{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/dun/pgam/pgam03.htm","path":"neu/dun/pgam/pgam03.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/pgam/pgam03.htm","text":"Plays of Gods and Men, by Lord Dunsany, [1917]\nThe Laughter of the Gods\nA Tragedy in Three Acts\nDramatis Person\u00e6\nKing Karnos\nVoice-of-the-Gods (a prophet)\nIchtharion\nLudibras\nHarpagas\nFirst Sentry\nSecond Sentry\nOne of the Camel Guard\nAn Executioner\nThe Queen\nTharmia (wife of Ichtharion)\nArolind (wife of Ludibras)\nCarolyx (wife of Harpagas)\nAttendants\nAct I\nTime: About the time of the decadence in Babylon.\nScene: The jungle city of Thek in the reign of King Karnos.\nTharmia:\nYou know that my lineage is almost divine.\nArolind:\nMy father's sword was so terrible that he had to hide it with a cloak.\nHe probably did that because there were no jewels in the scabbard.\nThere were emeralds in it that outstared the sea.\n* * * * * * * *\nNow I must leave you here and go down among the shops for I have not changed my hair since we came to Thek.\nIchtharion:\nHave you not brought that from Barbul-el-Sharnak?\nIt was not necessary. The King would not take his court where they could not obtain necessities.\nMay I go with your Sincerity?\nIndeed, Princely Lady, I shall be glad of your company.\n[To Ludibras] I wish to see the other palaces in Thek, [To Tharmia] then we can go on beyond the walls to see what princes live in the neighbourhood.\nIt will be delightful.\n[Exeunt Tharmia and Arolind]\nWell, we are here in Thek.\nLudibras:\nHow lucky we are that the King has come to Thek. I feared he would never come.\nIt is a most fair city.\nWhen he tarried year after year in monstrous Barbul-el-Sharnak, I feared that I would see the sun rise never more in the windy glorious country. I feared we should live always in Barbul-el-Sharnak and be buried among houses.\nIt is mountainous with houses: there are no flowers there. I wonder how the winds come into it.\nAh. Do you know that it is I that brought him here at last? I gave him orchids from a far country. At last he noticed them. \"Those are good flowers,\" said he. \"They come from Thek,\" I said. \"Thek is purple with them. It seems purple far out on the sand to the camel men.\" Then...\nNo, it was not you brought him. He saw a butterfly once in Barbul-el-Sharnak. There had not been one there for seven years. It was lucky for us that it lived; I used to send for hundreds, but they all died but that one when they came to Barbul-el-Sharnak. The King saw it.\nIt was since then that he noticed my purple orchids.\nSomething changed in his mind when he saw the butterfly. He became quite different. He would not have noticed a flower but for that.\nHe came to Thek in order to see the orchids.\nCome, come. We are here. Nothing else matters.\nYes, we are here. How beautiful are the orchids.\nWhat a beautiful thing the air is in the morning. I stand up very early and breathe it from my casement; not in order to nourish my body, you understand, but because it is the wild, sweet air of Thek.\nYes, it is wonderful rising up in the morning. It seems all fresh from the fields.\nIt took us two days to ride out of Bar-el-Sharnak. Do you remember how men stared at our camels? No one had gone away from the city for years.\nI think it is not easy to leave a great city. It seems to grow thicker around you, and you forget the fields.\nIchtharion: [looking off]\nThe jungle is like a sea lying there below us. The orchids that blaze on it are like Tyrian ships, all rich with purple of that wonderful fish; they have even dyed their sails with it.\nThey are not like ships because they do not move. They are like... They are like no tangible thing in all the world. They are like faint, beautiful songs of an unseen singer; they are like temptations to some unknown sin. They make me think of the tigers that slip through the gloom below them. [Enter Harpagas and a Noble of the Court, with spears and leather belts.]\nWhere are you going?\nHarpagas:\nWe are going hunting.\nHunting! How beautiful!\nA little street goes down from the palace door; the other end of it touches the very jungle.\nO, heavenly city of Thek.\nHave you ever before gone hunting?\nNo; I have dreamed of it. In Barbul-el-Sharnak I nearly forgot my dream.\nMan was not made for cities. I did not know this once.\nI will come with you.\nI will come with you, too. We will go down by the little street, and there will be the jungle. I will fetch a spear as we go.\nWhat shall we hunt in the jungle?\nThey say there are kroot and abbax; and tigers, some say, have been heard of.\nNoble:\nWe must never go back to Barbul-el-Sharnak again.\nYou may rely on us.\nWe shall keep the King in Thek.\n[Exeunt, leaving two sentries standing beside the throne.]\n1st Sentry:\nThey are all very glad to be in Thek. I, too, am glad.\n2nd Sentry:\nIt is a very little city. Two hundred of these cities would not build Barbul-el-Sharnak.\nNo. But it is a finer palace, and Barbul-el-Sharnak is the centre of the world; men have drawn together there.\nI did not know there was a palace like this outside Barbul-el-Sharnak.\nIt was built in the days of the forefathers. They built palaces in those days.\nThey must be in the jungle by now. It is quite close. How glad they were to go.