SCENE V

SCENE.—The house of SHEMUS RUA.There is an alcove at the back with curtains; in it a bed, and on the bed is the body of MARY with candles round it. The two MERCHANT while they speak put a large book upon a table, arrange money,and so on.

FIRST MERCHANT

Thanks to that lie I told about her ships

And that about the herdsman lying sick,

We shall be too much thronged with souls tomorrow.

SECOND MERCHANT

What has she in her coffers now but mice?

FIRST MERCHANT

When the night fell and I had shaped myself

Into the image of the man-headed owl,

I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,

And saw with all their canvas full of wind

And rushing through the parti-coloured sea

Those ships that bring the woman grain and meal.

They're but three days from us.

SECOND MERCHANT

When the dew rose

I hurried in like feathers to the east,

And saw nine hundred oxen driven through Meath

With goads of iron. They're but three days from us.

FIRST MERCHANT

Three days for traffic

(PEASANTS crowd in with TEIG and SHEMUS.)

SHEMUS

Come in, come in, you are welcome.

That is my wife. She mocked at my great masters,

And would not deal with them. Now there she is;

She does not even know she was a fool,

So great a fool she was.

TEIG

She would not eat

One crumb of bread bought with our master's money,

But lived on nettles, dock, and dandelion.

SHEMUS

There's nobody could put into her head

That Death is the worst thing can happen us.

Though that sounds simple, for her tongue grew rank

With all the lies that she had heard in chapel.

Draw to the curtain. (TEIG draws it.) You'll not play the fool

While these good gentlemen are there to save you.

SECOND MERCHANT

Since the drought came they drift about in a throng,

Like autumn leaves blown by the dreary winds.

Come, deal—come, deal.

FIRST MERCHANT

Who will come deal with us?

SHEMUS

They are out of spirit, sir, with lack of food,

Save four or five. Here, sir, is one of these

The others will gain courage in good time.

MIDDLE-AGED-MAN

I come to deal—if you give honest price.

FIRST MERCHANT (reading in a book)

"John Maher, a man of substance, with dull mind,

And quiet senses and unventurous heart.

The angels think him safe." Two hundred crowns,

All for a soul, a little breath of wind.

THE MAN

I ask three hundred crowns. You have read there

That no mere lapse of days can make me yours.

FIRST MERCHANT

There is something more writ here—"Often at night

He is wakeful from a dread of growing poor,

And thereon wonders if there's any man

That he could rob in safety."

A PEASANT

Who'd have thought it?

And I was once alone with him at midnight.

ANOTHER PEASANT

I will not trust my mother after this.

FIRST MERCHANT

There is this crack in you—two hundred crowns.

A PEASANT

That's plenty for a rogue.

ANOTHER PEASANT

I'd give him nothing.

SHEMUS

You'll get no more—so take what's offered you.

(A general murmur, during which the MIDDLEAGED MAN takes money, and slips into background,where he sinks on to a seat.)

FIRST MERCHANT

Has no one got a better soul than that?

If only for the credit of your parishes,

Traffic with us

A WOMAN

What will you give for mine?

FIRST MERCHANT (reading in book)

"Soft, handsome, and still young"—not much, I think.

"It's certain that the man she's married to

Knows nothing of what's hidden in the jar

Between the hour-glass and the pepper-pot."

THE WOMAN

The scandalous book.

FIRST MERCHANT

"Nor how when he's away

At the horse fair the hand that wrote what's hid

Will tap three times upon the window-pane."

THE WOMAN

And if there is a letter, that is no reason

Why I should have less money than the others.

FIRST MERCHANT

You're almost safe, I give you fifty crowns

(She turns to go.)

A hundred, then.

SHEMUS

Woman, have sense—come, come.

Is this a time to haggle at the price?

There, take it up. There, there. That's right.

(She takes them and goes into the crowd.)

FIRST MERCHANT

Come, deal, deal, deal. It is but for charity

We buy such souls at all; a thousand sins

Made them our Master's long before we came.

(ALEEL enters.)

ALEEL

Here, take my soul, for I am tired of it.

I do not ask a price.

SHEMUS

Not ask a price?

How can you sell your soul without a price?

