■PIERRE lOTI AND JUDITH (i..\lIlER 
 
 THE DAUGHTER OF 
 HEAVEN 
 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Joseph Whitmore Barry 
 dramatic library 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 TWO FRIENDS 
 
 OF Cornell University 
 1934 
 
y i' 1 S6 
 
 JW^ DUE 
 
 FEB 2 2 1950 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 PQ 2472.F4 1912 
 
 Daughter of heaven, 
 
 3 1924 027 353 378 
 
Sj\l Cornell University 
 WB Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027353378 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
THE DAUGHTER 
 OF HEAVEN 
 
 BY 
 PIERRE LOTI AND JUDITH GAUTIER 
 
 Translated by RUTH HELEN DAVIS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DUFFIELD & COMPANY 
 
 1912 
 
 

 CorvRiGHT, 1911, Br 
 JUDITH GAUTIER and PIERRE LOT! 
 
 COPTRIGBT, X9IZ, Bt 
 DUFFIELD & COMPANY 
 
 cV;fcUcl,Ttti;»^3 VI |{?}l tVHVU 
 
 V 
 
Preface 
 
 Thoroughly to understand China, one must realize 
 that it has for three hundred years cherished in its 
 heart a deep and continually bleeding wound. When 
 the country was conquered by the Manchus of Tar- 
 tary, the ancient dynasty of the Mings was forced to 
 yield the throne to the Tzin invaders, but the Chinese 
 nation never ceased to mourn the ancient dynasty 
 nor to hope for its restoration. Revolution is there- 
 fore a permanent thing in China — a fire which smould- 
 ers eternally, breaking into flame in one province only 
 to be smothered and blaze out again presently in an- 
 other. 
 
 No doubt the Yellow Empire is too immense to 
 permit of complete understanding among the revolu- 
 tionaries, or of collective effort to break off the Tar- 
 tan yoke. Several times, nevertheless, the Chinese race 
 has been near to victory. When, some twenty years 
 ago, certain events, which Europe never really under- 
 stood, brought about an upheaval in China, the revo- 
 lutionaries, victorious for a time, proclaimed at Nang- 
 King an emperor of Chinese blood and of the dynasty 
 of the Mings. His name was Ron-Tsin-Tse, which 
 means: The Final Flowering, and by the faithful his 
 era was called Tai-Ping-Tien-Ko, which is as much 
 as to say: The Empire of the Great Celestial Peace. 
 He reigned seventeen years, concurrently with the 
 Tartar Emperor at Pekin and almost within the shadow 
 of that city. 
 
 Later, the authorities forced a complete suppression 
 of his history: all records of it were confiscated and 
 burned, and men were forbidden, under penalty of 
 death, even to utter his name. Here, however, is the 
 
vi PREFACE 
 
 translation ot a passage relating to him which occurs 
 in a voluminous) report addressed by the Tartar gen- 
 eral Tsen-Konan-Wei, to the Emperor at Pekin : 
 
 "When the revolutionaries rose in the province of 
 Chan-Tung, (he says) they possessed themselves of 
 sixteen provinces and six hundred cities. Their guilty 
 chief and his criminal friends had become really for- 
 midable. All their generals fortified themselves in 
 the places they had taken, and not until they had stood 
 three years of siege were we again Masters in Nang- 
 King. At this time the rebel army numbered more 
 than two hundred thousand men, but not one of them 
 would surrender. The moment they perceived them- 
 selves lost they set fire to the palace and burned them- 
 selves alive. Many of the women hanged or strangled 
 themselves, or threw themselves into the lakes in the 
 gardens. However, I succeeded in making one young 
 woman prisoner, and pressed her to tell me where the 
 Emperor was. 'He is dead,' she replied ; 'vanquished, 
 he poisoned) himself.' But immediately the new Em- 
 peror was proclaimed in the person of his son, Hon- 
 Fo-Tsen. She led me to the old Emperor's tomb, 
 which I ordered broken open. In it was found in fact 
 the Emperor's body, enveloped in a shroud of yellow 
 silk embroidered with dragons. He was old, bald, and 
 had a white mustache. I caused his body to be burned 
 and his ashes to be thrown to the winds. Our soldiers 
 destroyed all that remained within the walls: there 
 were three days and nights of killing and pillage. 
 However, one troop of several thousands of rebels, 
 very well-armed, succeeded in escaping from the city, 
 dressed in the costumes of our dead, and it is to be 
 feared that the new Emperor was able to escape with 
 them." 
 
 This Emperor, Hon-Fo-Tsen, who, in fact, did suc- 
 ceed in fleeing from Nang-King, was looked upon by 
 
PREFACE vii 
 
 the real Chinese as their legitimate sovereign, and his 
 descendants in secret no doubt reigned after him unin- 
 terruptedly. 
 
 Several years ago a very remarkable man, who 
 seemed to incarnate in himself the new China, dreamed 
 of a pacific and genuine reconciliation of the two in- 
 imical races. (He had many dreams indeed: one of 
 them, for instance, that of founding the United States 
 of the World.) He conceived the almost unrealizable 
 project of converting to his ideas the Emperor at Pe- 
 kin himself and of securing his help to reform China 
 without the spilling of any blood. His name was Kan- 
 You-Wey. To get near the Emperor he opened a 
 school at Pekin in 1889. 
 
 Many rumors, though very conflicting ones, were in 
 circulation concerning the personality of this invisible 
 Emperor Kwang-Su, kept as he was under strict guar- 
 dianship, like a captive in the heart of his palace and 
 so unknown to everyone. Some versions declared him 
 alert, well-read, interested in modern things; others 
 represented him as feeble in body and spirit, given to 
 excesses and incapable of action. 
 
 Kan-You-Wey would believe only in the favorable 
 version: he knew besides what the ministers of the 
 Dowager Regent were worth, masters with her of the 
 Imperial power. He pitied the Imperial victim. His 
 whole heart turned toward his sovereign because he 
 was unhappy. How could he reach him in his quad- 
 rupled walls? How win the attention of his melan- 
 choly idol? Kan-You-Wey ten times renewed his at- 
 tempts, with the zeal of an apostle, and succeeded 
 finally, in 1898, thanks to one of his disciples, in put- 
 ting before the Emperor a memorial that he had pre- 
 pared for him. 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 Then the phantom-sovereign roused himself. Much 
 struck with these insurgent ideas, he wanted them ex- 
 plained to him' in detail, and gave an audience to the 
 reformer. He surrendered at once to the influence of 
 this great spirit, made him his minister, intimate and 
 confidant; and, sustained by his counsel, achieved at 
 last the control of his affairs. 
 
 It is at this moment of the reign of Kwang-Su that 
 our play takes place. The Emperor himself is the 
 hero, and Kan-You-Wey figures in it under the name 
 of Fount-in-the-Forest. 
 
 Judith Gautier and Pierre Loti. 
 
Act I— First Tableau. 
 
 The Gardens of the Palace at Nang-King. 
 
 Second Tableau. 
 
 The Throne Room of the Palace at Nang- 
 King. 
 
 Act II — The Pavilion of the Empress. 
 
 Act III — Interior of the Imperial Citadel at Nang- 
 King. 
 
 Act IV— First Tableau. 
 
 The Place of Execution at the Base of the 
 Ramparts, Pekin. 
 
 Second Tableau 
 
 The Grand Throne Room in the Palace at 
 Pekin. 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS 
 
 The Emperor of Peking, a Tartar of the Tsing 
 
 (Pure) Dynasty (aged 30) 
 FouNT-iN-THE-FoREST, CounciUor to the Tartar 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 1 /-i • j- -^ • ^ ^t. 
 
 „ ^ Chinese dignitaries of the 
 
 Faithful Prince ^ , -^t 1 • 
 
 „T T, Court of Nanking 
 
 Winged Prince j *" 
 
 The Son of Springtime, the little Chinese Emperor 
 
 at Nanking (aged seven or eight) 
 Veiled-Light, the Empress's Councillor 
 Chief Astrologer 
 A Tartar General 
 Poplar, a high Mandarin 
 Rock 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 Humpback 
 Strong-arm 
 Two Tartar Spies 
 Two Tartar Executioners ' 
 An Eunuch 
 The Daughter of Heaven, Chinese Empress of 
 
 the Ming (Bright) Dynasty (aged twenty-four 
 
 or twenty-five) 
 Golden Lotus 
 
 Cinnamon Ladies-in-waiting to the 
 
 Tranquil Beauty, Empress 
 
 Pearl 
 
 Gardeners at the Nanking Palace 
 
Governess of the Palace at Nanking * 
 
 Governess of the Palace at Peking 
 
 Street Vendors of Sweetmeats and Flowers at 
 
 Peking 
 High Mandarins, Common People, Chinese and 
 
 Tartar Soldiers 
 
 Time : China at the Present Day 
 
ACT I 
 
First Tableau 
 
 THE GARDEN OF THE PALACE AT NAN- 
 KING. 
 
 To the left, the pavilion of the ladies-in-waiting, in 
 front of which is a Aower-wreathed verandah. 
 Through the trees and the bushes in full bloom, 
 roofs of yellow earthenware, with upturned 
 gable-ends and decorated with monsters, can 
 be seen. Great twisted cedars, pools, rivulets, 
 curved bridges of marble and red lacquer. 
 Preparations are on foot for a fete. In the 
 background servants are setting up banners, 
 lances, and emblems of every shape. In the 
 foreground, gardeners are putting the garden 
 in order and sweeping away the rain of flowers 
 which has fallen from the trees. The sun is 
 rising. 
 
The Daughter of Heaven 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 RocKj Fir Sapling, Strong-arm, Humpback, 
 gardeners. In the distance a bell and a drum can 
 be heard. 
 
 Rock 
 
 [Stopping his work and listening. '\ Do you hear 
 the great bronze bell and the drum? Another 
 Prince is passing through the Gateway of State and 
 making his entrance into our Palace of Nanking. 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 lYes, I hear but I would rather see. 
 
 Strong-arm 
 Beautiful sights are not for us to see. 
 
 Rock 
 The great ceremonies do not need the gaze of 
 such as us. 
 
 Fir- Sapling 
 
 Yes ! we know that. Our duty is to work on in 
 silence, — patiently to prepare the beauty of the 
 festival which is not for our eyes. 
 
4 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Strong-arm 
 
 Are you complaining ? Every creature must 
 
 accept the place in life which falls to its lot. 
 Rock 
 That law governs all. There are some animals 
 that are proud and splendid, birds with magnificent 
 plumage, and there are also rats and horrible in- 
 sects, which' inspire loathing. 
 
 Strong-arm 
 Among trees there are kings, and among flowers 
 princesses. 
 
 Rock 
 
 And many poor plants have neither beauty nor 
 perfume. 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 
 The rain refreshes them just the same, and the 
 sun warms them. 
 
 Humpback 
 
 It sometirhes happens that chance favours the 
 most humble. Listen to me. Though I was in no 
 way to blame, I have witnessed a sight which I was 
 forbidden to see. 
 
 Strong-arm 
 
 You? You have witnessed such a sight? 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 
 What was it? Tell us. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 5 
 
 Humpback 
 Well, it was yesterday, after sundown. The 
 other gardeners had just gone away ; I had not yet 
 finished my task, but remained to polish one of those 
 great marble lions, at the Gateway of State. I was 
 working all unsuspicious, when suddenly I heard the 
 great drum and the clanging of the bell, and I saw 
 the watchers descend from their tower to open the 
 great gate. The guards and generals and ministers 
 were all running. I heard it said that the new ar- 
 rival was the most important of all the invited 
 guests, the Viceroy of the Southern Provinces. 
 How could I make my escape in the midst of all 
 these wonderful personages? It was impossible! 
 I hid behind one of the huge paws of the lion and 
 made myself very small. No one took any notice 
 
 of me and I saw, I saw through the pierced 
 
 globe, you know, which the lion holds in his 
 clutch . 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 
 You saw the Viceroy of the South enter with his 
 retinue ? 
 
 Yes, I saw ! Oh ! such costumes of silk and gold ! 
 Such horses shining with gems! Such banners! 
 And some terrible faces, too, some glances awful in 
 
 their pride! But when he came, oh! then I 
 
 understood that besides him all the others counted 
 for naught. He was pale, with a very weary air, on 
 
6 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 a horse led by two attendants His costume 
 
 was simple, but seemed richer than all the others 
 
 He was so imposing that my heart would no 
 
 longer beat in my breast, and it seemed to me that 
 if only he turned his unseeing eyes towards me, I 
 should drop dead. 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 Ah, was it like that? If one feels like that for 
 no more than a Viceroy, how would it be if one were 
 gazed upon by the Emperor himself ? 
 
 Humpback 
 But I assure you, no one who has not seen him 
 
 can 
 
 Fir-Sapling 
 Hush! Hush! Here comes a Palace official. 
 
 SCENE II 
 
 Rock, Fir-Sapling, Strong-arm, Humpback, 
 Arrow-Bearer, a Palace official. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 So this is the way you do your work? You frit- 
 ter away in foolish chatter the few precious mo- 
 ments which are left. 
 
 Humpback 
 The work will be finished, my Lord. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 7 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Will be finished! What, when I see the ground 
 
 still strewn with petals and dead flowers and 
 
 here, of all places, around the Pavilion of the 
 Ladies-in- Waiting. [Asidel where blooms that liv- 
 ing flower whom I adore. 
 
 Humpback 
 No sooner have we put all straight than the spite- 
 ful wind shakes the branches and we have to begin 
 all over again. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 
 Remove them from the moss, at all events 
 
 Those faded flowers look like so many stains. 
 
 SCENE HI 
 
 Rock, Fir-Sapling, Strong-arm, Humpback, 
 Arrow-Bearer, Golden Lotus, Cinnamon, 
 Pearl, Tranquil Beauty — Ladies in Waiting. 
 
 The ladies appear hestitatingly on the verandah 
 of the Pavilion. Golden Lotus advances and 
 rests her elbows on the balustrade. Arrow- 
 Bearer gazes upon her with evident emotion. 
 
 Cinnamon {in a whisper^ 
 
 I thought I recognised the voice of my lord Ar- 
 row-Bearer. 
 
8 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 Golden Lotus recognised it before you. 
 
 Pearl 
 That young man is always stealing about here. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 We all know the reason. 
 
 Cinnamon 
 See, he greets our companion as if she were a 
 Queen. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 
 Is she not the Queen of his heart ? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 
 The breeze of spring time caresses me gently and 
 intoxicates me with the perfume of the lotus. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 The allusion is evident. 
 
 Cinnamon 
 It is well known that The breeze of spring-time 
 signifies love. 
 
 Pearl 
 And her name is Golden Lotus. 
 
 Golden Lotus [<o Arrow-Bearer] 
 My lord, I heard that you ordered the flowers to 
 be removed Was I misinformed ? 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 9 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 
 I dared to raise my voice to give that order 
 
 Can I have displeased you? 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 
 Oh ! no . But I desire to ask your indulgence 
 
 for the lovely dead flowers. Permit them to re- 
 main there as a carpet at the foot of our pavilion. 
 Though broken from their stems, they are still beau- 
 tiful and keep their perfume. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 What glory for me to obey you! I envy those 
 flowers which will be trod by your little feet. 
 
 [He makes a sign for the gardeners to with- 
 draw.'] 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 [Pulling at the sleeve of Golden Lotus] 
 Enough, Golden Lotus. It is not proper for us 
 to listen to such remarks. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Have you nothing more to say to me? 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 Let us go. Come, we must return to the Pavilion. 
 Golden Lotus [to Tranquil Beauty] 
 
 No, stay a moment. 
 
 [io Arrow-Bearer] 
 My lord, you know news travels slowly to the 
 
lo THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 quarters of the Ladies-in- Waiting, and my curiosity- 
 is eager on this most solemn day, when our Empress 
 is to restore the throne of the bright dynasty of the 
 Mings and to take on her the regency of the Empire. 
 
 At what precise hour will the festival begin? 
 
 Do you know the order of the ceremonies? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 What great pleasure for me to be able to inform 
 you. The Criers of the Minister of Rites pro- 
 claimed last night the order of the ceremonies. I 
 have taken note of what I heard. 
 
 [^He takes from his sleeve a small scroll.^ 
 I hope to write several poems about this later. It 
 is a date quite unique in the annals of China. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 
 Oh ! read it to us, my lord. 
 
 \_The young girls eagerly gather about Arrow- 
 Bearer.] 
 
 Arrow-Bearer {_reading'\ 
 
 " On this holy day on which our Empress, la)ang 
 aside her mourning for her illustrious Husband, is 
 about to take up the power in the name of Her son, 
 in defiance of that usurper who for three hundred 
 years has held all China under his yoke : An order 
 to all high Dignitaries of the Palace, to the Mas- 
 ters of the Ceremonies, to the Grand Secretaries of 
 State, to the Ministers, Warriors, and Princes, to 
 the Guardians of the Imperial Seal! Let them 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN ii 
 
 hold themselves in readiness before the last watch of 
 night and gather together all the precious objects 
 which they have in their keeping so as to place them, 
 according to the due rites, on the six golden tables 
 in the Palace of Great Purity. Let the Master-in- 
 Chief of the Music place orchestras and singers in 
 the galleries and in the Throne-room. As soon as 
 the last watch shall have sounded, let the Astrologer 
 go to inform Her Majesty the Empress that the 
 chosen hour has come when she must repair to the 
 Temple of her Ancestors to offer the prescribed sac- 
 rifices to the August Shades. Her Majesty will be 
 attended only by the Princesses and Her Ladies-in- 
 Waiting. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 
 By us ! Then let us return to the Pavilion, 
 
 we must prepare at once. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 We shall be told when it is time. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer [^continuing to read'] 
 
 From the Temple of Ancestors to the Palace of 
 Great Purity, let all Dignitaries, Officers, Guards, 
 Secretaries form up in a line on either side of the 
 road along which the Empress will pass in a palan- 
 quin, ornamented with dragons and phoenixes, to 
 the foot of the staircase leading to the throne-room, 
 
12 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 where the grand ceremony of investiture will take 
 place. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 
 Will women be present at that? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Yes, the Princesses and the Ladies-in-Waiting 
 will form the retinue of the Empress and group 
 themselves about her. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 Ah ! I was not sure It was that particu- 
 larly which I wished to know. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 The young Emperor will be close to the brave 
 mother who is to reign in his name. Reign, you 
 know how! Reign in mystery, in anguish, faced 
 by insurmountable difficulties 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 How many hearts beat for Her, how many strong 
 arms are ready to defend Her ! 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 Have all the invited guests arrived at the Palace? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 I believe so. The most powerful of all, the 
 Viceroy of the South, has been lodged not far from 
 here, in the Pavilion of Limpid Fountains. If the 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 13 
 
 bushes were not so leafy you would be able to see 
 the roof of his residence from your Pavilion. 
 
 Cinnamon [/w a whisper'} 
 I should love to get a look at the Prince. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 One question more, my Lord. Does not some 
 new danger threaten us? Dark rumours have 
 
 reached us Are our reconquered Provinces 
 
 well garrisoned? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Alas! even during the hours of joy, anxiety as- 
 sails us. Alas that, when the delicious perfume of a 
 flower caresses us, we must watch with dread the 
 storm which is always threatening on the horizon. 
 The gazelle had a little respite because the tiger was 
 wounded. If he recovers, he will immediately be- 
 gin again the pursuit of his prey. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 What is the meaning of that allusion? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 
 That the Tartar Emperor, who reigns at Peking 
 and considers us, the dispossessed Chinese, as rebels, 
 has just been vanquished in the war which th? dan- 
 gerous Western Barbarians made against him. 
 With great difficulty he has obtained peace, and he 
 has not yet recovered from the effects of his defeat. 
 
14 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 Ah ! yes, the rumor of that war came to us. But 
 what was the cause of it? 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 
 How politics interest her ! 
 Pearl 
 
 Yes ! when that young man is her teacher. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 The cause of it was peculiar. A Prince, kins- 
 man to the Tartar usurper, conceived the foolish 
 idea of mustering an array of bandits to hurl upon 
 the hated Christians in the north of China. But 
 the horde, once let loose, got out of hand. It rushed 
 against the barbarian strangers, whose presence has 
 for a long time been tolerated in the neighbourhood 
 of the Palace. Then the armies of the Western 
 nations came to sack Peking, whence the Tartar 
 Emperor fled with his entire Court. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 Doubtless it is unhappy for us that the usurper 
 has made peace 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Who knows? Perhaps China might have fallen 
 under a more evil dominion still. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 Is the lesson not finished yet? 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 15 
 
 Golden Lotus {^withdrawing} 
 It is time, my lord, for us to prepare for the fes- 
 tival. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 It is you who will beautify the setting. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 
 Ah, do not make sport of me until we meet 
 
 again, my lord. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 [Seeing someone come from the right.} 
 Go into the house quickly! Your illustrious 
 
 neighbour, the Viceroy of the South, is walking in 
 
 the garden and comes this w?iy. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 {Lowering a bamboo blind} 
 If we could only see him through the blind ! 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Farewell ! I must give place to a nobler visitor. 
 {The young girls go in, and Arrow-Bearer hur- 
 ries off.} 
 
 SCENE IV 
 
 The Tartar Emperor^ disguised as the Viceroy 
 of the South, with Fount-in-the-Forest, his min- 
 ister. 
 
i6 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Fount 
 I sec no one Your Majesty may come for- 
 ward. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Your Majesty ! Do you wish to ruin me? 
 
 Fount 
 
 Oh! Sire. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Again ! 
 
 Fount 
 
 When we are alone, I cannot refrain 
 
 Emperor 
 
 You must Behind those blinds, probably 
 
 spies are watching us. 
 
 Fount 
 Eaves-droppers, rather. That is the Pavilion of 
 Ladies-in-Waiting. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 The Pavilion of the Ladies-in-Waiting 
 
 So there are also Ladies-in-Waiting here ? In very 
 truth, it seems to me that I am dreaming. Yet I 
 knew what I came hither to find that after three cen- 
 turies of reign the Emperors of my dynasty had 
 never succeeded in subduing the secret resistance of 
 the conquered — I knew that. That in the Southern 
 Provinces the rebels had never yet bowed the head. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 17 
 
 aye, I knew that. That Nanking was their capital 
 and that here a descendant of the Mings had even 
 reigned. For more than seventeen years before be- 
 ing crushed by our armies, of all that I was aware 
 
 But I thought this phantom empire was more 
 
 mysterious, more hidden in the dark, and here I find 
 a palace as beautiful as mine, with guards, digni- 
 taries, ministers, a ceremonial regulated as at my 
 
 own Court Our Empire is too large it seems, 
 
 to be governed by one head alone I wished to 
 
 see with my own eyes. I was prepared for all sur- 
 prises, yet this is beyond me. 
 
 \_He sits down on a bench under a tree in full 
 bloom.'] 
 
 Fount 
 What is more surprising still is that you are here 
 unknown to all ; here in the midst of your implacable 
 enemies, and clad in the fashion of three hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 Emperor 
 It is a happy coincidence that this Viceroy of the 
 
 South whose place I have taken is of my build 
 
 What can he be thinking of this adventure, in the 
 ship where he is now held a prisoner for me ? What 
 can he imagine, do you suppose? 
 
 Fount 
 Anything — except the truth. 
 
i8 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 Yet if he should escape, would I not be lost in- 
 deed? 
 
 Fount 
 
 My heart feels as though in a vice. Are you not 
 lost in any case? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Silence! After all, what have I to risk? My 
 life? Under the shadow of that throne from which 
 they would banish me, is not life an unending agony? 
 With what crushing weight do the slow hours fall 
 upon me. Who can describe the horror of that in- 
 dolent stagnation, of that idle solitude? Oh! the 
 rage which consumes the soul, when one is the 
 Master and yet has no power! If I find death here, 
 I shall be a thousand times happier for having come. 
 All my unhappy existence down to the present has 
 not been worth as much to me as these last few 
 days of flight and travel, this rapture of escape, for 
 a time, from that grey, silky web wherein I am a 
 prisoner. Oh! to work, to work in the sunshine, 
 to werk like a man, to attempt some daring act, 
 which, if I die, will at least remain behind to hon- 
 our my memory. 
 
