Help! Help!
STR. LEPER.
There lies
Your Red One!
4TH LEPER.
Fly! He has a sword!
11TH LEPER (receiving a blow).
Oh help!
OLD LEPER.
Come, brothers, let us run.
6TH LEPER (struck).
Oh, oh!
STR. LEPER.
Away
With you! Be off!
7TH LEPER (struck).
Ai! Ai!
[Some of the lepers try to carry away the
wounded as they run.]
YOUNG LEPER.
Let's carry off
Iwein! Come, pick him up.
1ST LEPER.
And Godwin too!
Make haste!
11TH LEPER (struck).
Oh help!
STR. LEPER (driving the whole troupe to the gate).
Back, curs, back to your holes!
Crawl back into your noisome dens!
7TH LEPER (struck).
Oh! 'tis
Beelzebub himself!
10TH LEPER.
The devil!
9TH LEPER.
Hold!
12TH LEPER.
We go! We go!
6TH LEPER.
King Mark shall punish thee!
STR. LEPER (throwing the club after them).
Here, take your crutch and flee, ye curs!
VOICES OF THE LEPERS (outside).
Oh, oh!--
He wounded me!--Fly!--Fly!--
SCENE V
The Strange Leper, whose hood has fallen back during the conflict, goes
quickly to the foot of the steps. His forehead is bound with a narrow
band. ISEULT stands motionless with closed eyes.
STR. LEPER.
Iseult!
(Anxiously, wonderingly and imploringly.)
Iseult!
ISEULT (throws back her head, shuddering. She keeps
her eyes closed. Slowly and heavily.)
Thou beast! Thou dog!
STR. LEPER.
Iseult! 'Tis I who call!
ISEULT (hastily, as though to cover herself with the words).
I beg thee, beast, thou evil beast, speak not!
If in thy loathsome carcass there still dwells
Some remnant of a man, I pray thee slay
Me, but speak not!
STR. LEPER (uncertainly).
Iseult!
[He falls on his knees opposite the steps,
but at a distance from them; and leans
back until his thighs rest upon his heels.]
ISEULT.
Speak not! Be still,
And kill me now! They've left me not so much
As one small pin with which to kill myself!
Behold! I kneel to thee, and like some low
And humble maid, I beg thee, beast, to kill
Me, and I'll bless thee!
STR. LEPER.
Oh, Iseult, dost thou
No longer love Lord Tristram who was once
Thy friend?
ISEULT (stares at him for a moment).
Thou speak'st, thou speak'st, thou beast, and star'st!
Yet God shall punish thee since, though I beg,
Thou would'st not kill me now!
STR. LEPER (crying out despairingly).
Iseult, awake!
Oh Golden One, 'tis Tristram calls!
ISEULT.
Thou seekst
With scorn and biting words to martyr me,
And kill me then! Oh say that thou wilt kill
Me afterward--when thou hast railed enough!
--And thou wilt come no nearer than thou art?
STR. LEPER.
Iseult, awake! Awake, Iseult, and speak,
And tell me if thou lovest Tristram still!
ISEULT.
Ah, he was once my friend! Why dost thou use
The dagger of his name to prick my heart?
I loved him once, and 'tis for that I stand
Here!--Kill me now!
STR. LEPER (going to the foot of the steps).
God help me! Hear me speak,
Iseult, for I'm--
(His voice breaks with a sigh.)
I'm Tristram's messenger!
Thine erstwhile friend--Him whom thou loved'st!
ISEULT (angrily).
Would'st shame
Me in my shame? Thou beast!
STR. LEPER.
I wish to save
Thee now. Dost thou love Tristram still?
ISEULT (going down a few steps, slowly and carefully).
Thou art
A messenger of his?--And dost thou come,
Perchance, to take me to him?
(Breaking out.)
Does thy Lord
Desire me, to give me as a gift
From some strange land, to his new bride?
[The Strange Leper hides his face in his
hands.]
Am I
To sit within a cage and watch him kiss
Her? Listen to him call his wife "Iseult?"
Was this his sweet design, or does Iseult
The Snowy Handed crave my golden hair
To make a pillow for voluptuous hours?
How strange that Tristram should so long for me
That he sends forth his messengers! And will
He lay us both within the self-same bed?
Caress and kiss us both at once throughout
The night's long, heavy hours? In other days
More modest was thy Lord in his desires.
(Passionately.)
Now kill me, kill me, beast! I've lived enough.
STR. LEPER.
Iseult, dost thou not know me yet?
ISEULT.
How should
I know thee, beast, or in what roadside ditch
Lord Tristram found thee as he fled away
This morning through the Morois from a man
Who called upon him in my name?
STR. LEPER.
Oh, judge
Him not too quickly. Queen Iseult! He stood
And waited for the man, who in thy name
Had called!
ISEULT (in fierce anger).
He stood, say'st thou? Why then
He has not wed Iseult, white handed Queen?
I dreamed it all, and sobbed but in my dreams,
Perhaps? 'Twas then dream-tears I wept at this
Report?
STR. LEPER.
Be merciful to Tristram, Queen!
[ISEULT descends a few more steps; looks
at him searchingly, and speaks, in a way,
questioningly.]
ISEULT.
Wast thou his servant while he still was true,
And caught'st the plague while on his wedding trip?
Then weep for him, thou poor diseased beast!
I know thee not. And if thy master stood
Here too,--Lord Tristram, whom I once did love
And who returned my love in youthful years--
If he now stood before me here, I should
Not recognize his face behind the mask
Of cowardice which he has worn of late.
His faithlessness sticks to him like black slime!
Go tell him that!--I hate him in this mask!
He was so loving and so true when first
I knew and loved him! God shall punish him!
STR. LEPER.
Iseult, great God has punished him enough;
His soul is writhing in its agony
Before thy feet!
ISEULT.
His soul is leprous, ay!
And 'tis an awful thing when one's own soul
Is leprous grown!--I loathe and hate him now!
STR. LEPER (leaping up).
Iseult!
ISEULT (wildly).
Go call the Vultures, call them forth!
I want to dance in their white arms, and flee
From Tristram's leprous soul that has betrayed
And shamed me thus!
STR. LEPER.
May God in mercy help
Him, for he loves thee still, Iseult, in life
And death!
[He starts toward the gate.]
VOICE OF LORD DENOVALIN.
Let none go out! Draw up the bridge,
And close the castle gates! I'll catch the hound!
[Iseult staggers a few steps and collapses.]
STR. LEPER.
Denovalin, Iseult! Our hated foe
Denovalin! Quick, hide thy nakedness
Within this cloak!
[He covers her with his cloak and bends
over her.]
Dear lady I will kill
This man and then myself!
(Denovalin enters.)
DENOVALIN.
Thou, there! Who art
Thou? Speak, thou hound! Who dares thus brazenly
To set at naught King Mark's decreed commands?
STR. LEPER (who has sprung upon the curbing of the wall).
Denovalin, a second time thou shalt
Not flee from me!--Take heed, and guard thyself!
[He springs at DENOVALIN and overthrows
him. He then swings himself up on the
wall and stands there for a second; his
leper's garment is thrown back and he
appears in a coat of silver mail, shining
in the sunlight.]
DENOVALIN.
Tristram of Lyonesse!
STR. LEPER (pulling his cloth from his head).
Dost recognize
Him by the stroke? God help me now!
[He leaps down from the wall. The stage
remains for a time empty. The organ
sounds; the gates are opened and two
guards stand on either side of the steps.
The church is gradually emptied.]
SCENE VI
A SOLDIER (in subdued tones).
What? Dost
Thou weep, Forzin?
2D SOLDIER.
I'm not ashamed! There's none
But weeps, save Mark alone! The very stones
Must weep!
1ST SOLDIER.
It makes me shudder when I think
Of it.
2D SOLDIER.
Come, come, let's all go home.
A GIRL.
Oh hark!
Methought I heard one moan!
2D GIRL.
Oh God! Behold!
Here lies the Queen!
3D GIRL.
They've murdered her!
1ST SOLDIER (running to the spot).
The Queen!
2D SOLDIER.
My God!
1ST SOLDIER.
