Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio
Punishment Without Revenge
El castigo sin venganza
Traducción
de
El castigo sin venganza
Traducción inédita de Elizabeth Power, realizada para EMOTHE, 2014.
Joan Oleza Simó
(Investigador principal)
Elizabeth Power
(Traductor)
García Reidy, Alejandro
(Editor)
English · Verso · 2177 versos
https://playcode.fly.dev/plays/EMOTHE0421_PunishmentWithoutRevenge
Prologue
Dear Reader, This tragedy took place in the Court one day for reasons of little interest to your worship. So many were then anxious to see it that I have decided to print it for their satisfaction. The story was written in the Latin, French, German, Tuscan and Castilian tongues, first in prose and now in verse. Your worship shall read it as mine, for it is not printed in Seville, where booksellers, eager for profits, bandy about the names of poets, regardless of their true merits. For there are those who for money ignore the honour of others, whose poorly written books they buy and sell. It is written in Spanish style and not according to classical Greek and Latin rigour, shunning shadows, heralds and choruses, because taste can change precepts just as fashion changes clothes and time changes customs.
The Duke of Ferrara
Count Federico
Albano
Rutilio
Floro
Lucindo
Marquis Gonzaga
Casandra
Aurora
Lucrecia
Batín
Cintia
Febo
Ricardo
ACT I
(The Duke of Ferrara, at night; Febo and Ricardo, servants)
RICARDO
That was some mimicry!
1
FEBO
Indeed it was,
But who’d believe ‘twas the Duke of Ferrara?
2
DUKE
I am afraid I will be recognised.
3
RICARDO
Because it is disguise, all is permitted;
4
Even the heavens can conceal themselves
5
By sometimes resorting to camouflage.
6
What do you think’s the veil that night conceals?
7
An ornamented cape that hides the heavens,
8
And, so as to shed some light, the stars it holds
9
Are silver ornaments; the moon, a cross.
10
DUKE
How can you say such foolery already?
11
FEBO
The poet member of the latest sect
12
Who deem themselves divine has not so thought.
13
RICARDO
If I employ their licence, don’t blame me,
14
I know of one who called the moon a cheese.
15
DUKE
Well, do not think it wrong that poetry
16
Has reached a state so very miserable
17
That it has become a conjuror now
18
–Much sleight of hand and little cognizance–
19
Who can spit out many-coloured gay ribbons.
20
But let us set aside to other ends
21
These jaded themes: that dame is no eyesore.
22
RICARDO
Eyesore, you say? She is in truth a seraph.
23
But there’s an obstacle to overcome.
24
DUKE
What obstacle is that?
25
RICARDO
A certain spouse
Who accepts favours but will offer none.
26
FEBO
He fancies to safeguard appearances.
27
DUKE
Such has e’er been the cruellest pedigree
28
Of those who dwell in this community.
29
FEBO
May he who accepts garments and bijous
30
Have pity on the one who purchased them,
31
For, should his wife’s demise come before his,
32
Half will be his according to the law.
33
RICARDO
It’s true that such people lack charity,
34
Speak devilish tongues and garble words at will.
35
DUKE
These cunning men are cousins of the devil,
36
Who makes them give consent but stalls their acts.
37
RICARDO
Here I could knock but there’s a lot to say.
38
DUKE
How’s that?
39
RICARDO
A devout bawd with two young girls
‘Twixt tender fruit and vines, one pearl, one plate.
40
DUKE
I never trust their outward appearance.
41
RICARDO
Nearby there dwells a lady sweet as pie
42
Fair and dark-skinned.
43
DUKE
But what about her spirit?
RICARDO
The one who picks her clothes and lives with her
44
Does ruminate, downhearted, visitors.
45
FEBO
‘Twas always oxen that would chew the cud.
46
RICARDO
Nearby I’ve seen a woman whose opinion
47
Would make one think she held a law degree.
48
DUKE
Let’s go.
49
RICARDO
She will not open at this hour.
DUKE
Won’t she? And if I tell her who I am?
50
RICARDO
In that case, she’ll be sure to open up.
51
DUKE
Knock on her door without any more fuss!
52
RICARDO
She was expecting someone, for out she sped.
53
(Cintia, from above)
CINTIA
Who goes there at this hour?
54
RICARDO
It is but I.
CINTIA
Who, may I ask, is “I”?
55
RICARDO
A friend, Cintia.
Pray open up, the Duke is here with me,
56
Attracted by the praise I sang of you.
57
CINTIA
The Duke, you say?
58
RICARDO
You doubt my word?
CINTIA
I don’t
Doubt that the duke may have come here with you,
59
But the fact that such an important lord
60
Should come to visit me at this late hour.
61
RICARDO
He comes disguised to see a great lady.
62
CINTIA
Ricardo, if but last month you had said
63
What now you say to me about the Duke
64
You’d have persuaded me he’s at my door.
65
For all his youth he’s lived unworthily,
66
And all his immoral licentiousness
67
Is known to every common man and girl.
68
And since he has not married, to pursue
69
Still this lecherous way of life of his,
70
Not minding whether it is a disgrace
71
To have a bastard heir –though Federico
72
Is quite a worthy youth– well, I’d believe
73
The Duke had come to visit me himself.
74
But now he’s acting as a gentleman
75
And has left his wanton ways to be betrothed,
76
And sent his son to Mantua for Casandra,
77
His wife, he cannot still be running wild
78
While waiting for her to come at any time.
79
And if t’were wantonness in Federico
80
What would it be then in the Duke’s own case?
81
And were you faithful, though he gave you grounds,
82
You would not dare to slur his reputation,
83
For now the Duke, your lord, is fast asleep;
84
And so I close my window, ‘cause I know
85
‘Twas an excuse to engage in conversation.
86
Adieu, farewell, and come again tomorrow.
87
(Exit)
DUKE
To what house of repute you have brought me!
88
RICARDO
I, sir? I’m not to blame.
89
DUKE
‘Twas a mistake
To leave her unrebuked until tomorrow.
90
FEBO
I’ll knock the door down should you so desire.
91
DUKE
I heard you say it!
92
FEBO
It’s Ricardo’s fault.
But if you want to know the current state
93
Of those who are in power, my lord, whether
94
Feared or beloved, forget the smooth-tongued words
95
Of your obsequious man, and clothed by night
96
In simple garments or in a charabanc,
97
Go forth to know their worth. This stratagem
98
Was known to work for many an emperor.
99
DUKE
Listeners don’t hear any good of themselves,
100
And they were, although you speak up for them,
101
Overparticular philosophers,
102
Because the common people are not fit
103
To judge the truth, and it is an error
104
Of ignorant minds to trust the good opinion
105
Of the fickle and the unreliable,
106
Whose premises defeat all laws of reason.
107
A whiner or a discontent will lie
108
To commoners eager for novelties,
109
Whose lowliness will oft impede the news
110
From reaching them, and they have no access
111
To palaces and so can hear no rumours.
112
I say I have lived wanton and unwed,
113
Preferring not to be restrained, and thinking
114
Federico, although a bastard, is my heir;
115
But since I now await Casandra’s coming,
116
Who hies from Mantua in company of my son,
117
I shall forget all else for the time being.
118
FEBO
‘Twill do you well to marry.
119
RICARDO
If you want
Some entertainment, listen at this door.
120
DUKE
Are they singing?
121
RICARDO
Can you not tell?
DUKE
But who
Is it lives here?
122
RICARDO
It is a theatrical manager.
FEBO
And he’s the best in Italy, what’s more.
123
DUKE
They do sing well!
124
And does he perform good plays?
RICARDO
It all depends on whether you’re foe or friend:
125
His friends exalt them with their loud applause
126
His enemies have no good word to say.
127
FEBO
They cannot all be good.
128
DUKE
For my wedding,
Febo, prepare the best rooms and comedies;
129
For I would not like you to commission
130
Anything but the very best of plays.
131
FEBO
We shall put on those praised by wits and lords.
132
DUKE
Are they rehearsing?
133
RICARDO
A lady is speaking.
DUKE
If it is Andrelina, she’s well known.
134
What acting! What passion! And what feeling!
135
(From inside the house)
Away, my thoughts! No more, no more memory
136
That my past glory turns into torment,
137
And I don’t want to recall this distress,
138
I want not memory, I seek oblivion,
139
For these are sad reflections of lost joys
140
Although you claim they mitigate my pain.
141
DUKE
Nice acting!
142
FEBO
Yes, it’s very nice indeed!
DUKE
I’d listen to some more but I am tired.
143
I’m off to bed.
144
RICARDO
So early? It’s just ten.
DUKE
I find it dull.
145
RICARDO
But she is quite unique!
DUKE
I am afraid she’ll have something to say.
146
RICARDO
Something to do with you? How could that be?
147
DUKE
You well know, Ricardo, that comedy’s
148
A mirror where the foolish and the wise,
149
The young, the strong, the brave and monarchs all,
150
And governors, maidens, married women too
151
Are used as an example of life and name,
152
To show our customs, be they loose or pure,
153
By mixing fiction with reality,
154
Delightfulness with disillusionment.
155
May it suffice to say that once I heard
156
One prima donna speak quite ill of me.
157
And now you would persuade me to stay on
158
And hear what this one has to say of me.
159
You should remember that to hear such truths
160
Is not what every gentleman would choose.
161
(Exeunt)
(Federico, dressed in his walking clothes, and Batín, a servant)
BATÍN
I don’t know what it is you wish to do.
162
Why do you stop among these trees, Federico,
163
When you have such important things at hand?
164
FEDERICO
Because I feel so very out of sorts,
165
I am unable, although I would wish,
166
To proceed fast and more attentively.
167
Instead I leave my people in this place
168
And, prey to many thoughts, I stand right here
169
Under the shelter of these trees, whose crowns,
170
Adorning them with apparel of green,
171
Watch o’er the sleeping waves of this river,
172
So musical and cold and crystal clear.
173
I wish I could escape from being myself
174
For I am tired of hearing all about
175
My father’s marriage, when I was quite sure
176
That I would be his rightful heir one day.
177
And though I put a brave face on the act,
178
As is expected, it’s with heavy heart
179
That I am off to Mantua against my will
180
To bring back my stepmother as I’m bid.
181
BATÍN
Despite your father’s vicious way of life,
182
So criticised by all and sundry here,
183
He did fall victim of a virtuous maid
184
And, to assuage his need, must marry her.
185
A vassal, as a gift to the French king,
186
Presented him with an untamed wild horse
187
Endowed with extraordinary grace.
188
Swan was its name, in honour of its coat
189
Of snowy white and of its curly mane,
190
That from the neck that held its dainty head
191
Fell to the ground. Its nature was so wrought
192
As though its model was a lovely girl,
193
But so disdainful in its violence
194
That no horse tamer e’er could harness it.
195
On seeing such beauty and such wild fury,
196
The king had placed a lion in a den
197
And there he put the horse, whose vital spirit
198
Was so intimidated that its mane stood up
199
Around its head, like a white sphere of spears
200
Or a porcupine, whose every spine oozed ice,
201
And the proud steed became so tame and calm
202
That it allowed a tiny dwarf to put
203
A saddle on its back, and from that day
204
It never caused a worry to its grooms.
205
FEDERICO
Batín, I know the best solution for
206
My shameless father would be a marriage,
207
But I cannot help feeling very sad
208
For having harboured these false hopes so long.
209
I know the haughty and the most phlegmatic
210
Can fall under the spell of a lady,
211
And that quite soon this lion proud and brave
212
Will hold within his arms the first-born babe
213
That with its tenderness and babbling words
214
Shall let it take him by his manly beard.
215
Not even a rough and ready farmer looks
216
Upon his crops the way a married man
217
Will look upon his breed, and thus renounce
218
His every act of immorality.
219
But what is it to me if my father
220
Should find a quiet life and leave behind
221
His life of vice, if his offspring inherit
222
His worldly goods, while I, a lowly serf,
223
Must carry in a lion that will destroy me?
224
BATÍN
My lord, all sensible and discreet men,
225
When subject to evils they can’t avoid,
226
Will clothe themselves in patience and good will,
227
Put on a happy face and do their best
228
To show no sign of envy or revenge.
229
FEDERICO
And shall I have to bear a stepmother?
230
BATÍN
No more than you have consented till now
231
All of the Duke’s former conquests. And now
232
You only will have one: a great lady.
233
FEDERICO
What is that din of voices that I hear?
234
BATÍN
There are some people at the river ford.
235
FEDERICO
They’re women. I shall go and see.
236
BATÍN
Stop there!
FEDERICO
Don’t be a coward, it’s the right thing to do.
237
(Exit)
BATÍN
It’s brave indeed to face predicaments.
238
Come Lucindo, Albano and Floro!
239
(Exeunt)
LUCINDO
The count is calling.
240
ALBANO
Where is Federico?
FLORO
I wonder if he’s asking for his horses.
241
BATÍN
The cries of a lady took him away,
242
Dim-witted and quite firm of foot indeed
243
While I follow him close upon his footsteps,
244
Call the others.
245
(Exit)
LUCINDO
Where are you going? Wait!
