Plays of Gods and Men | Page 2

of that wonderful fish; they have even dyed their sails with it.
Ludibras:
They are not like ships because they do not move. They are like... They are like no tangible thing in all the world. They are like faint, beautiful songs of an unseen singer; they are like temptations to some unknown sin. They make me think of the tigers that slip through the gloom below them.
[Enter Harpagas and a Noble of the Court, with spears and leather belts.]
Ichtharion:
Where are you going?
Harpagas:
We are going hunting.
Ichtharion:
Hunting! How beautiful!
Harpagas:
A little street goes down from the palace door; the other end of it touches the very jungle.
Ludibras:
O, heavenly city of Thek.
Ichtharion:
Have you ever before gone hunting?
Harpagas:
No; I have dreamed of it. In Barbul-el-Sharnak I nearly forgot my dream.
Ichtharion:
Man was not made for cities. I did not know this once.
Ludibras:
I will come with you.
Ichtharion:
I will come with you, too. We will go down by the little street, and there will be the jungle. I will fetch a spear as we go.
Ludibras:
What shall we hunt in the jungle?
Harpagas:
They say there are kroot and abbax; and tigers, some say, have been heard of.
Noble:
We must never go back to Barbul-el-Sharnak again.
Ichtharion:
You may rely on us.
Ludibras:
We shall keep the King in Thek.
[Exeunt, leaving two sentries standing beside the throne.]
1st Sentry:
They are all very glad to be in Thek. I, too, am glad.
2nd Sentry:
It is a very little city. Two hundred of these cities would not build Barbul-el-Sharnak.
1st Sentry:
No. But it is a finer palace, and Barbul-el-Sharnak is the centre of the world; men have drawn together there.
2nd Sentry:
I did not know there was a palace like this outside Barbul-el-Sharnak.
1st Sentry:
It was built in the days of the forefathers. They built palaces in those days.
2nd Sentry:
They must be in the jungle by now. It is quite close. How glad they were to go.
1st Sentry:
Yes, they were glad. Men do not hunt for tigers in Barbul-el-Sharnak.
[Enter Tharmia and Arolind weeping.]
Tharmia:
O it is terrible.
Arolind:
O! O! O!
1st Sentry: [To 2nd Sentry]
Something has happened.
[Enter Carolyx.]
Carolyx:
What is it, princely ladies?
[To Sentries] Go. Go away.
[Exeunt Sentries.]
What has happened?
Tharmia:
O. We went down a little street.
Carolyx:
Yes. Yes.
Arolind:
The main street of the city.
[Both weep quietly.]
Carolyx:
Yes? Yes? Yes?
Tharmia:
It ends in the jungle.
Carolyx:
You went into the jungle! There must be tigers there.
Tharmia:
No.
Arolind:
No.
Carolyx:
What did you do?
Tharmia:
We came back.
Carolyx: [in a voice of anguish]
What did you see in the street?
Tharmia:
Nothing.
Arolind:
Nothing.
Carolyx:
Nothing?
Tharmia:
There are no shops.
Arolind:
We cannot buy new hair.
Tharmia:
We cannot buy [sobs] gold-dust to put upon our hair.
Arolind:
There are no [sobs] neighbouring princes.
[Carolyx bursts bitterly into tears and continues to weep.]
Tharmia:
Barbul-el-Sharnak, Barbul-el-Sharnak. O why did the King leave Barbul-el-Sharnak?
Arolind:
Barbul-el-Sharnak. Its streets were all of agate.
Tharmia:
And there were shops where one bought beautiful hair.
Carolyx:
The King must go at once.
Tharmia: [calmer now.]
He shall go tomorrow. My husband shall speak to him.
Arolind:
Perhaps my husband might have more influence.
Tharmia and Arolind:
My husband brought him here.
Tharmia:
What!
Arolind:
Nothing. What did you say?
Tharmia:
I said nothing. I thought you spoke.
Carolyx:
It may be better for my husband to persuade him, for he was ever opposed to his coming to Thek.
Tharmia: [To Arolind]
He could have but little influence with His Majesty since the King has come to Thek.
Arolind:
No. It will be better for our husbands to arrange it.
Carolyx:
I myself have some influence with the Queen.
Tharmia:
It is of no use. Her nerves are all a-quiver. She weeps if you speak with her. If you argue a matter with her she cries aloud and maidens must come and fan her and put scent on her hands.
Arolind:
She never leaves her chamber and the King would not listen to her.
Tharmia:
Hark, they are coming back. They are singing a hunting song.... why, they have killed a beast. All four of the men are bringing it on two branches.
Arolind: [bored]
What kind of beast is it?
Tharmia:
I do not know. It seems to have barbed horns.
Carolyx:
We must go and meet them.
[The song is loud and joyous.]
[Exeunt by the way that the Sentries went.]
[Enter Sentries.]
1st Sentry:
Whatever it is has passed away again for they were smiling.
2nd Sentry:
They feared that their husbands were lost and now they return in safety.
1st Sentry:
You do not know, for you do not understand women.
2nd Sentry:
I understand them quite as well as you.
1st Sentry:
That is what I say. You do not understand them. I do not understand them.
2nd Sentry:
......Oh. [A pause.]
1st Sentry:
We shall never leave Thek now.
2nd Sentry:
Why shall we never leave it?
1st Sentry:
Did you not hear how glad they were when they sang the hunting song? They say a wild dog does not turn from the trail, they will go on hunting now.
2nd Sentry:
But will the King stay here?
1st Sentry:
He only does what Ichtharion and Ludibras persuade him. He does not listen to the Queen.
2nd Sentry:
The Queen is mad.
1st Sentry:
She is not mad but she has a curious sickness, she is always frightened though there is nothing to fear.
2nd Sentry:
That would be a dreadful sickness; one would fear that the