The Daughter of Heaven/Act 1

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The Daughter of Heaven (1913)
Pierre Loti and Judith Gautier, translated by Ruth Helen Davis

Act I

Act II

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Pierre Loti and Judith Gautier3057250The Daughter of Heaven — Act I1913Ruth Helen Davis

ACT I

First Tableau

THE GARDEN OF THE PALACE AT NAN-KING.

To the left, the pavilion of the ladies-in-waiting, in front of which is a flower-wreathed verandah, through the trees and the bushes in full bloom, roofs of yellow earthenware, with upturned gable-ends and decorated with monsters, can be seen. Great twisted cedars, pools, rivulets, curved bridges of marble and red lacquer. Preparations are on foot for a fête. In the background servants are setting up banners, lances, and emblems of every shape. In the foreground, gardeners are putting the garden in order and sweeping away the rain of flowers which has fallen from the trees. The sun is rising.

The Daughter of Heaven

SCENE I

Rock, Fir Sapling, Strong-arm, Humpback, gardeners. In the distance a bell and a drum can be heard.

Rock

[Stopping his work and listening.] Do you hear the great bronze bell and the drum? Another Prince is passing through the Gateway of State and making his entrance into our Palace of Nanking.

Fir-Sapling

Yes, I hear——but I would rather see.

Strong-arm

Beautiful sights are not for us to see.

Rock

The great ceremonies do not need the gaze of such as us.

Fir-Sapling

Yes! We know that. Our duty is to work on in silence,—patiently to prepare the beauty of the festival which is not for our eyes.

Strong-arm

Are you complaining?——Every creature must accept the place in life which falls to its lot.

Rock

That law governs all. There are some animals that are proud and splendid, birds with magnificent plumage, and there are also rats and horrible insects, which inspire loathing.

Strong-arm

Among trees there are kings, and among flowers princesses.

Rock

And many poor plants have neither beauty nor perfume.

Fir-Sapling

The rain refreshes them just the same, and the sun warms them.

Humpback

It sometimes happens that chance favours the most humble. Listen to me. Though I was in no way to blame, I have witnessed a sight which I was forbidden to see.

Strong-arm

You? You have witnessed such a sight?

Fir-Sapling

What was it? Tell us.

Humpback

Well, it was yesterday, after sundown. The other gardeners had just gone away; I had not yet finished my task, but remained to polish one of those great marble lions, at the Gateway of State. I was working all unsuspicious, when suddenly I heard the great drum and the clanging of the bell, and I saw the watchers descend from their tower to open the great gate. The guards and generals and ministers were all running. I heard it said that the new arrival was the most important of all the invited guests, the Viceroy of the Southern Provinces. How could I make my escape in the midst of all these wonderful personages? It was impossible! I hid behind one of the huge paws of the lion and made myself very small. No one took any notice of me——and I saw, I saw through the pierced globe, you know, which the lion holds in his clutch——.

Fir-Sapling

You saw the Viceroy of the South enter with his retinue?——

Humpback

Yes, I saw! Oh! Such costumes of silk and gold! Such horses shining with gems! Such banners! And some terrible faces, too, some glances awful in their pride!——But when he came, oh! Then I understood that besides him all the others counted for naught. He was pale, with a very weary air, on a horse led by two attendants——His costume was simple, but seemed richer than all the others——He was so imposing that my heart would no longer beat in my breast, and it seemed to me that if only he turned his unseeing eyes towards me, I should drop dead.

Fir-Sapling

Ah, was it like that? If one feels like that for no more than a Viceroy, how would it be if one were gazed upon by the Emperor himself?

Humpback

But I assure you, no one who has not seen him can——

Fir-Sapling

Hush! Hush! Here comes a Palace official.

SCENE II

Rock, Fir-Sapling, Strong-arm, Humpback, Arrow-bearer, a Palace official.

Arrow-Bearer

So this is the way you do your work? You fritter away in foolish chatter the few precious moments which are left.

Humpback

The work will be finished, my Lord.

Arrow-Bearer

Will be finished! What, when I see the ground still strewn with petals and dead flower——and here, of all places, around the Pavilion of the Ladies-in-Waiting. [Aside] where blooms that living flower whom I adore.

Humpback

No sooner have we put all straight than the spiteful wind shakes the branches and we have to begin all over again.

