ACT FOUR SCENE
TWO
The scene opens
and lights come up. We discover the judge's bench, centre back. A
stool is down stage left and another middle stage right. Vulpes
strolls down to the left stool and sits.
Vulpes
So I am first,
before the general crowd,
With grace of time
to don mind’s armoured might;
Lift up my luminary
shield of words
And wield the
shining sword of sharpened wit…
(He pauses)
Well, so speaks
pride perhaps, still I expect
I shall not have
much fighting, heavy-hard;
I’m sure this
battle will be easy-won.
For, as I thought,
our man is that old fool,
Judge Jeeble of
uncertain, forceful judgement.
(Judge Jeeble
enters. Vulpes rises. He takes off his hat)
God bless your
Honour this good afternoon,
And may He grant you
all your heart desires.
May He provide
prosperity and health,
And bless you with
abiding fortune’s fullness,
And speed all worthy
plans to sweet completion.
For surely Justice
is entirely safe
When weighed with
care in your most patient hands.
Judge Jeeble
You’re welcome,
master Vulpes. Pray, sit down.
(Vulpes sits.
Judge Jeeble leans towards him)
What prompts
appearing here this afternoon?
Have you some busy
case to bring before me?
Vulpes
I have no slippery
problem to pursue,
No knotty matter to
undo, Your Honour;
Indeed, no purpose
but to look and learn,
To watch, attentive
in humility,
The workings of true
wisdom as revealed
In all your Honour's
just and reasoned judgements.
Judge
Jeeble (with a slight cough)
Yes quite. Indeed.
Then you may sit and study…
And may I say, in
all due modesty,
To view should bring
a benefit to those
Who wish discovery
of law’s great depths.
Vulpes
As usual, Your
Honour sums the matter
With penetrating and
succinct precision.
(Vulpes sits.
Seeing Jasper enter stage right, he quickly conceals his shock.
Meanwhile, the judge is arranging his papers)
Vulpes
(aside, in a whisper)
Oh, hell and heavy
weather brewing up!
How unforeseen, a
change can turn the tale
And sudden danger
dash all hopeful plans,
Reducing reason’s
architecture to
A pile of rubble
with an instant blow!
Why did I not demand
that shepherd give
His master’s
proper name! I could have known,
I should have known;
in truth, I would have known
That Jasper is his
vengeance-minded master,
May
curses rain on his arraigning head!
(Vulpes
tries to hide his face under his hat)
Judge
Jeeble (banging
his gavel)
This session of the
court is sitting now.
If anyone has
matters here today,
Please bring them
forth at once. I wish no wasting
Of public time and
money at this bench.
Besides, I want to
take my dinner early.
Jasper
(bowing slightly)
My counsel's coming
soon, Your Honour, sir,
Some minor but
inevitable muddle,
Some bit of bother
not to be put off,
Has just delayed him
for the merest moment;
And so, Your Honour,
I would be so grateful
If we could wait a
minute longer for him.
Judge Jeeble
I’m sorry, but I
cannot alter custom.
The law does not
digest delay; it dines
At its appointed
hour, not trading time
To make convenience
for tardy minds.
(William,
looking shabby, enters over near Vulpes. The judge produces an
hourglass which he turns over and places on the bench)
And so I’ll waste
no running sands in wait,
For we have but late
afternoon’s brief leave
To balance and to
settle all affairs,
Here in this town
and its far-farming lands.
Hence not to be too
wordy in my weighing,
I make immediate my
judgement’s worth,
(I’ve already
mentioned once) and call
For all of you to
reckon readiness.
Indeed, in all my
time upon this bench
I’ve never
favoured those who plead delay,
Nor those who waste
the court’s small-given hours
With pompous and
pontificating speeches
And obfuscate with
false elaboration,
Propounding this,
expounding that, as though
To speak at great
unnecessary length
Were guarantee of
rightful victory…
As if the very
weight of gathered words
Must sway the scales
of justice in their favour…
Ah, yes. Oh, let me
see. Where were we now?
