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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7448-h.zip b/7448-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c24dea --- /dev/null +++ b/7448-h.zip diff --git a/7448-h/7448-h.htm b/7448-h/7448-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1bb7b4d --- /dev/null +++ b/7448-h/7448-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1191 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Hour-glass, by W. B. Yeats + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hour Glass, by W. B. 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 + + +Title: The Hour Glass + +Author: W. B. Yeats + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7448] +Last Updated: February 7, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUR GLASS *** + + + + +Produced by Nichole Apostola and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE HOUR-GLASS + </h1> + <h2> + A MORALITY + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By W. B. Yeats + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> DRAMATIS PERSONAE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> THE HOUR-GLASS </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + DRAMATIS PERSONAE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A WISE MAN + A FOOL + SOME PUPILS + AN ANGEL + THE WISE MAN'S WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + THE HOUR-GLASS + </h2> + <p> + SCENE: A large room with a door at the back and another at the side + opening to an inner room. A desk and a chair in the middle. An hour-glass + on a bracket near the door. A creepy stool near it. Some benches. The WISE + MAN sitting at his desk. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN [turning over the pages of a book]. Where is that passage I am to + explain to my pupils to-day? Here it is, and the book says that it was + written by a beggar on the walls of Babylon: "There are two living + countries, the one visible and the one invisible; and when it is winter + with us it is summer in that country; and when the November winds are up + among us it is lambing-time there." I wish that my pupils had asked me to + explain any other passage, for this is a hard passage. [The FOOL comes in + and stands at the door, holding out his hat. He has a pair of shears in + the other hand.] It sounds to me like foolishness; and yet that cannot be, + for the writer of this book, where I have found so much knowledge, would + not have set it by itself on this page, and surrounded it with so many + images and so many deep colors and so much fine gilding, if it had been + foolishness. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Give me a penny. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. [Turns to another page.] Here he has written: "The learned in + old times forgot the visible country." That I understand, but I have + taught my learners better. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Won't you give me a penny? + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. What do you want? The words of the wise Saracen will not teach + you much. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Such a great wise teacher as you are will not refuse a penny to a + Fool. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. What do you know about wisdom? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Oh, I know! I know what I have seen. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. What is it you have seen? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. When I went by Kilcluan where the bells used to be ringing at the + break of every day, I could hear nothing but the people snoring in their + houses. When I went by Tubbervanach where the young men used to be + climbing the hill to the blessed well, they were sitting at the crossroads + playing cards. When I went by Carrigoras where the friars used to be + fasting and serving the poor, I saw them drinking wine and obeying their + wives. And when I asked what misfortune had brought all these changes, + they said it was no misfortune, but it was the wisdom they had learned + from your teaching. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Run round to the kitchen, and my wife will give you something to + eat. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. That is foolish advice for a wise man to give. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Why, Fool? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. What is eaten is gone. I want pennies for my bag. I must buy bacon + in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong drink for the time when + the sun is weak. And I want snares to catch the rabbits and the squirrels + and the bares, and a pot to cook them in. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Go away. I have other things to think of now than giving you + pennies. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Give me a penny and I will bring you luck. Bresal the Fisherman lets + me sleep among the nets in his loft in the winter-time because he says I + bring him luck; and in the summer-time the wild creatures let me sleep + near their nests and their holes. It is lucky even to look at me or to + touch me, but it is much more lucky to give me a penny. [Holds out his + hand.] If I wasn't lucky, I'd starve. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. What have you got the shears for? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. I won't tell you. If I told you, you would drive them away. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Whom would I drive away? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. I won't tell you. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Not if I give you a penny? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. No. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Not if I give you two pennies. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. You will be very lucky if you give me two pennies, but I won't tell + you. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Three pennies? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Four, and I will tell you! + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Very well, four. But I will not call you Teigue the Fool any + longer. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Let me come close to you where nobody will hear me. But first you + must promise you will not drive them away. [WISE MAN nods.] Every day men + go out dressed in black and spread great black nets over the hill, great + black nets. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Why do they do that? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. That they may catch the feet of the angels. But every morning, just + before the dawn, I go out and cut the nets with my shears, and the angels + fly away. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Ah, now I know that you are Teigue the Fool. You have told me + that I am wise, and I have never seen an angel. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. I have seen plenty of angels. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Do you bring luck to the angels too. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Oh, no, no! No one could do that. But they are always there if one + looks about one; they are like the blades of grass. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. When do you see them? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. When one gets quiet; then something wakes up inside one, something + happy and quiet like the stars—not like the seven that move, but + like the fixed stars. [He points upward.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. And what happens then? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Then all in a minute one smells summer flowers, and tall people go + by, happy and laughing, and their clothes are the color of burning sods. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Is it long since you have seen them, Teigue the Fool? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Not long, glory be to God! I saw one coming behind me just now. It + was not laughing, but it had clothes the color of burning sods, and there + was something shining about its head. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Well, there are your four pennies. You, a fool, say "Glory be to + God," but before I came the wise men said it. Run away now. I must ring + the bell for my scholars. + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Four pennies! That means a great deal of luck. Great teacher, I have + brought you plenty of luck! [He goes out shaking the bag.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Though they call him Teigue the Fool, he is not more foolish + than everybody used to be, with their dreams and their preachings and + their three worlds; but I have overthrown their three worlds with the + seven sciences. [He touches the books with his hands.] With Philosophy + that was made for the lonely star, I have taught them to forget Theology; + with Architecture, I have hidden the ramparts of their cloudy heaven; with + Music, the fierce planets' daughter whose hair is always on fire, and with + Grammar that is the moon's daughter, I have shut their ears to the + imaginary harpings and speech of the angels; and I have made formations of + battle with Arithmetic that have put the hosts of heaven to the rout. But, + Rhetoric and Dialectic, that have been born out of the light star and out + of the amorous star, you have been my spearman and my catapult! Oh! my + swift horseman! Oh! my keen darting arguments, it is because of you that I + have overthrown the hosts of foolishness! [An ANGEL, in a dress the color + of embers, and carrying a blossoming apple bough in his hand and with a + gilded halo about his head, stands upon the threshold.] Before I came, + men's minds were stuffed with folly about a heaven where birds sang the + hours, and about angels that came and stood upon men's thresholds. But I + have locked the visions into heaven and turned the key upon them. Well, I + must consider this passage about the two countries. My mother used to say + something of the kind. She would say that when our bodies sleep our souls + awake, and that whatever withers here ripens yonder, and that harvests are + snatched from us that they may feed invisible people. But the meaning of + the book must be different, for only fools and women have thoughts like + that; their thoughts were never written upon the walls of Babylon. [He + sees the ANGEL.] What are you? Who are you? I think I saw some that were + like you in my dreams when I was a child—that bright thing, that + dress that is the color of embers! But I have done with dreams, I have + done with dreams. + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. I am the Angel of the Most High God. