Part 5
You will say: "O good cross-bearer, I prithee, If ye cross through the valley of San Biagio, Through the countryside called Acquanova, Ask ye there for the house of a woman Who is known as Candia della Leonessa, And stay ye your steps there, for there most surely Drink shall ye have to restore you, and may be Much beside given. Then stay there and say ye: 'Aligi, your son, sends unto you greeting, And to his sisters, and also the bride, Vienda, And he promises he will be coming To receive from your hands soon your blessing Ere in peace he depart on long travels. And he says, too, that he is set free now, From her--the evil one--during these late days; And he will be cause of dissension no longer, And he will be cause of lamenting no longer, To the mother, the bride, and the sisters.'"
ALIGI
Mila, Mila, what ill wind strikes you And stirs up your soul in you thus?--A wind sudden, A wind full of fearing! And on your lips dying, Your voice is; your blood your cheek is draining. And wherefore, tell me, should I be sending This message of falsehood to my mother?
MILA
It is the truth, it is the truth, I tell you, O brother mine and dear to the sister, It is true what I say; as true is it That I have remained by you untainted, Like a sacred lamp before your faith burning, With immaculate love before you shining. It is the truth, it is the truth I tell you. And I say: Go, go, speed ye on your pathway And meet ye the cross-bearer so that he carry Your greetings of peace on to Acquanova. Now come is the hour of departure For the daughter of Jorio. And let it be so.
ALIGI
Yea, verily, you have partaken of honey, wild honey That your mind is thus troubled! And you would go whither? Oh, whither, Mila?
MILA
Pass on thither where all roads are leading.
ALIGI
Ah! Will you come then with me? O, come with me! Though full long the journey, you also, Mila, Will I place on the mule's back and travel, Cherishing hope, toward Rome the eternal!
MILA
Needs be that I go the opposite way, With steps hurried, bereft of all hoping.
ALIGI [_turning impatiently to the sleeping old herb-woman_]
Anna Onna! Up, arouse you! Go and find me Grains of black hellebore, hellebore ebon, To give back to this woman her senses.
MILA
O be not angry, Aligi, for if you are angry-- For if you are also against me, how shall I live through This day till the evening? For behold, if you trample My heart beneath you, I shall gather it never again!
ALIGI
And I to my home shall be turning never again, If not with you, O daughter of Jorio, Mila di Codra, my own by the Sacrament!
MILA
Aligi, can I cross the very threshold Whereon once the waxen cross was lying, Where a man once appeared who was bloody? And unto whom said the son of this man: "If this blood be unjust blood you cannot pass through"? High noonday 't was then, the eve of the day Of Santo Giovanni, and harvest day. Now in peace on that wall hangs the idle sickle; Now at rest lies the grain in the granary; But of that sorrow's sowing the seeds are still growing.
[COSMA _moves in his sleep and moans._]
ALIGI
Know you, then, one who shall lead you by the hand thither!
COSMA [_crying out in his sleep_]
O do not unbind him! No, no, do not unbind him!
[_The saint, stretching his arms, lifts up his face from his knees._]
MILA
Cosma, Cosma, what are you dreaming? Tell your dreaming!
[COSMA _wakens and rises._]
ALIGI
What have you been seeing? Tell your seeing!
COSMA
The face of Fear was turned full upon me. I have beheld it. But I may not tell it. Every dream that cometh of God must be chastened From the fire of it first before giving. I have beheld it. And I shall speak, surely. Yet not now, lest I speak the name vainly Of my Lord and my God, lest I judge now While my darkness is still overpowering.
ALIGI
O Cosma, thou art holy. Many a year Have you bathed in the melting snow water, In the water o'erflowing the mountain, Quenching your thirst in the clear sight of Heaven, And this day you have slept in my cavern, On the sheep-skin that's steamed well in sulphur So the spirit of evil must shun it. In your dreaming now you have seen visions, And the eye of the Lord God is on you. Help me then with your sure divination! Now to you I shall speak. You will answer.
