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diff --git a/78198-0.txt b/78198-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..effb91f --- /dev/null +++ b/78198-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4874 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78198 *** + + + + +KISMET + + + + + KISMET + + AN “ARABIAN NIGHT” + IN THREE ACTS + + BY + EDWARD KNOBLAUCH + + METHUEN & CO. LTD. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + + _First Published in 1912_ + + + + + TO THE MEMORY OF + + RICHARD BURTON + + ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ENGLISHMEN AND ONE + OF THE LEAST UNDERSTOOD; WITHOUT + WHOM THIS PLAY NEVER COULD + HAVE BEEN WRITTEN + + + + +CHARACTERS + +(_In order of their appearance_) + + +MEN + + HAJJ + THE MUEZZIN + THE IMAM MAHMUD + A MUFTI + THE GUIDE NASIR + THE SHEIKH JAWAN + THE BEGGAR KASIM + AMRU, } Shopkeepers + ZAYD, } + AMRU’S APPRENTICE + ZAYD’S APPRENTICE + THE CALIPH ABDALLAH + THE WAZIR ABU BAKR + THE WAZIR MANSUR + KAFUR, Mansur’s sworder + AFIFE, his secretary + THE CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH + AN ATTENDANT OF MANSUR + A CHAMBERLAIN OF THE CALIPH + A HERALD OF THE CALIPH + A BLIND MAN + A CHINAMAN + THE GAOLER KUTAYT + + +WOMEN + + MARSINAH, Hajj’s daughter + NARJIS, her nurse + KABIRAH, an old woman + MISKAH, a slave + KUT-AL-KULUB, Mansur’s first wife. + + +GUARDS, WAZIRS, DIGNITARIES, COURTIERS, SOLDIERS, EUNUCHS, SHOPKEEPERS, +BUYERS, ETC. + +WOMEN OF THE HARIM, DANCERS, SLAVES, ETC. + + +BEFORE THE CURTAIN + + THE MAN + THE WOMAN + THE STORY TELLER + THE JUGGLER + THE DANCER + + +ACT I + +MORNING + + SCENE I. A Street before the Mosque of the Carpenters. + + II. The Suk (Bazaar Street) of the Tailors. + + III. The Courtyard of a poor House. + + IV. A Hall in the Wazir Mansur’s Mansion. + + +ACT II + +AFTERNOON + + SCENE I. A Hall in the Wazir Mansur’s Mansion. (_Same as Act + I., Scene IV._) + + II. The Courtyard of a poor House. (_Same as Act I., + Scene III._) + + III. The Diwan (Audience Hall) of the Caliph’s Palace. + + IV. The Prison of the Palace. + + +ACT III + +EVENING + + SCENE I. The Hammam of Mansur’s Harim. + + II. A Street before the Mosque of the Carpenters. (_Same + as Act I., Scene I._) + + +_The scene is laid in the Baghdad of the “Arabian Nights.”_ + +_The action takes place from morning to night._ + + + + +CAST OF THE PLAY + +AS PRODUCED AT THE GARRICK THEATRE, LONDON, 19TH APRIL, 1911 + + +MEN + + HAJJ Oscar Asche + THE MUEZZIN Alfred Bristowe + THE IMAM MAHMUD Charles A. Doran + A MUFTI Arthur Trantom + THE GUIDE NASIR R. Ian Penny + THE SHEIKH JAWAN Caleb Porter + THE BEGGAR KASIM Tripp Edgar + AMRU Athol Forde + ZAYD R. F. Anson + THE CALIPH ABDALLAH Ben Webster + THE WAZIR ABU BAKR Ewan Brooke + THE WAZIR MANSUR Herbert Grimwood + KAFUR George Relph + AFIFE A. Winspeare + CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH D. Atherton + AN ATTENDANT OF MANSUR H. Franklin + A BLIND MAN E. Adeney + A CHINAMAN Gordon Harker + A CHAMBERLAIN OF THE CALIPH G. Fitzgerald + THE GAOLER KUTAYT J. Fritz Russell + + +WOMEN + + MARSINAH Lily Brayton + NARJIS Bessie Major + KABIRAH D. England + THE ALMAH Nancy Denvers + MISKAH Muriel Hutchinson + KUT-AL-KULUB Saba Raleigh + + +BEFORE THE CURTAIN + + THE MAN Ernest Leeman + THE WOMAN Dorothy Moulton + THE STORY TELLER Ewan Brooke + THE JUGGLER E. Selton + THE DANCER Nancy Denvers + + + The Play produced by OSCAR ASCHE + The Music composed by CHRISTOPHER WILSON + The Costumes designed by PERCY ANDERSON + + + + +CAST OF THE PLAY + +AS PRODUCED AT THE KNICKERBOCKER THEATRE, NEW YORK, 25TH DECEMBER, 1911 + + +MEN + + HAJJ Otis Skinner + THE MUEZZIN T. Tamamoto + THE IMAM MAHMUD Del de Louis + A MUFTI John Webster + THE GUIDE NASIR Sydney Mather + THE SHEIKH JAWAN Sheridan Block + THE BEGGAR KASIM Macey Harlan + AMRU Daniel Jarrett + ZAYD Harrison Carter + AMRU’S APPRENTICE Gregory Kelly + THE CALIPH ABDALLAH Fred Eric + THE WAZIR ABU BAKR Henry Mitchell + THE WAZIR MANSUR Hamilton Revelle + KAFUR George Relph + AFIFE Bennett Kilpack + CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH Richard Scott + AN ATTENDANT OF MANSUR William Lorenz + A CHAMBERLAIN OF THE CALIPH Thomas Audley + THE GAOLER KUTAYT Martin Sanders + + +WOMEN + + MARSINAH Rita Jolivet + NARJIS Georgia Woodthorpe + KABIRAH Amelia Barleon + THE ALMAH Violet Romer + MISKAH Merle Maddern + KUT-AL-KULUB Eleanor Gordon + + +BEFORE THE CURTAIN + + THE MAN Ernest Leeman + THE WOMAN Roma Devonne + THE STORY TELLER Mervyn Rentoul + THE JUGGLER Youna + THE DANCER Violet Romer + + + The Play produced by HARRISON GREY FISKE + The Music composed by WILLIAM FURST + The Costumes designed by PERCY ANDERSON + + + + +NOTES + + +The exclamation “Yehh!” which occurs in the play, is an Arab cry of +surprise; the exclamation “Awah!” or “Wah!” a cry of grief, synonymous +with “Alas!” In both cases the final “h” is pronounced gutturally, +something like the “ch” in the German “Ach!” or Scotch “Och!” + +The rhymed prose which occurs in moments of emotion is a peculiarity of +Arab speech and literature. There are endless examples of it in Burton’s +“Arabian Nights.” + +In addressing a person, “O” is always used as “O Hajj.” If “O” is left +out it is the sign of deliberate insult. This “O” is not emphasised +except when expedient. + + + + +KISMET + + + + +ACT I + +BEFORE THE CURTAIN + +DAWN + + +A large arch of Arabian design, with small doors right and left, frames +in the whole picture. + +_The MAN enters from the door of his house left, seats himself and sings_: + + Lo! Still the stars of latter night are spread! + Yet hath sleep stolen from my lonely bed. + So will I sit me on my rooftop’s height, + To cool my sadness till the dawning red. + +_The WOMAN enters from her house right, seats herself and sings_: + + Yehh! Still the moon hangs on the lips of night + To mock my solitude with love-delight. + O heavy hour of a longing breast, + Thy weight will crush me ere the break of light! + +_The MAN_: + + Wah! That some song might soothe my soul oppress’d, + Some ancient melody of days more bless’d. + +_The WOMAN_: + + Awah, that some strange tale of long ago + Might by its magic bring my bosom rest! + +_BOTH_: + + O Thou, Bestower of all things, bestow + This benediction on Thy servant low! + +_The STORY TELLER enters through the curtains and speaks_: + +STORY TELLER. Praise be to Allah, the King of all Kings, the Creator of +all things! Who like to a carpet hath spread, the Earth to our tread. +And even as a tent, set up the firmament, overhead. And on Mohammed, his +Prophet among men, the blessing of blessings again and again, Amen. (_He +sits._) But afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before +us have become examples and admonitions to the men of our later day. And +of such a kind is the story of Hajj, the beggar, who lived his life in +this our peaceful city of Baghdad, one thousand years and one year ago. +Now it is the tale of his day of the days that I will relate unto you, +O auspicious listeners. Do ye take heed therein of the lesson taught by +Fate, which the poets call Kismet. And mark well the chances and changes +of time foredoomed to mortal man: lifting him now high, now sinking him +low, even as the bucket in the well. (_He rises._) But Allah alone is all +knowing. + +_He withdraws._ + +_The MAN and WOMAN rise and sing_: + + I hearken with my heart upon the ground, + Nor from my breathless lips shall rise a sound:— + Awake, O day of days, and run thy round! + +_Then they turn and re-enter their respective houses. They have not seen +each other._ + + + + +ACT I + +MORNING + + +SCENE I. _A Street before the Mosque of the Carpenters._ + + (_Right and left from the point of view of the actor._) + + _In the centre, steps lead up to the Mosque, which is on the + right. Only the lower part of the minaret is visible. A large + stone to the left of the steps forms a rough seat._ + + _It is just before dawn, which rises rapidly, so that it is + daylight by the end of the scene._ + + _Asleep, on the stone, wrapped in his beggar’s cloak of a + hundred rags and patches, sits HAJJ, reclining against the + angle of the wall. He is a man of about fifty, still in the + full vigour of his manhood. His beard is thin and unkempt; but + his face is keen, shrewd and full of humour. At a glance he + shows himself to be a man of the people, who lives by his wits, + untroubled by what the morrow may bring him. At present he is + sleeping the sleep of the just to the tune of a hearty snore._ + + _After a few moments of peace, steps are heard in the alley + left, and the MUEZZIN, an old man of seventy, appears with a + lanthorn and a large key. He goes to the door of the Mosque and + unlocks it._ + + _Cocks begin to crow far and near._ + + _The “brush” of the dawn appears in the sky._ + + (_HAJJ, disturbed by the clatter, turns and yawns + prodigiously—stretching himself._) + +HAJJ. In the name of Allah,—Day? + +THE MUEZZIN. (_Coming towards him._) Peace be on thee, O Hajj. + +HAJJ. And on thee, peace and blessing, O my friend. (_The MUEZZIN enters +the Mosque._) + + (_IMAM MAHMUD, a venerable white bearded sage, appears. HAJJ + stifles a yawn, sits up, and assumes his beggar’s attitude—the + right hand out, the head dejectedly on one side._) + +HAJJ. (_As the IMAM comes to him in a whining sing-song._) Alms, for the +love of Allah! For the love of Allah, alms! + +MAHMUD. (_Handing HAJJ a small round loaf._) Take! The Giver giveth thee +this. (_He crosses in front of HAJJ and goes up the steps._) + +HAJJ. (_Taking the bread._) Verily, thy good deeds shall witness for thee +on the day of judgment, O Mahmud. + +MAHMUD. (_Stopping._) The peace upon thee and a full harvest of tears and +pity for thy poverty. + +HAJJ. Nay, sooner pray it be a full hand of silver and gold. + +MAHMUD. That shall be even as Allah foredooms. Naught befalls us but what +His pen hath written. + +HAJJ. Praise be to Allah, the One, the Omnipotent. + +MAHMUD. And to Mohammed his Prophet, whom Allah bless and preserve. (_He +goes into the Mosque._) + + (_HAJJ looks after him, grunts, and then turns and fumbles + behind the stone, pulling out a chipped, earthen jug of water. + He then mumbles “In the name of Allah,” drinks from the jug and + munches his bread, smacking his lips loudly._) + + (_Meanwhile, from the minaret the voice of the MUEZZIN is heard + calling to prayer, and other distant calls to prayer may be + heard from various quarters._) + + Allah is Almighty, Allah is Almighty! + There is no God but Allah! There is no God but Allah! + Come ye to prayer! Come ye to salvation! + Prayer is better than sleep! Prayer is better than sleep! + No God is there but Allah! + + (_Steps resound in the streets. HAJJ quickly conceals his bread + and jug behind the stone. Men now come at intervals by the two + alleys and enter the Mosque. At the threshold they take off + their slippers with their left hand, entering with the right + foot, ejaculating, “In the name of Allah.”_) + +HAJJ. Alms for a starving brother. Bind a body and soul together!—O +master! Thy large brow proclaims an open heart. A danik! A fils! (_The +MAN gives a coin and passes on._) Heaven hath seen this, O my master. +In the name of the Compassionating, the Compassionate! A blessing on +thy white beard. Thou art nearing thy grave! Buy thy salvation from +thy slave. (_The MAN passes on murmuring “Allah will give it thee.”_) +Nothing. May’st thou burn for it, O thou dog! (_To another._) O brother, +mine eyes have failed me! (_He rolls up his eyes._) Hast thou a blind +father or one dearest to thee groping in darkness? (_The MAN gives a +coin and passes on._) A dirham! The Bestower requite it thee, O my lord. +(_To another._) O Azir, my master, I see thee well, though it scarce be +day. Is he better, thy son, the light of thy house? Be his fever abated? +(_The MAN passes on muttering “Allah will provide.”_) Nought? May the +Ghuls suck away thy bastard’s breath. (_To another._) O stranger! Not +so quickly. Haste is from Hell; Heaven will wait for thee. (_To a young +man._) O fair youth, a trifle. On my knees have I lain here these endless +years. (_The MAN gives him a coin._) The Protector increase thy weal. +(_To the MUFTI, an old man._) O Mufti—a word. Thou knowest the bitterness +of a long life and a weary. I am young, alas. All my sad days stretch +before me. + +THE MUFTI. Please Allah to-morrow—— + +HAJJ. (_Getting between the MUFTI and the steps of the Mosque._) Thou +dost ever say to-morrow. + +THE MUFTI. (_Laughing._) And is not to-morrow ever to-morrow? + +HAJJ. True. The stench of thy soul lessens not from dawn to dawn. + +THE MUFTI. Out of my way. (_He pushes past HAJJ into the Mosque._) + +HAJJ. With joy and gladness—for thy way leads to damnation. (_Several men +enter singly and by twos as HAJJ continues in a sing-song tone._) Glory +be to Allah! Upon Allah dependeth daily bread. Thy wealth is not thine +own, O rich man. Thou art as poor as the poorest. Allah alone giveth, +and what he giveth belongeth not to thee. Thy gold is but a blessing to +become a blessing. Then open thy purse and let the afflicted bend to +the holy House of Meccah for thee, and every danik out of thy hand will +return to thee a thousandfold through the prayers of the poor. + + (_Men have gone into the Mosque, some giving coin, others + passing on. From the street on the left the guide NASIR enters + conducting the SHEIKH JAWAN, an old man, who is leaning on + two black slaves and followed by two others. He is clothed + completely in white, his face veiled by a “Taylasan,” a scarf + hiding his beard. He is over sixty and paralysed in his legs, + but his eyes are still full of fire. TWO SLAVES retire. Slowly + the SHEIKH mounts the steps supported by the other TWO SLAVES._) + + (_HAJJ catches hold of the hem of his cloak._) + +HAJJ. Alms, for the love of Allah! For the love of Allah, alms! + +JAWAN. (_Turning._) O Hajj, thou? + +HAJJ. (_Surprised, rising and following him._) Thou knowest me? + +JAWAN. Thou still here mumbling for crusts? (_He laughs, a nasal laugh, +mockingly._) He, he, he! + + (_NASIR takes off JAWAN’S slippers._) + +HAJJ. (_On the Mosque steps._) Who art thou? + +JAWAN. Who am I? He, he! Who am I? He, he, he! + + (_He turns with his slaves and goes off into the Mosque + followed by the guide NASIR._) + + (_HAJJ looks after him mystified and riveted by a haunting + memory; then slowly regains his seat, counting his profits as + he does so. “One, two, three—five.”_) + + (_Meanwhile KASIM, a young, ragged, one-eyed beggar, has come + and sat down on HAJJ’S seat. He is busy tying some strips + round one of his legs, quite unconscious of usurping anyone’s + rights. HAJJ is about to sit, when he turns, and, seeing KASIM, + exclaims an amazed “Yehh!” He comes slowly up to the intruder + and touches him provokingly on the arm._) + +HAJJ. (_Squatting._) And what may thy business be? + +KASIM. Canst thou not see? I am a beggar even as thou. + +HAJJ. Thou—even as I? Thou? Knowest thou what thou say’st? + +KASIM. My ears can hear my tongue. + +HAJJ. O monstrous piece of impudence! A beggar even as I? ’Tis plain thou +art a stranger to Baghdad. + +KASIM. Thou hast said it. I come from afar. My name’s Kasim. And thou? + +HAJJ. I? I? Ha! ha! (_Patronisingly._) O thou poor fool. But there, thou +art a stranger. I? I am Hajj—Hajj, the beggar. + +KASIM. Hajj? A pilgrim? Then thou hast been to Holy Meccah? + +HAJJ. Not I! Never a foot have I stirred beyond our city walls. My +parents called me Hajj at my birth, so that the sacred title might win +me added pity from the passer-by. Not a child in the quarter but calleth +me thus by name. I have sat upon that stone these fifty summers and +winters, drinking the sun, and more oft than not the moon too, scorning +the pent-up sleep of a bed. + +KASIM. (_Sneeringly._) These fifty summers? Say’st thou so? + +HAJJ. (_Excitedly._) Yea! And before me my father sat there, superb in +rags, and before him, his; and so on to the beginning without beginning. +That stone, O Kasim, is my legacy, my right, my stronghold. Not till this +hour hath man dared what thou darest. + +KASIM. Then this hour endeth thy kingdom. I am come to conquer. + +HAJJ. I pray thee, O maggotty head, bandy no words. Go get thee to yon +corner (_He points to the corner left_) if it like thee. Other swine have +grovelled there in their time. My vilest enemy sat there once, these many +weary years since. Take his place. + +KASIM. I’ll not budge from here. + +HAJJ. How sayst thou? Not budge? A scum like thou? A nail-pairing? A +goat’s cheese at noon-tide? Not budge? We shall see, by Allah! We shall +see! + + (_He seizes him and pushes him towards the corner._) + +KASIM. Let go! Let go, I say! Ho, Moslems, come ye to my help! Let go! + +HAJJ. (_Holding KASIM at arm’s length and kicking him._) Let go? There! +How’s that to thy taste? Swallow that, an thou art an-hungered. A dainty +dish of foot, and more to follow. One—two—three! Another mouthful? + + (_NASIR, the Guide of the Sheikh, has come out of the Mosque + and stands on the steps._) + +NASIR. O Hajj! By the All-knowing, what’s this? + +HAJJ. He’d take my seat—this nothing from nowhere. + +KASIM. (_Rubbing himself._) I want not his seat. + +HAJJ. Not now,—now that I have made thee feel the value of thine own. + + (_KASIM crawls down to the stone left, nursing his kicks._) + +HAJJ. (_Sits in his seat._) A joyous day indeed and a well begun! What +with this one-eyed dog, and thy miserly stranger—(_breaking off._) Allah! +Who is he, O Nasir? + +NASIR. (_Evasively._) A man of the men. I know not. + +HAJJ. O brother of truth, thou knowest full well. Thou art guiding him, +he lodges at thy Khan. He called me by name. Who is he? + +NASIR. (_After a moment of hesitating._) Harkee, O Hajj. I have a plan to +offer thee. An thou wilt fall in with my plotting, ’twill mean money to +both of us. + +HAJJ. Money? No harm in that. Speak. + +NASIR. This old man of mine has been a famous highwayman in his hour. The +White Sheikh they were used to call him. + +HAJJ. The White Sheikh—he? + +NASIR. Our Caliph deceased set his troops upon him oft and oftener. In +one of his attacks, he captured most of the robber’s band—his little son +amongst them, a mere stripling at the time. + +HAJJ. Say on. + +NASIR. The boy was spared for his beauty. If he still be of the living, +his age must reach nigh on thirty summers. Yet all these endless years +whilst the last Caliph ruled, the Sheikh dared not enter Baghdad. Not +till now, that the young monarch hath mounted the throne, hath the father +ventured at last in search of his son. + +HAJJ. A touching tale! And how forsooth are we to coin wealth of this? + +NASIR. Did’st thou not mark how broken, how stricken, the old man is? +Never was there such a repentant sinner. All his moneys are spent in +charities; all his hopes in the finding of his beloved son, Yusuf. The +smallest word, the faintest promise from priest or soothsayer, and his +hand darts into his purse. Now dost thou see dawn? + +HAJJ. I am to cast myself into his path. What thou hast revealed, is to +flow unto me as in a vision. + +NASIR. Thou hast it. And it is agreed, whate’er he bestows on thee, we +share by halves, like honest Moslems that we are. + +HAJJ. So it please the Protector. Leave it to me. + +NASIR. But harkee, O clever one, thou’lt do it carefully? Draw from all +the deepest wells: a father’s longing, a father’s mad despair. Such like +and more, if thou canst. + +HAJJ. If I can? If I can? Did I not too have a son—many years gone +to-day,—a babe fair as the moon! Was he not foully murdered? His throat +cut across? And my wife, the balm of mine eyes, stolen away by mine +enemy? Yea, sat he not where yon dog sits now—the slaughterer of my +race? Doth not yon stone make my soul ever cry aloud for blood revenge? + +NASIR. So thou, too, hast felt its fire—a father’s love? + +HAJJ. Felt it? Hearken to this, O Nasir—and Allah pardon me for unveiling +the veiled sex. I have a daughter now of fourteen summers, the child of a +late spring by another wife, who is dead, alas! The maid is all that is +left me on earth; dear to me above the promises of Paradise. Yet the day +will come when she will be wed and wived. And she will bear the burden +of another’s posterity. But mine own race, the blood of my fathers, +once I am called to rest, where will it be? O brother, I am like unto a +date-palm that groweth aslant the pool, and whose fruit hath fallen into +the waters. + + (_Men begin to come out of the Mosque and wander off by the two + alleys._) + + (_Dawn is giving place to daylight._) + +NASIR. Prayer is over. We must not be found together. + + (_NASIR retires to the alley left, and beckons to the TWO BLACK + SLAVES, who join him._) + + (_Meanwhile, other men are passing HAJJ, who begins in a + sing-song tone, but has left his seat so as to intercept the + Sheikh._) + +HAJJ. Alms for the love of—— + +KASIM. (_Whining._) Alms for the love of Allah! + +HAJJ. (_To KASIM._) Silence, thou dog!