To Be Honest or Not to Be?
by Jung-Han Chen
很有意思的4人剧本，关于强烈推荐。趣味性，并且很有意义，很有水平啊。
Cast
Honest Woodcutter
Greedy Woodcutter
Greedy Woodcutter
God of the Lake
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Scene 1 The Honest Woodcutter 诚实的伐木工人
(One day, H and G were chopping firewood together in the mountain.)
H: See all this hard work we’ve been doing. It’s really difficult for us to make a living.
G: Yes, I don’t know how many days we have to keep doing the same thing.
Chop, chop, and chop.
(At that time, his axe accidentally dropped into the lake.)
H: Oh, no. My axe!
G: It’s getting dark. We’d better find your axe quickly.
H: Well, it’s O.K. You can go back first. If I can’t find it today, I will find it tomorrow.
G: Hmm. O.K., I will see you later (going home alone).
H: Aack, I should have been more careful. Now how can I find my axe?
God: I am God of the Lake. You seem to have a problem? What happened?
H: I dropped my axe into the lake by accident. Can you help me find it?
God: No problem. It’s a piece of cake. I’ll be right back (disappearing).
God: Is this gold axe yours?
H: No, it’s not.
God: O.K., just a second. How about this silver axe? Is it yours?
H: No, it’s not mine, either.
God: Then, this one?
H: Yes, it’s mine. Thank you so much. You really saved my day.
God: Young man, you are such an honest person. Nowadays it’s hard to find people as honest as you. Therefore, I’d like to give you both of these two axes, the gold one and the silver one, to award you for your honesty.
H: Really? Aren’t you kidding?
God: Of course not. We gods never lie.
H: Oh, thank you so much. Today is really my lucky day. I promise I’ll work even harder. I won’t let you down.
God: That’s good, young man. Good luck!
Scene 2 The Greedy Woodcutter
(The following day, the greedy woodcutter went to the honest woodcutter’s home.)
G: Hey, you’ve got these gold and sliver axes. Where did you get them? Did you buy them? Impossible! You are even poorer than I. Or … did you pick them up somewhere?
H: No way! Something incredible happened to me just after you went home yesterday afternoon, and I got these two axes.
G: Something incredible? Could you tell me what exactly happened yesterday?
H: Sure. Remember we were chopping the wood and I dropped my axe into the lake? I told you to go home and not to worry about me. In fact, I was worried to death because I didn’t know how to find it. I was so worried that I cried by the lake. At that moment, God of the Lake appeared suddenly, and he helped me find my ax in the lake. I was so happy when I saw the axe I lost, but something even better happened. Just before I left, the God gave me the gold and sliver axes as gifts.
G: How nice. That was truly something incredible. I’d like to try my luck this afternoon to see if I can also get the gold and sliver axes.
(The greedy woodcutter could hardly wait till the afternoon because he wanted very much to get the gold and sliver axes. The afternoon finally came.)
G: (Dropping his axe into the lake on purpose) Oh, my God! I lost my axe. Without my axe, how could I make a living? What should I do? What should I do (crying)?
God: Young man, why are you crying here?
G: I accidentally dropped my axe into the lake.
God: Don’t worry. Let me help you find it. I’ll be right back.
(Then, the God went down to the lake, and a moment later, he showed up with a gold ax.)
God: Is this your axe?
G: A gold axe (very excited and happy)?! Yes, yes! This is the axe I lost earlier.
God: Young man (with a long face), a good person has to be honest. Let me ask you again. Is this really yours?
G: My God, I didn’t lie to you about the axe in your hand. I’m telling you the truth. The axe is mine.
God: Young man (disappointed and shaking his head), it is important for you to be honest. I know you didn’t tell me the truth. So, I won’t help you. You just go.
G: Why?! Why?! Why didn’t I get the gold axe? It must be Jack’s fault. He must be hiding something from me. I’ll go talk to him tomorrow and see what he’s going to say about this!
Scene 3 Having a Fight
(The following day…)
H: What happened? What happened to your axe? Looks like you didn’t get the gold and silver axes.
G: (Holding the bad axe) It’s all your fault. You cheated me! Because of you, I lost my axe, and now I have to use this old one. You have to get me a new one or you’ll be in big trouble.
H: I don’t think so. You are too greedy; that’s why you lost your axe. You deserved it.
G: What!? I dare you to say that again.
H: You deserved it.
G: One more time!
H: You deserved it.
G: You brought this on yourself.
(G pushed H and H tried to push him back. But H got caught.)
H: Let me go! Let me go!
G: O.K. There you go (pushing H into the lake).
H: Help! Help! I don’t wanna die. I will give you my gold and silver axes.
G: Really? But I’ve got an even better idea. If you die, both of your axes will be mine. Ha, ha, ha!
H: Don’t let me die! I have to support my family you know. I have an 80-year-old mother, 7 wives, and 12 children.
G: Don’t worry. I’ll take care of all your wives, but…not your mother or your children.
H: You will be caught for this. God won’t let you get away with this.
(Thunder in the sky and big waves in the lake…)
G: O.K., O.K., (getting cold feet) I’ll help you right away. Hang in there.
(Looking for and finding a stick nearby) H
old on to it.
(But the stick hit right on H’s head by accident.)
H: Ah (going straight down into the lake)!
G: I didn’t mean it. I swear I didn’t mean it. I was just trying to help him.
(In the lake…H sank in coma, but showing a smiling face as if he had seen a lot of gold.)
God: Isn’t that the honest young man I gave the gold and silver axes the other day? Why are you here?
H: I missed you, so I jumped into the lake.
God: Very cold! It’s not funny! Speak the truth.
H: O.K.! In fact, I was pushed into the lake by my friend.
God: Do you wish me to punish him?
H: No, thanks. After I dropped into the lake, he tried to help me, but he was too clumsy and his stick hit me by accident. I’ll forgive him.
God: What a nice man you are. I almost want to give you a good person certificate.
H: I really appreciate your kind words.
God: He’s so lucky to have such a great friend. O.K., I’ll forgive him this time.
Scene 4 A Warm Reunion
G: Jack, I didn’t do it on purpose. Don’t blame me. It was really not my fault. God, please bless him (worshiping).
(God of the Lake showed up.)
God: Did you really not intend to hurt him?
G: Of course not! I just envied that he got the gold and the silver axes. Anyway, I was just very angry, but there was no evil intention, not at all. I swear (raising his hand).
God: Then, what do you think of him?
G: Although he was a little stubborn, he was honest and kind-hearted. He was a friend who was worth having. In fact, I miss him a lot.
(H showed up.)
H: I ‘m glad you didn’t let me down. I know you were not a bad person. You just lost your head because of your greed.
G: Jack, is that really you? Oh, thank God! You didn’t die. That’s great!