COSMA
All unready am I in wisdom, Nor have I, O youth, understanding Of so much as the stone in the path of the shepherd.
ALIGI
O Cosma, man of God, heed me and listen! I implore by the angel in that block enfolded, Who has no ears to hear and vet heareth!
COSMA
Simple words speak ye, O shepherd, And repose not your trust in me, But in the holy truth only.
[MALDE_ and _ANNA ONNA_ awaken and lean upon their elbows listening._]
ALIGI
Cosma, this, then, is the holy truth: I turned from the mountain and Puglia valley With my flock on the day Corpus Domini, And after I found for my flock good shelter I went to my home for my three days' resting. And I find there in my house my mother Who says unto me: "Son of mine, a companion For you have I found." Then say I: "Mother, I ever obey your commandments." She answered: "'T is well. And lo! here is the woman." We were espoused. And the kindred gathered, Escorting the bride to our threshold. Aloof I stood like a man on the other Bank of a river, seeing all things as yonder, Afar, past the water flowing between, The water that flows everlastingly. Cosma, this was on a Sunday. And mingled With my wine was no seed of the poppy. Why then, notwithstanding, did slumber profound My heart all forgetting o'erpower? I believe I slept years seven hundred. We awoke on the Monday belated. Then the loaf of the Bridal my mother Broke over the head of a weeping virgin. Untouched had she lain by me. The kindred Came then with their wheat in their hampers. But mute stayed I wrapped up in great sadness. As one in the shadow of death I was dwelling. Behold now! on a sudden, all trembling, There appeared in our doorway this woman, Hard pursuing and pressing her, reapers,-- Hounds! that wanted to seize her and have her. Then implored she and pleaded for safety. But not even one of us, Cosma, Moved, except one, my sister, the littlest, Who dared rush to the door and bar it. And lo, now by those dogs was it shaken, With uttering of curses and threat'ning. And in hatred against this sad creature Were their foul mouths unleashed and barking. To the pack would the women have tossed her, But she trembling still by the hearthstone, Was pleading us not to make sacrifice of her. I, too, myself, seized her with hatred and threat'ning, Though it seemed to me, then, I was dragging At my own very heart, the heart of my childhood. She cried out, and above her head I lifted My sheep-hook to strike her. Then wept my sisters! Then behind her beheld I the angel weeping! With these eyes, O saint, the angel watching and weeping mutely. Down on my knees fell I, Imploring forgiveness. And then to punish This, my hand, I took up from the fireplace A burning ember. "No, do not burn it," She cried aloud,--this woman cried to me. --O Cosma! saint holy, with waters from snow-peaks Purified are you, dawning by dawning; You, too, woman, who know all herbs growing For the healing of flesh that is mortal, Yea, all virtue of roots that are secret; --Malde, you, too, with that branch of yours forking May fathom where treasure is hidden, Entombed at the feet of the dead now dead For a hundred years, or a thousand--true is it?-- In the depths of the depths of the heart of the mountain. Of ye then, I ask, of ye who can hear The deep things within that come from afar, Whence came that voice,--O from what far distance That came and that spake so Aligi should hear it? (Oh, answer ye me!)--When she said unto me: "And how then your flocks can you pasture If your hand is infirm, O Aligi?" Ah! with these her words did she gather My soul from my body within me, Even as you, O woman, gather your simples!
[MILA _weeps silently._]
ANNA ONNA
There's an herb that is red and called Glaspi, And another is white called Egusa, And the one and the other grow up far apart, But their roots grope together and meet Underneath the blind earth, and entwine So closely that sever them never could ever Santa Lucia. Their leaves are diverse, But one and the same is their seven years' flower. But all this is their record in records. It is Cosma who knoweth the power of the Lord.
ALIGI
Heed me then, Cosma! The slumber of forgetfulness Was by Commandment sent to my pillow. By whom? Closed by the hand of Innocence Was the door of Safety. Came to me the apparition-- The Angel of Counsel. And out of the word Of her mouth was created the pledge eternal. Who then was my wife, before ever Good wheat, holy loaf, or fair flower?
