all', another play on 'Cain and Abel'; the further story of the
'Flood' would represent the spread of wickedness over the earth; in
fact, the possible development could be bounded only by the wide limits
of the entire Bible, and, of more immediate influence, by the
restrictions of time. That this extension of theme was not checked until
these latter limits had been reached may be judged from the fact that in
one place it was customary to start the play between four or five
o'clock in the morning, acting it scene after scene until daylight
failed. But this was when the Corpus Christi festival had become the
chief dramatic season, combining in its performances the already lengthy
series associated respectively with Christmas and Easter. Between the
'Massacre of the Innocents' and the 'Betrayal' (the point at which the
Easter play usually started) a few connecting scenes were introduced,
after which the Corpus Christi play could fairly claim to be a complete
story of 'The Fall and Redemption of Man'. Admittedly of crude literary
form, yet full of reverence and moral teaching, and with powers of
pathos and satire above the ordinary, it became one single play, the
sublimest of all dramas. To regard it as a collection of separate small
plays is a fatal mistake--fatal both to our understanding of the single
scenes and to our comprehension of the whole.

Yet the space at our disposal forbids our dealing here with every scene
of any given play (or cycle, as a complete series is commonly called).
The most that can be done is to give a list of the subjects of the
scenes, and specimens of the treatment of a selected few. This list,
however, should not be glanced through lightly and rapidly. The title of
each scene should be paused over and the details associated with the
title recalled. In no other way can the reader hope to comprehend the
play in its fullness.

Here are the scenes of the _Coventry Play_.

1. The Creation.
2. The Fall of Man.
3. Cain and Abel.
4. Noah's Flood.
5. Abraham's Sacrifice.
6. Moses and the Two Tables.
7. The Prophets.
8. The Barrenness of Anna.
9. Mary in the Temple.
10. Mary's Betrothment.
11. The Salutation and Conception.
12. Joseph's Return.
13. The Visit to Elizabeth.
14. The Trial of Joseph and Mary.
15. The Birth of Christ.
16. The Adoration of the Shepherds.
17. The Adoration of the Magi.
18. The Purification.
19. The Slaughter of the Innocents.
20. Christ Disputing in the Temple.