Part 8
Mother, Aligi is coming now; Aligi is coming, To take from your heart the token of pardon, And drink from your hand the cup of forgetfulness. Awaken, awaken, be brave, dear mother; Accursed he is not. With deep repentance The sacred blood he has spilled redeeming.
CANDIA
'T is true; oh, 'tis true. With the leaves he was bruising They stanched the blood that was gushing. "Son Aligi," he said then, "Son Aligi, Let go the sickle and take up the sheep-crook, Be you the shepherd and go to the mountain." This his commandment was kept in obedience.
SPLENDORE
Do you well understand? Aligi is coming.
CANDIA
And unto the mountain he must be returning. What shall I do? All his new clothing I have not yet made ready, Ornella!
ORNELIA
Mother, let us take this step. Turn now unto us; here, In front of the house we must await him And give our farewell to him who is leaving, Then all in peace we shall lie down together, Side by side in the deep bed below.
[_The daughters lead their mother out on the porch._]
CANDIA [_murmuring to herself_]
I lay down and meseemed of Jesus I dreamed, He came to me saying, "Be not fearful!" San Giovanni said to me, "Rest in safety."
THE CHORUS OF KINDRED
--Oh what crowds of people follow the standard, The whole village is coming after, --Iona di Midia is carrying the standard. --Oh how still it is, like a processional! --Oh what sadness! On his head the veil of sable, --On his hands the wooden fetters, Large and heavy, big as an ox-yoke! Head to foot the gray cloth wraps him, he is barefoot. -Ah! Who can look longer! My face I bury, I close up my eyes from longer seeing. --The leathern sack Leonardo is bearing, Biagio Gudo leads the savage mastiff. --Mix in with the wine the roots of solatro That he may lose his consciousness. --Brew with the wine the herb novella That he may lose feeling, miss suffering. Go, Maria Cora, you who know the secrets, Help Ornella to mix the potion. --Dire was the deed, dire is the suffering. Oh what sadness! See the people! --Silently comes all the village. --Abandoned now are all the vineyards. --To-day, to-day no grapes are gathered. --Yes, to-day even the land is mourning. --Who is not weeping? Who is not wailing? --See Vienda! Almost in death's agony. Better for her that she lost her senses. --Better for her that she see not, hear not. --O woe for her bitter fate, three months only Since we came and brought our hampers! --And sorrow yet to come who may measure? --No tears shall be left in us for weeping.
FEMO DI NERFA
Silence, O kindred, for here comes Iona.
[_The women turn toward the porch. There is a deep silence. The voice of _IONA]
IONA
O widow of Lazaro di Roio, O people of this unhappy home, Behold now! Behold now! The penitent is coming.
[_The tall figure of _IONA_ appears bearing the standard. Behind him comes the parricide, robed in gray, the head covered with a black veil, both hands manacled in heavy wooden fetters. A man on one side is holding the shepherd's carved crook; others carry the angel covered with a white cloth, which they lower to the ground. The crowd pushes between the straw stack and ancient oak. The waiters, still on their knees, crawl to the door and lift up their voices in cries and wailing towards the condemned one._]
THE CHORUS OF WAILERS
Son, O son Aligi! Son, O son Aligi! What have you done? What have you done? Whose body is this body bleeding? And who upon the stone has placed it? Now hath come your hour upon you! Black is the wine of the evil-doer! Severed hand and death of infamy; Severed hand and sack of leather! Oh! woe! woe! O son of Lazaro. Lazaro Is dead. Woe! Woe! And you slew Lazaro! _Libera, Domine, animam servi tui_. (Spare, O Lord, the soul of this thy servant.)
