 | All-Hallow-Eve |  |
28
ACT SECOND.
SCENE I.
—As before.Enter Shepherds and Maids as before, laughing— the former carrying long stalks of Colwort.
Gelon.
Ha, ha! such brave mates as our lads have got!
1st Shep.
By my life, but mine is a strapper!
2d Shep.
See what a crooked carling I have got!
Confound her!—witch!—who can this be?
Ben.
Mine has neither root nor branch;
A dry, bare, barren wilderness mine is!
Look at it, beauteous Maldie—this is you.
Mal.
Begone, you naughty thing!—it is not me:
My fortune's otherwise, I'd have you know.
Ben.
I think it is you—see to what you'll turn:
A wither'd bargain I shall have of you!
29
But where is Gemel's? Gemel has got none;
Poor man! he gets no wife at all!
Gem.
Sooth, I forgot!—I will go seek one now.
Ben.
What ails you, Gemel? you are not yourself;
Some sickly, thoughtful mood oppresses you.
Gem.
I never was so well, nor yet so merry.
Ha, ha! what a runt Ben has got. Ha, ha!
(Forces a laugh.)
Gel.
This is unprofitable game—We get
A laugh, but nothing more.
Ben.
And pray, what more would Madam Gelon have?
Gel.
Say, maidens—would it not be better play
That brought our lovers in before our eyes?
Omnes.
Oh, far, far better!—Let us to that!
Mal.
I love to see the fellows face to face.
Ben.
And I the maidens—Come, let's have the sleeve.
30
We may meet face to face without the sleeve.
Mal.
I tell you, go; I'll none of you;
I would not speak nor look to such a thing,—
A faithless flatterer that changes still.
Come, let us wake the slieve.—Is there a stream
Near by that runs straight southward?
Ben.
Yes, the burn of the linn—straight south.
Gel.
There will we dip the sleeve, and watch it there
With the wierd women; they will manage all
Most properly, and sure to the effect.
Gem.
Oh, by all means!—we'll go
And try them once again, I long for that.
Gel.
How you are alter'd in so short a time!
Gem.
Pray you, let me go first, I do entreat.
Gel.
No; all must go by chance—here cast we lots.
(They draw lots.)
31
Maldie is first again; she is to be
The first a bride.
Ben.
How you miscalculate!
The first is aye the last—the last the first.
I will not have her for seven years at least.
Mal.
And who would wait that time for such a man?
Look at him, comrades! who would wait for him?
Would any living wait for shred like that?
Ben.
(Fetching his runt.)
Here is the prototype—pray look at this!
What comeliness is here! Ah, Maldie! look—
(Exit Maldie.)
I'll steal away and watch behind the wall
To see what form my Maldie's lover is.
(Exit Ben on the other side.)
32
SCENE II.
The Witches' Cot.Grimald and Nora.
Grim.
Sister, little do ye ken!
Seek butt—seek ben—
I feel the sa'r of Christian men.
Nora.
It is our help-mate in his den;
A spirit of a wonderous guise,
Who must not be seen by Christian eyes;
We have him safe, and, come who will,
Unimpeached stands our skill.
Enter Maldie.
Ah! whom have we here,
With her dripping shift-sleeve?
33
I want to see him bodily.—We all
Are coming to you, one by one, to watch
The new-wash'd sleeve, and see our future loves.
Grim.
Go, girl!—You are too fond!—'Tis shame of you!
Not yet full fledged!—But looking o'er the nest,
And conjuring for lovers!—Get thee gone!
Nora.
Nay, nay! Dame Maldie must have lover too,
Like other women!—It must have a husband,
Sweet elf, to teaze and vex it!—Make it weep
And laugh!—Deface its fair and youthful bloom,
And make a drudge o't! Oh it must have husband!
And children too, to puke and mewl so sweet,
And keep it waking!—these must all be had!
There is no peace else.
Mal.
'Tis only sport, a freak of Hallowmass.
34
Give me thy sleeve—Thou shalt not wake it long;
But if thy fortune please not, we are blameless.
(She waves the Sleeve backward and forward round the Fire.)
Now, while we stand and wave the hand,
Sister, give the high command.
Grim.
Hear me!—Hear me! Moules of might!
Come with thy gillenours of the night;—
Come like a beetle, or come like a bee;—
Come by the latch, or the bore of the key,
Or sit like an ousel upon the crook tree;
And tell the fairest of all thy band,
The loveliest elf of the faery land,—
To filch the gossamer's airy shroud
And a shred of the rainbow out of the cloud,
And make him a form by maiden approved,
Of youth that loves and is beloved;
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Come—come, at this maiden's command.
