AN WINK THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT Mr & Mrs . Jo Swelling WORKS BY PERCY MACKAYE PLAYS THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. A Comedy. JEANNE D'ARC. A Tragedy. SAPPHO AND PHAON. A Tragedy. FENRIS, THE WOLF. A Tragedy. A GARLAND TO SYLVIA. A Dramatic Reverie. THE SCARECROW. A Tragedy of the Ludicrous. YANKEE FANTASIES. Five One-Act Plays. MATER. An American Study in Comedy. ANTI-MATRIMONY. A Satirical Comedy. TO-MORROW. A Play in Three Acts. A THOUSAND YEARS AGO. A Romance of the Orient. WASHINGTON. A Ballad Play. COMMUNITY DRAMAS CALIBAN. A Community Masque. SAINT Louis. A Civic Masque. SANCTUARY. A Bird Masque. THE NEW CITIZENSHIP. A Civic Ritual. THE EVERGREEN TREE. A Christmas Masque. THE ROLL CALL. A Masque of the Red Cross. THE WILL OF SONG (with Harry Barnhart). OPERAS SINBAD, THE SAILOR. A Fantasy. THE IMMIGRANTS. A Tragedy. THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. A Comedy. RIP VAN WINKLE. A Legend. POEMS THE SISTINE EVE, AND OTHER POEMS. URIEL, AND OTHER POEMS. LINCOLN. A Centenary Ode. THE PRESENT HOUR. Poems of War and Peace. POEMS AND PLAYS. In Two Volumes. ESSAYS THE PLAYHOUSE AND THE PLAY. THE Civic THEATRE. A SUBSTITUTE FOR WAR. COMMUNITY DRAMA. An Interpretation. ALSO (As Editor) THE CANTERBURY TALES. A Modern Rendering into Prose. THE MODERN READER'S CHAUCER (with Professor J.S.P.Tatlock). MISS EVELYN HERBERT AS PETERKEE Rip Van Winkk FOLK-OPERA IN THREE ACTS by PERCY MACKAYE For which the Music has been Composed by REGINALD DEKOVEN NEW YORK ALFRED A. KNOPF MCMXIX COPYRIGHT, 1919, by PERCY MACKAYE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN ALL PERFORMANCES FORBIDDEN NOTE: The Music of this Opera by Reginald DeKoven is published, together with the words, by G. Schirmer, New York. No Public Reading of this text may be given without permission first obtained from the Author, 27 West 44th St., New York City. PREFACE In the making of this opera, for the first time an Ameri- can dramatist and an American composer have been di- rectly commissioned by producers of opera to write and compose a work for production on the operatic stage. Early in the present year, Mr. Cleofonte Campanini of the Chicago Opera Association made definite arrange- ments with Mr. Reginald de Koven and myself in regard to "Rip Van Winkle" and its production in Chicago, New York and elsewhere during the season of 1919-20. During the next few months I wrote the text of the opera here pub- lished, for which Mr. de Koven had completed composing the music by the first part of July. The choice and treat- ment of subject were my own, and entire freedom, of course, was given for the execution of the text and music. The legend of Rip Van Winkle, under various names and guises, is one very old and well-nigh universal, having its modified versions as widely scattered as Japan and central Africa. One version, familiar to the Hartz Moun- tains in Europe, the story-telling genius of Washington Irving transplanted to our own Catskills, interpenetrating it with characteristics of our early Dutch settlers and legen- dary memories of the adventurous sea-captain who dis- covered the Hudson river. This tale of Washington Irving's was popularized even more widely by the acting genius of Joseph Jefferson, who has told in the Preface of the published play "Rip Van Winkle" how the early dramatization of the story by himself was amplified by the dramatist Dion Boucicault and others into the play which he acted for nearly two generations. In devising this opera, then, I have felt the same liberty as my predecessors to develop the ancient legend in accor- dance with the nature and needs of the new work in hand, and so the reader, or spectator, who may compare this work with the story of Washington Irving or the play acted by Joseph Jefferson, will discover more differences than resemblances. The differences have developed mainly 861356 Preface from the consideration that I was writing not a story or a play, but an opera; and this constant consideration has resulted in the two main contributions of mine which modify the old legend the creation of a new character, Peterkee, and the introduction of a new element in the plot, the Magic Flask. These, however, though I may analyze them here in a preface as differences, have never in my mind been con- sciously set apart (but, rather, have directly sprung) from that initial wonder of feeling which the images of Rip and Hendrick Hudson and the echoes of summer thunder in the mountains have never ceased to stir in me since the early, absolute belief of my childhood. PERCY MACKAYE. Cornish, N. H., July, 1919. VI DRAMATIS PERSONS MEN Rip Van Winkle Hendrick Hudson Dirck Spuytenduyvil Nicholas Vedder Derrick Van Bummel Hans Van Bummel (Mute) WOMEN Peterkee Vedder Katrina Vedder Goose-Girl CHORUS Old Dutchmen of the Tavern Women at the Fountain Children of the Village Crew of the Half Moon Fairies of the Mountain PLACE AND TIME In the Catskill Mountains, about the middle of the Eighteenth [Century. ACT I. A Village Green, with Inn and Church (late afternoon). ACT II. Scene First: Rip Van Winkle's Hut (interior), on the border of the Village and Forest (early evening). Scene Second: A Forest Path up the Mountain (moonlight). Scene Third: The Peak of the Mountain (midnight and after). ACT III. (Twenty years later). Scene First: The Peak of the Mountain (dawn). Scene Second: Rip's Hut (exterior) in ruins (toward sundown). Scene Third: The Village Green of Act I, with alterations (sundown), vii ACT FIRST RIP VAN WINKLE FOLK-OPERA ACT I It is a sleepy, old-timey scene on which the curtain rises: a small village green, shaded by an immense elm {at left centre], whose great branches shelter, on the left, a rustic Inn, and, on the right, a quaint Church with porch, reveal- ing between the two buildings vistas of cloud-flecked moun- tains, that tower away beyond a blue-green river-valley. On wooden benches, on either side of the Inn doorway, old Men sit basking, clad in Dutch garb of the Eighteenth Century. Lazily from their long pipes they puff little clouds of tobacco smoke, that curls slowly upward in the quiet sun- shine. THE OLD MEN (In chorus) Puff of cloud from pipe of clay, Drone of song from drowsy fountain All we dream on fades away Far upon the summer mountain. Glimpsed near the Church, Women of the village are seen washing at a fountain and spreading gay patches of washing to dry on a green hedge, where a flock of white geese goes waddling by. Switching the flock with a long willow branch, a Goose-Girl passes, singing. To her song, the Men removing momentarily the pipes from their mouths drone a monosyllabic chorus, joined from the hedge and fountain by the soft prattle and laughter of the Women, while from beyond the Inn comes the low tinkle of cowbells and the far call of a Cowherd. 1 RIP VAN WINKLE THE GOOSE-GIRL (Sings, with sweet clear voice) Kaaterskill, Kaaterskill, Cloud on the Kaaterskill! Tell me the morrow's weather: Green and gray Is my willow tree; And my lame goose she Went home the wrong way With a ruffled feather. THE MEN (Blowing tobacco smoke) Poof! THE WOMEN (Scrubbing at the fountain) Ribbullee! Ribbullee! A COWHERD (Calling outside, far off} Co', bos! Co'! Co-o! THE GOOSE-GIRL Kaaterskill, Kaaterskill, Cloud on the Kaaterskill! Will it be fair, or lower? Silver rings On my pond I see; And my gander he Shook both his white wings Like a sunshine shower. THE MEN Poof! RIP VAN WINKLE 3 THE WOMEN Ribbullee! Ribbullee! THE COWHERD Co', bos! Co'! Co-o! (As the Goose-Girl passes off with her geese, the Women, in gay pantomime, sing on at the fountain.) THE WOMEN Ribbullee! Ribbullee! Rub and wring! Eva and Adam Wore no thing; But master and madam King and queen, And every Adam's son and daughter God clad all, and gave them water To keep them clothed clean. THE MEN Poof! Poof! THE WOMEN Ribbullee! Ribbullee! Wring! THE GOOSE-GIRL'S VOICE (Sounding softly farther off, outside} Kaaterskill! Kaaterskill! Cloud on the Kaaterskill (Abruptly, a scream and banging clatter burst from the Inn, and a pewter plate hurled from inside comes skim- ming out, and jails rolling on the ground. The Women stop washing, and the Men take their pipes from their mouths.) 4 RIP VAN WINKLE A SHRILL VOICE (Screams from inside) No! No no! A DEEP VOICE Yes! Yes yes! THE MEN (With droll shrug of their shoulders) Poof! THE SHRILL VOICE Van Bummel? No; never, never, never! (Followed by the screaming voice ', a Fat Young Man comes stumbling forth from the Inn, trying to keep a sedate poise, in spite of a fierce shove from behind. He is a foolish-faced fellow of about thirty ; whose general air of dullness is livened only by the dandified fashion of his garb, and by a big red-and-yellow tulip, which he holds clutched in both his plump hands.} THE FAT YOUNG MAN (Calls back, stuttering) Bu- but, Ka- Ka- Ka- Ka- Ka-trina! (A buxom, apple-cheeked Young Woman appears in the doorway, and stands mocking him.) THE YOUNG WOMAN Boo- Boo-, Boo- Boo- Boo- Boo- Van Bummel ! RIP VAN WINKLE 5 THE YOUNG MAN Not me- me: it was your fa- father. I said na- na- nothing. THE YOUNG WOMAN Just so! You said all you've got in your noddle Na- nothing! (Behind her appears a dour-eyed Man of about fifty, dressed typically as a Dutch Landlord of an Inn. In his hands he carries various legal papers, quill and ink and a big book.