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Cupid:
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(playing with his bows and arrows.)
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Apollo:
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(elated after his recent victory.) What have you to do with warlike weapons, saucy boy? Leave them for hands worthy of them. Behold the conquest that I have won by means of them over the vast serpent Python who stretched his poisonous body over acres of plains: Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up your flames, as you call them, where you will be, but presume not to meddle with my weapons.
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Cupid:
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Your arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall.strike you, This gold and sharp-pointed arrow will incite love and it is meant for you, while this blunt one tipped with lead will repel love and so will Daphne repel you.
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Apollo:
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I am in love and I long to obtain her. Her hair flung loose over her shoulders is so charming in disorder, what would it be if arranged? Her eyes are as bright as stars, Her lips. . . Her lips, I am not satisfied with only seeing them. (He tries to approach her,) Stay, daughter of Peneus; I am not a foe, Do not fly me as a lamb flies the wolf(or a dove a hawk, It is for love that I pursue you, You make me miserable, for fear you shall fall and hurt yourself on these stones, and I should be the cause, Pray run slower, and I will follow slower. I am no clown, no rude peasant, Jupiter is my father, and I am lord of Delphos and Tenedos, and know all things present and future, I am the god of song and Iyre, My arrows fly true to the mark; but alas: an arrow more fatal than mine has pierced my heart: I am the god of medicine, and know the virtues of all healing plants, Alas I suffer a malady that no balm can cure.
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Daphne:
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(moves farther away, but he gains upon her.) Help me, Peneus: open the earth and enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger, (As she speaks, she is transformed into a tree.)
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Apollo:
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(stands amazed and he touches the new tree.) Since you can not be my wife, you shall assuredly be my tree. I will wear you for my crown, I will decorate with you my harp and my quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal pomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths for their brows, And, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall always be green, and your leaf know no decay.
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Cinyras:
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I am Cinyras, King of Cyprus, a place extremely.sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, This is my daughter Myrrha.
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Myrrha (tree):
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Yes, I am Myrrha, daughter, of Cinyras, As you can see I have been changed into a tree-the myrrh tree, and I shed tears of Frankincense, so foul a deed have I committed, At first, at the prime of my youth, I was courted by the finest suitors, but I unwittingly ignored Aphrodite, a goddess never to be spurned,
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Aphrodite:
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By her ignoring me, I planted a passion in her for her father which, as hard as she tried to resist it, overwhelmed her, Through the wiles of her nurse, she managed to spend several nights with him.
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Cinyras:
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Let me get a light, (Horrified) what have I done: (he grabs a spear to kill her)
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Myrrha (woman):
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(escapes into the woods, crying) ‘Oh, gods, if any of you have mercy on those who repent, pity me now, I have done wrong, I know that. I am deserving of punishment, it is right that I mix with neither the living nor the dead, so foul a deed I have committed, therefore, disguise me, so that no one may recognize me in my shame.
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Myrrha (tree):
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A compassionate deity heard my prayer—perhaps it was Aphrodite. A child, however, was conceived in that union and Aphrodite helped his birth. I had a splendidly beautiful son. His name was Adonis.
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Aphrodite:
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He is so beautiful and I love him so; yet, I am concerned for his safety, I shall conceal the boy in a chest and entrust him to Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, for safekeeping, (enter Persephone,)
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Aphrodite:
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Persephone, Goddess of the underworld, would you mind taking care of this chest for me.
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Persephone:
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Why of course, Aphrodite, goddess of love, (Aphrodite leaves) Hum, I wonder what is so valuable that she keeps it locked, I shall open it to satisfy my curiosity, Oh, my word, he is gorgeous. I believe that I have fallen in love.
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Aphrodite:
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(returns to find Persephone and Adonis) What is the meaning of this (angrily)? He is mine!
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Persephone:
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No, I want him! (A dispute arises with bickering back and forth.)
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Aphrodite:
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I shall call Zeus to arbitrate. Oh, mighty Zeus please show your form and help settle this dispute.
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Zeus:
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I am here watching and I don’t like what I am seeing, I have decided to let the boy spend one-third of the year with you, Aphrodite; the other third with you Persephone, and the final third Adonis, you may spend as you wish by yourself,
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Adonis:
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Oh, mighty and powerful Zeus, I would like to relinquish my own four months and spend them also with Aphrodite.
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Persephone:
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That mortal does fill me with jealousy. I shall in turn seek my revenge, (Ares enters) Ares, are you not always eager for Aphrodite’s place to a paltry human being, Aphrodite has found a new love,
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Ares:
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What:? If what you say is true, I shall get my revenge upon this mortal man, (Artemis enters) Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, I prevail upon you to assist me in my revenge.
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Artemis:
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Of course, I shall assist you.
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Myrrha (tree):
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Adonis, my son, used to spend much of his time in the forests, often hunting. On one of these occasions he came across a boar. He shot at the boar but only wounded it, The animal, overcome by pain and rage, counterattacked his assailant and gored him in the groin, Some say that the boar was sent by Artemis, others say that the boar was disguised Ares; still others suggest that neither Artemis nor Ares had any part in the deed, At any rate, my beautiful Adonis was dead.
