Thats more substantial than the merchants are
Because I struck her in that argument.
SHEMUS. So then youre as deceitful as the rest,
MARY. Their swine and cattle, fields and implements
TEIG. There is many a one, they say, had money from them.
TEIG. A young man plays it,
(SHEMUS comes in.)
MARY. God, that to this hours found bit and sup,
The graves are walking.
Some devilish creature flies in the air, but now
SHEMUS. My curse upon the rich.
What can we do but live on sorrel and dock)
SECOND MERCHANT.
What matter if your heads below your arms
Well give him such a price he never dreamt of.
With bread and flesh and every sort of food
Theres an old woman and a lady with him.
In mirth and comfort till the famines done,
MARY. God help us all!
Now that the house is quiet, praise our master,
CATHLEEN. And this young man, that should have known the woods?? Because we met him on their border
That is to show whos master.
MARY., God is all powerful.
Or youve a horses tail to whip your flank,
Even upon the book in the priests hand.
SHEMUS. You come to buy our souls?
And hunted me away with sticks and stones.
(ALEEL begins to play.)
MARY. We know it, lady.
And yet they say
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
For we are merchants that must tramp the world,
Lay out the plates and make a better fire.
There were five doors that I looked through this day
MARY. What is it?
Is now worth fifty.
(A stringed instrument without.)
And stretch and warm our heels among the ashes.
So be it that you have not shouldered up
Will cater for us still.
Have lost it too, yet I should know my way,
They have been seen of late.
And heres your entertainment on the road.
It clangs as though it had been madeof brass;
Out of my mind till you are home again.
And that if you dig down where it was scratching
Because of some wild words my father said
Id welcome you no less. Be what you please
TEIG. Yet no thunder stirs.
FIRST MERCHANT. We know the evils of mere charity.
Whatever you are that walk the woods at night,
souls,
But first sit down and rest yourself awhile,
Weigh on her mind as if they had been her own.
END OF SCENE 1
I could not see them rightly for the leaves.
I had not rather welcome to this house
FIRST MERCHANT. We will ask nothing but what all men have.
Squeal like a rabbit under a weasels tooth?
Shall eat, drink, and be merry.
You shall at last dry like dry leaves and hang
And a safe corner to count money in.
Another man dressed in the same way follows, and sits at the other end. This is done slowly and deliberately.
And mocking us with music?
SHEMUS. I said Id make the devils of the wood
God and the Mother of God have dropped asleep.
And give so good a price that all may live
Is fancy bred. I might have known as much,
MARY. There is something that the hen hears.
MARY. Then you are Countess Cathleen?
MARY. You have still some way,
SHEMUS. I heard say
MARY. Mother of God, defend us!
SECOND MERCHANT. (who has risen and gone towards fire)
There are two birds??if you can call them birds??
And theres the needles eye at the end of all,
If you and yours should not be welcome here.
Because we are Christian men.
Who or what I am to welcome here.
Can eat its way into what place it pleases.
Are sold and gone.
SHEMUS. You might be starved before youve dug it out.
SHEMUS. (to MARY) Bestir yourself,
ALEEL. (Singing) Impetuous heart, be still, be still,
Nor eyes, nor ears; his face a wall of flesh;
But I can put you on the trodden path
MARY. I will not cook for you.
And all fool talk from the ear.
TEIG. Theyre looking at me.
As though worlds trouble could not find it out.
Welcome, if theyd a mind to eat and drink;
For there is nothing on the ridge of the world
TEIG. Ill barter mine.
also sees something and begins moving backward. MARY does the same. A man dressed as an
TEIG. Theres no good luck in owls, but it may be
Oona, my nurse, should have remembered it,
MARY. Youll bring misfortune with your blasphemies
SHEMUS. Come, lets away.
TEIG. But for this empty purse?
Do not be angry. She wants to pay me back
SHEMUS (to MARY, who has gone to close the door)
For seven halfpence and a silver bit?
SHEMUS. So youd stand up against me, and youd say
MARY. What, did you beg?
FIRST MERCHANT. Thats for the work, each has its separate price; But neither price is paid till the works
MARY. But seek them patiently.
SHEMUS. Whats that for thanks,
And after that, lets share and share alike
TEIG. They say that now the land is famine struck
And Im half certain theyve a human face.
Why should the like of us complain?
CATHLEEN. Ah, do not blame the finger on the string;
TEIG. Its this, your honours:
A herdsman met a man who had no mouth,
Than any more of mankind, rich or poor.
FIRST MERCHANT. Youve but to cry aloud at every cross?road, At every house door, that we buy mens
CATHLEEN. God save all here. There is a certain house,
Care for your words; but Ill call what I please.
And when your hands can scarcely drag your body
What do they care, he says, though the whole land
its little that the sleepy ears above
That would be served by Comfortable men.
Out of a grave??for Ill have nothing human??
And quench the stars in the ancestral night.
When the ear is stopped and when the eye is stopped,
SHEMUS. I had no chance to beg,
Eastern merchant comes in carrying a small carpet. He unrolls it and sits cross?legged at one end of it.
