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diff --git a/41102.txt b/41102.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 983743a..0000000 --- a/41102.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2758 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The King's Threshold; and On Baile's Strand, by -William Butler Yeats - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The King's Threshold; and On Baile's Strand - -Author: William Butler Yeats - -Release Date: October 18, 2012 [EBook #41102] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING'S THRESHOLD; AND ON *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Foley, Jennifer Linklater and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -_BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ - - THE SECRET ROSE. - THE CELTIC TWILIGHT. - POEMS. - THE WIND AMONG THE REEDS. - THE SHADOWY WATERS. - IDEAS OF GOOD AND EVIL. - - - - -PLAYS FOR AN IRISH THEATRE - -VOLUME III. - - - - - THE KING'S THRESHOLD: - AND - ON BAILE'S STRAND: - - BEING VOLUME THREE OF PLAYS - FOR AN IRISH THEATRE: - - BY W. B. YEATS - - - LONDON: A. H. BULLEN, - 47, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, W.C. - 1904 - - CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. - TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. - - - - -NOTE - - -Both these plays have been written for Mr. Fay's "Irish National -Theatre." "The King's Threshold" was played in October, 1903, and "On -Baile's Strand" will be played in February or March, 1904. Both are -founded on Old Irish Prose Romances, but I have borrowed some ideas for -the arrangement of my subject in "The King's Threshold" from "Sancan the -Bard," a play published by Mr. Edwin Ellis some ten years ago. - - W. B. Y. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - THE KING'S THRESHOLD 1 - - ON BAILE'S STRAND 67 - - - - -THE KING'S THRESHOLD - - - - -LIST OF CHARACTERS - - KING GUAIRE. - THE CHAMBERLAIN OF KING GUAIRE. - A Soldier. - A Monk. - THE MAYOR OF KINVARA. - A Cripple. - Another Cripple. - AILEEN, } Ladies of the Court. - ESSA, } - PRINCESS BUAN. - PRINCESS FINNHUA, her Sister. - FEDELM, Seanchan's Sweetheart. - CIAN, } Servants of Seanchan. - BRIAN, } - SENIAS, } Pupils of Seanchan. - ARIAS, } - SEANCHAN (pronounced Shanahan), Chief Poet of Ireland. - - Pupils, Courtiers. - - - - -A PROLOGUE.[1] - - Footnote 1: Written for the first production of "The King's - Threshold" in Dublin, but not used, as, owing to the smallness - of the company, nobody could be spared to speak it. - - - _An OLD MAN with a red dressing-gown, red slippers and red - nightcap, holding a brass candlestick with a guttering candle in it, - comes on from side of stage and goes in front of the dull green - curtain._ - -_Old Man._ I've got to speak the prologue. [_He shuffles on a few -steps._] My nephew, who is one of the play actors, came to me, and I in -my bed, and my prayers said, and the candle put out, and he told me -there were so many characters in this new play, that all the company -were in it, whether they had been long or short at the business, and -that there wasn't one left to speak the prologue. Wait a bit, there's a -draught here. [_He pulls the curtain closer together._] That's better. -And that's why I'm here, and maybe I'm a fool for my pains. - -And my nephew said, there are a good many plays to be played for you, -some to-night and some on other nights through the winter, and the most -of them are simple enough, and tell out their story to the end. But as -to the big play you are to see to-night, my nephew taught me to say what -the poet had taught him to say about it. [_Puts down candlestick and -puts right finger on left thumb._] First, he who told the story of -Seanchan on King Guaire's threshold long ago in the old books told it -wrongly, for he was a friend of the king, or maybe afraid of the king, -and so he put the king in the right. But he that tells the story now, -being a poet, has put the poet in the right. - -And then [_touches other finger_] I am to say: Some think it would be a -finer tale if Seanchan had died at the end of it, and the king had the -guilt at his door, for that might have served the poet's cause better in -the end. But that is not true, for if he that is in the story but a -shadow and an image of poetry had not risen up from the death that -threatened him, the ending would not have been true and joyful enough to -be put into the voices of players and proclaimed in the mouths of -trumpets, and poetry would have been badly served. - - [_He takes up the candlestick again._ - -And as to what happened Seanchan after, my nephew told me he didn't -know, and the poet didn't know, and it's likely there's nobody that -knows. But my nephew thinks he never sat down at the king's table again, -after the way he had been treated, but that he went to some quiet green -place in the hills with Fedelm, his sweetheart, where the poor people -made much of him because he was wise, and where he made songs and -poems, and it's likely enough he made some of the old songs and the old -poems the poor people on the hillsides are saying and singing to-day. - - [_A trumpet-blast._ - -Well, it's time for me to be going. That trumpet means that the curtain -is going to rise, and after a while the stage there will be filled up -with great ladies and great gentlemen, and poets, and a king with a -crown on him, and all of them as high up in themselves with the pride of -their youth and their strength and their fine clothes as if there was no -such thing in the world as cold in the shoulders, and speckled shins, -and the pains in the bones and the stiffness in the joints that make an -old man that has the whole load of the world on him ready for his bed. - - [_He begins to shuffle away, and then stops._ - -And it would be better for me, that nephew of mine to be thinking less -of his play-acting, and to have remembered to boil down the knap-weed -with a bit of three-penny sugar, for me to be wetting my throat with -now and again through the night, and drinking a sup to ease the pains in -my bones. - - [_He goes out at side of stage._ - - - - -THE KING'S THRESHOLD. - - - SCENE: _Steps before the Palace of KING GUAIRE at Gort. A table in - front of steps to right with food on it. SEANCHAN lying on steps to - left. PUPILS before steps. KING on top of steps at centre._ - - _King._ I welcome you that have the mastery - Of the two kinds of music; the one kind - Being like a woman, the other like a man; - Both you that understand stringed instruments, - And how to mingle words and notes together - So artfully, that all the art is but speech - Delighted with its own music; and you that carry - The long twisted horn and understand - The heady notes that being without words - Can hurry beyond time and fate and change; - For the high angels that drive the horse of time, - The golden one by day, by night the silver, - Are not more welcome to one that loves the world - For some fair woman's sake. - - I have called you hither - To save the life of your great master, Seanchan, - For all day long it has flamed up or flickered - To the fast-cooling hearth. - - _Senias._ When did he sicken? - Is it a fever that is wasting him? - - _King._ He did not sicken, but three days ago - He said he would not eat, and lay down there - And has not eaten since. Till yesterday - I thought that hunger and weakness had been enough, - But finding them too trifling and too light - To hold his mouth from biting at the grave - I called you hither, and have called others yet. - The girl he is to wed at harvest-time, - That should be of all living the most dear, - Is coming from the South, and had I known - Of any other neighbours or good friends - That might persuade him, I had brought them hither, - Even though I'd to ransack the world for them. - - _Senias._ What was it put him to this work, High King? - - _King._ You will call it no great matter. Three days ago - I yielded to the outcry of my courtiers, - Bishops, soldiers, and makers of the law, - Who long had thought it against their dignity - For a mere man of words to sit among them - At my own table; and when the meal was spread - I ordered Seanchan to good company, - But to a lower table; and when he pleaded - The poet's right, established when the world - Was first established, I said that I was King - And made and unmade rights at my own pleasure. - And that it was the men who ruled the world, - And not the men who sang to it, who should sit - Where there was the most honour. My courtiers, - Bishops, soldiers, and makers of the law - Shouted approval, and amid that noise - Seanchan went out, and from that hour to this, - Although there is good food and drink beside him, - Has eaten nothing. If a man is wronged, - Or thinks that he is wronged, and will lie down - Upon another's threshold until he dies, - The common people for all time to come - Will raise a heavy cry against that threshold, - Even though it is the King's. He lies there now - Perishing; he is calling against my majesty, - That old custom that has no meaning in it, - And as he