Jasper
(helpfully)
Not wasting time,
Your Honour, sir.
Judge
Jeeble (banging his gavel again)
That’s
so!
Thus, let us hear
your matter straight away.
You are, in fact,
the plaintiff, I presume?
Jasper
That is of truth,
Your Honour, sir. I am.
Judge Jeeble
Who stands
defendant, to deny your charge?
Jasper
(pointing to William)
Your Honour, that's
the fellow I'm accusing.
He's still and
silent, trying to put on
Pretence of
simple-minded innocence,
Like some lost lamb
that lingers by the fence.
Yet he has done much
wrong to ponder on;
And rather is a
ravening, wild wolf
Whom I mistook for
tame, flock-guarding hound.
Judge Jeeble
Enough! He is not
guilty till true law
Pronounces such to
be his doom. Proceed.
Since you're both
present, state your case.
Jasper
(with a bow)
Well, as Your Honour
wishes so, I shall
Proceed to take the
matter to myself,
As now it seems my
counsel’s late and lost.
No matter, I shall
make clear meaning shine…
I wish to charge him
with all this... (Where is
That paper? Ah, yes,
here it is.)
(Jasper rummages
around in his pockets and produces a paper. He reads.)
As
it
Is seen as true
before both God and man,
This thief, this
scheme-rich and fleece-scrounging scoundrel,
Whom I've assisted
since he was a suckling,
Whom I have ever
paid for honest labour,
Was put in charge of
half my precious flock,
And he has made such
secret selling that...
Judge
Jeeble (interrupting)
To speak it clearly-
did you always pay
Set wages for his
shepherding of sheep?
That is, was it a
right-inscribed agreement
To which you both
agreeably agreed?
Jasper
(puzzled)
Agreeably agreed,
Your Honour, sir?
Vulpes
Your Honour, if I
may suggest a way…
Jasper
(recognizing Vulpes)
The heavens strike
me blind if it be not
The very man I want!
It's you- yes, yes!
My eyes are witness
to that open truth,
No shadow doubt
obscures this- it's you!
Oh, see, just see-
he’s even wearing it!
Judge
Jeeble (looking
over to Vulpes who is holding his hand to his face,
trying to conceal
himself)
What? What? He’s
even wearing what?… Dear me,
Good master Vulpes,
gripping grief appears
This instant to have
fastened on your face.
You seem attacked by
sudden slash of pain.
Have you been
waylaid by that grim assassin
Who stabs the tender
mouth when least expected:
The dreaded
toothache?
Vulpes
Truth
to tell, Your Honour,
I find myself caught
by a trying pain.
But I shall find a
cure. Let's proceed.
Judge
Jeeble (to
Jasper)
End off your story.
Keep to clarity;
Like crystal waters
in a placid lake
Through which we
view the basis of your cause.
Jasper
(excitedly)
It's him, it's him,
I say. It's him, I know,
And no one else. He
is no spectred shape,
No demon from the
shadow deep. Oh, no;
He is of solid form,
the one who stole
My cloth, who stole
my seven yards, my good,
My good, good yards
of finest, bluest cloth!
Judge
Jeeble (to
Vulpes)
What is he saying?
What is this about
Good yards of cloth?
Vulpes
(shaking his head)
I
cannot guess, Your Honour.
His frantic words
are filled with wild confusion,
Like storm-stripped
leaves whirled through the tearing air.
He seems to lack the
plain ability
To find clear
meaning in this mind or speech.
Jasper
(grabbing Vulpes by the sleeve)
He’s wearing it,
Your Honour, don’t you see?
May I be taken for a
long-eared ass
If he is not the
one!
Vulpes
(shaking himself free)
What
are you saying?
The one, the one of
what, you raving fool?
What will this
madder-by-the-minute man
Be claiming next in
his speech-firing frenzy?
