16
dóċa gur leatsa an méid atá dílis de. Is dóċa gur leat an mion-airgead so leis, agus na giúirléidí eile seo.
T.—Ambriaṫar ṁóide gur ṁeasas gur ḋuine uasal ḃoċt ṡímplíḋe é! Airiú conus a ṫánaḃúir suas leis? Seo, a Nóra. Siné do ċuid airgid agat. Taḃair do ḋuine éigin eile le coimeád é feasda. Airiú, a Ṡergeant, a’ ċroíḋe ’stig, conus a fuarḃúir greim air?
An serg.—Crost anso a ċuir ar a ḃaluiṫe sinn. Tá sean-aiṫne againn air féin. Saunders is ainim do. Anall ó Lúnduin a ṫáinig sé. Ní’l aon ḃiṫeamnaċ ṫall acu is oilte ’ná é. Tá luċt cuardaig na caṫaraċ ’na ḋiaiḋ le fada agus teipiṫe orṫa teaċt suas leis. Geallaim duit go mbéiḋ fáilte ṫall roimis agus ár dtuarasdal go maiṫ ḋúinne.
Nóra [go searḃ agus go fíoċṁar].—Duine uasal iasaċta!—an rúm láir do!—a ḋóiṫin le n-iṫe a’s le n-ól do!—agus fanfiḋ sé go lá! Greagaḋ ċúgat, a ċuirpṫig! Is maiṫ a ḃí a ḟios agam ná raiḃ aon ṁianaċ ḟóġanta ionat. Is mór an sásaṁ aigne orm a ḟios a ḃeiṫ agam go ḃfuil rúm láir olaṁ duit—agus go ḃfanfir ann go lá!
Serg.—Fanfiḋ, a Nóra, agus ḋá lá—an dá lá ’s ’n ḟaid ṁairfiḋ sé!
Nóra.—Buiḋċas mór le Dia!
(Brat anuas.)
CRÍOĊ.
DIRECTIONS.
THE character of Tadhg Saor has two elements in it. He is by nature a bold, upright, honest man. Contact with the trickery of the world and with “unmerciful disaster, following fast and following faster,” have surrounded his true nature with an incrustation of low roguery. The result is that he imagines himself a clever fellow, whereas he can be easily cheated. The native honesty of his nature will not give the roguery fair play.
The person who is to act Tadhg should study that point well and get into the spirit of the character.
This double element should show constantly throughout the piece. But it should shine out in the final scene, where my clever fellow realises how completely he has been humbugged, exactly when he thought he was humbugging the other fellow. No verbal direction can teach an actor how to bring this out. He must feel the thing for himself.
The “duine uasal iasachta” is easier in some ways and more difficult in other ways. It is not a compound like Tadhg. It is villainy unmixed. But it is thoroughly polished villainy. There is no hesitation at a crime. There is no whimpering when caught. But there is a splendid mask, a mask of the most apparently real ingenuousness. You can see the honesty of the man’s heart in his very eyes, in his face, in his voice. You can see through him, in fact. This mask is never laid aside. Even in the last scene he wears it steadily. He is perfectly unmoved, perfectly firm, perfectly calm. He looks everyone in the face most honestly.
There is nothing difficult in the other characters.P. O’L.
