The Flutter of the Goldleaf; and Other Plays
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Olive Tilford Dargan and Frederick Peterson >> The Flutter of the Goldleaf; and Other Plays
(_A pause, and_ WARNER _goes down._)
_Philo_ (_coming to table_)
I will work--work--work! (_Busies his hands._) Not a voice to help
me--not a smile of hope--not a touch of sympathy. (_Sits still and
despairing._) ... Perhaps the time is not ripe for larger knowledge.
Nature and the Divinity that guides her must protect their new evolving
creatures. A too sudden revelation and they might perish from sheer
wonder.... Yes, truth must come softened, as a dream, to the man child's
brain. Its naked light would sere and blind him forever.... But to me it
has been given to see--to hear--and keep sane in the light. Oh, from
what planet is the call? From what one of the hundred million spheres?
How many centuries has it been sent outward to the deaf, the dumb, and
the blind? And what is the word? Is it Hail? Help? Hope?... Or is it an
answer? An answer to some signal of mine? How shall I know?... How shall
I know?
(_There is a noise outside the window._ PHILO _does not look up._
REBA _appears and leaps lightly through the windows. Advances centre.
Her dress is of clinging black, relieved by a floating scarf of
cloudy white. She has a mass of blonde hair, and all the charms
properly belonging to her age, which is eighteen._)
_Reba_
Philo!
_Philo_ (_turning_)
Reba!
_Reba_
Don't be angry.
_Philo_
How did you get here?
_Reba_
The window. Don't you remember--you showed me how to climb up once--with
a ladder--the tree--and the shed roof? Oh, the things you've forgotten,
Philo!
(_He goes to door and unbolts it._)
_Philo_
You must go down, Reba. (_She does not move._) What will mother say?
_Reba_ (_laughing_)
She held the ladder for me.
_Philo_
Mother?
_Reba_
You've frightened her so. You mustn't bolt the door again. She's afraid
you'll do something dreadful.
_Philo_
You were not afraid to come.
_Reba_
I like to take risks. Life's dull in this village.
_Philo_
How you've changed, Reba!
_Reba_
It's taken you long enough to find it out. I've been back a month.
_Philo_
You'd better go down. I'm very busy, and I've had a long interruption
this evening.
_Reba_
I'm going to interrupt some more. Dr. Seymour says it's good for you.
_Philo_ (_angrily_)
Dr. Seymour knows you've come?
_Reba_
Yes. He said you might like the surprise. Don't you like it, Philo?
(_Comes near him._ PHILO _turns away and busies himself about
the table and shelves as if he meant to ignore her utterly._
REBA _watches him, then goes to window and takes a large apple
from the ledge. Comes back._)
_Reba_
I brought you an apple--such a love of an apple. There's a whole summer
of sunsets in it. I climbed the tree myself.
_Philo_ (_not looking_)
Thank you; I don't eat.
_Reba_
Don't eat! Well, there it is! (_Throws it on the table. He jumps to
protect his instrument._) You can _lick_ it when you're hungry!
(_He sits down and begins to work. She walks to other side of table
and picks up a book._)
_Reba_
Oh! Our old "Swiss Family Robinson"! The very one we read together! With
our names in it! You've kept it all the time! (_Hugging it._) Dear old
book! (_Turns the leaves._) Why--the leaves are half gone!
_Philo_
They're handy for cleaning my wires.
(_She throws the book down, and stands uncertain._)
_Philo_
Going, Reba? Good night!
_Reba_
No, I'm not going. This is my last chance. You'll bar the window
to-morrow.
_Philo_ (_determinedly_)
Yes, I will.
(_He bends closely over his work. She lies across the table opposite,
watching his movements intently. He fumbles for a tool._)
_Reba_
The little one? Here it is!
(_Hands him a small wire tool. He stares at her face so near his
own, then takes the instrument and works confusedly. Jumps up and
tries to reach a jar on one of the shelves._ REBA _leaps onto a
chair, takes the jar and hands it down. He stares, and takes jar._)
_Reba_ (_as he returns to table_)
Ugh! These jars are so dirty, Philo. May I wash them for you?
_Philo_
Heavens, no!
_Reba_
Oh, _that_ makes you sit up! (_Hums a little, leaps down and begins to
move the things on the table._) I'll make the table tidy for you, Philo.
