 | The Queen of the Frogs |  |
Scene Third.
—The Quicksilver Lake.Leo.
Pent in that crystal castle, they shall float
On yon quicksilver lake as in a boat.
Thy ring must touch it, ere the crystal break.
(music)
Shift, silver, shift—thus I my last shift make.
(Exit)
(music—The King goes to rock and endeavours to touch Castle —it glides to the opposite side—King crosses stage and tries to touch it there—it then glides back again)
155
King.
Of this false lake to get the middle in,
The way to know I'd give a lot o' tin,
My brains in vain I spin,
Though a most mercurial hero,
Till the quicksilver's at zero,
I cannot go in to win.
The way to know I'd give a lot o' tin,
My brains in vain I spin,
Though a most mercurial hero,
Till the quicksilver's at zero,
I cannot go in to win.
Queen and Princess.
We're sick of sailing this glass vessel in,
It keeps so disagreeably wabble-ing—
Our heads around quite spin,
Can't you find some way, O dear, O,
We feel really very queer O,
Bottled up like beer or gin!
It keeps so disagreeably wabble-ing—
Our heads around quite spin,
Can't you find some way, O dear, O,
We feel really very queer O,
Bottled up like beer or gin!
Queen.
Dearest of husbands! tell me how d'ye do?
King.
Not much the better, love, for seeing you
In that glass case.
Prin.
Or rather, this glass slipper.
King.
A cunning craft, which acts as its own skipper,
Queen.
If, as the proverb says, all things give place
When but a single lady's in the case,
Surely politeness should as far be carried
When there are two—one single and one married.
And yet through all the pains I've had to pass,
I've found none harder than this pane of glass.
King.
It is indeed a painful exhibition
To which there is no getting an admission
At any price.
Enter Dragon.
Dra.
Come, how much would you stand,
If I should give you now a helping hand?
King.
A helping hand! why, looking at its claws
Before I take it I must beg to pause.
Dra.
Well, I'll propose the terms then, if you like,
And you may or may not the bargain strike,
I'll bear you to that castle on my back;
And you shall get your friends out in a crack,
156
That ring, which then to you will useless be.
King.
I will.
Dra.
Upon your honour?
King.
Shining bright.
Dra.
Up with you, and sit fast!
King.
Go on, all right.
(Exeunt King and Dragon, and re-enter Dragon with King on his back, whom he swims with to the Castle—The King touches the Castle with the ring—The Castle, lake, and mountains vanish, and the King, Queen, Princess, and Dragon are left in
| The Queen of the Frogs | |