} THE MAN (Speaks sternly} Katrina! Now, now! Your manners! Beg Master Jan's pardon. No daughter of Nicholas Vedder Shall rail like a slut, for the neighbors And guests of my Inn to be hearing. KATRINA Bah! NICHOLAS "Bah!" to your father? KATRINA Aye, bah! Bah! to an old ram, who butts me To mate with that silly bah-sheep there Fat for the market and woolly for shearing: Not me, sir! I've catched me a husband that's more to my mind. 6 RIP VAN WINKLE NICHOLAS A husband? (He laughs grimly) Aha- ha! (Turning to the Taverners and Women, who begin to gather round) You hear her? You know who she's talking about? That vagabond, rattle-brain rogue of the village Rip: Rip Van Winkle! SOME OF THE WOMEN (With tittering laughter) Ee- hee! KATRINA Laugh away the wrong side of your faces! He's mine Rip is mine: the happy-go-luckiest Handsomest lad in the valley of Hudson: Katrina Vedder and Rip Van Winkle 'T is we shall be wedded to-morrow at sundown Yon, in the church! NICHOLAS So you're certain! KATRINA What else would I be? Look there in your hands: (As Katrina addresses him, Nicholas lays down the articles, one by one, on the table.) There's Bible and papers and goosequill and ink To sign up the settlement dower and house, With pigsty and cornbarn and acres, and yonder The Justice of Peace to set his big seal There on the license, and now is the hour, And there stands the table, and here stands Katrina t- u RIP VAN WINKLE 7 NICHOLAS But where stands the Bridegroom? THE ONLOOKERS (With laughter} Ho-ho! Where's the Bridegroom? Ha-ha! Rip Van Winkle! KATRINA Oh, Rip will be here in a minute. He promised. NICHOLAS (With mocking gesture, to the Onlookers) He promised! THE ONLOOKERS Ho-ho! THE GOOSE-GIRL (Who has returned, peeps forth with teasing smile from beside Jan Van Bummel) Jan, maybe Rip tarried to pick her a posy. JAN (Stepping forward, offers Katrina his huge flower with both hands) Here's mine, Ka- Katrina! Wo- won't you ta- ta- take wo- one of my tulips ? KATRINA (Flinging the tulip at the Goose-Girl) *T is her, there, can ta- take the both of your two lips! Her own are both waiting. 8 RIP VAN WINKLE THE GOOSE-GIRL (Pouting, mischievously) Aye, Jan, come and try! (Katrina turns away, sulking, and sits on the door-step.} JAN (Ruefully, picking up the flower) My nice tu- tu- tulip is bro- broke in two. THE GOOSE-GIRL And so is my heart, Jan. JAN Go 'way! You are only A goo- goo- goo- goose-girl. NICHOLAS Now, neighbors, I ask you : What kind of a man is this Rip for a husband Who don't even turn up to settle his wedding? A rascal with nothing but holes in his pockets And wool in his wits, to earn him a living My daughter has chose, when she might have a young man Of good sense and property. THE GOOSE-GIRL (With a curtsy to the Fat Young Man) Like Master Jan! NICHOLAS Katrina, you needn't sit there in your sulks. You've cooked your own cake; stand up now and eat it Before all the neighbors. Announce how the rogue You're ready to wed has forgotten to wed you. Stand up, and be jilted! RIP VAN WINKLE 9 KATRINA (Shrilly, not budging from her seat} Shut up, and be hanged The pack of you, all! You are tattle-tale-tits And your tongues shall be eat by the black-birds. A DEEP BASS VOICE (Is heard calling from outside) Ho, there! NICHOLAS What's that? THE GOOSE-GIRL (Looking off, beyond the church) Why, 't is Derrick Van Bummel, the Schoolmaster. VILLAGERS And Peterkee Vedder! There's Peterkee with him. (Round the porch of the Church comes bustling, in conse- quential wrath, the portly form of Derrick Van Bummel. By his side, at arm's length, he holds by the ear a slim, childish figure, in ragged Dutch trousers, carrying a fishpole with line and bobbin.) DERRICK VAN BUMMEL (With loud pomposity) What, ho! Room, there: make way! \ NICHOLAS What can this be? 10 RIP FAN WINKLE DERRICK (Thunders) Insubordination ! Insubordination ! This one is guilty of infraction; yea, Defection and transgression. Room! Draw back! Leave her alone, and excommunicated! (At Derrick's sweeping gesture, the onlookers all draw back in a wide circle, in the centre of which Peterkee stands, dreamily oblivious of their staring and the thundrous voice of the Schoolmaster. In one hand she clutches the fishpole; with the other she rubs half consciously her small, reddened ear, which Der- rick has just released.} NICHOLAS (Taking a step into the empty circle space, speaks sternly) Peterkee is this you? PETERKEE (Spreading her ragged galligaskins, bobs a curtsy) Yes, father. Where have you been? PETERKEE Fishin'. NICHOLAS What did you catch? RIP FAN WINKLE 11 PETERKEE Nothin'. NICHOLAS What were you fishing for? x PETERKEE A mermaid. NICHOLAS What? PETERKEE A fresh-water one. (Showing the end of the fishline, to which a small morsel is tied.) See, here's the plum-cake. She lives on plum-cake. NICHOLAS Ah! Who told you so? PETERKEE Rip told me all about her in a song. Hark, and I'll tell you. NICHOLAS Rip! Ha, Rip Van Winkle! 12 RIP VAN WINKLE PETERKEE Long ago, by a mountain brook, All under the witch-hazel cover, A maiden bride sat down forsook, Lamenting on her lover: "My false truelove he's gone for ay And took our wedding plum-cake all away!" So she laid off her bridal dress, All under the witch-hazel flowers, And drowned her lonely nakedness In the wild brook's foaming bowers, Where little fishes, clad in mail, Clothed her in silver fins and golden tail. There, when summer has warmed the stream, With rod of the witch-hazel sapling A fisherboy still seeks her gleam Among the brook-trout dappling, And baits some plum-cake on his string In token of her truelove's sorrowing. DERRICK All folderol! This Rip Van Winkle fills Her noddle with such nonsense. Aye, this morning He stole my school and made 'em all play hookie! NICHOLAS My Peterkee? DERRICK Your Peterkee! RIP VAN WINKLE 13 PETERKEE We know A secret place to fish in Rip and I, And I was hidin' there, to catch the mermaid, While Rip he taught the others to fly kites. NICHOLAS (Pointing severely) And those those galligaskins! PETERKEE Oh, Rip gave 'em To me. I always wear 'em on our rambles. Rip likes me best when I 'm a boy, and so Of course I wear 'em. KATRINA (Fiercely) Jackaninny-Jill ! I'll teach 'ee to play torn-boy! (Katrina seizes Peter kee and slaps her. As she does so, from outside the wild, merry voice of a Man is heard calling.) THE VOICE Ho, halloa! Children, come! Our bird is flying. PETERKEE (With quick, joyous cry) Ah, there's Rip! Our fairy's flying! (Escaping from Katrina' s grasp, she darts away and dashes off the scene, left.) 14 RIP FAN WINKLE KATRINA (Screams after her, exasperated) The devil fetch her! DERRICK (To some Pillagers) Bring her back! NICHOLAS Nay, friends! Take notice, all, and hold your peace! Behold, Katrina, now where Rip your bridegroom comes To keep his promise, in his bridal clothes. (Now, as the Villagers draw back and Katrina turns away toward the Inn, a rushing crowd of Children enter at the back, left, surrounding in their midst the ragged figure of Rip Van Winkle, at whose side Peterkee is holding fast with him to a taut string that gleams upward, out of vision, above them. All are gazing skyward their faces eager and laughing. Rip and Peterkee sing as they come, the Children joining them in the final chorus.} RIP There! Up there up there! Who is yonder in the air? Now he's golden, now he's white; Now he dodges, while we stare, Out of sound and sight, Calling far beyond our view: "Follow me where dreams are true!" PETERKEE Kite! Kite! Fairy swallow! Kite in the cloudy blue! Over hill and brook and hollow We will follow, follow, Follow you! RIP VAN WINKLE 15 RIP Ho, halloa halloa! Do not leave us here below! Take us on your fairy flight; Take us where the lightnings go Back of noon and night, Where to mix his mountain brew Hendrick Hudson calls his crew. CHORUS Kite! Kite! Fairy swallow! Kite in the cloudy blue! Over hill and brook and hollow We will follow, follow, Follow you ! RIP There! Up there up there! KATRINA (Breaking in, shrilly) So, there up there you keep your tryst. Fly off and welcome, Rip Van Winkle! RIP ( Turns with startled stare, loosing the string in his hand) Katrina? KATRINA Aye, Katrina! PETERKEE (Poignantly, as the gleaming cord pulls from her grasp and disappears) Oh, Oh, oh! The string! He's gone he's lost! 16 RIP VAN WINKLE THE CHILDREN (Pointing upward) Our kite is lost our kite is lost! RIP (Shading his eyes, calls upward) Ho, there! You shiny fellow, there! Why should us folk here go on foot And you go flying? KATRINA Sure, he'll answer! Gab to the wind: he loves your gabble! Head in the clouds and heel in the gutter, Tie your heart to the tail of a kite-string And marry a magpie but not me! RIP (Gathering his wits, slowly) Is it you Katy? KATRINA Oh, ye know me! You lollypop, gad-about, rattling bean-pod !