Wallenstein/The Piccolomini/A4S7
SCENE VII.
To these enter the Countess Tertsky.
WALLENSTEIN. Who sent for you? There is no business here For women,
COUNTESS. I am come to bid you joy.
WALLENSTEIN. Use thy authority, Tertsky, bid her go.
COUNTESS. Come I perhaps too early? I hope not.
WALLENSTEIN. Set not this tongue upon me, I entreat you. You know it is the weapon that destroys me. I am routed, if a woman but attack me. I cannot traffic in the trade of words With that unreasoning sex.
COUNTESS. I had already Giv'n the Bohemians a king.
WALLENSTEIN. (sarcastically.) They have one, In consequence, no doubt.
COUNTESS. (to the others.) Ha! what new scruple?
TERTSKY. The Duke will not.
COUNTESS. He will not what he must!
ILLO. It lies with you now. Try. For I am silenced, When folks begin to talk to me of conscience, And of fidelity.
COUNTESS. How? then, when all Lay in the far off distance, when the road Stretch'd out before thine eyes interminably, Then hadst thou courage and resolve; and now, Now that the dream is being; realized, The purpose ripe, the issue ascertained, Dost thou begin to play the dastard now? Plann'd merely, 'tis a common felony; Accomplish'd, an immortal undertaking;And with success comes pardon hand in hand; For all event is God's arbitrement.
SERVANT. (enters.) The Colonel Piccolomini.
COUNTESS. (hastily.)—Must wait.
WALLENSTEIN. I cannot fee him now. Another time.
SERVANT. But for two minutes he entreats an audience, Of the most urgent nature is his business.
WALLENSTEIN. Who knows what he may bring us? I will hear him.
COUNTESS. (laughs.)Urgent for him, no doubt; but thou may'st wait.
WALLENSTEIN. What is it?
COUNTESS. Thou shalt be inform'd hereafter. First let the Swede and thee be compromised.[Exit Servant.
WALLENSTEIN. If there were yet a choice; if yet some milder Way of escape were possible—I still Will chuse it, and avoid the last extreme.
COUNTESS.Desir'st thou nothing further? Such a way Lies still before thee. Send this Wrangel off. Forget thou thy old hopes, cast far away All thy past life; determine to commence A new one. Virtue hath her heroes too, As well as Fame and Fortune.—To Vienna— Hence—to the Emperor—kneel before the throne; Take a full coffer with thee—say aloud, Thou did'st but wish to prove thy fealty; Thy whole intention but to dupe the Swede.
ILLO.For that too 'tis too late. They know too much. He would but bear his own head to the block.
COUNTESS. I fear not that. They have not evidenceTo attaint him legally, and they avoid The avowal of an arbitrary power. They'll let the Duke resign without disturbance,I see how all will end. The King of Hungary Makes his appearance, and 'twill of itself Be understood, that then the Duke retires. There will pot want a formal declaration. The young King will administer the oath To the whole army; and so all returnsTo the old position, On some morrow morningThe Duke departs; and now 'tis stir and bustle Within his castles. He will hunt, and build, Superintend his horses' pedigrees, Creates himself a court, gives golden keys, And introduceth strictest ceremony In fine proportions, and nice etiquette; Keeps open table with high cheer; in brief Commenceth mighty King—in miniature.And while he prudently demeans himself,And gives himself no actual importance,He will be let appear whate'er he likes;And who dares doubt, that Friedland will appearA mighty Prince to his last dying hour?Well now, what then? Duke Friedland is, as others, A fire-new Noble, whom the war hath rais'd To price and currency, a Jonah's Gourd, An over-night creation of court-favour, With which an undistinguishable ease Makes Baron or makes Prince.
WALLENSTEIN. (in extreme agitation.)Take her away. Let in the young Count Piccolomini.
