📖 Text from 1904
File: j-m-synge--riders-to-the-sea.txt
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Riders to the Sea
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Riders to the Sea
Author: J. M. Synge
Release date: July 1, 1997 [eBook #994]
Most recently updated: June 22, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Judith Boss
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDERS TO THE SEA ***
Produced by Judith Boss
cover
Riders to the Sea
A PLAY IN ONE ACT
by J. M. Synge
Contents
INTRODUCTION
RIDERS TO THE SEA
INTRODUCTION
It must have been on Synge’s second visit to the Aran Islands that he
had the experience out of which was wrought what many believe to be his
greatest play. The scene of “Riders to the Sea” is laid in a cottage on
Inishmaan, the middle and most interesting island of the Aran group.
While Synge was on Inishmaan, the story came to him of a man whose body
had been washed up on the far away coast of Donegal, and who, by reason
of certain peculiarities of dress, was suspected to be from the island.
In due course, he was recognised as a native of Inishmaan, in exactly
the manner described in the play, and perhaps one of the most
poignantly vivid passages in Synge’s book on “The Aran Islands” relates
the incident of his burial.
The other element in the story which Synge introduces into the play is
equally true. Many tales of “second sight” are to be heard among Celtic
races. In fact, they are so common as to arouse little or no wonder in
the minds of the people. It is just such a tale, which there seems no
valid reason for doubting, that Synge heard, and that gave the title,
“Riders to the Sea”, to his play.
It is the dramatist’s high distinction that he has simply taken the
materials which lay ready to his hand, and by the power of sympathy
woven them, with little modification, into a tragedy which, for
dramatic irony and noble pity, has no equal among its contemporaries.
Great tragedy, it is frequently claimed with some show of justice, has
perforce departed with the advance of modern life and its complicated
tangle of interests and creature comforts. A highly developed
civilisation, with its attendant specialisation of culture, tends ever
to lose sight of those elemental forces, those primal emotions, naked
to wind and sky, which are the stuff from which great drama is wrought
by the artist, but which, as it would seem, are rapidly departing from
us. It is only in the far places, where solitary communion may be had
with the elements, that this dynamic life is still to be found
continuously, and it is accordingly thither that the dramatist, who
would deal with spiritual life disengaged from the environment of an
intellectual maze, must go for that experience which will beget in him
inspiration for his art. The Aran Islands from which Synge gained his
inspiration are rapidly losing that sense of isolation and
self-dependence, which has hitherto been their rare distinction, and
which furnished the motivation for Synge’s masterpiece. Whether or not
Synge finds a successor, it is none the less true that in English
dramatic literature “Riders to the Sea” has an historic value which it
would be difficult to over-estimate in its accomplishment and its
possibilities. A writer in The Manchester Guardian shortly after
Synge’s death phrased it rightly when he wrote that it is “the tragic
masterpiece of our language in our time; wherever it has been played in
Europe from Galway to Prague, it has made the word tragedy mean
something more profoundly stirring and cleansing to the spirit than it
did.”
The secret of the play’s power is its capacity for standing afar off,
and mingling, if we may say so, sympathy with relentlessness. There is
a wonderful beauty of speech in the words of every character, wherein
the latent power of suggestion is almost unlimited. “In the big world
the old people do be leaving things after them for their sons and
children, but in this place it is the young men do be leaving things
behind for them that do be old.” In the quavering rhythm of these
words, there is poignantly present that quality of strangeness and
remoteness in beauty which, as we are coming to realise, is the
touchstone of Celtic literary art. However, the very asceticism of the
play has begotten a corresponding power which lifts Synge’s work far
out of the current of the Irish literary revival, and sets it high in a
timeless atmosphere of universal action.
Its characters live and die. It is their virtue in life to be lonely,
and none but the lonely man in tragedy may be great. He dies, and then
it is the virtue in life of the women mothers and wives and sisters to
be great in their loneliness, great as Maurya, the stricken mother, is
great in her final word.
“Michael has a clean burial in the far north, by the grace of the
Almighty God. Bartley will have a fine coffin out of the white boards,
and a deep grave surely. What more can we want than that? No man at all
can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied.” The pity and the
terror of it all have brought a great peace, the peace that passeth
understanding, and it is because the play holds this timeless peace
after the storm which has bowed down every character, that “Riders to
the Sea” may rightly take its place as the greatest modern tragedy in
the English tongue.
