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ACT V: SCENE I
SCENE: COREy's farm as in Act II., Scene I.
[Enter RICHARD GARDNER, looking round him.]
GARDNER.
Here stands the house as I remember it.
The four tall poplar-trees before the door;
The house, the barn, the orchard, and the well,
With its moss-covered bucket and its trough;
The garden, with its hedge of currant-bushes;
The woods, the harvest-fields; and, far beyond,
The pleasant landscape stretching to the sea.
But everything is silent and deserted!
No bleat of flocks, no bellowing of herds,
No sound of flails, that should be beating now;
Nor man nor beast astir. What can this mean?
[Knocks at the door.]
What ho! Giles Corey! Hillo-ho! Giles Corey!--
No answer but the echo from the barn,
And the ill-omened cawing of the crow,
That yonder wings his flight across the fields,
As if he scented carrion in the air.
[Enter TITUBA with a basket.]
What woman's this, that, like an apparition,
Haunts this deserted homestead in broad day?
Woman, who are you?
TITUBA.
I'm Tituba.
I am John Indian's wife. I am a Witch.
GARDNER.
What are you doing here?
TITUBA.
I am gathering herbs,--
Cinquefoil, and saxifrage, and pennyroyal.
GARDNER (looking at the herbs).
This is not cinquefoil, it is deadly nightshade!
This is not saxifrage, but hellebore!
This is not pennyroyal, it is henbane!
Do you come here to poison these good people?
TITUBA.
I get these for the Doctor in the Village.
Beware of Tituba. I pinch the children;
Make little poppets and stick pins in them,
And then the children cry out they are pricked.
The Black Dog came to me and said, "Serve me!"
I was afraid. He made me hurt the children.
GARDNER.
Poor soul! She's crazed, with all these Devil's doings.
TITUBA.
Will you, sir, sign the book?
GARDNER.
No, I'll not sign it.
Where is Giles Corey? Do you know Giles Corey!
TITUBA.
He's safe enough. He's down there in the prison.
GARDNER.
Corey in prison? What is he accused of?
TITURA.
Giles Corey and Martha Corey are in prison
Down there in Salem Village. Both are witches.
She came to me and whispered, "Kill the children!"
Both signed the Book!
GARDNER.
Begone, you imp of darkness!
You Devil's dam!
TITUBA.
Beware of Tituba!
[Exit.]
GARDNER.
How often out at sea on stormy nights,
When the waves thundered round me, and the wind
Bellowed, and beat the canvas, and my ship
Clove through the solid darkness, like a wedge,
I've thought of him upon his pleasant farm,
Living in quiet with his thrifty housewife,
And envied him, and wished his fate were mine!
And now I find him shipwrecked utterly,
Drifting upon this sea of sorceries,
And lost, perhaps, beyond all aid of man!
[Exit.]
Content of ACT V SCENE I [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's play/drama: Giles Corey of the Salem Farms]
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Read previous: ACT IV: SCENE II
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