Scene I. - Court of Krung -The royal ministers and counselors
in session - Crestillomeem, in royal attire presiding - She
signals to herald on her right, who steps forward - Blare of
trumpets, greeted with loud murmurings and tumult from
without.
HERALD.
Hist, ho! Ay,ay! Ay,ay! Her majesty,
The all glorious and ever gracious queen
Crestillomeem, to her most loyal, leal1
And right devoted subjects, greeting sends -
Proclaiming, in the absence of the king,
Her royal presence, as by him empowered
To sit upon the throne in sovereign state
And work the royal will. (Confusion)
Hist, ho! Ay,ay! Ay,ay!
And be it known, the king, in view of his
Approaching dissolution -
Hath decreed The reading of this royal document.
1. A Middle English word meaning "true."
(Sensation among the counselors, etc. within and wild tumult
without; cries of "Long live the king!" and "Down with the
sorceress!")
(Unrolls a scroll with royal seal attached. Sensation in
court - wild tumult without, and cries of "Plot!"
"Conspiracy!" "Down with the Queen!" "Down with the
sorceress!")
CRESTILLOMEEM. (Wildly)
Bring me the traitor-knave who dares to cry
"Conspiracy!"
(Wild confusion without - sound of rioting, and a voice, "Let
me be taken!" Enter officers, dragging Jucklet, wild-eyed and
hysterical.)
CRESTILLOMEEM. (Starting.)
Why bring you Jucklet here?
OFFICER.
Because `tis he who cries "conspiracy!"
And who incites the mob without with cries
Of "Plot" and "Treason!"
CRESTILLOMEEM.
Ha! Can this be true?
I'll not believe it! Jucklet is my fool,
But not so great a fool that he would tempt
His sovereign's ire. Let him be freed. Come here,
My Fool.
JUCKLET. (Wildly)
Thy fool? Ho! ho! Why, thou art mine!
(Confusion. Cries of "Strike down the traitor!")
JUCKLET.
Back! all of ye! I have not waded Hell
That I should fear your puny enmity!
But I will give you proof of what I say.
(Presses toward the throne, hurling his opposers left and
right. Crestillomeem sits as tho' stricken speechless,
waving him off, while Jucklet folds his arms and stands
before her.)
JUCKLET. (To the throng)
Lo! do I here defy her to lift up her voice
And say this is a lie that Jucklet speaks.
(The queen motions to officers, who, unperceived, close
behind Jucklet.)
And further - I pronounce the document1
That craven herald there holds in his hand
A forgery - a trick - and dare the Queen
Here in my listening presence to command
Its utterance.
1. Probabaly an anti-temperance Murphy pledge to remain
alcoholic rather to remain sober.
CRESTILLOMEEM. (Wildly rising to her feet)
Hold, hireling! traitor! fool!
The Queen thou dost in thy mad boasts insult
Will utter first thy doom.
(Jucklet is seized from behind, and hurled, face upward on
the dais at her feet, while a minion, with a drawn sword
pressed against his breast, stands over him.)
Ere we proceed
With graver matters let this demon-knave
Ben sent back home to Hell. Give me the sword -
The insult has been mine - so even shall
The vengeance be!
(As she bends forward with the sword, Jucklet, with a super
human effort frees his hand and with a sudden motion, and an
incoherent muttering, flings something1 at the queen, who
staggers, dropping the sword, and with her arms tossed wildly
aloft, totters forward and falls prone upon the pave. In the
confusion following, Jucklet mysteriously disappears, and as
the bewildered and awe-stricken courtiers lift the fallen
queen, a clear and piercing voice is heard singing.)
1. Sobriety which will change Riley from Crestillomeem's
influence in drunkenness to Krung a respectable person in
society.
VOICE.
The pride of noon must wither soon,
The dusk of death must fall;
Yet out of darkest night the moon
Shall blossom over all.
(For an instant a dense cloud envelops the throne, then
slowly lifts, discovering Krung seated in royal state, with
Jucklet in the act of presenting the scepter to him. Blare
of trumpets, and chorus of courtiers, ministers, heralds,
etc.)
CHORUS.
All hail! All hail! All hail! Long live the King!
KRUNG.
Thro' God's great providence, together with
The intervention of an angel whom
I long ago tho't lost to earth and me,1
Once more, as your sovereign, do I greet
And tender you my blessing. Until late
I have been subject of the baleful spells
And witcheries2 of this poor woman here3
Who grovels at my feet, blind, speechless, and
So stricken with a curse herself designed
Should light upon hope's fairest minister.
Remove her from my sight.
1. Nellie.
2. Intoxication.
3. Crestillomeem, Riley's drunken self.
(As the queen is led away Spraivoll appears in royal attire.
She kneels and kisses the king's hand; in return he kisses
her upon the brow, and lifts and seats her at his side.1)
1. Spraivoll, Riley's "versifier" self can now write
humble poetry.
Behold in this sweet woman here my child, who,
when a babe,
The cold, despicable Crestillomeem -
(He bows his head within his hands and shudders)
By spells
And wicked necromancies spirited
To some strange real, where, happily
A Wunkland princess1 found her, and undid
The spell by a most potent sorcery2
She doth possess, God-given, to right wrong.
Lo! let the peerless princess now appear!
1. "Dwainie-Nellie."
2. The power of encouragement and love.
(He lifts his scepter, and a gust of melody, unearthly
beautiful, sweeps through the court. The star above the
Throne drops slowly downward, bursting like a bubble on the
scepter-tip, and issuing therefrom Amphine and Dwainie, hand
in hand, full at the feet of Krung, who bends above them with
his blessing, while Jucklet capers wildly round the
group.)
JUCKLET.
Ho! ho! but I could shriek for very joy -
For tho' fair Amphine even now bends o'er
A blossom, I, ho! ho! have no desire
To meddle with it, since with but one eye
I slept the while she backward walked around
Me in the garden.
(Amphine laughs gaily, Jucklet blinks and leers, and Dwainie
bites her finger.)
KRUNG.
Peace! good Jucklet, peace!
For this is not a time for juiceless wit -
Tho' I have found restored to me my life -
Tho' I have found a daughter, I have lost
A son - for Dwainie, with her sorcery,
Will, on the morrow, carry him away.1
1. Riley's bond with Nellie causes his "lover-self" to go
live with Nellie in her grave or perhaps heaven as her
"soulmate."