cave (interior)
Calypso & Maui:
The argument seems to have been going on for quite some time.
The young woman (radiantly beautiful), seems reluctant to accept
what her older (fortyish?) companion is trying to tell her:
Calypso: … Tell me again about this plan of yours. I want to hear
all the drawbacks this time.
Maui: Darling, that messenger of the gods was pretty unequivocal.
Calypso: You’re sure there’s no other way? Nothing else I can offer?
Maui: No, Darling. I’ve got to go off and deal with it myself.
Nothing else will get you the sympathy vote.
Calypso: With a margin of error of …?
Maui: It doesn’t matter, Darling. The prophecy was as definite as
anything like that can be.
Calypso: Not as definite as death. I’m telling you now, I want some
pretty straight answers, or else it’ll be your head on the block.
You can be pretty damned irritating sometimes, you know.
Maui: The gods won’t be impressed by any more scandals.
Calypso: Meaning I’ve got to give you up for good?
Maui: Yes, Darling.
Calypso: I don’t want to know, you understand? You’ve just got to
sneak off some morning unannounced. That’s how I want it to
look, anyway. And tragic, of course. A family tragedy.
Maui: Okay, Darling. Leave it to me. You won’t need to know another
thing about it.
…
•
Scene 2: The Seashore in New Zealand [morning]
On the beach (exterior)
Maui & Nausikäa:
The dark-haired girl, Nausikäa, is clearly angry to find
a stranger waiting for her by the beach where she might have
expected her boyfriend:
Nausikäa: … What’s going on? Where is he? My date?
Maui: I’m your date tonight, you little tease.
Nausikäa: What do you mean? How dare you speak to me like that?
My father will have you flogged …
Maui: I’m afraid you’re wrong about that, princess – wrong
about quite a lot of things, actually. For a start,
there’s not going to be a party. Not the kind you’re
thinking of, at any rate.
Nausikäa: But I never said a word …
Maui: That’s just it. You never said a word. But you could have.
Nausikäa: And what if I did? If I did beg you for mercy? Would that
make you try again?
Maui: Maybe.
Nausikäa: But what if it comes back to haunt you? What if you’re
starting something you can’t control?
…
•
Scene 3: Tartarus [night]
Beside the trench (exterior)
Maui & Hine-Nui-te-Pō:
[only fragments surviving …]
•
Scene 4: The Whare in Hawaiki [evening]
Inside the hall (interior)
Maui, Hine-Nui-te-Pō & Maui's brothers:
[only fragments surviving …]
(2011)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 14-16.
•
[sung by Maui’s brothers]You can’t strike bargains with Death audacious Maui better to live on earth an indentured man scratching a bare living from the soil than to reign over all the dead in worthless pomp take pride in tales of your distant descendants’ deeds Your fame will last as long as a kinsman bleeds
(7-9/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 17.
Notes:
- Adapted from Homer. Odyssey. 11: 487-503. [Trans. A. T. Murray. 1919. Rev. George E. Dimock. 1995. Loeb Classical Library. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1998. pp. 435-37.]
Karl Chitham: Calypso (2012)•
Kupe
& the Fountain of Youth
Principals:
Kupe
Enkidu
Utnapishtim
The Taniwha (non-speaking role)
Settings:
Opening & Final Choruses
In front of the curtain
Scene 1: The Seashore at Kapiti [stormy – night]
On the beach (exterior)
Scene 2: Kapiti [inland]
In Utnapishtim’s hut (interior)
Scene 3: The Pool of the Taniwha
Underwater (exterior)
Scene 4: The Seashore at Kapiti [morning – calm]
On the beach (exterior)
•
Scene 1: The Seashore at Kapiti Kupe & Enikdu Kupe and Enkidu have been wrecked on the coast of the island after fighting off the great octopus of the gods. Despite the fact that his friend is clearly wounded and close to death, Kupe vows to save him, and heads inland towards a distant light. Scene 2: Kapiti [inland] Kupe & Utnapishtim Utnapishtim tells Kupe that his quest for the fountain of youth is in vain. That since the great flood that drowned all mankind, the gods have vowed never again to interfere in the affairs of men. Scene 3: The Pool of the Taniwha Kupe & Utnapishtim The Taniwha Kupe talks Utnapishtim into revealing to him the location of the magic herb which guarantees immortal life. It lies at the bottom of a great dark pool, and is guarded by a fearsome serpent, the Taniwha. Kupe chases off the monster and recovers the plant, but is too fearful to taste it then and there. Scene 4: The Seashore at Kapiti Kupe & Enikdu The Taniwha Returning to the seashore, Kupe finds that he is too late, and that Enkidu has succumbed to his wounds. He is stricken with remorse. As he laments his friend’s demise, the serpent reappears, swallows the plant, and leaves him high and dry. The play falls on his lament for Enkidu, and for the mutability of all human endeavours.