—(_continuing_) For the love of +Allah, alms. The grave is darkness. Charity its lamp. Learn to love +poverty. Be good and enter Paradise. Alms, for the love of Allah! For the +love of Allah, alms! + + (_The SHEIKH JAWAN reappears from the Mosque, pausing on the + steps, supported by his TWO SLAVES. JAWAN conceals his face + from HAJJ with his scarf._) + +HAJJ. (_Rising._) O Sheikh of sheikhs, the Peace upon thee. When thou +spokest before, the eyes of my memory were closed. Now they are open and +recall thy bounty of other days. + +JAWAN. Dost thou know me, indeed? + +HAJJ. I see thy soul clear as in crystal. Thou art come from afar in +search of some one long lost. ’Tis him thou seekest, thy son. + +JAWAN. Yehh! This is strange. Shall I reach my desire? + +HAJJ. Thou shalt see thy son this day. + +JAWAN. Even though the curses of my foes stand between me and Allah? + +HAJJ. Thy prayers have killed their curses. + +JAWAN. Wilt thou swear to that? + +HAJJ. By Him, the All-seeing, the All-hearing, the All-knowing I swear it +to thee. + +JAWAN. Will thy ragged saintliness bless me? + +HAJJ. Allah’s blessing upon thee and thy enterprise. May thy foes be +confounded, and thy hopes rounded. + + (_A slight pause—then JAWAN bursts into uncontrollable + laughter—“he, he, he, he, he!”_) + +JAWAN. O Hajj! Dost guess what thou hast done? See! (_He withdraws the +scarf from his face._) Thou hast blest thine enemy. I am he who has sat +at yon corner in the long ago. + +HAJJ. (_Hoarsely._) Jawan! + +JAWAN. Yes, Jawan! He that stole thy wife and stabbed thy squealing brat +and fled the city at night. + +HAJJ. Jawan,—the beggar,—thou? + +JAWAN. Jawan, the beggar, no longer Jawan the beggar. Nay, look not so +amazed. My wild life hath oldened me more than thy tame life thee. + +HAJJ. Jawan! + +JAWAN. Dost thou doubt me? Hearken, then, and learn. Thy wife and I, +that night of the nights, we rode out into the desert. A band of robbers +found us. Time and lot made me their leader. Twenty-five years I was +their chief. Twenty-five years the Caliph made war on me as on a king—his +equal. And I was his equal in power, in prowess, in all—yea, even though +he captured my son, the son of thy wife, thy beautiful Gulnar. + +HAJJ. O hog, hog-fathered! Allah ruin thee for ever. + +JAWAN. (_Sneeringly._) Thou dost forget thy blessings of a moment since. +(_He crosses to NASIR and the other slaves._) + +HAJJ. I blessed thee not. I blessed an unknown. + +JAWAN. No, no, _me_ by the Most High, the Glorious—me. And ’tis thus +through thee, that I shall find my son again. Thou hast recalled thy +curses. The spell is broken at last. + +HAJJ. Thou shalt not live to find him. (_He springs towards Jawan._) + + (_The other TWO SLAVES draw ugly looking dirks and ward off + HAJJ._) + + (_HAJJ stands impotent and panting—“Wah!”_) + +JAWAN. Said I not I was King? Allah send thee a long life, Hajj, and a +happy. + +HAJJ. Allah send thee the foul fiend and a thousand fires. + +JAWAN. Too late, O brother. Thou hast stopped Heaven’s ears with thy +blessings! Thy curses fall on deafness.—Behold! A poor return for thy +bounty! (_He throws a purse at HAJJ._) Up and away! + + (_The SLAVES turn with JAWAN and move away by the alley left, + NASIR preceding them._) + +HAJJ. (_Desperately._) Take back thy blood money. I’ll not swallow my +son’s blood! Take it back, O thou grey-beard of hell! Take it! + + (_JAWAN has disappeared; his laughter, “He, he, he!” is heard + dying away in the distance. KASIM crawls from his seat toward + the purse._) + +HAJJ. Laugh! Laugh to split thy spleen! But by the Decreer, thy day +shall set! For I have found thee! Thou art alive and here,—and I too—I +am alive. (_Going up to KASIM._) Dost thou hear? Dost thou?—I have found +him! He is back in Baghdad, he who sat where thou sittest, the butcher +of my race! I shall meet him at last—hold him by the throat, the dog +of dogs, and (_taking KASIM by the throat._) I shall strangle him with +(_choking KASIM._) These—two—thumbs of mine. + +KASIM. (_Choking._) Brother—protection! + +HAJJ. (_Still continuing, in his fury._) What though he be guarded by +slaves with swords naked, and I, defenceless—— + +KASIM. (_Gasping._) Awah! + +HAJJ. I shall find a way to him. Buy it, if need be!—Buy? Yehh. (_He +throws KASIM aside and turns to the purse._) And with his gold. His! it +smelleth of blood. Every coin a crime, every chink a cry for vengeance. +Allah, be thou my witness! Only for this do I touch his accursed charity. +Only for this! + +KASIM. Look! + + (_Several men come out of the Mosque._) + +HAJJ. (_Quickly thrusting the purse in his bosom, returns to his stone, +beginning his sing-song without looking up._) Alms for the love of Allah! +For the love of Allah—— + +KASIM. Alms for the love of Allah! For the love of All—— + +HAJJ. (_To KASIM._) Silence, thou louse-trap! + + (_NASIR re-enters rapidly._) + +NASIR. I’ve left him for an instant. He’s praying at a tomb. The purse. +How much is mine? + +HAJJ. The purse? + +NASIR. The purse he threw thee. + +HAJJ. (_Innocently._) I saw no purse. + +NASIR. Saw no purse? Thou art jesting. Out with it. Share. + +HAJJ. Share? Purse? Know I what he threw or not? Sit I here to count the +droppings of the street? A pretty patron thou didst serve me. Get thee +gone! Thou art a rouge, a thief! + +NASIR. I, a rogue? I, a thief? (_To KASIM._) Thou sawest him take the +purse. (_HAJJ secretly drops the purse into his water-jug._) I call thee +to witness. + +KASIM. I saw him spit on it and turn from it and curse it. + +NASIR. (_Catching hold of KASIM._) _Thou_ hast it. Thou hast taken it for +him. + +KASIM. Alas, O brother, not I. + +NASIR. Give it me! Give it me! ’Tis not thine to keep. + +KASIM. Strip every rag from me—thou’lt not find it. + +HAJJ. (_Gleefully._) Strip him! Strip him! + +KASIM. (_Turning with fury to HAJJ._) _Thou_ hast it. + +HAJJ. Aye, strip me too. Both of us, so it give thee pleasure. Thou shalt +behold rare sights. Strip us—thy slave entreats thee. + + (_One of JAWAN’S NEGROES appears from the alley._) + +NEGRO. O Nasir. + +HAJJ. (_Pointing to the negro._) Thy master calls! + +NASIR. O thou villain! I go to take my charge back to the inn. But after, +as thou lovest life, look to thyself and thy safety. + + (_He hurries off after the NEGRO._) + +HAJJ. (_Shouting after him._) The Peace upon thee! Ha, ha, ha! (_He takes +the purse out of the water-jug, putting it into his breast._) + +KASIM. (_Laughing obsequiously._) Ha! Ha! Ha! + + (_A slight pause._) + +KASIM. (_Crawling over to HAJJ, cringing._) O my master, and what is my +share of the spoils? + +HAJJ. (_Imitating KASIM._) “What is my share of the spoils?” By Solomon’s +seal ring! This purse—whether it be from Heaven or from Hell,—this hath +been sent by Fate to me, and me alone. There is a purpose in this purse. +The scroll of destiny unrolleth itself to mine eyes. I see the writing as +in flames. + +KASIM. The scroll? + +HAJJ. Lookee, all of us have an allotted hour. This is mine. Here’s the +talisman I have prayed for, many a year of waiting. The weapon to my +revenge—Gold! + +KASIM. What wilt thou do? + +HAJJ. I shall arise from the seat of dejection. (_Rises._) My days of +mourning are over. I shall get me to the hammam-bath. (_Walking about._) +These rags will I rip from me; the waters shall wash away my weariness. +Robes of ease and decency shall broaden my breast. No more the whining +voice and bent brow, and trembling palm of poverty, but head back as a +fighter of the faith, shoulders free, stride bold and commanding as a +king’s, yea, as he said, even as a king’s. + + (_He walks excitedly up and down and throws his beggar’s cloak + on his stone._) + + (_The IMAM MAHMUD has come out of the Mosque and stands amazed + on the steps._) + +MAHMUD. O HAJJ. Are thy wits fled? What means this? + +HAJJ. I am casting my beggardom from me. + +MAHMUD. Thou? + +HAJJ. Allah hath opened the Gate of Action to me. (_Chinking his purse._) +With a golden key! + +MAHMUD. O my son, I fear for thee the chances and changes of time. + +HAJJ. Hath not the Prophet enjoined blood vengeance? I am resolved, O my +father. Voyage is victory. Yet ere I go, thou who didst ever remember my +misery,—take this voluntary for the poor. (_He gives MAHMUD some coin._) + +MAHMUD. May the Protector protect thee against all woe, may He forefend +thee ever against thy foe. + +KASIM. (_Going to HAJJ, still on his knees._) And I—am I to have naught? + +HAJJ. Thou? (_Pushing him to the stone._) Take thou my stone, my +ancestral throne! Wrapped in my royal robes, hold it thine own! As for +me, life calls. The day is mine to joy! And when the night falleth, Allah +allowing, I shall hold mine enemy in the hollow of my hand! (_He strides +off to the left, his purse on high, full daylight upon him._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE II. _The Suk (Bazaar Street) of the Tailors._ + + _A narrow street, arched over, with shops on both sides. Arches + left and right. A large centre arch at the back leads off to + other parts of the bazaar._ + + (NOTE.—_Much of the following action and dialogue occurs + simultaneously, so as to produce a harmonious picture rather + than separate impressions._) + + _In a shop left sits ZAYD, a thin, conceited man of forty; he + has with him a tiny little apprentice, who is here, there and + everywhere. In the shop right (AMRU’S shop), a somewhat older + apprentice is unpacking bales of stuff._ + + _It is early morning. The life of the street is awakening to + the business of the day. As the curtain rises the shopkeepers + are spreading out their wares. A SWEETMEAT-SELLER enters + through the centre arch. He bows to a shopkeeper and passes on, + squatting in the right corner, his back to the audience. His + cry is_, “Ho! Ho! Swee-ts.” _FRUIT-GIRLS enter from the right + and settle down in the left corner opposite him. Their cry is_ + “Omani peaches, Osmani quinces! Sultani citrons! Li-mes!” + + _TWO BEDOUINS appear and walk solemnly down the street. A + CHINAMAN enters, followed by a little boy carrying fowls. The + CHINAMAN goes to the SWEETMEAT-SELLER and points to the sweets + with his fan._ + +CHINAMAN. (In a squeaky voice.) _This! This! This! How much?_ + +SWEETSELLER. _Three daniks._ + +CHINAMAN. _One! One! One!_ + +SWEETSELLER. _Two._ + +CHINAMAN. (Turning away to the left.) _One!_ + +SWEETSELLER. (Rises and goes after him.) _One and a half._ + + (_The CHINAMAN refuses to listen to him._) + +SWEETSELLER. (Sitting down again.) _Hell swallow all foreign dogs!_ + + (_JAWAN enters at the central arch supported by his TWO SLAVES + and passes down the street._) + + (_The CHINAMAN goes to ZAYD’S shop._) + +ZAYD’S APPRENTICE. _Allah enlarge thee, O traveller from the land of +China._ + +CHINAMAN. _Silk! Silk! Silk!_ + +ZAYD’S APPRENTICE. _Here’s Persian silk, O my master! Rich, soft silk._ + +CHINAMAN. (Pulling it about). _No! China silk! China silk! This bad! +Bad!_ (He walks away.) + +ZAYD’S APPRENTICE. (Shouts after him). _Out on thee, thou cat-faced +infidel!_ + + (_A BOY with flowers comes and squats down near the fruit-girls. + His cry is_: + + “Jasmine and violets fine, + Pomegranate bloom and eglantine.”) + + (_AN OLD MAN with a donkey appears laden with jars of olive oil, + stops at ZAYD’S shop and turns to the apprentice._) + +THE OLD MAN (to the apprentice). _Here’s olive oil for thy master._ + +BOY. _Is the jar full?_ + +THE OLD MAN. _Full as the number of my years._ + +BOY. _Allah make them a thousand in number._ + + (_THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD struts majestically through the Suk. + NASIR, the guide, enters, goes to ZAYD’S shop and bargains for + a sash; tries it on, rolling himself into it and out of it as + ZAYD holds one end of it._) + + (_TWO COURTESANS appear in flimsy veils and gorgeous draperies. + A YOUTH approaches them with a flower he has bought from the + flower-boy._) + +THE FIRST COURTESAN (to the Youth). _Fair befall thee, O Youth! Art thou +from Baghdad? Art thou a stranger?_ + +THE YOUTH. _I am yours from wherever I am; a captive to the moon of your +faces._ + +THE OTHER COURTESAN. _Thy glance is bright as the blade of a sword._ + +THE YOUTH. _And thy tongue sharper, no doubt!_ + +THE PORTER (with an immense bale on his head, to one of the Courtesans). +_Must thou trip my heels, thou stinking armful?_ + +THE COURTESAN. _Out of my way, thou son of a burnt father._ + +AN OLD MAN (to a Young One). _Come out of this babel; I am sick from +eating too much of the world._ + +THE YOUNG MAN. _Nay, I have only begun the feast—I am an-hungered. Look +at this shop, O my father!_ + +A MERCHANT. _What wilt thou buy, O my brother? Silks? Kerchiefs? Girdles? +Here’s all the earth gives birth to._ + +AN EGYPTIAN (with a little girl, to a boy selling beads.) _What manner of +beads are these, O my son?_ + +THE BEAD-BOY. _Beads from Damascus! Beads of polished steel! Glass beads +from Rhodes! Beads clear as crystal from the land of China, whiter than +sea-pearls!_ + +THE EGYPTIAN (to his little girl.) _What shall I buy thee, O my Pigeon? +These beads? Or those? Speak, O my Lotus!_ + +A MAN (to one of the fruit-sellers.) _Is thy fruit sweet, O my sister?_ +(He takes up some fruit.) + +THE FRUIT-SELLER. _Pay first and taste after._ + +A MAN. _Thy fruit is over-ripe._ + +THE FRUIT-SELLER. _’Tis fresh as the dawn-breeze._ + +THE MAN. _O my little tulip, how should I believe thee? Dost thou not +belong to the universal sisterhood of woman?_ + +THE FRUIT-SELLER. _All women are not alike; nor are the fingers of the +hand alike._ + +THE SWEETMEAT-SELLER (crying.) _Swee-ts! Swee-ts! No better sweets in +Baghdad. No better sweets in Baghdad. They are made by my cousin. He’s +pastry-cook at the palace._ + +A BUYER. _Allah increase thee for a smooth-tongued liar!_ + +THE SWEETSELLER. _Taste my wares and ask my pardon!_ + + (_And so it goes. Cries and movement everywhere. The + shopkeeper’s call to the passer-by is, “What dost thou want? + Dost thou lack kerchiefs, shawls?” Greetings are heard such + as, “I salute thee with my salaam! Allah increase thee, O my + brother! A blessed day! Allah gladden thee with good news! + The Bestower increase thee ever!” Porters plough their way + through the crowd calling out, “Have patience, o ye people, + have patience.” Compliments are heard such as, “Thou art like + the moon on a fourteenth night! Thy body sways like a thirsting + gazelle! Gifted by the Giver art thou! Thy beauty would make + a palace dance!” And words of anger and impatience such as, + “Begone and none of thine impudence! Be off! By Allah, this is + not allowed! May Allah never bless thee! No friendly welcome + to thee! Fie upon thee, ill-omened fellow!” The hubbub reaches + its climax as a WATER-CARRIER enters, shouting loudly_, “Water! + Water, coo-l and clea-r!” _He is stopped by two negro slaves, + who buy cups of water from him. Then the WATER-CARRIER turns, + as AMRU, a stout imposing merchant with a huge beard, comes + down the street and approaches him. AMRU takes a cup. As he + does so, ZAYD looks up from his shop in surprise and hurries + out of it._) + +ZAYD. (_Surprised._) By mine eyes, Amru! + +AMRU. (_Delighted._) By mine eyes, Zayd! + + (_They embrace, one arm being thrown round the shoulder, the + other round the side, placing the chin first upon the left then + upon the right collar bone and repeating this several times. As + they embrace the crowd gradually disperses, leaving the street + comparatively empty. But there is always a sense of life in the + suk, and the hum of the bazaar is heard dimly throughout the + scene._) + +ZAYD. Welcome and well come and good cheer to my friend, the +dearly-beloved. So thou art home from Egypt? (_He motions him over to his +shop._) + +AMRU. Yesternight in the first watch I caused my camels to kneel at my +door. + +ZAYD. By Allah and his Apostle, it swells my heart to hear thy voice once +more! Thou hast tarried many moons. Has thy business prospered? + + (_The little apprentice has spread out cushions: they both + sit._) + +AMRU. Fortune hath blessed me indeed. And thou? How is’t with thee? + +ZAYD. Alas! Traffic has grown dull with the new Caliph. + +AMRU. So soon? He hath been in power but seven days they tell me. + +ZAYD. He is very young—scarce sixteen,—and so devout! He was schooled +in a monastery in the mountains. ’Tis said his harim is empty. Not a +woman,—not as much as a wife. + +AMRU. Not so much as—and seven days! By the glories of Paradise to come! +An I were Caliph for seven days! + +ZAYD. An I were Caliph for seven hours! But they say that he is waiting +to find the woman of his dream, a maid of beauty all in all. Be she of +noblest blood or poorest of the poor, he hath taken oath, until Allah +reveal the chosen one, he will live alone,—unwed,—unwived. + + (_Kettledrums are heard in the distance to the left.)_ + + (_AMRU returns to his shop at the right._) + + (_The crowd hurries in from all sides. Men and women all kneel, + bending low. As the CALIPH enters they touch their foreheads to + the ground._) + + (_Through the centre arch comes the Caliph’s procession, + turning down and disappearing through the arch right. First + come SIX ARCHERS OF THE GUARD with lances. Next follow FOUR + MEN with KETTLEDRUMS (like tom-toms) and a pair of TRUMPETERS: + then SIX ARCHERS with scymitars drawn, walking two and two. + After that, DIGNITARIES of the royal household. Some singly, + others in twos. These are: the Caliph’s slipper-bearer; his + cloak-bearer; his cup-bearer; his ewer and basin-bearer; his + bow-bearer; and his carpet-spreader. Next the two head EUNUCHS + of his harim, both tall blackamoors clothed in yellow._) + + (_After this, at an interval of five paces, on a white mule, + the CALIPH himself, robed in the black of the Abbaside dynasty. + His face is very youthful, full of spiritual beauty and weary + pride. On his left cheek he has a mole. By his left side walks + ABU BAKR, an old, white-bearded man, clothed in green and + white, with a very large turband, holding his master’s left + stirrup._) + + (_As the CALIPH reaches the centre of the street, an old woman, + KABIRAH, throws herself at his feet; the procession halts._) + +KABIRAH. O King of the age—justice! Justice to an ancient widow and a +sore oppressed! (_She holds out a petition._) + +CALIPH. (_Waving to ABU BAKR who takes the petition._) Come thou to +my Diwan this mid-afternoon. None shall suffer wrong under this my +sovereignty. The Judge of Judges be my witness. The Peace! + + (_KABIRAH withdraws muttering “Heaven increase thee ever, O + King.”_) + + (_The procession moves on; the people in the street remaining + crouched and motionless as the CALIPH passes them._) + + (_A COURT DIGNITARY follows, scattering coin._) + + (_SIX ARCHERS, with scymitars drawn, conclude the procession._) + + (_Directly the CALIPH’S guard is out of sight there is a wild + scramble for the royal largesse. The rabble then follows the + procession._) + +ZAYD. (_To AMRU, shouting across to his shop._) Didst note the mole on +his cheek? Is he not beautiful? + +AMRU. Allah bless him! And the old man? + +ZAYD. Abu Bakr, his tutor—a far famed grammarian. He entered the city +with countless camel-loads of dictionaries. ’Tis he who ruleth the ruler. + +AMRU. Where’s Mansur—the old Caliph’s favourite? He was wont to ride by +his master’s side. Hath he fallen from power? + +ZAYD. Nay, he’s still Chief of the Guards of the City and Wazir of the +Police. But at the Palace they begin to whisper—(_Seeing MANSUR; in a +low voice._) The Peace!—Mansur! + + (_MANSUR appears, a tall, slim, sinister figure of about + eight and twenty. His face shows traces of beauty ruined by + debauchery; his manner is that of an expert in the sensualism + of cruelty; his robes are of deep blue and steel. He is + evidently nursing his rage, and strides along ominously. Behind + him comes KAFUR, his sworder, a snake-like Ethiopian, by whose + side hobbles a small hunchback scribe, AFIFE, who looks more + like a pelican than a man._) + + (_As MANSUR enters, a BLIND MAN crosses his path._) + +THE BLIND MAN. Blind! Blind! Buy a blessing from the blind! + + (_MANSUR annoyed at the BLIND MAN’S fumbling, strikes him down + and passes on. The BLIND MAN gets up again, helped by two of + the courtesans. ZAYD gives him a coin or two, and he goes on + his way._) + +ZAYD. (_To AMRU._) Didst mark his rage? He, the favourite of yesterday, +to-day must walk second to the grammarian. The splitter of lives bow to +the splitter of syllables. Ha! Ha! + + (_HAJJ appears in the centre archway. He is still in rags. He + comes down to ZAYD._) + +ZAYD. (_Putting him off as he would a beggar._) Heaven will provide, O +brother. + + (_HAJJ crosses to AMRU._) + +AMRU. (_In the same tone as ZAYD._) Allah will provide. + +HAJJ. Nay, I am no beggar. + +ZAYD and AMRU. What art thou then? + +HAJJ. I am a religious mendicant. My vow of poverty has been accomplished +in the hour. I am on my way to the hammam to re-enter daily life. + +ZAYD. O father of rags, thou art strangely like to a beggar before the +Carpenter’s Mosque. + +HAJJ. So I have been told. The sooner therefore I strip me of his +likeness, the better for both of us. What hast thou in the manner of +cloaks and shirts and turband-cloths? (_He clinks the purse ominously._) + + (_ZAYD and AMRU hurry forward, each bringing a cushion for HAJJ + to sit on. They spread a big square of stuff before him on + which they display their goods._) + + (_HAJJ sits down with great satisfaction._) + +ZAYD. All colours, O my master. + +AMRU. All kinds, O my master. + +HAJJ. (_With a delighted smile, pleased at the epithet._) Master! (_He +chinks his purse._) + +ZAYD. Why dost thou smile? + +HAJJ. ’Tis nought! A memory! Show me thy wares. + +AMRU. Thou’lt see mine too, O my lord? + +HAJJ. (_Turning to AMRU, as above._) Lord!