Plays of Near Far | Page 8

I?
MELIFLOR: Behold me; not a poplar is straighter, not a flower is
fairer. I will loiter along the lanes at evening.
[He draws his sword. XIMENUNG does the same. MOOMOOMON
draws his too and places it between them.
MOOMOOMON: Be at peace. I will go to the lanes, and there need be
no quarrel between you, for I....
OTHERS: No, no, no....
HUZ: We will all go.
ANOTHER: We will all love. Hurrah for love.
[They have all risen. They wave their swords on high, not threatening
each other. Zoon alone has not risen.
MOOMOOMON (to ZOON): You do not speak, Prince of Zoon. Will
you not love along the idle hours?
ZOON: Yes, yes. I love.
MOOMOOMON: Come then to the lanes to loiter. It draws towards
evening. Let us all come to the lanes, where the honeysuckle is
hanging.
ZOON: I love not in the lanes.
MOOMOOMON: Not in the lanes? Then...!
OTHERS: Not in the lanes?

ZOON: I love her than whom there is no greater on earth--(Some
PRINCES: Ah!) unless it be that name that frightens Oomuz.
MOOMOOMON: He loves the...!
XIMENUNG: The ...
MELIFLOR: The Queen!
[OOMUZ nods his head again.
ZOON: The Queen.
MOOMOOMON: If the Queen knew such a thing she would flee from
the palace.
ZOON: I would pursue.
MOOMOOMON: She would go by Aether Mountain, where her
mother went once before her.
ZOON: I would follow.
HUZ: We would all follow.
MELIFLOR: I would follow too. I would dance after her down the
little street: the bright heels of my shoes would twinkle: my cloak
would float out behind me: I would pursue her and call her name,
beyond the street and over the moor as far as Aether Mountain: but I
would not come up with her: that would be too daring.
ZOON: Love is not a toy, Prince Meliflor. Love is no less than a mood
of Destiny.
MELIFLOR: Pooh! We must enjoy the idle hours that are for us alone.
ZOON: There will be no idle hours on Aether Mountain, following
from crag to crag; if it be true that she would go that way.

MOOMOOMON: It is true. They know it. They say her mother went
that way before. It is one of the royal impulses.
ZOON: Oomuz, did the mother of the Queen go once up Aether
Mountain?
OOMUZ: Aye, and her mother.
ZOON: It is true.
XIMENUNG: You are sure of this?
OOMUZ: We know it. It has been said.
HUZ: We will all follow her up Aether Mountain.
MELIFLOR: We will follow merrily.
XIMENUNG: If we did this what would they do when we returned?
MELIFLOR: Who?
XIMENUNG: They.
MELIFLOR: They? They would not dare to speak to us.
XIMENUNG: Who knows what they would dare if we dared go after
the Queen?
MOOMOOMON: They would dare nothing, knowing whence we
come.
XIMENUNG: They care not whence we come.
MOOMOOMON: But they care for the event that is in our hands. They
dare never touch us because of the event.
MELIFLOR: We are the heirs of the idle hours. For them is work.
Surely they dare not leave their work to touch us.

MOOMOOMON: They care only for the event. Because it is
prophesied that we are needed for the event we are sacred. Were it not
for the event, why ...
MELIFLOR: Were it not for the event we might not dare to do it; but,
being sacred, let us enjoy our idle hours.
XIMENUNG: What if the event should one day befall?
MELIFLOR: It was prophesied long ago and has not come. It will not
come for a long time.
MOOMOOMON: No, not for a long time.
[A sentry passes.
MELIFLOR: So we will follow the Queen.
HUZ: Yes, we will follow.
MOOMOOMON: We shall be a merry company.
MELIFLOR: Splendid to see.
ZOON: I would follow though I were not guarded for the event.
Though the event should befall and we be immune no longer, still I
should dare it.
MELIFLOR: I would dare it if I knew what they would do. But
knowing not ...
MOOMOOMON: What matter? We are guarded by the event.
ZOON: I say I care not.
MELIFLOR: Let us drum with our heels and beat with our scabbards
against the benches so that we frighten the Queen. She will run from
the palace then, and we will go after her with all our merry company.

MOOMOOMON: Yes, let us drum all together. I will give the word.
All together and she will run from the palace. We will go after and our
cloaks will stream behind us.
HUZ: Brave! And our scabbards will show bright beneath them.
MELIFLOR: No, I will give the word. When she flees from the palace I
will follow her first. Crowd not about my