_Philo_ (_grabbing her hands_)
Stop!
_Reba_ (_sings, swinging his hands across the table_)
"All around the mulberry bush----"
_Philo_
Let go!
_Reba_
Why, you're holding _me_!
(_He drops her hands and goes to window, as if intending flight.
She becomes subtle._)
_Reba_
Dr. Seymour says you've done something wonderful, Philo. Won't you show
me your machine?
_Philo_
No.
_Reba_
But I _care_! I care more than anybody! I _want_ you to be great. I
could sit by you all my life just watching you being great.
(PHILO _smiles. She twirls over to him._) And I don't _like_ to
be still, either.
_Philo_
But suppose people began to laugh at you as they do at me?
_Reba_
I wouldn't care. Show me the machine, Philo.
(_Takes his arm and they move back to table._)
_Philo_
There it is.
_Reba_ (_hovering over it_)
This is it. (_Throwing her head back._) Tell me about it.
_Philo_
Reba--your throat is--so white.
_Reba_ (_bending suddenly over machine_)
There's something moving.
_Philo_
So white.
_Reba_
Two--one--two, three----
(PHILO _goes to door and flings it open._)
_Philo_
Reba, go down!
(_She crosses to door, shuts it, and stands with her back against it._)
_Reba_
Not till we've had a talk, Philo. I've a right to it after what you said
two years ago--when I went away to school. Have you forgotten it? Shall
I tell you what you said?
_Philo_
No!
_Reba_
You said you loved me, Philo. And I believed it for two years. When I
came back you were silent. I've tried to make you speak--I've got in
your way--I've done everything nice girls don't do--because--I love you
as much as you love _that_! (_Waves her hand toward the machine._)
_Philo_
Don't say it. It can't be true. No woman could love so much as that.
(_Goes back to table._)
_Reba_ (_following him_)
I don't ask you to love me. But let me come here and sit by you
sometimes. I could be happy then--though I don't _like_ to be still.
I was going to a dance to-night.
_Philo_
A dance!
_Reba_
But I knew you were up here alone--and I had heard--oh, my dear!--that
they were going to send you away. I couldn't bear it. I _had_ to come.
Oh, Philo, they shall not send you away! Dr. Seymour says all you need
is a new interest.
_Philo_
To dance, perhaps!
_Reba_
Well--why not? It is fun. We were to be in fancy dress, and I was going
as Night. See--(_waving her scarf_) this is my cloud--and my hair is the
moon! I washed it to-day so it would be fluffy. Just see how soft it is!
_Philo_ (_touching her hair_)
How fine! Will you give me a lock, Reba?
_Reba_
Oh, yes! Where are your scissors? Here! (_Takes scissors from table._)
You cut it, Philo. (_He takes scissors._) Anywhere. It's curly at the
neck and temples.
_Philo_ (_cutting lock_)
I don't want a curl. (_Puts hair carefully in table drawer._) I'm making
a new machine and I need long hairs for some of the parts.
_Reba_ (_raging_)
You sha'n't have it! You sha'n't!
(_Tries to open drawer. They struggle. She gets her arms about his
neck._)
_Philo_ (_pushing her off_)
Your throat----
(_Kisses it. She clings to him, and he sits down, holding her on his
knee._)
_Reba_
I knew! I knew! Oh, Philo, you _haven't_ forgotten! You
remember--everything!
_Philo_
Everything!
_Reba_
That day we went fishing and----
_Philo_ (_laughing_)
Forgot the tackle!
_Reba_
And that last evening in the orchard, when you said----
_Philo_
I love you!
_Reba_
Oh, you look just as you did then--so happy! I nearly died when I came
home and saw the change in your face. It seemed to shut me out, like a
great iron door. Philo.... You won't forget again?
_Philo_
Never!
_Reba_
And I may come every day?
_Philo_
Every day!
_Reba_
I'll help you, Philo. I'll give you all my hair. (_Lays her head on his
shoulder._) And I'll let you work and not think of me at all. You can
live with your stars----
_Philo_ (_kissing her_)
There are no stars!
_Reba_ (_laughing_)
I'll never be jealous again! (_Gets up._) Come! Let's see what the dinky
thing is doing!
