The Complete Poems - Генри Уодсуорт Лонгфелло

Скачать книгу

Devil came to tempt Saint Anthony.

      (Enter PRECIOSA, with a mantle thrown over her head. She

      advances slowly, in modest, half-timid attitude.)

       Card. (aside). O, what a fair and ministering angel

      Was lost to heaven when this sweet woman fell!

       Prec. (kneeling before the ARCHBISHOP).

      I have obeyed the order of your Grace.

      If I intrude upon your better hours,

      I proffer this excuse, and here beseech

      Your holy benediction.

       Arch. May God bless thee,

      And lead thee to a better life. Arise.

       Card. (aside). Her acts are modest, and her words discreet!

      I did not look for this! Come hither, child.

      Is thy name Preciosa?

       Prec. Thus I am called.

       Card. That is a Gypsy name. Who is thy father?

       Prec. Beltran Cruzado, Count of the Cales.

       Arch. I have a dim remembrance of that man:

      He was a bold and reckless character,

      A sun-burnt Ishmael!

       Card. Dost thou remember

      Thy earlier days?

       Prec. Yes; by the Darro's side

      My childhood passed. I can remember still

      The river, and the mountains capped with snow

      The village, where, yet a little child,

      I told the traveller's fortune in the street;

      The smuggler's horse, the brigand and the shepherd;

      The march across the moor; the halt at noon;

      The red fire of the evening camp, that lighted

      The forest where we slept; and, further back,

      As in a dream or in some former life,

      Gardens and palace walls.

       Arch. 'T is the Alhambra,

      Under whose towers the Gypsy camp was pitched.

      But the time wears; and we would see thee dance.

       Prec. Your Grace shall be obeyed.

       (She lays aside her mantilla. The music of the cachucha is

      played, and the dance begins. The ARCHBISHOP and the CARDINAL

      look on with gravity and an occasional frown; then make signs to

      each other; and, as the dance continues, become more and more

      pleased and excited; and at length rise from their seats, throw

      their caps in the air, and applaud vehemently as the scene

      closes.)

       Table of Contents

      gate of Atocha. On the right the dome and spires of a convent. A fountain. Evening, DON CARLOS and HYPOLITO meeting.

      Don C. Hola! good evening, Don Hypolito.

       Hyp. And a good evening to my friend, Don Carlos.

      Some lucky star has led my steps this way.

      I was in search of you.

       Don. C. Command me always.

       Hyp. Do you remember, in Quevedo's Dreams,

      The miser, who, upon the Day of Judgment,

      Asks if his money-bags would rise?

       Don C. I do;

      But what of that?

       Hyp. I am that wretched man.

       Don C. You mean to tell me yours have risen empty?

       Hyp. And amen! said my Cid the Campeador.

       Don C. Pray, how much need you?

       Hyp. Some half-dozen ounces,

      Which, with due interest—

       Don C. (giving his purse). What, am I a Jew

      To put my moneys out at usury?

      Here is my purse.

       Hyp. Thank you. A pretty purse.

      Made by the hand of some fair Madrilena;

      Perhaps a keepsake.

       Don C. No, 't is at your service.

       Hyp. Thank you again. Lie there, good Chrysostom,

      And with thy golden mouth remind me often,

      I am the debtor of my friend.

       Don C. But tell me,

      Come you to-day from Alcala?

       Hyp. This moment.

       Don C. And pray, how fares the brave Victorian?

       Hyp. Indifferent well; that is to say, not well.

      A damsel has ensnared him with the glances

      Of her dark, roving eyes, as herdsmen catch

      A steer of Andalusia with a lazo.

      He is in love.

       Don C. And is it faring ill

      To be in love?

       Hyp. In his case very ill.

       Don C. Why so?

       Hyp. For many reasons. First and foremost,

      Because he is in love with an ideal;

      A creature of his own imagination;

      A child of air; an echo of his heart;

      And, like a lily on a river floating,

      She floats upon the river of his thoughts!

       Don C. A common thing with poets. But who is

      This floating lily? For, in fine, some woman,

      Some living woman—not a mere ideal—

      Must wear the outward semblance of his thought.

      Who is it? Tell me.

       Hyp. Well, it is a woman!

      But, look you, from the coffer of his heart

      He brings forth precious jewels to adorn her,

      As pious priests adorn some favorite saint

      With gems and gold, until at length she gleams

      One blaze of glory. Without these, you know,

      And the priest's benediction, 't is a doll.

       Don C. Well, well! who is this doll?

       Hyp. Why, who do you think?

       Don C. His cousin Violante.

       Hyp. Guess again.

      To ease his laboring heart, in the last storm

      He threw her overboard, with all her ingots.

       Don C. I cannot guess; so tell me who it is.

       Hyp. Not I.

       Don. C. Why not?

       Hyp. (mysteriously). Why? Because Mari Franca

      Was married four leagues out of Salamanca!

       Don C. Jesting aside, who is it?

       Hyp. Preciosa.

       Don C. Impossible!

Скачать книгу