{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40120/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40120","id":"gutenberg_40120","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40120","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Plays/Films/Dramas","Japan -- History -- 1185-1600 -- Drama","One-act plays","Vampires -- Drama"],"text":"Price 25 Cents\n\n\n  The Vampire Cat\n\n  By\n\n  GERARD VAN ETTEN\n\n\n  SERGEL'S\n  ACTING\n  DRAMA\n\n  No. 641\n\n\n  ART WORKERS LEAGUE\n\n\n  PUBLISHED BY\n  THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY\n  CHARLES H SERGEL, PRESIDENT\n\n\n\n\n  Practical Instructions for\n  Private Theatricals\n\n  By W. D. EMERSON\n\n  Author of \"A Country Romance,\" \"The Unknown Rival,\"\n  \"Humble Pie,\" etc.\n\n  Price, 25 cents\n\n    Here is a practical hand-book, describing in detail all the\n    accessories, properties, scenes and apparatus necessary for an\n    amateur production. In addition to the descriptions in words,\n    everything is clearly shown in the numerous pictures, more\n    than one hundred being inserted in the book. No such useful\n    book has ever been offered to the amateur players of any\n    country.\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n    Chapter I. =Introductory Remarks.=\n\n    Chapter II. =Stage, How to Make, etc.= In drawing-rooms or\n    parlors, with sliding or hinged doors. In a single large room.\n    The Curtain; how to attach it, and raise it, etc.\n\n    Chapter III. =Arrangement of Scenery.= How to hang it. Drapery,\n    tormentors, wings, borders, drops.\n\n    Chapter IV. =Box Scenes.= Center door pieces, plain wings, door\n    wings, return pieces, etc.\n\n    Chapter V. =How to Light the Stage.= Oil, gas and electric\n    light. Footlights, Sidelights, Reflectors. How to darken the\n    stage, etc.\n\n    Chapter VI. =Stage Effects.= Wind, Rain, Thunder, Breaking\n    Glass, Falling Buildings, Snow, Water, Waves, Cascades,\n    Passing Trains, Lightning, Chimes, Sound of Horses' Hoofs,\n    Shots.\n\n    Chapter VII. =Scene Painting.=\n\n    Chapter VIII. =A Word to the Property Man.=\n\n    Chapter IX. =To the Stage Manager.=\n\n    Chapter X. =The Business Manager.=\n\n  Address Orders to\n  THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY\n  CHICAGO, ILLINOIS\n\n\n\n\n  THE VAMPIRE CAT\n\n  A PLAY IN ONE ACT FROM\n  THE JAPANESE LEGEND\n  OF\n  THE NABESHIMA CAT\n\n  BY\n  GERARD VAN ETTEN\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1918\n  BY\n  THE DRAMATIC\n  PUBLISHING COMPANY\n\n  CHICAGO\n  THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY\n\n\n\n\nCAST OF CHARACTERS\n\n\n  PRINCE HIZEN, LORD OF NABESHIMA....\n  BUZEN, HIS CHIEF COUNCILLOR........\n  RUITEN, A PRIEST...................\n  ITO SODA, A COMMON SOLDIER.........\n  KASHIKU, A MAID....................\n  O TOYO, WIFE OF THE PRINCE.........\n\nTIME: Medieval Japan.\n\nSCENE: The room of O Toyo in the palace.\n\nTIME OF ACTION: Between 10 and 12 p.m.\n\nNOTE.--According to the old Japanese legend, the soul of a cat can enter\na human being.\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAMPIRE CAT\n\n\nSCENE. _At R. is a dressing table, upon it a steel mirror, toilet\narticles, and two lighted candles with ornate shades. R. U. a section of\nshoji leads to another room, this section is now closed. At R. C. a\nlarge section of shoji is open, giving a view of the garden. To the R.\nof this entrance is a small shrine and Buddha. At L. of the room is a\nsleeping mat and head rest. By the head rest a lantern, now unlighted.\nDown L. is an open section of shoji leading to the_ PRINCE'S\n_apartments. Just above it stands a screen. As the curtain rises the_\nPRINCE _is standing R. C. looking out into the garden._ RUITEN _is down\nR. and_ BUZEN _slightly above him._ BUZEN _crosses L._\n\n\n  PRINCE. [_Comes down between_ RUITEN _and_ BUZEN.]