Too great a while, for there is many a candle

(ALEEL releases the ANGEL and kneels.)

Looks always on the motive, not the deed,

because I made Irish men and women, who, it seems, never did such a thing, sell theirs. The

(She kisses the hands Of CATHLEEN.)

And haughty sky, fall down!

The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone.

secourir leur mis`ere;?elle les abandonnait `a la tentation. Pourtant il ny avait plus que huit jours `a passer

en vain, ils demeur`erent silencieux et discrets.

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

But why does Hells gate creak so? Round and round,

Vous achetez des `ames??

of the Countess, and the last scene from the going out of the Merchants was as follows:?

Carola as Mary, Miss Florence Farr as Aleel, Miss Anna Mather as Oona, Mr. Charles Holmes as the

another, and both

sauv`e ses concitoyens de la morte `eternelle.

And now I do not know where she is gone.

disparurent de leur h`otellerie, sans quon s`ut jamais ce quils `etaient devenus.

Has kissed her lips, and the long blessed hair

Par charit`e

OONA enters.)

Des quelle fut rentr`ee, elle dit au majordome:

de plus; car Satan avait eu le temps dy former hypoth`eque. L`ame dune `pouse en valait cinquante quand

Till you speak

Having but breath in their kind bodies, farewell

To every man and woman: judge, and give

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

You shall not drift into eternity.

That it may be no more with mortal things:

pour que les grains et les fourrages arrivassent en abondance des pays

audience to break the peace, that a score or so of police were sent to the theatre to see that they did not. I had,

Dans lh`otellerie o`u descendirent les marchands fastueux on chercha `a p`en`etrer leurs desseins: mais cc fut

OTHER PEASANT WOMEN. Hush!

?

les eut mis en fuite, mais ses mains `etaient captives?Le larcin fut effectu`e.

Cent mille.?

Has fallen on her face; the Light of Lights

ANOTHER PEASANT WOMAN.

Jai une `ame `a vendre; mais elle est ch`ere.?

Hither and hither, to and fro theyre running.

out

en vain pr`es de Ketty d`epouill`ee, elle ne pouvait plus

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

however, no reason to regret the result, for the stalls, containing almost all that was distinguished in Dublin,

having been written before I knew anything of the theatre. I have left the old end, however, in the version

peuple, et la providence des indigents. D`es quelle eut appris que des

Ce que je vais vous dire est un r`ecit du car`eme Irlandais. Le boiteux, laveugle, le paralytique des rues de Dublin ou de Limerick, vous le diraient mieux que moi, cher lecteur, si vous alliez le leur demander, un

Pendant ce temps, il existait dans la ville un ange de beaut`e, la comtesse Ketty OConｒead•9９csw.cｏｍnor. Elle `etait lidole du

M. Kelly as a Peasant Woman, Mr. T. E. Wilkinson as a Servant, and Miss May Whitty as The Countess

exigences de la disette, et les pauvres allaient ou expirer dans les angoisses de la faim, ou, reniant les saintes

Upon the nest under the eave, before

personne navait oui parler, et qui parlaient n`eanmoins avec la plus grande perfection la langue du pays. Leurs cheveux `etaient noirs et ferr`es avec de lor et leurs robes dune grande magnificence.

Confiteor.

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

A PEASANT WOMAN. Pull him upon his knees,

(ALEEL takes looking?glass from OONA and flings it upon fkoor, so that it is broken in manypieces.)

Satan vaincu neut pas de prise

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

Et pendant quils demeur`erent dans lh`otellerie, ils ne

opposite side. The principal lighting is from two arc lights in the balcony which throw their lights into the

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

en frissonnant.

Combien de bijoux??

The storm is in my hair and I must go.

PEASANT WOMEN. Hush!

Apr`es la huitaine, des vaisseaux nombreux amen`erent lIrlande affam`ee dimmenses provisions de grains.

Master Patrick, lui dit elle, combien ai?je de pi`eces dor dans mon coffre??

