Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers
THE RESOURCES OF QUINOLA
A COMEDY IN A PROLOGUE AND FIVE ACTS
BY
HONORE DE BALZAC
First Presented at the Theatre de l'Odeon, Paris March 19, 1842.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Had the author of the following play written it merely for the purpose
of winning for it the universal praise which the journals have
lavished upon his romances, and which perhaps transcended their
merits, _The Resources of Quinola_ would still have been an excellent
literary speculation; but, when he sees himself the object of so much
praise and so much condemnation, he has come to the conclusion that it
is much more difficult to make successfully a first venture on the
stage than in the field of mere literature, and he has armed himself,
accordingly, with courage, both for the present and for the future.
The day will come when the piece will be employed by critics as a
battering ram to demolish some piece at its first representation, just
as they have employed all his novels and even his play entitled
_Vautrin_, to demolish _The Resources of Quinola_.
However tranquil may be his mood of resignation, the author cannot
refrain from making here two suggestive observations.
Not one among fifty feuilleton writers has failed to treat as a fable,
invented by the author, the historic fact upon which is founded the
present play.
Long before M. Arago mentioned this incident in his history of steam,
published in the _Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes_, the author, to
whom the incident was known, had guessed in imagination the great
drama that must have led up to that final act of despair, the
catastrophe which necessarily ended the career of the unknown
inventor, who, in the middle of the sixteenth century, built a ship
that moved by steam in the harbor of Barcelona, and then scuttled it
with his own hands in the presence of two hundred thousand spectators.
This observation is sufficient answer to the derision which has been
flung upon what was supposed to be the author's hypothesis as to the
invention of steam locomotion before the time of the Marquis of
Worcester, Salomon de Caus and Papin.
The second observation relates to the strange manner in which almost
all the critics have mistaken the character of Lavradi, one of the
personages in this comedy, which they have stigmatized as a hideous
creation. Any one who reads the piece, of which no critic has given an
exact analysis, will see that Lavradi, sentenced to be transported for
ten years to the _presides_, comes to ask pardon of the king. Every
one knows how freely the severest penalties were in the sixteenth
century measured out for the lightest offences, and how warmly valets
in a predicament such as Quinola's, were welcomed by the spectators in
the antique theatres.
Many volumes might be filled with the laments of feuilletonists, who
for nearly twenty years have called for comedies in the Italian,
Spanish or English style. An attempt has been made to produce one, and
the critics would rather eat their own words than miss the opportunity
of choking off the man who has been bold enough to venture upon a
pathway of such fertile promise, whose very antiquity lends to it in
these days the charm of novelty.
Nor must we forget to mention, to the disgrace of our age, the howl of
disapprobation which greeted the title "Duke of Neptunado," selected
by Philip II. for the inventor, a howl in which educated readers will
refuse to join, but which was so overwhelming at the presentation of
the piece that after its first utterance the actors omitted the term
during the remainder of the evening. This howl was raised by an
audience of spectators who read in the newspapers every morning the
title of the Duke of Vittoria, given to Espartero, and who must have
heard of the title Prince of Paz, given to the last favorite of the
last but one of the kings of Spain. How could such ignorance as this
have been anticipated? Who does not know that the majority of Spanish
titles, especially in the time of Charles V. and Philip II. refer to
circumstances under which they were originally granted?
An admiral took that of _Transport-Real_, from the fact that the
dauphin sailed with him to Italy.
Navarro was given the title _La Vittoria_ after the sea-fight of
Toulon, though the issue of the conflict was indecisive.
These examples, and as many others, are outdone by that of the famous
finance minister, a parvenu broker, who chose to be entitled the
Marquis Insignificant (l'Ensenada).
In producing a work, constructed with all the dramatic irregularity of
the early French and Spanish stage, the author has made an experiment
which had been called for by the suffrages of more than one "organ of
public opinion," as well as of all the "first-nighters" of Paris. He
wished to meet the genuine public and to have his piece represented in
a house filled with a paying audience. The unsatisfactory result of
this ordeal was so plainly pointed out by the whole press, that the
indispensability of _claqueurs_ has been now forever established.
The author had been confronted by the following dilemma, as stated by
those experienced in such matters. If he introduced into the theatre
twelve hundred "dead heads," the success secured by their applause
would undoubtedly be questioned. If twelve hundred paying spectators
were present, the success of the piece was almost out of the question.
The author chose to run the risk of the latter alternative. Such is
the history of this first representation, where so many people
appeared to be made so uncomfortable by their elevation to the dignity
of independent judges.
The author intends therefore to return to the beaten track, base and
ignoble though it be, which prejudice has laid out as the only avenue
to dramatic success; but it may not be unprofitable to state here,
that the first representation of _The Resources of Quinola_ actually
redounded to the advantage of the _claqueurs_, the only persons who
enjoyed any triumph in an evening entertainment from which their
presence was debarred!
Some idea of the criticism uttered on this comedy may be gained from
the fact that out of the fifty newspapers, all of which for the last
twenty years have uttered over the unsuccessful playwright the
hackneyed phrase, "the play is the work of a clever man who will some
day take his revenge," not one employed it in speaking of _The
Resources of Quinola_, which they were unanimous in consigning to
oblivion. This result has settled the ambition of the author.
Certain persons, whose good auguries the author had done nothing to
call forth, encouraged from the outset this dramatic venture, and thus
showed themselves less critical than unkind; but the author counts
such miscalculations as blessings in disguise, for the loss of false
friends is the best school of experience. Nor is it less a pleasure
than a duty thus publicly to thank the friends, like M. Leon Gozlan,
who have remained faithful, towards whom the author has contracted a
debt of gratitude; like M. Victor Hugo, who protested, so to speak,
against the public verdict at the first representation, by returning
to witness the second; like M. de Lamartine and Madame de Girardin,
who stuck to their first opinion, in spite of the general public
reprobation of the piece. The approval of such persons as these would
be consoling in any disaster.
LAGNY, 2 April, 1842.
PERSONS OF THE PROLOGUE
Philip II., King of Spain
Cardinal Cienfuegos, Grand Inquisitor
The Captain of the Guards
The Duke of Olmedo
The Duke of Lerma
Alfonso Fontanares
Lavradi, known as Quinola
A halberdier
An alcalde of the palace
A familiar of the Inquisition
The Queen of Spain
The Marchioness of Mondejar
PERSONS OF THE PLAY
Don Fregose, Viceroy of Catalonia
Grand Inquisitor
Count Sarpi, secretary to the Viceroy
Don Ramon, a savant
Avaloros, a banker
Mathieu Magis, a Lombard
Lothundiaz, a burgess
Alfonso Fontanares, an inventor
Lavradi, known as Quinola, servant to Fontanares
Monipodio, a retired bandit
Coppolus, a metal merchant
Carpano, a locksmith
Esteban, workman
Girone, workman
The host of the "Golden Sun"
A bailiff
An alcalde
Faustine Brancadori
Marie Lothundiaz, daughter to Lothundiaz
Dona Lopez, duenna to Marie Lothundiaz
Paquita, maid to Faustine
SCENE: Spain--Valladolid and Barcelona
TIME: 1588-89
THE RESOURCES OF QUINOLA
PROLOGUE
SCENE FIRST
(The scene is laid at Valladolid, in the palace of the King of Spain.
The stage represents the gallery which leads to the chapel. The
entrance to the chapel is on the spectators' left, that to the royal
apartment on the right. The principal entrance is in the centre. On
each side of the principal door stand two halberdiers. At the rise of
the curtain the Captain of the Guards and two lords are on the stage.
An alcalde of the palace stands in the centre of the gallery. Several
courtiers are walking up and down in the hall that leads to the
gallery.)
The Captain of the Guards, Quinola (wrapped in his mantle) and a
halberdier.
The halberdier (barring the way to Quinola)
No one passes this way, unless he has the right to do so. Who are you?
Quinola (lifting up the halberd)
An ambassador.
(All look at him.)
Halberdier
From what state?
Quinola (passing in)
From what state? From a state of misery.
