ALEEL. Cathleen has chosen other friends than us,

FIRST MERCHANT. Lean forward

That Death is the worst thing can happen us.

FIRST MERCHANT. Three days for traffic.

mountain, and

That he could rob in safety."

About her is a vapoury multitude

CATHLEEN. I have no thoughts; I hear a cry??a cry.

vapour full of storm and ever?changing light is sweeping above them and behind them. Half in the light, haff

For you may hear no more her faltering feet,

Whereby I know that what we seek the most

That know not the hard burden of the world,

(He moves about as though the air was full of spirits. OONA enters.)

Borne in his heavy car, and demons have lifted

(She takes them and goes into the crowd.)

And would not deal with them. Now there she is;

FIRST MERCHANT. Come, deal, deal, deal. It is but for charity We buy such souls at all; a thousand sins

That no mere lapse of days can make me yours.

A PEASANT. Thats plenty for a rogue.

FIRST MERCHANT. Five hundred thousand crowns; we give the price. The gold is here; the souls even

That I would die and go to her I love;

To be great talons.

I hurried in like feathers to the east,

(ALEEL enters.)

FIRST MERCHANT. Drag him away.

The sorrow that is in her wasted face,

Come, deal??come, deal.

Having but breath in their kind bodies, farewell

And take this money too, and give me mine.

ANOTHER PEASANT. Come, come away.

(PEASANTS crowd in with TEIG and SHEMUS.)

Let us and ours be lost so she be shriven.

THE WOMAN. The scandalous book.

CATHLEEN. Being my own it seems a priceless thing.

And all who use it have great honour in Hell.

One crumb of bread bought with our masters money,

And I was once alone with him at midnight.

Blackened the world and shook us on our feet

There is but little set down here against her.

Like autumn leaves blown by the dreary winds.

in the shadow, stand armed angels. Their armour is old and worn, and their drawn swords dim and dinted.

FIRST MERCHANT. That name is like a fire to all damned souls.

And they are rising through the hollow world.

And I would have five hundred thousand crowns

SECOND MERCHANT. We must away and wait until she dies,

What brings you here, saint with the sapphire eyes?

ALEEL. No. but you must. Seeing it cannot help her

"She has stolen eggs and fowl when times were bad,

But there is something moving in my heart

ANOTHER PEASANT WOMAN.

(They turn to door, but are stopped by shouts of "Countess

Why I should have less money than the others.

The souls that you have bought must be set free.

I gaze upon them as the swallow gazes

And the lascivious race, Cailitin,

The burden in her eyes, have broke my wits,

ALEEL (rushing forward and snatching the parchment from her) Leave all things to the builder of the

CATHLEEN (half rising) Lay all the bags of money in a heap, And when I am gone, old Oona, share them o藏书网ut

O, she is dead!

Since the drought came they drift about in a throng,

And God the herdsman goads them on behind,

FIRST MERCHANT. Youre almost safe, I give you fifty crowns

Her body shadowy as vapour drifting

SECOND MERCHANT. What matter, if the soul be worth the price?

Upon the nest under the eave, before

With goads of iron, Theyre but three days from us.

(One who is near the door draws the bolt.)

The PEASANTS cast themselves on the ground.)

PEASANT. Come, lets away.

Youll not play the fool

Her hand was laid upon my hand it trembled,

Behind her a host heat of the blood made sin,

Has but a heart of blood when others die;

And you, proud earth and plumy sea, fade out!

CATHLEEN. There is more:

John Maher, a man of substance, with dull mind,

OONA. Where is the Countess Cathleen? All this day

You shall have peace once more.

And that about the herdsman lying sick,

And when she could, paid dues." Take up your money.

Will tap three times upon the window?pane."

Of angels upon devils.

ALEEL. Shes bartered it away this very hour,

Cathleen! Countess Cathleen!")

CATHLEEN. The people starve, therefore the people go

On the High Altar though one fall. Aleel,

Has kissed her lips, and the long blessed hair

With obstinate, crafty, sidelong bitterness.

FIRST MERCHANT. Begone from me

ANOTHER PEASANT. Come quickly; if that woman had not screamed I would have lost my soul.

Made you a living spirit has passed away

head of the FIRST MERCHANT.)

