Part 7
If it were not a sin unto God in me, If by all men it were not deemed evil, Father, I should say unto you that in this thing,-- In this thing you lie in your gullet!
[_He takes a few steps and places himself between his father and the woman, covering her with his body._]
LAZARO
What's that you say? Your tongue in you wither! Down on your knees there, to beg me Forgiveness, your face on the ground there! And never dare you to lift up your body Before me! Thus, on your marrow-bones, Off with you! Herd with your dogs!
ALIGI
The Saviour will judge of me, father: But this woman I shall not abandon, Nor unto your wrath shall I leave her, While living. The Saviour will judge me.
LAZARO
I am the judge of you. Who Am I then to you, blood and body?
ALIGI
You are my own father, dear unto me.
LAZARO
I am unto you your own father, and to you I may do as to me it seem pleasing Because unto me you are but the ox In my stable; you are but my shovel And hoe. And if I should over you Pass with my harrow and tear you And break you in pieces, this is well done! And if I have need of a handle For my knife, and one I shall make myself Out of one of your bones, this is well done! Because I am the father and you are the son! Do you heed? And to me over you is given All power, since time beyond time, And a law that is over all laws. And as even I was to my father, So even are you unto me, under earth. Do you heed? And if from your memory This thing has fallen, then thus I recall It unto your memory. Kneel down on your knees and kiss ye The earth on your marrow-bones And go off without looking behind you!
ALIGI
Pass over me then with the harrow; But touch not the woman.
[LAZARO_ goes up to him, unable to restrain his rage, and lifting the rope, strikes him on the shoulder._]
LAZARO
Down, down, you dog, down, to the ground with you!
ALIGI [_falling on his knees_]
So then, my father, I kneel down before you: The ground in front of you do I kiss, And in the name of the true God and living By my first tear and my infant wailing From the time when you took me unswaddled And in your hand held me aloft Before the sacred face of Lord Christ,-- By all this, I beseech you, I pray you, my father, That you tread not thus and trample On the heart of your son sorrow-laden. Do not thus disgrace him! I pray you: Do not make his senses forsake him, Nor deliver him into the hands of the False One-- The Enemy who wheels now about us! I pray you by the angel there silent, Who sees and who hears in that wood block!
LAZARO
Begone! Off with you! Off with you! I shall shortly now judge of you. Off with you, I bid you. Be off with you!
[_He strikes him cruelly with the rope. _ALIGI_ rises all quivering._]
ALIGI
Let the Saviour be judge. Let him judge then Between you and me, and let him give unto me Light; but yet I will against you Not lift up this my hand.
LAZARO
Be you damned! With this rope I will hang you.
[_He throws the lariat to take him but _ALIGI_, seizing the rope with a sudden jerk, takes it out of his father's hands._]
ALIGI
Christ my Saviour, help Thou me! That I may not uplift my hand against him, That I may not do this to my father!
LAZARO [_furious, goes to the door and calls_]
Ho, Jenne! and ho, Femo! Come here! Come here, and see this fellow, What he is doing (may a viper sting him!) Fetch the ropes. Possessed is he Most surely. His own father he threatens!
[_Running appear two men, big and muscular, bearing ropes._]
He is rebellious, this fellow! From the womb is he damned, And for all his days and beyond them. The evil spirit has entered into him. See! See! Behold how bloodless The face is. O Jenne! You take him and hold him. O Femo, you have the rope, take it and bind him, For to stain myself I am not wishing. Then go ye and seek out some one To perform the exconjuration.
[_The two men throw themselves upon _ALIGI_ and overpower him._]
ALIGI
Brothers in God! O, do not do this to me! Do not imperil your soul, Jenne. I who know you so well, who remember, Remember you well from a baby, Since you came as a boy to pick up the olives In your fields. O Jenne dell Eta! I remember you. Do not thus debase me. Do not thus disgrace me!
[_They hold him tightly, trying to bind him, and pushing him on toward the entrance._]
Ah! dog!--The pest take you!-- No, no, no!--Mila, Mila! Hasten!-- Give me the iron there. Mila! Mila!
