The Shipwrights' Play:
The Building of the Ark

God:

When I first built this wide world, shaping trees and wind and dark waters, all heaven and hell were open to view.  I thus began my world with green plants and grass.  Then, to live and remain in endless bliss, after a design modeled in my own likeness, I made man.  Lord and father of all that surrounded him, of all middle earth I made him.

I also wrought a woman with him, to live together in lawful love.  I commanded them to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the world and fulfill it, living in perfect peace.  But since then, men have deformed my design,  and sin is now a flourishing weed, so that I repent and regret that I ever made either man or wife.

Since they make me wish undone my work I wrought so well and true, since they persist in refusing me and are bound up in brewing their own woe, for their sins they will be destroyed, completely demolished, root and branch.  No one shall speak of them again, but I will rework this work entirely anew.

All new-wrought do I will this world to be, and shall make waste of all that dwell in it; a flood shall flow over them to destroy middle earth, both the great and the small, except for Noah alone.  It shall not cease until all be sunken for their sin.  But this is my thought: he and his sons and their wives shall escape unscathed.

Noah, my servant sober and pure, because you keep every room of your house and barns in order, it is my will that you undertake a work that will save you.

O, mercy, Lord, what does this mean?

I am your God, God of all creatures great and small, and I have come to tell you of your trouble, and of what great wonder will happen afterwards.

Ah, Lord, I praise and thank you always, waking and sleeping, that you have thus--as is your will and pleasure--seen fit to appear and to speak thus to me, an unworthy wretch.

Noah, do exactly as I bid you:   I want you to build a ship in short order; never mind whether you have any skills as a shipwright.  Take the job in hand, for I shall help you.

Ah, worthy Lord, I wish you would consider, I am so old and out of shape that I am not inclined to drudge away the day unless there's something very important at stake.

It's absolutely essential to you that you begin my work at once if you wish to escape from sharp pain and suffering; I will aid you, make your work progress, and heal you in mind and heart.

I see such wicked chaos among humankind, that I will take revenge on them for their works.  They will be sunken for their sin; therefore, I want you to make a ship.  You and your sons will take refuge in it, and they will be saved for your sake.  Therefore go boldly and begin to make your measurements and draw up the blueprint.

Ah, Lord, your will is always carried out, as the learned clergy preach.  But first you must consider, I know absolutely nothing of ship-craft; I have no knowledge of how to make them!

Noah, I tell you in all earnest: don't worry!  I shall direct you in all your work, from the start until the final product is built.  Pay attention and listen to me.

Take tall trees and cut them cleanly, with the grain and not against it.  Carve out of them boards and smaller pieces to fit between the planks.  Do it carefully: not too thin!  Be sure that you subtly attend to the joints between boards and nail them well so that they don't come apart.  I have considered every aspect of the project; get going on the work, and quit your wailing!

Three hundred cubits long it shall be, and fifty wide, to give you plenty of living space; the height shall be a full thirty cubits: make sure to attend to that.  I'm giving you all your measurements most precisely before I go, so that you can't make a mistake.  Watch out now that you don't bungle the job in any way, since I am guiding you so carefully.

Ah, blessed Lord, who protects all, I thank you heartily, forever and ever.  I am five hundred winters old — but five hundred years past suddenly seem like one short yesterday!  I was utterly weak and clumsy, but my weariness is gone.  Here in this field, all by myself, I commit myself to work this work.

I'll begin by hewing this board; but first I'll check it with a level, for it must be all one thickness so that it won't separate or twist.  So I'll join it with this clamp and carefully set it with fine-gauge caulk.  I'll build it this way, from the largest plank to the smallest detail, according to the teaching of God, my Master-Shipwright.
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No man could join wood more skillfully! It'll be sealed perfectly with gleaming new nails.  And so I'll fasten it down to hold tightly.  Taking here a rivet, and there a bolt, I use them now to work the bow; I warrant the workmanship's both good and true.

It's very well made, whoever wants to test it; but my energy is beginning to fail.  A hundred winters have come and gone, if I count them precisely, since I began this work; and to be so bent on hard labor is hard on a man who's as old as I.  But I am still confident; for the One that sent these messages to me will be my help.

Noah, the work is nearly finished, and you've done it exactly as I warned you you must.  But yet there's still one alteration to make.  Learn this lesson from me: because a wide variety of beasts must live inside it, and birds also in their places, and since they must not all be stabled together, there must be separate stalls and decks.

When you have arranged it that way, with clearly divided stalls and various decks, you shall take two of each kind, both male and female, and lead them on board to embark as mates.  Your wife and your sons and their three wives shall go with you, too, of course; those eight human bodies, without any others, shall be saved by this plan.

Be obedient to my bidding, then.  Make haste and don't shirk until all are harbored safely; seven days from now it will begin to rain, and continue until forty days are fully past.  Take with you such gear as may be useful to man and beast, to preserve their lives.  I shall certainly aid you, until all your cares are cast away.