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Why have you come to me? + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. I have brought you a message. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. What message have you got for me? + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. You will die within the hour. You will die when the last grains + have fallen in this glass. [He turns the hour-glass.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. My time to die has not come. I have my pupils. I have a young + wife and children that I cannot leave. Why must I die? + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. You must die because no souls have passed over the threshold of + heaven since you came into this country. The threshold is grassy, and the + gates are rusty, and the angels that keep watch there are lonely. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Where will death bring me to? + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. The doors of heaven will not open to you, for you have denied the + existence of heaven; and the doors of purgatory will not open to you, for + you have denied the existence of purgatory. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. But I have also denied the existence of hell! + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. Hell is the place of those who deny. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN [kneeling]. I have indeed denied everything and have taught + others to deny. I have believed in nothing but what my senses told me. + But, oh! beautiful Angel, forgive me, forgive me! + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. You should have asked forgiveness long ago. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Had I seen your face as I see it now, oh! beautiful Angel, I + would have believed, I would have asked forgiveness. Maybe you do not know + how easy it is to doubt. Storm, death, the grass rotting, many sicknesses, + those are the messengers that came to me. Oh! why are you silent? You + carry the pardon of the Most High; give it to me! I would kiss your hands + if I were not afraid— no, no, the hem of your dress! + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. You let go undying hands too long ago to take hold of them now. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. You cannot understand. You live in that country people only see + in their dreams. You live in a country that we can only dream about. Maybe + it is as hard for you to understand why we disbelieve as it is for us to + believe. Oh! what have I said! You know everything! Give me time to undo + what I have done. Give me a year—a month—a day—an hour! + Give me this hour's end, that I may undo what I have done! + </p> + <p> + ANGEL. You cannot undo what you have done. Yet I have this power with my + message. If you can find one that believes before the hour's end, you + shall come to heaven after the years of purgatory. For, from one fiery + seed, watched over by those that sent me, the harvest can come again to + heap the golden threshing-floor. But now farewell, for I am weary of the + weight of time. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Blessed be the Father, blessed be the Son, blessed be the + Spirit, blessed be the Messenger They have sent! + </p> + <p> + ANGEL [at the door and pointing at the hour-glass]. In a little while the + uppermost glass will be empty. [Goes out.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Everything will be well with me. I will call my pupils; they + only say they doubt. [Pulls the bell.] They will be here in a moment. I + hear their feet outside on the path. They want to please me; they pretend + that they disbelieve. Belief is too old to be overcome all in a minute. + Besides, I can prove what I once disproved. [Another pull at the bell.] + They are coming now. I will go to my desk. I will speak quietly, as if + nothing had happened. + </p> + <p> + [He stands at the desk with a fixed look in his eyes.] + </p> + <p> + [Enter PUPILS and the FOOL.] + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Who is that pulling at my bag? + King's son, do not pull at my bag. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Did your friends the angels give you that bag? Why don't they + fill your bag for you? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Give me pennies! Give me some pennies! + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Let go his cloak, it is coming to pieces. What do you want + pennies for, with that great bag at your waist? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. I want to buy bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong + drink for the time when the sun is weak, and snares to catch rabbits and + the squirrels that steal the nuts, and hares, and a great pot to cook them + in. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Why don't your friends tell you where buried treasures are? + </p> + <p> + ANOTHER. Why don't they make you dream about treasures? If one dreams + three times, there is always treasure. + </p> + <p> + FOOL [holding out his hat]. Give me pennies! Give me pennies! + </p> + <p> + [They throw pennies into his hat. He is standing close to the door, that + he may hold out his hat to each newcomer.] + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Master, will you have Teigue the Fool for a scholar? + </p> + <p> + ANOTHER YOUNG MAN. Teigue, will you give us pennies if we teach you + lessons? No, he goes to school for nothing on the mountains. Tell us what + you learn on the mountains, Teigue? + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Be silent all. [He has been standing silent, looking away.] + Stand still in your places, for there is something I would have you tell + me. + </p> + <p> + [A moment's pause. They all stand round in their places. TEIGUE still + stands at the door.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Is there any one amongst you who believes in God? In heaven? Or + in purgatory? Or in hell? + </p> + <p> + ALL THE YOUNG MEN. No one; Master! No one! + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. I knew you would all say that; but do not be afraid. I will not + be angry. Tell me the truth. Do you not believe? + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. We once did, but you have taught us to know better. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Oh! teaching, teaching does not go very deep! The heart remains + unchanged under it all. You believe just as you always did, and you are + afraid to tell me. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. No, no, master. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. If you tell me that you believe I shall be glad and not angry. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. [To his neighbor.] He wants somebody to dispute with. + </p> + <p> + HIS NEIGHBOR. I knew that from the beginning. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. That is not the subject for to-day; you were going to talk + about the words the beggar wrote upon the walls of Babylon. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. If there is one amongst you that believes, he will be my best + friend. Surely there is one amongst you. [They are all silent.] Surely + what you learned at your mother's knees has not been so soon forgotten. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Master, till you came, no teacher in this land was able to + get rid of foolishness and ignorance. But every one has listened to you, + every one has learned the truth. You have had your last disputation. + </p> + <p> + ANOTHER. What a fool you made of that monk in the market-place! He had not + a word to say. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. [Comes from his desk and stands among them in the middle of the + room.] Pupils, dear friends, I have deceived you all this time. It was I + myself who was ignorant. There is a God. There is a heaven. There is fire + that passes, and there is fire that lasts for ever. + </p> + <p> + [TEIGUE, through all this, is sitting on a stool by the door, reckoning on + his fingers what he will buy with his money.] + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN [to another]. He will not be satisfied till we dispute with + him. [To the WISE MAN.] Prove it, master. Have you seen them? + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN [in a low, solemn voice]. Just now, before you came in, some one + came to the door, and when I looked up I saw an angel standing there. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. You were in a dream. Anybody can see an angel in his dreams. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Oh, my God! it was not a dream. I was awake, waking as I am now. + I tell you I was awake as I am now. + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Some dream when they are awake, but they are the crazy, and + who would believe what they say? Forgive me, master, but that is what you + taught me to say. That is what you said to the monk when he spoke of the + visions of the saints and the martyrs. + </p> + <p> + ANOTHER YOUNG MAN. You see how well we remember your teaching. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Out, out from my sight! I want some one with belief. I must find + that grain the Angel spoke of before I die. I tell you I must find it, and + you answer me with arguments. Out with you, or I will beat you with my + stick! [The young men laugh.] + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. How well he plays at faith! He is like the monk when he had + nothing more to say. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Out, out, or I will lay this stick about your shoulders! Out + with you, though you are a king's son! + </p> + <p> + [They begin to hurry out.] + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Come, come; he wants us to find some one who will dispute + with him. [All go out.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN [alone. He goes to the door at the side]. I will call my wife. + She will believe; women always believe. [He opens the door and calls.] + Bridget! Bridget! [BRIDGET comes in wearing her apron, her sleeves turned + up from her floury arms.] Bridget, tell me the truth; do not say what you + think will please me. Do you sometimes say your prayers? + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET. Prayers! No, you taught me to leave them off long ago. At first I + was sorry, but I am glad now, for I am sleepy in the evenings. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. But do you not believe in God? + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET. Oh, a good wife only believes what her husband tells her! + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. But sometimes when you are alone, when I am in the school and + the children asleep, do you not think about the saints, about the things + you used to believe in? What do you think of when you are alone? + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET [considering]. I think about nothing. Sometimes I wonder if the + pig is fattening well, or I go out to see if the crows are picking up the + chickens' food. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Oh, what can I do! Is there nobody who believes? I must go and + find somebody! [He goes toward the door but with his eyes fixed on the + hour-glass.] I cannot go out; I cannot leave that! + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET. You want somebody to get up argument with. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Oh, look out of the door and tell me if there is anybody there + in the street. I cannot leave this glass; somebody might shake it! Then + the sand would fall quickly. + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET. I don't understand what you are saying. [Looks out.] There is a + crowd of people talking to your pupils. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Oh, run out, Bridget, and see if they have found somebody that + believes! + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET [wiping her arms in her apron and pulling down her sleeves]. It's + a hard thing to be married to a man of learning that must be always having + arguments. [Goes out and shouts through the kitchen door.] Don't be + meddling with the bread, children, while I'm out. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. [Kneels down.] "Salvum me fac, Deus—salvum—salvum...." + I have forgotten it all. It is thirty years since I said a prayer. I must + pray in the common tongue, like a clown begging in the market like Teigue + the Fool! [He prays.] Help me, Father, Son, and Spirit! + </p> + <p> + [BRIDGET enters, followed by the FOOL, who is holding out his hat to her.] + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Give me something; give me a penny to buy bacon in the shops, and + nuts in the market, and strong drink for the time when the sun grows weak. + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET. I have no pennies. [To the WISE MAN.] Your pupils cannot find + anybody to argue with you. There is nobody in the whole country who had + enough belief to fill a pipe with since you put down the monk. Can't you + be quiet now and not always be wanting to have arguments? It must be + terrible to have a mind like that. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. I am lost! I am lost! + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET. Leave me alone now; I have to make the bread for you and the + children. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Out of this, woman, out of this, I say! [BRIDGET goes through + the kitchen door.] Will nobody find a way to help me! But she spoke of my + children. I had forgotten them. They will believe. It is only those who + have reason that doubt; the young are full of faith. Bridget, Bridget, + send my children to me! + </p> + <p> + BRIDGET [inside]. Your father wants you, run to him now. + </p> + <p> + [The two children came in. They stand together a little way from the + threshold of the kitchen door, looking timidly at their father.] + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Children, what do you believe? Is there a heaven? Is there a + hell? Is there a purgatory? + </p> + <p> + FIRST CHILD. We haven't forgotten, father. + </p> + <p> + THE OTHER CHILD. Oh, no, father. [They both speak together as if in + school.] There is no heaven; there is no hell; there is nothing we cannot + see. + </p> + <p> + FIRST CHILD. Foolish people used to think that there were, but you are + very learned and you have taught us better. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. You are just as bad as the others, just as bad as the others! + Out of the room with you, out of the room! [The children begin to cry and + run away.] Go away, go away! I will teach you better—no, I will + never teach you again. Go to your mother—no, she will not be able to + teach them.... Help them, O God! [Alone.] The grains are going very + quickly. There is very little sand in the uppermost glass. Somebody will + come for me in a moment; perhaps he is at the door now! All creatures that + have reason doubt. O that the grass and the planets could speak! Somebody + has said that they would wither if they doubted. O speak to me, O grass + blades! O fingers of God's certainty, speak to me. You are millions and + you will not speak. I dare not know the moment the messenger will come for + me. I will cover the glass. [He covers it and brings it to the desk, and + the FOOL, is sitting by the door fiddling with some flowers which he has + stuck in his hat. He has begun to blow a dandelion head.] What are you + doing? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Wait a moment. [He blows.] Four, five, six. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. What are you doing that for? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. I am blowing at the dandelion to find out what time it is. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. You have heard everything! That is why you want to find out what + hour it is! You are waiting to see them coming through the door to carry + me away. [FOOL goes on blowing.] Out through the door with you! I will + have no one here when they come. [He seizes the FOOL by the shoulders, and + begins to force him out through the door, then suddenly changes his mind.] + No, I have something to ask you. [He drags him back into the room.] Is + there a heaven? Is there a hell? Is there a purgatory? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. So you ask me now. I thought when you were asking your pupils, I + said to myself, if he would ask Teigue the Fool, Teigue could tell him all + about it, for Teigue has learned all about it when he has been cutting the + nets. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Tell me; tell me! + </p> + <p> + FOOL. I said, Teigue knows everything. Not even the owls and the hares + that milk the cows have Teigue's wisdom. But Teigue will not speak; he + says nothing. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Tell me, tell me! For under the cover the grains are falling, + and when they are all fallen I shall die; and my soul will be lost if I + have not found somebody that believes! Speak, speak! + </p> + <p> + FOOL [looking wise]. No, no, I won't tell you what is in my mind, and I + won't tell you what is in my bag. You might steal away my thoughts. I met + a bodach on the road yesterday, and he said, "Teigue, tell me how many + pennies are in your bag. I will wager three pennies that there are not + twenty pennies in your bag; let me put in my hand and count them." But I + pulled the strings tighter, like this; and when I go to sleep every night + I hide the bag where no one knows. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. [Goes toward the hour-glass as if to uncover it.] No, no, I have + not the courage! [He kneels.] Have pity upon me, Fool, and tell me! + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Ah! Now, that is different. I am not afraid of you now. But I must + come near you; somebody in there might hear what the Angel said. + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. Oh, what did the Angel tell you? + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Once I was alone on the hills, and an Angel came by and he said, + "Teigue the Fool, do not forget the Three Fires: the Fire that punishes, + the Fire that purifies, and the Fire wherein the soul rejoices for ever!" + </p> + <p> + WISE MAN. He believes! I am saved! Help me. The sand has run out. I am + dying.... [FOOL helps him to his chair.] I am going from the country of + the seven wandering stars, and I am going to the country of the fixed + stars! Ring the bell. [FOOL rings the bell.] Are they coming ? Ah! now I + hear their feet.... I will speak to them. I understand it all now. One + sinks in on God: we do not see the truth; God sees the truth in us. I + cannot speak, I am too weak. Tell them, Fool, that when the life and the + mind are broken, the truth comes through them like peas through a broken + peascod. But no, I will pray—yet I cannot pray. Pray Fool, that they + may be given a sign and save their souls alive. Your prayers are better + than mine. + </p> + <p> + [FOOL bows his head. WISE MAN'S head sinks on his arm on the books. PUPILS + enter.] + </p> + <p> + A YOUNG MAN. Look at the Fool turned bell-ringer! + </p> + <p> + ANOTHER. What have you called us in for, Teigue? What are you going to + tell us? + </p> + <p> + ANOTHER. No wonder he has had dreams! See, he is fast asleep now. [Goes + over and touches the WISE MAN.] Oh, he is dead! + </p> + <p> + FOOL. Do not stir! He asked for a sign that you might be saved. [All are + silent for a moment.] Look what has come from his mouth... a little winged + thing... a little shining thing. It has gone to the door. [The ANGEL + appears in the doorway, stretches out her hands and closes them again.] + The Angel has taken it in her hands... she will open her hands in the + Garden of Paradise. + </p> + <p> + [They all kneel.] + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hour Glass, by W. B. 