полная версия
Фридрих Шиллер
Don Carlos
SCENE XX
PRINCESS EBOLI, COUNTESS OLIVAREZ.
EBOLI
Heavens! she has left me. I am now undone!
OLIVAREZ (approaching her)
My princess – Eboli!
EBOLI
I know your business,
Duchess, and you come hither from the queen,
To speak my sentence to me; do it quickly.
OLIVAREZ
I am commanded by your majesty
To take your cross and key.
EBOLI (takes from her breast a golden cross, and gives it to the UCHESS)
And but once more
May I not kiss my gracious sovereign's hand?
OLIVAREZ
In holy Mary's convent shall you learn
Your fate, princess.
EBOLI (with a flood of tears)
Alas! then I no more
Shall ever see the queen.
OLIVAREZ (embraces her with her face turned away)
Princess, farewell.
[She goes hastily away. The PRINCESS follows her as far as the door of the cabinet, which is immediately locked after the DUCHESS. She remains a few minutes silent and motionless on her knees before it. She then rises and hastens away, covering her face.
SCENE XXI
QUEEN, MARQUIS POSA.
QUEEN
Ah, marquis, I am glad you're come at last!
MARQUIS (pale, with a disturbed countenance and trembling voice, in solemn, deep agitation, during the whole scene)
And is your majesty alone? Can none
Within the adjoining chamber overhear us?
QUEEN
No one! But why? What news would you impart?
[Looking at him closely, and drawing back alarmed.
And what has wrought this change in you? Speak, marquis,
You make me tremble – all your features seem
So marked with death!
MARQUIS
You know, perhaps, already.
QUEEN
That Carlos is arrested – and they add,
By you! Is it then true? From no one else
Would I believe it but yourself.
MARQUIS
'Tis true.
QUEEN
By you?
MARQUIS
By me?
QUEEN (looks at him for some time doubtingly)
I still respect your actions
E'en when I comprehend them not. In this
Pardon a timid woman! I much fear
You play a dangerous game.
MARQUIS
And I have lost it.
QUEEN
Merciful heaven!
MARQUIS
Queen, fear not! He is safe,
But I am lost myself.
QUEEN
What do I hear?
MARQUIS
Who bade me hazard all on one chance throw?
All? And with rash, foolhardy confidence,
Sport with the power of heaven? Of bounded mind,
Man, who is not omniscient, must not dare
To guide the helm of destiny. 'Tis just!
But why these thoughts of self. This hour is precious
As life can be to man: and who can tell
Whether the parsimonious hand of fate
May not have measured my last drops of life.
QUEEN
The hand of fate! What means this solemn tone?
I understand these words not – but I shudder.
MARQUIS
He's saved! no matter at what price – he's saved!
But only for to-day – a few short hours
Are his. Oh, let him husband them! This night
The prince must leave Madrid.
QUEEN
This very night?
MARQUIS
All measures are prepared. The post will meet him
At the Carthusian convent, which has served
So long as an asylum to our friendship.
Here will he find, in letters of exchange,
All in the world that fortune gifts me with.
Should more be wanting, you must e'en supply it.
In truth, I have within my heart full much
To unburden to my Carlos – it may chance
I shall want leisure now to tell him all
In person – but this evening you will see him,
And therefore I address myself to you.
QUEEN
Oh, for my peace of mind, dear marquis, speak!
Explain yourself more clearly! Do not use
This dark, and fearful, and mysterious language!
Say, what has happened?
MARQUIS
I have yet one thing,
A matter of importance on my mind:
In your hands I deposit it. My lot
Was such as few indeed have e'er enjoyed —
I loved a prince's son. My heart to one —
To that one object given – embraced the world!
I have created in my Carlos' soul,
A paradise for millions! Oh, my dream
Was lovely! But the will of Providence
Has summoned me away, before my hour,
From this my beauteous work. His Roderigo
Soon shall be his no more, and friendship's claim
Will be transferred to love. Here, therefore, here,
Upon this sacred altar – on the heart
Of his loved queen – I lay my last bequest
A precious legacy – he'll find it here,
When I shall be no more.
