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diff --git a/41885-0.txt b/41885-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..706241f --- /dev/null +++ b/41885-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,264 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41885 *** + + Kwan-yin + + BY STELLA BENSON + + [Floral heart] + + +[Bullet] THE TEMPLE OF KWAN-YIN, GODDESS OF MERCY. A wide altar occupies +the whole of the back of the stage; a long fringe of strips of yellow +brocade hangs from the ceiling to within 3 feet of the floor at either +end of the altar. In the centre of the altar the seated figure of the +goddess is vaguely visible in the dimness; only the face is definitely +seen--a golden face; the expression is passionless and aloof. A long +table about 12 inches lower than the altar stands in front of it, right +across the stage. On the table, before the feet of Kwan-yin, is her +carved tablet with her name in golden characters on a red lacquer +ground. In front of the tablet is a large brass bowl full of joss-sticks +the smoke of which wavers in the air & occasionally obscures the face of +Kwan-yin. There are several plates of waxen looking fruit & cakes on the +table & two horn lanterns--these are the only light in the scene. On +either side of Kwan-yin, between the table and the altar, there is a +pillar with a gilded wooden dragon twisted round it, head downward. To +the left, forward, is a large barrel-shaped drum slung on a carved +blackwood stand. + +Four priests & two acolytes are seen like shadows before this palely lit +background. One acolyte to the right of the table beats a little hoarse +bell. This he does during the course of the whole scene, in the +following rhythm:--7-8-20-7-8-20. He should reach the 105th beat at the +end of the second hymn to Kwan-yin. The other acolyte stands by the drum +and beats it softly at irregular intervals as indicated. The acolytes +are little boys in long blue coats. The four priests stand at the table +with their faces toward Kwan-yin; their robes are pale dull pink silk +with a length of deeper apricot pink draped about the shoulders. + + +The priests kneel and kow-tow to Kwan-yin. + +The acolytes sing: + + The voice of pain is weak and thin + And yet it never dies. + Kwan-yin--Kwan-yin + Has tears in her eyes. + Be comforted ... be comforted.... + Be comforted, my dear.... + Never a heart too dead + For Kwan-yin to hear. + + A pony with a ragged skin + Falls beneath a load; + Kwan-yin--Kwan-yin + Runs down the road. + A comforter ... a comforter.... + A comforter shall come.... + No pain too mean for her; + No grief too dumb. + + Man's deserts and man's sin + She shall not discover. + Kwan-yin--Kwan-yin-- + Is the world's lover. + Ah, thief of pain ... thou thief of pain.... + Thou thief of pain, come in. + Never a cry in vain, + Kwan-yin--Kwan-yin.... + +First priest--tenor--chants: + + Is she then a warrior against sin? + On what field does she plant her banner? + Bears she a sword? + +First and second priests--tenor and bass--chant: + + The world is very full of battle; + The speared and plumed forests in their ranks besiege the mountains; + The flooded fields like scimitars lie between the breasts of the + mountains. + The mists ride on bugling winds down the mountains. + Shall not Kwan-yin bear a sword? + +Third priest--tenor--chants: + + Kwan-yin is no warrior. + Kwan-yin bears no sword. + Even against sin + Kwan-yin has no battle. + This is her banner--a new day, a forgetting hour. + Her hands are empty of weapons and outstretched to the world. + Her feet are set on lotus flowers, + The lotus flowers are set on a pale lake, + And the lake is filled with the tears of the world. + Kwan-yin is still, she is very still, she listens always, + Kwan-yin lives remembering tears. + +At this point the smoke of the joss-sticks veils the face of Kwan-yin. A +woman's voice sings: + + Wherefore remember tears? + Shall tears be dried by remembrance? + +This voice is apparently not heard by the priests and acolytes. + +First and third priests chant: + + Ah, Kwan-yin, mother of love, + Remember + Those in pain, + Those who are held fast in pain of their own or another's seeking. + Those for whom the world is too difficult + And too beautiful to bear, + +All: + + Kwan-yin, remember, remember. + +First and third priests: + + Those who are blind, who shall never read the writing upon the + fierce rivers. + Who shall never see the slow flowing of the stars from mountain + to mountain. + Those who are deaf, whom music and the fellowship of words have + forsaken + +All: + + Kwan-yin, remember, remember. + +First and third priests: + + Those whose love is buried and broken; + All those under the sun who lack the thing that they love + And under the moon cry out because of their lack, + +All: + + Kwan-yin, remember. + +First priest: + + Oh thou taker away of pain, + Thou taker away of tears.... + +The smoke quivers across Kwan-yin's face again, and the same woman's +voice sings: + + Wherefore remember the desolate? + Is there a road of escape out of the unending wilderness? + Can Kwan-yin find a way where there is no way? + +Still the voice is unheard by the worshippers. First priest sings, and +while he sings the acolyte beats the drum softly at quick irregular +intervals. + + Kwan-yin shall come, shall come, + Surely she shall come, + To bring content and a new diamond day to the desolate, + To bring the touch of hands & the song of birds + To those who walk terribly alone. + To part the russet earth and the fingers of the leaves in the spring + That they may give up their treasure. + To those who faint for lack of such treasure + To listen to the long complaining of the old and the unwanted. + To bring lover to lover across the world, + Thrusting the stars aside and cleaving the seas and the mountains. + To hold up the high paths beneath the feet of travellers. + To keep the persuading roar of waters from the ears of the + broken-hearted. + To bring a smile to the narrow lips of death, + To make beautiful the eyes of death. + +A woman's voice again sings, unheeded, from behind the veil of smoke. + + Wherefore plead with death? + Who shall soften the terrible heart of death? + +All, in urgent but slow unison: + + Kwan-yin. + Kwan-yin. + Kwan-yin. + Kwan-yin. + +The golden face of Kwan-yin above the altar changes suddenly and +terribly, and becomes like a masque of fear. The lanterns flare +spasmodically. The voice can now be identified as Kwan-yin's, but still +the priests stand unhearing with their heads bowed, and still the +passionless bell rings. + +Kwan-yin, in a screaming voice: + + Ah, be still, be still.... + I am Kwan-yin. + I am Mercy. + Mercy is defeated. + Mercy who battled not, is defeated. + She is a captive bound to the chariot of pain. + Sorrow has set his foot upon her neck. + Sin has mocked her. + Turn away thine eyes from Mercy, + From poor Mercy. + Woo her no more. + Cry upon her no more. + +There is an abrupt moment of silence as the light becomes dim again & +Kwan-yin's face is frozen still. Then the first priest sings. + + What then are Mercy's gifts? The rose-red slopes + Of hills ... the secret twisted hands of trees? + Shall not the moon & the stars redeem lost hopes? + What fairer gifts shall Mercy bring than these? + + For, in the end, when our beseeching clamor + Dies with our bells; when fear devours our words; + Lo, she shall come & hold the night with glamor, + Lo, she shall come & sow the dawn with birds. + + Ah thou irrelevant saviour, ah thou bringer + Of treasure from the empty sky, ah thou + Who answerest death with song, shall such a singer + Be silent now? Shall thou be silent now? + +The 105th beat of the bell is now reached and there is a pause in the +ringing. + +All: + + KWAN-YIN. + +The bell is rung slowly three times. Then there is absolute silence. +There is now a tenseness in the attitudes of all the worshippers, they +lean forward and look with suspense into Kwan-yin's quite impassive +golden face. + +The lights go out suddenly. + + * * * * * + + One hundred copies printed by + Edwin Grabhorn, San Francisco, in April, 1922. + Bound by Florence Grabhorn. + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as + possible. + + In the first paragraph, a duplicated "the" has been corrected in + "only the the face is definitely seen." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Kwan-yin, by Stella Benson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41885 *** |