EDWARD J. O’BRIEN.
February 23, 1911.
RIDERS TO THE SEA
A PLAY IN ONE ACT
First performed at the Molesworth Hall, Dublin, February 25th, 1904.
PERSONS
MAURYA (_an old woman_)...... Honor Lavelle BARTLEY (_her
son_).......... W. G. Fay CATHLEEN (_her daughter_).... Sarah Allgood
NORA (_a younger daughter_).. Emma Vernon MEN AND WOMEN
SCENE.
An Island off the West of Ireland.
(Cottage kitchen, with nets, oil-skins, spinning wheel, some new
boards standing by the wall, etc. Cathleen, a girl of about twenty,
finishes kneading cake, and puts it down in the pot-oven by the
fire; then wipes her hands, and begins to spin at the wheel. Nora,
a young girl, puts her head in at the door.)
NORA.
_In a low voice._—Where is she?
CATHLEEN.
She’s lying down, God help her, and may be sleeping, if she’s able.
[_Nora comes in softly, and takes a bundle from under her shawl._]
CATHLEEN.
_Spinning the wheel rapidly._—What is it you have?
NORA.
The young priest is after bringing them. It’s a shirt and a plain
stocking were got off a drowned man in Donegal.
[_Cathleen stops her wheel with a sudden movement, and leans out to
listen._]
NORA.
We’re to find out if it’s Michael’s they are, some time herself will be
down looking by the sea.
CATHLEEN.
How would they be Michael’s, Nora. How would he go the length of that
way to the far north?
NORA.
The young priest says he’s known the like of it. “If it’s Michael’s
they are,” says he, “you can tell herself he’s got a clean burial by
the grace of God, and if they’re not his, let no one say a word about
them, for she’ll be getting her death,” says he, “with crying and
lamenting.”
[_The door which Nora half closed is blown open by a gust of wind._]
CATHLEEN.
_Looking out anxiously._—Did you ask him would he stop Bartley going
this day with the horses to the Galway fair?
NORA.
“I won’t stop him,” says he, “but let you not be afraid. Herself does
be saying prayers half through the night, and the Almighty God won’t
leave her destitute,” says he, “with no son living.”
CATHLEEN.
Is the sea bad by the white rocks, Nora?
NORA.
Middling bad, God help us. There’s a great roaring in the west, and
it’s worse it’ll be getting when the tide’s turned to the wind.
[_She goes over to the table with the bundle._]
Shall I open it now?
CATHLEEN.
Maybe she’d wake up on us, and come in before we’d done.
[_Coming to the table._]
It’s a long time we’ll be, and the two of us crying.
NORA.
_Goes to the inner door and listens._—She’s moving about on the bed.
She’ll be coming in a minute.
CATHLEEN.
Give me the ladder, and I’ll put them up in the turf-loft, the way she
won’t know of them at all, and maybe when the tide turns she’ll be
going down to see would he be floating from the east.
[_They put the ladder against the gable of the chimney; Cathleen goes
up a few steps and hides the bundle in the turf-loft. Maurya comes from
the inner room._]
MAURYA.
_Looking up at Cathleen and speaking querulously._—Isn’t it turf enough
you have for this day and evening?
CATHLEEN.
There’s a cake baking at the fire for a short space. [_Throwing down
the turf_] and Bartley will want it when the tide turns if he goes to
Connemara.
[_Nora picks up the turf and puts it round the pot-oven._]
MAURYA.
_Sitting down on a stool at the fire._—He won’t go this day with the
wind rising from the south and west. He won’t go this day, for the
young priest will stop him surely.
NORA.
He’ll not stop him, mother, and I heard Eamon Simon and Stephen Pheety
and Colum Shawn saying he would go.
MAURYA.
Where is he itself?
NORA.
He went down to see would there be another boat sailing in the week,
and I’m thinking it won’t be long till he’s here now, for the tide’s
turning at the green head, and the hooker’ tacking from the east.
CATHLEEN.
I hear some one passing the big stones.
NORA.
_Looking out._—He’s coming now, and he’s in a hurry.
BARTLEY.
_Comes in and looks round the room. Speaking sadly and quietly._—Where
is the bit of new rope, Cathleen, was bought in Connemara?
CATHLEEN.