—Thine too,—O my—my tailor. +(_Pointing to some veils in AMRU’S hands._) What’s this? + +ZAYD. (_Spreading out a cloak eagerly._) Thy cloak, O my master. + +HAJJ. (_To ZAYD, putting him off._) A moment. (_To AMRU._) Face veils? + +AMRU. (_Spreading out a veil._) After the fashion of Egypt. Woven air! + +HAJJ. (_Taking up the veil._) A veil! Hast thou anklets? + +AMRU. Here are jewels none hath set eyes on in Baghdad. (_He opens a +little casket._) + +ZAYD. (_Jealously, calling across._) O my lord,—thy cloak. + +AMRU. (_To ZAYD, annoyed._) Trouble not my master. + +HAJJ. (_Taking up the anklets and veil._) How much? + +AMRU. Seven dinars. + +HAJJ. Thou art mad! (_He turns to ZAYD._) Thy cloak! + +AMRU. (_Eagerly._) How much wilt thou offer? + +HAJJ. (_Ignoring AMRU._) Allah, this is workmanship! + +AMRU. (_As above._) Six dinars and a half. + +HAJJ. (_To ZAYD._) Who’s the designer of this? + +ZAYD. ’Tis I. + +AMRU. (_Quickly to HAJJ, waving the scarf and anklets._) Six. + +HAJJ. (_Turning to AMRU._) Three! And ’tis more than paid. + +AMRU. The anklets alone cost me four. + +ZAYD. (_To HAJJ._) Thou’lt have the cloak? + +HAJJ. How much? + +ZAYD. Twenty-five dinars. + +HAJJ. Twenty-five! (_He turns abruptly to AMRU._) Three dinars. + +ZAYD. Twenty-four and a half! + +AMRU. Four dinars and I lose. By the life of my father, I swear it. + +HAJJ. Four an thou wrappest them up in one of thy kerchiefs. + +AMRU. ’Tis beyond my yielding. (_He takes his veils away._) + +HAJJ. (_Turning to ZAYD._) Hast thou veils? (_AMRU eyes HAJJ eagerly._) + +ZAYD. The best in Baghdad. Thou’lt have the cloak? + +HAJJ. I’ll see others first. Put it there. (_He points to the kerchief +spread out before him._) Thy veils! + +AMRU. Hold! Thou shalt have thy veil and kerchief. But I swear—— + +HAJJ. (_Turning to AMRU._) Swear not! (_Counts out the money._) Four! +Thou hast begun the day too well. What shirt is this? (_He takes it +up._) And yon trousers and girdle? (_Pointing to some trousers and a +girdle ZAYD’S apprentice is holding up._) + + (_The GUIDE NASIR enters at the back, sees HAJJ and watches him + unobserved, with cat-like glances, leaning against ZAYD’S shop. + ZAYD hands HAJJ the trousers and girdle._) + +AMRU. (_Shouting._) First see this girdle of mine. + +HAJJ. Now which of ye twain hath a turband-cloth to my heart? + +ZAYD. (_Unrolling one._) O master, ’tis I. + +AMRU. (_Unrolling another._) O master, ’tis me. + +ZAYD. I! + +AMRU. Me! + +HAJJ. The master asked both. (_Pointing to AMRU’S cloth, squinting at +ZAYD out of the corner of his eye._) His cloth far excelleth thine. + +ZAYD. (_Furious._) His cloth excel mine? Yon meagre tracery crawling +along the edge as a dying dog to a puddle,—that excel my glorious +branching and bowing of pomegranates? + +AMRU. Dying dog, indeed! Dying dog thyself. + +ZAYD. By Allah, hold thy peace, O brother. + +HAJJ. (_To ZAYD inciting him._) How? Let him call thee dog? + +ZAYD. (_Springing up._) Called he me dog? Didst thou call me dog, O dog? + +AMRU. (_Conciliating him, still on his knees._) Enough, O Zayd. Words +poison. + +HAJJ. (_To AMRU, in a whisper._) What? Kneel to a slave, dost thou? + +AMRU. Yehh! Thou art right. (_Rising and facing ZAYD._) Yes, I—I call +thee dog. + +ZAYD. Thou shall eat thy words. (_He crosses to AMRU._) + +AMRU. And thou thy pomegranates. (_They fall to blows._) + + (_HAJJ quickly gathers the clothes he picked out, wraps the + large cloth about them and hurries off by the arch, left. + NASIR has watched HAJJ and follows him off. THE MERCHANTS AND + APPRENTICES hurry out of the shops._) + +VARIOUS MEN. Ho, Masters! Ho, masters! Help! They’re fighting! They’ll +have their swords out. Ho, Moslems! Ho Captain! Help! + + (_Several of the shopmen and passers-by crowd round, chattering + and screaming, trying to separate the two men. Different ones + shout: “O AMRU! O Brothers! Where’s the Syndic? O ZAYD! For the + love of Allah! Are ye not sons of Islam both?” etc._) + + (_The CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH hurries in by the centre arch. The + two men are separated by him._) + +CAPTAIN. O Zayd! O Amru! Shame upon ye! How now? Are ye donkey-boys? + +AMRU. O Captain! Heaven knoweth we were ever the best of friends. + +ZAYD. Ever till this hour. + +CAPTAIN. Who began it? + +ZAYD. ’Twas my lord here who said—(_He points to HAJJ’S empty cushion; +stops and stares amazed._) Where is my lord? (_He looks about +bewildered._) Yehh! Gone! Gone and the clothes with him. + +AMRU. O, the bazaar devil! ’Twas _he_ that set us on. + +ZAYD. After him. Which way went he? + +A MAN. This way. (_He points to the arch left._) + + (_The crowd, headed by ZAYD, starts to run off to the left._) + +ANOTHER MAN. (_Pointing up to the centre arch._) This way! + + (_The crowd veers and starts off to the back._) + +STILL ANOTHER MAN. (_Pointing to the right._) This way! (_They all swing +to the right._) + + (_NASIR re-enters from the left arch eagerly._) + +NASIR. (_At the top of his voice._) No, that way. I know the dog well. +’Tis Hajj—the beggar! + + (_General hubbub as ALL run off to the left, shouting and + gesticulating._) + +THE SWEETMEAT-SELLER. (_Rising and putting his tray of sweets on his head +goes slowly down the street, shouting._) Ho! Ho! Swee—ts! + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE III. _The Courtyard of a poor House._ + + _In the right wall a large double door leads out to the street. + An arch, which supports the upper part of the house, runs + parallel to the wall at the right, thus screening the court + from the street. At the back, a door leads into the inner + house. Two cages with a bird in each, are hanging on the wall + right. The left side of the court is taken up by a wall about + seven feet high, a niche in its centre containing a well with + ropes, buckets and a large jar or two. Over the wall can be + seen some cypresses of a garden. In the shadow of this wall, + a rose tree grows in a rim of masonry. An awning is stretched + across the Court. A tom-tom stands in one corner._ + + _The full morning sun over everything._ + + _MARSINAH, a beautiful girl of fourteen summers (which would + correspond to a girl of eighteen in the west) is seated on some + rough matting, in the centre of the court. She is clad in the + simplest fashion, like the poorest Arabian women. She is busy + with some needlework on a large embroidery frame, which rests + on four legs like a low table._ + + _Near her, idly fanning away the flies, sits NARJIS, a stout, + old Duenna, with a full-blown face. About them on the matting + lie strands of different coloured wools._ + +MARSINAH. (_Looking up to the garden wall._) The sun grows hot. + +NARJIS. How’s thy border? Will it be done by noon-prayer? I promised it +the merchant. + +MARSINAH. (_Impatiently sighing._) I hear, O Narjis, I hear. Hast thou +any yellow wool? + +NARJIS. (_Turns away from Marsinah to look for it._) Yellow? Yellow? Did +I not give it thee erstwhile? + +MARSINAH. (_Quickly takes the yellow wool and hides it under the folds of +her dress._) ’Twas red thou gavest me. + +NARJIS. By the life of thy youth, O Marsinah, ’twas yellow. (_She rises +and searches._) + +MARSINAH. Look thyself. Thou seest I lack it to finish the pattern. + +NARJIS. Alas! (_Sighs._) What’s to be done? What’s to be done? + + (_She sits despondently on the rim of the well._) + +MARSINAH. Run to the wool market, O good Narjis. + +NARJIS. All the way to the wool market? + +MARSINAH. ’Tis none so far for one so sprightly as thou, O sweet Narjis. +Thou didst promise it the merchant—remember! + +NARJIS. I could have laid an oath with the All-seeing there was yet +another strand of yellow. + +MARSINAH. (_Tucking away a tell-tale thread._) Couldst thou in sooth? + +NARJIS. Well-a-day! There’s nought for me but to go. We must finish the +work or the money’s lost. + + (_She crosses to the large double door and takes down a huge + iron door key, which hangs on the wall beside the door._) + +And O Marsinah! No looking out of windows or peeping over walls. + +MARSINAH. By Lady Fatimah’s life of light! What dost thou suppose? + +NARJIS. Think of thy father. Thou knowest how he fears for thy safety. +Was not his first wife stolen? His son slaughtered? Art thou not the last +of his race? Is not thine own mother in the tomb of eternity? I tell +thee, should one folly on thy part reach thy father’s ears, ’twere the +undoing of us both. + +MARSINAH. Fear nought, O dear Narjis. + + (_NARJIS has let herself out and locked the door outside._) + + (_MARSINAH rises, and listens at the door. Then she hurries to + the rim of the masonry by the well, gets up on it and peers + over the wall. With a little cry of delight she exclaims + “Waiting! Waiting!” Then claps her left palm with her right + hand twice. She listens,—then claps again. Some one answers the + signal in the same manner. She draws her veil across her face + instinctively and stands expectant._) + + (_A youth appears over the masonry. In a moment he is down and + in her arms. By his mole he is seen to be the young CALIPH + ABDALLAH,—but he is now dressed in the simple clothes of an + artisan._) + +CALIPH. O my beloved! At last! + +MARSINAH. Dost thou still love me, O my master. + +CALIPH. Still? + + (_He draws away her veil and kisses her between the eyes._) + +All my soul lieth between thine eyes! All my longing on thine untouched +lips. Still love thee? + +MARSINAH. How can man love maid who unveileth her face as I have to thee? + +CALIPH. How can man not love? + +MARSINAH. (_Veiling herself again._) I am ashamed at my shamelessness. + +CALIPH. Sooner be thou ashamed of mine. ’Twas I that climbed the wall, +broke in on thee to tear the cloud from the new moon. + + (_He raises the veil from her face._) + +MARSINAH. I swear were to-day three days agone, and thou imploring me +now, by thine eyes, I’d not betray my secrecy again. + +CALIPH. What! Is thy love grown faint so soon? + +MARSINAH. Allah help me, strong so soon. I am become a thousand times +more watchful, more jealous of myself, and all because of thee. Alas! How +must honour like thine judge of frailty like mine? + +CALIPH. (_Passionately._) Mine honour judges as it judged the first +moment of seeing thee: that thou art my love, that I hold thy little +hands in mine, and that thou shalt be my wife—none other before thee. + + (_Drawing her towards him._) + +MARSINAH. (_Sinking at his feet._) O my loved one; this is a dream of +thine. Think of thy parents. What will they say? What wilt thou tell them? + +CALIPH. (_He sits by her on the ground._) What? That I looked out from +my father’s pavilion one blessed evening and saw thee feeding thy little +birds at yon window. That I gazed on thy white wrists long—long. What +more need I say. (_He is about to kiss her wrists._) + +MARSINAH. (_Withdrawing them playfully._) My wrists! Hath my face no say +in thy loving? + +CALIPH. Thy face! The Forgiver forgive thee. Since I beheld its light, my +nights are sleepless; my days burning sands. This stolen moment alone my +shade, thy hair my breeze, thy voice my fountain. + +MARSINAH. (_Drawing away._) O my love, leave me; forget me utterly. Thy +mother will never choose me thy bride. Is thy father not far, far above +my father? Did’st thou not say he was the Caliph’s gardener? + +CALIPH. Is the Caliph’s gardener such a mighty man? + +MARSINAH. Narjis says he is. + +CALIPH. (_Secretly annoyed._) Narjis—the old woman? + +MARSINAH. Yea, and she says more. I asked her in a light way—O very +lightly—had she e’er heard spoken of the gardener’s son. And she—the +fool—she swears he never had a son; that his only wife is dead these many +years; that the garden next door hath been leased by a grammarian, the +new Caliph’s tutor; that once even the Caliph himself came to walk there +in the cool of the day. + +CALIPH. (_Curtly._) Narjis is an old gossip. She knows not what she +chatters. + +MARSINAH. So I told her. But she said, “On with thy work, O thou daughter +of ignorance.” Then I began to laugh, thinking of thee, and flung out a +line of a song, till her forehead swelled with rage and she beat me. + +CALIPH. (_Furiously._) She beat thee? + +MARSINAH. O ’tis naught. She does so often. + +CALIPH. The sister of Satan! + +MARSINAH. What would’st thou! She’s not my mother. + +CALIPH. (_Tenderly._) O my Marsinah! Has this been thy life? Is thy +mother gone long? + +MARSINAH. Three years ’tis now since she entered into the mercy of Allah! +Alas! Those were different days. What I did for my mother I did in +delight. What I learnt from her, I learnt with a dancing heart. All her +songs, the plucking of the lute she taught me—as ’twere so much laughter. +In her hour, ere my father took her to wife, she had been the slave of a +rich merchant. The cunningest teachers in Baghdad had taught her. When +the merchant gave her her freedom, she was besought to sing at all the +rarest feasts. Then Allah took her voice and evil nights fell upon her. +Thus my father found her, outcast and starving. Such was my mother. + + (_A short silence._) + +CALIPH. Thou did’st not tell me that thou could’st play, that thou +could’st sing! What fresh perfection do I find in thee every moment! + +MARSINAH. ’Tis all my mother in me. + +CALIPH. ’Tis all thyself in thee. Blessed be He that fashioned thee in +thy splendour of beauty. Thy face is fairer than health; thine eyes are +the eyes of a gazelle; thy lips a cluster of coral; like a silver column +is thy neck: and thy breasts, pomegranates in their glory. O, my beloved, +when will come the hour that I shall hold thee close to my heart, while +the night hangeth her silver lamp over our silence. + +MARSINAH. (_In a whisper._) When Allah willeth—and Allah will it soon. + + (_Their lips meet in a kiss._) + +CALIPH. (_Rises to his knees with sudden passion._) It shall be this +night. + +MARSINAH. O, sweet my lord, I have told thee before, it cannot be. Not at +night. Narjis is ever here, and ofttimes my father. My only freedom is a +morn like to-day’s. + +CALIPH. (_Drawing close to her._) Thou shalt have other freedom undreamt +of by thee. + +MARSINAH. What wilt thou do? + +CALIPH. Can’st thou trust me? + +MARSINAH. With all my soul, an thou put not thy life in danger. + +CALIPH. Dost thou love me so? + +MARSINAH. (_Hanging her head._) Sooner would I lose thee for ever. + +CALIPH. (_After a pause, with a smile she does not observe._) Fear naught. + +MARSINAH. What is’t? Nothing to harm thee? + +CALIPH. (_Cheek to cheek._) Thou’lt see! When the evening prayer hath +locked the door of the day, then will I come to open the eyes of thy +heart. + + This joy must yield to deeper joy its power; + As bud still rends its veil, to blush as flower. + +MARSINAH. (_Improvising._) + + Ah me! How oft the foolish petal’s haste + Is scattered to the skies by fatal shower. + +CALIPH. (_Turning surprised—joyously._) Yehh! Can’st cap verses too? By +Allah! What is this Wonder of wonders, that the Giver of all things good—— + +MARSINAH. (_Rises, interrupting him._) Awah! + +CALIPH. Nothing. + +MARSINAH. It is. Fly, O my beloved. + +CALIPH. (_Rises._) How can I leave my soul behind and not die? (_He goes +up to the rim of the well._) + +MARSINAH. Go, I implore thee! By all that’s holy! Here! (_She plucks a +rose from the bush, kisses it, and hands it to him._) Go! + + (_The CALIPH presses the rose to his lips, then slips it into + his breast and climbs over the wall._) + +CALIPH. (_From the top of the wall._) After set of sun! (_He disappears +over the wall._) + +NARJIS. (_Outside._) Marsinah! Marsinah! + + (_MARSINAH hurries to her work, sits and stitches furiously._) + +NARJIS. (_Entering the courtyard._) A gift of good news, O my roe. Thy +father is coming. + +MARSINAH. My father? Never yet came he home during the day. + +NARJIS. Never yet. But to-day he cometh. I saw him leaving the +hammam-bath, unlike himself—in robes of splendour, his locks combed, +his beard trimmed, and (_imitating him_) striding along as proud and +calm as a camel! I hasted ahead through the alleys. Had he found thee +alone—— (_There is a knock on the door._) By the Prophet! None too soon. +(_Calling out._) I come! I come! (_Goes to the door and calls through +it._) Who art thou? What seekest thou? (_She winks at MARSINAH and feigns +surprise._) Allah! ’tis my master. O Marsinah! Thy father, as I am awake! +(_She unlocks the door._) + + (_MARSINAH has risen; drawing her veil about the back of her + head._) + + (_HAJJ enters as described, wearing all his stolen robes, his + beard neatly trimmed, his whole being refreshed by the bath. + His manner is far more self-assured. He carries his little + bundle of presents for his daughter, which he flings to the + ground._) + +MARSINAH. Salam, O my father. + +NARJIS. Salam, O my master. + +HAJJ. Salam. + + (_All sit, HAJJ between the two women._) + +MARSINAH. Thou smellest so sweet; is it musk? + +HAJJ. I have lain in the hammam all morning. + +MARSINAH. May thy bath profit thee, O my father. What blessed coming is +thine? + +HAJJ. Thou mayst indeed call it blessed. For verily the Dispeller of +woe hath turned the murk of my night into a day of light and delight. +What say ye to this. (_He takes out his purse._) Gold! Gold! Gold! What +a sound it is! It chinks straight into the blood and sets the heart +a-beating, so the temples throb and reason flies from the head. Dost thou +mark it, O Marsinah. O Narjis, dost thou? + +MARSINAH. (_Clapping her hands._) Yehh! + +NARJIS. (_Suspicious._) Whence hadst thou this? + +HAJJ. Whence? (_His brow clouds._) Whence? From a fool in his folly! An +accursed for whom it shall weave the rope round his neck. But that’s for +later. (_Chinking the purse._) This for now. (_He slips the purse in his +breast._) Ha! Ha! Ha! O eyes of me! Ye should have beheld them in the +hammam—the bath-keeper and his slaveboys. How they bowed before me—one +and all. “O my master” here, and “O my lord” there. And such rinsings, +and rubbings, and clappings, till my limbs rang aloud with smoothness! +Then they laid me adown on silken sheets, the while censers fumed me +sweetly from head to heel. And the bath-keeper knelt at my feet, and sung +to the tom-tom a song. (_He sings, imitating the playing of a tom-tom +with his hands._) + + A bowl of wine! Two bowls of wine! + And three more bowls and that makes nine! + + (_He draws out the purse and flings it in the air with a shout, + catching it again._) + +MARSINAH. (_Clapping her hands gleefully and rising to her knees._) O my +father! Thou art magnificent! + +HAJJ. (_Delighted._) Magnificent—am I? + +MARSINAH. Yea! Even as a prince in one of the tales thou tellest. + +HAJJ. A Prince! (_He strokes his moustachios._) A King? + +MARSINAH. A King, in truth, a King! Is he not, O Narjis? + +NARJIS. (_Ironically._) A King, in very sooth. + +MARSINAH. Never beheld I thee thus. Never till this hour. White as milk +is this day of mine. + +HAJJ. It shall be whiter still, O my dainty. Give me the bundle, O +Narjis. Thou shalt bless the day indeed, O my rose. (_Opening the +bundle._) Ah! Now thine eyes glisten. Now! + +MARSINAH. Thou didst remember me? + +HAJJ. Remember thee? What doth thy soul most desire in this world? Speak. + +MARSINAH. Most? (_She glances unconsciously up over the garden wall, but +looks down again quickly._) + +HAJJ. Ah, now thou blushest. What is it? + +MARSINAH. (_Confused._) I—know—not. + +HAJJ. (_Imitating._) “I know not.” O Narjis, was ever maid such maid. She +knows not. By Allah, thou hast guarded her well. She is as simple as the +hour she was born. “I know not.” (_He fondles MARSINAH’S cheek._) + +MARSINAH. (_Hanging her head._) What should I know? + + (_HAJJ and NARJIS look at each other smiling knowingly._) + +HAJJ. Thou shouldest know that thy father loves thee! (_He kisses her +on both eyes._) And that he has brought thee these. (_He produces the +anklets from the bundle._) + +MARSINAH. Anklets! (_She flings off her slippers laughing gleefully and +puts on the anklets._) O Narjis! O Narjis! At last! Now! What girl in our +street can laugh at me now? (_Rises and circles about the two._) Look, O +Narjis, look! Jamilah, or Mubarakah, or any of them. O my master, I kiss +thy feet. (_She kneels before HAJJ and bows down._) + +HAJJ. (_Laying his hand on her head._) Thou art content? + +MARSINAH. (_Blissfully._) Content? Content? + +HAJJ. Then what sayst thou to a veil? (_He unfolds the veil._) + +MARSINAH. (_Springs up, then bashfully—overcome._) For me—too? (_HAJJ +hands it to her smilingly._) (_In rapture, holding it up; unconsciously +looking up to the garden wall._) Oh! would I had had it this morn! + +HAJJ. This morn! What dost thou mean? + +MARSINAH. (_Realising her self-betrayal._) I mean—I know not. My heart is +so happy. La Yayhá! Do I fill thine eyes, O my father? (_She drapes the +veil about her._) + +HAJJ. (_Smiling proudly._) Fill mine eyes! Go! Fetch thy lute! We will +have music. This day shall be a day of rejoicing. + +MARSINAH. (_Going._) I hear and I obey. (_She hurries off across the +courtyard into the house._) + +HAJJ. (_Looking after her._) By Allah! How she glides swimmingly as she +were a lily floating down the Tigris. Blessed indeed is he that taketh +her to wife. + +NARJIS. Aye, and she’s ripe to wed, too. + +HAJJ. Fourteen! The pick of years! I must seek her a husband. + +NARJIS. (_Huddles up to him._) What sayst thou to the basket-weaver’s son +at the corner? + +HAJJ. The basket-weaver’s son? O thou hag! (_Slaps her cheek with the +back of his hand._) Why not a bean-seller? (_Slap._) Or a camel-boy? +(_Slap._) Yea, or best and rarest, some blear-eyed mangy beggar? (_Slap._) + + (_MARSINAH appears with a lute._) + +HAJJ. (_To NARJIS._) Behold her now! I swear the very movement of her +limbs maketh melody. + +MARSINAH. What shall I sing thee, O my father? (_She stands tuning her +instrument._) + +HAJJ. How many modes canst thou play in? + +MARSINAH. One-and-twenty. + +HAJJ. One-and-twenty. (_To