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Yeats + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7448] +Last Updated: August 28, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUR GLASS *** + + + + +Produced by Nichole Apostola + + + + + + + +THE HOUR-GLASS + +A MORALITY + +By W. B. Yeats + + + + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE + + A WISE MAN + A FOOL + SOME PUPILS + AN ANGEL + THE WISE MAN'S WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN + + + + +THE HOUR-GLASS + + +SCENE: A large room with a door at the back and another at the side +opening to an inner room. A desk and a chair in the middle. An +hour-glass on a bracket near the door. A creepy stool near it. Some +benches. The WISE MAN sitting at his desk. + + +WISE MAN [turning over the pages of a book]. Where is that passage +I am to explain to my pupils to-day? Here it is, and the book says +that it was written by a beggar on the walls of Babylon: "There are +two living countries, the one visible and the one invisible; and +when it is winter with us it is summer in that country; and when +the November winds are up among us it is lambing-time there." I +wish that my pupils had asked me to explain any other passage, for +this is a hard passage. [The FOOL comes in and stands at the door, +holding out his hat. He has a pair of shears in the other hand.] It +sounds to me like foolishness; and yet that cannot be, for the +writer of this book, where I have found so much knowledge, +would not have set it by itself on this page, and surrounded it +with so many images and so many deep colors and so much fine +gilding, if it had been foolishness. + +FOOL. Give me a penny. + +WISE MAN. [Turns to another page.] Here he has written: "The +learned in old times forgot the visible country." That I +understand, but I have taught my learners better. + +FOOL. Won't you give me a penny? + +WISE MAN. What do you want? The words of the wise Saracen will not +teach you much. + +FOOL. Such a great wise teacher as you are will not refuse a penny +to a Fool. + +WISE MAN. What do you know about wisdom? + +FOOL. Oh, I know! I know what I have seen. + +WISE MAN. What is it you have seen? + +FOOL. When I went by Kilcluan where the bells used to be ringing at +the break of every day, I could hear nothing but the people snoring +in their houses. When I went by Tubbervanach where the young men +used to be climbing the hill to the blessed well, they were sitting +at the crossroads playing cards. When I went by Carrigoras where +the friars used to be fasting and serving the poor, I saw them +drinking wine and obeying their wives. And when I asked what +misfortune had brought all these changes, they said it was no +misfortune, but it was the wisdom they had learned from your +teaching. + +WISE MAN. Run round to the kitchen, and my wife will give you +something to eat. + +FOOL. That is foolish advice for a wise man to give. + +WISE MAN. Why, Fool? + +FOOL. What is eaten is gone. I want pennies for my bag. I must buy +bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong drink for +the time when the sun is weak. And I want snares to catch the +rabbits and the squirrels and the bares, and a pot to cook them in. + +WISE MAN. Go away. I have other things to think of now than giving +you pennies. + +FOOL. Give me a penny and I will bring you luck. Bresal the +Fisherman lets me sleep among the nets in his loft in the +winter-time because he says I bring him luck; and in the +summer-time the wild creatures let me sleep near their nests +and their holes. It is lucky even to look at me or to touch me, +but it is much more lucky to give me a penny. [Holds out his +hand.] If I wasn't lucky, I'd starve. + +WISE MAN. What have you got the shears for? + +FOOL. I won't tell you. If I told you, you would drive them away. + +WISE MAN. Whom would I drive away? + +FOOL. I won't tell you. + +WISE MAN. Not if I give you a penny? + +FOOL. No. + +WISE MAN. Not if I give you two pennies. + +FOOL. You will be very lucky if you give me two pennies, but I +won't tell you. + +WISE MAN. Three pennies? + +FOOL. Four, and I will tell you! + +WISE MAN. Very well, four. But I will not call you Teigue the Fool +any longer. + +FOOL. Let me come close to you where nobody will hear me. But first +you must promise you will not drive them away. [WISE MAN nods.] +Every day men go out dressed in black and spread great black nets +over the hill, great black nets. + +WISE MAN. Why do they do that? + +FOOL. That they may catch the feet of the angels. But every +morning, just before the dawn, I go out and cut the nets with my +shears, and the angels fly away. + +WISE MAN. Ah, now I know that you are Teigue the Fool. You have +told me that I am wise, and I have never seen an angel. + +FOOL. I have seen plenty of angels. + +WISE MAN. Do you bring luck to the angels too. + +FOOL. Oh, no, no! No one could do that. But they are always there +if one looks about one; they are like the blades of grass. + +WISE MAN. When do you see them? + +FOOL. When one gets quiet; then something wakes up inside one, +something happy and quiet like the stars--not like the seven that +move, but like the fixed stars. [He points upward.] + +WISE MAN. And what happens then? + +FOOL. Then all in a minute one smells summer flowers, and tall +people go by, happy and laughing, and their clothes are the color +of burning sods. + +WISE MAN. Is it long since you have seen them, Teigue the Fool? + +FOOL. Not long, glory be to God! I saw one coming behind me just +now. It was not laughing, but it had clothes the color of burning +sods, and there was something shining about its head. + +WISE MAN. Well, there are your four pennies. You, a fool, say +"Glory be to God," but before I came the wise men said it. Run away +now. I must ring the bell for my scholars. + +FOOL. Four pennies! That means a great deal of luck. Great teacher, +I have brought you plenty of luck! [He goes out shaking the bag.] + +WISE MAN. Though they call him Teigue the Fool, he is not more +foolish than everybody used to be, with their dreams and their +preachings and their three worlds; but I have overthrown their +three worlds with the seven sciences. [He touches the books with +his hands.] With Philosophy that was made for the lonely star, I +have taught them to forget Theology; with Architecture, I have +hidden the ramparts of their cloudy heaven; with Music, the fierce +planets' daughter whose hair is always on fire, and with Grammar +that is the moon's daughter, I have shut their ears to the +imaginary harpings and speech of the angels; and I have made +formations of battle with Arithmetic that have put the hosts of +heaven to the rout. But, Rhetoric and Dialectic, that have been +born out of the light star and out of the amorous star, you have +been my spearman and my catapult! Oh! my swift horseman! Oh! my +keen darting arguments, it is because of you that I have overthrown +the hosts of foolishness! [An ANGEL, in a dress the color of +embers, and carrying a blossoming apple bough in his hand and with +a gilded halo about his head, stands upon the threshold.] Before I +came, men's minds were stuffed with folly about a heaven where +birds sang the hours, and about angels that came and stood upon +men's thresholds. But I have locked the visions into heaven and +turned the key upon them. Well, I must consider this passage about +the two countries. My mother used to say something of the kind. She +would say that when our bodies sleep our souls awake, and that +whatever withers here ripens yonder, and that harvests are snatched +from us that they may feed invisible people. But the meaning of the +book must be different, for only fools and women have thoughts like +that; their thoughts were never written upon the walls of Babylon. +[He sees the ANGEL.] What are you? Who are you? I think I saw some +that were like you in my dreams when I was a child--that bright +thing, that dress that is the color of embers! But I have done with +dreams, I have done with dreams. + +ANGEL. I am the Angel of the Most High God. + +WISE MAN. Why have you come to me? + +ANGEL. I have brought you a message. + +WISE MAN. What message have you got for me? + +ANGEL. You will die within the hour. You will die when the last +grains have fallen in this glass. [He turns the hour-glass.] + +WISE MAN. My time to die has not come. I have my pupils. I have a +young wife and children that I cannot leave. Why must I die? + +ANGEL. You must die because no souls have passed over the threshold +of heaven since you came into this country. The threshold is +grassy, and the gates are rusty, and the angels that keep watch +there are lonely. + +WISE MAN. Where will death bring me to? + +ANGEL. The doors of heaven will not open to you, for you have +denied the existence of heaven; and the doors of purgatory will not +open to you, for you have denied the existence of purgatory. + +WISE MAN. But I have also denied the existence of hell! + +ANGEL. Hell is the place of those who deny. + +WISE MAN [kneeling]. I have indeed denied everything and have +taught others to deny. I have believed in nothing but what my +senses told me. But, oh! beautiful Angel, forgive me, forgive me! + +ANGEL. You should have asked forgiveness long ago. + +WISE MAN. Had I seen your face as I see it now, oh! beautiful +Angel, I would have believed, I would have asked forgiveness. +Maybe you do