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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76655-0.txt b/76655-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd38759 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6088 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76655 *** + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + +[Frontispiece: Gabriele d'Annunzio] + + + + + THE + DAUGHTER OF JORIO + + A PASTORAL TRAGEDY + + + BY + GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN + BY + CHARLOTTE PORTER, PIETRO ISOLA + AND ALICE HENRY + + + WITH A PORTRAIT AND PICTURES FROM THE + ITALIAN PRODUCTION + + + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1907 + + + + + Copyright, 1904, + BY GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO. + + Copyright, 1907, + BY DIRCÉ ST. CYR. + Stage rights reserved + + Copyright, 1907, + BY THE POET LORE COMPANY. + + Copyright, 1907, + BY LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY. + All rights reserved + + + Published November, 1907 + + THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. + + + + + TO + THE LAND OF THE ABRUZZI, TO MY MOTHER + TO MY SISTERS, TO MY BROTHERS + ALSO + TO MY FATHER, ENTOMBED, TO ALL MY DEAD + AND TO ALL MY RACE BETWEEN THE + MOUNTAIN AND THE SEA + THIS SONG OF THE ANTIQUE BLOOD + I CONSECRATE + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +An elemental savor of the savage blood of the ancient race clings to +the country of the Abruzzi. This elemental quality, intensely +impressional and tragic, underlies the light sensitive beauty and +bright artistic grace characteristic of Italy in general. + +The lore and customs of the native folk, growing the vine and olive +in the sunny slopes running seaward to the southern Adriatic, have +been shut away from the easy touch of western Europe by the towering +ridge of the Apennines, on whose rugged slopes the sheep are +pastured. It is still the most archaic, the most stubbornly +unmetropolitan corner of Italy. Here, even more than elsewhere in +the country beloved of all other younger countries, the mediæval and +the Pagan worlds linger intimately together, blending faiths and +customs. It is a good soil and a fertile for growing an enduring +masterpiece that shall gather Italy up into its being, and taste of +the profound, immortal heart of the land. + +In this land of the Abruzzi, and in the dim enchanted epoch of "once +upon a time," "The Daughter of Jorio" is set. As the drama unfolds +it carries with it this charmed atmosphere. Who reads or hears this +"song of the antique blood" is suddenly at home, too, in the Abruzzi, +and catches the life along with the music of many years ago. + +As descendants from the Abruzzi stock, two friends--D'Annunzio, the +poet, and Michetti, the painter, travelled throughout their +fatherland together, faring up the majestic snow-cloaked Maella and +the precipitous Gran Sasso, to and fro among the rocky sheepsteads +and caverns of the mountains, and along the bordering stretches of +sea-shore. + +They heard, then, a name, spoken in a way belonging to common custom +there. Grown persons in this pastoral region are still known in +patriarchal manner, not by their own names but merely as son or +daughter of their father. The melody of the name thus heard haunted +the memories of the artist-travellers. As the gipsy refrain Browning +heard while a boy thrilled his blood like a call from the +Wild--"Following the Queen of the Gipsies, O!" and bore poetic fruit +long afterward in "The Flight of the Duchess," so, likewise, this +sonorous name stirred the secret chords of artistic response in the +imagination of these two friends and bore subconscious fruit in them. +The fruit is different enough, yet of a kindred germ and flavor. +Each has rendered it as a tribute to the mother-country in whose +traditions he was cradled. + +The name they heard--"La figlia di Jorio," meaning much to them, +little to another,--may now be understood to be in itself eloquent of +the old tribal feeling. This feeling, sinking the son in the father, +places him apart from any other rule or influence than that of his +own kith and kin. It admits no honorable union with one outside the +clan without pang and social upheaval. + +The mere name thus held within it, for the imaginative conception of +genius, the seed of tragic social clash between alien castes or +warring rival families. Such clash between warring Italian families +Shakespeare showed in the love of a Capulet and a Montague. The +imperative elemental drawing together of Juliet and her Romeo ran +counter to long-established grooves of social cleavage. It was a +cleavage not to be welded except through the woe and spiritual +triumph of love. Such clash between the established pastoral clan +and the outcast is the theme which slumbered in this name for both +D'Annunzio and Michetti. D'Annunzio's development of it leads by a +different path to a triumph of love as spiritually exalting and as +socially significant as Shakespeare's. + +For Michetti, the haunting name resulted, shortly after their +journey, in some wonderful pictures,--sketches in water-color for a +great painting in oil, now owned in Berlin, where it gives lustre to +the Geeger collection,--later a large pastel exhibited in 1895, in +the International Exposition of the Fine Arts at Venice. + +Michetti's imagination presented the daughter of Jorio as a wanderer, +with a cloak covering her head and held shieldingly over the breast +by the right hand, while she passes a group of staring rustics. Her +long rushing strides, as of one who "knows well the pathways," have a +strangely alluring motion, like that of a majestic hunted fugitive. +One of the five men whose gaze she attracts is riveted by her look. +To the others she means less than nothing. She is an outcast or a +laughing-stock. To this one she means a mystic appeal thrown into +his life to stamp it forever. + +Not until many years after the journey through the Abruzzi, in 1903, +at Mettuno, the haunting name, fused with some germinal impression +flowing from Michetti's pictures, resulted for D'Annunzio in his "La +Figlia di Jorio." The plot is of his own pure imagination all +compact. It rests upon no legend, he says. The creative idea came +in a compelling influence that gripped him while busied in other +absorbing poetic work belonging to a series he has had in mind, and +involving historic research in the past of Italy. These annals of +the Malatesta this sudden influence bade him put aside. It called +him, instead, to pour himself out, with an ardor imperious and +self-assured, in a glowing flood of strongly-stressed rhythmic +poetry. The flood of fire took molten shape in this tragedy. It +embodied not the historic life of warring nobles, but the obscure, +toiling, pastoral life of antique Italy. + +The result is a tragedy vividly spectacular, dramatically strong and +simple. The picturesque loveliness belonging to the opening of each +act is cut sharply across with the ruthless inrush of direct vital +action. Into the graceful beauty of the lyrical espousal scene of +the first Act is thrust the pitiless hunting down of Mila, the +daughter of Jorio, by the brutal barking band of reapers. In the +midst of the serene idealism of the uplifted group in Aligi's meagre +mountain cave, where, in the second Act, love and art and insight +reinforce and befriend each other, close, even, upon the sanctity of +the kiss of the kneeling lovers, is thrust the crass bestial +domination of the lusty Lazaro, equipped and privileged to do his +evil will. This, perforce, leads to the lightning stroke of the +murder. Finally, in the third Act, the poetic veil of meandering +lament and tender commiseration of the kindred for the stricken +family is rent away by the brusque entrance, the swift direct speech, +and decisive help of the daughter of Jorio. The self-sacrifice of +her ripened transcendent love is then the opportunity for +concentrating against her the blind clamor of their crude social +justice. The final climax of contrasts is attained by these +tumultuous voices of the surging mob on the one side crying, "To the +fire, to the flames with the daughter of Jorio!" and, on the other +side, by the voice of the clear-sighted Ornella calling in majesty, +"Mila, Mila! My sister in Jesus, I kiss your two feet that bear you +away! Heaven is for thee!" and the soaring, rapturous voice of Mila, +the outcast, who has taken all their sins upon herself, and who +cries, "The flame is beautiful! The flame is beautiful!" + +These clear-cut contrasts are masterly for the stage either of the +theatre or the human breast. They strike to the quick of each +character, to the core of the meaning of every situation. Throwing +open each particular heart in its degree to comprehension, they +reveal it also to sympathy. At the same time they cast upon the +social sanction of the evil domination of Lazaro and upon the +separate woes of all those "who suffer and know not wherefore," the +larger light insensibly illumining the plot as a whole and disclosing +its typical relation to the plot of life in general. Thus, in the +emotionalized manner possible only to genius at mountain-peak +moments, the play illumines the perennial relations of a predestined +love to art and aspiration and of all three to social life, which +sacrifices all three when it wists not what it does. + +The vivid picturesqueness of such scenes as those of the espousal +rites, in the first Act; the mourning of the kindred, and the +folk-judgment of the third Act; the interesting figures of Malde, the +treasure-seeker, the herb gatherer, and the wise old saint of the +mountain of the second Act; in fact, the homely episodes of pastoral +life throughout the drama rest upon traditional customs and rooted +beliefs of the Abruzzi. + +At Pratola, Peligna, and other places in the Abruzzi the +mother-in-law receives her son's bride into her house with a nuptial +ritual full of poetic symbolism,--a ritual independent of that of the +Church. According to Antonio de Nino,--whose work on the "Habits and +Customs of the Abruzzi" scientifically verifies the folk-lore +D'Annunzio puts alive before us,--the mother breaks the bread, the +symbol of fertility, over the son and the daughter. And as she +touches the forehead, breast, and shoulders, she says: "May we live +together like Christians and not like cats and dogs." She initiates +her new daughter to her fireside by calling to her notice +home-objects to which special virtue was attributed: the +andiron-chain that could lull storms; the mortar that, if placed on +the window-sill, lured back the stray pigeon; the salt, which if hung +in a pouch around the baby's neck could keep it safe from the vampire. + +The bride's kindred came to share in the ceremonial of espousal, as +in the play, first gathering at the house of the mother, whom they +always brought with them with honor at the close of their procession. +To the new home they advanced in single file, bearing on their heads +the _donora_, gifts of baskets of grain, with fluttering ribbons, and +on top a loaf and a flower. There was always some play of chaffering +at the door, barred, as in this drama, with a ribbon or scarf +stretched between a distaff and a bident, the implements emblematic +of woman and man. The exchange of a piece of money always closed the +bargain and gained them entrance. Then, every woman, passing on in +turn to the bridal pair, before lowering her basket, took from it a +handful of grain and scattered it over each head, saying: "This is +the bread God and our Lady send you. May you grow old together!" + +The folk-ritual for burial and the improvisation of the laments by +the wailers were so elaborate that the ecclesiastical authorities +kept a jealous eye over their excesses. A decree of 1734 is +peculiarly interesting on account of the recognition it supplies that +these customs were bequests from a Pagan age. It declares that if +the women who indulge in the abuse of mourning at funerals "continue +to disturb the churchly office with lamentation and wailing and other +such practices of paganism," the clergy shall cease all ministration +and leave them with the body until they go home and "let the body +alone, so that the service can be followed according to the usage of +the Roman ritual." + +Greater poetic interest belongs to the _laudi_ in the Abruzzi +dialect, examples of which are given in De Nino's fourth volume (_Usi +e costumi abbruzzesi par_ Antonio de Nino. 5 vols. Barbera, +Florence. 1879-1891). From the text of one of these, several verses +are employed by D'Annunzio in the third Act. He greatly enhances +their dramatic effect by putting them in the mouth of Candia, when +with wandering, benumbed wits she repeats bits of the dialogue +between the Sacred Mother and her suffering Son, half confusing her +own sorrows over her son Aligi with those of the Mater Dolorosa. + +In all such instances heightened beauty and significance are given to +the Abruzzi usages with the surest and most delicate art. The throb +of life animates it. Yet the homely truth to reality behind the +adroit touches of art gifts the play with vigor and concreteness. + +Even the passing reference of Splendore to the petticoat "of a dozen +breadths' fulness" is true, for example, to the dress of the women of +Scanno. The bridal raiment of green, also, "Of gold and silver the +yoke is fashioned But all the rest like the quiet verdure," is true +to the preference for green of the brides of Canzano. + +Such games of rivalry for the straightest furrow, as that of which +Candia reminds her son, were held at Sora. In presence of the old +men the youths ran the plough from the crest of the hill to the foot +of the valley, when the prize, a hat or a scarf, was adjudged. + +The "barking" of the reapers "like dogs at each passer" was an +ancient license of disorder at harvest time, called _fare +l'incanata_. So, the call for the wine-jug was a custom belonging to +the serenade of the bridal pair on the marriage night. The song +over, the singers expected wine, cheese, and a loaf to be handed them +outside the door. + +As Aligi's cavern, the scene of the second Act, has its prototype in +an actual cavern on the mountain in Abruzzia, from which Michetti +made sketches for stage use in the Milan production, so also the +shepherd life, as it is presented especially in this Act, has its +model in reality. Their quiet existence, aloft among the peaks, +leaves the shepherds time to carve their sheep-hooks, as Aligi did, +and to achieve such other artistry in wood as Aligi masters. Their +neighbor, the sky, makes dreamers of them, too, like Aligi, and not +infrequently poets. The mountain affords them such comrades as Aligi +had in Malde, the treasure-diviner, the herb-woman, wise in +efficacious simples, and the lofty, serene-minded Cosmo. Perhaps +Cosmo is not meant to differ greatly in nature from the distinguished +saint of the Morrone mentioned by Aligi, Pietro Celestino, who was +made Pope Celestin V. in 1294, but who, only a few months afterwards, +abjured the stateliness of Rome for the hermit's retired life upon +the mountain-side. The habit of life, indicated by Aligi, is that of +the shepherds described by Finamore (_Il pastore e la pastorizia in +Abruzzo_ in _Archivo per lo studio della tradizioni popolari_, IV. +190). They select a sheepstead in the spring and collect their +flocks, living near them in caves or huts during the summer, but +going down to the village fortnightly for a three days' rest; and in +the autumn coming down with their flocks, and going on with them +either toward Rome or Puglia. Through the valleys and across the +mountains they hear the singing Pilgrims passing continually, as they +so effectively come and go in the stage directions of the second Act, +faring to and fro on the way to such shrines as Splendore mentions in +her reassuring words to Mila,--Santa Maria della Potenza, and the +Incoronata. + +On the eve of the Celebration of St. John's Beheading (August 29) the +Plaia or the Virgine is climbed, according to custom, toward +midnight, so that the red disk of the August sun may be seen at dawn +from the hilltop. To the beholder of the apparition of the saint's +bleeding head in the disk it was accounted, as Aligi deemed it, a +miraculous sign of God's favor. + +D'Annunzio himself maintains as to one of the superstitions he has +known how to weave predominatingly into the plot, namely, the +sanctity of the fireplace as a refuge from violence, that it is +Jewish rather than Italian. It may be so. In any case he has +exercised the right of a poet to use for his higher verities what he +needs and has the art to employ vitally and well. It may be, too, +that he has been peculiarly happy in grafting so distinctly Jewish a +belief on the rest of his more peculiarly Christian and Latin +beliefs, because there is an inner link of association between Mila's +fireside and such a sanctuary from their pursuers as the Adonijahs +and Joabs claimed when they "laid hold upon the horns of the altar." +Feasts were held and burnt offerings were devoted to Jehovah on such +altars. And similarly sacred to the gods of the hearthstone of the +ancient race--the Lares and Penates--was the fireside of the Romans. +The antique usage that marks the fireplace and sets it apart as the +altar or temple of the homestead is architecturally preserved in +ancient Italian buildings by the monumental setting of the +hearthstone above the level of the floor and the prominent hood to +the chimney. The utility of this arrangement, as usual with +folk-myths, has not hindered, but rather attracted, a religious +explanation. + +Such a fireplace is an important trait of the stage directions in the +first Act for the scene-setting of the home of the Di Roio family. +It is in accord, like all the rest of the furnishings of the house, +with the record De Nino supplies of the typical Abruzzi homestead. + +When the daughter of the alien, of the sorcerer Jorio, claims +sanctuary at the hearth, she claims it not alone because she is +Christian and therefore can justly make appeal to the God of this +hearth and this household. It is significant that she also makes her +appeal by virtue of the old laws of the hearthstone, to gods of the +Pagan race and the ancient kinsfolk. The sacredness of the fireplace +as the altar of each home is, in fact, not confined to any race. The +North American Indian, as well as the Roman, regards it religiously. +Such faiths grow from a human root. + +In the play, the hearth, like the Jewish altar, becomes a mercy-seat, +to be held inviolate from violence and also from profanation. Mila +seeks it as a shrine and shield from violence. The kindred declare +that she profanes it. + +The dependence of the second and third Acts upon the Roman law of the +absolute dominion of the father over the son, and the extreme penalty +for parricide of the sack and the mastiff and the deep sea is +justified by the ancient Latin code, as given in the digest of +Modestinus (xlviii, tit. 9, § 9). The persistence in the bucolic +mind of such grim ancestral morality causes such a code to outlive +its natural decay. + +One of the allusions to the ancient credulities of the Abruzzi which +is most essential to the plot is Aligi's vision in the first Act of +Mila's guardian angel standing behind her weeping, and thus in +silence revealing the innocency of her wronged soul. The common +faith in the judgment of God upon the deeds of men being made clear +in a flash by the sudden sight of the angel in tears finds expression +in the proverbial sayings: "If you would measure the offence, look +behind the right shoulder of him whom you have offended." "If you +make your sister weep, you make the silent angel weep." "If you +forget to be just, the angel weeps." + +Curious and interesting as all these veritable traces of folk-lore +may seem, they are but the dry bones to which the poet has given +flesh and breath. Not alone the rich deep soil of primitive custom +and religion in which he has rooted the play, but the spirit of +mystery primeval--older than Christianity or any one religious +influence--in which the play is wrapped, as in the atmosphere +necessary to its life, is indicated by D'Annunzio himself in his +"Triumph of Death": + +"Rites of religions dead and forgotten survive there; +incomprehensible symbols of potencies long fallen into decay remain +intact there; habits of primitive peoples forever passed away persist +there, handed down without change from generation to generation; rich +customs, foreign and useless, retained there are the witnesses to the +nobility and beauty of an anterior life.... In all pomps and +ceremonies, work and play, in births and love, nuptials and, +funerals,--everywhere present and visible, there is a georgic +symbolism; everywhere the Titanic generating Mother Earth is +represented and reverenced as the bosom whence sprang the founts of +all good and all happiness." + +When Mila is left in the cave, in the second Act, alone with the +ecstasy and anguish of her love for Aligi, and while she kneels +before the Christian symbol of motherhood, she turns also to this +hoary Earth, the mother of all motherhood, as the child in trouble to +the all-embracing mother-heart. + +The love which she and Aligi feel within them is profoundly rooted in +that elemental mystery to which it has newly opened their +consciousness. It is more ancient far than any of the ties of habit +and family to which Aligi has been the embodiment of faithful +allegiance all his life before. Older than allegiance to the family +or the clan is the allegiance of lover and beloved, as the individual +man is prior to the tribal man. + +As the play opens, the divine trouble of allegiance to this more +fundamental power has come upon Aligi dimly. Forebodings of the woe +of his attempted reconciliation of the two allegiances are sapping +his energy. In the depths of his soul is divined the fatal approach +of supreme love, the predestined child of this secret power of the +older time. The shadow of this approach girds him about in slumber +as in a shield by the side of the bride whose soul is no mate for his +soul. It holds him aloof until Mila comes. Then it plunges his old +allegiance, his most religiously dutiful subordination to the life of +kindred and family, into vital conflict with the inward sense of the +mystical power claiming a higher allegiance, a deeper, all-embracing +reverence. + +The situation is a dramatic bodying forth of further words of +D'Annunzio upon the mystery brooding in the land of the antique blood: + +"Mystery intervenes in all events, envelops and constrains every +existence; and supernatural life dominates, overwhelms, and absorbs +ordinary life." + +Put into action, this is the clash of the ordinary fealty with a +fealty older, more personal, and through the art and the sacrifice +begotten of love, more rewarding to spiritual life. The hand of the +tribe has been ever against an overlordship of this spiritual kind, +knitting together the clansman and the alien, and substituting for +the child recruiting the solidarity of the clan, the Angel of Art +recruiting the very soul of the clan. To burn as an Apostate Angel +this Angel of Art along with the witch whose charm has awakened in +the lover's soul the capacity to show it forth--this is the usual +course of the clan. Only the Ornellas, the youngest and littlest of +its generation, are as prompt to see and to save as its privileged +heads, the Lazaros, are to desecrate and embrutalize. + +Like Heinrich in Hauptmann's "Sunken Bell," Aligi is a dreamer. But +unlike Heinrich, he is no waverer. His dream is true. To the +divination it bestows he is true. As long as his soul and his senses +are intact to repel the benumbing influence of the potion he +disclaims Mila's sacrifice. + +All larger meanings involved in the action are to be inferred as they +are in life. Each may behold for himself. Yet Ornella stands behind +the play, as the angel stood behind Mila. For any, if any there be, +who would question the bearing of its conclusion, Ornella is the +rectification of any possible doubt or misjudgment. Through the eyes +of her vision appears the transcendent loving of Mila. + +No other works of D'Annunzio, not even the beautiful "Francesca," +reach such heights. They have artistry, power, concrete truth to +life in common with "The Daughter of Jorio"; but they do not approach +it in that inner truth to life which unveils the purity and +aspiration of the power of supreme love in life and in art. That +inner life of the power of love hallows this tragedy. Hence the +poet's art gains an unerring potency of touch, and it makes the +loving of Mila worthy of a younger brother of the Dante of the "Vita +Nuova" and the "Paradiso." + +Inseparable from the power of this tragedy to cause the deep things +within to be heard--"The deep things within that come from afar"--are +the incomparably beautiful rhythms in which they are chanted. + +They are the rhythms belonging to the land of the Abruzzi and to +"many years ago." There, says the poet: + +"Mystery and rhythm, these two essential elements of every cult, were +everywhere scattered. Men and women constantly expressed their souls +in song, accompanied by song all their labors under the roof or under +the sky, celebrated by song life and death. Over cradles and +winding-sheets undulated melodies slow and prolonged, very +ancient,--as ancient, perhaps, as the race whose profound sadness +they revealed.... Fixed in unalterable rhythm they seemed fragments +of hymns belonging to immemorial liturgies, surviving the destruction +of some great primordial mythus." + +The poet seems to have loosed the pent-up sources of these immemorial +rhythms. He has dared in part to invent a free dramatico-lyric +verse, in part to recur to archaic forms of verse of like freedom. +In this way he has clothed every motion and gesture, every quiver of +the body of his drama, in a beauty begotten of "the antique blood." + +Such music, sensitive to each catch of the living breath of emotion, +must seek a form more flexible than the iambic pentameters of English +usage or the hexameters or Alexandrines of French. The beauty +belonging to these in their perfection has yet led to a dull monotony +of always-anticipated stress in the perpetuity of their dramatic use +by modern dramatists. The artifice side of verse has been so +over-emphasized, by limitation to a form shut out from the thrill of +an unexpected cadence, that audiences instinctively flee the +infliction of sitting out a modern poetic drama, despite the general +superstition, because of its past glory, that it ought to be forever +and only liked. + +Since the only alternative offered by conventional usage is bald +prose, even this has been gladly accepted in preference, and the +penalty paid of a totally commonplace effect, usually as bare of the +uplift and melody of art as a trolley car. + +D'Annunzio has devised a better way. Heeding the secret of the +manifold effects,--now of the ancient _laudi dramatiche_ of his own +Abruzzi, now of the austerely simple plain-song of the mediæval hymn, +now of some strongly four-stressed Tuscan lyric of the twelfth +century, or even the two-stressed line of the rustic charm,--he has +varied his verse to suit every phase of emotion. He has used iambic +ascending rhythms, in hendecasyllabic lines, generally, for the +serener utterances, such as Candia's blessing in the espousal rites +of Act I; strongly marked trochaic rhythms, in octosyllabic lines, +for intense lyrical outpourings of spirit, such as Mila's song at the +opening of Act II, and swiftly descending dactyllic rhythms, giving +jets of voice to sharp seizures of feeling, such as the fierce outcry +of the Chorus of the Kindred in Act III--_Tempia e tempia, i denti le +sgrani_--"Temple to temple and shell out her teeth." Not only, +moreover, by the frequent employment of a strong initial syllable, +along with iambic or anapestic verse, and other such allowed +liberties, but also by the intercalation of extra syllables or the +omission of others within the normal foot, he has slowed or raced the +pace of the line, in obedience to some push of thought or beat of +purpose. So varied is the effect that the verse is as flexible as +prose speech. Yet the impression is never lawless, for the verse +never escapes the _ictus_ of a pervading inward shapeliness. The +artistic comeliness is felt along with the impetus each variation +pours into the sway of the line. + +Internal rhyme, assonance, and thrice repeated double rhymes still +further prolong or break up the normal effects, so that to the +fluency of the wave of speech is added some momentary shimmering of +its surface, like the fleeting touches of the wind of the spirit +otherwise viewless. + +Such internal rhymes, repetitions, and assonances, for example, occur +in the dialogue of Mila and Aligi in the second Act: _Pei monti +coglierai le genzianellè Eper le spiagge le stelle marine_.--"To cull +on the hilltop the blue gentian lonely, On the sea-shore only the +star-fish flower." _Si cammina cammina lungo il mare_.--"I border +the bordering stretches of sea-shore." Or such double rhymes appear +as in Femo di Nerfa's: _Prima che la mano gli tàglino, Prima che nel +sacco lo sèrrino, Col can mastino e lo gèttino, Al fiume in dove fa +gorgo_.--"Before his right hand they shall sever, Before in the +leathern sack they sew him With the savage mastiff and throw him +Where the deep restless waters o'erflow him." + +The tendency of English verse during the Elizabethan renaissance was +toward a musical flexibility akin to D'Annunzio's. Shakespeare's +verse, especially in his ripest work, showed the same tendency before +it was regulated by Pope, who cut it into even lengths of ten +syllables, with every even one stressed, as nearly as he could, by +transposing, eliding, cutting off, or adding--a regulation still +masking as well as marring the native wood-notes wild in all our +modernized texts. + +A similar flexibility belonged to Coleridge's "Christabel," wherein +he recurred to the elder fashion of marking the rhythm sufficiently +by stress to carry the voice as he willed it to go, instead of the +dominant fashion of meting it into uniformly even lengths of counted +syllables. + +Each way should have its own uses for the modern poet according to +the impressional effect he desires. The elder fashion is no more +lawless than the one which has come to be so exclusively followed +through the dominance of French influences at the English Court, in +the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, influences suiting the +growing formalism of the English temperament. Indeed the elder +fashion requires a more expert metrical handling, while the other is +more open to mediocre poetic ability. + +It would be well for the closer hold of poetic art on life, +especially for dramatic use, if less automatically regulated verse +should be revived and developed in England, above all in +America,--such flexible verse as D'Annunzio has revived and developed +in "The Daughter of Jorio." + +To translate such verse into set metres of blank verse or +Alexandrines, in no way corresponding to its peculiar variability, +would be like prisoning a live creature. To do it violence by +uniformly substituting strong endings for weak endings; to reiterate +uniformly the metre arbitrarily chosen to begin with; to exclude all +grace of internal rhyme would be like binding a mobile thing from any +fluttering. Surely it would be to cage the bird whose sensitive +wings the genius of D'Annunzio has freed. + +It has fallen to my especial share in this joint translation to give +to it a verse form. It has seemed to me hopeless,--and my colleagues +are agreed with me in this view--to attempt to give any glimmering +impression of the rhythmic beauty essential to the mystical soul of +this tragedy, save by seeking to reproduce for English ears, by +similarly free methods in freely stressed English verse, an audible +impression corresponding to the impression which the stresses of the +Italian verse have made on my ear as they were spoken. Hence the +desire has been not to be led by the eye, nor to transliterate +analytically the Italian effects in some recognized forms of +imitative prosody, but merely to listen and echo in English some +faint synthetic reflex of the flowing music. + +CHARLOTTE PORTER. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Gabriele d'Annunzio ... _Frontispiece_ + +The Feast of Espousal. Act I. + +"O give me peace for my offences." Act I. + +Mila di Codra and Aligi. Act II. + +The Parricide. Act II. + +The Sacrifice of Mila di Codra. Act III. + + + + +DRAMATIS PERSONÆ + +LAZARO Di Roio, _Father of Aligi_ + +CANDIA DELLA LEONESSA, _Mother of Aligi_ + +ALIGI, _The Shepherd-Artist_ + +SPLENDORE, FAVETTA, ORNELLA, _Aligi's Sisters_ + +VIENDA Di GIAVE, _Aligi's Bride_ + +MARIA Di GIAVE, _Mother of the Bride_ + +TEODULA DI CINZIO, LA CINERELLA, MONICA BELLA COGNA, ANNA Di BOVA, +FELAVIA, LA CATALANA, MARIA CORA: _The Kindred_ + +MILA Di CODRA, _the Daughter of Jorio the Sorcerer dalle Farne_ + +FEMO Di NERFA + +JENNE DELL' ETA + +IONA DI MIDIA + +THE OLD HERBWOMAN + +THE SAINT OF THE MOUNTAIN + +THE TREASURE DIVINER + +THE DEVIL-POSSESSED YOUTH + +A SHEPHERD + +ANOTHER SHEPHERD + +A REAPER + +ANOTHER REAPER + +THE CROWD OF PEOPLE + +THE CHORUS OF THE KINDRED + +THE CHORUS OF REAPERS + +THE CHORUS OF WAILERS + +SCENE: The Land of the Abruzzi + +TIME: Many years ago. (Placed about the sixteenth century by the +Painter Michetti, who designed the scenes and costumes for the +initial production in Milan.) + + + + +THE DAUGHTER OF JORIO + + + +ACT I.--SCENE I. + +_A room on the ground floor of a rustic house. The large entrance +door opens on a large sunlit yard. Across the door is stretched, to +prevent entrance, a scarlet woollen scarf, held in place at each end +by a forked hoe and a distaff. At one side of the door jamb is a +waxen cross to keep off evil spirits. A smaller closed door, with +its architrave adorned with boxwood green, is on the wall at the +right, and close against the same wall are three ancient wooden +chests. At the left, and set in the depth of the wall, is a chimney +and fire-place with a prominent hood; and a little at one side a +small door, and near this an ancient loom. In the room are to be +seen such utensils and articles of furniture as tables, benches, +hasps, a swift, and hanks of flax and wool hanging from light ropes +drawn between nails or hooks. Also to be seen are jugs, dishes, +plates, bottles and flasks of various sizes and materials, with many +gourds, dried and emptied. Also an ancient bread and flour chest, +the cover of it having a carved panel representing the image of the +Madonna. Beside this the water basin and a rude old table. +Suspended from the ceiling by ropes is a wide, broad board laden with +cheeses. Two windows, iron-grated and high up from the ground, give +light, one at each side of the large door, and in each of the +gratings is stuck a bunch of red buckwheat to ward off evil._ + +SPLENDORE, FAVETTA, ORNELLA, _the three young sisters, are kneeling +each in front of one of the three chests containing the wedding +dresses. They are bending over them and picking out suitable dresses +and ornaments for the bride. Their gay, fresh tones are like the +chanting of morning songs._ + + + + SPLENDORE + + What's your will, our own Vienda? + + + FAVETTA + + What's your will, our dear new sister? + + + SPLENDORE + + Will you choose the gown of woolen, + Would you sooner have the silken, + Sprayed with flowrets red and yellow? + + + ORNELLA [_singing_] + + Only of green shall be my arraying. + Only of green for Santo Giovanni, + For mid the green meadows he came to seek me, + Oili, Oili, Oila! + + + SPLENDORE + + Look! Here is the bodice of wondrous embroidery, + And the yoke with the gleaming thread of silver, + Petticoat rich of a dozen breadths' fulness, + Necklace strung with hundred-beaded coral,-- + All these given you by your new mother. + + + ORNELLA [_singing_] + + Only of green be or gown or bridal chamber! + Oili, oili, oila! + + + FAVETTA + + What's your will, our own Vienda? + + + SPLENDORE + + What's your will, our dear new sister? + + + ORNELLA + + Pendant earrings, clinging necklace, + Blushing ribbons, cherry red? + Hear the ringing bells of noonday, + Hear the bells ring out high noon! + + + SPLENDORE + + See the kindred hither coming, + On their heads the hampers bearing, + Hampers laden with wheat all golden, + And you yet not dressed and ready! + + + ORNELLA + + Bounding, rebounding, + Sheep pass, the hills rounding. + The wolf, through valleys winding, + The nut he seeks is finding,-- + The pistachio nut is finding. + See, the Bride of the Morning! + Matinal as the field-mouse + Going forth at the dawning, + As the woodchuck and squirrel. + Hear, O hear, the bells' whirl! + +[_All these words are spoken very swiftly, and at the close _ORNELLA_ +laughs joyously, her two sisters joining with her._] + + + THE THREE SISTERS + + Oh! Aligi, why then don't you come? + + + SPLENDORE + + Oh! in velvet then must you dress? + + + FAVETTA + + Seven centuries quite, must you rest + With your beautiful, magical Spouse? + + + SPLENDORE + + O your father stays at the harvesting, + Brother mine, and the star of the dawning + In his sickle-blade is showing,-- + In his sickle, no rest knowing. + + + FAVETTA + + And your mother has flavored the wine-cup + And anise-seed mixed with the water, + Sticking cloves in the roast meat + And sweet thyme in the cheeses. + + + SPLENDORE + + And a lamb of the flock we have slaughtered, + Yea, a yearling, but fattened one season, + With head markings and spottings of sable, + For the Bride and the Bridegroom. + + + FAVETTA + + And the mantle, long-sleeved, and cowl-hooded, + For Astorgio we chose it and kept it,-- + For the long-lived gray man of the mountain, + So our fate upon that he foretell us. + + + ORNELLA + + And to-morrow will be San Giovanni, + Dear, my brother! with dawn, San Giovanni! + Up the Plaia hill then shall I hie me, + To behold once again the head severed-- + In the sun's disc, the holy head severed, + On the platter all gleaming and golden, + Where again the blood runs, flows and babbles. + + + FAVETTA + + Up, Vienda! head all golden, + Keeping long vigil; O golden sweet tresses! + Now they harvest in the grain-fields + Wheat as golden as your tresses. + + + SPLENDORE + + Our mother was saying: "Now heed me! + Three olives I nurtured here with me; + Unto these now a plum have I added. + Ay! three daughters, and, also, a daughter." + + + ORNELLA + + Come, Vienda, golden-plum girl! + Why delay you? Are you writing + To the sun a fair blue letter + That to-night it know no setting? + +[_She laughs and the other sisters join in with her. From the small +door enters their mother, _CANDIA BELLA LEONESSA.] + + + CANDIA [_playfully chiding_] + + Ah! you magpies, sweet cicales! + Once for over-joy of singing + One was burst upon the poplar. + Now the cock's no longer crowing + To awaken tardy sleepers. + Only sing on these cicales,-- + These cicales of high noonday. + These three magpies take my roof-tree-- + Take my door's wood for a tree-branch. + Still the new child does not heed them. + Oh! Aligi, Aligi, dear fellow! + +[_The door opens. The beardless bridegroom appears. He greets them +with a grave voice, fixed eyes, and in an almost religious manner._] + + + ALIGI + + All praise to Jesus and to Mary! + You, too, my mother, who this mortal + Christian flesh to me have given, + Be you blessed, my dear mother! + Blessed be ye, also, sisters, + Blossoms of my blood! + For you, for me, I cross my forehead, + That never there come before us to thwart us + The enemy subtle, in death, in life, + In heat of sun, or flame of fire, + Or poison, or any enchantment, + Or sweat unholy the forehead moist'ning. + Father, and Saviour, and Holy Spirit! + +[_The sisters cross themselves and go out by the small door, carrying +the bridal dresses. _ALIGI_ approaches his mother as if in a dream._] + + + CANDIA + + Flesh of my flesh, thus touch I your forehead + With bread, with this fair wheaten loaf of white flour, + Prepared in this bowl of a hundred years old, + Born long before thee, born long before me, + Kneaded long on the board of a hundred years old + By these hands that have tended and held you. + On the brow, thus, I touch: Be it sunny and clear! + I touch thus the breast: Be it free from all sighing! + I touch this shoulder, and that: Be it strong! + Let them bear up your arms for long labor! + Let her rest there her head gray or golden! + And may Christ to you speak and you heed him! + +[_With the loaf she makes the sign of the cross above her son, who +has fallen on his knees before her._] + + + ALIGI + + I lay down and meseemed of Jesus I dreamed. + He came to me saying: "Be not fearful." + San Giovanni said to me: "Rest in safety. + Without holy candles thou shalt not die." + Said he: "Thou shalt not die the death accursed." + And you, you have cast my lot in life, mother, + Allotted the bride you have chosen for me,-- + Your son, and here, within your own house, mother, + You have brought her to couple with me, + That she slumber with me on my pillow, + That she eat with me out of my platter. + Then I was pasturing flocks on the mountain. + Now back to the mountain I must be turning. + +[_His mother touches his head with the palm of her hand as if to +chase away evil thoughts._] + + + CANDIA + + Rise up, my son! You are strangely talking. + All your words are now changing in color, + As the olive tree changes pressed by the breezes. + +[_He rises, as if in a daze._] + + + ALIGI + + But where is my father? Still nowhere I see him. + + + CANDIA + + Gone to the harvesting, out with the reapers, + The good grain reaping, by grace of our Saviour. + + + ALIGI + + I reaped once, too, by his body shaded, + Ere I was signed with the cross on my forehead, + When my brow scarcely reached up to his haunches. + But on my first day a vein here I severed,-- + Here where the scar stays. Then with leaves he was bruising + The while he stanched the red blood from flowing, + "Son Aligi," said he unto me, "Son Aligi, + Give up the sickle and take up the sheep-crook: + Be you a shepherd and go to the mountain." + This his command was kept in obedience. + + + CANDIA + + Son of mine, what is this pain the heart of you hurting? + What dream like an incubus over you hovers, + That these your words are like a wayfarer, + Sitting down on his road at night's coming, + Who is halting his footsteps for knowing, + Beyond attaining is his heart's desiring, + Past his ears' hearing the Ave Maria. + + + ALIGI + + Now to the mountain must I be returning. + Mother, where is my stout shepherd's sheep-hook + Used to the pasture paths, daily or nightly? + Let me have that, so the kindred arriving, + May see thereupon all the carving I've carved. + +[_His mother takes the shepherd's crook from the corner of the +fireplace._] + + + CANDIA + + Lo! here it is, son of mine, take it: your sisters + Have hung it with garlands for Santo Giovanni, + With pinks red and fragrant festooned it. + + + ALIGI [_pointing out the carving on it._] + + And I have them here on the bloodwood all with me, + As if by the hand I were leading my sisters. + So, along they go with me threading green pathways, + Guarding them, mother,--these three virgin damsels,-- + See! three bright angels here over them hover, + And three starry comets, and three meek doves also. + And a flower for each one I have carved here, + The growing half-moon and the sun I have carved here; + This is the priestly stole; and this is the cup sacramental; + And this is the belfry of San Biagio. + And this is the river, and this my own cabin; + + [_with mystery, as if with second sight_] + + But who, who is this one who stands in my doorway? + + + CANDIA + + Aligi, why is it you set me to weeping! + + + ALIGI + + And see at the end here that in the ground enters, + Here are the sheep, and here also their shepherd, + And here is the mountain where I must be going, + Though you weep, though I weep, my mother! + +[_He leans on the crook with both hands, resting his head upon them, +lost in his thoughts._] + + + CANDIA + + But where then is Hope? What have you made of her, son? + + + ALIGI + + Her face has shone on me seldom; + Carve her, I could not, sooth! mother. + +[_From a distance a savage clamor rises._] + + Mother, who shouts out so loud there? + + + CANDIA + + The harvesters heated and frenzied, + From the craze of their passions defend them, + From sins of their blood San Giovanni restrain them! + + + ALIGI + + Ah! Who then has drawn but that scarf there, + Athwart the wide door of our dwelling, + Leaning on it the forked hoe and distaff, + That naught enter in that is evil? + Ah! Lay there the ploughshare, the wain, and the oxen, + Pile stones there against both the door-posts, + With slaked lime from all of the lime-kilns, + The bowlder with footprints of Samson, + And Maella Hill with its snow-drifts! + + + CANDIA + + What is coming to birth in your heart, son of mine? + Did not Christ say to you, "Be not fearful"? + Are you awake? Heed the waxen cross there, + That was blessed on the Day of Ascension, + The door-hinges, too, with holy water sprinkled, + No evil spirit can enter our doorway, + Your sisters have drawn the scarlet scarf 'cross it,-- + The scarlet scarf you won in the field-match + Long before you ever became a shepherd, + In the match that you ran for the straightest furrow,-- + (You still remember it, son of mine?) Thus have they stretched it + So that the kindred who must pass through there + Offer what gifts they choose when they enter. + Why do you ask, for you well know our custom? + + + ALIGI + + Mother! mother! I have slept years seven hundred-- + Years seven hundred! I come from afar off. + I remember no longer the days of my cradle. + + + CANDIA + + What ails you, son? Like one in a dazement you answer. + Black wine was it your bride poured out for you? + And perhaps you drank it while yet you were fasting, + So that your mind is far off on a journey? + O Mary, blest Virgin! do thou grant me blessing! + +[_The voice of _ORNELLA_ singing the nuptial song._] + + Only of green shall be my arraying, + Only of green for Santo Giovanni. + Oili, oili, oila! + +[_The _Bride_ appears dressed in green and is brought forward +joyously by the sisters._] + + + SPLENDORE + + Lo! the bride comes whom we have apparelled + With all the joy of the spring-time season. + + + FAVETTA + + Of gold and silver the yoke is fashioned, + But all the rest like the quiet verdure. + + + ORNELLA + + You, mother, take her! in your arms take her! + O dear my mother, take and console her! + SPLENDORE + + Shedding tears at the bedside we found her, + Thus lamenting for thinking so sorely + Of the gray head at home left so lonely. + + + ORNELLA + + Of the jar full of pinks in the window + Her dear face not again shall lean over. + You, mother, take her! in your arms take her! + + + CANDIA + + Daughter, daughter, with this loaf in blessing + I have touched my own son. Lo! now I divide it, + And over your fair shining head I now break it. + May our house have increase of abundance! + Be thou unto the dough as good leaven + That may swell it out over the bread-board! + Bring unto me peace and ah! do not bring strife to me! + + + THE THREE SISTERS + + So be it! We kiss the earth, mother! + +[_They kiss the ground by leaning over and touching it with +forefinger and middle finger, and then touching their lips. _ALIGI_ +is kneeling on one side as if in deep prayer._] + + + CANDIA + + O now daughter mine to my house be + As the spindle is unto the distaff; + As unto the skein is the spindle; + And as unto the loom is the shuttle! + + + THE THREE SISTERS + + So be it! We kiss the earth, mother! + + + CANDIA + + O Vienda! new daughter, child blessed! + Lo! midst home and pure food thus I place you. + Lo! The walls of this house--the four corners! + God willing, the sun rises there; sinks there, God willing! + This is the northward, this is the southward. + The ridgepole this, the eaves with nests hanging, + And the chain and the crane with the andirons; + There the mortar the white salt is crushed in, + And there, too, the crock it is kept in. + O new daughter! I call you to witness + How midst home things and pure food I place you + Both for this life and life everlasting. + + + THE THREE SISTERS + + So be it! We kiss the earth, mother! + +[VIENDA _rests her head, weeping, on the shoulder of the mother. +_CANDIA_ embraces her, still holding a half-loaf in each hand. The +cry of the reapers is heard nearer. _ALIGI_ rises like one suddenly +wakened and goes toward the door. The sisters follow him._] + + + FAVETTA + + Now by the great heat are the reapers all maddened, + They are barking and snapping like dogs at each passer. + + + SPLENDORE + + Now the last of the rows they are reaching, + With the red wine they never mix water. + + + ORNELLA + + At the end of each row, they are drinking, + In the shade of the stack the jug lying. + + + FAVETTA + + Lord of heaven! The heat is infernal, + At her tail bites the old gammer serpent. + + + ORNELLA [_chanting_] + + Oh, for mercy! Wheat and wheat, and stubble, stubble, + First in sun burn the sickles, then wounds they trouble. + + + SPLENDORE + + Oh mercy for father! for his arms tired, + And all his veins with labor swollen. + + + ORNELLA + + O Aligi! you saddest of grooms + Keeping yet in your nostrils sleep's fumes! + + + FAVETTA + + O, you know very well the rhyme turned about. + You have placed the good loaf in the jug, + You have poured the red wine in the sack. + + + SPLENDORE + + Lo! now the kindred! Lo! now the women! they are coming. + Up, up! Vienda! and cease your weeping. + Mother! How now! They are coming. Set her free then. + Up! Golden tresses, cease your weeping! + You have wept too long. Your fine eyes are reddened! + +[VIENDA _dries her tears on her apron and taking the apron up by the +two corners receives in it the two pieces of the loaf from the +mother._] + + + CANDIA + + In blood and in milk return it to me! + Goldenhair, come now, sit on the settle. + Oh! Aligi, you too, come sit here! and wake up! + One of you here, one of you there, thus stay ye, + Children, thus, at each side of the door. + Be it wide open for all to see in there + The wide bed so wide that in order to fill it-- + The mattress to fill--I used up the straw-stack. + Ay! the whole of the stack to the bare pole, + With the crock sticking up on the tiptop! + +[CANDIA_ and _ PLENDORE_ place a small bench each side of the door, +where the couple sit composed and silent, looking at each other. +_ORNELLA_ and _FAVETTA_ looking out toward the road at the large +door. The yard is in dazzling sunlight._] + + + FAVETTA + + See! They are coming up the road slowly + In single file, all: Teodula di Cinzio + And Cinerella, Monica, Felavia, + And Catalana delle Tre Bisacce, + Anna di Bova, Maria Cora ... but who is the last one? + + + CANDIA + + Come on then, Splendore, do help me spread out now + The bedspread I wove of silk doubled, + Woven for you, Vienda, dear green bud, + As green as the grass of the meadow, + The sweet grass, early bee, where you hover. + + + ORNELLA + + Who is last? Can you tell us, Vienda? + Oh! I see yellow grain in the hampers, + And it glitters like gold. Who can she be? + Gray at the temple, beneath the white linen, + Gray as the feathery bryony branches. + + + FAVETTA + + Your mommy! dear child, is she your mommy? + +[VIENDA _rises suddenly as if to rush to her mother. In so doing she +lets the bread fall from her apron. She stops, shocked. _ALIGI_ +rises and stands so as to prevent the mother from seeing._] + + + ORNELLA [_greatly concerned, in a frightened voice_] + + O Lord save us! Pick it up again. + Pick it up, kiss it, ere mamma see it. + +[VIENDA, _terrified and overwhelmed by frightful superstition, is +stricken immovable, rigid, staring at the two half-loaves with glassy +eyes._] + + + FAVETTA + + Pick it up, kiss it, sad is the angel. + Make a vow silently, promise greatly, + Call on San Sisto, lest Death should appear. + +[_From within are heard the blows given with the hand on mattress and +pillows and the wind carries to the ear the clamor of the reapers._] + + + ORNELLA + + San Sisto! San Sisto! + Oh! hear ye, and list, oh! + Black death, evil sprite, + By day, by night, + Chase from our walls! + Drive from our souls! + Oh! crumble and tear + The evil eye's snare, + As the sign of the cross I make! + +[_While murmuring the conjuring words she rapidly gathers up the two +half-loaves, pressing each to _VIENDA'S_ lips, kissing them herself, +and then placing each in the apron, making the sign of the cross over +them. She then leads the bridal couple to their benches, as the +first of the women kindred appears at the door with the offerings, +stopping in front of the scarlet scarf. The women each carry on the +head a hamper of wheat adorned with flowing ribbons of various +colors. On each basket rests a loaf of bread, and on top of each +loaf a wild flower. _ORNELLA_ and _FAVETTA_ take each one end of the +scarf while still leaving hoe and distaff in place against the wall, +but so posed as to bar entrance._] + + + FIRST WOMAN, TEODULA DI CINZIO + + Ohe! Who watches the bridges? + + + FAVETTA and ORNELLA [_in unison_] + + Love open-eyed and Love blind. + + + TEODULA + + To cross over there I desire. + + + FAVETTA + + To desire is not to acquire. + + + TEODULA + + I clambered the mountain ridges, + Now down through the valley I'll wind. + + + ORNELLA + + The torrent has taken the bridges, + Too swift runs the river, you'll find. + + + TEODULA + + Set me over in your boat. + + + FAVETTA + + She leaks too fast to keep afloat. + + + TEODULA + + I'll calk her with tow and resin. + + + ORNELLA + + Leaks full seven split and stove her. + + + TEODULA + + Then I'll give you pieces seven. + On your shoulder bear me over. + + + FAVETTA + + Oh, no! Help of mine you must lack. + The wild water fills me with fright. + +[Illustration: THE FEAST OF ESPOUSAL. _Act I._] + + + TEODULA + + Lend me a lift on your back. + I'll give you this silver piece bright. + + + ORNELLA + + Too little! Your eight bits, indeed, + Would not keep my ribbons new. + + + TEODULA + + Tuck up your skirt. Plunge in bare-kneed. + A ducat of gold I'll give to you. + +[_The first woman, _TEODULA_, gives _ORNELLA_ a piece of money. She +receives it in her left hand, while the other women come closer to +the door. The bridal pair remain seated and silent. _CANDIA_ and +_SPLENDORE_ enter from the small door._] + + + ORNELLA and FAVETTA [in unison] + + Pass on then, O you fair Lady! + And all these in your company! + +[ORNELLA _puts the money in her bosom and takes away the distaff, +_FAVETTA_, the hoe. They then leave both leaning against the wall. +_ORNELLA_, with a quick movement, withdraws the scarf, making it wave +like a slender pennant. The women then enter one by one, in line, +still holding their baskets balanced on their heads._] + + + TEODULA + + Peace be with you, Candia della Leonessa! + And peace, too, with you, son of Lazaro di Roio! + And peace to the bride whom Christ has given! + +[_She places her basket at the bride's feet and, taking out of it a +handful of wheat, she scatters it over _VIENDA'S_ head. She then +takes another handful and scatters it over _ALIGI'S.] + + This is the peace that is sent you from Heaven: + That on the same pillow your hair may whiten, + On the same pillow to old age ending. + Nor sin nor vengeance be between you, + Falsehood nor wrath, but love, love only, + Daily, till time for the long, long journey. + +[_The next woman repeats the same ceremony and action, the others +meanwhile remaining in line awaiting their turn, with the hampers on +their heads. The last one, the mother of the bride, remains +motionless near the threshold, and dries her face of tears and +perspiration. The noise of the riotous reapers increases and seems +to come nearer. Besides this noise, from time to time, in pauses, +now and again the ringing of bells is heard._] + + + CINERELLA + + For this is peace and this is plenty. + +[_Suddenly a woman's cry is heard outside, coming from the yard._] + + + THE VOICE OF THE UNKNOWN WOMAN + + Help! Help! For Jesus' sake, our Saviour! + People of God, O people of God, save ye me! + +[_Running, panting from fright and exertion, covered with dust and +briars, like a hart run down by a pack of hunting dogs, a woman +enters. Her face is covered by a mantle. She looks about +bewildered, and withdraws to the corner near the fireplace, opposite +to the bridal pair._] + + + THE UNKNOWN WOMAN + + People of God! O save ye me! + The door there! O shut tight the door there, + Put ye up all the bars! Securely.