Pélléas and Mélisande; Alladine and Palomides; HomeMaeterlinck, Maurice
General
Pélléas and Mélisande; Alladine and Palomides; Home
Maeterlinck, Maurice
French drama
YNIOLD.
Kiss each other, little father?--No, no,--ah! yes, little father, yes;
yes; once ... once when it rained....
GOLAUD.
They kissed?--But how, how did they kiss?
YNIOLD.
So, little father, so!... [_He gives him a kiss on the mouth,
laughing._] Ah! ah! your beard, little father!... It pricks! it
pricks! it pricks! It is getting all gray, little father, and your
hair, too; all gray, all gray, all gray.... [_The window under which
they are sitting is lighted up at this moment, and the light falls
upon them._] Ah! ah! little mother has lit her lamp. It is light,
little father; it is light....
GOLAUD.
Yes; it is beginning to be light....
YNIOLD.
Let us go there too, little father; let us go there too....
GOLAUD.
Where do you want to go?
YNIOLD.
Where it is light, little father.
GOLAUD.
No, no, my child; let us stay in the dark a little longer.... One
cannot tell, one cannot tell yet.... Do you see those poor people down
there trying to kindle a little fire in the forest?--It has rained.
And over there, do you see the old gardener trying to lift that tree
the wind has blown down across the road?--He cannot; the tree is too
big; the tree is too heavy, and it will lie where it fell. All that
cannot be helped.... I think Pélléas is mad....
YNIOLD.
No, little father, he is not mad; he is very good.
GOLAUD.
Do you want to see little mother?
YNIOLD.
Yes, yes; I want to see her!
GOLAUD.
Don't make any noise; I am going to hoist you up to the window. It is
too high for me, for all I am so big.... [_He lifts the child._] Do
not make the least noise; little mother would be terribly afraid....
Do you see her?--Is she in the room?
YNIOLD.
Yes.... Oh, how light it is!
GOLAUD.
She is alone?
YNIOLD.
Yes;... no, no; Uncle Pélléas Is there, too.
GOLAUD.
He--...!
YNIOLD.
Ah! ah! little father! you have hurt me!...
GOLAUD.
It is nothing; be still; I will not do it any more; look, look,
Yniold!... I stumbled; speak lower. What are they doing?--
YNIOLD.
They are not doing anything, little father; they are waiting for
something.
GOLAUD.
Are they near each other?
YNIOLD.
No, little father.
GOLAUD.
And ... and the bed? are they near the bed?
YNIOLD.
The bed, little father?--I can't see the bed.
GOLAUD.
Lower, lower; they will hear you. Are they speaking?
YNIOLD.
No, little father; they do not speak.
GOLAUD.
But what are they doing?--They must be doing something....
YNIOLD.
They are looking at the light.
GOLAUD.
Both?
YNIOLD.
Yes, little father.
GOLAUD.
They do not say anything?
YNIOLD.
No, little father; they do not close their eyes.
GOLAUD.
They do not come near each other?
YNIOLD.
No, little father; they do not stir.
GOLAUD.
They are sitting down?
YNIOLD.
No, little father; they are standing upright against the wall.
GOLAUD.
They make no gestures?--They do not look at each other?--They make no
signs?...
YNIOLD.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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