Prosper, who is at present the host of the tavern. No
doubt they've done in the past much the same as
they're doing now.
GUiij.AUME rushes in apparently breathless,
(iuiLL. {making towards the table where the actors
are sittings with his ha)id on his heart — speaking zcith
difficulty — supporting himself ), Saved — ay, saved!
scAEv. What is it ? What ails you ?
ALBIN. What has happened to the man ?
FR. That is part of the acting now. Mark you.
35
^
THE GREEN COCKATOO
ALBIN. Ah !
MICH, a^id FLIP, {going quickly to guillaume).
What is it ? What ails you ?
scAEv. Sit down. Take a draught !
GuiLL. More ! — more ! Prosper, more wine ! I
have been running. My tongue cleaves to my mouth.
They were right at my heels.
JULES {gives a stm^t). Ah ! be careful ; they really
are at our heels.
HOST. Come, tell us, what happened then? {To
the acto7\s) Movement ! — more movement !
GUiLL. Women here . . . women — ah ! {Embraces
FLiPOiTE.) That brings one back to life again ! {To
ALBiN, icho is highly impressed) The Devil take me,
my boy, if I thought I would ever see you alive again.
{As though he were listening) They come ! — they
come ! {Goes to the doo7\) No, it is nothing. . . .
They ...
y \ ALBIN. How strange ! There really is a noise, as
^ I though people outside were pressing forward very
I > 1\ quickly. Is that part of the stage effects as well ?
J/ ' scAKV. He goes in for such damned subtleties
every blessed time. {To jules) 'Tis too silly
HOST. Come now, tell us why they are at your
heels again ?
GUILL. Oh, nothing special. But if they got me,
it would cost me my head. IVe set fire to a house.
During this scene young nobles come in
and sit down at the tables,
HOST {softly). Go on !— go on !
36
THE GREEN COCKATOO
GuiLL. (ill the same tone). What more do you want?
Isn't it enough for you if I've set fire to a house ?
FR. But tell me, my friend, why you set fire to
the house.
GUILL. Because the President of the Supreme
Court lived in it. We wanted to make a beginning
with him. We wanted to make the good Parisian
householders not take folk into their houses so lightly
who send us poor devils to the house of correction.
GRAIN. That's good ! That's good !
GUILL. (looks at GRAIN and is surprised ; then goes
on speaking). All the houses must be fired. Three
more fellows like me and there won't be any more
judges in Paris.
GRAIN. Death to the judges !
JULES. Yes . . . but there may be one whom we
can't annihilate,
GUILL. I should like to know who he is.
JULES. The judge within us.
HOST {softly). That's tasteless. Leave off'. Scae-
vola, roar ! Now's the time. —
scAEv. Wine here. Prosper ; we want to drink to
the death of all the judges in France.
During the last words enter the marquis
DE LANSAC, XVlth Ms Ze^i/^, SEVERINE, fmd
ROLLiN, the poet,
scAEV. Death to all who have the power in their
hands to-day !
MARQUIS. See you, Severine, that is how they
greet us.
87
P
THE GREEN COCKATOO
HoijjN. Marcjuise, I warned you.
sEVKRiNE. Why ?
FB. Whom do I see ? The Marquise ! Allow
me to kiss your hand. Good evening, Marquis. Well
met to you, Rollin. And you, Marquise, you dare
to venture into this place !
SKV. I heard such a lot about it. And iDesides,
we are having a day of adventures already — hey,
Rollin ?
MARQUIS. Yes. Just think of it, Vicomte ; you
would never believe where we come from — from the
Bastille.
FR. Are they still keeping up the show there ?
SFV. Ay, indeed ! It looks as though they meant
to storm it.
ROLFJN (declaimmg). I^ike to a Hood that seethes
against its banks.
And rages deep that its own child, the Earth,
Resists it.
SEV. Don't, Rollin ! We left our carriages there
in the neighbourhood. It is a magnificent spectacle
- there is always something so grand about
crowds.
FR. Yes, yes, if they only did not smell so vilely.
MARQUIS. And my wife would not leave me in
peace — I had to bring her here.
SKV. Well, what is there so very special here ?
HOST (to LANSAc). Well, SO youYc here, are you,
you dried-up old scoundrel ? Did you bring your
wife along because she wasn'^t safe enough for you at
home ?
