Koro (Stars)
1
Itipon an kanta
sindang nag-gigira sa diklom na panganoron
mga kantang minaosip sa agi-agi
estrelyang kadurog
2
lakbayin ang kadiliman ng gabi
ng walang hanggang lalim na mangha
iabot ang mga makasalanang kamay
sa mga mapanuksong kinang ng langit .
Balyan
And sing, sing to the virgin night
the luster of desire
the glimmer of lust
and the trembling echo
of love's sad note.
Koro 1
Balyan
How do I sing the trembling of stars,
their uncertainty to meet this night?
How do I sing the night's breathing,
the same shallow breath on my own chest?
In the east , the far cry of lovers
begs for night and the gods hear with hesitation,
the cicadas singing, the night's own sacred aria.
I am the Balyan of night.
Hear me Nikta! Goddess of darkest night,
your devotee calls.
Hear me and give understanding.
Koro 2
Balyan
Night hears every whisper and understands every thought.
She grants the lovers' wish of the soothing blanket of night.
She hears the prayers for wisdom.
(enter man)
Man
I have heard the distant prayer.
I have felt the night's hesitation.
There is an ancient stirring in my heart -
which scares the stars away.
And an unseen longing, like as if the sacred aria
of the stars beckons me to open the dam
of my heart and spill the truth away.
Koro 1 (soft)
Man
I am a sinner! The worst kind of sinner!
Kill me now, Night, with your suffocating ink,
for I am a sinner to lovers.
I am a sinner to love! Great is the gift she has given me,
but great is the betrayal on my heart.
I have loved and been loved by the revelation of love herself.
Oh, how can I describe her?
Sing perhaps about her eyes, and how they remind me
of the clearest crystal.
Sing about how soft her hands are which makes me
want to call her the incarnation of Venus.
Or perhaps a gentle star given by God.
Where did she come from, what sweet-smelling flower
gave birth to her innocence?
What madness brought her to my side
and torture me with her beauty and love?
Koro (vocables)
Man
But I only speak of betrayal.
I will not speak of her beauty or love.
I will sing of a murderous plot.
I will sing of the darkness building and rising
giving form to a substantial shadow.
I will sing the reason for the stars trembling!
I will sing of my vow to be the priest of the Christos!
Balyan
You have heard the stars' distant prayer.
You have felt the night's hesitation.
I have heard your story, I have felt your sorrow -
like the unanswered call for rain, of a thirst and a parched farm.
Do sing to me the darkness in your heart.
Man
I do not know you woman,
but you understand the weight I bear in my heart
and the absence of weight in my arms.
I feel we share the same bond
of understanding and trust.
Although it pains me to tell my story,
the night's gentle persuasion is sweet.
She was the sun's daughter, her face
radiant and warm.
That was the first thing that struck me.
There is a mystery in her eyes – a hidden
power of the moon's dark passion.
She has the power to make my blood boil with desire
and arouse a deep longing in my chest.
I thought I saw her in my dream,
but I was wide awake, and my vow
was buried in lust or maybe love.
O, the stars know about my vow!
That is why they tremble tonight.
My mother offered me to be a priest
in return for my good heart when I was
a sickly child of four.
Now my heart is still the same reason for my death,
and the stars are still accomplices and
passive witnesses to my betrayal.
What say you sacred woman of night?
Balyan
I know little of love or Fate's ways myself,
child of the Christos.
I am a woman born of the midnight mist
and the silent murmuring of a thousand stars.
But in my dealings with young lovers
with the sparkle of silver in their eyes,
I learned love's schemes.
Love is an unseen force.
Indeed, mighty is love
that we lose all thought, even time.
Love is a flood that drowns us,
still smiling and with our eyes closed to
a sweet surrender.
Love rearranges stars.
Man
Can love rearrange the stars?
Cancel my mother's vow and let me
love wholly and truly?
Balyan
The stars will answer our questions.
(she turns to the Koro)
irorip an kabanggihan
Dangoga mga bituon an pamibi
Paladan na masimbag nin katotoohan,
an mga maragsik na kahapotan.
Koro/Oracle (vocables)
Balyan (vocables, conversing with the koro)
Balyan
They speak in riddle not in rhyme.
They speak the truth that sometimes we
get confused.
But they have spoken and sung!
Man
And what is it sacred woman? What is it?
Balyan
Only a love that's true
Only a love that's true
Only a love that's true -
Can rearrange the stars.
Man
My love is true, woman.
I love her like my love for the Christos.
But I can't choose one from the other.
It's a torture to let me choose.
I want to love her fully, and then serve the Christos
as His priest on His temple in the hills.
But I love her, I really do!
The stars are witnesses to my love.
The moon and the night are accomplices to our
own song.
Our love makes the torches bright!
Koro (vocables)
Balyan
And so be it.
The stars hear you.
The night has crept in the east
with the same hesitation.
So be it!
Koro 1 and 2 (rearranging while singing)
(And then, a gun shot and a shrill cry!)
Man
The cry of my love!
(exeunt left)
Koro (same vocables as in the oracle)
Balyan (competing with the koro)
The stars tremble in their place.
They speak in riddle not in rhyme.
Only a love that's true,
Only a love that's true,
Only a love that's true,
can rearrange the stars...
Koro
Be careful what you wish for,
It might just come true. (whisper)
(enter man, a woman's body on his arms)
Man
The night is young.
The stars are peaceful once more.
Not a stirring in the air.
The mist has kissed our brows goodnight.
The larks are asleep.
Close your eyes now, love.
Sleep with the memory of our last kiss.
Sleep with the memory of our love.
The stars heard our prayers.
And now I go to the caves of the forest,
to seek understanding in their womb.
I will be the old man of the caves of Banahaw,
the old man searching for light
and never looking at the stars
nor listen to their sacred arias.
(exeunt)
Koro 1 (sad)
Koro (vocables, exiting, their voices fading)
Balyan
How do I sing the trembling of stars,
their uncertainty to meet this night?
How do I sing the night's breathing,
the same shallow breath on my own chest?
In the east , the far cry of lovers
begs for night and the gods hear with hesitation,
the cicadas singing, the night's own sacred aria.
I am the Balyan of night.
Hear me Nikta! Goddess of darkest night,
your devotee calls.
Hear me and give understanding.
THE END
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