_Cries outside, nearer and nearer,_ “Ah!--” _Enter all the_ HENS _in
tumult, preceded by the agitated_ GUINEA-HEN.
THE BLACKBIRD
[_In his cage._] The next course will be Guinea-hen!
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Running to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] Ah, my dear, my dear, my dear!--A
beauty, a very beauty!--We have come to make your acquaintance, my dear!
[_General admiration,_ “Ah!--” _The_ PHEASANT-HEN _is surrounded.
Conversation, cries, clucking._]
CHANTECLER
[_Watching the_ PHEASANT-HEN, _aside._] How well she walks, with free
and graceful gait!--[_He looks at the_ HENS.] So differently from my
Hens! [_Irritably, to the_ HENS.] Ladies, you walk as if you had
blisters! You walk as if you trod on your own eggs!
PATOU
No mistaking the symptoms! He is very much in love.
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Presenting her son to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] The Guinea-cock, my son.
THE YOUNG GUINEA-COCK
[_Looking admiringly at the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] What a jolly shade of blond!
A HEN
[_Disparagingly._] Like butter!
CHANTECLER
[_Turning, dryly to the_ HENS.] It is time you went indoors.
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Amiably._] So soon?
CHANTECLER
They retire early.
A HEN
[_A little mortified._] Yes, we must turn in.
THE PHEASANT-HEN
They go in by a ladder!
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_To the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] Let us be great friends, my dear, shall we?
CHANTECLER
[_Looking at the_ PHEASANT-HEN, _aside._] Her sumptuous court-dress sets
her apart from the rest, and removes her far above.--My Hens
are dowdies!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_To the_ GUINEA-HEN, _excusing herself._] I return to my forest home
to-night.
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_In excessive grief._] So soon--? [_A shot in the distance._]
PATOU
They are still after game.
THE GUINEA-HEN
You must stay.
CHANTECLER
[_Eagerly._] That’s it! Let us keep her a prisoner among us till
to-morrow.
PHEASANT-HEN
But where can I spend the night?
PATOU
[_Indicating his kennel._] There, in my bachelor’s quarters.
PHEASANT-HEN
I?--Sleep beneath a roof?
PATOU
[_Insisting._] Go in, I pray.
THE PHEASANT-HEN
But you? What shall you do?
PATOU
I shall do very well!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Resigning herself._] I will stay then until to-morrow.
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_With piercing cries._] Ah! Ah! But to-morrow, my dear! to-morrow--
ALL
[_In alarm._] What is it?
THE YOUNG GUINEA-COCK
To-morrow is my mother’s day!
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Impetuously._] My dear, would you care to come to-morrow quite
informally, and take a simple snail with us? The Peacock--
CHANTECLER
[_Mounting the ladder, from whence he can inspect the scene._] Quiet, if
you please! Evening has blown its smoke across the sky--[_In a tone of
command._] Is every one in his accustomed place?
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Lower, to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] The Peacock is coming. We shall hold our
little gathering among the currant-bushes.
CHANTECLER
Are the turkeys on their roost?
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Same business._] From five to six.
CHANTECLER
Are the ducks in their pointed house?
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Same business._] The Tortoise has kindly said we may expect her.
PHEASANT-HEN
Indeed?
CHANTECLER
[_On the last rung of the ladder._] Is every one under cover?--Every
chick under a wing?
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Still insisting with the_ PHEASANT-HEN _that she come on the morrow._]
The Tufted Hen has promised to bring the Cock.--[_To_ CHANTECLER.]
Charmed, I am sure.
CHANTECLER
But--
THE TUFTED HEN
[_Looking out of the hen-house._] You will come, won’t you, dear?
CHANTECLER
No.
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_At the foot of the ladder, looking up at him._] Oh, but you will?
CHANTECLER
Why?
THE PHEASANT-HEN
Because you said “No!” to the other!
CHANTECLER
[_Wavering._] Ah!
PATOU
Humph! I beseech you--
CHANTECLER
[_Still wavering._] I--
PATOU
Humph! He is weakening.--They will make him pay dear if he yields!
THE OLD HEN
[_Appearing._] Make a reed into a pipe and play a tune upon it! [_The
basket-lid drops._]
[_Night is thickening._]
CHANTECLER
[_Still hesitating._] I--
A VOICE
Let us go to sleep--
THE TURKEY
[_On his roost, solemnly._] _Quandoque dormitat_--
THE BLACKBIRD
[_In his cage._] Dormittimus!
CHANTECLER
[_Very firmly to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] I will not go. Good night.
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Slightly offended._] Good night! [_With a curt hop she enters the
dog-kennel._]
PATOU
[_Falling asleep, stretched in front of his kennel._] Let us sleep until
the sky grows pink--pink as--as--a puppy’s tummy--
THE GUINEA-HEN
[_Dropping off._] From five to six--
THE BLACKBIRD
[_Likewise dropping off._] Tew--tew--[_He nods._] tew--
CHANTECLER
[_Still at the top of the ladder._] All sleeps.--[_He spies a_ CHICK
_stealing out._] Is that a chick I see?--[_Springing after him and
driving him in._] Let me catch you!--[_In driving back the_ CHICK, _he
finds himself near the kennel. He calls very softly._] Pheasant-hen!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Lost among the straw, sleepily._] What do you want?
CHANTECLER
[_After a moment’s hesitation._] Nothing.--Nothing! [_He goes back to
the top of his ladder._]
THE PHEASANT-HEN
Shall I be able to sleep, I wonder--
PATOU
[_Falling sound asleep._] A puppy’s tum--
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Indistinctly, overcome by slumber._] To sleep under a roof?--I, with
my gypsy tastes?
CHANTECLER
I am going in. [_He disappears in the hen-house. He is heard saying in a
dreamy voice._] It is time to shut my--my--
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_In a last effort._]--gyp--sy--tastes.--[_Her head nods and disappears
among the straw._]
CHANTECLER
[_His voice, sleepier and fainter._]--to shut my eyes--[_Silence. He
sleeps. Two green eyes are seen suddenly kindling at the top of
the wall._]
THE CAT
And to open mine! [_Immediately two more yellow eyes shine forth from
the darkness above the hay-cock._]
A VOICE
And mine! [_Two more yellow eyes on the wall._]
ANOTHER VOICE
And mine! [_Two more yellow eyes._]
ANOTHER VOICE
And mine!