xt7p8c9r2n78 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7p8c9r2n78/data/mets.xml Caudill, Rebecca, 1899-1986. 19  books b92-187-30608271 English Issued by General Sunday School Board, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, : Nashville, Tenn. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Joyous land  : a play for childhood and youth week / Rebecca Caudill. text Joyous land  : a play for childhood and youth week / Rebecca Caudill. 19 2002 true xt7p8c9r2n78 section xt7p8c9r2n78 












  LARJ9D

A Phay for Childhood
   and Youth Week



         By
REBECCA CAUDILL



         Issued by
 General Sunday School Board
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
810 Broadway, Nashville, Tenn.



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'. .  .   .  .    ..   .  . A Joyous Land
Where waters gushed ard fruit trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new;
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
And their dogs outran cur fallow deer,
And honeybees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagles' wings."
              -Yrom "The Pied Piper of H-amelin." By Robert
              Browning. Used by permission of The Macmillan
              Comparny.


 



                  THE JOYOUS LAND
             A PLAY FOR CHILDHOOD AND YOUTIT WX EEK
                             THE CHARACTERS
 THE PIED PIPER.
 Six Children Who Followed the Piper from Ilamelin:
   FIRST CHILD---a girl of thirteen, daughter of the Mayor.
   SECOND CHILD-a girl of ten, a Japanese.
   THIRD CHILD-a boy of eight, an orphan.
   FOURTH CHILD---a boy of fourteen whose father was killed in a war.
   FIFTH CHILD--a boy of nine, who sells papers on the street.
   SIXTH CHILD-a girl of six.
 THE, MOTHER OF CHILDREN WHO LACK.
 THE WEAVER OF BEAUTIFUL DREAMS.
 THE KNIGHT IN THE SHINING ARMOR OF TRUTH.
 THE PRINCE WITH THE BOOK OF LOVE.
   (The lights in the church are turned off wvhile the light on the stage(, is dimnmed
to represent twilight. Palms and potted fernls may be used to gire the Affect
of an. outdoor scene, while if a wore elaborate stage setting is desired, a forest
nook ma be arranged, wcith moss-covered stones to serve as seats for the Mlhther
and the Piper. The children sit on the floor. As the play opens, notes froin
a pipe are heard in, the distance, and the Piper comes from a door back Of the
stage--the "'hole in. the hill"' through uWhich he passed, followed by the childrenC.
They are wreary, as if they hav e come a long distance. The Piper carries the
smallest child tenderly in his arms. W17hen they reach tile stag(e the children
look about thein in great awe and wconder wchich gives 'way to subdued e.r-
clamiationis of deli(ght before any one speaks).
  THIRD CHILD: Is this the Joyous Land
  PIPER: This, my children, is the doorway to the Joyous Land. The
Joyous Land itself lies just beyond that wall.
  FIRST CHILD: 0, how beautiful!
  FIFTH CHILD: And may we go in there, Piper Mlay we go in at once
  FOURTH CHILD: Are the dogs in there, Piper The clogs that can run
faster than anv deer in our forests at Hamelin
  SIXTH CHILD: I want to see the horses with the eagles' wings.
  SECOND CHILD: And the sparrows that are like peacocks. Piper, do they
really, truly spread their tails like a fan, just as the peacocks lo And do
thev flyv about in the trees
  PIPER: Yes, my children. Now you are about to see that all I have told
you is true. And more than that, too. In this Joyous Land the tree-
tops are a harp, and the wind plays upon their strings all the day long.
Listen. Do you not hear the strange sweet music The wind now plays
a lullaby, for the Weaver of Beautiful Dreams has just told the children
a story, and it is the time when they close their eyes and dream. But
in the middle of the day, when the world is a-thrill with the silvery notes
of bird song, and tiny streams go tripping, and moth and bee are all a-
flutter, and the little green leaves lisp tremulously, then the wind plucks
the strings of her harp and plays such a rollicking, dashing tune that
the children drop their playthings and their tools and dance for sheer joy.
To-morrow you, too, shall dance on green hilltops with the wind.
  SIXTH CHILD: Tell us more, Piper. Tell us about the holses with the
eagles' wings.