COUNTESS. Art thou in earnest? I entreat thee! Can'st thou Consent to bear thyself to thy own grave, So ignominiously to be dried up? Thy life, that arrogated such an height, To end in such a nothing! To be nothing, When one was always nothing, is an evil That asks no stretch of patience, a light evil, But to become a nothing, having been—
WALLENSTEIN. (starts up in violent agitation.) Shew me a way out of this stifling crowd, Ye Powers of Aidance! Shew me such a way As I am capable of going.—I Am no tongue-hero, no fine virtue-prattler; I can not warm by thinking; cannot say To the good luck that turns her back upon me, Magnanimously: "Go! I need thee not." Cease I to work, I am annihilated. Dangers nor sacrifices will I shun, If so I may avoid the last extreme; But ere I sink down into nothingness,Leave off so little, who begun so great, Ere that the world confuses me with those Poor wretches, whom a day creates and crumbles, This age and [1]after-ages speak my name With hate and dread; and Friedland be redemption For each accursed deed!
COUNTESS. What is there here, then,So against nature? Help me to perceive it! O let not Superstition's nightly goblins Subdue thy clear bright spirit! Art thou bidTo murder?—with abhorr'd accursed poinard, To violate the breasts that nourish'd thee?That were against our nature, that might aptly[2]Make thy flesh shudder, and thy whole heart sicken.Yet not a few, and for a meaner object Have ventur'd'even this, ay, and perform'd it. What is there in thy case so black and monstrous? Thou art accus'd of treason—whether with Or without justice is not now the question—Thou art lost if thou dost not avail thee quickly Of the power which thou possessest.—Friedland! Duke! Tell me, where lives that thing so meek and tame,That doth not all his living faculties Put forth in preservation of his life? What deed so daring, which necessity And desperation will not sanctify?
WALLENSTEIN. Once was this Ferdinand so gracious to me: He lov'd me; he esteem'd me; I was plac'd The nearest to his heart. Full many a time We like familiar friends, both at one table, Have banqueted together. He and I—And the young kings themselves held me the basonWhere with to wash me—and is't come to this?
COUNTESS. So faithfully preserv'st thou each small favour, And hast no memory for contumelies? Must I remind thee, how at RegenspurgThis man repaid thy faithful services?All ranks and all conditions in the empireThou hadst wrong'd, to make him great,—hadst loaded on thee,On thee, the hate, the curse of the whole world.No friend existed for thee in all Germany,And why? because thou hadst existed onlyFor th' Emperor. To th' Emperor aloneClung Friedland in that storm which gather'd round himAt Regenspurg in the Diet—and he dropp'd thee!He let thee fall! He let thee fall a victimTo the Bavarian, to that insolent!Depos'd, stript bare of all thy dignityAnd power, amid the taunting of thy foes,Thou wert let drop into obscurity—Say not, the restoration of thy honourHas made atonement for that first injustice.No honest good-will was it that replac'd thee,The law of hard necessity replac'd thee,Which they had fain oppos'd, but that they could not.
WALLENSTEIN. Not to their good wishes, that is certain,Nor yet to his affection I'm indebtedFor this high office; and if I abuse it,I shall therein abuse no confidence.
COUNTESS. Affection! confidence!—They needed thee.Necessity, impetuous remonstrant! Who not with empty names, or shews of proxy,Is serv'd, who'll have the thing and not the symbol,Ever seeks out the greatest and the best,And at the rudder places him, e'en thoughShe had been forc'd to take him from the rabble—She, this Necessity, it was that plac'd theeIn this high office, it was she that gave theeThy letters patent of inauguration.For, to the uttermost moment that they can,This race still help themselves at cheapest rateWith slavish souls, with puppets! At the approachOf extreme peril, when a hollow imageIs found a hollow image and no more,Then falls the power into the mighty handsOf Nature, of the spirit giant-born,Who listens only to himself, knows nothingOf stipulations, duties, reverences,And, like th' emancipated force of fire,Unmaster'd scorches, ere it it reaches them,Their fine-spun webs, their artificial policy.
WALLENSTEIN. 'Tis true! they saw me always as I am—Always! I did not cheat them in the bargain.I never held it worth my pains to hideThe bold all-grasping habit of my soul.
