Act III -- Evening

No. 19: Prelude

No. 20: I Want To See My Child

Scene -- Interior of Ned and Monisha's cabin. Ned and Monisha are seated on a bench, she leaning against him.

Monisha:
I want to see my child tonight,
I want to see her now,
Those men have carried her away for spite,
I would rescue her if I knew how.

Ned:
Perhaps you'll se her tomorrow,

Monisha:
I want to see her now.

Ned:
And then you'll have no more sorrow;
Do not grieve and complain,
You will see her again.

Monisha:
I want to see her now, O! . . .
I want to see her now.

Monisha:
If I could see my darling now,
I would be happy again,
The tears are falling from my brow,
I must see her soon, or go insane.

Ned:
Perhaps you'll see her tomorrow,
And then you'll have no more sorrow;
Do not grieve and complain,
You will see her again.

Monisha:
I want to see her now,
I want to see her now, O! . . .
I want to see her now.

No. 21: Treemonisha's Return

Enter Remus and Treemonisha. Monisha:
O, here, my child!
Remus, you are a hero!

Ned:
You are all right, Remus!

Remus:
Thank you! Thank you!

Ned:
I see a crowd of people coming this way,
They are very happy and gay.

Treemonisha and Remus:
They are almost here.

Crowd enters Visitors:
Treemonisha,
We are glad to see you home again.

Treemonisha:
Thank you!
To scare the conjurors away from me,
Remus wore that old scarecrow.

Visitors:
Scarecrow!

Treemonisha:
It scared them and they ran you see,
For I am home, you know.

Visitors:
Hurrah for Remus!
All shake hands with him. Unnn! Unnn! Unnn!
Unn! Unn!
They stop shaking hands, and everyone looks toward door. Corn-Husking boys in distance:
Hey! . . .

Treemonisha:
The boys are coming back again.

Boys enter with Zodzetrick and Luddud as prisoners.

All:
Prisoners are silent. Hurrah! Hurrah!

They stand the prisoners in the middle of the room. The others circle around them.

Andy:
Dese are de guilty men
Dat carried Treemonisha away.

We went to de conjurors den,
An' captured dem today.
What will we do wid dem?

Chorus:
Punish them! Punish them!
Punish them!

Women Treemonisha is silent:
Rebuke and beat them hard.

Men Shaking fists at Zodzetrick and Luddud:
Yes, we will punch and we will kick them very hard, very hard.
The men advance toward Zodzetrick and Luddud, raising their fists threateningly.

Chorus:
You must beat them hard.

Treemonisha:
Stop!

The men stop, drop their hands quickly to their sides, and step backward to where they first stood.

Treemonisha:
You will do evil for evil,
If you strike them you know;
Just give them a severe lecture,
And let them freely go.

Zodzetrick and Luddud:
Thank you! Thank . . .

Andy:
Shut up!
You have no right to speak here.

Chorus:
Don't speak here!

Treemonisha To Andy and pointing to conjurors:
Andy, make them free!

Andy does not move. All look with surprise at Treemonisha.

Treemonisha More forcibly:
Make them free!

Andy removes the ropes from conjurers wrists.

Others Grunting their disapproval:
Unn!

No. 22: Wrong Is Never Right (A Lecture)

Remus:
Never treat your neighbors wrong,
By making them feel blue;
Remember that the whole day long
The Creator is watching you.

Never do wrong for revenge,
In the day or night;
Wrong must not on right infringe,
For wrong is never right.

Wrong is never right,
That is very true,
Wrong is never right,
And wrong you should not do.
Wrong is never right,
You will agree with me;
Wrong is never right,
And it will never be.

Never treat your neighbors wrong,
By causing them to grieve,
Help the weak if you are strong,
And never again deceive.

Your deeds should please heaven's throng,
For you are in their sight,
You should never think of wrong,
For wrong is never right.

Wrong is never right,
That is very true,
Wrong is never right,
And wrong you should not do.
Wrong is never right,
You will agree with me;
Wrong is never right,
And it will never be.

Octet Chorus:
Wrong is never right,
That is very true,
Wrong is never right,
And wrong you should not do.

Do right, Wrong never do.
Do right, right do.

Wrong is never right,
You will agree with me;
Wrong is never right,
And it will never be.

Wrong is never right,
You will agree with me;
Do right,
And happy you will be.

No. 23: Abuse

Andy:
We should beat these men,
Look at their guilty grin.

Chorus People shaking their fists and stamping their feet as they speak to the conjurors. Treemonisha is silent.:
You two low, mean conjurors!
Now be good! Be good!

Treemonisha:
Do not abuse them. They will be good, they will be good.