 
  PIPER: But my young travelers are weary. We should rest a bit before
we go in.
  FIRST CHILI): But we are not tired now, Piper. Indeed, the journey was
so long I thought my feet should ne-er climb that last hill, but now they
are light as the feathery clouds. How strange that I should be so soon
rested.
  PIPER: Rested, my child No one in the Joyous Land is ever weary for
long. Listen again to the music of the wind. Listen closely. (All listen
intently) Do you hear Is it not joyous music But it is only the echo
of many singing hearts, and singing hearts are never weary.  (They
continue to listen.)
  THIRD CHILD: 0, I hear! I hear! It goes like this: (He sings a rollicking
air. Tra la la la la la la la la. Tra la la la la la la la. They listen again
closely, then with the Piper all join hands and skip around in a circle, singing
joyously).
  SECOND CHILD: May we go in now, Piper And play on the green hill
top
  PIPER: In one minute now. The M.Viother is tucking in the last wee baby,
and when that is finished she will come out to welcome you. She knows
you are here. She says she can always tell by the song of the wind if chil-
dren who lack are about to knock at her door.
  FIFTH CHILL): By the song of the wind
  PIPER: Yes, the wind plays very, very softly then, so that only the
Mother of the Children Who Lack may hear. She says the wind is telling
her a secret. Listen again. I hear her skirts in the grass. She is coming
now. (The door opens slowly, ae!d the Mother of the Children Who Lack en-
ters, humming a lullaby. The Piper and the children have fallen back a little,
and the Mother is near the center of the stage before she sees them.)
  MOTHER: My children! Piper! Welcome home! (The Piper kneels
quickly before her, and the children press about her, looking at her in admira-
tion and awe.) And where did you find so many children at once What
cruel thing have you found in the wo ld that you must rescue a townful of
children
  PIPER: Mother of the Children Who Lack, these children are sorely in
need of the happiness to be found in the Joyous Land. I had only to play
the first notes of a tune on my pipes when every child in the town left his
play and followed me. The others-and there were scores of them,
Mother--were so weary with the long journey that I played them a song
until they went to sleep underneath a big tree. They are even now just a
stone's throw from the gateway. In the morning I shall return for them.
Shall I tell you my story, mother
  MOTHER: Yes, Piper. But first let us make these children comfortable.
You are very weary, children
  ALL THE CHILDREN: No, Mother.
  FIRST CHILD: Why, Mother, as socrn as we passed through the doorway,
the weariness dropped from cur feet like a feather that drops from the
breast of a bird, and it floated away, away, away.
  FOURTH CH4ILD: Why, we've even heard the music in the Joyous Land.
We couldn't keep our feet still, it was that rollicking.
  MOTHER: Yes, my children, J heatd you, and I was glad. Only I was
alarmed that so many of you shoul-d arrive at once. Usually my Piper
here brings only one child at a time, out that so many of you should seek
admittance at once! Tell me, Piper, what is your story (The sixth child
is beginning to nod, and the Piper picks her up and lays her in the arms of
the Mother, where she goes to sleep.) What is this, Piper This child lacks
                                 4