And yet, and yet I
think I do discern
A tiny, gleaming
grain of meaning here-
This muddle-minded
fellow, so it seems,
Believes this
shepherd stole some wool from which
This cloth that I am
wearing has been woven.
Jasper
Just tie me up and
lead me to dry straw,
If it's not true, as
I stand truly here,
That you...that you
have got it all yourself!
Judge
Jeeble (banging his gavel)
Stop! Stop! We must
have silence in this court,
So sense and point
can reappear from it,
Replacing all
confusion of loud speech.
(There is silence
and the judge looks around)
Now that brings
better harmony of mind-
A better order for
our further finding.
(Judge
Jeeble turns to Jasper)
Hear my command:
just try to cease this witless,
Wild wandering from
your tale's telling way.
Don't waste fair
time with mad irrelevance.
Vulpes
Your Honour's
pardon, but, for all my aching,
I cannot keep from
smiling just a little
To see such
tanglings of absurdity.
For like some comic
seeking laughter’s praise,
He has so muddled
up, in mad confusion,
The clear narration
of his case, I'm led
To wonder if it
brings a point at all.
Yet if, like
Theseus, we seek a thread,
A single strand to
guide us wisely through
The rambling
labyrinth of his strange thought,
With its most
monster-hearted accusations,
It seems that it
must be to do with sheep.
Judge Jeeble
Quite right! Quite
right! Let us return to sheep.
What happened next?
Jasper
He
took the lot back home-
All seven yards of
splendid, new-spun cloth.
Judge
Jeeble (banging his gavel)
Now listen here and
listen hard! Do you
Jeer at my
judgement; think I’m merely jesting;
Just joking when I
ask for you to speak
With single, set,
and simple purpose now
About the issue of
your sheep?
Jasper
The
sheep?
The sheep? Oh, yes,
Your Honour, sir, it's just...
Vulpes
(interrupting)
Your Honour, I know
nothing of this case,
Yet even so I see
this matter’s murky.
So
if I may break in and be so bold
As to suggest a path
to clearer vision...
Judge Jeeble
Yes, yes! Of course!
Indeed, please forge ahead.
Vulpes
(pointing to Jasper)
To judge but by his
speaking, it appears
This draper is a
fine one to bring charges
When even his
attempts to right-express
The simple substance
of his allegations
Is quite beyond his
power of declaration.
But nonetheless, it
seems to me that we
Might drive a
straighter, swifter way into
The hidden core of
this entangled quarrel
If, by your leave,
we were I allowed to try
Examination of the
shepherd's story
And see the
viewpoint of the so-accused.
Judge Jeeble
Good. Very good. A
fine suggestion that
May bring sweet
sense to bitter chaos. Proceed.
(to
Jasper)
You
may be seated, silently for now.
Jasper
But, but, Your
Honour, sir….
Judge
Jeeble
At
once! Sit down!
(Jasper sits)
Perhaps this
shepherd's tale will spin more sense.
Come here, good
fellow.
(Judge beckons
William)
Give
your point of view.
(William
comes forward)
Well, speak!
William
(as if puzzled)
Baa,
baaa!
Judge
Jeeble (banging his gavel)
What's
this? What's this? Do I
Hear rightly now?
Did he say "baa"? Now look,
No fooling now.
Come, clearly speak.
William
(forthrightly)
Baa,
baaaa!
Judge Jeeble
You'd better not be
making fun of us.
I shall not tolerate
distain for all
That rightly stands
embodied in this court.
So do not think that
you can play the fool
Or I'll have you in
irons for your contempt!
William
(cringing)
Baa, baa!
Judge
Jeeble (banging his gavel)
Enough
of all this anarchy!
I will not have
law’s honoured institution
Mocked by some
madcap, hayseed jest.
Vulpes(hurriedly)
Perhaps,
Perhaps, Your
Honour, if I may suggest,
That that may be in
no way his intent.
It's rather, I
suspect, that he was born
Without the basic
wit for normal life.