COUNTESS. Nay rather—thou hast ever shewn thyselfA formidable man, without restraint;Hast exercis'd the full prerogatives Of thy impetuous nature, which had beenOnce granted to thee. Therefore, Duke, not thou,Who hast still remain'd consistent with thyself,But they are in the wrong, who fearing thee,Entrusted such a power in hands, they fear'd.For, by the laws of Spirit, in the rightIs every individual characterThat acts in strict consistence with itself.Self-contradiction is the only wrong.Wert thou another being, then, when thouEight years ago pursuedst thy march with fireAnd sword, and desolation, through the CirclesOf Germany, the universal scourge,Didst mock all ordinances of the empire,The fearful rights of strength alone exertedst,Trampledst to earth each rank, each magistracy,All to extend thy Sultan's domination?Then was the time to break thee in, to curbThy haughty will, to teach thee ordinance.But no! the Emperor felt no touch of conscience,What serv'd him pleas'd him, and without a murmurHe stamp'd his broad seal on these lawless deeds.What at that time was right, because thou didst itFor him, to day is all at once becomeOpprobrious, foul, because it is directedAgainst him.—O most flimsy superstition!
WALLENSTEIN. (rising)I never saw it in this light before.'Tis even so. The Emperor perpetratedDeeds through my arm, deeds most unorderly. And even this prince's mantle, which I wear,I owe to what were services to him,But most high misdemeanours 'gainst the empire.
COUNTESS.Then betwixt thee and him (confess it, Friedland!)The point can be no more of right and duty,Only of power and th' opportunity.That opportunity, lo! it comes yonder,Approaching with swift steeds; then with a swingThrow thyself up into the chariot seat,Seize with firm hand the reins, ere thy opponentAnticipate thee, and himself make conquestOf the now empty seat. The moment comes,It is already here, when thou must writeThe absolute total of thy life's vast sum.The constellations stand victorious o'er thee,The planets shoot good fortune in fair junctions,And tell thee, "Now's the time!" The starry coursesHast thou thy life-long measur'd to no purpose?The quadrant and the circle, were they play things?(pointing to the different objects in the room)The zodiacs, the rolling orbs of heaven,Hast pictur'd on these walls, and all around theeIn dumb, foreboding symbols hast thou plac'dThese seven presiding Lords of destiny—For toys? Is all this preparation nothing?Is there no marrow in this hollow art,That even to thyself it doth availNothing, and has no influence over thee In the great moment of decision?———
WALLENSTEIN. (during this last speech walks up and down with inward struggles, labouring with passions; stops suddenly, stands still, then interrupting the Countess,)Send Wrangel to me—I will instantlyDispatch three couriers———
ILLO. (hurrying out)God in heaven be prais'd!
WALLENSTEIN. It is his evil genius and mine.Our evil genius! It chastises himThrough me, the instrument of his ambition; And I expect no less, than that RevengeE'en now is whetting for my breast the poniard.Who sows the serpent's teeth, let him not hopeTo reap a joyous harvest. Every crimeHas, in the moment of its perpetration,Its own avenging angel—dark Misgiving,An ominous Sinking at the inmost heart.He can no longer trust me.—Then no longerCan I retreat—so come that which must come.—Still destiny preserves its due relations,The heart within us is its absoluteVicegerent.(to Tertsky)Go, conduct you Gustave WrangelTo my state-cabinet.—Myself will speak toThe couriers.—And dispatch immediatelyA servant for Octavio Piccolomini. (to the Countess, who cannot conceal her triumph)No exultation!—woman, triumph not!For jealous are the Powers of Destiny.Joy premature, and Shouts ere victory,Incroach upon their rights and privileges.We sow the seed, and they the growth determine.[While he is making his exit, the curtain drops.]
END OF ACT IV.
- ↑ Could I have hazarded such a Germanism, as the use of the word after-world, for posterity.—"Es spreche Welt und Nachwelt meinen Nahmen"—might have been rendered with more literal fidelity:—Let world and after-world speak out my name, &c.
- ↑ I have not ventured to affront the fastidious delicacy of our age with a literal translation of this line."werth"Die Eingeweide schaudernd aufzuregen."