The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03. Коллектив авторов

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СКАЧАТЬ off the black table, and exit.]

      WALLENSTEIN (to TERZKY).

      Who has been taken? Who is given up?

      TERZKY.

      The man who knows our secrets, who knows every

      Negotiation with the Swede and Saxon,

      Through whose hands all and everything has pass'd—

      WALLENSTEIN (drawing back).

      Nay, not Sesina?—Say, No! I entreat thee.

      TERZKY.

      All on his road for Regensburg to the Swede

      He was plunged down upon by Gallas' agent,

      Who had been long in ambush, lurking for him.

      There must have been found on him my whole packet

      To Thur, to Kinsky, to Oxenstiern, to Arnheim:

      All this is in their hands; they have now an insight

      Into the whole—our measures and our motives.

      SCENE III

      To them enters ILLO.

      ILLO (to TERZKY).

      Has he heard it?

      TERZHY.

      He has heard it.

      ILLO (to WALLENSTEIN).

                   Thinkest thou still

      To make thy peace with the Emperor, to regain

      His confidence? E'en were it now thy wish

      To abandon all thy plans, yet still they know

      What thou hast wish'd: then forwards thou must press,

      Retreat is now no longer in thy power.

      TERZKY.

      They have documents against us, and in hands,

      Which show beyond all power of contradiction—

      WALLENST.

      Of my handwriting—no iota. Thee

      I punish for thy lies.

      ILLO.

                           And thou believest,

      That what this man, and what thy sister's husband,

      Did in thy name, will not stand on thy reck'ning?

      His word must pass for thy word with the Swede,

      And not with those that hate thee at Vienna?

      TERZKY.

      In writing thou gavest nothing—But bethink thee,

      How far thou ventured'st by word of mouth

      With this Sesina! And will he be silent?

      If he can save himself by yielding up

      Thy secret purposes, will he retain them?

      ILLO.

      Thyself dost not conceive it possible;

      And since they now have evidence authentic

      How far thou hast already gone, speak!—tell us,

      What art thou waiting for? Thou canst no longer

      Keep thy command; and beyond hope of rescue

      Thou'rt lost, if thou resign'st it.

      WALLENSTEIN.

                           In the army

      Lies my security. The army will not

      Abandon me. Whatever they may know,

      The power is mine, and they must gulp it down—

      And if I give them caution for my fealty,

      They must be satisfied, at least appear so.

      ILLO.

      The army, Duke, is thine now—for this moment—

      'Tis thine, but think with terror on the slow,

      The quiet power of time. From open violence

      The attachment of thy soldiery secures thee

      Today—tomorrow: but grant'st thou them a respite

      Unheard, unseen, they'll undermine that love

      On which thou now dost feel so firm a footing,

      With wily theft will draw away from thee

      One after the other other—

      WALLENSTEIN.

      'Tis a cursed accident!

      ILLO.

      Oh! I will call it a most blessèd one,

      If it work on thee as it ought to do,

      Hurry thee on to action—to decision.

      The Swedish General—

      WALLENSTEIN.

              He's arrived! Know'st thou

      What his commission is—

      ILLO.

                            To thee alone

      Will he intrust the purpose of his coming.

      WALLENST.

      A cursed, cursed accident! Yes, yes,

      Sesina knows too much, and won't be silent.

      TERZKY.

      He's a Bohemian fugitive and rebel,

      His neck is forfeit. Can he save himself

      At thy cost, think you he will scruple it?

      And if they put him to the torture, will he,

      Will he, СКАЧАТЬ