No More Learning

SEANCHAN.

You have rightly named me.
I lie rolled up under the ragged thorns
That are upon the edge of those great waters
Where all things vanish away, and I have heard
Murmurs that are the ending of all sound.
I am out of life; I am rolled up, and yet,
Hedgehog although I am, I'll not unroll
For you, King's dog! Go to the King, your master.
Crouch down and wag your tail, for it may be
He has nothing now against you, and I think
The stripes of your last beating are all healed.

[_The SOLDIER has drawn his sword. _

CHAMBERLAIN.

[_Striking up sword. _]

Put up your sword, sir; put it up, I say!
The common sort would tear you into pieces
If you but touched him.

SOLDIER.

If he's to be flattered,
Petted, cajoled, and dandled into humour,
We might as well have left him at the table.

[_Goes to one side sheathing sword. _

SEANCHAN.

You must need keep your patience yet awhile,
For I have some few mouthfuls of sweet air
To swallow before I have grown to be as civil
As any other dust.

CHAMBERLAIN.

You wrong us, Seanchan.
There is none here but holds you in respect;
And if you'd only eat out of this dish,
The King would show how much he honours you.

[_Bowing and smiling. _

Who could imagine you'd so take to heart
Being put from the high table? I am certain
That you, if you will only think it over,
Will understand that it is men of law,
Leaders of the King's armies, and the like,
That should sit there.

SEANCHAN.

Somebody has deceived you,
Or maybe it was your own eyes that lied,
In making it appear that I was driven
From the King's table. You have driven away
The images of them that weave a dance
By the four rivers in the mountain garden.

CHAMBERLAIN.

You mean we have driven poetry away.
But that's not altogether true, for I,
As you should know, have written poetry.
And often when the table has been cleared,
And candles lighted, the King calls for me,
And I repeat it him. My poetry
Is not to be compared with yours; but still,
Where I am honoured, poetry is honoured--
In some measure.

SEANCHAN.

If you are a poet,
Cry out that the King's money would not buy,
Nor the high circle consecrate his head,
If poets had never christened gold, and even
The moon's poor daughter, that most whey-faced metal,
Precious; and cry out that none alive
Would ride among the arrows with high heart,
Or scatter with an open hand, had not
Our heady craft commended wasteful virtues.
And when that story's finished, shake your coat
Where little jewels gleam on it, and say,
A herdsman, sitting where the pigs had trampled,
Made up a song about enchanted kings,
Who were so finely dressed, one fancied them
All fiery, and women by the churn
And children by the hearth caught up the song
And murmured it, until the tailors heard it.

CHAMBERLAIN.

If you would but eat something you'd find out
That you have had these thoughts from lack of food,
For hunger makes us feverish.

SEANCHAN.

Cry aloud,
That when we are driven out we come again
Like a great wind that runs out of the waste
To blow the tables flat; and thereupon
Lie down upon the threshold till the King
Restore to us the ancient right of the poets.

MONK.

You cannot shake him. I will to the King,
And offer him consolation in his trouble,
For that man there has set his teeth to die.
And being one that hates obedience,
Discipline, and orderliness of life,
I cannot mourn him.

FIRST GIRL.

'Twas you that stirred it up.
You stirred it up that you might spoil our dancing.
Why shouldn't we have dancing? We're not in Lent.
Yet nobody will pipe or play to us;
And they will never do it if he die.
And that is why you are going.

MONK.

What folly's this?

FIRST GIRL.

Well, if you did not do it, speak to him--
Use your authority; make him obey you.
What harm is there in dancing?

MONK.

Hush! begone!
Go to the fields and watch the hurley players,
Or any other place you have a mind to.
This is not woman's work.

FIRST GIRL.

Come! let's away!
We can do nothing here.

MONK.

The pride of the poets!
Dancing, hurling, the country full of noise,
And King and Church neglected. Seanchan,
I'll take my leave, for you are perishing
Like all that let the wanton imagination
Carry them where it will, and it's not likely
I'll look upon your living face again.

SEANCHAN.

Come nearer, nearer!

MONK.

Have you some last wish?

SEANCHAN.

Stoop down, for I would whisper it in your ear.
Has that wild God of yours, that was so wild
When you'd but lately taken the King's pay,
Grown any tamer? He gave you all much trouble.

MONK.

Let go my habit!

SEANCHAN.

Have you persuaded him
To chirp between two dishes when the King
Sits down to table?

MONK.

Let go my habit, sir!

[_Crosses to centre of stage. _

SEANCHAN.

And maybe he has learnt to sing quite softly
Because loud singing would disturb the King,
Who is sitting drowsily among his friends
After the table has been cleared. Not yet!

