No More Learning

SEANCHAN.

She has sent no message.
Our mothers know us; they know us to the bone.
They knew us before birth, and that is why
They know us even better than the sweethearts
Upon whose breasts we have lain.
Go quickly! Go
And tell them that my mother was in the right.
There is no answer. Go and tell them that.
Go tell them that she knew me.

MAYOR.

What is he saying?
I never understood a poet's talk
More than the baa of a sheep!

[_Comes over from seat. SEANCHAN turns away. _

You have not heard,
It may be, having been so much away,
How many of the cattle died last winter
From lacking grass, and that there was much sickness
Because the poor have nothing but salt fish
To live on through the winter?

BRIAN.

Get away,
And leave the place to me! It's my turn now,
For your sack's empty!

MAYOR.

Is it 'get away'!
Is that the way I'm to be spoken to!
Am I not Mayor? Amn't I authority?
Amn't I in the King's place? Answer me that!

BRIAN.

Then show the people what a king is like:
Pull down old merings and root custom up,
Whitewash the dunghills, fatten hogs and geese,
Hang your gold chain about an ass's neck,
And burn the blessed thorn trees out of the fields,
And drive what's comely away!

MAYOR.

Holy Saint Coleman!

FIRST CRIPPLE.

Fine talk! fine talk! What else does the King do?
He fattens hogs and drives the poet away!

SECOND CRIPPLE.

He starves the song-maker!

FIRST CRIPPLE.

He fattens geese!

MAYOR.

How dare you take his name into your mouth!
How dare you lift your voice against the King!
What would we be without him?

BRIAN.

Why do you praise him?
I will have nobody speak well of him,
Or any other king that robs my master.

MAYOR.

And had he not the right to? and the right
To strike your master's head off, being the King,
Or yours or mine? I say, 'Long live the King!
Because he does not take our heads from us. '
Call out, 'Long life to him! '

BRIAN.

Call out for him!

[_Speaking at same time with MAYOR. _

There's nobody'll call out for him,
But smiths will turn their anvils,
The millers turn their wheels,
The farmers turn their churns,
The witches turn their thumbs,
'Till he be broken and splintered into pieces.

MAYOR.

[_At same time with BRIAN. _]

He might, if he'd a mind to it,
Be digging out our tongues,
Or dragging out our hair,
Or bleaching us like calves,
Or weaning us like lambs,
But for the kindness and the softness that is in him.

[_They gasp for breath. _

FIRST CRIPPLE.

I'll curse him till I drop!

[_Speaking at same time as SECOND CRIPPLE and MAYOR and
BRIAN, who have begun again. _

The curse of the poor be upon him,
The curse of the widows upon him,
The curse of the children upon him,
The curse of the bishops upon him,
Until he be as rotten as an old mushroom!

SECOND CRIPPLE.

[_Speaking at same time as FIRST CRIPPLE and MAYOR and
BRIAN. _

The curse of wrinkles be upon him!
Wrinkles where his eyes are,
Wrinkles where his nose is,
Wrinkles where his mouth is,
And a little old devil looking out of every wrinkle!

BRIAN.

[_Speaking at same time with MAYOR and CRIPPLES. _]

And nobody will sing for him,
And nobody will hunt for him,
And nobody will fish for him,
And nobody will pray for him,
But ever and always curse him and abuse him.

MAYOR.

[_Speaking at same time with CRIPPLES and BRIAN. _]

What good is in a poet?
Has he money in a stocking,
Or cider in the cellar,
Or flitches in the chimney,
Or anything anywhere but his own idleness?

[_BRIAN seizes MAYOR. _

MAYOR.

Help! help! Am I not in authority?

BRIAN.

That's how I'll shout for the King!

MAYOR.

Help! help! Am I not in the King's place?

BRIAN.

I'll teach him to be kind to the poor!

MAYOR.

Help! help! Wait till we are in Kinvara!

FIRST CRIPPLE.

[_Beating MAYOR on the legs with crutch. _]

I'll shake the royalty out of his legs!

SECOND CRIPPLE.

[_Burying his nails in MAYOR'S face. _]

I'll scrumble the ermine out of his skin!

[_The CHAMBERLAIN comes down steps shouting, '_Silence!
silence! silence! _'_

CHAMBERLAIN.

How dare you make this uproar at the doors,
Deafening the very greatest in the land,
As if the farmyards and the rookeries
Had all been emptied!

FIRST CRIPPLE.

It is the Chamberlain.

[_CRIPPLES go out. _

CHAMBERLAIN.

Pick up the litter there, and get you gone!
Be quick about it! Have you no respect
For this worn stair, this all but sacred door,
Where suppliants and tributary kings
Have passed, and the world's glory knelt in silence?
Have you no reverence for what all other men
Hold honourable?

BRIAN.

If I might speak my mind,
I'd say the King would have his luck again
If he would let my master have his rights.

