And if a soul must need be lost, take mine.
He hardly understands what he is saying.
What, will you keep me from our ancient home
OONA. Tell them who walk upon the floor of peace
CATHLEEN (half rising) Lay all the bags of money in a heap, And when I am gone, old Oona, share them out
It was a feather growing on the cock
And brazen swords clang upon brazen helms.
(He Points downward.)
The house of SHEMUS RUA.
CATHLEEN. The people starve, therefore the people go
FIRST MERCHANT. We need but hover over her head in the air, For she has only minutes. When she signed
THE ANGEL. The light beats down; the gates of pearl are wide. And she is passing to the floor of peace,
And I am broken by their passing feet.
She never missed her chapel of a Sunday
Therefore happy, even like those that dance.
PEASANTS. Hush!
As though we two were never in the world.
ALEEL. Is your power so small?
FIRST MERCHANT. Take him away.
And now I do not know where she is gone.
And must I bear it with me all my days?
A WOMAN. What will you give for mine?
A PEASANT. Do not, do not, for souls the like of ours
Upon the nest under the eave, before
I may not touch it.
There, take it up. There, there. Thats right.
ALEEL. No. but you must. Seeing it cannot help her
You shall not drift into eternity.
THE MAN. I ask three hundred crowns. You have read there
That Death is the worst thing can happen us.
SHEMUS. Not ask a price?
CATHLEEN picks up parchment and signs, then turns towards the PEASANTS.)
FIRST MERCHANT. We know of but one soul thats worth the price.
Fly screaming as they fled Moytura of old.
That he could rob in safety."
Its certain that the man shes married to
the kneeling PEASANTS appear faintly in the darkness.)
Since the drought came they drift about in a throng,
When he killed Naisi and broke Deirdres heart,
When she grew pale as death and fainted away.
And saw with all their canvas full of wind
ALEEL. The trouble that has come on CountessCathleen,
(OONA takes her in her arms. A WOMAN begins to wail.)
When we are far from this polluted place
CATHLEEN. I have no thoughts; I hear a cry??a cry.
That know not the hard burden of the world,
THE WOMAN. The scandalous book.
And I who weep
OONA. O, that so many pitchers of rough clay
A hundred, then.
CATHLEEN. I come to barter a soul for a great price.
Behind her a host heat of the blood made sin,
Yonder a bright spear, cast out of a sling,
About her is a vapoury multitude
SECOND MERCHANT. When the dew rose
Those ships that bring the woman grain and meal.
SECOND MERCHANT. Bear bastards, drink or follow some wild fancy; For sighs and cries are the souls
Her heart began to break. Hush, hush, I hear
And they are rising through the hollow world.
Her eyes were full of tears, and when for a moment
Of women alluring devils with soft laughter
(He seizes one of the angels.)
Sitting above her tower as two grey owls,
And die, dull heart, for she whose mournful words
That I would die and go to her I love;
ALEEL. The brazen door stands wide, and Balor comes
(ALEEL kneels beside her, but does not seem to hear her words. The PEASANTS return. They carry the
FIRST MERCHANT.
To be great talons.
And all who use it have great honour in Hell.
I do not ask a price.
Having but breath in their kind bodies, farewell
SECOND MERCHANT. His gaze has filled me, brother,
Is this a time to haggle at the price?
FIRST MERCHANT. I offer this great price: a?thousand crowns For an old woman who was always ugly.
And I was once alone with him at midnight.
She wander the loud waters. Do not weep
And that about the herdsman lying sick,
And bore me in your arms about the house
(He moves about as though the air was full of spirits. OONA enters.)
In buying a soul like yours.
The brazen door of Hell move on its hinges,
ANOTHER PEASANT. Come, come away.
upon a table, arrange money, and so on.
FIRST MERCHANT (reading in book)
And Mary of the seven times wounded heart
Let us and ours be lost so she be shriven.
Draw to the curtain.
He troubles me.
CATHLEEN. Being my own it seems a priceless thing.
(She screams.)
FIRST MERCHANT. Thanks to that lie I told about her ships
SHEMUS. Theres nobody could put into her head
SECONDMERCHANT. Sign with this quill.