COSMA
O shepherd Aligi! God's are the just steelyards of Justice. God's only is the just balance of Justice. Notwithstanding, O take ye counsel, From the Angel of Counsel, who gave you your surety. Yea, take pledge of him for this stranger. But she left untouched, where is she?
ALIGI
For the sheepstead I left after vespers, On the eve of Santo Giovanni. At daybreak I found myself wending above Capracinta. On the crest I awaited the sunrise, And I saw in the disc of its blazing The bleeding head that was severed. To my sheepfold Then came I,--and again I began--guarding my sheep--to suffer For me seemed that sleep still overwhelmed me, And my flock on my life's force was browsing. Oh! why still was my heart heavy laden? O Cosma! first saw I the shadow, Then the figure, there, there, at the entrance, On the morning of San Teobaldo. On the rock out there was sitting this woman, And she did not arise for she could not, So sore were her feet and bleeding. Said she: "Aligi, Do you know me?" I answered: "Thou art Mila." And no word more we spoke, for no more were we Twain. Nor on that day were contaminated Nor after, ever. I speak but the truth.
COSMA
O shepherd Aligi! You have verily lighted A holy lamp in your darkness. Yet it is not enkindled in limits appointed, Chosen out of old time by your fathers. You have moved farther off the Term Sacred. How then if the lamp were spent and were quenched? For wisdom is in man's heart a well-spring Profound; but only the pure man may draw of its waters.
ALIGI
Now pray I great God that He place upon us The seal of the Sacrament eternal! See ye this that I do? Not hand but soul Is carving this wood in the similitude Of the Angel apparition. I began On the Day of Assumption. Rosary time Shall it be finished. This my design is: On to Rome with my flock I shall wander, And along with me carry my Angel, On mule-back laden. I will go to the Holy Father, In the name of San Pietro Celestino, Who upon Mount Morrone did penance. I shall go to the Shepherd of shepherds, With this votive offering, humbly imploring Indulgence, that the bride, yet untouched, may return To her mother, set free thus and blameless; Then as mine I may cherish this stranger, Who knows well how to weep all unheeded. So now I ask this of your deep-reaching wisdom, Cosma; will this grace unto me be conceded?
COSMA
All the ways of mankind appear the direct ways To man: but the Lord God is weighing heart-secrets. High the walls, high the walls of man's stronghold, Huge are its portals of iron; and around and around it Heavy the shade of tombs where grass grows pallid. Let not your lamb browse upon that grass grown pallid, O shepherd Aligi, best question the mother.
A VOICE [_calling outside_]
Cosma, Cosma! If you are within, come forth!
COSMA
Who is calling for me? Did you hear a voice calling?
THE VOICE
Come forth, Cosma, by the blood that is holy! O Christian brothers, the sign of the cross make ye!
COSMA
Behold me. Who calls me? Who wants me?
[_At the mouth of the cavern two shepherds appear, wearing sheep-skin coats, holding a gaunt and sickly youth whose arms are bound to his body with several turns of a rope._]
FIRST SHEPHERD
O Christian brothers! The sign of the cross make ye! May the Lord from the enemy keep you! And to guard well the door say a prayer.
SECOND SHEPHERD
O Cosma, this youth is possessed of a demon. Now for three days the devil has held him. Behold, O behold how he tortures him now. He froths at the mouth, turning livid and shrieking. With strong ropes we needed to tie and bind him To bring him to you. You who freed before now Bartolomeo dei Cionco ala Petrara, do you, O wise man of mercy, do you this one also Liberate! Force now the demon to leave him! O chase him away from him, cure him and heal him!
COSMA
What is his name and the name of his father?
FIRST SHEPHERD
Salvestro, di Mattia di Simeone.
