ACT I: HISTORY RETOLD BY NIGHT
The Year: 1719
Scene: A dim room in a dark tower, with lightning flashing outside, followed by low rolls of thunder. A weary man is reading a huge leather-bound book by candlelight when suddenly he stands up and hurls it away to the floor.
STEFHEN
Dejected and black-lidded tome, be cursed!
The dim night and this darker chamber surround you
As though to lay upon mortals a warning-
But you make their darkness seem twice as bright
As the glare of the hateful orb of morning.
What you tell of times past keeps tears flowing
And eyes fixed, though they dare not stare,
You reveal in the afterthought of written hand
That which has passed, which no power can alter,
Which saner men would care not to understand.
(he screams in rage, and snatches the book up, and runs his hands over the cover)
Kept in your spell, my poor spirit is enthralled
By your words and the tale you weave withal,
Better-forgotten and hidden though you may be
You may succor me, shed upon me reason why
For lasting pity, the Curse of Nod is upon me.
(he opens it again, slowly)
Atrocious the smell, whence unsealing your cover,
Unhealthy odor that seeps as breath from within:
More like unto desiccated flesh, less like leather,
Your pages whole, yet fragile and dust covered;
Your hand scratched words, this all ties together
A narrative begins, coldly, if I could but turn away,
I’d close thee solid and try myself to restless sleep
To shelter, ponder, awaiting the coming of the day
But I am drawn to these words, as they may be
The last I read in freedom- and what shall they say?
(He sits and begins reading again, and slowly starts sobbing)
(The BLACK LIDDED TOME enters the room, and begins dancing around Stefhen's sobbing form, singing)
The Black-Lidded Tome's Song
Oh, he's crying and sobbing and I fill with glee
And all over what.... is written in me
Oh, he's mad now with fear and brimming with tears
So I dance now happily
I am the black lidded tome of this vault
I didn't write me, it's not my fault!
I am the black-lidded tome of the damned
That's cost many a man his heart...
Ancient hands wrote me when I was new-bound
I have slept in dark crypts, far underground
Tearstains from many have dampened my leaves
I am content when my reader grieves!
I am the black lidded tome of this vault
I didn't write me, it's not my fault!
I am the black-lidded tome of the damned
That's cost many a man his heart...
Oh, I am the black-lidded book of the damned
If the bishop knew me, I would be banned,
I am the black-covered book of decay
Spreading madness and fear today!
(It exits and the Act ends there, with Stefhen reading)
Go to ACT II