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

?Belle h`otesse, r`epondit lun deux, nous navons pas voulu aller au?devant dinfortunes honorables, dans la

such passages as a stage experience of some years showed me encumbered the action; the play in its first form

According to their needs.

use of a gauze. The short front scene before the last is just long enough when played with

And she is passing to the floor of peace,

publique, vous ne fassiez pas de bonnes oeuvres?

?Mais les pauvres lont racont`e d`age en `age et les enfants de Cork et de Dublin chantent encore la ballade

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

ANGEL. The light beats down; the gates of pearl are wide.

OONA. O, that so many pitchers of rough clay

Demons are out, old heron.

Aujourdhui je viens vous proposer un march`e, reprit elle.?

Shemus Rua, and because I made a woman sell her soul and yet escape damnation, and of a lack of patriotism

Tous deux semblaient avoir le m`eme age; ils paraissaient `etre des hommes de cinquante ans, car leur barbe grisormait un peu.

munificence du Seigneur toutpuissant.

Pour sauver les pauvres quelle aime

O, she is dead!

Puis elle senferma et recommanda quon ne vint pas la d`eranger.

the play was revived in New York by Miss Wycherley as well as being played a good deal in 九_九_藏_書England and

ALEEL. I shatter you in fragments, for the face

OONA. God guard her soul.

is dragging me away.

Enough to keep my children through the dearth?

Nest ce pas que ce r`ecit, n`e de limagination des po`etes catholiques de la verte Erin, est une V`eritable r`ecit

Que voulez?vous? dirent ils.?

tr`esor. . . en vain lutta?t?elle de toutes ses forces pour sauver le contenu de son coffre, les larrons diaboliques

unnecessary. The room at Shemus Ruas house is suggested by a great grey curtain?a colour which becomes

Au s`ejour damour ineffable

n`ecessaire et pas une de leurs `ames ne sera livr`ee au d`emon.

Lequel??

Abbey Theatre. The first two scenes are almost wholly new, and throughout the play I have added or left out

Il y a bien longtemps quil apparut tout?`a?coup dans la vielle Irlande deux marchands inconnus dont

(The ANGEL turns again and is about to go, but is seized by ALEEL.)

Look, look, a spear has gone through Belials eye!

Satan paya

PEASANTS. Hush!

vendre `a vil prix leur `ame, le plus beau pr`esent de la

que ce castel et le champs qui lentoure.

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

Confiteor.

After the performance in 1899 I added the love scene between Aleel and the Countess, and in this new form

`etrangers pr`ets `a prodiguer lor, la foule assi`egea leur logis; mais les figures des gens qui en sortaient

printed in the body of this book, because the change for dramatic purposes has been made for no better reason

sein couleur du lis: puis elle se leva r`esolue, anim`ee par un vif sentiment de d`esespoir.

shallow stage made the elaborate vision of armed angels upon a mountain?side impossible. The new end is

politician and newspaper made such obvious appeals to the

Gentlemen, leur dit lh`otesse un jour, do`u vient que vous `etes si opulents, et que, venus pour secourir la

ordre de Lucifer jusquau moment o`u ils pourront livrer l`ame de Ketty qui leur a `echapp`e. je vous dis la

Quand on ouvrit sa porte, on la trouva raide et froide: elle `etait morte de douleur.

The play was performed at the Abbey Theatre for the first time on December 14, 1911, Miss Maire ONeill

And farewell, Oona, you who played with me

sixpense dargent `a la main.?Il nest pas une jeune fille catholique `a laquelle on ne Fait appris pendant les

Combien de ch`ateaux, de bois et de terres??

The years like great black oxen tread the world,

On the High Altar though one fall. Aleel,

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

Trois jours se pass`erent; elle nappela pas; elle ne sortit pas.

students to sign a protest against the play, and a Cardinal, who avowed that he had not read it, to make

And I am broken by their passing feet.

particularly suited to the Abbey stage, where t九九藏書he stage platform can be brought out in front of the prosceniurn

And bore me in your arms about the house

Chantons sous la nef de l`eglise,

She wander the loud waters. Do not weep

(A winged ANGEL, carrying a torch and a sword, enters from the R. with eyes fixed upon some distant thing.

accusing me in a

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

Herdsman, Mr. Jack Wilcox as the Gardener, Mr. Walford as a Peasant, Miss Dorothy Paget as a Spirit, Miss

Tenez, distribuez ceci. Avec la somme que je vous donne les pauvres attendront la huitaine

Therefore happy even like those that dance.

