The Christmas Rose Saga

 

 

play by Ruth Salles

This play is based on a legend by the famous and beloved Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf¹. Born in 1858, she was a teacher and fought for world peace and the emancipation of women, and in 1909 she received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Their sagas, Christian legends and other legends are beautiful, full of exuberant fantasy and deep love. In the play adaptation I made of this Christmas legend, the characters stand out from the chorus whenever they are needed in the center of the scene. Two Scandinavian songs are featured in the piece, “Vallvisa” and “Kling klang, klockan Slar” (the second is from Finland). In them, lyrics in Portuguese were adapted, which serve the theme of the play, having nothing to do with the lyrics of the original songs.

CHARACTERS:
Choir / Robber, wife, two sons and three daughters / Three monks from the monastery of Oved
Abbot John / Archbishop Absalom of Lund / Village characters

 

The scenes take place outside the monastery (on the left), across the village (in the center) and in the robber's cave (on the right).

 

SCENE 1
Outside the monastery

CHORUS (sings):
“What flower is this?
in a bare, frozen forest?
A divine rose, a miracle without equal
right on Christmas Eve!” (repeats the same stanza)

CHORUS (speaking):
– In a very tall forest,
at the bottom of a cave,
there lived a robber.
With a wife and five children,
there lived hidden
from all around the world.
whenever your wife
went to the village to beg,
anything you asked for,
no one dared to deny,
afraid of your husband
who could take revenge.

ROBBER'S WIFE (with her 5 children, screams and knocks on the monastery door):
– In this monastery of Our Lord,
feed me, whoever it is!

1st MONK:
- How horrible! It's the robber's wife!
And with her five devil children!
What do I do now? Woe is me... (gives them bread and shoos them away)
They go! Go in peace and take this bread!

1st SON OF THE ROBBER (when seeing the monastery garden, where the audience is):
- Mother! Oh mother, come and see this garden
full of beautiful summer flowers!

(the woman surveys the garden)

2nd CHILD:
– There are white lilies perfuming everything!

1st CHILD:
– There are vines already climbing the wall!

2nd MONK (arrives accompanied by the 3rd monk):
- O woman, this is a monastery
of monks gathered to pray.
No one was given consent
to pass the gate and enter here.

3rd MONK:
– I take care of the entrance and the garden.
If anyone enters, they'll blame me.
Get out of here, in the name of the Lord!
I will lead you. (holds her by the arm)

WOMAN (defiantly):
- Do not touch me!
For I am the robber's wife!
Monks secluded in this mansion…
We also live in seclusion,
for past mistakes, no forgiveness.
Our monastery is a dark cave.
There we protect ourselves from the cold
and some bully looking for us.
And now touch me, if you dare!

1st MONK:
– Old Abbot João is already arriving!
It was he who planted this garden.

ROBBER'S 2nd DAUGHTER (looking at the garden and jumping):
- The roses! The honeysuckle!

3rd CHILD (looking at the garden and jumping):
– The ivy! the sage! The rosemary!

1st MONK (dismayed):
– What do I do with them now?

ABbot JOHN (appearing, near the 2nd and 3rd monk):
– What is that racket?

2nd MONK:
– Oh, pardon me, Abbot John.
It's the robber's wife.

3rd MONK:
- Came with her five children
and entered here without permission,
invaded our garden
and examine each flower.

ABbot JOHN:
- Let me talk to her. (2nd and 3rd monks leave)
(to the 1st monk):
- I've never seen a woman like that!
Definitely appreciates flowers.
Stubborn with our three monks
just to see the garden! (comes to her and touches her shoulder)

WOMAN (turns around in anger, but calms down at the sight of such an old abbot):
- What you want? Oh, pardon, sir!
This is a very pretty garden.
I know all the plants,
every flower that sprang up here.

1st MONK:
— Oh, I don't believe it!
We know that throughout Scania
there are not these rare flowers
that Abbot João planted.

WOMAN:
- Well, I'm not lying!
if they were allowed
see the garden I know,
these flowers were had
for something of little price.

1st MONK:
- Woman, what barbarity!
belittle all the effort
of our dear abbot!

ABbot JOHN:
– Let her speak! Maybe tell the truth.

WOMAN:
— You, being holy men, after all
should know that every year,
in the forest of Göinge, it happens
a miracle on Christmas Eve.
Even though covered by snow,
the forest turns into a garden
of flowers so bright and so beautiful,
that no one has the courage to pick them up!

1st MONK:
– Why, woman!

ABbot JOHN:
- Silence!
I heard about the Christmas garden…
I have dreamed of seeing him since I was a child...
(the woman):
"And now I beseech you, woman,
that at Christmas I can stay in the cave.
Send one of your boys to show me the way.

1st MONK:
– Abbot João, don't do that, it's too dangerous!

WOMAN (angry):
– It is dangerous for my husband!

ABbot JOHN (insisting):
- Please!

WOMAN:
- I allow you to take yourself
only a monk who can accompany him.

