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_ SCENE I
SCENE I: Stage dark as curtain rises. Moderate starlight and quiet music of cradle-song type. Little fairies come out dancing in the darkness with firefly lamps and sing the following cradle song:
Some one is sleeping
Out in the dark
Where fireflies glimmer
Spark upon spark.
Some little stranger
Come from afar
Under the glory
Of moon and of star.
Deep in the blossoms
That drift as they fall
Some one is sleeping
And stirs not at all.
Sleep, little stranger!
The night is near gone;
Sleep, little stranger,
But dream of the dawn!
The dim light reveals a dark figure lying on the mosses at the foot of an old tree. As the light grows gradually stronger the dark object begins to move, to slowly take off one after another of black coverings, revealing a little girl of nine or ten years, dressed in white. She rubs her eyes, looks about wonderingly, and slowly rises to a standing position. Meanwhile the earth grows more luminous and roseate. The birds have begun to twitter now and then before the dawn, and their notes increase in number and variety with the approach of morning. The growing light reveals an orchard of old apple-trees near at hand in full bloom, with petals falling, and hills and mountains lifting and towering upward higher and higher into the blue distance. A path leads from the orchard up the near hills and toward the heights. The music has grown louder, and is sweet and tender, interspersed with bird notes. A number of children, girls and boys, come out and sing and dance under the blossoms of the apple-trees. They sing the children's song:
We are of the sunrise
Flower-breath and dew,
Travelling wider circles
Of blue beyond the blue,
Seeking strength of spirit,
Happiness and joy--
Heritage decreed for
Every girl and boy.
Music of the moonbeams
And the orchard rain,
Music of the meadows
Waving with the grain,
Mountains in the sunlight,
Colors of the flowers,
Trailing cloud and shadow--
All of these are ours.
We are of the sunrise
Flower-breath and dew,
Travelling wider circles
Of blue beyond the blue.
The little girl in the foreground looks with wonder and delight at the entrancing spectacle. She has her side to the audience. She raises her arms, listens, rubs her eyes, smiles with joy. She touches the grass, the flowers, the trees, picks up and smells the falling apple-blossoms. She begins to dance like the other children. One of them sees her and runs toward her with arms outstretched. The newcomer touches her hair and her hands. They smile at each other. The little girl leads the stranger toward the others and has her join in the dance. The dancing is in the Greek manner. They play with a light, large, bubble-like balloon.
Little Girl.
What is your name?
Stranger.
I do not understand.
Little Girl.
Oh, of course, I forgot. I will lead you
to some one who will give you a name.
(A man and woman have come slowly through the orchard and seated themselves on a bench under an apple-tree. Two or three of the children lead the stranger up to them.)
Stranger.
(feeling of the hair and gown of the woman)
Who are you?
Woman.
(smiling)
I am your mother.
Stranger.
(feeling of the hair and face and garments of the man)
Who are you?
Man.
I am your father.
Stranger.
What place is this? They told me somewhere--but
I have forgotten--that I should die there
which is being born here and come to the earth.
Mother.
Yes, this is our world, and I shall give you
a name. I shall name you Everychild.
Everychild.
Is it always and everywhere so beautiful?
Mother.
No, but it should be so, and some day it will be so.
Father.
It is a dream we have.
Mother.
It will be even more beautiful than this, for
we shall go higher, and climb those Morning
Mountains. The flowers of the Spirit grow there.
Everychild.
And we shall gather them?
Father.
Yes, Everychild. Come now, and bring all the
others with you. We will take that path yonder
to the hills.
Mother.
No, wait! They are not all here.
There are some missing. They must all come.
Father.
It will be so long to wait. Let us go with these.
Mother.
(laying her hand on EVERYCHILD'S head)
Have we not named her Everychild?
Father.
Yes. She must go down and find all who have lost their way. Perhaps some have awakened in the wrong place and are wandering about in the dark jungle of the world. We will wait here till they come.
Mother.
Go, Everychild. Find them and bring them all
back with you. Take this lamp.
(Hands her a rose-colored lamp, etc.)
Father.
Our lamp?
Mother.
Our love!
Father.
Take it, Everychild. With this lamp you can find
the lost children and bring them all back with you.
Mother.
We will wait for them no matter how long.
(EVERYCHILD starts down along a path leading off the stage to the right--the music and singing continue through the whole scene. CHO-CHO appears, right, for a moment and points her path to her saying: "This way, Everychild.")
(CURTAIN FALLS)
CURTAIN rises revealing _
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Read previous: Dramatis Personae
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