COSMA
Salvestro, how then, you will to be healed? Be of good heart, my son, O be trustful! Lo! I say unto you, fear not! And ye Wherefore have ye bound him? Let him be free!
SECOND SHEPHERD
Come with us then to the chapel, Cosma. There we can let him be free. He would flee away, here. He is frantic always, for escape ever ready. And sudden to take it. He's frothing. Come on then!
COSMA
That will I, God helping. Be of good heart, my son!
[_The two shepherds carry the youth off. _MALDE_ and _ANNA ONNA_ follow them for awhile, then halt, gazing after them, _MALDE_ with a forked olive branch with a small ball of wax stuck on at the larger end, the old woman leaning on her crutch and with her bag of simples hanging in front. Finally they also disappear from sight. The saint from the doorway turns back toward his host._]
COSMA
I go in God's peace, shepherd Aligi. For the comfort I found in your cavern, May you be blessed! Lo! now they called unto me And therefore I answered. Before you may enter Upon your new way, the old laws well consider. Who will change the old ways shall be winnowed. See ye guard well your father's commandment. See ye heed well your mother's instruction. Hold them ever steadfast in your bosom. And God guide your feet, that you may not be taken In lariats nor into live embers stumble!
ALIGI
Cosma, quite well have you heard me? That I remain sinless. Never I tainted myself but kept good faith, Quite well have you heard of the sign God Almighty Has revealed me and sent here unto me? I await what will come, my flesh mortifying.
COSMA
I say unto you: Best question your parents Ere you lead to your roof-tree this stranger.
A VOICE [_calling from outside_]
Cosma, don't delay longer! Surely 't will kill him.
COSMA [_turning to_ MILA]
Peace unto you, woman! If good be within you Let it pour forth from you like tears falling Without being heard. I may soon return.
ALIGI
I come. I follow. Not all have I told you.
MILA
Aligi, 't is true: not all are you telling! Go to the roadside. The cross-bearer watch for And implore him to carry the message.
[_The saint goes off over the pasture land. The singing of the pilgrims is heard from time to time._]
MILA
Aligi, Aligi: Not all did we tell! Yet better it were that my mouth were choked up, Better that stones and that ashes Held me speechless. Hear then this only From me, Aligi. I have done you no evil; And none shall I do you. Healed and restored now Are my feet. And I know well the pathways. Now arrived is the hour of departure For the daughter of Jorio. Now then so be it!
ALIGI
I know not, you know not what hour may be coming. Replenish the oil in our lamp of the Virgin, Take the oil from the skin. Some yet is within And wait for me here. I seek the cross-bearer, Right well what to say unto him know I.
MILA
Aligi, brother of mine! Give me your hand, now!
ALIGI
Mila, the road is but there, not far away.
MILA
Give me that hand of yours, so I may kiss it. 'T is the drop that I yield to my thirst.
ALIGI [_coming closer_]
With the ember I wanted to burn it, Mila, This sinful hand that sought to offend you.
MILA
All that I forget. I am only the woman You found on the rock there seated, By who knows what roads coming hither!
ALIGI [_coming again close_]
Upon your face your tears are not drying, Dear woman. A tear is now staying On the eyelashes, while you speak trembles, and falls not.
MILA
Over us hovers deep stillness. Aligi, just listen! Hushed is the singing. With the grasses and snow-peaks We are alone, brother mine, we are alone.
ALIGI
Mila, now you are unto me as you first were Out there on the rock, when you were all smiling, With your eyes all shining, your feet all bleeding.
MILA
And you,--you,--are you not now the one who was kneeling,-- Who the flowrets of Santo Giovanni Put down on the ground? Ah! by one were they gathered Who bears them yet, wears them yet--in her scapulary.
ALIGI
Mila, there is in your voice a vibration That while it consoles me, it saddens. As even October, when, all my flocks with me, I border the bordering stretches of seashore.
MILA
To border them with you, the shore and the mountain Ah! I would that that fate were my fate evermore.
ALIGI
O my love, be preparing for such wayfaring! Though the road there be long, for that is Love strong.
