The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Iii Part 121

If you delay, I will not!

MELCHTHAL.

What! You would--

RUDENZ.

I count me now among the country's chiefs, And my first duty is to guard your rights.

FuRST.

Your nearest and your holiest duty is Within the earth to lay these dear remains.

RUDENZ.

When we have set the country free, we'll place Our fresh victorious wreaths upon his bier.

Oh, my dear friends, 'tis not your cause alone!-- with the tyrants have a cause to fight, That more concerns myself. My Bertha's gone, Has disappear'd--been carried off by stealth-- Stolen from amongst us by their ruffian hands!

STAUFF.

So fell an outrage has the tyrant dared Against a lady free and n.o.bly born?

RUDENZ.

Alas! my friends, I promised help to you, And I must first implore it for myself!

She that I love, is stolen--is forced away, And who knows where she's by the tyrant hid, Or with what outrages his ruffian crew May force her into nuptials she detests?

Forsake me not!--Oh, help me to her rescue!

She loves you! Well, oh well, has she deserved, That all should rush to arms in her behalf!

STAUFF.

What course do you propose?

RUDENZ.

Alas! I know not.

In the dark mystery that shrouds her fate-- In the dread agony of this suspense, Where I can grasp at naught of certainty-- One single ray of comfort beams upon me.

From out the ruins of the tyrant's power Alone can she be rescued from the grave.

Their strongholds must be levell'd, every one, Ere we can penetrate her dungeon walls.

MELCH.

Come, lead us on! We follow! Why defer Until tomorrow what today may do?

Tell's arm was free when we at Rootli swore.

This foul enormity was yet undone.

And change of circ.u.mstance brings change of vow; Who such a coward as to waver still?

RUDENZ (_to_ WALTER FuRST).

Meanwhile to arms, and wait in readiness The fiery signal on the mountain tops!

For swifter than a boat can scour the lake Shall you have tidings of our victory; And when you see the welcome flames ascend, Then, like the lightning, swoop upon the foe, And lay the despots and their creatures low!

SCENE III

_The pa.s.s near Kussnacht, sloping down from behind, with rocks on either side. The travelers are visible upon the heights, before they appear on the stage. Rocks all around the stage. Upon one of the foremost a projecting cliff overgrown with brushwood._

TELL (_enters with his cross-bow_).

Through this ravine he needs must come. There is No other way to Kussnacht. Here I'll do it!

The ground is everything I could desire.

Yon elder bush will hide me from his view, And from that point my shaft is sure to hit.

The straitness of the gorge forbids pursuit.

Now, Gessler, balance thine account with Heaven!

Thou must away from earth--thy sand is run.

Quiet and harmless was the life I led, My bow was bent on forest game alone; No thoughts of murder rested on my soul.

But thou hast scared me from my dream of peace; The milk of human kindness thou hast turn'd To rankling poison in my breast, and made Appalling deeds familiar to my soul.

He who could make his own child's head his mark, Can speed his arrow to his foeman's heart.

My boys, poor innocents, my loyal wife, Must be protected, tyrant, from thy rage!

When last I drew my bow--with trembling hand-- And thou, with fiendishly remorseless glee Forced me to level at my own boy's head, When I, imploring pity, writhed before thee, Then in the anguish of my soul, I vow'd A fearful oath, which met G.o.d's ear alone, That when my bow next wing'd an arrow's flight, Its aim should be thy heart. The vow I made, Amid the h.e.l.lish torments of that moment, I hold a sacred debt, and I will pay it.

Thou art my lord, my Emperor's delegate; Yet would the Emperor not have stretch'd his power So far as thou halt done. He sent thee here To deal forth law--stern law--for he is wroth, But not to wanton with unbridled will In every cruelty, with fiend-like joy:-- There lives a G.o.d to punish and avenge.

Come forth, thou bringer once of bitter pangs, My precious jewel now--my chiefest treasure-- A mark I'll set thee, which the cry of grief Could never penetrate--but thou shalt pierce it-- And thou, my trusty bow-string, that so oft For sport has served me faithfully and well, Desert me not in this dread hour of need-- Only be true this once, my own good cord, That hast so often wing'd the biting shaft:-- For shouldst thou fly successless from my hand, I have no second to send after thee.

[_Travelers pa.s.s over the stage_.]

I'll sit me down upon this bench of stone, Hewn for the way-worn traveler's brief repose-- For here there is no home. Men hurry past Each other, with quick step and careless look, Nor stay to question of their grief. Here goes The merchant, all anxiety--the pilgrim, With scantly furnished scrip--the pious monk, The scowling robber, and the jovial player, The carrier with his heavy-laden horse That comes to us from the far haunts of men; For every road conducts to the world's end.

They all push onward--every man intent On his own several business--mine is murder.

[_Sits down_.]

Time was, my dearest children, when with joy You hail'd your father's safe return to home From his long mountain toils; for, when he came, He ever brought with him some little gift-- A lovely Alpine flower--a curious bird-- Or elf-bolt, such as on the hills are found.

But now he goes in quest of other game, Sits in this gorge, with murder in his thoughts, And for his enemy's life-blood lies in wait.

But still it is of you alone he thinks, Dear children. 'Tis to guard your innocence, To shield you from the tyrant's fell revenge, He bends his bow to do a deed of blood!

[_Rises_.]

Well--I am watching for a n.o.ble prey!

Does not the huntsman, with unflinching heart, Roam for whole days, when winter frosts are keen, Leap at the risk of death from rock to rock-- And climb the jagged, slippery steeps, to which His limbs are glued by his own streaming blood-- And all to hunt a wretched chamois down?

A far more precious prize is now my aim-- The heart of that dire foe, who seeks my life.

[_Sprightly music heard in the distance, which comes gradually nearer_.]

From my first years of boyhood I have used The bow--been practised in the archer's feats; The bull's eye many a time my shafts have hit, And many a goodly prize have I brought home From compet.i.tions. But this day I'll make My master-shot, and win what's best to win In the whole circuit of our mountain range.

[_A bridal party pa.s.ses over the stage, and goes up the pa.s.s_. TELL _gazes at it, leaning on his bow. He is joined by_ STUSSI _the Ranger_.]

STUSSI.