Henceforth thy pathway lies among the stars; I must not hold thee back. Vict. Thou little sceptic! Dost thou still doubt? What I most prize in woman The intellect is finite; but the affections Compare me with the great men of the earth, Is pure. It cannot change nor hide its nature, But burns as brightly in a Gipsy camp As in a palace hall. Art thou convinced? Prec. Yes, that I love thee, as the good love heaven But not that I am worthy of that heaven. How shall I more deserve it? Vict. Loving more. Prec. I cannot love thee more; my heart is full. Vict. Then let it overflow, and I will drink it As in the summer-time the thirsty sands A Watchman (in the street). Ave Maria Prec. To scare thee from me! Vict. It is a hateful sound, As the hunter's horn Doth scare the timid stag, or bark of hounds Prec. Pray do not go ! Fear not! Vict. I must away to Alcalá to-night. Think of me when I am away. Prec. I have no thoughts that do not think of thee. Vict. (giving her a ring). And to remind thee of my love, take this; A serpent, emblem of Eternity; A ruby,—say, a drop of my heart's blood. Prec. It is an ancient saying, that the ruby Vict. What convent of barefooted Carmelites Taught thee so much theology? Prec. (laying her hand upon his mouth). Hush! hush! Vict. Good night! good night! Thou art my guardian angel! I have no other saint than thou to pray to! (He descends by the balcony.) Prec. Take care, and do not hurt thee! Art thou safe? thou safe? Others can climb a balcony by moonlight As well as I. Pray shut thy window close; I am jealous of the perfumed air of night That from this garden climbs to kiss thy lips. But art Prec. (throwing down her handkerchief). Thou silly child! take this to blind thine eyes. It is my benison! Vict. And brings to me Sweet fragrance from thy lips, as the soft wind Of the beloved land he leaves behind. Vict. To-morrow night Shall see me safe returned. Thou art the star To guide me to an anchorage. Good night! Watchman (at a distance). Ave Maria Purissima! SCENE IV.-An inn on the road to Alcalá. bench. Enter CHISPA. BALTASAR asleep on a Chispa. And here we are, half-way to Alcalá, between cocks and midnight. Body o' me! what an inn this is! The lights out, and the landlord asleep. Holá! ancient Baltasar! Bal. (waking). Here am I. Chispa. Yes, there you are, like a one-eyed Alcalde in a town without inhabitants. Bring a light, and let me have supper. Bal. Where is your master? We have stopped Chispa. Do not trouble yourself about him. a moment to breathe our horses; and if he chooses to walk up and down in the open air, looking into the sky as one who hears it rain, that does not satisfy my hunger, you know. But be quick, for I am in a hurry, and every man stretches his legs according to the length of his coverlet. What have we here? Bal. (setting a light on the table). Stewed rabbit. Chispa (eating). Conscience of Portalegre! Stewed kitten, you mean! Bal. And a pitcher of Pedro Ximenes, with a roasted pear in it. Chispa (drinking). Ancient Baltasar, amigo! You know how to cry wine and sell vinegar. I tell you this is nothing but Vino Tinto of La Mancha, with a tang of the swine-skin. Bal. I swear to you, by Saint Simon and Judas, it is all as I say. Chispa. And I swear to you by Saint Peter and Saint Paul, that it is no such thing. Moreover, your supper is like the hidalgo's dinner, very little meat, and a great deal of table-cloth. Bal. Ha! ha! ha! Chispa. And more noise than nuts. Bal. Ha ha! ha! You must have your joke, Master Chispa. But shall I not ask Don Victorian in, to take a draught of the Pedro Ximenes? Chispa. No; you might as well say, "Don't-you-want-some?" to a dead man. Bal. Why does he go so often to Madrid? Chispa. For the same reason that he eats no supper. He is in love. Were you ever in love, Baltasar? Bal. I was never out of it, good Chispa. It has been the torment of my life. Chispa. What are you on fire, too, old haystack? Why, we shall never be able to put you out. Vict. (without). Chispa! Chispa. Go to bed, Pero Grullo, for the cocks are crowing. Chispa. Ea! Señor. Come with me, ancient Baltasar, and bring water for the horses. I will pay for the supper to-morrow. [Exeunt. SCENE V.-VICTORIAN'S chambers at Alcalá. HYPOLITO asleep in an arm-chair. He awakes slowly. Hyp. I must have been asleep! ay, sound asleep! The allusion here is to a Spanish epigram. "Siempre Fray Carrillo estás quien en tu celda estuviera Böhl de Faber. Floresta, No. 611. Vict. Padre Hypolito! Padre Hypolito! Hyp. What do you want of Padre Hypolito? Vict. Come, shrive me straight; for, if love be a sin, I am the greatest sinner that doth live. I will confess the sweetest of all crimes, A maiden wooed and won. Hyp. The same old tale Of the old woman in the chimney corner, Who, while the pot boils, says, "Come here, my child; I'll tell thee a story of my wedding-day.' Vict. Nay, listen, for my heart is full; so full That I must speak. Нур. Alas! that heart of thine Is like a scene in the old play; the curtain Rises to solemn music, and lo! enter The eleven thousand virgins of Cologne ! Vict. Nay, like the Sibyl's volumes, thou shouldst say; Those that remained, after the six were burned, Being held more precious than the nine together. But listen to my tale. Dost thou remember The Gipsy girl we saw at Córdova Dance the Romalis in the market-place? Hyp. Thou meanest Preciosa. Vict. Ay, the same. Thou knowest how her image haunted me She's in Madrid. And I'm in love. Hyp. And therefore in Madrid when thou shouldst be In Alcalá. Vict. O pardon me, my friend, If I so long have kept this secret from thee; But silence is the charm that guards such treasures, They sink again, they were not meant for us. Hyp. Alas, alas! I see thou art in love. Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak. Thou knowest the proverb. But pray tell me, lover, Write her a song, beginning with an Ave; Ave! cujus calcem clare Vict. Pray do not jest! This is no time for it! I am in earnest! Hyp. Seriously enamoured? What, ho! The Primus of great Alcalá Enamoured of a Gipsy? Tell me frankly, How meanest thou? Vict. I mean it honestly. Hyp. Surely thou wilt not marry her! Why not? Thou wilt not marry her. In truth I will. Vict. Among the filth and rubbish of the world. Set on my forehead like the morning star, The world may wonder, but it will not laugh. Hyp. If thou wearest nothing else upon thy forehead, 'Twill be, indeed, a wonder. Vict. With thy unseasonable jests! Out upon thee, Pray tell me, Not much. What, think'st thou, is she doing at this moment; Vict. She lies asleep, And, from her parted lips, her gentle breath Which means, in prose, Hyp. To see her as she lies in child-like sleep! *From a monkish hymn of the twelfth century, in Sir Alexander Croke's Essay on the Origin, Progress, and Decline of Rhyming Latin Verse, p. 109. |