NARJIS._) Are one-and-twenty modes for the +basket-weaver’s son? (_He slaps NARJIS again. To MARSINAH._) And sing how +many? + +MARSINAH. The like number. + +HAJJ. And dance? How many steps did thy mother teach thee? + +MARSINAH. Far beyond counting. + +HAJJ. (_To NARJIS._) Thou hearest! Are they, the countless, for the +basket-weaver’s son? (_A final slap._) I tell thee, Marsinah is rare as +a houri in Paradise. Wouldst thou know what secret the future hideth for +Marsinah? + +NARJIS. (_Rubbing her poor cheek._) What secret, O master? + +HAJJ. Sit thee down here, O my flower. And here thou, O my cactus. Mark +me close, ye both. (_MARSINAH sits on the ground by HAJJ._) + +HAJJ. (_Drawing the purse from his breast._) This money in my bosom will +I take and buy merchandise withal. (_Tossing the purse from hand to hand; +his voice in lyrical exaltation._) And I will trade and sell; and buy +and trade; till it is doubled and trebled a hundred times hundredfold. +Then shall I turn from toil and trouble, to clothe my Marsinah in a rope +of pearls serene; with the crown of a queen on her forehead clear; two +jewels of shine and sheen, pending o’er each ear,—here and there; on her +breast will I set a ruby amulet of flash and fret; and stuffed within a +priceless piece of ambergris. + +MARSINAH. (_In wonder._) O my father! + +HAJJ. And the name of thy beauty shall be blown abroad, beyond Arabia, +through Sind, into China, even as far as the islands of Wak. And suitors +shall venture across deserts and sea, by caravel and camel, and fall on +their knee in suppliance for thee. + +MARSINAH. Yehh! + +HAJJ. But I—thy sire, (_leaning on NARJIS lazily as though she were a +feather bed._)—shall lie back on pillows of ostrich plumes, propping mine +elbow thus, nor turning to right nor to left. And there shall be wailings +and gnashings of teeth amongst thy lovers; the while thou, behind many +lintels, in a court of marble with a roof of molten gold, dancest +merrily, airily, to the sound of smitten strings. + +MARSINAH. (_Laughing joyfully and clapping her hands._) Ya ha! Ya ha! + +HAJJ. (_Triumphantly._) Ha! Ha! (_Eagerly._) Dance now, O dawn-breeze, +now! O Narjis, pluck a tune with thy talons. (_Hands her the lute._) Up, +O Marsinah, up! My tom-tom, O Narjis! My tom-tom! + + (_MARSINAH springs up. She begins to dance slowly, then faster + and faster. NARJIS, after handing HAJJ his tom-tom, plays and + occasionally sings as well._) + +HAJJ. (_Beating the tom-tom, shrilly._) Yehh! Allah! La Yayhá! La Yayhá! +So shalt thou dance! So! And the kings of the earth shall send their +sons! La Yayhá! By thy youth, thou art as a branch swaying! La Yayhá! But +I shall laugh them to scorn, all and one—“Ye swine,” shall I say— “Ye——” + + (_There is a knock at the door._) + + (_MARSINAH stops; so does NARJIS._) + +HAJJ. Nought. Neighbours. On! (_They begin again._) + +HAJJ. “Ye swine—who are ye to——” + + (_Another knock._) + +A VOICE. (_Outside._) Open in the name of justice. + +HAJJ. (_Instinctively looks at his garments._) Wah! Go indoors, O my +delight, go! (_He throws the bundle to MARSINAH._) + + (_MARSINAH, taking the bundle, goes into the house wondering._) + +HAJJ. (_To NARJIS._) Open! Open! Open! (_NARJIS opens the house door._) + + (_HAJJ sits expectant, tracing figures in the sand with his + finger-tips._) + + (_The CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH enters—behind him come ZAYD and AMRU + and FOUR ARCHERS. THE ARCHERS fling open the double doors to + the street and guard them. NASIR enters as well._) + +CAPTAIN. Is this the house of Hajj, the beggar? + +HAJJ. What would ye? + +ZAYD. I knew ’twas he! Seize the dog! + +HAJJ. Seize me? (_He rises abruptly._) + +ZAYD. Those are the very garments. + +CAPTAIN. Thou must come before the Wazir Mansur. + +HAJJ. (_Terrified at the name._) Mansur? I paid in part—I meant to pay in +full. + +AMRU. Thou liest, O split of tongue. + +HAJJ. Lie? I? (_He goes for AMRU._) + + (_TWO ARCHERS secure HAJJ between them._) + +CAPTAIN. No words! Off with him. + + (_THE ARCHERS march HAJJ to the door._) + +NASIR. (_Darting forward and grinning into HAJJ’S face._) Ha! Ha! + +HAJJ. (_Stopping as he sees NASIR._) Oh! Thou! + +NASIR. (_Mockingly imitating HAJJ’S voice._) I saw no purse. + +HAJJ. (_Spitting in NASIR’S face._) Thou filth! Thou son of filth. + + (_He is led off, the other men following._) + +NARJIS. (_Wringing her hands._) Allah! Allah! Allah! + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE IV. _A Hall in the Wazir Mansur’s Mansion._ + + _The room is a large oblong one, with a colonnade running along + the back, looking out on a colonnaded courtyard beyond. A large + double door to the left leads to the entrance hall. Opposite + it, in the right wall, a niche with a diwan, raised a step or + two. The tiles and carvings are of the richest._ + + _MANSUR is seated on the diwan, before him a chessboard._ + + _AFIFE is crouching to the right on the steps, his partner in + the game._ + + _KAFUR stands behind them watching._ + + _MANSUR is in a sullen humour, his mind not on the game._ + +AFIFE. (_Making a move, in a high squeaky voice._) Move, O master. + +MANSUR. (_Moving a chess-man._) Now match me this move, O thou bundle of +misery. + +AFIFE. Match it? (_He moves._) Thy turn, O my master. + +MANSUR. (_Moving again._) So! + +AFIFE. Check! + +MANSUR. Check? Now cursed be Satan the Stoned! What Ifrit is at thine +elbow? This is the third game thou dost beat me. + +AFIFE. Thy thoughts wander, O my Lord. + +MANSUR. Dost thou wonder they wander, o thou misbegotten lump of +dough?—Wander? They gallop, they fly! Even though I myself must crawl at +other men’s heels these days. + +KAFUR. (_To MANSUR._) There’s yet one more move for thee. + +MANSUR. (_Studying the board._) One more? + +KAFUR. So! (_He sweeps the chessboard clear with his sword._) + + (_The door opens and an ATTENDANT enters._) + +ATTENDANT. A Chamberlain from the Caliph, O my lord. + +MANSUR. Admit him. + + (_The ATTENDANT ushers in the CHAMBERLAIN from the CALIPH who + enters with a sealed scroll. He comes up to MANSUR and bows._) + +CHAMBERLAIN. From the Commander of the Faithful to his Wazir Mansur. + + (_KAFUR turns and takes the letter from the CHAMBERLAIN and + hands it to MANSUR. MANSUR rises and takes the letter, touches + the top of his head with it, then breaks the seals and scans + the contents. His lips contract. After a moment’s pause he says + to the CHAMBERLAIN._) + +MANSUR. Harkening and obedience to the Prince of True Believers. + + (_The CHAMBERLAIN bows and retires as he came._) + +MANSUR. (_Springing up with great rage._) Hear! Hear! (_Reading from +right to left._) “In the name of Allah, the Compassionating the +Compassionate. From Abdallah, Caliph and King of Mankind to his Wazir of +Police. But after. We find all the moneys of our various departments of +state, complete and in account, saving those under thy control. Report +thou to us accordingly at our diwan this day. Though mine uncle the +King be dead, justice and order have not died with him.” (_He tears the +letter to bits, stuffs strips into his mouth, chews them and spits them +out again._) Wah! Now Allah damn the grammarian for this! This is _his_ +handiwork, big-turban’d, bean-fed son of a sow! So I’m to end through +_him_? I who sat in his seat, hard by the side of the throne. By all +devils that kneel round hell, I swear this shall never be—do ye hear +me?—no, never! (_He strikes at AFIFE in his rage._) + +KAFUR. What wilt thou do, O my lord? + +MANSUR. I would I had him between my feet to rip the tongue from his +teeth. + +AFIFE. A hundred grammatical tongues will not bring back one danik of the +moneys thou hast squandered. + +MANSUR. Justice and order! (_He spits out a piece of the letter._) Pah! +Show me the Wazir of Police who hath crushed with a heavier hand, whose +sword made the execution ground as slippery. Recall ye not the merry +summer’s night when with mine own hand, in ten waves of the scymitar, I +carved my old jester into as many pieces? + +AFIFE. The old jester! Ha! Ha! ’Twas his last quirk! + +KAFUR. How we laughed! + + (_THEY all laugh._) + +MANSUR. Alas for the glorious drunken nights of passion and power. The +feasts of beauty and blood! Awah, awah, awah! + + (_THEY all sigh._) + +AFIFE. What’s to be done? + +KAFUR. Were Prince Omar Caliph, never wouldst thou have lost thy seat of +honour. + +AFIFE. Higher titles would have been thine. He loves thee as a brother. + +KAFUR. He would have created thee Grand Wazir. + +AFIFE. Yea, Grand Wazir of all the kingdom! + +MANSUR. Were! Would! Had! The Caliph’s the Is! His letter the thing +alive! The spent moneys must be accounted for. ’Tis my death. Awah! Awah! + +KAFUR. The guards are yet under thy orders. + +MANSUR. For the moment. But to-night—— + +AFIFE. Use to-day. + +KAFUR. (_Pointing to the chessboard._) One move—and the game is thine. + +MANSUR. (_Realising KAFUR’S intention._) Yehh! Kill the Caliph? (_He +rises in thought._) + + (_KAFUR and AFIFE nod and follow him, standing on either side + of him._) + +KAFUR. ’Tis he—— + +AFIFE. Or thou. + +MANSUR. (_Looking from AFIFE to KAFUR._) Yehh! But how? When? Who? +(_Turning to AFIFE._) Thou? + +AFIFE. (_Grovelling at MANSUR’S feet._) Alas! I lack the strength. + +MANSUR. (_Turning to KAFUR._) Thou? + +KAFUR. (_Falling on his knees._) Am I not known by every servant in the +palace? + +MANSUR. Then where shall I find him? This fellow strong enough, unknown +enough, to stab and stab to the soul? + +KAFUR. Fear not. Fate hath written the deed in the lines of someone’s +forehead. And when the hour comes he will be ready. + +MANSUR. Yehh! + + (_The door opens and the ATTENDANT enters and bows. Outside + voices can be heard._) + +MANSUR. What noise is that? + +ATTENDANT. Some merchants in the hall, O my lord. They have caught a +thief and come for justice. + +MANSUR. Justice—do they? Justice! By Allah! I’ll dispense them justice. +Have them enter. (_He goes back to the diwan and sits._) + + (_KAFUR and AFIFE take their wonted positions by his side._) + + (_The two shopkeepers, AMRU and ZAYD, enter, after them NASIR, + the CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH and FOUR ARCHERS. A crowd of loiterers + (six or eight) follow, who kneel or stand in the background. + AMRU and ZAYD approach and kneel. TWO NEGRO EUNUCHS enter and + stand at the back._) + +AMRU. O Wazir of the Age, we come for protection against the roguery of +mankind. + +ZAYD. O eye of uprightness! Let thy light shed judgment. + +MANSUR. Speak your grievance. + +AMRU. There came a man to my shop—— + +ZAYD. And mine—— + +AMRU. And he fanned a quarrel ’twixt me and my fondest friend. + +ZAYD. And meantime off he stole with garments of both of us. + +MANSUR. Where’s the thief? + + (_HAJJ is brought through the door by TWO ARCHERS and + prostrates himself before MANSUR, the ARCHERS retiring._) + +HAJJ. (_With great saintliness, on his knees._) O Wazir of wazirs, +O Wisdom of wisdom, O Clemency of clemencies! I seek refuge in thy +sanctity from these my foul-mouthed defamers. A thief—I? Allah forfend. I +am a man of religion and peace. They fell to fisticuffs and curses before +me, these two,—till mine ears were stung with their ungodliness and mine +eyes wounded. So I laid my moneys on the carpet of the shop and went my +silent ways. + +ZAYD and AMRU. (_Together._) Liar! + +AMRU. We’d not so much as fixed on a price. + +HAJJ. Wilt thou swear I paid thee no earnest money? + +AMRU. A miserable dinar or two to blind me. + +HAJJ. Blind thee? What cause had I to blind thee? + +ZAYD. Thou art a well-known beggar. + +HAJJ. A beggar? Showed I thee not a swollen purse? + +ZAYD. A stolen purse—thou meanest. + +HAJJ. He lies, O my lord. ’Twas given me in charity. + +MANSUR. Given thee? By whom? + +HAJJ. By one Jawan—a highwayman. + +MANSUR. A highwayman do charity? Now Allah pardon thee. Tell the truth. + +HAJJ. May doomsday break if I lie. + +MANSUR. How? A highwayman here in Baghdad? An exile with a price on his +neck? Thou art mad. + +HAJJ. By mine honesty! There stands his guide Nasir. Ask him. + +MANSUR. (_To NASIR._) O thou! Is this so? + +NASIR. (_Coming forward and kneeling between HAJJ and the merchants._) +’Tis true such an one lodges at my Khan, O my lord. But he is come to the +city in repentance, to pray at the tombs of saints. + +MANSUR. (_Furious._) Saints and repentance! His coming spits at the law! +(_To the CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH._) Go with yon fellow. Find the highwayman. +Take him to the royal diwan this mid-afternoon. The Caliph shall note +how I uphold justice and order. + + (_The CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH moves to the door with TWO ARCHERS._) + +HAJJ. (_Interrupting._) O my lord, a word! (_To NASIR._) Tell the Lord +Wazir, thou sawest the Sheikh throw me a purse. + +NASIR. (_Copying HAJJ’S manner in the first scene._) I?—I saw no purse. + +HAJJ. (_Producing the purse; pleading to him._) Nasir! Here it is. + +NASIR. I saw no purse. + +MANSUR. ’Tis well. Off! + + (_NASIR goes with the CAPTAIN and ARCHERS._) + +MANSUR. (_To HAJJ._) As for thee—Give me the purse! + +HAJJ. Awah! (_He hands the purse to KAFUR, who hands it to MANSUR._) + +MANSUR. (_Pocketing the purse in his sleeve._) Thou art a liar and a +thief. (_To KAFUR._) The sword and the cauldron of oil. (_KAFUR bows and +motions to the NEGROES who go off into the courtyard._) + +MANSUR. Thy right hand is forfeit to the merchants. + +HAJJ. (_Looking at his hand._) My hand? + +MANSUR. (_To the shopkeepers, smilingly._) Two fingers to each. I pray +you quarrel not over the thumb. (_AMRU and ZAYD smile politely in +response._) + +HAJJ. My hand! My hand! Thou’lt cut off my hand? + +MANSUR. Says not Allah in His Holy Koran: “If a man steal, cut off his +hand”? + +HAJJ. Alas, O poor hand! Thou couldst have served the Wazir of Wazirs, a +courtier to his whims, a slave to his desires. (_The TWO EUNUCHS re-enter +from the courtyard bearing a boiling cauldron._) + +MANSUR. Now by the dog, thy father, of what service to me were a rogue’s +hand like thine? + + (_THE EUNUCHS place the boiling cauldron under HAJJ’S wrist._) + +HAJJ. What service? There’s not a stronger—a prompter—a bolder in +Baghdad! Ready to plunder and pillage, to slash and stab, at thy least +command. + +MANSUR. (_Starting at the word “stab”._) Stab? + +KAFUR. (_To HAJJ._) Cease thy talk, bare thy wrist. (_He unsheathes the +sword._) + +HAJJ. (_Turns and sees the sword, then says in a resigned voice._) There +is no majesty nor might save in Allah! The Causer of Causes! The Ordainer +of Fate and Fortune! + +KAFUR. (_About to raise the sword._) Art thou prepared? + +HAJJ. Even as the Fox for the Wolf. Strike! + + (_KAFUR raises the sword._) + +MANSUR. Hold!—The Fox and the Wolf?—What story is that? + +HAJJ. O Wazir of the Age, ’twere too long to recount— (_looking round +slyly_) with yon sword in the air. + +MANSUR. Then shall it first sever thy wrist. + +HAJJ. (_With an eloquent gesture._) Who can tell a tale without his two +hands? + +MANSUR. Knowest thou many histories? + +HAJJ. Ask the beggars of my quarter. The teller of night-tales they call +me—one and all. + +MANSUR. Away with the cauldron! (_To KAFUR._) Hither with the sword. + + (_KAFUR hands MANSUR the sword; the EUNUCHS take the cauldron + into the courtyard._) + +MANSUR. What is thy name? + +HAJJ. (_Creeps nearer, on his knees._) Hajj, O my lord. + +MANSUR. Thou shalt serve me, O Hajj. Thy wit shall shorten the weary +watches of my sleeplessness. Take this sword, the badge of thy new +dignity. (_He offers him the sword._) + +HAJJ. O fountain of grace! My hand blesses thee for its salvation, my +lowly self for its elevation. (_He takes the sword and raises it to his +forehead._) I am thy mameluke, thy chattel. (_He touches the ground with +his head._) + +MANSUR. Rise! Mansur’s servants do not kneel. + +HAJJ. (_Rising proudly._) Is it thy pleasure that my first act should be +an act of clemency? + +MANSUR. Do as thou wilt. + +HAJJ. (_Turning ferociously on the shopkeepers._) Then down, O ye +calamities! Down, I say, and cry my mercy for lying as ye did, ye +false-of-faces! + + (_The SHOPKEEPERS sink down in terror. HAJJ approaches them + flourishing his sword before them._) + +HAJJ. Confess ye lied! Confess ye lied! + +AMRU and ZAYD. (_Scarcely audible._) We lied! We lied! + +HAJJ. Louder, by your garlic breaths, louder! + +AMRU and ZAYD. We lied! Pardon! Pardon! + +HAJJ. Pardon?—So ye send not my lord rich gifts of atonement none shall +answer for your lives. Up! Turn your faces and show the breadth of your +shoulder. + + (_The SHOPKEEPERS rise and hurry out by the door, more dead + than alive. HAJJ prods their backs with his sword as they + vanish._) + +HAJJ. (_Turning to MANSUR with a flourish._) Is it well, O my master? + +MANSUR. ’Tis a beginning. Go now! Get thee to thy new quarters. (_To the +ATTENDANT._) Ho, Fazil! See Hajj be lodged and robed fittingly. Garb him +in the Persian garments of our jester deceased. Alas, poor fellow! He +died most sudden of a summer evening. (_With a reassuring smile._) Thou +shalt be his successor. + +HAJJ. I am a tree thy bounty hath planted. May the fruit of my endeavour +be to thy taste ever. (_He bows._) + +MANSUR. Thou shalt give us a smack of thy quality after the mid-day +meal. Go! Whoso loveth me let him show honour to Hajj! (_He waves his +handkerchief in sign of dismissal._) + +HAJJ. (_Turns and with a heroic gesture motions the curious aside._) Room +for the Wazir’s Jester, O ye dogs! + + (_The CROWD falls back before him._) + + (_The ATTENDANT leads the way to the left._) + + (_HAJJ struts out conducted by the ATTENDANT._) + +MANSUR. (_To KAFUR and AFIFE._) Think ye I’ve pardoned this mountebank to +listen to foolish fables? (_With great emphasis._) He is the man. + +KAFUR. What man? + +MANSUR. The man to kill the Caliph. + + (_Through the colonnade at the back HAJJ is seen to enter the + courtyard from the left and cross over to the right, preceded + by the ATTENDANT, MANSUR’S SERVANTS and TWO EUNUCHS, bending + low, the crowd following. HAJJ turns to the hall and seeing + MANSUR, bows again to him. MANSUR acknowledges his bow with a + grim smile. HAJJ, delighted, turns, twirling his moustachios + and with enormous swagger moves to the colonnade, right, the + ATTENDANT cringing to the new favourite._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +_End of Act I_ + + + + +ACT II + +BEFORE THE CURTAIN + +NOON + + +_The MAN enters from his house, seats himself and sings_: + + Lo! Now the blazing banner of the sun + In noonday sky its victory hath won; + And even as on mighty battle plain + So lieth, stretched and stricken, everyone. + +_The WOMAN enters from her house, seats herself and sings_: + + Lo! Now in the harim I seek in vain + The shadowed cool of midnight to regain; + Yet though I burn, ’tis not the heaven’s eye + That dooms my senses to eternal pain! + +_The MAN_: + + Wah! That some wondrous wizard passing by + Would charm to silence this my misery. + +_The WOMAN_: + + Wah! Might some mystic spell invade me so + That all my yearning would for ever die! + +_BOTH_: + + O Thou, Bestower of all things, bestow + This benediction on Thy servants low. + +_The SORCERER enters and first reveals the MAN to the WOMAN, and the +WOMAN to the MAN. When he has retired they rise and sing_: + + At last thou openest the future’s wall, + Revealing my desire’s inmost call, + O Fate, thou greatest sorcerer of all! + +_Then they draw together for an instant. But the hour is not yet ripe. So +they turn and enter their respective houses. They have seen each other._ + + + + +ACT II + +AFTERNOON + + +SCENE I. _The Hall in the Wazir Mansur’s Mansion._ + + _The same scene as the last, but richly embroidered curtains + have now been drawn between the columns to keep out the glare + of the afternoon sun. This gives the room a more intimate + feeling. Two large cushions have been placed on the floor and + between them a low wine-table with beakers of wine, drinking + bowls, fruits, sweetmeats, and a bunch of aromatic herbs._ + + _MANSUR is reclining on one cushion. AFIFE and KAFUR are on the + diwan. TWO SLAVES stand ready to replenish the cups._ + + _On the cushion to the left is seated HAJJ, in a brilliant + fantastic Persian robe and a gorgeous turband. He sits up very + erect, his eyes sparkling, his arms outstretched—evidently at + the climax of his story._ + +HAJJ. “Thereupon, O hearer, the fox saw his foe, the wolf, was slain; +and henceforth he abode alone in the vineyard, secure to the hour of his +death.” But Allah is all-knowing! + +MANSUR. In sooth, a pleasing tale! + + (_He drains his cup and holds it out to the SLAVE, who fills it + up again._) + +KAFUR. Good! Good! + +AFIFE. (_Clapping his hands._) More! More! More! + +MANSUR. (_Signing to the slave behind HAJJ._) Nay, first another cup—— + +HAJJ. (_Putting his hand over his cup._) O my Lord, pardon me. I am not +wont to drink wine. + +MANSUR. Tush! ’Tis nothing. Thin, red morning tipple. This night will +we robe us in robes of gold and flame-colour and fall to quaffing in +earnest; sweet Greek vintage that breeds gladness even to madness. (_He +holds out the cup, which the SLAVE fills. Then MANSUR passes it to +HAJJ._) May I never be afflicted with thy loss. + + (_HAJJ, bowing to MANSUR, accepts the cup and kisses it._) + +HAJJ. The slave to thy wishes revealed or concealed. (_He drains it and +returns it to MANSUR._) + +MANSUR. (_Pointedly._) So thou sayest and hast said. + +HAJJ. Put me to the