(2011)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 22.
•
[sung by Utnapishtim]He who sailed the deep plumbed the foundations of the earth found islands Kupe sailed the deep plumbed the foundations of the earth found islands He went on a long journey grew weary made his peace wrote his exploits down built the ancient ramparts through the forest plotted its lines lanky as supplejack raised the staircase leading to the chamber of the Queen of love great Ishtar See the tablet-box its hinges lift the lid pick up the tablet read his journeys Kupe all that he went through
(6-9/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 23.
Notes:
- Adapted from “Tablet I: the Coming of Enkidu”. [The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Trans. Andrew George. 1999. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. pp. 1-2.]
•
Scene 1: The Seashore at Kapiti [stormy – night]
On the beach (exterior)
Enkidu & Kupe:
Kupe: ... Damn! [walks over and starts shaking Enkidu]
Are you all right? Enkidu? Wake up …
Enkidu: Where are we?
Kupe: Alive – I think. I’m not quite sure how, though. The last
thing I saw was that big wave crashing over the bow. I
thought we were goners ...
Enkidu: Brrr. I’m cold. Can you see any houses, any lights?
Kupe: No. I didn’t even see there was a beach here till our
bodies started scraping against the sand.
Enkidu: You saved me, didn’t you? I can’t even swim! I would
have drowned for sure out there. Why did you do that?
Kupe: Well … Enkidu … I mean, you would have done the same for me.
Enkidu: But I wouldn’t, that’s the point. And I didn’t ask you
to do that for me. I mean, haven’t you been keeping up?
Haven’t you noticed what’s been happening to me?
Kupe: The nightmares, you mean?
Enkidu: Not just the dreams – the ghosts in plain daylight –
the flashbacks,– couldn’t you just let me drown?
I wouldn’t even have been killing myself! It would have
been natural causes …
Kupe: I’m sorry, I just couldn’t … leave you.
Enkidu: Why not? I would have left you.
Kupe: No, you wouldn’t. I hear you saying that, but I know
that if we were in a fistfight, or in a battle, you’d guard
my back. I know how brave you are.
Enkidu: Brave enough to kill Ishtar and her fat, defenceless
boyfriend, that’s how brave.
Kupe: Brave enough to defy the goddess of death herself.
Enkidu: So you say. In any case, I think I’ll be getting my wish.
I doubt either of us will last the night if we don’t find shelter.
Kupe: There are some cliffs off in that direction. Perhaps we could
look for a cave? I still have my firesticks. I might be able
to dry them out … We could build a fire and wait for the storm
to die down.
Enkidu: I don’t suppose I’ve got much choice now, do I? Not now that
you’ve dragged me back to life …
Kupe: No, Enkidu. I’m sorry. It’s build a fire or die right here.
And I’m not going to give up without a fight.
Enkidu: Why do you put up with me, Kupe?
Kupe: You’re my friend.
Enkidu: Not much of a friend.
Kupe: All the friend I need. Now come on!
…
•
Scene 2: Kapiti [inland]
In Utnapishtim’s house (interior)
Kupe & Utnapishtim:
Utnapishtim: … We’re permitted to keep the salvage, but survivors
have got to be given back to the storm.
Kupe: Your rules – not the law. Just a barbarous custom, really.
Utnapishtim: Barbarous, eh? Rough and savage, like all us natives?
Kupe: If that’s how you want to put it, yes.
Utnapishtim: The reasons go back a long way. I shouldn’t have to
tell you that, King.
Kupe: Reasons you can’t explain? Not even to me? The one
you’re going to kill? Isn’t this life short enough,
cold enough, dark enough already without excluding any
chance of survival?
…
•
Scene 3: The Pool of the Taniwha
Underwater (exterior)
Kupe & the Taniwha:
[only fragments surviving …]
•
Scene 4: The Seashore at Kapiti [morning – calm]
On the beach (exterior)
Enkidu & Kupe & the Taniwha:
[only fragments surviving …]
(2011)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 24-26.
•
[sung by Kupe]My friend I held so dear through many dangers Enkidu I held so dear through many dangers has succumbed to the curse of mortals Six days I wept for him and seven nights I would not give up his body to be embalmed till a maggot dropped from his nostrils Then I began to fear I too would die so I wandered the wild What became of Enkidu, my friend, was too much to bear With the help of Utnapishtim I braved the serpent I dived deep in the pool of the Taniwha till I found it there The herb of eternal life I alone found it found it growing in the depths of the pool and brought it back to him to share But he was already dead and could not eat it and I too feared to taste it for fear of the serpent, my enemy, who crept along behind So now I am left alone before the walls the mighty walls I built to keep death out But death cannot be stayed by locks and walls the armature of an unquiet mind
(6-9/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 27.