CHAMBERLAIN.

Pick up your litter! Take your noise away!
Make haste, and get the clapper from the bell!

BRIAN.

[_Putting last of food into basket. _]

What do the great and powerful care for rights
That have no armies!

[_CHAMBERLAIN begins shoving them out with his staff. _

MAYOR.

My lord, I am not to blame.
I'm the King's man, and they attacked me for it.

BRIAN.

We have our prayers, our curses and our prayers,
And we can give a great name or a bad one.

[_MAYOR is shoving BRIAN out before him with one hand.
He keeps his face to CHAMBERLAIN, and keeps bowing. The
CHAMBERLAIN shoves him with his staff. _

MAYOR.

We could not make the poet eat, my lord.

[_CHAMBERLAIN shoves him with staff. _

Much honoured [_is shoved again_]--honoured to speak with you, my lord;
But I'll go find the girl that he's to marry.
She's coming, but I'll hurry her, my lord.
Between ourselves, my lord [_is shoved again_], she is a great coaxer.
Much honoured, my lord. O, she's the girl to do it;
For when the intellect is out, my lord,
Nobody but a woman's any good.

[_Is shoved again. _

Much honoured, my lord [_is shoved again_], much honoured, much
honoured!

[_Is shoved out, shoving BRIAN out before him. _

[_All through this scene, from the outset of the
quarrel, SEANCHAN has kept his face turned away, or
hidden in his cloak. While the CHAMBERLAIN has been
speaking, the SOLDIER and the MONK have come out of the
palace. The MONK stands on top of steps at one side,
SOLDIER a little down steps at the other side. COURT
LADIES are seen at opening in the palace curtain behind
SOLDIER. CHAMBERLAIN is in the centre. _

CHAMBERLAIN.

[_To SEANCHAN. _]

Well, you must be contented, for your work
Has roused the common sort against the King,
And stolen his authority. The State
Is like some orderly and reverend house,
Wherein the master, being dead of a sudden,
The servants quarrel where they have a mind to,
And pilfer here and there.

[_Pause, finding that SEANCHAN does not answer. _

How many days
Will you keep up this quarrel with the King,
And the King's nobles, and myself, and all,
Who'd gladly be your friends, if you would let them?

[_Going near to MONK. _

If you would try, you might persuade him, father.
I cannot make him answer me, and yet
If fitting hands would offer him the food,
He might accept it.

MONK.

Certainly I will not.
I've made too many homilies, wherein
The wanton imagination of the poets
Has been condemned, to be his flatterer.
If pride and disobedience are unpunished
Who will obey?

CHAMBERLAIN.

[_Going to other side towards SOLDIER. _]

If you would speak to him,
You might not find persuasion difficult,
With all the devils of hunger helping you.

SOLDIER.

I will not interfere, and if he starve
For being obstinate and stiff in the neck,
'Tis but good riddance.

CHAMBERLAIN.

One of us must do it.
It might be, if you'd reason with him, ladies,
He would eat something, for I have a notion
That if he brought misfortune on the King,
Or the King's house, we'd be as little thought of
As summer linen when the winter's come.

FIRST GIRL.

But it would be the greater compliment
If Peter'd do it.

SECOND GIRL.

Reason with him, Peter.
Persuade him to eat; he's such a bag of bones!

SOLDIER.

I'll never trust a woman's word again!
There's nobody that was so loud against him
When he was at the table; now the wind's changed,
And you that could not bear his speech or his silence,
Would have him there in his old place again;
I do believe you would, but I won't help you.

SECOND GIRL.

Why will you be so hard upon us, Peter?
You know we have turned the common sort against us,
And he looks miserable.

FIRST GIRL.

We cannot dance,
Because no harper will pluck a string for us.

SECOND GIRL.

I cannot sleep with thinking of his face.

FIRST GIRL.

And I love dancing more than anything.

SECOND GIRL.

Do not be hard on us; but yesterday
A woman in the road threw stones at me.
You would not have me stoned?

FIRST GIRL.

May I not dance?

SOLDIER.

I will do nothing. You have put him out,
And now that he is out--well, leave him out.

FIRST GIRL.

Do it for my sake, Peter.

SECOND GIRL.

And for mine.

[_Each girl as she speaks takes PETER'S hand with her
right hand, stroking down his arm with her left. While
SECOND GIRL is stroking his arm, FIRST GIRL leaves go
and gives him the dish. _

SOLDIER.

Well, well; but not your way. [_To SEANCHAN. _] Here's meat for you.
It has been carried from too good a table
For men like you, and I am offering it
Because these women have made a fool of me.

[_A pause. _

You mean to starve? You will have none of it?
I'll leave it there, where you can sniff the savour.
Snuff it, old hedgehog, and unroll yourself!
But if I were the King, I'd make you do it
With wisps of lighted straw.

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.