Page 5 of Chantecler

admiration which has made my eye so round!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Thoughtfully._] One feels that you have a soul.--A soul then may find

  wherewithal to grow, so far from life and its drama, shut in by a

  farmyard wall with a cat asleep on it?

  CHANTECLER

  With power to see, capacity to suffer, one may come Ito understand all

  things. In an insect's death are hinted all disasters. Through a

  knot-hole can be seen the sky and marching stars!

  THE OLD HEN

  [_Appearing._] None knows the heavens like the water in the well!

  CHANTECLER

  [_Presenting her to the _PHEASANT-HEN_ before the basket-lid drops._] My

  foster-mother!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Politely approaching._] Delighted!

  THE OLD HEN

  [_Slyly winking at her._] He's a fine Cock!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  He is a Cock, moreover, for whom that fact is not the only thing in the

  world!

  CHANTECLER

  [_Who has gone toward_ PATOU.] There, my dear boy, is a Hen with whom

  one can have a bit of solid conversation.

  SCENE SEVENTH

  THE SAME, _the_ GUINEA-HEN, _and the whole_ POULTRY-YARD

  _Cries outside, nearer and nearer,_ "Ah!--" _Enter all the_ HENS _in

  tumult, preceded by the agitated_ GUINEA-HEN.

  THE BLACKBIRD

  [_In his cage._] The next course will be Guinea-hen!

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Running to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] Ah, my dear, my dear, my dear!--A

  beauty, a very beauty!--We have come to make your acquaintance, my dear!

  [_General admiration,_ "Ah!--" _The_ PHEASANT-HEN _is surrounded.

  Conversation, cries, clucking._]

  CHANTECLER

  [_Watching the_ PHEASANT-HEN, _aside._] How well she walks, with free

  and graceful gait!--[_He looks at the_ HENS.] So differently from my

  Hens! [_Irritably, to the_ HENS.] Ladies, you walk as if you had

  blisters! You walk as if you trod on your own eggs!

  PATOU

  No mistaking the symptoms! He is very much in love.

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Presenting her son to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] The Guinea-cock, my son.

  THE YOUNG GUINEA-COCK

  [_Looking admiringly at the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] What a jolly shade of blond!

  A HEN

  [_Disparagingly._] Like butter!

  CHANTECLER

  [_Turning, dryly to the_ HENS.] It is time you went indoors.

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Amiably._] So soon?

  CHANTECLER

  They retire early.

  A HEN

  [_A little mortified._] Yes, we must turn in.

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  They go in by a ladder!

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_To the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] Let us be great friends, my dear, shall we?

  CHANTECLER

  [_Looking at the_ PHEASANT-HEN, _aside._] Her sumptuous court-dress sets

  her apart from the rest, and removes her far above.--My Hens

  are dowdies!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_To the_ GUINEA-HEN, _excusing herself._] I return to my forest home

  to-night.

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_In excessive grief._] So soon--? [_A shot in the distance._]

  PATOU

  They are still after game.

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  You must stay.

  CHANTECLER

  [_Eagerly._] That's it! Let us keep her a prisoner among us till to-morrow.

  PHEASANT-HEN

  But where can I spend the night?

  PATOU

  [_Indicating his kennel._] There, in my bachelor's quarters.

  PHEASANT-HEN

  I?--Sleep beneath a roof?

  PATOU

  [_Insisting._] Go in, I pray.

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  But you? What shall you do?

  PATOU

  I shall do very well!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Resigning herself._] I will stay then until to-morrow.

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_With piercing cries._] Ah! Ah! But to-morrow, my dear! to-morrow--

  ALL

  [_In alarm._] What is it?

  THE YOUNG GUINEA-COCK

  To-morrow is my mother's day!

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Impetuously._] My dear, would you care to come to-morrow quite

  informally, and take a simple snail with us? The Peacock--

  CHANTECLER

  [_Mounting the ladder, from whence he can inspect the scene._] Quiet, if

  you please! Evening has blown its smoke across the sky--[_In a tone of

  command._] Is every one in his accustomed place?

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Lower, to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] The Peacock is coming. We shall hold our

  little gathering among the currant-bushes.

  CHANTECLER

  Are the turkeys on their roost?

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Same business._] From five to six.

  CHANTECLER

  Are the ducks in their pointed house?

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Same business._] The Tortoise has kindly said we may expect her.

  PHEASANT-HEN

  Indeed?

  CHANTECLER

  [_On the last rung of the ladder._] Is every one under cover?--Every

  chick under a wing?