 Fount 
 
 You are wonderful, you are noble, you are fear- 
 less. But I, who am as nothing, I have the right to 
 tremble. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 19 
 
 Emperor 
 It is you, however, who have awakened my spirit, 
 who have aroused it from its deadly torpor ; it is you 
 who have inspired me with will and strength. Have 
 you not approved of my project? Have you not 
 found noble, and worthy of a sage, the dream which 
 carried me away. 
 
 Fount \_kneeUng before the Emperor] 
 I cried aloud with enthusiasm, I wept with emo- 
 tion when I grasped your sublime thought 
 
 But it is an impossible dream, and the wish to real- 
 ise it is a madness as generous as it is vain. I fear 
 for you. Sire, my well beloved Master, I fearl 
 
 Emperor 
 You fear what? Up to to-day has not my plan 
 worked out as if by magic. 
 
 Fount 
 Up to to-day, yes, I cannot deny it. 
 
 Emperor 
 My departure from the Palace, which seemed so 
 perilous — not an obstacle ! You, my dear minis- 
 ter, enter your official palanquin, I was at your side 
 in the costume of your Secretary! I smiled, you 
 remember, like a schoolboy playing truant. My 
 
 manner was so gay as to frighten you. And 
 
 your poor little secretary, your pupil, as dear to you 
 
20 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 as a son, consented to take my place in my bed with 
 its funereal silk draperies, in that sepulchral cham- 
 ber, railed and walled in again and again, where one 
 stifles with the perfumes which are too sweet. If 
 I come through safe, what can I do in recognition 
 of this boy's tremendous devotion, who acted as sub- 
 stitute for the martyr which I was, who entered into 
 the mummied body of an Emperor of China? 
 
 Fount 
 
 Will he know how to play the part which he as- 
 sumed ? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Oh! it is an easy part, that of sovereign in my 
 sad, closed room. One sleeps, reads, meditates, and 
 keeps one's self from doing more. I have made use 
 of the weapon which is so often used against me. I 
 have been accused of being ill when I am not so. 
 This time it is I that pretend. Who will dare to 
 doubt? 
 
 Fount 
 
 And the doctor who is taking care of the mock 
 Emperor — are you sure of his fidelity ? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 My doctor? What interest would he have in be- 
 traying me ? He thinks I am engaged in some af- 
 fair of gallantry and I have promised him a province 
 if my absence is not discovered. He is watching 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 21 
 
 his patient carefully and has strictly forbidden any- 
 one to go near him. 
 
 Fount 
 That is capital! 
 
 Emperor 
 Even in my city of Peking there is no risk of my 
 being recognised, since none of my subjects have 
 even seen my face. Flight is made easy for an in- 
 visible emperor! And once on the ship — so 
 freighted with your anxiety, do you remember? 
 what rapture it was to fly through space, light as the 
 cloudlets of smoke which followed in our track ! 
 
 Fount 
 It is true, the kidnapping of the Viceroy and his 
 companions was the more dangerous feat, but our 
 sailors managed it marvellously. The immortals 
 are with us, your Majesty. 
 
 Emperor 
 Poor little Viceroy! As the escort who came 
 to greet him had never seen him, nothing was 
 simpler than that I should be taken for him. I told 
 you, Fount-in-the-Forest, that all must be as simple 
 as child's-play! 
 
 Fount 
 
 Sire ! Did you compose novels of adventure they 
 would be more interesting even than those of the 
 famous Lo Kwan-chung. 
 
22 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 Well, you see, they left me but two things in my 
 splendid solitude; love and opium. Opium exalts 
 the imagination, and I have had plenty of leisure to 
 dream about my plans. 
 
 Fount 
 I plan out the future in my writings — prophet- 
 ically, perhaps, but then I leave to the generations 
 that are to come the duty of fulfilling my prophe- 
 sies. You, Sire, are offering your own blood as a 
 sacrifice to assuage unconquerable hate. The Im* 
 mortal gods shall bow to you as to their equal : but 
 those on whom you wish to heap your kindness will 
 destroy you. 
 
 Emperor 
 Who knows ? Hatred often yields to love. 
 
 Fount 
 Not such immemorial hatred as this. Nothing has 
 softened it, and for these three hundred years it has 
 not even known the weakness of a love affair. 
 Never has a Tartar married a Chinese woman, never 
 has a Chinese loved a Tartar woman. During the 
 three years since you issued the decree authorising 
 marriages between the two races, none have availed 
 themselves of the permission. 
 
 Emperor 
 Yes, there has been one marriage 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 23 
 
 Fount 
 One marriage ! One of your courtiers, to please 
 you, married the daughter of one of your ministers ; 
 and do you recall the number of favours by which 
 you have had to repay that act of sacrifice? 
 
 Emperor 
 You are, however, a Chinese, and I believe that 
 you love me a little. 
 
 Fount 
 On me alone you have shed the light of your soul ; 
 and I, moreover, have cast away the prejudices 
 which fetter life. I love you and I admire you. 
 
 Emperor 
 Well, that is my recompense 
 
 Fount 
 Someone is coming ! We must take care 
 
 SCENE V 
 
 Light Palanquins, each carried by two men, stop 
 before the Pavilion. Two attendants accompany 
 them and mount the steps. 
 
 Fount 
 Some eunuchs, come, no doubt, to fetch the 
 Ladies-in- Waiting. 
 
24 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 
 I thought it was forbidden to employ eunuchs out- 
 side of my Palace of Peking ! 
 
 Fount 
 
 All privileges are allowed in the Palace of Nan- 
 king. 
 
 [They step aside until the Ladies-in-Waiting shall 
 have passed."] 
 
 SCENE VI 
 
 The Emperor, Fount-in-the-Forest, the La- 
 lEs-iN- Waiting, and the Eunuchs. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty [/w a whisper to Golden 
 Lotus] 
 Those lords are still there. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 They have a noble mien. 
 
 Pearl 
 They are secretly watching us. 
 
 Cinnamon 
 Let us pretend that we do not see them. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 25 
 
 Eunuch 
 The Empress is about to leave Her Palace. You 
 must continue your gossip to-morrow. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 If we are late, the fault is yours. 
 
 Pearl 
 You should have informed us sooner. 
 
 Eunuch 
 
 Quick, quick, the last watch of night is about to 
 sound. 
 
 [They enter their palanquins, and go on their 
 zvay in a single Me preceded and followed by an 
 
 EUNUCH.J 
 
 SCENE VII 
 
 The Emperor and Fount-in-the-Forest 
 
 Fount 
 They are pretty. 
 
 Emperor 
 And so gracefully dressed ! It makes me regret 
 the fact that my victorious ancestors imposed the 
 Tartar costume on the people. These Chinese robes 
 are so much more beautiful. 
 
26 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Fount 
 They make the women appear more slender and 
 delicate. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Do all the inhabitants of the city garb themselves 
 in the old way? 
 
 Fount 
 
 In their homes, no doubt, they do. Out of doors, 
 in the streets, they still keep up a pretence of wear- 
 ing the new. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 The Viceroy whom I sent to Nanking is certainly 
 not ignorant of all this. Why has he not informed 
 us? 
 
 Fount 
 
 Your Viceroy, Sire, is not a Tartar, but a Chinese, 
 which means that he espouses the cause of the rebels. 
 Yet at Peking, outside the walls of your Palace of 
 Eternal Silence, what goes on is fairly well known. 
 While you are dreaming of ultimate peace, they are 
 preparing for war. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Alas! 
 
 \_Trumpets, xylophones and gongs are heard in 
 turn, each five times. Then the watchmen pass 
 slowly.'] 
 
 Fount 
 The fifth watch. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 27 
 
 Emperor 
 Must we go in? 
 
 Fount 
 Not yet. The Empress is going to the Temple of 
 her Ancestors. That will give us a little time. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 The Empress! In a few moments I shall 
 
 see Her! The beautiful vision I have dreamed of 
 
 is to be destroyed by the actuality Ah! this 
 
 woman, who must have the uttermost horror for 
 me, can have no idea that for months past she has 
 filled all my thoughts, has haunted my solitary hours. 
 If She only knew that the phantom Emperor, iso- 
 lated in his palace at Peking, wrote poems in her 
 honour night after night ! 
 
 Fount 
 She is said to be beautiful and charming, but 
 that is perhaps only a courtier's tale. 
 
 Emperor 
 If She is not, then my sacrifice will be only the 
 more meritorious. 
 
 Fount 
 Ah! see, there she comes. She is crossing the 
 garden, and, as no one is here, her palanquin is 
 wide open. 
 
28 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Ah! 
 
 [Through the flowering hushes he gases ardently 
 at her. The sound of a march is heard.'\ 
 
 But I recognise Her, my friend, that woman so 
 beautiful and tender, so noble and delicate, that rare, 
 
 that imperial flower! Friend, what do you 
 
 think of this omen? It is She, absolutely She' — 
 She whom I have seen reflected in the mirror of my 
 
 dreams 
 
 Fount 
 
 The eyes of the dragon traverse all space. 
 
 {The Emperor seats himself again on the bench, 
 leaning on Fount-in-the-Forest, almost faint- 
 ing.} 
 
 Emperor 
 
 See how this emotion shatters my strength! 
 
 Fount 
 You are like the sacred lyre, whose strings vi- 
 brate at the slightest inspiration. 
 
 SCENE VIII 
 
 The Emperor and Fount-in-the-Forest, the 
 little Emperor of Nanking, — a child of seven or 
 eight years, who enters playing with a shuttle-cock 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 29 
 
 in the Chinese fashion, with graceful movements. 
 Some Royal nurses follow him, two serving-men 
 remain at the back. 
 
 First Nurse \_trying to take the shuttlecock 
 awayl 
 Sire, take care not to overheat yourself. 
 
 Child 
 No ! no ! give it back to me ; I want to play some 
 more. 
 
 Second Nurse \_Respectfully approaching the 
 Tartar Emperor] 
 Sir, no one is permitted to remain in the presence 
 of our Majesty, the young Emperor. 
 
 Emperor 
 It is he! 
 [^The shuttlecock with which the little Emperor of 
 Nanking is playing falls on the knees of the big 
 Emperor, who takes it in his hands.] 
 
 Child [To the Second Nurse] 
 Leave him there, I want him to stay. You see 
 that he is ill." 
 
 [To the Emperor] 
 
 Why are you so pale ? Are you ill ? 
 
 Emperor 
 No, Sire ! It is emotion which has made me pale. 
 
30 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Child 
 What about? 
 
 Emperor 
 At seeing you, perhaps. 
 
 Child 
 That is queer. Do you think I play shuttlecock 
 so well? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 With infinite grace. 
 
 Child 
 Soon, during the ceremony, I shall have to be 
 perfectly quiet. So I am running about now, to 
 have more patience later Do you understand ? 
 
 Emperor 
 {^Handing the child the shuttlecock'] 
 Do you wish to go on with your game? 
 
 Child 
 No! keep it as a gift from me to your son. 
 
 Emperor 
 I have no son. 
 
 Child 
 Oh, how sad that is! Very well then, keep it 
 just the same, in memory of a child who has no 
 father. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 31 
 
 Emperor 
 [Detaching a jewel from his girdle"] 
 Thank you! Take this in exchange as a remem- 
 brance from a man whose greatest desire is to have 
 you for his son. 
 
 Child 
 Oh! thank you 
 
 Sire, it is time ■ 
 
 First Nurse 
 
 Child 
 
 It is a little dragon — an Imperial Dragon! I 
 
 recognise it! But how do you come to have it? 
 
 You have not the right to wear it! Do not be 
 
 afraid, I will tell nobody. Good-bye till next time. 
 
 Emperor 
 Till next time ! 
 \^The child runs away, followed by his nurses. The 
 Emperor gases after him until he is out of sight.] 
 
 SCENE IX 
 
 The Emperor and Fount-in-the-Forest 
 
 Fount 
 You are still all of a tremble. 
 
32 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 
 My trouble is mixed with sweetness Would 
 
 it not seem that Heaven approves of me and will be 
 my ally ? This child comes to me, defends me, is un- 
 easy because of my pallor, and gives me his play- 
 thing Ah! how precious to me is this little 
 
 gift. 
 
 Fount 
 
 Yes ! I felt with you the emotion of that chance 
 
 encounter But let calm descend upon your 
 
 soul. You will need all your composure not to be- 
 tray yourself during the ceremony of the robing, 
 for this time you are not playing the leading part. 
 Do not forget the three obeisances, the nine com- 
 plete prostrations. You cannot accustom yourself 
 to bend the knee to another. 
 
 Emperor 
 But I know all these fine points of etiquette better 
 than anyone, for am I not condemned always to see 
 men prostrated at my feet, touching the ground with 
 their foreheads? 
 
 [Officers, Guards and Heralds enter at the back 
 of the stage and begin to form into lines. Some 
 unfurling banners. The Chiefs give out orders^. 
 
 Fount 
 Let us return! It is time, since you must re- 
 hearse your speech. Above all, Sire, change noth- 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 33 
 
 ing in it. I so mjjch fear that you will betray 
 yourself by some imprudent words. 
 
 Emperor 
 It seems too commonplace, that speech of mine 
 Since I have seen her, Her, I must compose 
 
 another 
 
 Fount 
 Oh ! no, I beg you. You might distract yourself, 
 break off short, or, more likely, let yourself be car- 
 ried away beyond measure. 
 
 Emperor 
 You may prepare an opium-pipe for me. Then 
 my mind will work with more ease and clearness. 
 
 Fount 
 Oh! you promised me to give up that poison. 
 You know full well that it is the complete destruc- 
 tion of your energies and your will. The exalta- 
 tion which results from — it, you know very 
 well with what depression you must pay for that 
 later on." 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Come ! come ! only one puff. I swear to you this 
 shall be the last. 
 [They leave. Trumpet-calls are heard and shouts 
 
 of command as the curtain falls.} 
 
SECOND TABLEAU 
 
 The throne-room in the palace of Nanking, seen 
 from the side. The Empress and the throne upon 
 which she is seated appear in profile. The Little 
 Emperor is seated near her. The throne is raised 
 on a number of steps; the Ladies-in- Waiting are 
 behind the Empress, fanning her with large, feath- 
 ered fans. The bodyguard is placed on the steps of 
 the throne, and each man is holding a censer con- 
 taining Tibetan incense. All the dignitaries and 
 officials are standing, in order of rank. At the back, 
 across a colonnade, open-air galleries may be seen, in 
 which are musicians and singers. The palanquin of 
 the Empress, with its dragons of gold, is also vis- 
 ible. Outside the crowd can be vaguely seen and 
 heard. Opposite the throne, on a platform, are 
 some dancers costumed as armed warriors, standing 
 motionless. Everyone is standing, with the sole ex- 
 ception of the Empress and her little son. 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 The crozvd, the Tartar Emperor and Fount-in- 
 the-Forest Cthe two latter still disguised, but in 
 full official costume), the Faithful Prince. 
 
 34 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 35 
 
 The Crowd Icrying rhythmicallyl 
 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 A happy life to our King! A happy and a long 
 life to our King. 
 
 Ten thousand years ! Ten thousand years. 
 l^The music continues at the back.] 
 
 Tartar Emperor [In a whisper to Fount-in- 
 THE Forest] 
 
 This old palace is infinitely more beautiful than 
 mine. Its art is purer and more exquisite. 
 
 Fount [Also in a whisper] 
 Our Chinese art, Sire, in all its ancient purity. 
 
 Emperor [Smiling] 
 
 You have remained our masters in all things. In 
 comparison with you we shall always be barbarians, 
 we the invaders and the conquerors. Oh! may it 
 be the unique glory of my reign to restore the noble 
 Chinese tradition by fusing the two peoples for all 
 time to come. 
 
 Fount 
 
 Let us not speak so much, well beloved master. 
 We are being watched! And do not forget that 
 soon you must prostrate yourself ! 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Before Her I Oh ! that will be an easy task. 
 
36 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Fount 
 And your speech, I pray, let it be altogether cor- 
 rect and commonplace ■ The fascination which 
 
 She seems to exercise over you terrifies me already. 
 
 [^Chorus, singing at the back'\ 
 Forefathers of my race, from Heaven look down 
 
 Upon this palace with benignant eye! 
 Your son, the chosen of the immortal gods. 
 
 See now I mount the glorious throne on high. 
 
 [The dancers execute three evolutions of the 
 ritual dance known as the Dance of the Feather and 
 of the Flute'} 
 
 Chorus [^At the back"] 
 Let but your spirit and your bravery. 
 
 Your virtues be the guidance of my life; 
 Then shall I triumph over evil foes 
 
 And fear no fortune in the fiercest strife. 
 {^The dancers execute three more figures.} 
 
 Chorus lAgain} 
 The Dragon, on my standard there unfurled. 
 
 Bathes his gold scales in Heaven's azure pure. 
 My reign shall famous be all times to come 
 
 'Neath his protection, powerful and sure. 
 
 [^The dancers complete the three last figures} 
 
 MUSIC 
 
 \_The master of ceremonies approaches the guard- 
 ian of the seals salutes him, and with a gesture in- 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 37 
 
 dicates that he is to follow him. He conducts 
 to a golden table at the back of the stage. The 
 guardian of the Seals, after having bent the knee, 
 takes from that table the great seal of the Em- 
 pire, zuhich lies on a large salver. The master of 
 the ceremonies then conducts him to the foot of the 
 throne and withdraws. The guardian of the seals 
 bends the knee and offers the seal to the Faithful 
 Prince. When the Faithful Prince has taken it, 
 the guardian kneels before the throne, makes three 
 prostrations, rises, and withdraws backwards. 
 The Faithful Prince bends the knee, and holding 
 the salver with both hands, offers it to the Empress, 
 then he rises. ^ 
 
 [The music stops'] 
 
 Faithful Prince [To the Empress] 
 In the name of all the princes here assembled, in 
 the name of the faithful people and of the army 
 ready to die for the Bright Dynasty, I present to 
 Your Majesty the most sacred treasure, the price- 
 less trust which your ancestors have transmitted 
 to us from generation to generation — the Great 
 Seal of State. In giving You this, we recognise you 
 as the Sovereign of the Empire during the minority 
 of your beloved Son. Accept the decree of Heaven 
 with composure and reverence. 
 
 [Two Ladies-in- Waiting descend the steps of the 
 
38 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Throne, take the salver and place it on a table 
 very near the Empress.] 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Oh! Daughter of Heaven, whom we swear to 
 serve faithfully! To the end that you may accom- 
 plish the work of your deified ancestors, never for- 
 get the ten precepts which are the rule of conduct of 
 all sovereigns. As they are engraved here on the 
 precious jade, it is my privilege to read them to you 
 this day in the hearing of all. 
 \_Reading from a block of jade, which is handed to 
 him.'] 
 
 Fear Heaven. 
 
 Love the people. 
 
 Exalt the soul. 
 
 Cultivate the sciences. 
 
 Honour merit. 
 
 Listen to wise counsels. 
 
 Lessen taxes. 
 
 Mitigate the laws. 
 
 Spare the treasury. 
 
 Avoid the allurements of the senses ! 
 
 Obeying these commands, one is sure to follow in 
 the right path. But one must advance along this 
 road without turnings aside or falterings. Oh ! our 
 Sovereign, be attentive and anxious, as though each 
 hour of the day you carried a chalice filled to the 
 brim with water not one drop must be spilled. Act 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 39 
 
 thus, and then your conduct will be just and your 
 
 dynasty endure eternally 
 
 All 
 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 {^The orchestra plays. Faithful Prince bends 
 the knee, prostrates himself three times, stands, and 
 retires to his place. The music ceases, complete 
 silence reigns, the Empress rises.'\ 
 
 SCENE II 
 
 The Empress, The Crowd 
 Empress 
 
 Enlighten me, Oh, Divine Reason ! Spirits of my 
 ancestors, enter into my spirit, strengthen my weak- 
 ness, embolden my heart! Will these wom- 
 anly hands have the power to carry on high this 
 sceptre, which is still too heavy for the frail hands 
 of my little son? At least they shall not tremble! 
 They shall hold it with an unrelaxing grasp, which 
 death alone will have the power to unlock. And 
 you will aid me, all of you, my faithful ones, you 
 will aid me with your advice, with your wisdom 
 and your courage. 
 
 The name allotted by the Book of Centuries 
 to the last descendant of the Bright D)Tiasty is: 
 Perfect Harmony Realised. But alas! it seems 
 
40 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 a faraway dream, this harmony announced in 
 the ancient days of our history, and longed for 
 with many a prayer by our bruised hearts. In- 
 stead of this dream of the future, we have the 
 terrible present with its uncertainty, instability, 
 and war! And that Empire, of which you have 
 proclaimed me sovereign, we must reconquer day 
 by day, tearing it fragment by fragment from the 
 grasp of the ravisher. 
 
 Ah, how much bloodshed have we seen in the 
 past three centuries! It is a stream purple with 
 blood, on which floats the vessel freighted with our 
 noble hopes! It tosses about, it battles with the 
 tempest, this vessel with the reddened timbers, but 
 it cannot suffer shipwreck, for it stands for justice 
 and right. Some day it shall drop anchor in a 
 peaceful port, the Bright Dynasty shall be re-estab- 
 lished for ever — and all our beloved dead, whose 
 bodies are scattered throughout the length and 
 breadth of the land, whose spirits abide in the clouds 
 above, all our unnumbered dead shall then have 
 their magnificent revenge and receive the reward 
 of their martyrdom. 
 
 Like everyone of you here assembled, I dedicate 
 my life to that sacred cause; but it suffices not to 
 die without regret, we must fight to the last, we 
 must defend ourselves with our final breath, that 
 our death may be fruitful. To reconquer our coun- 
 try, to break the yoke which dishonours it, let us 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 41 
 
 make our hearts fearless, our souls implacable. No 
 pity nor mercy for the Tartar! May our heroic 
 wrath never lessen, nor our holy hate be appeased. 
 
 Toward all other living men we know our duties : 
 good will, compassion, charity. Whoever these 
 men may be, whether they come from the north or 
 the south, or from the covetous west, to all who 
 shall call thernselves our friends, let us extend a 
 brotherly hand in accordance with that immemorial 
 tradition, which only our invaders have violated. 
 
 I swear to you, oh, shades of my ancestors, and to 
 you, all my well beloved subjects, I swear to keep 
 severe watch upon myself, to take good care that I 
 am not remiss in any of my duties, I swear to be at- 
 tentive and anxious, as though I carried in my hands 
 a chalice filled to the brim with water, of which 
 not one drop must be spilled. I swear to hold my 
 head high against the threats of the future, to sub- 
 mit with resignation to cruel fate, and not even to 
 move an eye-lash if the sword be lifted against me. 
 
 \_She resumes her seat upon the Throne.^ 
 
 All 
 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 {_The music recommences at the hack. 'At a sign 
 from the Master of Ceremonies, the Mandarins 
 leave their places and arrange themselves in several 
 lines at the foot of the Throne."] 
 
42 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Two Heralds 
 
 Bend the knee. 
 
 [Other Heralds at the doors repeat the order to 
 the crowd on the terrace and in the Court yardsJ] 
 
 Bend the knee. 
 
 [All the mandarins bend the knee at the same 
 timel 
 
 The Heralds 
 
 Prostrate yourselves. 
 
 Heralds at the Doors 
 
 Prostrate yourselves. 
 
 [All the mandarins prostrate themselves three 
 times, touching the ground with their foreheads 
 three times at each prostration."] 
 
 The Heralds 
 Arise. 
 
 Heralds [At the doors'] 
 Arise. 
 [All the mandarins rise and resume their places.] 
 
 A Herald 
 
 Let the Viceroy of the South, in the name of all, 
 make reply to Her Majesty. 
 