test, O my master. What tale dost thou desire? + +MANSUR. What tale? (_Confidentially to HAJJ._) Harkee, O Hajj. Thou hast +wasted thy years. Thou canst turn the ear inside out by thy talk. Long +ago thy wit should have won thee a wazirdom. + +HAJJ. I? Wazir? + +MANSUR. Yehh! Thou art marked for it by fate. Is this not so, O Kafur? + +KAFUR. Thou hast said it. + +MANSUR. (_To HAJJ._) Thou seest? There’s no escaping honours, O Hajj the +Wazir! O the Wazir Hajj! + +HAJJ. (_Stroking his moustachios._) The Wazir Hajj! O my lord, what stair +will lead me to so high a minaret? + +MANSUR. What stair? + + (_The ATTENDANT enters by the door._) + +ATTENDANT. ’Tis the hour of the diwan, O my lord. + +MANSUR. The diwan! ’Tis well. (_Rises._) (_The ATTENDANT leaves._) I go +to robe myself. Await me but a handful of moments, O my friend. When I +return I shall open a gate undreamt of by thy dearest dream. Till then, +Allah increase thee, O Wazir to be. + + (_MANSUR goes off followed by KAFUR, AFIFE, and the TWO + SLAVES._) + +HAJJ. Wazir! Wazir! Another cup! A cup to thee, O Wazir Hajj, thou friend +of the great, thou of the great thyself. (_He drinks another cup and +struts across the room._) Wazir! (_He approaches the diwan._) Yehh! Why +not? (_He seats himself on the diwan._) Even such a seat was destined my +limbs from eternity! (_With a chuckle._) The Wazir Hajj! + + (_MISKAH, a slave-girl, enters through the curtains at the + back. She is, of course, veiled. She looks about cautiously, + then glides to HAJJ’S side, and throws herself at his feet._) + +MISKAH. O my master, my mistress bids me come kiss the dust of thy +slippers. + +HAJJ. Yehh! Who may be the mistress of so fair a messenger? + +MISKAH. Hush! If we be heard ’tis death. + +HAJJ. Speak low then. What is it? + +MISKAH. ’Tis sooner told than mended. At noon-tide, lying within the +lattice of the harim, my lady saw thee cross the courtyard—the servants +bowing to earth before thy valiant stride. + +HAJJ. (_Delighted._) Valiant stride! (_He strokes his moustachios._) +Yehh! Did she, forsooth? + +MISKAH. O noble stranger, who art thou? Whence comest thou? What is the +measure of thy staying? Such and more would my mistress know. For from +noon till now is all her being become one yearning question. + +HAJJ. And all my being from now to eternity one burning reply. So haste! +Bring us together that we may spell a sweet completeness. + +MISKAH. Follow me, then. But by the life of thy head mark thy path. For +we must step over the sleeping door-keeper of the harim. I have plied him +with drugs. Three blessed hours will he lie thus in stupor—no longer. +After me! + +HAJJ. Hold! I cannot leave. Any moment the Wazir may return. Might not +thy mistress favour me with her coming? + +MISKAH. Hither? + +HAJJ. (_Pointing to the door._) Thou couldst stand guard. + +MISKAH. I’ll take thy message, O my master. But her consent means +madness. (_She disappears through the curtains._) + +HAJJ. (_Left alone, smiles._) “Madness!” “Valiant stride!” (_He sits +erect._) “Noble stranger!” O Hajj! Thou wast not so mistaken in thyself. +There’s a something, a somehow about thee—no doubt of that! + + (_He draws out his sword using the blade as a mirror by which + to arrange his moustachios._) + + (_The curtains part again—MISKAH re-enters._) + +MISKAH. She comes! (_She glides rapidly to the door left and sits +listening._) + + (_KUT-AL-KULUB enters, a voluptuous woman of the ripe oriental + type—she is about eight and twenty. Her dress is very rich, + over it a gorgeous mantle. Her veil is of the thinnest._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Kneeling before him._) Welcome and well come to my +illustrious lord. + +HAJJ. A thousand blessings on thy white forehead, O mistress of my days. + +KUT-AL-K. Allah, forgive me! Only the wildness of despair could drive me +to break the bonds of my harim. + +HAJJ. I am earth to thy treading. + +KUT-AL-K. (_With a sigh and exaggerated emotion._) Now, by my life! I +knew mine eyes beheld a king the instant they lighted upon the grace of +thy being. Help me! Help me! I am oppressed beyond endurance. + +HAJJ. Who art thou? One of Mansur’s wives? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Springing up, indignantly._) One——? I am the Wife of wives! + +MISKAH. S—sh! + +HAJJ. His first? The great lady? + +KUT-AL-K. First in fact. Yet might I be the least and lowest—a blackamoor +kitchen wench—were I to be ranked by his reckoning. + +HAJJ. Never tell me he ceases adoring thee even for the wink of an +eye-lid. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Shrilly._) Cease adoring! He! + +MISKAH. (_Warningly._) S—sh! + +KUT-AL-K. (_Turning to HAJJ, with appeal._) Behold this arm! (_She +produces a gorgeous arm from her cloak._) Is this arm shrivelled? Shrunk? + +HAJJ. (_Admiringly._) Shrivelled? What dog says shrivelled? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Opening her cloak._) This bosom yellow? + +HAJJ. (_Overcome._) Yellow, this field of lilies? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Turning back._) Now tell me, by thine honour: callest thou me +hump-backed? + + (_She drops the cloak and turns round revealing her form, + provokingly clad in scanty splendour._) + +HAJJ. O thou copious beauty! Am I a boy that thou shouldst mock me thus? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Unveiling her face._) Or is my face pock-pitted? My nose +crooked? My mouth crumpled? + +HAJJ. Allah help me! What art thou doing to me, O cruel one? + +KUT-AL-K. (_With a gliding step as she approaches him languorously._) +And my gait? (_Making slow gestures._) Is my motion like a popinjay’s on +a perch? (_Coming close to him and sitting on the diwan below him._) My +glance the stare of a dead thing? + +HAJJ. O sun of the age! Dazzle not my sight to blindness! Strike not my +senses to frenzy. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Feigning surprise, veiling her face, and turning from him._) +Woe upon me! Hath my rage disrobed me? + +HAJJ. O light of splendour, cloud not thy rays. Shut me not in blackest +darkness. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Lifting her veil a little from her face, coquettishly._) So +much? + +HAJJ. More. + +KUT-AL-K. So much? + +HAJJ. More. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Dropping her veil completely._) O thou man among men! Why +must I obey thy bidding? (_She looks down provokingly._) + +HAJJ. (_Drawing close._) What is thy name? + +KUT-AL-K. Kut-al-Kulub, the food of hearts. + +HAJJ. In very sooth, thou art the food of hearts. I could feast on thy +plenty for ever and yet be an-hungered still. + +KUT-AL-K. Alas! Why have I never heard words like thine till now? + +HAJJ. (_Coaxing._) Never till now? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Coyly._) By my head, never! All day and all night I sit alone +under my silent dome, in the fever of my solitude; my tears my sole +consolers. + +HAJJ. Tears! Thou must let me come to thee and kiss them away. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Pretending horror._) Art thou mad? + +HAJJ. Aye, maddened by the insolence of thy beauty. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Rising and turning from him, provokingly._) Allah! Kiss me? +Thou? Out on thee! ’Tis easily seen thou art loved too much, by too many. + +HAJJ. (_He follows her, comes close to her, and suddenly says in a very +businesslike way._) When shall it be? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Dropping all artifice, eagerly._) This evening—early—with the +new risen moon. + +HAJJ. How shall I reach thee? + +KUT-AL-K. Come to this courtyard. My faithful slave of the firehole shall +await thy coming and lead thee by an unknown passage under the baths +straight to the heart of the harim. + +MISKAH. (_Springing up, anxiously._) O mistress! (_She points to the +door._) + + (_HAJJ kisses KUT-AL-K. on the lips. She tears herself away and + hurries off through the curtains followed by MISKAH._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_With a final glance._) Allah! + +HAJJ. (_Flinging his arms out in ecstacy._) Allah! + + (_Hearing MANSUR, he quickly resumes the position on the floor, + in which MANSUR left him._) + + (_MANSUR re-enters clad in armour, followed by KAFUR and + AFIFE._) + +MANSUR. O Wazir Hajj—are thine eyes ready for me to open? + +HAJJ. Ready, O my master. + +MANSUR. Swear that thou wilt never reveal what I shall unveil. (_He +resumes his seat on the diwan._) + +HAJJ. I give thee the bond of Allah, to whom belong honour and glory. + +MANSUR. ’Tis well. How prompt art thou to do a deed? + +HAJJ. (_Kneeling._) Order me do, and ’tis done. + +MANSUR. (_After a pause._) Kill the Caliph. + +HAJJ. (_Thunderstruck._) The—Caliph? + +MANSUR. I said what I said. + +HAJJ. The Caliph! The Viceroy of the Prophet! Shed his sacred blood? + +MANSUR. Sacred? Abdallah? A toy to a tutor? Prince Omar should be +reigning in his stead. + +HAJJ. Prince Omar! + +MANSUR. Yehh! He’s no parchment-worm! He’s a man, a warrior, a king to +the core. + +HAJJ. And were Prince Omar Caliph—how would that help my cause? + +MANSUR. The hour he’s proclaimed Caliph, that hour am I Grand Wazir. Once +Grand Wazir, there’s no favour too lofty for thee to climb to. + +HAJJ. Yehh! But why choose me for the deed? Me, from all the servants +that encircle thee as the white of the eye doth the black. + +MANSUR. I wish to honour thee. + +HAJJ. (_Not without humour._) Honour me less, I pray thee. + +MANSUR. Wouldst thou have me pick a fool for such work? I tell thee, thou +art the man. + +HAJJ. (_Confused._) Awah! The Caliph! To attempt to approach him +surrounded as he is ever by a body-guard of ready scymitars! + +MANSUR. Nought so easy. He holds his diwan after mid-afternoon prayer, +dealing decrees to great and small, bidding and forbidding. Didst thou +not say erstwhile thou knewest how to juggle? + +HAJJ. Trick on trick! Oft I play them at my corner! A wizard from Morocco +was my teacher. + +MANSUR. The very device! Even such another Moorman shalt thou stand +to-day before the Caliph seeking protection as a stranger. I’ll turn it +so that he bids thee unfold these tricks of thine. Do thou, by thy skill, +draw him step by step from his throne, till he pass beyond the circle of +safety and stand unguarded, unheedful by thy side. Then sudden plunge thy +dagger. + +HAJJ. The guards would cut me down. + +MANSUR. Once the Caliph killed, the command of the guards falls unto me. + +HAJJ. Ask aught else. This I cannot. + +MANSUR. (_Half aloud as to himself temptingly._) Hajj, the Wazir! The +Wazir Hajj! + +HAJJ. I cannot kill Allah’s messenger. Cut off my hand and let me go. + +MANSUR. (_Rising._) Let thee go? Now? Thy hand to ransom thee with such a +secret in thy heart? By the Venger of villainy, thou shalt not leave this +house alive! ’Tis either my cup companion, or (_pointing_) down into the +vaults of oblivion. + +HAJJ. Was it for this I was raised to favour? + +MANSUR. (_Sneeringly._) For thy beauty—mayhap? + +HAJJ. (_Clenching his hands._) The Caliph. I cannot! I cannot! + +MANSUR. Thou art a coward. + +HAJJ. Not for myself. But I have others in my life. Affections that bind +me. I have a daughter. Awah! (_He grovels on the ground._) + +MANSUR. (_With a sudden look at KAFUR._) Young? Unmarried? + +HAJJ. Unmarried. Awah! + +MANSUR. Fair? + +HAJJ. Fairer than fair. With a voice like a nightingale’s. A thousand +songs are hers. When she dances—the gates of Paradise are opened. + +MANSUR. (_Doubtfully._) Sayest thou so. (_He makes signs to AFIFE and +KAFUR, unobserved by HAJJ._) + +HAJJ. I tell thee she is a slice of the moon! With lips tender, and waist +slender, and graces countless, no tongue can render. + +MANSUR. By Allah! Thou hast set me afire. I’ll take her to wife. + +HAJJ. (_Overcome._) Thou? The Wazir Mansur—my Marsinah? + +MANSUR. Even so. + +HAJJ. (_Rising—still doubting._) Wife? + +MANSUR. Yea, wife—not concubine. My other wives will I put away from me. +She shall be first of them all. + +HAJJ. Thou’lt swear it? + +MANSUR. Swear it? (_He raises his right hand._) The Opening Chapter of +the Koran be between me and thee upon this. Afife, Kafur, be ye sponsors +to our compact before the Most High. (_He holds out his right palm._) + +HAJJ. (_Putting his right palm against MANSUR’S._) Ye have heard. + +AFIFE AND KAFUR. (_Together._) We have heard. + +MANSUR. So be it. I’ll make her mine at sunset. The eunuchs of the harim +shall bring her hither this self-same hour. + +HAJJ. Nay, let me go with them. Such tidings shall she learn from none +save her father. (_He moves to the door._) + +MANSUR. Hold! A little question! How stand we as to the Caliph? + +HAJJ. The Caliph? Now thou hast sworn to marry my daughter, by Him the +Most High, the One, the Omnipotent, here do I swear to stab the Caliph to +death this day. + +MANSUR. (_To the others._) Ye have heard? + +KAFUR AND AFIFE. (_Raising their right hands together._) Amin! + +MANSUR. (_Raising his hand._) Amin! + +HAJJ. (_Raising his hand._) Amin! (_A moment’s silence. From the distant +minaret comes the call to prayer._) + +MANSUR. (_Sanctimoniously._) O my brothers, the call to prayer. + +HAJJ. (_In the same tone._) Prayer! + + (_With one accord they all kneel and bend devoutly to Meccah._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE II + + _The Courtyard of a poor House. (The same scene as Act I. + Scene III.). The hot sun of the afternoon is kept off by some + awnings. The birds in the cages hang on the wall._ + +_MARSINAH is seated on the bench, her lute in her lap. She sings_:— + + I. + + Under my veil + What hide I not? + Now cheeks so pale, + Now blushes hot: + Under my veil! + + II. + + Under my veil + What hold I not? + The sweetest tale + Of kisses got, + Under my veil! + +NARJIS. (_Coming out of the house with a large water-jar and going to the +well._) Out upon thee, singing away thy day! An thou help me not in the +house, I’ll take away thy trinkets. + +MARSINAH. Touch me, and my father shall hear of it! + +NARJIS. Thy father! ’Twill be long ere thou seest thy father again. + +MARSINAH. I’ll not believe it. + +NARJIS. I tell thee this sudden wealth—(_With a gesture of +thieving._)—came but by way of his fingers. They’ve found him. They’ve +taken him. + + (_A knock on the house door._) + +MARSINAH. Yehh! ’Tis he! + +NARJIS. Or the watch come for thy anklets. + +MARSINAH. (_Hiding her anklets as she sits._) O Narjis! + + (_Another knock._) + +NARJIS. (_Hurries to the door calling out._) Here am I! Here am I! Who +knocks? + +HAJJ. (_Outside._) I! Thy master. Open, O Narjis. + +NARJIS. Allah! ’Tis thy father. (_She unlocks the house door._) + +MARSINAH. (_Springing up._) What said I? + + (_Enter HAJJ. He is, of course, in his brilliant Persian gown + with his silver sword in his belt._) + +HAJJ. Where’s Marsinah? (_He enters the court._) + +MARSINAH. (_Overcome by his appearance._) O my father! What fresh +magnificence is this? Did they set thee free? + +HAJJ. (_Looking at NARJIS._) What hast thou been saying to her? Calling +me thief behind my heels? + +NARJIS. Not a word, O my lord. I am thy slave of admiration. + +HAJJ. O slippery mouth! Are thieves clad in robes of honour? Are thieves +given swords of office? + +MARSINAH. By my youth! ’Tis all silver. + +HAJJ. ’Twill be gold before night. + +MARSINAH. Gold? + +HAJJ. And before yet another night all jewels and gems. + +MARSINAH. Gold! Jewels! O king of fathers! Hast thou discovered some +enchanted treasure? + +HAJJ. Yea, a treasure for me and a treasure for thee! My dreams are +dreams no longer. They are alive as the breath of thy lips. (_To +NARJIS._) Go fetch me my bundle of magic. + +NARJIS. All the tricks? + +HAJJ. All, and the robes. + +NARJIS. Hearing and obedience. (_She goes into the house at back._) + +HAJJ. (_To MARSINAH._) Thy birds! + +MARSINAH. My birds? Thou wilt have a care of them as ever? (_She brings +the bird cages to him._) + +HAJJ. Care? Care matters not now, O my doe! Thou shalt have braver birds +than those ere long. Flocks of white ones and black ones to fly at thy +beck and call. + +MARSINAH. White ones? Black ones? + +HAJJ. (_Laughing._) Ha! Ha! My large-eyed wonder! Human birds; slaves! +Slaves! + +MARSINAH. (_Amazed._) I—slaves? + +HAJJ. (_Squats and looks into MARSINAH’S eyes._) Larger and larger! As +many as thy whims cry out for. O Marsinah, child of mine! Allah hath +poured blessings untold upon thee. Thou art to be wed to-night. + +MARSINAH. (_Joyfully._) O my father! Thou hast seen him! (_She glances up +at the garden wall._) + +HAJJ. Him? Whom? + +MARSINAH. (_Confused._) Him! + +HAJJ. Thy husband? Seen him? I am his cup-companion, the friend of his +bosom, his wazir to come. + +MARSINAH. His wazir? + +HAJJ. Indeed, how canst thou guess? There! I’ll play with thee no longer. +Know thy full happiness. Thou art to be wife to the Wazir Mansur. + +MARSINAH. (_Breathless._) Mansur? + +HAJJ. He! What sayest thou now! Has thy joy stifled thee quite? + +MARSINAH. (_Blankly._) Mansur? (_She sinks down, staring before her._) + +HAJJ. Yes, say it! Say it! Till thy heart learneth to hold it! To beat +to its measure! Mansur! Mansur! Mansur! Mighty now, mightier still ere +long! His wife! None above thee, none thine equal! + +MARSINAH. (_Faintly, looking up._) O my father, I kiss the ground. Wed me +not to this man. + +HAJJ. (_Rises._) Not? Not? + +MARSINAH. Not to him, O my father. I pray Allah’s pardon, not to him. + +HAJJ. ’Tis Mansur I speak of—the Wazir of Police. The favoured of +Fortune. Him thou art to wed, to be his great lady, his wife of wives. + +MARSINAH. Alas, my long grief! Say it not again, I entreat thee. + +HAJJ. Say it not again? + +MARSINAH. O my father. Thou’lt not do this to me. + +HAJJ. Not what? + +MARSINAH. Not give me to him. Not to him. + +HAJJ. Thou shalt be his by sundown. + +MARSINAH. Sundown? Sundown? This night? + +HAJJ. How oft must I say it! + +MARSINAH. By the Ineffable! May I be thy ransom here and hereafter! But +this,—this,—by the warmth twixt my heart and thine, the sacred bond of +child and parent, do not this thing to me, O my father and lord, not this! + +HAJJ. Art thou raving? + +MARSINAH. O sweet my father! Gentle my father! Father of the true eyes +and tender! Thou didst love my mother! Thou wert her salvation, her +soul’s consolation in the hour of her need! By her memory, I conjure thee. + +HAJJ. (_Gently._) O Marsinah, my gazelle, rise! What sudden fright is +thine? Has the might of Mansur’s name o’erwhelmed thee? + +MARSINAH. O, ’tis not his name! ’Tis not fright! ’Tis—(_Sits up, with +sudden horror._) I cannot go to him! I will not! + +HAJJ. Will not? Will not? Now woe to thee, O thou daughter of sin! May +Allah never bless thee! Is such my recompense for all the years of +toiling and moiling, of cark and care? Have I worked at my begging from +dawn to dusk, screamed myself hoarse for thy sake? And dost thou now cry +out, “I will not?” “Will not!” to me, thine own father? + +MARSINAH. (_Quieter._) Pardon me, O my lord. I meant—I cannot. I cannot! + +HAJJ. Cannot, forsooth? Cannot! Art thou all my soul holds dear on earth, +and come I here to thee with the tiding of tidings—and thou like the +hyena snarlest and bitest the hand that feedeth thee? Why canst thou not? +Why wilt thou not? What is the why of thy why? Speak! + +MARSINAH. Awah! Awah! Awah! (_She weeps on the ground._) + +HAJJ. (_Squatting by her side, imitating her._) “Awah! Awah!” By Allah! +Verily he was a suffering father who said: “a son is the lamp of a dark +house—a daughter a desolation.” + + (_NARJIS comes out of the house, with a robe and a bright + kerchief._) + +NARJIS. (_Seeing MARSINAH on the ground._) What’s here? + +HAJJ. Comest thou too? A pretty child I have, indeed! A pretty spirit +thou hast fostered in her. + +NARJIS. I—O my master? + +HAJJ. Thou—O hell hag. Look on her! There she lieth grovelling and +howling like a kicked dog, so the whole quarter will wonder and come +rapping on the door. And what for? What for? Because the honour of +honours has fallen upon her and she is to be wife to the Wazir Mansur. + +NARJIS. Mansur’s wife! By the prophet, is this so? (_She comes to +MARSINAH and kneels beside her._) O Marsinah! Hath thy star risen at last? + +MARSINAH. O Narjis, I wish not to be his wife. + +HAJJ. (_Rises._) I wish not! I cannot! I will not! Whose wife then +wouldst thou be, O thou misery? + +MARSINAH. I know not. No one’s. If our neighbour the gardener had a +son—his wife would I be. + +NARJIS. I’ve told thee before—he hath no son. + +HAJJ. Ha! The old man, the gardener, a son? He, with a face like a +cobbler’s apron? Ha! Ha! Thou art jesting. ’Tis well. Thou hast fooled me +long enough. Dry thy tears. Dry thy tears, I tell thee. + +MARSINAH. I am not jesting. Sooner would I die than go to the Lord Mansur. + +HAJJ. By my soul—sayst thou true? + +MARSINAH. By thy soul. (_She holds up her right hand._) + +HAJJ. (_With intense rage._) Now Allah damn the mother that bore thee, +and the father that begot thee! May thy bones rot and thy body be flung +on the ash-heaps beyond the gates of the city—thou child of abomination, +thou shame unforgettable! We shall see! (_He goes to the street door and +opens it—calling._) Ho, masters! Hither! + + (_TWO EUNUCHS of the Guard of the Harim enter. MARSINAH veils + herself._) + +HAJJ. (_To the EUNUCHS._) This way! Lead ye this maid to your Lord +Mansur! Her life be on your heads. + + (_The EUNUCHS cross to MARSINAH and lay hands on her._) + +MARSINAH. (_Making a final appeal to her father, kneeling._) O my