Arrow-Bearer

Remove them from the moss, at all events——Those faded flowers look like so many stains.

SCENE III

Rock, Fir-Sapling, Strong-arm, Humpback, Arrow-Bearer, Golden Lotus, Cinnamon, Pearl, Tranquil Beauty—Ladies in Waiting.

The ladies appear hestitatingly on the verandah of the Pavilion. Golden Lotus advances and rests her elbows on the balustrade. Arrow-Bearer gazes upon her with evident emotion.

{{c|Cinnamon [in a whisper]

I thought I recognised the voice of my lord Arrow-Bearer.

Tranquil Beauty

Golden Lotus recognised it before you.

Pearl

That young man is always stealing about here.

Tranquil Beauty

We all know the reason.

Cinnamon

See, he greets our companion as if she were a Queen.

Tranquil Beauty

Is she not the Queen of his heart?

Arrow-Bearer

The breeze of spring time caresses me gently and intoxicates me with the perfume of the lotus.

Tranquil Beauty

The allusion is evident.

Cinnamon

It is well known that The breeze of spring-time signifies love.

Pearl

And her name is Golden Lotus.

Golden Lotus [to Arrow-Bearer]

My lord, I heard that you ordered the flowers to be removed—— Was I misinformed?

Arrow-Bearer

I dared to raise my voice to give that order ——
Can I have displeased you?

Golden Lotus

Oh! no But I desire to ask your indulgence for the lovely dead flowers. Permit them to remain there as a carpet at the foot of our pavilion. Though broken from their stems, they are still beautiful and keep their perfume.

Arrow-Bearer

What glory for me to obey you! I envy those flowers which will be trod by your little feet.

[He makes a sign for the gardeners to with-draw.]

Tranquil Beauty

[Pulling at the sleeve of Golden Lotus]

Enough, Golden Lotus. It is not proper for us to listen to such remarks.

Arrow-Bearer

Have you nothing more to say to me?

Tranquil Beauty

Let us go. Come, we must return to the Pavilion.

Golden Lotus [to Tranquil Beauty]

No, stay a moment.

Golden Lotus [to Arrow-Bearer]

My lord, you know news travels slowly to the quarters of the Ladies-in- Waiting, and my curiosity is eager on this most solemn day, when our Empress is to restore the throne of the bright dynasty of the Mings and to take on her the regency of the Empire. At what precise hour will the festival begin?——Do you know the order of the ceremonies?

Arrow-Bearer

What great pleasure for me to be able to inform you. The Criers of the Minister of Rites proclaimed last night the order of the ceremonies. I have taken note of what I heard.

[He takes from his sleeve a small scroll.]

I hope to write several poems about this later. It is a date quite unique in the annals of China.

Golden Lotus

Oh! read it to us, my lord.

[The young girls eagerly gather about Arrow-Bearer.

Arrow-Bearer [reading]

"On this holy day on which our Empress, laying aside her mourning for her illustrious Husband, is about to take up the power in the name of Her son, in defiance of that usurper who for three hundred years has held all China under his yoke: An order to all high Dignitaries of the Palace, to the Masters of the Ceremonies, to the Grand Secretaries of State, to the Ministers, Warriors, and Princes, to the Guardians of the Imperial Seal! Let them Page:Daughter of Heaven.djvu/35 Page:Daughter of Heaven.djvu/36 Page:Daughter of Heaven.djvu/37

Golden Lotus

Ah! yes, the rumor of that war came to us. But what was the cause of it?

Tranquil Beauty

How politics interest her!

Pearl

Yes! when that young man is her teacher.

Arrow-Bearer

The cause of it was peculiar. A Prince, kinsman to the Tartar usurper, conceived the foolish idea of mustering an army of bandits to hurl upon the hated Christians in the north of China. But the horde, once let loose, got out of hand. It rushed against the barbarian strangers, whose presence has for a long time been tolerated in the neighbourhood of the Palace. Then the armies of the Western nations came to sack Peking, whence the Tartar Emperor fled with his entire Court.

Golden Lotus

Doubtless it is unhappy for us that the usurper has made peace——

Arrow-Bearer

Who knows? Perhaps China might have fallen under a more evil dominion still.

Tranquil Beauty

Is the lesson not finished yet?