by W. B. Yeats
CONAN. Are not swans a kind of geese; but how do I know it was not swans my mother saw.
CAOELTE. Conan, give me my ale skin.
CONAN. Why did I keep Finn and Diarmuid from killing one another? They could have done it so easily in Diarmuid’s house.
Why did I bring them to this hunt? Conan has brought his own death upon him.
[Enter Finn],
FINN. We have come upon the slot of a boar in the hills; he can only just have passed by; if we go to the bend of the stream we should come upon him. [To Conan]. Why are you lying there? We want every man. Get up, we will put you in the gap yonder. The boar shall not escape unless he escapes through you.
CAOELTE. Conan is in terror; he thinks he is going to die.
FINN. Conan, get up or you may have to face this beast alone.
CONAN. DO not believe them; it is not Diarmuid this pig is looking for, it is for me.
FINN. If Conan will not go, let him stay there. Here is a handful more leaves to warm your shins.
[Finn throws some wet leaves on the fire and quenches it].
CONAN. YOU have thrown wet leaves on the fire; now I shall die of cold. But are you leaving me? They all go because Finn has bidden them. You leave me, Goll, yet some day Finn who has put out my fire will put out your life. Is it not the oath of the Fianna to protect one another? Caoelte, Usheen, do you not hear me? [They go out laughing]. They are an evil stony-hearted proud race... Rot in the ear wheat, frogs’ spawn in the pool, yellow sickness in one’s body, henbane in one’s drink, lice in my beard, fleas in my sheep skin...
A stony-hearted proud race.
[He follows them out. Enter Grania and Finn].
FINN. You are cold and tired, Grania, and have stumbled through the wood, you are all bruised.
GRANIA. I am bruised and full of wretchedness, and I am very cold; and the dawning of the day frightens me. However, cold as it is, I do not wish to see the sun — but I am cold, oh, the cold.
FINN. There has been a fire here; I will blow the ashes to a blaze.
GRANIA. [Sitting down]. Why did you not leave me to die where I had chosen.
FINN. The beast we are hunting might have run upon you and you would have been trampled and gored by it. I could not have left you there. The blaze is already beginning; hold your hands to it.
GRANIA. I would that you had left me to be killed by it. You have planned that the death of this boar is to put me on one side or the other, to give me to Diarmuid or to give me to you. But I am no man’s spoil. [Standing up]. You have planned it all between you; your plans are not mine. Go from me, Finn, go to this hunt and kill the boar, make the fire or go where you will.
FINN. Although I lose my chance of killing this beast I must stay with you. I will protect you.
GRANIA. It does not matter. Stay with me here or go to this hunt.
FINN. I will not leave you, if it were to spring upon you from the thicket.
GRANIA. It might be better, for I have done mischief enough. I wished that you and Diarmuid could have made peace and all would have been well, had not this evil thing broken out of the earth.
FINN. Diarmuid and I could not be at peace. The peace we made was a false peace. [Hunting horns heard in the distance]. The hounds are at the boar’s heels now. I can hear my hounds. Yes, it is Bran. Now it is Skealon. They have found their courage and are driving him from cover to cover. [Going up the stage]. Listen — now it is
Lomair.
GRANIA. Finn, I beseech you to put the desire of me out of your heart. Be Diarmuid’s friend and save him. Kill the boar and save him.
FINN. If I kill the boar, will you belong to me?
GRANIA. Not because you kill the boar.
FINN. If I were there, and Diarmuid here, and this boar coming against me, would Diarmuid save me?
GRANIA. YOU have fought side by side. Will you let him die?
FINN. Why do you wish me to do this?
GRANIA. It was I who sent Diarmuid to you; and by the blood bond, you are brothers.
FINN. Should not a woman’s breast be more to me than a man’s hand?
GRANIA. But the blood bond — he who breaks it shall be cast out by
God-kind and man-kind.
FINN. I cannot save Diarmuid, his end has been foretold. I cannot change it. The deaths of everyone of us and the end of the Fianna have been foretold. Many will die in a great battle, Oscar who is but a child will die in it, but I shall die long after by a spear thrust, and Diarmuid by the tusk of a boar, and Usheen will go far away, and Caoelte storm the house of the gods at Assaroe.
[A cry is heard close by, Finn plunges into the thicket and returns with Diarmuid who has been mortally wounded by the boar. Diarmuid struggles to his feet, and leans against a rock].
DIARMUID. Water, is there no water? My life is ebbing out with my blood. [Finn goes to a well and comes back with water in his hand, but as he holds up his hand the water drips through his fingers]. If
I had water I might not die.
GRANIA. Finn, bring him water in your helmet.
[Diarmuid looks from one to the other].
DIARMUID. Grania and Finn.
[When Finn returns with his helmet filled with water, Diarmuid looks from one to the other, and then whether by accident or design he overturns the helmet].
GRANIA. Why have you done this? Why will you not drink the water that Finn brought you? [She takes up the helmet and fetches the water herself. Again Diarmuid looks from one to another and puts the water away]. For my sake, for the sake of Grania, I beseech you to drink it.