The Captain of the Guards
Go and bring the major-domo of the palace, that he may render to this
ambassador the honors that are due him. (To the halberdier) Three
days' imprisonment.
Quinola (to the Captain)
You are a very droll rascal.
Quinola (taking him aside)
Are not you the cousin of the Marchioness of Mondejar?
The Captain
What if I am?
Quinola
Although she is high in favor, she is on the brink of an abyss, into
which she may fall and lose her head in falling.
The Captain
All people of your class trump up these stories!--Listen, you are the
twenty-second person, and we have only reached the tenth of the month,
who has made an attempt to be introduced to the favorite, for the
purpose of squeezing a few pistoles from her. Take yourself off or
else--
Quinola
My lord, it is better to be misled by twenty-two poor devils,
twenty-two times, than once to miss the opportunity of heeding him who
is sent by your good angel; and you see, I may also say (he opens his
mantle) I am wearing her wings.
The Captain
Let us end this, and tell me what proof of your errand you can give?
Quinola (handing him a letter)
This little message you must return to me so that the secret remains
in our possession, and hang me if you do not see the marchioness swoon
when she reads it. Believe moreover that I profess, in common with an
immense majority of Spaniards, a deep-seated aversion for--the
gallows.
The Captain
And suppose that some ambitious woman has paid for your life, that she
give it in exchange for another's?
Quinola
Should I be in rags? My life is as good as Caesar's. Look here, my
lord. (He unseals the letter, smells it, folds it up again, and gives
it to him) Are you satisfied?
The Captain (aside)
I have yet time. (To Quinola) Remain where you are, I am going to her.
SCENE SECOND
Quinola (alone, in the front of the stage, looking at the departing
captain)
That is all right! O my dear master, if the torture chamber has not
broken your bones, you are likely to get out of the cells of the holy
--the thrice holy Inquisition--saved by your poor cur Quinola! Poor?
--why should I say poor? My master once free, we will end by cashing
our hopes. To live at Valladolid for six months without money, and
without being nabbed by the alguazils, argues the possession of
certain small talents, which, if applied to--other ends, might bring a
man to--something different in fact! If we knew where we were going no
one would stir a step--I purpose speaking to the king, I, Quinola. God
of the rapscallions, give me the eloquence--of--a pretty woman, of the
Marchioness of Mondejar--
SCENE THIRD
Quinola and the Captain.
The Captain (to Quinola)
Here are fifty doubloons which the marchioness sends you, that you may
be enabled to make your appearance here in decent guise.
Quinola (pouring the gold from one hand into the other)
Ah, this burst of sunshine has been long expected! I will return, my
lord, radiant as that amorous valet, whose name I have assumed;
Quinola at your service, Quinola soon to be lord of wide domains,
where I shall administer justice, from the time--(aside) I cease to
fear its ministers.
SCENE FOURTH
The Courtiers and the Captain.
The Captain (alone at the front of the stage)
What secret has this miserable creature discovered? My cousin almost
fainted away. She told me that it concerned all my friends. The king
must have something to do in the matter. (To a lord) Duke of Lerma, is
there anything new in Valladolid?
The Duke of Lerma (whispering)
It is said that the Duke of Olmedo was murdered this morning, at three
o'clock, just before dawn. It happened a few paces from the Mondejar
palace.
The Captain
It is quite likely he should be assassinated for prejudicing the
king's mind against my cousin; the king, like all great statesmen,
esteems as true everything that appears to be probable.
The Duke
It is said that enmity between the duke and the marchioness was only a
pretence, and that the assassin is not to be prosecuted.
The Captain
Duke, this ought not to be repeated unless it can be proved, and even
then could not be written excepting with a sword dipped in my blood.
The Duke
You asked me the news.
(The duke retires.)
SCENE FIFTH
The same persons, and the Marchioness of Mondejar.
The Captain
Ah! here is my cousin! (To the marchioness) Dear marchioness, you are
still very much agitated. In the name of our common salvation, control
yourself; you will attract attention.
The Marchioness
Has that man come back?
The Captain
Now, how can a man of such base condition as he is throw you into such
terror?
The Marchioness
He holds my life in his hands; more than my life, indeed; for he holds
in his power the life also of another, who, in spite of the most
scrupulous precautions, cannot avoid exciting the jealousy--
The Captain
Of the king!--Did he cause the assassination of the Duke of Olmedo, as
is rumored?
The Marchioness
Alas! I do not know what to think.--Here I am alone, helpless--and
perhaps soon to be abandoned.
The Captain
You may rely upon me--I shall constantly be in the midst of all our
enemies like a hunter on the watch.
SCENE SIXTH
The same persons and Quinola.
Quinola
I have only thirty doubloons left, but I have had the worth of sixty.
--Ah! what a lovely scent! The marchioness can now talk to me without
fear.
The Marchioness (pointing out Quinola)
Is this our man?
The Captain
Yes.
The Marchioness
Keep watch, my cousin, so that I may be able to talk without being
overheard. (To Quinola) Who are you, my friend?
Quinola (aside)
Her friend! As soon as you have a woman's secret, you are her friend.
(Aloud) Madame, I am a man superior to all considerations and all
circumstances.
The Marchioness
You have reached a pretty good height, at any rate.
Quinola
Is that a threat or a warning?
The Marchioness
Sir, you are very impertinent.
Quinola
Do not mistake farsightedness for impertinence. You must study me,
before coming to a decision. I am going to describe my character to
you; my real name is Lavradi. At the moment Lavradi ought to be
serving a ten years' sentence in Africa, at the presides, owing to an
error of the alcaldes of Barcelona. Quinola is the conscience, white
as your fair hands, of Lavradi. Quinola does to know Lavradi. Does the
soul know the body? You may unite the soul, Quinola, to the body,
Lavradi, all the more easily because this morning Quinola was at the
postern of your garden, with the friends of the dawn who stopped the
Duke of Olmedo--
The Marchioness
What has happened to him?
Quinola
Lavradi would take advantage of this moment, which is full of promise,
to ask a pardon; but Quinola is a gentleman.
The Marchioness
You are taken up too much with yourself--
Quinola
And not sufficiently with him--that is just. The duke took us for foul
assassins; we were simply asking him, at a rather too advantageous
hour, to make us a loan, pledged by our rapiers as collateral. The
famous Majoral, who was in command of us, being close pressed by the
duke, was forced to disable him by a little thrust, of which he knows
the secret.
The Marchioness
O! My God!--
Quinola
Happiness is cheap at such a cost, madame.
The Marchioness (aside)
Hush! He knows my secret.
Quinola
When we saw that the duke had not a maravedi about him, we left him
where he was. As I was the least culpable of all the gang, I was
charged to take him home; in adjusting his pockets, which had been
turned inside out, I found the letter which he had written to you,
and, learning your position at the court, I understood--
The Marchioness
That your fortune was made?
Quinola
Not at all--that my life was in danger.
The Marchioness
Indeed?
Quinola
To whom are you speaking? Quinola or Lavradi?
The Marchioness
Lavradi shall have his pardon. What does Quinola desire? To enter my
service?
Quinola
Foundling children are of gentle birth; Quinola will deliver your
letter to you with asking a maravedi, without obliging you to do
anything unworthy of you, and he expects that you will refrain from
desiring the services of a poor devil who carries under his wallet the
heart of the Cid.
The Marchioness
How dear you are going to cost me, fellow!
Quinola
You said to me just now, "my friend."
The Marchioness
Were you not my enemy?
Quinola
On account of that word I trust you, madame, and intend to tell you
everything. But here--do not laugh--you must promise--I wish--
The Marchioness
You wish?
Quinola
I wish--to speak to the king--at the moment when he passes on his way
to the chapel; I desire you to lend favor to my request.
The Marchioness
But what are you going to ask him?
Quinola
The most simple thing in the world--an audience for my master.
The Marchioness
Explain yourself, for time presses.
Quinola
Madame, I am the servant of a philosopher; and if the mark of genius
is poverty, we have a great deal too much genius, madame.