But all the little pink?white nails have grown
SECOND MERCHANT. Deal, deal.
MIDDLE?AGED?MAN. I come to deal??if you give honest price.
All for a soul, a little breath of wind.
And you, proud earth and plumy sea, fade out!
First, Orchill, her pale, beautiful head alive,
Look how their claws clutch in their leathern gloves.
SECOND MERCHANT. You offer us??
heavens.
(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)
OONA. Where is the Countess Cathleen? All this day
While these good gentlemen are there to save you.
For you may hear no more her faltering feet,
And from the eternal revelry?
PEASANT. Hush!
(She takes them and goes into the crowd.)
(TEIG and SHEMUS lead ALEEL into the crowd.)
FIRST MERCHANT (reading in a book)
Borne in his heavy car, and demons have lifted
But you must sign, for we omit no form
There is an alcove at the back with curtains; in it a bed, and on the
Has fallen on her face; The Light of Lights
And have no excellent hope but the great hour
CATHLEEN. Take up the money, and now come with me;
Has torn through Balors eye, and the dark clans
(SECOND MERCHANT kisses the gold circlet that is about the
And it is in my ears by night and day,
and Points downward with vehement gestures. The wind roars.)
ALEEL. Look no more on the half?closed gates of Hell,
mountain, and
The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone.
Between the hour?glass and the pepper?pot."
A PEASANT WOMAN. And will she give
are left alone.)
THE WOMAN. And if there is a letter, that is no reason
A PEASANT. How she screamed out!
ALEEL. Here, take my soul, for I am tired of it.
Till you speak
FIRST MERCHANT. We cannot take your soul, for it is hers.
The years like great black oxen tread the world,
SECOND MERCHANT. Leap feathered on the air
SHEMUS. Woman, have sense?come, Come.
Her hand was laid upon my hand it trembled,
the scene goes on. There is a distant muttering of thunder and a sound of rising storm.)
Oh, sir, a pain went through me!
I, too, grow weary,
OONA. God guard her soul.
(Murmur among the PEASANTS, who shrink back from her as she goes out.)
ANOTHER PEASANT. Yes, yes.
Over Sualtems and old Decteras child;
COUNTESS CATHLEEN and lay her upon the ground before OONA and ALEEL. She lies there as if dead.)
And saw nine hundred oxen driven through Meath
(An Old PEASANT WOMAN comes forward, and he takes up a book and reads.)
Of angels upon devils.
ANOTHER PEASANT WOMAN.
The others will gain courage in good time.
in formation of battle and look downward with stern faces.
SECOND MERCHANT. We must away and wait until she dies,
That crowed when Peter dared deny his Master,
And take this money too, and give me mine.
A PEASANT. We were under the tree where the path turns,
To every man and woman: judge, and give
FIRST MERCHANT. That name is like a fire to all damned souls.
CATHLEEN. There is more:
ALEEL. Shes bartered it away this very hour,
They stand as if upon the air
That brimmed you up with beauty is no more:
That no mere lapse of days can make me yours.
OLD WOMAN. God bless you, Sir.
Too great a while, for there is many a candle
O, Queen of Heaven, and all you blessed saints,
FIRST MERCHANT. Drag him away.
"She has stolen eggs and fowl when times were bad,
And rushing through the parti?coloured sea
That cast a druid weakness and decay
Is drawing near??our labour will soon end.
while you speak
(A general murmur, during which the MIDDLE?AGED?MAN takes money, and slips into background,
FIRST MERCHANT. Lean forward
He is wakeful from a dread of growing poor,
The burden in her eyes, have broke my wits,
I gaze upon them as the swallow gazes
(They rush Out. ALEEL crawls into the middle of the room. The twilight has fallen and gradually darkens as
There is something more writ here??"often at night
Crouch down, old heron, out of the blind storm.
SECOND MERCHANT. What has she in her coffers now but mice?
ANOTHER PEASANT. I will not trust my mother after this.
Like autumn leaves blown by the dreary winds.
(They turn to door, but are stopped by shouts of "Countess
Knows nothing of whats hidden in the jar
ALEEL. Cathleen has chosen other friends than us,
Are not precious to God as your soul is.
A PEASANT. Whod have thought it?