The King doth call!
A MAN.
She lives no more.
3D GIRL.
Here lies another!
1ST SOLDIER (running up).
Lord Denovalin!
Stone dead!
A VOICE.
Who? Where?
2D SOLDIER.
He bleeds and does not move!
PARANIS (rushes up and throws himself down beside ISEULT).
Oh God! My queen!
1ST SOLDIER (pulling him away).
Stand back there, boy!
PARANIS.
Oh let
Me kneel beside the Queen!--I always did!
Oh, Queen Iseult, how pale thou art!--But, see,
She breathes!
2D SOLDIER.
The Queen still breathes!
PARANIS.
She is not dead!
A GIRL.
Go call it out within that all may come,
She is not dead!
A KNIGHT.
Why shout ye so?
A BOY.
Behold,
The lepers would not have Iseult!
2D BOY.
Proclaim
It round about!
A MAN.
Be still, here comes the King!
Make room!
[Mark comes down the steps and stops on
the last one, motionless and staring.]
1ST SOLDIER.
King Mark, here lies the Queen Iseult.
She breathes, but shows no signs of life.
2D SOLDIER.
And here
Lies Lord Denovalin. He's dead, King Mark.
[Mark leans against a column to support
himself and stares down upon the scene.
The crowd groups itself and throngs the
door of the church behind him.]
GIMELLA.
What's this?
A BOY.
The lepers would not have Iseult.
A GIRL (to GIMELLA).
Here lies the Queen!
A MAN.
Untouched and pure!
A WOMAN.
A great,
And wondrous thing!--A judgment from the sky!
GIMELLA.
No one has touched her, see!
A VOICE.
Is she asleep?
A MAN.
See, one has wrapped her in a cloak!
SHEPHERD (calling aloud).
The cloak
Shall hang within the church!
A GIRL.
Brangaene, come!
She's smiling through her tears.
BRANGAENE (bending over ISEULT--softly).
Oh dear Iseult!
Beloved one!
GIMELLA.
She breathes as feverishly
And deep as does a sick and suffering child
At midnight in its sleep!
1ST SOLDIER.
I'll to the gate
And ask the guards if they have seen some sign
Or token how this miracle occur'd!
MARK (cries angrily).
I'll crucify the man who asks!
[All heads turn then in his direction and a
terrified expression comes over all
countenances. MARK speaks harshly and calmly.]
Dinas
Of Lidan? Is he here?
1ST GUARD.
Lord Dinas left
The castle gate today at dawn, my Lord.
MARK.
Did Lord Denovalin receive his wound
In front, or from behind?
1ST GUARD.
Here, at the throat.
The wound is small and deep, as though a shaft
Of lightning struck him there between the helm
And gorget--sharp and swift.
VOICES.
Oh listen! See,
'Twas God that struck Denovalin, since he
Had falsely testified against the Queen!
Then let the executioner strip off
His arms, and hang them in my armory,
So that the sun shall shine thereon. The corpse
Shall he bind to a horse's tail, and drag
It o'er the common land and let it rot!
Where lies the Queen!
SHEPHERD.
Stand back there, for King Mark
Would see the Queen in her pale beauty! Back!
[The crowd stands back and a space is
cleared around ISEULT. MARK looks down
upon her from above and speaks coldly
and slowly, controlling himself.]
MARK.
Let Queen Iseult be carried on that cloak
Within the castle. Place her there upon
Soft pillows. Strew fresh flowers round about
Her bed, and moisten all her robes and clothes
With sweetest perfumes. Kneel ye down and pray
When she doth speak to you, for she must be
In some way sacred, since God loves her thus.
(Almost shouting.)
And if she should be found in Tristram's bed
I'll kill the man who tells me of it, ay,
And let his body rot upon the ground!
Now saddle me a horse that I may go
To seek Lord Dinas, my most loyal friend!
ACT IV
The High Vaulted Hall of the Castle.--In the middle of the hall on the
left opens a high, wooden staircase. In the background on the left,
bay-windows; on the right, a broad, barred door. Through the grating
one sees the outer court. In the middle of the wall on the right is a
wide fireplace on each side of which jut out low stone benches. In
front of the windows stands a table at which DINAS and GANELUN, the
First and Second Barons, are playing chess. In the foreground, a table
on which chess-boards stand prepared for play. The table by the
stone-bench stands on a dais which is shut off from behind by a
railing. On the dais and on the floor are carpets. Servants take
wine-flagons from a sideboard which stands on the left beside the
stairs, and place them in front of the players. In front of the raised
table UGRIN, the King's Jester, is asleep. The oil-torches give only a
dim light. For a moment the players continue their game in silence.
SCENE I
1ST BARON.
Take heed unto thy queen, Lord Ganelun,
Unless thou willingly dost sacrifice
Her to my pawns, as Mark gave Queen Iseult
Unto his lepers!
GANELUN.
Wait! for see, I move
My bishop back.
2D BARON.
Check! Dinas, check and mate!
Thou mad'st it easy, friend. Thou never shouldst
Have sacrificed the knight, for thus my rook
Escaped, attacking thee.
DINAS.
Forgive; my thoughts
Were troubled, ay, and wandered from the game.
[Two knights come in from the courtyard.]
1ST KNIGHT.
I cannot make one ray of sense from all
These strange occurrences, my Lords! I greet
Thee, Ganelun!
[Shakes hands with the Barons.]
2D KNIGHT (shaking hands).
At chess! At chess my Lords!
Your blood must run full slowly in your veins!
[Comes forward.]
GANELUN.
King Mark has bid us play, and order'd wine
For us to drink, since otherwise 'twould be
A dull and sombre evening here tonight
Within the castle hall, for Queen Iseult,
I ween, will stay in her retirement.
1ST KNIGHT.
King Mark bade us come hither too.
UGRIN.
"Oh God!
Men! Men! Bring lights and let me see the face
Of human beings 'round about!" So cried
My cousin Mark not half an hour agone,
As one on whom the mirth of loneliness
Falls all too heavily!
2D BARON.
What think ye, Lords,
Of this most wondrous thing?
2D KNIGHT.
And do ye know
That Kaad, King Mark's old stable groom, beheld
St. George leap from the battlement where wall
And rock drop off an hundred fathom sheer?
[The Barons stand up and crowd about him.]
1ST BARON.
St. George?
GANELUN.
What's that thou say'st?
DINAS.
Dost thou know more?
2D KNIGHT.
I know but what old Kaad himself recounts;
That, as he led Mark's charger down to drink,
There suddenly appeared before his eyes
The lofty shape of good St. George, erect,
Upon the wall!
1ST BARON (crossing himself).
God save my soul!
2D BARON.
And then?
What happened then?
2D KNIGHT.
Kaad thought at first
He was some mortal man and cried to him
To heed; but in that selfsame moment leapt
The holy knight, and cleared the wall, and fell
The hundred fathoms. But when Kaad ran up,
With all the speed he might unto the spot,
St. George had vanished and had left no trace.
1ST BARON.
No trace?
2D BARON.
'Tis strange!
DINAS.
A wondrous thing!
GANELUN.
But say,
By what did Kaad first recognize the saint?
2D KNIGHT.
I know not, but he says 'twas he; and all
The people, are rejoicing at this new
And wondrous miracle of good St. George.
1ST KNIGHT.
What says King Mark about this miracle,
This saving of the Queen by God Himself?
Hast seen him, Dinas?
DINAS (returning to the table).
Ay, his heart and mind
Are heavy and his soul distressed.
2D KNIGHT.
And Queen
Iseult?
1ST KNIGHT.
What said the King of her?
GANELUN.
The King
Refused to see her, or to speak with her,
Since neither dares to speak of this foul deed
Which has occurred; its memory still throbs,
And tingling flows throughout their blood.
2D BARON.
And yet
He sent the Queen, and without message too,
The head that pledged a perjured oath today,
Upon a silver shield. And well he did.
2D KNIGHT.
My Lord Denovalin a victim fell
Unto a saintly and a holy hand,
But died ingloriously!
DINAS.
As he deserved
So died he. Sir.