(_Goes to table._ PHILO _watches her, slowly repeating her name._)
_Reba_
What a little thing it is! And--there _is_ something fluttering!
(PHILO _crosses, still seeing nothing but the girl._)
_Reba_
See--I'm trying to count--two--three----
(_He looks down, and becomes transfixed._)
_Philo_
Oh, my God! They've changed the signal!... Look, Reba! Count the beats!
Count for me! Count!
_Reba_ (_confused_)
Two--three--no, four----
_Philo_
Can't you _count_? Get away! (_Pushes her aside._)
Two--three--four--three-- They have _changed_ it! Oh, I must answer!
_Reba_
Philo----
_Philo_
Go down!
_Reba_ (_clinging to him_)
I won't--I won't----
_Philo_ (_putting her in a chair_)
Sit there, then. And for God's sake be still! (_Returns to machine and
counts under his breath._) It is true--it is true--and I am not ready! I
am dumb, like all the world! I cannot let them know! (_Walks the floor,
muttering_) But I will--I must. (_Crosses to window._) I must do
it!--think of nothing else--nothing! I shall not sleep till it is
done!... But they will call me mad--lock me up before I have finished,
God, before I have finished!
_Reba_
Philo, listen!
_Philo_
It's the world's way ... to beat the spirit down ... the eager spirit,
superbly sane, daring to pierce the barriers between heaven and earth!
_Reba_
I'll not sit here! (_She sits nevertheless._)
_Philo_
Oh, Truth-driven martyrs, seers of visions, prophets of the old world
and the new, born out of your time to suffer by fire, by sword, and
prison bars!
_Reba_ (_cooingly_)
Dear Philo!
_Philo_
I too shall join you! Forerunners of the waking spirit of the world!
(REBA _gets before him as he walks. Completely absorbed, he puts
her aside, absently but gently, as if she were a kitten he did not
wish to hurt._)
_Philo_
I must finish it--I must--before they beat me down! (_Pauses by
machine._) There is no one but me to do it. If I fail they may have
to wait another million years--out there--working, waiting. (_Resumes
walk._) I shall not fail. I have gone too far. God will take my part
now. Be it His own eternal sign, I will answer it!
_Reba_
I'll make you see me!
(_Runs to table, leaps upon it and begins a dance among the wires
and bottles. He is stunned for a moment, then rushes to her, seizes
her waist with both hands, lifts her up, and flings her to a chair._)
_Philo_
Sit there, you dragon-fly! Or I'll crush you! (_Goes to window, as if
for breath and air. Recovers poise._) Let them think me mad. Up here I
shall work it out. And I shall not be alone. Earth will not hear me, but
the heavens will listen. (_Holds his hands toward the stars._) My only
friends!
_Reba_
Crush me! (_She steals up to the table, seizes a large book, and brings
it down with utter destruction upon his machine._ PHILO _turns and sees.
They face each other. She shrinks, terrified._) Don't, Philo! (_Kneels,
throwing back her head, showing the long line of her throat._) Forgive
me! It was driving you mad! I wanted to save you! Don't look like that!
Forgive me, Philo!
_Philo_
Your throat--is--so white!
(_Seizes and chokes her. As he seizes her she gives a cry of terror._
WARNER, MRS. W., SEYMOUR, _and_ BELLOWS _rush up the stairs and
enter._ PHILO _takes his hands from the girl's throat and stands
apart. She lies motionless._)
_Warner_ (_roaring_)
You've managed, Mary Ann!
_Bellows_ (_excitedly_)
Who's right, now, Seymour?
(SEYMOUR _bends over_ REBA, _listening for her heart-beat._)
_Warner_ (_choking_)
A hanging in the family!
_Mrs. W._
Is she--dead?
_Seymour_
No. It is chiefly fear. (_Works over her body._)
_Philo_ (_to himself_)
Poor little bird! Poor little bird!
_Bellows_ (_taking a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and offering them
to_ WARNER)
Better clap these on him. We're none of us safe.
_Philo_
Handcuffs, doctor? I'll make no trouble.
(_Holds out his hands and_ BELLOWS _fastens handcuffs._)
_Bellows_
It's for your own good, Philo.
_Seymour_
Our mistake--our mistake! Poor boy!
