Knowledge house - Oscar Wilde - The Complete Works

The man to whom I kneel

Is he who sold your father! mark me well.

guido [ clutches his dagger ]

The Duke!

moranzone

Leave off that fingering of thy knife.

Hast thou so soon forgotten? [ Kneels to the Duke .]

My noble Lord.

duke

Welcome, Count Moranzone; ’tis some time

Since we have seen you here in Padua.

We hunted near your castle yesterday—

Call you it castle? that bleak house of yours

Wherein you sit a-mumbling o’er your beads,

Telling your vices like a good old man.

[ Catches sight of Guido and starts back .]

Who is that?

·20· moranzone

My sister’s son, your Grace,

Who being now of age to carry arms,

Would for a season tarry at your Court

duke [ still looking at Guido ]

What is his name?

moranzone

Guido Ferranti, sir.

duke

His city?

moranzone

He is Mantuan by birth.

duke [ advancing towards Guido ]

You have the eyes of one I used to know,

But he died childless. Are you honest, boy?

Then be not spendthrift of your honesty,

But keep it to yourself; in Padua

Men think that honesty is ostentatious, so

It is not of the fashion. Look at these lords.

count bardi [ aside ]

Here is some bitter arrow for us, sure.

·21· duke

Why, every man among them has his price,

Although, to do them justice, some of them

Are quite expensive.

count bardi [ aside ]

There it comes indeed.

duke

So be not honest; eccentricity

Is not a thing should ever be encouraged,

Although, in this dull stupid age of ours,

The most eccentric thing a man can do

Is to have brains, then the mob mocks at him;

And for the mob, despise it as I do,

I hold its bubble praise and windy favours

In such account, that popularity

Is the one insult I have never suffered.

maffio [ aside ]

He has enough of hate, if he needs that.

duke

Have prudence; in your dealings with the world

Be not too hasty; act on the second thought,

First impulses are generally good.

·22· guido [ aside ]

Surely a toad sits on his lips, and spills its venom there.

duke

See thou hast enemies,

Else will the world think very little of thee;

It is its test of power; yet see thou show’st

A smiling mask of friendship to all men,

Until thou hast them safely in thy grip,

Then thou canst crush them.

guido [ aside ]

O wise philosopher!

That for thyself dost dig so deep a grave.

moranzone [ to him ]

Dost thou mark his words?

guido

Oh, be thou sure I do.

duke

And be not over-scrupulous; clean hands

With nothing in them make a sorry show.

If you would have the lion’s share of life

You must wear the fox’s skin. Oh, it will fit you;

It is a coat which fitteth every man.

·23· guido

Your Grace,

I shall remember.

duke

That is well, boy, well.

I would not have about me shallow fools,

Who with mean scruples weigh the gold of life,

And faltering, paltering, end by failure; failure,

The only crime which I have not committed:

I would have men about me. As for conscience,

Conscience is but the name which cowardice

Fleeing from battle scrawls upon its shield.

You understand me, boy?

guido

I do, your Grace,

And will in all things carry out the creed

Which you have taught me.

maffio

I never heard your Grace

So much in the vein for preaching; let the Cardinal

Look to his laurels, sir.

·24· duke

The Cardinal!

Men follow my creed, and they gabble his.

I do not think much of the Cardinal;

Although he is a holy churchman, and

I quite admit his dulness. Well, sir, from now.

We count you of our household

[ He holds out his hand for Guido to kiss. Guido starts back in horror, but at a gesture from Count Moranzone, kneels and kisses it .]

We will see

That you are furnished with such equipage

As doth befit your honour and our state.

guido

I thank your Grace most heartily.

duke

Tell me again

What is your name?

guido

Guido Ferranti, sir.

duke

And you are Mantuan? Look to your wives, my lords,

·25· When such a gallant comes to Padua.

Thou dost well to laugh, Count Bardi; I have noted

How merry is that husband by whose hearth

Sits an uncomely wife.

maffio

May it please your Grace,

The wives of Padua are above suspicion.

duke

What, are they so ill-favoured! Let us go,

This Cardinal detains our pious Duchess;

His sermon and his beard want cutting both:

Will you come with us, sir, and hear a text

From holy Jerome?

moranzone [ bowing ]

My liege, there are some matters——

duke [ interrupting ]

Thou need’st make no excuse for missing mass.

Come, gentlemen.

[ Exit with his suite into Cathedral .]

guido [ after a pause ]

So the Duke sold my father;

I kissed his hand.

·26· moranzone

Thou shalt do that many times.

guido

Must it be so?

moranzone

Ay! thou hast sworn an oath.

guido

That oath shall make me marble.

moranzone

Farewell, boy,

Thou wilt not see me till the time is ripe.

guido

I pray thou comest quickly.

moranzone

I will come

When it is time; be ready.

guido

Fear me not.

moranzone

Here is your friend; see that you banish him

Both from your heart and Padua.

·27· guido

From Padua,

Not from my heart.

moranzone

Nay, from thy heart as well,

I will not leave thee till I see thee do it.

guido

Can I have no friend?

moranzone

Revenge shall be thy friend;

Thou need’st no other.

guido

Well, then be it so.

[ Enter Ascanio Cristofano .]

ascanio

Come, Guido, I have been beforehand with you in everything, for I have drunk a flagon of wine, eaten a pasty, and kissed the maid who served it. Why, you look as melancholy as a schoolboy who cannot buy apples, or a politician who cannot sell his vote. What news, Guido, what news?

·28· guido

Why, that we two must part, Ascanio.

ascanio

That would be news indeed, but it is not true.

guido

Too true it is, you must get hence, Ascanio,

And never look upon my face again.

ascanio

No, no; indeed you do not know me, Guido;

’Tis true I am a common yeoman’s son,

Nor versed in fashions of much courtesy;

But, if you are nobly born, cannot I be

Your serving man? I will tend you with more love

Than any hired servant.

guido [ clasping his hand ]

Ascanio!

[ Sees Moranzone looking at him and drops Ascanio’s hand .]

It cannot be.

ascanio

What, is it so with you?

I thought the friendship of the antique world

·29· Was not yet dead, but that the Roman type

Might even in this poor and common age

Find counterparts of love; then by this love

Which beats between us like a summer sea,

Whatever lot has fallen to your hand

May I not share it?

guido

Share it?

ascanio

Ay!

guido

No, no.

ascanio

Have you then come to some inheritance

Of lordly castle, or of stored-up gold?

guido [ bitterly ]

Ay! I have come to my inheritance.

O bloody legacy! and O murderous dole!