ALBANO
I think it is a sham.
246
FLORO
And so do I,
Although I certainly can hear the voices
247
Of people walking down by the river.
248
LUCINDO
Federico seems ill disposed to obey
249
His new mistress, although he’s going for her.
250
ALBANO
It’s clear for all to see how sad he feels.
251
(Federico enters with Casandra in his arms)
FEDERICO
I trust you’ll give me leave to carry you here.
252
CASANDRA
I thank you for such courtesy, kind sir.
253
FEDERICO
And I thank my luck for bringing me here
254
To this recondite and secluded copse.
255
CASANDRA
And who, my lord, I pray, are these good folk?
256
FEDERICO
They are the servants who accompany me.
257
Fear not, fair lady, for they’ll serve you too.
258
(Batín enters with the maid Lucrecia in his arms)
BATÍN
Tell me, good woman, how you weigh so much
259
When everybody says you are so light?
260
LUCRECIA
Kind sir, please tell me where you’re taking me.
261
BATÍN
At least I’ll get you out of all this mud
262
The river concentrates upon its banks.
263
I think it played a trick to overturn
264
Your coach as it passed by, so as to have
265
Such gorgeous nymphs within its view.
266
And should it not have been so near dry land
267
You might have found yourselves in grave danger.
268
FEDERICO
Milady, so that I may address you
269
With all of the respect that is your due
270
Please tell me who you are.
271
CASANDRA
Indeed, my lord,
There is no reason why I should not do so.
272
I am Casandra, Duchess of Ferrara,
273
The daughter of the Duke of Mantua.
274
FEDERICO
How can your highness travel quite alone?
275
CASANDRA
I’m not alone, for such could never be.
276
Not far from here awaits Marquis Gonzaga,
277
Whom I implored to leave me on the path
278
And let me cross the river on my own
279
Under this sweltering afternoon sunshine
280
For I believed the shore to be protected
281
By leafy trees, but found it was all wet.
282
‘Twas not so wet that Fortune chose to drown me
283
But wet enough to stop the carriage wheels.
284
Pray tell me, lord, who you may be, although
285
Your presence warrants courtesy and valour,
286
Not I alone would thank you for this favour,
287
But the Marquis and my father would also
288
Be very grateful for you kind rescue.
289
FEDERICO
Once you have given me your sweet hand to kiss,
290
Your Highness will be told just who I am.
291
CASANDRA
You kneel? It is too much! It is not fair
292
That I should let you show such high regard.
293
FEDERICO
Milady, it is fair and it is right,
294
Because I have to tell you I’m your son.
295
CASANDRA
In faith I’ve been quite foolish not to know you.
296
Who else but you would save me from my plight?
297
Embrace me then.
298
FEDERICO
I kiss your hand instead.
CASANDRA
It’s not enough.
299
My arms should pay their debt,
Federico, kind sir and son-in-law.
300
FEDERICO
I thank you in my soul for your kindness.
301
(They speak to each other in low voices and Batín speaks)
BATÍN
Since we have had such luck that this lady
302
Is the person we were to seek in Mantua,
303
All that I need to know is if I’ll call you
304
Your grace, your excellence or milady
305
So that I can adjust my words full well
306
To the honour warranted by your merits.
307
LUCRECIA
Since I was but a child I am, my friend,
308
A servant to the Duchess, her lady’s maid.
309
BATÍN
Are you a maid-in-waiting then?
310
LUCRECIA
I’m not.
BATÍN
You’ll be a would-be maid-in waiting then,
311
That was about to be but never made it.
312
Sometimes the nobles have what you tell me:
313
A kind of wild card, between maids and servants,
314
Who are everything and yet nothing to them.
315
What is your name?
316
LUCRECIA
It is Lucrecia.
BATÍN
From Rome?
317
LUCRECIA
From somewhere much closer than that.
BATÍN
I thank the Lord that I ran into you!
318
Since I have heard your story, my head’s full
319
Of forced restraint and unjust consequence.
320
Did you see Tarquin?
321
LUCRECIA
I?
BATÍN
And if you saw him
What would you do?
322
LUCRECIA
Well, do you have a wife?
BATÍN
Why do you ask?
323
LUCRECIA
So I can seek her counsel.
BATÍN
Your words offend me. Do you know who I am?
324
LUCRECIA
And how could I? What are you renowned for?
325
BATÍN
I can’t believe my fame has not reached Mantua.
326
LUCRECIA
What are your merits? But you must be like
327
Those fools who think they’re famous the world over
328
Though hardly anybody knows their name.
329
BATÍN
May God forbid that such should be my case
330
Or that I envy virtues not my own.
331
I said it out of verve and not because
332
I wish to show off or from arrogance.
333
The truth is that I wish I were well-known
334
Among wise men of science and the arts;
335
Because in common ignorance one’s fame
336
Is just the consequence of foolish acts,
337
For one reaps what one sows, I do declare.
338
CASANDRA
You can’t believe how glad I am to meet you.
339
I little heard to equal what I see:
340
The speech, the manners form the character,
341
My son and lord, in such a way that shows
342
In these your deeds what a huge soul you have
343
That lies within your breast and makes you great.
344
What luck that I got lost on my way here,
345
For it was thanks to that bad luck I met you.
346
As in the angry sea after the tempest
347
You see the beautiful St Elmo’s fire,
348
So was my error night, the river sea,
349
The carriage ship, I pilot, you my star.
350
As from today your mother I shall be,
351
My lord Count Federico, and I beg
352
That you will honour me as such today.
353
I am so happy with you, and my soul
354
Salutes you as a very fond loved one
355
And I’m content to have you for my son
356
More than for being Duchess of Ferrara.
357
FEDERICO
To see you, lovely lady, is enough
358
To fill my heart with reverence for you;
359
I trust your kindness will not hinder me
360
From corresponding to your graciousness.
361
Today the Duke, my lord, cuts me in two,
362
For my first body has been born again
363
So that my soul could occupy its place.
364
For these two births, milady, you’re to blame,
365
I would be born of you to gain my soul;
366
Which, though a gift from God, before you came
367
I knew not where it was; you’ve fashioned me
368
Anew, who hereto lived without a soul.
369
From this you can deduce, that as I wish
370
To be the child you carry, I’ll be the son
371
The Duke expects that you will give birth to.
372
And it is no chimera that I wish
373
To be born as a grown man, and my excuse
374
Is that the eye of heaven that’s the sun
375
Is six thousand years old, and born each day.
376
(Marquis Gonzaga, Rutilio & servants)
RUTILIO
And this is where I left them, sir.
377
MARQUIS
It would
Have been a great misfortune if this man,
378
This cavalier, had not come to her aid.
379
RUTILIO
He sent me off for snow, for his intent
380
Was to cool the bright water, and to bathe
381
Her pure white feet in its precious pearl drops;
382
And thus I was unable to rescue her
383
So the Duchess emerged within his arms;
384
But when I saw them safe on the river bank
385
I ran to call you.
386
MARQUIS
I see the carriage there
Between the water and the silvery sand.
387
RUTILIO
Those willow trees impeded seeing her.
388
But there she is among the gentleman’s crew.
389
CASANDRA
Here come my people!
390
MARQUIS
Milady!
CASANDRA
Marquis!
MARQUIS
Your Highness had us all in quite a state
391
Until this moment. Thank God you are safe.
392
CASANDRA
For that you must thank this gentleman too:
393
His kindly arms rescued me from the fall.
394
MARQUIS
Dear Count, who else could be the one to favour
395
Her who is about to be your mother?
396
FEDERICO
Good Marquis, I would I were a Jupiter
397
That I might become that imperial eagle,
398
Although my feathers were scorched by such sun;
399
Like Phaeton I would have sealed my fate
400
With the Toison clutched in my golden claws,
401
And in my arms I would have borne the treasure
402
Into the arms of her enamoured Duke.
403
MARQUIS
The heavens, Lord, dispose these deeds you see
404
So that Casandra’ll be indebted to you
405
For such courage; and from this moment on
406
The affection ‘twixt the mother and the son
407
Will be renowned all over Italy:
408
For two such enemies can show their truce
409
And even be like two peas in a pod.
410
(The two go on speaking and Casandra and Lucrecia speak in an aside)
CASANDRA
While these two go on talking, tell me please,
411
Lucrecia, what you think of Federico.
412
LUCRECIA
Milady, if you give me your permission,
413
I shall be glad to give you my opinion.
414
CASANDRA
Although I fear what I’m about to hear,
415
I give you my permission.
416
LUCRECIA
Well I say…
CASANDRA
So say it.
417
LUCRECIA
Your luck would be much greater
If the tables were turned.
418
CASANDRA
You’re right, Lucrecia,
And yet the die is cast; and even if
419
With some pretext I should go back to Mantua,
420
I’m sure my father would order me killed,
421
And my folly would be news in all Italy
422
Besides the fact I could not wed Federico.
423
And so it is not right that I return
424
To Mantua, but must go to Ferrara,
425
Wherein I am awaited by the Duke,
426
Whose wanton ways and lecherous customs
427
Come to my ears in detail without fail.
428
MARQUIS
Well! Round up our people and let’s be off
429
Let’s leave this dangerous and barbaric spot.
430
Go on ahead to Ferrara, Rutilio,
431
And tell the Duke all about the event,
432
In case the happy news does not precede us
433
For mishaps travel faster than good news.
434
Let’s go, milady. Prepare the Count’s horse!
435
FLORO
May the grooms get the Count’s horse ready!
436
CASANDRA
Your excellence should travel in my carriage.
437
FEDERICO
Whatever Your Highness ordains I’ll do.
438
(The Marquis leads Casandra out by the hand and Federico and Batín remain)
BATÍN
The Duchess is pretty!
439
FEDERICO
You think so, Batín?
BATÍN
I think she is a lily asking dawn
440
With the four candid tongues that are her petals
441
To give her pearls of dew to slake her thirst.
442
I’ve never seen so fair a gentlewoman.
443
By God, my lord, if this were but the moment
444
To tell you…
445
But they’re mounting the carriage.
FEDERICO
Say nothing, for your quick intelligence
446
Has seen my soul’s desire and flatters me.
447
BATÍN
Is not this fresh young bud, this orange blossom,
448
This bunch of flowers, this amber sugar icing,
449
This Venus, this Helen of Troy, the best for you?
450
I curse all worldly laws that ban her from you!
451
FEDERICO
Let’s go, don’t give them reason to suspect.
452
I’m not the first stepson to fall in love
453
With such a beautiful stepmother.
454
BATÍN
But all you need is patience then, my lord,
455
For after a stormy exchange or two
456
You may well find her anything but fair.
457
(Exeunt)
(Enter the Duke of Ferrara and Aurora, his niece)
DUKE
Federico will meet her on her way
458
If he departed when they say he did.
459
AURORA
He was quite wrong to go because he should
460
Have waited to accompany Your Grace.
461
DUKE
I fear some sadness may’ve delayed his parting
462
For Federico was convinced he’d be
463
My only heir; ‘twas natural he’d think so
464
Because I really do love Federico
465
And my consent to marry was betrayal.
466
It was my vassals who persuaded me
467
To treat him this inconsiderately,
468
Although they said they liked him as their lord
469
Was it because they knew the love I felt
470
For him or they felt that same love themselves?
471
They say those others with a right to claim
472
To be my legal heirs will litigate
473
Or might decide to take up arms against us
474
And if they can’t be otherwise contented
475
Will lay waste to these lands, for vassals pay
476
The highest price for wars in every case.
477
For that reason I gave them my compliance
478
To wed. I felt unable to refuse.
479
AURORA
My lord, you are forgiven; t’was Fortune’s way,
480
But the sad melancholy of the Count
481
Will be alleviated so his trust
482
May be relieved by patience and endurance;
483
Although I’ll give you one word of advice
484
In this confusion, in part to assuage
485
His disappointment and show him your love.
486
Forgive my boldness, but I shall proceed
487
To give you my opinion, for I know
488
Your fondness for me will allow me to.
489
I am, dear Duke, your niece, the daughter of
490
Your brother, whom inexorable death
491
Reaped at an early age, but twenty-five
492
As almond blossom is oft crushed by wind.
493
You reared me in your house, for very soon,
494
My mother too I lost; and I had only you
495
As my dear father, who did guide me through
496
The terrible blind maze of my misfortune.
497
You gave me Federico as a brother,
498
My cousin, whose honest trust and sweet nature
499
During my education, I returned
500
With equal honest fondness and respect.
501
We loved each other throughout all those years
502
And lived what was a single life together.
503
One law, one love, one will, one faith direct us,
504
Which in wedlock will last forever more,
505
When I am Federico’s and he mine.
506
Not even death will dare to cut those ties.
507
Since my beloved father left this world
508
My patrimony has greatly increased;
509
There is no marriage in all Italy
510
To bring such affluence and prominence;
511
And I, as a grandee, don’t look to Spain
512
Nor do I need to set a pike in Flanders.
513
If you will wed him to me, do not fear
514
That he will worry should you have an heir.