- And so you're come now, nick on the hour, To keep your promise! RIP Keep my promise? KATRINA Lo, the wedding suit you're wearing For to keep your vowed engagement! RIP FAN WINKLE 17 RIP My engagement? KATRINA (With fierce outburst) Aye, your broken Troth and tryst and plighted word: Take their broken bits, and give them To your tom-boy! PETERKEE Sister! sister! KATRINA Go and fly your kite together! Run and fetch your fairy swallow! Go! I hate you, both I hate you! (Turning, she rushes into the tavern.) NICHOLAS (Seizing Peterkee, takes from her the fishing-rod and leads her sternly off after Katrind) Come with me. This hazel sapling You'll remember when I whip you. DERRICK (To the Children, in pompous anger) As for you, ye varlet scholars THE CHILDREN (Mockingly) Boo! Boo! Boo! 18 RIP VAN WINKLE DERRICK (Shaking his fists, strides off into the Inn) Insubordination ! Insubordination ! JAN (Hurrying after him) Pa- Pa- Papa ! Take me with you ! THE CHILDREN (In jeering laughter) Ha, ha, ha! RIP (Who has sunk down in a seat under the tree, stares after them, utterly bewildered) My engagement, and my promise What the devil did she mean? THE GOOSE-GIRL Sure, your wedding settlement. Have you clean lost track o' time, Rip? RIP Lord my wedding! Well, I never Could keep track o' time. I'm sorry For poor little Peterkee. I'm afeared she will be punished. (Distantly, a faint rumbling sounds. Rip starts up.) Hark, there's thunder! RIP FAN WINKLE 19 THE OLD MEN (Go off slowly into the Inn) Come away! The clouds are dark On the mountain, soon 'twill shower. THE GOOSE-GIRL Hear the old fools! What's a shower? It won't last a half an hour When the sun shines. Will it, neighbors? THE WOMEN (Coming forward from the fountain) Nay, nay, nay! A sunshine shower Won't last a half an hour. RIP (Still dejected, lifts some of the papers on the table and looks at them.) What a fool I was, forgetting All this wedding business! (Gazing toward the Inn) Ah, My poor little Peterkee! THE GOOSE-GIRL Come along, Rip! Quit your worry! THE CHILDREN (Calling gaily) Come, Rip! Come and have some fun. 20 RIP 7 AN WINKLE RIP (Turning to them) Sure, my dears! What shall we do? THE GOOSE-GIRL Come dance with me! THE CHILDREN Come dance with us! Sing us Nancy, Spanking Nancy! RIP Dance away, then! Join us, neighbors! (Rip and the Goose-Girl are surrounded by the Children, who dance in their wooden shoes to the fiddling of a Fiddler near by. Rip, at the centre, in gay pantomime with the Goose-Girl, sings, while the Village Women ioin in the chorus.} RIP Nancy, come in, and bolt the barn; Go tight the shade and turn the shutters; Fasten the pane against the rain: Hark! The thunder mutters. Then ALL Up spoke Nancy, spanking Nancy, Says, 'My feet are far too dancy, Dancy, O! So foot-on-the-grass, Foot-on-the-grass, Foot-on-the-grass is my fancy, O!' RIP VAN WINKLE 21 RIP Nancy, come back! The wind is wild; It racks the rick and mow asunder; Wet in the blast, who's he went past ? Stay! O, hear it thunder!' Then ALL Answered Nancy, airy Nancy, Says, 'My heart's too high and dancy, Dancy, O! So, fall-o'-the-rain, Fall-o'-the-rain, Fall-o'-the-rain is my fancy, O!' (As the Children finish their dance, a low rumble of thunder is heard again. The Women gather up their washing and hurry off. The Goose-Girl calls:) THE GOOSE-GIRL Rain will soon be falling. Come! Hurry, neighbors! THE WOMEN (Sing, as they go) Oh, a sunshine shower Won't last a half an hour. (The Women go off behind the Inn; the Children linger at the Church porch. Meantime, from the Inn door, Peterkee comes stealthily out, half hidden under a great cloak. Hurry- ing toward Rip under the tree, she glances back furtively toward the Inn.) PETERKEE Rip! O, Rip! Take me away! 22 RIP VAN WINKLE RIP (Greeting her affectionately) You, Peterkee! What is the matter? PETERKEE (Half sobbing) O, hide me from my horrid father: He whipped me. I will never, never Go home to him again! RIP (Cheerfully, comforting her) Of course not! And he shall never, never whip you Again. I will not let him. PETERKEE Rip, dear Rip! O, take me somewhere, Somewhere far away, Between the dewfall And the break of day, Where we can live together In the wild goblin castle of the weather And join the folk of faerie at their play : O, somewhere, somewhere take me with you Far away! RIP Of course I will, my little Peterkee! Come on! I'll take you to the mountains. (Taking Peterkee's hand, he starts to leave, when the Children run forward from the Church porch, surrounding Rip and Peterkee.) RIP FAN WINKLE 23 THE CHILDREN Take us, too, Rip! Take us, too! (Thunder rumbles again in the distance.) RIP Hark! They're playing ninepins. Hear Their balls go rolling. PETERKEE Who are playing? RIP Old Hendrick Hudson and his crew. PETERKEE Tell me all about them, Rip. THE CHILDREN Tell us, too, Rip! Tell us, too! RIP (To the Children, who gather round him and gaze up with wondering eyes) Children, in the olden time Where our village now is nestled, No one dwelled amid the valley Or the mountains; only silent Wild men wandered, where at sundown Sang the crickets and the calling Katydids, and all night long Sorrowed the sad Whip-poor-will. 24 RIP VAN WINKLE PETERKEE Surely it was very lonesome there. RIP Aye; but suddenly one sunrise Up the river, shining yonder, Came a ship a-sailing. All her Decks were loud with roar of laughter; All her crew were drinking lusty, And her Captain he was singing: "Ho! my ship she is the Half Moon, And the waters of the river She's a-sailing are mine own For my name is Hendrick Hudson!" THE CHILDREN (Murmur in awe) Hendrick Hudson! Hendrick Hudson! RIP So he sang and so he vanished. PETERKEE Where, Rip? Tell us where he vanished. RIP Ah ! Who knows ? But ever after, Once in every twenty summers, He returns again, and brings his Ghostly crew to sail the river And make merry in the mountains. Once, myself, I saw them. RIP VAN WINKLE 25 THE CHILDREN You! Tell us how you saw them, Rip ! PETERKEE Did you really, really see them? RIP Sure, I saw them plain as fairies When I was a tiny fellow. Well I mind me, 'twas an evening Twenty years ago this summer: All the river was on fire In the sundown, and the Half Moon She came sailing, with her bended Golden prow and masts of silver, And her bright keel sprang right upward Out of the waters, and she rose then Like a bird above the pine-tops Toward the mountain, and along her Bowsprit balls of lightning burst in Noises of enormous thunder, While her Captain {An immense clap of thunder strikes, with an instant of black darkness, out of which gleaming in a sunshine shower appears the ghostly form of an old Dutch sailor. Pointing at him, Rip cries out:) There there! See him! There he stands now Hendrick Hudson! THE CHILDREN (With a shrill cry of terror} Hendrick Hudson! (In panic they rush away and disappear all but Peter- kee, who remains beside Rip.) 26 RIP VAN WINKLE HENDRICK HUDSON By storm and thunder and rain, Good-morrow, Rip Van Winkle! RIP Good-morrow, Captain! How are you? HENDRICK Right glad am I to discover You have not forgotten me. But who is your little friend here? PETERKEE {Supping forward, makes a timorous curtsy} I'm Peterkee. HENDRICK (Removing his wide, flapping hat, makes a low bow} Honored to know you! I'm Hendrick Hudson. PETERKEE (With another curtsy} Sir, I am happy to meet you. I'm sure you must be very glad to visit Your river once more. HENDRICK Yea, after twenty years, To-night I'll be returning in the Half Moon With my old shipmates. Yonder in the mountains At midnight we shall hold a merry party To bowl at ninepins. Since you both have been So kind as to believe in us, I'm here To invite you to our party. Will you come? RIP FAN WINKLE 27 PETERKEE O Rip, please, please! RIP We thank you kindly, Captain. HENDRICK You'll be right welcome. I will let you taste A wonder drink we brew aboard the Half Moon. Whoever drinks the magic flask thereof Forgets all lapse of time, And wanders ever in the fairy season Of youth and spring. Come join me in the mountains At mid of night, And there I promise you the Magic Flask. (Katrina and Jan come out of the Inn and approach. Seeing them, Rip exclaims delightedly to Hendrick Hudson:) RIP Ah! for a wedding gift to bring my bride? HENDRICK Yea, if your bride be truly your true love. (The shower has ceased. The golden sunshine has gone. The shadow darkens. As Rip and Peterkee turn toward Katrina and Jan, Hendrick Hudson vanishes.} RIP Ha! now no more, Katrina, You'll call me Good-for-nothing. Now you'll be As happy as a queen, when I shall bring you The Magic Flask. 28 RIP FAN WINKLE PETERKEE Yes, yes, you will be happy, And proud of Rip. And I will go along To help him fetch it for your wedding gift, And then you will not scold us any more. KATRINA A magic flask! A wedding gift! You fools, What are you gabbing now? RIP Do you not hear him The promise now he makes? KATRINA Hear who? What promise? PETERKEE (Turning, with a sharp cry) O look, Rip: he is gone! RIP (Staring around and upward) Good Lord! Where is he? We've lost him. KATRINA Ha! You've lost another kite! RIP Nay Hendrick Hudson: he himself was here now, And promised me the wonder drink he brews Aboard the Half Moon. RIP VAN WINKLE 29 JAN Ca- ca- come, Katrina! This fellow has been drinking. KATRINA Aye, he's drtmk And daft as ever. RIP (Appealingly) No, no, no, Katrina! I promise you KATRINA Haha! You promise! Well, I give you one more chance to keep your word. Go to the mountains for your Magic Flask And bring it back to me. But if you fail To fetch it here by sundown of to-morrow, Think not I will be jilted twice by you, For I will hold my wedding anyway And marry him, there Jan. JAN Aye, me- me- me! KATRINA Remember your last chance: to-morrow sundown! RIP (Cries confidently) To-morrow sundown! (With a great peal of thunder, the air darkens, lightning zigzags, and through black downpour of rain the deep voice of Hendrick Hudson is heard calling.) 