And in this witless
state he’s grown an exile
To human company and
comprehension;
And so, while even
standing in this place,
He thinks he's still
among his rams and ewes.
Jasper
(turning to Vulpes)
You! You! What utter
nonsense you are mouthing!
You took my cloth!
You stole my splendid cloth!
Your Honour, sir,
you don't know what a trick...
Judge
Jeeble (banging his gavel again)
Be quiet! Quiet!
What? Are you raving mad?
You have been
ordered more than once. Forget
This mania that’s
fastened on some cloth.
Jasper
(excitedly)
Most humbly do I beg
Your Worship's pardon.
It's only that this
whole, well-schemed deception
So fills my heart
with fierce, fierce anger's fire
All other thoughts
are scorched to ash. If I
Let him escape
today, Your Honour, sir,
He'll find some way,
some underhanded means,
To slip the net and
so get off quite free!
You see, Your
Honour, sir, as I have said
Already more than
once, I gave him cloth...
(Judge Jeeble
lifts his gavel)
All right, that is,
about the stolen sheep,
I beg your pardon,
sir...this crafty fellow,
Who's suddenly
decided he's struck dumb,
This shepherd who
was meant to shield from harm,
And then he said
he'd surely pay me later,
No, what I mean is
that the shepherd here
Has been three
years...he said, good, golden coins,
No, he had sworn to
guard the flock and do
No mischief... yes,
if I came to his house...
Oh, what I mean to
say is that they're going
To get away with all
of it- the cloth,
The coins, the
sheep, denying everything...
Just look at master
Vulpes there, I swear
He's grinning to
himself in secret now,
I mean, he sold the
sheep and took the coins...
And when he had the
cloth he hurried off
And said that I
should come and share some goose.
Judge Jeeble
A goose?A goose?
There's not a thread of reason,
In all this raving,
ranting carry-on!
I mean, what does he
mean? First it's all cloth,
And then it's sheep,
and where do gold coins fit?
Vulpes
I'm sure the trouble
is that he holds back
This poor and simple
shepherd's rightful wages.
Jasper
You'd better shut
your lying mouth! Oh, no-
Not you, Your
Honour, sir! I want my cloth,
I want my cloth or
money! You and I,
Yes, you and I know
where the shoe is pinching.
Judge
Jeeble
What shoe is this?
Jasper
Oh,
nothing, sir, I'm sorry.
But he's the
greatest cheat you’d ever find
In all your living
days… I mean, Your Honour,
I'll do my best to
keep quite quiet.
Judge Jeeble
We
do
Not want your
silence. We want your story, told
In plain simplicity
and ordered sense.
Jasper
I'll do my best to
keep to one clear line...
Vulpes
(interrupting hastily)
Now at this point
may I point out, your Honour,
That this young
shepherd here should still be able
To help illuminate
the dim confusion
Which veils the tale
of this demented draper.
However, it seems
clear this simple shepherd
Cannot reply with
reasoned clarity
Without the careful
aid of guiding counsel.
Now be this pleasing
to Your Honour, sir,
I would be truly
glad to proffer help,
To spark in him true
speech, encouraging
A calm and clear
relating of his case.
Judge Jeeble
Help him? I doubt if
there's much profit there.
Vulpes
It's not the clink
of coins that I am after.
It's just to see
true justice done, Your Honour.
I'm sure the poor
fool needs assistance if
He is to answer in a
rational
And normal,
sense-related manner here.
Judge Jeeble
All right. By all
that’s sane, give it a try.
We’re heading down
the road to reason’s ruin
By following our
present course.
Vulpes
My
thanks,
Your Honour. So I
shall proceed. Come here,
My simple friend.
Come, give a plain reply-
You comprehend why
you are here in court?
William
(shaking his head)
Baa! Baaa!
Vulpes
Now
listen! Hear and have clear answer.
So what does "baa"
betoken? Are you trying
To say a word but
can't get past the start?
To barter in
barbaric barbs or bask
In barbers' barley
baskets- all start so.