515
Although Casandra bears a child, I’ll be
516
The guarantor and safeguard of his wealth.
517
I trust my words will bring you solace now
518
And you will find but comfort in this way.
519
DUKE
Come to my arms, Aurora, for you bring
520
Great light to me; in honour of your name
521
You brighten up the sky with your splendour
522
And sweep away my worries and disquiet.
523
Today you offer me a way, and your advice
524
I see as solving all my doubts and worries.
525
You save my life and honour in this way
526
And so, if he returns your honest love
527
In kind, of course I’ll wed you to the Count;
528
I think you’re right to offer him your hand
529
And I am sure your virtue deserves more.
530
And so if you are both agreed to it
531
We’ll celebrate our marriages together.
532
As soon as the Count comes to Ferrara
533
We’ll have a day of happy celebration.
534
AURORA
I am your daughter and your slave; rest easy
535
For I shall do your bidding every time.
536
(Enter Batín)
BATÍN
My lord, the law would have you give out bounties
537
To him who brings good news; either to me
538
Or to the wind, which spreads such good tidings.
539
I know not which of us arrived the sooner
540
I on the wind or it upon my heels.
541
The Duchess, my lady, is safe and sound;
542
And if it got about that the wild river
543
With foolish daring overturned her coach,
544
The whole event amounted to a scare
545
Because the Count was there to succour her
546
And take her from the water in his arms,
547
Putting an end to that common belief
548
That stepmothers and stepsons never agree
549
But always hate each other from the start.
550
They looked so happy after the mishap
551
They seemed much more like real mother and son.
552
DUKE
I thank you, friend Batín, for this good news,
553
Which is not only good but a surprise.
554
God willing, Federico and Casandra
555
Will get on well and understand each other.
556
Well then, they’ve met, and it was at a time
557
When he could be of service to my bride.
558
BATÍN
I swear, my lord, they both were satisfied.
559
AURORA
I want you to bring news to me as well.
560
BATÍN
The heavens have given you a name, Aurora,
561
That merits telling you all kinds of ready wit.
562
What is it that you wish to ask me then?
563
AURORA
I really want to know if it is true
564
Casandra is so very beautiful.
565
BATÍN
That wish to know befits much more the Duke
566
Than milady, but I think you’re both aware
567
I’ll say no more, for they are almost here.
568
DUKE
Batín, please put this chain around your neck.
569
(Enter among a great crowd Rutilio, Floro, Albano, Lucindo, Marquis Gonzaga, Federico, Casandra and Lucrecia)
FEDERICO
You are to stay, milady, in some chambers
570
Here, in this orchard. Meanwhile Ferrara
571
Is being decked out by the Duke to greet you,
572
Far less than you deserve, but even so
573
More grandly than all Italy has known.
574
CASANDRA
Well, Federico, this silence made me sad.
575
FEDERICO
It is because your coming’s unprepared.
576
FLORO
But here’s the Duke with Aurora to greet you.
577
DUKE
May heaven guard you, my fair Casandra,
578
The lady to whom I offer up these states,
579
That you may long enjoy and honour them.
580
CASANDRA
I have come here to be Your Grace’s slave,
581
Which only brings more honour to my name.
582
My father, honour, motherland and glory
583
I trust will have such merits as to be
584
Worthy of your illustrious lineage.
585
DUKE
Come to my arms, dear Marquis, on this day
586
For it’s to you I owe this precious token.
587
MARQUIS
In her name I’ll accept, and for the part
588
I’ve played in setting up this union;
589
Until the marriage has been consummated
590
I’ll have to hold you to your promises.
591
AURORA
I’m Aurora; so glad to meet Casandra.
592
CASANDRA
Among the pleasures I expect to gain
593
From this my happy fate, I hope that one
594
Of them will be sweet Aurora’s friendship.
595
AURORA
I’ll be so pleased to serve you and to love you
596
That’s all I’m able to respond to you.
597
Oh, Casandra, how lucky is Ferrara
598
To have you as a jewel in its crown!
599
CASANDRA
I am so well received from the beginning
600
That all bodes well for my good fortune here.
601
DUKE
Sit down so that my family and serfs
602
May get to know you.
603
CASANDRA
I shall not reply;
Your every wish is an order for me.
604
(The Duke, Casandra, the Marquis and Aurora sit under a canopy)
CASANDRA
The Count will not be seated?
605
DUKE
No, indeed,
For he shall be the first to kiss your hand.
606
CASANDRA
Forgive me, I can’t bear such servitude.
607
FEDERICO
It is an insult to my love; if not,
608
It would go against my obedience.
609
CASANDRA
Not that.
610
FEDERICO
(I can’t stop trembling here!)
CASANDRA
Please stop.
FEDERICO
Don’t tell me so. Three times I kiss your hand,
611
Milady; one for you, with which I pledge
612
I will be yours as long as I’m alive;
613
The second for the Duke, my lord, to whom
614
I owe obedience; and the third for me,
615
Because, not having any obligation,
616
It is my wish, milady, to assure you
617
That true obedience is that which comes
618
Straight from the soul without all influence.
619
CASANDRA
My arms will gladly take the form of chains
620
To hang around such an obedient neck.
621
DUKE
Federico is indeed intelligent.
622
MARQUIS
Your fame precedes you, beautiful Aurora,
623
For some time I’ve yearned to set eyes on you,
624
And luck would have it that you stand by me
625
So I can tell you in my own true words
626
That you’re so fair I long to wait on you.
627
AURORA
Kind Marquis, I thank you for your esteem.
628
I was familiar with you for your deeds,
629
But did not know you were a gallant man,
630
Although it’s fitting that a brave soldier
631
Be gallant, brave and chivalrous besides.
632
MARQUIS
Well, since you honour me with your favour
633
From this day on I do appoint myself
634
Your servant, and I promise to sustain
635
Before all those who’ve come to Ferrara
636
For these tournaments that I am the one
637
Defending the most beautiful of all.
638
DUKE
It’s fitting that you rest yourself a while.
639
I think it foolish that you waste your time
640
And twice as foolish that I waste the time
641
That I can spend with you and disregard
642
My luck at having time for one I love.
643
(Exit all with great courtesy and Federico and Batín remain)
FEDERICO
What foolish thoughts!
644
BATÍN
Why foolish? What is wrong?
FEDERICO
They are right when they say that life’s a dream
645
For all’s a dream; and not only in sleep
646
But in his waking hours a man imagines
647
That it’s impossible to understand
648
The frenzy of a very feverish man.
649
BATÍN
You are quite right: I often find myself
650
Among a crowd of gentlemen and then
651
I get a sudden urge to slap one’s face
652
Or bite one on the nape of his fat neck.
653
If I’m on someone’s balcony I fear
654
That I am going to fall and break my neck.
655
If I’m in church attending to the sermon
656
I fear I’ll tell the priest it’s plagiary.
657
I feel the need to laugh at funerals
658
And if two fellows there are having fun
659
I’ll often throw a candlestick at them.
660
If they sing I feel inclined to sing as well,
661
And if I catch sight of some fair lady,
662
In my wild fancy, I will oft attempt
663
To take her by the hair, and I will blush
664
As though I had really done all these things.
665
FEDERICO
Good God! I can’t believe what you are saying.
666
What wild ideas or daydreams come to you!
667
“I fancy this, dream that, think otherwise,
668
Promise one thing, say that, invent another!”
669
This madness you must not commit again!
670
BATÍN
Well, don’t you keep your things secret from me?
671
FEDERICO
I’ve done nothing so nothing do I hide;
672
Imaginings are spirits of the body.
673
What has not been nor is to be are things
674
So false that why should I hide them from you?
675
BATÍN
And if I tell you mine, will you refuse me?
676
FEDERICO
Before you can imagine it there’ll be
677
Flowers in the sky and in the garden, stars.
678
BATÍN
I’m right to say you fancy your stepmother
679
And that is why you say these things to me.
680
FEDERICO
Don’t say it! It’s true but I’m not to blame
681
If my imagination runs its course.
682
BATÍN
Your flights of fancy are a true reflection
683
As in a mirror of immortality.
684
FEDERICO
How lucky is the Duke!
685
BATÍN
Indeed he is.
FEDERICO
What’s out of bounds for me I envy him.
686
BATÍN
And well you might, if you could presuppose
687
That Casandra was really meant for you.
688
FEDERICO
Thus I can die from my impossible love
689
And suffer from my possible jealousy.
690
ACT II
(Casandra and Lucrecia)
LUCRECIA
Your Highness has made me feel quite amazed.
691
CASANDRA
No highnesses are sad, and less the lowly.
692
But I would rather be a commoner
693
Who wakes up next a farmer every day
694
And not a lord in fine accoutrements.
695
I wish to God I had been born a peasant
696
So I might find someone who’d cherish me
697
For my own merits and return my love.
698
In that low background as in royalty
699
One savours pleasures that are just as great
700
As those enjoyed by those of lofty birth
701
If love’s effects each night are tantamount.
702
The sun does not shine on a married pair
703
Through stained-glass windows at first light of dawn
704
Embraced with greater love, nor more refreshed
705
Because they lie at rest in marble halls.
706
But the sun’s rays perhaps peeped in at dawn
707
Through broken or cracked walls to shine upon
708
Two bodies that together formed one soul.
709
How lucky she who does not feel disdain
710
But rises happily beside her man;
711
And in the first fountain she comes upon
712
Looks at her image and with both her hands
713
Washes her face instead of drying tears
714
Because her husband is a faithless man
715
However much a duke he claims to be.
716
Only one night I held him in my arms
717
In a whole month; I saw him many more
718
But he had no desire to come to me.
719
Well how can I complain about my lot
720
When I well knew before of his repute?
721
And he would not consent to change his ways
722
Although he went to live in other lands.
723
A man who arrives home at break of day
724
Having done anything that gives him pleasure
725
Is taken for a man who lives quite free;
726
Who is entitled then to clip his wings?
727
But treating his good wife with such disdain,
728
Forgetting all about his marriage vows,
729
Either he makes a point of tempting fate
730
Or he is nothing but an imbecile.
731
The Duke must be of the opinion then
732
That, after tying tight the wedding knot,
733
The wife must be kept like a jewel at home
734
To decorate and beautify the house
735
As though she were a table or a chair.
736
But this is something that I don’t condone
737
For if the husband is exemplary
738
The wife will always be his loyal slave.
739
A woman who behaves with rectitude
740
Wants to be deemed a housewife in her home
741
And not just an old piece of furniture.
742
Suffice it for him not to be beholden
743
Without the need to show discourtesy,
744
And he should give no reason for complaint
745
Rather than later offer remedy.
746
LUCRECIA
Your speech has made me pity you indeed
747
For I can see you have just cause for woe.
748
Who would have thought that after wedding you
749
The Duke would be so vicious, or that he
750
Would show you no respect or gallantry?
751
If we were speaking of a paramour,
752
You could perhaps provoke his jealousy
753
To stimulate again his interest in you:
754
You might show interest in another man
755
To try to win him over once again.
756
But who needs to win over her own spouse?
757
Have you written to your father of your ills?
758
CASANDRA
No, Lucrecia, no other knows my plight.
759
LUCRECIA
According to nature and reason both,
760
It would be better if you’d wooed the Count
761
So, wed to you, the Duke might have no doubt
762
That his grandson would be his rightful heir.
763
The melancholy suffered by the Count
764
Is more than justified, I fear, milady.
765
CASANDRA
It is not his envy for me, Lucrecia,
766
For I shall not be giving him siblings;
767
So Federico can calmly rest assured
768
That I am not the reason for his ills:
769
It is indeed misfortune for us both.
770
(The Duke, Federico and Batín)
DUKE
If I had known that it would make you sad, Count,
771
I’d never have decided to be wed.
772
FEDERICO
My lord, it was quite foolish on my part
773
To feel upset because of your union.
774
I have no doubt at all that you love me.
775
You’re wise enough to know that if your marriage
776
Upset me, I’d be sure to cover up.
777
You can see I am suffering from ill health,
778
But you can’t see what has brought it about.
779
DUKE
Our physicians in Mantua and Ferrara
780
Agree that marriage is the remedy
781
For those affected by melancholy.
782
FEDERICO
It was considered remedy for maidens
783
But not for gentlemen of my esteem.
784
CASANDRA
(The Duke has barely looked at me today.
785
What lack of courtesy and etiquette!
786
LUCRECIA
You cannot blame him if he hasn’t seen you.
787
CASANDRA
Pretending not to see me is despotic.
788
Come on, Lucrecia, one day he’ll be sorry
789
For having treated me with such disdain.)
790
(Exeunt Casandra and Lucrecia)
DUKE
Although I realise I am mistaken
791
Regarding the reason for your poor health,
792
I still believe that the ideal solution
793
Is that you marry the one I propose.
794
FEDERICO
Do you by any chance mean Aurora?
795
DUKE
You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth,
796
As though you had the very same intention.
797
I’ve spoken to the assembly of sages,
798
And they agree it would relieve your woe.
799
FEDERICO
Indeed they know but little of my heart!
800
They vainly do believe I feel dejected
801
But think I am offended for no cause.
