A L D U S , A J O U R N A L O F T R A N S L AT I O N ...More is better... ...Quickly... (The stage darkens, and their steps fade to nothing) 2. Training
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(The stage is lit. An open square. The people are grouped together, with Zakariyya standing in front of them. Unclear murmurs and commotion hover about the crowd.) ZAKARIYYA: (quieting the noise, trying to maintain order) Like I said before. We have to be organized, to speak together. The more voices join in, the stronger the effect. We’ll enter like this... (acting out what he says) we come up before the king, taking care to show the utmost respect. Then I will call out, as loud as I can: “Your majesty, the Elephant...” THE GROUP: (Their voices are not in unison. Some of them start late, some get their lines wrong, some say something else entirely. The dissonance grows.) ...killed Mohammad Fahad’s son, crushed him on the road and trampled his flesh into the mud... ZAKARIYYA: Your majesty, the Elephant... GROUP: Nearly killed Abu Hassan last week, and he’s still laid up in bed. ZAKARIYYA: Your majesty, the Elephant... GROUP: Destroyed our lives and livelihoods... (The voices grow more and more apart, as the dissonance builds) ZAKARIYYA: Everybody, we need to go on the same exact beat. Our demands weaken if we don’t speak as one. We don’t need to put so much effort into it. Just try to call out the line at the same time. We’ll start together, and end together. Let’s try again. VOICES: Not too fast...