THE NATIVITY.
INTROITUS.
Præco.
Come, good people, all and each,
Come and listen to our speech!
In your presence here I stand,
With a trumpet in my hand,
To announce the Easter Play,
Which we represent to-day!
First of all we shall rehearse,
In our action and our verse,
The Nativity of our Lord,
As written in the old record
Of the Protevangelion,
So that he who reads may run!
(
Blows his trumpet.
)
I. HEAVEN.
Mercy
(
at the feet of God
). Have pity, Lord be not afraid
To save mankind, whom thou hast made,
Nor let the souls that were betrayed
Perish eternally!
Justice.
It cannot be, it must not be!
When in the garden placed by thee,
The fruit of the forbidden tree
He ate, and he must die!
Mercy.
Have pity, Lord! let penitence
Atone for disobedience,
Nor let the fruit of man's offence
Be endless misery!
Justice.
What penitence proportionate
Can e'er be felt for sin so great?
Of the forbidden fruit he ate,
And damned must he be!
God.
He shall be saved, if that within
The bounds of earth one free from sin
Be found, who for his kith and kin
Will suffer martyrdom.
The Four Virtues.
Lord! we have searched the world around,
From centre to the utmost bound,
But no such mortal can be found;
Despairing, back we come.
Wisdom.
No mortal, but a God made man,
Can ever carry out this plan,
Achieving what none other can,
Salvation unto all!
God.
Go, then, O my beloved Son;
It can by thee alone be done;
By thee the victory shall be won
O'er Satan and the Fall!
(
Here the
ANGEL GABRIEL
shall leave Paradise and fly toward the earth; the jaws of Hell open below, and the Devils walk about, making a great noise.
)
II. MARY AT THE WELL.
Mary.
Along the garden walk, and thence
Through the wicket in the garden fence,
I steal with quiet pace,
My pitcher at the well to fill,
That lies so deep and cool and still
In this sequestered place.
These sycamores keep guard around;
I see no face, I hear no sound,
Save babblings of the spring,
And my companions, who within
The threads of gold and scarlet spin,
And at their labor sing.
The Angel Gabriel.
Hail, Virgin Mary, full of grace!
(
Here
MARY
looketh around her, trembling, and then saith:
)
Mary.
Who is it speaketh in this place,
With such a gentle voice?
Gabriel.
The Lord of heaven is with thee now!
Blessed among all women thou,
Who art his holy choice!
Mary
(setting down the pitcher). What can this mean?
No one is near,
And yet, such sacred words I hear,
I almost fear to stay.
(
Here the
ANGEL,
appearing to her, shall say:
)
Gabriel.
Fear not, O Mary! but believe!
For thou, a Virgin, shalt conceive
A child this very day.
Fear not, O Mary! from the sky
The majesty of the Most High
Shall overshadow thee!
Mary.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord!
According to thy holy word,
So be it unto me!
(
Here the Devils shall again make a great noise, under the stage.
)
III. THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN PLANETS,
bearing the Star of Bethlehem.
The Angels.
The Angels of the Planets Seven
Across the shining fields of heaven
The natal star we bring!
Dropping our sevenfold virtues down,
As priceless jewels in the crown
Of Christ, our new-born King.
Raphael.
I am the Angel of the Sun,
Whose flaming wheels began to run
When God's almighty breath
Said to the darkness and the Night,
Let there be light! and there was light!
I bring the gift of Faith.
Gabriel.
I am the Angel of the Moon,
Darkened, to be rekindled soon
Beneath the azure cope!
Nearest to earth, it is my ray
That best illumes the midnight way.
I bring the gift of Hope!
Anael.
The Angel of the Star of Love,
The Evening Star, that shines above
The place where lovers be,
Above all happy hearths and homes,
On roofs of thatch, or golden domes,
I give him Charity!
Zobiachel.
The Planet Jupiter is mine!
The mightiest star of all that shine,
Except the sun alone!
He is the High Priest of the Dove,
And sends, from his great throne above,
Justice, that shall atone!
Michael.
The Planet Mercury, whose place
Is nearest to the sun in space,
Is my allotted sphere!
And with celestial ardor swift
I bear upon my hands the gift
Of heavenly Prudence here!
Uriel.
I am the Minister of Mars,
The strongest star among the stars!
My songs of power prelude
The march and battle of man's life,
And for the suffering and the strife,
I give him Fortitude!