1st MONK (concerned):
- I'll go with him!

WOMAN:
- Very good. As long as they don't ambush us.

1st MONK:
“Don't talk like that to our holy abbot.

WOMAN (as if apologizing):
– Because the abbot is a saint, I receive him.
But I must protect my husband.

ABbot JOHN:
- Stay calm. Nobody will betray you.

WOMAN:
- So, good bye! I send my boy.

ABbot JOHN:
- Farewell, and go in peace, woman! (she goes out with the kids)
(to the 1st monk):
- Brother,
what was agreed between us today
I order it not to be revealed
to our other monks.

1st MONK:
– Yes, my father. (He leaves)

2nd MONK (entering):
– Abbot, Abbot John!

ABbot JOHN:
– What is it, brother?

2nd MONK:
– Archbishop Absalom is coming.
Came to spend the night. (he leaves after bringing in the archbishop)

ABbot JOHN (to the Archbishop):
- My friend!

ARCHBISHOP:
– I want to see how your garden is going!
Its beautiful!

ABbot JOHN:
- But it's not so pretty.
as the one that sprouts in the middle of winter
in the Göinge forest at Christmas,
as the robber's wife says.

ARCHBISPHER (astonished):
– Of the robber?

ABbot JOHN:
– I implore the Archbishop
give me an absolution letter in favor of the outlaw.
May he live again with his fellow men with honest work.

ARCHBISPHER (astonished):
– A robber?!

ABbot JOHN:
– If God allows him and his family
enjoy that wonder
in the Göinge forest at Christmas,
it's not so bad that it doesn't deserve it
the grace of a pardon.

ARCHBISHOP:
– Good reason.
But this is all I can promise:
on the day I receive
a miraculous flower from the garden
of the Göinge forest at Christmas,
so I send the acquittal letter
in favor of the outlaw.

ABbot JOHN:
- Oh! Thank you!
I will without fail bring it to the Archbishop! (the two leave together)

 

SCENE 2
Abbot João and the 1st monk pass through the village

CHORUS (speaks, as the scenes go on):
- Christmas was approaching.
and the abbot was already gone.
A monk accompanied him,
and a boy was their guide.
They were heading north,
towards the forest;
and saw everywhere
party preparations.
In the houses bread was baked,
on the farms the fire burned,
in the church the sacristan
lay down the tapestry.
All the people that passed
long candles carried,
to turn on a light
in the crib of Jesus.

CHORUS AND PEOPLE (sing):
“Blim-blim, don-don-don!
Bells are ringing.
It's Christmas! what a beautiful sound
in the resounding night!
Antoninho and Manuela,
everyone working!
Up above, the star
is already glowing.”

(The abbot and the monk are talking, while the boy is jumping ahead.)

1st MONK:
– How many parties around
where did we go…

ABbot JOHN:
- I think of the biggest party
that is waiting for us.

1st MONK:
- What a party? to surrender
in the hands of the robber?

ABbot JOHN:
– No. The night to lighten
a garden full of flowers…

BOY (pointing to the cave):
“It's here, on this rock.

1st MONK:
– Good abbot, I am afraid…
The cave is cold… without light…

BOY:
“It's the lair where we live.
In the cave Jesus was born.
Isn't that what we learned?

ABbot JOHN (exclaims in greeting):
- May peace be in the house!

WOMAN:
– Go in!

ABbot JOHN:
- Well, let's go in!

1st MONK (looking at the cauldron, the jug and the plate on a crate):
– This soup… is pure water.
There is no wine… There is no bread…

WOMAN:
– Ah, who comes to our shores
must bring provision.
My husband dozed off.
Fatigue knocked him down.
Sit by this fire
and then rest soon,
that I will keep watch,
to wake them up on time
to see the wonder
what will happen outside.

1st MONK (sits beside the abbot and then lies down; talks to himself):
- My eyes will close,
and I need to watch...
The abbot is in danger,
but I can't stand it… with me… (falls asleep)

 

SCENE 3
The view of the garden at the entrance to the grotto

 

(The previous musical theme, from the village feast, plays on the flute. The monk wakes up and sees the abbot talking to the robber.)

ABbot JOHN:
– I see your children here, ah… poor people…
Can't run in costume
with friends on the streets of the village…

ROBBER:
"You don't know then that I'm a fugitive,
that I cannot leave this “monastery”?

ABbot JOHN:
- For I intend to obtain, with the Archbishop,
the letter that grants deliverance.

ROBBER (laughing along with the woman):
– For a robber, wife and children?
I find it difficult… But I guarantee this:
If I get the promised letter,
I leave the cave and this sad bush;
I'm going to work and I won't steal anymore
not even the value of a single duck!

1st MONK (watching them, speaks to himself):
– Our abbot talks, affectionately,
with that ruthless robber.
Bad people. I can't stand this.

ROBBER:
– The sound of bells can already be heard in the distance.
The south wind brought it. Listen, monks!