\n  Settle for me tonight\n  My sicknesses and my fears--\n  [_To_ BUZEN.] Settle them for me,\n  Sir Buzen, councillor crafty.\n  [_To_ RUITEN.] Settle them for me,\n  Priest Ruiten, the prayerful.\n\n  RUITEN. So are we trying in all ways\n  Thy pain to relieve\n  Yet nought seems availing.\n\n  PRINCE. Wracked is my body\n  With tortures unending\n  Born of the dreams\n  That are surging forever\n  Backward and forward\n  Thru my brain, weary.\n\n  BUZEN. [_Indicating door L._] Around thy bed each night\n  Have I placed thy samurai\n  In number one hundred\n  To guard thy sleep--\n\n  RUITEN. Zealously have I prayed\n  In the temple called \"Miyo In,\"\n  And during the night hours\n  Have knelt at thy house shrine\n  Praying to Buddha, the lord of the world.\n\n  PRINCE. Yet have I not slept\n  Entirely untortured.\n  Slow are thy prayers\n  In fruit bearing.\n\n  RUITEN. Slow because contending with evil--\n                [_Approaches Prince._]\n  With evil in form strange and subtle.\n  Over this house hangs a spirit\n  Ne'er resting and ready always for dire deeds.\n\n  PRINCE. Such a spirit there must be--but what?\n\n  RUITEN. Evil takes many forms but the form of a cat\n  Is favored by many devils.\n\n  PRINCE. [_Startled, the others watch him closely._] A cat--aye, truly\n  And if a cat stalked here\n  That evil thing must we kill.\n\n  RUITEN. Yet such is their power malignant\n  That they take other forms than the forms of cats--\n  Even human forms.\n\n  PRINCE. Ha!--And the spirit that visits me?\n  Mayhap that--\n  Only twice hath it failed of its visit.\n\n  BUZEN. And those lost visits, when?\n\n  PRINCE. The last two nights.\n\n  BUZEN. [_Swelling with pride._] Then, oh Prince, the cure may\n    be found.\n  Better than prayers is the cure [_Eyeing_ RUITEN.]\n  For prayers have not ears--have not eyes--\n  Have not weapons--better than prayers is it.\n\n  PRINCE. Tell me this cure. It is grudged, Sir Priest?\n\n  RUITEN. [_Bowing._] A cure for my lord could not be grudged.\n\n  PRINCE. Well spoken. Say on, Sir Buzen.\n\n  BUZEN. First I must beg clemency\n  For thy hundred samurai\n  For faithful they are to the bone, yet--\n\n  PRINCE. Yet? Why clemency? For what?\n\n  BUZEN. On guard, they slept.\n\n  PRINCE. Slept?\n\n  BUZEN. Aye. Soundly as though deep in saki.\n\n  PRINCE. And none roused?\n\n  BUZEN. They were as dead\n  From shortly after the hour of ten\n  Until dawning.\n  Awakening they knew they had slept\n  Yet knew not when the poppy was thrown in their eyes.\n  Even as one man none knew\n  And were deep amazed and full of shame.\n  Each night it was the same.\n\n  PRINCE. [_Angrily._] So, they slept.\n  While I, on my couch,\n  Through the hours writhed--\n  Writhed and twisted--\n  Weakening ever--\n  Not sleep, yet dreaming--\n  Oh, horrible dreams.\n\n  RUITEN. Of what were these horrible dreams?\n  What was their substance?\n\n  PRINCE. [_Mystified at the memory._] There would come a soft\n    stealing--\n  As of draperies hushed and lifted\n  For silence in walking;\n  Like soft, silken draperies\n  Wrapped about stealthy limbs.\n  Then a shape clothed for sleep\n  As women are clothed--\n  Sinuous and vague in movement,\n  Then taking form slowly--\n  The form--a lie!--a lie! [_Covers his face and goes upstage._]\n\n  RUITEN. The form?\n\n  PRINCE. [_Turns._] O Toyo!\n\n  RUITEN.\n  BUZEN. [_Rubbing their hands._] Ah!\n\n  PRINCE. [_Comes down R._, RUITEN _and_ BUZEN _are together a\n    little L._]\n  Came she to me--\n  Leaned o'er me--\n  Caressed me\n  Yet soothed not.\n  Her lips to mine--\n  Her lips but not sweet.\n  Then here on my throat\n  Would she place them\n  And all my life seemed to smother--\n  Out of me flowed the life-blood\n  In a deep stream\n  Like a tide\n  Forced by the gods,\n  Against its will,\n  To flow far away and yet farther.