 [The Master of Ceremonies approaches the Tar- 
 tar Emperor and leads him towards the Throne. 
 The little Emperor of Nanking exchanges glances 
 of recognition with the Tartar Emperor. He 
 shows him a Golden Dragon, which is hanging on 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 43 
 
 a chain round his neck, while the Tartar Emperor 
 shows him the shuttlecock hidden under his robe. 
 The Empress, surprised, questions her son with a 
 look. The child smiles mysteriously and moves 
 closer to her. The Tartar Emperor contemplates 
 the Empress for a few moments, then slowly pros- 
 trates himself. He rises, and the music ceases. "^ 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Oh, Divine Majesty! I, your slave, and at this 
 moment one of the first dignitaries of your Court, 
 why am I so insignificant a thing? Why is my will 
 barren, when it is so eager to make a path both 
 smooth and glorious for your feet? Oh! at my 
 powerlessness to crush the menace of fate, what a 
 tumult of desire and righteous rage disturbs my soul ! 
 And yet the celestial radiance of Your presence il- 
 lumines and inspires me. The dazzling light which 
 emanates from Your Majesty's presence seems to 
 colour the clouds on the far horizon, to pierce the 
 shadows, and I see You there, in the great city of 
 the Tsings. I see you seated and all powerful, on 
 the very Throne of the Tartar Emperor; the im- 
 mense empire, undivided and at peace, extending 
 under your feet like a carpet of honour. 
 
 No ! destiny cannot be cruel to you ; before Your 
 sacred presence, its weapons will be dashed to pieces. 
 Do not the laws of Heaven and earth seem always 
 to yield to certain superior beings? Do you re- 
 
44 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 member the beautiful favourite, who formerly capti- 
 vated one of your sovereign ancestors? When the 
 day arrived on which, having forfeited the Imperial 
 favour, she was given into the keeping of the execu- 
 tioners, she gazed upon them calmly, and as they 
 brandished their swords against her, she smiled 
 sweetly — her only defence. Then they threw their 
 weapons at her feet, for no one had the courage to 
 extinguish that radiant smile 
 
 {A murmur of astonishment makes itself felt 
 throughout the crowd.'] 
 
 And so you will disarm destiny, and your most 
 deadly enemies will bend the knee before you 
 
 [5"o saying, he bends his knee] 
 The Empress [After a moment of astounded si- 
 lence, without rising from, the Throne] 
 
 Thank you, my noble subject ! Your bold words 
 have surprised us, but have also charmed us. More- 
 over, the tragic circumstances of our investiture 
 make excuse for passionate thoughts and excep- 
 tional speech. Your prophetic vision has touched 
 
 us very deeply Thanks to you! Thanks to 
 
 all! 
 
 [The Tartar Emperor rises and resumes his 
 place. Music March. The Empress descends 
 slowly from her throne; her retinue forms up to 
 follow her and crosses the stage. She reaches the 
 terrace where She enters her palanquin decked with 
 gold dragons. The whole assemblage, without 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 45 
 
 leaving their places, bend the knee and then pros- 
 trate themselves.'^ 
 
 Chorus [At hack of stage'] 
 Let all happiness and peace 
 Rule here now and never cease ! 
 Heaven, grant our humble prayer. 
 Give us blessings mild and fair. 
 Gentle rain and balmy air ! 
 Let our pious voices rise 
 To the gods above the skies! 
 
 All [^Interrupting the Choruses] 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 [The great drum and hell are sounded alter- 
 nately.] 
 
 CURTAIN 
 
ACT TWO 
 
[The stage setting is all of white marble, glistening 
 in the moonlight. At the centre back is seen the 
 Empress's Pavilion rising upon several terraces 
 of white marble. Its curved roofs are orna- 
 mented with monsters and small bells. Lead- 
 ing to the terraces, in the middle of the stage, 
 is an "imperial stair," an inclined plane of 
 white marble, on which an immense dragon is 
 carved in bas-relief; and also, on either side of 
 this, two identical marble staircases bordered 
 by bronze and jade animals and huge censers 
 on marble brackets. Numerous symmetrical 
 kiosks flank the pavilion on this side and that 
 with curved roofs similar to those of the pavil- 
 ion, ornamented with small bells and mon- 
 sters. 
 
 As the Curtain rises, no one is on the stage. A 
 gentle breeze causes the small bells to tinkle 
 at the angles of the roofs.^ 
 
SCENE I 
 
 The Empress and Four Attendants. 
 
 [The Empress comes out of the pavilion and ad- 
 vances slowly to the edge of the terrace, her eyes 
 raised to the moon. Four Attendants follow 
 her, but remain in the background."] 
 
 Empress 
 [Halting at the top of the Imperial stair] Oh, 
 Night of enchantment! Pure light and silence 
 
 cool ! Oh, scintillating stars, envelope me in 
 
 your rays ! And thou, pale moon, shroud me in thy 
 blue light; calm my soul, cool my fever! [^She 
 commences her descent down the " Imperial Stair," 
 two of her attendants following, one by the stair- 
 case on the right, the other by the staircase on the 
 left, regulating their steps according to those of the 
 Empress in the middle.] That dream, that 
 strange dream which has aroused me from my sleep, 
 
 I still feel the terror of it {^Lowering her 
 
 voice] The terror and the charm. [To her at- 
 tendants] Let the astrologer be called at once, that 
 he may discover the meaning of this dream and ex- 
 plain it without dissembling. Listen carefully to my 
 words. I was about to become the prey of a ser- 
 pent with shining scales, — already he was twining 
 
 49 
 
50 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 about me and slowly choking me with his chilly 
 coils. Fascinated by his steady gaze, I had not the 
 force to struggle; enervated, inert, I surrendered 
 myself, with no repugnance against death. With 
 fear and suffering a languor that was almost a de- 
 light was mingled A supreme effort of the 
 
 will, however, extricated me from his grasp, and 
 suddenly aroused from sleep and dreams I found 
 myself regretting those deadly coils which had im- 
 prisoned me What can this dream portend? 
 
 \_To the women'] Report what I have told you to 
 the astrologer. Let him question the Unknown, 
 and give me his response here without delay. Go 
 at once! [Two of the Attendants depart at this 
 command. The Empress continues to descend 
 slowly. She is alone in the middle of the Imperial 
 stair, which is very long, and whose white surface 
 seems sown with tiny glistering spangles.] How 
 the dew sparkles on the marble footpath ! It seems 
 like a carpet of stars. But as I walk I put out their 
 light, and my trailing gown changes the little glisten- 
 ing drops into a pool of water, which soaks the hem 
 of my robe. [She continues to descend.] Why is 
 there ever before my eyes the image of that man 
 whom I saw this morning for the first time ? Why, 
 on this day, when so many heavy duties have de- 
 volved upon my weakness, can I recall only that 
 deep and ardent gaze, which met mine with such 
 sovereign audacity? Why was I no more offended 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 51 
 
 by that gaze than by the rays of the kindly sun 
 that beat upon my palace? He found me beautiful, 
 and his admiration for me shone like an ornament 
 more precious than the Imperial Phoenix of my 
 head-dress. How well I understood, when he pros- 
 trated himself before me, with what feelings he 
 threw himself at my feet And my son ex- 
 changed glances of recognition with him! How 
 came he to know him? Why did I not even dare 
 to ask him, as though to speak of that 
 man to my own child were criminal? Oh, 
 kindly powers of the night, spirits of my deified an- 
 cestors who are about me in the air, august shades 
 to whom I have rendered homage in your golden 
 temples, come to my aid, gather about your un- 
 worthy and feeble daughter! That man, that 
 stranger in my path, on such a day! Oh, 
 divinities from whom I am descended, take from 
 my soul the very remembrance of him. In a solemn 
 vow I have renounced my earthly personality. 
 Nothing of myself belongs to me. Daughter of 
 Heaven, Empress and Regent, I am claimed entirely 
 
 by my more than human mission Help me to 
 
 triumph over the weaknesses which were the charm 
 of life. Aid me to forget that there are flowers and 
 pearls and perfumes, grant that I may lose con- 
 sciousness of the fact that love is the only realm of 
 woman, and beauty her true power. May my breast 
 from henceforth be only the marble prison of my 
 
52 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 frozen heart! Should it revolt and wish to beat 
 again, may my will become its stern gaoler! Aid 
 me, oh, come down, pure spirits of the air! Make 
 me as unyielding as the goddesses of jade, who keep 
 their eyes lowered that they may not see the things 
 of this world! 
 
 [^The two attendants return and prostrate them- 
 selves.]^ 
 
 First Attendant 
 
 The astrologer is ready to give your Majesty his 
 answer. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Let him come ! 
 
 [The attendants leave.'] 
 
 That serpent which entwined me, Ah ! that cannot 
 be he. His commanding gaze, riveted to mine, 
 was noble and open. Why should he appear to me 
 in that hostile and terrible form? No, no! in a 
 soul that has eyes like that treachery cannot flour- 
 ish It cannot be he and yet I was carried 
 
 away by that icy embrace. Who else then, in the 
 world could it be? 
 
 SCENE n 
 The same, The Astrologer 
 [He is one hundred years old. He has a white 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 53 
 
 heard, stiif and rough. He is blind, and is led by a 
 young boy. He tries to prostrate himself, but the 
 Empress stops him.] 
 
 Empress 
 Remain standing, noble old man. Your age and 
 your sightless eyes excuse you from formalities. 
 
 Astrologer 
 My sightless eyes see into the invisible. My 
 spirit, meditating through so many days of dark- 
 ness, is clairvoyant and prophetic. 
 
 Empress 
 How do you explain the mystery of that dream 
 which obsesses me ? 
 
 Astrologer 
 In the guise of a serpent, the dragon has come 
 to the phoenix to carry her off and to heap on her 
 his treasures. But the phoenix has not understood. 
 He flapped his wings and made his escape. Let 
 her take shelter at present from the terrible storm 
 which, all unwillingly, the dragon brings in his 
 train. 
 
 Empress 
 These words are more unfathomable than the 
 dream. 
 
 Astrologer 
 
 Yet thus the magic numbers have replied. 
 
54 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress 
 Can you not illumine the darkness? 
 
 Astrologer 
 
 The veil which covers the future may not be torn 
 away. To raise one corner at the utmost is all that 
 is allowed to us. 
 
 Empress 
 
 And by that means should one not at least see a 
 faint glimmer? 
 
 Astrologer 
 Take shelter from the terrible storm! Let the 
 precious torch which shall illumine the future be 
 placed far beyond the reach of the wind. That is 
 the decree. There is nothing more. 
 
 Empress 
 It is well. I will meditate upon these enigmas. 
 Go in peace, noble old man. 
 
 Astrologer 
 
 May propitious Heaven shower all its blessings 
 on the Bright Dynasty ! 
 
 [He retires. Day breaks, and Uower-beds in the 
 foreground, near the incline, come to view. They 
 are flowers of Imperial yellow.} 
 
 Empress 
 [To her attendants} 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 55 
 
 " For mercy's sake, for once in my life, leave me 
 alone. I need no further attention. Go! 
 
 \^The attendants leave and re-enter the Pavilion.] 
 
 SCENE ni 
 
 The Empress [alone] 
 
 The Empress [at the foot of the imperial stair, 
 leaning on the marble banisters.] The storm, said 
 
 the old man The storm, it will come from the 
 
 north as always! Black clouds on the hor- 
 izon, the armies which are marching against my 
 phantom empire. Black clouds, the armies of the 
 Tartar Emperor^ — But this torch which shall 
 illumine the future, what it is? Ah! My son, it 
 
 must be Ah, yes, that it is ; my son ! To 
 
 shelter him, he said, to hide him, to send him far 
 away, perhaps, from this palace that is threatened 
 on all sides; to separate myself from him in this 
 grave danger — that is what is now demanded of 
 
 me! Still more agony and sacrifice! And it 
 
 is I who am expected to guide a whole people, when 
 
 I lack the force to guide myself Oh you 
 
 women who can lean on a strong supporting arm, 
 who can depend for help upon the advice of a manly 
 and farseeing mind! Oh you wives who find in 
 the heart of your husbands a refuge in your weak- 
 
56 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 ness! But I am the Empress, and the widowed 
 Empress, all alone and so high that I have no equal 
 to whom I may confide my anxieties and my weak- 
 nesses [^She advances to the middle of the 
 
 Hewer-plot'] Come, listen to the confession which 
 is overpowering me, oh you flowers of early morn- 
 ing, moist with fresh dew! Oh airy spirits which 
 hover over flower-beds at the dawn of springtime, 
 hear me, since I must speak and someone must 
 listen. That man you know, who came yesterday, 
 whose gaze tyrannical and yet caressing is like none 
 other's, he has troubled the sad Empress's heart, 
 and now in the hour of great peril she is no longer 
 
 mistress of herself He is only one of her 
 
 subjects, and yet she would love to obey him 
 
 SCENE IV 
 
 The same, The Grand Mistress of The Cere- 
 monies, Two Attendants. 
 
 The Grand Mistress 
 
 [Prostrating herself] I have to inform your 
 Majesty that it is almost the hour of morn, fixed 
 for the farewell audiences. 
 
 Empress 
 It is well. I come. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 57 
 
 The Grand Mistress 
 All is in readiness for the toilette of the Empress. 
 What are her orders ? 
 
 Empress 
 I shall give audience here, and let the wearisome 
 ceremony be made as simple as may be. 
 
 The Grand Mistress [Still prostrating herself] 
 
 My duties as Grand Mistress make it necessary 
 for me to call your Majesty's attention to the fact 
 that this is contrary to the rites. Audiences must 
 take place in the Throne Room, and be conducted 
 in accordance with all the rules of immemorial 
 etiquette; 
 
 Empress 
 
 We are above all rites and rules. I have spoken: 
 my will. 
 
 The Grand Mistress 
 
 The orders of your Majesty shall be transmitted 
 to the officials of the palace, who will inform the 
 princes and t^e dignitaries. 
 
 Empress 
 It is well. 
 jiThe Grand Mistress rises and goes out.] 
 
 SCENE V 
 
 The Empress 
 [Leaving the Hower-garden, she halts before as- 
 
S8 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 cending the marble stair and turns again to the 
 flowers.] Guard well, oh, lowers of the morning, 
 the secret which I have confided to you. Now it 
 has escaped from my soul ! That it may never re- 
 turn, lock it up, oh, flowers, in your blossoms. 
 \_She mounts several steps] And you, ancestral 
 shades, to whom I make this last prayer. Oh! lend 
 your aid to your daughter, powerless to triumph 
 over herself. Make my heart invulnerable, since 
 you have called me to this sovereign mission. Give 
 me the force to thrust aside all but my noble duty. 
 Oh, help me to remember only " the brimming cup 
 of which not a drop must be spilled ! " 
 [^She mounts the stair.] 
 
 SCENE VI 
 
 Arrow-Bearer, Attendants 
 
 {^They enter hastily along the path at the foot of 
 the steps. Arrow-Bearer, raising his head, recog- 
 nises the Empress, on her way along the Imperial 
 stair. He makes a sign of warning to those who 
 follow him, and all terrified throw themselves pros- 
 trate, their faces to the ground. As soon as she has 
 disappeared, Arrow-Bearer makes a sign to the 
 Attendants to rise.] 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 59 
 
 Arrow-Bearer [To the Attendants] 
 Put the throne here and set this bench very near, 
 in case the Empress should accord to some privi- 
 leged one the honour of being seated in her presence. 
 Place these perfumes in the censers that the ladies- 
 in-waiting will only have to light them. 
 
 \_Enter the guards, whom he draws up at the foot 
 of the stairs.} 
 
 SCENE VII 
 
 The same Faithful Prince, Minister and 
 Commander in Chief. Winged Prince, Gen- 
 eral and Grand Secretary; Poplar, a minister; 
 Veiled-Light, Councillor; Chamberlains, 
 Councillors, Mandarins, etc. They enter in 
 turn. Lastly the Tartar Emperor and Fount-in- 
 the-Forest. 
 
 Poplar [To Faithful Prince] 
 If your Excellency would say a word for me to 
 the Empress, my desires would be fulfilled and I 
 should obtain the red button, which I have earned by 
 my services. 
 
 Faithful 
 I know your merits and I realise what you de- 
 serve. But believe me, true greatness is above titles. 
 
6o THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 We are devoting our lives to a noble cause, for the 
 joy of s'eeing it triumph, and not in the hope of a 
 reward. If we die in the service, our name will 
 shine with a brightness, more enduring I assure you, 
 
 than that of a ruby in the crown of your hat 
 
 However, rest assured I shall do my utmost to ob- 
 tain it for you, since you aspire to it. 
 
 Poplar 
 I shall be grateful to you to my dying day. 
 \_He bows and goes out.] 
 
 Winged Prince [To Faithful Prince] 
 May I enquire after your precious health? 
 
 Faithful Prince IBowingI 
 
 How kind of you to trouble about so trifling a 
 matter ! My health is good, thank you. I dare to 
 hope that yours, infinitely more precious, is also 
 excellent to the joy of us all. 
 
 Winged Prince {^Bowing again] 
 
 You see me overwhelmed by a solicitude of which 
 I am unworthy. Thank you, I am very well. 
 Without excessive pain I am reaching the allotted 
 span — a poor thing, it is true — of my days. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Did you succeed in seeing the representative of 
 our enemies, the Viceroy of Nanking? 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 6i 
 
 Winged Prince 
 I saw him and I dictated a report, which he 
 agreed to send to Peking, but I have had to pay- 
 dearly for his discretion. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 If only we gain thereby a few days' respite, we 
 shall not need to regret the bait thrown into the 
 mouth of the Tiger. The treasures of the Mings, 
 happily, are far from exhausted and the secret 
 vaults, all unknown to the Tartars, still contain 
 more than is necessary to defray the expenses of 
 war. 
 
 {_They go out in conversation] 
 
 Veiled-Light {Talking with a Councillor] 
 There is a method of obtaining calabashes of a 
 magnificent red. You graft the young plant with 
 cockscombs 
 
 Councillor 
 With cockscombs ? Can it be done ? 
 
 Veiled-Light 
 Yes, you bury them alongside the roots and pass 
 the stems through the flesh. 
 
 A Secretary 
 I know another process for obtaining gourds of 
 celestial blue. 
 
62 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Councillor \_To Veiled Light] 
 Where did you get your information? 
 
 Veiled Light 
 
 I read it in the Tu Tien Shan, a work in 20 
 volumes, containing the most curious secrets of hor- 
 ticulture. 
 
 \_They pass on.J 
 
 An Officer 
 How kind of our Empress to give us audience in 
 the open air, among the flowers ! 
 
 A Stout Mandarin 
 And to dispense with prostration. At my age 
 and with my figure, the performance is very diffi- 
 cult, and, as you know, one is so easily made to ap- 
 pear ridiculous! 
 
 Winged Prince [To Faithful Prince^ watch- 
 ing the approach of the Tartar Emperor and 
 Fount-in-the-Forest] 
 
 I once met the Governor of the South, but I must 
 be confusing him with someone else, for I recollect 
 a person very different from this one. Yet, if I had 
 ever seen those eyes, it seems to me that their ex- 
 pression would have remained in my memory. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Indeed he has most uncommon expression and an 
 extraordinary dignity. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 63 
 
 Emperor [To Fount] 
 What makes you so uneasy? 
 
 Fount \_In a whisper"] 
 I am certain that I recognised here in the palace 
 two officers from Peking, disguised, like ourselves. 
 
 Emperor 
 Yes ? No doubt they were spies sent out in pur- 
 suit of me. 
 
 Fount 
 
 I do not think so. More likely the leaders of a 
 
 conspiracy, against Nanking, perhaps to take it by 
 
 surprise. We must leave here as soon as possible. 
 
 All is in readiness, the horses are saddled, the vessel 
 
 under steam You wished to see this palace 
 
 with your own eyes. You have succeeded, now let 
 us depart. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Depart before having seen her for a last time? 
 Oh, no. Nothing could make me give up that hap- 
 piness, which has come to be for me the most desir- 
 able thing in the world. 
 
 Fount 
 Every minute here we are risking our heads 
 
 At least as soon as you have had your audience, I 
 beg you not to delay another instant. 
 
64 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 You have my promise. 
 
 Fount 
 The Faithful Prince has looked toward you 
 several times and you cannot do otherwise now than 
 greet him. He is Prime Minister and Commander- 
 in-Chief, the most important person here; a great 
 heart and a fine character. His rank places him 
 above a viceroy. 
 
 Emperor 
 What shall I say to him? 
 
 Fount 
 A few polite commonplaces. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Can I do so? {^He approaches the Faithful 
 Prince and salutes him.'] Illustrious Prince, may 
 a long and happy life be yours ! It is a blessing of 
 Heaven to be permitted to gaze upon your noble 
 countenance and to meet the light of your eyes. 
 Faithful Prince [Returning the 6ow] 
 
 In truth I might say the same to you But 
 
 I beg of you let us dispense with compliments. Are 
 you satisfied with your government of the South? 
 
 Emperor 
 That region is the most faithfully rebellious of 
 the whole Empire, and is so far away that the orders 
 for its repression are lost before they reach it. The 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 65 
 
 inhabitants refuse to pay the tax levied by the Tar- 
 tars and of their own accord deposit the money in 
 our coflfers. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 You do not fail to accept only half of it, and to 
 refuse it altogether during bad years? 
 
 Emperor 
 I have done so, which accounts for our popularity. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Perhaps you would like to be near the throne, in 
 order to obtain a higher rank, more in accordance 
 with your merits. Make use of my influence to 
 support your request 
 
 Emperor 
 I am the slave of her Majesty, ready to serve her 
 in any position in which she may wish to employ me, 
 but I ask for nothing, and the good opinion which 
 Your Excellence has of my merits is to me the most 
 acceptable recompense. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 I congratulate you on being without ambition and 
 not fixing a prize on your devotion Our Sov- 
 ereign will appear soon. 
 
 Emperor [To Fount] 
 Did I acquit myself creditably? 
 
66 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Fount 
 
 In very dangerous words. Ah, how I wish I 
 saw you safely away from here ! 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Oh, that I might remain always! She is 
 
 coming ! 
 
 SCENE vni 
 
 The same, The Empress^ in Costume of State 
 
 \^As soon as she appears at the top of the terrace 
 the perfumes begin to hum in the censers. The 
 guards unfurl the banners which they are holding in 
 their hands. Chamberlains and grand equerries 
 form a line on either side of the staircase, bending 
 the knee. Before her is carried the yellow umbrella 
 with three flounces, mounted on a handle bent in the 
 form of a swan's neck. Behind two Attendants 
 carry tall feather screens, emblems of sovereignty.^ 
 
 All the Attendants \in a low voice, with eyes 
 lowered^ 
 
 Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! ten 
 times ten thousand years ! 
 
 Empress 
 
 Happiness be with you, my faithful ones! May 
 you live many long days ! [She descends. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 67 
 
 The Faithful Prince and the Winged Prince 
 receive her at the foot of the stepsJ] 
 
 Winged Prince 
 
 The flowers grow pale with envy at the approach 
 of our Sovereign. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Her presence doubles the brilliancy of the day. 
 
 Fount [7w a whisper to the Emperor] 
 In truth, she is as beautiful as the pink peony. 
 
 Emperor 
 Say rather that the flower is all but as lovely as 
 she. 
 
 Empress {^Stopping on the last steps, between 
 Princes] There are some hours when nature ap- 
 pears more splendid, the light of Heaven more rad- 
 iant, when all things of the world seem transfigured 
 and new, and the soul then expands in the joy of 
 
 living Oh, my faithful ones despite our 
 
 threatening to-morrows, the present is for your Sov- 
 ereign one of those rare hours, [/w an asidel It 
 seems as though I had suddenly become two per- 
 sonalities, a new rapture and unknown hopes fill my 
 bewildered heart. 
 
 Emperor [^To Fount] 
 Her words express what I feel in myself. Before 
 
68 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 this glorious hour I knew not what it meant to 
 live 
 
 The Empress advances slowly, stopping to speak 
 a few words to persons bowing before her. To 
 Veiled-Light she says'} 
 
 You desired the government of the fortress of 
 Tang-Men. The Emperor accords you that title 
 and the appanages which go with it. 
 
 Veiled-Light 
 {^Bending the knee} I shall redouble my zeal to 
 be worthy of such an honour. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Do so. l^She passes on, while Grand Equerry 
 places a scroll of yellow satin in the hand of Veiled- 
 Light, who receives it on his knees. To an of- 
 ficer.} 
 
 The Emperor appoints you to that higher rank 
 which you have so deservedly earned. 
 