IONA DI MIDIA
Grief is yours, Candia della Leonessa, O Vienda di Giave, grief is yours, Grief is yours, daughters of the dead one! Kindred, May the Lord Saviour have pity on all of you, women, For into the hands of the People, judging, The Judge has now given Aligi di Lazaro. That upon the deed infamous we may take vengeance, A deed upon all of us fallen, and having no equal, Nor among our ancestors known to memory, And, may it forever be lost from memory, By the grace of the Lord, from son to son, henceforth. Now, therefore, the penitent one we lead hither, That he may receive the cup of forgetfulness From you here, Candia della Leonessa, Since he out of your flesh and your blood was the issue, To you 't is conceded to lift the veil of sable, 'T is yielded you lift to his mouth the cup of forgetting, Since his death unto him shall be exceeding bitter. _Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine!_ (Save, O Lord, these thy people) _Kyrie eleison!_
THE CROWD
_Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison!_
[IONA _places his hand on _ALIGI'S_ shoulder. The penitent then takes a step toward his mother, and falls, as if broken down, upon his knees._]
ALIGI
Praises to Jesus and to Mary! I can call you no longer my mother, 'T is given to me to bless you no longer. This is the mouth of hell--this mouth! To curses only these lips are given, That sucked from you the milk of life, That from your lips learned orisons holy In the fear of the Lord God Almighty, And of all of his law and commandments. Why have I brought upon you this evil?-- You--of all women born to nourish the child, To sing him to sleep on the lap, in the cradle!-- This would I say of my will within me, But locked must my lips remain. --Oh, no! Lift not up my veil of darkness Lest thus in its fold you behold The face of my terrible sinning. Do not lift up my veil of darkness, No, nor give me the cup of forgetting. Then but little shall be my suffering, But little the suffering decreed me. Rather chase me with stones away, Ay, with stones and with staves drive and chase me, As you would chase off the mastiff even Soon to be of my anguish companion, And to tear at my throat and mumble it, While my desperate spirit within me Shall cry aloud, "Mamma! Mamma!" When the stump of my arm is reeking In the cursed sack of infamy.
THE CROWD [_with hushed voices_]
--Ah! the mother, poor dear soul! See her! See how in two nights she has whitened! She does not weep. She can weep no longer. --Bereft is she of her senses. --Not moving at all. Like the statue Of our Mater Dolorosa. O have pity! --O good Lord, have mercy on her! Blessed Virgin, pity, help her! --Jesus Christ have pity on her!
ALIGI
And you also, my dear ones, no longer 'T is given me to call you sisters, 'T is given me no longer to name you By your names in your baptisms christened. Like leaves of mint your names unto me, In my mouth like leaves that are fragrant, That brought unto me in the pastures Unto my heart joy and freshness. And now on my lips do I feel them, And aloud am I fain to say them. I crave no other consolation Than that for my spirit's passing. But no longer to name them 't is given me. And now the sweet names must faint and wither, For who shall be lovers to sing them At eve beneath your casement windows? For who shall be lovers unto the sisters Of Aligi? And now is the honey Turned into bitterness; O then, chase me, And, like a hound, hound me away. With staves and with stones strike me. But ere you thus chase me, O suffer That I leave unto you, disconsolate, But these two things of my sole possession, The things that these kindly people Carry for me: the sheep-crook of bloodwood, Whereon I carved the three virgin sisters, In your likeness did I carve them, To wander the mountain pastures with me,-- The sheep-crook, and the silent angel, That with my soul I have been carving. Woe is me for the stain that stains it! But the stain that stains it shall fade away Some day, and the angel now silent Shall speak some day, and you shall hearken, And you shall heed. Suffer me suffer For all I have done! With my woe profound In comparison little I suffer!
THE CROWD
Oh! the children, poor dear souls! See them! See how pale and how worn are their faces! --They too are no longer weeping --They have no tears left for weeping. Dry their eyes are, inward burning. --Death has mown them with his sickle,-- To the ground laid them low ere their dying. Down they are mown but not gathered. --Have mercy upon them, O merciful one! Upon these thy creatures so innocent. --Pity, Lord Jesus, pity! Pity!