\n\n  BUZEN. So does a vampire\n  Sucking her victim\n  Draw from him\n  His blood and his marrow.\n\n  PRINCE. Guard thy words!--\n  As my strength ebbed\n  She drew back\n  Red-lipped and smiling,\n  Smiling and laughing\n  Though her laughter was silent.\n  Then with a final shimmer\n  Of silent silks she vanished--\n  So was it done.\n\n  RUITEN. So always the dream?\n  If dream it were.\n\n  PRINCE. The dream--I think yet it was a dream--\n  So was it always.\n\n  BUZEN. But the last two nights?\n\n  PRINCE. Came she as usual\n  Flowing over the floor\n  Like a spectre enrobed\n  And beautified.\n  But as she bent o'er me\n  She paused as if startled\n  And, slowly gazing about,\n  Turned and was gone.\n  Last night she paused\n  As if speaking to someone\n  Though I could see no one.\n\n  BUZEN. But the cause of her turning?\n\n  RUITEN. Turned she startled--\n  Turned she slowly--\n  Turned she wonderingly?\n\n  PRINCE. Slowly, as if she felt\n  A strange presence.\n\n  RUITEN. Feared she?\n\n  PRINCE. She left me.\n\n  BUZEN. But trembling or calm?\n\n  PRINCE. Calmly, as from a thing hated\n  And more powerful than she\n  Whom she would not rouse to action.\n\n  BUZEN. [_Rubbing his hands._] Good.\n\n  PRINCE. What is good?\n\n  BUZEN. That which thou speakest of.\n\n  PRINCE. How so?\n\n  BUZEN. [_Comes forward towards the Prince._] It proves that I have\n    humbly succeeded--\n  [_Grudgingly._] Through the help of another, 'tis true--\n  But yet succeeded in bringing my lord honorable help.\n\n  RUITEN. Indeed it is so.\n\n  PRINCE. Say on, very wise councillor.\n\n  BUZEN. [_Puffing up._] Without more words than are fit\n  This then is the way of the cure.\n  When long had thine illness ravaged and worn thee\n  And many nights had you tossed by weird visions enthralled,\n  No cures affecting, no prayers availing thee [_Glances at_ RUITEN.]\n  Then councilled I with thy wise ones--\n  And, too, with Priest Ruiten--\n\n  RUITEN. I, you should name first,\n  For without my prayers your wisdom was nought.\n\n  BUZEN. To continue briefly.\n  All our heads together brought no solution--\n\n  PRINCE. True, true.\n\n  BUZEN. [_Bowing._] Humbly I acknowledge my head\n  Empty and brainless.\n  Yet even from idiots lips\n  Wisdom oft falls unexpected\n  And therefore more wonderful.\n  Now it is told in old tales\n  Of how Iyaiyasu met--\n\n  RUITEN. Short, abrupt is thy tale.\n\n  PRINCE. The cure, Sir Buzen,\n  The hour passes.\n\n  BUZEN. [_Bowing._] I crave honorable leniency.\n  To be brief--\n\n  PRINCE. Aye, brief.\n\n  BUZEN. Discouraged and sick at heart\n  At the sufferings of my great lord,\n  I was retiring to my room\n  By way of the garden\n  And the hour was the Hour of the Fox.\n  I heard a splashing in the pool\n  And drawing near\n  Saw a young soldier washing.\n  I spoke to him asking,\n  \"Who art thou?\"\n  \"Retainer to my Lord Nabeshima,\n  Prince of Hizen,\" he answered.\n  Then talked I with him. Of thy sickness\n  We talked. And he was ashamed of thy samurai's sleeping.\n  He begged to be allowed to guard thy sleep\n  Also for, being a common soldier, it was not permitted.\n  So earnestly talked he that I promised to consult\n  With the other councillors and see what could be done.\n  \"So tell me your name, young sir,\" I said.\n  \"Ito Soda is my name, honorable sir,\n  And for your kind words I thank you.\"\n  So I consulted and the result was\n  We granted his request.\n\n  PRINCE. And he, too, has watched the two nights past?\n\n  RUITEN. Aye, and he slept not\n  Though the samurai were heavy with sleep-fumes.\n\n  BUZEN. I will tell.\n\n  RUITEN. [_Elbows_ BUZEN _out of the way and comes forward._] You\n    are honorably hoarse.\n  He slept not, as I say--\n\n  PRINCE. How kept he awake?\n  Since many slept spell-bound\n  How broke he the spell?