 The Officer 
 My life belongs to your Majesties, and my sole 
 desire is to be able to sacrifice it in a good cause. 
 
 Empress 
 Keep it for our service. 
 \_A yellow scroll is given to the oMcer} 
 I offer to each of you a slight gift in assurance 
 of my protection and as a memento of my acces- 
 sion 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 69 
 
 All 
 Ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand years. 
 
 \_Pages distribute the gifts.] 
 
 Faithful Prince {^Presenting Poplar] 
 Your devoted servant is ambitious to see the coral 
 button of his hat changed to a ruby. I venture to 
 support his request to your Majesty. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Recommended by you, his merit is certain. I ac- 
 cord the rank with pleasure. 
 
 Poplar 
 
 My heart overflows with gratitude. 
 
 The Empress [To the Tartar Emperor] 
 
 And you, Prince, do you desire nothing? Are 
 
 you too proud to name the favour which would 
 
 please you? 
 
 Poplar 
 
 Nay, I ask one of Heaven, one only, that it will 
 stay the flight of time and prolong this rapturous 
 hour. 
 
 Empress {At once surprised and somewhat 
 offended, she looks at him a long time, but her gaze 
 hecom,es tender and she -finally smiles.] Does that 
 depend on Heaven alone ? {She takes her place on 
 the throne.] 
 
70 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Herald \_Announcing'\ 
 The Empress commands tea to be served. 
 
 All 
 
 Ten thousand years ! 
 
 [The cup-bearers serve tea, fruit and cakes. 
 Each one bends the knee as he takes his cup.] 
 
 The Empress [Making a sign to the Tartar 
 Emperor, to be seated on the tabouret, near the 
 throne] 
 
 Come here Prince. There is also a present for 
 you. 
 
 A Grand Secretary [/m a whisper to a Coun- 
 cillor] With one word she has made him Prince, 
 and now she permits him to be seated in her pres- 
 ence! 
 
 Councillor 
 He does not seem at all surprised at the honour. 
 
 Grand Secretary 
 He is the favourite of to-morrow. We shall 
 have to reckon with him. 
 
 Empress 
 You gave my son a jewel marvellously cut, a 
 dragon, emblem of the Imperial Power. He is de- 
 lighted with it, and wishes me to oflfer you in his 
 name, the emblem of the Empresses, a phoenix, with 
 wings of sapphires and rubies. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 71 
 
 [Golden Lotus approaches and presents a jewel- 
 case on a salver'l 
 
 Emperor 
 I wish to receive it on bended knee, and to assure 
 you that it will be with me always. [^He bends the 
 knee.l 
 
 Empress {To Golden Lotus] 
 Golden Lotus, did you, as I command, attach a 
 ring on which to hang it? 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 Yes, Your Majesty. 
 
 Emperor 
 Until to-day I had seen but the nests of ordinary 
 birds, and I did not believe in that incomparable bird 
 the Phoenix. It is only to-day that its existence 
 was disclosed to me by the evidence of my enchanted 
 eyes. [He hangs the jewel on his belt.'] 
 
 Empress 
 Alas, the phoenix and the dragon are dragged 
 down by chains to-day, and cannot reach the heights 
 to which they aspire in the clouds. 
 
 Emperor 
 Ah, how ardently I wish I were the Tartar Em- 
 peror reigning at Peking ! 
 
72 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress 
 What a strange and dismal idea ! You wish you 
 were my mortal enemy? Why? 
 
 Emperor 
 That I might attempt to set all China at your feet, 
 to bring to you your own, and then to be your most 
 faithful subject. 
 
 Empress [^Smiling'] 
 
 What a dream ! But from that Emperor I 
 
 could accept nothing nothing, but death. Do 
 
 not desire to be anyone else than you are for no one 
 has ever inspired in me so sudden and deep a sym- 
 pathy. Do not leave the palace yet Await 
 
 my commands. Since you have no ambition I must 
 have it in your place, and keep you perhaps more 
 near to me Farewell until we meet! 
 
 Emperor \_Rising and botving^ 
 Whether near or far, my thoughts will ever be 
 
 prostrated at the feet of your Majesty. 
 
 ^He goes, on his way saying in a whisper to 
 
 Fount] Friend, in my disguise, I triumph! For 
 
 the first time for three hundred years a Chinese 
 
 woman has given her love to a Tartar ! 
 
 Fount 
 Carry away with you your glorious joy; but I 
 beg you, let us depart at once. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 73 
 
 [^Tea is offered to the Emperor. Gradually he 
 slips away, led by his Ministers] 
 
 The Councillor [To a Secretary] 
 He did not even bend the knee to receive the Im- 
 perial tea. 
 
 Secretary 
 He understands that to him already all is permit- 
 ted. 
 
 Empress. \_In an aside, dreamily^ 
 
 I am no longer mistress of my will The 
 
 words fly from my lips, like captive birds escaped 
 and making for the sky I have betrayed my- 
 self with happiness. 
 
 [^Uproar and cries, all the attendants in alarm. 
 Officials of the Palace enter hurriedly, their hands 
 on their sabres. Faithful Prince and Winged 
 Prince approach to defend the Empress, who has 
 risen from her throne.^ 
 
 SCENE IX 
 
 The same except the Emperor and Fount. Pal- 
 ace Officials, Arrow-Bearer. 
 
 Empress 
 What has happened ? 
 
74 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Officer 
 A conspiracy. 
 
 Another 
 It has failed ! 
 
 Arrow-Bearer [Kneeling'] 
 Our young Emperor is safe. 
 
 Empress [Crying aloud] 
 
 My son ! It was against my son ! ■ 
 
 Where is rpy son? 
 
 SCENE X 
 
 The same. The Child with his Nurses and 
 Guards. 
 
 The Child [Running to his mother and kneel- 
 ing before her] 
 Here I am, mother. 
 
 Empress 
 Ah! [She arises and embraces him.] Now I 
 can control myself to listen Speak ! 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 Divine Sovereign, two Tartar spies entered the 
 palace with the monstrous design of kidnapping our 
 young Emperor. Like tigers they lay in wait, hid- 
 den in the bushes. They came out all unawares and 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 75 
 
 dared to lay a hand on the sacred person of your 
 son. 
 
 The Child 
 Mother they threw a cloth over my head and 
 tightened it round my throat. 
 
 Empress 
 Oh! 
 
 The Child 
 I could not cry out, but I struggled hard. Oh! 
 I am very strong, I am 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 We were on guard. The nurses with cries of 
 horror called for our aid. We ran to them and 
 seized the criminals. 
 
 Empress 
 Ah, you have them? Let them be brought here 
 at once. 
 
 [Arrow-Bearer rises and goes out. The Em- 
 press seats herself again.] 
 
 Winged Prince 
 Their trial will not take long. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Heaven was watching over its young son and 
 saved him. 
 
^e THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 All 
 Ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand years. 
 
 SCENE XL 
 
 The same. Two Spies, their hands tied, each 
 one held by two guards. They are thrown on to 
 their knees at the foot of the throne. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 Who are you? 
 
 First Spy 
 Faithful servants of the dynasty of the Tsing. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 Where do you come from ? 
 
 Second Spy 
 From the only capital of our great and pure Em- 
 pire. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 Your crime is flagrant and needs no further 
 proof, what have you to say? 
 
 First Spy 
 Nothing. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN ^^ 
 
 Second Spy 
 
 Yes ! We wished to kidnap the child, to hold him 
 as a hostage and thus to have you at our mercy. 
 We have nothing further to say. Our lips are 
 sealed. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 Name your accomplices. 
 
 Second Spy 
 We shall say nothing. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 Ha! ha! We have made others speak. \To the 
 Empress] The torture at once, is it not ? 
 
 Empress 
 Torture, no! Death, instant death. 
 
 Faithful Prince \To the Empress] 
 I venture to suggest to your Majesty that it might 
 be better perhaps to imprison these men in a 
 dungeon. We do not know who they are, nor of 
 how great importance in the eyes of the enemy. 
 What secrets might we not indeed extract from 
 these two ! 
 
 Empress 
 What! After what they have done, you would 
 have them see the light of another day? Re- 
 
78 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 member that they have dared to lay a hand on the 
 sacred person of him in whom lives all our hope; 
 they have bruised his neck, frail as a stem of a 
 flower. To kidnap him as hostage, they said! 
 How do I know that they did not rather mean to 
 kill my child. i 
 
 All 
 Death! Death! 
 
 Empress 
 
 Yes, death! And have them thrown to the 
 beasts that eat dead bodies. Their graves will be 
 the maws of crows and dogs. At once ! 
 
 [The Faithful Prince gives a signal, and the 
 condemned prisoners are lifted to their feet. J 
 
 First Spy 
 
 We have risked our lives. We have lost and we 
 accept death. 
 
 Second Spy 
 We shall be soon avenged by the great army which 
 is marching against you. To-morrow it will be be- 
 fore your walls. 
 
 All 
 Death ! Death ! 
 [The condemned men are led away.^ 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 79 
 SCENE XII 
 
 The same, except the Spies, 'A. B., and The Guards. 
 Empress \To the Child] 
 
 Oh, my best beloved! Oh, you, who bear the 
 sweet name of Son of Springtime, how near was I 
 to losing you! 
 
 The Child 
 Tell me, mother are those men to be put to 
 death? 
 
 Empress 
 That is the lightest punishment which their crime 
 deserves. 
 
 The Child 
 No, it is too much, as they did not kill me. 
 
 Empress 
 But they desired your death. The sentence is too 
 lenient. And see, I spared them the torture-cham- 
 ber Now, I shall never again dare to be away 
 
 from you. No, not even for a minute, my priceless 
 jewel, shall you again be out of my sight. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 My Sovereign, how it pains me to be forced to 
 
 tear your heart by telling you what we believe to be 
 
 your painful duty, we to whose advice your Majesty 
 
 deigns to listen. For many days, we have been 
 
8o THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 resolved to speak, and yet we shrank from the un- 
 grateful task. But to-day the danger is too press- 
 ing. 
 
 Empress 
 Oh, what are you going to say? [She descends 
 from her throne.^ 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Alas, that my words shall be like the cold north 
 wind which kills the flowers. 
 
 Empress 
 I already feel the chill in my very soul. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 You must for a time be separated from your son. 
 
 Empress 
 [With drooping head"] I knew too well! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 The hope of all, THE VICTORY to come, our 
 Young Emperor ! — He should be protected from 
 the dangers of war, in safety, far from here, in some 
 inaccessible province. 
 
 Empress 
 "Let the precious torch which shall illumine the fu- 
 ture be placed beyond the reach of the wind." Thus 
 spoke the astrologer. Yes, the blind man did see 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 8i 
 
 into the invisible. Thus is the mystery of his words 
 explained ! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 We must obey the oracle. Misfortune foreseen 
 can often be avoided. Winged Prince, and you 
 Veiled-Light, sage councillors, does your opinion 
 coincide with mine. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 It is the same in every point. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 And all you, noble chiefs, wise men of letters, 
 dignitaries, are you too of the opinion that we must 
 send the young Emperor away. [All nod their 
 heads affirmatively without speaking.'} And not to- 
 morrow, not even this evening alas — for each mo- 
 ment the danger increases We must act at 
 
 once, if your Majesty consents to the sacrifice. 
 
 Empress 
 Oh ! You place me in a circle of fire, which you 
 narrow again and again, far too quickly. But 
 where are the Tartar armies, now? Not yet be- 
 neath our walls, surely. We are not besieged! 
 
 The roads are still open [She presses her son 
 
 to her breast.'] Leave him with me just another 
 day, at least give me time to find the necessary 
 strength to bear this new affliction I am the 
 
82 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress, yes, but I am also a mother One 
 
 does not take a child from its mother as one plucks 
 a flower from its stem Wait ! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Wait, my Sovereign ! But will not your despair 
 be infinitely more intense should harm come to his 
 Majesty because of a weak tenderness? Think of 
 the turmoil of a siege, the horror and the risk of 
 battle ! Let us thank Heaven for giving us time to 
 place our young Master in safety. As soon as the 
 danger is over, he will return to you. 
 
 Empress 
 Oh, do not speak of return to lessen my distress, 
 
 as you would comfort a child ! Let us not 
 
 talk of the future, which is black and cloudy 
 
 But Wisdom has spoken, and my rebellion is over. 
 I shall have the strength to submit. [To the child, 
 whom she holds still pressed close against her.] 
 My son, you must go away from me for a little 
 
 while Ah, tears fill my eyes at the idea. But 
 
 when I think of keeping you in this palace, in the 
 midst of such terrible dangers, anguish crushes my 
 heart My best beloved, you must go. 
 
 The Child \_Embracing her] 
 
 What! I must go on account of the Tartars? 
 Well, I am not afraid, I am not really. Do you 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 83 
 
 think that I am afraid? You remain here, my 
 mother, and where you remain there I must be too. 
 — • — Leave my mother on account of the Tartars? 
 I do not want to ! You all hear me. I do not want 
 to. 
 
 Empress 
 
 My son! You will show greater courage in say- 
 ing good-bye to me. And you must prove yourself 
 worthy of your noble, your more than human lot. 
 Remember that you are not an ordinary child. 
 Under your delicate flesh, in the fine network of 
 your veins, flows the blood of divinity. The Bright 
 Dynasty has no representative but you alone. Oh, 
 my best beloved ! You are the son of Heaven ! 
 
 [The Child, very thoughtful, lets his head sinkj 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Raise up your face, do not turn it down, dazzled 
 by the bright name of your ancestors. Already you 
 must be master of your feelings. You owe your 
 heart as a debt to this people unnumbered, which is 
 conquered and oppressed and looks to you for its 
 deliverance. To this people alone belong your 
 thoughts, your actions, your very life. 
 
 The Child {Sad and gravel 
 I will go I will not cry. 
 
84 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress 
 To whom shall we entrust this greatest of our 
 treasures? You have no doubt thought about it. 
 I feel that your plans are made. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Our yoting Emperor has shown without know- 
 ing him, a sympathy for the Viceroy of the South. 
 Now he is precisely the best situated to offer him an 
 inviolable refuge. My advice is that we entrust 
 him to him. 
 
 Empress [To The Child] 
 Will that please you? 
 
 The Child 
 Yes. 
 
 Empress 
 It was also my idea. The Viceroy is certainly 
 still at the palace awaiting my orders. [To Arrow- 
 Bearer] Call him here. 
 
 [Arrow-Bearer goes out.'] 
 Faithful Prince [To the Nurses] 
 Prepare for an immediate departure. You will 
 not leave your young master. 
 
 Empress [To The Child] 
 I envy them. Would that I were to-day only your 
 servant. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 85 
 
 Faithful Prince [To the Guards] 
 An escort of five hundred men, well chosen and 
 fully armed. \_Exit The Guard] To Winged 
 Prince.] Prince, you will accompany the Em- 
 peror, and as soon as he is in safety you will return 
 to take your place here among us. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 
 I shall prove myself worthy of your trust, my 
 preparations will be brief. [He goes out.l 
 
 To your posts now, noble defenders of the Son of 
 Heaven. We are always ready for war, I know 
 it. But let us make ourselves still stronger. Let us 
 brace up our courage, let us prepare our hearts 
 — ■ — Let messengers be sent out at once to dis- 
 cover exactly the position and importance of the 
 army which is marching against us. [The Em- 
 press gives a signal^ You may take your leave. 
 
 [The Soldiers go out one after another, with a 
 genuffection.^ 
 
 Empress [To The Child] 
 
 ; I gaze upon you to engrave on my memory 
 your adorable features. I fill my eyes with them, 
 just as if I did not already know every detail, every 
 
 line; but they are going from me I would 
 
 wish to have them carved in marble, and memory is 
 as unstable as water. 
 
86 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 SCENE XIII 
 
 The same. Winged Prin.ce returns hurriedly. 
 Winged Prince [To Faithful Prince.] 
 A courier has just arrived and brings strange 
 news. 
 
 Empress 
 What is it now? 
 
 Winged Prince 
 The Viceroy of the South sends to explain to your 
 Majesty that the reason that he was unable to reach 
 the palace for the ceremony to which he was invited 
 was because he was taken prisoner at the moment 
 when he was about to enter Nanking. 
 
 Empress 
 But the Viceroy came here ! 
 
 Winged Prince 
 That was not the real Viceroy. 
 
 Empress 
 Not the real Viceroy? 
 
 Winged Prince 
 He was imprisoned on a ship, but no harm came 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 87 
 
 to him, and he was treated with every consideration 
 — ■ — His letter explains how he escaped. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Treated with every consideration! What does 
 that imply? The spies of the Tsings are less gen- 
 erous. 
 
 Winged Prince 
 The Viceroy sent this courier in all haste; he 
 awaits orders to come and prostrate himself at 
 the foot of the throne and sue for pardon. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Then that man who was here ? Oh, in what 
 
 frightful web are we now caught? — ■ — And I 
 was about to entrust my son to that unknown man ! 
 • I ordered him to remain here. Run, per- 
 haps he has not yet gone. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer [Returning'] 
 
 The pavilion is empty. This silk scroll was 
 placed so as to attract immediate attention. 
 
 Empress \^excitedly'\ 
 
 Give it to me ! [Arrow-Bearer gives the 
 
 scroll to Faithful Prince, who gives it to the Em- 
 press. Aside.] In my dream The serpent 
 
88 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 that coiled about me Ah ! It was he ! [She 
 
 steps aside to read.} Verses ! In my trouble, 
 
 I shall scarce be able to read them. And then the 
 meaning seems so mysterious. [To The Officers 
 standing nearest to her.] Let twenty horsemen be 
 sent out at once in all directions, pursue him. Let 
 the neighbouring towns be searched as well. A 
 hundred thousand taels to him who brings that man 
 back to me. Go! [To Faithful Prince hand- 
 ing him the silken scroll.] Read it to me Faithful 
 Prince. 
 
 Faithful Prince [reading] 
 Beneath my mask I kept a secret watch on you. 
 
 You saw my face, but not my features true ; 
 You heard my words, but not my secret heart. 
 The day will come when I shall throw away the 
 
 mask, 
 Play your good angel's part. 
 And all shall bow beneath the conquering dragon's 
 task. 
 The traitor is a fine scholar, but he does not un- 
 mask his identity. 
 
 Winged Prince [To The Child] 
 Your Majesty must no longer keep about your 
 neck like a relic a present given you by an im- 
 postor. 
 
 The Child [Excitedly] But I will keep it. I 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 89 
 
 thought of my dead father when I saw that man, 
 and when he told me that he would like to have me 
 for a son, he was keeping back his tears. 
 
 Empress 
 The instinct of children does not mislead them 
 nor can I believe, either, that the unknown vis- 
 itor meant us harm —7— Let us wait awhile before 
 we begin to hate him. 
 
 \^She stretches out her hand and takes the poem 
 which she places next to her heart.'] 
 
 SCENE XIV 
 
 The Same. The Women, and Arrow-Bearer 
 First Nurse 
 
 All the preparations are completed. 
 
 Arrow-Bearer 
 The escort is ready. 
 
 Empress \_Emhracing her soni 
 Yes, but to whom will you now entrust your Em- 
 peror ? Let us take time to think at least Or 
 
 perhaps, since there is such immediate need, you have 
 deceived me, and we are surrounded? Where is 
 the Tartar army? I am not an idol shut up in a 
 
 shrine. Let me be told the truth ! Where is 
 
 this army? 
 
90 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Very near and in great force The messen- 
 gers will bring us details this evening In 
 
 order not to cloud the brow of your Majesty during 
 the glorious days of your investiture we have de- 
 ceived you it is true. Forgive us! 
 
 Empress 
 
 I understand but now my son, to whom is he 
 
 to be entrusted? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Still to the Viceroy of the South to the 
 real one we may trust him. His devotion of ten 
 years has stood all tests. So we must now march 
 to meet him, and without losing an hour he must re- 
 trace his steps toward Yunnan with his precious 
 charge. To this end the start must be made in- 
 stantly, so that the two escorts may meet before 
 nightfall. [To Winged Prince] Prince, imtil 
 further orders, remain with the Emperor. Keep up 
 constant communication with the frontier, and on 
 the first alarm take the child out of the Empire. 
 
 Empress 
 
 And every day a courier must bring me news, as 
 long as the roads are free about our walls and our 
 gates are open. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 91 
 
 Winged Prince 
 
 I shall attend to all, relying on none other than 
 myself. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 And we all know the value of your watchfulness. 
 [Owe of the officers who left previously at the 
 command of the Empress returns hastily. 1 
 
 Officer 
 
 The horsemen have returned The fugi- 
 tives have been seen, the man and his accomplice. 
 They were riding horses which devoured the ground. 
 One of those swift ships such as are used by the 
 Western Barbarian was awaiting them at the water's 
 edge. It is bearing them along at present with the 
 speed of lightning. All pursuit would be futile. 
 
 Empress 
 
 I was prepared for that He would not per- 
 mit himself to be captured like an ordinary fugi- 
 tive! No, I knew that he would carry away 
 
 with him the mystery which he was pleased to keep 
 up here. 
 
 Faithful Prince {To The Empress.] 
 
 Your Majesty, the time has come, we must has- 
 ten. 
 
92 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress 
 
 Yes, I am ready — — Only one instant, one last 
 minute! [She conducts the little Emperor to the 
 throne, on which she seats him.'\ Permit me to 
 render to the Son of Heaven the homage which is 
 his due. \^She kneels.} May your life be happy 
 and long, your reign peaceful and prosperous! 
 l^She bows three times.'] May your dynasty en- 
 dure eternally. 
 [The men and the nurses prostrate themselves. '^ 
 
 The Child [on the verge of tears'] 
 I promised that I would not cry. 
 
 Empress 
 
 In triumph and glory may you come back to us 
 soon! [She rises. The Child descends from the 
 throne, approaches the Empress, and kneels in turn] 
 
 The Child 
 
 Mother, tell me, I am not going for long, am I ? 
 
 Empress [Stooping and embracing her son pas- 
 sionately] No, my best beloved, no only for 
 
 a few days if the gods whom I implore will it so! 
 
 Have courage sweet little flower [To 
 
 the Nurses] Now go! 
 
 \_The Nurses lead away the little Emperor. He 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN ■ 93 
 
 keeps his gaze fixed on his mother until he is out 
 of sight. ^ 
 
 SCENE XV 
 
 The Empress, the Faithful Prince, and sev- 
 eral Ladies-in-Waiting. 
 
 [The Empress watches him disappear, and then 
 mounts the steps of the terrace to get a last glimpse 
 of him, and when he is out of sight she cries aloud 
 in her anguish, wringing her hands."] 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Noble Sovereign, have courage. 
 
 Empress 
 Ah, no, leave me. I am at the end of my strength ! 
 I played the Empress, did I not, as long as 
 
 my child was here ? Now that he is gone, let 
 
 me be a woman, let me be his mother ! I shall 
 
 never again see him whom you have just taken away 
 from me. Never, do you hear? I feel it, I know 
 it! Since we are above ordinary beings, may 
 Heaven be just to us and give us superhuman 
 strength! Why have we hearts like other people, 
 
 and anguish which breaks them? Ah,! the 
 
 very beggar-women in rags in the street are less mis- 
 erable ! No handsome spy comes to them, to make 
 
94 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 their souls falter, and then flees and after that 
 
 their children are not taken away from them ! 
 
 Your Empress would rather be a beggar, hungry 
 and cold, but clasping her little one to her breast 
 
 Yes, a beggar I tell you, who holds out her 
 
 hand to passers-by as she sits on the steps of a 
 temple! — — [Sobbing, she throws herself on the 
 terrace steps. J 
 
 CURTAIN 
 
ACT THREE. 
 