-- + They are many, and all have their sickles. + They are crazed,--crazed with heat and strong drinking. + They are brutal with lust and with cursing. + Me would they hunt,--they would seize me; + They would hunt me, they would seize me,--me,-- + The creature of Christ, ay, me,-- + The unhappy one, doing no evil! + Passing I was--alone--by the roadside.-- + They saw me.--They cried.--They insulted. + They hurled sods and stones.--They chased me.-- + Ay! like unto hounds that are hungry, + They would seize me and tear me and torture. + They are following me, O most wretched! + They are hunting me down, people of God! + Help ye! Save me! The door, O shut it to! + The door!--They are maddened--will enter! + They will take me from here,--from your hearthstone-- + (The deed even God cannot pardon)!-- + From your hearthstone that blest is and sacred + (And aught else but that deed God pardons)-- + And my soul is baptized,--I am Christian-- + Oh! help! O for San Giovanni's sake, help me! + For Mary's sake, her of the seven dolors! + For the sake of my soul.--For your own soul! + +[_She stays by the hearth, all the women gathering at the side +opposite her. _VIENDA_ close to her mother and godmother. _ALIGI_ +stands outside the circle unmoved, leaning on his crook. Suddenly +_ORNELLA_ rushes to the door, closes it, and bars it. A somewhat +inimical murmur arises from the circle of women._] + + Ah! tell me your name,--how they call you,-- + Your name, that wherever I wander, + Over mountains, in valleys I bless it, + You, who in pity are first here, + Though in years yours are least in the counting! + +[_Overcome she lets herself drop on the hearth, bowed over upon +herself with her head resting on her knees. The women are huddled +together like frightened sheep. _ORNELLA_ steps forward toward the +stranger._] + + + ANNA + + Who is this woman? Holy Virgin! + + + MARIA + + And is this the right way to enter + The dwelling of God-fearing people? + + + MONICA + + And Candia, you! What say you? + + + LA CINERELLA + + Will you let the door stay bolted? + + + ANNA + + Is the last to be born of your daughters, + The first to command in your household? + + + LA CATALANA + + She will bring down upon you bad fortune, + The wandering she-dog, for certain! + + + FELAVIA + + Did you mark how she entered that instant + While yet Cinerella was pouring + On Vienda her handful of wheat flour + Ere Aligi had got his share fully? + +[ORNELLA _goes a step nearer the wretched fugitive. _FAVETTA_ leaves +the circle and joins her._] + + + MONICA + + How now! Are we, then, to remain here, + With our baskets still on our heads loaded? + + + MARIA + + Sure it would be a terrible omen + To put down on the ground here our baskets + Before giving our offerings to them. + + + MARIA DI GIAVE + + My daughter, may Saint Luke defend you! + Saint Mark and Saint Matthew attend you! + Grope for your scapulary round your neck hanging, + Hold it closely and offer your prayer. + +[SPLENDORE, _too, comes forward and joins the sisters. The three +girls stand before the fugitive, who is still prostrate, panting and +trembling with fear._] + + + ORNELLA + + You are over sore-pressed, sister, + And dusty and tired, you tremble. + Weep no more, since now you are safe here. + You are thirsty. Your drink is your tears. + Will you drink of our water and wine? Your face bathe? + +[_She takes a small bowl, draws water from the earthen receptacle, +and pours wine into it._] + + + FAVETTA + + Are you of the valleys or elsewhere? + Do you come from afar? And whither + Do you now bend your steps, O woman! + All desolate thus by the roadside! + + + SPLENDORE + + Some malady ails you, unlucky one? + A vow then of penitence made you? + To the Incoronata were travelling? + May the Virgin answer your prayers! + +[_The fugitive lifts her head slowly and cautiously, with her face +still hidden in the mantle._] + + + ORNELLA [_offering the bowl_] + + Will you drink, now, daughter of Jesus? + +[_From outside a noise is heard as of bare feet shuffling in the yard +and voices murmuring. The stranger, again stricken with fear, does +not drink from the proffered bowl but places it on the hearth and +retires trembling to the further corner of the chimney._] + + + THE UNKNOWN ONE + + They are here, oh, they come! They are seeking + For me! They will seize me and take me. + For mercy's sake, answer not, speak not. + They will go if they think the house empty, + And do nothing evil; but if you + Are heard, if you speak or you answer + They will certainly know I have entered. + They will open the door, force it open. + With the heat and the wine they are frenzied, + Mad dogs! and here is but one man, + And many are they and all have their sickles, + Their scythes.--Oh! for dear pity's sake, + For the sake of these innocent maidens, + For your sake, dear daughter of kindness! You, women holy! + + + THE BAND OF REAPERS [_in chorus outside at the door_] + + The dwelling of Lazaro! Surely + Into this house entered the woman. + --They have closed the door, they have barred it! + --Look out for her there in the stubble. + --Search well in the hay there, Gonzelvo. + --Hah! Hah! In the dwelling of Lazaro, + Right into the maw of the wolf. Hah! Hah! + --O! Candia della Leonessa! + Ho! all of you there! Are you dead? + + [_They knock at the door._] + + Oh! Candia della Leonessa! + Do you offer a shelter to harlots? + + --Do you find that you need such temptation + To still the fain flesh of your husband? + --If the woman be there, I say, open! + Open the door, good folks, give her to us + And on a soft bed we will lay her. + --Bring her out to us! Bring her out to us, + For we only want to know her better. + To the hay-cock, the hay-cock, the hay-cock! + +[_They knock and clamor. _ALIGI_ moves toward the door._] + + + THE UNKNOWN ONE [whispering imploringly] + + Young man, O young man, pray have mercy! + O have mercy! Do not open! + Not for my sake, not mine, but for others, + Since they will not seize now on me only, + Since imbruted are they. You must hear it!-- + In their voices?--How now the fiend holds them? + The bestial mad fiend of high noonday, + The sweltering dog-days' infection. + If they gain entry here, what can you do? + +[_The greatest excitement prevails among the women, but they restrain +themselves._] + + + LA CATALANA + + Ye see now to what shame we all are submitted, + We women of peace here, for this woman, + She who dares not show her face to us! + + + ANNA + + Open, Aligi, open the door there, + But wide enough to let her pass out. + Grip hold of her and toss her out there, + Then close and bar the entrance, giving praises + To Lord Jesus our salvation. + And perdition overtake all wretches! + +[_The shepherd turns toward the woman, hesitating. _ORNELLA_, +stepping forward, stops his way; making a sign of silence, she goes +to the door._] + + + ORNELLA + + Who is there? Who knocks at the door there? + + + VOICES OF THE REAPERS [_outside, all confusedly_] + + --Silence there! Hush up! Hush--sh! Hush--sh! + --There is some one within who is speaking, + --O Candia della Leonessa, + Is it you who are speaking? Open! Open! + --We are the reapers here of Norca, + All the company are we of Cataldo. + + + ORNELLA + + I am not Candia. For Candia is busied now. + Abroad is she since early morning. + + + A VOICE + + And you? Say who are you then? + + + ORNELLA + + I belong to Lazaro, Ornella, + My father is Lazaro di Roio. + But ye, say ye, why ye have come here? + + + A VOICE + + Open, we but want to look inside there. + + + ORNELLA + + Open, that I cannot. For my mother + Locked me in here with her kindred + Going out, for we are marrying. + The betrothal we are having of my brother, + Aligi, the shepherd, who is taking + To wife here, Vienda di Giave. + + + A VOICE + + Did you then not let in a woman, + But a short while ago, a woman frightened? + + + ORNELLA + + A woman? Then in peace go away. + Seek ye elsewhere to find her. + O reapers of Norca! I return to my loom here, + For each cast that is lost by my shuttle + Will be lost and can never be gathered. + God be with you to keep you from evil, + O ye reapers of Norca! May he give you + Strength for your work in the grain fields + Till by evening you reach the end of your labor, + And I, also, poor woman, the ending + Of the breadth of this cloth I am weaving. + +[_Suddenly at the side window two muscular hands seize the iron bars +and a brutal face peers in._] + + + THE REAPER [_shouting in a loud voice_] + + Ho! Captain! the woman is in there! + She's inside! She's inside! The youngster + Was fooling us here, yes, the youngster! + The woman is in there! See, inside there, + In the corner. I see her, I see her! + And there too is the bride and the bridegroom, + And the kindred who brought them their presents. + This is the feast of the grain-pouring spousal. + Ah, ho! Captain! A fine lot of girls there! + + + CHORUS OF REAPERS [_outside_] + + --If the woman's within, we say, open! + For you it is shame to protect her. + --Send her out here! Send her out here! + And we will give her some honey. + --Ho! open there, open, you, and give her to us. + --To the hay-cock with her, to the hay-cock. + +[_They clamor and shout. The women inside are all confused and +agitated. The unknown one keeps in the shadow, shrinking close to +the wall, as if she sought to sink herself in it._] + + + CHORUS OF KINDRED + + --O help us, O holy Virgin! + Is this what the vigil gives us, + The eve of Santo Giovanni? + --What disgrace is this you give us,--what sorrow + This that you give us, Beheaded one!-- + Just to-day of all days. + --Candia, have you lost your reason? + --O Candia, have you lost your senses? + --Ornella, and all your sisters with you? + --She was always a bit of a madcap. + --Give her up to them, give her, give her + To these hungry, ravening wolves! + + + THE REAPER [_still holding the bars_] + + Shepherd Aligi, Oho! shepherd Aligi, + Will you give, at your feast of espousal, + A place to a sheep that is rotten,-- + A sheep that is mangy and lousy? + Take care she infect not your sheepfold, + Or give to your wife her contagion. + O Candia della Leonessa, + Know you whom in your home there you harbor, + In your home there with your new-found daughter? + The daughter of Jorio, the daughter + Of the Sorcerer of Codra! + She-dog roamer o'er mountains and valleys, + A haunter of stables and straw-stacks, + Mila the shameless? Mila di Codra. + The woman of stables and straw-heaps, + Very well known of all companies; + And now it has come to be our turn,-- + The turn of the reapers of Norca. + Send her out here, send her out here! + We must have her, have her, have her! + +[ALIGI, _pale and trembling, advances toward the wretched woman, who +remains persistently in the shadow; and pulling off her mantle, he +uncovers her face._] + + + MILA DI CODRA + + No! No! It is not true! A cruel lie! + A cruel lie! Do not believe him, + Do not believe what such a dog says! + It is but the cursed wine speaking + And out of his mouth bubbling evil. + If God heard it, may He to poison + Turn his black words, and he drown in 't! + No! It is not true. A cruel lie! + +[_The three sisters stop their ears while the reaper renews his +vituperations._] + + + THE REAPER + + You shameless one! you are common, + Well known are you as the ditches, + The field-grass to dry straw turning, + Under your body's sins burning, + Men for your body have gambled + And fought with pitchforks and sickles. + Only wait just a bit for your man, Candia, + And you'll see! He'll come back to you bandaged, + For sure! From a fight with Rainero, + A fight in the grain-field of Mispa,-- + For whom but for Jorio's daughter? + And now you keep her in your home, here, + To give her to your man Lazaro, + To have him find her here all ready. + Aligi! Vienda di Giave! + Give up to her your bridal bedstead! + And all ye women, go and scatter wheat-grains,-- + Upon her head the golden wheat-grains! + We'll come back ourselves here with music, + A little later and ask for the wine-jug. + +[_The reaper jumps down and disappears mid an outbreak of coarse +laughter from the others._] + + + CHORUS OF REAPERS [_outside_] + + Hand us out the wine-jug. That's the custom, + --The wine-jug, the wine-jug, and the woman! + +[ALIGI _stands rigid, with his eyes fixed upon the floor, perplexed, +still holding in his hand the mantle he has taken._] + + + MILA + + O innocence, O innocence, of all these + Young maidens here, you have heard not, + The filthiness, you have heard not, + Oh! Tell me you have heard not, heard not!-- + At least not you, Ornella, oh, no, not + You who have wished to save me! + + + ANNA + + Do not go near her, Ornella! Or would you + Have her ruin you? She, the daughter of the Sorcerer, + Must to every one bring ruin. + + + MILA + + She comes to me because behind me + She sees here weeping the silent angel-- + The guardian over my soul keeping vigil. + +[ALIGI _turns quickly toward _MILA_ at these words, and gazes at her +fixedly._] + + + MARIA CORA + + Oh! Oh! it is sacrilege! Sacrilege! + + + LA CINERELLA + + Ha! She has blasphemed, she has blasphemed, + Against the heavenly angel. + + + FELAVIA + + She will desecrate your hearthstone, + Candia, unless hence you chase her. + + + ANNA + + Out with her, out, in good time, Aligi, + Seize her, and out to the dogs toss her! + + + LA CATALANA + + Well I know you, Mila di Codra, + Well at Farne do they fear you, + And well I know your doings. + You brought death to Giovanna Cametra, + And death to the son of Panfilo. + You turned the head of poor Alfonso, + Gave Tillura the evil sickness, + Caused the death of your father, even, + Who now in damnation damns you! + + + MILA + + May thou, God, protect his spirit + And unto peace his soul gather. + All! You it is who have blasphemed + Against a soul that is departed + And may your blaspheming speeches + Fall on you, whenever death fronts you! + +[CANDIA, _seated on one of the chests, is sad and silent. Now she +rises, passes through the restless circle of women, and advances +toward the persecuted one, slowly, without anger._] + + + CHORUS OF REAPERS + + Ahey! Ahey! How long to wait? + Have you come to an agreement? + --Oh, I say, shepherd, ho! you shepherd, + For yourself, then, do you keep her? + --Candia, what if Lazaro come back now? + --Is she then unwilling? But open, + Open! A hand we will lend her. + And meanwhile give us the wine-jug, + The wine-jug, the wine-jug's the custom! + +[_Another reaper peers in through the grating._] + + + THE REAPER + + Mila di Codra, come out here! + For you that will be much the better. + To try to escape us is useless, + We'll seek now the oak-tree shady, + And throw dice for the one to have you, + That the chance for us all be equal, + Now, we will not quarrel for you, + As Lazaro did with Rainero, + No, we'll have no useless bloodshed. + But, now, if you don't come out here, + Ere the last one turns up his dice-box, + Then this door we all shall break open + And carry things here with a free hand. + You are warned now; best heed this your warning, + Candia della Leonessa! + +[_He jumps down and the clamor is much abated. The ringing of the +village church bells can be heard in the distance._] + + + CANDIA + + Woman, hear me. Lo, I am the mother + Of these three innocent maidens, + Also of this youth, the bridegroom. + We were in peace in our home, here, + In peace and in rest with God's favor, + And blessing with home rites the marriage, + You may see the wheat still in the baskets + And in the blest loaf the fresh flower! + You have entered in here and brought us + Suddenly conflict and sorrow, + Interrupted the kindred's giving, + In our hearts sowing thoughts of dark omen, + That have set my children weeping, + And my bowels yearn and weep with them. + All to chaff our good wheat grain is turning, + And a worse thing still may follow. + It is best for you to go now. + Go thou with God, knowing surely + He will help you, if you trust Him. + Oh! There is cause for all this our sorrow. + We would fain have desired your safety. + Yet now, turn your steps hence, swiftly, + So that none of this house need harm you. + The door, this my son will now open. + +[_The victim listens in humility with bent head, pale and trembling. +_ALIGI_ steps toward the door and listens. His face shows great +sorrow._] + + + MILA + + Christian mother, lo! the earth here + I kiss where your feet have trodden, + And I ask of you forgiveness. + With my heart in my hand lying, + In the palm of my hand, grieving, + For this sorrow of my bringing. + But I did not seek your dwelling: + I was blinded, with fear blinded, + And the Father, He, all-seeing, + Led me here thus to your fireside, + So that I, the persecuted, + Might find mercy by your fireplace, + Mercy making this day sacred. + O have mercy! Christian mother. + O have mercy! and each wheat grain + Resting here within these hampers + God will return a hundred-fold. + + + LA CATALANA [_whispering_] + + Listen not. Whoever listens + Will be lost. The false one is she. + Oh! I know! Her father gave her, + To make her voice so sweet and gentle, + Evil roots of secret magic. + + + ANNA + + Just see now how Aligi's spellbound! + + + MARIA CORA + + Beware! beware! lest she give him + Fatal illness. O Lord, save us! + Have you not heard what all the reapers + Have been saying about Lazaro? + + + MONICA + + Shall we stay here then till vespers + With these baskets on our heads thus? + I shall put mine on the ground soon. + +[CANDIA _gazes intently upon her son, who is fastened upon _MILA_. +Suddenly fear and rage seize her, and she cries aloud._] + + + CANDIA + + Begone, begone, you sorcerer's + Daughter! Go to the dogs! Begone! + In my house remain no longer! + Fling open the door, Aligi! + + + MILA + + Mother of Ornella,--Love's own mother, + All, but not this, God forgiveth. + Trample on me, God forgiveth, + Cut off my hands, yet God forgiveth, + Gouge out my eyes, pluck my tongue out, + Tear me to shreds, yet God forgiveth, + Strangle me, yet God forgiveth, + But if you now (heed me, O heed me! + While the bells are ringing for Santo Giovanni). + If now you seize upon this body,-- + This poor tortured flesh signed in Christ's name, + And toss it out there in that courtyard, + In sight of these your spotless daughters, + Abandoning it to sin of that rabble, + To hatred and to brutal lusting, + Then, O mother of Ornella, + Mother of innocence in so doing, + Doing that thing, God condemns you! + + + LA CATALANA + + She was never christened, never, + Her father was never buried + In consecrated ground; under + A thorn-bush he lies. I swear it. + + + MILA + + Demons are behind you, woman! + Black and foul and false your mouth is! + + + LA CATALANA + + O Candia, hear her, hear her, + Curses heaping! But a little, + And she'll drive you from your dwelling, + And then all the reapers threatened + Will most surely fall upon us. + + + ANNA DI BOVA + + Up, Aligi! Drag her out there! + MARIA CORA + + See you not how your Vienda, + Your young bride, looks like one dying? + + + LA CINERELLA + + What kind of a man are you? Forsaken + Thus of all force in your muscles? + Is the tongue within your mouth, then, + Dried and shrivelled that you speak not? + + + FELAVIA + + You seem lost. How then? Did your senses + Go astray afar off in the mountain?-- + Did you lose your wits down in the valley? + + + MONICA + + Look! He hasn't let go of her mantle, + Since the time he took it from her. + To his fingers it seems rooted. + + + LA CATALANA + + Do you think your son Aligi's + Mind is going? Heaven help us! + + + CANDIA + + Aligi, Aligi! You hear me? + What ails you? Where are you? Gone are your senses? + What is coming to birth in your heart, son? + +[_Taking the mantle out of his hand, she throws it to the woman._] + + I myself will open the door; take her + And push her out of here straightway. + Aligi, to you I speak. You hear me? + Ah! verily you have been sleeping + For seven hundred hundred years, + And all of us are long forgotten. + Kindred! God wills my undoing. + I hoped these last days would bring solace + And that God would now give me repose, + That less bitterness now need I swallow; + But bitterness overpowers me. + My daughters! Take ye my black mantle + From out of the ancient chest there, + And cover my head and my sorrows, + Within my own soul be my wailing! + +[_The son shakes his head, his face showing perplexity and sorrow, +and he speaks as one in a dream._] + + + ALIGI + + What is your will of me, mother? + Unto you said I: "Ah! lay there + Against both of the door-posts the ploughshare, + The wain and the oxen, put sods there and stones there, + Yea, the mountain with all of its snow-drifts." + What did I say then? And how answered you? + "Heed the waxen cross that is holy, + That was blest on the Day of Ascension, + And the hinges with holy water sprinkled." + O, what is your will that I do? It was night still + When she took the road that comes hither. + Profound, then, profound was my slumber, + O mother! although you had not mingled for me, + The wine with the seed of the poppy. + Now that slumber of Christ falls and fails me: + And though well I know whence this proceedeth, + My lips are yet stricken with dumbness. + O woman! what then is your bidding? + That I seize her here now by her tresses,-- + That I drag her out there in the courtyard,-- + That I toss her for these dogs to raven? + Well! So be it! So be it!--I do so. + +[ALIGI _advances toward _MILA_, but she shrinks within the fireplace, +clinging for refuge._] + + + MILA + + Touch me not! Oh! you, you are sinning, + Against the old laws of the hearthstone-- + You are sinning the great sin that's mortal + Against your own blood and the sanction + Of your race, of your own ancient kinfolk. + Lo! over the stone of the fireplace + I pour out the wine that was given + To me by your sister, in blood bound; + So now if you touch me, molest me, + All the dead in your land, in your country, + All those of the long years forgotten, + Generation to past generation, + That lie underground eighty fathoms + Will abhor you with horror eternal. + +[_Taking the bowl of wine, _MILA_ pours it over the inviolate hearth. +The women utter fierce and frantic cries._] + + + THE CHORUS OF KINDRED + + O woe! She bewitches--bewitches the fireplace! + --She poured with the wine there a mixture. + I saw it, I saw her. 'T was stealthy! + --O take her, O take her, Aligi, + And force her away from the hearthstone. + By the hair, O seize her, seize her! + --Aligi, fear you naught, fear nothing, + All her conjuring yet will be nothing. + --Take her away and shiver the wine-bowl! + Shiver it there against the andirons. + --Break the chain loose and engirdle + Her neck with it, three times twist it. + --She has surely bewitched the hearthstone. + -Woe! Woe for the house that totters! + Ah! What lamenting will here be lamented! + + + THE CHORUS OF REAPERS + + Oho there! All quarrelling, are you? + We are waiting here and we 're watching. + We have cast the dice, we know the winner. + Bring her out to us, you shepherd! + Yes, yes! Or the door we'll break down. + +[_They join in blows on the door and in clamoring._] + + + ANNA DI BOVA + + Hold on! Hold on! and have patience a little, + But a little while longer, good menfolk. + Aligi is taking her. Soon you will have her. + +[ALIGI, _like one demented, takes her by the wrists, but she resists +and tries to free herself._] + + + MILA + + No! No! You are sinning, are sinning. + Crush under your feet my forehead + Or stun it with blows of your sheep-hook, + And when I am dead toss me out there. + No, no! God's punishment on you! + From the womb of your wife serpents + To you shall be born and brought forth. + You shall sleep no more, no more, + And rest shall forsake your eyelids, + From your eyes tears of blood shall gush forth. + Ornella, Ornella, defend me, + Aid me, O thou, and have mercy! + Ye sisters in Christ, do thou help me! + +[_She frees herself and goes to the three sisters, who surround her. +Blind with rage and horror, _ALIGI_ lifts his hook to strike her on +the head. Immediately his three sisters begin to cry and moan. This +stops him at once; he lets the hook fall on his knees and with open +arms he stares behind her._] + + + ALIGI + + Mercy of God! O give me forgiveness! + I saw the angel, silent, weeping. + He is weeping with you, O my sisters! + And at me he is gazing and weeping. + Even thus shall I see him forever, + Till the hour for my passing, yea! past it. + I have sinned thus against my own hearth-stone, + My own dead and the land of my fathers; + It will spurn me and scorn me forever, + Deny rest to my weary dead body! + For my sins, sisters, purification, + Seven times, seven times, I do ask it. + Seven days shall my lips touch the ashes, + And as many times more as the tears shed + From your gentle eyes, O my sisters! + Let the angel count them, my sisters, + And brand on my heart all their number! + It is thus that I ask you forgiveness. + Before God thus I ask you, my sisters, + Oh! pray you for brother Aligi, + Who must now return to the mountain. + And she who has suffered such shame here, + I pray you console her, refresh her + With drink, wipe the dust from her garments, + Bathe her feet with water and vinegar. + Comfort her! I wished not to harm her. + Spurred on was I by these voices. + And those who to this wrong have brought me + Shall suffer for many days greatly. + Mila di Codra! sister in Jesus, + O give me peace for my offences. + These flowerets of Santo Giovanni + Off from my sheep-hook now do I take them + And thus at your feet here I place them. + Look at you I cannot. I'm shamefaced. + Behind you I see the sad angel. + But this hand which did you offence here, + I burn in that fire with live embers. + +[_Dragging himself on his knees to the fireplace, he bends over and +finds a burning ember. Taking it with his left hand, he puts the +point of it in the palm of the right._] + + +[Illustration: "O GIVE ME PEACE FOR MY OFFENCES." _Act I._] + + + MILA + + It is forgiven. No, no. Do not wound yourself. + For me, I forgive you, and God shall receive + Your penitent prayer. Rise up from the fire-place! + One only, God only may punish; + And He that hand hath given to you + To guide your flocks to the pasture. + And how then your sheep can you pasture + If your hand is infirm, O Aligi? + For me, in all humbleness, I forgive you, + And your name I shall ever remember, + Morn, eve, and midday shall my blessing + Follow you with your flocks in the mountains. + + + THE CHORUS OF REAPERS [_outside_] + + --Oho, there! Oho, there! How now? + --What is the row? Do you fool us? + --Ho! We'll tear down the door there. + --Yes, yes! Take that timber, the plough-beam. + --Shepherd, we'll not have you fool us. + Now, now, that iron there, take it! + Down with it! Crash down the door there! + --Ho, shepherd Aligi! Now answer! + One, then! Two! Three, and down goes it! + +[_The heavy breathing of the men lifting the timber and iron is +heard._] + + + ALIGI + + For you, for me, and for all my people, + I make the sign of the cross! + +[_Rising and going toward the door, he continues._] + + Reapers of Norca! This door I open. + +[_The men answer in a unanimous clamor. The wind brings the sound of +the bells. _ALIGI_ draws the bars and bolts and silently crosses +himself, then he takes down from the wall the cross of wax and kisses +it._] + + Women, God's servants, cross yourselves praying. + +[_All the women cross themselves and kneeling murmur the litany._] + + + WOMEN [_together_] + + Kyrie eleison! + Lord have mercy upon us! + Christe eleison! + Christ have mercy upon us! + Eyrie eleison! + Lord have mercy upon us! + Christe audi nos! + O Christ hear us! + Christe exaudi nos! + O Christ hearken unto us! + +[_The shepherd then lays the cross on the threshold between the hoe +and the distaff and opens the door. In the yard glittering in the +fierce sun the linen-clad reapers appear._] + + + ALIGI + + Brothers in Christ! Behold the cross + That was blest on the Day of Ascension! + I have placed it there on the threshold, + That you may not sin against this gentle + Lamb of Christ who here finds refuge, + Seeking safety in this fireplace. + +[_The reapers, struck silent and deeply impressed, uncover their +heads._] + + I saw there standing behind her + The angel who guards her, silent, + These eyes that shall see life eternal + Saw her angel that stood there weeping. + Look, brothers in Christ, I swear it! + Turn back to your wheat-fields and reap them, + Harm you not one who has harmed you never! + Nor let the false enemy beguile you + Any longer with his potions. + Reapers of Norca, heaven bless you! + May the sheaves in your hands be doubled! + And may Santo Giovanni's head severed + Be shown unto you at the sunrise, + If, for this, to-night you ascend the hill Plaia. + And wish ye no harm unto me, the shepherd, + To me, Aligi, our Saviour's servant! + +[_The kneeling women continue the litanies, _CANDIA_ invoking, the +others responding._] + + + CANDIA and CHORUS OF THE KINDRED + + Mater purissima, Mother of Purity, + ora pro nobis. pray for us. + Mater castissima, Mother of Chastity, + ora pro nobis. pray for us. + Mater inviolata, Mother Inviolate, + ora pro nobis. pray for us. + +[_The reapers bow themselves, touch the cross with their hands and +then touch their lips and silently withdraw toward the glittering +fields outside, _ALIGI_ leaning against the jamb of the door +following with his eyes their departure, the silence meanwhile broken +only by voices coming from the country pathways outside._] + + + FIRST VOICE + + O! turn back, Lazaro di Roio. + + + ANOTHER VOICE + + Turn back, turn back, Lazaro! + +[_The shepherd, startled and shading his face with his hands, looks +toward the path._] + + + CANDIA and THE WOMEN + + Virgo veneranda, Virgin venerated, + Virgo predicanda, Virgin admonishing, + Virgo potens, Virgin potential, + ora pro nobis. pray for us. + + + ALIGI + + Father, father, what is this? Why are you bandaged? + Why are you bleeding, father? Speak out and tell me, + O ye men of the Lord! Who wounded him? + +[LAZARO _appears at the door with his head bandaged, two men in white +linen supporting him. _CANDIA_ stops praying, rises to her feet and +goes to the entrance._] + + + ALIGI + + Father, halt there! The cross lies there on the door-sill, + You cannot pass through without kneeling down. + If this blood be unjust blood you cannot pass through. + +[_The two men sustain the tottering man and he falls guiltily on his +knees outside the doorway._] + + + CANDIA + + O daughters, my daughters, 't was true then! + O weep, my daughters! let mourning enfold us! + +[_The daughters embrace their mother. The kindred before rising put +their hampers down on the ground. _MILA_ takes up her mantle and +still kneeling wraps herself up in it, hiding her face. Almost +creeping, she approaches the door toward the jamb opposite that where +_ALIGI_ leans. Silently and swiftly she rises and leans against the +wall, and stands there wrapt and motionless, watching her chance to +disappear._] + + + + +ACT II. + +_A mountain cavern is seen partially protected by rough boards, +straw, and twigs and opening wide upon a stony mountain path. From +the wide opening are seen green pastures, snow-clad peaks, and +passing clouds. In the cavern are pallets made of sheep-pelts, +small, rude wooden tables, pouches and skins, filled and empty, a +rude bench for wood turning and carving, with an axe upon it, a +draw-knife, plane, rasps, and other tools, and near them finished +pieces; distaffs, spoons and ladles, mortars and pestles, musical +instruments, and candlesticks. A large block of the trunk of a +walnut tree has at its base the bark, and above, in full relief, the +figure of an angel hewn into shape to the waist, with the two wings +almost finished. Before the image of the Virgin in a depression of +the cavern like a niche, a lamp is burning. A shepherd's bagpipe +hangs close by. The bells of the sheep wandering in the stillness of +the mountain may be heard. The day is closing and it is about the +time of the autumnal equinox._ + +_The treasure-seeker, _MALDE_, and _ANNA ONNA_, the old +herb-gatherer, are lying asleep on the pelts, in their rags. +_COSMA_, the saint, dressed in a long friar's frock, is also asleep, +but in a sitting posture with his arms clasped about his knees and +his chin bowed over on them. _ALIGI_ is seated on a little bench, +intent upon carving with his tools the walnut block. _MILA DI CODRA_ +is seated opposite, gazing at him._ + + + MILA + + Bided mute the patron angel + From the walnut woodblock carven, + Deaf the wood stayed, secret, sacred, + Saint Onofrio vouchsafed nothing. + + Till said one apart, a third one + (O have pity on us, Patron!) + Till said one apart, the fair one, + Lo! my heart all willing, waiting! + Would he quaff a draught of marvel? + Let him take my heart's blood, quaff it! + But of this make no avowal, + But of this make no revealing. + + Suddenly the stump budded branches, + Out of the mouth a branch sprang budding, + Every finger budded branches, + Saint Onofrio all grew green again! + +[_She bends over to gather the chips and shavings around the carved +block._] + + + ALIGI + + O Mila, this too is hewn from the stump of a walnut, + Grow green will it, Mila?--Grow green again? + + + MILA [_still bent over_] + + "Would he quaff a draught of marvel + Let him take my heart's blood." + + + ALIGI + + Grow green will it, Mila?--Grow green again? + + + MILA + + "But of this make no avowal, + But of this make no revealing." + + + ALIGI + + Mila, Mila, let a miracle now absolve us! + And may the mute patron angel grant us protection. + 'T is for him that I work, but not with my chisel, + Ah! for him do I work with my soul in my fingers! + But what are you seeking? What have you lost there? + + + MILA + + I but gather the shavings, that in fire we burn them + With each a grain of pure incense being added. + Make haste, then, Aligi, for the time is nearing. + The moonlight of September fleeting, lessening; + All of the shepherds now are leaving, departing, + Some on to Puglia fare, some Romeward faring;-- + And whither then will my love his footsteps be turning? + Wherever he journeys still may his pathway + Go facing fresh pastures and springs, not winds keen and chilling, + And of me may he think when the night overtakes him! + + + ALIGI + + Romeward faring then shall go Aligi, + Onward to Rome whither all roads are leading, + His flock along with him to lofty Rome, + To beg an indulgence of the Vicar, + Of the Holy Vicar of Christ our Saviour, + For he of all shepherds is the Shepherd. + Not to Puglia land will go Aligi, + But to our blest Lady of Schiavonia, + Sending to her by Alai of Averna + These two candlesticks of cypress wood, only, + And with them merely two humble tapers, + So she forget not a lowly sinner + She, our Lady, who guardeth the sea-shore. + Then when this angel shall be all finished, + Aligi upon a mule's back will load it, + And step by step will he wend on with it. + + + MILA + + O hasten, O hasten! for the time is ripening. + From the girdle downward very nearly + Sunk in the wood yet and lost is the angel; + The feet are held fast in the knots, the hands without fingers, + The eyes with the forehead still level. + You hastened indeed his wings to give him, + Feather by feather, yet forth he flies not! + + + ALIGI + + Gostanzo will aid me in this, the painter, + Gostanzo di Bisegna; the painter is he + Who tells stories on wood in color. + Unto him I have spoken already, + And he will give unto me fine colors. + Perhaps, too, the good monks at the abbey, + For a yearling, a little fine gold leaf + For the wings and the bosom will give me. + + + MILA + + O hasten! Hasten! The time is rip'ning, + Longer than day is the night already, + From the valley the shades rise more quickly, + And unawares they shut down around us. + Soon the eye will guide the hand no longer, + And unsuccored of art will grope the blind chisel! + +[COSMA _stirs in his sleep and moans. From a distance the sacred +songs of pilgrims crossing the mountain are heard._] + + Cosma is dreaming. Who knows what he's dreaming! + Listen, listen, the songs of the pilgrims + Who across the mountain go journeying, + May be to Santa Maria della Potenza, + Aligi,--toward your own country,--toward + Your own home, where your mother is sitting. + And may be they will pass by very near, + And your mother will hear, and Ornella, + Mayhap, and they'll say: "These must be pilgrims + Coming down from the place of the shepherds; + And yet no loving token is sent us!" + +[ALIGi _is bending over his work carving the lower part of the block. +Giving a blow with the axe he leaves the iron in the wood and comes +forward anxiously._] + + + ALIGI + + Ah! Why, why will you touch where the heart is hurting? + Oh! Mila, I will speed on, overtake their cross-bearer + And beg him bear onward my loving thoughts with them. + And yet, Mila, yet--Oh! how shall I say it, Mila? + + + MELA + + You will say: "O good cross-bearer, I prithee, + If ye cross through the valley of San Biagio, + Through the countryside called Acquanova, + Ask ye there for the house of a woman + Who is known as Candia della Leonessa, + And stay ye your steps there, for there most surely + Drink shall ye have to restore you, and may be + Much beside given. Then stay there and say ye: + 'Aligi, your son, sends unto you greeting, + And to his sisters, and also the bride, Vienda, + And he promises he will be coming + To receive from your hands soon your blessing + Ere in peace he depart on long travels. + And he says, too, that he is set free now, + From her--the evil one--during these late days; + And he will be cause of dissension no longer, + And he will be cause of lamenting no longer, + To the mother, the bride, and the sisters.'" + + + ALIGI + + Mila, Mila, what ill wind strikes you + And stirs up your soul in you thus?--A wind sudden, + A wind full of fearing! And on your lips dying, + Your voice is; your blood your cheek is draining. + And wherefore, tell me, should I be sending + This message of falsehood to my mother? + + + MILA + + It is the truth, it is the truth, I tell you, + O brother mine and dear to the sister, + It is true what I say; as true is it + That I have remained by you untainted, + Like a sacred lamp before your faith burning, + With immaculate love before you shining. + It is the truth, it is the truth I tell you. + And I say: Go, go, speed ye on your pathway + And meet ye the cross-bearer so that he carry + Your greetings of peace on to Acquanova. + Now come is the hour of departure + For the daughter of Jorio. And let it be so. + + + ALIGI + + Yea, verily, you have partaken of honey, wild honey + That your mind is thus troubled! + And you would go whither? Oh, whither, Mila? + + + MILA + + Pass on thither where all roads are leading. + + + ALIGI + + Ah! Will you come then with me? O, come with me! + Though full long the journey, you also, Mila, + Will I place on the mule's back and travel, + Cherishing hope, toward Rome the eternal! + + + MILA + + Needs be that I go the opposite way, + With steps hurried, bereft of all hoping. + + + ALIGI [_turning impatiently to the sleeping old herb-woman_] + + Anna Onna! Up, arouse you! Go and find me + Grains of black hellebore, hellebore ebon, + To give back to this woman her senses. + + + MILA + + O be not angry, Aligi, for if you are angry-- + For if you are also against me, how shall I live through + This day till the evening? For behold, if you trample + My heart beneath you, I shall gather it never again! + + + ALIGI + + And I to my home shall be turning never again, + If not with you, O daughter of Jorio, + Mila di Codra, my own by the Sacrament! + + + MILA + + Aligi, can I cross the very threshold + Whereon once the waxen cross was lying, + Where a man once appeared who was bloody? + And unto whom said the son of this man: + "If this blood be unjust blood you cannot pass through"? + High noonday 't was then, the eve of the day + Of Santo Giovanni, and harvest day. + Now in peace on that wall hangs the idle sickle; + Now at rest lies the grain in the granary; + But of that sorrow's sowing the seeds are still growing. + +[COSMA _moves in his sleep and moans._] + + + ALIGI + + Know you, then, one who shall lead you by the hand thither! + + + COSMA [_crying out in his sleep_] + + O do not unbind him! No, no, do not unbind him! + +[_The saint, stretching his arms, lifts up his face from his knees._] + + + MILA + + Cosma, Cosma, what are you dreaming? Tell your dreaming! + +[COSMA _wakens and rises._] + + + ALIGI + + What have you been seeing? Tell your seeing! + + + COSMA + + The face of Fear was turned full upon me. + I have beheld it. But I may not tell it. + Every dream that cometh of God must be chastened + From the fire of it first before giving. + I have beheld it. And I shall speak, surely. + Yet not now, lest I speak the name vainly + Of my Lord and my God, lest I judge now + While my darkness is still overpowering. + + + ALIGI + + O Cosma, thou art holy. Many a year + Have you bathed in the melting snow water, + In the water o'erflowing the mountain, + Quenching your thirst in the clear sight of Heaven, + And this day you have slept in my cavern, + On the sheep-skin that's steamed well in sulphur + So the spirit of evil must shun it. + In your dreaming now you have seen visions, + And the eye of the Lord God is on you. + Help me then with your sure divination! + Now to you I shall speak. You will answer. + + + COSMA + + All unready am I in wisdom, + Nor have I, O youth, understanding + Of so much as the stone in the path of the shepherd. + + + ALIGI + + O Cosma, man of God, heed me and listen! + I implore by the angel in that block enfolded, + Who has no ears to hear and vet heareth! + + + COSMA + + Simple words speak ye, O shepherd, + And repose not your trust in me, + But in the holy truth only. + +[MALDE_ and _ANNA ONNA_ awaken and lean upon their elbows listening._] + + + ALIGI + + Cosma, this, then, is the holy truth: + I turned from the mountain and Puglia valley + With my flock on the day Corpus Domini, + And after I found for my flock good shelter + I went to my home for my three days' resting. + And I find there in my house my mother + Who says unto me: "Son of mine, a companion + For you have I found." Then say I: "Mother, + I ever obey your commandments." She answered: + "'T is well. And lo! here is the woman." + We were espoused. And the kindred gathered, + Escorting the bride to our threshold. + Aloof I stood like a man on the other + Bank of a river, seeing all things as yonder, + Afar, past the water flowing between, + The water that flows everlastingly. + Cosma, this was on a Sunday. And mingled + With my wine was no seed of the poppy. + Why then, notwithstanding, did slumber profound + My heart all forgetting o'erpower? + I believe I slept years seven hundred. + We awoke on the Monday belated. + Then the loaf of the Bridal my mother + Broke over the head of a weeping virgin. + Untouched had she lain by me. The kindred + Came then with their wheat in their hampers. + But mute stayed I wrapped up in great sadness. + As one in the shadow of death I was dwelling. + Behold now! on a sudden, all trembling, + There appeared in our doorway this woman, + Hard pursuing and pressing her, reapers,-- + Hounds! that wanted to seize her and have her. + Then implored she and pleaded for safety. + But not even one of us, Cosma, + Moved, except one, my sister, the littlest, + Who dared rush to the door and bar it. + And lo, now by those dogs was it shaken, + With uttering of curses and threat'ning. + And in hatred against this sad creature + Were their foul mouths unleashed and barking. + To the pack would the women have tossed her, + But she trembling still by the hearthstone, + Was pleading us not to make sacrifice of her. + I, too, myself, seized her with hatred and threat'ning, + Though it seemed to me, then, I was dragging + At my own very heart, the heart of my childhood. + She cried out, and above her head I lifted + My sheep-hook to strike her. + Then wept my sisters! + Then behind her beheld I the angel weeping! + With these eyes, O saint, the angel watching and weeping mutely. + Down on my knees fell I, + Imploring forgiveness. And then to punish + This, my hand, I took up from the fireplace + A burning ember. + "No, do not burn it," + She cried aloud,--this woman cried to me. + --O Cosma! saint holy, with waters from snow-peaks + Purified are you, dawning by dawning; + You, too, woman, who know all herbs growing + For the healing of flesh that is mortal, + Yea, all virtue of roots that are secret; + --Malde, you, too, with that branch of yours forking + May fathom where treasure is hidden, + Entombed at the feet of the dead now dead + For a hundred years, or a thousand--true is it?-- + In the depths of the depths of the heart of the mountain. + Of ye then, I ask, of ye who can hear + The deep things within that come from afar, + Whence came that voice,--O from what far distance + That came and that spake so Aligi should hear it? + (Oh, answer ye me!)