Is any one of these
the word you're wanting?
William
(loudly)
Baa! BAAA!
Vulpes
All
right, all right! Be calm! Attempt
To tell the court
and our good judge all that
Occurred to cast you
in your current case.
William
(mournfully)
Baa!
Vulpes
What's
all this "baaing" all about? Are you
Alive up there, up
there beneath your hair?
William
(questioningly)
Baa? Baa?!
Vulpes
You
think you're still out in the fields,
Beneath the gentle
sun and free, blue sky,
Among your
softly-grazing flocks?
William
(softly)
Baa,
baa.
Vulpes
Come, simply answer
yes or no.
William
(soberly)
Baa.
Baa.
Vulpes
Now listen- did you
sell some sheep or not?
William
(earnestly)
Baa, baaa!
Vulpes
Whatever
are you saying now?
Now
surely you don’t think we're shaggy rams?
Be warned. Our judge
is sharp and shrewd and not
Some sleepy,
woolly-headed, sheepish beast.
Speak up! Speak up!
William
(loudly)
Baa!
Baa! BAA! BAA! BAAA! BAAA!
Vulpes
The man's completely
bleating mad, Your Honour.
It's evident he's
kept sole company
With speechless rams
and ewes for far too long;
And like the
changeable chameleon
Whose outer hue
grows true to its surroundings,
As green to leaf or
brown to rough-barked trunk,
So he has grown to
think and speak in sheep.
He's even crazier
than the crazy draper
Who senselessly
wild-spins wild accusations,
And who has brought
a crazy case against
A fellow even madder
than he is!
Judge Jeeble
Stop! Stop! It's
quite enough to split one's skull!
Vulpes
Your Honour, may I
recommend this shepherd
May just as well
return to mind his flock.
It would appear to
any observation,
That weighs
behaviour with a sober sense,
That he is not a
person of sound mind
Who may be held
responsible for all
His actions as
true-reason-guided deeds.
We'll get no more
from him- a total fool.
Jasper
(furious)
A total fool is he?
By all that's holy,
He's sharper-witted
than you are yourself.
Vulpes
May I just say, Your
Honour, if it's useless
And hateful to
harass a half-wit, then
Far more may it be
said in this sad instance.
Thus to interrogate
and sternly press
For clear-set
answers that can’t be returned
Is far, far crueller
with a quarter-wit,
Like this poor,
feeble-minded shepherd here.
Jasper
(to Judge Jeebles)
Is he to leave
before you hear my case
And rightly validate
my valid cause?
Judge Jeeble
Since he is
feeble-minded, yes- why not?
Jasper
But surely you will
hear my case, Your Honour?
For simple justice
asks- demands you should.
I may have seemed
confusion’s very child
But that was not
through malice or deception
Upon my part but
rather rascal-breath,
Through
boldly-spoken, plausible deceit
That bars admission
of the basic truth,
Has so upset my
sense and stable speaking
That I have not
explained my case at all.
Judge Jeeble
No more of this mad,
idiotic prattle!
This argument of
fools is quite enough
To burst one's
brain. Now listen here, if you
Come butting in once
more I'll clear the court.
Jasper
Then you'll dismiss
my simple, honest plea?
And you'll not
listen to my case again?
Judge Jeeble
What, what! Take
heed of warning given. You
Are trespassing upon
last patience now.
Vulpes
And if it please
Your Honour, I object.
He wants to draw us
by the nose through all
His reasonless, wild
rigmarole again.
This shepherd is,
Your Honour, there's no doubt,
The fullest fool
you'd ever chance upon;
And this, his madman
master, muddles all.
Jasper
And what about my
cloth? You're just… not honest!
Vulpes
He's growing madder
with each passing minute.
Jasper
I recognize your
voice, your clothes, your face.
I'm really very
sane, Your Honour, sir.
Just let me
straighten out this crooked story.
Vulpes
I must advise your
silence. You've been warned.