not know how easy it is to doubt. Storm, death, the +grass rotting, many sicknesses, those are the messengers that came +to me. Oh! why are you silent? You carry the pardon of the Most +High; give it to me! I would kiss your hands if I were not afraid-- +no, no, the hem of your dress! + +ANGEL. You let go undying hands too long ago to take hold of them now. + +WISE MAN. You cannot understand. You live in that country people +only see in their dreams. You live in a country that we can only +dream about. Maybe it is as hard for you to understand why we +disbelieve as it is for us to believe. Oh! what have I said! You +know everything! Give me time to undo what I have done. Give me a +year--a month--a day--an hour! Give me this hour's end, that I may +undo what I have done! + +ANGEL. You cannot undo what you have done. Yet I have this power +with my message. If you can find one that believes before the +hour's end, you shall come to heaven after the years of purgatory. +For, from one fiery seed, watched over by those that sent me, the +harvest can come again to heap the golden threshing-floor. But now +farewell, for I am weary of the weight of time. + +WISE MAN. Blessed be the Father, blessed be the Son, blessed be the +Spirit, blessed be the Messenger They have sent! + +ANGEL [at the door and pointing at the hour-glass]. In a little +while the uppermost glass will be empty. [Goes out.] + +WISE MAN. Everything will be well with me. I will call my pupils; +they only say they doubt. [Pulls the bell.] They will be here in a +moment. I hear their feet outside on the path. They want to please +me; they pretend that they disbelieve. Belief is too old to be +overcome all in a minute. Besides, I can prove what I once +disproved. [Another pull at the bell.] They are coming now. I will +go to my desk. I will speak quietly, as if nothing had happened. + +[He stands at the desk with a fixed look in his eyes.] + +[Enter PUPILS and the FOOL.] + +FOOL. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Who is that pulling at my +bag? King's son, do not pull at my bag. + +A YOUNG MAN. Did your friends the angels give you that bag? Why +don't they fill your bag for you? + +FOOL. Give me pennies! Give me some pennies! + +A YOUNG MAN. Let go his cloak, it is coming to pieces. What do you +want pennies for, with that great bag at your waist? + +FOOL. I want to buy bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and +strong drink for the time when the sun is weak, and snares to catch +rabbits and the squirrels that steal the nuts, and hares, and a +great pot to cook them in. + +A YOUNG MAN. Why don't your friends tell you where buried treasures +are? + +ANOTHER. Why don't they make you dream about treasures? If one +dreams three times, there is always treasure. + +FOOL [holding out his hat]. Give me pennies! Give me pennies! + +[They throw pennies into his hat. He is standing close to the +door, that he may hold out his hat to each newcomer.] + +A YOUNG MAN. Master, will you have Teigue the Fool for a scholar? + +ANOTHER YOUNG MAN. Teigue, will you give us pennies if we teach you +lessons? No, he goes to school for nothing on the mountains. Tell +us what you learn on the mountains, Teigue? + +WISE MAN. Be silent all. [He has been standing silent, looking +away.] Stand still in your places, for there is something I would +have you tell me. + +[A moment's pause. They all stand round in their places. +TEIGUE still stands at the door.] + +WISE MAN. Is there any one amongst you who believes in God? In +heaven? Or in purgatory? Or in hell? + +ALL THE YOUNG MEN. No one; Master! No one! + +WISE MAN. I knew you would all say that; but do not be afraid. I +will not be angry. Tell me the truth. Do you not believe? + +A YOUNG MAN. We once did, but you have taught us to know better. + +WISE MAN. Oh! teaching, teaching does not go very deep! The heart +remains unchanged under it all. You believe just as you always did, +and you are afraid to tell me. + +A YOUNG MAN. No, no, master. + +WISE MAN. If you tell me that you believe I shall be glad and not +angry. + +A YOUNG MAN. [To his neighbor.] He wants somebody to dispute with. + +HIS NEIGHBOR. I knew that from the beginning. + +A YOUNG MAN. That is not the subject for to-day; you were going to +talk about the words the beggar wrote upon the walls of Babylon. + +WISE MAN. If there is one amongst you that believes, he will be my +best friend. Surely there is one amongst you. [They are all +silent.] Surely what you learned at your mother's knees has not +been so soon forgotten. + +A YOUNG MAN. Master, till you came, no teacher in this land was +able to get rid of foolishness and ignorance. But every one has +listened to you, every one has learned the truth. You have had your +last disputation. + +ANOTHER. What a fool you made of that monk in the market-place! He +had not a word to say. + +WISE MAN. [Comes from his desk and stands among them in the middle +of the room.] Pupils, dear friends, I have deceived you all this +time. It was I myself who was ignorant. There is a God. There is a +heaven. There is fire that passes, and there is fire that lasts for +ever. + +[TEIGUE, through all this, is sitting on a stool by the door, +reckoning on his fingers what he will buy with his money.] + +A YOUNG MAN [to another]. He will not be satisfied till we dispute +with him. [To the WISE MAN.] Prove it, master. Have you seen them? + +WISE MAN [in a low, solemn voice]. Just now, before you came in, +some one came to the door, and when I looked up I saw an angel +standing there. + +A YOUNG MAN. You were in a dream. Anybody can see an angel in his +dreams. + +WISE MAN. Oh, my God! it was not a dream. I was awake, waking as I +am now. I tell you I was awake as I am now. + +A YOUNG MAN. Some dream when they are awake, but they are the +crazy, and who would believe what they say? Forgive me, master, but +that is what you taught me to say. That is what you said to the +monk when he spoke of the visions of the saints and the martyrs. + +ANOTHER YOUNG MAN. You see how well we remember your teaching. + +WISE MAN. Out, out from my sight! I want some one with belief. I +must find that grain the Angel spoke of before I die. I tell you I +must find it, and you answer me with arguments. Out with you, or I +will beat you with my stick! [The young men laugh.] + +A YOUNG MAN. How well he plays at faith! He is like the monk when +he had nothing more to say. + +WISE MAN. Out, out, or I will lay this stick about your shoulders! +Out with you, though you are a king's son! + +[They begin to hurry out.] + +A YOUNG MAN. Come, come; he wants us to find some one who will +dispute with him. [All go out.] + +WISE MAN [alone. He goes to the door at the side]. I will call +my wife. She will believe; women always believe. [He opens the door +and calls.] Bridget! Bridget! [BRIDGET comes in wearing her apron, +her sleeves turned up from her floury arms.] Bridget, tell me the +truth; do not say what you think will please me. Do you sometimes +say your prayers? + +BRIDGET. Prayers! No, you taught me to leave them off long ago. At +first I was sorry, but I am glad now, for I am sleepy in the +evenings. + +WISE MAN. But do you not believe in God? + +BRIDGET. Oh, a good wife only believes what her husband tells her! + +WISE MAN. But sometimes when you are alone, when I am in the school +and the children asleep, do you not think about the saints, about +the things you used to believe in? What do you think of when you +are alone? + +BRIDGET [considering]. I think about nothing. Sometimes I wonder if +the pig is fattening well, or I go out to see if the crows are +picking up the chickens' food. + +WISE MAN. Oh, what can I do! Is there nobody who believes? I must +go and find somebody! [He goes toward the door but with his eyes +fixed on the hour-glass.] I cannot go out; I cannot leave that! + +BRIDGET. You want somebody to get up argument with. + +WISE MAN. Oh, look out of the door and tell me if there is anybody +there in the street. I cannot leave this glass; somebody might +shake it! Then the sand would fall quickly. + +BRIDGET. I don't understand what you are saying. [Looks out.] There +is a crowd of people talking to your pupils. + +WISE MAN. Oh, run out, Bridget, and see if they have found somebody +that believes! + +BRIDGET [wiping her arms in her apron and pulling down her +sleeves]. It's a hard thing to be married to a man of learning +that must be always having arguments. [Goes out and shouts through +the kitchen door.] Don't be meddling with the bread, children, +while I'm out. + +WISE MAN. [Kneels down.] "Salvum me fac, Deus--salvum--salvum...." +I have forgotten it all. It is thirty years since I said a prayer. +I must pray in the common tongue, like a clown begging in the +market like Teigue the Fool! [He prays.] Help me, Father, Son, and +Spirit! + +[BRIDGET enters, followed by the FOOL, who is holding out his hat +to her.] + +FOOL. Give me something; give me a penny to buy bacon in the shops, +and nuts in the market, and strong drink for the time when the sun +grows weak. + +BRIDGET. I have no pennies. [To the WISE MAN.] Your pupils cannot +find anybody to argue with you. There is nobody in the whole +country who had enough belief to fill a pipe with since you put +down the monk. Can't you be quiet now and not always be wanting to +have arguments? It must be terrible to have a mind like that. + +WISE MAN. I am lost! I am lost! + +BRIDGET. Leave me alone now; I have to make the bread for you and +the children. + +WISE MAN. Out of this, woman, out of this, I say! [BRIDGET goes +through the kitchen door.] Will nobody find a way to help me! But +she spoke of my children. I had forgotten them. They will believe. +It is only those who have reason that doubt; the young are full of +faith. Bridget, Bridget, send my children to me! + +BRIDGET [inside]. Your father wants you, run to him now. + +[The two children came in. They stand together a little way from +the threshold of the kitchen door, looking timidly at their +father.] + +WISE MAN. Children, what do you believe? Is there a heaven? Is +there a hell? Is there a purgatory? + +FIRST