Ah, Lord, who may mend every fault, I praise your wisdom both silently in my heart and aloud with my lips.  I thank you with both heart and hands, for you will keep me from the suffering your wrath brings on.  I must now go busy myself with this work, to fill my ship with beasts and fowl.  He that has taught me this craft guides us with his worthy will.

The Fishers' and Mariners' Play:
The Flood

Noah:

Lord, who live everlastingly, I praise you ever with heart and hands that for your own great reasons you would ordain that I live in this world for six hundred years.  Three well-favored sons and a worthy wife I have ever at my call; but now my cares are keen as a knife because I know what is coming.  Yes, suffering both sharp and bitter is coming to every nation. For God has warned me that this world shall all be laid waste, and certainly I see the truth, as my forefathers said I would.

My father Lamech, it's fitting I should note, lived in this world so long that he spent seven hundred and seventy-seven years.  He prayed to God with a steady voice that He would give him a son, and at last there came from heaven a beneficial promise that made him work all the harder, digging and delving as was his vocation.  For he was to have a son as he had always desired; and as God willed it, I was then born into the world.

When I was born, he named me Noah, and said these words with great joy: "Lo," he said, "this same child is he who will be a comfort to mankind."  Sirs, by this you may well know, my father new both more and less, by certain signs he could see quite clearly, that all this world would sink because of sin; that God would take vengeance, as now is clearly seen, and make an end of mankind who would not forsake sin, and how the whole world should come to an end, and another begin again.

I would to God it were already destroyed, so that I wouldn't have to deal with it any longer.  My fine sons and dear daughters in law, attend to my lore.

Father, we are all ready here to fulfill your bidding immediately.

Go call your mother, and come near.  Let us hurry so that we are not killed!

Father, we won't stop until we've done your bidding.

All that lives beneath the sky shall soon pass into grief, son.

Where are you, mother?  Come join father quickly!

What are you saying, son?

Mother, father is planning to travel far away.  He bids you to hurry to him with all your strength, so you won't mar his plans.

Yah, good son, rush back quickly and tell him I won't come anywhere near him.

Madam, I want to obey you, but you really better go, or things will go from bad to worse.

Worse?  I'd like to see it.  Your telling a bad joke as far as I'm concerned.

Mother, I tell you still, my father is set on heading out!

Now, I swear, I won't rest until I see what he thinks he's up to.

Father, I have done now as you commanded: mother is on her way to see you today.

She is welcome, I do declare; this world will soon be wasted away.

Where are you, Noah?

Right here!  Come up here quickly, madam, I ask you.

Do you believe that I will leave dry land and climb up into that crazy hulk?  No, Noah, I am not ready to set out over these hills and dales.  Come on, children, let's head back to town.

No, NO!  For then you will certainly drown!

By all that's holy, you might as well come down from there and go do something worth doing!

Madam, soon there will begin forty days of rain; nobody will be left alive when those forty days have come and gone, but we alone; you must know the truth.

Now, Noah, by God, you are acting like a complete idiot.  I won't listen to any more of this!  It's shocking: you're as good as insane!  Farewell, I'm headed home!

Oh, woman, are you crazy?  You don't know anything about my work; the flood will overflow every living creature made of bone and blood!

By God, you might as well let me go my own way!   Hey!  Stop!  Alas!  No!

What now?  What is the matter, good wife?

I will come no nearer, whatever you do!

Help, my sons, to hold her here, for she doesn't realize the danger she's in!

Calm yourself, mother, and smile!  This world will be drowned, without a doubt.

Alas that I should hear such predictions!

You'll destroy us all, damn you!

Dear mother, stay with us.  Nothing will harm or upset you.

No!  I have to get home!  I have things to pack!

Woman, why are you doing this?  Just to cause trouble?

Noah, you could have let me know.  You were always going in and out, morning and night; but you let me sit at home without one thing of importance as my responsibility!

Madam, you must excuse me for it; it was God's will.

What, do you think you'll get off scot free with an excuse like that!  No, my word, you've earned a punch in the head!

I beg you, madam, be quiet.  God wanted it built this way.

You should have asked me what I wanted, and whether I'd go along with your plan.  And Noah, since you didn't, you are going to pay the price.  It's only now that I have any clue what you've been doing out in the woods.  You should have told me, for your own good and mine, that you'd taken on a project like this!

Now, madam, you don't have to fear.  I didn't spend any of the household budget on it.  I have been working on this job for a hundred years.  And now that I've finally made an end of it, God has specified exactly what I'm to do next.  He commanded that I should bring on board one pair of every kind of beast and young bird.

Now, for goodness sake!  If we do escape from harm and are saved as you say, I want my friends and relations to be saved along with us!

It's too dangerous to stay out there and face the waters!  Come in now!

Oh--I hate my life!  Knowing this news, I've lived too long.

Dear mother, calm yourself and be reasonable, for we shall go with you.

My friends that I left behind are deep beneath the waters of the flood!