[_His voice, desperate and hoarse, is heard in the distance, while _LAZARO_ bars _MILA'S_ egress._]
MILA
Aligi, Aligi! Heaven help you! May God avenge you! Never despair! No power have I, no power have you, But while I have breath in my mouth, I am all yours! I am all for you! Have faith! Have faith! Help shall come! Be of good heart, Aligi! May God help you!
[MILA_ gazes intently along the path where _ALIGI_ was borne and listens intently for voices. In this brief interval _LAZARO_ scrutinizes the cavern insidiously. From the distance comes the singing of another company of pilgrims crossing the valley._]
LAZARO
Woman, now then you have been seeing How I am the man here. I give out the law. You are left here alone with me. Night is approaching, and inside here It is now almost night. O don't Be afraid of me, Mila di Codra, Nor yet of this red scar of mine If you see it light up, for now even I feel in it the beat of the fever. Come nearer me. Quite worn out you seem to be For sure you've not met with fat living On this hard shepherd's pallet. While with me you shall have, if you want it, All of that in the valley; for Lazaro Di Roio is one of the thrifty. But what do you spy at? Whom do you wait for?
MILA
No one I wait for. No one is coming!
[_She is still motionless, hoping to see _ORNELLA_ come and save her. Dissimulating to gain time, she tries to defeat _LAZARO'S_ intentions._]
LAZARO
You are alone with me. You need not Be frightened. Are you persuaded?
MILA [_hesitatingly_]
I'm thinking, Lazaro di Roio. I'm thinking of what you have promised. I'm thinking. But what's to secure me?
LAZARO
Do not draw back. My word I keep. All that I promise, I tell you. Be assured, God be witness. Come to me!
MILA
And Candia della Leonessa?
LAZARO
Let the bitterness of her mouth moisten Her thread, and with that be her weaving!
MILA
--The three daughters you have in your household? And now the new one!--I dare not trust to it.
LAZARO
Come here! Don't draw back! Here! Feel it! Where I tucked it. Twenty ducats, Sewed in this coat. Do you want them?
[_He feels for them through his goatskin coat, then takes it off and throws it on the ground at her feet._]
Take them! Don't you hear them clinking? There are twenty silver ducats.
MILA
But first I must see them and count them,-- First--before--Lazaro di Roio. Now will I take these shears and rip it.
LAZARO
But why spy about so? You witch! surely You're getting some little trick ready. You're hoping yet you'll deceive me.
[_He makes a rush at her to seize her. She eludes him and seeks refuge near the walnut block._]
MILA
No, no, no! Let me alone! Let me alone! Don't you touch me! See! See! She comes! See! See! she comes Your own daughter--Ornella is coming.
[_She grasps the angel to resist _LAZARO'S_ violence._]
No, no! Ornella, Ornella, O help me!
[Illustration: THE PARRICIDE. _Act II._]
[_Suddenly _ALIGI_ appears, free and unbound, at the mouth of the cave. He sees in the dim light the two figures. He throws himself upon his father. Catching sight of the axe driven into the wood, he seizes it, blind with fury and horror._]
ALIGI
Let her go! For your life!
[_He strikes his father to death. _ORNELLA_, just appearing, bends down and recognizes the dead body in the shadow of the angel. She utters a great cry._]
ORNELLA
Ah! I untied him! I untied him!
ACT III.
_A large country yard; in the farther end an oak, venerable with age, beyond the fields, bounded by mountains, furrowed by torrents; on the left the house of _LAZARO_, the door open, the porch littered with agricultural implements; on the right the haystack, the mill, and the straw stack._
_The body of _LAZARO_ is lying on the floor within the house, the head resting, according to custom for one murdered, on a bundle of grape-vine twigs; the wailers, kneeling, surround the body, one of them intoning the lamentation, the others answering. At times they bow toward one another, bending till they bring their foreheads together. On the porch, between the plough and large earthen vessel, are the kindred and _SPLENDORE_ and _FAVETTA_. Farther from them is _VIENDA DI GIAVE_, sitting on a hewn stone, looking pale and desolate, with the look of one dying, her mother and godmother consoling her. _ORNELLA_ is under the tree, alone, her head turned toward the path. All are in mourning._
CHORUS OF WAILERS
Jesu, Saviour, Jesu, Saviour! 'T is your will. 'T is your bidding, That a tragic death accursed Lazaro fell by and perished. From peak unto peak ran the shudder, All of the mountain was shaken. Veiled was the sun in heaven, Hidden his face was and covered. Woe! Woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro! Alas! What tears for thee tear us! _Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine_. (O Lord! give him rest eternal.)