[He turns away, his voice choked with grief.
QUEEN
This is the language
Of a dying man – it surely emanates
But from your blood's excitement – or does sense
Lie hidden in your language?
MARQUIS (has endeavored to collect himself, and continues in a solemn voice)
Tell the prince,
That he must ever bear in mind the oath
We swore, in past enthusiastic days,
Upon the sacred host. I have kept mine —
I'm true to him till death – 'tis now his turn —
QUEEN
Till death?
MARQUIS
Oh, bid him realize the dream,
The glowing vision which our friendship painted,
Of a new-perfect realm! And let him lay
The first hand on the rude, unshapened stone.
Whether he fail or prosper – all alike —
Let him commence the work. When centuries
Have rolled away shall Providence again
Raise to the throne a princely youth like him,
And animate again a favorite son
Whose breast shall burn with like enthusiasm.
Tell him, in manhood, he must still revere
The dreams of early youth, nor ope the heart
Of heaven's all-tender flower to canker-worms
Of boasted reason, – nor be led astray
When, by the wisdom of the dust, he hears
Enthusiasm, heavenly-born, blasphemed.
I have already told him.
QUEEN
Whither, marquis? Whither does all this tend?
MARQUIS
And tell him further, I lay upon his soul the happiness
Of man – that with my dying breath I claim,
Demand it of him – and with justest title.
I had designed a new, a glorious morn,
To waken in these kingdoms: for to me
Philip had opened all his inmost heart —
Called me his son – bestowed his seals upon me —
And Alva was no more his counsellor.
[He pauses, and looks at the QUEEN for a few moments in silence.
You weep! I know those tears, beloved soul!
Oh, they are tears of joy! – but it is past —
Forever past! Carlos or I? The choice
Was prompt and fearful. One of us must perish!
And I will be that one. Oh, ask no more!
QUEEN
Now, now, at last, I comprehend your meaning,
Unhappy man! What have you done?
MARQUIS
Cut off
Two transient hours of evening to secure
A long, bright summer-day! I now give up
The king forever. What were I to the king?
In such cold soil no rose of mine could bloom;
In my great friend must Europe's fortune ripen.
Spain I bequeath to him, still bathed in blood
From Philip's iron hand. But woe to him,
Woe to us both, if I have chosen wrong!
But no – oh, no! I know my Carlos better —
'Twill never come to pass! – for this, my queen,
You stand my surety.
[After a silence.
Yes! I saw his love
In its first blossom – saw his fatal passion
Take root in his young heart. I had full power
To check it; but I did not. The attachment
Which seemed to me not guilty, I still nourished.
The world may censure me, but I repent not,
Nor does my heart accuse me. I saw life
Where death appeared to others. In a flame
So hopeless I discerned hope's golden beam.
I wished to lead him to the excellent —
To exalt him to the highest point of beauty.
Mortality denied a model to me,
And language, words. Then did I bend his views
To this point only – and my whole endeavor
Was to explain to him his love.
QUEEN
Your friend,
Marquis! so wholly occupied your mind,
That for his cause you quite forgot my own —
Could you suppose that I had thrown aside
All woman's weaknesses, that you could dare
Make me his angel, and confide alone
In virtue for his armor? You forget
What risks this heart must run, when we ennoble
Passion with such a beauteous name as this.
MARQUIS
Yes, in all other women – but in one,
One only, 'tis not so. For you, I swear it.
And should you blush to indulge the pure desire
To call heroic virtue into life?
Can it affect King Philip, that his works
Of noblest art, in the Escurial, raise
Immortal longings in the painter's soul,
Who stands entranced before them? Do the sounds
That slumber in the lute, belong alone
To him who buys the chords? With ear unmoved
He may preserve his treasure: – he has bought
The wretched right to shiver it to atoms,
But not the power to wake its silver tones,
Or, in the magic of its sounds, dissolve.