father. + +HAJJ. (_Sternly._) Away! + +MARSINAH. Awah! Awah! Awah! + + (_She is dragged off by the EUNUCHS._) + + (_HAJJ and NARJIS look at each other and nod their heads with + utmost content._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE III + + _The Caliph’s Diwan (Audience Hall). On the lower left side, + raised by a few steps, stands the Caliph’s diwan or throne: + below it, to its left, a single gold cushion, the seat of + honour. At the back and to the right a lofty row of arches + opens onto a terrace from which can be seen the whole city + of Baghdad. To the right, benches for the dignitaries of the + court. At the end of the terrace left, behind the Caliph’s + throne, a great tower with a massive door which leads down into + the prisons. The architecture is of the finest Arabian. The + view of Baghdad is gorgeous and sun-lit._ + + _The young CALIPH is seen seated on his diwan, magnificently + robed. By his side stands a low table with a vase, from which + rises the single rose given him by MARSINAH. Now and again he + takes the rose and smells it. Above him stands the Wazir ABU + BAKR. Later on, he seats himself to the left of the CALIPH, in + the place of honour. Behind the throne stand ARCHERS with their + lances, and on its steps the GUARDS with scymitars drawn._ + + _THREE ELDERLY MEN in Egyptian costume kneel before the throne. + Behind them stands a mummy-case with FOUR BLACK SLAVES. In the + background kneel female MUSICIANS and DANCERS—eight in all._ + + _The CHAMBERLAIN approaches the throne and prostrates himself._ + +CHAMBERLAIN. O Prince of True Believers, the Ambassadors of Egypt stand +before thee bearing a petition and gifts for thy gracious acceptance. + +CALIPH. Display the gifts. + + (_The CHAMBERLAIN takes their petition to the CALIPH. Music + strikes up._) + + (_The AMBASSADORS bow and sit on the bench, right. At a signal + the SLAVES open the mummy-case, and an Almah (a dancer) steps + out, who does a strange, peacock-like Egyptian dance, ending in + a seductive posture at the feet of the throne. The FOUR SLAVES + carry the mummy-case off to the right._) + +CALIPH. (_Turning to the three Egyptian men._) O Wazirs of Cairo, return +ye to Egypt and tell our viceroy I accept his gifts of these slave-girls +and will consider his petition. (_To the CHAMBERLAIN._) See robes of +honour be bestowed on the Ambassadors. + +CHAMBERLAIN. Hearkening and obeying. + +THE THREE AMBASSADORS. (_Bowing low and speaking together._) Allah +increase thy glory, O Commander of the Faithful. + + (_Conducted by the CHAMBERLAIN, who crosses to them, they + withdraw._) + +CALIPH. (_To the dancers and musicians._) As for ye, O damsels, this hour +I grant you freedom and a purse of ten thousand dirhams to each of you. +(_To an attendant._) Conduct them in all honour from the palace. + + (_The ATTENDANT leads the MAIDENS off by the terrace, the Almah + following them with a final appealing gesture to the CALIPH._) + +ABU BAKR. (_Kneeling before the CALIPH._) O King of the Earth, may thy +tutor speak to his charge of many years? + +CALIPH. Speak, O my father. + +ABU BAKR. Of a truth, thou committest a wrong, O my lord, in despising +thus hourly the gifts of fair women. Hath Allah not created thee a man in +thy manhood? + +CALIPH. Seest thou this rose? ’Tis holier to me than the red rose of the +Prophet! Now by its holiness do I swear to thee, to-night shall put an +end to my singleness. + +ABU BAKR. Thou hast found what thou seekest? + +CALIPH. The while thou didst ponder over the revenues of the kingdom, I +took my pleasure in thy garden. And lo! The Bestower sent what I prayed +for—a sweet maid of a thousand wonders. After sundown I will ride forth +to bring her home in full pomp, as she were a princess from a kingdom +afar. + +ABU BAKR. And who might this Chosen of the chosen be, O my lord? + +CALIPH. Who? (_Smelling of the rose._) The partner of my dreams, the half +of my heart, my first love and my last. (_He takes a golden bead and +throws it into a cup on the table: it rings like a gong._) + + (_A HERALD with a trumpet enters from the terrace._) + +CALIPH. Let the diwan begin! + + (_The HERALD bows, and goes out onto the terrace again._) + + (_ABU BAKR moves to the left of the throne, and sits on the + golden cushion._) + +HERALD. (_Blows his trumpet, then speaks._) Whoso hath authority, let him +come to the Caliph’s Carpet of Justice! + + (_SLAVES unroll a gorgeous carpet before the throne._) + + (_Stately music begins._) + + (_The CHAMBERLAIN enters with a volume of the law which he + brings to the throne, he then retires below the throne to the + furthest left corner, behind ABU BAKR._) + + (_After him follow SIX DIGNITARIES of the Household, who bow to + the CALIPH, and seat themselves near the columns leading to the + terrace._) + + (_Crowds gather outside on the terrace behind the arches._) + + (_TEN WAZIRS and KAZIS enter, making their obeisance and going + to their seats at the right._) + + (_Finally MANSUR arrives, followed by KAFUR and AFIFE. MANSUR + crosses and bows to the CALIPH, remaining before the throne._) + + (_FOUR NEGRO ARCHERS follow and place themselves between the + columns at the back, drawing their scymitars and so forming a + barrier to keep the crowd from entering the hall._) + + (_The music ceases._) + + (_The CALIPH signs and all the WAZIRS sit._) + +MANSUR. O Commander of the Faithful! Would heaven thou hadst not +wearied thyself by honouring thy slave with a letter. The accountings +of my treasuries are ready and in full tale. They shall be at thy feet +to-morrow before noon-prayer. + +CALIPH. It is well. + + (_MANSUR bows and goes to his seat right, in front of the other + WAZIRS._) + + (_There is a murmur of conversation among the WAZIRS._) + + (_The CALIPH throws the bead into the cup a second time._) + +HERALD. (_Blows his trumpet again._) Whoso hath grievance, let him come +to the Caliph’s Carpet of Justice! + +CHAMBERLAIN. (_At the foot of the throne, left, stepping forward and +unrolling a roll._) In the name of the Judge of Judges, peace and +silence. (_The crowd ceases murmuring._) The first case: Jawan the +highwayman. By command of the Wazir Mansur. + +MANSUR. (_Rising._) O Gracious Sovereign! The mighty Monarch that +forewent thee, did banish all robbers from Baghdad both by writ and +proclamation. Yet this one is come to flaunt it in the white sunlight as +though the word of our beloved lord had been vain as a rain-shower in the +sea. Hence ordered I the outlaw before thee. + + (_JAWAN approaches from the terrace, right, supported by TWO + ARCHERS._) + +CALIPH. Canst thou not walk without aid? + +JAWAN. (_Kneeling and bowing._) O Commander of the Faithful, Allah hath +smitten my limbs with a curse. Thou seest my hours are numbered. I came +not to Baghdad with evil intent. I came to pray for salvation at the +tombs of the saints, hoping that my gift of alms would somewhat wipe out +mine offending. + +CALIPH. Thou hast given money to the poor? + +JAWAN. Send to the high priest of the cathedral-mosque. I seek refuge in +him and his knowledge of my charities. + +CALIPH. By all the laws of the realm thy life is forfeit. Yet ’tis +written “Better a generous sinner than a stingy saint.” Go one of you to +the high priest. (_To one of the KAZIS._) Kazi Shimas, thou. Inquire into +this. (_To JAWAN._) An thou sayest sooth, repentance and alms have won +for thee the kerchief of pardon. (_Gesture with handkerchief._) + + (_One of the WAZIRS rises, bows, and goes off through the arch + right._) + +JAWAN. Thy sentence is just as the scales of judgment day! + +CALIPH. Nay, hear me out. Till word be brought, thou shalt to prison. + +JAWAN. Prison? + +CALIPH. A short penance for thy long list of sins. Take him away. + +JAWAN. Allah preserve and prosper His regent on earth! (_JAWAN bows to +the CALIPH and is led off into the prison-tower._) + +CALIPH. What is there to follow? + +CHAMBERLAIN. (_Consulting his list._) The case of a Moorish juggler. By +command of the Wazir Mansur. + +MANSUR. (_Rising._) O Prince of True Believers. This Moorman is a most +marvellous wizard. Yet by his very excellence has he roused the jealousy +of our native fellows of his craft, who would drive him out of the city. +Hence doth he come to kneel to thee for protection. + +CALIPH. Baghdad never yet grudged hospitality to the stranger of worth. +Bring hither the Moor. + +CHAMBERLAIN. The Moor! + + (_An ATTENDANT echoes the Chamberlain’s call and voices are + heard without repeating: “The Moor! The Moor!”_) + + (_HAJJ enters from the right through the columns. On his + shoulders like a pair of scales, he balances a pole, the two + bird cages at either end,—his magic cloth in his hand._) + +HAJJ. (_Coming forward and kneeling._) O Light of Islam—here lies thy +slave between thy hands! + +CALIPH. Art thou this famous Moorish magician? + +HAJJ. O King, I am as famous as I am Moorish, as Moorish as I am magician. + +CALIPH. An thou prove thy repute, thou shalt remain unmolested within our +walls. + +HAJJ. Try me and be thy judgment my doom. + +CALIPH. Allah granteth thee this. Begin. + + (_HAJJ bows to the CALIPH, slips off his cloak and waves his + magic cloth in a circle._) + +HAJJ. + + Round is the sky! + Round is the eye! + Round is nought! + Round is wrought! + + (_Throwing the cloth over his shoulder mysteriously._) + + By Iblis curst; + By devils worst; + By every name:— + Flame, fire, flame! + + (_He produces a bowl of flaming fire from his cloth._) + +CALIPH. (_Coming down the steps a little._) Allah! Good. + + (_HAJJ sets the bowl on the floor._) + + (_The CROWD murmurs approval._) + +HAJJ. (_Pointing to the bird-cages._) O King of glorious degree and never +ending! Look thou next on these two cages; one harbouring a fair bird +of maiden whiteness; the other a bird black as the royal banner of thy +house. Now even as yon flame of fire, so doth the flame of longing scorch +the hearts of these hapless lovers, caged apart. Say me then, shall I +invoke a kindlier lot upon the two, bringing them breast to breast? + +CALIPH. (_Who during the speech has come down from his throne; eagerly._) +Is’t easily done? + +HAJJ. Most easily. (_He waves his magic cloth with his left hand and +quickly draws his dagger with his right._) As easily, O my lord, as this! +(_He gives the CALIPH a violent thrust._) + +CALIPH. (_Sinking backwards on the steps of the throne._) Awah! + +ABU BAKR. (_Throwing himself between HAJJ and the CALIPH._) O villain! O +hound! Seize him! Pinion him! + + (_HAJJ is surrounded in an instant by the GUARD. Indescribable + confusion ensues. The WAZIRS start from their seats. The crowd + breaks through the guards. All shout and try to get at HAJJ. + Cries such as these are heard_: “Tear out his eyes!” “Rip + out his heart!” “O son of Satan!” “Crucify him over the city + gate!” “Scorch his eyes to blindness!” “Chop off his accursed + fingers!” “Cut out his tongue!” “Into the flames with him!” “O + dog!” “O hell hound!” “O son of perdition!” “Down with him!” + “Down!”) + +ABU BAKR. (_Bending over the CALIPH._) How is’t with thee? + +CALIPH. (_Recovering himself and mounting the throne._) Silence! Silence! +(_He throws the bead into the cup._) + +CALIPH. Silence! (_Comparative silence._) Touch not the man. Touch him +not, I say.—I am safe! Allah hath shielded me by the grace of my coat of +mail. (_He displays it._) + + (_Gradually absolute silence is restored._) + +MANSUR. (_With unction._) Praise Eternal to the Preserver of our King. + +ALL. “Praise to the Preserver!” “Amin!” “A thousand years to the Caliph!” +“Life forever to Abdallah” etc. + + (_The cup is struck again. All regain their respective places._) + + (_HAJJ is brought forward, held by FOUR BLACK ARCHERS. His + whole appearance is dishevelled. He looks deathly pale._) + + (_Outside the day begins to wane._) + +CALIPH. Why didst thou this? + +HAJJ. (_After a moment._) I know not. The crime was foredoomed me by Fate. + +CALIPH. Before the whole world, in the place of places, in front of my +palace, there shall thy soul be stripped from thee, shred by shred. Into +the Prison of Wrath with him. + +HAJJ. Nay, hear me! Hear me! I was tempted beyond measure. + +CALIPH. How’s this? Who tempted thee? + +HAJJ. I have sworn silence. + +CALIPH. By my holy office of Imam, I absolve thee of thine oath. Speak. + +HAJJ. (_Half looking round at MANSUR._) I—cannot. + +CALIPH. The key of torture shall soon unlock thy lips. + +HAJJ. Torture! Nay, by the Pardoner, since thou dost absolve me, there +sits he who tempted me! The Wazir Mansur. + +ALL. (_In amazement._) “Mansur?” “The Wazir?” “He?” “What says he?” + +CALIPH. Mansur? + +MANSUR. (_Rises, glibly._) The man’s be-devilled, O my lord. Bewitched by +fiends. I know him not. + +HAJJ. Know me not? I have shared my salt with him. He swore to make my +daughter his bride, would I but end thy days. Kafur, Afife! Bear ye +witness! + +CALIPH. (_With surprise to MANSUR._) How’s this? He calls thy men by name? + +MANSUR. What of that? Mayhap the villain has frequented my halls in +search of some favour. Nay, now I look on him—true. I’ve done the dog a +kindness. He came indeed to offer me his daughter, and I accepted of her. +Yet not for myself, O King, but to serve my scavenger blackamoors. + +HAJJ. (_With a cry of horror, trying to throw himself on MANSUR._) Ah! + + (_The ARCHERS restrain him, he struggles madly._) + +CALIPH. (_Calling out at once._) Silence him! + + (_One of the Archers from behind slips a black cloth over + HAJJ’S mouth._) + + (_The sky is lighted with the blaze of sunset._) + +MANSUR. Yet though the drab be now in my harim, by the Koran I swear, O +King, even as this day ends red so shall she end red this day. + +CALIPH. This matter is too full for the crowded course of the Diwan. I +shall examine into it apart—after sundown. No! (_He takes up the rose +half unconsciously._) Not after sundown. To-morrow. (_With a significant +look._) O Mansur, fail thou me not. Thy words do far from hush my doubts +in thee. + +MANSUR. Hearkening and obedience. + +CALIPH. I shall sit in my scarlet of anger. Let the executioner be +notified. Off with the wretch. Not a crust, not a drop to him. No +hospitality shall bind us. He shall be made a warning to all, the +blackest death in Islam! Away! + + (_HAJJ is dragged off through the prison-door, impotent and + bound._) + + (_A general murmur among the crowd._) + + (_The CALIPH puts down the rose and throws the bead into the + cup._) + + (_Silence._) + +CALIPH. What case have we to come? + +CHAMBERLAIN. (_Taking up the list._) The case of Kabirah, the widow. + + (_The little old woman of the Bazaar appears and totters + forward, kneeling before the throne._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE IV. _The Prison of the Palace._ + + _The place is dark except for a small barred window in the + right wall, high up. Through this come the red rays of the + setting sun, which fall on the wall, left—a brilliant patch + creeping slowly higher and higher._ + + _Under the window in the shadow lies JAWAN, the highwayman, an + unrecognisable heap._ + + _A moment of silence. Then the door is unlocked and unbolted + and creaking loudly, to the rattle of keys, it admits KUTAYT, + the Gaoler, a huge, dark-skinned man of brute force. He pushes + open the door, and crosses to some chains fixed to an angle + that juts out, left, under the patch of sunlight._ + + _Outside is heard the shuffle of feet and blows. HAJJ appears + directly, pushed and driven by the FOUR BLACK ARCHERS. His + mouth is still covered with the black bandage. The ARCHERS drag + him to the wall, left, where KUTAYT stands ready to clap the + chains on his wrists._ + +KUTAYT. (_Turning HAJJ round._) What outlandish garments have we here? +Not Arabian. How? (_HAJJ gives a muffled reply._) (_KUTAYT pulling the +bandage from his mouth._) How? + +HAJJ. (_Breathless._) Moorish, O my master. + +KUTAYT. Moorish! Hoo! Hoo! Wilt thou buy straw from me? + +HAJJ. I have no money. + +KUTAYT. No money? + +HAJJ. Not a danik. + +KUTAYT. (_Shouting._) Nothing? Shall I waste my breath sucking of an +empty bottle? Here with thy paws, O misery! (_He claps the chains on +HAJJ._) Yehh, what a life is mine, crushing lice! (_He throws HAJJ down +on the ground._) Lie there, thou vermin. Moorish! (_He spits on HAJJ, +then follows the others banging the door to behind him, bolting and +locking it from without._) + + (_A moment of silence._) + +HAJJ. (_Groaning._) There is no majesty nor might save Allah! Is it this +I have come to? (_Rattling the chains, he sinks down beating palm on palm +in despair._) O thou purse! Thou little purse flung me at sunrise! Thou +hast been mine undoing! Thou wast from Satan! From him, mine enemy. O +Jawan! Jawan! As Allah is my witness, may thy soul be cast down into the +fires of hell to burn and boil to infinity without end. + + (_Out of the gloom of the opposite wall comes JAWAN’S sharp + voice, half mockingly._) + +JAWAN. Who calls me? Can it be thou, O Hajj? + +HAJJ. (_Amazed._) Allah! (_He sits up._) Art thou an Ifrit speaking? + +JAWAN. No Ifrit, O brother. No spirit of air or fire. But thy +flesh-and-bones enemy, whom thou dost curse so sweetly. + +HAJJ. Jawan—thyself—here? + +JAWAN. Even as thou, O my friend of long ago. + +HAJJ. (_He laughs._) Ha! Ha! By Allah! Thou here! And through me! For +’twas I who told Mansur of thee! My prayer is answered. We shall end side +by side. ’Tis well. I die content. + +JAWAN. Why art thou here? + +HAJJ. For attempting the Caliph’s days. + +JAWAN. The Caliph’s? Thou? Then art thou indeed dead. + +HAJJ. Even as thou art. + +JAWAN. Nay, I shall be free. I tell thee I shall live, live to see my +son. Yehh! As clearly as I see him now with the eyes of the heart. As +clearly as I saw him last with the eyes of the head. (_In an exalted +strain._) There he stood, my Yusuf, in the wold and wild, by my tent, the +dust-cloud of the coming foe walling the horizon. I made him kneel before +me and blessed and kissed him. And as I did so an amulet hung forth from +my breast. I broke it in half—a hand of Fatimah. (_He taps his chest._) +Half I kept for myself, here. The other I fixed on the chain round his +neck. By that broken half shall I find him again. I know it. + +HAJJ. (_Laughing derisively._) Ha! Ha! After twenty-five years? Thou art +in thy dotage. + +JAWAN. Allah will give him back to me. I have gone to Mecca thrice. All +my moneys have I spent in charity. + +HAJJ. Charity? Will charity quicken my little son, whom thou didst +slaughter? Charity restore the wife thou didst rob me of? I tell thee +thou shalt surely die to-morrow. Thy blood and mine shall mingle together +on the thirsty ground. That is my sole consolation, the honey in this my +bitterness. + + (_The lock is heard to turn and the door is unbolted. KUTAYT + reappears with a document in his hand._) + + (_The sunlight begins to fade._) + +KUTAYT. (_Going to JAWAN, holding out the document._) The Commander of +the Faithful has lent ear to the pleadings of the High Priest. Thou art +pardoned and released. + +JAWAN. Allah prolong the Caliph’s days of Glory! + +KUTAYT. Canst thou climb the stairs unaided? + +JAWAN. Where are my slaves? + +KUTAYT. Thy slaves? Alas! When they saw thee prisoner they turned and +fled! + +JAWAN. Whoreson knaves! How shall I get me from here? (_Chinking a +purse._) This purse of fifty dinars, an thou canst find me a litter. + +KUTAYT. (_Obsequiously._) O my lord, there is a stretcher above to carry +away the dead. Will that suffice thy graciousness? + +JAWAN. Anything, so I need no longer weary thine hospitality. He! He! He! + +KUTAYT. (_Laughing politely._) Hoo, Hoo! Hearing is obeying. + +HAJJ. (_Eagerly._) Am I pardoned too? Am I free? + +KUTAYT. Hoo! Hoo! Pardoned? Free? Wait till thy tongue’s torn out, thine +eyes scorched to blindness, thy body nailed to the dome over the Gate of +Destruction. Then wilt thou be free—indeed—at last! Hoo! Hoo! + +HAJJ. (_Tugging at his chains._) Allah damn thee for thy mocking! + +KUTAYT. Hoo? Curse me, O thou? That for thee, thou offal, thou stench. +(_He strikes HAJJ over the head with the huge door-key. HAJJ with a cry +totters, then sinks on his knees and faints._) How? Fainted? Hoo! Hoo! +Fainted. Rose-water for the Princess! Rose-water and fumes and ambergris! +Fainted! (_Turning and bowing obsequiously to JAWAN._) O my lord, thy +litter shall be with thee on the instant. + + (_He goes off and slams the door, bolts and locks it._) + + (_Silence._) + +HAJJ. (_After some groans, slowly returning to consciousness, in the +whining tone of the beggar, not realising where he is._) Alms for the +love of Allah! For the love of—— (_He awakes slowly to his surroundings; +with a cry of horror._) Ah! I am here! I am here. ’Tis over—is it? Is it +over? + +JAWAN. He! He! He! ’Tis not yet begun. + +HAJJ. ’Tis not? (_Coming to the full realisation of things._) Thou! Now +I know. Thou! Oh! The sun is setting! Red! Red! (_With a sudden cry._) +Mansur!