The Marchioness
To the point.
Quinola
Senor Alfonso Fontanares has come here from Catalonia to offer the
king our master the sceptre of the sea. At Barcelona he was taken for
a madman; here he is considered a sorcerer. When it becomes known what
he proposes, he is scoffed at in the antechambers. One wishes to
protest for the sake of ruining him; another, a philosopher, throws a
doubt on the existence of our secret, with the view of filching it;
others again make him a business proposition--capitalists who wish to
entangle him in their meshes. As things go at present we do not know
how they will turn out. No one certainly can deny the forces of
mechanics and geometry, but the finest theorems have very little
bodily nourishment in them, and the smallest of ragouts is better for
the stomach; but, really, science is not to blame for that. During the
past winter my master and myself warmed ourselves over our projects,
and chewed the end of our illusions. . . . Well, madame, he is now in
prison, for he has been accused of being on too friendly terms with
the devil; and, unfortunately, the Holy Office is right, this time,
for we have constantly seen him at the bottom of our purse. And now,
madame, I implore you, inspire the king with curiosity to see a man
who will give him a dominion as extended as that which Columbus gave
to Spain.
The Marchioness
But since Columbus gave a new world to Spain, new worlds are being
offered to us once in every fortnight!
Quinola
Ah! madame, every man of genius has one of his own to offer. By
heavens, it is so rare that a man can make honestly a fortune both for
himself and the state that the phenomenon deserves to be favored.
The Marchioness
But what is the project about?
Quinola
I must once more beg you not to laugh, madame. His plan is to make
ships travel without sail or oar, against the wind, by means of a pot
filled with water, which is kept boiling.
The Marchioness
What an idea! Where do you come from? What do you mean? Are you
dreaming?
Quinola
That is just what they all say! Ah, common herd, ye are so constituted
that the man of genius, who is right ten years before everybody else,
passes for a madman for twenty-five years. I am the only one who
believes in this man, and it is on this account I love him; to
understand another is to be his equal.
The Marchioness
And you want me to repeat this nonsense to the king?
Quinola
Madame, you are the only person in the whole of Spain to whom the king
will not say, "Be silent."
The Marchioness
You do not know the king, and I do. (Aside) I must get back my letter.
(Aloud) There is one recent circumstance whose occurrence seems
favorable to your master; news comes to the king that the Armada has
been lost; wait for him on his way through to chapel and address him.
(Exit.)
SCENE SEVENTH
The Captain of the Guards, the Courtiers and Quinola.
Quinola (in the front of the stage)
It is not sufficient to possess genius and to employ it, for there are
plenty of people who make a false show to have it and meet excellent
success. There is need also of opportunity and favoring circumstances;
a picked up letter which puts a favorite in danger, in order to obtain
an interceding tongue, and the loss of the mightiest of flotillas, in
order to open the ears of a prince. Chance is an infamous wretch! And
now, in the duel of Fontanares with his century, the hour has come for
his poor second to appear. (Bells are heard; guard is mounted.) Is yon
sound an omen of success? (To the Captain of the Guards) How ought the
king to be spoken to?
The Captain
Step forward, bow your knee, and say: "Sire"--and pray God to guide
your tongue aright.
(The royal procession appears.)
Quinola
I shall have no trouble falling upon my knees; they are giving way
already; for it is not only the fate of a man, but of a world, that is
at stake.
A page
The queen!
A page
The king!
(Tableau.)
SCENE EIGHTH
The same persons, the King, the Queen, the Marchioness of Mondejar,
the Grand Inquisitor and the whole Court.
Philip II.
Gentlemen, we are about to pray God and honor Him who had dealt a
deadly blow to Spain. England has escaped us, the Armada is lost, and
we desire no more to talk of that flotilla. Admiral (he turns to the
admiral), you were not sent to give battle to the storms.
Quinola
Sire! (He falls on one knee.)
Philip II.
Who are you?
Quinola
The most insignificant and the most devoted of your subjects; the
servant of a man who pines in the prisons of the Holy Office, accused
of magic, because he desires to give to your Majesty the power of
escaping from similar disasters--
Philip II.
If you are really a servant, rise to your feet. Only grandees are wont
to kneel here, in presence of the king.
Quinola
My master, then, shall kneel at your feet.
Philip II.
Explain yourself in brief; the moments of the king's whole life are
not so numerous as are his subjects.
Quinola
You must have, then, but one hour for each of your empires. My master,
Senor Alfonso Fontanares, is in the prison of the Holy Office--
Philip II. (to the Grand Inquisitor)
Father (the Grand Inquisitor approaches), what can you tell us of a
certain Alfonso Fontanares?
The Grand Inquisitor
He is a pupil of Galileo. He professes the heretical doctrine of his
master and boasts the power to do wonders while he refuses to explain
the means. He is accused of being rather a Moor than a Spaniard.
Quinola (aside)
That sallow face is going to spoil all! (To the King) Sire, my master
knows no sorcery, excepting so far as he is madly in love, first with
the glory of your Majesty, next with a maid of Barcelona, heiress of
Lothundiaz, the richest burgess of the town. As he picked up more
science than wealth in studying natural science in Italy, the poor
youth has failed in his attempt to marry this maid.--And notice, sire,
how great men are calumniated; in his despair he made a pilgrimage to
the Virgen del Pilar, to beg her assistance, because Marie was the
name of the lady he loved. On leaving the church, he sat down wearied
under a tree and fell asleep. In his dreams the Virgin appeared to him
and communicated to him an invention by which he could navigate ships
without sails, without oars, against wind and tide. He approached you,
sire; but between the sun and him a cloud intervened, and after a
deadly conflict with the cloud, he is now suffering for his confidence
in the Virgen del Pilar and in his king. No one but his servant has
sufficient courage to come and throw at your feet the news that there
exists a means of realizing universal dominion.
Philip II.
I will see your master when I leave the chapel.
The Grand Inquisitor
Surely, the king will not expose himself to such peril?
Philip II.
My duty is to inquire.
The Grand Inquisitor
And mine is to make men respect the privileges of the Sacred Office.
Philip II.
I know them. Obey me and keep silence. I know that I owe you a
hostage. I know it. (He looks round) Tell me, where is the Duke of
Olmedo?
Quinola (aside)
Aha!
The Marchioness (aside)
We are lost.
The Captain of the Guards
Sire, the duke is not yet--arrived--
Philip II.
Who has given him leave thus boldly to forsake the duties of his
office? (Aside) Some one is deceiving me. (To the Captain of the
Guards) Tell him, if he comes, that the king has committed him as a
prisoner of the Holy Office. (To the Grand Inquisitor) Issue the
order.
The Grand Inquisitor
Sire, I will go myself.
The Queen
And what if the duke fails to come?
Philip II.
In that case he must be dead. (To the captain) You will take his place
in the execution of my orders. (He enters the chapel.)
The Marchioness (to Quinola)
Run to the duke's house, tell him to come and comport himself as if he
were not wounded to the death. The report will then be considered mere
calumny.
Quinola
You may reckon upon me, but grant us your protection. (Alone) Great
heavens! The king seemed charmed by my little fable of the Virgen del
Pilar; I must make a vow to her--but what shall it be?--we will see
after we have succeeded.
(Scene curtain.)
SCENE NINTH
(A cell of the Inquisition.)
Fontanares (alone)
I understand now why Columbus desired that his fetters should be
placed beside him in his coffin. What a lesson for discoverers! A
great discovery is a revelation of truth. And truth destroys so many
abuses and errors that all those who live by falsehood rise up to slay
the truth; they begin by assailing the man. Let inventors then have
patience! I myself desire to have it. Unfortunately, my patience
proceeds from my love. In the hope of obtaining Marie, I dream of
glory and I pursue it. I saw a piece of straw fly up above a boiler.
All men have had the same experience since boilers and straw existed.