_Coming down._—Give it to him, Nora; it’s on a nail by the white
boards. I hung it up this morning, for the pig with the black feet was
eating it.
NORA.
_Giving him a rope._—Is that it, Bartley?
MAURYA.
You’d do right to leave that rope, Bartley, hanging by the boards
[_Bartley takes the rope_]. It will be wanting in this place, I’m
telling you, if Michael is washed up to-morrow morning, or the next
morning, or any morning in the week, for it’s a deep grave we’ll make
him by the grace of God.
BARTLEY.
_Beginning to work with the rope._—I’ve no halter the way I can ride
down on the mare, and I must go now quickly. This is the one boat going
for two weeks or beyond it, and the fair will be a good fair for horses
I heard them saying below.
MAURYA.
It’s a hard thing they’ll be saying below if the body is washed up and
there’s no man in it to make the coffin, and I after giving a big price
for the finest white boards you’d find in Connemara.
[_She looks round at the boards._]
BARTLEY.
How would it be washed up, and we after looking each day for nine days,
and a strong wind blowing a while back from the west and south?
MAURYA.
If it wasn’t found itself, that wind is raising the sea, and there was
a star up against the moon, and it rising in the night. If it was a
hundred horses, or a thousand horses you had itself, what is the price
of a thousand horses against a son where there is one son only?
BARTLEY.
_Working at the halter, to Cathleen._—Let you go down each day, and see
the sheep aren’t jumping in on the rye, and if the jobber comes you can
sell the pig with the black feet if there is a good price going.
MAURYA.
How would the like of her get a good price for a pig?
BARTLEY.
_To Cathleen._—If the west wind holds with the last bit of the moon let
you and Nora get up weed enough for another cock for the kelp. It’s
hard set we’ll be from this day with no one in it but one man to work.
MAURYA.
It’s hard set we’ll be surely the day you’re drownd’d with the rest.
What way will I live and the girls with me, and I an old woman looking
for the grave?
[_Bartley lays down the halter, takes off his old coat, and puts on a
newer one of the same flannel._]
BARTLEY.
_To Nora._—Is she coming to the pier?
NORA.
_Looking out._—She’s passing the green head and letting fall her sails.
BARTLEY.
_Getting his purse and tobacco._—I’ll have half an hour to go down, and
you’ll see me coming again in two days, or in three days, or maybe in
four days if the wind is bad.
MAURYA.
_Turning round to the fire, and putting her shawl over her head._—Isn’t
it a hard and cruel man won’t hear a word from an old woman, and she
holding him from the sea?
CATHLEEN.
It’s the life of a young man to be going on the sea, and who would
listen to an old woman with one thing and she saying it over?
BARTLEY.
_Taking the halter._—I must go now quickly. I’ll ride down on the red
mare, and the gray pony’ll run behind me. . . The blessing of God on
you.
[_He goes out._]
MAURYA.
_Crying out as he is in the door._—He’s gone now, God spare us, and
we’ll not see him again. He’s gone now, and when the black night is
falling I’ll have no son left me in the world.
CATHLEEN.
Why wouldn’t you give him your blessing and he looking round in the
door? Isn’t it sorrow enough is on every one in this house without your
sending him out with an unlucky word behind him, and a hard word in his
ear?
[_Maurya takes up the tongs and begins raking the fire aimlessly
without looking round._]
NORA.
_Turning towards her._—You’re taking away the turf from the cake.
CATHLEEN.
_Crying out._—The Son of God forgive us, Nora, we’re after forgetting
his bit of bread.
[_She comes over to the fire._]
NORA.
And it’s destroyed he’ll be going till dark night, and he after eating
nothing since the sun went up.
CATHLEEN.
_Turning the cake out of the oven._—It’s destroyed he’ll be, surely.
There’s no sense left on any person in a house where an old woman will
be talking for ever.
[_Maurya sways herself on her stool._]
CATHLEEN.
_Cutting off some of the bread and rolling it in a cloth; to
Maurya._—Let you go down now to the spring well and give him this and
he passing. You’ll see him then and the dark word will be broken, and
you can say “God speed you,” the way he’ll be easy in his mind.
MAURYA.
_Taking the bread._—Will I be in it as soon as himself?
CATHLEEN.
If you go now quickly.
MAURYA.
_Standing up unsteadily._—It’s hard set I am to walk.