Notes:
- Adapted from “Tablet X: At the Edge of the World”. [The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Trans. Andrew George. 1999. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. p. 81.]
Karl Chitham: Kupe (2012)•
Hatupatu
& the Nile-monster
Principals:
Queen Nut
Sutekh
Hatupatu
Isis
Horus (non-speaking part) Chorus of Birds
Settings:
Opening & Final Choruses
In front of the curtain
Scene 1: The Pa at Lake Taupo [evening]
Master bedroom (interior)
Scene 2: The Pa at Lake Taupo [morning]
Guest bedroom (interior)
Scene 3: Lake Taupo [midday]
Beside the lake (exterior)
Scene 4: The Pa at Lake Taupo [evening]
Inside the hall (interior)
•
Scene 1: The Pa at Taupo Queen Nut & Sutekh Queen Nut is plotting with her son (and lover) Sutekh, to kill the rightful heir to the throne, Hatupatu. They agree that Sutekh will waylay him in the form of a giant Moa, or bird-monster, and will tear his body in pieces. Scene 2: The Pa at Taupo Hatupatu & Isis Hatupatu is arguing with his wife (and sister) Isis. Should he go out hunting in the forest or not? She sees the danger he is in, but cannot persuade him to stay at home. Scene 3: Lake Taupo Isis & the chorus of birds Isis is searching for the body of her dead, dismembered husband, Hatupatu. Already she has collected 13 of the 14 parts he has been cut into, and is dragging them behind her in a basket. A fantail tells her where to catch the fish that ate the last part, the phallus, and tells her to make a new one out of its scales and backbone. Scene 4: The Pa at Taupo Isis, Queen Nut, Sutekh & Horus Isis confronts her mother and her brother Sutekh in council, accusing them of having killed Hatupatu, her husband. After they deny it, she brings in his mummified corpse as proof. Their claims of “reasons of state” are quickly choked off as the attendant she has brought with her flings off his cloak to reveal the divine countenance of Haast’s Eagle, Horus. The scene closes, in the manner of a Jacobean revenge tragedy, on a heap of corpses. Isis and Horus are left alone, reigning over the desolation they have created.
(2011)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 34.
•
[sung by the chorus of birds]Hatupatu son of the sky heir to the kingdom comes to be crowned in joy before the secret gods the Nine to be held in awe by gods and men great in Djedu feared in Rostau Lord of Tenent glorious in Abydos For whom the mighty of the earth rise from their mats who takes the choice cuts in Houses-on-High who is mourned by the multitudes who cannot die
(6-9/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 35.
Notes:
- Adapted from “A Hymn to Osiris and a Hymn to Min.” [Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Volume. I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. 3 vols. Ed. Miriam Lichtheim. 1973. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1975. I: 202-04.]
•
Scene 1: The Pa at Taupo [evening]
Master bedroom (interior)
Queen Nut & Sutekh:
Queen Nut is lying in bed with her lover, her own son Sutekh.
The two have obviously been quarrelling.
Sutekh: Look, he’s a reasonable man, I’m a reasonable man, can’t
we come to some kind of a compromise? After all, we are
brothers! That’s got to count for something …
Nut: Such as?
Sutekh: We’ll bar the gates, tell him there’s been a change of
régime, but that he’s welcome to stay on until we get things
sorted out – not here, obviously, but nearby: at the lake-
house, perhaps? I mean, there’s plenty for everyone if we’re
just prepared to share.
Nut: Prepared to share.
Sutekh: That’s right. I know it’s not your style, but I can see
this turning quite ugly if we let our passions get out
of hand.
Nut: Our passions.
Sutekh: Yes, ours. I know that you remember everything.
Especially everything bad anyone’s ever done to you,
that is ... Don’t you ever think it might be nice to
stop for a bit and smell the flowers? I mean, I come
back to my point. We’re all adults, there must be a
solution if we sit down and talk it over together …
Nut: You talk as if it were a bad divorce.
Sutekh: Well, isn’t it? I mean, we love each other. From what I
hear his own affections may have changed. He is bringing
back my sister with him …
Nut: I’m glad you mentioned that. Isis.
Sutekh: A princess, mind you, not just a serving wench …
Nut: Am I a slave? Am I not a queen and mother of queens?
Are my two sons not immortal gods?
Sutekh: Yes, yes, I know all that, calm down. I’m not saying …
Nut: What are you saying, dungbeetle?
Sutekh: Well, that’s a bit …
Nut: Silence when the queen speaks, slave! Just because I’ve
allowed you to warm my bed for all these years, don’t think
for a moment that this is a mere “love affair” – divorce
settlements, thinking about the children …
Sutekh: But …
Nut: You know, for once in your life I’d advise staying silent
for the next few minutes, Sutekh … You don’t know how tempting
it is to me right now to have your head lopped clean off.