30 RIP FAN WINKLE THE VOICE OF HENDRICK HUDSON Ho, there! Ho, there! Rip Van Winkle! Come to the mountains! PETERKEE (Joyously) Hark! He's calling! KATRINA AND JAN (Startled and aghast) Who is calling? PETERKEE Come! O come, Rip! (Snatching Rip's hand, Peterkee clings to him in the storm, as they go silhouetted by the lightning.) RIP (Laughing aloud a glad, crazy laughter) Ah-ha-ha-ha ! Hendrick Hudson! Hendrick Hudson! Ho, there! THE VOICE OF HENDRICK HUDSON (Calling, far off) Rip Van Winkle! RIP Ho, there! We are coming! End of Act First ACT SECOND ACT II SCENE FIRST Interior of Rip's hut on the edge of the woods, at ap- proaching twilight. From outside Rip and Peterkee open the door of the hut, and enter together. RIP Come, Peterkee: come in! Here is my house Where I will bring my bride When I am married. PETERKEE (Going to the big fireplace) Now, Rip, stand near the fire; You are all wet! The storm is over, but still The eaves are dripping. RIP I never mind the rain. (From a peg on the wall, Peterkee lifts down an old coat and holds it for Rip to put on.) PETERKEE Here, change your coat. My big cloak kept me dry But you are soaking. You must get dry before We climb the mountain. RIP (Changing his coat) All right, my little one. 33 34 RIP VAN WINKLE PETERKEE (Looks about eagerly, examining the room) And we must take Some food along, or else You might be hungry. Where is your cupboard? RIP (Opens a little door in the chimney place] Here! Here's where I'll keep The Magic Flask, when I Shall bring my bride home. PETERKEE The Magic Flask: ah, yes! That must be kept safe. But, Rip, where is your food? The cupboard is empty! RIP Sure, I eat all I want At neighbors' houses. PETERKEE And, Rip, why is your hearth So black and sooty? RIP I reckon 't is the wind Blows down the chimney. And that reminds me of An old ghost story: (Mysteriously) 'T was once upon a time RIP VAN WINKLE 35 PETERKEE (Interrupts, abruptly) Your house needs sweeping. Rip, where is your broom? RIP 1 never use one. PETERKEE Nay, that will never do When you are married! In the home where a bride keeps house All must be neat as a hive of honey: There shall be never moth nor mouse; The floor shall be strewn with rushes, The cupboard be crammed with cakes and money And the garden be glad with thrushes. RIP Aye, so my house shall be, when I bring my bride here, And we shall drink the wonder draft together Out of the Magic Flask. But now, my Peterkee, We must go onward And climb the mountain till we find Old Hendrick Hudson. (Taking from the wall a gun with shoulder-strap, he opens the door and they look out in the gathering twilight. Peterkee pauses, listening.} PETERKEE Hark, Rip! What sound is that? 36 RIP VAN WINKLE RIP That's fairy gossips talking About your sister: Some say that Katy did: Some say, she didn't. PETERKEE But who is calling yonder? RIP That's poor Will. Come on, now! PETERKEE O dear Rip, Hold fast my hand: I'm half afraid. 'T is growing dark outdoors. (Hand in hand, they go out together, disappearing in the wood.)* "The scene changes in darkness. The curtain does not fall. SCENE SECOND A Mountain Path in the forest. Twilight is paling to shadowy moonlight. Rip and Peterkee enter together. Around them, the night noises of the gloaming the chirpings of drowsy birds and insects take on at times the sound of Fairy Voices, in faint solo or chorus. THE FAIRY VOICES Katy did! Katy didn't! Katy did! No, she didn't! PETERKEE (To Rip) What was it Katy did ? RIP Ah, that's a secret. A GOBLIN VOICE Whip poor Will! Whip poor Will! FAIRY VOICES (In chorus) Whip poor Will! A FAIRY VOICE Katy did! PETERKEE (To Rip) Did Katy whip poor Will? 37 38 RIP VAN WINKLE THE FAIRY VOICE She didn't! Katy didn't! THE GOBLIN VOICE Whip poor Will! PETERKEE Rip, I do not understand them. Why Do they say Katy didn't if she did? And if she did, why do they want to whip Poor Will again? Please tell me was it Katy Or Will, who was to blame? RIP Whatever Katy did None shall unbare it: The shame, in darkness hid, Poor Will must share it Where all alone On midnight moor or hill, Remorseful, he makes his moan: Whip poor Will! Whip poor Will! PETERKEE Dear Rip, the path is dim and hard to find; 1 fear we've lost our way. RIP Nay, never worry! I know the way. PETERKEE But where are we to find The Captain and his crew? RIP FAN WINKLE 39 RIP We must be near them Right now, for we are near the mountain peak. Wait: I will call them. (Putting his hands to his mouth, he calls) Hendrick Hudson, ho! (In reply ', his call is answered by a Chorus of ghostly Echoes, growing ever fainter.} THE ECHOES Hendrick Hudson! Hudson, ho! PETERKEE (Nestling close to Rip) I wish we were at home. RIP (Calls again) Half Moon, ahoy! A DEEP VOICE (Answers in the distance) Ahoy! Ahoy! PETERKEE Hark, Rip! Who answers there? THE DEEP VOICE One leg on the land and one on the water, Weigh I Heigh ! Blow the man down ! It's how can I dance with the fishmonger's daughter? Ho, rock, and roll me over I 40 RIP VAN WINKLE PETERKEE (Peering with frightened curiosity, points at the strange figure of a Dutch Sailor, who enters, supporting a keg in one arm and another on his back.) See, who is coming! RIP 'T is as queer a land-crab As ever I set eyes on. He must be One of the ghosts who sail old Hendrick's ship. THE SAILOR (Sings on, tipsily) One keg in my hand and one on my shoulder, Weigh I Heigh ! Blow the man down ! It's how can I heave-to alongside and hold her? Ho, rock, and roll me over ! RIP Ahoy, there ! Who are you ? THE SAILOR Ahoy, Mynheer Van Winkle! I am Dirck Spuytenduyvil, Mate of the good ship Half Moon. My captain, Hendrick Hudson, He told me you were coming To join our bowling party With Peterkee. RIP Oho, then, You know us both already! What are you bearing yonder In those two kegs? RIP VAN WINKLE 41 DlRCK In these, sir, Here's drink to wet our whistles. PETERKEE O Rip, what if it might be The wonder draft! Good sailor, I'm sure you must be tired; Those kegs look heavy. Can't we Help you to carry 'em? DIRCK Thank ye '. Kindly. RIP (Lifting one of the kegs on his shoulder) I'll carry this one. Now, Master Ship-Mate, show us The path, to join your party. i DIRCK Aye, aye, sir! Follow me, now. (As they follow, he reels ahead of them, singing:) Oh, bang on the bung and spill at the spigot, Weigh ! Heigh ! Blow the man down I It's come along, Jockie my hearty, and jig it: Ho, rock, and roll me over /* *The curtain does not fall. SCENE THIRD During the chanty of Dirck Spuytenduyvil, Rip, Peterkee and Dirck have disappeared along the dim upward- climbing wood-path, which now emerges upon a rocky, open space, revealing the moonlit peak of a mountain. Here the shadowy forms of Hendrick Hudson and his Crew are discovered, drinking from their sailors' flagons, and singing in chorus during which Dirck enters and seats himself on his keg, soon followed by Rip and Peterkee, who pause on the edge of the scene. HENDRICK AND His CREW {In chorus) Oh, nor'- nor'- west o' the Milky Way, And sou'- sou'- east o' the Dipper, Here's hoy to the voyage of our Half Moon, hearties, Hoy to our roaming clipper, As round old 'Roraborealis, Port o' the Bear and Lion, As we roar as we roar as we roar her, As we roar her towards Orion! Oh, east- nor'- east o' the Scorpion's eye, And west o' the starry Wagon, Here's hoy to the drink of our Half Moon, hearties, Hoy to her magic flagon, As round old 'Roraborealis, Port o' the Bear and Lion, As we roar as we roar as we roar her, As we roar her towards Orion! PETERKEE (Pointing, in awe) O Rip, are they real? What makes them look so strangely? 42 RIP FAN WINKLE 43 HENDRICK (Approaching them) Ho, there you are! Right welcome, Rip and Peterkee! PETERKEE (Shyly) Good evening, Sir. RIP We've come to your party, Captain. HENDRICK (Taking Peterkee 'j hand, presents her to the circle of ghostly Sailors) Attention, Crew! I make you all acquainted With Peterkee. (Peterkee curtsies as the staring Crew bow, all together, in pantomime, with comical abruptness.