Act XIII

Statement:

No scene is born

when first the curtain doth arise.

Ere light be cast upon the boards, a name long forgotten

draws breath within the dark, as one that hath waited

beyond the reckoning of time.

In this play,

all that is seen

serves only as the sign

of that which keeps itself unseen.

Not out of craft,

nor for concealment's sake,

but for this cause alone:

that presence on the stage is suffer'd

only in silence.

Twelve figures are brought forth, like an echo yet unended,

sent from a far-off place.

Thus they appear upon the stage.

Yet reckon them not.

For number is but a veil,

and lays no meaning

upon their bodies.

He that is the thirteenth

stands not amongst them.

He moves nor forward nor behind,

like to the point

from which the circle is begot,

yet which itself

is never held

within the circle.