MILA
Aligi, I'd pass there through fires ever flaming, Onward still wending by roads never ending.
ALIGI
To cull on the hill-top the blue gentian lonely, On the seashore only the star-fish flower.
MILA
There on my knees would I drag myself on, Placing them down on the tracks you were marking.
ALIGI
Think, too, of the places to rest when the night should o'ertake us, And the mint and the thyme that would be your pillows.
MILA
I cannot think. No. Yet give leave this one night more That I live with you, here, where you are here breathing, That I hear you asleep and be with you, And over you keep, like your dogs, faithful vigil!
ALIGI
O, you know, O, you know what must await us. How with you must I ever divide the bread, salt, and water. And so shall I share with you also the pallet, Unto death and eternity. Give me your hands!
[_They grasp each other's hands, gazing into each other's eyes._]
MILA
Ah! we tremble, we tremble. You are frigid, Aligi. You are blanching. O whither Is flowing the blood your face loses?
[_She frees herself and touches his face with both hands._]
[Illustration: MILA DI CODRA AND ALIGI. _Act II._]
ALIGI
O Mila, Mila, I hear a great thundering, All the mountain is shaking and sinking, Where are you? Where are you? All is veiled.
[_He stretches out his hand toward her as one tottering. They kiss each other. They fall down upon their knees, facing each other._]
MILA
Have mercy upon us, blessed Virgin!
ALIGI
Have mercy upon us, O Christ Jesus!
[_A deep silence follows._]
A VOICE [_outside_]
Shepherd, ho! You are wanted, and in a hurry. A black sheep has broken his shank.
[ALIGI _rises totteringly and goes toward the entrance._]
You are wanted at once and must hurry, And there is a woman I know not. On her head is a basket. For you she is asking.
[ALIGI _turns his head and looks toward _MILA_ with an all-embracing glance. She is still on her knees._]
ALIGI [_in a whisper_]
Mila, replenish the oil in our lamp of the Virgin, So it go not out. See, it barely is burning. Take the oil from the skin. Some yet is within. And await me. I only must go to the sheep-fold. Fear nothing, for God is forgiving. Because we trembled will Mary forgive us. Replenish the oil and pray her for mercy.
[_He goes out into the fields._]
MILA
O Holy Virgin! Grant me this mercy: That I may stay here with my face to earth bowed, Cold here, that I may be found dead here, That I may be removed hence for burial. No trespass there was in thine eyesight. No trespass there was. For Thou unto us wert indulgent. The lips did no trespass. (To bear witness There wert Thou!) The lips did no trespass. So under Thine eyes I may die here, die here! For strength have I none to leave here, O Mother! Yet remain with him here Mila cannot! Mother clement! I was never sinful, But a well-spring tramped on and trodden. Shamed have I been in the eyes of Heaven, But who took away from my memory This shame of mine if not Thou, Mary? Born anew then was I when love was born in me. Thou it was willed it, O faithful Virgin! All the veins of this new blood spring from afar, Spring from far off, from the far, far away, From the depths of the earth where she rests, She who nourished me once in days long ago, long ago. Let it also be she who bears now for me witness Of innocency! Madonna, Thou also bore witness! The lips did no trespass here now (Thou wert witness), No, there was none in the lips, no, in the lips there was none. And if I trembled, O let me bear that trespass, Bear ever that tremor with me beyond! Here I close up within me my eyes with my fingers.
[_With the index and middle finger of each hand she presses her eyes, bowing her head to the earth._]
Death do I feel. Now do I feel it draw closer. The tremor increaseth. Yet not the heart ceaseth.
[_Rising impetuously._]
Ah, wretch that I am, that which was told me To do, I did not, though thrice did he say it: "Replenish the oil." And lo! now 't is dying!
[_She goes toward the oil-skin hanging from a beam, with her eye still watching the dying flame, endeavoring to keep it alive with the murmured prayer:_]
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. (Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord be with thee.)