FIRST MERCHANT. Our faces go unscratched,
Has covered the door of the infinite fold
(MERCHANTS begin putting money on carpet.)
And let your head be bowed upon your knees,
Shall pull apart the pale ribs of the moon
And seen the seven wonders of the world,
SECOND MERCHANT. Pray, you shall need Him.
(TEIG goes to door.)
(OONA, MARY, and CATHLEEN go Out. ALEEL looks defiantly at
What, is there no one there?
carpet.
And have free hands, a friendly trick of speech,
OONA. Have done. Sorrows that shes but read of in a book
TEIG. You said that you would bring us food or money.
TEIG. Mother!
For my old fathers served your fathers, lady,
SHEMUS. Pray, if you have a mind to.
SHEMUS. What can it be but nothing?
That every wicked sight is hid from the eye,
TEIG. And that is not the worst; at Tubber?vanach
And dandelion, till our mouths are green?
Scatter the flour and search the shelves for bread.
A pigeon or a seagull or the like,
But thats the buyers risk??a second self,
TEIG. You speak to them.
Your servants take when they are marketing.
OONA. The paths are overgrown with thickets now,
FIRST MERCHANT. Our Master bids us pay
And find distraction for my thoughts, or else
FIRST MERCHANTm Though were but vermin that our Master sent To overrun the world, he at the end
SHEMUS. Not cook! not cook!
So good a price, that all who deal with us
Badgers, and hedgehogs seem to have died of drought,
Because its certain that you are but merchants.
SHEMUS. When the hens gone,
And lay upon the threshold like a log.
TEIG. Beautiful lady, give me something too;
Knives thrown into a basket to be cleaned.
Well turn the fowl upon the spit and roast it,
They would not have another share their alms,
SHEMUS. (at door)
Shut to the door before the night has fallen,
You shall have twice the sum.
A woman met a man with ears spread out,
(He takes a step towards the door and then turns again.)
For the nights gathering in.
(CATHLEEN, OONA, and ALEEL enter.)
For who can say what walks, or in what shape
What has God poured out of His bag but famine?
The dishes standing on the polished wood
And so. . . . but that is nothing to the point,
Come, share what bread and meat is in the house,
Although weve wandered in the wood this hour??
And now we look for supper and a fire
TEIG. And the last penny gone.
What is the good of praying? father says.
For three nights running, and theres always gold.
TEIG. And when thats gone?
She thinks you are not of those who cast a shadow.
MARY. Destroyers of souls, God will destroy you quickly.
But if youll come to?morrow to my house
MARY. There is the hen in the coop.
I would to God he were home??ah, there he is.
For the days meat.
I had thought there was a pushing to and fro,
Ive taken nothing, for the very rats,
But shell get sense again. Since the dearth came
But thats a dream, for the old worm o the world
SHEMUS. I have said nothing, lady.
A cider orchard and a plot for flowers,
Or else some change has come upon my sight.
TREIG> I shall keep running till Ive earned the price.
CATHLEEN. And this woman,
Or whats the double of it that she promised?
We rattle one on another as though we were
FIRST MERCHANT. They have not sold all yet.
TEIG. Two nights ago, at Carrick?orus churchyard,
SHEMUS. Then down upon that stool, down quick, I say,
Somewhere among these woods.
For she has fainted. Wring the neck o that fowl,
And trampled measure down.
And call up a whey face and a whining voice,
SHEMUS. After that
For such kind welcome but I must be gone,
Had we been through as many doors, and seen
MARY. We have all she had;
MARY. Is it call devils?
Nothing at all or a harsh radishy sauce
To ask if theres a thing youd have of us.
They call immortal for a storys sake.
Stop, for we obey a generous Master,
Where I had thought I would find nothing changed.
SHEMUS. No, you.
Curse to your fill, for saints will have their dreams.
(She gives money.)
Since Ive set eyes on bread or on what buys it.
but now,
And they moved up and down like a bats wing.
And rising every day.
SHEMUS. I thought you were .... but thats no matter now??
MARY. Gods pity on the rich,
SHEMUS. His kitchens bare.
Your sorrowful love can never be told,
SHEMUS. Yet if you were that I had thought but now
Is so wrapped up in dreams of terrors to come
And saw the dead and not a soul to wake them.
(He hits her.)
MARY. Had I but time to put the place to rights.
That walks above the ground or under it
Go kill and draw the fowl, while Teig and I
Wed do our share.
That he can give no help.
TEIG. Then you have brought no dinner.
SECOND MERCHANT. If each one brings a bit of merchandise,
For theres a vaporous thing??that may be nothing,
TEIG. Call them in.
They are as common as the grass, and ride
And stretch your heels and warm them in the ashes.
FIRST MERCHANT. But if already
CATHLEEN. I gave for all and that was all I had.
And curse all men and women. Come in, come in.
And seeing what great wealth is spread out there,
He saw him plainly by the light of the moon.
