Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays Part 275

THIRD CHINESE [_shrugging his shoulders_].

There would be no creaking In the windless pavilions.

FIRST CHINESE [_resuming_]. So far the lady of the present ballad Would have been studied By the hermit and his candle With much philosophy; And possibly the emperor would have cried, "More light!"

But it is a way with ballads That the more pleasing they are The worse end they come to; For here it was also represented That the lady was poor-- The hermit's candle would have thrown Alarming shadows, And the emperor would have held The porcelain in one hand ...

She was represented as clinging To that sweaty tragedian, And weeping up the hill.

SECOND CHINESE [_with a grimace_]. It does not sound like an elopement.

FIRST CHINESE. It is a doleful ballad, Fit for keyholes.

THIRD CHINESE. Shall we hear more?

SECOND CHINESE. Why not?

THIRD CHINESE. We came for isolation, To rest in sunrise.

SECOND CHINESE [_raising his book slightly_]. But this will be a part of sunrise, And can you tell how it will end?-- Venetian, Egyptian, Contorted gla.s.s ...

[_He turns toward the light in the sky to the right, darkening the candle with his hands._]

In the meantime, the candle s.h.i.+nes, [_Indicating the sunrise._]

As you say, [_To the Third Chinese._]

For the beauty of s.h.i.+ning.

FIRST CHINESE [_sympathetically_]. Oh! it will end badly.

The lady's father Came clapping behind them To the foot of the hill.

He came crying, "Anna, Anna, Anna!" [_Imitating._]

He was alone without her, Just as the young gentleman Was alone without her: Three beggars, you see, Begging for one another.

[_The First Negro, carrying two lanterns, approaches cautiously through the trees. At the sight of him, the Second Negro, seated near the Chinese, jumps to his feet. The Chinese get up in alarm.

The Second Negro goes around the Chinese toward the First Negro.

All see the body of a man hanging to the limb of the tree. They gather together, keeping their eyes fixed on it. The First Negro comes out of the trees and places the lanterns on the ground. He looks at the group and then at the body._]

First Chinese [_moved_]. The young gentleman of the ballad.

THIRD CHINESE [_slowly, approaching the body_]. And the end of the ballad.

Take away the bushes.

[_The negroes commence to pull away the bushes._]

SECOND CHINESE. Death, the hermit, Needs no candle In his hermitage.

[_The Second Chinese snuffs out the candle. The First Chinese puts out the lanterns. As the bushes are pulled away, the figure of a girl, sitting half stupefied under the tree, suddenly becomes apparent to the Second Chinese and then to the Third Chinese. They step back. The negroes move to the left. When the First Chinese sees the girl, the instrument slips from his hands and falls noisily to the ground. The girl stirs._]

SECOND CHINESE [_to the girl_]. Is that you, Anna?

[_The girl starts. She raises her head, looks around slowly, leaps to her feet and screams._]

SECOND CHINESE [_gently_]. Is that you, Anna?

[_She turns quickly toward the body, looks at it fixedly and totters up the stage._]

ANNA [_bitterly_]. Go.

Tell my father: He is dead.

[_The Second and Third Chinese support her. The First Negro whispers to the First Chinese, then takes the lanterns and goes through the opening to the road, where he disappears in the direction of the valley._]

FIRST CHINESE [_to Second Chinese_].

Bring up fresh water From the spring.

[_The Second Negro takes the jug and enters the trees to the left.

The girl comes gradually to herself. She looks at the Chinese and at the sky. She turns her back toward the body, shuddering, and does not look at it again._]

ANNA. It will soon be sunrise.

SECOND CHINESE. One candle replaces Another.

[_The First Chinese walks toward the bushes to the right. He stands by the roadside, as if to attract the attention of any one pa.s.sing._]

ANNA [_simply_]. When he was in his fields, I worked in ours-- Wore purple to see; And when I was in his garden I wore gold ear-rings.

Last evening I met him on the road.

He asked me to walk with him To the top of the hill.

I felt the evil, But he wanted nothing.

He hanged himself in front of me.

[_She looks for support. The Second and Third Chinese help her toward the road.--At the roadside, the First Chinese takes the place of the Third Chinese. The girl and the two Chinese go through the bushes and disappear down the road. The stage is empty except for the Third Chinese. He walks slowly across the stage, pus.h.i.+ng the instrument out of his way with his foot. It reverberates. He looks at the water bottle._]

THIRD CHINESE. Of the color of blood ...

Seclusion of porcelain ...

Seclusion of sunrise ...

[_He picks up the water bottle._]

The candle of the sun Will s.h.i.+ne soon On this hermit earth. [_Indicating the bottle._]

It will s.h.i.+ne soon Upon the trees, And find a new thing [_Indicating the body._]

Painted on this porcelain, [_Indicating the trees._]

But not on this. [_Indicating the bottle._]

[_He places the bottle on the ground. A narrow cloud over the valley becomes red. He turns toward it, then walks to the right.

He finds the book of the Second Chinese lying on the ground, picks it up and turns over the leaves._]

Red is not only The color of blood, Or [_Indicating the body._]

Of a man's eyes, Or [_Pointedly._]

Of a girl's.

And as the red of the sun Is one thing to me And one thing to another, So it is the green of one tree [_Indicating._]

And the green of another, Which without it would all be black.

Sunrise is multiplied, Like the earth on which it s.h.i.+nes, By the eyes that open on it, Even dead eyes, As red is multiplied by the leaves of trees.

[_Toward the end of this speech, the Second Negro comes from the trees to the left, without being seen. The Third Chinese, whose back is turned toward the negro, walks through the bushes to the right and disappears on the road. The negro looks around at the object on the stage. He sees the instrument, seats himself before it and strikes it several times, listening to the sound. One or two birds twitter. A voice, urging a horse, is heard at a distance. There is the crack of a whip. The negro stands up, walks to the right and remains at the side of the road._]