Who sang about the dancers of the woods,

And the lascivious race, Cailitin,

(He seizes OONA and drags her into the middle of the room

SECOND MERCHANT. His gaze has filled me, brother,

CATHLEEN. There is more:

Between the hour?glass and the pepper?pot."

Over Sualtems and old Decteras child;

ANOTHER PEASANT.

SHEMUS. Not ask a price?

And meet them with her soul caught in your claws.

CATHLEEN. I offer my own soul.

A PEASANT. We were under the tree where the path turns,

(She takes them and goes into the crowd.)

Has fallen on her face; The Light of Lights

While these good gentlemen are there to save you.

SECOND MERCHANT. We must away and wait until she dies,

Her eyes were full of tears, and when for a moment

THE WOMAN. The scandalous book.

And that about the herdsman lying sick,

CATHLEEN. Bend down your faces, Oona and Aleel;

Enough to keep my children through the dearth?

And while we bore her hither cloudy gusts

To hearten us.

He troubles me.

(One who is near the door draws the bolt.)

"Soft, handsome, and still young "??not much, I think."

Turned gods to stone; Barach, the traitor, comes

Fly screaming as they fled Moytura of old.

That no mere lapse of days can make me yours.

(ALEEL enters.)

and Points downward with vehement gestures. The wind roars.)

About her is a vapoury multitude

(They turn to door, but are stopped by shouts of "Countess

(An Old PEASANT WOMAN comes forward, and he takes up a book and reads.)

OLD WOMAN. God bless you, Sir.

FIRST MERCHANT. Thanks to that lie I told about her ships

And they are rising through the hollow world.

ALEEL. Cathleen has chosen other friends than us,

FIRST MERCHANT.

OONA. Tell them who walk upon the floor of peace

First, Orchill, her pale, beautiful head alive,

O, Maker of all, protect her from the demons,

SHEMUS. Youll get no more??so take whats offered you.

That is my wife. She mocked at my great masters,

Over the mountain?tops.

And have no excellent hope but the great hour

And God the herdsman goads them on behind,

A PEASANT. Do not, do not, for souls the like of ours

A WOMAN. What will you give for mine?

Having but breath in their kind bodies, farewell

CATHLEEN. Being my own it seems a priceless thing.

CATHLEEN (half rising) Lay all the bags of money in a heap, And when I am gone, old Oona, share them out

Has but a heart of blood when others die;

And die, dull heart, for she whose mournful words

ALEEL. The trouble that has come on Countess Cathleen,

But all the little pink?white nails have grown

The Archangels rolling Satans empty skull

ALEEL. I shatter you in fragments, for the face

But there is something moving in my heart

(She turns to go.)

work,

the scene goes on. There is a distant muttering of thunder and a sound of rising storm.)

What brings you here, saint with the sapphire eyes?

And you have none.

hｔtpｓ://ｒeaｄ•9９ｃsｗ.coｍThe burden in her eyes, have broke my wits,

The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone.

And that great king Hell first took hold upon

SECOND MERCHANT. What has she in her coffers now but mice?

I have seen a vision under a green hedge,

John Maher, a man of substance, with dull mind,

while you speak

FIRST MERCHANT. Five hundred thousand crowns; we give the price. The gold is here; the souls even

FIRST MERCHANT. Has no one got a better soul than that?

ALEEL. Look no more on the half?closed gates of Hell,

A hundred, then.

So great a fool she was.

"She has stolen eggs and fowl when times were bad,

SHEMUS. They say you beat the woman down too low.

The PEASANTS cast themselves on the ground.)

(Throws the woman off.)

And I am broken by their passing feet.

Waiting as many years as may be, guarding

Is drawing near??our labour will soon end.

According to their needs.

SECOND PEASANT. And maybe we shall scream so.

A PEASANT. She was the great white lily of the world.

FIRST MERCHANT. We need but hover over her head in the air, For she has only minutes. When she signed

FIRST MERCHANT. "Nor how when hes away

That Death is the worst thing can happen us.

SHEMUS. Theres nobody could put into her head

Are not precious to God as your soul is.

ANOTHER PEASANT. I will not trust my mother after this.

There is something more writ here??"often at night

And would not deal with them. Now there she is;

And left you but a ball of passionate dust.