perishes, my name in the world - Is perishing also. I cannot give way - Because I am King, because if I give way - My nobles would call me a weakling, and it may be - The very throne be shaken; but should you - That are his friends speak to him and persuade him - To turn his mouth from the ill-savouring grave - And eat good food, he shall not lack my favour; - For I will give plough-land and grazing-land, - Or all but anything he has set his heart on. - It is not all because of my good name - I'd have him live, for I have found him a man - That might well hit the fancy of a king - Banished out of his country, or a woman's, - Or any other's that can judge a man - For what he is. But I that sit a throne, - And take my measure from the needs of the state, - Call his wild thought that over-runs the measure, - Making words more than deeds, and his proud will - That would unsettle all, most mischievous, - And he himself a most mischievous man. - - _Senias._ King, whether you did right or wrong in this - Let the King say, for all that I need say - Is that there's nothing that cries out for death - In the withholding of that ancient right, - And that I will persuade him. Your own words - Had been enough persuasion were it not - That he is lost in dreams that hunger makes, - And therefore heedless, or lost in heedless sleep. - - _King._ I leave him to your love, that it may promise - Plough-lands and grass-lands, jewels and silken wear, - Or anything but that old right of the poets. - - [_He goes out. The PUPILS, who have been standing perfectly quiet, - all turn towards SEANCHAN, and move a step nearer._ - - _Senias._ The King did wrong to abrogate our right, - But Seanchan, who talks of dying for it, - Talks foolishly. Look at us, Seanchan, - Waken out of your dream and look at us, - Who have ridden under the moon and all the day, - Until the moon has all but come again, - That we might be beside you. - - [_SEANCHAN turns half round leaning on his elbow, and speaks as if - in a dream._ - - _Seanchan._ I was but now - At Almhuin, in a great high-raftered house, - With Finn and Osgar. Odours of roast flesh - Rose round me and I saw the roasting spits, - And then the dream was broken, and I saw - Grania dividing salmon by a pool, - And then I was awakened by your voice. - - _Senias._ It is your hunger that makes you dream of flesh - Roasting, and for your hunger I could weep; - And yet the hunger of the crane that starves - Because the moonlight glittering on the pool - And flinging a pale shadow has made it shy, - Seems to me little more fantastical - Than this that's blown into so great a trouble. - - _Seanchan._ [_Who has turned away again._] - There is much truth in that, for all things change - At times, as if the moonlight altered them, - And my mind alters as if it were the crane's; - For when the heavy body has grown weak - There's nothing that can tether the wild mind - That being moonstruck and fantastical - Goes where it fancies. I had even thought - I knew your voice and face, but now the words - Are so unlikely that I needs must ask - Who is it that bids me put my hunger by? - - _Senias._ I am your oldest pupil, Seanchan; - The one that has been with you many years, - So many that you said at Candlemas - That I had almost done with school, and knew - All but all that poets understand. - - _Seanchan._ My oldest pupil. No, that cannot be; - For it is someone of the courtly crowds - That have been round about me from sunrise - And I am tricked by dreams, but I'll refute them. - I asked the pupil that I loved the best, - At Candlemas, why poetry is honoured, - Wishing to know how he'd defend our craft - In distant lands among strange churlish Kings. - And he'd an answer. - - _Senias._ I said the poets hung - Images of the life that was in Eden - About the childbed of the world, that it, - Looking upon those images, might bear - Triumphant children; but why must I stand here - Repeating an old lesson while you starve? - - _Seanchan._ Tell on, for I begin to know the voice; - What evil thing will come upon the world - If the arts perish? - - _Senias._ If the arts should perish - The world that lacked them would be like a woman - That looking on the cloven lips of a hare - Brings forth a hare-lipped child. - - _Seanchan._ But that's not all. - For when I asked you how a man should guard - Those images you had an answer also, - If you're the man that you have claimed to be, - Comparing them to venerable things - God gave to men before he gave them wheat. - - _Senias._ I answered, and the word was half your own, - That he should guard them, as the men of Dea - Guard their four treasures, as the Grail King guards - His holy cup, or the pale righteous horse - The jewel that is underneath his horn, - Pouring out life for it, as one pours out - Sweet heady wine--but now I understand - You would refute me out of my own mouth; - And yet a place at table near the King - Is nothing of great moment, Seanchan. - How does so light a thing touch poetry? - - [_SEANCHAN is now sitting up. He still looks dreamily in front of - him._ - - _Seanchan._ At Candlemas you called this poetry - One of the fragile mighty things of God - That die at an insult. - - _Senias._ [_To other PUPILS._] Give me some true answer. - For on that day we spoke about the court - And said that all that was insulted there - The world insulted, for the courtly life, - Being the first comely child of the world, - Is the world's model. How shall I answer him? - Can you not give me some true argument? - I will not tempt him with a lying one. - - _Arias._ [_Throwing himself at SEANCHAN'S feet._] - Why did you take me from my father's fields? - If you would leave me now, what shall I love? - Where shall I go, what shall I set my hand to? - And why have you put music in my ears - If you would send me to the clattering houses? - I will throw down the trumpet and the harp, - For how could I sing verses or make music - With none to praise me and a broken heart? - - _Seanchan._ What was it that the poets promised you - If it was not their sorrow? Do not speak. - Have I not opened school on these bare steps, - And are not you the youngest of my scholars? - And I would have all know that when all falls - In ruin, poetry calls out in joy, - Being the scattering hand, the bursting pod, - The victim's joy among the holy flame, - God's laughter at the shattering of the world, - And now that joy laughs out and weeps and burns - On these bare steps. - - _Arias._ O Master, do not die. - - [_Three men come in. CIAN and BRIAN, old men carrying basket with - food, and MAYOR OF KINVARA. They stand at the side listening._ - - _Senias._ Trouble him with no useless argument. - Be silent; there is nothing we can do - Except find out the King and kneel to him - And beg our ancient right. These three have come - To say whatever we could say and more, - And fare as badly. Come, boy, that's no use; - - [_He lifts the BOY up._ - - If it seem well that we beseech the King, - Lay down your harps and trumpets on the stones - In silence and come with me silently. - Come with slow footfalls and bow all your heads, - For a bowed head becomes a mourner best. - - [_They lay the harps and trumpets down one by one and then go out - very solemnly and slowly, following one another._ - - _Cian._ Let's show the food that's in the basket. - - _Mayor._ [_Who carries an Ogham stick._] No, - I must get through my speech or I'll forget it; - Besides, there is no reason why he'd eat - Till he has heard my reasons. - - _Cian._ It were better - To show what we have brought him in the basket, - For we have nothing that he has not liked - From boyhood. - - _Brian._ For we have not brought kings' food - That's cooked for everybody and nobody. - - _Mayor._ You are not showing right respect to me, - Or to the people of Kinvara, when you wish - That something else should come before my message. - - _Seanchan._ What brings you here? I never sent for you. - - _Cian._ He must be famishing, he looks so pale. - We had better get the food out first. I tell you, - That we have brought the things he likes the best. - - _Mayor._ No, no; I lost a word at every cross road - And maybe if I do not speak it now - I'll have forgot it. - - _Cian._ Well, out with it quickly. - - _Seanchan._ Why, what's this foolery? - - _Mayor._ No foolery; - A message from the richest, best born townsman - Of your own town, and from your aged father. - - _Cian._ Run through it while I am getting out the food. - - _Mayor._ How was I to begin? What was the word - That was to keep it in my memory? - Wait, I have notched it on this Ogham stick. - "Chief poet," "Ireland," "Townsman"; that is it. - Chief poet of Ireland, when we heard that trouble - Had come between you and the King of Ireland - It plunged us in deep sorrow, part for you, - Our honoured townsman, part for our good town. - The King was said to be most friendly to us, - And we had reasons, as you'll recollect, - For thinking that he was about to give - Those grazing lands inland we so much need, - Being pinched between the water and the rocks. - But now his friendliness being