Truth is created for the sage, as beauty
Is for the feeling heart. They own each other.
And this belief, no coward prejudice
Shall make me e'er disclaim. Then promise, queen,
That you will ever love him. That false shame,
Or fancied dignity, shall never make you
Yield to the voice of base dissimulation: —
That you will love him still, unchanged, forever.
Promise me this, oh, queen! Here solemnly
Say, do you promise?
QUEEN
That my heart alone
Shall ever vindicate my love, I promise —
MARQUIS (drawing his hand back)
Now I die satisfied – my work is done.
[He bows to the QUEEN, and is about to go.
QUEEN (follows him with her eyes in silence)
You are then going, marquis, and have not
Told me how soon – and when – we meet again?
MARQUIS (comes back once more, his face turned away)
Yes, we shall surely meet again!
QUEEN
Now, Posa,
I understand you. Why have you done this?
MARQUIS
Carlos or I myself!
QUEEN
No! no! you rush
Headlong into a deed you deem, sublime.
Do not deceive yourself: I know you well:
Long have you thirsted for it. If your pride
But have its fill, what matters it to you
Though thousand hearts should break. Oh! now, at length,
I comprehend your feelings – 'tis the love
Of admiration which has won your heart —
MARQUIS (surprised, aside)
No! I was not prepared for this —
QUEEN (after a pause)
Oh, marquis!
Is there no hope of preservation?
MARQUIS
None.
QUEEN
None? Oh, consider well! None possible!
Not e'en by me?
MARQUIS
Not even, queen, by thee.
QUEEN
You but half know me – I have courage, marquis —
MARQUIS
I know it —
QUEEN
And no means of safety?
MARQUIS
None
QUEEN (turning away and covering her face)
Go! Never more shall I respect a man —
MARQUIS (casts himself on his knees before her in evident emotion)
O queen! O heaven! how lovely still is life!
[He starts up and rushes out. The QUEEN retires into her cabinet.
SCENE XXII
DUKE ALVA and DOMINGO walking up and down in silence and separately.
COUNT LERMA comes out of the KING's cabinet, and afterwards DON RAYMOND OF TAXIS, the Postmaster-General.
LERMA
Has not the marquis yet appeared?
ALVA
Not yet.
[LERMA about to re-enter the cabinet.
TAXIS (enters)
Count Lerma! Pray announce me to the king?
LERMA
His majesty cannot be seen.
TAXIS
But say
That I must see him; that my business is
Of urgent import to his majesty.
Make haste – it will admit of no delay.
[LERMA enters the cabinet.
ALVA
Dear Taxis, you must learn a little patience —
You cannot see the king.
TAXIS
Not see him! Why?
ALVA
You should have been considerate, and procured
Permission from the Marquis Posa first —
Who keeps both son and father in confinement.
TAXIS
The Marquis Posa! Right – that is the man
From whom I bring this letter.
ALVA
Ah! What letter?
TAXIS
A letter to be forwarded to Brussels.
ALVA (attentively)
To Brussels?
TAXIS
And I bring it to the king.
ALVA
Indeed! to Brussels! Heard you that, Domingo?
DOMINGO (joining them)
Full of suspicion!
TAXIS
And with anxious mien,
And deep embarrassment he gave it to me.
DOMINGO
Embarrassment! To whom is it directed?
TAXIS
The Prince of Orange and Nassau.
ALVA
To William!
There's treason here, Domingo!
DOMINGO
Nothing less!
In truth this letter must, without delay,
Be laid before the king. A noble service
You render, worthy man – to be so firm
In the discharge of duty.
TAXIS
Reverend sir!
'Tis but my duty.
ALVA
But you do it well.
LERMA (coming out of the cabinet, addressing TAXIS)
The king will see you.
[TAXIS goes in.
Is the marquis come?
DOMINGO
He has been sought for everywhere.
ALVA
'Tis strange!
The prince is a state prisoner! And the king
Knows not the reason why!
DOMINGO
He never came
To explain the business here.
ALVA
What says the king?
