The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria - Pedro Calderón de la Barca (microsoft ebook reader TXT) 📗

dark, how blind she is.

DARIA. Oh! command that I should dwell With Chrysanthus in his cell. In our hearts we long are mated, And ere now had celebrated Our espousals fond and true, If the One same God we knew.

CHRYSANTHUS. This sole bliss alone I waited To die happy.

POLEMIUS.
How my heart Is with wrath and rage possest!- Hold thy hand, present it not, For I would not have thy lot By the least indulgence blest; Nor do thou, if thy wild brain Such a desperate course maintain, Hope to have her as thy bride- Trophy of our gods denied:- Separate them.

CHRYSANTHUS.
O the pain!

DARIA. O the woe! unhappy me!

POLEMIUS. Take them hence, and let them be (Since my justice now at least Makes amends for mercy past) Punished so effectually That their wishes, their desires, What each wanteth or requires, Shall be thwarted or denied, That between opposing fires They for ever shall be tried:- Since Chrysanthus' former mood Only wished the solitude Whence such sorrows have arisen, Take him to the public prison, And be sure in fire and food That he shall not be preferred To the meanest culprit there. Naked, abject, let him fare As the lowest of the herd: There, while chains his body gird, Let him grovel and so die:- For Daria, too, hard by Is another public place, Shameful home of worse disgrace, Where imprisoned let her lie: If, relying on the powers Of her beauty, her vain pride Dreamed of being my son's bride, Never shall she see that hour. Soon shall fade her virgin flower, Soon be lost her nymph-like grace- Roses shall desert her face, Waving gold her silken hair. She who left Diana's care Must with Venus find her place: 'Mong vile women let her dwell, Vile, abandoned even as they.

ESCARPIN (aside). There my love shall have full play. O rare judge, you sentence well!

CHRYSANTHUS. Sir, if thou must have a fell Vengeance for this act of mine, Take my life, for it is thine; But my honour do not dare To insult through one so fair.

DARIA. Wreak thy rage, if faith divine So offends thee, upon me, Not upon my chastity:- 'T is a virtue purer far Than the light of sun or star, And has ne'er offended thee.

POLEMIUS. Take them hence.

CHRYSANTHUS.
Ah me, to find Words, that might affect thy mind! Melt thy heart!

DARIA.
Ah, me, who e'er Saw a martyrdom so rare?-

POLEMIUS. Wouldst thou then the torment fly, Thou hast only to deny Christ.

CHRYSANTHUS.
The Saviour of mankind? This I cannot do.

DARIA.
Nor I.

POLEMIUS. Let them instantly from this To their punishment be led.-

ESCARPIN. Do not budge from what you said. It is excellent as it is.

CHRYSANTHUS. Woe is me! but wherefore fear, O beloved betroth`ed mine?- Trust in God, that power divine For whose sake we suffer here:- HE will aid us and be near:-

DARIA. In that confidence I live, For if He His life could give For my love, and me select, He His honour will protect.

CHRYSANTHUS. These sad tears He will forgive. Ne'er to see thee more! thus driven. . .

DARIA. Cease, my heart like thine is riven, But again we 'll see each other, When in heaven we 'll be, my brother, The two lover saints of Heaven. (They are led out.


SCENE II.-The hall of a bordel.


Soldiers conducting Daria.

A SOLDIER. Here Polemius bade us leave her, The great senator of Rome.[14] (exeunt.)

DARIA. As the noonday might be left In the midnight's dusky robe, As the light amid the darkness, As 'mid clouds the solar globe: But although the shades and shadows, Through the vapours of Heaven's dome. Strive with villainous presumption Light and splendour to enfold, Though they may conceal the lustre, Still they cannot stain it, no. And it is a consolation This to know, that even the gold, How so many be its carats, How so rich may be the lode, Is not certain of its value 'Till the crucible hath told. Ah! from one extreme to another Does my strange existence go: Yesterday in highest honour, And to-day so poor and low! Still, if I am self-reliant, Need I fear an alien foe? But, ah me, how insufficient Is my self-defence alone!- O new God to whom I offer Life and soul, whom I adore, In Thy confidence I rest me. Help me, Lord, I ask no more.

(Enter Escarpin.)

ESCARPIN. Where I wonder can she be? But I need not farther go, Here she is:-At length, Daria, My good lady, and soforth, Now has come the happy moment, When in open market sold, All thy charms are for the buyer, Who can spend a little gold; And since happily love's tariff Is not an excessive toll, Here I am, and so, Daria, Let these clasping arms enfold . . .

