JUDGE. For me there can be no pardon!
THE OTHER ONE. [Gives the PRINCE a sign to step aside] You feel, then, that your guilt is too great?
JUDGE. Yes.
THE OTHER ONE. Then I'll speak kindly to you. There is an end, you see, if there is a beginning. And you have made a beginning. But the sequel will be long and hard.
JUDGE. Oh, God is good!
THE OTHER ONE. You have said it!
JUDGE. But—there is one thing that cannot be undone—there is one!
THE OTHER ONE. You are thinking of the monstrance which should have been of gold but was of silver? Well, don't you think that He who changed water into wine may also change silver into gold?
JUDGE. [On his knees] But my misdeed is too great, too great to be forgiven.
THE OTHER ONE. Now you overestimate yourself again. But rise up. We are about to celebrate Christmas in our own fashion.—The light of the sun cannot reach here, as you know—nor that of the moon. But on this night, and on this alone, a star rises so far above the rocks that it is visible from here. It is the star that went before the shepherds through the desert—and that was the morning star.