APOLLODORUS. Place the most delicate glass goblet in the palace in the
heart of the roll, Queen; and if it be broken, my head shall pay for it.

CLEOPATRA. Good. Come, Ftatateeta. (Ftatateeta comes to her. Apollodorus
offers to squire them into the palace.) No, Apollodorus, you must not
come. I will choose a carpet for myself. You must wait here. (She runs
into the palace.)

APOLLODORUS (to the porters). Follow this lady (indicating Ftatateeta);
and obey her.

The porters rise and take up their bales.

FTATATEETA (addressing the porters as if they were vermin). This way.
And take your shoes off before you put your feet on those stairs.

She goes in, followed by the porters with the carpets. Meanwhile
Apollodorus goes to the edge of the quay and looks out over the harbor.
The sentinels keep their eyes on him malignantly.

APOLLODORUS (addressing the sentinel). My friend--

SENTINEL (rudely). Silence there.

FIRST AUXILIARY. Shut your muzzle, you.

SECOND AUXILIARY (in a half whisper, glancing apprehensively towards the
north end of the quay). Can't you wait a bit?

APOLLODORUS. Patience, worthy three-headed donkey. (They mutter
ferociously; but he is not at all intimidated.) Listen: were you set
here to watch me, or to watch the Egyptians?

SENTINEL. We know our duty.

APOLLODORUS. Then why don't you do it? There's something going on over
there. (Pointing southwestward to the mole.)

SENTINEL (sulkily). I do not need to be told what to do by the like of
you.

APOLLODORUS. Blockhead. (He begins shouting) Ho there, Centurion. Hoiho!

SENTINEL. Curse your meddling. (Shouting) Hoiho! Alarm! Alarm!

FIRST AND SECOND AUXILIARIES. Alarm! alarm! Hoiho!

The Centurion comes running in with his guard.

CENTURION. What now? Has the old woman attacked you again? (Seeing
Apollodorus) Are YOU here still?

APOLLODORUS (pointing as before). See there. The Egyptians are moving.
They are going to recapture the Pharos. They will attack by sea and
land: by land along the great mole; by sea from the west harbor. Stir
yourselves, my military friends: the hunt is up. (A clangor of trumpets
from several points along the quay.) Aha! I told you so.

CENTURION (quickly). The two extra men pass the alarm to the south
posts. One man keep guard here. The rest with me--quick.

The two auxiliary sentinels run off to the south. The Centurion and his
guard run of northward; and immediately afterwards the bucina sounds.
The four porters come from the palace carrying a carpet, followed by
Ftatateeta.

SENTINEL (handling his pilum apprehensively). You again! (The porters
stop.)

FTATATEETA. Peace, Roman fellow: you are now single-handed. Apollodorus:
this carpet is Cleopatra's present to Caesar. It has rolled up in it ten
precious goblets of the thinnest Iberian crystal, and a hundred eggs of
the sacred blue pigeon. On your honor, let not one of them be broken.

APOLLODORUS. On my head be it. (To the porters) Into the boat with them
carefully.

The porters carry the carpet to the steps.

FIRST PORTER (looking down at the boat). Beware what you do, sir. Those
eggs of which the lady speaks must weigh more than a pound apiece. This
boat is too small for such a load.

BOATMAN (excitedly rushing up the steps). Oh thou injurious porter! Oh
thou unnatural son of a she-camel! (To Apollodorus) My boat, sir, hath
often carried five men. Shall it not carry your lordship and a bale of
pigeons' eggs? (To the porter) Thou mangey dromedary, the gods shall
punish thee for this envious wickedness.

FIRST PORTER (stolidly). I cannot quit this bale now to beat thee; but
another day I will lie in wait for thee.

APPOLODORUS (going between them). Peace there. If the boat were but a
single plank, I would get to Caesar on it.

FTATATEETA (anxiously). In the name of the gods, Apollodorus, run no
risks with that bale.

APOLLODORUS. Fear not, thou venerable grotesque: I guess its great
worth. (To the porters) Down with it, I say; and gently; or ye shall eat
nothing but stick for ten days.

The boatman goes down the steps, followed by the porters with the bale:
Ftatateeta and Apollodorus watching from the edge.

APOLLODORUS. Gently, my sons, my children--(with sudden alarm) gently,
ye dogs. Lay it level in the stern--so--'tis well.

FTATATEETA (screaming down at one of the porters). Do not step on it, do
not step on it. Oh thou brute beast!

FIRST PORTER (ascending). Be not excited, mistress: all is well.

FTATATEETA (panting). All well! Oh, thou hast given my heart a turn!
(She clutches her side, gasping.)

The four porters have now come up and are waiting at the stairhead to be
paid.

APOLLODORUS. Here, ye hungry ones. (He gives money to the first porter,
who holds it in his hand to show to the others. They crowd greedily
to see how much it is, quite prepared, after the Eastern fashion, to
protest to heaven against their patron's stinginess. But his liberality
overpowers them.)

FIRST PORTER. O bounteous prince!

SECOND PORTER. O lord of the bazaar!

THIRD PORTER. O favored of the gods!

FOURTH PORTER. O father to all the porters of the market!

SENTINEL (enviously, threatening them fiercely with his pilum). Hence,
dogs: off. Out of this. (They fly before him northward along the quay.)

APOLLODORUS. Farewell, Ftatateeta. I shall be at the lighthouse before
the Egyptians. (He descends the steps.)

FTATATEETA. The gods speed thee and protect my nursling!

The sentry returns from chasing the porters and looks down at the boat,
standing near the stairhead lest Ftatateeta should attempt to escape.

APOLLODORUS (from beneath, as the boat moves off). Farewell, valiant
pilum pitcher.

SENTINEL. Farewell shopkeeper.

APOLLODORUS. Ha, ha! Pull, thou brave boatman, pull. So Ho-o-o-o-o! (He
begins to sing in barcarolle measure to the rhythm of the oars)

My heart, my heart, spread out thy wings: Shake off thy heavy load of
love--

Give me the oars, O son of a snail.

SENTINEL (threatening Ftatateeta). Now mistress: back to your henhouse.
In with you.

FTATATEETA (falling on her knees and stretching her hands over the
waters). Gods of the seas, bear her safely to the shore!