ill repaid - Will be turned from us and our town get nothing. - But there was something else--I'll find the word - That was to keep it in my memory. - "Pride"--that's the word,--we would not have you think, - Weighty as these considerations are, - That they have been as weighty in our minds - As our desire that one we take much pride in, - A man who has been an honour to our town, - Should live and prosper, therefore we beseech you - To give way in a matter of no moment, - A matter of mere sentiment, a trifle, - That we may always keep our pride in you. - - _Seanchan._ Their pride, their pride, what do they know of pride? - My pupils do not know it, for they beg - From the King's favour what is theirs by right, - And how can men, that God has made so weak - They need a rich man's favour every day, - Know anything of pride? - - _Cian._ [_To MAYOR._] You have spoken it wrongly. - You have forgotten something out of it about the cattle dying. - - _Mayor._ Maybe you do not know, being much away, - How many of our cattle died last winter - From lacking grass, and that there was much sickness - Because the poor had nothing but salt fish - To live upon. The people all came out - And stood about the doors as I went by. - - _Seanchan._ What would you have of me? - For there are men that shall be born at last - And find sweet nurture that they may have voices - Even in anger like the strings of harps. - Yet how could they be born to majesty - If I had never made the golden cradle? - - _Mayor._ What is it? "Father"--"Mother"; that is it; - Your father sends this message. - - _Cian._ He is listening. - - _Mayor._ He says that he is old and that he needs you, - And that the people will be pointing at him - And he not able to lift up his head - If you should turn the King's favour away. - And he adds to it, that he cared you well, - And you in your young age, and that it's right - That you should care him now. - - _Cian._ And when he spoke - He cried because the stiffness of his bones - Prevented him from coming. - - _Mayor._ But your mother - Has sent no message, for when they had told her - The way it is between you and the King - She said, "No message can do any good, - He will not send the answer that you want; - We cannot change him," and she went indoors, - Lay down upon her bed and turned her face - Out of the light. And thereupon your father - Said, "Tell him how she is, and that she sends - No message." I have nothing more to say. - Cian and Brian, you can set out the food. - - [_He sits down on steps. SEANCHAN is silent._ - - _Mayor._ I have a horse waiting outside the town - To bring me home, and all the neighbours wait - Your answer. What answer am I to bring? - - _Seanchan._ Give them my answer--no, I have no answer: - My mother knew it. - - _Mayor._ Maybe you have forgotten - That all our fields are so heaped up with stones - That the goats famish, and the mowers mow - With knives, and that the King half promised us---- - - _Seanchan._ Thrust that old cloak of yours into your mouth - Till it's done gabbling. - - _Mayor._ But---- - - _Cian._ You have said enough; - I knew that you would never speak it right. - - _Seanchan._ 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. - - _Brian._ We have brought your honour - The food that you have always liked the best, - Young pigeons from Kinvara, and watercress - Out of the stream that's by the blessed well, - And dulse from Duras. Here is the dulse, your honour, - It is wholesome, and has the good taste of the sea. - - _Seanchan._ O Brian, you would spread the table for me - As you would spread it when I was in my childhood; - But all that's finished. - - _Mayor._ I knew he would not care - For country things now that he's grown accustomed - To the King's dishes. I told Brian too - He'd have his pains for nothing. But he's old. - - [_Goes over to table at right. While he is speaking CIAN and BRIAN - are in vain offering SEANCHAN food._ - - And what dishes! Venison from Slieve Echtge - Fattened with poor men's crops; flesh of wild pig; - Not fat nor lean, but streaky and right well cured; - Bread that's the whitest that I've ever seen. - - _Cian._ You're in the right, you're in the right, he will not eat. - - [_Pouring wine into cup._ - - _Mayor._ Bring him some wine, it will give him strength to eat. - - [_BRIAN brings wine over towards SEANCHAN._ - - No wonder if the King is proud and merry, - And keeps all day in the saddle, when even I - Am well-nigh drunken with the odour of it, - And if I dared--I dare not. - - _Cian._ Drink it, sir. - - _Brian._ Drink a few drops. - - _Seanchan._ Drink it yourself, old man, - For you have come a journey, and I daresay - You did not eat or drink upon the road. - - _Cian._ How can I drink it when your honour's thirsty? - - [_He offers cup again. The KING'S HOUSEHOLD comes in. CHAMBERLAIN - with long staff, a SOLDIER, a MONK, two LADIES, followed by - CRIPPLES who beg from the ladies, who keep close together at - right, talking to each other at intervals. SOLDIER goes over to - MAYOR, and talks to him._ - - _Chamberlain._ Well, have you it in imagination still - To overthrow the dignity of the King, - Or is the game finished? - - [_A pause._ - - How many days - Will you keep up this quarrel with the King, - With the King's nobles and myself and all - Who'd gladly be your friends if you would let them? - - _Soldier._ [_Who has been speaking to MAYOR and SERVANTS._] - Was it you that sent his servants and the Mayor - Of his own town to wheedle him into life? - - _Chamberlain._ It was the King himself. - - _Soldier._ Was it worth our while - To have got rid of him from the King's table - If he is to be humoured and made much of? - - _Chamberlain._ It seems that he has not eaten yet, although - He's had another dozen hours of hunger. - - _Soldier._ If he's so proud and obstinate a neck - I'd let him starve. - - _Monk._ Persuade him to eat, my lord. - His death would make a scandal, and stir up - The common people. - - _Chamberlain._ And I have a fancy - That if it 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. - - _Aileen._ [_To CIAN._] - You've had no luck, old man. - - _Cian._ We have not, lady. - - _Aileen._ Maybe he's out of humour with your ways, - Having grown used to sprightlier service. - - _Cian._ Maybe. - But the King's messengers have gone for one - That will persuade him. [_To BRIAN._] Come, let us go; - For she might lose her way in this fine place. - Come, we have been too long upon the tree, - - [_Plucking sleeve of MAYOR._ - - And there are little golden pippins here. - - _Soldier._ Give me the dish, I'll hand it him myself. - - _Aileen._ I wonder if she is pretty. - - [_MAYOR and SERVANTS have gone out._ - - _Soldier._ Eat this, old hedgehog. - Sniff up the savour 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. - - _Chamberlain._ Don't answer, you were never to his mind. - And now you have angered him to no good purpose. - But put the dish down and I will speak to him. - - _Seanchan._ You must needs 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 would only eat out of this dish - The King would show how much he honours you. - - _Aileen._ [_Giving CRIPPLE money._] - You are always discontented. Look at this cripple, - He has had to cover up his eyes with rags - Because they are too weak to look at the sun, - And has a crooked body, and yet he is cheerful. - Stand there where he can see you. - - [_CRIPPLE goes over and stands in front of SEANCHAN, bowing and - smiling._ - - _Chamberlain._ We have come to you - Because we wish you a long, prosperous life; - Who could imagine you'd so take to heart - Being put from the high table. - - _Seanchan._ It was not I - That you have driven away from the high table, - But the images of them that weave a dance, - By the four rivers in the mountain garden. - - _Monk._ He means we have driven poetry away. - - _Chamberlain._ It is the men who are learned in the laws, - Or have led the King's armies that should sit - At the King's table. Nor has poetry - Been altogether driven away, 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 the 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. - - _Monk._ How proud these poets are! It was full time - To break their pride. - - _Seanchan._ And I would have you say - That when we are driven out we come again - Like a great wind that runs out of the waste - To blow the tables flat. - - _Chamberlain._ If you'd eat something - You'd find you have these thoughts because you are hungry. - - _Seanchan._ And when you have told them all these things, lie down - On this bare threshold and starve until the King - Restore to us the ancient right of the poets. - - _Aileen._ Let's come away. There's no use talking to him, - For he's resolved to die, and that's no loss: - We will go watch the hurley. - - _Monk._ You should obey - The King's commandment and not question it, - For it is God himself who has made him king. - - _Essa._ Let's hear his answer to the monk. - - _Seanchan._ Stoop down, - For there is something I would say to you. - 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 - Being so unruly and inconsiderate. - - _Aileen._ What does he mean? - - _Monk._ Let go my habit, Seanchan. - - _Seanchan._ Or it may be you have persuaded him - To chirp between two dishes when the King - Sits down to table. - - _Monk._ Let go my habit, sir. - What do I care about your insolent dreams. - - _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---- - - _Monk._ Let go. - - [_SEANCHAN has been dragged some feet, clinging to the MONK'S - habit._ - - _Seanchan._ Not yet; you did not think that hungry hands - Could be so strong. 