_Bellows_
Poor _girl_, I should say!
_Seymour_ (_lifting_ REBA)
I'll take her down-stairs. (_Carries her to door._) I shall need you,
Mrs. Warner.
(MRS. W. _follows, weeping and looking back at_ PHILO.)
_Philo_
I'm all right, mother.
_Mrs. W._
_All right._ Oh, God help him! (_Exit._)
_Bellows_
Clean mad!
_Philo_ (_crosses, and looks down on the wreck of his machine_)
Silent ... but I have heard! The divine whisper has reached me!
_Bellows_
That's still on his mind, you see. Better leave him up here till
morning. Seymour and I will fix up the papers and take him off
to-morrow. I'm sorry, Philo, but you know it's for the best.
_Philo_
I'll make no trouble. Don't worry, doctor.
_Bellows_ (_to himself, going_)
Lord, he's cool! (_Advising_ WARNER, _in cautiously lowered
tone._) That's the way with the worst of them. (_Exit._)
_Warner_
Want me to stay with you, Philo?
_Philo_
No, father.
_Warner_ (_relieved_)
Good night, son. (_At door._) Mother'll send up some blankets. (_Exit._)
_Philo_
Blankets!...
(CURTAIN)
THE JOURNEY
BY
OLIVE TILFORD DARGAN
CHARACTERS
PRINCESS WONG FE, _bride of Yu Tai Shun_
SO SIU, _her friend_
PRINCE CHING
MAKURO, _of Japan_
YU TAI SHUN, _of all nations_
THE JOURNEY
SCENE: _Room in a farmhouse above Siangtan, where the Siang flows among
hills. The rear of room has wide exit to a porch, beyond which show
the tops of pear and peach trees in full bloom. Steps lead down to
the orchard, and the orchard slopes to the river._
WONG FE _and_ SO SIU _present._
_Wong Fe_
My lily So Siu, has not the dishonorable color left my wretched cheeks?
Is not my face like the dough before it goes into the oven?
_So Siu_
Oh, my golden Fe, pearls in the dawn are no fairer!
_Wong Fe_
But these cow-girl's tatters! Would not my gown of meadow-green mist
with the peach-gold underrobe make me less haggard?
_So Siu_
When your lord, Yu Tai Shun, returns from the hills he will say----
_Wong Fe_
Oh, what will he say?
_So Siu_
That the fairies have been your friends. They wove for you this robe of
rose-leaves, and threw over you a gray cloud from the Witch's Mountain.
(WONG FE _trips gaily, then with sudden surrender begins to weep._)
_So Siu_
Have no shame, beloved of miserable So Siu. Water must follow the fire.
I am only a maid, but I know that when the honeymoon is without tears
two pigs have married. Ah, wet my sleeve, my dear one, and not thine
that will lie on the neck of the golden lord, Yu Tai Shun.
_Wong Fe_
When I awoke this morning the sunlight was on my pillow, but Yu Tai Shun
was gone. All day I have not seen his face. And now the last swallow has
left the sky.
_So Siu_
Why did Prince Ching and the young Japanese choose this day to be guests
of Yu Tai Shun? It is sad for the wife when the friends of her lord find
her alone. Yu Tai Shun will beat his doorstep for not calling him.
_Wong Fe_
He will! Prince Ching is almost his father. May his age climb as the
hills, always nearer the sky!
_So Siu_
Indeed, you would be sitting alone in a cloud of sighs, not fast wedded
to the bringer of dawn, Yu Tai Shun, if Prince Ching had not won his way
to your brothers, the mighty princes, Wong Li and Wong Sen.
_Wong Fe_
I kiss his honorable dust! He shall live with my ancestors! And Makuro,
the young Japanese, I shall love him too, for he is most dear to Yu Tai
Shun. Do they still sit in the orchard?
_So Siu_
They have not moved, nor paused in their talking. Do you not hear? Like
bees that cannot choose their flower. It may be that they have brought
news to Yu Tai Shun, and his gloom will pass.
_Wong Fe_
No, I feel it was their coming, like a far cloud, that shadowed him. Oh,
my So Siu, it will be darker now!
_So Siu_
I have sent tea and cakes to the orchard.
