_It is night. The moon is shining on a country graveyard.. Numerous
tombstones, grassy mounds, wooden crosses, stone slabs, etc_. TYLTYL
_and_ MYTYL _are standing by a short stone pillar_.
MYTYL
I am frightened!...
TYLTYL (_not too much at his ease_)
I am never frightened....
MYTYL
I say, are the dead wicked?...
TYLTYL
Why, no, they're not alive!...
MYTYL
Have you ever seen one?...
TYLTYL
Yes, once, long ago, when I was very young....
MYTYL
What was it like, say?...
TYLTYL
Quite white, very still and very cold and it didn't talk....
MYTYL
Are we going to see them, say?...
TYLTYL
Why, of course, Light said so....
MYTYL
Where are they?...
TYLTYL
Here, under the grass or under those big stones....
MYTYL
Are they there all the year round?...
TYLTYL
Yes.
MYTYL (_pointing to the slabs_)
Are those the doors of their houses?...
TYLTYL
Yes.
MYTYL
Do they go out when it's fine?...
TYLTYL
They can only go out at night....
MYTYL
Why?...
TYLTYL
Because they are in their shirts....
MYTYL
Do they go out also when it rains?...
TYLTYL
When it rains, they stay at home....
MYTYL
Is it nice in their homes, say?...
TYLTYL
They say it's very cramped....
MYTYL
Have they any little children?...
TYLTYL
Why, yes; they have all those that die....
MYTYL
And what do they live on?...
TYLTYL
They eat roots....
MYTYL
Shall we see them?...
TYLTYL
Of course; we see everything when I turn the diamond.
MYTYL
And what will they say?...
TYLTYL
They will say nothing, as they don't talk....
MYTYL
Why don't they talk?...
TYLTYL
Because they have nothing to say....
MYTYL
Why have they nothing to say?...
TYLTYL
You're a nuisance....
(_A pause_)
MYTYL
When will you turn the diamond?
TYLTYL
You heard Light say that I was to wait until midnight, because that
disturbs them less....
MYTYL
Why does that disturb them less?...
TYLTYL
Because that is when they go out to take the air....
MYTYL
Is it not midnight yet?...
TYLTYL
Do you see the church clock?...
MYTYL
Yes, I can even see the small hand....
TYLTYL
Well, midnight is just going to strike.... There!... Do you hear?...
(_The clock strikes twelve_)
MYTYL
I want to go away!...
TYLTYL
Not now.... I am going to turn the diamond....
MYTYL
No, no!... Don't!... I want to go away!... I am so frightened, little
brother!... I am terribly frightened!...
TYLTYL
But there is no danger....
MYTYL
I don't want to see the dead!... I don't want to see them!...
TYLTYL
Very well, you shall not see them; shut your eyes....
MYTYL (_clinging to_ TYLTYL'S _clothes_)
Tyltyl, I can't stay!... No, I can't possibly!... They are going to come
out of the ground!...
TYLTYL
Don't tremble like that.... They will only come out for a moment....
MYTYL
But you're trembling, too!... They will be awful!...
TYLTYL
It is time, the hour is passing....
(TYLTYL _turns the diamond. A terrifying minute of silence and
motionlessness elapses, after which, slowly, the crosses totter, the mounds
open, the slabs rise up...._)
MYTYL (_cowering against_ TYLTYL)
They are coming out!... They are there!...
(_Then, from all the gaping tombs, there rises gradually an efflorescence
at first frail and timid, like steam; then white and virginal and more and
more tufty, more and more tall and plentiful and marvellous. Little by
little, irresistibly, invading all things, it transforms the graveyard into
a sort of fairy-like and nuptial garden, over which rise the first rays of
the dawn. The dew glitters, the flowers open their blooms, the wind murmurs
in the leaves, the bees hum, the birds wake and flood the air with
the first raptures of their hymns to the sun and to life. Stunned and
dazzled,_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL, _holding each other by the hand,
take a few steps among the flowers while they seek for the trace of the
tombs_.)
MYTYL (_looking in the grass_)
Where are the dead?....
TYLTYL (_looking also_)
There are no dead....
CURTAIN