rises and peers at them.]

NANKO
Ah, but they're red.
Red, aren't they? And there's red on your coat, too.

[He fingers it curiously.]

I suppose that's blood, eh? People are such cowards.
Many of them never seem to understand
That man's a fighting animal. They're afraid,
Dreadfully afraid of the sight of blood.
I think it's a beautiful colour, beautiful!
You know, in the Old Testament, they used
To splash it on the door-posts.

ARRAM
[Pushing him off.]
Go and sit down,
You crazy old devil!

[RADA enters with a bowl of water, sets it on a bench and returns to her place. ARRAM washes his hands.]

MICHAEL
My hands want washing, too.
O Lord, you've turned the water into wine!
Fetch me some fresh.

[RADA approaches, stares at the bowl and moves back, swaying a little, as if faint.]

ARRAM
[Roughly]
I'll empty it. Give it to me.
[He goes out]

NANKO
The Old Testament, you know, is full of it.
Who is this, it says, that cometh from Edom
In dyed garments from Bozrah? It was blood
That dyed their garments. And in Revelations
Blood came out of the wine-press, till it splashed
The bridles of the horses; and the seas
Were all turned into blood. Doesn't that show
That man's a fighting animal?

MICHAEL [Goes to the door on the right and tries to open it.] What's in here?

RADA [Thrusting herself between him and the door.] No! No! Don't go in there! Don't go in there!

MICHAEL
So that's the treasury, is it? Loot? More loot?
What is it? The family stocking?

[ARRAM enters with the bowl and sets it down.
Then goes to the table and begins eating.]

NANKO
O, no! no!
The stocking is in the chimney-corner, see!
[He shakes the empty stocking that hangs in the fireplace.]
All ready for Santa Claus. It's a new custom.
They do it in Germany. The children, there,
Believe that Santa Claus comes down the chimney.
The doctor studied in Germany, you know.

MICHAEL
O, ho! So that's the trouble! A little girl,
Rada, a little girl? Well, Santa Claus
Must wash his hands. We mustn't frighten her.

RADA
It is my little girl. She's twelve years old.
Don't wake her. She has slept all through this night.
Help me to save her. I'll do anything for you,
Anything! Only help me to get her away
Safely. I'll pray for you every night of my life.
I'll——-

[The door opens behind her, and SUBKA, in her night-dress, steals into the room.]

SUBKA
Ah, I knew it couldn't be Santa Claus.

ARRAM
What? Don't you know me? I came down the chimney.

SUBKA
I don't see any soot upon your face.
[She goes nearer.]
Nor on your clothes. That's red paint, isn't it?

ARRAM
Can't help it. Santa Claus—that is my name.
What's yours?

SUBKA
Mine? Subka!

ARRAM
  I've a little girl
At home called Subka! Just about your age.

SUBKA You didn't come down the chimney. [To MICHAEL.] He didn't, did he? [She runs to the stocking and examines it.] There's nothing in the stocking.

ARRAM
Ah, Subka,
That remains to be seen; that remains to be seen.

SUBKA [Pointing to MICHAEL.] Well, who is that?

ARRAM
The man that carries my bag.

SUBKA [With a sudden note of fear in her voice.] Mother, where's Father?

RADA
[Putting her arm round her.]
He will soon be here.
It's all right, darling.

SUBKA
Has the gramophone come?

RADA
Yes, darling, long ago.

SUBKA
You never told me.

NANKO
That was a secret, Subka, a great secret.

SUBKA
I thought, perhaps, you were getting the Christmas tree ready.
Can't we? Father won't mind.

NANKO
[Putting the Christmas tree out from the corner.]
Ah, here it is.
Now that's a good idea. It's Christmas Eve.
We'll get it ready.

ARRAM
Here, put it on the table.

NANKO
What shall we hang on it?

MICHAEL
What do you think
Of that, now?
[He hangs a revolver on the tree.]

SUBKA
[Clapping her hands.]
O! O! What a great big pistol!
That'll be Father's present! And now what else?
What else?

ARRAM
Well, Subka, what do you say to a ring?
How prettily it hangs upon the bough!
See, Subka!

SUBKA
Why, it's just like Father's ring!

ARRAM [Striking a light.] And now we'll light the candles.

NANKO
[Clapping his hands and dancing.]
Yes that's right!
Light all the little candles on the tree!
O, doesn't the pistol shine, doesn't the ring Glitter!

SUBKA
But O, it is like Father's ring.
He had a little piece of Mother's hair
Plaited inside it, just like that. It is
My father's ring!

RADA
No. There are many others
Just like it, Subka,—hundreds, hundreds of others.

MICHAEL
And now, what's in that package over there?

SUBKA
The gramophone! O, that's the gramophone!
That's Father's Christmas present to us all.

NANKO
O, what a wonderful man the doctor was.
Nobody else, in these parts, would have thought
Of buying a gramophone. Let's open it!

SUBKA
Yes! Yes! And we'll give Father a surprise.
It shall be playing a tune when he comes in.

[ARRAM opens the package. NANKO capers round, rubbing his hands.]

NANKO
O, this will be a merry Christmas Eve.
There now—just see how this kind gentleman
Has opened the package for us. Doesn't it show
The value of training, military training?
That's what we want. It benefits the health.
Sets a man up. Look at old Peter's legs,
He's a disgrace to the nation, a disgrace!
Nobody shoots him, either. So he spoils
Everything; for you know, you must admit,
Subka, that war means natural selection,
Survival of the fittest, don't you see?
For instance, I survive, and you survive;
Don't we? So Peter shouldn't spoil it all.
They say that all the tall young men in France
Were killed in the Napoleonic wars,
So that most Frenchmen at the present day
Are short and fat. Isn't that funny, Subka?
[She laughs.]
Which shows us that tall men are not required
To-day. So nobody knows. Perhaps thin legs
Like Peter's may be useful after all
In aeroplanes or something. Every ounce
Makes a great difference there. Nobody knows.
It's natural selection, after all.
Survival of the fittest! Don't you see?
Ah, now the gramophone's ready. Make it play
"Proud Nikephor