CATHLEEN.
_Looking at her anxiously._—Give her the stick, Nora, or maybe she’ll
slip on the big stones.
NORA.
What stick?
CATHLEEN.
The stick Michael brought from Connemara.
MAURYA.
_Taking a stick Nora gives her._—In the big world the old people do be
leaving things after them for their sons and children, but in this
place it is the young men do be leaving things behind for them that do
be old.
[_She goes out slowly. Nora goes over to the ladder._]
CATHLEEN.
Wait, Nora, maybe she’d turn back quickly. She’s that sorry, God help
her, you wouldn’t know the thing she’d do.
NORA.
Is she gone round by the bush?
CATHLEEN.
_Looking out._—She’s gone now. Throw it down quickly, for the Lord
knows when she’ll be out of it again.
NORA.
_Getting the bundle from the loft._—The young priest said he’d be
passing to-morrow, and we might go down and speak to him below if it’s
Michael’s they are surely.
CATHLEEN.
_Taking the bundle._—Did he say what way they were found?
NORA.
_Coming down._—“There were two men,” says he, “and they rowing round
with poteen before the cocks crowed, and the oar of one of them caught
the body, and they passing the black cliffs of the north.”
CATHLEEN.
_Trying to open the bundle._—Give me a knife, Nora, the string’s
perished with the salt water, and there’s a black knot on it you
wouldn’t loosen in a week.
NORA.
_Giving her a knife._—I’ve heard tell it was a long way to Donegal.
CATHLEEN.
_Cutting the string._—It is surely. There was a man in here a while
ago—the man sold us that knife—and he said if you set off walking from
the rocks beyond, it would be seven days you’d be in Donegal.
NORA.
And what time would a man take, and he floating?
[_Cathleen opens the bundle and takes out a bit of a stocking. They
look at them eagerly._]
CATHLEEN.
_In a low voice._—The Lord spare us, Nora! isn’t it a queer hard thing
to say if it’s his they are surely?
NORA.
I’ll get his shirt off the hook the way we can put the one flannel on
the other [_she looks through some clothes hanging in the corner._]
It’s not with them, Cathleen, and where will it be?
CATHLEEN.
I’m thinking Bartley put it on him in the morning, for his own shirt
was heavy with the salt in it [_pointing to the corner_]. There’s a bit
of a sleeve was of the same stuff. Give me that and it will do.
[_Nora brings it to her and they compare the flannel._]
CATHLEEN.
It’s the same stuff, Nora; but if it is itself aren’t there great rolls
of it in the shops of Galway, and isn’t it many another man may have a
shirt of it as well as Michael himself?
NORA.
_Who has taken up the stocking and counted the stitches, crying
out._—It’s Michael, Cathleen, it’s Michael; God spare his soul, and
what will herself say when she hears this story, and Bartley on the
sea?
CATHLEEN.
_Taking the stocking._—It’s a plain stocking.
NORA.
It’s the second one of the third pair I knitted, and I put up three
score stitches, and I dropped four of them.
CATHLEEN.
_Counts the stitches._—It’s that number is in it [_crying out._] Ah,
Nora, isn’t it a bitter thing to think of him floating that way to the
far north, and no one to keen him but the black hags that do be flying
on the sea?
NORA.
_Swinging herself round, and throwing out her arms on the clothes._—And
isn’t it a pitiful thing when there is nothing left of a man who was a
great rower and fisher, but a bit of an old shirt and a plain stocking?
CATHLEEN.
_After an instant._—Tell me is herself coming, Nora? I hear a little
sound on the path.
NORA.
_Looking out._—She is, Cathleen. She’s coming up to the door.
CATHLEEN.
Put these things away before she’ll come in. Maybe it’s easier she’ll
be after giving her blessing to Bartley, and we won’t let on we’ve
heard anything the time he’s on the sea.
NORA.
_Helping Cathleen to close the bundle._—We’ll put them here in the
corner.
[_They put them into a hole in the chimney corner. Cathleen goes back
to the spinning-wheel._]
NORA.
Will she see it was crying I was?
CATHLEEN.
Keep your back to the door the way the light’ll not be on you.
[_Nora sits down at the chimney corner, with her back to the door.
Maurya comes in very slowly, without looking at the girls, and goes
over to her stool at the other side of the fire. The cloth with the
bread is still in her hand. The girls look at each other, and Nora
points to the bundle of bread._]
CATHLEEN.