\nYes, they were glad. Men do not hunt for tigers in Barbul-el-Sharnak.\n[Enter Tharmia and Arolind weeping.]\nO it is terrible.\nO! O! O!\n1st Sentry: [To 2nd Sentry]\nSomething has happened.\n[Enter Carolyx.]\nCarolyx:\nWhat is it, princely ladies?\n[To Sentries] Go. Go away.\n[Exeunt Sentries.]\nWhat has happened?\nO. We went down a little street.\nYes. Yes.\nThe main street of the city.\n[Both weep quietly.]\nYes? Yes? Yes?\nIt ends in the jungle.\nYou went into the jungle! There must be tigers there.\nNo.\nWhat did you do?\nWe came back.\nCarolyx: [in a voice of anguish]\nWhat did you see in the street?\nNothing.\nNothing?\nThere are no shops.\nWe cannot buy new hair.\nWe cannot buy [sobs] gold-dust to put upon our hair.\nThere are no [sobs] neighbouring princes.\n[Carolyx bursts bitterly into tears and continues to weep.]\nBarbul-el-Sharnak, Barbul-el-Sharnak. O why did the King leave Barbul-el-Sharnak?\nBarbul-el-Sharnak. Its streets were all of agate.\nAnd there were shops where one bought beautiful hair.\nThe King must go at once.\nTharmia: [calmer now.]\nHe shall go tomorrow. My husband shall speak to him.\nPerhaps my husband might have more influence.\nTharmia and Arolind:\nMy husband brought him here.\nWhat!\nNothing. What did you say?\nI said nothing. I thought you spoke.\nIt may be better for my husband to persuade him, for he was ever opposed to his coming to Thek.\nTharmia: [To Arolind]\nHe could have but little influence with His Majesty since the King has come to Thek.\nNo. It will be better for our husbands to arrange it.\nI myself have some influence with the Queen. Tharmia:\nIt is of no use. Her nerves are all a-quiver. She weeps if you speak with her. If you argue a matter with her she cries aloud and maidens must come and fan her and put scent on her hands.\nShe never leaves her chamber and the King would not listen to her.\nHark, they are coming back. They are singing a hunting song.... why, they have killed a beast. All four of the men are bringing it on two branches.\nArolind: [bored]\nWhat kind of beast is it?\nI do not know. It seems to have barbed horns.\nWe must go and meet them.\n[The song is loud and joyous.]\n[Exeunt by the way that the Sentries went.]\n[Enter Sentries.]\nWhatever it is has passed away again for they were smiling.\nThey feared that their husbands were lost and now they return in safety.\nYou do not know, for you do not understand women.\nI understand them quite as well as you.\nThat is what I say. You do not understand them. I do not understand them.\n......Oh. [A pause.]\nWe shall never leave Thek now.\nWhy shall we never leave it?\nDid you not hear how glad they were when they sang the hunting song? They say a wild dog does not turn from the trail, they will go on hunting now.\nBut will the King stay here?\nHe only does what Ichtharion and Ludibras persuade him. He does not listen to the Queen.\nThe Queen is mad.\nShe is not mad but she has a curious sickness, she is always frightened though there is nothing to fear.\nThat would be a dreadful sickness; one would fear that the roof might fall on one from above or the earth break in pieces beneath. I would rather be mad than to fear things like that.\n1st Sentry: [looking straight before him]\nHush.\n[Enter King and retinue. He sits on the throne. Enter from other side Ichtharion, Ludibras, and Harpagas, each with his wife beside him, hand in hand. Each couple bows before the King, still hand in hand; then they seat themselves. The King nods once to each couple.]\nKing: [To Tharmia]\nWell, your Sincerity, I trust that you are glad to have come to Thek.\nVery glad, your Majesty.\nKing: [To Arolind]\nThis is pleasanter, is it not, than Barbul-el-Sharnak?\nFar pleasanter, your Majesty.\nKing:\nAnd you, princely lady Carolyx, find all that you need in Thek?\nCarolyx: More than all, your Majesty.\nKing: [To Harpagas]\nThen we can stay here long, can we not?\nThere are reasons of State why that were dangerous.\nReasons of State? Why should we not stay here?\nYour Majesty, there is a legend in the World, that he who is greatest in the city of Barbul-el-Sharnak is the greatest in the world.\nI had not heard that legend.\nYour Majesty, little legends do not hive in the sacred ears of kings; nevertheless they hum among lesser men from generation to generation.\nI will not go for a legend to Barbul-el-Sharnak.\nYour Majesty, it is very dangerous....\nKing: [To Ladies]\nWe will discuss things of State which little interest your Sincerities.\nTharmia: [rising]\nYour Majesty, we are ignorant of these things.\n[Exeunt.]\nKing: [To Ichtharion and Ludibras]\nWe will rest from things of State for awhile, shall we not? We will be happy, (shall we not?) in this ancient beautiful palace.\nIf your Majesty commands, we must obey.\nBut is not Thek most beautiful? Are not the jungle orchids a wonder and a glory?\nThey have been thought so, your Majesty; they were pretty in Barbul-el-Sharnak where they were rare.\nBut when the sun comes over them in the morning, when the dew is on them still; are they not glorious then? Indeed, they are very glorious.\nI think they would be glorious if they were blue, and there were fewer of them.\nI do not think so. But you, Ichtharion, you think the city beautiful?