King Arthur - Бесплатная аудиокнига

ACT III.
SCENE I.—The King's Apartment.

A Table set. Ptolemy, Sosibius, Cassandra sitting: Ptolemy at the upper end; Cassandra sitting on the one side, Sosibius on the other.

Ptol. I must confess, 'twas obvious.

Sosib. He said he could command them with his nod:

Can he do this with mercenaries, raised

Not at his charge, but yours? by you maintained?

What could he more, had they been Spartans born?

Cas. What would you hence infer?

Sosib. What you observed:

Some are born kings, and so is Cleomenes.

Cas. A great soul dares not call himself a villain.

He has that interest, and will use it nobly;

To serve, and not to ruin his protector.

Sosib. Is Egypt's safety, and the king's, and your's,

Fit to be trusted on a bare suppose,

That he is honest? Honest, let him be;

But on his own experiment, not ours.

Man is but man; unconstant still, and various;

There's no to-morrow in him, like to-day.

Perhaps the atoms rolling in his brain

Make him think honestly this present hour;

The next, a swarm of base, ungrateful thoughts

May mount aloft; and where's our Egypt then?

Who would trust chance, since all men have the seeds

Of good and ill, which should work upward first?

Cas. All men! then you are one; and by that rule,

Your wicked atoms may be working now

To give bad counsel, that you still may govern.

Sosib. I would the king would govern.

Cas. Because you think I have too much command.

Ptol. Would you would rule me both by turns, in quiet,

And let me take my ease!

Cas. Then my turn's first.

Sosib. Our master's safety, in sound reason, ought

To be preferred to both.

Ptol. So thinks Cassandra too.

Cas. No; court Sosibius, and cast Cassandra off.

Ptol. What have I said, or done,

To merit this unkindness?

Tell me but what you think of Cleomenes,

And be my oracle.

Cas. I know him grateful.

Sosib. To know him grateful, is enough for Jove.

Cas. And therefore not too much for me in Egypt:

I say, I know him honest.

Ptol. Then I know it.

Now may Sosibius speak?

Cas. He may; but not to contradict my knowledge.

Sosib. Then I concur, to let him go for Greece;

And wish our Egypt fairly rid of him.

For, as our Apis, though in temples fed,

And under golden roofs, yet loaths his food,

Because restrained; and longs to roam in meads,

Among the milky-mothers of the herd:

So, Cleomenes, kept by force in Egypt,

Is sullen at our feasts, abhors our dainties,

And longs to change them for his Spartan broth[43].

He may be dangerous here; then send him hence,

With aid enough to conquer all he lost,

And make him formidable to mankind.

Cas. He may be formidable then to us?

That thou wouldst say.

Sosib. No; for you know him grateful.

Cas. Would thou wouldst learn to speak without a double,

Thou Delphian statesman! [Rises.

Sosib. Would I could know your wishes, that I might!

I would but smooth their way, and make them easy. [Bowing.

Cas. Good old man! [Smiling.

A little over zealous, but well-meaning.

My wishes are the honour of my king;

That Ptolemy may keep his royal word,

And I my promise, to procure this aid.

If to be mistress signifies command,

Let this be done; if not, the king may find

Another beauty, worthier of his bed,

And I another lover, less ungrateful.

Ptol. Let Egypt sink before that fatal day!

No, we are one; Cassandra, we are one;

Or I am nothing; thou art Ptolemy.

Cas. Now you deserve to be the first of kings,

Because you rank yourself the first of lovers.

What can I do to show Cassandra grateful?

Nothing but this—

To be so nice in my concerns for you;

To doubt where doubts are not; to be too fearful;

To raise a bug-bear shadow of a danger,

And then be frighted, though it cannot reach you.

Sosib. Be pleased to name your apprehensions, madam.

Cas. Plain souls, like mine, judge others by themselves;

Therefore I hold our Cleomenes honest.

But since 'tis possible, though barely so,

That he may prove ungrateful,

I would have pledges given us of his faith;

His wife, his mother, and his son, be left

As hostages in Egypt.

Sosib. Admirable!

Some god inspired you with this prudent counsel.

Ptol. I thought so too, but that I durst not speak.

Sosib. Leave me to manage this.

Cas. My best Sosibius!

But do it surely, by the easiest means;

Infuse it gently; do not pour it down:

Let him not think he stands suspected here;

And, least of all, by me.

Sosib. He shall not, madam.—

Now, sir, the illumination feast attends you;

For Apis has appeared.

