THE HOLE IN THE DIKE
SCENE I
TIME: late afternoon in autumn.
PLACE: Holland.
PETER.
JACOB.
GRETCHEN.
FRIEDA.
[The CHILDREN enter. They carry buckets full of nuts.]
GRETCHEN. How cold it is!
FRIEDA. Let us run. Then we shall not be cold.
PETER. How can we run? We shall spill our nuts.
FRIEDA. We are so far from home!
JACOB. We went so far to find the nuts.
GRETCHEN. It will soon be dark.
FRIEDA. We must walk as fast as we can.
GRETCHEN. Why do you stop, Peter?
PETER. There is water on the sand here.
JACOB. Come, Peter, come!
PETER. Where has this water come from?
"there is water on the sand here"
FRIEDA. Come, come, Peter!
PETER. There was no rain yesterday. There was no rain to-day.
GRETCHEN. Come, Peter!
PETER. What if the water comes through the dike!
JACOB. Oh, that could not be! How could water get through that thick wall?
PETER. There might be a hole in it. I will see.
GRETCHEN. Peter, Peter! Your mother waits for you.
PETER. I must find where the water comes from.
GRETCHEN. Well, I will not wait.
JACOB. Nor I!
FRIEDA. Nor I! It is too cold.
[They go. Peter runs to the dike and looks at it carefully.]
PETER. Ah, I thought so! Here is a little hole! The water comes through it from the sea. Soon the hole will be larger. I must find stones and fill it.
(He looks about for stones.)
Dear me! Dear me! I cannot find a single stone! What shall I do? The hole will grow larger and larger. The sea will come in and cover all the land. What shall I do? I cannot go and tell the people. That would take too long. What shall I do? What shall I do?
(He thinks for a moment.)
I know! I know how to stop it!
(He thrusts his arm through the hole. He shivers.)
How cold it is!
SCENE II
TIME: the next morning.
PLACE: the street near Peter's home.
| PETER. | SOLDIERS. | |
| PETER'S MOTHER. | PEOPLE. | |
| PRINCE. |
[The MOTHER stands in the door of her home looking up and down the street.]
MOTHER. He does not come! Well, I will go to Jacob's after him. I must teach him that he cannot stay away all night. I will punish him for what he has done.
[Enter the PRINCE, SOLDIERS, and PEOPLE. Four soldiers carry PETER on their shoulders.]
A SOLDIER. Hurrah for Peter!
A MAN. Hurrah for Peter!
SOLDIERS. Hurrah! Hurrah!
PEOPLE. Hurrah! Hurrah!
MOTHER. What is this? Why do you carry Peter?
PRINCE. Peter has saved us!
MOTHER. What do you mean?
PRINCE. He put his arm in a hole in the dike. All night long he stood there! All night long he kept out the sea! We found him there this morning. Poor little boy, he was so cold!
MOTHER. Ah, my Peter! My dear Peter!
PRINCE. He is a brave boy. The king wants to see him and to thank him. Come, soldiers, to the king with Peter! Come, to the king! To the king!
[They go with Peter on their shoulders.]
SOLDIERS. Hurrah for Peter!
PEOPLE. Hurrah for Peter!