We have a
precious
jewel for Satan's crown.
Yeats
ALEEL.
[_Casting the parchment on the ground. _]
I had a vision under a green hedge,
A hedge of hips and haws--men yet shall hear
The archangels rolling Satan's empty skull
Over the mountain-tops.
FIRST MERCHANT.
Take him away.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS drag him roughly away so that he
falls upon the floor among the peasants. CATHLEEN picks
up the parchment and signs, and then turns towards the
peasants. _
CATHLEEN.
Take up the money; and now come with me.
When we are far from this polluted place
I will give everybody money enough.
[_She goes out, the peasants crowding round her and
kissing her dress. ALEEL and the TWO MERCHANTS are left
alone. _
SECOND MERCHANT.
Now are our days of heavy labour done.
FIRST MERCHANT.
We have a precious jewel for Satan's crown.
SECOND MERCHANT.
We must away, and wait until she dies,
Sitting above her tower as two gray owls,
Watching as many years as may be, guarding
Our precious jewel; waiting to seize her soul.
FIRST MERCHANT.
We need but hover over her head in the air,
For she has only minutes: when she came
I saw the dimness of the tomb in her,
And marked her walking as with leaden shoes
And looking on the ground as though the worms
Were calling her, and when she wrote her name
Her heart began to break. Hush! hush! I hear
The brazen door of Hell move on its hinges,
And the eternal revelry float hither
To hearten us.
SECOND MERCHANT.
Leap, feathered, on the air
And meet them with her soul caught in your claws.
[_They rush out. ALEEL crawls into the middle of the
room. The twilight has fallen and gradually darkens
as the scene goes on. There is a distant muttering of
thunder and a sound of rising storm. _
ALEEL.
The brazen door stands wide, and Balor comes
Borne in his heavy car, and demons have lifted
The age-weary eyelids from the eyes that of old
Turned gods to stone; Barach the traitor comes;
And the lascivious race, Cailitin,
That cast a druid weakness and decay
Over Sualtam's and old Dectora's child;
And that great king Hell first took hold upon
When he killed Naisi and broke Deirdre's heart;
And all their heads are twisted to one side,
For when they lived they warred on beauty and peace
With obstinate, crafty, sidelong bitterness.