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Still insisting with the_ PHEASANT-HEN _that she come on the morrow._]

  The Tufted Hen has promised to bring the Cock.--[_To_ CHANTECLER.]

  Charmed, I am sure.

  CHANTECLER

  But--

  THE TUFTED HEN

  [_Looking out of the hen-house._] You will come, won't you, dear?

  CHANTECLER

  No.

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_At the foot of the ladder, looking up at him._] Oh, but you will?

  CHANTECLER

  Why?

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  Because you said "No!" to the other!

  CHANTECLER

  [_Wavering._] Ah!

  PATOU

  Humph! I beseech you--

  CHANTECLER

  [_Still wavering._] I--

  PATOU

  Humph! He is weakening.--They will make him pay dear if he yields!

  THE OLD HEN

  [_Appearing._] Make a reed into a pipe and play a tune upon it! [_The

  basket-lid drops._]

  [_Night is thickening._]

  CHANTECLER

  [_Still hesitating._] I--

  A VOICE

  Let us go to sleep--

  THE TURKEY

  [_On his roost, solemnly._] _Quandoque dormitat_--

  THE BLACKBIRD

  [_In his cage._] Dormittimus!

  CHANTECLER

  [_Very firmly to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] I will not go. Good night.

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Slightly offended._] Good night! [_With a curt hop she enters the

  dog-kennel._]

  PATOU

  [_Falling asleep, stretched in front of his kennel._] Let us sleep until

  the sky grows pink--pink as--as--a puppy's tummy--

  THE GUINEA-HEN

  [_Dropping off._] From five to six--

  THE BLACKBIRD

  [_Likewise dropping off._] Tew--tew--[_He nods._] tew--

  CHANTECLER

  [_Still at the top of the ladder._] All sleeps.--[_He spies a_ CHICK

  _stealing out._] Is that a chick I see?--[_Springing after him and

  driving him in._] Let me catch you!--[_In driving back the_ CHICK, _he

  finds himself near the kennel. He calls very softly._] Pheasant-hen!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN
r />
  [_Lost among the straw, sleepily._] What do you want?

  CHANTECLER

  [_After a moment's hesitation._] Nothing.--Nothing! [_He goes back to

  the top of his ladder._]

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  Shall I be able to sleep, I wonder--

  PATOU

  [_Falling sound asleep._] A puppy's tum--

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Indistinctly, overcome by slumber._] To sleep under a roof?--I, with

  my gypsy tastes?

  CHANTECLER

  I am going in. [_He disappears in the hen-house. He is heard saying in a

  dreamy voice._] It is time to shut my--my--

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_In a last effort._]--gyp--sy--tastes.--[_Her head nods and disappears

  among the straw._]

  CHANTECLER

  [_His voice, sleepier and fainter._]--to shut my eyes--[_Silence. He

  sleeps. Two green eyes are seen suddenly kindling at the top of

  the wall._]

  THE CAT

  And to open mine! [_Immediately two more yellow eyes shine forth from

  the darkness above the hay-cock._]

  A VOICE

  And mine! [_Two more yellow eyes on the wall._]

  ANOTHER VOICE

  And mine! [_Two more yellow eyes._]

  ANOTHER VOICE

  And mine!

  SCENE EIGHTH

  _The_ POULTRY-YARD _asleep. The_ CAT _awake. Three_ SCREECH-OWLS,

  _later the_ MOLE _and the_ VOICE _of the_ CUCKOO.

  FIRST VOICE

  Two green eyes?

  THE CAT

  [_Sitting up on the wall, and looking at the other phosphorescent

  eyes._] Six golden eyes?

  FIRST VOICE

  On the wall?

  THE CAT

  On the rick?--[_He calls._] Owls!

  THE OWLS

  Cat!

  THE BLACKBIRD

  [_Waking up._] What's this?

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  [_To the_ CAT.] Great plot against him!

  THE CAT

  To-night?

  THE THREE OWLS

  To-night, too-whit!

  THE CAT

  Pfitt!--Where?

  THE OWLS

  The hollies, too-whoo!

  THE CAT

  What o'clock?

  THE OWLS

  Eight, too-whit! too-whoo!

  FIRST OWL

  Bats weaving soft black snares of flight--

  THE CAT

  Are they with us?

  THE THREE OWLS

  They are!

  FIRST OWL

  Mole, burrowing from nether to upper night--

  THE CAT

  Is she with us?

  THE THREE OWLS

  She is!

