THE FIRST ACT OF KING ARGIMENES AND THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR
King Argimenes
Zarb (a slave born of slaves)
An Old Slave Slaves of King Darniak
A Young Slave
Slaves
King Darniak
The King's Overseer
A Prophet
The Idol-Guard
The Servant of the King's Dog
Queen Otharlia
Queen Oxara
Queen Cahafra Queens of King Darniak
Queen Thragolind
Guards and Attendants
ACT I
Time: A long time ago. SCENE: The dinner-hour on the slave-fields of
King Darniak.
(The Curtain rises upon King Argimenes, sitting upon the ground, bowed, ragged, and dirty, gnawing a bone. He has uncouth hair and a dishevelled beard. A battered spade lies near him. Two or three slaves sit at back of stage eating raw cabbage-leaves. The tear-song, the chaunt of the low-born, rises at intervals, monotonous and mournful, coming from distant slave-fields.)
KING ARGIMENES This is a good bone; there is juice in this bone.
ZARB I wish I were you, Argimenes.
KING ARGIMENES I am not to be envied any longer. I have eaten up my bone.