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Page 24
STRANGER. A very old man's sitting at the table, bent over a game
bag, his hands clasped in prayer. A woman, so longer young, kneels
on the floor. Now once more I hear the angels' greeting, as if far
away. But those two in the kitchen are as motionless as figures of
wax. A veil shrouds everything. ... No, that was no poem! (Waking.)
It was something else.
LADY. It was reality! The kitchen at home, where you've never set
foot. That old man was my grandfather, the forester, and the woman
my mother! They were praying for us! It was six o'clock and the
servants were saying a rosary outside, as they always do.
STRANGER. You make me uneasy. Is this the beginning of second
sight? Still, it was beautiful. A snow-white room, with flowers
and mistletoe. But why should they pray for us?
LADY. Why indeed! Have we done wrong?
STRANGER. What is wrong?
LADY. I've read there's no such thing. And yet ... I long to see my
mother; not my father, for he turned me out as he did her.
STRANGER. Why should he have turned your mother out?
LADY. Who can say? The children least of all. Let us go to my home.
I long to.
STRANGER. To the lion's den, the snake pit? One more or less makes
no matter. I'll do it for you, but not like the Prodigal Son. No,
you shall see that I can go through fire and water for your sake.
LADY. How do you know ...?
STRANGER. I can guess.
LADY. And can you guess that the path to where my parents live in
the mountains is too steep for carts to use?
STRANGER. It sounds extraordinary, but I read or dreamed something
of the kind.
LADY. You may have. But you'll see nothing that's not natural,
though perhaps unusual, for men and women are a strange race. Are
you ready to follow me?
STRANGER. I'm ready--for anything!
(The LADY kisses him on the forehead and makes the sign of the
cross simply, timidly and without gestures.)
LADY. Then come!
SCENE V
ON THE ROAD
[A landscape with hills; a chapel, right, in the far distance on a
rise. The road, flanked by fruit trees, winds across the
background. Between the trees hills can be seen on which are
crucifixes, chapels and memorials to the victims of accidents. In
the foreground a sign post with the legend, 'Beggars not allowed in
this parish.' The STRANGER and the LADY.]
LADY. You're tired.
STRANGER. I won't deny it. But it's humiliating to confess I'm
hungry, because the money's gone. I never thought that would happen
to me.
LADY. It seems we must be prepared for anything, for I think we've
fallen into disfavour. My shoe's split, and I could weep at our
having to go like this, looking like beggars.
STRANGER (pointing to the signpost). And beggars are not allowed in
this parish. Why must that be stuck up in large letters here?
LADY. It's been there as long as I can remember. Think of it, I've
not been back since I was a child. And In those days I found the
way short and the hills lower. The trees, too, were smaller, and I
think I used to hear birds singing.
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