ALIGI
And you who are maiden and widow, Who have found in the chests of your bridal Only the vestment of mourning, The combs of ebon, of thorns the necklace, Your fine linen woven of tribulation, Full of weeping your days ever more, In heaven shall you have your nuptials, And may you be spouse unto Jesus! And Mary console you forever!
THE CROWD
O poor dear one! Until vespers Hardly lasting, and now drawing Her last breath. Lost her face is In her hair of gold all faded, Even all her golden tresses. --Now like flax upon the distaff, --Or shade-grown grass for Holy Thursday. --Yes, Vienda, maiden-widow, Paradise is waiting for you. --If she is not, then who is Heaven's? --May Our Lady take you with her! --Put her with the white pure angels! --Put her with the golden martyrs!
IONA DI MIDIA
Aligi, your farewells are spoken, Rise now and depart. It grows late. Ere long will the sun be setting. To the Ave Maria you shall not hearken. The evening star you shall not see glimmer. O Candia della Leonessa, If you, poor soul, on him have pity, Give, if you will, the cup, not delaying, For the mother art thou, and may console him.
THE CROWD
Candia, lift up the veil, Candia! Press his lips to the cup, Candia, Give him the potion, give him Heart to bear his suffering. Rise, Candia! --Upon your own son take pity. --You only can help him; to you, 't is granted. --Have mercy upon him! Mercy, O mercy!
[ORNELLA_ hands the mother the cup containing the potion. _FAVETTA_ and _SPLENDORE_ encourage the poor mother. _ALIGI_, kneeling, creeps to the door of the house and addresses the dead body._]
ALIGI
Father, father, my father Lazaro, Hear me. You have crossed over the river, In your bier, though it was heavier Than the ox-cart, your bier was, And the rock was dropped in the river. Where the current was swiftest, you crossed it; Father, father, my father Lazaro, Hear me. Now I also would cross over The river, but I--I cannot. I am going To seek out that rock at the bottom. And then I shall go to find you: And over me you will pass the harrow, Through all eternity to tear me, Through all eternity to lacerate me. Father of mine, full soon I'll be with you!
[_The mother goes toward him in deep horror. Bending down she lifts the veil, presses his head upon her breast with her left hand, takes the cup _ORNELLA_ offers and puts it to _ALIGI'S_ lips. A confusion of muffled voices rises from the people in the yard and down the path._]
IONA DI MIDIA
_Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum._ (Accept, O Lord, this thy servant.) _Kyrie eleison._
THE CROWD
_Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison, Miserere, Deus, miserere._ --Do you see, do you see his face? This do we see upon earth, Jesus! --Oh! Oh! Passion of the Saviour! --But who is calling aloud? And wherefore? --Be silent now! Hush, hush! Who is calling? --The daughter of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio, Mila di Codra! --Great God, but this is a miracle! --It is the daughter of Jorio coming. --Good God! She is raised from the dead! -Make room! Make room! Let her pass by! --Accursed dog, are you yet living? --Ah! Witch of Hell, is it you? --She-dog! Harlot! Carrion! --Back! Back! Make room! Let her pass! --Come, she-thing, come! Make way! --Let her pass through! Let her alone! In the Lord's name!
[ALIGI _rises to his feet, his face uncovered. He looks toward the clamoring crowd, the mother and sisters still near him. Impetuously opening her way through the crowd, _MILA_ appears._]
MILA DI CODRA
Mother of Aligi, sisters Of Aligi, Bride and Kindred, Standard-bearer of Wrong-Doing, and you, All ye just people! Judge of God! I am Mila di Codra. I come to confess. Give me hearing. The saint of the mountain has sent me. I have come down from the mountain, I am here to confess in public Before all. Give me hearing.
IONA DI MIDIA
Silence! Be silent! Let her have leave To speak, in the name of God, let her. Confess yourself, Mila di Codra. All the just people shall judge you.
[Illustration: THE SACRIFICE OF MILA DI CODRA. _Act III._]
MILA
Aligi, the beloved son of Lazaro, Is innocent. He did not commit
Parricide. But by me indeed was his father Slain, by me was he killed with the axe.