And left you but a ball of passionate dust.

ALEEL. Is your power so small?

Waiting as many years as may be, guarding

When he killed Naisi and broke Deirdres heart,

SECOND MERCHANT. You offer us??

A PEASANT. We were under the tree where the path turns,

upon a table, arrange money, and so on.

SECOND MERCHANT. Leap feathered on the air

Turned gods to stone; Barach, the traitor, comes

They stand as if upon the air

Thronging to you. I hear a cry come from them

And farewell, Oona, you who played with me,

And Mary of the seven times wounded heart

SHEMUS. Not ask a price?

ALEEL. Angels and devils clash in the middle air,

He hardly understands what he is saying.

And I who weep

I, too, grow weary,

AN OLD PEASANT WOMAN. The little plant I love is broken in two.

Oh, sir, a pain went through me!

And while we bore her hither cloudy gusts

THIRD PEASANT. I tell you there is no such place as hell.

FIRST MERCHANT. There is this crack in you??two hundred crowns.

That crowed when Peter dared deny his Master,

It was a feather growing on the cock

ANOTHER PEASANT. Id give him nothing.

And you have none.

Save four or five. Here, sir, is one of these;

(ALEEL releases the ANGEL and kneels.)

And saw nine hundred oxen driven through Meath

Has fallen on her face; The Light of Lights

A PEASANT WOMAN. And will she give

She never missed her chapel of a Sunday

And mwwｗ•99lｉb.ｎｅｔust I bear it with me all my days?

(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)

His love for Countess Cathleen has so crazed him

(He seizes one of the angels.)

Have slipped out of our bond, because your face

FIRST MERCHANT. I bought your soul, and theres no sense in fear Now the souls gone.

And I am broken by their passing feet.

While these good gentlemen are there to save you.

SECOND PEASANT. And maybe we shall scream so.

Who sang about the dancers of the woods,

OONA (casting herself face downwards on the floor)

I have seen a vision under a green hedge,

A hundred, then.

How can you sell your soul without a price?

Fly screaming as they fled Moytura of old.

Her eyes were full of tears, and when for a moment

In buying a soul like yours.

MIDDLE?AGED MAN. Give me my soul again.

When you shall plunge headlong through bottomless space.

TEIG. She would not eat

while you speak

Over the mountain?tops.

PEASANT WOMEN Hush!

And yet I know Id have you take my soul.

I would not listen to his broken wits;

Looks always on the motive, not the deed,

Draw to the curtain.

ALEEL. Here, take my soul, for I am tired of it.

ANOTHER PEASANT.

Theyre but three days from us.

FIRST MERCHANT. In spite of you.

ANOTHER PEASANT. Yes, yes.

FIRST MERCHANT. Take him away.

O, Queen of Heaven, and all you blessed saints,

And saw with all their canvas full of wind

(He seizes OONA and drags her into the middle of the room

Of women alluring devils with soft laughter

And all their heads are twisted to one side,

Look how their claws clutch in their leathern gloves.

All for a soul, a little breath of wind.

(He stands up; almost every one is kneeling, but it has grown so dark that only confused forms can be seen.)

That is my wife. She mocked at my great masters,

(She dies.)

Sitting above her tower as two grey owls,

But speak to me, whose mind is smitten of God,

(SECOND MERCHANT kisses the gold circlet that is about the

THE MAN. I ask three hundred crowns. You have read there

Crouch down, old heron, out of the blind storm.

CATHLEEN. I offer my own soul.

(She screams.)

Demons are out, old heron.

And if a soul must need be lost, take mine.

(ALEEL kneels beside her, but does not seem to hear her words. The PEASANTS return. They carry the

(He Points downward.)

SHEMUS. Woman, have sense?come, Come.

I will give everybody money enough.

At the horse fair the hand that wrote whats hid

The Archangels rolling Satans empty skull

FIRST MERCHANT. Can such a trifle turn you from your profit? Come, deal; come, deal,

I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,

The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone.

Though that sounds simple, for her tongue grew rank

FIRST MERCHANT. We know of but one soul thats worth the price.

And from the eternal revelry?

CATHLEEN. I come to barter a soul for a great price.

