SCENE XV.
JUSTINA and FLORUS; LELIUS at the door.
FLORUS. Are you then that virtuous maiden,
Who, the very breeze that flatters
With its soft and sweet caresses,
You would call rude, bold, unmannered?
How then is it you surrendered
Even the very keys of the casket
Of your honour?
JUSTINA. Hold, hold, Florus,
Do not dare to throw a shadow
On that honour which the sun
After the most strict examen
Has proved bright and pure.
FLORUS. Too late
Comes this idle boast. It happens
That I know to whom you have given
Free access...
JUSTINA. You dare this scandal?—
FLORUS. By a balcony...
JUSTINA. Do not say it.
FLORUS. To your honour.
JUSTINA. Thus will you blast me?
FLORUS. Yes, for hypocritical virtue
Merits something even harsher.
LELIUS [at the door, aside]. Florus was not then the hero
Of the balcony; some more happy
Lover than us twain she welcomes.
JUSTINA. Oh! defame not noble damsels,
Since you noble blood inherit.
FLORUS. Noble damsel, dar'st thou call thee,
When thy very arms received him,
And from thy balcony he departed?
Power subdued thee; from the fact
That the Governor is his father,
Vanity led thee on to show
That in Antioch he commanded...
LELIUS [aside]. Here he speaks of me.
FLORUS. Not seeing
Any graver defect of manner,
Than what in his birth and breeding
Rank may cover with its mantle,
But not so....
[LELIUS enters.
LELIUS. Be silent, Florus,
Nor attack me in my absence;
For of a rival to speak ill,
Is the act but of a dastard.
'Tis to stop this I come forward,
Angry after so many passes
Which my sword has had with thine,
That I have not yet dispatched thee.
JUSTINA. Who, not guilty, ever saw her
In such dangerous straits entangled?
FLORUS. What behind your back was spoken,
I before you will establish,
Truth is truth where'er 'tis uttered.
[They grasp their swords.
JUSTINA. Florus! Lelius! what would you have then.
LELIUS. I would have full satisfaction
Where I heard th'insulting language.
FLORUS. I'll maintain what I have said
Where I said it.
JUSTINA. From so many
Strokes of fortune, free me, Heaven!—
FLORUS. And I'll learn to chastise your rashness.
SCENE XVI.
The Governor enters with LYSANDER and attendants.—JUSTINA, LELIUS,
and FLORUS.
[All who enter]. Hold! stand back!
JUSTINA. Unhappy me!
GOVERNOR. What is this? But empty scabbards,
Naked swords, are quite sufficient
To inform me what has happened.
JUSTINA. What misfortune!
LYSANDER. What affliction!—
LELIUS. Ah, my lord...
GOVERNOR. Enough, no farther.
Lelius, thou a son of mine,
A disturber? Thou a scandal
To all Antioch through my favour?
LELIUS. Think, my lord...
GOVERNOR. Arrest, disarm them,
Take them hence. Make no distinction
On account of blood or rank here.
Let them suffer both alike,
Since in guilt alike they acted.
LELIUS [aside]. I came jealous, and go outraged.
FLORUS [aside]. To my pains new pains are added.
GOVERNOR. In distinct and separate prisons,
And with watchful eyes to guard them,
Place the two.—And you, Lysander,
Is it possible you have tarnished
Such a noble reputation,
Suffering....
LYSANDER. No; let not these dazzling
False appearances mislead you,
For Justina in what happened
Was quite blameless.
GOVERNOR. In her house here,
Would you have her live regardless
Of the fact that they were young,
And that she was fair; My anger
I restrain, lest people say,
I, an interested party,
Sentence passed as partial judge.—
But of you who caused this quarrel,
Now that maiden shame has left you,
Well I know that you will glad me
With the occasion I desire,
Of exposing, of unmasking,
In the light of actual vices,
The false virtuous part you've acted.
[Exeunt The Governor and his attendants;
LELIUS and FLORUS follow as prisoners.
SCENE XVII.
JUSTINA and LYSANDER.
JUSTINA. I reply but with my tears.
LYSANDER. Tears as vain as they are tardy.
What an act was mine, Justina,
When to thee my lips imparted
Who thou art! Oh, would I never
Told thee, that upon the margin
Of a rivulet in this forest,
A dead mother's womb here cast thee!
JUSTINA. I....
LYSANDER. Do not attempt excuses.
JUSTINA. Heaven will make them, then, hereafter
LYSANDER. When too late, perhaps.
JUSTINA. No limit
Can be late here while life lasteth.
LYSANDER. For the punishment of crimes.
JUSTINA. Injured truth to re-establish.
LYSANDER. I, from what I have seen, condemn thee.
JUSTINA. I thee, from what thou knowest not, rather.
LYSANDER. Leave me; I go forth to die
Where my grief will soon dispatch me.
