The Fourth Pig
Page 12
Ah, he knows you’ll go the same way the others went.
Kate: But all the same, I’ll do it.
(Ann bleats.)
Porter (startled): What was that?
Kate: Nothing at all. I will watch your sick prince for you.
(At this the Sick Prince goes from the window.)
Bring us in, Mr. Peter Porter. When I have my peck of silver, you shall have something out of it.
Porter: Come then, beggar maids.
(He goes in, followed by Ann. Kate still stands for a moment, staring at the window.)
Kate:
This is the thing I have waited for,
This is the thing I left my home for,
All I have loved and hated for,
All that I ever thought to roam for!
Oh prince, sick prince, I will be your healer,
I will be bold as I am bonny,
I will go to the fairy hill,
I will be listener, I will be stealer,
I will dare go down through the black, black mould,
Under the turf of the fairy hill.
If I am bonny, I will be bold,
I will follow my prince to the fairy hill.
I will set my will to the will of the fairies,
A mortal will to the fairy will,
I will follow my prince and keep and hold,
And bring him back from the fairy hill!
(She turns and goes into the castle, after the Porter and sister Ann.)
SCENE II
(The Sick Prince’s room in the castle. A chest, a stool by the fire, a low bed spread with a green silken cover. The Sick Prince stands at the window, holding back the curtain and looking out.)
Sick Prince:
Sleep … I will sleep now … I will sleep and sleep.
Soon I must rise and ride. The sky is steep,
I must tread down the stars. Oh set of sun,
In the Green Hill the dancing has begun!
They wait for me. At midnight I will go.
(He turns from the window.)
All day the hours drag, the clocks are slow;
My brother and the rest would have me gay,
They’d have me laughing all the hateful day!
They talk; they give me food I cannot eat,
They slink about my ways, they lie, they cheat,
I hate their spying looks, their service bought!
And I am hindered, hindered from the thought
Of fairy gladness, fairy wine and bread,
That lovely light about the Green Hill shed,
The thick, close sweetness of the fairy hill!
Oh how I hate these mortals that must still
Press all about me, touch me, drag me back
To the hot slavering of the human pack,
Hold me, possess me, catch me, make me well,
A well, glad devil in the human hell!
They say another’s come to watch to-night,
I hate the thought of her, the touch, the sight.
Ah fairies, catch her, hold her in the hill,
Set your fine wills against her mortal will,
This gold-bought human in your green hill keep!
Sleep … I will sleep now … I will sleep and sleep.
(He lies down on the green bed and goes to sleep. Music. After a little time the Porter comes in, on tiptoe.)
Porter (speaking over his shoulder):
Yes, yes, come in!
(Kate and Ann come in, looking from him to the sleeping prince.)
He is like this always in the evening. Dead asleep. It is only later that he wakes. As the clock strikes midnight.
Kate (bending over him): Poor lad, poor lad. He is dreaming of the fairies. Well, if there is nothing left of me to-morrow morning, you shall give the peck of silver to my sister Ann!
(Ann bleats)
Porter: What was that?
Kate: Nothing at all. Give me the stool, Mr. Peter Porter. I will sit there and sing myself awake all night.
(The Porter draws the stool forward. Enter the Well Prince.)
Well Prince:
So you have come, brave beggar maid,
Knowing the peril, but not afraid!
Welcome to you and your bonny sister
With the grey veil still o’er her bright eyes laid!
Kate: It is I, not she, who will do the watching. Good-night, Ann, good-night, my dear. (They kiss) Wish me well and have good dreams. Now go, my Ann.
(Exeunt Ann and the Porter.)
Well Prince (looking after Ann):
There she goes with her step so fine,
But I wish I could see her blue eyes shine,
And I wish your sister were my own sister
And I wish her good-night kiss were mine!
Kate: I would sooner see her go to you than to any other man. If she could. If the spell were off her. Prince, if I am magicked away to-night, will you care for my sick sister Ann?
Well Prince:
If your sick sister were left alone,
I would not leave her to sigh or moan,
But I would care for your sad sick sister
As though your sister had been mine own.
Kate: I will have that in mind through my watching. And now, Prince, you should go. Only wish me luck after midnight in the fairy time.
Well Prince:
Oh I wish you luck and I wish you well,
May all good counsel be with you still,
Oh I wish you well in the Fairy Hill
And a fine, fine tale at dawn to tell!
(He goes out.)
Kate: Well now, here’s time before midnight and a good fire to spend it by. (She goes over to the Sick Prince.) He’s sleeping sound enough now. I’ll sing and keep me awake.