} THE CREW (Ejaculate, staccato, as they bow) So! Most decidedly so! PETERKEE (With merry laughter) Ah-ha, Rip! Aren't they funny? RIP Be careful! They Are ghosts, and never laugh. THE CREW No! Most decidedly no! 44 RIP FAN WINKLE PETERKEE I meant no harm. HENDRICK (Ushering Peter kee to a rock, in the midst of the sur- rounding Sailors) It is so long a while since we were honored To have a little maiden come amongst us, I'm sure that Mistress Peterkee will favor Our party with her counsel as housekeeper And tell us how to keep our Half Moon shipshape. THE CREW (Bowing, as before, to Peterkee} So! Unreservedly so! DlRCK Aye, aye, she's the right sort. RIP (To Peterkee) Don't be frightened. PETERKEE (Sitting on the rock) I thank you, Captain; but I've never seen Your ship, the Half Moon. All I know of ships My mother sang to me when I was little. HENDRICK Pray sing it now to us! DIRCK Aye, aye, now sing it! RIP VAN WINKLE 45 \ THE CREW (With another bow) Sing! Most decidedly sing! PETERKEE So runs the song: Wait, wait, my own, till our ship comes in O'er the dark waves between: Silver spangles on her spars, All her ballast golden bars, All her lanterns shining stars, Shall our ship come in. Wait, wait, my dear: when our ship comes in We shall be King and Queen. Scarlet-turbanned blackamors, Laden all with louisdors, Shall unload her cabin floors, When our ship comes in. HENDRICK Aye, aye; but wait until you see our ship That sails both sea and air. PETERKEE Where is she? HENDRICK Yonder She's anchored by a cloud-bank. From her cabin I've brought you here the little gift I promised The Magic Flask. RIP AND PETERKEE (Together , eagerly) Oh, show us the Magic Flask! 46 RIP VAN WINKLE HENDRICK (Taking out a quaintly shaped flask of crystal set in gold, holds it upward, gleaming in the moonlight} Behold! PETERKEE Look, Rip; how beautiful it shines! RIP Where did you find it, Captain? HENDRICK Long ago A spirit of these mountains gave it to me. As I was sailing, a-sailing, A new world for to discover, I saw on the shore of the sunset An Indian girl, all lonely Naked and wild and wonderful, Who beckoned me for her lover. As I was yearning, a-yearning, I plunged in the twilight river And swam to the headland beside her; And there to my lips she lifted The crystal mouth of a magic flask With fiery waters a-quiver. As I was staring, a-staring, She fled away to the mountains: I followed the flame of her footsteps, I followed and climbed, but she vanished And left me only, here in a flask, The light of her living fountains. RIP VAN WINKLE 47 PETERKEE (With quick sympathy) And so you lost your bride? HENDRICK Aye, Peterkee: But I have saved this Magic Flask, till I Should find a pair of lovers, who believe In wonder and are brave enough to climb Beyond the world a new world to discover. To them I'll give the flask. PETERKEE Oh, then, dear Captain, give the flask to Rip, For Rip is very brave, and he has climbed Away up here, to fetch the Magic Flask Back to Katrina. DIRCK (Blurts out, gruffly) Who the devil now Is Katrina? RIP (With a laugh) Why, old Spitting Devil, she's My bride. PETERKEE Katrina is my sister. We Must bring to her the Magic Flask before The morrow's sundown, for a wedding gift. Rip promised. 48 RIP VAN WINKLE DlRCK (Pulling Hendrick aside) Blast Katrina! Lookee, Captain: This here won't do. Our little Peterkee She mustn't be chucked overboard for no Katrina. HENDRICK What are we to do about it? DlRCK Take my advice and keep these young folks here. I'll play a game at bowls with Peterkee: You make the stakes to be the Magic Flask, (Winking, with a broad grimace) And let the winner keep the stakes! HENDRICK Well thought on! (Turning to Rip and Peterkee) Young friends, ere I present this gift, I pray You first will join our party in a game Of ninepins, and the winner of the strike Shall win the Magic Flask. RIP (As Dirck rolls forth some big bowling balls) Heigh ! Now f or f u n ! Here: let me try a throw. RIP VAN WINKLE 49 HENDRICK Nay ladies first! Come, Peterkee! You bowl with Dirck. PETERKEE I'll try; But Rip, I hope, can help me if I lose. (Starting to lift a ball) How do you hold 'em, Dirck? So fashion! DIRCK I'll show ye! Look: (Dirck, in pantomime, shows Peterkee how to hold and swing the ball, then beckons her to follow him as he mounts upon a rocky ledge} Come! Here's where we stand to bowl. PETERKEE (Follows him gaily, swinging her ball) Why, these are light as balls of dandelion. Come, Rip, and watch. Where are the ninepins, Dirck? DIRCK You see yon thunder-cap below the moon? Yonder they be. We bowl along the cloud. 50 RIP VAN WINKLE HENDRICK Now throw your balls, and see who'll win the prize. Dirck, you begin. DlRCK Aye, aye, Sir! (Peterkee, with wondering eager eyes, stands very near to Dirck as he starts to throw. Embarrassed by her close gaze, he stops his swinging arm with a jerk and a bow to her) By your leave, My lady, stand a bit away: you might Take fire with the sparks, when I let her fly. RIP (Pulling her back) Be careful, Peterkee! PETERKEE (Startled, but curious) I see no sparks. I really don't believe there are any. HENDRICK (In a stern, loud voice) Ahoy, Dirck, let her go! RIP VAN WINKLE 51 DlRCK She goes, Sir! (Swinging his ball, he bowls it through the air off the scene. As it leaves his hand, sparkles of flame light the peak where they are standing, followed by instant darkness, through which a low-rolling rumble breaks into crackling thunder, and the voice of Hendrick Hudson calls aloud:) Three! Three pins down! (More faintly, his voice dies away) Only three! ( Then a moment of utter silence fills the darkness, through which straggles a single, feeble beam of moonlight, touching the forms of Rip and Peterkee on the peak.) PETERKEE (Seizing Rip's hand in wondering consternation, looks around, and says to him in a low voice) Where are they, Rip? (The moonlight spreads over the scene, but reveals no one except Rip and Peterkee standing in the silence.) RIP (Staring about) We're all alone! PETERKEE O Rip, were we only dreaming? RIP Nay, sure, they must be fooling. Ahoy, there! 52 RIP VAN WINKLE RIP AND PETERKEE (Calling together) Ahoy! (Again a momentary shadow passes over the scene, as a ghostly chorus of men's voices is heard answering "Ahoy!" and the returning moonlight discovers Hendrick, Dirck and the Crew standing exactly where they were before.) HENDRICK (To Peter kee) You really mustn't say you don't believe: It might break up our party! PETERKEE (Hanging her head) I beg your pardon. HENDRICK Dirck, you were rattled. You scored only three. Now, Peterkee, 't is your turn. Here is the flask: Whoever wins the strike shall have it. Bowl, now! RIP (Seizing up a ball, with excitement) Heigh, there! I want to bowl. My turn comes next! PETERKEE First watch me, Rip. RIP FAN WINKLE 53 THE CREW (Bowing, and pointing at Peterkee) Watch! Most decidedly watch! (All peer forward, watching Peterkee. She throws the ball. Flames flash again, and the low rumbling bursts into crackling thunder, as Hendrick calls:} HENDRICK All down! A strike! THE CREW AND ALL (Shout) A strike for Peterkee! PETERKEE (Clapping her hands and dancing) I've won! I've won! I've won the Magic Flask! HENDRICK (Handing it to her) Yea, fairly won: congratulations! PETERKEE (Taking it with a curtsy) Thank you. DIRCK (With doleful grimace} Drown me! She rattled me so I lost my grip! 54 RIP VAN WINKLE PETERKEE Now hurry, Rip, for we have far to go And we must haste, or you will lose your bride. RIP Nay, not before I bowl! We're just beginning Our party, and the night is young. DIRCK Aye, aye! HENDRICK Yea, Peterkee, the night and you are young. THE CREW (Ardently, with a bow) Young! Most decidedly young! DIRCK (Pulling Hendrick aside again) Too young she is To be a bride, yet she must be Rip's bride And not Katrina. HENDRICK Yea, but you lost the game. How can we manage now? (Dirck draws Hendrick further aside, where they con- verse in -pantomime. Meantime, Peterkee follows Rip to the rocky ledge, where he begins to swing his ball as she remonstrates with him.) RIP FAN WINKLE 55 PETERKEE Rip, dear Rip, the dawn will soon be here, There is no time to tarry. RIP Who recks for time? I'll bowl till sun-up and the birds are singing. PETERKEE But, Rip, the way is far. If you are late J T is your last chance. You promised. O, remember! RIP (Offering her a ball) Remember what? Here! Play this game with me. PETERKEE (With sober reproval) 1 must not, Rip. I'm going. Follow me. HENDRICK (To Dirck, with whom he has been conversing) Nay, here's the plan: We'll let her go, but keep Rip here a-bowling, till it be too late. In yonder keg is drink, to make him sleep Long time enough for Peterkee to grow Ripe for his bride. Then we will come once more This way, ourselves to celebrate his wedding. DlRCK A right good plan! 56 RIP FAN WINKLE HENDRICK Now go with her And guide her down the mountain. PETERKEE (Who has come down from the rocky ledge to the verge oj the scene, pauses there holding up the flask and calls back.) Rip, O Rip, Here is the Magic Flask! Come with me! Come! RIP (Enthusiastically swinging a ball, gives no heed, but shouts:) Ho! Watch this throw! (He throws the ball, which emits lightning, followed by the rumbling reverberations but no crash of thunder. Amid the rumbling, Dirck speaks quickly to Peterkee.) DIRCK Don't worry, little one; I'll show ye the path, and him, the Captain there, He'll fetch Rip after us. PETERKEE Oh, thank you, Dirck. Good-night, dear friends. We've had a grand good time! (She kisses her hand to them all.) THE CREW (With emotion, forgetting to bow, but kissing their hands to her in reply) Grand! Most decidedly grand! RIP FAN WINKLE 57 HENDRICK Good-night, dear child! PETERKEE (Disappearing with Dirck) Come! Come, Rip! RIP Hoy, there, Captain: Play me a game! I missed one throw, but I'll soon learn the hang. HENDRICK Sure, Rip, you'll beat us all. Here, Bo'sun, fetch Yon keg, and give Mynheer Van Winkle drink. (One of the Crew pours from the keg two flagonfuls of the liquor one for Hendrick, one for Rip) Here's luck, my lad ! Three drinks of this good schnapps Will make you Jack o' Trumps, but three times three Will crown you King o' the Ninepins. RIP (Toasting Hendrick) Here's how, Captain! And three times three for Rip! THE CREW (Shout) Ho, three times three for Rip! 58 RIP FAN WINKLE HENDRICK Well said, my hearties! And now, Rip, while you try your hand in practice, Join with us while we pipe our bowling chanty! (Drinking, Rip stands alone on his rocky eminence, the others below him. There he seizes up a ball, sets aside his flagon, and begins to bowl. During his bowling, and the choral song which accom- panies it, he pauses, between throws, to drink again and again growing ever more fantastically drunk, and delighted in his play of lightning and thunder while the Boatswain replen- ishes his flagon. Blending with the Chorus also are heard the far-off voices of Peterkee and Dirck, calling from the mountain-path below: "Come, O come, Rip!" "Bowl no longer!") HENDRICK (To a music eerie and fantastic, but in full rhythm to the emphatic beat and swing of the bowling) Bowl, ball! Bowl, ball! Who is booming over the world ? Noonshine, moonshine, Who'll be hit, and who'll be hurled, And who'll be King o' the Ninepins ? CHORUS Bowl, ball! Crack 'em, Jack! Hark! They fall Where dark and wrack Roll and crawl With the brawling thunder! RIP VAN WINKLE 59 Bowl, ball! Whack 'em, Jack! Roll 'em under Wrack and pall And world and all And you'll be King o' the Ninepins! RIP Bowl, ball! Bowl, ball! Who is bursting shadowy bars? Wan light, dawn light, Who'll rise up and bowl the stars And who'll be King o' the Ninepins? (In pauses of his bowling Rip has drunk from his flagon {or the sixth time.} RIP (Sings on) ' Bowl, ball! Bowl, ball! Who is laughing, lord o' the sky? Mountain height, midnight, Who is King, if he's not I ? Ho, King o' the Stormy Ninepins! (Now the Chorus , singing again, grows gradually fainter, while the ghostly forms of Hendrick Hudson and his Crew all disappear in shadowy mist below, leaving only the figure of Rip palely visible in a beam of the moon.} CHORUS (Growing ever fainter) Bowl, ball! Crack 'em, Jack! Hark! They fall Where dark and wrack Roll and crawl With the brawling thunder! 60 RIP VAN WINKLE Bowl, ball! Whack 'em, Jack! Roll 'em under Wrack and pall And world and all O King o' the Stormy Ninepins ! (And now Rip, who has drunk for the eighth time, stares about him, swaying with intoxication. Then, raising his flagon, he waves it toward the sky and calls upward off the scene, with drawling pauses of tipsy utterance:} RIP Halloa, Mynheer Moon! Hark to me: I'm King. A King's a feller who can count up Nine: One, two,- four- six- eight- nine! Here goes for Nine! (He drinks a last draught from the flagon.} So have a drink on the King, old Moon ! Here's luck, And drain her dry! (Unsteadily, he flings the flagon away in the air, and staggers on his legs.} Nine pins is luck, they say, But all my nine pins won't stay under me To stand me up. (He sinks down to a half-sitting posture, from which he points off at the sky, and beckons with his forefinger.} Heigh, Moon! Come here: I want ye. I reckon a King can call for what he wants. That's right: come along! (Slowly, while he calls, appears now descending to- ward him through the sky the shining, curved prow of the golden Half Moon. Ghostly with silver spars and starry lanterns, she begins to float full into sight, manned by the Shadow Crew of Hendrick Hudson, and glides, gleaming, close RIP FAN WINKLE 61 to the peak in the background, as Rip more and more over- come by his drink continues faintly to hail her.) Hold on! What ails ye, Moon? What are ye ship, or moon, or moon-ship? Ha! (He utters a feeble laughter.) Aha! I know ye now. Where's Peterkee? She said how you'd come in, when we were King And Queen. I'm King but where is Peterkee? Silver spangles on her spars All her lanterns shining stars Here's our ship come in (Very faintly:) Where's Peterkee? (His head sinks on the rocky ledge, and he falls asleep. There, where he lies in the moonlight appearing on the edges of the foreground dim Fairy Shapes come forth and peep to- ward him, while their soft, child-pitched voices join with the deep-toned Chorus of the Men of the Half Moon, golden in the background. There, as her silver spars glide slowly away in the sky, the shapes of her Shadow Sailors point at the slumbering form of Rip Van Winkle the sound of their Chorus fading ever farther away, like the rhythmic croon of a lullaby.) CHORUS The King of the Mountain sleeps : Alone, alone let him lie! His thunders are husht in the starry deeps: Storm, go by! go by! Never shall number Season or hour Shining or shower Trouble his slumber: Time, go by! go by! 62 RIP FAN WINKLE The bride for the bridegroom waits: Alone, alone let them lie! This lover is buried beyond all dates: Love, go by! go by! Never shall tally Mark where he's lying, Far from the crying Cocks in the valley. World, go by! go by! Very slowly, the Curtain falls. End of Act Second ACT THIRD 63 ACT III SCENE FIRST To a brief overture of mysterious nature-sounds, the curtain rises ', revealing again the peak of the mountain. It is dawn, and the colors of sunrise are beginning to tint the dispersing mists, through which one sees shadowly a group of little bird-like Fairy Creatures, who are peering at the spot where Rip fell asleep. There Rip himself is still lying, but now his form is weather-beaten and half naked, and his tanned features are straggled round by long-grown gray hair and beard. Be- side him lies his fowling-piece, where he laid it down before he began bowling now rusty and weather-worn as him- self. Peering at him where he lies, some of the Fairy Crea- tures circle him in quaint round-dance, while the others sing. During their singing over which one crow-like Fairy presides like a chorus leader the brightening sun- rise trills with the fluting of birds. THE FAIRY CREATURES (Singing) By the Morning's rosy side One lies dead who never died, One lives old who yet is young, Fast asleep, who now shall wake To a fairy's tinkle-tongue Calling through the cloudy thaw Of the lone daybreak: "Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Bobolink! Bobolink! Wink and wake! Wake and wink! Wake! Wake! Wake!" 65 66 RIP VAN WINKLE (At the end of their song, Rip stirs, raising one hand, which falls back on the earth. Seeing him move, all the Fairy Creatures take flight, disappearing in the mist, which now is parting with vistas of sun-reddened sky. Slowly Rip stirs again, lifts his head, then half his body stiffly to a sitting posture, from which he stares about him and mutters aloud at first feebly, with pauses of won- dering pantomime.} RIP Where's Peterkee? She's silver spangles on her spars. Halloa, Here's mornin' light! I must 'a' took a nap: I dreamed the moon had masts and I was a King! (Catching sight of his long gray hair, he fingers it, bewildered.') Lord, may be so! I reckon kings wear beards, And moss grows on 'em when they sleep out nights, For look what's growin' here! (Trying to rise, he winces, with an ejaculation of pain.) Ah-ya! my legs! I creak like an old wellsweep! (Having risen, he stoops again to lift the fowling-piece beside him. It falls in pieces, leaving only the rusty barrel in his hand.) Lawkamercy! What ails the gun? (Speaking to it, with familiar affection) Old feller, you and me Was overloaded, and blew off nine times Last night. That's all what ails us. We'll go home And oil up for the weddin'. (Using the gun-barrel as a staff, he begins to move slowly off, stiff-jointed and lame-backed, like an old man.) RIP VAN WINKLE 67 Jericho! This mountain jag will last me till Judgment-morn! (Pausing, he calls:) Ho, Peterkee! Where are you? Peterkee! (In reply, like a distant echo, a man's voice Nicholas Fedder's is heard calling faintly: "Peterkee!" Descending the rocky path, Rip's ancient figure dis- appears in the mists of sunrise.)* *The scene changes in misty dimness. The curtain does not fall. SCENE SECOND The mists grow denser, then after a moment of semi- obscurity part again, discovering the outlines of a ruined chimney and fireplace, surrounded by the crumbled re- mains of Rip's hut. Through its broken floor and vine- grown walls, trees, bushes and weeds are growing in tangled masses. Here, pushing through the vines and leafage, a Young Woman enters. Her face has a child-like freshness; she is dressed in bridal clothes; she glances back, listening, as the Man's Voice calls again, distantly: THE VOICE (Of Nicholas Vedder) Where are you? Peterkee! THE YOUNG WOMAN (Peterkee) My father calls, But I will not answer yet. (Gazing about her) Poor little house! How you are fallen in ruin, since dear Rip Left us, so long ago! Where is the flask The Magic Flask I left in your secret care? (Searching about, she reaches in a moss-grown niche of the chimney and draws forth the flask, with a glad cry) Ah, here! 