MIDDLE?AGED MAN. Master, I am afraid.
CATHLEEN. I offer my own soul.
For when they lived they warred on beauty and peace
Under the dawn, for she who awoke desire
A hedge of hips and haws?men yet shall hear
The age?weary eyelids from the eyes that of old
I would not listen to his broken wits;
FIRST MERCHANT. Has no one got a better soul than that?
PEASANT WOMEN Hush!
That it may be no more with mortal things,
head of the FIRST MERCHANT.)
Were pressed upon it when he sent us hither;
And kiss the circlet where my Masters lips
And meet them with her soul caught in your claws.
I have seen a vision under a green hedge,
But when the times grew better has confessed it;
Though that sounds simple, for her tongue grew rank
(ALEEL takes looking?glass from OONA and flings it upon the floor so that it is broken in many pieces.)
ALEEL (casting the parchment on the ground)
FIRST MERCHANT. Come, deal, deal, deal. It is but for charity We buy such souls at all; a thousand sins
According to their needs.
The storm is in my hair and I must go.
When I was but a child and therefore happy,
So great a fool she was.
bed is the body of MARY with candles round it. The two MERCHANTS while they speak put a large book
FIRST MERCHANT. Who will come deal with us?
But speak to me, whose mind is smitten of God,
FIRST MERCHANT. There is this crack in you??two hundred crowns.
(She dies.)
And they are rising through the hollow world.
A PEASANT. She was more beautiful than the pale stars.
SHEMUS. Come in, come in, you are welcome.
So black, bitter, blinding, and sudden a storm.
(She kisses the hands of CATHLEEN.)
She does not even know she was a fool,
FIRST MERCHANT. Three days for traffic.
O, Maker of all, protect her from the demons,
SHEMUS. They are out of spirit, Sir, with lack of food,
I hurried in like feathers to the east,
(Everything is lost in darkness.)
SECOND MERCHANT.
OONA (casting herself face downwards on the floor)
(CATHLEEN leans forward to sign.)
ANOTHER PEASANT.
AN OLD MAN. The Almighty wrath at our great weakness and sin Has blotted out the world and we must
And you have none.
And God the herdsman goads them on behind,
May you be scorned and mocked!
O, she is dead!
Have plucked thunder and lightning on our heads.
Have slipped out of our bond, because your face
SECOND PEASANT. And maybe we shall scream so.
A PEASANT. Thats plenty for a rogue.
On the High Altar though one fall. Aleel,
With obstinate, crafty, sidelong bitterness.
FIRST MERCHANT. "Nor how when hes away
FIRST MERCHANT. . It may be the souls worth it.
But there is something moving in my heart
Her body shadowy as vapour drifting
FIRST MERCHANT. Begone from me
There is but little set down here against her.
where he sinks on to a seat.)
Turned gods to stone; Barach, the traitor, comes
Is dragging me away.
die.
ALEEL. I shatter you in fragments, for the face
Looks always on the motive, not the deed,
What brings you here, saint with the sapphire eyes?
(She turns to go.)
With goads of iron, Theyre but three days from us.
Enough to keep my children through the dearth?
And left you but a ball of passionate dust.
FIRST MERCHANT. I bought your soul, and theres no sense in fear Now the souls gone.
And the eternal revelry float hither
(A sound of far?off horns seems to come from the heart of the Light. The vision melts away, and the forms of
To hearten us.
Demons are out, old heron.
When you shall plunge headlong through bottomless space.
(The darkness is broken by a visionary light. The PEASANTS seem to be kneeling upon the rocky slope of a
(ALEEL releases the ANGEL and kneels.)
I will give everybody money enough.
SHEMUS. Youll get no more??so take whats offered you.
(TEIG draws it.)
And yet I know Id have you take my soul.
I have grown tired of it.
His love for Countess Cathleen has so crazed him
And I would have five hundred thousand crowns
Whereby I know that what we seek the most
Save four or five. Here, sir, is one of these;
John Maher, a man of substance, with dull mind,
Has kissed her lips, and the long blessed hair
The souls that you have bought must be set free.
for a moment. And then she speaks in a half scream:)
Youll not play the fool
Draw the great bolt, for no man has beheld
A PEASANT. She was the great white lily of the world.
