Pretty Little Picture

[PSEUDOLUS]
In the Tiber there sits a boat,
Gently dipping its bow,
Trim and tidy and built to float.
Pretty little picture? Now:
Put a boy on the starboard side,
Leaning out of the rail.
Next to him put a blushing bride,
Slim and slender and starry-eyed,
Down below put a tiny bed.
The sun gets pale,
The sea gets red,
And off they sail
On the first high tide:
The boat and the bed and the boy and the bride.
It's a pretty little picture, oh my!
Pretty little picture, how true!
Pretty little picture, which I,
Pseudol-iddle-us, give to you!
Feel the roll of the playful waves,
See the sails as they swell,
Hear the whips on the galley-slaves.

[PSEUDOLUS, HERO & PHILIA]
Pretty little picture?

[PSEUDOLUS]
Well:
Let it carry your cares away,
Out of sight, out of mind,
Past the buoy and through the bay,
Soon there's nothing but sea and spray.
Night descends and the moon's aglow--
Your arms entwined,
You steal below,
And far behind,
At the edge of day,
The bong of the bell of the buoy in the bay,
And the boy and the bride and the boat are away.

[HERO & PHILIA]
It's a pretty little picture to share
As our little boat sails to sea.

[PSEUDOLUS]
Take your little trip free as air--
Have a little freedom on me!

[HERO & PHILIA]
No worries, no bothers,
No captains, no fathers...

[PSEUDOLUS]
In the ocean an island waits,
Smooth and sandy and pink,
Filled with lemons and nuts and dates.

[PSEUDOLUS, HERO & PHILIA]
Pretty little picture?

[PSEUDOLUS]
Think:
In a cottage of cypress trees,
Seashells dotting the door,
Boy and bride live a life of ease--

[PSEUDOLUS, HERO & PHILIA]
Doing nothing but what they please.

[PSEUDOLUS]
And every night when the stars appear,
There's nothing more
To see and hear,
Just the shore
Where the lovers lie--

[HERO & PHILIA]
The sand and the sea and the stars and the sky--

[PSEUDOLUS]
And the sound of a soft little satisfied sigh.

[PSEUDOLUS, HERO & PHILIA]
All your/our petty little problems will cease,
And your/our little blessings will flow,
And your/our little family increase--
Pretty little picture?

[PSEUDOLUS]
No, no!

[PSEUDOLUS, HERO & PHILIA]
Pretty little masterpiece!
Pretty little picture...