DIARMUID. It is growing lighter. There is a light coming out of the hill.
FINN. Let me bind up your wounds or in a moment you’ll be gone.
DIARMUID. They’re about me, they’re about me. They were always about me though I could not see them.
FINN. He is dying, they are coming for him.
DIARMUID. There is somebody there by the trees... move me a little that I may see him.
[Finn helps Diarmuid and slightly changes his position. He begins swaying his hand as if to music].
FINN. He hears the harp-playing of Aonghus; it is by music that he leads the dead.
GRANIA. Diarmuid, oh, Diarmuid! Do not look at them. If you do not look at them you will not die. Do not die. You said once that you would be lonely without me among the immortals.
DIARMUID. I cannot hear the harp playing; there is so much noise about me.
GRANIA. He has forgotten me.
FINN. Henceforth his business is with them.
GRANIA. Oh, Diarmuid! Oh, Diarmuid! Oh, Diarmuid!
DIARMUID. Someone spoke to me; No, not the harp player, some other. It was you Finn, who spoke to me. No, no, who was it who spoke to me?
[He falls back dead].
FINN. He is dead: he has died as the son of the gods should die. A friend against whom I have made war is dead. I warred against him for you, Grania.
[They stand looking at each other for a moment and then Grania goes away and weeps. Enter a young man].
YOUNG MAN. The beast you have been hunting is dead, killed by a spear thrust. Here is the spear.
FINN. The spear is mine; give it to me. [Walking towards Grania]. We must send for men to carry the body to the house. [To the young man]. Go fetch King Cormac, bring him here.
[Exit shepherd],
GRANIA. [Trying to overcome her emotion]. What did you say, and what are you saying? That spear with the blood upon it in your hand, where did it come from?
FINN. It is the spear that killed the boar — A thrust behind the shoulder did it. We must send for help.
GRANIA. A great man is dead. Ah, why did I send him to you, Finn?
I thought that two who were so great should be friends.
FINN. The gods chose you, Grania, to give him love and death.
GRANIA. [ Wringing her hands]. Finn, we must mourn him. You have to go against the Lochlanders, and this one that I have taken from you will not be by your side.
Before the Fianna go against the Lochlanders they must mourn him, all his comrades must mourn him. [The hunters begin to come in from the wings]. All the Fianna must mourn him, and the shepherds of his valley. [She goes towards the body of Diarmuid. They make way for her, and when she reaches Diarmuid’s body a shepherd coming in from the back gives her Diarmuid’s shield and his broken spear]. His shield with the flying white heron upon it shall be laid upon his breast and I will lay beside him the Broad Edge that I bade him take instead of this spear I warned him not to take. Where is my father? Where is King Cormac? He shall see that Diarmuid’s burning be worthy of him. [Enter King Cormac]. Here is my father [She goes to her father]. Father, he is dead, one of the great men of Eri is dead. I am telling all these people that you will see to his burning that it may be worthy of him.
CORMAC. My daughter has lost a husband and Eri a defender. The Fianna must mourn him, and all the shepherds of this valley. Finn son of Cool, you too shall watch over this mourning.
[Finn goes over and stands by her].
GRANIA. There are birch trees upon the mountain that the summer has made ready for the flame. Every shepherd shall bring a tree and they shall be heaped to a great height. Diarmuid shall be laid upon them and when they are lighted all people that are on the western shore shall see the blaze.
CAOELTE. I will send messengers to gather the swift runners, and the swift riders, and the boxers, and the throwers of the weight, that the funeral games be worthy of him.
USHEEN. I shall send messengers who will gather the harpers and gather the women that his funeral songs may be well sung. Many queens shall mourn him to the sound of harps, for when he lived there was none that would not have taken Grania’s place, and wandered with him in her stead. It may be that he will come with
Aonghus out of the heart of some hill and stand invisible among us and know that he is not forgotten.
FINN. The best of my horses shall be killed with his own horse that he may have noble horses when he awakes. [Turning to the men who have brought in the litter]. Carry him gently for he was well beloved when alive. [They lay Diarmuid’s body upon the litter. Finn turns to Grania]. Lay his shield upon his breast.
[Grania walks again to the body and lays the shield upon Diarmuid. The men lift the litter and carry it slowly to the wood].
CORMAC. Diarmuid is dead, but the Fianna are united and the Lochlanders shall be driven into the sea.
[Finn, Cormac, and Grania go up the stage, following the procession. Conan remains warming his shins by the fire].
CONAN. Grania makes great mourning for Diarmuid, but her welcome to Finn shall be greater.
Curtain
WHERE THERE IS NOTHING
CONTENTS
PERSONS IN THE PLAY
ACT I.
ACT II.
ACT III.
ACT IV.
ACT V.
PERSONS IN THE PLAY
Paul Ruttledge, a Country Gentleman.
Thomas Ruttledge, his Brother.
Mrs. Thomas Ruttledge.
Magistrates:
Mr. Dowler
Mr. Algie,
Magistrates
Colonel Lawley
Mr. Joyce
Mr. Green, a Stipendiary Magistrate.
