Page:Poet Lore, volume 29, 1918.pdf/104

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

THE NINTH NIGHT

A PLAY IN ONE ACT

By Victor Dyk

Translated from the Bohemian by Cyril Jeffrey Hrbek

Characters

First Gentleman
Second Gentleman
Mistress
Maid

Time—The Present

Scene I

Mistress and Maid

Maid (Combing Mistress’s hair).—And he said, the eighth.

Mistress.—What did he mean by that?

Maid.—I have puzzled my head over it for a long time. He evidently was looking at the sky; it was full of stars. But what did the word “eighth” signify?

Mistress.—Did he stand in that position long?

Maid.—Very long. And as if his whole life were in his eyes. He didn’t even move. He didn’t even hear my footsteps, not even the rustle of the grass. It is true though, that I walked very softly.

Mistress.—What could he be wondering about?

Maid.—I don’t know. He is so handsome. Why did he gaze at the stars, when there are so many eyes here? I don’t know, unless——

Mistress.—Unless——?

Maid. I have an idea. It was not the first night that he has stood thus and looked at the heavens.

90

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.