ORNELLA
Now, now! Coming! 'T is coming! Far off! The black standard! The dust rising! O sisters, my sisters, think, oh! think Of the mother, how to prepare her!-- That her heart may not break. But a little And he will be here. Lo! at the near turn, At the near turn the standard appearing!
SPLENDORE
Mother of the passion of the Son crucified, You and you only can tell the mother,-- Go to the mother, to her heart whisper!
[_Some of the women go out to see._]
ANNA DI BOVE
It is the cypress of the field of Fiamorbo.
FELAVIA SESARA
It is the shadow of clouds passing over.
ORNELLA
It is neither the cypress nor shadow Of storm-cloud, dear women, I see it advancing, Neither cypress nor storm-cloud, woe's me! But the Standard and Sign of Wrong-Doing That is borne along with him. He's coming The condemned one's farewells to receive here, To take from the hands of the mother The cup of forgetting, ere to God he commend him. Ah! herefore are we not all of us dying, Dying with him? My sisters, my sisters!
[_The sisters all look out the gate toward the path._]
THE CHORUS OF WAILERS
Jesu, Jesu, it were better That this roof should on us crumble. Ah! Too much is this great sorrow, Candia della Leonessa. On the bare ground your husband lying, Not even permitted a pillow, But only a bundle of vine-twigs, Under his head where he's lying. Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro! Alas! What pain for thee pains us! _Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine_.
SPLENDORE
Favetta, go you; go speak to her. Go you, touch her on the shoulder. So she may feel and turn. She is seated Like unto a stone on the hearthstone, Stays fixed there without moving an eyelash, And she seems to see nothing, hear nothing; She seems to be one with the hearthstone. Dear Virgin of mercy and pity! Her senses O do not take from her!--Unhappy one! Cause her to heed us, and in our eyes looking To come to herself, dear unhappy one. Yet I have no heart even to touch her, And who then will say the word to her? O sister! Go tell her: Lo! he is coming!
FAVETTA
Nor have I the heart. She affrights me. How she looked before I seem to forget, And how her voice sounded before, Ere in the deep of this sorrow We plunged. Her head has whitened And it grows every hour whiter. Oh! she is scarcely ours any more, She seems from us so far away, As if on that stone she were seated For years a hundred times one hundred-- From one hundred years to another-- And had lost, quite lost remembrance Of us.--O just see now, just see now, Her mouth, how shut her mouth is! More shut than the mouth that's made silent,-- Mute on the ground there forever. How then can she speak to us ever? I will not touch her nor can I tell her-- "Lo! he is coming!" If she awaken She'll fall, she'll crumble. She affrights me!
SPLENDORE
O wherefore were we born, my sisters? And wherefore brought forth by our mother? Let us all in one sheaf be gathered, And let Death bear us all thus away!
THE CHORUS OF WAILERS
--Ah! mercy, mercy on you, Woman! --Ah! mercy be upon you, Women! --Up and take heart again! The Lord God Will uplift whom he uprooted. If God willed it that sad be the vintage Mayhap He wills, too, that the olives Be sure. Put your trust in the Lord. --And sadder than you is another, She who sat in her home well contented, In plenty, mid bread and clean flour, Entering here, fell asleep, to awaken Amid foul misfortune and never Again to smile. She is dying: Vienda. Of the world beyond is she already. --She is there without wailing or weeping! Ah! on all human flesh have thou pity! On all that are living have mercy! And all who are born to suffer, To suffer and know not wherefore!
