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- Herausgeber: Books on Demand
- Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
- Sprache: Englisch
The second drama in this volume, "The Wonderful Magician", is perhaps better known to poetical students in England than even the first, from the spirited fragment Shelley has left us in his "Scenes from Calderon." The preoccupation of a subject by a great master throws immense difficulties in the way of any one who ventures to follow in the same path: but as Shelley allowed himself great licence in his versification, and either from carelessness or an imperfect knowledge of Spanish is occasionally unfaithful to the meaning of his author, it may be hoped in my own version that strict fidelity both as to the form as well as substance of the original may be some compensation for the absence of those higher poetical harmonies to which many of my readers will have been accustomed.
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Seitenzahl: 102
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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St Cyprian: the wonder working magician
St Cyprian: the wonder working magicianINTRODUCTION.THE WONDER-WORKING MAGICIAN.ACT THE FIRST.ACT THE SECOND.ACT THE THIRD.CopyrightSt Cyprian: the wonder working magician
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
INTRODUCTION.
THE WONDER-WORKING MAGICIAN.
ACT THE FIRST.
SCENE I. A WOOD NEAR ANTIOCH. Enter CYPPRIAN in a Student's gown, followed by CLARIN and MOSCON, as poor Scholars, carrying books. CYPRIAN. In the pleasant solitude Of this tranquil spot, this thicket Formed of interlacing boughs, Buds, and flowers, and shrubs commingled, You may leave me, leaving also, As my best companions, with me, (For I need none else) those books Which I bad you to bring hither From the house; for while, to-day, Antioch, the mighty city, Celebrates with such rejoicing The great temple newly finished Unto Jupiter, the bearing Thither, also, of his image Publicly, in grant procession, To its shrine to be uplifted;— I, escaping the confusion Of the streets and squares, have flitted Hitherward, to spend in study What of daylight yet may glimmer. Go, enjoy the festival, Go to Antioch and mingle In its various sports, returning When the sun descending sinketh To be buried in the waves, Which, beneath the dark clouds' fringes, Round the royal corse of gold, Shine like sepulchres of silver. Here you'll find me. MOSCON. Sir, although Most decidedly my wish is To behold the sports, yet I Cannot go without a whisper Of some few five thousand words, Which I'll give you in a jiffy. Can it be that on a day Of such free, such unrestricted Revelry, and mirth, and fun, You with your old books come hither To this country place, rejecting All the frolic of the city? CLARIN. Well, I think my master's right; For there's nothing more insipid Than a grand procession day, Half fandangos, priests, and fiddles. MOSCON. Clarin, from the first to last, All your life you've been a trickster, A smart temporizing toady, A bold flatterer, a trimmer, Since you praise the thoughts of others, And ne'er speak your own. CLARIN. The civil Way to tell a man he lies Is to say he's wrong:—you twig me, Now I think I speak my mind. CYPRIAN. Moscon, Clarin, both I bid ye Cease this silly altercation. It is ever thus betwixt ye, Puffed up with your little knowledge Each maintains his own opinion. Go, and (as I've said) here seek me When night falls, and with the thickness Of its shadows veils from view This most fair and wondrous system Of the universe. MOSCON. How comes it, That although you have admitted 'Tis not right to see the feast, Yet you go to see it? CLARIN. Simple Is the answer: no one follows The advice which he has given To another. MOSCON [aside]. To see Livia, Would the gods that I were winged. [Exit. CLARIN [aside]. If the honest truth were told Livia is the girl that gives me Something worth the living for. Even her very name has in it This assurance: 'Livia', yes, Minus 'a', I live for 'Livi'.* [Exit.
[footnote] *This, of course, is a paraphrase of the original, which, perhaps, may be given as an explanation. "Ilega, 'Livia'. Al 'na', y se, Livia, 'liviana'."
SCENE II. CYPRIAN. Now I am alone, and may, If my mind can be so lifted, Study the great problem which Keeps my soul disturbed, bewilder'd, Since I read in Pliny's page The mysterious words there written. Which define a god; because It doth seem beyond the limits Of my intellect to find One who all these signs exhibits. This mysterious hidden truth Must I seek for. [Reads.