[The Barons and Knights sit down again
at the table. King MARK, unnoticed by
the others, comes slowly down the steps,
and walks about. He is oppressed and
agitated. At length he stops, and, leaning
against the end post of the bannister,
listens to the conversation of the others.]
1ST KNIGHT.
A leper has been stoned
Because he cried throughout Lubin that 'twas
The devil who had done the thing.
DINAS.
Such leaps
By God or devil can alone be done.
GANELUN.
'Tis true, my Lords, no mortal man can spring
An hundred fathoms.
[Mark steps up to the table and lays his
arm about Dinas' neck.]
SCENE II
MARK.
True, Lord Ganelun!
2D BARON (springing up).
The King!
1ST BARON
The King here! Pardon, sire!
MARK.
I thank
You all, my Lords, that ye were not enraged
And angered at a weak old man, and came
Again to me. I would not willingly
Have spent this night alone.
2D BARON.
Most cheerfully
We came. The Queen's miraculous escape
O'er joys us all.
1ST BARON.
There lack but three to make
The tale complete; those three, my Lords, who stood
As sponsors of the bond.
MARK.
They're coursing through
The gloomy forest paths and seek to catch
That which, since God hath spoken, cannot be
Therein. I've sent my riders to recall
Them here to me.
GANELUN.
Give me thy hand, King Mark,
For I am glad that thou didst err!
MARK (his voice is bitter and despairing).
I, too,
Am glad, for if this morning I appeared
A wreckless youth, a foolish boy who dared
In arrogant presumption to assert
Himself and to rebel against your word,
Forgive me. Passion is the heritage
Of man; his deeds the natural consequence
Of passion. Think ye not the same? And see,
How God, now for the second time, has wrought,
And sternly proved the truth! Is it, perchance,
His will that I should learn unseeingly,
Unquestioningly to revere His stars
On which our actions here on earth depend?
What think ye, sirs? for so it seems to me;
And therefore hath He hid from me that which
Most eagerly I wish to know, so that
Before this veiled uncertainty, my blood
Ran riot in my veins. But from this day
I'll change my mode of life; I will regard
My blindness and His unavoidable
Decree; for wisdom lies in piety,
As says an ancient proverb; hence I will,
From this day on, learn piety that I
Become a very sage for wisdom.
[Goes away.]
A KNIGHT.
Calm
Thyself!
UGRIN (calling to MARK).
Ay, cousin, make thyself a monk!
MARK (turning back).
And I will learn to laugh at God that He
Should give Himself such trouble for a man
Like me--poor fool! Enough! Forgive my wrongs
In friendly wise, as I will overlook
Your sins with all my heart. But, if a man
Grown lately wise may counsel you, sin not;
Your work is the beginning, God's the end.
UGRIN (calling out to him).
Amen.
MARK.
I've broken in upon your game
My friends, and chattered on. Forgive it me;
Resume your play and cups; drink on, I pray.
[He goes over to UGRIN.]
Thy jokes are empty of all wit today,
Ugrin.
UGRIN.
My wit has fallen off, say'st thou?
Decay of time, believe me Mark; for wit
Is wine, and wine is poured into a cup
Of sparkling gold, and not into a crack'd
Old jug, and thou, illustrious cousin, art
Become a broken pot since noon today!
[Hands him his jester's sceptre.]
Here, hit thyself! Behold the ring is gone!
My wit's too precious for a ringless cup.
At Easter tide I'll seek me out as lord
Some jovial soul who loves his wine; who plays
Wild pranks, and gives his wife away when he
Is tired of her!
MARK (sitting down on the stone bench).
Friend Ugrin, I warn
Thee, heed thy tongue!
UGRIN.
Ay, cousin! Ay, 'twere best
Since thou'st forsworn all quarreling!
MARK.
I wish
That I might put thee on the rack and have
Thee whipped before I go to rest! Instead
I'll give thee two broad marks of gold if thou
Can'st move Iseult to laughter; and I'll give
Besides the gold a brand-new cloak to wear
In winter time!
UGRIN.
Well lined?
MARK (takes him by both ears).
I've set my heart
Upon it that Iseult shall laugh, so do
Thy best, my friend!
UGRIN (stands up).
With some well-chosen words,
Perhaps, I briefly might describe to her
The leper's throng! What say'st thou, cousin?
MARK.
Fool!
UGRIN.
Or I might ask her what it's like when one's
Own husband, from unfeeling jealousy,
Ordains one to be burnt; or yet again
I might, with due solemnity, implore
Her to be kind--to love thee once again,
Good cousin! Surely she must laugh at that!
MARK.
Peace, fool! Thou weariest me.
UGRIN.
If thou intend
To grow thy beard in this new way I'll turn
Thy barber! I shall serve thee better then
Than now as fool! What say'st to this?
MARK.
Oh fool,
If only thou wast not a fool!
UGRIN (noticing ISEULT at the head of the stairs).
No fool
So great as thou thyself! Behold her now,
The woman whom thou gav'st away! Oh fie!
Fool cousin, art thou not ashamed?
(Sinks to his knees and calls out.)
The Queen
Approaches! Queen Iseult!
SCENE III
The Knights and Barons rise; MARK springs up and steps back a pace.
ISEULT remains standing on the bottom step. BRANGAENE, GIMELLA and
PARANIS are behind her.
ISEULT.
I beg of you,
My Lords, consider what is past as 'twere
A dream, since otherwise we could not find
Fit words or proper sentiments to stand
Before each other with unblushing cheek,
For very shame and horror at this deed.
[She steps down into the hall.]
My Lords, I bid you welcome, one and all!
GANELUN.
I kiss thy mantle's hem, oh Queen!
1ST BARON.
So do
We all who stand before thee now. We feel
That thou art holy, Queen Iseult!
ISEULT.
Ye do
Me wrong in praising me too much, good friends.
I did but swear the truth and keep what I
Had sworn. Continue now your play. I would
Not hinder you!
[She turns to MARK; both stare at each
other for a moment and then ISEULT
speaks timidly, almost childishly.]
I wish to play at chess
--With Mark and Dinas--that true, loyal friend--
MARK (after a short pause, quietly and kindly).
Play thou with Dinas first, since I, this morn,
Did interrupt thy game. I promised him
That he should play with thee.
[He goes to the chest.]
(Breaking out.)
I'll choose Ugrin
As my opponent! Come, Sir Fool, and play
With me! [Sits down on the chest.]
ISEULT.
So be it, Mark. Friend Dinas, come;
And thou Gimella play with Ganelun.
(To BRANGAENE.)
Stand thou beside me here and help me worst
Mine adversary. Come.
[She seats herself with DINAS at the raised
table. BRANGAENE stands beside the table
and leans over the bannister. PARANIS
seats himself at ISEULT'S feet. GIMELLA
takes her place at the other table. The
Strange Jester slinks across the court
and presses his pale, beardless face,
drawn with suffering, against the bars
of the grating. His head is shaved and
his clothes are torn and ragged.]
UGRIN.
Laugh at me, Queen.
ISEULT.
Tell me, Ugrin, why should I laugh at thee?
UGRIN.
I beg thee laugh; most fondly I implore
Thee laugh at me, Iseult. My cousin here
Hath promised me much gold if I can make
Thee laugh at me but once--I want that gold
So much!--Come, laugh at me, Iseult!
ISEULT.
First earn
Thy gold, good fool. Be off and let us play.
UGRIN (kneels down by MARK beside the chest).
Thy wife's not in her sweetest mood today,
Good cousin. Know'st thou why perhaps?
MARK.
A truce
To thy dull jokes! Come, play the game. Sir Knave!
ISEULT. I'll take thy castle, Dinas! Heed thy game.
UGRIN (humming).
Oh once there was a mighty King,
Who had a lady fair.
This King did love his beauteous dame
As though his wife she were--
ISEULT.
Thy castle falls--
(Softly.)
I hardly see the squares!
They sway and rock like billows on the sea.
DINAS.
Why weepest thou?
ISEULT.
I am not happy, friend.
PARANIS (softly).
Oh God!--There, see! Through yonder window's bars
There peers a man.
DINAS.
Where, boy?
PARANIS.
There! There!
STR. JESTER (calling through the grating).
