第 186 节
作者:空白协议书      更新:2021-02-21 16:30      字数:9322
  GARDNER。
  Ah; I have never known a wreck like yours!
  Would I could save you!
  COREY。
  Do not speak of that。
  It is too late。  I am resolved to die。
  GARDNER。
  Why would you die who have so much to live for?
  Your daughters; and
  COREY。
  You cannot say the word。
  My daughters have gone from me。  They are married;
  They have their homes; their thoughts; apart from me;
  I will not say their hearts;that were too cruel。
  What would you have me do?
  GARDNER。
  Confess and live。
  COREY。
  That's what they said who came here yesterday
  To lay a heavy weight upon my conscience
  By telling me that I was driven forth
  As an unworthy member of their church。
  GARDNER。
  It is an awful death。
  COREY。
  'T is but to drown;
  And have the weight of all the seas upon you。
  GARDNER。
  Say something; say enough to fend off death
  Till this tornado of fanaticism
  Blows itself out。  Let me come in between you
  And your severer self; with my plain sense;
  Do not be obstinate。
  COREY。
  I will not plead。
  If I deny; I am condemned already;
  In courts where ghosts appear as witnesses;
  And swear men's lives away。  If I confess;
  Then I confess a lie; to buy a life
  Which is not life; but only death in life。
  I will not bear false witness against any;
  Not even against myself; whom I count least。
  GARDNER (aside)。
  Ah; what a noble character is this!
  COREY。
  I pray you; do not urge me to do that
  You would not do yourself。  I have already
  The bitter taste of death upon my lips;
  I feel the pressure of the heavy weight
  That will crush out my life within this hour;
  But if a word could save me; and that word
  Were not the Truth; nay; if it did but swerve
  A hair's…breadth from the Truth; I would not say it!
  GARDNER (aside)。
  How mean I seem beside a man like this!
  COREY。
  As for my wife; my Martha and my Martyr;
  Whose virtues; like the stars; unseen by day;
  Though numberless; do but await the dark
  To manifest themselves unto all eyes;
  She who first won me from my evil ways;
  And taught me how to live by her example;
  By her example teaches me to die;
  And leads me onward to the better life!
  SHERIFF (without)。
  Giles Corey!  Come!  The hour has struck!
  COREY。
  I come!
  Here is my body; ye may torture it;
  But the immortal soul ye cannot crush!
  'Exeunt。
  SCENE III A street in the Village。  Enter GLOYD and others。
  GLOYD。
  Quick; or we shall be late!
  A MAN。
  That's not the way。
  Come here; come up this lane。
  GLOYD。
  I wonder now
  If the old man will die; and will not speak?
  He's obstinate enough and tough enough
  For anything on earth。
  A bell tolls。
  Hark!  What is that?
  A MAN。
  The passing bell。  He's dead!
  GLOYD。
  We are too late。
  'Exeunt in haste。
  SCENE IV。  A field near the graveyard; GILES COREY lying dead;
  with a great stone on his breast。  The Sheriff at his head;
  RICHARD GARDNER at his feet。  A crowd behind。  The bell tolling。
  Enter HATHORNE and MATHER。
  HATHORNE。
  This is the Potter's Field。  Behold the fate
  Of those who deal in Witchcrafts; and; when questioned;
  Refuse to plead their guilt or innocence;
  And stubbornly drag death upon themselves。
  MATHER。
  O sight most horrible!  In a land like this;
  Spangled with Churches Evangelical;
  Inwrapped in our salvations; must we seek
  In mouldering statute…books of English Courts
  Some old forgotten Law; to do such deeds?
  Those who lie buried in the Potter's Field
  Will rise again; as surely as ourselves
  That sleep in honored graves with epitaphs;
  And this poor man; whom we have made a victim;
  Hereafter will be counted as a martyr!
  FINALE
  SAINT JOHN
  SAINT JOHN wandering over the face of the Earth。
  SAINT JOHN。
  The Ages come and go;
  The Centuries pass as Years;
  My hair is white as the snow;
  My feet are weary and slow;
  The earth is wet with my tears
  The kingdoms crumble; and fall
  Apart; like a ruined wall;
  Or a bank that is undermined
  By a river's ceaseless flow;
  And leave no trace behind!