38
THE GREEN COCKATOO
MARQUIS (rvith a forced laugh). He's quite a
character.
HOST. But take heed that she is not snatched away
from under your nose in this very place. Aristo-
cratic ladies like her^^ry often get a deuce of a
fancy to try what a^eal)*ogue is like. ^^
ROLLiN. I suffer unspeakably, Severine.
MARQUIS. My child, I prepared you for this — it is
high time that we went.
SKv. What more would you have ? I think it's
charming. Nay, let us seat ourselves.
FR. Would you allow me, Marquise, to present
to you the Chevalier de la Tremouille. He is here
for the first time, too. The Marquis de Lansa« ;
RoUin, our celebrated poet.
ALBiN. Delighted. {Compliments ; theij sit dozen,)
(To Francois) Is that one of those that are playing,
or — I can't make it out
FR. Don't be so flabbergasted. That is the lawful
wife of the Marquis de Lansac ... a lady of extreme
propriety.
ROLLiN (to skverine). Say that thou lovest me.
SEV. Yes, yes ; but ask me not every minute.
marquis. Have we missed a scene already ?
FR. Nothing much. An incendiary's playing over
there, 'twould appear.
SEV. Chevalier, you must be the cousin of the
little Lydia de la Tremouille who was married
to-day.
ALBIN. Quite so, Marquise ; that was one of the
reasons why I came to Paris.
m
J
THE GREEN COCKATOO
SEV. I remember having seen you in the church.
ALBiN {embarrassed), I am highly flattered,
Marquise.
SEV. {to rollin). What a dear Httle boy 1
ROLLiN. My dear Severine, you have never yet
managed to know a man without his pleasing you.
SEV. Indeed I did ; and what is more, I married
him straight away.
ROLLIN. I am always so afraid, Severine — I am sure
there are moments when it's not safe for you to be
with your own husband.
HOST {brings wine). There you are. I wish it were
poison ; but for the time being, the law won't let us
serve it to you, you scum.
FR. The timell soon come, Prosper.
SEV. (^0 rollin). What is the matter with both
those pretty girls ? Why don't they come nearer ?
Now that we once are here, I want to join in every-
i thing. I really think that everything is extremely
aoraNiere.
^ - mIrquis. Have patience, Severine.
SEV. I think nowadays one diverts oneself best in
the streets. Do you know what happened to us
yesterday when we went for a drive in the Promenade
de Longchamps ?
MARQUIS. Please, please, my dear Severine, why
SEV. A fellow jumped on to the footboard of our
carriage and shouted, "Next year you will stand
behind your coachman and we shall be sitting in the
carriages."
FR. Hm ! That is rather strong.
40
THE GREEN COCKATOO
MARauis. Odds life! I don't think one ought to
talk of such things. Paris is now somewhat feverish,
but that will soon pass ofF again.
GUiLL. {sitddenly), I see flames — flames everywhere
I look — red, high flames.
HOST {to him). You're playing a madman, not a
criminal.
SEV. Does he see flames ? "-^ ^if
FR. But all this is still not the real thing, /
Marquise.
ALBiN {to rolltn). I cannot tell you how be-
wildered I feel already with everything.
MICH, {comes to the marquis). I have not yet
greeted you, darling, you dear old pig.
marquis {embarrassed). She jests, dear Severine.
SEV. I can't think that. Tell me, little one, how
many love-afltairs have you had so far ? ^ V^
MARQUIS {to ER.). It is really wonderful how well /
my wife the Marquise knows how to adapt herself to j
every situation.
ROLLiN. Yes, it is wonderful.
MICH, Have you counted yours ?
SEV. When I was still as young as you ... of
course . . .
ALBIN {to rollin). Tell me, M. Rollin, is the
Marquise one of the players, or is she really like ?
I positively can't make it out.
rollin. Reality . . . playing ... do you know
the difference so exactly. Chevalier ?
ALBiN. Always.
rollin. I don't. And what I find so peculiar \\
41
THE GREEN COCKATOO
here is that all apparent distinctions, so to speak, are
taken away. Reality passes into play — play into
reality. Just look now at the Marquise. How she
gossips with those creatures as though she were one
of them. At the same time she is
ALBiN. Something quite diff'erent.
