The scene opens in a nicely furnished living room. There is a window in the back of the room. A small child is playing on the rug in the living room. The child is physically deformed. The room is richly decorated with porcelain vases, with large paintings of flowers and game and green, lush landscapes.
Actors are to speak poetically.
I rode to the west, I beheld a desert. I went to the south, I beheld a desert. The mountain was crumbling down, there was no water to drink. There was a trickle of water flowing through its limbs. I stood on the thorny bank, gazing into the distance, the sun scorching from above.