--When she said unto me: + "And how then your flocks can you pasture + If your hand is infirm, O Aligi?" + Ah! with these her words did she gather + My soul from my body within me, + Even as you, O woman, gather your simples! + +[MILA _weeps silently._] + + + ANNA ONNA + + There's an herb that is red and called Glaspi, + And another is white called Egusa, + And the one and the other grow up far apart, + But their roots grope together and meet + Underneath the blind earth, and entwine + So closely that sever them never could ever + Santa Lucia. Their leaves are diverse, + But one and the same is their seven years' flower. + But all this is their record in records. + It is Cosma who knoweth the power of the Lord. + + + ALIGI + + Heed me then, Cosma! The slumber of forgetfulness + Was by Commandment sent to my pillow. + By whom? Closed by the hand of Innocence + Was the door of Safety. Came to me the apparition-- + The Angel of Counsel. And out of the word + Of her mouth was created the pledge eternal. + Who then was my wife, before ever + Good wheat, holy loaf, or fair flower? + + + COSMA + + O shepherd Aligi! God's are the just steelyards of Justice. + God's only is the just balance of Justice. + Notwithstanding, O take ye counsel, + From the Angel of Counsel, who gave you your surety. + Yea, take pledge of him for this stranger. + But she left untouched, where is she? + + + ALIGI + + For the sheepstead I left after vespers, + On the eve of Santo Giovanni. + At daybreak + I found myself wending above Capracinta. + On the crest I awaited the sunrise, + And I saw in the disc of its blazing + The bleeding head that was severed. + To my sheepfold + Then came I,--and again I began--guarding my sheep--to suffer + For me seemed that sleep still overwhelmed me, + And my flock on my life's force was browsing. + Oh! why still was my heart heavy laden? + O Cosma! first saw I the shadow, + Then the figure, there, there, at the entrance, + On the morning of San Teobaldo. + On the rock out there was sitting this woman, + And she did not arise for she could not, + So sore were her feet and bleeding. + Said she: "Aligi, + Do you know me?" + I answered: "Thou art Mila." + And no word more we spoke, for no more were we + Twain. Nor on that day were contaminated + Nor after, ever. + I speak but the truth. + + + COSMA + + O shepherd Aligi! You have verily lighted + A holy lamp in your darkness. + Yet it is not enkindled in limits appointed, + Chosen out of old time by your fathers. + You have moved farther off the Term Sacred. + How then if the lamp were spent and were quenched? + For wisdom is in man's heart a well-spring + Profound; but only the pure man may draw of its waters. + + + ALIGI + + Now pray I great God that He place upon us + The seal of the Sacrament eternal! + See ye this that I do? Not hand but soul + Is carving this wood in the similitude + Of the Angel apparition. I began + On the Day of Assumption. Rosary time + Shall it be finished. This my design is: + On to Rome with my flock I shall wander, + And along with me carry my Angel, + On mule-back laden. I will go to the Holy Father, + In the name of San Pietro Celestino, + Who upon Mount Morrone did penance. + I shall go to the Shepherd of shepherds, + With this votive offering, humbly imploring + Indulgence, that the bride, yet untouched, may return + To her mother, set free thus and blameless; + Then as mine I may cherish this stranger, + Who knows well how to weep all unheeded. + So now I ask this of your deep-reaching wisdom, + Cosma; will this grace unto me be conceded? + + + COSMA + + All the ways of mankind appear the direct ways + To man: but the Lord God is weighing heart-secrets. + High the walls, high the walls of man's stronghold, + Huge are its portals of iron; and around and around it + Heavy the shade of tombs where grass grows pallid. + Let not your lamb browse upon that grass grown pallid, + O shepherd Aligi, best question the mother. + + + A VOICE [_calling outside_] + + Cosma, Cosma! If you are within, come forth! + + + COSMA + + Who is calling for me? Did you hear a voice calling? + + + THE VOICE + + Come forth, Cosma, by the blood that is holy! + O Christian brothers, the sign of the cross make ye! + + + COSMA + + Behold me. Who calls me? Who wants me? + +[_At the mouth of the cavern two shepherds appear, wearing sheep-skin +coats, holding a gaunt and sickly youth whose arms are bound to his +body with several turns of a rope._] + + + FIRST SHEPHERD + + O Christian brothers! The sign of the cross make ye! + May the Lord from the enemy keep you! + And to guard well the door say a prayer. + + + SECOND SHEPHERD + + O Cosma, this youth is possessed of a demon. + Now for three days the devil has held him. + Behold, O behold how he tortures him now. + He froths at the mouth, turning livid and shrieking. + With strong ropes we needed to tie and bind him + To bring him to you. You who freed before now + Bartolomeo dei Cionco ala Petrara, do you, + O wise man of mercy, do you this one also + Liberate! Force now the demon to leave him! + O chase him away from him, cure him and heal him! + + + COSMA + + What is his name and the name of his father? + + + FIRST SHEPHERD + + Salvestro, di Mattia di Simeone. + + + COSMA + + Salvestro, how then, you will to be healed? + Be of good heart, my son, O be trustful! + Lo! I say unto you, fear not! + And ye + Wherefore have ye bound him? Let him be free! + + + SECOND SHEPHERD + + Come with us then to the chapel, Cosma. + There we can let him be free. He would flee away, here. + He is frantic always, for escape ever ready. + And sudden to take it. He's frothing. Come on then! + + + COSMA + + That will I, God helping. Be of good heart, my son! + +[_The two shepherds carry the youth off. _MALDE_ and _ANNA ONNA_ +follow them for awhile, then halt, gazing after them, _MALDE_ with a +forked olive branch with a small ball of wax stuck on at the larger +end, the old woman leaning on her crutch and with her bag of simples +hanging in front. Finally they also disappear from sight. The saint +from the doorway turns back toward his host._] + + + COSMA + + I go in God's peace, shepherd Aligi. + For the comfort I found in your cavern, + May you be blessed! Lo! now they called unto me + And therefore I answered. Before you may enter + Upon your new way, the old laws well consider. + Who will change the old ways shall be winnowed. + See ye guard well your father's commandment. + See ye heed well your mother's instruction. + Hold them ever steadfast in your bosom. + And God guide your feet, that you may not be taken + In lariats nor into live embers stumble! + + + ALIGI + + Cosma, quite well have you heard me? That I remain sinless. + Never I tainted myself but kept good faith, + Quite well have you heard of the sign God Almighty + Has revealed me and sent here unto me? + I await what will come, my flesh mortifying. + + + COSMA + + I say unto you: Best question your parents + Ere you lead to your roof-tree this stranger. + + + A VOICE [_calling from outside_] + + Cosma, don't delay longer! Surely 't will kill him. + + + COSMA [_turning to_ MILA] + + Peace unto you, woman! If good be within you + Let it pour forth from you like tears falling + Without being heard. I may soon return. + + + ALIGI + + I come. I follow. Not all have I told you. + + + MILA + + Aligi, 't is true: not all are you telling! + Go to the roadside. The cross-bearer watch for + And implore him to carry the message. + +[_The saint goes off over the pasture land. The singing of the +pilgrims is heard from time to time._] + + + MILA + + Aligi, Aligi: Not all did we tell! + Yet better it were that my mouth were choked up, + Better that stones and that ashes + Held me speechless. Hear then this only + From me, Aligi. I have done you no evil; + And none shall I do you. Healed and restored now + Are my feet. And I know well the pathways. + Now arrived is the hour of departure + For the daughter of Jorio. Now then so be it! + + + ALIGI + + I know not, you know not what hour may be coming. + Replenish the oil in our lamp of the Virgin, + Take the oil from the skin. Some yet is within + And wait for me here. I seek the cross-bearer, + Right well what to say unto him know I. + + + MILA + + Aligi, brother of mine! Give me your hand, now! + + + ALIGI + + Mila, the road is but there, not far away. + + + MILA + + Give me that hand of yours, so I may kiss it. + 'T is the drop that I yield to my thirst. + + + ALIGI [_coming closer_] + + With the ember I wanted to burn it, Mila, + This sinful hand that sought to offend you. + + + MILA + + All that I forget. I am only the woman + You found on the rock there seated, + By who knows what roads coming hither! + + + ALIGI [_coming again close_] + + Upon your face your tears are not drying, + Dear woman. A tear is now staying + On the eyelashes, while you speak trembles, and falls not. + + + MILA + + Over us hovers deep stillness. Aligi, just listen! + Hushed is the singing. With the grasses and snow-peaks + We are alone, brother mine, we are alone. + + + ALIGI + + Mila, now you are unto me as you first were + Out there on the rock, when you were all smiling, + With your eyes all shining, your feet all bleeding. + + + MILA + + And you,--you,--are you not now the one who was kneeling,-- + Who the flowrets of Santo Giovanni + Put down on the ground? Ah! by one were they gathered + Who bears them yet, wears them yet--in her scapulary. + + + ALIGI + + Mila, there is in your voice a vibration + That while it consoles me, it saddens. + As even October, when, all my flocks with me, + I border the bordering stretches of seashore. + + + MILA + + To border them with you, the shore and the mountain + Ah! I would that that fate were my fate evermore. + + + ALIGI + + O my love, be preparing for such wayfaring! + Though the road there be long, for that is Love strong. + + + MILA + + Aligi, I'd pass there through fires ever flaming, + Onward still wending by roads never ending. + + + ALIGI + + To cull on the hill-top the blue gentian lonely, + On the seashore only the star-fish flower. + + + MILA + + There on my knees would I drag myself on, + Placing them down on the tracks you were marking. + + + ALIGI + + Think, too, of the places to rest when the night should o'ertake us, + And the mint and the thyme that would be your pillows. + + + MILA + + I cannot think. No. Yet give leave this one night more + That I live with you, here, where you are here breathing, + That I hear you asleep and be with you, + And over you keep, like your dogs, faithful vigil! + + + ALIGI + + O, you know, O, you know what must await us. + How with you must I ever divide the bread, salt, and water. + And so shall I share with you also the pallet, + Unto death and eternity. Give me your hands! + +[_They grasp each other's hands, gazing into each other's eyes._] + + + MILA + + Ah! we tremble, we tremble. You are frigid, + Aligi. You are blanching. O whither + Is flowing the blood your face loses? + +[_She frees herself and touches his face with both hands._] + +[Illustration: MILA DI CODRA AND ALIGI. _Act II._] + + + ALIGI + + O Mila, Mila, I hear a great thundering, + All the mountain is shaking and sinking, + Where are you? Where are you? All is veiled. + +[_He stretches out his hand toward her as one tottering. They kiss +each other. They fall down upon their knees, facing each other._] + + + MILA + + Have mercy upon us, blessed Virgin! + + + ALIGI + + Have mercy upon us, O Christ Jesus! + +[_A deep silence follows._] + + + A VOICE [_outside_] + + Shepherd, ho! You are wanted, and in a hurry. + A black sheep has broken his shank. + +[ALIGI _rises totteringly and goes toward the entrance._] + + You are wanted at once and must hurry, + And there is a woman I know not. + On her head is a basket. For you she is asking. + +[ALIGI _turns his head and looks toward _MILA_ with an all-embracing +glance. She is still on her knees._] + + + ALIGI [_in a whisper_] + + Mila, replenish the oil in our lamp of the Virgin, + So it go not out. See, it barely is burning. + Take the oil from the skin. Some yet is within. + And await me. I only must go to the sheep-fold. + Fear nothing, for God is forgiving. + Because we trembled will Mary forgive us. + Replenish the oil and pray her for mercy. + +[_He goes out into the fields._] + + + MILA + + O Holy Virgin! Grant me this mercy: + That I may stay here with my face to earth bowed, + Cold here, that I may be found dead here, + That I may be removed hence for burial. + No trespass there was in thine eyesight. + No trespass there was. For Thou unto us wert indulgent. + The lips did no trespass. (To bear witness + There wert Thou!) The lips did no trespass. + So under Thine eyes I may die here, die here! + For strength have I none to leave here, O Mother! + Yet remain with him here Mila cannot! + Mother clement! I was never sinful, + But a well-spring tramped on and trodden. + Shamed have I been in the eyes of Heaven, + But who took away from my memory + This shame of mine if not Thou, Mary? + Born anew then was I when love was born in me. + Thou it was willed it, O faithful Virgin! + All the veins of this new blood spring from afar, + Spring from far off, from the far, far away, + From the depths of the earth where she rests, + She who nourished me once in days long ago, long ago. + Let it also be she who bears now for me witness + Of innocency! Madonna, Thou also bore witness! + The lips did no trespass here now (Thou wert witness), + No, there was none in the lips, no, in the lips there was none. + And if I trembled, O let me bear that trespass, + Bear ever that tremor with me beyond! + Here I close up within me my eyes with my fingers. + +[_With the index and middle finger of each hand she presses her eyes, +bowing her head to the earth._] + + Death do I feel. Now do I feel it draw closer. + The tremor increaseth. Yet not the heart ceaseth. + +[_Rising impetuously._] + + Ah, wretch that I am, that which was told me + To do, I did not, though thrice did he say it: + "Replenish the oil." And lo! now 't is dying! + +[_She goes toward the oil-skin hanging from a beam, with her eye +still watching the dying flame, endeavoring to keep it alive with the +murmured prayer:_] + + Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. + (Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord be with thee.) + +[_Opening the skin, it flattens in her hands. She searches for the +flask to draw off the oil, but is able to get but one or two drops._] + + 'T is empty! 'T is empty! But three drops, Virgin, + For my unction extreme prithee be given me, + But two for my hands, for my lips the other, + And all for my soul, all the three! + For how can I live when back he returns here, + What can I say, Mother, what can I say? + Surely then he will see, or ere he see me, + How the lamp has gone out. If my loving + Sufficed not to keep the flame burning, + How pale unto him will this love of mine, Mother, appear! + +[_Again she tries the skin, looking again for other receptacles, +upsetting everything and still murmuring prayers._] + + Cause it to burn, O Mother intrepid! + But a little while longer, as much longer only + As an Ave Maria, a Salve + Regina, O Mother of Mercy, of Pity! + +[_In the frenzy of her search she goes to the entrance and hears a +step and catches sight of a shadow. She calls aloud._] + + O woman, good woman, Christian sister, + Come you hither! and may the Lord bless you! + Come you hither! For mayhap the Lord sends you. + What bear you in your basket? If a little + Oil, oh, then of your charity, give me a little! + Pray enter and take of all these your free choice, + These ladles, spindles, mortars, distaffs, any! + For need that there is here for Our Lady, + To replenish the oil in her lamp there hanging + And not to quench it; if through me it be quenched, + I shall lose sight of the way to Heaven. + Christian woman, grasp you my meaning? + Will you to me do this loving kindness? + +[_The woman appears at the entrance, her head and face covered with a +black mantle. She takes down the basket from her head without a word +and placing it on the ground removes the cloth, takes out the phial +of oil and offers it to _MILA.] + + + MILA + + Ah! be thou blessed, be thou blessed! Lord God + Reward thee on earth, and in Heaven also! + You have some! You have some! In mourning are you; + But the Madonna will grant it to you + To see again the face of your lost one,-- + All for this deed of your charity done me. + +[_She takes the phial and turns anxiously to go to the dying lamp._] + + Ah! perdition upon me! 'T is quenched. + +[_The phial falls from her hand and breaks. For a few seconds she +remains motionless, stunned with the terrible omen. The woman +leaning down to the spilled oil touches it with her fingers and +crosses herself. _MILA_ regards the woman with utter sadness and the +resignation of despair makes her voice hollow and slow._] + + + MILA + + Pardon me, pardon, Christian pilgrim, + This your charity turned to nothing. + The oil wasted, broken in pieces the phial, + Misfortune upon me befallen. + Tell me what choose you? All these things here + Were fashioned out thus by the shepherd. + A new distaff and with it a spindle + Wish you? Or wish you a mortar and pestle? + Tell me, I pray. For nothing know I any more. + I am one of the lost in the earth beneath. + + + THE CLOAKED ONE + + Daughter of Jorio! I have come unto you, + To you, bringing here, thus, this basket, + So I a boon may beseech of you. + + + MILA + + Ah! heavenly voice that I ever + In the deeps of my soul have been hearing! + + + THE CLOAKED ONE + + To you come I from Acquanova. + + + MILA + + Ornella, Ornella art thou! + +[ORNELLA _uncovers her face._] + + + ORNELLA + + The sister am I of Aligi; + The daughter am I of Lazaro. + + + MILA + + I kiss your two feet with humility, + That have carried you here to me + So that again your dear face I behold + This hour, this last hour of my mortal suffering. + To give me pity you were the first one, + You are now, too, the last one, Ornella! + + + ORNELLA + + If I was the first, penitence + Great I have suffered. I am telling + The truth to you, Mila di Codra. + And still is my suffering bitter. + + + MILA + + Oh! your voice in its sweetness is quivering. + In the wound doth the knife that hurts quiver. + And much more, ah! more doth it quiver + And you do not yet know that, Ornella! + + + ORNELLA + + If only you knew this my sorrow! + If only you knew how much sadness + The small kindness I did for you caused me! + From my home that is left desolated + I come, where we weep and are perishing. + + + MILA + + Why thus are you vested in mourning? + Who is dead then? You do not answer. + Mayhap--mayhap--the newly come sister? + + + ORNELLA + + Ah! She is the one you wish perished! + + + MILA + + No, no. God is my witness. I feared it, + And the fear of it seized me within me. + Tell me, tell me. Who is it? Answer, + For God's sake and for your own soul's sake! + + + ORNELLA + + Not one of us yet has been taken; + But all of us there are still mourning + The dear one who leaves us abandoned + And gives himself up to his ruin. + If you could behold the forsaken one, + If our mother you could but behold, + You would quiver indeed. Unto us + Come is the Summer of blackness, come is + The Autumn bitter, oppressive, + And never a circling twelvemonth's season + Could be unto us so saddening. Surely, + When I shut to the door to help you and save you + And gave myself up to my ruin, + You did not then seem to me so unfeeling,-- + You who implored for compassion's sake,-- + You who sought my name of me + That you might in your blessings whisper it! + But since then my name is shadowed in shame. + Every night, every day in our household, + I am railed upon, shunned, cast away. + They single me out. They, pointing, cry out: + "Lo! that is the one, behold her, + Who put up the bars of the entrance + So that evil within might stay safely + And hide at its ease by the hearthstone." + I cannot stay longer. Thus say I: "Far rather + Hew at me, all, with your knife-blades + And carve me to shreds and cut me!" This now + Is your blessing, Mila di Codra! + + + MILA + + It is just, it is just that you + Strike me thus! Just is it that you + Make my lips drink thus deep of this bitterness! + With such sorrow be accompanied + All these my sins to the world that's beyond! + Mayhap, mayhap, then, the stones and the heather + And the stubble, the woodblock dumb, unfeeling, + Shall speak for me,--the angel here silent, + That your brother is calling to life in the block there, + And the Virgin bereft of her lamplight. + These shall all speak for me: but I--I--shall speak not! + + + ORNELLA + + Dear woman, indeed how around you + Your soul is your body's vestment, + And how I may touch it, outstretching + Towards you thus my hand with all faith. + How then did you do so much evil + To harm us so much--us--God's people? + If you could behold our Vienda, + Quiver, indeed, would you. For shortly the skin will + Over the bones part in twain for its dryness, + And the lips of her mouth are grown whiter + Than within her white mouth her white teeth are; + So that when the first rain came falling, + Saturday, Mamma, seeing her, said of her, + Weeping: "Lo, now! Lo, now! she will be leaving, + She will break with the moisture and vanish." + Yet my father laments not; his bitterness + He chews upon hard without weeping. + Envenomed within him the iron, + The wound in his flesh is like poison + (San Cresidio and San Rocca guard us!) + The swelling leaves only the mouth free + To bark at us daily and nightly. + In his frenzy his curses were fearful,-- + The roof of the house with them shaking, + And with them our hearts quaking. Dear woman, + Your teeth are chattering. Have you the fever, + That you shiver thus and you tremble? + + + MILA + + Always at twilight and sunset, + A tremor of cold overtakes me + Not strong am I in the nights on the mountain, + We light fires at this time in the valley, + But speak on and heed not my suffering. + + + ORNELLA + + Yesterday, by chance, I discovered + He had it in mind to climb up here,-- + This mountain to climb, to the sheepstead. + I failed through the evening to see him, + And my blood turned cold within me. + So then I made ready this basket, + And in this my sisters aided me,-- + We are three who are born of one mother,-- + All three of us born marked with sorrow; + And this morning I left Acquanova, + I crossed by the ferry the river, + And the path to the mountain ascended. + Ah! you dear, dear creature of Jesus! + With what illness now are you taken? + How can I bear all this sorrow? + What can I be doing for you? + You far more violently tremble + Than when you sought our fireplace + And the pack of the reapers were hunting you. + + + MILA + + And since--Oh! since have you seen him? Know you + If yet he has come to the sheepstead? + Be certain, Ornella, be certain! + + + ORNELLA + + Not again have I seen him. Nor yet + Do I know if he came up the mountain,-- + Since much did he have for the doing + At Gionco. Perhaps he came not. + So do not be frightened! But hear me, + And heed me. For your soul's sake, + To save it, now, Mila di Codra, + Repent ye and take ye, I prithee, + Away from us this evil doing! + Restore us Aligi, and may God go with you, + And may He have mercy upon you! + + + MILA + + Dear sister of Aligi! Content am I,-- + Yea, always to hear and to heed you. + Just is it that you strike me,-- + Me, the sinful woman, me, the sorcerer's + Daughter, the witch who is shameless,-- + Who for charity supplicated + The journeying pilgrim of Jesus + But a little oil to give her + To feed her sacred lamp-flame! + Perhaps behind me the Angel is weeping + Again as before; and the stones perhaps + Will speak for me, but I--shall speak not-- + Shall speak not. But this say I only + In the name of sister, and if I say not + In truth, may my mother arise + From her grave, my hair grasping, + And cast me upon the black earth, bearing + Witness against her own daughter. + Only say I: I am sinless before your brother, + Before the pallet of your brother clean am I! + + + ORNELLA + + Omnipotent God! A miracle dost Thou! + + + MILA + + But this is the loving of Mila. + This is but my love, Ornella. + And more than this I shall speak not. + Contented am I to obey you. + All paths knows the daughter of Jorio, + Already her soul ere your coming + Had started,--ere now, O Innocent One! + Do not distrust me, O sister + Of Aligi, for no cause is there. + + + ORNELLA + + Firm as the rock my faith is in you. + Brow unto brow have I seen in you + Truth. And the rest lies in darkness, + That I, poor one, may not fathom. + But I kiss your feet here humbly, + The feet that know well the pathways. + And my silent love and pity + Will companion you on your journey. + I will pray that the steps of your pathway + Be lessened, the pain of them softened. + And the pain that I feel and I suffer + On your head I shall lay it no longer. + No more shall I judge your misfortunes, + No more shall I judge of your loving, + Since before my dear brother sinless + Are you, in my heart I shall call you + My sister, my sister in exile. At dawning + My dreams shall meet you and often shall greet you. + + + MILA + + Ah, in my grave were I resting, + With the black earth close to me nestling, + And in my ears, in that grave lonely, + These words were the last words sounding,-- + Their promise of peace my life rounding! + + + ORNELIA + + For your life I have spoken, I witness. + And food and drink to restore you,-- + That at least for the first of your journey, + You may not lack something of comfort,-- + For you I prepared in this basket; + Bread placing in it and wine (the oil is now + Gone!) but I did not place there a flower. + Forgive me for that, since then I knew not-- + + + MILA + + A blue flower, a flower of the blue aconite-- + You did not place that in your basket for me! + And you did not place there the white sheet severed + From the cloth in your loom at home woven + That I saw 'twixt the doorway and fireplace! + + + ORNELLA + + Mila! for that hour wait on the Saviour. + But what still keeps my brother? Vainly + I sought him at the sheepfold. Oh! where is he? + + + MILA + + He will be back again ere nightfall surely. + Needs be that I hasten! O, needs be! + + + ORNELLA + + Do you mean not to see him--speak again to him? + Where then will you go for this night? Remain here. + I, too, will remain. Thus doing shall we + Be together, and strong against sorrow, + We three-- Till you go at daybreak + On your path, and we go upon our path. + + + MILA + + But already too long are the nights. Needs be + That I hasten,--hasten! You know not. + I will tell you. Also from him I received + The parting that's not to be given + A second time. Addio! Go, seek him, + And meet him, now, in the sheepfold, surely. + Detain him there longer, and tell him + All the grief that they suffer down there, + And let him not follow me! On my pathway + Unknown, I shall soon be. Rest you blessed! + Forever rest blessed! O, be you as sweet + Unto his as you were to my sorrow! + Addio! Ornella, Ornella, Ornella! + +[_While speaking thus, she retires toward the darkness of the cavern +and _ORNELLA_, softened to tears, passes out. The old herb-woman +then appears at the opening of the cavern. The singing of the +pilgrims may still be heard, but from a greater distance. _ANNA +ONNA_ enters, leaning on her crutch with her bag hanging by her +side._] + + + ANNA [_breathless_] + + 'Has freed him, freed him, woman of the valley, + 'Has freed him! Ay! from inside him + Chased away all the demons did he-- + Cosma--that possessed him. A saint, surely. + He gave out a great cry like a bull's roar,-- + Did the youth, and at one blow fell down + As if he had burst his chest open. + You didn't--don't say you couldn't--hear him? + And now on the grass he is sleeping. + Deeply, deeply is he sleeping; and the shepherds + Stand around and keep watch o'er him. + But where are you? I do not see you. + + + MILA + + Anna Onna, put me to sleep! + O Granny dear, I'll give you this basket + That is brimful of eating and drinking. + + + ANNA + + Who was she that went away hurrying? + Had she broken your heart that you cried so? + --That after her, so, you were calling? + + + MILA + + Granny, oh, listen! This basket I'll give you, + That one on the ground, to take with you,-- + If you'll put me to sleep,--make me go,-- + To sleep, with the little black seeds--you know-- + Of the hyoscyamus. Go off then! be eating and drinking! + + + ANNA + + I have none. I have none left in my bag here! + + + MILA + + The skin I will give you, too, the sheepskin + You were sleeping on here to-day. + If you give me some of those red seed-pods, + The red pods you know--twigs of the nasso. + Go off, then, go off, and fill up and guzzle! + + + ANNA + + I have none, I have none in my bag here. + Go slower a bit, woman of the valley, + Take time, go slowly, go slowly, + Think it over a day, or a month, or a year. + + + MILA + + O Granny dear, more will I give you! + A kerchief with pictures in color, + And of woollen cloth, three arms' lengths, + If you give me some of the herb-roots-- + The same that you sell to the shepherds + That kill off the wolves so swiftly-- + The root of the wolf-grass, the wolf-bane-- + Go off then. Go off and mend up your bones! + + + ANNA + + I have none, I have none left in my bag here. + Go slower a bit, woman of the valley, + Take time, go slowly, go slowly, + With time there always comes wisdom. + Think it over a day, or a month, or a year, + With the herbs of the good Mother Mountain + We can heal all our ailments and sorrows. + + + MILA + + You will not? Very well then, I snatch thus from you + That black bag of yours. Therein I'll be finding + What will serve for me well, well indeed! + +[_She tries to tear the bag away from the tottering old woman._] + + + ANNA + + No, no. You are robbing me, your poor old granny, + You force me! The shepherd--he'd tear me-- + Gouge out my eyes from their sockets. + +[_A step is heard and a man's form appears in the shadows._] + + + MILA + + Ah! it is you, it is you, Aligi! + Behold what this woman is doing. + +[MILA _lets fall the bag which she had taken from the old woman and +sees the man looming tall in the dim light of the mountain, but +recognizing him she takes refuge in the depths of the cavern. +_LAZARO DI ROIO_ then enters, silent, with a rope around his arm like +an ox drover about to tie up his beast. The sound of _ANNA ONNA'S_ +crutches striking against the stones is heard as she departs in +safety._] + + + LAZARO + + Woman, O, you need not be frightened. + Lazaro di Roio has come here, + But he does not carry his sickle: + It is scarcely a case of an eye for an eye, + And he does not wish to enforce it. + There was more than an ounce of blood taken + From him on the wheat-field of Mispa, + And you know cause and end of that bloodshed. + Ounce for ounce, then, he will not take from you, + Nor wish it, for all the wound's smarting-- + The cicatrice, here in the forehead. + Raven feather, olive-twig crook, + Rancid oil, soot from the chimney shook, + Morn unto eve, eve unto morn, + The cursed wound must healing scorn! + +[_He gives a short, malignant laugh._] + + And where I was lying, I heard ever + The weeping and wailing, the women, + Oh, not for me, but this shepherd, + Spell-bound, bewitched by the witch shrew + Way off in the far-away mountain. + Surely, woman, poor was your picking. + But my grit and my blood are back again, + And many words I shall not be talking, + My tongue is dry now for doing it, + And all for this same sad occasion. + Now then, say I, you shall come on with me, + And no talk about it, daughter of Jorio! + Waiting below is the donkey and saddle, + And also here a good rope hempen, + And others to spare, God be praised! if need be! + +[MILA _remains motionless, backed up against the rock, without +replying._] + + Did you hear me, Mila di Codra? + Or are you deaf and dumb now? + This I am saying in quiet: + I know all about how it happened, + That time with the reapers of Norca. + If you are thinking to thwart me + With the same old tricks, undeceive you! + There's no fireplace here, nor any + Relations, nor San Giovanni + Ringing the bells of salvation. + I take three steps and I seize you, + With two good stout fellows to help me. + So now, then, and I say it in quiet, + You'd better agree to what needs be. + You may just as well do as I want you, + For if you don't do so, you'll have to! + + + MILA + + What do you want from me? Where already + Death was, you came. Death is here, even now. + He stepped one side to let you enter. + Withdrawing awhile, still here he is waiting. + Oh, pick up that bag there; inside it + Are deadly roots enough to kill ten wolves. + If you bind it on to my jaws here + I would make of it all a good mouthful; + I would eat therein, you would see me, + As the good hungry mare that crunches + Her oats. So then, when I should be + Cold, you could take me up there and toss me + And pack me upon your donkey, + And tie with your rope like a bundle, + And shout out: "Behold the witch, shameless, + The sorceress!" Let them burn up my body, + Let the women come round and behold me, + And rejoice in deliverance. Mayhap + One would thrust in her hand, in the fire, + Without being burned in the flame, + And draw from the core of the heat my heart. + +[LAZARO_, at her first bidding, takes up the bag and examines the +simples. He then throws it behind him, with suspicion and distrust._] + + + LAZARO + + Ah, ah! You want to spread some snare. + What crouch are you watching to spring on me! + In your voice I can hear all your slyness, + But I shall trap you in my lariat. + +[_At this he makes his rope into a lariat._] + + Not dead, neither cold do I want you. + Lazaro di Roio,--by all the gods!-- + Mila di Codra, will harvest you,-- + Will go with you this very October, + And for this all things are ready. + He will press the grapes with your body, + Lazaro will sink in the must with you. + +[_With a sinister laugh he advances toward _MILA_, who is on the +alert to elude him, the man following closely, she darting here and +there, unable to escape him._] + + + MILA + + Do not touch me! Be ashamed of yourself! + For your own son is standing behind you. + +[ALIGI _appears at the end of the cave. Seeing his father, he turns +pale. _LAZARO_, halting in his chase, turns toward him. Father and +son regard each other intently and ominously._] + + + LAZARO + + Hola there, Aligi! What is it? + + + ALIGI + + Father, how did you come hither? + + + LAZARO + + Has your blood been all sucked up that it's made you + So pale? As white you stand there in the light + As the whey when they squeeze out the cheeses. + Shepherd, say, why are you frightened? + + + ALIGI + + Father, what is it you wish to do here? + + + LAZARO + + What I wish to do here? You are asking + A question of me, a right you have not. + I will tell you, however. This will I: + The yearling ewe catch in my lariat, + And lead her wherever it please me. + That done, I shall sentence the shepherd. + + + ALIGI + + Father, this thing you shall surely not do. + + + LAZARO + + How dare you then lift so boldly + Your white face up into mine? Be careful + Or I shall make it blush of a sudden. + Go! turn back to your sheepfold and stay there, + With your flock inside the enclosure, + Until I come there to seek you. + On your life, I say, obey me! + + ALIGI + + Father, I pray the Saviour to keep me + From doing you aught but obedience. + And you are able to judge and to sentence + This son of your own; but this one-- + This woman, see that you leave her alone! + Leave her to weep here alone. + Do no offence unto her. It is sinful. + + + LAZARO + + Ah! The Lord has made you crazy! + Of what saint were you just speaking? + See you not (may your eyes be blind forever!) + See you not how under her eyelashes,-- + Around her neck lie hidden + The seven sins, the mortal sins? + Surely, if there should see her only + Your buck now, 't would butt her, and you here + Are frightened lest I should offend her! + I tell you the stones of the highroad + By man and by beast are less trodden + Than she is by sin and shame trampled. + + + ALIGI + + If it were not a sin unto God in me, + If by all men it were not deemed evil, + Father, I should say unto you that in this thing,-- + In this thing you lie in your gullet! + +[_He takes a few steps and places himself between his father and the +woman, covering her with his body._] + + + LAZARO + + What's that you say? Your tongue in you wither! + Down on your knees there, to beg me + Forgiveness, your face on the ground there! + And never dare you to lift up your body + Before me! Thus, on your marrow-bones, + Off with you! Herd with your dogs! + + + ALIGI + + The Saviour will judge of me, father: + But this woman I shall not abandon, + Nor unto your wrath shall I leave her, + While living. The Saviour will judge me. + + + LAZARO + + I am the judge of you. Who + Am I then to you, blood and body? + + + ALIGI + + You are my own father, dear unto me. + + + LAZARO + + I am unto you your own father, and to you + I may do as to me it seem pleasing + Because unto me you are but the ox + In my stable; you are but my shovel + And hoe. And if I should over you + Pass with my harrow and tear you + And break you in pieces, this is well done! + And if I have need of a handle + For my knife, and one I shall make myself + Out of one of your bones, this is well done! + Because I am the father and you are the son! + Do you heed? And to me over you is given + All power, since time beyond time, + And a law that is over all laws. + And as even I was to my father, + So even are you unto me, under earth. + Do you heed? And if from your memory + This thing has fallen, then thus I recall + It unto your memory. Kneel down on your knees and kiss ye + The earth on your marrow-bones + And go off without looking behind you! + + + ALIGI + + Pass over me then with the harrow; + But touch not the woman. + +[LAZARO_ goes up to him, unable to restrain his rage, and lifting the +rope, strikes him on the shoulder._] + + + LAZARO + + Down, down, you dog, down, to the ground with you! + + + ALIGI [_falling on his knees_] + + So then, my father, I kneel down before you: + The ground in front of you do I kiss, + And in the name of the true God and living + By my first tear and my infant wailing + From the time when you took me unswaddled + And in your hand held me aloft + Before the sacred face of Lord Christ,-- + By all this, I beseech you, I pray you, my father, + That you tread not thus and trample + On the heart of your son sorrow-laden. + Do not thus disgrace him! I pray you: + Do not make his senses forsake him, + Nor deliver him into the hands of the False One-- + The Enemy who wheels now about us! + I pray you by the angel there silent, + Who sees and who hears in that wood block! + + + LAZARO + + Begone! Off with you! Off with you! + I shall shortly now judge of you. + Off with you, I bid you. Be off with you! + +[_He strikes him cruelly with the rope. _ALIGI_ rises all +quivering._] + + + ALIGI + + Let the Saviour be judge. Let him judge then + Between you and me, and let him give unto me + Light; but yet I will against you + Not lift up this my hand. + + + LAZARO + + Be you damned! With this rope I will hang you. + +[_He throws the lariat to take him but _ALIGI_, seizing the rope with +a sudden jerk, takes it out of his father's hands._] + + + ALIGI + + Christ my Saviour, help Thou me! + That I may not uplift my hand against him, + That I may not do this to my father! + + + LAZARO [_furious, goes to the door and calls_] + + Ho, Jenne! and ho, Femo! Come here! + Come here, and see this fellow, + What he is doing (may a viper sting him!) + Fetch the ropes. Possessed is he + Most surely. His own father he threatens! + +[_Running appear two men, big and muscular, bearing ropes._] + + He is rebellious, this fellow! + From the womb is he damned, + And for all his days and beyond them. + The evil spirit has entered into him. + See! See! Behold how bloodless + The face is. O Jenne! You take him and hold him. + O Femo, you have the rope, take it and bind him, + For to stain myself I am not wishing. + Then go ye and seek out some one + To perform the exconjuration. + +[_The two men throw themselves upon _ALIGI_ and overpower him._] + + + ALIGI + + Brothers in God! O, do not do this to me! + Do not imperil your soul, Jenne. + I who know you so well, who remember, + Remember you well from a baby, + Since you came as a boy to pick up the olives + In your fields. O Jenne dell Eta! + I remember you. Do not thus debase me. + Do not thus disgrace me! + +[_They hold him tightly, trying to bind him, and pushing him on +toward the entrance._] + + Ah! dog!--The pest take you!-- + No, no, no!--Mila, Mila! Hasten!-- + Give me the iron there. Mila! Mila! + +[_His voice, desperate and hoarse, is heard in the distance, while +_LAZARO_ bars _MILA'S_ egress._] + + + MILA + + Aligi, Aligi! Heaven help you! + May God avenge you! Never despair! + No power have I, no power have you, + But while I have breath in my mouth, + I am all yours! I am all for you! + Have faith! Have faith! Help shall come! + Be of good heart, Aligi! May God help you! + +[MILA_ gazes intently along the path where _ALIGI_ was borne and +listens intently for voices. In this brief interval _LAZARO_ +scrutinizes the cavern insidiously. From the distance comes the +singing of another company of pilgrims crossing the valley._] + + + LAZARO + + Woman, now then you have been seeing + How I am the man here. I give out the law. + You are left here alone with me. + Night is approaching, and inside here + It is now almost night. O don't + Be afraid of me, Mila di Codra, + Nor yet of this red scar of mine + If you see it light up, for now even + I feel in it the beat of the fever. + Come nearer me. Quite worn out you seem to be + For sure you've not met with fat living + On this hard shepherd's pallet. + While with me you shall have, if you want it, + All of that in the valley; for Lazaro + Di Roio is one of the thrifty. + But what do you spy at? Whom do you wait for? + + + MILA + + No one I wait for. No one is coming! + +[_She is still motionless, hoping to see _ORNELLA_ come and save her. +Dissimulating to gain time, she tries to defeat _LAZARO'S_ +intentions._] + + + LAZARO + + You are alone with me. You need not + Be frightened. Are you persuaded? + + + MILA [_hesitatingly_] + + I'm thinking, Lazaro di Roio. + I'm thinking of what you have promised. + I'm thinking. But what's to secure me? + + + LAZARO + + Do not draw back. My word I keep. + All that I promise, I tell you. + Be assured, God be witness. Come to me! + + + MILA + + And Candia della Leonessa? + + + LAZARO + + Let the bitterness of her mouth moisten + Her thread, and with that be her weaving! + + + MILA + + --The three daughters you have in your household? + And now the new one!--I dare not trust to it. + + + LAZARO + + Come here! Don't draw back! Here! Feel it! + Where I tucked it. Twenty ducats, + Sewed in this coat. Do you want them? + +[_He feels for them through his goatskin coat, then takes it off and +throws it on the ground at her feet._] + + Take them! Don't you hear them clinking? + There are twenty silver ducats. + + + MILA + + But first I must see them and count them,-- + First--before--Lazaro di Roio. + Now will I take these shears and rip it. + + + LAZARO + + But why spy about so? You witch! surely + You're getting some little trick ready. + You're hoping yet you'll deceive me. + +[_He makes a rush at her to seize her. She eludes him and seeks +refuge near the walnut block._] + + + MILA + + No, no, no! Let me alone! Let me alone! + Don't you touch me! See! See! She comes! See! See! she comes + Your own daughter--Ornella is coming. + +[_She grasps the angel to resist _LAZARO'S_ violence._] + + No, no! Ornella, Ornella, O help me! + +[Illustration: THE PARRICIDE. _Act II._] + +[_Suddenly _ALIGI_ appears, free and unbound, at the mouth of the +cave. He sees in the dim light the two figures. He throws himself +upon his father. Catching sight of the axe driven into the wood, he +seizes it, blind with fury and horror._] + + + ALIGI + + Let her go! For your life! + +[_He strikes his father to death. _ORNELLA_, just appearing, bends +down and recognizes the dead body in the shadow of the angel. She +utters a great cry._] + + + ORNELLA + + Ah! I untied him! I untied him! + + + + +ACT III. + +_A large country yard; in the farther end an oak, venerable with age, +beyond the fields, bounded by mountains, furrowed by torrents; on the +left the house of _LAZARO_, the door open, the porch littered with +agricultural implements; on the right the haystack, the mill, and the +straw stack._ + +_The body of _LAZARO_ is lying on the floor within the house, the +head resting, according to custom for one murdered, on a bundle of +grape-vine twigs; the wailers, kneeling, surround the body, one of +them intoning the lamentation, the others answering. At times they +bow toward one another, bending till they bring their foreheads +together. On the porch, between the plough and large earthen vessel, +are the kindred and _SPLENDORE_ and _FAVETTA_. Farther from them is +_VIENDA DI GIAVE_, sitting on a hewn stone, looking pale and +desolate, with the look of one dying, her mother and godmother +consoling her. _ORNELLA_ is under the tree, alone, her head turned +toward the path. All are in mourning._ + + + CHORUS OF WAILERS + + Jesu, Saviour, Jesu, Saviour! + 'T is your will. 'T is your bidding, + That a tragic death accursed + Lazaro fell by and perished. + From peak unto peak ran the shudder, + All of the mountain was shaken. + Veiled was the sun in heaven, + Hidden his face was and covered. + Woe! Woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro! + Alas! What tears for thee tear us! + _Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine_. + (O Lord! give him rest eternal.) + + + ORNELLA + + Now, now! Coming! 'T is coming! Far off! + The black standard! The dust rising! + O sisters, my sisters, think, oh! think + Of the mother, how to prepare her!-- + That her heart may not break. But a little + And he will be here. Lo! at the near turn, + At the near turn the standard appearing! + + + SPLENDORE + + Mother of the passion of the Son crucified, + You and you only can tell the mother,-- + Go to the mother, to her heart whisper! + +[_Some of the women go out to see._] + + + ANNA DI BOVE + + It is the cypress of the field of Fiamorbo. + + + FELAVIA SESARA + + It is the shadow of clouds passing over. + + + ORNELLA + + It is neither the cypress nor shadow + Of storm-cloud, dear women, I see it advancing, + Neither cypress nor storm-cloud, woe's me! + But the Standard and Sign of Wrong-Doing + That is borne along with him. He's coming + The condemned one's farewells to receive here, + To take from the hands of the mother + The cup of forgetting, ere to God he commend him. + Ah! herefore are we not all of us dying, + Dying with him? My sisters, my sisters! + +[_The sisters all look out the gate toward the path._] + + + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS + + Jesu, Jesu, it were better + That this roof should on us crumble. + Ah! Too much is this great sorrow, + Candia della Leonessa. + On the bare ground your husband lying, + Not even permitted a pillow, + But only a bundle of vine-twigs, + Under his head where he's lying. + Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro! + Alas! What pain for thee pains us! + _Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine_. + + + SPLENDORE + + Favetta, go you; go speak to her. + Go you, touch her on the shoulder. + So she may feel and turn. She is seated + Like unto a stone on the hearthstone, + Stays fixed there without moving an eyelash, + And she seems to see nothing, hear nothing; + She seems to be one with the hearthstone. + Dear Virgin of mercy and pity! + Her senses O do not take from her!--Unhappy one! + Cause her to heed us, and in our eyes looking + To come to herself, dear unhappy one. + Yet I have no heart even to touch her, + And who then will say the word to her? + O sister! Go tell her: Lo! he is coming! + + + FAVETTA + + Nor have I the heart. She affrights me. + How she looked before I seem to forget, + And how her voice sounded before, + Ere in the deep of this sorrow + We plunged. Her head has whitened + And it grows every hour whiter. + Oh! she is scarcely ours any more, + She seems from us so far away, + As if on that stone she were seated + For years a hundred times one hundred-- + From one hundred years to another-- + And had lost, quite lost remembrance + Of us.--O just see now, just see now, + Her mouth, how shut her mouth is! + More shut than the mouth that's made silent,-- + Mute on the ground there forever. + How then can she speak to us ever? + I will not touch her nor can I tell her-- + "Lo! he is coming!" If she awaken + She'll fall, she'll crumble. She affrights me! + + + SPLENDORE + + O wherefore were we born, my sisters? + And wherefore brought forth by our mother? + Let us all in one sheaf be gathered, + And let Death bear us all thus away! + + + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS + + --Ah! mercy, mercy on you, Woman! + --Ah! mercy be upon you, Women! + --Up and take heart again! The Lord God + Will uplift whom he uprooted. + If God willed it that sad be the vintage + Mayhap He wills, too, that the olives + Be sure. Put your trust in the Lord. + --And sadder than you is another, + She who sat in her home well contented, + In plenty, mid bread and clean flour, + Entering here, fell asleep, to awaken + Amid foul misfortune and never + Again to smile. She is dying: Vienda. + Of the world beyond is she already. + --She is there without wailing or weeping! + Ah! on all human flesh have thou pity! + On all that are living have mercy! + And all who are born to suffer, + To suffer and know not wherefore! + + + ORNELLA + + Oh, there Femo di Nerfa is coming, + The ox driver, hurriedly coming. + And there is the standard stopping + Beside the White Tabernacle. + My sisters, shall I myself go to her + And bear her the word? + Woe! oh, woe! If she does not remember + What is required of her. Lord God + Forbid that she be not ready + And all unprepared he come on her and call her, + For if his voice strike her ear on a sudden + Then surely her heart will be broken, broken! + + + ANNA DI BOVE + + Then surely her heart will be broken, + Ornella, if you should go touch her, + For you bring bad fortune with you. + 'T was you who barred up the doorway, + 'T was you who unfettered Aligi. + + + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS + + To whom are you leaving your ploughshare, + O Lazaro! to whom do you leave it? + Who now your fields will be tilling? + Who now your flocks will be leading? + Both father and son the Enemy + Has snared in his toils and taken. + Death of infamy! Death of infamy! + The rope, and the sack, and the blade of iron! + Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro! + Alas! What torments for thee torment us! + _Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine_. + +[_The ox driver appears, panting._] + + + FEMO DI NERFA + + Where is Candia? O ye daughters of the dead one! + Judgment is pronounced. Now kiss ye + The dust! Now grasp in your hands the ashes! + For now the Judge of Wrong-Doing + Has given the final sentence. + And all the People is the Executor + Of the Parricide, and in its hands it has him. + Now the People are bringing here your brother + That he may receive forgiveness + From his own mother, from his mother + Receive the cup of forgetfulness, + Before his right hand they shall sever, + Before in the leathern sack they sew him + With the savage mastiff and throw him + Where the deep restless waters o'erflow him! + All ye daughters of the dead one, kiss ye + The dust now; grasp in your hands now the ashes! + And may our Saviour, the Lord Jesus + Upon innocent blood have pity! + +[_The three sisters rush up to each other, and then advancing slowly, +remain with their heads touching each other. From the distance is +heard the sound of the muffled drum._] + + + MARIA CORA + + O Femo, how could you ever say it? + + + FEMO DI NERFA + + Where is Candia? Why does she not appear here? + + + LA CINERELLA + + On the hearthstone, the stone by the fireplace + She sits and gives no sign of living. + + + ANNA DI BOVA + + And there's no one so hardy to touch her. + + + LA CINERELLA + + And affrighted for her are her daughters. + + + FELAVIA SESARA + + And you, Femo, did you bear witness? + + + LA CATALANA + + And Aligi, did you have him near you? + And before the judge what did he utter? + + + MONICA BELLA COGNA + + What said he? What did he? Aloud + Did he cry? Did he rave, the poor unfortunate one? + + + FEMO DI NERFA + + He fell on his knees and remained so, + And upon his own hand stayed gazing, + And at times he would say "_Mea culpa_," + And would kiss the earth before him, + And his face looked sweet and humble, + As the face of one who was innocent. + And the angel carved out of the walnut block + Was near him there with the blood-stain. + And many about him were weeping, + And some of them said, "He is innocent." + + + ANNA DI BOVA + + And that woman of darkness, Mila + Di Codra, has anyone seen her? + + + LA CATALANA + + Where is the daughter of Jorio? + Was she not to be seen? What know you? + + + FEMO DI NERFA + + They have searched all the sheepfolds and stables + Without any trace of her finding. + The shepherds have nowhere seen her, + Only Cosma, the saint of the mountain, + Seems to have seen her, and he says + That in some mountain gorge she's gone to cast her bones away. + + + LA CATALANA + + May the crows find her yet living + And pick out her eyes. May the wolf-pack + Scent her yet living and tear her! + + + FELAVIA SESARA + + And ever reborn to that torture + Be the damnable flesh of that woman! + + + MARIA CORA + + Be still, be still, Felavia, silence, I say! + Be silent now! For Candia has arisen, + She is walking, coming to the threshold. + Now she goes out. O daughters, ye daughters, + She has arisen, support her! + +[_The sisters separate and go toward the door._] + + + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS + + Candia della Leonessa, + Whither go you? Who has called you? + Sealed up are your lips and silent, + And your feet are like feet fettered. + Death you are leaving behind you, + And sin you find coming to meet you. + Wheresoever going, wheresoever turning, + Thorny everywhere the pathway. + Oh! woe! woe! ashes, ashes, widow! + Oh! woe! mother, Jesu! Jesu! mercy! + _De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine_. + (Out of the deep, O Lord, I cry unto Thee!) + +[_The mother appears at the threshold. The daughters timidly go to +support her. She gazes at them in great bewilderment._] + + + SPLENDORE + + Mother, dearest, you have risen, maybe + You need something--refreshment-- + A mouthful of muscadel, a cordial? + + + FAVETTA + + Parched are your lips, you dear one, + And bleeding are they? Shall we not bathe them? + + + ORNELLA + + Mommy, have courage, we are with you. + Unto this great trial God has called you. + + + CANDIA + + And from one warp came so much linen, + And from one spring so many rivers, + And from one oak so many branches, + And from one mother many daughters! + + + ORNELLA + + Mother dear, your forehead is fevered. For the weather + To-day is stifling, and your dress is heavy, + And your dear face is all wet with moisture. + + + MARIA CORA + + Jesu, Jesu, may she not lose her senses! + + + LA CINERELLA + + Help her regain her mind, Madonna! + + + CANDIA + + It is so long since I did any singing, + I fear I cannot hold the melody. + But to-day is Friday, there is no singing, + Our Saviour went to the mountain this day. + + + SPLENDORE + + O mother dear, where does your mind wander? + Look at us! Know us! What idle fancy + Teases you? Wretched are we! What is her meaning? + + + CANDIA + + Here, too, is the stole, and here, too, is the cup sacramental, + And this is the belfry of San Biagio. + And this is the river, and this my own cabin. + But who, who is this one who stands in my doorway? + +[_Sudden terror seizes the young girls. They draw back, watching +their mother, moaning and weeping._] + + + ORNELLA + + O my sisters, we have lost her! + Lost her, also, our dear mother! + Oh! too far away do her senses stray! + + + SPLENDORE + + Unhappy we! Whom God's malediction left + Alone in the land, orphans bereft! + + + FAVETTA + + By the other, a new grave make ready near + And bury us living all unready here! + + + FELAVIA SESARA + + No no, dear girls, be not so despairing, + For the shock is but pushing her senses + Far back to some time long ago. + Let them wander! thence soon to be turning! + +[CANDIA _takes several steps._] + + + ORNELLA + + Mother, you hear me? Where are you going? + + + CANDIA + + I have lost the heart of my dear gentle boy, + Thirty-three days ago now, nor yet do I find it; + Have you seen him anywhere? Have you met him afar? + --Upon Calvary Mountain I left him, + I left him afar on the distant mountain, + I left him afar in tears and bleeding. + + + MARIA CORA + + Ah! she is telling her stations. + + + FELAVIA SESARA + + Let her mind wander, let her say them! + + + LA CINERELLA + + Let her all her heart unburden! + + + MONICA DELIA COGNA + + O Madonna of Holy Friday, + Have pity on her! And pray for us! + +[_The two women kneel and pray._] + + + CANDIA + + Lo! now the mother sets out on her travels, + To visit her son well beloved she travels. + --O Mother, Mother, wherefore your coming? + Among these Judeans there is no safety. + --An armful of linen cloth I am bringing + To swathe the sore wounds of your body. + --Ah! me! had you brought but a swallow of water! + --My son!