Коллектив авторов - The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03

Bleeding, the soul hath freed itself.

WALLENSTEIN.

Max, hear me.

MAX.

O! do it not, I pray thee, do it not!

There is a pure and noble soul within thee

Knows not of this unblest, unlucky doing.

Thy will is chaste, it is thy fancy only

Which hath polluted thee; and innocence—

It will not let itself be driven away

From that world-awing aspect. Thou wilt not,

Thou canst not, end in this. It would reduce

All human creatures to disloyalty

Against the nobleness of their own nature.

'Twill justify the vulgar misbelief

Which holdeth nothing noble in free will

And trusts itself to impotence alone

Made powerful only in an unknown power.

WALLENST.

The world will judge me sternly, I expect it.

Already have I said to my own self

All thou canst say to me. Who but avoids

The extreme, can he by going round avoid it?

But here there is no choice. Yes—I must use

Or suffer violence—so stands the case;

There remains nothing possible but that.

MAX.

O that is never possible for thee!

'Tis the last desperate resource of those

Cheap souls to whom their honor, their good name

Is their poor saving , their last worthless keep ,

Which, having staked and lost, they stake themselves

In the mad rage of gaming. Thou art rich

And glorious; with an unpolluted heart

Thou canst make conquest of whate'er seems highest!

But he, who once hath acted infamy,

Does nothing more in this world.

WALLENSTEIN ( grasps his hand ).

Much that is great and excellent will we

Perform together yet. And if we only

Stand on the height with dignity, 'tis soon

Forgotten, Max, by what road we ascended.

Believe me, many a crown shines spotless now

That yet was deeply sullied in the winning.

To the evil spirit doth the earth belong,

Not to the good. All that the powers divine

Send from above are universal blessings,

Their light rejoices us, their air refreshes,

But never yet was man enrich'd by them

In their eternal realm no property

Is to be struggled for—all there is general

The jewel, the all-valued gold we win

From the deceiving Powers, depraved in nature,

That dwell beneath the day and blessed sun-light.

Not without sacrifices are they render'd

Propitious, and there lives no soul on earth

That e'er retired unsullied from their service.

MAX.

Whate'er is human, to the human being

Do I allow—and to the vehement

And striving spirit readily I pardon

The excess of action; but to thee, my General,

Above all others make I large concession.

For thou must move a world, and be the master—

He kills thee who condemns thee to inaction.

So be it then! maintain thee in thy post

By violence. Resist the Emperor,

And, if it must be, force with force repel:

I will not praise it, yet I can forgive it.

But not—not to the traitor —yes!—the word

Is spoken out—

Not to the traitor can I yield a pardon.

That is no mere excess! that is no error

Of human nature—that is wholly different;

O that is black, black as the pit of hell!

[WALLENSTEIN betrays a sudden agitation .]

Thou canst not hear it named , and wilt thou do it?

O, turn back to thy duty! That thou canst

I hold it certain. Send me to Vienna:

I'll make thy peace for thee with the Emperor.

He knows thee not. But I do know thee. He

Shall see thee, Duke, with my unclouded eye,

And I bring back his confidence to thee.

WALLENST.

It is too late! Thou knowest not what has happen'd.

MAX.

Were it too late, and were things gone so far,

That a crime only could prevent thy fall,

Then—fall! fall honorably, even as thou stood'st!

Lose the command. Go from the stage of war,

Thou canst with splendor do it—do it too

With innocence. Thou hast lived much for others,

At length live thou for thy own self. I follow thee;

My destiny I never part from thine.

WALLENST.

It is too late! Even now, while thou art losing

Thy words, one after the other are the milestones

Left fast behind by my post couriers

Who bear the order on to Prague and Egra.

[MAX stands as convulsed, with a gesture and countenance expressing the most intense anguish .]

Yield thyself to it. We act as we are forced.

I cannot give assent to my own shame

And ruin. Thou —no—thou canst not forsake me!

So let us do what must be done, with dignity,

With a firm step. What am I doing worse

Than did famed Cæsar at the Rubicon,

When he the legions led against his country,

The which his country had delivered to him?

Had he thrown down the sword he had been lost,

As I were if I but disarm'd myself.

I trace out something in me of this spirit;

Give me his luck, that other thing I'll bear.

[MAX quits him abruptly . WALLENSTEIN startled and overpowered, continues looking after him and is still in this posture when TERZKY enters .]

WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY

TERZKY.

Max Piccolomini just left you?

WALLENSTEIN.

Where is Wrangel?

TERZKY.

He is already gone.

WALLENSTEIN.

In such a hurry?

TERZKY.

It is as if the earth had swallow'd him.

He had scarce left thee when I went to seek him.

I wish'd some words with him—but he was gone.

How, when, and where, could no one tell me. Nay,

I half believe it was the devil himself;

A human creature could not so at once

Have vanish'd.

ILLO ( enters ).

Octavio?

TERZKY.

How, Octavio! Whither send him?

WALLENST.

He goes to Frauenburg, and will lead hither

The Spanish and Italian regiments.

ILLO.

Nay, Heaven forbid!

WALLENSTEIN.

And why should Heaven forbid?

ILLO.

Him!—that deceiver! Wouldst thou trust to him

The soldiery? Him wilt thou let slip from thee,

Now in the very instant that decides us—

TERZKY.

Thou wilt not do this—No! I pray thee, no!

WALLENST.

Ye are whimsical.

ILLO.

Yield to our warning! Let him not depart.

WALLENST.

And why should I not trust him only this time,

Who have always trusted him? What, then, has happen'd

That I should lose my good opinion of him?

In complaisance to your whims, not my own,

I must, forsooth, give up a rooted judgment.

Think not I am a woman. Having trusted him

E'en till today, today too will I trust him.

TERZKY.

Must it be he—he only? Send another.

WALLENST.

It must be he whom I myself have chosen;

He is well fitted for the business. Therefore

I gave it him.

ILLO.

Therefore is he well fitted for the business!