University of Virginia Library

II.

[A tall screen, for which a clothes-horse will do. Behind it a high curtained table. On the table sits the Great Black Cat on her haunches, ready to gesticulate with her fore-paws. Enter Tom and Jack, each with a drawn sword; at first not seeing

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each other. Discords at pleasure, on the piano, violin, or toothcomb and flute; or all of them.
Tom
(stealthily).
So, thus far all is well. The magic screen.
Now for the spell-song. Lucky have I been!
Come, let me try and call the words to mind.

[Pauses reflectively.
Jack
(softly).
This is the place. The book was right, I find.
Now for the invocation. The Princess
Must listen and appear; she can no less.

[Here Tom and Jack, neither seeing the other, begin to sing loudly at the same moment; one to the tune of “In my cottage near a wood,” the other, “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman?” or any two discordant tunes that will suit.
INVOCATION.
Tom.
White Princess, with the red, red rose,
Which within your garden grows—

Jack
(at the same moment).
White Princess, with the lily of light,
Growing in your garden bright—

[They cease singing, and recognise each other.
Jack.
What, Tom! in search, too, of the White Ladie!

Tom.
What, Jack! and bound on the same quest with me!

Jack.
I started first.

Tom.
No, I did.

Jack.
So did I.

Tom.
I began singing first, then.

Jack.
So did I.

Tom.
Then you shall die first.

Jack.
So shall you. Come, try!

[They fight, and in the struggle knock down the screen. The Great Black Cat is discovered gesticulating.
Cat.
I am the Cat of cats. I am
The Everlasting Cat. Miaew!

Jack., Tom.
Miaew? (interrogatively.)


Cat.
Cunning, and old, and sleek as jam,
The Everlasting Cat. Miaew!

Jack., Tom.
Miaew? (interrogatively and impatiently.)


Cat.
I hunt the vermin in the night—
The Everlasting Cat. Miaew!

Jack., Tom.
Miaew? (more impatiently still.)


Cat.
For I see best without the light—
The Everlasting Cat. Miaew!

Jack., Tom.
Miaew? (stamping and threatening with their swords.)


Cat.
You did not come for me, I know—
The Everlasting Cat. Miaew!

Tom., Jack.
Miaew! (making a rush at her.)


Cat.
But you will rue before you go—

Jack., Tom.
You Everlasting Cat!

All three.
Miaew!

Enter the Giant Grindbones, with a sword in each hand.
Giant
(fiercely).
Ha, ha, my friends, I know your errand here!
Dozens like you I slaughter every year;
Look there—and there—you see their piled-up bones,
Ribs, shanks, and arms, and skulls, as white as stones.
It was the White Princess, I know, you sought,
And then, like others, you set to and fought;
And so you have seen instead, my ancient friend—

Cat.
Miaew!

Giant
(flourishing both swords wildly).
The Cat of Cats, the Cat Without an End!
Now, I shall kill and eat you both.

Tom.
But, sir,
Did no one ever fight you?

Giant.
Lucifer!
No one, as yet. The good folk fight each other.

Cat.
Miaew! (Spits quarrelsomely.)


Jack
(to Tom).
Suppose we fight him, Tom?

Tom.
Amen, my brother!

[Grand triangular-quadrangular combat, the Giant fighting with both hands. Jack falls, and Tom helps him up. Then vice versâ. March music. Of course the Giant falls. The Cat slinks off, with a low, mournful whine.
Tom
(putting up his sword).
There, that is over. Now, shall we go home?
Without the blood-red rose that made us come?

Jack.
You mean a silver lily, not a rose—
The flower that in the fairy garden blows.

Tom.
I say a rose, and mean it.

Jack.
And I say
A lily, and mean it.

Tom.
A rose!

Jack.
A Lily!

[They are on the point of drawing swords again, when enter from between the divisible curtain of the table, the White Princess, with a Rose in her hair on one side, and a Lily on the other.
Princess.
Stay!
You (to Tom)
want the red, but you must take the white;
You cannot always choose your own delight,
When you are greedy, and fall out, and fight.
[Tom sinks on one knee and receives the Lily.
You (to Jack)
want the white, but you must take the other,
And miss your choice, because you fought your brother.
[Jack receives, kneeling, the Rose.
You fought that Giant, and you made him fall,
Or else you would have had no flower at all;
Yet, if you take your lot with a good grace—

Tom., Jack.
We will!

Princess.
You do! I see it in your face—
Your fortune may not yet be at an end,
And I am half inclined to be your friend.

Tom
(watching his lily).
I think my lily is reddening to a rose.

Jack
(watching his rose).
I think my red bud to a white cup grows!

Cat
(in the distance).
Miaew!

Tom.
The Cat again!

Jack.
The Everlasting Cat!

Princess.
Oh, let her mock! Why should you care for that?
[Making magical passes with her hands.
Take the red Rose, willy-nilly
You who sought her sister fair;
Take the silver-shining Lily,
You who sought the rose to wear.
Do not fear your choice to miss,
For you yet may find your bliss;
White be red, and red be white,
Lily and Rose for heart's delight!

[Soft music, at pleasure.