--No pathway I know nor wellspring; + But if you will bend your dear head a little + A throatful of milk from my breast I will give you, + And if then you find there no milk, oh so closely + To heart I will press you, my life will go to you! + --O Mother, Mother, speak softly, softly-- + +[_She stops for a moment, then dragging her words, cries out suddenly +with a despairing cry._] + + Mother, I have been sleeping for years seven hundred, + Years seven hundred, I come from afar off. + I no longer remember the days of my cradle. + +[_Struck by her own voice, she stops and looks about bewildered, as +if suddenly awakened from a dream. Her daughters hasten to support +her. The women all rise. The beating of the drum sounds less +muffled, as if approaching._] + + + ORNELLA + + Ah! how she's trembling, how she's all trembling! + Now she swoons. Her heart is almost broken. + For two days she has tasted nothing. Gone is she! + + + SPLENDORE + + Mamma, who is it speaks within you? What do you feel, + Speaking inside you, in the breast of you? + + + FAVETTA + + Oh! unto us hearken; heed us, mother, + Oh! look upon us! We are here with you! + + + FEMO DI NERFA [_from the end of the yard_] + + O women, women, he's near, the crowd with him. + The standard is passing the cistern now. + They are bringing also the angel covered. + +[_The women gather under the oak to watch._] + + + ORNELLA [in a loud voice] + + Mother, Aligi is coming now; Aligi is coming, + To take from your heart the token of pardon, + And drink from your hand the cup of forgetfulness. + Awaken, awaken, be brave, dear mother; + Accursed he is not. With deep repentance + The sacred blood he has spilled redeeming. + + + CANDIA + + 'T is true; oh, 'tis true. With the leaves he was bruising + They stanched the blood that was gushing. + "Son Aligi," he said then, "Son Aligi, + Let go the sickle and take up the sheep-crook, + Be you the shepherd and go to the mountain." + This his commandment was kept in obedience. + + + SPLENDORE + + Do you well understand? Aligi is coming. + + + CANDIA + + And unto the mountain he must be returning. + What shall I do? All his new clothing + I have not yet made ready, Ornella! + + + ORNELIA + + Mother, let us take this step. Turn now unto us; here, + In front of the house we must await him + And give our farewell to him who is leaving, + Then all in peace we shall lie down together, + Side by side in the deep bed below. + +[_The daughters lead their mother out on the porch._] + + + CANDIA [_murmuring to herself_] + + I lay down and meseemed of Jesus I dreamed, + He came to me saying, "Be not fearful!" + San Giovanni said to me, "Rest in safety." + + + THE CHORUS OF KINDRED + + --Oh what crowds of people follow the standard, + The whole village is coming after, + --Iona di Midia is carrying the standard. + --Oh how still it is, like a processional! + --Oh what sadness! On his head the veil of sable, + --On his hands the wooden fetters, + Large and heavy, big as an ox-yoke! + Head to foot the gray cloth wraps him, he is barefoot. + -Ah! Who can look longer! My face I bury, + I close up my eyes from longer seeing. + --The leathern sack Leonardo is bearing, + Biagio Gudo leads the savage mastiff. + --Mix in with the wine the roots of solatro + That he may lose his consciousness. + --Brew with the wine the herb novella + That he may lose feeling, miss suffering. + Go, Maria Cora, you who know the secrets, + Help Ornella to mix the potion. + --Dire was the deed, dire is the suffering. + Oh what sadness! See the people! + --Silently comes all the village. + --Abandoned now are all the vineyards. + --To-day, to-day no grapes are gathered. + --Yes, to-day even the land is mourning. + --Who is not weeping? Who is not wailing? + --See Vienda! Almost in death's agony. + Better for her that she lost her senses. + --Better for her that she see not, hear not. + --O woe for her bitter fate, three months only + Since we came and brought our hampers! + --And sorrow yet to come who may measure? + --No tears shall be left in us for weeping. + + + FEMO DI NERFA + + Silence, O kindred, for here comes Iona. + +[_The women turn toward the porch. There is a deep silence. The +voice of _IONA] + + + IONA + + O widow of Lazaro di Roio, + O people of this unhappy home, + Behold now! Behold now! The penitent is coming. + +[_The tall figure of _IONA_ appears bearing the standard. Behind him +comes the parricide, robed in gray, the head covered with a black +veil, both hands manacled in heavy wooden fetters. A man on one side +is holding the shepherd's carved crook; others carry the angel +covered with a white cloth, which they lower to the ground. The +crowd pushes between the straw stack and ancient oak. The waiters, +still on their knees, crawl to the door and lift up their voices in +cries and wailing towards the condemned one._] + + + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS + + Son, O son Aligi! Son, O son Aligi! + What have you done? What have you done? + Whose body is this body bleeding? + And who upon the stone has placed it? + Now hath come your hour upon you! + Black is the wine of the evil-doer! + Severed hand and death of infamy; + Severed hand and sack of leather! + Oh! woe! woe! O son of Lazaro. Lazaro + Is dead. Woe! Woe! And you slew Lazaro! + _Libera, Domine, animam servi tui_. + (Spare, O Lord, the soul of this thy servant.) + + + IONA DI MIDIA + + Grief is yours, Candia della Leonessa, + O Vienda di Giave, grief is yours, + Grief is yours, daughters of the dead one! Kindred, + May the Lord Saviour have pity on all of you, women, + For into the hands of the People, judging, + The Judge has now given Aligi di Lazaro. + That upon the deed infamous we may take vengeance, + A deed upon all of us fallen, and having no equal, + Nor among our ancestors known to memory, + And, may it forever be lost from memory, + By the grace of the Lord, from son to son, henceforth. + Now, therefore, the penitent one we lead hither, + That he may receive the cup of forgetfulness + From you here, Candia della Leonessa, + Since he out of your flesh and your blood was the issue, + To you 't is conceded to lift the veil of sable, + 'T is yielded you lift to his mouth the cup of forgetting, + Since his death unto him shall be exceeding bitter. + _Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine!_ + (Save, O Lord, these thy people) + _Kyrie eleison!_ + + + THE CROWD + + _Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison!_ + +[IONA _places his hand on _ALIGI'S_ shoulder. The penitent then +takes a step toward his mother, and falls, as if broken down, upon +his knees._] + + + ALIGI + + Praises to Jesus and to Mary! + I can call you no longer my mother, + 'T is given to me to bless you no longer. + This is the mouth of hell--this mouth! + To curses only these lips are given, + That sucked from you the milk of life, + That from your lips learned orisons holy + In the fear of the Lord God Almighty, + And of all of his law and commandments. + Why have I brought upon you this evil?-- + You--of all women born to nourish the child, + To sing him to sleep on the lap, in the cradle!-- + This would I say of my will within me, + But locked must my lips remain. + --Oh, no! Lift not up my veil of darkness + Lest thus in its fold you behold + The face of my terrible sinning. + Do not lift up my veil of darkness, + No, nor give me the cup of forgetting. + Then but little shall be my suffering, + But little the suffering decreed me. + Rather chase me with stones away, + Ay, with stones and with staves drive and chase me, + As you would chase off the mastiff even + Soon to be of my anguish companion, + And to tear at my throat and mumble it, + While my desperate spirit within me + Shall cry aloud, "Mamma! Mamma!" + When the stump of my arm is reeking + In the cursed sack of infamy. + + + THE CROWD [_with hushed voices_] + + --Ah! the mother, poor dear soul! See her! + See how in two nights she has whitened! + She does not weep. She can weep no longer. + --Bereft is she of her senses. + --Not moving at all. Like the statue + Of our Mater Dolorosa. O have pity! + --O good Lord, have mercy on her! + Blessed Virgin, pity, help her! + --Jesus Christ have pity on her! + + + ALIGI + + And you also, my dear ones, no longer + 'T is given me to call you sisters, + 'T is given me no longer to name you + By your names in your baptisms christened. + Like leaves of mint your names unto me, + In my mouth like leaves that are fragrant, + That brought unto me in the pastures + Unto my heart joy and freshness. + And now on my lips do I feel them, + And aloud am I fain to say them. + I crave no other consolation + Than that for my spirit's passing. + But no longer to name them 't is given me. + And now the sweet names must faint and wither, + For who shall be lovers to sing them + At eve beneath your casement windows? + For who shall be lovers unto the sisters + Of Aligi? And now is the honey + Turned into bitterness; O then, chase me, + And, like a hound, hound me away. + With staves and with stones strike me. + But ere you thus chase me, O suffer + That I leave unto you, disconsolate, + But these two things of my sole possession, + The things that these kindly people + Carry for me: the sheep-crook of bloodwood, + Whereon I carved the three virgin sisters, + In your likeness did I carve them, + To wander the mountain pastures with me,-- + The sheep-crook, and the silent angel, + That with my soul I have been carving. + Woe is me for the stain that stains it! + But the stain that stains it shall fade away + Some day, and the angel now silent + Shall speak some day, and you shall hearken, + And you shall heed. Suffer me suffer + For all I have done! With my woe profound + In comparison little I suffer! + + + THE CROWD + + Oh! the children, poor dear souls! See them! + See how pale and how worn are their faces! + --They too are no longer weeping + --They have no tears left for weeping. + Dry their eyes are, inward burning. + --Death has mown them with his sickle,-- + To the ground laid them low ere their dying. + Down they are mown but not gathered. + --Have mercy upon them, O merciful one! + Upon these thy creatures so innocent. + --Pity, Lord Jesus, pity! Pity! + + + ALIGI + + And you who are maiden and widow, + Who have found in the chests of your bridal + Only the vestment of mourning, + The combs of ebon, of thorns the necklace, + Your fine linen woven of tribulation, + Full of weeping your days ever more, + In heaven shall you have your nuptials, + And may you be spouse unto Jesus! + And Mary console you forever! + + + THE CROWD + + O poor dear one! Until vespers + Hardly lasting, and now drawing + Her last breath. Lost her face is + In her hair of gold all faded, + Even all her golden tresses. + --Now like flax upon the distaff, + --Or shade-grown grass for Holy Thursday. + --Yes, Vienda, maiden-widow, + Paradise is waiting for you. + --If she is not, then who is Heaven's? + --May Our Lady take you with her! + --Put her with the white pure angels! + --Put her with the golden martyrs! + + + IONA DI MIDIA + + Aligi, your farewells are spoken, + Rise now and depart. It grows late. + Ere long will the sun be setting. + To the Ave Maria you shall not hearken. + The evening star you shall not see glimmer. + O Candia della Leonessa, + If you, poor soul, on him have pity, + Give, if you will, the cup, not delaying, + For the mother art thou, and may console him. + + + THE CROWD + + Candia, lift up the veil, Candia! + Press his lips to the cup, Candia, + Give him the potion, give him + Heart to bear his suffering. Rise, Candia! + --Upon your own son take pity. + --You only can help him; to you, 't is granted. + --Have mercy upon him! Mercy, O mercy! + +[ORNELLA_ hands the mother the cup containing the potion. _FAVETTA_ +and _SPLENDORE_ encourage the poor mother. _ALIGI_, kneeling, creeps +to the door of the house and addresses the dead body._] + + + ALIGI + + Father, father, my father Lazaro, + Hear me. You have crossed over the river, + In your bier, though it was heavier + Than the ox-cart, your bier was, + And the rock was dropped in the river. + Where the current was swiftest, you crossed it; + Father, father, my father Lazaro, + Hear me. Now I also would cross over + The river, but I--I cannot. I am going + To seek out that rock at the bottom. + And then I shall go to find you: + And over me you will pass the harrow, + Through all eternity to tear me, + Through all eternity to lacerate me. + Father of mine, full soon I'll be with you! + +[_The mother goes toward him in deep horror. Bending down she lifts +the veil, presses his head upon her breast with her left hand, takes +the cup _ORNELLA_ offers and puts it to _ALIGI'S_ lips. A confusion +of muffled voices rises from the people in the yard and down the +path._] + + + IONA DI MIDIA + + _Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum._ + (Accept, O Lord, this thy servant.) + _Kyrie eleison._ + + + THE CROWD + + _Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison, + Miserere, Deus, miserere._ + --Do you see, do you see his face? + This do we see upon earth, Jesus! + --Oh! Oh! Passion of the Saviour! + --But who is calling aloud? And wherefore? + --Be silent now! Hush, hush! Who is calling? + --The daughter of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio, Mila di Codra! + --Great God, but this is a miracle! + --It is the daughter of Jorio coming. + --Good God! She is raised from the dead! + -Make room! Make room! Let her pass by! + --Accursed dog, are you yet living? + --Ah! Witch of Hell, is it you? + --She-dog! Harlot! Carrion! + --Back! Back! Make room! Let her pass! + --Come, she-thing, come! Make way! + --Let her pass through! Let her alone! In the Lord's name! + +[ALIGI _rises to his feet, his face uncovered. He looks toward the +clamoring crowd, the mother and sisters still near him. Impetuously +opening her way through the crowd, _MILA_ appears._] + + + MILA DI CODRA + + Mother of Aligi, sisters + Of Aligi, Bride and Kindred, + Standard-bearer of Wrong-Doing, and you, + All ye just people! Judge of God! + I am Mila di Codra. + I come to confess. Give me hearing. + The saint of the mountain has sent me. + I have come down from the mountain, + I am here to confess in public + Before all. Give me hearing. + + + IONA DI MIDIA + + Silence! Be silent! Let her have leave + To speak, in the name of God, let her. + Confess yourself, Mila di Codra. + All the just people shall judge you. + + [Illustration: THE SACRIFICE OF MILA DI CODRA. + _Act III._] + + + MILA + + Aligi, the beloved son of Lazaro, + Is innocent. He did not commit + + Parricide. But by me indeed was his father + Slain, by me was he killed with the axe. + + + ALIGI + + Mila, God be witness that thou liest! + + + IONA + + He has confessed it. He is guilty. + But you too are guilty, guilty with him. + + + THE CROWD + + To the fire with her! To the fire with her! Now, Iona, + Give her to us, let us destroy her. + --To the brush heap with the sorceress, + Let them perish in the same hour together! + --No, no! I said it was so. He is innocent. + --He confessed it! He confessed it! The woman + Spurred him to do it. But he struck the blow. + --Both of them guilty! To the fire! To the fire! + + + MILA + + People of God! Give me hearing + And afterward punish me. + I am ready. For this did I come here. + + + IONA + + Silence! All! Let her speak! + + + MILA + + Aligi, dear son of Lazaro, + Is innocent. But he knows it not. + + + ALIGI + + Mila, God be witness that thou liest. + Ornella (oh! forgive me that I dare to + Name you!) bear thou witness + That she is deceiving the good people. + + + MILA + + He does not know. Aught of that hour + Is gone from his memory. He is bewitched. + I have upset his reason, + I have confused his memory. + I am the Sorcerer's daughter. There is no + Sorcery that I do not know well, + None that I cannot weave. Is there one + Of the kindred among you, that one + Who accused me in this very place, + The evening of Santo Giovanni, + When I entered here by that door before us? + Let her come forth and accuse me again! + + + LA CATALANA + + I am that one. I am here. + + + MILA + + Do you bear witness and tell for me + Of those whom I have caused to be ill, + Of those whom I have brought unto death, + Of those whom I have in suffering held. + + + LA CATALANA + + Giovanna Cametra, I know. + And the poor soul of the Marane, + And Alfonso and Tillura, I know. + And that you do harm to every one. + + + MILA + + Now have you heard this thing, all you good people, + What this servant of God hath well said and truly? + Here I confess. The good saint of the mountain + Has touched to the quick my sorrowing conscience, + Here I confess and repent. O permit not + The innocent blood to perish. + Punishment do I crave. O punish me greatly! + To bring down ruin and to sunder + Dear ties and bring joys to destruction, + To take human lives on the day of the wedding + Did I come here to cross this threshold, + Of the fireplace there I made myself + The mistress, the hearth I bewitched, + The wine of hospitality I conjured, + Drink it I did not, but spilled it with sorceries. + The love of the son, the love of the father, + I turned into mutual hatred; + In the heart of the bride all joy strangled, + And by this my cunning, the tears + Of these young and innocent sisters + I bent to the aid of my wishes. + Tell me then, ye friends and kindred, + Tell me then, in the name of the Highest, + How great, how great is this my iniquity! + + + CHORUS OF THE KINDRED + + It is true! It is true! All this has she done. + Thus glided she in, the wandering she-dog! + While yet Cinerella was pouring + Her handful of wheat on Vienda. + Very swiftly she did all her trickery, + By her evil wishes overthrowing + Very swiftly the young bridegroom. + And we all cried out against it. + But in vain was our crying. She had the trick of it. + It is true. Now only does she speak truly. + Praises to Him who this light giveth! + +[ALIGI_, with bent head, his chin resting on his breast, in the +shadow of the veil, is intent and in a terrible perturbation and +contest of soul, the symptoms at the same time, appearing in him of +the effect of the potion._] + + + ALIGI + + No, no, it is not true; she is deceiving + You, good people, do not heed her, + For this woman is deceiving you. + All of them here were all against her, + Heaping shame and hatred on her, + And I saw the silent angel + Stand behind her. With these eyes I saw him, + These mortal eyes that shall not witness + On this day the star of vesper. + I saw him gazing at me, weeping. + O Iona, it was a miracle, + A sign to show me her, God's dear one. + + + MILA + + O Aligi, you poor shepherd! + Ignorant youth, and too believing! + That was the Apostate Angel! + +[_They all cross themselves, except _ALIGI_, prevented from doing so +by his fetters, and _ORNELLA_ who, standing alone at one side of the +porch, gazes intently on the voluntary victim._] + + Then appeared the Apostate Angel + (Pardon of God I must ever lack, + Nor of you, Aligi, be pardoned!) + He appeared your own two eyes to deceive. + It was the false and iniquitous angel. + + + MARIA CORA + + I said it was so. At the time I said it. + It was a sacrilege then, I cried. + + + LA CINERELLA + + And I said it, too, and cried out + When she dared call it the guardian angel + To watch over her. I cried out, + "She is blaspheming, she is blaspheming!" + + + MILA + + Aligi, forgiveness from you, I know, + Cannot be, even if God forgive me. + But I must all my fraud uncover. + Ornella, oh! do not gaze upon me + As you gaze. I must stay alone! + Aligi, then when I came to the sheepstead, + Then, even, when you found me seated, + I was planning out your ruin. + And then you carved the block of walnut, + Ah, poor wretch, with your own chisel, + In the fallen angel's image! + (There it is, with the white cloth covered, + I feel it.) Ah! from dawn until evening + With secret art I wove spells upon you! + Remember them, do you not now of me? + How much love I bestowed upon you! + How much humility, in voice and demeanor-- + Before your very face spells weaving? + Remember them, do you not now of me? + How pure we remained, how pure + I lay on your shepherd's pallet? + And how then?--how (did you not inquire?) + Such purity then, timidity, then, + In the sinning wayfarer + Whom the reapers of Norca + Had shamed as the shameless one + Before your mother? I was cunning, + Yea, cunning was I with my magic. + And did you not see me then gather + The chips from your angel and shavings, + And burn them, words muttering? + For the hour of blood I was making ready. + For of old against Lazaro + I nursed an old-time rancor. + You struck in your axe in the angel,-- + O now must you heed me, God's people! + Then there came a great power upon me + To wield over him there now fettered. + It was close upon night in that ill-fated + Lodging. Lust-crazed then his father + Had seized me to drag toward the entrance, + When Aligi threw himself on us, + In order to save and defend me. + I brandished the axe then with swiftness. + In the darkness I struck him, + I struck him again. Yea, to death I felled him! + With the same stroke I cried, "You have killed him." + To the son I cried out, "You have killed him. + Killed him!" And great in me was my power. + A parricide with my cry I made him-- + In his own soul enslaved unto my soul. + "I have killed him!" he answered, and swooning, + He fell in the bloodshed, naught otherwise knowing. + +[CANDIA_, with a frantic impulse, seizes with both hands her son, +become once more her own. Then, detaching herself from him, with +wilder and threatening gestures, advances on her enemy, but the +daughters restrain her._] + + + CHORUS OF KINDRED + + Let her do it, let her, Ornella! + --Let her tear her heart! Let her eat + Her heart! Heart for heart! + Let her seize her and take her + And underfoot trample her. + --Let her crush in and shiver + Temple to temple and shell out her teeth. + Let her do it, let her, Ornella! + Unless she do this she will not win back + Her mind and her senses in health again. + --Iona, Iona, Aligi is innocent. + --Unshackle him! Unshackle him! + --Take off the veil! Give him back to us! + --The day is ours, the people do justice. + --The righteous people give judgment. + --Command that he now be set free. + +[MILA _retreats near the covered angel, looking toward _ALIGI_, who +is already under the influence of the potion._] + + + THE CROWD + + --Praises be to God! Glory be to God! Glory to the Father! + --From us is this infamy lifted. + --Not upon us rests this blood-stain. + --From our generation came forth + No parricide. To God be the glory! + --Lazaro was killed by the woman, + The stranger, di Codra dalle Farne. + --We have said and pronounced: he is innocent. + Aligi is innocent. Unbind him! + --Let him be free this very moment! + --Let him be given unto his mother! + --Iona, Iona, untie him! Untie him! + Unto us this day the Judge of Wrong-Doing + Over one head gave us full power. + --Take the head of the sorceress! + --To the fire, to the fire with the witch! + --To the brushheap with the sorceress! + --O Iona di Midia, heed the people! + Unbind the innocent! Up, Iona! + --To the brush heap with the daughter + Of Jorio, the daughter of Jorio! + + + MILA + + Yes, yes, ye just people, yes, ye people + Of God! Take ye your vengeance on me! + And put ye in the fire to burn with me + The Apostate Angel, the false one,-- + Let it feed the flames to burn me + And let it with me be consumed! + + + ALIGI + + Oh! voice of promising, voice of deceit, + Utterly tear away from within me + All of the beauty that seemed to reign there, + Beauty so dear unto me! Stifle + Within my soul the memory of her! + Will that I have heard her voice never, + Rejoiced in it never! Smooth out within me + All of those furrows of loving + That opened in me, when my bosom + Was unto her words of deceiving + As unto the mountain that's channelled + With the streams of melting snow! Close up within me + The furrow of all that hope and aspiring + Wherein coursed the freshness and gladness + Of all of those days of deceiving! + Cancel within me all traces of her! + Will it that I have heard and believed never! + But if this is not to be given me, and I am the one + Who heard and believed and hoped greatly, + And if I adored an angel of evil, + Oh! then I pray that ye both my hands sever, + And hide me away in the sack of leather + (Oh! do not remove it, Leonardo), + And cast me into the whirling torrent, + To slumber there for years seven hundred, + To sleep in the depths there under the water; + In the pit of the river-bed, years seven hundred, + And never remember the day + When God lighted the light in my eyes! + + + ORNELLA + + Mila, Mila, 'tis the delirium, + The craze of the cup of forgetfulness + To console him he took from the mother. + + + THE CROWD + + --Untie him, Iona, he is delirious. + --He has taken the wine potion. + --Let his mother lay him down on the settle. + --Let sleep come! Let him slumber! + --Let the good God give him slumber. + +[IONA_ gives the standard to another and comes to _ALIGI_ to untie +him._] + + + ALIGI + + Yes, for a little while free me, Iona, + So that I may lift my hand against her + (No, no, burn her not, for fire is beautiful!) + So that I call all the dead of my birthplace, + Those of years far away and forgotten, + Far, far away, far, far away, + Lying under the sod, fourscore fathom, + To curse her forever, to curse her! + + + MILA [_with a heart-rending cry_] + + Aligi, Aligi, not you! + Oh! you cannot, you must not. + +[_Freed from the manacles, the veil withdrawn, _ALIGI_ comes forward +but falls back unconscious in the arms of his mother, the older +sisters and the kindred gathering around him._] + + + CHORUS OF KINDRED + + You need not be frightened. 'T is the wine only, + 'T is the vertigo seizes him. + --Now the stupor falls upon him. + --Now slumber, deep slumber, o'erpowers him. + --Let him sleep, and may God give him peace! + --Let him lie down! Let him slumber! + --Vienda, Vienda, he is yours again. + --From the other world both will return now. + _Laus Deo! Laus Deo! Gloria Patri!_ + +[IONA_ puts the manacles upon _MILA'S_ wrists, who offers both arms +and covers her head with the black veil, then taking the standard of +Wrong-Doing he pushes her toward the crowd._] + + + IONA + + I give to you, just people, + Into your hands, Mila di Codra, + The daughter of Jorio, that one + Who does harm to every one. + Do you perform justice upon her, + And let her ashes be scattered. + O Lord, save thy people. + _Kyrie eleison._ + + + THE CROWD + + _Christe eleison! Kyrie eleison!_ + To the fire, to the flames with the daughter + Of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio! + And to the fire with the Apostate Angel! + To the brushheap with them! To hell-fire with them! + + + ORNELLA [_with full voice in majesty_] + + Mila, Mila! My sister in Jesus, + I kiss your feet that hear you away! + Heaven is for thee! + + + MILA [_from within the crowd_] + + The flame is beautiful! The flame is beautiful! + + + + THE END + + The University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A. + + + + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76655 *** diff --git a/76655-h/76655-h.htm b/76655-h/76655-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79d7bac --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/76655-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9545 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + +<link rel="icon" href="images/img-cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + +<meta charset="utf-8"> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Daughter of Jorio, by Gabriele D'Annunzio +</title> + +<style> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p.dramatis {text-indent: -1.5em; + margin-left: 1.5em; } + +p {text-indent: 0% } + +p.spkr {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 4em; } + +p.stage {text-indent: 1.5em } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 2em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +.smcap { font-variant: small-caps } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.capcenter { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + font-weight: normal; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-indent: 0%; + text-align: center } + +img.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76655 ***</div> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-cover"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-cover.jpg" alt="Cover art"> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-front"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="Gabriele d'Annunzio"> +<br> +Gabriele d'Annunzio +</p> + +<h1> +<br><br> + THE<br> + DAUGHTER OF JORIO<br> +</h1> + +<p class="t3"> + A PASTORAL TRAGEDY<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + BY<br> + GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN<br> + BY<br> + CHARLOTTE PORTER, PIETRO ISOLA<br> + AND ALICE HENRY<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + WITH A PORTRAIT AND PICTURES FROM THE<br> + ITALIAN PRODUCTION<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + BOSTON<br> + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY<br> + 1907<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> + Copyright, 1904,<br> + BY GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO.<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> + Copyright, 1907,<br> + BY DIRCÉ ST. CYR.<br> + Stage rights reserved<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> + Copyright, 1907,<br> + BY THE POET LORE COMPANY.<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> + Copyright, 1907,<br> + BY LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY.<br> + All rights reserved<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> + Published November, 1907<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> + THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + TO<br> + THE LAND OF THE ABRUZZI, TO MY MOTHER<br> + TO MY SISTERS, TO MY BROTHERS<br> + ALSO<br> + TO MY FATHER, ENTOMBED, TO ALL MY DEAD<br> + AND TO ALL MY RACE BETWEEN THE<br> + MOUNTAIN AND THE SEA<br> + THIS SONG OF THE ANTIQUE BLOOD<br> + I CONSECRATE<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap00b"></a></p> + +<h3> +INTRODUCTION +</h3> + +<p> +An elemental savor of the savage blood +of the ancient race clings to the +country of the Abruzzi. This +elemental quality, intensely impressional and +tragic, underlies the light sensitive beauty +and bright artistic grace characteristic of Italy +in general. +</p> + +<p> +The lore and customs of the native folk, +growing the vine and olive in the sunny slopes +running seaward to the southern Adriatic, +have been shut away from the easy touch of +western Europe by the towering ridge of the +Apennines, on whose rugged slopes the sheep +are pastured. It is still the most archaic, the +most stubbornly unmetropolitan corner of +Italy. Here, even more than elsewhere in the +country beloved of all other younger countries, +the mediæval and the Pagan worlds linger +intimately together, blending faiths and customs. +It is a good soil and a fertile for growing an +enduring masterpiece that shall gather Italy +up into its being, and taste of the profound, +immortal heart of the land. +</p> + +<p> +In this land of the Abruzzi, and in the dim +enchanted epoch of "once upon a time," "The +Daughter of Jorio" is set. As the drama +unfolds it carries with it this charmed atmosphere. +Who reads or hears this "song of the antique +blood" is suddenly at home, too, in the Abruzzi, +and catches the life along with the music of +many years ago. +</p> + +<p> +As descendants from the Abruzzi stock, two +friends—D'Annunzio, the poet, and Michetti, +the painter, travelled throughout their +fatherland together, faring up the majestic +snow-cloaked Maella and the precipitous Gran +Sasso, to and fro among the rocky sheepsteads +and caverns of the mountains, and along the +bordering stretches of sea-shore. +</p> + +<p> +They heard, then, a name, spoken in a way +belonging to common custom there. Grown +persons in this pastoral region are still known +in patriarchal manner, not by their own names +but merely as son or daughter of their father. +The melody of the name thus heard haunted +the memories of the artist-travellers. As the +gipsy refrain Browning heard while a boy +thrilled his blood like a call from the +Wild—"Following the Queen of the Gipsies, O!" and +bore poetic fruit long afterward in "The Flight +of the Duchess," so, likewise, this sonorous +name stirred the secret chords of artistic +response in the imagination of these two friends +and bore subconscious fruit in them. The +fruit is different enough, yet of a kindred germ +and flavor. Each has rendered it as a tribute +to the mother-country in whose traditions he +was cradled. +</p> + +<p> +The name they heard—"La figlia di Jorio," +meaning much to them, little to another,—may +now be understood to be in itself eloquent +of the old tribal feeling. This feeling, sinking +the son in the father, places him apart from +any other rule or influence than that of his own +kith and kin. It admits no honorable union with +one outside the clan without pang and social +upheaval. +</p> + +<p> +The mere name thus held within it, for the +imaginative conception of genius, the seed of +tragic social clash between alien castes or +warring rival families. Such clash between +warring Italian families Shakespeare showed in +the love of a Capulet and a Montague. +The imperative elemental drawing together of +Juliet and her Romeo ran counter to +long-established grooves of social cleavage. It was +a cleavage not to be welded except through the +woe and spiritual triumph of love. Such clash +between the established pastoral clan and the +outcast is the theme which slumbered in this +name for both D'Annunzio and Michetti. +D'Annunzio's development of it leads by a +different path to a triumph of love as spiritually +exalting and as socially significant as +Shakespeare's. +</p> + +<p> +For Michetti, the haunting name resulted, +shortly after their journey, in some wonderful +pictures,—sketches in water-color for a great +painting in oil, now owned in Berlin, where it +gives lustre to the Geeger collection,—later +a large pastel exhibited in 1895, in the +International Exposition of the Fine Arts at Venice. +</p> + +<p> +Michetti's imagination presented the daughter +of Jorio as a wanderer, with a cloak covering +her head and held shieldingly over the +breast by the right hand, while she passes a +group of staring rustics. Her long rushing +strides, as of one who "knows well the pathways," +have a strangely alluring motion, like +that of a majestic hunted fugitive. One of +the five men whose gaze she attracts is riveted +by her look. To the others she means less than +nothing. She is an outcast or a laughing-stock. +To this one she means a mystic appeal thrown +into his life to stamp it forever. +</p> + +<p> +Not until many years after the journey +through the Abruzzi, in 1903, at Mettuno, the +haunting name, fused with some germinal +impression flowing from Michetti's pictures, +resulted for D'Annunzio in his "La Figlia +di Jorio." The plot is of his own pure +imagination all compact. It rests upon no legend, +he says. The creative idea came in a compelling +influence that gripped him while busied +in other absorbing poetic work belonging to a +series he has had in mind, and involving +historic research in the past of Italy. These +annals of the Malatesta this sudden influence bade +him put aside. It called him, instead, to pour +himself out, with an ardor imperious and +self-assured, in a glowing flood of strongly-stressed +rhythmic poetry. The flood of fire took molten +shape in this tragedy. It embodied not the +historic life of warring nobles, but the obscure, +toiling, pastoral life of antique Italy. +</p> + +<p> +The result is a tragedy vividly spectacular, +dramatically strong and simple. The picturesque +loveliness belonging to the opening of +each act is cut sharply across with the ruthless +inrush of direct vital action. Into the graceful +beauty of the lyrical espousal scene of the first +Act is thrust the pitiless hunting down of Mila, +the daughter of Jorio, by the brutal barking +band of reapers. In the midst of the serene +idealism of the uplifted group in Aligi's meagre +mountain cave, where, in the second Act, love +and art and insight reinforce and befriend each +other, close, even, upon the sanctity of the kiss +of the kneeling lovers, is thrust the crass bestial +domination of the lusty Lazaro, equipped and +privileged to do his evil will. This, perforce, +leads to the lightning stroke of the murder. +Finally, in the third Act, the poetic veil of +meandering lament and tender commiseration +of the kindred for the stricken family is rent +away by the brusque entrance, the swift direct +speech, and decisive help of the daughter of +Jorio. The self-sacrifice of her ripened +transcendent love is then the opportunity for +concentrating against her the blind clamor of their +crude social justice. The final climax of +contrasts is attained by these tumultuous voices +of the surging mob on the one side crying, +"To the fire, to the flames with the daughter +of Jorio!" and, on the other side, by the voice +of the clear-sighted Ornella calling in majesty, +"Mila, Mila! My sister in Jesus, I kiss your +two feet that bear you away! Heaven is for +thee!" and the soaring, rapturous voice of +Mila, the outcast, who has taken all their sins +upon herself, and who cries, "The flame is +beautiful! The flame is beautiful!" +</p> + +<p> +These clear-cut contrasts are masterly for +the stage either of the theatre or the human +breast. They strike to the quick of each +character, to the core of the meaning of every +situation. Throwing open each particular heart in +its degree to comprehension, they reveal it also +to sympathy. At the same time they cast upon +the social sanction of the evil domination of +Lazaro and upon the separate woes of all those +"who suffer and know not wherefore," the +larger light insensibly illumining the plot as +a whole and disclosing its typical relation to +the plot of life in general. Thus, in the +emotionalized manner possible only to genius at +mountain-peak moments, the play illumines +the perennial relations of a predestined love to +art and aspiration and of all three to social +life, which sacrifices all three when it wists not +what it does. +</p> + +<p> +The vivid picturesqueness of such scenes as +those of the espousal rites, in the first Act; the +mourning of the kindred, and the folk-judgment +of the third Act; the interesting figures +of Malde, the treasure-seeker, the herb +gatherer, and the wise old saint of the mountain +of the second Act; in fact, the homely episodes +of pastoral life throughout the drama rest +upon traditional customs and rooted beliefs of +the Abruzzi. +</p> + +<p> +At Pratola, Peligna, and other places in the +Abruzzi the mother-in-law receives her son's +bride into her house with a nuptial ritual full +of poetic symbolism,—a ritual independent +of that of the Church. According to Antonio +de Nino,—whose work on the "Habits and +Customs of the Abruzzi" scientifically verifies +the folk-lore D'Annunzio puts alive before +us,—the mother breaks the bread, the symbol +of fertility, over the son and the daughter. +And as she touches the forehead, breast, and +shoulders, she says: "May we live together +like Christians and not like cats and dogs." She +initiates her new daughter to her fireside +by calling to her notice home-objects to which +special virtue was attributed: the andiron-chain +that could lull storms; the mortar that, +if placed on the window-sill, lured back the +stray pigeon; the salt, which if hung in a +pouch around the baby's neck could keep it +safe from the vampire. +</p> + +<p> +The bride's kindred came to share in the +ceremonial of espousal, as in the play, first +gathering at the house of the mother, whom +they always brought with them with honor at +the close of their procession. To the new home +they advanced in single file, bearing on their +heads the <i>donora</i>, gifts of baskets of grain, +with fluttering ribbons, and on top a loaf and +a flower. There was always some play of +chaffering at the door, barred, as in this drama, +with a ribbon or scarf stretched between a +distaff and a bident, the implements emblematic +of woman and man. The exchange of a piece +of money always closed the bargain and gained +them entrance. Then, every woman, passing +on in turn to the bridal pair, before lowering +her basket, took from it a handful of grain and +scattered it over each head, saying: "This is +the bread God and our Lady send you. May +you grow old together!" +</p> + +<p> +The folk-ritual for burial and the improvisation +of the laments by the wailers were so +elaborate that the ecclesiastical authorities kept +a jealous eye over their excesses. A decree of +1734 is peculiarly interesting on account of the +recognition it supplies that these customs were +bequests from a Pagan age. It declares that +if the women who indulge in the abuse of +mourning at funerals "continue to disturb the +churchly office with lamentation and wailing +and other such practices of paganism," the +clergy shall cease all ministration and leave +them with the body until they go home and +"let the body alone, so that the service can be +followed according to the usage of the Roman +ritual." +</p> + +<p> +Greater poetic interest belongs to the <i>laudi</i> +in the Abruzzi dialect, examples of which are +given in De Nino's fourth volume (<i>Usi e +costumi abbruzzesi par</i> Antonio de Nino. 5 +vols. Barbera, Florence. 1879-1891). From the +text of one of these, several verses are employed +by D'Annunzio in the third Act. He greatly +enhances their dramatic effect by putting them +in the mouth of Candia, when with wandering, +benumbed wits she repeats bits of the dialogue +between the Sacred Mother and her suffering +Son, half confusing her own sorrows over her +son Aligi with those of the Mater Dolorosa. +</p> + +<p> +In all such instances heightened beauty and +significance are given to the Abruzzi usages +with the surest and most delicate art. The +throb of life animates it. Yet the homely truth +to reality behind the adroit touches of art gifts +the play with vigor and concreteness. +</p> + +<p> +Even the passing reference of Splendore to +the petticoat "of a dozen breadths' fulness" +is true, for example, to the dress of the women +of Scanno. The bridal raiment of green, also, +"Of gold and silver the yoke is fashioned +But all the rest like the quiet verdure," is true +to the preference for green of the brides of +Canzano. +</p> + +<p> +Such games of rivalry for the straightest +furrow, as that of which Candia reminds her +son, were held at Sora. In presence of the +old men the youths ran the plough from the +crest of the hill to the foot of the valley, when +the prize, a hat or a scarf, was adjudged. +</p> + +<p> +The "barking" of the reapers "like dogs at +each passer" was an ancient license of disorder +at harvest time, called <i>fare l'incanata</i>. So, the +call for the wine-jug was a custom belonging +to the serenade of the bridal pair on the +marriage night. The song over, the singers +expected wine, cheese, and a loaf to be handed +them outside the door. +</p> + +<p> +As Aligi's cavern, the scene of the second +Act, has its prototype in an actual cavern on +the mountain in Abruzzia, from which Michetti +made sketches for stage use in the Milan +production, so also the shepherd life, as it is +presented especially in this Act, has its model in +reality. Their quiet existence, aloft among the +peaks, leaves the shepherds time to carve their +sheep-hooks, as Aligi did, and to achieve such +other artistry in wood as Aligi masters. Their +neighbor, the sky, makes dreamers of them, too, +like Aligi, and not infrequently poets. The +mountain affords them such comrades as Aligi +had in Malde, the treasure-diviner, the +herb-woman, wise in efficacious simples, and the +lofty, serene-minded Cosmo. Perhaps Cosmo +is not meant to differ greatly in nature from +the distinguished saint of the Morrone +mentioned by Aligi, Pietro Celestino, who was made +Pope Celestin V. in 1294, but who, only a few +months afterwards, abjured the stateliness of +Rome for the hermit's retired life upon the +mountain-side. The habit of life, indicated by +Aligi, is that of the shepherds described by +Finamore (<i>Il pastore e la pastorizia in Abruzzo</i> +in <i>Archivo per lo studio della tradizioni popolari</i>, +IV. 190). They select a sheepstead in the +spring and collect their flocks, living near them +in caves or huts during the summer, but going +down to the village fortnightly for a three days' +rest; and in the autumn coming down with +their flocks, and going on with them either +toward Rome or Puglia. Through the valleys +and across the mountains they hear the singing +Pilgrims passing continually, as they so +effectively come and go in the stage directions of +the second Act, faring to and fro on the way +to such shrines as Splendore mentions in her +reassuring words to Mila,—Santa Maria +della Potenza, and the Incoronata. +</p> + +<p> +On the eve of the Celebration of St. John's +Beheading (August 29) the Plaia or the +Virgine is climbed, according to custom, toward +midnight, so that the red disk of the August +sun may be seen at dawn from the hilltop. +To the beholder of the apparition of the saint's +bleeding head in the disk it was accounted, as +Aligi deemed it, a miraculous sign of God's +favor. +</p> + +<p> +D'Annunzio himself maintains as to one of +the superstitions he has known how to weave +predominatingly into the plot, namely, the +sanctity of the fireplace as a refuge from +violence, that it is Jewish rather than Italian. It +may be so. In any case he has exercised the +right of a poet to use for his higher verities +what he needs and has the art to employ vitally +and well. It may be, too, that he has been +peculiarly happy in grafting so distinctly +Jewish a belief on the rest of his more peculiarly +Christian and Latin beliefs, because there is +an inner link of association between Mila's +fireside and such a sanctuary from their +pursuers as the Adonijahs and Joabs claimed when +they "laid hold upon the horns of the altar." Feasts +were held and burnt offerings were +devoted to Jehovah on such altars. And similarly +sacred to the gods of the hearthstone of +the ancient race—the Lares and Penates—was +the fireside of the Romans. The antique +usage that marks the fireplace and sets it apart +as the altar or temple of the homestead is +architecturally preserved in ancient Italian +buildings by the monumental setting of the +hearthstone above the level of the floor and +the prominent hood to the chimney. The utility +of this arrangement, as usual with folk-myths, +has not hindered, but rather attracted, a +religious explanation. +</p> + +<p> +Such a fireplace is an important trait of the +stage directions in the first Act for the +scene-setting of the home of the Di Roio family. It +is in accord, like all the rest of the furnishings +of the house, with the record De Nino supplies +of the typical Abruzzi homestead. +</p> + +<p> +When the daughter of the alien, of the sorcerer +Jorio, claims sanctuary at the hearth, she +claims it not alone because she is Christian and +therefore can justly make appeal to the God +of this hearth and this household. It is +significant that she also makes her appeal by +virtue of the old laws of the hearthstone, to +gods of the Pagan race and the ancient +kinsfolk. The sacredness of the fireplace as the +altar of each home is, in fact, not confined to +any race. The North American Indian, as +well as the Roman, regards it religiously. Such +faiths grow from a human root. +</p> + +<p> +In the play, the hearth, like the Jewish +altar, becomes a mercy-seat, to be held +inviolate from violence and also from profanation. +Mila seeks it as a shrine and shield from +violence. The kindred declare that she +profanes it. +</p> + +<p> +The dependence of the second and third +Acts upon the Roman law of the absolute +dominion of the father over the son, and the +extreme penalty for parricide of the sack and +the mastiff and the deep sea is justified by the +ancient Latin code, as given in the digest of +Modestinus (xlviii, tit. 9, § 9). The persistence +in the bucolic mind of such grim ancestral +morality causes such a code to outlive its +natural decay. +</p> + +<p> +One of the allusions to the ancient credulities +of the Abruzzi which is most essential to the +plot is Aligi's vision in the first Act of Mila's +guardian angel standing behind her weeping, +and thus in silence revealing the innocency of +her wronged soul. The common faith in the +judgment of God upon the deeds of men being +made clear in a flash by the sudden sight of the +angel in tears finds expression in the proverbial +sayings: "If you would measure the offence, +look behind the right shoulder of him whom +you have offended." "If you make your sister +weep, you make the silent angel weep." "If +you forget to be just, the angel weeps." +</p> + +<p> +Curious and interesting as all these veritable +traces of folk-lore may seem, they are but the +dry bones to which the poet has given flesh and +breath. Not alone the rich deep soil of primitive +custom and religion in which he has rooted +the play, but the spirit of mystery primeval—older +than Christianity or any one religious +influence—in which the play is wrapped, as in +the atmosphere necessary to its life, is +indicated by D'Annunzio himself in his "Triumph +of Death": +</p> + +<p> +"Rites of religions dead and forgotten survive +there; incomprehensible symbols of potencies +long fallen into decay remain intact there; +habits of primitive peoples forever passed away +persist there, handed down without change +from generation to generation; rich customs, +foreign and useless, retained there are the +witnesses to the nobility and beauty of an anterior +life.... In all pomps and ceremonies, work +and play, in births and love, nuptials and, +funerals,—everywhere present and visible, there +is a georgic symbolism; everywhere the Titanic +generating Mother Earth is represented and +reverenced as the bosom whence sprang the +founts of all good and all happiness." +</p> + +<p> +When Mila is left in the cave, in the second +Act, alone with the ecstasy and anguish