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12 When My Ship Comes In |
From Mary Celeste |
[Fanfare: Herald bangs the ground with her staff, sings her habitual dose of recitative, and retires into Court]
Herald
Exhibit B is a letter hand-written in ink
the Dei Gratia Captain knew the Mary Celeste Captain to be short of money
so some kind of financial wheeler-dealering between the two men is quite likely,
we think
[The ship's bell strikes and full lights come up on Mary Celeste, apparently at sea. Crew now form a queue to collect their wages from Briggs; he fussily counts out coins and makes notes in his cash-book: those who are waiting sing a churlish round]
First Mate
50 dollars a throw, 50 dollars a throw
What do I get for running this wreck?
Just 50 dollars a throw, boys, 50 dollars a throw
Cook
40 dollars ...
Second Mate
30 dollars ...
3 Hands
20 dollars a throw
Second Mate
30 dollars ...
3 Hands
20 dollars ...
Cook
40 dollars a throw
Second Mate
All that he'll pay me for swabbing the deck
Cook
Cooking his breakfast
3 Hands together
risking our necks
is 40 (30, 20) mean and measly dollars a throw
[Briggs finishes paying the men; Cabin-boy waits forlornly. Briggs offers a poverty-stricken gesture and fobs him off with a coin]
Cabin-boy
Next to nothing a throw, next to nothing a throw
all that I ask is a bit of respect
That's next to nothing a throw, boys, next to nothing a throw
[Band intrusively plays a parody of Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March', and Crew hold up the tools of their trade like the arch that wedding-guests make outside the church as Briggs marches through like a proud bridegroom with Sarah. She grudgingly allows him to kiss her, as their daughter, Sophia, comes forward to explain]
Sophia
Married for ten years now
just kids when they started dating
Briggs
With all my worldly goods I thee endow
Sarah
But Benjamin, I'm still waiting
[Aggrieved, Sarah seizes rolling-pin from Cook and starts to scold her husband]
Night after night in a tight little bunk
Weeks at a time at sea
Cash all invested
in Mary Celeste
I think you love her more than me
You keep me tied to a tub, with a daughter in rags,
you borrow to balance the sums
"One day we'll earn" --
but the tide doesn't turn
and tomorrow never comes
[Briggs puts on a show of confidence]
Briggs
But when my ship comes in, when my ship comes in
then you can bathe in white wine right up to your chin
you'll be certain to see
a munificent me
When my ship comes in
Sarah
'When my ship comes in!'
Will you look at the rubbish you got in the hold?
Factory alcohol?
You ought to be trading in diamonds and gold
but you got no ambition at all
[Sarah embarks on a greedy fantasy]
Where's the steamer, with my name on the bow
and where is our family fleet?
Where's the worldly estate for our boy to endow
on society girls that he'll meet?
[Sophia comes forward to join in the criticism of Briggs]
Sarah & Sophia
When your ship comes in, when your ship comes in
we're slipping the noose, we're saving our skin
Crew
And we're not naïve,
we're taking our leave
When your ship comes in
Sarah & Sophia
When your ship comes in
[Briggs deeply hurt. Crew start to offer conspiratorial advice: he finds himself drawn into unwilling dialogue]
Crew
If you stick with Celeste
You'll never get richer
Briggs
Then what d'you suggest I should try?
Crew
Ditch her, ditch her!
Briggs
But this is my capital
tied up on board
Tell me why I should scrap it all,
why?
Crew
Fraud! Yeah!
Briggs
Fraud?
Crew
Yeah!
1st Mate
In a case of desperate measures
try the old insurance game:
you tell 'em the cargo's precious:
you sink the ship, and file a hefty claim!
Briggs
But my brokers in London
they know that it's tat
and it cannot be undone
from here!
Crew
Drat! Drat!
2nd Mate
She's too light to scuttle
Suppose she don't sink!
We got to be subtle,
that's clear! Think!
Yeah!
2nd Mate
Think!
Crew
Yeah!
Cabin-boy
But we can claim the salvage money
and keep the ship as well!
Briggs
So how d'we do that, sonny?
If you really know, I hope you're going to tell!
[Briggs is bewildered that the conspiracy has got so far in such a short time, and the more so by the confidence of his Cabin-boy, who stands up and unveils a fully-fledged fraud. Music starts to swing slightly]
Cabin-boy
A Captain we met on the quay at New York
proposed us a neat little scheme
We had a few drinks and a secretive talk
about changing horse in midstream
Briggs {spoken}
No ...
Cabin-boy
No please don't protest! If it's put to the test
the world of finance can be tricked
we take to the lifeboat, leave Mary Celeste
to drift away, derelict
Briggs {spoken}
I really don't think ...
[Back to the R'n'B rhythm as Crew sing with blithe confidence, making only a token reference to the possibility of disaster]
Crew
Then we row to an island that's just within range
we might have a squall or a shower
but trusting to God that the wind doesn't change
we could make the Azores in an hour
Briggs
{spoken} I really don't feel at all happy ...
[Cook puts on one of the Barkers' fake caps, Cabin-boy picks up Arthur's ship toy (it's a flashback so, although Arthur might be toying with it in the café, it can simultaneously be present on deck; although the fake hats, in that case, would not logically be available to the Cook; such is paradox): together they mimic Dei Gratia's captain 'noticing' the abandoned Mary Celeste]
Cook
Up comes our chum, as we stealthily planned
'Golly! there's no-one on board!'
A few of his hands bring our ship into land
and we share the salvage reward
Sarah & Sophia
When our ship comes in, when our ship comes in
+ Crew
the poor old insurers will make such a din
but what do we care?
We all get a share
when our ship comes in
Sarah & Sophia
When our ship comes in
[Backing goes quiet for a moment and the next four lines are sung in an anxious spirit]
Briggs
But if the truth comes out, if the truth comes out
Then wherever we are, we're right up the spout
[Back to the bouncy, optimistic accompaniment]
Crew
But that's far ahead,
I guess we'll be dead
when the truth comes out,
when the truth comes out
[Crew looks apprehensively at Briggs, not at all certain whether he is persuaded of the virtue of their plan. Sarah holds her Bible and appears about to make a virtuous assessment of the scheme]
Sarah
Now money's a sin, all the scholars agree
'It's the root of all evil' they say
but if you foresee lots of dollars for me
it's the route we're sailing today!
[Sarah flings the Bible aside; Briggs, persuaded by her confidence, resumes businesslike command]
Briggs
Out with the lifeboat, we gotta move fast
Watch the rat-race begin,
all through the past
I've been coming in last
but this is one I can win!
[Chanting 'Win!', 'Win!', 'Win!', Briggs and family and Crew lower the lifeboat, away from the Audience, who see them disappearing over the rail; Crowd gets up from tables to watch (Barkers and Child approach Lear's easel). It is becoming apparent that the Ghosts are visible to them]
Crowd
So the dirty rats leave a stinking ship
they're giving the customs and excise the slip
But what if the wind decides to let rip
on their greedy trip, on their greedy trip?
Barker 1
Their greedy old bones
are with Davy Jones
if you take my tip.