Scene 7


      We are back in the gypsy camp. ALL are dancing exactly as we last saw them, except MARITZA is getting more and more exhausted. Finally, SHE leaves the group and collapses to the downstage left. NIKKO sees this and goes to her.


      MARITZA

      Is that all you gypsies do is dance all day and all night?

      NIKKO

      No. We sometimes read palms and steal fruit.   (In the background GYPSIES have now stopped dancing and disperse, some to the right and some to the left. STEFANA and ANGELU approach Nikko and Maritza.)


      STEFANA

      What's the matter? Your little friend from Bratwurst doesn't have much stamina, does he? I wonder how he'll be at the wrestling contest.

      MARITZA

      What wrestling contest??!!

      ANGELU

      All new gypsies must test their strength against that of Betamo.  
      (Spotlight falls on Group upstage left, and out emerges the biggest, brawniest gypsy of them all, whom we saw in Scene 1.  MARITZA yelps.  BETAMO swaggers toward them.)


      BETAMO

      Ready?

      NIKKO

      He's my friend. I found him. And by rights he should wrestle me.

      MARITZA

      What?

      NIKKO

      (in a whisper) Play along with me.

      STEFANA

      Listen! Nikko is going to wrestle the new boy in camp!

       MARITZA

      This has gone far enough!

      NIKKO

      Would you rather wrestle him?

      MARITZA

      (aside) Marianne, I could kill you!
        (MARITZA regards Betamo with terror. GYPSIES gather in semicircle downstage. Through the scene, NIKKO whispers instructions to Maritza.)


      NIKKO

      Come on. Come at me as though you were going to beat the tar out of me…Not like that, for heaven's sake. Haven't you ever seen men wrestle?

      MARITZA

      I don't travel in those circles.

      NIKKO

      Make believe you hate me instead of loving me the way you obviously do.

      MARITZA

      How dare…!
        (SHE is so furious SHE charges at him.)


      NIKKO

      Good. Now grab for my head. I said grab not fondle.
        (Again SHE is so furious, SHE really grabs his head as hard as she can.)


      NIKKO

      Now get your arm around my throat and tighten it as though you were going to choke me to death.

      MARITZA

      With pleasure!
        (NIKKO pretends she is really hurting him and gasps for breath. MARIANNE and VASILY enter stage right.)


      VASILY

      Hey! What is going on?
        (As soon as STEFANA and ANGELU see Vasily, THEY run to him and observe Marianne with hostility. MARITZA glances up, sees Marianne and the tattered dress and shrieks.)


      MARITZA

      Marianne!

      NIKKO

      Marianne? I thought you were Marianne.

      MARITZA

      (to Marianne) You fool! (to Nikko) You fool!
        (MARITZA is so angry she decks Nikko hard enough for him to fall to the ground. GYPSIES gather around and cheer "the new boy", then THEY disperse, a FEW, including TAPIA and JOAKU, walking off stage left, and a FEW retiring upstage right to play a knife game on the ground. MARITZA lunges at Marianne, seizes her arm and drags her downstage left. NIKKO gradually revives, feels his jaw, smiles and follows Maritza.)


      MARIANNE

      Unhand me, young man!

      MARITZA

      What are you doing here?

      MARIANNE

      What business is it of… Your highness!!!

      MARITZA

      You're supposed to be in Kielbasa.

      MARIANNE

      Oh, your highness. Everything went awry.
        (By this time, both NIKKO and VASILY have joined them.)


      MARITZA

      And my lovely dress in tatters!

      NIKKO

      Your dress? (pointing to the torn one Stefana is wearing) I thought that was your dress.

      MARIANNE

      That was my dress.

      MARITZA

      Hush, you fool! That was my dress.

      MARIANNE

      But your highness…

      VASILY

      Whose highness? I thought you were her highness.

      MARITZA

      Of course she's your highness. Oh, Marianne, you are such a ninny!

      NIKKO

      Marianne? But I thought you were Marianne.

      MARITZA

      Of course I'm Marianne. Tell him…your highness.

      MARIANNE

      She's Marianne. I am a highness.

      NIKKO

      Then what's this about your dress and my dress?

      MARIANNE

      My dress belongs to me.

      NIKKO

      What's going on here?

      MARITZA

      It's none of your business.

      NIKKO

      Hold on, your highness…

      MARIANNE

      Then he knows you're his highness.

      MARITZA

      He knows nothing of the sort. Will you please not say another word…your highness.

      MARIANNE

      Yes, your highness.

      VASILY

      What is going on here?
        (Suddenly the sound of cannons. Lights flash on and off across the stage. TAPIA and JOAKU come rushing back.)
      JOAKU
      War! Montavia is at war! Let's get out of here!

      MARITZA

      War? Who are we at war with?