ALIGI
Mila, God be witness that thou liest!
IONA
He has confessed it. He is guilty. But you too are guilty, guilty with him.
THE CROWD
To the fire with her! To the fire with her! Now, Iona, Give her to us, let us destroy her. --To the brush heap with the sorceress, Let them perish in the same hour together! --No, no! I said it was so. He is innocent. --He confessed it! He confessed it! The woman Spurred him to do it. But he struck the blow. --Both of them guilty! To the fire! To the fire!
MILA
People of God! Give me hearing And afterward punish me. I am ready. For this did I come here.
IONA
Silence! All! Let her speak!
MILA
Aligi, dear son of Lazaro, Is innocent. But he knows it not.
ALIGI
Mila, God be witness that thou liest. Ornella (oh! forgive me that I dare to Name you!) bear thou witness That she is deceiving the good people.
MILA
He does not know. Aught of that hour Is gone from his memory. He is bewitched. I have upset his reason, I have confused his memory. I am the Sorcerer's daughter. There is no Sorcery that I do not know well, None that I cannot weave. Is there one Of the kindred among you, that one Who accused me in this very place, The evening of Santo Giovanni, When I entered here by that door before us? Let her come forth and accuse me again!
LA CATALANA
I am that one. I am here.
MILA
Do you bear witness and tell for me Of those whom I have caused to be ill, Of those whom I have brought unto death, Of those whom I have in suffering held.
LA CATALANA
Giovanna Cametra, I know. And the poor soul of the Marane, And Alfonso and Tillura, I know. And that you do harm to every one.
MILA
Now have you heard this thing, all you good people, What this servant of God hath well said and truly? Here I confess. The good saint of the mountain Has touched to the quick my sorrowing conscience, Here I confess and repent. O permit not The innocent blood to perish. Punishment do I crave. O punish me greatly! To bring down ruin and to sunder Dear ties and bring joys to destruction, To take human lives on the day of the wedding Did I come here to cross this threshold, Of the fireplace there I made myself The mistress, the hearth I bewitched, The wine of hospitality I conjured, Drink it I did not, but spilled it with sorceries. The love of the son, the love of the father, I turned into mutual hatred; In the heart of the bride all joy strangled, And by this my cunning, the tears Of these young and innocent sisters I bent to the aid of my wishes. Tell me then, ye friends and kindred, Tell me then, in the name of the Highest, How great, how great is this my iniquity!
CHORUS OF THE KINDRED
It is true! It is true! All this has she done. Thus glided she in, the wandering she-dog! While yet Cinerella was pouring Her handful of wheat on Vienda. Very swiftly she did all her trickery, By her evil wishes overthrowing Very swiftly the young bridegroom. And we all cried out against it. But in vain was our crying. She had the trick of it. It is true. Now only does she speak truly. Praises to Him who this light giveth!
[ALIGI_, with bent head, his chin resting on his breast, in the shadow of the veil, is intent and in a terrible perturbation and contest of soul, the symptoms at the same time, appearing in him of the effect of the potion._]
ALIGI
No, no, it is not true; she is deceiving You, good people, do not heed her, For this woman is deceiving you. All of them here were all against her, Heaping shame and hatred on her, And I saw the silent angel Stand behind her. With these eyes I saw him, These mortal eyes that shall not witness On this day the star of vesper. I saw him gazing at me, weeping. O Iona, it was a miracle, A sign to show me her, God's dear one.
MILA
O Aligi, you poor shepherd! Ignorant youth, and too believing! That was the Apostate Angel!
[_They all cross themselves, except _ALIGI_, prevented from doing so by his fetters, and _ORNELLA_ who, standing alone at one side of the porch, gazes intently on the voluntary victim._]
Then appeared the Apostate Angel (Pardon of God I must ever lack, Nor of you, Aligi, be pardoned!) He appeared your own two eyes to deceive. It was the false and iniquitous angel.