of her +love for Aligi, and while she kneels before the +Christian symbol of motherhood, she turns also +to this hoary Earth, the mother of all motherhood, +as the child in trouble to the all-embracing +mother-heart. +</p> + +<p> +The love which she and Aligi feel within +them is profoundly rooted in that elemental +mystery to which it has newly opened their +consciousness. It is more ancient far than any +of the ties of habit and family to which Aligi +has been the embodiment of faithful allegiance +all his life before. Older than allegiance to +the family or the clan is the allegiance of lover +and beloved, as the individual man is prior to +the tribal man. +</p> + +<p> +As the play opens, the divine trouble of +allegiance to this more fundamental power has +come upon Aligi dimly. Forebodings of the +woe of his attempted reconciliation of the two +allegiances are sapping his energy. In the +depths of his soul is divined the fatal approach +of supreme love, the predestined child of this +secret power of the older time. The shadow +of this approach girds him about in slumber +as in a shield by the side of the bride whose +soul is no mate for his soul. It holds him +aloof until Mila comes. Then it plunges his +old allegiance, his most religiously dutiful +subordination to the life of kindred and family, +into vital conflict with the inward sense of the +mystical power claiming a higher allegiance, +a deeper, all-embracing reverence. +</p> + +<p> +The situation is a dramatic bodying forth of +further words of D'Annunzio upon the mystery +brooding in the land of the antique blood: +</p> + +<p> +"Mystery intervenes in all events, envelops +and constrains every existence; and +supernatural life dominates, overwhelms, and +absorbs ordinary life." +</p> + +<p> +Put into action, this is the clash of the +ordinary fealty with a fealty older, more +personal, and through the art and the sacrifice +begotten of love, more rewarding to spiritual +life. The hand of the tribe has been ever +against an overlordship of this spiritual kind, +knitting together the clansman and the alien, +and substituting for the child recruiting the +solidarity of the clan, the Angel of Art recruiting +the very soul of the clan. To burn as an +Apostate Angel this Angel of Art along with +the witch whose charm has awakened in the +lover's soul the capacity to show it forth—this +is the usual course of the clan. Only the +Ornellas, the youngest and littlest of its +generation, are as prompt to see and to save as +its privileged heads, the Lazaros, are to +desecrate and embrutalize. +</p> + +<p> +Like Heinrich in Hauptmann's "Sunken +Bell," Aligi is a dreamer. But unlike Heinrich, +he is no waverer. His dream is true. To +the divination it bestows he is true. As long +as his soul and his senses are intact to repel +the benumbing influence of the potion he +disclaims Mila's sacrifice. +</p> + +<p> +All larger meanings involved in the action +are to be inferred as they are in life. Each +may behold for himself. Yet Ornella stands +behind the play, as the angel stood behind +Mila. For any, if any there be, who would +question the bearing of its conclusion, Ornella +is the rectification of any possible doubt or +misjudgment. Through the eyes of her vision +appears the transcendent loving of Mila. +</p> + +<p> +No other works of D'Annunzio, not even +the beautiful "Francesca," reach such heights. +They have artistry, power, concrete truth to +life in common with "The Daughter of +Jorio"; but they do not approach it in that +inner truth to life which unveils the purity +and aspiration of the power of supreme love +in life and in art. That inner life of the power +of love hallows this tragedy. Hence the poet's +art gains an unerring potency of touch, and +it makes the loving of Mila worthy of a younger +brother of the Dante of the "Vita Nuova" +and the "Paradiso." +</p> + +<p> +Inseparable from the power of this tragedy +to cause the deep things within to be heard—"The +deep things within that come from afar"—are +the incomparably beautiful rhythms in +which they are chanted. +</p> + +<p> +They are the rhythms belonging to the land +of the Abruzzi and to "many years ago." There, +says the poet: +</p> + +<p> +"Mystery and rhythm, these two essential +elements of every cult, were everywhere +scattered. Men and women constantly expressed +their souls in song, accompanied by song all +their labors under the roof or under the sky, +celebrated by song life and death. Over cradles +and winding-sheets undulated melodies slow +and prolonged, very ancient,—as ancient, +perhaps, as the race whose profound sadness they +revealed.... Fixed in unalterable rhythm +they seemed fragments of hymns belonging +to immemorial liturgies, surviving the +destruction of some great primordial mythus." +</p> + +<p> +The poet seems to have loosed the pent-up +sources of these immemorial rhythms. He has +dared in part to invent a free dramatico-lyric +verse, in part to recur to archaic forms of verse +of like freedom. In this way he has clothed +every motion and gesture, every quiver of the +body of his drama, in a beauty begotten of +"the antique blood." +</p> + +<p> +Such music, sensitive to each catch of the +living breath of emotion, must seek a form +more flexible than the iambic pentameters of +English usage or the hexameters or Alexandrines +of French. The beauty belonging to +these in their perfection has yet led to a dull +monotony of always-anticipated stress in the +perpetuity of their dramatic use by modern +dramatists. The artifice side of verse has +been so over-emphasized, by limitation to a +form shut out from the thrill of an unexpected +cadence, that audiences instinctively flee the +infliction of sitting out a modern poetic drama, +despite the general superstition, because of its +past glory, that it ought to be forever and +only liked. +</p> + +<p> +Since the only alternative offered by +conventional usage is bald prose, even this has +been gladly accepted in preference, and the +penalty paid of a totally commonplace effect, +usually as bare of the uplift and melody of art +as a trolley car. +</p> + +<p> +D'Annunzio has devised a better way. +Heeding the secret of the manifold effects,—now +of the ancient <i>laudi dramatiche</i> of his +own Abruzzi, now of the austerely simple +plain-song of the mediæval hymn, now of some +strongly four-stressed Tuscan lyric of the +twelfth century, or even the two-stressed line +of the rustic charm,—he has varied his verse +to suit every phase of emotion. He has used +iambic ascending rhythms, in hendecasyllabic +lines, generally, for the serener utterances, such +as Candia's blessing in the espousal rites of +Act I; strongly marked trochaic rhythms, in +octosyllabic lines, for intense lyrical outpourings +of spirit, such as Mila's song at the opening +of Act II, and swiftly descending dactyllic +rhythms, giving jets of voice to sharp seizures +of feeling, such as the fierce outcry of the +Chorus of the Kindred in Act III—<i>Tempia e +tempia, i denti le sgrani</i>—"Temple to temple +and shell out her teeth." Not only, moreover, +by the frequent employment of a strong initial +syllable, along with iambic or anapestic verse, +and other such allowed liberties, but also by +the intercalation of extra syllables or the +omission of others within the normal foot, he has +slowed or raced the pace of the line, in obedience +to some push of thought or beat of purpose. +So varied is the effect that the verse is +as flexible as prose speech. Yet the impression +is never lawless, for the verse never escapes +the <i>ictus</i> of a pervading inward shapeliness. +The artistic comeliness is felt along with the +impetus each variation pours into the sway +of the line. +</p> + +<p> +Internal rhyme, assonance, and thrice repeated +double rhymes still further prolong or +break up the normal effects, so that to the +fluency of the wave of speech is added some +momentary shimmering of its surface, like the +fleeting touches of the wind of the spirit +otherwise viewless. +</p> + +<p> +Such internal rhymes, repetitions, and +assonances, for example, occur in the dialogue +of Mila and Aligi in the second Act: <i>Pei +monti coglierai le genzianellè Eper le spiagge +le stelle marine</i>.—"To cull on the hilltop the +blue gentian lonely, On the sea-shore only +the star-fish flower." <i>Si cammina cammina +lungo il mare</i>.—"I border the bordering +stretches of sea-shore." Or such double rhymes +appear as in Femo di Nerfa's: <i>Prima che la +mano gli tàglino, Prima che nel sacco lo +sèrrino, Col can mastino e lo gèttino, Al fiume in +dove fa gorgo</i>.—"Before his right hand they +shall sever, Before in the leathern sack they +sew him With the savage mastiff and throw +him Where the deep restless waters o'erflow +him." +</p> + +<p> +The tendency of English verse during the +Elizabethan renaissance was toward a musical +flexibility akin to D'Annunzio's. Shakespeare's +verse, especially in his ripest work, +showed the same tendency before it was +regulated by Pope, who cut it into even lengths +of ten syllables, with every even one stressed, +as nearly as he could, by transposing, eliding, +cutting off, or adding—a regulation still +masking as well as marring the native +wood-notes wild in all our modernized texts. +</p> + +<p> +A similar flexibility belonged to Coleridge's +"Christabel," wherein he recurred to the elder +fashion of marking the rhythm sufficiently +by stress to carry the voice as he willed it to +go, instead of the dominant fashion of meting +it into uniformly even lengths of counted +syllables. +</p> + +<p> +Each way should have its own uses for the +modern poet according to the impressional +effect he desires. The elder fashion is no more +lawless than the one which has come to be so +exclusively followed through the dominance of +French influences at the English Court, in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, influences +suiting the growing formalism of the English +temperament. Indeed the elder fashion +requires a more expert metrical handling, while +the other is more open to mediocre poetic +ability. +</p> + +<p> +It would be well for the closer hold of +poetic art on life, especially for dramatic use, +if less automatically regulated verse should be +revived and developed in England, above all +in America,—such flexible verse as D'Annunzio +has revived and developed in "The +Daughter of Jorio." +</p> + +<p> +To translate such verse into set metres of +blank verse or Alexandrines, in no way +corresponding to its peculiar variability, would +be like prisoning a live creature. To do it +violence by uniformly substituting strong +endings for weak endings; to reiterate uniformly +the metre arbitrarily chosen to begin with; to +exclude all grace of internal rhyme would be +like binding a mobile thing from any fluttering. +Surely it would be to cage the bird +whose sensitive wings the genius of D'Annunzio +has freed. +</p> + +<p> +It has fallen to my especial share in this +joint translation to give to it a verse form. +It has seemed to me hopeless,—and my +colleagues are agreed with me in this view—to +attempt to give any glimmering impression of +the rhythmic beauty essential to the mystical +soul of this tragedy, save by seeking to +reproduce for English ears, by similarly free +methods in freely stressed English verse, an +audible impression corresponding to the +impression which the stresses of the Italian verse +have made on my ear as they were spoken. +Hence the desire has been not to be led by +the eye, nor to transliterate analytically the +Italian effects in some recognized forms of +imitative prosody, but merely to listen and +echo in English some faint synthetic reflex of +the flowing music. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHARLOTTE PORTER. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap00c"></a></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-front"> +Gabriele d'Annunzio</a> ... <i>Frontispiece</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-031"> +The Feast of Espousal.</a> <a href="#chap0101">Act I.</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-068"> +"O give me peace for my offences."</a> <a href="#chap0101">Act I.</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-111"> +Mila di Codra and Aligi.</a> <a href="#chap0201">Act II.</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-155"> +The Parricide.</a> <a href="#chap0201">Act II.</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-192"> +The Sacrifice of Mila di Codra.</a> <a href="#chap0301">Act III.</a> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +DRAMATIS PERSONÆ +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +LAZARO Di Roio, <i>Father of Aligi</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +CANDIA DELLA LEONESSA, <i>Mother of Aligi</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +ALIGI, <i>The Shepherd-Artist</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +SPLENDORE, FAVETTA, ORNELLA, <i>Aligi's Sisters</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +VIENDA Di GIAVE, <i>Aligi's Bride</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +MARIA Di GIAVE, <i>Mother of the Bride</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +TEODULA DI CINZIO, LA CINERELLA, MONICA BELLA COGNA, +ANNA Di BOVA, FELAVIA, LA CATALANA, MARIA CORA: +<i>The Kindred</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +MILA Di CODRA, <i>the Daughter of Jorio the Sorcerer dalle +Farne</i> +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +FEMO Di NERFA +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +JENNE DELL' ETA +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +IONA DI MIDIA +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE OLD HERBWOMAN +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE SAINT OF THE MOUNTAIN +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE TREASURE DIVINER +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE DEVIL-POSSESSED YOUTH +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +A SHEPHERD +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +ANOTHER SHEPHERD +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +A REAPER +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +ANOTHER REAPER +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE CROWD OF PEOPLE +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE CHORUS OF THE KINDRED +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE CHORUS OF REAPERS +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +THE CHORUS OF WAILERS +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +SCENE: The Land of the Abruzzi +</p> + +<p class="dramatis"> +TIME: Many years ago. (Placed about the sixteenth +century by the Painter Michetti, who designed the scenes +and costumes for the initial production in Milan.) +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0101"></a></p> + +<p class="t2"> +THE DAUGHTER OF JORIO +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<h3> +ACT I.—SCENE I. +</h3> + +<p> +<i>A room on the ground floor of a +rustic house. The large entrance +door opens on a large sunlit yard. +Across the door is stretched, to prevent entrance, +a scarlet woollen scarf, held in place at each end +by a forked hoe and a distaff. At one side +of the door jamb is a waxen cross to keep off +evil spirits. A smaller closed door, with its +architrave adorned with boxwood green, is on +the wall at the right, and close against the same +wall are three ancient wooden chests. At the +left, and set in the depth of the wall, is a +chimney and fire-place with a prominent hood; +and a little at one side a small door, and near +this an ancient loom. In the room are to be +seen such utensils and articles of furniture as +tables, benches, hasps, a swift, and hanks of flax +and wool hanging from light ropes drawn between +nails or hooks. Also to be seen are jugs, +dishes, plates, bottles and flasks of various sizes +and materials, with many gourds, dried and +emptied. Also an ancient bread and flour chest, +the cover of it having a carved panel representing +the image of the Madonna. Beside this +the water basin and a rude old table. +Suspended from the ceiling by ropes is a wide, +broad board laden with cheeses. Two windows, +iron-grated and high up from the ground, give +light, one at each side of the large door, and +in each of the gratings is stuck a bunch of red +buckwheat to ward off evil.</i> +</p> + +<p> +SPLENDORE, FAVETTA, ORNELLA, <i>the three +young sisters, are kneeling each in front of +one of the three chests containing the wedding +dresses. They are bending over them and picking +out suitable dresses and ornaments for the +bride. Their gay, fresh tones are like the +chanting of morning songs.</i> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + What's your will, our own Vienda?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What's your will, our dear new sister?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Will you choose the gown of woolen,<br> + Would you sooner have the silken,<br> + Sprayed with flowrets red and yellow?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [<i>singing</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Only of green shall be my arraying.<br> + Only of green for Santo Giovanni,<br> + For mid the green meadows he came to seek me,<br> + Oili, Oili, Oila!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Look! Here is the bodice of wondrous embroidery,<br> + And the yoke with the gleaming thread of silver,<br> + Petticoat rich of a dozen breadths' fulness,<br> + Necklace strung with hundred-beaded coral,—<br> + All these given you by your new mother.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [<i>singing</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Only of green be or gown or bridal chamber!<br> + Oili, oili, oila!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What's your will, our own Vienda?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + What's your will, our dear new sister?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Pendant earrings, clinging necklace,<br> + Blushing ribbons, cherry red?<br> + Hear the ringing bells of noonday,<br> + Hear the bells ring out high noon!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + See the kindred hither coming,<br> + On their heads the hampers bearing,<br> + Hampers laden with wheat all golden,<br> + And you yet not dressed and ready!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Bounding, rebounding,<br> + Sheep pass, the hills rounding.<br> + The wolf, through valleys winding,<br> + The nut he seeks is finding,—<br> + The pistachio nut is finding.<br> + See, the Bride of the Morning!<br> + Matinal as the field-mouse<br> + Going forth at the dawning,<br> + As the woodchuck and squirrel.<br> + Hear, O hear, the bells' whirl!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>All these words are spoken very swiftly, +and at the close </i>ORNELLA<i> laughs joyously, her +two sisters joining with her.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE THREE SISTERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! Aligi, why then don't you come?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! in velvet then must you dress?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Seven centuries quite, must you rest<br> + With your beautiful, magical Spouse?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + O your father stays at the harvesting,<br> + Brother mine, and the star of the dawning<br> + In his sickle-blade is showing,—<br> + In his sickle, no rest knowing.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And your mother has flavored the wine-cup<br> + And anise-seed mixed with the water,<br> + Sticking cloves in the roast meat<br> + And sweet thyme in the cheeses.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + And a lamb of the flock we have slaughtered,<br> + Yea, a yearling, but fattened one season,<br> + With head markings and spottings of sable,<br> + For the Bride and the Bridegroom.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And the mantle, long-sleeved, and cowl-hooded,<br> + For Astorgio we chose it and kept it,—<br> + For the long-lived gray man of the mountain,<br> + So our fate upon that he foretell us.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And to-morrow will be San Giovanni,<br> + Dear, my brother! with dawn, San Giovanni!<br> + Up the Plaia hill then shall I hie me,<br> + To behold once again the head severed—<br> + In the sun's disc, the holy head severed,<br> + On the platter all gleaming and golden,<br> + Where again the blood runs, flows and babbles.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Up, Vienda! head all golden,<br> + Keeping long vigil; O golden sweet tresses!<br> + Now they harvest in the grain-fields<br> + Wheat as golden as your tresses.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Our mother was saying: "Now heed me!<br> + Three olives I nurtured here with me;<br> + Unto these now a plum have I added.<br> + Ay! three daughters, and, also, a daughter."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Come, Vienda, golden-plum girl!<br> + Why delay you? Are you writing<br> + To the sun a fair blue letter<br> + That to-night it know no setting?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She laughs and the other sisters join in +with her. From the small door enters their +mother, </i>CANDIA BELLA LEONESSA.] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA [<i>playfully chiding</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! you magpies, sweet cicales!<br> + Once for over-joy of singing<br> + One was burst upon the poplar.<br> + Now the cock's no longer crowing<br> + To awaken tardy sleepers.<br> + Only sing on these cicales,—<br> + These cicales of high noonday.<br> + These three magpies take my roof-tree—<br> + Take my door's wood for a tree-branch.<br> + Still the new child does not heed them.<br> + Oh! Aligi, Aligi, dear fellow!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The door opens. The beardless bridegroom +appears. He greets them with a grave +voice, fixed eyes, and in an almost religious +manner.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + All praise to Jesus and to Mary!<br> + You, too, my mother, who this mortal<br> + Christian flesh to me have given,<br> + Be you blessed, my dear mother!<br> + Blessed be ye, also, sisters,<br> + Blossoms of my blood!<br> + For you, for me, I cross my forehead,<br> + That never there come before us to thwart us<br> + The enemy subtle, in death, in life,<br> + In heat of sun, or flame of fire,<br> + Or poison, or any enchantment,<br> + Or sweat unholy the forehead moist'ning.<br> + Father, and Saviour, and Holy Spirit!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The sisters cross themselves and go out +by the small door, carrying the bridal dresses. +</i>ALIGI<i> approaches his mother as if in a dream.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Flesh of my flesh, thus touch I your forehead<br> + With bread, with this fair wheaten loaf of white flour,<br> + Prepared in this bowl of a hundred years old,<br> + Born long before thee, born long before me,<br> + Kneaded long on the board of a hundred years old<br> + By these hands that have tended and held you.<br> + On the brow, thus, I touch: Be it sunny and clear!<br> + I touch thus the breast: Be it free from all sighing!<br> + I touch this shoulder, and that: Be it strong!<br> + Let them bear up your arms for long labor!<br> + Let her rest there her head gray or golden!<br> + And may Christ to you speak and you heed him!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>With the loaf she makes the sign of the +cross above her son, who has fallen on his knees +before her.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + I lay down and meseemed of Jesus I dreamed.<br> + He came to me saying: "Be not fearful."<br> + San Giovanni said to me: "Rest in safety.<br> + Without holy candles thou shalt not die."<br> + Said he: "Thou shalt not die the death accursed."<br> + And you, you have cast my lot in life, mother,<br> + Allotted the bride you have chosen for me,—<br> + Your son, and here, within your own house, mother,<br> + You have brought her to couple with me,<br> + That she slumber with me on my pillow,<br> + That she eat with me out of my platter.<br> + Then I was pasturing flocks on the mountain.<br> + Now back to the mountain I must be turning.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>His mother touches his head with the palm +of her hand as if to chase away evil thoughts.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Rise up, my son! You are strangely talking.<br> + All your words are now changing in color,<br> + As the olive tree changes pressed by the breezes.<br> +</p> + +<p> +[<i>He rises, as if in a daze.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + But where is my father? Still nowhere I see him.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Gone to the harvesting, out with the reapers,<br> + The good grain reaping, by grace of our Saviour.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + I reaped once, too, by his body shaded,<br> + Ere I was signed with the cross on my forehead,<br> + When my brow scarcely reached up to his haunches.<br> + But on my first day a vein here I severed,—<br> + Here where the scar stays. Then with leaves he was bruising<br> + The while he stanched the red blood from flowing,<br> + "Son Aligi," said he unto me, "Son Aligi,<br> + Give up the sickle and take up the sheep-crook:<br> + Be you a shepherd and go to the mountain."<br> + This his command was kept in obedience.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Son of mine, what is this pain the heart of you hurting?<br> + What dream like an incubus over you hovers,<br> + That these your words are like a wayfarer,<br> + Sitting down on his road at night's coming,<br> + Who is halting his footsteps for knowing,<br> + Beyond attaining is his heart's desiring,<br> + Past his ears' hearing the Ave Maria.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Now to the mountain must I be returning.<br> + Mother, where is my stout shepherd's sheep-hook<br> + Used to the pasture paths, daily or nightly?<br> + Let me have that, so the kindred arriving,<br> + May see thereupon all the carving I've carved.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>His mother takes the shepherd's crook +from the corner of the fireplace.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Lo! here it is, son of mine, take it: your sisters<br> + Have hung it with garlands for Santo Giovanni,<br> + With pinks red and fragrant festooned it.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI [<i>pointing out the carving on it.</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + And I have them here on the bloodwood all with me,<br> + As if by the hand I were leading my sisters.<br> + So, along they go with me threading green pathways,<br> + Guarding them, mother,—these three virgin damsels,—<br> + See! three bright angels here over them hover,<br> + And three starry comets, and three meek doves also.<br> + And a flower for each one I have carved here,<br> + The growing half-moon and the sun I have carved here;<br> + This is the priestly stole; and this is the cup sacramental;<br> + And this is the belfry of San Biagio.<br> + And this is the river, and this my own cabin;<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> + [<i>with mystery, as if with second sight</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + But who, who is this one who stands in my doorway?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, why is it you set me to weeping!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + And see at the end here that in the ground enters,<br> + Here are the sheep, and here also their shepherd,<br> + And here is the mountain where I must be going,<br> + Though you weep, though I weep, my mother!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He leans on the crook with both hands, +resting his head upon them, lost in his +thoughts.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + But where then is Hope? What have you made of her, son?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Her face has shone on me seldom;<br> + Carve her, I could not, sooth! mother.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>From a distance a savage clamor rises.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Mother, who shouts out so loud there?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + The harvesters heated and frenzied,<br> + From the craze of their passions defend them,<br> + From sins of their blood San Giovanni restrain them!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! Who then has drawn but that scarf there,<br> + Athwart the wide door of our dwelling,<br> + Leaning on it the forked hoe and distaff,<br> + That naught enter in that is evil?<br> + Ah! Lay there the ploughshare, the wain, and the oxen,<br> + Pile stones there against both the door-posts,<br> + With slaked lime from all of the lime-kilns,<br> + The bowlder with footprints of Samson,<br> + And Maella Hill with its snow-drifts!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What is coming to birth in your heart, son of mine?<br> + Did not Christ say to you, "Be not fearful"?<br> + Are you awake? Heed the waxen cross there,<br> + That was blessed on the Day of Ascension,<br> + The door-hinges, too, with holy water sprinkled,<br> + No evil spirit can enter our doorway,<br> + Your sisters have drawn the scarlet scarf 'cross it,—<br> + The scarlet scarf you won in the field-match<br> + Long before you ever became a shepherd,<br> + In the match that you ran for the straightest furrow,—<br> + (You still remember it, son of mine?) Thus have they stretched it<br> + So that the kindred who must pass through there<br> + Offer what gifts they choose when they enter.<br> + Why do you ask, for you well know our custom?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother! mother! I have slept years seven hundred—<br> + Years seven hundred! I come from afar off.<br> + I remember no longer the days of my cradle.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What ails you, son? Like one in a dazement you answer.<br> + Black wine was it your bride poured out for you?<br> + And perhaps you drank it while yet you were fasting,<br> + So that your mind is far off on a journey?<br> + O Mary, blest Virgin! do thou grant me blessing!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The voice of </i>ORNELLA<i> singing the nuptial song.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Only of green shall be my arraying,<br> + Only of green for Santo Giovanni.<br> + Oili, oili, oila!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The </i>Bride<i> appears dressed in green and +is brought forward joyously by the sisters.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Lo! the bride comes whom we have apparelled<br> + With all the joy of the spring-time season.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Of gold and silver the yoke is fashioned,<br> + But all the rest like the quiet verdure.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + You, mother, take her! in your arms take her!<br> + O dear my mother, take and console her!<br> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Shedding tears at the bedside we found her,<br> + Thus lamenting for thinking so sorely<br> + Of the gray head at home left so lonely.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Of the jar full of pinks in the window<br> + Her dear face not again shall lean over.<br> + You, mother, take her! in your arms take her!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Daughter, daughter, with this loaf in blessing<br> + I have touched my own son. Lo! now I divide it,<br> + And over your fair shining head I now break it.<br> + May our house have increase of abundance!<br> + Be thou unto the dough as good leaven<br> + That may swell it out over the bread-board!<br> + Bring unto me peace and ah! do not bring strife to me!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE THREE SISTERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + So be it! We kiss the earth, mother!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They kiss the ground by leaning over and +touching it with forefinger and middle finger, +and then touching their lips. </i>ALIGI<i> is kneeling +on one side as if in deep prayer.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O now daughter mine to my house be<br> + As the spindle is unto the distaff;<br> + As unto the skein is the spindle;<br> + And as unto the loom is the shuttle!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE THREE SISTERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + So be it! We kiss the earth, mother!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Vienda! new daughter, child blessed!<br> + Lo! midst home and pure food thus I place you.<br> + Lo! The walls of this house—the four corners!<br> + God willing, the sun rises there; sinks there, God willing!<br> + This is the northward, this is the southward.<br> + The ridgepole this, the eaves with nests hanging,<br> + And the chain and the crane with the andirons;<br> + There the mortar the white salt is crushed in,<br> + And there, too, the crock it is kept in.<br> + O new daughter! I call you to witness<br> + How midst home things and pure food I place you<br> + Both for this life and life everlasting.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE THREE SISTERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + So be it! We kiss the earth, mother!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[VIENDA <i>rests her head, weeping, on the +shoulder of the mother. </i>CANDIA<i> embraces her, +still holding a half-loaf in each hand. The cry +of the reapers is heard nearer. </i>ALIGI<i> rises like +one suddenly wakened and goes toward the +door. The sisters follow him.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Now by the great heat are the reapers all maddened,<br> + They are barking and snapping like dogs at each passer.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Now the last of the rows they are reaching,<br> + With the red wine they never mix water.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + At the end of each row, they are drinking,<br> + In the shade of the stack the jug lying.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Lord of heaven! The heat is infernal,<br> + At her tail bites the old gammer serpent.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [<i>chanting</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh, for mercy! Wheat and wheat, and stubble, stubble,<br> + First in sun burn the sickles, then wounds they trouble.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh mercy for father! for his arms tired,<br> + And all his veins with labor swollen.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Aligi! you saddest of grooms<br> + Keeping yet in your nostrils sleep's fumes!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O, you know very well the rhyme turned about.<br> + You have placed the good loaf in the jug,<br> + You have poured the red wine in the sack.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Lo! now the kindred! Lo! now the women! they are coming.<br> + Up, up! Vienda! and cease your weeping.<br> + Mother! How now! They are coming. Set her free then.<br> + Up! Golden tresses, cease your weeping!<br> + You have wept too long. Your fine eyes are reddened!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[VIENDA <i>dries her tears on her apron and +taking the apron up by the two corners receives +in it the two pieces of the loaf from the +mother.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + In blood and in milk return it to me!<br> + Goldenhair, come now, sit on the settle.<br> + Oh! Aligi, you too, come sit here! and wake up!<br> + One of you here, one of you there, thus stay ye,<br> + Children, thus, at each side of the door.<br> + Be it wide open for all to see in there<br> + The wide bed so wide that in order to fill it—<br> + The mattress to fill—I used up the straw-stack.<br> + Ay! the whole of the stack to the bare pole,<br> + With the crock sticking up on the tiptop!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[CANDIA<i> and </i> PLENDORE<i> place a small +bench each side of the door, where the couple +sit composed and silent, looking at each other. +</i>ORNELLA<i> and </i>FAVETTA<i> looking out toward +the road at the large door. The yard is in +dazzling sunlight.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + See! They are coming up the road slowly<br> + In single file, all: Teodula di Cinzio<br> + And Cinerella, Monica, Felavia,<br> + And Catalana delle Tre Bisacce,<br> + Anna di Bova, Maria Cora ... but who is the last one?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Come on then, Splendore, do help me spread out now<br> + The bedspread I wove of silk doubled,<br> + Woven for you, Vienda, dear green bud,<br> + As green as the grass of the meadow,<br> + The sweet grass, early bee, where you hover.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Who is last? Can you tell us, Vienda?<br> + Oh! I see yellow grain in the hampers,<br> + And it glitters like gold. Who can she be?<br> + Gray at the temple, beneath the white linen,<br> + Gray as the feathery bryony branches.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Your mommy! dear child, is she your mommy?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[VIENDA <i>rises suddenly as if to rush to her +mother. In so doing she lets the bread fall +from her apron. She stops, shocked. </i>ALIGI<i> +rises and stands so as to prevent the mother +from seeing.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [<i>greatly concerned, in a frightened voice</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Lord save us! Pick it up again.<br> + Pick it up, kiss it, ere mamma see it.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[VIENDA, <i>terrified and overwhelmed by +frightful superstition, is stricken immovable, +rigid, staring at the two half-loaves with glassy +eyes.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Pick it up, kiss it, sad is the angel.<br> + Make a vow silently, promise greatly,<br> + Call on San Sisto, lest Death should appear.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>From within are heard the blows given +with the hand on mattress and pillows and the +wind carries to the ear the clamor of the +reapers.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + San Sisto! San Sisto!<br> + Oh! hear ye, and list, oh!<br> + Black death, evil sprite,<br> + By day, by night,<br> + Chase from our walls!<br> + Drive from our souls!<br> + Oh! crumble and tear<br> + The evil eye's snare,<br> + As the sign of the cross I make!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>While murmuring the conjuring words +she rapidly gathers up the two half-loaves, +pressing each to </i>VIENDA'S<i> lips, kissing them +herself, and then placing each in the apron, +making the sign of the cross over them. She +then leads the bridal couple to their benches, as +the first of the women kindred appears at the +door with the offerings, stopping in front of +the scarlet scarf. The women each carry on the +head a hamper of wheat adorned with flowing +ribbons of various colors. On each basket rests +a loaf of bread, and on top of each loaf a wild +flower. </i>ORNELLA<i> and </i>FAVETTA<i> take each one +end of the scarf while still leaving hoe and +distaff in place against the wall, but so posed +as to bar entrance.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FIRST WOMAN, TEODULA DI CINZIO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ohe! Who watches the bridges?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA and ORNELLA [<i>in unison</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Love open-eyed and Love blind.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + To cross over there I desire.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + To desire is not to acquire.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I clambered the mountain ridges,<br> + Now down through the valley I'll wind.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + The torrent has taken the bridges,<br> + Too swift runs the river, you'll find.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Set me over in your boat.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + She leaks too fast to keep afloat.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I'll calk her with tow and resin.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Leaks full seven split and stove her.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Then I'll give you pieces seven.<br> + On your shoulder bear me over.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh, no! Help of mine you must lack.<br> + The wild water fills me with fright.<br> +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-031"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-031.jpg" alt="THE FEAST OF ESPOUSAL. <i>Act I.</i>"> +<br> +THE FEAST OF ESPOUSAL. <i>Act I.</i> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Lend me a lift on your back.<br> + I'll give you this silver piece bright.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Too little! Your eight bits, indeed,<br> + Would not keep my ribbons new.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Tuck up your skirt. Plunge in bare-kneed.<br> + A ducat of gold I'll give to you.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The first woman, </i>TEODULA<i>, gives </i>ORNELLA<i> +a piece of money. She receives it in her +left hand, while the other women come closer +to the door. The bridal pair remain seated and +silent. </i>CANDIA<i> and </i>SPLENDORE<i> enter from the +small door.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA and FAVETTA [in unison]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Pass on then, O you fair Lady!<br> + And all these in your company!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ORNELLA <i>puts the money in her bosom +and takes away the distaff, </i>FAVETTA<i>, the hoe. +They then leave both leaning against the wall. +</i>ORNELLA<i>, with a quick movement, withdraws +the scarf, making it wave like a slender +pennant. The women then enter one by one, in +line, still holding their baskets balanced on +their heads.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + TEODULA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Peace be with you, Candia della Leonessa!<br> + And peace, too, with you, son of Lazaro di Roio!<br> + And peace to the bride whom Christ has given!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She places her basket at the bride's feet +and, taking out of it a handful of wheat, she +scatters it over </i>VIENDA'S<i> head. She then takes +another handful and scatters it over </i>ALIGI'S.] +</p> + +<p> + This is the peace that is sent you from Heaven:<br> + That on the same pillow your hair may whiten,<br> + On the same pillow to old age ending.<br> + Nor sin nor vengeance be between you,<br> + Falsehood nor wrath, but love, love only,<br> + Daily, till time for the long, long journey.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The next woman repeats the same ceremony +and action, the others meanwhile remaining +in line awaiting their turn, with the hampers +on their heads. The last one, the mother of the +bride, remains motionless near the threshold, +and dries her face of tears and perspiration. +The noise of the riotous reapers increases and +seems to come nearer. Besides this noise, from +time to time, in pauses, now and again the +ringing of bells is heard.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + For this is peace and this is plenty.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Suddenly a woman's cry is heard outside, +coming from the yard.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE VOICE OF THE UNKNOWN WOMAN<br> +</p> + +<p> + Help! Help! For Jesus' sake, our Saviour!<br> + People of God, O people of God, save ye me!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Running, panting from fright and exertion, +covered with dust and briars, like a hart +run down by a pack of hunting dogs, a woman +enters. Her face is covered by a mantle. She +looks about bewildered, and withdraws to the +corner near the fireplace, opposite to the bridal +pair.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE UNKNOWN WOMAN<br> +</p> + +<p> + People of God! O save ye me!<br> + The door there! O shut tight the door there,<br> + Put ye up all the bars! Securely.—<br> + They are many, and all have their sickles.<br> + They are crazed,—crazed with heat and strong drinking.<br> + They are brutal with lust and with cursing.<br> + Me would they hunt,—they would seize me;<br> + They would hunt me, they would seize me,—me,—<br> + The creature of Christ, ay, me,—<br> + The unhappy one, doing no evil!<br> + Passing I was—alone—by the roadside.—<br> + They saw me.—They cried.—They insulted.<br> + They hurled sods and stones.—They chased me.—<br> + Ay! like unto hounds that are hungry,<br> + They would seize me and tear me and torture.<br> + They are following me, O most wretched!<br> + They are hunting me down, people of God!<br> + Help ye! Save me! The door, O shut it to!<br> + The door!—They are maddened—will enter!<br> + They will take me from here,—from your hearthstone—<br> + (The deed even God cannot pardon)!—<br> + From your hearthstone that blest is and sacred<br> + (And aught else but that deed God pardons)—<br> + And my soul is baptized,—I am Christian—<br> + Oh! help! O for San Giovanni's sake, help me!<br> + For Mary's sake, her of the seven dolors!<br> + For the sake of my soul.—For your own soul!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She stays by the hearth, all the women +gathering at the side opposite her. </i>VIENDA<i> +close to her mother and godmother. </i>ALIGI<i> +stands outside the circle unmoved, leaning on +his crook. Suddenly </i>ORNELLA<i> rushes to the +door, closes it, and bars it. A somewhat +inimical murmur arises from the circle of +women.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Ah! tell me your name,—how they call you,—<br> + Your name, that wherever I wander,<br> + Over mountains, in valleys I bless it,<br> + You, who in pity are first here,<br> + Though in years yours are least in the counting!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Overcome she lets herself drop on the +hearth, bowed over upon herself with her head +resting on her knees. The women are huddled +together like frightened sheep. </i>ORNELLA<i> +steps forward toward the stranger.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Who is this woman? Holy Virgin!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And is this the right way to enter<br> + The dwelling of God-fearing people?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MONICA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And Candia, you! What say you?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Will you let the door stay bolted?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Is the last to be born of your daughters,<br> + The first to command in your household?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + She will bring down upon you bad fortune,<br> + The wandering she-dog, for certain!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Did you mark how she entered that instant<br> + While yet Cinerella was pouring<br> + On Vienda her handful of wheat flour<br> + Ere Aligi had got his share fully?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ORNELLA <i>goes a step nearer the wretched +fugitive. </i>FAVETTA<i> leaves the circle and joins +her.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MONICA<br> +</p> + +<p> + How now! Are we, then, to remain here,<br> + With our baskets still on our heads loaded?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Sure it would be a terrible omen<br> + To put down on the ground here our baskets<br> + Before giving our offerings to them.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA DI GIAVE<br> +</p> + +<p> + My daughter, may Saint Luke defend you!<br> + Saint Mark and Saint Matthew attend you!<br> + Grope for your scapulary round your neck hanging,<br> + Hold it closely and offer your prayer.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[SPLENDORE, <i>too, comes forward and joins +the sisters. The three girls stand before the +fugitive, who is still prostrate, panting and +trembling with fear.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + You are over sore-pressed, sister,<br> + And dusty and tired, you tremble.<br> + Weep no more, since now you are safe here.<br> + You are thirsty. Your drink is your tears.<br> + Will you drink of our water and wine? Your face bathe?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She takes a small bowl, draws water from +the earthen receptacle, and pours wine into it.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Are you of the valleys or elsewhere?<br> + Do you come from afar? And whither<br> + Do you now bend your steps, O woman!<br> + All desolate thus by the roadside!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Some malady ails you, unlucky one?<br> + A vow then of penitence made you?<br> + To the Incoronata were travelling?<br> + May the Virgin answer your prayers!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The fugitive lifts her head slowly and +cautiously, with her face still hidden in the +mantle.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [<i>offering the bowl</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Will you drink, now, daughter of Jesus?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>From outside a noise is heard as of bare +feet shuffling in the yard and voices +murmuring. The stranger, again stricken with fear, +does not drink from the proffered bowl but +places it on the hearth and retires trembling to +the further corner of the chimney.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE UNKNOWN ONE<br> +</p> + +<p> + They are here, oh, they come! They are seeking<br> + For me! They will seize me and take me.<br> + For mercy's sake, answer not, speak not.<br> + They will go if they think the house empty,<br> + And do nothing evil; but if you<br> + Are heard, if you speak or you answer<br> + They will certainly know I have entered.<br> + They will open the door, force it open.<br> + With the heat and the wine they are frenzied,<br> + Mad dogs! and here is but one man,<br> + And many are they and all have their sickles,<br> + Their scythes.—Oh! for dear pity's sake,<br> + For the sake of these innocent maidens,<br> + For your sake, dear daughter of kindness! You, women holy!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE BAND OF REAPERS [<i>in chorus outside at the door</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + The dwelling of Lazaro! Surely<br> + Into this house entered the woman.<br> + —They have closed the door, they have barred it!<br> + —Look out for her there in the stubble.<br> + —Search well in the hay there, Gonzelvo.<br> + —Hah! Hah! In the dwelling of Lazaro,<br> + Right into the maw of the wolf. Hah! Hah!<br> + —O! Candia della Leonessa!<br> + Ho! all of you there! Are you dead?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> + [<i>They knock at the door.</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! Candia della Leonessa!<br> + Do you offer a shelter to harlots?<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Do you find that you need such temptation<br> + To still the fain flesh of your husband?<br> + —If the woman be there, I say, open!<br> + Open the door, good folks, give her to us<br> + And on a soft bed we will lay her.<br> + —Bring her out to us! Bring her out to us,<br> + For we only want to know her better.<br> + To the hay-cock, the hay-cock, the hay-cock!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They knock and clamor. </i>ALIGI<i> moves +toward the door.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE UNKNOWN ONE [whispering imploringly]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Young man, O young man, pray have mercy!<br> + O have mercy! Do not open!<br> + Not for my sake, not mine, but for others,<br> + Since they will not seize now on me only,<br> + Since imbruted are they. You must hear it!