Holla!
King Mark! Holla!
DINAS.
What's that!
MARK (rising).
Who storms outside
My door? Such noises in the night I will
Not brook! Who's there?
[UGRIN runs to the grating.]
STR. JESTER.
A jester, King; a poor
And witless fool. Let me come in! I'll crack
New jokes to make thee laugh!--Let me come in.
UGRIN.
A fool!
GIMELLA.
How came he here?
BRANGAENE.
He startled me!
ISEULT.
Indeed we weary of Ugrin's stale jests.
STR. JESTER.
I'm a poor jester that would come to thee,
So let me in. King Mark.
MARK (going to the grating).
The fools, it seems,
Smell out my door as carrion-vultures smell
A corpse.
UGRIN.
Cousin; let him be driven out!
I beg thee, have him whipped.
1ST GUARD (from without).
I've caught thee, rogue!
MARK.
How came this strange fool past the gates, Gilain?
Wast thou asleep?
1ST GUARD.
King Mark, this man has slunk
About the gate since it grew dark. He says
He wants to see thee. Many times have we
Already driven him away, but still
He sticks like pitch about the gate.
STR. JESTER.
I am
A jester from a foreign land--I wish
To come to thee. King Mark!
1ST GUARD.
Behold the fool!
He cries like that unceasingly.
MARK.
Speak, fool,
What need hast thou of me?
STR. JESTER.
Mark, let me in!
I'll make such jests that thou, and all thy lords
And ladies die from laughing at my wit.
GIMELLA (laughing).
The merry jests!
ISEULT.
This wandering knave intrudes
Too boldly!
UGRIN.
Rogue! Oh shameless one. I'll give
Thee such a drubbing as thou ne'er hast felt.
MARK.
Know'st thou, in truth, new jests.
STR. JESTER.
Ay, Mark, new jests
To make thee laugh or weep. Ay, merry jests!
SCENE IV
MARK opens the grating and lets the Strange Jester in. The Jester
advances a few feet on the right, and stops to stare at ISEULT. UGRIN
walks about him, examining him.
MARK.
Then come, thou jail-bird. Hark, Gilain, let now
The guard be doubled at the lower gate
That none, unnoticed, may come in.
STR. JESTER.
But should
A stranger King arrive,--a stranger King,
The master of this stranger fool--let him
Come in, Gilain.
ISEULT.
Play, Dinas, play thy game!
Their chatter wearies me.
MARK.
Now tell me, rogue,
Why clamorest thou so loudly at my gate?
What wouldst thou? Speak.
STR. JESTER.
I wish to stay with thee.
[Laughter.]
2D BARON.
What cooked they in thy kitchen, Mark, tonight
That all the fools have smelt it out?
STR. JESTER.
I saw
The fire glowing in thy hall; I saw
The light and so I came--I'm cold.
UGRIN.
Then wrap
Thyself more closely in thy cloak, thou fool!
STR. JESTER.
I've given it away.
BRANGAENE (laughing).
It seems thou art
A tender hearted fool!
GIMELLA.
And yet it does
Not seem as though thou couldst give much away!
MARK (looking at the fool carefully).
Whence comest thou, Sir Fool!
STR. JESTER.
I come from there--
From there outside, from nowhere else--
(Looking at ISEULT and in a soft voice--
almost singing.)
And yet
My mother was Blanchefleur!
[ISEULT starts and stares across at him.]
MARK (goes back laughing to his seat. UGRIN follows him).
Ha! ha! The jest
Is poor. Hast thou no better ones, my friend?
Blanchefleur was mine own sister. She begat
No fool like thee!
STR. JESTER.
'Twas then some other one
Who bore the self-same name and me the pain
And sorrow, Mark. What matters it to thee?
[Laughter.]
1ST KNIGHT (laughingly).
Our jesting rogue grows bitter in his mirth!
ISEULT.
Let this strange jester stand a little forth
That we may see him in the light.
MARK.
Come here,
Sir Fool, and stand before the Queen.
UGRIN.
He is
An ass as awkward as I e'er beheld!
So cousin, judge by contrast 'twixt us two,
And see the priceless thing thou hast in me!
MARK.
Go, fool, be not afraid.
STR. JESTER (steps in front of the stone bench on
the left, opposite ISEULT'S table).
--I'm cold!--I'm cold!
ISEULT (after looking at him for a moment breaks
into a clear and relieved laugh).
A sorry sight to look upon!
[The Strange Jester hides his face in his
hands.]
GIMELLA (springing forward).
The Queen
Is laughing--see!
BRANGAENE.
Made he some witty jest?
GIMELLA.
Why laughst thou so, Iseult?
DINAS.
'Tis horrible
To see the fool's distorted face!
ISEULT.
He looks
So pitifully at me! it makes me laugh!
UGRIN.
I'm angry with thee, Queen Iseult! Oh fie!
For shame, how couldst thou laugh at that strange fool?
(Turning to MARK.)
I pray thee, Mark, good cousin, wilt thou give
To him the two whole marks of gold?
[During this time the Strange Jester sits
on the railing which joins the bench to the
fireplace. He rests his elbows on his
knees and his face on his hands. He
stares at ISEULT.]
BRANGAENE.
Rejoice!
The King will give thee a reward since thou
Hast cheered the Queen.
STR. JESTER (without changing his attitude).
Would that I'd make her weep,
This Queen, instead of laugh!
[Soft and low laughter.]
MARK.
How's that?
STR. JESTER.
Because
I am a fool for sorrow, not for mirth!
[Laughter; the fool springs up.]
And none shall laugh when he beholds my face!
[Laughter; the fool seats himself again.]
ISEULT (earnestly).
How strangely speaks the fool!
MARK.
My friend, I think,
That some one cut thee from the gallows!
STR. JESTER (stares at ISEULT--slowly).
Mark,
How proud and cold a wife thou hast! Her name's
Iseult, I think. Am I not right?
MARK (smiling).
Doth she
Please thee. Sir Fool?
STR. JESTER.
Ay! ay! She pleases me.
[Laughter.]
Iseult the Goldenhaired!--I'm cold, King Mark!
ISEULT.
The fool is mad!--I like him not.
UGRIN (to the Strange Jester).
Thou hast
Thine answer now!
GIMELLA.
Is this the first time thou
Beheldst the Queen?
MARK.
Art thou a stranger, friend?
STR. JESTER.
Mayhap I've seen the Queen before; mayhap
I never have.--I know not, Mark.
[Laughter.]
GIMELLA (laughing).
A strange
And curious jest, i' faith!
(To those laughing at the other table.)
Come here, my Lords,
For this new jester is most wondrous strange.
STR. JESTER (in rising grief).
I had a sweetheart once, and she was fair!
MARK (laughing).
Ay! I believe thee, friend!
STR. JESTER.
Yea, she was fair,
Almost as fair as Queen Iseult, thy wife.
[Laughter.]
I'm cold!
ISEULT (angrily).
Thou fool, why starest thou at me?
Avaunt!
STR. JESTER.
Laugh once again at me, Iseult!
Thy laugh was fair, and yet, methinks, those eyes
Must be still fairer when they overflow
With tears.--I wish that I could make thee weep,
Iseult!
[A silence.]
UGRIN (going over to him).
Ho, ho! Are those thy jokes! I'll fall
A weeping straight, thou croaking raven!
STR. JESTER (springing up).
Take
This fool away, or else I'll smite him dead!
[UGRIN jumps backward.]
MARK.
Thou art a gloomy jester, boy!
GIMELLA.
His jests
Are all of some new fangled sort.
MARK.
Speak, fool,
Whom hast thou served till now?
STR. JESTER.
I've served King Mark
In far off Cornwall--.
[Laughter.]
And he had a wife,
And she was fair, with long and golden hair!
[Laughter.]
Why laughst thou Dinas, friend?
[The laughter dies suddenly; the Barons
and Knights, who, with the exception of
those at the Queen's table, had formed a
circle around the Strange Jester, shrink
back.]
DINAS (startled).
My God! He knows
My name as well!
1ST BARON.
'Tis passing strange!
2D BARON.
Thou!--Fool--!
GANELUN.
