________________________________________________
_ ACT III
[Three days elapse.]
THARMIA.
We have done too much. We have done too much. Our husbands will be put to death. The prophet will betray them and they will be put to death.
AROLIND.
O what shall we do?
THARMIA.
It would have been better for us to have been clothed with rags than to bring our husbands to death by what we have done.
AROLIND.
We have done much and we have angered a king, and (who knows!) we may have angered even the gods.
THARMIA.
Even the gods! We are become like Helen. When my mother was a child she saw her once. She says she was the quietest and gentlest of creatures and wished only to be loved, and yet because of her there was a war for four or five years at Troy, and the city was burned which had remarkable towers; and some of the gods of the Greeks took her side, my mother says, and some she says were against her, and they quarrelled upon Olympus where they live, and all because of Helen.
AROLIND.
O don't, don't. It frightens me. I only want to be prettily dressed and see my husband happy.
THARMIA.
Have you seen the prophet?
AROLIND.
Oh yes, I have seen him. He walks about the palace. He is free but cannot escape.
THARMIA.
What does he look like? Has he a frightened look?
AROLIND.
He mutters as he walks. Sometimes he weeps; and then he puts his cloak over his face.
THARMIA.
I fear that he will betray them.
AROLIND.
I do not trust a prophet. He is the go-between of gods and men. They are so far apart. How can he be true to both?
THARMIA.
This prophet is false to the gods. It is a hateful thing for a prophet to prophesy falsely.
[Prophet walks across hanging his head and muttering.]
Prophet:
The gods have spoken a lie. The gods have spoken a lie. Can all their vengeance ever atone for this?
THARMIA.
He spoke of vengeance.
AROLIND.
O he will betray them.
[They weep. Enter the Queen.]
QUEEN.
Why do you weep? Ah, you are going to die. You heard the death-lute. You do well to weep.
THARMIA.
No, your Majesty. It is the man that has played for the last three days. We all heard him.
QUEEN.
Three days. Yes, it is three days. Gog-Owza plays no longer than three days. Gog-Owza grows weary then. He has given his message and he will go away.
THARMIA.
We have all heard him, your Majesty, except the deaf young man that went back to Barbul-el-Sharnak. We hear him now.
QUEEN.
Yes! But nobody has seen him yet. My maidens have searched for him but they have not found him.
THARMIA.
Your Majesty, my husband heard him, and Ludibras, and while they live we know there is nothing to fear. If the King grew angry with them-- because of any idle story that some jealous man might tell--some criminal wishing to postpone his punishment--if the King were to grow angry with them they would open their veins; they would never survive his anger. Then we should all of us say, "Perhaps it was Gog-Owza that Ichtharion or Ludibras heard."
QUEEN.
The King will never grow angry with Ichtharion or Ludibras.
THARMIA.
Your Majesty would not sleep if the King grew angry with them.
QUEEN.
Oh, no. I should not sleep; it would be terrible.
THARMIA.
Your Majesty would be wakeful all night long and cry.
QUEEN.
Oh, yes. I should not sleep; I should cry all night.
[Exit]
AROLIND.
She has no influence with the King.
THARMIA.
No. But he hates to hear her cry all night.
[Enter Ichtharion]
I am sure that the prophet will betray you. But we have spoken to the Queen. We have told her it would be dreadful if the King were to grow angry with you, and she things she will cry all night if he is angry.
ICHTHARION.
Poor frightened brain! How strong are little fancies! She should be a beautiful Queen. But she goes about white and crying, in fear of the gods. The gods, that are no more than shadows in the moonlight. Man's fear rises weird and large in all this mystery and makes a shadow of himself upon the ground and Man jumps and says "the gods." Why they are less than shadows; we have seen shadows, we have not seen the gods.
THARMIA.
O do not speak like that. There used to be gods. They overthrew Bleth dreadfully. And if they still live on in the dark of the hills, why, they might hear your words.
ICHTHARION.
Why! you grow frightened, too. Do not be frightened. We will go and speak with the prophet, while you follow the Queen; be much with her, and do not let her forget that she will cry if the King should be angry with us.
AROLIND.
I am almost afraid when I am with the Queen; I do not like to be with her.
THARMIA.
She could not hurt us; she is afraid of all things.
AROLIND.
She makes me have huge fears of prodigious things.
[Exeunt Tharmia and Arolind.]
[Enter Ludibras.]
LUDIBRAS.
The prophet is coming this way.
ICHTHARION.
Sit down. We must speak with him. He will betray us.
LUDIBRAS.
Why should the prophet betray us?
ICHTHARION.
Because the guilt of the false prophecy is not his guilt; it is ours; and the King may spare him if he tells him that. Again, he mutters of vengeance as he walks; many have told me.
LUDIBRAS.
The King will not spare him even if he betrays us. It was he that spoke the false prophecy to the King.
ICHTHARION.
The King does not in his heart believe in the gods. It is for cheating him that the prophet is to die. But if he knows we had planned it----
LUDIBRAS.
What can we say to the prophet?
ICHTHARION.
Why, we can say nothing. But we can learn what he will do from what he says to us.
