Cora. (Falling upon her knees, and clasping her hands in agony) Brother!
Zorai. I, thy brother!—Alas, yes!—these chains speak too plainly that I am thy brother.
Cora. Father!
Telasco. (With still averted eyes) Who calls me by that name?—I do not know that voice!
Cora. Father!—brother!—Oh these are the only agonies of death! (Wringing her hands)
Telasco. (Turning his eyes towards Cora) Oh Zorai, my paternal feelings will not be suppressed!—It is the voice of her mother!—it is the form of her mother!—Cora!—Cora—I have passed through life with honour, and now you cover my grave with shame!—Away, away! nor hope to experience my compassion!—Do you deserve it?—Did I constrain you to devote your youth to the service of the sun?—Did I not, on the contrary, frequently admonish you to consider well what you intended? Did I not represent to you, that the world afforded many pleasures of which you were then ignorant, and which you would first learn to think desirable when their enjoyment would be criminal, and when your life would consequently be rendered miserable by the impossibility of their attainment? Even on the very last evening before your irrevocable oath was taken—(God only knows how I assumed courage for the purpose)—did I not again entreat you to reflect upon all these things while it was yet possible to retract?—Dark and gloomy then appeared the future to my soul, as the ocean on a cloudy day. Even you wept—yes, Cora, you wept; your heart was overpowered.—It was the warning voice of a guardian spirit within you; but you resisted the impulse, adhered firmly to your enthusiastic resolution, and would think of nothing but of a nearer intercourse with the gods—Behold us now standing here,—I, a poor old man with my grey hairs, mourning the honour of my house destroyed for ever;—this youth, full of energy and love for his native country, cut off even in the prime of life, guiltless himself, yet involved in your destiny;—both, both, murdered by the hand of a daughter—of a sister;—and worse than murdered, hurled to the grave with shame as their companion!—Oh that I should have lived to see this day!—Blest, blest, was thy mother’s lot, that she died before the dawn of so fatal a morning! (Cora, overpowered with her father’s reproaches, sinks to the ground with a sigh; Telasco exclaims with an emotion of tenderness) Zorai, support her!
Zorai. (Raising up his sister, in which Alonzo makes an effort to assist him, but is thrust back by Zorai) Hence, thou murderer of innocence!—Oh that a hero should thus sink to nothing when we behold him near!—How did I reverence this man at a distance!—how admire him when I listened to the detail of his noble actions!—I felt my young heart elevated, and wished for nothing so ardently as that I were myself in his place!—Fool that I was!—His heroism was the effect of chance, not principle; he is still but a man, and weak as the rest of mankind!—Look here, and exult at this scene, it is thy work; and thou may’st thank these chains that, even in the midst of the temple, and in the presence of our god himself, thou art not made the victim of my vengeance.
Alonzo. Did you know how my heart is tortured, how inexpressibly I love, you would be more compassionate to my sorrows!
Telasco. Say no more, my son—his fate is much more deplorable than ours: we have one treasure left, which we shall carry with us to another world, a pure conscience;—that treasure he has lost; he is poorer than ourselves.
Cora. Oh, my father, do not let me die in despair!—Can you refuse me your blessing in the hour of death! (She falls at his feet) I will cling round your knees, my anguish shall move you!—have pity on your kneeling daughter!—bless me, my father!—forgive me, my brother! (Telasco and Zorai appear much affected) See how I humble, how I twine myself about you!—Oh, my agony is inconceivable!—Have compassion upon me, or my heart will break!