Come this way; come
quickly!
Yeats
BLIND MAN.
Come here, Fool!
FOOL.
The waves have mastered him.
BLIND MAN.
Come here!
FOOL.
The waves have mastered him.
BLIND MAN.
Come here, I say!
FOOL.
[_Coming towards him, but looking backward towards the
door. _]
What is it?
BLIND MAN.
There will be nobody in the houses.
Come this way; come quickly! The
ovens will be full. We will put our hands into the ovens.
[_They go out. _
DEIRDRE
TO ROBERT GREGORY
WHO INVENTED FOR THIS PLAY BEAUTIFUL COSTUMES
AND A BEAUTIFUL SCENE
_PERSONS IN THE PLAY_
MUSICIANS
FERGUS, _an old man_
NAISI, _a young king_
DEIRDRE, _his queen_
A DARK-FACED MESSENGER
CONCHUBAR, _the old King of Uladh, who is still strong and vigorous_
DARK-FACED EXECUTIONER
DEIRDRE
_A Guest-house in a wood. It is a rough house of
timber; through the doors and some of the windows one
can see the great spaces of the wood, the sky dimming,
night closing in. But a window to the left shows the
thick leaves of a coppice; the landscape suggests
silence and loneliness. There is a door to right and
left, and through the side windows one can see anybody
who approaches either door, a moment before he enters.
In the centre, a part of the house is curtained off;
the curtains are drawn. There are unlighted torches in
brackets on the walls. There is, at one side, a small
table with a chessboard and chessmen upon it, and a
wine flagon and loaf of bread. At the other side of
the room there is a brazier with a fire; two women,
with musical instruments beside them, crouch about
the brazier: they are comely women of about forty.
Another woman, who carries a stringed instrument,
enters hurriedly; she speaks, at first standing in the
doorway. _
FIRST MUSICIAN.
I HAVE a story right, my wanderers,
That has so mixed with fable in our songs,
That all seemed fabulous. We are come, by chance,
Into King Conchubar's country, and this house
Is an old guest-house built for travellers
From the seashore to Conchubar's royal house,
And there are certain hills among these woods,
And there Queen Deirdre grew.