\nYes, your Majesty.\nAh. I am glad you love it. It is to me adorable.\nI do not love it, your Majesty. I hate it very much. I know it is beautiful because your Majesty has said so.\nThis city is dangerously unhealthy, your Majesty.\nIt is dangerous to be absent from Barbul-el-Sharnak.\nWe implore your Majesty to return to the centre of the world.\nI will not go again to Barbul-el-Sharnak.\n[Exeunt King with attendants. Ichtharion, Ludibras and Harpagas remain.]\n[Enter Arolind and Carolyx; each goes up to her husband, very affectionate.]\nAnd you talked to the King?\nYes.\nYou told him he must go back to Barbul-el-Sharnak at once?\nWell, I\u2014\u2014\nWhen does he start?\nHe did not say he will start.\nWhat?\nWe are not going?\n[Arolind and Carolyx weep and step away from their husbands.]\nBut we spoke to the King.\nO, we must stay and die here.\nBut we did what we could.\nO, I shall be buried in Thek.\nI can do no more.\nMy clothes are torn, my hair is old. I am in rags.\nI am sure you are beautifully dressed.\nArolind: [full height]\nBeautifully dressed! Of course I am beautifully dressed! But who is there to see me? I am alone in the jungle, and here I shall be buried.\nBut\u2014\u2014\nOh, will you not leave me alone? Is nothing sacred to you? Not even my grief?\n[Exeunt Arolind and Carolyx.]\nHarpagas: [To Ludibras]\nWhat are we to do?\nAll women are alike.\nI do not allow my wife to speak to me like that.\n[Exeunt Harpagas and Ludibras.]\nI hope Tharmia will not weep; it is very distressing to see a woman in tears.\n[Enter Tharmia.]\nDo not be unhappy, do not be at all unhappy. But I have been unable to persuade the King to return to Barbul-el-Sharnak. You will be happy here after a little while.\nTharmia: [breaks into loud laughter]\nYou are the King's adviser. Ha-ha-ha! You are the Grand High Vizier of the Court. Ha-ha-ha. You are the warder of the golden wand. Ha-ha-ha O, go and throw biscuits to the King's dog.\nThrow little ginger biscuits to the King's dog. Perhaps he will obey you. Perhaps you will have some influence with the King's dog if you feed him with little biscuits. You\u2014\u2014\n[Laughs and exits. Ichtharion sits with his miserable head in his hands.]\n[Reenter Ludibras and Harpagas.]\nHas her Sincerity, the princely Lady Tharmia, been speaking with you?\nShe spoke a few words.\n[Ludibras and Harpagas sigh.]\nWe must leave Thek. We must depart from Thek.\nWhat, without the King?\nNo. They would say in Barbul-el-Sharnak \"these were once at Court,\" and men that we have flogged would spit in our faces.\nWho can command a King?\nOnly the gods.\nThe gods? There are no gods now. We have been civilised over three thousand years. The gods that nursed our infancy are dead, or gone to nurse younger nations.\nI refuse the listen to\u2014\u2014 O, the sentries are gone. No, the gods are no use to us; they were driven away by the decadence.\nWe are not in the decadence here. Barbul-el-Sharnak is in a different age. The city of Thek is scarcely civilised.\nBut everybody lives in Barbul-el-Sharnak.\nThe gods\u2014\u2014\nThe old prophet is coming.\nHe believes as much in the gods as you or I do.\nYes, but we must not speak as though we knew that.\n[Voice-of-the-Gods (a prophet) walks across the stage.]\nIchtharion, Ludibras, and Harpagas: [rising]\nThe gods are good.\nVoice-of-the-Gods:\nThey are benignant. [exit]\nListen! Let him prophesy to the King. Let him bid the King go hence lest they smite the city.\nCan we make him do it?\nI think we can make him do it.\nThe King is more highly civilised even than we are. He will not care for the gods.\nHe cannot ignore them; the gods crowned his forefather and if there are no gods who made him King?\nWhy, that is true. He must obey a prophecy.\nIf the King disobeys the gods the people will tear him asunder, whether the gods created the people or the people created the gods.\n[Harpagas slips out after the Prophet.]\nIf the King discovers this we shall be painfully tortured.\nHow can the King discover it?\nHe knows that there are no gods.\nNo man knows that of a certainty.\nBut if there are\u2014\u2014!\n[Enter Prophet with Harpagas. Ichtharion quickly sends Ludibras and Harpagas away.]\nThere is a delicate matter concerning the King.\nThen I can help you little for I only serve the gods.\nIt also concerns the gods.\nAh. Then I hearken.\nThis city is for the King, whose body is fragile, a very unhealthy city. Moreover, there is no work here that a King can profitably do. Also it is dangerous for Barbul-el-Sharnak to be long without a King, lest\u2014\u2014\nDoes this concern the gods?\nIn this respect it does concern the gods\u2014that if the gods knew this they would warn the King by inspiring you to make a prophecy. As they do not know this\u2014\u2014\nThe gods know all things.\nThe gods do not know things that are not true. This is not strictly true\u2014\u2014\nIt is written and hath been said that the gods cannot lie.\nThe gods of course cannot lie, but a prophet may sometimes utter a prophecy that is a good prophecy and helpful to men, thereby pleasing the gods, although the prophecy is not a true one.\nThe gods speak through my mouth; my breath is my own breath, I am human and mortal, but my voice is from the gods and the gods cannot lie.