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. SEANCHAN holds up his hand as if a - bird perched upon it. He pretends to stroke the bird._ - - A little god, - With soft well-coloured feathers, and bright eyes. - - _Aileen._ We have listened long enough. - - _Essa._ Let us away, - Where we can watch the young men at the hurley. - - _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 on, - Your feet delight in dancing, and your mouths - In the slow smiling that awakens love. - The mothers that have borne you mated rightly, - For they had little ears as thirsty as are yours - 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 BUAN and FINNHUA come in. While he has - been speaking AILEEN and ESSA have shrunk back holding each others - hands._ - - _Aileen._ Be quiet; - Look who it is that has come out of the house. - Princesses, we are for the hurling field. - Will you come too? - - _Princess Buan._ 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 up dish and cup._ - - _Princess Buan._ Give me the cup. - My sister there will carry the dish of meat: - We'll offer them ourselves. - - _Aileen._ They are so gracious, - The dear little princesses are so gracious. - - [_PRINCESS BUAN 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. - - _Princess Buan._ 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 - A dish and a cup of wine, with our own hands, - To show in what great honour you are held. - Will you not drink a little? Does he not show - Every befitting honour to the poets? - - _Aileen._ 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, - And he lifted 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 may be - 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._ - - _Princess Buan._ He has called us lepers. - - _Chamberlain._ He's out of his mind, - And does not know the meaning of what he said. - - _Seanchan._ [_Standing up._] - There are no sound hands among you. No sound hands. - Away with you, away with all of you, - You are all lepers. There is leprosy - Among the plates and dishes that you have brought me. - I would know why you have brought me leper's wine? - - [_He flings the wine 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 to L., all except the CRIPPLES. SEANCHAN is - staggering in the middle of the stage._ - - _Seanchan._ Where did I say the leprosy came from? - I said it came out of a leper's hand - 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. - - _A 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._ Come out of this. - - [_Clutching other CRIPPLE._ - - _Second Cripple._ If you don't need it, sir, - May we not carry some of it away? - - [_He points to food._ - - _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? - - _First Cripple._ Come away. - Maybe he's cursed the food and it might kill us. - - _Second 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. - - [_He sinks down on steps._ - - _Enter from R. FEDELM, CIAN and BRIAN._ - - _Brian._ There he is lying. Go over to him now - And bid him eat. - - _Fedelm._ I'll 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. - - _Brian._ That is a good plan. - But there is little time, for he is weakening. - - _Fedelm._ [_Crying._] I cannot think of any other plan - Although it breaks my heart. - - _Cian._ Let's leave them now, - For she will press the honey from her bag - When we are gone. - - _Brian._ It will be hard to move him - If hunger and thirst have got into his bones. - - [_They go out leaving FEDELM and SEANCHAN alone. FEDELM runs over to - SEANCHAN and kneels down before him._ - - _Fedelm._ Seanchan! Seanchan! - - [_He remains looking into the sky._ - - Can you not see me, Seanchan? - It is myself. - - [_SEANCHAN 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 plough-lands, 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._ That's true; and there's some trouble here, although - I cannot now remember what it is, - And I would get away from it. Give me your help. - 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 fowls 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 crab-tree; - 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 take me to some friendly place, - And I would go there quickly. - - _Fedelm._ Come with me. - - [_She helps him to rise. He walks slowly, supported by her till he - comes to the table at R._ - - _Seanchan._ But why am I so weak? Have I been ill? - Sweetheart, why is it that I am so weak? - - [_He sinks on to the seat._ - - _Fedelm._ 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._ 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 the 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._ I swear an oath - Upon the holy tree that I'll not eat - Until the King restore the right of the poets. - O Sun and Moon, and all things that have strength, - Become my strength that I may put a curse - On all things that would have me break this oath. - - [_FEDELM has sunk down on the ground while he says this, and - crouches at his feet._ - - _Fedelm._ Seanchan, do not curse me; from this out - I will obey like any married wife. - Let me but lie before your feet. - - _Seanchan._ Come nearer. - - [_He kisses her._ - - If I had eaten when you bid me, sweetheart, - The kiss of multitudes in times to come - Had been the poorer. - - _King._ [_Entering from house._] 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 it 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. - - [_He goes up steps._ - - Nobles and courtiers, bring the poets hither - 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, although - A hundred kings have sown it and re-sown it, - Has neither trembled nor shrunk backward yet - Because of the hard business of a king. - - [_PRINCESSES, LADIES, and COURTIERS have come in with - PUPILS, who have halters round their necks._ - - Speak to your master, beg your life of him, - Show him the halters that are round your necks; - If his heart's set upon it he may die, - But you shall all die with him; beg your lives; - Begin, for you have little time to lose; - Begin it you that are the oldest pupil. - - _Senias._ [_Going up to SEANCHAN._] - 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 he may pluck - That milky coloured neck out of the noose. - - _Arias._ Die, Seanchan, and proclaim the right of the poets. - - [_All the PUPILS turn towards the KING, holding out the ends of - their halters._ - - _Senias._ Gather the halters up into your hands - And lead us where you will, for in all things - But in our art we are obedient. - - [_The KING comes slowly down the steps._ - - _King._ [_Kneeling down before SEANCHAN._] - Kneel down, kneel down, he has the greater power. - I give my crown to you. - - [_All kneel except SEANCHAN, FEDELM and PUPILS. SEANCHAN rises - slowly, supported by one of the PUPILS and by FEDELM._ - - _Seanchan._ O crown, O crown, - It is but right if hands that made the crown - In the old time should give it when they will. - O silver trumpets be you lifted up - - [_He lays the crown on the KING'S head._ - - And cry to the great race that is to come. - Long-throated swans among the waves of time - Sing loudly, for beyond the wall of the world - It waits and it may hear and come to us. - - [_Some of the PUPILS blow a blast upon their horns._ - - -CURTAIN. - - - * * * * * - - - - -ON BAILE'S STRAND. - - - CUCHULLAIN, the King of Muirthemne. - CONCOBAR, the High King of Ullad. - DAIRE, a King. - FINTAIN, a blind man. - BARACH, a fool. - A Young Man. - Young Kings and Old Kings. - - - SCENE: _A great hall by the sea close to Dundalgan. There are two - great chairs on either side of the hall, each raised a little from - the ground, and on the back of the one chair is carved and painted a - woman with a fish's tail, and on the back of the other a hound. - There are smaller chairs and benches raised in tiers round the - walls. There is a great ale vat at one side near a small door, and a - large door at the back through which one can see the sea. BARACH, a - tall thin man with long ragged hair, dressed in skins, comes in at - the side door. He is leading FINTAIN, a fat blind man, who is - somewhat older._ - -_Barach._ I will shut the door, for this wind out of the sea gets into -my bones, and if I leave but an inch for the wind there is one like a -flake of sea-frost that might come into the house. - -_Fintain._ What is his name, fool? - -_Barach._ It's a woman from among the Riders of the Sidhe. It's Boann -herself from the river. She has left the Dagda's bed, and gone through -the salt of the sea and up here to the strand of Baile, and all for love -of me. Let her