[]THE MAGIC OF OROSMANES.

SCENE I. A Market for Slaves—a Number of both Sexes are ſeen in Chains.

SCENE II. The Gardens of the Seraglio.

The Eunuch conducts Harlequin and Clown, and after having deſcribed their ſeparate employ⯑ments, orders them to their work, and leaves them—Harlequin, after deploring his ſituation, deter⯑mines to kill himſelf, and telling the Clown his intention, adviſes him to do the ſame—the Clown begs to be excuſed, but tells Harlequin he'll leave the coaſt clear rather than be witneſs to the death of his friend—this he does, after taking leave in a very comic manner. Harlequin, being now alone, conſiders how he had beſt diſ⯑patch himſelf—a piſtol, a halter, and a phial of poiſon, appear to him by the hands of three ſtatues, which riſe on traps—Harlequin makes an obedience to them, and firſt reſolves to take the piſtol, but upon conſidering it will make his head ach, he rejects it—in like manner he refuſes the poiſon, for fear of a pain in the ſtomach; and upon putting his hands round his throat to try the effects of ſtrangling, he will have nothing to do with the halter—upon ſecond thought, however, he plucks up reſolution, and takes the piſtol, when—

RECITATIVE.

SCENE III. A Kind of Court-Yard leading to the Women's Apartment, with a Balcony, at which ap⯑pears Zulma with four Female Slaves, who play on lutes to amuſe her; ſhe ſeems me⯑lancholy.

Harlequin comes on, is ſtruck with her charms, and does every thing in his power to induce her to notice him; ſhe at laſt ſees him, falls in love with him, and they are contriving how to get at each other, when the chief Eunuch comes behind Zulma on the balcony, and forces her away. Harlequin in fear of being ſeen ſlips off—The Clown comes on, deſcribing he has ſearched every where for his friend to no purpoſe, and concludes he has hanged himſelf—The chief Eunuch comes on, and, finding the Clown lamenting, a comical explanation takes place; after which the Eunuch gives the Clown a letter to carry to the Sultan, appointing him to come immediately and celebrate the marriage.

SCENE IV. A Grove.

Harlequin comes, and conſiders what he ſhall do to get at Zulma; he touches the ſtump of a tree, which turns into a writing deſk; he writes a [7] letter, and ſhuts it up again—His next idea is how to ſend it; this he effects by turning a cy⯑preſs into a pigeon-houſe, calling down one of the pigeons, and tying the letter about his neck—He deſcribes that he has appointed Zulma to meet him at a moſque, ſends the pigeon away, and goes off himſelf rejoicing at his project.

SCENE V. A Gallery in the Seraglio.

The Clown comes on, ſtill lamenting the loſs of Hariequin, and yet intent upon the letter, which he holds in his hand—As he ſpells out the addreſs, he hears a noiſe over his head, and upon looking up ſees the pigeon within his reach with Harlequin's letter about his neck—He takes hold of him, and laughs at the idea of the pigeon's being a letter-carrier, as well as himſelf—upon reflection he thinks he may as well make the pigeon carry both letters, and for that purpoſe ties the other round his neck; but after conſidering that the pigeon may not know the di⯑rection of the letter he ought himſelf to carry, he is determined to take it back again—Here a new difficulty occurs, upon a recollection that he can⯑not read; he however, upon comparing the two letters, ſeems pretty well ſatisfied, though it is apparent he has changed the letters—He now wiſhes the pigeon a good journey, who immedi⯑ately flies away, and the Clown goes off.

SCENE VI. A Garden.

Harlequin comes on in anxious expectation of ſeeing Zulma. After waiting with impati⯑ence, Octar and Oſmyn drag on the Clown, demanding of him with threats where he got Harlequin's letter, which Oſmyn holds in his hand: the Clown comically deſcribes his getting it from the pigeon; and Harlequin coming to ſee what's the matter, diſcovers his old friend in jeopardy—The Clown ſpying Har⯑lequin, tells Oſmyn that he is the cauſe of all the miſchief, but at the ſame time cannot refrain from catching him round the neck at ſeeing him alive. Harlequin diſengages himſelf from the Clown juſt at the time they are about to ſeize him, and by a jump through a vaſe eſcapes—They all go off to find him, and Harlequin coming on, and finding himſelf alone, immedi⯑ately changes the ſcene to

SCENE VII. Zulma's Dreſſing-Room.

Zulma is ſitting on a ſopha—Harlequin ap⯑prizes her that their enemies are at hand, and if ſhe would ſave herſelf ſhe muſt fly with him— [9] They go off; ſoon after which come on Octar, Oſmyn, the Clown, and Slaves, but firſt the Dwarf, who ſees Harlequin and Zulma make their eſcape—They are determined to go in purſuit of them, but firſt Octar orders the Clown to be ſtrangled: two mutes bring on a ſort of ſtake, to which they faſten the Clown, and put the cord of the bow-ſtring about his neck, but cannot pull it tight enough to ſtrangle him—The Clown makes a hideous noiſe; and finding the mutes do no good, declares he'll ſtrangle him himſelf: at this moment Harlequin comes on, and, touching the Clown, he ſinks under the ſtage, and Octar appears playing upon a double-baſs, the bow-ſtring ſerving for the bow, and the ſtake for the finger board; the remaining part having ſlipt up behind Pierrot when he was ſurrounded by the mutes—Octar finds his miſtake, vows vengeance againſt Harlequin, and goes off, followed by the reſt, being firſt apprized by the Dwarf which way the fugitives were gone.

SCENE VIII. An open View and a Caravanſera.

