made you what you are--in all but life--
The gods completed what I had begun,
And gave the only gift I could not give.

GAL. Then is this life?

PYG. It is.

GAL. And not long since
I was a cold, dull stone. I recollect
That by some means I knew that I was stone,
That was the first dull gleam of conscience;
I became conscious of a chilly self,
A cold immovable identity,
I knew that I was stone, and knew no more;
Then, by an imperceptible advance,
Came the dim evidence of outer things,
Seen--darkly and imperfectly--yet seen--
The walls surrounded me, and I, alone,
That pedestal--that curtain--then a voice
That called on Galatea! At that word,
Which seemed to shake my marble to the core,
That which was dim before, came evident.
Sounds, that had hummed around me, indistinct,
Vague, meaningless--seemed to resolve themselves
Into a language I could understand;
I felt my frame pervaded with a glow
That seemed to thaw my marble into flesh;
Its cold hard substance throbbed with active life,
My limbs grew supple, and I moved--I lived!
Lived in the ecstasy of new born life;
Lived in the love of him that fashioned me;
Lived in a thousand tangled thoughts of hope,
Love, gratitude, thoughts that resolved themselves
Into one word, that word, Pygmalion! [_Kneels._

PYG. I have no words to tell thee of my joy,
O woman--perfect in thy loveliness.

GAL. What is that word? Am I a woman?

PYG. Yes.

GAL. Art thou a woman?

PYG. No, I am a man.

GAL. What is a man?

PYG. A being strongly framed,
To wait on woman, and protect her from
All ills that strength and courage can avert;
To work and toil for her, that she may rest;
To weep and mourn for her, that she may laugh;
To fight and die for her, that she might live!

GAL. I'm glad I am a woman. [_He leads her down._

PYG. So am I.

GAL. That I escape the pains thou hast to bear?

PYG. That I may undergo those pains for thee.

GAL. With whom then wouldst thou fight?

PYG. With any man