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_Shopkeeper II._ Hajji regrets he missed seeing him.
Sultan only been Sultan ten days.
[Read _Caliph_ Nephew of old Sultan now dead.
for _Sultan._] Young Sultan brought up in a monastery,
[In the play, the Said to be a dreamer and a poet.
shopkeepers have a The real ruler said to be the Executioner, scene of explanation A favourite of late Sultan, before Hajj Young man, too, but very strong, enters,--altered when Very cruel and selfish.
writing play.] Young Sultan does not see much of Executioner (_Mansur_).
Supposed to disappear on nightly expeditions, To get to know his people, To have some love adventures.
Has been brought up strictly in monastery, Has never yet, they say, tested the "charm of his beard."
[This altered. See note Hajji listens to all this humbly, above. In the play Hajj Sitting almost under the counter, enters here.] Then begins to finger stuffs.
The shopkeeper is going to drive him off.
But Hajji is in earnest.
Shows his purse. He means to buy.
Clothes are forthcoming.
He selects some.
Once he has gone to the bath and the barber he will be resplendent--as n.o.ble as the n.o.blest.
Hajji asks the price.
It is very high.
He begins to bargain.
Shopkeeper No. II chimes in.
Hajji pits Shopkeeper No. I against No. II.
They quarrel.
Hajji fans the quarrel into flame.
They almost come to blows.
Hajji escapes with his clothes.
_Shopkeeper No. I. The shopkeepers notice his escape.
and They combine at once against the common enemy.
Shopkeeper No. II_ Shopkeeper I will go for the guard, And have Hajji followed and caught.
Shopkeeper II to meet him at the Executioner's to witness against Hajji.
[Here Nasir the Guide is introduced to give away Hajj. This was done when the play was revised for production.] _Curtain_
SCENE 3
(_For "Zira" read "Marsinah."_)
_Zira's home. Small courtyard of a poor house. On right side a large gate backing to street. Fountain in courtyard._
_Old Woman. Old woman is spinning.
Zira, the daughter Zira is lazily hanging her hand into fountain.
of Hajji._ (She works instead.)
[_Marsinah works._ This Old Woman reprimands her for not working.
was altered when She has changed in last three days.
writing play, because Zira, who hides her wools, says her thread has of Arabian embroidery given out.
frame seen in the Old Woman will go to bazaar for thread.
Museum of Tunis.] Locks door carefully, going out.
_Zira springs up and goes to the cas.e.m.e.nt in Courtyard and then, plucking a rose, throws it out. She then unlocks cas.e.m.e.nt and goes back to the fountain._
_Young Sultan appears in simple clothes, climbing in._
_Zira. Love scene.
Young Sultan._ His madness to come at daytime.
Since he saw her first three nights ago from neighboring roof-tops cannot rest.
She asks who he is.
He is so different from her father.
His hands so beautiful.
He has love scene, In which they exchange rhymed couplets In Arabian Nights fas.h.i.+on.
He puts a question (line one and two rhyming) She caps it (line three not rhyming, but line four rhyming with one and two).
The girl is witty but natural.
This charms the Sultan beyond measure.
All the women he has had presented to him are so stupid.
She says: '"All the women'!" Who is he?
He says a simple scribe--brought up in a monastery. His uncle wishes him to marry.
He has never loved before, Till meeting Zira.
They embrace.
_Noise of key in gate._ They hear noise.
They separate--He will come back after sundown to see her. She gives him a rose. Then he will tell her something which will surprise her.
He escapes through the window.
_Zira back to fountain, (to her work)._
_Old Woman reenters breathless._
_Old Woman. Old Woman says Zira's father is coming.
Zira._ Thing he has never done during daytime.
Luckily she saw him as she returned from bazaar.
He was coming out of Public Bath, Beautifully dressed.
They pretend to be busy working.
_Noise of key._
_Hajji arrives, dressed in good clothes, curls trimmed and beard combed._
_Hajji. Greetings.
Zira. Zira admires her father.
Old Woman._ Old Woman sent off to get meal ready.
_Hajji. Hajji has great plans for his daughter.
Zira._ His affection for her profound.
He plans for her future.
She is very charming to him, As she naturally wishes to hide her love affair, and get into his good graces.
She takes out her guitar.
Begins to sing to him.
He sways before her admiringly on his knees.
Says she is beautiful.