SENTINEL. Bear WHO safely? What do you mean?

FTATATEETA (looking darkly at him). Gods of Egypt and of Vengeance, let
this Roman fool be beaten like a dog by his captain for suffering her to
be taken over the waters.

SENTINEL. Accursed one: is she then in the boat? (He calls over the sea)
Hoiho, there, boatman! Hoiho!

APOLLODORUS (singing in the distance). My heart, my heart, be whole and
free: Love is thine only enemy.

Meanwhile Rufio, the morning's fighting done, sits munching dates on
a faggot of brushwood outside the door of the lighthouse, which towers
gigantic to the clouds on his left. His helmet, full of dates, is
between his knees; and a leathern bottle of wine is by his side. Behind
him the great stone pedestal of the lighthouse is shut in from the open
sea by a low stone parapet, with a couple of steps in the middle to the
broad coping. A huge chain with a hook hangs down from the lighthouse
crane above his head. Faggots like the one he sits on lie beneath it
ready to be drawn up to feed the beacon.

Caesar is standing on the step at the parapet looking out anxiously,
evidently ill at ease. Britannus comes out of the lighthouse door.

RUFIO. Well, my British islander. Have you been up to the top?

BRITANNUS. I have. I reckon it at 200 feet high.

RUFIO. Anybody up there?

BRITANNUS. One elderly Tyrian to work the crane; and his son, a well
conducted youth of 14.

RUFIO (looking at the chain). What! An old man and a boy work that!
Twenty men, you mean.

BRITANNUS. Two only, I assure you. They have counterweights, and a
machine with boiling water in it which I do not understand: it is not
of British design. They use it to haul up barrels of oil and faggots to
burn in the brazier on the roof.

RUFIO. But--

BRITANNUS. Excuse me: I came down because there are messengers coming
along the mole to us from the island. I must see what their business is.
(He hurries out past the lighthouse.)

CAESAR (coming away from the parapet, shivering and out of sorts).
Rufio: this has been a mad expedition. We shall be beaten. I wish I knew
how our men are getting on with that barricade across the great mole.

RUFIO (angrily). Must I leave my food and go starving to bring you a
report?

CAESAR (soothing him nervously). No, Rufio, no. Eat, my son. Eat. (He
takes another turn, Rufio chewing dates meanwhile.) The Egyptians cannot
be such fools as not to storm the barricade and swoop down on us here
before it is finished. It is the first time I have ever run an avoidable
risk. I should not have come to Egypt.

RUFIO. An hour ago you were all for victory.

CAESAR (apologetically). Yes: I was a fool--rash, Rufio--boyish.

RUFIO. Boyish! Not a bit of it. Here. (Offering him a handful of dates.)

CAESAR. What are these for?

RUFIO. To eat. That's what's the matter with you. When a man comes to
your age, he runs down before his midday meal. Eat and drink; and then
have another look at our chances.

CAESAR (taking the dates). My age! (He shakes his head and bites a
date.) Yes, Rufio: I am an old man--worn out now--true, quite true. (He
gives way to melancholy contemplation, and eats another date.) Achillas
is still in his prime: Ptolemy is a boy. (He eats another date, and
plucks up a little.) Well, every dog has his day; and I have had mine:
I cannot complain. (With sudden cheerfulness) These dates are not bad,
Rufio. (Britannus returns, greatly excited, with a leathern bag. Caesar
is himself again in a moment.) What now?

BRITANNUS (triumphantly). Our brave Rhodian mariners have captured a
treasure. There! (He throws the bag down at Caesar's feet.) Our enemies
are delivered into our hands.

CAESAR. In that bag?

BRITANNUS. Wait till you hear, Caesar. This bag contains all the letters
which have passed between Pompey's party and the army of occupation
here.

CAESAR. Well?

BRITANNUS (impatient of Caesar's slowness to grasp the situation).
Well, we shall now know who your foes are. The name of every man who
has plotted against you since you crossed the Rubicon may be in these
papers, for all we know.

CAESAR. Put them in the fire.

BRITANNUS. Put them--(he gasps)!!!!

CAESAR. In the fire. Would you have me waste the next three years of
my life in proscribing and condemning men who will be my friends when
I have proved that my friendship is worth more than Pompey's was--than
Cato's is. O incorrigible British islander: am I a bull dog, to seek
quarrels merely to show how stubborn my jaws are?

BRITANNUS. But your honor--the honor of Rome--

CAESAR. I do not make human sacrifices to my honor, as your Druids do.
Since you will not burn these, at least I can drown them. (He picks up
the bag and throws it over the parapet into the sea.)

BRITANNUS. Caesar: this is mere eccentricity. Are traitors to be allowed
to go free for the sake of a paradox?

RUFIO (rising). Caesar: when the islander has finished preaching, call
me again. I am going to have a look at the boiling water machine. (He
goes into the lighthouse.)

BRITANNUS (with genuine feeling). O Caesar, my great master, if I could
but persuade you to regard life seriously, as men do in my country!

CAESAR. Do they truly do so, Britannus?

BRITANNUS. Have you not been there? Have you not seen them? What Briton
speaks as you do in your moments of levity? What Briton neglects to
attend the services at the sacred grove? What Briton wears clothes
of many colors as you do, instead of plain blue, as all solid, well
esteemed men should? These are moral questions with us. CAESAR. Well,
well, my friend: some day I shall settle down and have a blue toga,
perhaps. Meanwhile, I must get on as best I can in my flippant Roman
way. (Apollodorus comes past the lighthouse.) What now?

BRITANNUS (turning quickly, and challenging the stranger with official
haughtiness). What is this? Who are you? How did you come here?

APOLLODORUS. Calm yourself, my friend: I am not going to eat you. I have
come by boat, from Alexandria, with precious gifts for Caesar.

CAESAR. From Alexandria!

BRITANNUS (severely). That is Caesar, sir.

RUFIO (appearing at the lighthouse door). What's the matter now?

APOLLODORUS. Hail, great Caesar! I am Apollodorus the Sicilian, an
artist.

BRITANNUS. An artist! Why have they admitted this vagabond?

CAESAR. Peace, man. Apollodorus is a famous patrician amateur.

