A Voice
[In the tree above him breaks forth in a long note, limpid, and heart-moving.] Tio! [Silence.]
Chantecler
[Startled, raising his head.] What was that?
The Big Toad
[Quickly, visibly embarrassed.] Nothing! It is he!
The Voice
[Slowly and wonderfully, with the sigh of a soul in every note.] Tio! Tio! Tio! Tio!
Chantecler
[Turning upon the Toads.] Scum of the earth!
The Toads
[Backing away from him.] What—?
Scene Sixth
The Same, the Nightingale unseen, and little by little all the Forest Creatures.
The Nightingale
[From the tree, in his emotionally throbbing voice.] Tiny bird, lost in the darkness of the tree, I feel myself turning into the heart-beat of the infinite night!
Chantecler
[To the Toads.] And you have dared—