All are in bed. All the lights are out. Then we see the soft glow of a lantern. Yingtai enters with the lantern. Unable to sleep, there is something within her heart that needs to be expressed. She stands alone in a melancholic mood, and then she sits on the garden bench, and begins to look at the butterflies drawn on the lantern…
Zhu Yingtai:
What does it mean, this feeling
That each time he calls me
My heart goes soaring
What can it be, my feelings
That each time I see him
My mind goes reeling
Could this be love?
Who will tell me, I’m asking
How will a girl like me
Say her heart’s yearning
Whom shall I ask, I’m wond’ring
Who will listen to me
Listen to my longing
Could this be love?
[as she says this, the full moon comes sailing out from a cloud, and she is bathed in soft moonlight. For a moment, she gazes at the beautiful scene, and then, something dawns on her…]
Lead kindly light, lead kindly light
from darkness unto light
O lead, lead me on…
Lead, lead me on, lead, lead me on
On to wisdom, on to light, lead, lead me on
Lead, lead me on, lead, lead me on
On to love, on to light, lead, lead me on
Lead kindly light….
[Liang Shanbo enters, and looks at Yingtai wondering why she is out in the night air. Then he sees the full moon and is also struck by its beauty]
Liang Shanbo:
How beautiful! The grand harmony of heaven is radiant as day as earth’s silent night breathes in repose, drifting away…
[Yingtai is momentarily startled by his presence and is a little embarrassed but then she realizes that Shanbo is too intent on the full moon to notice her discomfiture… she relaxes and watches him.]
Zhu Yingtai:
Heaven’s light shall lead the way, her fullness has much to say…
Liang Shanbo:
How beautiful, Brother Zhu, the way you have finished my couplet for me… it is no wonder that I am so fond of you. By the way, why are you not in bed?
Zhu Yingtai:
I woke up from a dream that I was a butterfly, visiting the flowers in this garden. And there was another butterfly, too. Then I became aware that I was a butterfly thinking that I was a human being… then I woke up… and I came out hoping to find an answer to that strange dream…
Liang Shanbo:
How profound! Are we in reality, butterflies or human beings? What a thought!
[he muses for a moment; trying to unravel that, but then shrugs his shoulders.]
How curious! Maybe now I will find no sleep…
Zhu Yingtai:
It’s just a dream, Brother Liang… [but she knows otherwise… ]
Liang Shanbo:
Who was the other butterfly?
Zhu Yingtai:
I don’t know… [but she looks at him meaningfully though it is lost on him]
Liang Shanbo:
Why didn’t you ask him?
Zhu Yingtai:
I couldn’t speak… whom do you think it was?
[Liang Shanbo looks at her as if to speak but is speechless]
Liang Shanbo:
How would I know? I wasn’t even in your dream! But, what a beautiful, butterfly dream...
Zhu Yingtai:
Butterfly dream!
Liang Shanbo:
Dreaming you are a butterfly, thinking you are a human being… how profound!
Zhu Yingtai:
You think so?
Liang Shanbo:
I wouldn’t mind being a butterfly, flitting around, looking at the flowers in here… [he yawns]
Zhu Yingtai:
Maybe you should go and dream then… maybe we can dream together and become the two butterflies in this garden…
[they laugh… and Yingtai begins to go inside]
Liang Shanbo:
You go on ahead, Yingtai, I’ll admire the moon a little longer…
Zhu Yingtai [yawning]:
Composing more poems for me to finish? Alright… good night, then.
Liang Shanbo [as he looks at Yingtai going in]:
What does it mean, this feeling
Our moments together
My heart stops beating
What can I be thinking
I’m fond of my brother
So why is my mind reeling
What could it be? [he pauses, thinking hard]
This is even more confusing than his butterfly dream! [he heads for his bed]
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