And when she could, paid dues." Take up your money.

(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)

(Everything is lost in darkness.)

OTHER PEASANT WOMEN Hush!

And all their heads are twisted to one side,

CATHLEEN (entering) And so you trade once more?

FIRST MERCHANT. Can such a trifle turn you from your profit? Come, deal; come, deal,

FIRST MERCHANT. Who will come deal with us?

ALEEL (rushing forward and snatching the parchment from her) Leave all things to the builder of the

She wander the loud waters. Do not weep

And Mary of the seven times wounded heart

But you must sign, for we omit no form

SECOND MERCHANT. Leap feathered on the air

Her heart began to break. Hush, hush, I hear

CATHLEEN. The people starve, therefore the people go

And from the eternal revelry?

Blackened the world and shook us on our feet

A PEASANT. She was more beautiful than the pale stars.

Were pressed upon it when he sent us hither;

Knows nothing of whats hidden in the jar

A hedge of hips and haws?men yet shall hear

Our precious jewel; waiting to seize her soul.

And must I bear it with me all my days?

But when the times grew better has confessed it;

(ALEEL takes looking?glass from OONA and flings it upon the floor so that it is broken in many pieces.)

I do not ask a price.

SECOND MERCHANT. When the d九*九*藏*書ew rose

O! what would Heaven do without you, lady?

in formation of battle and look downward with stern faces.

It was a feather growing on the cock

vapour full of storm and ever?changing light is sweeping above them and behind them. Half in the light, haff

O, she is dead!

MIDDLE?AGED MAN. Give me my soul again.

FIRST MERCHANT. In spite of you.

Her body shadowy as vapour drifting

CATHLEEN picks up parchment and signs, then turns towards the PEASANTS.)

And there is still some music on their tongues.

And I was once alone with him at midnight.

Has shed a light on them and filled their hearts.

ANOTHER PEASANT. Come, come away.

in the shadow, stand armed angels. Their armour is old and worn, and their drawn swords dim and dinted.

The years like great black oxen tread the world,

And it is in my ears by night and day,

A PEASANT. Thats plenty for a rogue.

Till you speak

SECOND MERCHANT. What matter, if the soul be worth the price?

SECOND MERCHANT.

Therefore happy, even like those that dance.

SECOND MERCHANT. You offer us??

(The darkness is broken by a visionary light. The PEASANTS seem to be kneeling upon the rocky slope of a

I may not touch it.

The souls that you have bought must be set free.

His love for Countess Cathleen has so crazed him

Let us and ours be lost so she be shriven.

I gaze upon them as the swallow gazes

Why I should have less money than the others.

AN OLD MAN. The Almighty wrath at our great weakness and sin Has blotted out the world and we must

With shaking and a dreadful fear.

Under the dawn, for she who awoke desire

PEASANT. Hush!

MIDDLE?AGED?MAN. I come to deal??if you give honest price.

And the eternal revelry float hither

And I who weep

That cast a druid weakness and decay

The storm is in my hair and I must go.

(A sound of far?off horns seems to come from the heart of the Light. The vision melts away, and the forms of

He is wakeful from a dread of growing poor,

FIRST MERCHANT. Take him away.

(OONA takes her in her arms. A WOMAN begins to wail.)

FIRST MERCHANT. Lean forward

SECOND MERCHANT. Sign with this quill.

FIRST MERCHANT. Come, deal, deal, deal. It is but for charity We buy such souls at all; a thousand sins

COUNTESS CATHLEEN and lay her upon the ground before OONA and ALEEL. She lies there as if dead.)

Theyre but three days from us.

And bore me in your arms about the house

And now I do not know where she is gone.

Draw the great bolt, for no man has beheld

FIRST MERCHANT. We know of but one soul thats worth the price.

When she grew pale as death and fainted away.

FIRST MERCHANT (reading in book)

Upon the nest under the eave, before

And yet I know Id have you take my soul.

The age?weary eyelids from the eyes that of old

On the High Altar though one fall. Aleel,

the kneeling PEASANTS appear faintly in the darkness.)

And kiss the circlet where my Masters九*九*藏*書 lips

(PEASANTS crowd in with TEIG and SHEMUS.)

But lived on nettles, dock, and dandelion.