But I saw there a force; in order to estimate its violence, I put a
lid on the boiler; the lid flew off but did not kill me. Archimedes
and I are of the same mind! He wished for a lever and a fulcrum to
move the world; I possess this lever and have been fool enough to say
so; since then--misfortunes have overwhelmed me. If I should die, you,
man of genius who shall discover the secret, act on it, but keep
silence. The light which we discover, men take from us, only to set on
fire our funeral pile. Galileo, my master, is in prison for having
said that the earth moves, and I am here for attempting to apply the
forces of the earth. No! I am here because I rebel against the
cupidity of those who desire to steal my secret; were it not for my
love for Marie, I would claim my liberty to-night, leaving to them the
profit, keeping to myself the fame--Ah! What rage is in my heart! But
rage is only fit for children; let me be calm and then I shall be
strong. Would that I might have news of the only man who has faith in
me! He is at liberty, he, who begged to win me bread. But faith is
only found among the poor, who have need of it.
SCENE TENTH
The Grand Inquisitor, a familiar and Fontanares.
The Grand Inquisitor
Well, my son, how are you? You were speaking of faith, doubtless you
have made some sage reflections recently. Come now, spare the Holy
Office a resort to severity.
Fontanares
Father, what do you wish me to say?
The Grand Inquisitor
Before setting you at liberty, the Holy Office must be sure that the
means you employ are natural--
Fontanares
Father, if I had made a compact with the Evil One, would he have let
me languish here?
The Grand Inquisitor
Your words are impious; the devil has a master whose existence is
proved by our burning of heretics.
Fontanares
Have you ever seen a ship on the sea? (The Grand Inquisitor assents.)
By what means is it propelled?
The Grand Inquisitor
The wind fills the sails.
Fontanares
Did the devil reveal this method of navigation to the first sailor?
The Grand Inquisitor
Do you know who he was?
Fontanares
He was, perhaps, the founder of some long forgotten power that ruled
the sea--at any rate, the means that I employ are not less natural
than his. I have seen a certain force in nature, a force controllable
by man. For the wind is God's creature, and man is not its master, but
the wind propels the ships of man, while my force is in the ship
itself.
The Grand Inquisitor (aside)
This man may prove a dangerous fellow. (Aloud) And you refuse to tell
us what it is?
Fontanares
I will tell the king, in presence of the court; for, after that, no
one will be able to rob me of my glory and the fortune that it brings.
The Grand Inquisitor
You call yourself an inventor, and yet you think of nothing but
fortune! You are too ambitious to be a man of genius.
Fontanares
Father, I am so profoundly disgusted by the jealousy of the vulgar, by
the avarice of the great, by the behavior of sham philosophers, that--
but for my love for Marie--I would give back that which chance has
bestowed upon me.
The Grand Inquisitor
Chance?
Fontanares
I am wrong. I would give back to God the thought which God has sent to
me.
The Grand Inquisitor
God did not send it to you that it might be hidden, and we have the
right to force you to divulge it. (To his familiar) Bid them prepare
the rack.
Fontanares
I was expecting it.
SCENE ELEVENTH
The Grand Inquisitor, Fontanares, Quinola and the Duke of Olmedo.
Quinola
It isn't a very healthy thing, this torture.
Fontanares
Quinola! And in what a livery!
Quinola
The livery of success, for you are to be freed.
Fontanares
Free? And to pass from hell to heaven in an instant?
The Duke of Olmedo
As martyrs do.
The Grand Inquisitor
Sir, do you dare to say such words in this place!
The Duke of Olmedo
I am charged by the king to take out of your custody this man, and
will answer for him to the Holy Inquisition.
The Grand Inquisitor
What a mistake!
Quinola
Ah! you would like to boil him in your cauldrons of oil! Many thanks!
His cauldrons are going to carry us 'round the world--like this. (He
twirls his hat.)
Fontanares
Embrace me, my friend, and tell me how--
The Duke of Olmedo
Say not a word here--
Quinola
Yes (he points to the Inquisitor), for here the walls have ears. Come.
And you (speaking to the duke) take courage. You are pale, and I must
give to you a tinge of color; but I know how to do it.
(Scene curtain.)
SCENE TWELFTH
(Palace gallery as in first scene.)
The Duke of Olmedo, the Duke of Lerma, Fontanares and Quinola.
The Duke of Olmedo
We have come just in time!
The Duke of Lerma
You were not wounded then?
The Duke of Olmedo
Who said I was? Would the favorite of the king ruin me? And should I
be here, as you see me, if I were dead? (To Quinola) Stand close and
hold me up.
Quinola (to Fontanares)
This is a man worthy of your love.
Fontanares
Who would not envy such a one? Yet how seldom is occasion given to
show one's love.
Quinola
Spare us, good sir, all this rigmarole about love, in the presence of
the king; for the king, hark you--
A page
The King!
Fontanares
Come on, and let all our thoughts be for Marie!
Quinola (noticing that the Duke of Olmedo is fainting)
How are you? (He puts a flask to his nostrils.)
SCENE THIRTEENTH
The same persons, the King, the Queen, the Captain of the Guards, the
Grand Inquisitor, the Marchioness of Mondejar, the President of the
Council of Castile and the whole court.
Philip II. (to the Captain of the Guards)
Has our man arrived?
The Captain
The Duke of Olmedo, whom I met on the palace steps, has at once obeyed
the commands of the king.
The Duke of Olmedo (falling on one knee)
Will the king deign to pardon a delay--unpardonable?
Philip II. (raising him by his wounded arm)
I was told you were dying--(he glances at the marchioness)--of a wound
received in a nocturnal attack.
The Duke of Olmedo
Well, you see me here, sire, a sufficient answer.
The Marchioness (aside)
He is rouged!
Philip II. (to the duke)
Where is your prisoner?
The Duke of Olmedo (pointing to Fontanares)
Yonder he stands.
Fontanares (kneeling)
And ready, to the great glory of God, to do wonders which shall add
splendor to the reign of the king, my master.
Philip II.
Rise up and speak to me; what is this force miraculous which shall
give to Spain the empire of the world?
Fontanares
It is a force invincible, sire. It is steam; for, when water has
become expanded in steam, it demands a much more extensive area than
that which it occupies in its natural form; and in order to take that
space it would blow up mountains. By my invention this force is
confined; the machine is provided with wheels, which beat the sea and
propel a vessel as swiftly as the wind, so that tempests cannot resist
its course. Voyages can be made in safety and so swiftly that there is
no limit to speed excepting in the revolution of the wheels. Human
life is lengthened every time a moment is economized. Sire,
Christopher Columbus gave to you a world three thousand leagues across
the ocean; I will bring one to you at the port of Cadiz, and you shall
claim, with the assistance of God, the dominion of the sea.
The Queen
You do not seem to be astonished, sire?
Philip II.
Astonishment is involuntary flattery, and kings may never flatter. (To
Fontanares) What do you ask of me?
Fontanares
That which Columbus asked, a ship and the presence of my king to
witness the experiment.
Philip II.
You shall have all--the king, the realm of Spain--the whole world.
They tell me that you love a maid of Barcelona. I am about to cross
the Pyrenees, to visit my possessions, Roussillon and Perpignan; you
shall receive your vessel at Barcelona.
Fontanares
In granting me this vessel, sire, you have done me justice; in giving
it to me at Barcelona, you have bestowed a favor which, from a
subject, makes me your slave.
Philip II.
Yet be cautious; to lose a vessel of the state will be to risk your
life, for so the law provides.
Fontanares
I know it, and accept the risk.
Philip II.
Well said, brave man! If you succeed in constructing this sailless,
oarless vessel that shall face the wind as swiftly as if the wind were
in its favor, I will create you--what is your name?
Fontanares
Alfonso Fontanares.
Philip II.
You shall be Don Alfonso Fontanares, Duke of--Neptunado, Grandee of
Spain.
The Duke of Lerma
Sire, the statutes concerning nobility--
Philip II.
Silence! Duke of Lerma. It is the duty of the king to exalt the man of
genius above all other men and thus to honor the ray of light which
God has given to him.
The Grand Inquisitor
Sire--
Philip II.
What would you?
