Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools Part 11

BISHOP. I told you everything in this house was yours, my brother.

OFFICER. Ah, then what he said was true. But, of course, we did not believe him. We saw him creeping from your garden--

BISHOP. It is all right, I a.s.sure you. This man is a friend of mine.

OFFICER. Then we can let him go?

BISHOP. Certainly.

[_Soldiers step back._]

JEAN (_trembling_). I am free?

OFFICER. Yes! You can go. Do you not understand?

[_Steps back._]

BISHOP (_to Jean_). My friend, before you go away--here are your candlesticks (_going to the mantel and bringing the candlesticks_); take them.

[_Jean takes the candlesticks, seeming not to know what he is doing._]

By the way, my friend, when you come again you need not come through the garden. The front door is closed only with a latch, day or night. (_To the Officer and Soldiers._) Gentlemen, you may withdraw.

[_Exit Officer and Soldiers._]

JEAN (_recoiling and holding out the candlesticks_).

No--no--I--I--

BISHOP. Say no more; I understand. You felt that they were all owing to you from a world that had used you ill. Keep them, my friend, keep them. I would I had more to give you. It is small recompense for nineteen years.

[_Jean stands bewildered, looking down at the candlesticks in his hands._]

They will add something to your hundred francs. But do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use the money in becoming an honest man.

JEAN. I--promised--?

BISHOP (_not heeding_). Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you: I withdraw it from thoughts of hatred and revenge--I give it to peace and hope and G.o.d.

[_Jean stands as if stunned, staring at the Bishop, then turns and walks unsteadily from the room._]

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

Jean Valjean, as a young man, was sent to the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's hungry children. From time to time, when he tried to escape, his sentence was increased, so that he spent nineteen years as a convict. Scene I of Miss Stevenson's dramatization shows Jean Valjean being turned away from the inn because he has been in prison.

What does the stage setting tell of the Bishop and his sister? Notice, as you read, why each of the items in the stage setting is mentioned.

Why is Madame made to leave the room--how does her absence help the action of the play? What is the purpose of the conversation about the weather? About the carriage hire? Why is the Bishop not more excited at Madame's news? What is gained by the talk about the silver? Notice the dramatic value of the Bishop's speech beginning "Stay!" Why does Jean Valjean speak so roughly when he enters? Why does he not try to conceal the fact that he is a convict? Why does not the Bishop reply directly to Jean Valjean's question? What would be the action of Mademoiselle and Madame while Jean is speaking? What is Madame's action as she goes out?

What is gained by the conversation between Jean and the Bishop? Why does the Bishop not reproach Jean for saying he will have revenge? Why is the silver mentioned so many times?

While you are reading the first part of Scene III, think how it should be played. Note how much the stage directions add to the clearness of the scene. How long should the pause be, before Madame enters? What is gained by the calmness of the Bishop? How can he say that the silver was not his? What does the Bishop mean when he says, "I gave it to him"?

What are Mademoiselle and Madame doing while the conversation with the officers and Jean Valjean is going on? Is it a good plan to let them drop so completely out of the conversation? Why does the Bishop say that Jean has promised? Why does the scene close without Jean's replying to the Bishop? How do you think the Bishop's kindness has affected Jean Valjean's att.i.tude toward life?

Note how the action and the conversation increase in intensity as the play proceeds: Is this a good method? Notice the use of contrast in speech and action. Note how the chief characters are emphasized. Can you discover the quality called "restraint," in this fragment of a play? How is it gained, and what is its value?

EXERCISES[8]

Select a short pa.s.sage from some book that you like, and try to put it into dramatic form, using this selection as a kind of model. Do not attempt too much at once, but think out carefully the setting, the stage directions, and the dialogue for a brief fragment of a play.

Make a series of dramatic scenes from the same book, so that a connected story is worked out.

Read a part of some modern drama, such as _The Piper_, or _The Blue Bird_, or one of Mr. Howells's little farces, and notice how it makes use of setting and stage directions; how the conversation is broken up; how the situation is brought out in the dialogue; how each person is made to speak in his own character.

After you have done the reading suggested above, make another attempt at dramatizing a scene from a book, and see what improvement you can make upon the sort of thing you did at first.

It might be interesting for two or three persons to work on a bit of dramatization together, and then give the fragment of a play in simple fashion before the cla.s.s. Or the whole cla.s.s may work on the play, and then select some of their number to perform it.

COLLATERAL READINGS

A Dramatic Reader: Book Five Augusta Stevenson Plays for the Home " "

Jean Valjean (translated and abridged from Victor Hugo's _Les Miserables_) S.E. Wiltse (Ed.) The Little Men Play (adapted from Louisa Alcott's _Little Men_) E.L. Gould The Little Women Play " " "

The St. Nicholas Book of Plays Century Company The Silver Thread and Other Folk Plays Constance Mackay Patriotic Plays and Pageants " "

Fairy Tale Plays and How to Act Them Mrs. Hugh Bell Festival Plays Marguerite Merington Short Plays from d.i.c.kens H.B. Browne The Piper Josephine Preston Peabody The Blue Bird Maurice Maeterlinck Riders to the Sea J.M. Synge She Stoops to Conquer Oliver Goldsmith The Rivals Richard Brinsley Sheridan Prince Otto R.L. Stevenson The Canterbury Pilgrims Percy Mackaye The Elevator William Dean Howells The Mouse Trap " " "

The Sleeping Car William Dean Howells The Register " " "

The Story of Waterloo Henry Irving The Children's Theatre A. Minnie Herts The Art of Play-writing Alfred Hennequin

A COMBAT ON THE SANDS

MARY JOHNSTON

(From _To Have and to Hold_, Chapters XXI and XXII)

A few minutes later saw me almost upon the party gathered about the grave. The grave had received that which it was to hold until the crack of doom, and was now being rapidly filled with sand. The crew of deep-dyed villains worked or stood or sat in silence, but all looked at the grave, and saw me not. As the last handful of sand made it level with the beach, I walked into their midst, and found myself face to face with the three candidates for the now vacant captaincy.

"Give you good-day, gentlemen," I cried. "Is it your captain that you bury or one of your crew, or is it only pezos and pieces of eight?

"The sun shining on so much bare steel hurts my eyes," I said. "Put up, gentlemen, put up! Cannot one rover attend the funeral of another without all this crowding and display of cutlery? If you will take the trouble to look around you, you will see that I have brought to the obsequies only myself."

One by one cutla.s.s and sword were lowered, and those who had drawn them, falling somewhat back, spat and swore and laughed. The man in black and silver only smiled gently and sadly. "Did you drop from the blue?" he asked. "Or did you come up from the sea?"

"I came out of it," I said. "My ship went down in the storm yesterday.

Your little c.o.c.kboat yonder was more fortunate." I waved my hand toward that ship of three hundred tons, then twirled my mustaches and stood at gaze.