LERMA
The king spoke not a word.
[A noise in the cabinet.
ALVA
What noise is that?
TAXIS (coming out of the cabinet)
Count Lerma!
[Both enter.
ALVA (to DOMINGO)
What so deeply can engage them.
DOMINGO
That look of fear! This intercepted letter!
It augurs nothing good.
ALVA
He sends for Lerma!
Yet he must know full well that you and I
Are both in waiting.
DOMINGO
Ah! our day is over!
ALVA
And am I not the same to whom these doors
Flew open once? But, ah! how changed is all
Around me and how strange!
[DOMINGO approaches the cabinet door softly, and remains
listening before it.
ALVA (after a pause)
Hark! All is still
And silent as the grave!' I hear them breathe.
DOMINGO
The double tapestry absorbs the sounds!
ALVA
Away! there's some one coming. All appears
So solemn and so still – as if this instant
Some deep momentous question were decided.
SCENE XXIII
The PRINCE OF PARMA, the DUKES OF FERIA and MEDINA SIDONIA, with other GRANDEES enter – the preceding.
PARMA
Say, can we see the king?
ALVA
No!
PARMA
Who is with him?
FERIA
The Marquis Posa, doubtless?
ALVA
Every instant
He is expected here.
PARMA
This moment we
Arrive from Saragossa. Through Madrid
Terror prevails! Is the announcement true?
Domingo.
Alas, too true!
FERIA
That he has been arrested
By the marquis!
ALVA
Yes.
PARMA
And wherefore? What's the cause?
ALVA
Wherefore? That no one knows, except the king
And Marquis Posa.
PARMA
And without the warrant
Of the assembled Cortes of the Realm?
FERIA
That man shall suffer, who has lent a hand
To infringe the nation's rights.
ALVA
And so say I!
MEDINA SIDONIA
And I!
THE OTHER GRANDEES
And all of us!
ALVA
Who'll follow me
Into the cabinet? I'll throw myself
Before the monarch's feet.
LERMA (rushing out of the cabinet)
The Duke of Alva!
DOMINGO
Then God be praised at last!
LERMA
When Marquis Posa
Comes, say the king's engaged and he'll be sent for.
DOMINGO (to LERMA; all the others having gathered round him, full of anxious expectation)
Count! What has happened? You are pale as death!
LERMA (hastening away)
Fell villany!
PARMA and FERIA
What! what!
MEDINA SIDONIA
How is the king?
DOMINGO (at the same time)
Fell villany! Explain —
LERMA
The king shed tears!
DOMINGO
Shed tears!
ALL (together with astonishment)
The king shed tears!
[The bell rings in the cabinet, COUNT LERMA hastens in.
DOMINGO
Count, yet one word.
Pardon! He's gone! We're fettered in amazement.
SCENE XXIV
PRINCESS EBOLI, FERIA, MEDINA SIDONIA, PARMA, DOMINGO, and other grandees.
EBOLI (hurriedly and distractedly)
Where is the king? Where? I must speak with him.
[To FERIA.
Conduct me to him, duke!
FERIA
The monarch is
Engaged in urgent business. No one now
Can be admitted.
EBOLI
Has he signed, as yet,
The fatal sentence? He has been deceived.
DOMINGO (giving her a significant look at a distance)
The Princess Eboli!
EBOLI (going to him)
What! you here, priest?
The very man I want! You can confirm
My testimony!
[She seizes his hand and would drag him into the cabinet.
DOMINGO
I? You rave, princess!
FERIA
Hold back. The king cannot attend you now.
EBOLI
But he must hear me; he must hear the truth
The truth, were he ten times a deity.
EBOLI
Man, tremble at the anger of thy idol.
I have naught left to hazard.
[Attempts to enter the cabinet; ALVA rushes out, his eyes sparkling, triumph in his gait. He hastens to DOMINGO, and embraces him.
ALVA
Let each church
Resound with high To Dennis. Victory
At length is ours.
DOMINGO
What! Ours?