BRITANNUS (disconcerted). I crave the gentleman's pardon. (To Caesar)
I understood him to say that he was a professional. (Somewhat out of
countenance, he allows Apollodorus to approach Caesar, changing places
with him. Rufio, after looking Apollodorus up and down with marked
disparagement, goes to the other side of the platform.)

CAESAR. You are welcome, Apollodorus. What is your business?

APOLLODORUS. First, to deliver to you a present from the Queen of
Queens.

CAESAR. Who is that?

APOLLODORUS. Cleopatra of Egypt.

CAESAR (taking him into his confidence in his most winning manner).
Apollodorus: this is no time for playing with presents. Pray you, go
back to the Queen, and tell her that if all goes well I shall return to
the palace this evening.

APOLLODORUS. Caesar: I cannot return. As I approached the lighthouse,
some fool threw a great leathern bag into the sea. It broke the nose of
my boat; and I had hardly time to get myself and my charge to the shore
before the poor little cockleshell sank.

CAESAR. I am sorry, Apollodorus. The fool shall be rebuked. Well, well:
what have you brought me? The Queen will be hurt if I do not look at it.

RUFIO. Have we time to waste on this trumpery? The Queen is only a
child.

CAESAR. Just so: that is why we must not disappoint her. What is the
present, Apollodorus?

APOLLODORUS. Caesar: it is a Persian carpet--a beauty! And in it are--so
I am told--pigeons' eggs and crystal goblets and fragile precious
things. I dare not for my head have it carried up that narrow ladder
from the causeway.

RUFIO. Swing it up by the crane, then. We will send the eggs to the
cook; drink our wine from the goblets; and the carpet will make a bed
for Caesar.

APOLLODORUS. The crane! Caesar: I have sworn to tender this bale of
carpet as I tender my own life.

CAESAR (cheerfully). Then let them swing you up at the same time; and
if the chain breaks, you and the pigeons' eggs will perish together. (He
goes to the chairs and looks up along it, examining it curiously.)

APOLLODORUS (to Britannus). Is Caesar serious?

BRITANNUS. His manner is frivolous because he is an Italian; but he
means what he says.

APOLLODORUS. Serious or not, he spoke well. Give me a squad of soldiers
to work the crane.

BRITANNUS. Leave the crane to me. Go and await the descent of the chain.

APOLLODORUS. Good. You will presently see me there (turning to them
all and pointing with an eloquent gesture to the sky above the parapet)
rising like the sun with my treasure.

He goes back the, way he came. Britannus goes into the lighthouse.

RUFIO (ill-humoredly). Are you really going to wait here for this
foolery, Caesar?

CAESAR (backing away from the crane as it gives signs of working). Why
not?

RUFIO. The Egyptians will let you know why not if they have the sense
to make a rush from the shore end of the mole before our barricade is
finished. And here we are waiting like children to see a carpet full of
pigeons' eggs.

The chain rattles, and is drawn up high enough to clear the parapet. It
then swings round out of sight behind the lighthouse.

CAESAR. Fear not, my son Rufio. When the first Egyptian takes his first
step along the mole, the alarm will sound; and we two will reach the
barricade from our end before the Egyptians reach it from their end--we
two, Rufio: I, the old man, and you, his biggest boy. And the old man
will be there first. So peace; and give me some more dates.

APOLLODORUS (from the causeway below). So-ho, haul away. So-ho-o-o-o!
(The chain is drawn up and comes round again from behind the lighthouse.
Apollodorus is swinging in the air with his bale of carpet at the end of
it. He breaks into song as he soars above the parapet.)

Aloft, aloft, behold the blue That never shone in woman's eyes

Easy there: stop her. (He ceases to rise.) Further round! (The chain
comes forward above the platform.)

RUFIO (calling up). Lower away there. (The chain and its load begin to
descend.)

APOLLODORUS (calling up). Gently--slowly--mind the eggs.

RUFIO (calling up). Easy there--slowly--slowly.

Apollodorus and the bale are deposited safely on the flags in the middle
of the platform. Rufio and Caesar help Apollodorus to cast off the chain
from the bale.

RUFIO. Haul up.

The chain rises clear of their heads with a rattle. Britannus comes from
the lighthouse and helps them to uncord the carpet.

APOLLODORUS (when the cords are loose). Stand off, my friends: let
Caesar see. (He throws the carpet open.)

RUFIO. Nothing but a heap of shawls. Where are the pigeons' eggs?

APOLLODORUS. Approach, Caesar; and search for them among the shawls.

RUFIO (drawing his sword). Ha, treachery! Keep back, Caesar: I saw the
shawl move: there is something alive there.

BRITANNUS (drawing his sword). It is a serpent.

APOLLODORUS. Dares Caesar thrust his hand into the sack where the
serpent moves?

RUFIO (turning on him). Treacherous dog--

CAESAR. Peace. Put up your swords. Apollodorus: your serpent seems to
breathe very regularly. (He thrusts his hand under the shawls and draws
out a bare arm.) This is a pretty little snake.

RUFIO (drawing out the other arm). Let us have the rest of you.

They pull Cleopatra up by the wrists into a sitting position. Britannus,
scandalized, sheathes his sword with a drive of protest.

CLEOPATRA (gasping). Oh, I'm smothered. Oh, Caesar; a man stood on me in
the boat; and a great sack of something fell upon me out of the sky;
and then the boat sank, and then I was swung up into the air and bumped
down.

CAESAR (petting her as she rises and takes refuge on his breast). Well,
never mind: here you are safe and sound at last.

RUFIO. Ay; and now that she is here, what are we to do with her?

BRITANNUS. She cannot stay here, Caesar, without the companionship of
some matron.

CLEOPATRA (jealously, to Caesar, who is obviously perplexed). Aren't you
glad to see me?

CAESAR. Yes, yes; I am very glad. But Rufio is very angry; and Britannus
is shocked.

CLEOPATRA (contemptuously). You can have their heads cut off, can you
not?

CAESAR. They would not be so useful with their heads cut off as they are
now, my sea bird.

RUFIO (to Cleopatra). We shall have to go away presently and cut some
of your Egyptians' heads off. How will you like being left here with
the chance of being captured by that little brother of yours if we are
beaten?