I wonder that you do
not blush with shame
To bring this case
of false, wild accusations,
This litany of crazy
lies, against
A harmless son of
earth's simplicity.
Why, even just
suppose, suppose for sake
Of
purely-illustrative argument,
He sold a sick,
decrepit ewe, not worth
A couple of brass
pennies, what of that?
He's earned the
worth of that and plenty more
While watching sheep
in every weather known,
In fearless guard
against ice blizzard’s rage
And stealth and fury
of night-hunting wolves.
Jasper
You see, you see,
Your Honour? Do you see?
I speak of cloth and
he replies with sheep.
Where is the cloth
you spirited away?
Vulpes
What! Would you
choose to wrap a man in chains
For one old mangy
fleece? Be calm, man, calm.
This violent
animosity against
A poor, weak
simpleton who may have made
One honest error,
ill becomes you here.
Jasper
The devil must have
prompted me to sell
My lovely cloth to
such a cunning cheat!
Your Honour, I
demand...
Judge
Jeeble (banging
his gavel)
I
acquit the man!
And I forbid you
further prosecution.
What has this
witless world of ours become?
Preferring charges
against an imbecile-
A ridicule and right
absurdity!
If you're so
poor-informed of your own trade
That you permit a
mindless idiot
To labour for your
profit and increase,
You must digest the
fated consequence.
(to
William)
You may go back now
to your flock.
William
(with delight)
Baaa!
BAAA!
Judge
Jeeble (to
Jasper)
And you have shown
the sort of man you are!
Jasper
But sir, I only
wish...
Judge Jeeble
Be
quiet, by heaven,
Or I shall lay a
charge on you myself.
Jasper
(pointing to Vulpes)
But, but Your
Honour, sir, Your Honour, sir,
This is the man I
really wish to charge;
His clever chatter's
cheated me, Your Honour.
Vulpes
I really don't know
why he's raving on.
I hardly know the
man; and I recall
No act of mine
that's done him injury.
I must suppose that
he has caught a mania
For prosecuting
people...and, just having
Lost victim one he's
trying for another.
Jasper
You're such a liar!
Sir, just let me speak...
Judge
Jeeble
Oh, very amusing, I
must say! Must you
Forever rave so,
flaming with confusion-
Your wretched racket
battering our ears?
(Judge
Jeeble rises)
And so, good day to
one and all. And now
I'm going home.
(
speaking to William)
Be
off, poor friend. You're free.
You are acquitted.
Do you understand?
William
(nodding)
Baa, baa.
Vulpes
I
think he's giving thanks, Your Honour.
Judge
Jeeble (to Vulpes)
Both muddled, mad,
impossible, you know.
Jasper
Is this, this
justice? Your Honour, sir, I beg...
Judge Jeeble
Enough, enough! My
dinner's waiting! You
Grow tedious like
some annoying fly
Whose buzzing path
disturbs the busy brain.
Away! A pox on you!
Away! Be gone!
I'm going home! Be
off! You bother me!
Come, Vulpes, come
and dine with us tonight.
Vulpes
(holding up his hand)
My toothache, sir.
Much as I’m flattered by
Your kind request, I
fear you must excuse
My most reluctant,
sorrowful refusal.
Judge
Jeeble (gathering his papers)
Yes, yes, of course.
Well, parting let me give
All thanks for
bringing order to this bedlam.
Vulpes
(bowing)
A simple pleasure;
but I must object
And say: Your
Honour’s wisdom was true cause.
Judge Jeeble
Well, well. Perhaps.
Perhaps. Perhaps it’s so.
The clearer eyes
will always find the light;
The wiser mind will
always reach the right!
( Judge Jeeble
exits)
Jasper
You thief! You low,
conniving double-dealer!
Vulpes
I think, dear sir,
you have mistaken me
For someone else,
less reputable... perhaps
You're thinking of
my twin, my double, Lupus.
Sometimes, in fun,
he borrows name and figure,
But he's a swindler;
I'm a lawyer, sir.