He's quick, and makes good use of what he hears!
ISEULT.
His jests are impudent,--I wish that he
Would go away! He wearies me.
MARK.
And yet
There's something in the knave that pleases me.
His madness lies still deeper than it seems--
UGRIN.
Ay, cousin, in his belly, for, methinks,
He has a stomachache!
MARK.
Come, friend, tell us
A tale.
STR. JESTER (starting up).
Why stare ye so at me, ye pack
Of rogues? Why mock ye me?
(In anguish.)
I'm but a fool!
A wretched fool! Send them away. King Mark,
And listen thou to me. We'll stay here all
Alone:--the Queen, and thou, and I, and then
I'll tell thee pretty things, sweet things,--so sweet
That one must shiver when one hears! Now send
Away the rest!
1ST BARON.
Take heed. Sir Fool, be not
Too bold.
2D BARON.
He should be soundly beaten!
MARK.
Leave
Him, Lords, in peace. I like his foolishness,
Because he does not crack the silly jokes
That other jesters do.
STR. JESTER.
I, too, was once
As good a knight as they--!
[Laughter.]
GANELUN (laughing).
I wish I'd seen
Thee, knave!
STR. JESTER (steadily).
Thou saw'st me many times and wast
My friend, Lord Ganelun!
[All step back nervously.]
1ST KNIGHT (crossing himself).
God save us, friends!
He knows us all by name!
ISEULT.
a gruesome fool!
Send him away. King Mark; he's mad.
MARK.
Speak on!
STR. JESTER.
My tongue cleaves to my gums; my throat is parch'd!
Give me to drink.
MARK (stands up and takes a goblet from the table).
I had forgot, poor fool!
But thou shalt drink wine from a golden cup.
Thy foolishness has touched my heart. At times.
My Lords, 'twould be an easy thing to turn
To such a fool. Iseult! Come pledge the cup
That he may have somewhat of which to dream
On cold and thirsty nights. Grant him this
boon.
[He gives Iseult the cup.]
ISEULT.
I pledge--
STR. JESTER (jumping down from the bench).
Drink not! Drink not!--She drank!
[He waves aside the cup.]
I will
Not drink.
GIMELLA.
A brazen knave!
BRANGAENE.
Fie, fie! For shame!
STR. JESTER.
I'll not drink with a woman from one cup
The self-same wine again.
MARK.
What hinders thee?
STR. JESTER.
Ask Queen Iseult.
ISEULT (angrily and fearfully).
Oh, Mark! He mocks me. Send
The fool away!
STR. JESTER (he throws himself on the ground before the
dais and whispers low and tensely to ISEULT).
"For they who drink thereof
Together, so shall love with every sense
Alive, yet senseless--with their every thought,
Yet thoughtless, too, in life, in death, for aye--
Yet he, who having known the wond'rous bliss
Of that intoxicating cup of love.
Spits out the draught disloyally, shall be
A homeless and a friendless worm,--a weed
That grows beside the road"--So spake my love,
And handed me a golden cup of wine
And bade me drink,--But evil came thereof--.
[During his speech ISEULT sits up in her
chair, and bending backward, stares down
at him in horror.]
PARANIS.
The Queen turns pale!
BRANGAENE.
Iseult! My God! Iseult!
GANELUN.
He conjures!
1ST BARON.
'Twas a magic spell!
2D KNIGHT.
Lay hold
Of him! He is a conjurer.
[A few men start to seize the jester--he
jumps upon the bench.]
ISEULT (trembling with fright).
Excuse--
My weakness--'tis--'tis but--let be--this fool's
Strange jesting is most ghastly--it revolts my soul
And--made me faint--.
MARK.
Thou knave! I'll have thee whipped!
Tell me thy name--Who art thou? Speak!
STR. JESTER.
Come not
Too near!
MARK.
I have a dungeon deep and strong,
And I can have thee thrown to Husdent. He
Will tear thee limb from limb, thou conjurer!
Who art thou?
UGRIN (in a friendly tone).
Answer, friend, our Cousin Mark
Speaks not in jest!
MARK.
Call in the guards!
[A Knight tries to lay hold of the Strange
Jester.]
STR. JESTER.
Let go!
I'm but a wretched fool!--I have no name!
What matters it to you? I've smirched my good
And noble name--so now I have no name.
I had one once that rang full true and high!
I've twisted it about, and broken it!
(In rising agitation.)
I broke my name, and throwing up the bits
I caught them as they fell, and threw them up
Again; and so I played with my fair name
Until the fragments rang again and fell
At last back to my hand, deformed and changed,
To stick, and make a name that is no name--
So call me Tramtris.
ISEULT.
--Tramtris--!
[UGRIN claps his hands and rolls laughing
on the ground.]
MARK.
Fool, what ails
Thee now?
UGRIN.
The jester jesteth. Seest thou not?
Why, turn it 'round! Tramtris--Tristram!
He says
He was Lord Tristram! Ho!
[Laughter.]
GANELUN.
That was the jest
That he so cunningly devised!
1ST BARON.
This shaft
Of irony has struck the mark and hits
This day and thee, King Mark!
2D KNIGHT.
A clever fool!
MARK (laughing softly).
I wish Lord Tristram saw the knave!
2D BARON.
He'd laugh!
ISEULT (trembling with anger).
Let not thy nephew Tristram's knightly fame
And noble name serve as a mockery
To such a ghoul!
MARK (gaily).
Forgive me, fair Iseult;
And yet it makes me laugh to think that this
Poor fool went mad from thinking that he was
My noble nephew Tristram. Speak, thou toy of fate,
Wast thou Lord Tristram once!
STR. JESTER (almost timidly).
Ay, Mark, I was;
And often was I with Iseult, thy wife!
Forgive it me!
[Laughter.]
ISEULT.
Dost thou permit that he
Should heap such insults on thy wife's fair
name?
MARK (gaily).
Heed not his words; the people love such jests.
(To the jester.)
Give us a sign, Sir Fool.
UGRIN.
A sign! A sign!
1ST BARON.
Ay, let the fool describe the Queen. Give ear.
UGRIN.
'Twill be a royal sport! And first he shall
Describe her feet! Speak on!
[UGRIN sits on the ground. ISEULT hides
her face in BRANGAENE'S breast.]
GIMELLA (to ISEULT laughingly).
He'll liken thee
Unto his wench!
MARK.
Why dost thou hesitate?
I grant thee jester's freedom, Fool. Begin!
STR. JESTER (softly and hesitatingly).
From pedestals white snowy columns rise
Of ivory, draped in softly whispering silk,
That arched, and all immaculate, stretch up,--
The swelling pillars of her body's frame--
MARK.
A graceful speech, my friend. Canst thou go on?
STR. JESTER (in rising agitation and feverish emotion).
Her body is a gleam of silvery light
Cast by the full moon in the month of May
Changed to the snowy marvel of herself.
Thou art a garden wild wherein there grow
Deep purple fruits that stupefy and yet
That make one burn! Thy body is a church
Of rarest marble built--a fairy mount
Where sounds the music of a golden harp;
A field of virgin snow! Thy breasts are buds
Of the most sacred plant that flowering grows
Within the garden,--swelling fruits that wait
To suck the honeyed dew of summer moons!
Thy neck is like a lily's stem! Thy arms
Are like the blossoming branches of a young
And tender almond-tree, directing us
Within that Paradise where rules the chaste
Perfection of thy rounded limbs, enthroned
Within thy wondrous body like a God
Who threatens from on high. Thou art--
MARK.
Oh hear
How this impostor talks! The token, fool!
STR. JESTER (softly, trembling and feverishly).
Below the left breast of this master-piece
Of His creation God has set his mark--
A darkened cross--!
MARK (hoarsely).
O seize the knave! The cross
Is there.--She bears the mark!
GANELUN.
Christ save my soul!
1ST BARON.
I feel an awful dread of this strange fool!
1ST KNIGHT (drawing).
I'll run him through the body with my sword!
STR. JESTER. (tears the sword from his hand, and springs
upon the bench).
Take heed unto thyself! Come not too near!
I'll tear thee like a beast.
ISEULT.