The Grand Inquisitor
We did not imprison the man on the charge that he had commerce with
the devil, nor because of his impiety, nor because he springs from a
family suspected of heresy; but for the safety of monarchies. Printing
has permitted clever men to communicate their thoughts to others and
the result has been--Luther, whose word has flown abroad in every
direction. But this man is endeavoring to make out of all the nations
of the earth a single people, and, before a multitude like this, the
Holy Office trembles for the fate of monarchy.
Philip II.
All progress moves heavenward.
The Grand Inquisitor
Heaven does not command many things which yet it does not hinder men
from doing.
Philip II.
Our duty consists in bringing good out of evil things and in this work
of amelioration gathering all within one circle, whose centre is the
throne. Do you not see what is here at stake, even the realization of
that universal dominion long-sought for by my glorious father? (To
Fontanares) When you have won the rank of duke and Spanish grandee of
the first class, I will put upon your breast the Golden Fleece; you
shall then be appointed Grand Master of Naval Construction in Spain
and the Indies. (To a minister) President, you will issue, this very
day, under pain of my displeasure, the order to put at the disposal of
this man, in our port of Barcelona, such a vessel as he desires, and
--see that no obstacle interferes with his enterprise.
Quinola
Sire--
Philip II.
What do you desire?
Quinola
While you are here, grant, sire, full pardon to a wretch named
Lavradi, who was sentenced by a deaf magistrate.
Philip II.
Because the judge was deaf, must the king be blind?
Quinola
No, but indulgent, sire, which is almost the same thing.
Fontanares
Pardon! Grant pardon to the only man who has sustained me in my
struggle!
Philip II. (to a minister)
This man has talked with me, and I gave him my hand to kiss; issue to
him letters of my full pardon.
The Queen (to the king)
If this man (she points to Fontanares) is one of those great
discoverers, raised up by God, Don Philip you have done a good day's
work this morning.
Philip II. (to the queen)
It is very difficult to distinguish between a man of genius and a
madman; but if he is a madman, my promises are only worth the value of
his.
Quinola (to the marchioness)
Here is your letter, but let me beg you, between ourselves, to write
no more.
The Marchioness
We are saved!
(The court follows the king into the royal apartment.)
SCENE FOURTEENTH
Fontanares and Quinola.
Fontanares
Surely I am dreaming--Duke! Grandee of Spain! The Golden Fleece!
Quinola
And Master of Naval Construction! We shall have plenty of contractors
to patronize. The court is an odd place, I should like to succeed
there; how is it to be done? By impudence? I have enough of that to
sell! By trickery? Why, the king believes my tale of the Virgen del
Pilar. (He laughs) But what is my master thinking about?
Fontanares
Let us start at once.
Quinola
For what place?
Fontanares
For Barcelona.
Quinola
No--for a tavern. If the air of the court gives the citizens a good
appetite, it makes me devilish thirsty. After a drink, my glorious
master, you will see your Quinola a very busy man; for we must not
delude ourselves. Between the word of the king and the attainment of
success, we shall meet with as many jealous philosophers, scheming
tricksters, malicious cavillers, crooked, rapacious, greedy beasts of
prey, thievish parasites as have ever beset you in your attempts to
see the king.
Fontanares
Yet to obtain my Marie I must succeed.
Quinola
Yes, and for our own sakes also.
Curtain to the Prologue.
ACT I
SCENE FIRST
(The scene is Barcelona. The stage represents a public place. On the
left of the spectator appear houses, among which that of Lothundiaz
stands at the corner of the street. To the right is the palace of
Senora Brancadori. The time is night, but the day begins to dawn.)
Monipodio (wrapped in a mantle, seated under the balcony of the
Brancadori palace), Quinola (who glides forth cautiously like a thief,
and brushes against Monipodio).
Monipodio
Who is it dares to tread on my shoes?
Quinola (in ragged array)
A gentleman, who does not wear any.
Monipodio
That sounds like Lavradi.
Quinola
Monipodio!--I thought that you had been--hanged!
Monipodio
I thought that you had been beaten to death in Africa.
Quinola
Alas, we have been beaten enough without going to Africa!
Monipodio
And do you dare to show yourself here?
Quinola
You seem comfortable enough here. As for me, I have the king's pardon
in my pocket, and while I am waiting for my patent of nobility I call
myself Quinola.
Monipodio
I suppose you stole your pardon?
Quinola
Yes, from the king.
Monipodio
And have you seen the king? (He sniffs at him.) You smell of poverty--
Quinola
Like a poet's garret. And what are you doing?
Monipodio
Nothing.
Quinola
That is soon done; if it gives you any income, I would like to embrace
your profession.
Monipodio
I have been misunderstood, my friend! Hunted by our political enemies.
Quinola
The judges, magistrates and police.
Monipodio
It is necessary for a man to have a political party.
Quinola
I understand you; from being the game you have become the hunter.
Monipodio
What nonsense! I am always myself. I have merely come to an
understanding with the viceroy. When one of my fellows has reached the
end of his tether, I say to him: "Get off," and if he doesn't go, ah!
I hale him to justice--you understand!--That is not treachery is it?
Quinola
It is prevision--
Monipodio
And, by the bye, you have just come from court.
Quinola
Listen. (Aside) Here is a man, the very one I want, knows everything
in Barcelona. (Aloud) After what you have told me we ought to be
friends.
Monipodio
He who has my secret must be my friend--
Quinola
You are as watchful here as if you were jealous. What is it? Come let
us moisten our clay and wet our whistle with a bottle in some tavern;
it is daybreak--
Monipodio
Do you see how this palace is lit up for a feast? Don Fregose is
dining and gaming at the house of Senora Faustine Brancadori.
Quinola
Quite Venetian, Brancadori. 'Tis a rare name! She must be the widow of
some patrician.
Monipodio
She is twenty-two, subtle as musk, and governs the governor, and, let
me tell you between ourselves, has already wheedled out of him all
that he picked up under Charles V. in the wars of Italy. What comes
from the flute--
Quinola
The air takes. What is the age of the viceroy?
Monipodio
He owns up to sixty years.
Quinola
And yet they speak of first love! I know of nothing so terrible as
last love; it strangles a man. I am happy that I have been brought up
so far with unsinged wings! I might be a statesman--
Monipodio
The old general is still young enough to employ me as a spy upon the
Brancadori, while she pays me for her liberty; and--you can understand
the joyous life I lead by making no mischief!
Quinola
Now you want to know all, Old Curiosity, in order to place your thumb
upon the throat of opportunity! (Monipodio nods assent.) Is Lothundiaz
still alive?
Monipodio
Yonder is his house, and this palace belongs to him; always grasping
more and more property.
Quinola
I had hoped to find the heiress her own mistress. My master is ruined!
Monipodio
You bring back a master with you?
Quinola
One who will bring me mines of gold.
Monipodio
Could not I enter his service?
Quinola
I am counting very much upon your co-operation here. Listen,
Monipodio; we are going to change the face of the earth. My master has
promised the king to make one of his finest vessels move through the
water, without sails or oars, in the wind's eyes, more swiftly than
the wind itself.
Monipodio (examining Quinola as he walks round him)
Something has changed my friend.
Quinola
Monipodio, please to remember that men like us must not be astonished
at anything. Leave that to smaller people. The king has given us the
ship, but without a doubloon to go and get her. We arrived here,
therefore, with those two faithful companions of genius, hunger and
thirst. A poor man who discovers a valuable idea has always seemed to
me like a crumb of bread in a fish-pond; every fish takes a bite at
him. We are likely to reach the goal of glory naked and dying.
Monipodio
You are probably right.
Quinola
One morning at Valladolid, my master was within an ace of divulging
his secret to a philosopher who knew nothing of it. I warrant you, I
showed that gentleman the door, with a dose of cudgel given with a
good will.
Monipodio
But how is it possible for us to gain a fortune honestly?
Quinola
My master is in love. Now love forces a man to do as many foolish
things as wise things. We two have first of all to protect our
protector. My master is a philosopher who cannot keep accounts--
Monipodio
Oh! my dear fellow, in choosing a master, you ought to have selected
one--
Quinola
Devotion and address count more with him than money; for money and
favor to him are mere snares. I know him well; he will either give us
or permit us to take enough to end our days in respectability.
