But that young boy, that seems the
youngest
of you,
I'd have him speak.
I'd have him speak.
Yeats
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.
[_They hold the ends of the halter towards the KING.
The KING comes slowly down steps. _
KING.
Kneel down, kneel down; he has the greater power.
There is no power but has its root in his--
I understand it now. There is no power
But his that can withhold the crown or give it,
Or make it reverend in the eyes of men,
And therefore I have laid it in his hands,
And I will do his will.
[_He has put the crown into SEANCHAN'S hands. _
SEANCHAN.
[_Who has been assisted to rise by his pupils. _]
O crown! O crown!
It is but right the hands that made the crown
In the old time should give it where they please.
[_He places the crown on the KING'S head. _
O silver trumpets! Be you lifted up,
And cry to the great race that is to come.
Long-throated swans, amid the waves of Time,
Sing loudly, for beyond the wall of the world
It waits, and it may hear and come to us.
[_The PUPILS blow a trumpet blast. _
ON BAILE'S STRAND
TO WILLIAM FAY
BECAUSE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PHANTASY OF HIS
PLAYING IN THE CHARACTER OF
THE FOOL
_PERSONS IN THE PLAY_
A FOOL
A BLIND MAN
CUCHULAIN, _King of Muirthemne_
CONCHUBAR, _High King of Ulad_
A YOUNG MAN, _Son of Cuchulain_
KINGS AND SINGING WOMEN
ON BAILE'S STRAND
_A great hall at Dundealgan, not 'Cuchulain's great
ancient house' but an assembly house nearer to the
sea. A big door at the back, and through the door
misty light as of sea mist. There are many chairs and
one long bench. One of these chairs, which is towards
the front of the stage, is bigger than the others.
Somewhere at the back there is a table with flagons of
ale upon it and drinking-horns. There is a small door
at one side of the hall. A FOOL and BLIND MAN, both
ragged, come in through the door at the back. The BLIND
MAN leans upon a staff. _
FOOL.
WHAT a clever man you are though you are blind! There's nobody with two
eyes in his head that is as clever as you are. Who but you could have
thought that the henwife sleeps every day a little at noon? I would
never be able to steal anything if you didn't tell me where to look
for it. And what a good cook you are! You take the fowl out of my hands
after I have stolen it and plucked it, and you put it into the big pot
at the fire there, and I can go out and run races with the witches
at the edge of the waves and get an appetite, and when I've got it,
there's the hen waiting inside for me, done to the turn.
BLIND MAN.
[_Who is feeling about with his stick. _]
Done to the turn.
FOOL.
[_Putting his arm round_ BLIND MAN'S _neck. _]
Come now, I'll have a leg and you'll have a leg, and we'll draw lots
for the wish-bone. I'll be praising you, I'll be praising you, while
we're eating it, for your good plans and for your good cooking. There's
nobody in the world like you, Blind Man. Come, come. Wait a minute. I
shouldn't have closed the door. There are some that look for me, and I
wouldn't like them not to find me. Don't tell it to anybody, Blind Man.
There are some that follow me. Boann herself out of the river and Fand
out of the deep sea. Witches they are, and they come by in the wind,
and they cry, 'Give a kiss, Fool, give a kiss,' that's what they cry.
That's wide enough. All the witches can come in now. I wouldn't have
them beat at the door and say: 'Where is the Fool? Why has he put a
lock on the door? ' Maybe they'll hear the bubbling of the pot and come
in and sit on the ground. But we won't give them any of the fowl. Let
them go back to the sea, let them go back to the sea.
BLIND MAN.
[_Feeling legs of big chair with his hands. _]
Ah! [_Then, in a louder voice as he feels the back of it. _] Ah--ah--
FOOL.
Why do you say 'Ah-ah'?
BLIND MAN.
I know the big chair. It is to-day the High King Conchubar is coming.
They have brought out his chair. He is going to be Cuchulain's master
in earnest from this day out. It is that he's coming for.
FOOL.
He must be a great man to be Cuchulain's master.
BLIND MAN.
So he is. He is a great man. He is over all the rest of the kings of
Ireland.
FOOL.
Cuchulain's master! I thought Cuchulain could do anything he liked.
BLIND MAN.
So he did, so he did. But he ran too wild, and Conchubar is coming
to-day to put an oath upon him that will stop his rambling and make him
as biddable as a house-dog and keep him always at his hand. He will sit
in this chair and put the oath upon him.