Anachiel.
The Angel of the uttermost
Of all the shining, heavenly host,
From the far-off expanse
Of the Saturnian, endless space
I bring the last, the crowning grace,
The gift of Temperance!
(
A sudden light shines from the windows of the stable in the village below.
)
IV. THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST.
The stable of the Inn. The
VIRGIN
and
CHILD.
Three Gypsy Kings,
GASPAR, MELCHIOR,
and
BELSHAZZAR,
shall come in.
Gaspar.
Hail to thee, Jesus of Nazareth!
Though in a manger thou drawest thy breath,
Thou art greater than Life and Death,
Greater than Joy or Woe!
This cross upon the line of life
Portendeth struggle, toil, and strife,
And through a region with dangers rife
In darkness shall thou go!
Melchior.
Hail to thee, King of Jerusalem
Though humbly born in Bethlehem,
A sceptre and a diadem
Await thy brow and hand!
The sceptre is a simple reed,
The crown will make thy temples bleed,
And in thy hour of greatest need,
Abashed thy subjects stand!
Belshazzar
. Hail to thee, Christ of Christendom!
O'er all the earth thy kingdom come!
From distant Trebizond to Rome
Thy name shall men adore!
Peace and good-will among all men,
The Virgin has returned again,
Returned the old Saturnian reign
And Golden Age once more.
The Child Christ
. Jesus, the Son of God, am I,
Born here to suffer and to die
According to the prophecy,
That other men may live!
The Virgin
. And now these clothes, that wrapped him, take
And keep them precious, for his sake;
For benediction thus we make,
Naught else have we to give.
(
She gives them swaddling-clothes and they depart
.)
V. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.
Here shall
JOSEPH
come in, leading an ass, on which are seated
MARY
and the
CHILD.
Mary
. Here will we rest us, under these
Underhanging branches of the trees,
Where robins chant their Litanies,
And canticles of joy.
Joseph
. My saddle-girths have given way
With trudging through the heat to-day
To you I think it is but play
To ride and hold the boy.
Mary
. Hark! how the robins shout and sing,
As if to hail their infant King!
I will alight at yonder spring
To wash his little coat.
Joseph
. And I will hobble well the ass,
Lest, being loose upon the grass,
He should escape; for, by the mass.
He is nimble as a goat.
(
Here
MARY
shall alight and go to the spring.
)
Mary
. O Joseph! I am much afraid,
For men are sleeping in the shade;
I fear that we shall be waylaid,
And robbed and beaten sore!
(
Here a band of robbers shall be seen sleeping, two of whom shall rise and come forward
.)
Dumachus
. Cock's soul! deliver up your gold!
Joseph
. I pray you, Sirs, let go your hold!
Of wealth I have no store.
Dumachus
. Give up your money!
Titus
. Prithee cease!
Let these good people go in peace!
Dumachus
. First let them pay for their release,
And then go on their way.
Titus
. These forty groats I give in fee,
If thou wilt only silent be.
Mary
. May God be merciful to thee
Upon the Judgment Day!
Jesus
. When thirty years shall have gone by,
I at Jerusalem shall die,
By Jewish hands exalted high
On the accursed tree.
Then on my right and my left side,
These thieves shall both be crucified
And Titus thenceforth shall abide
In paradise with me.
(
Here a great rumor of trumpets and horses, like the noise of a king with his army, and the robbers shall take flight.
)
VI. THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS.
King Herod.
Potz-tausend! Himmel-sacrament!
Filled am I with great wonderment
At this unwelcome news!
Am I not Herod? Who shall dare
My crown to take, my sceptre bear,
As king among the Jews?
(
Here he shall stride up and down and flourish his sword.
)
What ho! I fain would drink a can
Of the strong wine of Canaan!
The wine of Helbon bring,
I purchased at the Fair of Tyre,
As red as blood, as hot as fire,
And fit for any king!
(
He quaffs great goblets of wine.
)
Now at the window will I stand,
While in the street the armed band
The little children slay:
The babe just born in Bethlehem
Will surely slaughtered be with them,
Nor live another day!
(
Here a voice of lamentation shall be heard in the street.
)
Rachel.
O wicked king! O cruel speed!
To do this most unrighteous deed!
My children all are slain!
Herod.
Ho seneschal! another cup!
With wine of Sorek fill it up!
I would a bumper drain!