Monipodio
Ah! that is what I have dreamed of.
Quinola
We must then use all our talents, which have been so far wasted, in
carrying out this grand enterprise. We should have had a great deal of
misfortune if the devil had not favored us.
Monipodio
It will be almost worth while to make a journey to Compostello. I have
the smuggler's faith, and I love wine.
Quinola
Are you not still in touch with the coiners of false money, and the
skeleton key-makers?
Monipodio
Yes--but for the good of the country--
Quinola
Well, that's the trick! As my master constructs his machine, I shall
take possession of the models of each part and we will make a
duplicate--
Monipodio
Quinola!
Quinola
What now?
(Paquita shows herself on the balcony.)
Monipodio
You are the greatest of men!
Quinola
I know it. Make a discovery, and you will die persecuted as a
criminal; make a copy, and you will live happy as a fool! And on the
other hand, if Fontanares should die, why should not I save his
invention for the good of humanity?
Monipodio
Especially, since we ourselves are humanity, as an old author says.
Let me embrace you.
SCENE SECOND
The same persons and Paquita.
Quinola (aside)
Next to an honest dupe, I know nothing better than the self-deluding
rascal.
Paquita (to herself)
Two friends embrace each other! They cannot therefore be spies.
Quinola
You are already in the secrets of the viceroy, you have the confidence
of the Brancadori lady. That is a good beginning! Work a miracle and
give us some clothes first of all, and if we two, taking counsel with
a flask of liquor, do not discover some way by which my master and
Marie Lothundiaz may meet, I will not answer for the consequences. For
the last two days his constant talk has been of her, and I am afraid
he may some day entirely lose his head.
Monipodio
The maiden is guarded like a condemned convict. This is the reason:
Lothundiaz has had two wives; the first was poor and gave him a son,
the second had a fortune, and when she died left all to her daughter,
and left it in such a way that she could never be deprived of it. The
old man is a miser whose only object is his son's success. Sarpi, the
secretary of the viceroy, in order to win the rich heiress, has
promised to obtain a title for Lothundiaz, and takes vast interest in
the son--
Quinola
There you are--an enemy at the very outset.
Monipodio
We must use great prudence. Listen. I am going to give a hint to
Mathieu Magis, the most prominent Lombard in the city, and a man
entirely under my influence. You will find everything you need at his
palace, from diamonds down to low shoes. When you return here you
shall see our young lady. (Exeunt.)
SCENE THIRD
Paquita and Faustine.
Paquita
Madame is right; two men are on sentry under her balcony and are going
away on seeing the day dawn.
Faustine
The old viceroy will end by disgracing me! He suspects me, even at my
own house, while I am within sight and hearing of him.
(Exit Paquita.)
SCENE FOURTH
Faustine and Don Fregose.
Don Fregose
Madame, you run the risk of catching cold; it is too chilly here.
Faustine
Come here, my lord. You tell me, that you have faith in me; but you
put Monipodio to watch under my windows. Your behavior is not to be
excused like the excessive prudence of a young man, and necessarily
exasperates an honest woman. There are two kinds of jealousy: the
first makes a man distrust his mistress; the second leads him to lose
faith in himself. Confine yourself, if you please, to the second.
Don Fregose
Do not end so charming a celebration, senora, by a burst of anger
which I do not deserve.
Faustine
Was Monipodio, through whom you learn everything that goes on in
Barcelona, under my windows last night, or was he not? Answer me on
your honor as a gentleman.
Don Fregose
He might have been in the neighborhood to prevent our gamesters from
being attacked on their way home.
Faustine
This is the evasive stratagem of an old general! I must know the
truth. If you have deceived me I will never see you again so long as I
live!
(She leaves him.)
SCENE FIFTH.
Don Fregose (alone)
Oh, why cannot I give up the sight, the voice of this woman! She
delights me even in her very anger, and I love to call forth her
reproaches, that I may listen to her words.
SCENE SIXTH
Paquita and Monipodio (disguised as a begging friar at the door of the
Brancadori Palace).
Paquita
Madame told me to learn why Monipodio stationed himself below, but I
saw no one there.
Monipodio
Alms, my dear child, is a treasure which is laid up in heaven.
Paquita
I have nothing to give.
Monipodio
Never mind, promise me something.
Paquita
This is rather a jovial friar.
Monipodio
She does not recognize me and I believe I can run the risk.
(Monipodio knocks at the door of Lothundiaz.)
Paquita
Ah! If you count upon the alms of our friend the land-owner, you would
be richer with my promise. (To Faustine Brancadori, who appears on the
balcony) Madame, the men are gone.
SCENE SEVENTH
Monipodio and Dona Lopez (at the door of the Lothundiaz Mansion.)
Dona Lopez
What is it you desire?
Monipodio
The brothers of our order have received tidings of your dear Lopez--
Dona Lopez
That he was living?
Monipodio
As you conduct the Senorita Marie to the convent of the Dominicans,
take a turn round the square; you will meet there an escaped Algerian
captive, who will tell you about Lopez.
Dona Lopez
Merciful heavens! Would that I could ransom him!
Monipodio
Be careful, first of all, when you approach on that subject; suppose
that he were a Mussulman?
Dona Lopez
Dear Lopez! I must go and prepare the senorita for her journey.
(Dona Lopez re-enters the house.)
SCENE EIGHTH
Monipodio, Quinola and Fontanares.
Fontanares
At last, Quinola, we stand beneath her windows.
Quinola
Yes, but where is Monipodio? Has he allowed himself to be beaten off?
(He turns to the friar) Sir Beggar?
Monipodio
All goes well.
Quinola
Sangodemy! What perfection of mendicancy! Titian ought to paint you.
(To Fontanares) She will come. (To Monipodio) How do you find things?
Monipodio
Most favorable.
Quinola
He shall be a grandee of Spain.
Monipodio
Oh! That is nothing. There is something still better than that!
Quinola (to Fontanares)
Now, sir, you must above all things be prudent. Let us have no
sighing, which might open the eyes of the duenna.
SCENE NINTH
The same persons, Dona Lopez and Marie.
Monipodio (to the duenna, pointing to Quinola)
This is the Christian who escaped from captivity.
Quinola (speaking to the duenna)
Ah! madame, I recognize you from the portrait of your charms which
Senor Lorenzo drew for me.
(He takes her aside.)
SCENE TENTH
Monipodio, Marie and Fontanares.
Marie
Is it really you?
Fontanares
Yes, Marie, I have so far succeeded; our happiness is assured.
Marie
Ah! If you only knew how I have prayed for your success!
Fontanares
I have millions of things to say to you; but there is one thing which
I ought to say a million times, to make up for all the weary time of
my absence.
Marie
If you speak thus to me, I shall believe you do not know the depth of
my attachment; for it is fed less upon flattering words than upon the
interest I feel in all that interests you.
Fontanares
What I am most interested in now, Marie, is to learn before engaging
in so important an undertaking, whether you have the courage to resist
your father, who is said to contemplate a marriage for you.
Marie
Do you think then that I could change?
Fontanares
With us men, to love is to be forever jealous! You are so rich, I am
so poor. When you thought I was ruined, you had no perturbation for
the future, but now that success has come we shall have the whole
world between us. And you shall be my star! And shall shine upon me
though from so great a distance. If I thought that at the end of my
long struggle I should not find you at my side, oh! in the midst of
all the triumph I should die for grief!
Marie
Do you not know me yet? Though I was lonely, almost a recluse while
you were absent, the pure feeling which from our childhood united me
with you has grown greater with your destiny! When these eyes, which
with such rapture look on you again, shall be closed forever; when
this heart which only beats for God, for my father and for you shall
be reduced to dust, I believe that on earth will survive a soul of
mine to love you still! Do you doubt now my constancy?
Fontanares
After listening to such words as these, what martyr would not receive
new courage at the stake?