802
They know I never disapproved your marriage,
803
But wanted it for your deliverance.
804
DUKE
So I believe and always have believed it,
805
And pay for that obedience, Federico,
806
By feeling self-reproach for having wed.
807
FEDERICO
My lord, so that you will not think me angered
808
For something that’s so easy to explain,
809
To pay you for the love that you profess me
810
I need to know my cousin’s sentiments;
811
And gladly I shall then obey your order
812
For otherwise it would be quite unfair.
813
DUKE
I heard in her own words that she’d be willing.
814
FEDERICO
I know for certain there’s a novelty:
815
And it is that the Marquis of Ferrara
816
Has stayed on in this place to pay her court.
817
DUKE
But what is that to you, my Federico?
818
FEDERICO
One who is due to wed his heart’s desire
819
After another man has paid her court,
820
Can be adjudged to write a palimpsest.
821
DUKE
If men are willing to believe a rumour
822
And lock up womenfolk in castles
823
Only to shelter them from spying eyes;
824
The purest looking glass will become tarnished
825
With your breath if you wish to see yourself,
826
What does it matter if you look with care?
827
For then it can be cleaned and made like new
828
As faultless as it was before you looked.
829
FEDERICO
Your words and wit indeed encourage me.
830
My Lord, when sparkling rays fly forth
831
From someone’s forge and the blacksmith attempts
832
To extinguish the flames that are so caused,
833
He’ll sprinkle water on the raging fire;
834
The flames will rise again rebelliously
835
And the blaze will soon devour the damp surrounds.
836
And thus a spouse who’s not at all aware
837
Of the existence of a previous lover
838
May fan the flames and stimulate desire
839
But only manage to revive the fire.
840
And so I must be wary of a lover
841
For I have no desire to be the water
842
That burns my honour and befouls my name.
843
DUKE
I find you very dull and disrespectful,
844
Dear Count. You speak about Aurora in a way
845
That smacks of rudeness and indecency.
846
FEDERICO
Pray, stay!
847
DUKE
What for?
(Exit)
FEDERICO
Please wait, my lord, I pray.
BATÍN
How cleverly you have gained the Duke’s favour!
848
FEDERICO
I expect nothing but his enmity
849
Because I want to be quite miserable;
850
My desperation has reached such a peak,
851
That nought can save me but my timely death.
852
And should I die, I’d nothing loath come back
853
To die a thousand times each new life gained.
854
I feel so bad that I don’t dare to live
855
Or die, because I’d see that coming back
856
To life was only just to die once more.
857
And if I’m not inclined to kill myself
858
It is because I am so sick at heart
859
That death means less than life can mean to me.
860
BATÍN
According to your words, my dearest Count,
861
You neither want to live nor yet to die;
862
For you are rather a hermaphrodite
863
Not knowing whether to choose life or death:
864
Just as a hermaphrodite is a blend
865
Of two sexes; you’re one of life and death.
866
But, God Almighty knows that your despair
867
Obliges me to ask you why you’re sad
868
Or give me leave to go away and moan
869
Because I am condemned for being loyal.
870
Please give me your hand so I may kiss it.
871
FEDERICO
Batín, if I could tell you what is wrong,
872
I might be able to put an end to it;
873
But my unhappiness is not cerebral,
874
And only has relation with my sense.
875
When I attempt to talk to comfort me
876
I’m given pause each time I realise
877
From tongue to soul there’s such a great distance.
878
Be off, if you so wish, and leave me here
879
For there is no sign of relief for me.
880
(Enter Casandra and Aurora)
CASANDRA
What is the reason for your tears, my dear?
881
AURORA
Your Grace, do you not think it cause enough
882
That I am spurned and ignored by the Count?
883
He says I am in love with the Marquis,
884
That I’m in love with Carlos Gonzaga.
885
Me? How? But no, I know what it’s about:
886
He wants to go to Spain in his disgust
887
At seeing his father’s marriage to Casandra.
888
Before I was the apple of his eye
889
But now his eye shows nothing but dislike.
890
What new auroras brought with them the day
891
When the Count stopped inquiring for Aurora?
892
In what garden or at what fresh fountain
893
Did he not speak to me of his desire?
894
Were not my lips and brow bright flowers to him?
895
When did he start to move away from me?
896
What instant did he feel alive without me?
897
How could he live should I not hearten him?
898
Living day after day makes love stronger
899
Between two souls that love has made as one.
900
This has been going on since we were young,
901
This love he now has killed with his betrayals.
902
So strong was his desire for his lost legacy!
903
CASANDRA
I’m sorry I’m to blame for this, Aurora,
904
But try to harness your disquietude
905
While I talk to him; although I must say
906
It is not easy to assuage jealousy.
907
AURORA
Jealousy?
908
CASANDRA
With the Marquis, so says the Duke.
AURORA
Your Grace, you must believe that melancholy
909
Is neither caused by love nor jealousy.
910
(Exit Aurora)
CASANDRA
Federico!
911
FEDERICO
It is I, milady,
Give me your hand so that your slave may kiss it.
912
CASANDRA
Down on your knees? Dear Count, don’t bow so low
913
For I indeed shall call you Excellency.
914
FEDERICO
Thus you would mortify my love for you;
915
I will not rise till you give me your hand.
916
CASANDRA
Here are my arms. What’s wrong with you today?
917
Whatever is it that you’ve seen in me?
918
You’re trembling! Do you know how I love you?
919
FEDERICO
My soul informed my heart, and then my heart
920
Informed my face, which caused the blush you see.
921
CASANDRA
Will you leave us alone a while, Batín?
922
I’d like to have a few words with the Count.
923
BATÍN
(The Count is addled and I wonder why
924
Casandra wishes to hold forth with him alone!)
925
(Exit)
FEDERICO
(Oh, Heavens! As I die like a phoenix,
926
Put out the flames at once or I shall have
927
To suffer another life just like this one.)
928
CASANDRA
Federico, although I know the words
929
Aurora said about your fervent care,
930
After the arrival in Ferrara of
931
Marquis Carlos, the reason you’ll not wed,
932
I can hardly believe you make so little
933
Of your merits, which are, as wise men say,
934
Mistrust and envy; he is more soldierly,
935
Although the Marquis is gallant indeed,
936
Than a chivalrous courtier. It so happens
937
That I believe your sadness and reserve,
938
The consequence of the Duke’s marrying me,
939
Taking away from you your every right,
940
As soon as I give birth, to his estate,
941
Makes me the cause of all your misfortune.
942
Right here and now I’ll set your mind at rest,
943
For you can rest assured you’ll have no siblings
944
Because the Duke has only married me
945
To make his subjects happy; his libido
946
—I cannot call it by another name—
947
One single night did bring him to my bed
948
—Which satisfied his needs for many years—
949
And our bodies came together in love.
950
And now he has returned to past delights
951
With more frenzy than ever after me.
952
As a runaway horse avoids drumbeat,
953
Because I want to use a tasteful term,
954
And leaves bits of his trappings all around:
955
Thus pieces of his bit become scattered
956
Spreading around him drops of foamy spittle,
957
Here are the reins and there the snaffle strap,
958
Here the crownpiece and there the snaffle bit;
959
So goes the Duke, his marriage vows infringed,
960
With common whores spreading his seed about.
961
There go his fame, trophies, triumphal arches,
962
His titles and ancestors’ reputation.
963
There go valour, good health and time wasted
964
Turning nights into days with foul lechery.
965
So it is clear that you can rest assured
966
That you will still inherit his estate,
967
Or I shall write a letter to my father
968
Saying that more than spouse he is a tyrant
969
And he will come and free me from this cell
970
That is his palace, if death does not come
971
And put an end to all these outrages.
972
FEDERICO
Your Grace did start off by berating me
973
But then you finished off your speech in tears
974
And causing even a heart of stone great grief.
975
What’s this? No doubt you see me as the son
976
Of him who has given you so much pain;
977
But I will have you know I’m not his son
978
As far as his behaviour is concerned.
979
If you believe the words that I have spoken
980
I am surprised you still think my anguish
981
Is caused by such unworthy lucubrations.
982
Does Federico need wealth to be himself?
983
Will not my cousin, if I marry her,
984
Also provide me with a rich estate?
985
Or if I should decide to take my sword
986
Against some prince and oust him from our land
987
Would I not gain the spoils I take from him?
988
My sadness is not caused by interest
989
And though it takes me longer than it should
990
I’d have you know, milady, that my life
991
Is sadder far than any human being’s
992
Since Cupid put his arrows in his bow.
993
I’m dying now without a remedy;
994
My life is ending slowly like a candle
995
And I beg death in vain that it not wait
996
Until the wax has totally been spent,
997
But show some mercy to me and blow out
998
The flame and extinguish quickly my life.
999
CASANDRA
Please dry your tears, gracious Federico,
1000
God has not endowed men with tears but spirits.
1001
Nature associates weeping with women
1002
As their birthright, because they lack backbone.
1003
Not so with men, who in one case may cry
1004
And that is when they’ve relinquished their honour
1005
While they are wreaking vengeance on their foe.
1006
I curse Aurora and her jealousy,
1007
For she has brought a valiant, prudent man,
1008
So sweet and full of dignity, to such
1009
A sorry state.
1010
FEDERICO
It’s not true it’s Aurora.
CASANDRA
Well then, who is it?
1011
FEDERICO
It’s the sun itself,
Auroras I see at every light of day.
1012
CASANDRA
It’s not Aurora?
1013
FEDERICO
My sights are set higher.
CASANDRA
A woman who’s seen and spoken to you
1014
And you’ve declared your love to her outright
1015
Cannot be cruel enough to disdain you!
1016
Don’t you see that’s the opposite effect
1017
That seems impossible for such a cause?
1018
FEDERICO
If you knew the impossible you’d say
1019
I’m made of marble, because I survive
1020
Though my survival is a miracle.
1021
Did Phaethon not dare to confront the sun
1022
With his chariot of gold? And what about
1023
That other who stuck feathers on his back
1024
Which were soon scattered by the wind and heat
1025
And sent him tumbling to his doom below?
1026
What Bellerophon saw when he was mounted
1027
Upon his steed Pegasus, made the world
1028
Look like a dot among the other stars.
1029
The Greek Synon employed a pregnant horse
1030
Filled with armed enemies to enter Troy,
1031
Which was the cause of its downfall at last.
1032
And Jason tried to be the first to cross
1033
Reckless the sea aboard Argus’ vessel?
1034
Can any of these equal my madness?
1035
CASANDRA
Good Count, are you in love with a bronze statue
1036
An alabaster nymph or goddess then?
1037
The souls of women do not wear cold jasper;
1038
A thin light curtain covers human thoughts.
1039
Love never called to any soul with such
1040
Great qualities that it did not respond:
1041
“Here I am, but please enter gingerly.”
1042
Declare your love, and be she who she may,
1043
For the Greeks had good reason to depict
1044
Venus enamoured of a satyr or faun.
1045
The moon is higher, but for Endymion
1046
She often came down from her silver seat
1047
To Mount Latmus to visit him asleep.
1048
Take my advice, dear Count, speak up at once
1049
Don’t hold your tongue, for the purest fortress
1050
Of all has entrances made out of wax.
1051
FEDERICO
The hunter cleverly kindles a fire
1052
Around the nest of a large pelican,
1053
And he, beating his wings with wild abandon,
1054
Climbs down the tree to rescue his offspring;
1055
But by beating his wings he fans the flames
1056
Instead of quenching it as he had wished;
1057
And finally his wings are sorely burnt
1058
So he is captured quickly on the ground
1059
Because he cannot fly up in the air.
1060
My thoughts, which are the offspring of my love,
1061
Which I maintain within the nest of silence,
1062
Are being burnt, milady, without fail;
1063
My love tries beating wings to rescue them,
1064
The fire grows and devours him entirely.
1065
You deceive me and I am burnt alive;
1066
You lead me on and I forget myself;
1067
You hearten me and I rush off in fright;
1068
You exhort me and I escape confused;
1069
You free me and I manacle myself;
1070
You take me off but I remain behind;
1071
You teach me but I am afraid to act,
1072
Because I feel I’m in such grave danger
1073
That I consider that the lesser evil
1074
Would be for me to die –for die I must–
1075
Still suffering and saying not a word.
1076
(Exit Federico)
CASANDRA
Neither heaven nor earth can ever see
1077
A matter of greater complexity
1078
Than worries caused by man’s imagination.
1079
It turns fire into ice and shifts the image
1080
Of desire, where war and peace and tempest
1081
And tranquillity are waged, and is a thing
1082
That, more than inform the soul, deceives it.
1083
These obscure attempts, these clear confusions,
1084
Rather than clarify my doubts with reasons
1085
Have left me submerged in a quandary.
1086
What tempests do winds move that are more changing
1087
Than these forced truths in an imagination?
1088
Because the worst tempests in all the world
1089
Are those that take their course within the soul.
1090
When I’m inclined to fancy I’m the object
1091
Of what the Count desires with all his heart,
1092
The same deceit tells me what I imagine
1093
Is nothing but impossibility.
