FURST.
You are too rash by far. He did no more
Than what the Governor had ordered him.
You had transgress'd, and therefore should have paid
The penalty, however hard, in silence.
MELCH.
Was I to brook the fellow's saucy gibe,
"That if the peasant must have bread to eat,
Why, let him go and draw the plough himself!"
It cut me to the very soul to see
My oxen, noble creatures, when the knave
Unyoked them from the plough. As though they felt
The wrong, they lowed and butted with their horns.
On this I could contain myself no longer,
And, overcome by passion, struck him down.
FURST.
O, we old men can scarce command ourselves!
And can we wonder youth breaks out of bounds?
MELCH.
I'm only sorry for my father's sake!
To be away from him, that needs so much
My fostering care! The Governor detests him,
Because, whene'er occasion served, he has
Stood stoutly up for right and liberty.
Therefore they'll bear him hard—the poor old man!
And there is none to shield him from their gripe.
Come what come may, I must go home again.
FURST.
Compose yourself, and wait in patience till
We get some tidings o'er from Unterwald.
Away! away! I hear a knock! Perhaps
A message from the Viceroy! Get thee in!
You are not safe from Landenberger's[*] arm
In Uri, for these tyrants pull together.
[*] Berenger von Landenberg, a man of noble family in Thurgau, and
Governor of Unterwald, infamous for his cruelties to the Swiss,
and particularly to the venerable Henry of the Halden. He was
slain at the battle of Morgarten, in 1315.
MELCH.
They teach us Switzers what we ought to do.
FURST.
Away! I'll call you when the coast is clear.
[Melchthal retires.]
Unhappy youth! I dare not tell him all
The evil that my boding heart predicts!
Who's there? The door ne'er opens, but I look
For tidings of mishap. Suspicion lurks
With darkling treachery in every nook.
Even to our inmost rooms they force their way,
These myrmidons of power; and soon we'll need
To fasten bolts and bars upon our doors.