—<br> + In their voices?—How now the fiend holds them?<br> + The bestial mad fiend of high noonday,<br> + The sweltering dog-days' infection.<br> + If they gain entry here, what can you do?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The greatest excitement prevails among +the women, but they restrain themselves.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ye see now to what shame we all are submitted,<br> + We women of peace here, for this woman,<br> + She who dares not show her face to us!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Open, Aligi, open the door there,<br> + But wide enough to let her pass out.<br> + Grip hold of her and toss her out there,<br> + Then close and bar the entrance, giving praises<br> + To Lord Jesus our salvation.<br> + And perdition overtake all wretches!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The shepherd turns toward the woman, +hesitating. </i>ORNELLA<i>, stepping forward, stops +his way; making a sign of silence, she goes +to the door.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Who is there? Who knocks at the door there?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + VOICES OF THE REAPERS [<i>outside, all confusedly</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Silence there! Hush up! Hush—sh! Hush—sh!<br> + —There is some one within who is speaking,<br> + —O Candia della Leonessa,<br> + Is it you who are speaking? Open! Open!<br> + —We are the reapers here of Norca,<br> + All the company are we of Cataldo.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I am not Candia. For Candia is busied now.<br> + Abroad is she since early morning.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + A VOICE<br> +</p> + +<p> + And you? Say who are you then?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I belong to Lazaro, Ornella,<br> + My father is Lazaro di Roio.<br> + But ye, say ye, why ye have come here?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + A VOICE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Open, we but want to look inside there.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Open, that I cannot. For my mother<br> + Locked me in here with her kindred<br> + Going out, for we are marrying.<br> + The betrothal we are having of my brother,<br> + Aligi, the shepherd, who is taking<br> + To wife here, Vienda di Giave.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + A VOICE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Did you then not let in a woman,<br> + But a short while ago, a woman frightened?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + A woman? Then in peace go away.<br> + Seek ye elsewhere to find her.<br> + O reapers of Norca! I return to my loom here,<br> + For each cast that is lost by my shuttle<br> + Will be lost and can never be gathered.<br> + God be with you to keep you from evil,<br> + O ye reapers of Norca! May he give you<br> + Strength for your work in the grain fields<br> + Till by evening you reach the end of your labor,<br> + And I, also, poor woman, the ending<br> + Of the breadth of this cloth I am weaving.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Suddenly at the side window two muscular +hands seize the iron bars and a brutal face peers +in.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE REAPER [<i>shouting in a loud voice</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ho! Captain! the woman is in there!<br> + She's inside! She's inside! The youngster<br> + Was fooling us here, yes, the youngster!<br> + The woman is in there! See, inside there,<br> + In the corner. I see her, I see her!<br> + And there too is the bride and the bridegroom,<br> + And the kindred who brought them their presents.<br> + This is the feast of the grain-pouring spousal.<br> + Ah, ho! Captain! A fine lot of girls there!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF REAPERS [<i>outside</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + —If the woman's within, we say, open!<br> + For you it is shame to protect her.<br> + —Send her out here! Send her out here!<br> + And we will give her some honey.<br> + —Ho! open there, open, you, and give her to us.<br> + —To the hay-cock with her, to the hay-cock.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They clamor and shout. The women inside +are all confused and agitated. The +unknown one keeps in the shadow, shrinking close +to the wall, as if she sought to sink herself +in it.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + —O help us, O holy Virgin!<br> + Is this what the vigil gives us,<br> + The eve of Santo Giovanni?<br> + —What disgrace is this you give us,—what sorrow<br> + This that you give us, Beheaded one!—<br> + Just to-day of all days.<br> + —Candia, have you lost your reason?<br> + —O Candia, have you lost your senses?<br> + —Ornella, and all your sisters with you?<br> + —She was always a bit of a madcap.<br> + —Give her up to them, give her, give her<br> + To these hungry, ravening wolves!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE REAPER [<i>still holding the bars</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Shepherd Aligi, Oho! shepherd Aligi,<br> + Will you give, at your feast of espousal,<br> + A place to a sheep that is rotten,—<br> + A sheep that is mangy and lousy?<br> + Take care she infect not your sheepfold,<br> + Or give to your wife her contagion.<br> + O Candia della Leonessa,<br> + Know you whom in your home there you harbor,<br> + In your home there with your new-found daughter?<br> + The daughter of Jorio, the daughter<br> + Of the Sorcerer of Codra!<br> + She-dog roamer o'er mountains and valleys,<br> + A haunter of stables and straw-stacks,<br> + Mila the shameless? Mila di Codra.<br> + The woman of stables and straw-heaps,<br> + Very well known of all companies;<br> + And now it has come to be our turn,—<br> + The turn of the reapers of Norca.<br> + Send her out here, send her out here!<br> + We must have her, have her, have her!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI, <i>pale and trembling, advances toward +the wretched woman, who remains persistently +in the shadow; and pulling off her mantle, he +uncovers her face.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA DI CODRA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No! No! It is not true! A cruel lie!<br> + A cruel lie! Do not believe him,<br> + Do not believe what such a dog says!<br> + It is but the cursed wine speaking<br> + And out of his mouth bubbling evil.<br> + If God heard it, may He to poison<br> + Turn his black words, and he drown in 't!<br> + No! It is not true. A cruel lie!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The three sisters stop their ears while the +reaper renews his vituperations.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE REAPER<br> +</p> + +<p> + You shameless one! you are common,<br> + Well known are you as the ditches,<br> + The field-grass to dry straw turning,<br> + Under your body's sins burning,<br> + Men for your body have gambled<br> + And fought with pitchforks and sickles.<br> + Only wait just a bit for your man, Candia,<br> + And you'll see! He'll come back to you bandaged,<br> + For sure! From a fight with Rainero,<br> + A fight in the grain-field of Mispa,—<br> + For whom but for Jorio's daughter?<br> + And now you keep her in your home, here,<br> + To give her to your man Lazaro,<br> + To have him find her here all ready.<br> + Aligi! Vienda di Giave!<br> + Give up to her your bridal bedstead!<br> + And all ye women, go and scatter wheat-grains,—<br> + Upon her head the golden wheat-grains!<br> + We'll come back ourselves here with music,<br> + A little later and ask for the wine-jug.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The reaper jumps down and disappears +mid an outbreak of coarse laughter from the +others.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF REAPERS [<i>outside</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Hand us out the wine-jug. That's the custom,<br> + —The wine-jug, the wine-jug, and the woman!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>stands rigid, with his eyes fixed upon +the floor, perplexed, still holding in his hand +the mantle he has taken.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O innocence, O innocence, of all these<br> + Young maidens here, you have heard not,<br> + The filthiness, you have heard not,<br> + Oh! Tell me you have heard not, heard not!—<br> + At least not you, Ornella, oh, no, not<br> + You who have wished to save me!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do not go near her, Ornella! Or would you<br> + Have her ruin you? She, the daughter of the Sorcerer,<br> + Must to every one bring ruin.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + She comes to me because behind me<br> + She sees here weeping the silent angel—<br> + The guardian over my soul keeping vigil.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>turns quickly toward </i>MILA<i> at these +words, and gazes at her fixedly.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! Oh! it is sacrilege! Sacrilege!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ha! She has blasphemed, she has blasphemed,<br> + Against the heavenly angel.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + She will desecrate your hearthstone,<br> + Candia, unless hence you chase her.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Out with her, out, in good time, Aligi,<br> + Seize her, and out to the dogs toss her!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Well I know you, Mila di Codra,<br> + Well at Farne do they fear you,<br> + And well I know your doings.<br> + You brought death to Giovanna Cametra,<br> + And death to the son of Panfilo.<br> + You turned the head of poor Alfonso,<br> + Gave Tillura the evil sickness,<br> + Caused the death of your father, even,<br> + Who now in damnation damns you!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + May thou, God, protect his spirit<br> + And unto peace his soul gather.<br> + All! You it is who have blasphemed<br> + Against a soul that is departed<br> + And may your blaspheming speeches<br> + Fall on you, whenever death fronts you!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[CANDIA, <i>seated on one of the chests, is sad +and silent. Now she rises, passes through the +restless circle of women, and advances toward +the persecuted one, slowly, without anger.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF REAPERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ahey! Ahey! How long to wait?<br> + Have you come to an agreement?<br> + —Oh, I say, shepherd, ho! you shepherd,<br> + For yourself, then, do you keep her?<br> + —Candia, what if Lazaro come back now?<br> + —Is she then unwilling? But open,<br> + Open! A hand we will lend her.<br> + And meanwhile give us the wine-jug,<br> + The wine-jug, the wine-jug's the custom!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Another reaper peers in through the +grating.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE REAPER<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila di Codra, come out here!<br> + For you that will be much the better.<br> + To try to escape us is useless,<br> + We'll seek now the oak-tree shady,<br> + And throw dice for the one to have you,<br> + That the chance for us all be equal,<br> + Now, we will not quarrel for you,<br> + As Lazaro did with Rainero,<br> + No, we'll have no useless bloodshed.<br> + But, now, if you don't come out here,<br> + Ere the last one turns up his dice-box,<br> + Then this door we all shall break open<br> + And carry things here with a free hand.<br> + You are warned now; best heed this your warning,<br> + Candia della Leonessa!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He jumps down and the clamor is much +abated. The ringing of the village church bells +can be heard in the distance.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Woman, hear me. Lo, I am the mother<br> + Of these three innocent maidens,<br> + Also of this youth, the bridegroom.<br> + We were in peace in our home, here,<br> + In peace and in rest with God's favor,<br> + And blessing with home rites the marriage,<br> + You may see the wheat still in the baskets<br> + And in the blest loaf the fresh flower!<br> + You have entered in here and brought us<br> + Suddenly conflict and sorrow,<br> + Interrupted the kindred's giving,<br> + In our hearts sowing thoughts of dark omen,<br> + That have set my children weeping,<br> + And my bowels yearn and weep with them.<br> + All to chaff our good wheat grain is turning,<br> + And a worse thing still may follow.<br> + It is best for you to go now.<br> + Go thou with God, knowing surely<br> + He will help you, if you trust Him.<br> + Oh! There is cause for all this our sorrow.<br> + We would fain have desired your safety.<br> + Yet now, turn your steps hence, swiftly,<br> + So that none of this house need harm you.<br> + The door, this my son will now open.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The victim listens in humility with bent +head, pale and trembling. </i>ALIGI<i> steps toward +the door and listens. His face shows great +sorrow.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Christian mother, lo! the earth here<br> + I kiss where your feet have trodden,<br> + And I ask of you forgiveness.<br> + With my heart in my hand lying,<br> + In the palm of my hand, grieving,<br> + For this sorrow of my bringing.<br> + But I did not seek your dwelling:<br> + I was blinded, with fear blinded,<br> + And the Father, He, all-seeing,<br> + Led me here thus to your fireside,<br> + So that I, the persecuted,<br> + Might find mercy by your fireplace,<br> + Mercy making this day sacred.<br> + O have mercy! Christian mother.<br> + O have mercy! and each wheat grain<br> + Resting here within these hampers<br> + God will return a hundred-fold.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA [<i>whispering</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Listen not. Whoever listens<br> + Will be lost. The false one is she.<br> + Oh! I know! Her father gave her,<br> + To make her voice so sweet and gentle,<br> + Evil roots of secret magic.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Just see now how Aligi's spellbound!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Beware! beware! lest she give him<br> + Fatal illness. O Lord, save us!<br> + Have you not heard what all the reapers<br> + Have been saying about Lazaro?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MONICA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Shall we stay here then till vespers<br> + With these baskets on our heads thus?<br> + I shall put mine on the ground soon.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[CANDIA <i>gazes intently upon her son, who is +fastened upon </i>MILA<i>. Suddenly fear and rage +seize her, and she cries aloud.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Begone, begone, you sorcerer's<br> + Daughter! Go to the dogs! Begone!<br> + In my house remain no longer!<br> + Fling open the door, Aligi!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother of Ornella,—Love's own mother,<br> + All, but not this, God forgiveth.<br> + Trample on me, God forgiveth,<br> + Cut off my hands, yet God forgiveth,<br> + Gouge out my eyes, pluck my tongue out,<br> + Tear me to shreds, yet God forgiveth,<br> + Strangle me, yet God forgiveth,<br> + But if you now (heed me, O heed me!<br> + While the bells are ringing for Santo Giovanni).<br> + If now you seize upon this body,—<br> + This poor tortured flesh signed in Christ's name,<br> + And toss it out there in that courtyard,<br> + In sight of these your spotless daughters,<br> + Abandoning it to sin of that rabble,<br> + To hatred and to brutal lusting,<br> + Then, O mother of Ornella,<br> + Mother of innocence in so doing,<br> + Doing that thing, God condemns you!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + She was never christened, never,<br> + Her father was never buried<br> + In consecrated ground; under<br> + A thorn-bush he lies. I swear it.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Demons are behind you, woman!<br> + Black and foul and false your mouth is!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Candia, hear her, hear her,<br> + Curses heaping! But a little,<br> + And she'll drive you from your dwelling,<br> + And then all the reapers threatened<br> + Will most surely fall upon us.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA DI BOVA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Up, Aligi! Drag her out there!<br> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + See you not how your Vienda,<br> + Your young bride, looks like one dying?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What kind of a man are you? Forsaken<br> + Thus of all force in your muscles?<br> + Is the tongue within your mouth, then,<br> + Dried and shrivelled that you speak not?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + You seem lost. How then? Did your senses<br> + Go astray afar off in the mountain?—<br> + Did you lose your wits down in the valley?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MONICA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Look! He hasn't let go of her mantle,<br> + Since the time he took it from her.<br> + To his fingers it seems rooted.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do you think your son Aligi's<br> + Mind is going? Heaven help us!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, Aligi! You hear me?<br> + What ails you? Where are you? Gone are your senses?<br> + What is coming to birth in your heart, son?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Taking the mantle out of his hand, she +throws it to the woman.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + I myself will open the door; take her<br> + And push her out of here straightway.<br> + Aligi, to you I speak. You hear me?<br> + Ah! verily you have been sleeping<br> + For seven hundred hundred years,<br> + And all of us are long forgotten.<br> + Kindred! God wills my undoing.<br> + I hoped these last days would bring solace<br> + And that God would now give me repose,<br> + That less bitterness now need I swallow;<br> + But bitterness overpowers me.<br> + My daughters! Take ye my black mantle<br> + From out of the ancient chest there,<br> + And cover my head and my sorrows,<br> + Within my own soul be my wailing!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The son shakes his head, his face showing +perplexity and sorrow, and he speaks as one in +a dream.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + What is your will of me, mother?<br> + Unto you said I: "Ah! lay there<br> + Against both of the door-posts the ploughshare,<br> + The wain and the oxen, put sods there and stones there,<br> + Yea, the mountain with all of its snow-drifts."<br> + What did I say then? And how answered you?<br> + "Heed the waxen cross that is holy,<br> + That was blest on the Day of Ascension,<br> + And the hinges with holy water sprinkled."<br> + O, what is your will that I do? It was night still<br> + When she took the road that comes hither.<br> + Profound, then, profound was my slumber,<br> + O mother! although you had not mingled for me,<br> + The wine with the seed of the poppy.<br> + Now that slumber of Christ falls and fails me:<br> + And though well I know whence this proceedeth,<br> + My lips are yet stricken with dumbness.<br> + O woman! what then is your bidding?<br> + That I seize her here now by her tresses,—<br> + That I drag her out there in the courtyard,—<br> + That I toss her for these dogs to raven?<br> + Well! So be it! So be it!—I do so.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>advances toward </i>MILA<i>, but she +shrinks within the fireplace, clinging for +refuge.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Touch me not! Oh! you, you are sinning,<br> + Against the old laws of the hearthstone—<br> + You are sinning the great sin that's mortal<br> + Against your own blood and the sanction<br> + Of your race, of your own ancient kinfolk.<br> + Lo! over the stone of the fireplace<br> + I pour out the wine that was given<br> + To me by your sister, in blood bound;<br> + So now if you touch me, molest me,<br> + All the dead in your land, in your country,<br> + All those of the long years forgotten,<br> + Generation to past generation,<br> + That lie underground eighty fathoms<br> + Will abhor you with horror eternal.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Taking the bowl of wine, </i>MILA<i> pours it +over the inviolate hearth. The women utter +fierce and frantic cries.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + O woe! She bewitches—bewitches the fireplace!<br> + —She poured with the wine there a mixture.<br> + I saw it, I saw her. 'T was stealthy!<br> + —O take her, O take her, Aligi,<br> + And force her away from the hearthstone.<br> + By the hair, O seize her, seize her!<br> + —Aligi, fear you naught, fear nothing,<br> + All her conjuring yet will be nothing.<br> + —Take her away and shiver the wine-bowl!<br> + Shiver it there against the andirons.<br> + —Break the chain loose and engirdle<br> + Her neck with it, three times twist it.<br> + —She has surely bewitched the hearthstone.<br> + -Woe! Woe for the house that totters!<br> + Ah! What lamenting will here be lamented!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF REAPERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oho there! All quarrelling, are you?<br> + We are waiting here and we 're watching.<br> + We have cast the dice, we know the winner.<br> + Bring her out to us, you shepherd!<br> + Yes, yes! Or the door we'll break down.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They join in blows on the door and in +clamoring.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA DI BOVA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Hold on! Hold on! and have patience a little,<br> + But a little while longer, good menfolk.<br> + Aligi is taking her. Soon you will have her.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI, <i>like one demented, takes her by the +wrists, but she resists and tries to free herself.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No! No! You are sinning, are sinning.<br> + Crush under your feet my forehead<br> + Or stun it with blows of your sheep-hook,<br> + And when I am dead toss me out there.<br> + No, no! God's punishment on you!<br> + From the womb of your wife serpents<br> + To you shall be born and brought forth.<br> + You shall sleep no more, no more,<br> + And rest shall forsake your eyelids,<br> + From your eyes tears of blood shall gush forth.<br> + Ornella, Ornella, defend me,<br> + Aid me, O thou, and have mercy!<br> + Ye sisters in Christ, do thou help me!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She frees herself and goes to the three +sisters, who surround her. Blind with rage and +horror, </i>ALIGI<i> lifts his hook to strike her on the +head. Immediately his three sisters begin to +cry and moan. This stops him at once; he lets +the hook fall on his knees and with open arms he +stares behind her.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mercy of God! O give me forgiveness!<br> + I saw the angel, silent, weeping.<br> + He is weeping with you, O my sisters!<br> + And at me he is gazing and weeping.<br> + Even thus shall I see him forever,<br> + Till the hour for my passing, yea! past it.<br> + I have sinned thus against my own hearth-stone,<br> + My own dead and the land of my fathers;<br> + It will spurn me and scorn me forever,<br> + Deny rest to my weary dead body!<br> + For my sins, sisters, purification,<br> + Seven times, seven times, I do ask it.<br> + Seven days shall my lips touch the ashes,<br> + And as many times more as the tears shed<br> + From your gentle eyes, O my sisters!<br> + Let the angel count them, my sisters,<br> + And brand on my heart all their number!<br> + It is thus that I ask you forgiveness.<br> + Before God thus I ask you, my sisters,<br> + Oh! pray you for brother Aligi,<br> + Who must now return to the mountain.<br> + And she who has suffered such shame here,<br> + I pray you console her, refresh her<br> + With drink, wipe the dust from her garments,<br> + Bathe her feet with water and vinegar.<br> + Comfort her! I wished not to harm her.<br> + Spurred on was I by these voices.<br> + And those who to this wrong have brought me<br> + Shall suffer for many days greatly.<br> + Mila di Codra! sister in Jesus,<br> + O give me peace for my offences.<br> + These flowerets of Santo Giovanni<br> + Off from my sheep-hook now do I take them<br> + And thus at your feet here I place them.<br> + Look at you I cannot. I'm shamefaced.<br> + Behind you I see the sad angel.<br> + But this hand which did you offence here,<br> + I burn in that fire with live embers.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Dragging himself on his knees to the +fireplace, he bends over and finds a burning ember. +Taking it with his left hand, he puts the point of +it in the palm of the right.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-068"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-068.jpg" alt=""O GIVE ME PEACE FOR MY OFFENCES." <i>Act I.</i>"> +<br> +"O GIVE ME PEACE FOR MY OFFENCES." <i>Act I.</i> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is forgiven. No, no. Do not wound yourself.<br> + For me, I forgive you, and God shall receive<br> + Your penitent prayer. Rise up from the fire-place!<br> + One only, God only may punish;<br> + And He that hand hath given to you<br> + To guide your flocks to the pasture.<br> + And how then your sheep can you pasture<br> + If your hand is infirm, O Aligi?<br> + For me, in all humbleness, I forgive you,<br> + And your name I shall ever remember,<br> + Morn, eve, and midday shall my blessing<br> + Follow you with your flocks in the mountains.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF REAPERS [<i>outside</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Oho, there! Oho, there! How now?<br> + —What is the row? Do you fool us?<br> + —Ho! We'll tear down the door there.<br> + —Yes, yes! Take that timber, the plough-beam.<br> + —Shepherd, we'll not have you fool us.<br> + Now, now, that iron there, take it!<br> + Down with it! Crash down the door there!<br> + —Ho, shepherd Aligi! Now answer!<br> + One, then! Two! Three, and down goes it!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The heavy breathing of the men lifting the +timber and iron is heard.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + For you, for me, and for all my people,<br> + I make the sign of the cross!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Rising and going toward the door, he +continues.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Reapers of Norca! This door I open.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The men answer in a unanimous clamor. +The wind brings the sound of the bells. </i>ALIGI<i> +draws the bars and bolts and silently crosses +himself, then he takes down from the wall the +cross of wax and kisses it.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Women, God's servants, cross yourselves praying.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>All the women cross themselves and kneeling +murmur the litany.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + WOMEN [<i>together</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Kyrie eleison!<br> + Lord have mercy upon us!<br> + Christe eleison!<br> + Christ have mercy upon us!<br> + Eyrie eleison!<br> + Lord have mercy upon us!<br> + Christe audi nos!<br> + O Christ hear us!<br> + Christe exaudi nos!<br> + O Christ hearken unto us!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The shepherd then lays the cross on the +threshold between the hoe and the distaff and +opens the door. In the yard glittering in the +fierce sun the linen-clad reapers appear.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Brothers in Christ! Behold the cross<br> + That was blest on the Day of Ascension!<br> + I have placed it there on the threshold,<br> + That you may not sin against this gentle<br> + Lamb of Christ who here finds refuge,<br> + Seeking safety in this fireplace.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The reapers, struck silent and deeply +impressed, uncover their heads.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + I saw there standing behind her<br> + The angel who guards her, silent,<br> + These eyes that shall see life eternal<br> + Saw her angel that stood there weeping.<br> + Look, brothers in Christ, I swear it!<br> + Turn back to your wheat-fields and reap them,<br> + Harm you not one who has harmed you never!<br> + Nor let the false enemy beguile you<br> + Any longer with his potions.<br> + Reapers of Norca, heaven bless you!<br> + May the sheaves in your hands be doubled!<br> + And may Santo Giovanni's head severed<br> + Be shown unto you at the sunrise,<br> + If, for this, to-night you ascend the hill Plaia.<br> + And wish ye no harm unto me, the shepherd,<br> + To me, Aligi, our Saviour's servant!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The kneeling women continue the litanies, +</i>CANDIA<i> invoking, the others responding.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA and CHORUS OF THE KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mater purissima, Mother of Purity,<br> + ora pro nobis. pray for us.<br> + Mater castissima, Mother of Chastity,<br> + ora pro nobis. pray for us.<br> + Mater inviolata, Mother Inviolate,<br> + ora pro nobis. pray for us.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The reapers bow themselves, touch the cross +with their hands and then touch their lips and +silently withdraw toward the glittering fields +outside, </i>ALIGI<i> leaning against the jamb of the +door following with his eyes their departure, +the silence meanwhile broken only by voices +coming from the country pathways outside.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FIRST VOICE<br> +</p> + +<p> + O! turn back, Lazaro di Roio.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANOTHER VOICE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Turn back, turn back, Lazaro!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The shepherd, startled and shading his +face with his hands, looks toward the path.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA and THE WOMEN<br> +</p> + +<p> + Virgo veneranda, Virgin venerated,<br> + Virgo predicanda, Virgin admonishing,<br> + Virgo potens, Virgin potential,<br> + ora pro nobis. pray for us.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, father, what is this? Why are you bandaged?<br> + Why are you bleeding, father? Speak out and tell me,<br> + O ye men of the Lord! Who wounded him?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[LAZARO <i>appears at the door with his head +bandaged, two men in white linen supporting +him. </i>CANDIA<i> stops praying, rises to her feet +and goes to the entrance.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, halt there! The cross lies there on the door-sill,<br> + You cannot pass through without kneeling down.<br> + If this blood be unjust blood you cannot pass through.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The two men sustain the tottering man +and he falls guiltily on his knees outside the +doorway.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O daughters, my daughters, 't was true then!<br> + O weep, my daughters! let mourning enfold us!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The daughters embrace their mother. The +kindred before rising put their hampers down +on the ground. </i>MILA<i> takes up her mantle and +still kneeling wraps herself up in it, hiding her +face. Almost creeping, she approaches the +door toward the jamb opposite that where +</i>ALIGI<i> leans. Silently and swiftly she rises and +leans against the wall, and stands there wrapt +and motionless, watching her chance to disappear.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0201"></a></p> + +<h3> +ACT II. +</h3> + +<p class="noindent"> +<i>A mountain cavern is seen partially +protected by rough boards, straw, and +twigs and opening wide upon a stony +mountain path. From the wide opening are +seen green pastures, snow-clad peaks, and +passing clouds. In the cavern are pallets made of +sheep-pelts, small, rude wooden tables, pouches +and skins, filled and empty, a rude bench for +wood turning and carving, with an axe upon +it, a draw-knife, plane, rasps, and other tools, +and near them finished pieces; distaffs, spoons +and ladles, mortars and pestles, musical +instruments, and candlesticks. A large block of the +trunk of a walnut tree has at its base the bark, +and above, in full relief, the figure of an angel +hewn into shape to the waist, with the two +wings almost finished. Before the image of +the Virgin in a depression of the cavern like a +niche, a lamp is burning. A shepherd's +bagpipe hangs close by. The bells of the sheep +wandering in the stillness of the mountain may +be heard. The day is closing and it is about +the time of the autumnal equinox.</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<i>The treasure-seeker, </i>MALDE<i>, and </i>ANNA +ONNA<i>, the old herb-gatherer, are lying asleep +on the pelts, in their rags. </i>COSMA<i>, the saint, +dressed in a long friar's frock, is also asleep, +but in a sitting posture with his arms clasped +about his knees and his chin bowed over on +them. </i>ALIGI<i> is seated on a little bench, intent +upon carving with his tools the walnut block. +</i>MILA DI CODRA<i> is seated opposite, gazing at +him.</i> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Bided mute the patron angel<br> + From the walnut woodblock carven,<br> + Deaf the wood stayed, secret, sacred,<br> + Saint Onofrio vouchsafed nothing.<br> +</p> + +<p> + Till said one apart, a third one<br> + (O have pity on us, Patron!)<br> + Till said one apart, the fair one,<br> + Lo! my heart all willing, waiting!<br> + Would he quaff a draught of marvel?<br> + Let him take my heart's blood, quaff it!<br> + But of this make no avowal,<br> + But of this make no revealing.<br> +</p> + +<p> + Suddenly the stump budded branches,<br> + Out of the mouth a branch sprang budding,<br> + Every finger budded branches,<br> + Saint Onofrio all grew green again!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She bends over to gather the chips and +shavings around the carved block.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Mila, this too is hewn from the stump of a walnut,<br> + Grow green will it, Mila?—Grow green again?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA [<i>still bent over</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + "Would he quaff a draught of marvel<br> + Let him take my heart's blood."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Grow green will it, Mila?—Grow green again?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + "But of this make no avowal,<br> + But of this make no revealing."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, Mila, let a miracle now absolve us!<br> + And may the mute patron angel grant us protection.<br> + 'T is for him that I work, but not with my chisel,<br> + Ah! for him do I work with my soul in my fingers!<br> + But what are you seeking? What have you lost there?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I but gather the shavings, that in fire we burn them<br> + With each a grain of pure incense being added.<br> + Make haste, then, Aligi, for the time is nearing.<br> + The moonlight of September fleeting, lessening;<br> + All of the shepherds now are leaving, departing,<br> + Some on to Puglia fare, some Romeward faring;—<br> + And whither then will my love his footsteps be turning?<br> + Wherever he journeys still may his pathway<br> + Go facing fresh pastures and springs, not winds keen and chilling,<br> + And of me may he think when the night overtakes him!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Romeward faring then shall go Aligi,<br> + Onward to Rome whither all roads are leading,<br> + His flock along with him to lofty Rome,<br> + To beg an indulgence of the Vicar,<br> + Of the Holy Vicar of Christ our Saviour,<br> + For he of all shepherds is the Shepherd.<br> + Not to Puglia land will go Aligi,<br> + But to our blest Lady of Schiavonia,<br> + Sending to her by Alai of Averna<br> + These two candlesticks of cypress wood, only,<br> + And with them merely two humble tapers,<br> + So she forget not a lowly sinner<br> + She, our Lady, who guardeth the sea-shore.<br> + Then when this angel shall be all finished,<br> + Aligi upon a mule's back will load it,<br> + And step by step will he wend on with it.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O hasten, O hasten! for the time is ripening.<br> + From the girdle downward very nearly<br> + Sunk in the wood yet and lost is the angel;<br> + The feet are held fast in the knots, the hands without fingers,<br> + The eyes with the forehead still level.<br> + You hastened indeed his wings to give him,<br> + Feather by feather, yet forth he flies not!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Gostanzo will aid me in this, the painter,<br> + Gostanzo di Bisegna; the painter is he<br> + Who tells stories on wood in color.<br> + Unto him I have spoken already,<br> + And he will give unto me fine colors.<br> + Perhaps, too, the good monks at the abbey,<br> + For a yearling, a little fine gold leaf<br> + For the wings and the bosom will give me.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O hasten! Hasten! The time is rip'ning,<br> + Longer than day is the night already,<br> + From the valley the shades rise more quickly,<br> + And unawares they shut down around us.<br> + Soon the eye will guide the hand no longer,<br> + And unsuccored of art will grope the blind chisel!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[COSMA <i>stirs in his sleep and moans. From +a distance the sacred songs of pilgrims crossing +the mountain are heard.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Cosma is dreaming. Who knows what he's dreaming!<br> + Listen, listen, the songs of the pilgrims<br> + Who across the mountain go journeying,<br> + May be to Santa Maria della Potenza,<br> + Aligi,—toward your own country,—toward<br> + Your own home, where your mother is sitting.<br> + And may be they will pass by very near,<br> + And your mother will hear, and Ornella,<br> + Mayhap, and they'll say: "These must be pilgrims<br> + Coming down from the place of the shepherds;<br> + And yet no loving token is sent us!"<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGi <i>is bending over his work carving +the lower part of the block. Giving a blow +with the axe he leaves the iron in the wood and +comes forward anxiously.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! Why, why will you touch where the heart is hurting?<br> + Oh! Mila, I will speed on, overtake their cross-bearer<br> + And beg him bear onward my loving thoughts with them.<br> + And yet, Mila, yet—Oh! how shall I say it, Mila?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MELA<br> +</p> + +<p> + You will say: "O good cross-bearer, I prithee,<br> + If ye cross through the valley of San Biagio,<br> + Through the countryside called Acquanova,<br> + Ask ye there for the house of a woman<br> + Who is known as Candia della Leonessa,<br> + And stay ye your steps there, for there most surely<br> + Drink shall ye have to restore you, and may be<br> + Much beside given. Then stay there and say ye:<br> + 'Aligi, your son, sends unto you greeting,<br> + And to his sisters, and also the bride, Vienda,<br> + And he promises he will be coming<br> + To receive from your hands soon your blessing<br> + Ere in peace he depart on long travels.<br> + And he says, too, that he is set free now,<br> + From her—the evil one—during these late days;<br> + And he will be cause of dissension no longer,<br> + And he will be cause of lamenting no longer,<br> + To the mother, the bride, and the sisters.'"<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, Mila, what ill wind strikes you<br> + And stirs up your soul in you thus?—A wind sudden,<br> + A wind full of fearing! And on your lips dying,<br> + Your voice is; your blood your cheek is draining.<br> + And wherefore, tell me, should I be sending<br> + This message of falsehood to my mother?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is the truth, it is the truth, I tell you,<br> + O brother mine and dear to the sister,<br> + It is true what I say; as true is it<br> + That I have remained by you untainted,<br> + Like a sacred lamp before your faith burning,<br> + With immaculate love before you shining.<br> + It is the truth, it is the truth I tell you.<br> + And I say: Go, go, speed ye on your pathway<br> + And meet ye the cross-bearer so that he carry<br> + Your greetings of peace on to Acquanova.<br> + Now come is the hour of departure<br> + For the daughter of Jorio. And let it be so.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Yea, verily, you have partaken of honey, wild honey<br> + That your mind is thus troubled!<br> + And you would go whither? Oh, whither, Mila?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Pass on thither where all roads are leading.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! Will you come then with me? O, come with me!<br> + Though full long the journey, you also, Mila,<br> + Will I place on the mule's back and travel,<br> + Cherishing hope, toward Rome the eternal!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Needs be that I go the opposite way,<br> + With steps hurried, bereft of all hoping.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI [<i>turning impatiently to the sleeping old herb-woman</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Anna Onna! Up, arouse you! Go and find me<br> + Grains of black hellebore, hellebore ebon,<br> + To give back to this woman her senses.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O be not angry, Aligi, for if you are angry—<br> + For if you are also against me, how shall I live through<br> + This day till the evening? For behold, if you trample<br> + My heart beneath you, I shall gather it never again!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + And I to my home shall be turning never again,<br> + If not with you, O daughter of Jorio,<br> + Mila di Codra, my own by the Sacrament!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, can I cross the very threshold<br> + Whereon once the waxen cross was lying,<br> + Where a man once appeared who was bloody?<br> + And unto whom said the son of this man:<br> + "If this blood be unjust blood you cannot pass through"?<br> + High noonday 't was then, the eve of the day<br> + Of Santo Giovanni, and harvest day.<br> + Now in peace on that wall hangs the idle sickle;<br> + Now at rest lies the grain in the granary;<br> + But of that sorrow's sowing the seeds are still growing.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[COSMA <i>moves in his sleep and moans.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Know you, then, one who shall lead you by the hand thither!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA [<i>crying out in his sleep</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + O do not unbind him! No, no, do not unbind him!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The saint, stretching his arms, lifts up his +face from his knees.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Cosma, Cosma, what are you dreaming? Tell your dreaming!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[COSMA <i>wakens and rises.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + What have you been seeing? Tell your seeing!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + The face of Fear was turned full upon me.<br> + I have beheld it. But I may not tell it.<br> + Every dream that cometh of God must be chastened<br> + From the fire of it first before giving.<br> + I have beheld it. And I shall speak, surely.<br> + Yet not now, lest I speak the name vainly<br> + Of my Lord and my God, lest I judge now<br> + While my darkness is still overpowering.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Cosma, thou art holy. Many a year<br> + Have you bathed in the melting snow water,<br> + In the water o'erflowing the mountain,<br> + Quenching your thirst in the clear sight of Heaven,<br> + And this day you have slept in my cavern,<br> + On the sheep-skin that's steamed well in sulphur<br> + So the spirit of evil must shun it.<br> + In your dreaming now you have seen visions,<br> + And the eye of the Lord God is on you.<br> + Help me then with your sure divination!<br> + Now to you I shall speak. You will answer.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + All unready am I in wisdom,<br> + Nor have I, O youth, understanding<br> + Of so much as the stone in the path of the shepherd.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Cosma, man of God, heed me and listen!<br> + I implore by the angel in that block enfolded,<br> + Who has no ears to hear and vet heareth!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Simple words speak ye, O shepherd,<br> + And repose not your trust in me,<br> + But in the holy truth only.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[MALDE<i> and </i>ANNA ONNA<i> awaken and lean +upon their elbows listening.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Cosma, this, then, is the holy truth:<br> + I turned from the mountain and Puglia valley<br> + With my flock on the day Corpus Domini,<br> + And after I found for my flock good shelter<br> + I went to my home for my three days' resting.<br> + And I find there in my house my mother<br> + Who says unto me: "Son of mine, a companion<br> + For you have I found." Then say I: "Mother,<br> + I ever obey your commandments." She answered:<br> + "'T is well. And lo! here is the woman."<br> + We were espoused. And the kindred gathered,<br> + Escorting the bride to our threshold.<br> + Aloof I stood like a man on the other<br> + Bank of a river, seeing all things as yonder,<br> + Afar, past the water flowing between,<br> + The water that flows everlastingly.<br> + Cosma, this was on a Sunday. And mingled<br> + With my wine was no seed of the poppy.<br> + Why then, notwithstanding, did slumber profound<br> + My heart all forgetting o'erpower?<br> + I believe I slept years seven hundred.<br> + We awoke on the Monday belated.<br> + Then the loaf of the Bridal my mother<br> + Broke over the head of a weeping virgin.<br> + Untouched had she lain by me. The kindred<br> + Came then with their wheat in their hampers.<br> + But mute stayed I wrapped up in great sadness.<br> + As one in the shadow of death I was dwelling.<br> + Behold now! on a sudden, all trembling,<br> + There appeared in our doorway this woman,<br> + Hard pursuing and pressing her, reapers,—<br> + Hounds! that wanted to seize her and have her.<br> + Then implored she and pleaded for safety.<br> + But not even one of us, Cosma,<br> + Moved, except one, my sister, the littlest,<br> + Who dared rush to the door and bar it.<br> + And lo, now by those dogs was it shaken,<br> + With uttering of curses and threat'ning.<br> + And in hatred against this sad creature<br> + Were their foul mouths unleashed and barking.<br> + To the pack would the women have tossed her,<br> + But she trembling still by the hearthstone,<br> + Was pleading us not to make sacrifice of her.<br> + I, too, myself, seized her with hatred and threat'ning,<br> + Though it seemed to me, then, I was dragging<br> + At my own very heart, the heart of my childhood.<br> + She cried out, and above her head I lifted<br> + My sheep-hook to strike her.<br> + Then wept my sisters!<br> + Then behind her beheld I the angel weeping!<br> + With these eyes, O saint, the angel watching and weeping mutely.<br> + Down on my knees fell I,<br> + Imploring forgiveness. And then to punish<br> + This, my hand, I took up from the fireplace<br> + A burning ember.<br> + "No, do not burn it,"<br> + She cried aloud,—this woman cried to me.<br> + —O Cosma! saint holy, with waters from snow-peaks<br> + Purified are you, dawning by dawning;<br> + You, too, woman, who know all herbs growing<br> + For the healing of flesh that is mortal,<br> + Yea, all virtue of roots that are secret;<br> + —Malde, you, too, with that branch of yours forking<br> + May fathom where treasure is hidden,<br> + Entombed at the feet of the dead now dead<br> + For a hundred years, or a thousand—true is it?—<br> + In the depths of the depths of the heart of the mountain.<br> + Of ye then, I ask, of ye who can hear<br> + The deep things within that come from afar,<br> + Whence came that voice,—O from what far distance<br> + That came and that spake so Aligi should hear it?<br> + (Oh, answer ye me!)—When she said unto me:<br> + "And how then your flocks can you pasture<br> + If your hand is infirm, O Aligi?"<br> + Ah! with these her words did she gather<br> + My soul from my body within me,<br> + Even as you, O woman, gather your simples!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[MILA <i>weeps silently.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA ONNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + There's an herb that is red and called Glaspi,<br> + And another is white called Egusa,<br> + And the one and the other grow up far apart,<br> + But their roots grope together and meet<br> + Underneath the blind earth, and entwine<br> + So closely that sever them never could ever<br> + Santa Lucia. Their leaves are diverse,<br> + But one and the same is their seven years' flower.<br> + But all this is their record in records.<br> + It is Cosma who knoweth the power of the Lord.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Heed me then, Cosma! The slumber of forgetfulness<br> + Was by Commandment sent to my pillow.<br> + By whom? Closed by the hand of Innocence<br> + Was the door of Safety. Came to me the apparition—<br> + The Angel of Counsel. And out of the word<br> + Of her mouth was created the pledge eternal.<br> + Who then was my wife, before ever<br> + Good wheat, holy loaf, or fair flower?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O shepherd Aligi! God's are the just steelyards of Justice.<br> + God's only is the just balance of Justice.<br> + Notwithstanding, O take ye counsel,<br> + From the Angel of Counsel, who gave you your surety.<br> + Yea, take pledge of him for this stranger.<br> + But she left untouched, where is she?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + For the sheepstead I left after vespers,<br> + On the eve of Santo Giovanni.<br> + At daybreak<br> + I found myself wending above Capracinta.<br> + On the crest I awaited the sunrise,<br> + And I saw in the disc of its blazing<br> + The bleeding head that was severed.<br> + To my sheepfold<br> + Then came I,—and again I began—guarding my sheep—to suffer<br> + For me seemed that sleep still overwhelmed me,<br> + And my flock on my life's force was browsing.<br> + Oh! why still was my heart heavy laden?<br> + O Cosma! first saw I the shadow,<br> + Then the figure, there, there, at the entrance,<br> + On the morning of San Teobaldo.<br> + On the rock out there was sitting this woman,<br> + And she did not arise for she could not,<br> + So sore were her feet and bleeding.<br> + Said she: "Aligi,<br> + Do you know me?"<br> + I answered: "Thou art Mila."<br> + And no word more we spoke, for no more were we<br> + Twain. Nor on that day were contaminated<br> + Nor after, ever.<br> + I speak but the truth.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O shepherd Aligi! You have verily lighted<br> + A holy lamp in your darkness.<br> + Yet it is not enkindled in limits appointed,<br> + Chosen out of old time by your fathers.<br> + You have moved farther off the Term Sacred.<br> + How then if the lamp were spent and were quenched?<br> + For wisdom is in man's heart a well-spring<br> + Profound; but only the pure man may draw of its waters.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Now pray I great God that He place upon us<br> + The seal of the Sacrament eternal!<br> + See ye this that I do? Not hand but soul<br> + Is carving this wood in the similitude<br> + Of the Angel apparition. I began<br> + On the Day of Assumption. Rosary time<br> + Shall it be finished. This my design is:<br> + On to Rome with my flock I shall wander,<br> + And along with me carry my Angel,<br> + On mule-back laden. I will go to the Holy Father,<br> + In the name of San Pietro Celestino,<br> + Who upon Mount Morrone did penance.