Prologue

Lyrics

[BUD as NARRATOR, spoken] Prologue: lights rise on the squalid, stinky bedroom of a friend of Gutenberg's [DOUG as NARRATOR, spoken] The roof is made of dirty thatch. In the corner, there are rats gnawing on stinky cheese; and, lying absolutely still, in the middle of the room, without moving, is a dead baby [BUD as NARRATOR, spoken] Gutenberg's friend and a doctor examine the dead baby [DOUG as DOCTOR, spoken] We did all we could I'm afraid your baby is dead [BUD as FRIEND OF GUTENBERG, spoken] Dead?! But I gave him this medicine! [DOUG as DOCTOR, spoken] Them ain't medicine, thems jelly beans! [BUD as FRIEND OF GUTENBERG, spoken] Jelly beans? But I... [DOUG as DOCTOR, spoken] If only you could read... see ya [BUD as FRIEND OF GUTENBERG] Jelly beans... not medicine? If only I could read My son he wouldn't need... An elegy... Stupid beans! Not medicine! Oh god, here in this jar I can't read what these are... Damn jelly beans.... [DOUG as GUTENBERG, spoken] Hello, friend! Is there anything Johann Gutenberg can do? [BUD as FRIEND OF GUTENBERG, spoken] Can you bring a dead baby back to life? [DOUG as GUTENBERG, spoken] I don't think so [BUD as FRIEND OF GUTENBERG sobs] [DOUG as NARRATOR, spoken] Friend of Gutenberg sobs like a woman. He cradles his dead baby in his illiterate arms Blackout