The curtain
"rises to a soft symphony." Aurino, the Genius of Air, descends on a
light cloud; Aquina, the Spirit of Water, rises from a fountain;
Terrena, the Spirit of Earth, springs up a trap; and Ignoso, the
Genius of Fire, descends amid thunder from the skies. These characters
interchange a little rhymed dialogue, and discuss which of them is the
most powerful. Ignoso is very angry, and threatens his associates.
Terrena demands:
Fire, why so hot? Your bolts distress not me,
But injure the fair mistress of these bowers,
Whose sordid guardian would her husband be,
For lucre, not for love.
Rather than quarrel, let us use our powers,
And gift with magic aid some active sprite,
To foil the guardian and the girl to right.
The proposition is agreed to, and thereupon, according to stage
direction, "Harlequin is produced from a bed of parti-coloured
flowers, and the magic sword is given to him." He is addressed by each
of the spirits in turn. Then we read: "Ignoso sinks. Aquina strikes
the fountains; they begin playing. Terrena strikes the ground; a bed
of roses appears.
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