't is here! 68 RIP FAN WINKLE 69 (Endearingly, she speaks to it, as to a living thing:) Long, long ago, O darling flask, I hid you safely Here where no mortal eye or hand Could spy you out, or unseal your magic spell; Long, long ago, I brought you home And here I waited For him him who wandered far away And will return no more. darling flask, forgive me what I dared: Old Hendrick Hudson told me first your secret, So from your crystal mouth I drank, and tasted Your fiery waters of immortal youth. Now, now, though years and years go by, They fall so lightly 1 feel no weight of time or change, But only how full is my heart of flowering love; So, darling flask, I pray to you, If still he lives, Let him him who wandered far away Come to his home once more! (As these words of Peterkee are ceasing, the tangled vines in the background are parted by a hand from behind and the gray-bearded face of Rip peers forth, turning old, weather- scarred features toward the girlish form of Peterkee. Gazing from her to his ruined hearth, he speaks, hesitant.) RIP Is this the home of Rip Van Winkle? PETERKEE (Starting back, with a cry) Oh! (Concealing the flask in her dress, she stares at him, half frightened) Are you a fairy goblin, or a man? 70 RIP VAN WINKLE RIP (With a crackling laughter) Aha! Am I a fairy goblin me! Mayhap I am, young lady. If you'd asked me Last night, I might 'a' told ye, but to-day I'm wondering. PETERKEE What are you wondering? RIP (Comes forward, rubbing his eyes) Whether I be woke up yet anyhow, And whether this be the home of Rip Van Winkle. PETERKEE Here used to be his home. The walls, you see, Are all in ruin now. RIP Aye, so it looks. Lord, what a storm there must 'a' been last night! I reckon old Hendrick's party up aloft Knocked things down here to thunder with their bowling. PETERKEE Ah, Hendrick Hudson! Do you know him, sir? And have you heard his party bowling? RIP Havel! You ought to watch me bowl, after I've drunk Eight drinks ! Not nine! Nay, nine's too many for me. One drink too many turns folks mighty queer. RIP VAN WINKLE 71 PETERKEE {Drawing back a little, with awe) Oh, then, you must be one of Hendrick's crew! I never saw a real ghost in the daylight Before. But you don't carry a keg. RIP Young lady, I might look like a land-crab, but I'd thank ye If you'd not take me for a Spittin' Devil: I'm not that kind. PETERKEE How strange how strange you sound! Your voice is like a dream of long ago, An echo on the mountains in the twilight, Where folk of faerie gather at their play. RIP How strange you sound, my dear! Your voice is like a birdsong in the forest Between the dewfall and the daybreak, somewhere RIP AND PETERKEE (Together) Ah, somewhere far away! PETERKEE Yes, you must be a ghost, or a fairy goblin, And once I must have met you on the mountain. RIP Sure, you must be some kin of Peterkee, Or may be just a dream of her I'm dreaming. 72 RIP FAN WINKLE PETERKEE Nay, I am not a dream: I'm Peterkee. RIP You Peterkee ! (Through the vines and bushes, Nicholas Vcdder enters. He is grown old and gray, and he goes toward Peterkee, speaking to her in anger.} NICHOLAS Come here! At last I've found ye! How dared you run away? PETERKEE I'm coming. NICHOLAS Haste, then! 'T is almost sundown, and the wedding guests Are waiting. RIP Oh, the wedding! Take your time, then: I reckon there'll be no wedding without me, And I'll be there at sundown. NICHOLAS (Glancing sternly at Rip) Who the devil Is this? PETERKEE An old, poor stranger. RIP FAN WINKLE 73 RIP Halloa, Nick! I see! I see! You've powdered up your hair And Peterkee has fancy-dressed herself To be at my wedding. NICHOLAS (Staring) Yours ! RIP You'll both be welcome. I'm not trimmed up myself, but I'll be on time. PETERKEE (To Nicholas , inter cedingly, as he makes an angry ges- ture toward Rip.} Father, 't is not a mortal like ourselves NICHOLAS Nay, 't is a crazy loon! Come now! Katrina Is there already, and the bridegroom waits. (Seizing Peterkee by the hand, Nicholas hurries her away.) RIP (Calls after them) Hold on, there! /'m the bridegroom! NICHOLAS (With a burst of harsh laughter) Ha! Ha! Ha! 74 RIP FAN WINKLE PETERKEE (Pausing, with a sudden look of bewildered doubt) Ah, me! I wonder: Somewhere far away Make haste! NICHOLAS (Sternly ', pulling her off) (They disappear through the vines. Rip reaches after them, calling:) RIP O Peterkee! Wait, Peterkee! (Faintly he sinks down beside the chimney ruins.} Heigh-me! Which side o' the world did I wake up This morning? What's o'clock inside my head? Was yonder truly my little Peterkee, And did she speak me right? Am I the ghost Of a Half Moon sailor tumbled overboard, Or am I Rip Van Winkle? If I be neither, What kind of fish, or fowl, or fairy am I ? Heigh-me! Where is my home? Is this the chimney Where Peterkee hung up my coat to dry? Is here the hearth where I would bring my bride? My bride! Ah- ha- ha! (He laughs an old, feeble laughter, which dies away, as the nature-sounds of approaching twilight begin their orches- tral thrumming and pipings of song. Listening, Rip sits up and calls to them:) I hear ye, fairy neighbors! Did Katy wait, or didn't she wait, for me? A FAIRY VOICE (Sings) Katydid! RIP FAN WINKLE 75 ANOTHER (Answers) Katy didn't! RIP (Rising, with painful stiffness} Nay, then, I'll go and see. 'T will soon be sundown And I must find a home, to fetch my bride to. (The low, gentle music of nature around him continues. Listening again. Rip cries, with a forlorn gesture:) O neighbor voices! You, my old friends of twilight! Answer me: Where is Rip Van Winkle's home? (From far in the forest, a mysterious Voice answers in minor key and mournful rhythm as the scene is blotted in darkness:} THE VOICE Whip poor Will ! Whip poor Will !* The curtain does not fall. SCENE THIRD As the lonely forest cry of the Whippoorwill dies away, the darkness begins to be filled with contrasted sounds of human gaiety and hubbub, taking on the rhythm of a lively dance-tune, as returning light reveals the Scene of Act First, at the hour of approaching sunset. The Scene itself is altered somewhat by the lapse of time: the church and its porch are partly overgrown with ivy; the tree which shades the Inn is visibly larger; over the door of the Inn floats a flag, with thirteen stars, and a new swinging sign painted with a crude portrait of an officer in uniform shows the lettered inscription: "THE GENERAL WASHINGTON INN" The place, moreover, has none of the drowsy quietude of the First Act, but bustles with a new energy. People in garments of an altered fashion are gathered together: some, in gossipy pantomime, are standing by the church porch; others, near the Inn, are watching a group of Wedding Guests, who are dancing to the music of fiddling about the bridegroom, Hans Van Bummel, a sort of second edition of his brother Jan. Hans blindfolded in their midst is being spun round and put through various motions by the Dancers, as they and the Onlookers sing in chorus, clapping their hands at three intervals. After the first interval, the Best Man is thrust also blindfolded into the circle; after the second, both are put through pantomime indicated by the words of their song, then unblindfolded are thrust out of the circle, amid laughing shouts, after the final refrain. 76 RIP 7 AN WINKLE 77 THE WEDDING GUESTS (Singing in chorus) The Bride-groom, The Bride-groom, The Bridegroom he's the read-i-est man: Clap once, and round he goes! The Best-Man, The Best-Man, The Best-Man he's the stead-i-est man: Clap once, Clap twice Round he goes, and round he goes! Now they kneel, and now they rise, Now they stare to-ward the skies, Now they ope their blinded eyes: Clap once, Clap twice, Clap thrice and out they go! (During the dance, Katrina Vedder and Jan Van Bummel have come out of the Inn. Katrina., now stout and matronly, Jan, grown even huger in his fat bulk, are accompanied by a procession of their offspring of various ages, sizes and sexes all in their best clothes some of whom join in the last of the singing and the laughter. Observing this, Katrina screams at them shrilly, slapping the three youngest in succession.) KATRINA There's once, and twice, and thrice for you! Shut up your mouths ! Behave yourselves ! JAN O, Ka- Ka- Katy, don't be cross! You'll brea- brea- break our kiddies' hearts. 78 RIP VAN WINKLE KATRINA A dozen brats in twenty years Would break the heart of any mother! DERRICK VAN BUMMEL (Gray and portly, approaches and speaks to her, pompously) Yea, daughter-in-law: Insubordination Must be corrected. You do well To show Jan's brother there example How Hans must teach his bride to do In future. KATRINA So! Where is Hans' bride His Peterkee? These two score years She's never yet grown up, like others, But aye she's been a stubborn child Would marry no man till this day And now she's run and hid herself! JAN Nay, nay, she's ca- ca- coming now. Her father's found her. (As Jan speaks, Nicholas Vedder enters, left, with Peterkee, from round the Inn.