The Countess Cathleen | Page 7

and he had birds about his head.
CATHLEEN. I have heard that one of the old gods walked so.

ALEEL. It may be that he is angelical;
And, lady, he bids me call you
from these woods.
And you must bring but your old foster-mother,

And some few serving men, and live in the hills,
Among the sounds
of music and the light
Of waters, till the evil days are done.
For
here some terrible death is waiting you,
Some unimagined evil, some
great darkness
That fable has not dreamt of, nor sun nor moon

Scattered.
CATHLEEN. No, not angelical.
ALEEL. This house
You are to leave with some old trusty man,

And bid him shelter all that starve or wander
While there is food and
house room.
CATHLEEN. He bids me go
Where none of mortal creatures but the
swan
Dabbles, and there 'you would pluck the harp, when the trees
Had made a heavy shadow about our door,
And talk among the
rustling of the reeds,
When night hunted the foolish sun away
With
stillness and pale tapers. No-no-no!
I cannot. Although I weep, I do
not weep
Because that life would be most happy, and here
I find no
way, no end. Nor do I weep
Because I had longed to look upon your
face,
But that a night of prayer has made me weary.
ALEEL (.prostrating himself before her)
Let Him that made mankind,
the angels and devils
And death and plenty, mend what He has made,

For when we labour in vain and eye still sees
Heart breaks in vain.
CATHLEEN. How would that quiet end?
ALEEL. How but in healing?
CATHLEEN. You have seen my tears
And I can see your hand shake
on the floor.
ALEEL. (faltering) I thought but of healing. He was angelical.

CATHLEEN (turning away from him)
No, not angelical, but of the
old gods,
Who wander about the world to waken the heart
The
passionate, proud heart--that all the angels,
Leaving nine heavens
empty, would rock to sleep.
(She goes to chapel door; ALEEL holds his clasped hands towards her
for a moment hesitating, and then lets them fall beside him.)
CATHLEEN. Do not hold out to me beseeching hands.
This heart
shall never waken on earth. I have sworn,
By her whose heart the
seven sorrows have pierced,
To pray before this altar until my heart

Has grown to Heaven like a tree, and there
Rustled its leaves, till
Heaven has saved my people.
ALEEL. (who has risen)
When one so great has spoken of love to
one'
So little as I, though to deny him love,
What can he but hold
out beseeching hands,
Then let them fall beside him, knowing how
greatly
They have overdared?
(He goes towards the door of the hall. The COUNTESS CATHLEEN
takes a few steps towards him.)
CATHLEEN. If the old tales are true,
Queens have wed shepherds
and kings beggar-maids;
God's procreant waters flowing about your
mind
Have made you more than kings or queens; and not you
But I
am the empty pitcher.
ALEEL. Being silent,
I have said all, yet let me stay beside you.
CATHLEEN.No, no, not while my heart is shaken. No,
But you shall
hear wind cry and water cry,
And curlews cry, and have the peace I
longed for.
ALEEL. Give me your hand to kiss.
CATHLEEN. I kiss your forehead.
And yet I send you from me. Do

not speak;
There have been women that bid men to rob
Crowns
from the Country-under-Wave or apples
Upon a dragon-guarded hill, and all
That they might sift men's hearts
and wills,
And trembled as they bid it, as I tremble
That lay a hard
task on you, that you go,
And silently, and do not turn your head;

Goodbye; but do not turn your head and look;
Above all else, I would
not have you look.
(ALEEL goes.)
I never spoke to him of his wounded hand,
And now he is gone.
(She looks out.)
I cannot see him, for all is dark outside.
Would my imagination and
my heart
Were as little shaken as this holy flame!
(She goes slowly into the
chapel. The two MERCHANTS enter.)

FIRST MERCHANT. Although I bid you rob her treasury,
I find you
sitting drowsed and motionless,
And yet you understand that while
it's full
She'll bid against us and so bribe the poor
That our great
Master'll lack his merchandise.
You know that she has brought into
this house
The old and ailing that are pinched the most
At such a
time and so should be bought cheap.
You've seen us sitting in the
house in the wood,
While the snails crawled about the window-pane

And the mud floor, and not a soul to buy;
Not even the wandering
fool's nor one of those
That when the world goes wrong must rave
and talk,
Until they are as thin as a cat's ear.
But all that's nothing;
you sit drowsing there
With your back hooked, your chin upon your
knees.
SECOND MERCHANT. How could I help it? For she prayed so hard I
could not cross the threshold till her lover
Had turned her thoughts to
dream.

FIRST MERCHANT, Well, well, to labour.
There is the treasury
door and time