Based on H. Ch.

Andersens fairytale

The Bell
SCRIPT

A large town. People are standing and talking. They can hear a sound like a church bell.

MAN 1:
The evening bell is sounding, the sun is setting. I think the church bell is in the still forest

MAN 2:
Yes, probably. I wonder if there is a church out in the wood? The bell has a tone that is so sweet. Let us stroll there and examine the matter. People from the town go to the forest. They sit down at border willows. Two confectioners from the town set up their booths. People come back to the town and they talk.

WOMAN 1:
That was so romantic and quite a different sort of picnic.

WOMAN 2:
Yes, it`s true. It was wonderful.

MAN 3:
Three of us went to the end of the forest and we always heard the wonderful sound of the bell, but it seemed to us as if it was coming from the town.

MAN 4:
I will write a poem about it. The bell sounded like the voice of a mother to a good dear child and no melody was sweeter than the tones of the bell.

KING:
I`m your king. Listen to me! Who can discover where the sound comes from should have the title of "Universal Bell-ringer," even if it is not really a bell. Many people now go to the wood. One of the persons returns with a sort of explanation. But nobody goes far enough.

MAN 5:
The sound comes from a very large owl in a hollow tree. A sort of a learned owl that continually knocks its head against the branches. But whether the sound comes from its head or from the hollow tree, that I can`t say with certainty. On confirmation day the clergyman speaks to the children. The sun is shining gloriously. The children that were confirmed go out of the town. They follow the ringing tone, except three.

CHILD 1:
I have to go home to try on a ball-dress, for it is just the dress and the ball which caused me to be confirmed. I can`t go with you.

CHILD 2:
I`m a poor boy and I borrowed my coat and boots to be confirmed from the innkeeper`s son. I have to give them back. I can`t go to the forest.

CHILD 3:
I never go to a strange place if my parents aren`t with me. I have always been a good boy so far and it will still be so now that I was confirmed. The others laugh at him. The sun is shining the birds are singing and the children sing too and they hold hands. Two youngest children soon grow tired and they return to the town. Two little girls sit down and twine garlands so they don`t go either. The others reach the willow- trees where the confectioners are.

CHILDREN
Now we are here! In reality the bell doesn`t exist. It is only a fancy that people have taken into their heads! At the same moment the bell sounds deep in the wood.

CHILD 4:
That surely can`t be the bell. A child lies down and listens.

CHILD 5:
We must go and see.

The children go further in the forest. There isa little house made of branches and the bark of trees. A large apple tree bends over it. On the roof there are blooming roses. The long stems twine round the gable on which there hungs a small bell. Everybody is sure that this is the bell except one, the king`s son.

CHILD 6:
This is the bell! This is the bell!

CHILD 7:
Yes, you must be right!

KING`S SON:
No, the bell is too small and too fine to be heard at so great a distance and, besides, its tones are very different. This bell couldn`t move a human heart in such a manner.

CHILD 8:
He`s the king`s son. Such people always want to be wiser than everybody else. They let him go on alone. In the forest he meets the poor boy who couldn`t come because he had to go home and return his jacket and boots to the innkeeper's son. Now he is wearing wooden boots and a jacket that is too small.

POOR BOY:
The sound is so deep and has a strange power. I had to come.

KING`S SON:
Then can we go together? Lets go to the left where the heart is. POOR BOY (ashamed to talk with the king`s son): I`m afraid I can`t walk so fast. Besides, I think the bell must be looked for to the right for that is the place where all sorts of beautiful things can be found. KING`S SON (nodding to the poor boy): So there we shall not meet. I must and will find the bell even if I am obliged to go to the end of the world! Ugly apes sit on trees and grin.

APES:
Shall we thrash him? Shall we thrash him? He is the son of the king! The king`s son goes deeper into the forest for the sound of the bell. He falls on his knees.

KING`S SON:
I can`t find what I`m seeking. The sun is going down and the night is coming. The dark, dark night is near. Yet perhaps I may be able once more to see the round red sun before it entirely disappears. I will climb up the high rock. He climbs up the moist stones and sees a wonderful view. The landscape is like a big altar. The king`s son spreads out his arms towards heaven and after a moment, the poor boy comes by a path to the right. They run towards each other and stand together hand in hand in the vast church of nature and of poetry, while over them is the sound.It is the invisible holy bell: blessed spirits float around them and lift up their voices in a rejoicing hallelujah!