JUSTINA. At thy feet I would lose my life;
But do not reject me, father.
[Exeunt.
SCENE XVIII.
A HALL IN CYPRIAN'S HOUSE.
At the end is an open gallery, through which is seen the country.
CYPRIAN, the Demon, MOSCON, and CLARIN.
DEMON. Since the hour that I have been
In your house a guest, you ne'er
Show a gay and cheerful air.
Sadness in your face is seen.
It is wrong your cure to shun,
Seeking to mislead mine eyes,
Since I would unsphere the skies,
Shake the stars, and shroud the sun,
For the least desire you feel
That more pleasantly you might live.
CYPRIAN. Magic has no power to give
The impossible I conceal,
Though the misery I betray.
DEMON. Come, confess the longed-for bliss.
CYPRIAN. I love a woman.
DEMON. And is this
The impossible that you say?
CYPRIAN. If you knew her, you'd agree.
DEMON. Well, describe her, I'm resigned;
Though I can't but smile to find
What a coward you must be.
CYPRIAN. The fair cradle of the skies,
Where the infant sun reposes,
Ere he rises, decked with roses,
Robed in snow, to dry heaven's eyes.
The green prison-bud that tries
To restrain the conscious rose,
When the crimson captive knows
April treads its gardens near,
Turning dawn's half frozen tear
To a smile where sunshine glows.
The sweet streamlet gliding by,
Though it scarcely dares to breathe
Softest murmurs through its teeth,
From the frosts that on it lie.
The bright pink, in its small sky
Shining like a coral star.
The blithe bird that flies afar,
Drest in shifting shades and blooms—
Soaring cithern of plumes
Harping high o'er heaven's blue bar.
The white rock that cheats the sun
When it tries to melt it down,
What it melts is but the crown
Which from winter's snow it won.
The green bay that will not shun,
Though the heavens are all aglow,
For its feet a bath of snow,—
Green Narcissus of the brook,
Fearless leaning o'er to look,
Though the stream runs chill below
In a word, the crimson dawn,
Sun, mead, streamlet, rosebud, May
Bird that sings his amorous lay,
April's laugh that gems the lawn,
Pink that sips the dews up-drawn,
Rock that stands in storm and shine,
Bay-tree that delights to twine
Round its fadeless leaves the sun,
All are parts which met in one
Form this woman most divine.
For myself, in blind unrest,
(Guess my madness if you can)
I, to seem another man,
In these courtly robes am drest,
Studious calm I now detest,
Fame no longer fires my mind,
Passion reigns where thought refined,
I my firmness fling to tears,
Courage I resign to fears,
And my hopes I give the wind.
I have said, and so will do,
That to some infernal sprite
I would offer with delight
(And the pledge I now renew)
Even my soul for her I woo.
But my offer is in vain,
Hell rejects it with disdain,
For my soul, it may allege,
Is a disproportionate pledge
For the interest I would gain.
DEMON. Is this, then your boasted courage,
In the footsteps of dejected*
Swains to follow, who grow timid
When their first assault's rejected?
Are examples then so distant
Of fair ladies who surrender
All their vanities to entreaties,
All their pride to fond addresses?
Would you make your breast the prison
Of your love, your arms her fetters?
[footnote] *Asonante in e-e to the end of the Act.
CYPRIAN. Can you doubt it?
DEMON. Then command them
To retire, those two, your servants,
So that we remain here only.
CYPRIAN. Go: both leave me for the present.
MOSCON. I obey.
[Exit.
CLARIN. And I as well.—
[Aside, concealing himself.
Such a guest must be the devil.
CYPRIAN. They are gone.
DEMON [aside]. That Clarin's hiding,
Is to me of small concernment.
CYPRIAN. What more wish you now?
DEMON. First fasten
Well this door.
CYPRIAN. Yes; none can enter.
DEMON. For the possession of this woman,
With your lips you have asserted
You would give your soul.
CYPRIAN. 'Tis so.
DEMON. Then the contract is accepted.
CYPRIAN. What do you say?
DEMON. That I accept it.
CYPRIAN. How?
DEMON. So much have I effected
By my science, that I will teach you
How by it to get possession
Of the woman that you worship;
For I (though so wise and learned)
Have no other means to win her.
Let us now in writing settle
What we have resolved between us.
CYPRIAN. Do you wish by new pretences
To prolong the pains I suffer?
In my hand is what I tender,
But in yours is not the offer
That you make me; no, for never
Conjurations or enchantments
Can free will control or fetter.
DEMON. Give me, on the terms you spoke of,
Your signed bond.
CLARIN. [peeping]. The deuce! This fellow
Is no fool, I see. No greenhorn
In his business is this devil.
I give him my bond! No, truly,
Though my lodgings wanted a tenant
For the space of twenty ages,
I wouldn't do it.
