Chapter II: Act I: Scene I

_The palace of the_ KING OF BURMAH. _The scene is laid in the Hall of a Hundred Doors_. _In the distance can be seen the moat_, _the waiting elephants_, _and the peacocks promenading proudly in the blinding sunshine of late afternoon_. _The scene discovers_ KING MENG BENG _seated on a raised cushion sewn with rubies_, _under a canopy supported by four attendants_, _motionless as bronze figures_. _By his side is a betel-nut box_, _glittering with gems_. _On either side of him_, _but much lower down_, _are the_ TWO AMBASSADORS OF THE KING OF CEYLON, _bearers of the King of Ceylon's consent to the marriage of his only daughter to Meng Beng in two years' time_, _men of grave_, _majestic mien_, _clad in flowing robes almost monastic in their white simplicity_. _They smoke gravely at the invitation of_ MENG BENG.

_Round about are grouped the courtiers_, _the poonygees_, _and the kneeling servants_, _while in the background wait the dancing girls_. _Banners_, _propelled with a measured rhythm_, _create an agreeable breeze_. _On a great table of gold stand goblets of gold and heaped-up fruits_. _Everywhere will be observed the emblems of the Royal Peacock and the Sacred White Elephant_. _Burmese musical instruments sound an abrupt but charming discord_. _The poinsettias flower punctuates points of deepest colour from out of vases fashioned like the lotus_. _Orchids are everywhere_. _The indescribable scent of Burmah steals across the footlights_. _The glow_, _the colour_, _the sun-swept vista sweeps across the senses_. THE KING _claps his hands_. _The_ DANCING GIRLS, _at the signal_, _advance_. _They are clad in dresses made of fish scales_, _which are fastened with diamonds and pale emeralds_, _to imitate the upthrown spray on the crest of a wave_. _The dance concluded_, _the_ CINGALESE AMBASSADORS _rise and prepare to take ceremonious leave of_ THE KING, _who hands to them_, _through his_ VIZIER, _his message to His Majesty of Ceylon_, _inscribed on palm leaves and enclosed in a bejewelled casket_.

_Many flowery speeches pass_. _Exit_ (_L._), _walking backwards_.

THE KING _expresses a desire for rest before starting by the Moon of Taboung _{4} _for the Pagoda of Golden Flowers_.

_Exit_ MENG BENG (_C._), _an alcove of satin hangings which commands a view of the great hall_.

_The Crowd break up into groups_. U. RAI GYAN THOO _and_ MOUNG PHO MHIN _converse on the tendency of the King to interference in affairs of State_; _his extreme youth and delicacy of temperament_; _the pity that the marriage is to be so long delayed_; _the necessity to find him some distraction in the meantime_.

_Suddenly the tom-toms sound loudly_. _There is much movement_. _The moon rises over the sea_. _Torches flare as the attendants move to and fro in the gardens beyond_.

_The White Elephant of the King_, _with its trappings of gold_, _is led to the entrance where_, _at a word_, _it sinks obediently to the ground_.

THE KING _appears_. _He has changed his gay apple-green dress to one of more sombre hue_. _He enters the howdah_--_the elephant rises_--_the procession starts_. _It consists of not fewer than two hundred persons_, _keeping in view of the audience until lost by a bend in the avenue_.

SCENE II

THE PAGODA OF GOLDEN FLOWERS

Midnight

_Surrounded by Peepul-trees_, _the great Htee_, {6} _with its crown of a myriad jewels_, _rises towards the violet_, _star-studded sky_, _its golden bells tinkling in a soft night-wind_.

_When the curtain rises_, _the circular platform is deserted_. _Statues of Buddha seated and recumbent fill the numberless niches in the wall_, _and before each burn long candles_; _heaped-up pink roses and japonica on brass trays are lit from above by swinging coloured lamps_. _At intervals are stalls laden with fruit and cheroots_. _All is mysterious_, _solemn_, _beautiful_.

_A deep Burmese gong tolls_. _People emerge from the four staircases that lead up to the platform_. _Men_, _women_, _and children_, _all in gala attire_. _The young people conversing_, _gesticulating_, _smiling_. _The older people_, _more subdued_, _carry beads and votive offering to Buddha_. _Charming Burmese girls_, _with huge cigars_, _meet and greet handsome Burmese men smoking cheroots and wearing flowers in their ears_. _Children play silently with coloured balls_. _In the corners_, _under canopies_, _are seated fortune-tellers_, _busy casting horoscopes_. _It is a veritable riot of colour_, _with never a discordant note_.

_Through the crowd_ THE KING _passes alone and unrecognised_, _and disappears through double doors of heavily carved teak wood_. _He has hardly passed when_ MAH PHRU, _a very lovely girl_, _enters in distress_. _She whispers that she desires an audience of the King who has come amongst them_. _The few who hear her shrug their shoulders_, _smile_, _and pass on_. _They are incredulous_. _She goes from group to group_, _but the people turn from her with disdain_. _Then the great doors open_, _and_ THE KING _is seen_. _The girl throws herself_, _Oriental fashion_, _in his path_. _Her beauty and her pathos arrest his attention and he waves aside those who would interfere_. _She implores_ THE KING'S _protection_. _She is willing to be his slave_. _He listens with deep attention_. _She explains that since her father's death she has been continuously persecuted by the village people on the double count of her Italian blood and her poverty_.

_The girl invites him to come to her hut in the forest and verify what she says_. _With a gesture he signifies that he will follow where she leads_. _She rises_. _The crowd gathers round_--_all are hushed to silence_. THE KING, _as one entranced_, _puts aside all who would in any way interfere_. _The girl precedes him_, _going from the Pagoda towards the night_. _When she reaches the great staircase_, _she beckons_, _Oriental fashion_, _with downward hand_. _The scene should_, _in grouping and colour_, _make for rare beauty_.

SCENE III

_A humble dhunni-thatched hut_, _set amidst the whispering grandeur of the jungle_, _with its mighty trees_, _its trackless paths_, _its indescribable silence_. _The curtain discovers_ MAH PHRU _and_ THE KING, _who expresses his amazement at the loneliness and the poverty of her lot_. _She explains that poverty is not what frightens her_, _but the enmity of those who live yonder_, _and who make it almost impossible for her to sell her cucumbers or her pineapples_. THE KING'S _gaze never leaves the face or figure of the girl_. _He declares that he will protect her_--_that he will build her a home here in the shadow of the loneliness around them_. _He has two years of an unfettered freedom_--_for those years he can command his life_. _He loves her_, _he desires her_--_they will find a Paradise together_. _The girl trembles with joy_--_with fear_--_with surprise_. "And after two years?" _she asks_. "Death," _he answers_.