I would not listen to his broken wits;

His love for Countess Cathleen has so crazed him

He hardly understands what he is saying.

ALEEL

The trouble that has come on Countess Cathleen,

The sorrow that is in her wasted face,

The burden in her eyes, have broke my wits,

And yet I know I'd have you take my soul.

FIRST MERCHANT

We cannot take your soul, for it is hers.

ALEEL

No, but you must. Seeing it cannot help her

I have grown tired of it.

FIRST MERCHANT

Begone from me,

I may not touch it.

ALEEL

Is your power so small?

And must I bear it with me all my days?

May you be scorned and mocked!

FIRST MERCHANT

Drag him away.

He troubles me.

(TEIG and SHEMUS lead ALeeL into the crowd.)

SECOND MERCHANT

His gaze has filled me, brother

With shaking and a dreadful fear.

FIRST MERCHANT

Lean forward

And kiss the circlet where my Master's lips

Were pressed upon it when he sent us hither;

You shall have peace once more.

(SECOND MERCHANT kisses the gold circlet that is about the head of the FIRST MERCHANT.)

I, too, grow weary,

But there is something moving in my heart

Whereby I know that what we seek the most

Is drawing near—our labour will soon end.

Come, deal, deal, deal, deal, deal; are you all dumb?

What, will you keep me from our ancient home,

And from the eternal revelry?

SECOND MERCHANT

Deal, deal.

SHEMUS

They say you beat the woman down too low.

FIRST MERCHANT

I offer this great price: a thousand crowns

For an old woman who was always ugly.

(An old PEASANT WOMAN comes forward, and he takes up a book and reads:)

There is but little set down here against her.

"She has stolen eggs and fowl when times were bad,

But when the times grew better has confessed it;

She never missed her chapel of a Sunday

And when she could, paid dues." Take up your money.

OLD WOMAN

God bless you, sir. (She screams.) Oh, sir, a pain went through me!

FIRST MERCHANT

That name is like a fire to all damned souls

(Murmur among the PEASANTS, who shrink back from her as she goes out.)

A PEASANT

How she screamed out!

SECOND PEASANT

And maybe we shall scream so.

THIRD PEASANT

I tell you there is no such place as hell.

FIRST MERCHANT

Can such a trifle turn you from your profi

Come, deal; come, deal.

MIDDLE-AGED MAN

Master, I am afraid.

FIRST MERCHANT

I bought your soul, and there's no sense in fear

Now the soul's gone.

MIDDLE-AGED MAN

Give me my soul again.

WOMAN (going on her knees and clinging to MERCHANT)

And take this money too, and give me mine.

SECOND MERCHANT

Bear bastards, drink or follow some wild fancy;

For sighs and cries are the soul's work,

And you have none.

(Throws the woman off.)

PEASANT

Come, let's away.

ANOTHER PEASANT

Yes, yes.

ANOTHER PEASANT

Come quickly; if that woman had not screamed

I would have lost my soul.

ANOTHER PEASANT

Come, come away.

(They turn to door, but are stopped by shouts of"countess cathleen! countess cathleen!")

CATHLEEN (entering)

And so you trade once more?

FIRST MERCHANT

In spite of you.

What brings you here, saint with the sapphire eyes?

CATHLEEN

I come to barter a soul for a great price.

SECOND MERCHANT

What matter, if the soul be worth the price?

CATHLEEN

The people starve, therefore the people go

Thronging to you. I hear a cry come from them

And it is in my ears by night and day,

And I would have five hundred thousand crown

That I may feed them till the dearth go by.

FIRST MERCHANT

It may be the soul's worth it.

CATHLEEN

There is more:

The souls that you have bought must be set free.

FIRST MERCHANT

We know of but one soul that's worth the price.

CATHLEEN

Being my own it seems a priceless thing.

SECOND MERCHANT

You offer us—

CATHLEEN

I offer my own soul.

A PEASANT

Do not, do not, for souls the like of ours

Are not precious to God as your soul is.

O! what would Heaven do without you, lady?

ANOTHER PEASANT

Look how their claws clutch in their leathern gloves.

FIRST MERCHANT

Five hundred thousand crowns; we give the price.