[_SEANCHAN has been dragged some feet clinging to the
MONK'S habit. _

You did not think that hands so full of hunger
Could hold you tightly. They are not civil yet.
I'd know if you have taught him to eat bread
From the King's hand, and perch upon his finger.
I think he perches on the King's strong hand.
But it may be that he is still too wild.
You must not weary in your work; a king
Is often weary, and he needs a God
To be a comfort to him.

[_The MONK plucks his habit away and goes into palace.
SEANCHAN holds up his hand as if a bird perched upon
it. He pretends to stroke the bird. _

A little God,
With comfortable feathers, and bright eyes.

FIRST GIRL.

There will be no more dancing in our time,
For nobody will play the harp or the fiddle.
Let us away, for we cannot amend it,
And watch the hurley.

SECOND GIRL.

Hush! he is looking at us.

SEANCHAN.

Yes, yes, go to the hurley, go to the hurley,
Go to the hurley! Gather up your skirts--
Run quickly! You can remember many love songs;
I know it by the light that's in your eyes--
But you'll forget them. You're fair to look upon.
Your feet delight in dancing, and your mouths
In the slow smiling that awakens love.
The mothers that have borne you mated rightly.
They'd little ears as thirsty as your ears
For many love songs. Go to the young men.
Are not the ruddy flesh and the thin flanks
And the broad shoulders worthy of desire?
Go from me! Here is nothing for your eyes.
But it is I that am singing you away--
Singing you to the young men.

[_The TWO YOUNG PRINCESSES come out of palace. While he
has been speaking the GIRLS have shrunk back holding
each other's hands. _

FIRST GIRL.

Be quiet!
Look who it is has come out of the house.
Princesses, we are for the hurling field.
Will you go there?

FIRST PRINCESS.

We will go with you, Aileen.
But we must have some words with Seanchan,
For we have come to make him eat and drink.

CHAMBERLAIN.

I will hold out the dish and cup for him
While you are speaking to him of his folly,
If you desire it, Princess.

[_He has taken dish and cup. _

FIRST PRINCESS.

No, Finula
Will carry him the dish and I the cup.
We'll offer them ourselves.

[_They take cup and dish. _

FIRST GIRL.

They are so gracious;
The dear little Princesses are so gracious.

[_PRINCESS holds out her hand for SEANCHAN to kiss it.
He does not move. _

Although she is holding out her hand to him,
He will not kiss it.

FIRST PRINCESS.

My father bids us say
That, though he cannot have you at his table,
You may ask any other thing you like
And he will give it you. We carry you
With our own hands a dish and cup of wine.

FIRST GIRL.

O, look! he has taken it! He has taken it!
The dear Princesses! I have always said
That nobody could refuse them anything.

[_SEANCHAN takes the cup in one hand. In the other he
holds for a moment the hand of the PRINCESS. _

SEANCHAN.

O long, soft fingers and pale finger-tips,
Well worthy to be laid in a king's hand!
O, you have fair white hands, for it is certain
There is uncommon whiteness in these hands.
But there is something comes into my mind,
Princess. A little while before your birth,
I saw your mother sitting by the road
In a high chair; and when a leper passed,
She pointed him the way into the town.
He lifted up his hand and blessed her hand--
I saw it with my own eyes. Hold out your hands;
I will find out if they are contaminated,
For it has come into my thoughts that maybe
The King has sent me food and drink by hands
That are contaminated. I would see all your hands.
You've eyes of dancers; but hold out your hands,
For it may be there are none sound among you.

[_The PRINCESSES have shrunk back in terror. _

FIRST PRINCESS.

He has called us lepers.

[_SOLDIER draws sword. _

CHAMBERLAIN.

He's out of his mind,
And does not know the meaning of what he said.

SEANCHAN.

[_Standing up. _]

There's no sound hand among you--no sound hand.
Away with you! away with all of you!
You are all lepers! There is leprosy
Among the plates and dishes that you have carried.
And wherefore have you brought me leper's wine?

[_He flings the contents of the cup in their faces. _

There, there! I have given it to you again. And now
Begone, or I will give my curse to you.
You have the leper's blessing, but you think
Maybe the bread will something lack in savour
Unless you mix my curse into the dough.

[_They go out hurriedly in all directions. SEANCHAN is
staggering in the middle of the stage. _

Where did I say the leprosy had come from?
I said it came out of a leper's hand,

_Enter CRIPPLES. _

And that he walked the highway. But that's folly,
For he was walking up there in the sky.
And there he is even now, with his white hand
Thrust out of the blue air, and blessing them
With leprosy.

FIRST CRIPPLE.

He's pointing at the moon
That's coming out up yonder, and he calls it
Leprous, because the daylight whitens it.

SEANCHAN.