SCENE III. Enter the DEMON, in gala dress. CYPRIAN. DEMON [aside]. Though thou givest All thy thoughts to the research, Cyprian, thou must ever miss it, Since I'll hide it from thy mind. CYPRIAN. There's a rustling in this thicket. Who is there? who art thou? DEMON. Sir, A mere stranger, who has ridden All this morning up and down These dark groves, not knowing whither, Having lost my way, my horse, To the emerald that encircles, With a tapestry of green, These lone hills, I've loosed, it gives him At the same time food and rest. I'm to Antioch bound, on business Of importance, my companions I have parted from; through listless Lapse of thought (a thing that happens To the most of earthly pilgrims), I have lost my way, and lost Comrades, servants, and assistants. CYPRIAN. I am much surprised to learn That in view of the uplifted Towers of Antioch, you thus Lost your way. There's not a single Path that on this mountain side, More or less by feet imprinted, But doth lead unto its walls, As to its one central limit. By whatever path you take, You'll go right. DEMON. It is an instance Of that ignorance which in sight Even of truth the true goal misses. And as it appears not wise Thus to enter a strange city Unattended and unknown, Asking even my way, 'tis fitter That 'till night doth conquer day, Here while light doth last, to linger; By your dress and by these books Round you, like a learned circle Of wise friends, I see you are A great student, and the instinct Of my soul doth ever draw me Unto men to books addicted. CYPRIAN. Have you studied much? DEMON. Well, no; But I've knowledge quite sufficient Not to be deemed ignorant. CYPRIAN. Then, what sciences know you? DEMON. Many. CYPRIAN. Why, we cannot reach even one After years of studious vigil, And can you (what vanity!) Without study know so many? DEMON. Yes; for I am of a country Where the most exalted science Needs no study to be known. CYPRIAN. Would I were a happy inmate Of that country! Here our studies Prove our ignorance more. DEMON. No figment Is the fact that without study, I had the superb ambition For the first Professor's chair To compete, and thought to win it, Having very numerous votes. And although I failed, sufficient Glory is it to have tried. For not always to the winner Is the fame. If this you doubt, Name the subject of your study, And then let us argue on it; I not knowing your opinion, Even although it be the right, Shall the opposite view insist on. CYPRIAN. I am greatly gratified That you make this proposition. Here in Plinius is a passage Which much anxious thought doth give me How to understand, to know Who's the God of whom he has written. DEMON. 'Tis that passage which declares (Well I know the words) this dictum: "God is one supremest good, One pure essence, one existence, Self-sustained, all sight, all hands." CYPRIAN. Yes, 'tis true. DEMON. And what is in it So abstruse? CYPRIAN. I cannot find Such a god as Plinius figures. If he be the highest good, Then is Jupiter deficient In that attribute; we see him Acting like a mortal sinner Many a time,—this, Danae, This, Europa, too, doth witness. Can then, by the Highest Good, All whose actions, all whose instincts, Should be sacred and divine, Human frailty be committed? DEMON. These are fables which the learned First made use of, to exhibit Underneath the names of gods What in truth was but a hidden System of philosophy. CYPRIAN. This reply is not sufficient, Since such awe is due to God, None should dare to Him attribute, None should stain His name with sins, Though these sins should be fictitious. And considering well the case, If the highest good is figured By the gods, of course, they must Will what is the best and fittest; How, then, can some gods wish one thing, Some another? This we witness In the dubious responses Which are by their statues given. Here you cannot say I speak of Learned abstractions of the ideal. To two armies, if two shrines Promise give of being victors, One, of course, must lose the battle: The conclusion is so simple,— Need I say it? that two wills, Mutually antagonistic, Cannot lead unto one end. They being thus in opposition, One we must consider good, One as bad we must consider. But an evil will in God Would imply a contradiction: Then the highest good can dwell not Among gods who know division. DEMON. I deny your major, since These responses may be given, By the oracles, for ends Which our intellectual vision Cannot reach: 'tis providence. Thus more good may have arisen To the loser in that battle Than its gain could bring the winner.