^ iioLLiN. I thank you, Chevalier.
nosT (to grain). Well, how did it all happen ?
GRAIN. What ?
HOST. Why, the affair with your aunt, for wliieh
you went to prison for two years.
(iRATN. I told you, I strangled her.
FR, That is feeble. He is an amateur. I have
never seen him before.
GEORGETTE {comes qiiwMij 171, dreHsed lil'e a prosti-
tute of the lowest class). Good evening, children. Is
my Balthasar not here yet ?
scAEv. Georgette, sit by me. Your Balthasar will
manage all right.
GEO. If he is not here in ten minutes, he won't bring
off* anything again — he won't come back at all then.
FR. Watch her. Marquise. She is the wife of
that Balthasar of whom she has just been speaking,
and who will soon come in. She represents just
a common street-jade, while Balthasar is her bully.
All the same, she is the truest wife to be found in
the whole of Paris.
BALTUASAR COmCS hi,
GEO. My Balthasar ! {She runs toicards him and
embraces him,) So there you are.
43
THE GREEN COCKATOO
BAL. It is all in order. {Silence around Mm.) It
was not worth the trouble. I was almost soiTy for
him. You should size up your customers better.
Georgette. I am sick of killing promising youths
for the sake of a few francs.
FR. Splendid !
ALBIN. What ?
FR. He brings out the points so well. ^.- -
Enter the commissaihk, dtsgnised ; sits
dozen at a table,
HOST {to hivi). You come at a good time, M. le
Connnissaire. This is one of my best exponents.
BAi.. One should really try and find another pro-
fession. On my soul, I am not a craven, but jobs
like this do take it out of one.
scAEv. I can well believe so.
GKo. What's the matter with you to-day ?
BAL. I will tell you what. Georgette — I think
you're a trifle too tender with the young gentlemen.
(.Eo. See what a child he is ! But be reasonable,
Balthasar. I must needs be very tender so as to
inspire them with confidence.
ROLLiN. What she says is really deep.
BAL. If I thought for a moment that you felt
anything when another
GEO. What do you say to that ? Dumb jealousy
will yet bring him to his grave.
BAL. I have already heard one sigh, Georgette,
and that was at a moment when one of them was
already giving sufficient proofs of his confidence.
48
THE GREEN COCKATOO
GEO. One can't leave off playing a woman in love
so suddenly.
BAL. Be careful. Georgette — the Seine is deep.
( Wildly) With whom are you deceiving me ?
GEO. No, no.
ALBiN. I positively can't make it out.
SKv. Rollin, that is the right interpretation !
ROLLiN. You think so ?
MABauis (to severixe). It is time we were going,
^ Severine.
^ <y / SEV. Why ? I am beginning to enjoy it.
K vV / ^^^' ^y Balthasar, I adore you. {Embrace,)
[ FR. Bravo ! bravo !
^ RAL. What loony is that ?
coMM. This is unquestionably too strong ; this
is
/ Enter maurice and etienne. They are
dressed like young nobles^ but one can
see that they are only disguised in
\ dilapidated theatrical costumes,
FROM THE actors' TABLE. Who are they ?
scaev. May the devil take me if it ain't Maurice
and Etienne.
GEO. Of course it is they !
BAL. Georgette !
SEv. Heavens ! what monstrously pretty young
persons.
ROLLIN. It is painful, Severine, to see you so
violently excited by every pretty face.
sEv. What did I come here for, then ?
44
THE GREEN COCKATOO
ROLLiN. Tell me, at any rate, that you love me.
SEV. {with a look). You have a short memory.
ETIENNE. Well, where do you think we have come
from ?
FR. Listen, Marquis; they're a couple of quite
witty youths.
MAUR. A wedding.
ET. One has got to dress up a bit there. Other-
wise one of those damned secret police gets on one*'s
track at once.
scAEV. At any rate, have you made a good
haul ?
HOST. Let's have a look.
MAUR. {draxcing a zcatch out of his zcaistcoat),
WhafU you give me for it ?
HOST. For that there ? A louis.
MAUR. Indeed ?
SCAEV. It is not worth more.
MICH. That is a lady's watch. Give it to me,
Maurice.