Ptol. Why then I must be formal;

Go to the temple.—

Come, my fair Cassandra,

That I may have an object worth my worship. [Aside.

Cas. The God that I adore is in my breast;

This is the temple; this the sacrifice.

But to the powers divine we make appeal,

With great devotion, and with little zeal. [Exeunt Ptol. and Cas.

Sosib. [Solus.] Yes, yes, it shall be done; but not her way.—

Call in my son Cleanthes.—This Cassandra

Is our enchanting syren; she that sings

Our Ptolemy into secure destruction.

In vain I counsel him to avoid his ruin:

These women-charmers, oh they have a devil

Too strong to dispossess.—Call in my son. [Goes to the door.

Enter Cleanthes.

Cleanthes, are you Cleomenes' friend,

Or only seem you such?

Clean. To seem to be, and not be what I seem,

Are things my honest nature understands not.

Sosib. But you must love your king and country more.

Clean. Yes, when I have a king and country,

That can deserve my love.

Egypt, as Egypt is, deserves it not:

A people baser than the beasts they worship;

Below their pot-herb gods, that grow in gardens:

The king—

Sosib. Go to; young man, whate'er he be,

I must not hear my master vilified.

Clean. Why did you name him then? Were I at prayers.

And even for you, whom as my soul I love,

If Ptolemy should come across my thoughts,

A curse would follow, where I meant a blessing.

Sosib. 'Tis well, 'tis well I am so fond a father;

Those words were death in any other mouth.

I know too much of you; you love the Spartan

Beyond your king and country.

Clean. 'Tis a truth

So noble, I would own it to the gods,

And they be proud to hear it.

Sosib. Confess, you love him better than your father.

Clean. No; but I love him equal with my father.

Sosib. Say better, and say true.

If we were opposite, and one must fall,

Whom wouldst thou save?

Clean. Neither; for both would die,

Before I could resolve.

Sosib. If I command thee

To break thy friendship with him, wouldst thou?

Clean. No.

Sosib. Why, then thou hast confessed, thou lovest him more.

Clean. Not so: for, should he bid me disobey,

Or not love you, thus would I answer him,

As I have answered you.

Sosib. Ungrateful boy!

Clean. You bid me tell you true, and this is my reward.

Sosib. Go from my sight!

Clean. I will; but would not go

Without your blessing.

Sosib. O, so well I love thee,

That I could curse thee for not loving me!—

Stay, I would send thee on a message to him,

But that I fear thy faith.

Clean. You wrong my piety.

Sosib. It much concerns my interest, which is thine.

Wouldst thou deliver what I have to say?

Wouldst thou induce his reason to comply?

Clean. Both; granting your proposals honourable:

If not, employ some mercenary tongue,—

The court affords you store,—and spare my virtue.

Sosib. I would have Cleomenes sent away

With royal aid.

Clean. You promised him he should.

Sosib. And would have thee persuade him to this voyage.

Clean. A welcome errand: Oh my dear, dear father!

Sosib. But on my terms, mark that; my terms, Cleanthes.

Clean. I feared the statesman in you.

Sosib. I would have Egypt safe; that's all my interest:

And therefore he must leave behind, for pawns,

His mother, wife, and son.

Clean. 'Tis clogging of a gift; 'tis base, mean counsel.

I hope you gave it not.

Sosib. No, 'twas Cassandra:

But she would have that odium cast on me;

I am her beast of burden, and must bear it.

Clean. I never can bely so good a father;

But this I'll do:

The message shall be faithfully delivered,

And all the strumpet stand exposed to shame.

Sosib. Thou hitst my meaning; but he must be secret,

Must seem to take the favour as from her,

And lay the hardship of the terms on me.

Clean. He shall.

Sosib. And thou wilt gild this bitter pill;

For there's no other way to go from hence,

But leaving these behind.

Clean. A beam of thought comes glancing on my soul.— [Aside.

I'll undertake it,

The pledges shall be left.

Sosib. My best Cleanthes! [Embraces him.

But haste, and lose no time.

Clean. I'm all on fire to serve my friend and father. [Exit Cleanthes.

Sosib. [Alone.] This Cleomenes ought to be dispatched;

Dispatched the safest way: he ought to die.

Not that I hate his virtue; but I fear it.

The mistress drives my counsels to the leeward.

Now I must edge upon a point, of wind;

And make slow way, recovering more and more,

Till I can bring my vessel safe ashore. [Exit Sosib.