keep her husband's bed, for she'll have none of me. -Nobody knows how lecherous these goddesses are. I see her in every kind -of shape but oftener than not she's in the wind and cries "give a kiss -and put your arms about me." But no, she'll have no more of me. -Yesterday when I put out my lips to kiss her, there was nothing there -but the wind. She's bad, Fintain. O, she's bad. I had better shut the -big door too. - - [_He is going towards the big door but turns hearing FINTAIN'S - voice._ - -_Fintain._ [_Who has been feeling about with his stick._] What's this -and this? - -_Barach._ They are chairs. - -_Fintain._ And this? - -_Barach._ Why, that's a bench. - -_Fintain._ And this? - -_Barach._ A big chair. - -_Fintain._ [_Feeling the back of the chair._] There is a sea-woman -carved upon it. - -_Barach._ And there is another big chair on the other side of the hall. - -_Fintain._ Lead me to it. [_He mutters while the fool is leading him._] -That is what the High King Concobar has on his shield. The High King -will be coming. They have brought out his chair. [_He begins feeling the -back of the other chair._] And there is a dog's head on this. They have -brought out our master's chair. Now I know what the horse-boys were -talking about. We must not stay here. The Kings are going to meet here. -Now that Concobar and our master, that is his chief man, have put down -all the enemies of Ullad, they are going to build up Emain again. They -are going to talk over their plans for building it. Were you ever in -Concobar's town before it was burnt? O, he is a great King, for though -Emain was burnt down, every war had made him richer. He has gold and -silver dishes, and chessboards and candlesticks made of precious stones. -Fool, have they taken the top from the ale vat? - -_Barach._ They have. - -_Fintain._ Then bring me a horn of ale quickly, for the Kings will be -here in a minute. Now I can listen. Tell me what you saw this morning? - -_Barach._ About the young man and the fighting? - -_Fintain._ Yes. - -_Barach._ And after that we can go and eat the fowl, for I am hungry. - -_Fintain._ Time enough, time enough. You're in as great a hurry as when -you brought me to Aine's Seat, where the mad dogs gather when the moon's -at the full. Go on with your story. - -_Barach._ I was creeping under a ditch, with the fowl in my leather bag, -keeping to the shore where the farmer could not see me, when I came upon -a ship drawn up upon the sands, a great red ship with a woman's head -upon it. - -_Fintain._ A ship out of Aoife's country. They have all a woman's head -on the bow. - -_Barach._ There was a young man with a pale face and red hair standing -beside it. Some of our people came up whose turn it was to guard the -shore. I heard them ask the young man his name. He said he was under -bonds not to tell it. Then words came between them, and they fought, -and the young man killed half of them, and the others ran away. - -_Fintain._ It matters nothing to us, but he has come at last. - -_Barach._ Who has come? - -_Fintain._ I know who that young man is. There is not another like him -in the world. I saw him when I had my eyesight. - -_Barach._ You saw him? - -_Fintain._ I used to be in Aoife's country when I had my eyesight. - -_Barach._ That was before you went on shipboard and were blinded for -putting a curse on the wind? - -_Fintain._ Queen Aoife had a son that was red haired and pale faced like -herself, and everyone said that he would kill Cuchullain some day, but I -would not have that spoken of. - -_Barach._ Nobody could do that. Who was his father? - -_Fintain._ Nobody but Aoife knew that, not even he himself. - -_Barach._ Not even he himself! Was Aoife a goddess and lecherous? - -_Fintain._ I overheard her telling that she never had but one lover, and -that he was the only man who overcame her in battle. There were some who -thought him one of the Riders of the Sidhe, because the child was great -of limb and strong beyond others. The child was begotten over the -mountains; but come nearer and I will tell you something. - -_Barach._ You have thought something? - -_Fintain._ When I hear the young girls talking about the colour of -Cuchullain's eyes, and how they have seven colours, I have thought about -it. That young man has Aoife's face and hair, but he has Cuchullain's -eyes. - -_Barach._ How can he have Cuchullain's eyes? - -_Fintain._ He is Cuchullain's son. - -_Barach._ And his mother has sent him hither to fight his father. - -_Fintain._ It is all quite plain. Cuchullain went into Aoife's country -when he was a young man that he might learn skill in arms, and there he -became Aoife's lover. - -_Barach._ And now she hates him because he went away, and has sent the -son to kill the father. I knew she was a goddess. - -_Fintain._ And she never told him who his father was, that he might do -it. I have thought it all out, fool. I know a great many things because -I listen when nobody is noticing and I keep my wits awake. What ails you -now? - -_Barach._ I have remembered that I am hungry. - -_Fintain._ Well, forget it again, and I will tell you about Aoife's -country. It is full of wonders. There are a great many Queens there who -can change themselves into wolves and into swine and into white hares, -and when they are in their own shapes they are stronger than almost any -man; and there are young men there who have cat's eyes and if a bird -chirrup or a mouse squeak they cannot keep them shut, even though it is -bedtime and they sleepy; and listen, for this is a great wonder, a very -great wonder: there is a long narrow bridge, and when anybody goes to -cross it, that the Queens do not like, it flies up as this bench would -if you were to sit on the end of it. Everybody who goes there to learn -skill in arms has to cross it. It was in that country too that -Cuchullain got his spear made out of dragon bones. There were two -dragons fighting in the foam of the sea, and their grandam was the moon, -and nine Queens came along the shore. - -_Barach._ I won't listen to your story. - -_Fintain._ It is a very wonderful story. Wait till you hear what the -nine Queens did. Their right hands were all made of silver. - -_Barach._ No, I will have my dinner first. You have eaten the fowl I -left in front of the fire. The last time you sent me to steal something -you made me forget all about it till you had eaten it up. - -_Fintain._ No, there is plenty for us both. - -_Barach._ Come with me where it is. - -_Fintain._ [_Who is being led towards the door at the back by BARACH._] -O, it is all right, it is in a safe place. - -_Barach._ It is a fine fowl. It was the biggest in the yard. - -_Fintain._ It had a good smell, but I hope that the wild dogs have not -smelt it. [_Voices are heard outside the door at the side._] Here is our -master. Let us stay and talk with him. Perhaps Cuchullain will give you -a new cap with a feather. He told me that he would give you a new cap -with a feather, a feather with an eye that looks at you, a peacock's -feather. - -_Barach._ No, no. - - [_He begins pulling FINTAIN towards the door._ - -_Fintain._ If you do not get it now, you may never get it, for the -young man may kill him. - -_Barach._ No, no, I am hungry. What a head you have, blind man! Who but -you would have remembered that the hen-wife slept for a little at noon -every day! - -_Fintain._ [_Who is being led along very slowly and unwillingly._] Yes, -I have a good head. The fowl should be done just right, but one never -knows when a wild dog may come out of the woods. - - [_They go out through the big door at the back. As they go out - CUCHULLAIN and certain YOUNG KINGS come in at the side door. - CUCHULLAIN, though still young, is a good deal older than the - others. They are all very gaily dressed, and have their hair - fastened with balls of gold. The young men crowd about CUCHULLAIN - with wondering attention._ - - _First Young King._ You have hurled that stone beyond our utmost mark - Time after time, but yet you are not weary. - - _Second Young King._ He has slept on the bare ground of Fuad's Hill - This week past, waiting for the bulls and the deer. - - _Cuchullain._ Well, why should I be weary? - - _First Young King._ It is certain - His father was the god who wheels the sun, - And not King Sualtam. - - _Third Young King._ [_To a YOUNG KING who is beside him._] - He came in the dawn, - And folded Dectara in a sudden fire. - - _Fourth Young King._ And yet the mother's half might well grow weary, - And it new come from labours over sea. - - _Third Young King._ He has been on islands walled about with silver, - And fought with giants. - - [_They gather about the ale vat and begin to drink._ - - _Cuchullain._ Who was it that went out? - - _Third Young King._ As we came in? - - _Cuchullain._ Yes. - - _Third Young King._ Barach and blind Fintain. - - _Cuchullain._ They always flock together; the blind man - Has need of the fool's eyesight and strong body, - While the poor fool has need of the other's wit, - And night and day is up to his ears in mischief - That the blind man imagines. There's no hen-yard - But clucks