The Purgatory of St. Patrick, Pedro Calderón de la Barca [i read a book TXT] 📗

Be what now I am, nor care More to be what I have been. It is true that I was seen Once your slave: for who, indeed, Can the fickle wheel control? But in nobleness of soul The best blood of all your breed I can equal, nay, exceed.

PHILIP. Exceed ME? Vile homicide! Wretch . . . .

LUIS. In having thus replied You have made a slight mistake.

PHILIP. No.

LUIS. If such you did not make, You've done worse.

PHILIP. Say, what?

LUIS. You've lied!

PHILIP. Villain! traitor [Strikes him in the face.

POLONIA. Oh, ye skies!

LUIS. For so many injuries Why not instant vengeance take, When volcanic fires awake In my breast, and hell-flames rise? [They draw their swords.


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SCENE III.

EGERIUS and soldiers. - THE SAME.

KING. What is this?

LUIS. A lasting woe, A misfortune, an abuse, A sharp pain, a fiend let loose From the infernal pit below. Let no one presume to go 'Twixt me and revenge. Reflect, Fury breathes immortal breath, Vengeance has no fear of death, Nor for any man respect. I my honour must protect.

KING. Seize him.

LUIS. Let the man who sighs For his death obey! You'll see How the boldest fares, for he, Even before your very eyes, Shall be slain.

KING. That this should rise!- Follow him.

LUIS. In desperate mood, Plunging headlong in red blood, Like a sea both wide and deep, Thus courageously I leap, Seeking Philip through the flood.

[All enter fighting.


* * * * *


SCENE IV.

KING. I but wanted this alone After what I've heard, that he Who escaped from slavery, And to distant Rome had flown, Now with purpose too well known, Has to Ireland come again, Where proclaiming the new reign Of the faith, he has enticed Many to believe in Christ, Rending all the world in twain. A magician he must be, Since condemned, so rumour saith, By some other kings to death, He though tied upon the tree In an instant set him free, With such prodigies of wonder That the earth (within whose womb The dead lie as in a tomb) Trembled, the air groaned in thunder, Dark eclipse the sun lay under, Deigning not a single glance Of his radiant countenance To the moon: from which I see That this Patrick, for 'tis he, Lords it over fate and chance; Awe-struck by the prodigy, Fearing they may punished be, Crowds attend him on his way. And 'tis said that he to-day Comes to try his spells on me. Let him come, and once for all Wave in vain his conjuring rod! We shall see who is this God, Whom their God the Christians call. By my hand must Patrick fall, Were it but to see if he Can escape his destiny, Or my will subvert and master, He this Bishop, he this Pastor, He Pope's Legate, though he be.


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SCENE V.

The Captain, Soldiers, LUIS a prisoner, The King.

CAPTAIN. Luis, sire, without delay We secured; but not before He killed three, and wounded more, Of our company.

KING. Christian, say, Why do you no fear display, Seeing now in angry mood My hand raised to shed your blood? But in vain do I deplore, Since he this deserves and more Who has done a Christian good. Gifts, not chastisement, should be Thine to-day, for it is plain It is I should feel the pain For conferring good on thee. Take him hence, and presently Let him die; and be it known Why from him has mercy flown. 'Tis not for his crimes or guilt That this Christian's blood is spilt, 'Tis for Christ's belief alone. [Exeunt.


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* SCENE VI.

LUIS.