{^Before the curtain rises, shots are heard. It is 
 night-fall in the Imperial Citadel at Nan- 
 king, half battered-down by the Tartars. Be- 
 hind a huge wall with battlements are heard 
 the sound of trumpets and the shouts of sol- 
 diers in the distance. At the back, to the left, 
 is a bronze gate, heavily boarded and sur- 
 mounted by a black turret with a three-tiered 
 angular roof. In the middle of the stage is a 
 funeral pile of scaffolding and fagots. At the 
 back, to the right, the crenellated wall contin- 
 ues; terraces are visible and in the far distance 
 the outline of the palace stands out in relief 
 against the sky, yellow in the setting sun. On 
 the top of the wall, and over the gateway are 
 Chinese soldiers, who are firing their last shots 
 at the invisible besiegers.] 
 
SCENE I 
 
 The Empress, the Faithful Prince, Arrow- 
 Bearer, the Ladies-in-Waiting, Chinese Sol- 
 diers. 
 
 [Wounded men are lying in their own blood here 
 and there among the ruins. The Empress is in the 
 middle of the stage, accoutred like a warrior, hel- 
 meted, holding a weapon in her bleeding hand. The 
 Faithful Prince is on the top of the rampart with 
 the Soldiers. Arrow-Bearer, mortally wounded, 
 lies in the foreground to the left. J 
 
 Faithful Prince [From the height of the ram- 
 parts giving orders to cease Hre"] Enough,, my 
 brave friends ! ' Stop shooting down the fugi- 
 tives Let us keep our powder for the final 
 
 attack. 
 
 [The soldiers cease firing. 1 
 
 They have fled, once again we are saved ! 
 
 Empress 
 
 Ah! Saved, yes! Saved for a few minutes 
 
 at least. We have time to meditate before death. 
 [She sits on a stone. To the Ladies-in-Waiting 
 who Hock about her.'] Look now to those who are 
 suffering. I need nothing, only my hand is bleeding, 
 
 that does not matter See what they need, go 
 
 97 
 
98 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 to their aid ; you have the poison in the tiny flasks, 
 have you not? 
 
 Ladies-in- Waiting 
 [^Showing her the golden Uasks which they carry 
 in the folds of their dress, on to each of which is at- 
 tached a little cup of jade. J We have them, noble 
 Sovereign. 
 
 Empress 
 
 That which they most desire, no doubt, is death 
 Pour out the draught of the Great Deliver- 
 ance for those who are suffering the most Be 
 
 sparing with it, however, for, alas! we have not 
 enough for all. The contents of the little cup of 
 jade chained to the flask is sufficient for one man, 
 it is the proper dose. Go, my devoted maids, bring 
 them sleep. That is your duty in this hour. [^To 
 Cinnamon.] And you. Cinnamon, remain near me, 
 
 you shall pour put my portion Place your 
 
 flask on the stone, very near me, with my Imperial 
 cup. 
 
 [Cinnamon obeys. The other Ladies-in- 
 Waiting go among the wounded, leaning over them 
 and offering them the potion in a low voice. In the 
 distance firing is still heard. 2 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 [Very gently to Arrow-Bearer, whom she ap- 
 proaches at once'\ 
 My lord, do you wish to die ? Then I shall empty 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 99 
 
 the cup also soon after you — — Do you wish to 
 die? 
 
 Arrow-Bearer {After a silence and as if in a 
 trance'] 
 
 No, my fair trembling flower, my fair flower of 
 
 the lake! Before you came to me, I wished 
 
 it Now I wish it no longer. Let me remain 
 
 for a little while among the living, to cherish in my 
 heart that word of love which you have just spoken. 
 Help those who are suffering more than I, without 
 
 a friend and then you will return and I shall 
 
 rest my head on your knees before going to the Land 
 of the Shades. 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 
 It shall be as you command, dear lord Be 
 
 sure I will return to you. 
 
 \_She goes to the assistance of the other wounded, 
 followed by the gaze of the dying Arrow-Bearer. 
 The soldiers in the foreground add beams, fagots, 
 and branches to the funeral pile. A tumult is heard 
 to the right, in the wings, where more soldiers come 
 on.] 
 
 Empress 
 
 Who is there? 
 
 Captain of Soldiers 
 It is our envoy Wan-tsi who has succeeded in ap- 
 proaching our walls and will bring us the news from 
 
loo THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 without. We have thrown down the rope-ladder to 
 him, and here he is. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Ah ! ' Let him come. [7o the soldiers who 
 stand behind her and are adding to the HreJ] Rest 
 awhile my friends! There is more than enough 
 
 now to consume my body ■- ' Why do you make 
 
 the fire so large? 
 
 Captain 
 
 Why do we want so large a fire? Faithful 
 
 Prince will tell your Majesty, when he presents our 
 last request. 
 
 SCENE ir 
 
 The same, with the Envoy Wan-tsi, who ap- 
 proaches the Empress. His shoes and the hem of 
 his robe are blood-stained. He prostrates himself. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Arise, we have no further need of prostrations. 
 We are all equal here. There is but one rank now, 
 that which is conferred on all alike by the nobility 
 
 of sacrifice. [Wan-tsi rises.] Now, speak 
 
 spare me nothing Besides I guess 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN lor 
 
 Wan-tsi 
 Ah, yes, all is over, Oh, my Sovereign. Only 
 your Palace still stands. 
 
 Empress 
 But not for long! 
 
 Wan-tsi 
 The approaches to the walls have been abandoned. 
 Perchance they may permit us to live until to-night 
 has ended. 
 
 Empress 
 And the rest of the city, the western citadels? 
 
 Wan-tsi 
 
 Are in the hands of the Tartars. All alike! 
 
 This cast off uniform of some enemy saved me 
 
 In the streets they are burning, killing, and murder- 
 ing. Several thousand women have succeeded in 
 
 throwing themselves into the river The 
 
 others have been outraged, and strangled at the 
 same time. Blood flows along the pavement in 
 streams like the water of Heaven after a storm. 
 Every gutter discharges itself in the river like a 
 great red fan. Down the whole length of the street 
 corpses are to be seen, their bodies still warm, pour- 
 ing blood through the gashes in their throats 
 
 Noble Sovereign, on my way I climbed over thou- 
 
102 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 sands of dead bodies, my feet became entangled in 
 
 their long hair trailing from the several heads 
 
 Oh Majesty, it is the end. [He kneels again.'] 
 And now forgive me for being the messenger of 
 misfortune. 
 
 Empress 
 
 My brave and faithful messenger, I thank you! 
 Arise, I told you, and take your place among my 
 last remaining soldiers 
 
 [Wan-sti rises and takes his place among the 
 soldiers, who still continue to add fuel to the Are. 
 To Cinnamon, pointing to the Hash and the golden 
 cup.] 
 
 Cinnamon, the hour has come. 
 
 Cinnamon 
 
 Oh Majesty, not yet. [The other Ladies-in- 
 Waiting, scattered among the wounded, have heard 
 the command and silently come and take their places 
 about their Sovereign.] 
 
 Empress 
 
 Would you wish to have them take me alive? 
 That man who has seen, you have beard what he has 
 just said. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 
 But the palace is still standing. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 103 
 
 Pearl 
 The army of the South may come to save us. 
 
 Empress 
 
 To avenge us perhaps later. But to save us 
 
 • child, who think you could save us? [To her- 
 
 self. '\ Ah, that mysterious aid for which I have so 
 foolishly hoped ! " The Star," said the hand- 
 some lying spy, " the star which shall watch over me 
 so well when all shall bow before the triumph of the 
 Dragon." Child, who think you could save us? 
 
 We have no more powder, no more men, no 
 
 water, nothing. We have hurled down the stones 
 of our ramparts; the gates give way, the walls are 
 
 crumbling [Ta Cinnamon] Give it to me, 
 
 the hour has come. 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 Sometimes when one believes all lost, fortune 
 changes. 
 
 Pearl 
 Beloved sovereign, hasten not the irretrievable. 
 
 Empress 
 
 The irretrievable would be to wait too long! 
 
 [^She makes an imperious sign to Cinnamon, 
 who pours the poison into the cup. But an uproar 
 is heard from the summit of the rampart to which 
 
I04 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 the Faithful Prince has just mounted again 
 above the barricaded gate. Night continues to 
 fall] 
 What is it now? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 A small body of Tartars has boldly come un- 
 armed to the very foot of the walls. One of them, 
 whose manner is calm and noble, says that he has 
 been sent by the Emperor with a last communica- 
 tion to your Majesty. He showed us, under the 
 light of a torch which we lit, the Imperial seal of 
 the Tsings, of a scroll of yellow silk. 
 
 Empress 
 A communication? From the usurper to your 
 Sovereign, a communication? Is not the very idea 
 an insult ? Let these bold men go away unharmed, 
 but tell them to go at once. 
 
 [Cinnamon gradually retires with her cup of 
 poison.'] 
 
 Faithful Prince {^Descending again from the 
 ramparts and approaching the Empress with an air 
 of mystery.] The one whose bearing is so digni- 
 fied, I seem to have seen before. 
 
 Empress 
 To have seen him. Where? 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 105 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 {^Coming nearer and lowering his voiced My sov- 
 ereign, I think that unknown, who came the 
 
 day of the investiture I am sure of it — 
 
 It is he! 
 
 Empress 
 [^Arising bewildered'] Why do you whisper? 
 Prince, you almost insult me with that tone 
 
 of confidence, when it concerns that man. You 
 mean him who presented himself fraudulently as our 
 Viceroy of the South? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Yes. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Very well then, have him brought here. Throw 
 the rope-ladder to him that he may appear before 
 me. {^The ladder is thrown from the top of the 
 wall."] 
 
 Hide the poison, Cinnamon^ and the golden flask 
 as well. He who is coming need not know. . > . 
 Has the fire darkened my face ? 
 
 [^The newcomers appear at the top of the rampart, 
 the Tartar Emperor £rst, followed by Fount-in- 
 the-Forest and three other persons in Tartar 
 soldier^ uniform, but unarmed."] 
 
io6 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 SCENE III 
 
 The Tartar Emperor and The Empress 
 
 [^The Emperor advances while the four men of 
 his suite remain in the rear. At a signal from the 
 Empress, the Ladies-in-Waiting and all others 
 on the stage retire to the back.'] 
 
 Emperor 
 {^Bending the knee before her, as on the Corona- 
 tion day] Oh, Sovereign, oh, brave wajryior, may 
 the day dawn which will brighten your dark destiny! 
 iHe rises.] 
 
 Empress [Trembling] 
 Oh, dispense with all vain formalities. The min- 
 utes left to us are sparingly numbered Drop 
 
 the mask and speak quickly. Who are you? A 
 Tartar, alas! are you not? Otherwise you would 
 have been unable to break through their ring of 
 steel A Tartar, say? 
 
 Emperor 
 Yes. 
 
 Empress 
 A spy, then, when you came on my Coronation 
 day? Nothing but a spy, alas! 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 107 
 
 Emperor 
 No ! One who risked his life that day, as he does 
 again, to save yours. 
 
 Empress 
 My life is no longer of any importance, and the 
 right to save it belongs to none. At the Court of 
 the Usurper who reigns at Peking what position is 
 yours? Secret agent for venturesome mis- 
 sions? No, a great dignitary, then? Tell me. 
 
 Emperor 
 Yes. 
 
 Empress 
 And a Prince? 
 
 Emperor 
 What matters it what I am? Your Majesty is 
 the chief concern. Deign to listen to what the Em- 
 peror 
 
 Empress {^Interrupting'] 
 
 Where is your Emperor? At the head of his 
 troops ? 
 
 Emperor {Embarrassed] 
 Well No, in his place over yonder. The 
 
io8 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 rites, I need scarcely tell you, do not permit him to 
 leave it. 
 
 [Throughout this dialogue the cannon is heard in- 
 cessantly in distant parts of the city. J 
 
 Empress 
 The rites,. ah, the rites! You see what attention 
 I have paid to the rites, I, the daughter of the Mings, 
 
 the daughter of Heaven and the Invisible I 
 
 am here in the midst of my soldiers. I am fighting 
 like them! And it is he, your phantom Em- 
 peror, who dares to send me a message ? 
 
 Emperor 
 With a message of pardon one always dares 
 
 Empress 
 Say rather that a message of pardon is the last 
 message which may be sent when it is from him and 
 
 concerns me ! So the Tartars dare to offer 
 
 pardon ! You have just passed through my 
 
 city of Nanking and you have seen ? It is glorious, 
 is it not, their work? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Alas ! yes, I have seen with horror, but I can 
 
 swear to you by my life that such were not the or- 
 ders which were given by my Sovereign. 
 
 Empress 
 Ah! a Sovereign then, who has not the force 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 109 
 
 wherewith to command obedience ! So others 
 
 have told me that before I still hate him with 
 
 that ineradicable race-hatred which you know, to 
 which now contempt is added. Oh, that Emperor 
 who smokes opium in his mummy's palace, while 
 his hordes of soldiers at their own free will go 
 through the provinces, leaving red tracks behind 
 and charnel-houses for the vultures ! 
 
 And if the impossible were to happen and I were 
 to humiliate myself sufficiently to accept his pardon, 
 who would warrant me after all — since he is not 
 obeyed? Amid that army of wild beasts which 
 was here awhile ago and will return soon to shout 
 for our death, who could enforce the order of pardon 
 of your phantom Emperor ? Who, I ask ? 
 
 Emperor 
 I! 
 
 Empress 
 
 You! [More gently and in some agitation.] 
 You! Perhaps in very truth you might, for you 
 seem to be one of those whom one dare not dis- 
 obey. Moreover you have the superb audacity to 
 reappear at this moment ! But if the loyalty which 
 I read in your eyes does not deceive me, cease the 
 game which you are playing, and this time answer 
 — — Who are you? 
 
no THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Emperor 
 Who am I? Up to now nothing! Inexistent 
 as a vaporous cloud! Nothing! But to-morrow 
 perhaps everything, if you so wish it. To-morrow 
 everything and radiating at your side like a sun in 
 the blue ether 
 
 Empress [Drawing backj 
 Ah, you remember all too well my recent indul- 
 gence toward your enigmas. Amid the perfume of 
 incense, amid pomp and luxury, I betrayed the 
 weakness of a woman. To-day, no; you find me 
 stronger and more stern, precisely because I am 
 defeated, and know that I must die. 
 
 Emperor \_Bowing before her'\ 
 Oh, Sovereign, never were you more sacred to me 
 Do not be ofifended by my words and for a 
 
 short tim'e still allow me my mask and my mystery. 
 Hear only this : A fortnight ago, when I left that 
 palace where I saw you in all your Imperial splen- 
 dour, I hastened to Peking to request of that Em- 
 peror whom you hate that he would stop this hor- 
 rible war. On the way I learned that our Tartar 
 armies were marching with lightning speed, and I 
 turned back as quick as my ship and horses could 
 take me, to give to them myself the order for peace. 
 I have the right to do so. See, here is the seal 
 which gives me full power in tlie name of Tsings. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN in 
 
 As you have said, I am one of those whom men 
 dare not disobey; at least, not face to face, when I 
 speak I have learned now how to give or- 
 ders and to enforce them. Deign only to allow 
 your soldiers to give the signal for a truce, just to 
 hoist the flag on the tower, and not one of their 
 heads shall fall, I swear it 
 
 Empress 
 To make that offer to me. Prince, you must not 
 
 be of the Imperial blood The Daughter of 
 
 Heaven can never accept the mercy of a Tar- 
 tar! 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 The same, Faithful Prince, A Watchman, 
 the Captain of the Soldiers, and the Soldiers. 
 
 Watchman 
 [Announcing from the height of a turret at the 
 summit of the ramparts~\ An army, see, over there. 
 The Tartars are returning! Thousands and thou- 
 sands of them. In the distance they appear in the 
 twilight like a long black trail 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 How far? 
 
112 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Watchman 
 At the bend of the river, I can see their vanguard 
 
 They are marching along the avenue of 
 
 Sitche^Men. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Let them come It will be their last attack 
 
 Only at the bend of the river. Then we 
 
 have still half an hour 
 
 Watchman 
 They are lighting their torches, and now I hear 
 their war-trumpets. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Be it so ! We shall be ready. 
 
 Emperor {^Imploring her with clasped hands^ 
 Sovereign ! 
 
 The Empress \^As though ready to yield^ 
 For myself, no ! I have declared my inten- 
 tions, that is my last word ! [Pointing to her 
 
 Soldiers. J But all these brave men, who are ready 
 
 to drop with exhaustion, with hunger and thirst 
 
 [To Faithful Prince] Ah, well, for their sakes, 
 yes, let us raise the flag of truce. 
 
 Faithful Prince [Incredulously'] 
 The flag of truce ! 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 113 
 
 Empress 
 Yes, I have said so, oh, noble subject I I have 
 
 said it! My death alone must be sufficient 
 
 satisfaction for the enemy. Since there is no more 
 hope, of what avail is this final slaughter? Let 
 the signal be raised. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Not one of the warriors will yield. 
 
 Empress 
 
 But if I command them! Am I no longer 
 
 their Empress? 
 
 Faithful PbiNCE 
 Submissive to your every command, they refuse 
 to obey that one order. 
 
 Empress [To her Soldiers] 
 
 Can it be true ? My friends, this instant I 
 
 command it, do you hear me ? Oh, spare me 
 
 this excess of anguish, my dear rebels ! You 
 
 cannot wish that I should be transported into the 
 
 other world along the stream of your blood 
 
 {^The Soldiers drop their heads and stand motion- 
 less, holding their weapons. "^ 
 
 Captain of Soldiers. {After a silence'] 
 Majesty, the Prince has already answered for all 
 
114 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 of us ! We emphatically refuse to ask for a truce. 
 
 Empress [Turning towards the Emperor in a 
 
 sudden extdtation of triumph.] Ah, you see I am 
 
 like your Tartar Emperor; I am not obeyed. Go 
 
 tell him, report to your master and at the same 
 
 time you may tell him that we know how to die 
 nobly in the palace of the Mings. Go, my lord, you 
 may take your leave. 
 
 Emperor [Imploring more insistently"] 
 Sovereign, what if I now were to implore your 
 
 pardon the right to remain here and die at 
 
 your side? 
 
 Empress 
 
 I grant the honour of dying at the side of the 
 Empress, only to those brave men — who are of my 
 race, do you understand ? — ■ — and who have spilled 
 their blood to defend me. Go, my lord, I have 
 commanded you. 
 
 [Coming toward him, speaking very low and 
 quickly, like a desperate woman.] One more word, 
 
 however My son, who is still in the keeping 
 
 of the army of the South My son since 
 
 you seem to dare all and to have all power will you 
 
 try to save him ? But no when it is the 
 
 mother who speaks in me I can no longer reason 
 
 • To attempt that would mean to be a traitor 
 
 to the master whom you serve — ■ — 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 115 
 Emperor 
 
 I serve no master, I am above treason, free as the 
 gods, and answerable to my own conscience only. 
 I will try I will live to try. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Do so, and be this your reward Later, 
 
 among the clouds, where all the dead meet and are 
 
 at peace my shades shall not be hostile to yours 
 
 Now go, my lord, our last moments are 
 
 necessary to us [To Faiithful Prince, 
 
 making a sign to him to conduct the Tartar Em- 
 peror.] Prince, the audience is at an end. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 \To the Emperor, who hesitates, as if on the 
 point of making a decisive revelation^ Go, my 
 lord. You have heard our sovereign dismiss you. 
 
 [He wants to lead him to that part of the wall 
 where he ascended^ 
 
 Empress. [Indicating the bronse gate, bar- 
 ricaded by boards'\ No, open that gate. We still 
 have time. For the last time, I desire that my pal- 
 ace be left as if I still had liberty and power 
 
 Open it. [The Soldiers hasten to take away the 
 boards and open the two doors of the gateway.] 
 All honour must be accorded the messenger of peace. 
 
ii6 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 \^The Soldiers kneel, the gong and the trumpets 
 are sounded.'] 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Yes, messenger of peace, in spite of you yourself 
 and in all circumstance. [Turning about, facing 
 her and speaking like one inspired.] The dragon 
 will descend from the height of the dark storm 
 
 clouds and in his claws he will gently pick up, 
 
 in her own despite, the beautiful phoenix who wished 
 to die 
 
 [He goes out, followed by the four Tartar 
 warriors. The Soldiers barricade the gate again 
 Ziiith planks and stones.] 
 
 SCENE V. 
 
 The same, without the Emperor and the Tar- 
 tars. 
 
 The Empress, [as the Ladies-in-Waiting 
 
 gather about her.] Who is that man who is 
 
 so like a god? 
 
 Pearl 
 All of a tremble, we watched him from afar 
 
 Tranquil Beauty 
 His eyes radiated noble love. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 117 
 
 Cinnamon 
 Yet your Majesty, always so gentle to us, seemed 
 very haughty towards him. 
 
 Empress. [Without replying, dreamily repeats 
 the Coronation admonition.'] Be attentive and anx- 
 ious as if you carried a vase filled to the brim 
 with water, of which not a drop must be spilled. 
 
 The Watchman [From the height of the tur- 
 ret over the gate] The torches of their vanguard 
 can be seen at the corner of the Avenue of the East 
 
 The sound of their artillery-wagons can be 
 
 faintly heard 
 
 Empress 
 Already at the corner of the Avenue of the East ! 
 Death is flying to us on wings [She takes 
 
 the cup full of poison which Cinnamon had hidden 
 
 behind a stone] The hour has come! [To 
 
 the Ladies-in- Waiting around her, pointing to the 
 pyre.] As soon as the potion has accomplished its 
 work, you will place me there, and when the flame 
 mounts higher and clearer, then your service to 
 your Empress will be terminated, you will empty 
 the golden flask, to follow me. [She puts down the 
 cup of poison which she was about to raise to her 
 lips.] Faithful Prince, I wish to say good-bye 
 
 to him Call him. 
 
 [During the preceding dialogue, the Faithful 
 
ii8 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Prince, at the back of the stage, a torch in his 
 hand, superintends a group of Soldiers, who are 
 using crowbars and pickaxes. "l 
 
 Cinnamon 
 
 Over yonder, is that not he? 
 [Faithful Prince orders the Soldiers to remove 
 a rock, which hides a small bronze door."] 
 
 Empress 
 Ah, I knew — ■ — 
 
 Pearl 
 What is he doing? 
 
 Empress 
 
 What must be done! He too, realising that the 
 hour has come for me to go to my last sleep, is pre- 
 paring my couch. These galleries beneath the earth 
 lead to my tomb. 
 
 [The bronze door opens. Pearl kneels and 
 hides her face. Golden Lotus, a little apart from 
 the group, is kneeling near Arrow-Bearer, and 
 speaks tenderly to him, as she smooths his fore- 
 head.^ 
 
 This proud tomb, long ago hewn out secretly, is 
 of no use now. There rather, there in the beauti- 
 ful flame and the eddying smoke, my spirit will 
 ascend to the clouds Nothing of me shall re- 
 main for the hands of the Tartar to profane. In 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 119 
 
 vain they will have surrounded me. I shall escape 
 them, in the air 
 
 Tranquil Beauty \^A1so kneeling'] 
 But Sovereign, since this tomb is secret and is in- 
 violable, at least permit your attendants to bury you 
 
 there, in magnificence. Permit that, oh, well 
 
 beloved Sovereign; — — That flame, oh, why that 
 flame? No, no, it is too horrible. 
 
 Empress 
 Child, do you not know the history of our race? 
 My ancestor, defeated in this same place, defeated as 
 
 I am, killed himself An hour later his tomb 
 
 was violated, his body was thrown into the street as 
 food for the dogs and the vultures I have de- 
 clared my will. Go call Faithful Prince. He 
 wastes his strength in a vain task, when he is bleed- 
 ing. See, the blood covers his robe. His wound 
 has reopened, he pays no heed to it. At least let 
 
 him spare time to bid me farewe^ Go, it is 
 
 my wish. [Tranquil Beauty rises and goes over 
 to the Prince. During the preceding dialogue, 
 he has been ordering the Soldiers to light more 
 torches and to carry them into the vault.'] 
 
 Tranquil Beauty [^Advancing to Faithful 
 Prince] 
 
 Prince! The Empress 
 
I20 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 [Faithful Prince approaches the Empress.] 
 
 SCENE VI. 
 
 The Empress, Faithful Prince, Tranquil 
 Beauty, The Captain of the Soldiers, A Watch- 
 man. 
 