1094
My cruel fate shows me my matrimony
1095
And I accept these feelings that I have
1096
For there is nothing so impossible
1097
That the eyes of the conscience can’t peruse.
1098
So many things are happening together,
1099
This loves comes after an unfaithful spouse,
1100
I think all this has come to drive me mad.
1101
The impossible seems easy so I think
1102
That I’m avenging infidelity;
1103
But as this is such an unfair error
1104
I am afraid my love for Federico
1105
Will be avenged yet by my husband’s sword.
1106
The Count has many natural virtues,
1107
But I should be quite mad if I gave in
1108
Without restraint to such a wild passion.
1109
I want no more of this foolish confusion!
1110
Oh holy heavens, come to my defence,
1111
Although it would be justice to believe
1112
That in the world there’d be no man of honour
1113
If t’were offence to imagine offence.
1114
Thus far neither mi honour nor my thoughts
1115
Have betrayed me; all that I consented
1116
Was but a figment of imagination.
1117
It is a misdemeanour, not dishonour,
1118
Before God to consent to imagine.
1119
God sees and judges all our mental process
1120
But our honour cannot be compromised
1121
Unless it comes into the public eye.
1122
(Enter Aurora)
AURORA
Your Grace and the Count had a lengthy talk,
1123
What did he say?
1124
CASANDRA
He’s grateful for your love.
Rest assured, Aurora, and don’t be jealous.
1125
(Exit Casandra)
AURORA
What scant comfort you give my ardent wishes!
1126
How can one who adored my very thoughts
1127
Now feel so very much disheartened
1128
Because he’s lost the possibility
1129
Of inheriting the name of Ferrara?
1130
Love is powerful; the soul takes little notice
1131
Of life and honour, but seeks you alone.
1132
And Federico, who once loved me well,
1133
Is maddened by the sadness he imagines
1134
About Casandra’s future progeny.
1135
But he faked jealousy to cover up
1136
The truth, and it is wont to stimulate
1137
Recondite love, so I shall try to make him
1138
Jealous by faking love for the Marquis.
1139
(Enter Rutilio and Marquis)
RUTILIO
With a rival such as this your crazy hopes
1140
Will never manage to attain their purpose.
1141
MARQUIS
Do hold your tongue, Rutilio, here’s Aurora.
1142
RUTILIO
And you’re beside yourself despite such change.
1143
(Exit)
MARQUIS
Aurora, since the bright day my eyes gave you,
1144
With my soul as your spoils, my liberty;
1145
Aurora, sent by the sun when night-time falls
1146
Upon my misery; who paints with bright colours
1147
All the pretty flowers that come into bloom,
1148
Dawn comes with pearls and roses from your lips.
1149
Since the day I came here from Mantua,
1150
Unluckily I fell for your beauty,
1151
Which no mortal man can ever resist.
1152
How badly did I predispose my sham
1153
Although my soul adores you, milady,
1154
But it only makes you quickly tire of me
1155
So that I may find sadness within you
1156
When I so eager sigh for you, Aurora.
1157
It was not sadness that I should see you,
1158
For brightness never could be without cheer,
1159
But that my love should cause you to forget.
1160
I’ve organised my parting as the answer;
1161
Escaping from your cruelty, I shall seek
1162
Resistance in the miracles of absence
1163
And in the vengeance of another love.
1164
Give me your hand and let me go away.
1165
AURORA
A lover or a courtesan who takes
1166
So much to heart the first repudiation
1167
Will not die of melancholy, Marquis.
1168
Favours are not the stuff of early loves
1169
But first the lovers must learn to love well.
1170
You little love, you little suffer then;
1171
But in this inequality, as freely
1172
As you request permission to depart
1173
I order you to stay and not to leave.
1174
MARQUIS
Milady, you tell me with much bounty
1175
To wait, although it seems like cruelty,
1176
Not the ten years the Greek beleaguered Troy,
1177
Nor yet the seven Laban promised Rachel,
1178
But never-ending centuries I’ll wait
1179
Like Tantalus, torn between doubt and faith.
1180
I will request rewards for my high hopes.
1181
AURORA
One must gain merits to achieve one’s goal.
1182
(Enter Duke, Federico and Batín)
DUKE
The Pope’s epistle summons me to Rome.
1183
FEDERICO
And does he name the reason in his letter?
1184
DUKE
That my reply be, Count, to leave at once.
1185
FEDERICO
If you don’t want to say, sir, I’ll not ask.
1186
DUKE
When do I fail to tell you all, dear Count?
1187
I can just say I suspect, with the wars
1188
Waging now in Italy, he may want me
1189
To be a general of the Church to lead
1190
The large army he intends to gather;
1191
I think as well that he would like me to
1192
Contribute money to the cause, unless
1193
He changes his mind about appointing me.
1194
FEDERICO
I’m not surprised you hid the facts from me
1195
If you intended to depart without me;
1196
A more loyal soldier you would never have
1197
To accompany you than your only son.
1198
DUKE
That cannot be, for it would not be fair
1199
To leave my house unattended, dear Count.
1200
No one can care for it like you, so you
1201
Must stay; that is my reason and my wish.
1202
FEDERICO
I do not want to disobey you, father,
1203
But what will Italy think if I don’t go?
1204
DUKE
That this is the proper way to reign supreme
1205
And that I cannot count on my son’s aid.
1206
FEDERICO
A sign of prudence is my obedience!
1207
(Exit Duke)
BATÍN
While you were talking to the Duke awhile
1208
I saw Aurora talk to the Marquis
1209
Without paying any attention to you.
1210
FEDERICO
To the Marquis?
1211
BATÍN
Why yes, my lord, to him.
FEDERICO
And do you think it matters very much?
1212
AURORA
This sash is a sure token of first favour.
1213
MARQUIS
’Twill be a chain around my neck, milady,
1214
A handcuff on my arm never to leave it.
1215
If you would but request me to wear it
1216
The favour would be doubly accepted.
1217
AURORA
(Although it is a paramour’s vengeance,
1218
It seems just like an insult to my love.)
1219
Because its proprietor is much better,
1220
I beg of you to wear it all the time.
1221
BATÍN
A marvellous invention of nature was
1222
To make women fickle, because if they were not
1223
–Just some of them, I say, and not them all–
1224
The men who love them would idolise them.
1225
Can you not see the sash?
1226
FEDERICO
What sash is that?
BATÍN
What sash? That is a funny thing indeed!
1227
A sash that once was hers, the graceful one,
1228
Planets revolving round the morning sun;
1229
And now, as in an eclipse, the Marquis
1230
Is wearing that token over his shoulder.
1231
I recall it was the apple of discord,
1232
When Paris stood before the three goddesses.
1233
FEDERICO
But those were different times from this, Batín.
1234
AURORA
Come, I beg you enter the garden with me.
1235
(Exeunt both [Aurora and Marquis])
BATÍN
How freely does he take her hand in his!
1236
FEDERICO
But what do you expect if they’re soul mates?
1237
BATÍN
Is that your answer?
1238
FEDERICO
What would you have me say?
BATÍN
If one swan cannot contend with another
1239
But flies off with its sash to distant waters;
1240
Should a cock surprise a rival with its hens,
1241
It’ll tear the crest of its crown with its beak,
1242
And fluffing up its own crest and its wattle,
1243
Will try to vanquish it in the night’s singing.
1244
How then can you bear it that the Marquis
1245
Is ready to rob you of your amour?
1246
FEDERICO
Because the best vengeance against fair maids
1247
Who provoke men is just to let them be,
1248
For he who risks his honour may lose it.
1249
BATÍN
Give me, I beg, a copy of this code
1250
Of honour and behaviour for young men,
1251
Because I’d like to learn it off by heart.
1252
No, Count, your patience is a mystery;
1253
Your thoughts of love are jugs in a chain well:
1254
The first one leaves the water that the second
1255
Takes up as soon as it is left inside.
1256
You have a new love to replace Aurora;
1257
If there’s too much water, how can it be
1258
That one can still attend another jug?
1259
FEDERICO
You’re being quite impertinent, Batín,
1260
Because with cautious force you dare to know
1261
What I myself don’t understand about me.
1262
Go in and find out what the Duke is doing
1263
And ask him all about his travel plans.
1264
BATÍN
You call me foolish without cause enough
1265
Because it is more foolish still by far
1266
To give you cause to feel more anguish now.
1267
(Exit)
FEDERICO
What are you after, impossible thought?
1268
What do you want, what do you lead me to?
1269
Why do you strip me of my senseless life
1270
Up there where you are really out of place?
1271
Hold still the wandering movement that pursues
1272
The death of both; just let me rest awhile
1273
And do not let this glorious hope end sadly.
1274
No vanquished thought can grow without an aim,
1275
But if you give it hope it will endure.
1276
For him who loves and tries all is possible
1277
And only you appeared before my eyes
1278
As something forever impossible.
1279
(Enter Casandra)
CASANDRA
Between affronts and vengeance love’s desirous
1280
After such fickleness that has aroused
1281
Ill-born expectations against my honour.
1282
Love tries to bring close the inaccessible,
1283
But joy cannot be based on the impossible.
1284
In this my inclination towards betrayal
1285
Caused by the Duke’s blatant debauchery,
1286
I speculate with every kind of madness
1287
To wreak a just revenge upon my spouse.
1288
I’ll have the gallant Count, his son and heir,
1289
To be the instrument of my revenge,
1290
For so much indiscriminate wantonness
1291
Can best be paid with total secrecy.
1292
I saw he was embarrassed when he spoke
1293
And even hesitant to speak his mind
1294
Although, is it a greater insolence
1295
For a man to speak without using words?
1296
My soul rejoiced so much at his dilemma
1297
Because I feel inside me if it’s love
1298
It’s not betrayal after the Duke’s affairs,
1299
And in my desperation I’ll not be
1300
The last enamoured or the first unchaste.
1301
Fathers have had relations with their daughters
1302
And brothers have lain with their sisters too;
1303
Therefore my wishes are not so abnormal
1304
And my decision is not culpable.
1305
But it is no excuse for such an offence
1306
That I should mention others similar;
1307
Because to sin it’s not legitimate
1308
To follow examples that are also crimes.
1309
Ah, here’s the Count, alas! But what’s my fear
1310
Now that my mind has been made up at last?
1311
FEDERICO
Here comes the naked blade that stole my life.
1312
Oh, what divine beauty!
1313
CASANDRA
Are you still sad,
Federico?
1314
FEDERICO
I must answer Your Grace
That haplessly my sadness is immortal.
1315
CASANDRA
Your health will suffer from melancholy.
1316
FEDERICO
I have some foolish ailments, milady,
1317
That I can only say are mine alone.
1318
CASANDRA
If I can be of help, please count on me:
1319
My love for you is greater still than yours.
1320
FEDERICO
I’d count on you but I’m afraid to do so.
1321
CASANDRA
You told me that love was your malady.
1322
FEDERICO
My joy and misery are the consequence.
1323
CASANDRA
I’ll tell you an old story; it will prove
1324
That love requires a lot of gallantry.
1325
When with his step-mother he fell in love,
1326
Antiochus fell gravely sad and ill.
1327
FEDERICO
If he was wise he’d have laid down and died
1328
For I am more disconsolate than he.
1329
CASANDRA
The king, his father, quite preoccupied,
1330
Sent for as many doctors as he could
1331
But it was all in vain, because the cause
1332
Was not a single woman from the court.
1333
But Erasistratus, wiser than Galen
1334
And Hippocrates, examined the prince,
1335
And found out that his malady was lodged
1336
In some place between his heart and his lips.
1337
He took his pulse and made all the ladies
1338
In palace walk before him one by one.
1339
FEDERICO
Milady, I suppose some spirit spoke.
1340
CASANDRA
When the stepmother came into the room
1341
The doctor noticed that she was the cause
1342
Because his pulse began to race wildly.
1343
FEDERICO
What a strange way to act!
1344
CASANDRA
That’s what they say!
FEDERICO
And did they find a remedy for him?
1345
CASANDRA
Do not deny, Count, you show the same signs.
1346
FEDERICO
And are you angry then?
1347
CASANDRA
I am not, sir.
FEDERICO
But do you feel pity for me?
1348
CASANDRA
I do.
FEDERICO
Well, milady, I’ve got to such a stage
1349
Where I no longer fear God or the Duke,
1350
For my impossible infatuation
1351
Has brought me to a state of desperation.
1352
And finally, milady, I am left
1353
Without me, without you and without God:
1354
Without God because I so desire you;
1355
Without me because I am without you,
1356
Without you because I don’t possess you.
1357
And just in case you do not understand,
1358
I’ll make a speech explaining my reasons
1359
So that you may discover you’re to blame
1360
For making me a victim of such passion.
1361
Although, Your Grace, to cease to be they say
1362
Is a great ill, I’d rather cease to be
1363
Than see myself in such a sorry state
1364
As I see myself reduced because of you.
1365
I find myself in this predicament:
1366
With no desire to see if I still am
1367
The same one as I was before, though I’ve
1368
No mortal wish to see myself at all,
1369
Thus finally, milady, I am left.
