life is a dream-第7章
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
CHAMB。
On you; my Lord;
Your Highness' lords in waiting。
SEG。
Lords in waiting。
Well; I have now learn'd to repeat; I think;
If only but by roteThis is my palace;
And this my thronewhich unadvisedAnd that
Out of the window there my Capital;
And all the people moving up and down
My subjects and my vassals like yourselves;
My chamberlainand lords in waitingand
Clotaldoand Clotaldo?
You are an aged; and seem a reverend man
You do notthough his fellow…officer
You do not mean to mock me?
CHAMB。
Oh; my Lord!
SEG。
Well thenIf no magician; as you say;
Yet setting me a riddle; that my brain;
With all its senses whirling; cannot solve;
Yourself or one of these with you must answer
How Ithat only last night fell asleep
Not knowing that the very soil of earth
I lay downchain'dto sleep upon was Poland
Awake to find myself the Lord of it;
With Lords; and Generals; and Chamberlains;
And ev'n my very Gaoler; for my vassals!
Enter suddenly Clotaldo
CLOTALDO。
Stand all aside
That I may put into his hand the clue
To lead him out of this amazement。 Sir;
Vouchsafe your Highness from my bended knee
Receive my homage first。
SEG。
Clotaldo! What;
At lasthis old selfundisguised where all
Is masqueradeto end it!You kneeling too!
What! have the stars you told me long ago
Laid that old work upon you; added this;
That; having chain'd your prisoner so long;
You loose his body now to slay his wits;
Dragging himhow I know notwhither scarce
I understanddressing him up in all
This frippery; with your dumb familiars
Disvizor'd; and their lips unlock'd to lie;
Calling him Prince and King; and; madman…like;
Setting a crown of straw upon his head?
CLO。
Would but your Highness; as indeed I now
Must call youand upon his bended knee
Never bent Subject more devotedly
However all about you; and perhaps
You to yourself incomprehensiblest;
But rest in the assurance of your own
Sane waking senses; by these witnesses
Attested; till the story of it all;
Of which I bring a chapter; be reveal'd;
Assured of all you see and hear as neither
Madness nor mockery
SEG。
What then?
CLO。
All it seems:
This palace with its royal garniture;
This capital of which it is the eye;
With all its temples; marts; and arsenals;
This realm of which this city is the head;
With all its cities; villages; and tilth;
Its armies; fleets; and commerce; all your own;
And all the living souls that make them up;
From those who now; and those who shall; salute you;
Down to the poorest peasant of the realm;
Your subjectsWho; though now their mighty voice
Sleeps in the general body unapprized;
Wait but a word from those about you now
To hail you Prince of Poland; Segismund。
SEG。
All this is so?
CLO。
As sure as anything
Is; or can be。
SEG。
You swear it on the faith
You taught meelsewhere?
CLO (kissing the hilt of his sword)。
Swear it upon this Symbol;
and champion of the holy faith
I wear it to defend。
SEG (to himself)。
My eyes have not deceived me; nor my ears;
With this transfiguration; nor the strain
Of royal welcome that arose and blew;
Breathed from no lying lips; along with it。
For here Clotaldo comes; his own old self;
Who; if not Lie and phantom with the rest
(Aloud)
Well; then; all this is thus。
For have not these fine people told me so;
And you; Clotaldo; sworn it? And the Why
And Wherefore are to follow by and bye!
And yetand yetwhy wait for that which you
Who take your oath on it can answerand
Indeed it presses hard upon my brain
What I was asking of these gentlemen
When you came in upon us; how it is
That Ithe Segismund you know so long
No longer than the sun that rose to…day
Roseand from what you know
Rose to be Prince of Poland?
CLO。
So to be
Acknowledged and entreated; Sir。
SEG。
So be
Acknowledged and entreated
WellBut if now by all; by some at least
So knownif not entreatedheretofore
Though not by youFor; now I think again;
Of what should be your attestation worth;
You that of all my questionable subjects
Who knowing what; yet left me where I was;
You least of all; Clotaldo; till the dawn
Of this first day that told it to myself?
CLO。
Oh; let your Highness draw the line across
Fore…written sorrow; and in this new dawn
Bury that long sad night。
SEG。
Not ev'n the Dead;
Call'd to the resurrection of the blest;
Shall so directly drop all memory
Of woes and wrongs foregone!
CLO。
But not resent
Purged by the trial of that sorrow past
For full fruition of their present bliss。
SEG。
But leaving with the Judge what; till this earth
Be cancell'd in the burning heavens; He leaves
His earthly delegates to execute;
Of retribution in reward to them
And woe to those who wrong'd themNot as you;
Not you; Clotaldo; knowing notAnd yet
Ev'n to the guiltiest wretch in all the realm;
Of any treason guilty short of that;
Stern usagebut assuredly not knowing;
Not knowing 'twas your sovereign lord; Clotaldo;
You used so sternly。
CLO。
Ay; sir; with the same
Devotion and fidelity that now
Does homage to him for my sovereign。
SEG。
Fidelity that held his Prince in chains!
CLO。
Fidelity more fast than had it loosed him
SEG。
Ev'n from the very dawn of consciousness
Down at the bottom of the barren rocks;
Where scarce a ray of sunshine found him out;
In which the poorest beggar of my realm
At least to human…full proportion grows
Me! Mewhose station was the kingdom's top
To flourish in; reaching my head to heaven;
And with my branches overshadowing
The meaner growth below!
CLO。
Still with the same
Fidelity
SEG。
To me!
CLO。
Ay; sir; to you;
Through that divine allegiance upon which
All Order and Authority is based;
Which to revolt against
SEG。
Were to revolt
Against the stars; belike!
CLO。
And him who reads them;
And by that right; and by the sovereignty
He wears as you shall wear it after him;
Ay; one to whom yourself
Yourself; ev'n more than any subject here;
Are bound by yet another and more strong
AllegianceKing Basilioyour Father
SEG。
BasilioKingmy father!
CLO。
Oh; my Lord;
Let me beseech you on my bended knee;
For your own sakefor Poland'sand for his;
Who; looking up for counsel to the skies;
Did what he did under authority
To which the kings of earth themselves are subject;
And whose behest not only he that suffers;
But he that executes; not comprehends;
But only He that orders it
SEG。
The King
My father!Either I am mad already;
Or that way driving fastor I should know
That fathers do not use their children so;
Or men were loosed from all allegiance
To fathers; kings; and heaven that order'd all。
But; mad or not; my hour is come; and I
Will have my reckoningEither you lie;
Under the skirt of sinless majesty
Shrouding your treason; or if /that/ indeed;
Guilty itself; take refuge in the stars
That cannot hear the charge; or disavow
You; whether doer or deviser; who
Come first to hand; shall pay the penalty
By the same hand you owe it to
(Seizing Clotaldo's sword and about to strike him。)
(Enter Rosaura suddenly。)
ROSAURA。
Fie; my Lordforbear;
What! a young hand raised against silver hair!
(She retreats through the crowd。)
SEG。
Stay! stay! What come and vanish'd as before
I scarce remember howbut
(Voices within。 Room for Astolfo; Duke of Muscovy!)
(Enter Astolfo)
ASTOLFO。
Welcome; thrice welcome; the auspicious day;
When from the mountain where he darkling lay;
The Polish sun into the firmament
Sprung all the brighter for his late ascent;
And in meridian glory
SEG。
Where is he?
Why must I ask this twice?
A LORD。
The Page; my Lord?
I wonder at his boldness