FOOL.
How will he do that?
BLIND MAN.
You have no wits to understand such things. [_The BLIND MAN has got
into the chair. _] He will sit up in this chair and he'll say: 'Take the
oath, Cuchulain. I bid you take the oath. Do as I tell you. What are
your wits compared with mine, and what are your riches compared with
mine? And what sons have you to pay your debts and to put a stone over
you when you die? Take the oath, I tell you. Take a strong oath. '
FOOL.
[_Crumpling himself up and whining. _]
I will not. I'll take no oath. I want my dinner.
BLIND MAN.
Hush, hush! It is not done yet.
FOOL.
You said it was done to a turn.
BLIND MAN.
Did I, now? Well, it might be done, and not done. The wings might be
white, but the legs might be red. The flesh might stick hard to the
bones and not come away in the teeth. But, believe me, Fool, it will be
well done before you put your teeth in it.
FOOL.
My teeth are growing long with the hunger.
BLIND MAN.
I'll tell you a story--the kings have story-tellers while they are
waiting for their dinner--I will tell you a story with a fight in it, a
story with a champion in it, and a ship and a queen's son that has his
mind set on killing somebody that you and I know.
FOOL.
Who is that? Who is he coming to kill?
BLIND MAN.
Wait, now, till you hear. When you were stealing the fowl, I was lying
in a hole in the sand, and I heard three men coming with a shuffling
sort of noise. They were wounded and groaning.
FOOL.
Go on. Tell me about the fight.
BLIND MAN.
There had been a fight, a great fight, a tremendous great fight. A
young man had landed on the shore, the guardians of the shore had asked
his name, and he had refused to tell it, and he had killed one, and
others had run away.
FOOL.
That's enough. Come on now to the fowl. I wish it was bigger. I wish it
was as big as a goose.
BLIND MAN.
Hush! I haven't told you all. I know who that young man is. I heard the
men who were running away say he had red hair, that he had come from
Aoife's country, that he was coming to kill Cuchulain.
FOOL.
Nobody can do that.
[_To a tune. _]
Cuchulain has killed kings,
Kings and sons of kings,
Dragons out of the water,
And witches out of the air,
Banachas and Bonachas and people of the woods.
BLIND MAN.
Hush! hush!
FOOL.
[_Still singing. _]
Witches that steal the milk,
Fomor that steal the children,
Hags that have heads like hares,
Hares that have claws like witches,
All riding a-cockhorse
[_Spoken. _]
Out of the very bottom of the bitter black north.
BLIND MAN.
Hush, I say!
FOOL.
Does Cuchulain know that he is coming to kill him?
BLIND MAN.
How would he know that with his head in the clouds? He doesn't care for
common fighting. Why would he put himself out, and nobody in it but
that young man? Now, if it were a white fawn that might turn into a
queen before morning--
FOOL.
Come to the fowl. I wish it was as big as a pig; a fowl with goose
grease and pig's crackling.
BLIND MAN.
No hurry, no hurry. I know whose son it is. I wouldn't tell anybody
else, but I will tell you,--a secret is better to you than your dinner.
You like being told secrets.
FOOL.
Tell me the secret.
BLIND MAN.
That young man is Aoife's son. I am sure it is Aoife's son, it flows
in upon me that it is Aoife's son. You have often heard me talking of
Aoife, the great woman-fighter Cuchulain got the mastery over in the
north?
FOOL.
I know, I know. She is one of those cross queens that live in hungry
Scotland.
BLIND MAN.
I am sure it is her son. I was in Aoife's country for a long time.
FOOL.
That was before you were blinded for putting a curse upon the wind.
BLIND MAN.
There was a boy in her house that had her own red colour on him
and everybody said he was to be brought up to kill Cuchulain, that
she hated Cuchulain. She used to put a helmet on a pillar-stone
and call it Cuchulain and set him casting at it. There is a step
outside--Cuchulain's step.
[_CUCHULAIN passes by in the mist outside the big door. _
FOOL.
Where is Cuchulain going?
BLIND MAN.
He is going to meet Conchubar that has bidden him to take the oath.
FOOL.
Ah, an oath, Blind Man. How can I remember so many things at once? Who
is going to take an oath?
BLIND MAN.
Cuchulain is going to take an oath to Conchubar who is High King.
FOOL.
What a mix-up you make of everything, Blind Man. You were telling me
one story, and now you are telling me another story. .