CHILD. We haven't forgotten, father. + +THE OTHER CHILD. Oh, no, father. [They both speak together as if in +school.] There is no heaven; there is no hell; there is nothing +we cannot see. + +FIRST CHILD. Foolish people used to think that there were, but you +are very learned and you have taught us better. + +WISE MAN. You are just as bad as the others, just as bad as the +others! Out of the room with you, out of the room! [The children +begin to cry and run away.] Go away, go away! I will teach you +better--no, I will never teach you again. Go to your mother--no, +she will not be able to teach them.... Help them, O God! [Alone.] +The grains are going very quickly. There is very little sand in the +uppermost glass. Somebody will come for me in a moment; perhaps he +is at the door now! All creatures that have reason doubt. O that +the grass and the planets could speak! Somebody has said that they +would wither if they doubted. O speak to me, O grass blades! O +fingers of God's certainty, speak to me. You are millions and you +will not speak. I dare not know the moment the messenger will come +for me. I will cover the glass. [He covers it and brings it to the +desk, and the FOOL, is sitting by the door fiddling with some +flowers which he has stuck in his hat. He has begun to blow a +dandelion head.] What are you doing? + +FOOL. Wait a moment. [He blows.] Four, five, six. + +WISE MAN. What are you doing that for? + +FOOL. I am blowing at the dandelion to find out what time it is. + +WISE MAN. You have heard everything! That is why you want to find +out what hour it is! You are waiting to see them coming through the +door to carry me away. [FOOL goes on blowing.] Out through the door +with you! I will have no one here when they come. [He seizes the +FOOL by the shoulders, and begins to force him out through the +door, then suddenly changes his mind.] No, I have something to ask +you. [He drags him back into the room.] Is there a heaven? Is there +a hell? Is there a purgatory? + +FOOL. So you ask me now. I thought when you were asking your +pupils, I said to myself, if he would ask Teigue the Fool, Teigue +could tell him all about it, for Teigue has learned all about it +when he has been cutting the nets. + +WISE MAN. Tell me; tell me! + +FOOL. I said, Teigue knows everything. Not even the owls and the +hares that milk the cows have Teigue's wisdom. But Teigue will not +speak; he says nothing. + +WISE MAN. Tell me, tell me! For under the cover the grains are +falling, and when they are all fallen I shall die; and my soul will +be lost if I have not found somebody that believes! Speak, speak! + +FOOL [looking wise]. No, no, I won't tell you what is in my mind, +and I won't tell you what is in my bag. You might steal away my +thoughts. I met a bodach on the road yesterday, and he said, +"Teigue, tell me how many pennies are in your bag. I will wager +three pennies that there are not twenty pennies in your bag; let me +put in my hand and count them." But I pulled the strings tighter, +like this; and when I go to sleep every night I hide the bag where +no one knows. + +WISE MAN. [Goes toward the hour-glass as if to uncover it.] No, no, +I have not the courage! [He kneels.] Have pity upon me, Fool, and +tell me! + +FOOL. Ah! Now, that is different. I am not afraid of you now. But I +must come near you; somebody in there might hear what the Angel +said. + +WISE MAN. Oh, what did the Angel tell you? + +FOOL. Once I was alone on the hills, and an Angel came by and he +said, "Teigue the Fool, do not forget the Three Fires: the Fire +that punishes, the Fire that purifies, and the Fire wherein the +soul rejoices for ever!" + +WISE MAN. He believes! I am saved! Help me. The sand has run out. +I am dying.... [FOOL helps him to his chair.] I am going from the +country of the seven wandering stars, and I am going to the country +of the fixed stars! Ring the bell. [FOOL rings the bell.] Are they +coming ? Ah! now I hear their feet.... I will speak to them. I +understand it all now. One sinks in on God: we do not see the +truth; God sees the truth in us. I cannot speak, I am too weak. +Tell them, Fool, that when the life and the mind are broken, the +truth comes through them like peas through a broken peascod. But +no, I will pray--yet I cannot pray. Pray Fool, that they may be +given a sign and save their souls alive. Your prayers are better +than mine. + +[FOOL bows his head. WISE MAN'S head sinks on his arm on the books. +PUPILS enter.] + +A YOUNG MAN. Look at the Fool turned bell-ringer! + +ANOTHER. What have you called us in for, Teigue? What are you going +to tell us? + +ANOTHER. No wonder he has had dreams! See, he is fast asleep now. +[Goes over and touches the WISE MAN.] Oh, he is dead! + +FOOL. Do not stir! He asked for a sign that you might be saved. +[All are silent for a moment.] Look what has come from his mouth... +a little winged thing... a little shining thing. It has gone to +the door. [The ANGEL appears in the doorway, stretches out her +hands and closes them again.] The Angel has taken it in her hands... +she will open her hands in the Garden of Paradise. + +[They all kneel.] + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hour Glass, by W. B. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Hour Glass + +Author: W.B.Yeats + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7448] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 1, 2003] +[Date last updated: March 6, 2006] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUR GLASS *** + + + + +Produced by Nichole Apostola + + + + +THE HOUR-GLASS +A MORALITY +BY W. B. YEATS + + + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE + +A WISE MAN +A FOOL +SOME PUPILS +AN ANGEL +THE WISE MAN'S WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN + + +SCENE: A large room with a door at the back and another at the side +opening to an inner room. A desk and a chair in the middle. An +hour-glass on a bracket near the door. A creepy stool near it. Some +benches. The WISE MAN sitting at his desk. + +WISE MAN [turning over the pages of a book]. Where is that passage +I am to explain to my pupils to-day? Here it is, and the book says +that it was written by a beggar on the walls of Babylon: "There are +two living countries, the one visible and the one invisible; and +when it is winter with us it is summer in that country; and when +the November winds are up among us it is lambing-time there." I +wish that my pupils had asked me to explain any other passage, for +this is a hard passage. [The FOOL comes in and stands at the door, +holding out his hat. He has a pair of shears in the other hand.] It +sounds to me like foolishness; and yet that cannot be, for the +writer of this book, where I have found so much knowledge, +would not have set it by itself on this page, and surrounded it +with so many images and so many deep colors and so much fine +gilding, if it had been foolishness. + +FOOL. Give me a penny. + +WISE MAN. [Turns to another page.] Here he has written: "The +learned in old times forgot the visible country." That I +understand, but I have taught my learners better. + +FOOL. Won't you give me a penny? + +WISE MAN. What do you want? The words of the wise Saracen will not +teach you much. + +FOOL. Such a great wise teacher as you are will not refuse a penny +to a Fool. + +WISE MAN. What do you know about wisdom? + +FOOL. Oh, I know! I know what I have seen. + +WISE MAN. What is it you have seen? + +FOOL. When I went by Kilcluan where the bells used to be ringing at +the break of every day, I could hear nothing but the people snoring +in their houses. When I went by Tubbervanach where the young men +used to be climbing the hill to the blessed well, they were sitting +at the crossroads playing cards. When I went by Carrigoras where +the friars used to be fasting and serving the poor, I saw them +drinking wine and obeying their wives. And when I asked what +misfortune had brought all these changes, they said it was no +misfortune, but it was the wisdom they had learned from your +teaching. + +WISE MAN. Run round to the kitchen, and my wife will give you +something to eat. + +FOOL. That is foolish advice for a wise man to give. + +WISE MAN. Why, Fool? + +FOOL. What is eaten is gone. I want pennies for my bag. I must buy +bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and strong drink for +the time when the sun is weak. And I want snares to catch the +rabbits and the squirrels and the bares, and a pot to cook them in. + +WISE MAN. Go away. I have other things to think of now than giving +you pennies. + +FOOL. Give me a penny and I will bring you luck. Bresal the +Fisherman lets me sleep among the nets in his loft in the +winter-time because he says I bring him luck; and in the +summer-time the wild creatures let me sleep near their nests +and their holes. It is lucky even to look at me or to touch me, +but it is much more lucky to give me a penny. [Holds out his +hand.] If I wasn't lucky, I'd starve. + +WISE MAN. What have you got the shears for? + +FOOL. I won't tell you. If I told you, you would drive them away. + +WISE MAN. Whom would I drive away? + +FOOL. I won't tell you. + +WISE MAN. Not if I give you a penny? + +FOOL. No. + +WISE MAN. Not if I give you two pennies. + +FOOL. You will be very lucky if you give me two pennies, but I +won't tell you. + +WISE MAN. Three pennies? + +FOOL. Four, and I will tell you! + +WISE MAN. Very well, four. But I will not call you Teigue the Fool +any longer. + +FOOL. Let me come close to you where nobody will hear me. But first +you must promise you will not drive them away. [WISE MAN nods.] +Every day men go out dressed in black and spread great black nets +over the hill, great black nets. + +WISE MAN. Why do they do that? + +FOOL. That they may catch the feet of the angels. But every +morning, just before the dawn, I go out and cut the nets with my +shears, and the angels fly away. + +WISE MAN. Ah, now I know that you are Teigue the Fool. You have +told me that I am wise, and I have never seen an angel. + +FOOL. I have seen plenty of angels. + +WISE MAN. Do you bring luck to the angels