(She sits on the stool and sings. Air: “Lilliburlero.”)
There was a maid that loved a lad
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
A silver penny was all she had
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
The lad was noble, the lad was proud
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
He scorned the maid in a voice so loud
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
He went a-walking to take the air,
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
He went a-walking by the mill dam fair.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
He went a-walking, as I am told,
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
When by there came a robber bold.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
That robber took his gold so bright,
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
And bound his hands behind him tight.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
Proud youth, said he, I’ll have your life,
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
I’ll slay you with my little pen-knife.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
But by there came that silly maid,
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
She heard all the bold robber said.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
She tripped up like any lamb
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
She pushed the robber into the mill dam.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
That proud lad’s hands she straight unbound,
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
And woke him out of his sore swound.
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
He kissed her lips that were so red:
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
“But for you I had been dead”
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
“But for you I had lost my life”
(The broom is bonny on bank and brae)
“Now you shall be
my dear wife.”
(And I’ll go up to the broom to-day).
(She stops singing and speaks.)
There’s a silly song! My nurse was used to sing it. And in the last verse of all they are wedded and live happy ever after. Well, I’ll not sing that. (She goes over to the Sick Prince.) He’s asleep still. (She goes back to the stool.) Nothing to do but sing again.
(She sings. Air: “Jacket and Petticoat.”)
As I went by with my sister Ann,
I saw a middling fine young man,
Middling fine, middling fine,
I saw a middling fine young man!
As I looked up and as I walked in
Then he looked down and gave me a grin,
Gave me a grin, gave me a grin,
Oh he looked down and gave me a grin!
As I sat there on my little chair,
That fine young man …
(She breaks off as the clock strikes twelve. On the twelfth stroke the Sick Prince sits up on his bed.)
Sick Prince:
Yes, I am coming! Yes, the dance is set.
In the Green Hill the company is met …
Oh I can hear the thin long notes that come
Across the muffled beating of the drum,
The heavy drum, the fairy drum, the luring
Drum that has set a dance time there’s no curing,
A dance time in my head and in my heart.
Now down! To horse, to horse! The pipers start,
In the Green Hill where such fine folks are met.
Yes, I am coming, yes, the dance is set!
(He gets up and goes out. Kate follows him silently.)
SCENE III
Inside the Green Hill. Green light, green curtains, pulled back to make a cavern. The Fairies are dancing under the slope of the hill: green and brown, or green and silver dresses, pointed caps, slanted eyes. On one side stand two Fairies who play the dance tune, one with a recorder or some wood wind instrument, the other with a small drum. On the other side stands a Fairy who sings. Either the singing is continuous throughout the dancing or else there is first a verse sung during the dance and then the dance goes on while the tune is played through once more, rather louder, by the recorder and drum. Then the singing and dancing together, then the dancing alone. The tune is “Linten Lowring,” with the four lines of the chorus played rather rapidly. During the slow first half of the air, the Fairies dance weavingly, lifting their arms slowly and high, with dragging steps, but during the quick second half they run in and out in a rapid chain, or under arches of joined hands.
Fairy (singing. Air: “Linten Lowring.”):
For miles and miles the nut groves lie,
From bush to bush the robins flit,
The Fairy Hill is in the midst
With green grass growing over it.
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill,
You’ll go the way you shouldna’ go
And find yourself in the Fairy Hill!
And who would know or who would guess
What plays are played, what songs are sung
Behind the lovely hazel groves
Where all the Spring the catkins swung?
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill,
You’ll go the way you shouldna’ go
And find yourself in the Fairy Hill!
(Enter the Sick Prince, quickly, through the swinging green of the curtains. Behind him Kate follows quietly; she has her apron full of nuts, caught up in one hand. The tune goes on, encircling and drawing away the Prince, who takes hands with the Fairies and follows them into the dance. Kate stands, upright, pressed back against the green wall, staring and watching as they dance.)
Fairy (singing):
And he who once has seen the dance
Will surely come, will come again,
And she who seeks to hinder him
She toils in vain, she toils in vain.
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill,
He’s gone the way he shouldna’ go
And found himself in the Fairy Hill!
(They dance with him for another round of the tune, then the music stops, with the Fairies grouped round the Prince, all looking sidelong at Kate.)
Fairy (speaks):
What’s to do and where to go,
Shall we take her, shall we keep her?
In the harvest of the foe
Shall we bind her, shall we reap her?
In the Green Hill deeper
Shall we stack her, hold her, keep her?
Sick Prince (with hate):
Take her, take her,
Bind her, blind her!
In the dancing lose her, make her
Give up striving, give up hoping!