No. 24: When Villains Ramble Far And Near (A Lecture)

Ned:
When villains ramble far and near,
To break the people's laws,
Their punishment should be severe,
Within the devil's claws.

When villains ramble far and near,
With their hearts full of sin,
They do much wrong without a fear,
But someday right will win.

We stay close at home,
When villains rambling we can hear,
We have no chance to roam,
When heartless villains are so near.

We dare not sleep at night,
When we have an awful fear.
We keep a brilliant light,
When villains ramble far and near.

When villains ramble far and near,
And cause great alarm,
We wish for them a short career,
Before they do great harm.

When villains ramble far and near,
Top treat other people bad,
They should be despatched to the other sphere,
To make old Satan feel glad.

We stay close at home,
When villains rambling we can hear,
We have no chance to roam,
When heartless villains are so near.

We dare not sleep at night,
When we have an awful fear.
We keep a brilliant light,
When villains ramble far and near.

No. 25: Conjurors Forgiven

Treemonisha:
Will all of you forgive these men for my sake?

Andy:
We hate to forgive them,
Tho' we may forgive them for your sake.

Chorus:
For your sake we will we will forgive them.

Treemonisha Shaking hands with the conjurors:
Let us now shake hands with these men.

Chorus All shake hands with the conjurors:
We have forgiven you,
We have forgiven you.
Always be kind and true,
Always be kind and true.

We have forgiven you,
We have forgiven you.
Always be kind and true,
Be careful what you do,
Be careful what you do.

No. 26: We Will Trust You As Our Leader

Treemonisha:
We ought to have a leader
In our neighborhood,
An energetic leader,
To follow for our good.

The ignorant too long have ruled,
I don't see why they should.
And all the people they have fooled,
Because the found they could.

Chorus:
We will trust you as our leader,
We will trust you as our leader,
No one else could lead like you,
For you know what is best to do.

We will trust you as our leader,
We will trust you as our leader,
You must lead for you are wise,
And we will surely rise.

We want you to lead,
You should lead us.

Dear, your bidding we will do.
And we'll always follow you.
We feel blue, dear,
We feel blue.

We will trust you as our leader,
We will trust you as our leader.

Treemonisha:
If I lead the good women,
Tell me, who will lead the men?

Men:
You, you, you, you, you!

Treemonisha:
Women may follow me many days long,
But the men may think that I am wrong.

Men:
No, no, no, no, no!

Chorus all:
We all agree to trust you,
And we will be true.
We all agree to trust you,
And we will be true.

Treemonisha:
There's need of some good leader,
And there's not much time to wait.
To lead us in the right way
Before it is too late.

For ignorance is criminal
In this enlightened day.
So let us all get busy,
When once we have found the way.

Chorus:
We will trust you as our leader,
We will trust you as our leader, etc.

Lead now, please lead now,
Please lead, for we will trust your as our leader.

Treemonisha:
I will lead you;
O yes, I will lead you.

No. 27: A Real Slow Drag

Treemonisha:
Salute your partner do the drag,
Drag,
Drag.
Stop and move backward do the drag,
All of you stop.

Look to your right and do the drag,
Drag,
Drag.
To your left, to your left,
That's the way.

Treemonisha and Lucy:
Marching onward, marching onward,
Marching to that lovely tune.
Marching onward, marching onward,
Happy as a bird in June.

Sliding onward, sliding onward,
Listen to that rag.
Hop,
And skip,
And do that slow - o,
Do that slow drag.

Dance slowly, prance slowly,
While you hear that pretty rag.
Dance slowly, prance slowly,
Now you do the real slow drag.

Walk slowly, talk lowly,

Treemonisha, Lucy and Chorus:
Listen to that rag, listen to that rag.
Hop,
And skip,
And do that slow - o,
Do that slow drag.

Treemonisha:
Move along,
Don't stop,
Don't stop dancing.
Drag along,
Stop.

Move along,
Don't stop,
Don't stop dancing.
Drag along,
Doing the real slow drag.

Move along, etc.

Treemonisha, Lucy and Women:
Marching onward, marching onward,
Marching to that lovely tune.
Marching onward, marching onward,
Happy as a bird in June.

Sliding onward, sliding onward,
Listen to that rag.
Hop,
And skip,
And do that slow - o,
Do that slow drag.

Everyone:
Dance slowly, prance slowly,
While you hear that pretty rag.
Dance slowly, prance slowly,
Now you do the real slow drag.

Walk slowly, talk lowly,
Listen to that rag, listen to that rag.
Hop,
And skip,
And do that slow - o,
Do that slow drag.
Slow - o - o.

The End

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Treemonisha copyright 1911 by Scott Joplin
Copyright renewed 1938 Lottie Joplin

Web page first published July 8, 1998
Last updated July 17, 1999