ACT III.—Scenes I. and II
MATHAN, NABAL, THE CHOIR.
MATHAN.
Young daughters, go, and say to Josabet
That Mathan waits to speak to her in private.
One of the daughters of the Choir.
Mathan! O God of heaven do thou confound him.
NABAL.
How now? all flee, disperse without reply!
MATHAN.
Let us approach.
ZACHARIAH, MATHAN, NABAL.
ZACHARIAH.
Audacious! Whither would you go? Forbear
Beyond this place to make advance: it is
The holy minister's divine abode.
To all profane the law forbids the entrance.
Of whom are you in search? My mother shuns,
Upon this solemn day, the guilty sight
Of foul idolatry; and prostrate now
Before the Lord, would shrink from being disturbed.
MATHAN.
My son, her time is ours; be not alarmed;
I wish to speak to your illustrious mother.
I come here charged with orders from the queen.
Scene III.
MATHAN, NABAL.
NABAL.
The children have already their fierce pride.
But what doth Athaliah seek in this?
What is this tumult born of in her councils?
By overbearing Joad this morn offended,
And in her dreams braved by a murderous child,
She went to sacrifice the high-priest Joad
Unto her wrath, and in the end to place
Within that temple Baal and you. You had
To me already testified your joy;
I hoped, on my part, for so rich a prey.
What changes thus her vacillating vows?
MATHAN.
I have not known her, friend, for two days past.
No more the queen of an enlightened spirit,
Intrepid, raised beyond her timid sex,
Who crushed, at first, her wondering enemies,
And knew the value of occasion lost:
The pangs of vain remorse whelm this great soul:
She wavers, hesitates, is in a word,
A woman. I, her heart, already wrung
With threats from heaven, had filled with bitterness
And rancour; she, confiding to my care
Her vengeance, had commanded me to bring
At once her guards together: but, indeed,
Whether that brat before her brought, and said
To be an outcast from his parents, had
Diminished the alarm of frightful dreams,
Or she had seen in him some unknown charm,
I found her anger reeling, undecided:
She now puts off her vengeance till to-morrow.
Her projects all appear to slay each other.
"Some knowledge I have gained of this boy's fate,"
So did I say; "now of his ancestry
They have begun to boast: from time to time
Joad shows him to the factious, holds him up,
As if another Moses, to the Jews,
And lying oracles support his speech."
These words did cause the blood to mount her brow:
Ne'er lucky fable had such prompt effect.
"Must I drag on in this uncertainty?
Let us escape," said she, "this restlessness.
To Josabet declare you this resolve—
'The fires are kindling, and the sword prepared,
Nothing can save your temple from destruction,
If hostage for your faith that child's not given.'"
NABAL.
Why for a boy of whom they're ignorant,
That chance, perhaps, has cast into their arms,
Will they behold their temple tombed in weeds?
MATHAN.
Ah! of all mortals known, the haughtiest!
Sooner than yield a child into our hands,
That Joad has consecrated to his God,
He would endure the most terrific death.
Besides 'tis plainly seen they love the child.
If, from the queen, I heard a true report,
Joad of his birth knows more than he imparts.
However fatal it may be for them,
I can foresee they will not give him up.
On me the rest remains; and in the end
I hope that fire and sword will free my eyes
Of that obnoxious temple!
NABAL.
What can inspire in you so fierce a hate?
Is it your zeal for Baal inflames you thus?
As for myself, you know of Ishmael blood,
I neither worship Baal nor Israel's God.
MATHAN.
Friend, canst thou think that I allow myself
To be made blind by an unworthy zeal
For a vain idol, fragile form of wood,
Which, notwithstanding my support, the worms
Upon its altar every day consume?
Born servant of the God that temple loves,
It might be Mathan would adore Him still,
If lust of greatness, thirst for dominance,
Could be accommodated to His yoke.
Nabal, what need repicture to thy mind
The noted quarrel of myself and Joad.