WOMAN (going on her knees an九九藏书网d clinging to MERCHANT)

When we are far from this polluted place

(A WOMAN brings it to her out of the inner room. OONA holds it over the lips Of CATHLEEN. All is silent

And that great king Hell first took hold upon

To hearten us.

He is wakeful from a dread of growing poor,

(Everything is lost in darkness.)

AN OLD MAN. The Almighty wrath at our great weakness and sin Has blotted out the world and we must

Have plucked thunder and lightning on our heads.

She does not even know she was a fool,

SECOND MERCHANT. When the dew rose

the kneeling PEASANTS appear faintly in the darkness.)

Till you speak

A PEASANT. She was more beautiful than the pale stars.

There is an alcove at the back with curtains; in it a bed, and on the

(A general murmur, during which the MIDDLE?AGED?MAN takes money, and slips into background,

We shall be too much thronged with souls to?morrow.

First, Orchill, her pale, beautiful head alive,

I do not ask a price.

ALEEL. The brazen door stands wide, and Balor comes

So black, bitter, blinding, and sudden a storm.

There is something more writ here??"often at night

As though we two were never in the world.

CATHLEEN. Bend down your faces, Oona and Aleel;

But when the times grew better has confessed it;

That brimmed you up with beauty is no more:

CATHLEEN. Take up the money, and now come with me;

FIRST MERCHANT. Has no one got a better soul than that?

With all the lies that she had heard in chapel.

(OONA takes her in her arms. A WOMAN begins to wail.)

That cast a druid weakness and decay

Made them our Masters long before we came.

the scene goes on. There is a distant muttering of thunder and a sound of rising storm.)

The others will gain courage in good time.

And they are rising through the hollow world.

O, Maker of all, protect her from the demons,

OONA. Bring me the looking?glass.

For when they lived they warred on beauty and peace

A PEASANT. Do not, do not, for souls the like of ours

To every man and woman: judge, and give

A PEASANT. How she screamed out!

A PEASANT WOMAN. Pull him upon his knees before his curses

Under the dawn, for she who awoke desire

FIRST MERCHANT (reading in a book)

Its certain that the man shes married to

The years like great black oxen tread the world,

Call curses on you, Time and Fate and Change,

MIDDLE?AGED MAN. Master, I am afraid.

Is drawing near??our labour will soon end.

MIDDLE?AGED?MAN. I come to deal??if you give honest price.

Those ships that bring the woman grain and meal.

and Points downward with vehement gestures. The wind roars.)

And there is still some music on their tongues.

You shall not drift into eternity.

(Murmur among the PEASANTS, who shrink back from her as she goes out.)

Has torn through Balors eye, and the dark clans

A PEASANT. She was the great white lily of the world.

(She kisses the hands of CATHLEEN.)

Over S

九九藏书网

ualtems and old Decteras child;

COUNTESS CATHLEEN and lay her upon the ground before OONA and ALEEL. She lies there as if dead.)

Draw the great bolt, for no man has beheld

The angels think him safe." Two hundred crowns,

(An Old PEASANT WOMAN comes forward, and he takes up a book and reads.)

(A sound of far?off horns seems to come from the heart of the Light. The vision melts away, and the forms of

PEASANTS. Hush!

FIRST MERCHANT. I offer this great price: a?thousand crowns For an old woman who was always ugly.

But you must sign, for we omit no form

But all the little pink?white nails have grown

A hedge of hips and haws?men yet shall hear

And rushing through the parti?coloured sea

(Throws the woman off.)

May you be scorned and mocked!

SECOND MERCHANT. His gaze has filled me, brother,

And thereon wonders if theres any man

in formation of battle and look downward with stern faces.

Should prosper and the porcelain break in two!

FIRST MERCHANT. . It may be the souls worth it.

Too great a while, for there is many a candle

And die, dull heart, for she whose mournful words

SECOND MERCHANT. Sign with this quill.

SECOND MERCHANT. Bear bastards, drink or follow some wild fancy; For sighs and cries are the souls

(They rush Out. ALEEL crawls into the middle of the room. The twilight has fallen and gradually darkens as

The storm is in my hair and I must go.

There, take it up. There, there. Thats right.

"Soft, handsome, and still young "??not much, I think."