 
nothing. No child has ever been known to go to sleep at the doorway
of the Jovous Land. Weary, yes, but never asleep. Quick, what is your
story that we may right this wrong, if it be a wrong, and return this
child.
  PIPER: It was the day before yesterday, Mother that I was wandering
up and down the earth looking for the children who lack the golden,
glorious opportunities of happy, guided childhood. I had wandered all
the day and I had listened carefully, for you know no child ever suffers a
wrong but that the evil is borne to my heart on the wail of the wind. I
even took the liberty of looking in on some homes by which I passed, to
be sure that no smallest injury escaped me. But in every home I found
only happiness. Love was in the homes and love was abroad in the com-
munity, and people sought not their own happiness but that of their
neighbors. There was in the land a spirit of rapture so like that in the
Joyous Land here that to make sure I was not deceived I even played
gentle little tunes on my harp once in awhile. For you know, Mother,
at the first note of my harp, if there be a damaged child about, he will rise
up immediately and follow, and no power on earth can draw him back.
  MOTHER: You were wise, Piper, not to play your tunes until vou had
first searched the hearts of the people to see if they were in tune w.th the
joyousness of the universe.
  PIPER: That I never do, Mother. Sometimes I discover a child whose
father and mother have only forgotten the sacredness of their task.
They are asleep while the great glad world moves on about them. Then
I plant in their hearts such a love for all children and such a yearning for
their welfare that they quickly repair the injury they have done to their
own child.
  FIRST CHILD: And the children, when you piped your gentle t unes, Piper,
did they not follow
  PIPER: Not one. They did not even so much as prick up their ears to
listen. Then I knew they had no need of this Joyous Land.
  MOTHER: There are other Lands of Joy besides this one here, Piper.
Wherever fathers and mothers in a community are together creating
happiness for themselves and all the children whose lives are touched by
their actions, there, then, is a Joyous Land.
  PIPER: This, I think, Mother, must have been such a land.
  THIRD CHILD: Did the wind play gay tunes there, Piper
  FIFTH Child: And the horses, Piper, are the horses born there with eagles'
wings
  PIPER: No, my children. Such things as these are reserved for this
Joyous Land to which all children who lack are brought--children who
lack the gentle understanding of fathers and mothers; children who grow
up in the world without great love and affection; children whose footsteps
are allowed to stray where they will instead of being guided tenderly and
patiently by the parents who brought them into the world; children who
have been deprived, by whatever means, of the great joyousness of the
universe which is their heritage. These are the children who lack, and
only they who know not happiness in their own homes may enter here.
Then, my dear children, a life that is new and beautiful begins for them.
As soon as they enter this gateway their weariness leaves them; they
forget the uglinesses of the world; they forget that they have known
cross words and unkind deeds, and when once they hear the song of the
wind, they answer, just as you did a moment ago.
  FOURTH CHILD: And when you could find no children who lacked, Piper,
then did you come to Hamelin
                                 5

 

   PIPER: Yes, twilight was comning or and I came to the town for lodging
 for the night. But as soon as T set foot on the streets of the city, I knew
 that something was cruelly wrong. Pretty soon I met a bent old man.
 "Good friend," I said to him, 'I have only just now arrived in your town,
 but I see some great curse has Settled upon it. Will you tell me the cause
 of such gloom" "Ah, indeed you ark a stranger," he said, "else you had
 heard the awful calamity that has befallen Hamelin. The town is infested
 with rats-great rats, small rats, brawny rats, tawny rats, rats of every
 size and description. And try as hard as we may we cannot rid the town
 of them. They swarm over ouir houses, they bite our babies in their
 cradles, they steal our food, arn they have become so bold that men go
 about armed with clubs and sticks to fight them. But that does no good.
 Even now the mayor sits in th., town hall racking his brain for some de-
 liverance."
   Straightway I went to see the mnayor. "I have come to rid your city
 of rats," I said to him. "Name your price, my good friend," he said at
 once. "Any price we will pay if only this pestilence may be driven from
 Hamelin." "A thousand guilders," I named. "Fifty thousand we will
 pay," he shouted, "if only you can rid our town of rats."
   With that I began to play a litilh tune on my pipes and out swarmed
 the rats. The streets of the town were filled with the procession, such a
 swarm there was of them, and they followed straight to the brink of the
 river Weser where they rushed in and were drowned. Then I returned to
 the market place for my money. "I have come for my thousand guilders,"
 1 said. "Thousand!" the mayor shouted at me, and his voice was very
 ugly to hear. "I will pay you fifty!' "You promised me a thousand,"
 I said, " and pay it you shall. Otherwise, you will regret it as long as you
 live, for I can play a tune of another sort." But he only laughed, a loud,
 cruel laugh, and said: " Dead rats don't bite."
   For one moment I hesitated, Mother. It is a serious thing to bring
 children to the Joyous Land without giving their fathers and mothers a
 second chance. Yet how are children to fall heir to their rightful heritage
 of wisdom and strength and grace if the mayor and his council refuse to
 pay their lawful debts, and if the fathers and mothers elect to their highest
 offices men of such shameful character Shall children be brought up in
 so dishonorable a society So, "Wil' you reconsider" I asked. "No,"
 the mayor stormed. "Fifty guilders or nothing at all, you dirty fellow,"
 and he and his councilmen fel to laughing as if this was indeed a funny
 joke.
   Wdith that I put my pipes to my lijps and began playing, gently at first,
then as rollicking a tune as I know, and just as I expected, out rushed the
children. From every house they swarmed just as the rats had done before
them, and when we reached the hole in the hill they passed through with-
out so much as looking back. And, here we are, Mother.
  MtITHER: Piper, you did wisely. But before we go through the doorway
into the Joyous Land, suppose we learn from these children just what their
lives have been. My dear (speakinl t(, First Child), are you not the daugh-
ter of the mayor who refused to pay the Piper
  FIRST CHILD: I am, i\Iother. 1 knew father had been trvin(r hard to rid
Hamelin of rats, because the people had told him he would not be re-
electecl for mayor should the rats not be run out. We lived in a great white
house outside the town and the rats never bothered us; but father likes to
he the mayor so he was anxious to get rid of the rats. When father saw
the rats actually following the Piper, it seemed so easy a thing that he
regretted he had promised to pay so much. Then he and his councilmen
                                 6