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Cinyras:
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Aphrodite heard his dying groans and went to him but it was too late. She kissed him, The mountains, the rivers, and the flowers wept with her, But Persephone had had her revenger the fair Adonis is with her still and she will never have to share him.
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Aphrodite:
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I shall sprinkle the blood from his wound with nectar. These flowers that are springing up are the same color as blood, They shall be called ‘anemone‘ or ‘wind flower‘ because it blossoms only when the wind blows, yet, it is so fragile that it often falls from those very winds. I do now summon the beast that so meanly deprived me of my beloved Adonis.
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Boar (pleading):
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Cytherea, I swear to you that I did not want to wound him, but when I saw him I was so taken by his beauty that I sought merely to kiss him, that was my only intention; little did I realize the force of my kiss.
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Aphrodite:
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I understand what you are saying, I shall spare you and show you pity.
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Narrator:
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Pyramus was the handsomest youth, and Thisbe the fairest maiden in all Babylonia, Their parents occupied adjoining houses; and neighborhood brought the young people together, and acquaintance ripened into love. They wanted to marry so desperately but their parents forbade it.
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2nd Narrator:
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They conversed by signs and glances, and the fire burned more intensely for being covered up, In the wall that parted the two houses, there was a crack, caused by some fault in the structure, No one had remarked it before, but the lovers discovered it, What will not love discover! It afforded a passage to the voice; and tender messages used to pass backward and forward through the gap. As they_ stood Pyramus on this side, Thisbe on that, their breaths would mingle,
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Pyramus:
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Cruel wall! Why do you keep us apart? We love each other so,
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Thisbe:
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But we will not be ungrateful, Pyramus,
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Pyramus:
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Of course not! We owe you, wall, we confess, the privilege of transmitting loving words to willing ears,
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Thisbe:
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Pyramus, my love grows with each new day, And ft is now night and we must bid each other farewell, (they press their lips upon the wall)
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Pyramus:
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Goodnight my love. We must wait for Aurora to put out the stars in order to exchange a new love song, (they leave)
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Pyramus:
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My lovely This be, how cruel fate has been to us! We must take matters in our own hands. I can not bear the thought of spending one more lonely night without you.
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Thisbe:
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Oh, love of my life. What are we to do to change such a pitiless destiny,
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Pyramus:
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We shall slip away this night from the ever watchful eyes of our families, We shall leave our dwellings and walk out into the fields. We shall meet at the city’s bounds called the Tomb of Ninus, Whoever arrives first shall wait for the other at the foot of the mulberry tree which stands by a cool spring.
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Thisbe:
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My love, I shall follow you to the ends of the earth. (they kiss the wall and they leave)
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Pyramus:
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What is this? (picking up the veil) Oh hapless girl! I have been the cause of thy death: Thou more worthy of life than I hast fallen the first victim. I will follow, I am the guilty cause in tempting thee forth to a place of such peril and not being myself on the spot to guard thee, Come forth, ye lions, (crying and screaming at the same time) from the rocks and tear this guilty body with your teeth, (He takes the veil and covers it with kisses and tears,) My blood also shall stain your texture. (He draws his sword and plunges it into his heart,)
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Narrator l:
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The blood spurted from the wound, and tinged the white mulberries of the tree all red; and sinking into the earth reached the roots, so that the red color mounted the trunk to the fruit.
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Narrator II:
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By this time, Thisbe, still trembling with fear, yet wishing not to disappoint her lover stepped cautiously forth, looking anxiously for the youth, eager to tell him the danger she had escaped.
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Thisbe:
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(seeing the mulberries she doubts that she is at the same place) I do not believe that I am in the same place, these mulberries are red; the mulberries of the tree before were white.
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Pyramus:
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(making noises of one struggling in the agonies of death)
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Thisbe:
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(She takes two steps backwards in fear) She recognizes her lover and screams and beats her breast. She then goes to embrace his lifeless body, pouring tears into its wounds and imprinting kisses on the cold lips,) Oh Pyramus, what has done this? Answer me Pyramus; it is your Thisbe that speaks. Hear me, dearest, and lift that drooping head,
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Pyramus:
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(Upon hearing the name of Thisbe, opens his eyes, and then closes them again,)
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Thisbe:
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(She looks at the veil and then at his sword and she understands) Thy own hand has slain thee, and for my sake, I too can be brave for once, and my love is as strong as thine, I will follow thee in death for I have been the causer and death which alone could part us shall not prevent my joining thee, And ye, unhappy parents of us both, deny us not our united request, As love and death have joinedµ us, let one tomb contain us. And thou, tree retain the marks of slaughter, Let thy berries still serve for memorials of our blood, (so saying, she plunges the sword into her breast.)
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Narrator I:
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Her parents ratified her wish, The gods also ratified it. The two bodies were buried in one sepulchre and the tree ever after brought forth purple berries, as it does this day.
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