and cackles when he passes by - As if he'd been a fox. If I'd that ball - That's in your hair and the big stone again, - I'd keep them tossing, though the one is heavy - And the other light in the hand. A trick I learnt - When I was learning arms in Aoife's country. - - _First Young King._ What kind of woman was that Aoife? - - _Cuchullain._ Comely. - - _First Young King._ But I have heard that she was never married, - And yet that's natural, for I have never known - A fighting woman, but made her favours cheap, - Or mocked at love till she grew sandy dry. - - _Cuchullain._ What manner of woman do you like the best? - A gentle or a fierce? - - _First Young King._ A gentle, surely. - - _Cuchullain._ I think that a fierce woman's better, a woman - That breaks away when you have thought her won, - For I'd be fed and hungry at one time. - I think that all deep passion is but a kiss - In the mid battle, and a difficult peace - 'Twixt oil and water, candles and dark night, - Hill-side and hollow, the hot-footed sun, - And the cold sliding slippery-footed moon, - A brief forgiveness between opposites - That have been hatreds for three times the age - Of this long 'stablished ground. Here's Concobar; - So I'll be done, but keep beside me still, - For while he talks of hammered bronze and asks - What wood is best for building, we can talk - Of a fierce woman. - - [_CONCOBAR, a man much older than CUCHULLAIN, has come in through - the great door at the back. He has many KINGS about him. One of - these KINGS, DAIRE, a stout old man, is somewhat drunk._ - - _Concobar._ [_To one of those about him._] Has the ship gone yet? - We have need of more bronze workers, and that ship - I sent to Africa for gold is late. - - _Cuchullain._ I knew their talk. - - _Concobar._ [_Seeing CUCHULLAIN._] You are before us, King. - - _Cuchullain._ So much the better, for I welcome you - Into my Muirthemne. - - _Concobar._ But who are these? - The odour from their garments when they stir - Is like a wind out of an apple garden. - - _Cuchullain._ My swordsmen and harp players and fine dancers, - My bosom friends. - - _Concobar._ I should have thought, Cuchullain, - My graver company would better match - Your greatness and your years; but I waste breath - In harping on that tale. - - _Cuchullain._ You do, great King. - Because their youth is the kind wandering wave - That carries me about the world; and if it sank, - My sword would lose its lightness. - - _Concobar._ Yet, Cuchullain, - Emain should be the foremost town of the world. - - _Cuchullain._ It is the foremost town. - - _Concobar._ No, no, it's not. - Nothing but men can make towns great, and he, - The one over-topping man that's in the world, - Keeps far away. - - _Daire._ He will not hear you, King, - And we old men had best keep company - With one another. I'll fill the horn for you. - - _Concobar._ I will not drink, old fool. You have drunk a horn - At every door we came to. - - _Daire._ You'd better drink, - For old men light upon their youth again - In the brown ale. When I have drunk enough, - I am like Cuchullain as one pea another, - And live like a bird's flight from tree to tree. - - _Concobar._ We'll to our chairs for we have much to talk of, - And we have Ullad and Muirthemne, and here - Is Conall Muirthemne in the nick of time. - - [_He goes to the back of stage to welcome a company of KINGS who - come in through the great door. The other KINGS gradually get into - their places. CUCHULLAIN sits in his great chair with certain of the - young men standing around him. Others of the young men, however, - remain with DAIRE at the ale vat. DAIRE holds out the horn of ale to - one or two of the older KINGS as they pass him going to their - places. They pass him by, most of them silently refusing._ - - _Daire._ Will you not drink? - - _An Old King._ Not till the council's over. - - _A Young King._ But I'll drink, Daire. - - _Another Young King._ Fill me a horn too, Daire. - - _Another Young King._ If I'd drunk half that you have drunk to-day, - I'd be upon all fours. - - _Daire._ That would be natural - When Mother Earth had given you this good milk - From her great breasts. - - _Cuchullain._ [_To one of the YOUNG KINGS beside him._] - One is content awhile - With a soft warm woman who folds up our lives - In silky network. Then, one knows not why, - But one's away after a flinty heart. - - _The Young King._ How long can the net keep us? - - _Cuchullain._ All our lives - If there are children, and a dozen moons - If there are none, because a growing child - Has so much need of watching it can make - A passion that's as changeable as the sea - Change till it holds the wide earth to its heart. - At least I have heard a father say it, but I - Being childless do not know it. Come nearer yet; - Though he is ringing that old silver rod - We'll have our own talk out. They cannot hear us. - - [_CONCOBAR who is now seated in his great chair, opposite - CUCHULLAIN, beats upon the pillar of the house that is nearest to - him with a rod of silver, till the KINGS have become silent. - CUCHULLAIN alone continues to talk in a low voice to those about - him, but not so loud as to disturb the silence. CONCOBAR rises and - speaks standing._ - - _Concobar._ I have called you hither, Kings of Ullad, and Kings - Of Muirthemne and Connall Muirthemne, - And tributary Kings, for now there is peace-- - It's time to build up Emain that was burned - At the outsetting of these wars; for we, - Being the foremost men, should have high chairs - And be much stared at and wondered at, and speak - Out of more laughing overflowing hearts - Than common men. It is the art of kings - To make what's noble nobler in men's eyes - By wide uplifted roofs, where beaten gold, - That's ruddy with desire, marries pale silver - Among the shadowing beams; and many a time - I would have called you hither to this work, - But always, when I'd all but summoned you, - Some war or some rebellion would break out. - - _Daire._ Where's Maine Morgor and old Usnach's children, - And that high-headed even-walking Queen, - And many near as great that got their death - Because you hated peace? I can remember - The people crying out when Deirdre passed - And Maine Morgor had a cold gray eye. - Well, well, I'll throw this heel-tap on the ground, - For it may be they are thirsty. - - _A King._ Be silent, fool. - - _Another King._ Be silent, Daire. - - _Concobar._ Let him speak his mind. - I have no need to be afraid of ghosts, - For I have made but necessary wars. - I warred to strengthen Emain, or because - When wars are out they marry and beget - And have their generations like mankind - And there's no help for it; but I'm well content - That they have ended and left the town so great, - That its mere name shall be in times to come - Like a great ale vat where the men of the world - Shall drink no common ale but the hard will, - The unquenchable hope, the friendliness of the sword. - - [_He takes thin boards on which plans have been carved by those - about him._ - - Give me the building plans, and have you written - That we--Cuchullain is looking in his shield; - It may be the pale riders of the wind - Throw pictures on it, or that Mananan, - His father's friend and sometime fosterer, - Foreknower of all things, has cast a vision, - Out of the cold dark of the rich sea, - Foretelling Emain's greatness. - - _Cuchullain._ No, great King, - I looked on this out of mere idleness, - Imagining a far-off country and one - That held it with a sword, although a woman. - - _Concobar._ A woman needs but laugh, or a friend sigh, - And you're afar off sounding through the world, - While I plan Emain's greatness. - - [_The sound of a trumpet without._ - - Open the doors! - I hear a herald's trumpet, and await, - It may be, the heavy fleeces of the sea - And golden and silver apples or ancient crowns - Long hidden in the well at the World's End, - Or glittering garments of the salmon, tributes - From the Great Plain, or the high people of Sorcha, - Or the walled garden in the east of the world. - - [_The great door at the back is flung open; a YOUNG MAN, who is - fully armed and carries a shield with a woman's head painted on it, - stands upon the threshold. Behind him are trumpeters. He walks into - the centre of the hall, the trumpeting ceases._ - - What is your message? - - _Young Man._ I am of Aoife's army. - - _First King._ Queen Aoife and her army have fallen upon us. - - _Second King._ Out swords! Out swords! - - _Third King._ They are about the house. - - _Fourth King._ Rush out! Rush out! Before they have fired the thatch. - - _Young Man._ Aoife is far away. I am alone. - I have come alone in the midst of you - To weigh this sword against Cuchullain's sword. - - [_There is a murmur amongst the KINGS._ - - _Concobar._ And are you noble? for if of common seed - You cannot weigh your sword against his sword - But in mixed battle. - - _Young Man._ I am under bonds - To tell my name to no man, but it's noble. - - _Concobar._ But I would know your name and not your bonds. - You cannot speak in the Assembly House - If you are not noble. - - _A