THE WITCHES' MOUNTAIN

A monologue from the play by Julio Sanchez Gardel

TOBIAS: Yes, the devil himself! Himself! He has me in his power, chained to his will. Those eyes of his that look so cold and faded have the power of snakes. You have to give in, and he makes you do anything he wants. When he looks at you it's just as if he stabbed you with a knife . . . it gives you a cold chill. . . . So far, I have never seen a man who could stand up to him. When I was a lad I used to see him when he had to break in a wild colt, one of those animals that won't even stand a flea on their back; all he did was to take him by the ears, look at him hard, and jump on his back. The colt would foam at the mouth like a madman at first, but finally he would give up and cave in like a heap of straw. He has the same power, only more so, over women. Whenever he took a fancy to one and complimented her a couple of times, she was like putty. And the worst of it is they hated him and loved him at the same time. I've never seen a man with more nerve. They always ran away from him as from the devil, but then they'd come back and grovel at his feet and insult him in the worst way right to his face. But he just kept on laughing and laughing with that same hollow laugh of his and looking at them with his small eyes. It's a good thing that Daniel has his mother's eyes--it certainly is! But in everything else he is just like Don Tadeo, Inda, and I wouldn't want you to have the agony of crawling to his feet and groveling. No, Inda, my child, I wouldn't want to see you like that. Before I would allow that I'd put out your eyes with thorns so you couldn't see his eyes, and then, if he still bewitched you with his desire, I'd choke you with all my strength, with my two hands, like this ... and break your neck as I would a chicken's ... and then I'd throw you from a cliff--from the highest peak, so you would have farther to fall!

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