Hush! Let the chandelier draw in its myriad lights—for the curious call-boy of the woods has, airily, to summon us, repeated thrice his double call—
And since Nature is one of our performers, and feathered notables are on our staff—Hush! the curtain must go up: A wood-pecker’s bill has rapped out the three strokes!
ACT I
THE EVENING OF THE PHEASANT-HEN
A farmyard such as the sounds from behind the curtain have described. At the right, a house over-clambered with wistaria. At the left, the farmyard gate, letting on to the road. A dog-kennel. At the back, a low wall, beyond which distant country landscape. The details of the setting define themselves in the course of the act.
Scene First
The whole barnyard company, Hens, Chickens, Chicks, Ducks, Turkeys, etc.; The Blackbird in his cage, The Cat asleep on the wall, later A Butterfly on the flowers.
The White Hen
[Pecking.] Ah! Delicious!
Another Hen
What are you eating?
All the Hens
[Rushing to the spot.] What’s she eating?
The White Hen
A small green beetle, crisp and nice, tasting of the rose-leaves he had lived on.