190 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Act IV 



Late Tertiary. In a forest. Primitive max and various animals 



Hy-ENa. [Laughing.] Oh! have j'ou seen, 

 have j'ou but seen the thing they call a 

 man? 

 His body's out of shape and placed on end, 

 Erect upon his hinder legs, his hair is gone. 

 And hideousl}' naked stalks he through the 



glade. 

 Creation must be crazy to have made 

 So foul a beast ! 



Jackal. The other morn I saw some human 



cubs 

 More helpless than their sires, mere blobs of 



flesh, 

 Squirming and squealing, while with mute 



distress 

 Their mothers sought to mend their evil fate. 

 Feeble in youth and age, in sooth the date 

 Of man's extinction must be near at hand. 



Hy.exa. Full well they know it, for they 



can but ken 

 They're nature's greatest joke, and making 



men 

 She sought but to amuse the gods. 



Jackal. Forsooth I know the cause of my 



surprise 

 The day when I heard laughter from the skies. 



HYiENA. I say they know it, and to prove 



my word 

 Let me but tell you of the news I heard. 

 They are ashamed of their naked state. 

 And some, more wise than others, have of late 

 Sought leaves and vines to hide their horrid 



flesh. 

 Thus covered like the case-worms on the trees. 

 They seek the hardness of their fate to ease. 

 The very act confessing their distress. 



Jackal. Here comes a man, we'll call him 



to account; 

 Let him excuse himself as best he may. 



Man. Kind friends, have patience, for I can 

 Do things you cannot, since I am a man 



Erect upon mj- hinder legs I lose 



In speed and looks perchance, but I may use 



My hands in godlike manner to create. 



My hands thus freed, the brain will grow. 



Guiding the tool, till I shall know 



To weave the pattern of my human fate. 



Hy.exa. To do the work of gods is then your 



dream. 

 Oh friends! how can a creature thus bla.s- 



pheme? 



Bird. To walk on one's hind legs is quite a 



plan : 

 To that extent I will defend the man. 

 The front legs freed may serve a useful end 

 When, feather-decked, as wings they upward 



send 

 Our bodies, soaring far above the earth. 

 Where in the air we carol forth our mirth. 



M.\x. Sublime it is to fly, but better yet 

 To conquer nature with the mind, and so to 



get 

 Her forces held and altered to our use. 

 The working hand and thinking head unite, 

 Till weakness is converted into might, 

 And praise succeeds abuse. 

 Thus may we hold the earth and even try 

 Though featherless and handed, yet to fly. 



Bird. The man's insane, what better proof 

 Than his mad words? Let's hold aloof, 

 And leave him to his wretched fate, 

 Striving alone to reach the golden gate 

 Of heaven, and in godlike ways 

 Command the earth and hold the very rays 

 Of sun above to serve his foolish ends. 



[The animals draw aloof.] 



]\L\x. [To himself.] They rightly cull me 



weak, they rightly say 

 I am ashamed. 



This body would I hide, and in this inintl 

 Stir doubt and fear, my very soul doth quake 

 With strange forebodings of a new-born sense. 