too. + +FOOL. Oh, no, no! No one could do that. But they are always there +if one looks about one; they are like the blades of grass. + +WISE MAN. When do you see them? + +FOOL. When one gets quiet; then something wakes up inside one, +something happy and quiet like the stars--not like the seven that +move, but like the fixed stars. [He points upward.] + +WISE MAN. And what happens then? + +FOOL. Then all in a minute one smells summer flowers, and tall +people go by, happy and laughing, and their clothes are the color +of burning sods. + +WISE MAN. Is it long since you have seen them, Teigue the Fool? + +FOOL. Not long, glory be to God! I saw one coming behind me just +now. It was not laughing, but it had clothes the color of burning +sods, and there was something shining about its head. + +WISE MAN. Well, there are your four pennies. You, a fool, say +"Glory be to God," but before I came the wise men said it. Run away +now. I must ring the bell for my scholars. + +FOOL. Four pennies! That means a great deal of luck. Great teacher, +I have brought you plenty of luck! [He goes out shaking the bag.] + +WISE MAN. Though they call him Teigue the Fool, he is not more +foolish than everybody used to be, with their dreams and their +preachings and their three worlds; but I have overthrown their +three worlds with the seven sciences. [He touches the books with +his hands.] With Philosophy that was made for the lonely star, I +have taught them to forget Theology; with Architecture, I have +hidden the ramparts of their cloudy heaven; with Music, the fierce +planets' daughter whose hair is always on fire, and with Grammar +that is the moon's daughter, I have shut their ears to the +imaginary harpings and speech of the angels; and I have made +formations of battle with Arithmetic that have put the hosts of +heaven to the rout. But, Rhetoric and Dialectic, that have been +born out of the light star and out of the amorous star, you have +been my spearman and my catapult! Oh! my swift horseman! Oh! my +keen darting arguments, it is because of you that I have overthrown +the hosts of foolishness! [An ANGEL, in a dress the color of +embers, and carrying a blossoming apple bough in his hand and with +a gilded halo about his head, stands upon the threshold.] Before I +came, men's minds were stuffed with folly about a heaven where +birds sang the hours, and about angels that came and stood upon +men's thresholds. But I have locked the visions into heaven and +turned the key upon them. Well, I must consider this passage about +the two countries. My mother used to say something of the kind. She +would say that when our bodies sleep our souls awake, and that +whatever withers here ripens yonder, and that harvests are snatched +from us that they may feed invisible people. But the meaning of the +book must be different, for only fools and women have thoughts like +that; their thoughts were never written upon the walls of Babylon. +[He sees the ANGEL.] What are you? Who are you? I think I saw some +that were like you in my dreams when I was a child--that bright +thing, that dress that is the color of embers! But I have done with +dreams, I have done with dreams. + +ANGEL. I am the Angel of the Most High God. + +WISE MAN. Why have you come to me? + +ANGEL. I have brought you a message. + +WISE MAN. What message have yon got for me? + +ANGEL. You will die within the hour. You will die when the last +grains have fallen in this glass. [He turns the hour-glass.] + +WISE MAN. My time to die has not come. I have my pupils. I have a +young wife and children that I cannot leave. Why must I die? + +ANGEL. You must die because no souls have passed over the threshold +of heaven since you came into this country. The threshold is +grassy, and the gates are rusty, and the angels that keep watch +there are lonely. + +WISE MAN. Where will death bring me to? + +ANGEL. The doors of heaven will not open to you, for you have +denied the existence of heaven; and the doors of purgatory will not +open to you, for you have denied the existence of purgatory. + +WISE MAN. But I have also denied the existence of hell! + +ANGEL. Hell is the place of those who deny. + +WISE MAN [kneeling]. I have indeed denied everything and have +taught others to deny. I have believed in nothing but what my +senses told me. But, oh! beautiful Angel, forgive me, forgive me! + +ANGEL. You should have asked forgiveness long ago. + +WISE MAN. Had I seen your face as I see it now, oh! beautiful +Angel, I would have believed, I would have asked forgiveness. +Maybe you do not know how easy it is to doubt. Storm, death, the +grass rotting, many sicknesses, those are the messengers that came +to me. Oh! why are you silent? You carry the pardon of the Most +High; give it to me! I would kiss your hands if I were not afraid-- +no, no, the hem of your dress! + +ANGEL. You let go undying hands too long ago to take hold of them now. + +WISE MAN. You cannot understand. You live in that country people +only see in their dreams. You live in a country that we can only +dream about. Maybe it is as hard for you to understand why we +disbelieve as it is for us to believe. Oh! what have I said! You +know everything! Give me time to undo what I have done. Give me a +year--a month--a day--an hour! Give me this hour's end, that I may +undo what I have done! + +ANGEL. You cannot undo what you have done. Yet I have this power +with my message. If you can find one that believes before the +hour's end, you shall come to heaven after the years of purgatory. +For, from one fiery seed, watched over by those that sent me, the +harvest can come again to heap the golden threshing-floor. But now +farewell, for I am weary of the weight of time. + +WISE MAN. Blessed be the Father, blessed be the Son, blessed be the +Spirit, blessed be the Messenger They have sent! + +ANGEL [at the door and pointing at the hour-glass]. In a little +while the uppermost glass will be empty. [Goes out.] + +WISE MAN. Everything will be well with me. I will call my pupils; +they only say they doubt. [Pulls the bell.] They will be here in a +moment. I hear their feet outside on the path. They want to please +me; they pretend that they disbelieve. Belief is too old to be +overcome all in a minute. Besides, I can prove what I once +disproved. [Another pull at the bell.] They are coming now. I will +go to my desk. I will speak quietly, as if nothing had happened. + +[He stands at the desk with a fixed look in his eyes.] + +[Enter PUPILS and the FOOL.] + +FOOL. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Who is that pulling at my +bag? King's son, do not pull at my bag. + +A YOUNG MAN. Did your friends the angels give you that bag? Why +don't they fill your bag for you? + +FOOL. Give me pennies! Give me some pennies! + +A YOUNG MAN. Let go his cloak, it is coming to pieces. What do you +want pennies for, with that great bag at your waist? + +FOOL. I want to buy bacon in the shops, and nuts in the market, and +strong drink for the time when the sun is weak, and snares to catch +rabbits and the squirrels that steal the nuts, and hares, and a +great pot to cook them in. + +A YOUNG MAN. Why don't your friends tell you where buried treasures +are? + +ANOTHER. Why don't they make you dream about treasures? If one +dreams three times, there is always treasure. + +FOOL [holding out his hat]. Give me pennies! Give me pennies! + +[They throw pennies into his hat. He is standing close to the +door, that he may hold out his hat to each newcomer.] + +A YOUNG MAN. Master, will you have Teigue the Fool for a scholar? + +ANOTHER YOUNG MAN. Teigue, will you give us pennies if we teach you +lessons? No, be goes to school for nothing on the mountains. Tell +us what you learn on the mountains, Teigue? + +WISE MAN. Be silent all. [He has been standing silent, looking +away.] Stand still in your places, for there is something I would +have you tell me. + +[A moment's pause. They all stand round in their places. +TEIGUE still stands at the door.] + +WISE MAN. Is there any one amongst you who believes in God? In +heaven? Or in purgatory? Or in hell? + +ALL THE YOUNG MEN. No one; Master! No one! + +WISE MAN. I knew you would all say that; but do not be afraid. I +will not be angry. Tell me the truth. Do you not believe? + +A YOUNG MAN. We once did, but you have taught us to know better. + +WISE MAN. Oh! teaching, teaching does not go very deep! The heart +remains unchanged under it all. You believe just as yon always did, +and you are afraid to tell me. + +A YOUNG MAN. No, no, master. + +WISE MAN. If you tell me that you believe I shall be glad and not +angry. + +A YOUNG MAN. [To his neighbor.] He wants somebody to dispute with. + +HIS NEIGHBOR. I knew that from the beginning. + +A YOUNG MAN. That is not the subject for to-day; you were going to +talk about the words the beggar wrote upon the walls of Babylon. + +WISE MAN. If there is one amongst you that believes, he will be my +best friend. Surely there is one amongst you. [They are all +silent.] Surely what you learned at your mother's knees has not +been so soon forgotten. + +A YOUNG MAN. Master, till you came, no teacher in this land was +able to get rid of foolishness and ignorance. But every one has +listened to you, every one has learned the truth. You have had your +last disputation. + +ANOTHER. What a fool you made of that monk in the market-place! He +had not a word to say. + +WISE MAN. [Comes from his desk and stands among them in the middle +of the room.] Pupils, dear friends, I have deceived you all this +time. It was I myself who was ignorant. There is a God. There is a +heaven. There is fire that passes, and there is fire that lasts for +ever. + +[TEIGUE, through all this, is sitting on a stool by the door, +reckoning on his fingers what he will buy with his money.] + +A YOUNG MAN [to another]. He will not be satisfied till we dispute +with him. [To the WISE MAN.] Prove it, master. Have you seen them? + +WISE MAN [in a low, solemn voice]. Just now, before you came in, +some one came to the door, and when I looked up I saw an angel +standing there. + +A YOUNG MAN. You were in a dream. Anybody can see an