1370
I dare not say I am the one I am,
1371
And I am now enduring such a state
1372
That still I don’t remember any more
1373
That I owe God the life I give to you.
1374
We’re both to blame for my state of non-being
1375
Because forgotten by yourself I am
1376
Without me, without you and without God.
1377
Without me is not much, for there’s no life
1378
If you don’t pray for it to God for me,
1379
But without God, what life can my love have?
1380
If I continue wanting you and He says
1381
I should renounce the beauty I see in you,
1382
It’s more than clear that I shall find myself
1383
Without God because I so desire you.
1384
What awful madness it is to conserve
1385
One’s life at such a great profundity
1386
When a man can no longer live his life
1387
In you, in God Almighty or himself!
1388
What are we two to do in consequence
1389
Since I lost God for you, for you’re my god;
1390
Without my God, because you are within me,
1391
Without me because I am without you?
1392
I’ll suffer anything to favour you.
1393
I feel love, you feel only disdain;
1394
So much so, I can say without restraint
1395
Look who you’re with and look who you’re without!
1396
Without you and without me I contend
1397
With very little confidence, I fear,
1398
Without me, ’cause in you I see no hope
1399
Without you because I don’t possess you.
1400
CASANDRA
When I imagine, Count, God and the Duke,
1401
I must confess I tremble in some panic
1402
For I see human power and divine
1403
Joined together to form excessiveness;
1404
But seeing that love is pardoned in the world,
1405
I feel less guilty, for such just pardon
1406
Makes culpability seem so much less.
1407
I’ve been given a great deal of examples
1408
That were considered serious misdeeds,
1409
Because all those who wished to leave the path
1410
Always take as their models those who sinned
1411
And never those others who felt remorse.
1412
If there can be a remedy for this
1413
It is not to attempt to see and talk,
1414
Or otherwise our lives will have to end
1415
Or our love will have to be overpowered.
1416
Run far away from me, for I don’t know
1417
If I’ll succeed in running far from you
1418
Or this will lead me to my suicide.
1419
FEDERICO
Milady, I shall die: it is the best
1420
That I can do for me. I want no life;
1421
Already I’m a body without a soul
1422
So I shall be off now to seek my death,
1423
Although I do not think I’ll find it yet
1424
Because of the pleasure I indulge in.
1425
All I ask is that you give me your hand;
1426
To give me the poison that has killed me.
1427
CASANDRA
I condemn any principle if I ignite
1428
The gunpowder, my good Federico.
1429
Go with God.
1430
FEDERICO
What cruel betrayal this is!
CASANDRA
I was quite determined, but it is wise
1431
To warn a hand takes venom to the heart.
1432
FEDERICO
You were a mermaid to me, Casandra,
1433
You sang your song so as to allure me
1434
Into the sea where you put me to death.
1435
CASANDRA
I must go fast away from here! Honour,
1436
Take care! My good name, resist all temptations!
1437
FEDERICO
I’m scarcely able to walk away from here.
1438
CASANDRA
I’ve lost my soul and all my senses too.
1439
FEDERICO
Oh, this is strange and dreadful derangement!
1440
CASANDRA
I’m dying of love for you while I leave here.
1441
FEDERICO
I’m not, because I am already dead.
1442
CASANDRA
Beloved Count, you’ll be the death of me.
1443
FEDERICO
And yet, although I’m dead, I’m glad to say,
1444
That even though I’m losing you forever,
1445
My soul’s immortal and will always love you.
1446
ACTO III
(Aurora and the Marquis)
AURORA
What I have told you is the honest truth.
1447
MARQUIS
There is no way that you can persuade me.
1448
Make sure we can’t be heard: watch what you say.
1449
AURORA
I wished to give you this sad news, Marquis,
1450
So as to ask you for your kind advice.
1451
MARQUIS
In what predicament was it you saw
1452
Casandra and Federico?
1453
AURORA
Hear me.
I do confess I loved the Count myself
1454
And I can assure you that he loved me,
1455
But he betrayed me like the Greek Ulysses.
1456
In time our love increased; plans were being made
1457
For our wedding when Casandra was brought here,
1458
Trusting in given words, if men’s promises
1459
Are to be trusted among their equals.
1460
Federico went off to bring her here
1461
And he came back so sad that when the Duke
1462
Wanted to know his ills, and I told him
1463
Our straits, he said he was jealous of you;
1464
And as love permits one to cause mistrust
1465
When things are going badly, I did try
1466
To make him jealous of you, dear Carlos.
1467
But my attempt had just the same effect
1468
As on a diamond, because jealousy
1469
Makes no mark when the subject’s not in love.
1470
Well, seeing myself repudiated so
1471
And Federico not in love with me,
1472
I sought to find out what had been the cause
1473
And, as jealousy has very keen eyes
1474
That can even see through walls, I found it out.
1475
Casandra’s dressing table is adorned
1476
With portraits, ornaments and mirrors too
1477
Along with two strongboxes in her chamber.
1478
With my suspicions silently I went
1479
And saw, oh, horror! there before my eyes
1480
Reflected in a glass, how my false Count
1481
Was kissing Casandra upon the lips.
1482
This made me run to weep for my heartache
1483
And also that of the two blind lovers,
1484
Who seem to be competing in their love
1485
And their disdain in absence of the Duke
1486
And there they show for every eye to see
1487
The greatest shamelessness upon this earth.
1488
I thought the looking glass that showed their kiss
1489
Darkened the image to conceal such lust;
1490
But since love is a deal more curious,
1491
Their infamous affair continues still
1492
Much to the discredit of the poor Duke.
1493
They say he returns victorious from the fray
1494
With laurel branches adorning his brow
1495
For the most glorious of feats of arms
1496
With which the Pope puts down the enemy.
1497
Do please tell me what course I am to take
1498
In such a case. I suffer from suspicions
1499
Of worse harm still, if what you say is true
1500
And you sincerely love me, I’m afraid
1501
You’ll imitate the Count and leave me too.
1502
MARQUIS
Aurora, only death cannot be vanquished
1503
And although many Phoenixes revive
1504
Because they say they do not die at all
1505
Those who live only for their own repute.
1506
Go tell the Duke to marry us and if
1507
He says yes we’ll be off to Mantua,
1508
Where you will be completely out of danger.
1509
If a tiger throws itself into the sea
1510
Unable to withstand the dreadful pain
1511
Of having hunters murder its offspring,
1512
What will not do Achilles of Ferrara
1513
To preserve both his honour and good name?
1514
How do you think he’ll wipe that ugly stain
1515
Forever more unless he seeks bloodshed,
1516
If heaven does not first chastise his sins
1517
By having forks of lightning strike him down?
1518
So this is the advice I give to you.
1519
AURORA
My troubled mind is glad to accept it.
1520
MARQUIS
The glass mirror will be Medusa’s shield
1521
In which this new Circe saw the vile kiss.
1522
(Federico and Batín)
FEDERICO
He didn’t want to wait for a reception?
1523
BATÍN
As soon as he saw the outskirts of Mantua,
1524
He left his people and rode in alone,
1525
Not even wanting you to be alerted;
1526
Love finds it hard to check his need to see you
1527
There is no greater love for the Duchess.
1528
You are indeed the sunshine of his eye
1529
And his patience has known four months’ eclipse.
1530
Dear Count, prepare the triumphal parade
1531
For everyone who enters, for the troops
1532
Shall come adorned with myriad trophies.
1533
FEDERICO
I always see Aurora with the Marquis.
1534
AURORA
How dashing he is!!
1535
FEDERICO
With such mild disdain
Do you attempt to calm my discontent?
1536
AURORA
The Marquis taunted you successfully:
1537
You seem to waken from four months of sleep!
1538
MARQUIS
Good Count, I am afraid I did not know
1539
You felt the way you tell me now you do.
1540
I’ve courted Aurora in the belief
1541
That there was no competitor but me,
1542
But had I known that my rival was you
1543
I’d have been loath to match myself with you.
1544
You know I never saw you pursue her,
1545
But if it is your wish I’ll leave her to you
1546
Because your merits greatly outstrip mine.
1547
(Exit Marquis)
AURORA
What is it that you are trying to do?
1548
What frenzy has possessed you without love?
1549
How often have you seen the Marquis with me
1550
Since you became so sad and long after,
1551
And yet you did not deign to look at me,
1552
And much less did you deign to woo me?
1553
And now you show your jealousy to me
1554
When I’m about to wed the one I love?
1555
Dear Count, that’s quite enough of this nonsense.
1556
Let me be married and please realise
1557
That I shall die before I shall pretend.
1558
Go back to being sad again, dear Count,
1559
Go back to your previous tranquillity,
1560
For I have suffered very profoundly
1561
For the cruel way in which you treated me.
1562
I have such sentiments for you no longer.
1563
God spare me from deceit and sophistry!
1564
Upon your life, it’s too late now to use me!
1565
(Exit Aurora)
BATÍN
What have you done?
1566
FEDERICO
Good Lord, I do not know!
BATÍN
You remind me of Emperor Tiberius
1567
If you’ve no reason to split up this pair.
1568
After he had his wife assassinated
1569
He called her to sit down and eat with him.
1570
And Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general
1571
Who was unable to recall his name.
1572
FEDERICO
And I cannot recall that I’m a man.
1573
BATÍN
Or you are like that peasant who, after
1574
Two years of wedlock with his country lass,
1575
Came out and told her: “What black eyes you have!”
1576
FEDERICO
Alas, Batín, it is my poor memory.
1577
BATÍN
You’re like the Basque who left his mule harnessed
1578
And wondered why it didn’t want to eat;
1579
And while he stroked and patted the mule’s mane,
1580
He had an animal doctor examine it.
1581
And when this veterinarian saw the bit,
1582
He sent the Basque man out and on his own
1583
Took off the bit; and when the man came back
1584
The mule had eaten every bite of fodder
1585
And, after that, it ate the manger too.
1586
“Good vet, I swear to God you are a doctor
1587
And from now on I want you to cure me
1588
As well as my poor mule and my family!”
1589
What bit is it that you have in your mouth
1590
That will not let you eat, if I’m your doctor?
1591
Please let me know what you are waiting for.
1592
FEDERICO
Batín, I really am in a sad state.
1593
BATÍN
Well, don’t eat any fodder and say nothing.
1594
(Enter Casandra and Lucrecia)
CASANDRA
Is he coming now?
1595
LUCRECIA
He is, milady.
CASANDRA
And how so fast?
1596
LUCRECIA
He left them all to see you.
CASANDRA
Don’t believe it. I’d rather see my death.
1597
Well then, kind sir, where is the Duke, my lord?
1598
FEDERICO
They say he is now very close to here;
1599
A sure sign of the love he feels for you.
1600
CASANDRA
It kills me every time I realise
1601
That I’ll no longer see you as I used to.
1602
FEDERICO
My love could hope for no more cruel death
1603
Than the arrival of the Duke, my sire.
1604
CASANDRA
I am afraid, dear Count, I lose my senses.
1605
FEDERICO
Not I, because I have already lost them.
1606
CASANDRA
I am without a soul.
1607
FEDERICO
I without life.
CASANDRA
So what are we to do?
1608
FEDERICO
We are to die.
CASANDRA
Is there no other remedy than that?
1609
FEDERICO
There’s not, for if I lose you, what reason
1610
Shall I have to go on living this life?
1611
CASANDRA
Is that why you are going to lose me then?
1612
FEDERICO
My plan is to pretend from this day forth
1613
That I’m in love with Aurora and serve her,
1614
I’ll even ask the Duke to give me her hand,
1615
In order to deceive him and the palace,
1616
Where I know they do not speak well of us.
1617
CASANDRA
Affronts? Will not mere jealousy suffice?
1618
And marry her? Are you in your right mind?
1619
FEDERICO
The danger we are in obliges me.
1620
CASANDRA
What? I swear to God that if you laugh at me
1621
When you have been the cause of such distress,
1622
I shall reveal –or else you don’t know me–
1623
Your perfidy and my unfaithfulness.
1624
FEDERICO
But milady…
1625
CASANDRA
There’s no more to be said.
FEDERICO
But they will hear you.
1626
CASANDRA
Don’t try to stop me!
The Duke may have me killed ten times over
1627
But I shall not consent to your marriage.
1628
(Enter Floro, Febo, Ricardo, Albano. Lucindo, the Duke behind, gallantly dressed in soldier’s uniform)
RICARDO
They were all getting ready to receive you.
1629
DUKE
It was wise to come early for love’s sake.
1630
CASANDRA
How is it, Lord, that you could be persuaded
1631
To come to Ferrara without warning?
1632
FEDERICO
And if milady has reason to complain
1633
It seems my love’s to blame for her anguish.
1634
DUKE
My son, a father’s love, which knows no rest
1635
In devotion for its own flesh and blood,
1636
Was what brought forward the time of my trip;
1637
For neither weariness nor exertion
1638
Can make one with a wish to see his own
1639
Put up with a long wait before returning.
1640
And you, milady, do not take umbrage
1641
If I should love the Count as much as you.