_Wong Fe_
It shall not be dark. Do not the fairies of the sun weave a white world
out of the threads of midnight? I will pray to them. We must be merry,
my lily So Siu.
_So Siu_
And why not?
_Wong Fe_
I shall dance to-night before Yu Tai Shun. (_Tripping._) Is it not good
to have feet? My honorable and glorious mamma weeps when I dance, but it
is because she was born too soon and they crippled her beloved feet.
_So Siu_
How glad I am that the old world is gone when only the painted
flower-girls could do the happy things!
_Wong Fe_
And it was my own lord, Yu Tai Shun, who made the earth new again!
(_She listens, suddenly still._)
_So Siu_
He is here!
_Wong Fe_
My darling So Siu....
_So Siu_
I go! (_Darts from room, right._)
_Wong Fe_
I would be dancing, but I cannot move. There are anchors of fear on my
toes.
(_Enter_ YU TAI SHUN, _left. He is dressed in gray flannels, of
American pattern._)
_Shun_ (_stopping before_ WONG FE)
I left a witch-cloud on the hills, and it has dropped down before me.
(_She courtesies to the floor. He snatches her up._)
_Shun_
No! I want my Western bride to-night.
_Wong Fe_
But this is a Chinese orchard, and it is springtime. Let me worship a
little.
_Shun_
Never, my mountain bird!
(_Draws her to the steps, where they sit._)
_Wong Fe_
You are weary, beloved?
_Shun_
Not now. I have my rest. To-morrow you shall go with me.
_Wong Fe_
Up the mountain?
_Shun_
I will show you where I dropped the storm in my heart.
_Wong Fe_ (_timidly_)
Will it come again, Yu Tai Shun?
_Shun_
Nothing can wake it again.
_Wong Fe_
Then indeed I am your bride!
_Shun_
Heart of my body art thou, Wong Fe!
(_Holds her to his breast a moment, looking distantly out. Suddenly
sees his friends approaching._)
_Shun_
We have guests?
_Wong Fe_ (_quickly springing up_)
Forgive me! Your friends are here. Prince Ching, and Makuro, from Japan.
_Shun_
Makuro?
(_He throws up his right hand. In a moment_ PRINCE CHING _and_
Makuro _are seen advancing from the orchard_.)
_Wong Fe_
They have had my welcome. I leave you. (_Crosses to right, reluctantly._)
_Shun_
Return to us soon, my gold of the morning.
(_She goes out_. CHING _and the Japanese enter._)
_Ching_
We have waited, Yu Tai Shun. We knew that the setting sun would turn a
bridegroom home.
_Makuro_
Master!
_Shun_
My friend! What brings you to China?
_Makuro_ (_with steady gaze_)
You know. I have come for you.
_Shun_ (_stubbornly, as if chidden_)
My work is done. China is free.
_Ching_
Her slavery is only beginning. You may hide your body but you cannot
bury your mind under peach-blossoms.
_Shun_
The republic is established.
_Ching_
But not a democracy.
_Shun_
My work is done. Twenty years have I given to the cause of the people.
Now until I die I will toil and sing in the fields of my fathers.
(_They have gradually come to centre of room, which servants have
lighted_. WONG FE _silently returns, but at a sign from_ CHING
_she retreats and remains by wall, right, participating in the
scene that follows, though_ YU TAI SHUN _and_ MAKURO _are unaware
of her presence._)
_Makuro_
Do you remember when I stood here once before, Yu Tai Shun?
_Shun_
Can you ask me that, Makuro?
_Makuro_
Why not, when you seem to have forgotten all that passed between us? I
went from that meeting with an imperishable fire in my heart. I return,
and the light that kindled mine is dark. We stood here, and the words
you spoke were brighter than the lamps of Siangtan that we looked down
upon. Shall I repeat them, Yu Tai Shun?
(_Shun is silent._)
_Ching_
I would hear them, Makuro.
_Makuro_
The master said: "Forty centuries has China been content to plough, to
sow, to reap, and with her harvest support one-quarter of the human lives
on our planet. Drudgery has been her lot, frugality her virtue. Only so
had she lease of breath. Now she is to unlock her mines, build ships,
and roads of commerce, and with the magic of machinery set her people
free. If that magic is owned by a few, there will be no freedom, but
a slavery whose agony no man can tell. Every owner will be a monarch
greater than the Son of Heaven to whom we bowed. We cannot shut them out
by war. We can do it solely by making China a true democracy where the
people themselves own the magic tools and the great ways to the markets.