MARIA CORA
I said it was so. At the time I said it. It was a sacrilege then, I cried.
LA CINERELLA
And I said it, too, and cried out When she dared call it the guardian angel To watch over her. I cried out, "She is blaspheming, she is blaspheming!"
MILA
Aligi, forgiveness from you, I know, Cannot be, even if God forgive me. But I must all my fraud uncover. Ornella, oh! do not gaze upon me As you gaze. I must stay alone! Aligi, then when I came to the sheepstead, Then, even, when you found me seated, I was planning out your ruin. And then you carved the block of walnut, Ah, poor wretch, with your own chisel, In the fallen angel's image! (There it is, with the white cloth covered, I feel it.) Ah! from dawn until evening With secret art I wove spells upon you! Remember them, do you not now of me? How much love I bestowed upon you! How much humility, in voice and demeanor-- Before your very face spells weaving? Remember them, do you not now of me? How pure we remained, how pure I lay on your shepherd's pallet? And how then?--how (did you not inquire?) Such purity then, timidity, then, In the sinning wayfarer Whom the reapers of Norca Had shamed as the shameless one Before your mother? I was cunning, Yea, cunning was I with my magic. And did you not see me then gather The chips from your angel and shavings, And burn them, words muttering? For the hour of blood I was making ready. For of old against Lazaro I nursed an old-time rancor. You struck in your axe in the angel,-- O now must you heed me, God's people! Then there came a great power upon me To wield over him there now fettered. It was close upon night in that ill-fated Lodging. Lust-crazed then his father Had seized me to drag toward the entrance, When Aligi threw himself on us, In order to save and defend me. I brandished the axe then with swiftness. In the darkness I struck him, I struck him again. Yea, to death I felled him! With the same stroke I cried, "You have killed him." To the son I cried out, "You have killed him. Killed him!" And great in me was my power. A parricide with my cry I made him-- In his own soul enslaved unto my soul. "I have killed him!" he answered, and swooning, He fell in the bloodshed, naught otherwise knowing.
[CANDIA_, with a frantic impulse, seizes with both hands her son, become once more her own. Then, detaching herself from him, with wilder and threatening gestures, advances on her enemy, but the daughters restrain her._]
CHORUS OF KINDRED
Let her do it, let her, Ornella! --Let her tear her heart! Let her eat Her heart! Heart for heart! Let her seize her and take her And underfoot trample her. --Let her crush in and shiver Temple to temple and shell out her teeth. Let her do it, let her, Ornella! Unless she do this she will not win back Her mind and her senses in health again. --Iona, Iona, Aligi is innocent. --Unshackle him! Unshackle him! --Take off the veil! Give him back to us! --The day is ours, the people do justice. --The righteous people give judgment. --Command that he now be set free.
[MILA _retreats near the covered angel, looking toward _ALIGI_, who is already under the influence of the potion._]
THE CROWD
--Praises be to God! Glory be to God! Glory to the Father! --From us is this infamy lifted. --Not upon us rests this blood-stain. --From our generation came forth No parricide. To God be the glory! --Lazaro was killed by the woman, The stranger, di Codra dalle Farne. --We have said and pronounced: he is innocent. Aligi is innocent. Unbind him! --Let him be free this very moment! --Let him be given unto his mother! --Iona, Iona, untie him! Untie him! Unto us this day the Judge of Wrong-Doing Over one head gave us full power. --Take the head of the sorceress! --To the fire, to the fire with the witch! --To the brushheap with the sorceress! --O Iona di Midia, heed the people! Unbind the innocent! Up, Iona! --To the brush heap with the daughter Of Jorio, the daughter of Jorio!
MILA
Yes, yes, ye just people, yes, ye people Of God! Take ye your vengeance on me! And put ye in the fire to burn with me The Apostate Angel, the false one,-- Let it feed the flames to burn me And let it with me be consumed!
ALIGI