University of Virginia Library

III.

A Study. The Three Wise Men seated, in council. The golden cabinet in the centre of the table.
First Wise Man.

The Wise Men of Gotham we are!

Second Wise Man.

Our wisdom we fetch from afar!

Third Wise Man.

We mend, and we make, and we mar!

All Three.

The Wise Men of Gotham we are!

First Wise Man.

Yet we cannot unfasten this box.

Second Wise Man.

Its lock is the mystery of locks.

Third Wise Man.

At our wisdom this cabinet mocks.

All Three
(in solemn monotone, joining hands, and looking up through their spectacles.)

We are the Three Wise Men of Gotham.

First Wise Man.

I am in favour of pick-locks.

Second Wise Man.

I am in favour of a crowbar.

Third Wise Man.

I am in favour of a galvanic shock.

All Three
(in solemn recitative, as before).

We are the Three Wise Men of Gotham.

First Wise Man.

I do not believe the box will ever
open.

Second Wise Man.

I do not believe the box was
ever intended to open.

Third Wise Man.

I do not believe there is anything
whatever inside the box.

All Three
(as before).

We are the Three Wise
Men of Gotham.

Chorus,
without.

First Wise Man.

I thought I heard a noise.

Second Wise Man.

I consider it possible that a
noise might have been heard.

Third Wise Man.

I decline to commit myself to
any positive expression of opinion.

All three.
We are the Three—

Interruption. Enter Fool, with cap and bells.
Fool.
Gentlemen, my mistress, the Maid Innocent!

Maid Innocent.
Yes, pardon me, my mind is set
This day to claim my cabinet,
And—since I know that I can choose—
To put the gift within to use.

First Wise Man.
Why, spite of our united skill—

Second Wise Man.
And our united work and will—

Third Wise Man.
And zeal, that cabinet is still—

Fool.
My lady's cabinet is hers,
And, so, give place, philosophers!

Maid Innocent
(comes forward, and touches the lid of the golden cabinet. It opens easily and instantly).
My cabinet unlocks to me.

Fool.
In spite of all this mystery!

First Wise Man
(earnestly).
You are a fool!

Second Wise Man
(earnestly).
You are a fool!

Third Wise Man
(earnestly).
You are a fool!

All Three.

And we are the Three Wise Men of
Gotham.

Maid Innocent.
Never mind, Fool!

Fool.
Sweet mistress, no:
I do not mind. Let it be so.
I am a fool (mimicking)
. Ha, ha; ho, ho!
But I know where the wise men sit,
And I have a scent for others' wit.

[Bowing to the table.
[The Three Wise Men nod in grave acknowledgment.
Maid Innocent
(rapt and listening).
And now the dream begins to lift,
Dread Godmother, I know thy gift;
And now the veil begins to part,
I place thy gift against my heart;
And now to the wide world I wake,
Sweet Godmother, my dower I take;
And speaking angels round me flit,
While in my breast I cherish it.

Fool
(sings).
In the realm where I was born,
It is Wisdom goes forlorn,
While, with ermine and with rose,
Folly in a chariot goes;
She is fair, the Queen that rules
In the native land of Fools.
Gentles all, a Fool am I,
By the favour of the sky,
And of this good company;
Yet I led my mistress dear
To the council gathered here,
For I knew the box was hers,
And not yours, philosophers!
And that, spite of such, and such,
After all your labour much,
It would open to her touch!

First Wise Man.
Well, since the cabinet unlocks
To you, girl, what is in the box?

Second Wise Man.
Yes, what is in the cabinet?

Third Wise Man.
To know the same our minds are set!

Maid Innocent.
Gentles, I cannot tell you how;
The gift is in my bosom now.

Fool.
But I can tell you all about
The way to know.

All Three Wise Men.
How, how?

Fool.
Find out.

Maid Innocent.
The days will pass, and I shall hear
The speaking angels yet more near,
And what my dower is will be seen
As the bare trees put on their green
In spring.

Fool.
A Wise Man from the West
Once found an egg within a nest,
The first he ever saw. He tried
A hundred ways to see inside;
Angry at last, the egg he broke,
And splashed away the golden yolk
In doing so. With wit self-willed,
That Wise Man of the West had killed—

All Three Wise Men.
What, what?

Fool.
A phœnix!

First Wise Man.
Credulous fool!
A story of a cock and bull!

All Three of them.
We will, we will know what is there,
We from her breast the thing will tear!

[They make an angry rush at Maid Innocent. Music without. The Fool drives them back with his bladder, shaking his bells at them. They stand at bay close up.
Fool.
Pray you, put forth again to sea
In the old tub, most sacred three!

Three Children
(in white, pushing forward a tub, and singing)—
Rub-a-dub-dub!
We bring them the tub;
The Wise Men of Gotham.
'Tis easy to know them,
And stow them,
[Pulling them into the tub by their skirts.
And row them,
And blow them
To Gotham!
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Be off in the tub!

[The tub is drawn off.
Tableau. The Three Children in white clasp the skirts of Maid Innocent, who stoops to embrace them, under the benediction of the Fool, who has just given the Tub a parting kick. Music without. The Lady Godmother discovered in the distance, as at first. Slow curtain.