Mal.
Whoever is my true-love to be,
Come and turn over this sleeve for me.
Voice.
Be dumb!—be dumb!
I hide in the lumb!
No maiden calls, and I will not come.
Grim.
So young! so fair! it may not be;
No mark of falsehood do I see.
Lying lurker! thy riddle explain;
Tell me how, and tell me when.
Mal.
No, no, so please you; of the past be dumb,
I know't already; tell me what's to come.
Grim.
See, I wave my sceptral wand,
Come at this fair May's command.
Voice.
'Tis a wide term!—I come, I come;
As the cat be sharp,—as the bat be dumb.
(One, habited like Ben, comes gliding in behind them: He turns the Sleeve, and walks off at the other side.)
36
Whence did he come?—Out of the earth?
Nora.
Out of the wall.—From this small hole
I saw him glide, like a thin piping reek.
I think we all have seen the face before.
Mal.
Aye often, Nora! and, 'twixt you and I,
There is no face I like so well to see.
(Ben puts his head in at a hole behind them.)
Ben.
(Aside.)
Ah! she's my jewel yet, for all that's past!
(To them.)
I've seen the whole.—Ah! Maldie, yon was me.
Mal.
(Screams.)
Ah!—O, Grimald, witch that naughty man.
What seek you there, you prying, low-lifed thing?
Still haunting me, while knowing I detest you.—
Ben.
But not the less you liked to see my face.
Mal.
It was not you, vain fool! nor nothing like.
Dost ween that ever such a form was thine?
It was a gentleman in mien and form.
37
Now, by this hand,
If I had met it in the open field,
I could not have distinguished who was who,
It was so like me.
Mal.
Go, get you gone, you—creature!
Ben.
Oh! oh! mumps, mumps, Miss Mumps.
Mal.
If I come to you, I shall make you go.
(Exit Maldie.)
Nora.
But you'll go with him.—O what woeful stuff!
I wot the strife will not be dangerous.
Grim.
Fond, hectic triflers!—They are all to me
As cats, or something baser,—garbage all!
I could as lief for puppets feel regard:
Nor would I see them, were it not to wreck,
And set them groping headlong in the mist
That shades the future—Make them moult forsooth!
Fie on the nestlings!
38
Nora.
Ha! here's our own sweet Gelon, with her sleeve
Well wash'd and wrung, and ready for the spell.
Is't the left sleeve that lies across the heart?
If not, 'tis worthless.—Aye, this is the thing!
Now, note we well what comes.—There's something strange
Connected with your fortune, Gelon.—
Here let us stand with lifted hand;
Sister, give the high command.
Grim.
King of the night-wind, come away.—
Come not like gier or ouphen gray;—
Come not like crazed or eildron wight;—
Come in youthful guise bedight,
Most pleasant to this maiden's sight!—
While thus I wave my charmed wand,
Come at this fair maid's command.
39
Whoever is my true-love to be,
Come and turn over this sleeve for me.
(While they are waiting attentively, a slight noise is heard; and while they are attending to that, enter one, habited like Lord Hindlee, who turns the sleeve quickly, and goes off at the other side. They see him only as he retires.)
Grim.
Kempy's come, and also gone!
My power is to myself unknown!
There was a man, and there is none,
And the place is a void that he stood upon!
Gel.
Who was he? or what like?—Did'st see his face?
Grim.
But indistinctly, for I see not well.
How grew your strange neglect?
Gel.
I cannot tell.
O bring him back, I'll scan him o'er and o'er.—
Bring him again, dear Grimald.
40
A twelvemonth you must wait ere that may be.
Gel.
A twelvemonth!—'tis an age!—I cannot bear it.
O, Grimald—Nora, call him; he will come.
Grim.
No, no—No more.
He will not come but most reluctantly.
Gel.
O you are cursed, and cruel, both of ye.
My fancy's all on tiptoe, and my mind
Stretch'd on the rack.—Sure you will pity me.
Grim.
Art thou a Christian?
Gel.
Certes; how darest thou ask?
Grim.
He will not come again! or, if he do,
The vision's fraught with danger. True, I can
Force him, by spells of potent gramarye,
To rise again, if thou darest wait the issue.
Gel.
There is not aught I will not brave t'allay
This thirst inquisitive.—I have no fear
Of form that I must love.—Nay, on my life,
41
To gain the chance I've lost.
Grim.
