Princess Ida

“ She is also expelled for looking out of her window when the Chicago and Alton train was passing.
BLANCHE—I was only looking out for the sleepers, they are so—
LADY P.—Enough! Looking out for sleepers is not a square game to play. Even horrid man condemns it. And now, young ladies, prepare yourselves, for your Princess Ida will be here directly to read you the lessons of the day. ”

“ You could order a suitable dinner after leaving the studio, could you not?"
"Yes, father."
"Well, then, my Princess Ida, I'll be your grand vizier, and I'll treat with this foreign power with such a fine diplomacy that he shall appreciate all the privileges he obtains. But we will keep our self-respect hereafter, Ida, and then we can look the world in the face and ask no odds of it."
"Yes, father, let us keep that at all events. And yet I'm only a woman."
"You are the woman that has made me happy, and I think there is another man who will want to be made happy also. ”

“ In no locality Or principality Is our mortality Its sway above! HILARION. When day is fading, With serenading And such frivolity Of tender quality – With scented showers Of fairest flowers, The happy hours Will gaily fly! CHORUS. It were profanity, etc. ALL. In no locality, etc.
See also Princess Ida Gilbert and Sullivan The Princess; a medley, on which the operetta is exceedingly loosely based ”

“ PSYCHE. If Cyril, ma'am, Does not behave himself, I think you will. PRINCESS. And you, Melissa, shall I find you here? MELISSA. Madam, however Florian turns out, Unhesitatingly I answer, No! GAMA. Consider this, my love: if your mama Had looked on matters from your point of view (I wish she had) , why, where would you have been? BLANCHE. There's an unbounded field of speculation On which I could discourse for hours! PRINCESS. No doubt! We will not trouble you. Hilarion, I have been wrong – I see my error now. Take me, Hilarion – "We will walk this world Yoked in all exercise of noble end! ”

“ GIRLS. Oh joy! our chief is saved And by Hilarion's hand; The torrent fierce he braved, And brought her safe to land! For his intrusion we must own This doughty deed may well atone! PRINCESS. Stand forth, ye three, Whoe'er ye be, And hearken to our stern decree! CYR., FLOR., & HIL. Have mercy, O Lady; disregard your oaths! PRINCESS. I know not mercy, men in women's clothes! The man whose sacrilegious eyes Invade our strict seclusion, dies. Arrest these coarse intruding spies! They are arrested by the "Daughters of the Plough". Cyril and Florian are bound. ”

“ There are a hundred maids within these walls, All good, all learned, and all beautiful: They are prepared to love you: will you swear To give the fullness of your love to them? HILARION. Upon our words and honours, Ma'am, we will! PRINCESS. But we go further: Will you undertake That you will never marry any man? FLORIAN. Indeed we never will! PRINCESS. Consider well, You must prefer our maids to all mankind! HILARION. To all mankind we much prefer your maids! CYRIL. We should be dolts indeed, if we did not, seeing how fair — HILARION. (Aside to Cyril) Take care – that's rather strong! ”

“ I think the less we know about such subjects the better; women were made to be wives and mothers, and not to trouble their heads about such matters; and to think of Ida, of all things, whose father is rich enough to keep her like a princess whether she ever does a thing or not! Why should she go into it? Why, Ida is not bad looking. She is quite pretty, in fact; there are a dozen girls with not half her advantages that have made good matches, but it's no use talking to her. ”

“ HILARION. Madam, you placed your trust in Woman – well, Woman has failed you utterly – try Man, Give him one chance, it's only fair – besides, Women are far too precious, too divine, To try unproven theories upon. Experiments, the proverb says, are made On humble subjects – try our grosser clay, And mould it as you will! CYRIL. Remember, too Dear Madam, if at any time you feel A-weary of the Prince, you can return To Castle Adamant, and rule your girls As heretofore, you know. PRINCESS. And shall I find The Lady Psyche here? ”

“ It does not appear whether or not Mary took the admonitions of her nine-year-old Mentor to heart. The pleasures of court life are not likely to have exercised a perilous fascination over the Princess, her spirits clouded by the memory of her melancholy past and the uncertainty of her future, and probably represented to her a more or less wearisome part of the necessary routine of existence. ”

