The Flutter of the Goldleaf | Page 9

wreck of his machine)
Silent ... but I have heard! The divine whisper has reached me!
Bellows
That's still on his mind, you see. Better leave him up here till morning.
Seymour and I will fix up the papers and take him off to-morrow. I'm
sorry, Philo, but you know it's for the best.
Philo
I'll make no trouble. Don't worry, doctor.
Bellows (to himself, going)
Lord, he's cool! (Advising WARNER, in cautiously lowered tone.)
That's the way with the worst of them. (Exit.)
Warner

Want me to stay with you, Philo?
Philo
No, father.
Warner (relieved)
Good night, son. (At door.) Mother'll send up some blankets. (Exit.)
Philo
Blankets!...
(CURTAIN)

THE JOURNEY
BY
OLIVE TILFORD DARGAN

CHARACTERS
PRINCESS WONG FE, bride of Yu Tai Shun SO SIU, her friend
PRINCE CHING MAKURO, of Japan YU TAI SHUN, of all nations

THE JOURNEY
SCENE: Room in a farmhouse above Siangtan, where the Siang flows
among hills. The rear of room has wide exit to a porch, beyond which
show the tops of pear and peach trees in full bloom. Steps lead down to
the orchard, and the orchard slopes to the river.
WONG FE and SO SIU present.

Wong Fe
My lily So Siu, has not the dishonorable color left my wretched cheeks?
Is not my face like the dough before it goes into the oven?
So Siu
Oh, my golden Fe, pearls in the dawn are no fairer!
Wong Fe
But these cow-girl's tatters! Would not my gown of meadow-green mist
with the peach-gold underrobe make me less haggard?
So Siu
When your lord, Yu Tai Shun, returns from the hills he will say----
Wong Fe
Oh, what will he say?
So Siu
That the fairies have been your friends. They wove for you this robe of
rose-leaves, and threw over you a gray cloud from the Witch's
Mountain.
(WONG FE trips gaily, then with sudden surrender begins to weep.)
So Siu
Have no shame, beloved of miserable So Siu. Water must follow the
fire. I am only a maid, but I know that when the honeymoon is without
tears two pigs have married. Ah, wet my sleeve, my dear one, and not
thine that will lie on the neck of the golden lord, Yu Tai Shun.
Wong Fe

When I awoke this morning the sunlight was on my pillow, but Yu Tai
Shun was gone. All day I have not seen his face. And now the last
swallow has left the sky.
So Siu
Why did Prince Ching and the young Japanese choose this day to be
guests of Yu Tai Shun? It is sad for the wife when the friends of her
lord find her alone. Yu Tai Shun will beat his doorstep for not calling
him.
Wong Fe
He will! Prince Ching is almost his father. May his age climb as the
hills, always nearer the sky!
So Siu
Indeed, you would be sitting alone in a cloud of sighs, not fast wedded
to the bringer of dawn, Yu Tai Shun, if Prince Ching had not won his
way to your brothers, the mighty princes, Wong Li and Wong Sen.
Wong Fe
I kiss his honorable dust! He shall live with my ancestors! And Makuro,
the young Japanese, I shall love him too, for he is most dear to Yu Tai
Shun. Do they still sit in the orchard?
So Siu
They have not moved, nor paused in their talking. Do you not hear?
Like bees that cannot choose their flower. It may be that they have
brought news to Yu Tai Shun, and his gloom will pass.
Wong Fe
No, I feel it was their coming, like a far cloud, that shadowed him. Oh,
my So Siu, it will be darker now!

So Siu
I have sent tea and cakes to the orchard.
Wong Fe
It shall not be dark. Do not the fairies of the sun weave a white world
out of the threads of midnight? I will pray to them. We must be merry,
my lily So Siu.
So Siu
And why not?
Wong Fe
I shall dance to-night before Yu Tai Shun. (Tripping.) Is it not good to
have feet? My honorable and glorious mamma weeps when I dance, but
it is because she was born too soon and they crippled her beloved feet.
So Siu
How glad I am that the old world is gone when only the painted
flower-girls could do the happy things!
Wong Fe
And it was my own lord, Yu Tai Shun, who made the earth new again!
(She listens, suddenly still.)
So Siu
He is here!
Wong Fe
My darling So Siu....

So Siu
I go! (Darts from room, right.)
Wong Fe
I would be dancing, but I cannot move. There are anchors of fear on my
toes.