His words are not
So marvelously strange. Hast thou forgot,
King Mark, that once, before a heaped up pyre
Thou bad'st me stand, stark naked and exposed
Unto the rabble's gaze? It well may be
That this low jester cast his shaming eyes
Upon me then.
MARK.
Saw'st thou the Queen when she
Stood on the burning pile?
STR. JESTER.
I saw the Queen;
I stood beside her there!
GIMELLA.
Behold, that sight
Has made him lose his wits!
BRANGAENE.
Poor witless fool!
STR. JESTER.
Glare not at me! I'm but a fool, a poor
Mad fool--a wretched fool that wished to tell
You tales to make you laugh!
(Almost screaming.)
For God's sake laugh!
[He throws the sword down. It falls clattering
on the floor. The First Guard enters while two
others stand outside the grating with the Strange
Knight.]
MARK.
Whom bring'st thou there?
1ST GUARD.
King Mark, thy messengers
Have found the witnesses that signed the bond
Too late, for in the forest they had caught
A man whom they have sent to thee. The man
Is wounded; when they called on him to stand
He fled. His horse fell dead. They know him not.
He is a stranger in the land.
MARK.
How heavily
God's wrath descends upon my head. This blood
I've spilled was innocent!
1ST GUARD.
This man is near
His end; his dying wish is to behold
The Queen Iseult. He much desires it.
GIMELLA.
Poor soul!
MARK.
Bring in the man. How things mischance!
My castle is a gruesome place today.
An idiot first, and then a corpse have knocked
To crave admittance to my hall! My Lords,
I pray you to forgive my sins.
PARANIS.
There comes
The wounded Knight.
[The Strange Knight is led before ISEULT.
He walks firmly, standing erect.]
STR. KNIGHT.
--Art thou Iseult?--Iseult
The Goldenhaired? May God be merciful
Unto thy soul!
STR. JESTER (crouches on the bench, taking no interest in
what is said).
My brother Kuerdin!
Dear friend! In a disastrous hour went
We forth. I pity thee!
[The Strange Knight turns and looks at
him searchingly.]
GANELUN (angrily and oppressed).
Will death not close
Thy mouth, thou cur!
MARK.
Dost thou then know this man?
STR. JESTER.
I've said so, Mark! I'll sit beside him here
Until he dies. I'll be his priest.
[Illustration: APPROACHING THUNDERSTORM]
KARL HAIDER
STR. KNIGHT.
Keep off.
This babbling fool; his chatter shames my death.
DINAS.
Methinks this was the man I saw at dawn
Today as I rode through the wood, and yet
He bore a shield on which I thought I saw
Lord Tristram's arms.
MARK.
Unhappy man, who art
Thou?
STR. KNIGHT (calmly and quietly).
One who knoweth how to die. Lay me
On yonder bench and wrap me in my cloak.
[He is laid on the bench near the chimney,
and lies there like an effigy.]
MARK (to the First Guard).
Where are his shield and arms?
STR. KNIGHT.
I bore the shield
Of Tristram, Lord of Lyonesse, since we,
For our great love, exchanged our arms. I am
His brother, for my sister is his wife.
Lord Tristram greets thee, Mark.
MARK (to him passionately).
Speak, friend, and put
An end unto the quandary in which
I stand. God shall reward thee soon. Where is
Lord Tristram?
STR. KNIGHT (groaning).
With his wife whom he holds dear.
STR. JESTER.
Thou liest, brother, yet thou speak'st the truth!
MARK.
God mocks me, Lords! God mocks me!
STR. JESTER.
I will watch
By him and guard his body through the night.
GANELUN.
Be still, thou toad! Be still!
1ST GUARD.
King Mark, the Knight
Upon his left hand wears a ring--a stone
Rich set in gold. Shall he retain the ring
Upon his hand?--He's dead.
STR. JESTER (seizing the ring).
The ring is mine!
I gave it him!
GANELUN (striking him).
Away! Thou damned thief!
STR. JESTER.
The ring is mine, I say. My love once gave
It me and sware thereon; but now I'll give
It as a jester's gift unto the Queen.
I pray thee take the ring, Iseult.
[ISEULT takes the ring, looks at it a moment
and lets it fall. She totters.]
Cast not
Away my gift!
BRANGAENE.
Help! Help! The Queen.
ISEULT (in great agitation).
Oh God,
I pray Thee open now mine eyes, and set
Me free! I know not if I am alive!
There lies a corpse--There stands a ghost and I
Between them, here! I hear a moaning sound
Pass whimpering through the halls--!
[She runs to the stairs.]
Let me go up!
Brangaene, come, and thou Gimella, too!
[Half way up the stairs she turns.]
Be not too angry with me, Mark, for thou
Hast set a loathsome ghost to mock and jeer
At me to make thee laugh. He makes my heart
Grow cold with horror! Come, my ladies, come!
Stand by me now--this awful game has made
Me shudder.
[She hastens up the stairs.]
STR. JESTER (springs onto the table to look after her).
Queen Iseult, thou fairest one.
Have pity on my leper's soul!
GANELUN.
Be still,
Thou croaking raven!
1ST BARON.
Smite him dead and spit
Upon his corpse!
2D BARON.
Thou filthy worm!
MARK.
Lay hold
Upon the jester! Hold him fast. Thou fool,
Thou base-born cur, how dar'st thou vex my wife
So bitterly with thy presumptuous wit?
STR. JESTER.
Mark, heed thy words!
1ST KNIGHT (catching his wrists from behind).
I have the knave!
MARK.
The Guards
Shall whip the rogue for his bold impudence,
And cast him from the castle gates. Let loose
The dogs upon him if he does not run,
And leave my walls as though they were on fire!
Away with him!
UGRIN (in greatest haste and agitation).
King Mark, oh good King Mark,
Behold, he is my brother in my kind,
A much abused and crazy fool who means
No evil with his foolish jests! See now
How pitiful his mien! He strove to make
Thee laugh in his poor way as I in mine.
Forgive the knave, and drive him not away
Into the darkness like a snarling cur
That whines about the house! He hungers, too,
For thou hast given him naught to eat or drink
Since he has been beneath thy kingly roof.
I am an old, old man, King Mark; he is
My brother, and a jester like myself;
I pity him! I pray thee let me keep
Him here with me until tomorrow's morn,
That he may sleep with me within my bed.
Then, when the sun shall shine upon his road,
He shall depart and seek a dwelling place.
'Twas thou thyself encouraged him to jest;
Judge then thy guilt and his with equal eye.
He is a fool, a crazy, blundering fool,
Yet drive him not away! I pray thee let
Him sleep beside me here a while that he
Refresh himself! He looks so pitifully!
MARK.
Why, Ugrin, friend, 'tis new for thee to act
The part of charity!
UGRIN.
I serve thee, Mark,
With foolishness and jests--and thou but knowest
Me by my services.
MARK.
I still can make
One person glad tonight! Keep, then, thy fool
But thou stand'st surety for him if he should
Attempt to burn the castle or to do
Some other mischief in his madness.
[The Knight lets the Strange Jester go; he
crouches on the dais.]
UGRIN.
Mark,
Thou art indeed my dear, kind, cousin, still!
Good-night, fair cousin, go and sleep. Thou needst
It sorely--and--I pray that thou forget
Not my new wisdom!
MARK.
Sirs, I wish you all
A restful night for this has been a day
Of many cares and many tribulations.
Tomorrow shall we bury this brave Knight
With all the honors due his noble rank,
For he was innocent.
GANELUN.
Sleep well. King Mark!
1ST BARON.
May God watch o'er thee, Mark!
[The Barons go up the stairs; the Knights
and guards go out. The servants extinguish
all but a few of the lights.]
MARK (on the stairs).
Come, Dinas, come
With me, and we will watch a little while.
My heart is sorrowful tonight!
DINAS (following him up the stairs).
I'll stay
With thee until the morning break if thou
Desire it so.
UGRIN (calling after them).
And cousins take good heed
Ye catch not cold!
[They leave the stage, the moon shines
through the grating, and the shadow of
the bars falls into the hall. The Strange
Jester crouches motionless. UGRIN turns
to him.]