 

  decided together that they would pay him only fifty guilders instead of
  the thousand the Piper had asked and the fifty thousand they had promised
  to pay. I heard my father laughing and saying: "Dead rats wonit bite."
  And I heard one of the councilmen saying: " That's right, 'Mayor. Drive
  as hard a bargain as you can with the dirty rascal. He has piped the rats
  away, but he'll never pipe them back again."
    MOTHER (to Fourth Child): My son, what did your father think about
 this
    FOuRTH CHILD: MWI father. Mother. was killed in a war with Hanover.
    AMOTHER (ine a shocked tone): In a war with Hanover Can it be that
 you have been brought up in a world where brothers bear armns against
 brothers No wonder you followed the Piper. damagedl as you have been
 by such outrages as these. Tell me about this war with Hanover.
   FOTI'TII CHILD: The River Weser flows between the town of Hamelin
 an(l the city of Hanover. There is in Hamelin a street called The Circle
 of the E Ims. It incloses the city in a great wide circle and is bordered
 on each side with stately elm trees. Back of this street are great houses
 of commerce--banks and offices of custom. Indeed, so much money comes
 into these houses from the outside world that the Circle of the Elms has
 long been called the richest street in the world. But the town of Hanover
 also has a Circle of Oaks, and since both of the towns are river towns,
 there is much buying and selling and shipping going on. One day a rumor
 reached Hamelin that Hanover was claiming her Circle of Oalks to be the
 richest street in the world. At the same time they built a flagpole taller
 than ours, and with that Hamelin was outraged. The mayor called the
 people of the town together to discuss what should be (lone about the
 flagpole, and there seemed to be nothing to do about it but to haul down
 the flag and cut the pole off by a few inches. So they put our fathers in
 uniforms and gave them guns, and then plaved music for them to march
 by on their way to the boat waiting at the river. It sounded very pretty
 then, that music, but my father never came home again.
   MIOTHER: And what of the flagpole Is it still taller
   FOUTHTM CHIID: No, Mother. The men of Hamelin made them saw it
 offl Iv three inches so that it is now no taller than the flagpole of Harmelin.
   MIOTHE: And how long will Hanoverians let it remain that height
   FOURTH CHILD: I do not know, Mother. We in Hamelin were taught
to watch it every day, and to watch the Hanoverians too, but never, never
to speak to them. I have even carried a gun on nmy shoulder and marched
in the streets as I remember my father marched, because the mayor told
us another day might come when the Hanoverians should try again to raise
their flagpole.
  MOITER: And the Hanoverian boys, do they carry guns too anl refuse
to speak to vou
  FO URTH CHILD: Yes, MIother, the mnayor of Hanover has instructed
them as we have been instructed.
  IMOTHER: Piper, on the morrow vou shall (go straightway to Hanover
to rescue the children there too. I fear they have lived too long already
in this atmosphere of hate and crime.
  FOURTH CHILD: Mother, why could not the flagpoles of Hainelin and
Hanover be the same height, one as tall as but not taller than the other
In this Joyous Land you would not try to raise a flagpole higher than that
of some town across the river, would you
  MI OTHER: No, my son, because the heart of childhood and the heart of
Youth is the same the wide world over, and the dreams and the aspirations
of the children of Hamelin, and the dreams and the aspirations of the