Jasper
Don't think you've
heard the last of this, you dog!
I'll find some way
to pay you back in kind!
(to himself)
And in the future I’ll be less inclined
To grasp with greed
each seeming chance I find.
(Jasper
exits)
Vulpes
Farewell, old
feather-brain! Well now, good William,
Did I not serve you
proudly now?
William
(enthusiastically)
Baa,
baaa!
Vulpes
There is no need to
go on bleating now,
For you can shed the
sheepish show, you know.
We
spun a pretty devious defence
And
made tough, binding rope from slender thread.
Was not my counsel
most successful?
William
(nodding)
Baaaa!
Vulpes
No one can hear us
now. No need for fear.
Resume your claim as
reason’s creature here.
Discard the beastly
noises of pretence.
You
can regain the wonder power of speech-
So marvellous for
indicating truth,
So useful for
concealing it as well.
William
(shrugging)
Baa, baa!
Vulpes
Well,
as you will. It's time for me
To lift my heels and
head for home. Perhaps
You'd like to settle
this and pay my fee.
William
(in pain)
Baaa! BAAA!
Vulpes
No,
no. There is no need to act
Your part of
wordless fooling now! Come! Come!
Cough up a pair of
golden, gleaming discs,
Two metal suns, and
we are done!
William
(in greater pain)
BAA!
BAAAA!
Vulpes
(coaxingly)
Now, now; you played
your sheepish part with real
Finesse, all
solemn-faced and foolish-seeming.
A fine and
simple-sounding mimicry
It was indeed! It
really had them beaten!
William
(cheerfully)
Baa, baaa!
Vulpes
Why
bleat to me? It's over now.
Let’s go and
celebrate the swift success
Of our dumbfounded
trick, our wordless ruse.
Devour roast goose
while downing giddy wine!
What do you say to
that?
William
(eagerly)
Baa,
baaa! Baa, baaa!
Vulpes
(angrily)
Enough performing of
your farmyard farce!
No further fooling
now, my bleating friend!
I have fulfilled my
role in our sharp practice
And now demand we
settle and be gone!
William
(puzzled)
Baa, baa?
Vulpes
By
Mercury’s light-winged, wise ways,
Have you forgotten
all the help I've given?
Ungrateful wretch!
I'll have your stinking hide!
William
(pretending to cringe)
Baa, baaa!
Vulpes
Enough
of all this sheepishness!
If you think this is
some strange, rustic joke,
The fun is finished
now- you've had your laugh.
So just regain your
reason and your speech
And pay me what I'm
truly owed.
William
(shaking his head)
Baa,
baaa!
Vulpes
By all the powers
above us and below,
You sneaking,
underhanded, little thief!
I'll have the
bailiff on you right away!
William
Good master, surely
you'd not prosecute
A poor and harmless
simpleton, would you?
That would seem far
too mean for even your
Repute. You cannot
go too far, TOO FAR!
Baa, baa! Baaa,
baaa! BAA, BAA! BAAA, BAAA! BAAAA! BAAAA!
(William
runs off laughing)
(Vulpes starts to
run after William, but thinking better of it, stops)
Vulpes
(staring after him)
By all that bluffs
and bothers and bewilders,
The rascal’s
right! I cannot catch him now.
(Vulpes pauses
and sighs)
There was a time I
fancied that I was,
Without a single
doubt, the lord of cheats
Of all the regions
hereabouts, the king
Of tricksters,
jesters, and all scheming wits.
(with a shrug)
But now a young fox
has outfoxed the old.
Yet I've the cloth
and Jasper has no gold.
And I did win the
case, although the pay
Was not the best
that's ever come my way!
Well, there’s an
end. The players leave the play;
Soon night will
dawn- then dawn will bring new day.
Now all I need's a
way to be discreet
In explanation to my
Marguerite.
(Vulpes
exits, thinking feverishly)
Lights fade.
THE
END
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