THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Crying in the midst of the music of the morning._] Let him live!
THE JAY
[_Again darting past._] Ha, ha!
A CUCKOO
[_In the distance._] Cuckoo!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
I abdicate!
PATOU
[_Lifting his eyes heavenward._] She abdicates!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
Forgive, O Light, to whom I dared dispute him! Dazzle the eye taking
aim, and be victory awarded, O Sunbeams--
THE JAY _and the_ CUCKOO
[_Far away._] Ha! Cuckoo!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
--to your powder of gold--[_A shot. She gives a sharp cry, ending in a
dying voice._]--over man's black powder! [_Silence._]
CHANTECLER'S VOICE
[_Very far away._] Cock-a-doodle-doo!
ALL
[_In a glad cry._] Saved!
THE RABBITS
[_Capering gaily out of their burrows._] Let us turn somersets among the
thyme!
A VOICE
[_Fresh and solemn, among the trees._] O God of birds!
THE RABBITS
[_Stopping short in their antics stand abruptly still; soberly._] The
morning prayer!
THE WOODPECKER
[_Crying to the_ PHEASANT-HEN.] They are coming to examine the trap!
THE PHEASANT-HEN
[_Closes her eyes in resignation._] So be it!
THE VOICE IN THE TREES
God by whose grace we wake to this new day--
PATOU
[_Before leaving._] Hush! Drop the curtain! Men folk are coming! [_Off._]
[_All the woodland creatures hide. The_ PHEASANT-HEN _is left alone,
and, held down by the snare, with spread wings and panting breast,
awaits the approach of the giant.
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