Read Online William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ian Doescher
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Force, your mind
Shall see future things, things past.
Friends nearer and yon.
LUKE
Alas, my mind doth see—’tis Leia, Han!
[Everything drops as Luke’s concentration breaks.
YODA
Nay, be in control!
Thou must, beyond all else, Luke,
Have control entire.
LUKE
O vision most horrendous and most drear.
A city in the clouds most beautiful,
Beneath a golden sun—as though ’twere heav’n.
But hidden just beneath its luster doth
A harsh and painful nightmare lurk. I saw,
Beneath a sky of orange hues array’d,
Dear Leia weeping at some cruel, dark thing—
She will not be consol’d from her great loss.
And Han, his screams do echo in mine ears,
Such cries of suffering I ne’er have heard.
What signs are these, what ghosts of future hurt?
What doth the Force attempt to show to me?
O tell me, Master, tell me plain, I pray:
Shall Han and Leia die, is that their fate?
YODA
A future sight, this.
Hard to see is the future—
’Tis e’er in motion.
LUKE
I understand ’tis hard for thee to see,
But harder yet the vision echoes in
My head, and reaches deep within my soul.
If thou canst not give reassurance they
Are safe, and shall be safe, ’tis I who must
Ensure the same. I will not idly stand
By whilst they suffer many agonies.
My mind is settl’d: I must thither go.
YODA
Decide thou must, how
Thou shalt truly serve them best.
Mayhap you may help.
But also shalt thou
Sacrifice all for which they
Shall fight and suffer.
LUKE
But Master, tell me what then I should do?
Wouldst thou allow thy friends to suffer thus?
Wouldst thou accept the future’s “hard to see”?
Wouldst thou ignore the screams within thy brain?
YODA
[
aside:
] The boy doth not hear—
His friends’ fates I cannot see,
But his looketh bleak.
Convince him I must,
Else he shall suffer greatly
And lost is our hope.
[
To Luke:
] Go not, I prithee.
The training must thou complete.
To my words listen!
LUKE
The vision shall not, will not, leave my head.
E’en now I witness Leia in her torment,
And Han, alone, as if upon some isle.
E’en brave Chewbacca cries for what is lost—
These signs can only equal tragedy.
They are my friends, and I must fly with haste.
Or else, I’ll warrant, all of them may die.
Enter
G HOST OF O BI -W AN K ENOBI .
OBI-WAN
Thou canst not know this, Luke. E’en Yoda doth
Not have the pow’r, their final fate to see.
LUKE
But I may help them now; I feel the Force!
OBI-WAN
To see is one thing—to control is yet
Another. Dangerous this moment is
For thee, for thou shalt be sore tempted, in
Thy rage, toward the dark side of the Force.
YODA
Yes, to Obi-Wan
Thou must listen. The cave, Luke:
Recall thy failure!
LUKE
But truly, I have learn’d so much since then.
I know what I must watch for and beware,
I know how tempted by the dark I’ll be,
I know this and shall, therefore, guard my soul.
I tell thee, Master Yoda, I’ll return
And finish all my training. This I vow.
OBI-WAN
Pray, open up thine eyes. ’Tis thee and thine
Abilities the Emperor desires.
They are the bait, and thou the colo claw—
Thou art the fish the Emperor would catch.
Thy friends do suffer only for thy sake,
So that, through them, thou mayst be easily
Drawn in.
LUKE
—And that is why I have to go.
Present unto the Emperor the fish,
And rest assur’d the bait is off the hook.
OBI-WAN
O Luke, I would not lose thee as I lost
Darth Vader. His betrayal made my life
A bleak and tragic thing. Thy loss unto
The dark would make my death a hellish, cold
Eternity.
LUKE
—I shall return, dear Ben.
My training thus far shall suffice, it is
Enough; I stand prepar’d to face the dark.
YODA
Stoppèd they must be;
On this depends ev’ry thing.
But pray, attend me:
Only a fully
Trainèd Jedi may defeat
Vader and his Lord.
If thou leavest now,
And here do end thy training,
Thou art choosing ease.