Harlequin, Zulma, and Clown come on: the Clown is full of extravagant gratitude to Harle⯑quin for having ſaved his life—they conſider by what expedient they can eſcape from their pur⯑ſures—An Engliſh Sailor comes on; Harlequin [10] accoſts him, and aſks whither he is bound—he an⯑ſwers to England, and that his Captain is within the caravanſera. They all go in—Two Turks come on with great precaution, each carrying a jug of wine; upon ſeeing two Janniſſaries they ſneak into a corner; the Janiſſaries, how⯑ever, ſee them, ſeverely threaten them, and take away the wine, ſending them off, after they have begged their lives upon their knees—As the Ja⯑niſſaries hold each of them a jug, and are hugging themſelves at their expedient to get at the wine, Harlequin, Zulma, the Clown, and the Engliſh Captain come on, deſcribing that they could get no wine at the caravanſera. Harlequin remedies this, by taking two vaſes, which are or⯑naments to one of the houſes, and drawing off into them all the wine from the jugs held by the two Janiſſaries. After this Harlequin, Zulma, the Captain, and Clown go off.—The Janiſſaries, who had been eating while the above trick was playing them, now begin to think of drinking; but before they can get the jugs to their mouths, a Derviſe comes on, and ſtops their hands—he re⯑preſents to them the wickedneſs of drinking wine; they, however, not only coax him to forgive them, but to drink with them, and at laſt he conſents—They drink his health, and haſtily take the jugs from their mouths, when, finding they have taſted nothing but water, they enquire what is the mat⯑ter, and, in order to convince him, they pour wa⯑ter from one jug to the other; he viſibly expreſſes ſurprize for a moment, but recollecting himſelf, [11] he tells them he performed the miracle to convince them of their impiety. At laſt they go off in aſto⯑niſhment, while he laughs at their credulity, and goes off, drinking wine out of a bottle which had been concealed under his cloak.

SCENE IX. The Sea-Coaſt—a Ship in the Offing.

Harlequin, Captain, Zulma, and Clown come on—Harlequin preſſes him to ſet ſail, but the Captain tells him the wind is not fair—Harlequin appears hurt at this delay, and fearful leſt he ſhould be purſued by his enemies—the Clown tells him they are at hand, and immediately the Dwarf comes on, and goes off to tell his maſter. Har⯑lequin, finding he has no time to loſe, changes the ſcene to

SCENE X. Covent-Garden.

Several fruit women go acroſs the ſtage with baſkets, the Clown watching his opportunity ſteals ſome of the fruit; the women ſet down their baſ⯑kets and want to make him pay, this he refuſes: ſome chimney-ſweepers come on, and alſo ſteal fruit out of thoſe baſkets which are on the ſtage; the fruit women firſt attack the Clown, then the chimney-ſweepers, and a battle royal is begun, when Octar, Oſmyn, and the Dwarf come on, who [12] attack Harlequin and his party; Harlequin ſum⯑mon ſome chairmen to his aſſiſtance, and obtains the victory over Octar's party.

SCENE XI. A Landſcape.

Harlequin, the Clown, and Zulma come on; the clown deſcribes the buſtle—they then ſee Octar, &c. coming, and go off. Octar and his party make their appearance, very much disfigured by having been huſtled among the mob. Octar has loſt his turban, and picked up an old round hat in its ſtead; the Dwarf, in place of his robe, has a chimney-ſweeper's foot-bag; they at firſt ſeparately bewail their misfortunes, but upon ſeeing each other burſt out a laughing—they then look at themſelves and groan, then at each other and laugh, and ſo go off the ſtage, alternately groaning and laughing.

SCENE XII. A Street.

Harlequin, Zulma, and the Clown come on; they appear perfectly ſatisfied at having tricked their enemies.—Bill-Stickers come on, and the Clown reads in one of the bills—"The Gigantic Magician;" begs Harlequin will treat him to ſee his performances. They all go in; after which [13] Octar, Oſmyn, &c. come on; the Dwarf, ex⯑cited by the curioſity, alſo intreats his maſter to treat him to ſee the Gigantic Magician; they however go off, and the Dwarf follows re⯑luctantly.

SCENE XIII. The Magician's Apartment.

The Magician ſhews his different deceptions, at which the ſpectators teſtify ſurprize; at laſt Har⯑lequin, to convince him of his ſuperior power, the Dwarf having firſt diſcovered Harlequin, &c. changes the ſcene to

SCENE XIV. The Haymarket.

The Magician is turned into an old woman, people come about them, and among the reſt a puppet is brought on, which converts to a ſort of awning, under which is diſcovered a pig; the pig comes forward, and Harlequin ſcatters a num⯑ber of letters on the ſtage, and aſks the name of the Conjuror; he ſpells the word FOOL. The Dwarf diſcovers Harlequin, &c. and afterwards Octar and Oſmyn come on, who in the ſcuffle ſeize Zulma and the Clown; Harlequin follows ſlowly in deſpair.

SCENE XV. A Deſert.

Harlequin comes on in the greateſt wretchedneſs at having loſt Zulma; he runs about on all ſides to watch which way they are gone with her; but on deſpairing of finding them, he then bethinks himſelf of the phial, and, taking it out, recollects the injunction of Oroſmanes. At this time he ſees at a diſtance Octar, the Dwarf, and Oſmyn, con⯑ducting Zulma and the Clown; he watches his opportunity as they paſs, and pours the contents of the phial on Oſmyn's head, when a Dragon comes on; and while Octar and the Dwarf are expreſſing their aſtoniſhment at this monſter, Harlequin, Zulma, and Clown make their eſcape, and are followed by Octar, the Dwarf, and Oſmyn.

SCENE the laſt. A magnificent Palace with an Archway, under which are ſeated on a Throne Harlequin, Zulma, and Oroſmanes.