And they are rising through the hollow world.

upon a table, arrange money, and so on.

TEIG. She would not eat

ALEEL. No. but you must. Seeing it cannot help her

They stand as if upon the air

The angels think him safe." Two hundred crowns,

OONA (casting herself face downwards on the floor)

SHEMUS. Woman, have sense?come, Come.

ANOTHER PEASANT. Yes, yes.

Come, deal, deal, deal, deal, deal; are you all dumb?

Will tap three times upon the window?pane."

To be great talons.

I hurried in like feathers to the east,

WOMAN (going on her knees and clinging to MERCHANT)

OONA. God guard her soul.

(TEIG and SHEMUS lead ALEEL into the crowd.)

Sitting above her tower as two grey owls,

Since the drought came they drift about in a throng,

SHEMUS. Come in, come in, you are welcome.

(She screams.)

THE WOMAN. And if there is a letter, that is no reason

Yonder a bright spear, cast out of a sling,

A PEASANT. How she screamed out!

When he killed Naisi and broke Deirdres heart,

And quiet senses and unventurous heart.

And saw nine hundred oxen driven through Meath

(A flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder.)

Come, deal??come, deal.

Call curses on you, Time and Fate and Change,

FIRST MERCHANT. Three days for traffic.

bed is the body of MARY with candles round it. The two MERCHANTS while they speak put a large book

ALEEL (casting the parchment on the ground)

ANOTHER PEASANT. Id give him nothing.

CATHLEEN. O, hold me, and hold me tightly, for the storm

Though that sounds simple, for her tongue grew rank

where he sinks on to a seat.)

Of women alluring devils with soft laughter

That I may feed them till the dearth go by.

FIRST MERCHANT. When the night fell and I had shaped myself Into the image of the man?headed owl,

And all who use it have great honour in Hell.

Too great a while, for there is many a candle

FIRST MERCHANT. I bought your soul, and theres no sense in fear Now the souls gone.

So black, bitter, blinding, and sudden a storm.

(SECOND MERCHANT kisses the gold circlet that is about the

FIRST MERCHANT. . It may be the souls worth it.

ANOTHER PEASANT WOMAN.

FIRST MERCHANT. Begone from me

That know not the hard burden of the world,

In buying a soul like yours.

Has torn through Balors eye, and the dark clans

With obstinate, crafty, sidelong bitterness.

Made you a living spirit has passed away

Like autumn leaves blown by the dreary winds.

A PEASANT WOMAN. Pull him upon his knees before his curses

You shall have peace once more.

I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,

The brazen door of Hell move on its hinges,

And you, proud earth and plumy sea, fade out!

For you may hear no more her faltering feet,

for a moment. And then she speaks in a half scream:)

CATHLEEN. I have no thoughts; I hear a cry??ahｔｔｐｓ://ｒeaｄ•９9cｓw•ｃｏｍ cry.

With all the lies that she had heard in chapel.

(She kisses the hands of CATHLEEN.)

PEASANT WOMEN Hush!

They begin a song

How can you sell your soul without a price?

(A general murmur, during which the MIDDLE?AGED?MAN takes money, and slips into background,

And take this money too, and give me mine.

THE MAN. I ask three hundred crowns. You have read there

The sorrow that is in her wasted face,

FIRST MERCHANT. There is this crack in you??two hundred crowns.

And rushing through the parti?coloured sea

For when they lived they warred on beauty and peace

AN OLD PEASANT WOMAN. The little plant I love is broken in two.

With goads of iron, Theyre but three days from us.

May you be scorned and mocked!

ALEEL. Here, take my soul, for I am tired of it.

When you shall plunge headlong through bottomless space.

Made them our Masters long before we came.

ALEEL. Shes bartered it away this very hour,

MIDDLE?AGED MAN. Master, I am afraid.

OONA. O, that so many pitchers of rough clay

I have grown tired of it.

Draw to the curtain.

That crowed when Peter dared deny his Master,

PEASANT. Come, lets away.

(He moves about as though the air was full of spirits. OONA enters.)

And I would have five hundred thousand crowns

(She dies.)

Those ships that bring the woman grain and meal.

FIRST MERCHANT. That name is like a fire to all damned souls.