\nIs it wise in an age when the gods have lost their power to anger powerful men for the sake of the gods?\nIt is wise.\nWe are three men and you are alone with us. Will the gods save you if we want to put you to death and slip away with your body into the jungle?\nIf you should do this thing the gods have willed it. If they have not willed it you cannot.\nWe do not wish to do it. Nevertheless you will make this prophecy\u2014you will go before the King and you will say that the gods have spoken and that within three days' time, for the sake of vengeance upon some unknown man who is in this city, they will overthrow all Thek unless every man is departed.\nI will not do it, for the gods cannot lie.\nHas it not been the custom since unremembered time for a prophet to have two wives?\nMost certainly. It is the law.\n[Ichtharion holds up three fingers.]\nThree.\nDo not betray me. It was long ago.\nYou will be allowed to serve the gods no more if men know this. The gods will not protect you in this matter for you have offended also against the gods.\nIt is worse that the gods should lie. Do not betray me.\nI go to tell the others what I know.\nI will make the false prophecy.\nAh. You have chosen wisely.\nWhen the gods punish me who make them lie, they will know what punishment to give to you.\nThe gods will not punish us. It is long ago that the gods used to punish men.\nThe gods will punish us.\nAct II\n[Same scene.]\n[Same day.]\nKing Karnos: [pointing off L.]\nLook at them now, are they not beautiful? They catch the last rays of the lingering sun. Can you say that the orchids are not beautiful now?\nYour majesty, we were wrong, they are most beautiful. They tower up from the jungle to take the sun. They are like the diadem of some jubilant king.\nKing Karnos:\nAh. Now you have come to love the beauty of Thek.\nYes, yes, your Majesty, I see it now. I would live in this city always.\nYes, we will live here always. There is no city lovelier than Thek. Am I not right?\nYour Majesty, no city is like it.\nAh. I am always right.\nHow beautiful is Thek.\nYes, it is like a god.\n[Three notes are stricken on a sonorous gong.]\nWhispers: [on]\nThere has been a prophecy. There has been a prophecy.\nAh! there has been a prophecy. Bring in the prophet. [Exit attendant.]\n[Enter mournfully with dejected head and walking very slowly Voice-of-the-Gods.]\nYou have made a prophecy.\nI have made a prophecy.\nI would hear that prophecy. [A pause.]\nYour Majesty, the gods in three days' time\u2014\u2014\nStop! Is it not usual to begin with certain words? [A pause.]\nIt is written and hath been said... that the gods cannot lie.\nThat is right.\nThat the gods cannot lie.\nIn three days' time the gods will destroy this city for vengeance upon some man, unless all men desert it.\nThe gods will destroy Thek!\nWhen will this happen?\nIt must be in three days' time.\nHow will it happen?\nWhy. It will happen.\nHow?\nWhy... there will be a sound... as the riving of wood... a sound as of thunder coming up from the ground. A cleft will run like a mouse across the floor. There will be a red light, and then no light at all, and in the darkness Thek shall tumble in.\n[The King sits in deep thought. Exit Prophet slowly; he begins to weep, then casts his cloak over his face. He stretches out his arms to grope his way and is led by the hand. The King sits thinking.]\nSave us, your Majesty.\nSave us.\nWe must fly, your Majesty.\nWe must escape swiftly.\n[The King sits still in silence. He lifts a stick on his right to beat a little silver bell; but puts it down again. At last he lifts it up and strikes the bell. An Attendant enters.]\nBring back that prophet. [Attendant bows and exits.]\n[The King looks thoughtful. The rest have a frightened look. Re-enter Prophet.]\nWhen the gods prophesy rain in the season of rain, or the death of an old man, we believe them. But when the gods prophesy something incredible and ridiculous, such as happens not nowadays, and hath not been heard of since the fall of Bleth, then our credulity is overtaxed. It is possible that a man should lie; it is not possible that the gods should destroy a city nowadays.\nO King, have mercy.\nWhat, would you be sent safe away while your King is destroyed by the gods?\nNo, no, your Majesty. I would stay in the city, your Majesty. But if the gods do not destroy the city, if the gods have misled me.\nIf the gods have misled you they have chosen your doom. Why ask for mercy from me?\nIf the gods have misled me, and punish me no further, I ask mercy from you, O King.\nIf the gods have misled you, let the gods protect you from my executioner.\n1st Sentry: [Laughs aside to 2nd Sentry]\nVery witty.\nYes, yes. [Laughs too.]\nIf the doom fall not at sunset, why then the executioner\u2014\u2014\nYour Majesty!\nNo more! No doubt the gods will destroy the whole city at sunset.\n[The sentries titter. The Prophet is led away.]\nYour Majesty! Is it safe to kill a prophet, even for any guilt? Will not the people\u2014\u2014\nNot while he is a prophet; but if he has prophesied falsely his death is due to the gods. The people once even burned a prophet themselves because he had taken three wives.\nIchtharion: [Aside to Ludibras]\nIt is most unfortunate, but what can we do?