1642
CASANDRA
Your blood and his virtue, my lord, set right
1643
The favour that you show, and I thank you
1644
Because your merit is no less than his.
1645
DUKE
I know the two of you do love me well
1646
And I am so obliged to both of you
1647
That I shall gladly show it when the time comes.
1648
I know that Federico ruled my state,
1649
While I was absent, so well that no subject
1650
Has had the slightest reason to complain.
1651
While in the midst of battle I confess
1652
That I imagined him running the land
1653
As the most perfect senator of all.
1654
Thank God that with dishonourable flight
1655
The enemies of the good Pope of Rome
1656
Respect him in my absence like myself!
1657
With laurel crown upon my brow I kissed
1658
His hand while Rome applauded my triumph
1659
As though I were the Spanish consul Trajan.
1660
And so I do intend from here on forth
1661
To change vice into virtue for my name
1662
To be not only praised for my conquests
1663
But to be celebrated for my worth.
1664
When a man rises to such heights as these
1665
It is not right that he be more acclaimed
1666
For his weaknesses than for his virtues.
1667
RICARDO
Here come Carlos and Aurora, my lord.
1668
(Enter Carlos and Aurora)
AURORA
Your lordship is most welcome here today
1669
And she who adores you waits anxiously.
1670
MARQUIS
Give good Carlos your hand; he wants his love
1671
To be known.
1672
DUKE
May the arms pay the soul’s debts
Of one who loves so well and passionately.
1673
Although love suffers from long absences
1674
It is repaid upon the happy day
1675
That it enjoys the honey of its bliss.
1676
Herewith, my dear loved ones, I wish to rest
1677
After my long journey and, since it’s late,
1678
You’ll celebrate my coming later on.
1679
FEDERICO
May heaven guard you, sir, a hundred years.
1680
(Exeunt all with the Duke, and Batín and Ricardo remain)
BATÍN
My friend Ricardo!
1681
RICARDO
My good friend Batín!
BATÍN
How did you fare in those so cruel wars?
1682
RICARDO
All went according as justice would have it
1683
With heaven on our side for our defence.
1684
Lombardy has been freed and the enemy
1685
Has fled most shamefully because the Duke,
1686
The lion of the church, with one sole roar
1687
Defeated them and made them down their arms.
1688
The Duke has made his name in Italy;
1689
For if Saul killed a thousand men one day
1690
And maidens sang his glory, David killed
1691
One hundred thousand men; and now the Duke
1692
Has done a deed that’s tantamount to his.
1693
There are no ladies, no more dinners now,
1694
There are no shields and neither are there swords,
1695
He thinks of nothing now but Casandra;
1696
There is no other love but that professed
1697
For the Count, his son, and the Duchess, his wife:
1698
The Duke has now become quite sanctified.
1699
BATÍN
What’s this I hear? What are you telling me?
1700
RICARDO
While honours make some people proud and cruel,
1701
And hold a poor opinion of everyone,
1702
Thinking themselves immortal as the gods,
1703
The Duke has turned quite humble and modest
1704
And seems to disdain the laurels of success;
1705
The flapping of flags has not turned his head.
1706
BATÍN
Let’s pray to God after these humble ways
1707
He’ll not become like in that tale by Aesop
1708
Where, after plaguing Venus with petitions,
1709
A Dominican cat, all black and white,
1710
Was turned into a woman. Then one day,
1711
All dressed up in her fine clothes and jewels,
1712
She saw pass by one of those animals
1713
That chew on paper like the best of poets
1714
And made a leap to catch the little mouse
1715
Showing that nature rules that once a cat
1716
Always a cat, in secula seculorum.
1717
RICARDO
Don’t be afraid the Duke, in consequence,
1718
Will go back to his youth and his old ways
1719
Especially if he begets offspring,
1720
Whose little hands can soften an old heart.
1721
BATÍN
I’d be so glad if that were to be true.
1722
RICARDO
Goodbye, Batín.
1723
BATÍN
But where are you off to?
RICARDO
I’m off to see my Fabia, who’s waiting.
1724
(Exit Ricardo)
(Enter Duke with some papers)
DUKE
Is there some servant here?
1725
BATÍN
Your humblest one.
DUKE
Batín!
1726
BATÍN
God bless you. You are most welcome.
Give me your hand.
1727
DUKE
What were you doing here?
BATÍN
Ricardo was telling me about your deeds,
1728
Comparing you to Hector of Italy.
1729
DUKE
How did the Count rule while I was absent?
1730
BATÍN
My lord, indeed I could say that, in peace,
1731
He equalled your exploits on the battlefield.
1732
DUKE
And did he get on well with Casandra?
1733
BATÍN
I think there is no better stepmother
1734
In all the world; she is extremely wise
1735
The soul of virtue and of holiness.
1736
DUKE
There is nothing I can acknowledge more
1737
Than that she was kind to my son the Count:
1738
And as the Count is the one I most love
1739
Who was so sad when I went off to war
1740
I am extremely pleased to hear you say
1741
Casandra behaved with such kindness to him,
1742
That they are friends and get on famously,
1743
Which is just what my soul wants most badly
1744
Of all the things I could ask heaven for.
1745
Thus in my home there are two victories:
1746
The one I bring from battle and the one
1747
Of fair Casandra conquering Federico.
1748
I think that that she will be my only love
1749
Because of her behaviour towards my son
1750
And I’ll abandon all my wanton ways
1751
As I am tired of my lubricious youth.
1752
BATÍN
The Pope has worked a miracle, my lord,
1753
By sending the Duke of Ferrara to war
1754
And making him come back a virtuous hermit.
1755
By God, you might start up a monastery!
1756
DUKE
I hope my subjects know I’m a changed man.
1757
BATÍN
Why did Your Grace take such a short respite?
1758
DUKE
Because when I was entering the palace
1759
Some men were waiting for me on the steps
1760
To give me these papers, and I preferred
1761
To see what they were before going to rest
1762
In case it happened that they were complaints.
1763
Go now and I shall stay here on my own
1764
For it’s a matter for rulers to see.
1765
BATÍN
The heavens, which remunerate those men
1766
Who give priority to public welfare,
1767
Will shower you with laurels and with fame.
1768
(Exit)
DUKE
This paper says:
1769
(Reads)
“My lord, I am Eustacio,
I work in palace gardens and, while teaching
1770
Others to lay fine lawns and plant fair flowers,
1771
I had six sons: I beg you to employ
1772
The two eldest of these…” That is enough!
1773
I’ll take more care of whom I recompense.
1774
(Reads)
“Lucinda says she’s left without her spouse
1775
Captain Arnaldo…” She requests redress.
1776
(Reads)
“Albano, six years here…” A new request.
1777
(Reads)
“Julio Camilo, imprisoned…” Another!
1778
(Reads)
“Paula de San Germán, an honest maid…”
1779
Well, if she’s honest, she needs nothing else
1780
Unless she wants me to find her a spouse.
1781
This one was sealed, and he who gave it to me
1782
Looked so upset and so disconsolate
1783
That I would like to have found out some more.
1784
(Reads)
“My Lord, I wish to give you some sad news,
1785
The Count and Duchess, while you were away…”
1786
My thoughts did not deceive me: patience, then!
1787
(Reads)
“Dared to offend your honour and your bed.”
1788
How shall I overcome such shamelessness?
1789
(Reads)
“If you watch out, you’ll see it for yourself.”
1790
But what is this I read? Can it be true?
1791
You know I am the father of this man
1792
Who you declare to be cuckolding me!
1793
It is a lie! This viciousness is false!
1794
How could my sweet Casandra offend me?
1795
Do you not know that the Count is my son?
1796
But this paper says they’re woman and man.
1797
What dreadful words and how they injure me!
1798
But you will say there are no evil deeds
1799
That are not to be found in humankind.
1800
The anger of the Lord must fall on them!
1801
This was the curse that Nathan placed on David;
1802
I’m reviled too: my son is Absalom.
1803
But it is sad if God chastises me
1804
For concubines when Casandra’s my wife.
1805
My libidinous ways as a young man
1806
Have brought upon me now this punishment,
1807
Although I did not lie with Bathsheba
1808
Nor did I cause the death of Uriah.
1809
Oh, my perfidious son, if it is true!
1810
Because I don’t believe that any other
1811
Would dare to commit such a heinous sin.
1812
But if you have betrayed me, I do pray
1813
That after I have brought about your death
1814
I might bring back your life eternally
1815
So as to have you killed over again
1816
Every time I engender you afresh.
1817
What great disloyalty! What violence!
1818
Oh, absence, it is truly certified
1819
That even a father cannot trust his son
1820
If he’s away from home for a long time!
1821
How can I know for sure the witnesses
1822
I call to testify won’t slander me?
1823
So what’s the point in checking out the facts?
1824
No one would speak like this of someone’s son
1825
If it were not true that he had betrayed him.
1826
To punish him is not to wreak revenge,
1827
He who punishes is not a revenger
1828
And the news does not make me take revenge,
1829
For damage to one’s honour does not need
1830
Revenge: it is enough to make it known.
1831
(Enter Federico)
FEDERICO
I know you are not resting, so I have come
1832
To talk to you.
1833
DUKE
May the heavens guard you.
FEDERICO
And I come to ask a favour of you too.
1834
DUKE
My love will grant you anything you ask.
1835
FEDERICO
When you bade me to wed my cousin Aurora,
1836
My lord, I was inclined to do your will;
1837
But Carlos was extremely jealous of me
1838
Which made me decide not to obey you.
1839
But then you went away and then I knew
1840
That my great love had caused such illusions
1841
That were indeed to blame for my confusion.
1842
So we made peace and I promised, my lord,
1843
That, to put right what I had said before,
1844
I’d get married as soon as you allowed
1845
After you’d given up your soldiering.
1846
So that is what I come to beg you for.
1847
DUKE
You couldn’t make me happier, dear Count.
1848
Go now that I may tell it to your mother,
1849
For it is only fair that she should know,
1850
And it is not right that you are to wed
1851
Without her knowledge; and she must give you
1852
Her kind blessing, just as your father does.
1853
FEDERICO
Aurora not being of her flesh and blood,
1854
Why does Your Grace wish to inform Casandra?
1855
DUKE
What does it matter that she’s not related
1856
Seeing that your mother is Casandra?
1857
FEDERICO
For many a years my mother Laurencia
1858
Lies dead and buried in her hallowed grave.
1859
DUKE
Do you not like it that I call her mother?
1860
They say that all the time I was away
1861
You got on very well, I’m glad to say.
1862
FEDERICO
God knows that it’s not so, I promise you,
1863
Though I’ve no reason to complain, I know
1864
Your Grace loves her so much and rightly so,
1865
That although they all thought her an angel
1866
She did not act like an angel to me.
1867
DUKE
I’m sorry they deceive me when they say
1868
There is no one Casandra favours more.
1869
FEDERICO
Sometimes she favours me and other times
1870
She makes it clear that sons of other mothers
1871
Can never be the same as one’s own sons.
1872
DUKE
You speak the truth and I believe your words
1873
And she could do me a great good by loving
1874
You rather than loving me, for in that way
1875
She would be sure of peace. May God guard you.
1876
FEDERICO
And may God bless you too.
1877
(Exit)
DUKE
I don’t know how
I could peruse the Count’s most guileful face.
1878
What a hypocrite! What a shameless cad!
1879
He uses the false story about Aurora
1880
So that I won’t believe he cuckolds me!
1881
What makes me confident of his betrayal
1882
Is what he has to say about Casandra
1883
Behaving badly towards him in my absence.
1884
He thinks the best way to hush up his crime
1885
Is to cover it up when it’s flagrant.
1886
He does not like to have me call her mother
1887
Because his father’s wife is his own lover
1888
And it’s not right for him to call her mother.
1889
But how can I believe this case so easily?
1890
Couldn’t it be that one of the Count’s foes
1891
Has made up this story with perfidy
1892
In order that I will chastise the Count
1893
And in this way will be himself avenged?
1894
If I believe I’m not avenged but hurt.
1895
(Enter Casandra and Aurora)
AURORA
My life depends on you, milady, now.
1896
CASANDRA
You’ve made a wise choice indeed, Aurora.
1897
AURORA
Here is the Duke.
1898
CASANDRA
My Lord, you’re working still?
DUKE
I owe my state these signs of my esteem
1899
To compensate for my prolonged absence.
1900
Although I know the Count and you have ruled
1901
Most skilfully and I am grateful to you.
1902
The praise of both of you’s on every lip.
1903
CASANDRA
It is the Count whom you must thank, not me,
1904
I do not flatter him when I confirm
1905
That he is chivalrous in all his acts,
1906
As self-assured as he is talented:
1907
He is the very image of yourself.
1908
DUKE
I know that he has acted so like me
1909
In all his acts that I might have been here.
1910
I promise you, milady, recompense.
1911
CASANDRA
I have a new request to make of you,
1912
It is about Aurora: Carlos loves her
1913
And wants to beg her hand; she loves him too
1914
And I would be so pleased if you would grant it.
