THE CUCKOO IN THE WOODS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21380, 24 June 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE CUCKOO IN THE WOODS

(There is an old legend that the t cuckoo can tell old people how many years they have to live, and young people how long it will be before they marry.) (Scene: A wood. Sounds of birds! singing and cuckoos calling. Enter I Old Woman and Maiden from opposite sides of the stage. They I meet in the middle). Maiden: Why, Granny, fancy meeting you in the wood. (They embrace.) Old Woman: How are you, my dearie? And what are you doing in the wood this evening all alone? Maiden: You’ll laugh at me, Granny, if I tell you. Old Woman: And perhaps you’ll laugh at me! Maiden: They say this wood has magic in it. Some people are afraid to wander in it alone. Old Woman: Have you heard the old story? When the cuckoo begins to sing, the old people who are tired of life come here to ask how many years of weariness are left to them. (Points) The cuckoo can tell them. Maiden: And the young people who are longing for life come to ask how long it will be before life comes to them. (Points) The cuckoo can tell. Old Woman: So now we know why we both came to this wood. Ah! Shall we put it to the test? Do • you know the old rhyme? (Sings or speaks): How many years it seems since I was young And heard the cuckoo singipg in the glade.

Maiden: Oh, Granny! years will pass Before one enters into Death’s dark shade. Old Woman: Tis said she knows how many years have I Before I die, before I die? (Cuckoo!) Only one! Only one year left. Tell me, Bird, is this the truth? It must be, and I am glad! (Cuckoo!) Maiden weeps. Old Woman (comforting her): Don’t cry, my dearie; I am glad of it. (She strokes her head and takes her hands away from her eyes.) Maiden: Shall I put it to the test, too! I am growing older, and no one has asked me to marry him. No lover has looked with favour upon me. I am tired of being half alive. Old Woman: Do so then. Do you remember the rhyme? Maiden: Yes, it goes like this (sings or speaks): O, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, tell me true How many years to tarry? Oh, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, tell me true How many years to marry? How many years before the kiss | That changes all my life to bliss? Oh, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, tell me true, How many years to tarry? (There is silence while the two women listen.) Old Woman: The bird is silent. Listen! | Maiden: Perhaps if I were alone it would answer. Go you home | and I will follow later. (They

kiss and the Old Woman departs.) Oh, Cuckoo, why do you not answer? (She weeps.) (Enter' Prince.) Prince: Why are you crying, fair maiden? Maiden (continuing to weep): Oh, oh, oh! Prince (comforting her): Tell me. What can I do to help you? I have lost my way in the wood, and everything seems strange to me. Who are you, and why are you so unhappy? Maiden: Oh, Sir, I am unhappy; but I don't know why I am unhappy. This is a magic wood, and strange things happen here. Prince: I think I shall call you Cinders, because you are like Cinderella, crying all alone. Maiden: But my Granny isn't a Fairy Godmother, and no Prince Charming will come my way. Prince: How do you know? Perhaps you will dance with a Prince and live happily ever afterwards. (Sound of distant music, a waltz, which gradually becomes louder) What is that music? Maiden: It is the music from the castle. Sometimes the wind brings the music into this wood. Prince: Come! Let us dance while we can. (They dance, and the music gradually dies away.) Thank you, my sweet maid. Now I will tell you a secret. You have really danced with a Prince, and so are really Cinderella. That is my castle yonder. Maiden (kissing his hand): Oh, Sire! (The Cuckoo calls.) Prince (raising her head): Listen to the cuckoo! Shall I sing the old song? Perhaps it will answer for me. (Sings):

Oh, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, tell me true How many years to tarry? Oh, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, tell me true How many years to marry? How many years before the kiss That changes all my life to bliss? Oh. Cuckoo, Cuckoo, tell me true How many years to tarry? (Cuckoo!) Did you hear? Only a year to wait. Wil! you marry me, fair maiden, when the year has passed? (He puts his arm round her as they wander oft together while the birds sing.) Curtain THE SNAIL Joe, the miller, caught a snail, Caught a snail. Stuck it on his donkey’s tail, Which was wrong, Yes very wrong. Tim, the donkey, flicked his tail. And the snail Landed in the piggy’s pail, Which was wrong, Yes, very wrong. Porker Pig upset his pail, And the snail Tumbled downhill to the dale, Which was wrong, Yes, very wrong. Here the miller grew for sale, Rows and rows of curly kale, And the snail Made its home among the kale Which was right, Yes very right. (Sent by Joyce Goodman.)