<br> + I shall go to the Shepherd of shepherds,<br> + With this votive offering, humbly imploring<br> + Indulgence, that the bride, yet untouched, may return<br> + To her mother, set free thus and blameless;<br> + Then as mine I may cherish this stranger,<br> + Who knows well how to weep all unheeded.<br> + So now I ask this of your deep-reaching wisdom,<br> + Cosma; will this grace unto me be conceded?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + All the ways of mankind appear the direct ways<br> + To man: but the Lord God is weighing heart-secrets.<br> + High the walls, high the walls of man's stronghold,<br> + Huge are its portals of iron; and around and around it<br> + Heavy the shade of tombs where grass grows pallid.<br> + Let not your lamb browse upon that grass grown pallid,<br> + O shepherd Aligi, best question the mother.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + A VOICE [<i>calling outside</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Cosma, Cosma! If you are within, come forth!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Who is calling for me? Did you hear a voice calling?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE VOICE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Come forth, Cosma, by the blood that is holy!<br> + O Christian brothers, the sign of the cross make ye!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Behold me. Who calls me? Who wants me?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>At the mouth of the cavern two shepherds +appear, wearing sheep-skin coats, holding a +gaunt and sickly youth whose arms are bound +to his body with several turns of a rope.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FIRST SHEPHERD<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Christian brothers! The sign of the cross make ye!<br> + May the Lord from the enemy keep you!<br> + And to guard well the door say a prayer.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SECOND SHEPHERD<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Cosma, this youth is possessed of a demon.<br> + Now for three days the devil has held him.<br> + Behold, O behold how he tortures him now.<br> + He froths at the mouth, turning livid and shrieking.<br> + With strong ropes we needed to tie and bind him<br> + To bring him to you. You who freed before now<br> + Bartolomeo dei Cionco ala Petrara, do you,<br> + O wise man of mercy, do you this one also<br> + Liberate! Force now the demon to leave him!<br> + O chase him away from him, cure him and heal him!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What is his name and the name of his father?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FIRST SHEPHERD<br> +</p> + +<p> + Salvestro, di Mattia di Simeone.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Salvestro, how then, you will to be healed?<br> + Be of good heart, my son, O be trustful!<br> + Lo! I say unto you, fear not!<br> + And ye<br> + Wherefore have ye bound him? Let him be free!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SECOND SHEPHERD<br> +</p> + +<p> + Come with us then to the chapel, Cosma.<br> + There we can let him be free. He would flee away, here.<br> + He is frantic always, for escape ever ready.<br> + And sudden to take it. He's frothing. Come on then!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + That will I, God helping. Be of good heart, my son!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The two shepherds carry the youth off. +</i>MALDE<i> and </i>ANNA ONNA<i> follow them for +awhile, then halt, gazing after them, </i>MALDE<i> +with a forked olive branch with a small ball of +wax stuck on at the larger end, the old woman +leaning on her crutch and with her bag of +simples hanging in front. Finally they also +disappear from sight. The saint from the +doorway turns back toward his host.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I go in God's peace, shepherd Aligi.<br> + For the comfort I found in your cavern,<br> + May you be blessed! Lo! now they called unto me<br> + And therefore I answered. Before you may enter<br> + Upon your new way, the old laws well consider.<br> + Who will change the old ways shall be winnowed.<br> + See ye guard well your father's commandment.<br> + See ye heed well your mother's instruction.<br> + Hold them ever steadfast in your bosom.<br> + And God guide your feet, that you may not be taken<br> + In lariats nor into live embers stumble!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Cosma, quite well have you heard me? That I remain sinless.<br> + Never I tainted myself but kept good faith,<br> + Quite well have you heard of the sign God Almighty<br> + Has revealed me and sent here unto me?<br> + I await what will come, my flesh mortifying.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I say unto you: Best question your parents<br> + Ere you lead to your roof-tree this stranger.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + A VOICE [<i>calling from outside</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Cosma, don't delay longer! Surely 't will kill him.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + COSMA [<i>turning to</i> MILA]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Peace unto you, woman! If good be within you<br> + Let it pour forth from you like tears falling<br> + Without being heard. I may soon return.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + I come. I follow. Not all have I told you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, 't is true: not all are you telling!<br> + Go to the roadside. The cross-bearer watch for<br> + And implore him to carry the message.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The saint goes off over the pasture land. +The singing of the pilgrims is heard from time +to time.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, Aligi: Not all did we tell!<br> + Yet better it were that my mouth were choked up,<br> + Better that stones and that ashes<br> + Held me speechless. Hear then this only<br> + From me, Aligi. I have done you no evil;<br> + And none shall I do you. Healed and restored now<br> + Are my feet. And I know well the pathways.<br> + Now arrived is the hour of departure<br> + For the daughter of Jorio. Now then so be it!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + I know not, you know not what hour may be coming.<br> + Replenish the oil in our lamp of the Virgin,<br> + Take the oil from the skin. Some yet is within<br> + And wait for me here. I seek the cross-bearer,<br> + Right well what to say unto him know I.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, brother of mine! Give me your hand, now!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, the road is but there, not far away.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Give me that hand of yours, so I may kiss it.<br> + 'T is the drop that I yield to my thirst.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI [<i>coming closer</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + With the ember I wanted to burn it, Mila,<br> + This sinful hand that sought to offend you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + All that I forget. I am only the woman<br> + You found on the rock there seated,<br> + By who knows what roads coming hither!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI [<i>coming again close</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Upon your face your tears are not drying,<br> + Dear woman. A tear is now staying<br> + On the eyelashes, while you speak trembles, and falls not.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Over us hovers deep stillness. Aligi, just listen!<br> + Hushed is the singing. With the grasses and snow-peaks<br> + We are alone, brother mine, we are alone.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, now you are unto me as you first were<br> + Out there on the rock, when you were all smiling,<br> + With your eyes all shining, your feet all bleeding.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And you,—you,—are you not now the one who was kneeling,—<br> + Who the flowrets of Santo Giovanni<br> + Put down on the ground? Ah! by one were they gathered<br> + Who bears them yet, wears them yet—in her scapulary.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, there is in your voice a vibration<br> + That while it consoles me, it saddens.<br> + As even October, when, all my flocks with me,<br> + I border the bordering stretches of seashore.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + To border them with you, the shore and the mountain<br> + Ah! I would that that fate were my fate evermore.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + O my love, be preparing for such wayfaring!<br> + Though the road there be long, for that is Love strong.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, I'd pass there through fires ever flaming,<br> + Onward still wending by roads never ending.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + To cull on the hill-top the blue gentian lonely,<br> + On the seashore only the star-fish flower.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + There on my knees would I drag myself on,<br> + Placing them down on the tracks you were marking.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Think, too, of the places to rest when the night should o'ertake us,<br> + And the mint and the thyme that would be your pillows.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I cannot think. No. Yet give leave this one night more<br> + That I live with you, here, where you are here breathing,<br> + That I hear you asleep and be with you,<br> + And over you keep, like your dogs, faithful vigil!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + O, you know, O, you know what must await us.<br> + How with you must I ever divide the bread, salt, and water.<br> + And so shall I share with you also the pallet,<br> + Unto death and eternity. Give me your hands!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They grasp each other's hands, gazing +into each other's eyes.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! we tremble, we tremble. You are frigid,<br> + Aligi. You are blanching. O whither<br> + Is flowing the blood your face loses?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She frees herself and touches his face with +both hands.</i>] +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-111"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-111.jpg" alt="MILA DI CODRA AND ALIGI. <i>Act II.</i>"> +<br> +MILA DI CODRA AND ALIGI. <i>Act II.</i> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Mila, Mila, I hear a great thundering,<br> + All the mountain is shaking and sinking,<br> + Where are you? Where are you? All is veiled.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He stretches out his hand toward her as +one tottering. They kiss each other. They +fall down upon their knees, facing each other.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Have mercy upon us, blessed Virgin!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Have mercy upon us, O Christ Jesus!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>A deep silence follows.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + A VOICE [<i>outside</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Shepherd, ho! You are wanted, and in a hurry.<br> + A black sheep has broken his shank.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>rises totteringly and goes toward +the entrance.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + You are wanted at once and must hurry,<br> + And there is a woman I know not.<br> + On her head is a basket. For you she is asking.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>turns his head and looks toward +</i>MILA<i> with an all-embracing glance. She is +still on her knees.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI [<i>in a whisper</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, replenish the oil in our lamp of the Virgin,<br> + So it go not out. See, it barely is burning.<br> + Take the oil from the skin. Some yet is within.<br> + And await me. I only must go to the sheep-fold.<br> + Fear nothing, for God is forgiving.<br> + Because we trembled will Mary forgive us.<br> + Replenish the oil and pray her for mercy.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He goes out into the fields.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Holy Virgin! Grant me this mercy:<br> + That I may stay here with my face to earth bowed,<br> + Cold here, that I may be found dead here,<br> + That I may be removed hence for burial.<br> + No trespass there was in thine eyesight.<br> + No trespass there was. For Thou unto us wert indulgent.<br> + The lips did no trespass. (To bear witness<br> + There wert Thou!) The lips did no trespass.<br> + So under Thine eyes I may die here, die here!<br> + For strength have I none to leave here, O Mother!<br> + Yet remain with him here Mila cannot!<br> + Mother clement! I was never sinful,<br> + But a well-spring tramped on and trodden.<br> + Shamed have I been in the eyes of Heaven,<br> + But who took away from my memory<br> + This shame of mine if not Thou, Mary?<br> + Born anew then was I when love was born in me.<br> + Thou it was willed it, O faithful Virgin!<br> + All the veins of this new blood spring from afar,<br> + Spring from far off, from the far, far away,<br> + From the depths of the earth where she rests,<br> + She who nourished me once in days long ago, long ago.<br> + Let it also be she who bears now for me witness<br> + Of innocency! Madonna, Thou also bore witness!<br> + The lips did no trespass here now (Thou wert witness),<br> + No, there was none in the lips, no, in the lips there was none.<br> + And if I trembled, O let me bear that trespass,<br> + Bear ever that tremor with me beyond!<br> + Here I close up within me my eyes with my fingers.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>With the index and middle finger of each +hand she presses her eyes, bowing her head to +the earth.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Death do I feel. Now do I feel it draw closer.<br> + The tremor increaseth. Yet not the heart ceaseth.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Rising impetuously.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Ah, wretch that I am, that which was told me<br> + To do, I did not, though thrice did he say it:<br> + "Replenish the oil." And lo! now 't is dying!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She goes toward the oil-skin hanging from +a beam, with her eye still watching the dying +flame, endeavoring to keep it alive with the +murmured prayer:</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.<br> + (Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord be with thee.)<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Opening the skin, it flattens in her hands. +She searches for the flask to draw off the oil, +but is able to get but one or two drops.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + 'T is empty! 'T is empty! But three drops, Virgin,<br> + For my unction extreme prithee be given me,<br> + But two for my hands, for my lips the other,<br> + And all for my soul, all the three!<br> + For how can I live when back he returns here,<br> + What can I say, Mother, what can I say?<br> + Surely then he will see, or ere he see me,<br> + How the lamp has gone out. If my loving<br> + Sufficed not to keep the flame burning,<br> + How pale unto him will this love of mine, Mother, appear!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Again she tries the skin, looking again for +other receptacles, upsetting everything and +still murmuring prayers.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Cause it to burn, O Mother intrepid!<br> + But a little while longer, as much longer only<br> + As an Ave Maria, a Salve<br> + Regina, O Mother of Mercy, of Pity!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>In the frenzy of her search she goes to +the entrance and hears a step and catches sight +of a shadow. She calls aloud.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + O woman, good woman, Christian sister,<br> + Come you hither! and may the Lord bless you!<br> + Come you hither! For mayhap the Lord sends you.<br> + What bear you in your basket? If a little<br> + Oil, oh, then of your charity, give me a little!<br> + Pray enter and take of all these your free choice,<br> + These ladles, spindles, mortars, distaffs, any!<br> + For need that there is here for Our Lady,<br> + To replenish the oil in her lamp there hanging<br> + And not to quench it; if through me it be quenched,<br> + I shall lose sight of the way to Heaven.<br> + Christian woman, grasp you my meaning?<br> + Will you to me do this loving kindness?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The woman appears at the entrance, her +head and face covered with a black mantle. +She takes down the basket from her head +without a word and placing it on the ground +removes the cloth, takes out the phial of oil and +offers it to </i>MILA.] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! be thou blessed, be thou blessed! Lord God<br> + Reward thee on earth, and in Heaven also!<br> + You have some! You have some! In mourning are you;<br> + But the Madonna will grant it to you<br> + To see again the face of your lost one,—<br> + All for this deed of your charity done me.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She takes the phial and turns anxiously +to go to the dying lamp.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Ah! perdition upon me! 'T is quenched.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The phial falls from her hand and breaks. +For a few seconds she remains motionless, +stunned with the terrible omen. The woman +leaning down to the spilled oil touches it with +her fingers and crosses herself. </i>MILA<i> regards +the woman with utter sadness and the resignation +of despair makes her voice hollow and slow.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Pardon me, pardon, Christian pilgrim,<br> + This your charity turned to nothing.<br> + The oil wasted, broken in pieces the phial,<br> + Misfortune upon me befallen.<br> + Tell me what choose you? All these things here<br> + Were fashioned out thus by the shepherd.<br> + A new distaff and with it a spindle<br> + Wish you? Or wish you a mortar and pestle?<br> + Tell me, I pray. For nothing know I any more.<br> + I am one of the lost in the earth beneath.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CLOAKED ONE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Daughter of Jorio! I have come unto you,<br> + To you, bringing here, thus, this basket,<br> + So I a boon may beseech of you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! heavenly voice that I ever<br> + In the deeps of my soul have been hearing!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CLOAKED ONE<br> +</p> + +<p> + To you come I from Acquanova.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ornella, Ornella art thou!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ORNELLA <i>uncovers her face.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + The sister am I of Aligi;<br> + The daughter am I of Lazaro.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I kiss your two feet with humility,<br> + That have carried you here to me<br> + So that again your dear face I behold<br> + This hour, this last hour of my mortal suffering.<br> + To give me pity you were the first one,<br> + You are now, too, the last one, Ornella!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + If I was the first, penitence<br> + Great I have suffered. I am telling<br> + The truth to you, Mila di Codra.<br> + And still is my suffering bitter.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! your voice in its sweetness is quivering.<br> + In the wound doth the knife that hurts quiver.<br> + And much more, ah! more doth it quiver<br> + And you do not yet know that, Ornella!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + If only you knew this my sorrow!<br> + If only you knew how much sadness<br> + The small kindness I did for you caused me!<br> + From my home that is left desolated<br> + I come, where we weep and are perishing.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Why thus are you vested in mourning?<br> + Who is dead then? You do not answer.<br> + Mayhap—mayhap—the newly come sister?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! She is the one you wish perished!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No, no. God is my witness. I feared it,<br> + And the fear of it seized me within me.<br> + Tell me, tell me. Who is it? Answer,<br> + For God's sake and for your own soul's sake!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Not one of us yet has been taken;<br> + But all of us there are still mourning<br> + The dear one who leaves us abandoned<br> + And gives himself up to his ruin.<br> + If you could behold the forsaken one,<br> + If our mother you could but behold,<br> + You would quiver indeed. Unto us<br> + Come is the Summer of blackness, come is<br> + The Autumn bitter, oppressive,<br> + And never a circling twelvemonth's season<br> + Could be unto us so saddening. Surely,<br> + When I shut to the door to help you and save you<br> + And gave myself up to my ruin,<br> + You did not then seem to me so unfeeling,—<br> + You who implored for compassion's sake,—<br> + You who sought my name of me<br> + That you might in your blessings whisper it!<br> + But since then my name is shadowed in shame.<br> + Every night, every day in our household,<br> + I am railed upon, shunned, cast away.<br> + They single me out. They, pointing, cry out:<br> + "Lo! that is the one, behold her,<br> + Who put up the bars of the entrance<br> + So that evil within might stay safely<br> + And hide at its ease by the hearthstone."<br> + I cannot stay longer. Thus say I: "Far rather<br> + Hew at me, all, with your knife-blades<br> + And carve me to shreds and cut me!" This now<br> + Is your blessing, Mila di Codra!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is just, it is just that you<br> + Strike me thus! Just is it that you<br> + Make my lips drink thus deep of this bitterness!<br> + With such sorrow be accompanied<br> + All these my sins to the world that's beyond!<br> + Mayhap, mayhap, then, the stones and the heather<br> + And the stubble, the woodblock dumb, unfeeling,<br> + Shall speak for me,—the angel here silent,<br> + That your brother is calling to life in the block there,<br> + And the Virgin bereft of her lamplight.<br> + These shall all speak for me: but I—I—shall speak not!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Dear woman, indeed how around you<br> + Your soul is your body's vestment,<br> + And how I may touch it, outstretching<br> + Towards you thus my hand with all faith.<br> + How then did you do so much evil<br> + To harm us so much—us—God's people?<br> + If you could behold our Vienda,<br> + Quiver, indeed, would you. For shortly the skin will<br> + Over the bones part in twain for its dryness,<br> + And the lips of her mouth are grown whiter<br> + Than within her white mouth her white teeth are;<br> + So that when the first rain came falling,<br> + Saturday, Mamma, seeing her, said of her,<br> + Weeping: "Lo, now! Lo, now! she will be leaving,<br> + She will break with the moisture and vanish."<br> + Yet my father laments not; his bitterness<br> + He chews upon hard without weeping.<br> + Envenomed within him the iron,<br> + The wound in his flesh is like poison<br> + (San Cresidio and San Rocca guard us!)<br> + The swelling leaves only the mouth free<br> + To bark at us daily and nightly.<br> + In his frenzy his curses were fearful,—<br> + The roof of the house with them shaking,<br> + And with them our hearts quaking. Dear woman,<br> + Your teeth are chattering. Have you the fever,<br> + That you shiver thus and you tremble?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Always at twilight and sunset,<br> + A tremor of cold overtakes me<br> + Not strong am I in the nights on the mountain,<br> + We light fires at this time in the valley,<br> + But speak on and heed not my suffering.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Yesterday, by chance, I discovered<br> + He had it in mind to climb up here,—<br> + This mountain to climb, to the sheepstead.<br> + I failed through the evening to see him,<br> + And my blood turned cold within me.<br> + So then I made ready this basket,<br> + And in this my sisters aided me,—<br> + We are three who are born of one mother,—<br> + All three of us born marked with sorrow;<br> + And this morning I left Acquanova,<br> + I crossed by the ferry the river,<br> + And the path to the mountain ascended.<br> + Ah! you dear, dear creature of Jesus!<br> + With what illness now are you taken?<br> + How can I bear all this sorrow?<br> + What can I be doing for you?<br> + You far more violently tremble<br> + Than when you sought our fireplace<br> + And the pack of the reapers were hunting you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And since—Oh! since have you seen him? Know you<br> + If yet he has come to the sheepstead?<br> + Be certain, Ornella, be certain!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Not again have I seen him. Nor yet<br> + Do I know if he came up the mountain,—<br> + Since much did he have for the doing<br> + At Gionco. Perhaps he came not.<br> + So do not be frightened! But hear me,<br> + And heed me. For your soul's sake,<br> + To save it, now, Mila di Codra,<br> + Repent ye and take ye, I prithee,<br> + Away from us this evil doing!<br> + Restore us Aligi, and may God go with you,<br> + And may He have mercy upon you!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Dear sister of Aligi! Content am I,—<br> + Yea, always to hear and to heed you.<br> + Just is it that you strike me,—<br> + Me, the sinful woman, me, the sorcerer's<br> + Daughter, the witch who is shameless,—<br> + Who for charity supplicated<br> + The journeying pilgrim of Jesus<br> + But a little oil to give her<br> + To feed her sacred lamp-flame!<br> + Perhaps behind me the Angel is weeping<br> + Again as before; and the stones perhaps<br> + Will speak for me, but I—shall speak not—<br> + Shall speak not. But this say I only<br> + In the name of sister, and if I say not<br> + In truth, may my mother arise<br> + From her grave, my hair grasping,<br> + And cast me upon the black earth, bearing<br> + Witness against her own daughter.<br> + Only say I: I am sinless before your brother,<br> + Before the pallet of your brother clean am I!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Omnipotent God! A miracle dost Thou!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + But this is the loving of Mila.<br> + This is but my love, Ornella.<br> + And more than this I shall speak not.<br> + Contented am I to obey you.<br> + All paths knows the daughter of Jorio,<br> + Already her soul ere your coming<br> + Had started,—ere now, O Innocent One!<br> + Do not distrust me, O sister<br> + Of Aligi, for no cause is there.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Firm as the rock my faith is in you.<br> + Brow unto brow have I seen in you<br> + Truth. And the rest lies in darkness,<br> + That I, poor one, may not fathom.<br> + But I kiss your feet here humbly,<br> + The feet that know well the pathways.<br> + And my silent love and pity<br> + Will companion you on your journey.<br> + I will pray that the steps of your pathway<br> + Be lessened, the pain of them softened.<br> + And the pain that I feel and I suffer<br> + On your head I shall lay it no longer.<br> + No more shall I judge your misfortunes,<br> + No more shall I judge of your loving,<br> + Since before my dear brother sinless<br> + Are you, in my heart I shall call you<br> + My sister, my sister in exile. At dawning<br> + My dreams shall meet you and often shall greet you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah, in my grave were I resting,<br> + With the black earth close to me nestling,<br> + And in my ears, in that grave lonely,<br> + These words were the last words sounding,—<br> + Their promise of peace my life rounding!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + For your life I have spoken, I witness.<br> + And food and drink to restore you,—<br> + That at least for the first of your journey,<br> + You may not lack something of comfort,—<br> + For you I prepared in this basket;<br> + Bread placing in it and wine (the oil is now<br> + Gone!) but I did not place there a flower.<br> + Forgive me for that, since then I knew not—<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + A blue flower, a flower of the blue aconite—<br> + You did not place that in your basket for me!<br> + And you did not place there the white sheet severed<br> + From the cloth in your loom at home woven<br> + That I saw 'twixt the doorway and fireplace!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila! for that hour wait on the Saviour.<br> + But what still keeps my brother? Vainly<br> + I sought him at the sheepfold. Oh! where is he?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + He will be back again ere nightfall surely.<br> + Needs be that I hasten! O, needs be!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do you mean not to see him—speak again to him?<br> + Where then will you go for this night? Remain here.<br> + I, too, will remain. Thus doing shall we<br> + Be together, and strong against sorrow,<br> + We three— Till you go at daybreak<br> + On your path, and we go upon our path.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + But already too long are the nights. Needs be<br> + That I hasten,—hasten! You know not.<br> + I will tell you. Also from him I received<br> + The parting that's not to be given<br> + A second time. Addio! Go, seek him,<br> + And meet him, now, in the sheepfold, surely.<br> + Detain him there longer, and tell him<br> + All the grief that they suffer down there,<br> + And let him not follow me! On my pathway<br> + Unknown, I shall soon be. Rest you blessed!<br> + Forever rest blessed! O, be you as sweet<br> + Unto his as you were to my sorrow!<br> + Addio! Ornella, Ornella, Ornella!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>While speaking thus, she retires toward +the darkness of the cavern and </i>ORNELLA<i>, +softened to tears, passes out. The old +herb-woman then appears at the opening of the +cavern. The singing of the pilgrims may still +be heard, but from a greater distance. </i>ANNA +ONNA<i> enters, leaning on her crutch with her +bag hanging by her side.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA [<i>breathless</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + 'Has freed him, freed him, woman of the valley,<br> + 'Has freed him! Ay! from inside him<br> + Chased away all the demons did he—<br> + Cosma—that possessed him. A saint, surely.<br> + He gave out a great cry like a bull's roar,—<br> + Did the youth, and at one blow fell down<br> + As if he had burst his chest open.<br> + You didn't—don't say you couldn't—hear him?<br> + And now on the grass he is sleeping.<br> + Deeply, deeply is he sleeping; and the shepherds<br> + Stand around and keep watch o'er him.<br> + But where are you? I do not see you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Anna Onna, put me to sleep!<br> + O Granny dear, I'll give you this basket<br> + That is brimful of eating and drinking.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Who was she that went away hurrying?<br> + Had she broken your heart that you cried so?<br> + —That after her, so, you were calling?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Granny, oh, listen! This basket I'll give you,<br> + That one on the ground, to take with you,—<br> + If you'll put me to sleep,—make me go,—<br> + To sleep, with the little black seeds—you know—<br> + Of the hyoscyamus. Go off then! be eating and drinking!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I have none. I have none left in my bag here!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + The skin I will give you, too, the sheepskin<br> + You were sleeping on here to-day.<br> + If you give me some of those red seed-pods,<br> + The red pods you know—twigs of the nasso.<br> + Go off, then, go off, and fill up and guzzle!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I have none, I have none in my bag here.<br> + Go slower a bit, woman of the valley,<br> + Take time, go slowly, go slowly,<br> + Think it over a day, or a month, or a year.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Granny dear, more will I give you!<br> + A kerchief with pictures in color,<br> + And of woollen cloth, three arms' lengths,<br> + If you give me some of the herb-roots—<br> + The same that you sell to the shepherds<br> + That kill off the wolves so swiftly—<br> + The root of the wolf-grass, the wolf-bane—<br> + Go off then. Go off and mend up your bones!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I have none, I have none left in my bag here.<br> + Go slower a bit, woman of the valley,<br> + Take time, go slowly, go slowly,<br> + With time there always comes wisdom.<br> + Think it over a day, or a month, or a year,<br> + With the herbs of the good Mother Mountain<br> + We can heal all our ailments and sorrows.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + You will not? Very well then, I snatch thus from you<br> + That black bag of yours. Therein I'll be finding<br> + What will serve for me well, well indeed!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She tries to tear the bag away from the +tottering old woman.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No, no. You are robbing me, your poor old granny,<br> + You force me! The shepherd—he'd tear me—<br> + Gouge out my eyes from their sockets.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>A step is heard and a man's form appears +in the shadows.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! it is you, it is you, Aligi!<br> + Behold what this woman is doing.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[MILA <i>lets fall the bag which she had taken +from the old woman and sees the man looming +tall in the dim light of the mountain, but +recognizing him she takes refuge in the depths of the +cavern. </i>LAZARO DI ROIO<i> then enters, silent, +with a rope around his arm like an ox drover +about to tie up his beast. The sound of </i>ANNA +ONNA'S<i> crutches striking against the stones is +heard as she departs in safety.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Woman, O, you need not be frightened.<br> + Lazaro di Roio has come here,<br> + But he does not carry his sickle:<br> + It is scarcely a case of an eye for an eye,<br> + And he does not wish to enforce it.<br> + There was more than an ounce of blood taken<br> + From him on the wheat-field of Mispa,<br> + And you know cause and end of that bloodshed.<br> + Ounce for ounce, then, he will not take from you,<br> + Nor wish it, for all the wound's smarting—<br> + The cicatrice, here in the forehead.<br> + Raven feather, olive-twig crook,<br> + Rancid oil, soot from the chimney shook,<br> + Morn unto eve, eve unto morn,<br> + The cursed wound must healing scorn!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He gives a short, malignant laugh.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + And where I was lying, I heard ever<br> + The weeping and wailing, the women,<br> + Oh, not for me, but this shepherd,<br> + Spell-bound, bewitched by the witch shrew<br> + Way off in the far-away mountain.<br> + Surely, woman, poor was your picking.<br> + But my grit and my blood are back again,<br> + And many words I shall not be talking,<br> + My tongue is dry now for doing it,<br> + And all for this same sad occasion.<br> + Now then, say I, you shall come on with me,<br> + And no talk about it, daughter of Jorio!<br> + Waiting below is the donkey and saddle,<br> + And also here a good rope hempen,<br> + And others to spare, God be praised! if need be!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[MILA <i>remains motionless, backed up +against the rock, without replying.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Did you hear me, Mila di Codra?<br> + Or are you deaf and dumb now?<br> + This I am saying in quiet:<br> + I know all about how it happened,<br> + That time with the reapers of Norca.<br> + If you are thinking to thwart me<br> + With the same old tricks, undeceive you!<br> + There's no fireplace here, nor any<br> + Relations, nor San Giovanni<br> + Ringing the bells of salvation.<br> + I take three steps and I seize you,<br> + With two good stout fellows to help me.<br> + So now, then, and I say it in quiet,<br> + You'd better agree to what needs be.<br> + You may just as well do as I want you,<br> + For if you don't do so, you'll have to!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What do you want from me? Where already<br> + Death was, you came. Death is here, even now.<br> + He stepped one side to let you enter.<br> + Withdrawing awhile, still here he is waiting.<br> + Oh, pick up that bag there; inside it<br> + Are deadly roots enough to kill ten wolves.<br> + If you bind it on to my jaws here<br> + I would make of it all a good mouthful;<br> + I would eat therein, you would see me,<br> + As the good hungry mare that crunches<br> + Her oats. So then, when I should be<br> + Cold, you could take me up there and toss me<br> + And pack me upon your donkey,<br> + And tie with your rope like a bundle,<br> + And shout out: "Behold the witch, shameless,<br> + The sorceress!" Let them burn up my body,<br> + Let the women come round and behold me,<br> + And rejoice in deliverance. Mayhap<br> + One would thrust in her hand, in the fire,<br> + Without being burned in the flame,<br> + And draw from the core of the heat my heart.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[LAZARO<i>, at her first bidding, takes up the +bag and examines the simples. He then throws +it behind him, with suspicion and distrust.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah, ah! You want to spread some snare.<br> + What crouch are you watching to spring on me!<br> + In your voice I can hear all your slyness,<br> + But I shall trap you in my lariat.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>At this he makes his rope into a lariat.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Not dead, neither cold do I want you.<br> + Lazaro di Roio,—by all the gods!—<br> + Mila di Codra, will harvest you,—<br> + Will go with you this very October,<br> + And for this all things are ready.<br> + He will press the grapes with your body,<br> + Lazaro will sink in the must with you.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>With a sinister laugh he advances toward +</i>MILA<i>, who is on the alert to elude him, the man +following closely, she darting here and there, +unable to escape him.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do not touch me! Be ashamed of yourself!<br> + For your own son is standing behind you.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>appears at the end of the cave. +Seeing his father, he turns pale. </i>LAZARO<i>, +halting in his chase, turns toward him. Father and +son regard each other intently and ominously.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Hola there, Aligi! What is it?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, how did you come hither?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Has your blood been all sucked up that it's made you<br> + So pale? As white you stand there in the light<br> + As the whey when they squeeze out the cheeses.<br> + Shepherd, say, why are you frightened?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, what is it you wish to do here?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + What I wish to do here? You are asking<br> + A question of me, a right you have not.<br> + I will tell you, however. This will I:<br> + The yearling ewe catch in my lariat,<br> + And lead her wherever it please me.<br> + That done, I shall sentence the shepherd.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, this thing you shall surely not do.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + How dare you then lift so boldly<br> + Your white face up into mine? Be careful<br> + Or I shall make it blush of a sudden.<br> + Go! turn back to your sheepfold and stay there,<br> + With your flock inside the enclosure,<br> + Until I come there to seek you.<br> + On your life, I say, obey me!<br> +</p> + +<p> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, I pray the Saviour to keep me<br> + From doing you aught but obedience.<br> + And you are able to judge and to sentence<br> + This son of your own; but this one—<br> + This woman, see that you leave her alone!<br> + Leave her to weep here alone.<br> + Do no offence unto her. It is sinful.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! The Lord has made you crazy!<br> + Of what saint were you just speaking?<br> + See you not (may your eyes be blind forever!)<br> + See you not how under her eyelashes,—<br> + Around her neck lie hidden<br> + The seven sins, the mortal sins?<br> + Surely, if there should see her only<br> + Your buck now, 't would butt her, and you here<br> + Are frightened lest I should offend her!<br> + I tell you the stones of the highroad<br> + By man and by beast are less trodden<br> + Than she is by sin and shame trampled.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + If it were not a sin unto God in me,<br> + If by all men it were not deemed evil,<br> + Father, I should say unto you that in this thing,—<br> + In this thing you lie in your gullet!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He takes a few steps and places himself +between his father and the woman, covering +her with his body.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + What's that you say? Your tongue in you wither!<br> + Down on your knees there, to beg me<br> + Forgiveness, your face on the ground there!<br> + And never dare you to lift up your body<br> + Before me! Thus, on your marrow-bones,<br> + Off with you! Herd with your dogs!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + The Saviour will judge of me, father:<br> + But this woman I shall not abandon,<br> + Nor unto your wrath shall I leave her,<br> + While living. The Saviour will judge me.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + I am the judge of you. Who<br> + Am I then to you, blood and body?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + You are my own father, dear unto me.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + I am unto you your own father, and to you<br> + I may do as to me it seem pleasing<br> + Because unto me you are but the ox<br> + In my stable; you are but my shovel<br> + And hoe. And if I should over you<br> + Pass with my harrow and tear you<br> + And break you in pieces, this is well done!<br> + And if I have need of a handle<br> + For my knife, and one I shall make myself<br> + Out of one of your bones, this is well done!<br> + Because I am the father and you are the son!<br> + Do you heed? And to me over you is given<br> + All power, since time beyond time,<br> + And a law that is over all laws.<br> + And as even I was to my father,<br> + So even are you unto me, under earth.<br> + Do you heed? And if from your memory<br> + This thing has fallen, then thus I recall<br> + It unto your memory. Kneel down on your knees and kiss ye<br> + The earth on your marrow-bones<br> + And go off without looking behind you!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Pass over me then with the harrow;<br> + But touch not the woman.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[LAZARO<i> goes up to him, unable to restrain +his rage, and lifting the rope, strikes him on the +shoulder.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Down, down, you dog, down, to the ground with you!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI [<i>falling on his knees</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + So then, my father, I kneel down before you:<br> + The ground in front of you do I kiss,<br> + And in the name of the true God and living<br> + By my first tear and my infant wailing<br> + From the time when you took me unswaddled<br> + And in your hand held me aloft<br> + Before the sacred face of Lord Christ,—<br> + By all this, I beseech you, I pray you, my father,<br> + That you tread not thus and trample<br> + On the heart of your son sorrow-laden.<br> + Do not thus disgrace him! I pray you:<br> + Do not make his senses forsake him,<br> + Nor deliver him into the hands of the False One—<br> + The Enemy who wheels now about us!<br> + I pray you by the angel there silent,<br> + Who sees and who hears in that wood block!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Begone! Off with you! Off with you!<br> + I shall shortly now judge of you.<br> + Off with you, I bid you. Be off with you!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He strikes him cruelly with the rope. +</i>ALIGI<i> rises all quivering.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Let the Saviour be judge. Let him judge then<br> + Between you and me, and let him give unto me<br> + Light; but yet I will against you<br> + Not lift up this my hand.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Be you damned! With this rope I will hang you.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He throws the lariat to take him but +</i>ALIGI<i>, seizing the rope with a sudden jerk, +takes it out of his father's hands.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Christ my Saviour, help Thou me!<br> + That I may not uplift my hand against him,<br> + That I may not do this to my father!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO [<i>furious, goes to the door and calls</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ho, Jenne! and ho, Femo! Come here!<br> + Come here, and see this fellow,<br> + What he is doing (may a viper sting him!)<br> + Fetch the ropes. Possessed is he<br> + Most surely. His own father he threatens!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Running appear two men, big and +muscular, bearing ropes.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + He is rebellious, this fellow!<br> + From the womb is he damned,<br> + And for all his days and beyond them.<br> + The evil spirit has entered into him.<br> + See! See! Behold how bloodless<br> + The face is. O Jenne! You take him and hold him.<br> + O Femo, you have the rope, take it and bind him,<br> + For to stain myself I am not wishing.<br> + Then go ye and seek out some one<br> + To perform the exconjuration.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The two men throw themselves upon </i>ALIGI<i> +and overpower him.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Brothers in God! O, do not do this to me!<br> + Do not imperil your soul, Jenne.<br> + I who know you so well, who remember,<br> + Remember you well from a baby,<br> + Since you came as a boy to pick up the olives<br> + In your fields. O Jenne dell Eta!<br> + I remember you. Do not thus debase me.<br> + Do not thus disgrace me!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They hold him tightly, trying to bind him, +and pushing him on toward the entrance.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Ah! dog!—The pest take you!—<br> + No, no, no!—Mila, Mila! Hasten!—<br> + Give me the iron there. Mila! Mila!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>His voice, desperate and hoarse, is heard +in the distance, while </i>LAZARO<i> bars </i>MILA'S<i> +egress.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, Aligi! Heaven help you!<br> + May God avenge you! Never despair!<br> + No power have I, no power have you,<br> + But while I have breath in my mouth,<br> + I am all yours! I am all for you!<br> + Have faith! Have faith! Help shall come!<br> + Be of good heart, Aligi! May God help you!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[MILA<i> gazes intently along the path where +</i>ALIGI<i> was borne and listens intently for voices. +In this brief interval </i>LAZARO<i> scrutinizes the +cavern insidiously. From the distance comes +the singing of another company of pilgrims +crossing the valley.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Woman, now then you have been seeing<br> + How I am the man here. I give out the law.<br> + You are left here alone with me.<br> + Night is approaching, and inside here<br> + It is now almost night. O don't<br> + Be afraid of me, Mila di Codra,<br> + Nor yet of this red scar of mine<br> + If you see it light up, for now even<br> + I feel in it the beat of the fever.<br> + Come nearer me. Quite worn out you seem to be<br> + For sure you've not met with fat living<br> + On this hard shepherd's pallet.<br> + While with me you shall have, if you want it,<br> + All of that in the valley; for Lazaro<br> + Di Roio is one of the thrifty.<br> + But what do you spy at? Whom do you wait for?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No one I wait for. No one is coming!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She is still motionless, hoping to see +</i>ORNELLA<i> come and save her. Dissimulating +to gain time, she tries to defeat </i>LAZARO'S<i> +intentions.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + You are alone with me. You need not<br> + Be frightened. Are you persuaded?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA [<i>hesitatingly</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + I'm thinking, Lazaro di Roio.<br> + I'm thinking of what you have promised.<br> + I'm thinking. But what's to secure me?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do not draw back. My word I keep.<br> + All that I promise, I tell you.<br> + Be assured, God be witness. Come to me!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And Candia della Leonessa?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Let the bitterness of her mouth moisten<br> + Her thread, and with that be her weaving!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + —The three daughters you have in your household?<br> + And now the new one!—I dare not trust to it.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + Come here! Don't draw back! Here! Feel it!<br> + Where I tucked it. Twenty ducats,<br> + Sewed in this coat. Do you want them?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He feels for them through his goatskin +coat, then takes it off and throws it on the +ground at her feet.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Take them! Don't you hear them clinking?<br> + There are twenty silver ducats.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + But first I must see them and count them,—<br> + First—before—Lazaro di Roio.<br> + Now will I take these shears and rip it.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LAZARO<br> +</p> + +<p> + But why spy about so? You witch! surely<br> + You're getting some little trick ready.<br> + You're hoping yet you'll deceive me.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He makes a rush at her to seize her. She +eludes him and seeks refuge near the walnut +block.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No, no, no! Let me alone! Let me alone!<br> + Don't you touch me! See! See! She comes! See! See! she comes<br> + Your own daughter—Ornella is coming.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She grasps the angel to resist </i>LAZARO'S<i> +violence.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + No, no! Ornella, Ornella, O help me!<br> +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-155"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-155.jpg" alt="THE PARRICIDE. <i>Act II.</i>"> +<br> +THE PARRICIDE. <i>Act II.</i> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Suddenly </i>ALIGI<i> appears, free and +unbound, at the mouth of the cave. He sees in +the dim light the two figures. He throws +himself upon his father. Catching sight of the axe +driven into the wood, he seizes it, blind with fury +and horror.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Let her go! For your life!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>He strikes his father to death. </i>ORNELLA<i>, +just appearing, bends down and recognizes the +dead body in the shadow of the angel. She +utters a great cry.