The sorrow that is in her wasted face,
Blackened the world and shook us on our feet
Why I should have less money than the others.
And would not deal with them. Now there she is;
SHEMUS. They say you beat the woman down too low.
The PEASANTS cast themselves on the ground.)
Our precious jewel; waiting to seize her soul.
(TEIG and SHEMUS drag him roughly away so that he falls upon the floor among the PEASANTS.
Should prosper and the porcelain break in two!
Call curses on you, Time and Fate and Change,
O! what would Heaven do without you, lady?
Has but a heart of blood when others die;
(He stands up; almost every one is kneeling, but it has grown so dark that only confused forms can be seen.)
ALEEL (rushing forward and snatching the parchment from her) Leave all things to the builder of the
And thereon wonders if theres any man
in the shadow, stand armed angels. Their armour is old and worn, and their drawn swords dim and dinted.
Theyre but three days from us.
And all their heads are twisted to one side,
SECOND MERCHANT. What matter, if the soul be worth the price?
One crumb of bread bought with our masters money,
(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)
(One who is near the door draws the bolt.)
At the horse fair the hand that wrote whats hid
That I may feed them till the dearth go by.
Waiting as many years as may be, guarding
And when she could, paid dues." Take up your money.
FIRST MERCHANT. In spite of you.
MIDDLE?AGED MAN. Give me my soul again.
"Soft, handsome, and still young "??not much, I think."
The angels think him safe." Two hundred crowns,
CATHLEEN (entering) And so you trade once more?
FIRST MERCHANT. When the night fell and I had shaped myself Into the image of the man?headed owl,
Thronging to you. I hear a cry come from them
work,
(He seizes OONA and drags her into the middle of the room
Who sang about the dancers of the woods,
PEASANT. Come, lets away.
vapour full of storm and ever?changing light is sweeping above them and behind them. Half in the light, haff
I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,
That is my wife. She mocked at my great masters,
But lived on nettles, dock, and dandelion.
And farewell, Oona, you who played with me,
With all the lies that she had heard in chapel.
We shall be too much thronged with souls to?morrow.
(A WOMAN brings it to her out of the inner room. OONA holds it over the lips Of CATHLEEN. All is silent
Made them our Masters long before we came.
If only for the credit of your parishes, Traffic with us.
And there is still some music on their tongues.
(ALEEL enters.)
Cathleen! Countess Cathleen!")
TEIG. She would not eat
ALEEL. Angels and devils clash in the middle air,
How can you sell your soul without a price?
And quiet senses and unventurous heart.
They begin a song
ANOTHER PEASANT. Id give him nothing.
CATHLEEN. O, hold me, and hold me tightly, for the storm
And that great king Hell first took hold upon
And the lascivious race, Cailitin,
You shall have peace once more.
(PEASANTS crowd in with TEIG and SHEMUS.)
And while we bore her hither cloudy gusts
And tell of her who lies there.
Has shed a light on them and filled their hearts.
FIRST MERCHANT. Five hundred thousand crowns; we give the price. The gold is here; the souls even
But are left lonely amid the clamorous war
OONA. Bring me the looking?glass.
The Archangels rolling Satans empty skull
ANOTHER PEASANT. Come quickly; if that woman had not screamed I would have lost my soul.
FIRST MERCHANT. Youre almost safe, I give you fifty crowns
(She goes out, the PEASANTS crowding round her and kissing her dress. ALEEL and the two MERCHANTS
WOMAN (going on her knees and clinging to MERCHANT)
Will tap three times upon the window?pane."
CATHLEEN. Bend down your faces, Oona and Aleel;
(Throws the woman off.)
Over the mountain?tops.
AN OLD PEASANT WOMAN. The little plant I love is broken in two.
Made you a living spirit has passed away
OTHER PEASANT WOMEN Hush!
With shaking and a dreadful fear.
Come, deal??come, deal.
THIRD PEASANT. I tell you there is no such place as hell.
Come, deal, deal, deal, deal, deal; are you all dumb?
A PEASANT WOMAN. Pull him upon his knees before his curses
FIRST MERCHANT. Can such a trifle turn you from your profit? Come, deal; come, deal,