} DERRICK (Exclaiming) Peterkee! She's here! Run, Hans, and greet your bride. (Hans hurries clumsily toward Peterkee, who evades his stupid attempts at gallantry and takes refuge near Katrina, whom Hans is wary of approaching.) RIP VAN WINKLE 79 PETERKEE (To Katrina) Good-evening, sister! KATRINA Kiss your man, Not me! He's got the property; And God knows you have kept him waiting Long time enough. NICHOLAS Nay, now, Katrina! Your sister has come back in time. You waited for a bridegroom once Who never came. KATRINA I got a worse one! I'd rather have one dead and gone These twenty years like Rip Van Winkle. DERRICK (Beckoning Peterkee, who draws back, reluctant and shyly miserable.) Come, Peterkee: the Parson's ready; The guests are going to the church, now, And Hans, your man, is waiting. (A discordant noise and hubbub bursts from beyond the Inn, mingled with shrill voices shouting: "Rag-man! Tatter-tags!") JAN (Running to look) Hark! Hark, yonder, how the dogs are barking! 80 RIP VAN WINKLE NICHOLAS What are those children screaming for? DERRICK (Joining Jan) They've found some looney from the poor-house. (Round the Inn, now, at back left, a crowd of children enter, hooting, pointing, and throwing chaff at an outlandish Figure in their midst the old, tattered, graybeard form of Rip Van Winkle, to whom they have tied various rattling pans and odd litter mocking him with antics, while they shout in shrill chorus:) THE CHILDREN Tatter-taggle- twitch ! Dump him in the ditch! Lodge him with a moor-mouse, Board him in a bag o' stuffin', Ragamuffin! ragamuffin! Pack him to the poor-house! Witch! Witch! Witch! RIP (Stilling them by a strange, pathetic gesture) Hold, there you youngsters! Wait a moment, quiet !- Don't even you little fellers know me now? THE CHILDREN (Mocking him, but less loudly) Rag-man! Witch! RIP VAN WINKLE 81 PETERKEE (Peering, with eager trepidation) Ah, 't is the fairy stranger! NICHOLAS (Pulling her back, places her behind him in the crowd) Here! Stand back! RIP (Still gazing at the Children, who become quieted and awestruck by his tone and gesture} Young folks, is this your fun ? Where are your fishpoles ? Who learns ye how to fly your kites? Who calls ye From school, when bobolinks are in the meadow, To play at hookie all a summer's morning? (The Children gape at him. After a pause, one of them answers, in wonder:) THE CHILD Nobody. RIP (With a forlorn cry) Ah! (Turning, with appealing eyes, to the gathered people) Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle? NICHOLAS What, Old loon! Are you still gabbling moonshine? Pack! Be off! Here is no time and place for beggars. You stop a wedding. RIP Nay, I stop no wedding, Old Nick, and here's my time and place: for now Is sundown, and I'm come, just like I promised, To get my bride. Where is she? 82 RIP VAN WINKLE THE PEOPLE (With laughing shout} Ho, ho, ho! His bride! RIP (Defiantly his eyes flashing, with strange quiet) Yea, I am the bridegroom! KATRINA (Stepping forward, stares at him fiercely) Can the Devil Come back from Brimstone, to crack jokes with Chris- tians At our church door? RIP Aye, Katy, I would know ye At any church door and him, Old Nick, your father By your sweet wit and welcome. But I reckon, If yonder be Jan, the fairies they were right And Katy she didn't ! NICHOLAS (Thundering at Rip) Silence, vagabond! (Shaking his staff at him) Begone ! Here, neighbors ! Pack this madman off ! (Led by Nicholas, the people crowd forward and begin to drive Rip off, jostling and striking him.) THE PEOPLE Away with him! Away with him! (In the turmoil Rip is struck down.) RIP VAN WINKLE 83 PETERKEE (Hastening to his help, turns to the crowd appealingly) Nay, friends, Grant me a wedding wish! THE PEOPLE (Drawing back from Rip) Hark to the bride! (With Peter kee's help, Rip staggers to his feet, half dazed by his fall.} PETERKEE All outcasts may ask alms on wedding days: This one is old and ill. Before he goes, For alms I give him here this little flask. See! (She holds up the Magic Flask) Father, may he drink and restore himself? NICHOLAS Aye, let him drink a health to the bride and groom! (He laughs to the crowd, who laugh back) Ha, ha! THE PEOPLE Ha, ha! A health to the bride and groom! PETERKEE (Giving the flask to Rip, speaks low, close to his ear) Drink! 'T is the Magic Flask. 84 RIP VAN WINKLE RIP (Holding up the flask, looks with an elvish twinkle from Peterkee to Nicholas and the Crowd) Old Nick, and neighbors! Since I may never see you any more, So long to ye! Here's luck to the groom and bride! (Putting the flask to his lips, he drinks. Instantly, with flash of fire and crackling thunder, the entire scene is plunged into darkness, through which hung deep in the sky a little, glowing half-moon shines far off, while the low-rumbling thunder preludes a ghostly singing of deep Voices, that be ginning faintly increase ever the volume of their chorus.) THE GHOSTLY CHORUS The bride for the bridegroom waits: Alone no more let them lie! The powers of wonder have wove their fates : World, go by! go by! Never shall sorrow Rancor or raging, Envy or aging, Trouble their morrow. Time, go by! go by! (With the last of this chorus, a mysterious returning light reveals Rip no longer white-bearded and old, but waggish and young again, as before his mountain sleep. Laughing, he looks round at the astounded and terror-struck Dutch folk Nicholas, Derrick, Katrina, Jan, and their row of progeny who, rigid and aghast, tumble over like rows of ninepins, as the Voice of Hendrick Hudson is heard calling.) THE VOICE OF HENDRICK A strike! A strike for Rip and Peterkee! RIP FAN WINKLE 85 (And now, the windows of the church and the porch glow with golden light; the quivering thunder of an organ, sounding within, begins mysteriously to peal, and out from the porch, in a blaze of miraculous color, troop forth fantastic forms of the old Dutch sailors Hendrick Hud- son and his Crew. Over their sailors' garb they wear bright-dyed wedding robes, and come marching in strange ceremonial. In the fairy light all other persons have disappeared, except the Children who hover, awestruck, on the dim verges of the scene and, at the centre, Rip and Peterkee, who are joined by the towering form of Hendrick Hudson, followed by Dirck.) HENDRICK Where is the bride of the King of the Mountain? ALL THE CREW (Pointing at Peterkee} Yonder! Yonder she stands! HENDRICK Where is the bride's Best Man of the Mountain ? DIRCK (Steps forward, grinning) Here, Sir! Here, Sir, I stands! HENDRICK Where is the Honey-Moon Ring of the Half Moon? RIP ( Taking a gold ring from Dirck, who hands it) Peterkee! Peterkee! Come and wear it! 86 RIP FAN WINKLE PETERKEE (Going to him joyously) Rip! Now we're King and Queen! (The organ peals again. Through the church porch the miraculous light streams forth. In its radiance, Rip holds up the ring to the upturned gaze of Peterkee, and leads her, in marching processional of the Crew, Hendrick, Dirck, and the Children, toward the church a march half fairy-dance in its blithe rhythm while all of them sing y in chorus:} ALL Who shall wear the Half Moon ring? The one who climbs, who climbs in the clouds! The one who hears the night-bird sing, And sees the Moon-Ship cast her shrouds: For it's hoy, ahoy, ahoy, ahoy! The Half Moon Ship is the Ship of Joy As she follows the Honey-Moon over and under, And their fairy mates are Queen and King, For the fairy life is a-wayfaring, And the home of the heart is wonder. THE END Also by Percy MacKaye: WASHINGTON THE MAN WHO MADE US A Ballad Play "Mr. MacKaye has given us in this work a new form for the theatre, for which we must be grateful; but beyond and away above the form in importance stands the play itself. Here we have some- thing worthy of our country." New York Tribune. "By a striking invention, the author is able to carry his story along without halting, and at times to fuse both past and present." New York Sun. "In intent and spirit it is wholly admirable, sturdily American, broad-minded, fervid in maintaining the principles of liberty and brotherhood for mankind." The Nation. "Mr. MacKaye has conceived a work that upon historical back- ground shows the trend of the momentous happenings of today and gives a glimpse of the import of the future." New York Telegraph. Of Alexander Hamilton, as depicted in Mr. MacKaye's play "Washington," Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton, his grandson, writes in a letter to the author: "No one has ever grasped Hamilton's character as have you." "As acted (in French translation) by Pierre de Lanux at the Theatre du Vieux Colombier, New York, Jacques Copeau and Percy MacKaye have done the thrilling job of giving us a new Washington, a magnetic, passionate, resourceful, lovable human being." Anne Herendeen, in Everybody's Magazine. "Why has George Washington never been 'starred' on the Ameri- can stage? The most impressive and dramatic figure of our history, the First Citizen has never authoritatively had the boards till now in the ballad play of Percy MacKaye." Samuel Hopkins Adams, in Collier's Weekly. With six scene designs by ROBERT EDMUND JONES $1.75 net at all bookshops UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 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