Leave her groping
Full of pain,
Fairy pains that rack and shake her,
Out and up and all in vain!
Kate:
Oh my Prince, who is bound, so bound,
Whose heart must hate and whose look would kill,
I will bring you living and whole and sound,
Oh kinder-eyed on to mortal ground,
And back with me from the Fairy Hill!
(The dance tune begins again. Some of the Fairies dance away and out of sight with the Sick Prince, while others come nearer and nearer to Kate, holding out their arms to her.)
Fairies (singing):
Did you but know what joys were here,
For Kate, for Kate, our dearest Kate,
You needs must love the Fairy Hill,
You would not hate, you could not hate!
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill,
You’ve gone the way you shouldna’ go
And found yourself in the Fairy Hill!
(Kate takes a step forward in spite of herself, as she does so dropping and scattering the nuts from her apron. The Fairies take her hands and pull her into the middle of their circle but there she snatches herself away from them and crouches, her hands over her ears, while they dance round her.)
Fairies (singing):
Would you but join the fairy dance,
Oh sweetest sweet—your Prince’s hate
Would turn to love, would turn to love
For Kate, his Kate, for fairy Kate!
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill,
You’ve gone the way you shouldna’ go
And found yourself in the Fairy Hill!
(Kate jumps to her feet in the midst of the circle, crying out against the Fairy tune.)
Kate:
Stop your dancing and hush your song,
It has rung in my ears too long, too long!
Sweet is dancing and sweet is love,
But I must remember the world above!
It went to my heart so deep, so deep,
But a fairy promise is ill to keep,
And I’ll not harvest with Green Hill people
And I’ll not stack where the fairies reap!
(The Fairies gather at one side, laughing spitefully and pointing their fingers at her.)
Fairies (laughing):
Foolish mortal, foolish human,
Where’s the profit for a woman
But in dancing, but in singing,
Clasping fingers, fondly swinging,
Flinging, ringing,
In our dancing,
Once you pass the Green Hill’s portal,
Foolish woman, foolish mortal!
(They go out, still laughing, to another round of the dance tune. The Fairy singers and players follow them out and, while Kate is alone, the tune is heard faintly and fitfully from behind the scene.)
Kate (with a deep sigh): So! And I might have gone with them … and danced … and never seen my Ann again. They’ll let me be now. Oh that tune. It’s in my head for ever.
(She sings to the secon
d half of the tune faintly sounding from beyond.)
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill.
We went the way we shouldna’ go,
And found ourselves in the Fairy Hill.
He’ll be dancing with them now … dancing till dawn.
And what’s poor Kate to do? Well, well, poor Kate can
pick up her nuts and crack them.
(She begins to pick up the scattered nuts. Every now and then she cracks one between her teeth and eats it.)
Good mortal food—no fairy stuff, but squirrels’ nuts from the hazel bushes. I’ve robbed you, squirrels! Kate has robbed you … Kate Crackernuts. There’s a sweet one. Yes, it was a long ride for Kate, a long ride through the hazel woods on the crupper of his horse, and he in a dream, not noticing. Oh that tune … how I could have danced with him! Next time—if there is a next time—I shall hide when I follow him in. I’ll not have them luring me again. I might have danced … oh, I might have danced!
(Again the dance tune sounds from behind. Perhaps the lights should be lowered here to show the passing of the time towards the dawn. Kate cracks her nuts, humming the tune to herself. But suddenly the tune goes louder again, and the Fairies and the Sick Prince come dancing in. Kate presses back into the folds of the green curtains.)
Fairies (singing):
The dawn is on the hazel groves,
Where long the dewy shadows lie.
Until the midnight chimes again
Our Prince, good-bye—our Prince, good-bye.
Up and under, in and under,
Down and under, well or ill,
You’ll go the way you shouldna’ go
And find yourself in the Fairy Hill!
(As the song ceases they drop away from him sleepily, some kneeling upright still, but others sinking and curling to the ground all round him and pillowing their faces in their hands.)
Fairy (speaks):
Oh foolish morning,
Oh red-faced sun,
Spoiling our dancing,
Staring and scorning,
Striding and prancing,
As though you’d never
Be ended and done,
You hindering, blundering, mortal sun!
(The Fairy yawns and stretches and sinks down into sleep among the others, at the Prince’s feet. He stands among them and speaks.)
Sick Prince:
Dawn … and the weary ride, the long ride back
Among the hazels, down the winding track.
How fleet I rode at midnight when the stars
Peered blinkingly between the branches’ bars,
Watched me beneath low hazel arches flitting