LUDIBRAS.
Here he is. We must remember everything that he says.
ICHTHARION.
Watch his eyes.
[Enter the Prophet, his eyes concealed by his cloak.]
ICHTHARION and LUDIBRAS.
The gods are good.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
They are benignant.
ICHTHARION.
I am much to blame. I am very much to blame.
LUDIBRAS.
We trust that the King will relent.
ICHTHARION.
He often relents at sunset; he looks out over the orchids in the evening. They are very beautiful then, and if he is angry his anger passes away just when the cool breeze comes at the set of sun.
LUDIBRAS.
He is sure to relent at sunset.
ICHTHARION.
Do not be angry. I am indeed to blame. Do not be angry.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
I do not wish the King to relent at sunset.
ICHTHARION.
Do not be unhappy.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
I say to you that I have betrayed the gods.
ICHTHARION.
Listen to me. Do not be so unhappy. There are no gods. Everybody knows that there are no gods. The King knows it.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
You have heard their prophet lie and believe that the gods are dead?
LUDIBRAS.
There are indeed no gods. It is well known.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
There are gods, and they have a vengeance even for you. Listen and I will tell you what it shall be. Aye and for you also... Listen!... No, no, they are silent in the gloom of the hills. They have not spoken to me since I lied.
ICHTHARION.
You are right; the gods will punish us. It is natural that they should not speak just now; but they will certainly punish us. It is not therefore necessary for any man to avenge himself upon us, even though there were any cause.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
It is not necessary.
ICHTHARION.
Indeed, it might even further anger the gods if a man should be before them to punish us.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
The gods are very swift; no man outruns them.
LUDIBRAS.
A man would be rash to attempt to.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
The sun is falling low. I will leave you now, for I have ever loved the sun at evening. I go to watch it drop through the gilded clouds, and make a wonder of familiar things. After the sunset, night, and after an evil deed, the vengeance of the gods. [Exit R.]
LUDIBRAS.
[with contemptuous wonder]
He really believes in the gods.
ICHTHARION.
He is as mad as the Queen; we must humour his madness if we ever see him more. I think that all will be well.
[An executioner steals after the Prophet; he is dressed in crimson satin to the knees; he wears a leather belt and carries the axe of his trade.]
LUDIBRAS.
His voice was angry as he went away. I fear he may yet betray us.
ICHTHARION.
It is not likely. He thinks that the gods will punish us.
LUDIBRAS.
How long will he think so? The Queen's fancies change thrice an hour.
ICHTHARION.
The executioner keeps very close to him now. He comes closer every hour. There is not much time for him to change his fancies.
LUDIBRAS.
He has the will to betray us if that fancy leaves him.
ICHTHARION.
The executioner is very eager for him. He invented a new stroke lately, but he has not had a man since we came to Thek.
LUDIBRAS.
I do not like an eager executioner--the King sees him and it makes him think...
ICHTHARION.
Look how low the sun is; he has no time to betray us. The King is not yet here.
LUDIBRAS.
He is coming.
ICHTHARION.
But the prophet is not here.
LUDIBRAS.
No, he is not yet come.
[Enter the King.]
KING KARNOS.
The Queen's maidens have persuaded her that there is nothing to fear. They are quite excellent; they shall dance before me. The Queen will sleep; they are quite excellent. Ah, Ichtharion. Come to me, Ichtharion.
LUDIBRAS.
Why does the King send for you?
KING KARNOS.
You were wrong, Ichtharion.
ICHTHARION.
Your Majesty!
[Ludibras watches.]
KING KARNOS.
You were wrong to think that Thek is not very lovely.
ICHTHARION.
Yes, I was wrong and I am much to blame.
KING KARNOS.
Yes, it is very beautiful at evening. I will watch them go down over the orchids. I will never see Barbul-el-Sharnak any more. I will sit and watch the sun go down on the orchids till it is gone and all their colours fade.
ICHTHARION.
It is very beautiful now. How still it is! I have never seen so still a sunset before.
KING KARNOS.
It is like a picture done by a dying painter, full of a beautiful colour. Even if all these orchids died to-night yet their beauty is an indestructible memory.
LUDIBRAS.
[Aside to Ichtharion]
The prophet is coming this way.
ICHTHARION.
Your Majesty, the prophet walks about in the palace, and the executioner is close behind him. If the Queen saw him and the executioner would it not trouble her? Were it not better that he should be killed at once? Shall I whistle for the executioner?
KING KARNOS.
Not now. I said at sunset.
ICHTHARION.
Your Majesty, it is merciful to kill a man before the set of the sun. For it is natural in a man to love the sun. But to see it set and to know that it will not come again is even a second death. It would be merciful to kill him now.
KING KARNOS.
I have said--at sunset. It were unjust to kill him before his prophecy is proven false.
ICHTHARION.
But, your Majesty, we know that it is false. He also knows it.
KING KARNOS.
He shall die at sunset.
LUDIBRAS.
Your Majesty, the prophet will pray for life if he is not killed now. It would be pity to grant it.
KING KARNOS.
Is not a King's word death? I have said he shall die at sunset.
