Knowledge house - Oscar Wilde - The Complete Works

vera

[ Takes them mechanically .] Had I not strangled nature, sworn neither to love nor to ·36· be loved, methinks I might have loved him. Oh, I am a fool, a traitor myself, a traitor myself! But why did he come amongst us with his bright young face, his heart aflame for liberty, his pure white soul? Why does he make me feel at times as if I would have him as my king, Republican though I be? Oh, fool, fool, fool! False to your oath! weak as water! Have done! Remember what you are—a Nihilist, a Nihilist!

president

[ To Michael .] But you will be seized, Michael.

michael

I think not. I will wear the uniform of the Imperial Guard, and the Colonel on duty is one of us. It is on the first floor, you remember; so I can take a long shot.

president

Shall I tell the brethren?

michael

Not a word, not a word! There is a traitor amongst us.

vera

Come, are these the proclamations? Yes, ·37· they will do; yes, they will do. Send five hundred to Kiev and Odessa and Novgorod, five hundred to Warsaw, and have twice the number distributed among the Southern Provinces, though these dull Russian peasants care little for our proclamations, and less for our martyrdoms. When the blow is struck it must be from the town, not from the country.

michael

Ay, and by the sword, not by the goose-quill.

vera

Where are the letters from Poland?

professor

Here.

vera

Unhappy Poland! The eagles of Russia have fed on her heart. We must not forget our brothers there.

president

Is this true, Michael?

michael

Ay, I stake my life on it.

·38· president

Let the doors be locked, then. Alexis Ivanacievitch entered on our roll of the brothers as a Student of the School of Medicine at Moscow. Why did you not tell us of this bloody scheme of martial law?

alexis

I, President?

michael

Ay, you! You knew it, none better. Such weapons as these are not forged in a day. Why did you not tell us of it? A week ago there had been time to lay the mine, to raise the barricade, to strike one blow at least for liberty. But now the hour is past! It is too late, it is too late! Why did you keep it a secret from us, I say?

alexis

Now by the hand of freedom, Michael, my brother, you wrong me. I knew nothing of this hideous law. By my soul, my brothers, I knew not of it! How should I know?

michael

Because you are a traitor! Where did you go when you left us the night of our last meeting here?

·39· alexis

To mine own house, Michael.

michael

Liar! I was on your track. You left here an hour after midnight. Wrapped in a large cloak, you crossed the river in a boat a mile below the second bridge, and gave the ferryman a gold piece, you, the poor student of medicine! You doubled back twice, and hid in an archway so long that I had almost made up my mind to stab you at once, only that I am fond of hunting. So! you thought that you had baffled all pursuit, did you? Fool! I am a bloodhound that never loses the scent. I followed you from street to street. At last I saw you pass swiftly across the Place St. Isaac, whisper to the guards the secret password, enter the palace by a private door with your own key.

conspirators

The palace!

vera

Alexis!

michael

I waited. All through the dreary watches of our long Russian night I waited, that I might ·40· kill you with your Judas hire still hot in your hand. But you never came out; you never left that palace at all. I saw the blood-red sun rise through the yellow fog over the murky town; I saw a new day of oppression dawn on Russia; but you never came out. So you pass nights in the palace, do you? You know the password for the guards! you have a key to a secret door. Oh, you are a spy—you are a spy! I never trusted you, with your soft white hands, your curled hair, your pretty graces. You have no mark of suffering about you; you cannot be of the people. You are a spy—a spy—traitor.

omnes

Kill him! Kill him! [ Draw their knives .]

vera

[ Rushing in front of Alexis .] Stand back, I say, Michael! Stand back all! Do not dare lay a hand upon him! He is the noblest heart amongst us.

omnes

Kill him! Kill him! He is a spy!

vera

Dare to lay a finger on him and I leave you all to yourselves.

·41· president

Vera, did you not hear what Michael said of him? He stayed all night in the Czar’s palace. He has a password and a private key. What else should he be but a spy?

vera

Bah! I do not believe Michael. It is a lie! It is a lie! Alexis, say it is a lie!

alexis

It is true. Michael has told what he saw. I did pass that night in the Czar’s palace. Michael has spoken the truth.

vera

Stand back, I say; stand back! Alexis, I do not care. I trust you; you would not betray us; you would not sell the people for money. You are honest, true! Oh, say you are no spy!

alexis

Spy? You know I am not. I am with you, my brothers, to the death.

michael

Ay, to your own death.

·42· alexis

Vera, you know I am true.

vera

I know it well.

president

Why are you here, traitor?

alexis

Because I love the people.

michael

Then you can be a martyr for them?

vera

You must kill me first, Michael, before you lay a finger on him.

president

Michael, we dare not lose Vera. It is her whim to let this boy live. We can keep him here to-night. Up to this he has not betrayed us.

[ Tramp of soldiers outside, knocking at door .]

voice

Open in the name of the Emperor!

·43· michael

He has betrayed us. This is your doing, spy!

president

Come, Michael, come. We have no time to cut one another’s throats while we have our own heads to save.

voice

Open in the name of the Emperor!

president

Brothers, be masked all of you. Michael, open the door. It is our only chance.

[ Enter General Kotemkin and soldiers .]

general

All honest citizens should be in their own houses at an hour before midnight, and not more than five people have a right to meet privately. Have you not noticed the proclamation, fellow?

michael

Ay, you have spoiled every honest wall in Moscow with it.

vera

Peace, Michael, peace. Nay, sir, we knew it not. We are a company of strolling players ·44· travelling from Samara to Moscow to amuse His Imperial Majesty the Czar.

general

But I heard loud voices before I entered. What was that?

vera

We were rehearsing a new tragedy.

general

Your answers are too honest to be true. Come, let me see who you are. Take off those players’ masks. By St. Nicholas, my beauty, if your face matches your figure, you must be a choice morsel! Come, I say, pretty one; I would sooner see your face than those of all the others.

president

O God! if he sees it is Vera, we are all lost!

general

No coquetting, my girl. Come, unmask, I say, or I shall tell my guards to do it for you.

alexis

Stand back, I say, General Kotemkin!

general

Who are you, fellow, that talks with such a ·45· tripping tongue to your betters? [ Alexis takes his mask off .] His Imperial Highness the Czarevitch!

omnes

The Czarevitch! It is all over!

president

He will give us up to the soldiers.

michael

[ To Vera .] Why did you not let me kill him? Come, we must fight to the death for it.

vera

Peace! he will not betray us.

alexis

A whim of mine, General! You know how my father keeps me from the world and imprisons me in the palace. I should really be bored to death if I could not get out at night in disguise sometimes, and have some romantic adventure in town. I fell in with these honest folks a few hours ago.