\nLudibras: [Aside to Ichtharion]\nHe will not be killed if he betray us instead.\nIchtharion: [Aside]\nWhy... that is true.\n[All are whispering.]\nWhy do you whisper?\nYour Majesty, we fear that the gods will destroy us all and...\nYou do not fear it?\n[Dead silence. A plaintive lament off. Enter the Queen. Her face is pale as paper.]\nQueen: [loq.]\nO your Majesty. Your Majesty. I have heard the lutanist, I have heard the lutanist.\nShe means the lute that is heard by those about to die.\nQueen:\nI have heard Gog-Owza, the lutanist, playing his lute. And I shall die, O I shall die.\nNo. No. No. You have not heard Gog-Owza. Send for her maidens, send for the Queen's maidens.\nI have heard Gog-Owza playing, and I shall die.\nHark. Why, I hear it too. That is not Gog-Owza, it is only a man with a lute; I hear it too.\nO the King hears it too. The King will die. The great King will die. My child will be desolate for the King will die. Mourn, people of the jungle. Mourn, citizens of Thek. And thou, O Barbul-el-Sharnak, O metropolitan city, mourn thou in the midst of the nations, for the great King will die.\nNo. No. No. [To oldest present.] Listen you. Do you not hear it?\nThe Oldest:\nYou see it is a real lute. That is no spirit playing.\nO but he is old; in a few days he will die; it is Gog-Owza, and the King will die.\nNo, no, it is only a man. Look out of the window there. [To any Young Man.]\nThe Young Man:\nIt is dark, your Majesty, and I cannot see.\nIt is the spirit Gog-Owza.\nI can hear the music clearly.\nHe is young.\nThe young are always in danger; they go about among swords. He will die too and the great King and I. In a few days we will be buried.\nLet us all listen; we cannot all die in a few days' time.\nI hear it clearly.\nWomen are blossoms in the hand of Death. They are often close to Death. She will die too.\nAll:\nI hear it. I hear it. And I. And I. And I. It is only a man with a lute.\nQueen: [pacified]\nI should like to see him, then I should know for certain.\n[She looks out of the casement.]\nNo, it is too dark.\nWe will call the man if you wish it.\nYes, I shall be easy then, and then I shall sleep.\n[King instructs Attendants to enquire without. Queen at window still.]\nIt is some man down by the river playing his lute. I am told that sometimes a man will play all night.\nTharmia: [Aside]\nThat's their amusement here.\nArolind: [Aside] Well, really, its almost all the music we get.\nIt really is.\nArolind: [Aside]\nO how I cry for the golden Hall of Song in Barbul-el-Sharnak. I think it would almost hold the city of Thek.\n[Re-enter Attendant]\nAttendant:\nIt is only a common lute, your Majesty. All hear it except one man.\nAll except one, did you say? Ah, thank you.\n[To Queen at window.]\nIt is only a common lute.\nOne man did not hear it. Who was he? Where is he? Why didn't he?\nHe was riding back again to Barbul-el-Sharnak. He was just starting. He said he did not hear it.\nOh, send for him here.\nHe is gone, your Majesty.\nOvertake him quick. Overtake him.\n[Exit Attendant.]\nTharmia: [Aside to Arolind]\nI wish that I were going back to Barbul-el-Sharnak.\nO to be again at the centre of the world!\nWere we not talking of the golden hall?\nAh, yes. How lovely it was! How beautiful it was when the King was there and strange musicians came from the heathen lands with huge plumes in their hair, and played on instruments that we did not know.\nThe Queen was better then. The music eased her.\nThis lute player is making her quite mad.\nWell. Well. No wonder. He has a mournful sound. Listen!\nDo not let us listen. It makes me feel cold.\nHe cannot play like Nagra or dear Trehannion. It is because we have heard Trehannion that we do not like to listen.\nI do not like to listen because I feel cold.\nWe feel cold because the Queen has opened the casement.\nKing Karnos: [To Attendant]\nFind the man that is playing the lute and give him this and let him cease to play upon his lute.\n[Exit Attendant]\nHark! He is playing still.\nYes, we all hear him; it is only a man.\n[To another or same Attendant]\nLet him stop playing.\nYes, your Majesty. [Exit]\n[Enter an Attendant with another]\nThis is the man that does not hear the lute.\nAh. You are deaf, then, are you not?\nMan:\nNo, your Majesty.\nYou hear me clearly?\nListen! ...Now you hear the lute?\nWho sent you to Barbul-el-Sharnak?\nThe captain of the camel-guard sent me, your Majesty.\nThen go and never return. You are deaf and also a fool. [To himself] The Queen will not sleep. [To Another] Bring music, bring music quickly. [Muttering] The Queen will not sleep.\n[The man bows low and departs. He says farewell to a sentry. The Queen leans from the casement muttering. Music heard off.]\nAh, that is earthly music, but of that other tune I have a fear.\nWe have all heard it. Comfort yourself. Calm yourself.\nOne man does not hear it.\nBut he has gone away. We all hear it now.\nI wish that I could see him.\nA man is a small thing and the night very large and full of wonders. You may well not see him.\nI should like to see him. Why cannot I see him?\nI have sent the camel-guard to search for him and to stop him playing his lute.