“ The princess refused to become the bride of one so small and so ugly as the cobbler.
"What shall I do?" asked the king. "A king should never break his promise."
Then the princess whispered to the king, "Try to take the little man's girdle from him. He will then lose his power."
So the king said to the cobbler, "You may have the hand of the princess if you will give your girdle to me." ”

“ The Princess happened to raise her veil, and Aladdin saw her face.
The moment Aladdin's eyes rested upon the Princess, he loved her with all his heart.
"Mother," he cried, "I have seen the Princess, and I have made up my mind to marry her. Go at once to the Sultan and beg him to give his daughter to me."
Aladdin's mother laughed at the idea. The next day, however, she went to the palace, carrying the magic fruit as a gift. No one paid any attention to her.
She went every day for a week, before the Sultan noticed that she was there.
"Who is the poor woman who comes here every day?" ”

“ Cinderella was sitting by the kitchen fire in her rags.
"Do you not wish that you had been to the ball?" asked the sisters. "There was a wonderful princess there. The prince would dance with no one else." ”

“ The king and queen were troubled when they heard the witch's words, but the seventh fairy, who had not yet spoken, stepped forward.
"The king's daughter shall not die, but she shall sleep for a hundred years. When the princess falls asleep, everyone in the palace will go to sleep, too. They will all sleep for a hundred years."
Then the king ordered that every spindle in the kingdom should be destroyed. ”

“ Happy he With such a mother! faith in womankind Beats with his blood, and trust in all things high Comes easy to him, and though he trip and fall He shall not blind his soul with clay.' 'But I,' Said Ida, tremulously, 'so all unlike— It seems you love to cheat yourself with words: This mother is your model. I have heard of your strange doubts: they well might be: I seem A mockery to my own self. Never, Prince ”

“ Almost before Aladdin had finished these words, he found himself in Africa, beneath a window of his own palace.
"Princess! Princess!" called Aladdin.
The Princess opened the window.
With a cry of joy, Aladdin entered and embraced the Princess. "Tell me, dear," said he, "what has become of the old lamp that stood in the niche of the wall?"
"Alas!" replied the Princess. "A man came through the streets, crying, 'New lamps for old!' I gave him the lamp that stood in the niche, and the next I knew I was here."
"The man is a Magician. He wished only to secure the magic lamp," said Aladdin. ”

“ They tell me she has foresworn men—never having had anything to do with them she probably does not know what she loses. But they say she has shut herself up in the Castle Adamant accompanied by a number of devotees. ”

“ At the palace the Sultan greeted Aladdin joyfully and ordered the wedding feast to be prepared at once.
But Aladdin said, "Not so, your Majesty. I will not marry the Princess until I have built her a palace."
Then he returned home and once more summoned the Slave of the Lamp.
"Build the finest palace in the world," ordered Aladdin. "Let the walls be of marble set with precious stones. In the center build a great hall whose walls shall be of silver and gold, lighted by great windows on each side. These windows are to be set with diamonds and rubies. Depart! ”

“ Then the Magician hurried out of the city. When he was alone, he rubbed the magic lamp, and the Genie stood before him.
"What is thy will, master?" said he.
"I command thee to carry the palace of Aladdin, with the Princess inside, to Africa," said the Magician.
Instantly the palace disappeared.
The Sultan looked out of his window the next morning. No palace was to be seen.
"This has been done by magic!" the Sultan exclaimed.
He sent his soldiers to bring Aladdin home in chains. They met him riding back from the hunt. They carried him to the Sultan. ”

“ CYRIL, HILARION, and FLORIAN
HILARION. I am a maiden, cold and stately, Heartless I, with face divine. What do I want with a heart, innately? Every heart I meet is mine! Every heart I meet is mine! ALL. Haughty, humble, coy, or free, Little care I what maid may be. So that a maid is fair to see, Ev'ry maid is the maid for me! Dance.
CYRIL. I am a maiden, frank and simple, Brimming with joyous roguery; Merriment lurks in ev'ry dimple Nobody breaks more hearts than I! Nobody breaks more hearts than I! ”