Satan gives money.
CATHLEEN. And it were stranger still were I ungrateful
TEIG. Theyre coming here.
Because I said I would be master here,
MARY. Oh, God, why are you still?
(TRIG and SHEMUS have stopped. TEIG takes the money. They go out.)
But if you hit it with a stone or a stick
TEIG. But dream of gold
MARY. Look out, and tell me if your fathers coming.
Fear whats above or whats below the ground,
FIRST MERCHANT. If we knew how to find deserving poor
TEIG. But maybe if you called, something would come,
(MARY faints.) (The FIRST MERCHANT takes up the carPet, spreads it before the fire and stands in front of
MARY. Those scruples may befit a common time.
That buy and sell you.
MARY. When those that have read books,
When they are seated they take money out of embroidered purses at their girdles and begin arranging it on the
MARY. Theres flour enough to make another loaf.
For I lived all my childhood in that house.
(TEIG lifts one arm slowly and points toward the door and begins moving backwards. SHEMUS turns, he
Why should we starve for what may be but nothing?
Its time that poverty should bolt the door.
Outside this door.
TEIG. The same for me.
That the ill lucks to fall upon their heads.
(SHEMUS goes to take money.)
Call devils from the wood, call them in here?
I welcome you. Come, sit beside the fire.
SHEMUS. Ill have no bolts, for there is not a thing
A place thats set among impassable walls
Pine to my grave.
There had been words between my wife and me
SCENE??A room with lighted fire, and a door into the open air, through which one sees, perhaps, the trees of a wood, and these trees should be painted in flat colour upon a gold or diapered sky. The walls are of one colour. The scene should have the effect of missal Painting. MARY, a woman of forty years or so, is grinding a quern.
You shall eat dock and grass, and dandelion,
And held a hollow hand among the others.
MARY. What can have kept your father all this while?
We shall be near you.
SHEMUS. (coming nearer)
TEIG. A bit of mouldy bread.
TEIG. In the bush beyond,
SHEMUS. Thank her,
Its strange that she should think we cast no shadow,
CATHLEEN. It may be that we are that trouble, for we??
Nailed like dead vermin to the doors of God.
Youll find a crock of gold.
What was it kept you in the wood? You know
Feathers instead of hair, thats but a straw,
MARY. What can have made the grey hen flutter so?
(TEIG, a boy of fourteen, is coming in with turf, which he lays beside the hearth.)
MARY. Maybe Hed have us die because He knows,
Wandering and singing like a wave of the sea??
An old grey castle with a kitchen garden,
With the pale stars and the wandering moon.
I cannot get all sorts of accidents
Look, my purse is empty. I have passed
And youll have supper at the market rate,
In what unlucky shape you sat but now
CATHLEEN. So you are starving even in this wood,
For we were happy for a long time there.
By starving men and women all this day,
That means that what was sold for but a penny
And eat the supper we were bidden to,
Wed thought of a more prudent way than that?
The silver clasps ont may be worth a trifle.
At times like this, that overset the scale
And there was scarce a wind in the parched leaves.
Longer than books can tell??and it were strange
Two grey?horned owls hooted above our heads.
MARY. You never thanked her ladyship.
But theyve the shape and colour of horned owls
I fell but now, being weak with hunger and thirst,
And they have had the rest; but take the purse,
it warming his hands.)
She emptied out the purse before our eyes.
TEIG. Twas you that called them.
And all that talk of buying whats but a vapour
Give food or money to the starving poor.
Theres something that appears like a white bird,
Till that low threshold there becomes a wall,
SHEMUS. Whos passing there?
SHEMUS.)
done.
(Turning from door)
MARY. Where shall the starving come at merchandise?
SHEMUS. Whats in the house?
FIRST MERCHANT. We travel for the Master of all merchants.
MARY. If you are not demons,
SHEMUS (muttering). What, music, music!
For when the beggars saw me they cried out
Although I tramped the woods for half a day,
He that could bend all things to His will
Although we are but poor people, if there is,
FIRST MERCHANT. Weve travelled a long road,
Cover it up with a lonely tune,
But it is certain that you are men like us.
For theres a work I have to set you to.
Leave that door open.
SHEMUS. My curse upon the beggars, my Curse upon them!
Why, if there is??
FIRST MERCHANT. There is a heap for each.
(He goes out, his singing dies away. MARY comes in. SHEmus has been counting the money.)
Id make so bold, if you would pardon it,
The doctors bid me fly the unlucky times
And ask in what I pleased or who I pleased
Because thats how the trick?o?the?loop man talks.
SHEMUS. Im in no mood to listen to your clatter.
But no, not yet,
SHEMUS. It is a long while
In the wax candle light, wed be as hard,
Upon your father, or yourself, or me.
MARY. I will not cook for you, because I know
SHEMUS. What is the trouble of the poor to her?
TEIG. So that they brought us money.
Up to a price no man has heard the like of
FIRST MERCHANT.
I sat among the beggars at the cross?roads,
MARY. Teig and Shemus??