SCENE VI
UGRIN.
Ay, so they are! "Whip, whip the fool!"
We wrack
Our weary brains to make a jest and then,
In payment, we are whipped if they so feel
Inclined! They treat us more like dogs than men!
[He goes to the table where the food stands,
and takes a bite.]
Art hungry, brother? Wait, I'll bring my cloak.
For thou art cold.
[He draws a cloak from under the stairs.]
'Tis here, beneath the stairs,
I sleep.--A very kennel! 'Tis a shame.
[He eats again.]
Wilt thou not eat a morsel of what's left
Upon the table here? Nor drink a drop?
'Tis not forbidden, friend; our cousin lets
Us eat and drink of what is left.
[He goes into the middle of the hall and
bends down to look into the Strange
Jester's face.]
Art sad
Dear brother? Speak to me! Come, come, look not
So sorrowful!
[Bending over the corpse of the dead Knight.]
This man is colder still
Than thou! Art thou afraid? He'll not awake.
[Comes close to the Strange Jester.]
I'll wrap thee close within my cloak that thou
May'st sleep. Dost thou not wish to sleep!
Why then I'll sing a song to make thee sleep. Alas!
I know but joyous, silly songs! Come lay
Thee down.
[He sits on the bench and draws the head
upon his lap.]
Thou look'st not happy, brother. Hast
A sorrow? Tell it me; here canst thou rest
At ease, and I will sing a song. Thou seemst
A child to whom one must sing songs to make
It sleep. I'll sing the song that Queen Iseult
Is wont to sing at even when she thinks
Of Tristram, her dear friend, sitting beside
Her open casement. 'Tis a pretty song.
[With bowed head and closed eyes he hums
very softly as if in his sleep. The body
of the Strange Jester under the black
cloak that covers it is shaken by sobs
of anguish.]
"Lord Tristram, my friend, is unfaithful,
And God's wrath on him shall descend;
Though cruelly he has betrayed me--"
ACT V
Same as Act IV.--The first glow of dawn shines through the grated door
and windows, becoming brighter until the end of the Act. The Strange
Jester sits cowering on the steps of the dais. BRANGAENE comes
hesitatingly down the steps; she carries an oil-lamp in her hand.
SCENE I
BRANGAENE (her voice is muffled by fear).
Art thou still here, thou ghastly being? Ghost
Of awful midnight hours?
STR. JESTER.
Brangaene I
Am here, and here I shall remain.
BRANGAENE (looking for something on the ground).
Methought
King Mark had paid thy jests with whips and had
Then driven thee away; and yet thou sitst
Here in the self-same place and starest still
With blear'd and fish-like eyes. Dost thou not know
That day is come? Fool, if thou hast a heart
Through which the warm blood flows, I pray thee go!
Go ere the Queen come down and see thee here!
Begone!
STR. JESTER.
What seekest thou?
BRANGAENE.
I seek the ring;
The ring that Queen Iseult let fall last night.
STR. JESTER.
The ring is mine; I picked it up!
BRANGAENE (angrily).
Iseult
Desires the ring! Str. Jester. I will not give it up!
BRANGAENE.
The Queen will have thee hung unless thou give
The ring to her. She wants the ring!
STR. JESTER.
Iseult
Received the ring; she cast my gift away,
As she threw me away. I'll keep it now.
But if she wishes it so earnestly
Let her then come and beg the ring of me.
BRANGAENE.
Audacious knave! How vauntest thou thyself!
Give me the ring, and then begone, thou fool,
Ere Mark awake!
STR. JESTER.
To Queen Iseult herself
I'll give the ring, and to none else. She shall
Not let me die in misery as she
Desires God may help her in her grief!
BRANGAENE (going up the stairs).
Thou fool, may God's damnation strike thee dead,
Thou and Lord Tristram for the night that's passed!
I'll bring thy words into the Queen that she
May have thee slain in secret by Gwain!
SCENE II
BRANGAENE disappears above; the Strange Jester cowers motionless, his
head buried in his hands. After a moment ISEULT, in a white night robe,
comes down the stairs with BRANGAENE. She steps close in front of the
Jester, who does not move. BRANGAENE remains on the lowest step,
leaning against the post of the bannister.
ISEULT.
Thou gruesome fool, art thou some bird of prey.
Some wolf that comes to feed upon my soul?
Wilt thou not go? Why liest thou in wait
For me here in the dawning light like some
Wild beast that waits its quarry?
STR. JESTER (looking up heavily).
Queen Iseult!
Oh dearest, fairest, sweetest one!
ISEULT.
How dar'st
Thou call me by such names! My boiling blood
Turns cold and shudders! Go!
STR. JESTER (groaning softly).
Where, lady, can
I find a sea whose endless depths are deep
Enough to drown my bitter misery?
Where? Tell me where, and I will go.
ISEULT.
Go where
Thou wilt, so it be far away--so far
That the whole world shall sever thee and me,
And shall divide me from thy woe! My soul
Bleeds like an unheal'd wound when thou art near.
As though thou wert its murderer, and lo,
'Twill bleed to death from thy propinquity,
Thou fool! Hence, go, but give me first the ring
Thou stol'st last night and which in wanton jest
Thou torest from the hand of yon dead Knight.
It is Lord Tristram's ring.
STR. JESTER.
Ay, Queen Iseult,
The ring is his--above all other things
He values it!
ISEULT.
Give me the ring, else shalt
Thou die! I'll have thee slain, I swear, as sure
As I have suffered all this night such pangs
As suffered Mary at the cross of Christ.
STR. JESTER (standing up).
The ring is mine! I gave it yonder man
To cherish like his life.--He's died for thee
And me;--I gave him too my soul to guard
That by this ring he might compel and bring
Thee to me in the wood tonight. Oh, 'twas
An evil hour for us both, Iseult,
That Lord Denovalin rode through the wood
Today. Now, answer me, Iseult, wilt thou
Still keep the oath thou sware to Tristram once?
ISEULT (fixedly).
I'll break no oath that I have sworn, for God
Has sanctioned all my vows.
STR. JESTER.
Then call I thee,
Iseult the Goldenhaired, in Tristram's name,
And by this ring. [He hands her the ring.]
ISEULT.
Knowst thou that oath as well.
Thou ghost!
(Solemnly.)
Oh God, here in this hand, grown pale
And hot from resting on my heart all night,
I hold the ring of gold and emerald stone
By which I sware to Tristram to obey
His will, and come to him when one should call
Upon me by this ring and in his name!
Lo, thou hast called upon me; I obey!
What wishest thou of me, thou evil ghost
With hollow sunken eyes? What wouldst thou have.
Thou spectre of the twilight gloom?
STR. JESTER.
I call
On thee, Iseult, my love, in my distress!
Oh know me now, who was thy lover once!
ISEULT.
Thou suck'st my blood!
STR. JESTER.
Thy blood was mine! Thy blood
Was once mine own! It was a crimson trust
reposing in my knightly hands to keep
Irrevocably until Death. And where
Thou goest there go I; and where thou stayst
There stay I too. So spoke thy blood--I come
To claim but what is mine.
ISEULT (in great passion).
What have I done
To thee that thou recountest my past life
As 'twere a mocking song? Who art thou, fool?
Who art thou? Speak? I'm knocking at thy soul
As knocks a dead man's soul outside the gates
Of Paradise! Who art thou, fool? Art thou
Magician? Art thou ghost? Art thou some soul
Forever wandering for some evil deed?
Art thou some faithless lover barred from Heav'n
And Hell eternally, whose punishment
It is to wander restless through the world
Forever begging love from women's hearts?
Did God permit that thou shouldst know what none,
Save only Tristram and myself have known?
That thou shouldst taste of bitter torment still
By thinking thou art Tristram and shouldst thus
Make greater expiation for thy sins?
STR. JESTER.
I am a faithless lover who has loved
Most faithfully, Iseult, beloved one!
ISEULT.
Why criest thou my name unceasingly,
As scream enhungered owls, thou pallid fool?
Why starest thou at me with eyes that tears
And pain have rendered pitiless? I know
Naught of thy grief and am no leech to cure
Thy fool's disease!