—Thou fiend of lowest hell! “Even as the day ends red, so shall +she end red this day!” O Marsinah! O Marsinah! And I in prison—in chains! + +JAWAN. He! He! He! + +HAJJ. Laugh! Thou canst laugh? Thou the beginning—thou the end of my +sufferings! (_Tugging at the chains._) O Allah! Give me strength. +Make these strong arms doubly, trebly strong! Put all the power of a +lifetime into these sinews; only for once, O Allah, that I may snap these +maddening chains in twain! + +JAWAN. Never! Never! (_He laughs jeeringly._) He! He! He! + +HAJJ. Once! Only once! (_He tugs, he twists, then with a wild cry of +delight he has broken himself free._) Free! Free! The Granter hath +granted! + +JAWAN. (_With terror—breathless._) Wah—— + +HAJJ. (_Sitting up, very quietly._) At last! + +JAWAN. (_Trembling._) What—what art thou thinking? + +HAJJ. (_Rises._) What—what? (_He crouches slightly and slowly, step by +step, like a wild beast, creeps over to JAWAN’S corner._) + +JAWAN. No nearer! I have a knife. + +HAJJ. A knife—hast thou? + +JAWAN. ’T has served me a thousand times. Luck’s written on the blade. + +HAJJ. Luck? I take my luck. (_With a cry._) Allah is all great! (_He +springs into the dark at JAWAN._) + + (_A fierce struggle as of two panthers fighting. Groans, + hisses, heavings and cries. After a minute—silence. Then HAJJ + emerges from the dark._) + +HAJJ. (_Breathless and fervently._) O Allah mine, thou hast given me +this hour. Behold my sacrifice to thee. At last, at last, I am avenged! +Avenged! (_Laughing bitterly._) But my Marsinah!—Oh spare her, O Lord of +justice, spare her from Mansur and the horror of his harim. (_A thought +striking him._) The harim! Kut-al-Kulub! The Wife of wives! Even now she +is waiting for me! If I could reach her! She’d help me to save Marsinah! +She’d— (_He goes to the door pounding on it desperately._) Free! Free! +Free!—(_He stops and turns hopelessly._) Madness! (_Looking at JAWAN’S +body._) They’ll find him the moment the litter comes, and then—(_With +sudden inspiration._) The litter! Allah! Dost Thou open the door of +escape? Dost Thou? (_Wildly._) Ha! Ha! Ha! If it succeed! If it succeed! +(_He goes into the corner to the body._) The cloak! The turband! The +purse! In his sleeve,—his breast? (_He comes across the chain on his +breast._) The chain! The broken hand of Fatimah! (_Imitating JAWAN._) “I +shall see my son again! I shall find him!” Wilt thou? (_He takes off the +chain._) Wilt thou? (_Putting it over his own neck._) Hang thou here on +my neck now thou broken hand of Fatimah! I shall find him, so Allah will +it. I shall! Ha! (_He finds the purse and chinks it._) Fifty dinars! For +the gaoler! Good! Now off with thy cloak. What? (_He stops and listens._) +Nothing. Nothing. Keep thine eyes cool and clear, O Hajj. Cool and clear. +(_He returns to the body._) So! So! _Thou_ shalt play the Moorman now, +O my king. Dead. Ha! Ha! Thou art dead, dost thou hear? And yet, O dead +one, ’tis thou shalt draw me out of my grave—me thy slayer! (_He drags +the body to where he lay fainting when the gaoler went out and covers +it with his own cloak._) So! Lie thou there! Quiet! Budge not, I pray +thee. Faint! (_He turns to JAWAN’S cloak and turband._) Now for mine own +beautifying! (_As he picks up the garments he sees the knife which he +discarded._) The knife! Luck’s written on the blade. (_He puts the knife +into his belt._) Luck! So be it. Luck shall carry me into the street. +Luck let me leap from the litter! Luck bring me to the harim and to thee, +O my Marsinah, O my——(_The door outside is unlocked._) + + (_HAJJ throwing the cloak over himself, hurries into JAWAN’S + dark corner and lies down. KUTAYT reappears with a lanthorn, + followed by two men with a rough stretcher._) + +KUTAYT. The stretcher, O my lord. + +HAJJ. (_Coughing and imitating JAWAN’S voice._) Here! (_He throws the +purse._) + +KUTAYT. (_Picking it up and examining it by the light of the lanthorn._) +Allah bless thy journey. (_To the men as they lift up HAJJ._) Carefully. +Lift the Sheikh of sheikhs carefully. (_He chinks the purse and turns to +the dead body._) How? Still fainted! Hoo! Hoo! Look, O my lord—(_He goes +to the body and raises up an arm._) Still fainted! + +HAJJ. (_As the litter is lifted up and carried out, imitating JAWAN’S +laugh._) He! He! He! (_He is carried through the door._) + +KUTAYT. (_Dropping the arm._) Rose water! (_Kicking the body._) Rose +water! Hoo! Hoo! + +HAJJ. (_From the staircase, without._) He! He! He! + + (_KUTAYT turns slowly and follows the litter, slamming the door + behind him._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +_End of Act II_ + + + + +ACT III + +BEFORE THE CURTAIN + +NIGHT + + +_The MAN enters from his house, seats himself and sings_: + + Lo! Now the night lies on the city’s breast, + And thousand thousand lovers rise from rest + To seek in truth, what day unveiled in dream:— + The one, the all, the maiden manifest. + +_The WOMAN enters from her house, seats herself and sings_: + + Lo! Now the heav’n pours down its silver stream + Into the lattice of my heart’s harim! + The hour comes, the night of nights is nigh, + That bindeth soul to soul in bond supreme. + +_The MAN_: + + Yehh! That some flaming dance might glorify + The moments of my sweet expectancy! + +_The WOMAN_: + + Yehh! That some liquid Almah’s ebb and flow + The ocean of my love might amplify! + +_BOTH_: + + O Thou, Bestower of all things, bestow + This benediction on Thy servants low! + +_The DANCER enters and weaves the spell of Destiny about the MAN and the +WOMAN. They rise and approach each other singing_: + + The day belongs to man, to woman night:— + HE: { And so I give to thee thy lawful right, } + SHE: { And so I claim in thee my lawful right. } + Sealing our compact of eternal plight, + O thou, my longing, and my soul’s delight! + +_The DANCER smiles in triumph and vanishes._ + +_The MAN and the WOMAN embrace and go out hand in hand through the +Curtains of Fate._ + + + + +ACT III + +EVENING + + +SCENE I. _The Hammam in the Wazir Mansur’s Harim._ + + _The scene represents a colonnaded courtyard, the centre of + which is occupied by a large, marble swimming pool. The front + part of the scene is under the portico of the colonnade. At the + back may be seen three large arched windows screened from the + outer world by elaborate traceries. The main entrance is an + arch or double door, left. A grated trap to the right, partly + concealed by a rug, leads to a secret passage below. There is + a couch to the left; behind it stands a brazier of burning + incense._ + + _The court is of the most delicate architecture; white marble + with green and azure traceries._ + + _It is early evening; the moonlight floods the courtyard from + the right, and finds its way into the portico, from the ceiling + of which hang several lamps, shedding dim light._ + + _KUT-AL-KULUB, in gorgeous robes, lies reclining on the + couch, a slave holding up a mirror before her. Another one is + sprinkling perfumes, and a third blackening her eyelids._ + + _Various groups of women are seen reclining by the pool; some + are robing, others combing their hair._ + + _To the right sit FOUR FEMALE MUSICIANS with lutes, harps and + tambourines. One of them is singing_:— + + O lute within my lap, o’er thee I bend + My sobbing child of love, thy cry to tend + With mother’s breast. Yet still as I do give + Thy yearning groweth ever without end. Ah—! + O sweetest loss! O milk of melody! + What though my heart go forth in yielding thee! + Thus would I die a thousand deaths, than live + Frozen and barren to infinity! Ah! + + (_During the song a YOUNG GIRL, wrapped in a long garment, + enters followed by a NEGRESS. She steps to the swimming pool. + The NEGRESS takes the cloak from her and she plunges into the + water._) + + (_MISKAH enters from the door, left, and glides to + KUT-AL-KULUB’S couch._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Turning impatiently._) Thy news! Yet answer me nought but he +is come; he is waiting; he has mistook the secret entrance! + +MISKAH. O my mistress, would my tongue might say yes. Alas! He’s nowhere +to be seen. But thy slave of the fires is watching for him with burning +eyes. + +KUT-AL-K. I could have thee whipped for thy words. + +MISKAH. No stranger hath passed the door-keeper, nor man nor woman, +saving a weeping damsel the eunuchs brought this mid-afternoon. + +KUT-AL-K. Damsel? What damsel? + +MISKAH. She is destined for thy lord, they say. They are guarding her in +the first hall of the harim. + +KUT-AL-K. What fresh intruder is this? Bring hither the slut! + +MISKAH. Hearkening and obedience. + + (_She hurries off through the door._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Looking at herself in the mirror._) Another? By the days +of my beauty! And he—— (_To the slave dressing her hair._) O thou +fat-fingered fool. Art thou not done yet? Take thy hot hands from my head! + + (_The women near the pool have splashed the girl in the water. + She suddenly turns and pulls one of them into the pool. There + is a loud scream and much splashing and laughter._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Irritated, sits erect on her couch, claps her hands and +shouts at the top of her voice._) Cease your noise! Cease your noise, I +say! (_Claps her hands again._) Allah! Must I call the guard? (_The WOMEN +are gradually silenced._) Out on ye, ye shameless ones! Get ye to your +couches, each and all. The hour grows late. + + (_The WOMEN in the bath are seen to swim towards the right end + of the bath. Others in the arcades go off to the right as well. + Suppressed laughter and whisperings._) + + (_KUT-AL-K watches them impatiently._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_To the MUSICIANS._) Go ye as well! + + (_The MUSICIANS rise and follow the others._) + + (_KUT-AL-K sinks down on the couch._) + + (_MISKAH re-enters with the TWO EUNUCHS, conducting MARSINAH, + who is veiled._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_To the EUNUCHS._) Leave her with me. She shall be safe in +my keeping. (_The TWO EUNUCHS bow and retire._) What have we here? +(_Sarcastically._) Peace be upon thee, O wonder of loveliness concealed. + +MARSINAH. And upon thee peace, O my lady, and Allah’s benediction. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Half aside to her women._) A voice like unto choking honey. +(_Pointedly to MARSINAH._) Wilt thou not favour us by revealing the +fountain of so much sweetness? + + (_She leans forward toward MARSINAH._) + +MARSINAH. (_Unveils and kneels, bowing low._) O my lady, I am thy slave. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Annoyed by MARSINAH’S beauty._) My slave, art thou? My slaves +come not before me with no henna on their hands, eyes unkohled, cheeks +riddled and raddled with tears. Who art thou? Who sent thee hither? + +MARSINAH. My father. The Wazir Mansur has chosen me to be his wife. + +KUT-AL-K. Wife—thou? O thou cotton-refuse! O thou pickings! Thou his +wife? A handmaid to his wife perchance, or handmaid to the handmaid, more +likely. + +MARSINAH. ’Tis not of my seeking! Allah is my witness! I longed not for a +harim of glitter and gold. Mine was a far different dream. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Sarcastically._) Sayst thou so? + +MARSINAH. O mistress dear, thou art the high lady here, thy lord’s love +of loves. Turn thou thy white hand of pleading towards Mansur for me. Win +thou my freedom, and thou wilt give life not to me alone, who am a nought +and a nothing, but also to one who is waiting and watching this night, +waiting and watching in vain. + +KUT-AL-K. Yehh! What light do I see in the lattice? So thy little heart +is caught in the mighty net of love. (_The SLAVE GIRLS giggle._) + +MARSINAH. Why should I answer no? Thou art a woman. To thee I need not +hide what I dared not confess to my father. Yehh! I love a youth, to the +very core of my bosom do I love him; a youth fair of face, and rich in +grace; none gentler, none nobler in all our race. + +KUT-AL-K. A pretty verse, forsooth. And surely there are further rhymes +to follow, such as “enlace” and “embrace.” (_She smiles at her SLAVES, +who giggle at her gibe._) + +MARSINAH. He hath kissed me, ’tis true. + +KUT-AL-K. (_With a sarcastic laugh._) Ah! Ah! + +MARSINAH. Oh, but in all honour. This sunset he was coming to beg my +father’s consent to husband me. + +KUT-AL-K. Was he! Was he! + +MARSINAH. By the life of my youth, he was. I should be bespoken by now, +had not sudden fate doomed me to become Mansur’s wife. + +KUT-AL-K. Wife! Say thou wife again and I’ll have thee slippered till +thou liest fainting at my feet. Wife thou! A thing kissed and clasped +by another! What devil hath blown conceit into thy nostrils? (_Calling +out._) Ho Kádim! Ho Taváshi! Hither! Take her away to the kitchens! + + (_MARSINAH veils herself._) + + (_The TWO EUNUCHS return and approach MARSINAH, laying hands on + her._) + +KUT-AL-K. I’ll soon “wife” thee, thou scum of the slave market, thou +baggage of ill-omen and insolent! + +MARSINAH. O spare me these cruel hands, O sweet lady, spare me, spare me! + + (_At that moment MANSUR enters through the courtyard from the + right. He is sullen and his manner shows, though only slightly, + that he has been drinking. He has a cup in his hand. KAFUR + follows him. All the WOMEN crouch at MANSUR’S approach._) + +MANSUR. Hold! What to do is here? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Rises on her knees and turns to him in her most seductive +manner._) O my lord—thou? What blessed fate brings thee at this unwonted +hour? + +MANSUR. (_Ignoring her._) Who is yon woman? + +KUT-AL-K. A nought! A slave girl! An offering of ugliness some friend +hath sent thee in sport. Wilt thou not smile on thy Kut-al-Kulub, O my +king? + +MARSINAH. (_Crying out._) Ho Mansur! + +KUT-AL-K. (_To the EUNUCHS holding MARSINAH._) To the kitchens with her! +And at once! + +MARSINAH. (_Breaking away from the EUNUCHS, she kneels before MANSUR, +calling out._) To my aid, O my lord; I lay hold upon thy skirt, in this +my calamity. + + (_The EUNUCHS are about to seize her again but MANSUR stops + them with a gesture._) + +MANSUR. (_Coming to her._) Who art thou? + +MARSINAH. I am Marsinah, the daughter of Hajj—thy cup-companion. + +MANSUR. Hajj’s daughter, art thou? (_Sneeringly._) Now Allah requite thee +that thou art come! His daughter! Ha! (_To KUT-AL-K._) And ugly to boot, +sayst thou? Yehh! The liar, the son of filth! Juggle this trick besides, +would he? ’Tis well! + +KUT-AL-K. (_Sarcastically._) She swears thou hast chosen her thy wife. + +MANSUR. Doth she? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Indignantly._) And that, after confessing she hath been loved +by another. + +MANSUR. Yehh! + +MARSINAH. (_To KUT-AL-K._) By Allah, this is not allowed! To betray what +I have told thee between mine eyes and thine. + +MANSUR. So she has been loved, has she—this (_with a great sneer_) maid! +I am to eat broken bread from other men’s tables! Broken bread! + +MARSINAH. (_Rises._) ’Tis a lie! My loved one’s loving is not of the +colour of thy loathsome lusting. ’Tis white as the turband of the +Prophet. Nor can thy villainous tongue spot its purity. + +MANSUR. Ha! Ha! So great a fire in so small an oven? Yehh! Here will be a +pleasing thing to rake and quench. + +MARSINAH. (_Kneeling, pleading._) Oh, as thou art powerful, be merciful. +Forgive my fury. My lips know not what they say. Thou seest I am alone +here, helpless as the fly in the tent of the spider. Have thou pity on +me, so Allah have pity on thee. + +MANSUR. And how can Allah have pity on me before I yet have sinned? Oh, +my hidden delight, I beseech thee unveil first, that I may learn the hell +I am to fall to, through the curse of thy comeliness. Unveil, I tell thee. + +MARSINAH. Never! + +MANSUR. Never! Thou’lt not? (_He flings away his wine-cup._) Thus to thy +likes! (_He goes up to her and seizing her roughly, tears the veil from +her face._) + +MARSINAH. Awah! (_She bows her head in shame, her long black hair +uncoiling about her._) + +MANSUR. By the Creator—she is beautiful—exceedingly! + +KUT-AL-K. (_Biting her lips._) Is she? + +MANSUR. (_Turning to KUT-AL-K and thrusting her down on the couch._) O +thou viper, what made thee say otherwise? Jealous, art thou? Ha! Ha! +Still! (_To MARSINAH—watching KUT-AL-K._) Thou art lovesome and lovely, O +my blossom, O my palm-bud. Thou shalt indeed be my bride this eventide. +(_He caresses her head._) + +MARSINAH. (_Rising and shrinking away._) If I pass this night here, I +shall kill myself with mine own hand. + +MANSUR. Trouble not thy hand! For at dawn, O Marsinah,——(_He runs his +hand down her arm._) at dawn thou shalt pay for thine insolence with +gorgeous untold sufferings, such as my soul never yet devised. + + (_He smacks his lips._) + + (_MARSINAH shudders._) + + (_KUT-AL-K sighs with satisfaction._) + +MANSUR. (_To KUT-AL-K._) Thou art satisfied? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Smiling._) I am all thine, O my master. + +MANSUR. ’Tis well! (_To the slaves._) Up! Robe my bride! Hang jewels upon +her! Rob what is best from the splendour of my Wife of wives. (_THREE +SLAVE GIRLS and the NEGRESS hurry off hastily to the left._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Furious._) My robes? My jewels? + +MANSUR. (_Sardonically._) Saidst thou not “I am all thine”? (_To +MARSINAH._) Go, O my ruby! Seek thy setting, O my bride of blood. (_To +the slaves._) And look you, she doth no harm to her sweet body. + +MARSINAH. (_Blanched and staring, is led off through the courtyard; +suddenly she turns defiantly._) Be this the end that Allah hath ordained +me—’tis well! Yet the Judge of Judges is not unjust. He hath power to +change our fate between the shutting and the opening of an eye. Thy hour +will come. Thy death will find thee! + +MANSUR. (_With a gesture to the slaves._) Away! + +MARSINAH. (_In a high voice._) And black will it be, O Mansur! Black as +thy doomsday record! (_She screams as she is dragged off by the EUNUCHS._) + +MANSUR. (_Calling after her._) Ha! Ha! Ha! Thy rage but feeds me! Ha! Ha! +There’s something still in life! Something! By Allah! This night will I +make a night among nights! Ho Kafur! Prepare my bath of scents! Hot and +heating let it be! So that my tired pulses may beat—beat! + + (_KAFUR bows and hastens into the courtyard._) + +MANSUR. (_Stopping him._) And call thou the women! Let them come forth +wildering to the wits, seducing to the senses! Song, and perfumes, and +dance till sunrise! What though the Caliph reap my head to-morrow, these +last hours shall be locked in my breast, mine own! + + (_KAFUR bows and vanishes._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Kneeling before MANSUR and throwing her arms about his +knees._) Thus do I love my lord. + +MANSUR. (_Smiling on her._) Dost thou, in sooth? + +KUT-AL-K. Yehh! Bid me do aught to add to thy content, and I’ll do it. + +MANSUR. (_In a playful tone._) Wilt thou? Wilt thou? + +KUT-AL-K. I swear it. + +MANSUR. Thou? (_He looks down at her, smiling, then suddenly spits in +her face. Turning away with a chuckling sneer._) Thou—O bosom of burning +desire, go thou and sleep! (_He hurries off through the courtyard._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Shaking with rage, her hands clenched, she groans._) Wah! +Dog of hell! Poison thee I could! Poison thee! (_She sits on the couch +beating it impotently with her fists._) Poison! Poison! Poison! + +MISKAH. (_Hurries across to her, trying to soothe her._) O dear my +mistress! Doth Destiny not decree all things for the best? If thy lord +be lost in the arms of Marsinah, wilt thou not be freer for him whom thy +soul desires? + + (_A gentle tapping is heard._) + +KUT-AL-K. He’ll not come! He’ll not come! ’Tis long past the hour! Fate +curses me ever! He’ll not come——(_Louder tapping._) O Miskah! Hark! (_She +sits erect and eager—pointing to the trap. The tapping is repeated._) +’Tis he! Unbolt. + + (_KUT-AL-K reclines on her couch, assuming indifference._) + + (_MISKAH goes and unbolts the grating, lifting the trap._) + + (_HAJJ enters, still wrapped in JAWAN’S white cloak._) + +HAJJ. Peace to thee, O my lady of radiance. I am thy slave in very truth. +My heart is between thy hands. (_He kneels and bows._) + +KUT-AL-K. Thou? By the life of mine eyes, I had forgot thee quite. Comest +thou at this hour? + +HAJJ. Be not an-angered, O my princess. I have faced death sevenfold to +venture to thee to-night. + +KUT-AL-K. Hush! My lord is within the harim. + +HAJJ. (_Thinking at once of MARSINAH._) Mansur? In the harim? Is he +alone? No one with him? No woman? + +KUT-AL-K. Belike so.... What matters it? + +HAJJ. Was a maiden brought here a little while since? + +KUT-AL-K. Yes. What of her? + +HAJJ. Doth Mansur know she’s here? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Impatiently._) What is’t to thee? The moments are slipping +away. O my loved one, dost thou not love me? (_She smiles on him._) + +HAJJ. (_Distracted._) Love thee? Yea, yea, I love thee. (_He smiles a +vacant smile at her._) The maiden—the maiden is where? + +KUT-AL-K. What maiden? + +HAJJ. Marsinah. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Suspiciously._) Marsinah? How comest thou to know her name? +What is this wench to thee? Who is she? + +HAJJ. She is my daughter. + +KUT-AL-K. Thy daughter. + +HAJJ. I have said it. + +KUT-AL-K. Thy daughter! (_She rises, stands on the couch, and bursts +out, laughing angrily._) Ah! Ha! Ha! Thy daughter! Is such thy love for +me? Thou must needs send thy daughter to him? A slip—a snippet—a chick +unfledged; her must thou send, for Mansur to make mock of me to her naked +face. Yehh! A sweet love, a deep love! Allah ruin thee for it. + +HAJJ. Mock thee! What has he done? + +KUT-AL-K. What? He has chosen her wife of the night,—sent her to deck +herself out of my coffers. + +HAJJ. (_Hopefully._) Yehh! + +KUT-AL-K. Yea, but heaven is just! Dawn shall put an end to her life. + +HAJJ. (_Rising, terrified._) Who told thee that? + +KUT-AL-K. Who? He, Mansur. Torture is to crown his night of pleasure. + +HAJJ. (_With a cry._) Ah! Thou wilt save her? + +KUT-AL-K. Save her? (_Very definitely._) After my death. + +HAJJ. No! No! Thou must! Thou wilt! O Kut-al-Kulub, thou wilt? + +KUT-AL-K. An she be so wondrous dear to thee, why didst thou offer her to +him? + +HAJJ. He swore to make her his wife. