FOUNT
In very dangerous words. Ah, how I wish I saw you safely away from here!
EMPEROR
Oh, that I might remain always!——She is coming!
SCENE VIII
The same, THE EMPRESS, in Costume of State
[As soon as she appears at the top of the terrace the perfumes begin to burn in the censers. The guards unfurl the banners which they are holding in their hands. Chamberlains and grand equerries form a line on either side of the staircase, bending the knee. Before her is carried the yellow umbrella with three flounces, mounted on a handle bent in the form of a swan's neck. Behind two ATTENDANTS carry tall feather screens, emblems of sovereignty.]
ALL THE ATTENDANTS [in a low voice, with eyes lowered]
Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! ten times ten thousand years!