The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Vi Part 27

JASON (_as he follows the king, to _CREUSA).

Give me thy hand, Creusa, as of yore!

CREUSA. Thou canst not take it as of old thou didst.

MEDEA. They go,--and I am left, forgot! Oh, children, Run here and clasp me close. Nay, closer, tighter!

CREUSA (_to herself, turning as they go_).

Where is Medea? Why does she not follow?

[_She comes back, but stands at a distance from_ MEDEA.]

Com'st thou not to the sacrifice, then home With us?

MEDEA. Unbidden guests must wait without.

CREUSA. Nay, but my father promised shelter, help.

MEDEA. Thy words and his betokened no such aid!

CREUSA (_approaching nearer_).

I've grieved thee, wounded thee! Forgive, I pray.

MEDEA. Ah, gracious sound! Who spake that gentle word?

Ay, many a time they've stabbed me to the quick, But none e'er paused, and, pitying, asked himself If the wound smarted! Thanks to thee, sweet maid!

Oh, when thou art thyself in sore distress, Then may'st thou find some tender, pitying soul To whisper soft and gracious words to thee, To give one gentle glance--as thou to me!

[MEDEA _tries to grasp _CREUSA's _hand, but the princess draws back timidly._]

Nay, shudder not! 'Tis no plague-spotted hand.-- Oh, I was born a princess, even as thou.

For me the path of life stretched smooth and straight As now for thee; blindly thereon I fared, Content, where all seemed right.--Ah, happy days!

For I was born a princess, even as thou.

And as thou stand'st before me, fair and bright And happy, so I stood beside my father, The idol of his heart, and of his folk.

O Colchis! O my homeland! Dark and dread They name thee here, but to my loving eyes Thine is a s.h.i.+ning sh.o.r.e!

CREUSA _(taking her hand)_.

Poor, lonely soul!

MEDEA. Gentle art thou, and mild, and gracious too; I read it in thy face. But oh, beware!

The way _seems_ smooth.--One step may mean thy fall!

Light is the skiff that bears thee down the stream, Advance upon the silvery, s.h.i.+ning waves, Past gaily-flowered banks, where thou would'st pause.-- Ah, gentle pilot, is thy skill so sure?

Beyond thee roars the sea! Oh, venture not To quit these flowery banks' secure embrace, Else will the current seize thy slender craft And sweep thee out upon the great gray sea.-- Why that fixed gaze? Dost shudder at me still?

There was a time when I had shuddered, too, At thought of such a thing as I'm become!

_[She hides her face on CREUSA's neck.]_

CREUSA. She is no wild thing! Father, see, she weeps!

MEDEA. I am a stranger, from a far land come, Naught knowing of this country's ancient ways; And so they flout me, look at me askance As at some savage, untamed animal.

I am the lowest, meanest of mankind, I, the proud child of Colchis' mighty king!-- Teach me what I must do. Oh, I will learn Gladly from thee, for thou art gentle, mild.

'Tis patient teaching, and not angry scorn, Will tame me.-- Is't thy wont to be so calm And so serene? To me that happy gift The G.o.ds denied. But I will learn of _thee_!

Thou hast the skill to know what pleases him, What makes him glad. Oh, teach me how I may Once more find favor in my husband's sight, And I will thank thee, thank thee!

CREUSA. Look, my father!

KING. Ay, bring her with thee.

CREUSA. Wilt thou come, Medea?

MEDEA. I'll follow gladly, whereso'er thou goest.

Have pity on me, lone, unfriended, sad, And hide me from the king's stern, pitiless eyes!

(_To the_ KING.)

Now may'st thou gaze thy fill. My fears are fled, E'en while I know thy musings bode me ill.

Thy child is tenderer than her father.

CREUSA. Come!

He would not harm thee. Come, ye children, too.

[CREUSA _leads_ MEDEA _and the children away_.]

KING. Hast heard?

JASON. I have.

KING. And so, that is thy wife!

That thou wert wedded, Rumor long since cried, But I believed not. Now, when I have seen, Belief is still less easy. She--thy wife?

JASON. 'Tis but the mountain's peak thou seest, and not The toilsome climb to reach it, nor those steps By which alone the climber guides his feet.-- I sailed away, a hot, impetuous youth, O'er distant seas, upon the boldest quest That e'er within the memory of man Was ventured. To this life I said farewell, And, the world well forgot, I fixed my gaze Solely upon that radiant Golden Fleece That, through the night, a star in the storm, shone out.

And none thought on return, but one and all, As though the hour that saw the trophy won Should be their last, strained every nerve to win.

And so, a valorous band, we sailed away, Boastful and thirsting deep for daring deeds, O'er sea and land, through storm and night and rocks, Death at our heels, Death beckoning us before.

And what at other times we had thought full Of terror, now seemed gentle, mild, and good; For Nature was more awful than the worst That man could do. And, as we strove with her, And with barbarian hordes that blocked our path, The hearts of e'en the mildest turned to flint.

Lost were those standards whereby men at home Judge all things calmly; each became a law Unto himself amid these savage sights.-- But that which all men deemed could never be Came finally to pa.s.s, and we set foot On Colchis' distant and mysterious strand.

Oh, hadst thou seen it, wrapped in murky clouds!

There day is night, and night a horror black, Its folk more dreadful even than the night.

And there I found--_her_, who so hateful seems To thee. In sooth, O king, she shone on me Like the stray sunbeam that some prisoner sees Pierce through the crannies of his lonely cell!

Dark though she seem to thee, in that black land Like some lone, radiant star she gleamed on me.

KING. Yet wrong is never right, nor evil good.

JASON. It was some G.o.d that turned her heart to me.

Fast friend was she in many a dangerous pa.s.s.

I saw how in her bosom love was born, Which yet her royal pride bade firm restrain; No word she spake betrayed her--'twas her looks, Her deeds that told the secret. Then on me A madness came, like to a rus.h.i.+ng wind.

Her silence but inflamed me; for a new And warlike venture then I girded me, For love I struggled with her--and I won!