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.
EMPEROR