The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde: 250+ Titles in One Edition. Оскар Уайльд

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      Herod Ah! wonderful! wonderful! You see that she has danced for me, your daughter. Come near, Salomé, come near, that I may give thee thy reward. Ah! I pay the dancers well. I will pay thee royally. I will give thee whatsoever thy soul desireth. What wouldst thou have? Speak.

      Salomé [kneeling] I would that they presently bring me in a silver charger..,

      Herod [laughing] In a silver charger? Surely yes, in a silver charger. She is charming, is she not? What is it you would have in a silver charger, O sweet and fair Salomé, you who are fairer than all the daughters of Judaea? What would you have them bring you in a silver charger? Tell me. Whatsoever it may be, they shall give it you. My treasures belong to you. What is it, Salomé?

      Salomé [rising] The head of Jokanaan.

      Herodias Ah! that is well said, my daughter.

      Herod No, no!

      Herodias That is well said, my daughter.

      Herod No, no, Salomé. You do not ask me that. Do not listen to your mother’s voice. She is ever giving you evil counsel. Do not heed her,

      Salomé I do not heed my mother. It is for mine own pleasure that I ask the head of Jokanaan in a silver charger. You have sworn, Herod. Forget not that you have sworn an oath.

      Herod I know it. I have sworn by my gods. I know it well. But I pray you, Salomé, ask of me something else. Ask of me the half of my kingdom, and I will give it you. But ask not of me what you have asked.

      Salomé I ask of you the head of Jokanaan.

      Herod No, no, I do not wish it.

      Salomé You have sworn, Herod.

      Herodias Yes, you have sworn. Everybody heard you. You swore it before everybody.

      Herod Be silent! It is not to you I speak.

      Herodias My daughter has done well to ask the head of Jokanaan. He has covered me with insults. He has said monstrous things against me. One can see that she loves her mother well. Do not yield, my daughter. He has sworn, he has sworn.

      Herod Be silent. Speak not to me! . . . Come, Salomé^ be reasonable. You will be reasonable, will you not? I have never been hard to you. I have ever loved you. . . . It may be that I have loved you too much. Therefore ask not this thing of me. This is a terrible thing, an awful thing to ask of me. Surely, I think you are jesting. The head of a man that is cut from his body is ill to look upon, is it not? It is not meet that the eyes of a virgin should look upon such a thing. What pleasure could you have in it? None. No, no, that is not what you desire. Hearken to me. I have an emerald, a great round emerald, which Caesar’s minion sent me. If you look through this emerald you can see things which happen at a great distance. Caesar himself carries such an emerald when he goes to the circus. But my emerald is larger. It is the largest emerald in the whole world. You would like that, would you not? Ask it of me and I will give it you.

      Salomé I demand the head of Jokanaan.

      Herod You are not listening. You are not listening. Suffer me to speak, Salomé.

      Salomé The head of Jokanaan.

      Herod No, no, you would not have that. You say that to trouble me, because I have looked at you all this evening. It is true I have looked at you all this evening. Your beauty troubled me. Your beauty has grievously troubled me, and I have looked at you too much. But I will look at you no more. Neither at things nor at people should one look. Only in mirrors should one look, for mirrors do but show us masks. Oh! oh! bring wine! I thirst. . . . Salomé, Salomé, let us be friends. Come now! . . . Ah! what would I say? What was it? Ah! I remember! . . . Salomé nay, but come nearer to me; I fear you will not hear me Salomé, you know my white peacocks, my beautiful white peacocks, that walk in the garden between the myrtles and the tall cypress trees. Their beaks are gilded with gold, and the grains that they eat are gilded with gold also, and their feet are stained with purple. When they cry out the rain comes, and the moon shows herself in the heavens when they spread their tails. Two by two they walk between the cypress trees and the black myrtles, and each has a slave to tend it. Sometimes they fly across the trees, and anon they couch in the grass and round the lake. There are not in all the world birds so wonderful. There is no king in all the world who possesses such wonderful birds. I am sure that Caesar himself has no birds so fair as my birds. I will give you fifty of my peacocks. They will follow you whithersoever you go, and in the midst of them you will be like the moon in the midst of a great white cloud. . . . I will give them all to you. I have but a hundred, and in the whole world there is no king who has peacocks like unto my peacocks. But I will give them all to you. Only you must loose me from my oath, and must not ask of me that which you have asked of me.

       [He empties the cup of wine.]