Rahab.
May maledictions fall and blast
Thyself and lineage, to the last
Of all thy kith and kin!
Herod.
Another goblet! quick! and stir
Pomegranate juice and drops of myrrh
And calamus therein!
Soldiers (in the street)
. Give up thy child into our hands!
It is King Herod who commands
That he should thus be slain!
The Nurse Medusa.
O monstrous men! What have ye done!
It is King Herod's only son
That ye have cleft in twain!
Herod.
Ah, luckless day! What words of fear
Are these that smite upon my ear
With such a doleful sound!
What torments rack my heart and head!
Would I were dead! would I were dead,
And buried in the ground!
(
He falls down and writhes as though eaten by worms. Hell opens, and
SATAN
and
ASTAROTH
come forth, and drag him down.
)
VII. JESUS AT PLAY WITH HIS SCHOOLMATES.
Jesus.
The shower is over. Let us play,
And make some sparrows out of clay,
Down by the river's side.
Judas.
See, how the stream has overflowed
Its banks, and o'er the meadow road
Is spreading far and wide!
(
They draw water out of the river by channels, and form little pools
JESUS
makes twelve sparrows of clay, and the other boys do the same.
)
Jesus.
Look! look! how prettily I make
These little sparrows by the lake
Bend down their necks and drink!
Now will I make them sing and soar
So far, they shall return no more
Into this river's brink.
Judas.
That canst thou not! They are but clay,
They cannot sing, nor fly away
Above the meadow lands!
Jesus.
Fly, fly! ye sparrows! you are free!
And while you live, remember me,
Who made you with my hands.
(
Here
JESUS
shall clap his hands, and the sparrows shall fly away, chirruping.
)
Judas.
Thou art a sorcerer, I know;
Oft has my mother told me so,
I will not play with thee!
(
He strikes
JESUS
on the right side.
)
Jesus.
Ah, Judas! thou has smote my side,
And when I shall be crucified,
There shall I pierced be!
(
Here
JOSEPH
shall come in, and say:
)
Joseph.
Ye wicked boys! why do ye play,
And break the holy Sabbath day?
What, think ye, will your mothers say
To see you in such plight!
In such a sweat and such a heat,
With all that mud-upon your feet!
There's not a beggar in the street
Makes such a sorry sight!
VIII. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL.
The
RABBI BEN ISRAEL,
with a long beard, sitting on a high stool, with a rod in his hand.
Rabbi.
I am the Rabbi Ben Israel,
Throughout this village known full well,
And, as my scholars all will tell,
Learned in things divine;
The Kabala and Talmud hoar
Than all the prophets prize I more,
For water is all Bible lore,
But Mishna is strong wine.
My fame extends from West to East,
And always, at the Purim feast,
I am as drunk as any beast
That wallows in his sty;
The wine it so elateth me,
That I no difference can see
Between "Accursed Haman be!"
And "Blessed be Mordecai!"
Come hither, Judas Iscariot.
Say, if thy lesson thou hast got
From the Rabbinical Book or not.
Why howl the dogs at night?
Judas.
In the Rabbinical Book, it saith
The dogs howl, when with icy breath
Great Sammaël, the Angel of Death,
Takes through the town his flight!
Rabbi.
Well, boy! now say, if thou art wise,
When the Angel of Death, who is full of eyes,
Comes where a sick man dying lies,
What doth he to the wight?
Judas.
He stands beside him, dark and tall,
Holding a sword, from which doth fall
Into his mouth a drop of gall,
And so he turneth white.
Rabbi.
And now, my Judas, say to me
What the great Voices Four may be,
That quite across the world do flee,
And are not heard by men?
Judas.
The Voice of the Sun in heaven's dome,
The Voice of the Murmuring of Rome,
The Voice of a Soul that goeth home,
And the Angel of the Rain!
Rabbi.
Well have ye answered every one
Now little Jesus, the carpenter's son,
Let us see how thy task is done.
Canst thou thy letters say?
Jesus.
Aleph.
Rabbi.
What next? Do not stop yet!
Go on with all the alphabet.
Come, Aleph, Beth; dost thou forget?
Cock's soul! thou'dst rather play!
Jesus.
What Aleph means I fain would know,
Before I any farther go!
Rabbi.
O, by Saint Peter! wouldst thou so?
Come hither, boy, to me.