  THE CAT

  [_Talking toward the house-door._] You, strike your eight strokes

  bravely, Cuckoo of the little clock!

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  Is he with us?

  THE CAT

  He is!--And I am pleased to tell you, silent night-watchers that some of

  the day-birds are likewise with us.

  THE TURKEY

  [_Coming forward surrounded by a number of the barnyard constituents,

  obsequiously._] So it is settled for this evening, dear Round Eyes? You

  will be there?

  THE OWLS

  We will be there! All the Round Eyes of the neighbourhood will be there!

  THE BLACKBIRD

  That's a show I'd like to see!

  PATOU

  [_In his sleep._] Grrrrrrr--

  THE CAT

  [_To the startled_ NIGHT-BIRDS.] The dog is dreaming.--He growls in his

  sleep.

  CHANTECLER

  [_Inside the hen-house._] Coa--

  THE OWLS

  [_Frightened._] Himself!

  THE TURKEY

  Fly!

  FIRST OWL

  No need. The night is dark. We can vanish by merely closing our eyes.

  [_They shut their luminous eyes. Darkness._ CHANTECLER _appears at the

  top of the ladder._]

  CHANTECLER

  [_To the_ BLACKBIRD.] Did you hear anything, Blackbird?

  THE BLACKBIRD

  I did, indeed, old chap.

  THE OWLS

  [_Frightened._] What's this?

  THE BLACKBIRD

  A black conspiracy--

  CHANTECLER

  Ah?

  THE BLACKBIRD

  [_With melodramatic emphasis._] Against you!--Tremble!

  CHANTECLER

  [_Going in again, unalarmed._] Joker!

  THE OWLS

  He has gone in.

  THE BLACKBIRD

  I have betrayed no one!

  AN OWL

  The Blackbird then is with us?

  THE BLACKBIRD

  No--but may I come and look on?

  AN OWL

  A Night-bird never eats a black bird. You can come.

  THE BLACKBIRD

  The password?

  THE OWL

  Terror and Talons!

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Putting her head out of the dog-kennel._] I can't breathe in that

  stifling, low-roofed little house, and--[_Catching sight of the_

  NIGHT-BIRDS.] Oh!--[_She darts aside, behind the kennel, and watches._]

  THE OWLS

  Hush! [_They close their eyes._ THE CAT _does the same. After a time,

  hearing no further sound, they open them again._] It was nothing. Let

  us be off.

  THE GROUP OF THE DISAFFECTED

  [_With fawning obsequiousness to the_ NIGHT-BIRDS.] Success to you,

  Owls,--success!

  THE OWL

  Thanks! But how is it that you are with us?

  THE CAT

  Ah, night brings out what daylight will not own to! I do not like the

  Cock because the Dog does.--There you have it!

  THE TURKEY

  I do not like him, for the reason that having known him as a Chick I

  cannot admit him as a Cock!

  A DUCK

  I do not like the Cock because, not being web-footed, he marks his

  passage by a track of stars!

  A CHICKEN

  I do not like the Cock because I'm such a homely bird!

  ANOTHER CHICKEN

  I do not like the Cock because he has his picture painted in purple on

  all the plates!

  ANOTHER CHICKEN

  I do not like the Cock because on all the steeples he has his statue in

  gilt-bronze!

  AN OWL

  [_To a big overgrown_ CHICKEN.] Well, well!--And you, Capon?

  THE CAPON

  [_Dryly._] I do not like the Cock!

  THE CUCKOO

  [_Beginning to strike eight inside the house._] Cuckoo!

  FIRST OWL

  The hour!

  CUCKOO

  Cuckoo!

  SECOND OWL

  Let us go!

  THE CUCKOO

  Cuckoo!

  FIRST OWL

  The moon!

  THE CUCKOO

  Cuckoo!

  FIRST OWL

  Silently cleave the blue air--

  THE CUCKOO

  Cuckoo!

  THE MOLE

  [_Suddenly pushing up through the ground._]--the dark earth!

  FIRST OWL

  There comes the Mole!

  THE CUCKOO

  Cuckoo!

  FIRST OWL

  [_To the_ MOLE.] And you, why do you hate him?

  THE MOLE

  I hate him because I have never seen him!

  THE CUCKOO

  Cuckoo!

  FIRST OWL

  And you, Cuckoo, do you know why you hate him?

