第 164 节
作者:
空白协议书 更新:2021-02-21 16:30 字数:9322
LUCIFER。
There is my German Prince again;
Thus far on his journey to Salern;
And the lovesick girl; whose heated brain
Is sowing the cloud to reap the rain;
But it's a long road that has no turn!
Let them quietly hold their way;
I have also a part in the play。
But first I must act to my heart's content
This mummery and this merriment;
And drive this motley flock of sheep
Into the fold; where drink and sleep
The jolly old friars of Benevent。
Of a truth; it often provokes me to laugh
To see these beggars hobble along;
Lamed and maimed; and fed upon chaff;
Chanting their wonderful puff and paff;
And; to make up for not understanding the song;
Singing it fiercely; and wild; and strong!
Were it not for my magic garters and staff;
And the goblets of goodly wine I quaff;
And the mischief I make in the idle throng;
I should not continue the business long。
PILGRIMS; chanting。
In hac urbe; lux solennis;
Ver aeternum; pax perennis;
In hac odor implens caelos;
In hac semper festum melos!
PRINCE HENRY。
Do you observe that monk among the train;
Who pours from his great throat the roaring bass;
As a cathedral spout pours out the rain;
And this way turns his rubicund; round face?
ELSIE。
It is the same who; on the Strasburg square;
Preached to the people in the open air。
PRINCE HENRY。
And he has crossed o'er mountain; field; and fell;
On that good steed; that seems to bear him well;
The hackney of the Friars of Orders Gray;
His own stout legs! He; too; was in the play;
Both as King Herod and Ben Israel。
Good morrow; Friar!
FRIAR CUTHBERT。
Good morrow; noble Sir!
PRINCE HENRY。
I speak in German; for; unless I err;
You are a German。
FRIAR CUTHBERT。
I cannot gainsay you。
But by what instinct; or what secret sign;
Meeting me here; do you straightway divine
That northward of the Alps my country lies?
PRINCE HENRY。
Your accent; like St。 Peter's; would betray you;
Did not your yellow beard and your blue eyes。
Moreover; we have seen your face before;
And heard you preach at the Cathedral door
On Easter Sunday; in the Strasburg square。
We were among the crowd that gathered there;
And saw you play the Rabbi with great skill;
As if; by leaning o'er so many years
To walk with little children; your own will
Had caught a childish attitude from theirs;
A kind of stooping in its form and gait;
And could no longer stand erect and straight。
Whence come you now?
FRIAR CUTHBERT。
From the old monastery
Of Hirschau; in the forest; being sent
Upon a pilgrimage to Benevent;
To see the image of the Virgin Mary;
That moves its holy eyes; and sometimes speaks;
And lets the piteous tears run down its cheeks;
To touch the hearts of the impenitent。
PRINCE HENRY。
Oh; had I faith; as in the days gone by;
That knew no doubt; and feared no mystery!
LUCIFER; at a distance。
Ho; Cuthbert! Friar Cuthbert!
FRIAR CUTHBERT。
Fare well; Prince;
I cannot stay to argue and convince。
PRINCE HENRY。
This is indeed the blessed Mary's land;
Virgin and mother of our dear redeemer!
All hearts are touched and softened at her name;
Alike the bandit; with the bloody hand;
The priest; the prince; the scholar; and the peasant;
The man of deeds; the visionary dreamer;
Pay homage to her as one ever present!
And even as children; who have much offended
A too indulgent father; in great shame;
Penitent; and yet not daring unattended
To go into his presence; at the gate
Speak with their sister; and confiding wait
Till she goes in before and intercedes;
So men; repenting of their evil deeds;
And yet not venturing rashly to draw near
With their requests an angry father's ear;
Offer to her their prayers and their confession;
And she for them in heaven makes intercession。
And if our faith had given us nothing more
Than this example of all womanhood;
So mild; so merciful; so strong; so good;
So patient; peaceful; loyal; loving; pure;
This were enough to prove it higher and truer
Than all the creeds the world had known before。
PILGRIMS; chanting afar off。
Urbs coelestis; urbs beata;
Supra petram collocata;
Urbs in portu satis tuto
De longinquo te saluto;
Te saluto; te suspiro;
Te affecto; te requiro!