 Empress [To Faithful Prince] 
 Prince, I wish to bid you farewell. My last 
 spoken word must be to you, with my everlasting 
 gratitude. 
 
 [^She raises the poison-cup to her lips.'] 
 
 Faithful Prince [With a gesture as though to 
 stop her.] 
 No, my Divine Empress, no. The hour of rest, 
 alas! has not come for you or for me. No, your 
 hard task is not yet completed ! 
 
 Empress 
 My task, you say, is not yet completed? But the 
 palace is only a ruin. The gates are giving way, 
 
 the walls are crumbling This time we can 
 
 withstand the attack only ten minutes it is the 
 
 end! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Alas, I know it all too well. There is no hope. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 121 
 
 Empress 
 
 Then let me go the Tartars are returning. 
 
 Listen, I too begin to hear their war-trumpets. You 
 would not have that they should take your Em- 
 press alive, or even find her body to throw to the 
 crows. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Hear me, I entreat you ! [He motions to 
 
 Veiled-Light, who has just appeared at the back. 
 The Empress has set down the cup on a stone. "l 
 We have deferred making known to you the last 
 
 heroic service which we purpose to demand 
 
 Permit your Councillor to convey to you our unani- 
 mous opinion. 
 
 Veiled-Light [Bending the kneel 
 Oh, Majesty, 200,000 soldiers have died for you. 
 The few hundred, also, who remain here within our 
 walls, are about to sacrifice their lives at once. Do 
 you wish them to die for a lost cause. [He mo- 
 tions to the Chief of the Soldiers to approach.'^ 
 Deign to permit their chief to add his prayers to 
 ours. 
 
 The Captain of the Soldiers, \^After bending 
 the knee.] 
 
 Proudly and without regret we give up our lives 
 
 for our Sovereign May she too do what we 
 
 have learned to expect of her marvellous courage. 
 
122 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 a thousand times greater than that of her humble de- 
 fenders. 
 
 Veiled-Light 
 Oh, Majesty, We must envy these men who are 
 about to die so gloriously. Our diity is otherwise; 
 it is longer, it is more terrible. 
 
 Empress 
 Our duty longer and more terrible? — • — Then 
 what do you expect of me? Speak, what would 
 you say. Your Empress will obey you, but speak 
 at once, I do not understand. [She takes agaih the 
 golden cup."] 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 What we must do, my beloved Sovereign, is to 
 flee and live. 
 
 Empress {Violently'] 
 Ah, no! All that you have demanded of me I 
 havte done, but I refuse to take flight like a coward. 
 
 Veiled-Light 
 To flee, alas ! yes. But to escape from the enemy, 
 to deprive them of the prize of war— — and thus 
 their success will be but failure. Soon the* blood 
 of our heroes will inspire other heroes. A niew 
 army will rally to the cause of the Daughter of 
 Heaven, and the war will begin agaih. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 123 
 
 Empress 
 
 And more blood will be spilt and the ravaged 
 
 country will people the realm of the shades 
 
 No, no, enough of death's — — I fear to have my 
 reign handed down as that of a fatal and murderous 
 Sovereign. All this blood! All this blood spilled 
 for me! It seems to me that my very hands are 
 red with it! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 The blood of your subjects is inexhaustible, and 
 their devotion is limitless. 
 
 Empress [Suddenly becoming very calm and as 
 though beseeching'] 
 But my courage is exhausted. {^Pointing to the 
 Soldiers, who are piling wood upon the Hre.] I 
 want to die with them. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Live, that their death may not have been in 
 vain. Live to bring back our young Emperor, 
 whom the Army of the South is protecting for us. 
 Live for us all and for him. 
 
 Empress 
 My son ! Oh, speak not that name. Do not, to 
 influence me, do not try to touch upon that strings 
 that alone I forbid you touch. At the very momeiit 
 
124 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 when you tore him from me, I had an intuition that 
 I should never see him again, never again gaze upon 
 
 his dear little face, his beautiful eyes I have 
 
 courage to listen to all except when you speak to 
 
 me of him, for then, do you not see, I become 
 
 again a mother, nothing but a mother, like other 
 women, and I have no longer, no longer the 
 
 strength. [She turns her head and begins to 
 
 sob.'\ Oh, not to belong to one's self, not even to be 
 allowed to lay down on the roadside the burden of 
 
 one's life! To be the impersonal idol of a 
 
 whole people, to be dealt with in accordance with 
 their will ! To be a wretched fetish, whom all watch 
 as carefully as the tablets of their ancestors on the 
 family altar ! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 You are the shining standard, the ever-radiant 
 goddess, toward whom we turn in our supreme dis- 
 tress and you will do what millions of your 
 
 subjects demand of you, through the mouths of 
 these few brave men who are about to die. 
 
 The Watchman] from the height of the tur- 
 ret,'} He hurls himself against their vanguard, 
 the man who was here just now, the Messenger of 
 
 peace with the three others who accompanied 
 
 him. He hurls himself against their vanguard as 
 though to make them halt. Yes, he wishes them to 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 125 
 
 stop, that is it. And he seems to command hke a 
 master, and to inspire them with fear. 
 
 Empress [To the Watchman] 
 So! Let not that man's name be mentioned 
 again to me. And you, poor Watchman, whose 
 task is finished, you may come down and join your 
 brothers in arms, to die with them. Of what con- 
 cern to us now are the movements of the Tartars? 
 We are no longer of this world. [To Faithful 
 Prince] But how, then, is what you asked of me 
 
 possible? ' Surrounded on all sides, how and 
 
 whither can we flee. Where can we hide ? Where ? 
 [The Soldiers, having loosened the rock, are 
 standing in front of the bronze door, still holding 
 their crowbars and pickaxes. They have an air of 
 expectancy.} 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 There in the tomb. On the cement lying all ready 
 
 now to seal the rocks we shall throw dust as 
 
 soon you shall have entered. 
 
 The Empress [After a silence, speaking slowly, 
 submissive and very melancholy'] In my grave 
 entombed alive! Be it so! And after that? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 There is a subterranean passage, which passes 
 through the vaults where your father and your hus- 
 
126 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 band sleep. You know, as I do, that its end opens 
 out upon brushwood in the country, at the foot of 
 the Hill of Tortures. 
 
 Empress 
 {^Quickly and breathlesslyl If it is not already- 
 obstructed by the soil, yes ! And all about the Hill 
 of Tortures the Tartars are encamped. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 We will wait until they are no longer there. 
 
 Empress 
 And shall we have sufficient air in this vault, 
 where sleep our dead? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Yes, I believe so but let us take this potion 
 
 with us which you wished to drink a while ago. 
 
 Empress {Very excitedly'] 
 And if the Tartars take us there, if they track us 
 like beasts of the night, hunted into their burrows? 
 Remember how they violated the tomb of my ances- 
 tor. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 It was not secret, like yours. 
 
 Empress \_Still in great excitement] 
 And, clothes wherewith to escape through the 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 127 
 
 country where the enemy roams at large ? [^Point- 
 ing to her uniform.] Not these, for sure? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Some taken from the enemy will serye admirably 
 The ground must be covered with them. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Rags torn from some festering corpse, is it thus 
 you would clothe your En^press!— — So be it, 
 
 even to that I consent But how can we live 
 
 in the depths of that tomb? Since we are not yet 
 of the Shades, we must eat, you know that. I di- 
 vided my last grains of ricp this mprning with you 
 and my soldiers ! What then ? 
 
 Faithful Prince [Pointing to the tomb.] 
 
 The consecrated cakes there pii the t^blp of ^he 
 dead. 
 
 Empress 
 Horror and sacrilege ! 
 
 Veiled-Light 
 
 There is no sacrilege, when the safety of the 
 Bright Dynasty is at stake. The August Shades 
 will come in person to invite us to eat. Our sacri- 
 fice will make them indulgent and favourable. 
 
128 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress \_Slowly2 
 
 And so I must be the one to live in the chill gloom 
 with no certainty of ever coming forth. I must be 
 the one to creep about like a ghost in the vaults peo- 
 pled by phantoms, groping my hands over the pious 
 
 ofiferings shrivelling on the altars of the dead 
 
 Aye, it is indeed more terrible than dying here. 
 But I accept it. Lead me on, I am resigned. 
 
 : The Watchman [From the top of the wait] 
 
 The Tartars have stopped their march, a small 
 group is running toward us, unarmed, but carry- 
 ing signs on long poles. In spite of the darkness, 
 it looks like a message which grants pardon. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Ha, a forced pardon that would be more 
 
 insulting still. Bury me in my tomb. Prince, before 
 they come. 
 
 Faithful Prince {Pointing to Veiled-Light] 
 
 Your Councillor and I will follow you into the 
 tomb, and perhaps two of these young girls if they 
 feel brave enough for the ordeal. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 129 
 
 SCENE VII. 
 
 The same, the Ladies-in- Waiting. 
 
 Empress 
 So here are my household, my court of death, and 
 doubtless my last retinue of mourners; just four 
 persons! [To the Ladies-in-Waiting] Which 
 two of you, my maidens, will have the courage to 
 follow me down those gloomy paths below? 
 
 Ladies-in-Waiting [Bowing'] 
 All of us, we are all ready. Your Majesty has 
 but to deign to name two of us. 
 
 Empress [After a pausel 
 
 Tranquil Beauty, Cinnamon! 
 
 [Tranquil Beauty and Cinnamon approach 
 the Empress.] 
 
 All of you are dear to me, but I have called those 
 who in adversity have shown the bravest hearts. 
 [To the others.] And you, my sweet flowers, so 
 untimely faded, may the Water of the Great De- 
 liverance convey you easily beyond this world 
 through the peace of sleep. 
 
 Pearl 
 We have given it all to the wounded. 
 
I30 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Another Lady 
 Our flasks are empty. 
 
 Pearl 
 
 The flames terrify us but we know how to 
 
 die, noble Sovereign. 
 
 Another Lady 
 The Lake in the garden is deep, around thp Isle of 
 Jade. 
 
 Pearl 
 As soon as we have conducted your Majesty to 
 the threst^pld of the tomb we shall repair to the lake- 
 side. 
 
 Another Lady 
 Deep in the mud, where we shall sleep tranquilly. 
 The Lotus will entT^ine us in her roots and we shall 
 live again in her flowers. 
 
 Empress 
 iTo pQLDEN Lotus, who is seated to the left, 
 holding in her lap the dying Arrow-Bearer's 
 head."] And you, Golden Lotus? 
 
 Golden Lotus 
 Oh, Majesty, receive from here my last greeting 
 To leave him, to set down his head, forgive 
 
 me if I have not the courage ■ 
 
 [The truffipets and gong^ of the Tartars are 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 131 
 
 heard without, with a shouting which grows nearer 
 and nearer.^ 
 
 Empress [To Arrow-Bearer and Golden 
 Lotus] 
 Alas, poor lovers without a to-morrow, here. is 
 the marriage gift from your Empress. [She pours 
 out some poison into her golden cup and gives it to 
 themJ] Farewell, may you be united in the clouds. 
 [To Faithful Prince] Let us go, Prince, show 
 me the way. I am ready. 
 
 The Chief of the Soldiers [advancing to Faith- 
 ful Prince.] 
 Prince, speak for us. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Your Majesty, your soldiers ask one more fa- 
 vour of you. 
 
 Empress 
 Is it then in my power still to do aught for them? 
 All, all that they ask I will give. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 You desired to know why they were piling so 
 much wood on the fire. It was for themselves. 
 They want to die before the entrance of the Tartars, 
 and this is the last request that they make, that you 
 will set the torch to their funeral pile. 
 
132 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 {The Chief of the Soldiers kneels, and hands a 
 lighted torch to the Empress.] 
 
 Empress {^Taking the torch and addressing the 
 Soldiers.] My well beloved soldiers, be assured 
 tbat your Empress will soon follow you into the 
 land of the Shades. She accepts your request that 
 she should flee, only that she may try to avenge you. 
 But if happier days smile upon the Bright D)Tiasty 
 she will refuse to live them. Before you all, she 
 takes this solemn vow; When once her relentless 
 task is at an end, she will hasten to join you in the 
 
 land of the Shades Oh, victims that are more 
 
 than men, oh, conquered ones that wear the halo of 
 
 glory ! Oh, my heroic army ! A day shall 
 
 come when the story of your sublime death shall be 
 engraved in letters of gold on the Imperial Jade, 
 that posterity may weep for you. [_She sets the 
 torch to the piW] and that the brightness of your 
 funeral pile may dazzle the world for ever ! 
 
 [The pile takes Are. The Soldiers throw them- 
 selves into the flame as they sing.J 
 
 The Soldiers 
 
 Long live our King ! Long and happy life to our 
 King! 
 
 {A cloud of black smoke envelopes them. 
 The sound of an approaching gong is heard at reg- 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 133 
 
 ular intervals, and then the voice of a Tartar Her- 
 ald.] 
 
 The Tartar Herald [outside, in the dis- 
 tance.'] The Command of the Emperor ! Tremble 
 and obey! 
 
 Faithful Prince [Hastily to the Captain of 
 the soldiers.] Let the rock be replaced as I told 
 you. Block it up quick and throw earth upon the 
 cement, and a pile of dust. [The Captain rejoins 
 the few men who are standing before the tomb, still 
 holding their crowbars and pickaxes. The Em- 
 press, Faithful Prince, Veiled-Light, Tran- 
 quil Beauty, and Cinnamon go towards the 
 bronze door. The other Ladies-in-Waiting fol- 
 low, and kneel as they approach the door.] 
 
 Empress [At the threshold of the tomb, ad- 
 dressing the four who are to enter with her.] Go 
 in before me. I will be the last to pass through. 
 
 My funeral is this ! And then I wish to gaze 
 
 for the last time upon my heroes and my beautiful 
 palace yonder, still standing out in relief. [To the 
 kneeling Ladies] Arise, my cherished maidens. 
 Do not delay. The lake to which you go is not 
 near by. 
 
 [The Ladies-in-Waiting go out, hand-in-hand, 
 and as they disappear their sobs are heard. The 
 Empress sets foot on the threshold of the door and 
 then turns round like one inspired, watching the 
 
134 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 flames of the pyre, which rises higher and higher. 
 She raises her arms as though in an ecstasy.^ 
 
 Empress 
 See the glorious red flame! See the beautiful 
 eddying smoke. It is bright within my palace for 
 the last time. And I see them too, those noble 
 souls, mounting ever higher and higher in the dark 
 whirling spirals of smoke ! 
 
 Soldiers {^Singing in the Homes'] 
 Ten thousand years ! Ten thousand years. 
 
 Empress [To the 5'oLDiERs] 
 
 Go, my brave men! Soar up on high, fly 
 
 to the heaven of your ancestors, ascend to the god 
 of the clouds. 
 
 Soldiers [More feebly'] 
 Ten thousand years, ten thousand years ! 
 \_The Tartar's gong is heard ever closer and 
 closer.] 
 
 Empress [To the Soldiers] 
 I too am doomed like you, be sure of that ! Only 
 a little later my soul will take flight. But already 
 I am dead, dead to all save vengeance, save the fury 
 oi battle, save merciless hate. And now I must 
 shut my door of bronze. [To the Soldiers w/io 
 hold the crowbars.] Cement it well, my friends, 
 to hide your Ertipress! Replace the heavy boulder. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 135 
 
 Immure this living corpse in her tomb. [She 
 closes the bronze door after her. The Captain and 
 the few men who remain replace the rock, hastily 
 piling cement and dust upon i7.] 
 
 The Voice of the Tartar Herald \_now at the 
 foot of the waW] The command of the Emperor! 
 Tremble and obey! To all without condition, par- 
 don and liberty! Open your gates and have no 
 fear, the Emperor grants pardon to all. 
 
 One of the Soldiers {^who is cementing the 
 rock^ The insult of your pardon comes too late. 
 Before you can break down our walls, we shall all 
 be dead. 
 
 Voice of Tartar Herald 
 
 Open and have no fear, our Emperor grants life 
 to all. 
 
 Another Soldier 
 
 Nay, there shall not even be dead to receive your 
 pardon, nought but ashes ! 
 
 Captain of Soldiers [ay he finishes cementing 
 the rock against the door of the Imperial tomb^ 
 Our beautiful Phcenix, for want of power to spread 
 her wings, has vanished under the earth. 
 
 The voices of the Soldiers \he coming feebler 
 
136 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 in the flames and smoke^ Ten thousand years to 
 the Bright Dynasty! Ten thousand years! 
 
 {The Uames and smoke envelope the entire scene J\ 
 
 CURTAIN 
 
ACT FOUR. 
 
First Tableau. 
 
 {^Before the curtain rises the shouts of the crowd 
 are heard, mingled with sound of gongs and 
 bells. The execution-ground under the 
 ramparts of Peking. A colossal grey wall 
 with battlements, occupies the back of the 
 stage, and, on the left, disappears from view 
 in the distance. Chinese prisoners are at- 
 tached to stakes all along the wall, others are 
 in the cangue, under a huge red signboard. 
 Here and there decapitated heads hang drip- 
 ping from spikes. There are blood-stains all 
 over the ground. A noisy crowd hurries along 
 the front of the scene. The men wearing 
 modern Peking costume, long queues, blue cot- 
 ton robes and goat-skin tunics. The Tartar 
 women, of lower-class, wear a horn-like coif- 
 fure with large artificial flowers in it. In the 
 foreground, to the left, is the large tent of the 
 Tartar General; of greenish leather, with 
 a yellow roofing, surmounted by a silver bell- 
 turret. It is wide open. The interior is car- 
 peted with the skins of wild beasts; a circular 
 table surrounds the central pole; carpets, camp- 
 stools, a little table, and a square banner bear- 
 ing the name of the General. Guards and 
 Soldiers, with naked sabres. Camels are ly- 
 ing all around, among bales of goods and arms. 
 Carriages, palanquins. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 139 
 
 As the curtain rises, the crowd continues to shout 
 wildly. Vendors of hot drinks are walking 
 about with copper urns on their hacks; barbers 
 are ringing their bells; blind conjurers are 
 playing the Hute, sweetmeat-pedlars are strik- 
 ing gongs. The executioners in the immediate 
 foreground are wiping the dripping blades of 
 their swords. '\ 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 The Executioners, the Crowd. 
 
 First Executioner \^As he wipes his sword, 
 speaking to two young women standing near him'\ 
 Our arms are pretty tired, my little beauties. 
 
 One Woman 
 
 Ah! But your arms look very strong, Master 
 Executioner. 
 
 The Executioner 
 
 Strong, well I don't say they are not. But all the 
 
 same 
 
 A Flower-Pedlar 
 
 Imperial peonies, lotus of all kinds, every flower 
 of the season. 
 
 A Fruit Pedlar 
 Sweet as honey, red fruit of the mountains. 
 A Tartar Child [Approaching the Execu- 
 
I40 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 TiONER.] Mr. Executioner, do you have to strike 
 very hard to cut off their heads ? 
 
 [^Some men carrying a bucket full of water sus- 
 pended on their shoulders, begin to swill the ground 
 with a large wooden ladle.'} 
 
 Executioner 
 
 It requires skill, my little lamb to find just 
 
 the right place skill and force too, of course 
 
 ■ Ah ! I can tell you, our business is not learnt 
 
 in a day 
 
 A Sweetmeat-Pedlar 
 [Ringing a small bellj They have the flavour 
 of sugar-cane, the sweets that I have for sale. 
 
 Fruit-Vendor 
 Ay, ay ! White as tallow, white as jade, my fresh 
 melons. 
 
 Two Beggars [Playing guitarsi 
 Come listen to the legend of the King of the 
 Dragons. 
 
 [They sing in a very shrill voice. "} 
 Near the Bamboo Lake, 
 Three owls, three owls. 
 
 Second Executioner 
 • [To some other women as he points to the pris- 
 oners tied to stakes."] What, the second group 
 there.'' Their turn will come very soon. The 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 141 
 
 Chief Executioner has given us a few minutes' rest, 
 and we've earned it wfell, haven't we? [He hails a 
 pedlar of drinks and orders one for himself. J 
 
 Haberdasher {^Striking a small belli 
 All the latest styles in my stock ! — — Look, 
 young women, look, young girls! 
 
 One Tartar Woman [To Another^ 
 Oh, I'm not one of those who take pleasure in see- 
 ing heads cut off and, besides, the sight is al- 
 ways the same. No, it is their goddess whom I 
 wish to see. 
 
 Second Tartar Woman 
 
 Their goddess? their Empress? Ah, 
 
 and so do I. All of us want to see their goddess. 
 She is the one who interests us the most. 
 
 Third Tartar Woman 
 And do you suppose they will show her to you? 
 
 Second Woman 
 Why not? They are showing us all their gen- 
 erals and princes, and all the rest of them- 
 
 Prisoners are made to be seen, that is why they 
 were brought here to Peking. 
 
 Third Woman 
 
 Oh, yes, but she it seems that while she was 
 
 being brought here, she was treated with every con- 
 
142 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 sideration that could be shown to a queen. And 
 the Emperor has had her placed in the Forbidden 
 City, you know ; in his very Palace indeed. 
 
 Second Woman 
 It is said that her eyes are so wonderful that or- 
 dinary people like us cannot meet their gaze. 
 
 Jasmine-Flower 
 Yes, and I should be afraid to look at her! A 
 woman who has been dead — for she was dead 
 for at least two moons, you know ! 
 
 Second Woman 
 
 Jasmine Flower believes everything that is told 
 her. 
 
 Jasmine 
 
 Why, every one knows that she was dead 
 
 For two moons, I tell you! She spent two moons 
 in her grave. 
 
 Fruit-Vendor 
 
 Ay, ay, white as tallow, white as jade, new 
 melon ! 
 
 First Woman 
 
 It is well known that bullets and grapeshot passed 
 through her as through a ghost. [^Seeing a Cap- 
 tain of the Soldiers, who is standing near.] 
 There, ask Lee-Phuang, who was there when she 
 was taken. Isn't it true, Lee-Phuang? 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 143 
 
 Lee-Phuang 
 
 Oh, yes, I was a witness myself. The bullets 
 could not touch this goddess of theirs ! 
 
 Two subordinate Officers [leading to the exe- 
 cution-ground a new group of Chinese prisoners, 
 with hands tied behind them, among whom bring- 
 ing up the rear, is the Faithful Prince^ his gar- 
 ments all stained and torn.] 
 
 Make room, make room ! 
 
 [The prisoners pass along to join the others who 
 are awaiting their turn to be beheaded at the foot of 
 the wall.'] 
 
 Lee-Phuang. [To the Women who questioned 
 him] You see the last one in the line, look at him, 
 the one who walks with so haughty an air? He is 
 the greatest chief of the Nanking rebels. His 
 name is the Faithful Prince, he was the right hand 
 of the Goddess in battle, he was always at her side. 
 
 Haberdasher [Striking his bell] 
 All the latest styles in my stock! Look young 
 women, have a look, young girls ! 
 
 SCENE n. 
 
 Faithful Prince. The Tartar General 
 The Tartar General [coming out of his tent and 
 
144 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 saluting Faithful Prince, who brings up the rear 
 of the last group of condemned men.'] 
 
 Enter here, noble captive. Look not over yon- 
 der. Each man should die but once, and you would 
 die each time you saw a head fall. Is it not punish- 
 ment enough for you to be the last of all the vic- 
 tims? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 Perhaps my presence may strengthen my poor 
 soldiers, so simple in their heroism. 
 
 Tartar General 
 No, no, your suffering only adds to their pain 
 Grant a loyal enemy the great honour of 
 
 passing the last minutes of your glorious life in his 
 tent. You are now above wordly trivialities and 
 implacable hates. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 The sword is not responsible, not even the exe- 
 cutioner. 
 