 

children of Hanover are alike sacred. Should Hamelin ever become a
Joyous Land like this one he e, no cne would think of the height of flag-
poles. Instead, your mayors would build a golden bridge of love across
the River Weser, and that bridge would echo, not the tread of armed
men, but the footsteps of friendly neighbors. And the mother and fathers
of Hamelin would forget their flagpoles, as would the fathers and mothers
of Hanover, and instead of guns the, would buy books for their children;
instead of drilling grounds thiy would equip playgrounds for those whom
they have loved so unwisely. And together they could build for their
children a city of love where there is no ugliness or hate or crime.
  FOuRTH CHILD: But, Mother, you will not send us away from the Joyous
Land, will you The Piper says the Joyous Land is filled with wonders
so great that we in Hamelin do not know the half of them. He says boys
in the Joyous Land have been known to soar up, up, up to the very stars.
I would do that too, Mother. But back in Hamelin, I should only be
laughed at. No I must hate the Hanoverians back in Hamelin. I haven't
time to soar to the stars.
  MOTHER: My son, you are yet but a lad, a brave, comely lad. All that
the Piper has told you is true. Bo:,s in the Joyous Land have soared to
the stars. But you might soar to the stars back in Hamelin, too, were the
beautiful white wings of your imagin;'tion not clipped by dishonest mayors
and frightened councilmen aTnd compromising fathers and mothers. It
was an evil day forHamelin when youwere awakened from your dreams.
N-o, do not fear. The Joyous Land you shall never leave unless in Hamelin
we discover some one to guide those dreams of yours. And who is this
little girl, may I ask (Looking at Scond Child.)
  SECOND CHIILD: 0, I lived with my father and mother in Hamelin.
  MOTHER: But you have not always lived in Hamelin, have you, my dear
  SECOND CHILD: NO, Mother, W.ien I was a wee baby, only this big
(measurin-1 witk her hands) my mother and father put on my brightest
little kimono and we said gocd-by to our home away across the ocean,
and came to Hamelin to live.
  MOTHER: And why did you follow the Piper
  SECOND CHILD: 0 Mother, the music was so very sweet! You can't
imagine what beautiful fairies I seemed to see in the grass as I listened to
the Piper-fairies 0 so gay and fine with dancing feet and stars in their
hair. They were much finer than any fairies my mother has ever seen,
and she has seen the most beaiutiful fairies in the world. She told me all
about them.
  MOTHER: And why did you leave your mother, my dear, if she knew
fairies so fine as that
  SECOND CHILD: Because, Mother, I' wanted some one to play with, some
little girl like me. When I heard th- Piper, I wanted to run in the house
and kiss my mother good-by, but the music-Mother, the music caught
my feet up and I couldn't stop. Do you know what the music said to me,
Mother It said that somewhere or a green hill top a hundred little girls
just like me were dancing in a fairy ring, and because no little girls ever
played on the hill tops with rle in Hamelin, I followed. There are little
girls in the Joyous Land, aren t there Mother
  Mi()THER: Yes, my dear.
  SECOND CHILD: And will they plaxi with me when we pass through that
doorway
  MNOTHER: What were you doIng in Hamelin that you never played with
little girls
  SECOND CHILD: 0, I only looked through the bars in the gate at them.
                                8