SCENE ELEVENTH
The same persons and Lothundiaz.
Lothundiaz
That cursed duenna has left my door open.
Monipodio (aside)
Alas, those poor children are ruined! (To Lothundiaz) Alms is a
treasure which is laid up in heaven.
Lothundiaz
Go to work, and you can lay up treasures here on earth. (He looks
round) I do not see my daughter and her duenna in their usual place.
Monipodio (to Lothundiaz)
The Spaniard is by nature generous.
Lothundiaz
Oh! get away! I am a Catalonian and suspicious by nature. (He catches
sight of his daughter and Fontanares.) What do I see? My daughter with
a young senor! (He runs up to them) It is hard enough to pay duennas
for guarding children with the heart and eyes of a mother without
finding them deceivers. (To his daughter) How is it that you, Marie,
heiress of ten thousand sequins a year, should speak to--do my eyes
deceive me? It is that blasted machinist who hasn't a maravedi.
(Monipodio makes signs to Quinola.)
Marie
Alfonso Fontanares is without fortune; he has seen the king.
Lothundiaz
So much the worst for the king.
Fontanares
Senor Lothundiaz, I am quite in a position to aspire to the hand of
your daughter.
Lothundiaz
Ah!
Fontanares
Will you accept for your son-in-law the Duke of Neptunado, grandee of
Spain, and favorite of the king?
(Lothundiaz pretends to look for the Duke of Neptunado.)
Marie
But it is he himself, dear father.
Lothundiaz
You, whom I have known since you were two foot high, whose father used
to sell cloth--do you take me for a fool?
SCENE TWELFTH
The same persons, Quinola and Dona Lopez.
Quinola
Who said fool?
Fontanares
As a present upon our wedding, I will procure for you and for my wife
a patent of nobility; we will permit you to settle her fortune by
entail upon your son--
Marie
How is that, father?
Quinola
How is that, sir?
Lothundiaz
Why! This is that brigand of a Lavradi!
Quinola
My master has won from the king an acknowledgment of my innocence.
Lothundiaz
To obtain for me a patent of nobility cannot then be a difficult
matter.
Quinola
And do you really think that a townsman can be changed into a nobleman
by letters-patent of the king! Let us make the experiment. Imagine for
a moment that I am the Marquis of Lavradi. My dear duke, lend me a
hundred ducats?
Lothundiaz
A hundred cuts of the rod! A hundred ducats! It is the rent of a piece
of property worth two thousand gold doubloons.
Quinola
There! I told you so--and that fellow wishes to be ennobled! Let us
try again. Count Lothundiaz, will you advance two thousand doubloons
in gold to your son-in-law that he may fulfill his promises to the
King of Spain?
Lothundiaz (to Fontanares)
But you must tell me what you have promised.
Fontanares
The King of Spain, learning of my love for your daughter, is coming to
Barcelona to see a ship propelled without oars or sails, by a machine
of my invention, and will himself honor our marriage by his presence.
Lothundiaz (aside)
He is laughing at me. (Aloud) You are very likely to propel a ship
without sails or oars! I hope you will do it; I'll go to see it. It
would amuse me, but I don't wish to have for a son-in-law any man of
such lofty dreams. Girls brought up in our families need no prodigies
for husbands, but men who are content to mind their business at their
own homes, and leave the affairs of the sun and moon alone. All that I
want is that my son-in-law should be the good father of his family.
Fontanares
Your daughter, senor, when she was but twelve years old, smiled on me
as Beatrice smiled on Dante. Child as she was, she saw in me at first
naught but a brother; since then, as we felt ourselves separated by
fortune, she has watched me as I formed that bold enterprise which
should bridge with glory the gulf that stood between us. It was for
her sake I went to Italy and studied with Galileo. She was the first
to applaud my work, the first to understand it. She had wedded herself
to my thought before it had occurred to her that one day she might wed
herself to me. It is thus she has become the whole world to me. Do you
now understand how I adore her?
Lothundiaz
It is just for that reason that I refuse to give her to you. In ten
years' time she would be deserted, that you might run after some other
discovery.
Marie
Is it possible, father, that a lover could prove false to a love which
has spurred him on to work such wonders?
Lothundiaz
Yes, when he can work them no longer.
Marie
If he should become a duke, grandee of Spain, and wealthy?
Lothundiaz
If! If! If! Do you take me for an imbecile? These ifs are the horses
that drag to the hospital all these sham world-discoverers.
Fontanares
But here are the letters in which the king grants to me the use of a
ship.
Quinola
Now open your eyes! My master is at once a man of genius and a
handsome youth; genius dulls a man and makes him of no use in a home,
I grant you; but the handsome youth is there still; what more is
needed by a girl for happiness?
Lothundiaz
Happiness does to consist in these extremes. A handsome youth and a
man of genius,--these, forsooth, are fine reasons for pouring out the
treasures of Mexico. My daughter shall be Madame Sarpi.
SCENE THIRTEENTH
The same persons, and Sarpi (on the balcony).
Sarpi (aside)
Some one uttered my name. What do I see? It is the heiress and her
father! What can they be doing in the square at this hour?
Lothundiaz
Sarpi has not gone to look for a ship in the harbor of Valladolid, but
he gained promotion for my son.
Fontanares
Do not, Lothundiaz, merely for the sake of your son's advancement,
dispose of your daughter's hand without my consent; she loves me and I
love her in return. In a short time I shall be (Sarpi appears) one of
the most influential men in Spain, and powerful enough to reap my
vengeance--
Marie
Oh! not upon my father!
Fontanares
Tell him then Marie, all that I am doing to deserve you.
Sarpi (aside)
What! A rival?
Quinola (to Lothundiaz)
Sir, if you don't consent, you are in a fair way to be damned.
Lothundiaz
Who told you that?
Quinola
And worse than that,--you are going to be robbed; this I'll swear to.
Lothundiaz
To prevent my either being robbed or damned I am keeping my daughter
for a man who may not have genius, but who has common sense--
Fontanares
At least you will give me time--
Sarpi
Why give him time?
Quinola (to Monipodio)
Who can that be?
Monipodio
Sarpi.
Quinola
What a bird of prey he looks!
Monipodio
And he is as difficult to kill. He is the real governor of Barcelona.
Lothundiaz
My respects to you, honorable secretary! (To Fontanares) Farewell, my
friend, your arrival is an excellent reason why I should hurry on the
wedding. (To Marie) Come, my daughter, let us go in. (To the duenna)
And you, old hag, you'll have to pay for this.
Sarpi (to Lothundiaz)
This hidalgo seems to have pretensions--
Fontanares (to Sarpi)
Nay, I have a right!
(Exeunt Marie, the duenna and Lothundiaz.)
SCENE FOURTEENTH
Monipodio, Sarpi, Fontanares and Quinola.
Sarpi
A right? Do you know that the nephew of Fra Paolo Sarpi, kinsman of
the Brancadori, count in the Kingdom of Naples, secretary to the
viceroy of Catalonia, makes pretension to the hand of Marie
Lothundiaz? When another man claims a right in the matter he insults
both her and me.
Fontanares
Do you know that I for five years, I, Alfonso Fontanares, to whom the
king our master has promised the title of Duke of Neptunado and
Grandee, as well as the Golden Fleece, have loved Marie Lothundiaz,
and that your pretensions, made in spite of the oath which she has
sworn to me, will be considered, unless you renounce them, an insult
both by her and by me?
Sarpi
I did not know, my lord, that I had so great a personage for a rival.
In any case, future Duke of Neptunado, future Grandee, future Knight
of the Golden Fleece, we love the same woman; and if you have the
promise of Marie, I have that of her father; you are expecting honors,
while I possess them.
Fontanares
Now, listen; let us remain just where we are; let us not utter another
word; do not insult me even by a look. Had I a hundred quarrels, I
would fight with no one until I had completed my enterprise and
answered successfully the expectation of my king. When that moment
comes, I will fight singled-handed against all. And, when I have ended
the conflict, you will find me--close to the king.
Sarpi
Oh! we are not going to lose sight of each other.
