--the body and blood of Thy beloved Son. He is our high priest
and He is our victim. By Him and--
PIERRE--O men of God! Dear men of God!
(_There is a hush in the church._)
_Will_ you not help? _Will_ you not--
(_He enters with his hands to his head, fearful
lest he has disturbed the service._)
FATHER BENEDICT-- (_Resuming._)
He is our high priest and He is our victim.
(_Pierre throws himself down upon the steps,
sobbing._)
By Him and through
Him, we desire to approach--Sit down, men! (_A pause._)
Women! Men! Sit down!
(_The noise in the church increases._)
A VOICE-- Sit down, brethren!
Don't desecrate the Lord's house!
FATHER BENEDICT--(_Shouting._) You hear me?
A WOMAN'S VOICE--Husband!
FATHER BENEDICT--(_Enraged._) Malediction!
(_The church door is jerked open, and the people
come pouring out with anxious faces lest
something terrible has happened. Back in the
church, above the heads of the people, is
seen the altar ablaze with lights, and high_
_behind it a colossal cross with a beautiful
carven Christ upon it. The wound in the side
shows red and over the thorn-crowned brow
is an arch bearing in golden letters the
inscription: FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT
WHAT THEY--The DO has never been put on._)
PIERRE-- (_Staggering up from the steps._)
Run, run to the mountains, men!
Quick! quick!
They're dragging him off! They're dragging him off!
O run, run, run, run, run!
CRIES--What--where--who is it?
PIERRE--Yonder! yonder!
Oh, get torches,
Get torches and run
And kindle fires on the mountain tops
So he may see his way!
No, that won't help! Oh, that won't help!
But he can hear, though!
Call, call to him!
Search all the places where the blind may be!
Run shouting "Oswald! Oswald!" through the woods!
Find him, oh, find him before Satan comes!
Before the storm breaks!
They'll track him by the blood drops!
They'll tear his body on the mountains!
O men, dear men-- (_A clap of thunder. Pierre dodges._)
What--what was that?
Oh, God said something! God said something!
(_Pointing up at the sky._)
He knows! He knows!
Lord Jesus knows that it was not his fault!
And He will pay--oh, He will bless you, men!
Do, do, do run!
FATHER BENEDICT--Make way!
PIERRE--O Father! Father!
(_In his snow-white chasuble, the priest appears
pushing his way through the throng about the
door. In his hand he has a silver communion
plate with the bread upon it._)
FATHER BENEDICT--Why all this clamor?
This is the Sabbath and the hour of mass.
PIERRE--It's done! It's done!
FATHER BENEDICT-- (_Descending the steps._)
How dare you cry out on this holy morn?
PIERRE--Oh, last night, Father, last night in the dark
White angels, oh, white angels in the storm--It
tore their wings and blew them from the sky,
And then--and then--O father, then the fiends--He
saw them in the stones and--screamed and--Oh,
They did a deed of horror in the dark!
(_He presses his hands into his eyes as if to
shut out the sight of it._)
Oh! Oh! Oh!
FATHER BENEDICT--What is this?
PIERRE-- (_Bending up and down._)
Oh! Oh! Oh!
FATHER BENEDICT--Pierre! (_A pause._)
Pierre, if Hell hath done
Some wild deed in the night, be sure that God
Will right it.
PIERRE--Will He, oh, will He, Father, make him to see--
See the blue sky again?
FATHER BENEDICT--Who is it Hell hath blinded in the night?
PIERRE-- (_With his hands to his eyes, sobbing._)
Brother--brother--
FATHER BENEDICT--Pierre!
PIERRE--O, Oswald! Oswald!
(_With a cry, Madam Bacqueur falls fainting upon
the steps. The women about her take her child
from her arms and support her back into the
church. The crowd stands silent._)
PIERRE-- (_Bending up and down._)
Say something! say something!
FATHER BENEDICT-- (_Almost overcome._)
Can this be true? Can this be true, Pierre?