CLEOPATRA. But you mustn't leave me alone. Caesar you will not leave me
alone, will you?

RUFIO. What! Not when the trumpet sounds and all our lives depend on
Caesar's being at the barricade before the Egyptians reach it? Eh?

CLEOPATRA. Let them lose their lives: they are only soldiers.

CAESAR (gravely). Cleopatra: when that trumpet sounds, we must take
every man his life in his hand, and throw it in the face of Death. And
of my soldiers who have trusted me there is not one whose hand I shall
not hold more sacred than your head. (Cleopatra is overwhelmed. Her eyes
fill with tears.) Apollodorus: you must take her back to the palace.

APOLLODORUS. Am I a dolphin, Caesar, to cross the seas with young ladies
on my back? My boat is sunk: all yours are either at the barricade or
have returned to the city. I will hail one if I can: that is all I can
do. (He goes back to the causeway.)

CLEOPATRA (struggling with her tears). It does not matter. I will not go
back. Nobody cares for me.

CAESAR. Cleopatra--

CLEOPATRA. You want me to be killed.

CAESAR (still more gravely). My poor child: your life matters little
here to anyone but yourself. (She gives way altogether at this, casting
herself down on the faggots weeping. Suddenly a great tumult is heard in
the distance, bucinas and trumpets sounding through a storm of shouting.
Britannus rushes to the parapet and looks along the mole. Caesar and
Rufio turn to one another with quick intelligence.)

CAESAR. Come, Rufio.

CLEOPATRA (scrambling to her knees and clinging to him). No, no. Do not
leave me, Caesar. (He snatches his skirt from her clutch.) Oh!

BRITANNUS (from the parapet). Caesar: we are cut off. The Egyptians have
landed from the west harbor between us and the barricade!!!

RUFIO (running to see). Curses! It is true. We are caught like rats in a
trap.

CAESAR (ruthfully). Rufio, Rufio: my men at the barricade are between
the sea party and the shore party. I have murdered them.

RUFIO (coming back from the parapet to Caesar's right hand). Ay: that
comes of fooling with this girl here.

APOLLODORUS (coming up quickly from the causeway). Look over the
parapet, Caesar.

CAESAR. We have looked, my friend. We must defend ourselves here.

APOLLODORUS. I have thrown the ladder into the sea. They cannot get in
without it.

RUFIO. Ay; and we cannot get out. Have you thought of that?

APOLLODORUS. Not get out! Why not? You have ships in the east harbor.

BRITANNUS (hopefully, at the parapet). The Rhodian galleys are standing
in towards us already. (Caesar quickly joins Britannus at the parapet.)

RUFIO (to Apollodorus, impatiently). And by what road are we to walk to
the galleys, pray?

APOLLODORUS (with gay, defiant rhetoric). By the road that leads
everywhere--the diamond path of the sun and moon. Have you never seen
the child's shadow play of The Broken Bridge? "Ducks and geese with ease
get over"--eh? (He throws away his cloak and cap, and binds his sword on
his back.)

RUFIO. What are you talking about?

APOLLODORUS. I will show you. (Calling to Britannus) How far off is the
nearest galley?

BRITANNUS. Fifty fathom.

CAESAR. No, no: they are further off than they seem in this clear air to
your British eyes. Nearly quarter of a mile, Apollodorus.

APOLLODORUS. Good. Defend yourselves here until I send you a boat from
that galley.

RUFIO. Have you wings, perhaps?

APOLLODORUS. Water wings, soldier. Behold!

He runs up the steps between Caesar and Britannus to the coping of the
parapet; springs into the air; and plunges head foremost into the sea.

CAESAR (like a schoolboy--wildly excited). Bravo, bravo! (Throwing off
his cloak) By Jupiter, I will do that too.

RUFIO (seizing him). You are mad. You shall not.

CAESAR. Why not? Can I not swim as well as he?

RUFIO (frantic). Can an old fool dive and swim like a young one? He is
twenty-five and you are fifty.

CAESAR (breaking loose from Rufio). Old!!!

BRITANNUS (shocked). Rufio: you forget yourself.

CAESAR. I will race you to the galley for a week's pay, father Rufio.

CLEOPATRA. But me! Me!! Me!!! What is to become of me?

CAESAR. I will carry you on my back to the galley like a dolphin. Rufio:
when you see me rise to the surface, throw her in: I will answer for
her. And then in with you after her, both of you.

CLEOPATRA. No, no, NO. I shall be drowned.

BRITANNUS. Caesar: I am a man and a Briton, not a fish. I must have a
boat. I cannot swim.

CLEOPATRA. Neither can I.

CAESAR (to Britannus). Stay here, then, alone, until I recapture the
lighthouse: I will not forget you. Now, Rufio.

RUFIO. You have made up your mind to this folly?

CAESAR. The Egyptians have made it up for me. What else is there to do?
And mind where you jump: I do not want to get your fourteen stone in the
small of my back as I come up. (He runs up the steps and stands on the
coping.)

BRITANNUS (anxiously). One last word, Caesar. Do not let yourself be
seen in the fashionable part of Alexandria until you have changed your
clothes.

CAESAR (calling over the sea). Ho, Apollodorus: (he points skyward and
quotes the barcarolle)

The white upon the blue above--

APOLLODORUS (swimming in the distance)

Is purple on the green below--

CAESAR (exultantly). Aha! (He plunges into the sea.)

CLEOPATRA (running excitedly to the steps). Oh, let me see. He will be
drowned. (Rufio seizes her.) Ah--ah--ah--ah! (He pitches her screaming
into the sea. Rufio and Britannus roar with laughter.)

RUFIO (looking down after her). He has got her. (To Britannus) Hold the
fort, Briton. Caesar will not forget you. (He springs off.)

BRITANNUS (running to the steps to watch them as they swim). All safe,
Rufio?

RUFIO (swimming). All safe.

CAESAR (swimming further of). Take refuge up there by the beacon; and
pile the fuel on the trap door, Britannus.

BRITANNUS (calling in reply). I will first do so, and then commend
myself to my country's gods. (A sound of cheering from the sea.
Britannus gives full vent to his excitement) The boat has reached him:
Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!