The gold is here; the souls even while you speak

Have slipped out of our bond, because your face

Has shed a light on them and filled their hearts

But you must sign, for we omit no form

In buying a soul like yours.

SECOND MERCHANT

Sign with this quill

It was a feather growing on the cock

That crowed when Peter dared deny his Master,

And all who use it have great honour in Hell.

(CATHLEEN leans forward to sign.)

ALeeL (rushing forward and snatching the pen from her)

Leave all things to the builder of the heavens.

CATHLEEN

I have no thoughts; I hear a cry—a cry.

ALeeL (casting the pen on the ground)

I have seen a vision under a green hedge,

A hedge of hips and haws—men yet shall hear

The Archangels rolling Satan's empty skull

Over the mountain-tops.

FIRST MERCHANT

Take him away.

(TEIG and SHEMUS drag him roughly away so that he falls upon the floor among the PEASANTS.CATHLEEN picks up parchment and signs, then turns towards the PEASANTS.)

CATHLEEN

Take up the money, and now come with me;

When we are far from this polluted place

I will give everybody money enough.

(She goes out, the PEASANTS crowding round her and kissing her dress. ALEEL and the two MERCHANTS are left alone.)

SECOND MERCHANT

We must away and wait until she dies,

Sitting above her tower as two grey owls,

Waiting as many years as may be, guarding

Our precious jewel; waiting to seize her soul.

FIRST MERCHANT

We need but hover over her head in the air,

For she has only minutes. When she signed

Her heart began to break. Hush, hush, I hear

The brazen door of Hell move on its hinges,

And the eternal revelry float hithe

To hearten us.

SECOND MERCHANT

Leap feathered on the air

And meet them with her soul caught in your claws.

(They rush out. ALEEL crawls into the middle of the room. The twilight has fallen and gradually darkens as the scene goes on. There is a distant muttering of thunder and a sound of rising storm.)

ALEEL

The brazen door stands wide, and Balor comes

Borne in his heavy car, and demons have lifted

The age-weary eyelids from the eyes that of old

Turned gods to stone; Barach, the traitor, comes

And the lascivious race, Cailitin,

That cast a druid weakness and decay

Over Sualtem's and old Dectera's child;

And that great king Hell first took hold upo

When he killed Naisi and broke Deirdre's heart

And all their heads are twisted to one side,

For when they lived they warred on beauty and peace

With obstinate, crafty, sidelong bitterness.

(He moves about as though the air above him was full of spirits. OONA enters.)

Crouch down, old heron, out of the blind storm.

OONA

Where is the Countess Cathleen? All this day

Her eyes were full of tears, and when for a moment

Her hand was laid upon my hand it trembled,

And now I do not know where she is gone.

ALEEL

Cathleen has chosen other friends than us,

And they are rising through the hollow world.

Demons are out, old heron.

OONA

God guard her soul.

ALEEL

She's bartered it away this very hour,

As though we two were never in the world.

(He points downward.)

First, Orchill, her pale, beautiful head

Her body shadowy as vapour drifting

Under the dawn, for she who awoke desire

Has but a heart of blood when others die;

About her is a vapoury multitude

Of women alluring devils with soft laughter;

Behind her a host heat of the blood made sin,

But all the little pink-white nails have grown

To be great talons.

(He seizes OONA and drags her into the middle of the room and points downward with vehement gestures. The wind roars.)

They begin a song

And there is still some music on their tongues.

OONA (casting herself face downwards on the floor)

O, Maker of all, protect her from the demons,

And if a soul must need be lost, take mine.

(ALEEL kneels beside her, but does not seem to hear her words. The PEASANTS return. They carry the COUNTESS CATHLEEN and lay her upon the ground before OONA and ALEEL. She lies there as if dead.)

OONA

O, that so many pitchers of rough clay

Should prosper and the porcelain break in two!

(She kisses the hands of CATHLEEN.)

A PEASANT

We were under the tree where the path turns,

When she grew pale as death and fainted away.

And while we bore her hither cloudy gusts

Blackened the world and shook us on our feet;

Draw the great bolt, for no man has beheld

So black, bitter, blinding, and sudden a storm.