Just think what a fine gift that would be for my returning son,
the heir to the kingdom – to see the head of the man who’s
been tupping his mother impaled on top of the gate.
By the gods, I’ve got half a mind to do it …
Sutekh: By what gods? Who would back you then?
Nut: Slave, descendant of dogs …
Sutekh: No, stop a minute and think. If you do mean to kill him,
take revenge as you say, who else will back your throw?
Your daughters? Isis is married to him and Nephthys to me.
The palace guard? Do you think they’ll be loyal to you, when
you’ve halved their pay and had most of them flogged within an
inch of their lives? That’s the problem with a nasty temper,
O my Queen – it doesn’t win you many friends. I’m all
you’ve got.
Nut: You!
Sutekh: Yes, me. Who else has got so much to lose? If it’s help
in killing him you want, then who else can you count on?
and why else would you have been asking the Oracle about
that prophecy? The one about the only way he can be killed …
•
Scene 2: The Pa at Taupo [morning]
Guest bedroom (interior)
Hatupatu & Isis:
Isis: … Neither on land nor on water, neither naked nor
clothed, neither eating nor fasting …
Hatupatu: I know, I know, I’ve heard it before, you know.
Come back to bed.
Isis: Bed? Is that all you can think about?
Hatupatu: What else is there to think about?
Isis: Can’t you understand? We – are – in – danger – here.
I know you think it’s all a triumphant homecoming for
the victorious heir, but just think about the enemies
you’ve got waiting for you …
Hatupatu: Perhaps you’ve seen it in the stars …
Isis: I see a lot.
Hatupatu: Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if it honks like a
goose and walks like a goose and looks like a goose,
then it is a goose, isn’t it?
Isis: Perhaps.
Hatupatu: Not perhaps, definitely. So if you’re so great a prophet
and see so many things that will come to pass, why doesn’t
anyone ever pay any attention to you, Isis? Because you’re
not a hotshot prophetess, that’s why, you’re just a pretty
face with a nice figure, a tasty morsel for the bed of a
king. And is that so bad? Isn’t that something to be proud of?
I’m already married to the greatest woman in the world,
Queen Nut – and yet I’m risking it all by bringing you
home with me. You really must be quite a dish,
don’t you think?
Isis: I’m younger than her. She is your mother, after all.
Hatupatu: Oh so you think that’s it? That it’s Nut’s wrinkles,
her drooping dugs, that turn me off? Not so, I can tell you.
She’s still as glamorous as ever. You know that as well
as I do ...
Isis: Why, then?
Hatupatu: Because of her tongue! Because of her niggling, nagging,
sandpaper tongue. She just won’t stop! Once she gets on a
roll, it’s like being flayed alive by a scorpion; it’s like
being stuck in a brass-band concert in hell, with your ears
taped open and your mouth stuffed shut. Why do you think we
took the scenic route coming home?
Isis: And so you chose to marry your own sister instead?
Hatupatu: Now I’ve had to talk to you about this before. Your first
job in this relationship is not to talk. And I definitely
need a bit of gingering up before I go to meet her. There’s
some kind of ritual involving a bath and ceremonial draping
with a towel, so no harm in getting a bit sweaty now. Come
over here, honeybun.
Isis: Shall I join with the others who wish to drink your blood?
Hatupatu: It’s not my blood I’m talking about …
Isis: I wish for your death no more than my own, but the knives
are sharpening, I can see them glazed with bright red blood!
…
•
Scene 3: Lake Taupo [midday]
Beside the lake (exterior)
Isis & the Chorus of Birds:
[only fragments surviving …]
•
Scene 4: The Pa at Taupo [evening]
Inside the hall (interior)
Queen Nut, Sutekh, Isis, Horus:
[only fragments surviving …]
(2011)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 36-40.
•
[sung by the Chorus of Birds]May he cross the firmament traverse the sky ascend to the great gods alight in peace in the West of Wests May the Desert embrace him the Sun salute him May the Council of the gods welcome him in May he take his place in the Nile-bark traverse the ways of Ruapehu may he march in peace from the world of light Te Ao Marama to the place where his father dwells Now he is Osiris Hatupatu raised in honour his offerings before him his Ka beside him till They-who-have-abundance take his hands open up before him the graveyard gates and his son assumes at last the triple crown
(7-9/1/12)
Publications:
- Fallen Empire: Museum of True History in Collaboration with Karl Chitham and Jack Ross (Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space, 2012): 41.
Notes:
- Adapted from “Stela of the Treasurer Tjeti.” [Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Volume. I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. 3 vols. Ed. Miriam Lichtheim. 1973. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1975. I: 93.]
Karl Chitham: Isis (2012)•
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