  THE CUCKOO

  [_On the last stroke._] Because he does not have to be wound up! Cuckoo!
r />
  FIRST OWL

  And we do not love--

  SECOND OWL

  [_Hurriedly._] We are keeping the others waiting--

  ALL

  --the Cock, because--[_They fly off. Silence._]

  THE PHEASANT-HEN

  [_Coming slowly from behind the kennel._] I am beginning to love him!

  CURTAIN

  ACT SECOND

  THE MORNING OF THE COCK

  _Wild hillside, moss-grown and ferny, overlooking a valley with

  scattered villages and winding river. Ruined wall, fragment of some

  vanished terrace. Gigantic chestnut tree, rank hollies and foxgloves.

  Litter suggesting neglected corner of a park: gardening implements lying

  on the ground, fagots, broken flower-pots._

  SCENE FIRST

  _The_ NIGHT-BIRDS, _of all sorts and sizes, form a great circle,

  perching in tiers on the branches, the briers, the stones; the_ CAT

  _crouches in the grass; the_ BLACKBIRD _hops hither and thither on

  a fagot._

  _At the rise of the curtain the_ NIGHT-BIRDS _are discovered,

  motionless, black shapes with closed eyes. The_ GRAND DUKE _is perched

  upon a tree branch above the rest. The_ SCREECH-OWL'S _phosphorescent

  eyes alone are wide open. He proceeds with the roll-call, and at every

  name two great round eyes brighten in the dark._

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  [_Calling._] Strix! [_Two eyes light up._] Scops! [_Two more eyes light

  up._] Grand-Duke! [_Two more eyes._] Metascops! [_Two more eyes._]

  Minor! [_Two more eyes._]

  ONE NIGHT-BIRD

  [_To the other._] The Great Bubo presides.

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  [_Calling._] Owl of the Wall! Of the Belfry! Of the Cloister! Of the

  Yew! [_At every name two more eyes have opened wide._]

  A NIGHT-BIRD

  [_To another just arriving._] The roll is called!

  THE OTHER

  I know. All there is to do is to open our eyes.

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  Asio! Nictea! Nyctalis! [_Three more pairs of eyes have opened._]

  Brachyotus! [_No eye opening at the name, he repeats._] Brachyotus!

  ONE OF THE NIGHT-BIRDS

  He will be here directly. He stopped to eat a linnet.

  BRACHYOTUS

  [_Arriving._] Present!

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  Not one of them would miss, when the meeting relates to the Cock!

  BRACHYOTUS

  Not one!

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  Carine! [_Two eyes open._] Caparacoch! [_No eye opening, he repeats

  emphatically._] Ca-pa-ra-coch!--Well?--Well?

  CAPARACOCH

  [_Arriving out of breath, opens his eyes, faltering an excuse. _] I live

  a long way off!

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  [_Dryly._] You should have started the earlier! [_Looking around._] We

  are all present, I believe. [_Calling._] Flammeolus! And Flammeoline!

  [_All the eyes are now open._]

  THE GRAND-DUKE

  [_Solemnly._] Before beginning, let us give, but not too loud, the cry

  which makes us all as one!

  ALL

  Long live the Night!

  _And in a weird, savage, hurried chorus, interspersed with hoots and

  flapping of wings, all talking together and rocking themselves in

  hideous glee._

  THE GRAND-DUKE

  Praise the Night, discreet, propitious,

  When with wadded wing and muted

  O'er the sleeping world we fly,

  And the partridge in the bracken

  Ne'er suspects the hovering presence

  Till we pounce without a cry.

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  Praise the Night, convenient, secret,

  When in slaughtering baby rabbits

  We can do it at our ease,

  Daub the grass with blood in comfort,

  Spare the pains to look like heroes,

  Be ourselves where no one sees!

  AN OLD HORNED-OWL

  Praise the density of darkness!

  A WOOD-OWL

  The intensity of stillness

  Letting crunching bones be heard!

  A BARN-OWL

  Freshness pleasantly contrasting

  With the genial warmth of blood drops

  Spurting from a strangled bird!

  THE WOOD-OWL

  Praise the black rock oozing terror!

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  And the cross-roads where our screeches,

  Furrowing the startled air,

  Our demoniac yelling, hooting,

  Make the hardened unbeliever

  Cross himself and fall to prayer!

  THE GRAND-DUKE

  Praise the snares of the great Weaver,

  Night, whose only fault or weakness

  Is her tolerance of stars!

  THE SCREECH-OWL

  For spectators are not wanted

  At the work of plucking fledglings--

  Be they Jupiter and Mars!

  THE GRAND-DUKE