ACT IV

Cleopatra's sousing in the east harbor of Alexandria was in October 48
B. C. In March 47 she is passing the afternoon in her boudoir in the
palace, among a bevy of her ladies, listening to a slave girl who is
playing the harp in the middle of the room. The harpist's master, an old
musician, with a lined face, prominent brows, white beard, moustache
and eyebrows twisted and horned at the ends, and a consciously keen and
pretentious expression, is squatting on the floor close to her on her
right, watching her performance. Ftatateeta is in attendance near the
door, in front of a group of female slaves. Except the harp player all
are seated: Cleopatra in a chair opposite the door on the other side of
the room; the rest on the ground. Cleopatra's ladies are all young, the
most conspicuous being Charmian and Iras, her favorites. Charmian is
a hatchet faced, terra cotta colored little goblin, swift in her
movements, and neatly finished at the hands and feet. Iras is a plump,
goodnatured creature, rather fatuous, with a profusion of red hair, and
a tendency to giggle on the slightest provocation.

CLEOPATRA. Can I--

FTATATEETA (insolently, to the player). Peace, thou! The Queen speaks.
(The player stops.)

CLEOPATRA (to the old musician). I want to learn to play the harp with
my own hands. Caesar loves music. Can you teach me?

MUSICIAN. Assuredly I and no one else can teach the Queen. Have I not
discovered the lost method of the ancient Egyptians, who could make a
pyramid tremble by touching a bass string? All the other teachers are
quacks: I have exposed them repeatedly.

CLEOPATRA. Good: you shall teach me. How long will it take?

MUSICIAN. Not very long: only four years. Your Majesty must first become
proficient in the philosophy of Pythagoras.

CLEOPATRA. Has she (indicating the slave) become proficient in the
philosophy of Pythagoras?

MUSICIAN. Oh, she is but a slave. She learns as a dog learns.

CLEOPATRA. Well, then, I will learn as a dog learns; for she plays
better than you. You shall give me a lesson every day for a fortnight.
(The musician hastily scrambles to his feet and bows profoundly.) After
that, whenever I strike a false note you shall be flogged; and if I
strike so many that there is not time to flog you, you shall be thrown
into the Nile to feed the crocodiles. Give the girl a piece of gold; and
send them away.

MUSICIAN (much taken aback). But true art will not be thus forced.

FTATATEETA (pushing him out). What is this? Answering the Queen,
forsooth. Out with you.

He is pushed out by Ftatateeta, the girl following with her harp, amid
the laughter of the ladies and slaves.

CLEOPATRA. Now, can any of you amuse me? Have you any stories or any
news?

IRAS. Ftatateeta--

CLEOPATRA. Oh, Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta, always Ftatateeta. Some new tale
to set me against her.

IRAS. No: this time Ftatateeta has been virtuous. (All the ladies
laugh--not the slaves.) Pothinus has been trying to bribe her to let him
speak with you.

CLEOPATRA (wrathfully). Ha! You all sell audiences with me, as if I saw
whom you please, and not whom I please. I should like to know how much
of her gold piece that harp girl will have to give up before she leaves
the palace.

IRAS. We can easily find out that for you.

The ladies laugh.

CLEOPATRA (frowning). You laugh; but take care, take care. I will find
out some day how to make myself served as Caesar is served.

CHARMIAN. Old hooknose! (They laugh again.)

CLEOPATRA (revolted). Silence. Charmian: do not you be a silly little
Egyptian fool. Do you know why I allow you all to chatter impertinently
just as you please, instead of treating you as Ftatateeta would treat
you if she were Queen?

CHARMIAN. Because you try to imitate Caesar in everything; and he lets
everybody say what they please to him.

CLEOPATRA. No; but because I asked him one day why he did so; and he
said "Let your women talk; and you will learn something from them." What
have I to learn from them? I said. "What they ARE," said he; and oh! you
should have seen his eye as he said it. You would have curled up, you
shallow things. (They laugh. She turns fiercely on Iras) At whom are you
laughing--at me or at Caesar?

IRAS. At Caesar.

CLEOPATRA. If you were not a fool, you would laugh at me; and if you
were not a coward you would not be afraid to tell me so. (Ftatateeta
returns.) Ftatateeta: they tell me that Pothinus has offered you a bribe
to admit him to my presence.

FTATATEETA (protesting). Now by my father's gods--

CLEOPATRA (cutting her short despotically). Have I not told you not
to deny things? You would spend the day calling your father's gods to
witness to your virtues if I let you. Go take the bribe; and bring in
Pothinus. (Ftatateeta is about to reply.) Don't answer me. Go.

Ftatateeta goes out; and Cleopatra rises and begins to prowl to and fro
between her chair and the door, meditating. All rise and stand.

IRAS (as she reluctantly rises). Heigho! I wish Caesar were back in
Rome.

CLEOPATRA (threateningly). It will be a bad day for you all when he
goes. Oh, if I were not ashamed to let him see that I am as cruel at
heart as my father, I would make you repent that speech! Why do you wish
him away?

CHARMIAN. He makes you so terribly prosy and serious and learned and
philosophical. It is worse than being religious, at OUR ages. (The
ladies laugh.)

CLEOPATRA. Cease that endless cackling, will you. Hold your tongues.

CHARMIAN (with mock resignation). Well, well: we must try to live up to
Caesar.

They laugh again. Cleopatra rages silently as she continues to prowl
to and fro. Ftatateeta comes back with Pothinus, who halts on the
threshold.

FTATATEETA (at the door). Pothinus craves the ear of the--

CLEOPATRA. There, there: that will do: let him come in.

(She resumes her seat. All sit down except Pothinus, who advances to the
middle of the room. Ftatateeta takes her former place.) Well, Pothinus:
what is the latest news from your rebel friends?

POTHINUS (haughtily). I am no friend of rebellion. And a prisoner does
not receive news.

CLEOPATRA. You are no more a prisoner than I am--than Caesar is. These
six months we have been besieged in this palace by my subjects. You
are allowed to walk on the beach among the soldiers. Can I go further
myself, or can Caesar?

POTHINUS. You are but a child, Cleopatra, and do not understand these
matters.