MAUR. What will you give me for't ?
MICH. Look at me — isn't that enough ?
FLIP. No, give it to me ; look at me
MAUR. My dear children, I can have that without
risking my head.
MICH. You are a conceited ape.
SEV. I swear that's no acting.
ROLLIN. Of course not ; there is a flash of reality
running through the whole thing. That is the chief
charm.
scAEv. What wedding was it, then ?
45
(>#
THE GREEN COCKATOO
MAUH. The wedding of Mademoiselle de la
Tremouille ; she was married to the Comte de Banville.
ALBiN. Do you hear that, FraiK^ois ? I assure you
they are real knaves.
Fii. Calm yourself, Albin. I know the two, I
have seen them play a dozen times already. Their
speciality is the portrayal of pickjwckets.
MAURicK draws some purses out of his
waistcoat,
scAEv. Well, you can do the handsome to-night.
ET. It was a very magnificent wedding. All the
nobility of France was there. Even the King was
represented.
ALBIN (excited). All that is true.
MAUii. {rolls some money over the table). That is
for you, my friends, so that you can see that we all
stick to one another.
FK. Properties, dear Albin. (He stands up and
takes a few coins,) We, too, you see, come in for a
share.
HOST. You take it — you have never eai-ned any-
thing so honestly in your life.
MAiTii. {holds in the air a garter set with diamonds).
And to whom shall I give this? (georgette, micheite,
and FLiPO'iTE imike a rush after it,) Patience, you
sweet pusses. We will speak about that later on. I
will jrive it to the one who devises a new caress.
SEV. {to kolun). Would you not like to let me
join in the competition ?
ROLLiN. I protest you will drive me mad, SeVerine.
46
THE GREEN COCKATOO
MAimuis. Severine, had we not better be going
now ? I think
sEV. Oh, no. I am enjoying myself excellently.
{To rollin) Ah well, my mood is getting so
MICH. How did you get hold of the garter ?
MAUR. There was such a crush in the church — and
when a dame is pensive one starts courting her
{All laugh).
GRAIN has stolen Francois's pu?'se,
FR. (shoxcing the money to albin). Mere counters.
Are you satisfied now ?
GRAIN wants to get away.
HOST {going after hivi softly). Give me the purse
at once which you took from this gentleman.
GRAIN. I
HOST, straight away ... or it will be the worse
for you.
GRAIN. You need not be churlish. {Gives it to him.)
HOST. And stay here, I have no time to search
you now. Who knows what else you have pouched.
Go back to your place.
FLIP. I shall win the garter.
HOST {throwing the jmrse to fr.). Here's your purse.
You lost it out of your pocket. ^^
FR. I tli^Jik^you, Prosper. {To albin) You see,
Ave are ifi reality injjqe xuanip^ny of the most respect- .
able people m (Ke whole worldT^ ^
HENRI, xoho haA already been present for a
long time an! has sat behind^ suddenly
stands up.
ijr^''
^
THE GREEN COCKATOO
ROLLiN. Henri — there is Henri.
SEV. Is he the one you told me so much about ?
MARQUIS. Assuredly. The man one really comes
HENRT_£or7i^^Jo the front of the stage ^ very
[ theatrically \ is silent,
THE ACTORS. Henri, what ails you ?
ROLLIN. Obs ^ve tj ji^ look. A world of passion.
You see, he is maying; the man who commits a crime
f "" ^
oi passiojin.
SEV^'^I prize that highly.
ALBiN. But why does he not speak ?
ROLLIN. He is beside himself. Just watch. Pay
attention ... he has wrought a fearful deed somewhere.
FR. He is somewhat theatrical. It looks as though
he were going to geTread^Tlor "a "monologue.
HOST. Henri, Henri, where do you come from ?
HENRI. I have killed someone.
ROLLIN. What did I say ?
scAEV. Whom ?
HENRL The lover of my wife.
PROSPER looks at him; at this moment he
obviously has the feeling that it might
he true,
HENRI (looks up). Well, yes, IVe done it. What are
you looking at me like that for ? That's how the
***^matter stands. Is it, then, so wonderful after all ?
You all know what kind of a creature my wife is ; it
was bound to end like that.
48
THE GREEN COCKATOO
HOST. And she — where is she ?