When I 'gainst him the censor dared dispute,
My factions, struggles, waitings, my despair?
Vanquished by him I chose a new career,
And wed my soul entirely to the court.
I by degrees approached their royal honours,
And soon my voice was made an oracle.
I probed their heart, and flattered their caprice;
Bestrewed with flowers the precipice's brink;
Serving their passions, naught to me was sacred;
Measure and weight I changed as they inclined.
As much as Joad's unpliant humour pained
The softness of their supercilious ear,
So much I pleased them with my dexterous art;
Concealing from their eyes the bitter truth;
Lending convenient colour to their rage;
And, lavish, above all, of wretches' blood.
At length, to Baal, whom she had introduced,
By Athaliah was a temple reared.
Jerusalem did weep to see herself
Profaned: The alarmed band of Levi's race
Did elevate to heaven appalling cries.
Giving example to the timid Jews.
Deserter from their law, myself approved
The enterprise, and merited by that
Baal's priesthood: and I made myself withal
A terror to my rival; I put on
The turban—walked his equal. Ne'ertheless
I must avow, that in that glorious height
The troublesome memory of the God I left
Still throws into my soul a shade of dread:
Tis that which strengthens and supports my fury.
Happy, if on the temple my revenge
Accomplishing, I can at length content
Her petty spite, and lose amongst the wreck
The ravage and the slaughter, my remorse,
By dint of those enormities. But here
Is Josabet.
Scene IV.
JOSABET, MATHAN, NABAL.
MATHAN.
Commissioned by the queen
To calm again, and dissipate the anger,
Princess, in which heaven placed so sweet a soul,
Be not surprised at my addressing you.
A rumour, which however I suspect
To be a fable, favouring the warnings,
Which in a dream she had received, on Joad,
Accused of dangerous complots, she was going
To pour the floodgates of her wrath. I wish
Not here to boast of services to you—
I know of Joad's injustice to myself—
But for offence I must return good deeds.
At length, I come to speak the words of peace.
Live, solemnize your feasts without distrust,
She only claims a pledge of your submission:
It is—I did my utmost to dissuade her—
The orphan whom she says that she has seen.
JOSABET.
Eliacin?
MATHAN.
I am ashamed of her on that account:
Of a vain dream she makes too much ado:
But you declare yourselves her mortal foes,
If not that child's resigned to me at once:
The queen impatiently 'waits your reply.
JOSABET.
And that on her part is the peace announced.
MATHAN.
Can you one moment hesitate to grant it?
Or is that courtesy too dear for peace?
JOSABET.
Could Mathan, I was wondering, stript of guile,
Have overcome the injustice of his heart;
And, fatal plotter of so many ills,
Could he be author of a shade of good.
MATHAN.
Of what do you complain? Come I enraged
To tear from you your offspring, Zachariah?
What is this other child you love so well?
In turn, this great affection marvels me.
Is he to you a pearl so precious, rare?
Is he a liberator trained by Heaven?
Remember, your refusal would confirm
A faint report that's just begun to spread.
JOSABET.
What report I
MATHAN.
That of illustrious origin's the child,
Destined to some great project by your spouse.
JOSABET.
And by that tale, which flatters Mathan's fury—
MATHAN.
Princess, to think me false belongs to you.
Yet still I deem that Josabet, the foe
Implacable of falsehood, would resign
Her own life even, were it requisite,
Rather than life of insincerity
Be purchased by the slightest word untrue.
Then of that child's descent there is no trace?
Darkness profound surrounds his origin!
You know not of what parents he was born?
From whose hands Joad received him to his arms?
Pray speak, I listen ready to believe.
Princess, unto the God you serve give glory!
JOSABET.
Base one, is't well you thus dare speak the name
Of God, whom your own tongue bids men to curse!
Could His veracity be vouched by you,
You, wretched, sat upon the noxious bench
Where poison's scattered, falsehood hath the sway;
You, nurtured in deceit and treachery?
