Here on the ground I lie,
I and my children. Let the wretched orphans
Be trodden by thy horse into the dust!
It will not be the worst that thou hast done.
HAR.
Are you mad, woman?
ARM. (continuing with vehemence).
Many a day thou hast
Trampled the Emperor's lands beneath thy feet.
Oh, I am but a woman! Were I man,
I'd find some better thing to do, than here
Lie grovelling in the dust.
[The music of the bridal party is again heard from the top of the pass, but more softly.]
GESSL.
Where are my knaves?
Drag her away, lest I forget myself,
And do some deed I may repent me of.
HAR.
My lord, the servants cannot force their way;
The pass is block'd up by a bridal train.
GESSL.
Too mild a ruler am I to this people,
Their tongues are all too bold—nor have they yet
Been tamed to due submission, as they shall be.
I must take order for the remedy;
I will subdue this stubborn mood of theirs,
This braggart spirit of freedom I will crush,
I will proclaim a new law through the land;
I will—
[An arrow pierces him,—he puts his hand on his heart and is about to sink—with a feeble voice.]
Oh God, have mercy on my soul!
HAR.
My lord! my lord! Oh God! What's this? Whence came it?