ALEEL. The brazen door stands wide, and Balor comes

(CATHLEEN leans forward to sign.)

FIRST MERCHANT. Drag him away.

CATHLEEN. Take up the money, and now come with me;

Crouch down, old heron, out of the blind storm.

All for a soul, a little breath of wind.

As though we two were never in the world.

FIRST MERCHANT. We cannot take your soul, for it is hers.

Have plucked thunder and lightning on our heads.

Oh, sir, a pain went through me!

(They rush Out. ALEEL crawls into the middle of the room. The twilight has fallen and gradually darkens as

PEASANTS. Hush!

(Murmur among the PEASANTS, who shrink back from her as she goes out.)

When I was but a child and therefore happy,

That it may be no more with mortal things,

mountain, and

Whereby I know that what we seek the most

That he could rob in safety."

Is dragging me away.

Cathleen! Countess Cathleen!")

Has kissed her lips, and the long blessed hair

(TEIG and SHEMUS drag him roughly away so that he falls upon the floor among the PEASANTS.

Demons are out, old heron.

At the horse fair the hand that wrote whats hid

One crumb of bread bought with our masters money,

She never missed her chapel of a Sunday

That I would die and go to her I love;

Youll not play the fool

He hardly understands what he is saying.

ALEEL. Is your power so small?

(TEIG draws it.)

She does not even know she was a fool,

And if a soul must need be lost, take mine.

die.

Should prosper and the porcelain break in two!

SECOND MERCHANT. Bear bastards九_九_藏_書, drink or follow some wild fancy; For sighs and cries are the souls

We shall be too much thronged with souls to?morrow.

head of the FIRST MERCHANT.)

Have slipped out of our bond, because your face

You shall not drift into eternity.

That brimmed you up with beauty is no more:

I will give everybody money enough.

(She goes out, the PEASANTS crowding round her and kissing her dress. ALEEL and the two MERCHANTS

(He seizes one of the angels.)

Looks always on the motive, not the deed,

Save four or five. Here, sir, is one of these;

ALEEL. Angels and devils clash in the middle air,

To every man and woman: judge, and give

(He Points downward.)

There, take it up. There, there. Thats right.

OONA. Where is the Countess Cathleen? All this day

A PEASANT. Whod have thought it?

heavens.

I, too, grow weary,

THIRD PEASANT. I tell you there is no such place as hell.

But are left lonely amid the clamorous war

The others will gain courage in good time.

ANOTHER PEASANT. Come quickly; if that woman had not screamed I would have lost my soul.

There is an alcove at the back with curtains; in it a bed, and on the

FIRST MERCHANT. Youre almost safe, I give you fifty crowns

Thronging to you. I hear a cry come from them

And farewell, Oona, you who played with me,

Its certain that the man shes married to

What, will you keep me from our ancient home

If only for the credit of your parishes, Traffic with us.

CATHLEEN. I come to barter a soul for a great price.

OONA. Bring me the looking?glass.

O, Queen of Heaven, and all you blessed saints,

There is but little set down here against her.

Of angels upon devils.

(ALEEL releases the ANGEL and kneels.)

When we are far from this polluted place

And brazen swords clang upon brazen helms.

Look how their claws clutch in their leathern gloves.

I would not listen to his broken wits;

A PEASANT WOMAN. And will she give

FIRST MERCHANT. I offer this great price: a?thousand crowns For an old woman who was always ugly.

(A WOMAN brings it to her out of the inner room. OONA holds it over the lips Of CATHLEEN. All is silent

And thereon wonders if theres any man

are left alone.)

Her hand was laid upon my hand it trembled,

SECOND MERCHANT. Deal, deal.

(ALEEL kneels beside her, but does not seem to hear her words. The PEASANTS return. They carry the

Borne in his heavy car, and demons have lifted

Is this a time to haggle at the price?

But speak to me, whose mind is smitten of God,

And tell of her who lies there.

(He stands up; almost every one is kneeling, but it has grown so dark that only confused forms can be seen.)

THE ANGEL. The light beats down; the gates of pearl are wide. And she is passing to the floor of peace,

SHEMUS. They are out of spirit, Sir, with lack of food,

And saw with all their canvas full of wind

FIRST MERCHANT (reading in a book)

Behind her a host heat of the blood made sin,