Page 17 - 1911 February - To Dragma

88 TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

Then came more music and the curtain rose on the last scene—a
warrior stretched lifeless in a wood, guarded by another tall, thin,
mailed form while a little dwarf capered about turning somer-saults
and making himself perfectly, at home upon the unconscious one's
diaphragm. Enter Garinda followed by Rinaldo. Great wrath
when she discovers her dear brother dead. Rinaldo collapses on his
knees, beats his breast and tries to apologize but the manly Garinda
shakes him off, and drives him from the centre of affairs to the
corner where he belongs, shouting "non parla—non parla!" or in less
elegant American, "Shut up!"

Finally in comes a tall magician with a crown and a very active
grey devil, whose long rope tail ends in a feather duster. After their
incantations the dead man feebly lifts his head, moves his arms, sits
up, and then stands and wobbles on his feet. Everyone except the
devil, cheated out of a soul, is overjoyed. Garinda flies to her
brother's arms. Then Rinaldo breaks in, much against the lady's
will, declares his love for her and asks brother for her hand. Fra-
tello says sweetly, "sorella mia"—(but that was all I could catch
of his noble speech) gives them his blessing and the last act of the
play and of the cycle ends in an orgy of dancing and embracing, first
of the brother and sister and then the three in a hopping ring-a-
round-a-rosy circle with the dwarf leaping joyously and recklessly
over the heads of all the marionnettes, seven in all, who were on the
stage at the final curtain.

A truly gorgeous affair and I laughed until I wept. It was all so
surprisingly realistic that again we were astounded to see a superman,
twice the height of the stage, letting down the curtain. We waited
within until the audience had left the hall, but my last memory of
the puppet show is the throng of Sicilian men and boys lined up
outside the door for a final stare at the "forestieri" as we emerged,
ran the gauntlet and trooped across to Caflisch's for an ice.

MARY KINGSI.EY A, Tufts College, Mass.