He's holding up his hand above them all--
King, noblemen, princesses--blessing all.
Who could imagine he'd have so much patience?

FIRST CRIPPLE.

[_Clutching the other CRIPPLE. _]

Come out of this!

SECOND CRIPPLE.

[_Pointing to food. _]

If you don't need it, sir,
May we not carry some of it away?

[_They cross towards food and pass in front of
SEANCHAN. _

SEANCHAN.

Who's speaking? Who are you?

FIRST CRIPPLE.

Come out of this!

SECOND CRIPPLE.
Have pity on us, that must beg our bread
From table to table throughout the entire world,
And yet be hungry.

SEANCHAN.

But why were you born crooked?
What bad poet did your mothers listen to
That you were born so crooked?

CRIPPLE.

Come away!
Maybe he's cursed the food, and it might kill us.

OTHER CRIPPLE.

Yes, better come away.

[_They go out. _

SEANCHAN.

[_Staggering, and speaking wearily. _]

He has great strength
And great patience to hold his right hand there,
Uplifted, and not wavering about.
He is much stronger than I am, much stronger.

[_Sinks down on steps. Enter MAYOR and FEDELM. _

FEDELM.

[_Her finger on her lips. _]

Say nothing! I will get him out of this
Before I have said a word of food and drink;
For while he is on this threshold and can hear,
It may be, the voices that made mock of him,
He would not listen. I'd be alone with him.

[_MAYOR goes out. FEDELM goes to SEANCHAN and kneels
before him. _

Seanchan! Seanchan!

[_He remains looking into the sky. _

Can you not hear me, Seanchan?
It is myself.

[_He looks at her, dreamily at first, then takes her
hand. _

SEANCHAN.

Is this your hand, Fedelm?
I have been looking at another hand
That is up yonder.

FEDELM.

I have come for you.

SEANCHAN.

Fedelm, I did not know that you were here.

FEDELM.

And can you not remember that I promised
That I would come and take you home with me
When I'd the harvest in? And now I've come,
And you must come away, and come on the instant.

SEANCHAN.

Yes, I will come. But is the harvest in?
This air has got a summer taste in it.

FEDELM.

But is not the wild middle of the summer
A better time to marry? Come with me now!

SEANCHAN.

[_Seizing her by both wrists. _]

Who taught you that? For it's a certainty,
Although I never knew it till last night,
That marriage, because it is the height of life,
Can only be accomplished to the full
In the high days of the year. I lay awake:
There had come a frenzy into the light of the stars,
And they were coming nearer, and I knew
All in a minute they were about to marry
Clods out upon the ploughlands, to beget
A mightier race than any that has been.
But some that are within there made a noise,
And frighted them away.

FEDELM.

Come with me now!
We have far to go, and daylight's running out.

SEANCHAN.

The stars had come so near me that I caught
Their singing. It was praise of that great race
That would be haughty, mirthful, and white-bodied,
With a high head, and open hand, and how,
Laughing, it would take the mastery of the world.

FEDELM.

But you will tell me all about their songs
When we're at home. You have need of rest and care,
And I can give them you when we're at home.
And therefore let us hurry, and get us home.

SEANCHAN.

It's certain that there is some trouble here,
Although it's gone out of my memory.
And I would get away from it. Give me your help. [_Trying to rise. _
But why are not my pupils here to help me?
Go, call my pupils, for I need their help.

FEDELM.

Come with me now, and I will send for them,
For I have a great room that's full of beds
I can make ready; and there is a smooth lawn
Where they can play at hurley and sing poems
Under an apple-tree.

SEANCHAN.

I know that place:
An apple-tree, and a smooth level lawn
Where the young men can sway their hurley sticks.

[_Sings. _]

The four rivers that run there,
Through well-mown level ground,
Have come out of a blessed well
That is all bound and wound
By the great roots of an apple,
And all the fowl of the air
Have gathered in the wide branches
And keep singing there.

[_FEDELM, troubled, has covered her eyes with her
hands. _

FEDELM.

No, there are not four rivers, and those rhymes
Praise Adam's paradise.

SEANCHAN.

I can remember now,
It's out of a poem I made long ago
About the Garden in the East of the World,
And how spirits in the images of birds
Crowd in the branches of old Adam's crabtree.
They come before me now, and dig in the fruit
With so much gluttony, and are so drunk
With that harsh wholesome savour, that their feathers
Are clinging one to another with the juice.
But you would lead me to some friendly place,
And I would go there quickly.

FEDELM.

[_Helping him to rise. _]

Come with me.

_He walks slowly, supported by her, till he comes to
table. _

SEANCHAN.

But why am I so weak? Have I been ill?
Sweetheart, why is it that I am so weak?

[_Sinks on to seat. _

FEDELM.