The ladies laugh. Cleopatra looks inscrutably at him.

CHARMIAN. I see you do not know the latest news, Pothinus.

POTHINUS. What is that?

CHARMIAN. That Cleopatra is no longer a child. Shall I tell you how to
grow much older, and much, MUCH wiser in one day?

POTHINUS. I should prefer to grow wiser without growing older.

CHARMIAN. Well, go up to the top of the lighthouse; and get somebody to
take you by the hair and throw you into the sea. (The ladies laugh.)

CLEOPATRA. She is right, Pothinus: you will come to the shore with
much conceit washed out of you. (The ladies laugh. Cleopatra rises
impatiently.) Begone, all of you. I will speak with Pothinus alone.
Drive them out, Ftatateeta. (They run out laughing. Ftatateeta shuts the
door on them.) What are YOU waiting for?

FTATATEETA. It is not meet that the Queen remain alone with--

CLEOPATRA (interrupting her). Ftatateeta: must I sacrifice you to your
father's gods to teach you that I am Queen of Egypt, and not you?

FTATATEETA (indignantly). You are like the rest of them. You want to be
what these Romans call a New Woman. (She goes out, banging the door.)

CLEOPATRA (sitting down again). Now, Pothinus: why did you bribe
Ftatateeta to bring you hither?

POTHINUS (studying her gravely). Cleopatra: what they tell me is true.
You are changed.

CLEOPATRA. Do you speak with Caesar every day for six months: and YOU
will be changed.

POTHINUS. It is the common talk that you are infatuated with this old
man.

CLEOPATRA. Infatuated? What does that mean? Made foolish, is it not? Oh
no: I wish I were.

POTHINUS. You wish you were made foolish! How so?

CLEOPATRA. When I was foolish, I did what I liked, except when
Ftatateeta beat me; and even then I cheated her and did it by stealth.
Now that Caesar has made me wise, it is no use my liking or disliking; I
do what must be done, and have no time to attend to myself. That is not
happiness; but it is greatness. If Caesar were gone, I think I could
govern the Egyptians; for what Caesar is to me, I am to the fools around
me.

POTHINUS (looking hard at her). Cleopatra: this may be the vanity of
youth.

CLEOPATRA. No, no: it is not that I am so clever, but that the others
are so stupid.

POTHINUS (musingly). Truly, that is the great secret.

CLEOPATRA. Well, now tell me what you came to say?

POTHINUS (embarrassed). I! Nothing.

CLEOPATRA. Nothing!

POTHINUS. At least--to beg for my liberty: that is all.

CLEOPATRA. For that you would have knelt to Caesar. No, Pothinus: you
came with some plan that depended on Cleopatra being a little nursery
kitten. Now that Cleopatra is a Queen, the plan is upset.

POTHINUS (bowing his head submissively). It is so.

CLEOPATRA (exultant). Aha!

POTHINUS (raising his eyes keenly to hers). Is Cleopatra then indeed a
Queen, and no longer Caesar's prisoner and slave?

CLEOPATRA. Pothinus: we are all Caesar's slaves--all we in this land of
Egypt--whether we will or no. And she who is wise enough to know this
will reign when Caesar departs.

POTHINUS. You harp on Caesar's departure.

CLEOPATRA. What if I do?

POTHINUS. Does he not love you?

CLEOPATRA. Love me! Pothinus: Caesar loves no one. Who are those we
love? Only those whom we do not hate: all people are strangers and
enemies to us except those we love. But it is not so with Caesar. He has
no hatred in him: he makes friends with everyone as he does with dogs
and children. His kindness to me is a wonder: neither mother, father,
nor nurse have ever taken so much care for me, or thrown open their
thoughts to me so freely.

POTHINUS. Well: is not this love?

CLEOPATRA. What! When he will do as much for the first girl he meets on
his way back to Rome? Ask his slave, Britannus: he has been just as good
to him. Nay, ask his very horse! His kindness is not for anything in ME:
it is in his own nature.

POTHINUS. But how can you be sure that he does not love you as men love
women?

CLEOPATRA. Because I cannot make him jealous. I have tried.

POTHINUS. Hm! Perhaps I should have asked, then, do you love him?

CLEOPATRA. Can one love a god? Besides, I love another Roman: one whom
I saw long before Caesar--no god, but a man--one who can love and
hate--one whom I can hurt and who would hurt me.

POTHINUS. Does Caesar know this?

CLEOPATRA. Yes

POTHINUS. And he is not angry.

CLEOPATRA. He promises to send him to Egypt to please me!

POTHINUS. I do not understand this man?

CLEOPATRA (with superb contempt). YOU understand Caesar! How could you?
(Proudly) I do--by instinct.

POTHINUS (deferentially, after a moment's thought). Your Majesty caused
me to be admitted to-day. What message has the Queen for me?

CLEOPATRA. This. You think that by making my brother king, you will rule
in Egypt, because you are his guardian and he is a little silly.

POTHINUB. The Queen is pleased to say so.

CLEOPATRA. The Queen is pleased to say this also. That Caesar will eat
up you, and Achillas, and my brother, as a cat eats up mice; and that
he will put on this land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his garment. And
when he has done that, he will return to Rome, and leave Cleopatra here
as his viceroy.

POTHINUS (breaking out wrathfully). That he will never do. We have a
thousand men to his ten; and we will drive him and his beggarly legions
into the sea.

CLEOPATRA (with scorn, getting up to go). You rant like any common
fellow. Go, then, and marshal your thousands; and make haste; for
Mithridates of Pergamos is at hand with reinforcements for Caesar.
Caesar has held you at bay with two legions: we shall see what he will
do with twenty.

POTHINUS. Cleopatra--

CLEOPATRA. Enough, enough: Caesar has spoiled me for talking to weak
things like you. (She goes out. Pothinus, with a gesture of rage, is
following, when Ftatateeta enters and stops him.)

POTHINUS. Let me go forth from this hateful place.

FTATATEETA. What angers you?

POTHINUS. The curse of all the gods of Egypt be upon her! She has sold
her country to the Roman, that she may buy it back from him with her
kisses.

FTATATEETA. Fool: did she not tell you that she would have Caesar gone?

POTHINUS. You listened?

