—Act IV: Trial By Candlelight—
Male Role: Fan Jie
Female Role: Zixin
Comic Villain: Wu Wang

Scene I
(Fan Jie with a robe, stage upper left, Zixin sits alone, stage right)
(Dongtang, appassionato)
Fan Jie: "O cursed villain, to steal a maiden in broad daylight! My beloved suffers and I grieve."
Fan Jie: "So it falls to my sword to bring judgment on those who so forsake the law."
Fan Jie: "Let us away."
(Fan Jie spurs his horse and heads for Wu Wang's stronghold)
(Aside)
Fan Jie: "Swiftly did I ride here, pursuing the sounds of merriment from afar."
Fan Jie: "This, then, must be the wolf's den."
Fan Jie: "If I am to rescue Zixin, I must scout their lair out with care."
Fan Jie: "A good plan. We go!"
(Fan Jie leaps over the rear wall, exeunt.)
(Common time)
Zixin: "Within a lone lamp and half-burnt candles — and without lurk the wolves and tigers."
Zixin: "Who could have expected such disaster? And how shall I flee this hive of villainy?"

Scene II
(Wu Wang enters from right through a door, drunk)
(Aloud)
Wu Wang: "I come and go wherever I am pleased, and even gods fall if I am not appeased."
(Aside)
Wu Wang: "Haha, got one in the day, didn't I? Hehe."
Wu Wang: "That lovely, lovely lady."
Wu Wang: "Now that we have made merry, as is our wont. It is time — we meet the fair maiden!"
(Dongtang, andante calmo)
Zixin: "Here that impetuous drunken rascal comes. Still! The weeping candlelight is in my hand."
(Aside)
Zixin: "You shall not have me!"
(Wu Wang chases Zixin. Zixin strikes Wu Wang with the candlestick. He falls down. She slumps in relief.)
(Dongtang, andante calmo)
Zixin: "In the confusion, a stroke of fortune! On shaking feet I flee."
(Aside)
Zixin: "Not a light to be seen outside. How is this so dark?"
Zixin: "Perhaps I should relight this candle—"
Zixin: "No. Would I not be imperiled if recaptured?"
Zixin: "Better then to carry this unlit light, and grope our way out through the night."
Zixin: "Yes, so shall it be done."