_After spinning for a moment._—You didn’t give him his bit of bread?
[_Maurya begins to keen softly, without turning round._]
CATHLEEN.
Did you see him riding down?
[_Maurya goes on keening._]
CATHLEEN.
_A little impatiently._—God forgive you; isn’t it a better thing to
raise your voice and tell what you seen, than to be making lamentation
for a thing that’s done? Did you see Bartley, I’m saying to you?
MAURYA.
_With a weak voice._—My heart’s broken from this day.
CATHLEEN.
_As before._—Did you see Bartley?
MAURYA.
I seen the fearfulest thing.
CATHLEEN.
_Leaves her wheel and looks out._—God forgive you; he’s riding the mare
now over the green head, and the gray pony behind him.
MAURYA.
_Starts, so that her shawl falls back from her head and shows her white
tossed hair. With a frightened voice._—The gray pony behind him.
CATHLEEN.
_Coming to the fire._—What is it ails you, at all?
MAURYA.
_Speaking very slowly._—I’ve seen the fearfulest thing any person has
seen, since the day Bride Dara seen the dead man with the child in his
arms.
CATHLEEN AND NORA.
Uah.
[_They crouch down in front of the old woman at the fire._]
NORA.
Tell us what it is you seen.
MAURYA.
I went down to the spring well, and I stood there saying a prayer to
myself. Then Bartley came along, and he riding on the red mare with the
gray pony behind him [_she puts up her hands, as if to hide something
from her eyes._] The Son of God spare us, Nora!
CATHLEEN.
What is it you seen.
MAURYA.
I seen Michael himself.
CATHLEEN.
_Speaking softly._—You did not, mother; it wasn’t Michael you seen, for
his body is after being found in the far north, and he’s got a clean
burial by the grace of God.
MAURYA.
_A little defiantly._—I’m after seeing him this day, and he riding and
galloping. Bartley came first on the red mare; and I tried to say “God
speed you,” but something choked the words in my throat. He went by
quickly; and “the blessing of God on you,” says he, and I could say
nothing. I looked up then, and I crying, at the gray pony, and there
was Michael upon it—with fine clothes on him, and new shoes on his
feet.
CATHLEEN.
_Begins to keen._—It’s destroyed we are from this day. It’s destroyed,
surely.
NORA.
Didn’t the young priest say the Almighty God wouldn’t leave her
destitute with no son living?
MAURYA.
_In a low voice, but clearly._—It’s little the like of him knows of the
sea. . . . Bartley will be lost now, and let you call in Eamon and make
me a good coffin out of the white boards, for I won’t live after them.
I’ve had a husband, and a husband’s father, and six sons in this
house—six fine men, though it was a hard birth I had with every one of
them and they coming to the world—and some of them were found and some
of them were not found, but they’re gone now the lot of them. . . There
were Stephen, and Shawn, were lost in the great wind, and found after
in the Bay of Gregory of the Golden Mouth, and carried up the two of
them on the one plank, and in by that door.
[_She pauses for a moment, the girls start as if they heard something
through the door that is half open behind them._]
NORA.
_In a whisper._—Did you hear that, Cathleen? Did you hear a noise in
the north-east?
CATHLEEN.
_In a whisper._—There’s some one after crying out by the seashore.
MAURYA.
_Continues without hearing anything._—There was Sheamus and his father,
and his own father again, were lost in a dark night, and not a stick or
sign was seen of them when the sun went up. There was Patch after was
drowned out of a curagh that turned over. I was sitting here with
Bartley, and he a baby, lying on my two knees, and I seen two women,
and three women, and four women coming in, and they crossing
themselves, and not saying a word. I looked out then, and there were
men coming after them, and they holding a thing in the half of a red
sail, and water dripping out of it—it was a dry day, Nora—and leaving a
track to the door.
[_She pauses again with her hand stretched out towards the door. It
opens softly and old women begin to come in, crossing themselves on the
threshold, and kneeling down in front of the stage with red petticoats
over their heads._]
MAURYA.
_Half in a dream, to Cathleen._—Is it Patch, or Michael, or what is it
at all?
CATHLEEN.
Michael is after being found in the far north, and when he is found
there how could he be here in this place?
MAURYA.