FTATATEETA. I took care that some honest woman should be at hand whilst
you were with her.

POTHINUS. Now by the gods--

FTATATEETA. Enough of your gods! Caesar's gods are all powerful here.
It is no use YOU coming to Cleopatra: you are only an Egyptian. She will
not listen to any of her own race: she treats us all as children.

POTHINUS. May she perish for it!

FTATATEETA (balefully). May your tongue wither for that wish! Go! send
for Lucius Septimius, the slayer of Pompey. He is a Roman: may be she
will listen to him. Begone!

POTHINUS (darkly). I know to whom I must go now.

FTATATEETA (suspiciously). To whom, then?

POTHINUS. To a greater Roman than Lucius. And mark this, mistress. You
thought, before Caesar came, that Egypt should presently be ruled by you
and your crew in the name of Cleopatra. I set myself against it.

FTATATEETA (interrupting him--wrangling). Ay; that it might be ruled by
you and YOUR crew in the name of Ptolemy.

POTHINUS. Better me, or even you, than a woman with a Roman heart; and
that is what Cleopatra is now become. Whilst I live, she shall never
rule. So guide yourself accordingly. (He goes out.)

It is by this time drawing on to dinner time. The table is laid on the
roof of the palace; and thither Rufio is now climbing, ushered by a
majestic palace official, wand of office in hand, and followed by a
slave carrying an inlaid stool. After many stairs they emerge at last
into a massive colonnade on the roof. Light curtains are drawn between
the columns on the north and east to soften the westering sun. The
official leads Rufio to one of these shaded sections. A cord for pulling
the curtains apart hangs down between the pillars.

THE OFFICIAL (bowing). The Roman commander will await Caesar here.

The slave sets down the stool near the southernmost column, and slips
out through the curtains.

RUFIO (sitting down, a little blown). Pouf! That was a climb. How high
have we come?

THE OFFICIAL. We are on the palace roof, O Beloved of Victory!

RUFIO. Good! the Beloved of Victory has no more stairs to get up.

A second official enters from the opposite end, walking backwards.

THE SECOND OFFICIAL. Caesar approaches.

Caesar, fresh from the bath, clad in a new tunic of purple silk, comes
in, beaming and festive, followed by two slaves carrying a light couch,
which is hardly more than an elaborately designed bench. They place it
near the northmost of the two curtained columns. When this is done they
slip out through the curtains; and the two officials, formally bowing,
follow them. Rufio rises to receive Caesar.

CAESAR (coming over to him). Why, Rufio! (Surveying his dress with an
air of admiring astonishment) A new baldrick! A new golden pommel
to your sword! And you have had your hair cut! But not your beard--?
Impossible! (He sniffs at Rufio's beard.) Yes, perfumed, by Jupiter
Olympus!

RUFIO (growling). Well: is it to please myself?

CAESAR (affectionately). No, my son Rufio, but to please me--to
celebrate my birthday.

RUFIO (contemptuously). Your birthday! You always have a birthday
when there is a pretty girl to be flattered or an ambassador to be
conciliated. We had seven of them in ten months last year.

CAESAR (contritely). It is true, Rufio! I shall never break myself of
these petty deceits.

RUFIO. Who is to dine with us--besides Cleopatra?

CAESAR. Apollodorus the Sicilian.

RUFIO. That popinjay!

CAESAR. Come! the popinjay is an amusing dog--tells a story; sings a
song; and saves us the trouble of flattering the Queen. What does she
care for old politicians and campfed bears like us? No: Apollodorus is
good company, Rufio, good company.

RUFIO. Well, he can swim a bit and fence a bit: he might be worse, if he
only knew how to hold his tongue.

CAESAR. The gods forbid he should ever learn! Oh, this military life!
this tedious, brutal life of action! That is the worst of us Romans: we
are mere doers and drudgers: a swarm of bees turned into men. Give me
a good talker--one with wit and imagination enough to live without
continually doing something!

RUFIO. Ay! a nice time he would have of it with you when dinner was
over! Have you noticed that I am before my time?

CAESAR. Aha! I thought that meant something. What is it?

RUFIO. Can we be overheard here?

CAESAR. Our privacy invites eavesdropping. I can remedy that. (He claps
his hands twice. The curtains are drawn, revealing the roof garden with
a banqueting table set across in the middle for four persons, one
at each end, and two side by side. The side next Caesar and Rufio is
blocked with golden wine vessels and basins. A gorgeous major-domo
is superintending the laying of the table by a staff of slaves. The
colonnade goes round the garden at both sides to the further end, where
a gap in it, like a great gateway, leaves the view open to the sky
beyond the western edge of the roof, except in the middle, where a life
size image of Ra, seated on a huge plinth, towers up, with hawk head and
crown of asp and disk. His altar, which stands at his feet, is a single
white stone.) Now everybody can see us, nobody will think of listening
to us. (He sits down on the bench left by the two slaves.)

RUFIO (sitting down on his stool). Pothinus wants to speak to you. I
advise you to see him: there is some plotting going on here among the
women.

CAESAR. Who is Pothinus?

RUFIO. The fellow with hair like squirrel's fur--the little King's bear
leader, whom you kept prisoner.

CAESAR (annoyed). And has he not escaped?

RUFIO. No.

CAESAR (rising imperiously). Why not? You have been guarding this
man instead of watching the enemy. Have I not told you always to let
prisoners escape unless there are special orders to the contrary? Are
there not enough mouths to be fed without him?

RUFIO. Yes; and if you would have a little sense and let me cut his
throat, you would save his rations. Anyhow, he WON'T escape. Three
sentries have told him they would put a pilum through him if they saw
him again. What more can they do? He prefers to stay and spy on us. So
would I if I had to do with generals subject to fits of clemency.

CAESAR (resuming his seat, argued down). Hm! And so he wants to see me.

RUFIO. Ay. I have brought him with me. He is waiting there (jerking his
thumb over his shoulder) under guard.

CAESAR. And you want me to see him?

RUFIO (obstinately). I don't want anything. I daresay you will do what
you like. Don't put it on to me.

CAESAR (with an air of doing it expressly to indulge Rufio). Well, well:
let us have him.

