_Pilgrims_ (_men and women_) _lie in their blankets, scattered about
the steps and on the stones which fill the space on left side. Among
them the First Galilean and Second Galilean. To the right of the path
which leads outside the wall of the Temple, across the stage, lies
Mesulemeth_. (_In a little while enter John from left._)
JOHN
[_Looks round searchingly, and pauses before a pilgrim who is sleeping
on the steps._] Pilgrim, awake!
PILGRIM
It is not yet day. Why dost thou wake me?
JOHN
Whence comest thou? Art thou a Galilean?
PILGRIM
I come from Gaza on the south-east coast. Let me sleep.
SECOND GALILEAN
[_To first._] Didst hear? Some one there is talking of Galileans.
FIRST GALILEAN
Sleep, and let them talk.
JOHN
[_Walks on, and then pauses in front of Mesulemeth._] Thou who liest
here by the way, be thou man or woman, wake up!
MESULEMETH
Why dost thou not step over me, as every one does in Jerusalem?
JOHN
Dost thou lie here always in the road?
MESULEMETH
I lie here always. For I must be at the Temple. Day and night I must be
at the Temple.
JOHN
Art thou not greedy for alms?
MESULEMETH
[_Shaking her head._] The little I want, the pilgrims give me. But hast
thou never heard of Hannah, the prophetess?
JOHN
I have heard speak of her, when I was a child.
MESULEMETH
Well, this is her place. Here she sat and waited for the Messiah, forty
years long. When she died she left the place to me ... And now I sit
and wait till He comes again.
JOHN
Comes again? Hath He then been already?
MESULEMETH
Certainly He hath.
JOHN
[_In deep emotion._] He came? Came even to thee?
MESULEMETH
To me? No. If He had come to me, I should have been at rest long ago.
But Hannah ... She saw Him when He came.
JOHN
Woman! I implore thee ... Speak, tell me, how did He come?
MESULEMETH
Then sit down here beside me, so that I may speak low.... Once a little
lad was brought to the Temple by his mother, to be circumcised. And
there was one called Simeon who, when he saw this boy-babe, was filled
with the Holy Ghost, and said, "Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant
depart in peace, for his eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast
prepared for all nations." ... And Hannah heard this, and she came up
to them and recognised Him?
JOHN
How did she recognise Him?
MESULEMETH
Did I not tell thee that she was a prophetess? Otherwise she might not
have recognised Him. But as it was, she praised the Lord, and laid
herself down and died. So now I sit where she sat, and wait for Him to
come again.
JOHN
Verily, He must come again; and dost thou know, woman, how He will
come? As the Lord of Hosts, arrayed in golden armour, with His sword
drawn above His head, so He will come to save His people Israel. He
will trample His enemies under His horse's hoofs, but the youth of
Israel shall greet Him with hosannas and jubilation. See, woman, that
is how He will come!
MESULEMETH
[_Anxiously._] Who art thou, stranger? Dost thou imagine thyself to be
the prophet of anyone?
JOHN
It matters not who I am, if thou art prepared for my message.
MESULEMETH
Thou canst take thy message further. I will not have it.
JOHN
What! Thou wilt not have the Messiah?
MESULEMETH
Not that one. I will not have that one. For many have come in golden
armour, and have drawn their sword, and then Israel hath bled after,
like a sacrificial ox. _He_ shall be no king! No! When kings come, they
come to kings! No one hath come, as yet to us, the poor---- Go away,
stranger, lest thou snatch from me my crumb of hope. Begone, thou art a
false prophet!... Go, let me lie on the road! [_She sinks back._]
JOHN
[_To himself._] False prophet!