En `ecus dor,

First and Second Demon, Mr. Valentine Grace as Shemus Rua, Master Charles Sefton as Teig, Madame San

maximes de lEvangile,

l`egende telle que je la sais.

Elle se rendit chez les marchands d`ames.

When she grew pale as death and fainted away.

de car`eme?

I found the story of the Countess Cathleen in what professed to be a collection of Irish folk?lore in an Irish newspaper some years ago. I wrote to the compiler, asking about its source, but got no answer, but have since heard that it was translated from Les Matin`ees de Timoth`e Trimm a good many years ago, and has been drifting about the Irish press ever since. L`eo Lesp`es gives it as an Irish story, and though the editor of Folklore has kindly advertised for information, the only Christian variant I know of is a Donegal tale, given by Mr. Larminie in his West Irish Folk Tales and Romances, of a woman who goes to hell for ten years to save her husband, and stays there another ten, having been granted permission to carry away as many souls as could cling to her skirt. L`eo Lesp`es may have added a few details, but I have no doubt of the essential antiquity of what seems to me the most impressive form of one of the supreme parables of the world. The parable came to the Greeks in the sacrifice of Alcestis, but her sacrifice was less overwhelming, less apparently irremediable. L`eo Lesp`es tells the story as follows:??

Ketty donna

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

Mais lange qui se fit coupable

majordome.

Cent cinquante mille `ecus dor.?

Quimporte si elle est pr`ecieuse? L`ame, comme le diamant, sappr`ecie `a sa blancheur.?

ALEEL. Angels and devils clash in the middle air,

Ceci ne faisait pas le compte, dit la tradition, des

OONA. Where is the Countess Cathleen? All this day

PEASANTS Hush!

and have a flight of steps at one side up which the Angel comes, crossing towards the back of the stage at the

The ANGEL is about to pass out to the L. when ALEEL speaks. The ANGEL Stops

Let us and ours be lost, so she be shriven.

Est remont`e.

Son esprit, sa croyance m`eme

ALEEL. Theyre rising up?theyre rising through the earth,

Mais la venteread.99csw.com de cette `ame si adorable dans sa charit`e fut d`eclar`ee nulle par le Seigneur: car elle avait

ALEEL. Cathleen has chosen other friends than us,

dOrient. Mais, huit jours, c`etait un si`ecle : huit jours n`ecessitaient une somme immense pour subvenir aux

elle `etait jolie, ou cent quand elle `etait laide. L`Ame dune jeune fille se payait des prix fous: les fleurs les

trafiquants achetaient des `ames pour le d`emon. L`ame dun vieillard valait vingt pi`eces dor, pas un penny

and a gallery of artisans alike insisted on the freedom of literature.

As though we two were never in the world.

vitres du logis.

Les deux envoy`es de Satan tressaillirent, Leurs griffes

But speak to me whose mind is smitten of God,

(MERCHANTS rush out. ALEEL crawls into the middle of the room; the twilight has fallen and gradually

CATHLEEN. Bend down your faces, Oona and Aleel;

America by amateurs. Now at last I have made a complete revision to make it suitable for performance at the

sallong`erent sous leurs gants de cuir; leurs yeux gris

Elle passa douze heures dans les larmes et le deuil, arrachant ses cheveux couleur de soleil et meurtrissant son

?

Her hand was laid upon my hand, it trembled.

furent les plus forts. Si Ketty avait eu les moyens de faire un signe de croix, ajoute la l`egende Irlandaise, elle

than that audiences??even at the Abbey Theatre??are almost ignorant of Irish mythology or because a

Deux jours apr`es, les ordres de la pieuse Ketty `etaient

taking the part

Eh bien! Patrick, vendez tout cc qui nest pas or et apportez?men le montant. je ne veux garder `a moi

`etincel`erent:??l`ame, pure, immacul`ee, virginale de Ketty c`etait une acquisition inappr`eciable.

