cksands of this life. (The WOMAN
rises.) So you're ready to go. Who will go first?

STRANGER. I shall.

TEMPTER. Where?

STRANGER. Upwards. And you?

TEMPTER. I shall stay down here, in between....

Curtain.

ACT IV

SCENE I

CHAPTER HOUSE OF THE MONASTERY

[A Gothic chapter house. In the background arcades lead to the cloisters
and the courtyard of the monastery. In the middle of the courtyard there
is a well with a statue of the Virgin Mary, surrounded by long-stemmed
white roses. The walls of the chapter house are filled with built-in
choir stalls of oak. The PRIOR'S own stall is in the middle to the right
and rather higher than the rest. In the middle of the chapter house an
enormous crucifix. The sun is shining on the statue of the Virgin in
the courtyard. The STRANGER enters from the back. He is wearing a coarse
monkish cowl, with a rope round his waist and sandals on his feet. He
halts in the doorway and looks at the chapter house, then goes over to
the crucifix and stops in front of it. The last strophe of the choral
service can be heard from across the courtyard. The CONFESSOR enters
from the back; he is dressed in black and white; he has long hair and
along beard and a very small tonsure that can hardly be seen.]

CONFESSOR. Peace be with you!

STRANGER. And with you.

CONFESSOR. How do you like this white house?

STRANGER. I can only see blackness.

CONFESSOR. You still are black; but you'll grow white, quite white! Did
you sleep well last night?

STRANGER. Dreamlessly, like a tired child. But tell me: why do I find so
many locked doors?

CONFESSOR. You'll gradually learn to open them.

STRANGER. Is this a large building?

CONFESSOR. Endless! It dates from the time of Charlemagne and has
continually grown through pious benefactions. Untouched by the spiritual
upheavals and changes of different epochs, it stands on its rocky height
as a monument of Western culture. That is to say: Christian faith wedded
to the knowledge of Hellas and Rome.

STRANGER. So it's not merely a religious foundation?

CONFESSOR. No. It embraces all the arts and sciences as well. There's
a library, museum, observatory and laboratory--as you'll see later.
Agriculture and horticulture are also studied here; and a hospital for
laymen, with its own sulphur springs, is attached to the monastery.

STRANGER. One word more, before the chapter assembles. What kind of man
is the Prior?

CONFESSOR (smiling). H