Psychologies, Sir Ross Ronald [the chimp paradox TXT] 📗

>Icelin. Gorm.Oh, yes.That’s right then. We have nought to do

But wait and watch him.

(Dansberg rises.)

Dansberg. But wait and watch him.How their whisperings run

Like hissing of live snakes. Where am I then?

I must be cunning. If I could find my stick

I could escape. I think they look not this way.

Icelin.Nay, let him be. You need not fear my lips—

’Tis but a little bleeding.

Dansberg. ’Tis but a little bleeding.Now is the time.

Quick now! Sneak off!

(He knocks against a tree.)

Quick now! Sneak off!A tree. Pest on these leaves,

They crackle so. Again.

(He knocks against another tree.)

They crackle so. Again.A wood, a wood!

O this means murder!

Gorm. O this means murder!Poor old man!

Icelin.The fool!—Stand still there!

Dansberg. Icelin.The fool!—Stand still there!Yes, good daughter, yes.

Hough, hough. I would but stroll—hough, hough, hough—

But stroll a little.

Icelin.Stroll then very little—

There is a pit there.

Dansberg. There is a pit there.Then I’ll not stroll far,

Believe me. Hough, hough, hough.

Icelin(to Gorm). I brought him here

Because I know the pit. Let’s wait a little.

I’ll hear him shriek first.

(She goes to Dansberg.)

I’ll hear him shriek first.When shall I marry Gorm?

Dansberg.I am too old to set myself against you.

Yet your young life I would not give to him—

My daughter’s daughter. Hough. But lead me home.

Enough the jest. To-morrow I will grant it.

I am too old, too old to struggle with you.

The cold is bitter in this mildewy wood,

And my feet numb. Why will you linger still?

Am I not blind?

Icelin. Am I not blind?Then I may marry him?

Dansberg. Icelin. Am I not blind?Then I may marry him?Yes.

Icelin.And may I have my mother’s silks you keep

In lavender?

Dansberg.  Hough, hough, hough. You wicked girl!

She was an angel, and you shall not have them—

Hough, hough—at least until I’ve sorted them.

(She slaps him.)

Icelin.Sort that then!

Dansberg. Icelin.Sort that then!Someone strikes me.

Icelin. Dansberg. Icelin.Sort that then!Someone strikes me.That, again!

Dansberg.Someone has struck me! Shame!—a poor old man!

Icelin.Let your cheeks burn for it then.

Dansberg. Icelin.Let your cheeks burn for it then.You struck me, sir.

You cowardly dog.

Gorm. You cowardly dog.Hold, Icelin.

Icelin. Gorm. You cowardly dog.Hold, Icelin.I am sick

At sight of him. It was I who struck you.

Dansberg. At sight of him. It was I who struck you.Yes.

’Twas she who struck me.

Icelin. ’Twas she who struck me.And I will again.

Dansberg.Then I will turn to you my other cheek,

You have not struck yet.

Icelin. You have not struck yet.There, then!

Dansberg. Icelin. You have not struck yet.There, then!See, O God!

Gorm.She is a wolf.

Dansberg. Gorm.She is a wolf.God is not blind as I am.

(A pause.)

My daughter’s daughter struck me. Therefore I know

That she would kill me. Kill me, then, and quickly,

That I may go to God with branded cheeks

To plead compassion for me—for I’ve done

Sins in this world. But who would punish me—

More—after this? Now let me die. I wait.

(Silence. A gust of wind blows through the forest.)

Come, kill me then. I am no coward. Hush!

No answer. What if they have left me here

To die in th’ wood? And yet I dare not move.

She said there is a pit beside me close,

Where I might fall. If I could find my stick,

I could escape, perhaps, and follow them.

(He gropes for his stick.)

(A second gust of wind blows through the forest.)

Oh, evil, evil! She has hid it—O!—

I hear a sigh that shudders thro’ the air.

’Tis night. I have no eyes and yet can see

The night. Oh, it is night for me for ever.

Night, night and age, and endless weight of silence,

Save but for far low voices faintly heard.

Great age, great age! and bright scenes long ago,

Seen like the sunshine at a cavern’s mouth

To one endungeon’d there for ever. Ah!