\n[To Ichtharion]\nDo not let the Queen know about this prophecy. She would think... I do not know what she would think.\nThe Queen has a very special fear of the gods.\nYou speak of me?\nO no. We speak of the gods.\n[The earthly music ceases.]\nO do not speak of the gods. The gods are very terrible; all the dooms that shall ever be come forth from the gods. In misty windings of the wandering hills they forge the future even as on an anvil. The future frightens me.\nCall the Queen's maidens. Send quickly for her maidens. Do not let the future frighten you.\nMen laugh at the gods; they often laugh at the gods. I am more sure that the gods laugh too. It is dreadful to think of the laughter of the gods. O the lute! the lute! How clearly I hear the lute. But you all hear it? Do you not? You swear that you all hear it?\nYes, yes. We all hear the lute. It is only a man playing.\nI wish I could see him. Then I should know that he was only a man and not Gog-Owza, most terrible of the gods. I should be able to sleep then.\nKing Karnos: [Soothingly]\nYes, yes.\n[Enter Attendant]\nHere comes the man that I have sent to find him. You have found the lute player. Tell the queen that you have found the lute player.\nThe camel-guard have searched, your Majesty, and cannot find any man that is playing a lute.\n[Curtain]\nAct III\n[Three days elapse.]\nWe have done too much. We have done too much. Our husbands will be put to death. The prophet will betray them and they will be put to death.\nO what shall we do?\nIt would have been better for us to have been clothed with rags than to bring our husbands to death by what we have done.\nWe have done much and we have angered a king, and (who knows!) we may have angered even the gods.\nEven the gods! We are become like Helen. When my mother was a child she saw her once. She says she was the quietest and gentlest of creatures and wished only to be loved, and yet because of her there was a war for four or five years at Troy, and the city was burned which had remarkable towers; and some of the gods of the Greeks took her side, my mother says, and some she says were against her, and they quarrelled upon Olympus where they live, and all because of Helen.\nO don't, don't. It frightens me. I only want to be prettily dressed and see my husband happy.\nHave you seen the prophet?\nOh yes, I have seen him. He walks about the palace. He is free but cannot escape.\nWhat does he look like? Has he a frightened look?\nHe mutters as he walks. Sometimes he weeps; and then he puts his cloak over his face.\nI fear that he will betray them.\nI do not trust a prophet. He is the go-between of gods and men. They are so far apart. How can he be true to both?\nThis prophet is false to the gods. It is a hateful thing for a prophet to prophesy falsely.\n[Prophet walks across hanging his head and muttering.]\nProphet:\nThe gods have spoken a lie. The gods have spoken a lie. Can all their vengeance ever atone for this?\nHe spoke of vengeance.\nO he will betray them.\n[They weep. Enter the Queen.]\nWhy do you weep? Ah, you are going to die. You heard the death-lute. You do well to weep.\nNo, your Majesty. It is the man that has played for the last three days. We all heard him.\nThree days. Yes, it is three days. Gog-Owza plays no longer than three days. Gog-Owza grows weary then. He has given his message and he will go away.\nWe have all heard him, your Majesty, except the deaf young man that went back to Barbul-el-Sharnak. We hear him now.\nQueen: Yes! But nobody has seen him yet. My maidens have searched for him but they have not found him.\nYour Majesty, my husband heard him, and Ludibras, and while they live we know there is nothing to fear. If the King grew angry with them\u2014 because of any idle story that some jealous man might tell\u2014some criminal wishing to postpone his punishment\u2014if the King were to grow angry with them they would open their veins; they would never survive his anger. Then we should all of us say, \"Perhaps it was Gog-Owza that Ichtharion or Ludibras heard.\"\nThe King will never grow angry with Ichtharion or Ludibras.\nYour Majesty would not sleep if the King grew angry with them.\nOh, no. I should not sleep; it would be terrible.\nYour Majesty would be wakeful all night long and cry.\nOh, yes. I should not sleep; I should cry all night. [Exit]\nShe has no influence with the King.\nNo. But he hates to hear her cry all night.\n[Enter Ichtharion]\nI am sure that the prophet will betray you. But we have spoken to the Queen. We have told her it would be dreadful if the King were to grow angry with you, and she things she will cry all night if he is angry.\nPoor frightened brain! How strong are little fancies! She should be a beautiful Queen. But she goes about white and crying, in fear of the gods. The gods, that are no more than shadows in the moonlight. Man's fear rises weird and large in all this mystery and makes a shadow of himself upon the ground and Man jumps and says \"the gods.\" Why they are less than shadows; we have seen shadows, we have not seen the gods.\nO do not speak like that. There used to be gods. They overthrew Bleth dreadfully. And if they still live on in the dark of the hills, why, they might hear your words.