ORNELLA
Oh, there Femo di Nerfa is coming, The ox driver, hurriedly coming. And there is the standard stopping Beside the White Tabernacle. My sisters, shall I myself go to her And bear her the word? Woe! oh, woe! If she does not remember What is required of her. Lord God Forbid that she be not ready And all unprepared he come on her and call her, For if his voice strike her ear on a sudden Then surely her heart will be broken, broken!
ANNA DI BOVE
Then surely her heart will be broken, Ornella, if you should go touch her, For you bring bad fortune with you. 'T was you who barred up the doorway, 'T was you who unfettered Aligi.
THE CHORUS OF WAILERS
To whom are you leaving your ploughshare, O Lazaro! to whom do you leave it? Who now your fields will be tilling? Who now your flocks will be leading? Both father and son the Enemy Has snared in his toils and taken. Death of infamy! Death of infamy! The rope, and the sack, and the blade of iron! Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro! Alas! What torments for thee torment us! _Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine_.
[_The ox driver appears, panting._]
FEMO DI NERFA
Where is Candia? O ye daughters of the dead one! Judgment is pronounced. Now kiss ye The dust! Now grasp in your hands the ashes! For now the Judge of Wrong-Doing Has given the final sentence. And all the People is the Executor Of the Parricide, and in its hands it has him. Now the People are bringing here your brother That he may receive forgiveness From his own mother, from his mother Receive the cup of forgetfulness, Before his right hand they shall sever, Before in the leathern sack they sew him With the savage mastiff and throw him Where the deep restless waters o'erflow him! All ye daughters of the dead one, kiss ye The dust now; grasp in your hands now the ashes! And may our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Upon innocent blood have pity!
[_The three sisters rush up to each other, and then advancing slowly, remain with their heads touching each other. From the distance is heard the sound of the muffled drum._]
MARIA CORA
O Femo, how could you ever say it?
FEMO DI NERFA
Where is Candia? Why does she not appear here?
LA CINERELLA
On the hearthstone, the stone by the fireplace She sits and gives no sign of living.
ANNA DI BOVA
And there's no one so hardy to touch her.
LA CINERELLA
And affrighted for her are her daughters.
FELAVIA SESARA
And you, Femo, did you bear witness?
LA CATALANA
And Aligi, did you have him near you? And before the judge what did he utter?
MONICA BELLA COGNA
What said he? What did he? Aloud Did he cry? Did he rave, the poor unfortunate one?
FEMO DI NERFA
He fell on his knees and remained so, And upon his own hand stayed gazing, And at times he would say "_Mea culpa_," And would kiss the earth before him, And his face looked sweet and humble, As the face of one who was innocent. And the angel carved out of the walnut block Was near him there with the blood-stain. And many about him were weeping, And some of them said, "He is innocent."
ANNA DI BOVA
And that woman of darkness, Mila Di Codra, has anyone seen her?
LA CATALANA
Where is the daughter of Jorio? Was she not to be seen? What know you?
FEMO DI NERFA
They have searched all the sheepfolds and stables Without any trace of her finding. The shepherds have nowhere seen her, Only Cosma, the saint of the mountain, Seems to have seen her, and he says That in some mountain gorge she's gone to cast her bones away.
LA CATALANA
May the crows find her yet living And pick out her eyes. May the wolf-pack Scent her yet living and tear her!
FELAVIA SESARA
And ever reborn to that torture Be the damnable flesh of that woman!
MARIA CORA
Be still, be still, Felavia, silence, I say! Be silent now! For Candia has arisen, She is walking, coming to the threshold. Now she goes out. O daughters, ye daughters, She has arisen, support her!
[_The sisters separate and go toward the door._]
THE CHORUS OF WAILERS
Candia della Leonessa, Whither go you? Who has called you? Sealed up are your lips and silent, And your feet are like feet fettered. Death you are leaving behind you, And sin you find coming to meet you. Wheresoever going, wheresoever turning, Thorny everywhere the pathway. Oh! woe! woe! ashes, ashes, widow! Oh! woe! mother, Jesu! Jesu! mercy! _De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine_. (Out of the deep, O Lord, I cry unto Thee!)