 
If I went out in the street, they laughed at me and said my clothes were
queer. But they won't laugh at me here, will they, Mother
  MOTHER (looking at First Child): Is all this little girl has said true
  FIRST CHILD: Yes Mother. My mother told me not to play with her.
  FIFTH CHILD: Why, I never saw her until the Piper came. I didn't know
she lived in Hamelin.
  THIRD CHILD: I saw her one day peeping through the gate. But we
never played with her in Hamelin. I wonder why.
  MOTHER: Do you not know why now, my son
  THIRD CHILD: 0 yes, because Hamelin is only Hamelin with parents who
are interested in a tall flagpole and a Circle of Elms, and not a Joyous
Land like this one.
  MIOTHER: But Hamelin could be a Joyous Land like this one. Suppose
you tell me about yourself.
  THIRD CHILD: 0, I lived in a home. Not a real home, you know, but one
where lots and lots of children came and we didn't have any mother or
father.
  MOTHER: Where are your mother and father
  THIRD CHILD: I never knew. I've never known anything but the home
and these overalls like all the other children wear.
  MOTHER: And why did you follow the Piper
  THIRD CHILD: 0, Mother, when I heard the music I knew a mother just
like you would be at the end of the journey, and I couldn't stop my feet.
  MOTHER: But are there no mothers like me in Hamelin
  THIRD CHILD: No, Mother, not like you. Some of them look ever so
beautiful, and I've seen some fathers that you just knew would tell you
all about everything in the world-what makes the boats sail on the
river, and how the big clock on the tower strikes the hour, and what
makes the cuckoo come out---but not one of them ever wanted to take me
home with him and be my real father or my real mother. They said
I'd be too much trouble They gave me money sometimes, and on holidays
there were always beautiful presents for all of us. But they are not half
so beautiful as the Piper's music. And when I heard him piping down the
street, I couldn't keep my feet back.
  MOTHER: Piper, it seems you did right to bring them. Unless one of
them wants to oo back, all of them may enter the Joyous Land. I do not
know why this child should have fallen asleep We shall wake her present-
ly and find out. Will you tell me first why you followed the Piper, my
boy (Looking at Fifth Child.)
  FIFTH CHILD: I was selling my papers, Mother, when I heard the music.
And when I heard, there was nothing to do but to follow.
  MOTHER: Why were you selling papers
  FIFTH CHILD: Because my father needed the money.
  MOTHER: Where is your father
  FIFTH CHILD: He works in a mill near Hamelin. He gets up so early in
the morning and comes home so late at night that I never see him. But
the mayor pays him so little that I must work too.
  MOTHER: And where is your mother
  FIFTH CHILD: 0, she works too. She washes clothes all day long so that
she never has time to play with me and tell me stories, and when night
comes she is too tired.
  SIXTH CHILD (waking up): I want to go home.
  MOTHER (excitedly): Now! Did you hear, Piper She wants to go
home! Why, dear, do you want to go home Tell me.
                               9

 

   SIXTH CHILD: I want my mother to put me to bed. And daddy always
 tells me a story.
   MOTHER: Why, my dear, diO. you follow the Piper
   SIXTH CHILD: Why, all the children came and I came because they did.
   MOTHER: Did you not think the music was the sweetest music you have
 ever heard
   SIXTH CHILD: Why my mother car play tunes more beautiful than the
 Piper.
   SECOND CHILD: I know her mother. She came to our house one day.
 She drank tea with my mother, and she told me-a story about a little
 girl named Cinderella.
   THIRD CHILD: I know her father, too. He took me to his office one day
 and gave me some books to readl, and told me when I was bigger he would
 help me learn to be a doctor just like him.
   MOTHER: Where was this child's father when the Piper was playing
   FIRST CHILD: I know, Mother. He had heard that my father would not
 pay the Piper the money he promised, and he went to talk to my father
 about it. He said my father ought to pay the money.
   SIxrH CHILD: Will you let rme go l.ome now, Mother The Piper will
 take me, won't you, Piper I want to see my mother.
   MIOTHER: Piper, what shall we do about them
   PIPER: They must go back, Mother, all of them. I cannot think how
 this child followed except that there are so few fathers and mothers like
 hers in the town, and so nians like the mayor. But those two alone can
 transform the town, and so tie children must return.
   MIOTHER: My children (addressing all of them), you have followed the
Piper here to-night because his music was a promise of the fulfillment of all
the lovely, enchanting dreams that lvae been crushed out of your young
hearts. Wherever children have been wronged, they rise up and follow
that music because here in the Joyous Land we know how to build dreams
that reach the stars, and we grow straigh.ht and tall like the trees because
here there is no hate, only loVe; no Ugliness, only beauty; no selfishness,
only service.
  But there are Joyous Lands other than this one, and they are built along
the banks of arty river, like Hamelin itself, or Hanover. In these Joyous
Lands live fathers and mothers who rule themselves, their households,
and their cities with love. In such Londs the children may also see visions
as fair as any here, and the ascent to -he stars is none the less real because
it is more difficult. In your ow,.n town of Hamelin live such a father and
mother, the parents of this little child. Even now they are trying to find
you, for they love you and they unde! stand the way you have gone. Will
you go back with the Piper on the morrow  (Pause while children think.)
  SECOND CHILD: Maybe you'd give us one of the sparrows with peacock
winus to take back with us
  MO)THER: I shall give you somethimy better than that.
  (Eiter ITVeaicr of Beautiful Dreams as  in answer to summons.)
  W\EAVER OF BEAUTIFUL DREAMS: You called, Mother
  MOTHER: Yes. Children, this is the WNeaver of Beautiful Dreams. To-
morrow I send him with you to IHamelin, and he shall stay with you until
you are grown tall men and women. He shall lend you his eyes that you
may look at the world through them.. On a hill overlooking Hamelin
stands a gnarled old tree. Its branc, es are crooked and dying. But once
you look at the tree through the eyes of the Dreamer you see the tree stand-
ing tall and straiglht and beautiful, and on every twig is a flower as dewy
                                  f)

