There had been some talk at the beginning of an emerald that sparkled in
the Stranger's cap; and this emerald now takes its turn in the action of
the piece. "It had sparkled formerly in the bows of the boat that
carried the body of Lazarus, the friend of our Master, Jesus; and the
boat had safely reached the port of the Phoceans--without a helm or
sails or oars. For by this miraculous stone a clean and upright heart
could command the sea and the winds." But now that the Stranger has done
amiss, by falling a victim to passion, its power is gone; so he gives it
to Vita.
Then follows a real scene in fairyland. Vita stands before the sea and
invokes it in an incantation full of weird and beautiful vocal music:
"O sea! Sinister sea with your angry charm, gentle sea with your kiss of
death, hear me!" And the sea replies in a song. Voices mingle with the
orchestra in a symphony of increasing anger. Vita swears she will give
herself to no one but the Stranger. She lifts the emerald above her
head, and it shines with a lurid light. "'Receive, O sea, as a token of
my oath, the sacred stone, the holy emerald! Then may its power be no
longer invoked, and none may know again its protecting virtue.
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