Tinkers:
Sabina Silver,
Molly the Scold,
Charlie Ward,
Paddy Cockfight,
Tommy the Song,
Johneen, etc.
Friars:
Father Jerome
Father Aloysius
Father Colman
Father Bartley
Other Friars, and a crowd of countrymen.
ACT I.
Scene: A lawn with croquet hoops, garden chairs and tables. Door into house at left. Gate through hedge at back. The hedge is clipped into shapes of farmyard fowl. Paul Ruttledge is clipping at the hedge in front. A table with toys on it.
Thomas Ruttledge. [Coming out on steps.] Paul, are you coming in to lunch?
Paul Ruttledge. No; you can entertain these people very well. They are your friends: you understand them.
Thomas Ruttledge. You might as well come in. You have been clipping at that old hedge long enough.
Paul Ruttledge. You needn’t worry about me. I should be bored if I went in, and I don’t want to be bored more than is necessary.
Thomas Ruttledge. What is that creature you are clipping at now? I can’t make it out.
Paul Ruttledge. Oh, it is a Cochin China fowl, an image of some of our neighbours, like the others.
Thomas Ruttledge. I don’t see any likeness to anyone.
Paul Ruttledge. Oh, yes there is, if you could see their minds instead of their bodies. That comb now — —
Mrs. Ruttledge. [Coming out on steps.] Thomas, are you coming in?
Thomas Ruttledge. Yes, I’m coming; but Paul won’t come.
[Thomas Ruttledge goes out.
Mrs. Ruttledge. Oh! this is nonsense, Paul; you must come. All these men will think it so strange if you don’t. It is nonsense to think you will be bored. Mr. Green is talking in the most interesting way.
Paul Ruttledge. Oh! I know Green’s conversation very well.
Mrs. Ruttledge. And Mr. Joyce, your old guardian. Thomas says he was always so welcome in your father’s time, he will think it so queer.
Paul Ruttledge. Oh! I know all their virtues. There’s Dowler, who puts away thousands a year in Consols, and Algie, who tells everybody all about it. Have I forgotten anybody? Oh, yes! Colonel Lawley, who used to lift me up by the ears, when I was a child, to see Africa. No, Georgina, I know all their virtues, but I’m not coming in.
Mrs. Ruttledge. I can’t imagine why you won’t come in and be sociable.
Paul Ruttledge. You see I can’t. I have something to do here. I have to finish this comb. You see it is a beautiful comb; but the wings are very short. The poor creature can’t fly.
Mrs. Ruttledge. But can’t you finish that after lunch?
Paul Ruttledge. No, I have sworn.
Mrs. Ruttledge. Well, I am sorry. You are always doing uncomfortable things. I must go in to the others. I wish you would have come. [She goes in.
Jerome. [Who has come to gate as she disappears.] Paul, you there! that is lucky. I was just going to ask for you.
Paul Ruttledge. [Flinging clipper away, and jumping up.] Oh, Father Jerome, I am delighted to see you. I haven’t seen you for ever so long. Come and have a talk; or will you have some lunch?
Jerome. No, thank you; I will stay a minute, but I won’t go in.
Paul Ruttledge. That is just as well, for you would be bored to death. There has been a meeting of magistrates in the village, and my brother has brought them all in to lunch.
Jerome. I am collecting for the Monastery, and my donkey has gone lame; I have had to put it up in the village. I thought you might be able to lend me one to go on with.
Paul Ruttledge. Of course, I’m delighted to lend you that or anything else. I’ll go round to the yard with you and order it. But sit down here first. What have you been doing all this time?
Jerome. Oh, we have been very busy. You know we are going to put up new buildings.
Paul Ruttledge. [Absent-mindedly.] No, I didn’t know that.
Jerome. Yes, our school is increasing so much we are getting a grant for technical instruction. Some of the Fathers are learning handicrafts. Father Aloysius is going to study industries in France; but we are all busy. We are changing with the times, we are beginning to do useful things.
Paul Ruttledge. Useful things. I wonder what you have begun to call useful things. Do you see those marks over there on the grass?
Jerome. What marks?
Paul Ruttledge. Those marks over there, those little marks of scratching.
Jerome. [Going over to the place Paul Ruttledge has pointed out.] I don’t see anything.
Paul Ruttledge. You are getting blind, Jerome. Can’t you see that the poultry have been scratching there?
&nbs
p; Jerome. No, the grass is perfectly smooth.
Paul Ruttledge. Well, the marks are there, whether you see them or not; for Mr. Green and Mr. Dowler and Mr. Algie and the rest of them run out of their houses when nobody is looking, in their real shapes, shapes like those on my hedge. And then they begin to scratch, they scratch all together, they don’t dig but they scratch, and all the time their mouths keep going like that.
[He holds out his hand and opens and shuts his fingers like a bird’s bill.
Jerome. Oh, Paul, you are making fun of me.
Paul Ruttledge. Of course I am only talking in parables. I think all the people I meet are like farmyard creatures, they have forgotten their freedom, their human bodies are a disguise, a pretence they keep up to deceive one another.