ANOTHER CHILD
And I the little pot with my idea for enlightening the crowd....

A THIRD CHILD
I have forgotten the graft of my finest pear!...

TIME
Run quick and fetch them!... We have only six hundred and twelve seconds
left.... The galley of the Dawn is already flapping her sails to show that
she is waiting.... You will come too late and you won't be born!... Come,
quick, on board with you!... (_Laying hold of a_ CHILD _who tries to
pass between his legs to reach the quay_.) Oh, no, not you!... This is
the third time you've tried to be born before your turn.... Don't let me
catch you at it again, or you can wait forever with my sister Eternity;
and you know that it's not amusing there!... But come, are we ready?... Is
every one at his post?... (_Surveying the_ CHILDREN _standing on the
quay or already seated In the galley_.) There is still one missing....
It is no use his hiding, I see him in the crowd.... You can't deceive
me!... Come on, you, the little fellow whom they call the Lover, say
good-bye to your sweetheart....

(_The two_ CHILDREN _who are called the Lovers, fondly entwined,
their faces livid with despair, go up to_ TIME _and kneel at his
feet_.)

THE FIRST CHILD
Mr. Time, let me stay behind with her!...

THE SECOND CHILD