And surely as the letter Jod
Once cried aloud, and spake to God,
So surely shalt thou feel this rod,
And punished shalt thou be!
(
Here
RABBI BEN ISRAEL
shall lift up his rod to strike
JESUS,
and his right arm shall be paralyzed.
)
IX. CROWNED WITH FLOWERS.
JESUS
sitting among his playmates, crowned with flowers as their King.
Boys.
We spread our garments on the ground'
With fragrant flowers thy head is crowned,
While like a guard we stand around,
And hail thee as our King!
Thou art the new King of the Jews!
Nor let the passers-by refuse
To bring that homage which men use
To majesty to bring.
(
Here a traveller shall go by, and the boys shall lay hold of his garments and say:
)
Boys.
Come hither! and all reverence pay
Unto our monarch, crowned to-day!
Then go rejoicing on your way,
In all prosperity!
Traveller.
Hail to the King of Bethlehem,
Who weareth in his diadem
The yellow crocus for the gem
Of his authority!
(
He passes by; and others come in, bearing on a litter a sick child.
)
Boys.
Set down the litter and draw near!
The King of Bethlehem is here!
What ails the child, who seems to fear
That we shall do him harm?
The Bearers.
He climbed up to the robin's nest,
And out there darted, from his rest,
A serpent with a crimson crest,
And stung him in the arm.
Jesus.
Bring him to me, and let me feel
The wounded place; my touch can heal
The sting of serpents, and can steal
The poison from the bite!
(
He touches the wound, and the boy begins to cry.
)
Cease to lament! I can foresee
That thou hereafter known shalt be,
Among the men who follow me,
As Simon the Canaanite!
* * * * *
EPILOGUE.
In the after part of the day
Will be represented another play,
Of the Passion of our Blessed Lord,
Beginning directly after Nones!
At the close of which we shall accord,
By way of benison and reward,
The sight of a holy Martyr's bones!
IV.
THE ROAD HIRSCHAU.
PRINCE HENRY
and
ELSIE,
with their attendants, on horseback.
Elsie.
Onward and onward the highway runs
to the distant city, impatiently bearing
Tidings of human joy and disaster, of love and of
hate, of doing and daring!
Prince Henry.
This life of ours is a wild aeolian
harp of many a joyous strain,
But under them all there runs a loud perpetual wail,
as of souls in pain.
Elsie.
Faith alone can interpret life, and the heart
that aches and bleeds with the stigma
Of pain, alone bears the likeness of Christ, and can
comprehend its dark enigma.
Prince Henry.
Man is selfish, and seeketh pleasure
with little care of what may betide;
Else why am I travelling here beside thee, a demon
that rides by an angel's side?
Elsie.
All the hedges are white with dust, and
the great dog under the creaking wain
Hangs his head in the lazy heat, while onward the
horses toil and strain
Prince Henry.
Now they stop at the wayside inn,
and the wagoner laughs with the landlord's daughter,
While out of the dripping trough the horses distend
their leathern sides with water.
Elsie.
All through life there are wayside inns,
where man may refresh his soul with love;
Even the lowest may quench his thirst at rivulets fed
by springs from above.
Prince Henry.
Yonder, where rises the cross of
stone, our journey along the highway ends,
And over the fields, by a bridle path, down into the
broad green valley descends.
Elsie.
I am not sorry to leave behind the beaten
road with its dust and heat;
The air will be sweeter far, and the turf will be softer
under our horses' feet.
(
They turn down a green lane.
)
Elsie.
Sweet is the air with the budding haws,
and the valley stretching for miles below
Is white with blossoming cheery trees, as if just covered
with lightest snow.
Prince Henry.
Over our heads a white cascade is
gleaming against the distant hill;
We cannot hear it, nor see it move, but it hangs like
a banner when winds are still.
Elsie.
Damp and cool is this deep ravine, and
cool the sound of the brook by our side!
What is this castle that rises above us, and lords it
over a land so wide?
Prince Henry.
It is the home of the Counts of
Calva; well have I known these scenes of old,
Well I remember each tower and turret, remember the
brooklet, the wood, and the wold.
Elsie.
Hark! from the little village below us the
bells of the church are ringing for rain!
Priests and peasants in long procession come forth
and kneel on the arid plain.
Prince Henry.
They have not long to wait, for I
see in the south uprising a little cloud,
That before the sun shall be set will cover the sky
above us as with a shroud.
(
They pass on.
)