And once on the path
Of ease and haste, like Vader
Thou
Shall see future things, things past.
Friends nearer and yon.
LUKE
Alas, my mind doth see—’tis Leia, Han!
[Everything drops as Luke’s concentration breaks.
YODA
Nay, be in control!
Thou must, beyond all else, Luke,
Have control entire.
LUKE
O vision most horrendous and most drear.
A city in the clouds most beautiful,
Beneath a golden sun—as though ’twere heav’n.
But hidden just beneath its luster doth
A harsh and painful nightmare lurk. I saw,
Beneath a sky of orange hues array’d,
Dear Leia weeping at some cruel, dark thing—
She will not be consol’d from her great loss.
And Han, his screams do echo in mine ears,
Such cries of suffering I ne’er have heard.
What signs are these, what ghosts of future hurt?
What doth the Force attempt to show to me?
O tell me, Master, tell me plain, I pray:
Shall Han and Leia die, is that their fate?
YODA
A future sight, this.
Hard to see is the future—
’Tis e’er in motion.
LUKE
I understand ’tis hard for thee to see,
But harder yet the vision echoes in
My head, and reaches deep within my soul.
If thou canst not give reassurance they
Are safe, and shall be safe, ’tis I who must
Ensure the same. I will not idly stand
By whilst they suffer many agonies.
My mind is settl’d: I must thither go.
YODA
Decide thou must, how
Thou shalt truly serve them best.
Mayhap you may help.
But also shalt thou
Sacrifice all for which they
Shall fight and suffer.
LUKE
But Master, tell me what then I should do?
Wouldst thou allow thy friends to suffer thus?
Wouldst thou accept the future’s “hard to see”?
Wouldst thou ignore the screams within thy brain?
YODA
[
aside:
] The boy doth not hear—
His friends’ fates I cannot see,
But his looketh bleak.
Convince him I must,
Else he shall suffer greatly
And lost is our hope.
[
To Luke:
] Go not, I prithee.
The training must thou complete.
To my words listen!
LUKE
The vision shall not, will not, leave my head.
E’en now I witness Leia in her torment,
And Han, alone, as if upon some isle.
E’en brave Chewbacca cries for what is lost—
These signs can only equal tragedy.
They are my friends, and I must fly with haste.
Or else, I’ll warrant, all of them may die.
Enter
G HOST OF O BI -W AN K ENOBI .
OBI-WAN
Thou canst not know this, Luke. E’en Yoda doth
Not have the pow’r, their final fate to see.
LUKE
But I may help them now; I feel the Force!
OBI-WAN
To see is one thing—to control is yet
Another. Dangerous this moment is
For thee, for thou shalt be sore tempted, in
Thy rage, toward the dark side of the Force.
YODA
Yes, to Obi-Wan
Thou must listen. The cave, Luke:
Recall thy failure!
LUKE
But truly, I have learn’d so much since then.
I know what I must watch for and beware,
I know how tempted by the dark I’ll be,
I know this and shall, therefore, guard my soul.
I tell thee, Master Yoda, I’ll return
And finish all my training. This I vow.
OBI-WAN
Pray, open up thine eyes. ’Tis thee and thine
Abilities the Emperor desires.
They are the bait, and thou the colo claw—
Thou art the fish the Emperor would catch.
Thy friends do suffer only for thy sake,
So that, through them, thou mayst be easily
Drawn in.
LUKE
—And that is why I have to go.
Present unto the Emperor the fish,
And rest assur’d the bait is off the hook.
OBI-WAN
O Luke, I would not lose thee as I lost
Darth Vader. His betrayal made my life
A bleak and tragic thing. Thy loss unto
The dark would make my death a hellish, cold
Eternity.
LUKE
—I shall return, dear Ben.
My training thus far shall suffice, it is
Enough; I stand prepar’d to face the dark.
YODA
Stoppèd they must be;
On this depends ev’ry thing.
But pray, attend me:
Only a fully
Trainèd Jedi may defeat
Vader and his Lord.
If thou leavest now,
And here do end thy training,
Thou art choosing ease.
And once on the path
Of ease and haste, like Vader
Thou
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