FR. See, the host takes it seriously. You notice
how realistic that makes the thing.
Noise outside — not too hud,
JULES. What noise is that outside ?
MARQUIS. Do you hear, Severine ?
ROLLiN. It sounds as though troops were marching
by.
FR. Oh, no ; it is our dear people of Paris. Just
listen how they bawl. {Uneasiness in the cellar; it
grows quiet outside,^ Go on, Henri — go on.
HOST. Yes, do tell us, Henri — where is your wife ?
Where have you left her ?
HENRf. Oh, I have no qualms about her. She will
not die of it. Whether it is this man or that man,
what do the women care ? There are still a thousand
other handsome men running about Paris — whether
it is this man or that man
BAL. May it fare thus with all who take our wives
from us. ^S A)\
scAEv. All who take from us what belongs to us^^ cp^ j
COMM. {to host). The se ^are seditinns sppprhes v/ ^^^
ALBiN, It is dreadful . . . the people mean irv
seriously. ^ w c
scAEv. Down with the usurers of France ! We rJ^ (^
would fain wager that the fellow whom he caught v *A.
with his wife was another again of those accursed t^^
hounds who rob us of our bread as well. \j^
ALBIN. I propose we go. p ijr
SEV. Henri ! — Henri !
£ 49
^^
THE GREEN COCKATOO
MARQUIS. But, Marquise-
sEv, Please, dear Marquis, ask the man how he
caught his wife — or I will ask him myself.
MARQUIS {after resisting). Tell us, Henri, how did
you manage to catch the pair ?
HENRI (xcho has been for a long while sunk hi
reveiie). Know you my wife, then ? She is the
fairest and vilest creature under the sun. And I
loved her ! We have known one another for seven
years — but it is only yesterday that she became my
wife. In those seven years there was not one day,
nay, not one day, in which she did not lie to me, for
everything about her is a lie — her eyes and her lips,
her kisses and her smiles.
FR. He rants a little.
HENRT. Every boy and every old man, everyone
who excited her and everyone who paid her — every
one, I think, who wanted her— has possessed her, and
I have known it !
sEv. Not every one can boast as much.
HEXRi. And all the same she loved me, my friends.
Can any one of you understand that ? She always
came back to me again — from all quarters back again
to me — from the handsome and from the ugly, from
the shrewd and from the foolish, from ragamuffins
and from courtiers — always came back to me.
SEV. {to rollin). Now, if only you had an inkling
that it is just this coming back which is really love.
HENRI. What I suffered . . . tortures, tortures !
ROLLiN. It is harrowing.
HENRI. And yesterday I married her. We had a
• 50
THE GREEN COCKATOO
dream — nay, I had a dream. I wanted to get away
with her from here. Into sohtude, into the country,
into the great peace. We wished to hve hke other
happy married couples — we dreamt also of having a
ehild^^
ROLLiN (sqfthj). Severine.
sEv. Very good !
ALBiN. Fran(,'ois, that man is speaking the truth
Fii. Quite so ; the love-story is true, but the real
pith is the murder-story.
HENRI. I was just one day too late. . . . There was
just one man whom she had forgotten, otherwise — I
believe — she wouldn''t have wanted anyone else. . . .
But I caught them together ... it is all over with
him.
ACTORS. Who ? — who ? How did it happen ?
Where does he lie ? Are you pursued ? How did
it happen ? Where is she ?
HENRI (with growing excitement), I escorted her
... to the theatre . . . to-day was to be the last
time. ... I kissed her ... at the door . . . and
she went to her dressing-room . . . and I went off
like a man who has nothing to fear. But when I
had gone a hundred yards, I began ... to have . . .
within me — do you understand ? . . , a terrible un-
rest . . . and it was as though something forced
me to turn round . . . and I turned round and went
back. But once there I felt ashamed and went away
again . . . and again I walked a hundred yards away
from the theatre . . . and then something gripped
me . . . again I went back. Her scene was at an
51
THE GREEN COCKATOO
end — she hasn't got much to do, she just stands a
while on the stage half naked — and then she has
finished. I stood in front of her dressing-room, put
my ear to the door, and heard whispers. I could
not make out a word . . . the whispering ceased . . .
