第 186 节
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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