OTHER PEASANT WOMEN Hush!

And brazen swords clang upon brazen helms.

If only for the credit of your parishes, Traffic with us.

But are left lonely amid the clamorous war

CATHLEEN picks up parchment and signs, then turns towards the PEASANTS.)

That it may be no more with mortal things,

OONA. Tell them who walk upon the floor of peace

OONA. O, that so many pitchers of rough clay

bed is the body of MARY with candles round it. The two MERCHANTS while they speak put a large book

And meet them with her soul caught in your claws.

And bore me in your arms about the house

Our precious jewel; waiting to seize her soul.

ALEEL (casting the parchment on the ground)

Were pressed upon it when he sent us hither;

FIRST MERCHANT. We cannot take your soul, for it is hers.

O! what would Heaven do without you, lady?

He troubles me.

SHEMUS. Theres nobody could put into her head

Her heart began to break. Hush, hush, I hear

That I may feed them till the dearth go by.

Has shed a light on them and filled their hearts.

FIRST MERCHANT. Who will come deal with us?

PEASANT. Hush!

SHEMUS. They are out of spirit, Sir, with lack of food,

The age?weary eyelids from the eyes that of old

OLD WOMAN. God bless you, Sir.

Between the hour?glass and the pepper?pot."

And it is in my ears by night and day,

ALEEL. I shatter you in fragments, for the face

Is d九-九-藏-书-网ragging me away.

for a moment. And then she speaks in a half scream:)

(ALEEL takes looking?glass from OONA and flings it upon the floor so that it is broken in many pieces.)

are left alone.)

FIRST MERCHANT. Thanks to that lie I told about her ships

SHEMUS. They say you beat the woman down too low.

OONA. God guard her soul.

A WOMAN. What will you give for mine?

So great a fool she was.

The brazen door of Hell move on its hinges,

Is this a time to haggle at the price?

But lived on nettles, dock, and dandelion.

die.

Come, deal, deal, deal, deal, deal; are you all dumb?

SHEMUS. Come in, come in, you are welcome.

FIRST MERCHANT. When the night fell and I had shaped myself Into the image of the man?headed owl,

(She turns to go.)

According to their needs.

They begin a song

work,

Yonder a bright spear, cast out of a sling,

(She goes out, the PEASANTS crowding round her and kissing her dress. ALEEL and the two MERCHANTS

(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)

SECOND MERCHANT. Deal, deal.

CATHLEEN (entering) And so you trade once more?

She wander the loud waters. Do not weep

where he sinks on to a seat.)

A PEASANT. Whod have thought it?

(TEIG and SHEMUS lead ALEEL into the crowd.)

Are not precious to God as your soul is.

(CATHLEEN leans forward to sign.)

And tell of her who lies there.

ALEEL. The trouble that has come on Countess Cathleen,

When I was but a child and therefore happy,

When she grew pale as death and fainted away.

And kiss the circlet where my Masters lips

(TEIG draws it.)

And have no excellent hope but the great hour

(The darkness is broken by a visionary light. The PEASANTS seem to be kneeling upon the rocky slope of a

THE ANGEL. The light beats down; the gates of pearl are wide. And she is passing to the floor of peace,

Therefore happy, even like those that dance.

SECOND MERCHANT. What has she in her coffers now but mice?

Enough to keep my children through the dearth?

And quiet senses and unventurous heart.

SHEMUS. Youll get no more??so take whats offered you.

THE WOMAN. And if there is a letter, that is no reason

CATHLEEN. O, hold me, and hold me tightly, for the storm

I have grown tired of it.

ANOTHER PEASANT. I will not trust my mother after this.

ALEEL. Look no more on the half?closed gates of Hell,

Knows nothing of whats hidden in the jar

FIRST MERCHANT.

FIRST MERCHANT. We need but hover over her head in the air, For she has only minutes. When she signed

FIRST MERCHANT (reading in book)

With shaking and a dreadful fear.

(TEIG and SHEMUS drag him roughly away so that he falls upon the floor among the PEASANTS.

And now I do not know where she is gone.

And the eternal revelry float hither

SECOND MERCHANT.

heavens.

I may not touch it.

What, will you keep me from our ancient home

FIRST MERCHANT. "Nor how when hes away