RUFIO (calling). Ho there, guard! Release your man and send him up.
(Beckoning) Come along!

Pothinus enters and stops mistrustfully between the two, looking from
one to the other.

CAESAR (graciously). Ah, Pothinus! You are welcome. And what is the news
this afternoon?

POTHINUS. Caesar: I come to warn you of a danger, and to make you an
offer.

CAESAR. Never mind the danger. Make the offer.

RUFIO. Never mind the offer. What's the danger?

POTHINUS. Caesar: you think that Cleopatra is devoted to you.

CAESAR (gravely). My friend: I already know what I think. Come to your
offer.

POTHINUS. I will deal plainly. I know not by what strange gods you have
been enabled to defend a palace and a few yards of beach against a city
and an army. Since we cut you off from Lake Mareotis, and you dug wells
in the salt sea sand and brought up buckets of fresh water from them, we
have known that your gods are irresistible, and that you are a worker of
miracles. I no longer threaten you.

RUFIO (sarcastically). Very handsome of you, indeed.

POTHINUS. So be it: you are the master. Our gods sent the north west
winds to keep you in our hands; but you have been too strong for them.

CAESAR (gently urging him to come to the point). Yes, yes, my friend.
But what then?

RUFIO. Spit it out, man. What have you to say?

POTHINUS. I have to say that you have a traitress in your camp.
Cleopatra.

THE MAJOR-DOMO (at the table, announcing). The Queen! (Caesar and Rufio
rise.)

RUFIO (aside to Pothinus). You should have spat it out sooner, you fool.
Now it is too late.

Cleopatra, in gorgeous raiment, enters in state through the gap in the
colonnade, and comes down past the image of Ra and past the table to
Caesar. Her retinue, headed by Ftatateeta, joins the staff at the table.
Caesar gives Cleopatra his seat, which she takes.

CLEOPATRA (quickly, seeing Pothinus). What is HE doing here?

CAESAR (seating himself beside her, in the most amiable of tempers).
Just going to tell me something about you. You shall hear it. Proceed,
Pothinus.

POTHINUS (disconcerted). Caesar-- (He stammers.)

CAESAR. Well, out with it.

POTHINUS. What I have to say is for your ear, not for the Queen's.

CLEOPATRA (with subdued ferocity). There are means of making you speak.
Take care.

POTHINUS (defiantly). Caesar does not employ those means.

CAESAR. My friend: when a man has anything to tell in this world, the
difficulty is not to make him tell it, but to prevent him from telling
it too often. Let me celebrate my birthday by setting you free.
Farewell: we'll not meet again.

CLEOPATRA (angrily). Caesar: this mercy is foolish.

POTHINUS (to Caesar). Will you not give me a private audience? Your life
may depend on it. (Caesar rises loftily.)

RUFIO (aside to Pothinus). Ass! Now we shall have some heroics.

CAESAR (oratorically). Pothinus--

RUFIO (interrupting him). Caesar: the dinner will spoil if you begin
preaching your favourite sermon about life and death.

CLEOPATRA (priggishly). Peace, Rufio. I desire to hear Caesar.

RUFIO (bluntly). Your Majesty has heard it before. You repeated it to
Apollodorus last week; and he thought it was all your own. (Caesar's
dignity collapses. Much tickled, he sits down again and looks roguishly
at Cleopatra, who is furious. Rufio calls as before) Ho there, guard!
Pass the prisoner out. He is released. (To Pothinus) Now off with you.
You have lost your chance.

POTHINUS (his temper overcoming his prudence). I WILL speak.

CAESAR (to Cleopatra). You see. Torture would not have wrung a word from
him.

POTHINUS. Caesar: you have taught Cleopatra the arts by which the Romans
govern the world.

CAESAR. Alas! They cannot even govern themselves. What then?

POTHINUS. What then? Are you so besotted with her beauty that you do not
see that she is impatient to reign in Egypt alone, and that her heart is
set on your departure?

CLEOPATRA (rising). Liar!

CAESAR (shocked). What! Protestations! Contradictions!

CLEOPATRA (ashamed, but trembling with suppressed rage). No. I do not
deign to contradict. Let him talk. (She sits down again.)

POTHINUS. From her own lips I have heard it. You are to be her catspaw:
you are to tear the crown from her brother's head and set it on her
own, delivering us all into her hand--delivering yourself also. And then
Caesar can return to Rome, or depart through the gate of death, which is
nearer and surer.

CAESAR (calmly). Well, my friend; and is not this very natural?

POTHINUS (astonished). Natural! Then you do not resent treachery?

CAESAR. Resent! O thou foolish Egyptian, what have I to do with
resentment? Do I resent the wind when it chills me, or the night when
it makes me stumble in the darkness? Shall I resent youth when it turns
from age, and ambition when it turns from servitude? To tell me such a
story as this is but to tell me that the sun will rise to-morrow.

CLEOPATRA (unable to contain herself). But it is false--false. I swear
it.

CAESAR. It is true, though you swore it a thousand times, and believed
all you swore. (She is convulsed with emotion. To screen her, he rises
and takes Pothinus to Rufio, saying) Come, Rufio: let us see Pothinus
past the guard. I have a word to say to him. (Aside to them) We must
give the Queen a moment to recover herself. (Aloud) Come. (He takes
Pothinus and Rufio out with him, conversing with them meanwhile.) Tell
your friends, Pothinus, that they must not think I am opposed to a
reasonable settlement of the country's affairs-- (They pass out of
hearing.)

CLEOPATRA (in a stifled whisper). Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta.

FTATATEETA (hurrying to her from the table and petting her). Peace,
child: be comforted--

CLEOPATRA (interrupting her). Can they hear us?

FTATATEETA. No, dear heart, no.

CLEOPATRA. Listen to me. If he leaves the Palace alive, never see my
face again.

FTATATEETA. He? Poth--

CLEOPATRA (striking her on the mouth). Strike his life out as I strike
his name from your lips. Dash him down from the wall. Break him on the
stones. Kill, kill, KILL him.

FTATATEETA (showing all her teeth). The dog shall perish.

CLEOPATRA. Fail in this, and you go out from before me forever.

FTATATEETA (resolutely). So be it. You shall not see my face until his
eyes are darkened.