g with cold and were creeping into concealment. The
wax is melting, consumed by the fire. The wax is melting.

Behold him, an old man, ill and feeble. The stages of life are already
ended. In their stead nothing but a black void. Yet he drags on with
palsied limbs. The flame, now turned blue, bends to the ground and
crawls along, trembling and falling, trembling and falling. Then it
goes out quietly.

Thus Man will die. Coming from the night, he will return to the night
and go out, leaving no trace behind. He will pass into the infinity of
time, neither thinking nor feeling, and known to no one. And I, whom
all call He, shall remain the faithful companion of Man throughout
his life, on all his pathways. Unseen by him, I shall be constantly
at hand when he wakes and when he sleeps, when he prays and when he
curses. In his hours of joy, when his spirit, free and bold, rises
aloft; in his hours of grief and despair, when his soul clouds over
with mortal pain and sorrow, and the blood congeals in his heart; in
the hours of victory and defeat; in the hours of great strife with the
immutable, I shall be with him--I shall be with him.

And you who have come here to be amused, you who are consecrated to
death, look and listen. There will pass before you, like a distant
phantom echo, the fleet-moving life of Man with its sorrows and its
joys.

_[Someone in Gray turns silent. The light goes out, and He and the
gray, empty room are enveloped in darkness._

THE FIRST SCENE

THE BIRTH OF MAN AND THE MOTHER'S TRAVAIL

_Profound darkness; not a stir. Like a swarm of mice in hiding, the
gray silhouettes of Old Women in strange headgear are dimly discerned;
also vaguely the outline of a large, lofty room. The Old Women carry
on a conversation in low, mocking voices._

OLD WOMEN'S CONVERSATIONS

--I wonder whether it'll be a boy or a girl.

--What difference does it make to you?

--I like boys.

--I like girls. They always sit at home waiting till you call on them.

--Do you like to go visiting?

_[The Old Women titter._

--He knows.

--He knows. _(Silence)_

--Our friend would like to have a girl. She says boys are so restless
and venturesome and are always seeking danger. Even when they are
little, they like to climb tall trees and bathe in deep water. They
often fall, and they drown. And when they get to be men, they make
wars and kill one another.

--She thinks girls don't drown. I have seen many girl