DARIA. Do not Thou desert Thy handmaid In this dreadful hour, O Lord!-

Cries of people within.

A VOICE (within). Oh, the lion! oh, the lion!

ANOTHER VOICE (within). Ho! take care of the lion, ho!

ESCARPIN. Let the lion care himself, I 'm engaged and cannot go.

A VOICE (within). From the mountain wilds descending, Through the crowded streets he goes.

ANOTHER VOICE (within). Like the lightning's flash he flieth, Like the thunder is his roar.

ESCARPIN. Ah! all right, for I 'm in safety, Thanks to this obliging door: Lightning is a thing intended For high towers and stately domes, Never heard I of its falling Upon little lowly homes: So if lion be the lightning, Somewhere else will fall the bolt: Therefore once again, Daria, Come, I say, embrace me. . . . . (A lion enters, places himself before Daria, and seizes Escarpin.)

DARIA.
Oh! Never in my life did I See a nobler beast.

ESCARPIN.
Just so, Nor a more affectionate one Did I ever meet before, Since he gives me the embraces That I asked of thee and more: O god Bacchus, whom I worship So devoutly, thou, I know, Workest powerfully on beasts. Tell our friend to let me go.

DARIA. Noble brute, defend my honour, Be God's minister below.

ESCARPIN. How he gnaws me! how he claws me! How he smells! His breath, by Jove, Is as bad as an emetic. But you need n't eat me, though. That would be a sorry blunder, Like what happened long ago. Would you like to hear the story? By your growling you say no. What! you 'll eat me then? You 'll find me A tough morsel, skin and bone. O Daria! I implore thee, Save me from this monster's throat, And I give to thee my promise To respect thee evermore.

DARIA. Mighty monarch of these deserts, King of beasts, so plainly known By thy crown of golden tresses O'er thy tawny forehead thrown, In the name of Him who sent thee To defend that faith I hold, I command thee to release him, Free this man and let him go.

ESCARPIN. What a most obsequious monster! With his mane he sweeps the floor, And before her humbly falling, Kisses her fair feet.

DARIA.
What more Need we ask, that Thou didst send him, O great God so late adored, Than to see his pride thus humbled When he heard thy name implored? But upon his feet uprising, The great roaring Campeador[15] Of the mountains makes a signal I should follow: yes, I go, Fearless now since Thou hast freed me From this infamous abode. What will not that lover do Who for love his life foregoes!- (Goes out preceded by the lion.

ESCARPIN. With a lion for her bully Ready to fight all her foes, Who will dare to interrupt her? None, if they are wise I trow. With her hand upon his mane, Quite familiarly they go Through the centre of the city. Crowds give way as they approach, And as he who looketh on Knoweth of the game much more Than the players, I perceive They the open country seek On the further side of Rome. Like a husband and a wife, In the pleasant sunshine's glow, Taking the sweet air they seem. Well the whole affair doth show So much curious contradiction, That, my thought, a brief discourse You and I must have together. Is the God whose name is known To Daria, the same God Whom Carpophorus adored? Why, from this what inference follows? Only this, if it be so, That Daria He defends, But the poor Carpophorus, no. And as I am much more likely His sad fate to undergo, Than to be like her protected, I to change my faith am loth. So part pagan and part christian I 'll remain-a bit of both. (Exit.


SCENE III.-The Wood.


(Enter NISIDA and CYNTHIA, flying.)

CYNTHIA. Fly, fly, Nisida.

NISIDA.
Fly, fly, Cynthia, Since a terror and a woe Threatens us by far more fearful Than when late a horror froze All our words, and o'er our reason Strange lethargic dulness flowed.

CYNTHIA. Thou art right, for then 't was only Our intelligence that owned The effect of an enchantment, A mere pause of thought alone. Here our very life doth leave us, Seeing with what awful force Stalks along this mighty lion Trampling all that stops his course.

NISIDA. Whither shall we fly for shelter?

CYNTHIA. O Diana, we implore Help from thee! But stranger still!- Him who doth appal us so, The wild monarch of the mountain See! a woman calm and slow Follows.

NISIDA.
O astounding sight!

CYNTHIA. 'T is Daria.

NISIDA.
I was told She had been consigned to prison: Yes, 't is she: on, on they go Through the forest.

CYNTHIA.
Till the mountain Hides them, and we see no more.

(Enter Escarpin.)

ESCARPIN. All Rome is full of wonder and dismay.[16]

NISIDA. What has occurred?

CYNTHIA.
Oh! what has happened, say?

ESCARPIN. Chrysanthus, being immured By his stern sire, a