\n\n  RUITEN. With him he brought\n  Oiled paper and laid it\n  Down on the matting\n  Sitting upon it.\n  When o'er his eyes sleep stole\n  And wearily weighted them\n  He drew out his sharp dirk\n  And in his thigh thrust it\n  By pain driving the poppy fumes off.\n  Ever and again he twisted\n  The dirk in the raw wound\n  And the thick blood-drops\n  Soiled not the matting\n  Because of the oiled paper.\n\n  PRINCE. Indeed this is no common soldier,\n  This Ito Soda.\n\n  BUZEN. Indeed not--\n\n  RUITEN. To continue--[_Retires upstage, disgruntled._]\n\n  BUZEN. [_Pushing forward._] As I was saying, oh Prince,\n  His eyes never closed.\n  During the Reign of the Rat\n  He heard, in this room, O Toyo\n  Tossing and moaning\n  As if in great fear of something\n  She could not escape from.\n  Even at the same moment\n  As the beginnings of her moanings\n  Came a cat-call from the garden--\n  Then nearer--then ghostly paddings\n  As of padded claws on matting,\n  And an evil presence seemed hovering\n  And lurking near in the darkness.\n  O Toyo gave a low scream--than all was silence.\n  Soon she came stealthily\n  Through the shoji--cat-like her step--\n  Glassy her eyes--\n  Claw-like her hands--\n  Bent she over you with curled lips--\n  Then she turned, even as you have said,\n  And, seeing a waking watcher,\n  Left as she came.\n\n  RUITEN. [_Comes down._] The second night of Ito Soda's watching\n  She threatened him in low words\n  But he made as to stab her\n  And she melted before him\n  Laughing a little.\n  And he heard the rustle of her garments\n  As she regained this room\n  Though he saw not her passage hither.\n\n  PRINCE. Thicker with each word the horror about me.\n  [_Turns away to R._] Doubts to beliefs--beliefs to actions--\n  Love unto hate. [_Turns to them almost pleadingly._]\n  Tell me it is not O Toyo.\n\n  BUZEN. I questioned her maid, Kashiku,\n  And found that O Toyo's couch\n  Was empty even at the time\n  Of the weird visit to thee.\n\n  PRINCE. [_Overwhelmed._] So, it was O Toyo!\n  In the soul of a flower, a demon--\n  On the sweet lips, poison.\n\n  BUZEN. There is only one course--\n\n  RUITEN. The one road--\n\n  PRINCE. And I take it!\n\n  BUZEN. [_Moves toward door L._] The samurai are gathered.\n\n  PRINCE. Summon Ito Soda. [BUZEN _exits L._]\n\n  RUITEN. Hard is the fate of man\n  Here on this dark earth.\n  Many the shapes and the shadows\n  Stalking abroad.\n  Yet ever the gentle Buddha\n  From the Lotus Fields watches\n  And guards every life that lives.\n\n  PRINCE. [_Puts one hand on_ RUITEN'S _shoulder._] Priest, have\n    not many\n  Vampires bleeding them\n  And dream it is another thing?\n\n  RUITEN. The soul is often a vampire to the body.\n\n  PRINCE. And that evil thing must we kill.\n\n  ITO SODA. [_Enters L., kneels before the_ PRINCE. RUITEN _takes up\n    R. a little and_ BUZEN _re-entering after_ ITO SODA _goes up C._]\n  Honorable Prince, humbly I answer thy summons.\n\n  PRINCE. Rise, Ito Soda.\n  Faithful beyond words art thou,\n  This know I as all hath been told me.\n  No longer call thyself a common soldier\n  But a samurai of the Prince of Hizen.\n  And the two swords will I give thee on the morrow.\n\n  ITO SODA. On my knees I humbly thank thee. [_Rises._]\n\n  PRINCE. Now time presses.\n  O Toyo will be coming\n  In from the garden.\n  As usual shall the hundred sleepy samurai\n  Guard my couch. Let Ito Soda\n  Remain here hidden and watchful.\n  When O Toyo rises to enter my chamber--\n  Your dirk is sharp, Ito Soda?\n\n  ITO SODA. [_Draws dirk._] As a moonbeam on a cold night.\n\n  PRINCE. And you know how to use it.\n\n  ITO SODA. I will place this screen, thus. [_Goes to screen L.\n    and opens it so as to form a hiding place between the sleeping\n    mat and the door L._]\n  So will I wait the moment.