\nWhy! you grow frightened, too. Do not be frightened. We will go and speak with the prophet, while you follow the Queen; be much with her, and do not let her forget that she will cry if the King should be angry with us.\nI am almost afraid when I am with the Queen; I do not like to be with her.\nShe could not hurt us; she is afraid of all things.\nShe makes me have huge fears of prodigious things.\n[Exeunt Tharmia and Arolind.]\n[Enter Ludibras.]\nThe prophet is coming this way.\nSit down. We must speak with him. He will betray us.\nWhy should the prophet betray us?\nBecause the guilt of the false prophecy is not his guilt; it is ours; and the King may spare him if he tells him that. Again, he mutters of vengeance as he walks; many have told me.\nThe King will not spare him even if he betrays us. It was he that spoke the false prophecy to the King.\nThe King does not in his heart believe in the gods. It is for cheating him that the prophet is to die. But if he knows we had planned it\u2014\u2014\nWhat can we say to the prophet?\nWhy, we can say nothing. But we can learn what he will do from what he says to us.\nHere he is. We must remember everything that he says.\nWatch his eyes.\n[Enter the Prophet, his eyes concealed by his cloak.]\nIchtharion and Ludibras:\nThey are benignant.\nI am much to blame. I am very much to blame.\nWe trust that the King will relent.\nHe often relents at sunset; he looks out over the orchids in the evening. They are very beautiful then, and if he is angry his anger passes away just when the cool breeze comes at the set of sun.\nHe is sure to relent at sunset.\nDo not be angry. I am indeed to blame. Do not be angry.\nI do not wish the King to relent at sunset.\nDo not be unhappy.\nI say to you that I have betrayed the gods.\nListen to me. Do not be so unhappy. There are no gods. Everybody knows that there are no gods. The King knows it. Voice-of-the-Gods:\nYou have heard their prophet lie and believe that the gods are dead?\nThere are indeed no gods. It is well known.\nThere are gods, and they have a vengeance even for you. Listen and I will tell you what it shall be. Aye and for you also... Listen!... No, no, they are silent in the gloom of the hills. They have not spoken to me since I lied.\nYou are right; the gods will punish us. It is natural that they should not speak just now; but they will certainly punish us. It is not therefore necessary for any man to avenge himself upon us, even though there were any cause.\nIt is not necessary.\nIndeed, it might even further anger the gods if a man should be before them to punish us.\nThe gods are very swift; no man outruns them.\nA man would be rash to attempt to.\nThe sun is falling low. I will leave you now, for I have ever loved the sun at evening. I go to watch it drop through the gilded clouds, and make a wonder of familiar things. After the sunset, night, and after an evil deed, the vengeance of the gods. [Exit R.]\nLudibras: [with contemptuous wonder]\nHe really believes in the gods.\nHe is as mad as the Queen; we must humour his madness if we ever see him more. I think that all will be well.\n[An executioner steals after the Prophet; he is dressed in crimson satin to the knees; he wears a leather belt and carries the axe of his trade.]\nHis voice was angry as he went away. I fear he may yet betray us.\nIt is not likely. He thinks that the gods will punish us.\nHow long will he think so? The Queen's fancies change thrice an hour.\nThe executioner keeps very close to him now. He comes closer every hour. There is not much time for him to change his fancies.\nHe has the will to betray us if that fancy leaves him.\nThe executioner is very eager for him. He invented a new stroke lately, but he has not had a man since we came to Thek.\nI do not like an eager executioner\u2014the King sees him and it makes him think...\nLook how low the sun is; he has no time to betray us. The King is not yet here.\nHe is coming.\nBut the prophet is not here.\nNo, he is not yet come.\n[Enter the King.]\nThe Queen's maidens have persuaded her that there is nothing to fear. They are quite excellent; they shall dance before me. The Queen will sleep; they are quite excellent. Ah, Ichtharion. Come to me, Ichtharion.\nWhy does the King send for you?\nYou were wrong, Ichtharion.\n[Ludibras watches.]\nYou were wrong to think that Thek is not very lovely.\nYes, I was wrong and I am much to blame.\nYes, it is very beautiful at evening. I will watch them go down over the orchids. I will never see Barbul-el-Sharnak any more. I will sit and watch the sun go down on the orchids till it is gone and all their colours fade.\nIt is very beautiful now. How still it is! I have never seen so still a sunset before.\nIt is like a picture done by a dying painter, full of a beautiful colour. Even if all these orchids died to-night yet their beauty is an indestructible memory.\nYour Majesty, the prophet walks about in the palace, and the executioner is close behind him. If the Queen saw him and the executioner would it not trouble her? Were it not better that he should be killed at once? Shall I whistle for the executioner?\nNot now. I said at sunset.\nYour Majesty, it is merciful to kill a man before the set of the sun. For it is natural in a man to love the sun. But to see it set and to know that it will not come again is even a second death. It would be merciful to kill him now.