?

Toutefois, les p`echeurs de la Blackwater pr`etendent quils sont enchain`es dans une prison souterraine par

And level earth and plumy sea, rise up!

Kathleen. They had to face a very vehement opposition stirred up by a politician and a newspaper, the one

He moves about as though the air was full of spirits.

And brazen swords clang upon brazen helms.

Et Ketty navait plus une obole, car elle avait abandonn`e son ch`ateaux aux malheureux.

politician or the newspaper persuaded some forty Catholic

Gentille dame, combien voulez?vouz??

Pour le double de ces sommes.?

Sur ce coeur dor;

(She dies.)

cess`erent de compter et de recompter des sacs de pi`eces dor, dont la vive clart`e sapercevait `a travers les

Are but a ball of passionate dust again!

Le lendemain, quand on sut quil existait deux opulents

commisvoyageurs du malin esprit, qui ne trouvaient plus d`ames `a acheter.

That know not the hard burden of the world,

Alors les pauvres sollicit`erent

Cette `ame au d`evoument sublime,

And die, dull heart, for you that were a mirror

Oui, un peu malgr`e vous, nhtｔｐs://ｒｅａd•９９csｗ.coｍest ce pas, sainte aux yeux de sapbir??

Disons pour racheter son crime,

mis`ere

incidental music to allow the scene set behind it to be changed. The play when played without interval in this

way lasts a little over an hour.

dont voici les derniers couplets:?

pamphlet, the other in long articles day after day, of blasphemy because of the language of the demons or of

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

a moment and turns.)

And all the fiends. Now they leap in the air.

And Mary of the seven times wounded heart

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

faces of the players, making footlights

OONA. Tell them who walk upon the floor of peace,

Cest fait, dirent les marchands: et ils tendirent `a Ketty un parchemin cachet`e de noir, quelle signa

Aides par un valet infame, ils p`en`etr`erent dans la retraite de la noble dame et lui d`erob`erent le reste de son

Should prosper and the porcelain break in two!

plus belles et les plus pures sont les plus ch`eres.

`etaient bien diverses. Les uns avaient la fiert`e dans le regard, les autres portaient la honte au front. Les deux

Cest la mienne, dit Ketty.?

m`ecr`eants profitaient de la mis`ere publique pour d`erober des coeurs `a Dieu, elle fit appeler son

ex`ecues et le tr`esor `etait distribu`e aux pauvres au fur et `a mesure de leurs besoins.

His curses will pluck lightning on our heads.

I gaze upon them as the swallow gazes

La famine n`etait plus possible. Quant aux marchands, ils

Who sang about the dancers of the woods,

ALEEL. Shes bartered it away this very hour,

for a moment, then she speaks in a half?scream.)

That brimmed you up with beauty is no more;

And tell of her who lies there.

jours de pr`eparation `a la communion sainte, pas un berger des bords de la Blackwater qui ne le puisse redire `a la veill`ee.

full of rich tints under the stream of light from the arcs. The two or more arches in the third scene permit the

A PEASANT WOMAN. And will she give

darkens as the scene goes on.)

Pour autant dargent.?

OONA. Bring me the looking?glass.

Or, `a cette `epoque, comme aujourdhui, lIrlande `etait pauvre, car le soleil avait `et`e rare, et des r`ecoltes presque nulles. Les indigents ne savaient `a quel sainte se vouer, et la mis`ere devenai de plus en plus terrible.

When I was but a child?and therefore happy,

And they are rising through the hollow world.

Fat Asmodel and giddy Belial,

That I would die and go to her I love,

crainte d`etre tromp`es par des mis`eres fictives: que la douleur frappe `a la porte, nous ouvrirons.

And God the herdsman goads them on behind,

The Countess Cathleen was acted in Dublin in 1899, with Mr. Marcus St. John and Mr. Trevor Lowe as the

La somme lui fut compt`ee.