There does be a power of young men floating round in the sea, and what
way would they know if it was Michael they had, or another man like
him, for when a man is nine days in the sea, and the wind blowing, it’s
hard set his own mother would be to say what man was it.
CATHLEEN.
It’s Michael, God spare him, for they’re after sending us a bit of his
clothes from the far north.
[_She reaches out and hands Maurya the clothes that belonged to
Michael. Maurya stands up slowly, and takes them into her hands. Nora
looks out._]
NORA.
They’re carrying a thing among them and there’s water dripping out of
it and leaving a track by the big stones.
CATHLEEN.
_In a whisper to the women who have come in._—Is it Bartley it is?
ONE OF THE WOMEN.
It is surely, God rest his soul.
[_Two younger women come in and pull out the table. Then men carry in
the body of Bartley, laid on a plank, with a bit of a sail over it, and
lay it on the table._]
CATHLEEN.
_To the women, as they are doing so._—What way was he drowned?
ONE OF THE WOMEN.
The gray pony knocked him into the sea, and he was washed out where
there is a great surf on the white rocks.
[_Maurya has gone over and knelt down at the head of the table. The
women are keening softly and swaying themselves with a slow movement.
Cathleen and Nora kneel at the other end of the table. The men kneel
near the door._]
MAURYA.
_Raising her head and speaking as if she did not see the people around
her._—They’re all gone now, and there isn’t anything more the sea can
do to me.... I’ll have no call now to be up crying and praying when the
wind breaks from the south, and you can hear the surf is in the east,
and the surf is in the west, making a great stir with the two noises,
and they hitting one on the other. I’ll have no call now to be going
down and getting Holy Water in the dark nights after Samhain, and I
won’t care what way the sea is when the other women will be keening.
[_To Nora_]. Give me the Holy Water, Nora, there’s a small sup still on
the dresser.
[_Nora gives it to her._]
MAURYA.
_Drops Michael’s clothes across Bartley’s feet, and sprinkles the Holy
Water over him._—It isn’t that I haven’t prayed for you, Bartley, to
the Almighty God. It isn’t that I haven’t said prayers in the dark
night till you wouldn’t know what I’ld be saying; but it’s a great rest
I’ll have now, and it’s time surely. It’s a great rest I’ll have now,
and great sleeping in the long nights after Samhain, if it’s only a bit
of wet flour we do have to eat, and maybe a fish that would be
stinking.
[_She kneels down again, crossing herself, and saying prayers under her
breath._]
CATHLEEN.
_To an old man._—Maybe yourself and Eamon would make a coffin when the
sun rises. We have fine white boards herself bought, God help her,
thinking Michael would be found, and I have a new cake you can eat
while you’ll be working.
THE OLD MAN.
_Looking at the boards._—Are there nails with them?
CATHLEEN.
There are not, Colum; we didn’t think of the nails.
ANOTHER MAN.
It’s a great wonder she wouldn’t think of the nails, and all the
coffins she’s seen made already.
CATHLEEN.
It’s getting old she is, and broken.
[_Maurya stands up again very slowly and spreads out the pieces of
Michael’s clothes beside the body, sprinkling them with the last of the
Holy Water_.]
NORA.
_In a whisper to Cathleen._—She’s quiet now and easy; but the day
Michael was drowned you could hear her crying out from this to the
spring well. It’s fonder she was of Michael, and would any one have
thought that?
CATHLEEN.
_Slowly and clearly._—An old woman will be soon tired with anything she
will do, and isn’t it nine days herself is after crying and keening,
and making great sorrow in the house?
MAURYA.
_Puts the empty cup mouth downwards on the table, and lays her hands
together on Bartley’s feet._—They’re all together this time, and the
end is come. May the Almighty God have mercy on Bartley’s soul, and on
Michael’s soul, and on the souls of Sheamus and Patch, and Stephen and
Shawn [_bending her head_]; and may He have mercy on my soul, Nora, and
on the soul of every one is left living in the world.
[_She pauses, and the keen rises a little more loudly from the women,
then sinks away._]
MAURYA.
_Continuing._—Michael has a clean burial in the far north, by the grace
of the Almighty God. Bartley will have a fine coffin out of the white
boards, and a deep grave surely. What more can we want than that? No
man at all can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied.
[_She kneels down again and the curtain falls slowly._]
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDERS TO THE SEA ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.