_(They enter the palace. Frightful clamor. The soldiers, some of them carrying their standards, crowd into the hall. Others enter through the windows. Rattle of sabres on the stairs. The discharge of firearms. Scene of confusion through which can be heard only the cry, "Tête-d'or!"_ CASSIUS (_to an officer_): What is the matter? THE OFFICER: They say that he has been assassinated. _(CASSIUS mounts upon the throne and draws his sword._ _(He vainly tries many times to make himself heard. At last there is a kind of silence._ CASSIUS (_shouting at the top of his voice_): He is not dead, but has made himself our King! CLAMOR: Tête-d'or! _(The soldiers form in ranks, around the flags, and march about the hall._ _(Discharge of artillery in the court. The hall fills with smoke through which largely enters the light of the sun._ Act III _The Caucasus. A natural terrace in a lofty place, opening toward the North and the East and surrounded by colossal trees. A formidable vertical trench is open towards the West, cutting through the mountain like a street._ _Night. All the upper part of the scene is occupied by the constellation of the Great Bear, distinguishable through the mist. From below at a great depth the rumble of wheels and the jingling of harness, suggesting the passing of troops._ _The_ PRINCESS, _clothed in leaves and the skins of animals, is stretched on the ground._ THE PRINCESS: I am cold! I am hungry! Will this dreadful night never end? And yet already I see the stars of morning, and Mars, ruddy and golden, gleams above my head. O constellations bending over man, O shining city in the skies of night, take pity on me! _(Silence. Rustling in the trees._ I listen! What do you whisper, trees that know everything? You are arguing endlessly, like men that are fettered by the leg. And I, I lie on the earth at your feet in this abyss of the earth! I had withdrawn to the desert places, to this extremity Of the world, protecting my body with leaves and the skins of beasts, Fleeing from men, like an animal, for fear they should catch me and kill me. But now the mountain is full of unaccountable noises and I do not know whither to go. And I am so weak that I cannot stir. Alas! Why should I wish for the sun when he will reveal me to all? And here like a ewe with a broken leg I lie at the mercy of anyone that passes. _(A long pause. Daybreak._ THE PRINCESS: I am cold! I am hungry! _(Pause. The sun rises._ _(Hoof-beats without. Enter on horseback CASSIUS bearing the Sword. He rides to an eminence from which he can observe the whole country._ _(Enter on horseback TÊTE-D'OR surrounded by his staff._ THE CHIEF OF STAFF: What do you see, Cassius? CASSIUS: Nothing. The mist rises. FIRST CAPTAIN: What is that on the ground there? SECOND CAPTAIN: The skull of a man! THIRD CAPTAIN: The skeleton of a cow! FOURTH CAPTAIN: And look! A whole heap of them! Bones of men and beasts! TÊTE-D'OR: What do they call this place?