_A great hall in the castle of the
COUNTESS
CATHLEEN.
Yeats
_
Bring the meal out.
[_The SECOND MERCHANT brings the bag of meal from the
pantry. _
Burn it. [_MAIRE faints. _
Now she has swooned, our faces go unscratched;
Bring me the gray hen, too.
_The SECOND MERCHANT goes out through the door and
returns with the hen strangled. He flings it on the
floor. While he is away the FIRST MERCHANT makes up
the fire. The FIRST MERCHANT then fetches the pan of
milk from the pantry, and spills it on the ground. He
returns, and brings out the wolf, and throws it down by
the hen. _
These need much burning.
This stool and this chair here will make good fuel.
[_He begins breaking the chair. _
My master will break up the sun and moon
And quench the stars in the ancestral night
And overturn the thrones of God and the angels.
ACT II.
_A great hall in the castle of the COUNTESS CATHLEEN.
There is a large window at the farther end, through
which the forest is visible. The wall to the right
juts out slightly, cutting off an angle of the room. A
flight of stone steps leads up to a small arched door
in the jutting wall. Through the door can be seen a
little oratory. The hall is hung with ancient tapestry,
representing the loves and wars and huntings of the
Fenian and Red Branch heroes. There are doors to the
right and left. On the left side OONA sits, as if
asleep, beside a spinning-wheel. The COUNTESS CATHLEEN
stands farther back and more to the right, close to
a group of the musicians, still in their fantastic
dresses, who are playing a merry tune. _
CATHLEEN.
Be silent, I am tired of tympan and harp,
And tired of music that but cries 'Sleep, sleep,'
Till joy and sorrow and hope and terror are gone.
[_The COUNTESS CATHLEEN goes over to OONA. _
You were asleep?
OONA.
No, child, I was but thinking
Why you have grown so sad.
CATHLEEN.
Bring the meal out.
[_The SECOND MERCHANT brings the bag of meal from the
pantry. _
Burn it. [_MAIRE faints. _
Now she has swooned, our faces go unscratched;
Bring me the gray hen, too.
_The SECOND MERCHANT goes out through the door and
returns with the hen strangled. He flings it on the
floor. While he is away the FIRST MERCHANT makes up
the fire. The FIRST MERCHANT then fetches the pan of
milk from the pantry, and spills it on the ground. He
returns, and brings out the wolf, and throws it down by
the hen. _
These need much burning.
This stool and this chair here will make good fuel.
[_He begins breaking the chair. _
My master will break up the sun and moon
And quench the stars in the ancestral night
And overturn the thrones of God and the angels.
ACT II.
_A great hall in the castle of the COUNTESS CATHLEEN.
There is a large window at the farther end, through
which the forest is visible. The wall to the right
juts out slightly, cutting off an angle of the room. A
flight of stone steps leads up to a small arched door
in the jutting wall. Through the door can be seen a
little oratory. The hall is hung with ancient tapestry,
representing the loves and wars and huntings of the
Fenian and Red Branch heroes. There are doors to the
right and left. On the left side OONA sits, as if
asleep, beside a spinning-wheel. The COUNTESS CATHLEEN
stands farther back and more to the right, close to
a group of the musicians, still in their fantastic
dresses, who are playing a merry tune. _
CATHLEEN.
Be silent, I am tired of tympan and harp,
And tired of music that but cries 'Sleep, sleep,'
Till joy and sorrow and hope and terror are gone.
[_The COUNTESS CATHLEEN goes over to OONA. _
You were asleep?
OONA.
No, child, I was but thinking
Why you have grown so sad.
CATHLEEN.