angel in his +dreams. + +WISE MAN. Oh, my God! it was not a dream. I was awake, waking as I +am now. I tell you I was awake as I am now. + +A YOUNG MAN. Some dream when they are awake, but they are the +crazy, and who would believe what they say? Forgive me, master, but +that is what you taught me to say. That is what you said to the +monk when he spoke of the visions of the saints and the martyrs. + +ANOTHER YOUNG MAN. You see how well we remember your teaching. + +WISE MAN. Out, out from my sight! I want some one with belief. I +must find that grain the Angel spoke of before I die. I tell you I +must find it, and you answer me with arguments. Out with you, or I +will beat you with my stick! [The young men laugh.] + +A YOUNG MAN. How well he plays at faith! He is like the monk when +he had nothing more to say. + +WISE MAN. Out, out, or I will lay this stick about your shoulders! +Out with you, though you are a king's son! + +[They begin to hurry out.] + +A YOUNG MAN. Come, come; he wants us to find some one who will +dispute with him. [All go out.] + +WISE MAN [alone. He goes to the door at the side]. I will call +my wife. She will believe; women always believe. [He opens the door +and calls.] Bridget! Bridget! [BRIDGET comes in wearing her apron, +her sleeves turned up from her floury arms.] Bridget, tell me the +truth; do not say what you think will please me. Do you sometimes +say your prayers? + +BRIDGET. Prayers! No, you taught me to leave them off long ago. At +first I was sorry, but I am glad now, for I am sleepy in the +evenings. + +WISE MAN. But do you not believe in God? + +BRIDGET. Oh, a good wife only believes what her husband tells her! + +WISE MAN. But sometimes when you are alone, when I am in the school +and the children asleep, do you not think about the saints, about +the things you used to believe in? What do you think of when you +are alone? + +BRIDGET [considering]. I think about nothing. Sometimes I wonder if +the pig is fattening well, or I go out to see if the crows are +picking up the chickens' food. + +WISE MAN. Oh, what can I do! Is there nobody who believes? I must +go and find somebody! [He goes toward the door but with his eyes +fixed on the hour-glass.] I cannot go out; I cannot leave that! + +BRIDGET. You want somebody to get up argument with. + +WISE MAN. Oh, look out of the door and tell me if there is anybody +there in the street. I cannot leave this glass; somebody might +shake it! Then the sand would fall quickly. + +BRIDGET. I don't understand what you are saying. [Looks out.] There +is a crowd of people talking to your pupils. + +WISE MAN. Oh, run out, Bridget, and see if they have found somebody +that believes! + +BRIDGET [wiping her arms in her apron and pulling down her +sleeves]. It's a hard thing to be married to a man of learning +that must be always having arguments. [Goes out and shouts through +the kitchen door.] Don't be meddling with the bread, children, +while I'm out. + +WISE MAN. [Kneels down.] "Salvum me fac, Deus--salvum--salvum. ..." +I have forgotten it all. It is thirty years since I said a prayer. +I must pray in the common tongue, like a clown begging in the +market like Teigue the Fool! [He prays.] Help me, Father, Son, and +Spirit! + +[BRIDGET enters, followed by the FOOL, who is holding out his hat +to her.] + +FOOL. Give me something; give me a penny to buy bacon in the shops, +and nuts in the market, and strong drink for the time when the sun +grows weak. + +BRIDGET. I have no pennies. [To the WISE MAN.] Your pupils cannot +find anybody to argue with you. There is nobody in the whole +country who had enough belief to fill a pipe with since you put +down the monk. Can't you be quiet now and not always be wanting to +have arguments? It must be terrible to have a mind like that. + +WISE MAN. I am lost! I am lost! + +BRIDGET. Leave me alone now; I have to make the bread for you and +the children. + +WISE MAN. Out of this, woman, out of this, I say! [BRIDGET goes +through the kitchen door.] Will nobody find a way to help me! But +she spoke of my children. I had forgotten them. They will believe. +It is only those who have reason that doubt; the young are full of +faith. Bridget, Bridget, send my children to me! + +BRIDGET [inside]. Your father wants you, run to him now. + +[The two children came in. They stand together a little way from +the threshold of the kitchen door, looking timidly at their +father.] + +WISE MAN. Children, what do you believe? Is there a heaven? Is +there a hell? Is there a purgatory? + +FIRST CHILD. We haven't forgotten, father. + +THE OTHER CHILD. Oh, no, father. [They both speak together as if in +school.] There is no heaven; there is no hell; there is nothing +we cannot see. + +FIRST CHILD. Foolish people used to think that there were, but you +are very learned and you have taught us better. + +WISE MAN. You are just as bad as the others, just as bad as the +others! Out of the room with you, out of the room! [The children +begin to cry and run away.] Go away, go away! I will teach you +better--no, I will never teach you again. Go to your mother--no, +she will not be able to teach them. ... Help them, O God! [Alone.] +The grains are going very quickly. There is very little sand in the +uppermost glass. Somebody will come for me in a moment; perhaps he +is at the door now! All creatures that have reason doubt. O that +the grass and the planets could speak! Somebody has said that they +would wither if they doubted. O speak to me, O grass blades! O +fingers of God's certainty, speak to me. You are millions and you +will not speak. I dare not know the moment the messenger will come +for me. I will cover the glass. [He covers it and brings it to the +desk, and the FOOL, is sitting by the door fiddling with some +flowers which he has stuck in his hat. He has begun to blow a +dandelion head.] What are you doing? + +FOOL. Wait a moment. [He blows.] Four, five, six. + +WISE MAN. What are you doing that for? + +FOOL. I am blowing at the dandelion to find out what time it is. + +WISE MAN. You have heard everything! That is why you want to find +out what hour it is! You are waiting to see them coming through the +door to carry me away. [FOOL goes on blowing.] Out through the door +with you! I will have no one here when they come. [He seizes the +FOOL by the shoulders, and begins to force him out through the +door, then suddenly changes his mind.] No, I have something to ask +you. [He drags him back into the room.] Is there a heaven? Is there +a hell? Is there a purgatory? + +FOOL. So you ask me now. I thought when you were asking your +pupils, I said to myself, if he would ask Teigue the Fool, Teigue +could tell him all about it, for Teigue has learned all about it +when he has been cutting the nets. + +WISE MAN. Tell me; tell me! + +FOOL. I said, Teigue knows everything. Not even the owls and the +hares that milk the cows have Teigue's wisdom. But Teigue will not +speak; he says nothing. + +WISE MAN. Tell me, tell me! For under the cover the grains are +falling, and when they are all fallen I shall die; and my soul will +be lost if I have not found somebody that believes! Speak, speak! + +FOOL [looking wise]. No, no, I won't tell you what is in my mind, +and I won't tell you what is in my bag. You might steal away my +thoughts. I met a bodach on the road yesterday, and he said, +"Teigue, tell me how many pennies are in your bag. I will wager +three pennies that there are not twenty pennies in your bag; let me +put in my hand and count them." But I pulled the strings tighter, +like this; and when I go to sleep every night I hide the bag where +no one knows. + +WISE MAN. [Goes toward the hour-glass as if to uncover it.] No, no, +I have not the courage! [He kneels.] Have pity upon me, Fool, and +tell me! + +FOOL. Ah! Now, that is different. I am not afraid of you now. But I +must come near you; somebody in there might hear what the Angel +said. + +WISE MAN. Oh, what did the Angel tell you? + +FOOL. Once I was alone on the hills, and an Angel came by and he +said, "Teigue the Fool, do not forget the Three Fires: the Fire +that punishes, the Fire that purifies, and the Fire wherein the +soul rejoices for ever!" + +WISE MAN. He believes! I am saved! Help me. The sand has run out. +I am dying. ... [FOOL helps him to his chair.] I am going from the +country of the seven wandering stars, and I am going to the country +of the fixed stars! Ring the bell. [FOOL rings the bell.] Are they +coming ? Ah! now I hear their feet. ... I will speak to them. I +understand it all now. One sinks in on God: we do not see the +truth; God sees the truth in us. I cannot speak, I am too weak. +Tell them, Fool, that when the life and the mind are broken, the +truth comes through them like peas through a broken peascod. But +no, I will pray--yet I cannot pray. Pray Fool, that they may be +given a sign and save their souls alive. Your prayers are better +than mine. + +[FOOL bows his head. WISE MAN'S head sinks on his arm on the books. +PUPILS enter.] + +A YOUNG MAN. Look at the Fool turned bell-ringer! + +ANOTHER. What have you called us in for, Teigue? What are you going +to tell us? + +ANOTHER. No wonder he has had dreams! See, he is fast asleep now. +[Goes over and touches the WISE MAN.] Oh, he is dead! + +FOOL. Do not stir! He asked for a sign that you might be saved. +[All are silent for a moment.] Look what has come from his mouth. ... +a little winged thing ... a little shining thing. It has gone to +the door. [The ANGEL appears in the doorway, stretches out her +hands and closes them again.] The Angel has taken it in her hands... +she will open her hands in the Garden of Paradise. + +[They all kneel.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hour Glass, by W.B.Yeats + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUR GLASS *** + +This file should be named hrgls10.txt or hrgls10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, hrgls11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, hrgls10a.txt + +Produced by Nichole Apostola + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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