CHORUS: Eyes winged with delight
behold not past the threshold
the needles of the pine-tree
clear against the moon.
The night bubbles with faint ghosts;
but his eyes and words and thoughts
are entangled in her hair.
THE GIRL (faintly): When the flower has fallen
then are all flowers
equal in oblivion.
CHORUS: Her folded bosom bears an aureole
woven of ferns and thin dreams.
THE GIRL: Since I have known you,
henceforth the moonlight will be
a cold companion.
CHORUS (two waving their fans with slow movements, the other two holding their fans closed):
The peach-flower faints with thirst,
but the moth arrives,
Pulsing wings glisten with dew.
Ah! mingled honey and dew!
The moon has entered the pool.
Is it the pool that shines? Is it the moon?
SCENE II
Kiri: The saki was strong; I slept against my will. How fair the moonlight falls across her body! Ah, moulded bosom! now unmoving . . . Her arm is chilled that was my pillow!—Peach-flower!—Aah! . . .
CHORUS (rapidly): Serpents of ice embrace him!
Speech is frozen in his throat!
Who has done this thing?
Alas! the bride of a night
lies headless in his embrace.
Was the old man drunk?
Alas, the bride of a night
lies bloodless upon his sleeve.
Ah! Horror, horror!