1st MONK (unbeliever):
– I only see a dark and cold night…

ABbot JOHN:
– Could the sound of the bells
wake up the frozen forest? (with amazement)
A sudden light comes… and goes out!
Ah, it will be given to me, old man,
contemplate this miraculous charm?

(The robber's sons run towards the edge of the audience, the others follow.)

1st CHILD:
- The snow disappears
like a rolled up rug!

2nd CHILD:
– The whole earth is green,
and there are tangled buds!

1st CHILD:
- Flower buds burst
and open in a thousand colors!

1st MONK:
- The darkness has returned. And now it's dense.

ABbot JOHN:
– New wave of light! And more intense!

2nd CHILD:
- murmur streams
and waterfalls burst!
Hammer in a trunk
the bold woodpecker!

3rd CHILD (points up):
- There go starlings
towards the north;
the red feathers
look like sparks!

1st MONK:
- The darkness has returned.

ABbot JOHN:
– And new light.
It is midnight. Jesus was born.

CHORUS (speaking):
– Squirrels, wild ducks
pass through the foliage.
Foxes leave their dens,
owls go hunting,
and the cuckoo starts to sing.
How big are the flowers
of all kinds and places!
And the abbot remembered
of the flower I was going to take.
But still hesitated...
Didn't know which one to get.

ABAB JOÃO (seeing the Christmas rose):
– Look at that beautiful rose!
It's so white and luminous!
Oh, God, what happiness!
My heart wants to stop.
I aspire to eternity!
Only miracles to behold!

1st MONK (always negative):
– Miracle that presents itself
to such a vile robber
cannot come from good.
This is the Evil One.

ABbot JOHN:
– The angels, who approach,
have wings full of light!

1st MONK:
– Black Wings of the Enemy
that quickly seduces us.

ROBBER:
– How many birds flying!

WOMAN:
– A pigeon is coming.
It landed on the Brother's shoulder!

1st MONK (shooing the pigeon):
- It's the Tempter attacking!
Return to the dark!

(The garden disappears. The chorus gives a waning cry at this.)

CHOIR:
- Oh, oh, oh, oh…….
came back the night
dark and cold.
all the forest
froze.
The sound of bells…
(slowly) … shut up …

ABbot JOHN:
- I won't be able to survive this long...
All angels to be repelled...
And the rose, which I wish I had picked… (looks for the rose and picks up a handful of soil)
Just one… The earth cools… It's withering…
(the abbot falls)

1st MONK:
– Oh, it was my fault! Just mine!
I snatched the cup of joy from you
in which he devoutly drank!

ROBBER:
– Your right hand is closed.
Something sure does.

WOMAN (opening the abbot's hand):
– They are roots, white tubers…

1st MONK (taking them and keeping them with him):
– I will plant them with all my affection.

 

SCENE 4
Outside the monastery

 

(The 1st monk, alone, paces up and down reading the breviary, and sometimes stops and looks at the garden [audience]. The other characters have joined the choir.)

CHORUS (speaking):
– And in the monastery garden,
the monk was waiting
to see a flower blooming
when spring comes.
spring has passed,
and no flower sprang up.
The summer passed,
passed the golden autumn,
everything was freezing
in the newly arrived winter.

1st MONK (kneeling before the flower bed):
- It's Christmas Eve,
and I remember with nostalgia
the divine miracle
that I saw with my holy abbot.
I will look at my flowerbed
to see if there is any signal.
Hope rushes me! (see the Christmas rose, which has sprouted)
– Oh, ring the bell, bell ringer!
Summon the monks quickly!
It's the Christmas rose!

(The bell rings. The other monks appear plus Archbishop Absalom.)

1st MONK (addresses the Archbishop and gives him the flowers):
— Here, Archbishop Absalom,
the flowers that our abbot
promised from the heart.
They come from the Göinge forest.
I put them in your hand.

ARCHBISPHER (hands him a letter):
- The promise has been fulfilled!
Well, go to the forest, Brother!
Go give it to the bandit
this letter of apology.

(The 1st monk heads to the other end of the scene, where the Robber's Cave is.)

ROBBER (advances aggressively towards the monk, seeing him):
– Monk, your end has come!
It must be your fault
that this year the forest
did not reveal his garden.

1st MONK (humble):
– It was my fault,
and I'm ready for death,
but first get the letter
that will change your luck.
From now on, your children
they can play after all
there in the village, with friends,
this Christmas night.

ROBBER (reads letter with wife; children surround them):
– The abbot fulfilled his promise!
For the vow that the robber made
today will also be fulfilled.
I will leave my dark lair.
I want men to be my brothers.

1st MONK:
“As for me, I will live in this lair.
My wish is to stay here alone,
in front of the forest, in prayer. (they all leave the cave and join the village people)

ALL (sing the opening theme, the flower):
“What flower is this…etc”

*1: LAGERLÖF, Selma. Christian Legends. Rio de Janeiro: Editora A Noite, 1930.

 

 

 

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