_

--When they are born, they are so funny. Babies are very funny.

--And self-satisfied.

--And very exacting, I don't like them. They begin to cry at once and
make demands, as if they expected everything to be ready for them.
Even before looking, they know there is a breast and milk, and demand
them. Then they demand to be put to sleep and rocked and dandled and
patted on their red backs. I like them better when they die. Then
they're less exacting. They stretch out of themselves and don't ask to
be rocked.

--No, they are very funny. I like to wash them when they are born.

--I like to wash them when they are dead.

--Don't dispute. Don't dispute. Each will have her way. One will wash
the child when it is born, another when it dies.

--But why do they think they have a right to make demands the moment
they are born? I don't like it. They don't _think_ they have. It's
their stomachs that make the demands.

--They're forever demanding.

--But their demands are never granted.

_[The Old Women laugh. The cries begin again._

--She is screaming again.

--Animals give birth to their offspring more easily.

--And they die more easily, and live more easily; I have a cat. You
ought to see how fat and happy she is.

--I have a dog, and I tell him every day: "You are going to die." His
only reply is to show his teeth and to wag his tail gayly.

--But they are animals.

--And these are human beings.

_[They laugh._

--Now she'll either die or be delivered. I feel that the whole remnant
of her strength is in that wail.

--Eyes wide open.

--Cold perspiration on her forehead.

_[They listen._

--She is giving birth to the child.

--No, she is dying.

_[The cries cease._

--I tell you--

SOMEONE IN GRAY _(speaks in a resonant, powerful voice)_

Silence! Man is born.

_[Almost simultaneously with His announcement the crying of an infant
is heard and the candle in His hand lights. A tall candle. It burns
hesitatingly and feebly. Gradually the flame grows stronger. The
corner in which Someone in Gray stands motionless is always darker
than the other corners, and the yellow flame illumines His blunt chin,
His tightly closed lips, and His massive, bony face. The upper part
of His face is concealed by His cap. He is somewhat taller than an
ordinary man.

He puts the long, thick candle in an antique candlestick. His hand
comes into relief against the green bronze. It is gray, firm, with
long, thin