[_Goes to table. _]

I'll dip this piece of bread into the wine,
For that will make you stronger for the journey.

SEANCHAN.

Yes, give me bread and wine; that's what I want,
For it is hunger that is gnawing me.

[_He takes bread from FEDELM, hesitates, and then
thrusts it back into her hand. _

But, no; I must not eat it.

FEDELM.

Eat, Seanchan.
For if you do not eat it you will die.

SEANCHAN.

Why did you give me food? Why did you come?
For had I not enough to fight against
Without your coming?

FEDELM.

Eat this little crust,
Seanchan, if you have any love for me.

SEANCHAN.

I must not eat it--but that's beyond your wit.
Child! child! I must not eat it, though I die.

FEDELM.

[_Passionately. _]

You do not know what love is; for if you loved,
You would put every other thought away.
But you have never loved me.

SEANCHAN.

[_Seizing her by wrist. _]

You, a child,
Who have but seen a man out of the window,
Tell me that I know nothing about love,
And that I do not love you! Did I not say
There was a frenzy in the light of the stars
All through the livelong night, and that the night
Was full of marriages? But that fight's over,
And all that's done with, and I have to die.

FEDELM.

[_Throwing her arms about him. _]

I will not be put from you, although I think
I had not grudged it you if some great lady,
If the King's daughter, had set out your bed.
I will not give you up to death; no, no!
And are not these white arms and this soft neck
Better than the brown earth?

SEANCHAN.

[_Struggling to disengage himself. _]

Begone from me!
There's treachery in those arms and in that voice.
They're all against me. Why do you linger there?
How long must I endure the sight of you?

FEDELM.

O, Seanchan! Seanchan!

SEANCHAN.

[_Rising. _]

Go where you will,
So it be out of sight and out of mind.
I cast you from me like an old torn cap,
A broken shoe, a glove without a finger,
A crooked penny; whatever is most worthless.

FEDELM.

[_Bursts into tears. _]

O, do not drive me from you!

SEANCHAN.

[_Takes her in his arms. _]

What did I say,
My dove of the woods? I was about to curse you.
It was a frenzy. I'll unsay it all.
But you must go away.

FEDELM.

Let me be near you.
I will obey like any married wife.
Let me but lie before your feet.

SEANCHAN.

Come nearer.

[_Kisses her. _

If I had eaten when you bid me, sweetheart,
The kiss of multitudes in times to come
Had been the poorer.

[_Enter KING from palace, followed by the two
PRINCESSES. _

KING.

[_To FEDELM. _]

Has he eaten yet?

FEDELM.

No, King, and will not till you have restored
The right of the poets.

KING.

[_Coming down and standing before SEANCHAN. _]

Seanchan, you have refused
Everybody that I have sent, and now
I come to you myself; and I have come
To bid you put your pride as far away
As I have put my pride. I had your love
Not a great while ago, and now you have planned
To put a voice by every cottage fire,
And in the night when no one sees who cries,
To cry against me till my throne has crumbled.
And yet if I give way I must offend
My courtiers and nobles till they, too,
Strike at the crown. What would you have of me?

SEANCHAN.

When did the poets promise safety, King?

KING.

Seanchan, I bring you bread in my own hands,
And bid you eat because of all these reasons,
And for this further reason, that I love you.

[_SEANCHAN pushes bread away, with FEDELM'S hand. _

You have refused it, Seanchan?

SEANCHAN.

We have refused it.

KING.

I have been patient, though I am a king,
And have the means to force you. But that's ended,
And I am but a king, and you a subject.
Nobles and courtiers, bring the poets hither;

[_Enter COURT LADIES, MONK, SOLDIER, CHAMBERLAIN, and
COURTIERS with PUPILS, who have halters round their
necks. _

For you can have your way. I that was man,
With a man's heart, am now all king again,
Remembering that the seed I come of, though
A hundred kings have sown it and resown it,
Has neither trembled nor shrunk backward yet
Because of the hard business of a king.
Speak to your master; beg your life of him;
Show him the halter that is round your necks.
If his heart's set upon it, he may die;
But you shall all die with him. [_Goes up steps. _
Beg your lives!
Begin, for you have little time to lose.
Begin it, you that are the oldest pupil.

OLDEST PUPIL.

Die, Seanchan, and proclaim the right of the poets.

KING.

Silence! you are as crazy as your master.
But that young boy, that seems the youngest of you,
I'd have him speak. Kneel down before him, boy;
Hold up your hands to him, that you may pluck
That milky-coloured neck out of the noose.

YOUNGEST PUPIL.

Die, Seanchan, and proclaim the right of the poets.

OLDEST PUPIL.

Gather the halters up into your hands
And drive us where you will, for in all things,
But in our Art, we are obedient.