 Tartar General 
 Nor yet even the General ! 
 {The new prisoners are tied to the stake."] 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 I bear no malice. 
 [He enters the tent with the Tartar General.] 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 145 
 Tartar General 
 
 And I make no boast. I know that the sages dis- 
 approve of war and hold that the work of the con- 
 queror amounts to no more than the dust of ten 
 thousand skeletons 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 And that those who triumph deserve no more 
 than the honour of a funeral. 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 Yes, the glory of arms is indeed but the smoke of 
 a fire! \^They seat themselves on camp-stools, and 
 rice wine is served to them. Throughout the fol- 
 lowing dialogue executions are in progress in the 
 foreground) amid the shouts of the crowd. Every 
 minute the sword of an executioner describes a 
 circle in the air, and as each head falls, it is hung 
 up on the great wall of Peking. Deafening shrieks 
 and cries accompany the conversation of the two 
 men in the tent.'] 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 Before passing from this world, have you not 
 some mission for your dear ones which you might 
 desire carried out? I would undertake it respect- 
 fully. 
 
146 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Faithfuli Prince 
 Beyond a doubt all who were dear to me have 
 perished. I thank you for your considerate offer. 
 
 Tartar General 
 Have you no last desire ? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 One only. To know the fate of our Empress. 
 She was fighting too in that dreadful battle where 
 I was taken prisoner. Is she alive or dead, free or 
 captive ? 
 
 Tartar General 
 She is living, a captive only a fortnight since, and 
 yesterday was brought to Peking, not far from here 
 in the Forbidden City. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 She is not far from here, my Sovereign! Ah, 
 if only the gods, wearied with afiflicting us, would 
 permit To know that she is so near ! 
 
 Tartar General 
 At the end of that battle which was so great an 
 honour to the defeated, she succeeded in escaping 
 with a thousand soldiers. But her retreat was cut 
 off, and the Warrior Empress would have been 
 captured long before had not contradictory orders, 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 147 
 
 hindering our movements, enabled her to delay her 
 capture from day to day. You would have thought 
 someone in great authority was watching over her 
 with wonderful solicitude, warning her of dangers 
 or endeavouring to turn them "aside from her. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 May he live long happy days, and may his fame 
 be imperishable! 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 Oh, when will this dreadful war cease, which is 
 renewed and has already soaked the soil of our coun- 
 try in the blood of her sons ? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 
 I fear it will never end until one of the two 
 
 races has been exterminated Yet perhaps the 
 
 hatred would be less intense if the conquerors after 
 their victory would treat the defeated with more 
 clemency. Let there not be so many executions, 
 so much bloodshed. Each soldier who can no 
 longer defend his life should be sacred. 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 Pardon was offered to your soldiers if they would 
 yield. All refused. 
 
148 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Their heroism should be only an additional rea- 
 son for sparing them. 
 
 Tartar General 
 What can be done? Our duty is to obey. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Not to the extent of a crime. A little stone can 
 ofttimes retard the course of a heavy chariot. We, 
 the chieftains, by sacrificing only our own lives 
 could thereby save the crowds. 
 
 Tartar General 
 How could that be? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 By opposing unrighteousness. Do you remem- 
 ber? There was once another war similar in every 
 way to this. The city was sacked, the command 
 was given to the executioners to cut off all heads 
 as now. But a young officer, maddened by grief 
 at the thought of such carnage, found words where- 
 with to beseech the general to be merciful, or at 
 least to restrict the number of executions, with the 
 result that he consented to limit the massacre to the 
 length of time which is required to bum a stick of 
 incense. The incense was lighted and the first head 
 was about to fall, when the young officer trembling 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 149 
 
 with horror seized the stick, reduced it to powder 
 and ran to the executioner, crying aloud " It is fin- 
 ished, it is finished. Pardon has been declared." 
 Then, since he had disobeyed, he immediately 
 dashed his head against a rock. The people erected 
 a temple in memory of this hero, which is still to be 
 seen on a high hill and whose steps have for many 
 centuries been constantly covered with fresh flowers. 
 
 Tartar General {Pensively'} 
 In memory of this hero the people erected a 
 temple ! 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The same, the Crowd, then an Officer. 
 {For the last few minutes the Crowd has been 
 protesting more violently against the slaughter. 
 As a new group of prisoners is brought to the 
 place, the protest becomes more insistent.l^ 
 
 The Crowd 
 Enough! enough! 
 
 A Voice 
 
 The Ministers of the Empire are a set of butchers ! 
 
 A Man {Raising himself on the shoulders of 
 his neighbours} Enough, enough! Death to the 
 tigers ! 
 
ISO THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Faithful Prince [In the tent, seeing the Tar- 
 tar General rise.] No doubt my time has come. 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 No! No! Remain where you are, we shall be 
 told. 
 
 Another Man 
 
 Yes, death to the tigers! 
 
 \_He leans over and dips the end of his girdle into 
 the blood] J. am going to write it on this wall. 
 Death to the tigers! 
 
 [He gets up on a stone, and begins to trace some 
 characters with the end of his girdle. The Gen- 
 eral comes out of the tent.] 
 
 An Officer 
 Some men here at once ! Disperse this in- 
 solent crowd ! Arrest the man who is writing. 
 
 Tartar General [^Advancing quickly] 
 Who dares to give orders without my consent? 
 
 The Officer 
 
 My lord, when a riot is begirming, is it not my 
 duty? 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 You have no other duty than to obey. [With 
 a gesture he dismisses the Soldiers, who have ad- 
 vanced to seise the man.] The executioners must 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 151 
 
 be tired. Let their chief give them leave to rest 
 again. 
 
 Officer 
 For how many minutes? 
 
 Tartar General 
 As long as my sword shall remain fixed here. 
 [_He plunges his sword into the ground.^ 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 [/m a whisper to the General.] Take care, my 
 generous enemy. Perhaps it may be thought that 
 you are afraid. 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 Of the living, no ! But of spectres, yes, it 
 
 is true; I am afraid of spectres. 
 
 {^They enter the tent together. The crowd, 
 whose excitement is increasing, moves away from 
 the execution-ground, thereby giving a full view of 
 the headless bodies which are lying on the ground, 
 and of the pools of blood. The street-sellers re- 
 commence their cries and their music. 1^ 
 
 Flower- Vendor 
 
 Royal peonies, lotus of all kinds, every flower of 
 the season. 
 
 Tartar General [In his tent, to Faithful 
 Prince] 
 
152 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 You see, I am compromising myself like the 
 hero of your legend, and yet no temple will be 
 raised in my honour. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 But you do not hope to save those of my men 
 who are still alive? 
 
 General 
 Who knows, as long as their heads are on their 
 
 shoulders? You heard the noise outside? 
 
 The angry crowd grew greater and greater. 
 
 A short riot has often delivered many victims. I 
 may be compelled to yield. Heaven grant it! 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Your noble generosity encourages me to ask a 
 favour of you. 
 
 Tartar General 
 It will be a great joy to me to grant it. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Before taking my place against that bloody wall, 
 I would greatly desire to have one hour's freedom, 
 on my word of honour 
 
 Tartar General 
 The word of a man such as you are is stronger 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN IS3 
 
 than a chain of iron on his feet, or a canque of 
 
 cedar wood about his shoulders an hour, yes! 
 
 Even an hour and a half, we can wait ■ The 
 
 use which you wish to make of it perhaps I can 
 imagine. You dream of seeing again your adored 
 
 Empress There, alas! I am unable to aid 
 
 you. May the gods come to your assistance ! ■ 
 
 {^Offering him a robe embroidered in gold, which 
 is hanging from the tent-pole.] One thing alone I 
 can do for you. Consent to wear one of my robes. 
 It will be a safeguard for you. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 How could I dare ? 
 
 Tartar General 
 
 I beseech you This garment will be to me 
 
 the more precious because it has protected you 
 [He passes the robe to Faithful Prince, who 
 no longer protests, then he raises a curtain at the 
 back to the tent."] Go that way. Prince! 
 
 [Faithful Prince goes out.J 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 The General, A Courier from the Emperor, 
 An Officer, The Prisoners, The Crowd. 
 
154 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 [^There is a great stir in the crowd, which is 
 shouting wildly. In the distance trumpets are 
 heard. The Tartar General, coming out of his 
 tent, speaks to an Officer.] 
 
 Tartar General 
 What is that? The ceremonial salute. What is 
 happening now? 
 
 The Officer 
 A courier from the Emperor. [The Soldiers 
 stand in Hie on either side and bend the knee. The 
 Courier is on horseback, and is carrying over his 
 shoulder a small packet, wrapped in yellow silk.^ 
 
 Courier [As he dismounts"] 
 An order from the Emperor! [Two Soldiers 
 place a table on which the letter is deposited, then 
 the incense-sticks are lighted. The Tartar Gen- 
 eral quickly dons his ceremonial robe, salutes the 
 message three times, and at last takes it.] 
 
 Tartar General [To the Courier, after he 
 has examined the envelope"] Why does that order 
 arrive so late? It was sent at daybreak from the 
 Forbidden City, and the distance is not long. 
 
 Courier 
 That is true, my lord. But ill-intentioned men 
 were posted at several places along my route. I 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 155 
 
 had to take a roundabout course, and my horse 
 knocked over many people before surmounting the 
 obstacles. 
 
 Tartar General \_In a low voicej 
 May Heaven deliver our Emperor from the evil 
 ones who oppose his will! 
 
 Courier [^also speaking low^ 
 
 May Heaven hear your prayer, for the well- 
 being of the people! 
 
 Tartar General [Opens the letter. In an 
 aside after having read if] This saves many lives, 
 
 without counting my own [To the Crowd.] 
 
 Order of the Emperor. All listen ! " This is my 
 express will. I grant unconditional pardon to all 
 the captives of war, chiefs and soldiers, and give 
 them their entire liberty. Respect this." 
 
 [He shows the Imperial seal.] 
 
 The Crowd 
 
 Ten thousand years, ten thousand years to our 
 Emperor. 
 
 [The Soldiers at once set the prisoners free.] 
 
 Tartar General [To the Crowd] 
 Listen again. This order should have arrived in 
 time to save all the condemned. The obstacles set 
 
156 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 in the path of the messenger are the cause of a 
 misfortune which cannot be repaired. Our master 
 was disobeyed and is not responsible. 
 
 Crowd 
 
 Curse upon the unfaithful ministers! Death to 
 the tigers ! 
 
 \_The women also hasten to unchain the prisoners, 
 who draw near the General.] 
 
 One Officer {In a whisper to another'\ 
 What seditious cries our General permits! 
 
 Second Officer 
 Say rather he encourages them. 
 
 Tartar General {To the Prisoners] 
 My friends, listen to wise advice. Do not remain 
 long in this accursed place. All around the mighty 
 Dragon who has freed you, wild beasts are shriek- 
 ing, exasperated because they have lost their prey 
 
 Go at once, do not lose a moment. But do 
 
 not escape by way of the country, you would be too 
 easily found. Disperse and wander through the 
 great city. In the Chinese Quarter the crowd will 
 not betray you. 
 
 Prisoners 
 We will follow your advice. May Heaven be- 
 stow its choicest blessings upon you ! 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 157 
 
 [^They bow and disperse. The General takes 
 his sword, which he had stuck into the ground and 
 slowly replaces it in its scabbard.l 
 
 The Crowd 
 Death to the tigers ! Ten thousand years to our 
 Emperor ! 
 
 \^As the curtain is lowered the shouts of Pedlars 
 are heard.'] 
 
 The Flower-Seller 
 Royal peonies, Lotus of all kinds, every flower of 
 the season! 
 
 Haberdasher 
 All the latest styles in my stock! Look, young 
 women; have a look, young girls! 
 
Second Tableau 
 
 \The great throne-room in the palace at Peking, 
 entirely decorated in red and gold. The throne is 
 in the middle of a dais, to which lead three stair- 
 cases Hanked by incense-burners and emblems. Pil- 
 lars of red laquer support a lofty ceiling, on which 
 are enormous writhing dragons among red clouds; 
 the largest standing out so clearly that it looks ready 
 to fall from heaven, holds in its jaws a golden orb, 
 just above the throne. The Uoor is covered by a 
 yellow carpet, with dragons more than fifty feet in 
 length woven into the design. On one side of the 
 stage is a marble chime, suspended by golden chains 
 from a huge frame zuork, whose feet are of gold 
 and represent monsters and whose upper angles are 
 ornamented with golden phoenixes spreading their 
 wings toward the ceiling. Near the principal en- 
 trance two Eunuchs are holding dust-dispellers of 
 rhinoceros-hide. Preparations are being made for 
 a solemn audience, to commemorate the triumph of 
 the Tartar Army. Large blocks of porcelain, 
 representing monsters, are arranged in line on the 
 carpet. They mark the places where the various 
 bodies of dignitaries are to stand and to prostrate 
 themselves. Persons in gala robes come and go 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 159 
 
 hurriedly. They are speaking in whispers, and 
 walk noiselessly, in respectful attitudes. They bow 
 as they pass the throne."] 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 Palace, Officials, Dignitaries, and Masters 
 of the Ceremonies. 
 
 First Master of Ceremonies 
 [^Placing in line one of the last blocks of porce- 
 lain] There, the eighteenth group of high liter- 
 ates will stand there, facing the throne, but some- 
 what obliquely. 
 
 Second Master of Ceremonies 
 Everything seems to me in perfect order. We 
 shall soon be ready. 
 
 An Official 
 So they say, indeed. He has been downcast and 
 melancholy for several days, it seems as though 
 each fresh victory of his army affected him like a 
 disaster. 
 
 Third Officer 
 Yes, no one would have supposed that he would 
 demand so elaborate a ceremony to celebrate his 
 triumph. 
 
i6o THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Fourth Officer 
 And have you heard the news ? The prisoner is 
 to make her appearance here. 
 
 Third Officer 
 Who? 
 
 Fourth Officer 
 Who? How can you ask? The great, the only 
 one. She of whom everyone speaks — the Ex-Em- 
 press of the rebels. 
 
 Fifth Officer 
 Ah, the goddess! So now we are going to see 
 her. 
 
 Sixth Officer 
 And we can judge of her supernatural power 
 unless she has lost it. 
 
 Fourth Officer 
 
 Oh, power she still has. Yesterday evening, by 
 order of the Emperor, two eunuchs were decapi- 
 tated simply for having announced to her the death 
 of her son without preliminary forms. 
 
 Third Officer 
 And I know something, too, from the Governess 
 of the Palace — ^ — To-day the goddess deigned to 
 
 speak, to request mourning gannents So 
 
 they searched the wardrobes of the late Empress 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN i6i 
 
 Regent for all that was most magnificent in the way 
 of white robes and shoes ! 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The same. The Grand Chamberlain 
 
 Grand Chamberlain {^Entering by a door at 
 back"] 
 
 An order from the Emperor! [^All listen with 
 bowed heads."] Let the members of the Privy 
 Council, Ministers, and Dignitaries, robed in their 
 costumes of state, meet in silence in the galleries 
 near the throne-room, ready to enter when his Maj- 
 esty strikes this gong three times. '[He points 
 to the large gong at the foot of the steps of 
 the throne."] Let no one be here, and guards at all 
 the doors! 
 
 [^All bow and prepare to go out.] 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The Same, A Herald, and the Grand Master of 
 Ceremonies. 
 
 The Herald [^Appearing at the door and hold- 
 ing in his hand a large lacquer signboard mounted on 
 a golden handle.] Silence! 
 
i62 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 The Grand Master. [Entering with Fount-in- 
 the-Forest] 
 
 Let all depart! Close the doors. Here comes 
 the Emperor. 
 
 [All skurry out except the Grand Master and 
 FouNT-iN-THE-FoREST, who prostvate themselves 
 as the Emperor appears.] 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 The Emperor, Fount., the Grand Master of 
 Ceremonies. 
 
 Emperor [In full regalia, his expression som- 
 
 hrel 
 How many heads did you say had already fallen ? 
 
 Grand Master 
 Barely fifty, sire. Your General, as though with 
 a presentiment of the clemency of your Majesty, had 
 proceeded with audacious lack of energy. 
 
 Emperor 
 He shall be rewarded by Heaven and by me. As 
 for the grandees of my court who dared to stop my 
 Courier, have them found at once and dealt with 
 by the executioner to-morrow. Why do the gods 
 permit that in my lofty position, happiness should 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 163 
 
 be almost unrealisable, when murder is so easy? 
 Now go! {^Indicating Fount-in-the-Forest] I 
 wish to speak with my councillor. 
 [The Grand Master goes out."] 
 
 SCENE V. 
 
 EmperoRj Fount. 
 Emperor {To Fount, who is still prostrate'] 
 Arise, friend, we are alone. You have already 
 guessed my project, have you not? I want her to 
 come here, near me. {Pointing to the throne.'] 
 Pale and in the white of her deep mourning as she 
 is, I want her to come here, to sit beside me on my 
 
 throne To-day, I am going to present her to 
 
 my people as my affianced bride. Let the Dignita- 
 ries of my Court prostrate themselves before their 
 Empress, at the same time as before their Emperor 
 
 without her there is neither Empire nor 
 
 triumph for me 
 
 Fount 
 She has consented? 
 
 Emperor 
 Alas, I do not know if she will agree. I have 
 postponed till now that meeting so full at once of 
 
i64 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 charm and terror. It is to-day and here that we 
 
 shall see each other again for the first time 
 
 May Heaven help me ! You will say that I am still 
 a child; I wished to invest our supreme moment 
 with all magnificence. Ah, if only there were not 
 between us the death of her son, I should tremble 
 less. 
 
 Fount 
 But you did all in your power to save him. Since 
 your conscience cannot reproach you, sire, it is bet- 
 ter for your plans that the child should be resting 
 in peace among the shades. To impose him upon 
 your Tartars would have been dangerous indeed 
 
 Whereas now, the two Djmasties may blend, 
 
 another son be born, of your blood and hers. 
 
 Emperor 
 A son born to me by her ! Oh, friend, be silent. 
 The dreams that are too beautiful, one must not 
 speak of. [He strikes the gong lightly. '\ But 
 come, the dreaded moment of seeing her again has 
 arrived. Come! {To an Official who enters in 
 response to the gong."] Let the prisoner be brought 
 here, with all the respect which I have commanded. 
 Go! {Recalling the Official as he is leaving.'\ 
 Wait a moment! [To Fount, who is going too.'} 
 No, her pride would be offended at being ushered 
 into my presence. Rather, let her be the first to 
 arrive, and I will follow, appearing before her with 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 165 
 
 the air of one vanquished, begging pardon. [To 
 the waiting Official.] As soon as I leave, bring 
 the Empress here and leave her alone. Now you 
 may go ! 
 
 \_Exit the Official at the back.'\ 
 Fount [aj he goes out with the Empress] 
 
 She loves you, sire. Have confidence. Who is 
 the woman, even though she be almost a goddess, 
 who would not yield ? 
 
 Emperor 
 She ! Only she ! 
 
 Fount 
 But, as she loved you once 
 
 Emperor 
 
 And to-day must she not hate me? How much 
 blood has been spilt by traitors despite my com- 
 mand! How has my decree of pardon been inter- 
 cepted or changed to a death warrant ! 
 
 The hate, the implacable hate of our two peoples 
 ever triumphs. 
 
 Fount 
 
 But how many lives you have saved ! And 
 
 she must too know that. 
 
 Emperor [o.y he goes out"] 
 Oh, that hour whose memory still enchants my 
 
i66 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 heart ! That hour there, in the garden of her pal- 
 ace, in the midst of that crowd where we were so 
 alone, when she gazed upon me, when our souls 
 
 were united in one supreme rapture But 
 
 now at the thought of seeing her again, I tremble 
 like a guilty man. 
 
 [Exit the Emperor, with his councillor, through 
 a side door. Two eunuchs and two women attend- 
 ants conduct the Empress to the foot of the throne, 
 and after having prostrated themselves retire, leav- 
 ing her alone. She is in white robes of mourning, 
 her hands are tied by a silken cord."] 
 
 SCENE VI 
 
 The Empress, then Faithful Prince 
 
 Empress [^Soliloquising"] 
 
 Such consideration has been shown me that I am 
 terrified, more terrified than at torture and death. 
 
 Why am I in his palace, instead of in a prison? 
 
 What can he, what dares he hope? What does he 
 desire of me ? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 [In the dress of the Tartar General, running 
 into the room and prostrating himself at the feet of 
 the Empress] Oh! Heaven is merciful to grant 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 167 
 
 me the opportunity once again before my death to 
 prostrate myself at the feet of my adored Empress. 
 
 Empress [Calm but bewildered'] 
 
 You ? You here ? Dear Prince Have 
 
 we then departed this life? Is this our reunion be- 
 yond the grave? If not, whence have you come, 
 how, by what witchcraft have you passed these 
 dreadful walls? 
 
 Faithful Prince [Still prostrated'] 
 Boldness does not count the cost, when 
 
 there is no longer anjrthing to lose And, 
 
 beyond all doubt, the gods were with me 
 
 Yes, I entered as if by witchcraft as you say, I 
 
 passed the walls and the guarded gates One 
 
 of his soldiers acted as my guide I gave 
 
 him all the gold I had left. Forgive me, I am 
 weeping, I know not whether for joy or grief. For 
 joy it must be — since my only wish was for this 
 one privilege — to see Your Majesty for the last 
 time, to tell her on my knees of my passionate 
 
 adoration which at the gates of death cannot 
 
 be an offence and above all to offer her the 
 
 wondrous gift, which will deliver her from the 
 conqueror's worst outrages. My mission as faith- 
 ful subject is now concluded by this last service, by 
 the glorious present which I have brought to my 
 Empress. 
 
i68 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 Empress 
 
 Poison! [With a triumphant cry of deliver- 
 ance. 1 Ah! 
 
 Faithful Prince [Offering her a dagger"] 
 Poison, alas ! I was unable to bring. This is the 
 best I can offer. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Ah, well, that will answer the purpose. Kill me 
 before He comes! 
 
 Faithful Prince [Rising and drawing hack in 
 horror] 
 
 My well beloved sovereign! Ask not that 
 
 of your faithful servant, who has always obeyed 
 you. Do not command him to do what is beyond 
 his strength. 
 
 Empress 
 
 You will not? Then give it to me! I will 
 
 strike myself. I will make the attempt. I shall 
 succeed. 
 
 Faithful Prince [Noticing that her hands are 
 tied] 
 
 But your hands To think that I had not 
 
 seen! 
 
 Empress 
 Ah! That is true. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 169 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 May I untie them ? Have we time ? 
 
 Empress 
 
 No, it will take too long. Hide the weapon in 
 the fold of my gown. 
 
 [The Prince still hesitates.] 
 
 You do not dare ? It is forbidden to touch your 
 Sovereign! Nay, but you may do so, your 
 Empress now is as one already dead. 
 
 Faithful Prince {^Hiding weapon in her gown] 
 But how will you be able to use it? 
 
 Empress 
 He will have them unbound, he before whom I 
 shall soon appear. And then is not one permitted 
 to change one's mind so near to death? I desired 
 you to kill me before he came. Now I prefer to see 
 him again, the Emperor. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 To see him again? You know then who he is? 
 
 Empress 
 Yes. Stay with me until he comes. 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Oh, no ! I must not be found here. 
 
I70 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress 
 What matters it now, at the point we have 
 reached ? 
 
 Faithful Prince 
 Because — over yonder — the last heads are 
 falling. They are calling for those that remain. 
 It is time — my turn is coming. They gave me one 
 hour's liberty on my word of honour. I do not 
 want it to be thought that I have fled. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Ah, yes! Then go. Prince. Farewell! I shall 
 soon join you — you and all my faithful ones. 
 Tell those who are about to die that I shall be with 
 them soon 
 
 [Faithful Prince hurries out.'\ 
 
 SCENE VII 
 
 The Emperor. The Empress 
 
 \_The Emperor enters and approaches her. The 
 Empress, her eyes lowered, stands motionless.^ 
 
 Emperor 
 Daughter of Heaven, deign to raise your eyes to 
 gaze upon the heart-broken conqueror who bows 
 before you. Deign to look and to recognise him. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 171 
 
 Doubtless 3rou will remember him. But can you 
 feel anything save utter hatred for him ? 
 
 Empress 
 
 \^Far away, her eyes still lowered.^ To recog- 
 nise him, I do not need to hear his voice again nor 
 to gaze upon his face. The light has dawned upon 
 my mind during the hours of my captivity. Before 
 I was brought in here, I knew full well into whose 
 presence I was coming. 
 