SCENE FIFTEENTH
The same persons, Faustine, Don Fregose and Paquita.
Faustine (on the balcony)
Tell me what is going on, my lord, between that young man and your
secretary? Let us go down.
Quinola (to Monipodio)
Don't you think that my master has pre-eminently the gift of drawing
down the lightning on his own head?
Monipodio
He carries his head so high!
Sarpi (to Don Fregose)
My lord, there has arrived in Catalonia a man upon whom the king our
master has heaped future honors. According to my humble opinion, he
should be welcomed by your excellency in accordance with his merits.
Don Fregose (to Fontanares)
Of what house are you?
Fontanares (aside)
How many sneers, such as this, have I not been forced to endure!
(Aloud) The king, your excellency, never asked me that question. But
here is his letter and that of his ministers. (He hands him a
package.)
Faustine (to Paquita)
That man has the air of a king.
Paquita
Of a king who will prove a conqueror.
Faustine (recognizing Monipodio)
Monipodio! Do you know who that man is?
Monipodio
He is a man who, according to rumor, is going to turn the world upside
down.
Faustine
Ah! I see; it is that famous inventor of whom I have heard so much.
Monipodio
And here is his servant.
Don Fregose
Sarpi, you may file these ministerial documents; I will keep that of
the king. (To Fontanares) Well, my fine fellow, the letter of the king
seems to me to be positive. You are undertaking, I see, to achieve the
impossible! However great you may be, perhaps it would be well for you
to take the advice, in this affair, of Don Ramon, a philosopher of
Catalonia who, on this subject, has written some famous treatises--
Fontanares
In a matter of this kind, your excellency, the finest dissertations in
the world are not worth so much as a practical achievement.
Don Fregose
That sounds presumptuous. (To Sarpi) Sarpi, you must place at the
disposal of this gentleman whatever vessel in the harbor he may
choose.
Sarpi (to the viceroy)
Are you quite sure that such is the king's wish?
Don Fregose
We shall see. In Spain it is best to say a _paternoster_ between every
two steps we take.
Sarpi
Other letters on the same subject have reached us from Valladolid.
Faustine (to the viceroy)
What are you talking about?
Don Fregose
Oh, it is nothing but a chimera.
Faustine
But don't you know that I am rather fond of chimeras?
Don Fregose
This is the chimera of some philosopher which the king has taken
seriously on account of the disaster of the Armada. If this gentleman
succeeds, we shall have the court at Barcelona.
Faustine
We shall be much indebted to him for that.
Don Fregose
He has staked his life on a commission to propel a vessel, swift as
the wind, yet straight in the wind's eye, without the employment of
either oars or sails.
Faustine
Staked his life? He must be a child to do so.
Sarpi
Alfonso Fontanares reckons that the performance of this miracle will
win for him the hand of Marie Lothundiaz.
Faustine
Ah! He loves her then--
Quinola (whispering to Faustine)
No, senora, he adores her.
Faustine
The daughter of Lothundiaz!
Don Fregose
You seem suddenly to feel a great interest in him.
Faustine
I hope the gentleman may succeed, if it were only for the purpose of
bringing the court here.
Don Fregose
Senora, will you not come and take luncheon at the villa of Avaloros?
A vessel is at your service in the harbor.
Faustine
No, my lord, the night of pleasure has wearied me, and a sail would
prove too much. I am not obliged, like you, to be indefatigable; youth
loves sleep, give me leave then to retire and take a little rest.
Don Fregose
You never say anything to me but that your words contain some
innuendo.
Faustine
You ought to be grateful that I do not take you seriously!
(Exeunt Faustine, the Viceroy and Paquita.)
SCENE SIXTEENTH
Avaloros, Quinola, Monipodio, Fontanares and Sarpi.
Sarpi (to Avaloros)
It is too late for a sail.
Avaloros
I do not care; I have won ten crowns in gold.
(Sarpi and Avaloros talk together.)
Fontanares (to Monipodio)
Who is this person?
Monipodio
It is Avaloros, the richest banker of Catalonia; he has bought the
whole Mediterranean to be his tributary.
Quinola
I feel my heart filled with tenderness towards him.
Monipodio
Every one of us owns him as our master.
Avaloros (to Fontanares)
Young man, I am a banker; if your business is a good one, next to the
protection of God and that of the king, nothing is as good as that of
a millionaire.
Sarpi (to the banker)
Make no engagements at present. You and I together will easily be able
to make ourselves masters of this enterprise.
Avaloros (to Fontanares)
Very well, my friend, you must come to see me.
(Monipodio secretly robs him of his purse.)
SCENE SEVENTEENTH
Monipodio, Fontanares and Quinola.
Quinola (to Fontanares)
Are you making a good beginning here?
Monipodio
Don Fregose is jealous of you.
Quinola
Sarpi is bent on defeating your enterprise.
Monipodio
You are posing as a giant before dwarfs who are in power! Before you
put on these airs of pride, succeed! People who succeed make
themselves small, slip into small openings and glide inward to the
treasure.
Quinola
Glory? But my dear sir, it can only be obtained by theft.
Fontanares
Do you wish me to abase myself?
Monipodio
Yes, in order that you may gain your point.
Fontanares
Pretty good for a Sarpi! I shall make an open struggle for it. But
what obstacle do you see between success and me? Am I not on my way to
the harbor to choose a fine galleon?
Quinola
Ah! I am superstitious on that point. Sir, do not choose the galley!
Fontanares
I see no reason why I shouldn't.
Quinola
You have had no experience! You have had something else to make
discoveries about. Ah, sir, we are moneyless, without credit at any
inn, and if I had not met this old friend who loves me, for there are
friends who hate you, we should have been without clothes--
Fontanares
But she loves me! (Marie waves her handkerchief at the window.) See,
see, my star is shining!
Quinola
Why, sir, it is a handkerchief! Are you sufficiently in your right
mind to take a bit of advice? This is not the sort of madonna for you;
you need a Marchioness of Mondejar--one of those slim creatures, clad
in steel, who through love are capable of all the expedients which
distress makes necessary. Now the Brancadori--
Fontanares
If you want me to throw the whole thing up you will go on talking like
that! Bear that in mind; love gives the only strength I have. It is
the celestial light that leads me on.
Quinola
There, there, do not excite yourself.
Monipodio
This man makes me anxious! He seems to me rather to be possessed by
the machinery of love than by the love of machinery.
SCENE EIGHTEENTH
The same persons and Paquita.
Paquita (to Fontanares)
My mistress bids me tell you, senor, that you must be on your guard.
You are the object of implacable hatred to certain persons.
Monipodio
That is my business. You may go without fear through all the streets
of Barcelona; if any one seeks your life, I shall be the first to know
it.
Fontanares
Danger! Already?
Paquita
You have given me no answer for her.
Quinola
No, my pet, people don't think about two machines at the same time;
tell your divine mistress that my master kisses her feet. I am a
bachelor, sweet angel, and wish to make a happy end.
(He kisses her.)
Paquita (slapping him in the face)
You fool!
Quinola
Oh, charming!
(Exit Paquita.)
SCENE NINETEENTH
Fontanares, Quinola and Monipodio.
Monipodio
Come to the Golden Sun. I know the host; you will get credit there.
Quinola
The battle is beginning even earlier than I had expected.
Fontanares
Where shall I obtain money?
Quinola
We can't borrow it, but we can buy it. How much do you need?
Fontanares
Two thousand doubloons in gold.
Quinola
I have been trying to make an estimate of the treasury I intended to
draw upon; it is not plump enough for that.
Monipodio
Well, now, I have found a purse.
Quinola
Forget nothing in your estimate; you will require, sir, iron, copper,
steel, wood, all of which the merchants can supply. I have an idea! I
will found the house of Quinola and Company; if they don't prosper you
shall.
Fontanares
Ah! what would have become of me without you?
Monipodio
You would have been the prey of Avaloros.
Fontanares
To work, then! The inventor must prove the salvation of the lover.
(Exeunt.)
Curtain to the First Act.