\nI have said\u2014at sunset. It were unjust to kill him before his prophecy is proven false.\nBut, your Majesty, we know that it is false. He also knows it.\nHe shall die at sunset.\nYour Majesty, the prophet will pray for life if he is not killed now. It would be pity to grant it.\nIs not a King's word death? I have said he shall die at sunset.\n[Enter Prophet. The Executioner creeps along close behind him.]\nO the gods are about to have lied. The gods will have lied. I have prophesied falsely and the gods will have lied. My death cannot atone for it nor the punishment of others.\n[Ichtharion and Ludibras start.]\nHe will betray us yet.\nO why did you let your voice come through my lips? O why did you allow your voice to lie? For centuries it has been said from city to city, \"The gods cannot lie.\" The nomads have known it out upon the plains. The mountaineers have known it near the dawn. That is all over now. O King, let me die at once. For I have prophesied falsely and at sunset the gods will lie.\nIt is not sunset yet. No doubt you have spoken truly.\n[Enter Queen.]\nHow well the Queen looks. Her maidens are quite excellent.\nLudibras: [To Ichtharion]\nThere is something a little dreadful in seeing the Queen so calm. She is like a windless sunset in the Winter before a hurricane comes and the snow swirls up before it over the world.\nI do not like calm sunsets; they make me think that something is going to happen. Yes, the Queen is very quiet; she will sleep to-night.\nI am not frightened any longer. All the wild fancies of my brain have left it. I have often troubled you with little fears. Now they are all at rest and I am afraid no longer.\nThat is good; I am very glad. You will sleep tonight.\nSleep. Why\u2014yes, I shall sleep. O yes, we shall all sleep.\nYour maidens have told you that there is nothing to fear.\nNothing to fear? No, no more little fears to trouble me.\nThey have told you there is nothing at all to fear. Indeed there is nothing.\nNo more little fears. There is one great fear.\nA great fear! Why, what is it?\nI must not say. For you have often soothed me when I was frightened, and it were not well for me to trouble you at the last.\nWhat is your fear? Shall I send again for your maidens?\nNo, it is not my fear. It is all men's fear if they knew.\nKing Karnos: [glancing round]\nAh, you have seen my man in red. I will send him away. I will\u2014\u2014\nNo, no. My fear is not earthly. I am not afraid of little things any more.\nWhy, what is it then?\nI do not quite know. But you know how I have ever feared the gods. The gods are going to do some dreadful thing.\nBelieve me; the gods do nothing nowadays.\nYou have indeed been very good to me. It seems a little while since the camels came to Argun-Zeerith by the iris marshes, the camels with the gold-hung palanquin, and the bells above their heads, high up in the air, the silver bridal bells. It seems a very little while ago. I did not know how swift the end would come.\nWhat end? To whom is the end coming?\nDo not be troubled. We should not let Fate trouble us. The World and its daily cares, ah, they are frightful: but Fate\u2014I smile at Fate. Fate cannot hurt us if we smile at it.\nWhat end do you say is coming?\nI do not know. Something that has been shall soon be no more.\nNo, no. Look upon Thek. It is built of rock and our palace is all of marble. Time has not scratched it with six centuries. Six tearing centuries with all their claws. We are throned on gold and founded upon marble. Death will some day find me, indeed, but I am young. Sire after sire of mine has died in Barbul-el-Sharnak or in Thek, but has left our dynasty laughing sheer in the face of Time from over these age-old walls.\nSay farewell to me now, lest something happen.\nNo, no, we will not say unhappy things.\nExecutioner:\nThe sun has set.\nNot yet. The jungle hides it. It is not yet set. Look at the beautiful light upon the orchids. For how long they have flashed their purple on the gleaming walls of Thek. For how long they will flash there on our immortal palace, immortal in marble and immortal in song. Ah, how the colour changes.\n[To the Executioner]\nThe sun is set. Take him away.\n[To the Queen]\nIt is he whose end you foresaw.\n[The Executioner grips the Prophet by the arm.]\nThe gods have lied!\nThe jungle is sinking! It has fallen into the earth!\n[The Queen smiles a little, holding his hand.]\nThe city is falling in! The houses are rolling towards us!\n[Thunder off.]\nThey are coming up like a wave and darkness is coming with them.\n[Loud and prolonged thunder. Flashes of red light and then total darkness. A little light comes back, showing recumbent figures, shattered pillars and rocks of white marble.]\n[The Prophet's back is broken, but he raises the fore-part of his body for a moment.]\nVoice-of-the-Gods: [triumphantly]\nThey have not lied!\nO, I am killed.\n[Laughter heard off.]\nSomeone is laughing. Laughing even in Thek! Why, the whole city is shattered.\n[The laughter grows demoniac.]\nWhat is that dreadful sound?\nIt is the laughter of the gods that cannot lie, going back to their hills.\n[He dies.]","title":"Plays of Gods and Men: The Laughter of the Gods","type":"page"}