 {_A silence, during which the Emperor remains 
 bowed before herJ] 
 
 Empress 
 To the Daughter of the Mings, what message can 
 the Tartar Emperor have? 
 
 Emperor {^Seeing her hands bound with the silken 
 cordi 
 Oh ! but your hands are tied ! I ordered that to 
 save you from yourself. But now! \_He ap- 
 proaches, yet hesitates to touch her hands. The 
 Empress draws back, gazing at him for the first 
 
 time.'\ Oh ! pardon Before you, in the depth 
 
 of my grief, I had forgotten. I had almost dared 
 to touch your bruised hands. And yet you are more 
 sacred to me here than there in Nanking, in all 
 your splendour. [He strikes the gong softly. An 
 Official appears.'] 
 
172 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 Emperor [To the Official] 
 
 Let the Governess of the Palace come here at 
 once! [To the Governess^ as she enters and pros- 
 trates herself. "l Untie the hands of the Empress, 
 and then go. 
 
 \The Governess obeys and goes out. A paiise.'\ 
 Your voice is no longer yours. Your eyes are 
 no longer yours. You stand here before me, yet 
 your soul seems to be at an infinite distance. I did 
 not expect to find you so, and you frighten me. 
 The Majesty of death is upon you. 
 
 Empress 
 They are calling to me from the Land of the 
 Shades. Allow me to cross the threshold soon, 
 from you I can accept no mercy. My faithful ones, 
 my warriors, are wondering at my delay in re- 
 joining them, and my son is listening to catch the 
 echo of my footfall behind him on the dark path. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Your son! Ah! Your son! Who has 
 
 mourned him more than I, excepting only you? 
 Ten of my couriers, my swiftest horsemen, were 
 sent at once, riding their horses night and day, spur- 
 ring them to death, leaving their corpses by the 
 roadside, in a frantic effort to arrive in time and 
 avert the evil which could not be repaired 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 173 
 Empress 
 
 What was achieved? Where is the body of my 
 little son? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 It is now in an imperial hearse, making its slow 
 way to the north, preceded by funeral music, fol- 
 lowed by a thousand dignitaries in costumes of state 
 befitting the rank of a young sovereign. 
 
 Empress 
 And where are they taking him, my son? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 To those inviolable forests where the Tartar Em- 
 perors repose. There, in a vale, which the spade 
 of men has never touched, two leagues of dark 
 cedars will envelope in their silence, his tomb built 
 all of porcelain. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Will you grant me the favour to sleep near him ? 
 
 Emperor [Very gently, speaking like a child'} 
 
 But in accordance with the custom of the 
 
 Empresses, you will yourself choose the site and 
 scene in the forest and will have the long marble 
 
 avenues built so that all may be in readiness 
 
 when your hour strikes. 
 
174 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress 
 
 My hour has sounded — ah ! many days ago. 
 I heard it, but my hands were tied and your guards 
 were ever about me. Now you will give me my last 
 freedom, will you not? so that I may join all the 
 dead heroes who are awaiting me. To keep me 
 back would be unworthy of you, my noble enemy. 
 You would not do that ! 
 
 Emperor [After a pause'] 
 Keep you back, you? O! no, not I 
 
 But your duty Daughter of the Mings, you 
 
 are incapable of failing in your duty! 
 
 Empress [Excitedly at last] 
 
 My duty! What duty? Already have I been 
 decoyed by that word. They urged me thereby to 
 flee like a common woman beset by fear. While 
 all my brave defenders knew how to die heroically, 
 my soldiers, my princes, even my ladies-in-wait- 
 ing, I like a coward escaped through the subter- 
 ranean passages of my palace to fulfil my 
 
 duty ! It was the hour when my soldiers were fall- 
 ing by the thousand, struck down by yours, when my 
 walls were crumbling under the assault of your 
 
 armies the draught of the Great Deliverance 
 
 had been brought me in a cup, and I was calm as I 
 am now — but smiling. I was about to raise the 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 175 
 
 cup to my lips, to pass beyond the reach of all, 
 proud and inviolable, in my imperial attire. The 
 vaults beneath the ground, the sleeping place of my 
 ancestors, unknown to your Tartars, stood open 
 close at hand, and there was still time to carry me 
 
 down into them But duty! Ah! my duty, 
 
 it appeared, was to flee, and I yielded And 
 
 until the day when your soldiers took me captive, 
 I wandered on and on through the country, at the 
 
 head of my defeated troops 1, the Empress, 
 
 the Invisible, desecrating my majesty among all 
 
 those thousands of men marching before them 
 
 like some mad woman ! 
 
 Emperor 
 Say rather that you were the sublime heroine, the 
 great warrior-Empress, the goddess of battle, 
 who braved arrows and bullets, and will live on 
 eternally in poetry and history! 
 
 Empress 
 I sought to justify my flight, that was all. I 
 did all I could, but none can ever atone for a cow- 
 ardly action. It was in my own palace that I 
 should have met my death, in the funeral fire lighted 
 by my own hand, in which so many heroes were 
 
 consumed My ashes should have mixed with 
 
 theirs. Duty, do you sayr^ But do you believe 
 that I still belong to Earth? My cities are in ruins, 
 
176 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 my armies annihilated, my son dead. And at this 
 very moment I know that one by one the heads of 
 my few remaining soldiers are falling into the dust 
 beneath your high Tartar walls. Then what duty 
 remains, I ask you? [She takes the dagger from 
 the fold of her robe and raises her hand to strike 
 herself."] Nothing, nothing but this! {The Em- 
 peror rushes towards her with a cry, seizes her 
 wrist, takes the dagger, and hurls it to the ground.] 
 Ah ! So you dare to touch me now? 
 
 Emperor [Bowing very low] 
 
 Your pardon ! Only listen to me. You may die 
 afterwards if you wish it, I promise you — but in 
 
 some less terrible way without this bloodshed. 
 
 I will even furnish you the means, if you still wish 
 it 
 
 Empress [With sudden gentleness] 
 In some less terrible way! Yes, that is what I 
 desire. The Potion of the Great Deliverance, we 
 sovereigns are never without it. You have it too, 
 have you not? 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Night and day within easy reach, especially since 
 you began to risk your life hourly, in the thick of 
 the battle. I feared that I should be unable to cap- 
 ture alive my beautiful Phoenix of War! Be 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 177 
 
 assured, we have the Deliverance. It is in this 
 golden case, among the trinkets at my girdle. 
 
 Empress 
 And you will give it to me? 
 
 Emperor 
 Yes. 
 
 Empress 
 You swear it? 
 
 Emperor 
 Yes. After you have listened to me, I shall have 
 this supreme courage. To refuse you would be un- 
 worthy of you and of myself. But, after you 
 have heard me, only afterwards 
 
 Empress 
 Well, speak, sire. In return for your promise, 
 take the last minutes in which my ears can hear, 
 my eyes can see 
 
 SCENE VIII. 
 
 The same. An Official 
 
 Emperor [He strikes the gong gently, an Of- 
 ficial appears. To the Official] Double the 
 number of guards at the gates. Instant death to 
 
178 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 any one who, for any reason whatever, dares to 
 open that door before I sound the gong Three 
 Times! Is that understood? You may go! 
 
 \_The Official turns to go."] 
 
 Wait! [Pointing to the incense-burners on the 
 steps of the throne."} Incense! Let the sticks be 
 lighted at once! I must have perfume in the air. 
 [The Official hastily lights the bundles of sticks 
 and the smoke rises."} It is well, go ! 
 
 [The Official makes his exit backward, almost 
 prostrate."] 
 
 SCENE IX. 
 
 The Emperor [To the Empress, who is leaning 
 against the balustrade of the throne"] Alas! I 
 can read obstinate resolution in your eyes! You 
 have determined to die, I know it! I shall speak 
 without hope. Will you grant me one last favour ? 
 
 Empress 
 No doubt I shall. But what may it be ? 
 
 Emperor [Pointing to the throne] 
 Let our last interview take place there ! Once in 
 your life, though it be on a day which shall know no 
 to-morrow, I wish to see you seated upon the throne 
 of the Tartar conquerors. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 179 
 
 Empress [Very calmly and indifferently'\ 
 
 Is it only that? If that will give you pleasure, I 
 consent. \^She begins to ascend the steps. '\ I 
 mount but slowly: I am crushed and fainting^ 
 The poison which you promised lulls one to sleep, 
 does it not? It does not sharpen and distort the 
 features, I hope. The Phoenix, even in the agony 
 of death would wish to retain some charm. 
 
 Emperor [/m the same mood^ 
 
 It is even better than you hope. It comes from 
 the Western Barbarians. Lustrous pearls under a 
 thin leaf of gold. One passes into space in a sudden 
 sleep, an exquisite intoxication 
 
 Empress [^Still far away"] 
 
 Ah! in a sleep — {They have reached the 
 
 top of the steps. She half reclines across the 
 throne, which is almost as large as a divan. The 
 Emperor remains standing.] Well, now de- 
 lay no longer, speak 
 
 Emperor 
 
 It was not the prompting of a mere whim which 
 urged me to see you seated there. What we have 
 to say is so solemn. The interview of an Emperor 
 
 and an Empress, power speaking to power! 
 
 At this height, raised above our earthly personali- 
 
i8o THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 ties, we shall feel more conscious of our superhu- 
 man mission. 
 
 Empress 
 Power speaking to power ? I am no longer any- 
 thing but a captive, who counts for naught. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 You are sovereign and doubly sovereign now, 
 mistress of the destiny of China, arbiter of all. 
 [The Empress looks at him as though deeply hurt.^ 
 Mistress of the destiny of China, yes! Be not of- 
 fended. I do not intend to speak of your power 
 
 over the Emperor But, defeated and captive, 
 
 what does it matter? Are you not always the 
 Daughter of the Mings ? Hundreds of millions of 
 hearts bear secret allegiance to you. The rebellion 
 quelled to-day by my soldiers will break out afresh 
 to-morrow, will always be renewed. You are the 
 only being in the world who has the power to still 
 
 it for ever and that takes away the right to 
 
 die 
 
 Empress [^Interrupting^ 
 
 The dead await me I belong to them 
 
 now I hear their voices calling to me to 
 
 come 
 
 Emperor 
 
 I want to tell you in the fewest words. But I 
 feel as though you were already gone, already cold. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN i8i 
 
 I press on and I am all at a loss. It seems as if I 
 were speaking to a tombstone. Powers, you and I, 
 I said, ah, yes, great powers! Two rival lives of 
 fabled emperors, of deified heroes, growing feebler 
 and feebler by centuries of slavery to rites and 
 forms, prisoners in an excess of luxury ; two d3mas- 
 ties that seemed doomed to an immortality of mum- 
 myhood, have by some miracle produced you and 
 me, who are alive and young. As a result of our 
 union, a new China might arise, living like us, to 
 dominate the world. Together we might accom- 
 plish that holy mission for the well-being and hap- 
 piness of our races, and the eternal glory of our 
 two united names. But without you, no, I can do 
 nothing. I shall sink again into my gilded soli- 
 tude, my sickly idleness, my opium-drugged sleep. 
 If you but knew my youth, how isolated and lonely, 
 spent in an apartment decorated in black ebony ! In 
 the gloom of this palace, an imaginative child, I 
 outlined this glorious plan of union with you. It 
 haunted my brain. Then your son would have 
 been my son. It was like a child still that I set out 
 on that adventure to see you in your palace at Nan- 
 king. And as I beheld, my man's will, which still 
 floated in the midst of dreams, was suddenly con- 
 centrated upon one definite desire. Ah, what ob- 
 stacles I overcame! First, I had to escape from 
 your palace ; then to return here unhindered within 
 the terrible walls of the Yellow City; and then to 
 
i82 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 wrest the power from those grim evil-doers who 
 had so long tortured my youthful will and my 
 reason. The war was already at its height, hatred 
 was enchained, the smell of blood was in the air, 
 and Chinese and Tartars were howling like wild 
 beasts. All this, you know full well, I was unable 
 to stop. 
 
 Empress 
 
 I know. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 That I did all in my power to save your son — 
 you believe that, do you not? 
 
 Empress 
 Now I believe it. 
 
 Emperor 
 My only reason for speaking of these things is 
 that at least you may not hate me. 
 
 Empress [^Still calm and impersonal'^ 
 I have no hate for you. 
 
 Emperor 
 The heads of your faitthful soldiers which have 
 just fallen were sacrificed against my will. I had 
 issued an order of unconditional pardon. As to the 
 Prince who left you a few minutes ago. {^Smil- 
 ing'} — for I see all, I the Phantom Emperor, as 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 183 
 
 you called me — yes, he who was speaking to yon 
 in this very place and went so heroically to meet his 
 death, will be saved. You shall see him again! 
 
 Empress 
 
 I thought you before now a great and generous 
 enemy. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Of my love I have not even dared to speak to 
 you. 
 
 Empress 
 
 I am grateful to you that you have kept our in- 
 terview above that level. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 Every word you utter falls upon me like the icy 
 drops of slow winter rain, and yet withal I must 
 have the force to proceed to the end. Listen to 
 what I now shall say; it is the last word I shall 
 speak, after that you will be free. Despite that 
 dreadful war to the death between us, despite that 
 funeral procession which now slowly carries your 
 son to the forests of the Last Repose, I still in- 
 dulged in the beautiful dream of putting an end 
 to ancient hates by means of our marriage, of mak- 
 ing one our two rival dynasties, of giving to the 
 great empire peace everlasting 
 
i84 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 Empress {Interrupting'^ 
 Ever since you asked me to be seated upon your 
 throne, I understood. 
 
 Emperor [After a pause"] 
 'And your reply? 
 
 Empress 
 My reply is that, neither living nor dead, will I 
 permit the Emperor of the Tartars even to touch 
 my hand. It is too late ; too many rivers of blood 
 flow between us. 
 
 Emperor 
 Still one word, one last word. We are not 
 alone at this solemn historical hour, in this place 
 which seems so empty and silent. The shades of 
 warriors and the illustrious spirits of departed 
 emperors are all about us, listening anxiously for 
 your decision. Your beloved dead are all here, at 
 peace with mine in the lofty harmony of heaven. 
 You are mistaken, they are not calling to you to 
 join them; they are commanding you to live for 
 years to come, to aid me in this great work of peace, 
 of which I dream and which, without you seated at 
 my side on this throne, I shall be powerless to carry 
 out. You have not the right to decline this duty! 
 In the name of the thousands of invisible spirits 
 who surround us, I beg of you. Daughter of 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 185 
 
 Heaven, to live! [A silence.] I have said all that 
 I find possible to say I await your decision. I 
 have finished. 
 
 Empress {^Growing colder and more distant in 
 her attitude, pointing to the golden jewel-case at- 
 tached to the Emperor's girdle] Then give it to 
 me now! 
 
 Emperor [In absolute despair] 
 No, no! Give it to you with my own hands I 
 cannot. Have pity I cannot ! I cannot ! 
 
 Empress [^Severely] 
 
 But your promise, sire, your imperial word of 
 honour. Give it to me ! 
 
 \The Emperor, after another silence, kneels be- 
 fore her, takes the golden box from his girdle and 
 hands it to her slowly, his face turned downward 
 to the ground.] 
 
 Empress [After opening the box, speaking 
 gently, like a child in a dream.] Yes, they are tiny, 
 
 shining pearls And they will bring death, 
 
 peace, nothingness. [She puts the pearls in her 
 mouth, then throws the box to the ground, and 
 rises in exaltation. Triumphant and dominating 
 the room, she addresses the invisible spirits of her 
 forefathers.] Oh, my ancestors, behold me! Am 
 
i86 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 I not glorious? You see me in that place whence 
 you of old dominated the world, and it is upon 
 your throne, usurped by the Tartar, that I am about 
 to die! Your daughter has remained worthy of 
 her race. Despite temptation more than human, 
 she has kept her word. Open wide before the por- 
 tals of death, — to receive her among you. [^Smil- 
 ing and quite gentle, she turns to the Emperor 
 who is still kneeling.^ And now that my mission 
 is accomplished, approach me, sire. [She takes his 
 hand gently, to indicate that he may rise and be 
 seated.^ For the second time in her life, the Em- 
 press invites you to be seated in her presence, as 
 once before, over there, you remember, one morn- 
 ing in my palace which is now no more [She 
 
 seats herself on the throne again.] 
 
 Emperor [Dreamily] 
 As once before, there in your garden on that 
 never-to-be-forgotten morning. All about us, the 
 wonderful flowers of distant lands were unfolding 
 
 their petals, still moist with the early dews and 
 
 the beautiful Imperial Phoenix was brilliant in all 
 her glory. [He seats himself on the throne near 
 her, his head resting against the hack.] 
 
 Empress 
 To-day, the flames have swept away those flowers, 
 and the Phoenix is in agony, her wings burned in 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 187 
 
 the fire of war. But, on the threshold of 
 the Great Beyond, she will confide to you her deep- 
 est secret. Now it is your turn to listen. [The 
 Emperor raises his head and looks at her. 2 While 
 you were uttering those noble and magnificent 
 
 words of sacrifice Oh ! beneath my impassive 
 
 mask, what a struggle was mine on to be deaf to 
 their appeal! And I should have yielded, if the 
 duty which you presented to me had been only a 
 painful duty. But it would have been too easy 
 and too sweet. For I loved you! [The Emperor 
 arises.J And, living, I have no more the right to 
 happiness, because it was I who lighted that great 
 funeral pyre of men's lives in my palace. 
 
 Emperor [Interrupting^ exultantly] 
 O my sovereign ! O my beautiful, fading flower ! 
 To hear that from your lips at the moment when 
 they are about to grow cold for ever ! Oh ! To be 
 beloved by you, I could not believe it possible. 
 And now no aid can come from men or gods. 
 
 Empress 
 No aid? Do you think I would accept it? I 
 have spoken only because I know I am going to die. 
 Aid! But did I not tell you it was I who lighted 
 the pyre, this hand which set to it the flaming torch. 
 And as they threw themselves into the glowing fur- 
 nace, dying for my son and for me, I cried out my 
 
i88 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 solemn vow: Soon I come to the Land of the 
 Shades, I come, I follow you. After that, if I were 
 
 to live, to spend a happy life with you 1 
 
 should loathe myself. [She remains seated, the 
 Emperor kneels at her feet, resting his head on 
 the cushions of the throne.] In entering your pal- 
 ace, I was afraid of myself, it was only myself that 
 
 I feared for at no time did I hate that strange 
 
 impostor who appeared in my palace one day, 
 never did I hate him even when I knew not, when 
 I did not understand. And in the closed litter in 
 which I was brought to Peking, at every stage of 
 that mournful journey my fears and my anguish 
 increased, according as the impression became 
 stronger and stronger, until at last I was convinced 
 that you were the Emperor! [Suddenly terrified, 
 she starts up.] You have not deceived me? Tell 
 me, it is indeed death which you have given me? 
 Oh, no, you could not have done that. You are too 
 noble to have led me into a trap 
 
 Emperor 
 
 No, my sovereign, no, I have not deceived you. 
 Death is close to you, it is in your heart, inevitable 
 death. 
 
 Empress 
 
 Will it take long? How many minutes are still 
 left to me? 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 189 
 
 Emferor 
 Minutes? Oh, scarcely seconds. You are on 
 the point of slipping away from me into nothing- 
 ness. The frail covering of gold leaf still protects 
 you. As soon as that dissolves 
 
 Empress 
 I shall suffer? 
 
 Emperor 
 No! 
 
 Empress 
 Tell me how I shall pass away. 
 
 Emperor 
 
 You will hear a ringing in your brain as if the 
 
 great bell of honour were being sounded for you 
 
 — and then a dizziness — and suddenly will come 
 
 eternal peace! [He rises and rends his garments.^ 
 
 Gods, if you are capable of compassion, look 
 down upon me have pity ! 
 
 Empress [At first very slowly, pacing the plat- 
 form of the throne like one in a dream.J Whither 
 am I going ? Who can tell me whither I am going, 
 where I shall soon be? To the dead? to the 
 Shades, what can it matter how I use this last flicker 
 of my life, so soon to be extinguished? Now that 
 
 1 have kept my word, at least this last moment be- 
 longs to me, which to us is worth Eternity. [To 
 
igo THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 the Emperor.] Let it be mine that I may give it 
 to you! [She seats herself on the throne again.~\ 
 Come close to me, my beloved, my master, my God 
 ^— — - [The Emperor sits near her, at first as with 
 religious awe. 2 Come, I desire to rest my head on 
 
 your shoulder while I die [The Emperor 
 
 takes her in his arms.] Do you not see that we are 
 like two stars, separated by a boundless abyss, but 
 withal making desperate efforts to flash their light 
 
 to each other ? But now the abyss is crossed 
 
 and my mortal enemy is weeping tears for love in 
 my embrace. Let me rest against your breast, come 
 closer, with all your being, that I may pass away as 
 though in you. 
 Emperor [Embracing her more passionately] 
 In me and with me, for I shall follow you, my 
 beautiful Phoenix, that would fly away beyond my 
 reach 
 
 Empress 
 
 No ! Remain on earth, live on to keep the love 
 which I have given you. Who else would remem- 
 ber me and pay the honours to my spirit? In the 
 valley of eternal silence, amid the marble avenues, 
 under the shade of the dark cedars, who else would 
 come to dream of my vanished beauty, that was but 
 for a day? Promise me you will stay. But come 
 still closer to me. If you do not fear the last breath 
 of one who is d)ang, press your lips against mine. 
 
THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN igt 
 
 my beloved, that I may at least have known the rap- 
 ture of your kiss 
 
 Emperor [Pressing his lips to hers desperately^ 
 Oh! Even your ashes would be lovely to me, 
 even your body in decay. Fear! you ask if I 
 fear? Respect alone will unlock my embrace — 
 when I feel that the breath of life is no more. 
 
 Empress {Wandering, half drawing herself 
 away'\ 
 
 Ah ! Yes — I hear the great bell sounding. It 
 
 is the signal, then? I am sinking Hold me 
 
 up, my beloved. Keep me from sinking thus 
 
 into the abyss. 
 
 [During an instant of silence, they remain em- 
 braced. Then the Emperor rouses himself, cries 
 aloud in his grief, and the dead body falls back on 
 the throne.^ 
 
 SCENE X. 
 
 The Emperor, and then the Crowd. 
 
 [The Emperor descends the steps of the throne, 
 quickly runs to the gong and strikes three deep 
 strokes. The doors are thrown open. Dignita- 
 ries and Officials appear on the threshold."] 
 The Emperor [addressing the crowd, who enter 
 
192 THE DAUGHTER OF HEAVEN 
 
 in robes of state, and pointing to the dead Em- 
 press.] 
 
 Come, all dignitaries and great men of the Em- 
 pire ! Put perfumes in the censers, keep on amber ! 
 Sound the marble chimes, as for the gods. Pay 
 homage to Your Empress ! On your knees, all, be- 
 fore The Daughter of Heaven ! 
 
 [He kneels on the steps himself The marble 
 chimes are sounded. The brilliant crowd fills the 
 throne-room, prostrating themselves before the 
 dead. 2 
 
 THE END 
 
! \ 
 
 
 , „i ;,^ii ciT ,1." 
 
 , ' r -- "^ — H ■•. J I* IW 
 
 t.'^S- 
 
 
 \y£'\Ll<-iA? ,iUt<S wait 'p.. 5 K*^ 
 
 Ji|i41i,!iii.r 
 
 fl (IP. mirr p jSh "' r \*m 
 
 s 
 
 t 
 
 "i 
 
 IJ.- 
 
 
 ^w..3 
 
 
 I iir,.' 
 
 IS^'li JA ,'<i,u 
 
 ijC^f 
 
 
 
 F li 
 
 — ltr-ii,j 1 trf-Ss ™' 
 
 i-T- ^ ?^ \ ■iii^lnt -^ 
 
 Jis^ iji-l-f'ilMi4tij- S 
 
 ^ Ji 
 
 1 ' "?'"£ 
 
 J.1 ^™-H 
 
 1 "i -7 
 
 HuLu 
 
 >„Usf*¥j" «*! 
 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *^f l^i