I pushed open the door . , . (he roars like a lion)
it was the Due de Cadignan, and I murdered him.
HOST {zaho noio at last takes it for the truth). Mad-
man !
HENRI looks up^ gazes fixedly at host.
SEV. Bravo ! — bravo !
ROLLiN. What are you doing. Marquise? The
moment you call out " bravo ! " you make it all
acting again — -and the pleasant shudder is past.
MARQUIS. I do not find the shudder so pleasant.
Let us applaud, my friends ; that is the only way
\^we can throw off* the spell.
^ A gentle bravo ^ groxcing continually
\ cjm^dr^ cLottlM ^^^^^,. . ^n applaud.
t < 7 HOST (to HENRI, during the noise). Save yourself —
Ljp^lftUAM^Ij^^^ Henri.
HENRI. What 1 — what ! .
HOST. Let this be enough, and see that you get away.
FR. Hush ! . . . Let us hear what the host says.
HOST (after a shoH irfiection). I am telling him
that he ought to get away before the watch at the
city gates are informed. The handsome Duke was a
favourite of the king — they will break you on the
wheel. Far better had it been had you stabbed that
scum, your wife.
52
J ^
y
THE GREEN COCKATOO
FR. What playing up to each other ! . . . Splendid I
HENRI. Prosper, which of us is mad, you or
I? {He stands there and tries to read in prosper's
eyes,)
ROLLiN. It is wonderful ; we all know that he is
acting, and yet if the Due de Cadignan were to enter
now, it would be like a ghost appearing. ja^
Noise oidside — growing stronger and V^V^^'^^-
stro7iger. People come in ; shrieks are -"^^n^ %
heard. Right at their head gr asset.
OtherSy among them lebret, force their
xvay over the steps. Cries of " Liberty !
Liberty ! '" are heard,
grasset. Here we are, my boys — in here !
ALBiN. What is that ? Is that part of the ge r- ^
FR. No. \VNJUfl<^— ^ .
MARQUIS. What means it ?
SEV. What people are those ?
GRASSET. In here ! I tell you, my friend Prosper
has still got a bottle of wine left, and we have earned
it. {Noise from the streets,) Friend ! Brother ! We
have them ! — we have them !
SHOUTS {from outside). Liberty ! Liberty !
SEV. What has happened ?
MARQUIS. Let us get away — let us get away ; the yj
[lolb approaches.
ROLLIN. How do you propose to get away ?
GRASSET. It has fallen ; the Bastille has fallen W
HOST. Wh^t say you ? ^jjggj^^s h^ thft tn^^"^ ^-
53
THE GREEN COCKATOO
GRASSET. Hear you not ?
ALBiN wants to draw his sword,
FJi. Stop that at once, or we are all lost,
/ GRASSET {reeling in doxvn the stairs). And if you
/ hasten, you will still be in time to see quite a merry
I sight . . . the head of our dear Delaunay stuck on
V a very high pole,
MARQUIS, Is the fellow mad ?
SHOUTS, Liberty I Liberty !
GRASSET. We have cut off a dozen heads ; the
Bastille belongs to us ; the prisoners are free ! Paris
l)elongs to the people !
HOST, Hear you ? — hear you ? Paris belongs to us !
GRASSET. See you how he gains courage now. Yes,
shout away, Prosper; naught more can happen to
you now,
HOST (to the nobles). What say you to it, you
rabble ? The joke is at an end.
ALBIN, Said I not so ?
HOST. The people of Paris have conquered,
/^ cOMM. Silence! {They laugh,) Silence! I forbid
/ the continuance^! Jhe^performjance !
GRASSET. Who is that nincompoop ? *
/ coiNiM. Prosper, I regard you as responsible for all
/these seditious speeches.
GRASSET. Is the fellow mad ?
HosT4_The j^oke is at an end. Don't you understand ?
xHenri, do you tell them — now you must tell them.
/ We will protect you — the people of Paris will protect
you,
54
^^f
THE GREEN COCKATOO
GRASSET. Yea, the people of Paris.
HENRI stands there with ajixed stare,
HOST. Henri has murdered the Due de Cadignan.
ALBiN, FR., and MARQUIS. What says he ?
ALBix arid OTHERS. What means all this, Henri ?