ACT 3
The incident takes place in the cloak room of
the bath house.
There is a door and stairs on the left (if you are in the
hall), the entrance door of the bath house is on the right
in the corner. There is a swimming pool and fountain in the
middle and the candiller is hanging. The bath-house attendant
Mashadi Gazanfar in yellow sheepskin coat is sitting in his
place on the left of the exit door. A brazier is in front
of him, with a clay -pot on it. The casket is near him. He
smokes a pipe. A little far on his right the barber usta Maharram
is cutting Karbalayi Nasir's hair. A little bit away are sitting
zurnachi Musicians. Some bath attendants with raising hems
are standing red aprens in their hands.
Music
|
| All sing: |
Inside, inside the bathing pool, or
outside of it. (2)
Heat and coolness of spring, summer, and winter is in.
The poor and the rich welcome, we are at your service!
The poor and the rich welcome, hurry up, please, come. Come!.
|
| A voice is heard from
the inside of the bath. |
Hey, you, come on! Bring
an egg!
Spring, summer and winter, in hot and cool weather, the poor and
the rich welcome, we are at your service! |
Music |
The barber shaves,
the bath keeper smokes a pipe |
| Mashadi Gazanfar: |
Really, when I think it
over, I see and realize that the most entertaining place in life
is only the bath. Don't think that I'm a bath-keeper and that's
why I speak so. No! My man, when one speaks he must be just: where
can you warm yourselves in winter? |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Mashadi Gazanfar: |
Then, who can tell that bath is a bad
place? |
| All:! |
Of course, nobody |
| Mashadi Gazanfar: |
If so, then, enjoy yourselves! |
| Usta Maharram: |
I'm a barber. I spent
most of my life in the bath, and I do not feel a single sorrow
for it. Because I realize, that nowhere except the bath I have
a pleasant time. People go, how do you call it? Yes, to the club.
But my club is the bath. People attend the theatre, but my theatre
is the bath. My man, where can you have a rest when you are tried?
|
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Usta Maharram: |
Where can you have a bit amusement?
|
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Usta Maharram: ? |
Then, who can say that
the bath is an uncomfortable place |
| All: |
Nobody! |
| Usta Maharram: |
If so, then, enjoy yourselves! |
Music |
All sing:
|
Inside, inside the bathing pool, or
outside of it. (2)
Heat and coolness of spring, summer, and winter is in.
The poor and the rich welcome, we are at your service!
The poor and the rich welcome, hurry up, please, come. Come!. |
| Avoice is heard from inside of the
bath. |
Hey, come! Bring a cigarette, and
only on a cigar holder. |
All sing:
|
Heat and coolness of spring, summer,
and winter is in.
The poor and the rich, welcome, we are at your service.(2) |
Music |
| Karbalayi Nasir: |
(he speaks
when the barber sharpens the shaving - razor). I'm an uneducated
man, but when people were reading, I heard: when Moslem padishahs
built a town, they first used to build a bath, then a Karvansarah,
and then a mosque. My man, let's speak honestly, one works in
a dust and dirt, he becomes dirty and rusty, and then where
can one become tidy? |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Karbalayi Nasir: |
Where can you become "pak"?[faultless] |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Karbalayi Nasir: T |
Then, who can say the bath is an uncomfortable
place? |
| All: |
Of course, nobody! |
| Karbalayi Nasir: |
Right you are! |
| Masahadi Gazanfar |
You told about padishah, I remembered.
Now days the bath has lost its popularity, but in ancient times
it used to have a great respect. All poets, story-tellers, traveling
hermits -all used to assemble in the bath and they would amuse
the people in the bath with interesting talks. My man, where do
you have pleasant talks? |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Masahadi Gazanfar |
Where do you forget the world's
grief? |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Masahadi Gazanfar |
So, who can tell that bath is not a
comfortable place? |
| All: |
Nobody! |
| Usta Maharram: |
If so, sing, please!
|
Music |
| All sing: |
Inside, inside the bathing pool,
or outside of it. (2)
Heat and coolness of spring, summer, and winter is in.
The poor and the rich welcome, we are at your service!
The poor and the rich welcome, hurry up, please, come. Come!. |
A voice is heard from the bath:
|
Hey, come on!.. Bring "ab khurdan"
[kalian] with a cane in it! |
Music |
| All sing: |
Inside, inside the bathing pool,
or outside of it. (2)
Heat and coolness of spring, summer, and winter is in.
The poor and the rich welcome, we are at your service!
The poor and the rich welcome, hurry up, please, come. Come!. |
| Usta Maharram: |
I swear by you, there are such patients
that the undergraduate doctors are helpless to think medicine
for them. But as soon as the patient is brought to the bath, he
recovers immediately. Besides, the bath is such a place, which
gives a man adornment and propriety. Say, where can one have bloodletting? |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Usta Maharram: |
Where can one have his hair cut? |
| All: |
In the bath! |
| Usta Maharram: |
Where can you get your beard dyed with
henna? |
| All: |
Of course, in the bath! |
|
| Usta Maharram: |
Right you are! |
Masahadi Gazanfar
|
You said «Henna» I remembered a poem
by Saadi Shirazi al-yaal-Rahman. One day when the deceased was
taking' a bath he was given henna by his beloved and its aroma
made him so heady that he recited this verse concerning about
it:
One day I was given by my beloved,
A piece of fine smelling mud in the bath.
I said: Are you scent or spirit that I'm heady?
It said: 1 was worthless mud, however,
My companion's wit influenced on me And I became equal to a lovely
flower! If it were not so, I'd be left as worthless mud.
Believe me, if Saadi Al-yaal-rahman didn't come to the bath he
couldn't write this verse. My man, if so, who can tell that bath
is not a comfortable place for rest? |
| All: |
Nobody! |
| Mashadi Gazanfar: |
If so, then sing a little! |
Music |
All sing:
|
Inside, inside the bathing pool, or
outside of it. (2)
Heat and coolness of spring, summer, and winter is in.
The poor and the rich welcome, we are at your service!
The poor and the rich welcome, hurry up, please, come. Come!. |
| Somebody's voice is heard from the
inside of the bath: |
Hey, come!., bath-sheet! Come and
take! (The bath - attendants take the bath sheets and go). |
All sing:
|
Inside, inside the bathing pool, or
outside of it. (2)
Heat and coolness of spring, summer, and winter is in.
The poor and the rich welcome, we are at your service!
The poor and the rich welcome, hurry up, please, come. Come!. |
|