Then be it so;
When thy comrades go,—
Long ere the cock begins to crow,—
Unlatch the door and come to me;
But note thou well when the time must be.
When thy comrades go,—
Long ere the cock begins to crow,—
Unlatch the door and come to me;
But note thou well when the time must be.
When the cricket sings beyond the hearth,
And the little glow-worm pearls the earth;—
When Charles of Norway has lash'd his wain
Around by the west, and the north again,
To plow the gleam of the eastern main;—
When the seven stars the midnight have driven
Across the crown of the hoary heaven,
And hang like an ear-ring studded bright
Upon the left cheek of the night;—
When Moules, in mantle of silver gray,
Rides on the belt of the starry ray,
Or sits on the clough of the milky-way;
Then come to me, and thou shalt see
The man that is thy lord to be.
And the little glow-worm pearls the earth;—
When Charles of Norway has lash'd his wain
Around by the west, and the north again,
To plow the gleam of the eastern main;—
When the seven stars the midnight have driven
Across the crown of the hoary heaven,
And hang like an ear-ring studded bright
Upon the left cheek of the night;—
When Moules, in mantle of silver gray,
Rides on the belt of the starry ray,
Or sits on the clough of the milky-way;
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The man that is thy lord to be.
(Exit Gelon.)
Nora.
Sister, though they deem us poor,
How high we stand above the boor!
When Gemel comes, exert thy power.
Enter Gemel.
Welcome, good Gemel, you I joy to see:
We never erst your fortune have explored;
I hope it will be good.
Gem.
Read me the truth, be what it may;
But well I know that nought will answer you—
It's all imposture.
Nora.
Be not too sure—give me the sleeve—
Now let us stand with lifted hand;
Sister, give the high command.
Grim.
Master, for thy honour hear:
I see by the roof-tree thou art near—
Tell thy henchman elf to change,
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Come not here with lordly grin,
With whisker'd cheek and bearded chin;
But come in youtheid's fairest time,
Like maiden in her virgin prime.
The rose-leaf for her cheek go win,
And the apple-blossom for her chin;
Her lips be the berry ripe and red,
With the honey gleam around it shed;
Her brow be the lily that courts the sun,
And her breast the curd that's newly won;
And O be her eye the sphere of dew,
That little hare-bell cups embrue,
As mild, as radiant, and as blue.
See, I wave my magic wand,
Come at this fair youth's command.
Gem.
Whoever is my true love to be,
Come and turn over this slieve to me.
(Pause.)
44
So thou refusest, elfin gier!
Come forth, thou churlish pioneer!
Come out of thy bores the truth to show,
Or I'll ferret thee out by the hounds below.
See, I wave my sceptral wand,
Come, come at this youth's command.
Gem.
Whoever is my true love to be,
Come and turn over this sleeve for me.
(A white sheet appears for a moment at a corner.)
Nora.
Ha! saw'st thou that?
Gem.
What? I neither saw nor heard aught.
Nora.
Then bless thyself:
For had'st thou seen what I saw now, thou ne'er
Had'st look'd on happiness again.
Gem.
'Tis thus you mock us with your low deceits,
You mindless, grovelling hags! Did I not say,
And truly say, you were most rank impostors?
Grim.
Talk not of mind to me!
Were thine and all thy kindred's minds embodied,
45
Without distention.—Such a colt as thee
To talk of mind!
Gem.
Thou art a sheer impostor;
Coarse and unpolish'd. Thou call spirits up!
Yes! you may call a cat—and she may come
When you do call on her—farther thou can'st not.
Nora.
Now let me beg of thee, call not again,
'Tis fraught with destiny; and now I dread
Yours was the hand I saw—call not again.
Remember 'tis the third time.
Gem.
A fair excuse!
Thou canst not even make a cat appear;
Here I defy thee to make aught appear.
How thou art outed, witch!—What can'st thou say
For thy fore-knowledge and thy influence now?
Poor woman! pray do call spirits up.
Grim.
(Aloud.)
Spirit of destiny—come—appear,
Of mind or reason have thou no fear.
46
Come in thy cerement, or come in thy shroud;
Or like the figure of death come in,
With nerveless bones and skeleton grin.
When this proud youth gives order to thee,
Show him the truth whatever it be.
(Pause.)
Call; why dost thou not?—Thou darest not call!
Gem.
(Hesitating.)
Whoever is my true love to be,
Come and turn over this sleeve for me.
(A Coffin appears, and on its lid is seen in large characters,—J. Gemel, aged 23.—Gemel faints—scene closes.)
| All-Hallow-Eve | |