ALVA (to DOMINGO and the other GRANDEES)
Now to the king.
You shall hereafter hear the sequel from me.
ACT V
SCENE I
A chamber in the royal palace, separated from a large fore-court by an iron-barred gate. Sentinels walking up and down. CARLOS sitting at a table, with his head leaning forward on his arms, as if he were asleep. In the background of the chamber are some officers, confined with him. The MARQUIS POSA enters, unobserved by him, and whispers to the officers, who immediately withdraw. He himself steps close up to CARLOS, and looks at him for a few minutes in silent sorrow. At last he makes a motion which awakens him out of his stupor. CARLOS rises, and seeing the MARQUIS, starts back. He regards him for some time with fixed eyes, and draws his hand over his forehead as if he wished to recollect something.
MARQUIS
Carlos! 'tis I.
CARLOS (gives him his hand)
Comest thou to me again?
'Tis friendly of thee, truly.
MARQUIS
Here I thought
Thou mightest need a friend.
CARLOS
Indeed! was that
Thy real thought? Oh, joy unspeakable!
Right well I knew thou still wert true to me.
MARQUIS
I have deserved this from thee.
CARLOS
Hast thou not?
And now we understand each other fully,
It joys my heart. This kindness, this forbearance
Becomes our noble souls. For should there be
One rash, unjust demand amongst my wishes,
Wouldst thou, for that, refuse me what was just?
Virtue I know may often be severe,
But never is she cruel and inhuman.
Oh! it hath cost thee much; full well I know
How thy kind heart with bitter anguish bled
As thy hands decked the victim for the altar.
MARQUIS
What meanest thou, Carlos?
CARLOS
Thou, thyself, wilt now
Fulfil the joyous course I should have run.
Thou wilt bestow on Spain those golden days
She might have hoped in vain to win from me.
I'm lost, forever lost; thou saw'st it clearly.
This fatal love has scattered, and forever,
All the bright, early blossoms of my mind.
To all the great, exalted hopes I'm dead.
Chance led thee to the king – or Providence, —
It cost thee but my secret – and at once
He was thine own – thou may'st become his angel:
But I am lost, though Spain perhaps may flourish.
Well, there is nothing to condemn, if not
My own mad blindness. Oh, I should have known
That thou art no less great than tender-hearted.
MARQUIS
No! I foresaw not, I considered not
That friendship's generous heart would lead thee on
Beyond my worldly prudence. I have erred,
My fabric's shattered – I forgot thy heart.
CARLOS
Yet, if it had been possible to spare
Her fate – oh, how intensely I had thanked thee!
Could I not bear the burden by myself?
And why must she be made a second victim?
But now no more, I'll spare thee this reproach.
What is the queen to thee? Say, dost thou love her?
Could thy exalted virtue e'er consult
The petty interests of my wretched passion?
Oh, pardon me! I was unjust —
MARQUIS
Thou art so!
But not for this reproach. Deserved I one,
I merit all – and then I should not stand
Before you as I do.
[He takes out his portfolio.
I have some letters
To give you back of those you trusted to me.
CARLOS (looks first at the letters, then at the MARQUIS, in astonishment)
How!
MARQUIS
I return them now because they may
Prove safer in thy custody than mine.
CARLOS
What meanest thou? Has his majesty not read them?
Have they not been before him?
MARQUIS
What, these letters!
CARLOS
Thou didst not show them all, then?
MARQUIS
Who has said
That ever I showed one?
CARLOS (astonished)
Can it be so?
Count Lerma —
MARQUIS
He! he told thee so! Now all
Is clear as day. But who could have foreseen it?
Lerma! Oh, no, he hath not learned to lie.
'Tis true, the king has all the other letters.
CARLOS (looks at him long with speechless astonishment)
But wherefore am I here?
MARQUIS
For caution's sake,
Lest thou should chance, a second time, to make
An Eboli thy confidant.
CARLOS (as if waking from a dream)
Ha! Now
I see it all – all is explained.
MARQUIS (goes to the door)
Who's there?