 

pink as the sky at sunrise. And so it shall be with everything, that you
may help to fashion with your own hands this Joyous Land of Hamelin.
The Dreamer knows all the lore of fairies, all the secrets of the past, all
the mysteries of the future, and he will live with you so that you too may
learn the wisdom never to be found in books but only hidden deep in the
hearts of noble men and women.
  WEAVER OF BEAUTIFUL DREAMS: Gladly I go, Mother.
  (Enter Knight in the Shining Armor of Truth as if in answer to summons).
  KNIGHT IN THE SHINING ARMOR OF TRUTH: You called AMother
  MOTHER: Yes. And children, this is the Knight in the Shining Armor
of Truth. He shall go with you also to Hamelin, and he shall be to you
and to your fathers and mothers as a lamp to your feet in the darkness.
Your parents have damaged you oftentimes because they knew not
truth from falsehood, but when the Knight in the Shining Armor of
Truth is come, they need never blunder again.
  KNIGHT IN THE SHINING ARMOR OF TRUTH: Your bidding shall be done
willingly, Mother.
  (hinter Prince with the Book of Love as if in answer to summons.)
  PRINCE WITH THE BOOK OF LOVE: You called, Mother
  MOTHER: Yes. Children, with the Knight in the Shining Armor of
Truth I shall send the Prince with the Book of Love. Without him
Hamelin could never become a Joyous Land, but he shall lead the people
as a father would lead them into the green pastures of love and righteous-
ness and unselfishness and service. He and the Knight shall teach the
people all wisdom, all beauty, all truth, so that whenever the Piper comes
again no one may hear his tunes, because he who dwells in love knows all
the wonder of the earth. Is it agreed
  PRINCE WITH THE BOOKOF Los E: Yes, Mother. Gladly my brothers and
I go to create in this city a Joyous Land like our own here. We make ready
now for the journey. (They bow and go out.)
  FOIURTH CHILD: Do we go now, Mother
  MOTHER: No, my children. My helpers must prepare for the journey,
and you need rest. On the morrow you will go, with the Piper to play for
you his sweetest tunes on the journey. Listen. Do you not hear the
music of the wind (A lullaby is heard.) The Weaver of Beautiful
Dreams is bidding you sweet rest so your feet may be swift like wings
for the journey. (They listen a moment, then one by one fall asleep. The
Piper goes about making them comfortable. The Third Child rouses, smiles,
and says softly: "Ufood night, Mother.")

                              THE END

                            Suggestions
  Thie .Joyoiis Land has been written with the facilities of both large churches and
small in mind. The setting and the costumes may be as simple or as elaborate as
each individual group wishes. The scene is an outdoor one, the "Gateway to the
-Joyous Land," and ferns and potted palms may be used sparingly or in abundance.
A seat is provided for the Mother of the Children Who Lack, preferably a mound or a
moss-covered stone. There may be a smaller one for the Piper, but the children
group themselves on the ground.
In Browning's "Pied Piper of Hamelin,"  the Piper is described as:
               .              The Strangest figure!
               His queer long coat from heel to head



Used by purmission of the Macmillan Compaioy
             11

 
                    Was half of yellow and half of red
                    And he himself was tall and thin,
                    With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
                    And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
                    No tuft on ceek, no! beard on chin,
                    But lips where smiles went out and in.
                                              .round his neck
                    A scarf of red and yellow stripe
                    To match with his coist of the self-same cheque
                    And at the scaif's end hung a pipe."
   The Mother should wear a long light blue dress or robe, p