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! I untied him! I untied him!<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0301"></a></p> + +<h3> +ACT III. +</h3> + +<p class="noindent"> +<i>A large country yard; in the farther +end an oak, venerable with age, +beyond the fields, bounded by mountains, +furrowed by torrents; on the left the +house of </i>LAZARO<i>, the door open, the porch +littered with agricultural implements; on the +right the haystack, the mill, and the straw +stack.</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<i>The body of </i>LAZARO<i> is lying on the floor +within the house, the head resting, according +to custom for one murdered, on a bundle of +grape-vine twigs; the wailers, kneeling, +surround the body, one of them intoning the +lamentation, the others answering. At times they +bow toward one another, bending till they +bring their foreheads together. On the porch, +between the plough and large earthen vessel, +are the kindred and </i>SPLENDORE<i> and </i>FAVETTA<i>. +Farther from them is </i>VIENDA DI GIAVE<i>, sitting +on a hewn stone, looking pale and desolate, +with the look of one dying, her mother and +godmother consoling her. </i>ORNELLA<i> is under the +tree, alone, her head turned toward the path. +All are in mourning.</i> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF WAILERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Jesu, Saviour, Jesu, Saviour!<br> + 'T is your will. 'T is your bidding,<br> + That a tragic death accursed<br> + Lazaro fell by and perished.<br> + From peak unto peak ran the shudder,<br> + All of the mountain was shaken.<br> + Veiled was the sun in heaven,<br> + Hidden his face was and covered.<br> + Woe! Woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro!<br> + Alas! What tears for thee tear us!<br> + <i>Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine</i>.<br> + (O Lord! give him rest eternal.)<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Now, now! Coming! 'T is coming! Far off!<br> + The black standard! The dust rising!<br> + O sisters, my sisters, think, oh! think<br> + Of the mother, how to prepare her!—<br> + That her heart may not break. But a little<br> + And he will be here. Lo! at the near turn,<br> + At the near turn the standard appearing!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother of the passion of the Son crucified,<br> + You and you only can tell the mother,—<br> + Go to the mother, to her heart whisper!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Some of the women go out to see.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA DI BOVE<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is the cypress of the field of Fiamorbo.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA SESARA<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is the shadow of clouds passing over.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is neither the cypress nor shadow<br> + Of storm-cloud, dear women, I see it advancing,<br> + Neither cypress nor storm-cloud, woe's me!<br> + But the Standard and Sign of Wrong-Doing<br> + That is borne along with him. He's coming<br> + The condemned one's farewells to receive here,<br> + To take from the hands of the mother<br> + The cup of forgetting, ere to God he commend him.<br> + Ah! herefore are we not all of us dying,<br> + Dying with him? My sisters, my sisters!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The sisters all look out the gate toward the +path.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Jesu, Jesu, it were better<br> + That this roof should on us crumble.<br> + Ah! Too much is this great sorrow,<br> + Candia della Leonessa.<br> + On the bare ground your husband lying,<br> + Not even permitted a pillow,<br> + But only a bundle of vine-twigs,<br> + Under his head where he's lying.<br> + Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro!<br> + Alas! What pain for thee pains us!<br> + <i>Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine</i>.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Favetta, go you; go speak to her.<br> + Go you, touch her on the shoulder.<br> + So she may feel and turn. She is seated<br> + Like unto a stone on the hearthstone,<br> + Stays fixed there without moving an eyelash,<br> + And she seems to see nothing, hear nothing;<br> + She seems to be one with the hearthstone.<br> + Dear Virgin of mercy and pity!<br> + Her senses O do not take from her!—Unhappy one!<br> + Cause her to heed us, and in our eyes looking<br> + To come to herself, dear unhappy one.<br> + Yet I have no heart even to touch her,<br> + And who then will say the word to her?<br> + O sister! Go tell her: Lo! he is coming!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Nor have I the heart. She affrights me.<br> + How she looked before I seem to forget,<br> + And how her voice sounded before,<br> + Ere in the deep of this sorrow<br> + We plunged. Her head has whitened<br> + And it grows every hour whiter.<br> + Oh! she is scarcely ours any more,<br> + She seems from us so far away,<br> + As if on that stone she were seated<br> + For years a hundred times one hundred—<br> + From one hundred years to another—<br> + And had lost, quite lost remembrance<br> + Of us.—O just see now, just see now,<br> + Her mouth, how shut her mouth is!<br> + More shut than the mouth that's made silent,—<br> + Mute on the ground there forever.<br> + How then can she speak to us ever?<br> + I will not touch her nor can I tell her—<br> + "Lo! he is coming!" If she awaken<br> + She'll fall, she'll crumble. She affrights me!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + O wherefore were we born, my sisters?<br> + And wherefore brought forth by our mother?<br> + Let us all in one sheaf be gathered,<br> + And let Death bear us all thus away!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Ah! mercy, mercy on you, Woman!<br> + —Ah! mercy be upon you, Women!<br> + —Up and take heart again! The Lord God<br> + Will uplift whom he uprooted.<br> + If God willed it that sad be the vintage<br> + Mayhap He wills, too, that the olives<br> + Be sure. Put your trust in the Lord.<br> + —And sadder than you is another,<br> + She who sat in her home well contented,<br> + In plenty, mid bread and clean flour,<br> + Entering here, fell asleep, to awaken<br> + Amid foul misfortune and never<br> + Again to smile. She is dying: Vienda.<br> + Of the world beyond is she already.<br> + —She is there without wailing or weeping!<br> + Ah! on all human flesh have thou pity!<br> + On all that are living have mercy!<br> + And all who are born to suffer,<br> + To suffer and know not wherefore!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh, there Femo di Nerfa is coming,<br> + The ox driver, hurriedly coming.<br> + And there is the standard stopping<br> + Beside the White Tabernacle.<br> + My sisters, shall I myself go to her<br> + And bear her the word?<br> + Woe! oh, woe! If she does not remember<br> + What is required of her. Lord God<br> + Forbid that she be not ready<br> + And all unprepared he come on her and call her,<br> + For if his voice strike her ear on a sudden<br> + Then surely her heart will be broken, broken!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA DI BOVE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Then surely her heart will be broken,<br> + Ornella, if you should go touch her,<br> + For you bring bad fortune with you.<br> + 'T was you who barred up the doorway,<br> + 'T was you who unfettered Aligi.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + To whom are you leaving your ploughshare,<br> + O Lazaro! to whom do you leave it?<br> + Who now your fields will be tilling?<br> + Who now your flocks will be leading?<br> + Both father and son the Enemy<br> + Has snared in his toils and taken.<br> + Death of infamy! Death of infamy!<br> + The rope, and the sack, and the blade of iron!<br> + Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro!<br> + Alas! What torments for thee torment us!<br> + <i>Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine</i>.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The ox driver appears, panting.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FEMO DI NERFA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Where is Candia? O ye daughters of the dead one!<br> + Judgment is pronounced. Now kiss ye<br> + The dust! Now grasp in your hands the ashes!<br> + For now the Judge of Wrong-Doing<br> + Has given the final sentence.<br> + And all the People is the Executor<br> + Of the Parricide, and in its hands it has him.<br> + Now the People are bringing here your brother<br> + That he may receive forgiveness<br> + From his own mother, from his mother<br> + Receive the cup of forgetfulness,<br> + Before his right hand they shall sever,<br> + Before in the leathern sack they sew him<br> + With the savage mastiff and throw him<br> + Where the deep restless waters o'erflow him!<br> + All ye daughters of the dead one, kiss ye<br> + The dust now; grasp in your hands now the ashes!<br> + And may our Saviour, the Lord Jesus<br> + Upon innocent blood have pity!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The three sisters rush up to each other, +and then advancing slowly, remain with their +heads touching each other. From the distance +is heard the sound of the muffled drum.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Femo, how could you ever say it?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FEMO DI NERFA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Where is Candia? Why does she not appear here?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + On the hearthstone, the stone by the fireplace<br> + She sits and gives no sign of living.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA DI BOVA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And there's no one so hardy to touch her.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And affrighted for her are her daughters.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA SESARA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And you, Femo, did you bear witness?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And Aligi, did you have him near you?<br> + And before the judge what did he utter?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MONICA BELLA COGNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + What said he? What did he? Aloud<br> + Did he cry? Did he rave, the poor unfortunate one?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FEMO DI NERFA<br> +</p> + +<p> + He fell on his knees and remained so,<br> + And upon his own hand stayed gazing,<br> + And at times he would say "<i>Mea culpa</i>,"<br> + And would kiss the earth before him,<br> + And his face looked sweet and humble,<br> + As the face of one who was innocent.<br> + And the angel carved out of the walnut block<br> + Was near him there with the blood-stain.<br> + And many about him were weeping,<br> + And some of them said, "He is innocent."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ANNA DI BOVA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And that woman of darkness, Mila<br> + Di Codra, has anyone seen her?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Where is the daughter of Jorio?<br> + Was she not to be seen? What know you?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FEMO DI NERFA<br> +</p> + +<p> + They have searched all the sheepfolds and stables<br> + Without any trace of her finding.<br> + The shepherds have nowhere seen her,<br> + Only Cosma, the saint of the mountain,<br> + Seems to have seen her, and he says<br> + That in some mountain gorge she's gone to cast her bones away.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + May the crows find her yet living<br> + And pick out her eyes. May the wolf-pack<br> + Scent her yet living and tear her!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA SESARA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And ever reborn to that torture<br> + Be the damnable flesh of that woman!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Be still, be still, Felavia, silence, I say!<br> + Be silent now! For Candia has arisen,<br> + She is walking, coming to the threshold.<br> + Now she goes out. O daughters, ye daughters,<br> + She has arisen, support her!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The sisters separate and go toward the +door.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Candia della Leonessa,<br> + Whither go you? Who has called you?<br> + Sealed up are your lips and silent,<br> + And your feet are like feet fettered.<br> + Death you are leaving behind you,<br> + And sin you find coming to meet you.<br> + Wheresoever going, wheresoever turning,<br> + Thorny everywhere the pathway.<br> + Oh! woe! woe! ashes, ashes, widow!<br> + Oh! woe! mother, Jesu! Jesu! mercy!<br> + <i>De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine</i>.<br> + (Out of the deep, O Lord, I cry unto Thee!)<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The mother appears at the threshold. +The daughters timidly go to support her. She +gazes at them in great bewilderment.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother, dearest, you have risen, maybe<br> + You need something—refreshment—<br> + A mouthful of muscadel, a cordial?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Parched are your lips, you dear one,<br> + And bleeding are they? Shall we not bathe them?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mommy, have courage, we are with you.<br> + Unto this great trial God has called you.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And from one warp came so much linen,<br> + And from one spring so many rivers,<br> + And from one oak so many branches,<br> + And from one mother many daughters!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother dear, your forehead is fevered. For the weather<br> + To-day is stifling, and your dress is heavy,<br> + And your dear face is all wet with moisture.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Jesu, Jesu, may she not lose her senses!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Help her regain her mind, Madonna!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is so long since I did any singing,<br> + I fear I cannot hold the melody.<br> + But to-day is Friday, there is no singing,<br> + Our Saviour went to the mountain this day.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + O mother dear, where does your mind wander?<br> + Look at us! Know us! What idle fancy<br> + Teases you? Wretched are we! What is her meaning?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Here, too, is the stole, and here, too, is the cup sacramental,<br> + And this is the belfry of San Biagio.<br> + And this is the river, and this my own cabin.<br> + But who, who is this one who stands in my doorway?<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Sudden terror seizes the young girls. +They draw back, watching their mother, +moaning and weeping.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O my sisters, we have lost her!<br> + Lost her, also, our dear mother!<br> + Oh! too far away do her senses stray!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Unhappy we! Whom God's malediction left<br> + Alone in the land, orphans bereft!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + By the other, a new grave make ready near<br> + And bury us living all unready here!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA SESARA<br> +</p> + +<p> + No no, dear girls, be not so despairing,<br> + For the shock is but pushing her senses<br> + Far back to some time long ago.<br> + Let them wander! thence soon to be turning!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[CANDIA <i>takes several steps.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother, you hear me? Where are you going?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I have lost the heart of my dear gentle boy,<br> + Thirty-three days ago now, nor yet do I find it;<br> + Have you seen him anywhere? Have you met him afar?<br> + —Upon Calvary Mountain I left him,<br> + I left him afar on the distant mountain,<br> + I left him afar in tears and bleeding.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! she is telling her stations.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FELAVIA SESARA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Let her mind wander, let her say them!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Let her all her heart unburden!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MONICA DELIA COGNA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Madonna of Holy Friday,<br> + Have pity on her! And pray for us!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The two women kneel and pray.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Lo! now the mother sets out on her travels,<br> + To visit her son well beloved she travels.<br> + —O Mother, Mother, wherefore your coming?<br> + Among these Judeans there is no safety.<br> + —An armful of linen cloth I am bringing<br> + To swathe the sore wounds of your body.<br> + —Ah! me! had you brought but a swallow of water!<br> + —My son!—No pathway I know nor wellspring;<br> + But if you will bend your dear head a little<br> + A throatful of milk from my breast I will give you,<br> + And if then you find there no milk, oh so closely<br> + To heart I will press you, my life will go to you!<br> + —O Mother, Mother, speak softly, softly—<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>She stops for a moment, then dragging +her words, cries out suddenly with a despairing +cry.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Mother, I have been sleeping for years seven hundred,<br> + Years seven hundred, I come from afar off.<br> + I no longer remember the days of my cradle.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Struck by her own voice, she stops and +looks about bewildered, as if suddenly +awakened from a dream. Her daughters hasten +to support her. The women all rise. The +beating of the drum sounds less muffled, as +if approaching.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Ah! how she's trembling, how she's all trembling!<br> + Now she swoons. Her heart is almost broken.<br> + For two days she has tasted nothing. Gone is she!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mamma, who is it speaks within you? What do you feel,<br> + Speaking inside you, in the breast of you?<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FAVETTA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! unto us hearken; heed us, mother,<br> + Oh! look upon us! We are here with you!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FEMO DI NERFA [<i>from the end of the yard</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + O women, women, he's near, the crowd with him.<br> + The standard is passing the cistern now.<br> + They are bringing also the angel covered.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The women gather under the oak to +watch.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [in a loud voice]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother, Aligi is coming now; Aligi is coming,<br> + To take from your heart the token of pardon,<br> + And drink from your hand the cup of forgetfulness.<br> + Awaken, awaken, be brave, dear mother;<br> + Accursed he is not. With deep repentance<br> + The sacred blood he has spilled redeeming.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + 'T is true; oh, 'tis true. With the leaves he was bruising<br> + They stanched the blood that was gushing.<br> + "Son Aligi," he said then, "Son Aligi,<br> + Let go the sickle and take up the sheep-crook,<br> + Be you the shepherd and go to the mountain."<br> + This his commandment was kept in obedience.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + SPLENDORE<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do you well understand? Aligi is coming.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And unto the mountain he must be returning.<br> + What shall I do? All his new clothing<br> + I have not yet made ready, Ornella!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother, let us take this step. Turn now unto us; here,<br> + In front of the house we must await him<br> + And give our farewell to him who is leaving,<br> + Then all in peace we shall lie down together,<br> + Side by side in the deep bed below.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The daughters lead their mother out on +the porch.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CANDIA [<i>murmuring to herself</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + I lay down and meseemed of Jesus I dreamed,<br> + He came to me saying, "Be not fearful!"<br> + San Giovanni said to me, "Rest in safety."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Oh what crowds of people follow the standard,<br> + The whole village is coming after,<br> + —Iona di Midia is carrying the standard.<br> + —Oh how still it is, like a processional!<br> + —Oh what sadness! On his head the veil of sable,<br> + —On his hands the wooden fetters,<br> + Large and heavy, big as an ox-yoke!<br> + Head to foot the gray cloth wraps him, he is barefoot.<br> + -Ah! Who can look longer! My face I bury,<br> + I close up my eyes from longer seeing.<br> + —The leathern sack Leonardo is bearing,<br> + Biagio Gudo leads the savage mastiff.<br> + —Mix in with the wine the roots of solatro<br> + That he may lose his consciousness.<br> + —Brew with the wine the herb novella<br> + That he may lose feeling, miss suffering.<br> + Go, Maria Cora, you who know the secrets,<br> + Help Ornella to mix the potion.<br> + —Dire was the deed, dire is the suffering.<br> + Oh what sadness! See the people!<br> + —Silently comes all the village.<br> + —Abandoned now are all the vineyards.<br> + —To-day, to-day no grapes are gathered.<br> + —Yes, to-day even the land is mourning.<br> + —Who is not weeping? Who is not wailing?<br> + —See Vienda! Almost in death's agony.<br> + Better for her that she lost her senses.<br> + —Better for her that she see not, hear not.<br> + —O woe for her bitter fate, three months only<br> + Since we came and brought our hampers!<br> + —And sorrow yet to come who may measure?<br> + —No tears shall be left in us for weeping.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + FEMO DI NERFA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Silence, O kindred, for here comes Iona.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The women turn toward the porch. There +is a deep silence. The voice of </i>IONA] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O widow of Lazaro di Roio,<br> + O people of this unhappy home,<br> + Behold now! Behold now! The penitent is coming.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The tall figure of </i>IONA<i> appears bearing +the standard. Behind him comes the parricide, +robed in gray, the head covered with a +black veil, both hands manacled in heavy +wooden fetters. A man on one side is holding +the shepherd's carved crook; others carry the +angel covered with a white cloth, which they +lower to the ground. The crowd pushes +between the straw stack and ancient oak. The +waiters, still on their knees, crawl to the door +and lift up their voices in cries and wailing +towards the condemned one.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CHORUS OF WAILERS<br> +</p> + +<p> + Son, O son Aligi! Son, O son Aligi!<br> + What have you done? What have you done?<br> + Whose body is this body bleeding?<br> + And who upon the stone has placed it?<br> + Now hath come your hour upon you!<br> + Black is the wine of the evil-doer!<br> + Severed hand and death of infamy;<br> + Severed hand and sack of leather!<br> + Oh! woe! woe! O son of Lazaro. Lazaro<br> + Is dead. Woe! Woe! And you slew Lazaro!<br> + <i>Libera, Domine, animam servi tui</i>.<br> + (Spare, O Lord, the soul of this thy servant.)<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA DI MIDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Grief is yours, Candia della Leonessa,<br> + O Vienda di Giave, grief is yours,<br> + Grief is yours, daughters of the dead one! Kindred,<br> + May the Lord Saviour have pity on all of you, women,<br> + For into the hands of the People, judging,<br> + The Judge has now given Aligi di Lazaro.<br> + That upon the deed infamous we may take vengeance,<br> + A deed upon all of us fallen, and having no equal,<br> + Nor among our ancestors known to memory,<br> + And, may it forever be lost from memory,<br> + By the grace of the Lord, from son to son, henceforth.<br> + Now, therefore, the penitent one we lead hither,<br> + That he may receive the cup of forgetfulness<br> + From you here, Candia della Leonessa,<br> + Since he out of your flesh and your blood was the issue,<br> + To you 't is conceded to lift the veil of sable,<br> + 'T is yielded you lift to his mouth the cup of forgetting,<br> + Since his death unto him shall be exceeding bitter.<br> + <i>Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine!</i><br> + (Save, O Lord, these thy people)<br> + <i>Kyrie eleison!</i><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + <i>Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison!</i><br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[IONA <i>places his hand on </i>ALIGI'S<i> shoulder. +The penitent then takes a step toward his +mother, and falls, as if broken down, upon +his knees.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Praises to Jesus and to Mary!<br> + I can call you no longer my mother,<br> + 'T is given to me to bless you no longer.<br> + This is the mouth of hell—this mouth!<br> + To curses only these lips are given,<br> + That sucked from you the milk of life,<br> + That from your lips learned orisons holy<br> + In the fear of the Lord God Almighty,<br> + And of all of his law and commandments.<br> + Why have I brought upon you this evil?—<br> + You—of all women born to nourish the child,<br> + To sing him to sleep on the lap, in the cradle!—<br> + This would I say of my will within me,<br> + But locked must my lips remain.<br> + —Oh, no! Lift not up my veil of darkness<br> + Lest thus in its fold you behold<br> + The face of my terrible sinning.<br> + Do not lift up my veil of darkness,<br> + No, nor give me the cup of forgetting.<br> + Then but little shall be my suffering,<br> + But little the suffering decreed me.<br> + Rather chase me with stones away,<br> + Ay, with stones and with staves drive and chase me,<br> + As you would chase off the mastiff even<br> + Soon to be of my anguish companion,<br> + And to tear at my throat and mumble it,<br> + While my desperate spirit within me<br> + Shall cry aloud, "Mamma! Mamma!"<br> + When the stump of my arm is reeking<br> + In the cursed sack of infamy.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD [<i>with hushed voices</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Ah! the mother, poor dear soul! See her!<br> + See how in two nights she has whitened!<br> + She does not weep. She can weep no longer.<br> + —Bereft is she of her senses.<br> + —Not moving at all. Like the statue<br> + Of our Mater Dolorosa. O have pity!<br> + —O good Lord, have mercy on her!<br> + Blessed Virgin, pity, help her!<br> + —Jesus Christ have pity on her!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + And you also, my dear ones, no longer<br> + 'T is given me to call you sisters,<br> + 'T is given me no longer to name you<br> + By your names in your baptisms christened.<br> + Like leaves of mint your names unto me,<br> + In my mouth like leaves that are fragrant,<br> + That brought unto me in the pastures<br> + Unto my heart joy and freshness.<br> + And now on my lips do I feel them,<br> + And aloud am I fain to say them.<br> + I crave no other consolation<br> + Than that for my spirit's passing.<br> + But no longer to name them 't is given me.<br> + And now the sweet names must faint and wither,<br> + For who shall be lovers to sing them<br> + At eve beneath your casement windows?<br> + For who shall be lovers unto the sisters<br> + Of Aligi? And now is the honey<br> + Turned into bitterness; O then, chase me,<br> + And, like a hound, hound me away.<br> + With staves and with stones strike me.<br> + But ere you thus chase me, O suffer<br> + That I leave unto you, disconsolate,<br> + But these two things of my sole possession,<br> + The things that these kindly people<br> + Carry for me: the sheep-crook of bloodwood,<br> + Whereon I carved the three virgin sisters,<br> + In your likeness did I carve them,<br> + To wander the mountain pastures with me,—<br> + The sheep-crook, and the silent angel,<br> + That with my soul I have been carving.<br> + Woe is me for the stain that stains it!<br> + But the stain that stains it shall fade away<br> + Some day, and the angel now silent<br> + Shall speak some day, and you shall hearken,<br> + And you shall heed. Suffer me suffer<br> + For all I have done! With my woe profound<br> + In comparison little I suffer!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! the children, poor dear souls! See them!<br> + See how pale and how worn are their faces!<br> + —They too are no longer weeping<br> + —They have no tears left for weeping.<br> + Dry their eyes are, inward burning.<br> + —Death has mown them with his sickle,—<br> + To the ground laid them low ere their dying.<br> + Down they are mown but not gathered.<br> + —Have mercy upon them, O merciful one!<br> + Upon these thy creatures so innocent.<br> + —Pity, Lord Jesus, pity! Pity!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + And you who are maiden and widow,<br> + Who have found in the chests of your bridal<br> + Only the vestment of mourning,<br> + The combs of ebon, of thorns the necklace,<br> + Your fine linen woven of tribulation,<br> + Full of weeping your days ever more,<br> + In heaven shall you have your nuptials,<br> + And may you be spouse unto Jesus!<br> + And Mary console you forever!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + O poor dear one! Until vespers<br> + Hardly lasting, and now drawing<br> + Her last breath. Lost her face is<br> + In her hair of gold all faded,<br> + Even all her golden tresses.<br> + —Now like flax upon the distaff,<br> + —Or shade-grown grass for Holy Thursday.<br> + —Yes, Vienda, maiden-widow,<br> + Paradise is waiting for you.<br> + —If she is not, then who is Heaven's?<br> + —May Our Lady take you with her!<br> + —Put her with the white pure angels!<br> + —Put her with the golden martyrs!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA DI MIDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, your farewells are spoken,<br> + Rise now and depart. It grows late.<br> + Ere long will the sun be setting.<br> + To the Ave Maria you shall not hearken.<br> + The evening star you shall not see glimmer.<br> + O Candia della Leonessa,<br> + If you, poor soul, on him have pity,<br> + Give, if you will, the cup, not delaying,<br> + For the mother art thou, and may console him.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + Candia, lift up the veil, Candia!<br> + Press his lips to the cup, Candia,<br> + Give him the potion, give him<br> + Heart to bear his suffering. Rise, Candia!<br> + —Upon your own son take pity.<br> + —You only can help him; to you, 't is granted.<br> + —Have mercy upon him! Mercy, O mercy!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ORNELLA<i> hands the mother the cup +containing the potion. </i>FAVETTA<i> and </i>SPLENDORE<i> +encourage the poor mother. </i>ALIGI<i>, kneeling, +creeps to the door of the house and addresses +the dead body.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Father, father, my father Lazaro,<br> + Hear me. You have crossed over the river,<br> + In your bier, though it was heavier<br> + Than the ox-cart, your bier was,<br> + And the rock was dropped in the river.<br> + Where the current was swiftest, you crossed it;<br> + Father, father, my father Lazaro,<br> + Hear me. Now I also would cross over<br> + The river, but I—I cannot. I am going<br> + To seek out that rock at the bottom.<br> + And then I shall go to find you:<br> + And over me you will pass the harrow,<br> + Through all eternity to tear me,<br> + Through all eternity to lacerate me.<br> + Father of mine, full soon I'll be with you!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>The mother goes toward him in deep horror. +Bending down she lifts the veil, presses +his head upon her breast with her left hand, +takes the cup </i>ORNELLA<i> offers and puts it to +</i>ALIGI'S<i> lips. A confusion of muffled voices +rises from the people in the yard and down the +path.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA DI MIDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + <i>Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum.</i><br> + (Accept, O Lord, this thy servant.)<br> + <i>Kyrie eleison.</i><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + <i>Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison,<br> + Miserere, Deus, miserere.</i><br> + —Do you see, do you see his face?<br> + This do we see upon earth, Jesus!<br> + —Oh! Oh! Passion of the Saviour!<br> + —But who is calling aloud? And wherefore?<br> + —Be silent now! Hush, hush! Who is calling?<br> + —The daughter of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio, Mila di Codra!<br> + —Great God, but this is a miracle!<br> + —It is the daughter of Jorio coming.<br> + —Good God! She is raised from the dead!<br> + -Make room! Make room! Let her pass by!<br> + —Accursed dog, are you yet living?<br> + —Ah! Witch of Hell, is it you?<br> + —She-dog! Harlot! Carrion!<br> + —Back! Back! Make room! Let her pass!<br> + —Come, she-thing, come! Make way!<br> + —Let her pass through! Let her alone! In the Lord's name!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI <i>rises to his feet, his face uncovered. +He looks toward the clamoring crowd, the +mother and sisters still near him. +Impetuously opening her way through the crowd, +</i>MILA<i> appears.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA DI CODRA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mother of Aligi, sisters<br> + Of Aligi, Bride and Kindred,<br> + Standard-bearer of Wrong-Doing, and you,<br> + All ye just people! Judge of God!<br> + I am Mila di Codra.<br> + I come to confess. Give me hearing.<br> + The saint of the mountain has sent me.<br> + I have come down from the mountain,<br> + I am here to confess in public<br> + Before all. Give me hearing.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA DI MIDIA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Silence! Be silent! Let her have leave<br> + To speak, in the name of God, let her.<br> + Confess yourself, Mila di Codra.<br> + All the just people shall judge you.<br> +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-192"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-192.jpg" alt="THE SACRIFICE OF MILA DI CODRA. <i>Act III.</i>"> +<br> +THE SACRIFICE OF MILA DI CODRA. <i>Act III.</i> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, the beloved son of Lazaro,<br> + Is innocent. He did not commit<br> +</p> + +<p> + Parricide. But by me indeed was his father<br> + Slain, by me was he killed with the axe.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, God be witness that thou liest!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA<br> +</p> + +<p> + He has confessed it. He is guilty.<br> + But you too are guilty, guilty with him.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + To the fire with her! To the fire with her! Now, Iona,<br> + Give her to us, let us destroy her.<br> + —To the brush heap with the sorceress,<br> + Let them perish in the same hour together!<br> + —No, no! I said it was so. He is innocent.<br> + —He confessed it! He confessed it! The woman<br> + Spurred him to do it. But he struck the blow.<br> + —Both of them guilty! To the fire! To the fire!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + People of God! Give me hearing<br> + And afterward punish me.<br> + I am ready. For this did I come here.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Silence! All! Let her speak!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, dear son of Lazaro,<br> + Is innocent. But he knows it not.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, God be witness that thou liest.<br> + Ornella (oh! forgive me that I dare to<br> + Name you!) bear thou witness<br> + That she is deceiving the good people.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + He does not know. Aught of that hour<br> + Is gone from his memory. He is bewitched.<br> + I have upset his reason,<br> + I have confused his memory.<br> + I am the Sorcerer's daughter. There is no<br> + Sorcery that I do not know well,<br> + None that I cannot weave. Is there one<br> + Of the kindred among you, that one<br> + Who accused me in this very place,<br> + The evening of Santo Giovanni,<br> + When I entered here by that door before us?<br> + Let her come forth and accuse me again!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I am that one. I am here.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Do you bear witness and tell for me<br> + Of those whom I have caused to be ill,<br> + Of those whom I have brought unto death,<br> + Of those whom I have in suffering held.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CATALANA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Giovanna Cametra, I know.<br> + And the poor soul of the Marane,<br> + And Alfonso and Tillura, I know.<br> + And that you do harm to every one.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Now have you heard this thing, all you good people,<br> + What this servant of God hath well said and truly?<br> + Here I confess. The good saint of the mountain<br> + Has touched to the quick my sorrowing conscience,<br> + Here I confess and repent. O permit not<br> + The innocent blood to perish.<br> + Punishment do I crave. O punish me greatly!<br> + To bring down ruin and to sunder<br> + Dear ties and bring joys to destruction,<br> + To take human lives on the day of the wedding<br> + Did I come here to cross this threshold,<br> + Of the fireplace there I made myself<br> + The mistress, the hearth I bewitched,<br> + The wine of hospitality I conjured,<br> + Drink it I did not, but spilled it with sorceries.<br> + The love of the son, the love of the father,<br> + I turned into mutual hatred;<br> + In the heart of the bride all joy strangled,<br> + And by this my cunning, the tears<br> + Of these young and innocent sisters<br> + I bent to the aid of my wishes.<br> + Tell me then, ye friends and kindred,<br> + Tell me then, in the name of the Highest,<br> + How great, how great is this my iniquity!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF THE KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + It is true! It is true! All this has she done.<br> + Thus glided she in, the wandering she-dog!<br> + While yet Cinerella was pouring<br> + Her handful of wheat on Vienda.<br> + Very swiftly she did all her trickery,<br> + By her evil wishes overthrowing<br> + Very swiftly the young bridegroom.<br> + And we all cried out against it.<br> + But in vain was our crying. She had the trick of it.<br> + It is true. Now only does she speak truly.<br> + Praises to Him who this light giveth!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[ALIGI<i>, with bent head, his chin resting on +his breast, in the shadow of the veil, is intent +and in a terrible perturbation and contest of +soul, the symptoms at the same time, appearing +in him of the effect of the potion.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + No, no, it is not true; she is deceiving<br> + You, good people, do not heed her,<br> + For this woman is deceiving you.<br> + All of them here were all against her,<br> + Heaping shame and hatred on her,<br> + And I saw the silent angel<br> + Stand behind her. With these eyes I saw him,<br> + These mortal eyes that shall not witness<br> + On this day the star of vesper.<br> + I saw him gazing at me, weeping.<br> + O Iona, it was a miracle,<br> + A sign to show me her, God's dear one.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + O Aligi, you poor shepherd!<br> + Ignorant youth, and too believing!<br> + That was the Apostate Angel!<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>They all cross themselves, except </i>ALIGI<i>, +prevented from doing so by his fetters, and +</i>ORNELLA<i> who, standing alone at one side of +the porch, gazes intently on the voluntary +victim.</i>] +</p> + +<p> + Then appeared the Apostate Angel<br> + (Pardon of God I must ever lack,<br> + Nor of you, Aligi, be pardoned!)<br> + He appeared your own two eyes to deceive.<br> + It was the false and iniquitous angel.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MARIA CORA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I said it was so. At the time I said it.<br> + It was a sacrilege then, I cried.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + LA CINERELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + And I said it, too, and cried out<br> + When she dared call it the guardian angel<br> + To watch over her. I cried out,<br> + "She is blaspheming, she is blaspheming!"<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, forgiveness from you, I know,<br> + Cannot be, even if God forgive me.<br> + But I must all my fraud uncover.<br> + Ornella, oh! do not gaze upon me<br> + As you gaze. I must stay alone!<br> + Aligi, then when I came to the sheepstead,<br> + Then, even, when you found me seated,<br> + I was planning out your ruin.<br> + And then you carved the block of walnut,<br> + Ah, poor wretch, with your own chisel,<br> + In the fallen angel's image!<br> + (There it is, with the white cloth covered,<br> + I feel it.) Ah! from dawn until evening<br> + With secret art I wove spells upon you!<br> + Remember them, do you not now of me?<br> + How much love I bestowed upon you!<br> + How much humility, in voice and demeanor—<br> + Before your very face spells weaving?<br> + Remember them, do you not now of me?<br> + How pure we remained, how pure<br> + I lay on your shepherd's pallet?<br> + And how then?—how (did you not inquire?)<br> + Such purity then, timidity, then,<br> + In the sinning wayfarer<br> + Whom the reapers of Norca<br> + Had shamed as the shameless one<br> + Before your mother? I was cunning,<br> + Yea, cunning was I with my magic.<br> + And did you not see me then gather<br> + The chips from your angel and shavings,<br> + And burn them, words muttering?<br> + For the hour of blood I was making ready.<br> + For of old against Lazaro<br> + I nursed an old-time rancor.<br> + You struck in your axe in the angel,—<br> + O now must you heed me, God's people!<br> + Then there came a great power upon me<br> + To wield over him there now fettered.<br> + It was close upon night in that ill-fated<br> + Lodging. Lust-crazed then his father<br> + Had seized me to drag toward the entrance,<br> + When Aligi threw himself on us,<br> + In order to save and defend me.<br> + I brandished the axe then with swiftness.<br> + In the darkness I struck him,<br> + I struck him again. Yea, to death I felled him!<br> + With the same stroke I cried, "You have killed him."<br> + To the son I cried out, "You have killed him.<br> + Killed him!" And great in me was my power.<br> + A parricide with my cry I made him—<br> + In his own soul enslaved unto my soul.<br> + "I have killed him!" he answered, and swooning,<br> + He fell in the bloodshed, naught otherwise knowing.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[CANDIA<i>, with a frantic impulse, seizes with +both hands her son, become once more her own. +Then, detaching herself from him, with wilder +and threatening gestures, advances on her +enemy, but the daughters restrain her.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + Let her do it, let her, Ornella!<br> + —Let her tear her heart! Let her eat<br> + Her heart! Heart for heart!<br> + Let her seize her and take her<br> + And underfoot trample her.<br> + —Let her crush in and shiver<br> + Temple to temple and shell out her teeth.<br> + Let her do it, let her, Ornella!<br> + Unless she do this she will not win back<br> + Her mind and her senses in health again.<br> + —Iona, Iona, Aligi is innocent.<br> + —Unshackle him! Unshackle him!<br> + —Take off the veil! Give him back to us!<br> + —The day is ours, the people do justice.<br> + —The righteous people give judgment.<br> + —Command that he now be set free.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[MILA <i>retreats near the covered angel, +looking toward </i>ALIGI<i>, who is already under +the influence of the potion.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Praises be to God! Glory be to God! Glory to the Father!<br> + —From us is this infamy lifted.<br> + —Not upon us rests this blood-stain.<br> + —From our generation came forth<br> + No parricide. To God be the glory!<br> + —Lazaro was killed by the woman,<br> + The stranger, di Codra dalle Farne.<br> + —We have said and pronounced: he is innocent.<br> + Aligi is innocent. Unbind him!<br> + —Let him be free this very moment!<br> + —Let him be given unto his mother!<br> + —Iona, Iona, untie him! Untie him!<br> + Unto us this day the Judge of Wrong-Doing<br> + Over one head gave us full power.<br> + —Take the head of the sorceress!<br> + —To the fire, to the fire with the witch!<br> + —To the brushheap with the sorceress!<br> + —O Iona di Midia, heed the people!<br> + Unbind the innocent! Up, Iona!<br> + —To the brush heap with the daughter<br> + Of Jorio, the daughter of Jorio!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Yes, yes, ye just people, yes, ye people<br> + Of God! Take ye your vengeance on me!<br> + And put ye in the fire to burn with me<br> + The Apostate Angel, the false one,—<br> + Let it feed the flames to burn me<br> + And let it with me be consumed!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Oh! voice of promising, voice of deceit,<br> + Utterly tear away from within me<br> + All of the beauty that seemed to reign there,<br> + Beauty so dear unto me! Stifle<br> + Within my soul the memory of her!<br> + Will that I have heard her voice never,<br> + Rejoiced in it never! Smooth out within me<br> + All of those furrows of loving<br> + That opened in me, when my bosom<br> + Was unto her words of deceiving<br> + As unto the mountain that's channelled<br> + With the streams of melting snow! Close up within me<br> + The furrow of all that hope and aspiring<br> + Wherein coursed the freshness and gladness<br> + Of all of those days of deceiving!<br> + Cancel within me all traces of her!<br> + Will it that I have heard and believed never!<br> + But if this is not to be given me, and I am the one<br> + Who heard and believed and hoped greatly,<br> + And if I adored an angel of evil,<br> + Oh! then I pray that ye both my hands sever,<br> + And hide me away in the sack of leather<br> + (Oh! do not remove it, Leonardo),<br> + And cast me into the whirling torrent,<br> + To slumber there for years seven hundred,<br> + To sleep in the depths there under the water;<br> + In the pit of the river-bed, years seven hundred,<br> + And never remember the day<br> + When God lighted the light in my eyes!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, Mila, 'tis the delirium,<br> + The craze of the cup of forgetfulness<br> + To console him he took from the mother.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + —Untie him, Iona, he is delirious.<br> + —He has taken the wine potion.<br> + —Let his mother lay him down on the settle.<br> + —Let sleep come! Let him slumber!<br> + —Let the good God give him slumber.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[IONA<i> gives the standard to another and +comes to </i>ALIGI<i> to untie him.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ALIGI<br> +</p> + +<p> + Yes, for a little while free me, Iona,<br> + So that I may lift my hand against her<br> + (No, no, burn her not, for fire is beautiful!)<br> + So that I call all the dead of my birthplace,<br> + Those of years far away and forgotten,<br> + Far, far away, far, far away,<br> + Lying under the sod, fourscore fathom,<br> + To curse her forever, to curse her!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA [<i>with a heart-rending cry</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Aligi, Aligi, not you!<br> + Oh! you cannot, you must not.<br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[<i>Freed from the manacles, the veil +withdrawn, </i>ALIGI<i> comes forward but falls back +unconscious in the arms of his mother, the older +sisters and the kindred gathering around him.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + CHORUS OF KINDRED<br> +</p> + +<p> + You need not be frightened. 'T is the wine only,<br> + 'T is the vertigo seizes him.<br> + —Now the stupor falls upon him.<br> + —Now slumber, deep slumber, o'erpowers him.<br> + —Let him sleep, and may God give him peace!<br> + —Let him lie down! Let him slumber!<br> + —Vienda, Vienda, he is yours again.<br> + —From the other world both will return now.<br> + <i>Laus Deo! Laus Deo! Gloria Patri!</i><br> +</p> + +<p class="stage"> +[IONA<i> puts the manacles upon </i>MILA'S<i> +wrists, who offers both arms and covers her +head with the black veil, then taking the +standard of Wrong-Doing he pushes her toward the +crowd.</i>] +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + IONA<br> +</p> + +<p> + I give to you, just people,<br> + Into your hands, Mila di Codra,<br> + The daughter of Jorio, that one<br> + Who does harm to every one.<br> + Do you perform justice upon her,<br> + And let her ashes be scattered.<br> + O Lord, save thy people.<br> + <i>Kyrie eleison.</i><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + THE CROWD<br> +</p> + +<p> + <i>Christe eleison! Kyrie eleison!</i><br> + To the fire, to the flames with the daughter<br> + Of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio!<br> + And to the fire with the Apostate Angel!<br> + To the brushheap with them! To hell-fire with them!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + ORNELLA [<i>with full voice in majesty</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + Mila, Mila! My sister in Jesus,<br> + I kiss your feet that hear you away!<br> + Heaven is for thee!<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="spkr"> + MILA [<i>from within the crowd</i>]<br> +</p> + +<p> + The flame is beautiful! The flame is beautiful!<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + THE END<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> + The University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br><br></p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76655 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + + diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-031.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-031.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c761a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-031.jpg diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-068.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-068.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a922b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-068.jpg diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-111.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-111.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ccdc7f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-111.jpg diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-155.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-155.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8016d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-155.jpg diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-192.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-192.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e55d87 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-192.jpg diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-cover.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb6ba88 --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/76655-h/images/img-front.jpg b/76655-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d10174a --- /dev/null +++ b/76655-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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