[_The mother appears at the threshold. The daughters timidly go to support her. She gazes at them in great bewilderment._]
SPLENDORE
Mother, dearest, you have risen, maybe You need something--refreshment-- A mouthful of muscadel, a cordial?
FAVETTA
Parched are your lips, you dear one, And bleeding are they? Shall we not bathe them?
ORNELLA
Mommy, have courage, we are with you. Unto this great trial God has called you.
CANDIA
And from one warp came so much linen, And from one spring so many rivers, And from one oak so many branches, And from one mother many daughters!
ORNELLA
Mother dear, your forehead is fevered. For the weather To-day is stifling, and your dress is heavy, And your dear face is all wet with moisture.
MARIA CORA
Jesu, Jesu, may she not lose her senses!
LA CINERELLA
Help her regain her mind, Madonna!
CANDIA
It is so long since I did any singing, I fear I cannot hold the melody. But to-day is Friday, there is no singing, Our Saviour went to the mountain this day.
SPLENDORE
O mother dear, where does your mind wander? Look at us! Know us! What idle fancy Teases you? Wretched are we! What is her meaning?
CANDIA
Here, too, is the stole, and here, too, is the cup sacramental, And this is the belfry of San Biagio. And this is the river, and this my own cabin. But who, who is this one who stands in my doorway?
[_Sudden terror seizes the young girls. They draw back, watching their mother, moaning and weeping._]
ORNELLA
O my sisters, we have lost her! Lost her, also, our dear mother! Oh! too far away do her senses stray!
SPLENDORE
Unhappy we! Whom God's malediction left Alone in the land, orphans bereft!
FAVETTA
By the other, a new grave make ready near And bury us living all unready here!
FELAVIA SESARA
No no, dear girls, be not so despairing, For the shock is but pushing her senses Far back to some time long ago. Let them wander! thence soon to be turning!
[CANDIA _takes several steps._]
ORNELLA
Mother, you hear me? Where are you going?
CANDIA
I have lost the heart of my dear gentle boy, Thirty-three days ago now, nor yet do I find it; Have you seen him anywhere? Have you met him afar? --Upon Calvary Mountain I left him, I left him afar on the distant mountain, I left him afar in tears and bleeding.
MARIA CORA
Ah! she is telling her stations.
FELAVIA SESARA
Let her mind wander, let her say them!
LA CINERELLA
Let her all her heart unburden!
MONICA DELIA COGNA
O Madonna of Holy Friday, Have pity on her! And pray for us!
[_The two women kneel and pray._]
CANDIA
Lo! now the mother sets out on her travels, To visit her son well beloved she travels. --O Mother, Mother, wherefore your coming? Among these Judeans there is no safety. --An armful of linen cloth I am bringing To swathe the sore wounds of your body. --Ah! me! had you brought but a swallow of water! --My son!--No pathway I know nor wellspring; But if you will bend your dear head a little A throatful of milk from my breast I will give you, And if then you find there no milk, oh so closely To heart I will press you, my life will go to you! --O Mother, Mother, speak softly, softly--
[_She stops for a moment, then dragging her words, cries out suddenly with a despairing cry._]
Mother, I have been sleeping for years seven hundred, Years seven hundred, I come from afar off. I no longer remember the days of my cradle.
[_Struck by her own voice, she stops and looks about bewildered, as if suddenly awakened from a dream. Her daughters hasten to support her. The women all rise. The beating of the drum sounds less muffled, as if approaching._]
ORNELLA
Ah! how she's trembling, how she's all trembling! Now she swoons. Her heart is almost broken. For two days she has tasted nothing. Gone is she!
SPLENDORE
Mamma, who is it speaks within you? What do you feel, Speaking inside you, in the breast of you?
FAVETTA
Oh! unto us hearken; heed us, mother, Oh! look upon us! We are here with you!
FEMO DI NERFA [_from the end of the yard_]
O women, women, he's near, the crowd with him. The standard is passing the cistern now. They are bringing also the angel covered.
[_The women gather under the oak to watch._]
ORNELLA [in a loud voice]