“ GAMA. Why, you look handsome in your women's clothes! Stick to 'em! Men's attire becomes you not! (To Cyr. and Flor.) And you, young ladies, will you please to pray King Hildebrand to set me free again? Hang on his neck and gaze into his eyes – He never could resist a pretty face! HILARION. You dog, you'll find, though I wear woman's garb, My sword is long and sharp! GAMA. Hush, pretty one! Here's a virago! Here's a termagant! If length and sharpness go for anything, You'll want no sword while you can wag your tongue! CYRIL. What need to waste your words on such as he? He's old and crippled. ”

“ Leapt fiery Passion from the brinks of death; And I believed that in the living world My spirit closed with Ida's at the lips; Till back I fell, and from mine arms she rose Glowing all over noble shame; and all Her falser self slipt from her like a robe, And left her woman, lovelier in her mood Than in her mould that other, when she came From barren deeps to conquer all with love; And down the streaming crystal dropt ”

“ Manet Lady Blanche.
CHORUS. And thus to empyrean height Of ev'ry kind of lore, In search of wisdom's pure delight, Ambitiously we soar. In trying to achieve success No envy racks our heart, For all we know and all we guess We mutually impart! And all the knowledge we possess, We mutually impart! ”

“ HILARION. No, madam, none. We're homely ladies, as no doubt you see, And we have never fished for lover's love. We smile at girls who deck themselves with gems, False hair and meretricious ornament, To chain the fleeting fancy of a man, But do not imitate them. What we have Of hair, is all our own. Our colour, too, Unladylike, but not unwomanly, Is Nature's handiwork, and man has learnt To reckon Nature an impertinence. ”

“ Oh, goddess wise That lovest light, Let fervent words and fervent thoughts be mine, That I may lead them to thy sacred shrine! Women of Adamant, fair Neophytes – Who thirst for such instruction as we give, Attend, while I unfold a parable. The elephant is mightier than Man, Yet Man subdues him. ”

“ CYRIL. Are you indeed that Lady Psyche, who At children's parties, drove the conjuror wild, Explaining all his tricks before he did them? HILARION. Are you that learned little Psyche, who At dinner parties, brought in to dessert, Would tackle visitors with "You don't know Who first determined longitude – I do – Hipparchus 'twas – B.C. one sixty-three!" Are you indeed that small phenomenon? PSYCHE. That small phenomenon indeed am I! But gentlemen, 'tis death to enter here: We have all promised to renounce mankind! FLORIAN. Renounce mankind! ”

“ I built upon a rock, But ere Destruction's hand Dealt equal lot To Court and cot, My rock had turn'd to sand! I leant upon an oak, But in the hour of need, Alack-a-day, My trusted stay Was but a bruisèd reed! A bruisèd reed! Ah, faithless rock, My simple faith to mock! Ah, trait'rous oak, Thy worthlessness to cloak! I drew a sword of steel But when to home and hearth The battle's breath Bore fire and death, My sword was but a lath! I lit a beacon fire, But on a stormy day Of frost and rime, In wintertime, My fire had died away, Had died away! Ah, coward steel, That fear can un-anneal! ”

“ At Court, as elsewhere, each of these three parties were standing on their guard, ready to parry or to strike a blow when occasion arose, jealous of every success scored by their opponents. The fall of Cromwell had inspired the Catholics with hope, and, with Gardiner as Minister and Wriothesley as Chancellor, they had been in a more favourable position than for some time past at the date of the King’s last marriage. It had then been assumed that the new Queen’s influence would be employed upon their side—an expectation confirmed by her friendship with the Princess Mary. ”

“ The kitchen fire burst into flame.
The sun shone brightly, and the roses on the palace wall swayed in the breeze.
The prince and the princess were married next day, and the seven good fairies danced at the wedding feast.
THE WOLVES AND THE DEER
Long ago, a pack of wolves lived on a prairie. Some deer lived near by.
The wolves could run swiftly, but they knew that the deer were swift runners, too. The hungry wolves wondered how they might catch the deer and eat them. ”

“ To all their little weaknesses I open people's eyes; And little plans to snub the self-sufficient I devise; I love my fellow creatures – I do all the good I can – Yet everybody says I'm such a disagreeable man! ”