Read Online William Shakespeare's The Phantom Menace by Ian Doescher - Free Book Online Page A

possible.
    [Exeunt Qui-Gon, Shmi, Padmé, and Jar Jar from balcony .

    FODE
    How all in joy and frenzied mirth do greet
    This unexpected, wondrous champion!
    The cheer that rises from the thousands here
    Is more than we have heard in all our days!
    Enter Q UI -G ON J INN , S HMI S KYWALKER , P ADMÉ , and J AR J AR B INKS to welcome A NAKIN .
    JAR JAR
    Yay, Anakin! De clever boyee!
    ANAKIN
    O mother! Didst thou see? I have prevail’d!
    QUI-GON
    What marvelous accomplishment, bright star
    Of Tatooine. Thou makest me most proud.
    The Force was present with thee here, forsooth.
    PADMÉ
    [ embracing Anakin: ] We owe to thee our boundless gratitude—
    When we look’d for a hero, thou didst come.
    ANAKIN
    Fine lady, if I did but make you glad,
    Then ev’ry nervous turn was worth its pain.
    QUI-GON
    Now, pardon, I must seek old Watto out,
    And claim from him our wages justly earn’d.
    [Exeunt Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé, Jar Jar Binks, Fode and Beed, R2-D2, C-3PO, Kitster, podracers, and crowd .
    ANAKIN
    Thou hadst no need of worry, mother mine:
    Thy boy is safe, is here, and he is thine.
    [Shmi takes Anakin in her arms, singing .
    SHMI
    [ sings: ] Shall I make merry? O, shall I make mirth?
    Thee did I love, since th’instant of thy birth,
    To see thee win is unto my heart gain,
    Yet still I fear, and sense some future pain.
    Hark! Cracks a mother’s heart.
    Shall I make merry, O, shall I make mirth?
    Today thou hast prov’d thy most ample worth,
    Thou showest scores of strength to ev’ryone,
    And by the showing, shall I lose a son?
    Hark! Cracks a mother’s heart.
    Shall I make merry, O, shall I make mirth?
    Of quiet moments have our lives a dearth,
    The visitors who come are noble men,
    Yet when they go, shall I know peace again?
    Hark! Cracks a mother’s heart.
    [Exeunt .

SCENE 2.
    On the planet Tatooine .
    Enter Q UI -G ON J INN and W ATTO .
    WATTO
    You vile dissembler, cheat and villain rank—
    Somehow I have been swindl’d in your deal.
    You knew—by magic most unnational—
    The boy would find the will to win the race.
    My fortune hath been most unfortunate,
    And all that I did think to win I’ve lost.
    QUI-GON
    And yet the sport is gambling call’d for there
    Is e’er the chance that one shall sorely lose.
    When one doth walk e’er near th’inferno’s edge,
    One must expect to burn from time to time.
    Now to our business: bring thou the parts
    Unto the hangar where I’ll make my claim.
    Thereafter I shall visit thy small shop,
    That thou may to my care release the boy.
    WATTO Nay, I shall never let you take him hence;
    A wager’s mollified when one doth cheat.
    QUI-GON
    Mayhap thou wouldst prefer to talk it o’er
    Within the court and justice of the Hutts?
    I have no doubt they would take merriment
    In proffering a settlement twixt us.
    I would delight to witness Jabba’s face
    As thou explainest thine absurd complaint.
    WATTO
    [ aside: ] This mention of the Hutts destroys my case.
    [ To Qui-Gon: ] Forsooth, the boy is yours—both be accurs’d!
    [Exit Watto .
    Enter O BI -W AN K ENOBI .
    QUI-GON
    We have the needed parts to take our flight,
    And may this abject settlement depart.
    Yet first must I go thither to complete
    A vital matter—I shall not be long.
    OBI-WAN
    Say, wherefore do I sense that we shall add
    Another wretched life-form to our group?
    QUI-GON
    It is the boy who hath made possible
    Our flight beyond this planet desolate.
    Now our responsibility’s to him—
    Our path becometh his path, Obi-Wan.
    Install the hyperdrive with all good haste,
    That we may fly the moment I return.
    [Qui-Gon walks aside .
Obi-Wan begins to exit .
    OBI-WAN
    [ aside: ] What news is this that comes from
    Master Qui-Gon?
    The four who left our ship shall now be five?
    We have acquir’d a hyperdrive and in
    The acquisition comes a boy as well.
    What strange part shops have they on Tatooine
    That do include a lad