To do this is the work of all who love Freedom, and I know no other
goddess." Were these your words, Yu Tai Shun?
_Shun_
Yes ... my words.
_Makuro_
That was five years ago. From all parts of the earth come powers
fulfilling your fear. Leagued with our own purblind princes and dwellers
in the dusk, they hover over China, waiting for war and bribery to
dismember her. And you say your work is done. Yu Tai Shun, where have
you buried my master?
_Ching_
In the heart of the Princess Wong Fe.
_Shun_ (_rallying_)
May we not be too stern in our judgment of the lords of steam and iron?
Lei Kung Sang and the British minister of the So-nan mineral beds have
built houses for the people.
_Ching_
And have taken their land. Men who plucked their own fruit, and took
food from their own gardens, now cannot eat until they have torn new
treasure out of the earth for the kind Briton and the good Lei Kung
Sang.
_Shun_
Their days of work were always long and weary.
_Ching_
But they toiled as free men in the sun, and as free men sang from the
river-boats when the moon rose. In America, where there is still much
land and few people, there are places where children go down into the
mines and never see the sun except on the day they call "holy." How will
it be with China's four hundred millions, when there are not even waste
places where those who would flee may gather? For even her great
untilled spaces are being covered by the foreign hand.
_Makuro_
Slavery will be born again with depths the ancients never knew.
_Shun_
But the spirit of brotherhood is growing.
_Makuro_
Power has no brothers! It was you who taught me that, Yu Tai Shun.
_Shun_
Do you forget that we built our republic with the aid of these same
princes of power?
_Ching_
We forget nothing. They let us beat down the throne because they could
not use it--a rigid tradition--but the republic--_they_ are the
republic!
_Shun_
Can we not trust a little? In our greatest need, alien hands have
reached out to help us. And we have true hearts among our Chinese
lords. Not all have joined with the invader to herd the people into
slave-yards. Pei Chen-Ping and Sa Yi are most liberal. You, Prince
Ching, and those you gather to you, have hearts like the rising sun. And
the noble princes of the house of Wong--have they not given me my bride?
_Ching_
Ay, when your sighs had blown around the world for seven years, they
yielded her. You were a power to be checked, and they set a woman in
your path.
_Shun_
No!
_Ching_
It was a Japanese from the Fushun collieries, a Russian prince of the
Northern railways, a French buyer of Yunnan copper, a British ship-baron
of Hongkong, and the Chinese owners of the unworked gold veins of
Szechuan, who went to the brothers of Wong Fe and said: "Give Yu Tai
Shun his bride."
_Shun_
It was you who spoke for me!
_Ching_
You had no father, and in my heart you were my son. I spoke for you
because I believed in you. I did not think that any bribe could lure you
from us. Yours was a soul that we thought would be a torch to every
nation of earth. And you choose to go out like a candle in the breath of
a woman.
(YU TAI SHUN _is bowed and silent._ MAKURO _touches his sleeve._)
_Makuro_
Come with us, master.
_Ching_
In half an hour the boat will stop at the orchard pier for Makuro. He
starts for Japan. It is there you are needed.
_Makuro_
I come from our friends with their summons. Japan's oligarchy of
traders, with every means known to power--school, religion, racial pride
and hate--is fostering the spirit of war. All the seeds of the jungle
are being deliberately sown once more in men's hearts. They are
preparing Japan to hold the largest share of an industrially broken
China and weld her millions into one instrument of hate against the
West.
_Shun_
A pigmy's dream!
_Ching_
A dream that will come true if our giants continue to sleep.
_Makuro_
It is the menace of America that Japan holds before her people till
their hearts roll with fear, their brains grow sick with rage. America,
who has insulted us with exclusion--who has snatched an island chain
from our Eastern waters, and shot, starved, imprisoned thousands
ignorant enough and brave enough to resist her. _That_ is the America my
people are taught to believe in. But you know a different America, where
people love honor and hate war--whose religion is love thy neighbor as
thyself. Come, teach them of that America! You are known in a million
homes of Japan. You have taught us to love you, and where we love, we
listen.