1915
DUKE
I think that you have come too late to ask me:
1916
The Count has just made me the same request.
1917
CASANDRA
The Count has asked if he may marry her?
1918
DUKE
That’s so, Casandra.
1919
CASANDRA
The Count, you say?
DUKE
Yes.
CASANDRA
I’d doubt the truth from any other source.
1920
DUKE
I have already given my permission
1921
The two of them are to be wed tomorrow.
1922
CASANDRA
It shall be as Aurora disposes.
1923
AURORA
Forgive me, sire, I’ll not marry the Count.
1924
DUKE
(Oh, why should I wait any longer now?)
1925
Aurora, is the Count not superior
1926
To the Marquis in gallantry, in reason
1927
And in valour?
1928
AURORA
Well, that I cannot say.
When I wanted so badly to wed him
1929
And I begged him, he only turned me down;
1930
So now that he’s the one who desires me
1931
It’s only fair that I should turn him down.
1932
DUKE
But do it for my sake if not for his.
1933
AURORA
Marriage must be with one that deserves love
1934
And I now have no feelings for the Count.
1935
(Exit Aurora)
DUKE
It is a strange decision that she’s made.
1936
CASANDRA
Aurora’s right, although impertinent.
1937
DUKE
She is not right, and marry him she shall!
1938
CASANDRA
My Lord, don’t use your power in this case
1939
For love needs to be free and not imposed.
1940
(Exit Duke)
Alas, the faithless Count has tired of me!
1941
(Enter Count)
FEDERICO
I thought I heard my father here with you.
1942
CASANDRA
Federico, what lying scheme has brought you?
1943
I know you’ve asked the Duke for Aurora’s hand.
1944
FEDERICO
Be careful now, milady: you’re in danger.
1945
CASANDRA
How can I be in danger, hypocrite,
1946
When I’m beside myself?
1947
FEDERICO
Why are you shouting?
(Enter Duke, stealthily)
DUKE
(I seek testimony. I’ll eavesdrop here;
1948
Although they say eavesdroppers hear no good
1949
About themselves, I need to know it all.)
1950
FEDERICO
Listen, milady, try to save your name.
1951
CASANDRA
What cowardly man in all the world would leave me
1952
After giving such tokens of his love?
1953
FEDERICO
Milady, I am not betrothed yet.
1954
I strove to reassure the Duke to save us,
1955
For our life cannot continue this way.
1956
The Duke is not just any man at all
1957
Who can support to have his name debased.
1958
Suffice the time when our love turned us blind.
1959
CASANDRA
Oh, what a coward, what a shameless man!
1960
The tears and pleas with which you drive us mad
1961
To steal our honour –few of us escape
1962
Undamaged from your wiles– are cowardliness?
1963
Well, you’ve destroyed my soul, you chickenheart!
1964
DUKE
(If I stay here in silence, I’m of stone.
1965
What are you waiting for, my misery?
1966
They have confessed without torturing them,
1967
But it is they who have tormented me.
1968
I need no further evidence than this:
1969
They have confessed it all quite openly.
1970
My honour has to judge, sentence and punish.
1971
But I must do all this in such a way
1972
That it will never sully my good name,
1973
Because in public it cannot be cleared.
1974
And it is not fitting that any man
1975
Should know that I have been so dishonoured
1976
So I shall now attempt to cover it up
1977
As though this thing had never come to pass.
1978
For although satisfaction may avenge
1979
The cuckoldry, the stain cannot be cleaned.)
1980
(Exit)
CASANDRA
Alas, poor women! Ah, false, faithless men!
1981
FEDERICO
I promise, love, I’ll do whatever you please:
1982
You have my word.
1983
CASANDRA
Is this true?
FEDERICO
Yes, indeed.
CASANDRA
Well then no love is ever impossible.
1984
I have been yours and yours I still shall be.
1985
We’re sure to find a way to be together.
1986
FEDERICO
So go, milady, and to be discreet
1987
Pretend you feel great pleasure with the Duke.
1988
CASANDRA
Well, so I shall and I know you’ll not suffer
1989
Because I know that pretence is not pleasure.
1990
(Exeunt. Enter Aurora and Batín)
BATÍN
I have been told, oh beautiful Aurora,
1991
You are to wed the Marquis or have done so,
1992
And that you’re off to Mantua, milady:
1993
I’ve come to beg you to take me with you.
1994
AURORA
Batín, I am amazed to hear your words.
1995
Why do you wish to leave the Count, your lord?
1996
BATÍN
Not to be recompensed for serving well
1997
Is something even the most wise and sane
1998
Find very hard to bear; it drives them mad.
1999
I’ll favour you today, but not tomorrow
2000
Maybe some other day. What is this maybe?
2001
Apart from this, the Count is as possessed.
2002
I do not know what is the matter with him:
2003
One minute sad, one minute elated,
2004
One minute sane and the next demented.
2005
The Duchess also has her ups and downs,
2006
So where they’re all in such an awful state
2007
How do you expect me to be all right?
2008
The Duke spends all his time pretending
2009
And speaking to himself like a madman,
2010
He wanders all around as though he’s searching
2011
For some valuable thing that he has lost.
2012
They are all mad in that house, I tell you,
2013
So I’ll away to Mantua with you.
2014
AURORA
If I have the good fortune I desire
2015
And the Duke gives me Carlos, I’ll take you.
2016
BATÍN
I humbly kiss your feet a thousand times
2017
And now I’ll go and speak to the Marquis.
2018
(Exit. Enter Duke)
DUKE
(Oh, honour, what an enemy you are!
2019
Who was the first on earth to plant your code,
2020
And leave it in the hands of womankind
2021
So that man can do nothing to guard it?
2022
For without blame he who is most honest
2023
Can lose his honour any time at all.
2024
The legislator who imposed this law
2025
Was certainly not an instructed man.
2026
But if he left it to us, it must be
2027
That he was cuckolded by his own wife.)
2028
Aurora!
2029
AURORA
Are you calling me, my lord?
DUKE
I think the Duchess wishes that you marry
2030
The Marquis, and I shall concede her plea.
2031
I thus prefer to make my wife content
2032
Than leave that pleasure to my son, the Count.
2033
AURORA
I am eternally obliged to you.
2034
DUKE
Tell Carlos he may write to his uncle,
2035
The Duke of Mantua, to tell him so.
2036
AURORA
I’ll go to where the Marquis is awaiting
2037
And surprise him with this most happy news.
2038
(Exit)
DUKE
My house today will see just punishment.
2039
Raise high, oh heavens, your divine gavel!
2040
It’s not revenge for the wrong I was done,
2041
For I don’t seek revenge in your offense
2042
And in a son it was a barbarous deed.
2043
This punishment must be wreaked by gods alone
2044
For only heaven may dispense forgiveness
2045
With moderation and not severity.
2046
I shall be father and not husband here
2047
Assigning holy justice to a sin
2048
Committed in such a licentious way
2049
A punishment without any revenge.
2050
Thus shall the laws of honour be well served
2051
Avoiding recognition of my shame
2052
Which would only serve to double my disgrace.
2053
One who punishes in public does so twice,
2054
For he not only recognises his loss
2055
But shows his disrepute to all the world.
2056
Unfaithful Casandra I tied hand and foot
2057
And covered her body with a thick veil,
2058
And so as not to hear her discontent
2059
I had a gag put on her pretty mouth
2060
For when I told her she’s so much to blame
2061
In my disgrace, she fell into a swoon.
2062
Offended, human piety can bear this
2063
But what heart will not be dispirited
2064
By giving death to his own flesh and blood?
2065
The very thought of it, oh! woe is me,
2066
Will make my body tremble, my soul dismay,
2067
The blood in my veins freeze and my eyes weep,
2068
My breast not breathe, my mind fall powerless,
2069
My memory fail and my willpower malfunction;
2070
Just like a stream that holds the long night’s ice,
2071
From heart to mouth words cause unbearable pain.
2072
What do you expect, love? Do you not see
2073
That God bids children to honour their parents
2074
And the Count has broken this commandment?
2075
Allow me, love, to punish him who sinned
2076
Against this holy law to do his father wrong
2077
Because it’s clear to me that if today
2078
He takes my honour from me, tomorrow
2079
He may just as easily take my life.
2080
Artaxerxes had fifty killed for less
2081
And Darius’, Torquatus’ and Brutus’ swords
2082
Obeyed the laws of justice without revenge.
2083
Forgive me, love, do not reject the right
2084
To punishment when honour is the sin
2085
For which the sentence must be delivered.
2086
The truth has verified the prosecution,
2087
And culpability is clear to see.
2088
Lawyers are there to defend love and blood
2089
But that does not suffice: the other party
2090
Has to support discredit and disgrace.
2091
It is the law of God that tells the blame
2092
And it is his conscience that writes it down.
2093
But why do I feel guilty? Here he comes.
2094
Oh, heavens, please help me to have courage.
2095
(Enter Count)
FEDERICO
It’s common news around the palace, sire,
2096
That you have instructed Aurora to wed
2097
Marquis Gonzaga and be off to Mantua.
2098
But am I to believe that this is so?
2099
DUKE
I know not what they say, Count, nor have I
2100
Given the Marquis permission to marry.
2101
My mind is occupied with higher things.
2102
FEDERICO
There’s no rest for those who govern a state.
2103
What is it that preoccupies your mind?
2104
DUKE
My son, a nobleman from Ferrara
2105
With other companions was conspiring
2106
Against me; he confided in a woman
2107
And she came and revealed it all to me.
2108
He who trusts women is indeed a fool,
2109
And he who praises them is a wise man!
2110
I called upon the traitor with the pretext
2111
Of doing important business with him,
2112
And then I locked him up inside a barn
2113
And when I told him I knew all about it,
2114
He was so shocked he fell into a faint.
2115
So it was easy to tie him to the chair
2116
And cover him so that the one who comes
2117
To kill him will not see his face
2118
And spread the news all over Italy.
2119
You are the first to come and it is fair
2120
For you to do the deed so no one knows.
2121
Take out your sword, good Count, and take his life.
2122
I want to see from the door of the barn
2123
How valiantly you give death to my foe.
2124
FEDERICO
Is this a test for me or is it true
2125
That they conspired against you, these two men?
2126
DUKE
When a father gives an order to his son,
2127
Whether the order be just or unjust,
2128
Does the son dare to question that order?
2129
Begone, you coward, I’ll do it myself.
2130
FEDERICO
Hold your sword and wait for me here; I’m not
2131
Afraid, for you say he is well tied up.
2132
But I don’t know what has come over me
2133
To make me tremble so from head to foot.
2134
DUKE
Stay here then, you coward!
2135
FEDERICO
No, I shall go,
It is enough for me that you ordain it.
2136
But for the love of God…
2137
DUKE
Oh, you scoundrel!
FEDERICO
I’m going now, stop there, and if I find
2138
The emperor himself for you I shall
2139
Stab him a thousand times, so help me God!
2140
(Exit Federico)
DUKE
I shall see him from here: there he is now,
2141
He’s stabbing her with the tip of his sword.
2142
He who has executed my disgrace
2143
Has also executed justice for me.
2144
Captains! Good folk! All you who are on duty!
2145
Good gentlemen and servants all, come quick!
2146
(Enter Marquis, Aurora, Batín, Ricardo and all the other characters)
MARQUIS
Why are you calling us aloud, your grace?
2147
DUKE
Can so much evil be? The Count has killed
2148
Casandra, because she was his stepmother
2149
And said she had a better child inside her
2150
To be my son and heir. Kill him! Kill him!
2151
MARQUIS
Casandra?
2152
DUKE
That is correct, good Marquis.
MARQUIS
I’ll not return to Mantua until
2153
I’ve taken this traitor’s miserable life.
2154
DUKE
Here comes the traitor now with bloody sword.
2155
(Enter the Count with drawn sword)
FEDERICO
What is all this? When I was just about
2156
To see the face of who you told me was
2157
A traitor, I found…
2158
DUKE
Stop there! Say no more!
Hold your tongue! Kill him! Kill him!
2159
MARQUIS
You die!
FEDERICO
Oh, father, pray, why are they killing me?
2160
(The Marquis goes after Federico and kills him)
DUKE
In God’s tribunal you will hear the reason,
2161
Traitor. With this example, Aurora,
2162
Be off to Mantua with your Carlos,
2163
For he deserves you and I am willing.
2164
AURORA
I’m so perplexed I know not what to say.
2165
BATÍN
Say yes, Aurora, there’s cause for what you see.
2166
AURORA
My Lord, I’ll give you my reply tomorrow.
2167
(Enter Marquis)
MARQUIS
The Count is dead.
2168
DUKE
In such unhappiness
I still want to see him dead with Casandra.
2169
(He uncovers the bodies)
MARQUIS
See again punishment without revenge.
2170
DUKE
It’s not revenge when justice is observed.
2171
No tears must fall and we must be valiant:
2172
He paid for what he did to be my heir.
2173
BATÍN
Here ends, dear public, this great tragedy
2174
Of punishment without revenge, which is
2175
The cause of much astonishment in Italy
2176
And is an example for all in Spain.
2177