We must thank God, who is perfectly good, for granting us safety!

Mother, do you believe now?  Now that everything is covered in dark waters?

Father, what does this marvel mean?  Why did God ever create the earth, or man?

Such an amazing sight has never been seen before since God first made this world!

Go and shut the doors at once; that's all I know to tell you.  This sorrow is brought on by sin.  All we can do is pray to God that He will end our troubles.

Lord, the King of all mankind, bring us through this woe as you are able to do!

Yes, Lord, as you willed that we should be born into this world of suffering, grant us some aid!

My sons, look after these cattle dutifully at morning and midday; feed them well with hay and corn.  And women, care for and feed these fowls so that they will not go astray as long as we live at sea.

Father, we are most willing to carry out your orders.  Nine months have gone by since we first began this ordeal.

The all-powerful One will put all to right when He sees fit.

Oh children, it begins to clear outside so that you can see where you are!

Yes, dear father, look out there, and see if the water has begun to subside yet!

I will do just that, without a doubt, so that we can observe the water's ebbing.  Ah, Lord, I praise you and bow before you!  I believe you have dammed up the waterfall falling from heaven!  Behold, my three sons, the clouds are clearing!

Ah, generous Lord of mercy, may you be ever praised!

I shall measure the sea's depth to see how far down it extends here.

May the grace-giving Lord by ever loved, who kindly relieves us of our cares.

I shall cast out the sounding line and observe it for a while, checking the depth of the water in various spots.  It is still fifteen cubits deep, enough to cover this hill completely; but be comforted, for it is subsiding, that I know.  Therefore I will soon send forth a flying bird to see if he can catch sight of some land to perch upon; then we may know for certain when our mourning will come to an end.

Of all the birds known to men, the raven is the boldest; and he is wise as well.  Raven, you are a sly one as are all your kind.  Go forth in flight, I command you, and warily explore, and then return here if you find either land or tree.  We've been languishing here nine months, but whatever God wills is for the best.

The Lord that lends us our lives made both man and wife to learn his laws.  He will help to end our trials.

Our sorrows are as keen as a knife.  God grant us good news!

Father, this bird has been gone a long time.  I bet he has taken up residence on land somewhere and is finding himself food and eating his fill.  Some friend he is to us!

Now, son, if he has done so, since his mission was for all our sakes, then may he be accursed forever!  And certainly, so that we can discover when our sorrow will come to an end, another good bird will be our messenger.   You, dove, I give you a command that will bring us some comfort.  You are the most faithful fowl, above all, that we may send out from this place.  Fly forth, I ask thee, for our good, and soberly seek all around; see whether the floods are falling now so that you may dwell and stay on dry land.  Bring us some sign that we may know our fate!

Good Lord, look down upon us and end our bitter sorrow, since we all forsook our sin and dedicated ourselves to your word.

We have been waiting here just twelve weeks short of a year!

Now, children, we may be glad and rejoice, and praise our Lord, the King of Heaven; my bird has done as I asked, and I see him bringing an olive branch.  Blessed are you, dove, who was never untrustworthy, whose strength never failed.  I've never felt a greater joy in my heart -- we are saved!  Now we may sing!  Come here, my sons, quickly.  Our woe is gone, for I clearly see here the hills of Armenia.

Praise be to the Lord for that!  He has given us back our life.

Wife:

We may now escape from vengeance, emerge from the woe that held us; but Noah, where now are all our kin and the friends we knew before?

Madam, all are drowned.  Leave off  your noise.  They paid the price for their terrible sins.  Let us begin good living now, so that we grieve our God no more.  He was saddened--as was appropriate--and greatly disturbed by the wickedness of men, as the scriptures show when He said, "Dum dixit ‘Penitet me."  He was deeply sorry that ever He made mankind.

And that has led us here:  we must heave and haul.  But sons, I know very well that he also said, "Arcum ponam in nubibus."  He set his bow clearly to be seen as a token of covenant between him and us, so all Christian men would know that, once he ended the world this way, he would never again lay waste to it with water.  Thus has God almighty set his sign clearly, up high in the air; it is the rainbow, which men may catch sight of in each season of the year.

Sir, now since God our sovereign sire has established his sign with such certainty, then we may see, without anything being hidden, that this world's empire shall last forever.

No, son, we wouldn't want that; if that were the case, all our work would be in vain.  For it shall someday be destroyed by fire, and the world as we know it never be restored.

Ah, sir, our hearts are broken at the sound of your words; you say that there must be still more woe!

Don't be afraid at the thought; it won't happen until many hundred years after your life is through.

Father, how shall we lead our life now, since there is no one in the world but we?

Sons, with your wives you shall settle, and you'll multiply your seed.  Your children shall also wed one another and worship God most fittingly.  Beasts and birds shall be bred, and so a world will begin.  Now you will taste hard labor to earn your bread and wine, for all this world is a wasteland.  These beasts must be set free.  Then we'll set out in haste from here, with God's blessing and mine.