THE INN AT GENOA
A terrace overlooking the sea。 Night。
PRINCE HENRY。
It is the sea; it is the sea;
In all its vague immensity;
Fading and darkening in the distance!
Silent; majestical; and slow;
The white ships haunt it to and fro;
With all their ghostly sails unfurled;
As phantoms from another world
Haunt the dim confines of existence!
But ah! how few can comprehend
Their signals; or to what good end
From land to land they come and go!
Upon a sea more vast and dark
The spirits of the dead embark;
All voyaging to unknown coasts。
We wave our farewells from the shore;
And they depart; and come no more;
Or come as phantoms and as ghosts。
Above the darksome sea of death
Looms the great life that is to be;
A land of cloud and mystery;
A dim mirage; with shapes of men
Long dead and passed beyond our ken;
Awe…struck we gaze; and hold our breath
Till the fair pageant vanisheth;
Leaving us in perplexity;
And doubtful whether it has been
A vision of the world unseen;
Or a bright image of our own
Against the sky in vapors thrown。
LUCIFER; singing from the sea。
Thou didst not make it; thou canst not mend it;
But thou hast the power to end it!
The sea is silent; the sea is discreet;
Deep it lies at thy very feet;
There is no confessor like unto Death!
Thou canst not see him; but he is near;
Thou needst not whisper above thy breath;
And he will hear;
He will answer the questions;
The vague surmises and suggestions;
That fill thy soul with doubt and fear!
PRINCE HENRY。
The fisherman; who lies afloat;
With shadowy sail; in yonder boat;
Is singing softly to the Night!
But do I comprehend aright
The meaning of the words he sung
So sweetly in his native tongue?
Ah yes! the sea is still and deep。
All things within its bosom sleep!
A single step; and all is o'er;
A plunge; a bubble an no more;
And thou; dear Elsie; wilt be free
From martyrdom and agony。
ELSIE; coming from her chamber upon the terrace。
The night is calm and cloudless;
And still as still can be;
And the stars come forth to listen
To the music of the sea。
They gather; and gather; and gather;
Until they crowd the sky;
And listen; in breathless silence;
To the solemn litany。
It begins in rocky caverns;
As a voice that chants alone
To the pedals of the organ
In monotonous undertone;
And anon from shelving beaches;
And shallow sands beyond;
In snow…white robes uprising
The ghostly choirs respond。
And sadly and unceasing
The mournful voice sings on;
And the snow…white choirs still answer
Christe eleison!
PRINCE HENRY。
Angel of God! thy finer sense perceives
Celestial and perpetual harmonies!
Thy purer soul; that trembles and believes;
Hears the archangel's trumpet in the breeze;
And where the forest rolls; or ocean heaves;
Cecilia's organ sounding in the seas;
And tongues of prophets speaking in the leaves。
But I hear discord only and despair;
And whispers as of demons in the air!
AT SEA
IL PADRONE。
The wind upon our quarter lies;
And on before the freshening gale;
That fills the snow…white lateen sail;
Swiftly our light felucca flies;
Around the billows burst and foam;
They lift her o'er the sunken rock;
They beat her sides with many a shock;
And then upon their flowing dome
They poise her; like a weathercock!
Between us and the western skies
The hills of Corsica arise;
Eastward in yonder long blue line;
The summits of the Apennine;
And southward; and still far away;
Salerno; on its sunny bay。
You cannot see it; where it lies。
PRINCE HENRY。
Ah; would that never more mine eyes
Might see its towers by night or day!
ELSIE。
Behind us; dark and awfully;
There comes a cloud out of the sea;
That bears the form of a hunted deer;
With hide of brown; and hoofs of black
And antlers laid upon its back;
And fleeing fast and wild with fear;
As if the hounds were on its track!
PRINCE HENRY。
Lo! while we gaze; it breaks and falls
In shapeless masses; like the walls
Of a burnt city。 Broad and red
The flies of the descending sun
Glare through the windows; and o'erhead;
Athwart the vapors; dense and dun;
Long shafts of silvery light arise;
Like rafters that support the skies!
ELSIE。
See! from its summit the lurid levin
Flashes downward without warning;
As Lucifer; son of the morning;
Fell from the battlements of heaven!
IL PADRONE。
I must entreat you; friends; below!