PIERRE--Oh! Oh! Oh!
FATHER BENEDICT--Swift fly the avenging angels from the Throne.
Guilt like a red cloud passes from the sky,
And day looks in and sees where eyes have been.
PIERRE-- (_As though his heart would break._)
Brother! brother! brother!
FATHER BENEDICT--_Praise be to God!_
The tempest shaketh showers upon the grass;
The storm wind cooleth the low violet;
But the proud pine I shatter, saith the Lord.
He shall go down and toss his boughs in hell.
The coffin-worm shall slime him. He shall not
Mock me upon the mountains, saith the Lord.
_Praise be to God!_
(_Pierre glances up at the priest and then, as from
something infernal, falls flat and hides his
face against the ground._)
The lights are out in Babylon the Proud,
And the Lord God in blackness sitteth there
Among the ruins, dealing judgment.
(_The rising wind blows shut the door of the
church and leaves the scene enveloped in the
half-light of early morning._)
My scales are hung in heaven, saith the Lord.
I weigh them in the darkness of the night.
They balance with the Dragon on one side.
_Glory be to God in the highest!_
(_Shouting off demoniacally in the direction of the
abbey._)
Lift up thy head, O Lucifer, in hell,
And see what God hath written on the sky
In letters that burn through thy broken panes.
(_With his finger as though tracing the letters._)
"Weighed and found wanting!
I am the Lord God.
In Me the moon goes down; in Me the sun
Rises; I am the night and day.
If over any man a light break forth
And make his brow bright, let him not think
It shines for him alone, and be puffed up
Because of it, and speak
Bitterly, saying: 'See what pure prayers can do.'
For when his lungs are empty, saith the Lord,
Then I will give him flesh unto the dogs.
I will put out the light that kindles pride,
Saith the Lord God, and with the light the eyes." (_In a wild chant._)
_Praise be to God who doeth all things well._
Shinar hath seen the glory of the Lord.
Nimrod, who piled up Babel to the stars,
Lies sprawling under it, and the thunders laugh.
(_Shouting in the direction of the abbey._)
Who lieth under Babel?--Up, Pierre;
I have a message. Rise, for you
Must bear it to your sainted abbot.
(_Pierre rises and, with his head thrown back and
his hands covering his face, without waiting,
goes straight out, left._)
"Benedict to his brother in Christ,
Greeting:
Who lieth under Babel? You were right
In saying that the storm would shake the world.
It hath indeed played havoc. Certain trees
In the churchyard tore the graves up, and the dead
Have shaken roofs and spires in the town.
We lost our cross.
I hear you, too, lost somewhat. Gables though
Can be repaired.
We should both thank our Lord he hath not let
A lamb he careth for be scathed.
Who lieth under Babel?"
(_Coming out in the street and shouting after
Pierre._)
And to the brother, the dear ward of God,
Convey felicitations!
Ask him to
Tell you the color of the abbot's hair
This morning.
Wake him!
Say:
"The stars are flying in and out the clouds;
The mountain tops are tinging;
Night passes;
Rouse up, and behold the Dawn
Pouring her beautiful gold upon the world!"
Tell him to
Run down and see the print the bishop John
Sent me from Rome.
Blind Samson's head, who pulled the pillars down,
Under a dog's paws in the Gaza streets.
And in his car, as a salutation for the Sabbath,
Bark this from Benedict, from Benedict, the dog:
"Pride is a wind that from the shores of light
Bloweth far off where neither sun nor moon
Nor stars shine nor shall shine forevermore."
God hath heard one prayer. Come in, men.
(_He enters the church. After a silence the
men about the steps begin to talk among
themselves in undertones._)
ONE OF THEM-- (_Calling through the door._)
Father!
ANOTHER--If he don't let us go, let's go ourselves.
FATHER BENEDICT-- (_Reappearing._)
Who called? (_A pause._)
What is it?
A MAN--Before you come out, Father, the monk spoke
Like as how the chase was on.