FAITHFUL PRINCE
I bear no malice.
[He enters the tent with the TARTAR GENERAL.]
TARTAR GENERAL
And I make no boast. I know that the sages disapprove of war and hold that the work of the conqueror 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 following 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