(One who is near the door draws the bolt.)

CATHLEEN

O, hold me, and hold me tightly, for the storm

Is dragging me away.

(OONA takes her in her arms. A woman begins to wail.)

PEASANT

Hush!

PEASANTS

Hush!

PEASANT WOMEN

Hush!

OTHER PEASANT WOMEN

Hush!

CATHLEEN (half rising)

Lay all the bags of money in a heap,

And when I am gone, old Oona, share them out

To every man and woman:judge, and give

According to their needs.

A PEASANT WOMAN

And will she give

Enough to keep my children through the dearth?

ANOTHER PEASANT WOMAN

O, Queen of Heaven, and all you blessed saints,

Let us and ours be lost so she be shriven.

CATHLEEN

Bend down your faces, Oona and Aleel;

I gaze upon them as the swallow gazes

Upon the nest under the eave, before

She wander the loud waters. Do not weep

Too great a while, for there is many a candle

On the High Altar though one fall. Aleel,

Who sang about the dancers of the woods,

That know not the hard burden of the world,

Having but breath in their kind bodies, farewell!

And farewell, Oona, you who played with me,

And bore me in your arms about the house

When I was but a child and therefore happy,

Therefore happy, even like those that dance.

The storm is in my hair and I must go.

(She dies.)

OONA

Bring me the looking-glass.

(A woman brings it to her out of the inner room. OONA holds it over the lips of CATHLEEN. All is silent for a moment. And then she speaks in a half scream:)

O, she is dead!

A PEASANT

She was the great white lily of the world.

A PEASANT

She was more beautiful than the pale stars.

AN OLD PEASANT WOMAN

The little plant I love is broken in two.

(ALEEL takes looking-glass from OONA and flings it upon the floor so that it is broken in many piece.)

ALEEL

I shatter you in fragments, for the face

That brimmed you up with beauty is no more:

And die, dull heart, for she whose mournful words

Made you a living spirit has passed away

And left you but a ball of passionate dust.

And you, proud earth and plumy sea, fade out!

For you may hear no more her faltering feet,

But are left lonely amid the clamorous war

Of angels upon devils.

(He stands up; almost every one is kneeling, but it has grown so dark that only confused forms can be seen.)

And I who weep

Call curses on you, Time and Fate and Change,

And have no excellent hope but the great hour

When you shall plunge headlong through bottomless space.

(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)

A PEASANT WOMAN

Pull him upon his knees before his curses

Have plucked thunder and lightning on our heads.

ALEEL

Angels and devils clash in the middle air,

And brazen swords clang upon brazen helms.

(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)

Yonder a bright spear, cast out of a sling,

Has torn through Balor's eye, and the dark clans

Fly screaming as they fled Moytura of old

(everything is lost in darkness.)

AN OLD MAN

The Almighty wrath at our great weakness and sin

Has blotted out the world and we must die.

(The darkness is broken by a visionary light. The PEASANTS seem to be kneeling upon the rocky slope of a mountain, and vapour full of storm and everchanging light is sweeping above them and behind them. Half in the light, half in the shadow, stand armed angels. Their armour is old and worn, and their drawn swords dim and dinted. They stand as if upon the air in formation of battle and look downward with stern faces. The PEASANTS cast themselves on the ground.)

ALEEL

Look no more on the half-closed gates of Hell,

But speak to me, whose mind is smitten of God,

That it may be no more with mortal things,

And tell of her who lies there.

(He seizes one of the angels.)

Till you speak

You shall not drift into eternity.

THE ANGEL

The light beats down; the gates of pearl are wide

And she is passing to the floor of peace

And Mary of the seven times wounded heart

Has kissed her lips, and the long blessed hair

Has fallen on her face; The Light of Lights

Looks always on the motive, not the deed,

The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone.

(ALEEL releases the ANGEL and kneels.)

OONA

Tell them who walk upon the floor of peac

That I would die and go to her I love;

The years like great black oxen tread the world,

And God the herdsman goads them on behind

And I am broken by their passing feet.

(A sound of far-off horns seems to come from the heart of the Light. The vision melts away, and the forms of the kneeling PEASANTS appear faintly in the darkness.)

The End