\n\n  PRINCE. So be it. It is a good plan\n  And on the one road. Let us about it. [_Exits L. followed\n    by_ BUZEN _and_ RUITEN. ITO SODA _goes behind the screen._\n    O TOYO _is heard singing in the garden._]\n\n  O TOYO. [_Outside._] Moonlit convulvus\n  Through the night hours\n  Wan are their faces\n  Ghostly sweet.\n\n  Richer by daylight\n  Drinking of sunshine\n  As thirsty souls drink\n  At a shrine.\n\n  Fair are the faces\n  Glassed in the quiet pools\n  Maidens low-bending\n  Vain ones.\n\n  [_The singing stops abruptly._] Kashiku, is not that a cat\n  Stealing stealthily there?\n  She snarls--quick--[O TOYO _enters B. C. quickly and very\n    frightened, turns and looks back, hurries_ KASHIKU _in._\n    KASHIKU _follows much less disturbed at any fear of a cat\n    than over her mistress' fright._]\n\n  KASHIKU. [_Shuts the shoji R. C. and comes to_ O TOYO.] You are\n    all atremble.\n\n  O TOYO. Quick, let me be safe in slumber. [_Crosses to dressing\n    table._]\n\n  KASHIKU. [_Follows her and attends to her hair while_ O TOYO\n    _kneels before the glass._] Several nights lately have I\n    heard my lady moaning\n  As though even in sleep were she troubled.\n  The worry over your honorable lord hath disturbed thee.\n\n  O TOYO. Your ears are over keen.\n  I am happy when I sleep.\n  How can I moan, being happy?\n  You are dull.\n\n  KASHIKU. Perhaps it was the wind or the echo of my lord's moaning.\n\n  O TOYO. Moaning or was it singing?\n  I would it were singing\n  For singing is sweeter\n  On the lips of those dying.\n\n  KASHIKU. Dying?\n\n  O TOYO. When those whom we love are passing--\n  Even under our hands are passing--\n  And our love weans them from life\n  And our kisses suck out the blood-life,\n  Then would we touch them no more,\n  Then would we kiss them no more,\n  But a power greater than we\n  And a power that we fear\n  Forces us on in our love-killing.\n\n  KASHIKU. There is in your voice a vibration, as even the winds in\n    the pine-tops\n  When, in the autumn, they echo the summer's death-song;\n  There is in your eyes a strange light as if the soul of another\n  Looked out from your curtaining lashes and dimmed the sweet light\n    there abiding.\n  Oh, mistress, surely you are different than what you once were.\n\n  O TOYO. [_Crosses C. slowly._] Even now comes the hour and the\n    struggle\n  And I do the bidding of that which is in me.\n  How I hate the feel of his flesh\n  Quivering under my lips\n  And the loathsome taste of the blood-drops\n  Thick on my lips that would soothe him and cannot.\n\n  KASHIKU. Can anything soothe more than thy lips,\n  More than the lips that love him?\n  I cannot understand the words of your saying.\n  You are happy and tearful all in a moment,\n  Your soul seems a sky full of sunshine and clouds.\n  [_Coming to her._] Even now as my hand touches you, you are\n    trembling.\n  Is it the cat that crept upon us\n  Whose shape still affrights you?\n\n  O TOYO. Thou hast said it--My soul is as thou sayest.\n  My dreams are sweet and again bitter.\n  Once came a dream horrible above all dreams.\n\n  KASHIKU. What dream, my lady?\n\n  O TOYO. The night when you found me there on the floor.\n  Do you remember?\n\n  KASHIKU. Well. You were all distraught and the bosom of your gown\n  Was torn open and you clutched your throat\n  As if you were wounded there. But there was no mark.\n  And you let wild words fall from your lips\n  And none knew their meaning.\n\n  O TOYO. The Prince and I walked in the garden\n  And there at the shoji I left him.\n  As I entered\n  There entered\n  With me a spirit\n  And its breath fell upon me--\n  Dumb my tongue in my mouth\n  And frozen my marrow.\n  Suddenly it leapt upon me\n  And as I fell downward\n  Flashed the spirit into mine eyes--\n  A cat, two-tailed and hairy--\n  And it's teeth sank in my throat here--\n  Can you see a mark? [_Exposes her throat to_ KASHIKU.]