CYPRIAN. Sir, much jesting
May with merry friends be pastime,
Not with those who are dejected.
DEMON. I, in proof of what I am able
To effect, will now present you
With an example, though it faintly
Shows the power my art possesses.
From this gallery what is seen?
CYPRIAN. Much of sky, and much of meadow,
Wood, a rivulet, and a mountain.
DEMON. Which to you doth seem most pleasant?
CYPRIAN. The proud mountain, for in it
Is my adored one represented.
DEMON. Proud competitor of time,
Rival of the years for ever,
Who as king of fields and plains
Crown'st thee with the cloud and tempest,
Move thyself, change earth and air;
Look, see who I am that tell thee.—
And, look thou, too, since a mountain
I can move, thou mayest a maiden.
[The mountain moves from one side to the other in the perspective of
the theatre.
CYPRIAN. Never saw I such a wonder!
Ne'er a sight of so much terror!
CLARIN [peeping]. With the fright and with the fear,
I enjoy a twofold tremble.
CYPRIAN. Mighty mountain bird that fliest,
Trees for wings replacing feathers,
Boat, whose rocks supply the tackle,
As thou furrowest through the zephyr,
To thy centre back return thee,
And so end this fear, this terror.
[The mountain returns to its original position.
DEMON. If one proof is not sufficient,
I will give you then a second.
Do you wish to see the woman
You adore?
CYPRIAN. Yes.
DEMON. Then, thy entrails
Ope, thou monster, to whose being
The four elements are servants.
Show to us the perfect beauty
That thou hidest in thy centre.
[A rock opens and JUSTINA is seen sleeping.
Is this she whom you adore?
CYPRIAN. Whom I idolize beyond measure.
DEMON. But since I have power to give her,
I can take her too, remember.
CYPRIAN. Now impossible dream of mine,
Now thy arms will be the centre
Of my love, thy lips the sun,
Burning, brimming as with nectar.
DEMON. Stay; for till the word you gave me
Is affirmed, and well attested,
You can touch her not.
[CYPRIAN rushes towards the rock, which closes.
CYPRIAN. Oh, stay
Cloud that hides the most resplendent
Sun, that on my bliss e'er dawned!—
But 'tis air my void arm presses.—
I believe your art, acknowledge
Now I am your slave for ever.
What do you wish I do for thee?
What do you ask?
DEMON. To be protected
By your signature here written
In your blood, at the foot of a letter.
CLARIN [peeping]. Oh! I'd give my soul that I
To stay here had not been tempted.
CYPRIAN. For my pen I use this dagger,
Paper let this white cloth serve for,
And the ink wherewith I write it,
Be the blood my arm presents me.
[He writes with the point of a dagger upon a piece of linen, having
drawn blood from one of his arms.
CYPRIAN [Aside]. Oh! I freeze with fear, with horror!
I, great Cyprian, say expressly
I will give my immortal soul,
(Oh! what lethargy, what frenzy!)
Unto him whose art will teach me
(What confusion! what strange terror!)
How I may of fair Justina,
Haughty mistress mine, possess me.
I have signed it with my name.
DEMON [aside]. Now to my deceits is rendered
Valid homage, when such reason,
When discourse like his must tremble
Even when my help is sought for.—
Have you written?
CYPRIAN. And signed the letter.
DEMON. Then the sun you adore is thine.
CYPRIAN. Thine too, for the years eternal,
Is the soul I offer thee.
DEMON. Soul for soul I pay my debtors,
Then for thine I give to thee
Thy Justina's
CYPRIAN. In what term then,
Think you you can teach to me
All your magic art?
DEMON. A twelvemonth;
But on this condition....
CYPRIAN. Speak.
DEMON. That within a cavern buried,
Without any other study,
We may live there both together,
In our service having no one
For us two but this attendant,
[Drags out CLARIN.
Who being curious hid him here;—
By securing thus his person
That our secret is well kept,
We, I think, may be quite certain.
CLARIN [aside]. Oh, that I had never waited!
How does it happen though, so many
Neighbours prone to pry, as I am,
Are not caught thus by the devil?
CYPRIAN. So far well. My love, my genius
Have this happy end effected:
First Justina will be mine,
Then by my new lights, new learning,
I will wake the world's surprise.
DEMON. I have gained what I intended.
CLARIN. I not so.
DEMON. You come with us.—
[Aside.
O'er my great foe I've got the better.
CYPRIAN. Ah, how happy my desires,
If I reach to such possession!—
DEMON [aside]. Never will my envy rest
Till I gain both souls to serve me.—
Let us go, and in the deepest
Cavern this wild world presenteth
You to-day will learn in magic
Your first lesson.
CYPRIAN. Let us enter,
For my mind with such a master,
For my love with such incentive,
Will the sorcerer Cyprian's name
Live before the world for ever.