Degraded below all beings and cowardly beyond all measure! And I will bury my teeth in my arms and tear my face with my nails! Come then, O Death! Come, O Death! _(A scratching is heard at the door. The door creaks. Silence. The scratching comes again._ THE KING: Who is there? _(Silence._ Come in! _(The PRINCESS enters, timidly._ THE KING (_shading his eyes with his hand_): Who are you? THE PRINCESS: Father, may I come in? THE KING: Is it you, my daughter? It is so dark here! I did not recognise you. And besides I am so old! What have you been doing, my child? THE PRINCESS: Pardon me, father! I was all alone, for the servants have run away And I was frightened. THE KING: We are left alone in this abandoned palace Around this little light placed on the floor. THE PRINCESS: Shall I wait here with you, father? THE KING: Stay. _(She seats herself at some distance from Cébès._ CÉBÈS (_half-aloud_): I am thirsty! _(She pours some water into a glass and gives it to him._ CÉBÈS (_shaking his head, without looking at her_): I do not want to drink. It is not worth the trouble any longer. O God, how long the night is! _(The nightingale sings again suddenly, close to the window._ THE PRINCESS (_listening, with the glass in her hand_): It is the first nightingale. He is trying out his song again, after the terrible winter. _(The nightingale sings again._ CÉBÈS: O bird! O voice strong and pure in the night! But the measure of time will not be changed. O mystery of the night! And you, O season of the nudity of love when for leaves there are only blossoms on the trees! What do you say, O bird? But you are only a voice and not a message. THE PRINCESS: Do you think we shall have tidings soon? CÉBÈS: With the first hour he will be here, Bringing the news as a laborer brings his tools. If only I do not die before he comes! THE PRINCESS: Do not say such a thing! CÉBÈS: Such a thing? Do you think I do not know what it means? Go and listen to the rabble who rave in the shadows of the room. I lie here, and I die before my time through the sin of my parents. The sweat runs down my face. And if you knew the terror that is in my soul You would not treat me like a little child who says he cannot sleep. Woman, you do not comfort me. I have nothing in common with you. I wait until my older brother Comes again. THE PRINCESS: You speak to me brutally as everyone does nowadays. You do not want me to console you and perhaps in this you are wrong. _(She moves away for some distance._ THE FOURTH WATCHER: Well, after all.... That young man with the army he has raised, he may be able to.... THE FIRST WATCHER: What foolishness! THE FOURTH WATCHER: Oh you, you are frozen like a well, and like a well condemned! But indeed there is a power in him. I could not stand against him when he talked And at the same time looked at me. For his voice is strong and piercing