King._ Answer the High King. - - _Young Man._ [_Drawing his sword._] - I will give no other proof than the hawk gives - That it's no sparrow. - - [_He is silent a moment, then speaks to all._ - - Yet look upon me, Kings; - I too am of that ancient seed and carry - The signs about this body and in these bones. - - _Cuchullain._ To have shown the hawk's gray feather is enough, - And you speak highly too. - - [_CUCHULLAIN comes down from his great chair. He remains standing on - the steps of the chair. The YOUNG KINGS gather about him and begin - to arm him._ - - Give me that helmet! - I'd thought they had grown weary sending champions. - That leathern coat will do. The High King there - Being old in wisdom can think of times to come, - But the hawk's sleepy till its well-beloved - Cries out amid the acorns, or it has seen - Its enemy like a speck upon the sun. - What's Emain to the hawk when that clear eye - Is burning nearer up in the high air? - That buckle should be tighter. Give me your shield. - There is good level ground at Baile's Yew-tree, - Some dozen yards from here, and it's but truth - That I am sad to-day and this fight welcome. - - [_He looks hard at the YOUNG MAN, and then steps down on the floor - of the Assembly House. He grasps the YOUNG MAN by the shoulder._ - - Hither into the light. - - [_Turning to one of the YOUNG KINGS._ - - The very tint - Of her that I was speaking of but now: - Not a pin's difference. - - [_To the YOUNG MAN._ - - You are from the North, - Where there are many that have that tint of hair, - Red-brown, the light red-brown. Come nearer, boy! - For I would have another look at you. - There's more likeness, a pale, a stone pale cheek. - What brought you, boy? Have you no fear of death? - - _Young Man._ Whether I live or die is in the Gods' hands. - - _Cuchullain._ That is all words, all words, a young man's talk; - I am their plough, their harrow, their very strength, - For he that's in the sun begot this body - Upon a mortal woman, and I have heard tell - It seemed as if he had outrun the moon, - That he must always follow through waste heaven, - He loved so happily. He'll be but slow - To break a tree that was so sweetly planted. - Let's see that arm; I'll see it if I like. - That arm had a good father and a good mother, - But it is not like this. - - _Young Man._ You are mocking me. - You think I am not worthy to be fought, - But I'll not wrangle but with this talkative knife. - - _Cuchullain._ Put up your sword, I am not mocking you. - I'd have you for my friend, but if it's not - Because you have a hot heart and a cold eye - I cannot tell the reason. You've got her fierceness, - And nobody is as fierce as those pale women. - - [_To the YOUNG KINGS._ - - We'll keep him here in Muirthemne awhile. - - _A Young King._ You are the leader of our pack and therefore - May cry what you will. - - _Cuchullain._ You'll stop with us - And we will hunt the deer and the wild bulls, - And, when we have grown weary, light our fires - In sandy places where the wool-white foam - Is murmuring and breaking, and it may be - That long-haired women will come out of the dunes - To dance in the yellow fire-light. You hang your head, - Young man, as if it was not a good life; - And yet what's better than to hurl the spear, - And hear the long-remembering harp, and dance? - Friendship grows quicker in the murmuring dark; - But I can see there's no more need for words - And that you'll be my friend now. - - _First Old King._ Concobar, - Forbid their friendship, for it will get twisted - To a reproach against us. - - _Concobar._ Until now - I'd never need to cry Cuchullain on - And would not now. - - _First Old King._ They'll say his manhood's quenched. - - _Cuchullain._ I'll give you gifts, but I'll have something too, - An arm-ring or the like, and if you will - We'll fight it out when you are older, boy. - - _An Old King._ Aoife will make some story out of this. - - _Cuchullain._ Well, well, what matter, I'll have that arm-ring, boy. - - _Young Man._ There is no man I'd sooner have my friend - Than you whose name has gone about the world - As if it had been the wind, but Aoife'd say - I had turned coward. - - _Cuchullain._ I'll give you gifts - That Aoife'll know and all her people know - To have been my gifts. Mananan, son of the sea, - Gave me this heavy embroidered cloak. Nine Queens - Of the Land-under-Wave had woven it - Out of the fleeces of the sea. O! tell her - I was afraid, or tell her what you will. - No! tell her that I heard a raven croak - On the north side of the house and was afraid. - - _An Old King._ Some witch of the air has troubled Cuchullain's mind. - - _Cuchullain._ No witchcraft, his head is like a woman's head - I had a fancy for. - - _Second Old King._ A witch of the air - Can make a leaf confound us with memories. - They have gone to school to learn the trick of it. - - _Cuchullain._ But there's no trick in this. That arm-ring, boy. - - _Third Old King._ He shall not go unfought, I'll fight with him. - - _Fourth Old King._ No! I will fight with him. - - _First Old King._ I claim the fight, - For when we sent an army to her land---- - - _Second Old King._ I claim the fight, for one of Aoife's galleys - Stole my great cauldron and a herd of pigs. - - _Third Old King._ No, no, I claim it, for at Lammas' time---- - - _Cuchullain._ Back! Back! Put up your swords! Put up your swords! - There's none alive that shall accept a challenge - I have refused. Laegaire, put up your sword. - - _Young Man._ No, let them come, let any three together. - If they've a mind to, I'll try it out with four. - - _Cuchullain._ That's spoken as I'd spoken it at your age, - But you are in my house. Whatever man - Would fight with you shall fight it out with me. - They're dumb. They're dumb. How many of you would meet - - [_Drawing his sword._ - - This mutterer, this old whistler, this sandpiper, - This edge that's grayer than the tide, this mouse - That's gnawing at the timbers of the world, - This, this--Boy, I would meet them all in arms - If I'd a son like you. He would avenge me - When I have withstood for the last time the men - Whose fathers, brothers, sons, and friends I have killed - Upholding Ullad; when the four provinces - Have gathered with the ravens over them. - But I'd need no avenger. You and I - Would scatter them like water from a dish. - - _Young Man._ We'll stand by one another from this out. - Here is the ring. - - _Cuchullain._ No, turn and turn about, - But my turn is first, because I am the older. - Cliodna embroidered these bird wings, but Fand - Made all these little golden eyes with the hairs - That she had stolen out of Aengus' beard, - And therefore none that has this cloak about him - Is crossed in love. The heavy inlaid brooch - That Buan hammered has a merit too. - - [_He begins spreading the cloak out on a bench, showing it to the - YOUNG MAN. Suddenly CONCOBAR beats with his silver rod on a pillar - beside his chair. All turn towards him._ - - _Concobar._ [_In a loud voice._] - No more of that, I will not have this friendship. - Cuchullain is my man and I forbid it; - He shall not go unfought for I myself---- - - _Cuchullain._ [_Seizing CONCOBAR._] - You shall not stir, High King, I'll hold you there. - - _Concobar._ Witchcraft has maddened you. - - _The Kings._ [_Shouting._] Yes, witchcraft, witchcraft. - - _A King._ You saw another's head upon his shoulders - All of a sudden, a woman's head, Cuchullain. - Then raised your hand against the King of Ullad. - - _Cuchullain._ [_Letting CONCOBAR go, and looking wildly about him._] - Yes, yes, all of a sudden, all of a sudden. - - _Daire._ Why, there's no witchcraft in it, I myself - Have made a hundred of these sudden friendships - And fought it out next day. But that was folly, - For now that I am old I know it is best - To live in comfort. - - _A King._ Pull the fool away! - - _Daire._ I'll throw a heel-tap to the one that dies. - - _Concobar._ Some witch is floating in the air above us. - - _Cuchullain._ Yes, witchcraft, witchcraft and the power of witchcraft. - - [_To the YOUNG MAN._ - - Why did you do it? was it Calatin's daughters? - Out, out, I say, for now it's sword on sword. - - _Young Man._ But, but, I did not. - - _Cuchullain._ Out, I say, out, out! - Sword upon sword. - - [_He goes towards the door at back, followed by YOUNG MAN. He - turns on the threshold and cries out, looking at the YOUNG MAN._ - - That hair my hands were drowned in! - - [_He goes out, followed by YOUNG MAN. The other KINGS begin to - follow them out._ - - _A King._ I saw him fight with Ferdiad. - - _Second King._ We'll be too late, - They're such a long time getting through the door. - - _Third King._ Run quicker, quicker. - - _Daire._ I was at the Smith's - When he that was the boy Setanta then---- - - [_Sound, of fighting outside._ - - _Third King._ He will have killed him. - They have begun the fight! - - [_They all go out, leaving the house silent and empty. There is a - pause during which one hears the clashing of the swords. BARACH and - FINTAIN come in from side door. BARACH is dragging FINTAIN._ - -_Barach._ You have eaten it, you have eaten it, you have left me nothing -but the bones. - -_Fintain._ O, that I should have to endure such a plague. O, I ache all -over. O, I am pulled in pieces. This is the way you pay me for all the -good I have done you! - -_Barach._ You have eaten it, you have told me lies about a wild dog. -Nobody has seen a wild dog about the place this twelve month. Lie there -till the Kings come. O, I will tell Concobar and Cuchullain and all the -Kings about you! - -_Fintain._ What would have happened to you but for me, and you without -your wits? If I did not take care of you what would you do for food and -warmth? - -_Barach._ You take care of me? You stay safe and send me into every kind -of danger. You sent me down the cliff for gull's eggs while you warmed -your blind eyes in the sun. And then you ate all that were good for -food. You left me the eggs that were neither egg nor bird. [_The blind -man tries to rise. BARACH makes him lie down again._] Keep quiet now -till I shut the door. There is some noise outside. There are swords -crossing; a high vexing noise so that I can't be listening to myself. -[_He goes to the big door at the back and shuts it._] Why can't they be -quiet, why can't they be quiet! Ah, you would get away, would you? [_He -follows the blind man who has been crawling along the wall and makes him -lie down close to the KING'S chair._] Lie there, lie there. No, you -won't get away. Lie there till the Kings come, I'll tell them all about -you. I shall tell it all. How you sit warming yourself, when you have -made me light a fire of sticks, while I sit blowing it with my mouth. Do -you not always make me take the windy side of the bush when it blows and -the rainy side when it rains? - -_Fintain._ O good fool, listen to me. Think of the care I have taken of -you. I have brought you to many a warm hearth, where there was a good -welcome for you, but you would not stay there, you were always wandering -about. - -_Barach._ The last time you brought me in, it was not I who wandered -away, but you that got put out because you took the crubeen out of the -pot, when you thought nobody was looking. Keep quiet now, keep quiet -till I shut the door. Here is Cuchullain, now you will be beaten. I am -going to tell him everything. - -_Cuchullain._ [_Comes in and says to the fool._] Give me that horn. - - [_The fool gives him a horn which CUCHULLAIN fills with ale and - drinks._ - -_Fintain._ Do not listen to him, listen to me. - -_Cuchullain._ What are you wrangling over? - -_Barach._ He is fat and good for nothing. He has left me the bones and -the feathers. - -_Cuchullain._ What feathers? - -_Barach._ I left him turning a fowl at the fire. He ate it all. He left -me nothing but the bones and feathers. - -_Fintain._ Do not believe him. You do not know how vain this fool is. I -gave him the feathers, because I thought he would like nothing so well. - - [_BARACH is sitting on a bench playing with a heap of feathers, - which he has taken out of the breast of his coat._ - - _Barach._ [_Singing._] When you were an acorn on the tree top---- - -_Fintain._ Where would he be but for me? I must be always thinking, -thinking to get food for the two of us, and when we've got it, if the -moon's at the full or the tide on the turn, he'll leave the rabbit in -its snare till it is full of maggots, or let the trout slip through his -hands back into the water. - - _Barach._ [_Singing._] When you were an acorn on the tree top, - Then was I an eagle cock; - Now that you are a withered old block, - Still am I an eagle cock! - -_Fintain._ Listen to him now! That's the sort of talk I have to put up -with, day out day in. - - [_The fool is putting the feathers into his hair. CUCHULLAIN takes a - handful of feathers out of the heap and out of the fool's hair, and - begins to wipe the blood from his sword with them._ - -_Barach._ He has taken my feathers to wipe his sword. It is blood that -he is wiping from his sword! - -_Fintain._ Whose blood? Whose blood? - -_Cuchullain._ That young champion's. - -_Fintain._ He that came out of Aoife's country? - -_Cuchullain._ The Kings are standing round his body. - -_Fintain._ Did he fight long? - -_Cuchullain._ He thought to have saved himself with witchcraft. - -_Barach._ That blind man there said he would kill you. He came from -Aoife's country to kill you. That blind man said they had taught him -every kind of weapon that he might do it. But I always knew that you -would kill him. - -_Cuchullain._ [_To the blind man._] You knew him, then? - -_Fintain._ I saw him when I had my eyes, in Aoife's country. - -_Cuchullain._ You were in Aoife's country? - -_Fintain._ I knew him and his mother there. - -_Cuchullain._ He was about to speak of her when he died. - -_Fintain._ He was a Queen's son. - -_Cuchullain._ What Queen, what Queen? [_He seizes the blind man._] Was -it Scathach? There were many Queens. All the rulers were Queens. - -_Fintain._ No, not Scathach. - -_Cuchullain._ It was Uathach, then. Speak, speak! - -_Fintain._ I cannot speak, you are clutching me too tightly. -[_CUCHULLAIN lets him go._] I cannot remember who it was. I am not -certain. It was some Queen. - -_Barach._ He said a while ago that the young man was Aoife's son. - -_Cuchullain._ She? No, no, she had no son when I was there. - -_Barach._ That blind man there said that she owned him for her son. - -_Cuchullain._ I had rather he had been some other woman's son. What -father had he? A soldier out of Alba? She was an amorous woman, a proud, -pale amorous woman. - -_Fintain._ None knew whose son he was. - -_Cuchullain._ None knew? Did you know, old listener at doors? - -_Fintain._ No, no, I knew nothing. - -_Barach._ He said a while ago that he heard Aoife boast that she'd never -but the one lover, and he the only man that had overcome her in battle. - - [_A pause._ - -_Fintain._ Somebody is trembling. Why are you trembling, fool? the bench -is shaking, why are you trembling? Is Cuchullain going to hurt us? It -was not I who told you, Cuchullain. - -_Barach._ It is Cuchullain who is trembling. He is shaking the bench -with his knees. - -_Cuchullain._ He was my son, and I have killed my son. - - [_A pause._ - - 'Twas they that did it, the pale windy people, - Where, where, where? My sword against the thunder. - But no, for they have always been my friends; - And though they love to blow a smoking coal - Till it's all flame, the wars they blow aflame - Are full of glory, and heart uplifting pride, - And not like this; the wars they love awaken - Old fingers and the sleepy strings of harps. - Who did it then? Are you afraid; speak out, - For I have put you under my protection - And will reward you well. Dubthach the Chafer. - He had an old grudge. No, for he is with Maeve. - Laegaire did it. Why do you not speak? - What is this house? [_A pause._] Now I remember all. - - _Fintain._ He will kill us. O, I am afraid! - - _Cuchullain._ [_Who is before CONCOBAR'S chair._] - 'Twas you who did it, you who sat up there - With that old branch of silver, like a magpie - Nursing a stolen spoon. Magpie, magpie, - A maggot that is eating up the earth! - - [_Begins hacking at the chair with his sword._ - - No, but a magpie, for he's flown away. - Where did he fly to? - - _Fintain._ He is outside the door. - - _Cuchullain._ Outside the door? - - _Fintain._ He is under Baile's yew-tree. - - _Cuchullain._ Concobar, Concobar, the sword into your heart. - - [_He goes out. A pause. The fool goes to the great door at back and - looks out after him._ - -_Barach._ He is going up to King Concobar; they are all under the tree. -No, no, he is standing still. There is a great wave going to break and -he is looking at it. Ah! now he is running down to the sea, but he is -holding up his sword as if he were going into a fight. [_A pause._] Well -struck, well struck! - -_Fintain._ What is he doing now? - -_Barach._ Oh! he is fighting the waves. - -_Fintain._ He sees King Concobar's crown on every one of them. - -_Barach._ There, he has struck at a big one. He has struck the crown off -it, he has made the foam fly. There again another big one. - - [_Shouting without._ - -_Fintain._ Where are the Kings? What are the Kings doing? - -_Barach._ They are shouting and running down to the shore, and the -people are running out of the houses, they are all running. - -_Fintain._ You say they are running out of the houses, there will be -nobody left in the houses. Listen, fool. - -_Barach._ There, he is down! He is up again! He is going out into the -deep water. - -_Fintain._ Come here, fool; come here, I say. - -_Barach._ [_Coming towards him but looking backward towards the door._] -What is it? - -_Fintain._ There will be nobody in the houses. Come this way, come -quickly; the ovens will be full; we will put our hands into the ovens. - -[_They go out._ - - - - -[Illustration] - - CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. - TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. - - - * * * * * - - -Transcriber's Note: - -Punctuation has been standardised. 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