  The world itself is old;
  The portals of Time unfold
  On hinges of iron; that grate
  And groan with the rust and the weight;
  Like the hinges of a gate
  That hath fallen to decay;
  But the evil doth not cease;
  There is war instead of peace;
  Instead of Love there is hate;
  And still I must wander and wait;
  Still I must watch and pray;
  Not forgetting in whose sight;
  A thousand years in their flight
  Are as a single day。
  The life of man is a gleam
  Of light; that comes and goes
  Like the course of the Holy Stream。
  The cityless river; that flows
  From fountains no one knows;
  Through the Lake of Galilee;
  Through forests and level lands;
  Over rocks; and shallows; and sands
  Of a wilderness wild and vast;
  Till it findeth its rest at last
  In the desolate Dead Sea!
  But alas! alas for me
  Not yet this rest shall be!
  What; then! doth Charity fail?
  Is Faith of no avail?
  Is Hope blown out like a light
  By a gust of wind in the night?
  The clashing of creeds; and the strife
  Of the many beliefs; that in vain
  Perplex man's heart and brain;
  Are naught but the rustle of leaves;
  When the breath of God upheaves
  The boughs of the Tree of Life;
  And they subside again!
  And I remember still
  The words; and from whom they came;
  Not he that repeateth the name;
  But he that doeth the will!
  And Him evermore I behold
  Walking in Galilee;
  Through the cornfield's waving gold;
  In hamlet; in wood; and in wold;
  By the shores of the Beautiful Sea。
  He toucheth the sightless eyes;
  Before Him the demons flee;
  To the dead He sayeth: Arise!
  To the living: Follow me!
  And that voice still soundeth on
  From the centuries that are gone;
  To the centuries that shall be!
  From all vain pomps and shows;
  From the pride that overflows;
  And the false conceits of men;
  From all the narrow rules
  And subtleties of Schools;
  And the craft of tongue and pen;
  Bewildered in its search;
  Bewildered with the cry;
  Lo; here! lo; there; the Church!
  Poor; sad Humanity
  Through all the dust and heat
  Turns back with bleeding feet;
  By the weary road it came;
  Unto the simple thought
  By the great Master taught;
  And that remaineth still:
  Not he that repeateth the name;
  But he that doeth the will!
  ********
  JUDAS MACCABAEUS。
  ACT I。
  The Citadel of Antiochus at Jerusalem。
  SCENE I。  ANTIOCHUS; JASON。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  O Antioch; my Antioch; my city!
  Queen of the East! my solace; my delight!
  The dowry of my sister Cleopatra
  When she was wed to Ptolemy; and now
  Won back and made more wonderful by me!
  I love thee; and I long to be once more
  Among the players and the dancing women
  Within thy gates; and bathe in the Orontes;
  Thy river and mine。  O Jason; my High…Priest;
  For I have made thee so; and thou art mine;
  Hast thou seen Antioch the Beautiful?
  Jason。
  Never; my Lord。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  Then hast thou never seen
  The wonder of the world。  This city of David
  Compared with Antioch is but a village;
  And its inhabitants compared with Greeks
  Are mannerless boors。
  JASON。
  They are barbarians;
  And mannerless。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  They must be civilized。
  They must be made to have more gods than one;
  And goddesses besides。
  JASON。
  They shall have more。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  They must have hippodromes; and games; and baths;
  Stage…plays and festivals; and most of all
  The Dionysia。
  JASON。
  They shall have them all。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  By Heracles! but I should like to see
  These Hebrews crowned with ivy; and arrayed
  In skins of fawns; with drums and flutes and thyrsi;
  Revel and riot through the solemn streets
  Of their old town。   Ha; ha!  It makes me merry
  Only to think of it!Thou dost not laugh。
  JASON。
  Yea; I laugh inwardly。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  The new Greek leaven
  Works slowly in this Israelitish dough!
  Have I not sacked the Temple; and on the altar
  Set up the statue of Olympian Zeus
  To Hellenize it?
  JASON。
  Thou hast done all this。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  As thou wast Joshua once and now art Jason;
  And from a Hebrew hast become a Greek;
  So shall this Hebrew nation be translated;
  Their very natures and their names be changed;
  And all be Hellenized。
  JASON。
  It shall be done。
  ANTIOCHUS。
  Their manners and their laws and way of living
  Shall all be Greek。  They shall unlearn their language;
  And learn the lovely speech of Antioch。
  Where hast thou been to…day?  Thou comest late。
  JASON。
  Playing at discus with the other priests