The Greatest Christmas Books of All Time. Люси Мод Монтгомери

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СКАЧАТЬ And all thy skill! And this, the fruit of former crime,

       Count nothing criminal that works thy will!

       But lo,

       We're hedged about; scant room is left for our designs.

       Now must the attack be made where least suspicion makes

       The least resistance. Now Medea, on! And do,

       And dare thine utmost, yea, beyond thy utmost power!

       [To the Nurse.] Do thou, my faithful nurse, the comrade of my grief, And all the devious wanderings of my checkered course, Assist me now in these my plans. There is a robe, The glory of our Colchian realm, the precious gift Of Phoebus' self to King Æëtes as a proof Of fatherhood; a gleaming circlet, too, all wrought With threads of gold, the yellow gold bespangled o'er With gems, a fitting crown to deck a princess' head. These treasures let Medea's children bear as gifts To Jason's bride. But first imbue them with the power Of magic, and invoke the aid of Hecate; The woe-producing sacrifices then prepare, And let the sacred flames through all our courts resound.

      The chorus, which is supposed to be present throughout the play, an interested though inactive witness of all that passes, has already been seen to be a partisan of Jason, and hostile to Medea. It now sings a choral interlude opening on the text "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and continuing with a prayer for Jason's safety. It then recounts the individual history of Jason's companions subsequent to the Argonautic expedition, showing how almost all came to an untimely end. These might indeed be said to have deserved their fate, for they volunteered to assist in that first impious voyage in quest of the golden fleece; but Jason should be spared the general doom, for the task had been imposed upon him by his usurping uncle, Pelias.

      As the next scene opens, the old nurse voices the feeling that we all have upon the eve of some expected but unknown horror.

      My spirit trembles, for I feel the near approach

       Of some unseen disaster. Swiftly grows her grief,

       Its own fires kindling; and again her passion's force

       Hath leaped to life. I oft have seen her, with the fit

       Of inspiration in her soul, confront the gods,

       And force the very heavens to her will. But now,

       A monstrous deed of greater moment far than these

       Medea is preparing. For, but now, did she

       With step of frenzy hurry off until she reached

       Her stricken home. There, in her chamber, all her stores

       Of magic wonders are revealed; once more she views

       The things herself hath held in fear these many years,

       Unloosing one by one her ministers of ill,

       Occult, unspeakable, and wrapt in mystery.

      We omit the remainder of the nurse's speech out of regard for Seneca's reputation as an artist, for in a long passage of sixty lines he proceeds to scour heaven, earth, and the waters under the earth, for every form of venomous serpent, noxious herb, and dread, uncanny thing that the mind of man can conceive; and by the time he has his full array of horrors marshaled before us, we have grown so familiar with the gruesome things that we cease to shiver at them. But at last the ingredients for the hell-broth are ready.

      These deadly, potent herbs she takes and sprinkles o'er

       With serpent venom, mixing all; and in the broth

       She mingles unclean birds, a wailing screech-owl's heart,

       A ghastly vampire's vitals torn from living flesh.

       Her magic poisons all she ranges for her use:

       The ravening power of hidden fire is held in these,

       While deep in others lurks the numbing chill of frost.

       Now magic runes she adds, more potent far.

       But lo!

       Her voice resounds, and as with maddened step she comes

       She chants her charms, while heaven and earth convulsive

       rock.

      Medea now enters, chanting her incantations. Madness has done fearful work with her in the last few hours. We see at a glance that she has indeed, as the nurse has told us, gone back to

      The things herself hath held in fear these many years,

      and has been changed from a true wife and loving mother to a wild and murderous witch once more. She calls upon the gods of the underworld, the silent throng from the dark world of spirits, the tormented shades, all to come to her present aid. She recounts her miraculous powers over nature which she has used aforetime, and which are still in her grasp.

      Thou radiant moon,

       Night's glorious orb, my supplications hear and come

       To aid; put on thy sternest guise, thou goddess dread

       Of triple form! Full oft have I with flowing locks,

       And feet unsandaled, wandered through thy darkling groves,

       And by thy inspiration summoned forth the rain

       From cloudless skies; the heaving seas have I subdued,

       And sent the vanquished waves to ocean's lowest depths.

       At my command the sun and stars together shine,

       The heavenly law reversed; while in the Arctic Sea

       The Bears have plunged. The seasons, too, obey my will:

       I've made the burning summer blossom as the spring,

       And hoary winter autumn's golden harvests bear.

       The Phasis sends his swirling waves to seek their source;

       And Ister, flowing to the sea with many mouths,

       His eager water checks and sluggish rolls along.

       The billows roar, the mad sea rages, though the winds

       All silent lie. At my command primeval groves

       Have lost their leafy shade, and Phoebus, wrapped in gloom,

       Has stood in middle heaven; while falling Hyades

       Attest my charms.

      Here again Seneca's love for the curious runs counter to his art; for he represents Medea as possessed of a veritable museum of curious charms which she has in some occult way gathered from various mythological and traditionary sources, and which she now takes occasion to recount. And it is to this catalogue that we are compelled to listen, though we are waiting in breathless suspense to know what is to come of all this preparation!

      After these and much more somewhat confused ravings, СКАЧАТЬ