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Laughing wildly._) His wife! Thou dost not know Mansur. + +HAJJ. (_Desperately._) O Kut-al-Kulub, save her, save her! Slip her into +this cloak of mine and let her go with me as I came. + +KUT-AL-K. And I be strangled after? + +HAJJ. What hast thou to do with another’s escape? How shall Mansur know? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Half to herself._) Ha! ’Twere a fit revenge on him! A feast +for the bride, and no bride to feast! + +HAJJ. Couldst thou not replace her by some slave girl? Did he in truth +see her face? + +KUT-AL-K. See it! ’Twas her beauty made him mock me! + +HAJJ. How? She won him as she was brought—unadorned? + +KUT-AL-K. Unadorned, tear-stained, a very misery! + +HAJJ. And thou dost hesitate? She can enslave his senses thus, wretched, +ragged? What then will she do with jewels hung in her hair, robes rich +and fair, her bright eyes kohled, darting love everywhere? I tell thee +she’ll steal the heart from his breast! Yehh! Become queen in thy stead, +and thou be lost to his arms for ever. + +KUT-AL-K. (_With sudden rage._) Allah! I’ll be rid of this damned witch +come what may! (_Clapping her hands._) Ho! Miskah! Haste! Haste! (_To +HAJJ._) Thy cloak! Thy cloak! + + (_MISKAH hurries to her mistress._) + + (_HAJJ hands his cloak to MISKAH._) + +KUT-AL-K. Take it! Throw it over the accursed one robing in my chamber. +Bring her hither. Lose not an instant. + +MISKAH. With obedience. + + (_She hurries off with HAJJ’S cloak._) + +HAJJ. (_Coming to KUT-AL-K and kneeling, with utmost gratitude._) By Him +who fashioned thee in thy splendour, thou art indeed the noblest of thy +sisterhood. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Dryly—eyeing him._) Are thy desires contented? + +HAJJ. Contented? I kiss the fringe of thy gown, the hollow of thy hand, O +thou soul of liberality. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Looking at him, her mouth twitching._) ’Tis well. + + (_MISKAH re-enters with MARSINAH, who is completely cloaked._) + +HAJJ. (_Rising, moving towards her._) O Marsinah! + +MARSINAH. (_Surprised._) O my father.... + + (_They embrace._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Impatiently._) No words. (_To MISKAH._) Lead her forth by the +secret passage. Out and away with her. + +MISKAH. Away? She’s in thy richest robes, unworn as yet by thee! + +KUT-AL-K. (_Impatiently._) What matter robes? (_To HAJJ._) Whither is she +to be taken? + +HAJJ. I’ll go with her. + +KUT-AL-K. Wait thou. Let her go first and pass beyond the outer gates. +’Tis safer. Whither? + +HAJJ. (_To MISKAH._) Take her to the Mosque of the Carpenters—to Imam +Mahmud. Say I commit her to his charge under Allah. Tell him she’s my +daughter,—the daughter of Hajj, the beggar. + +KUT-AL-K. (_Starts and gives HAJJ a look, which he does not see._) +Hajj—the beggar. + + (_MARSINAH and MISKAH leave by the trap._) + + (_Directly the two have disappeared down the trap, KUT-AL-K + goes to the grating and flings it to, turning round and facing + HAJJ._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Hoarsely._) Hajj, the beggar! The beggar, Hajj. Yehh! Is it +to thy like that I have offered amorous mercy? And is it by thy like that +I have been laughed to scorn? A beggar! A beggar to sneer at me, to spurn +me! I, of the old blood of Egypt! + +HAJJ. Heaven forbid I should spurn thee, O my love. + +KUT-AL-K. Love! Love! Thou! Thou camest for one purpose alone—thy +daughter. ’Tis well! She is saved. But by Allah, not thou! + +HAJJ. Not? + +KUT-AL-K. We enter the hammam free. Out we pass not unless we pay. + +HAJJ. (_With horror._) Kut-al-Kulub! + +KUT-AL-K. The grating is shut; the latch my secret. A blissful night to +thee, and a blessed, O my beggar of love. (_She turns to pass him._) + +HAJJ. (_Following and clutching her._) O, Kut-al-Kulub, thou’lt not +betray me! Not doom me thus to my death? + +KUT-AL-K. Dost thou touch me, O thou dog? + +HAJJ. Yes, I touch thee, I hold thee, I clasp thee! (_He sinks down +before her, clasping her knees in his arms._) Here on my trembling knees, +mine arms about thy white beauty. O Kut-al-Kulub, thou must listen to me. + +KUT-AL-K. Off with thine arms, thou filth of the gutter. + +HAJJ. Never! Never! Never! + +KUT-AL-K. How? Force me? Force? (_She releases herself, shouting._) Ho, +Mansur! Ho, Mansur! (_She hurries to a gong by the door and beats it with +her fist._) O the shame of me! Ho, Mansur! + +HAJJ. (_Between his teeth._) Now Allah kill all womankind. (_He turns and +crouches in the corner right._) + + (_MANSUR appears in the courtyard. He is clad in a thin robe of + yellow, as coming from his bath. KAFUR follows him._) + +MANSUR. (_Annoyed._) What now? + +KUT-AL-K. (_With supreme scorn._) Behold! A man in thy harim!! + +MANSUR. A man? (_He snatches the sword from KAFUR. To KAFUR._) Take her +within. + + (_KUT-AL-K turns and as she goes laughs a low laugh, full of + the satisfaction of revenge. KAFUR follows her._) + + (_MANSUR comes down slowly, step by step, sword in hand; he is + slightly under the influence of drink._) + + (_HAJJ lies quite still on his knees, hiding his face behind a + cushion he has picked up. MANSUR raises the sword, ready to run + at HAJJ._) + + (_HAJJ lifts up his head suddenly and faces MANSUR._) + +MANSUR. (_Starting, amazed._) Hajj? Am I alive? + +HAJJ. Only to die! + + (_Taking advantage of MANSUR’S amazement, he throws the cushion + at him, warding off MANSUR’S blow of the scymitar. But in + trying to pass MANSUR, he slips and falls on his knees sinking + backwards. The full moonlight shines on HAJJ, revealing the + chain he took from JAWAN’S body._) + +MANSUR. (_About to strike, sees the chain, arrests the sword and gazes +intently._) By the Living! Whence comes that amulet on thy breast? That +broken hand of Fatimah! Speak! Nought shall befall thee. I swear it by +the One, the Eternal! I mean my words. Look! + + (_He throws the sword from him and reveals the other half of + the broken hand on a chain on his own breast._) + +HAJJ. (_Amazed._) Ah!—The Broken hand of Fatimah! Then thou art Yusuf? + +MANSUR. Yes, I am Yusuf. Who art thou? + +HAJJ. I? (_He steadies himself on his knees; deliberately looking him in +the eye._) I? I am thy father. (_He rises._) + +MANSUR. (_Doubtfully._) Thou? + +HAJJ. Yes, I am he who hath searched for thee year on year, ever since +the day the Caliph captured thee, O my son. + +MANSUR. (_Beginning to believe HAJJ._) Yehh! Art thou he in sooth? + +HAJJ. Am I he? Canst thou not recall my tent in the wild and wold? And +the enemy’s dust-cloud walling the horizon? And my bending over thee and +snapping this talisman in twain, giving thee half, keeping half? + +MANSUR. I recall it well. Art thou my father? + +HAJJ. Look, the pieces fit. (_He joins the two chains._) The hand is one, +as our blood is. Dost thou still doubt? + +MANSUR. Thou? But thou art Hajj—the beggar. + +HAJJ. I have been many things since I lost thee, O my Yusuf. + +MANSUR. My mother! Her name? + +HAJJ. Gulnar. + +MANSUR. Gulnar—yes! That was her name. Thou! Fate is a juggler—the +greatest of them all. + +HAJJ. On thy knees, O true-born son, that I may call down blessings upon +thee as I did in the years long gone. Down! Down! + +MANSUR. (_Overcome, kneels before HAJJ, bending his head._) O my father! + + (_HAJJ smiling in triumph over MANSUR, draws his knife + stealthily._) + +HAJJ. May Allah send thy soul—damnation! (_He plunges the knife into +MANSUR’S back between the shoulder blades. It enters up to the hilt._) + + (_MANSUR groaning aloud “Wah” and clutching at HAJJ, rises and + struggles with him._) + +HAJJ. O snake, O son of snake! I have scotched thee! Thee and thy father +both in one day. + +MANSUR. My father! (_Groans._) O thou hog of hell! + +HAJJ. Yes, thy true father, Jawan, the White Sheikh! He, who defiled +Gulnar, as thou wouldst defile Marsinah! Ha! Ha! Allah is just! Scratch, +wouldst thou? O thou rat, thou spawn of rat! (_Lifting him up._) Into the +water with thee! Vermin must be drowned. + + (_Lifting MANSUR bodily, he hurls him into the water. MANSUR + tries to climb out of the tank on the lower side, but HAJJ + intercepts him, grasps him by the throat, and holds him under + the water. MANSUR clutches HAJJ’S arm, but in vain. HAJJ leans + over the edge of the pool, pushing MANSUR down into the water. + MANSUR’S hands can be seen clinging desperately to HAJJ’S arm._) + +HAJJ. That’s for Marsinah! Marsinah, dost thou hear? How? Swear by the +Koran to wed her, and then debauch and torture her? Ha! Ha! ’Twas not +written! This bath of thine was written instead. May it profit thee till +doomsday. Drink it, dost thou? ’Tis well! Thou wert ever fond of wetting +thy gullet. (_A bubbling noise and splashing._) Take thy fill! Ha! Good, +is’t? Bubble, bubble! (_A desperate splash. One of MANSUR’S hands climbs +higher on HAJJ’S arms._) What? Whistle? The devils whistle they say. Art +thou in hell so soon, joining thy father, the——(_The left hand falls +lifeless from HAJJ’S arm._) At last! Silent bubbles—one,—two,—no more? +Nay, look not so large-eyed. ’Tis very simple. The springs of thy life +are spent. (_A slight pause. With a sigh of relief, HAJJ draws his wet +arm from the water, and kneels with his back to the spectator, his right +arm raised to heaven fervently._) O Allah! Thou hast delivered into my +hands the father! Thou hast delivered into my hands the son! Glorified be +thy Glory! O Lord of the three Worlds! Thou, the One, the Eternal! + + (_A sudden confused murmur of voices, distant cries and + the clash of steel. HAJJ turns and sits riveted. The noise + increases._) + + (_The door is burst open, and several ARCHERS of the Caliph + enter, some with torches, some with scymitars drawn. The CALIPH + himself follows, his sword unsheathed, his cloak thrown back + revealing a gorgeous silver armour and violet robes. NARJIS + comes next. KAFUR, AFIFE and SERVANTS of MANSUR’S household + crowd in after the others._) + +CALIPH. Break open the doors! Find the women! Bring them to me! + + (_Soldiers hurry off in various directions._) + +CALIPH. (_Turning to Narjis._) Dost thou still swear that Marsinah was +brought hither by Mansur’s eunuchs? + +NARJIS. Did I not see them drag her away from our very door? + + (_KUT-AL-K is brought in by the CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH; other + WOMEN follow led on by the SOLDIERS._) + +KUT-AL-K. (_Kneeling._) Mercy, O mercy, O Commander of the Faithful! + +CALIPH. Where’s Marsinah? + +KUT-AL-K. Marsinah’s fled to the Carpenter’s Mosque. ’Twas at the +entreaties of yon wretch that I consented to her escape. (_She points to +HAJJ grovelling in the dark._) + +CALIPH. (_Turning and seeing HAJJ._) The Moorman! Yehh! What magic brings +thee hither from prison? + +HAJJ. Allah hath freed me so I might render thee service. (_Taking a +torch from a soldier and holding it over the bath._) Behold! + +CALIPH. (_Looking down into the water._) Mansur? + +KUT-AL-K. (_Gazing into the pool._) Mansur! Awah! (_She sinks down by +edge of bath with a wail._) + +HAJJ. Mansur. Now, say me, have I not atoned for my crime? + +CALIPH. No deed of thine can wipe out thy attempt upon my life. Thy death +is fixed and unalterable. + +NARJIS. Wah! Kill the father of Marsinah? + +CALIPH. Thou? But thou art the Moorman? + +HAJJ. Both! Two persons in one, both at thy feet. + +CALIPH. So thou art the sire of her whom Allah hath revealed unto my +heart? + +HAJJ. (_Looking up._) Marsinah? Am I then pardoned? + +CALIPH. Pardoned? What religion were mine should I pardon the hand thou +didst raise against my sacred person? Yet art thou also the father of my +chosen bride. Say me then, what shall be thy lot? + +HAJJ. Thou art the lord of my neck. + +CALIPH. Be thou banished! Banished from Baghdad, from my sight, from the +sight of thy daughter. Banished as one who had never been. To-morrow by +dawn be gone without the walls of the city. + +HAJJ. (_Appealingly._) Banished! O King, be royal and show me mercy. + +CALIPH. I have shown thee mercy far beyond justice. My word is spoken. Go! + +HAJJ. (_Bowing his head to the ground._) There is no majesty nor might +save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great. (_He rises slowly._) Woe is me! +Woe is me. Ah! Wah! Never to see her again, the daughter of my bosom. +Never again to touch her hand, to press my lips upon her eyes. O sons of +Adam, beget not children! By Him, the Uniter and Separator, beget them +not! The agony of their loss exceedeth far the rapture of fatherhood. +Banished for ever! Rend thy robe, O Hajj! Beat thy breast! Thy joy in +life is ended. Old age hath fallen upon thee as an icy garment. Dark is +everywhere. Ashes! Ashes! (_He reaches the brazier. It has ceased burning +some time before. Taking the ashes from it, he strews them on his head, +then turns to the door, beating his breast._) Out—out, thou cutoff moment +of time! Into the Desert of Desolation with thee, O thou forgotten grain +of the sands of man! Marsinah is dead to thee, thou dead to Marsinah! +Awah! Awah! Awah! (_He staggers out by the door, rending his garment and +wailing aloud._) + + [CURTAIN] + + +SCENE II. + + _The street before the Mosque of the Carpenters. The same scene + as at the opening of the play._ + + _Moonlight._ + + _The BEGGAR KASIM is seated on HAJJ’S stone, just as HAJJ + installed him at sunrise._ + + _Down the alley from the left come cries of moaning “Wah! Wah! + Wah!” and HAJJ appears, breathless, dishevelled and tottering. + He hurries to the Mosque and knocks frantically at the door._ + +MAHMUD. (_Coming out and standing on the steps._) Hajj? + +HAJJ. (_Sinking down._) O my father! I have run to thee clinging from +wall to wall in my anguish. Where’s Marsinah? + +MAHMUD. She is safe within. + +HAJJ. Bring her forth I pray thee. We must flee the city. The Caliph +covets her. + +MAHMUD. What devil possesses thee? Take thy daughter from the Caliph? Rob +her of the blessing of blessings? + +HAJJ. I am banished. I must never see her again. And I love her—to the +very clot in my heart I love her! + +MAHMUD. Oh Hajj! O Hajj! Look within thee! How? Ruin thy child and call +it love? + +HAJJ. Wah! + +MAHMUD. When must thou go from Baghdad? + +HAJJ. By dawn. + +MAHMUD. Dawn! To-morrow the caravans set out for Meccah. Hast thou washed +in the well of Zemzem? Kissed the sacred stone? Encircled the holy Kaabah? + +HAJJ. (_Crestfallen._) No, O my father. + +MAHMUD. By what right then dost thou call thyself Hajj, the Pilgrim? +Naught hast thou done for thy endless days beyond the grave. Thou art no +Moslem; no son of Islam. Thou art an infidel. + +HAJJ. (_With a cry of horror._) Ah! O my father! Infidel! + + (_A sound of distant trumpets, kettledrums and singing is heard + approaching from the left._) + +HAJJ. The Caliph!—Marsinah! (_Pleading._) O Mahmud,—Marsinah! + +MAHMUD. Conquer thyself. Turn from the world. Seek salvation. + +HAJJ. Marsinah! + +MAHMUD. I tell thee verily this is thine hour appointed, thine hour of +hours. An thou so much as raise an eye to mar thy child’s fortune, thy +doom shall be flame and fire. + +HAJJ. (_In agony._) Awah! Awah! Awah! + + (_At that moment the CALIPH’S CHAMBERLAIN, with a wand of + office, hurries on from the left and crosses to the Mosque._) + +CHAMBERLAIN. O Imam! The Commander of the Faithful cometh to claim the +maid Marsinah. + +MAHMUD. Hearkening and obedience! Wilt thou enter? + + (_The CHAMBERLAIN enters the Mosque, MAHMUD following him. + HAJJ stands irresolute, with hands clenched. But as the music + approaches, he turns and hides in the shadow of a wall. The + Wedding Procession enters from the left, headed by a group of + MALE MUSICIANS: SINGERS, about eight in number, with a leader + in their midst; THREE MEN with huge tambourines; others with + pipes and clarionets. They are singing as they come._) + + Bespread the streets with tapestries, + Hang carpets from the balconies; + And from the roof-tops flower-dight + Rain nard, and musk, and ambergris; + The Caliph Moon has risen bright + To seek the Star of his delight. + Then hail unto this glorious night, + When earth makes dim the heaven’s light! + + (_After the Musicians comes the HERALD bearing aloft the + black banner of the house of Abbas, followed by THREE COURT + DIGNITARIES swinging incense. Next comes the CALIPH, followed + by ABU BAKR. Behind the CALIPH walk THREE WAZIRS each carrying + a five-branched candle-stick in the shape of an out-spread + hand. After the CALIPH SIX BOYS with baskets of flowers + which they scatter. THREE more DIGNITARIES follow, swinging + incense. Then appears a curtained litter of gold borne by TWO + NEGROES; on either side of it THREE EUNUCHS with five-branched + candle-sticks. A second group of MUSICIANS, consisting of + several instrumentalists conclude the procession. As soon as + the CALIPH reaches the Mosque doors, the procession halts; the + music ceases and the doors are flung open._) + + (_MARSINAH appears on the steps in a flood of light, + beautifully attired and veiled. MAHMUD and the CHAMBERLAIN + follow her._) + +CALIPH. (_Taking a step forward._) The Peace upon thee! + +MARSINAH. (_Looking up._) Thou——? But thou art the gardener’s son! How is +this splendour possible? + +CALIPH. O my Marsinah! All I have told thee is truth save one thing. I am +not what I let thee believe. + +MARSINAH. Not the gardener’s son? + +CALIPH. Not the gardener’s son. + +MARSINAH. Greater? A merchant? + +CALIPH. Alas—even greater. + +MARSINAH. A Kazi? + +CALIPH. Yet more. + +MARSINAH. A Prince! + +CALIPH. Higher still. + +MARSINAH. (_Close to him._) Still—? Who art thou then? Thou art not—not +the Highest? + +CALIPH. The Pardoner pardon me—I am. + +MARSINAH. (_In awe._) The Caliph. (_Sinks to her knees._) Oh, what a +boldness hath been mine! How can I sink deep enough before thee? + +CALIPH. Kneel? Thou? Wouldst thou double my shame by begging forgiveness? +Have I lost all thy love? + +MARSINAH. O my lord, how dare I love thee after this? + +CALIPH. Even as I love thee. By the Grace of the Uniter of heart and +heart, who hath brought thee to me, and me to thee joining us one and +inseparable, from this day to the day when shall come the Destroyer of +delights, the Shatterer of palaces, the Ender of all things earthly—till +Death! + +MARSINAH. (_Rises._) Is this a dream? + +CALIPH. + + All things are dreams till Allah sayeth “Be”! + When soul finds soul, as I—Beloved, thee! + +MARSINAH. + + My life is thine unto the latest hour, + Nor shall Death rob my love’s eternity. + + (_The CALIPH touches his forehead and his heart, then motions + MARSINAH to the litter._) + + (_MARSINAH bows before him, kissing her finger-tips and raising + them to her brow; then crosses him. She is assisted into the + litter by ABU BAKR._) + + (_The Procession moves off to the right, the combined groups of + MUSICIANS playing and singing._) + + ALL. + + Seat high the maid and bridal throne, + To rule this night of nights alone; + Whilst kneels to her divinity, + The mightiest of monarchs prone. + Then draw the curtain sweet with spice, + On Lord of Lords and Pearl of Price— + He crowned by her virginity, + She by his manhood’s Paradise. + And Allah the Uniter bless + Their love with joyance limitless! + + (_MAHMUD locks the door of the Mosque._) + + (_HAJJ has risen as MARSINAH goes to the litter, drawn by an + irresistible desire to approach her. But MAHMUD’S eye is upon + him and he hesitates. As the curtains of the litter shut over + his child, he stands transfixed, a figure of grief against the + gorgeousness behind him._) + + (_The procession is gone but he does not move._) + + (_MAHMUD watches him closely from the door-step of the Mosque. + The song dies away in the distance._) + +MAHMUD. O Hajj! Thou hast learnt to renounce. Allah hath opened to thee +the path of Pardon! Set forth at sunrise without fear. + +HAJJ. (_In an exalted strain raising his right hand._) Yea! To Meccah! To +Meccah! + +MAHMUD. And the peace upon thee now and for ever. + +HAJJ. And on thee, O Mahmud, peace and blessing. (_MAHMUD goes slowly up +the street to the left and disappears._) + +HAJJ. (_Stands a moment alone in the moonlight, then almost like a child +he says._) I am tired. + + (_He turns to his old stone, upon which, to his great surprise, + he finds KASIM sitting._) + +HAJJ. By my head! What dog art thou? Out of my seat! + +KASIM. Thou didst give it me at dawn. + +HAJJ. And I take it again at dark! That is Fate! Up, thou one-eyed +curse! Learn to renounce! To the Caliph I may be dirt; but to dirt I am +the Caliph! (_KASIM rises and, dropping the beggar’s cloak HAJJ gave +him at sunrise, goes off by the alley, left. HAJJ takes it and wraps +himself in it once more, then sits down on his seat with a loud sigh of +relief._) Renunciation! There’s a sweet smack to it. A taste of having +lived! And I have lived to-day. Mine enemies dead,—Marsinah wed,—Meccah +to-morrow,—(_He yawns prodigiously._) My say is said. So glory be to +the One, the Eternal! He who begetteth not, nor is begot; the Ruler of +Tide and Time, who sleepeth not. (_Dropping off._) And to Mohammed, his +Prophet—chosen—amongst——Mankind——Peace and———— + + (_A gentle snore; another snore, louder; another_——) + + [SLOW CURTAIN] + + +_End of the Play_ + + LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78198 *** |