\n\n  KASHIKU. The skin is as smooth as satin and perfect.\n\n  O TOYO. Then came darkness upon me--and so you found me.\n  So strong is the dream within me\n  I wonder if it be a dream or no.\n\n  KASHIKU. You had walked that evening in the garden.\n\n  O TOYO. I had rather dreamed I walked--say I dreamed it.\n\n  KASHIKU. The Prince was with--\n\n  O TOYO. Yet it was a dream, question it not.\n  I would go to rest peacefully.\n  He, too, shall rest peacefully--\n  I shall not kiss my lord tonight. [_Crosses L._]\n\n  KASHIKU. Not kiss him?\n\n  O TOYO. I think not I shall kiss him.\n  I would not pain his slumbers--\n  He has paled so and his face is so thin.\n  In the night he lies like a strong flower\n  And a strange flower, bled of its life--\n  Like a strong flower weakened.\n  And at its sight my dreams are bitter.\n  But as I gaze a change comes over all things\n  And I hold in my hands a beautiful flower\n  Which I kiss with my lips\n  Holding my lips long to it,\n  Draining its sweetness.\n  And a cloud passes over\n  And on my lips are clots of blood!\n\n  KASHIKU. Such dreamings are not good.\n  I find the silken coverlets tossed in the morning,\n  Twisted and thrown about as if you slept ill.\n\n  O TOYO. It is not O Toyo who tosses them--\n  It is the dream O Toyo.\n\n  KASHIKU. Two nights lately have I imagined you called to me\n  But entering you were not here--but there with your lord soothing\n    his sufferings.\n\n  O TOYO. Drinking at strange fountains and unknown springs--\n  Drinking of sacred waters sacred to unknown gods.\n  And as I drink another life becomes my life\n  And he is mine--utterly mine, at last!\n\n  KASHIKU. You frighten me--\n\n  O TOYO. Be not frightened--you have no need.\n  Now I shall sleep.\n  He, too, is sleeping. Perhaps--perhaps he is suffering.\n  Shall I touch him with my hands?\n  Perhaps he is hungry for my kisses--\n  Shall I kiss him?\n\n  KASHIKU. It were a fitting thing to kiss thy lord.\n\n  O TOYO. You know not what you say, Kashiku.\n\n  KASHIKU. My lady--\n\n  O TOYO. You have not heard me say strange things, Kashiku.\n\n  KASHIKU. I have heard--\n\n  O TOYO. Nothing.\n\n  KASHIKU. Nothing, my lady.\n\n  O TOYO. Put out the lamps. [KASHIKU _blows out candles on\n    dressing table_.]\n  Go now, Kashiku, and do you sleep deeply,\n  Breathing poppies.\n\n  KASHIKU. My lady--\n\n  O TOYO. Go. [KASHIKU _opens shoji R. and goes out shutting it\n    after her_. O TOYO _crosses, too, and lies on the sleeping\n    mat. The room is almost in total darkness._]\n\n  O TOYO. I shall kiss him--I shall kiss him! [_The lantern at\n    the head of the sleeping mat glows more and more brightly\n    until a cat's head appears on it. At this moment a cat-call\n    comes from the garden._ (NOTE.--If these effects cannot be\n    gotten with no hint of the ludicrous, have the lantern glow\n    with increasing light but use no cat's head or cat call.)\n    _With the increase of light_, O TOYO _has begun to moan and\n    toss and at the moment of the cat-call she rises as in a\n    trance and goes towards the door L. As she passes the screen_\n    ITO SODA _steps out from behind it and plunges his dirk into\n    her back; she falls with a little, stifled cry. Instantly, in\n    utter darkness, the curtain falls._]\n\n\nEND OF THE PLAY.\n\n\n\n\nHageman's Make-Up Book\n\n  By MAURICE HAGEMAN\n  Price, 25 cents\n\n\nThe importance of an effective make-up is becoming more apparent to the\nprofessional actor every year, but hitherto there has been no book on\nthe subject describing the modern methods and at the same time covering\nall branches of the art. This want has now been filled. Mr. Hageman has\nhad an experience of twenty years as actor and stage-manager, and his\nwell-known literary ability has enabled him to put the knowledge so\ngained into shape to be of use to others. The book is an encyclopedia of\nthe art of making up. Every branch of the subject is exhaustively\ntreated, and few questions can be asked by professional or amateur that\ncannot be answered by this admirable hand-book. It is not only the best\nmake-up book ever published, but it is not likely to be superseded by\nany other. It is absolutely indispensable to every ambitious actor.