Three Wonder Plays Part 17

_Queen_: I see him! I see him! He would seem to have seven heads!

_Dall Glic_: I see but one.

_Queen_: You would see more if you had your two eyes! He has six heads at the least!

_King_: He has but one. He is twisting and turning it around.

_Dall Glic_: He is coming up towards the flaggy sh.o.r.e!

_King_: I hear him! He is snoring like a flock of pigs!

_Queen_: He is rearing his head in the air! He has teeth as long as a tongs!

_Doll Glic_: No, but his tail he is rearing up!

It would take a ladder forty feet long to get to the tip of it!

_Queen_: There is the King of Sorcha going out the gate for to make an end of him.

_Dall Glic_: So he is, too. That is great bravery.

_King_: He is going to one side. He is come to a stop.

_Dall Glic_: It seems to me he is ready to fall in his standing. He is gone into a little thicket of furze. He is not coming out, but is lying crouched up in it the same as a hare in a tuft. I can see his shoulders narrowed up.

_Queen_: He maybe got a weakness.

_King_: He did, maybe, of courage. Shaking and shivering, he is like a hen in thunder. In my opinion, he is hiding from the fight.

_Queen_: There is the Prince of the Marshes going out now, and his coach after him! And his two aunts sitting in it and screeching to him not to run into danger!

_King_: He will not do much. He has not pith or power to handle arms. That sort brings a bad name on kings.

_Dall Glic_: He is gone away from the coach.

He is facing to the flaggy sh.o.r.e!

_Queen_: Oh, the Dragon has put up his head and is spitting at him!

_King_: He has cast a spear into its jaw! Good man!

_(Princess goes over to window.)_

_Dall Glic_: He is casting another! His hand shook ...it did not go straight. He is gone on again! He has cast another spear! It should hit the beast ...it let a roar!

_Princess_: Good little Prince! What way is the battle now?

_Dall Glic_: It will kill him with its fiery breath!

He is running now ...he is stumbling ...the Dragon is after him! He is up again! The two Aunts have pushed him into the coach and have closed the iron door.

_King_: It will fail the beast to swallow him coach and all. It is gone back to refresh itself in the sea.

You can hear it puffing and plunging!

_Queen_: There is nothing to stop it now. _(To Princess.)_ If you have e'er a prayer, now is the time to say it.

_Dall Glic_: Stop a minute ...there is another champion going out.

_King_: A man wearing a saffron suit ...who is he at all? He has the look of one used to giving orders.

_Princess: (Looking out.)_ Oh! he is but going to his death. It would be better for me to throw myself into the tide and make an end of it.

_(Is rushing to door.)_

_King: (Holding her.)_ He is drawing his sword.

Himself and the Dragon are thrusting at one another on the flags!

_Princess_: Oh, close the curtains! Shut out the sound of the battle.

_(Dall Glic closes curtains.)_

_King_: Strike up now a tune of music that will deafen the sound!

_(Orchestra plays. Princess is kneeling by King. Music changes from discord to victory. Two Aunts and Gateman rush in. Noise of cheering heard without as the Gateman silences music.)_

_Gateman_: Great news and wonderful news and a great story!

_First Aunt_: The fight is ended!

_Second Aunt_: The Dragon is brought to his last goal!

_Gateman_: That young fighting man that has him flogged! Made at him like a wave breaking on the strand! They crashed at one another like two days of judgment! Like the battle of the cold with the heat!

_First Aunt_: You'd say he was going through dragons all his life!

_Second Aunt_: It can hardly put a stir out of itself!

_Gateman_: That champion has it baffled and mastered! It is after being chased over seven acres of ground!

_First Aunt_: Drove it to its knees on the flaggy sh.o.r.e and made an end of it!

_King_: G.o.d bless that man to-day and to-morrow!

_Second Aunt_: He has put it in a way it will eat no more kings' daughters!

_Princess_: And the stranger that mastered it--is he safe?

_First Aunt_: What signifies if he is or is not, so long as we have our own young prince to bring home!

_Gatekeeper_: He is not safe. No sooner had he the beast killed and conquered than he fell dead, and the life went out of him.