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Figure We are flesh and blood and not angels. The Male Figure Have you no hearts? Arjillax They are mad as well as mischievous. May we not destroy them? Strephon We abhor them. The Newly Born We loathe them. Ecrasia They are noisome. Acis I don’t want to be hard on the poor devils; but they are making me feel uneasy in my inside. I never had such a sensation before. Martellus I took a lot of trouble with them. But as far as I am concerned, destroy them by all means. I loathed them from the beginning. All Yes, yes: we all loathe them. Let us calcine them. The Female Figure Oh, don’t be so cruel. I’m not fit to die. I will never bite anyone again. I will tell the truth. I will do good. Is it my fault if I was not made properly? Kill him; but spare me. The Male Figure No! I have done no harm: she has. Kill her if you like: you have no right to kill me. The Newly Born Do you hear that? They want to have one another killed. Arjillax Monstrous! Kill them both. The He-Ancient Silence. These things are mere automata: they cannot help shrinking from death at any cost. You see that they have no self-control, and are merely shuddering through a series of reflexes. Let us see whether we cannot put a little more life into them. He takes the Male Figure by the hand, and places his disengaged hand on its head. Now listen. One of you two is to be destroyed. Which of you shall it be? The Male Figure After a slight convulsion during which his eyes are fixed on the He-Ancient. Spare her; and kill me. Strephon That’s better. The Newly Born Much better. The She-Ancient Handling the Female Automaton in the same manner. Which of you shall we kill? The Female Figure Kill us both. How could either of us live without the other? Ecrasia The woman is more sensible than the man. The Ancients release the Automata. The Male Figure Sinking to the ground. I am discouraged. Life is too heavy a burden. The Female Figure Collapsing. I am dying. I am glad. I am afraid to live. The Newly Born I think it would be nice to give the poor things a little music. Arjillax Why? The Newly Born I don’t know. But it would. The Musicians play. The Female Figure Ozymandias: do you hear that? She rises on her knees and looks raptly into space. Queen of queens! She dies. The Male Figure Crawling feebly towards her until he reaches her hand. I knew I was really a king of kings. To the others. Illusions, farewell: we are going to our thrones. He dies. The music stops. There is dead silence for a moment. The Newly Born That was funny. Strephon It was. Even the Ancients are smiling. The Newly Born Just a little. The She-Ancient Quickly recovering her grave and peremptory manner. Take these two abominations away to Pygmalion’s laboratory, and destroy them with the rest of the laboratory refuse. Some of them move to obey. Take care: do not touch their flesh: it is noxious: lift them by their robes. Carry Pygmalion into the temple; and dispose of his remains in the usual way. The three bodies are carried out as directed, Pygmalion into the temple by his bare arms and legs, and the two Figures through the grove by their clothes. Martellus superintends the removal of the Figures, Acis that of Pygmalion. Ecrasia, Arjillax, Strephon, and the Newly Born sit down as before, but on contrary benches; so that Strephon and the Newly Born now face the grove, and Ecrasia and Arjillax the temple. The Ancients remain standing at the altar. Ecrasia As she sits down. Oh for a breeze from the hills! Strephon Or the wind from the sea at the turn of the tide! The Newly Born I want some clean air. The He-Ancient The air will be clean in a moment. This doll flesh that children make decomposes quickly at best; but when it is shaken by such passions as the creatures are capable of, it breaks up at once and becomes horribly tainted. The She-Ancient Let it be a lesson to you all to be content with lifeless toys, and not attempt to make living ones. What would you think of us ancients if we made toys of you children? The Newly Born Coaxingly. Why do you not make toys of us? Then you would play with us; and that would be very nice. The She-Ancient It would not amuse us. When you play with one another you play with your bodies, and that makes you supple and strong; but if we played with you we should play with your minds, and perhaps deform them. Strephon You are a ghastly lot, you ancients. I shall kill myself when I am four years old. What do you live for? The He-Ancient You will find out when you grow up. You will not kill yourself. Strephon If you make me believe that, I shall kill myself now. The Newly Born Oh no. I want you. I love you. Strephon I love someone else. And she has gone old, old. Lost to me forever. The He-Ancient How old? Strephon You saw her when you barged into us as we were dancing. She is four. The Newly Born How I should have hated her twenty minutes ago! But I have grown out of that now. The He-Ancient Good. That hatred is called jealousy, the worst of our childish complaints. Martellus, dusting his hands and puffing, returns from the grove. Martellus Ouf! He sits down next the Newly Born. That job’s finished. Arjillax Ancients: I should like to make a few studies of you. Not portraits, of course: I shall idealize you a little. I have come to the conclusion that you ancients are the most interesting subjects after all. Martellus What! Have those two horrors, whose ashes