LUIS. If for this I die, to me Thou the happiest death allottest, Since he for his God will die, He who dies to do Him honour. And a man whose life is here But a round of cares and crosses, Should be grateful unto death As the end of all his sorrows; Since it comes the tangled thread Of a wretched life to shorten, Which to-day the evil Phoenix Of its works that now prove mortal Would revive amid the ashes Of my wrong and my dishonour. Then my life, my breath were poison, Venom would my breast but foster, Until I had shed in Ireland Blood in such a copious torrent, That though base it might wash out The remembrance of my wronger. Ah, my honour, low thou liest, By a ruthless foot down trodden!- I will die with thee, united We two will together conquer These barbarians. Then since little, But a span at best, belongeth To my life, a noble vengeance Let this dagger take upon me!- But, good God! what evil impulse With demoniac instinct prompteth Thus my hand? I am a Christian, I've a soul, and share the godly Light of faith: then were it right, 'Mid a crowd of Gentile mockers, Thus the Christian faith to tarnish By an action so improper? What example would I give them By a death so sad and shocking, Save that I thus gave the lie To the works that Patrick worketh. Since they'd say, who worship only Their own vices most immodest, Who deny unto the soul Its eternal joy or torment, "Of what use is Patrick's preaching That man's soul must be immortal, If the Christian, Luis Enius, Kills himself? He can't acknowledge Its eternal life who'd lose it."- Thus with actions so discordant, He the light and I the shadow, We would neutralize each other. 'Tis enough to be so wicked As even now to feel no sorrow, No repentance for past sins, Rather a desire for others. Yes, by God! for if escape Fortune now my life would offer, Europe, Africa, and Asia I would fill with fear and horror; First exacting here the debt Of a vengeance so enormous, That these islands of Egerius Would not hold a single mortal Who should not appease the thirst, The insatiable longing That I have for blood. The lightning, When it bursts its prison portals, Warns us in a voice of thunder, And then 'twixt dark smoke and forked Fires that take the shape of serpents, Fills the trembling air with horror. I, too, gave that thunder voice, So that all men heard the promise, But the lightning bolt was wanting. Yes, ah me! it proved abortive, And before it touched the earth Was by dallying winds made sport of. No, it is not death that grieves me, Even a death of such dishonour, 'Tis because at last are ended, In my youth's fresh opening blossom, My offences. Life I wish for To begin from this day forward Greater and more dread excesses. Heavens! 'tis for no other object.


* * * *


SCENE VII.

POLONIA. - LUIS.

POLONIA [aside] (Now with mind made up I come.) Luis, an occasion offers Ever as the test and touchstone Of true love. By certain knowledge Have I learned the imminent danger Of thy life. The wrath grows hotter Of my father, and his fury To evade is most important. All the guards that here are with thee Has my liberal hand suborned, So that at the clink of gold Have their ears grown deaf and torpid. Fly! and that thou mayest see How a woman's heart can prompt her, How her honour she can trample, How her self-respect leave prostrate, With thee I will go, since now It is needful that henceforward I in life and death am thine, For without thee life were worthless, Thou who in my heart dost live. I bring with me gems and money Quite enough to the most distant Parts of India to transport us, Where the sun with beams and shadows Scatters frost, or burning scorches. At the door two steeds are standing, I should rather call these horses Two swift lynxes, air-born creatures, Thoughts by liveliest minds begotten; They so rapid are, that though We as fugitives fly on them, An assurance of our safety We shall feel. At once resolve then. Why thus ponder? what delays thee? Time is pressing, therefore shorten All discourse; and that mischance, Which disturbs love's plans so often, May not offer an obstruction To so well-prepared a project, First before thee I will go. Issue, while in specious converse I divert thy guards, and give To thy coming forth a cover. Even the sun our project favours, Which amid the west waves yonder, Sinking, dips his golden curls To refresh his glowing forehead. [Exit.


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SCENE VIII.

LUIS.

LUIS. A most opportune occasion To my hands has fortune offered; Since Heaven knows that all the show Of apparent love and fondness Which I proffered to Polonia Was assumed, it being my object She should go with me, where I, Seizing on the gold and costly Gems she carries, so might issue From this Babylonian bondage. For although in my person Was esteemed and duly honoured, Still 'twas slavery after all, And my free wild life was longing For that liberty, heaven's best gift, Which I had enjoyed so often. But a great embarrassment And a hindrance were a woman For the end I have in view, Since in me is love a folly That ne'er passes appetite, Which being satisfied, no longer Care I for a woman's presence, How so fair or so accomplished. And since thus my disposition Is so free, of what importance Is a murder more or less? At my hands must die Polonia For her loving at a time When there's no one loved or honoured. Had she loved as others love, Then she would have lived as others. [Exit.


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SCENE IX.

The Captain; then The King, PHILIP, and LEOGAIRE.

CAPTAIN. The sad sentence of his death Have I come, by the king's orders, Here to read to Luis Enius.- But what's this? The door lies open, And the tower deserted. Ha! Soldiers! No one answers. Ho, there! Guards, come hither, treason! treason!

[Enter The King, PHILIP, and LEOGAIRE.