STR. JESTER.
Iseult!
ISEULT (in growing agitation).
Shall I shave off
My hair as thou hast done? Shall I too wear
A jester's parti-colored garb? Shall I
Go through the land, and howling in the streets
Bawl out Lord Tristram's name to make the throng
Of greasy knaves laugh? Speak? Is this the cure
Thou needest for thy grief? Does Tristram mock
Me through thy ribald wit? Does he revenge
Himself upon me thus because I loved
Him long before he saw Iseult, the Fair
Whitehanded Queen, and gave my soul and blood
To him? In scornful and in bitter words
Has he revealed our secret love to thee?
Has he betrayed me to his wife? Art thou
In league with her? Has her black spirit sent
Thee here to torture me by raising up
The phantom images of that past life
Which once I knew, but which is dead?
Confess!
And! I will load thee down with precious gifts,
And daily pray for thee! I'll line thy way
With servants and I'll honor thee as though
Thou wert of royal blood where e'er thou art!
[She falls on her knees.]
Release my soul, thou fool, before I turn
A fool from very horror and from dread!
STR. JESTER (raising her).
Kneel not to me, Beloved One! Arise!
ISEULT (remains a moment in his arms and then draws
away shuddering).
When Tristram called, the Heavens echoed back
A golden peal, as echoes through the land
The music of a golden bell; the world rejoiced
And from its depths sprang up sweet sounds of joy.
And with them danced my heart exultingly!
When Tristram stood beside me, all the air
Was wont to quiver with a secret bliss
That made the beasts move 'round uneasily.
The birds sang in the dead of night and so
Betrayed us! Say, who broke the bond that knit
Our kindred souls in one?
STR. JESTER.
Lord Tristram broke
The bond and, faithless, took another wife!
Oh see, Iseult, how great the wrong he did
Us both!
ISEULT (looking at him fixedly).
I hear a raven's croak; I feel
The icy breath of some strange body when
Thou standest burning by my side, thou fool!
Thou pallid ghost!
STR. JESTER.
Yet hast thou oft embraced
These limbs upon the journey o'er the wide
And purple sea along the starry way
Of our great happiness--just thou and I,
Alone in blissful loneliness! And thou
Hast often listened to this voice when it.
In the deep forest, called the nightingales,
Alluring them to sing above thy head,
And like them whispered in thine ears
Soft words that made a wave of passion flow,
Sweet and voluptuous, through thy burning veins!
Iseult, shall I repeat those words? Wilt thou
Again go wandering through the world
With singing blood that makes our hearts beat high
In perfect unison of love, with souls that dream
In silent happiness?
ISEULT.
Lord Tristram's steps
Beside me made my blood soar heavenward
And bore me up until the earth bowed down,
And bent beneath our feet like surging waves,
And carried us like lofty ships that sail
To victory!
STR. JESTER.
y, Ay, Iseult, 'Twas so we walked!
Iseult, art thou still mindful of the day
When, hawk on fist, we galloped o'er the downs,
For Mark was with Lord Dinas on that day?
Dost thou remember how I lifted thee
From thy good steed and placed thee on mine own,
And held thee close embraced, while thou didst cling
To me like some fond child.
ISEULT.
And Tristram, bold
In the intoxication of his love,
Let go the reins, and gave his horse the spurs,
Till, like an arrow in full flight, it clove
The golden air and bore us heavenward!
How often have I dreamed of that wild ride.
And now with Isot of the Fair White Hands
He rides, as formerly with me--!
STR. JESTER.
And shall
I sing to thee, Iseult the Goldenhaired,
The lay of that White-handed wife who sits
And grieves by day and night? It is the sad
And sombre song of my great guilt. Her eyes
Are red from weeping--!
ISEULT.
Ay, and mine are red
From weeping too! Fool, Fool, why mock'st thou me?
But since thou knowst so much of Tristram, tell
Me this; why did Lord Tristram marry her--,
This Isot of the Fair White Hands?
STR. JESTER (slowly and painfully).
There plays
About her mouth a silver smile; this smile
Enchanted him one lonely night. But, when,
At cold gray dawn, he heard her called Iseult
He nigh went mad with sorrow and with joy
From thinking of the real Iseult--of her,
The Goldenhaired--the beautiful, about
Whose mouth there plays a golden smile.
Then, sick
At heart, and weary of this life, he wished
To die, until his sorrow drove him here,
To Cornwall, once again to see his love
Before he died and, face to face stand once
Again with her!--The rest thou knowest well.
ISEULT (angrily).
Ay, fool, I know the rest, and I know too
That for these black and loathsome lies of thine
There's one reward!--And that is death!
I'll put
An end to my great suffering! If thou
Art Tristram thou shalt live, and, in mine arms,
That yearn for Tristram, thou shalt find a hot
And passionate forgetfulness of cool
And silver smiles thou fledest from! If thou
Hast lied no longer shalt thou dream at night
Of golden and of silver smiles!
(To BRANGAENE.)
Go fetch
The key, Brangaene, of the upper cell!
BRANGAENE (horrified).
Iseult, what wouldst thou do?
ISEULT.
Obey me, girl!
Now listen, spectre, to my words. There lives
Within these walls a hound who has become
A wild and raging beast from his great love
For Tristram, once his master. Fool, this dog
Is full as savage as a fierce white wolf
That lusts for human flesh; his food is thrust
Into his cage on sticks. Since Tristram left,
The beast has slain three keepers. Fool, what think'st
Thou of this hound? Would he attack and tear
Lord Tristram like a wolf should Tristram chance
To step within his cage?
STR. JESTER (rising, tall, determined, and noble).
Oh Queen Iseult--!
Oh Queen Iseult--! Old Husdent ever was
My faithful hound--. Let me go to him now.
ISEULT (starting back).
Thou knowst his name--!
STR. JESTER.
Brangaene, lead the fool.
Obey thy mistress's command. Thou needst
Not lead me to the cage! I know the way.
Give me the key!
[He snatches the hey from BRANGAENE'S
hand and disappears with long strides
behind the stairs. He is erect and proud.
The two women stand looking at each
other amazed and motionless.]
SCENE III
BRANGAENE.
Poor fool, I pity him!
ISEULT (breaking out passionately).
He must not go! My God, he must not! Call
Him back, Brangaene, call him back!
THE VOICE OF THE JESTER (joyfully).
Husdent!
BRANGAENE.
Oh, hark!
ISEULT (in increasing fear).
His cry! His dying cry, perhaps!
Brangaene, dearest sister, what thinkst thou
Of this Strange Jester Tramtris?
[The women stare at each other without
speaking.]
Wilt thou go
And look between the bars?
[BRANGAENE goes after the Strange Jester.]
Oh Thou who hast
Created this great world, why didst Thou then
Create me, too?
BRANGAENE (reentering in great excitement).
Iseult! Oh God, Iseult!
Old Husdent's cage is empty, and the fool
With Husdent leapt the wall and they are gone!
[She hastens to the window.]
ISEULT.
Has he then slain the dog and fled away?
BRANGAENE.
Behold! There goes the fool, and Husdent jumps
And dances round him as he walks and, mad
With joy, leaps howling up and licks his face
And hands!
ISEULT (jumps on to the bench before the window and
waves her hand joyously).
Oh Tristram, Tristram, thou dear fool!
My dear beloved friend!--He does not turn!
--Oh call! Oh call him back!--Run! Run! Make haste
To follow him and bring him back! He does
Not hear my voice!
BRANGAENE (shaking the bars of the gate).
The gate! my God, the gate!
The guards are still asleep!
ISEULT.
Oh God! I die!
Oh Tristram! Tristram! Tristram! See, he turns
Not back! God is unkind. He loves me not.
I'll bathe thy feet with tears and dry them then
With burning kisses! Tristram! Tramtris, come!
Beloved fool, turn back! He goes! He's gone!
See how the sun shines on his jester's garb,
And makes his red cloak gleam! How grand, how tall
He is! See! Tristram goes back to the world
Forever now!
[She raises herself to her full height--
fixedly.]
My friend, Brangaene, my
Beloved friend was here!
[She sinks back into BRANGAENE'S arms.]