The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Vi Part 30

Why so distressed?

Men have forgotten many an evil deed That chanced long since, ay, even the G.o.ds themselves Remember not past sorrows.

MEDEA (_embracing her_).

Say'st thou so?

Oh, that I could believe it, could believe it!

JASON _enters._

CREUSA (_turning to him_).

Here is thy wife. See, Jason, we are friends!

JASON. 'Tis well.

MEDEA. Greetings, my lord.--She is so good, Medea's friend and teacher she would be.

JASON. Heaven speed her task!

CREUSA. But why these sober looks?

We shall enjoy here many happy days!

I, sharing 'twixt my sire and you my love And tender care, while thou and she, Medea,--

JASON. Medea!

MEDEA. What are thy commands, my lord?

JASON. Hast seen the children late?

MEDEA. A moment since; They are well and happy.

JASON. Look to them again!

MEDEA. I am just come from them.

JASON. Go, go, I say!

MEDEA. If 'tis thy wish--

JASON. It is.

MEDEA. Then I obey.

[_She departs._]

CREUSA. Why dost thou bid her go? The babes are safe.

JASON. Ah..! ho, a mighty weight is rolled away From off my soul, and I can breathe again!

Her glance doth shrivel up my very heart, And all that bitter hate, hid deep within My bosom, well nigh strangles me to death!

CREUSA. What words are these? Oh, ye all-righteous G.o.ds!

He speaks now even as she a moment since.

Who was it told me, wife and husband ever Do love each other?

JASON. Ay, and so they do, When some fair, stalwart youth hath cast his glance Upon a maid, whom straightway he doth make The G.o.ddess of his worship. Timidly He seeks her eyes, to learn if haply she Seek his as well; and when their glances meet, His soul is glad. Then to her father straight And to her mother goes he, as is meet, And begs their treasure, and they give consent.

Comes then the bridal day; from far and near Their kinsmen gather; all the town has part In their rejoicing. Richly decked with wreaths And dainty blossoms, to the altar then He leads his bride; and there a rosy flush, Of maiden shyness born, plays on her cheek The while she trembles with a holy fear At what is none the less her dearest wish.

Upon her head her father lays his hands And blesses her and all her seed to come.

Such happy wooing breeds undying love 'Twixt wife and husband.--'Twas of such I dreamed.

Alas, it came not! What have I done, ye G.o.ds!

To be denied what ye are wont to give Even to the poorest? Why have I alone No refuge from the buffets of the world At mine own hearth, no dear companion there, My own, in truth, my own in plighted troth?

CREUSA. Thou didst not woo thy wife as others, then?

Her father did not raise his hand to bless?

JASON. He raised it, ay, but armed with a sword; And 'twas no blessing, but a curse he spake.

But I--I had a swift and sweet revenge!

His only son is dead, and he himself Lies dumb in the grave. His curse alone lives still-- Or so it seems.

CREUSA. Alas, how strange to think Of all the change a few brief years have wrought!

Thou wert so soft and gentle, and art now So stern. But I am still the selfsame maid As then, have still the selfsame hopes and fears, And what I then thought right, I think right still, What then I blamed, cannot think blameless now.-- But thou art changed.

JASON. Ay, thou hast hit the truth!

The real misfortune in a hapless lot Is this: that man is to himself untrue.

Here one must show him master, there must cringe And bow the knee; here Justice moves a hair, And there a grain; and, at his journey's end, He stands another man than he who late Set out upon that journey. And his loss Is twofold--for the world has pa.s.sed him by In scorn, and his own self-respect is dead.

Naught have I done that in itself was bad, Yet have had evil hopes, bad wishes, ay, Unholy aspirations; and have stood And looked in silence, while another sinned; Or here have willed no evil, yet joined hands With sin, forgetful how one wicked deed Begets another.--Now at last I stand, A sea of evils breaking all about, And cannot say, "My hand hath done no wrong!"-- O happy Youth, couldst thou forever stay!

O joyous Fancy, blest Forgetfulness, Time when each moment cradles some great deed And buries it! How, in a swelling tide Of high adventure, I disported me, Cleaving the mighty waves with stalwart breast!

But manhood comes, with slow and sober steps; And Fancy flees away, while naked Truth Creeps soft to fill its place and brood upon Full many a care. No more the present seems A fair tree, laden down with luscious fruits, 'Neath whose cool shadows rest and joy are found, But is become a tiny seedling which, When buried in the earth, will sprout and bud And bloom, and bear a future of its own.

What shall thy task in life be? Where thy home?

What of thy wife and babes? What thine own fate, And theirs?--Such constant musings tantalize the soul. [_He seats himself._]

CREUSA. What should'st thou care for such? 'Tis all decreed, All ordered for thee.

JASON. Ordered? Ay, as when Over the threshold one thrusts forth a bowl Of broken meats, to feed some begging wretch!

I am Prince Jason. Spells not that enough Of sorrow? Must I ever henceforth sit Meek at some stranger's board, or beg my way, My little babes about me, praying pity From each I meet? My sire was once a king, And so am I; yet who would care to boast He is like Jason? Still--[_He rises._]

I pa.s.sed but now Down through the busy market-place and through Yon wide-wayed city. Dost remember how I strode in my young pride through those same streets What time I came to take farewell of thee Long since, ere sailed the Argo? How the folk Came thronging, surging, how each street was choked With horses, chariots, men--a dazzling blaze Of color? How the eager gazers climbed Up on the house-tops, swarmed on every tower, And fought for places as they would for gold?

The air rang with the cymbals' brazen crash And with the shouts of all that mighty throng Crying, "Hail, Jason!" Thick they crowded round That gallant band attired in rich array, Their shining armor gleaming in the sun, The least of them a hero and a king, And in their midst the leader they adored.

I was the man that captained them, that brought Them safe to Greece again; and it was I That all this folk did greet with loud acclaim.-- I trod these selfsame streets an hour ago, But no eye sought me, greeting heard I none; Only, the while I stood and gazed about, I heard one rudely grumbling that I had No right to block the way, and stand and stare.

CREUSA. Thou wilt regain thy proud place once again, If thou but choose.

JASON. Nay, all my hopes are dead; My fight is fought, and I am down, to rise No more.

CREUSA. I have a charm will save thee yet.

JASON. Ay, all that thou would'st say, I know before: Undo the past, as though it ne'er had been.

I never left my fatherland, but stayed With thee and thine in Corinth, never saw The Golden Fleece, nor stepped on Colchis' strand, Ne'er saw that woman that I now call wife!

Send thou her home to her accursed land, Cause her to take with her all memory That she was ever here.--Do thou but this, And I will be a man again, and dwell With men.

CREUSA. Is that thy charm? I know a better; A simple heart, I mean, a mind at peace.