\n\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n    Chapter I. =General Remarks.=\n\n    Chapter II. =Grease-Paints, their origin, components and use.=\n\n    Chapter III. =The Make-up Box.= Grease-Paints, Mirrors, Face\n    Powder and Puff, Exora Cream, Rouge, Liquid Color, Grenadine,\n    Blue for the Eyelids, Brilliantine for the Hair, Nose Putty,\n    Wig Paste, Mascaro, Crape Hair, Spirit Gum, Scissors, Artists'\n    Stomps, Cold Cream, Cocoa Butter, Recipes for Cold Cream.\n\n    Chapter IV. =Preliminaries before Making up; the Straight\n    Make-up and how to remove it.=\n\n    Chapter V. =Remarks to Ladies.= Liquid Creams, Rouge, Lips,\n    Eyebrows, Eyelashes, Character Roles, Jewelry, Removing\n    Make-up.\n\n    Chapter VI. =Juveniles.= Straight Juvenile Make-up, Society\n    Men, Young Men in Ill Health, with Red Wigs, Rococo Make-up,\n    Hands, Wrists, Cheeks, etc.\n\n    Chapter VII. =Adults, Middle Aged and Old Men.= Ordinary Type\n    of Manhood, Lining Colors, Wrinkles, Rouge, Sickly and\n    Healthy, Old Age, Ruddy Complexions.\n\n    Chapter VIII. =Comedy and Character Make-ups.= Comedy Effects,\n    Wigs, Beards, Eyebrows, Noses, Lips, Pallor of Death.\n\n    Chapter IX. =The Human Features.= The Mouth and Lips, the Eyes\n    and Eyelids, the Nose, the Chin, the Ear, the Teeth.\n\n    Chapter X. =Other Exposed Parts of the Human Anatomy.=\n\n    Chapter XI. =Wigs, Beards, Moustaches, and Eyebrows.= Choosing\n    a Wig, Powdering the Hair, Dimensions for Wigs, Wig Bands,\n    Bald Wigs, Ladies' Wigs, Beards on Wire, on Gauze, Crape Hair,\n    Wool, Beards for Tramps, Moustaches, Eyebrows.\n\n    Chapter XII. =Distinctive and Traditional Characteristics.=\n    North American Indians, New England Farmers, Hoosiers,\n    Southerners, Politicians, Cowboys, Minors, Quakers, Tramps,\n    Creoles, Mulattoes, Quadroons, Octoroons, Negroes, Soldiers\n    during War, Soldiers during Peace, Scouts, Pathfinders,\n    Puritans, Early Dutch Settlers, Englishmen, Scotchmen,\n    Irishmen, Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, South\n    Americans, Scandinavians, Germans, Hollanders, Hungarians,\n    Gipsies, Russians, Turks, Arabs, Moors, Caffirs, Abyssinians,\n    Hindoos, Malays, Chinese, Japanese, Clowns and Statuary,\n    Hebrews, Drunkards, Lunatics, Idiots, Misers, Rogues.\n\n\n  Address Orders to\n  THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY\n  CHICAGO, ILLINOIS\n\n\n\n\nPLAYS\n\nAnd Entertainment Books.\n\n\nBeing the largest theatrical booksellers in the United States, we keep\nin stock the most complete and best assorted lines of plays and\nentertainment books to be found anywhere.\n\nWe can supply any play or book published. We have issued a catalogue of\nthe best plays and entertainment books published in America and England.\nIt contains a full description of each play, giving number of\ncharacters, time of playing, scenery, costumes, etc. This catalogue will\nbe sent free on application.\n\nThe plays described are suitable for amateurs and professionals, and\nnearly all of them may be played free of royalty. Persons interested in\ndramatic books should examine our catalogue before ordering elsewhere.\n\nWe also carry a full line of grease paints, face powders, hair goods,\nand other \"make-up\" materials.\n\n\nThe Dramatic Publishing Company\n\nCHICAGO","title":"The vampire cat : $b a play in one act from the Japanese legend of the Nabeshima cat","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":4159}