SCENE: EMILE DE BECQUE'S plantation home on an island in
the South Pacific.

On your right as you look at the stage is a one-storied resi-
dence. On your left is a teakwood pagoda at the edge of the
cacao grove. House and pagoda are bordered and decked in
the bright tropical colors of the flaming hibiscus, the purple
bougainvillaea, and the more pale and delicate frangipani.
Between the house and the pagoda you can see the bay below
and an island on the open sea beyond the bay. Twin volcanoes
rise from the island.

AT RISE: As the curtain rises, two Eurasian children, NGANA,
a girl about eleven, and JEROME, a boy about eight, are, with
humorous dignity, dancing an impromptu minuet. A bird
call is heard in the tree above. JEROME looks up and imitates
the sound. The eyes of both children follow the flight of the
bird. NGANA runs over to the pagoda and climbs up on a table
and poses on it as if it were a stage. JEROME lifts his hands and
solemnly conducts her as she sings.

NGANA

Dites-moi
Pourquoi
La vie est belle,
Dites-moi

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