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

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СКАЧАТЬ the soul hath freed itself.

      WALLENSTEIN.

      Max, hear me.

      MAX.

      O! do it not, I pray thee, do it not!

      There is a pure and noble soul within thee

      Knows not of this unblest, unlucky doing.

      Thy will is chaste, it is thy fancy only

      Which hath polluted thee; and innocence—

      It will not let itself be driven away

      From that world-awing aspect. Thou wilt not,

      Thou canst not, end in this. It would reduce

      All human creatures to disloyalty

      Against the nobleness of their own nature.

      'Twill justify the vulgar misbelief

      Which holdeth nothing noble in free will

      And trusts itself to impotence alone

      Made powerful only in an unknown power.

      WALLENST.

      The world will judge me sternly, I expect it.

      Already have I said to my own self

      All thou canst say to me. Who but avoids

      The extreme, can he by going round avoid it?

      But here there is no choice. Yes—I must use

      Or suffer violence—so stands the case;

      There remains nothing possible but that.

      MAX.

      O that is never possible for thee!

      'Tis the last desperate resource of those

      Cheap souls to whom their honor, their good name

      Is their poor saving, their last worthless keep,

      Which, having staked and lost, they stake themselves

      In the mad rage of gaming. Thou art rich

      And glorious; with an unpolluted heart

      Thou canst make conquest of whate'er seems highest!

      But he, who once hath acted infamy,

      Does nothing more in this world.

      WALLENSTEIN (grasps his hand).

                               Calmly, Max!

      Much that is great and excellent will we

      Perform together yet. And if we only

      Stand on the height with dignity, 'tis soon

      Forgotten, Max, by what road we ascended.

      Believe me, many a crown shines spotless now

      That yet was deeply sullied in the winning.

      To the evil spirit doth the earth belong,

      Not to the good. All that the powers divine

      Send from above are universal blessings,

      Their light rejoices us, their air refreshes,

      But never yet was man enrich'd by them

      In their eternal realm no property

      Is to be struggled for—all there is general

      The jewel, the all-valued gold we win

      From the deceiving Powers, depraved in nature,

      That dwell beneath the day and blessed sun-light.

      Not without sacrifices are they render'd

      Propitious, and there lives no soul on earth

      That e'er retired unsullied from their service.

      MAX.

      Whate'er is human, to the human being

      Do I allow—and to the vehement

      And striving spirit readily I pardon

      The excess of action; but to thee, my General,

      Above all others make I large concession.

      For thou must move a world, and be the master—

      He kills thee who condemns thee to inaction.

      So be it then! maintain thee in thy post

      By violence. Resist the Emperor,

      And, if it must be, force with force repel:

      I will not praise it, yet I can forgive it.

      But not—not to the traitor—yes!—the word

      Is spoken out—

      Not to the traitor can I yield a pardon.

      That is no mere excess! that is no error

      Of human nature—that is wholly different;

      O that is black, black as the pit of hell!

      [WALLENSTEIN betrays a sudden agitation.]

      Thou canst not hear it named, and wilt thou do it?

      O, turn back to thy duty! That thou canst

      I hold it certain. Send me to Vienna:

      I'll make thy peace for thee with the Emperor.

      He knows thee not. But I do know thee. He

      Shall see thee, Duke, with my unclouded eye,

      And I bring back his confidence to thee.

      WALLENST.

      It is too late! Thou knowest not what has happen'd.

      MAX.

      Were it too late, and were things gone so far,

      That a crime only could prevent thy fall,

      Then—fall! fall honorably, even as thou stood'st!

      Lose the command. Go from the stage of war,

      Thou canst with splendor do it—do it too

      With СКАЧАТЬ