Night. All the upper part of the scene is occupied by the constellation of the Great Bear, distinguishable through the mist. From below at a great depth the rumble of wheels and the jingling of harness, suggesting the passing of troops.
The princess, clothed in leaves and the skins of animals, is stretched on the ground.
The Princess: I am cold! I am hungry!
Will this dreadful night never end? And yet already I see the stars of morning, and Mars, ruddy and golden, gleams above my head.
O constellations bending over man, O shining city in the skies of night, take pity on me!
(Silence. Rustling in the trees.
I listen! What do you whisper, trees that know everything?
You are arguing endlessly, like men that are fettered by the leg.
And I, I lie on the earth at your feet in this abyss of the earth!
I had withdrawn to the desert places, to this extremity