That vision too must end.

(A third gust of wind.)

Sigh, shuddering Wind

Sigh, shuddering WindSigh for the old man sightless. Sigh, O Wind,

Sigh for the old man sightless. Sink and die,

And pass away.

Icelin. And pass away.Let’s push him now.

Gorm. Icelin. And pass away.Let’s push him now.Enough!

Have you no heart?

Icelin. Have you no heart?A heart? What is a heart?

I have a lump of ice here in my breast

That freezes me. Except for you—for you.

(She kisses Gorm.)

You tremble! Do you tremble?

Gorm. You tremble! Do you tremble?Yes, I tremble.

Icelin.Are you a coward?

Gorm.      Yes, a coward. See!

Dansberg.Help! Jansen there! They murder me! Hough, hough.

I cannot shout, for when I shout I cough.

Help, help! Hough, hough.

(He staggers to and fro.)

Icelin. Help, help! Hough, hough.Come, father, here’s my arm.

Why do you shout?

Dansberg. Why do you shout?I shout because I die.

Icelin.I am your daughter.

Dansberg. Icelin.I am your daughter.Are you my daughter, ’Linde?

My daughter’s spirit?

Icelin. My daughter’s spirit?Yes.

Dansberg. Icelin. My daughter’s spirit?Yes.I know your voice!

(She leads him toward the pit.)

No! You are not my daughter. Your arm’s too thin!

Help, God! Make me a miracle now to save me,

Since man will not; or I will cry aloud

There is no God in all this black, black world.

Send me a flash to light me out of this,

Here where I stagger thus in solid night,

Like some dumb creature in the huntsman’s pit.

Send fiery-urgent lightnings to mine aid,

Revealing Heaven, until this forest stands,

Each tree a flaming angel for a torch.

Oh! oh! the air is full of murder!—Not yet,

O Death, not yet! I am too young to die!

See, Heaven, my heart is beating still with blood.

When that the heart is bloodless, ’twill be time

To die!

Icelin.Come, father, come; why do you shriek

So much?

Dansberg. I shriek because I die.

Gorm.      Beware!

There is a pit there!

Dansberg. There is a pit there!Oh, He answers not!

In my youth’s days I did forget Him; now

In this mine age He hath forgotten me.

(A pause.)

Away! God or no God, I’ll save myself!

(He runs forward wildly and falls into the pit.)

(Silence.)

Icelin. Down there. Down. Down. Mark now, I pushed him not.

He ran from me and fell. You saw it. I knew

That he would die like this. You called me child.

Am I so young then? I am no child—a woman!

See with what skill I’ve brought you to your fortune.

Now I shall wear those silks and damascenes,

And all these lands be yours. Thus, with this kiss

I seal it.

Gorm.  Away!

Icelin. Gorm.  Away!What?

Gorm. Icelin. Gorm.  Away!What?Wolf!

Icelin. Gorm. Icelin. Gorm.  Away!What?Wolf!What?

Gorm. Icelin. Gorm. Icelin. Gorm.  Away!What?Wolf!What?Wolf, wolf, wolf!

Your teeth are white but pointed like a wolf’s.

Your face is white but both your lips are red—

So bleeding red! I have my sword—away!

Or I will stab you! Even by this light

There’s blood upon your lips—and some of it

Burns on me now. Your race’s blood is poison—

His, yours, and all your race’s. You’re a witch;

A wolf, a witch, a witch! I have my sword—

So follow not! A witch, a witch, a witch!

Your blood is poison and your heart is ice!

(He flies into the forest.)

(Icelin remains standing. The ravens perch on the boughs above her head.)

(She shrieks.)

Icelin.My blood is poison and my heart is ice!

A witch, a wolf, a witch, a wolf, a witch!

My teeth are pointed like a wolf’s. A witch!

My face is white, my lips are bleeding red,

My blood is poison, and my heart is ice.

A witch, a wolf, a witch, a wolf, a witch,

A wolf! I follow then! I will devour you!

I’ll follow you about the world—and eat you!

(She bounds into the forest after Gorm. The ravens follow her.)

THE MARSH