      TAPIA

      Kielbasa!

      MARITZA

      (turning on Marianne with fury) You never showed up for the treaty!

      MARIANNE

      Oh, but I did, your highness…only they didn't believe I was you…

      VASILY

      This is all my fault.

      MARIANNE

      No, it is my fault.

      MARITZA

      Stop it, both of you. It is my fault for not going in the first place.

      JOAKU

      (calling out to both sides of the stage) Gypsies, come! We must flee! This is not our war. We belong to no country.
        (GYPSIES come rushing from both sides, grabbing their belongings and running off left. MARITZA seizes Marianne's arm.)


      MARITZA

      Hurry! We must get back to the palace.

      MARIANNE

      Yes, your highness.

      NIKKO

      Then you are the Princess Maritza!

      VASILY

      Then you are not the Princess Maritza.

      MARIANNE

      (bursting into tears) I am only Marianne.

      MARITZA

      What difference does it make who is whom? And why are you standing there? Why aren't you fleeing like the rest of these cowards?

      NIKKO

      Because fleeing is not my job. Fighting is.

      MARITZA

      Fighting defenseless women?

      NIKKO

      I can't say you were that defenseless.
        (NIKKO rubs his jaw and grins. A great roar of cannons. MARIANNE screams and falls into Vasily's arms. Through the exchange between Maritza and Nikko, VASILY holds her and comforts her downstage left.)


      MARITZA

      Marianne, come!

      NIKKO

      Your highness, wait! Vasily and I will see you safely to the palace.

      MARITZA

      I need no escort.

      NIKKO

      But it is dangerous. You do not know what the Kielbasians are capable of.

      MARITZA

      What do you know about the Kielbasians? You, a gypsy!

      NIKKO

      I am not a gypsy. I am Dick Remington of the British Secret Service.

      MARITZA

      What?

      NIKKO

      We must speak in whispers. I have told no one---not even my friend Vasily. We are here to stop all wars.

      MARITZA

      Stop wars! Ha!

      NIKKO

      You know General Shuckendorf of the Kielbasian army?

      MARITZA

      Naturally.

      NIKKO

      He is not General Shuckendorf. He is a munitions manufacturer posing as a general.

      MARITZA

      Surely you can't be serious!

       NIKKO

      There are many munitions manufacturers posing as generals and admirals in order to further the mayhem and destruction of war. It is my job to track these men down and see they are not allowed to continue their dastardly deeds.

      MARITZA

      I'm sorry I misjudged you.

      NIKKO

      I'm not. You can clip me on the jaw any time you choose…your highness.
        (MARITZA smiles as spot falls on Vasily and Marianne.)
       
      VASILY
      Don't cry, Marianne, don't cry---
      Look at the grander view.
      No one can tell you why
      Things happen the way they do. (During the song, cannons roar, lights flash and GYPSIES, carrying their belongings, race to and fro.) War is a part of living
      Just as love is;
      The hawk is a part of nature
      As the dove is.


      NIKKO

      Light is a part of living
      As the dark is;
      The dolphin is God's creation
      As the shark is.

                                                      MARIANNE
      Clothes can be made of burlap,

                                                      MARITZA
      Clothes can be made of laces;

                                                       VASILY
      One man can be dealt the deuces,

                                                       NIKKO
      Another can hold the aces.

                                                      MARIANNE
      And every desert has its oasis.

                                                        NIKKO
      Swamps occupy the planet
      As the lakes do;

                                                       MARITZA
      The lambs have a place in nature
      As the snakes do.

                                                       ALL FOUR
      There is some greater plan
      Which is unknown to man
      So all we can do
      Is love while we can.

                                                      MARITZA

             Now my maid and I must return to the palace.
                                                                              NIKKO You're sure you do not want Vasily and I to escort you?

                                                                                    MARITZA
      No.  We shall be safe. But...

                                                                                     NIKKO
      Yes?

                                                                                    MARITZA
      Would you please just once sing that song again?

                                                                                      NIKKO

            Light is a part of living
            As the dark is...

                                                            MARITZA

      Not that one.

                                                                                       NIKKO

            My love
            Is like the waters of the moon;
            They gleam
            Somewhere way above the sky.

            My love
            Is like a runaway balloon,
            It's there
            But we can never see it fly.

            I play at romance
            But my heart isn't in it,
            And I pray any minute
            My one true love will appear.
            And when she is here,
            Well be singing together
            Some undiscovered tune,
            And then we'll go sailing
            On the waters of the moon.
             

              (Lightning flashes, more cannons roar.  For a moment MARITZA
              regards Nikko with love in her eyes.  Then SHE grabs Marianne's
              arm and together THEY dash off stage.)
               
    LIGHTS SLOWLY DIM