[A great sound is heard and the ship shakes.
CHEWBAC.
Auugh!
C-3PO
—Listen!
HAN
—I shall venture out to see.
LEIA
Nay, art thou mad? It is not wise or safe
To go without when there are creatures we
Know nothing of.
HAN
—This bucket is just fix’d,
Wouldst thou I let some thing tear it apart?
LEIA
I see thy reason, and shall go with thee.
C-3PO
I shall with courage and with honor stay
Behind to bravely guard the ship.
[Another sound is heard.
O dear!
[Exit C-3PO as the others go outside the ship.
LEIA
What is this ground that we do walk upon?
’Tis strange—it doth not feel at all like rock.
HAN
Indeed, with thine assessment I agree:
It seems there is much moisture in this place.
LEIA
I have a feeling bad about this cave.
What odd new situation find we here?
Do not these signs and portents give thee fear?
HAN
Aye.
[Han sees something move.
Take thou cover!
[He shoots.
’Tis all right.
LEIA
—What is’t?
HAN
’Tis what I did suspect: some mynocks. They
Are fasten’d to the ship, a’chewing on
The power cables.
LEIA
—Mynocks? O what beasts!
HAN
Return inside, and we shall search for more.
[Several mynocks fly by. Han shoots, and the cave walls shake.
But hold one moment, something seems awry,
For blaster fire should not cause walls to shake.
[Han shoots the cave wall, and the ground shakes mightily.
O, horror, for I now do understand:
The cave doth quake whenever it is shot.
But what knows rock of pain, or stone of hurt?
Whenever did a cave feel anything?
Impossible it is, unless this cave
Is much more than a cave. [To Leia and Chewbacca:] Pray, go inside!
[They run into the Millennium Falcon.
With speed now, Chewie, let us fly away!
LEIA
[following Han to the cockpit:] The Empire is without, we should not go—
HAN
We’ve no time to discuss this in committee.
LEIA
O, fie! Thou scoundrel, I am no committee!
[They arrive in the cockpit and start the ship.
See reason! For thou canst not make the jump
To lightspeed midst this field of asteroids.
HAN
Make sure thy back end finds a seat—we go!
[They begin to leave the cave, which is actually an exogorth, or space slug. Its mouth begins to close.
Enter C-3PO.
C-3PO
Observe! We are destroy’d!
HAN
—I see it plain.
C-3PO
O, we are doom’d!
LEIA
—The cave, it doth collapse!
HAN
This is no cave, and I am not its food.
Now we do fly—another close escape!
[Exeunt C-3PO, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca in the Milennium Falcon, flying out of exogorth’s mouth and leaving it alone on stage.
EXOGOR.
Alas, another meal hath fled and gone,
And in the process I am sorely hurt.
These travelers who have escap’d my reach
Us’d me past the endurance of a block!
My stomach they did injure mightily
With jabs and pricks, as though a needle were
A’bouncing in my belly. O cruel Fate!
To be a space slug is a lonely lot,
With no one on this rock to share my life,
No true companion here to mark my days.
And now my meals do from my body fly—
Was e’er a beast by supper so abus’d?
Was e’er a creature’s case so pitiful?
Was e’er an exogorth as sad as I?
Was e’er a tragedy as deep as mine?
I shall with weeping crawl back to my cave,
Which shall, sans food, belike become my grave.
[Exit.
Scene 5.
The Dagobah system.
Enter YODA, R2-D2, and LUKE SKYWALKER, training.
LUKE
[aside:] This Yoda is indeed a teacher wise,
And hath agreed to train me in the way
Of Jedi. Strong and quick I show myself—
With leaps and flips I train my body and
Instill within a Jedi’s discipline.
Aye, with the Force I like a sand bat fly.
My spirit feeleth free, my muscles strong,
My mind is calm inside, my heart is still.
What gratitude I feel toward this new
And treasur’d mentor. Thus I train my best—
His expectations I’ll not disappoint.
YODA
Now run, indeed, run!
A Jedi’s strength doth surely
Come from the Force, Luke.
But mind the dark side.
Anger, fear, aggression—from
The dark side are they.
Easily they flow,
Quick to join you in a fight.
Aye, they do not fail!
Once on the dark path,
Forever shall it control
Thy destiny, Luke.
It shall consume thee,
As it did the apprentice
Of good Obi-Wan.
LUKE
Darth Vader: legendary is his pow’r.
But Master, hath the dark side greater strength?
YODA
Nay, nay—forsooth: nay.
’Tis quicker, easier, more
Seductive only.
LUKE
But how, good master, shall I know the good
Side from the bad, the darkness from the light?
YODA
Thou shalt know, my lad,
When thou art calm and passive.
[Aside:] I hope thou shalt know.
When fac’d with terror,
And with thy father’s grim fate,
I hope thou shalt know.
[To Luke:] A Jedi uses
The Force only for knowledge
And defense. Is’t clear?
The Force is no club,
Neither is it a weapon
Us’d for attacking.
LUKE
Yet it is still a weapon for defense.
So wherefore may I not the Force employ—
YODA
Nay, there’s no wherefore.
Nothing more shall come today.
From thy questions, rest.
LUKE