Normal;TxBr_p0;TxBr_c1;TxBr_c2;TxBr_c3;PERSO N S IN THE PLAY
THE BEAST
M A N S 0 U R
ricii merchant, seventy
0 P A L
his oldest daughter, twenty-two
Ru BY
his second daughter, twenty
TURQUOISE
his third daughter, seventeen
THE FAIRY O1~ TOLERANCE
V i 0 L E T
slave, sixteen
Ro c K
young financier, twenty-five
Y E R 0 U M
young poet, twenty-two
The oriental palace of Mansour
The garden of the Beast
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AND
THE BEAST
FANTASY IN TWO ACTS
ACTI
A. ROOM in the palace of Mansour. When the curtain rises Opal comes from her chamber at the left. She takes a few steps 
into the room, then returns to the door.
o P A
You must go, Yeroum.
Y E R 0 U M
Already? (Entering) o p A L
The Sun is up. Already the laborers are going to work. The fishermen92s boats are coming back to 
the harbor, and some of them are riding gently at anchor.
75
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YEROUM
Through the curtains of your room I saw a pale glow, but I thought it was the light of the moon. The 
nocturnal bird 97
o P A L
Why not say, simply, the nightingale!
YEROUM
And just now the #nightingale was trilling its passion to the stars.
o P A L
It has been stilled, Yeroum, for three or four hours now.
YEROUM
Could it have been the lark?
o P A L
Why?
YEROUM
It must have been either the nightingale or the lark.
Since you doubt it, you can92t love me any longer.
For two people smitten with each other, there are
only two flying birds 97 the nightingale and the lark.
How can I have displeased you?
o P A
You have not displeased me.
YEROUM
I feel that your sentiments have changed.
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o P A L
But no! no!
YE R 0 U M
You no longer have for me that ardent solicitude which your unhappy husband used to wonder at
o P A L
(Sighing)
Poor Hassan!
YEROUM
You regret him?
o p A L
That would be too strong.
YE R 0 U M
What? You do not regret him?
o P A
You exaggerate. Hassan was a thick, prosaic merchant. Beside his rather corpulent maturity, I appre
ciated your graceful adolescence. He did not shine in the difficult art of composing subtle phrases and 
offering them to me like bouquets of harmonious delicacies. Your beautiful voice and your palms 
charmed me.
YE R 0 U M
Last night, when finally you received me in your room, you intended to accord some merit to the stro
phes by which I tried to express my passion? Do you want to hear them again?
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o P A L
No, thank you. I fear to weary you.
YE R 0 U M
It is true that today I must recite at the house of the Cadi92s wife.
o P A L
She is interested in literature?
E R 0 U M
She writes, as do all women favored by fortune. They all try to depict the delights and cruelties of love.
O P A L
Yeroum! How chaste our city has become! Women describe love when they might be experiencing it!
YE R 0 U M
Is it really you who speak so, Opal?
O P A L
I92m joking.
YE R 0 U M
You, whose soul is so pale, cold, and deep, like the stone whose name you bear.
O P A L
The opal has mysterious reflections like a secret flame.
YE R 0 U M
Hush! Hush, I beg! You must not express such common feelings. You are curious only about bizarre
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shades, rare perfumes, chosen words, spiritual caresses. Tell me that you have not changed 97 that you 
are still the same.
o P A
Calm yourseW Yeroum. It was merely a test.
Y E R 0 U M
Tottering
You frightened me.
o P A L
(Handing him a phial)
Inhale this odor.
YEROUM
It is because I adore you.
o P A
Yes.
Y E R 0 U M
For me, you are not woman.
o P A
I know it.
Y E R 0 U M
You are a creature almost divine.
o P A
That92s too much.
YEROUM
No! No! You are the creature to inspire me to immortal poems, to encourage my dreams. Give me your 
hands.
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O P A L
Take them.
YEROTJM
Sink back. Let me kneel beside you. Let my head, wearied with dreams, repose beneath your fingers. 
Their freshness is sweet upon my fevered brow.
O P A L
Oh, to feel your tkmbling thought beneath my caresses! It mounts along my arm, it envelopes me, it 
overcomes me!
YEROUM
My friend!
O P A L
I nurse you like a child, but I am thrilled as by a man.
YEROUM
Am I not a man?
O P A L
A man would not remain so quiet and motionless. He would press me to him. I should be crushed by 
his strength.
YE R 0 U M
Have no fear!
O P A L
He would seek my lips 97 and bite me, perhaps.
YEROUM
The brute!
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o P A L
He would have no respect for these light draperies. He would tear away such frail obstacles. He would 
snatch off my clothes and my body would appear like a brilliant star when the clouds vanish.
YEROUM
You are trembling.
o P A
I shudder when I think what could happen if you were an ordinary man. But you are a refined youth, 
and all night you have been with me without so much as trying to kiss my mouth.
YE R 0 U M
Yes!
o P A
You grow red?
YEROUM
I do not deserve your esteem.
o P A
How?
YEROUM
I must confess 97
0 P A L
Well?
YEROUM
I was not entirely insensible to base desires.
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o P A L
Speak!
YEROUM
I had repeated my stanzas on the union of minds and you were quiet.
o P A
Yes.
YE R 0 U M
I gazed upon yoti~ Your eyes were closed. Never had your eyelashes seemed so long and caressing. 
You breathed less easily. You were slightly disturbed. A curl swept across your cheek. I leaned down, 
and furtively, I kissed your neck. You sighed 97but did not waken.
o P A
I was not asleep.
YE R 0 U M
You were not asleep?
O P A L
No!
YE R 0 U M
Now I know why this morning you refuse me your tenderness. You are provoked because I broke the 
pact of purity which binds us. You must pardon me, Opal. It was only a childlike caress97
O P A L
No. It was the breath of a lover which passed over my flesh.
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YEROUM
You will be considerate of me?
o P A
You are unworthy of my goodness.
YEROUM
Yet you received me last night in your apartment?
o P A
To do what?
YEROUM
Your indifference drives me to despair.
o P A
Go!
YE R 0 U M
I shall return soon to implore your pardon.
O P A L
Leave me. Go back to your own home. In the street look at the passerby who smiles on the women he 
meets. In the gardens observe the birds mating, the flowers that lean towards one another. Observe and 
comprehend.
YEROUM
I know that Opal and Yeroum should be above men, animals, and plants. I know that we two were born 
to taste superior joys. I shall follow the lesson which you so delicately give to one who has so igno