The Dramatic Works of G. E. Lessing Part 88

TEMPLAR.

Well, brother, hear me out.

I am a Templar--and a prisoner now.

Made captive with some others at Tebnin, Whose fortress we had almost ta'en by storm Just as the truce expired. Our hopes had been To threaten Sidon next. Of twenty knights Made prisoners there together, I alone Was pardoned by command of Saladin.

The Patriarch now knows what he requires, And more than he requires.

FRIAR.

And yet no more Than he had learned already. He would ask Why you, of all the captives doomed to die, Alone were spared?

TEMPLAR.

Can I myself tell that?

Already with bare neck I had knelt down Upon my mantle, to await the stroke, When Saladin with steadfast eye surveys me.

Nearer he draws--he makes a sign--they raise me-- I am unbound--I would express my thanks-- I mark the tear-drop glisten in his eye-- We both stand mute--he turns and leaves the spot-- I stay. And now, how all this hangs together, The Patriarch must explain.

FRIAR.

The Patriarch thinks That Heaven preserved you for some mighty deed.

TEMPLAR.

Some mighty deed? To rescue from the flames A Jewish maid! To lead to Sinai's mount Bands of inquiring pilgrims--and the like!

FRIAR.

The time may come for more important tasks: Perhaps the Patriarch has already planned Some mighty business for you.

TEMPLAR.

Think you so?

Has he already given you a hint?

FRIAR.

Yes--but my task is first to sift a little, To see if you are one to undertake----

TEMPLAR.

Well--sift away? (We'll see how this man sifts).

FRIAR.

The better course will be to name at once What is the Patriarch's desire.

TEMPLAR.

It is----?

FRIAR.

To make you bearer of a letter.

TEMPLAR.

Me?

I am no carrier. Is that the office More meritorious than to save from death A Jewish maid?

FRIAR.

So, truly, it would seem.

The Patriarch says that this little note Involves the general weal of Christendom, And that to bear it to its destined hand, Safely, will merit a peculiar crown From Heaven--and of that crown, the Patriarch Says none can worthier be than you.

TEMPLAR.

Than I!

FRIAR.

You have your liberty--can look around; You understand how cities may be stormed, And how defended, says the Patriarch; You know the strength and weakness of the towers, And of the inner rampart lately reared By Saladin, and you could point out all To the Lord's champions fully.

TEMPLAR.

May I know Exactly the contents of this same letter?

FRIAR.

Of that I am not quite informed myself.

'Tis to King Philip; and our Patriarch-- I often wonder how that holy man, Whose every thought would seem absorbed by Heaven, Can stoop to earthly things, and how his mind Can be so deeply skilled in human lore----

TEMPLAR.

Well, then, your Patriarch----

FRIAR.

Exactly knows From secret sources, how, and with what force, And in what quarter, should the war break out, The foe and Saladin will take the field.

TEMPLAR.

Knows he so much?

FRIAR.

Ay, truly! and he longs To send the urgent tidings to King Philip, That he may better calculate if now The danger be so great, as to demand At every hazard that he should renew The truce so boldly broken by the Templars.

TEMPLAR.