[Enter Prophet. The Executioner creeps along close behind him.]
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
O the gods are about to have lied. The gods will have lied. I have prophesied falsely and the gods will have lied. My death cannot atone for it nor the punishment of others.
[Ichtharion and Ludibras start.]
ICHTHARION.
He will betray us yet.
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
O why did you let your voice come through my lips? O why did you allow your voice to lie? For centuries it has been said from city to city, "The gods cannot lie." The nomads have known it out upon the plains. The mountaineers have known it near the dawn. That is all over now. O King, let me die at once. For I have prophesied falsely and at sunset the gods will lie.
KING KARNOS.
It is not sunset yet. No doubt you have spoken truly.
[Enter Queen.]
How well the Queen looks. Her maidens are quite excellent.
LUDIBRAS.
[To Ichtharion]
There is something a little dreadful in seeing the Queen so calm. She is like a windless sunset in the Winter before a hurricane comes and the snow swirls up before it over the world.
ICHTHARION.
I do not like calm sunsets; they make me think that something is going to happen. Yes, the Queen is very quiet; she will sleep to-night.
QUEEN.
I am not frightened any longer. All the wild fancies of my brain have left it. I have often troubled you with little fears. Now they are all at rest and I am afraid no longer.
KING KARNOS.
That is good; I am very glad. You will sleep tonight.
QUEEN.
Sleep. Why--yes, I shall sleep. O yes, we shall all sleep.
KING KARNOS.
Your maidens have told you that there is nothing to fear.
QUEEN.
Nothing to fear? No, no more little fears to trouble me.
KING KARNOS.
They have told you there is nothing at all to fear. Indeed there is nothing.
QUEEN.
No more little fears. There is one great fear.
KING KARNOS.
A great fear! Why, what is it?
QUEEN.
I must not say. For you have often soothed me when I was frightened, and it were not well for me to trouble you at the last.
KING KARNOS.
What is your fear? Shall I send again for your maidens?
QUEEN.
No, it is not my fear. It is all men's fear if they knew.
KING KARNOS.
[glancing round]
Ah, you have seen my man in red. I will send him away. I will----
QUEEN.
No, no. My fear is not earthly. I am not afraid of little things any more.
KING KARNOS.
Why, what is it then?
QUEEN.
I do not quite know. But you know how I have ever feared the gods. The gods are going to do some dreadful thing.
KING KARNOS.
Believe me; the gods do nothing nowadays.
QUEEN.
You have indeed been very good to me. It seems a little while since the camels came to Argun-Zeerith by the iris marshes, the camels with the gold-hung palanquin, and the bells above their heads, high up in the air, the silver bridal bells. It seems a very little while ago. I did not know how swift the end would come.
KING KARNOS.
What end? To whom is the end coming?
QUEEN.
Do not be troubled. We should not let Fate trouble us. The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate--I smile at Fate. Fate cannot hurt us if we smile at it.
KING KARNOS.
What end do you say is coming?
QUEEN.
I do not know. Something that has been shall soon be no more.
KING KARNOS.
No, no. Look upon Thek. It is built of rock and our palace is all of marble. Time has not scratched it with six centuries. Six tearing centuries with all their claws. We are throned on gold and founded upon marble. Death will some day find me, indeed, but I am young. Sire after sire of mine has died in Barbul-el-Sharnak or in Thek, but has left our dynasty laughing sheer in the face of Time from over these age-old walls.
QUEEN.
Say farewell to me now, lest something happen.
KING KARNOS.
No, no, we will not say unhappy things.
EXECUTIONER.
The sun has set.
KING KARNOS.
Not yet. The jungle hides it. It is not yet set. Look at the beautiful light upon the orchids. For how long they have flashed their purple on the gleaming walls of Thek. For how long they will flash there on our immortal palace, immortal in marble and immortal in song. Ah, how the colour changes.
[To the Executioner]
The sun is set. Take him away.
[To the Queen]
It is _he_ whose end you foresaw.
[The Executioner grips the Prophet by the arm.]
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
The gods have lied!
KING KARNOS.
The jungle is sinking! It has fallen into the earth!
[The Queen smiles a little, holding his hand.]
The city is falling in! The houses are rolling towards us!
[Thunder off.]
ICHTHARION.
They are coming up like a wave and darkness is coming with them.
[Loud and prolonged thunder. Flashes of red light and then total darkness. A little light comes back, showing recumbent figures, shattered pillars and rocks of white marble.]
[The Prophet's back is broken, but he raises the fore-part of his body for a moment.]
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
[triumphantly]
They have not lied!
ICHTHARION.
O, I am killed.
[Laughter heard off.]
Someone is laughing. Laughing even in Thek! Why, the whole city is shattered.
[The laughter grows demoniac.]
What is that dreadful sound?
VOICE-OF-THE-GODS.
It is the laughter of the gods that cannot lie, going back to their hills.
[He dies.]
[Curtain]
[THE END]
Lord Dunsany's play: Laughter of the Gods
_
Read previous: Act 2
Table of content of Laughter of the Gods
GO TO TOP OF SCREEN
Post your review
Your review will be placed after the table of content of this book
